Chapter no.2

Read 30+ chapters ahead on p.atreon p.atreon.com/Jeej_Jake_Jace

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The very fact that I was being registered for something made me feel even worse than I already did. When Gavin explained that I would receive a Trainer ID consisting of a random assortment of numbers, my father could have strangled me and thrown me into the depths of hell itself. My mother was capable of stabbing me twenty times while I was sleeping. The Torchic had the potential to burn me to a crisp.

He instructed me to stand on the X that was on the floor, which I had missed when I first entered the room. There it was, looming over everything in a menacing scarlet colour. I imagined that if I stood on it, something massive like a piano or a Golem would topple over and crush me to death.

I dismissed June, who had just tweeted innocuously and was staring at me with her head tilted in confusion. I placed my foot on the X. The lens of the camera, which was large and black, was looking directly at me as it descended from the ceiling.

Gavin advised Ed to put a smile on his face. I gave him a sneering, intolerant look from the corner of my eye. I was taken aback by the fact that he was being serious. Despite this, I did not smile.

The image of me that appeared on the screen looked like I was in a terrible mood.

The space above the keyboard transformed into a slot. A small red slab came out of it as it was being ejected. It was given to me by Gavin after he had taken it. He referred to it as a Pokedex and instructed me to test it on June 1st. My palm could easily have accommodated the item. On the top of the box was an engraving of a pokeball, and the button was represented by a miniature lens. When I opened it up, there were two screens visible, one on top and one below.

I pointed the lens in June's direction. The screens began flashing green, and the one on top displayed the word "SCANNING" in large red letters that were scrolling. There was a bar that ran across the bottom of the screen. As soon as it was complete, a picture of a Torchic appeared on the very top. The bottom provided information including the height, weight, and footprint of the object. The machine immediately began speaking in a calm and soothing female voice. Because I was caught off guard, I came dangerously close to dropping the item.

"Torchic. A female or "Chick" Pokemon. Because it contains a fire, hugging it will make you feel very comfortable. It shoots fireballs that reach temperatures of 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit."

It made perfect sense to me why they would call it a PokeDex.

Gavin informed me that it has data on all 493 of the Pokemon that are known to exist in the world and that it will be the most valuable asset I have throughout my journey.

His words kept playing through my head like that annoying screech that someone makes when they drag their nails across a chalkboard. I yelled at him to be quiet and he ignored me. He had a grin on his face. I felt like punching him in the face to get rid of it. I had the impression that he was making fun of me, as though he was pleased that he wasn't the son who had failed. At that precise moment, the mental image of him as the brother I had cherished started to disintegrate.

I couldn't help but cry in his presence, but he didn't seem to notice or care one bit. I desperately wanted to be held by my mother or by anyone else. We just stood there looking at each other for a while.

June has just sent out a tweet.

I finally left my house two days later. It had a sour taste. The sky had a lilac hue even though it was early in the morning. At the very least, I had anticipated that my parents would transport me to a different city and then abandon me there. Instead, I was forced to leave the house that I owned and resided in. It was necessary for me to turn in my key and lock the door. Because my mother and father didn't notice when I left the house, I had to convince myself to keep my distance from them as I made the long trek out of the yard. Even though it didn't work right away, I kept repeating to myself that I'm perfectly capable of handling things on my own.

On that particular day, neither of my parents had any interest in looking at me at all. Breakfast was not provided to me.

I climbed over the fence, made my way into town, and then made my way to the outskirts of the settlement. I didn't look back. I travelled to the next town via Route 1/29, which is how I got there. I had no idea what was there, or even what its name was, but since I was no longer in my own home, I reasoned that I should just go somewhere else to demonstrate this point. I went to a different location. In addition to that, I had the impression that there were other things I needed to prove, but I was unsure what those things were or to whom I needed to prove them.

The thought of Gavin immediately popped into my head after that. The manner in which he conducted himself in the laboratory right before I left was very mysterious, and he wasn't there to make up for the absence of an encouraging farewell at home. I was still furious at him, and I began to feel ashamed that I had let him see me at such a vulnerable state. As I made my way down the path, carrying a backpack full of sandwiches and a PokeBall containing June inside of it, I couldn't help but mutter some choice words about him under my breath.

I can still picture the landscape as it appeared on that day. The image is still ingrained in my mind. I was walking on the path that is most frequently used, which I assume was created by people walking up and down. It was a dirty place. Rough circles of dirt extended into the distance until they disappeared from view. After that came the forest with its trees. A great number of trees. I believe I could make out the screams of a Pidgey and a Spearow as well as the chirping of a Cricketune. I believe that I remember this day fairly well because the noise was so irritating, which made the sight of the route equally as irritating. In front of me was a clear path through unbroken vegetation that appeared to lead somewhere.

I had the feeling that I should just sit down wherever I was in the hopes that someone would find me and take me back to my parents. But I kept walking. I came to the conclusion that I had shed an excessive amount of tears over the past few days, so I stopped. I kept walking. When I think about it now, it seems so strange. It had the feel of a nightmare, one that I was fully aware was, in fact, a nightmare, and from which I expected to emerge, at some point, fully conscious.