FicWad

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine, I just have to stay here until the police and ambulances come and stuff. Take those to Professor Oak; if he's asleep then tell one of the aides to let you in. If you see a blonde scientist girl who works at the computer near the door, tell her Kenny sent you, she'll open it," Kenneth told his friend, who had just come out of this house with the gun in his hand. The injured boy looked up at him, and he asked if Mitchell had done it.

"He's still alive,"

That was a relief to Kenneth. It wouldn't be the easiest thing in the world to be a Pokémon trainer with the cops sniffing around. He tried to shift himself onto his side - he had never been a fan of sleeping on his back - but it was too painful for him to complete the turn. Mitchell held the tiny ball that Kenneth had given him in his hand, his thumb lightly grazing the button on the front. He wanted to open it, to see what was inside. Around Pallet Town, he had never seen anything but Pidgey and Rattata, not to mention the Magikarp and Tentacool that were routinely reeled in from the coast. But if the Pokémon inside did not know what had happened to his temporary owner, then Mitchell didn't want to let it see his blood-soaked human companion in this position.

"I'm not just gonna leave you in this field," Mitchell told Kenneth. Kenneth smiled.

"Still protective as hell," he said, "Go on, just get that stuff to Oak. Your mom is probably close to the station by now, the ambulance will show up too,"

"No, you aren't staying here," Mitchell said again, this time with a bit of authority in his voice. Kenneth looked at him disbelievingly. He could tell that the boy was getting hostile by the way his knuckles whitened. What was he going to do, punch his friend who had just been shot?

"Seriously, Mitchell, I'll be better off here on the ground than I would be if you were carrying me. No offense, I mean, think for a second. If the ambulance comes, it'll rush me to the hospital. If you carry me, it'll be hours before anyone even knows anything's wrong with me. Your mom heard the shot; I don't think there's a person in twenty miles who didn't hear me scream, so the ambulance will come here, not into the woods where they might not be able to find me. I'm gonna be okay, stop thinking that if you leave me here, you're leaving me to die,"

Mitchell gritted his teeth and felt a flash of heat from the ball. He looked at it and squeezed it tightly. Every fiber of his being wanted to grab the bloody boy and haul him into town, but his mind was screaming to him not to. With a defeated sigh, Mitchell pushed the button on the Pokéball. A steady pulsing that increased in temperature had followed the flash of heat. The Pokémon inside obviously wanted out. Almost immediately after the ball grew into its larger size, about the same as a baseball, it popped open and a beam of red lunged outward, splattering to the ground like some kind of glowing liquid. It began to rise from the grass and draw itself back together, forming a two-foot blob that hardened very quickly. The energy turned orange and textured like small scales, almost invisible to the untrained eye. Its eyes formed, like vibrant blue sapphires against a velvet background. A tail sprouted from one end and suddenly ignited on the end. It stared up at Mitchell as if gazing upon its mother for the first time, studying every detail of his face, his clothes, his posture. It closed its eyes and seemed to smile at the teenager.

"Charmander, take him to Professor Oak," Kenneth told the Pokémon. It looked back to see its owner on the ground and smiled at him as well, before seeing the fresh blood on his sweater. The Pokémon's eyes bulged and he roared at the top of his lungs, rushing on his short reptilian legs to Kenneth.

"No, Charmander, go to Oak. I'll be fine," Kenneth told the Pokémon, but it stood firm, leaning over the boy and placing its hands on the side farthest from the bullet.

"Okay, hug," Kenneth said. His voice sounded like he was tiring rapidly, but he wrapped one arm around the Charmander's neck and embraced it. Mitchell couldn't help but smile. Kenneth was a good person, despite a not-so-good background. If he were not successful in pursuing his career as a researcher, he would be terrific in a caretaking position. This Charmander had developed what seemed like a deep and loving relationship with the human it was protecting over the course of only a single month. It was very touching for Mitchell, who only knew the bittersweet love he shared with his family; the sweet part was his mother, while his father was the bitter.

"Okay, fine, I'm going. But you're not dying today, you got that?" Mitchell said, stepping closer and crouching down, extending his hand for a final handshake before departing. Kenneth grabbed it and shook, his grip firm and strong, his skin cool to the touch. They let go and saluted each other before Mitchell began to walk away. Charmander stumbled over to the Pokéball and picked it up, waving his tail at Kenneth and smiling. That look always made Kenneth go googly-eyed with joy. Such a cute little lizard; if Kenneth wasn't lying there in the grass, then he would've never let Mitchell have it. But Kenneth knew that there wasn't much more time that he could have spent with the Pokémon anyway. The cold of night was setting in, and it wasn't helping the boy. He closed his eyes and felt consciousness fading, the whole time afraid that it wasn't sleep that was encompassing him. With a final deep breath, his world faded to black.

Mitchell kept his eyes set straight on the path back into town, but the treetops blocked off the moonlight and made it very hard for him to see exactly what he was walking on. The light of Charmander's tail drew his eyes like a moth, and every time he found himself looking down at the Pokémon he saw it looking straight up at him. In a way, it was unnerving. The expression alone made Mitchell think that the Charmander had some kind of knowledge of something that Mitchell did not, and that it was waiting for him to ask about it. The teenager turned his sight back to the road and started to think of how close the police were by now, or how far his mom had gotten. It had only been a few minutes, but his mom was a fast runner. One of her hobbies was running, but since she was not allowed outside she practiced on her treadmill. So far, she had not found a setting she couldn't run against for less than a minute.

"Char," the Pokémon said. Mitchell looked down at it, and it stopped. It cocked its head as if confused.

"Huh?" Mitchell asked. He knew that Charmander wouldn't respond to him. He turned back around and kept walking, noting that Charmander was keeping up because the light was still circled around.

"Char," he heard again, and turned around to face Charmander, who turned around and looked into the darkness. It looked back at Mitchell again and cocked its head. Mitchell did the same thing, even though he was honestly unsure of what was going on. Charmander looked up ahead and pointed down the path. Mitchell looked where the Pokémon had pointed, but saw nothing.

"What?" he asked, looking back at where Charmander had been standing, but the lizard was gone. It didn't take long to find him, though; the glow from his tail was visible from behind the bush he had hidden behind.

"Charmander, I see you," Mitchell told him, slightly annoyed now. He kept walking down the path and waited a few seconds for the Pokémon to follow, but he did not.

"Charmander," Mitchell yelled, but the Pokémon was unresponsive.

"Charmander!"

Charmander remained in hiding.

"What do you want me to say? Olli olli oxen free?"

Charmander launched out of the bush with a happy screech and rushed on all fours toward his new owner, wrapping himself around Mitchell's leg. The Pokéball was in his mouth.

"Charmander, I need you to get in the ball, okay?" Mitchell asked. The Charmander shook his head playfully and let go, holding the ball up with both hands to his owner. Mitchell took it and pushed the button, instantly making Charmander turn a bright red. He turned to energy and was sucked into the ball, where he fell asleep. Mitchell sighed and clipped the ball to his belt. He silently hoped that the Pokémon wasn't always so happy, though he also admitted that he could use a little more joy in his life. Maybe Charmander was just trying to help him out of his slump.

He looked up ahead and saw the first of the lights around the center of town, the only place in the city with any real nighttime lighting. He could see the flashing sign of the pharmacy he had visited before, which made him rub his hand over his bruised face. He wondered if Joanna was still working. It was getting dark, so she probably wouldn't be busy, and he could go keep her company. Besides, he didn't really want to wake up Professor Oak at midnight. He had to get out of town as quickly as possible, and Oak was his best shot. He always could steal Charmander, but the Pokémon knew that he was supposed to be taking him back to the lab. He also didn't want to get into trouble with Oak. He sighed and kept taking his steps, moving into a light jog and passing by the first of the houses. The pharmacy was coming closer. Should he check? Yes, yes, he should. He slowed down and peered in through the window. Joanna was sitting behind the counter at the front of the store, her face buried in a teen magazine and a pair of headphones blasting loud rock music into her ears. He stepped on the sensor pad and stopped quickly. The medicine was still in his bag.

He dropped the backpack to the side of the door, in a small, shadowy alcove where no one would be able to see it, and stepped through the automatic door.

Instantly, Joanna shot a glance at the boy approaching her. It was the boy from earlier. What was his name...did he have a name? He hadn't told her. Wait, he did. No, that wasn't this one. Now she knew she was just thinking too hard.

"Hi!" she said, to which he responded, "How's it going."

He didn't seem very excited to see her. It was okay; they had only met earlier and had not even been properly introduced. She flashed her trademark smile at him and put the magazine down, instinctively bending the corner of the page as she shut it, to keep her place. He awkwardly made his way over to her, pretending to be looking for something but not doing a good job of it.

"Your bruise is looking better. Did you put the ice on it?" she asked, though she knew it was a blatant lie. If anything, it had gotten redder and a little more swollen since she had last seen him. He stopped in one of the isles and absentmindedly eyed products.

"Yeah, a little bit," he called back to her, not bothering to look. How would he approach her? She seemed bored enough, so he could probably just tell her that he was also bored. No, he couldn't, because then she would wonder why he came up to a pharmacy when he could have turned on the TV or called someone. He had to come up with something good.

"Gonna have a fun night tonight?" she asked, somewhat disappointedly. He looked back down the aisle at her and cocked his head, involuntarily mimicking Charmander.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because you're staring at the condoms,"

He looked back down and suddenly started blushing, making his face even redder. Of all the things he could be looking at, why did he happen to stop at the condom section?

"Oh, no, see...I was...uh, I was...thinking...of you?"

She suddenly looked shocked.

"Excuse me?" she asked. She had been completely off when she judged him before. No wonder he had such a huge, ugly bruise on his face. He came back to buy condoms for her? What kind of freak was he?

"No, wait, dammit!" he stammered, "I meant I came back to see you, not to buy condoms!"

He let the embarrassment sink in for a few seconds, his eyes locked with hers. She started to laugh.

"And you wanted to make it seem like you were here for a reason, I get it. For a second there,"

Mitchell left the aisle and went back to the front of the store, introducing himself.

"I'm Mitchell,"

"Joanna,"

Wow. The way she said her name was breathtaking. And, of course, it was just his luck that he happened to meet her on the day that he was fleeing Pallet Town. She pulled up a tall stool behind the counter and offered him a seat.

"Wait, Mitchell. I know you from somewhere. What's your last name?" she asked. He told her.

"Yeah, I've heard that name before! I remember it because I've never heard it anywhere else. Your mom used to be friends with my mom, but we thought you guys moved or something so we never see you anymore. Where are you living now?"

"Same house I've always lived in,"

"Oh. Then why don't we ever see you?"

"Because my dad is a dick," he answered, suddenly wondering if he had offended her with his language. She sighed.

"Yeah, I know that feeling. My dad can be kinda mean sometimes. I love the guy, though. He's the one who takes me shopping and stuff. I guess it's not that he's mean, but he's really overprotective. I guess that's because Mom is overseas working until next year. He's insecure, I guess. I don't know. Do I talk too much?" she explained. The question on the end was a sort of trap. If he said yes, then he was either honest or not interested. If he said no, then he was interested, telling the truth, or not paying attention.

"Not at all. But I do have to be going soon, I've gotta get as far away from Pallet as I can tonight," he said. Joanna looked like she was about to say something, but she stopped and seemed to be looking into the distance. She was listening. Something was coming. Sirens?

"Are those coming for you?"

"Maybe,"

"What the hell did you do? That sounds like four or five cars!"

"I didn't do anything. But I guess Mom got to the station,"

Now Joanna was really curious. Mitchell reached for his Pokéball, the one containing Charmander, and started rolling it around on the counter, playing counter-hockey with it as he explained what had been happening to her. The sirens passed right by the pharmacy, the flashing blue and red lights streaming in from the darkness outside before they faded away.

"Can I see him?" Joanna asked, pointing at the Pokéball as it rolled into Mitchell's open right hand. He picked it up and pushed the button, the size increasing and a flash of heat from inside telling Mitchell that Charmander was awake. He released the Pokémon and watched the bright light form on the counter as Charmander appeared. He was curled up into a ball on his side. As soon as the light hit his sapphire eyes he stretched his body out, his tail kept up in the air to prevent burning anything. He stood up and looked at Mitchell happily.

"Aww, cute!" Joanna said playfully, reaching out to pet the lizard. Her other hand reached around her back, unclipping her own pet Pokémon and pushing the button on the ball.

"My mom got this from Professor Oak for my birthday last year," she told Mitchell. Charmander gave Joanna a mock-angry look when she stopped petting him, but crawled into her lap and hugged her neck.

"He likes you," Mitchell said. Joanna went googly-eyed and started baby talking to Charmander, who responded by chanting the first syllable of his name happily and pressing his head into her hand. She grabbed him and turned him around, letting her own ball drop freely onto the counter. It popped open, releasing a red light that started to take a kind of frog-like form. A small bulb appeared on its back and grew into what resembled a large head of lettuce. It shook the sleep off and looked at Mitchell suspiciously, then at Charmander.

It started to growl and two tentacle-like whips shot out from its bulb, but Joanna was quick to react. Charmander launched out of her lap and landed on the counter next to Mitchell, where it faced the Bulbasaur and stared at it threateningly.

"Friend, Bulbasaur," she snapped at it. It looked at her and turned on its stubby legs, stomping once.

"That's how he tells me he understands me. He knows a lot of tricks, but I've never taken him out training so really he's just a pet to me. I wish I could take him out, but my dad is really protective. I told you that already. He would never let me go training. So Bulbasaur is kinda stuck here with me until I turn eighteen. Then I'm blowing this popsicle stand," Joanna explained. She got a dreamy look in her eye right after her last statement. Charmander relaxed when Bulbasaur looked at him with an apologetic look. They seemed to be speaking to each other, yet they made no noise.

"I've been wanting to leave here for almost my entire life. It took forever, but I made it. I'm out of here tonight. But now I kinda wish I could stay," Mitchell told her. She looked at him expectantly. He had made his first move on her.

"Because your dad is going to jail, right? And you want to make sure your mom and Kenneth are okay? And life can actually be kinda normal now?" she asked.

"Yeah," he responded. Damn. He had expected her to say something other than that. He felt like a fish at that moment, finally getting the hook out of his mouth and swimming into smooth waters when suddenly realizing that he had swum straight into a net. She smiled at him.

"I kinda wish that one day, I'll be sitting in here, maybe reading or listening to music and talking to Bulby, just relaxing. And then, at the top of my boredom, someone will just walk in and sweep me off my feet and drop me in their limo. They could drive me to Celadon City, and they'll be rich too, so I don't have to get a job in another pharmacy - don't get me wrong, I like it here - but then I can play slots all day and party all night. Pallet is too small for a city girl like me," she dreamed. Mitchell stood up and picked up his Pokéball.

"We've gotta go. I'll let you know if I meet your knight in shining armor," he said, letting Charmander notice that it was time to get back in the ball before actually moving away from the counter. Joanna looked at the clock on the nearby computer.

"Yeah, we closed fifteen minutes ago. I should be going too. Walk me home?" she asked hopefully. He nodded and put the ball away, confusing Charmander, who had been ready for a good night's rest.

"You want to be our light, Charmander?" Mitchell asked the Pokémon, who shook his head violently and jumped down from the counter, leaning onto all fours and rushing through the front door. Bulbasaur hopped down and followed Charmander. Joanna set the alarm and grabbed her coat, leading Mitchell through the doors. He picked up his backpack and looked down the street, where Charmander was running alongside his Grass-type friend.

"Charmander, slow down!"

The two Pokémon looked back and sat there, awaiting their owners, who walked slowly and silently behind. It was a short walk, no more than a couple of blocks from the pharmacy, and all four of them wished that there was more time for them to hang out. Bulbasaur didn't know much other than a few Rattata who lived a silent life underneath Joanna's deck and a Pidgey that came by with outrageous stories of the world beyond Pallet, so it was good for him to have a new friend. Charmander knew a Squirtle back at the lab, but it had been a month since they had seen each other. Joanna didn't have very many people she could call true friends, and had horrible luck with boys. Now that she found one that she actually liked, he was leaving. Mitchell felt the same way, though the reason he couldn't find any girls was because he could never leave the house. As they approached the door, Joanna noted that her father was standing at the upstairs window and looking down, waiting for her to show up. She waved at him and he walked away, presumably coming downstairs to let her in.

"Well, sorry this was so short-lived. I don't have any guy friends around here, they're all pigs. You're pretty cool, though. Give me a call next time you stop by?" she asked. He pulled out his cell phone and stored her number as she spoke it from memory. Both of them wondered if he would ever call.

"I'm sorry, you can't keep him," Joanna heard from behind. The door was open a crack and a mysterious eye could be seen staring out at them.

"I know," she said. Her dad stood there and stared at Mitchell, the eye seemingly enthralled by the massive bruise on the side of his face. Bulbasaur pushed the door open a little further so that he could fit in, and Joanna crouched down and pet Charmander one more time.

"You come back to me if he misbehaves, mkay?" she said, rubbing him on the head and standing back up. Mitchell couldn't see Joanna's dad in the widened door opening, and assumed that he was with Bulbasaur, wherever the Pokémon had run off to. Well, he had to seize the moment.

He leaned in and planted a kiss on Joanna's cheek. He had been aiming for her lips, but it seemed really early, even though he was sure they would never see each other again. She smiled and hugged him goodbye before stepping into her house. Charmander stood on his tiptoes and waved at her before turning around with Mitchell. They walked down to the driveway and toward the lab, Charmander's tail bouncing like a torch in the dark.

As soon as Joanna shut the door, she saw her father standing there. He had watched through the peephole.

"I hope you were at work," he said, sounding slightly annoyed. Joanna sighed.

"Yes, Daddy, he was a customer. He's a gentleman and didn't want me to have to walk home alone this late at night, okay?"

Her dad looked at her suspiciously.

"What was that kiss about?"

"It's just a way to say goodbye now, Dad,"

"What happened to him, if he's such a gentleman? Did you kick him in the face for hitting on you?"

"No, I wouldn't do that to him, he's just a sweet guy,"

"So you like him then,"

"Remember Amber Direnetti?"

Her dad didn't expect the seemingly random question.

"Yes, why?"

"That's her son,"

"Oh,"

"They didn't move. Turn on the news, you'll see," Joanna told him. She saw Bulbasaur sitting at the top of the stairs.

"I have to feed him. Seriously, watch the news. You won't expect it at all,"

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Author Notes: Okay, I kinda lied. The letter will not be delivered until the next post, since I got a little carried away with Mitch and Joanna. In the next post, I promise, Mitchell will go to Professor Oak, receive his starter, watch the news report that Joanna's dad will be watching as well, and meet the rival (ooooh, who's it gonna be?). Read and review, I know it's long but I like to know the opinions of the readers (as well as if there are any at all).

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