A Fresh Start

Dark and Cass walked along the dirt road through town. "What�d you buy, Cass?"

Cass grinned and dug through her bag. "I got you some ultra balls�For me I have some-"

Dark stopped walking. "Ultra balls? Here?"

Cass reddened with embarrassment. "Well, I bought them cheap from another trainer who said he didn�t need them." Dark nodded.

Dark halted again as they neared a small, dusty pokemon shop. In the window, they saw a sign the read: "Pokemon trainers: Maps for rare and powerful pokemon inside!"

Cass laughed. "Oh, yeah, I doubt it. No one would really have that kind of thing." Dark entered the building. "Or would they?"

Cass waited outside and decided it was Dark�s turn to shop. The musty little store made her cough briefly, but she caught her breath and looked up. A boy approximately her age stood before her at the counter.

"Are you another one of those fool pokemon trainers?" Dark grew angry and glared at him without speaking. "Well then, I guess so. Ha! You people are all the same."

Without another second to spare, she paced to the counter, took the boy�s collar and lifted him up. "What did you say?"

He pushed her hands off. "You heard me. You trainers think pokemon are everything. Have you ever considered the real joys of life?"

"What�s your joy then, boy, stinking up this place with your retch?"

He frowned. "Not funny! No, my joy is living a full and real life. Trainers are just�out there."

Dark shrugged him off and was thumbing through the store before he had finished. "Do you have the maps or not?" The boy smirked. "Answer me!" She leaned over the counter with a fist in his face.

"What�s going on here?" A door behind the counter creaked open and a man of about forty walked out. His short blue hair made him look, perhaps younger than he was. "Kedi?"

Kedi pointed at Dark who had withdrawn her fist. "She came in here and pushed me around."

Dark, not being one to argue, stood silently. "You roughed up my nephew, did you? It�s about time someone did. You can call me James. I own the shop." Kedi gawked at his uncle�s reaction. "Can I get you something?"

"Your window says you have pokemon maps for rare and powerful pokemon."

"Yes, we do. Name it, and it�s yours, for a price, of course. Any pokemon at all, besides the legends, that is."