~Avery Grant~
As Avery was waiting for the scene around him to unfold, his anchor once more belted out wise words of guidance. Once more, the young lad shed all outside distractions and focused on Elm. Despite being rather unfocused, the boy could focus.
Apparently he was attempting to send everyone on their way...but good reliable Alfie stopped him. They needed licenses. Why? Well...Avery didn’t know, but Alfie and Elm seemed to say so, and they knew more about this than he did. Haha, what would he do without them?
...Well, he would probably have to find out pretty soon...
"Make sure you keep up with those. They are very important if the Police decide to make sure you are a legal trainer."
Legal trainer?
What was an illegal trainer?
Well, it probably didn’t matter. He was getting a card that meant he wouldn’t have to care.
Abigail and Melody had both already claimed their licenses. Peggy and the others seemed a bit...preoccupied, so Avery went over to the Elms old and young. He smiled bright, teeth flashing white.
He stopped before Alfie who held out his card. The kid was still acting timid. No fun. Here Avery was, likely going away for who knows how long, and he couldn’t even look him in his eyes. Hell, Avery knew the boy for as long as he’d been in the town. Avery considered him a friend. A close friend.
...his only friend.
Avery scooped the kid up by the waist and spun, laughing again.
“Going away now, Alfie. But I’ll be back. With a bunch of friends. Friends like Blue. So, don’t forget about me, yeah?”He sat the kid back down, swiping his card from the ones in his hand and turning away from the Elms. His head hung low, and his hair lower, obscuring his eyes.
Don’t.
Not yet.
Just...don’t.
He walked silently to the door, tracing the floor with his gaze. He walked with purpose, with speed. Not running but…
He caught up with the two girls, but took no notice.
He left the lab, hearing Elm begin to speak, but took no notice.
He entered the sunlight once more, and around him the small little town was moving about its day.
But he took no notice.
He simply walked.
Fleeing.
After some time, he made it to the edge of town. Beyond him would be Route 29. The first leg of his journey would begin here. A moment that should be incredibly happy. But there he stood, tears streaming down his face, tears he had managed to hold since the lab. Nobody should have seen him, but he didn’t know for sure. It was different from when he met Blue. He wasn’t bursting with joy. His tears weren’t warm.
They stung. It was...so bitter. He had been so excited about this, so happy to start but now…
It hurt...
It hurt.
It-hurt.
IT-HURT!
He wished he had never listened to those whispers, that nagging inner voice that urged him to pick up the mantle. If he hadn’t, he would have to leave, to say goodbye to the town he had lived his entire life in, the people he had come to know and love…
But there was no turning back. Not after the weeks he had spent hyped up about it. Not after the bold claims he had made to his parents, to Elm…
To Alfie.
He stood, facing the end of his life as he knew it.
He stood, facing the beginning of one brand new.
A few more tears shed from Avery’s eyes, but they ended. He rolled down his left sleeve then wiped his face, clearing the tears. His eyes were still red, but at least the crying had passed and his face was dry. He couldn’t let the others see him like this. Tears were one thing, pain was another.
So Avery stood, composing himself, trying to escape into one of his fantasies, but to no avail. His mind was flooded with memories. But somehow, he managed to keep it together. He didn’t turn, didn’t give one last look at the town. He knew he couldn’t. To look now was to lose every last bit of nerve he had left. He couldn’t leave yet, either. He had to wait on the others. So he did. Unmoving, unthinking, unfeeling. Comfortably numb. Painfully numb.
He waited, dead to the world. The sooner they left, the sooner he would be okie-dokie.
He activated his PokeGear, switching over to the radio, and some classical piece floated out of the machine. A soft, calming melody. Avery lost a chuckle to a thought. If that stupid interview had still been going on, he might have lost it.
The young man waited, cloaked in music.
But a sharp notion crept into his mind. An unnerving one. One that almost put him back into his sorry state.
Avery shuddered. Heart and Brain followed suit. The thought...it was so clear. So real. It was like…
Like...
A premonition.
And he knew it to be true, that fear. He didn’t know why, but he did.
It shook him to his very core.
This would be his first and last time leaving the town.
For he would never see New Bark Town again.
...
But he smiled.
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