Contains language and the mention of prostitution.

009: Blastoise "The Memory of a Brother"

I sat there amongst the crowd of fans, watching the spectacle of two trainers dueling it out in the arena before the audience. Due to the mass popularity of Hearthome City its colosseum was forever established as a magnificent arena that only a well-known challenger could appear in. The colosseum was an open-roof for the weather effects of certain moves, the stands were raised five-hundred feet above ground so the audience was not harmed during battles, and the challengers had their own platforms that were above ground as well.

The colosseum was filled with the sounds of raging fans from around the world, all adorned with the colors of their region in support of their favored challenger. The seat I took was surrounded by girls of young ages, all wearing white hats and gloves and waving small white flags. Each girl wearing white was clamoring in adoration for Draven Lewis, one of the trainers currently fighting.

Draven Lewis was not known from a specific city or town, so his fans made white flags and wore white clothing after he began only showing up with a signature white jacket and jeans. His hair was dark red and sleeked back with gel. His eyes were a bright blue and his skin smooth and lightly tanned. Draven Lewis' team consisted of a Dragonite, a Lanturn, an Aggron, an Abomasnow, and a Chandelure. His last team member, which was his ace and his very first Pokemon, was his Blastoise. Draven Lewis always ended his battles with his Blastoise, saying that he wanted the glory of finishing the fight to go to his pride and joy.

"And as Odetta returns her fallen Espeon, Lewis withdraws his Chandelure knowing that Odetta is down to her final Pokemon! Looks like the battle is Lewis' as it is now Odetta's last Pokemon against his three. And we all know what that means, folks!" The voices of the audience drowned out the commentator as Draven Lewis sent out his Blastoise onto the field.

The televisions that were positioned all around the colosseum showed Odetta's and Lewis' faces in a split screen. Odetta's expression showed frustration while Draven Lewis was overflowing with confidence at the sign of his third victory of the day. Odetta sent out her Excadrill as Blastoise stood waiting for his adversary.

"Fissure!" Odetta's command echoed out of the loudspeakers throughout the stadium. She did indeed looked desperate, but Odetta knew she atleast had a chance with the use of a one-hit KO.

"With Excadrill's level matching Blastoise," the anouncer said, "will the Fissure be able to hit?"

I believed for a mere moment I saw Draven Lewis' expression on the split screen almost reveal dread, but when the ground opened up and the crevice completely missed Blastoise his smug look completely outshined the sudden fear. Draven Lewis quickly retaliated with his own command, Hydro Cannon. With this one attack Blastoise easily disposed of Excadrill, ending the fight.

Draven Lewis smiled as he looked towards the crowds of his fans and gave his signature thumbs up, which he did whenever he one a battle. The girls around me all cheered his name and waved at him as his platform was lowered to the ground. I stood up and left the colosseum, the appluase and cheering ringing loudly in my ears.

"Are you that reporter from Hoenn?" Draven Lewis was sitting back in a large leather chair, sipping an energy drink while the flat-screen television that was mounted on the wall was broudcasting the current battle in Hearthome colosseum.

I nodded and stepped into the room, closing the door behind me. I noticed an empty beer can in the waste backet amongst the piles of what seemed to be obscene love letters from infatuated fans. "I never knew you drank alcohol."

"I only drink a little before a fight. You don't mind keeping that a secret do you?" He winked at me, reaching over to the table that had trays of food, popping a few grapes into his mouth. "Now, have a seat. I've got about thirty minutes before I'm expected to go out again. So please, have a seat."

I remained standing near the doorway. "Why do you wear white?"

Draven sighed after hearing my first question. "I don't represent any specific place. I tell everyone this!"

"Or are you ashamed of where you come from?" The look of shock on his face expressed he had never been asked this before.

"I fight for myself!" He spat, quickly growing angry.

"Do you know a person by the name of Toby Hadley?"

"I...I don't know anybody-"

"You lying sack of shit!" I screamed at him, while he sat there completely at a loss of speech. "How do you not recognise me? Your own sister!" I watched his expression showing horror as he looked me over. "Do I owe you some sympathy since it's been around six years since you've seen me?"

He grew silent as I watched him, waiting for him to say atleast something. Maybe give a reason as to why he had disappeared, but after a few minutes had passed it seemed he would do nothing but stare at me.

"Why the act? Why would you change your name, your appearance, and stop talking to us after you left?" I could feel my eyes tear up as my emotions got the better of me and I hastily wiped my face dry. "What happened to you?"

"I had to get away." He finally responded at several minutes of silence. "Dad was constantly getting after me, always telling me to keep my grades up, to keep studying, to stop hanging out with my friends. Mom was always hovering over my shoulder!"

I grew almost disgusted at his excuses. "You were the only child that they cared about! Dad was always worried that you wouldn't do well in school like so many other kids, and mom adored you! Oh, poor you! Actually being looked after by our parents while Melissa and I sat in the dark!"

He stood up, his face going red from anger. "YOU TWO HAD IT MADE! Dad never got mad at you for staying out late! Mom never got upset when you weren't wearing the new shoes she just bought you! They never cared!"

"THAT'S RIGHT, THEY NEVER FUCKING CARED!" I screamed back at him. "And you want to know what happened to our parents?! Dad's in the hospital suffering from liver failure because he started drinking a year after you stopped calling us! Mom has been in the hospital for five years because of depression! And do you even care what happened to our little sister? Oh wait, you probably don't give a shit because now you only care about yourself!"

"What happened to Melissa?"

"After mom became a patient at the hospital Melissa was taken into fostering, but she ran away after three months of staying with a family. She ended up in Saffron City, where she started selling herself." My expression grew dark as I spoke, and I felt wetness on my cheeks again. "I picked her up at the police station a few weeks later. She was covered in bruises. Melissa was apparently beaten by a 'client' after she had sex with him."

"I...I'm sorry, I didn't know," he stammered.

"Yeah, I fucking figured." I turned around towards the door and placed my hand on the door knob. "You know, I was always hoping that I wouldn't find you. That you ended up in some horrific accident, and you being dead was why we never heard from you again. Perhaps in a way my brother is dead." I opened the door and before shutting it behind me I said one last thing. "Enjoy the life you've always wanted. I know that you abandoned Toby, but atleast I haven't forgotten him."

I walked away from the room, leaving Draven Lewis behind with the memory of Toby in my mind. I decided that I would tell Melissa that my hunch was wrong, and that our brother was forever lost to us.

I am currently accepting ideas for future short stories. If you have one please send it via private message so I will be able to easily have it on hand. I will also be requesting original characters through private message as well.

I hope you enjoyed reading.