Hiya folks! BabyCharmander here. Been a while, huh? Well… I have a few things to say about this fic.
One, thanks to the folks who beta'd this before me! (My friend Diddgery, and Lightning too, I believe.)
Two, this isn't a normal Pokémon fic. It'll probably make more sense if you read this as though it were a children's book written in the Pokémon world, if that makes sense.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Nintendo/Game Freak does.
On with the fic!
"Momma, may I have a Pokémon?"
Such was Lily's request, day after day. And day after day, her mother would gaze down at that beautiful little girl with blue eyes, brown hair, and old clothing, and say:
"I'm sorry, dear; we don't have enough money to keep one."
Nor did they have enough money to buy new clothing, or new shoes, or good food. They had enough money to keep their house, and to feed themselves. That was all.
Yet Lily's request was still the same every day. Of course, she was never rude or whiny or snotty about it; that would never do. She would simply ask in that quiet, pleading voice,
"Momma, may I have a Pokémon?"
Yet her mother's response was still the same every day. Her words were never harsh or scolding, though. She would simply respond in that calm, apologetic voice,
"I'm sorry, dear; we don't have enough money to keep one."
There was a park by Lily's house, and she would play there every day. Unlike most kids, who would bring their pet Pokémon, Lily would bring her only toy: an old stuffed Teddisura that used to be her mother's. Also unlike the other kids, she would stay off to one spot and play by herself. There was a good reason for that.
"Look guys, it's Rags!"
Lily, who was pushing her stuffed Teddisura on a swing, did not look up as three kids approached her. All three had either nice-looking or fancy clothes, and each had a Pokémon: a Chatot with colorful feathers, a Glameow with beautiful fur, and an Eevee with a shiny coat.
"Aren't those the clothes you wore yesterday?" asked the girl with the Chatot, pinching her nose in disapproval.
"Stinky! Stinky!" chirped the Chatot with colorful feathers.
"How're you gonna get friends with ugly clothes like that?" mocked the boy with the Glameow.
The Glameow with beautiful fur looked askance at Lily.
"She won't!" said the boy with the Eevee. "Her mom doesn't have money to buy her new clothes, and she doesn't have money to buy her a Pokémon, like our parents!" He held up his Eevee and smirked.
The Eevee with the shiny coat smirked, too.
Lily still did not look up.
Suddenly the three kids surrounded her, all chanting a rhyme:
"Raggy-baggy got no money! Her face is dirty and her nose is runny! She's got no pet, so she just pretends! No wonder that she has no friends!"
The kids laughed, and ran away.
Lily still did not look up, but she did start thinking.
The next day, Lily still gave the same request to her mother. Except now, one word had changed:
"Momma, may I have a friend?"
Her mother froze, and looked up from her work and into her daughter's eyes. The little girl still had a pleading look, but now it seemed more desperate. She did not know what had made her daughter change that one word in her request, but she did know one thing: because the request was different, the response would be different as well.
"Yes, dear. You may have a friend."
Lily's mother had but one friend: an old gentleman who lived out by the lake. He had long since retired, and spent his free time sitting out on the dock, fishing. The poor lady gave him a single request:
"Can you give my daughter a friend?"
He gazed at the woman for a moment, and then looked into the water thoughtfully.
"Goldeen are beautiful, but they can get violent or stubborn sometimes. Finneon can get sick very easily unless you treat them constantly…" He went down his mental list, thinking over each item on it but ultimately refusing every one. Eventually he came down to the end of that list, and drew a deep breath. "I know of one that's easy to take care of. Food for it would be very cheap, but… I don't know if it's what she's looking for."
"If it's something I can afford to care for, it will do."
Then the old fisherman looked into the poor lady's eyes with a piercing gaze. "There is one great expense that must be paid."
"What? But I can't afford—"
"You will not be the one to pay it. She will."
The poor lady was confused.
"She must give it all of her love. If she does not, she will pay dearly."
"She will. For as long as she has been asking me, she will surely love it."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Come back tomorrow, and I'll give you what you've requested."
"Lily, I've brought you something."
This was something that Lily very rarely heard her mother say. So, full of excitement, she ran up to her mother. "What is it, Momma?"
Lily's mother stood with her hands behind her back. "I've brought you a friend." And she showed it to her.
It was not pretty. It had hard, orange scales; big, dull eyes; and long, yellow whiskers. It was small and unimpressive looking, and swam around in a little bowl.
But despite all this, Lily smiled.
"He's perfect, Momma!"
She took the bowl in her hands and carried it back to her room, setting it on a bare table. "Hello!" she said. "I don't know who you are or what you are, but you're my friend." She then hugged the bowl, and kissed it.
The fish Pokémon just swam around, appearing to take no notice of Lily's actions.
But still, Lily loved her friend.
Lily fed the strange fish Pokémon every day. Her mother bought the cheapest food possible, not due to stinginess, but because it was all she could afford. Yet Lily seemed to act as though she had prepared it herself, carefully dropping the exact amount of food required into the water.
But once the fish Pokémon had eaten, it went back to swimming in circles. Never once did it look at Lily.
But still, Lily loved her friend.
Time went on, and the fish Pokémon grew. Eventually it was starting to grow too large to fit in its little bowl, and could hardly swim in circles anymore.
Lily, concerned for her friend, began to work every day in order to earn money. She would go from house to house, asking if there was something that she could do to help. Usually there was, and usually the pay was meager. Nonetheless, she worked as hard as she could, and eventually earned enough money to buy a bigger bowl for her friend.
Carefully she carried home the bowl and brought it into her room, where she filled it with water and moved her friend into it.
But once the fish Pokémon had moved into a larger home where it could once again swim around in circles, that was what it did. It never acknowledged Lily's hard work, nor did it even look at her.
But still, Lily loved her friend.
One day, as Lily watched her friend, she had an idea.
"Swimming around in that same old bowl every day must be terribly boring," she said to the fish, "so I will take you to the park."
So Lily put the fish's bowl on an old wagon and took him out to the park, taking great care not to bump the wagon against anything. When she got there, however, she paused when she saw three kids staring at her. Seeing the bowl sitting on her wagon, they walked up to her to investigate.
"Hey, what's that?" asked the girl with the Chatot.
"Weird, weird," chirped the Chatot with colorful feathers.
"It's a fish!" said the boy with the Glameow.
The Glameow with beautiful fur glanced at the fishbowl disdainfully.
"It's an ugly fish!" said the boy with the Eevee.
The Eevee with the shiny coat sneered.
"It's got ugly scales!"
"Those whiskers look stupid!"
"It looks really dumb!"
The children mocked, and their Pokémon sneered.
Lily had had enough.
"Stop it!" she exclaimed. "I don't care what you think of him! He's my friend, and I love him!"
But that only made the kids laugh and jeer even more. Finally, they ran away.
Lily dragged her wagon home, tears in her eyes. Even though she had a Pokémon now, the kids didn't like it, and they still made fun of her. And even though she loved her friend… the fish never acknowledged her.
When Lily got home, she took her friend's bowl into her room and stared at it. As she did so, three Pokémon appeared at her window: the Chatot with colorful feathers, the Glameow with beautiful fur, and the Eevee with the shining coat.
"Ugly, ugly," sang the Chatot with colorful feathers. "Your friend is ugly, ugly!"
"It's very stupid," quipped the Glameow with beautiful fur. "It doesn't even notice anything."
"And it made the other kids make fun of you more," pointed out the Eevee with the shining coat.
"So why should you love it?" asked all three Pokémon at once.
Lily thought for a while about the Pokémon's words. What they spoke was true; her friend was not very pretty, it never paid attention to her, and it made the kids at the park make fun of her even more than they did before.
"…I don't care. I don't care if he's not pretty, or not smart, or if other people don't like him. He's my friend, and I love him!"
At that moment, the fish in the bowl began to glow. Then, it began to grow. And slowly, it became a giant, serpentine creature.
Its colors were brighter than the Chatot's feathers.
Its scales were more beautiful than the Glameow's fur.
Its body was shinier than the Eevee's coat.
But despite all of this, the serpent looked ferocious. The other Pokémon fled, but Lily stood her ground, albeit a little fearfully.
"…A-are you going to hurt me?"
The creature stared at her. "If you were like other people, I would.
"But you are not like other people, Lily. You loved me even though I was ugly. You loved me even though I was stupid. You loved me even though others did not love me.
"You are a true friend, Lily."
And the serpentine Pokémon brought good fortune on Lily and her mother, ensuring that they both lived long, happy lives. But even without the blessing…
Lily loved her friend.
And her friend loved her.