What's the Story?
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Originally from Johto, Arashi and Layla grew up in Olivine city. Their father worked as a fisherman or on the docks helping bring in goods as ships came in, and their mother was a cook at Olivine Café. Their life was fairly simple and a happy one early on.
Arashi’s interest in poke’mon started at a young age, like nearly all in this country. His mother’s Skitty (a wedding gift from her husband; he bought it from a traveler from a different region) was a constant source of fascination to him. Sadly for her, it often resulted in tail tuggings and tweaked whiskers; which she took with annoyed grace.
Layla on the other hand, being a littler older than Arashi, was more interested in her unique features and colors. She dreamed of Lizzy (the Skitty) having kittens with one of the Meowths in town. She wanted a pink Meowth kitten so badly and begged her dad constantly to find her one.
One night, a horrible storm struck and devastated the town. Several ships lost cargo and a sailor or two. Sadly for the family, they couldn’t find Lizzy in time to bring her back into the house. She was claimed by the storm as far as they knew, and it crushed their mother.
Determined to find another for his wife, he left on a barge heading out for Hoenn. Of course their mother demanded he stay, after all, no ordinary Skitty could replace Lizzy; but he insisted on at least trying. And with that he was gone.
At first there were letters. Every week they’d get one, at first they were filled with homesickness and awe, expressing how much he loved them and how interesting and new everything was. Slowly they became more centered on the poke’mon there, even sending pictures and news clippings. Eventually she stopped reading them out loud to the children, and read them by herself at the kitchen table at night. Arashi was too young to understand, but Layla became more withdrawn and distant. She’d try to sneak into the kitchen at night, but once she caught her mom crying and saying
"it was just an excuse", over and over. Layla ran over to her, worried, and that ended the mother’s nights in the kitchen. She took to sitting at the docks after work for a little while, sometimes a long while.
Arashi had stopped asking when dad was coming home a long time ago, since every time he did all his mother would do was cry. Lonely and depressed, he started wandering off more, trying to find a poke’mon to be his friend like in the tv shows. He ended up getting attacked by a Rattata and ran home crying. His mother was livid and forbade him from owning a poke’mon or leaving the house without his sister.
Years passed and the letters slowed and then stopped. Any mention of poke’mon or their father earned them both sharp reprimands and harsh words. As they got older, Arashi tried to become his mother’s support in the absence of their dad; but Layla became more rebellious and frustrated. Withheld from school, cut off from most other people and all contact with anything related to poke’mon; she began dreaming of freedom, and plotted running away. It wasn’t until she was 15 that Layla managed her escape much the same was her father had. Sneaking onto a boat in the middle of the night, she lay low and slept through drifting away from port. By the time anyone found the stowaway, they were already in full sail and she convinced them of her worth and was allowed her passage.
While back at home, life was turned upside down again. It was a month before Layla wrote home explaining what happened. She refused to come home, and that was that. Arashi was the only thing holding his mother together, who was already turning gray way before her time. A few more years passed this way, Arashi living a very quiet life as a server at the café his mother cooked for. He rarely spoke now, and bowed his head to his fate. He no longer dreamed of becoming a famous trainer, or a gym leader, or even owning a poke’mon. Since his mother blamed them for her husband leaving, she couldn’t bear the thought of losing her own children; and now with Layla gone, Arashi was all she had left. Now he just hoped that one day his dad and sister would come back, that his mom would smile again and he could go back to being little and just have a do over.
However; he awoke one day to an empty house. His mother was no where in sight, and couldn’t be found. He searched the house for anything that would be of use, turning up only her depressing journal that tore at his heart. However, it didn’t say anything about where she could’ve possibly gone. The last page she wrote on was blank except for two words.
If only. Her body was found entangled in a fishing net a week later; and everyone was left to assume suicide. Arashi wrote to his sister, and to the last known address of his father, explaining what happened, begging them to come home. There was no way a 16 year old boy could handle all of this on his own. He needed them, and felt completely lost.
Layla wrote back, telling him that she had settled in Hearthome city in Sinnoh, to sell the house and come live with her. He asked her to come back once more, at least to help him figure everything out, but she refused, telling him that her help to him would be letting him keep everything there and all the money he made from it.
It was a long six months before Arashi was able to start the long process of letting go. He’d spent months alone, sitting by the waterfront or wandering the town. He went through all of the possessions in the house slowly, contemplating and letting each one torment him in turn.
His sister’s untouched room was rather easy. She’d taken what was most valuable to her nearly 6 years ago when she ran away from home. Mailing her nearly everything but the furniture, he then moved on to the harder parts.
Everything in the living room was cleared out quickly, shoved into his sister’s room. On one side he placed all of his mother’s possessions and on the other whatever was left of his father’s.
It took him another month to sort through his mother’s, sending a few things to his sister here and there and packing a few things away as well. He read her journals, the unsent letters to her husband and to her daughter. All of these things filled with sorrow and anger. It was painful, seeing everything through her eyes.
But going through his father’s belongings was a totally different experience. Here were books on poke’mon behavior, maps, newspapers, and journals filled with the thoughts of a man that wanted more. At first Arashi set all the poke’mon paraphernalia, working through the box of letters he’d sent to them. Slowly he started to understand better and better.
In time, curiosity got the better of him and he started reading through the books; slowly at first, feeling like a guilty child, but he found them captivating and started devouring them. A spark and been ignited, and a fire was growing.
It wasn’t long after that Arashi found the courage to sell the house. Sending what he wanted to keep ahead of him to his sister’s place, he took off for Sinnoh. Upon arriving things were very awkward at first with Layla. She was researching to become a breeder, and had surrounded herself with poke’mon. The culture shock was an extreme one for Arashi, and for a long time he was horribly timid which enraged his sister. She was impatient with him, and they often fought about their parents. Though Arashi did learn quite a bit from living with Layla and her poke’mon, it was pretty obvious that he wouldn’t be able to stay with her.
Reports and news began spreading about a new region, Zatao. Seeing an opportunity, Arashi left to find a place of his own in a new world. Finding an apartment in Katarina was rather easy, and the savings he had tucked away from the selling of his childhood home would cushion him until he found a way to support himself.
It wasn’t long after that he saw fliers about a fossil excavation caravan looking for trainers, with and without poke’mon alike. He signed up, nervous and excited, and was accepted into the program.
Assigned to wagon six, he met a lot of strange and wonderful people alike.
And caught his first poke’mon, Trist.
Along the way a lot happened, stuff he’d remember for the rest of his life. Inspired, he now seeks to become a modest trainer and learn what it is to have a relationship with poke’mon, and to find his estranged father.
Layla on the other hand isn’t especially interested in what her father is doing, and is rather content in her studies. She’s aspiring to be an Eevee breeder and better understand poke’mon genetics and evolution.
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