Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, but that should be pretty obvious by now.

Elijah was just a small boy when his sister stumbled into his room late one night, and while laughing drunkenly, shoved a decorated pokeball into his small hands. This was actually a common occurrence in young Elijah's life. Not the random gift of a pokeball, but his sister always felt the need to barge into his room late at night or early in the morning, depending on how you looked at the clock, when she came home after having complimentary drinks with her co-workers. The reason for this escaped young Elijah for many years, and it wasn't until he was much older that he realized why his sister did what she did.

In her own way, his sister was checking in on him, letting him know he was loved. And after her brash entrances, Elijah found the loneliness of the day wash away as he listened to his sister chatter at him about her co-workers' latest gossip. Not that young Elijah understood much of the twists and turns these co-worker's lives took, he was merely happy to fall back asleep listening to his sister and know that someone was there. For Elijah had no parents, at least not ones that he could remember, they had died in an accident while he was still a baby, leaving him in the care of his one remaining relative, his elder sister.

And his sister worked hard to provide a suitable growing environment for her younger brother, she really did. But there were bills to pay, rent to meet, food and clothes to buy. His sister was barely out of her teenage years herself, and now had a brother who wasn't yet walking or talking. So she did the only thing she could do.

On some level little Elijah recognized his sister's work was deemed shameful. The townswomen gathered in front of the shops to whisper and the townsmen stared with hard eyes as his sister took him shopping. And for some reason this shameful work had a trickle-down effect on young Elijah's immediate life. His sister worked long nights, she was gone for most of the afternoon and all of the evening, and she slept through the morning. Elijah only saw her when she woke herself early to hug him good morning and send him off to school with the lunch she had just finished making, and when she burst into his room late at night after coming home from work or drinks. She was gone when he got back from school. The result being that Elijah spent most of his time home. Alone. This wouldn't be so bad if he had friends, companions around his age to share his time with. But the children at school, reading the disproving body language of their parents, were quick to outcast him and he soon learned that in the pecking order of the school, he was so low he didn't even make it into the ratings.

Elijah did not understand why adults found what his sister did bad. Occasionally, during the weekends, his sister would take him into work with her. This only happened when Mrs. Liyth downstairs was too busy to look after Elijah for the day. But Elijah enjoyed going with his sister to work, she worked in one of the big cities, away from the small town and the bus-ride there was always exciting. If they arrived early enough, Mr. Tyrone, who was possibly the biggest man Elijah had ever seen and wore only black jeans and black shirts, would let his two Machamp play with Elijah. The two fighting types would take turns giving Elijah grumpig-back rides around the main room, teach him fighting stances or tickle him until he was breathless from laughter and tears ran down his face. Then, when his sister's work opened, Elijah had to stay in the back, what his sister called the 'dressing room' and never, ever leave it until she came and got him.

Elijah didn't mind being confined there; there were places to hide, and beautiful lights and clothes to look at. The ladies Elijah's sister worked with were all very friendly and kind to him, they would let him play with their shoes and scarves and costume jewelry while his sister was gone. One of the blonde ladies, Miss Chrissy, had taken him on her lap once and let him see what she called her 'work station'. He remember the giant mirror surrounded with the bright light-bulbs that made him squint his eyes and how Miss Chrissy brushed his hair nice and neat while the other co-workers bustled around them, busy at their own work stations.

The girls always gave him a peck on the cheek before going out to perform, they claimed he brought good luck, Elijah didn't mind. He imagined this is what it felt like to have a whole bunch of big sisters. Later in the night, when he was very tired and couldn't keep his eyes open anymore, his sister would make him a nest of blankets and pillows on the couch in the corner and he would curl up in them and when he woke up the next morning, he was back in his bed at their apartment.

There was only one time that Elijah had sneaked a peek out on the stage during work hours. He was not supposed to do that. He was not supposed to leave the dressing room or go near the red curtains during work hours. But he had been so curious and so he had sneaked a quick peek. His sister was dancing on the stage, and she looked so beautiful. Of course Elijah had seen her getting dressed up in the dressing room, but out on the stage, under the lights she looked so different. Her dark hair was piled on her head and she wound around the pole like gravity didn't exist. He didn't get to see much more because one of the coworkers found him and after, his sister had given him such a scolding he never thought of doing it again. But she had cried and hugged him so hard he almost couldn't breathe when he told her she had looked like an angel.

"There're only fallen angels here baby." She had whispered in his ear through her tears. Elijah did not understand what she meant at the time. In time though, he knew all too well.

Little Elijah knew his sister's work garnered her many admirers, but she didn't seem to enjoy them or the attention. They wrote her long love letters and sent her expensive looking gifts through her work. She never wrote back and she never accepted the gifts. So little Elijah had to wonder, as he examined the colorful pokeball in his hands, what had transpired that his sister accepted this gift and then gave it to him? His sister, sensing his confusion collapsed on his bed next to him, pulling him close and under her arm.

"Gordy won it for me over in Kanto." She giggled and Elijah wrinkled his nose at the smell of cheap alcohol and cigarettes. "But I'm giving it to you because you're my cute little brother." She sang-song, pushing in his nose with her index finger and laughing at his crossed eyed look as he focused on the offending appendage. 'Gordy' was a young man who rode the same bus into the city with Elijah's sister. His full name was Gordon, but Elijah's sister insisted on calling him Gordy. Elijah himself had met Gordy a few times and he was very nice, patting him on the head and listening with rapt attention as Elijah chatted on about a new TV show he had seen or how he had learned a trick to spell that one word that was giving him trouble in school. It was obvious, even to Elijah, that Gordy really liked his sister; Elijah wasn't sure how he felt about that.

The pokeball dwarfed Elijah's small hands and he had to use two just to hold it. His sister snickered; pulling him close for another hug.

"Did you wash your hair today?" She asked, and Elijah carefully nodded as she bent down to nuzzle his head and place a kiss on the top. "Mmmm, we need to get you a hair-cut." She mumbled through the thick strands of messy black hair. She always said that when she came back, but Elijah knew it would be another two or three days before the trip to the barber. His sister simply didn't have time. She squeezed him one more time and then tottered up and out the door to the shower. While she was gone Elijah carefully placed the pokeball in his lap, using both hands to cover a big yawn. By the time he had finished yawning and re-arranging his bedding to his liking, his sister had returned, smelling fresh and clean, with a pair of pajamas on. She crawled back into bed with Elijah, the energy from the bus ride and booze running out. "Well don't you want to see what he got me?" She asked teasingly, eyelids already at half mast. Elijah picked the pokeball up again and fumbling slightly, managed to push the release button. The Pokémon that emerged was small, fuzzy and asleep.

"Ooooh," His sister murmured, reaching out and scratching the Pokémon behind its ear. "An abra. These are pretty special you know Elijah." Elijah nodded, staring in small eyed wonder at the curled up ball of Pokémon in his lap. He had expected something a bit more…energetic, but any Pokémon was fine. Was actually more than fine, because, as the tv, with the nice old man told him, a Pokémon was a life long companion, a friend. And Elijah wanted a friend more than anything in whole wide world. He gathered the creature in his arms, though it was almost the same size as himself, leaning back down against the pillows and his sister, who giggled and kissed him softly on the forehead, he proceeded to curl around the Pokémon. And the abra, waking slightly itself once it had been touched, curled around him as well.

The abra sighed as the small child snuggled down against him. It had been tense for a moment, when he had caught the small flash of disappointment but that had been overwhelmed by the rush of happiness and relief coming from the small boy. He did not know his new trainer's mind well enough to get more than the vague reading of emotions, but the child was now happy to have him, of that the abra was certain.

"Hey sleepy." The older female, tapped his new trainer on the head. "What are you going to call him?" The abra listened intently as the boy roused himself long enough to mumble sleepily.

"Channeler." It was a good name the abra, now Channeler decided. He could get used to this new trainer, name and life. There was a few moments silence while the boy fell to sleep and just as Channeler himself was getting ready to drift back into sleep, a finger tapped him on the head as well.

"Well Channeler. You'll be my baby brother's Pokémon from now on." Her voice was firm, yet soft so as not to wake the slumbering child. "Elijah doesn't have many friends so I trust you to look out for him and be with him when I can't. He's a sweet kid, so please, be good to him okay?" Channeler considered the words. He was an abra and most of his day would be devoted to sleep, but he could at least sleep near his trainer. He tipped his large head forward in a nod. "Very good." The female said. She stroked Channeler's head. As he once again turned to sleep, her voice drifted to him. "Welcome to the family Channeler."

Author's Notes:

-Elijah is an OC I created for the use of Digital Skitty in her story Pedestal. If you've read it, he's in the gym leader race chapters, you get to try and find out which one he is. If you haven't read it. Then you should.

-Yes, he's kind of a tragic backstory guy, but he'll be damned if that stops him from making a boatload of cash off these pokeyman fights.