A/N: That was a pretty long oneshot! Well, anyway it's about a Feebas/Milotic, so enjoy! It was a bit rushed so the ending wasn't good. A pretty bad fanfic I guess. Uh, don't kill me, Wil/Absol Master. Comments appreciated as always!
I am an outcast.
Other pokémon shun me. They throw disgusted looks at me. They avoid me.
Sometimes, I hate myself. I hate my appearance. Every time I look up at my reflected image on the surface of the water, a hideous beast looks back at me—a hideous beast with tattered fins, dark circles around eyes and a sickly yellow appearance.
Why is life so unfair to me? Why am I not as graceful as a Goldeen? Or even special like a Staryu? Or at least decent-looking, like a Magikarp? I don't expect much, really. I just want to look acceptable, to be able to play with the other pokémon, to let them accept me as one of them.
Even trainers are disgusted by my appearance. Once, I had let myself be fished up, only to be mocked at and thrown back into the river. Am I really that repulsive?
I was so heartbroken, so depressed; I did not even notice that I was being scooped up slowly…
--
I am staring into the face of a trainer.
Any moment now, he was going to throw me, the monster he had caught, back into the river.
However, that moment never came.
A pokéball came flying at me. I didn't even resist. I was too happy that someone actually wants me.
Even if it was at the cost of being entrapped in darkness, robbed of freedom.
--
For the first time in my life, I feel glad. Glad that I'm alive, glad that someone appreciates me, glad that I am wanted, loved.
My trainer never cared about my appearance. He treated me with the same loving care any trainer would have given their pokémon.
"In my eyes, you're the most beautiful," he said to me.
If only I could speak the human language! I wanted so much to tell him how overjoyed, how touched I was to hear that, to know that I was loved. I wanted to declare how much I loved him too, how much his words meant to me.
Nothing else matters now. The pain, the leers and the taunts were all history. I see only light ahead of me.
--
A wave of nervousness washes over me as I step onto the stage with my trainer.
I was in a contest.
I could see the judges' disapproval written clearly on their faces; they had obviously hoped for a better-looking candidate. The crowd got rowdier and jeers were being hurled at my trainer and me from every direction. For a moment, I thought that I was still back in my river; I could feel those disdainful glares on me.
But as I heard my trainer's confident command, all my fear, all my lack of self-esteem was driven out of my mind. Instead, it was filled with only one thought: I had to live up to his expectations; I had to make him happy. It was him, and only him that I thought of as I released the most beautiful fountain of clear, sparkling water with which fell gracefully around me like a veil, shrouding all my unattractiveness. I could see the judges' expression changing; they no longer saw the less-than-ordinary-looking pokémon, but a beautiful spray that disguised everything. The audience's jeers changed to cheers. The next thing I knew, we had scored 29.7—an amazingly high score.
--
Again, I was on the stage.
The only difference was that it had been changed to a battlefield.
Facing me was a Linoone with the sleekest, shiniest fur I had ever seen. Its radiance dimmed all those around it; ragged-finned, weary-looking and slimy yellow, I seemed particularly dull and hideous in comparison.
As I just began to marvel at the Linoone, without warning, a Surf hit me straight in the face. I snapped back from my dreamy admiring—this was a battle.
I launched every move I knew at the Linoone, but all seemed futile—it was too strong. Soon, it was all over me, slashing at me with the long, knife-sharp claws. I was going down; I was failing my trainer after all…
Then, energy coursed through me. I was paralyzed, as though by an electric jolt.
I started glowing, morphing, lengthening.
Others stared in awe as the glowing finally dimmed. I felt much taller, stronger, and strangely…confident.
"Twister!" came my trainer's command. I had never heard of this move before, yet I reacted, almost instinctively, whipping up a vortex of wind that enveloped the Linoone. Then, a Water Pulse sent it flying and knocked it into complete oblivion.
What came next was an ear-splitting roar of thunderous applause. I would never forget the look of joy in his eyes as he stepped up and received the ribbon.
I was then when I saw my reflection in the water.
I was unrecognisable.
Every tract of the crude ugliness had vanished, only to be replaced by a mysterious grace I would never have imagined myself to possess. Through the marvellous process of evolution, I had completely metamorphosed from the Ugly Duckling to a graceful swan.
I am grateful to the world, grateful to the beautiful evolutionary form it gave me. It was like my re-birthing.
--
My trainer and I have braved countless toils and trials, and here we are, on the stage of the Grand Festival, at long last.
Excitement coursed through every single vein in my body. This was it. This was the time I had long awaited for, to show the world what I have become, what I am capable of doing. No longer am I the rejected, abandoned pokémon in a lonely lake, who despises herself for what she is. I am proud of who I am, and I will, for my trainer and myself, do my utmost best to win this greatest and grandest contest.
The appeals went as smoothly as planned. Our high score of 29.6 assured our entry into the second round. From then on, I knew, meant countless battles of not only deadly skill, but also with amazing grace.
Let the challenges commence.
--
Never had I had such a tangle of emotions. Anxiety, nervousness, anticipation, elatedness and many other feelings from the wide spectrum of emotions were all emerging as I stepped up the stage to the finals—to meet my fate against the Ampharos.
Technically speaking, Ampharos, being an electric type, had a huge edge over me. However, in a battle, anything could happen. Today, I shall make everyone witness the most terrific fight a water type could put up with an electric type.
It was easier said than done; the Ampharos was so speedy, an electric jolt was sent flying at me before I was even ready. Fast on my feet, I sent an Ice Beam at it, but I had dodged it nimbly, retaliating with an even better charged Thunderbolt.
The shock of electricity still tingling through me, I wasted no time in entrapping the Ampharos with a gooey, sticky purple liquid—poison. It fell back, frothing slightly at the mouth. Next, I followed up with a Twister and a Hydro Pump. The water was spun into a towering vortex which went directly for the Ampharos, enveloping it in a water-and-wind prison.
A sudden wave of electricity split the water tornado in two and Ampharos reappeared, hardly damaged. However, its contest points were still heavily penalised.
Soon, the poison started to take effect. The Ampharos doubled over, writhing in pain. I obeyed my trainer and headed with a full Body Slam, but unexpectedly, at the last moment, the Ampharos let loose a jolt of electricity, and I came into full contact with the charge. Every pore in my body seemed to have been set on fire. The numbness did not lessen the intensity of the pain. Then, with a pang of horror, I noticed the small waves of electricity surrounding my body—I had been paralyzed.
The Ampharos took advantage of my weak moment and hit me with an Iron Tail, sending me flying across the room. With great difficulty I got up and summoned a chilling blizzard that seemed to freeze the entire stadium. The Ampharos tried to evade the spreading frost by jumping into the air, but was a second too late and was instantaneously turned into a frozen statue.
With the last of my strength, I slammed into the glistening ice statue and it shattered, the shards piercing the Ampharos' skin. Just then, the bell sounded and relief washed over me—it was finally over.
I took a glimpse at the contest points and my heart leapt—I was a fraction ahead.
It took my trainer a moment to realise this. Disbelief and joy was all over him, and the next instant he came bounding to me, hugging me tightly. One of the judges was there, smiling and holding up the shiny golden Festival Cup—what we had fought for and trained for all these years.
As we stood on the podium, my trainer holding the trophy cup, waving up happily at everyone, and inexplicable sense of gratification coursed through me. We had achieved what we were here for. We had won.
--
I have been abandoned, betrayed by the one I thought would never do this to me.
I had been nothing but a tool, a tool to achieve his means. After that, he just got rid of me.
I could not believe it a first; I refused to believe it. But as I saw his retreating shadow, I knew that this was the harsh truth—he had used me, he had never treated me as a being with feelings, but a disposable tool meant for him to achieve his purpose.
How could I have been fooled, coaxed by his sweet words just like that? How could I have been so foolish?
Anger began to take control of the better part of me. Humans were filthy traitors, and we pokémon succumbed to their tempting words vulnerably. But that would be the past. I would not allow that to happen again.
An indistinct shadow emerged from nowhere. It seemed to sympathize with me, seemed to know just how I felt. Moreover, it was a pokémon. By instinct, I knew it had to be one, and it was just like me, abandoned and unwanted.
Humans are disgusting, it told me. If you lend me your power, I would be able to help you get back at that human who betrayed you.
For a moment, I hesitated. Did two wrongs make a right? But the pokémon's words sounded so inviting. Don't you want revenge?
Vengeance. The idea was imprinted in my head and I could not get rid of it. The desire for revenge grew stronger and stronger. The hesitation vanished into thin air.
I will help you.
--
Together, we journeyed down to his hometown.
Every human face we met seemed to be filled with malice. That fuelled my anger, and my anger fuelled the unknown pokémon's power.
Soon, in front of my very eyes, I saw my wrath transform to great destruction: the entire town was soon in chaos, on fire.
My eyes burned with the fire. Let it burn, burn down the entire place!
Just then, we saw him: the hateful person who had abandoned me, who had deceived me. His clothes were on fire; he saw me and crept towards me, a pleading look in his eyes. Make it stop, he mouthed. Make it stop.
I eyed him with utmost loathing. My rage flared up. Stop? I laughed. I would not stop this, not when he had abandoned me so ruthlessly. I shall show him the power we pokémon beheld, tell him never to belittle us again. Never ever. I stared down at him with vindictive pleasure and cruel satisfaction as he burned to ashes in front of me.
But as I watched, a tiny beacon of conscience rang in the back of my head. Wasn't I turning into him? Turning into the cold-hearted, merciless being I so detested? These questions softened and nullified my anger. Slowly, it turned to horror. W-what have I done? How could I have killed an entire town just because of one spark of fury?
The unknown pokémon was not happy with these new thoughts. Keep the anger coming! It encouraged. But all of a sudden, I found it impossible to comply with these instructions. I could not do further damage. Without my ire, the inferno died down.
Useless! An unknown wave of energy lashed out at me, knocking me to the ground. The shadowy pokémon dissipated, leaving me alone in the wreck that had been brought about by my own will.
Over and over again, I had been used and abandoned, even by a fellow pokémon.
Was I really that weak-hearted, that susceptible to others' usage?
But it all did not matter now. I could feel death closing in upon me, to take me away and release me from the burdens of this world…
--
Even in death, I was unwanted.
I was left to haunt this world for eternity, the world which had abandoned me time and again.
No one could possibly harm me now; but whenever I passed by the reconstructed town, the one I had destroyed, a surge of guilt washes over me.
It was all my fault.
But I could not be released from this terrible burden. I was to bear this sin for eternity.
And I will forever remain as the outcast.