Chapter 29:Origin of Understanding

A young, five year old Ken hummed to himself as he tossed a stone at the surface of Lake Verity, only skipping across the surface twice before sinking. The young boy had been at this for a while, but he had yet to make a stone skip just three times before sinking below. He frowned, reaching down to pick up another stone, then he hurled the pebble at the lake.

"1, 2...darn it,"the boy grumbled as the stone sunk.

"You're not very good at that,"a small voice remarked behind him. Ken glanced past his shoulder to see a Starly fluttering up to him, looking up at him curiously.

"I'm doing my best,"the boy said as casually as he would speaking to another human. He reached down to grab another stone, then looked down to see there were no more around him."Aww, c'mon..."The Starly glanced to the side, then fluttered over to a patch of gravel, and grabbed some pebbles in it's talons before flying back over to the boy and dropping the pebbles next to him.

"Keep trying,"the bird prompted."Just throw 'em harder, but not too hard."Smiling, Ken nodded and picked a stone up, then reared his arm back before hurling the stone at the lake, causing it to skip four times before sinking."Yes!"Grinning triumphantly, Ken pumped a an arm.

"Nice job!'the Starly said cheerfully.

"Ken, honey! It's time to go home!"the boy's mother called from a few yard's away, a picnic basket hanging from one arm.

"Coming, Mom!"Ken called back, standing up before looking back down at the bird with a smile."I have to go home now. Bye!"

"Okay, see ya!"the Starly chirped before fluttering off. Ken dashed over to his mother, who smiled down at him kindly.

"Did you make a new friend, Ken?"she asked as they began to walk to Twinleaf Town.

"Yep!"Ken said cheerfully."The Starly helped me skip the rocls. It said I just needed to throw them harder."

His mother laughed."Oh, Ken..."She smiled, wondering just what kind of imagination her son had...and having no clue of his special gift. Not yet, at least.

"Do you want me to carry that, Mom?"Ken asked, refering to the basket his mother was holding.

"No, that's alright. I've got it,"his mother said."Thank you, anyway, Ken."The rest of the trip back passed by in peaceful silence, only broken by the occassional pokemon cry. However, as they approached the town, a faint buzzing sound could be heard from it, and Ken's mother frowned at the noise, though more out of tiredness and worry than confusion or irritation. A swarm of insect pokemon had invaded the town almost a month ago now, and had refused to leave for reasons unknown. Needless to say, the town was not in the best condition because of it, only barely managing to get by as it was. But while everyone wished the various bug types would leave, there was one person in all of town who wasn't the slightest bit bothered by them, and that person was Ken. In fact, he rather enjoyed having so many pokemon, regardless of type or intentions, wandering about town. He didn't really have any human friends, so he simply spoke to pokemon instead.

However, the townspeople were starting to become suspicious of this, some going so far as to think that the harmless little boy with no actual friends was telling the bugs to plague their town. It didn't help the boy's case that the bugs seemed to leave his house alone. Nobody actually spoke this thought aloud, of course, having no real evidence to back up this accusation, but they would soon find themselves easily believing this horrible thought that day with Ken's next actions.

"Mom, why does everyone want the bugs to leave town?"Ken asked, looking out his living room window to see a few Combee and other bugs buzzing about overhead."They're not that bad, are they?"

Ken's mother, who was reading on a nearby chair, sighed and closed her book."Well, honey, everyone wants them to leave because they're dangerous. People have gotten hurt and had to be sent to the hospital, not to mention they're ruining the nearby crops and generally messing around with everyone."

Ken frowned."Why are they doing that?"

"No one knows,"his mother shrugged."It's not like anyone will just walk up and ask them."Ken blinked at this, then looked thoughtful. Before he could respond, however, the phone began to ring. His mother picked it up and brought it to her ear."Hello? Yes, this is she...What? Oh my...Alright, I'll be right there. Okay...okay...Bye."She hung up the phone, another sigh escaping her lips as she stood up."I have to go now, honey. Trouble at work and all that. Will you be alright here by yourself?"

"Yeah, uh huh, sure Mom,"Ken mumbled, too focused on his thinking to pay attention. Noticing this, his mother couldn't keep from smiling. Only 5 years old and he was getting lost in his thoughts like a philosopher or something...

"Alright, I'll see you later, honey,"his mother leaned down and kissed the young boy's cheek, then turned and walked out the door, closing and locking it behind her. Ken blinked, realizing what had just happened and looking around.

"Oh...huh,"he said, looking around before going back to his thinking. If everyone was too scared to talk to the bug pokemon and ask them to leave, maybe he could do it. No pokemon had ever tried to hurt him before, the bug pokemon probably wouldn't either.

With his mind set, he walked towards the door and unlocked it, then closed the door behind him before dashing off into the woods where his mother had said the insects had made their nest. It didn't take long for the sound of buzzing to fill his ears, and he walked into a clearing where more bug pokemon than he could count were nested in the trees. The various insects stared at him with various expressions, from confused to surprised to angry. A large Vespiquen floated out from the trees and lowered down to him, looking at him with what might have been a frown. It was hard to tell since she had mandibles.

"Hello,"Ken said with a small wave.

"What are you doing in our nest, young human?"the large bee buzzed. There was no malice in her voice; only curiousity and mild irritation.

"Can I ask you something?"Ken asked.

"Technically, you just did, but go ahead,"the Vespiquen replied calmly.

"Why are you and your friends attacking my town?"Ken asked."You're really bothering everybody. What did we do to you?"The many insects buzzed angrily at this, as if insulted, but the Vespiquen simply rose a 'hand' to silence them.

"Normally, I would be angered by your blatant lack of knowledge,"she said calmly."But I can see that you're a mere grub yourself, so you can't be blamed for your naivete."

"My what?"Ken asked, proving the queen-like pokemon's point, though she seemed surprised for some reason the boy didn't understand.

"Nevermind,"the magestic bee sighed."Listen, boy. The reason our swarm has been harassing your human town is because they have built their city over our nesting grounds."When Ken merely gave a clueless frown, the Vespiquen rolled her eyes, though it was hard to tell since she had no pupils."Our nesting grounds are a place where our swarm visits every year for reasons you're probably too young to understand since before you were even born."

Ken blinked, now frowning in confusion."Wait...every year?"

"Correct,"the Vespiquen nodded.

"But...I'm 5 years old, and I've lived in town all my life, but I've never seen you before..."Ken said, looking confused. The queen's eyes went wide at this, the surrounding insects buzzing amongst themselves in confusion.

"That's unusual..."she murmured with a slight buzz."We would think we'd know our nesting grounds when we saw it."A thoughtful expression crossed her face."But come to think...on our way here, we did pass over some strange human building that was producing some utterly headache-inducing gas. We made it through that and continued on, but it may have disoriented our sense of direction..."She looked at him."Boy, do you know which way the human town Floaroma is?"

"Umm...no, but some of the adults in town might know where it is,"Ken said thoughtfully.

The Vespiquen nodded, floating down to hover right in front of the boy."Very well. If one of the other humans can point us in the right direction, we will gladly leave."She reared her head back slightly, then let loose a loud, though not unpleasant, buzz, and the surrounding bug pokemon buzzed back in reply, hovering out of the brushes and swarming (no pun intended) to her obediantly. She looked down at the surprised child and nodded to him."Lead the way."

XXXX

Later, Ken arrived with the swarm of bug pokemon in tow, which hardly went unnoticed by the townsfolk, who all walked out to meet the swarm with wide eyes and slack jaws at the sight of Ken leading them with a cheerful smile on his face. The bugs that had already been in town had all stopped what they were doing and flew over to the rest of the swarm. As Ken approached the town's resident, his mother managed to make her way through them.

"Ken! What are you doing?"his mother asked, eyes wide as she knelt down and grabbed her son's shoulders, looking from him to the Vespiquen and the other bugs repeatedly in confusion.

"Hi, Mom,"Ken said calmly."Do you know where Florim..Flora..."He frowned in confusion, then looked back at the Vespiquen."What was it called?"

"Floaroma Town, I believe,"the Vespiquen said calmly.

Ken nodded, then looked back to his now confused mother and the now suspicious townspeople."Yeah, Floaroma Town. Where's that place?"

His mother blinked, slowly looking to the Vespiquen and seeing the expectant look on her face. She looked back at Ken and very slowly asked "Why do you want to know, Ken...?"

Ken turned and pointed to the Vespiquen."She told me that she and her friends got lost trying to get there, and they thought that this was Florama...that town."Everyone stared at the child in shock, unable to believe what they were hearing.

"Ken...are you telling me you can actually understand pokemon?"his mother asked, looking stunned. The completely innocent look of confusion that crossed his face was all the answer she, or the townspeople for that matter, needed.

"What are you talking about?"he asked, genuinely stumped."Can't everybody?"

Before his mother could answer, the Vespiquen spoke up with an annoyed buzz to her voice."Sorry to interrupt, but we're starting to lose our patience. Do they know the way to Floaroma or not?"

"Oh yeah, where is that place, Mom?"Ken asked, temporarily forgetting his previous inquiry.

"Fl-Floaroma Town?"his mother asked, unable to keep from stuttering at her revelation. Ken nodded, then she stood up and looked at the Vespiquen."Err...Well, if you go northeast from here, you'll reach a city with a lot of big buildings. Keep going North from there and you'll reach Floaroma Town soon enough."Needless to say, it felt quite awkward giving directions to a pokemon, but a pleased expression crossed the Vespiquen's face, and she nodded.

"Alright, let's go, everyone!"the Vespiquen ordered. The swarm buzzed eagerly in reply, then they all took to the air, and flew northeast, finally leaving the town. Nobody cheered, however. Instead, every single person looked back at Ken, staring at the obliviously smiling boy with narrowed eyes. Ken turned to the large group with a smile, but this smile was instantly replaced with a scared frown.

"Wh-what's wrong?"Ken asked timidly."Didn't everybody want the bugs gone...?"

"Why are you all looking at my son like that?"his mother asked with a glare of her own, hugging the scared child close to her.

"If he can talk to pokemon, how do we know he didn't tell those bugs to invade town in the first place?"one man asked suspiciously, eyes narrowed.

Ken's mother gasped."How dare you? He's only 5 years old! He would never do that!"

"How do you know?"a woman asked."He doesn't have any friends in school, and he talks to pokemon more than other kids!"

"Pokemon are nicer..."Ken spoke up. He winced when everyone looked at him."The other kids really don't like me. They always call me names..."

"Oh, so now he's calling our kids bullies!"another woman said indignantly, none of the adults noticing their kids fidgeting awkwardly."He's a liar and a threat to everyone!"The group all shouted in agreement...

XXXX

"And that was the end of that,"I finished, leaning back in my seat with a bitter expression on my face, arms crossed behind my head."From that day on, it pretty much all but became law that I was to be treated like dirt on a daily basis for the rest of my life. And probably even after that, people would still be spitting on my grave. The reason I say that is because people have said it to my face. When I was 9."As they all stared at me in shock, Anubis sighed sadly and shook his head."Now do you all understand why I hate the rest of humanity?"

"So...let me see if I've got this straight..."Kyogre started, her expression sullen and her tone very quiet."You're telling us that...you saved your own hometown and people started treating you like garbage because of it...?"

"Ironic, isn't it?"I asked morosely."Some stupid little misunderstanding caused by some idiot scientists or something who couldn't keep the air around their factory clean ruined my entire childhood. I would say it's funny how things work out that way, but there's really nothing funny about it at all, is there?"They all just stared at me, apparently not knowing what to say. Suddenly, I felt Serenity grab my waist, hugging me tightly and burying her head into my side. I stared down at her silently for a moment, then silently wrapped an arm around her.

Finally, Kyogre stood with a deep sigh."Well, I'd best be going. Good luck with your gym battle."

"Yeah, thanks,"I muttered, waving her off."See ya later."She nodded, then walked off and disappeared past the center's door. Once she had left, I gently pulled Serenity away from myself and addressed the others."Once Kylie leaves and the rain's gone, we'll head out to see if we can do something about that flock of birds, then we can get on with our gym battle. Alright?"When they all simply stared at me, I looked back at them sternly."Stop it right now. While I appreciate that you guys care, you can't be thinking about it during our gym battle, otherwise, we ARE going to lose. Am I understood?"Seeing my reason, they all nodded reluctantly, and I couldn't stop myself from sighing."We can...talk about it later if you want...but now we need to focus on the present, not dwell on the past. Got it?"Straightening up, they nodded again, much less reluctantly this time.

"Very well, Ken,"Psyche said."Though I wish you had told us all this sooner, you are correct. We have to focus on ridding the town of the flock, then on our coming battle."

"But Ken, we WILL speak of this later,"Wrath said with the same sternness I had just shown them. I smiled wryly, then stood up and popped a few cricks in my back.

"Alright. Let's just go already."

XXXX

End of Chapter

And there you have it. The story that started it all.