Pokémon Roads of Life

[LukeSkyRunner]

Hello to whoever is reading this. I started this story back in September of 2020. After a short lived hot streak, I hit a brick wall of laziness and procrastination. But I’ve now motivated myself and gained the confidence to work on this story again. I’m starting fresh, from square one. Enjoy!

Beta read/finishing touches, thanks to my friend Lotus (Zero_Sugar)@AO3 aka Fireberries @ tumblr

June Koven was having a hard time staying asleep. He endlessly tossed and turned, along with waking up twice that night.

June woke up yet again, he tried to fall back asleep. He closed his eyes, he tried to relax, but to no avail, he was awake now. The boy sighed in frustration.

What time is it?

June looked off of the couch he was sleeping on, and down to the alarm clock on the floor.

5:01 am

God dangit, that’s really early. I wish I could sleep longer

June’s mind quickly wandered to other topics. His heart started to race.

When should I leave? I don’t wanna leave when it’s too dark, I also don’t wanna leave when it’s light out. I don’t wanna get in a fight with some other dumb kid over the starters

Speaking of starters.

Starters! I know I want bulbasaur for my starter! Right! I think? I don’t know!? I’ll deal with that when I get to the lab

June reached over to his backpack, which was a foot away from him. He did an inspection of every pocket and zipper.

Everything’s here. I think.

June examined his backpack again. He took a breath.

Ok, I have everything I need.

June layed on the couch, staring at the dark ceiling. June sat up, then looked toward the hallway entrance at the end of the small living room June was in, he could barely make out the door to his parent’s bedroom.

Certain memories started to enter June’s mind, he tried to fight them, but to no avail.

June’s father stood in front of him, the tall man towered over him.

“Training? Are you kidding me? You can barely take care of yourself! You will NEVER do well on your own June”

“This is why you’re never going to succeed, you’re never going to get a job, you’re gonna be a failure for the rest of your life, just like your mother, your just as sensitive as her”

June remembered what his mother had said too.

“June, I don’t want you to leave, I don’t want you to disappear like your brother. It’s not worth it, most kids fail at training”

“If you leave, I don’t know if I could ever speak to you again. You’re leaving me and your father for what?”

June clenched his teeth, he grabbed his pillow, and started treating it like a punching bag. June’s adrenaline shot up. He tired himself out after a bit.

June was shaking, and tearing up after he was done with punching the pillow. He got up, and started to walk toward the bathroom.

June opened the bathroom door, walking in. Before quickly slamming the door in anger, which was an action he immediately regretted.

June turned off the bathroom light, he crawled into the cabinet under the sink. June feared being screamed at, or hit, or worse. June sobbed for a bit.

But nothing happened, June crawled back out, turned on the light, took a deep breath and went on. He looked at himself in the mirror, as he brushed his teeth.

June’s attire was not much to show off; gray T-shirt, brown cargo shorts, and old sneakers. His parents didn’t have the money to buy anything better. June had intertied his mother’s looks; bushy blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. In terms of height, June was a bit shorter than most kids his age.

June tiptoed back to the couch. He looked over toward the alarm clock again.

6:02am

Man, should I leave? It’s still kinda dark outside. I don’t know!?

Maybe I should sleep a little more? No! No! That’s not happening!

June felt lightheaded, dizzy, and a little nauseous. But that wasn’t stopping him.

I think it’s time, I think it’s time to go

June got up off the couch, put on his backpack, along with his old, worn out sneakers.

June tiptoed toward the front door, opening it. He stepped out of the house, closing the door behind him. The sun was barely starting to rise.
June stood still, this didn’t feel real to him. He still felt like he was just walking to school.

June began to walk down the down the dirt road which his house sat next to. June did not look back at the small house he had grew up in.

No more of that craphole. No more angry idiots fighting each other, or yelling at me and hitting me, no more sleeping in the living room, no more bad stuff happening all the time.

I won’t have to be with those two idiots anymore. I’m free! Free! Free! Free!

I need to get to the lab! And fast! I know where it is! I shouldn’t take that long!

Despite how tired June was, he pushed himself to walk faster. He quickly trudged his way through the rural town. June would occasionally take glances behind himself to make sure nothing was following him.

The sky got a tad brighter every minute.

Where is the lab? Where is it!? I know where it is! I been there before! Why the heck is it so hard to find!? Why!?

Maybe I should ask someone for directions. No! No! No! That’s a bad idea. Asking someone for help is asking for trouble. No thanks!

June kept at his pace, getting more angry and impatient by the minute.

This is hopeless! I’m never gonna find this god dang place!

June stood still, closing his eyes, he kicked up some dirt in frustration.

Why is everything so hard? Why does everything always have to turn into a nightmare? Why? Why? Why?

June opened his eyes, looked forward, and noticed something in the distance.

Is that? It is! It’s the windmill! Finally!
June took a breath of relief, as he walked toward the lab, he stood at the foot of the stairs leading up to it. He gave the place a good look.

Ok, this IS the place, I know it is.

June walked up the stairs. He stood right in front of the double doors of the lab. He grabbed the handle of the right door with his right hand.

“It’s locked!?”

June yanked the door again.

“Are you kidding me!? It’s locked this stupid door is locked!? Really!?”

Knock knock knock, June knocked. He waited a minute after knocking. No answer.

Knock knock knock knock knock.

June waited another minute, no answer.

Knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock.

This is really bugging me

June tried to hold in his anger. He waited a bit longer. But he could not, June balled up his fists.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

“Hello!?” Yelled June.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

“Anyone home!? Anybody!?” June yelled.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

“Answer the door!!” June yelled.

June stopped banging on the door, his hands were hurting. June was breathing heavily.

One of the doors slowly opened right in front of June. June saw the one and only, Professor Oak. He looked pretty tired, and not too happy. The man had a five ‘o clock shadow, messy hair, pajama pants, along with his lab coat over his pajama shirt, complete with slippers.

June saw the state Oak was in.

Man, I shouldn’t have done that. Why did I bang on the door, what’s wrong with me?

The older man took a deep breath, clearly holding in a lot of frustration.

“And who might YOU be? Little kid. Banging on my door, waking me up this early in the morning. Surely, surely this is an important matter” Oak said sarcastically.

June frowned.

“I’m June, June Koven. I-I’m here to get my starter”

Oak’s bloodshot eyes widened a bit.

“Oh, you’re Louis’ kid, I knew you’d be a pain” Oak yawned.

What is THAT supposed to mean!?

Oak sighed.

“Well, come in then, there’s no point in standing out here” said Oak.

“Ok” said June.

June followed Oak into the lab, they walked down a hallway, and entered a door to the right.

They walked into a room with a weird machine in it, this machine held three pokéballs.

Thank goodness, the three pokéballs are all there. I can pick whatever I want!

Oak didn’t say anything, he was half asleep. June stared intensely at the pokéballs.

Ok, this is it! I’m in front of all the starters! I need to pick one! And fast

Bulbasaur, that’s the one I really think I want. It’s part poison type. They also say it’s easy to raise
I mean I kinda want bulbasaur, but what about the others?

There’s also charmander. It’s kinda cool. It’s last stage is a charizard that can fly you all over the place. Cool

There’s also squirtle. It’s final stage is blastoise. It has canons made of bone sticking out of its shell. Cooooool.

“How much longer is this going to take?” Oak asked, passive agressively.

I wish he’d shut up

Hmmmmmmmm

“Ugh! I don’t know!” June cried.

Oak rolled his eyes, June took notice of that.

“Bulbasaur! I pick bulbasaur!” June grabbed bulbasaur’s pokéball. Which had a small leaf symbol on it. June held it with both his hands.

Oak sighed in relief.

“Bulbasaur, your starter is bulbassur, a fine choice for a starting-“

Oak’s sentence was cut off by another yawn.

“I’ll be right back, kid”

Oak walked into another part of the room. But June didn’t care, he was staring intensely at the pokéball.

Whoa

It’s here. I have it. My pokémon, it’s here, I’m holding it. My pokémon! I finally have it.

June was partially convinced that he was either dreaming, or he would be stopped at the last minute.

June opened the pokéball, it let out a strange, bright white light that poured all over the floor. Just as quickly as that happened. June saw his new pokémon. Bulbasaur immediately took notice of June, staring up at him. June did the same, staring down at the pokémon

I hope it likes me

Well, I also wanna give it a name, but what should I name it?

It didn’t take long for June to give a name for the seed pokémon.

“Sprout! I’ll call you Sprout! You like that?”

Sprout didn’t seem to have any objections.

“Alright kid, here are your supplies”

Oak walked over to June, handing him a pokédex, and five pokéballs. June put the pokédex in his pocket, and attached the pokéballs to his belt.

“Thanks professor” June bowed.

“Yep, looks like you two are ready to go!”

Oak gestured June toward the door the entered they room through. Clearly wanting him to leave.

“Um, I guess” said June.

June looked down at Sprout.

“Ya ready to go?” Said June.

Sprout smiled, and yipped excitedly.

“Okay” June said, returning Sprout.

June walked out of the room, into the hallway, and through the front doors of the lab. June saw the beautiful morning sky. It was a mix of dark blue, light blue, and orange. It was around 7 in the morning.

Well, this is it. It’s happening. I’m going on my journey. I’m all by myself

June began to walk towards the outskirts of Pallet town.

I’m my own boy now. I’m all alone. I feel like a grown-up

June had reached the outskirts of Pallet town, he didn’t even look back at the small town as he kept walking into route one.

No going back now, if I mess this up, I’m done for.

 

[LukeSkyRunner]

I don’t own Pokémon btw, don’t sue me

The sun continued to rise, as June walked alongside his new Pokémon friend. They continued their trek down route one, toward the nearest city: Viridian city.

The morning sky was partly cloudy, with plenty of sunlight. The temperature was a bit warm and muggy, due to a fast-approaching summer.

June was fairly cautious walking down the route, yet still had his mind on other things too.

Man…. Walking by myself… With a Pokémon…. It’s so cool, and it’s kinda weird. No more craphole house, no more mom and Lizzy bugging me, no more stupid school, no more annoying, stupid, dumb neighbors…. Just me, and Bulbasaur

This newfound excitement of starting a journey and feeling of being out on his own, filled June up with dopamine. All June could think about at the moment was about how good things are, how this day finally approached, after all these years. His happiness trip made him forget the fears he had just a little while ago.

……

June has been out of Pallet Town before, but he had never fully walked down the route himself. He has only traveled through it in a vehicle. Like the rare chance he got a car ride with someone, or being in a bus for a field trip.

……

What June would realize is how long it takes to walk through this route, as he expected a fairly short walk. He was certainly surprised. As there was no Viridian city in sight, and his legs were getting sore from all the walking.

Man, why is the route so long? My legs hurt

June looked down at Bulbasaur, who seemed a bit tired. June felt bad, he realized that Bulbasaur’s legs were probably a bit sore too.

“We’re gonna take a little break, my legs kinda hurt”

He looked around really quick, as he began to walk a bit off the route. He sat down crisscross, as Bulbasaur followed suite, laying on her belly, and looking over at her trainer

June returned his bulbasaur’s gaze, then shifted between looking at his surroundings and back at his Pokémon again. His mind began to wander.

He looked up at the sky, it was officially day, though a partly cloudy sky was still present. The excitement he had earlier had simmered down a bit. June was pretty much calm at this point.

He began to think about the other kids he knew in Pallet Town. Like Ash Ketchum, an energetic and determined kid who June had an admiration for. Though he wouldn’t really admit something like that. There was also Vera Oak. A friendly and easygoing girl, who has a stuck up and aggressive brother named Gary.

June went to the same school as Ash, while Gary and Vera went to a more expensive, private school in Viridian city.

Out of the three kids, June knew Ash the best. Though that isn't saying much since he never really saw him every day. As for Gary and Vera, he really only saw them on the weekends.

Aside from those three, he never really considered any other kid in Pallet Town his “friend” like Ash or Vera, or even an “acquaintance” like Gary.

June wondered what they were doing right now.

I bet Gary and Vera are up by now, their mom is kinda bossy, and Ash is probably still asleep. He sleeps like a teenager

Bulbasaur let out a loud yawn, which threw June’s train of thought off a bit, and startled him.

“Bulbasaur, don’t scare me like that! I was thinking about stuff….”

Bulbasaur looked puzzled, and tried to go along with what he said.

But yeah! Ash sleeps like a teenager, I don’t know why, he just does. His Mom also owns Mom’s work, that Pallet house inn thing, where everyone goes to eat n’ stuff

Mom works there a lot for some reason… She always says she needs to, but I think she just wants too not be with me….

She always gets all mad about her job too, but she never finds another one that pays more… She makes no sense…

June’s mom is a maid at the inn, who works about 12 hours a day. Though June’s young mind didn’t quite grasp the harsh reality of the situation. There is currently an ongoing economic recession that started when June was a toddler. While Delia Ketchum was a better boss than most, things were still pretty difficult to manage.

She always comes home all mad and stuff, I hate that, it’s so stupid. I wish she would just shut her stupid big fat annoying mouth!

That’s why it’s so cool that I’m on this journey, I won’t deal with that no more. Lizzy was also pretty annoying, she always had her stupid friends over, and she would never shut up either, And then there’s Landon, he sucked too, I’m glad he left

June also has a big brother named Landon, who left on his journey four years ago, and a younger sister named Lizzy, who will start her journey four years from now.

June then thought about his dad for a split second, who he quickly tried to forget about.

June’s father wasn’t the best father out there. While he also helped to provide, he was very unstable, often coming home either really depressed or angry most of the time.

While June, his mom, and his siblings have emotional issues like that, his dads were much worse…… He would often lash out at people he knew, including June.

Around the same time Landon left, June’s dad got arrested by the fire fighters, and was sent off to Viridian city, he was then sent off yet again to the Celadon prison, where he remains to this day.

June’s dad assaulted June’s mom pretty badly one night, leading to the arrest. It was the first arrest to happen in Pallet Town since 1965, it was pretty big news in the little town.

June tried his absolute best to forget about him… But alas, he fell down that rabbit hole of bad memories.

Bulbasaur was still staring at June, but she noticed something was off, she suspected it was bad. So, she tried to get his attention, by making a weird yapping noise.

“Ah! Oh…. I, oh? Um?.......”

Bulbasaur stared at him intensely

“S-sorry Bulbasaur…. I was-uh…. Thinking about more stuff….”

June stood up.

Bulbasaur was grateful she was able to get his attention, he definitely had her a bit worried.

“But yeah… Dad…. Uuuuuuugh!!! Ahhhhhgh!!! Meh!”

“Uhhhhhh…. Ummm… Yeah wait!?.... Crap”

Bulbasaur nudged June’s leg to get his attention yet again.

“Huh!?.... Oh yeah…. Sorry Bulbasaur…. Let’s just go….”

For the next stretch of walking June and Bulbasaur did. The point that it took a while to walk through this route was really cemented in June’s head. Though long walks are obviously something June will have to get used too.

Along the way, there was also a little stretch of forest next to a waterfall.

………
“Woohoo!! We beat them!! Good job raticate!!!”

June and Bulbasaur head a loud voice in the distance.

Who the heck is that!?

June walked over to where the voice was coming from. Whoever it was, they were still yelling out.

“That’s our third battle today! And you’re still in pretty good shape!!”

June walked over to where the voice came from, as whoever it was, was still yelling out.

June was now just a few feet away from the person who was yelling, it was a boy, probably a bit older than June. With blue shorts, and a white tank top, and sandals.

The guy was also talking to a raticate, whom he was congratulating.

June stood still, and took a look at the raticate, its claws, its long tail, it definitely looked pretty creepy. Though June has seen that kind of pokémon before, occasionally running loose in his neighborhood.

As June and bulbasaur were about to walk away, the other kid locked eyes on them, and spoke up.

“Oh hey there, who might you be?”

The kid’s voice, being directed at June, was like being stabbed in the arm with a fork, since June’s goal was to avoid the kid.

“Uh, mmmy name’s June…”

June thought about running away, but didn’t, thinking that would only make things worse.

“Heya! My name’s Ronald! I saw you standing over there!-“

Mid-sentence, Ronald diverted his attention from talking to June, to, well, bulbasaur.

“Woah there! That’s a bulbasaur! Is it yours?”

“Uh yeah?”

June was barley scraping by talking to Ronald, as far as he was thinking, he wanted to get out of this interaction as soon as he could.

“Hmmm, pretty cool, pretty cool!”

As June had a bad feeling toward Ronald, being annoyed, and weirded out by him, bulbasaur also had a bad feeling towards raticate, being creeped out and intimidated by it, due to its larger size.

“So, anyway June, wanna battle?”

After hearing those words come out of Ronald’s mouth, June felt shocked, along with nerve wracking shivers throughout his whole body.

A… B… BATTLE!? Um um um um ok!? Uh, well uh, I- Why a battle!? Why the heck would he want a battle from me!? Ugh! Jeez…

“Well dude, what are you waiting for? Don’t ya wanna battle?”

“No, I don’t wanna battle! I’ve never battled before!”

“I… You’ve never had a battle before!?”

“YES!”

“Well then this time is a good of a time as any, so c’mon! Let’s do it already!”

“I, ugh, I really don’t wanna!”

At this point, June was beyond aggravated, and Ronald was getting impatient.

“You’re a trainer? Right?”

“Y-yeah?”

“You’re gonna be challenging the gyms? Right?”

“Um, uh, yeah?”

“Well then c’mon kid! Don’t waste a chance of having a battle! Unless you’re just weak minded”

It’s safe to say that June’s pretty angry.

Not only is this kid forcing me to battle, but he’s calling me weak minded!

Unfortunately, the anger would get to June, clouding his judgement.

“So kid, ya gonna batt- “

“Ok, fine! I’ll do it!”

“That’s the spirit! Anger! Fire! I love it, maybe you’re not so weak minded after all!”

I-can’t believe I’m doing this…

June only has a limited knowledge of battling, from he learned from his teachers' lectures, and whatever info he could absorb from textbooks. He knew the bare minimum of things, like bulbasaur knowing tackle, and other things, like dodging.

As far as June was concerned, he wanted to get through this as fast as possible.

“Alright June! I’ll be using my raticate, she’s pretty reliable!”

June immediately knew he was already as a disadvantage, bulbasaur was his only pokémon, and that raticate had more experience than it.

The raticate ran up in front of Ronald, making a loud hissing noise.

“Well, I’m choosing bulbasaur…”

June saw bulbasaur run toward the giant rat, he hoped she would at least deal some damage…

As Ronald saw the grass type run toward his normal type, he had to think fast.

“Raticate! Use your tackle attack as well!”

Raticate positioned itself, as it lunged toward bulbasaur, faster than bulbasaur was running.

Before they knew it, they both slammed into each other, with raticate having the clear advantage, as bulbasaur flew back a bit from the tackle, while raticate stayed in place.

C’mon bulbasaur! Ugh… I hate this

Bulbasaur was definitely hurt after that tackle, to say the least. Despite the pain of hitting the ground, she quickly got up, waiting for June’s next command.

Ronald saw this as the perfect opportunity for raticate to land its next move.

“Raticate! Use quick attack!”

Quick attack!?

Due to the move being, y’know, quick and all, June didn’t have much time to react.

“That’s right! Boy!”

Bulbasaur looked back at June, awaiting a command, but June wasn’t saying anything, he was too angry.

Bulbasaur was under tons of pressure, she wanted to make a move herself, but she was taught from when she was very young, to always take commands from humans.

Raticate then slammed into bulbasaur, making her fly towards June, hitting the ground a couple of feet away from him.

June saw all that, he was on the brink of running towards Ronald and punching him.

“C’mon, kid, you’re making this really easy for us!”

… “Use! Tackle!”

Despite her weaker state, bulbasaur was relieved that she was finally given a command. She got up, and ran towards raticate. She was disadvantaged, but she was still determined.

“This is just getting boring, ratic-“

“Oh, shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” June screamed with rage

Bulbasaur mustered up as much ‘omph’ as she could, as she ran toward the raticate.

With the unintentional verbal distraction that June gave out, bulbasaur was able to land a tackle, she hit raticate’s feet, hurting it pretty bad, making raticate temporarily unable to move properly as it let out a painful screech.

Raticate’s screech hurt bulbasaur’s, June’s, and Ronald’s ears, it was satisfying to bulbasaur, as she backed away. Yet it irritated June, due to the loudness.

“Can you shut up to, you stupid rat!”

“Don’t call my pokémon stupid, watch your dang mouth!”

Now Ronald was a little agitated, too.

“Raticate, what’s wrong?”

The only one that was feeling a bit positive at the moment, was bulbasaur. She was happy that she was able to cripple raticate for a bit, but was also irritated about June not taking advantage.

June himself was in a very angry, fogged up headspace, he definitely ain’t paying attention

Raticate! It’s ok… What the hell is bulbasaur doing? Why the hell isn’t that kid doing anything?”

Bulbasaur decided to take matters into her own, and run towards June, and slammed into his leg.

“Ow, what was that f-“June yelled with anger, but quickly cut himself off.

June looked ahead at raticate, finally realizing his opportunity.

“Ach, ugh, OK, tackle that ugly rat! Do it quick!”

Bulbasaur ran up at the raticate for the umpteenth time, as she landed another hit, on its belly.

“Kid! You better stop calling raticate ugly, I’m getting real sick of it!”

“Alright raticate, I think it’s time!”

Time? Time for what?

Bulbasaur didn’t have a good feeling about this

Fury swipes! Now!”

Ronald was now plenty agitated himself, he hated June’s insults.

Fury swipes!?

Raticate honed its claws, and went on to furiously scratch bulbasaur, about five times.

“That’s right! Kid! Fury swipes!”

“There ya go!”

“Are you kidding me!?”

At this point, bulbasaur was barely able to stand, she dealt quite a bit of damage from the fury swipes. June’s anger was also beginning to fade away, being replaced by sadness.

“It’s time we finish this shit! Use quick attack!”

Before June, or bulbasaur could react, raticate his bulbasaur with one last quick attack, making bulbasaur hit the ground unconsous.

Whew, finally… Good job raticate, now rest” said a tired-out Ronald.

Ronald them returned the tired out raticate.

June was at a loss of words; he couldn’t believe it… He lost. He was still shaking from all the nervousness, the anger, the disappointment. All of these emotions, that had been swirling around in June’s head, had created a pretty bad headspace for him.

He walked up to bulbasaur, and shamefully returned her.

He was breathing heavily; he could barely think.

Ronald would look over at June, with angry eyes.

“You! Kid! Are the most irritating kid I’ve ever met. I try to help you out! And all you during the battle is be a litt-“

“You! Forced me into a battle!”

“This is YOUR FAULT…”

“Y- “

Oh god, this kid…

Before Ronald could even process what June said, June ran, he ran as fast he could, Ronald just let him go…

Ronald stood there, dumbfounded, above anything else.

“Man…. That kids got some issues….”

To be continued

 

[LukeSkyRunner]

I do not own Pokémon

The sun was way over the horizon now. The weather was still fairly calm as it was just a couple of hours before, despite a chance of rain later in the afternoon.

Under this sky, was a very distressed boy. June had been under pressure in his first battle, and even half an hour after, was still very distressed about it.

As June would finish the final stretch of his trek from his home town, to the nearest city, constantly playing out his first battle in his mind, over and over again. Trapping himself in the bad headspace. He thought about what he could've done right, he thought about how he could've avoided the orange haired boy, he also worried that he would see him again.

He was too upset to think about anything else, as we walked, his body still shook, of nervousness, not having his Pokémon able to defend him. Thankfully, he was not far from Vidirian City.

June picked up Bulbasaur's pokéball from his belt with his shaky hand, almost dropping it. Then expanded it, and looked at it for a moment.

"I'm sorry, bulbasaur, I know it sucks..."

June was pretty worried about bulbasaur, he doesn't know what goes on inside a pokéball, but he imagines that bulbasaur is still in a lot of pain and anguish inside the ball, despite actual evidence to the contrary.

"We'll get there soon, you'll see..." He let out a big sigh as he shrunk the ball, and put it back onto the belt.

In no time, June finally reached Viridian City, as he exited the final patch of route 1, which was filled with foliage, rather than being some field.

He looked upon the city, which had small houses, with big patches of grass surrounding them, followed by bigger houses, and commercial areas, with taller buildings. June would enter the city, still distressed. All he needed to do now was find the Pokémon center. June had been to Viridian City before, he had been to the Pokémon center before, too, he remembers what it looked like, he just can't quite remember how to get there.

“Where is it? I know it's somewhere in the center of the city? I think, but I don't know” ... June said, as he looked further, towards the taller buildings in the distance.

"Where's what?" A voice yelled out.

"What!? Huh!?"

June was stunned by the sudden female sounding voice that had yelled those words out, he looked to his right, then his left, and saw a female police officer, standing outside of what seemed to be a small police station?

June's fear shot way up when the officer spoke up to him, June has always been very weary of the police, some people in his family have had bad experiences with the police, and thus, he didn't trust them.

"Oh no, is she gonna arrest me or something, did that kid call the police on me, uh, ah..."

"Kid!? Do you hear me!?"

June was still mostly paralyzed with fear, on top of everything else, thinking about wanting to book it.

"What are you looking for kid!?"

"I don't kn- uh, the Pokémon center! I'm looking for the Pokémon center, I'm not a criminal!" June hoped to the above that he wouldn't be arrested, or at the very least, yelled at.

"You're looking for the Pokémon center? Eh, well luckily for you, it's easy to get to" June had a mental sigh of relief knowing that he won't be going to jail.

"Anyways kid, all you gotta do is continue down this street, when you see a big green building, go right onto the other road, at the end of that road, you'll see a four-lane road, take a left and go straight and you'll be there"

At least she didn't arrest me...

June was thankful that the officer was nice enough to give him some directions, though she did say all that a little fast, but he got it.

Maybe she could drive me? No, she'll get mad at me...

June thought about asking her to drive him there, but quickly shot that thought down, thinking that it wasn't worth it, that he would be demanding too much.

"Got all that? Kid?"

"Uh, yeeah I do, thanks..."

"You're welcome little guy, have a nice day" she walked back to the mini station

Little guy!? Ack, I wish people would shut up about that...

Throughout June's life, even now, people would always refer to him as a "little guy" due to his unusually short height compared to other kids his age, to put things into perspective, he was he's a head shorter than Ash.

Ugh, let's get the heck out of here

As June started to walk off, the officer would take a look at him as he walked away, and a curious thought popped up into her head.

"Hmmm, I wonder where that kid's from?" She quickly pondered whether it was worth running up to the kid and asking him that, and she quickly decided that it was!

As June continued further, the officer ran out and caught up with him.

"Hey kid! Hold on! One more thing!"

June was stunned by the officer yelling out at him yet again, he wasn't sure what to feel this time, though a part of him still wanted to book it.

… What!? What does she want now!?

"Oh, uh, hey, uh, wha- what is it?" As the officer caught up with the kid, taking a breath, she went on. "Man, you walk fast... But anyways, where are you from?"

This question pretty much stabbed June in the chest.

WHAT, WHY DOES SHE WANT TO KNOW WHERE I'M FROM. GAH, what do I do!?

June was reluctant to answer, but spoke up, despite the other part of his brain being against it.

"Uh, well, uh, I'm, from, uh-"

"Spit it out! Kid, what's the matter with you?"

"Pallet Town! I'm from Pallet Town!"

"Oh, Pallet Town eh, you must be one of the four kids that are starting their journeys today? Right?"

"Y-yeah?"

"Cool...… y'know, there were 10 kids that left last year, I remember two of them had the same starter, I wonder why only four this year? I'd expect numbers like that from Jenklo town and Farrom town, being the hamlets they are, but not Pallet Town"

June looked at the officer with a weirded out look, he didn't really care about what she was saying, he still had his mind on the Pokémon center.

There was a moment of silence between the two
.
"Well, uh, you should be on your way? Shouldn't you?

"Yeah, I gotta go..."

"Bye kid!"

"Bye"

...

June tried his best to remember the directions that the officer had given him, and surprisingly, he actually remembered them fairly well. One thing that immediately stuck out to June about Viridian City, was the urban-ness of it. Since June grew up in Pallet Town, he was never really used to seeing so much houses, buildings, cars, and people crowded into one place. It was by no means the biggest city out there, it was actually small and less crowded compared to a lot of cities out there, like Celadon, Saffron, Commerce, or even Goldenrod. But to June, however, that made no difference, it seemed very crowded to him, seeing things like three cars in a row waiting at a red light, or at least 30 people within 100 feet of him. All of this was pretty nerve-wracking, due to his current, more vulnerable state.

…

It was then, at a quarter before at noon, when June was standing in front of the all familiar, Viridian City Pokémon center.

The outside was empty, not much people hanging around, same with the inside, guess it was not a busy day, despite it being a Tuesday.

"Not much people here... Good" As June walked in the Pokémon center, he felt a breeze of cool air hit him, it was pretty satisfying to feel that, after being out in the sun for four hours.

"Finally, we're here, feels good..." A tired-out June said, taking a breath.

He saw Nurse Joy sitting at the desk, with her eyes on a computer. June walked up to the front desk, and instead of calling her attention, he waited for her to look his way. After about a minute, Nurse Joy would look over in the boy's direction.

"Alright, just gotta- OH! Hello there, how long have you been standing there?"

From Nurse Joy's perspective, he essentially just appeared out of nowhere.

"Uh, hi, uh, can... Can you, uh, heal my Pokémon please?"

After the little shock, she went back to her normal, joyful self.

"Of course, kid! That is my job after all" she gave out a warm smile, that didn't really mean much to June.

"Thanks, uh, here ya go"

June would reach to his belt, and take out the pokéball, as he expanded it, and handed it to her.

Ok kid, just sit over at one of those couches, and your Pokémon will be healed in no time!

"Alright..."

As Nurse Joy carried off the pokéball, June sat down, recollecting his day, from when he woke up, to when he crossed the roundabout to get to the Pokémon center.

"Man, I hope bulbasaur's ok..."

June was in a somewhat better headspace than earlier, but he was still wrought with worry and regret, worrying about bulbasaur, and regretting his participation in the battle, along with the way he acted when he lost. June was, just like right after the battle, going through the same stuff in his head over and over again. He didn't want to do this all day, however, he needed to take his mind off of it.

June looked around the quiet center, no one else there, the large reception counter, the art of the legendary Pokémon above it, the computers off to the side. He then got out his pokédex and looked at the time; "11:48".

"Hmmm, maybe I should call Mom... Nah, she's still sleeping, I don't want to wake her up..."

"Professor Oak?... No, I don't want to call him either. He's probably busy with stuff..."

Seconds, minutes pass, June starts to grow impatient, in reality, it hasn't been that long since he arrived to the pokémon center. However, for him, it felt like an eternity. He was convinced that bulbasaur was severely injured, that she wouldn't be able to battle, that he would have to take bulbasaur back to Pallet Town in shame, passing the other three...

His mind started to wonder yet again...

He had all sorts of dark thoughts in his head about what he thought could happen, Professor Oak scolding him, everyone in town hating him, being arrested, having to live on the streets...

A confuzzled June was on the brink of sobbing...

He thought about why he left in the first place, well, to put it simply, to not stay in that house, to have a freer life. That's how he liked to think of it, at least. Before he left home, he acknowledged that there would be some hardship in his travels, but he thought that it would be worth it, to maybe, eventually, have a better life...

"What am I gonna do?” .....

"Kid! Your Pokémon is all healed up!"

June's sadness turned into curiosity, with a hint of uncertainty and nervousness, as he ran over to the nurse, who handed him the pokéball.

"He-he-healed up!?, How healed up!?"

"What do you mean?" Said a puzzled Nurse Joy.

"There's... Nothing wrong with her?"

"Yeah, she's all better, good as new"

Hearing those words lifted a weight off of June's back, he was certain that bulbasaur was forever screwed. With that, June let bulbasaur out of her pokéball. Bulbasaur looked up at June with a relieved and happy look on her face.

"Hey bulbasaur, you ok?"

Bulbasaur, looked at June with gleamy eyes, and an open, happy smile.

"Sounds good..."

Nurse Joy decided to chime in

"How sweet... And by the way kid”

"Yeah?"

"What made you think that your Pokémon was severely injured?"

"Well, I, uh, had a battle with her earlier, against a r-raticate"

"And she lost?"

"Yeah?" June frowned

"Did it last long?"

"Uh, I don't know... I'm sorry..."

"It's ok! I bet that it probably wasn't that long, just an average battle, nothing severe, I'm just wondering why you thought it was so bad, was it your first battle?"

"Yeah"

"Then that explains it! You've never had a battle before! No wonder you were so nervous, just to tell you, the only time where I would worry about your Pokémon's life would be something much worse than the battle you had! Alright?" June was more calm now, due to Nurse Joy's reassuring words, he definitely felt much better, all that he was thinking about now was how relieved he is that bulbasaur is ok.

"Thanks" June said with a more calm, less nervous tone.

"You're very welcome kid, anytime"

Right before June and bulbasaur left the Pokémon center, Joy called out to June

“Wait! One more thing!”

June and bulbasaur turned around, with June not being as nervous or stunned like when Jenny called him back.

“What is it?”

“Are you one of the four trainers that left Pallet Town?”

“Uh... yeah I am”

“Alright then! I was just curious, since you're on the way out, I can contact the professor for you”

June was stunned by those words.... But this time, in a good way.

“Thank you, nurse!”

“You’re very welcome, goodbye kid!”

"Alright, bye Nurse"

"Bye kid, bye bulbasaur!"

Bulbasaur used one of her vines to wave goodbye, like what June did with his hand just a few hours ago. As he was about to cross the roundabout, he felt like he was forgetting something...

"There's some other important thingy that's here, but what is it?"

June really thought long and hard about it, but all he could remember was some places he could go next, that he knows from his limited knowledge of locations within his home region, Let alone his nation.

"Hmmm, uh, well, uh, there's Pewter City, I think, which I think is ahead, of... Viridian Forest..."

June felt a lump in his throat when thinking about Viridian Forest, he had never been there before, but he heard all sorts of stuff about it, true, and false.

"I mean, crap, there's gotta be another way..."

"Hmmm..."

A sudden realization popped up into June's mind, something that he never thought about or considered in these past few hours.

"I'm still first, I'm still in first place..."

June realized that he was still ahead of the other three, after all, he woke up the earliest. Though June was never much of a competitive person, he kinda has too if he wants to be a good trainer. In his mind, that would include staying ahead of everyone. Being the FIRST. Like how a kid his age, or younger would take pride in being the first in line at school.

"Ok, I guess we're going to that forest..."

June was still afraid of Viridian Forest, but if it meant still being the first one, he was at least somewhat willing to cross it to get to Pewter City.

To be continued

 

[LukeSkyRunner]

I don't own Pokémon, don't @ me

Under the early evening sky, among tons of foliage, and bug types, were two new friends, walking among a dirt path. Attempting to find their way through the giant green labyrinth that Viridian Forest is. One, a short blonde kid, the other, a small green quadrupedal Pokémon.

By this point, June had long gotten rid of the bad headspace he was in earlier. He was calm, due to the long quiet walk he's been having. Yet at the same time, he was still a little scared and cautious. The sun was starting to set, the sky was a mix of navy blue, light blue, and orange; like earlier when he left town.

Crap, my legs are starting to hurt again, but I wanna keep going, I still wanna be first

As June wanted to push onward, at least until it got dark out, bulbasaur was having none of that, as she gave out a yawn, with her eyes half closed.

June looked down at bulbasaur.

"What is it? Are you tired?"

Bulbasaur stood there, with her eyes still half closed, with a closer look, she looked like she was about to collapse. A few seconds after June asked bulbasaur that question, bulbasaur's expression answered it for him. This raised up a dilemma for June. He wanted to keep walking, but bulbasaur is tired. Well, simple! He could just return it. WRONG! Remember, he still feels uneasy about Viridian Forest, and he wouldn't feel comfortable walking through there without a Pokémon by his side.

"Crap, she's pretty tired..."

"Maybe I could carry her?"

"Hmmm..."

"Crap, crap, cra-"

June was stuck, thinking about what the heck to do, until he saw someone else in the distance, running toward him.

"Hellooooo!" The person shouted out.

June wasn't as freaked out as much this time; he had dealt with enough people yelling for his attention. Even though June was a little freaked out. There was also the fear that he would have a bad experience with them. But alas, he stood still, waiting for the person to approach him.

This could be bad, maybe the person's a jerk....

The person in question, was a boy that had brown hair, was wearing a backwards blue cap, a yellow shirt with a white stripe, and blue shorts, complete with sneakers. He was also about a couple inches taller then June. After the boy approached June, from all that running, he would take a few breaths, before composing himself, and talking to June.

"Uh, excuse me? Have you seen a rattata anywhere? It's about yeh tall, blue skin, red eyes, all that..."

June went into his brain, and tried to think of a time where he saw a ratatta. And... He did!

"Uh yeah, I did see a ratatta earlier"

The other boy's face lit up with joy. "There was that rainstorm a little while ago, me and my bulbasaur..."

June took a quick look at bulbasaur, who was fast asleep...

"Um, uh... YEAH! We went under this big tree. I saw a ratatta there, eating a bunch of berries"

"Really! Oh my god! That's so cool, and I know what tree you're talking about too, see ya!"

As fast as June could say "see ya!" Back, the boy was already gone, running to that big tree, that he knew the location of.

Well, at least he wasn't a jerk, I hope he finds ratatta...

June returned bulbasaur, and decided that it's time to look for a place to settle down for the night. It didn't take that long, he looked around himself, and spotted a small, mostly clear spot behind a couple of trees, and a bunch of bushes. After successfully not being stabbed by the twigs, or having his shorts ripped by them, June sat down on the grassy, dirty ground. Even though sitting on the ground was fairly uncomfortable, it still felt good for him to finally sit down.

June sighed "Guess I'm sleeping here..." Truth be told, it was about time June settle down anyway. Bulbasaur wasn't the only one who was tired out. June himself was pretty fatigued, and hungry for that matter, after being out for over twelve hours, combined with what happened earlier.

It feels strange for June, sleeping out in the forest. No air conditioning, no sealing off from the elements, no TV, no nothing. The closest he can get to sleeping comfortable would be in a sleeping bag, on the ground. And the only technology he has, being a pokédex, and a small radio. It's another thing, among another things, that he'll have to get used to, when traveling.

June took the sleeping bag out of his backpack, and set it on the ground.

After climbing into the sleeping bag. He wouldn't quite fall asleep right away, it wasn't quite like sleeping on a couch, or even a bed. His back was flat on the ground, with the only separation between his back and the dirt, being a soft layer of nylon and polyester. It was pretty uncomfortable, for sure. Combine that with June's fear. He wanted to fall asleep, but too much was occupying his mind: the lack of comfort, the fear of the unknown, person or Pokémon.

June tried his hardest to fall asleep, but alas, he couldn't. At this point, the forest was complete pitch black, with June only being able to see the light of the stars, along with the moon. All he could hear, were the sounds of bug types squirming and normal types scurrying around. At one point, June zipped up the sleeping bag, and tried to fall asleep with it closed, but of course, it got to hot...

June decided to let bulbasaur out of her pokéball, just to feel safer, if he's gonna keep her out while walking, he'll also keep her out while sleeping, too. As bulbasaur was let out, she materialized into complete darkness... The bright light hurt June's eyes, and startled him. She looked around, being quite confused for a second, until June gave her a reassuring word.

"I'm right here, bulbasaur, I need to keep out, I'm kinda scared..."

Hearing June's voice immediately calmed down bulbasaur. As the quickly realized she was sitting on his belly. "Don't gotta go anywhere, I'm just trying to sleep..."

I just wanna fall asleep...

After an indeterminate amount of time, June was still not able to drift off to sleep, unlike bulbasaur. The really bad thing is that, as June tried to fall asleep, his mind would rush with more and more thoughts. Thoughts about wanting to fall asleep, thoughts about still wanting to be ahead of everyone. After struggling within his mind to try to stay up, he eventually gave up.

Whatever, I'll sleep when I sleep...

He wanted to turn on his radio, but he feared that would attract bad attention. He also had his pokédex, which he could use too endlessly learn about certain Pokémon, but that would be pretty boring for him, despite it being beneficial.

Ultimately, June decided to turn on his radio, but keep it at a really low volume. After nearly waking up bulbasaur, by putting her on the ground, he got out his radio, and had it right next to his ear. After flipping through a few stations, he settled on a 24/7 news station. One his dad often tuned in to.

Oh, I guess I'll listen to the news station, the one dad liste-... Ened to!?...

Ugh, stop, meh, bleh... Ach...

"Hello! You are listening to indigo tonight! The current time is 9 o'clock shar-" 9!? Jeeeez, it ain't been that long, ugh...

"...Tonight, We’ll be having a panel of political scientists and economists on in half an hour, to discuss...”

June really hated politics. Mostly due to the fact that he grew up with his father, mother, and brother constantly arguing about politics, he has a bad impression of the subject due to that. However, in order for June to properly fall asleep, he would need to listen to someone talk, music wouldn't achieve this, due to the possibility of being energized up by a song. So, he settled on the indigo tonight show, that he was very familiar with, despite his hatred of the subject matter.

Fortunately for June, this method would be a success, before he knew it, he was fast asleep.

…

June would open his eyes to be greeted by... Darkness. He felt less tired, though he didn't feel refreshed, by any means. Sleeping on the ground doesn't really grant him that.

It's still dark. What time is it? "3:57" June whispered to himself

After this, June ultimately stayed awake. He could not fall back asleep, even with the radio this time. Yet again, like when he left his house nearly a day ago, he was by himself, in the dark, with his thoughts. After a few more hours in the dark, with June's mind being all over the place; from fears about wild Pokémon attacking him to what aliens look like. June would eventually be saved, as the sun started to rise.

Minute by minute, the sky would get brighter and brighter, giving a giant sense of relief to June, no more darkness, no more fear of the unknown... For now. Even though June got enough sleep, and nothing really bad happened. That doesn't undermine how the night was. It was his first night out on his own. Needless to say, it was scary for him.

As things became more visible. June decided that it was a great idea to eat a bit, after barley eating anything the day before. The kind of food that June quickly shoved into his backpack the day before; was just stuff you would find in a convenience store; rice balls, a few bento meals wrapped in plastic, some berries, that's about it.

June had a temptation about having one of the bento boxes. He remembered his mom telling him those should be for dinner. He decided on a few rice balls, which he would try to make bulbasaur eat.

June handed of of the rice balls to bulbasaur. "It's just some food, bulbasaur, ya gotta eat something" June set the rice ball in front of bulbasaur, who stretched her head out a bit to sniff it. To mild success, bulbasaur ate it, which relieved June quite a bit.

…

The walking continues! Right when things got "safely bright" in June's mind, he would immediately set off. With a more than refreshed bulbasaur. The forest itself, surprisingly didn't have much going on, not as much as June thought it would at least. There would still be the occasional other random person walking by, and any random Pokémon, big and small, strong and weak.

However, something would come up to June's mind.

Hmm... Crap! What it we saw a Pokémon like raticate... Oh no, oh no, CRAP!

One of June's fears would officially materialize in his head, rather than just being some background ominous feeling, some vague fear. June picked up bulbasaur, who was a little heavy for him, yet still able to be carried for a while.

"We need to walk faster bulbasaur, we need to be ahead, we also need to run away from any bad pokémon, if not, you'd know what ya gotta do" Bulbasaur didn't object, she probably understood.

"Hey! Hey! You! Wait up!"

June looked back, and saw a familiar face. It was the kid from yesterday, the kid that was looking for his rattata.

"Oh, hey"

The kid, just like yesterday, ran up to June, taking a moment to breathe. "Thank you so much for telling me where ratatta was! I ran to the tree, and there she was! Fast asleep, probably been eating too much..."

"Oh, that's cool" June quietly said

"Sure is! I was pretty worried about her! And if it weren't for you, It would've been a long while 'till I found her"

"Uh yeah, you're welcome..."

"I wanna do something good for you, but I don't know what to do"

“it’s ok, ya don’t have to”

“C’mon, dude! There must be a favor that I could do for you”

“I’m good” June coldly stated

The boy frowned, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I'm sure”

“Well alright then, seeya later!”

The other boy began to walk off. June was yet again alone, with his thoughts. It dawned on him that having someone with him in this forest could be good. At least he’d be with someone, after all. But that option has its downsides; June wasn't really planning on travelling with someone, nor did he feel comfortable doing that. His first night in the forest was difficult for him....

Just like the morning he left home, June had to really think about hos two options, and fast. After about a minute, June called the boy.

“HEY!!”

The other boy perked up, and ran back to June, like he could read his mind. “I knew you needed something, so what do ya want?”

All June needed to do now was properly word out the question, without seeming strange, or even creepy. He isn't that good at communicating sometimes.

"Well, this place is kinda scary for me... And... Uh, well, uh, you..."

"Go on"

"Uh, well, I'm trying to get through this forest to get to Pewter city, and well..."

"I think I know! Do you wanna travelling buddy?"

"Yeah! Only for in the forest, is, uh, is that ok?"

"Sure, I know this forest like the back of my hand, I've been playing and doing stuff here since I was little"

"Thanks" said a relieved June.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's start walking!"

"Alright" said June.

"Oh, by the way, my name's Joey, what's your name?"

"My name's June"

"June huh? You gotta month for a name! I remember I met a girl named August in school one time; she was kind of a weirdo..." Joey was definitely the talkative type, unlike June, being the complete opposite of that. He was a bit annoying for him. Though June tried his best to not care about that, since he was nice enough to accompany him through the rest of the forest.

"I don't wanna brag, but you're real lucky you ran into me! Aren't ya?"

"Yeah, you do know your way around here"

"Yep" said a prideful Joey.

June had a pretty bad feeling about traveling with Joey, a part of him was happy that someone is willing to guide him through the forest, but another part of him really didn't want to be traveling with someone, even for a few days. After all, June grew up in a living situation where he didn't have much privacy to himself. He really hated the feeling of any alone time being interrupted. But he was willing to sacrifice that, if it means getting through Viridian forest as quickly as possible. I guess you could say June's fear of the forest overrode his other concern.

June and Joey would spend the rest of the day, talking, and when I mean them talking, I mean Joey doing 90% of the talking and June having short responses.

Only a few hours would pass, after a while of June and Joey bickering back and fourth about either walking faster or slowing down. June's legs would start to get tired, yet again. To the point where another break was required.

"Hmph, now you walk slower" said a flustered Joey

"Oh shut up, this is the first time I'm doing stuff like this" said a slightly aggravated June

"Well, the more you walk, the stronger your legs will get, don't forget to eat good stuff too"

"Yeah, I know"

During the short break, June would tell Joey about his goal for now, to reach Pewter and stay ahead of the others. "Hm, well, if you wanna stay ahead, ya gotta walk more..."

"I know, it's just, y'know, it hurts..."

"Well, ya gotta do it June, you're a trainer? Aren't ya?"

"Yeah..."

"And you're challenging gyms n stuff?"

"Yeah, I a- WAIT!"

June jumped up upon hearing the word "gym"

"Aw crap!"

"What?"

"I forgot to go to the gym in Viridian!"

"Oh jeez"

"Crap crap crap, how did I forget that..."

"It's ok June, there's another gym in Pewter" June's panic was halted by those words.

"Really?"

"Yeah! It's a rock gym, it's run by a guy named Brock! He's kind of a jerk, but he's strong!"

"Oh, he's a jerk?"

"Well, not a jerk, but he can be kinda mean sometimes"

"I don't wanna deal with that? What about the Viridian gym?"

"There used to be this old lady as the leader, but then she died, and she was replaced by a guy that's never there, and don't forget about staying ahead June!"

"Mmm, yeah, yeah you're right. I just... Don't like jerks, I don't like dealing... With jerks..."

June thought back to the first battle when he thought about dealing with "jerks" he thought of Ronald as a jerk, but in his mind, he started to realize that he was a jerk as well.

June went quiet when thinking about that. Joey and bulbasaur definitely noticed. Bulbasaur looked up at June... And Joey spoke up.

"What is it?"

"I don't know...."

...

There was once a planet, on that planet, was a nation, inside that nation, was a region, inside that region was a forest, inside that forest, were two boys and a Pokémon fast asleep on the side of a dirt path.

The night before, the kids, and the Pokémon had a long awkward silence after the sudden halting of their conversation. With that, all three eventually fell victim to tiredness, and fell asleep. It was now only a matter of time before they all woke up.

The first of the three to wake up was Bulbasaur. She stood up, and looked over at June, who had his back against a tree, curled up with his arms wrapped around his knees. She looked over at Joey, who layed down with his face in the dirt, his arms and legs stretched out.

Bulbasaur didn’t have any idea of waking them up. She sat down and really didn’t move. She thought that her trainer wouldn’t really like it very much if she went somewhere on her own. She even felt uncomfortable moving slightly without her trainer’s supervision. She briefly remembered something that happened way before she met June.

There she was, sitting down, with a bunch of other Pokémon in the middle of a field, being lectured by a Alakazam and a tall human wearing a lab coat about how to properly behave under a trainer’s supervision. One of the main things that was demonstrated was not to disobey the trainer. That pretty much stuck with Bulbasaur, thus why she is behaving like she is.

Though June may have not noticed it, Bulbasaur was very angry at him for not commanding him during that moment in the battle against Ronald and Raticate. It took a lot of courage for her to run over to June and tackle him in the leg, she was very angry and stressed due the situation, and having to make those decisions. When she was returned to her pokéball, like all Pokémon, they enter a dream-like state. She dreamed about tackling June in anger more, and him screaming back at her more. After she got healed at the Pokémon center, she felt better.

One other thing that Bulbasaur thought about was all the walking her and June have done. It’s a lot for her, and she doesn’t really like it. June doesn’t seem to realize that though, which is something that really aggravates her. It's not like she doesn't like walking, she just hates too much of it. Overall, her feelings are pretty mixed, she's glad that she's finally out traveling with a new trainer. However, she still feels a bit uneasy about June, she wants to make her trainer happy, but she also wants her trainer to make her happy.

All of this thinking was interrupted by the one and only June waking up. June took a second to boot up his mind, due to the exhaustion from yesterday. His eyes were half open, due to adjusting to the bright sun. He looked over at Bulbasaur. “Hey Bulbasaur” Bulbasaur walked over to him, and sat down closer to him.

June looked up at the morning sky. “Man, what time is it?” June pulled out the pokédex that had so far not been used.

On the top of the screen, showed the date, and time. Thu/4 – 3 – 97/10:10

Its already 10!? Jeez... June was instantly in a bad mood; he thought enough time was already wasted. It took June a second to really get his thoughts together... Until he went to try to wake up Joey. He really wanted to wake up Joey, yet he also thought that could be a bad idea. He sat near him for a little while, thinking about waking up Joey, but not quite doing it... Until he did.

June got a little closer to him and said “Joey!? Joey!? Wake up...” Joey woke up after a few more words... He wasn’t the happiest that June woke him up though.

“Why’d you wake me up?”

“We need to hit the road; I need to stay ahead of everyone”

Joey was more than annoyed that June woke him up, along with him being in a rush to already leave. “June can we just stay here for a moment?”

“Why!?” Said an agitated June

Joey shot back with a “Why do you think? I just woke up! Can I just sit-down for a moment?”

June let out a sigh, “You already had sleep time! Why can’t we just go!? I still need to be ahead of everyone!” June’s slightly agitated tone turned into angry tone.

“Why!? Are you in a race or something?”

“NO!! Let's just go already!!” June yelled

“Don’t yell at me June!! Calm the heck down!! We’ll leave when we leave!! Got that!?”

“JOEY!!!-” June’s next rage filled retort was stopped by Bulbasaur, who nudged him in the leg, wanting him to stop.

I will kick the crap out of you, Bulbasaur

June stood in silence, with his rage bubbling up like tea kettle.

“You know what!!” June yelled

“What!?” yelled Joey

“Screw the both of you!! I’ll get to Pewter all by myself, and I'll have beaten Brock when you two idiots get there!! So long!! June walked away. Bulbasaur followed June, despite how she felt about his behavior. She kept a distance from him.

“This is what I get for helping out someone...” Joey frowned. “I hate some people” Joey sat back down, he noticed that June’s backpack was still there. “Great! He forgot his backpack... Now I’m gonna have to find that jerk”

…

A couple hours later June would be sitting by a river, with his right hand, and right foot hurting due to taking his anger out on a tree. After his anger subsided, he sobbed for a little while. Now he finds himself staring at the flowing water of a river, with his mind all over the place. He still wanted to be mad at Joey for not immediately leaving like he wanted. Though he understood by now that how he reacted was pretty bad. June felt like having the ground swallow him up, and to stay underground forever.

Bulbasaur was sitting behind a tree a few feet away from the river, looking over at June. Still not pleased about how he acted...

June was also still really worried about being left behind, even though it possibly cost him the ability to get to Pewter quickly... and even making a new friend. You’re probably wondering why June is so keen on staying ahead of everyone, well, let's get into that.

You see, throughout June’s life, he always dealt with the feeling of being left behind. His academic performance is one example. June wasn’t the best in school, he would often find himself being left behind and stuck on certain subjects that most of his peers already understood. The biggest example would be math. Most kids around June’s age already know how to multiply and divide without a calculator, while June still struggles with adding big numbers in his head.

Another example would be his living situation. Though June’s family wasn’t the only family in Pallet town to struggle with money; far from that. June only payed attention to kids in school who had more than him. June would compare himself, his life, to those kids and their lives. When June first learned about how kids can start a Pokémon journey at the age of ten, he was psyched by that, he couldn’t wait.

All of this contributes to June’s low self-esteem, and so, he would feel more confident about himself if he was at least ahead of everybody. However, that does not justify his behavior from earlier. His low self-esteem, along with the kind of environment June grew up in, is the root of his bad behavior.

…

Joey and his rattata both scurried the forest, frantically looking for June. Even though Joey didn’t want to help June, especially after what June did to him, he still felt like doing that for him, at the very least.

“Where the heck is that jerk? He’s gotta be around here somewhere” As soon as Joey though out loud, rattata started to get his attention. “What is it? Rattata? Ya found something?”

Rattata led Joey to some footprints, which were clearly Bulbasaur’s. “Finally...” Joey sighed. Soon enough, Joey and rattata found Bulbasaur. Joey quietly put June’s backpack beside Bulbasaur and scurried off.

June was able to compose himself soon after and got up. He walked over to Bulbasaur, and sat down next to her. He took a deep breath, before he spoke.

“I’m sorry for being such a jerk... I was just really mad; I really want to be first... I don’t wanna drag behind... But I can’t be a jerk about it...”

Bulbasaur was thankful that June was calm (on the outside, at least), but she still wasn’t impressed about how he acted earlier, she had a background hum of uneasy-ness in her head. “I guess we should start walking now...” Upon hearing that, Bulbasaur shot June a dirty look.

“What!?” Bulbasaur took a while to try to show June what was wrong, after many attempts of trying and failing, she finally got the message through. June got the message, and tried to some up with a solution.

“Maybe I could just carry you, until you feel like walking again, ok?” Bulbasaur seemed ok with it, as June put on his backpack, and picked up Bulbasaur. June wasn’t exactly thrilled about carrying Bulbasaur, but if it meant keeping her out, and Bulbasaur not being mad at him... It was worth it.

As June walked onward, he was really under the weather about the fact that he lost the kid who was guiding him through the forest, and how he lashed out at him, in a similar fashion to how he lashed out at Ronald. Though June still believed that Joey was stupid, for not leaving earlier. He would spend the rest of his walk frustrated.


To be continued

 

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