(no subject)
Day 1, 7:17 AM
This is it, Aiden! I'm on the SS Aqua and we've left the dock. That means no turning back. It sounds very frightening when I put it that way, but maybe it's exciting too. I'm going to be going to school soon! It was nice of those Headmasters to send that TM, isn't it? I never thought that a Charmander could learn Transform. Maybe I'll learn to turn into things other than a human. Maybe I can turn into a Charizard, just like that.
I hope you can read my handwriting okay. These letters will be my practice, so I'll be good at it when I get to school. I don't want anybody to make fun of my writing. I bet everyone there is really smart. I know you said that normal people have already been going to school for years before they do high school, and I don't want everyone to think I'm stupid. Alkaline's stories taught me a lot, though. How to crack Metapod shells and how to get apples off the top of the tree. I bet he'd be smart enough for school.
5:44 PM
Fuchsia City vanished a long time ago. Now there's nothing but water all over. If I were a Charmander and not a person, the safety railings on the boat would be too high to protect me. One bad wind and I could fall overboard. I feel a little bit sick. They served people food for supper, but I didn't touch it. I'm not sure if I was allowed to. You always said it was bad when I beg for scraps of your food, right? There are lots of trainers on this ship, though. They must have pokechow. Maybe I can have some if I lie and say it's for my Pokemon.
6:39 PM
I can't eat it. It's the kind they served in the daycare. I thought about the safety railings and I thought about you, and I think something went wrong with my fire because my stomach is full of ashes.
7:03 PM
I don't think I want food ever again anyway.
Day 2, 4:55 AM
I think maybe I'm dying. I'm not sure I've ever been this sick. The boat keeps going back and forth and I think my stomach is trying to copy it. My head hurts, I'm exhausted and covered in cold sweat, but I can't sleep. It's hard to write.
9:18 PM
I must have fallen asleep. I think I might be getting better. I feel gross all over from when I was sweating and sick, but that's stopped. It's funny. That was the first time I ever sweat. What a horrible feeling. Damp is the enemy when you're a Charmander, but your own skin is making you damp all over. It's like it's turning against you. Going toxic.
9:57 PM
I remember a long time ago. You were lying on the couch watching TV, and I was on your stomach with my tail curled up over my back so I wouldn't burn you. We fell asleep, but the TV was still on, and it woke me up way late at night. There was a show on about something called hospitalism. When nobody holds a human hatchling, even if they're fed and kept warm and healthy, something about them is broken beyond repair. Sometimes they just waste away. It's possible something can die from a lack of love.
10:03 PM
They're called babies. Not hatchlings. I don't know why I wrote about that.
Day 3, 9:26 AM
I'm better now. I was really hungry, so I had toast with jam on it and scrambled eggs. I don't think anyone minded. Lots of people were staring at my tail, though, so maybe they knew I was a Pokemon eating people food and maybe they did mind. I went out on the deck after I ate. The wind felt nice, but there's still nothing but water. Maybe we haven't even moved any closer to Final Destination City. Maybe we're still just out of sight of Fuchsia City, and if I ask the captain nicely he'll turn the boat around and take us home.
11:12 AM
People were staring at my tail again. I lied and said I was part of a reality show. I pointed to a life preserver and said it had a hidden camera inside. Will the people at Smash Academy stare at my tail, too? They're probably going to think I'm a freak.
1:00 PM
I think maybe this was a mistake.
3:49 PM
I'm chewing again, Aiden. I didn't want to mention it in the other letters, but if I'm already lying to people on the boat then I don't want to lie to you, too. I know they'll probably charge you for it if I wreck the room, so I tried as hard as I could not to touch any of it. I'm chewing on my tail instead. Not the flame part, so it's okay. Sometimes a little part of my arm. My teeth aren't that sharp, so it's kind of like I'm just scratching an itch. It doesn't hurt, I promise.
I try not to do it when I'm a human. I don't want to be any weirder than I am right now.
3:52 PM
I know it's hard to take time off work, but I wish you had come on the boat with me.
Sorry, that's selfish. I'm 19 years old. Humans can go places alone all the time when they're that old. Will you come to Final Destination City to pick me up when it's time to go back home? It's okay if you can't. I think I'm used to the boat now, so maybe I'll still be used to it on the way home.
3:56 PM
Maybe I should just not get off the boat. It's going back to Vermillion City, right? And that's not all that far from Fuchsia.
4:12 PM
You were right. It is silly for a Pokemon to go to school. What would I do with a diploma? I'm just going to come home and go back to being your pet when it's all done with.
4:15 PM
It takes four years to do high school. That's even longer than... four years is more than two years, three months, and twelve days.
4:16 PM
At least I understand math.
7:42 PM
The boat docked. They wouldn't let me stay on for the return trip, and I don't have any money to buy a ticket home. I can't go back. I know you'll be disappointed if I give up, and I don't want you to have wasted your money, so I'm going to be tough. I've got the map to the school. It's not very far, and I don't have any luggage, so I'll be okay.
9:00? PM
I can't go in. There are gates. Walls all around it. Fences. It's a fence.
I asked to be put in here. You didn't put me in here. I did. Fences don't mean anything if you can leave anytime. I bet I could have melted the daycare fence. Dug under it. Climbed over it. Become a Charizard, grown wings, and just flown away. I could do that here, too.
I'm allowed to come home on the holidays, right?
9:00? PM
...I still have a home to come home to, right?
9:26 PM
A giant hand saw me standing outside. He called me an orange and dragged me inside. They've given me a dorm and a uniform to wear. I guess I'm a student now. I'll be starting classes tomorrow. I bet I'll be so busy that I won't even have time to think about you.
That's mean. I'll still think of you. I'll think of you lots. And I'll definitely find time to write, no matter how busy I get. Wish me luck, okay?
This is it, Aiden! I'm on the SS Aqua and we've left the dock. That means no turning back. It sounds very frightening when I put it that way, but maybe it's exciting too. I'm going to be going to school soon! It was nice of those Headmasters to send that TM, isn't it? I never thought that a Charmander could learn Transform. Maybe I'll learn to turn into things other than a human. Maybe I can turn into a Charizard, just like that.
I hope you can read my handwriting okay. These letters will be my practice, so I'll be good at it when I get to school. I don't want anybody to make fun of my writing. I bet everyone there is really smart. I know you said that normal people have already been going to school for years before they do high school, and I don't want everyone to think I'm stupid. Alkaline's stories taught me a lot, though. How to crack Metapod shells and how to get apples off the top of the tree. I bet he'd be smart enough for school.
5:44 PM
Fuchsia City vanished a long time ago. Now there's nothing but water all over. If I were a Charmander and not a person, the safety railings on the boat would be too high to protect me. One bad wind and I could fall overboard. I feel a little bit sick. They served people food for supper, but I didn't touch it. I'm not sure if I was allowed to. You always said it was bad when I beg for scraps of your food, right? There are lots of trainers on this ship, though. They must have pokechow. Maybe I can have some if I lie and say it's for my Pokemon.
6:39 PM
I can't eat it. It's the kind they served in the daycare. I thought about the safety railings and I thought about you, and I think something went wrong with my fire because my stomach is full of ashes.
7:03 PM
I don't think I want food ever again anyway.
Day 2, 4:55 AM
I think maybe I'm dying. I'm not sure I've ever been this sick. The boat keeps going back and forth and I think my stomach is trying to copy it. My head hurts, I'm exhausted and covered in cold sweat, but I can't sleep. It's hard to write.
9:18 PM
I must have fallen asleep. I think I might be getting better. I feel gross all over from when I was sweating and sick, but that's stopped. It's funny. That was the first time I ever sweat. What a horrible feeling. Damp is the enemy when you're a Charmander, but your own skin is making you damp all over. It's like it's turning against you. Going toxic.
9:57 PM
I remember a long time ago. You were lying on the couch watching TV, and I was on your stomach with my tail curled up over my back so I wouldn't burn you. We fell asleep, but the TV was still on, and it woke me up way late at night. There was a show on about something called hospitalism. When nobody holds a human hatchling, even if they're fed and kept warm and healthy, something about them is broken beyond repair. Sometimes they just waste away. It's possible something can die from a lack of love.
10:03 PM
They're called babies. Not hatchlings. I don't know why I wrote about that.
Day 3, 9:26 AM
I'm better now. I was really hungry, so I had toast with jam on it and scrambled eggs. I don't think anyone minded. Lots of people were staring at my tail, though, so maybe they knew I was a Pokemon eating people food and maybe they did mind. I went out on the deck after I ate. The wind felt nice, but there's still nothing but water. Maybe we haven't even moved any closer to Final Destination City. Maybe we're still just out of sight of Fuchsia City, and if I ask the captain nicely he'll turn the boat around and take us home.
11:12 AM
People were staring at my tail again. I lied and said I was part of a reality show. I pointed to a life preserver and said it had a hidden camera inside. Will the people at Smash Academy stare at my tail, too? They're probably going to think I'm a freak.
1:00 PM
I think maybe this was a mistake.
3:49 PM
I'm chewing again, Aiden. I didn't want to mention it in the other letters, but if I'm already lying to people on the boat then I don't want to lie to you, too. I know they'll probably charge you for it if I wreck the room, so I tried as hard as I could not to touch any of it. I'm chewing on my tail instead. Not the flame part, so it's okay. Sometimes a little part of my arm. My teeth aren't that sharp, so it's kind of like I'm just scratching an itch. It doesn't hurt, I promise.
I try not to do it when I'm a human. I don't want to be any weirder than I am right now.
3:52 PM
I know it's hard to take time off work, but I wish you had come on the boat with me.
Sorry, that's selfish. I'm 19 years old. Humans can go places alone all the time when they're that old. Will you come to Final Destination City to pick me up when it's time to go back home? It's okay if you can't. I think I'm used to the boat now, so maybe I'll still be used to it on the way home.
3:56 PM
Maybe I should just not get off the boat. It's going back to Vermillion City, right? And that's not all that far from Fuchsia.
4:12 PM
You were right. It is silly for a Pokemon to go to school. What would I do with a diploma? I'm just going to come home and go back to being your pet when it's all done with.
4:15 PM
It takes four years to do high school. That's even longer than... four years is more than two years, three months, and twelve days.
4:16 PM
At least I understand math.
7:42 PM
The boat docked. They wouldn't let me stay on for the return trip, and I don't have any money to buy a ticket home. I can't go back. I know you'll be disappointed if I give up, and I don't want you to have wasted your money, so I'm going to be tough. I've got the map to the school. It's not very far, and I don't have any luggage, so I'll be okay.
9:00? PM
I can't go in. There are gates. Walls all around it. Fences. It's a fence.
I asked to be put in here. You didn't put me in here. I did. Fences don't mean anything if you can leave anytime. I bet I could have melted the daycare fence. Dug under it. Climbed over it. Become a Charizard, grown wings, and just flown away. I could do that here, too.
I'm allowed to come home on the holidays, right?
9:00? PM
...I still have a home to come home to, right?
9:26 PM
A giant hand saw me standing outside. He called me an orange and dragged me inside. They've given me a dorm and a uniform to wear. I guess I'm a student now. I'll be starting classes tomorrow. I bet I'll be so busy that I won't even have time to think about you.
That's mean. I'll still think of you. I'll think of you lots. And I'll definitely find time to write, no matter how busy I get. Wish me luck, okay?