Alistair Black had never been very fond of two specific things— people and electric-type pokémon.
As such, being abruptly hit up by a long-forgotten friend from high school was not really high on his list of fun things to be doing on a Friday night. The fact that the friend in question desperately needed someone to watch his girlfriend's pet pikachu for the weekend was even lower than the former unfortunate incident, and at first, he had intended to merely reply with a curt 'no thanks' before hanging up and being done with it. Easy, right?
Poor Alistair, however, had a kind heart. He may have been two hundred something odd pounds of muscle with a stature that towered over most, but at his core, he was the sort of man who would help a shuckle cross the road safely or bandage up the wound of a stray litten before sending it on its way. His sky-blue eyes and well-trimmed brown hair were well known around town, and many brought their injured and abandoned pokémon to him when they were in need of help. Despite living in a tiny, cramped apartment he could barely afford rent for and getting out only once every few days, he never turned away an animal who needed him. As thus, he may not have had a deep sense of love for the yellow rat-like creature instilled in his soul, but the combination of his old friend's distress (something about a last-minute vacation, he was pretty sure, though the panicked yelling made it difficult to tell) over trying to find a sitter and the idea of the pikachu being left alone for a week without care moved to compassion. With a clear sense of reluctance, he agreed to meet him in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant they used to do homework together at and take the wretched little mouse. It would just be for two days, he assured himself one last time, before he finally hung up and sank back in his chair with his head in his hands.
His midday form lycanroc lifted up its head from its paws to peer curiously at him, ears pricked forward in attentiveness. A brave guard dog and Alistair's companion since the tender age of seven, he could not thank the gods enough for blessing him with such a noble creature to be the leader of his fighting team. Well… not so much of a fighting team anymore. The man paused to look over at the five red and white pokéballs lined up in a neat row on his desk with a bitter expression on his face. But they were his friends, and damn good ones at that. Quite frankly, there was a high probability that they would be the only living beings helping him keep his sanity as he let the pikachu into his household.
"Do you really think I can take care of a goddamn rodent that can shoot lightning bolts just as easily as it can spontaneously shit on my counter, Onyx? I mean, it's just two days, right?" the man repeated half to himself aloud in a numb tone. The wolf-like pokémon below him only let out a deep, rolling huff before laying back down and curling up on the dog bed it had been given to sleep on. The trainer's laugh in response to this was quiet but infectious. "Thanks for believing in me."
Alistair caught sight of his reflection in the screen of his laptop and couldn't help but grimace. His dark brown skin seemed almost sunken in, as though he were exceedingly unhealthy. That wasn't too far from the truth, though. He couldn't think of the last time he'd had something to eat— crippling college debt and hours upon hours of homework did that to him. He'd find a way, though. He always did. With a resolute sigh, the man stood up and stretched his limbs before motioning to the half-asleep canine under the desk, who immediately got up itself.
"Come on, Onyx. Let's go to bed. We'll deal with this in the morning. Nothing wrong with sleeping the pain away, eh?"
His loyal friend tailed at his heels as the two departed for the bedroom. The clock on the wall read near to two in the morning, and outdoors, all was plunged into utter darkness. The lights of his own apartment soon followed.
He could not have possibly noticed the unidentifiable pokémon enter his room through the ajar window, nor did see it as it planted something down into the floor of the little office within. All it took was a stray ember from the animal's mouth— dancing across the floor like a solitary star across the sky— to send the only shelter Alistair had ever called his own straight into the sky in an enormous plume of red and orange. Against the purplish backdrop, it almost seemed like a sunrise.
In but a few moments of time, Alastair's life had been shattered.
And it was all because of a goddamn pikachu.
A/N: Hello! Most likely, this story caught your interest because it was a SYOC. If you are interested in having a character featured prominently in this novel, please check out my profile for more information. Reviews & follows will never not be appreciated (they make me happy, lol) as long as they are nice. Thanks for possibly preparing to join this ride with me! Keep in mind that this is a prologue, and subsequent chapters will be much longer.