Pokémon : The Journey of Travis Tedford

Chapter 9: The Bully Returns

When I woke up the following morning, I stretched my arms and felt a lot of happiness. It was Christmas Eve, and most importantly, my first Christmas Eve as a Pokémon trainer. I looked around and noticed Efren was already gone, so instead, I let out all of my Pokémon and gave them all a Christmas Eve hug. "I'm going to let you guys stay out of your Pokéballs all day today, so try to behave," I said.

Bagon  looked up at Togetic, amazed at its new wings. "Oh yeah, you didn't have time to take in that Togepi evolved into Togetic, huh Bagon? Well, now it can fly just like you will someday," I said encouragingly. Togetic agreed and flew all over the room to show off its new wings.

I quickly went into the bathroom and got ready as quickly as I could. Afterwards, we all went down to the cafeteria where I found Efren. Efren looked and noticed Oshawott. "Umm, can the Effles pet your Oshawott?" he asked shyly. "Yeah, of course. Oshawott, this is my best friend Efren. Go and say hello," I said. Oshawott nodded and walked over to Efren. Efren picked it up and hugged it.

"Why don't you look after Oshawott for me today? It's hard for me to watch 5 Pokémon all on my own," I said, running the back of my head. "Only if Oshawott is fine with that," said Efren. Oshawott agreed to it and sat on Efren's lap. I could tell Efren was really happy in that moment.

"Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!" announced Anna as she came walking into the cafeteria. "Hey Anna, how are you today?" I asked. "Oh, you know, I plan on going Christmas shopping today. I want to buy something for my family and have it mailed to them. I probably won't be back until sometime this evening, so I'll catch you guys later," said Anna as she left.

"I'm going to go train out in the back with my Pokémon for a bit," I told Efren. "Wait, shouldn't you take Oshawott with you too then?" asked Efren. "The next gym is an electric type gym, so it'll be at a huge disadvantage, so watch it for me till I get back, okay?" I said as I headed off with the rest of my Pokémon.

"Well, let's find something for us to do today then," said Efren to Oshawott. He carried Oshawott in his arms as they explored Vermillion City. Eventually, Efren ended up bumping into Anna while she was out shopping. "What are you doing with Oshawott?!" she asked, surprised.

"Travis is off training and he told me to watch over Oshawott for him until he's done. It's so cute," said Efren as he rubbed the top of Oshawott's head. Anna became jealous. "Hmm, well, it's not like he gave it to you anyways," she muttered under her breath.

"Hey Anna, do you have a crush on Travis?" asked Efren. Anna let out a loud scream that resulted in all of the people walking the streets to turn and stare at her. Anna looked around embarrassed and then grabbed Efren by the shirt and dragged him to the side of the Poké Mart. "Why would you randomly ask me something like that in public?" she asked while still red in the face.

"I mean, it's a bit obvious. You're always smiling when he's around and you get very shy whenever he compliments you. I think it's cute," said Efren. Anna then gave Efren a very suspicious look. "I think the bigger question is do you like Travis? You two always look like you're one moment away from kissing each other," said Anna, trying to hide her jealousy.

"To be honest, I do. I've had a crush on Travis ever since we were little kids," said Efren. He then decided to go and have lunch with Anna and tell her his tale.

"When I first started school, a lot of the kids would pick on me because of my autism. I had trouble communicating or being around the other kids at all. The other kids caught on to that and started bullying me for it. One day when I was on the playground playing with this little ball I used to carry around and play with alone, one of the kids snatched it from me and they began teasing me by throwing it to each other over my head. I tried to snatch it from their hands but they would push me down each time and eventually I started crying," said Efren.