ES AU: William the Chaeoni

Chapter 6: Hangin' out

• • • • • William’s POV 

When I dragged myself out of bed Alan was nowhere to be found, which confused me until I remembered he said something about going to meet up with his friend so they could hang out with each other.

Stella was an interesting Pokemon from what Alan had told me about her. And of course, I knew Alan probably liked her more than he let me know, even if he wouldn’t admit it.

I’d actually been planning to visit town today to find some books on different moves, since I wanted to try to learn some new types of moves. I was looking forward to using fire or ghost moves because they’d always had a certain appeal to me that I couldn’t quite explain.

The other thing was I wanted to learn about some different Pokemon species. I still couldn’t explain why some information just came to me whenever it seemed like I needed it. It didn’t always happen, like with the berries, but most of the time when I met a new Pokemon it was like I already knew what they were and I was just remembering the details. 

I grabbed my bag and some berries to eat on my way to town and started walking.

I could’ve ran or flown to town in a flash, but sometimes it was nice to enjoy the scenery; the trees just seemed extra beautiful today with the wind whipping through them.

I hopped up into the sky so I could admire the scenery better, and I was right, it really was a day more beautiful than any other. The clouds in the sky looked amazing with the sun rising behind them, and in combination with the sunlight reflecting off of the trees’ leaves, it was certainly a sight to behold, and I realized a moment later when the sunrise faded that I was lucky I’d gotten to see it at all. I hadn’t really gotten into the habit of being an early bird, but I'd blame that on Alan being a bad influence.

In fantasy books I’d read, a beautiful day was always a bad omen of something horrible like someone dying, but I shook off the odd feeling. It’s not like I’ve had any of my vi- nightmares recently… things will be fine, the planet isn’t going to just spontaneously combust and kill everyone.

I continued towards town, hoping nature's newfound beauty was just me noticing what was already there, and not a warning sign of some sort.

• • • • •

Arriving at town, I could hear some of the people around me whispering rather horrible rumors about me and Alan, rumors that are bad enough I won’t repeat them.

I felt more offended because they didn’t seem to care if I could hear them, even if it wasn't that well, they just hated us that much I guess. 

I was more disappointed than surprised, we had done quite bit for this town and those that lived in it, so I'd wrongly assumed that some of the prejudice was gone. There also wasn’t much I could do about the rumors other than to find out who was slandering us and have a “polite” conversation with them.

I tried to ignore them and speed up my pace, but my hearing was too good for me to distract myself from them, especially when they used my name. I knew Alan had it worse though, because he said the same thing happened to him, and he didn’t have hearing as good as mine, which probably meant they wanted him to hear their insults.

Actually… if they sound like whispers to both of us… does that mean they’re more scared of me hearing them than they are of Alan? I know Alan said he’d never seen anyone like me, and a few young and curious Pokemon have asked me what I am.

Maybe it was the fear of the unknown that made them mutter their disapproval quietly around me.

I suppose I could read their minds to find out, but I don't really want to…