Merci and i

The sun was high in the sky, and its warm light beamed down onto the city. The waterways were glistening, and the the wind, cooled by the waters below,Softening the sun's heat with a relaxing breeze. the city walkways were filled with people and their pokemon hustling about their day, moving between shops and restaurants like,living their lives while indulging in the life the city offered. Looking just above the crowds, beyond the rise of the shoulder to shoulder restaurants and shops, you could see the Prism Tower adding a picturesque flare to even a mundane day such as this in Lumiose city.

My partner Merci and i walked besides the waterways of lumiose city, attempting to bypass the foot traffic to the pokemon center by cutting behind the shops. Beside me, merci-that is, my marenine-was, for some reason, attempting to walk on his front two hairlike tentacles as we moved through the streets. He wore a face of extreme concentration as he deftly moved one tentacle in front of another, panting all the while.

I still haven't figured out what exactly he was trying to accomplish. I mean, i understand That his evolved form often does walk with their appendages, but…it was obviously more difficult to walk like that than it would be to just hop around like he normally does. he tried in all sorts of different positions- two tentacles down, four tentecles down, he even tried rolling along them like a pinwheel- all in vain. In the end, he ended up in a sort of handstand- how he concluded that to be the most intuitive stance, i'll never know. Still,to his credit,he was definitely making progress; when he had started this morning, he could barely take three steps before crashing face first into the ground. Now, he was making massive strides at a time. Disregarding the concentrated look on his face,It almost seemed natural to him...

Except for the fact that it obviously wasn't. The strain on his tentacles was massive; They were definitely bigger than normal now, which could have easily been swelling from using them all day. When cut, the tentacles could regrow in even less than a day...even so, he was obviously pushing himself terribly hard. i wanted so badly to just swoop him up in my arms, but i didn't stop him,and instead leaned down to give him some words of encouragement.

"Wow, you're really getting it now, huh Merci?"

He grumbled out a soft "mar', under its breath, his main focus still being putting one tentacle in front of the other. Small beads of sweat were dripping down he's face.

Gah, how cute.

"You've been working so hard, why don't i carry you the rest of the way? Think of it as a re-ward…"

I trailed off as my mareanie glared at me.

"Not gonna fly, huh?" i said with a sigh.

Maybe i am too soft on my pokemon...

"Pokemon respect someone strong," my mother used to say. "Show them that strength by leading them forward! If you just let it do what it wants, it'll never really respect you as it's trainer."

I knew that. I understand that. I get it, but...for some reason, i didn't feel like that was the right way to do things with Merci.

Merci wasn't the type to give up on something once he started. No, he was the type that would bang his head against a wall until he either knocked itself out or the wall crumbled before it, if you gave him the chance. I knew that. He's the type that wanted to use his own strength, to make his own path. He would listen to me in battle, but beyond that...he was his own pokemon. He wasn't just...some animal i had under my control.

He was my partner. Watching him try his hardest to master something of his own volition was honestly one of the most enjoyable parts of our journey so far. And i think he prefers it that way, too. I don't know if i'm doing this the right way, and i'm often worried that i might mess up...but if it means Merci can be happy, then…

Geez, why am i even thinking about all of this...

I was so lost in thought, it took me a moment to see Merci vehemently shaking his head- which, seeing as his head composed 70% of his entire body, caused him to wobble violently, nearly losing his balance. Seeing this, I shook my head, and gave him a light tap on the back of its head to re-stabilize it, making sure not to tap his poison tip.

"I see. Well, i think you can do it, but remember, i'm here if you need help..."

Merci re-balanced itself, gave me a small nod of acknowledgement, and continued walking on it's tentacles.

"That type of focused energy sure is nice…" i muttered under my breath, just loud enough for Merci to hear me. He seemed to perk up a little, and his steps were slightly faster than before. Seeing him,I couldn't help but smile to myself as we rounded the corner to south street.

Eventually,the two of us made it to the pokemon center. While the cool breeze that was blowing was nice, the cool provided by the A/C of the pokemon center was miles ahead of what the wind was packing, providing a nice shelter from the heat.

As we stepped in, i swooped up merci before he could fall over from his exertions earlier.

I sat at the lounging area, coddling Merci as i gave him some water to drink, whispering things how great he was to him all the while. Merci responded with tired coos, and wiggled his tendrils around as i gently held him and played with him.

A nurse joy came over to take a glance at him- understandably so, since he looked like he had just ran a marathon- and i put him in his pokeball so the nurse could heal him. The moment the healing was done, he sprang from the ball and hopped back into my arms. I walked outside,holding him in one arm, and took out my poke-nav with my free hand, snapping a selfie for the check with my mother i do every town.

Merci and i were all smiles, and my black hair and Gothic attire stood out well against the backdrop of the Prism tower. i couldn't think of a clever caption, so i went with something cheesy. it read, 'Merci and i, Together forever!'