Chapter Two

Ash stumbled into his room quietly locking the door behind him; it'd give him time to wake up and escape in case his mother decided tonight was the day she'd get rid of him. Sitting stiffly at hisbdesk, he checked over his body for the latest injuries that he didn't notice as he cleaned up the bloody mess his mother left in her wake. As he did he moved his mind to focus on a happier time, back on his first encounter with the strange pink cat Pokémon.

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He had been wandering around the woods of Professor Oak's lab looking for a quiet place to read to escape the boring world he lived in. He often wished he could attend school instead of just going to Professor Oaks on occasion. Not to mention those godforsaken camps the Professor did, he hated those as he was expected to act energetic and young (because it's easy to stay that way, and that's how kids should act even if your abused according to his mother). Unfortunately his mother cared to much for her image, of a kind loving single mother struggling with an abnormal sickly kid, to send him away to boarding school.

He shivered just thinking about the days she invited people over for dinner and had him eat with them. Anger and disgust were the only emotions he had ever really been good at mimicking, he was sure he could do others as well but those two were what he saw on a daily basis well at least when he was allowed down from his room. However just as he thought such the world dulled again, leaving him feeling empty.

Muttering, he continued his journey about the trees when he came across a particular one near the field where the Torus generally gazed. Without a thought he set up a place under the tree, resting cozily against its base. Watching the Pokémon around him for mere seconds before he lost interest.

Pulling out his book, "The Quest for Kanto" he set about reading. The book was about a group of teens back in the Dark Ages who went out to search, with their Pokémon, for a way to stop the wars waging about Kanto. It was of course a fictional story despite what a great deal of uneducated people believed.

The fact that the majority of the world refused to move on from Pokemon nor take a route focused entirely on them was one of the biggest reasons for his boredom. While his day and age was getting better there was still a large number of children and families who refused to go to school and instead placed their hopes on the so called 'Pokemon Journey' to support them. His head hurt just thinking about how idiotic the children in town were, though Gary was much better as he had Professor Oak as his grandfather. Most beginners had no clue how to train and raise their Pokémon let alone taking care of themselves.

Thinking about it, a large majority of the children's parents were nowhere to be seen in the kids daily life, this was due to a lot of them deciding to continue their Journey like his own father (according to his mother, he really just believed that his father had become fed up with his mom and had left. He couldn't blame him either though he would still occasionally wish he took him with him), others died in Pokémon related accidents, or needed to go outside of town to support their family. The only reason their small town of Pallet flourished was due to it being Professor Oak's residence.

Despite his what he thought he believed toward the matter deep down he too wanted to go on a Pokémon Journey. Though not for the reasons other kids claimed like being a Pokémon Master (Whatever that was), being the strongest trainer, etc. No his was far more simple yet complicated. It was an excuse to get away from his mother, while it would also give him a chance to discover himself. (He wouldn't admit that it was also due to his sole interest in Pokémon the only things that brightened up the world around him). Likewise If he was lucky he may even find his dad who'd he hoped would take him in allowing him to sever his connection with his home forever.

He put his musings towards the town's worthlessness aside and turned his attention back to his book, none of these thoughts would matter unless he survived til he was old enough to get away from his mother. His body hurt just thinking about the punishment that would be waiting for him when he returns home, he wasn't allowed outside unless to put on a show of him being alive and still weird to win his mother sympathy, but he needed some quiet time else he might start to lose himself (though he could already feel himself slipping away, he was alone always and bitterly alone) he was scared by the fact that he was slowly not feeling emotions he once did often.

His concerns were broken by a sound he could only describe as cute, and it wasn't the cute his mother portrayed herself as.

Lifting his gaze he was startled to find a pink figure floating upside before his face. With a slip of composure his left hand pressed heavily against the ground sending a jolt of pain through him. Like a reminder his face twisted in pain, he still hadn't grown used to the bruises not to mention the pain brought by the arm he was certain was broken. But with practiced ease, he schooled his expression again to that of a stone block, the one his mother said he inherited from his father (it didn't help with her hatred that he looked like a carbon copy of his dad as well just with abnormal ruby-like eyes, he actually had nothing that took after her so much so that if she hadn't given birth to him she would've thought he was but a clone of his dad).

Doing his best to ignore the pain, he managed to slip a question to the magical creature, as they were referred to as long into the past, in front of him through gritted teeth, "What do you need?" He flinched when it came out harsher then he meant almost like how his mother spoke to him.

The Pokémon tilted its head and pointed at his arm with the single sound of, "Mew!"

He placed the most sincere smile on his face, the one he used against the adults around him. "I fell a while ago, it's not a big deal."

One may call him strange for lying to a Pokémon but Pokémon were about as intelligent as humans some even more so and as he didn't know if this one belonged to someone he couldn't take the chance of it telling its trainer about him. He wanted no rather needed to be left alone even if it hurt sometimes and the enemy of that goal was being at the center of attention.

The 'Mew' seemed to understand something, a knowing look in its large eyes, and instead pointed at the book in his hands in an almost demanding fashion. His eyes twitched, he had a strong feeling that this one was very childish and carefree, the kind that generally left him extremely irritated. He never liked children even if he was one, he wasnt sure if it was because of their ability to be carefree or because they were loved that annoyed him though. But he listened and opened the book showing its contents. "It's called, The Quest For Kanto, it's a classic generally read in the schools around the big cities. Its about a group of 16 year olds and their partner Pokemon going on a quest to unite Kanto. It's based off the wars that took place here hundreds of years ago."

The pink Pokémon nodded its head in understanding and Ash praised himself for sounding like an adult he knew his mother hated how children talked well at least when it was him so he had worked on speaking properly in hopes she might show some love and care (he didn't know at the time that such an action was impossible from her and that she'd hate him even more as he was odd). The Pokémon shook him from his thoughts when it then looked at him and spoke what he could only view as a question one he wasn't even going question he understood due to his joy at speaking with someone, "Mew?"

He sighed, "I'm not 16, I'm about to turn five in a few days, near the end of May. This means I've only been alive for about five years, which is about 1,825 days."

"Mew, mew mew?"

"No if you're that old then you're older than me by a lot kinda like an older sibling I guess," He shook his head and muttered, "though your acting like someone younger then myself."

The Pokémon giggled and raised its head high in pride, "Mew Mew!"

"Yeah, sure whatever. But I'm not calling you my eldest brother or sister it's far to confusing." They continued chatting for a while his joy overpowering his confusion even as it was growing stronger with each passing minute. Before it turned into curiosity, he looked toward the sun and as he saw it's position he quickly stood up, "Sorry it's getting late, I have to go home."

The Pokémon's head lowered in gloom and despite his confusion and suspicions, he couldn't stop the smile rising on his face, "I come to this place a lot you can always come visit when I'm here. But I really got to go so I'll see y'a!"

With that said he finished packing up and sprinted off towards his home. On the way however as he grew nearer he frowned as his confusion got the better of him and the world dulled slightly once again, "That's weird... When did I suddenly start feeling things so easily? Why was I able to understand it? Why did I feel anything?!"

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As he moved himself into his bed, none of his injuries so bad that he couldn't wait to treat them tomorrow, the neutral frown on his face lightening a bit while his now dead eyes gained a bit of gleam, that year had been the best he'd ever had. It was before he'd grown numb to most things, before he'd given up. It was also the first time he had actually ever interacted with a Pokemon other than his dad's instead of watching from a far. It was also that encounter that made helped him hold on to hope that maybe the world wasn't as boring as he thought, and that maybe just maybe, he could be a part of it as long as he survived long enough and that he could be allowed an interest in something other then surviving.

During moments he felt like giving up he'd go and research the pink cat secretly; although he wouldn't say it was like the thorough research the Professor did, he learned quite a lot about the pink psychic cat creature, Mew. It was a Mythical Pokémon for one. What made it special was that it was also named as the New Species Pokémon as many believed it to be the ancestor of all Pokémon for it contained DNA for every Pokémon in it. What caught his attention however was the fact that it could learn practically any move, and as it was a believed Psychic Type it could easily mess with his emotions, connect to him, and that excited him (something he wished he had known a long time ago as well so he could have asked for help from it).

Absently in his musings as he was lured to sleep, he wondered if he tried again if he would be able to meet Mew again. Something he had given up doing after it stopped showing up four years ago and he'd gotten in playing 'friend'.