The only light that Jenn had in her life at this point was Chuckie. Jenn continued to care for him from day to day, and the two were extremely close. Paula didn’t seem to target or resent Chuckie the way that she did Jenn. She was more apathetic and absent, but it was better than the alternative.
Jenn and Chuckie would often go for walks to the park, and she taught him how to fish. She tried to be there for him as best she could, but Paula found a way to spoil that too; As time went on, Paula began to show favor to Chuckie and tried to subtly pit her children against each other. This caused a rift to form between Jenn and Chuckie; Jenn could see what her mother was doing, having been the target of her manipulations for years, but Chuckie was too young to understand.
As the months turned to years, Jenn found the prospect of staying at home more and more impossible. Jenn was suffering from severe depression and panic attacks every day brought on by the constant arguments, abuse, manipulation and cruelty. As much as Jenn loved her little brother, she couldn’t stay at home much longer. Jenn was afraid of what that would to do her.
On the night of March 30, 2019, Jenn was leaving to attend a school function. Paula commented that Jenn’s skirt was too short and made it clear what she thought of the way Jenn was dressed—and what it implied about her character. That was a touch too far and Jenn snapped at her in a fairly snide and sarcastic way. That “disrespect” led to a particularly volatile fight, with both screaming at the other. By the end, Jenn said some pretty terrible (although true) things to her mom and stormed to her room, slamming the door so hard that it broke. Her mom pounded on her door, claiming she’d take it off the hinges.
That threat was the last straw. Without saying another word, Jenn packed her bag, grabbed what little money she’d saved up from odd jobs around the neighborhood, and snuck out of her room through her bedroom window. Without looking back, Jen ran.
As the night deepened and Jenn put distance between herself and home, she realized that she didn’t really know what she was doing. Walking along the quiet, rain-soaked Viridian City streets that night, Jenn tried to think of a plan. She had a little money but it wasn’t enough for somewhere to stay, or even enough to eat outside buying cheap convencience store fare. With no other plan in her head, Jenn went to the bus station. She found that she had just a little more than she needed for a bus ticket to Pallet Town. Jenn figurted that while there wasn’t much there, it was better than going back home.
The bus ride was a few hours; it was the crack of dawn as the bus rumbled to a stop at the Pallet Town bus station. She stretched her legs by browsing the pamphlets arranged in the stop; they advertised local diners, charter boats to the waters south of Pallet. Another had the words “Adventure Rules” in big, yellow letters across the front; it was just a pamphlet with basic camping and survival advice. A heavyset man approached Jenn unbidden at one point, and told her that Pokemon could turn into bits of energy to fit inside Poke Balls. Technology today was amazing! She sort of awkwardly nodded and agreed with before she just peaced out. She walked the half-mile or so from the bus stop to Pallet Town’s main street.
She didn’t really know what she was going or what she was looking for. A room to stay? A job? She asked about work at the local grocery store, which didn’t pan out. She did the same at a small, roadside coffee place that wasn’t hiring, and then went to the local diner called Pallet House. She ordered a coffee and asked the owner, a kind woman named Delia, if anybody might be hiring. Delia said that it was a slow season right now, but some of the local farms sometimes needed hired hands.
“In fact, now that I think of it...if you’re not opposed to working with Pokemon, I think I might know someone who’s in always in need of extra hands….”
Following Delia’s directions, Jenn made her way to Professor Oak’s laboratory. It seemed more like a modest country manor with a large warehouse built on the side, with acres upon acres of land. She met with one of aides at the door and asked about helping the Professor in some way. The aide was pretty dismissive, telling her to call and make an appointment. Another aide that was closer to her age stepped in, however, and managed to convince the other aide to let Jenn in. He introduced himself as Sammy and he brought her in to see the Professor.
The lab was cluttered and busy, much more so than she’d expected to see at the home/laboratory of the world’s foremost Pokemon researcher and scientist. Sammy just chuckled at her observation.
"The lab's always like this, really," he said, "It can take a bit to figure it out, but you get used to it."
"So you...work here?" Jenn asked. Sammy nodded.
"Yeah, I'm one of Professor Oak's aides." he said.
"What is it you do, exactly? Like...clean microscopes?"
"Not exactly!" Sammy laughed, "I mostly work outside; I help feed, groom, and play with all of the Pokemon who stay at the lab. You'd be surprised how many there are."
"Are they all the Professor's?"
"Nah. I mean, some of them are. But most of the Pokemon here belong to trainers with the Starter Program."
Sammy led Jenn to the main laboratory, where he introduced her to Professor Oak. He was a kindly old man. Despite his age, he was energetic and jovial (if a little absent-minded sometimes). Jenn explained her situation—that she had left home and needed some work, and hoped that maybe Oak had something she could do.
"I'll do anything you need me to do. I understand if not, since I don't really have experience with...anything, really? But...I really need the work."
"Miss Greene, I think you'll find that there's always room around the laboratory for those who love Pokemon." he said with a warm smile.
After some conversation, Oak gave her the task of helping out around the lab wherever she might be needed; she'd perform basic cleaning duties, keep things straightened up, and lend a hand if anybody needed one. He would pay her as well, and she would be allowed to sleep in one of the spare bedrooms inside the main house. Normally his aides slept in the dormitory area in the large building off to the side, but there wasn’t any room for newcomers right then. He showed her the room. It was clearly an old bedroom that had been converted into some kind of storage area for very complex-looking machines and stacks of books.
Oak apologized for the clutter, but Jenn didn’t mind. It felt freeing, and the first heavy weight had fallen off of her shoulders.
