Hey, so the end of this chapter is kinda... unrealistic, I guess. But hey, you're the one who chose to read it. Yeah that's it so enjoy :D
Leaf was my very first friend.
And we would always be together.
... At least, I thought we would.
The day I first met him... I had been taken to a strange new place the humans in white coats called a "lab". I didn't see anyone like me there. I used to live in a dirty place that humans called a "factory", where I and my Mother had stayed. The air there wasn't clean, and the place entirely didn't smell very nice. I was comfortable, though, and didn't want to leave mother. Here I was though, scared and lonely.
After what seemed like hours, I noticed a large green tail poking out from under a table. I wasn't sure what to feel: excitement, for someone my kind, or fear. But then, the tail began to retreat back under the table. WAIT! Don't leave me here! I wanted to shout. But I was stuck inside a "Pokeball", so I couldn't chase after it, and it wouldn't be able to hear me. So, I decided the best thing to do was to sleep and rest.
After some time, I was sent out.
"Come on out, little Torchic" was all I heard, and I was awakened. Oh well. In front of me were two Pokemon - one was bright blue with fins, and- OH! The other one was a grassy green Pokemon, with the same dark green tail from before!
"Okay, you three have fun with each other". I turned around and realized the voice was coming from a human. I watched him leave. After he was gone, I turned around to see the other two staring at me.
The blue one blinked and asked the green one with a loud whisper "She's new here, right?". The green one nodded.
Before I left the factory, Mother told me to stay away from danger. She told me to trust no one - your closest friends could betray you any second. But I could always burn them if they tried. The humans always said I had stronger fire than even some adults!
That wouldn't be a very good base for a friendship, huh?
The green one looked at me and introduced himself "Well, hi. I'm a Treecko. And my friend here is a Mudkip. What're you?"
I replied, "I'm a Torchic".
"Nice to meet you"
"Nice to meet you too"
And then we awkwardly stared at each other. The Mudkip didn't say anything at all, and none of us knew what to do next.
In the end, Treecko said he was going to go outside, and then he left, the Mudkip following him.
The next day, I woke up early. I was in my Pokeball. And so are the other two I noticed. There isn't ever much to do in a Pokeball, so I sat there and waited. After some time, the same human who sent me out yesterday came in and let me and the others out again.
"We gotta give you guys names, huh?" He said to no one in particular.
"Let's see... I'm quite good at naming... Mudkip was born in a marsh, so his name can be Marsh! Yes! I'm so brilliant"
Marsh looked really confused
"And Treecko's got a real big leaf huh? BOOM! Another name down! Leaf!"
The human looked really proud of himself.
"And finally uh... I have no idea what to name you Torchic"
He reached his hand to pet me. I have really good reflexes, so even though I honestly didn't mean to, a fireball came out of my mouth, aimed for his hand. He barely dodged, or at least, he thought he did for a second, as it landed on his coat instead.
"OWWW, HOT HOT HOT!"
"I'm so sorry!" I cried, even though I knew he wouldn't understand. Marsh sprayed some water over him though, and a second later he was back to naming us like nothing (sort of) life-threatening had just happened.
"Wow... that was a really strong flare of fire..."
We all knew what was coming next
"ALL RIGHT, FLARE! Man, I'm good at naming Pokemon"
I rolled my eyes, then noticed Leaf was looking at me. He rolled his eyes back, and we both smiled.
The next 2 years were all just us playing and hanging out together. Occasionally the human would join us, and if we were lucky, he'd have treats. We were all great friends, but Leaf and I were best friends. Leaf was really gentle and understanding, and funny too. His tail was really big, and it would always twitch in a weird pattern we eventually made our "secret code". I always imagined it like this: 1 2 1 2, 3 4. Every once in a month though, the Professor would take him away for some reason that Leaf wouldn't tell us. But other than that, we were always together. Marsh usually woke up late, so Leaf and I would spend the mornings together. We'd talk about our lives before the lab, but sometimes we would just play. But one day, everything slowly began to change
"Please Professor? I'll take really good care of the Mudkip. We'll be best friends too! Please, Professor?"
"Alright then. I hope you and Marsh come back to visit us. I'll go get him. Your friend's coming to pick one next week, right?"
"Yeah, he's super excited!"
Me, Leaf, and Marsh were all listening in. I gave Marsh a sad glance, which he returned with a sadder one.
"I'll miss you guys so much... I promise I'll get the human to visit you guys." We all hugged, and the Professor came and took Marsh away. I had tears in my eyes, as I had just lost a friend, and would possibly lose another one.
"It's okay. We'll be together for another week, at least. Just make sure you'll visit me when you're taken, okay?" Leaf said
It took me a second to realize what he had said.
"What do you mean when I'm taken? Do you know something I don't? Or are you looking down on yourself? Both of those are wrong; you're an AMAZING Pokemon, and you should tell your best friend everything. So? Which one is it?"
He let out a weak laugh, and muttered something that sounded like "It could actually be both." I desperately wanted to question him, and it took all my might not to. I decided to wait and find out myself.
The week seemed to fly by. Before I knew it, there was yet another child at the Professor's door.
"Um, hi sir. My friend told me I could get a Pokemon from here. Can I uh, have one please sir?"
"Of course. I'll go get her immediately."
Her. He wasn't giving the child a choice. Did Leaf know about this? He probably did. Part of me wanted to be mad at him, yet I knew this would be the last time we'd see each other for a while. I wouldn't want to end it with a problem.
"Ummm... hey Flare," Leaf said from behind me. I hadn't noticed that he had come in.
"So you're leaving, huh? I'm sure you'll become a great and powerful pokemon"
I slowly felt myself start to cry quietly, unable to speak. "It's alright Flare. I'll always remember and think of you" He tried to comfort me. "You'll make other friends..." That last part was when he began to tremble, and we both quietly hugged. After that, I was whisked away by the Professor, and the last thing I saw when the child and I were leaving was Leaf's sad face.
We walked away from Pallet Town (Yes, we're in Kanto). He hadn't forced me into my Pokeball- he either trusted me to follow him or he forgot to. Suddenly the trainer stopped and looked down at me.
"Hi, you were named Flare, right? I'm Lucas. Do you um... oh this is stupid she can't understand me anyways. Do you want to be friends?" He shyly asked. I was upset and mad and being taken away (Marsh too), but it wasn't fair that he had to deal with that. Although these humans should've really thought more about our feelings. I chose not to be mad at this human for stuff he didn't do.
In the next two weeks, we got a new team member- a Ralts named Gallant. We immediately clicked, almost like me and Leaf did, and we became really good friends. He was funny and caring, again, like Leaf. We had been training and battling others, but we hadn't had a major battle yet. It was cloudy today, and Lucas had let me go around the forest a bit while he trained Gallant. While I was strolling, the most unexpected thing happened.
"Hey! Flare!" A voice whispered from the bushes.
That's when I realized I knew this voice
"Leaf?! What're you doing here?! How'd you get here?" I whispered harshly.
Leaf came out, looked around, and began talking at hyper speed "Look Flare, I don't have a lot of time... I'm here to explain things to you. I'm being tracked down," A gasp came out of my mouth "The reason is, I'm a very abnormal and different Treecko. I'm dangerous, Flare. I was born a weapon. When I was born... I had a bomb surgically placed inside my tail. That's why my tail is larger than other Treeckos. Scientists discovered my bomb would explode about the time I'm 6, and I'm almost 6 right now. But I was 3 when they found out, and they wanted me to live for a bit, to study how this happened to me. That's why they always take me away. They were going to take out the bomb in a day or two, so when I found out, I escaped to tell you. I know I won't live, even if the scientists don't get their hands on me, because of the bomb, but I had to explain things to my best friend. I know, you're probably mad or skeptical about all this, seeing that I've kept such a huge secret for so many years, but please, I'm sorry. I- I didn't want to scare you..." I was speechless and couldn't say anything. All I could think about were ways to save him.
He looked down for a bit until I finally replied, "Well, I'm really scared now. But not of you. For you. I'm a little mad- no, really mad, that you'd keep something THIS BIG away from me. But then again, I... I guess I wouldn't have told anyone either. You're not dangerous- I know you're not. I know that you're caring and kind, and if you had the choice you would never THINK about making yourself a weapon" As mad as I was at him for keeping that away from me, I couldn't be mad at him. Not in his situation.
"Heh... I bet no one else in the whole entire Pokemon world would respond the same way you just did, Flare. You're special. And that's why I wanted to tell you... I didn't just come here to tell you about what's happening to me. I came here to tell you... I like you Flare. A lot."
I didn't know what to say.
"I'm gonna miss you a lot... I know your mind is probably thinking about how to stop this, but I can't. It's for everyone's good"
No... he can't go... my best friend... my mind was spinning in fear. He seemed so sad -of COURSE he would be -but I didn't want to see him like this. So I did the thing I thought he'd want. I leaned in...
And kissed him. And he kissed back. And I didn't ever want him to leave me.
But eventually, we let go, both blushing. But a moment later, we heard rustling. And chatter.
The humans had come.
"Come on, it's over there! GET IT!" Yelled one of them, holding something small but clearly dangerous (Don't worry, it's only a dart gun). "AIM FOR ANYWHERE EXCEPT FOR THE TAIL! WE DON'T KNOW WHAT COULD HAPPEN!"
The humans shot him, and in the last moments that he could speak, he said "If you want to make me happy, Flare, don't hang on to me. Don't become depressed and sad because I'm gone. It would've happened either way, okay? I won't mind if you grow to love someone else- I want you to be happy, okay? I'll try to communicate with you if I can..." His tail twitched in our secret code pattern, 1 2 1 2, 3 4, and a net was thrown over him.
I always regret not saving him, and not trying harder to keep him alive. But he was right: he'd probably still have to go. This way was safer... but I felt like things had just started.
Things had probably ended for Leaf though.
Leaf was dead, and I didn't see it coming.
That escalated quickly. Anyways, don't expect faster updates from now on, they're probably going to be slower. Thanks for reading though :)
