Tortures of Being Young

Learning to read was hard. The first step was that I actually needed someone to teach me. I couldn't exactly teach myself to read without already being able to read. Well, I probably could, but it would certainly be a lot slower than getting somebody else's help.

As I had been 'reborn' on a weekend, I figured that I would wait a couple of days to see what they were actually teaching in school so far. Yeah, it turns out that even though my past self, so to speak, actually attended school, he didn't pay any attention to it, so I had no idea what we were actually learning. I was honestly lucky I didn't have to relearn how to speak. It seemed that I at least picked that up.

I spent those two days hurriedly avoiding head matron Patricia, maybe not the best thing to be doing, avoiding the situation, but I wanted to at least see how difficult it was going to be for me to learn how to read before I approach her. Instead, I spent that time trying my best to think of future plans, but finding it very hard to do so when I had exactly zero information.

Before I knew it, it was Monday morning and time to head to school. School mornings were always rough on the staff as they had to get almost 30 children ready for various schools, and it often turned into a hectic scene. I got out the door with 4 other kindergarteners as we walked to the school, being led by one of the orphanage staff, Garnet, if I remembered correctly.

It was as I was walking to school that I got my first real look at this world's pokemon, and it was amazing. Pokemon weren't everywhere, as one might expect. In fact, I was rather surprised when I hadn't seen a single one even when running around the orphanage trying to hide from the matron. However, outside of the orphange's grounds, they seemed a little more common.

Their were scattered Starly's flying throughout the air, and the occasional Geodude or Machop helping people carry things. It was certainly an amazing sight, and it made my passion burn for these creatures all the brighter. Besides the pokemon, the town was a little boring. It was pretty much rock as far as you could see with little variation in the buildings. The rock at least made a little sense since I'm pretty sure the town was built in a quarry, but couldn't you at least get a little creative with the design? No matter, the pokemon made it all better, at least for me.

You see, in my past life, I had been studying to become a zoologist. I loved everything about animals and the fact that pokemon were basically not just animals, but also mythical creatures at the same time was right up my alley. I don't know if I wanted to actually become a scientist in this life like in my last, as I was more than happy just having pokemon. At the same time, I wasn't a very competitive person, but I would have to see what being a trainer was actually like and if I wanted to go down that route.

I eventually managed to stop my gawking and catch up to the others. I had gotten a little behind them with all my thinking, but it wasn't too rough to catch up. I think the people leading me were one of the staff members that really didn't like me because she didn't seem to particularly care that I was almost left behind.

Most of the orphanage staff tried their best to be kind to me, but it seemed like a few of them actively disliked me, like how I remember the teachers at school doing. I'm not exactly sure why, although I was a little creepy, I definitely wasn't an active malice, but it was just one of those things that I would have to get used to in this life.

I don't know when I'd ever fix my relationship with anybody, but the kids especially. Considering the couple of times I had tried to approach somebody around my age, they would all run off screaming. It seemed I had cultured a reputation as somewhat of a boogeyman in the active imaginations of 3-6 year olds. And while some of the older children didn't actively run away from me like the younger children, even they kept their distance from me and were unwilling to talk to me. It seemed I would have to wait a little while for my reputation to smooth over.

Mind you, it wasn't like I actually minded being left alone that much. In my last life, I had been a bit of a loner, and my whole life plan had been to basically fuck off to the middle of nowhere in Alaska with lots of pets. Of course, I did eventually realise that I needed some friends, or at least close aquanticies, so I probably wouldn't be doing that in this life, but I would at some point like to travel, whether that be through the gym circuit or something else.

My whole point though, was that it wasn't the end of the world if my fellow orphanage members and classmates didn't like me. I would always have a chance to make friends in other places if the chances of me having friends around my age at Oreburgh were completely shot. That wasn't to say that I wouldn't at least try to be friendly with the kids around me, but it would really be up to them if they would be friendly to me, or not. Eventually, I was kicked out of my musings by a voice.

It's Garnet, having turned to face the five us, with a rather stern expression on her face. "Alright, you 5, we're here. Remember that we meet back here at three o'clock, and I don't want any of you lingering in class for too long once the day is over." Her stern expression softens as she looks at us five. "Have a good day, Jamie, Joseph, Ruby, and Sulfur. I'll see you soon."

They all answer back with a jumbled chorus of goodbyes while I'm too busy thinking on a couple of points. First off, no goodbye for me? Youch, she must really not like me, but at least she's nice to the other kids. Otherwise, I would be actually worried to have her working at an orphanage. Still not right that she seems to activley dislike me, but at least I can handle it, as an actual adult in a kids body. Also, Sulfur? Someone drew the short end of the naming stick.

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Kindergarten was incredibly, mind numbingly, boring. Me thinking I might be learning to read soon? Not happening at all. They were still going over the name of each letter and what they looked like, one at a time it was so agonizingly slow that I knew I would have to get help from someone if I didn't want to have to wait over a year to learn how to read. It didn't help that the alphabet was made up of 31 characters and that I had missed almost all of them on account of myself not paying any attention before I was reborn.

It of course couldn't have just been a simple alphabet with 26 charcters that one to one matched with English, instead it had to have an extra five characters and they all looked like cryptic puzzles to me. I couldn't have it easy like I did with the speaking portion of the language, where I seemed to pick it all up even before I had reawakened my memories. At least it wasn't symbolism like Kanji. I have a feeling that would have been much harder to learn that than even this new alphabet.

Of course, it wasn't just one letter that we were going over in class today. We also had 'science' class, which was us just learning about the color orange, and math class, which was about numbers 0-10. Besides that, we also had multiple breaks, a nap time, and play time throughout the day. All of that added up to the day dragging on, with us going over things I either very clearly knew or so agonizingly slow that it took me a couple of seconds to understand what it took the other kids an hour.

I mean, they were just kindergarteners, so I wasn't exactly blaming them for it, but I knew I was going to have to find some way to either skip grades or get out of classes, because I was going to end up losing my sanity at this rate. It wasn't helping that the teachers seemed to completely ignore me. I understood that at some point, they decided that I was beyond their ability to help.

That still didn't seem to explain why they were ignoring me even now whenever I went to ask them a question. They seemed a little shocked after first hearing me talk of my own obligation, but soon after that, they just gave me a scowl and moved on with the topic. Maybe they thought I was just being a troublemaker my first month here? I couldn't think of anything else to explain their reactions, but even still, that seemed very harsh for someone so young. However, just like with Garnet, they were still good with the other kids, so it wasn't like they were the worst teachers in the world.

After what felt like years, school was finally out. The walk back to the orphanage was uneventful, other than a lack of greeting from Garnet when she picked us up. As soon as we got back, I quickly went up to my room to think, pretty much all I had been doing for the past few days. I had to talk to Patricia. I needed someone to teach me how to read, and even if Patrcia didn't have the time to teach me herself, she would hopefully be able to find someone who would.

Not only that, I couldn't imagine having to suffer through all of kindergarten. There had to be some way to get out of it. I could only hope the basic principles of math and science were the same. That way, if I had to take a test of some sort, I would only have to spend my time studying history and or pokemon, if those were even part of the curriculum.

So, I waited. Patricia was a busy woman as the head of an orphanage, and it would be hard to get some time alone to speak with her. She had to prepare dinner for everyone and get the younger children ready for bed, which took quite a while, even with other orphanage staff to help her. It never got quicker as the days went be either. Patricia was an old woman, only getting older with a head full of grey hair and wrinkles on her face.

Eventually, I did manage to catch her eye and let her know through vague gestures that I wanted to talk in private. I went outside to wait for her in the gardens, as it's the only place I could think of where we would be able to get some semblance of privacy.

I didn't know exactly how to go about with this conversation. There were a lot of variables going on that would make this conversation difficult to navigate. For one, my sudden personality change was definitely going to give Patricia some questions, and that's if I was just going from mute to a normal four year old. It wasn't just that though, I was also going to be a very well-spoken and mild-mannered four year old.

I had thought about trying to act like I was a normal kid my age, but eventually decided against it. I was going to be asking a lot of the matron, and it would probably be easier to get her to help me if she saw me as very mature for my age. Plus, I was a terrible actor and couldn't imagine having to spend years of my life pretending to be a toddler.

I tried to come up with some type of backstory for my actions the past four years of my life, and I got a vague idea of what I wanted to say to the matron to explain my situation, but decided it would probably help to see what the matron thought of my circumstances first. Before I could think harder on the matter, I heard the matron's feet approach as they crunched on the gravel path that wove throughout the garden and decided I would have to pull my number one skill out of my hat. Bullshiting.

She approached me with a stern expression on her face before starting to talk, "You wished to speak with me, Grant?"

Uh oh. That didn't inspire confidence. She was probably mad at me for avoiding her for all this time. It seems that plan bullshit would have to be implemented sooner than expected.

Putting a remorseful look on my face, I speak up. "Sorry head matron, I've just been very confused for the past couple of days. Previously, it had felt like my head was covered by a dark fog, and I was never able to talk or express my feelings. However, all of a sudden, last Friday, it felt like I gained some sudden clarity and was able to think for myself. I'm deeply sorry for worrying you, head matron."

I wait patiently patiently while the matron clearly thinks over my words and a proper response. Eventually, she lets out a little hum and starts speaking. "Your apology has been accepted Grant, but do try to come to me sooner if you have any problems. You really had me worried for a second there. Now was there anything else you needed? I am quite busy."

Huh. At least that part went better than I thought it would, but now, for the actual big requests. "Ah yes, there was one more thing. Do you think there would be someone for you to teach me how to read? Everything in kindergarten is too easy, and it feels as if the day is moving at a snails pace because I learn everything too quickly. If there were some way to get out of it, that would be great."

And so, I awaited my verdict. What she said next would dictate my fate for the next few years. To be honest, it wasn't the end of the world if she said no, but it would certainly feel like it. I would pretty much be eternally bored for the next year, or even longer.

I expected it would take a while for her to come up with her thoughts, but instead, pretty much as soon as I finished talking, she started mumbling under her breath. I missed most of what she was saying, but I was able to get some bits and bobs, here and there.

"Oh? ...just thought... it is possible... too old... might as well... wouldn't be... can't do much... figure something out..." She eventually stops mumbling and looks up to address me directly. "I would be happy to help you in learning how to read, but I hope you understand I'm very busy. However, I'm sure I can get some other staff members to help out while I'm not able to. In regards to school, I'm afraid theirs not much I can do to help you there, you have to go to school, and there's no skipping out on it. And don't you think of cutting class either! Trust me, the school will know, but more importantly, so will I."

Crap, there goes plan two. She gives me a little glare to finish off her sentence before continuing to talk. "Why don't you head off to bed. It's getting late, and you're still young. I should have a little time off for your first lesson after school tommorow. Goodnight, Grant, and sleep well."

As she turns to walk off, I respond with a quick "Sleep well", and then make my way up to my bedroom. I sneak into the room as it seems the other kids my age are already sleeping and tuck myself into bed. 'That's half of my first goal accomplished,' I think to myself. 'Went better than expected. She seemed much more accommodating than I have seen her with other children in the past, but maybe my little sob story got to her. Although, I don't know what all that mumbling was about near the end. I guess Patricia is getting old. She must have just been thinking outloud.'

Now, all I needed to do was actually do the learning how to read part. This was going to suck, so, soooo, much.