A Day Without Me

The days that followed were filled with Pokémon research for Johnny. He neglected everything, from his chores to his homework to figure out what Pokémon Ash had been talking about. He even sneaked on campus at the university to use the library. He found an impossibly old book in the back of the library that was so thick he had to use both hands to hold it. He sat at a table and opened it. He had opened to the very section he was looking for: \"Pokémon Legends and Myths.\" He saw many drawings of known Legendary Pokémon, from Articuno to Zapdos and every one in between. A small drawing accompanied by a paragraph in the corner of a page intrigued him. The Pokémon depicted looked like a streamlined bird with animal-like feet, spines on its back, and teeth. It was huge, white, and surrounded by a large water cyclone. The feathers of its wings were a beautiful iridescent silver. The paragraph read: \"Although its existence still has yet to be proven, Lugia is fuel for many legends and myths. It is said to appear from the depths of the sea only when the balance of harmony and peace in the world is threatened. Then, with the power of the Chosen One, Lugia can calm the destructive forces. Alone, Lugia\'s song will fail, and the earth shall turn to ash.\" Johnny read the paragraph repeatedly, but never got the full meaning of it. He headed home, and saw that Ash hadn\'t arrived home yet, and Misty was out in the backyard. He crept up the stairs to his father\'s trophy room, where Ash housed all his awards and trophies for everyone to see. He gazed at the plaques and certificates that adorned the walls. His eyes scanned past them; he\'d seen them a hundred times. This time, he knew what he was looking for. His stare came to rest at a large glass case that held a long, silvery feather that shone in a spectrum of bright hues. \"I knew it,\" he whispered. \"Dad met Lugia. This is unbelievable!\"

\"Johnny,\" Misty called from downstairs. \"Johnny? Are you home? Where are you, sweetheart?\" Johnny scooted out of the room and fled to his own room, afraid to face his mother\'s questions. He wasn\'t sure how to tell them he knew his father\'s tales were true, or if he should in the first place. Day after day went on, and he read more about Lugia, trying to cram his brain with as many facts about the grand beast as possible. It followed him everywhere he went, until he turned ten and was granted permission to take the Pokémon License Test. He studied fervently, and went in extremely confident. When the results came back, the professor who gave the test looked at Johnny with a sullen face. \"Sorry, John,\" he said. John looked at the scorecard.

\"Thirty-seven! Out of what,\" he asked, near tears.

\"Three hundred sixty one.\"

Johnny looked at the card. The words and numbers blurred together. \"But, there\'s always next year.\" The professor smiled at him.

\"No!\" Johnny felt his chest unraveling. \"I have to become a trainer now! Don\'t you see?\"

\"I\'m sorry.\"

He threw thrd ord on the floor and flew back to his house. He hid in his room, and wouldn\'t come out. He heard his family discussing his failure in hushed tones outside his door. \"Poor thing, he tried so hard.... It must be tearing him apart.... I wish he\'d come out. I mean, it\'s just a test, you know?... He\'s having a tough time right now. Best to leave him be. He\'ll come out when he\'s ready.\" His failure echoed in his head daily. His life was hampered by his shortcoming. His grades slipped and he became withdrawn. He suffered from insomnia many nights. That summer, Derek and Rosy came home to stay until the start of the next session. Derek was often found at the grand piano in the sitting room on the first floor, playing a beautifully haunting tune. That tune, accompanied by visions of Lugia, filled Johnny\'s dreams, and most nights woke him up. One night he woke up after dreaming of Lugia yet again. He got out of bed and looked out the window. The sky was dark. The streetlights illuminated the empty streets of Cerulean City. He cupped his chin in his hand and rested his elbow on the windowsill. The silver feather down the hall crept into his mind, and took hold. If he couldn\'t prove himself with that stupid test, he\'d catch Luto sto show them all what he could do. He quickly dressed, and instead of breaking the glass case that held the shiny wing, he took it, case and all, from its spot on the wall. Grabbing his piggy bank sne sneaked out of the house and set a course for Olivine City.

The sky became lighter which each hour that passed, and that made it easier for Johnny to find his way. He reached the port at Olivine by midday. He pushed the door to the station open and set the bank on the counter. \"I\'d like to rent a rowboat, please, sir,\" he said.

An old man with white hair and a white beard sat behind the counter, gutting a large Magikarp. He looked at Johnny\'s piggy bank. \"Son, what do you want to rent a boat fer,\" he asked.

\"I want to-\" He started to tell the man his plan, but if anyone knew, they might try to stop him. He didn\'t want that. \"I\'m going to just paddle around in the ocean a bit.\"

\"Heh,\" the old man laughed. He emptied the piggy bank. A mess of pennies covered the counter. \"This ain\'t enough fer a boat.\"
\"Please, can\'t I take one for just an hour or so,\" Johnny begged. He had no idea how long it would take to find Lugia, much less capture it, but once he had it, everyone would revere him as a hero, and he could have anything and everything he wanted.
The old man evaluated the small boy before him. He could tell there was more on Johnny\'s mind than just a short cruise in the sea. \"Fine,\" he said sighing. \"But if yer not back in an hour, I\'ll find your pappy, and I\'ll make him pay fer my boat!\" He showed John to the dock, and set him up with a small rowboat. \"Thanks, mister,\" Johnny cried, waving. He struggled to get the boat out of the harbor. It was hard for him to figure out how to row it without going in circles. Eventually, he got it. He peeked at his watch. He had only forty minutes left. He rowed furiously out to sea, and stopped when he reached the nearest of the four atolls in the Whirl Islands. As he tried to get closer, walls of sea vegetation blocked his way. It seemed the only way to get in was to fight past the whirlpools between the forests of seaweed. He fearlessly paddled into the whirlpool. It spun his tiny vessel around, and water quickly filled the boat. He yelled and jumped out of the boat. Fortunately, he\'d jumped far enough to be clear of the whirlpool. He swam to shore and gazed at the pool. It had swallowed the boat completely. He set his backpack on the sand and checked its contents again. Flashlight, silver wing, maps of the dungeons of the islands he\'d copied from the ancient textbooks he\'d found, bottled water and jerky, and the Master ball. He\'d taken that from his father as well, so he could catch Lugia. He had the presence of mind to put the maps in plastic sleeves to protect them from such things as he just experienced. He pulled out the flashlight, the map and the ball. He clipped the ball to his belt loop for easy access. He switched the flashlight on and stepped into the cave.
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