Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon.
Once in a while, life makes choices for us. A lot of times, we can find great opportunity in the situations forced upon us... a personal test, you might say.
Espeon
I was laying down on one of the spectator's benches, being careful to stay away from 'him', the human.
I couldn't believe myself. First, the two stupidest pokémon in the world had cornered me. Sure, they had chased me for a while now, seemingly without reason other than wanting to abuse me. But I was smarter than that. Hiding in an alley may have disguised me by sight, but I had made a mistake to forget that they had a strong sense of smell. Probably from sniffing each other's ass.
Second, that idiot of a human had caught me! Ugh! Of all the stupid things that could happen, a weak human caught me. There he was, sleeping next to me. I could leave, but chances are I'd run into the two dogs right outside.
It's not like I'm completely against humans. See, the issue is deeper. I was already owned by a trainer. A pokémon owned by two trainers was twice as low as a pokémon owned at all… A 'free spirit', pokémon weren't supposed to be captured or made to rely on trainers, and wild pokémon made sure that 'pets' like me neither felt accepted nor forgot the 'pet' status.
Well… It's not even like that. I loved my last master, but he left me. In fact, he had bought an amnesia-inducing pokémon when he left, so I couldn't even remember him well. The only memory I had was of him saying "Be safe…" but the feelings that remained. Around him, I had felt powerful. I trusted him and would never go against anything he ever said. But, now I was weak. Those two Mightyena… they had been chasing me all across Hoenn and into Sinnoh. I was lucky to have made it this far. I couldn't help but think it would've been different with my old master. When I was with him, I didn't bother being a 'pet' in the eyes of my wild counterparts. I sighed quietly, thinking of how nice it would be if this was simply a nightmare and I could wake up soon…
I was so caught up in my own thoughts, I didn't see a new guest invade my personal space. I looked up to see a small pokémon, one I recognized as a Roserade. She seemed normal enough, with her rose-covered hands, but on her face, she wore a black mask instead of the traditional green one. Her presence surprised me, as she had come from my right side, which was towards the door we'd just passed through. It didn't help that she didn't make any noise as she moved… Those kind of people are always annoying. Cats are supposed to be sneaky. Not walking flowers.
"Are you the new runner now? I've been waiting for a while for my delivery!" She asked, exasperated.
"I'm no one's delivery girl," I spat back. My day was just going from bad to worse. Now, I was mistaken for some lowly mail woman.
"Then, I guess you have no business here. The door… since most sane pokémon open doors, is that way," She remarked sarcastically, pointing behind me.
"What if I was here to kick your flowery ass? You couldn't do a thing to me, with your dreadful grass and poison typing."
She simply smiled slyly, but didn't respond to the point. "I suppose you'll want someone to help your trainer out. I could do that… if you decided to shut up."
"He's not my trainer!" I exclaimed angrily, standing up and getting in her face. "Suggest it again and I'll throw you out that window."
I felt a sting in my neck and my vision… my vision…
I woke up later in a very familiar place: a pokéball. The standard piece of equipment for any trainer, the inside was always very barren. I could see through the pokéball, as the top part was translucent. From experience, I knew that pokéballs are decently insulated, but luxury balls and the more expensive variants are much nicer.
The trainer was carrying me through a forest. I could see the green on the trees above him easily enough. I wanted to yell at the insolent boy, make him mad, maybe even get him to drop me, but that wasn't going to happen. He couldn't understand me.
What struck me was that he was walking rather normally. His leg was messed up and, had I been the surgeon, I would've amputated it. Along with his other leg. And maybe an arm. But it was still slightly incredible that he was walking so easily.
I felt a like a stalker, spying on him while he didn't even notice that I had woken up. He was completely absorbed in whatever world surrounded him and didn't even bother to look down at me. Fine. Better that way if he'd ignore me, maybe I could pretend that I wasn't trapped in some small prison, wasting away when I should be finding… him.
I remember the girl he left me with. Her purple hair was pretty recognizable. With the appearance of a boy, the woman was actually a feared battler. Salon Maiden, I believe they called her. Well, she already had an espeon… and Anabel didn't need both of us. I didn't get much battling time because her espeon was very close to Anabel and they communicated well. This left me an outcast… albeit one that was well taken-care of. But I could never share their closeness. My trainer had left me. He took away all the memory I had of him, but I always felt that it was something close to what Anabel shared with her partner.
And thus, I left. I know I probably scared her, but staying wasn't working. It was awkward when I was around, and they really didn't want me, even though they were nice. It had to end.
My thoughts were interrupted by a loud voice outside my pokéball. Looking around outside, I couldn't see who was talking to the trainer, as the trainer's body blocked off a great deal of my vision.
"Well, my boy, how did your first mission go?" The voice asked.
"You came all the way out here to see me, Don Julius? That's awfully nice of you. Well, the exchange went smoothly. She said you already had the payment, and so I headed back."
The one named Julius laughed. "Yes, she's a good client. But I see you ran into some trouble." Julius must've been referring to the idiot's leg. Yeah, that's what you get for catching me, a bite from a rabid dog.
"Yeah… Two dogs attacked me on my way."
"Dogs? Hmm. That doesn't help much. 'Dog' is a category of pokémon, in which many different species are in. Growlithe, Poocheyna, Snubbull, all of these are considered 'dog' pokémon. So, they bit you? Did they have rabies?"
I wanted to say that yes, the two ass-smelling pooches had more diseases than a grimer. But of course, no one would understand.
"I'm not sure. I don't think I'm foaming at the mouth, but I was well taken care of." He gave a decent description of the pokémon, the two mightyena and at least 'Julius' had enough common sense to know the name of the species.
"Ah yes, Zorra is a very nice client. Well, meet you for supper…" Julius seemed to stop. "Hmm, I see you managed to catch something. I'll admit, I didn't expect you to advance that much so quickly."
"T'was luck. By the way, I got something else from Zorra…" Silence ensued as the trainer searched through his bag.
"That, my boy, would be a gym badge. Treasure those, they are expensive and, with seven more, a sign of prestige. Of course, pokémon don't really need it. Humans really love it." I heard a door creak open. Looking up again, I saw that we were in front of a very large and old building. Sighing, I put my head back down. The two droned on about random things involving their family. I still couldn't see anyone. I was on the left side of the trainer, and the people always managed to come up to his right shoulder.
I figured I'd bother the trainer. I started to think of images I could project into his mind to make him feel bored. Paint drying came to mind, so I decided to constantly project that image. It didn't seem to bother him much, as he continued to converse. So, he could stand being bored easily enough… What about OCD? Feeling especially devious, I projected an image of a leaky faucet into his mind. I smiled when he started to twitch just a bit. Anything to make him feel uncomfortable.
With the added strain of having me project images into his head, he excused himself from the conversation. I laughed.
"Not funny," he said. He picked up my pokéball and looked at me. He was a giant compared to me. I turned around to look at a giant door. Once inside, he closed the door and let me out. I looked around the shady room. It wasn't much. A small lamp illuminated the room at this time, but I could see a couple of lights on the ceiling. A bed, a bookshelf, mirror and dresser stood in the simple dark blue and purple room. I didn't even mind looking in the closets.
"At least Julius told me how to use that… pokeball." The trainer remarked.
"You don't read much," I muttered, noticing the dust on the bookshelf. I knew he couldn't understand him, but it still had to be said. I had found the reason he was an idiot. The titles, ranging from "Raising Pokémon the Natural Way", to "Ruby's Ultimate Cooking for the Beautiful Pokémon" had probably never been touched.
The trainer wasn't even concerned with me, as far as I could tell. He had put the badge and bag on his bed and was exploring the closet.
"I hear you've been in the closet for a long time," I laughed.
"Why must you always be so derogatory? It gets tiring with you. You were actually quiet coming back from Eterna. You and your odd comments. Even Lionel seems mild in comparison to some of the stupid stuff that comes out of your mouth." I was so shocked that he actually addressed me that my mouth was agape.
When I finally caught myself, which was only about five seconds later, I closed my mouth and turned away. "You're still just a stupid human. While I don't understand how you can talk to me, you're still just another silly, insolent human. Now, could you please let me go? I'm on a mission to find someone, and right now, this isn't helping me."
He was silent for a while, and then shook his head slowly. What an insolent asshole. He'd keep me for his own gain. "I'm sorry, but I can't have you go anywhere. And it's not because I like you, quite the opposite is true. You just aren't fit to go anywhere on your own." He remarked.
That comment was like twisting the knife inside me… The fact that he said it with no emotion made the comment even more biting. I just stood silently, staring at him with a silent hate. He turned his back on me coldly and continued getting dressed and changing out of his clothes that had been torn apart. I hopped on the bed and closed my eyes. I tried to appear like I was napping, so he wouldn't think his comment had gotten to me.
He was right, unfortunately. I didn't want to say anything, because… Well, because there was no defense to it. I know that, for a long time, I had felt confidence. A time when those two pooches that followed me wouldn't be nearly enough to stop me. But I couldn't even remember what I had done to stop them. All I knew was that He had led me through those fights.
While I was moping, I could feel his presence behind me. "Would you like something to eat?" Expecting some standard pokémon food, I didn't even look up. Seeing my lack of acknowledgement, he sighed. "The Family would like to meet you. They have good food, as well. And you look hungry."
"I'm not…" I could feel my stomach protest the very words I was about to say. Instead, I got up and looked at him.
Instead of heading towards the door, he tilted his head curiously. "By the way, what is your name? I can't believe I didn't ask earlier. My name is Gray."
"You don't need my name," I stated. He stared at me patiently, apparently intending to stay there until I gave a proper response. "Just call me Espeon." He didn't look satisfied.
"I don't think that's going to fly," He said, looking at me rather sternly.
"Why? You asked for my name, I gave it to you, there's nothing else for you."
"You see, I would prefer you not call me 'human' all the time. So, why should I call you something akin to 'pokemon' all the time? Don Julius already told me that you're a pokémon of the species 'espeon'. You have some other name given to you, don't you?" His curiosity surprised me. While I did have a name, I wasn't willing to give it out so easily.
"And if I prefer not to give it to you?" I asked, sitting down on my hind legs.
"I don't see why we're having such an issue with names. I wish to know your name. You're going to be stuck with me for some quite some time…"
I cut him off. "And what makes you qualified to train me? You didn't fare any better than me against those two ass sniffers."
"The difference being, had I not been there, you'd be the property of those two, probably beaten and raped," Gray stated. He stared at me, waiting for me to decide to challenge him. If he knew the reason I didn't want to tell him, he might drop it.
Shrugging, he opened the door, and headed out. For the first time, I got a good view of the house. It was beaten up, missing random floorboards and some ceiling tiles. Nothing in the house seemed to be in good repair. The old carpet had at some time been red. Now, it was a muddled brown, appearing almost like dried blood. As we got to the stairs, I jumped on the rail to avoid all the missing stairs. On the rail, I was almost as high up as he was. He looked at me as I walked. His gray-blue eyes were rather disturbing, showing signs of despair. Edgar Allen Poe may have been able to justify the "The Tell-Tale Heart" if Gray was the old man. He gave a wicked grin, and I realized I had accidentally let my thoughts slip, and he might've gotten an idea of me stabbing him in his sleep.
Silently, I waited for him to move forward. I would've gone ahead, but didn't know the way. Did I mention I hate being reliant on others?
As always, I appreciate reviews.
