Chapter 0.3 A week had passed since Alex left, but the guilt that I had felt when he left was still strong in my heart. I couldn't help but think that if I hadn't been so consumed by my desire to be a pokemon trainer, he would still be with us. Why didn't I just keep my mouth shut? Why didn't I keep Alex from leaving? Why did it have to happen at all? I went to Alex's room, in an attempt to remember better moments with him than the last night I had seen him. Everything that crossed my eye brought back a warmer, happier memory. The bed that we had a pillow fight on. The closet that I hid in when we were playing hide and seek. The TV that we played videogames together on. The picture . . . . . . . Wait. The picture was gone! I looked through the room, searching every inch only to find no picture. The picture was of Alex and I hugging each other at the Cerulean parade. It wasn't long after I began to think of where it had gone when the obvious answer came to me. Alex must have taken it with him on the night that he left. I slowly eased myself onto Alex's bed, letting out a sigh, as my guilt became heaver upon my heart. My gaze lowered to the floor while I let myself become consumed in my thoughts. Where could Alex possibly be? Is he dead? Is he somewhere with the pokemon he freed from the fair? Does he forgive me for not going with him? "Don't worry about Alex," a familiar voice said. I darted my vision upward, to see David in front of me. "You need to try to move on, Matt. I know that you miss Alex, but being depressed like this won't do a thing." I looked back at the floor, trying to push aside my pain to let David's words sink in. "Dad told me to take you Pokemon catching, since he also thinks that you shouldn't let yourself feel so bad. He said that you should continue doing what you wanted to do, be a Pokemon trainer." I continued looking at the floor. Maybe Dad and David were right. Maybe I shouldn't let Alex get what he really wants: for me to not catch and train pokemon. I muttered, "I guess you're right." "Of course I am," David replied with a soft smile. "Now come on, let's get some breakfast," he said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I replied, taking my gaze off the floor. "Okay. Let me get Squirtle." ---- I sat at the table while eating bacon and pancakes for breakfast with my family. Squirtle ate poke-pellets on the floor. Mom herself made the food, instead of a maid. Mom was a person who believed in doing things for herself, which was one of the reasons that we never had any maids and butlers to do things for us. It definitely made us stick out, but Mom and Dad didn't care. I haven't been hungry since Alex left, but I knew that starving myself wasn't the answer. Despite this, it was still hard to concentrate on breakfast when Alex's empty seat was right in front of my eyes. If only there was somebody to take the seat. I looked down to see Squirtle eating its breakfast and got an idea. I looked up to Dad, whose face was hidden behind his newspaper. I asked, "Why can't Squirtle sit with us, Dad? Alex's seat is empty." Dad lowered the newspaper just enough for him too see my face. He replied, "Because pokemon aren't supposed to eat at tables, son." After drinking from his glass of milk, Gerald asked, "Matt, are you going to catch some more pokemon today?" "Well . . . " I started, playing around with my food by using the fork. Dad gave a sigh, before placing his paper on the table. He put a hand on my shoulder and showed me a soft, comforting expression. "Matt, you need to stop looking at pokemon in a better way than they really are. Pokemon are beasts. They are potential weapons. They are animals. They need to be controlled. They need to be trained. That is what you are going to do, no matter what Alex had to say on the matter," he said. Before Dad had the chance to pick up his paper, a blast of water threw him from his seat. Dad hit the floor, soaking wet. Everybody's attention went to the source of the water. There, Squirtle stood, the anger clear upon its face. The joy I would have had from Squirtle learning water gun was immediately prevented when I looked at Dad. His face had gone from a look of surprise to one of rage. He stood up from where he sat on the floor, water dripping off his clothes. He took the newspaper in his hand, and rolled it up while walking to Squirtle. He raised the paper in the air as he stood in front of it. Everybody knew what was going to happen. Squirtle looked up at the towering figure that was my father, trying to not show any fear. Just as Dad was about to strike it, he lowered the paper to his sides, causing everybody to wonder why he didn't do it. Dad turned to me and handed me the paper, but I didn't take it. "Punish it." I didn't know what to do. I looked to David, Gerald, and Mom for some kind of help, but they didn't know what to do either. Dad screamed, "What is there to think about Matt? That creature just attacked your dad! Hit it!" I slowly took the paper from Dad's hand as he folded his arms. I raised the newspaper into the air and looked at Squirtle. It had a look on its face that said, "You understand why I did it, right?" I didn't want to do it. I knew that Squirtle didn't deserve this, but of all people, I couldn't refuse my Dad. Tears fell down my cheeks as I closed my eyes and swung as hard as possible. An ear piercing cry of, "Squiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrt!" forced my eyes open. Squirtle lied on the ground, a few inches back from where it stood before I knocked it back. It had a look of absolute fear upon its face. The fear was of me. "Good job, son," Dad calmly said. Dad took the newspaper from hand and eased himself back into his seat. Mom and Gerald silently stared at Dad, speechless over what had just happened. Dad looked at them, almost as if nothing had happened before unrolling the paper and asking, "Now, why don't we finish breakfast?" ---- Why? Why did Dad have to make me hit Squirtle? That was the question that played with my mind as I let myself lie on the couch, trying to let the TV take me out of the increasingly harsh reality that was my own. I closed my eyes, in a small attempt to sleep. Hopefully, I would be whisked away to my dreams, a place where the pain of reality can't exist. I reopened my eyes to look at the TV when I heard the music for the news. I had the hope that the police would report that Alex was found, so my mind could be allowed to relax more. The reporter that stood on the screen wore a smile on her face, along with a nice looking business suit. Behind the reporter, stood and conversed police officers and military soldiers. I could barely make out letters, "S.C.O.R.S." along with a golden fearow that was positioned below them. "Today marks the official launch of the S.C.O.R.S., the Special Criminal Operations Resistance Squad", the reporter announced with a smile on her face. The reporter stood beside a black haired man that looked like he was in his late forties. His face that of a man who could easily look hard and uncaring. This didn't seem to be apparent, since a smile was worn upon it. He was in a military dress suit, complete with a few medals on it. "We are now interviewing Harold Angel, the commander of the S.C.O.R.S. Any comments, sir?" The reporter held her microphone up to his face as he said proudly, "I am proud to be the leader of this new team. I am sure that with this middle ground between police and military, that we will be able to neutralize the treats of Team Rocket and other criminal organizations." "Thank you Mr. Angel," the reporter said as she walked to another person. The next person also had a military uniform on, and didn't look like he had the same potential to look hard as Mr. Angel. In effect, that made his smile more noticeable. "We also have here Ronald Doland, the-second-in-command of the S.C.O.R.S. What do you have to say, Mr. Doland?" Doland responded while smiling into the camera and pointing at it, "You better watch out Rocket! We've got your number!" "Enthusiastic words from Mr. Doland," the reporter added. "David says that he is ready to take you pokemon catching. Go get your squirtle," I heard Gerald say. I sat up and looked to see Gerald looking at me from the stairway. "Yeah . . . . . . . all right," I murmured as I left the couch and walked up the stairs, toward my room. Gerald quickly went to the couch, took the remote and turned on The Brittany Jackson show. ---- As I walked into my room, the first thing I noticed was the darkness that filled it. The light of the sun was trapped behind closed blinds. It took no thought to realize who had shut the blinds in my room. I looked to the bed to see Squirtle for an instant of time. Squirtle quickly leaped away from my grasp, to behind my bed. Squirtle looked at me from its safe spot; I could see the horror Squirtle now had at the sight of me. "Please Squirtle, don't hide. I didn't want to hurt you. Dad made me do it," I said with a hope that Squirtle would believe my words. Squirtle starred at me, as if it was searching for truth in my eyes. I moved forward to grab it, but it quickly jumped from behind the bed and ran to a corner of my room. "Please . . . . . . . forgive me," I said, slowly walking towards Squirtle as it cowered in front of me. "I'm so sorry." I kneeled down in front of Squirtle, and reached out to it. Moments before I could do so little as touch Squirtle, a pokeball, my pokeball flew over my shoulder and slammed into Squirtle's chest. I watched, stunned as Squirtle was unwillingly sucked into the red and white sphere. "Who?" I asked myself as I stood up and turned around. My eyes rested upon Dad. His eyes were stern as her said, "It's that simple, son. David is waiting for you in the car." ---- The engine of the car and the other cars passing by on the highway were the only sounds heard from David's car. The both of us were on our way to Pallet Town, where I could start catching and training pokemon. I didn't have the will to talk, and David didn't have the will to push me into talking. There was nothing to talk about, except how my brother ran away from home, and how my father forced me to hit my pokemon. Despite this, I could tell that David wanted me to talk, because he kept glancing at me while he drove. I decided to let myself give into David, asking, "David, why did you decide to drive instead of using the limo?" "So I could do this," Was David's reply before he suddenly pulled the car over onto the side of the road. "What are you doing, David?" I asked. He turned the ignition off and looked at me, a hand still on the wheel. His eyes showed concern as he said, "I'm sorry about what Dad forced you to do today. He was just trying to do what he thought was best for you." "He made me hit Squirtle, David. Now Squirtle is scared of me." David replied, "I know you don't want to hear this. But that is the way it really is. Pokemon aren't considered as equals to people. Pokemon eat poke-pellets on the floor while we eat cuisine at the table. We yell the commands while they do them. We take the credit for being good trainers; they don't take any credit for being the ones that really fight. There are people that truly respect pokemon, but they are too far and few between the majority." I didn't want to hear this. I wanted to resist that harsh and uncaring reality, but it was impossible. It was almost like Alex had possessed David's body. "You have a choice, Matt. You can turn in your pokeballs now. Or, you could become a trainer, give your pokemon the credit they deserve, let them eat at the table with you, and give the world an example of how pokemon are really supposed to be treated." I slowly looked into David's eyes. A part of me wanted to give it all up now, but I couldn't. "Let's go to pallet. I have pokemon to catch." David smiled as he turned ignition back on. As we drove on the highway to Pallet, I wondered what made me decide to continue to be a trainer. Was it to prove Alex wrong? Was it to make Dad happy? Or was it because the wonderful and glamorous vision I had of pokemon trainers and the pokemon themselves was still in my mind? I couldn't tell, but there was one thing that was certain. I, Matthew Thomas, was now a pokemon trainer. End Chapter 0.3