My first oneshot, which is normally not my style, so I hope it turned out all right. The idea suddenly came to me, but it was inspired by a suggestion by one of my readers. You know who you are...
The sun had at last sank beneath the horizon and somewhere a clock chimed the hour in a melancholy groan. Most of the lights in the city had been extinguished and there were no sounds rising from the streets. The entire city had been covered in a gentle blanket of shadow, consuming all the lights and sounds that were ever present in the ordinarily bustling town.
The abnormality of this night was lost on the creature which presented the only sign of life, a small purple creature which floated though the alley, her speed hindered by the wind that resisted her light and airy body, threatening to push her back towards the dumpster where she had sought shelter the previous night. Her stringy arms flailed helplessly as a gust of wind roared past, forcing her to retreat and phase back into the waste container. The Drifloon whined quietly from within her shelter. The wind had plagued her journey for the last several nights and the noise of the city she had blown into only intensified her anxiety. It didn't help that her shelter was filled with neglected squares of thick, corrugated paper, forcing her to remain in a semi-solid form.
She had not been able to leave this alley since blowing in on the wind, for whenever she tried, either the wind or a sudden sound would hinder her progress and she refused to abandon her haven in daylight. Had she really begun to think of the neglected recycling container as a haven? To her it was more of a trap, for the alley at night was ominous and she didn't dare venture out when there were humans or other Pokémon around. She had nearly panicked that morning when a Furret had dug through the contents of her shelter, searching for edibles. To the Drifloon's relief, it had ignored her and left in disappointment once confirming the lack of nourishment within.
The balloon ghost phased through the side of the container, waving a stringy arm to test the strength of the wind. Relieved to note that the wind had settled, she floated hastily towards the end of the alley, praying to Giratina that the wind wouldn't pick up again until she was at least out of the city. That was the nature of her existence: the wind dominated her travels. The wide open world was not easy for a young Drifloon to wander, with so many variables that seemed to exist specifically to make existence difficult. To her relief, she managed to evacuate herself from the prison of the alleyway, emerging into the main city.
She hovered over a building to get a look around, seeking to acquire a rough grasp on her surroundings, which she had not been able to get when the first strong wind had brought her here. The sky glittered with stars, but the Drifloon was too occupied to try to enjoy the sparkles overhead. The silence of the dark city intensified her anxiety and she floated hastily towards one end of the city, still silently praying that the wind would stay settled long enough for her to leave the area and find better shelter. All that the balloon ghost wanted was to feel safe and secure for the remainder of the night. Every shadow seemed to hide a foe; every sound seemed like a pursuer sneaking up on her. She knew only too well the tricks other ghosts had at their disposal and had heard terrible stories of monsters that devoured the spirits of ghosts, like helpless Drifloon that let her guard down at the wrong moment.
She shivered and looked back towards the city. Those stories had probably been told to scare her, anyway. She whined as the wind swept around her, but she wrapped her string arms around a tree branch, anchoring herself before being blown away. She didn't relinquish her grip until the wind had settled down again. In an open area with little cover, being blown by the wind could take her nearly anywhere in the region. As if nature had read her mind, a second gust of wind spiraled around her, tugging her out of reach of the branches before she could anchor herself again.
Despite the young ghost's efforts, the wind carried her swiftly through the air. One attempt to grab onto a tree resulted in tumbling helplessly through the air, the young Drifloon flailing desperately to regain her equilibrium. She felt herself impact with something and a sudden jolt of energy shot through her balloon body. "Ow!" she wailed as she tumbled to the ground.
"Sorry!" an apologetic voice answered and the Drifloon blinked her small black eyes at the speaker, which was an orange creature about the same size as the purple balloon. Unlike the thin arms of the balloon ghost, this creature had lightning bolt appendages and was outlined with light blue electricity. "Are you okay?" the creature chirped curiously.
"I-I think so," the Drifloon said, floating into the air again, relieved that the wind had died down again. The Rotom bobbed and looked around the surrounding area.
"Why are you here?" it asked the Drifloon, which deflated slightly.
"Wind blew me here," she mumbled, patting the fluff at the top of her body.
"I wasn't lookin' where I was goin'," the electric ghost admitted. "You sure you okay?"
"I-I'm fine," she stammered, deflating nervously. The Rotom blinked at her curiously, but then shrugged its lightning appendages.
"What's your name?"
"H-helium," she stuttered, but her body inflated back to its usual size as she spoke, somehow able to tell the other ghost wasn't posing a threat to her. The Rotom giggled.
"Nice to meet ya," it said brightly. She bobbed, patting the fluff on her body again, amusing the electric ghost. "Windy night," it noted.
"Y-yeah," Helium agreed and cast a nervous glance around. There wasn't enough shelter in the immediate area, so it was likely she'd be blown around again. "I'm too light and easily blown."
"Ooh, I got an idea! Come with me," the Rotom said excitedly, floating in one direction, looking back to check on its Drifloon companion. Helium followed quickly, neither wanting to lose the other ghost nor give the wind a chance to blow her off course. The Rotom waited for her every few yards and she noticed the path they were taking involving floating in close proximity to the trees, giving her several options to anchor herself if the wind picked up again.
"Where are we g-going?" Helium asked her companion, hastily clinging to a branch as wind blew around her, but it settled down almost immediately. "I'm fine," she assured the Rotom when it hurried forward.
"Not much farther," the electric ghost said, leading Helium down a path, but floated closer to her than previously. The reason for this became clear as the wind picked up again, but this time they were too far from the trees for the young Drifloon to anchor onto one. She immediately latched onto the nearest object, which happened to be the Rotom. She winced as a shock went through her balloon body, but it didn't last long. "Sorry," the Rotom said quickly, noticing the reaction the contact had. Fortunately, the Rotom wasn't blown by the wind, making it a satisfactory anchor point for the Drifloon.
"Thanks," Helium said, releasing the plasma creature when the wind had passed. The Rotom bobbed and they continued towards their destination.
"Here we are!" the electric ghost announced happily, pointing an lightning bolt appendage towards a building, small compared to the buildings Helium had seen in the cities she had blown past or into. She blinked, unsure how best to respond, but decided that a response was unnecessary as the Rotom continued towards the building, the Drifloon right behind it. They phased through the wall directly beside the open entranceway and Helium looked around in surprise.
The interior of the building was roomy, but almost all the space near the side furthest from the entrance was occupied by various electrical devices and pieces of metal or wires, all haphazardly arranged on a table of some sort. The Rotom flitted around these devices and miscellaneous parts quickly, apparently looking for something among the wreckage. The electric ghost was muttering to itself cheerfully, but she couldn't make out the words. Judging by all the strange parts and random objects, she assumed the Rotom was a packrat.
"Here!" the Rotom cried triumphantly and Helium floated over to see what it had found. "Take one. With the extra weight, the wind can't blow ya," it suggested. On the table, Helium saw a small orb of metal, but when she tried to lift it, the orb's weight sent her crashing to the ground and she was unable to float without releasing the orb.
"N-not that one," she said, hovering back up to the table and inspecting the other objects that the Rotom had laid out. There was a ball of red yarn and another sphere which seemed to be filled with smoke. She prodded the sphere curiously and it spewed a small cloud of smoke into her face. She made a coughing sound and recoiled from it.
"Sorry," the Rotom apologized. Helium shrugged her string arms and lifted the yarn ball tentatively. Judging by the last two objects, this could end up exploding or strangling her. Despite being a ghost, losing all the air in her body would be...unpleasant. However, it didn't do anything abnormal, which only made her more nervous. "I think that's just a ball of yarn," the Rotom told her with a giggle. The Drifloon was visibly relieved, adding to the Rotom's amusement.
Helium floated around the chamber, experimenting to see how much the extra weight of the yarn would affect her flying. It was light enough so that carrying it wasn't hard and she felt secure enough so that the wind wouldn't blow her around as easily. She floated outside and waited for the wind to pick up. She let out a squeal of happiness when a gust of wind barely affected her flight path. The Rotom giggled from the building entranceway. The Drifloon floated over to the plasma creature and wrapped both arms around it, ignoring the brief shock she received. The Rotom seemed startled by the gesture and a little relieved when she let go. "Thank you so much," she said.
"No problem!" the electric type said. "Just carry it when ya go near wind."
"What do you mean?" Helium asked, puzzled. She was always near wind. She was a wanderer, going where the air forced her to go, with short lapses where she could move in the direction of her own design,
"It might get annoyin' to carry the yarn all the time. Put it somewhere safe and pick it up when ya go," the Rotom explained. "There's room here to rest."
"Really?" Helium asked hopefully, her body inflating at these words. If she had both shelter and a method to keep the wind from taking her every which way, she could travel easier or just stay in one spot. She was more used to being alone, but the plasma creature seemed like decent company. It had been too long since she had the company of another ghost. Living creatures made her nervous.
"Sure," the Rotom answered, shrugging its appendages again. "Ooh, want ta play Tetris?"
"What?" Helium was confused. She had never heard of 'Tetris' before. The Rotom giggled and pointed to one of the odd machines. The Drifloon approached it uncertainly and saw a display where small blocks arranged in groups would slowly descend from the top of the display and accumulate near the bottom of the display. The Rotom quickly summarized the object of the game, which was to create rows of lines from the accumulated blocks by rotating the arrangement of the descending groups of blocks and setting them in a location where the following groups of blocks could be set to leave as few empty spaces as possible and once lines were made, the blocks would vanish.
"Try it!" the plasma creature urged her, showing her the pressure-sensitive parts of the machine that she had to apply pressure to in order to achieve a response from the display. It took her a while to get the hang of what to do, but once she understood the basics, her game got a little better until at last she managed to score a few points. The Rotom fiddled with some of the other objects in the room, occasionally pausing its work to see how she was doing in the game. "Oops," the plasma creature said as Helium scored another line. She looked confused until it pointed out that the line she scored had caused one side of the display to be too cluttered to score more lines using blocks on that entire side of the display.
"I lose?" Helium whined, her body deflating sadly. Sure enough, the words 'Game Over' soon flashed on the screen and she moved away from the device dejectedly.
"That was good for a first game," the Rotom insisted as a screen appeared with several random letters and numbers appeared. Helium noted that the letters 'AAA' were at the very top, with a number that was obscenely high compared to the number directly below it, which was labeled 'RCS', which in turn was obscenely high compared to every number beneath it.
"Thanks," Helium said, cheering up a little. The ball of yarn glowed briefly, but when she blinked it had stopped. Maybe she had just imagined it. It was just an ordinary ball of yarn. The Rotom smiled at her and she cracked a smile in return. "What's that?" she asked, pointing an arm to a small circular object next to the device she had played her game on.
"I have no clue!" the Rotom answered happily.
"What?"
"I have no clue!" the Rotom repeated in the exact same tone. It lifted the object with a charge of electricity and levitated it over to the game device, inserting it into a slot.
There was a whirring sound and letters flashed on the display, reading: Disk data unknown. Process terminated. The disk was then ejected from the slot. Helium picked it up delicately and studied it curiously. It didn't seem to be anything special and she liked how it shimmered in the light.
"Can I have it?" she asked before she could stop herself. The Rotom giggled.
"If ya want it," it answered. She bobbed shyly. "Then take it."
"Thanks," she said quietly, turning the object over. The object probably had no value, but it felt nice to have someone willing to give her something. Perhaps the world was not as dark and scary as she always worried it was. The Rotom had just met her, and already given her something to help her move wherever she wished, and also something she wanted to hold onto. The offer of shelter was also welcome. Her body inflated as the sense of joy expanded within her. The yarn glowed briefly again, but when she blinked, the glow was still present. It faded a second later, but this time she was almost certain she hadn't imagined it.
"No problem," the plasma creature said brightly. "Mind if I play, or did ya want another game? Ooh, or maybe a different game? Come here and pick a game," it urged her and she placed the object down and floated back over to the device. It felt nice to have someone to talk to, someone who looked out for her and was willing to play games with her. Most of all, it felt nice not to feel so alone and frightened and to just have some fun.