How we meet

Chapter 1

    You were in the woods. It was against the city's rules. They had it blocked off by a fence that was too worn down to be effective. They had it locked off after a child had gotten lost in the woods and attacked by an angry venipede. It had been quite a few years since then but they still tried to keep people out of the woods.
    Be that as it will, it never once stopped you from sneaking through the worn fence, and disappearing through the foliage. This little fearless trait you had about this wood saved you as a kid. It was a sure way of escaping any bullies and harrasssers. The few that did follow had always gotten lost amongst the trees that you learned to maneuver.
     You'd say tucked away from everyone in the city until late at night. You would return home with a new arm full of plants each day. You'd draw and doodle them over and over. Until every detail was ingrained into your mind. When you weren't in the woods you were found with your nose tucked into a book.
    Teachers would voice their concern. "They don't talk to other kids." They'd tell your parents. "They're unable to relate to their classmates." The teachers tried everything. Sitting you next to the loud popular kids, having you always put into group work. Trying to get you to talk to anyone.
    "They're a pleasure to have in class." They told your parents.
    Yes, you were the "pleasure to have in class," the one they soon forgot about. You didn't care, you suppose, but it didn't make it hurt any less. They never noticed when you sat tears-eyed at the desk. When your hair hung into your eyes more than usual.
    You, however, noticed. You'd watch as they gave kids who acted out candy when they answered questions. They'd get prizes for volunteering to clean up, for saying "thank you" or holding the door. It made you mad. You'd do those things everyday and get nothing in return.
    You started spending more of your time in the woods after that realization. You'd bring out old umbrellas with holes. A pair of school scissors, with boxes, and broken wood. An old fallen down tree became your second home.
    With all the new time to yourself you continued learning about the plants in the wood. You became an expert in identifying all of the fauna of your local wood. Well you considered yourself to be an expert.
    You were careful, never upsetting the Pokémon that liked there. Never getting too close to them and careful to never take their food. The years you had spent in the woods had given you time to understand the plant life and slowly the Pokémon as well.
    You were quite proud of yourself, not that anyone would ever really know. No one talked to you and god you were lucky people even recognized you. You had your parents ask at one point or another where you ran off too but your lack of response just made them give up hope.
    It wasn't long that you ran off. Leavening the town that you lived in and disappearing from the memory of the people who lived there. No one remembered and as far as you knew no one cared. Perhaps it was better this way, you get to start again and they get to continue living without having to try to reintroduce themselves to a person who already knew them.
    It was better this way, you told yourself, picking up your bag. A hand-drawn guide book to wild plants stuffed into the bag. Tucked beneath clothes and a small pouch of cash, with a compass and map. Beside you that venipede that had attacked you as a kid.