Returning Home
January sixteenth. Only two and a half more months. Or was it two months? It didn't matter, time seemed to be passing by slowly. The world was anxiously awaiting the release of the return to Johto games, HeartGold and SoulSilver. Kids, teenagers and even young adults were all preparing in their own ways. The kids made the games the topic of conversation at school and even played pretend Pokemon battles. The teenagers and young adults were gathering up their prized pokemon from their Gameboy Advance cartridges and getting them ready for the long awaited return to Johto. Those who were experienced breeders or EV trainers were refining their team or making additions.
Pokemon never vanished from these kid-at-heart teens. Ten years ago, the world announced Pokemon Gold, Silver and Crystal and changed the lives of kids forever. When remakes began coming out, especially the remake of Kanto in FireRed and LeafGreen, the teens were desperate for a Johto remake as well. It was the turn point for many kids. Pokemon wasn't just any game anymore. It got realistic with its new ideas. Childhood memories were born and never died, even if the internal clocks in the cartridges did.
And now, ten years later, they got their wish.
A young woman was sitting alone in her house with a white DS Lite in one hand, a sandwich in the other and a small black laptop on her lap. It was a Saturday evening and her father and dog were both out at another house, leaving her to her thoughts. It was fine. She was used to being alone. Her hair was very messy and somewhat greasy on the top. She was dressed in pajamas and a black hooded sweater. She obviously hadn't given a thought to her appearance for the day. Not that it mattered, appearances were always the last thing on her mind.
She was very concentrated on her DS and took another bite of her sandwich. "Come on, Chaos. You can do it. You can beat his Venusaur," she muttered. Music played from the laptop and the DS was mute. On the screen, however, a fierce battle was going on. A Dragonite was going against a very high leveled Venusaur. The Dragonite was level 72, but very well trained with the right EVs. The Dragonite landed a Fire Punch on the Venusaur after it had used Sunny Day and that was it. The experience spread out on her team to those holding experience shares. A Seel she had caught just earlier that day leveled up to level 34 and the girl grinned. Her Seel was going to evolve!
"Alright, Sirzec!"
Chaos was called back and the battle carried on. An IM flashed on the laptop screen and the girl rolled her eyes.
The Doc - The Lord Of Da Swampertz:
DO THE SUMMATIVE THINGIE!
"No effing way," the girl said. She had already worked too hard on her homework and just wanted to focus on Pokemon. Her Swampert obsessed friend (nothing to do with the internet fad of MUDKIPZ) was trying to kick her to stop reading manga and work on 'more important things'.
"Getting ready to return to Johto is more important!"
A remix of Just Dance and Metal Madness began playing and the girl laughed. "Sugar Mama's theme! She'll be GREAT on Johto. I just know it."
The girl paused. "Hell, they all will. Lucy, Sala, Eon, Ven, Harlot...damn, I can't wait to bring them all over to Johto. It's going to be great."
Back on the DS, the battle against the rival ended and she skipped through the credits to head back to Pallet Town. She put on Mastermind by Mindless Self Indulgence as soon as the remix was finished and went straight to the PC in the game.
"Hey guys. Chaos and Flipsy, great work out there! I'm so sorry about letting you guys faint against Lance, though...it won't be that way when you reach the level one hundred. I promise," she said.
Up from the PC, a huge amount of pokemon stared up at her. There were a total of thirty pokemon in specially named boxes: COMPETBX and FAMILYBX. Some of them were also in her party. In the COMPETBX were a Rhydon, a Salamence, a Snorlax, a Gardevoir, a Tyranitar, a Ninjask, a Metagross, a Blissey, a Zapdos (imported from the Orre region) and a Dusclops.
In the FAMILYBX were an Espeon, a Vaporeon, an Umbreon, three newborn Eevees that were the Umbreon's children, four Pikachu, one Pichu, a Granbull, a Misdreavus and now a Dewgong.
In her party was a Dragonite, a Milotic, a Flygon, a Venomoth, a Houndoom and an Arcanine. From her party, the Dragonite and Flygon frowned. She knew they hated fainting. But they knew they weren't as strong as their seniors. All the battling pokemon were all at the top level. They were going to be the last ones for now.
"All of you guys are going to make it to Johto. And I can't wait! Going back to Johto is gonna be a wonderful experience again and I get to share it with you and Cam," the girl blushed. "It's going to be really like a huge family. Lucy, Dusky, Shiner and Azelf are coming too," she said, referring to the Lucario, Dusknoir, shiny Gallade and Azelf on her Diamond game.
She yawned. "Mmm, it's so late...I think I'll head to bed. 'Night, everyone. Tomorrow's a new day."
The laptop and the DS all went dark. The sandwich was consumed quickly and all the lights went out as the girl curled up in bed and waited for sleep.
But inside the DS was another story.
The pokemon had come alive and were conversing. They were all thinking the same thing. What's Johto? Where is it? Why was their master so excited about going there? And why hadn't their master had a shower?
That last one was wondered by one of the four Pikachu, a high leveled male one by the name of Chop Suey. (He hated his name and always insisted on being called Choppy. He also hated his master for naming him after a song and FOOD.)
The Tyranitar reached for a bottle of whisky she always kept hidden away and took a long swig. The Gardevoir glared and snatched the bottle out of her hand. "Stop drinking, Sugar Mama!"
"But I'm thirsty! Gimme my stuff, Andromenda!"
"Ven, sweetie?" Andromenda turned to the Vaporeon. "Can you use Surf and make Sugar Mama not thirsty?"
"Sure!" the happy go lucky Vaporeon said. A wave crashed down on Sugar Mama, knocking her down. The Espeon, Ven's twin named Eon, laughed.
"So what is Johto, anyway?" the Milotic asked. Her eyes were on the Dragonite, Chaos, and she was blushing. "You're wise, Chaos. Why don't you tell us?"
The Dragonite shrugged. "Sure."
The Arcanine woofed. "BO-RING! STORIES ARE BORING! Chaos is boring, being in here is boring, everything is boring! I hate everything!" he whined.
"Shut up, Sirius," the Houndoom growled. Her paws dug into the ground. "You're going to be coming along to this place too. You oughta hear this."
"Procyon's right," the Flygon, Flipsy, said. She folded her arms and continued, "So what is this Johto place anyway? What's it like?"
"Well, it's a region like Hoenn and Kanto," Chaos explained. Many of the Pokemon in the box were originally from Hoenn and some were from here in Kanto. The only exception was the Zapdos, who arrived from Orre after the second Shadow Pokemon incident. (And just in time, too. The Gamecube memory card had to be reformatted and had lost all the data that was on it. Their master was upset for days before she eventually faced the heart breaking reality for the second time and took comfort in knowing she didn't lose her important partners. Flipsy and Chaos both still shudder when they think how they could have been sent to Orre for training, like their seniors, and might have ended up gone forever.)
"It has all the things Kanto has, but there's no contest hall, like in Hoenn," Chaos continued to speak. "It has the eight gyms with different leaders and there's a lot of rich history as well."
"History?" The Metagross and Blissey both perked up. History was something they both enjoyed. Grossy, the Metagross, was also a walking, talking and floating genius and loved soaking up knowledge.
"Yeah. Two towers stand in one town that pay a lot of homage and respect to Ho-Oh and Lugia. One tower that a bunch of monks and mediums practise battles and religion in. Some ruins in the center of the region as well. I think they discovered new ruins there too. Mistress's favourite is the Dragon's Den," Chaos said. "She told me once that that's where her heart always is and why she trains dragons. Dragons like me, Sala, Flipsy...and the dragon like pokemon, like Watery and Sugar Mama," he continued.
Sala grumbled to himself about how he was first.
"Beyond that, I suppose that it's how our mistress really got into adventuring. Kanto is a nice place and Hoenn was huge. She also speaks of a place called Sinnoh, but not with much affection. Only how she has some pokemon there, waiting for her," Chaos said.
A female Pikachu stepped forward. "Then we are soon going to a very special place to our dear mistress...I think it's wonderful she wants to bring us all along."
"Of course. Why not, Aquila?" a third Pikachu, a male one, spoke. "We're her family, too. Not just her lover, the boy she speaks so fondly of. Not just her father who seems to run off a lot. She misses her mother so much as well..."
"But we've been taking care of her," Andromenda spoke up. She, Blissa the Blissey and Aquila smiled warmly. "Ever since the tragic accident with her cousin, we've been there. And she loves us too."
"But what she really needs..." the gentle and silent Umbreon spoke up. "...is to return to her roots."
"Exactly," Aquila aknowledged. "And this Johto may be what she's looking for. If that's what it is, I'll gladly go there. Right, Chiron? Baby? Algol?" Aquila looked at her family, her immediate family. Chiron, her mate, Baby Pichu, her daughter and Algol, the abused Pikachu she adopted and took with her from the Safari Zone in Hoenn.
Chiron nodded. "I will go anywhere with you, Aquila."
"Me too, Mommy," Baby Pichu said. Algol only grunted.
"Excuse me..." They turned to see Viola, a Venomoth their mistress had captured and evolved earlier that day. Beside her was Sirzec, the Dewgong that had evolved only a little while ago.
"Yes?" Blissa asked.
"This may sound a bit...weird. But we were only added to this family today. Would we come to this Johto place as well?" Viola asked. She seemed to be really worried about her future fate. Her wings fluttered nervously and Sirzec also nodded.
"We're just getting to know her. Suppose she doesn't want us after all?"
"That's crazy!" Aquila said.
"Aquila, that's uncalled for," Andromenda said softly. She turned to look at the two new additions to their large family and also motioned for the four newly hatched Pokemon to come closer. Harlot's three Eevee children and a baby Misdreavus moved in to hear what the Gardevoir had to say.
"There was a reason she wanted you. All of you. It's because she loves Pokemon and she will never let her love for us die away. Wherever she goes, we go. As long as she holds her DS, she can take us with her anywhere. And now she wants us to go to Johto as well. It doesn't matter if you're new to the family or not. She loves us all the same and will allow us all to make the trip."
"I see..." Viola nodded. "Okay. In that case, I'm glad I came along. I can't wait for the trip!"
"Eheehee..." the baby Misdreavus cackled.
"If Johto is her home...then it will be our home too," Aquila said. She thoughtfully will all be home someday."
"Yeah..." Harlot said. His three Eevee cubs scampered around him.
"I can't wait," Andromenda put in. "We're all in for a new adventure...new friends and enemies...more battles...and our master's real home. I hope it comes out soon."
Pokemon never vanished from these kid-at-heart teens. Ten years ago, the world announced Pokemon Gold, Silver and Crystal and changed the lives of kids forever. When remakes began coming out, especially the remake of Kanto in FireRed and LeafGreen, the teens were desperate for a Johto remake as well. It was the turn point for many kids. Pokemon wasn't just any game anymore. It got realistic with its new ideas. Childhood memories were born and never died, even if the internal clocks in the cartridges did.
And now, ten years later, they got their wish.
A young woman was sitting alone in her house with a white DS Lite in one hand, a sandwich in the other and a small black laptop on her lap. It was a Saturday evening and her father and dog were both out at another house, leaving her to her thoughts. It was fine. She was used to being alone. Her hair was very messy and somewhat greasy on the top. She was dressed in pajamas and a black hooded sweater. She obviously hadn't given a thought to her appearance for the day. Not that it mattered, appearances were always the last thing on her mind.
She was very concentrated on her DS and took another bite of her sandwich. "Come on, Chaos. You can do it. You can beat his Venusaur," she muttered. Music played from the laptop and the DS was mute. On the screen, however, a fierce battle was going on. A Dragonite was going against a very high leveled Venusaur. The Dragonite was level 72, but very well trained with the right EVs. The Dragonite landed a Fire Punch on the Venusaur after it had used Sunny Day and that was it. The experience spread out on her team to those holding experience shares. A Seel she had caught just earlier that day leveled up to level 34 and the girl grinned. Her Seel was going to evolve!
"Alright, Sirzec!"
Chaos was called back and the battle carried on. An IM flashed on the laptop screen and the girl rolled her eyes.
The Doc - The Lord Of Da Swampertz:
DO THE SUMMATIVE THINGIE!
"No effing way," the girl said. She had already worked too hard on her homework and just wanted to focus on Pokemon. Her Swampert obsessed friend (nothing to do with the internet fad of MUDKIPZ) was trying to kick her to stop reading manga and work on 'more important things'.
"Getting ready to return to Johto is more important!"
A remix of Just Dance and Metal Madness began playing and the girl laughed. "Sugar Mama's theme! She'll be GREAT on Johto. I just know it."
The girl paused. "Hell, they all will. Lucy, Sala, Eon, Ven, Harlot...damn, I can't wait to bring them all over to Johto. It's going to be great."
Back on the DS, the battle against the rival ended and she skipped through the credits to head back to Pallet Town. She put on Mastermind by Mindless Self Indulgence as soon as the remix was finished and went straight to the PC in the game.
"Hey guys. Chaos and Flipsy, great work out there! I'm so sorry about letting you guys faint against Lance, though...it won't be that way when you reach the level one hundred. I promise," she said.
Up from the PC, a huge amount of pokemon stared up at her. There were a total of thirty pokemon in specially named boxes: COMPETBX and FAMILYBX. Some of them were also in her party. In the COMPETBX were a Rhydon, a Salamence, a Snorlax, a Gardevoir, a Tyranitar, a Ninjask, a Metagross, a Blissey, a Zapdos (imported from the Orre region) and a Dusclops.
In the FAMILYBX were an Espeon, a Vaporeon, an Umbreon, three newborn Eevees that were the Umbreon's children, four Pikachu, one Pichu, a Granbull, a Misdreavus and now a Dewgong.
In her party was a Dragonite, a Milotic, a Flygon, a Venomoth, a Houndoom and an Arcanine. From her party, the Dragonite and Flygon frowned. She knew they hated fainting. But they knew they weren't as strong as their seniors. All the battling pokemon were all at the top level. They were going to be the last ones for now.
"All of you guys are going to make it to Johto. And I can't wait! Going back to Johto is gonna be a wonderful experience again and I get to share it with you and Cam," the girl blushed. "It's going to be really like a huge family. Lucy, Dusky, Shiner and Azelf are coming too," she said, referring to the Lucario, Dusknoir, shiny Gallade and Azelf on her Diamond game.
She yawned. "Mmm, it's so late...I think I'll head to bed. 'Night, everyone. Tomorrow's a new day."
The laptop and the DS all went dark. The sandwich was consumed quickly and all the lights went out as the girl curled up in bed and waited for sleep.
But inside the DS was another story.
The pokemon had come alive and were conversing. They were all thinking the same thing. What's Johto? Where is it? Why was their master so excited about going there? And why hadn't their master had a shower?
That last one was wondered by one of the four Pikachu, a high leveled male one by the name of Chop Suey. (He hated his name and always insisted on being called Choppy. He also hated his master for naming him after a song and FOOD.)
The Tyranitar reached for a bottle of whisky she always kept hidden away and took a long swig. The Gardevoir glared and snatched the bottle out of her hand. "Stop drinking, Sugar Mama!"
"But I'm thirsty! Gimme my stuff, Andromenda!"
"Ven, sweetie?" Andromenda turned to the Vaporeon. "Can you use Surf and make Sugar Mama not thirsty?"
"Sure!" the happy go lucky Vaporeon said. A wave crashed down on Sugar Mama, knocking her down. The Espeon, Ven's twin named Eon, laughed.
"So what is Johto, anyway?" the Milotic asked. Her eyes were on the Dragonite, Chaos, and she was blushing. "You're wise, Chaos. Why don't you tell us?"
The Dragonite shrugged. "Sure."
The Arcanine woofed. "BO-RING! STORIES ARE BORING! Chaos is boring, being in here is boring, everything is boring! I hate everything!" he whined.
"Shut up, Sirius," the Houndoom growled. Her paws dug into the ground. "You're going to be coming along to this place too. You oughta hear this."
"Procyon's right," the Flygon, Flipsy, said. She folded her arms and continued, "So what is this Johto place anyway? What's it like?"
"Well, it's a region like Hoenn and Kanto," Chaos explained. Many of the Pokemon in the box were originally from Hoenn and some were from here in Kanto. The only exception was the Zapdos, who arrived from Orre after the second Shadow Pokemon incident. (And just in time, too. The Gamecube memory card had to be reformatted and had lost all the data that was on it. Their master was upset for days before she eventually faced the heart breaking reality for the second time and took comfort in knowing she didn't lose her important partners. Flipsy and Chaos both still shudder when they think how they could have been sent to Orre for training, like their seniors, and might have ended up gone forever.)
"It has all the things Kanto has, but there's no contest hall, like in Hoenn," Chaos continued to speak. "It has the eight gyms with different leaders and there's a lot of rich history as well."
"History?" The Metagross and Blissey both perked up. History was something they both enjoyed. Grossy, the Metagross, was also a walking, talking and floating genius and loved soaking up knowledge.
"Yeah. Two towers stand in one town that pay a lot of homage and respect to Ho-Oh and Lugia. One tower that a bunch of monks and mediums practise battles and religion in. Some ruins in the center of the region as well. I think they discovered new ruins there too. Mistress's favourite is the Dragon's Den," Chaos said. "She told me once that that's where her heart always is and why she trains dragons. Dragons like me, Sala, Flipsy...and the dragon like pokemon, like Watery and Sugar Mama," he continued.
Sala grumbled to himself about how he was first.
"Beyond that, I suppose that it's how our mistress really got into adventuring. Kanto is a nice place and Hoenn was huge. She also speaks of a place called Sinnoh, but not with much affection. Only how she has some pokemon there, waiting for her," Chaos said.
A female Pikachu stepped forward. "Then we are soon going to a very special place to our dear mistress...I think it's wonderful she wants to bring us all along."
"Of course. Why not, Aquila?" a third Pikachu, a male one, spoke. "We're her family, too. Not just her lover, the boy she speaks so fondly of. Not just her father who seems to run off a lot. She misses her mother so much as well..."
"But we've been taking care of her," Andromenda spoke up. She, Blissa the Blissey and Aquila smiled warmly. "Ever since the tragic accident with her cousin, we've been there. And she loves us too."
"But what she really needs..." the gentle and silent Umbreon spoke up. "...is to return to her roots."
"Exactly," Aquila aknowledged. "And this Johto may be what she's looking for. If that's what it is, I'll gladly go there. Right, Chiron? Baby? Algol?" Aquila looked at her family, her immediate family. Chiron, her mate, Baby Pichu, her daughter and Algol, the abused Pikachu she adopted and took with her from the Safari Zone in Hoenn.
Chiron nodded. "I will go anywhere with you, Aquila."
"Me too, Mommy," Baby Pichu said. Algol only grunted.
"Excuse me..." They turned to see Viola, a Venomoth their mistress had captured and evolved earlier that day. Beside her was Sirzec, the Dewgong that had evolved only a little while ago.
"Yes?" Blissa asked.
"This may sound a bit...weird. But we were only added to this family today. Would we come to this Johto place as well?" Viola asked. She seemed to be really worried about her future fate. Her wings fluttered nervously and Sirzec also nodded.
"We're just getting to know her. Suppose she doesn't want us after all?"
"That's crazy!" Aquila said.
"Aquila, that's uncalled for," Andromenda said softly. She turned to look at the two new additions to their large family and also motioned for the four newly hatched Pokemon to come closer. Harlot's three Eevee children and a baby Misdreavus moved in to hear what the Gardevoir had to say.
"There was a reason she wanted you. All of you. It's because she loves Pokemon and she will never let her love for us die away. Wherever she goes, we go. As long as she holds her DS, she can take us with her anywhere. And now she wants us to go to Johto as well. It doesn't matter if you're new to the family or not. She loves us all the same and will allow us all to make the trip."
"I see..." Viola nodded. "Okay. In that case, I'm glad I came along. I can't wait for the trip!"
"Eheehee..." the baby Misdreavus cackled.
"If Johto is her home...then it will be our home too," Aquila said. She thoughtfully will all be home someday."
"Yeah..." Harlot said. His three Eevee cubs scampered around him.
"I can't wait," Andromenda put in. "We're all in for a new adventure...new friends and enemies...more battles...and our master's real home. I hope it comes out soon."
