Uncontained

I left that day. With Florence the pikachu trailing behind me, I left. Laura told me that one sure way to get stronger is to battle gym leaders, and the closest gym leader was in Pewter City. The one in Viridian was closed off. Pewter City was past Viridian City and not too far from it. Malachi would be taking the gym challenge anyway, so it was worth my time. It would probably take me a week to get there.

I talked to Florence to distract myself. I wasn't entirely sure if she understood me, but I babbled anyway. "You don't like your pokeball, huh?"

Florence squeaked.

"It must be dark in there. I don't like the dark either. I got bit by an ekans in the dark when I was five, so from then on, I hated it."

Florence squeaked again.

"Yeah, ekans are scary. They can get pretty big, too. I'd stay away from them."

Through the start of the trek, I wasn't all too sane and I didn't appreciate Florence much. I was becoming a trainer like my scumbag dad. I even started worrying about what to feed Florence - I was sure nachos wouldn't suffice. But no, I decided. I wasn't a Pokemon trainer. I wasn't doing this to become the best of all trainers. I was doing this to find my mom and annoy the hell out of my traitorous friend Malachi. I wasn't a trainer. I was some dude with Pokemon. All I wanted was to train Florence until she was strong enough to take down that gang.

Florence and I quickly arrived at Viridian City.

The pikachu refused to enter as soon as a car sped by. "What, are you scared?" I asked. Florence was practically crying. She gripped onto my jeans in a grasp that could rival a vice. "It's just a car. There's nothing to be afraid of, oh come on." I pried her off and she immediately clung to my arm. "Oh, you stupid creature..."

"Huh, what's that Pokemon?"

I looked up. A white girl about my age was examining Florence. Her eyes were startlingly blue and freckles splashed across her nose, and she pulled a strand of strawberry blonde hair behind her ear. The rest of her hair was pulled into a black cap, and she had dimples. "Oh - um, she's a pikachu," I said.

This was it. This was my first impression with a stranger, and it hit me then I might've looked like a crazy person. Did people that lost their mom to insane criminals have a certain look in their eye? Or worse, did she think I was a trainer? "Does she have a name?" She reached out to touch Florence.

I pulled away quickly and Florence changed her grip onto my shirt. "You might not want to do that," I said. "She might shock you. Oh, er, her name's Florence too."

"Ah, I see." The girl nodded and waggled her fingers at Florence. The pikachu tried to hide and buried her head into my chest. "She's a cutie. Strong, too, I bet. Are you a trainer?"

"No." Then she gave me a strange look and words tumbled out of my mouth. "I mean yes. I mean - God damn, I don't know."

The girl laughed and the sound was like bells. My knees were practically shaking. Yes, Beau, you are crazy. "You haven't decided that yet, huh?" she asked.

"I don't want to become a trainer," I said lamely. "I just want Florence to get strong."

The girl laughed again. I realized I must've sounded incompetent and she totally knew it. I had to get a grip and fast. My face was getting hot with embarrassment all the way down to my neck and I hoped to god it wasn't showing. "You might want to catch more Pokemon, then," she said. "You can't win every battle with a pikachu."

"Why not? If Florence is strong enough, shouldn't that cover her weaknesses?"

The girl smiled widely and shook her head. "If she gets insanely strong, then maybe."

"Are you a trainer?" I wanted to get the attention off me.

"Yes, I guess you can say that."

Florence's tears seeped into my shirt, and I felt indignant despite it all. Florence was my Pokemon now, and she chose me for god knows what reason. If I couldn't get her strong to battle, then I was basically less than useless. "Fine," I said. "Battle me. I'll prove that Florence is strong enough on her own."

The girl's blue eyes glittered and put a hand on her hip. "What happens if she loses?"

"She won't."

"Okay, then theoretically speaking?"

"You can get me to catch another Pokemon."

"Deal."

I blew out my breath and set Florence onto the ground. She sniveled. I tried to ignore the fact I'd only seen battles on TV and had no idea how to do it on my own. "Alright, Florence!" I said. "Let's do this!"

---

I lost.

Florence tried to stop crying, but she was scared. The girl sent out a grass Pokemon called an oddish according to my pokedex. Florence practically had an aneurysm because of her fear. I tried to encourage her, but she wouldn't believe that the oddish was a wuss that wet the bed at night.

The oddish only had to puff out a cloud of sleep powder and that battle was over.

"That's not fair!" I exploded.

The girl laughed and her hair tumbled out of her cap. It was super long, like Rapunzel long; it went down past her butt. She bunched it up and shoved it inside her hat after she was done giggling. "Now we get to catch Florence a training partner!" she exclaimed.

Training partner? That settled better than calling it a replacement. I was still mad, though. I scooped the snoozing pikachu in my arms and cradled her. She was soft and plump. "Where can I even catch a Pokemon?" I scowled.

"West of Viridian is a good place," she said. She was unruffled with my indignation. In fact, she seemed almost amused. "We can start there."

"We?" Another humiliating thought struck me. I didn't know how to catch a Pokemon.

The girl returned her oddish. I wondered how pokeballs worked; they seemed to vaporize the Pokemon into red particles and disappeared. When I was a kid I always wondered if you could put a person in there too. "Yeah, we! I'm on a break from work and I don't have anything to do."

I struggled to think of an excuse. "But Florence is sleeping. What if something comes up that I can't handle with a pocketknife?"

"That's what I'm here for. I'll help weaken the Pokemon with my oddish."

Weaken? Okay, so you didn't just throw a ball at it and hope it catches... "Okay fine." I paused. "I don't even know your name."

The girl hesitated and a forced half-smile crossed her face. "I don't know yours either."

"I'm Beau."

"I'm..." She hesitated again. "I'm Spirit."

"Spirit?"

"I know it's a funny name." She seemed uncomfortable.

"I don't care," I said. She must've really hated her name. I'd known a guy named Blue and he was teased all throughout middle school. "Now which way is out of the city?"