「Tale of Yasashi」 - A Pokémon Adventure [Kanto Arc]

Chapter 8 "Route 1"

      All three of them tread through the first grass patch and examine a recently placed sign. “Route 1” was what it said. Yasashi looked at the patches of grass that stretched far and wide along the path. Several different people were on the path heading to and from Pallet Town.

      Yasashi took out a large book from his backpack and flipped through the pages. Mizu was curious to see what he had in his hand so she leaned closer to him and saw detailed illustrations of various maps and Pokémon. Yasashi stopped looking through the book and analysed the current page he was on.

      “Yasashi, what are you reading?” Mizu asks. Yasashi turns toward her and smiles. “This is the official guide of the all the Pokémon and landmarks of the Kanto region. I was looking at this.” He shows her the page he was on and written on it in big letters was “Route 1”.

      He points to a chart with different species of Pokémon labelled on it. “Says here, there are currently five different species of Pokémon we can encounter in the grass. There are Pidgey, Rattata, Sentret, Furret, and Hoothoot that we can find. There are more in the trees, as well as some hidden ones, but we have to have a Pokémon that knows Headbutt and a device that allows us to encounter those not normally seen here.” he informs the two. “Just seeing them isn’t enough to fill the PokéDex, but there is a way that every trainer knows that will.”

      Sei-Shun looks at Yasashi and Mizu as all three realise what he meant. “Guess we’ll need to catch them then!” he says with a smile on his face. Mizu takes out her Poké Balls. “I’m ready to start filling up this PokéDex.” she says, tossing one up in the air and catching it. Yasashi smiles at the other two then at his Pokémon. “You ready Eevee?” he asks. It nods its head. “Ready when you are.” it replies. The three trainers look at each other in the eye and nod in unison. They then head off to catch all the Pokémon they can find on Route 1.

…

      Sometime later, the three are at the gate connecting Route 1 and Viridian City sitting next to their Pokémon and several Poké Balls. Sei-Shun was lying on the grass on his back breathing heavily with his Zigzagoon. He looked at his Pokémon tired from all the battles and then at Yasashi, who had his eyes closed with his hands on his Eevee. Sei-Shun looked closely at him and could see the same aura he saw when he held Mizu’s Sentret go to his Pokémon. A second later, the Eevee was hopping around gleefully. Sei-Shun stood up and walked toward Yasashi with his Pokémon in his arms and sat down next to him.

      “What was that a second ago?” he asked him. Yasashi looks at Sei-Shun then at his Pokémon. “What was what?” he tries to feign ignorance. “You know, the mysterious glow from your hands that suddenly made your Pokémon and Mizu’s healthy in that match the day before. How did you do that?” Yasashi could tell that this conversation would continue to go on and on if he didn’t say anything.

      “It’s…a secret. I can’t exactly tell anyone about it.” he says. Sei-Shun was disappointed and looks at his Pokémon. “Well, before we can get to that Pokémon Centre in Viridian, you mind if you can do that to my little Ziggy?” he hold out his Pokémon to Yasashi. “Um…sure Sei.” He takes the Zigzagoon from Sei-Shun’s arms and closes his eyes. Mizu was staring at the two while they were conversing, curious about Yasashi’s unknown powers as well.

      Yasashi’s hands outputted the same glowing aura as it did the other two times and Sei-Shun’s Zigzagoon opened its eyes to see Yasashi. It smiles and licks him, knowing that it was him that healed it. “Thank you.” it says smiling. “You’re welcome.” Yasashi says back to it.

      There was a short pause of silence. “Um, did you just talk to me?” the Zigzagoon asks. Yasashi nodded. “Of course, who else would I be speaking to?” Yasashi looks at Sei-Shun and realised what he had just done. “Did you just…?” Sei-Shun questions. Yasashi looks back and forth at the Zigzagoon and Sei-Shun and knew that he can’t get out of this situation. “Erm, yes. I did.” Yasashi says nervously.

      “How?” Mizu asks.

      Yasashi and Sei-Shun jump at her sudden voice and Yasashi clears his throat. “It’s, um…something I’m just able to do.” he says nervously. Mizu was clearly trying to persist in getting an explanation out of him and Yasashi tries to avert his gaze. She sits up and looks at her Sentret and Sei-Shun’s Zigzagoon, playing with each other in the grass.

      Yasashi knew that he needed to think of something fast to get out of this situation, and says, “Well, it’s…um…something I kind of found out recently…heh…” Mizu gave him a chilling stare.

      “What do you mean recently? We live next to Pokémon every day since we were born and you say that you can understand Pokémon now!? That’s ridiculous!” Mizu stands up and looks at him scornfully. Sei-Shun can feel the tension between the two and slumps down on the tree. “I mean come on! It is truly ludicrous that you’ve learned of this ability now!” she continues to yell at him. She stops and catches her breath. Yasashi looks down at the ground, and Mizu could already tell that something was wrong and felt guilty. She sighs. “I’m sorry if I’ve been harsh, but-…” Yasashi cuts her off. “It’s fine.” He looks at the two and then at his Pokémon that was listening in on the situation.

      Yasashi looks at Mizu in the eye and starts to explain his past. “I don’t know anything from my past before I was ten years old. It is all a blur and nothing else. After I was found on the outskirts of Pallet Town, I was taken in by my mother who agreed to have me as her child when she discovered out that she was unable to have children because of a genetic disorder.”

      Tears started to form from his eyes and he wipes them away. “I was never able to come near Pokémon when I was young, and I never had any friends before. I was alone. There were some segments on TV that had Pokémon on them, but I only heard people narrating the whole thing, no Pokémon ever said anything in those. So that’s my story. I’ve been alone with my mother for the four years that I’ve been in her care. I had no friends as I was constantly bullied and treated as an outsider.” He goes on to tell the two how he met his Eevee in the forest in the outskirts of Viridian City.

      “The swarm of Beedrill would’ve killed me that day, but they didn’t.” Something comes up in his mind and he looks at his Pokémon and asks it, “By the way, you never told me who the person was who saved us that day.” The Eevee tries to remember who it but could only remember the cloak it wore and a large Pokémon that could fly. It also told him that the trainer tilted his hat too, but it was only a white rim. “Well, a lot of trainers can fit that category. It could also be…no…that would be wrong to assume that it would be him.” Mizu and Sei-Shun look at him puzzled, but he went no further to explain what he meant.

      “Well, now that we’re done here in Route 1, how about we finally head to Viridian City while the sun is still up?” Yasashi asks them. They nod in agreement and call over their Pokémon.

      Mizu had a pain in her chest. Sei-Shun looks over at her and places his hand on her shoulder. She looks at him and he smiles. “Don’t blame yourself, you didn’t know, none of us. Now that we know that his history was rough, let’s make this adventure the best one we’ll ever have.” Mizu removes his hand from her shoulder and turns away. “Yeah, the best one.”

      The three trainers with their Pokémon head through the gate and into Viridian City as the sun sets in the distance.