Foreward: The concept of family is an interesting element in Pokemon. Some characters are chosen not to have an entire family written out in their backgrounds (Drew, Misty, Ash). In contrast, other characters are given a fully fleshed-out familial background (Brock, May, Max). It's very likely that absence of a full family have been implemented by the writers for the sake of convenience. Perhaps if one were to eliminate the notion that the writers have been omitting facts for the sake of convenience, the lack of specifics regarding Ash's father, Drew's parents, or Misty's parents would become slightly more alarming. "Give a Name, Walk Away" explores this visible void, attributing this lack of specifics to familial dysfunction. The title itself is taken from the lyrics of the Everclear song, "Father of Mine."
Give a Name, Walk Away
Chapter One (In this post you are reading)
Chapter Two
Chapter One
Consciousness slowly came to her. The feel of the bed sheets on her skin, the irritation of her scalp by her crunched short hair against her pillow, and the position of her arms splayed to the left of her body; one-by-one, the awareness of her surroundings became greater and greater as she gradually emerged out of REM. The moment her will was returned to her, she immediately tried to revoke it by her own same volition. She kept her eyes closed, hopeful she would return back to sleep.
Her splayed arms were within range of the person she was sharing the bed with. She moved her body forward whilst closing her eyes in order to secure her arms around him. However, when her hands reached the other side of the bed, she stopped and opened her eyes.
She realized he wasn’t there.
Misty turned her head against her pillow, looking at the alarm clock on top of the small drawer next to one of the corners of her king sized bed. It was 3:48 AM. She looked forward and lifted her head to see if the hallway lights were on or any other indicators that he was still inside the house. Upon observing no immediate evidence that her boyfriend was anyway near, Misty threw the bed sheets off her body. She swung her legs around, secured her feet on the ground, and lifted herself up in a sitting position.
“Ash?” she called out into the hallway while scratching an itch on her bare sternum.
There was no response. Why wouldn’t he be in the house?
“Ash?” she tried again.
Again, no response.
Misty slowly lifted herself up into an upright position, her body impeded by bed time fatigue. She stumbled towards the light switch in the bedroom with the little consciousness she had and turned it on. She then walked into the hallway, down until she got to the living room, disappointed to find no one upon hitting the light switch.
Pangs of anxiety. Reality had deviated itself from the usual. It was inexplicable. Why wouldn’t he be in the house at this hour? Did he go out for a walk?
Misty returned to her bedroom. After entering, she had noticed one of the dressers had all its drawers half open with various articles of clothing dangling out. With further investigation, Misty would see that some of Ash’s clothes were gone.
Misty returned to sit down on her bed. She squeezed her hands between her bare thighs and stared down onto the ground, head in a cocked position. The numerous variables that had been defined in her mind helped narrow down the reasons. Still, it was inexplicable. Why would Ash suddenly leave the house early in the morning?
Misty was still in nothing but her bra and panties; though she was getting cold just sitting there on her bed doing nothing, she had zoned out whilst trying to think where Ash had gone.
-
Consciousness came abruptly to her. Her fragile concentration in hibernation had been interrupted by the violent sounds of her cellular telephone. Wanting to stop the undesirable noise, the girl reached over the side of the bed and felt for the source of the culprit sound, knocking several objects down, including her alarm clock and a plastic water glass. The girl removed several strands of shampoo-tasting brown hair out of her mouth and brought the telephone to her face.
“Hello…” May meekly whispered into the receiver. She paused to listen.
After several moments, May responded into her cell phone:
“No, I haven’t seen him since we came back from Goldenrod.”
Another pause.
“No, he hasn’t called.”
“No, I'm sure you’re just overreacting. I’m sure Ash got a call from his agent or the Pokemon Lea…”
“Misty, I’m sure Ash is… No, no, just, just, please calm down… You need to get some sleep, Misty. Please… Okay… Okay… Bye.”
May pressed the “End” button on her cell phone. She laid it down back to its original position. Worried that she might have awakened Drew, she turned around, wanting to check if he was still asleep or not.
To May’s dismay, Drew was not in bed. May, connecting the current parallel to Misty’s situation, removed the bed sheets off of her and put on her bathrobe. She opened the door out of her bedroom to the living room to be temporarily and thankfully blinded by the thinly yellow-tinted light emitting from the kitchen’s light fixtures. The apartment smelling of bacon and scrambled eggs encouraged her even more.
“Drew?” she called out.
“I’m right here in the kitchen.”
May walked into the small kitchenette of hers to find Drew making an extremely early breakfast for himself. Drew, while mixing a batter of uncooked pancakes, looked behind him to find his girlfriend, looking disheveled and groggy having just gotten out of bed. He placed the batter down on the counter and walked towards her to give her a light embrace and a quick peck on the forehead.
“You’re up awfully early,” he pointed out.
May gave a biting glance at Drew, wanting to point out the hypocrisy in his statement. She decided to resist the allure as of that moment.
“Breakfast for one and not two, Drew?”
“Guilty as charged,” Drew admitted as he continued stirring his batter for one, “Was I that noisy?”
May cut right to the chase.
“Why are you up so early, Drew?”
“I... Couldn’t sleep.”
“Drew? How come?”
“No reason in particular,” he answered while staring straight into his scrambled eggs.
Again, Drew was being enigmatic. He had been like this for five days May observed.
“Drew, we’ve been over this before,” May exasperated, “It just frustrates me that…”
“May, we’re not bringing this up again. Just… Not now.”
“Andrew! You said that two days ago! How many times are we going to do this?”
Drew exhaled in frustration. May ran her fingers through her crinkled brown hair while violently scratching her scalp. Drew continued to cook his early breakfast while May just stood there with her arms crossed. After a minute or so, May broke the ambient sound of the sizzling eggs and bacon with her spoken thoughts.
“This is about your father, isn't it?”
Drew pretended that he didn't hear that and tasted his finished scrambled eggs.
May stared at Drew, still in her position of observation with her folded arms across her chest. She closed her eyes and sighed, perhaps contemplating a bit more. It wasn't until Drew began to reduce the heat on the kitchen stove when May approached her boyfriend and gave a soft cold kiss on his cheek.
“I’m going back to sleep, Andrew,” she said softly, “Enjoy your breakfast.”
Drew stared after May as she walked down the hallway to the bedroom. She would stop a few paces before the bedroom corridor to say something aside from the previous subject.
“You're probably wondering why I woke up this early,” she projected down the hallway, “Misty called. For some odd reason, Ash left during the middle of the night.”
With that, Drew heard the squeak and the click of the bedroom door closing as he finished gathering his cooked breakfast on a casual glass plate. Before eating, Drew opted to head to the pantry first and pulled out a bottle of wine. He poured the contents into a simple water glass, ignoring the fancy stemware May had stored just above the stove. Drew ate his breakfast while swigging heavy amounts of the crimson red drink; he was only a quarter done with his plate before he poured himself another serving.
End of Chapter One
Give a Name, Walk Away
Chapter One (In this post you are reading)
Chapter Two
Chapter One
Consciousness slowly came to her. The feel of the bed sheets on her skin, the irritation of her scalp by her crunched short hair against her pillow, and the position of her arms splayed to the left of her body; one-by-one, the awareness of her surroundings became greater and greater as she gradually emerged out of REM. The moment her will was returned to her, she immediately tried to revoke it by her own same volition. She kept her eyes closed, hopeful she would return back to sleep.
Her splayed arms were within range of the person she was sharing the bed with. She moved her body forward whilst closing her eyes in order to secure her arms around him. However, when her hands reached the other side of the bed, she stopped and opened her eyes.
She realized he wasn’t there.
Misty turned her head against her pillow, looking at the alarm clock on top of the small drawer next to one of the corners of her king sized bed. It was 3:48 AM. She looked forward and lifted her head to see if the hallway lights were on or any other indicators that he was still inside the house. Upon observing no immediate evidence that her boyfriend was anyway near, Misty threw the bed sheets off her body. She swung her legs around, secured her feet on the ground, and lifted herself up in a sitting position.
“Ash?” she called out into the hallway while scratching an itch on her bare sternum.
There was no response. Why wouldn’t he be in the house?
“Ash?” she tried again.
Again, no response.
Misty slowly lifted herself up into an upright position, her body impeded by bed time fatigue. She stumbled towards the light switch in the bedroom with the little consciousness she had and turned it on. She then walked into the hallway, down until she got to the living room, disappointed to find no one upon hitting the light switch.
Pangs of anxiety. Reality had deviated itself from the usual. It was inexplicable. Why wouldn’t he be in the house at this hour? Did he go out for a walk?
Misty returned to her bedroom. After entering, she had noticed one of the dressers had all its drawers half open with various articles of clothing dangling out. With further investigation, Misty would see that some of Ash’s clothes were gone.
Misty returned to sit down on her bed. She squeezed her hands between her bare thighs and stared down onto the ground, head in a cocked position. The numerous variables that had been defined in her mind helped narrow down the reasons. Still, it was inexplicable. Why would Ash suddenly leave the house early in the morning?
Misty was still in nothing but her bra and panties; though she was getting cold just sitting there on her bed doing nothing, she had zoned out whilst trying to think where Ash had gone.
-
Consciousness came abruptly to her. Her fragile concentration in hibernation had been interrupted by the violent sounds of her cellular telephone. Wanting to stop the undesirable noise, the girl reached over the side of the bed and felt for the source of the culprit sound, knocking several objects down, including her alarm clock and a plastic water glass. The girl removed several strands of shampoo-tasting brown hair out of her mouth and brought the telephone to her face.
“Hello…” May meekly whispered into the receiver. She paused to listen.
After several moments, May responded into her cell phone:
“No, I haven’t seen him since we came back from Goldenrod.”
Another pause.
“No, he hasn’t called.”
“No, I'm sure you’re just overreacting. I’m sure Ash got a call from his agent or the Pokemon Lea…”
“Misty, I’m sure Ash is… No, no, just, just, please calm down… You need to get some sleep, Misty. Please… Okay… Okay… Bye.”
May pressed the “End” button on her cell phone. She laid it down back to its original position. Worried that she might have awakened Drew, she turned around, wanting to check if he was still asleep or not.
To May’s dismay, Drew was not in bed. May, connecting the current parallel to Misty’s situation, removed the bed sheets off of her and put on her bathrobe. She opened the door out of her bedroom to the living room to be temporarily and thankfully blinded by the thinly yellow-tinted light emitting from the kitchen’s light fixtures. The apartment smelling of bacon and scrambled eggs encouraged her even more.
“Drew?” she called out.
“I’m right here in the kitchen.”
May walked into the small kitchenette of hers to find Drew making an extremely early breakfast for himself. Drew, while mixing a batter of uncooked pancakes, looked behind him to find his girlfriend, looking disheveled and groggy having just gotten out of bed. He placed the batter down on the counter and walked towards her to give her a light embrace and a quick peck on the forehead.
“You’re up awfully early,” he pointed out.
May gave a biting glance at Drew, wanting to point out the hypocrisy in his statement. She decided to resist the allure as of that moment.
“Breakfast for one and not two, Drew?”
“Guilty as charged,” Drew admitted as he continued stirring his batter for one, “Was I that noisy?”
May cut right to the chase.
“Why are you up so early, Drew?”
“I... Couldn’t sleep.”
“Drew? How come?”
“No reason in particular,” he answered while staring straight into his scrambled eggs.
Again, Drew was being enigmatic. He had been like this for five days May observed.
“Drew, we’ve been over this before,” May exasperated, “It just frustrates me that…”
“May, we’re not bringing this up again. Just… Not now.”
“Andrew! You said that two days ago! How many times are we going to do this?”
Drew exhaled in frustration. May ran her fingers through her crinkled brown hair while violently scratching her scalp. Drew continued to cook his early breakfast while May just stood there with her arms crossed. After a minute or so, May broke the ambient sound of the sizzling eggs and bacon with her spoken thoughts.
“This is about your father, isn't it?”
Drew pretended that he didn't hear that and tasted his finished scrambled eggs.
May stared at Drew, still in her position of observation with her folded arms across her chest. She closed her eyes and sighed, perhaps contemplating a bit more. It wasn't until Drew began to reduce the heat on the kitchen stove when May approached her boyfriend and gave a soft cold kiss on his cheek.
“I’m going back to sleep, Andrew,” she said softly, “Enjoy your breakfast.”
Drew stared after May as she walked down the hallway to the bedroom. She would stop a few paces before the bedroom corridor to say something aside from the previous subject.
“You're probably wondering why I woke up this early,” she projected down the hallway, “Misty called. For some odd reason, Ash left during the middle of the night.”
With that, Drew heard the squeak and the click of the bedroom door closing as he finished gathering his cooked breakfast on a casual glass plate. Before eating, Drew opted to head to the pantry first and pulled out a bottle of wine. He poured the contents into a simple water glass, ignoring the fancy stemware May had stored just above the stove. Drew ate his breakfast while swigging heavy amounts of the crimson red drink; he was only a quarter done with his plate before he poured himself another serving.
End of Chapter One
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