Wednesday, May 3rd, 1989

Dawn rose through the dewdrops, and the ground was still soaked from the day before. Kitiku sat up in bed. His body felt lighter than the day before. His eyes looked at the small jar with coins on the wooden floorboards. He gave me twenty Colkara. I can get some food for mum and dad. Then they won't have to worry. He laid back down on the bed.

"Kitiku! Trash... now-or somethin... I need another drink," his father called up the stairs.

Kitiku sat up and reached over. He took his wooden crutches and tucked them under his arms. He saw James waiting for him at the door. "C-c-coming." He pulled himself along, wobbling. Pressing on the top of his crutches to keep balance, he approached the wonky wooden stairs.

"Kitiku!" James called out, his arms extended.

Kitiku felt a tingling rush of adrenaline through his body as he plummeted down the stairs. The singular moment of freefall left his stomach in a knot. His broken leg slamming into the wooden angles created a stabbing sensation through his lower leg. "Ugh... Agh!" He froze in place as the large octillery pressed its eye almost against his eye. "Oosho..." Kitiku said.

The octillery's eight long orange legs wiggled at the tips while remaining stuck to the wall. "Sho-Sho-Sho," he chuckled before he puckered and suctioned along the wall upstairs.

"Jerk." James scowled.

"Uselesh runt!" Mr Bryson grabbed Kitiku by the back of his shirt and threw him against the wall. "Canch-chou do anything right? Shoulda only had firsht born." He dropped him and turned back around. Swaying from side to side, he walked out the front door, picking up the axe that hung by the door.

Kitiku could smell the pungent stench of alcohol on his clothes. He glanced down at the floor.

James scowled and placed a hand on Kitiku. "Ignore him. Let's just go."

"I f-forgot m-my money..." Kitiku whispered.

With a soft grin, James said, "No worries. I'll get it for you. I'll get ten out."

Kitiku nodded at him and pulled himself forward towards the wooden front door. He leaned forward and took the metal handle, twisting it open, and hobbled back, almost tripping over his crutches. He turned around and pulled himself towards the kitchen. The fridge was on his right, and the bin bag was in front of him. He picked up a sitrus berry on the table and stuck it in his pocket. I'll eat this on the way to the shops. I want to get Mum and Dad a nice big roasted dubwool. The wooden crutches dug into his armpits as he lifted the bag. He felt his arm strain under the weight. Slowly but surely, he pulled himself towards the front door again.

"Hey, I got it." James reached forward and took the bag from Kitiku's hand. He scampered down the steps with it in tow.

Following closely, Kitiku watched James toss the bag into the dumpster opposite the house. "J-J-James..." he pointed forward at a small metallic blue object behind the dumpster. The object floated up.

"Damn, that's a pokémon. No way. I have no idea what pokémon it is, though." James quickly put his hand in his pocket to pull out his poké ball. "Damn, Tomilson used my only poké ball on that... thing." He looked at the pokémon. "Well, not much we can do."

Kitiku stared into its golden yellow eyes. You are scared, aren't you? He saw bruises and scratches all over its body. "J-James, it l-looks hurt."

Tilting his head, James said, "Yeah, but we don't have the money for a healer. Besides, we don't have a poké ball. It's not that I don't want to help it, but... I don't have anything on me." He looked away.

"W-w-wait." Kitiku reached into his pocket and took out the sitrus berry. "Um.... H-here." He closed his eyes and held out his hand. The small bronzor floated up and sniffed the berry. It chomped down on it, letting out a little smile as it did. "T-there. Um... C-come on, James." He crutched forwards.

With a smile, James turned around. "Kuti, I think you have a new friend." He watched as the bronzor turned itself upside-down and hovered just behind Kitiku. "Huh?" James stared into the distance. Some parchment has been pinned to the wall? He walked forward with his eyes fixated on it. "Hey Kuti, what does this say?"

"Um... well... It is a l-l-list of pokémon that went m-m-missing yesterday. S-Sorry, I... er... Okay... let's s-see. S-some of this is in K-Kilgorese... or the n-names are at least... um... they've been translated into Elkrat b-b-but not Colrat... I-I think this is one of t-them. It says i-its l-level is s-seventy f-four."

What? James stepped back, staring at Kitiku. "You serious Kuti?" With a pokémon like that, we would kick the Elkrans to the moon. "It still looks pretty hurt. We could go to the pokémon store and buy some stuff there for it. Some berry juice or something?"

Kitiku, crutching away from the notice, looked up and nodded. The bronzor behind him swung its body up and down, mimicking him. The two boys walked down the cobblestone street. The clouds overhead were threatening to pour down buckets of water. "It h-has b-bruises all over it."

"Yeah, some of those look rather bad. Some powerful pokémon must have hit it pretty hard. I mean, if it does have a level of like seventy-four." James pointed forward. "It isn't too far ahead. The Happy Gastrodon." The sign over the shop was wooden and painted sky blue. On the sign was a green gastrodon with a basket in its mouth. The basket was depicted as woven and filled with berries. Could do with some of those myself... I didn't eat this morning. It was either me or Kuti. He is so underweight. I can steal for myself. I'm good at that. He pushed the shop door open, and a soft chime echoed out.

"Do you have a license to be in here?" Lieutenant Tomilson shouted. A bruise was puffed up on his face.

"Er..." James looked back to Kitiku. "I just wanted to treat Okta."

Lieutenant Tomilson looked through the window. "How is Kitiku doing?"

"He is okay, just shy. Um... we kinda wanted to get something for Oosho too. Oosho is old and stuff." James stuffed his hands in his pockets. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a basket float up behind Lieutenant Tomilson. "A-Anyway, um mister, I was wondering if you managed t-to...er... ha!" He quickly covered his mouth with his hand. That's a lot of berries to shove into a basket.

"What are you looking at?" Lieutenant Tomilson glared at James and then turned around. "What the? Oi!" he shouted.

James looked at him. "Look... it found us, okay? It is hurt real bad, and Kuti is someone it trusts. You don't care about us because you are from the south. An Elktan bastard!"

"Elkran." Lieutenant Tomilson stepped out of the shop doorframe. "Alright, look, It isn't like that. It is just the law. You need a license to go into the shop because pokémon can be very dangerous." He looked at James and Kitiku.

Sergeant Sutton peered around the corner. "That's the missing bronzor." He leaned in and noticed the bronzor hanging upside down behind Kitiku. He saw Kitiku immediately look down at the ground. "Oh, hey Kitiku and hey James. Sir. What did I miss? Did you capture it? That's a large reward sum coming to you two."

James glared at Lieutenant Tomilson. "What do you mean, reward money? Look, the pokémon is hurt and needs help." He slammed his hand against the wooden doorframe. He felt a few drops of rain splash against his forehead. "And now it's raining," he huffed. James kicked Lieutenant Tomilson in the shin.

"Hey! I could arrest you for that or worse. Come on, James. I get it. We get it. You are angry. It isn't our fault we are here." Lieutenant Tomilson winced as he spoke. He has a kick right there.

"Yeah, it isn't your fault you invaded. Screw off. This pokémon really hurt, and you won't even let us help it! You are the reason he died. You killed Pierre. He was a brother to me!" Thunder clapped as James finished speaking. He pulled his ears back, and his eyes shot wide open. "Kuti?"

Sergeant Sutton pushed his cap down onto his soaking blond hair and buttoned up his blue jacket. "I'll go, and I won't shout at him." He turned and walked down the street. I'm guessing he went this way. There is no way he would have gotten past me. Sergeant Sutton broke into a jog, his black boots skidding along the wet cobbles. He looked around as he jogged, hoping to see hide or hair of Kitiku. How did a kid with crutches disappear? Oh... right... bronzor. It can't learn to teleport, but it can use psychic and float them both. Think, where would you go if you were a timid child who likes to be alone and indoors but were stuck with a potentially outgoing pokémon that likes the outdoors? He stopped just before his face collided with the spear-topped fence. Of course, they'd stop it at eye height. "Give me strength!" Sergeant Sutton hit his hand against the brick wall.

"Sergeant Sutton? Are you okay?" a woman stood in the doorway of the building.

"M's B'yson. Sorry, I am fine. I was just praying to the god." Sergeant Sutton looked down at his hand. Tiny specs of blood were on his wrist from the brick wall. "If... if you were Kitiku, where would you hide? He isn't in trouble. He just got overwhelmed and disappeared."

"Kuti? He'd probably be with James. Those two are inseparable a lot of the time. But... I suppose if he were too overwhelmed, he'd be by Cheri Steps." Mrs Bryson leaned against the door, crossing her arms. "Is my little Kuti okay?"

"Why do you call him that?"

"Kuti? Well, Pierre couldn't say Kitiku when he was little, so he called him Kuti, and it stuck." A tear ran down her face. "Anyway, Cheri Steps – sorry, it's a local term, um... There is a little grove at the edge of the park. It's by the little stream. Can't miss it."

"Thank you." Sergeant Sutton smiled, turned to the street and walked forward. At the end of the lane were the park's lush green fields. He stepped onto the grass, and his boots sank into the mud. He plodded on through the muddy grass, spotting numerous bug pokémon. He wrapped his fingers around the tip of his poké ball, ready to fight if needed. Each step brought the tree line closer. The extended branch was like a lifeline from the rain. Shouldn't be under the trees in a storm, he thought. Splat. A leaf gushed water all over his hat and down his face. Okay then.... Sergeant Sutton carefully clambered down the slope into the small grove at the bottom.

Sergeant Sutton took a step forward. "Ouch, what the?" He gazed ahead as the psychic shadow field shattered before his eyes. His eyes met the bronzor's. "Kitiku, it's okay, I'll protect you. I'll catch this pokémon and take it back to –"

"N-N-n..." Kitiku started, and his throat tightened as he spoke. Quickly, he raised his hands and signed, "No. Zanha wants to stay here with me."

"What the fuck is a Zanha?" Sergeant Sutton looked at Kitiku. "Kuti, please tell me you didn't name it."

Kitiku looked back at Sergeant Sutton but only at his chest. "Only my friends can call me that. Kuti is..." Kitiku stopped and shook his head. "Zanha is my friend," he signed. He wrapped his arms tightly around the bronzor's body, pressing his chin on top of it. Please don't take my friend away. He sniffled, looking at Sergeant Sutton's face. "You want to take away my friend," he signed.

"I don't understand sign language well... but... I think you said something like you want to hurt my friend. I don't. I think it's a very dangerous pokémon. Besides, it isn't yours." Sergeant Sutton sat down in the mud and crossed his legs. "It belongs to the Kilgorese Masters. How would you feel if I took your klink away?" He noticed Kitiku flinch at his words and sniffle more. "I-I won't." Sergeant Sutton reached into his pocket and slowly pulled out an oran berry. "Here, would this make you trust me?" He reached his hand over to Kitiku. The rain surrounding his words, and the thunder smashed through the pauses. "It's okay. You need not to be scared by the thunder."

With a trembling hand, Kitiku reached out with his left hand and took the berry. His stomach growled, but he looked to the bronzor. He adjusted himself on the rock he was sitting on and held the berry out to the bronzor.

You really like that pokémon, don't you? I need him to give up. Sergeant Sutton adjusted himself again. "Okay, Kitiku, you want to catch this pokémon and look after it?" He reached into his inside pocket. "Gah! Why?" Sergeant Sutton called out as the bronzor had shoved her body against his jacket. "Oh, I guess you are super hungry. N-no worries. I'll give you something else in a minute, okay? Kitiku here is a poké ball. If you can catch it, I'll tell the higher-ups it just escaped, but we'll take it back if you don't. Okay?"

Kitiku took the poké ball and stared into the blue top. I've never caught a pokémon before. Pierre caught Rusto for me. Every time I tried, I missed. His hand shook, and he raised his arm to throw the ball. "Hahmph," he gasped, and the ball left his hand and clipped the side of the bronzor but didn't open. I messed it up; I am so useless.

Sergeant Sutton leaned over and picked the ball up. "Kitiku, that's..." He looked up and saw Kitiku staring at his shaking hands. He reminds me of. My first pokémon catch. Larvesta. I threw the ball and missed utterly, knocked a Lord on the head pretty damn hard. The guy had a bruise for weeks. I thought I was dead, but... Sergeant Sutton lifted the poké ball with his volcarona in. He helped me catch her even though I trespassed for her. He placed the empty poké ball back in his right hand. "I can get in a lot of trouble, but... I'll help you." He smiled at him. "Pull your arm back like you are about to throw a punch."

Kitiku took the ball into his left hand and pulled his arm back again.

"Press the button as you throw. Make sure you flick your hand with force, yes?" Sergeant Sutton leaned in and watched the bronzor spin in place.

The ball slammed into the bronzor and opened up. The pokémon shrunk down and was sucked inside. It fell onto the ground and rocked.

Click.

"I-I-I d-d-did it. I-I c-c-c-caught Z-zanha. I l-love her." Kitiku leaned in and squeezed hold of Sergeant Sutton. "T-t-th...." Kitiku stopped, raised his right hand to his chest, and bowed as best he could. I have another pokémon.

Sergeant Sutton moved his hands up quickly. "Woah, no need to do that. As long as Lieutenant Tomilson doesn't find out, I can convince them that it is simply gone."

"Find out what?" Lieutenant Tomilson glared, holding James by the collar. "Oh, you caught it; good job."

"Sir... Kitiku caught it, and well..." Sergeant Sutton walked up to Lieutenant Tomilson and lowered his voice to a mere whisper. "I don't think we should report this. He... he has a bond with this pokémon. Look at him. He's happy."

Lieutenant Tomilson glanced at Kitiku, who was holding onto bronzor tightly. "Alright, we will cover this up. We could get in deep tauros shit for it... but I doubt anyone from Kilgor would take it out on a kid. Actually... I know a guy. I'll sort it out, so you won't have to worry about that. I used to be a troublemaker as a kid. Got involved in the black market, and a few guys owe me a favour. Talking of the black market..." Lieutenant Tomilson pulled a poké ball out of his pocket. "This is the gengar that was caught with your poké ball."

"I-I don't want it." James shook, staring at the poké ball.

Lieutenant Tomilson looked up at the pouring rain. "I know about the bites, James. Someone attacked you with a gengar at some point, and it's okay to be afraid, but I think it will be good for you. There is no such thing as a bad pokémon. Only bad people."

I guess so... Hanson... Shaking, James reached forward, took the poké ball, and stuffed it into his pocket. "I won't let it out until I feel safe. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!" Lieutenant Tomilson stuck his tongue out at James and saluted. "Anyway, I bet you two are excited about school tomorrow. It should be good for you. You'll get to make new friends and learn to read and write." He marched forward. "You two can stay out if you want, or you can hitch a ride on my dragapult, and I can take you home."

"Dragapult!" James leapt up. "Oh, actually, um... walk to the pub? K-... Mum is there. We can eat dinner there and go home later." He walked up to Kitiku and helped him. "Yeah, let's go get some dinner."

Later that evening, after the town's bell struck eight, the torrential rain finally ended. The rain specs on the window in the bedroom were stuck. The candle on the bedside table had a twisted wick buried amongst the melted wax. The flame flickered, allowing the little orange light to fill the room.

James looked at the small leaflet regarding the school that had been dropped off at the door. I can't believe they are going to trap us in a building. Force us to learn their language and speak it, and then make us learn and believe their religion. He glanced down at the gengar's poké ball. I don't know... He placed the poké ball on the table alongside his onix. It's so dumb we have to go to bed now. He laid his head back on his pillow.

"So, um... I-It s-says in the e-e-evening p-paper t-that C-captain B-bourbabel is g-going to t-teach us and so is T-Tomilson t-too. S-so is s-some Elkran L-lords, like L-Lord Orag. He is a b-big important L-lord, s-second in charge of i-interrogation," Kitiku said. "It s-says w-we are short of C-colran t-teachers. So.. um... are t-the Elkran."

James rolled onto his side. "Whatever. Look, you and I have been minor adults for at least a year and in two years, we are fully-fledged adults... We shouldn't go to school."

The teen's worst nightmare has come true. They have to go to school. Will anyone find out about Kitiku's secret? 

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