Broken

Summary: Everyone of his pokemon could see it, ever since that stupid Naps had to bring that sweet little Shadow Teddiursa… if he hadn't, he wouldn't be bad, and he wouldn't do this to himself.

A/N: Answering reviews via PM. :D And yes, I realize dogs don't purr. For this sake, Vaporeons do.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

Lily crooned in confusion at her son, watching the little exchange. "What?" she demanded of the man that had spoken. "What is it?"

Wes turned to her and sighed softly. He pushed past her and set his hand on Michael's shoulder, closing his eyes as Michael jerked away as though in pain. Vaporeon's throat vibrated against his calf as she purred. "Michael, you need to talk to me. I'm only trying to help. Remember? Remember last night? Everything that you told me?" he asked.

Michael shook his head, crossing his arms and attempting to turn away.

"Don't lie, Michael, I know you do." Wes scolded softly.

"So what if I do?" Michael finally spat. Though, his eyes spoke volumes compared to what he'd spoken. They spoke of pleas for forgiveness, they spoke of the horrible truth, they spoke of the worst wrong that could have happened.

Wes lifted the boy's chin, to fully look into his eyes. "Michael, you have to speak to me. I need to know, is what Espeon just told me true? And you know what she told me. Don't pretend you don't." he said.

"What did Espeon tell you?" Lily asked, worry replacing the previous anger that had flooded her being.

Wes held up his hand for silence, and crouched. He coaxed to Michael, waiting for the answer.

Michael simply glanced up at his mother once, and then back at Wes, green eyes meeting hard gold ones. "I can't tell her. She can't know. Or Jovi." He whimpered.

Wes thought through what he said. Was there anyway that he could avoid telling the man? No, he didn't think so. "Will you tell me?"

Michael hugged himself, waited a few seconds as though doing exactly what Wes had done. Then, he nodded.

"Everything?"

"Everything." Michael repeated.

Wes crossed his arms, sighed, and stood. "Alright. But you'll have to tell her eventually, you realize, you can't just avoid it forever. And I think your pokemon deserve to know." He said.

Michael nodded. "I know. Practice."

Ah… he was practicing telling his mother on Wes.

Well, if it was anything, it was kind of sweet. Strange, but sweet.

"Practice for what? What does my son have to tell me? And more important, why does he have to tell you first? He's my son!" Lily cried, stamping her foot angrily.

"Patience. You'll know soon." Wes assured calmly. He set a hand on Michael's shoulder and pushed him forward. He then patted Lily's arm, squeezing reassurance into her. "Is there anywhere that we can talk privately? I don't think he'll even tell me if he knows that someone else is listening in." he asked.

Liyl eeped at the innocent squeeze. She turned to her son, who was watching the floor with blank eyes. "…Yes. My ex-husband's office. It's sealed, just for this kind of thing. I… can lead you."

And with that, Lily led the man that she had previously been chasing out of the house back into it. She pushed open a hidden door on the first floor. "In here. In you go, darling." Lily cooed, coaxing Michael inside. Michael, his eyes still lowered to the ground, went inside without reply. Lily slid in front of the door before Wes could follow. "If you hurt him," she snarled, unable to think of what to say. Finally, her little Quagsire appeared behind him. "I'll sic Quagsire on you. He'll kill you if I want him to."

Wes held his hands up in mock-defeat. "I'm here to fix him, not break him more. Don't worry; he'll be fine when we come out. Besides, even if I wanted to—which I don't!—Vaporeon wouldn't let me near him."

Vaporeon's ears pricked at the mention of her name. She snuggled against Michael's leg.

Softly, Wes pushed Lily aside. "He'll be fine. I promise. And then, soon, he'll tell you everything." He said. He went inside the room, grabbed the knob of the door, and closed it. Seconds later, she heard the click of the lock sliding shut.

Wes slid into the seat at the opposite end of the table, watching Michael's nervous movement. The boy was fidgeting unnecessarily, and somehow, this amused Wes. "You don't have to be so nervous." He scolded.

Michael glanced up, and then back down. His hand settled on Vaporeon's head, and he seemed to find comfort in the feeling of her naturally slimy fur passing beneath his slightly shaky hand. He didn't reply.

Wes leaned back in his chair and watched the boy. He glanced down at Umbreon and Espeon, who were waiting for Michael to explain, curled up around each other lovingly.

"Michael?"

"Do I have to?" Michael suddenly asked, green eyes turned up to watch him. Wes was surprised by how deep they were. The man chuckled at him a little, finally seeing the little child in him come out full force. The one that he'd been forced to give up when Professor Krane had been kidnapped, and every moment afterwards. "Yes, you have to. Just start from the beginning, and take your time." He said.

Michael watched him, still unsure, and ducked his head. "Kay." He took a few extra seconds to regain his bearings, sighed, and started. "I guess it started when Naps attacked me and my Eevee with his Shadow Teddiursa. At first, I didn't feel bad or anything that I was going to catch it… you know, since Professor Krane told me to, and I was going to save him, and I was going to stop anyone from ever taking anyone that I cared about. I mean, that's how I felt. I captured it, then, and I still didn't feel bad. More than that, I was excited. For years I'd only had Eevee, and now I had someone else, this cute little Teddiursa that I had no idea how to take care of or fix, a new playmate for Eevee and for Jovi. That… intrigued me, so after that, I didn't feel bad.

"It was too late for me to go out to save the professor, so Mom made me stay here that first night. I was doing everything that I could to get Teddiursa to open up, but everything that I did… well, it wouldn't work. It was like his heart would always be glued shut. I hadn't realized it, but it felt like my own heart had started to close like that. It felt like something had clogged my mind and my heart and my soul and everything about me.

"It had been an accident the first time. I promise. Mom asked me to help cut some vegetables that night and the stupid knife slipped. There wasn't a whole lot of blood but… something about it almost felt good. Like with the blood, all of whatever had been clogging me came out. And then I thought about Teddiursa, and I thought that maybe he'd loved that man, like Eevee did me and Plusle and Mimi did Jovi. Then I started feeling really bad." Michael whimpered when he felt Vaporeon's claws dig into his foot. An accident, he was sure, because Vaporeon realized it and brushed against him, purring harder and louder than before.

Wes' eyes softened at him.

"After that, every time that I stole a pokemon from their trainer, I felt that cloggy feeling again, and I didn't like that. My habit of despising seeing anyone that I cared about hurt, and this want to get the clog out kind of mixed together, so I think that one too many times, I threw myself in front of an attack. It didn't get the whole feeling out, but it helped. And it kept them safe."

Vaporeon whined in emotional pain, not ever realizing that it may have started because of her, because she'd let him take an attack. Never on purpose. She never once hid behind him because she knew that attacks hurt humans more than they did pokemon. Pokemon were better suited to being attacked. Humans… they were only little mushy creatures that were good at planning and giving out orders. And easy to love.

"After I caught Delcatty, I started having nightmares. That was the first time that Vaporeon had been defeated, and it frightened me. She always seemed like an unstoppable force. Seeing her like that… I felt weak and vulnerable. So after that nightmare, even though I'd brought the professor back safe and sound, I gave myself two cuts. One for daring to capture Delcatty from her trainer, and the other for not trusting any of my other pokemon enough that I didn't have that nightmare."

"Michael, our subconscious makes up dreams and nightmares. You were worried about her, so?" Wes said, shaking his head.

"I know. But I was still scared." Michael replied feebly. He released a shaky sigh, and frowned suddenly. "On the S.S. Libra, when I got the Snag Machine stolen, I was kind of glad. Maybe I could give up my adventure there, let someone else take over. I couldn't steal anymore pokemon and put them through what I'd put the others through. But…"

"You went to get it back."

Michael nodded. "I still felt bad again, but it wasn't that cloggy feeling. The Snag Machine was something that my mother and Professor Krane had worked hard on, and if they saw that it was actually stolen, they'd have been madder than a Tauros with its tails stepped on. I made a point not to go home for anything until I got the Snag Machine back. Four pokemon were ready to be purified, did you know that? In the time that I wasn't going home, four pokemon were being hurt because I didn't want to get yelled at. Four of them." He winced.

Wes lowered his head. "You know, I think that they'd be more worried about what had happened to you, rather than their machine." He scolded softly.

Michael shrugged. He sat up when Vaporeon hopped into his lap and curled up on him. He started stroking her back.

"I think the scariest part of the whole adventure, after everything that I went through, was Citadark Island. I'd heard stories about a lone island always surrounded by bad weather. Ever since I was little, I was terrified of having to go there. And I was stuck wandering that dumb island for days! Practically every trainer had a Shadow Pokemon that I had to catch! Most had more than one! Sleeping there made me feel like I was constantly being watched. Piloswine always covered me with rocks when I slept, so if anyone came by me they wouldn't see me, but I was all fidgety the whole time.

"Then that kindly old man that helped out my sister and I months before in Gateon Port turned out to be the same person who has been controlling Cipher this whole time. And I thought that it was my fault. I exposed Jovi to him and let him battle for us. Eevee and I should have fought that Zangoose, but then he did instead. He called Lugia and told me that never would I be able to purify him, so I almost figured that there was no use in capturing him, I should just defeat him. But then… my dad had supplied me with a Master Ball and I couldn't let it go. He had a better chance being purified with me than with Cipher. So I caught him, and he went to the PC Box. I think that he would have liked to battle Greevil, but I didn't know if I could control him, so I didn't.

"He was powerful—how many revives did I have to use on my pokemon? Vaporeon held out on her own, but by the end she could barely breathe. I managed to capture his Zapdos and Rhydon, but the other four, I couldn't get ahold of them. I had to go back and fight him three more times before they were all captured. And that scared me, because I thought that if someone came back and tried to use Shadow Pokemon, I wouldn't be able to capture them." Michael started shaking. Wes stood, intending to go and settle him, but Espeon bit his pant leg and shook her head. He sighed and dropped back into his seat.

"Jovi basically adored Lugia, and most of the others. She loved being able to pet them and groom them, and they liked being able to take care of her and protect her. At least… I think so." Michael glanced down at Vaporeon, who offered a fierce nod. "But I was scared to let her near them. Mom said that it might be good for them, to see her gentle heart. It might open their hearts further. But I didn't want her to get hurt. And no matter how many times I asked her to stay away from them, I would find her cuddling with them and asking them how their days were. But that's just kind of Jovi."

Wes nodded in agreement. He'd met the girl once; when he'd woken in the forest, she was there, and she immediately went to his pokemon and started babbling, apparently not caring who he was.

"And then… Dragonite. I fought Miror B. five times before I caught him. He was really tough. The last time, he came here and actually attacked the lab. I did everything I could to defend everyone, but someone got hurt, so I caught him. I just started… cutting. I don't know how many I did that day. But there was a lot of blood. I think that that may have been the first time that Vaporeon and everyone else realized that something was wrong. Vaporeon just didn't talk for the next few days. I thought it was my fault. I mean, it was."

Glancing at Vaporeon, Wes found that she felt bad for such a thing. But he understood.

Vaporeon had only just found out that he may have been hurting himself. Actually, she'd spent most of her time in the forest, attacking trees and asking herself how she could not have noticed that he hurt himself. She even slept outside.

Michael's shaking got worse. Wes stood and tugged his pant leg from Espeon's teeth. He squatted in front of Michael and took his hands, tugging them away from their clenched position in Vaporeon's fur.

Michael shook his head and tears started to fill his eyes. He squeezed the emerald orbs shut to keep the tears at bay. "I… I'm supposed to protect them, my pokemon, but I can't! And they keep lying, they can't be happy there! I keep saying that they can go back to the wild or even to their trainers if they want, but they stay, and I don't know how to make them understand! N-not even Ledian and Mightyena are going back, they just stay here and… and they're wrong, they must be! They can't like it here!"

Wes tugged on Michael's wrists. Vaporeon watched him in confusion for a second, but then understood, and hopped out of her best friend's lap. Once she was down, Wes pulled Michael out of his chair.

As soon as Michael's knees hit the ground, he started babbling randomly, wanting to explain but not knowing what to say and honestly not knowing how to continue in his state. He just started crying into Wes' shirt, sobbing deeply, hiding from the rest of the world.

So, Lily couldn't hear what they were talking about. Not clearly enough to make out words, but she could hear them making sounds. And it certainly sounded like talking.

But it wasn't long after that she heard crying. Something had happened oh god what had happened? She turned to her Quagsire who was watching her curiously, his eyes filled with worry. "Quagy, Headbutt!" she cried, pointing at the door. Quagsire's eyes narrowed. He clenched his flippers and attacked the offending object, breaking it back against the inside wall. It then fell against the floor.

Lily tore into the room, having to see what had made her son cry and why that man had hurt him and if he was okay and gosh everything was just going wrong…

She paused at the sight she saw however, her heart pounding and her breathing in short gasps.

She could see her son's face, coated in tears. Just barely, though, since it was hidden. He was being cradled in that man's arms, Vaporeon purring against his back and both Umbreon and Espeon nuzzling his arms. That man—Wes, she struggled to remember—was stroking her boy's back and trying to hush him, letting him sob against him. Lily was suddenly reminded of the day that her ex-husband had left them. Michael had thrown himself into his arms and pleaded with him not to go, saying, "Daddy, Daddy, we need you, don't go please! Jovi and me still need you, you gotta stay here! Please Daddy!" He'd only been seven, Jovi three and a half. His father had hugged him and shushed him, promising him that he'd be back soon.

He left then, never turning his back. He never did come back, he hadn't called for any reason, and probably didn't even care about them anymore.

So why did this remind her of her ex?

Ah yes… Wes was cradling Michael just like her ex had, all those years ago. But this time, it was for real. This time, someone cared. Lily squatted beside Wes, next to Umbreon, on his right side. "What happened?" she asked softly, not wanting to disturb her son. She could see that he needed this.

Wes turned to glance at her. He smiled and tugged at Michael, pulling him further up onto his knees. Michael went with him, curling into him, pressing his face against his collarbone. "He just wasn't going to make it through anymore. Don't worry, he isn't hurt or anything. Well… not from this. He was just a little frightened." The man assured, petting Michael's head.

"Not from… what did you do to him?" Lily stood, intending to kick aside Umbreon and pull her son from the man's arms. Quagsire growled, but it was only because Lily was angry. Something about the man's aura said that he was an okay guy.

"Nothing! Nothing… Don't worry about him too much. He doesn't exactly like that." Wes clutched Michael tighter, and in turn Michael sniffed and started to cease his sobbing. After a few more minutes, he relaxed against Wes, and turned up to face his mother. "Mom? It's okay. Wes' okay." He whispered.

Lily nearly wailed at the broken state of her son's voice. She fell to her knees and took one of his hands, squeezing it tightly and kissing it. He sniffed in reply.

Wes sighed. "Where's his room? I think he needs to rest. I promise you, he'll tell you everything. He just has to be ready."

Lily sniffed as well and put a hand over her stomach. She turned to look at him. "Yes… yes, it's this way. Vaporeon, you'll lead him?" she asked, turning to Michael's faithful sidekick.

Vaporeon barked in reply. She forced herself to stand on wobbly legs, watching as Espeon used her psychic powers to help Wes stand. She, Espeon, and Umbreon led the way to the house-part of the building.

Wes settled Michael onto the bed and sighed. "You feeling better?"

Michael gulped and nodded, swiping his sleeve across his face. "y-yeah. Thanks for listening." He whispered. He'd have said it a little louder if his throat didn't hurt so badly. He noticed Vaporeon hop onto his bed, and stroked her back. She purred and lay beside him, cuddling against him.

"I'll be here when you wake up. Well… somewhere around here."

"Probably playing with Jovi, if she gets a hold of you." Michael laughed.

Wes nodded, chuckling. "Oh, probably. She already got Umbreon and Espeon. I bet she'd like Plusle."

Michael nodded in agreement. He noticed his mother standing in the doorway, watching him with teary eyes. He sat up. "Mom?"

Lily hiccupped and approached, sitting beside him, stroking his bangs back. "Baby, you should go to sleep. Mama will always be here. Promise. I love you, darling."

Michael gulped once more. "Love you too." He whispered. He laid down and turned over, facing Vaporeon. He even buried his nose in her slimy fur. Only a few minutes later, he fell asleep calmly. Vaporeon copied him.

Wes held the door open for Lily as he left. He silently closed the door once she was out, flicking the light off. He offered her a wry smile.

Lily smiled back in return. Suddenly, she blushed. "Um… so I guess that I should apologize… you know, for yelling at you… and attacking you… and," Wes shook his head. "I surprised you." He replied.

Lily shrugged. "And I guess that I'd better thank you for watching out for him. You do really well with him. You almost remind me of his father. 'Cept if he ever shows up, I wouldn't stop Blissey and Quagy from attacking him." She said, giggling.

Wes chuckled as well. "He left then?"

"After promising Michael that he'd come back." Lily replied, nodding.

Wes winced. "Must have been bad."

"…Actually, not really. Both Jovi and Michael seemed to understand that he was going to leave for a few weeks. They cried a little, but they don't bother to remember him anymore."

An awkward silence followed. Espeon licked Wes' hand, earning her a soft scratch behind the ears. Umbreon received one as well. Then, as though god-sent to break the awkwardness, a voice cried behind them, "Umbreon and Espeon! Mommy, that guy's still here!"

Both adults spun to find a little blue haired girl staring at them, all excited and jittery. She suddenly ran right at them. Umbreon and Espeon, understanding what she wanted, dashed off in a playful panic. Giggling, little Jovi chased after them, but only after stopping and greeting Wes.

Lily blushed again and ducked her head. "I am so sorry about her, she's excitable and she loves playing. I'll call her back. Jo!"

Wes put his hand against her mouth. "It's quite alright. Umbreon and Espeon don't seem to mind. I mean, look at them." Both were barking in laughter. "They don't get to play much. Actually, I do have a pokemon that she might like. She can play with him." He took out a pokeball and released one pokemon, who started hopping around, finally launching himself at Wes' shirt to climb up to his shoulder.

Wes pointed at Jovi, Umbreon, and Espeon and signaled to him. "Go play with them, Plusle. They want a companion."

Plusle's cheeks started sparking, and he cheered. He leapt off of Wes' shoulder and hopped toward the girl. Almost immediately, Jovi grabbed him and snuggled him. Then, she started chasing him around.

Lily's smile was rather large as she watched her daughter. She smiled up at him, and laughed. "I guess you were right."

"Told you so."

Wow, that took a long time! Actually, I finished this in a day. D: I just couldn't find anyway to start it. :/ Hopefully next time won't be so long.

And, you know, sorry for the bad ending. :) I'd planned on ending it about there, but I didn't know how. But this works just fine :)

Thanks for reading, please review!

~YAJJ