Chapter 5: When It Begins
Cynthia looked around, dazed. Jubilife was
enormous. She had seen skyscrapers in photographs, but it was nothing compared to the feeling of disorientation when she looked upward, searching for the sky. The people were all dressed much differently than anyone from Celestic, and shouting, car horns, and TV advertisments blurring into a meaningless racket. The streets, sidewalks, and the high-tech Pokemon Center were cluttered with cars, bicycles, people, and Pokemon.
"It's so
big... How am I supposed to find the Trainer's Center in all this?" Cynthia wondered out loud.
"Get outta the way!" someone shouted, and a man on a bicycle zoomed past her. Cynthia realized that she had been standing dumbstruck on the sidewalk in front of the Pokemon Center without paying a bit of attention to her surroundings.
"Sorry!" she hollered back, and started walking along the sidewalk. I'm sure to get there eventually, she thought.
"Hey, kid, you lost? Where are your parents?" a grouchy-looking man yelled from the open window of a car, which slowed to a halt. "If you're going to meet them somewhere, or you're looking for something, I can probably give you directions."
Cynthia shook her head resolutely. She could find her way around. It was just a matter of time, that was all. The man started to say something else, but then the car behind him honked several times, and he drove off, leaving Cynthia hacking and coughing.
Still, Cynthia thought, people are starting to get annoyed with me. I better at least
look like I know where I'm going.
She set off walking down the sidewalk, carefully considering which way to turn, until someone bumped against her and grunted loudly.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Are you okay? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention..." Cynthia stammered, turning to face the person she must have bumped into.
It was a girl about Palmer's age, with an angular, critical-looking face. Her hair was brushed to one side assymetrically, and was pale violet with silver highlights. Her oddly formal clothes were all the same shade of... what was it? Blue, violet, silver? Cynthia finally decided on lavender.
"...You aren't from around here, are you?" the girl asked. She spoke with an unfamiliar accent. "If you're going to register as an official Trainer, you'll want to head for the Trainer's Center. It's straight down that road, on the left." the girl explaned emotionlessly, as if it was an everyday occurence.
Cynthia, not about to look a gift Ponyta in the mouth, scampered off in the indicated direction.
Within a few minutes she was standing in front of a huge building with the words "Trainer's Center" and several welcome messages scrolling across a screen at the top.
Well, here goes nothing, she thought, as she walked through the automatic door.
Inside, she was no less confused. There were several long lines of at least a hundred people, apparently all for different things. Trying not to call any more attention to herself, Cynthia quietly wandered around until she spotted a sign reading "New Trainer Application" hanging above one of the lines, and quickly made her way to what seemed like the end.
Two hours later, she was handed a long form, and let into a small, cold room with no furnishing other than a small desk and chair. Grabbing the pen that had fallen to the floor, she spent another fifteen minutes filling out a lot of seemingly useless information and reading mostly incomprehensibly legal agreements. Standing up, she looked around for what to do with the completed form. Right on cue, a middle-aged woman with shockingly red hair stepped through the curtained doorway and held out an open hand to take it. Quickly and efficiently, her eyes scanned over the form, and she nodded curtly.
"We'll have to check a few records, but this is all that's necessary for now. You'll be contacted by phone if there's a problem." she stated tonelessly. Cynthia followed her back outside, and was handed a Trainer Card, then pointed down another line. At the end of that one, a machine displayed images and basic information on three Pokemon: Piplup, Chimchar, and Turtwig.
Turtwig seemed a bit surly-looking, and she already had a Water-type. Scrolling through the data on Chimchar, she was reminded of Palmer's Charmeleon, which had been his own starter. Finally, she pressed a button the touch screen to choose Chimchar, and a Poke Ball shot out of the bottom.
"This is it. This is when it begins." Cynthia whispered. "I am now truly a Pokemon Trainer."
----
Kerys woke up immediately, with the feeling that something was wrong. He glanced at his clock. It was 1:52 AM. Silently, he crept to the door, and opened it slightly to listen. Someone was shouting, although he couldn't hear the words.
"...another of my children... this Pokemon crap... " they yelled.
The door opened further, bumping Kerys. He looked down to see Corion's narrow face, stained with tears. Kerys pulled the door open, and hugged his younger brother.
"What's happening?" he whispered, nudging Corion inside.
"Mommy and Daddy are arguing. Daddy doesn't want Cynthia to be gone." Corion sniffled, lowering his own voice in imitation.
"It'll be okay, Corion. Nothing bad's going to happen." he assured Corion, though he didn't really believe his own words. Don't make a liar of me, Dad, Kerys thought. If I've lied to Corion now because of you, I'll never forgive you.
He could still hear the shouting, now growing louder and more angry, but tried to ignore it. Corion was clinging to him, trembling, and he had to seem calm and in control, or else the younger boy would notice that he was scared too, and wouldn't stop crying.
Finally, Corion fell asleep, sitting on the cold wooden floor with him. Kerys wasn't strong enough to move him, but he tucked a blanket around Corion's small form, and sat on the bed to wait. He was desperately tired from staying up for so long, but he had promised Corion that nothing bad would happen, and he was going to do whatever it took to ensure it.
----
Lindsey watched helplessly as Kerys held tightly to Corion. The two boys were both clearly scared, but she could tell that Kerys was trying to appear brave. Their father advanced on them, and roughly pulled Kerys away from his brother.
"You look here, son. I'm going, and you're coming with me, and I'm not gonna take this crap from you!" he shouted furiously at Kerys, who he was nearly dragging out the door.
"I'm not afraid of you. You can't bully me. You listen here, I don't care how angry you are or why, because it doesn't matter. You think you're the only one who cares about Cynthia? Think again. I don't care that you're angry, because you're hurting Corion, because he's a little kid and loves you, even when you're being this stupid, even though if he knew better he wouldn't. Stop being selfish and do what's right for him, or you're not a real man." Kerys stated.
He knew it was the wrong thing to say, knew from experience that insulting his father would just make things worse, but Kerys had to say it because he had to do everything he could to keep his promise to Corion.
Then Corion screamed, because Kerys had been knocked over before either of them could even think about what he had said, and while Lindsey was comforting Corion, Kerys was forced into the backseat of the small car and taken away, and Lindsey was left holding the last of her children left at home.
"I never did like him." Alena remarked gruffly, walking up to them now that the conflict was over.
"Perhaps, Mother, you knew him better than I." Lindsey answered sadly.