Pixelated_Boombursts
Youngster
- Pronouns
- He/they/xe
The first thing Akshara heard upon waking up was the loud cawing of the flock of Crowister perched on the balcony railing.
They blearily opened their eyes, only to squeeze them shut at the sunlight filtering through the cream-colored curtains, muffling their groan into the pillowcase that still smelled faintly of shampoo.
It was before six in the morning, their alarm had yet to go off. Akshara could—should—have slept in for longer, especially considering how there was no guarantee they’d find comfortable places to sleep in once they were out on the road, but they found themselves wide awake within minutes.
They haphazardly tossed the quilt to the side, and regretted the decision before Damp Devin hit the floor.
In an instant, Akshara was off the bed, picking up the stuffed Quagsire and cradling her in their arms, her solitary left eye reflecting their frown.
“‘M sorry, Devin,” They mumbled, voice still heavy from sleep, and cringed at how gross their mouth felt now that they had opened it.
They placed her on the bed for the time being, they could decide on whether to bring her along or not after they had breakfast.
They made their way to the bathroom, tip-toeing around Moseby so they didn’t wake him up.
The Stoutland was so old that he didn’t even hear them, even as they passed by him way earlier than they had since their Trainers’ School days. It was hard to reconcile his image with the energetic Herdier that had done more to raise them than their own father.
After they had brushed their teeth and started feeling more awake, they made their way to the kitchen, looking in the fridge for any sign of something they could eat.
When they found nothing, they shut the door, louder than they had intended, and Moseby finally woke up, lazily trotting to stand by their feet. He nudged their leg.
“Heya, Moseby,” they bent down to scratch his ears, when they heard Mum dragging her feet to the kitchen, “Akku? You’re up early. Excited for your journey?”
“Yeah!” they beamed, standing up and dusting off their pyjama pants, all the drowsiness seemingly gone at the reminder that a new chapter of their life was about to begin. That' they’d no longer be confined to Ulyssia. The world—well, Obsia for now—was their Cloyster. The beaches, the deserts, the labyrinth of trees in Vanwood Jungle, those were all Akshara and their future Pokémon team’s to explore at their leisure.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Mum said, heading toward the vegetable basket to get ingredients for breakfast, “you know the boy who moved in next door, Pedro, I think his name was?”
“Please don’t say you want me to talk to him…” Akshara groaned. She had been trying to get them to befriend some kid or another ever since she found out how they had spent most of their Trainer School days in solitude.
“Well, now I don’t need to.”
Akshara slumped forward, the excitement dissipating from their body as they rested their forehead on the hard surface of the table. Why couldn’t she just let this go?
“Akku…” Mum sighed, “come on, you had an entire conversation about whatever with Moseby just yesterday! Wouldn’t it be nice if you said that to someone who could respond?”
Moseby lazily flicked his tail at the mention of his name, cracking one eye open, but Akshara paid him no mind, “Not if the responses include jeering and walking away.”
And being treated like a particularly annoying conscience, always going on about things that didn’t matter. Always a thorn in everyone’s side, no matter how hard you tried not to be.
“He seems like a nice boy,” Mum’s voice snapped them out of their thoughts, “I met his mother the other day—oh, look at me, rhyming!—anyway, she said that he’ll also be getting a Pokémon from Professor Banyan, so I volunteered you for showing him to the lab!”
Akshara sputtered, and they were glad that they hadn’t reached for the half-finished mug of last night’s cold coffee, for they were sure they would have been choking on it by now.
“Mum! You couldn’t have told me this before? Like, I don’t know, at least a month ago?”
“They only moved here last week,” Mum laughed, “now stop with the theatrics, dress into something more presentable, I’ll get started on breakfast so you two can get a head-start to the Lab.”
“I’d be surprised if we could get there before Kiran even if we ran, she must already be on her way.”
“Kiran isn’t getting a first Pokémon from the Professor, Akku, she has her Lildray. Besides, she would be spending most of her time doing research rather than battling, so she wouldn’t have picked the strongest one, those are usually the hardest to train.”
Akshara refrained themselves from sighing. Mum was obviously not familiar with actual battling tactics. Once Kiran’s Lildray evolved into Flordrago and she got a strong ally to take advantage of its support, she would be unstoppable, but Akshara didn’t comment on her ‘logic’, “Right.”
“Now go and change, I’ll send Pedro’s address to your RotoPhone.”
They did as told, cringing as their chair scraped against the smooth floor, and tried not to notice Mum sighing in frustration.
Maybe they could have tried being more upbeat about this whole Pedro thing, but all their excitement at the prospect of starting their journey had more of less dispersed, and they just wanted to go back to sleep now. Anything to not spend time around some who would instantly hate them.
As they put on the outfit they had selected, their thoughts wandered to how this Pedro guy would humiliate them. Would he derail them so they’d be late, or just until they got upset and made a scene? Or would he ask questions in that specific tone that made them feel like they were on the outside of a joke all over again? Which would be worse? How would he know, when even they didn’t?
“Bye, Mum,” They mumbled, tightening their grip on their bag as they walked out the door, but not before they heard her response, “Bye, sweetie! Don’t forget to call!”
Before they could even get out of the neighbourhood, however, they crashed into someone running towards them, letting out a surprised gasp as they collided with the road below.
“Oh, I’m so sorry! Really, terribly sorry. I was in a hurry and I didn’t realize where I was going and I thought I could run because no one else would be on the road this early and I really had to meet up with—are you okay? Lemme help you,” the tan boy rambled as he dusted himself off, before extending a hand to Akshara that they pointedly ignored.
“I haven’t seen you before,” they said flatly, refusing to meet his gold eyes and preparing for the sneer and the accompanying witty remark.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m new here! My name’s Pedro, do you know where I can find where an…Akshara lives? They said they’d show me to Professor Banyan’s Lab. Or, well, my mom said that their mom said that they’d show me around. Same difference, really—”
Akshara’s alarm interrupted him.
They blearily opened their eyes, only to squeeze them shut at the sunlight filtering through the cream-colored curtains, muffling their groan into the pillowcase that still smelled faintly of shampoo.
It was before six in the morning, their alarm had yet to go off. Akshara could—should—have slept in for longer, especially considering how there was no guarantee they’d find comfortable places to sleep in once they were out on the road, but they found themselves wide awake within minutes.
They haphazardly tossed the quilt to the side, and regretted the decision before Damp Devin hit the floor.
In an instant, Akshara was off the bed, picking up the stuffed Quagsire and cradling her in their arms, her solitary left eye reflecting their frown.
“‘M sorry, Devin,” They mumbled, voice still heavy from sleep, and cringed at how gross their mouth felt now that they had opened it.
They placed her on the bed for the time being, they could decide on whether to bring her along or not after they had breakfast.
They made their way to the bathroom, tip-toeing around Moseby so they didn’t wake him up.
The Stoutland was so old that he didn’t even hear them, even as they passed by him way earlier than they had since their Trainers’ School days. It was hard to reconcile his image with the energetic Herdier that had done more to raise them than their own father.
After they had brushed their teeth and started feeling more awake, they made their way to the kitchen, looking in the fridge for any sign of something they could eat.
When they found nothing, they shut the door, louder than they had intended, and Moseby finally woke up, lazily trotting to stand by their feet. He nudged their leg.
“Heya, Moseby,” they bent down to scratch his ears, when they heard Mum dragging her feet to the kitchen, “Akku? You’re up early. Excited for your journey?”
“Yeah!” they beamed, standing up and dusting off their pyjama pants, all the drowsiness seemingly gone at the reminder that a new chapter of their life was about to begin. That' they’d no longer be confined to Ulyssia. The world—well, Obsia for now—was their Cloyster. The beaches, the deserts, the labyrinth of trees in Vanwood Jungle, those were all Akshara and their future Pokémon team’s to explore at their leisure.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Mum said, heading toward the vegetable basket to get ingredients for breakfast, “you know the boy who moved in next door, Pedro, I think his name was?”
“Please don’t say you want me to talk to him…” Akshara groaned. She had been trying to get them to befriend some kid or another ever since she found out how they had spent most of their Trainer School days in solitude.
“Well, now I don’t need to.”
Akshara slumped forward, the excitement dissipating from their body as they rested their forehead on the hard surface of the table. Why couldn’t she just let this go?
“Akku…” Mum sighed, “come on, you had an entire conversation about whatever with Moseby just yesterday! Wouldn’t it be nice if you said that to someone who could respond?”
Moseby lazily flicked his tail at the mention of his name, cracking one eye open, but Akshara paid him no mind, “Not if the responses include jeering and walking away.”
And being treated like a particularly annoying conscience, always going on about things that didn’t matter. Always a thorn in everyone’s side, no matter how hard you tried not to be.
“He seems like a nice boy,” Mum’s voice snapped them out of their thoughts, “I met his mother the other day—oh, look at me, rhyming!—anyway, she said that he’ll also be getting a Pokémon from Professor Banyan, so I volunteered you for showing him to the lab!”
Akshara sputtered, and they were glad that they hadn’t reached for the half-finished mug of last night’s cold coffee, for they were sure they would have been choking on it by now.
“Mum! You couldn’t have told me this before? Like, I don’t know, at least a month ago?”
“They only moved here last week,” Mum laughed, “now stop with the theatrics, dress into something more presentable, I’ll get started on breakfast so you two can get a head-start to the Lab.”
“I’d be surprised if we could get there before Kiran even if we ran, she must already be on her way.”
“Kiran isn’t getting a first Pokémon from the Professor, Akku, she has her Lildray. Besides, she would be spending most of her time doing research rather than battling, so she wouldn’t have picked the strongest one, those are usually the hardest to train.”
Akshara refrained themselves from sighing. Mum was obviously not familiar with actual battling tactics. Once Kiran’s Lildray evolved into Flordrago and she got a strong ally to take advantage of its support, she would be unstoppable, but Akshara didn’t comment on her ‘logic’, “Right.”
“Now go and change, I’ll send Pedro’s address to your RotoPhone.”
They did as told, cringing as their chair scraped against the smooth floor, and tried not to notice Mum sighing in frustration.
Maybe they could have tried being more upbeat about this whole Pedro thing, but all their excitement at the prospect of starting their journey had more of less dispersed, and they just wanted to go back to sleep now. Anything to not spend time around some who would instantly hate them.
As they put on the outfit they had selected, their thoughts wandered to how this Pedro guy would humiliate them. Would he derail them so they’d be late, or just until they got upset and made a scene? Or would he ask questions in that specific tone that made them feel like they were on the outside of a joke all over again? Which would be worse? How would he know, when even they didn’t?
“Bye, Mum,” They mumbled, tightening their grip on their bag as they walked out the door, but not before they heard her response, “Bye, sweetie! Don’t forget to call!”
Before they could even get out of the neighbourhood, however, they crashed into someone running towards them, letting out a surprised gasp as they collided with the road below.
“Oh, I’m so sorry! Really, terribly sorry. I was in a hurry and I didn’t realize where I was going and I thought I could run because no one else would be on the road this early and I really had to meet up with—are you okay? Lemme help you,” the tan boy rambled as he dusted himself off, before extending a hand to Akshara that they pointedly ignored.
“I haven’t seen you before,” they said flatly, refusing to meet his gold eyes and preparing for the sneer and the accompanying witty remark.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m new here! My name’s Pedro, do you know where I can find where an…Akshara lives? They said they’d show me to Professor Banyan’s Lab. Or, well, my mom said that their mom said that they’d show me around. Same difference, really—”
Akshara’s alarm interrupted him.