Tophat Dragoneye
Because I like Tophats
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2009
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@some colour no doubt;, @Flaze;
"Hold on a minute! Why are there two Flames of a Revolutionary fics here?", is probably what you are thinking. Let me answer your question. The main story, simply called Flames of a Revolutionary, is still there and tells the main story of that fics universe. The one-shot you see here, however, is part of a planned side story series told through several one-shots planned to expand the story, the characters and also the universe that appears in the main one. If you see this -> [ONE-SHOT series] - followed by the text "Flames of a Revolutionary" plus some more text that will give an idea of what the story will be about, then you'll know that this is a one-shot and not the main story. It is however recommended that you read a couple of chapters of the main story before moving on to this one. In this case, I recommend that you read to at least chapter 2 of the main story before even reading this, as it would otherwise be a major spoiler for you.
With that out of the way, I hope you'll enjoy reading this.
***
I'm sorry, Roger. I've been scolded by my dad and I'm not allowed to see you again after what had happened, even though it wasn't your fault to begin with. Mom is trying to reason with him, but I'm afraid that she cannot change his mind.
Rose had to pause writing the mail for a moment as tears began to run her cheeks. She could still hardly believe what had transpired today when she came back home, nor what she was currently writing to Roger. But despite that she has been forbidden to contact him, she felt that she at least had to tell him what had happened as a friend.
So I guess this is goodbye then, even though it was a little earlier than expected, nor had I hoped it would end like this… Farewell, Roger. I won't forget our happy times as friends.
Love, Rose.
As she finished writing the mail and pressed the “Send”- button, Rose could no longer hold back tears and started crying like no tomorrow. She knew Roger would be devastated from reading the mail, and yet she wrote it anyway. She felt that he least had to know about her situation, but she couldn’t help but feel guilty about it.
Now even more devastated by everything that had happened she left her desk where her computer was standing on and lied down on her wooden bed and wept even more tears into her blue pillow. This was all her father’s fault. Why did he have to be an idiot and tell her never to have contact with Roger ever again? It wasn’t his fault to begin with; it was that man who wanted to harm the Charmeleon in the first place, who then tried to harm her and Roger. All Roger wanted to do was to protect it and her. And yet her father wouldn’t understand. He refused to understand.
This was the end of the world for her. Rose knew she had to say farewell to Roger when she and her family moved to Hoenn, but never thought nor hoped it would end like this.
“Roger, I’m so sorry…”, muttered Rose in sadness. Tired from what had happened today, the still-crying Rose fell asleep.
***
“Rose, can I talk with you?”, Rose faintly heard a familiar voice. She slowly opened her eyes and saw her mother sitting at the edge of her bed.
Like Rose, she had red hair that was long and straight, but wasn’t as deep red as Rose’s. She was wearing a white and blue dress that went down to her knees. She had deep, ocean-blue eyes like Rose and her face resembled her daughter’s quite a lot of each other, with the only exception being a few wrinkles.
“That depends on the subject, mom”, stated Rose in a hoarse tone. Rose was still very sad and wasn’t in the mood for long and heavy discussions. Knowing her mom, however, she would have to expect that to happen.
“All I want to say, Rose, is that I’m sorry what had happened”, said her mother in a quiet tone, “I myself finds this unreasonable what your father have said and forbid you. So I want you to know I’m going to talk to him once more about it and find a solution to this.”
While Rose was still very sad about the whole affair, she was grateful for her mother’s support, even if she didn’t visibly show it.
“I’ll leave you be then, dear. I’ve left some tomato soup for you on the desk that you can eat if you like”, said her mother before sitting up from the bed and leaving the room through the door.
When she heard her mother closing the door, Rose finally rose up and sat on her bed. She carefully listened after mother walking back downstairs, and when she was certain she was gone, Rose stood up and walked over to the bowl of soup her mother left behind.
As much as she appreciated her mother’s support, she was in no mood to talk to her at the moment. Not after what had happened. She took the bowl of soup from her computer desk and only noticed just now that it had gotten dark outside, as well as inside her room. Only a small lamp at her bed illuminated her room, allowing Rose to see her surroundings.
All four walls in her room were painted white, and the one opposite to where the door was had a window facing north, where Knot Island could be seen in the distance. On the wall to the left was a shelf filled up with all kinds of small, music instruments. From her favorite, red ocarina, the harmonica, to the flute, all neatly placed. To the right of the shelf was a guitar sitting in a stand, while her wardrobe stood to the left side of it. Lately, her instruments had been gathering dust since Rose haven’t played with them for a while, the reason being that she had been thinking about that she and her family might have to move away. And right now, she couldn’t see how they’re going to help improve her mood.
On the wall to the right of the one with the window was Rose’s desk with her computer, a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse standing on top of it. Seeing it reminded Rose the mail she had sent to Roger and figured by now that Roger had read the mail, she knew almost too well how he must’ve reacted.
Rose returned to her bed, which was located at the southern wall close to the wooden door, sat on it and started to eat the soup. The heat she felt when she swallowed a spoon-full of soup felt rejuvenating to her, which helped raising her mood a little bit as she continued to eat. This was no doubt this was her mother’s tomato soup and she enjoyed every bit of it.
While eating, she remembered back to when Roger’s mother, Vivian Harley, had forced her to go back home after having called her parents about the situation. While she was ready to face her parents about the situation, but she never expected to see her father so outraged. After being yelled at, despite her mother’s best attempts to calm him down, her father then forbade Rose to never make contact with Roger again. Out of anger and despair, Rose had stormed out of the living room and had cried on her bed since then until she emailed Roger.
As she returned to the present, Rose hoped that all of that would only be some bad memories and not affect her anymore. But as she finished eating the soup, Rose could suddenly hear some raised voices down below. She thought it must’ve been her parents, but it sounded like they were arguing with each other. Curiosity getting the better of her, Rose walked over to the door and slowly opened it just enough so that she could hear clearly what they were talking about.
“- don’t understand why you’re being so unreasonable!”, Rose could hear her mother saying with a raised voice.
“Listen Anna, I’ve made my decision. Rose is not make contact with that foolish boy ever again!”, her father almost shouted.
“Roger is no fool. He did what he could to try and protect that Pokémon and our daughter. What would you have done? Just leaving the Charmeleon to die!?”, asked Rose’s mother, to which Rose could clearly hear her mother was struggling to keep her composure based on her raised voice.
“Exactly! Whatever that lizard did, he had it coming. But oh no, Roger absolutely had to put our daughter’s well-being in danger with his reckless actions!”, Rose’s father made no attempt to keep his voice down, shouting so loud that the neighbors probably could hear him.
Rose had heard enough. She closed the door and started crying once more. In the end, even her mother could not make her father come back to her senses. Feeling even more lost and trapped in her father’s stubbornness and no longer able to see a solution, she slowly fell down to the floor and entered a fetal position and cried even more.
Suddenly, she heard a jingle coming from her computer. She looked over and saw to her surprise that monitor turned on. She then realized she had completely forgotten to turn the computer off after sending the mail to Roger. She wiped her tears away, stood up and walked over to the computer and saw, to her surprise, that she had a mail, by none other than Roger.
What was he thinking?! If her father found out she had contacted Roger over email, he would be furious! Roger must’ve known that as well and despite that, he answered her mail. He must’ve a good reason for doing, so Rose decided to open the mail and read what he had written.
Hi Rose. It's me, Roger. Listen, mom and Tommy is going to have a serious talk with your dad about the fact that you're not allowed to see me again. I know he may be stubborn, but this is my family we're talking about. So I have every bit of faith in them.
Rose was both speechless and touched from what she read. Roger’s family was more than willing to help her out of her predicament and Rose couldn’t help but being thankful for their support. Perhaps there was some hope. After all, Roger’s mother, Vivian Harley was well known around the Sevii Islands to be difficult to argue against, even Rose’s father had to back off from time to time. Happy about what she had read so far, Rose continued to read the mail.
Also, I've talked with the Charmeleon (yes, talked!) and turns out, his name is Don and he already has a Pokémon trainer he got separated from. So I decided to help him locate his trainer somewhere in the Kanto region, as well as becoming a trainer myself in the meantime (I know, I know, you're not interested in anything Pokémon-related). I promise you, though, after mom and Tommy have resolved the issue with your dad, I'll come back to the Sevii Islands as fast as possible to see you again. I can assure you that I will do that.
Best regards and see you soon, Roger.
This time, Rose was neither speechless nor touched, but surprised. Once again, Roger talked about that he could somehow talk to the Charmeleon, who was apparently named Don. And he already had a Pokémon trainer, who was somewhere in the mainland Kanto region? That alone smelled fishy to Rose. Why was Don found on Knot Island, several miles to the south of Kanto, where his trainer was located? Something must’ve happened for them to be separated in such a distance and she didn’t like it.
Then there was the fact that Roger was interested in becoming a Pokémon trainer. One part of Rose was happy for Roger, since he’s finally going to do what he always wanted to do after three years. She knew that Roger’s father’s death back then affected him a lot, so much that he couldn’t begin as a Pokémon trainer. Everyone was understandably shocked by it, but especially Roger was hurt by it. Another part of her was worried for Roger because of Don and his situation, as well the man who harmed him in the first place. Who was he and who was he working for? Either way, it could spell trouble for Roger and Don.
Rose was then suddenly interrupted by her parents’ argument getting louder; it would seem her mother could no longer keep the boiled rage and frustration at bay and now took it out on Rose’s father. While hearing them arguing, Rose had enough of it and felt that she needed to get away from everything, as it would most likely only become worse and began thinking about running away. But wouldn’t it become worse if she ran away from home? And how would her parents react? But despite all that, she concluded she truly needed to get out of here. But where should she go? When she looked at Roger’s mail, she realized he could be the answer. Rose could travel with him after running away from home. That way, she could keep an eye on him to keep him out of trouble, and she could at least spend some more precious time with him before moving away.
But she couldn’t let him know that, not yet. He wouldn’t approve that to begin with. What’s more, it would be too suspicious and almost certainly get Roger into trouble if it was found out. But what if she waited a day after Roger left before running away? That way, she could meet up with him sometime after running away from home and also keep him out of trouble.
It was decided then. Rose would wait a day before running away, and then she would try to find and meet Roger. As for where Roger would go first, Rose figured out that Pewter City would be a good start for him. After all, most new trainers try getting their first badge there, at least according to her father. She would then aim going there as well.
All that thinking began to tire her out, so she decided to answer Roger’s mail before going to bed. With a smile of appreciation, she wrote a few words on her computer before sending it.
Thank you, Roger.
Rose.
***
The next day, Rose stayed inside her room the entire day, both because she was still angry at her father, but also because she didn’t want to reveal her plan accidentally. Only her mother was allowed to get inside and occasionally talk to her. But not even to her did Rose reveal anything. As much as it pained her not to tell her, she knew she needed to get away from everything for a while and not even her mother could stop her.
While waiting for it to become dark, Rose had secretly packed a blue backpack with clothes from her wardrobe, but left some space for food and water. Whenever she heard someone outside her door or when her mother appeared, she quickly hid it underneath her bed to order to hide her intentions. At first, she had also intended to bring her guitar with her, but seeing that it could be a liability to carry it with her alongside her backpack, she opted not to, which Rose couldn’t help but feel sad about, especially because of her love for music. She just hoped that she wouldn’t regret that decision.
Finally, when it became midnight and it was dark outside, Rose quietly sneaked out of her room and down to the kitchen. As she slowly walked, all of her senses were at their maximum limit. If her parents heard her or something and caught her in the act of taking food and water from the refrigerator, she would have a hard time talking out of this. But as she entered the kitchen, she saw her mother sitting at the kitchen table and looked over to Rose, much to her dismay.
“Uhm… hi mom”, Rose nervously said to her mother. Yet she did not react, nor did she move at all. She simply continued to look at her daughter with a look only a mother could give. What should she do? Now it was almost certain that her mother knew what her daughter was up to and there was practically no way for Rose to get out of this situation. Seeing that there was nothing she could do other than explain what she was doing, Rose broke the silence between the two and started explaining everything.
“Look mom, I’m almost certain that you know what I’m planning to do, but you can’t stop me. I’ve decided to run away from home. I can’t take this anymore, not with dad being so unreasonable, but especially because I’m not allowed to be friends with Roger anymore. All he did was saving the Charmeleon and ourselves from someone who would harm him and us and this is how he thanks him?!”
Rose’s rage and anger began to surface when she finally started to release her frustrations about her father through her explanation. Her mother remained silent on the matter but continued to look at Rose. Seeing as she wouldn’t get a respond yet, Rose continued to talk, now in a more somber tone.
“I’m well aware it’s a pretty bad point of time for running away from everything. After all, it’s pretty much decided that we’re moving away to Hoenn. But I’m not ready yet to say goodbye to Roger. I want at least to spend some time with him before we properly say farewell to each other. So I’m going to find him somewhere in Kanto and travel with him throughout the region.”
There was a silence in the house after Rose finished her explanation. Her mother looked deep in thoughts from what Rose had said so far. Her daughter wasn’t certain what her mother was thinking, but Rose had already decided what she was going to do.
“Right now, you may be thinking that I shouldn’t go, mom. But you can’t stop me and that’s the end of it”, said Rose while looking directly into her mother’s eyes. But she was caught by surprise when her mother suddenly smiled.
“What makes you think I intend to stop you, Rose?”, asked her mother, which surprised Rose even more and caused her to raise her eyebrows in confusion.
“Wha-wha… eh?”, stuttered Rose before looking at the table, where some packed food and water already stood ready, which she hadn’t noticed until now.
“Wait, you knew I was planning to run away?”, asked Rose in disbelief.
“I had my suspicions all along today, Rose. You’re not so good at keeping things for yourself, you know”, explained Rose’s mother as she stood and walked over towards her daughter. “In the end, it would seem they were correct. But know that I support in your decisions, Rose. I always will.”
“But what about dad? Won’t he become mad about this?”, asked Rose in a sad tone as her mother stood in front of her.
“What he doesn’t know, it will not hurt him. Besides, I kicked him out of our house out of frustration, so there’s no way he can hear us now”, her mother said with a smile before hugging her daughter. Out of love for her mother, Rose returned the embrace as she felt the warmth rising inside of her. It had been such a long time ago that Rose had received such a compassionate hug from her mother that she nearly forgot about it.
All of her anger, rage and frustration that had boiled inside of her were now replaced by happiness from her mother’s approval, and sadness from the prospect of saying farewell to her mother. As it would be the last time she would see her mother in a while, Rose allowed a single tear to fall down to her cheek.
After several minutes, both mother and daughter let go of each other and Rose felt something being placed into the palm of her right hand. Rose looked down at her hand and saw a Pokéball that was completely white except for a red line separating the top and lower halves. There was no doubt about which Pokémon was inside, but was her mother really willing to give her daughter her most precious Pokémon?
“Mom, isn’t that Wyvern that’s inside this Pokéball? Why are you giving him to me?”, asked Rose while holding the Premier Ball.
“First of all, I’m not leaving my daughter to fend for her own without some protection”, stated with a serious look before turning it a calmer one along with a smile on her face. “Second, how were you going to leave the Sevii Islands? After all, all ferries are closed during the night.”
Rose couldn’t help but chuckle a bit in embarrassment while scratching the back of her head, “I guess didn’t think that far, apparently…”
“I thought as much”, her mother laughed a little bit. “Take the food and water and pack it into your backpack upstairs, Rose, along with some change of clothes, alright? Then we’ll head up to the roof.”
“Got it!”, exclaimed Rose in joy as she took the packed food and water from the table and ran up to her room with a smile on her face. As she entered her room in what would be the last time in a while, Rose walked over to her bed and took out her backpack from underneath it. As she placed the food and water into the backpack, she realized that she had forgotten her sleeping bag and quickly found it and placed it in her backpack. While doing so, she noticed her guitar still sitting on its stand.
At that moment, she reconsidered the earlier decision of leaving it behind. After all, with Wyvern’s help, she could now take it with her to the mainland and from there on, carry it on her own. Relieved at thought of no longer having to leave it behind, Rose took out her black guitar case from underneath the bed and walked over to the guitar to retrieve it.
***
A few minutes later, Rose met again her mother at a ladder leading to the rooftop and now wearing a brown jacket to protect her from the cold she would experience during the flight to Kanto. She was also carrying her blue backpack on her back and her guitar case with the guitar inside on her left hand. Both Rose and her mother climbed the ladder to the flat rooftop and as they opened the hatch, they could see the beautiful night sky covered in millions of stars. After going through the hatch and helped each other carrying up Rose’s belongings to the roof, they admired the sight for a few minutes before Rose took out Wyvern’s Pokéball and looked at her mother.
“Are you going to tell dad about everything?”, she asked her mother.
“Perhaps, I’ve yet decide on that”, explained her mother before she went over to hug her daughter. “Take care of yourself, alright Rose?”
“I will, mom. And thank you for everything”, said Rose as she returned the hug.
As they let go of each other, Rose picked up Wyvern’s Pokéball from her pocket and pressed the button on the middle, releasing a white, chaotic energy that eventually formed into a Dragonite. The large bipedal dragon had a bulky appearance, with his body colored orange and his arms and legs each having three claws. On his head was a small, orange horn, a pair of S-shaped, yellow antennae and its snout had a round shape. Lastly, he had a striated underbelly that went all the way to the tip of his long, pointy tail.
Wyvern the Dragonite opened his brown eyes and looked over to his master, Rose’s mother, as it seemed confused about being released from his Pokéball in such a late point of the night.
“Wyvern, I want you to accompany Rose while she is travelling in the Kanto region. Is that all right with you?”, asked Rose’s mother as she approached it to pet him on his head. “I know it is very sudden, but can you do this for me?”
At first, Wyvern seemed surprised at his master’s request. But as she petted him, Wyvern smiled at Rose and her mother and nodded at them.
“Thank you, Wyvern”, Rose thanked the Dragon Pokémon in joy and walked over to him and gave him a hug. As she let go of Wyvern, she walked over to her guitar, picked it up and showed to the dragon. “I was wondering, can you carry my guitar until we land near Pewter City? It’s a little difficult to carry it along with my backpack while we are flying.”
Wyvern nodded in approval and took the guitar case with his arms before kneeling down, allowing Rose to climb up onto his back.
“Take care, Rose”, said her mother as her daughter took on her backpack and climbed on top of Wyvern’s back.
“You too, mom”, said Rose with a smile as Wyvern’s wings began to flap, eventually lifting them off from the rooftop. She managed to wave goodbye one last time before her mother was only a small spot below them and flew away to the north. While feeling the cold air hitting her face as they flew, Rose felt more free and relieved than ever before.
She couldn’t wait to see Roger once more and while they flew over Knot Island, she imagined the surprise on his face when they would be reunited. Yet she was also worried about him, particularly about Don. The Pokémon already had a trainer somewhere in Kanto and was somehow separated by him or her and they were going to Don’s trainer. But, he was found on Knot Island by Roger and Rose, along with a mysterious man bent on eliminating Don. There were more than meets the eye in this case and Rose wasn’t certain she is going to like to find out how it is all connected.
Her worries, however, began to disappear as tiredness began to overwhelm her. Knowing well she would fall asleep soon, she gently wrapped her arms around Wyvern’s neck and slowly closing her eyes.
“Wyvern, can you tell me when we reach Pewter City? I’ll be asleep for a while…”, muttered Rose. Putting her final bit of worry and desire to see Roger again away, Rose fell asleep underneath the starry sky and far above the ocean.
"Hold on a minute! Why are there two Flames of a Revolutionary fics here?", is probably what you are thinking. Let me answer your question. The main story, simply called Flames of a Revolutionary, is still there and tells the main story of that fics universe. The one-shot you see here, however, is part of a planned side story series told through several one-shots planned to expand the story, the characters and also the universe that appears in the main one. If you see this -> [ONE-SHOT series] - followed by the text "Flames of a Revolutionary" plus some more text that will give an idea of what the story will be about, then you'll know that this is a one-shot and not the main story. It is however recommended that you read a couple of chapters of the main story before moving on to this one. In this case, I recommend that you read to at least chapter 2 of the main story before even reading this, as it would otherwise be a major spoiler for you.
With that out of the way, I hope you'll enjoy reading this.
***
I'm sorry, Roger. I've been scolded by my dad and I'm not allowed to see you again after what had happened, even though it wasn't your fault to begin with. Mom is trying to reason with him, but I'm afraid that she cannot change his mind.
Rose had to pause writing the mail for a moment as tears began to run her cheeks. She could still hardly believe what had transpired today when she came back home, nor what she was currently writing to Roger. But despite that she has been forbidden to contact him, she felt that she at least had to tell him what had happened as a friend.
So I guess this is goodbye then, even though it was a little earlier than expected, nor had I hoped it would end like this… Farewell, Roger. I won't forget our happy times as friends.
Love, Rose.
As she finished writing the mail and pressed the “Send”- button, Rose could no longer hold back tears and started crying like no tomorrow. She knew Roger would be devastated from reading the mail, and yet she wrote it anyway. She felt that he least had to know about her situation, but she couldn’t help but feel guilty about it.
Now even more devastated by everything that had happened she left her desk where her computer was standing on and lied down on her wooden bed and wept even more tears into her blue pillow. This was all her father’s fault. Why did he have to be an idiot and tell her never to have contact with Roger ever again? It wasn’t his fault to begin with; it was that man who wanted to harm the Charmeleon in the first place, who then tried to harm her and Roger. All Roger wanted to do was to protect it and her. And yet her father wouldn’t understand. He refused to understand.
This was the end of the world for her. Rose knew she had to say farewell to Roger when she and her family moved to Hoenn, but never thought nor hoped it would end like this.
“Roger, I’m so sorry…”, muttered Rose in sadness. Tired from what had happened today, the still-crying Rose fell asleep.
***
“Rose, can I talk with you?”, Rose faintly heard a familiar voice. She slowly opened her eyes and saw her mother sitting at the edge of her bed.
Like Rose, she had red hair that was long and straight, but wasn’t as deep red as Rose’s. She was wearing a white and blue dress that went down to her knees. She had deep, ocean-blue eyes like Rose and her face resembled her daughter’s quite a lot of each other, with the only exception being a few wrinkles.
“That depends on the subject, mom”, stated Rose in a hoarse tone. Rose was still very sad and wasn’t in the mood for long and heavy discussions. Knowing her mom, however, she would have to expect that to happen.
“All I want to say, Rose, is that I’m sorry what had happened”, said her mother in a quiet tone, “I myself finds this unreasonable what your father have said and forbid you. So I want you to know I’m going to talk to him once more about it and find a solution to this.”
While Rose was still very sad about the whole affair, she was grateful for her mother’s support, even if she didn’t visibly show it.
“I’ll leave you be then, dear. I’ve left some tomato soup for you on the desk that you can eat if you like”, said her mother before sitting up from the bed and leaving the room through the door.
When she heard her mother closing the door, Rose finally rose up and sat on her bed. She carefully listened after mother walking back downstairs, and when she was certain she was gone, Rose stood up and walked over to the bowl of soup her mother left behind.
As much as she appreciated her mother’s support, she was in no mood to talk to her at the moment. Not after what had happened. She took the bowl of soup from her computer desk and only noticed just now that it had gotten dark outside, as well as inside her room. Only a small lamp at her bed illuminated her room, allowing Rose to see her surroundings.
All four walls in her room were painted white, and the one opposite to where the door was had a window facing north, where Knot Island could be seen in the distance. On the wall to the left was a shelf filled up with all kinds of small, music instruments. From her favorite, red ocarina, the harmonica, to the flute, all neatly placed. To the right of the shelf was a guitar sitting in a stand, while her wardrobe stood to the left side of it. Lately, her instruments had been gathering dust since Rose haven’t played with them for a while, the reason being that she had been thinking about that she and her family might have to move away. And right now, she couldn’t see how they’re going to help improve her mood.
On the wall to the right of the one with the window was Rose’s desk with her computer, a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse standing on top of it. Seeing it reminded Rose the mail she had sent to Roger and figured by now that Roger had read the mail, she knew almost too well how he must’ve reacted.
Rose returned to her bed, which was located at the southern wall close to the wooden door, sat on it and started to eat the soup. The heat she felt when she swallowed a spoon-full of soup felt rejuvenating to her, which helped raising her mood a little bit as she continued to eat. This was no doubt this was her mother’s tomato soup and she enjoyed every bit of it.
While eating, she remembered back to when Roger’s mother, Vivian Harley, had forced her to go back home after having called her parents about the situation. While she was ready to face her parents about the situation, but she never expected to see her father so outraged. After being yelled at, despite her mother’s best attempts to calm him down, her father then forbade Rose to never make contact with Roger again. Out of anger and despair, Rose had stormed out of the living room and had cried on her bed since then until she emailed Roger.
As she returned to the present, Rose hoped that all of that would only be some bad memories and not affect her anymore. But as she finished eating the soup, Rose could suddenly hear some raised voices down below. She thought it must’ve been her parents, but it sounded like they were arguing with each other. Curiosity getting the better of her, Rose walked over to the door and slowly opened it just enough so that she could hear clearly what they were talking about.
“- don’t understand why you’re being so unreasonable!”, Rose could hear her mother saying with a raised voice.
“Listen Anna, I’ve made my decision. Rose is not make contact with that foolish boy ever again!”, her father almost shouted.
“Roger is no fool. He did what he could to try and protect that Pokémon and our daughter. What would you have done? Just leaving the Charmeleon to die!?”, asked Rose’s mother, to which Rose could clearly hear her mother was struggling to keep her composure based on her raised voice.
“Exactly! Whatever that lizard did, he had it coming. But oh no, Roger absolutely had to put our daughter’s well-being in danger with his reckless actions!”, Rose’s father made no attempt to keep his voice down, shouting so loud that the neighbors probably could hear him.
Rose had heard enough. She closed the door and started crying once more. In the end, even her mother could not make her father come back to her senses. Feeling even more lost and trapped in her father’s stubbornness and no longer able to see a solution, she slowly fell down to the floor and entered a fetal position and cried even more.
Suddenly, she heard a jingle coming from her computer. She looked over and saw to her surprise that monitor turned on. She then realized she had completely forgotten to turn the computer off after sending the mail to Roger. She wiped her tears away, stood up and walked over to the computer and saw, to her surprise, that she had a mail, by none other than Roger.
What was he thinking?! If her father found out she had contacted Roger over email, he would be furious! Roger must’ve known that as well and despite that, he answered her mail. He must’ve a good reason for doing, so Rose decided to open the mail and read what he had written.
Hi Rose. It's me, Roger. Listen, mom and Tommy is going to have a serious talk with your dad about the fact that you're not allowed to see me again. I know he may be stubborn, but this is my family we're talking about. So I have every bit of faith in them.
Rose was both speechless and touched from what she read. Roger’s family was more than willing to help her out of her predicament and Rose couldn’t help but being thankful for their support. Perhaps there was some hope. After all, Roger’s mother, Vivian Harley was well known around the Sevii Islands to be difficult to argue against, even Rose’s father had to back off from time to time. Happy about what she had read so far, Rose continued to read the mail.
Also, I've talked with the Charmeleon (yes, talked!) and turns out, his name is Don and he already has a Pokémon trainer he got separated from. So I decided to help him locate his trainer somewhere in the Kanto region, as well as becoming a trainer myself in the meantime (I know, I know, you're not interested in anything Pokémon-related). I promise you, though, after mom and Tommy have resolved the issue with your dad, I'll come back to the Sevii Islands as fast as possible to see you again. I can assure you that I will do that.
Best regards and see you soon, Roger.
This time, Rose was neither speechless nor touched, but surprised. Once again, Roger talked about that he could somehow talk to the Charmeleon, who was apparently named Don. And he already had a Pokémon trainer, who was somewhere in the mainland Kanto region? That alone smelled fishy to Rose. Why was Don found on Knot Island, several miles to the south of Kanto, where his trainer was located? Something must’ve happened for them to be separated in such a distance and she didn’t like it.
Then there was the fact that Roger was interested in becoming a Pokémon trainer. One part of Rose was happy for Roger, since he’s finally going to do what he always wanted to do after three years. She knew that Roger’s father’s death back then affected him a lot, so much that he couldn’t begin as a Pokémon trainer. Everyone was understandably shocked by it, but especially Roger was hurt by it. Another part of her was worried for Roger because of Don and his situation, as well the man who harmed him in the first place. Who was he and who was he working for? Either way, it could spell trouble for Roger and Don.
Rose was then suddenly interrupted by her parents’ argument getting louder; it would seem her mother could no longer keep the boiled rage and frustration at bay and now took it out on Rose’s father. While hearing them arguing, Rose had enough of it and felt that she needed to get away from everything, as it would most likely only become worse and began thinking about running away. But wouldn’t it become worse if she ran away from home? And how would her parents react? But despite all that, she concluded she truly needed to get out of here. But where should she go? When she looked at Roger’s mail, she realized he could be the answer. Rose could travel with him after running away from home. That way, she could keep an eye on him to keep him out of trouble, and she could at least spend some more precious time with him before moving away.
But she couldn’t let him know that, not yet. He wouldn’t approve that to begin with. What’s more, it would be too suspicious and almost certainly get Roger into trouble if it was found out. But what if she waited a day after Roger left before running away? That way, she could meet up with him sometime after running away from home and also keep him out of trouble.
It was decided then. Rose would wait a day before running away, and then she would try to find and meet Roger. As for where Roger would go first, Rose figured out that Pewter City would be a good start for him. After all, most new trainers try getting their first badge there, at least according to her father. She would then aim going there as well.
All that thinking began to tire her out, so she decided to answer Roger’s mail before going to bed. With a smile of appreciation, she wrote a few words on her computer before sending it.
Thank you, Roger.
Rose.
***
The next day, Rose stayed inside her room the entire day, both because she was still angry at her father, but also because she didn’t want to reveal her plan accidentally. Only her mother was allowed to get inside and occasionally talk to her. But not even to her did Rose reveal anything. As much as it pained her not to tell her, she knew she needed to get away from everything for a while and not even her mother could stop her.
While waiting for it to become dark, Rose had secretly packed a blue backpack with clothes from her wardrobe, but left some space for food and water. Whenever she heard someone outside her door or when her mother appeared, she quickly hid it underneath her bed to order to hide her intentions. At first, she had also intended to bring her guitar with her, but seeing that it could be a liability to carry it with her alongside her backpack, she opted not to, which Rose couldn’t help but feel sad about, especially because of her love for music. She just hoped that she wouldn’t regret that decision.
Finally, when it became midnight and it was dark outside, Rose quietly sneaked out of her room and down to the kitchen. As she slowly walked, all of her senses were at their maximum limit. If her parents heard her or something and caught her in the act of taking food and water from the refrigerator, she would have a hard time talking out of this. But as she entered the kitchen, she saw her mother sitting at the kitchen table and looked over to Rose, much to her dismay.
“Uhm… hi mom”, Rose nervously said to her mother. Yet she did not react, nor did she move at all. She simply continued to look at her daughter with a look only a mother could give. What should she do? Now it was almost certain that her mother knew what her daughter was up to and there was practically no way for Rose to get out of this situation. Seeing that there was nothing she could do other than explain what she was doing, Rose broke the silence between the two and started explaining everything.
“Look mom, I’m almost certain that you know what I’m planning to do, but you can’t stop me. I’ve decided to run away from home. I can’t take this anymore, not with dad being so unreasonable, but especially because I’m not allowed to be friends with Roger anymore. All he did was saving the Charmeleon and ourselves from someone who would harm him and us and this is how he thanks him?!”
Rose’s rage and anger began to surface when she finally started to release her frustrations about her father through her explanation. Her mother remained silent on the matter but continued to look at Rose. Seeing as she wouldn’t get a respond yet, Rose continued to talk, now in a more somber tone.
“I’m well aware it’s a pretty bad point of time for running away from everything. After all, it’s pretty much decided that we’re moving away to Hoenn. But I’m not ready yet to say goodbye to Roger. I want at least to spend some time with him before we properly say farewell to each other. So I’m going to find him somewhere in Kanto and travel with him throughout the region.”
There was a silence in the house after Rose finished her explanation. Her mother looked deep in thoughts from what Rose had said so far. Her daughter wasn’t certain what her mother was thinking, but Rose had already decided what she was going to do.
“Right now, you may be thinking that I shouldn’t go, mom. But you can’t stop me and that’s the end of it”, said Rose while looking directly into her mother’s eyes. But she was caught by surprise when her mother suddenly smiled.
“What makes you think I intend to stop you, Rose?”, asked her mother, which surprised Rose even more and caused her to raise her eyebrows in confusion.
“Wha-wha… eh?”, stuttered Rose before looking at the table, where some packed food and water already stood ready, which she hadn’t noticed until now.
“Wait, you knew I was planning to run away?”, asked Rose in disbelief.
“I had my suspicions all along today, Rose. You’re not so good at keeping things for yourself, you know”, explained Rose’s mother as she stood and walked over towards her daughter. “In the end, it would seem they were correct. But know that I support in your decisions, Rose. I always will.”
“But what about dad? Won’t he become mad about this?”, asked Rose in a sad tone as her mother stood in front of her.
“What he doesn’t know, it will not hurt him. Besides, I kicked him out of our house out of frustration, so there’s no way he can hear us now”, her mother said with a smile before hugging her daughter. Out of love for her mother, Rose returned the embrace as she felt the warmth rising inside of her. It had been such a long time ago that Rose had received such a compassionate hug from her mother that she nearly forgot about it.
All of her anger, rage and frustration that had boiled inside of her were now replaced by happiness from her mother’s approval, and sadness from the prospect of saying farewell to her mother. As it would be the last time she would see her mother in a while, Rose allowed a single tear to fall down to her cheek.
After several minutes, both mother and daughter let go of each other and Rose felt something being placed into the palm of her right hand. Rose looked down at her hand and saw a Pokéball that was completely white except for a red line separating the top and lower halves. There was no doubt about which Pokémon was inside, but was her mother really willing to give her daughter her most precious Pokémon?
“Mom, isn’t that Wyvern that’s inside this Pokéball? Why are you giving him to me?”, asked Rose while holding the Premier Ball.
“First of all, I’m not leaving my daughter to fend for her own without some protection”, stated with a serious look before turning it a calmer one along with a smile on her face. “Second, how were you going to leave the Sevii Islands? After all, all ferries are closed during the night.”
Rose couldn’t help but chuckle a bit in embarrassment while scratching the back of her head, “I guess didn’t think that far, apparently…”
“I thought as much”, her mother laughed a little bit. “Take the food and water and pack it into your backpack upstairs, Rose, along with some change of clothes, alright? Then we’ll head up to the roof.”
“Got it!”, exclaimed Rose in joy as she took the packed food and water from the table and ran up to her room with a smile on her face. As she entered her room in what would be the last time in a while, Rose walked over to her bed and took out her backpack from underneath it. As she placed the food and water into the backpack, she realized that she had forgotten her sleeping bag and quickly found it and placed it in her backpack. While doing so, she noticed her guitar still sitting on its stand.
At that moment, she reconsidered the earlier decision of leaving it behind. After all, with Wyvern’s help, she could now take it with her to the mainland and from there on, carry it on her own. Relieved at thought of no longer having to leave it behind, Rose took out her black guitar case from underneath the bed and walked over to the guitar to retrieve it.
***
A few minutes later, Rose met again her mother at a ladder leading to the rooftop and now wearing a brown jacket to protect her from the cold she would experience during the flight to Kanto. She was also carrying her blue backpack on her back and her guitar case with the guitar inside on her left hand. Both Rose and her mother climbed the ladder to the flat rooftop and as they opened the hatch, they could see the beautiful night sky covered in millions of stars. After going through the hatch and helped each other carrying up Rose’s belongings to the roof, they admired the sight for a few minutes before Rose took out Wyvern’s Pokéball and looked at her mother.
“Are you going to tell dad about everything?”, she asked her mother.
“Perhaps, I’ve yet decide on that”, explained her mother before she went over to hug her daughter. “Take care of yourself, alright Rose?”
“I will, mom. And thank you for everything”, said Rose as she returned the hug.
As they let go of each other, Rose picked up Wyvern’s Pokéball from her pocket and pressed the button on the middle, releasing a white, chaotic energy that eventually formed into a Dragonite. The large bipedal dragon had a bulky appearance, with his body colored orange and his arms and legs each having three claws. On his head was a small, orange horn, a pair of S-shaped, yellow antennae and its snout had a round shape. Lastly, he had a striated underbelly that went all the way to the tip of his long, pointy tail.
Wyvern the Dragonite opened his brown eyes and looked over to his master, Rose’s mother, as it seemed confused about being released from his Pokéball in such a late point of the night.
“Wyvern, I want you to accompany Rose while she is travelling in the Kanto region. Is that all right with you?”, asked Rose’s mother as she approached it to pet him on his head. “I know it is very sudden, but can you do this for me?”
At first, Wyvern seemed surprised at his master’s request. But as she petted him, Wyvern smiled at Rose and her mother and nodded at them.
“Thank you, Wyvern”, Rose thanked the Dragon Pokémon in joy and walked over to him and gave him a hug. As she let go of Wyvern, she walked over to her guitar, picked it up and showed to the dragon. “I was wondering, can you carry my guitar until we land near Pewter City? It’s a little difficult to carry it along with my backpack while we are flying.”
Wyvern nodded in approval and took the guitar case with his arms before kneeling down, allowing Rose to climb up onto his back.
“Take care, Rose”, said her mother as her daughter took on her backpack and climbed on top of Wyvern’s back.
“You too, mom”, said Rose with a smile as Wyvern’s wings began to flap, eventually lifting them off from the rooftop. She managed to wave goodbye one last time before her mother was only a small spot below them and flew away to the north. While feeling the cold air hitting her face as they flew, Rose felt more free and relieved than ever before.
She couldn’t wait to see Roger once more and while they flew over Knot Island, she imagined the surprise on his face when they would be reunited. Yet she was also worried about him, particularly about Don. The Pokémon already had a trainer somewhere in Kanto and was somehow separated by him or her and they were going to Don’s trainer. But, he was found on Knot Island by Roger and Rose, along with a mysterious man bent on eliminating Don. There were more than meets the eye in this case and Rose wasn’t certain she is going to like to find out how it is all connected.
Her worries, however, began to disappear as tiredness began to overwhelm her. Knowing well she would fall asleep soon, she gently wrapped her arms around Wyvern’s neck and slowly closing her eyes.
“Wyvern, can you tell me when we reach Pewter City? I’ll be asleep for a while…”, muttered Rose. Putting her final bit of worry and desire to see Roger again away, Rose fell asleep underneath the starry sky and far above the ocean.