This is the end result of what happens when I get severe writer's block. It is a one-shot fic based around the Pokedex entry of one of my favorite Pokemon, Banette: "A cursed energy permeated the stuffing of a discarded and forgotten plush doll, giving it new life as Banette."

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. I wish I did...


"Breakfast is ready!"

Those three words echoed through the house, signaling the morning stampede was about to begin.

Five-year-old Aliza Mitchell threw off the covers, quickly jumping out of bed.

She tossed her pajamas on the floor, sifting through her messy closet until she found what she was looking for: a plain, sunshine-yellow blouse and a white skirt dotted with blue and yellow flowers.

She turned to me and giggled, her emerald eyes sparkling under her ebony hair. "Well, Banette, how do I look?" she asked.

I tried to smile... but found that such a feat was impossible.

"Liza, hurry up!" the voice called again, sounding slightly impatient.

"Coming!" Aliza (or Liza, as she was known) replied.

She gently picked me up off the bed and rushed down the stairs, taking them two at a time. Seconds later, we arrived in the kitchen, where the rest of the family was already waiting for us.

"What took you so long?" demanded Liza's older brother, Kent, as he grabbed two pancakes (one for himself and one for his Growlithe).

Liza ignored him, placing one pancake on her own plate.

She sat down at the kitchen table, setting me in her lap.

From across the table Kent glared at me. "Why do you always carry that dumb plush doll around, Liza?" he inquired, clearly annoyed.

"Banette is not dumb!" Liza replied angrily.

But she barely had time to finish her sentence before a hand grabbed me forcefully, hauling me into the air.

"Kent, give him back!" screamed Liza, jumping out of her chair. She ran over to her brother and attempted to grab me, but Kent only hoisted me up further, out of her reach.

"Kent..." she moaned, still vainly trying to grab me.

Kent examined me thoughtfully. "Honestly, Liza," he stated in a nonchalant manner, "I don't see why you adore this thing so much. Its hair is matted, the stuffing is beginning to fall out, and its mouth already had to be stitched shut. It's time you get rid of this thing..." He smirked. "And I can help you with that." At these words he dangled me over his barking Growlithe, who snarled at me.

"You wouldn't dare…" Liza started, but it soon became apparent that her assumption was wrong.

Kent lowered me towards the now growling puppy. The Pokemon leapt, fangs bared, its jaws closing inches away from my foot.

"Kent, stop it!" shouted Liza, running up to her brother and kicking him in the leg.

He visibly winced at the pain, but was soon overcome by anger. "Why you little..." He raised his hand to strike Liza, but was stopped in midair.

"What's going on in here!"

The two both turned to see their mother, her amber eyes a mix of anger and concern.

"Kent started it!"

"Aliza needs to grow up!"

The two screamed at the same time.

"That's enough," their mother replied, "from both of you. Kent, stop harassing your sister. Aliza!" She glared at my owner. "Honestly, just look at that plush doll!" She pried me from Kent's grasp. "It's filthy." She prodded my leg, where the stuffing was beginning to fall out. "I've let you keep this for way too long." With that she tossed me in the trash.

"Banette!" Aliza screamed.

"Maybe if you hadn't spend all your time cooped up in the house with that thing you would have some friends," her mother replied matter-of-factly.

I felt myself being hoisted up, along with the various scraps of trash. I was carried outside, where I was promptly dumped into a garbage container. As the lid closed, my world went black.

That was ten years ago.

In the horrible mounds of trash I waited… waited for you to come. But you never did

My appearance has changed much since then, but I am still the same. I have been infused with a supernatural power. I can now move freely on my own, but I won't forget those days when you carried me everywhere. Sometimes I come to your window and watch you. You smile as you put on a yellow blouse and a white skirt, and your Persian meows in acceptance.

You may have forgotten, but I have not. I have not forgotten the time when I was your best friend. You played with me, told me all your worries, and took me wherever you went.

But now you have "real" friends: three Pokemon of your own. I once believed I too was a Pokemon. I thought, perhaps, we could be friends once again, so I revealed myself to you. But you screamed and ordered your Dragonair to attack. Why are you afraid?

I watch you, and sometimes I wonder if everything was just a dream: the time we spent together, the fun we had. But somewhere in my heart I know it was real.

So I will be here waiting. Waiting for the day when you remember.