"You're late again, Haru." The man at the reception counter smirked at the young researcher who barged in through the door with disheveled hair and bags under his eyes. He shot a dirty look at the remarker.
"No shit, detective. Now, if you write this off, you can have a free stick." With that, the man called Haru took out a cigarette from the case he was holding and clumsily tossed it to the counter. The receptionist grabbed it with the agility of a Fearow.
"Much obliged." He smirked as he stashed it into a box. Smoking was forbidden in the laboratory outskirts, for obvious reasons. This laboratory was a branch of Devon Corporation dedicated to researching the potential of outsider Pokemon and the possibility of incorporating them into the Hoenn ecosystem. Haru was one of the researchers in charge of those Pokemon. The researchers and subjects were rotated twice a year, and he was working with his third subject so far.
Haru tried to fix his dark brown hair in the reflections of a window pane and then gave up prematurely, ending up looking like a brunette Gumshoos. He was in his mid-twenties, but often managed to look older because of his strange sense of fashion. The man at the counter burst into laughter, attracting the attention of a few other workers across the room. He quickly piped down.
"Cut it out, Mike. I'm not in the mood." Haru grabbed his flame-retardant suite and footwear, then hastily donned them on. It was just protocol; he had never faced any danger from his currently assigned Pokemon. In fact, working with his current partner was something he looked forward to every morning. It made living on the islands worth it.
"Oh, so kind of you to spell it out, good sir! What do you want, a medal?" Mike wasn't going to let up easily. The job of a receptionist wasn't as exciting as working with Pokemon, obviously. But he tried to make it fun in his own ways. Except more often than not, it backfired.
"I'm gettig evicted the next month and losing all my inheritence if I don't find a bride, Mike. Now if you'd be kind enough to shut the fuck up that be might a good metaphorical medal." With that, Haru angrily scratched his cleanly shaved face and barged deeper into the massive laboratory. The receptionist stared at his departure before letting out a sigh and forging a check-in time for his poor friend. It was well known among the workplace that Haru was engaged in a cold war with his father regarding marriage and traditions, but nobody had guessed until now that he was cornered that far. It was going to be a very chatty day at the cafeteria.
Haru stood in front of the large cell that was separated from the other ones. The walls were made of thick layers of flame-retardant material, like his current suite. Except the walls were also reinforced with Dark-type biomaterial to resist Psychic attacks. The cell belonged to a Delphox, the Fire and Psychic-type Pokemon from Kalos. It was the final form of a Fennekin, a starter Pokemon commonly given out to young adventurers there. Haru took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He didn't want to put his friend in a bad mood. His personal life shouldn't interfere with his workplace. It was already bad enough how much he had gotten attached to his current partner over the course of just four months, and it was going to be really tough on both of them when they were going to be separated again. The thought pained Haru, so he tried to shove it to the back of his mind whenever it popped up, but today wasn't his best day. Well, he was already running late, so he checked in with his card key without waiting any longer.
The cell was roughly half the size of a traditional battle stadium; plenty of space for a Delphox to reside in comfortably. The place was furnished with plants, rocks and other environmental landmarks designed to emulate the natural habitat of a Delphox. Yet, the lone Delphox sat all by herself on a swing attached to the large tree in the middle, looking all lonely until now. She was wondering why her favorite researcher was late. Seeing him was pretty much the only thing she looked forward to in the morning. So when Haru finally made his entrance, her face lit up as she spoke telepathically:
"Welcome to my humble abode, once more." Being a Psychic-type had many advantages, and the one they both really liked was the fact that they could communicate with each other freely without any restrictions. Of course, it looked awkward, because if an outsider observed them, it'd look like the researcher was mumbling by himself like a madman.
Haru, however, simply waved at his friend today before wordlessly sitting down next to her on the swing. Then he took out another cigarette from the case and brought it to his lips. The Delphox summoned a tiny flame at the tip of her digit and helped him light it up. It was part of their morning ritual. Normally, Haru would thank her or give her a headpat, but today he just continued to silently puff on his cigarette, not even inhaling properly. The Delphox snuggled closer, concerned.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" She complained. Her normally jovial friend was being awfully quiet today. Did she do something wrong?
"Oh, right, sorry Homura." Haru guiltily looked at his friend before forcing himself to smile, still distracted. "Thanks, Homura." He uttered before tossing away the half-smoked cigarette and then staring at the wall in the distance. In spite of the vastness of this room and the luxuries, it was still just a glorified prison.
"What happened, Haru? Things gone awry at your home again?" The Delphox called Homura tried to pull her trainer closer, hoping to comfort him for whatever he was going through. Whatver it was, it felt pretty bad to her. Haru finally caved in at the warm touch and muttered:
"Well, Homura, have you ever heard of a fighting technique called 'blackmail'?" He really had to tell someone. Might as well be the one he was most comfortable being around with.
"No, but the way you put it, it sounds dirty. Is that some kind of armor polished in black?" Homura felt sad. Sometimes she wondered which one of them had it worse - she had her luxuries and comforts in the cell, but that was all she had. The only thing she looked forward to every day was this human, and something was bothering the poor human. From what he had told her before, humans had a strange pack hierarchy and Haru was at the bottom of his pack - or family, as humans usually called it. That actually sounded worse to her than being alone - at least when you're alone you don't have to obey others.
Haru couldn't help but laugh at his companion. He wasn't sure whether she genuinely thought that or just came up with it as a joke in an attempt to cheer him up. Whatever it was, it felt good to laugh for the first time in the morning.
"Well, blackmail means - actually, it's not something you'd ever be using in a battle; not a fair one anyway. So let me just boot up the simulation and start our training -" Haru got up from the swing, but was pulled right back into it with a swift, fierce tug on his lab coat from his friend, setting the swing off in a slow motion.
"You'll need to try harder than that to distract me, Haru! We can't work together if one of us is upset." Homura asserted herself. He had looked out for her to the best of his abilities ever since they were assigned together, now it was time for her to do the same.
"Well, you know we'll have to part ways, eventually. Might as well get used to being around upset trainers." Haru shrugged, trying to swallow the painful lump in his throat. Why do good things never last? Homura was the only good thing in his life and within two months they'd be seperated again.
"Doesn't that mean we should cherish our time together more? You know how much I love spending time with you, Haru." Homura sighed. Life wasn't fair, was it?
"You know I love that, too." Haru finally gave up, leaning against the slightly smaller Pokemon and letting go, letting the warmth wash over him. Without much thought, they found themselves holding hands. It felt natural and comforting and had become another one of their shared rituals over time.
"Well, today you don't look too happy about it." Homura softly spoke.
"Sorry, Homura, just a lot on my mind lately; has nothing to do with you." It felt funny to Haru how they were so close yet worlds apart, fighting their own battles.
"Why don't you tell me for a change, Haru? Let's pretend I'm the researcher today and you're my subject." Homura accompanied her words with a giggle. "How is it fair that you get to study me every day but never tell me about your problems?"
"Well, Homura, how'd you feel if someone forced you to pick a mate for life?" Haru blurted out before covering up his mouth in horror. He shouldn't have let out his frustration on this wicked-looking yet innocent creature.
It took a few seconds for Homura to process the question and even longer to find an answer. The prospect was quite horrifying to her, too.
"I'd feel disgusted, Haru. Like that time your 'friends' set a Blaziken loose in here. Remember that?" Homura was still wondering why Haru would bring up the subject matter.
"Well, I don't think anyone has forgotten that yet. Honestly, Homura, if a Blaziken's not good enough for you, I don't know who will be." Haru chuckled.
The whole 'Blaziken Incident' was an absolute field day at work. Back when other researchers were trying to determine the breeding compatibility of Kalos' Pokemon with those of Hoenn, they tried to pair Homura up with a Blaziken. The end result was the researchers involved having to be treated for severe burns and the Blaziken being hurriedly put back into it's PokeBall after Homura ruthlessly knocked him out. Haru had no involvement in that research, but he was still relieved after hearing that Homura refused to choose a mate and the breeding program was abandoned for the time being. Haru had felt very uncomfortable about the whole ordeal back then, but now it was water under the bridge.
"It's not that he wasn't attractive or anything, but he didn't treat me the way you do, Haru. As I said, it felt gross." Homura looked away, trying to hide the embarrassment that came naturally when the topic of a 'mate' was mentioned.
"Ah, so you understand. Well, caring for you is my job." Haru tried to play it off, but deep down he knew that he was too attached to this playful Pokemon to simply chalk it off as being part of his job.
"Why do you have to sound so cruel - Wait, exactly what have you been hiding from me? Haru!" Homura sharply snapped her gaze towards her friend, horrified at what she finally understood, "You mean to tell me someone's forcing you to pick a mate? Really? Who's researching on you?" Homura vigorously shook him by the shoulders, trying to get an answer as he weakly looked at her before finally giving in.
"My maniacal father, Homura, that's who. And I can't fight back the way you do." He hung his head as he spoke.
"Explain that to me right now, Haru!" The Delphox howled, their psychic connection breaking up from the sheer confusion perturbing the air.
"So, let me confirm that I understand, Haru; you lose your house if you don't find a mate by the end of this month?" The Delphox angrily paced back and forth, smoke escaping from the gap between her lips. Their psychic link was still hard to maintain, given how the sheer absurdity of the explanation she was given by her reluctant friend was weighing down her mind.
"Yes." Haru non-chalantly spoke, sitting on the swing all by himself, looking defeated.
"Or you might even be forced to take someone your father picks out for you?"
"That's right."
"You'll have to be mated to this woman for the rest of your life? Someone you don't even know yet and might not even like?"
"Correct." Haru didn't have the energy to explain the concept of a divorce or the complicated laws.
"And your crazed father wants this so that there'll be a woman in the house to cook and clean?"
"Right again." Haru finally found some emotions. It was anger and hatred; quite possibly disgust, like Homura had mentioned. He wasn't about to ruin the life of some poor young woman to cater to the whims of his near-senile father. No woman should have to deal with his father. His mother was an unfortunate woman and Haru hoped that she had found her peace in death.
Homura exhaled a line of flame from her mouth, unsure how to proceed. She wasn't stupid. Humans were messed up and all; well, maybe not her friend sitting over there, but his father sure was, based on what she just heard. She kept pacing back and forth, trying to come up with something that might just work out in favor for everyone involved. Maybe except for that crazed old man, he deserved to be taken by Yveltal. Finally, she found what she was looking for as she joined her friend on the swing again, grabbing a hold of his arms, catching his full attention again.
"Haru, I'll be your mate for life."
"Homura, what -" Haru's eyes widened in shock. Out of all the possible responses that Homura might've given in this situation, this was pretty low on the list of probabilities, at least in his mind. Maybe he wasn't as good at research and analysis as he had thought.
Homura tightly gripped his arms, her heart aflutter. What she was doing wasn't the best way to ask for someone's loyalty for life, but it seemed like the right time. Otherwise, she might lose Haru forever.
"Homura, you can't possibly be serious!" Haru tried to make sure she wasn't joking and then blushed after realizing she was being absolutely serious, judging from her demeanor.
'Why not, Haru? Am I not good enough for you?" The Delphox looked into his eyes in a pleading manner, feeling her heart sink.
'It's not that, Homura! You're the best anyone could ever ask for!" Haru urgently said, "But I don't want you to suffer for the sake of me." He sighed. As much as he adored Homura, maybe it was best to keep her out of his home for her own sake. Nobody should have to deal with his crazed father. Besides, her proposal seemed too good to be true. Maybe it was just a fever dream.
"Who's suffering, again? Haru, do you ever realize how much I enjoy your company? I don't want to lose you, ever. We can be together forever this way, Haru! No assigned time, nothing to seperate us." Homura just blurted out whatever came to her mind and felt natural. She had the mate she'd been looking for all her life, right in front of her. How could she control her emotions?
Haru had to admit that she was right. They could be together everyday if they became actual companions instead of being part of a research program. The problem here would be to convince the superiors to retire Homura from the program, but if she could muster the nerves to confess to him, then the least he could do was to do the same and pull some strings. They'd find a way around, together. But there was this main, glaring problem.
"But how do you plan to deal with my father? He isn't exactly going to welcome you and treat you nicely. You can't just set him on fire like those reasearchers, no matter how much we might come to hate him." Haru was trying to make sure he got his point across.
"Oh, come on, what's he gonna do, spray me with a water hose?" Homura giggled, "I'll deal with him somehow. He didn't tell you that your mate would have to be a human, did he?"
"Well, no, but that's because nobody really expects their kid to become betrothed to a Pokemon." Haru chuckled too.
"But he can't do anything about it, can he?"
"Well, it's not illegal for a human and Pokemon to be together in marriage, as long as the human is an adult and the Pokemon is fully evolved and humanoid. So no, nothing he can do legally." Haru was now seriously considering the idea. His ideal bride was right there in front of him all along, only he was too stupid to notice until now.
"So, Haru, can I be your mate for life? I'll love you and cherish you like you've cherished me in our short time together." Homura wrapped her arms around the human's neck. Why was he so adorable?
Haru stroked the fluff on her cheek, enjoying the softness and warmth. The whole affair still felt dream-like. Well, there was one way to find out.
He gently pulled her closer until their faces were mere centimeters apart, hot breaths from the two merging into one. Their lips finally met for the first time in their lives.
Homura was unsure what this gesture meant for humans, but it felt like a courting ritual. She could only hope she was right. She wouldn't know what to do otherwise.
After the newly formed couple shared a very awkward yet passionate first kiss, they pulled each other into a tight embrace. This was no dream.
"Homura, I take you as my bride, my one and only mate for life."
[TO BE CONTINUED]