Interlude 1: Nonlinearity For the Win!...I think.....
His mind throbbing, Ethan attempted to think of his earlier years, hoping that it'd ease the pain...He began to think back to when he had obtained Beleza when she was just a fish egg. Before then, he was ridiculed by his classmates at school, and had only the respect from his teachers. He never really understood it; let alone what he ever did to them to earn their hatred. It wasn't long before any friends he made were separated from him, and was alone during his time in school, save for the relationship he had with his cousin, as well as his adoptive parents, who loved him.Flashing back to before he had become close friends with Beleza, he was doing nothing more than playfully toying with Legos. At that time he had just turned ten several days before, and that's where things really changed for him.It was a harmless spring morning in Ethan's family home. Pidgey could be heard chirping outside, all the snow was gone, and the early sun was shining down with a clear sky. Young Ethan was playing with his favorite Lego sets, as he dissembled many of the sets, wanting to recreate a miniature scale replica of New Bark Town, which he called his home. The idea tempted him to make a full replica of the entire Johto Region, but he knew he'd run out of space in his bedroom if he did so.Continuing his relatively harmless action, he just smiled to himself, the sounds of pieces clicking together being the only noise in the household. Thinking of playing a game for later, he put a few pieces down, and grabbed his DS system, as well as its charger to power it back up. Remembering the electrical port that wasn't too far from his bed, he plugged the charger into the handheld device, and was about to plug the adapter into the socket, his hand only inches away from the connectors.Before the poor child could react, a spark of pure blue electricity had come out of the electrical socket, making contact with his hand. A sight that terrified him, as he temporarily felt hundreds of volts of electricity course through his body. And yet, it didn't hurt him in the slightest. What just happened only lasted a few seconds, but it bewildered him. Did he just suddenly absorb electricity from an electrical socket? "What on earth!?" he asked himself. "Did that just happen?" His own curiosity getting the better of him, he brought the adapter back to the socket.Much to his surprise, he didn't see or feel another blast of lightning come out. Shrugging, he connected his DS system to recharge it, and hoped it wasn't some kind of accident.Just a few minutes earlier...Thanks to it being a Saturday, Hilda didn't have to worry about bring her son and nephew to school. To her, the only thing that'd make it better was her dear hubby was home, no doubt thanks to him working at a Pokémon School in New Bark Town. Rephrase that, a school that specialized in Pokémon Training, as well as the art of battling. To be fair, the place was only half an hour away, so she didn't really have much to worry about there.Knowing that it was almost the afternoon, she went to the fridge, and began pulling various leftovers from the last two days, such meals including slices of grilled Pidgeot, and a salad with croutons. Wanting them to grow up to be healthy men, she included a bottle of grape juice, and mugs to drink it out of. Liking the options, she set them out on the dining room table. For a second, she thought she heard some kind of noise upstairs, but dismissed it, thinking one of them was just watching a film upstairs.Once everything was set, she called out "Boys, lunch is ready! Get yourselves washed up!" Looking at the Pidgeot, she decided to throw it into a toaster oven to reheat it.Taking a minute for the poultry to heat up, she suddenly heard a rather loud "Yow!" coming from the bathroom upstairs as well as the same sounds of sparks from earlier. Her motherly instincts kicking in, she stopped what she was doing, and ran upstairs to see what just happened."Boys! Lunch is ready! Get yourselves washed up." Ethan heard his Aunt call out.Putting the Lego pieces down, he thought Sweet. I was starting to get hungry. Heading to the bathroom, he readied himself to wash his hands, only to see sparks come out of his hands, and feel an immense surge of pain. Unsurprisingly, he couldn't help but scream at the pain he felt. Pulling his hands away from the water, he felt the pain disappear. What on earth? He asked himself as he grabbed a towel to dry his hands off, and turned the sink off.Out of curiosity, he turned the sink back on, but reduced the intensity of the water to individual drips, and put his hands under it. Much to his surprise, it didn't hurt him. Tickle him yes, but not hurt him. What's happening to me?Turning the sink off, he noticed his Tia Hilda run into the bathroom to ask him "I just heard you screaming! What happened, Ethan?""You won't believe me on this, but...I was just trying to wash my hands. And I felt...lightning coming out of the water..." Ethan tried to explain to his Aunt. "What was that about?"Taking a few seconds to think of what was happening to her nephew; she thought "She wasn't lying... She said this would happen to him once he reached a certain age. But why does this have to happen now?!"Noticing his Aunt having gone lost in thought, he asked "Uh, Tia? Is something wrong?" Not responding, she suddenly hugged him in an attempt to comfort him. Out of concern, he acknowledged "I don't want to hurt you!"Smiling sadly, she replied "I know you won't." Wanting to make him feel better, she lied "I believe you've been blessed with a great power by Arceus. Why you were chosen, I don't know."Comforted by her words, Ethan calmed down and replied "That's incredible.""But know this Ethan. People....either here or outside of New Bark Town won't understand your gift." Hilda explained. "But I'll help you hide it, no matter what it takes.""Is it because people are afraid of what they can't understand that I should hide this in any way I can?" Ethan had guessed.Hugging her nephew tighter, Hilda replied "That'd be correct. Now let's go get lunch!" Not being one to say no to lunch, aunt and nephew walked downstairs, where Nathan was waiting to eat.