Quick note, the two stories told about Logan's past are events that actually happened to me. Yes, I did get to play in a profesional stadium. That actually happened.
February 16th 2019. 7:00 pm.
The time in the deserts of Route 4 hadn't been Ben's most productive. Hw would've preferred to spend an extra day training, but Logan seemed rather eager to return to where he had spent much of his childhood. Though according to Logan they had lived just outside the city proper. Still, it was probably like a return to home for the young fox. Ben was sure if Logan still had a tail it would've been wagging. Several hours before the entered the city, the deserts gave way to flat grassy plains. The temperature cooling a bit as they were heading north. It wasn't often there was snow south of Route 4, but it did happen in places like Pinwheel Forest as the duo had experienced. In fact the blizzard had nearly set a record for snow fall in the southern part of Unova. Either way, they entered Nimbasa as the sun was setting. Logan's sharp eyes, and even Ben's less sharp ones, caught sight of the bright lights of the fair that was in town, as well as the Ferris Wheel that towered over most buildings. Logan would've liked to go right then and there, but he knew as well as Ben that as late as it was, they should just get some dinner and go to the Pokémon Center. On the way though, they passed a large building next to a metro station.
"I'll never forget this building." Logan remarked as they walked past it. He looked at it with a face that conveyed... was that nostalgia?
Ben looked at it. The building front was almost entirely panned glass. Due to the shape, and the fact that you could see there were walkways through which you could see stands, it was some form of sports arena. "Why is that?"
"Back when we lived near here, I started to follow hockey more. This is the home of the Nimbasa Blues. My dad, brother, and I went to dozens of games during our 14 years living near the city. It was always fun going to the games. Despite having Autism, I loved being in the roar of the crowd. Going to these games is what made me want to play hockey, and I did. I actually played here for a year during... I can never remember which year it was, but it was a lockout shortened season so the place wasn't really being used. Well, the team I played for at the time lost our rink to mine subsidence, and after a couple weeks, I don't know if our organization went to the Blues or if the Blues came to us, but it basically boiled down to, 'Hey do you guys wanna use the rink since we aren't?' Which was swiftly followed by 'Shut up and take our money.' So the rest of that season, all of our home games and practices occurred in this professional rink. It was a dream come true for all of us. No matter how far away I move, this building and this team will always hold a special place in my heart." Logan took a deep breath as he wrapped up the story. He seemed to be getting a bit emotional. Ben, who knew next to nothing about hockey, wasn't really sure what to say. So he went with something that was pretty basic.
"That's interesting."
The fact that Ben seemed incredibly disinterested flew right over Logan's head despite him being six foot two, not including his hair. He proceeded to pull out his phone and open SafariZone. His eyes widened. "Wait, the Blues are in the playoffs? They were in last place in the entire league at the start of the year. Holy shit they're on an 8 game win streak and they're winning 2-0 right now!" Ben kinda zoned out until Logan grabbed his shoulder. "Hey, there's a game here on the 19th! Can we go? Can we can we can we?"
Ben was totally 100% uninterested in hockey, and sports in general, but he smiled at seeing Logan be so eager and child... kit-like. "Oh ok we can go. How do we get tickets? Do they sell them here this early?" Logan proceeded to laugh loudly. The warm laugh was a strange sound to come from this very, VERY, big and powerful fox with a major attitude problem. Yet... it was pleasant. Logan grabbed Ben's phone from his belt. Ben made an attempt to grab it, but Logan just held it up high.
"Ok, store, ehm… here it is. Wait for it to download... I think I had an account here. Username, password, yep. Hey your credit card is attached to this phone right?" Ben nodded, seemingly grumpy that Logan was using his height to literally hold his phone over him. "Thumb print right?" He gave another nod. Logan gave a number of taps before handing the phone back to him. Ben saw the notification to purchase two tickets for the game. The price wasn't that bad. 58 bucks. He contemplated saying no due to how Logan had taken his phone, but he figured that he had already said yes to it. He put his thumb on the button and bought the tickets. He was soon sent a pair of images. They were two nearly identical images of the tickets. The only difference was that one ticket said seat 15, the other seat 16. Logan's eyes were incredibly happy. Ben was certain that if he had the tail that a non-Pokémon fox had, it would've been swaying so fast it would be moving his hips. "Oh thank you thank you thank you! I can't believe I'm actually gonna get to go to a Blues game again!"
Ben smiled. He was super he wouldn't really care about the game, but seeing Logan happy for that long would be enjoyable.
The rest of the day wasn't particularly interesting, and before long they found themselves going to bed.
February 17th, 2019. 9:00 am.
When they woke up, or more accurately when Ben woke up, it was because Logan was taping his clawed foot against the tiled floor of their room. Logan was surprisingly eager to get to this fair. Logan had wolfed down his breakfast so quickly it seemed like he had barely chewed. Ben tried to figure out why he was so eager for certain things. Sure, everyone got excited about things, but with how he normally behaved it was one extreme to the other. Then again, his attitude had significantly improved since he had saved him from N's Zoroark. Also he had to consider how long it had been since Logan had done these sorts of things. Ben shrugged as they approached the fair. Him enjoying himself without people getting hurt couldn't be a bad thing, and it would probably bring them closer together. They paid for their admittance, and entered. The fair was decently lager, and there was a lot of people, anthro animals, and even some anthro Pokémon like Logan walking around. Logan grabbed Ben's wrist and dragged him over to a large roller coaster. Ben looked up. It had a very large and very steep drop. It looked to be over 200 feet high and around 80 degrees. The wait was a bit long, but it wasn't that bad. It took about 25 minutes, during which Logan barely complained, despite Ben having gotten the impression from what he had seen of him from the past that he would be impatient. He decided to ask about it during the wait.
"You seem surprisingly patient. It kinda surprises me. You've come off as impatient from what I've seen of you."
"Well, at the ago of 14 I took up hunting with my father. Not hunting with my claws and teeth, gun hunting. Patience is an absolute must for that. You need to be able to sit nearly motionless for hours. It's something I really enjoyed doing, so I learned to be patient."
Ben rolled his eyes when Logan wasn't looking. 'Of course it has something to do with violence. This is Logan. Why wouldn't it? I should really just expect these sorts of things now.' Soon enough, they boarded the coaster cars. They were lucky enough to get on the first car, and since these were two person cars, they had it to themselves. However, the attendant paused before sending the car. He looked at Logan and checked the bar. Logan looked to the male lemur.
"Something wrong?"
He scratched behind his ear for a moment. "Well, you Zoroarks are so... lithe, that I needed to make sure the bar would hold you in. Seems like you'll be fine."
He pressed the go button after doing the usual bullshit about keeping your arms and legs inside the ride at all times. The cars moved forwards a bit before turning, and then slowly clicking up the massive incline. Logan leaned forwards with an aggressive looking grin on his face. They could feel the win in their fur as they approached the top. The ride slowed to a crawl as a sort of build up factor. Then it rocketed downwards. Logan felt his butt come off the seat as he was so thin there was too much space between his thighs and the bar. The attendant had thought it would be ok. Unfortunately he was wrong. Fortunately however, he was strong enough due to being a Zoroark that he was able to force himself to stay in the car and not feet and body outside and just clinging onto the bar. Ben saw Logan grip the bar tightly and force his knees under it so he didn't come out. His eyes bugged out as he was terrified Logan would die or end up majorly wounded. Before long they hit the bottom and the smaller rise at the end of it. The high G-forces nearly made Logan faceplant into the bar as he was forcing himself down anyways. Logan found himself being flung to and fro for the entire 90 seconds the ride went after the big drop. Ben was utterly relieved when the ride ended and Logan was still in the car. The ride pulled up to just behind where they boarded, and they were let off. Once they got off, Ben looked to Logan. "Are you ok?!"
"That ride almost killed me! That was awesome! Let's go again!"
"No! No we are not!"
They went on a few more thrill rides, ones that didn't nearly kill Logan, before they stopped for lunch. They found a burger and fries stall, which Logan dug into with gusto when he got it. Ben watched Logan, who was grinning nearly literally from ear to ear with his maw shaped like it was. "You seem happy. Like, really happy. It's refreshing."
"It is for me too. I actually feel happy, and not just for a short time. I genuinely feel happy through and through. It's... kinda a new feeling after so long of being miserable, but, it's nice." Logan shoved the rest of his burger into his maw. A number of splotches of ketchup landed on his chest fluff. Ben took a napkin and cleaned the fur.
"We still gotta work on your table manners." This caused Logan to laugh. Ben had a feeling this meant it would never happen. Logan gave certain confirmation when he belched as loudly as he could. Ben sighed. As much as Logan was beginning to grow on him, he was so insufferable with his personality at times. If Logan was a bit more toned down and not as aggressive, Ben may develop feelings for him, but no. It wouldn't happen.
"So, let's hit the games. I know the secrets to win."
Within a couple minutes, they found themselves at the always rigged games found at fairs. Logan picked one that was odd for a fair, but was something that had a trick to it. One that Logan knew. It was one of those three shell games that you had to keep track of an object under one of those. Logan grinned to himself as he sat down at it. A raccoon female was the one attending it. Unlike many anthros, she wore clothing. She wore a baggy shirt and pants, and Logan knew why.
"Hello to test your focus? Object of the game is simple. Just keep track of the ball and pick the shell that has it underneath as I move them to try and confuse you."
"Oh I know how this works. How much to play?"
"Just two bucks. And you can win one of these plushies behind me. Two dollars is dirt cheap for some of these things." There were plenty of plushies in the tent as was usual in these things. Logan nodded and Ben paid the lady. She went on to explain that you had to win three times for a small prize, and five for a large one. The first two rounds were plenty easy, and the third only proved slightly difficult. They didn't get to pick their prize yet, as he still had to do potentially two more rounds. The fourth round showed her skill with the game. Her hands were a blur and the shells were moving at a rapid pace. However, thanks to Logan's high speed stat, his reflexes were top notch as moving at high speed could decidedly dangerous if you didn't have good reflexes, and his brain reacted to things quickly. He was able to follow the shell that had the ball. Once she ended, Logan pointed to the center shell, and she removed it to reveal the ball.
"Most people don't get that one. That's very impressive."
"Yeah I definitely got lost on that one."
The raccoon lady placed the shell back over the ball. "Now then. Last round. I'm going all out on this one. So let's get this going."
Logan readied himself for the trick that he knew was coming. She stepped up the pace even more. She was truly a master of this craft, and it showed. Even Logan was having a bit of trouble tracking the ball. He placed a clawed finger under his maw as he focused. However, he saw what he had been waiting for. For just a brief moment, the shell with the ball under it lifted up a bit, and the ball flew into her baggy sleeve. Due to the rapid pace of the shells, the ball was only visible for a fraction of a seconds. Logan subtly smiled.
He continued to follow the shell that the ball used to be under, which ended up in the right position. Logan chuckled to himself, grabbed the middle and left shell, stared her directly in the eyes, and lifted them up at the same time with a smirk on his face. "So I'm guessing the ball is under that one right?" The procyonid froze for a moment before rubbing the back of her head.
"So you saw that didn't you?" Logan just nodded cynically. He was feeling quite proud of himself, and Ben found himself chuckling. "Ok, can you not tell anyone about that? That would cause my booth to lose money."
"I never lie, but not telling someone if they don't ask isn't lying. So unless someone asks, my lips are sealed." The raccoon chuckled.
"Sly fox."
"Thieving raccoon."
"I've never enjoyed being stereotyped more than I do right now. I imagine you feel largely the same. Anyways, take your pick of prizes. Anything you want." She gestured in a wide range behind her. The prizes were the usual, stuffed animals. There were animals, anthros, pokemon, and a few cartoon characters. Logan glanced back to Ben who gestured for him to make the pick. Logan scanned the selection before his eyes caught one. It was a feral otter. There really wasn't anything else he cared about, and Ben may appreciate it. He pointed to it and said it aloud. She turned, took it off the shelf, and handed it to him. "Here ya go. Ya won it fair and square."
Logan turned around and handed it to Ben, who smiled and took it. "Thank you." They walked away from the booth. "Ya know, slightly embarrassing story, I still have a few stuffed animals in my room at home I still sleep with." Ben opened his backpack and put the stuffed animal in it. It wasn't an overly large one and Ben hadn't brought his normal Pokémon supplies as he didn't believe he'd need it here, which seemed to be the case.
They spent the next couple hours playing games. Darts, which Ben tried and failed to win, the stacked bottles, which Logan was able to win a small prize as he knew if you stand to the left or right you have a better chance of knocking more over, and he chose a small stuffed Zorua which had the usual adorableness they had, and a few other games which they weren't able to win. It was around 7pm. They were starting to get ready to leave, when Logan spotted the "See Your Strength" game. He smirked. For a Zoroark like him, this was a guaranteed win. He pointed it out and Ben agreed that Logan should give it a go. A human male in what looked like his mid 30s, dressed in the standard bright carnival garbs was manning it, and he looked as if he'd rather be anywhere else. Only two people were in front of them when they lined up. Both human. The one manning the game looked at his watch. He was clearly counting the minutes until he was allowed to leave. The humans in front failed to get it more than halfway, and then Logan popped his knuckles and stepped up to the mallet while holding the money Ben had handed him out.
"No."
Logan tilted his head. That was certainly not the reaction he expected. It was said with a tone that was laced with disdain, and loud enough for both Logan and Ben to hear it. Logan was puzzled at first. Did he have gunk on his fur? It wouldn't be the first time and it did tend to make some people not wanna touch him as it showed bad hygiene. "I'm sorry?"
"Look, I've been serving stupid guys trying to impress their girls and fuzzbutts like your friend there, but I'm not letting you play freak." Logan's eyes narrowed dangerously. Specism. He'd been dealing with this shit for a long time. Ben could see the trouble brewing.
"Manager." He called out.
"Ya know, I tend to think of myself as a very thick skinned being. I can handle an insult. One thing I can't handle though, is someone being a dick just because they hate themselves for not doing much with their lives and therefore are stuck with a shitty job. It's your fault your in this position ya dickhead!"
"Manager!"
The human squared up to Logan. "You think you're so great huh? You think that just because you have powers that you're better than me. Well guess what, society is at this point because of humans, not because of damned fuzzbutts like that one and freaks of nature like you."
Logan walked up to the point where his chest fur was making contact with the human's face as Logan was significantly taller than him. "You think I'm scared? Think you're tough? All I wanted to do was play this game, and you decide to be dick, you've got no respect. Maybe I should teach you some."
"MANAGER!"
Before things could get to the point of bloodshed, the human's to be exact, another, older, human male burst through the crowd. He was also dressed in bright clothing, but it seemed to be more important on him. "What is going on here?!"
Ben was quick to answer before either Logan or the guy manning the game could input anything to make it worse. 'My partner here wanted to play the game and this guy refused and insulted the both of us. Called me fuzzbutt and him a freak."
The presumed manager sighed and rubbed his face. "Terry, I told you many times, you don't have to like everyone, but you have to pretend. I told you to put aside your prejudices again and again. I don't care how much you hate this job, you can't do that. I'm done giving warnings. You're fired. Get out." Terry's eyes widened a bit, perhaps in nervousness about what he'd do now that he was being fired, but he clearly wasn't too alarmed as he did in fact hate his job.
Surprisingly, it was Logan who spoke next, and calmly. "Now now, let's not rush to any conclusions here. I'm willing to overlook this, as long as I get to play." Ben raised an eye. Logan was ready to beat him to a pulp moments ago. Why the sudden change? Just when ben thought he had Logan figured out, he'd shift his expected behavior.
The manager sighed. "He'll probably end up getting fired once I report this anyways, but fine. I'm also waiving the fee for this one. Take your go mister."
Logan knelt down and picked up the hammer with one hand. It was quite a hefty tool. over 40 pounds. Ringing that bell must require a LOT of force if the hammer weighed that much. To Logan however, and his immense strength as a Zoroark, it was like picking up a loaf of bread. He tossed it end over end a few times casually. Ben's ears went flat against his head as he saw Logan give a dark grin. 'Oh no.' He then placed his webbed hands over his ears.
Logan wound up and slammed the hammer down with all his strength, The hammer broke in half from the recoil of the hammer hitting the ground, the mechanism that sends the metal ball up flipped off its holding, the ball shot up in an instant, and took the bell clean off the game and ended up in the tent of another game. Logan tossed the broken handle down as all eyes within a large radius were now on the scene. "Thank you. You can keep the prizes, that was enough of a reward." Logan spun on his toes and walked away with purpose, while Ben gave a quick sorry to the manager before following him.
The manager glared at Terry. "You're fired and we will be billing you for the damages."
A few moments later, Ben caught up with Logan. He grabbed his wrist to stop him. "Hey. What was that about? Why are you so quick to resort to violence? I thought you were gonna change." Logan seemed a bit sad that Ben was telling him off, as his head dipped a bit and his eyes looked away, but he wasn't fazed too much and resumed his previous posture.
"It's kind of a long story, and one I'd prefer to share in private. If there's anywhere around here we could be alone that is."
Ben looked around. A couple of the crowd were still looking at them for the destruction of the game that Logan had caused, but most had gone back to their own devices. Ben then spotted the classic fairgrounds device. "Ferris Wheel?" Logan looked at it for a few moments, before nodding. Within a few minutes, they had paid their fee to get on, and were sat down with a solid metal bar over their knees to help keep them in. Of course it took them time to get far enough from the ground that Logan felt like they were out of earshot of even creatures with particularly good hearing. At this point they were already about 70 feet up, which was only halfway. This was a sizeable Ferris Wheel.
Logan leaned on the bar and sighed. "It was a long time ago. I think I was... 15 or 16. I played high school hockey, but unfortunately, one of the people on the Varsity team was someone who had bullied me throughout middle school. This wasn't long after I evolved. Now because I was in the Junior Varsity team we didn't see each other much on the ice barring a few practices. Well I had just completed one of the drills and knelt down in the line to catch my breath before I was to run it again. Well a few seconds later the fuckface asked me if I had a pumpkin ass. His words not mine. Now you've seen when you were staring at it, I have a larger than average hind end, but nothing major. I shook my head and asked him to stop. He asked again in a tone that implied he'd done nothing wrong. This time I flat out told him to shut up. He asked a third time. Now I got up and squared up to him. Now I was a good eight inches taller than he was if that gives you and idea of the difference in size between us. Also he was a human and I was a Zoroark. If it came to blows I'd kick his ass. Anyways, after I squared up I told him if he said it again I was gonna punch him. He ignored it and asked me again. So I followed through on what I said. I didn't use all my strength of course, but I made sure it hurt even through the cage we had to wear at that level. His eyes widened in fear and his usual smirk went away. I went t hit him again but my teammates held me back, which caught the attention of the coach, who told us to settle it after practice. So I looked him in the eyes and told him that after practice he and I were gonna fight at center ice. So after practice I stood at center ice to wait for him, dropped my stick, took my gloves and helmet off, and when he skated by I told him I was ready. He responded with a stuttering, 'I-I don't wanna hurt you man.' Clearly he was shaken. Well after that day I had to have a hearing as the little bitch went crying to his parents that I had bullied him, but when the staff asked me what had happened, I told them, they asked my teammates, who backed my story and even said he'd tried to get them t say it, so I received no disciplinary action and fuckface and his parents were basically told to go cry a river. After that, he never bothered me again. After that, I was never bullied again. I learned something then. People only listen to strength. The world doesn't care how nice you are. It's all about strength and power. History is written by the victors. Not who is nicest or who is right. If the world only cares about strength, then why should I show kindness to people like that?"
By now they were at the top of the Ferris Wheel. The dusk sun painting the sky purple and gold, and the city lights off to their left. It was a nice view as Ben placed his hand on Logan's shoulder. "Logan, it's true that strength is good to have, but you're wrong. The world needs good people. People to show how society could be if people all got along. I know it's a pipe dream that everyone does, but that would be an ideal world. A world where bullying and racism/specism are no more is only possible if everyone is kind. There's a good fox within you Logan. I know there is. Stop putting him down. Let the world see him as I have seen you. You could do great things if you use good morals as well as your immense strength. Be better than those who hurt you."
Logan didn't respond immediately, opting to look out at the view. Ben could see the gears in his head turning. After a minute or so, Logan responded with a quiet, "Thanks."
Ben wasn't sure how deep his words had gotten through, but he hoped that Logan would take them seriously. Something told him they could be a great team if they got along. Who knows what they could accomplish?
