Silver Star~ Part 1

         My name is Nathan.  I am 16 and until recently was a country boy who got up early every day, did his chores and went to bed dog-tired every night.
         That is, until I met Star.
         It all started about a year ago.  Mariah was once again flirting with Leon, our hired hand.  Mariah, though technically was betrothed to me by our fathers, didn't like me that much, and I was just fine with that.  She went her way, I went mine.
         She had lived with us for about a year, since her house burned down and her parents died.  Since we were "engaged," my mom, a widow of five years, decided to have her stay at our house.  By "our house," I mean that rickety one-story log cabin between Vermillion City and Fuchsia.  We were well off the beaten path, and unless a body was looking for it, they never would have found our house.
         Which was why we were surprised when Leon came to our house looking for work.  He showed up on a Sunday, just as we were sitting down to dinner.  My mother hired him on the spot, knowing what I went through every day.  Mariah went into an infatuated trance, doing anything and everything she could to make him perfectly comfortable.  I really didn't mind; why should I?
         Leon was quiet, if anything.  When he did speak, it was usually in a sarcastic tone of voice.  He acted as if he was only here because he had nowhere else to be, and his eyes said he knew he was better then that.
         That first year, with Leon helping, we grew a huge field of wheat, more than we had since Father died.  It was a Sunday in June.  Leon had Sundays off~ he went to his church in Fuchsia in the morning and was back in time for dinner.  It was my day off too; except for a few essential chores, Sunday was a rest day.  But I had heard a group of Pokemon howling last night~ I had to check it out.  Hope they aren't dangerous.  What could they have been?  I mentally reviewed the possibilities.  Growlithe?  Maybe.  Houndour?  Probably not.  Umbreon?  I shuddered.  I had heard stories about them.  Their coats were marked with golden rings that glowed at night, warning anyone around to stay back.
         I climbed on my Ponyta to search the fields.  She started to a gallop, then slowed to a reasonable speed.  I peered into the distance.  We were traveling at a steady pace, no sign of anything yet.  Wait!  Something was moving ahead!  "Whoa, girl."  Noise, like a battle in progress.  The sounds were coming from just beyond a few rows of half-grown wheat.  There seemed to be two Pokemon fighting just ahead.  Swish~shhh.  The wheat parted to let us by.  I just wanted to get a look at them so I knew how much it would take to drive them away.  Ponyta trotted forward hesitantly.  She stepped on a stick.  "CRAAAACK!"  It sounded like a gunshot. "Oh great," I mumbled. If they were big, they would have no problem attacking us. "Get ready to run, Ponyta," She was clearly nervous, I could feel her tremble slightly under my weight.  We listened.
         There was no sound for two minutes. Ponyta slowly inched forward, and we stepped into the newly-formed clearing.  Nothing was there except a bunch of footprints. There was no path to the woods, but every print within the clearing was perfectly defined, because it had rained last night.  I thought for a moment. I have an idea! My digital camera was at home. If I took a picture of the footprints, I could identify them according to that book by Prof. Oak.  I told Ponyta my plan. 
         We raced home.  I ran to my room, snatched the camera from its peg on the wall, and jumped back on Ponyta in the time it takes to say Butterfree.  Ponyta galloped to the clearing.  I got off and walked around.  Every single footprint was gone!  The ground was as muddy as ever, but there was no trace of anything except the prints I was making right now. Ponyta whinnied.  These guys were smarter than I thought.  Perfect.  At this rate I'd never  find them.  They wouldn't even let me know who they were.  Oh well~ I'd just have to keep an eye out.

         They howled again last night, shattering my hope that they'd moved on.  I listened carefully for some clue to their identities.  Each one sounded so different.  There were six or seven different voices.  The deepest one was probably the alpha male, and I also heard the yipping howl of a half-grown puppy.  They all blended together in such harmony, I almost forgot they were dangerous.  I fell asleep almost instantly.
         Monday morning: the usual.  After my chores were finished, at about four, I went to the stream behind the house to think.  This was not unusual for me, I went there all the time.  I thought about life, I thought about how to get out of marrying Mariah, I thought about traveling the world, I thought about death. I also though about the howling I heard last night.  I could almost hear it just by thinking about it.  It seemed so solid~ I could almost touch it, see it, taste it, smell it.  It smelled like... smoke? I smelled smoke!  Oh just great, a fire! Perfect!  I looked in every direction for the source of the smoke... The other side of the river. Good.  Fire can't travel over water, so the house was safe.  It still had to be put out, though.  I ran to the well and grabbed the bucket, sped to the stream, waded across, filled the pail, and searched the air for the smell of smoke.
         It was coming from the north, upstream.  I ran along the riverbed until I could see the flames~ and stopped in my tracks.  It was a campfire...!  I dropped the bucket and slapped my forehead.  I'm such a dope.  Glancing around, I noticed seven dark forms in the surrounding woods.  The largest stepped forward.  It was jet black, with golden rings that glowed brightly, though it was hours until sunset. I froze.  It snarled at me fiercely~ its red eyes shadowed a huge power. Oh no...