Leo
It was time to leave.
That was the first thought he could remember having. He was cramped, warm, and surrounded by some sort of hardness. He was too big now, though. It was time to leave and find the source of that warmth. He didn't know why, but his instincts told him to go towards it. And so, the Shinx who would one day be called Leo entered the world.
It was bright, noisy, and utterly fascinating. His large gold eyes took in everything. Unlike his siblings, who had their eyes shut still, he couldn't so much as blink. He had to see all of it. He kept swiveling his head around, hiding in the relatively safe shell of his egg, until a giant tongue came out of nowhere, ruined his still-wet fur, and sent him toppling out of the fragile egg. He turned, uttering a tiny growl, only to see a much, much larger creature in front of him. She was unmistakably female, and as he growled, he saw her snort in amusement. Tiny sparks flitted over his fur, and she moved quickly, snatching him with her dark furred paws before he electrocuted himself.
He was trapped within the mass of black and deep blue fur, as the tongue returned, cleaning him all over. Finally, he escaped, and shook his fur. He felt fluffy and cold now, but the wetness was gone. He decided he didn't like being wet, and despite that, began patting his fur down. He paused as he licked his arm, noticing a bright golden color under the black. It was gorgeous. He stared for a full minute before he realized it was His fur.
He examined himself then, and then looked back at his mother. She was blue, but he was definitely gold. He looked at his siblings, as several others had just been freed from their tongue bath. They were blue too, and they were all looking at him. Like him, they'd figured out that he was golden furred, and different. The two other males growled at him, but the one in the center, a female, came sniffing up to him, and then purred against him. He was instantly smitten with his new sister. He purred back, and they all blinked as a low glow of electricity surrounded him. He was warm, and like him, his siblings were cold.
Soon, they were all huddled around him as he discharged his warmth, and when the last of the litter was cleaned, he enjoyed the warmth himself as their mother curled around them. He liked being warm, much more than being wet, and his initial resentment at the tongue bath faded.
He'd been the first to hatch, but the last to leave his egg. Still, his mother had cleaned them in the order they'd hatched, and in doing so, established a hierarchy. He was the first, he was special. He had a target on him, drawing gazes from that very first day. All eyes were on his fur however, not him. It didn't bother him. At first.
His mother had produced seven eggs, over several weeks, and after keeping them all warm with her electrical current, managed to hatch all of them. It was a big litter, for their species, and more than that, she had produced him, a Shinx with golden fur. The first few days of his life were spent playing with his siblings. He was the only one besides their mother who could make electricity, and even when his siblings caught up, he was stronger than they were.
There were two in their group who had come after him, and his favorite sister, the oldest female in their litter. They constantly ganged up on him, and often their play fighting would devolve into a proper two on one battle. More than once, their mother had intervened to keep them from killing each other. He learned how to fight early on, and soon his electricity formed proper Sparks. It wasn't long after that, that his mother's trainer appeared.
She was a breeder, though he had no idea what that meant, and when she saw him, he knew he'd been singled out for…something. Like his siblings though, she looked only at his fur. His eyes were uninteresting, the same as every other member of his species, gold and red. Nobody noticed the growing resentment in them. After the female breeder appeared, they were moved to a large building full of new things to explore.
They were given real food, and stopped eating from their mother. There were other Shinx around, and other Luxray, but no Luxio. The Luxio who stayed were trained hard until they evolved, and became capable of breeding the largest litters. Only a few were chosen for that however. There was only one other Shinx in this building that was as gold as he was. He was older, clearly, and knew more attacks. He was also built larger, and thus, the humans selected him to be a 'breeder'. He still didn't know what that meant, but he was starting to get an idea. Eggs had to come from somewhere.
Several weeks passed, and during those weeks, the young Shinx chafed at his constant losses to the other golden Shinx. He was faster, older, stronger, bigger, and it drove him mad. No matter how hard he played, he could never seem to get stronger. He was missing something, he knew, some key element, some trick that would finally make him as strong as he needed to be.
He spent quite a long time on that farm that their building shared with the human building. He avoided it though. He got enough admiring glances at his fur from his own kind, though they were less impressed as he'd consistently failed to beat the older Shinx. Humans were worse, as they'd pick him up, pet him, and showering him with attention that made his skin crawl. They only liked him for his fur, and he knew it. His eyes missed nothing.
Then, just like that, he was taken away from his family, and put into a strange room on a strange floor with strange white markings on it. Across from him was a Luxray. He was tall, strong, fierce, and powerful. His mane was glorious. He was, in essence, the kind of male Leo wanted to one day become. Confidence was evident in every move he made, and electricity sparked from him with every step.
The young Shinx knew then, that he desperately wanted to be like this Pokémon. Then a human appeared behind him, and the pair walked over to him. The human spoke, and while Leo had slowly grasped their strange noises, the Luxray translated. This was his father, and his father's trainer. They were going to have a battle. If he won, he would be free to leave the farm, and wander the wilderness.
If he lost, he would put into a Pokéball, whatever that was, and 'sold'. Yet another term he didn't grasp. Either way, he was told, he wouldn't be going back to his family. He tried asking his father for clarification, but the older Luxray had snorted and told him that 'he would understand someday'. His fangs had lit up with electricity then as his father used his signature move. He was a Luxray in his prime. No hatchling could challenge him.
The battle was short, and though he tried to hit his father with a Spark, it was dodged easily. He then felt himself gripped by the neck fur, tossed into the air, and when he landed on the hard ground, he knew no more. When he awoke, he was in a different place. It changed at his every thought. If he was hot, it became cooler, if he was tired, an amazingly comfortable pillow appeared for him. He tried imagining his family, his mother, his sister. Nothing happened.
He tried imagining a rival to fight against, and once more, nothing happened. He felt bored then, and a number of simple toys appeared at the thought. He entertained himself by playing with them, but soon lost interest. He wanted out of this ball-shaped world, to see outside, and as he thought it, he saw it. The view was strange, but he could see that he was moving. At a thought, the view became a square, and was much easier to watch. It wasn't uncomfortable in this place, and he knew he could grow to like it, but he'd rather be out there.
Still, he contented himself with watching, and as he did, he thought about the sounds he was missing out on, and at the thought, they came. He saw another human, as whatever he was inside of was placed in his hand. This human's other hand had something green in it, that was given over to whoever had held him before. At a thought, the view shifted, like he was turning his head, and he saw his father's trainer, and his father, walking away, the green stuff clenched in his fist. He remarked that it was odd, that fist, as humans rarely made them in his experience, and only to hit things with. It seemed to be their only attack, and was pretty weak. He wouldn't understand the significance of that fist for a long, long time.
He'd decided to sleep then, as he was put into a box, and the view became nothing but darkness. He kept the screen there though, not wanting it to go away as he slept, and as he thought it, it became reality. He rather liked that aspect of this place. It suited his feline nature, to be given whatever he required at a thought. Except companionship. He wanted food, and was given a berry. He'd asked for meat, but nothing had happened. He sighed. He'd have to hunt for meat, which he needed to be strong, or so his mother had told him. The strongest hunters ate meat.
He spent a long time in that darkness, occasionally opening an eye to watch the screen, but all remained dark. He decided to have a proper sleep, not just a nap, and eventually, he awoke to light appearing on the screen.
The human who'd given away the green stuff for him was petting the shell of his ball-shaped reality now, and the look in his eye gave the young Shinx chills. Still, at least he could see now. He was in a strange place, surrounded by more humans than he'd ever seen before. He never knew they could come in so many varieties, and he spent his time watching them, unaware of where he was being taken. Suddenly, he felt the sphere holding him open, and by instinct, he was let out. Once free of the ball, he shook his body, and let his sparks run over his fur. His electricity had seemed muted within the ball place, but now, it worked properly.
He blinked then, as he suddenly realized that he could understand the human's noises. More or less. He watched them with his large eyes, missing nothing. The man that had held his ball was saying, "Put him in the front window. We've already got a bidder, but you never know what rich brat is going to come along in a mall like this. Make sure his price tag is visible too. We don't need every trainer with a few hundred coming in and asking for him."
He left then, and the woman he had spoken to looked down at him, smiling. She seemed nice, like his mother's trainer, the breeder, and he purred as she pet him. Her hands were warm, and her fingers knew where to scratch. He liked her. She could pet him any time. As she continued, he purred, hard, and sent a small current of electricity into her. Her face turned red, and she made a strange, yet appealing noise. He smirked. Humans were entertaining.
Once his human apparently needed a break from the belly rubs he looked around his new home, and started to realize it wasn't a home at all. Pokémon of all kinds, that he'd never seen before, were behind glass cases in habitats that seemed cramped to him. He liked wide spaces though. He was put into his own case, larger than the others and at the front of this building within a building. He had a great view of the humans though, so he didn't mind. He watched them even as they watched him, and he sighed to himself.
Once again, they looked at his fur. He could tell where they looked, and almost feel their gazes along his body. Tail, paws, ears…but never his eyes. Some came close, sure. They admired his cute nose, mouth, and his rather noble demeanor, but none could meet his gaze. After a few hours of human-watching, he didn't let them. If they looked anywhere but his eyes first, he avoided their gaze pointedly. Many of his initial onlookers left once the woman with nice hands had put a blank white thing at the front of his window. There were markings on it, many of them shaped like a strange circle, and they seemed to distress the humans who saw him.
After around three days in that place, he began to itch. He missed fighting, running, breathing the fresh air. While he and the other Pokémon were set free for a few hours each day, it wasn't enough. He battled the others, those who would provide a challenge at least, and soon figured out how typing worked. He was usually good against blue Pokémon, but not always, as he'd found out the hard way when he'd battled against a strange bird-like Pokémon with a ridiculous nose.
None of his sparks worked against it, and after it hit him with rocks, he'd fainted. Their caretaker healed each of their injuries, and the battles were usually all in good fun. He understood then that as strong as he was, he had type weaknesses too. The brown rocky ones seemed to always beat him, so he avoided fighting them, and eventually learned to beat them once he was told that his Sparks wouldn't affect them at all. He bit them instead, and his tiny fangs became stronger, as did his jaw. Eventually, his bite could knock the rocky ones out. Several of the wolves at the store had growled, but none actually dared challenge him. Had he been more confident, he would've thrashed them all.
He learned much from the other Pokémon there, especially from a spiky yellow one called 'Jolteon'. It was after befriending Jolteon that he finally understood. You could usually tell a Pokémon's species by the noise they made. That made things a lot easier for him. Jolteon put his knowledge to much of what Shinx had experienced. Eventually, he understood breeding, what 'money' was, more or less, and that he was worth a lot of this money to the humans because his fur was gold. Jolteon was gold too though, and his piece of white stuff had far less circles on it. Jolteon had laughed so hard when he'd asked why that was, that the young Shinx never could get an answer from him. It always sent him into a fit of laughter.
He rationalized it for himself then, when he remembered his family. His mother and siblings had been blue and black, but his father, his rival, and himself were all gold colored. This made them special, stronger than normal, supposedly, and therefore more prized by the humans who, he learned, often battled with Pokémon, together. As a team. Calling out moves at the right times.
He thought it would be strange to do that, but Jolteon had told him to trust his human, if he ever battled with one. They had a knack for battling that he just didn't understand, or believe, until Jolteon somehow convinced the woman with nice hands to battle with him against the naive Shinx.
He was soundly beaten, even though he'd bested Jolteon before on his own, and he began to understand. As sharp as his eyes were, humans gave their Pokémon a second set, and could react faster. He decided he wanted a human then, on that third day, and began scanning the crowds for one that was worthy. By the fifth day in this strange 'store' as Jolteon had called it, he was convinced he'd never find a human, but Jolteon told him not to give up.
There were a Lot of humans, and he'd have to see a lot of them before he found one who was good enough. Jolteon also warned that he wouldn't be given to a human who didn't have enough money for all those circle things on his 'paper'. Shinx hadn't worried about that though. He could electrocute the paper, turning it to ash, and then it wouldn't be an issue. Jolteon had laughed at that, too.
After ten days of battling and living in that cramped glass, the young Shinx was ready to give up. And then, he saw it. A flash of the deepest red he'd ever seen. It was a human, a female, and her clothes matched her fire-hair perfectly. She was also lovely. Pokémon had different standards of what was and wasn't attractive, but as she came closer, they all agreed. That female was beautiful.
That was when he noticed her looking at him, and his heart fell as, like every other human, she noticed his fur first. A chill went up his spine then, setting his fur on end. There was a male with her, probably a mate judging by the body language, and his eyes were locked on Shinx's. Not his fur. Not his nose. Not his adorable ears. This one was staring at Him, and only him, ignoring even the lovely female as he started to approach.
The young Shinx wanted to look away, but couldn't. This was it, he realized. This was his human. His eyes were on fire, his smile was kind, and there was confidence in his stride, the same confidence he'd seen in his father's. He stood, the orange-gold star on his tail waving in the air.
"Good luck, kid." He heard Jolteon say from behind him, in his own language. To the humans it sounded like little more than "Jolt, Jolteon." The two humans entered the store. The male one was dressed in black and green, with a matching hat. Under the jacket, the Shinx spied a brown shirt, with a green symbol on it that seemed eerily familiar, but most of it was hidden from sight as the human and the caretaker woman bickered over 'price'. Whatever that was.
That was when Shinx remembered the paper issue, and he began to charge up his Spark, when the male's voice cut through the entire store, saying "One hundred thousand. Right now. That's my final offer." The Shinx assumed that was a lot, judging by the lady's expression, and when she nodded, he felt a surge of hope. They spent another few minutes finishing the 'purchase', and then the male trainer came over to him.
Despite himself, the Shinx stepped up to the rim of the glass, and purred as he felt his trainer's hand on his fur. If the shop lady's hands had been nice, these were Glorious. He found the spot behind his ear almost instantly, and his fur sparked in response. Oh yes. This was his trainer. The other female's hand joined his, not as strong or sure, but almost soothing. Combined, they were quite enjoyable. After about a minute, they finally stopped.
The male spoke then, "I'm Alex." He pointed at the fire-woman, "That's Jess. I'm your trainer. From now on, I'll call you Leo. How's that sound?" Leo. The Shinx let the sound echo in his head. It felt right. Jolteon had explained that this might happen, that whatever trainer took him might give him a name besides 'Shinx'. Apparently, it was something humans did, but he'd also said that the Pokémon with such names started using them themselves, even though the only noise they could make came out as their 'species name'. He purred. He liked the name. Leo. It certainly sounded strong.
After that, he was recalled into his ball, but not for very long. From within, he saw a trainer in blue, and judging by the words he exchanged with his new trainer, they were going to battle. Leo was brought out again soon after, and his trainer knelt down to his level. "Listen, Leo. My brother just challenged me to a battle. I'm going to use you for it, at first, and to make sure you have a chance, I'm going to teach you something other than Spark, okay?" Leo nodded, and was recalled into his ball.
It was different this time though, the screen showed the attacks his trainer wanted him to learn, and he watched, fascinated. He felt his ball moving, the function and purpose of them also explained by Jolteon, but he was too focused on the screen to realize he'd never see Jolteon again, probably, or to see where he was going. Presumably, it was to battle.
By the time he was called out again, he knew how to summon Thunder, Thunderbolts, and release his electricity in something called a Thunder Wave. His ball had also shown him a chart, explaining type advantages and weaknesses. He put names to the types then, and started to understand. Water and flying types were ones he could beat easily. Ground types were the only ones he had to watch out for, but rock and ground types would be unaffected by his attacks.
It was a lot to remember, but he grasped it all fairly easily. He'd been bored out of his mind the past few days, and having something to focus on was wonderful. He also noticed that his ball was slightly different. He'd gone into a white one that his trainer had offered, and it was much, much nicer. It even gave him targets to practice his moves against. He was called out again then, and as he saw his trainer's gaze, he knew. This one could take him to heights he hadn't imagined. Certainly higher than his father, or his rival from the farm. All he had to do was trust him in this first battle, the battle that would seal their bond as partners. And trust him he did.
He never regretted that decision, and though he'd lost his family, and eventually understood that he'd been treated like property, it had been worth it. He gained a new family in Terra, then Blaze and Hydrus, then finally, a few months later, in Arthur and Shruikan. They were more than a team, they were his allies, and Alex kept them all together, making them stronger. Strong enough to reach the top. Eventually.
