FEARFUL OF THE NIGHT

By: Cy Mendoza

CHAPTER 10

MIMIKYU

Before Rotom was even through with speaking, two shadow arms slipped out from beneath the mimikyu's costume and shot at Rotom. The shadow arms twisted around the smaller ghost and threw it into the grass as Chip screamed in surprise. Rotom popped out of the PokeDex with a panicked squeak, but the mimikyu just grabbed it again and slammed it into the ground with a growl.

Before Chip could even say anything, Rotom popped out of the grass and launched a Thunder Shock attack. The mimikyu flinched, then smacked Rotom into a tree with one of its shadow arms. Its eyes glinted malevolently, then it turned to look at Chip.

"Roro!" Chip dashed toward the tree, reaching for the ghost. Rotom floated back up before he could reach it, looking at him desperately for a plan. Chip's mind went blank. It was too dark. He couldn't focus! "Oh, god… Roro, I don't know what to do!"

Chip was struggling to think. The street light flickered off again, drenching the forest in darkness. His muscles tensed to the point where he felt he couldn't move. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have gone out into the night, knowing what awaited him out there? The night brought only darkness and pain!

"Ro-to!" Rotom shouted, dragging Chip out of his fear-stricken state. With its cry, the street light flickered back on, washing them in yellow light.

Chip took a deep breath. He couldn't do this to Rotom; he couldn't leave it alone as he drowned in his terror. As much as it was difficult to force himself to function, he had to for Rotom's sake. It'd done that for him so many times before. "I-It's ghost-type, isn't it? Use Astonish, that'll deal double damage to it!"

Rotom's blue aura surged to life as it let out a loud cry, slamming into the other ghost pokemon. The mimikyu only scooted back a little from the impact, swatting the smaller ghost away with one of its shadow limbs like Rotom was nothing. It growled a response, then its eyes glinted again and it created a swirling mass of purple energy in front of it.

"Roro! Watch out, you have to dodge that!" Chip called out, clenching his fists. Rotom chirped a response, dashing to the left as the shadow ball whirled past it at breakneck speed. The attack hit a tree behind Rotom and exploded into a burst of energy, causing the tree to fell. The gravity of the situation sharpened Chip's senses. He couldn't freak out when Rotom was facing such a dangerous opponent! "Good job! Keep your attention on it and dodge whenever it tries to attack you!"

Rotom faced the mimikyu, repeating Chip's words in its mind. Keep an eye on it, and dodge whenever it was about to launch an attack. The mimikyu was easily double its strength, and that left Rotom with a sick, anxious feeling in its stomach. But it had to push that terror away, as the mimikyu wasn't letting them get away, and Rotom couldn't let it hurt Chip. Chip was so scared, the night was pressing down on them both, and Rotom wouldn't let Chip get hurt again. The mimikyu's shadow claws slid out of its pikachu costume again, and Rotom darted back, then shot to the right as the shadow claw sliced past it.

"Thunder Wave!" Chip shouted. "Paralyze it!"

"Ro-to!" A burst of electricity shot out of Rotom and slammed into the other ghost. The mimikyu shuddered, its head lowering a little, then it snarled, followed by a number of growls and snarls. Chip stared at it; it wasn't attacking, it seemed to be talking to Rotom.

Rotom's expression was one of fear and confusion as it backed away from the mimikyu. The electric ghost jittered in place, then shot around anxiously as another shadow claw sliced through the air toward it. Chip noticed, though, that the mimikyu's claws were moving slower than they had been before. The paralysis had set in, and it was struggling to move.

"There!" Chip called out. "Look, it's getting slower! You can do this, Roro!"

Rotom looked back at Chip, then let out a sigh of relief when it realized Chip was right—the mimikyu was slower now. The confidence it'd experienced before was starting to come back now that it had the mimikyu subdued, and it waited for Chip's next instruction.

The street light flickered off again. Chip put his hands to his face, breathing hard. Get it together! It's just darkness! Roro's going to get hurt if you don't focus! When he moved his hands, the street light had come back on again. He'd never felt so grateful for gloomy yellow light than now. "Keep it paralyzed by using Thunder Shock," Chip shouted. "The more times you zap it, the more its body is going to struggle with moving."

"Ro-ro!" This plan sounded logical to Rotom, so it darted to the left and zapped the mimikyu again. It let out a snarling cry, turning toward the ghost pokemon, but Rotom darted around it toward the right, then shocked it again. The mimikyu created a shadow ball in front of it, but every time it tried to face the electric ghost, Rotom had already darted off out of its vision, launching another Thunder Shock attack.

The mimikyu let out a frustrated cry, turning toward Chip. A second later, it shot the Shadow Ball attack at him. The attack came so fast that Chip didn't have a moment to react, but Rotom did. It dashed in front of its partner, taking the full blast head-on. The attack exploded as it struck Rotom, sending it flying into Chip, and Chip stumbled back onto the ground. With a shriek of worry, Chip sat up, looking at Rotom's badly injured body. It was covered in blackish-purple bruises, and was shuddering from pain.

The mimikyu crept forward, its shadow claw coming out from under its cloth again, ready to deliver the final blow.

Chip gritted his teeth as he grabbed one of the potions from his backpack and sprayed it on Rotom. Some of the bruises disappeared from Rotom's body, but most of them remained. The electric ghost's eyes opened slightly. "R-ro… r-ro to…"

"Roro, it's okay, it's okay," Chip repeated, tears coming to his eyes. He tossed the empty potion bottle aside and grabbed another one, spraying the ghost more. "You'll be okay! I promise! You can do this! Believe in yourself!"

Rotom felt like it would pass out at any moment, but it forced itself into the air, trying to ignore the pain vibrating through its body. Its electric aura glowed a bright blue, then it rocketed into the mimikyu with a high pitched squeal. This time, the Astonish attack sent the mimikyu stumbling backwards, its cloth covered in electric burns. When Mimikyu picked itself back up, the neck of its costume was broken, the head lolling off to the side. It snarled at Rotom, sounding like it was speaking again, but with more fury than before. Rotom panted, struggling to stay in the air as its electric aura wings fluttered.

"Thunder Shock, Roro!" Chip called out. He grabbed another potion and dashed forward to spray the smaller ghost. A couple more of the bruises disappeared, and Rotom's electric wings fluttered faster. Rotom surrounded itself with electricity, then shocked the mimikyu again. The electricity buzzed over the larger ghost's body, arcing and jumping along its cloth. Chip dug in his backpack to grab the next potion when he realized he was staring down at PokeBalls.

The blond grasped one of the PokeBalls, then whirled it at the mimikyu. It twisted around and slammed its wooden tail against the PokeBall, sending it flying through the air. The PokeBall crunched against a tree and fell, broken in two, to the ground. Chip's jaw dropped, but he grabbed another PokeBall. "Shock it again, Roro! Then I'll throw this PokeBall!"

"Ro-to!" Electricity zapped the larger ghost again, an anguished cry coming from the wild pokemon. It was shuddering from the electricity pulsing through its body, whimpered cries coming from it that sounded both furious and desperate. Chip threw another PokeBall at it, and this one struck its target. The mimikyu turned red and sucked into the PokeBall.

Chip clenched his fists as he watched the PokeBall hit the ground, but it shook only once before the mimikyu broke out and reformed. It promptly slammed its wooden tail down on the PokeBall, breaking that one as well. "Damn it!"

Rotom looked at Chip, then shocked the mimikyu again. Before the larger ghost could react, Rotom surrounded itself with swirling energy and slammed into it with another Astonish attack, sending the mimikyu flying back toward a tree. Rotom had slammed into it so hard that it fell back as well, bouncing on the ground and trembling there for a moment before it floated back up. One of its electric wings looked broken as it hung from an unnatural angle, sparking and zapping as Rotom looked at it and winced. Chip grabbed one of his potions and sprayed the electric ghost down, healing its wing injury somewhat and another couple of bruises.

With great effort, the mimikyu pushed itself back up. It shot another Shadow Ball at Chip, but Chip expected it this time and dodged out of the way. Rotom watched him carefully, then shocked the other ghost again. At this point, Chip could tell that Rotom's energy was low, and it was struggling to create an electric charge. The electric ghost was exhausted, but so was the mimikyu. Chip gritted his teeth and threw another PokeBall at the larger ghost. It encapsulated its target, then shook on the ground again. The blond watched the PokeBall, tense, until it broke open again, the angry ghost emerging.

"Seriously?!" Chip shouted.

The mimikyu growled and shot another Shadow Ball at Rotom. Rotom was distracted, looking at Chip after he'd shouted. Chip didn't even have an opportunity to call out a warning as the shadow ball slammed into Rotom and knocked it out of the air. Rotom hit the ground, its aura sparking weakly, but this time it didn't get back up.

Chip's eyes widened as he dashed toward his injured partner. "Roro!"

The mimikyu was sliding off, and for a moment Chip felt torn between chasing after it and throwing another PokeBall, or staying with his Rotom and healing it with potions. It was a momentary lapse of judgement, because a second later he realized there was no way he'd leave Rotom. He scooped the ghost up in his hands, his entire body shaking as he grabbed another potion. The mimikyu disappeared into the forest.

Rotom's eyes fluttered a little as it let out a weak trill. It was barely hanging onto consciousness; it wanted to see Chip's face, that comforted it, and as Chip picked it up it smiled a little through the shudders passing through its body. "…ro…to…to…roto…"

In Chip's heart, somehow he knew what his Rotom was saying. He sprayed the injured pokemon with the potion. "It's okay, Roro. I know you tried. You did such a good job. You did an amazing job, okay? You impressed me so much, going up against a stronger ghost. You've made me so proud."

Rotom struggled to hold onto consciousness. It didn't want to faint and leave Chip vulnerable. That mimikyu could come back, and it had promised to protect Chip. It forced its eyes open, then winced as some of the potion got into its eyes. Its electric arm rubbed at its face, then it tried floating again, managing to suspend itself about an inch above Chip's hand before falling back into its partner's palm again. The potions were numbing the pain, and as the seconds ticked by and Chip kept spraying, Rotom realized the bruises and burns on its body were fading away.

Rotom tried floating again, and Chip pressed a hand to Rotom's head, pushing it down gently so it would stop floating. "Rest a little bit, okay?"

The snap of branches caught his attention as he looked up. Another couple of snaps sounded out there, then silence. He watched the forest where the mimikyu had disappeared, tensely waiting for the ghost to show up again and challenge them once more, but it didn't come. Holding Rotom in his hand, Chip slowly approached the tree where the ghost had slid past. Rotom trilled in warning, but Chip continued edging forward.

About six feet behind the tree, the mimikyu lay in the grass, shuddering. Electricity still arced along its badly burned body, and its eyes were half-closed. As the seconds passed, its eyes closed entirely, though its body still shuddered.

We did that, Chip realized with a sensation of numbness spreading through him. We left that mimikyu so hurt and injured that it can't even move… it couldn't even stay conscious...

For an instant, Chip felt like Lillie was standing beside him, staring at the injured mimikyu with distraught eyes. He could feel her disgust, her anger with Chip, even though she wasn't there. It was a feeling that made him want to sink into the ground and hide forever. Did this make Chip just like the other trainers, leaving a pokemon suffering and burned on the ground, so hurt it couldn't even stay conscious? Would Lillie hate him for this? Would he hate himself?

I should throw a PokeBall at it again, Chip thought. Then I can take it to the pokemon center. It'll be fine then. But… He hesitated as he took a step back, his gaze still locked on the injured mimikyu. It didn't want to get captured. At least Rotom had chosen to be with me. Is it really right for me to force Mimikyu into a PokeBall when it wanted to be free? Is it right for me to enslave a pokemon that's unwilling to be my partner?

"Kzzrt?" Rotom looked up at Chip. It was still worried the mimikyu might pop up somehow and attack them again. It didn't have the strength to fight it off—why couldn't Chip just go back to the pokemon center, where they both knew they would be safe?

"Roro, I can't just leave Mimikyu like this," Chip murmured.

The blond dashed back over to his backpack, grabbing the PokeDex and stuffing it inside before he ran back over to Mimikyu. Rotom watched from his arms, a confused expression on its face. Rotom expected Chip to grab a PokeBall, but as the boy dashed toward the mimikyu, there was a rubber sponge in his hand instead—a Paralyze Heal.

The blond dropped to his knees before the fallen ghost pokemon. Rotom moved onto his shoulder, hovering there as it watched its trainer, bewildered. With both his arms free, Chip reached for the fainted mimikyu and gently pulled it into his lap. The arc of electricity burned his skin, but he winced and pressed the rubber sponge to its body, drawing it up and down gently. Mimikyu shuddered, and after a couple of seconds the crackles of electricity disappeared. Chip grabbed a potion and started spraying the ghost down, watching the burns slowly disappear from its cloth. Mimikyu's eyes opened half-way.

Chip closed his backpack. "Don't be scared, Mimikyu… I'm not going to force you into a PokeBall," he said. "If you want to stay free, then I get it. But I couldn't leave you hurt and paralyzed like that…"

Mimikyu growled, moving out of the boy's lap. A shadow claw extended from beneath its disguise, ready to slash at the boy, but then paused. The claw hung in the air for a moment before it reached for Chip's hand, where he still held the paralyze healing sponge. He felt a weird, whispering sensation as the tips of the claws briefed against his hand, then Mimikyu withdrew its claw. It backed up a little bit, then looked at him. It looked at Rotom, then back at Chip, hesitating.

"Roto…" Rotom wasn't sure how to feel about the situation. Mimikyu didn't seem as aggressive now, but Chip had also healed it, making it dangerous again. Rotom felt like it could barely breathe, waiting to see what would happen. It didn't think it could fight Mimikyu a second time.

Chip watched it for a moment, then unzipped his backpack. "Mimikyu… do you want to join us?" He pulled out a PokeBall. The moment Mimikyu saw that, it backed away from Chip, then disappeared into the forest again. Chip felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he put the PokeBall away. Mimikyu didn't want to join him, but he felt bad about trying to catch it when it was suffering. He'd done the right thing, he told himself. That's all that mattered.

Rotom traveled down Chip's arm and into the backpack, sliding into the PokeDex. It spoke as soon as it emerged. "That thing hazzz some serious problems."

"What do you mean?" Chip asked, standing up. He lifted the backpack and slung it over his shoulder. Rotom floated out of the backpack and drifted around to the front of him.

"It'zzz so angry. When it was talking, it said it would rather die than get caught by a trainer. It said I would be happier dead than with you… It hatezzz trainers…I don't understand why. You've alwayzzz been so good to me..."

Chip stared into the forest where Mimikyu disappeared, then shook his head. He'd been told once that wild pokemon were jealous of trained pokemon, and would attack them out of that jealousy. But the anger that ghost pokemon expressed didn't sound like jealousy. He couldn't imagine what had happened to that wild pokemon to make it feel that way, but he tried to put it out of his mind as he turned back toward where they'd entered the forest. "I guess we should train in the grass like you told me, huh?"

"I think that would be smarter, zzz," Rotom said. "But if you don't mind, could we stop at a pokemon center?"

Chip reached for Rotom, holding the ghost gently in his arms. Rotom only squirmed lightly before it settled in his arms, eyes closing half-way. Chip found himself smiling despite the fact that Rotom had gotten seriously hurt in the battle… maybe because Rotom's morale didn't seem to have suffered from it. It'd been hurt, but he'd taken care of it, and it seemed that Rotom trusted him to keep it safe, just as much as he trusted Rotom to do the same. It was listening better to him now and panicking less during fights. He still remembered seeing that Shadow Ball arcing toward him, and Rotom dodging in front of it to take the blast.

"Chip?" Rotom murmured. The blond looked down at it. "Do you mind if I float on my own, zzzt? Everything achezzz right now."

"Oh, sorry," Chip said, moving his hands. Rotom floated to his side and remained there, its expression still a bit tight from pain. Chip wished he could help Rotom with that, but it seemed like his potions had reached their maximum benefit. He needed a pokemon center and the expertise of Joy to cure Rotom's remaining injuries.

"Thankzzz," Rotom said. "Just 'till all these scratches are healed."

"You were so brave in that battle, Roro… I just wish we could have caught that mimikyu," Chip said with a sigh, putting his arms behind his head. Rotom didn't respond, and after a moment he looked at it. Usually Rotom had a response for anything he said, but it was drifting beside him with an unreadable expression on its face. "What's wrong?"

"It'zzz nothing," Rotom said, waving one arm.

"You can tell me," Chip said.

Rotom frowned. "It'zzz okay. I just have some insecurities I have to work out, zzr."

"What do you mean? Do you mean with your battling? I thought you did really well. Mimikyu is really strong, and you still managed to pull through at the end and make it flee. You didn't lose, Roro. Maybe you didn't win, but against something that much stronger than you, I'm proud of how you did. Honestly."

A little pink flush came to Rotom's screen as it looked away. "It'zzz not about that."

"Then what?" Chip turned toward Rotom, reaching to touch it gently with one hand. "Tell me, please?"

Rotom sighed.

"Please?"

"I didn't… want you to catch the mimikyu… zzr."

Chip blinked in surprise. "What? Why?"

Rotom wiggled out of Chip's grip and floated away from him a little bit, a guilty look on its face. "Because… Mimikyu is very strong… it'zzz better than me at battling… you wouldn't need me anymore as your partner."

"Roro!" Chip exclaimed. He ran up to the ghost pokemon, reaching to pull it out of the air again. His eyes were stretched wide as he stared at Rotom. "I would never, ever, ever replace you. You're my partner. I might get more Pokemon, but you're… you're my partner. Partners are different. They're special. You're special. I'll never replace you."

Rotom nodded, but it wasn't convinced. Just when it thought that it'd moved past those battle insecurities, those worries were creeping up on it again, whispering in the back of its mind. Mimikyu was a much better ghost pokemon to use for battle, so why wouldn't it replace Rotom? Mimikyu could keep Chip safer, it could battle better, it didn't have as many weaknesses, it wasn't afraid to fight… the list went on and on, and Rotom couldn't silence the voice in its head that kept telling it it would be replaced when Chip found a better pokemon. And honestly, it made Rotom want to cry. It adored Chip, it truly loved playing with him and spending time with him, and Chip made Rotom feel so special and cared for. But the feeling of never being good enough just wouldn't go away, even though Rotom had thought it finally had. Would it never escape this horrible feeling? Would this go on forever?

"Listen to me," Chip said. "I'll make you a promise, okay? I won't catch any pokemon until you feel confident you'll always be my partner. I won't catch any if it makes you feel like you're going to be replaced. And when you finally realize I care about you and would never send you away, then tell me, and I'll catch pokemon then. But not before. Okay?"

"I can't ask you to do that, zz-zz-zzz," Rotom said, bewildered. "You need more pokemon to succeed in the island challenge. I know that, zzrt. And we're supposed to fill this PokeDex."

"You're not asking me. I'm promising you that. Because I care about you. We'll meet tons and tons of pokemon together but until you trust me not to replace you, I won't catch any. And if it means we have to work even harder to succeed in the island challenge together, then so be it."

The worst part was, Chip's promise made Rotom feel safer, securer, and it knew that it was selfish for feeling that way. Rotom just wasn't sure what it would do if Chip didn't want it someday. Captive-bred pokemon got attached to their trainers easily, and Rotom was no different. It was terrified of being stored in a PC, of waiting for days, weeks, months, maybe even years for Chip to come back to it. Rotom couldn't shake the image in its head of someday being stored somewhere, wondering if Chip still loved it, or even remembered it existed. Wondering whether the love it felt for its trainer was all that was left of their relationship. Wondering if it had been forgotten.

Sometimes Rotom felt like the only emotion it could feel was fear… but then it remembered how happy it was with Chip… and that only increased its fear of abandonment. Rotom didn't know how to trust, even though it desperately wanted to. .

"I want you to be happy. I never want you to feel like you're not good enough." Chip reached to hold Rotom again. "When you're ready, and you feel like I'm always going to be here for you, tell me. I won't catch a pokemon until then."

"Okay," Rotom said meekly. It still felt bad, and Rotom really wanted to fill the PokeDex it was powering… but they had a lifetime to do that, right? Maybe there would be one day when Rotom could look at Chip and feel nothing but happiness, and not a mixture of happiness and terror that it might some day be forgotten.

"All right." Chip gave Rotom a little hug. "Let's get you to the pokemon center now. You'll feel better afterwards, I promise."