Among the islands(PG-13)

[IatosHaunted]

Welcome, dear readers! This is going to be my first attempt at a continuing fanfic(my first time writing fanfic at all in 3 years), I hope it's enjoyable. This is the story of a young man named Ezekiel who, raised on Two Island of the Sevii islands, rises as a trainer among the islands, eventually changing them forever. It's also a story of friendships and broken promises, as he and his friends find their own paths away from the tiny village island. The prolouge is very brief, because it really doesn't need to be long. I just felt it would work better as its own entity, an enduring commentary of Ezekiel's state of mid.

Prolouge(Not to be Washed Away)

A long time ago, I asked my mother what lay beyond Two Island...and she started to cry. Back then, I didn't understand why she was crying. But now I do.

Two island is a small place, and there isn't much to it. There's the village, with it's small market where my mother works, and a game corner where most of the townspeople spend their free time. There's Cape Brink to the north, with its pretty stream where I'd go with my friends to play when we were little. There's a creepy old lady who lived up there who'd yell at us, and we loved annoying her when we were bored.

If you were growing up on Two Island, you were either resigned to the fact that you were doomed to a small-town life, or determined to do whatever it took to get the hell off the damn rock. I was one of the latter. I dropped out of the tiny high school at 16, as a few friends of mine did, to go be a Pokemon trainer. We were escapists, and dedicated to our cause.

I think my mom knew I'd leave the island one day. We were poor, me and my mom. I never knew my dad, a sailor who wanted nothing to do with my mom as soon as he found out she was pregnant with me. It's the classic sob story. I was an ambitious kid, and she knew it. I was never satisfied with the island life, which was nothing if you weren't into gambling, fishing, or getting wasted. So I had to go.

When I asked my mother what lay beyond the island, after she cried(probably because she knew she'd never have a chance to leave it), she told me something. It was just to get me off-topic, and I was little so I bought it, but it stuck with me. She told me that curious little boys who stared at the ocean would get washed away. But I came to think the opposite was true, as a metaphor. On Two Island, those without dreams, without anything they wanted out of life, would get washed away by the monotonous life of the tiny village. And I was determined not to get washed away.

 

[IatosHaunted]

Chapter 1(The last innocent morning)

I'm standing on a hill, surrounded on all sides by an endless sea. I turn to see that my mom is there too. She says something, but I don't process it as words. To me, it sounds like music is playing when she opens her mouth. She closes her mouth, but the music doesn't stop. It gets louder, and I recognize it. It's a song called Olivinian Rhapsody, an obscure rock song that's big in Johto.

My mother turns away from me, looking towards the sea, and a wall of fire burts upwards out of the water in front of her. She steps forward. The music gets louder.

I wake up.

I sit up in bed, blinking away the sleep that still clouds my vision. Olivinian Rhapsody is playing on my clock's radio alarm, and I smirk. friggin' weird dream.

I leave the radio on, jamming out to the sliding chords as I get out of bed and shuffle over to the bathroom. I brush my teeth as the song ends, replaced by a pop song from some stupid teen idol. After I brush, I look into the mirror to see my mother's head poking in the bathroom door. I turn around to face her. "Hi."

"Breakfast's cooking, honey. I'm making blueberry pancakes. See if your friends want to come over to eat before you all leave."
"Oh, cool. Thanks, mom." She smiles, and steps forward to give me a good, strong mom-hug. "No problem, it's the least I can do for my boy when he's about to go off and find himself." She leaves the bathroom, and so do I.

Back in my room, I get dressed. I look at myself in the small mirror on my closet door. Black jeans, white shirt, dark green vest. My mid-length black hair is messy, just how I like it, with the one red streak brushed to the right. I grab my phone, and call up Lynne and the guys. Lynne and Andrew are on their way, but Gus can't make it. He says he'll meet us up at the cape with Brianna(his annoying girlfriend who is, unfortunately, joining us on our ride to Three Island). Can't say I'm disappointed, Gus isn't really much fun to hang out with now that he's glued to Brianna's face 24/7.

I head downstairs to find Lynne in the demolition zone that we call a living room. She's short, around 5'3", but pretty hot, with short black(naturally brown) hair. She's a complete tomboy, which is why she always hangs out with Gus, Andrew and I. "Hey, Lynnie." I say as I jump down the last three stairs.

"Zeke!" She says, grabbing me in a bear hug. "You ready? Today's the day!"
"You know it."
"Gus and Andrew on their way?"
"Just Andrew, Gus has to go suck face with Brianna or something." This makes Lynne crack up, and we both laugh as we head into the tiny dining room/kitchen.

As we sit down at the table, I hear the door open, and a voice call "Hello, Two Island sherrif here. Ezekiel Horwitz, you are under arrest for sexual asault, please come out with your hands up."

"Hey Andrew", I laugh, "We're in the kitchen." Andrew stalks into the room, fistbumping me as he slides his lanky, 6'1" body into the chair across from me, next to Lynne. "I can't wait, you guys. Getting our first Pokemon, leaving the island...this is insane. It's finally happening!" He put his arm around Lynne, a classic Andrew look of mock terror on his face. "I don't know if I'm ready for this!" We all laugh a little, but then the laughter is replaced with an awkward silence. We're all really nervous, and we aren't hiding it. All through breakfast, our three-way banter and small talk is merely a distraction from the huge changes our lives are about to endure.

After breakfast, everyone thanks my mom for the food. I dash upstairs to grab my stuff. Wallet, check. Phone, check. I grab my bag, and shuffle through it. Extra clothes, a couple poke balls, a map of the islands, a first aid kit, and a couple bottles of water. I close it up and head downstairs. We're ready.

We still have to actually catch our first Pokemon, which is why we're heading to Cape Brink. We stop at Lynne's house so she can grab her stuff, and then make our way to the cape. along the way I take a look at the houses, the market, the theater and game corner. This is the last time I'll see this place for a long time, I muse to myself. It's time to see the rest of the world.

Up at the cape, We mill around. Gus and Brianna aren't there yet, so we go ahead and start looking for Pokemon. Right away, Lynne falls in love with a completely moronic Oddish that walks right into her leg. She catches it, and names it Lennon. Still not sure what attracted her to it. Andrew disappears for a few minutes, returning with a Spearow that he claims was obtained in "the most epic man-on-bird fight ever". I hear a voice behind me call "Yo!" I turn to see Gus and Brianna jogging up the hill.

We exchange vulgar words in greeting, all give curt nods to Brianna(I'm not the only one who doesn't like her), and continue hunting Pokemon. Andrew and Lynne decide to have a battle now that they both have Pokemon, but nobody's paying attention. Gus and Brianna are milling around the stream, and I'm hiking upwards, keeping my eyes open.

Near the top of the cape, I see a small white cat. No, not a cat. A meowth. It looks at me warily, its claws unsheathed as it stalks forward. I crouch down. Best to try this peacefully first. "Hey there. I'm not going to hurt you. C'mere?" I outstretch my hand. It hisses and lunges, latching onto my arm with its fangs. I stand up, swearing my lungs out, swinging my arm to try and get the cat off. It sinks its teeth deeper, and blood starts to trickle down my arm. I look around, and see a tree. I run over to it and swing my arm, whacking the meowth's body against the tree. It lets go of my arm. I whip a poke ball out of my bag, and toss it. *twitch...twitch...twitch...ping!*

I walk over to the ball, pick it up, and pocket it. I sigh. Well, I got a Pokemon...a damn vicious one at that. I inspect my arm, which is still bleeding, and grab my first-aid kit out of my bag. I bandage up my arm and walk back down the cape. Lynne freaks out when she sees my arm, but I assure her that I'm fine. Gus and Brianna both have Pokemon now. Gus caught a Slowpoke, which apparently bit him on the crotch, and Brianna found a Spearow that she cuddles like a plush toy, and it glares at her as she does. With any luck, she won't survive the night.

With this, we're truly ready. We leave the cape, maybe for the last time, heading for the docks where the boat waits for us. This is it. I think to myself. This is the last time we'll think of ourselves as innocent kids. Now we're trainers...adults. I clench my fists with anticipation. Bring it on, world.