Author's notes: For non-Americans: Six inches ~ fifteen centimeters.
For those who don't know: Chople berries halve the damage dealt by super effective Fighting-type moves. Bunearys in the games are known to carry these at times.
Tesla is named after Nikola Tesla, a famous electrical scientist. Way ahead of his time, total genius, fascinating guy. Warning! There's a bit of sadness and gore in this fic. It's mostly cute, but there are some potentially upsetting scenes. I didn't get overly graphic, but I know it bothers some people, so I figured I should warn you guys.
Volkner usually took the same route back home from class every day: straight down sunny Burmy Boulevard after taking a right from Shellos Street. On that afternoon, however, fate had other plans.
According to the construction workers who'd blocked off the road, Shellos Street was flooded from a water main break. He understood why that would stop cars, but it must have been pretty severe to block even pedestrians.
Nevertheless, Volkner didn't want to cause any trouble for the workers, and too much moisture didn't mix well with his Pokémon anyway, so he shrugged, backtracked, and took an earlier turn down Lairon Lane instead, figuring he could get back on track by hanging a left on Cresselia Court later. Lairon Lane was smaller and more out-of-the-way and had a few sketchy alleys, but it wasn't too unsafe.
He passed the time by kicking the leaves on the sidewalk and chatting openly with the Raichu poking out of his backpack. A few people gave him some weird looks as he passed, but he was used to it; he'd always been good at understanding Pokémon, and he wasn't ashamed of his talents. He was enjoying the colorful fall foliage above his head and considering his Raichu's rather poignant remark about quantum mechanics and infinite universes when he caught a faint pink sparkle out of the corner of his eye.
"Hold that thought, Tesla," Volkner cut off gently. He looked to his left and saw a weak, rosy glimmer in the depths of a scummy-looking back alley. Against his better judgment, he crept cautiously into the narrow alley, driven by curiosity. The color did nothing to dampen his trepidation; he'd never forget the time he faced off against a cheery girl from Johto University in his school's last tournament. The hell he underwent at the hands—or hooves, in this case—of her demonic Miltank had ensured he'd never again underestimate the power of a pink Pokémon.
Even though the alley wasn't too far from the main street, its atmosphere was entirely different. The crisp autumn breeze was blocked, making way for stagnant, slightly warm, damp air. The cloying scent of garbage made Volkner's nose wrinkle. His skin crawled when the sounds of scratching invaded his eardrums, most likely due to a few hidden Rattatas.
The pink glow shone from behind an old, dented garbage can, and Volkner could hear soft, scratchy whimpering coming from it. He crept lower to the ground and peeked behind it, and his eyes widened with shock and concern at the sight.
Huddled in the remnants of a shallow, soggy, water-logged cardboard box lied a tiny, scruffy Buneary, no more than six inches tall. It was shiny, but even its fur's pink luster had trouble shining through the grayish-green grime matted onto its body. The Buneary was in sad shape. It shivered and whimpered weakly as it twitched from the effects of some static electricity, its head just barely lifting to look up at Volkner as it lied on its side, apparently lacking the energy to sit up. Its eyes were dull from fatigue and malnourishment. Volkner gasped softly when he saw that its left ear was missing a sizeable chunk; part of the tip appeared to have been ripped off, and most of the fluff on the top was missing.
It was still breathing, but its breaths were hitched and labored, and painful-looking scratches littered its body. Its behavior was what worried Volkner the most; Bunearys were naturally skittish Pokémon, and if this one had had any strength at all, it would have bolted immediately from having a human this close. Instead, it just flinched feebly and gave a meager hiss at his proximity.
Volkner could feel his eyes well up with anger upon seeing the obvious pain the Buneary was in, but he blinked back the tears of frustration that threatened to fall. There was a Pokémon to attend to. He snapped to action in an instant, whipping his backpack around so swiftly that Raichu squeaked indignantly and leaped out of it. "Sorry, girl, but this is an emergency," Volkner apologized as he rooted through his bag hurriedly, yanking out a Cheri Berry (he thanked Arceus that all the training he did with Electric-types prompted him to carry them with him) and as many potions as he could find. He fumbled with the medicine and sat down to hold out the berry in front of the Buneary's mouth. "Here. This should help," he murmured soothingly.
The Buneary sniffed at the berry in suspicion and growled pitifully. "You don't trust me, huh?" Volkner muttered. He was afraid that would happen. Instead, he handed the berry to his Raichu, who plodded forward and plopped down on the ground in front of the roughed-up rabbit in Volkner's place. She squeaked in encouragement.
The Buneary's hard expression softened at its fellow Pokémon, and it reluctantly took a tiny nibble of the berry and chewed hesitantly. Almost instantaneously, its muscles loosened a little, and it eagerly ate from the Raichu's paws until the static dissipated from its body and it let out a sigh of relief.
Volkner shuffled forward to sit cross-legged on the ground next to his Pokémon. "I'm here to help you, Buneary. You're in pretty bad shape. I don't like seeing a Pokémon in pain, and I want to help you get better. Will you let me help you out?" he asked slowly, gradually extending a hand to the pink bunny. It stared at the hand cautiously for a long time, its eyes narrowed in suspicion. Finally, it allowed a quiet whine to escape and nodded sluggishly.
A small smile spread across Volkner's features as he reached for a potion. "Thank you. This'll sting a little bit at first, but we'll have you fixed up in no time, little guy."
At the first spray, the Buneary winced, but then he looked up at Volkner with a quizzical whimper.
Volkner chuckled comfortingly. "Yes, I can tell you're a boy. I bet you get that mistake a lot, huh? Especially with being shiny." The Buneary looked down sadly, and his silence spoke volumes to Volkner. He watched the scrapes disappear before his eyes as he sprayed another potion. "You know, people always say Bunearys don't have gender differences, but they're wrong. It's all in the eyebrows," Volkner said knowingly. He stifled a laugh as the little one sat up and went cross-eyed in an attempt to see his own eyebrows.
Volkner finished up his work and put his spare potions back into his bag. "Well, that takes care of the injuries," he said, purposely not mentioning the ear. He didn't want to pour salt into the wound, especially with how much Bunearys valued their ears. "Now, what do you say I bring you back to my place and give you a bath to clean you up?"
Even before Volkner finished, the tiny rabbit was shaking his head vigorously and creeping away from him distrustfully. Volkner's face fell, but he didn't move from his spot on the cold ground. "I promise I won't hurt you. I just want to help. It's not healthy to have that much muck in your fur; you could get sick. It's just a bath," he advised desperately.
Unfortunately, the Buneary's trust seemed to have run out. Thanks to the Cheri berry and potions, he'd regained his energy and sprang swiftly further into the alley, shooting away from both Volkner and his Pokémon. Tesla leaped to her feet to try and run after him, but Volkner lowered a hand gently onto her back to stop her.
"Let him go, Tesla. We can't take him home against his will if he doesn't want to be helped," Volkner explained softly. The Raichu tilted her head and squeaked sadly.
"Well, you and I both know I mean no harm, but some Pokémon just can't trust humans, and I can't say I blame them. Humans do some pretty horrible things sometimes. We'll just have to let this one go, Tesla." The Electric-type deflated with worry and disappointment, and Volkner helped her back into his bag to take her home. He dusted off his jeans and stood up, striking up their previous conversation to take their minds off the depressing situation.
"Now, what was that you were saying about Schrödinger's Skitty?"
Volkner was sitting at his desk in his room later that night, staring down at his differential equations homework. He'd read the same problem over three times, but he still couldn't keep his brain on target. Every time he tried to riddle out a solution, worry wormed its way back into his mind and his thoughts shot to the stray Buneary. The poor thing had clearly been abandoned, and Volkner just couldn't understand how someone could do that to a helpless baby Pokémon. Tesla, who usually helped (she couldn't read words, but she was good with numbers and liked double-checking his math for him) seemed similarly distracted as she slouched on his desk. Volkner felt the blunted tip of her tail nudge gently underneath his left eye to catch an almost-shed tear of frustration. He looked up in surprise and was met with understanding, sympathetic brown eyes.
Volkner smiled weakly at the tender gesture. "You're worried about him, too, huh?" She nodded sadly. "Tell you what. We'll go check out that alley tomorrow and see if our buddy's still there, okay? Maybe we'll do a little better this time."
She smiled in relief and nodded, giggling when Volkner poked her tummy with the eraser on his pencil. "Good. Now maybe we can get some work done," he said determinedly. She pumped a paw in the air and squeaked in agreement.
Shellos Street was still closed for repairs, but that didn't matter to Volkner; he was headed for Lairon Lane anyway. Unlike the previous day, he didn't adopt a leisurely stroll, instead walking briskly with a purpose. He ignored the strange looks he got from the passersby when he turned down into the ratty alley.
Once he was back in the stuffy area, he slowed his pace, stepping cautiously so as not to scare any Pokémon lying in wait. He didn't get far before a low growl and some scratching sounds made themselves heard. Volkner squeezed past the garbage can he'd seen the day before and made his way farther into the alley, and he gasped at what he saw.
The same shiny Buneary from the day before was huddled against a wall, clutching a small item in his paws. He shook with fear and wore a petrified expression, and it was no wonder why; he was being growled at by a snarling, mangy Raticate about five times his size. The size difference was only accentuated when the Buneary wilted against the wall. The giant Raticate took the opportunity to leap forward and startle the rabbit Pokémon by snapping its huge fangs and shoving him, making him drop his find. The rat swiftly snatched up the item and turned to dash off.
Volkner wasn't going to allow that. "Tesla, use Knock Off!" he commanded. The Raichu leapt out of Volkner's bag over his head and sprinted toward the rodent. She snapped her long tail over her head and slammed it hard down on the Raticate's skull ruthlessly, causing it to screech in pain, drop the item, and crumple to the ground briefly. Volkner ran onto the scene after his Pokémon. Seeing the human approach, the Raticate shook itself and recovered before fleeing back into the dark corners of the alley in panic.
Volkner glared after the thief for only a moment before his expression softened, and he smiled disarmingly down at the timid rabbit. He bent down to pick up the item—a Chople berry—off the ground, and he hunched and sat down in the center of the alley, a good five feet away from the Buneary to give him plenty of space. "This is a useful item to have. Good choice, little guy," Volkner complimented. He held the berry out in front of him, offering it to its rightful owner.
The Buneary's breathing slowly calmed down from the excitement, and he tilted his head at Volkner in confused recognition. Tesla plopped down next to her trainer and squeaked encouragingly with a cute smile. Once again, her reinforcement gave the Buneary courage, and he hopped forward hesitantly, keeping careful eye contact with Volkner as he plucked the berry from his hands and hopped back a bit.
Volkner retracted his hand afterward and kept the comfortable distance. "That berry could really come in handy, so try to keep a good grip on it. You don't strike me as being the Klutzy type, am I right?"
The Buneary actually smiled at this and looked back down at his item shyly. That was when Volkner noticed something interesting and raised his eyebrows.
"Hey, Buneary, you're all clean!" he pointed out happily, gesturing to the clean, shiny, fluffy coat. "You were all dirty yesterday, and you didn't want a bath, so how'd you do it?"
The Buneary didn't answer, choosing instead to avert his gaze and shuffle his feet bashfully. Volkner decided to change the subject, sensing he probably wouldn't get a straight answer from the Pokémon. "Judging from your scrapes yesterday and the little incident just now, you seem like you have a bit of trouble with some of the other...residents around here. Am I right?" The Buneary's sad, embarrassed scowl told Volkner all he needed to know, and he continued. "You're just a little guy—" The Buneary glared at this, so Volkner amended himself, "—FOR NOW, so how'd you like to learn a new move to help defend yourself? You Buneary tend to be pretty versatile, you know," Volkner told him, smiling supportingly.
The Pokémon cocked a pink eyebrow in curiosity. Taking this as a good sign, Volkner beckoned his Raichu forward. "This is Tesla. She's a good friend of mine. You met her yesterday, remember?" The Buneary looked up at her and nodded. "Well, you just saw her in action, right? Great job, by the way," Volkner praised, scratching underneath her chin in thanks. She preened at the treatment, and her tail curled in contentment. "Well, what if I told you that you can be just as strong as she is someday?"
At this, the wild Pokémon's eyes sparkled with wonder. Volkner hid a chuckle behind his hand. "Do you know the move Thunder Punch?" The Buneary shook his head. "Well, we'd better teach you, then!" Volkner turned to his Pokémon. "Why don't you show him how it's done, Tesla?"
The Raichu huffed excitedly and approached a nearby empty trash can. Electricity crackled in her fist, and she grinned, wound up, and smashed the can with a powerful punch. It careened off and hit a wall, collapsing with a clatter. The garbage can sparked with electricity for a few seconds and then sizzled, lying on its side and sporting a new dent. Tesla put her paws on her hips and squeaked proudly at her work.
Volkner's grin turned smug when he saw the look on the Buneary's star-struck face. "How'd that look? Wanna learn how to do that?" The dazzled rabbit looked from the proud Raichu to Volkner and nodded eagerly with wide eyes. "Great. We'll work on the motion first, okay?"
Volkner and Tesla worked together to make sure the little Buneary had his form right, teaching him to step into the punches and twist his paw at the end for maximum damage. The Buneary was hesitant at first, but he was soon punching the air with confidence.
"You're doing great," Volkner encouraged. "To make it a Thunder Punch, though, you're going to need some electricity. Do you think you can conjure up any sparks? This is the hardest part."
The Buneary frowned, clearly not sure how to proceed. He clenched his paws and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and tried to focus, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes sadly and huffed in disappointment.
Volkner gave him a sympathetic smile. "That's okay, Buneary. It's hard to do if you're not used to holding electricity." He turned to his Raichu. "Tesla, do you think you can help out a bit?" She nodded happily and carefully lowered her tail in front of the Buneary. "Alright, Buneary, she's just going to give you a little spark to get you started. It'll tingle at first, but you'll get used to it."
The Buneary hesitated nervously for a moment before tentatively reaching out a paw. In response, Tesla channeled a few sparks down her tail so they could run into his body. She pulled away before he could get overwhelmed.
For his part, the Buneary jumped at first. Volkner bit his lip to resist laughing; the electricity had set his fur on end and made him look extra poofy. He twitched a little from the electrical energy, but seemed to adjust to it pretty quickly.
"Good! Great job," Volkner praised him. "Now try controlling the sparks and moving them to different parts of your body." The Buneary looked doubtful, so Volkner smiled at him encouragingly. "Don't worry, you Normal-types are great at working with all sorts of elements. I know you'll do just fine."
With the reassurance, the Buneary regained his confidence and did as Volkner instructed. With a little effort and time, he was soon shifting the sparks around at will, and Volkner and Tesla clapped supportively. He quickly learned to focus the electricity in his paws, and Tesla helped him practice by letting him punch her paws.
The now-determined little Pokémon leaped over to another empty garbage can, wound up, and struck it with a shocking punch just as Tesla had done earlier. It didn't fly forcefully into the wall as hers had, but the rabbit did manage to knock it over in a shower of sparks, even though it was about four times his height and made of tough metal. He stared at the damage in shock, his paw still bunched in a tiny fist. He was startled back to attention to a pair of cheers. He smiled bashfully and scratched the back of his head with a paw. It could have been Volkner's imagination, but it almost looked like the Pokémon was blushing lightly.
"Awesome job! You're a natural!" Volkner enthused, beaming with pride. "That was an amazing Thunder Punch. I'm so proud of you!" He held out a hand, and the Buneary hopped forward, giving his fingers an affectionate nuzzle. Elated at the gesture, Volkner gently pet the creature's small head. Tesla joined in, scratching him behind a fluffy ear with her tail. The Buneary whimpered and thumped his foot happily at the treatment, and it dawned on Volkner that the little one had probably never been pet this way before. He ignored the painful pang of sorrow in his heart. "I hope we've been able to help you out; I'd feel terrible if you had no way of defending yourself back here, and I'm willing to bet you still don't trust me enough to come back with me, huh?"
The Buneary stopped moving suddenly and opened his eyes. He looked up at the question and shook his head sadly, taking a step back in apprehension. Volkner retracted his hand regrettably, nodding at Tesla to back off as well. "That's fine. If you're more comfortable here, I could never force you to leave. Do you think we could visit you tomorrow, though? We'd love to see you again," Volkner offered.
Feeling less threatened, the Buneary nodded and gave Volkner a small smile. Volkner returned the grin. "Thank you...hm. I need to know what to call you. I could just keep calling you 'Buneary,' but would you prefer a nickname instead? I think you deserve a special name," Volkner said with a roguish wink.
The Buneary's eyes went wide, and he nodded slightly before trying to hide his face behind the pink fur on his belly. Volkner cocked an eyebrow in curiosity at the behavior, but he pressed on nonetheless. "Well...now that we've seen you smile, it's clear you actually have a very sunny disposition, so..." He exchanged a nod with Tesla. "...how about I call you 'Sunny?' How does that sound?"
The Buneary came out of hiding, tilted his head, and then gave a satisfied nod and a grin. It was getting late, so Volkner and Tesla bid goodbye to Sunny and left the alley with promises to return the next day.
Volkner and Tesla visited Sunny every day for the two weeks or so, even on the weekend. Each time, the Buneary had gotten stronger. They worked on powering up his Thunder Punches, and Volkner fed him Oran and Sitrus Berries. He was incredibly surprised (and overjoyed) to find out the Pokémon had somehow learned Fire Punch, too. Volkner had always felt fire and electricity complimented each other very well. He regaled Sunny with stories about battles he'd had with his Pokémon; these were Sunny's favorites. His eyes glowed with admiration at every tale. Soon, the little rabbit was glowing with health and happiness, and he'd grown about three inches taller. He was always clean, too, though Volkner was never sure why; he'd avoided asking the Buneary to come home with him again. If Sunny ever wanted to be adopted, Volkner hoped he'd take that step on his own.
As their bond grew, Sunny grew more comfortable with him, and Volkner happily showered him with affection by petting him and scratching his ears gently—taking care to avoid lingering on the mangled spot on the left one (it looked better now, but Volkner knew it would never be entirely normal). Every time he pet Sunny, the Pokémon's behavior became more perplexing; he tried to hide his face, shuffled timidly, and smiled in a goofy way. His face turned red sometimes, too. It confused Volkner, so he expressed his concerns on the topic on the way home one night.
"Tesla, Sunny's been acting weird lately, don't you think?" he said over his shoulder. "He seems happy, but he acts kind of funny when I pet him these days. Do you know what the deal is?"
The Raichu merely giggled and responded with a series of laughing squeaks.
Volkner balked. "You'll 'tell me when I'm older?' What's that supposed to mean?!"
He was only met with more knowing chuckles.
It was a Thursday afternoon when everything changed. Volkner had forgotten his backpack at school, so Tesla walked beside him instead that day. Volkner took his now usual turn down Lairon Lane and strode toward the alley with a spring in his step.
"Sunny, it's Volkner! Tesla and I are here to see you again! Where are you?"
Volkner knew something wasn't right when they were met with silence. Before that day, Sunny had adopted the habit of jumping out of the back and hopping joyfully over to him whenever he visited. He tried calling out again to no avail, and he shared apprehensive gazes with Tesla as he nervously stepped farther in, afraid of what he might find. He hadn't gotten too far into the din when he saw the problem.
"Shit."
It was horrible, even worse than the first day.
Sunny was slumped against a grimy wall. His pink fur was dingier than Volkner had ever seen it, and his face was pale and tearstained as he struggled to take in feeble, shuddering breaths. Deep, bloody scrapes and nasty bruises marred the Pokémon's body. Sunny's limbs twitched weakly, and his eyelids just barely fluttered open when he heard Volkner. A pitiful whimper of recognition left him when he saw his friend, but his eyes quickly fell closed again as he shivered in pain. Volkner gasped in horror when he noticed Sunny was lying prone in a puddle of what appeared to be his own blood. He hadn't known it was possible for such a small creature to lose that much blood.
Immediately, Volkner reached around to his back—and his blood ran cold.
"Fuck...I don't have my backpack! I don't have any medicine with me! Oh, Arceus..." Volkner's hands shook. He knew what he had to do. He whipped off his jacket and bent down to the injured Pokémon.
"Sunny...I know you don't want to leave this alley, but I don't have any potions with me," he begged frantically. He held up a hand to the Buneary's forehead and paled at how warm it was. His stomach turned. "Shit...you're poisoned, too...what happened?" Sunny whined quietly and sniffled. "...A whole gang of Palpitoad? No wonder neither of your punches worked...well, I have to take you to a Pokémon Center. I can't help you otherwise."
Sunny's face showed brief apprehension, but his eyes then closed in resignation. Knowing that was about as much consent as he was going to get in this situation, Volkner nodded and held out his jacket. "Tesla, can you help me out?"
With his Raichu's help, Volkner shifted Sunny's alarmingly limp body into his coat, gently wrapping it around him like a blanket for protection. He and Tesla bolted out of the alley with their precious cargo and dashed into the main street toward the closest Center they knew of.