Chapter 3
"Waking Up, Moving Out"

"Hmmm..."
A few seconds later, pain became apparent.
"...ow."
Gypsy lifted one arm-- and by Mew, that took a lot of effort, it felt like 
she was lifting a block of lead-- and clapped her hand over her forehead, 
cringing against the headache pounding away there.
After a moment of concentrating on willing the pain away, Gypsy sat up, 
opening her eyes. She blinked to clear her vision.
She was in her bed at home, in the room she and Joseph shared. Morning 
sunlight filtered in through the panoramic window beside her bed, flooding 
the entire room with yellow light. She was alone.
"Mphruf!"
It was only the knowledge of the headache that threatened to come back that 
kept Gypsy from face-palming. The blankets at the end of the bed moved, 
whimpering loudly until she pulled them back, revealing Mars, her 
grandfather's Houndoom. The hell hound's tongue lolled out and he thumped his 
tail on the bed happily as she reached out and patted him on the head. After 
a moment, he clambered off the bed and walked over to her dresser, nails 
clicking across the wooden floor.
Gypsy pulled her heavy comforter around her shoulders and crawled to the end 
of her bed, bits and pieces of what had happened slowly coming back. The 
woods, Zanny, Primeape, that huge bolt of electricity... her internal jigsaw 
puzzle lay incomplete as Mars picked something up off her dresser and brought 
it back to her. It was obviously a pokeball, Gypsy realized as she wiped 
slobber off it's smooth surface, but why it was in her room, she had no idea. 
The Houndoom barked twice and trotted out.
"Mars? Mars, I told you not--" the voice stopped, and her grandfather leaned 
into the room, flyaway white hair unbrushed as usual around his head. He 
grinned upon seeing Gypsy sitting up in bed.
"Well, good morning sunshine!" he said loudly, shuffling in and sitting on 
the edge of the bed. He lifted one of his feet up to reveal fluffy pink 
slippers. "Look what your ma bought me. Aren't these nice? I can go to the 
fridge at nighttime now without waking anybody up."
Gypsy snorted. "Right. What's this, Gramps?"
"Doctor said you had a mild concussion, but you're lucky to have just gotten 
a kick in the head before Acacia came along. You probably needed it, 
considering." This last part was said a bit sternly, enough to make Gypsy 
sheepishly cringe. She suddenly remembered something.
"Zanny!" she cried out, looking around for the mongoose pokemon, "Is he okay? 
That Primeape...!"
"...Only did what he was born to do," Gramps interrupted with a shake of his 
head, "Protecting his young and fighting. As for Zanny, I'd say it was his 
time to retire anyway. You can talk to your ma about him."
Gypsy leaned down and pulled her comforter closer around her, anxiety eating 
away at her nerves when not hearing anything specific about Zanny, but 
recognizing that she would have to wait until her mother got to her. 
"Alright, Gramps. How long was I out?"
Gramps ticked off numbers on his fingers, making Gypsy nervous at first, then 
he laughed and shrugged. "Just two days, that's all."
Gypsy relaxed again, curling back into her pillows and holding the pokeball 
tightly in one hand. "What is this?"
Gramps reached up and scratched his head, sending his wispy hair everywhere. 
"Well, from what I got out of it, Miss Acacia had spare pokemon lying around 
and she decided to give them out. Judging from what happened in the woods, 
it's good timing."
Gypsy stared at him, open mouthed, but before she could say anything, the 
door swung open to reveal Joseph.
"Sis!" The brown-haired boy launched himself across the room and onto her 
bed, enveloping her in a hug that-- despite his small size-- nearly broke her 
ribs. "I'm so glad you're okay! The Primeape kicked you and you fell, then 
Miss Acacia showed up, and she had a Luxray! It was so cool! It used 
electricity to scare the Primeape away, and, she brought us back, and and--!"
"Easy Joseph," Gramps laughed, standing and prying her littler brother off 
her. "I think maybe you ought to let Gypsy take a breather. She just woke up, 
you know."
Joseph looked back and forth between them, green eyes wide, then nodded and 
darted out of the room, hollering "Mom! Mom, Gypsy's awake!"
Gramps chuckled, slowly getting to his feet. "I'll get your ma to bring you 
some medicine for that headache," he said, ambling across the room. At the 
door, he turned and winked, nodding towards the pokeball. "You should get 
acquainted with your friend there, as well."
With that, he left Gypsy alone with the pokeball, shutting the door so that 
Mars wouldn't get in. Gypsy watched the door for a few moments, and when 
nobody else barged in, looked back down at the pokeball. It was cool to the 
the touch, smooth and heavy for some reason.
Her first pokemon.
She wasn't obsessively devoted to becoming a "Pokemon master" like the kids 
in the comic books were-- Ash Ketchum, Misty Waterflower. those sorts. Gypsy 
knew from hearing her mother go over the newspaper that a lot of kids went on 
journeys to attain this goal, then came back defeated after realizing that 
things weren't as glossy as the cover of a comic book. Most never made it 
past the first gym. This was what really dissuaded her from aspiring to "be 
the very best."
Despite this, it was something everyone tried at least once. Gramps had made 
it all the way to the League, but failed in his sixth round. His son-- 
Gypsy's father-- and Gypsy's mother had traveled together, but her mother had 
quit after her fifth badge when she had gotten pregnant with Gypsy at 
sixteen. Her father kept going, however. He had beaten the League and become 
the champion, but failed against the Elite Four. Her mom had hinted that it 
was one of the biggest disappointments in their life.
Still... it was an exciting prospect, the idea of leaving home to go on a 
journey. She would have an excuse not to go to school-- not that she really 
cared if there was an excuse or not, and she would get to see so many new and 
interesting things.
Gypsy held the ball up, feeling awkward. Her mother had always read the 
comics to her, and she made it sound like Ash shouted when releasing his 
pokemon. After a moment, she held the pokeball out clumsily.
"Uh, go... whoever you are?"
There was a blinding flash of light and the silhouette of a small pokemon 
appeared on her bed. After a moment, a bird-like pokemon with orangey-red 
feathers formed from the light.
"Chic?"
Gypsy and the Torchic stared at each other blankly. After a moment, Torchic 
cheeped happily, then folded her leathery legs underneath her body and made a 
nest in the blankets.
"Well, uh," Gypsy said after a moment, "Should I give you a name, or do you 
already have one, or what?"
Torchic chirruped sweetly, tipping her head to the side. She blinked her dark 
eyes rapidly.
Gypsy tipped her head to match her Torchic. "...Or is Torchic fine with you?"
Torchic tipped her head to the other side, then chirruped agreeably. Gypsy 
patted her on the head. "Just Torchic, then."
"I see you've made friends already," Gypsy's mother, Addie, stepped into the 
room, holding a glass of water and a bottle of headache medicine. Mother and 
daughter looked nothing alike-- Addie had long brown hair and sharp blue eyes 
and was a tall, strong woman. She exuded power-- and had no doubt been a 
formidable trainer in her youth.
Gypsy, all short black hair, green eyes, and small-for-her-age, holding a 
tiny Torchic close to her, suddenly felt the idea of HER being a pokemon 
trainer even odder than before.
Addie sat on the edge of the bed, pouring the medicine into a spoon. "This is 
going to taste bad," she said quietly, giving Gypsy the medicine, then 
handing the cup of water over. Gypsy made a face and shuddered at the acrid 
taste of the medicine, sipping the water her mother gave her.
Addie reached over to pat Torchic on the head. The Torchic cheeped happily in 
response, flapping her too-tiny wings. She smiled, looking back at her 
daughter, who was now shifting uncomfortably in the bed.
"You know," her mother said after a moment, "I should ground you for dragging 
your brother and Zanny into the woods. You could have gotten killed."
Gypsy gave Addie a contrite, morose look, and she laughed, leaning back 
against the wall and crossing her arms.
"I figured that a kick in the head from a Primeape and a few more days in bed 
to make sure there's no MAJOR damage," she gave Gypsy a Look on this one, 
"would be enough. You also know it costs a pretty penny to get a doctor out 
here."
Gypsy winced and curled her toes in the sheets. Torchic cheeped scornfully at 
Addie, as though in defense of her new owner. Addie flicked imaginary lint 
off her sundress.
"I also wanted to know if you plan on going."
Gypsy glanced over at her mother, then out the window, drawing her thin knees 
up to her chest and resting her chin on them. "I uh, I guess. I mean, it's 
what everyone does, isn't it?"
"Not necessarily," Addie shrugged, "Some people don't go even after getting a 
starter. They keep it as a pet and stay at home. It's pretty tough out there 
on your own, even if it seems glamorous. Personally, I'd prefer it if you at 
least tried."
"What do I do? Just go around fighting people, or should I collect gym badges 
to get into the league?"
"Not my decision," her mother said, reaching out and running her fingers 
through Gypsy's black hair, feeling the knot she had received from the 
Primeape. "It's all up to you. If you want to register in the league and 
collect badges, you can register at the Pokemon Center in Copper Town."
Gypsy was silent. Her mother sighed, then shifted in the bed. Reaching into 
her apron pocket, she pulled out a pokeball and showed it to Gypsy, who 
recognized it as one of Gramps' old, worn out pokeballs. She looked over at 
her mother, taking the pokeball and feeling the fine scratches and dents in 
the otherwise smooth surface.
"Mom?"
"Whether or not you decide you want to become a Pokemon trainer, you still 
have to make a trip to the Copper City pokemon center," Addie replied, 
nodding to the pokeball, "Zanny's in there, and he's still hurting from that 
fight you put him through."
Gypsy's heart bottomed out and she clutched the pokeball tighter. "--Oh," she 
said, then repeated it louder, "--Oh! I, I gotta go, right? Zanny's hurt--!"
She stood from the bed--
--and her headache made itself known to her again, causing her to fall back. 
Her mother laid her back down on her bed, pulling her blankets around her. 
She pulled Zanny's pokeball from Gypsy's hand and set it on the dresser as 
Gypsy moaned in pain. Torchic got up from her spot on the end of the bed and 
tottered over to Gypsy's head, snuggling down so that her little orange 
feathers pressed against Gypsy's neck and cheek. She cheeped worriedly, 
clicking her beak for a moment before seizing Gypsy's earlobe and nibbling 
it, as though trying to comfort her. Gypsy rolled onto her side, patting 
Torchic's small crown of feathers down.
"I think you'd best wait for a few days before you go running marathons," 
Gypsy's mom said, heading to the door, "Zanny isn't feeling any pain inside 
the pokeball, so he's not in any big rush to go anywhere. You just go to 
sleep and let that medicine kick in."
Gypsy nodded wordlessly, throwing an arm around Torchic and closing her eyes. 
After a few quiet moments, she heard the door clicking shut as her mother 
left the room.
Torchic quietly watched her new master drifting off to dreamland with dark, 
curious eyes, then snuggled even closer and tucked her beak under her small 
wing.

"Well Torchic, that's it, I think."
"Chic!"
Gypsy looked up at where her Torchic was sitting on the window ledge, 
contentedly sunbathing in the yellow light that flooded the room. She smiled 
thinly, looking back down at her bed. A backpack laid open on the wrinkled 
covers, surrounding by it's contents. Nine old pokeballs--worn, battered and 
"well loved" as her mother put it, but they worked all the same, Torchic's 
pokeball, a basic first aid kit for her and her pokemon, a rolled up sleeping 
bag, a ground sheet, a folded tarp, pokefood, several containers of human 
canned food and instant noodles (along with a single pot, fork, spoon, and 
knife to cook and eat with), a map of the entire region of Ciano, a pack of 
matches, a utility knife, two pairs of clothes, pjs, and a towel, a 
flashlight, and a slightly outdated pokedex.
Gypsy picked up the pokedex, flipping it over to look at it. It had belonged 
to her mother, who had pulled the trainer card out of it, thus wiping the 
pokedex completely clean until Gypsy got to Copper City and registered as a 
trainer-- if she registered. She was more likely to do that than join in on 
the league, though.
Gypsy slipped the pokedex into the pocket of her too-big jeans and neatly put 
everything in her bag, save for the sleeping bag, which she tied to the top 
of the bag, and five of the nine spare pokeballs, clipping those in their 
minimized size to her belt. She felt Torchic's pokeball in her hand for a 
moment, then clipped that one in as well. People that registered in the 
league could carry ten pokemon total. Unregistered people, excluding law 
enforcement and hospitals and other rare acceptions, could only carry six.
There was an odd noise behind her, and Gypsy turned in time to see Joseph 
scamper away from where he had been watching through the crack in the door. 
She rolled her eyes heavenward.
"Joseph, this is your room too," she said loudly, "You can come in."
No answer. He was still mad as a mankey, she figured. He'd been peeved and 
more than a little betrayed to learn that she was going to leave him behind 
for any extended period of time, having assured himself that she wouldn't go. 
Gypsy had also seen him sulkily glaring at her Torchic more than once, as 
though it were the little bird's fault she was leaving.
Well, if he wanted to be like that, he could, Gypsy decided as she pulled the 
backpack on. It wasn't like she was going on some "whirlwind adventure." She 
was just walking to Copper City and back, for cripes sakes. She would be 
lucky to catch a single pokemon, and she didn't really care to either.
"Ready, Torchic?" she asked, picking up her small pokemon from the window 
ledge. Torchic chirrupped loudly, flapping her tiny wings as she was placed 
on Gypsy's thin shoulder. The bird pokemon dug her small claws into Gypsy's 
tanktop sleeve, hanging on tight as her master left her bedroom and went into 
the kitchen.
It was quiet through the house. Gypsy walked as softly as she could in her 
boots, hoping not to wake anybody up. It was still really early-- the sun had 
just barely risen and the only reason Joseph was awake was because of her 
alarm clock.
It was no matter though, Gypsy thought as she tiptoed past Mars, who was 
curled up on his large dog bed in the kitchen. She, Gramps, and her mom had 
all said their goodbyes the night before, with Gramps insisting that "all 
trainers get up early on their first day" and that's "how it's always been."
Never mind the fact that most kids were obsessed with being a pokemon master 
and went to visit their professor for a first pokemon, but who really cared 
about that, right? Gypsy slipped out the door, being careful not to let the 
screen slam shut behind her. She bounded down the porch steps, waving good-
bye to Sunny, her mother's Sunflora, who had been sitting on the porch, 
soaking in some early morning rays. Sunny waved her leafy arm back, still a 
little sluggish from the night.
Gypsy made it to the end of the driveway before turning around to look back 
at her home. Like most of the houses (aside from barns), it was built into 
the side of a hill to protect it from the danger of the yearly tornadoes. 
Theirs was particularly small, with only two bedrooms. Gramps slept on the 
bed in the living room.
Torchic chirruped, breaking the silence of the moment. Gypsy smiled, patted 
Torchic on the head, then turned away from the house, staring all the down 
the beaten path. It continued on and on past her range of sight, winding past 
Farmer Paxton's, over the hill with the old tire swing, and to where, miles 
away, it cut a swath into Copper Forest.
Gypsy looked down, then took a step onto the path.