The Great Escape [D]

[alyssaimagine]

Some people may have mixed emotions when leaving home to go on their Pokemon Journey, but this wasn't the case for Faith. She had no regrets when it came to leaving this place behind, and she didn't even know if she would come back. Her home life wasn't exactly normal, and she couldn't be happier to be free from the burden that home represented. In fact, she didn't know if she would ever settle down anywhere. For the last eighteen years all she could do was read, exercise (inside the home, of course), and play board games. The latter of which became boring years ago. For the first time in life, she was going to be free. Getting her first Pokemon was the very first step, then she would leave this place behind there.

It had been an eventful day. Her mother had no idea what was coming, because Faith had never told her. She had simply picked up her prepacked bag and turned to leave the house. Of course, her mother wasn't just going to sit there and take it. She'd demanded to know exactly where Faith thought she was going. After all, her mother had ruled this household for years, and no one would stand up to her before. Naturally, she didn't think things would ever turn out differently. She'd had Faith's life all figured out for her! If Faith didn't find a nice boy in town herself to marry, well she had plans and would initiate. The idea that Faith would have other ideas, well that wasn't something her mother considered. After that argument years ago, her daughter had been absolutely perfect. She didn't plead, she simply obeyed. 

Today things had completely changed. Faith picked up her things, left the room, and then she was out the door. All she managed to tell her mother was, "I'm eighteen now. I don't have to listen anymore. I'm getting my first Pokemon." That's all, and then she left. Her mother had chased her outside, and cried. To any onlooker, Faith may have appeared heartless. They didn't know what life was like inside that house. She had barely been allowed to leave it for eighteen years! All she'd had were brief periods spent in the lab, and that was only because her father worked there. Not that he had paid her any attention when she was there, of course. Eventually, her mother had ran over to the lab and told her father what had happened. He was too busy with the lab to care, but her mother had made a scene. She had screamed, she had begged, and she had demanded that Faith not be allowed to go.

However, things were not in her favor. Faith was legally able to do whatever she wanted to now, and she was given her Pokemon. She had already decided what Pokemon it would be years ago, so there was no need to hesitate or debate those details either. She didn't even say a word to her mother while she was in the lab. She just focused on the Professor and the lab assistants, who she felt were probably surprised with this turn of events. Being a small town, she was sure this scene would be gossiped about for a long while, but none of that was no longer any of Faith's concern. She listened to nothing, but what the Professor said to her. Then, just like earlier in the house, she turned around, thanked the Professor and the lab assistant who had been friendly to her for those years of imprisonment, and then walked right out the door. She didn't even spare her mother so much as a single glance.

It wasn't that she didn't love her mother. She did, in her own way. It wasn't the same as everyone else. She loved her mother from afar. She understood her mother was protective and irrational and that made her resent her mother and love her less than she probably should. She couldn't stand to hate her, though. Even though she had imprisoned her, she had also taken care of. It wasn't like she wasn't fed, or clothed, and she understood that her mother did it to protect her. This led to a very strange relationship, one that Faith didn't even have fully figured out yet. There was anger, and there was resentment, but somewhere there was love too. It just wasn't enough to stop her. She was showing her mother that absolutely nothing would get in her way, and she was not going to put with that nonsense anymore.

Due to the circumstances, she wouldn't let her Pokemon outside of the ball just yet. The last thing she wanted was her mother scaring what was likely going to be her best friend. After all, they would be together non stop and rely on each other, and she had read books before. That's what friends were. So, she waited. It wasn't long before her mother had barged out of the lab and she definitely made a scene of following her, but eventually she gave up when a few neighbors came over and began trying to calm her down. Eventually, everyone was likely to talk about it, but for now, they helped and Faith was finally able to make it outside the town. She paused for a few seconds, took a few deep breaths, and then took out her pokeball. Truth be told, she was nervous now. What if her Charmander hated her? What if her mom suddenly ran towards them, screaming like a crazy person? That would terrify the poor Pokemon! She couldn't wait any longer, though. Pokemon may attack her, she knew, and only her Charmander could protect her. She let the Pokemon out.

"Char?" It looked around, obviously confused. It was taking in its surroundings, and Faith remained quiet for the time. She didn't want to startle her new friend. It turned towards her. "Char...Charmander!" Her worries melted the moment it ran over to her, excitement on its face. She had no idea why it seemed so eager, so excited, but that was fine. It pulled at her leg, and she grinned down at it, before she tentatively reached out her hand and pet its head.

"Ready to begin our journey together?" She questioned it, and while she didn't know if it had understood her not, she was pleased with its excited reply. "Charmander! Char! Char!"

Finally, their journey was beginning.

[Tarlar]

The day was perfect to start out as a new trainer, it had a pleasant temperature with a mild breeze, and the sky above was deep blue leaving the sun free to bath everything in its light.
It was a day to enjoy, to play and have fun, one of those days you'd think back to as adult and claim that all the time had been like that when you were a kid.

The pokemon Faith and Charmander would see surely looked to have a nice day. Some pidgeys swooped playfully around high in the sky and was completely obvious to what was going on on the ground below them. They were free to go where ever they wanted unbound as they were.
A rattata zipped across the road and made some funny jumps into the air from pure excitement, it lost its balance and tumbled to the ground. It looked surprised as it lifted its head, then it spotted Faith and Charmander, sent them a big grin before springing back to its feet and zipping away.
A wumrple could be seen dozing high in a treetop and it barely spared the journeying pair a glance as they passed it.

The breeze brought a long the sound of crying, who could be crying in such wonderful day?
A boy around the 5 years old was bawling his eyes out, Faith would recognize him as one living further down the same street as her, and while they hadn't had much to do with each other, she knew enough that he was always running around just outside the town and befriending pokemon. He was as adventurous as she was and usually very happy.
Erik, as his name was, spotted her and began to cry even harder while he pointed at field of tall grass he was standing beside. He said something through his tears but was screaming too much for Faith to understand. The grass looked normal and empty although it could easily hide something.

She would be able to calm Erik down if she tried and while he still cried she could understand what he was saying now.
"It.. it took my char.. char.. charmander!" He cried still pointing at the grass and stomped his feet in frustration and wouldn't be able to say what "it" was.
A brown head popped out of the grass and looked curiously at them. Erik pointed urgently at it and as the sentret raised itself up on its tail and the boy stopped crying as a charmander plush became visible in its hands. The sentret looked like a picture of innocence and tilted its head cutely at the strangers.
Erik pulled at Faith's sleeve but couldn't get a sound over his lips, then the sentret fall to all fours and the moment the plush disappeared out of sight the kid started bawling again.
Charmander had good ears and would be able to hear the sentret snigger, apparently it thought this was a fun game.

A mischievous Sentret [lvl 4] has snatched the kid's toy!
What will Faith do?

Shiny? G68nakdl1-421-42

[alyssaimagine]

Instinctively, Faith jumped at the sound of the nearby Pidgey's flying overhead. She may live in a world full of real Pokemon, but she hadn't been able to interact with them all that much. Her mother was terrified of Pokemon, and even more terrified of her daughter interacting with them. In the past, whenever someone's Pokemon would cheerfully come up to greet Faith, her mother grabbed her hand and stormed away. Even those times she had spent in the lab, her mother had made sure that she wouldn't come into contact with real Pokemon. She'd forbidden interaction of any kind, and so this was new to her. She'd read about them all plenty of times. Having access to books from a Pokemon Lab was something she'd be eternally grateful for. Even if she had little to no interaction with a real life Pokemon, she'd had plenty of knowledge about them at her fingertips. She knew how they grew, what kinds of food they liked, what they were strong against, what they were weak against. She knew all of those things, but she'd never actually dealt with any of it before.

Faith looked up into the sky, and considered how to get one of those Pidgey's. She'd always been jealous of bird Pokemon, even more so than most other types (though, water Pokemon had a similar jealousy). She had been jealous of their absolute freedom. They were found just about anywhere there were Pokemon, because they had the entire world accessible to them. Those wings made it easy to explore the world, and she was certain that no baby bird Pokemon could ever be isolated from the world by their mother. How could something with wings that could easily fly ever be isolated? The world belonged to them from the beginning, while Faith had been stuck inside her house for the vast majority of her life. Now that things were different and she was finally free, she had the desire to capture one of them. With one, she could borrow those wings and explore the world far easier. At least, she could borrow those wings when they got big enough. A pidgey was still far too small for any of that, but she knew that they grew up into Pidgeot and she could fly on them then.

Unfortunately, they were far too high in the air. To her, it felt like they were teasing her. With a sigh, she shook her head and continued onward. There was no chance to get a Pidgey yet, but she knew there would be plenty of opportunities in the future. For now, she just had to focus on finding a different Pokemon. She needed to capture more, and she needed to train her newfound friend. That had to be her priority right now, not concentrating on Pokemon that were far out of her reach. Just as she had dismissed the idea of capturing a Pidgey for the moment, something else popped out of the grass. She noticed it was a Ratatta, and it had flashed her grin. A grin that she had found rather cute. She decided that it would be a good idea to capture it, but before she'd even been able to react to the situation, it had sped off. It was obvious that it had no interest in being her Pokemon companion. It was a shame, because she felt it had been rather cute for a ratatta. It was, however, far too fast to track.

That's when she heard the crying. A part of her wanted to ignore those cries. They were obviously human cries, and she had no interest in socializing at the moment. She had even less interest in trying to calm someone else down. How was she even supposed to do that? Her feet must have felt differently, since she was currently walking over to the crying anyway. Her Charmander curiously followed after her, occasionally chattering happily, "Char, Charmander, Char, Char, Char," she heard over and over again. She was filled with a sudden rush of emotions at the sounds of her friend. It was absolutely amazing to have her very own Pokemon, a companion that she hoped would be with her forever. Thankfully, her friend seemed happy to be with her. She knew that it wasn't always the case, and that she had been very lucky.

Once she reached the crying child, she was bewildered. Why had she decided to come here again? She was not equipped to handle a kid crying. What was she supposed to do? She bent down and tried to figure out what the kid was saying, and when she heard him mention something stealing his Charmander, the only thing that popped into her head was the fact that this kid looked too young to be a Pokemon Trainer. She frowned, obviously trying to figure this out, when she noticed the boy pointing. She looked in the direction and saw what looked like a Sentret and it was holding onto a red toy. Ah! A Charmander toy, she realized. Now things finally clicked into place, and once it had the toy suddenly disappeared from view. Which was followed by more crying.

"Char! Char!" Her Charmander charged forward, obviously bothered by something. She didn't know the Sentret had snickered, after all, but her new friend had.

"Well, looks like now is a good time to begin," she said, realizing that there was no real choice in the matter. Which was fine by her, it was time to train. "Charmander...." she suddenly looked uncertain. Charmander, oh, she only had two moves at the moment. Her Charmander was still new. What was best? Ah! Her Charmander glanced back at her, uncertain and what appeared to be a little confused. Faith cleared her throat and realized she needed to be a good leader for her friend if she was ever going to reach her goal. "Ah, Charmander use Growl!" She said, determining that lowering the Sentret's attack may be a good idea.

[Caramell 🍬]

Erik bawled his eyes out as his kicked and screamed on the grassy ground. His tiny hands were balled into fists that he used intermittently to punch the earth, pull at the tall grasses around him, and rub his eyes. He was getting the dirt and grime of the ground all oer his eyes as his pudgy hands started to rub the debris onto his cheeks just underneath his eyes while the waterworks rolled down his chunky cheeks. “Cha’man’er! Cha’man’er! PLEASE! My Charmander!” He had a hard time keeping his words straight as he screamed and hollered in his fit, and seemed to slur them all together – sometimes in incoherent syllables.

The young child calmed for a second as he gulped on the air and watched Faith instruct her living breathing Charmander to attack the Sentret. He rolled a bit in the sand, scrambling to his feet until he was able to slink behind Faith in a scared daze, and stared fearfully at the two tough Pokemon as they fought. What amazed him more, however, was the moving Charmander, and the young child’s grubby hand reached out just beside the eighteen-year-old’s leg towards the living flame-tail lizards out of reach. “It’s Charmander! CHARMANDER!” His excited and fear bred together into an entirely new emotion, intermixed and undetermined altogether.

Faith’s Charmander leaped into the frame quick and agile on its feet. The flame-tailed scaly lizard opened its mouth to release a loud pierce cry that sent out shockwaves that distorted the air. The Sentret reached up with its thick stubby arms and grabbed its ears. The furry brown rabbit pulled them air its sides as it to try and block out the high-pitched wail or as if the sound was too much for the furry scout’s sensitive ears. It lowered itself down below the grass just long enough to secure its newfound toy amongst the weeds, before it would leap back up. The Sentret ran towards the orange lizard swiftly, stretching out its paws reflexively to rip and tear at the Charmander’s right side above the shoulder with its claws.

The five-year-old child clung onto Faith’s legs as he shivered and watched the wild Pokemon leap viciously towards the trainer’s Charmander. Tears clung to the corners of his eyes as though he could begin bawling them out again at any moment. Perhaps the fight had spooked the raging fit and waterworks out of the small child?


Wild Encounter

---

Weather: Clear Skies

[attr="class","qkt-bkgd"]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Wild Sentret

LV 4
HP 100% [18/18]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Faith's Charmander

LV 5
HP 85% [17/20]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

Wild Sentret [Ability]: -1 ATT.
Faith's Charmander [Blaze]: Normal

<Charmander used Growl! Sentret's Attack was lowered. Wild Sentret used Scratch.>

[alyssaimagine]

Truth be told, helping a little kid get their stuffed toy back was not at all how Faith had imagined her first day as a Pokemon Trainer would be like. It was something that was so insignificant, something she would have never dreamed of, nor imagined when she was busy plotting out her life. In fact, it wasn't even something that was enjoyable. Hearing a young child scream and cry over a toy was overwhelming, especially to someone like Faith who had lived most of her life in isolation and away from most people. If the child had begun a fit when she was little, that was one of those moments her mother would have grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her back home. Especially if said fit had anything at all to do with a Pokemon.

The child's cries were almost worse than the sound of her Charmander's growl. She had to resist the temptation to put her hands over her hears to mute the sound. Honestly, she had to resist the temptation to turn around right this minute and run as far away from the kid as possible. Faith hadn't realized that interacting with people would be something so difficult. If anything, she figured it would be natural, and she would just know how to handle and deal with people. She hadn't known that years of isolation had left her completely unprepared for life outside the walls of her home. Instinctively, she took a small step backwards, part of her ready to act and flee. To her shame, it almost made her want to flee back home and fling open the door to her house and tell her mother how right she'd been this whole time.

Faith shook her head, and took a deep breath. No. Stay calm. Don't panic. Faith ordered herself, her hands curling into fists and her fingernails digging into the palm of her hand. I can do this. I will never go back home. She let out another breath, and remained planted where she was. Faith was, if nothing else, stubborn. She was not going to give in and throw all of her dreams away. If a twelve year old child could get their first Pokemon and leave home on their own, why couldn't she? After all, she was much older and a young adult. She could not let fear get in her way. She stepped forward, just in time for her Charmander to get attacked. "No," she couldn't stop herself before the word slipped from her mouth.

That's another thing that she hadn't realized: it was going to be hard to watch her Pokemon suffer any sort of wound. She wasn't a harsh Trainer, and didn't want her Pokemon being hurt. Yes, she wanted to become a Champion, but this was not something she had really considered when dreaming. Pokemon got hurt, and she had known that, of course. She wasn't a complete fool. What she hadn't known was that she'd feel so emotionally attached to her Pokemon that she hated to see them hurt. In her dreams, things like that simply couldn't be imagined, because how would she know? She'd never experienced anything like it before. She took another deep breath, once again realizing that she needed to control her own emotions. After all, her Charmander hardly seemed that badly injured. Besides, she actually looked eager to continue on. "Char?" The cute fire lizard questioned, without turning back. It seemed to know, instinctively, not to look away from the opponent.

"Sorry, Charmander," she apologized. She couldn't let her down. "I'll do better. Use scratch!"

It was only then that she had realized she was forgetting something else. What if this Sentret went down and she didn't use the device that the Professor gave her? Then he wouldn't have any recording, and Faith wasn't sure when she'd run into one of these creatures. She reached into her pocket and took out the Pokedex. She pointed it at the Sentret, clicked and took in all the information before slipping it back into her pocket. She would have to look at it later. Right now, the battle at hand was far more important.

[Hunter]

These were truly testing times for Faith as she was taking a huge leap in her life, it was no small feat to be ignored. Faith's Charmander was as new and inexperienced as her trainer was at this whole journeying thing and the fire type pokemon could visibly see how her trainer was trying her absolute best to be strong for her through these new experiences. The flame-tailed scaly lizard ran towards her normal type adversary. The mischievous Sentret winced in pain in response to Faith's Charmander's attack as the fire type pokemon's out-stretched claws raked across the side of the wild scout pokemon. Whilst in close quarters the normal type pokemon repaid the favour to its opponent as it stretched its paws out and ripped and teared at the Charmander's left side above the shoulder with its claws, a tactical move after having attacked the flame-tailed scaly lizard's right side with its previous attack.

Erik watched on with shock horror to the situation that was taking place in front of him, this small pokemon covered in brown fur had been the one that had swiped his beloved Charmander toy and now what he was watching was something out of one of his nightmares, it was as if his toy had come to life in front of him and had been forced into fighting. All Erik wanted was his toy back and for this whole ordeal to end as he clung to Faith's legs as tears could be seen rolling down his face, the young boy kicked up dirt in front of him in a tantrum, his emotions truly ready to boil over. It was abundantly clear the sooner that Faith and her partner in Charmander were able to defuse the situation at hand would likely result in young Erik calming down from his fervent state of emotions, until then the young boy was likely to continue carrying on as he was, after all this was a frightening situation for everyone involved, it just so happened that the mischievous wild Sentret had set into motion a series of events that would test each of the individuals and pokemon involved physically and mentally. 

Wild Encounter

---

Weather: Clear Skies

[attr="class","qkt-bkgd"]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Wild Sentret

LV 4
HP 72% [13/18]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Faith's Charmander

LV 5
HP 70% [14/20]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

Wild Sentret [Ability]: -1 ATT.
Faith's Charmander [Blaze]: Normal

<Charmander used Scratch! Wild Sentret used Scratch!>

[alyssaimagine]

Being her first battle, things were expected to be difficult. It was her first time on her own, and her first time having to be a leader. It was also her first time having an actual battle, rather than reading about it from a book. She hadn't expected that some kid would be clinging to her leg crying in desperation while she fought her first battle. It was overwhelming, it was stressful, and Faith found herself hoping it could be done more than the kid probably did. She wanted nothing more than to leave New Bark Town behind for good, and this was only making things take longer. Worse, she blamed herself for hesitating in the first place. If she hadn't been so slow to leave earlier, she probably wouldn't be in this mess.

No. She chastised. This is an opportunity to learn how to handle situations better.

It was true, of course. Having never been put into such a situation before, and having barely any contact with other people, this may have been exactly what she needed no matter how much she wasn't looking forward to it at the moment. After all, if she was going to be the best Pokemon Trainer out there, wouldn't she face more difficult things in the future? As it was, this was already something she hadn't expected. Certainly, there must be similar obstacles to come later on. Wasn't it almost a mercy to suffer some and learn earlier on rather than when she was about to reach the top? She could use the experience. She needed it to become stronger.

With that in mind, Faith grit her teeth and looked at the battle in front of her. She tried her hardest to ignore the child's tantrum, even though it was pretty difficult. Maybe if she understood people better, she may have been able to calm the child down some to let her think, but she had no experience. Instead, she was forced to do things the hard way. Maybe if she were a Pidgey, she could have flown from the situation, but then the child would never get his toy. She flinched when her Charmander was scratched again. The way her Charmander was attacked made her believe the Sentret was probably better at this whole battling thing than she was. Well, she had to start somewhere.

Her Charmander appeared more hurt than it had before, but still looked like it could continue on for a while. If I manage to capture it, I could end this faster. She mused to herself. It looks smart enough, anyway, even though it's not nice. I still think it needs to be weakened more, though. She took out a Pokeball and pondered the situation at hand. Could she capture a Pokemon? She put the Pokeball back and made herself focus on the fight. If she reacted too slowly, wouldn't Sentret take advantage of the situation? She couldn't let that happen.

"Hang in there, Charmander," She reassured her Pokemon. "Only a little longer. Scratch it again."

Her voice was both calm and firm. Maybe she was finally getting a little stronger, though she did occasionally sway on her legs with the child's insistent crying and she was certainly in no better situation in that respect. She was, however, becoming a little more clear headed. If she weakened her Sentret, then she could capture it and end this whole thing all the more quickly. It was the best situation. Besides, hadn't Professor Elm said capturing was better than just seeing?

[Hunter]

Faith had been preparing her red and white capturing device for a moment before having second thoughts and waiting on using the pokeball, this sudden movement hadn't gone unnoticed as the wild normal type pokemon caught sight of it and seemingly got spooked by the sight of the device. The wild Sentret could seemingly sense the seriousness of the situation at hand as its freedom to roam and cause mischief would be stripped away if it were to become some sort of lackey to this girl, it didn't want a bar of that as it gave a mocking glance towards Erik who was still clinging to Faith's leg like a young child would to their mother.

The scout pokemon disappeared from the makeshift battlefield and into a nearby bush, to Faith and her fire type partner this likely appeared to be a sign of the normal pokemon giving up and fleeing the scene. A few moments later the wild Sentret returned to the scene with young Erik's Charmander toy in its mouth. Instead of returning the toy to the boy like any kind hearted soul would do, the scout pokemon tossed it to the ground in front of it and turned around to slam its tail into the toy, a truly disrespectful display by the mischievous Sentret that would no doubt bear a response from Faith and her Charmander and continue to make the young boy cry tears like he was some sort of waterfall.

Faith's Charmander's response came in the form of another damaging scratch attack as the scaly flaming-tail lizard dashed towards her normal type opponent. The wild Sentret was a little slow to responding as it attempted to curl up in a defensive ball to avoid as much damage as possible, however before it could do so its fire type opponent dragged her outstretched claws across the face of the scout pokemon. The wild Sentret continued in its motion as it curled into a ball, it hid its face from Faith and her Charmander as it was very evident that it was in some degree of pain, it wasn't going to show this perceived weakness, in its mind that would leave it vulnerable to be captured, for now it had to play this situation wisely so as to avoid becoming a slave to this human.

Wild Encounter

---

Weather: Clear Skies

[attr="class","qkt-bkgd"]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Wild Sentret

LV 4
HP 44% [8/18]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Faith's Charmander

LV 5
HP 70% [14/20]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

Wild Sentret [Ability]: -1 ATT. & +1 DEF.
Faith's Charmander [Blaze]: Normal

<Charmander used Scratch! Wild Sentret used Defence Curl!>

[alyssaimagine]

"Hey! Wait," Faith protested when she saw the Sentret dive into the bushes. Seeing the speed of the ratatta earlier, she was afraid this Sentret was fleeing and she'd never be able to catch up. That wasn't a scenario that wished to encounter, because then there would be no way to calm the kid down. Besides, it had already harmed her Charmander, so she either needed the battle experience or the capture. Of course, a fleeing Pokemon was a whole different kind of experience. Faith took a moment to glance down at the crying kid, and frowned. She really didn't wish to hear him burst into more tears. The kid didn't even realize how lucky he had it. Faith hadn't even been allowed to own stuffed Pokemon, not with how much her mother hated them. No amount of childish tears were going to get them for her, either.

Which made the whole situation all the more silly to Faith. She was here helping some kid that she didn't really know get a toy. If she had been in his shoes, she would have been completely ignored and dragged home. Yet, she was going out of her way to make the kid stop crying. A part of her, though she would never admit to it, was jealous. Even though the two were being raised in the same small town, their lives couldn't be any more different than it was already and this kid didn't even have a clue that he was lucky. Just by his situation, she could tell that the kid once he was old enough, would be able to begin his Pokemon Journey without any issues. Eventually, he would be able to look back at this day and laugh about it. Faith had never really considered herself a jealous person, but she was beginning to realize that maybe she had been all this time. Maybe she had resented and been jealous of the other kids in town.

Faith remembered watching them from the window of her home. Kids playing outside, sometimes using those same stuffed toys to play pretend Pokemon battles. Whenever her mother had glimpsed her daughter watching those kids, she would drag her from the window and most often ended up with a bunch of chores to keep her busy. It was difficult not to be jealous when she was forced to live such a different life from the others. She shook her head, bringing herself back to the present. The past didn't matter anymore, because now for the first time in her life she was free. As long as she did her best and was careful enough, she would never have to return to being that isolated little girl anymore. She had the world at her fingertips, and nothing would be able to stop her.

Just as she was thinking that, the Sentret returned. It had brought the boy's stuffed Charmander, and for a moment she thought that it had had a change of heart. Maybe it was going to give the toy back. Maybe it wanted to be her Pokemon, or maybe it just wanted to give back what it had stolen and take off as quickly as possible. She would have to be prepared for that scenario. She felt that it wanted to flee rather than to stay here. It probably reasoned that the only reason she and Charmander were fighting it was because of the toy and the only way to make the situation right was to give it back. Faith smiled slightly at the idea. Maybe it wasn't such a naughty Pokemon.

That lasted only seconds, before reality came crashing down. It was not trying to be nice and flee at all. Her eyes widened and she wouldn't be all that surprised if her jaw had dropped. The little Pokemon began to slam the toy with their tail, and it most definitely looked naughty. Her Charmander had reacted to her earlier command just then and swiped at the Pokemon with her claws. The child's cries would only continue harsher than before if she let this go on, and knew what she had to do in order to stop the situation now. At least, if this worked.

Faith only hesitated for a moment before grabbing the miniature sized Pokeball. She pressed the button and the Pokeball suddenly expanded. Her only chance to quickly end things was by capturing this Pokemon. Unfortunately, she had a feeling that this one wasn't going to be as easy going as her Charmander was and she felt a little guilty at capturing a Pokemon who maybe didn't want to be hers. Besides, this particular Pokemon was never one she had envisioned on her team when she was busy making plans. Unfortunately, she was beginning to learn that things didn't always work out the way she had planned them. Hesitating no longer, she threw the Pokeball at the naughty Sentret in her attempt to capture it.

[Caramell 🍬]

The boy’s eyes were puffy and red from the excessive waterworks. There were moments in his loud wailing where his voice completely died out – though his face remained contorted in the silent scream that he was trying to force out. His stubby arms pointed desperately to the Sentret during the battle. The furry brown rabbit had curled up into a tightly packed ball but to no avail. When it finally uncurled and jumped up onto its hind legs, the furry Sentret held the stuffed orange Charmander toy in its mouth.

Faith did not call out another move, however. She prepared and tossed her Pokeball at the Sentret, the young Erik started pointing and waving his hands erratically. The Pokeball fell to the ground and wriggled back and forth on the dirt between the tall blades of grass. Wriggle… The young kid started clapping and chanting, “Poke-ee-mon. Poke-ee-mon,” like a broken record. Then he would tug on the edge of Faith’s clothing and point from the ball to himself. “Poke-ee-mon?” He questioned. Wriggle… The Pokeballs struggled on as the Sentret fought from inside the device.

Undoubtedly, if the Sentret were to be released from its ball the young five-year-old boy would only begin crying again. Maybe he did not understand? But Erik seemed to register that Pokemon Trainers carry these Pokeball with them and owned Pokemon they caught inside of them. Perhaps, he thought that if he could get the Pokeball himself, he could be a Pokemon trainer? And within seconds, the young boy ran out and picked up his stuffed Charmander toy with delight. Ding! A resounding sound that promised the Pokemon had been successfully caught. “Tank You! Tank You! My Charmander!” He waved, crying tears of joy this time as he hugged his stuffed toy as tightly as he could.

---

Faith caught Sentret!

^{Success Rate: 78% chance. Dice Role: 70/100. Success!}

What's this?!
Charmander gained +2 Levels.
Charmander increased to level 7!

Charmander learned Ember!

Please fill out this form for your new Sentret:

[img src="http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen5/sentret.png"]
[b]Sentret[/b]
Name: [choose]
Gender: [choose]
Level: 4
OT: Faith Doherty
Moves: Scratch, Foresight, Defense Curl
Ability: [Choose: Run Away OR Keen Eye]
Nature/Personality: [choose]


_{-1 Pokeball deducted from Inventory.}

[alyssaimagine]

Had she reacted too quickly? Should she have waited it out a little bit longer before throwing the Pokeball? She knew from all of the books she'd read that the weaker the Pokemon was, the more likely she was of capturing it. Of course, there was never a sure thing when it came to capturing a Pokemon, but a Pokemon like Sentret shouldn't be too difficult. However, before she'd thrown the Pokeball, the little Pokemon looked mostly fine. It definitely looked like it still had some fight in it, so now she was having second guesses. Of course, it was too late to go back in time and change things if it didn't work out. Faith glanced over at the kid, and frowned. She knew that if capturing the Sentret was a failure, then the kid would really begin crying again. Maybe even worse than he'd already been doing.

If she was unsuccessful, she was positive that she may start questioning herself. Did she even have the skills to be a Pokemon Trainer? How could a girl isolated her whole life make it out in the real world with a Pokemon? What could possibly qualify her? She knew the Pokemon world was dangerous. It was the constant mantra driven into her by her neurotic mother. She'd heard all about how her uncle was killed by a Pokemon when her mother was just a girl. Still, Faith was never the kind of person to give up just because something was dangerous. Besides, plenty of people also lived out full lives as Pokemon Trainers, Breeders, or many other professions. She knew that death was a possibility, but that wasn't enough to stop her. Even so, she couldn't help but wonder if she had what it took.

Faith's eyes were glued to the Pokeball as if it had the power to determine her fate. What she didn't fully understand was the fact that there were no right choices in life. No one had to be qualified to be a Pokemon Trainer, no matter what she thought. After all, a child could hardly be qualified, but everyone learns along the way. She was still too new to things, and had lots of growing before she would ever realize any of that. For now, her entire life seemed to hinge on that one Pokeball. She didn't even dare look at the kid any longer, even when he appeared surprised and began questioning her. She just grit her teeth, slightly swaying on her own two feet. The pressure to capture this one Pokemon was immense. She hadn't expected this situation to occur at all.

"Come on," she muttered, mostly under her breath. Her nervousness was written all over her face. Finally, the kid darted forward and grabbed his stuffed toy, and Faith hoped that if she had failed this capture that things would settle down some. If that happened, then even a failure would be easier to handle. Then the Pokeball made that Ding! that made everyone near her aware of the success. Instead of joy, she just felt a sudden surge of relief flood through her. As if she no longer had to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders. With slightly shaking hands, she reached out and grabbed the Pokeball that now contained the naughty Sentret.

"Y-you're welcome," she said, her voice shaking slightly.

Faith had never expected that her first day as a Pokemon Trainer would be so eventful. That it would be so overwhelming and take so much out of her. While that competitive part of her wanted to stay behind and fight more Pokemon, she knew that she just needed to get to the next city as soon as possible. There she could heal her Pokemon, rest, and feel better and more prepared the next day. Hopefully tomorrow it wouldn't be as eventful. She glanced down at her Charmander, and smiled at her. It was more a smile of relief, but the one Charmander gave her was real and full of joy. Her Charmander was obviously very pleased with the first fight it ever had, and hopefully that meant it was happy to be her Pokemon too.

"Let's go to the next town and rest," Faith told her friend. "I'll let you out of the pokeball again there."

Truth be told, she was much rather have her companion by her side and not inside the pokeball. It was a constant relief having a friend by her side. However, she felt concern for her friend's health, and besides she needed to get to the next city without attracting other Pokemon's attention. Her Charmander could unknowingly run into something and begin another battle, and that was something that had to wait until tomorrow. She took out Charmander's pokeball and recalled her. Faith held the ball close, and pat the top of it.

Sentret
Name: Sentret
Gender: Male
Level: 4
OT: Faith Doherty
Moves: Scratch, Foresight, Defense Curl
Ability: Keen Eye
Nature/Personality: Mischievous