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Ever since he could remember, he had been lonely. His extensive knowledge of Pokemon and uncontrollable hyperactivity as a child isolated him from basic interaction. They all thought of him as a weirdo, a geek, an outcast. He hated it. He hated when others would bully him. He hated when they stared and pointed and said, "there's the kid that never shuts up." Koharu, bless her soul, stuck with him through and through. She may have been the only one to keep his heart from shattering.
But his whole perspective on life changed when he met Mew. He had a goal, he had a reason to keep moving forward and learning more about Pokemon. People thought he was being even more ridiculous for wanting to catch it, but he ignored them. He isolated himself further and set on his adventure, locating legendary after legendary in the hopes of finding his one true catch. And soon, he got that chance. The one chance he’ll never forget.
Riding on Lugia's back was an experience incomparable to even the most exquisite offers money can buy. The feeling of adventure overtook all at that moment. Barely being able to cling on to its back, feeling the chilliness of the air around him forming goosebumps on his skin, and even seeing firsthand the amount of wildlife under the vast sea… it awoke even more excitement in him. But the photos taken serve as a nostalgic trip back to something even more important.
Meeting the dopey, lovable yet strong Ash Ketchum served as a turning point in his life.
He had never quite met anyone like him before. He had an aura of bubbliness and wild excitement that just radiated off him perfectly. At first, he took no notice to his attributes, simply accepting him as his friend for being on that ride with him. But as the days flew by and they became researching partners, he grew to like Ash quite a bit. They had their conflicts, but both learned to grow and become more understanding with each other. Nothing, however, could compare to the raw emotion he felt on their first investigation.
He didn’t quite know how to describe it. It was a feeling foreign to him at the time, one that completely escaped him. The pent up feeling in his chest never seemed to go that day, in fact, it seemed to linger and grow. It wasn’t something he could control, he had tried. It spread throughout his entire body, manifesting itself into, unbeknownst to him at the time, happiness. Real, pure happiness. And whenever he was around his friend, it spiked.
His admiration for the boy grew exponentially after seeing his courageous actions against Team Rocket. A boy he thought had been a complete and utter doof, suddenly morphing into the bravest person he knew. He could barely hold it within himself to not run up and block the oncoming attack with him. His heart began to flutter and a blush escaped from his cheeks, seemingly out of nowhere.
What was this feeling?
He might never know, never have the opportunity to dive into depth and really find out what’s happening with him. But he knows one thing for sure;
Ash Ketchum is a pretty cool guy.