>>45955068I fall to my knees, helplessly stunned that my childhood friend is being harassed by strange men. I meekly try to protest, but they laugh and kick me, and she doesn't help. I don't understand why. I reach for my pokeballs, but they are quickly snatched from me and tossed aside. One man takes one of my pokeballs and calls out a cowering taillow, and sneers at it. A houndour is released and starts to bully the sobbing bird pokemon. I try to crawl toward it, and the strange men kick me some more. May tells them to stop and the men laugh and agree only if she comes with them. She agrees, I tell her not to worry about me but she only gives me a pitiful stare as she leaves. I look over at my taillow, covered in bite marks and unmoving. I weakly make my way over to a pokecenter and resolve to train to save my friend.
May does not come back until weeks later, she's changed and more quiet. I go to her, but she's again flanked by the strange men. I yell at them to release her, and challenge them to a battle. They easily defeat me, and start to kick me around again. May does not intervene at all this time, watching me with sad eyes. A flash of disgust crosses her gaze, but I couldn't be sure. The men exclaim they're bored after a while, and motion for May to follow them and she complies. She does not look back at me as I call pathetically out to her.
It's been months since I gave up being a trainer. After failing the gym challenge multiple times, the nurse woke me up from my dream of being a pokemon master and suggested I go home. Birch had been asking about his daughter constantly, but I had no news for him. I barely scraped by working as a cashier as a pokemart, my youth thrown away chasing a pipe dream. I mindlessly rung up another item, and looked up to see May. She was dressed loosely, and spoke with a trashy drawl. She didn't recognize me. I looked back down at what she was buying. A box of condoms and energy drinks. I wait until she leaves before crying.
