Buizel and Poochyena had bowls full of Pokéfood and apple juice, enjoying it on the floor as the old man and I sat at the table as usual.
"I never thought I would've seen it, Thomas," he said, smiling with such pride, "You in the presence of Pokémon; who'd of thought it? I just never believed it could happen."
"It's like you said, Old Man," I replied quietly, "I never knew when… Well, I'm not in 'love' with them, but I-"
"I understand," he cut me off nicely, "So, do you think you are going to keep them?"
My eyes widened with a face of 'awakening', if you would think. Keeping them?
Wow, what a wake-up call. I did not even think that far.
"Old man, I don't even think that I could even go so far to capture them, especially after all they've been through," I said.
He took a sip of his juice and looked at me. "Oh, are you sure? I'm sure those two young boys would be perfect for you to take care of."
I'm sure I did a double-take there as I blinked. I was taken back.
"Did you say, 'boys', Old Man?" I asked, "How can you tell?"
He gave me a smile and asked, "Your friend gave you a Pokémon handbook, and you don't even know what gender those two are? My word, Thomas, what am I going to do with you?"
I chuckled as I rubbed my hair.
He turned to them and asked, "Buizel, Poochyena, can you two come here please? I need to show Thomas your gender."
Both nodded and walked over as fast as they could. Fellows crouched behind them and turned towards me.
"Okay," he said, "We'll begin with Poochyena. Poochyena, do you mind if I pick you up for a little bit?"
Poochyena shook its head as he lifted its front legs off the ground. He held it by gently placing his left hand on its chest. Its front paws rested on his left arm as he took his right hand and pointed to the area where the stomach joined with the rear legs.
"See this area?" he asked as I nodded, "To me, I found out if you look closely, some Poochyena had a tiny bit more extra fur around this spot. The ones that don't have this fur are female. This one does, so it's a male."
He set Poochyena back down and said, "Thank you, Poochyena."
It wagged its tail and smiled, as he went over to Buizel.
"Excuse me, Buizel," he said, as he turned Buizel, so its back was facing me. Buizel looked up at Fellows as it stood perfectly still.
"For a Buizel," he said, "all you have to do is look at the yellow ovals on its back. If it only has one, it is a female. But since this one had two ovals, it is a male."
He turned to Buizel and said, "Thank you too, Buizel."
It smiled as it folded its arms and nodded.
"So, there you have it," Fellows said to me, "These two are male, just like you. You three seem to get along just fine."
He stopped and seemed to stare at me passionately. I raised an eyebrow as to why he looked at me that way.
"It's just…" he began, "…I never… would've thought you would want anything to do with or know anything about Pokémon, Thomas…"
"Well…" I stopped as I looked down and smiled, and then nodded.
But when I looked up, Old Man Fellows was tearing up! Like, about to cry! I freaked out a little.
He continued, "I am just so proud of you, Thomas. You… I just… you have made me so happy…"
I felt so weird, so I had to ask him as I was slowly shaking my head, "Old Man, you're making me uncomfortable. What are you talking about? You've lost me somewhere; I don't get where you're at."
He wiped some tears and said to Buizel and Poochyena, "Can you two come here?" as he sat down in front of me.
They immediately walked over and sat next to us, making a circle.
He took a deep breath, and said, "Thomas, what I am going to say… I want you to think deeply about this and feel whatever it makes you feel."
I nodded as he said, "Have you noticed… that the entire time Buizel and Poochyena have been in the room, you haven't shivered out of fear?"
I stared dumbfounded at him; I just realized that. In fact, today I didn't walk around Pokémon in the city when I was running near them; I just ran right past them, without being afraid.
Old Man Fellows said, "Thomas, months ago, you couldn't stop shaking if a Pokémon was in the same room with you. Now, you're sitting like they're human or not even here."
I looked at both of them. They looked at me, wondering what he was talking about, but they sat silently staring at both me and the old man. I was beginning to feel uncomfortable about this conversation.
"Well," I tried to start, "that's-"
"Thomas," he interrupted, "Did you also notice that you are speaking full complete sentences around Pokémon?"
I stopped and looked at the ground at my feet. I began to feel emotions rushing up to my chest. I started to breathe deeply, with difficulty.
I heard him add, "Thomas, when you were younger, you couldn't even complete a full sentence without an 'uh', or an 'um', or mispronouncing a word when you saw a Pokémon near you. Right now, you are talking in full sentences with them around."
Okay, now, I was totally uncomfortable. Feelings I had been trying to bury and shove down in the darkest depths on my heart were being brought up in one conversation. I felt like my chest was about to burst. I had enough. I wanted him to stop.
I started to say, "O-old Man, I… I-"
He interrupted me again, "Thomas, hold perfectly still. Buizel, Poochyena, can you come here, please?"
I looked up to see him pick both of them up and sit them down in front of me. Their furry feet touched my legs. I gasped when I felt their little feet gently rest on my bare skin. They looked at me in curiosity and then looked back up at the old man.
Fellows was tearing up again as he said with happiness, "Thomas, a year ago, you instantly started to cry if someone forced you to touch a Pokémon. You didn't flinch or try to get up when they touched you just now."
I started to breathe uncontrollably and heavily. I began to look anywhere, all over the place. I started to feel like I wanted to cry. I held my chest tightly with my right hand.
I heard a low whimper from Poochyena. I looked up and both of them were staring at me, wondering if I was okay. However, at the time, seeing them made me feel even more emotional.
"I… I want… I ne-" I said, trying to say something.
Finally, I got up like a bullet and began walking to the door.
"I need some fresh air," I said, my voice trembling.
The three of them turned to me leaving. I kept walking, not looking back to see them. I knew it was rude to just get up and walk out, but I had to.
Suddenly, I heard a compassionate, "Bui bui!" behind me.
Buizel and Poochyena immediately were getting up and trying to follow me.
"NO!" I said, holding my hand, signaling them to stop.
They both took a couple steps back in surprise, and then sat down on the floor, but looking in their eyes, I could tell they wanted so desperately to comfort me by giving me a hug. Poochyena whimpered softly, as if almost telling me to come back, but I couldn't. I just…
IT HURT SO MUCH...
"You guys need to stay with Old Man Fellows for now," I said as a single tear rolled down my left eye.
Buizel came over and began rubbing Poochyena's back, trying to comfort it, but it only made me feel worse. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth, but my lips were open so they could see them. I exhaled loudly in a broken manner. I needed to get out.
"What should I do with these little guys?" I heard Old Man Fellows say with a worried and concerned face as I took a step outside.
"I don't know," I said impatiently wiping my eyes, which had filled with tears, "tell them a story or something."
With that, I closed the door and buried my face in my hands as I curled up into a ball right outside his residence, with tears streaming down my face.
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