This doesn't have priority, and won't be updated frequently. I'd estimate that it will be about ten of these-length chapters. Read, review, and enjoy!
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She was the oddball.
That was what Lady could tell as soon as they brought the new Pokemon in.
For one thing, she didn't have a body like theirs. It wasn't snakey, it didn't have a tail. She looked more like a human in a white dress, although her skin was blue and she was much too small to be human. Secondly, her ugly hair covered her forehead, making room only for her eyes, which were slanted and foreboding. Two disgusting, circular red things came out from the top of her head, looking more like antennae than ears.
"Girls," said their trainer, "this is Maria. She's a Kirlia. She'll be staying with you for a long time, so be nice to her, okay?"
Lady looked up at Queenie and Duchess uncertainly. They looked none too happy about it, but bowed their heads, so Lady did the same.
"Queenie, would you please show Maria around?" asked the trainer. "This is a new place for her, so please take it slow."
Queenie nodded, looking up. "I will try," she informed her mistress.
As soon as the woman left, the three pounced upon the newcomer.
"Who are you?" Duchess demanded, lashing her tail angrily.
"You heard the mistress," replied the Kirlia pleasantly. "I'm Maria."
"Why are you invading our place?" snapped Lady.
"I was picked up by our mistress from a breeder."
"Why am I to show you around?" sighed Queenie.
"The mistress makes the decisions, not me."
The three looked at each other, then back at Maria. "You're a smart alec," said Duchess firmly.
"I am a stater of facts," replied Maria evenly. "Now, Queenie, I believe it was- why don't you show me around?"
She spoke haughtily, as if she was bossing the elder. Duchess and Lady looked at each other. Nobody spoke to Queenie in that tone of voice. She was the alpha of the household; she did the ordering, not the other way around.
"Of course," said Queenie, masking any disdain she may have felt. "Please, step right this way."
Queenie undulated her snakelike body, almost slithering across the dark red carpet as she led the Kirlia. "Most of the rooms on this floor are open to us," she explained. "Mostly, when a door is closed, we cannot enter. There is one room that no one is permitted access to, however, at the end of the hall, which I will show you when we arrive."
"Certainly some doors are always closed?"
"Oh, yes, but the majority are usually open."
They paused in front of the first room. The lights were off, but it was still illuminated by the sunlight pouring in through the window and the fire crackling at the foot of a chair. "We are not allowed on the chairs, but the couch in the corner we may lie on," Queenie said, indicating the object. It was green, with fluffed-up pillows and a bouncy-looking mattress. More like a bed than a couch, Maria thought. She was not very fond of either anyway.
The room also contained what the humans called a "pool table" (which confused both Pokemon, as from what they had heard a pool was a collection of water, while there was not a droplet in sight) and a television.
Queenie led Maria from room to room, usually gesturing idly and saying a few words before moving on to the next one. The one thing the Kirlia noticed was the size of the rooms. There was so much space. Finally, as Queenie showed her a room dedicated to nothing but trophies on shelves lining the walls, Maria brought it up.
"Why is there so much empty space?" she asked. "This room alone is the size of five in my breeder's home. And yet there is nothing in the center. Is that not a waste?"
"Putting anything else in the room would crowd it and defeat the purpose," said Queenie. "It is better this way."
Maria did not find herself completely convinced- there were so many trinkets in the lobby that could be moved!- but followed her hostess to the next room, which was a bit different from the rest.
"Anything past this point is off-limits to us," said Queenie. "But this room is only ours."
The room had more of those bed-like couches, an open, floor level window, and a litter box. Queenie slithered inside and opened a small door in the back with her tail.
"This is our practice room," she told the Kirlia. "It is open only to the Pokemon. It is completely insulated against any type of attack and is where we roughhouse and practice our battling moves. The window in the other room leads to the garden, which is for relaxing, not playing. Now-" her monologue done, Queenie was ready to address whatever had been nagging at her since she has met Maria. "What types are you? I thought the mistress only adopted Grass types, but you don't have the smell."
Smell? The Kirlia wondered. "You are right. I am a psychic type."
"No, no, I know the psychic smell. You have the psychic smell, but there is something else as well . . . almost like the garden. But the garden is special. You could not possibly be a part of it."
Maria pondered this for a moment. "I do not know anything about a garden. Not your garden, in any case. It is possible you are smelling my other Type. The only problem is, I'm not sure what it is . . . "
"We are only of one Type," Queenie admitted, "but I would imagine that if I had another Type, I would know what it was. Why do you not?"
Maria did a Kirlia's equivalent of a shrug. "The breeder never told me."
Queenie decided to accept that as a valid reason and pointed down the hall with the tip of her tail.
"That room's doors are always open, but we are never allowed to enter. I have not even looked inside. It may be something so anticlimactic that all of my fantasies and expectations would just drain away."
At that remark, Maria made a promise to herself. She would go into that room and find out just what was inside.
The two had arrived back in the entrance hall.
They were at the foot of a flight of stairs, carpeted in maroon, golden vinelike designs outlining the sides. The hall itself was high-ceilinged, the mural painted above the chandelier barely visible. One door led to the hallway they had just traveled; the other to the dining room and kitchen behind it.
"What's up the stairs?" asked Maria.
Queenie seemed to blush slightly. "I . . . do not know."
"How can you not know?"
"Snivy and Servine legs are too small to go up these stairs, and I was never much for exploring," she said. "Now, I simply do not have legs."
"But a lack of legs should not stop you. You are able to use Vine Whip, correct? Could you not just use your vines to pull yourself up?"
"I am still not very interested in exploration," replied Queenie with a slight smile. "Lady and Duchess, however, have ventured there once or twice. I suggest asking them what there is to find."
At that moment, on cue, Lady shoved her snout through the flap installed on the front door and entered the house. "Queenie, there's a group of wild Raticate tearing up the mistress's portion of the garden."
"Didn't you take care of them?"
"I tried," she replied Mareepishly. "But there were too many!"
Queenie sighed. "So you came running to me for help. Very well, I will clear them out. But remember, Lady, every battle you forfeit means one more battle not contributing to your experience points."
"I know. You don't have to rub it in."
"You are beginning to talk like a wild Pokemon, too," Queenie said curtly. "You must speak more properly. Pardon."
Lady stepped out of the way, and Queenie slithered through the flap and into the garden.
The Snivy stared at the Kirlia, not bothering to mask her hostility. "I guess you want to see a good battler in action."
"I would like to see your garden," Maria replied, "although I was never one for battling."
"Well, I'm afraid you can't," Lady said smugly. "You're too big for the flap. I suppose you're stuck inside."
The Kirlia stood there, surprised and even offended at the Snivy's rudeness, and merely watched as she was abandoned by the Pokemon who would become her family.
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So to clear a few things up here:
Yes, I know Kirlias are green. Maria is shiny.
As for Pokemon speech, they talk in italics when a human is nearby, and regularly when they're on their own. You, as a privileged reader, get to know everything they are saying!
Also, there's a little box down there, I'm not sure if you noticed. I would greatly appreciate it if you typed a few words in that box. Not only does it make me happy, it makes the writing better!