Hello! This is my first attempt at something new. I'm used to doing writing in a non-linear sense like a story (mostly roleplay shit), but after getting into a funk with reading a LOT of other fanfics, I decided I wanted to write something of my own. I'm pulling a lot of inspiration from the ones I've read, so if there are any similarities you can see in how stuff is written (or ideas peppered in throughout), that's why. Obviously I'm keeping it an original story and all, but it's a work in progress.
Anyways, since this is my first official story, I insist on people sending out reviews for it to tell me how I'm doing, how I can improve, so on and so forth. Lastly, FAIR WARNING, this story does and will include pokephilia (human x pokemon pairing), so if that's not your mojo then don't read. I will try to write new chapters every other week, but the times between may vary depending on irl shit or moods, but I can guarantee that it won't exceed a month between chapters.
With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy what I have right now.
XXX
Just like every other day before this, and likely every single day to come, Zack rose groggily from his bed, rubbing his eyes of the morning dust that accompanies you after sleep. With the alarm from his phone going off and the sunlight streaming in between the seams of the curtains over his windows, he knew that it was time to start his day. His hand comes down and turns the alarm off on his phone, and with a yawn and stretch, he gets up from his bed as per his routine. Zack travels from his bed to his bathroom, clicking the light on to begin his morning ritual; teeth brushing, dead stare towards himself in the mirror, and a shower soon after.
Zack stops to stare a bit longer today, noting the beginnings of dark circles under his eyes–evidence of his inability to sleep. In an odd way, it almost looks fitting for him. He stands at 5'10", with shortened dark hair nearing black in coloration, a more-pale-than-usual complexion, and tired, green eyes reminiscent of that of a corpse.
"...I look like shit."
Figures that despite living for damn near twenty-six years, he has never outgrown his past and it shows. Zack has a leaner than normal build, not built from muscle but from… lack of fat. But once again, it seems like that's been a common feature for his life. His thoughts stray a bit towards thinking about what he had gone through–
"No, no… Not today. I need to get to work."
Zack cuts that line of thinking off, shaking his head to try and rid himself of that kind of thinking. Not like he doesn't think about it, but trapping himself in delusions at the beginning of the day is just asking for another reason for him to slack off on the job. He steps into the shower, quickly cleans himself with hot water and the cheap soap he picked up from the retail store a week ago, dries off and gets dressed. Zack's outfit is nothing special, just a white shirt and a pair of black jeans, with a pair of dark gray sneakers covering his feet.
Once dressed, he leaves his bathroom and makes his way to the living room of his house. It wasn't a very large house, but it was still his. The couch and table were just about the only furniture he owned outside of his bed. Seeing as how he was a textbook definition of a workaholic though, he didn't mind not having much. Most of his money went to bills, food, and repaying loans anyways.
After he collects all of the necessities–wallet, keys, phone–he leaves his house and locks the door behind him, before approaching his car. He had managed to barely scrape enough money together to afford a down payment on a small house in Knoxville, Tennessee, for no other reason than to move closer to a job he had gotten right out of university.
In his early days, Zack had found a great interest in science–specifically with the aspect of energy. It started small, with him being awed and excited to see massive wind turbines and solar panels. After he grew a bit older, it started to branch into nuclear physics. The idea that humanity could harvest a single atom for a vast amount of energy, greatly outdoing that of any other source of energy, intrigued the hell out of him. Despite the taunts of his peers in high school and his teachers telling him that this energy was dangerous, he still decided to pursue a career in researching new forms of energy, along with a dabbling in theoretical physics. Because of this, he had no time to stop and make friends, nor find a girlfriend.
It didn't matter to him right now though. After all, he had to get to work. Zack gets into his car, and starts the drive to his job. He had actually gotten an offer a few years ago from them after applying. To his surprise, they accepted him after a series of interviews. Now, he works as a researcher for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, just outside of the city he lives in. He couldn't be happier, all of that time he had invested into university and college had paid off. Well, that's what he tells himself, but nothing ever seems to really happen around there. Sure, he helps slowly edge along the science needed to make it more efficient for fission to occur, but it doesn't feel fulfilling.
Once he reaches a stop light, Zack turns his head to the side to look at the buildings around him. A couple of small shops, some fast food spots, and people walking to their office jobs within the city. His thoughts wander a bit, wondering if his life would be any different compared to theirs. One particular person walking by quickly is on the phone, talking about something he can't make out.
'...Heh. Must be nice, being able to put that much energy into your day-to-day.'
The car behind him honks, which makes his head snap up to the light which is now green. His foot presses down on the pedal, and he starts driving again, letting the scenery of the city pass him by to make way for more wilderness.
In order to stave off anymore oncoming thoughts, Zack turns his radio on and switches it over to a local newscast.
"–so we're starting to see some evidence of the effects many people theorized about the aftermath of that conflict in what used to be Russia. The European countries closest to Ukraine had to be evacuated, as the rain itself started to kill the trees and animals in the area of effect. Had it not been for the swift assistance of The United States, those countries would be suffering a vast amount of casualties right now. In other news–"
A low sigh escapes him as the words move their way into his head. That's right, that conflict had ended pretty terribly in the last couple of years, ending with the eradication of Ukraine and the collapse of Russia, as well as the ecosystem around that battlefield. For years, it kept on waging on until Russia's leader stopped talking to the outside world, and then…
"–...clear skies for the next few days, with an uptick in moisture heading our way with more high temperatures. With a–"
"Alright, that's enough of that."
Zack flips it around until he comes up on one of his preferred music stations, and the hard rocking of drums and guitar fills the car. Humming to the familiar tune, Zack taps his wheel in rhythm to the song, and to the ones after that. They make a good distraction for the drive, and let him focus without swerving off the road.
After another stretch of roads, potholes, and wilderness, he comes up on the laboratory. After passing a couple of gates and a check-in post, he takes his car towards the lot closest to his destination. Seeing that his spot is open, Zack parks there and turns his car off. Zack takes a moment to gather himself for a hopefully entertaining day of work (with some not-so-helpful words of self-encouragement), and heads inside the main building for energy research after exiting his car.
"Yo, Zack! Haven't seen you in, what, a day?"
One of his coworkers shouts over to him the second he had made his way into the door. The man had shouted before the glass doors had even closed behind him, which they do after a second with an audible clunk.
'Jesus, man. I just got here.'
"...Yep, a whole day, Jim. Good seeing you too."
'Dunno what's up with that guy. He's like this every day.'
He sighs heavily, already dreading the rest of the day. A quick couple steps to the front desk to clock in and a turn towards a hallway sees him getting to his day.
Zack's steps take him through one of the halls where most of the mathematics is done, the rooms and offices being mostly occupied with the clacking of keys, scrawling of chalk and squeaking of markers, and discussions filled with technical jargon. Had this been his first time here he might feel out of place and underqualified, but now he was dull to the constant business of everyone.
A few footfalls later, and he reaches his office. Well, office slash lab slash room, it all adds up to being his own space. He pushes the door open, closes it behind him, and looks over what he knows as his second home. No windows were in his office, but a single light in the middle of his ceiling provided him enough to see. Off to one side facing the wall is a desk with a regular computer set up, along with files and stacks of papers near the edge of the desk. On the other side of the room, was a whiteboard with a variety of things written down, ranging from equations, doodles, and ideas. Besides all that, though… the room was pretty bare.
With another sigh escaping his lungs, Zack made his way over to the workstation, powering the computer on to get on with his tasks for the week. Or, for him, more like the grueling process of looking over hundreds of papers in an attempt to find small numbers that stick out. Once he's seated, he signs on and navigates over to his work email account through the browser.
A new message in his inbox labeled as important takes his attention before he can get started, though. With a small twinge of intrigue, he clicks on the email.
To: Resource Management, Energy Management, Resource Researcher Staff, Ener… +18 others
Subject: Project 'Link' Startup
To all employees,
Today marks the day of the beginning of tests to establish a new understanding of the world! Beginning later in the evening around 4:00 pm, we wish to request a number of you to assist in tests. Those who are selected will be met personally by Head Researcher Matthew to be informed and escorted to the testing grounds.
Keep in mind, everything discussed between you and those seeing over this project will be subject to the Terms of Employment Contract you signed at the beginning of working here, and thus will be under a strict NDA lockdown.
Your right to refusal to participate in this project will be respected, should you wish to avoid any interruption to your workflow. Regardless, since the startup of this project begins today, a meal will be provided for free in the cafeteria for all employees.
Regards,
Penelope Keller
Director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory
"...Interesting. Hrm, maybe today will be good to me. Heh, maybe I should just ask to be included on this."
He clicks off of the email, and starts with his day.
XXX
Zack stares at his screen with the deadest, most bored-out-of-your-mind look a human being could conjure. There, on the screen, is an excel file opened with a plethora of numbers, a graph or two to the right, and a single errored out cell. It wasn't that the work was hard, but he was starting to lose focus. Countless papers like these had been shuffled to him to fix, and he couldn't help but wonder if they had even bothered trying to fix it themselves. Had he not worried making sure he still spent his time "working" and sucking up those hours for their pay, he would have had this done by now.
Deciding that he was done with this specific file, he leaned up in his chair and went to click on the cell–
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
"Oh fucking finally. Lunchtime."
His hand veered off course to grab his phone on the side of the desk, silencing the alarm and checking the small device for any other notifications. The clock reads 15:15, fifteen minutes before his lunch. Since his specific room was a far ways off from the cafeteria though, he needs to get that head start.
That, and it gives him more time to distract himself from the monotony laid before him.
Other than his alarm notification, there are a couple of alerts from YouTube, Twitter, Facebook… all of which were swiped away. Nothing for texts, or even calls; not even the scammers wanted to talk to him. Fed up with work for now, Zack stands from his chair and starts on his way to the cafeteria.
While walking through the halls of the Lab building, he browses through Twitter, the hell app that had somehow not been rid of yet. He mostly followed accounts that posted pictures of cute animals, updated their followers on cool new tech, and accounts belonging to influential people. Though he didn't really care too much about what they had to say, he preferred to be informed rather than in the dark. So, he swipes, likes, browses and a chuckle escapes him, seeing some of those animals being posted once more.
'Wish I could get a fox. Love those little dudes, even if they're high maintenance. Too bad I don't have a big ass yard, or else I would've gone through the hassle already.'
Zack, upon noticing the familiar change in lighting as he walks, puts his phone away and heads through what he knows to be the entrance to the cafe. Immediately, he heads towards the tables set up with the free food set out by the higher ups. Before he can start, his eyes settle on one of the friendly faces he knows.
"Hey, Alex! What's up man? Get any new shit done today?"
The man he's calling to twists around to look at him, a bundle of fries stuck between his lips. This man, Alex, was one of Zack's first friends starting here. He stood a bit taller than him, and had a shorter hairstyle resembling that of a 'swimmer bro,' tan and all. Normally he wears pretty loose clothes, and it's the same today; a blue Hawaiian shirt with a pink floral design as his top, and a pair of khaki shorts ending at his knees. Finalizing his fit with flip flops, he looks like he's on vacation, not at work! He quickly scarfs down the fries he had stuffing his face, then speaks.
"Yooo Zack, man what's poppin'? Only thing I've been up to is throwing ideas at the heads, yknow?"
"Hah, doubt they're even trying to listen to them though."
Zack walks up next to his friend after grabbing an empty plate and started to load up. From what he can see, they decided to grill up hot dogs and burgers, along with tons of fries.
"Haha, yeah you'd think, but one of 'em actually gave my uhh, suggestion a thought! I told 'em, 'hey, i know a guy for the thing you guys're doing, you can totes rely on him to do it' and they said 'yeah sure, we'll totes get him on this.'"
"...eh, was the guy me? Wait, what did you just get me into? Alex, what the fuck–"
Zack is cut off with a sudden laugh from Alex, before he drapes his arm over his shoulders.
"Don't worry about it dude! It's for that thing they sent the email out about. Trust, you'll be in it for real. I don't dig your looks man, you look like you need some excitement!"
"...Well, uh, alright then. If you actually got them on board with me being part of the batch of assistants, then sure. Thanks, Alex."
"No probs! Now hurry up, I wanna eat some more of this stuff!"
Alex quickly darts off, tossing more food on his already bloated plate, then sits in their usual spot. During lunch, him and Zack usually hang out with one another while talking. No work talk happens most of the time, so they usually just chit chat about whatever they feel like. It's one of the parts of his day that he looks forward to.
One his own plate contains a hamburger and fries, Zack makes his way over to the spot and sits opposite of Alex.
"...So, you got me in to help. Great. But what even IS the project about?"
"Can't say, man! I ain't even joking about it either, like, I legit can't say."
"Tch, figures."
The two of them continue talking, a bit about how nothing's going on outside of that project, some about the situation in Europe, and some playful bantering. Before the two had known, lunch had ended and before they were about to leave the table, the door to the cafe swung open. That alone wasn't enough to get their attention, but the steps towards them were.
Approaching them was a woman shorter than Alex, but taller than Zack. Her clothes resembled that of a receptionist, but the nametag attached to her collar made it known that she wasn't just anybody. Her ginger hair draped over her shoulders and down her back, while her brown eyes found Zack's own, a statement already on the tip of her tongue. However, Zack speaks up before she can, as he had seen her approaching them.
"Uh, what's up Ashley?"
"You're up, Zack. I'm here to escort you to the testing sight for Project 'Link'. Up and at 'em, come on."
His eyes widen, and he shoves his tray towards Alex.
"Alright! Thanks Alex, seriously! Take care of my tray for me? Thanks again!"
Now in an uncharacteristically chipper mood, Zack stands up at follows Ashley out of the cafeteria. They walk for a little bit before she talks again, getting his attention.
"...Okay, so since you're being introduced to the project, you'll have access to information about it now. Since you've been selected, I'll inform you about what we're doing with it. Have you ever heard of quantum entanglement?"
Zack looks up towards his colleague, eyebrow raised. Not even a minute into their walk, and she's already throwing fastballs?
"...What do you mean? Isn't that something that's only really been simulated? I've heard of it, but…"
"Exactly! We're starting on trial runs to get it out of the sims, and into reality! See, we have a working theory if we charge up a specific kind of energy and trick a particle into thinking it's another particle, it might actually 'link' up with it. Thus, boom! Entangled!"
"That sounds like a crackpot theory if I've ever heard one. You're gonna blast it with lasers in the hopes that it works?"
Ashley scoffs, but continues walking.
"It's more than just that though! We ran sims with a reproducible energy, chucked countless equations at the damn thing, and we finally found one that works! Today is a test to see if it can actually be done, and that's where you come in! Of course, there's a heap of other things we had to account for, like observation and other particles and interference and…"
'Wait, seriously? This actually sounds… Important. Shit, I'd better wake myself up for this, it could change everything.'
Zack let his colleague lead him down the hallways and stairwells underneath the building, where most experiments are conducted. The whole way down she continues to talk and spitball all the ideas everyone has been having within the thinking chamber of the project, as well as the theories behind them. He catches a few of the things she's saying, but most of it sounds… out there.
"Oh, right! Almost forgot–Zack, since your research has been highly praised and accredited since starting here, we decided with Alex's help that you'd be best suited to help. We've got almost everything set up in the sealed lead bunker, just need to get you there and situated!"
"Wait, what am I doing? I haven't even–aah.. well, I don't mind doing this, but a bit of prep time would be nice."
'Damn, she just keeps talking. When the hell am I gonna be told what I'm doing?'
His colleague stifles a laugh and shakes her head, having realized she had forgotten to inform Zack of what he's going to do.
"Ah, right! So, you'll be the one observing everything from within the room. Don't worry, everything will be safe as all of the seals are designed to nullify and contain any irregularities with what we're doing."
"...which is?"
"Weren't you listening earlier? The entanglement! We just need someone for the observer effect, so everything fits together!"
Ashley goes on to explain that they're going to attempt to use some devices they've managed to put together to try to induce an entangled state in an atom. Her words quickly reassure that this should only be an attempt, because there's actually not another atom to be entangled with. Zack sitting in is just a procedure to–
"So, you're telling me that all I have to do is sit there and look at a single atom you're… expecting to fail this experiment with?"
"Precisely! Do not worry though, you'll be compensated for your time, and this should hopefully be the only time you do this. We just needed an observer to ensure nothing happens, just in case it alters the quantum state if it takes effect. Funny thing about that…"
'And there she goes again. She had me riled up thinking I was going to actually do something, but no. I get paid to sit on my ass and stare at a fucking window. Great.'
The disappointment within Zack grows, and his momentary excitement for something to change is absolutely crushed. Don't be mistaken, Zack thought that it was a great place to work, and it genuinely had fantastic things going on… but he didn't do much here. All he had done since getting hired a couple years ago was shuffle around papers, deliver presentations in regards to data they had already known about, and studied how radiation behaves. It sounds exciting, but it was all math and simulations instead of anything real. Despite all he had learned, here he was, nothing but a glorified office worker.
'To think I'm in debt because of this profession.'
Zack almost collides with the woman in front of him when she abruptly stops.
"Here we are! Alright, let me just unlock the door here…"
The ginger fumbles with her keycard for a bit before unlocking the door Zack can barely see beyond her frame and hair. Once a shrill 'BEEP!' is heard from what he presumes is the keypad, the door swings open and Ashley moves out of his way.
"Alrighty Zack, just head on in and take a seat. We'll start in a couple of minutes. I'll lock the door behind you, but don't panic–it's just a precaution. Never know when someone without access might walk by."
Zack, ever loving his position as a dutiful bootlicker, makes his way inside of the room. It looks… like a normal science lab, with metal tables in the corners and a bunch of cables around. But what really takes up his attention is the huge tube-like structure taking up the entire wall opposite of the door he just walked through. In the middle of the "wall" (or, tube replacing the wall) is a section of reinforced glass one might see on rockets. On the other side… nothing. The only thing of note beyond that is the stool in front of the glass.
The door behind him shuts, and the clinking of locking gears follows shortly. With an exasperated sigh, Zack approaches the stool in front of him, and takes a seat.
"...Well. At least I'm… getting paid for this."
His head turns around to look at the room in more detail. Beyond the wires, he can spot a couple of panels built into the walls with a variety of lights flashing. Thinking they're servers, he looks towards the bland metal tables in the corners, before his attention is once again locked to the glass he's supposed to be looking through.
"So, why can't they just put a camera in here or something? Surely that would be just the same thing. I think I read about this before–"
The crackle of an intercom coming on emanates from the top of the room, in the ceiling. Cutting him off, Ashley's voice sounds out.
"Okay, it's starting up now. Keep your eyes peeled! Don't wanna accidentally summon some demon, right? Just kidding of course!"
As it shuts off, Zack focuses on the glass. His thoughts from earlier in the day slowly began to trickle back to him. Now that he had a moment to himself, without anyone else near him, his mind couldn't help but rear its ugliness back to the forefront of his consciousness. His mind turns to the fact that had moved here for this job, but maybe he should be doing more than just work, like picking up a hobby. Obviously watching anime and playing whatever companies put out and call games are fun, but they're not really fulfilling. That's what he's missing, is some form of accomplishment.
The dull whir of machines turning on within the tube (or part of it? He can't tell.) makes him focus again, this time to see if anything actually happens. He stares, the seconds ticking by, and then… Nothing.
"..."
"Well, I guess I can–"
The lights in the room flicker, and the machines have suddenly kicked it into high gear. In fact, there's even a slight rumbling coming off from the distance, as something massive starts running.
"Wait, what? Hey!"
Zack starts shouting up towards the ceiling in an attempt to get anyone to hear him. If they installed an intercom, they definitely installed a microphone, right?
"I thought you said this wouldn't do anything!"
The intercom clicks back on, but instead of a stable voice and quiet background, there's a lot more noise leaking through. It sounds like people are… panicking? Another voice, that of a man he thinks he knows comes through.
"Zack, hey buddy, we're going to try and get you out of there. Something happened, we think the machine might have messed up somewhere in the programming. Don't panic, we just have to get the door open."
He couldn't believe this. 'Nothing would happen,' they said, until some crazy shit started happening, and then the reassurances?!
"Just get me out of here!"
The stool long forgotten, Zack turned his back on the glass and made his way over to the sealed door. His first instinct was to try and find some kind of keypad, or maybe a latch he could use to manually get the door open? As he searched, the panicking over the intercom grew more… frantic. The machines continued to build up in volume, and the distant rumbling grew in intensity.
'...Right, okay. No, this is just a boring day. All of this is just some kind of sim, yeah? Even if there were a programming error in their experiment, nothing should happen. Ashley said that they had ran this through countless times, this is just normal!'
'...right?'
The lights flickered again, this time a bit longer than before. It even cuts off the audio outside for a second, before it reestablishes itself again. Now a bit more panicky, Zack starts to slam his hand into the door in an attempt to get someone's attention.
"HEY! SOMEONE GET ME OUT OF HERE!"
No response. Deciding that the best he can do is wait it out, Zack slumps against the door and slides down to the floor. He takes some deep breaths in through the nose, and exhales out through his mouth in an attempt to calm himself. Without much to do, he looks up and his eyes bug out of their sockets.
What was previously an empty and uninteresting tube with glass, is now a vibrant and white line of energy running through it. The intensity of the laser, as Zack finds it similar to, continues to build up. His focus is drawn towards the center of the beam, where a tiny almost unnoticeable black dot can be seen…
'Is that… the atom?'
Despite his curiosity, his desire to not get caught up in whatever that is far outweighed it. As he waits for someone to remember that he's actually in this room, the beam keeps getting brighter. More vibrant, more intense. It even starts to hurt for him to look at it after a minute.
"...Zack? We didn't place anything to hear you with in there, but something is happening."
'No shit sherlock, I can see that.'
"We, uh… The power fluctuation knocked everything offline, and we keep getting weird readings from what we've got back up. The door won't open, it's part of the systems still down. We think–"
A sudden shake reverberates throughout the whole building, the dust getting knocked off of the walls and ceiling around him as a result. The power trips out again, but this time the intercom stays off for good. Panicking beyond what he can control, Zack stands and starts pounding at the door.
"Someone, anyone! Come on, let me out! Gah–god damn it!"
With one last slam, he stops.
'...I'm fucked. I'm screwed. It's clear that I'm not… getting out of here alive. Fuck, I should have done more with my life. I should have talked to my brother more before he passed. I should have kept in contact with Mom. I-I… I should…'
He turns back to look towards the glass again, this time squinting his eyes in reflex to the light. It's covering the entire room now.
With a small bit of his time left, Zack pulls his phone out of his pocket and turns it on, looking at the background of his lockscreen. In it, is him during university graduation next to his Dad. A small smile makes its way onto his face, as he remembers that day. He types in his passcode, navigates to his contacts and dials his Dad. It goes right to voicemail, most likely because his Dad was preoccupied with work.
"...H-Hey, Dad. I don't know if you'll get this or not, but I just wanna say that, uh… t-that I love you. I know I haven't called in a while, I've been busy, but I really do. I uh… sorry. I might not see you again. Something at work, I don't know."
"...I love you, Dad. Goodbye."
Zack goes to hang up, but sees that he had never actually called him in the first place.
'Oh, right. It's a… fucking lead lined bunker. That's what she said. I can't even say goodbye.'
With him being the only family left, the only one who really stuck with him through his life and majority of his childhood was his Dad, that's all he had to call. Now, he can't even give him his last words before his inevitable demise. Zack clicks his phone off, and places it back into his right pocket before looking back towards the glass.
As he stares at the light before him, having come to the conclusion that this is most likely the end of his life, he prays.
'...If there is a God, I'm sorry. Please let this be painless. I don't know what's going to happen, but–'
With another shake, another rumble… a crack appears in the glass for only a second before the light collapses into the atom. And then, all he could feel was pain. A burning unlike anything he had felt before, worse than broken bones, worse than sunburn, worse than the worst sickness. It consumed his whole being, and all he could feel was–
PAIN.
AGONY.
HELLFIRE.
OH GOD MAKE IT STOP, IT BURNS WHY DID I HAVE TO BE HERE OH GOD MAKE IT STOP PLEASE STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP
XXX
Her eyes opened up slowly, groggily making her away that she had yet another fitful rest. Knowing that she couldn't spend much time here in her bedding, she started by sitting up with a stretch. Once she feels that she's limbered up enough, she casts a glance to her surroundings.
It wasn't much, nor would it compare to a proper human settlement, but it was her home. She owned a private bedding area, with its own interior and a small table fashioned out of wood for storage. Outside of her sleeping spot, she didn't have much else. Even her bed was just a hammock with some soft cloth.
She stood, took a moment to gather herself, and headed out to start with her day. Her doorway didn't provide much security, but her confidence in her abilities to protect herself (as well as the confidence in her… family). So, instead of a wooden door, or even a metal one, it consisted of loose leaves. Her hand rose and brushed said leaves aside as she left her room, and started walking towards where she knew she was working today.
Judging from how everyone else in her tribe was up, it must have been later on in the day. Later than she usually got up. The glances and the glares she got from the others were telling, as they were a bit harsher today.
Normally, Gardevoir like herself were meant to have close connections with those they considered family, but she wasn't like the rest of them. She could feel their distaste through her natural abilities, their discomfort with her almost oozing through the air she breathes. The few of them that bothered to speak instead of talking to one another telekinetically, she knew, spoke loud enough for her to hear.
{...slacking again, won't stay here much longer…}
{...caught her teaching the little ones during the evening. Don't trust her to…}
{When will she leave…?}
Feeling her irritation start to rise again from this treatment, she shoved their feelings and comments to the back of her mind, before turning to leave the settlement. Just like every day, she was on foraging duty. The Gardevoir didn't mind too much, it was peaceful outside and away from everyone, and it meant she could spend some time alone.
Before she could leave though, she felt a presence coming up to her from the side. Their emotions were veiled, but she knew them from being here for so long.
Her head turns to look at them.
{Yes, Elder?}
The Elder was an older Gardevoir, one with regular coloration but a buildup of scars and evidence of past battles covering her form. Even though she would logically look rough around the edges, she was still elegant in her movements, her dress flowing around her as she walked.
{...You woke up late again. You know you have work to do.}
{Y-Yes, Elder. I know, I apologize. I was just beginning to start on it.}
The Elder's eyes narrowed underneath her hair, her disappointment almost palpable, even more so due to how strongly the emotion was being sent to her.
{This… habit of yours, needs to stop. Maybe you should consider getting a mate already, and help us expand.}
{Please, Elder. I don't want to talk about that, not at this hour.}
This had been a common topic between her and the de facto head of the family. Apparently, despite everyone else finding her incredibly distasteful, she was kept around because the Elder saw some value in keeping her here. Her decision to do so had been made a long time ago though, and now her patience was waning. She didn't know for sure if it because of her inability to keep her own emotions and thoughts down (which usually ended up with her oversleeping, or not sleeping enough), or through public opinion among the rest of the group here, but she could feel she was slowly being pushed out.
Which is why this topic continually gets brought up by the head, because she believe that the only way to keep her useful is by turning her into a babymaker. They couldn't really force her to be one, but they definitely pushed it.
{I know. Just consider it, please. You aren't giving me much to work with here.}
{I will… keep it in mind, Elder. Please, excuse me.}
Now with another weight on her shoulders, she turned to leave the settlement once more, this time not stopped by anyone. The young Gardevoir's head was starting to cloud up, both from the irritation brought on by the glares and snickering she heard as she left, as well as from the constant pushing by the Elder. She needed to relax, and calm herself down. So, that's what she set out to do.
Her stubby feet took her along the forest floor, brushing aside leaves and the occasional branch off her path. Her red-orange eyes scanned the surroundings, along with her mind, but she didn't pay too much attention to anything. Despite how badly she wanted to pretend everything was fine, it wasn't. She had lived like this for a long time, with her "family," but it never seemed to get better.
Once she got far enough away from the settlement, she sat down in a nice, relaxing spot.
The forest is calm, quiet with the sounds of distant chirping and water running through the nearby stream. The skies were clear, and the air carried a serene sense of lushness with it. During this time of year, the cold seeps away and brings forth water and life to the plants, letting them grow back more vibrant than before winter hit.
It was times like these that she enjoyed the most.
The Gardevoir was resting near a tree under the shade, taking the time to take in everything and truly appreciate where she's lived her whole life. Her spot was a little far away from the rest of her group, but she didn't mind. Actually, she preferred it this way. She knew she wasn't… normal. It was the primary reason for her mistreatment, after all.
Unlike most Gardevoir, her colors differed in a way that most would look down on her for. Even stranger, was that she wasn't even a "shiny," as some call it. She didn't have the lighter green hair like most of her species did, but instead it was darker, with strands of her hair colored a deep blue. Her eyes followed the same pattern, being a darker red than normal, but with splotches of orange mixed in. The only "normal" color she had was the white that all Gardevoir came with. Even her crest resembled her eyes.
The others had called her an Aberrant. Not a regular Gardevoir, nor able to be considered "shiny" like the stronger ones she's seen before. She's… Different. To everyone other than herself, not in a good way either. Unfortunately, despite having lived with her group her whole life, none of them bothered to get to know her. Most only interacted with her because they needed to give her duties, like scavenging for food or looking after the young when they had nobody else to turn to. It wasn't a pleasant style of living, but… it was her home.
Because of that, she's always made time during her life for these instances to just relax. To let the stress flow out of her, to let her anger fade away to a dull simmer. More importantly, she liked to spread her mind to feel her surroundings. The feeling of the environment, blissfully calm yet powerful, natural. The bird Pokémon chirping, their happiness flowing around them as free as the wind. The other inhabitants were around too, but they were much further away, out of her range. But this was alright with her, she didn't exactly want the whole forest in her head.
As she let the emotions wash over her, she breathed in a deep, slow breath, and let it out soon after. Content with herself and her small meditation, she goes to stand.
'I better get back. I already got in trouble for waking up late, and I don't want to get caught being slow again. I'll gather the food as I head back.'
As her legs carry her upwards, her dress flows around her, stirring up the few leaves near where she had been sitting. Her eyes looked around where she sat, taking in the view for the time being before she started heading back towards home.
At least, that's what she intended to do, until she stumbled, the abrupt feeling of AGONY barreling into her from a couple hundred meters away. The emotion was so raw and fierce that she could almost see the ripple outwards from where it came.
'W-What?! What was that–'
The feeling itself cut off almost as soon as it had appeared, but it had already left an impact on the young Gardevoir. She slowly moves to turn towards where she had felt the feeling come from, breathing in and out erratically.
'I've… Never felt something that strong before. It almost knocked me over. I have to see what that was!'
A soft purple glow covered her form, and then she flew off the ground against the laws of gravity. Her being a Gardevoir meant she had the ability to use psychic energy; the simple act of floating off the ground being the bare minimum of a psychic's capabilities. She's propelled forwards, through the trees until she came across a clearing.
In the center of the clearing, near charred grass and a large disturbance of dirt, was a… human? It looked human enough, but covering it were burns that looked unnatural. They were sprawled across the ground, facedown, and unmoving. Aside from the burns, their arms were bent at wrong angles, cuts covered their burned and bloody body, and both of their legs looked almost crushed. The clothes they had been wearing were now torn and burnt away, leaving them in nothing except for the almost completely destroyed pants.
'Oh, Arceus… what happened?! Why is there a human here?! Wait, no, what happened to him? It looks like he lost a fight against a fire-type. Is he… okay?'
While trying to gauge the situation, she focused on the unmoving form before her, trying to feel for his emotions, his feelings. Once she felt something, she realized… he was dying. Fast.
'...Oh no. Okay! Alright, I can help, I can do something here. Even though it's a human. Maybe I shouldn't, it's against what the Elder told us, but…'
One of the things about living with a group of Gardevoir, was that they were smarter than a lot of other Pokémon. They had to, due to having psychic abilities, but the important thing was that it influenced their lives greatly. Their Elder set up rules for living in the settlement that all must abide by. She herself didn't know why they were in place, but they all had to follow them regardless. The one she remember the Elder shouting the most vehemently about, was about humans. The Elder despised humans, and forbid any and all contact with them, under threat of banishment.
Which is why her decision was split. On one hand, she felt like she could save him with her abilities, and felt that she might have weight on her conscience for letting another being die in front of her without doing anything. On the other, the rule… but then she remembered how the rest of them thought of her. Their sneers, glares, and glances, as well as the insistence from the Elder to "hurry up and get a mate already." The young Gardevoir's doubt faded, and her resolve hardened.
'...I'll save you. I know I'm going to get the worst tongue-lashing of my life for this.'
The feeling of pain may have come and gone, but the young Gardevoir could still feel the human's lifeforce fading rapidly. Deciding then and there that she was going to do everything to save the human, she appeared by his side and raised her hands up. A light pink glow surrounded both them and the human on the ground, before glowing brighter.
'Come on, please work! If I can stabilize him, then I can hurry and get better treatment.'
She continued to channel her power into Healing Pulse, as much as possible to hopefully bring him back from the brink of death. But, even though she was pushing as much of it into him as possible, his energy kept fading.
'Please! Come on, I'm… aaargh! I'm going to regret this so much–'
She got closer to the human on the ground, the pink glow still surrounding the both of them. She got close enough to touch him, then both of her hands up on his forehead. The Gardevoir lowered herself enough to let her crest barely touch the center of his chest, right where his sternum was. A new glow accompanied the pink, this one a brighter blue.
She felt her mind… reaching out, and wrapping around the human's, and his, hers. This was a technique meant only for those close to you, like a mate, or a parent. Her doing this was not only uncomfortable, but way too personal for her liking.
'...But I can't save him without it. I have to… to help control his body. His mind needs to accept this, I can't let this hang-up stop me.'
{...H-Hang in there, human. Y-You'll be okay. I promise!}
In his weakened state, the human wasn't able to realize what was happening (let alone have any ability to resist), so it made their connection easier for her to establish. When she felt the two of them almost become one, the connection was formed. Suddenly, she felt her mind filling with surface-level knowledge from the human before her, no doubt because of his weakness. More importantly though–she could help him, now.
With the connection in place, healing him became easier. The connection between mates, or between parents and their children, usually allowed them to bond easier as well as help one another in ways they couldn't do with anyone else. If their mate were injured, they would be able to heal them faster than others could because of their synchrony, their closeness. The feelings between Gardevoir and their mates played a huge role, it was how they lived; through emotions, feelings, sensations beyond just sight and sound. She felt as if she were abusing this fact to heal him faster, but she was already starting to see results.
'He's not dying… I did it! Alright, whenever I get you healed enough Zack, I'll get you back home and–'
Zack? Oh, right, the connection. Among the surface-level thoughts and details, she also knew his name, as well as what he had been doing immediately before coming here. The details flowed to her, but she brushed them aside from now, most of it not making much sense outside of his name. She continued to focus on healing.
Unknown to her though, his body began absorbing the healing energy and using it to not only heal itself… but also to change. The human–now known as Zack to her–had undergone a great amount of stress, so much so that… something had been left behind. The foreign energy was interacting with the psychic energy being emitted by the off-colored Gardevoir. Changing the human permanently, in a way that couldn't be perceived by the Gardevoir, nor the man being changed by it.
A couple of minutes passed, and she still had her hands up and energy flaring, until she heard breathing. She looks at the one she was healing, and sees his back moving with his breaths now; he hadn't been doing that earlier!
'Oh thank Arceus. He's alive! But… he's in really bad shape still. I'm already… I've already gone too far, I can't back down now. I might not even have a home after this, but if everything goes well, maybe I can find someplace better.'
Now that Zack was stabilized, the Gardevoir lowered her hands down to actually make contact with his head, and with intense focus the both of them vanished only to reappear in the middle of the settlement. To her… It was home.
The others were moving around performing duties, some of the younger ones ran around playing games with one another, and some of the older ones were sitting around another Gardevoir listening intently to what they were saying.
However, since her teleportation took quite a bit out of her and announced her presence, some of the Pokémon looked towards her arrival. On seeing it was that Gardevoir, some of them began turning away sneers already forming, but they stopped upon seeing the human.
What used to be a more relaxed group, suddenly turned into a small panic that roused everyone up. Almost all of them backed away from her and Zack, immediately wary and untrusting of the two. It wasn't until some of them started yelling that the Elder herself rushed out of the tent towards the two of them.
{What is the meaning of this?! What–You brought a human into our home?! You… you broke our rules, our traditions, to bring us a HUMAN?!}
The aberrant Gardevoir looked up at the elder, a pleading face distorting her facial features, along with a feeling of desperation. Normally she was reserved and didn't like to showcase her emotions, but this one was intentional; she needed to heal him.
{Elder, I.. I'm sorry for bringing a human here, but he's hurt! Really hurt! He was dyi–}
Before she could continue anymore, the Elder raised her hand up, silencing her. For a few seconds, it was silent, until…
{You will explain this later. Be lucky I haven't already gotten rid of him, and you for going against me. Take him to the healers. You're responsible for him, so you are going to help them, and then I will hear you.}
Her intense glare pierces into the off-colored Gardevoir for a few seconds, before she turns away and calls out to the rest of the group nearby, telling them not to worry. While she was doing that, the unmoving (but now breathing) form of Zack was covered in a purple energy, and lifted off the ground.
Now having been put on "human duty," the aberrant Gardevoir took the human near the healing areas, where several small tents were set up. She carried him in the closest unoccupied one, and set him down on a pile of leaves that had been gathered as bedding. Immediately, she started to heal him again to lift him further away from the clutches of death. Her focus was so intense that she didn't notice another Gardevoir entering the tent, until they spoke.
{Move over. Now.}
The aberrant Gardevoir jumped slightly, before shimmying to the left to make space for one of the actual healers of their family. The other sat down, and began their own process of healing the human, the both of them combined gradually decreasing the damage to his body.
{...So you brought a human in. You know what happens to those who go against the Elder, right?}
She startles at the voice, and turns to look at the other next to her. When she processes what she said, her gaze is turned downcast.
{I know. But he was dying. I couldn't…}
{Be quiet. I need to concentrate.}
Silence fills the tent, as the two of them continue to work on healing the human. On healing Zack, who she had willingly bonded with, despite all rules and traditions and taboos screaming at her not to.
It was too late now. Besides…
He wasn't too bad of a human after all, from what she saw while glimpsing into his memories through their connection.
XXX
He didn't know where he was, and all he could remember was something unpleasant. It felt like he was floating in a void, a very strange and colorful void. A variety of colors pass by him, each one unique, and… strange.
'...did I die? Where am I?'
In an effort to try and ascertain "where" he was, he tried to move, but it brought no response. Zack felt completely immobile, and that's when the pain kicked back in.
'Oh, fuck that hurts. Jesus christ, what did I get myself… oh, right. I got caught in that… experiment. But if I'm feeling pain, then am I not dead?'
The colors started fading out, and a faint voice started to make it known to him. He couldn't hear it clearly, but he could tell that he was coming back. The colors continue rushing by, and then the darkness returned.
But now he could move, and the first thing he did was open his eyes as quickly as he could. Granted, it was incredibly slow and groggy, but he could.
The colors of brown, more brown, and a dark green made themselves known, before he could make out a rough shape from the green blob he saw. He started to make out the hint of red and orange in two spots, as well as the white connecting it all.
"...voir? G-Gard?"
Once his eyes adjusted to the light and due to actually being open again, he finally got a clear and good look at the one in front of him.
The person(?) standing in front of him appeared a bit tall, but looked shorter than him, and had very pale skin. Her hair(?) was a deep lush green, with hints of deep blue mixed in, and her eyes were an unusual shade of intense red and orange, swirling together like an artists paint palette when making a scene from the fall season.
'...She's beautiful.'
Strangely, despite him very clearly being unable to actually use his voice, she blushed in response to his thoughts and looked off to the side.
"G-Gardevoir, devoir."
'Wait, what? I don't understand what she said–wait I didn't speak! The hell is–'
Before he could get too far wrapped up in his thoughts, he could feel some kind of pushing. Zack couldn't describe it; it wasn't his body being pushed, but it felt like a small headache, like his brain was being moved over. For a second, he panicked, until he heard a feminine voice.
"S-Sorry about that! I forgot that humans don't have the um, capacity to understand us."
'Capacity to… are… are you speaking to me?'
"Uh, y-yeah! I'm using telepathy to–"
'Telepathy? What?'
Confusion radiated off of him as his thoughts took over again. Telepathy? A very weird but also pretty woman tending to him, not speaking English and repeating a single word, and he's in a strange tent?
'Uh, miss, I don't know what's going on. I was just at work, when… when, uh…'
Her face fell a small bit as he thought about what happened. Him coming into work, getting dragged into that experiment to help with the project, and it going horribly wrong. A ball of lead settled in his stomach, and he felt an icy chill on his spine.
And then a wave of calm came over him, easing him away from all of that in such a reassuring way…
"Um… Z-Zack, right? I don't know exactly what happened to you, but I found you near here covered in burns. You were… very close to death. I almost didn't save you."
'Almost dead…? How? If I was caught up in what I think I was, I should have been dead instantly. I shouldn't even be here!'
"You are here, though. I got you back to my home, and… well, you're not fully healed yet, but we're working on it. Please relax, Zack."
After a moment or two of trying to comprehend everything, he sat back and relaxed his body (of which he was now aware of being really sensitive to the air and hurting right now). The woman in front of him raised her hands and a pink glow covered them, along with him in turn.
'...What the fuck.'
"Uh, Zack?"
His stare focused not just on the glow, but on the hands raised now. Zack's eyes widen slightly, seeing only three "fingers" on each hand, and then he realized. The one healing him wasn't a human at all. He almost didn't even realize it, and she had tons of differences!
Her three fingers hands, the way the deep green blended in to her too-white skin, the red and orange eyes, the red and orange… thing, in her chest, and the way her face was shaped was vaguely human, but not quite.
'You're not a human. I… did I get picked up by aliens or something?'
"Aliens? I'm not sure what kind of Pokémon that is, but I'm a Gardevoir."
A… Gardevoir? Pokémon?
Then it hit him.
'Oh my fucking god. This isn't my home, let alone my planet, or my universe. What the fuck.'
Something happened so catastrophically bad with the project, that it must have torn a hole in spacetime and sent him through it. That's why he hadn't been reduced to ash, charred bones, and a smear against some wall somewhere. And, Pokémon? He knew that was an anime series back home as well as a game series. Personally, he never got into it, but the few friends he did have played a bit of the older games.
"You're not… from this universe? I-I don't quite understand, are you okay? You might be suffering from some brain injury? I can check!"
Her hands stopped glowing and she reached forward, lifting his head up a bit.
'...Her hands are soft.'
The second he thought that, another blush covered her face, and he remembered she could hear his thoughts.
'Shit, sorry. I don't, uh, usually get into telepathic communications with another species, let alone any at all. I don't want to be rude or anything.'
"...Don't worry about it, Zack. Just let me look after you, okay? I put a lot of energy into keeping you from dying, so I don't want you dying now."
Zack gulped, and let her do her thing. She turned his head to the side for a few seconds, then to the other side, before laying him back down. Her hands glowed pink once again, and a refreshing feeling washed over him again, feeling like a hot bath.
"Well, you don't look like you have any injuries to the head."
'I hope not. Sorry, again. I'm just extremely confused.'
He could see a small smile appear on her face.
"It's okay, I would be too."
The two of them slipped into quiet silence, the sounds of the surrounding area leaking in through the thin fabric of the tent they're in. While the Gardevoir was focused on healing, Zack was preoccupied with his thoughts about his current situation. He knew that one, he was no longer home. Two, he hadn't died, which was a godsend (even though it hurt like hell). Three, he was now in a world where Pokémon exist, and he somehow managed to live thanks to the one healing him right now.
After considering all of that, his eyes turned downwards to look at himself. What used to be a semi-decent outfit was now gone, and covering his skin were cuts, bruises, and worst of all were the burns. They weren't quite as bad as they had been due to the healing, but they were still nasty.
'...How did the radiation not kill me? If that was what I thought it was, I should have been burned, then got every form of cancer, then cremated. I'm not dead now, but there should be something left over from the radiation, right?'
"...What's radiation?"
'Oh, uh, it's… kind of hard to describe. It's a kind of energy, but it doesn't come from Pokémon. It usually comes from some kind of weird materials, but it can also come from atoms being split.'
"Oh, okay."
Zack had an odd feeling that she still didn't get it, but he didn't mind much. He wasn't too surprised that a Pokémon didn't have much concept of radiation, or… atoms, for that matter. But then again, maybe he could teach them a few things–that is, if he remembered it all. He went into energy production, not nuclear physics!
"...when you said you should have died, what did you mean by that?"
Oh, right. His supposed-to-have-died-instantly death.
'Well, the last I recall I was helping with this project my workplace was working on. I was just supposed to sit there and watch, but I guess it got out of hand. Ended up causing a massive explosion, and sent me here, I'm guessing.'
"I think I understand…"
She said–or, thought in this case–this with a frown, a distant look of uncomfort and horror in her eyes. The idea of something like that being able to eviscerate someone instantly and completely didn't sit well with her, and it showed. Zack was even able to feel it as she unconsciously let her emotions through, the discomfort.
'Do you have a name?'
Almost immediately, the feelings halt, and a new one of confusion prods against him.
"A name? Not really, if you aren't including what the others call me."
'Oh, well… hrm, I feel like you should have one. What do the others call you?'
She turns her head upwards to answer, but light fills the tent as another Gardevoir enters and pushes the entrance flaps aside. She approaches the one who had been healing Zack since he woke up, and says something in her own tongue. To him, it almost feels like the room shifts whenever the other Gardevoir looks at him with… disgust?
"Gar."
The one who had been talking to him previously jerks towards them, and starts almost yelling at them in Garde-tongue. The one who had previously been disgusted, now looks almost shocked at her behavior, before rushing out of the tent before she even finishes her tirade. For a moment or two, Zack can feel the effects of her… their bond, the feeling of anger filling him briefly before he manages to isolate it from his own emotions. She stands there for a second or two seething, before reeling in the emotions herself.
"...Sorry about that. They don't call me anything but bad names."
Feeling a little bit awkward, he tries not to consider that before the curiosity gets the better of him.
'Is it because of the way you look…? If that's all, then I think you deserve a name far more fitting than whatever they call you by.'
"...you think so?"
'Yeah. I do. I don't have any ideas right now, though, so get back to me on that.'
He hears a breathless chuckle come from her, provoking him into looking back at her–the feeling of amusement dancing on her face, and within the link they're sharing.
"I think I will, Zack."
The both of them sit–or in her case, stand–there for a while more, letting the minutes pass by in comforting silence, which soon turns into an hour. Zack spends most of that time sorting through his memories, and trying to think of something to call her by. If she was the one that saved him, then she absolutely deserved that name. He hadn't had this kind of responsibility in a while, having that void "fulfilled" by meaningless work and the patterns of day-to-day life, so he felt inclined to do this with quality.
For her, it was much the same. She was pushing herself to her ability's limits, essentially spamming her healing throughout his time spent awake. To her, such a task was equally, if not more important, than his coming up with a name. Even their circumstances were similar, and she couldn't help but think that the two of them may have been fated to meet.
Her focus is broken by the human sitting up slowly, the slight ebbs of pain managing their way into her head before he stops, fully sat up. Before she could stop him and lay him back down, his eyes met hers.
'How about… Autumn?'
She stilled, looking right back into his own eyes, her red and orange meeting his green. For a moment she's silent, until–
"Y… Yes, that name is perfect! I love it!"
To Zack, it was as if her smile physically improved the tent he's been in this entire time. Through the psychic link, he could feel her joy, her happiness, and something else, too.
'Haha, I'm glad you like it! It took me a little while, but–'
"But you should be resting! Back!"
Another purple glows covers his body, and he's gently forced back to a laying down position. Despite the good mood he's in now that he thought of a good name, he pouts like a kid. A few grumbles make their way out of his mouth, and a few chuckles from hers.
'–I should be resting, right. Any idea when I might be able to get up?'
"Mmmm… Maybe in a couple of days. You still have burns everywhere, and I'll have to keep this up for a while. They have me handling you, so you'll be seeing a lot of me!"
'Well, I think that's okay. Seeing how that other one acted makes me rather it be you here.'
"Hehe, thanks. Do you need anything?"
'...Maybe some food would be good. I don't know how long I've been out, but I'm gonna start feeling hungry here in a bit.'
Autumn nods, and takes a few steps backward to grab something. A basket of what looks like berries levitates over, and settles itself next to the spot he's laying on. The Gardevoir walks closer, and starts to pick up some of the berries to feed him.
'Uhh, you know I can eat by myself, right?'
"And I thought I said you had to rest."
Ignoring his protests, she brings one such berry to his mouth and with some more insistence, Zack starts eating. The flavor of the small confection surprises him. Back home, berries existed sure, but they weren't quite like this one. He even felt a bit energized from it!
'Huh? Why is this so sweet? Is this a normal food around here?'
"Yup! It's one of our main sources of sustenance. Berries, vegetables, all of the normal stuff."
As Zack ate with the Gardevoir feeding him, a commotion was brewing outside of the tent. With her sudden outburst earlier, the Elder had been informed about it and the progress of helping the human heal up. Upon hearing how the off-color had been treating him though, she started to suspect she might need to do something more when the time came to it.
The Gardevoir that Autumn had the outburst to earlier now sat in front of The Elder in front of her tent, explaining what had happened.
{That human… somehow influenced her. You need to do something about it! I'm–no, we're all sick of having to look at that one. And now, she's started acting out. Elder, listen to us!}
{I understand that, but do you really wish to send her out into the wilds, away from her home?}
{Not just me, Elder, but all of us. She's been a bad boon on us, and this tribe, for as long as she's been here.}
The Elder pauses for a moment, staring at the other Gardevoir in the tent in consideration. Her thoughts turn to how things had been since she had been born and brought here, and even though nothing outwardly bad has happened, the disparity between her and the others was palpable. She herself had nothing against the aberrant, but the Elder knew that it might be better for her to leave. Nobody else wanted her here, after all, and she had provided very little for everyone else, too. The only thing she could do was convince her to get a mate, and produce more for their home... To the Elder, that was the last chance she had to keep her here.
{...You may be right. Leave me. I must think about this.}
The other one nods after a moment, stands, and leaves the tent. The Elder lays back to think about how she's going to handle the situation.
'There's nothing I can do. I'm not willing to keep that human here, and if that aberrant wishes to stick to him… then they both have to go. I knew it would come to this eventually. If I can convince her, though, maybe it won't pan out so badly. But if it does, then... There's nothing I can do.'
XXX