Ugh, work fucking sucks. Everyone is buying a ton of supplies, not for fear of the Coronavirus, but because they're afraid the government will do something even more stupid than what they've already done. Thanks a lot feds, you've made my job completely fucking suck. Great job! Also this is the second time I typed this up. First time my wifi decided to cut out before I hit save. Thanks a fucking lot CenturyLink. Wish we had other options in the mountains.
February 15th, 2019. 8:00pm.
The duo had located a decent place to set up camp after they had travelled a ways from N and his now thoroughly traumatized Zoroark. There was a bit of an outcrop in one of the cliffs. They felt that sitting out in the open after that incident had occurred, that camping in the open, would be a pretty bad idea. Neither or them had spoken since they hugged. It was pretty awkward since Logan had tried to leave him, and then came back. Logan was sure that Ben would speak first, and that it would be about how Logan was now a wild Pokémon again, and that they should fix that. Logan liked to think he knew things. Problem was he was usually wrong, and this time was no exception. Ben did indeed speak first, but not about that. "So, why did you come back? I thought you wanted to be away from me. Why the change of heart?"
Logan looked down a bit. "Can I have a minute to think? It's not so easy to put into words."
"Take all the time you need. We aren't going anywhere." With that, Ben began to set up the tent as Logan sat down.
His left leg was laying flat on the ground with his knee bent so that his foot was going under his right leg, which was in the air apart from his clawed foot. His right arm was resting on the knee. 'How do I say this? I've never done anything like this before. I've always bottled my emotions up. I've never really faced them before. What the hell do I say?' Logan let out a sigh and laid flat on his back, clawed hands behind his head. He looked up at the sky, and as usually happened when he was thinking, even about something serious, his mind began to wander. 'Being out here, it's so pretty. You can see so much of the sky on these clear nights. I can even see the Milky Way. At least one of it's arms. There are billions and billions of stars out there in this galaxy. All so incomprehensibly far away. There's also billions and billions of galaxies out there. This universe is so unbelievably massive, and if multiverse theory is true, there are billions and billions of universes. It puts things into such a context. In the vast infiniteness of reality, do any of my problems matter? Do I even matter? Honestly, no I don't. Especially since I can't even figure out something so small in comparison to everything.' He let out another sigh and reached into his mane and pulled out his phone. He unlocked it and went to YuuTube. He needed to listen to some music. He paused and sat up. 'That's it.'
As Ben was setting up the tent, he was just about to drive the stakes into the ground, when he heard a guitar playing, what sounded like right between his ears. He looked around confused until he saw Logan. His eyes had a small glow about them. 'An auditory illusion.' Zoroarks were capable of making illusions real enough to inflict phantom pain. Making sound was easy for them. The sound he heard next was a woman singing.
"Who do I turn to when things are broken? Where do I go when I'm feeling alone? Who's always there with arms wide open it's you. Yeah it's you."
Ben saw a distinct wetness in Logan's eyes. He stepped over to him.
"Where do I hide when it's dark and stormy? Where do I run when it's all too much? Who gives me hope when I wake each morning it's you. Yeah it's you." Ben lifted Logan up and embraced him in a hug. "You were there for me in my darkest days. You cared for me when I lost my way. My guiding light, you always pulled me through. I believe in you."
Logan's breath sputtered and he began openly sobbing.
"Yeah yeah... When I stumble and fall, you take my hand. When I don't have a clue, you know what to do. When nothing makes sense, you help me to understand. It's true. Seems like forever, it's been you and me. I know who you really are. Sometimes I wonder, where would I be without you? Yeah yeah. You were there for me in my darkest days. You cared for me when I lost my way. My guiding light, you always pulled me through. Yeah you gave me strength, when I was weak. You were my voice when I could not speak. One ray of hope, that I could hold onto. Yeah I believe in you... Yeah I believe in yoooooou."
Logan couldn't take it anymore. He buried his face in Ben's shoulder and wrapped his arms tightly around Ben. Not too tightly though. With the strength Zoroarks possessed, he could've crushed Ben like a toothpick if he didn't hold back. Ben reached his right arm up and began petting Logan's mane.
"You were there for me in my darkest days. You cared for me when I lost my way. My guiding light, you always pulled me throuuuuuuugh. Yeah you gave me strength, when I was weak. You were my voice when I could not speak. One ray of hope, that I could hold onto. Yeah I believe in yooooooou… You were there for me in my darkest days. You cared for me when I lost my way. My guiding light, you always pulled me through."
Ben spoke in turn with the music. "Yeah I believe in yoooooou." He blushed a little bit when the line repeated one last time before the song ended. It made his gesture not quite as fluid as he had been hoping for. Still, Logan appreciated the gesture. After a few more moments, Logan managed to compose himself. When he eventually pushed himself away from Ben, his eyes scleras were quite red. It was actually a nice color combination with the brilliant blue. Though it was hard for Ben to see someone who was normally so confident in such a vulnerable state. He patted Logan's shoulder a few times. "Hey, take a seat and I'll get you something to eat."
Logan sniffed loudly and nodded. Ben fetched a small Styrofoam cooler from the backpack. In it was, what once was ice, and a bunch of sliced rotisserie seasoned chicken breast. The ice HAD melted, but the water was still decently cold as it was still winter, so even in this desert, it wasn't THAT hot. He handed Logan the cooler. "Here, it'll be a bit soggy, but it should still be tasty." Logan pulled out the whole stack. He hit it with a Flamethrower to dry it off a bit, then set it on the top of the cooler to eat it one slice at a time. He savored the nice flavor. They had brought this specifically for him.
As he ate, Ben finished setting up the tent, and set out the kibble for his other Pokémon. Once the tent was set up, Logan was finished eating, and his other Pokémon were in the process of eating, he walked over to Logan. He dug into his backpack and pulled something out.
"So Logan, you are legally wild now. If you'd like to rectify that, well, I'd be very happy about that." He held his webbed hand out and revealed a Luxury Ball to Logan. Logan gently grabbed it. He held the back of his with both hands, staring at the button. Soon enough, he curled it into his chest, where the button was depressed against his sternum. His body turned into the signature red energy, and he was sucked into it. This was not like the first time. First time he was being captured he was confused, somewhat scared, and extremely angry. This time, he was comfortable. He was sure. This is what he wanted. Three shakes later, there was a click. He was Ben's Pokémon again.
This time though, it was for good.
He was sent back out a few minutes later. Ben's other Pokémon had all been recalled after they had finished eating. "Sorry about the delay. Had a phone call to make. So, we're partners again?" Logan nodded. "Good. I'm glad that we're on the same page for once. I do care about you."
Logan looked dead in his eyes. "I know you do."
They called it a night soon after, or at least Ben did. Logan cast an illusionary copy of himself as he hid himself in the corner of the tent. Fortunately, he'd been in here enough times that he knew exactly how to make it look, so he was able to cast the most difficult illusion a normal Zoroark could. Invisibility. A Zoroark couldn't just cast this whenever the hell they wanted. They had to know what the area around them was supposed to look like from all angles. It's why Logan was able to cast it back in his territory when Ben captured him. He knew his territory very well. Now, he was familiar enough with the inside of this tent to cast the same illusion he had back then. He made his double crawl into the sleeping bag with Ben and curl up. He held these two illusions until he was positive Ben was asleep, then he lowered both. He quietly crept along until he could reach Ben's belt, which he took off during the night. He grabbed Nito's Pokeball, and exited the tent. He walked about 50 feet away, and tossed it next to himself. The Dweott materialized.
"Huh? What's going on? Where's Ben?"
Logan sat down as he answered. "He's sleeping. I just... I need someone to talk to, and I can't talk to Ben about this, because it's about him."
Nito stared at him with a serious look on his face. "What's going on?"
A loud sigh escaped from Logan's maw. "I... I don't feel like I deserve to be on Ben's team... He's so nice, and kind. I feel happy near him. Yet, well... I'm horrible. I threaten, I hurt, I try to kill sometimes. I make everyone around me miserable. I don't deserve to be his partner. It's for someone as good as him. Definitely not me. I'm just not worthy of it." Logan's eyes weren't looking anywhere but down at the ground. "I want to be on his team. More than anything, I want this, but I have Dark Type I may be, I have a strong sense of justice. I believe that everyone should get what they deserve. I don't deserve this place. I deserve... bad things. I deserve to die..."
As Logan continued on, Nito became more and more concerned for Logan's safety. "You... don't think like that! That's not healthy! Look, if you really don't believe that you deserve this, then work on being better. Improve yourself until you are worthy. Work on being better to prove to Ben, and yourself, that you do deserve this."
Logan sighed again and looked up. He was having an internal war. Could he really be worthy of this? Not at this moment, could he ever? To him, Ben was someone who was better than he could ever hope to be, and deserved nothing but the best. He was strong for sure, he was tall, healthy, Zoroarks were also a very handsome species if you were to ask him, but his personality, he felt it ruined all that. "I suppose all I can do is try. For some unknown reason he wants me on his team. I don't want to hurt his feelings by leaving him again. I will work on improving myself both on and off the battlefield. I'll push myself with everything I have. Thanks for your advice." Nito told him it was no problem, and Logan recalled him. "I'll push myself as far as I need to. Even if it kills me."
