Symbiosis

Chapter 10

Alex idly kicked a rock along the sidewalk close to the highway as he made his way back towards the city. He looked towards the road and smiled a bit as a single car sped by the otherwise empty highway. Seemed like things were slowly getting back up to speed.

It was late in the morning, following his overnight stay at his parents' place. The visit had gone pretty well all things considered. Alex went over the basics with his parents, such as what pokemon were, how they were all element-based, and some of the basics on pokemon battling in general, as well as everything he knew regarding people transforming into pokemon... which, Alex realized, ended up not being a lot when he actually tried explaining it. His parents seemed concerned about the entire thing, his mother moreso than his father, but Alex chalked that up to the very sudden and intrusive circumstances of them all appearing. But then there was his sister, who seemed not even the least bit bothered by the entire ordeal. Maybe it was because, contrary to what she claims, she was still very young and not exposed to the real world? It was impossible to tell for Alex. And honestly, trying to understand that girl was a fool's errand at times anyway. Either way, Alex hoped they'd get comfortable with the idea soon. Especially since he was one of those very pokemon people he talked to them about.

But that was something he could worry about another day. For now, his goal was to walk back downtown to get his car and drive home. Thankfully, the weather was far more accommodating than his first cross-city trek. Mother nature seemed to take pity on Alex and blessed him with cloudy skies and a cooler temperatures. Of course, it being Texas, 'cool' was more a relative term in the summer. It was still hot, and Alex was still sweating, but it was much more bearable to him this time.

Alex's phone buzzed in his pocket and he automatically pulled it out and tapped the notification. It was a text from Eli.

'yea man training tomorrow sounds good. if you want we can get something to eat before. my treat.'

Alex let out a small chuckle and quickly typed out a response in confirmation and slipped his phone back in his pocket. He had decided to reach out to Eli the previous night after explaining things to his parents, and that somehow led to Alex offering to help Eli train. Or at the very least help him find different training methods and locations. Which in turn could also be beneficial to Alex as well. Not that Eli would know that, anyway.

Alex gave a quiet and troubled grunt as he pondered that last thought. Up to this point, he hadn't told a soul of him being a mew out of fear of how they'd respond to him, but he was beginning to wonder if the trouble was really worth it. It seemed like everyone else had too much on their plate to even care at this moment. Maybe it was something that he didn't necessarily have to actively lie about? Alex shook his head. There were just far too many unknowns to think about at that moment.

Alex glanced to his right and slightly ahead of him as he noticed a figure approaching. He tensed up slightly and fixed his attention on the unknown figure that seemed to be heading straight for him. Alex readied himself to flee at a moment's notice, but as he got close enough to the figure, Alex could tell it was just a man who was not specifically coming for him, rather he just happened to be going his direction. Alex gave a quick sigh and relaxed again, feeling very silly that he worked himself up over nothing. But then something even worse happened. As the two crossed paths, the man turned and started walking alongside Alex. And neither party had anything to say. Alex internally groaned and almost wished that the man was an aggressive figure. At least then he'd be spared the awkwardness of walking alongside and in the same direction as a complete stranger, having nothing to talk about.