My heartfelt gratitude goes to Sunhat Leafeon, cornerstoneolusa, and Lupercus 1944 for your kind reviews! They all just filled me with warm fuzzies!
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
"The mayor did WHAT?" Reaper roared.
Rage flinched slightly are her volume. "H-he said that we were disturbing the peace too much, and that he'd already given us more chances than he should have to abide by the laws of the town, but he can't have us living there anymore."
In her anger it seemed as though Reaper had forgotten how to speak, instead just snarling and spitting as she turned and, claws glowing with purple energy, slashed at a nearby tree. A couple of disgruntled shrieks drifted from the branches and Reaper glared menacingly up at the leaves, roaring "Absol!" at the flittering Bird and Bug pokémon.
"So all the Dark Types in the town just got…kicked out?" Rok asked.
Smoke nodded. "It…took a while. And there was quite a bit of fighting. There aren't a lot of settlements that will take in Dark Types so we tend to flock to any that will accept us, no matter how grudgingly. They've also exiled the Ghost and Poison Types."
"Oh." Rok said faintly, his ears dropping against his head. "What are you going to do now?"
Smoke sighed. "Whatever we can. I can probably eke out a living on the road selling food to any travellers wandering around. And of course I'll keep Rage with me. He…wouldn't do well on his own."
Rok glanced at the big fire cat who was sombrely drawing stick figures in the dirt with his claws and nodded.
"Wow. Your kind are really unpopular aren't you?"
Rok and Smoke both jolted, staring at Silvo who was watching them curiously.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Smoke asked, eyes still a little wide from shock.
The jolteon beamed at him. "The name's Silvo! It's good to meet you…"
"Smoke."
"Smoke! Cool name. Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what are you?"
Rok cringed. Honestly, would it kill his friend to have even a little tact?
Thankfully, Smoke didn't seem annoyed, and simply chuckled. "I'm a houndoom. Rage over there is an incineroar. I'm guessing you're from Rok's village?"
Silvo grinned. "Yep! I just managed to catch Rok and Reaper as they were leaving and I decided to tag along. Figured there would be more excitement and adventure out here with them than cooped up in the village."
Smoke frowned. "As they were leaving?"
Rok flinched and stared at his paws. "I…wasn't allowed to re-join the village. The Elders said that in the past umbreon had been excessively violent, so they were banished a long time ago and they made sure no one but the new Elders would know about the existence of umbreon."
Smoke's gaze softened with sympathy, and he rested his tail on Rok's back. "I'm sorry Rok. I know how much you wanted to go home."
There was a loud snort and Reaper trudged toward them, the demolished remains of various trees and shrubs, along with a few fainted pokémon, behind her. "If you ask me, if the people in your home don't want you around, then your home was never really your home in the first place."
Rok tilted his head. "I'm…not sure I understand."
Reaper flexed her claws against the ground, scowling furiously. "Look just…take it from someone who's had a bunch of different "homes" throughout their life. The place itself doesn't matter nearly as much as the pokémon. It could be a freaking palace, but if the pokémon there don't like you, and if they constantly shove you away and treat you like garbage, then you'll never really be at home there. The same applies if they act nice to you but eventually kick you out, because if they were comfortable with kicking you out, then they never cared about you in the first place, and the home you thought you had was never really a home because of it. At least, that's what I think." Reaper finished awkwardly.
Rok stared at her for a few moments. He'd never known Reaper to be so…thoughtful. It was a bit frightening actually. In the short time he'd known her, Rok had realised that Reaper had a harsh and cynical opinion of the world in general, though he'd never really considered why. He knew she was a Dark Type of course, and that she'd been discriminated against because of it, but he was just now realising that there might be a bit more to it than that. Maybe he should ask her…
A quick glance at the dark look in her red eyes was enough to convince him that now wasn't a good time.
"I agree with Reaper." Rage said quietly, "I never really liked my home with my family. I could never make them happy, and they were always mean to me to try and make me more like them even though I wasn't. But when I started living with Smoke and helping him with taking care of all the bad Types, I felt happy and safe and comfortable, and I think that's what a home should be."
Smoke nodded. "That is exactly what a home should be Rage. But unfortunately the world doesn't want us to find a place that is safe or comfortable."
Silence followed this statement. Reaper growled something under her breath, probably in absol, and the air started to prickle as sparks popped of Silvo's fur.
"We could make one." Rok said softly.
Smoke tilted his head at him. "Make one what?"
"A comfortable, safe place. For Dark Types, and Poison Types, and Ghost Types and all the rest that have it rough."
Reaper raised an eyebrow. "You…do realise how hard that would be, right? As much as I hate to admit it, our Types have a bad reputation for a reason. It is in our nature to be crueller and more vicious than most other pokémon. Giratina, I once saw a newly hatched purrloin steal jewellery right of a persian. Get a bunch of us in one place and it'd be chaos."
"But it's like Smoke said, they'll have nowhere else to go. No other towns or-or villages want the-want us. We need somewhere safe to settle down, to live our day-to-day lives. Even if we're vicious and bloodthirsty, don't we at least deserve a chance?"
The others glanced at each-other, doubt and hope (well, in Rage's case only hope) shifting in their eyes.
Finally, Silvo shook himself and grinned, small lightning sparks jumping from his fur. "Right then. Where do we start?"
A/N: What is this? Can it be…a plot? :')
Please review! They never fail to make me smile!