"I'm fine," I smiled gently at them, "Actually, I was thinking about carrying them home myself, if that's okay…"
I looked down at the ground for a second and looked back up to see my friends staring in unbelief at what I just said. Suddenly, a smilestreaked across their faces.
"Dude! Are you serious?" Tucker said excitingly, "You holding Pokémon? I gotta see this!"
Buizel and Poochyena made excited grunts as they looked at me. They started to become fidgety as their tails were violently cutting the wind. They looked at me, begging me to come and carry them. Jocinda and Kaname walked over to me as I nodded.
"First, though," I said, "I need my backpack."
Kaname nodded as he briefly put Buizel down and handed me the backpack. I put it on as it covered the hole in my shirt, which makes me wonder: why didn't I think of putting it on at the schoolyard? Maybe I was just super tired and weak. Then again, Kaname took it; he probably put it on because I didn't have the strength or so I wouldn't have to worry about it.
Anyway, I put the backpack on as Kaname picked up Buizel again. I formed my arms so both of them could place the two little Pokémon on them. Jocinda placed Poochyena on my left arm as soon Buizel was placed in my right by Kaname. Both Pokémon immediately snuggled their heads in my chest and sighed in absolute happiness as they began to smile.
"Oh," Jocinda said placing her hands on her chest, "Thomas, they love you!"
"Ha-ha-ha!" Tucker roared, "I knew one day you'd be alright with Pokémon!"
I grinned as I shook my heads at them. I glanced at Kaname, who hadn't said anything yet. I glared at him; his face was looking towards my direction, but I couldn't tell what he was doing.
"Uh, Kaname?" I asked.
"Thomas," he said, catching me off guard, "Remember how everyone thinks you should be an awesome Pokémon trainer? I am not forcing you to, but if you do, don't you think those two should be your starting Pokémon?"
I gasped when I heard this. Buizel and Poochyena looked at him, and then back at me.
"What's your angle?" I asked, "What are you trying to get at?"
"Well, think about it and hear me out," Kaname replied, "A Pokémon trainer, in order to be the most effective type, needs to have not only the trust, but the friendship of the Pokémon he commands. You already have those two qualities. I am pretty sure that you would have a good advantage in battling."
I looked at the two in my arms and looked back at him.
"Are you in cahoots with the old man or something? He said something on the same line to me too," I replied to him.
He smirked and shook his head. I looked at all of them as I was going to say something. Suddenly, a loud voice shattered my ear drums.
"GRR, NOW I KNOW THAT IS IT!" Tucker bellowed, "Thomas, when I get out of school, I want a match with you and these two!"
I was surprised; I mean, I always knew that Tucker wanted to battle me. But now that I actually was acquainted and not terrified of Pokémon, it seemed that it drove him to the point where he absolutely knew he wanted to battle me.
I was going to say something like 'No thanks' or 'I think we should probably wait', but then I could feel intensity; like eagerness flow into my body. I looked down to see that Buizel and Poochyena were looking at Tucker with excitement, anticipation. I couldn't believe it; they wanted to challenge Tucker! I looked at them with pride; maybe…
"Yeah," I said, with excitement, "I'd like that. You'll be the first one I'll take on as a trainer, Tucker."
The redhead jumped in the air with happiness and fists raised. He giggled as he grinned at the others.
"What about us?" Jocinda asked, with me sensing her and Kaname's anticipation rising as well.
"You guys too, but after Tucker," I replied with a smile.
Buizel and Poochyena looked at them and nodded, smiling. Maybe this was the reward for listening to the voice; having my friends acknowledge me around Pokémon and me proving my fear was gone…
"Alright, it's getting late," Kaname said, calming the air down, "Thomas, you should probably go and lie down early this night. Let's go home, everybody."
All my friends nodded as they walked past me and waved good-bye. Before they got too far away, I quickly spun around in realization.
"Guys!" I shouted.
They turned around.
"Not a word of this to anyone, promise? This is between you, me, and Old Man Fellows," I said.
All three nodded with trustworthy smiles as Tucker gave me an air fist pump. As they turned around and walked away out of sight, I glanced down at Buizel and Poochyena. They snuggled their heads into my chest as their tails wagged happily. They looked up at me with those sparkling eyes again. I gave them a satisfied look.
"Now you guys know why I did not want you to follow me out into the city," I said in a fatherly…. No, I said in a older brotherly voice, "I was worried that you could get hurt. But beyond that, I was afraid that people would find out about you and want to capture you."
They nodded as they understood their disobedience. I began walking closer to my house near the woods.
"Okay, we're finally here at last," I said cheerfully, "I will help you guys find a place to live so you can make it."
They looked at me with satisfaction as I stepped closer to the woods.
"Don't take them to the woods; bring them inside the house."
Again, that voice in my head. I thought about its reaction to my choice of the woods and reconsidered. Buizel and Poochyena looked at me oddly. I blinked and then changed my mind.
"However", I said aloud, "I told Principal Vicar aloud at the schoolyard I was going to bring you back to the alcove. That means Mr. Pepperridge, Skyler, and the other students heard me."
I looked down at them and said, "I know Mr. Pepperridge; he is very persistent and ambitious. He'd probably come looking for you two at night while you would be sleeping. And, although I don't know him, I bet that Skyler kid may do the same thing as well."
I could tell that Buizel and Poochyena were getting nervous. They looked at each other once they realized what I had said was true. Poochyena began to shiver in fear as it buried its face in my chest. Buizel looked nervously back into the woods as its paws gripped my sweatshirt tightly.
I couldn't just do that to them! I knew of the risk of them getting caught if I took them back to the woods now, and I would be a horrible human being if I shoved them off and said, "Good luck! You guys are strong enough to handle this on your own! Good-bye forever!"
NO!
I would be a hypocrite, especially after telling to Mr. Pepperridge about him being a horrible example of a trainer. Buizel and Poochyena looked back at me and started to breathe heavily. They started to continually shake their heads 'no' at me.
"Bui, bu bui!" Buizel said in a trembling voice, completely on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
"Chy! Poochy!" Poochyena started to whine, as he started to bury his head into my chest harder.
I tried to tell them to calm down and everything was all right, but then my eyes got caught in theirs. These two were terrified, scared; they… were me…
I just looked into their eyes and I saw me… literally! I am not joking. In their pupils, I saw me, kneeling on the ground, hugging myself in fear. I shivered in fear as I saw myself look up. That version of me was crying, tears streaming down the face.
I understood it now; Poochyena and Buizel's fear of the Mr. Pepperridge and the other humans was a direct reflection of my fear of all Pokémon!
Suddenly, my heart broke open with emotion as I saw myself beg hysterically, "Help me! Don't let them hurt me! Please don't leave me alone! I need you! They want to take me away from you! I don't want to leave you!"
"I LOVE YOU!"
My heart was starting to feel heavy again, like it did at Old Man Fellows' house. But, I felt confused, hysterical, enraged. Was that version of me what Buizel and Poochyena were trying to tell me?
Wait, but the version of me said it loved me…. But… then… did…. Did that…. Did that mean….
Buizel and Poochyena… loved me?
That was it. I made my mind up. I wasn't going to let them be scarred of humans like I was of Pokémon. I saw they were completely at my mercy, begging me not to leave them alone.
"Guys," I shushed them, telling them to quiet down, "please don't cry. Don't be afraid. I am not going to take you to the woods and leave you alone. I would never do that to you."
I gulped as I glared angrily at the forest. It was if the forest was taunting me to bring them into their fears and doom. The forest could burn, for all I care.
Buizel and Poochyena glared at me with total relief and then buried their heads against my chest. 'Thank you, thank you' was felt everytime their heads rubbed back and forth against my skin.
"You do know what this means, right?" my voice trembled as they looked up at me.
I grinned with so much pride, my head could've exploded right there and then. I couldn't believe I found myself saying this.
"It means," I said in an exciting manner, "you guys get to come and sleep in my house!"
They immediately brightened up with happiness as their mouth opened with words of unexpressed gratitude and their tails wagged as fast as I had seen them. They just kept talking in their Pokélanguage as fast as they could as they snuggled against me and each other. I felt happy; they weren't mine, but I was as heck sure I wasn't going to let them become someone else's. I quickly rushed to my front door so nobody could see me. I quickly scanned the area. When it was clear, I unlocked the door and in a flash zipped through the front door and shut it behind me with a slam.
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