If You Can

A Trainer Fic

By: Wandering Bard

Prologue
Darkness... Two more minutes... I just want darkness... Don't... Please
don't do that... The darkness, I need it... The warmth... One more minute...
No, it can't come to this... I don't want to face it, face them... Don't
make me, please-

ET! ET! ET! ET! *click*

"Fuck... Goddam this morning... Ugh, I'm up, I'm up..." Adem said, stumbling
bleary-eyed out of bed. On top of the clothes that had piled up on the
floor, unwashed for three days. They would stay that way until Adem's ethics
caught up with him. Through the door, Adem's feet thudded heavily on the
ugly, spotted and ruined carpet. Finally, into the bathroom, where there was
sanction in warmth and coziness.

A very nude Adem stepped into the small shower, where wakening warm water
soothed his body's stiffness away. Steam wafted above the shower curtain and
enveloped the room. The steam carried a few notes, escapees of Adem's lips.
A loud bang interrupted Adem's merciful shower. Some thuds followed the bang
on the door to the pitiful bathroom.

"What?" he shouted, "Who's there? Mom? Izzat you?"

"Who else would it be? Get your lazy body outta there and to the Professor!
Now make like a bakery truck and haul buns!" shouted a patient, but much too
aggravated voice.

"Fine, fine, be that way, interrupting a guy's nice, warm shower... Aw, fuck
this-" and with a squeak, the shower head halted its assault of water.

Adem pedaled his almost-ancient 6-speed bike down the muddy road. Gravel and
grit had washed into the ditch on the right hand side of the unpaved road
from recent rain. Water from the shallow puddles splashed up his pant leg,
drawing a much-hated shudder from Adem. Not to mention his new jeans were
being splattered with mud. A sharp vibrating noise rattled Adem's wrist,
harshly causing the bike to veer into the middle of the road. Adem had just
enough time to wrestle the bike back over to side before a car sped by,
honking as if Adem could have helped himself.

"Shut up, Mom, Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" shouted Adem to his wrist. It was
his mother, calling to make sure nothing was forgotten. Nothing was. Adem
had scoured his knapsack for any sign of a missing item, or an item alien to
his cause. Nothing, nada, zip, no sir.

When Adem was waking up, or when he was going to sleep, his mom reigned. He
was too sleepy to argue and rebel. But when Adem was awake, well, now,
there's a change in rank.

Adem squeezed the Talk button irritably.

"What." He said simply, trying vainly to mask his frustration with his mom's
nagging.

"Oh, hun, I was just giving you a ring to see if-" his mother began.

"Nothing's wrong, mom. Please don't call me unnecessarily again-I nearly
kissed the fender of a car." Adem cut his mom off. His anger had dissipated:
he couldn't stay mad at Mom for long. It doesn't work that way; it's like
painting against the grain. It just looks and feels wrong.

"Oh my. But you're alright, I hope." She asked absent-mindedly. Some pancake
batter needed more attention than Adem.

"Fine, just fine. Bye." Adem said with a sigh.

"Hmm? -" The Talk button was pressed again, and the screen went dark. Adem
mounted his bike again, ignoring the pain itching in his groin. Adem
muttered something about damned bike seats and chafing of his manhood, but
found himself again in the present, and moved on.

"Professor, I'm here too... Shit, you know why I'm here." Adem said. Adem
had finally made it to the laboratory where something would happen to change
his life and destiny for the better.

"Language, language, c'mon, Adem, you know the drill." The Professor said,
shuffling through a drawer. He pulled out a form with several carbon copies
attached. He filled them out irritably, mumbling each answer to the blanks
as he wrote along. "Okay... One for the TRB, one for the League, one for
reference, and one, Adem, for you." The accomplished Professor looked up
finally, reassuring Adem. "It'll have to be laminated, of course. And what
unfortunate luck, my laminator's broken. It'll take, oh... Four and a half
hours to fix. Make yourself at home. I'll get started."

"Right. Nice pull, Prof. Huh, if I see a Pokemon I like, their mine, right?"
asked Adem slyly, trying to catch the absent-minded Professor off guard.

"Fine. You know what? This week was bad, and I've got leftovers. They're
wandering around here somewhere, just go find em, here's their balls, just
GO-" two red and white balls were dropped into thin air, immediately being
rescued by Adem's reflexes.

Adem walked off out of hearing distance and- "SCORE!"

Adem milled around the house, reflecting on what he hoped would make him
glorious. His Pokemon journey would start within two days, and he would be
off to conquer land and Pokemon. And what cute creatures those balls of
wonder and power were...

Adem was a completely different person when he was around Pokemon. No longer
that bitter, coiled snake with a mask was he, but a kind, gentle person who
actually cared about someone, or something, more than himself. He was one of
them, they were part of him. It all kind of... Balanced out.
A couch suited Adem's exhaustion from the bike ride over. He sat down fast
on the familiar couch and relaxed. He threw his head back and sighed with
complexion. He allowed his eyes to close, but, he reminded himself, only for
a moment.

Presently, he felt something touch his mind. Not himself, not his hand- his
mind. It conveyed a message.

"You... you... you here... You here play?" struggled the message. The
message inflicted a brief moment of fright and panic in Adem. Who? Asked
Adem's instincts. Adem blew his eyes open and shot his head forth. A small
body flinched in Adem's lap. Adem, in turn, flinched as well. Again, Adem's
mind was touched.

"Is you gonna hurt me?" the message asked quickly. Adem focused and the
creature. He chuckled to himself.

"Not in the slightest. I don't think I could hurt you, even if I wanted to."
Adem spoke to the Abra. "So... You wanna play, huh? And is there a certain
game in mind?" Adem braced himself for the icy shock of the message invading
his mind. Nothing came. Instead, it was warm and flowing, like swallowing
warm milk.

The Abra floated up simultaneously when the message came. Immediately two
things registered in Adem's mind.
One: the Abra, which had floated up, had been here a while. There were many
signs.
A) Most Abras slept during the day, gathering Psychic energy for defense
against predators. They are timid, also: a lush hiding spot where they are
surrounded in grass is a prime nap spot.
B) When humans come near Abras, instinct jumps to the conclusion of capture.
They Teleport to safety ASAP.
C) Having enough courage and energy to lift one's self into the air with
Psychic energy is a sign of development and skill. Any Abra who can float in
the air is immediately put in charge of sparsely populated democracies of
Abras.

Two: a washing sense of envelopment encased Adem's mind. Like he was
connected to something, and he couldn't let go. Nor would he want to let go,
the feeling was so intense, warming and beautiful. I'm never going to leave
this, I will devote my life to this, this will be me now and forever, I will
not break this bond- thoughts shot around Adem's head, threatening to make
him snap. He immediately succumbed to vertigo and dizziness, and pitched
forward onto the floor. Adem opened his eyes cautiously, not realizing that
he had closed them. The feeling had gone, but not away, it had stored itself
in Adem, pulsing through him, through his veins alongside his blood. Adem
felt that he could tap the feeling whenever he wanted, if he needed
reassurance that the bond was there. Adem looked up, and stood tall,
remembering how tall he was. He look straight ahead at eye level to see
Abra, bobbing up and down in the air, smiling and giggling as an Abra would.
Adem felt that the bond would encase him again, just at the sight of Abra.
Something miraculous happened between Abra and Adem.


"We play Long Journey."