Nuzlocke: Eternal Enmity

by mangaluva

In Unova, four teenagers come of age and set out with their first Pokemon. All they want is to travel together and start working towards their dreams. But forces beyond their understanding are about to clash, and will turn everything they know on its head in the process. (Fifth in a series, BUT this fic is being written with the aim of being accessible to entirely new readers!)

7. Chapter 7

Warren-Pokemon: 1 Deaths: 0

Carlotta-Pokemon: 3 Deaths: 0

Cheren-Pokemon: 3 Deaths: 1

Bianca-Pokemon: 3 Deaths: 1

{Reshin 18th, 9:12pm}

{Striaton City}

Having been assigned two rooms, they let Bianca settle alone in one to run herself a bubble bath in the big, luxurious bathroom, which did include fancy bubble bath among the free toiletries. There was more than enough room in the second twin for Carlotta, Cheren and Bianca to poke around the fancy desk, minibar and cupboards before flopping down on the luxurious beds to decide what to do while they waited to find out how long Bianca's ideal bath was.

"We could try makin' friends with those three abandoned Pokemon," Warren suggested. "If we're not gonna give 'em to the Plasma Foundation, we might look into keepin' 'em. If we could get 'em comfy with us, we wouldn't have to just abandon 'em in a computer box forever, right?"

"That's a good idea," Cheren said, opening a web browser. "Do you know much about interacting with scared, hurt Pokemon, Warren?"

"Ehhh… I've read a couple things, but I ain't a doctor yet," Warren admitted, ruffling a hand through his own hair. "But stayin' calm and givin' 'em space to calm down is important, I'm pretty sure."

"Here's an accredited guide," Cheren said, throwing up a holodisplay from his c-gear screen. "It says that if you're dealing with multiple scared Pokemon, only let them out one at a time or they'll panic each other. Which one first?"

"The grass one," Carlotta said. "If it panics, it ain't gonna set the room on fire or flood it. I mean, we ain't payin' for this place, but that don't mean we can trash it. I'm guessin', if we get it calm, it can calm down the others, right?"

"Right," Warren said, carefully pressing the front buttons on the pokeballs to get information displays until he found the Pansage, clicking hard to release the the little green Pokemon into the middle of the carpet. He looked much better without the blood and bruises, but as soon as he saw the three humans, he whimpered and shot off under one of the beds.

"Do we just let 'im do that?" Carlotta said, leaning down to peer under the bed.

"Yeah, I think we do," Warren said, pulling her back. "We shouldn't touch or approach it 'til it lets us, right?"

"That's what it says here," Cheren agreed. "We should stay very still, keep as quiet as possible, and not react to anything it does-in fact, try not to even look at it. It might take a long time, but when it realizes it isn't being hurt, it'll come to investigate us, and when we don't hurt it for that, it'll get more comfortable."

"Wait, we've gotta sit still and quiet for hours?!" Carlotta said in dismay.

"That might actually kill you," Warren observed.

"No shit," Carlotta grumbled. "Look, I'll go back to the other room and work out until Bianca gets outta her bath. You guys can stay here alone so long as you don't tell our folks I left y'all unchaperoned and you don't get up to nothin', or at least keep it quiet if you do, okay?"

"Please go away, now, please," Cheren sighed, pulling his glasses off and rubbing his eyes as Warren shoved his cackling sister through the adjoining door between the rooms.

"So… Grass Vs Ghosts?" Warren suggested, holding up his c-gear.

"I'll set up a local game," Cheren agreed with a cough. They loaded up the game and settled down on the floor, backs to the couch so they could see if the Pansage came out from under the bed.

It was a little eerie at first, playing in silence aside from the occasional hiss of frustration, but steadily Warren got absorbed into the game. Around ten, a "BlazingSoul96" joined their game, and Cheren murmured something about bored rich kids before they got back into the flow of the game. Warren got so sucked in that he couldn't help jumping and yelping when something unexpectedly touched his foot.

The Pansage gave a little wail and took off under the bed again.

"Well, shit," Warren muttered. "Did I just flush an hour and a half down the pan?"

"Did you make that pun consciously?" Cheren said. Warren groaned. "And you didn't hurt it, you just startled it. It won't take so long to come back again. Hmmm…" He pulled his pokeballs out of his pocket. "Maybe I'll let Sherlock out. He's very well-behaved, and it might help settle the poor thing to see another Pokemon."

"Good idea," Warren said, picking up his c-gear again. "Aw, shit, we left Blazin' Soul holdin' the fort alone! He's gettin' swamped!"

"So help him quietly," Cheren said, keeping his voice deliberately soft as he released Sherlock, then picked up his own C-gear to rejoin the game. Sherlock stared at the humans for a while, as if waiting for a command, before hissing a bit when nothing happened. "We're not fighting, Sherlock," Cheren whispered, pointing to the bed that the Pansage was hiding under. "Remember that Pansage? Go say hello!"

Sherlock stared at the bed, then flicked out his tongue a few more times, eyes widening. He crept under the bed. Warren turned his full attention to the undead invasion floating across the screen.

After a while, the quiet in the room was tinted by soft hissing and chittering.

{Reshin 18th, 10:55pm}

{Striaton City}

"Oh," Bianca said, coming out of the bathroom in a fluffy dressing gown to see Carlotta lying on her back, bench-pressing a toddler-sized blue Pokemon with long whiskers, who was giggling as he went up and down. "Uh… is that Owain? Did he evolve?"

"Oh, yeah," Carlotta grunted, setting down her starter. "After the gym battle. Wasn't really worth mentionin' at the time. How are you doin'?"

"Better," Bianca said, sitting down on the bed. "Sorry for takin' so long."

"Awww, don't you worry your head about it," Carlotta said, patting Bianca's shoulder. "I'm gonna get a shower. Be five minutes. Don't go next door 'less you wanna sit silent, they're tryin' ta get them abused Pokemon used to 'em. When I'm done, we'll get room service, awright? The menu's in plain Unovan, so have yourself a peek an' pick what you want." She returned Owain, handed a tablet to Bianca and headed for the bathroom.

Bianca stared at the menu listlessly, then, biting her lip, scrolled to the dessert menu. They won't judge me for gettin' a milkshake, right? Even if it's a big one? I could even get… gondamn, does that say doublechocolate fudge brownie?!

Carlotta wasn't even five minutes, coming out with her long brown hair wrapped up in a towel and stroking the sleeves of her dressing gown. "Damn, this shit's soft. Alright, Bianca, what're you gonna have?"

"I… could do with a milkshake," Bianca admitted, pointing to the picture in the menu.

"Ooooh, good idea!" Carlotta said, grinning. "Lemme see… yeah, sounds like a good idea! Ooooh, double chocolate fudge brownie? My favourite!

"I want that, too," Bianca said, nearly melting with relief, the feeling of a threat avoided. Which is silly. Carlotta's my friend. She ain't a threat.

"Nice," Carlotta said, double-tapping the flavour option and ordering two. "Right… well, let's see what movies this place has got, huh?"

"Carly?" Bianca asked, fidgeting with her sleeves. "Ummm… Lilith. Dyin'. Have you… seen stuff like that before?"

"Well… I ain't actually seen it happen before," Carlotta admitted. "They don't tend to broadcast that. Restrictions. People an' Pokemon can fake die in movies plenty, though I think we'll avoid that. But sometimes, y'know, you see dead wild Pokemon around… maybe they got killed fightin' other wild Pokemon, or by a trainer who didn't bury 'em and just left 'em. I ain't sayin' it's a good thing, but it happens. High-level battles often lead to somethin' dyin' 'cause the Pokemon involved are so dang strong."

"Is it silly of me to be this upset?" Bianca asked quietly, wrapping her arms around herself. "She was just… so little… it looked like it hurt…"

"Hey, Bianca, no, you ain't silly," Carlotta said, reaching out and hugging her tight. "Hells, maybe we oughta be more upset. It is pretty messed up that that happened in front of all them kids, too. You'd really think Cilan woulda been more careful. The rest of us are just… more used to it, that's all. It happens."

"I… I guess I gotta get used to it too," Bianca said, wiping her eyes.

"You don't have to do nothin' but feel better in your own time, Bianca," Carlotta said, squeezing her tight. "Sorry it ain't all sunshine and rainbows out here."

"It's still better," Bianca said, hugging her back. "Believe me. It's better."

{Reshin 19th, 8:30am}

{Striaton City}

"Oh my goodness," Bianca gasped, clasping her hands to her chest and smiling broadly. "You did it!"

The Pansear and Pansage both eeped at the sudden sound and hid behind the Panpour who, though he was trembling, puffed up his chest and leveled the fiercest glare he could muster.

"Hey, no, it's okay," Warren said, pointing to Bianca and Carlotta and smiling. "Look, they're safe, they're friends, okay? Kneel down, hold out a hand, don't move," he added to Carlotta and Bianca. They did so, watching as the three little Pokemon slowly edged closer, occasionally glancing at Sherlock, who leaned down from his trainer's shoulder and hissed.

"And try not to smile with teeth, these species see it as a challenge," Cheren added. Bianca quickly adjusted her grin. The Pansage looked up at her, then at her outstretched hand, tentatively tapping it with a paw.

"Hey there, cutie," Bianca cooed softly as the Pansage patted and sniffed his way up her arm. "I'm a friend, I promise." She reached out another hand, tentatively, to pet the little green Pokemon. He flinched away, trembling, before slowly opening his eyes and staring in awe as all she did was stroke his ears gently.

"See? Friendly!" Carlotta said, waggling her own fingers. The Pansear sniffed at her, then nipped her finger. "Ow!" she yelped, pulling her hand back. The Pansear fled again. "What was that for?!"

"He's just testin' you to see if you're just actin' nice," Warren advised, over the sound of Sherlock hissing at the Pans. "Don't do anything."

Sherlock was pushing the Pansear back towards Carlotta. Grumbling, she held out her hand again. The Pansear stared, wide-eyed, then licked her wound. "Is that sanitary?" she asked Warren.

"Fire-types don't carry anythin' that can infect humans, their body temperatures are too dang high," Warren promised her. "Guess you'll be carryin' him, then, 'til we can find somewhere safe to take 'em?"

"Sure," Carlotta said, holding out her hand for the pokeball so she could return the Pansear. Bianca recalled the Pansage, and Cheren the Panpour. "Right. Speakin' of…"

"A guy we were gaming with last night mentioned over text chat that there's a nursery nearby that also takes in abandoned Pokemon," Cheren explained. "I looked up the address. It's on the way to Nacrene City, anyway, so shall we?"

They checked out, giggling conspiratorially as the concierge told them that their bill was nothing whatsoever and wished them luck on their journey. Following Cheren's c-gear map route, they wandered the streets of north-west Striaton, which were so thick with ornamental trees that it was actually a while before they realized that the buildings were gone and they were outside of the city. They spotted the first brightly-coloured sign for the nursery at the same time that the sound of children shrieking with laughter reached them.

"I think that's it," Carlotta said, pointing to a big, old-fashioned log cabin that was a semi-concealed by the trees around it.

"Umm… guys?" Bianca said nervously. "I… I know it looks real nice… but are we sure they're gonna treat the Pokemon right?"

"Blazing Soul said that the place allows you to visit and play with adoptable Pokemon," Cheren explained. "They let some play with the children at the nursery, but others adults can visit. We can have a look at the place before we leave those Pokemon here, okay?"

"Thanks," Bianca sighed in relief. Carlotta patted her arm and pressed the doorbell, which played the chirpy theme song of an old cartoon.

"Oh… hi!" a young woman in a bright apron said, looking startled as she opened the door. "Um… can I help you?"

"Hi," Warren said. "We heard we could visit adoptable Pokemon here?"

"You were… oh! Right! You're visitors! Yes!" the young woman said, opening the door further. "Sorry, we're expecting visitors. Different ones. Sorry, can I see your IDs, please? I'll check you in. It's not them!" she called over her shoulder as three more members of nursery staff came hurrying into the entrance hall. They all had their names embroidered on their aprons, revealing that the woman at the door's name was Autumn and she wasn't just wearing a mismatched seasonal apron. "It's some trainers," Autumn explained, causing her coworkers to sigh in momentary relief before one went to look anxiously out of the front window.

"Sorry, should we have made an appointment or called ahead?" Cheren asked as Autumn led them over to the front desk.

"No, no, don't worry about it," Autumn insisted, taking and scanning their IDs. "Are you here looking to adopt or just visit?"

"We ain't really lookin' to adopt, we just wanna spend some time with the Pokemon," Carlotta explained.

Autumn nodded. "We actually welcome that, because we have a few who aren't completely safe to socialize with children, so older visitors are very welcome to spend some time with them," she said with a smile as she handed back their IDs. "Most of the Pokemon are out in the yard with the children just now…"

"You really let the kids play with the Pokemon? Every day?" Bianca breathed in awe.

"Bianca's wonderin' if she's too old to go to nursery," Warren said in amusement.

"You're too old to enroll, I'm afraid, but not too old to play with Pokemon," Cheren said encouragingly. "Are we allowed to release our own Pokemon here?" he asked Autumn.

"We'd rather you didn't," Autumn said apologetically, walking back out from around the desk and gesturing for them to follow her down the hall. "Not all of our Pokemon are comfortable around stranger Pokemon. Also, we do have some guests coming by appointment soon, so please don't go wandering off around the building unsupervised."

"Gotcha," Carlotta said. "So, what've you got?"

Autumn stopped by a doorway with a deposit box set into the wall next to it. She tapped the screen above, scrolling through the pictures of some Pokemon. "Well, here, you folks have a look. Any of the ones with red tags, they aren't comfortable around ANY other Pokemon at all, so you'd have to go to a room on your own with them. Yellow tags are fine together but not with stranger Pokemon. We have quite a few that really aren't happy around men and one or two who don't like women, so please check their information carefully."

Warren swiped past a Lillipup extremely quickly. "Hey, look, it's a Munna!" he said, pointing at the round, pink Pokemon. "Says here you ain't lettin' it out with the kids 'cause she panics at loud noises?"

"And small children are nothing if not noisy," Autumn giggled.

"Aww, it's snuggly! I'll snuggle 'er!" Bianca volunteered immediately. Autumn smiled, entering her passcode to withdraw the Munna's pokeball, handing it to Bianca. Cheren, Carlotta and Warren selected a couple of Pidove and a Purrloin, and went into the empty gym hall to play.

"Keep in mind all the same stuff from lookin' after those pans," Warren said softly, stroking the Purrloin he'd selected, who curled up on his lap and purred. "Voices soft, no sudden movements, don't do anythin' if they get nervous an' scratch or bite, right?"

"Right," cooed Carlotta, giggling as the Pidove she'd picked chirped at her and hopped up and down her arm. It was missing a leg, but didn't seem willing to let that slow it down. "Goddamn, up close, these things are cute. Always thought they were just messy li'l assholes."

"Surprisingly soft," Cheren mused, lying on his back and letting his Pidove sit on his stomach and chirp as he stroked its head with a finger. They all lapsed into silence, focused on gently petting or cuddling the Pokemon they'd chosen. It was soothing, after all the chaos of the day before.

After about twenty minutes, Autumn came back. "Just showing a couple of our foreign visitors around!" she said brightly, opening the door and speaking softly, a digital translator clipped to her apron displaying her words in the air in front of her.

The Fairlan man and woman who walked in were dressed like tourists, down to the woman having pulled her high purple ponytail through a Zebstriker baseball cap, but one look at their strikingly familiar faces suggested that they were anything but daytrippers.

"Holy shit, you're the ninjas!" Warren blurted out.

"I feel like people not yelling that is crucial to being a ninja," Cheren said, slamming a hand over his boyfriend's mouth.

The two ninja stared at the four of them in surprise, then the man pointed at them and said, "Warren Arathos, to Carlotta Arathos, to Cheren Athos, to Bianca D'artagnan, desu ka?"

"That's us," Carlotta said, raising her hand. "Do we gotta leave now? 'Less your boss ain't comin' to visit and this is just you on your day off…" Cheren rattled off a translation for her.

There was some muttered conference between the ninja and some anxious looks from Autumn before the woman started talking, reaching for her translator button for a moment before changing her mind, nodding to Cheren. "They said it's fine for us to stay because they know who we are," he said.

As Autumn ushered the pair back out, Carlotta said, "third random encounter-does that make this a pattern?"

"I don't believe the second time counts, since we chose to do our gym battles on a day when we knew the Fairlan Champion would be there," Cheren opined.

"Should we be here?" Bianca said nervously. "Ya think members of the public ain't supposed to be here?"

"That would explain why the staff were so startled to see us, but no, I don't imagine we're banned from being here, per se," Cheren explained, looking around for his Pidove, who had startled when Warren yelled. "I'm sure they would have turned us away at the door if that was the case."

"They wouldn't do that, though, case we started askin' around why the place is mysteriously closed to visitors today," Warren added. "The Champion's probably plannin' to visit quite a few public places and they won't be makin' all of 'em known to the public-"

"-especially if she's bringin' her kid, which she might, since this is, like, a place for kids to play with Pokemon," Carlotta added. "I mean, places like this, all people-'n'-Pokemon together, are the kindsa places they gotta love. But they're not gonna post an itinerary or anythin'."

Warren nodded. "It's a security hazard. But they ain't gonna close places to the public with no explanation, either, since that's a pretty obvious flag to anybody hopin' to figure out where she's gonna be today. Those ninja came in disguise to scope the place out, make sure it's secure 'fore the Champion gets here. If we were strangers, one of them probably woulda stayed to keep an eye on us until the Champion left."

"Whoa… that's a lot," Bianca said with a shudder. "They gotta go through all that anytime they go anywhere?"

"That's security," Carlotta said with a shrug, gently rocking her Pidove in her hands. "It's good procedure. I'm guessin' we're gonna hafta stay here 'til they're gone."

"I can do that," Bianca said, rocking her Munna gently.

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This was originally intended to be a couple scenes longer, but then the scenes here went long and I decided, y'know, let's have a nice one! In between… things…

Hope y'all had a happy Pride month! I put up all the drabbles I did for the nuzforums' create-a-thon on AO3 under a collection titled "Pride Twentygayteen"-the goal of the create-a-thon was to represent as many genders and sexualities as possibly, from gay and bi and ace and poly and pan and grey-ace people to trans and nonbinary and androgynous and demi people and more!

Warren

Angus the Audino

Carlotta

Owain the Oshawott, Loyal the Lillipup, Paden the Pansear

Bianca

Tiberius the Tepig, Packard the Watchog, Pine the Pansage

Cheren

Sherlock the Snivy, Priscilla the Purrloin, Poncho the Panpour