Sidiko
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Episode 3 - If we don't rise, we fall
🕑 Added 2023-08-23 13:44:02 +0000 UTCPokémon Switching Time Limit
Article 11
- Trainers engaged in official Pokémon battles, competitions, and events shall be granted a period of five seconds to switch out a Pokémon and send in a new one, commencing from the moment the decision to switch is made.
- Should a trainer fail to send out a new Pokémon within the stipulated five seconds after initiating the switching process, said trainer shall be deemed disqualified from the ongoing battle, competition, or event.
- Non-compliance with the switching time limit shall result in an automatic victory for the opposing trainer.
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I’ve Been Around
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Episode three – If we don’t rise, we fall
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The wet pavement shimmered with the reflection of streetlights. Rain trickled between the uneven bricks, finding its way through the crevices and transforming the ground into a patchwork of golden puddles.
Two boots splattered through them.
The city streets lay deserted as Callahan wandered through the dimly lit sidewalk. The night air was heavy with the scent of smoke, and the pitter-patter of droplets against the pavement created a melancholic symphony. He pulled his jacket tighter around his body, seeking solace from the cold that seemed to seep into his bones, and yet, simultaneously, he almost welcomed it.
Everything was better than that couch with the strange new boyfriend on it.
As the rain intensified, Callahan looked down at his reflection in the puddles. One night was all it had taken to throw his entire life into disarray. No longer would he have the daily privilege of caring for his beloved niece.
Could he still visit? Surely, he could find a way to maintain their bond. But how often was too often? Twice a week? Once a week? The notion seemed strange, even unnatural. He had always been there for her– the unwavering uncle who played, laughed, and provided unwavering support to the girl. When Richard had left when she’d only been one year old, he’d taken over as her father. He was the one who provided for them, making sure that Mia could spend her time with the girl alone. Whenever he was done with his awful job, he’d come ‘a running. The sparkle in the child's eyes upon seeing him was his flickering beacon of purpose in an otherwise mundane existence. The thought of reducing those moments to mere irregular visits…
Callahan pocketed his hands, not caring when water leaked through his soles and soaked his socks.
He knew that he should be happy for her. That he was never her father to begin with. No, actually, the thought of being the father of his sister’s child was stupid enough to almost extract a chuckle out of him, but his smile wouldn’t even rise an inch.
His feet steered him towards a crossroad, the right side leading up to a hill towards his apartment, while the left led him further down into the depths of the city. In that moment, his only desire was to walk until exhaustion claimed his weary feet, and so he veered left, looking at the puddles like they were nothing but tiny screens which projected his past.
Like that, he could see his ten-year-old self slouched over his table while he ignored the lesson, staring outside. Even when he was eight years old, he’d never possessed any grand dreams or aspirations. Ambitions seemed reserved for others, those driven by a burning desire to conquer the world, become the best trainer there ever was or leave an indelible mark. He couldn’t be any more different. From the moment he was born, he never had anything that he’d wanted.
He never had anything he excelled at, either. The man was equally hopeless at sports as he was at learning.
He always longed to make his parents proud. To have people look up to him. But with his poor skills he never received any.
That’s what had led him to lie.
His dismal performance on a math test had spurred him to finally try something else. He’d gone to his computer and changed his grades. The pride that swelled within his parents' eyes at seeing the grades finally seemed to fill something in him. First, it was one lie, then one came after the other. Soon enough, the kids in class finally listened to him. He was the life of the party, making up stories that made others envious of him, or having people pat him proudly on the back.
Yet those days would pass, and soon, he had to decide what to become.
With a sigh, he looked into another puddle, seeing in it a memory that finally extracted a weak, degrading chuckle out of him.
He had hung a dartboard on his wall and filled it with scraps of paper bearing the names of countless professions. He had leaned goofily back, closed his eyes, and thrown the dart randomly.
His dart had landed on "legal consultant," a role he had embraced with a quiet resignation. It wasn't a passion, nor did it fill him with joy. But there was nothing else he wanted. It was simply a job– a means to an end that offered a semblance of stability.
Before he knew it, he snapped out of his thoughts. He found himself standing in front of a bus stop with two benches. One of them already seemed occupied. There was a blonde teenage girl lying on top of it, covered in an array of newspapers serving as a blanket. She appeared to be trembling. Whether she was asleep or not, he couldn’t tell.
With nothing better to do, Callahan laid down on the other bench and stared at the ceiling. Thinking about nothing; That was the only thing he wanted. Just to forget everything that happened.
His eyelids had barely closed when a police siren echoed through the streets. Blue and red streaks of lights dripped down the wet buildings.
“Shit!”
The girl shot up and hurriedly slipped beneath the bench. Not a second later, a police car rounded the corner.
The woman behind the wheel screeched the thing to a halt and looked around. She stepped outside and approached him.
“You! Have you seen a girl around here? Around fifteen years old, long blonde hair with pink stripes in it?”
Callahan pushed himself up with his elbows off the bench and shoved some of the newspapers to the ground. From out the corner of his eyes, he glanced at the girl beneath the bench, then, he looked back and nodded.
“The one who was running away? Yeah, I saw her! Over there, over there! She rushed right into that alley ten minutes ago!”
“Thank you, sir!” The officer adjusted her cap, rushed into her car, and drove off with a screech.
Risa didn’t know what came over her. For a few more seconds, she remained curled up beneath the bench, only stealing him a few confused glances through the gaps in the wood. Then, she shuffled out from under it and sat herself on the bench beside him, granting him a tired, confused, and yet grateful look.
“Thank you,” Risa said softly, “for not ratting on me.”
Instead of a smile, Callahan merely gave the girl a deep sigh from the depths of his lungs. “Girl, I couldn’t even tell the truth if I’d try.” The man looked to the sky, hazy with rain, letting the cool air brush past his nose before he gave her another look.
“Shoplifting?”
Risa shook her head slightly. “Stuff…”
“Yeah?”
Rain fell down, each droplet reflecting their faces like miniscule mirrors. Both apparently found it too confronting—much rather kept staring at their laps. Lightning flashed, splashing their shadows against the brick wall behind them. Neither of them flinched.
The man hesitated, unsure if he should leave her there or insist on helping her. He decided to wait it out, trying not to intrude on her space.
After a few minutes of silence, the girl sighed and stared up at him. "Why are you still looking at me?"
"I don’t want to leave you out here in the rain," the man replied. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," the girl muttered. "Just trying to stay dry."
They sat in silence again for a few minutes before the man spoke up. "You know, when I was your age, I used to hate the rain too."
The girl looked up at him, frowning.
"Yeah," he said with a chuckle. "I used to think it was the universe's way of screwing with me. But then I realised that it's just water, and it'll dry eventually."
It was more out of utter confusion than irritation that she inspected him. Her expression loosened up, her eyes scanning past his at his bafflingly inappetence to break the ice. “What the hell’s wrong with you?” she soundlessly chuckled. There wasn’t even a hint of malice or anything, perhaps it was that which made him feel more self-conscious. He sighed and adjusted his beret, turning back to her only when he found some new resolve.
“Look. This is no time for a kid to be out.”
As if already dreading the appearance of this conversation, Risa inhaled deeply before turning her head to grant him a frown. “I just… want to sit here for a while.”
“It’s three in the morning.”
Risa cocked her head, before resting it again on the bench.
“If not shoplifting, why were the jennies looking for you?” Callahan asked, not wanting to let the silence drag, as his mind tried to unravel the mystery himself.
“No. I just ran…” Risa said as she watched the numerous car lights move past them.
Silence fell with the sound of raindrops. “You got anywhere to go home to or is the police waiting you up?” Callahan offered.
“…No.”
“It’s that bad, huh?”
“You wouldn’t underst—” Risa started coughing, soaked and shivering. Callahan threw off his jacket. Risa glared at him, as she moved her body away, “Don’t.”
When he realised the girl wouldn’t take it, he simply put it beside him, letting it dry.
“Thanks for the offer,” she mumbled.
Callahan thought progress was simple. Most people only say ‘how are you doing?’ because they want you to say the same thing back. There’s nothing people would rather talk about than themselves. When it came to this girl, however, she hadn’t revealed a single thing about herself.
“Look,” Callahan said as he scratched through his hair. “I don’t know what kind of stuff you’ve gotten yourself into. I genuinely couldn’t care less. But I can’t let you stay here all by yourself. I’m not going to call the cops. I mean, I don't think you have murdered anyone.” Risa started to laugh softly within herself. “Otherwise, I’m in trouble.”
“No.”
“Then I’ll just keep you company until you figure out what you want to do. So what’s up?”
Risa scoffed, striking some wet locks out of her vision and behind her ear to reveal her ear piercings. A locket attached to the girl’s necklace fell from her hoodie. It was open and revealed a picture of two adults and a little boy. Her family, huh.
“I’m just tired. At this point, I-I don’t even know.”
Callahan took a moment, recalling information that he had stuffed away a long time ago. It took him some time to connect the dots and form his thoughts into words. At last, he spoke.
“Kid, mind if I give my two cents?”
“…Sure.”
At that he cleared his throat, “A long time ago, I had to deal with children in your situation. Most of the children I worked with held mementos or keepsakes of loved ones. You know, people don’t carry around pictures of loved ones while they’re still around… ” Risa followed his gaze towards the open locket on her neck and instinctively shut it close, only for it to immediately open again. It was at that moment that the lights of a car passed, and flooded them in a wave of light.
Callahan weakly smiled, “Those your parents?”
A slight nod was gained from the girl.
No one to run to… locket of family… Her family must have died… Given her age, she must have been in a foster home.
Suddenly, Risa’s earlier words flowed through his mind: You wouldn’t understand.
Like an electrical current, Callahan’s instincts kicked in.
“I’m sorry…” Callahan said as he finally connected the dots. His voice began to crack, as his face turned sorrowful, “I know the pain you must’ve been going through… I lost my parents too.”
For a split second, Risa’s expression broke. It was like something in her eyes changed, like these few words managed to wipe– however faintly– the fog from her eyes.
Damnit, Callahan! Why are you lying?!
Still, his mouth wouldn’t stay closed, especially when the girl had focused all her attention onto him. Having deducted her loss, he continued, “It happened a long time ago. I-I didn’t know them that well, but I do know what it’s like to be put into a foster home. That’s why you ran, right? You fled, because you felt like staying there was an insult. I know all about it.”
Because I’ve had to study numerous similar cases in juvenile law for school! Stop this! You’re going too far!
But the damage had already been done. Some emotion had finally welled up in her eyes. And so did in his, only for him, the tears that welled up were from the deepest self-disgust he’d ever felt.
“I-I think you got the wrong person to talk to,” he said quickly. “Like I said, it happened long ago. I’m over it now. I don’t know what… other experiences you’ve based your worldview on, but afterward, I grew up in a totally ordinary family. Got a normal childhood. Got a normal job. Got a normal life,” Callahan said while shrugging nonchalantly, quickly trying to cover his lie with truths which flowed out like a waterfall, noticing that Risa was still drinking up his every word. “And I finally fucked up…”
“You see,” he said, “I promised my niece that I would win the Pokémon League.” He chuckled and sent her a look. “I’ve never held a Pokéball in my life. I was scared of the responsibility that comes with owning a Pokémon, so I never caught or bought any. All I’ve been doing is lie to myself—day in and out.”
He looked at the starless night.
“ ‘My real life hasn’t started yet. The real me is still asleep, so that’s why my life is such garbage.’ I keep telling myself that. I’ll age. Then die. And on my deathbed, I will finally realize it. The life I lived was the real thing.”
Risa averted her gaze, noticing Callahan’s trembling fists. “I’m just a stupid liar. I’ve grown sick of my job before I even started it, and in thirty, forty more years, my life’s at its end. All my achievements… they’re all lies! I have more fun living in my own fantasy world than living in the real one! I’ve lived for forty-seven years, and never did anything with a single one of them!”
Risa’s pupils dilated as she saw teardrops speckle his knuckles, running down his thick veins.
“Choosing to not do anything is still a choice. I am… sick of playing things safe. I… want to be able to love myself!”
At those last words, Risa’s eyes finally opened wide, and her shoulders began to shake. She closed her eyes, feeling how thick tears streamed down her chin.
Both the adult and the teen sat crying in the rain.
Risa’s lips trembled. “My mother… she said that you can’t see any stars in the city. It’s because of the light pollution. I… I want to see the stars. I… I want to see them again!”
Her words might be nonsensical, but the emotion behind them came through.
Callahan nodded. There were no stars in the city. No matter how long they’ll wait, the stars would never reveal themselves to them. If they wanted to see the vibrant galaxy as how Lord Arceus intended it, they would have to make a move.
Callahan stood up—not caring anymore if society thought his speech to be cheesy, his words to be cringy.
“I’m sick of living on this safe railway. From now on, I will live in my own way, no matter how much it’ll make me suffer! I will… become the greatest Pokémon trainer there is in one month, and kick those idiots of the Pokémon League off their thrones! I am the best trainer in the whole wide world! I know every move and every kind! What do you say? Do you want to turn the world upside down with me?”
The girl looked up at his outstretched hand. This hand, like any other that grew so big in her vision, intimidated her greatly. And yet, she stood up, ignored his hand, and waited for him to move, drying her tears with her sleeve.
Callahan smirked at that, tears slipping past his lips.
“I won’t ever take a single step back,” he said. “If we don’t rise, we fall.”
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And that’s it for the third chapter! Callahan, please, can you for once stop lying?
From this point onwards, each chapter will start by highlighting a specific legal provision of the Pokémon League (just a hint, this isn't simply flavor text). Anyway, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Because if you're reading this, it means that you've decided to support this story. It means the world to me that you found the first chapter so compelling that you chose to support it at this early stage. Thank you for reading, and I'm looking forward to seeing you in the next chapter!
Warm wishes,
Sidiko
