Welcome to Chosen?, a story about misfits, destiny and finding a place in the world!
The sun dipped low over the trees, the shadows it cast creeping towards me in a malevolent and inexorable march. I crossed my legs and emptied my bag onto the grass in front of me. Berries went rolling across the tangled roots of my tree, tumbling down the small embankment beside the river. I sighed and retrieved them, mentally chastising myself for my carelessness.
I sat back against the tree and dug into my bag for the lone ball that was safely stowed in the secret pocket at the bottom. I clutched it tightly in the palm of my hand and held it against my chest. She really wasn't supposed to leave the sanctuary. She was far too weak. Miss Kida and the others at the orphanage would surely be furious with me.
"One last meal, " I murmured, forgetting my worries about getting into trouble with the adults for a few precious moments. I tapped the ball, releasing my only friend in a flash of light.
The light grew into the fuzzy form of my beloved secret. My beautiful, beloved secret. My beautiful, beloved, mortally ill secret.
I reached out my hand, nuzzling my little eevee under her chin. She cooed and pressed into my hand as I lavished attention on her. I willed the tears away, forcing myself to enjoy my last night with her. I forced out a weak smile and lifted her onto my lap.
"Want something to eat?" I asked, trying and failing to keep my voice from wavering. I picked up one of the pecha berries and offered it to her.
She nudged it away and curled into a ball on my lap. I couldn't help the lump that formed in my throat as I looked down at her short, patchy, pale fur. Miss Kida had said that her colouring was a side effect of some genetic defect. She said . I didn't really care. I lifted the brush I had brought out of my bag and slowly began to brush the few remaining spots of tangles in her pale grey hair.
"Y'know, " I started. "I never had a friend before. You were the first."
She looked up at me with soft, brown eyes and I felt the tears start.
"I've always been alone. Different. Excluded. Miss Kida said that I had a gift, but she always keeps me away from the other children. You are my only friend."
My mind flashed back to the night I watched my precious secret hatch. To the joy that I felt at finally having a friend. To the horror I felt when Miss Kida had told me that she was sick. To the pit in my stomach when she told me that my eevee likely wouldn't make it through the year. What a terrible thing to tell to a child.
"I don't care that you can't battle. I don't care that you don't look like all the other eevee…" My voice trailed off and I choked on a sob that I vainly attempted to hide.
She licked my hand weakly, and I opened my eyes.
"I'm sorry, " I said, pleading for my precious secret's forgiveness. "I'm sorry that I can't make it better." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I just wish that we could be together for so much longer. I wish that we could be together forever."
I closed my eyes as the tears freely fell from my face. They fell into her fur, onto my hands, my shirt, into the dirt. They fell as I wept for my first pokemon. They fell as she curled into my chest and comforted me as best as she could. I couldn't help but cry and hug her closer. They fell as her breathing slowed and finally stopped.
My tears fell into the night as I clutched the frail body of my only friend against my chest.
I don't know how long I sat there. I know that the sun had long since set when I finally stopped. Shadows danced at the edge of my vision, taunting me with formless movements.
"Go away!" I shouted.
They didn't. The shadows crept closer, growing bolder with each passing moment. Hollow yellow eyes peered out at me from the darkness and I knew that I was no longer alone.
I cradled my friend against me, clutching her tightly. These wraiths in the dark were coming for her. I would not let them take her from me.
A disembodied hand reached from the shadows and I couldn't help but let out a terrified sob. I closed my eyes and sobbed uncontrollably as the hand passed through my arms and tore my friend from my grasp.
I shrieked and reached out to take her back, but my eyes fell on a sight that I couldn't believe. My friend's emaciated body lay discarded in the dirt. A disembodied smile grinned back at me and familiar, soft brown eyes stared into mine.
"You're a ghost!" I exclaimed.
The ghastly laughed happily and swirled around me, testing out her new form. She giggled and licked the side of my face with her soft and slimy tongue.
"Now we can be together forever, " I half-shouted as we danced and laughed our way back to Ecruteak.