Land-Bound Stars

I never knew how much I missed the simpler things until I visited my parents' home. Life had become a mind-numbing slog: wake up, take care of Glint, check for acceptance offers, find no acceptance offers, work on coding projects to burn time, and pass out. Without my faithful Umbreon buddy, it is all too likely that the tedium would have driven me mad. My parents were pleasantly surprised to see me waiting at their doorstep; it was long since the first time I came to visit, and they appreciated the company. This, too, went the same way as always: they ask me if I have had any luck so far, and I would reply with an ever increasingly reluctant "no".

As I laid down in the guest bed I had become so familiar with, an urge struck me. The need for change, no matter how little. Shaking off the weak grip of sleep, I slipped on my shoes and wandered out the front door, taking care not to make too much noise. Glint, having long since adapted to my almost nocturnal lifestyle, was quick to follow.

The suburb my parents lived in was already a quiet one, and at this hour almost everyone was resting peacefully. It was just me, Glint, and the harsh streetlights above. It was relaxing to walk around the neighborhood in the dead of night; the silence provided the perfect opportunity to think without worry of interruption, though even then that worry stalked just around the corner, waiting to pounce when I was least prepared for it.

A tug on my sock stopped me in my tracks. Snapping out of my current train of thought, I glanced down at Glint before gazing into the almost pitch black darkness ahead. The streetlights stopped here, and with the absence of their artificial light came the embrace of night. As I turned back to retrace my steps, however, a yellow glimmer in the distance caught my attention, though it faded out before I could figure out what caused it.

If my memory served correctly, an empty field was a short walk away from here, a dirt path connecting it to the pavement under my feet. Even so, I could feel that this detour was just what I needed. Glint hesitated as I strolled out into the darkness, but followed soon after; his night vision was superb thanks to his Umbreon eyes, yet my own was decidedly less than superb. Regardless, my vision gradually adjusted to the dark as the lights behind us dimmed away.

The closer we got to the field, the more of those yellow glimmers we began to see. Each one died out a fraction of a second after flaring into existence. However, it became clear what we were witnessing once we rounded a corner in the path. Countless Volbeat and Illumise fluttered through the air, their lights twinkling mesmerizingly above the grass and shrubbery. It was as if the land had its very own version of the starry night sky. We could only watch the spectacle unfolding before us in awe.

The delicate, seemingly infinite blinking lights filling my vision. The soft, yet constant sounds of Bug Pokemon filling the air. The gentle, warm breeze kissing my back. The reassuring presence of my Umbreon friend. Every sense blended together in an extraordinarily wonderful way. I wanted everything to stay like this for as long as possible, yet I had to break away some time.

I heard stories of people who ventured out into the wilderness with their trusty Pokemon to explore the wide world around them. Sometimes, I daydreamed about that kind of life, but in the end I knew it was not meant to be. I was not any kind of gifted Pokemon trainer aiming to make it big. I was just someone who had a dream; a dream that always seemed to be just out of reach, but I would never get to achieve that dream if I scattered life's worries into the breeze around me and left it all behind.

I gave Glint an affectionate scratch behind the ear before rising up, signaling that it was time to head back. I could tell that he was reluctant to leave as much as I was. With one last wistful glance at the star-filled meadow, we turned our backs to it and began our return trip to the guest room. Two facts reassured me as the artificial lights ahead of us intensified. The first one was that this was far from the last time Glint and I would see this spectacle. The second fact? There was a grassy field just outside of the town I lived in, one that was usually empty during the day...