Trapinch and Vibrava
Trapinch had a very important duty in the village. When spring came, the grounds unfroze and rockslides would block the passage to the main road. Rockslides also happened after summer storms, or natural quakes, or someone's tantrum with Earthquake. When that happened, he got up early to clear the rocks from the road. It was easy for him. He had a great big jaw that was bigger than the rest of his body, and it was strong to boot. He could grip rocks and toss them out of the way. If they were too big, he could simply crunch it to smaller pieces. The road would be cleared and everyone would be happy.
Well, most everyone.
Staraptor and Pidgeot were laughing at him. Just a few moments ago, he had been clearing the road yet again. Then one of this pair, he wasn't sure which one, had dived down at him, grabbed at his body, then flipped him upside-down. Now he was quite stuck. The jaws that made him so proud also made it hard to flip himself back upright.
"Will you two quit doing that?" he asked angrily. "Who's gong to clear the road now?"
"Why should we care about that?" Staraptor asked. "We'll just fly over that bit of rubble."
"What about the rest of us?"
Pidgeot laughed. "Well if you're gonna complain about this, then you're all a bunch of sissies. Sissies!"
"And you're the loser who just does whatever the other sissies tell him," Staraptor hooted. "You're not so mighty and important. You're little and funny looking."
A crack of lightning appeared between the two birds, who flew off with angry calls. Before long, Luxio appeared by Trapinch. "Need some help?" she asked.
"Yeah, thanks," he replied. She nudged his jaw to roll him onto his side, from where he could swung his feet back to the ground. "I hate those two jokers. Every single time I come out to do my job, they keep flipping me over."
"They're just bullies," Luxio said. "Nobody in the village likes them, but if you antagonize them, they just get worse."
"Cause you're all sissies!" Pidgeot called from far off, getting a hooting laugh from Staraptor.
"And they don't have much of an imagination," Luxio said under her breath.
"But somebody's got to do something about them," Trapinch said. "Or they'll just keep bullying everybody."
"Don't worry about it. They'll get what's coming to them some day."
"Yeah, like the annihilation of this stupid village!" Staraptor called out, getting a squeaky laugh from Pidgeot.
But Trapinch had had enough of those two. He was going to do something about it and he felt he knew what would work. Once he cleared the road for the others, he went back to his house, cleaned up, packed a few things, then set out on the road.
Progress was slow. His legs were short, forcing him to a small pace. As his jaws and head were so large, it got heavy on his shoulders and he would have to stop for a rest. He had no hands, so getting anything out of his pack meant pulling it off and handling everything gently with his jaws. And while he had digging claws, they were best suited for sandy grounds, not clay-filled earth. It took until nightfall to reach his location, the luminous spring just outside of the small village and along the main road.
Throughout the world, there were these places where natural springs appeared, producing not water, but light. A luminous spring would fill the area around it with a cool light, like that which came from the moon. While it was certainly a place of beauty, a spring like this was important for another larger reason. At a luminous spring, a Pokemon could choose to evolve if it was ready. Trapinch knew that he had been ready for a while, but hadn't yet come. Now he had a good reason to.
Nipping off his pack to set it aside, Trapinch walked into the spring of light. "Oh spirit of the light, I have come for your gift."
He became aware that something was watching him, as if someone invisible had stirred at his words. Nothing around him changed, aside from a knowledge that a greater power was there. "Welcome, Trapinch. Are you looking to evolve?"
"Yes, I am." The spirit of light went through the same questions every time, but every Pokemon had to answer them. Interrupting or insulting the spirit would cause it to refuse to evolve anyone until the offender apologized or some gift made by a local leader. Even then, the offender usually didn't get evolved.
"You are strong enough. Do you need anything in order to evolve?"
"No."
"You are honest. Now close your eyes and relax. Let the light envelop you."
Although it was hard to bite down on his excitement, Trapinch closed his eyes and did his best to be calm. He felt a warm sensation of joy come over him. It was so powerful that it caused his body to break apart into dust. But it left his mind and soul alone.
Then his body came back together, changing its form. He grew larger and longer, but a bit thinner. He lost his oversized jaw and gained a pair of long diamond shaped wings. Even his eyes, they went from small and flat to large and domed. With his body, his abilities and capabilities changed. He could do a lot more, including get revenge on those bullying birds.
Eventually, the joy and light let him go. "It is done," the spirit of light said. "You are no longer Trapinch. You are now Vibrava. You have one more evolution possible, but you are not yet strong enough. You must wait two weeks before you may return."
"Okay, thank you!" Vibrava moved, no, flew out of the spring of light. He was able to pick up his pack with one of his legs and use it easily. And around him, the world looked very different. It seemed sharper, clearer, and more colorful. While it was all so interesting, he had one thing on his mind: getting revenge.
Vibrava flew back to his village in a blink, as opposed to taking hours along the road. While he did so, he reflected on the new powers that had been granted to him. Several stood out as good ones to use against Staraptor and Pidgeot. They might still be stronger than him, but he could outwit them.
After looking around carefully, he found the two bullies perched on the roof on the mayor's house, hooting and cackling at something. Maybe just to disrupt the mayor's peace. Smiling, Vibrava flew down along the ground, twitching his wings in a peculiar manner. This stirred up the dirt until it rose up into a sandstorm. It felt like little more than raindrops to him. At least, how the others describe raindrops. He'd never liked being out in the rain.
Staraptor and Pidgeot weren't so tolerant. They tried to shield their heads with their wings. "Gah! Who *cough* stirred up all *cough* this dirt?"
"Some *cough* fool looking for a *cough* beating!" Pidgeot answered. They flew off the roof.
Vibrava saw them, though. "You're getting just what you deserve," he said in a low voice, then rushed at them twitching his wings extremely rapidly. This made a high-pitched hum. His own ears were guarded against this annoyance. Not them, though.
They squalled in pain. Staraptor cursed loud enough to wake up anyone sleeping in the village. "You jerk! Show yourself, coward! I'll beat you down for making this fool racket." He spotted something and rushed at it.
However, he hit Pidgeot instead. "Watch it, you big dummy! Oh my poor ears. Shut up!" He lashed out at Staraptor.
Laughing, Vibrava kept up the irritating hum. The two birds eventually panicked and began flying this way and that, trying to escape the noise and the sandstorm. The newly made dragon chased them around until they found the way to the main road and flew away, never to be seen in the small village again.
Vibrava was quite pleased with himself and let the sandstorm die off. But as he did, he began hearing shouts from his neighbors. "Who the heck is responsible for this?" somebody called. "I've got a splitting headache now."
"Shut up, the noise is hurting me," another said.
"WHO THREW DIRT ALL OVER MY FURNITURE?"
"My skin hurts…"
Then the mayor chimed in. "ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!" An angry Earthquake soon followed, centered on his house.
Oops. He hadn't thought that his revenge against the bullies would affect everyone else in the village. Upset, Vibrava flew off to the trees outside the village. He cried himself to sleep.
By morning, he had decided that because he'd done something awful, he should leave. But he wanted to apologize and at least let someone know he would be gone. He flew back quietly and went to the mayor's house.
No one seemed to be up yet, so he knocked quietly on the frame of the entrance. "Um, excuse me, mayor…"
"Come in," he called, a bit groggy. Mayor Swampert was drinking some coffee. "Who're you?"
"I'm Vibrava, was Trapinch. I wanted to say that I'm leaving the village. And, I'm really sorry about last night. I was responsible for the sandstorm and the painful noise. See, Staraptor and Pidgeot were teasing me all the time. They'd flip me over at any chance they got and I wouldn't be able to get back onto my feet until someone came and flipped me back. And they'd tease and taunt me, making me feel like rubbish. So I thought if I evolved, I could do something to get back at them. I left to do so yesterday morning and when I became this, I was so filled with thoughts of revenge that I didn't think that my actions would hurt anyone in the village. So I did something really stupid, and I'm really sorry about it."
"You've apologized twice now," Swampert pointed out.
"I mean it," Vibrava said, looking down. "I'm not much better than those two guys, I realized. So I'm going to leave and try to become a better Pokemon before I come back."
"You did something they never did, and that was accept responsibility for hurting others. So, on behalf of the village, I accept your apologies, and invite you to stay anyhow. The others will know that Staraptor and Pidgeot were responsible for what happened last night."
"Sir? But that's not what…"
Swampert nodded. "The one who did last night's deeds will never do so again here, am I right?"
"Yes sir," Vibrava said meekly. He was glad to stay, but still felt a bit guilty. He wouldn't do anything like that again, certainly.
"All right then, Vibrava-was-Trapinch. Everything's settled… except for one problem."
"What problem?"
"There was a rockslide last night in response to an earthquake. Shame, those things are blocking the road all the time. Not that Trapinch is no longer here, I'm not sure who can clear the path."
"Um, I think I can still do something." He flew out of the house and to the road. While he had been flying, he hadn't even noticed the roadblock. How careless of him.
With some tries, Vibrava figured out that a burst from his wings could cause the rocks to shatter still. After that, anyone with hands could help clear the much smaller gravel bits out of the way. He just had to make sure that no one was around to get a headache from the hum of his wings.
...
Trapinch Emerald entry: Its big jaws crunch through boulders. Because its head is so big, it has a hard time getting back upright if it tips over onto its back.
Vibrava HG/SS entry: It vibrates its wings vigorously, creating ultrasonic waves that cause serious headaches.
The setting was partially inspired by the game Okami, the starting village.