Author's Note:
Firstly, I must thank a guest for giving this story its first Review! And in response to that review: I know, right!? That's the reason why I chose this Pokémon as the companion to the main character: Pokémon like Riolu/Lucario and the Legendaries (looking at you, you bunch of silly lil' Mary Stus and Mary Sues!) as main partners have been done to death and back, so I figured that I'd mix things up a little in combination with a different plot than average (relatively speaking).
Doesn't mean that I can't like stories that handle that concept well like ClicheStorm, however. That's a story I heartily recommend that you check out if you haven't already, by the way.
That aside, however, this is where the story begins to pick up a bit, with the true introduction between Marza and the not-so-mysterious Pokémon that hatched from the egg.
Shout-outs to Skyforged for the Favorite, as well as gettothedragon and joycewu333 for the Follows! You humble me with your mere attention!
Long-winded Author's Notes aside, however, do read and enjoy yourself, as is per usual!
Disclaimer:
Pokémon and any other referential materials found in this story do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners and subsidiaries, and I claim no ownership of them.
Of Children, Men, and Monsters
Chapter Two: Children and Monsters
Marza woke up a tad earlier than usual the next morning with a quiet yawn, feeling about as dreary as one would expect in that circumstance. She came into a full state of consciousness over the course of several minutes, and when that process was finished, she attempted to get up and begin preparing to go to school. She was interrupted before this could begin, however, when she noticed a small form clutching itself to her pajamas. It was snoring quietly, eyes closed, looking… well, cute.
As in, "so absurdly cute that is can easily cause a "daww'" kind of cute.
Which, in fact, is precisely what Marza did once she got over her shock.
She picked it up with all of the cautiousness she could muster a moment after that, attempting to get a closer look at this thing's features. Nearly all of its body was a dull shade of green, like the egg that it apparently had hatched from, and it possessed two symmetrical black spots on the sides of its torso. A diamond-shaped red spot was on its front, and a horn protruded from its head. A triangular splotch of black ran downward from where the lines that concealed its apparent eyes were. Noticing the few small fragments of egg shell still stuck to its head, she brushed them off, and took a quick glance on her bed and the area just around it. Just as she had suspected, little green fragments were lying around the floor and sheets of her bed.
She mentally sighed, 'Not everything can be sunshine and rainbows, even if this thing looks too cute to be real.'
She set it down on the bed, just as careful of having it wake up as when she picked it up, and slowly rose from the bed. She picked up each individual piece of the now-broken egg one-by-one, taking the lightest of steps possible. Thankfully, the flooring of her room consisted solely of carpet, so the task of remaining as silent as possible was made significantly easier.
A minute later, and all of the fragments of egg were thrown into the small trash bin next to Marza's desk. Figuring that she couldn't just leave a new-born of an unknown species by itself (who knew what it could do or what it was capable of), she sat down on the floor and resumed gazing at it. She had the time to spare, as, again, she had gotten up early; half an hour early, to be more precise.
A few minutes later, the thing woke up that same way Marza had: with a yawn. Its eyelids slowly opened, revealing to Marza its ruby-red irises, and it slowly propped itself upright, doing so sluggishly. When it finally did so, it looked upon the young woman, curiosity brimming in its childish eyes.
Marza felt very tempted to "daww" again, but barely managed to refrain. She had already thought about what she was going to say ahead of time, so she asked of the creature:
"What's your name, little one?"
It smiled widely, and cried: "Larvitar!"
Marza raised a brow. Most - no, all creatures that she knew of didn't let out sounds that could easily be mistaken for an English word, nor do they respond to inquiries with such evident emotion. She knew that this next thing likely wouldn't work, but asked of it: "Is that your name, or the name of your kind?"
To her shock, the newly revealed Larvitar nodded. "You can understand me!?"
It nodded again.
Once she got over her mixed elation and excitement, she spoke, more to herself than the creature, "A strange one, aren't you?"
'What kind of creature can understand a language the moment it's born, basics or no…?'
She shook her head, and then inquired, "So, it's the name of your species?"
A cheerful "Lar!"
'And how does it know this stuff when it hasn't even been born half a day?'
"What's your name, then?"
The Larvitar appeared uncertain, letting out a "Laaar…" portraying that same feeling.
"Do you even have one?" asked the green-eyed pre-teen, beginning to feel a tad sorry for the thing.
It shook its head after a few moments.
"Hmm… Well, I can't just keep calling you Larvitar if that's your species name. What if there are more of you on the way? That'd just get confusing, and fast."
The young Larvitar looked confused, likely at her second sentence, though he didn't quite have the time (or the means, for that matter) to ask her what she meant. She put a hand to her chin, rubbing it pensively.
"I have an idea. What if I gave you a name? Would you like that?"
It nodded, very much enthused at the thought. It just felt… inexplicably right to the Larvitar that this girl name it. Marza once again hummed, deep in thought.
"Give me some time to think about this. Names are important, after all."
She got up from the bed once again, glancing at the clock. She was still fifteen minutes ahead of her typical morning schedule, but she figured that she may as well shower, regardless. Just as she went to open the door, she remembered two vital things to ask.
"Oh, yeah. Are you a boy?"
A shake of the horned head.
"A girl, then?" A nod of affirmation.
"Okay. Can't go about giving you a masculine name even though you're a girl, eh?" She chuckled at her wise-crack, before saying, "Would you mind staying in here, by the way? I've got to take a shower, and, well… my parents probably won't react well to you."
The now-female Larvitar cocked its head, but nodded.
"Good. I'll be back here in about twenty minutes. Please be quiet while I'm gone, too."
She nodded her head as she closed the door, leaving the baby Larvitar to its own devices.
'Maybe she's an alien?' Marza pondered as she scrubbed at her shoulder-long hair. 'Seems to me like it's the only possible explanation. What else could she possible be?'
She shook her head once again, sending little droplets of water flying in the shower. 'Better think about that later. I've got to figure out a name for her, which takes priority at the moment…' Even after she put her clothes on and did her hair up as per her usual style (which was hardly a style at all; it was how her hair naturally looked), she couldn't come up with any names that she found to be decent for a being such as the little Larvitar. Until…
"That's it! I've got one!" she exclaimed, quite loudly.
"You've got one what, honey?" inquired Marza's father from behind the door, sounding genuinely curious.
Marza blushed with simultaneous embarrassment and indignation, responding to him when she opened up that bathroom door: "Umm… A good idea for an essay! Yeah, that!"
Julius gave her a look of reproach. "Well, I suppose that the yearly finals are coming up… It never hurts to think ahead, Marza."
He walked into the bathroom after those words were said, promptly closing the door behind him. Marza sighed in relief, though she mentally felt more than a little guilty at having lied to her father right in the face like that.
'Ah, well. I'll show her to them eventually. I promise myself – and especially my parents - that.'
She returned to her room with a small amount of haste, quickly opening and closing the door as she entered. She was ameliorated to find that the Larvitar had remained in the room, just as she had requested. She appeared to be scrounging around; for what, she had no idea.
"Hey, Larvitar. I'm back, and I believe that I've thought up a good nickname for you!"
The youngling turned around from its examination of the wall, and let out a happy cry. The Larvitar ran up to her with surprising speed and jumped into her torso, as if wanting a hug. She would have complied, if not for its startlingly huge amount of strength and speed; the force of the unintentional tackle sent her crashing to the floor, baby Pokémon now on her stomach as she landed. She let out a wheeze of pain, but the Larvitar hardly seemed to mind as it crawled up to her face and gave her a nuzzle. After recovering from her immediate pain, she returned the show of affection, giving it a few back rubs and a pat on the head. She attempted to get up, but found herself incapable of the task.
"Huh?" she mumbled, having another go at the action. She swiftly figured out why she was rendered incapable of getting up: this apparent alien was a considerably heavier than it looked.
"Hey… You're kind of making it impossible for me to get up… Mind getting off of me?"
She complied after nary a second's hesitation, letting out a slightly sad "Tar…" as the green-skinned being did so.
"There's no need for that. I appreciated that, ah… hug, don't be mistaken. It's just that you're stronger – and a lot heavier – than you look.
The Larvitar understood her reasoning, nodding her head.
"Anyways, I think that I've come up with a pretty good name for you.
"How does "Oscura" sound?"
The little Larvitar nodded, letting out a bright "Larvi!"
Marza giggled at her response. "Oscura it is, then."
The pre-teen glanced at her clock. Her bus would be coming to pick her up in about fifteen minutes, and she was practically ready to go already. So, figuring that she had the time, she asked the newly christened Oscura: "So, Oscura, are you hungry?"
The Larvitar youngling nodded yet again, her belly grumbling just after she did that. Marza giggled again at this.
"Definitely hungry, then. I'll be right back with some food!"
She exited the room, leaving Oscura to her own devices. Not that she would do anything of major note in the human's absence, however; she liked pleasing Marza, after all, especially with how nicely she has been treating her.
The raven-haired lass returned three minutes later, a bowl of dry cereal and a small bowl of milk in each of her hands.
"Do these look good?"
The Larvitar waddled forward, giving the bowl of cereal a few sniffs, before shaking her head in the negative. She nodded her head at the water, however, taking a small sip from it. Marza thought for a moment on what it might like in the food department, and quickly came up with an idea. Turning her personal computer on, she went to the Google web-page and searched up things that the animals of Earth eat. Calling Oscura over, she showed her all of the things one the screen, scrolling through page after page of results. Oscura shook her head at everything Marza showed her, and just when the hope of finding something for the Pokémon began to run out, the Larvitar pointed at a certain image on the screen enthusiastically. What it was pointed toward left Marza sputtering.
"You want rocks to eat?" she said, flabbergasted. Oscura nodded, tongue sliding across the top of her lips in a comical manner.
"What, do you eat dirt, too?"
She nodded again.
Marza stared at Oscura for a solid three seconds before sighing good-naturedly.
"Well, at least rocks and dirt are hardly the most difficult things to come by. I wonder how expensive the stuff is online, though…"
She shook herself out of that train of though. There was now only four minutes left 'till her bus came to pick her up, so she had to act a bit fast with her next idea. Fast-walking out of her room, she went down the stairs and went outside, grabbing some pebbles and jamming them into her pockets. She did this for the next few seconds until said pockets were full, and ran back inside. Her mother stopped her in her tracks, however.
"Firstly, Marza, no running in-doors. Secondly, what are you doing with those rocks in your pockets?"
Marza sputtered before exclaiming, "Science project! It involves erosion!"
Erise raised a brow, but moved aside from the entrance of the stairwell, allowing her to pass.
"That girl sometimes…" she murmured to herself when she heard the door slam shut. "Ah, well. She does take after me. But since when does the school assign these sorts of things as homework rather than as in-class projects?" She sighed as she walked over to the kitchen to begin prepping her own breakfast. "I hope she isn't lying to me about this for whatever reason…"
Marza grabbed the pebbles and inserted them into the bowl with the cereal. "Just eat the rocks by themselves if you want. Since the water was fine with you, I'll leave that there." she exhaled. "I'm going to school, and I'm sorry to say that you can't come with me."
Oscura whined softly.
"Again, I'm sorry. I don't want you being discovered for… well, reasons. I'll tell you when I get back, which'll be at around 3:30." Marza then remembered that, while she knows more than she should for being not a day old, Oscura still probably doesn't know everything. "You see that clock? When it shows a three," she said, drawing out the number with a finger, "and then another three, and then a zero, that's when I'll be back. All right?" The Larvitar nodded in understanding. "It'll be a while. Just stay in here and try to keep yourself entertained without breaking anything, please…"
Marza gave Oscura one last glance before closing the door, going down the stairs, and waiting on the sidewalk adjacent to her family's house. The bus came along a minute and a half later, opening its door and allowing Marza inside to transport her to another day at school.
The red-eyed alien, meanwhile, cast a longing glance out the window at the bus at it left. She had something to eat and drink, yes, but doubtless she'd be bored in less than an hour.
So, she had to figure out something to do to keep herself entertained. Just what would do so, however, was definitely the bigger question here…
