Azelf and Slakoth

Sometimes, being a muse was a bad thing.

Azelf certainly felt that way. His body felt heavy and his head was pounding. Was he angry? No, he told himself, I can't get angry. He struggled against losing his temper, knowing that if he did, he would sap the willpower of those around him instead of boosting it. That was the sort of thing that made him glad that he, a Pokemon whose temper was very hard to provoke, was the one with this power and not some high-strung creature who might misuse or abuse it.

And he had found someone he wanted to inspire. Since he had been awakened from his long hibernation by Galactic, he had been curious about how the world had changed. Thus, he went on a trek to various lands, seeing how things were. A couple of days ago, he had come upon this city. It was massive, with steel and glass skyscrapers all around. Traveling invisibly so no one knew of his presence directly, Azelf had explored the city in a sense of wonder. Human willpower had certainly not faded in the time that he had slept.

Not that long ago, he had come across this young man who intrigued him. Being the Psychic he was, Azelf saw that although he worked a mundane job, this guy was also a writer and wanted to write and publish a great novel. Or even more than that. The trouble was, he would start off strong with a fresh idea, but eventually run out of steam and lose the will to continue. He had lots of partial works, but he was stuck on every single one of them.

Azelf had always stirred the willpower to those around him. It didn't take long for him to decide to tag along after this writer for the weekend. Thus far, he had not been noticed. But his inspiration was there, pushing the writer into finishing something. If the immortal Pokemon just stayed near him, then he would be able to do so. He would also find his inner willpower to finish any other uncompleted projects.

This had the side effect of inspiring everyone in the building that the writer lived in. That in itself wasn't bad. In fact, it would be good for most of them. One teenager got the will to ask a girl out when he had been uncertain before. A woman got the will to ask about a promotion, which she seemed to deserve. Another man got the nerve to start his own business.

However, the muse of willpower had also inspired the man who owned the metal shop downstairs to get to work on his dream motorcycle project instead of putting off yet again. The building did not have a good soundproofing system, so the buzz of his saws, the whine of metals, the slamming of machines, it all drifted up to the writer's apartment, only one floor above the metal shop's work floor. The writer merely blocked the noise out with a pair of sound-canceling headphones so he could keep working while his inspiration was strong.

How did that machinist below get away with putting apartments over his metal shop? Azelf gritted his teeth as another sharp sound of the power tools broke through, causing the pain in his head to pulse. He had strong willpower himself, of course. But even willpower wasn't always strong enough to combat fatigue. Thus far on his explorations, he had been too excited to really sleep. It was taking its toll on his body, which was pleading to be allowed some sleep. But his spirit was also drained; being a muse to so many people took a lot of energy from him, but he'd forgotten that after years of hibernation. And then his mind had to add into his misery by getting too sensitive and shouting out messages of pain at every loud noise.

For Azelf, this was a very bad day.

He tried hiding under a pillow, but that hadn't helped much. Azelf grumbled, but left the bed to try to think of some way to stop that noise without breaking up everyone's inspiration. Don't get angry. His psychic senses finally gave him notice of something. Another Pokemon on this floor was stirring. Knowing that the writer would still be in range of his inspiriting affect, Azelf teleported into another apartment to find that Pokemon.

In that apartment, he found a Slakoth. A tan and brown Pokemon with sleepy brown eyes, she was shuffling over to her food dish, not even bothering to fully get up on all fours. Azelf normally was frustrated by these Pokemon. They didn't do much of anything most of their days. Even their hyper stage of being a Vigoroth rarely had the willpower to do anything productive with their vast energy. But something about this one got his attention. Floating over to her, he said, "Hello."

She stopped to turn her head up at him. "Oh, hello. Are you a robber?"

He shook his head. "No. I'm just visiting. I'm Azelf."

"Oh. Good. I'm a Slakoth, called Lazy Daizy." She pushed herself forward the last couple o feet.

"I see. Hey, I was wondering… I felt you asleep earlier." Another high-pitched metal whine caused him to wince. "How on earth can you sleep with that racket going on downstairs? I've felt weary today, but I just can't sleep with that noise he's making."

"That?" She paused to grab a handful of her Pokemon kibble, then ate it thoughtfully. Azelf waited. After several minutes, Daizy said, "You could say that I have a will to sleep."

"Will?" Azelf blinked, then started laughing hard enough that he clutched his stomach.

Daizy blinked back at him. "Was it that funny?"

"P-probably not," he replied, smiling as he rubbed his head. "I guess I'm just that tired. I wouldn't have thought about it in that way. I have the will to do a lot of things, but not really to sleep. I don't like sloth." Which did not count against his long hibernation, he reminded himself. He had been busy then too. With his siblings, he had maintained a divide that kept the sparring Dialga and Palkia separated. The two of them seemed to be getting along, so the three of them could give up that duty.

Yawning, the Slakoth started back to her bed. "I know I'm sluggish," she said. "It's just how we were made. I don't let it bother me. But I do get up from time to time. You shouldn't have too much sleep. Or too little."

"Yeah. Especially when I'll need to leave in a while." Willpower was good. But like sleep, it was possible to have too much like it was possible to have too little. If Azelf hung around on particular person too long, he or she would become so driven to do something that it could drive them insane. And if he lost his temper due to being tired and cranky, he could sap so much willpower from those around him that they would be little better than statues, unable to bring themselves to do anything.

Azelf yawned, letting his eyes start to close and his tails still. There was another shriek of the power tools downstairs, which hurt him again. However, he was feeling oddly drowsy. Or was that the will to sleep?

"You can stay here for a while and rest, if that'll help you," Lazy Daizy said, getting back into her blanket-lined basket. It was too big for her, so even sprawling around she only took up one side. "When my human gets back, I'll keep her distracted from noticing you. I'll have the energy to do that."

"Yeah, okay… thanks Daizy." Azelf drifted down onto a pillow on the other half of the basket and curled down there. Somehow, the noise of the metal shop below didn't bother him anymore. He was soon fast asleep.

...

Slakoth D/P/P entry: It spends nearly all its time in a day sprawled out. Just seeing it makes one drowsy.

Platinum entry: When Azelf flew, people gained the determination to do things. It was the birth of willpower.

Chosen together for contrast, which makes for a neat effect. Will to sleep, hehe.