Hello! Yikes it has been awhile, hasnt it?
sorry for the delay, been having some trouble writing, my mind keep running off with ideas that I forget that I need to write! anyway, enough blabbing, enjoy the new chapter!
Flint out!
The sky was a mass of grey clouds that warned of a downpour and the wind began to pick up in a way that caused many to pick up the pace in their efforts to get home, as was the case for a familiar pair.
It was a rather stormy day, Erik remarked in his head as he and Mimkyu returned from school, the wind was howling in a way that made the two partners hurry. Erik held his partner in his arms as he ran, thanking his ancestors for giving him a short route home, coming up to his family abode before the rain started to drop. He muttered a small prayer of thanks before he walked inside.
"I'm home!" He called out to his family and prepared for the onslaught.
"Phantump!!" A welcomed young cry came as the stump pokemon ran into sight and tackled Erik in a loving embrace which Erik and Mimikyu happily returned.
"Ah, son, welcome back!" Said his father as he walked out of his study, his two Pokémon floating beside him.
"Sinistea!"
"Litwick!"
Erik waved at the two Pokémon as he stepped inside when a wail from behind made him jump in fright, he spun around to find the floating form of Misdreavous who laughed at his fright.
"Missy! How many times have I told you not to scare Erik!" Cried out the stern voice of his mother who was followed by her Pokémon who rushed to Erik's side.
"Indeedee!" Cried out the emotion pokemon before she glared at the screech Pokémon who rolled her eyes and vanished.
It had been a crazy couple of years for the family, ever since Erik discovered his Quirk, a whole new world had opened up for them, as everywhere they went pokemon were to be found. It was very amusing to Erik and his mother when he showed his father the dragon type Pokémon, he never saw his father write so quickly and he felt a little bad for Rotom who was interrogated by the passionate writer. Before he had to save him once the Gible tried to bite the newcomers, it did not stop his father as he took notes the whole time they ran.
Yet it was during the summer that things developed, Erik realised that being able to see all these Pokémon was not without its own stress. After a harrowing trip to the beach and meeting a lot of Pokémon with some disturbing entries that he'd rather forget.
Erik and his family had planned to spend the summer at home when they got a call from a friend.
They asked if Erik could check their house as they had begun to notice some odd happenings, especially in the study where they felt so drained. While his parents were reluctant, they agreed and Erik checked, immediately, upon entering the study, he found the issue, a small Litwick had made its home there. Knowing the hazard, Erik used one of his spare pokeballs to catch it, however, it was his father who surprised them by taking the small energy thief under his wing, feeling it would help his late writing.
Shortly after, the family had gone out looking at antiques, Erik and Mimikyu had gone with his mother and came across a lovely table set, for a cheap price too. Annabel had wondered why until Rotom appeared and alerted her to its true nature, snapping a photo of the hidden Pokémon. Once again, upon finding these ghost types, Annabel decided to buy them and bring them home, adding another member to their family.
Erik enjoyed the idea of these pokemon being in their home, he also grew curious as to why they had done so and so he decided to ask them one evening. They seemed surprised at the question, but as always, it was his father who had the first thing to say.
"It's because Pokémon have now become a part of your life and we thought that we should embrace it a bit more." Vincent explained with a kind smile.
"Also, a lot of these Pokémon seem lonely when we come across them, so why not give them a family to be part of." Annabel added, as she stroked the head of Phantump who dozed on her lap.
Once again, Erik felt words could not begin to express how loved and happy he was to hear this, he simply decided to embrace his family, enjoying the extra arms in their hug.
Annabel's birthday came around once more and a five year old Erik vowed to get some help for his mother, seeing as she was usually drained upon finishing her work. Thus, he asked Rotom for help finding the perfect gift and the smartphone came through in spades as he left to find these two Pokémon. Erik would never forget how touched his mother was when he returned with Minccino and Indeedee as her gift, both making her life a lot easier.
After a year of living like this, Erik had to admit, he felt better than he had in a long time, sure most of the kids he knew still were wary of him and some adults. However, now he had friends, a partner who stood by him no matter what and he was given a gift to see a world no one else could. Erik felt special, more so than simply having a quirk meant, yet it also lit something inside of him, he was not sure how to put it until he neared his sixth birthday.
Annabel was preparing to perform the lead in a tragedy of an orphan who finds love in their new family only for the old one to wretch them away. However, strange occurrences had begun to happen in the theatre, performers heard terrifying wails as they walked around, others felt something pull their hair and turned to find nothing there. Many believed spirits were trying to stop the performance, the owners suspected some invisible quirk user was messing with them, but Annabel had another suspicion. That's how Erik ended up at the theatre with his mother who came ready with the poke ball with fury, it was also a reminder to Erik why no one gets between his mother and her performance. Thus Misdreavous was brought into their home, Annabel called her Missy which clearly annoyed the Pokémon.
All in all, though Erik's part was small, his mum was still grateful as we're here fell performers who thanked him and finally he understood what he felt that day he saved Hinata.
He felt like a hero.
Now Erik has spent his days dreaming of helping others with his friends by his side, he would save others like him, like his friends, those who are left in the dark.
As Erik entered his room, he grinned at the sight before him, it was true that his parents were quite eccentric then why would their somber any different. His room was both dark and light, elegant electric candles illuminated the violet and scarlet from his bed and curtains, on the wall were posters of some of the most famous plays and musicals in the history of theatre. Some would wonder why a young boy would enjoy something like musicals and theatre, but to Erik these shows amazed him, to go onstage with a mask and perform to your heart's desire, he would argue it's similar to hero work.
Erik set Mimi down on his bed and went over to his desk, littered in paper, some was homework, the rest was random paper from music sheets to notes on potential hero costumes.
"Alright, Mimi, time to get some work done." He told his partner Pokémon.
"Mimikyu!" She cried as she hopped on his bed.
Erik sat down and started on his homework, but a few minutes in, his attention was drawn by the howling wind, it seemed as if the storm was picking up now. Erik looked out into the distance and let out a sad sigh, he could see into the distance and caught sight of a few Pokémon who were unfortunate enough to be caught outside. He wanted to help them, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to house them all, much to his disappointment as he saw some Driftloon being blown away.
He was going to return his focus to his work when he noticed something, he saw a strange smoke near the top of his window, Erik was confused and moved to get a better look. He saw a dark purple sphere huddled in the alcove of the house, clearing struggling in the wind as it blew against it, Erik did not think twice as he turned to Mimi who watched him.
"Mimi, quick, help me grab them!" Erik said as he picked up his partner and brought her to the window, opening it up letting the window blow into the bedroom.
"Mimikyu!!" Cried Mimi, getting the Pokémon's attention.
"Ga-gastly!" It cried as it hid in the corner of the alcove.
Mimi used her long shadow arms to block the wind from the Pokémon who took the chance to dive behind the cover, following the arm back into the window. Erik slammed it shut as soon as they were inside, he turned to check on the Pokémon and noticed something, it seemed entirely made of that purple smoke he saw, it also had two large eyes and a mouth.
"Hello, are you-"
Erik was cut off by the pokemon suddenly leaping at him and enveloping him in its smoke, crying out as it did.
"Gas! Gas! Ghastly!" It cried out in joy as it hugged the young boy who saved it from being blown away, it was really happy they helped.
"Mimikyu!!" Shouted Mimi in clear panic.
The gas Pokémon was confused until it realised what it was doing and it pulled back to find Erik unconscious, it felt quite sheepish as Mimi was left to try and wake up her trainer.
Eventually, Erik was awake once, surrounded by his Pokémon and his worried parents. After making sure he was okay, all eyes fell on the orb of gas that was looking around the room with interest.
"Excuse me, you can explore after you explain why you almost suffocated my son!" Annabel said sternly at the Pokémon who shook at the mother's gaze and floated nearby.
"I don't think he did it on purpose, he looked just as worried about Erik as us." Said Vincent as he tried to calm his wife.
Indeed! Nzzt! It most likely was an accident!
Cried out the voice of Rotom as he floated into view of everyone, with a spin he faced his camera at the newcomer and scanned him.
Gastly, the gas Pokémon, its body is completely made up of poisonous gas, capable of rendering an African elephant unconscious in seconds. During windy days, this Pokémon hides in alcoves of houses to avoid being blown away. Nzzt!
The reaction was natural as Annabel immediately stood between her son and the dangerous Pokémon.
"Now, I'm definitely keeping it away from Erik!" She said fiercely.
Ah! Nzzt! Wait, he didn't mean to knock out Erik, he was saying he was sorry before and he was grateful!
"Ah, was it because we saved him from the storm?" Erik asked aloud, getting everyone's attention again.
"Gastly! Gas gas!" Said Gastly who nodded.
Nzzt! He says that the others were blown away before he could get into cover, he was scared the same would happen to him until you saved him, he was happy and wanted to hug you.
Annabel changed from her defensive stance when she heard this, relaxing a bit before she looked at her son who gave her a sheepish smile. While he was never told to not bring a Pokémon home, his mother would have preferred to be notified, she sighed as she knew it was a spur of the moment and cast a glance back on Gastly who seemed rather timid.
"Okay, but we need to think about what going to happen after the storm, I'm not sure he'll be able to stay." Annabel explained softly, the Gastly visibly grew sad at the thought, Erik could tell he wanted to stay a bit, but despite these of their home, he knew it would be difficult to house another Pokémon.
He wanted to rack his brains for a solution, he was going to suggest something when a flash of lightning and a violent crack of thunder came from outside.
"Phantump!!!" Cried the stump Pokémon as he quickly dove beneath the couch cushions, immediately, Erik as his parents were at his side, doing their best to comfort the frightened Pokémon.
After he had stayed with them for a while, the family learned that the young Pokémon was incredibly afraid of thunder, anytime it was heard, he became terrified and it would take them a while to comfort him. Erik asked Phantump once what scared him so much and Phantump replied that he did not know why, but it felt like it was after him.
"Gas, gastly!"
The family looked to see Gastly had moved in front of the frightened ghost, they were not sure what he was trying to do until he closed his eyes and mouth. Suddenly, when the lightning struck, Gastly opened his eyes ina silly fashion and stuck out his tongue, letting out a loud raspberry, none one really understood what happened until Erik noticed Phantump was no longer cowering and looked at Gastly it with confusion, then came another flash of lightning and again Gastly blew a raspberry, this time Phantump giggled at the sound and everyone caught on to what Gastly was doing.
Soon everyone was blowing raspberries each time the lightning struck, each time Phantump laughed harder and harder, it was a wholesome moment for the family. They enjoyed themselves even after the storm passed and the day came to an end, it went unsaid but the family welcomed their new member and Eric decided to make an announcement, he waited for dinner time to speak up.
"Um, I'd like to say something." He said softly, still a bit nervous despite being with his family who all turned to look at him with curiosity.
"Oh? What is it, Eric?"
"What do you want to tell us, my boy?"
Both his mum and his dad asked their son, giving him the warmest and kindest looks they could, it was clear how nervous he felt. Eric took a second to steel himself, with a helpful hand squeeze from Mimi, he knew he could tell them.
"I want to be a hero."
Eric said those words and they felt heavy in his heart, he looked at his parents for their reaction, his father seemed to have gained an intrigued look, not disappointed. His mother on the other hand was more subtle, her smile was strained slightly and her eyes widened a bit, she was hiding her fear, she wanted to say something, it was clear
"Why?"
The question surprised both Annabelle and Eric as they turned to Vincent who was still giving Eric the look of intrigue, the boy blinked in confusion and his father decided to elaborate.
"Why do you want to be a hero, Eric?" He asked, his tone curious, but not judgemental.
Eric thought for a moment what he could answer with before his thoughts drifted to earlier before Gastly joined them, he thought about the incident with Shuppet, he remembered how he felt and so he took a deep breath.
"I want to save people, people like me, people like my friends." Eric paused as he gathered his thoughts.
"The people who are left in the dark, who want to be accepted for who they are, I want to be a hero for them."
It was Annabelle who reacted next as her eyes welled up and she hugged her son, who returned the hug in kind.
"Eric, that's so good, you have such a big heart." She said with a wavy smile.
"I'll be honest, it terrifies me to imagine you being a hero, the danger you'd be in, but I know you Eric, if you want to do this then you'd do your best."
Eric began to well up himself, every word from his mother was dripping with warmth and honesty, she believed he could be a hero and that meant the world to him.
"I don't think I could have said it any better." Said Vincent as he kneeled beside his family and wrapped his arm around them.
"Eric, I know you're young now, but as you grow older you'll see the world a little differently, but never forget what you just told us, never let the world take it from you. That's what being a hero is about, keeping true to your promise."
The words were so simple and yet in this moment, they had shaped Eric's future forever, in every second from this moment these words would remain in his heart. The Pokémon who watched the exchange joined the family in the embrace, prepared to help their small trainer, to be the very best hero that there ever was.
