"Hello, is anyone there? I'm home!" I shouted with no response. It's quiet, too quiet, but, In the middle of the day? Where is everyone? I thought, as I walked into my house. The lights were on, and no one left the building. Where could they be? In my parent's room, maybe? As I creep by the hole next too the bedrooms, I hear a strange noise… coming from my room. What would be in my room? Did something fall off a shelf? I carefully inch my way into my room to find that the light is off, which is odd, because I usually keep it on. I guess I'll just walk over to turn it on and…
"Happy birthday Oliver!" they shouted, nearly giving me a heart attack. I didn't know most of them. They were all smiling and staring at me, they seemed to be waiting for something. I stumble back to my door to catch my breath. My father just laughs at me with his tail spinning fast enough to create a whirlpool.
"We got you good, didn't we." He giggled.
"A little too good, I nearly jumped out of my fur!" I retaliated.
They all laughed, and my father exclaimed,"What a silly Buizel!" I'm not sure to feel happy, embarrassed or excited, and what I get is a weird combo of all three.
"Why did you have to scare me like that? Wait it's my birthday already?" I remarked.
"Why of course it is!" my father said as he rubbed my head, "You're going to be a strong Floatzel someday!"
"I'm still just a Buizel, though!"
"You might evolve some day!" He added, as he put down a big fish down on the table.
My mother promptly cut it into 4 pieces, threw out the head and gave me the first piece, then my father made a bell ring and almost everyone started to open their mouths for a gasp of air. I never know what to do when this happens.
"Oooooooooh!" Oh no.
"It's your birthday!" Am I supposed to do something?
"It is your birthday!" Just listen to this?
"Happy birthday!" It's kind of hard to.
"Happy happy birthday!" I just feel like I am supposed to do something.
"Happy birthday to yooooooou!" I hope I'm not disappointing anyone…
"Oliver!"
Why did someone have to come up with that annoying song for birthdays? You will never catch me saying that, ever.
"Go ahead, dig in!" my mother urged.
As I was eating the fish my mother gave me, everyone was saying their goodbyes and leaving. That's how all birthdays are, everyone sings, and then he or she eats.
As soon as the last Buizel or Floatzel leaves, my parents clean up my room and go back to their normal routine: cleaning the house, talking to others, or finding out when they have to work.
Work, in this case is guarding. Only Floatzels do it because they seem to scare more easily. They only have to do it for 4 hours at a time, before they have to change with another family; two or three Floatzel guard at a time. Except now, there are about four or five of them out at a time, I wonder why that is. What they do is walk around the village, and alert us if someone is coming; usually no one comes near our village, but we get about one or two alerts per day, and most of them don't seem to be enemies. On the rare occasion we do get someone who dares to steal something from our village, they are easily beaten up, thrown out, and never return.
I've seen Pokemon walk by with strange technology on them. Like a device that's able to keep time without needing a wire or anything. I don't see how that's possible; a single waterwheel on the river beside the village powers all of our stuff, which is a town clock, and house lights. I guess our village is low tech compared to the outside world. I don't know; I've never been in the outside world. As I walk back to the family room, I realized, I don't remember what I came into the house for. Whatever it was, I hope it wasn't important. Our houses are all circle sort of huts, with a single room, the family room, which is also our kitchen. We dig underground for a hallway, and our rooms.
We aren't really a social village either. Most the time we only affect each other is: when we were young, learning and occasionally playing; someone has a birthday; or when we are on the job. The only friend I have, if you could call him a friend, barely talks to me and we only see each other when out hunting with our families, but since I'm now an age where we can, and are encouraged to on our own, we won't anymore.
"Oliver, go out and get some fish." My mother demanded.
"Yes, mother" I replied. And just like that, I'm told to go get fish. This is first time I go out to get food for my own family. I hope I get a big one!
On the riverbank I do some stretches, make sure my corkscrew tail works properly without straining. Being young, you'd think that you would get help from your parents, but not at this age, it seems. I don't know much about fish habitats, behaviors, or anything! I just know what they taste like, and they taste awesome.
As I get into the water, I once again do a little stretch. I attempt to wait for some fish to pass by, I don't know when they will come, either upstream or down. I'm so nervous; I usually had my parents help me. They seem to know exactly what they were doing. Was I supposed to watch them? They moved by so fast that it was hard to keep an eye on them! Ugh, I feel stupid, although I shouldn't, because my parents are the fastest in the village. Their 'title' makes them think more highly of me.
I take a guess and go downstream, hoping that I could get some fish. I start to jet downstream and there, I see a sparkle in the river, some fish maybe? I slow my speed and approach it, and, oh my word, it was the biggest fish I have ever seen. It had to be about 20 inches in length. Its sparkling blue scales had me almost in a trance; I had to get that fish. I approach it slowly to try and not to startle it, but as I get anywhere close to the fish, it saw me and started swimming away fast, I revved up my tail, and the chase is on. The fish turns about frequently when I get close to it. As I get really close to the fish, it turns right toward me and swims past my face. It is not going to get away I won't let it! I start to rush with all my might toward the fish; I'm starting to run out of air quickly, if I keep this up. I get real close to the fish again, and once again, it turns around toward my face, but this time I catch it with my front paws! The fish flips and flops around trying to get away, while I try to head to the surface to get some air. This has to be the hardest tug-of-war game yet, my hands can slip at any moment. If I can just get some air, this will all be over! It sees that I am trying to head toward the surface, and swims downward, putting more strain on our fight. An inch away from the surface, the fish jets with all his might on the bottom, and gets away. UGH, what an IDIOT I am for not getting the fish! I resurface and get a gasp of air, just so I can immediately exhale it with a groan of anger. The fish cannot be seen anywhere.
Somehow, through my groans, I was able to hear someone crying. I got back onto the ground and followed the sound through the forest. I saw a Chikorita crying alone on the base of a tree. "Why are you crying?" I asked.
"A buizel? W-who are you?" she replied.
"My name is Oliver, but that's not important. Why are you crying?"
"I can't get to town because there is a big rock blocking the cave!"
"There's a town nearby? I've never been out of the river around here…"
"Wait, I think there is a way to get to town through this river! Oh, but I don't know how to swim…" the Chikorita Sighed.
"I can get you there!" I exclaimed.
"Are you sure you can hold me?"
I point to my air floatation sack around my neck "Sure I can!" The Chikorita smiled with joy and relief. I get back into the water and inflate my air sack. "Is it downstream?" I asked. She nodded. I lied on my stomach on the water, "Hop in!" The Chikorita slowly started to get onto my back, hoping back as she touched the water. "Are you alright, Need help?" I offered.
"N-no I'm fine I just have a… a thing with water." She stammered.
"Water is nothing to be afraid of!" I shouted as I splashed some water in her direction. She screamed and hid her head under her legs. I can't feel more stupid, I shouldn't have done that. "Oh no, I- I… I didn't mean that! I'm so sorry!" I got out of the water. I attempt to get close to her but her leaf was swatting at me and I couldn't get close. "That was stupid of me I didn't mean to scare you…" I tried calming her down with my guilty feelings for a few more minutes, she stopped swatting at me and I was able to get close to her. "I'm deeply sorry for what I have done. I promise to never do that again…" I said as I touched her head. She started peeking out of her legs.
"Y- You promise?" She asked.
"I promise!" I affirmed.
"O… Okay…"
I looked at the ground and said, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you like that." As I get back into the water and onto my stomach. "I'll let you get on at your own pace."
After a few more jumps back from the water, she finally got on my back; I could tell she was shaking with fear from the water. "Hold on tight!" I stated. She whimpered in response. I started going downstream at an average speed, trying not to go too fast, but at a speed that would get somewhere. "You okay?" I asked. A nod and a murmur was all I got in reply.
I waited for her to get used to the water, at least, enough to talk. "So, what do you do at a 'town'?" I asked.
"Yyoou don't knnoow?" She replied, shakily.
"I've never been outside of my village of Buizel and Floatzel."
"Hhhuuh."
"Well, I have seen other Pokemon pass by my village, but I never even thought about where they might be going."
"Rreeally? Iii'll show you arroound once wwe get there!"
"Oh man, that would be really neat, but I have to get back to my parents soon."
"Thaat's really saad, can I show yoou around before you haave to go?" She sounded excited, behind that quivering voice.
"I'm not sure; I should be really getting back to my parents before soon."
"Come oon, it'll be-"Then, all of a sudden, a huge wave in the river came into view over the horizon
I interrupted. "Keep that thought, because hold on! A big wave is coming!" She reacted and started trying to grip on harder than she was. As the wave got closer, the water went down a few inches, before the big splash came. It forced us underwater for a brief second. I am surprised she is not shaking her heart out from that; I should probably wait for her to shake the fear of water off.
Then I realized, "Hey, miss, you never said your name." No response, I turned my head and asked again, "Hey, what's your na…" oh my no, she's gone! I turn around in the water and I see her about 100 meters back, half-struggling in the water. The wave must have been incredibly strong. I race back toward her as fast as I can possibly move. Halfway there, I see her stop moving in the water, she must have gone unconscious… As I get closer, she stops moving altogether. My mind stops thinking, all I can think of is getting her to safety. I can feel the water rushing past my face as I rush toward her, my beating heart, racing. The ambient sound of being underwater slowly getting quieter until I can't hear it at all. I only see her, and nothing else. I have to save her.
With my heart racing, I get to her, grab her, jump out of the river and lay her down on her back. What was I supposed to do, CPR? Oh man, my mom told me how to do it, but I'd never think to use it, even though we can't actually breathe underwater, I'd never actually think to use it. Uhm, what was it…? Breathe into their mouth, then press on their chest 30 times, and then repeat? Well … I don't have any other option… I take a huge breath and kneel down to blow into her mouth; next, I find a place that would be best, upper torso, was it…? I press down on her upper chest as I count to 30. I took another breath and repeat. On the third repeat, I felt tears dropping from my cheek. Everything on my mind was thinking of her survival. I just wouldn't be able to forgive myself if she died! Fourth, repeat, fifth, sixth! No, She CAN'T DIE... seventh breath to... I-*Cough* w-what was that?
She- She's coughing. I did it! I saved her life... from my accident... The Chikorita starts to lean over and cough the water out. She starts to open her eyes for a brief second, her face showing a light pink, before closing them again. She's unconscious, but this time, she's asleep. I can't believe I accidentally dropped her out of my hands and let her drown like that. Well, I still have to get her into town. I hope that since she's sleeping, she won't have a fuss if I get her back into the water.
This time, I go on my back, with the Chikorita on my belly so that I can hold her, and make it easier to see if she's still on top of me. I make sure to go slower, a LOT slower. As I put her on my belly, she starts to fidget around, but stops shortly after. A few minutes downstream, she starts to wake up. As she opens her eyes I cover them with my paws, "Ssshhh, no, no, just keep your eyes closed." I sighed, "Listen, I've had enough guilt for one day, I'll just get you to town, and you don't have to ever see me again, alright? We're almost there." When we get near the town, I see many buildings, made of some sort of red stone material that I've never seen before; it seems a lot sturdier than the houses we live in. "Where can I go to get to town from the river?" I asked.
"At the dock..." She whimpered.
"What's a doc…-" Then, I see a bunch of long, wide wooden planks reaching out of the town and into the river, this must be the dock. "Never mind." I said. I placed her on top of the plank that was in my reach, patted her on the head and said, "There, it's all over now. Well, goodbye, I'm sorry for everything I've done." She starts to open her eyes as I get back into the water. "Wait!" She exclaimed, "Don't leave!"
I inflate my flotation sack to get my head above the water. "Yes?" I asked,
"Could you... Could you meet me back here... tomorrow?"
"I... you... but... I might scare or..."
"J-just meet me at this town tomorrow, maybe around 2 o'clock, please?" She stammered.
"Well, Uhm, sure. I-what's... oh, you never told me your name..."I replied, also stammering.
"My name is Grayce, and… it's been nice having you around, Oliver."
"O-okay see you tomorrow Grayce." I still can't believe what just happened. After all of that she... she wants to see me again? I scared the world out of her... As I approach near my village, I still do not believe it. Nevertheless, there it is the symbol of our village in the middle of the riverbank; A Sea Shell with twigs sticking out to represent the twin tails we have. We put it there so that we know where to get out to our village, as it's sometimes hard to see the waterwheel from underwater.
I opened my door and shouted, "I'm home!"
A quick reply from my parents quickly followed, almost at the same time, "Did you catch any fish?"
"Did I what, oh, that, I almost caught a big one, but it got away and..." My mother came out of the family room, "So, you didn't catch any fish" she said with a groan in her voice, "You took almost two hours outside, and you didn't catch any fish."
"But I tried, and there were complications, there was this…"
"I guess I'm going to have to go get our fish today."
"But I..." I yelped as she walked out of the door, closing it on my face.
She came back 15 minutes later with what seemed like the exact fish I was trying to catch earlier. She looked at me, with an expression on her face, as if to say 'I caught this fish without even using my tail, why couldn't you get it?' She announced her arrival, and lunch to my father. She chopped off the head, and then what was left of it into 3 pieces, she gave me the tailpiece, the worst piece. I don't know why, but the tail is just so unsatisfying. In fact, they give it to me when I don't work up to my parents expectations, which is a lot. After lunch, I went around to the family room, where there's a window. I looked out to the river on the other side of the village, where I just kept thinking of Grayce. Why did she want me to see me again? I just, don't see why… I noticed the sun was about to go down. So I crawled into my leaf bed, and went to sleep, hoping that tomorrow will be a better day.