After we were done with our breakfast, Daisy quickly retrieved everyone's dishes, and deposited them in the sink. The salt of the bacon was still very strong in my mouth, having taken my sweet old time enjoying the treat, that lingered quite a bit after having been eaten. "So is Nate going to Pokemon school again?" I asked Daisy. "No, it's only once a week, so Nate will be spending the morning at home. Were you going to give battling another shot?" The woman asked. "Well, I would have, but I suppose I will sadly not get the opportunity to do so." I said. Silence very quickly overcame the room, aside from the living room, where Nate had retreated to, the house was silent. Daisy and I sat in place, remembering what the situation was:
I was still a wild Pokemon, not some pet, not some trained Pokemon, simply an animal that will go out on its own in a couple days. To just be a nobody in the forest, nowhere to call home, nowhere to linger. I will die in a thousand years with nobody around, unless I had a mate by then, which would be very unlikely. Daisy also knew this, I know for a fact that she had taken a liking to me, the truth is, I have taken a liking to her as well. Never before had a human treated me as nicely as her, but again, I wasn't her Pokemon. Maybe I will stop by once a year, stay for a week or two, then go back to exploring the world. That could be a nice compromise, as I still was not ready to have a trainer again.
"Well, hopefully after this week I will get to see you again," Daisy said in a dead tone. Had the reminder of the situation made her depressed? I couldn't blame her, I won't be happy when I leave, quite the contrary actually. Should I ask if I can remain here with this family? There is no way they could possibly take care of me until they pass away. Well, I will have to wait to ask, right now likely wasn't the time. "Hey, I'll stop to come and visit every now and then, I won't be gone forever when I eventually leave," I said. Quickly taking position next to the woman. "I know you probably will, just promise me you'll take care of yourself in the wild alright?"
"I will for your sake."
Daisy patted me on the head, before rubbing her eyes, for a split second, I could see a tear starting to form, before it was wiped away. The lady's face quickly turned around into a smile, before continuing to pet me. "Let's just worry about what will happen when it happens alright? For right now, let's just spend these couple of days enjoying it. It's better to enjoy the moment in the moment, than to be sad about this moment ending." I nodded. "I couldn't agree more, Daisy."
A spark quickly came to Daisy's eye, like an idea to her, she got up and went into the living room. "Hey Nate, you want to go to the beach today?" I froze for a split second, was that the constant smell of salt? I just thought it was from all of the restaurants in the area. "Ninetales!" I jumped out of my thoughts as Daisy held my head in her hands. "You want to go to the beach with us?" She asked with shining eyes, I couldn't keep myself from smiling at the contrast in her attitude from earlier. From down in the dirt, to now as high as a Fearow, her mood bounced quickly. It seemed like she took her own advice; enjoy the moment. "Well, before I had wandered into this city, I was hoping to see the ocean…"
I bowed to the ground as my tails started to wag like crazy. "Let's do it!"
The door flung open as we rushed out, Daisy quickly stopped to close and lock the door. Daisy was wearing a very light dress, it was so light that you could see the bathing suit underneath it. I could probably guess the pants Nate was wearing was actually his swim suit, but he had a simple, white tank top. There was little preparation that I had needed to do, given I was a Pokemon, and was pretty much naked all of the time. The only thing keeping anyone from seeing my skin, was my fur. Daisy just put a hat on my head, probably because she figured it would be cute, which quickly fell off, like it wasn't meant for being on a Ninetales head.
That Didn't stop me from putting it back on my head, if Daisy liked it, then I might as well appease her.
"Just so you are aware, we will be swimming and such on the beach, Ninetales." I looked up at her with a bit of confusion. "What else do people do on the beach?" I asked. "Well… let's say you won't like it."
She added. "Let's say quite a bit of trainers do like to roam the beach, it makes some sense as it's a nice, flat area that's almost perfect for battling. But that also means if a trainer sees us, they will likely ask to battle with us, which will not happen. Just know that the trainer that was chasing you when we first met, will likely be there looking for a fight. It's a popular spot for trainers to meet up at after all. If you see him, just run to me or Nate, alright?"
My heart almost dropped. The one of the places I was most excited to go to, happened to be a common gathering place for trainers. It almost disgusted me by the way Daisy described it. I still Remember going to sleep at night, with dreams of just lying on the beach, soaking the sun up, and listening to the waves as they advance and retreat from the shore. Instead, if I had ended up going to one of these beaches first, I would've been caught, or attacked by some trainer who simply couldn't enjoy the little things in nature.
"I can tell what you're thinking, Ninetales, you won't have to battle anyone when you're with us at the beach. You're under our custody, so if you are attacked, let me know, we can press charges on whoever tries to capture you." Daisy said. "And if you get hurt I'll take care of you!' Nate chimed in happily. "I hope it doesn't come down to me having to fight back, I just want to lay in the sand." I said.
Once we arrived on the beach, as Daisy had said, there were a few trainers here and there. Their pokemon fighting, the trainers shouting orders for them to follow, and sand went flying from the collision of their moves. I could see a trainer with a Mightyena, it probably wasn't the same trainer, but it still did not make me feel at ease. Luckily for me, there seemed to be an area that was far from the battling, which was where we were heading.
Daisy laid out a towel over the sand, started setting up an umbrella, while Nate ran towards the ocean. "Nate! You didn't even put sun screen!" Daisy sighed as her child didn't stop running to the shoreline.
"Do you just want to sit and watch our stuff?" The woman asked. "I would like to join you guys in the water, but I'm not much of a fan of it. I will be right with you two in a couple of moments." Daisy nodded, before running after Nate.
I closed my eyes, pointing my ears towards the oceans' waves, the almost smoldering heat of the sand felt amazing on my fur. Albeit, it would mean I will have to clean the sound out of my fur later, that didn't matter at all. The smell of salt was stronger here than anywhere else in the city, which is saying a lot, with how much salt was in the air when I was walking into town a few days ago. A small smile made its way to my face. This has to be the first time I felt so… at peace. The only thing souring such a wonderful moment is the sound of Pokemon battling each other off in the distance.
"Hey it's that Ninetales from a couple days ago!" My body tensed up immediately, eyes shot open to see a Mightyena and the same boy I had met on my first day in the city. "Looks like you went from a wild Pokemon to that kid's pet really quickly." Mightyena said with a smile. His tone was a bit different, to a bit more of a friendly one. That did not help ease me at all. "You know, I was pretty mad that I couldn't catch you, because it's illegal to take a Pokemon that is under somebody else's care…" the boy said. He knelt down and let me smell his hand. "Sorry if I was scaring you earlier when I tried to capture you." His face told me he was being genuine.
The trainer's tone was very soft.
"You just looked so damn thin and messy, that I wanted to get you off the streets, so you could be taken care of for a bit. I would have let you go right after… but it looks like that woman and her kid over there." He gestured to Daisy and Nate, who were completely oblivious to the trainer talking to me, playing in the water. "It seems like you got people who are taking really good care of you. I just wanted to take a second to apologize for trying to capture you." The boy said. His hand was still stretched out in front of my face.
My gaze never left the boy's face as I deposited my head into his palm. For a split second, he was shocked, but then started petting me. Mightyena laughed. "I told you he wasn't all that bad!" I rolled my eyes as the hand had left my head, right when I started to enjoy it. "Make sure you take care of yourself, alright Ninetales?" He stood up, and started walking away. I was frozen.
"Not all trainers are bad, y'know. Not all of them are out to make you fight for their amusement." Mightyena said, before turning to go after his trainer. A thought came to mind. "Hey Mightyena," I said, the Pokemon turned his head and side eyed me. "Sorry about threatening to kill you a couple days ago…" I lowered my head in shame. "Hey, don't worry about it, you can make your apology by just enjoying your new trainers, alright?" Mightyena said. His trainer called him, immediately he turned and ran towards his trainer, tail wagging.
I watched the two as they walked away, the human plopped a hand on his Mightyena. The Pokemon would then try and slide out from his trainer's grasp, and then try to take it into his hand. The two looked like best of friends... I realise just how good my relationship with my first trainer could have been, but I knew he did not care. I existed to do one thing, get knocked out, and then be yelled at. When I evolved it seemed like he only cared because now he had a Ninetales to brag about. Even when people started commenting on how unkempt and how underfed I looked, he did not care. I was a a tool, a Trophy, and a fool.
If I were born wild, who knows? I might have sought out a trainer who would've loved and cared for me. Too bad Pokemon, born as the result of a Pokemon daycare, did not get that choice. I was simply handed off to somebody, still an egg, and ended up in the hands of an awful excuse of a trainer. But now, I have two humans who care a lot for me.
They never treated me like a god, which I wouldn't have been happy with, but simply took care of me. They showed me they cared, they loved me. Here I was, going to leave them in a couple of days, like all that didn't mean a thing to me.
The care these humans have shown me is beyond my understanding. They knew I would not be staying, but they still got attached to me, and love me dearly.
That just made me love this family more.
With that, I stood up, and started trotting over to Nate and Daisy. There was only two days before I had to make the choice to leave or stay, and I will be enjoying this precious time with these two, to the best of my ability.
Perhaps I will spend tomorrow with Nate.