Reflections Chapter One: Only the Beginning

Sarabi kept her eyes on the streets while her group waited for someone to pay for them to play their music. She held her white guitar close and her black backpack close to her legs. To the right side of her was her twin sister Chloe looking bored from the waiting and near starvation. Chloe's blonde hair was tied back to a ponytail and her white shorts were turning gray because of the muck on the sidewalk. Her blue shirt was sort of clean but it was wet from the fog earlier that morning. It didn't bother her much because she knew eventually she can clean them off. It was just another rough day for paying customers and it was taking a toll on them.

It had been two weeks since they arrived in Hellsalem's lot and they have been homeless for two weeks. They came to be musicians with their friends Zirina the drummer and Posa the pianist. Unlike Zirina and Posa, they had nowhere else to go when they got to Hellsalem's Lot and very little money because it cost a lot just to get their Pokémon into the city legally. Sarabi and Chloe could only bring one each for the time being until they could find a place to stay. If they had brought the rest of their team, they would not been able to buy food and supplies until they came up with the money. It cost at least $50 for each Pokémon brought in which did not seem expensive at first. That was until they realized how some stores in the city jacked up their prices just for food, clothes, and housing arrangements. If they could find residence in the city, they would be able to get the documents to allow them to transfer the rest of their Pokémon from their mother's farm. Right now, they focused on saving enough to find a place. And also some food to eat.

"How much money do we have left?" Chloe asked, looking over at her sister. "I'm starving over here and I'm not kidding."

"I know I am too. I think we have about two dollars." Sarabi replied, not looking away from the streets.

"How much do we have in the jar?" Chloe asked again.

"Almost ten dollars." Posa replied after counting the dollar bills and coins in the jar.

"That's nowhere near enough for us to get something to eat!" Chloe dramatically fell on her back flailing her arms around.

"That is what you get for coming here. I told her that starting out here was a bad idea." Zirina called over. She was sitting on a small foot stool behind her drum set.

"Zirina, we already know that for the seventeenth time! Don't rub it in!" Chloe glared at the pompous hybrid when she smirked at them.

Zirina was a half-human, half-fish beauty with a stubborn and arrogant personality. She was able to breathe air unlike the other half-fish beings and Zirina sounded more human than some of the beings in the city. But unlike her kind, she refuses to wear clothing when she walked on land. Her form didn't show detail like human women did if they didn't have clothes on so it didn't cause a scene if she walked around the corner. Sadly, people still have perverted minds about it. She was good friends with Sarabi and Chloe and they were probably the only human friends that doesn't want her family's fortune. However, their friendship does not stop her from demeaning Sarabi and Chloe's money situation.

"Come on Zir-Zir, give them a break." Posa told her, scooting over to Sarabi to fix her hair.

Posa looked like a human but she was from the alter-world. She had translucent, butterfly like wings that she could retract into her back and she actually wore clothes unlike Zirina. She wore a dark purple hoodie jacket with faded blue jeans and purple flip-flops. Her family owns a florist shop near the Lot's park and she has been friends with the Whiteflame sisters since they rescued her Caterpie from Spearows when they were nine years old. Her family has made a small fortune but she was kinder to the girls about their money situation.

"It's true and you know it, Posa. If you had brought more money, you two wouldn't be starving on the side of the road." Zirina huffed, crossing her arms.

"We still have some canned food in the bag, Chloe." Sarabi told her, ignoring Zirina's comment. "But maybe we can take five dollars out and get Rowlet and Chimchar something warm to eat." She winced as Posa braided her hair. The butterfly hybrid carefully twisting Sarabi's albino hair together with the only black streak of hair Sarabi had.

"That's true. This morning was rough on Chimchar because of the fog. He hates it when it gets wet because it messes up his fur." Chloe looked at her sister's backpack and smiled. Inside that bag was their precious friends sound asleep. Sarabi unzipped the bag to show a small brown feathered owl with a white face, white down-feathers, and a grassy bow-tie. It was being cuddled by a orange and red furred, monkey with an deep red patch of fur on his butt. The only fur difference on it was its hands, face, feet, underbelly, and outer ears was yellow. They were Sarabi's Rowlet and Chloe's Chimchar.

These two were the only ones Sarabi and Chloe were able to get into the city. They were easier to carry around unlike the other Pokémon they had at home. And they didn't mind each other. Chimchar was a trickster just like his owner and he would cause mischief whenever he got a chance. It bothered Sarabi's Pokemon especially her Absol and their mother's herd of Tauros. Pulling a prank on the latter would lead to a stampede after the little monkey. Chimchar was one of the smallest Pokémon Chloe owned and he would always be her first choice. He didn't like being in his Pokéball for long so he would sleep with Chloe or in Sarabi's fireproof backpack with Rowlet.

"Poor baby's been tired since last night. He wouldn't go to sleep when I had the first watch." Chloe explained while zipping the backpack back up. She saw the two shivering from the cold and slowly slid the bag toward her. Chloe hugged it close to her to give them heat.

"At least yours is a hard worker, Chloe. That owl just eats and sleeps in that backpack. It doesn't seem to be doing much." Zirina called over. It made Sarabi mad.

Rowlet is the opposite of Chimchar. If Chimchar was a prankster, Rowlet was the serious Pokémon, though their personalities were different. Chimchar was the energetic out of the duo and he was always moving around with a big smile on his face. Rowlet, however, was laziest bird anyone would know. He would just eat fruit and sleep in his owner's backpack. He was slow in situations and would tilt his face to the side and if you tried to scold him, he would fast asleep. However, it didn't give Zirina the right to insult her fluffy feathered friend.

"He's just tired from the city. He's just reserving energy." Sarabi told Zirina while she unzipped her bag to pick up Rowlet.

"Reserving for what?! He hasn't done anything but sleep this entire time. I bet he'll sleep some more after Posa and I leave for home in an hour."

"No he won't. Rowlet, can you get me a berry? I'll give you the coins for it." Sarabi lightly rubbed the top of his head, waking him up. His feathers ruffle as he shook his face and flapped his feathers. The tiny owl was half awake from how he grabbed the coin bag by the thread rope before flying off into the fog.

Chimchar shook his head when he heard his buddy flapping his wings and took off after him. Chloe blinked slowly watching the two in the fog and sighs as she stood up to stretch. Zirina didn't mean what she said but it wasn't her fault that the day was slow. Her patience was getting thinner and thinner from lack of customers and she starting to get bored from not playing her drums. All the girls wanted was at least one customer to pay for them to play. They don't ask for a large amount of money for them to play a song. If they only paid a dollar or even five cents, they would still play just for the fun of it. Sarabi and Chloe will find other ways to find money to live off of or go back to search for the boys Chloe met years ago. The twins attempted to look for them when they first came to Hellsalem's Lot but they were nowhere to be found. And they heard their cousin was just starting to live in the Lot and wondered if he could let them stay with him until they can find a place for themselves.

"Here comes the cavalry." Posa said when she saw Rowlet and Chimchar coming back.

Rowlet flew toward Sarabi with a light blue cherry shaped wind-chime in his talons. He dropped it on her lap before landing on her head to sleep. Chimchar ran to Chloe with a broken twig and a rock in his hands. He smiled at her holding his new treasures out to her. Zirina busted out laughing and fell on the sidewalk hugging her sides. Rowlet and Chimchar has a problem that wasn't going to go away. The problem was: Rowlet still mistook wind-chimes for berries and Chimchar still brings random crap.

"Uh...thank you?" Both of them said, looking at the objects.

"Well, you proved me wrong, Sarabi. Rowlet did something but he brought you the wrong thing!" Zirina laughed.

"Oh, shut the hell up. You haven't done anything either." Chloe hugged Chimchar close to her and kissed his head.

"What you say to me?" The hybrid woman glared at her.

"You weren't gonna do anything but sit on your ass and complain!" Chloe yelled.

"I was not!" Zirina got up fast, walking over to the blonde and glared her down.

"You're doing it now!"

When Sarabi looked back at her sister, she saw sparks between their eyes and the tension rising between them. It was a pointless fight because Chloe and Zirina are good friends and boredom was taking over them which made them ornery. God, I know you can hear me. We really need someone to pay us to play. At least so these two will stop fighting. And maybe we can find our cousin Leo and find a job. Sarabi prayed in her head while Posa tried to separate her angry bandmates.

"E-Excuse me?" She heard a timid voice ask her.

Sarabi looked up and froze seeing a young boy in front of her. She knew he wasn't here a minute ago and if he was, he must have been a really quiet boy because she didn't hear him walk up. The boy had short blonde hair and semi long blonde bangs over his eyes which was the brightest shade of blue she ever seen. His clothes consisted of a black and white stripped collared shirt that peeped from under his gray hoodie, black skinny jeans, and black and white sneakers. The boy wore large round wire glasses and had bushy eyebrows. For some reason, he reminded her of her and Chloe's younger cousin Leonardo and that was probably because this boy had an innocent appearance.

"Yes, what is it? Are you lost?"

"N-No, I'm not lost. See I live here in the city so I'm okay." The boy told her sheepishly. He scratched his head looking away from her. He was embarrassed and she could tell.

"Oh, you live in this hell of a city? I'm surprised you're not having trouble here."

"The city isn't so bad once you get used to it."

"I bet. My name is Sarabi Whiteflame. And this is Rowlet." Sarabi pointed at her sleeping companion.

"Nice to meet you, Sarabi. I'm William-wait, you have a Pokémon?!"

"Of course, I never leave without him. Do you want to pet him?"

"Uh.." William hesitated, looking at the sleeping owl. "Will he bite me?"

"No, he's a lazy softie. Besides, he's asleep so he can't do anything."

William gulped a little and pulled his collar a bit. He slowly knelt down to make eye contact at the sleeping Pokémon and slowly extended his right hand at him. He retracted when Rowlet exhaled his breath then William tried again and patted Rowlet's head. Suddenly, Rowlet screeched and flapped his wings in a panic which made the other girls look over fast. It scared William enough to make him scream and fall back into the road. Rowlet kept this up until he slumped face first on the sidewalk and fell back asleep.

"I guess he was just dreaming."Sarabi guessed kinda disappointed and looked over at William. "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah, that just scared me. I don't have much luck with Pokémon."

"Who's the kid?" Zirina asked, helping him up.

"I-I want to hear you play. But where are your clothes?" William examined Zirina when he realized she wasn't wearing clothes.

"I'm not transparent or revealing like some of the other residents so I don't have to wear clothes." Zirina smiled a little and ruffled his hair. "Do you like what you see, little boy? I think you're a little too young for me."

"Maybe that's a good thing." Chloe laughed. It lead to her being backhanded by the angry hybrid. "Ow!"

"U-Uh, how much do you want for a song?" William blushed asking getting his wallet out.

"You can just toss how much you wanna pay. We don't really ask." Sarabi told him.

William looked through his wallet and his eyes soften at what she said. He took out a couple of bill folds and puts the money in Chimchar's jar. The four girls looked to see how much he put and saw there was five $10 bills inside.

"Fifty bucks?!" Zirina and Chloe said together, looking back at William.

"Are you sure you want to give us that much?!" Posa asked frantically, still shocked that he gave them that much.

"Yes, you girls seem to need it more than me. I'll be okay until my next paycheck." William reassured and he seemed flustered by the girls' reaction.

Sarabi just watched William fret and blush from Chloe's hug and Zirina semi-flirting him by calling him their hero in glasses. The albino smiled while she grabbed her white guitar and pulled some of the strings to see if they need to be tuned. It felt really good to feel the strings again and she couldn't wait until she could start playing again. And neither could Rowlet and Chimchar. Rowlet woke up, positioned himself on Sarabi's shoulder, and nuzzled her face.

"Any requests, William?" Sarabi asked, standing up.

"I can't think of anything right now." William confessed looking over.

"Alright. I think I got one. Ladies, to your stations."

Chloe quickly got her black bass guitar from its case. Posa quickly wiped the smoke grime off her electric guitar and turned the volume up to five. Zirina adjusted the small drums on her drum set so she could hit them just right. Each lugnut and screw was locked in tight and the sounds from each drum sounded right to her. Chimchar also had an important job in the band. His job was to guard the tip jar.

Sarabi was the first one to start playing. She played her guitar nice and slow and soon Chloe followed behind her and played a similar tune on her instrument but she took a different approach to what her twin sister was playing so Sarabi could start singing and Posa would join in on her electric piano.

"Honey, why you calling me so late? It's kinda hard to talk right now. Honey, are you crying? Is everything okay? I gotta whisper cause I can't be too loud. Cause my guy's in the next room and sometimes I wish he was you. I guess we never really moved on."

At that moment, Zirina joins in with her friends and helped the music shift to the chorus part of the song. William stood there flabbergasted at Sarabi's voice and the music. Soon, people passing by heard the girls' play and started to walk over to see what was going on. Chloe and the girls sung the chorus as back up.

"It's really good to hear your voice, saying my name it sounds so sweet coming from a lips from an angel. Hearing those words makes me weak. And I never want to say goodbye but boy you make it hard to be faithful with the lips of an angel. It's funny that you're calling me tonight. And yes, I drempt of you too. Does she know you're talking to me? Will it start a fight? No I don't think he has a clue."

Zirina and Posa looked up to see their audience of one started to grow. Alterworld beings start to show up with the humans like they wanted to hear them play. Chimchar smiled at the sight and went around carrying the tip jar. Coins and dollar bills was tossed in by the handfuls and the crowd only got bigger. Rowlet had to help his friend and take the money from the patron's hands to put in the jar if Chimchar wasn't on his side. Sarabi just kept on singing and the band kept on playing.

"Well, my guy's in the next room. Sometimes I wish he was you. I guess we never really moved on. It's really good to hear your voice saying my name it sounds so sweet coming from the lips of an angel. Hearing those words it makes me weak and I never want to say goodbye but boy you make it hard to be faithful with the lips of an angel."

Chloe and Sarabi pressed the necks of their guitars together as an attempt to make the notes merge and Zirina kept hitting her drums to speed up the tempo. Then, the girls stop playing so Sarabi could have her own guitar solo while she sang.

"It's really good to hear your voice saying my name it sounds so sweet coming from the lips of an angel. Hearing those words it makes me weak,"

Zirina quickly joined in with her drums and the crowd smiled now joining in to sing the chorus with the girls. William looked around and quickly, he made his way out of the crowd and away from the girls. He looked back to see a young man running toward the crowd in a panic. William's smile only grew and he whistled the song's tune as he walked away when Sarabi kept singing.

"And I never want to say goodbye, but boy, you make it hard to be faithful with the lips of an angel. I never want to say goodbye, but boy, you make it hard to be faithful with the lips of an angel."

Sarabi stopped singing and the girls quickly stopped playing. The crowd cheers and claps while Rowlet attempted to carry the full tip jar with Chimchar hanging on for dear life. He started to fly over to the girls when a young man ran through the crowd and hit the jar, sliding on the wet sidewalk and hit headfirst into Zirina's big drum. The impact made Rowlet drop the jar on the pavement with the money scattered on the road. Chimchar panicked trying to get all the money back up. Sarabi and Chloe looked over at the stranger fast and froze up seeing who it was. The young man wore baggy clothes which consisted of baggy blue pants and a baggy long blue sleeved shirt with white in the middle. He had blue and white sneakers with yellow shoelaces and around his neck they could see yellow goggles.

"Leo?!" Sarabi asked him. He was trying to get out of the drum but he couldn't get it to detach from the set and he wiggled his legs trying to find a good place to stand.

"Ha! You finally got into the music!" Chloe laughed. She walks over to him and leans on the wall to look at his face. "Do you get my joke? Because your head is, well, it's in the drum."

"Get me out!" Leo screamed.

"Alright, hang on." Sarabi told him and grabs him by the ankles. She pulls but he couldn't get loose from the drum even when Zirina was packing up to go.

"You need more oomph, sis." Chloe made her way over and got his legs. "Heave ho!"

The girls pulled together and kept on with their friends trying to get the drum off of him. Chimchar and Rowlet noticed their owners trying to get Leo free so they abandoned the broken jar to help. Rowlet got Chimchar's shoulders when he grabbed Leo's shoes. The four of them kept pulling despite Leo protesting them to stop because it started to hurt. Eventually, they got him free but all five of them flew back and Sarabi hit the concrete and broken glass while Chloe landed on top of her and Leo fell on top of Chloe. The Pokémon landed beside them though they avoided the broken glass.

"Leo, when we said you should drop by, this wasn't what we meant!" Chloe coughed.

"Ow." That was all Leo could muster.

"See you girls tomorrow!" Zirina called over at them and Posa followed Zirina away.

"Heh. Uh, who's thirsty?" Leo asked sheepishly at

"Only if you're paying, Leonardo Watch."

"Can you guys get off me?" Sarabi asked.

"Nah, we're comfy." Chloe smirked.

"GET OFF!"