Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, so stop sending me hate mail!!! >< lol
MATT
chapter 1: private thoughts
The water was an ugly greyish colour to match the consistently
gloomy sky with clouds that never seemed to part. There was no sand, only
disgusting-looking mud stretching out for ages until the sea took over and
eddied and swirled at the flat horizon. Mangroves waved their spiky, grey
branches. Seabirds let out irritating, throaty calls and the smell of sadness
was thick in the air.
All in all, the cliff by the sea out of Lavender Town had not been blessed
with breathtaking beauty.
Occasionally, if one had climbed the cliff, they may have seen a person there,
or perhaps two. On that particular day in Autumn, if one had climbed the cliff
at somewhere about three o'clock in the afternoon, they would have seen a
dreamy-looking person with tousled, dark-blonde hair and a faraway look in his
eyes.
This person's name was Matthew Leman, more commonly known as Matt. He was
approximately fifteen years old and had hazel eyes, and could be found at the
cliff most of the time. He was also in a relatively good mood most of the
time. That day in Autumn was no exception. He had his hands in his pockets and
was walking around aimlessly, singing absent-mindedly to himself and thinking.
It was Klio who had first shown him this place, ten years ago. Ten whole
years! And he had been going there ever since. He was unable to put his finger
on why he kept coming here. It was ugly and dismal, boring and even dangerous
sometimes, and there was a feeling in the air, a presence. The presence of the
hundreds of depressed people who must have come up here. Klio was one of them.
Matt's mind wandered to Klio. She was about his age, with chaotic, long brown
hair and contact lenses and incredibly low self-esteem. She had been coming up
here for longer than he had, to calm herself down after being bullied at
school and ignored at home. Klio did not know that Matt thought she was
actually very cool, and contrary to what the people at school said, Matt also
thought that she was not ugly.
Matt thought that Klio was very pretty indeed.
Unfortunately, Matt had never told Klio this, because he was secretly a little
scared of what she might say back, so Klio's self-esteem just continued to be
worn down by her peers, and Matt continued to fight a losing battle to keep it
going up.
And Matt was suddenly aware that somebody was behind him, and he knew it was
Klio because nobody else ever went up to the cliff. "Hi," he said, pausing in
the middle of his song without turning around.
"Hello," Klio greeted him. "Nice song."
Matt grinned and turned around, and sure enough Klio was standing before him,
hands behind her back, looking out to the horizon, dressed in a plain black
jumper and jeans, her long hair blowing in the wind. "No, really," she said
with a smile, "I like it. What's it called?"
"I don't know. Just something I heard on the radio," replied Matt. "What's
up?"
"Oh, nothing. As usual. Dog's asleep. Mum's just happily pretending I don't
exist."
Matt frowned.
"It's nothing," Klio assured him. "She's never noticed I'm there in my life,
you get used to it, you know."
Klio was a bad liar. However Matt decided not to pursue the topic and instead
said, "Can I see your latest drawing?"
Klio passed him her sketch pad. She was never without it, and one of the
reasons she came up to the cliff was to draw. Matt flipped it open and leafed
through. The last drawing was of her Growlithe, as usual. He was curled up in
a ball, sleeping. Matt examined the drawing and said, "Klio, it's as good as a
photo. How do you do it?"
"It's nothing," Klio said again. "It was just a quick sketch. It's really
bad."
Matt rolled his eyes. "Get over it," he said indignantly. "It's brilliant and
you know it."
"Do you really think so?" Klio's eyes lit up as she looked back over the
drawing.
"Of course not. I don't think, I know." Matt perched himself on a stump of a
tree that must have grown there years ago, when Lavender Town was a nice
place.
Klio smiled in a way that made her whole face look warm and happy. It made her
a lot prettier, Matt noticed.
What Matt didn't notice was that she only smiled like that when he was with
her.
"You been up here daydreaming again?" asked Klio, taking a few absent-minded
steps towards the edge.
"What else?" replied Matt, following her gaze out to the horizon. "About
what's out there, if we're ever going to find out. Why has nobody ever been
out of Kanto? I know it can't be the only place in the whole world."
"You're right, I suppose," agreed Klio. "If you're so curious, why don't you
get out there and find out? Follow in the steps of Ash Ketchum, your hero!!"
She said this in such a ridiculous, deep voice that they both laughed.
"You know what? That's exactly what I'll do," decided Matt. "I'm sick of all
this guessing. Someday soon, I'll go and find out for myself!"
Klio smiled and said in a small voice, "I'll miss you."
"What's to stop you from coming too? We'll both go!" declared Matt. "Klio and
Matt, the dynamic duo, travelling the world in search of new and exotic
lands!"
They laughed.
"I'll take you with me," said Matt, and grabbed her hand. "We're going to go
together, okay?"
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Klio smiled and looked back out to sea. "Don't forget me."
"What? Never," said Matt with a grin. There was a long silence, then Matt
said, "It's funny. I never noticed how pretty it is out here." But he wasn't
looking out to sea, or at the mangroves, or at the mud beneath the cliff.
He was looking at Klio.