Togepi
Jheya Ono
Disclaimer: Normal disclaimers apply, I don't pretend to own Pokémon, all of it belongs to Nintendo, and not to me. I don't own the characters; I've just borrowed them for a bit. I wish I
did own them, cos then I would have a heap of cash, but I don't. Don't sue!Hey! Just a short fluffy fic, because I got fed up with writing another fic. I've currently gotten really stuck about halfway through, so this was just for a bit of light relief...
Enjoy!
Life is different when viewed from a height of one foot...
~Lila~
"Toge..."
I yawn and slowly uncurl from my shell. My arms and legs appear from where they had been hidden, and I sleepily open my eyes. The pale morning light filters in through the window, and I smile. Looking around, I notice Mama is still sleeping, one arm wrapped around my body, and I try to limit my movement so as not to disturb her. I suddenly realise what is missing from my immediate surroundings. Yirou isn't there. I wonder where he could be, as he is never very far from my side.
Big brother Yirou...
He isn't actually my big brother of course, but he always acts as if he is. He's always looking out for me, which can get a little annoying at times. Sometimes I just want to play, but he stops me with a 'No, that's too dangerous'. How can it be dangerous? I mean, I've never come to any harm before... But maybe that's because he's always making sure that I'm safe. Perhaps. Whatever it is, it still gets annoying after a while.
I let out a tentative squeak, and soon there is a flash of yellow and Yirou appears beside me with a yawn. He greets me with a rather sleepy "Good morning," and after checking that I'm okay, asks me why I'm up, as it's only dawn. I reply that I don't feel sleepy anymore, and so I woke. He gives a sigh, and gives me an affectionate, but slightly despairing look. I've never seen him give anyone else that look, except maybe for his trainer, but that's different. It's a look reserved for only his 'little sister' Lila.
He gives another yawn, and says that he is going to go back to sleep, suggesting that I do the same. I pout, wanting to play, but he only rolls his eyes, and vanishes from sight. I hear him moving around in the bunk below for a few moments, as he gets comfortable next to his trainer Ash, and then silence returns.
I grumble quietly for a few minutes, but when I get no response I stop, and snuggle closer to Mama. Ash is a very peculiar human, but Yirou is extremely fond of him anyway. Come to think of it, all humans are kind of weird I guess. Maybe it's something to do with the way they speak, and the way their understanding is so limited. They never seem to understand the majority of what we Pokémon say, which is strange, as we have no difficulty understanding them when they talk.
Maybe it's something to do with all the words they use. They have so many words, one for every little thing, whereas we rely on only one each. Not that this limits us in any way. We can always manage to communicate with each other, if not always with our trainers or our parents. What the humans don't seem to understand is that the meanings of our words is all carried in the inflection and tone of voice. Honestly, I just don't know how they manage to communicate with each other at all sometimes.
Then it's the whole thing with the names as well.
All the humans have names; like Yirou's Ash, that strange one, Brock, and of course, Mama Misty. They all know this, and expect this of one another; each human they meet will always have a name, which is used to greet and identify them. So, if they are so used to this concept, why do they not realise that we have names too, just like they do.
Of course I love Mama, but sometimes I wish she could understand me better. I've tried time and time again to try and get her to call me by my name, Lila, but she just doesn't seem to understand. She still persists in calling me 'Togepi'. I mean, all right, that's what I am, but it's not who I am, is it now? All the humans don't go around saying "Hey Human!" now do they? They wouldn't like it if someone did, so why do we have to put up with it. It's so frustrating.
Yirou has the same problem. Ash always calls him 'Pikachu'; even though it's blatantly obvious his name is Yirou! He doesn't seem to mind so much though, maybe he's just gotten used to it. He has been Ash's Pokémon longer than I've been Mama's. That Misty is my Mama as well as my trainer is probably partly why I get so cross. Surely she should realise that I have a name. I've tried countless times to tell her, but she still doesn't get it.
Ah well...
I yawn, and realise that all this thinking has made me sleepy. Maybe Yirou was right, maybe I should go back to sleep. Curling up, and withdrawing my arms and legs back into my shell, I feel comforted by the warmth from Mama that is surrounding me. I give another sleepy yawn, and feel myself drifting...
CRASH!
I am brought back to consciousness by a loud noise, and quickly become alert, wondering what is happening. It soon becomes apparent that it is nothing to worry about, and so I relax. It was only Yirou's Ash. Somehow the boy has managed to fall out of bed in his attempt to get up.
The bright glare of sunshine through the window tells me that I must have fallen asleep for another few hours. There is a movement beside me, and Mama props herself up on one elbow. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she looks down at Ash, who is still lying in a crumpled heap on the floor grumbling loudly, and a frown settles on her face.
"Ash! What do you think you're doing?"
He makes some unintelligible remark, and she turns away in disgust. Her gaze falls on me, and her annoyed expression turn to one of tenderness. I stretch out my arms, and she takes the hint, scooping me up into her arms.
"And how are you thins morning, Togepi?"
"Toge, Toge, Togepriii..." I squeak, as I do every morning. I'm trying to get her to acknowledge that my name is Lila, and why doesn't she call me this? As usual she misunderstands me.
"Are you hungry?"
"Toge..." I mumble non-committally, but she takes it as a yes.
"Well, I'm afraid you're just going to have to wait another few minutes, sweetie, just until I'm all ready. Is that okay?"
"Toge." I concede. A while ago I resigned myself to only making one attempt at getting her to recognise my name each day, and I can wait a few minutes until breakfast. Overall, I guess it's not too bad Mama misunderstanding me the way she does, this way I at least get something nice to eat.
She sets me gently down on the bed, and climbs down from the top bunk. She lands lightly on the floor, and pads off in the direction of the bathroom. Yirou has gone somewhere with Ash, who had finally managed to pick himself up off the floor, and the strange one, Brock, is nowhere to be seen.
And so I am left alone to contemplate the mystery that is humankind...
The air is warm, and full of interesting scents that come from all directions. I wouldn't mind exploring a little, but right now I can't; I must be good and stay still whilst Mama carries me. Yirou, Ash and Brock had all reappeared by the time Mama had brought me down to breakfast. Brock may be weird, but I'll say this for him, he's one great cook.
Almost immediately after we had finished eating, we had exited the Pokémon Centre we had been staying in overnight. Ash had nearly left us all behind in his haste to get moving again. He wanted to get going on his quest to become the ultimate Pokémon Master, and to achieve his dream he has to train.
I don't really get the appeal of training and fighting. Yirou doesn't share my views on this. He gets as excited as his trainer does whenever there is the prospect of a battle. Mama is also a Pokémon Trainer, but she specialises in water-type Pokémon, and doesn't set her goal as high as Ash does. Still, this means that she likes to battle as well, which means I have to be very careful to keep my secret under wraps.
Mama is under the impression that I don't have any attacks, but I do. I just don't want her to know just yet. She'd only want me to use them in battle if she did find out, and as I said before, I don't want to fight. I have used my attacks, but only to get everyone out of danger. It was a close thing though. Mama suspected I did something, but I was lucky; she had no proof, s o she just left it as that. I will let her know eventually...
Maybe I'll feel different when I'm older. Yirou tells me that I will, that as I mature the urge to battle will increase. I'll just have to see if it happens. Until then, I'll just bide my time carefully, putting off showing Mama until it's vital to do so. Then she may surprise me, not wanting me to fight as I'm her little Lila, and she doesn't want me to get hurt. She doesn't want me to get hurt anyway, but she might not want to put me in a situation where the risk of danger is higher than usual.
Again, I'll just have to wait and see. Until the time occurs, I'll never know.
Becoming aware of my surroundings again, I notice that Mama and Ash are arguing, again. I don't know what about, it just seems to be one of those general arguments they get into so often, with Mama telling Yirou's trainer off for being an idiot, or something like that. It just seems to be another thing about humans, and one that still never fails to confuse me. It's to do with the way they interact.
I mean, it's fairly obvious that Mama has a crush on Ash. I've noticed it, Yirou's noticed it, in fact, all the Pokémon have noticed it. Even Ash's Charizard, Renfai, noticed it, and he never really notices anything unless it's to do with fighting. And still the humans involved don't seem to sense it. Well, obviously Mama knows, but Ash remains oblivious.
Then there's also the way they react to these feelings. Even though Mama loves Ash, she never misses and opportunity to criticise and yell at him. Very peculiar. I would have thought she would let him know she cared by being nice to him, hoping that he would realise the reason for her actions. But no, instead she does the opposite.
I think Brock has the whole thing better sorted. He still has no success, but at least his numerous crushes know that he likes them. However he goes too much in the opposite direction to Mama's way of doing things. He's altogether too forceful of the point, making any potential partners run a mile before they even get to know him. If they stopped a while to get to know him better, maybe he would get a better response, as he really is nice despite his eccentricities.
Do these humans ever get things right?
That's another question yet to be answered. Maybe one day all my questions will be answered, but until then, I'll just be happy and content...and inquisitive. If that day does come, I will finally have all the pieces I need to solve the problems I face.
I'll be able to judge Mama's reactions better, and I'll finally be able to get her to understand me.
And then not so baby Lila will be able to show her true self.
~owari~
That's all folks!
Please review, and tell me what you think...