Obligatory Disclaimer: This is a non-profit fan work set in the Pokemon Universe. Pokemon is owned by Nintendo, Gamefreak, and HAL Laboratories. With the exception of original characters, I own none of the characters or settings used in this story.
Day 0:
The door creaked open into the cramped Lumiose City apartment. Clutter was strewn across the floor. Dishes from last night's dinner sat unattended on the table. A mess of wires and controllers and game discs sat underneath a modestly sized TV in the corner. It wasn't an utter mess, but it was definitely the home of a bachelor, and said bachelor entered with a tired sigh and slammed the door behind him.
From the corner of his couch stirred a Raichu, peacefully asleep but awoken by the loudness of his master's entrance. The orange rodent squeaked a hello and promptly curled back up. The young man smirked. "Lazy bastard," he said affectionately as he sauntered over to pet his pokemon. Tan skinned fingers scratched an orange back with brown stripes, and then a cream-colored belly when the Raichu rolled over. The hand withdrew itself and scratched beneath shoulder-length black hair, suddenly itching in that inexplicable way the head itches when scratching something else.
The man's name is Lyam Williams, an eighteen year old Kantoan man with tan skin, dark hair, and green eyes that worked at the crappy electronics store five blocks down. Born and raised in Kalos, he attempted a pokemon journey four years ago but decided the adventuring life just wasn't for him. And so he ended up in Lumiose, working a job he could barely tolerate, with little in the way of friends and too far-removed from his family to visit.
At least his Raichu, Ron, was good company. The lazy doofus refused to accept melancholy, and every day Lyam came home the literal rat-bastard would do whatever it took to make him smile. Lyam's normal routine was to saunter into his room, change out of uniform, throw something in the microwave, and then lounge in front of the TV until he decided to play his WiiU or do some chores. Not today. Today was a little different.
Ron seemed to sense this change and titled his head curiously. Lyam shot him an assuring smile. "Don't worry buddy, it's nothing serious. I'd just like to introduce you to someone." The Raichu gasped as Lyam reached into his pocket and pulled out a small red-and-white pokeball. It enlarged with the press of a button, and another released a torrent of white light. The light materialized into something small with blue and black fur. Its body structure was that of a small child, but its head was distinctly canine. Two bright red eyes stared nervously at its summoner while two blue paws clutched its tail nervously. The young Riolu was deathly afraid and regarded everything warily.
Lyam raised his hand. He was going to wave, but when he lifted his lanky arm the small pokemon shrieked and ran into the bedroom. Lyam looked at his hand and groaned. Right, she'd told him the Riolu was afraid of being hit. Lyam promptly used his upturned hand and smacked his face. How the hell did he manage to get talked into this…?
It started with a chat with Lisa earlier that day. His red-headed, normally bubbly, energetic, sassy and carefree co-worker approached him with an unusual air of gravity. That should have been his first warning. "Hey Lyam, could I talk to you for a moment?"
Lyam looked up from his work on a motherboard—his job was mainly to fix returned electronics that were always mysteriously damaged in a way that didn't void the warranty—and regarded the girl with the barest outlines of a frown. He didn't like talking to people, and he especially didn't like talking to her. She quite plainly exhausted him, not to mention their botched attempt at a date made talking to her awkward. "What's up Lisa? 'Bit busy at the moment," he said evenly.
The redhead fidgeted silently for a moment. This didn't earn her any brownie points. "I was wondering…could you please do me a really, really big favor?"
Lyam raised an eyebrow. "That depends on the favor. What's going on?"
Lisa fidgeted a moment longer, as if debating whether or not to take a plunge. She sighed, became resigned with whatever it was, and said, "I'm leaving Lumiose City for about a month. My mother just got over being really sick and I need to look after her while she recovers." Lyam nodded, signaling he understood thus far. "I recently adopted a Riolu from a local shelter. He was rescued in a raid—illegal breeding operation down south, really horrible living conditions. He was abused and I'm trying to rehabilitate him."
Lyam suspected he knew were this was going but played dumb anyway. "I'm guessing you're taking Riolu with you then?" he said.
Lisa shook her head. "That's the problem, I can't. I'm going to be so busy taking care of my mom I won't have time to properly pay attention to him. I've had him for about a week now, and this was sprung on me yesterday. I can't get anyone else I trust to take care of him while I'm gone."
Lyam nodded. "Why me though? We're not exactly close, and I'm pretty sure you don't see me as the 'cuddly' type."
Lisa's mouth curled into a soft smile. "You seem to really care about pokemon. I remember during our…rather poorly conceived date how much you got along with your Raichu." Her smile became rueful. "It's a shame you aren't as nice to people as you are to pokemon, otherwise maybe we could have gotten along better."
Lyam grunted. He knew he was prickly, but she was an overbearing, energy-draining, judgmental bitch. None of this, of course, had been realized until she started listing off all the different ways Lyam should go about changing his life and conforming to her standards of quote-unquote "proper" behavior. Relationships were a two-way street, Lyam thought, and oh, Arceus help the poor bastard who gets saddled with you.
She was right about him and Ron though; when he was ten years old, he got the little rat-bastard as an even littler Pichu. Lots of bonding later and he eventually evolved into a Pikachu, and on Ron's eighth birthday Lyam bought him a Thunder Stone and evolved him into a Raichu.
Lyam considered her request. On one hand, he didn't really want another pokemon, especially one that had been abused. On the other hand, he didn't like the idea of it having to live with this twit, especially if by her own admission she couldn't take care of it. His accursed bleeding heart won out, and he reluctantly agreed to watch the pokemon until she came back. She thanked him, hugged him, and gave him Riolu's pokeball.
Back in the present, Lyam considered what to do. He'd done a little reading about abused pokemon at the end of his work day, and most articles said not to be aggressive and let the pokemon come to you for food or attention. Good advice and all, but it didn't stop the Riolu from tearing up his shit in the meantime.
Ron got up from his spot on the couch and stared at his trainer with a look that was a cross between amused and baffled. The Raichu squeaked something, and somehow Lyam knew he was asking what was wrong with the Riolu. "He came from a pokemon mill and was abused by the people that ran it," Lyam explained. Ron squeaked another question. "No, I don't know how long he's going to be hiding." The Raichu furrowed his brows and squeaked a little more critically. "Look, I don't know why I brought him here. That co-worker I went on the date with came up to me today and asked me to watch him for a few weeks because apparently she can't take care of him right now. I should have just told her to take him back to the pokemon shelter…"
With a loud sigh, Ron jumped off the couch and yelled into Lyam's bedroom. Apparently, whatever he said was enough to coax the Riolu to slowly peek out from behind the door and shuffle his way back into the living room. Ron squeaked encouragingly and the Emanation pokemon chose to stand by the larger rodent and avoid eye contact with Lyam.
The Kantoan man shrugged; at least the Riolu wasn't hiding anymore. He sauntered into the bedroom, changed out of his uniform and into something more comfortable, and returned to the living room-kitchen combination and started dinner. Ron was back on the couch, and the Riolu sat beside him tense and nervous.
Lyam scowled, but made sure to do so where the Riolu couldn't see him. Whatever those breeders did to him, it made the pokemon absolutely terrified of the world around him. Indignant anger built up inside, but was immediately dispelled by a low whimper. He turned around and saw Riolu staring at him fearfully from the arm of the couch. Oh shit, right, they were the Emanation pokemon; they could sense emotion. Fuck.
A loud sigh, and then he put a frozen entrée in the microwave. "I'm not mad at you," Lyam explained while absentmindedly starting the machine. "Really, I promise I'm not going to hurt you." He did his best to smile and look happy, but Riolu was skeptical. Ron put in his own two cents, and that seemed to assure the Riolu for now.
A loud ding from the microwave signaled dinner was ready. Lyam first brought over two bowls of pokemon food, then went back and retrieved his own dinner before flopping onto the couch and flipping on the TV. Ron dug into his own portion with gusto while the Riolu ate slowly, occasionally taking a moment to look over at his host with careful eyes. Lyam didn't notice, too absorbed in the latest episode of The Pokemon Whisperer and his own dinner.
Lyam considered something. "Hey Riolu," he said and turned to look directly at the pokemon, "how do you feel about a nickname?" Riolu tilted his head curiously and Lyam got the impression he wanted to know why he was asking. "I figure if you're going to live with me for a while, I should call you something other than 'Riolu.'" He patted his Raichu and added, "Ron here has a nickname, so I thought maybe I'd give you one too."
The little Emanation pokemon thought it over. He hesitantly nodded "yes" and Lyam reflected on what he'd call the little guy. Let's see, blue fur, canine, fighting type, red eyes…not "Ruff"…not "Ryu"…definitely not "Roo!" He groaned—annoyed by his inability to come up with cool, meaningful nicknames; there was a reason his Raichu was named Ron of all things. Ron…Riolu…Rio? Yeah, Rio…that could work. He recalled the name meant "river," and both Riolu and water were blue…which, admittedly, was a lame reason for choosing the nickname but he liked the way it punned with his species name.
Lyam afforded himself a rare grin. "Alright, I think I've got it!" he said with a snap of the fingers. "Riolu, what do you think about the nickname 'Rio?'" The Riolu stared at him with a look that conveyed he wasn't particularly impressed. He shrugged though and seemed resigned to the silly nickname. "Rio it is then!"
The newly christened Rio shifted a little further into the couch arm. Ron frowned and moved to sit beside him, squeaking something encouragingly. Rio replied with a low bark, whimpered slightly, and was pat on the head by the Raichu. Ron squeaked again, pointing at his owner and seemingly trying to talk him into something. Lyam watched the scene with mild amusement.
At Ron's insistence, the little Riolu crept across the couch and made himself sit next to Lyam. The Kantoan looked at Rio, and then at Ron, who made a gesture with his forepaws that seemed to beckon "Go on then." Lyam carefully raised a hand, mindful of the Riolu's fearful gaze, and gently, carefully lowered it to pet his head…
Rio freaked out at the last second and jumped off the couch, running away and hiding in the bedroom again. Ron was about chase after him when Lyam said, "Leave him alone Ron. You can't cheer everyone up all the time, buddy." The Raichu growled stubbornly but relented and sat beside his trainer with a squeaky sigh. "Yeah, I know, I don't like seeing him upset like that either. Just…give him some time, he'll eventually come around."
At least, that's what Lyam hoped would happen. Truth be told, he didn't know what he was doing and felt he'd made a huge mistake in agreeing to watch Lisa's Riolu. Yeah, sure, he got along with Ron, but that's because they complimented each other so well. Where Lyam was perpetually grumpy, Ron was unwaveringly happy. Where Lyam was aloof and reserved, Ron was personal and in-your-face. Where Lyam was hard-working and serious, Ron was lazy and carefree. They both enjoyed the mutual balance they brought to one another and it was what made their bond so strong.
This Riolu though: emotionally damaged, always frightened, in need of someone who could smother him in kindness and understanding? Lyam had absolutely no fucking idea how to handle that! One month, he told himself. He just had to get through one month without scarring him any further, and then he could turn him back over to his obnoxiously bubbly co-worker who could do a far better job of giving this pokemon the attention he needed.
The rest of the night was uneventful. Lyam watched TV, picked up his trash, and went to bed. Ron found Rio hiding under the bed and despite his coaxing the little Riolu was determined to sleep there for the night. Ron regretfully obliged and hopped on top of the bed to snuggle beside his owner. Lyam scratched the chubby little rodent's back and flinched when he heard a sad whimper. With a loud sigh, he asked Ron if he could sleep with Rio for the night. Ron agreed and scampered under the bed, and the whimpering mercifully died away. Lyam turned on his side and drifted into a light, troubled sleep.
Author's Note: All aboard the Feels Train! Choo-choo motherfuckers!
To be honest, I'm not sure how far I'm going to take this. It was born of a random idea and the urge to write drama/fluff/random stuff with worrying about an overly complicated overarching plot. As a result, this story will have a more ecliptic update schedule than others. Basically future chapters will be collections of snippets—some long, some short—that take place on a given day in the titular month.
So anyway, do me a favor and let me know what you thought in a review. Until next time, take care!