Disclaimer: this story is a work of fiction based on the characters in the video game: Pokemon: Diamond/Pearl. I make no claims of ownership towards these characters, only the twisted things they do in this story belong to me. If you find this story on any site except Literotica, it has been stolen from me, I would appreciate you letting me know! Enjoy the story, and remember: Feedback is crack for writers!
"Excuse me, aren't you a little old to be starting out?" I jumped as the voice jarred into my consciousness. I spun around, only to find no one behind me. Then I looked down and saw a boy. He couldn't be any more than ten, maybe twelve, years old. Unfortunately, I've never been very good at judging ages. It's a useful flaw when dealing with grown women, I always guess about a half dozen years too low, much to their enjoyment. Unfortunately, it left me complete unable to process the roughly three and a half foot tall boy's comment.
When faced with a conundrum, I tend to revert to certain patterns, regardless of the age of the person in question. First, try to make comfortable eye contact. Well, that required I get off my bike and step to the side of the path. Then I crouched so I was as close to the boy's eye level as possible. Second, smile. Not a problem. Habit from years of customer service brought a swollen cheeked smile to my face. Third, remain polite and talk normally. Well, the second part is specific to kids. Don't treat them like a moron! They'll appreciate it and tell you if they don't understand. "I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I said... aren't... you... a... little... old... to...be... starting... out?" Lucky me, the kid didn't know my rules. Apparently he'd decided I was the moron. Either that or I spoke a foreign language.
What I needed was nothing more than a healthy dose of patience. Here I was, riding my bike through the park when something darted in front of me. I ended up in the bushes. No harm, no foul. The bike was fine, and the only thing I'd bruised was my ego. And it just took another hit when the ten year old thought I had the intelligence of an brain-damaged ant.
Time to try another track. "Ok, I understand the question, I just don't understand what it refers to." Before he could repeat the question again, one of my own annoying foibles according to my wife, I hurried on. "What am I to old to be starting out?" See? Empathic listening, just like the counselor says. Demonstrate you understand by rephrasing.
"D'uh!" The kid doesn't know empathic listening. He simply nodded his head vaguely to my left.
"The bike? I've been riding since I was five or something. Sure, I hit the bushes back there, but that was only because something darted across the path. I can take a slight tumble through the bushes much better than any little fuzzy could take a hit from a two hundred pound bike racing along." Ok, so I lied. I'm close to two fifty, but I'm betting that doesn't matter to the kid.
"Not the bike, that!" This time his arm shot out, with his finger pointed. Bemused, I followed his finger to the front wheel of my bike. Or rather, I followed his attention to what futilely tried to hide behind the wire spokes that comprised the wheel. My jaw dropped open.
How on Earth did a penguin manage to find its way into the middle of New Hampshire? There were absolutely no zoos it could have escaped from, the nearest being Boston at about an hour and a half
drive
away. Besides, I'd have heard about it on the morning news. But that wasn't the only odd thing. I'd never seen a penguin that was bright blue before. Maybe it was because this one was a chick. Many species drastically changed color as they matured. Why not some random species of penguin. Of course, that still didn't explain
how on Earth did a penguin manage to find its way into the middle of New Hampshire?
And of course the equally important question, how could it deal with the ninety degree heat? I'm human and I was sweating like a pig.
The kid seemed to understand I hadn't the slightest idea what was going on. "He's not yours, is he." Although phrased as a question it clearly wasn't. I wasn't taking any more chances with this kids, however, so I shook my head. "Cool! Then I can catch him! Not exactly my usual style, but I can always trade him for something more powerful."
As I looked back at the kid, he pulled something from his belt. All the sudden, the marble defied the laws of physics that I'd so carefully learned in college and grew to about ten times its previous mass. He wound back and tossed the softball sized anomaly in the general direction of my bike's front tire. It was at this point I realized I had hit my head quite a bit harder than I thought. There must have been a rock, or something, I'd bumped my head on. Despite the best protection a helmet can provide, I was hallucinating.
The pokeball, for that was undoubtedly what the anomalous device was, managed to miraculously hit. The little white button on the front reached through the spokes, exactly, and barely touched the penguin. Well, at least that part was merely improbable instead of impossible.
Despite the impossible, correction, improbable hit, the ball didn't split open. No red energy poured from the device to engulf the aforementioned bird. The ball did, however, bounce backwards and fly straight into the kid's hand. It's a good thing I already doubted my sanity. The level of improbability was growing towards something out of
Hitchhiker's Guide
. I certainly didn't need my outer garments jumping exactly two feet to my left without me.
"Shoot! I knew it was too good to be true." He turned back to look at me. "You sure he's not yours? The pokeball only returns to your hand if someone already owns it." At this point, I wasn't sure of anything. This was my delusion, so it was entirely possible he was my pokemon. Meanwhile, the penguin was doing a great Attica impression, it's flippers curled around the spokes of my bike. I wasn't going anywhere yet.
I turned back to the kid. "Look, if he was mine, I should have a pokegear and a pokeball to go with him. You see either?" I held open my trench-coat to show him my belt. Yeah, ninety degrees, I wear all black and a trench-coat. No one ever accused me of bouts of wisdom; smart, yes, wise, no. The cell-phone and multi-tool were where they belonged, with no additions. The kid stood, solemn faced, and pointed again, this time over my right shoulder. I turned. There, attached to my bike by the same improbable mechanics that kept them on a trainer's belt, come what may, was a pokegear and a single, small, pokeball. I shrugged and plucked the ball from its perch.
In order to use a pokeball, you must first get it to expand. I was new here, I hadn't the slightest idea how to do that. I rolled the marble-sized object around my fingers for a moment and oriented the little white stub so that it faced away from my hand. Let the thing slide into your palm and it suddenly grows. It's possible I did something more than that, but if so I have no friggin clue what I did. One moment I have a marble rolling across my palm and the next my hand was full.