I'm back again, I still don't own Pokémon. Here I introduce a new character.
I had been asleep for a while. Nikola said she wanted to go home and take a rest for some holiday. I stayed in her backpack, reading up on human culture and linguistics. If you're wondering how I know how to read, it's because my parents taught me.
Apparently, most of our human names come from what our cries sound like. If it was unreasonable to name one species after their cry, they would get a similar name. I never knew many Pokémon in the first place, but my parents, again, taught me to call them by their official names, as well as to refer to them as 'Pokémon' instead of the ancient term magzo, and apparently Arceus himself refers to us by the new name.
I was now being awakened by a slap to the face. I hissed.
"Good morning to you too, young man."
I blinked and stood on my feet. That was a Pokémon's voice. I looked up to see a tall, blocky thing. I jumped backwards. Whatever it was, it wasn't any Pokémon I knew of. The thing's form dissolved and now it was a skeleton. Freaky.
"He's scared of me. Perl, he's scared of me!"
A Porygon-Z who I assume was Perl, flew across the room and embraced the thing. What was going on, I had no clue. But I did now know that the blocky thing was not dangerous.
"It's alright; I'll explain it to him."
Perl turned to me.
"This is Missingno. It's the result of a horrifying experiment done on a female Marowak, years ago. I don't know all the details, but apparently it was killed, and its brain was turned into computer data. Then they tried to turn it into a Porygon, like me. The experiment failed, and its data was dumped in a coastal radio channel, resulting in Pokémon like Missingno appearing on beaches. We've been trying to get it registered as an officially discovered species, but the PokéDex has been having issues, so we've just given it the honorary number of 000."
I sent Missingno a glance. It had now transformed into a ghost. It was focused on me.
"Sorry for scaring you, kid."
"No, it's alright. It's nice to meet you both. I'm Psycho."
Perl straightened itself up.
"I'm Perl. I assume you may be hungry."
My stomach was empty, and vocalized its emptiness by growling rather loudly.
Perl chuckled.
"Follow me, kiddo. Breakfast is this way."
I followed Perl and Missingno down the hallway. I hadn't noticed until now, but there was blue plush carpet flooring in the entire house. The walls were painted dark gray, and picture frames hung of various people.
One had a young woman with her Pokémon team, of these a Porygon, who I assume was Perl at one point, and Missingno. There was also a Venomoth and a Gengar. The young woman was grinning. She looked like a Hex Maniac, with a printed purple dress and a head of light brown hair. She was holding Missingno in her arms and the Venomoth sat on her head. The Gengar was making a goofy face and Perl was looking to the side.
Another had a young Nikola hugging the same Hex Maniac. The Hex Maniac didn't smile at all. I noted a lack of a partner in the picture. I wonder about the story behind that. What kind of jerk would walk out… I stopped myself. It was none of my business.
There was one last one I saw. It was Cream sitting in Nikola's lap. Nikola was petting Cream, and Perl and the Hex Maniac were in the background, both with expressions of worry.
I kept on walking. I saw framed drawings; all signed 'Nick.' I supposed that was Nikola's nickname, pun not intended.
I saw a small shelf, with a trophy on it. It said 'Kanto Pokémon League Regional Semifinalist.' Books with ominous names like 'If Death Ever Slept' were stacked neatly under the trophy. One specific one caught my eye. It was simply titled 'Psycho.' I made a note to myself to ask about it later.
I strolled into the kitchen. The Hex Maniac sat at the kitchen table, sipping coffee. Right across from her was Nikola, who was prodding at a bowl of mush. Heck sat on a counter, eating ice cubes from a bucket. Rukia, Cream, and the two Pokémon from the photos were eating large blocks of what I assumed were some sort of saccharine product, like tree sap or berries.
I plopped myself down between Cream and Rukia.
The Hex Maniac smirked for a second before dropping the smile for her tired face.
Hello, young Eevee. It is nice to see you in person. I understand you have joined Nicky's team.
I was a bit startled, till I remembered Nikola was a psychic. Of course, her mother was one too.
"Yes, I have. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Psycho."
She snorted.
I believe that to be a fitting name for you, judging by how you ripped that Gyarados in half.
"Oh, so Nikola told you?"
Yes. I must say I'm impressed. Most Eevee cower in fear of such large Pokémon. Even those who don't definitely don't attack said Pokémon and eat them.
"He destroyed my nest. All my food was in there. It was the only way he could pay me back."
I see. You were raised wild, were you not?
I blocked out the sound of my mother's voice, cussing me out. I blocked out the sound of my father's voice, calling out to me.
"Yes… I'm wild."
Alright then. Oh- Excuse me, I still haven't told you my name! The name is Ceyla Tomo. I'm an ex-trainer. I assume you have already met Missingno and Perl. These two…
She gestured to the Gengar and Venomoth.
…are Mirage and Velvet. They were on my team as a young girl. I suppose they still are, though.
Nikola looked at Ceyla and then said,
"I hope you know I can hear your conversation. I'm psychic, too."
Rukia got up and snatched Heck off the table. Heck seemed surprised.
"Heck, let's go for a walk."
He hesitated for a moment, then nodded, eyes widening.
"Yeah, let's go."
Cream coughed a bit, and I swore I could hear the word slash in between her coughs, though I had no idea what she was talking about.
Perl and Missingno excused themselves as well. Cream said she was going to go say hello to her old lab partner. Mirage said he had something to do. Velvet said she was still hungry and wanted nectar. Slowly everybody but Nikola and Ceyla had left.
Ceyla chugged down the rest of her coffee, and then slammed the mug down on the table.
"What in the name of all that is good, Nicky, were you THINKING? You can fight all the grunts in Team Rocket that you want, fine! But ADMINS? Arceus dammit, they could've killed you! And Marc! Why do you even talk to him? He-"
"It was one admin, mom, and Marc keeps following me. It's not like I ask that ass to follow me around."
"Then for Arceus' sake, honey, report him! You know he stole that Cyndaquill! He should be in prison."
I cleared my throat.
"I believe that the Red-Headed stepchild might be stalking Nikola because he wants to befriend her."
Ceyla was livid.
"You have no place in this conversation! Even if you did, such a theory doesn't make any sense! The boy has been harassing Nicky ever since she left on her journey. He stole her bag after she defeated him. The kid's a cheat, a creep and a thief!"
"He probably has no friends. He probably has no family. He probably stole that bag so he'd have an excuse to see her again."
"Well, I don't care. The boy's got problems and it's not my duty to fix them, nor is it Nicky's."
"Mom, just let it go. Psycho's right. I've never seen the ass with anybody but his Pokémon. Let him do what he likes, it's not like he'll beat me."
Ceyla let out a sigh of exasperation.
"Very well. I'll let it be."
She picked up the plates and bowls from the table and left them in a stack near the sink.
"Go on, you can go pack your bags, Nicky. I know you haven't got any time to waste. Rockets move fast."
Nikola rose and left to her room.
Heck and Rukia walked into the kitchen looking very sweaty.
"Wow, Heck. You really gave me a good workout today…" Rukia panted.
"Glad to hear it." Heck responded.
I remember hearing similar words between my parents before, but I don't think they had been talking about battling or exercise when I look back on it. I just hoped it was a coincidence. I didn't think I could have handled more UST people in my life.
Cream was jumping in through an open window. She saw the expression on my face.
"I saw them, Psycho. They were foot-racing."
"Ah. That makes sense."
"I won." Heck bragged.
Nikola rolled her eyes.
"That's great. Now, we're leaving."
Ceyla sighed and smiled sadly. I could only imagine how lonely she was, with Nikola out on a journey all the time. I guess she's not the only one.
Mother…
I need to stop hanging around people. They all remind me too much of my parents. It's a painful memory, but I think it's good to remember the story. My mother had told me the whole thing, after all…
My parents were both abandoned, released by trainers who no longer needed them, or indeed wanted.
My father was a Lucario. He was quiet, submissive, a soft Pokémon who cared about everybody who had let him.
My mother hadn't. Not at first.
She had spent the last 14 days without eating or sleeping. She had been locked in battle with the boss of the forest, Entei. She had apparently forgotten to bow when he passed by and then challenged his authority.
"You, sir, remind me of my father. A little bunny who got a big head and played with fire. Why should you rule this forest? What gives you the right?"
"I rule because I am a legend! The last of my kind! You, peasant, remind me of my sister! A little doggy who got a big head and played with the order of this world!"
And then my mother attacked him, blasting a ray of moonlight at his face. He responded with equal force, and she stayed standing, and they fought till minutes turned to hours, hours to days, and days into weeks. And finally, Entei gave up and ran off to bathe in his own shame. No normal Pokemon could survive two weeks of onslaught from a legendary, much less stay conscious. She had defeated him. He had run out of firepower. He had run out of energy.
And the second she knew he was gone she collapsed. Fell on her belly, straight to the ground, and heaved a massive sigh of exhaustion. And my father had seen her battle through those hellish days. And he had fallen pretty hard.
And so he approached her.
"Hello, miss. I saw your battle. I think that was brave of you, to challenge Entei. He was an abusive ruler."
She hadn't responded, so he continued.
"But I noticed you were injured; I used to be a nurse's Pokémon, so I could patch you up if you would like…"
She said one word to him.
"Leave."
He nodded anxiously, turned around, and ran off.
The next day, he was back, this time with berries and water for her.
"I brought you these. You're probably malnourished by now."
He put the berries down in front of her, and a gourd full of river water was clutched in between his paws.
"I don't want your stupid fruits."
"Then what do you want, miss?"
"I want you to stop being a creep. You don't know my name and I don't know yours. I don't see a reason to touch anything you give me. It might be drugged, for all I know. I especially see no reason to let you touch me. I have no reason to believe a word you say."
"O-oh…I see… then I'll leave."
He didn't visit again for two days.
She was slowly wasting away. She was starving, sick and miserable. Her bones were broken and her body was covered in second-degree burns. She was coughing up blood and snot, vomiting constantly. She couldn't move. She was paralyzed from the neck down. She could barely breathe.
He came upon her, he swore it was on accident. She at glanced him.
"Miss! I knew I should have came here before! Do you still not want help?"
She gritted her teeth.
"If you heal me you have to stick around, got it? And I don't eat berries."
She pointed to a pile of rotting fruit.
"I eat raw meat. Only raw meat."
"Alright. I'll find some meat for you. The rawest of the raw."
And he went out and stuck his paws in a lake and pulled out a Magikarp. He killed it instantly, and then he dragged it back to her with his bloody teeth.
She ripped it into pieces and ate every single one. Its blood dried and stained her muzzle brown. He watched, and tried to make his situation a bit more bearable. He hadn't eaten meat since the day he first put it in his mouth, and he hadn't killed a single Pokémon in his life. He was an ex-nurse; he found it unmethodical for somebody like him to kill. This Sylveon was absolutely barbaric. And he had fallen in love with her. He hadn't ever stood up for himself before, much less an entire group of Pokémon he didn't know.
"My name is Mathis."
"My name is Koko."
What an odd couple the two of them had made.
"Psycho? Don't just stand there! We have to get going!"
I scurried after Nikola, and we hustled out the door.
And that is where we stop, M'kay? There's gonna be more Mathis and Koko.
Koko – Moonblast
Mathis – Heal Pulse, Scratch.