Chapter 3: Tepig's Plea
"There it is!" Darren cried. "We're home, Seashell!"
"Yay! We're home!" the Oshawott cheered.
"Home?" Smugleaf repeated, confused.
The Snivy looked at the small town in front of them, only to freeze. He remembered this place. He had been here before.
This is where… Smugleaf hook his head. No! I don't want to remember! Why? Why did we have to come back?
"Smugleaf?" Seashell looked at the Grass-type with concern. She reached out to touch his shoulder with a paw. "Are you oka—"
"Don't touch me!" Smugleaf yelled, pulling away. He glared at her fiercely. "Get away from me!"
"Smugleaf, I—" Seashell was quickly cut off by the Snivy.
"I said get away!" Smugleaf shouted.
With a whimper, the Water-type retreated behind Darren's leg. Smugleaf continued to glare at her. Darren began to head down the path toward the town, still carrying the weakened Tepig in his arms. Seashell obediently followed him. Smugleaf refused to follow.
"I'm not going there," he muttered. "Not now, not ever…"
Darren stopped, noticing the Snivy wasn't following. "Smugleaf, come on!"
"No!" Smugleaf growled. "You can't make me!"
The boy frowned. "Okay, you asked for it."
Smugleaf's stony expression turned into one of terror as the boy pulled out the Grass-type's Poké Ball. The Snivy turned to run, only for the beam of red light to hit him. He was engulfed in darkness within seconds…
.o.o.o.o.
It was dark. That was all Smugleaf could tell about being in a Poké Ball. That was all he knew about them.
He hated being inside of a Poké Ball. There was only pitch black, suffocating, all encompassing darkness. He felt like he was drowning in black water that he couldn't see, hear, smell, taste, feel… It was horrible. He hated it.
Maybe that was part of the reason he chose to flee from his first trainer. He was always stuck in a Poké Ball. He was only let out to fight. Then it was back into this wretched darkness again.
Why couldn't the other Pokémon see it like this? Did they enjoy this darkness? How could they? Are they insane? Or is it him who is insane?
Smugleaf didn't know. He didn't care either. He wanted out, out of this horrible darkness. He wanted to see the sun again, to be in the light.
Why must he always be trapped in the dark…?
.o.o.o.o.
"Come out, Smugleaf!"
The Snivy was better prepared when his feet hit the ground, just barely stopping himself from falling. Straightening himself, Smugleaf shook briefly to rid himself of the dizziness of exiting a Poké Ball. Then he looked up.
Smugleaf jumped back in shock. It was that woman! The one who gave him to his first trainer so long ago!
"My, so you did find a Snivy," she said with a light laugh. She looked up at Darren. "You say you found him in the forest, right? He must've run away from his old trainer. You better keep a close eye on him. He'll break his Poké Ball and run away if you aren't careful, Darren."
"Got it!" Darren nodded.
"No… He brought me back," Smugleaf whimpered, taking a step back.
"Are you okay, Smugleaf?" a timid voice from behind him asked.
"WAAAH!" Smugleaf whipped around, slapping his tail against his supposed attacker.
"Yow!" Seashell fell backward, landing on her bottom. She placed her left paw against her left cheek, where the Snivy's tail had slapped her. "That hurt, Smugleaf!" she whined.
"Shut up! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Smugleaf yelled, glaring at her. "Do that again and I'll hit you harder!"
"Smugleaf!"
"Huh? Wha—AAAH!" Smugleaf thrashed as hands grabbed him by his middle, picking him up from the metal table he and Seashell had been on. "Put me down!"
"Seashell, are you okay? Smugleaf, what's gotten into you?"
It was Darren. Smugleaf growled, pulling away from the boy the moment he was set on another metal table. He glared at Darren angrily, but the boy was already fussing over Seashell's bruised cheek.
"I don't think he likes it here, Prof. Juniper," a woman with dark blue hair and glasses said.
"I have to agree, Fennel," the professor woman nodded.
"Of course I don't like it here. I hate it here!" Smugleaf grumbled. "Too many bad memo…ries…"
The Snivy trailed off as his eyes caught sight of something orange. He turned to see it was the Tepig that he had saved in the forest. It was lying on another metal table nearby. It was hooked up to a bunch of machines.
Smugleaf dropped onto all fours and circled once, twice, three times…and made a diving leap off of his table. Darren, Seashell, Prof. Juniper, and Fennel all gasped upon witnessing it. The Snivy succeeded in landing on the other table and slowly walked over to the immobile Tepig.
"Just how bad did that dumb bird hurt you?" he wondered.
"Smugleaf…" Darren said, only to be ignored by the Snivy.
"I think he's worried about the Tepig," Prof. Juniper commented. "You said it was attacked by a Braviary, correct?"
"Yeah," Darren nodded. "Smugleaf fought it off before Seashell and I arrived. If he hadn't been there, I don't think your Tepig would've survived. Not under the combined forces of that Braviary and the rain."
"Agreed," Fennel said. "What a horrible chain of events. If only I was more careful, this would've never happened. He's so young, too!"
Prof. Juniper looked at Darren. "Thank you for bringing Tepig back to me," she said.
Darren gave a goofy grin. "No problem, Professor! Anytime! It gave Seashell and I some bonding time, not to mention that we caught Smugleaf along the way. If you ever need help again, just call!"
"Hopefully that won't be necessary. Cheren and Bianca are already ahead of you in their journeys," Prof. Juniper reminded. "You best get started or you'll never catch up to them."
"Yeah," Darren chuckled.
Fennel suddenly approached the table that Tepig and Smugleaf were on. The Snivy growled briefly at her before backing off, allowing her to unhook the Fire-type from the machines. She backed up immediately afterward when Smugleaf lunged forward to bite her hand when she tried to pet the Tepig's head.
"He's pretty protective, huh?" she giggled.
"Indeed, he is," Prof. Juniper turned to Darren. "My Tepig should be okay now. Thanks again for bringing him back."
"Again, it was no problem," Darren picked up Seashell. "We better get going. I hope that Tepig finds a nice trainer to care for him."
"You won't take him with you?" Fennel asked.
"Huh? Why would I?" Darren asked.
"Your Snivy seems very protective of him. Why not take him with you too?" she questioned.
"Oh, I'd love to! Honestly, I would!" Darren reassured awkwardly. "But…well, I'm having a hard enough time trying to get Smugleaf to obey me. I don't know how Tepig will react to me."
"Oh," She lowered her head sadly. "That's understandable."
"Don't forget that he's only just begun his journey, Fennel," Prof. Juniper pointed out. "Two should be enough to start with. Tepig will find a good home soon enough when our next few beginning trainers come in."
"Right!" Fennel nodded.
Darren set Seashell on the ground. "Come on, Smugleaf! We're leaving!" he called.
"Finally!" The Snivy bounded toward the edge of the table.
"Huh? Wait… Where are you going?" the Tepig asked, blinking sleep out of his eyes.
"Out of here," Smugleaf replied with a smirk. "Don't get into trouble, okay? I won't be there to save you."
Smugleaf jumped off of the table, quickly bounding after Darren and Seashell. The Tepig struggled to stand up and shakily walked to the edge of the table. He gasped.
"Wait! Don't leave me!" he cried, suddenly afraid. "Please, Mr. Snivy, don't go! Take me with you, please!"
Smugleaf stopped at the door, turning back to look at the Fire-type. Why am I stopping? Why should I care if he's being left behind?
"Professor, what's wrong with him?" Fennel asked, frightened by the Tepig's sudden crying.
Prof. Juniper turned to look at Smugleaf, then at the Tepig, then back again. She chuckled lightly. "I believe the choice has been made for us," she noted.
"Huh? What do you mean, Professor?" Fennel asked, confused.
Darren stopped just outside of the door of the laboratory, realizing Smugleaf wasn't following. "Smugleaf, come on. What's wrong now? I thought you couldn't wait to leave."
The Snivy ignored him, never once taking his eyes off of the Tepig.
Darren groaned. "We're doing this again, huh? Fine…"
The moment Darren pulled out Smugleaf's Poké Ball, the Grass-type suddenly dove back toward the table that the crying Tepig was on. He scaled the leg of the table in seconds, coming to a stop upon reaching the Fire-type's side. The crying instantly stopped, reduced to sniffles. Smugleaf frowned, lightly hitting the Tepig on the head with his leaf.
"Stop crying," he said firmly. "It won't get you anywhere. If you want to be with me so much, then fine. You can come with."
"Really? Thanks, Mr. Snivy!" the Tepig cried.
"It's…Smugleaf," the Grass-type reluctantly corrected. "My name…is Smugleaf."
"Smugleaf! What are you…?" Darren just stared at them in shock.
"It seems your Snivy has decided to bring my Tepig along, with or without your permission, Darren," Prof. Juniper said. She picked up a Poké Ball on the counter beside her, holding it out to Darren. "Here is his Poké Ball. Take care of him, Darren."
"But I—" Darren yelped, only to be silenced by Prof. Juniper's finger to his lips.
"Just take him," she advised gently. "Your Snivy had already made that decision and appears to be sticking to it. You may as well just go along with it and take him. Maybe it'll even make training your Snivy easier."
"…Okay," Darren sighed.
"Just climb on and hang on tight, okay?" Smugleaf ordered, kneeling down so the Tepig could crawl onto his back.
"Okay… I'm on!" the Fire-type cried.
With a single leap, along with a loud cry of surprise from the Tepig, Smugleaf landed on the floor. The Tepig slid off his back, struggling to still his trembling legs. The Snivy smirked, only to hiss threateningly as Darren knelt near them. The Tepig, confused, darted behind Smugleaf.
"I guess you're staying with us, Tepig. What should I call you?" The boy tapped his chin in thought. "Hey… How about Charcoal? That sounds nice!"
"Char…coal?" the Tepig repeated, blinking in confusion.
"It's your new name," Smugleaf grumbled. "We all have one."
"Oh… Okay!" The Tepig darted out from behind Smugleaf, grinning. "I'm Charcoal!"
"Hi, Charcoal!" Seashell greeted, bounding up to see him. "I'm Seashell!"
"WAAAH!" Charcoal dove behind Smugleaf, frightened.
"Huh? Oh! I'm sorry, Charcoal!" Seashell yelped, realizing her mistake. "I didn't mean to scare you, honest! I'm so, so sorry, really!"
"Would you shut up?" the Snivy snapped, glaring at the Oshawott. "Can't you see you're scaring him more?"
"Huh?" Seashell took a step backward, suddenly wary.
Before Smugleaf could say anything else, Darren spoke. "Okay, guys, let's get going. We've got a long walk to the next town."
"Next town?" Charcoal repeated, peering out from behind Smugleaf to look at Darren. "Oh, he looks nice."
"He's not," Smugleaf argued. "He's human, and humans are anything but nice."
"That's not tr—" Seashell started to say, only to be cut off by Smugleaf.
"It is true!" he yelled.
Seashell fell silent, fighting back tears. She didn't want to cry in front of the Snivy and be called a crybaby again. After a few minutes, Smugleaf spoke again. This time, he was calmer but his words still had a sharp edge to them.
"I'm only staying because I can't get home and I'm not about to leave Charcoal alone with this guy," he said, looking to the side so he wouldn't have to look the Water-type in the eyes. "I'll stay and help you…do whatever it is your human wants to do. But remember this, Seashell. Things are going to go my way now, okay? It's my way or no way. Got it?"
"G-got it," Seashell nodded, trembling. Do I even have a choice but to agree?
"Good," Smugleaf smirked. "Then we'll get along just fine. Let's go. The human's calling."
"Where are we going?" Charcoal asked, bounding cheerfully after Smugleaf.
"Who knows?" the Snivy shrugged. "Probably to fight,"
"I don't like fighting," Charcoal whimpered. "It's scary."
"You'll have to learn how if you hope to stay out of the humans' boxes," Smugleaf said.
He then proceeded to explain how the boxes were used to trap Pokémon the humans no longer wanted or couldn't bring with them due to some mysterious limitation the humans had. Charcoal followed him, hanging onto every word. Seashell hung toward the back as they exited the laboratory, head hung sadly.
Why must he still hate me? Seashell thought, barely suppressing a sniffle.
Lingering further back, she let the tears come. She silenced her sobs, not wanting to be heard. If Smugleaf or Charcoal heard her, they didn't bother to look back at her. The Oshawott cried in silence as they left Darren's hometown far behind them.