A/N: Hey guys! This is JLoBuizel and welcome back to another fanfiction! I know it's been a while, but it's not like I've disappeared from the internet. I'm full time active on deviantart, so if you wanna see some pokemon fanart, some of my original works AND art for my fanfiction, go to JLo-Buizel; at
Some of you, if you've read something like this before, may be familiar with this character or fic from the past. Basically this is a reboot of my past "MetaMon" fanfiction. I'm kinda working on it as I go, but I'm hoping to improve on the original and change it up a bit. Last time, I was more focused on action and gore, rather than an actual good plot or characters. Now you'll notice a sudden change in pacing, and I hope that this new fic will be much better.
And a little disclaimer before getting into this…
I believe in writing like the characters would talk, and I'm a believer in realistic dialogue. So expect characters to be using slang.
Alright enough chat, I'll let y'all read.
Prologue
Momma Raichu learned how to distinguish when her baby boy was asleep or not, and when he was experiencing a night terror.
She also learned to tell the difference between his snore, and his groan for help. She lays awake, snuggled up next to her partner, her son curled up beside her.
Her son had a soft snore. It was more like taking soft breaths, but they were loud enough to consider snores. However, Momma Raichu listens closely to him. She listened as he went quiet for a moment, not a peep nor a sound.
Till she hears a faint, subtle groan, straight from the throat. Her heart drops as she flips over, facing her young pichu. As confirmed, she saw that her youngling's eyes were open, but he was unable to move or ask for help.
She gently rubs her paw through his head fluff, giving him the comfort and love of his momma.
"It's okay baby," she says as she comforts him, "I'm here, the demons will not harm you while I'm here. It'll be over in a couple of seconds."
She continues to sit there with her son, rubbing his head softly as she speaks to him. Then, the pichu springs to life with a soft gasp. The pichu's eyes tear up, and he begins to cry softly as Momma Raichu wraps her tail around him, and snuggles up to him.
She gently nuzzles his cheek as his tears soak into her fur.
"Shh… mommy's here…" Then, she began to sing, "Hush little one— close those eyes. Hold your little tail— momma's here to keep you safe…"
The little pichu's cries soften as his little heart eases down on the beating. Momma Raichu feels his tiny body leaning into her's, and she smiles as she gives him a soft lick on his forehead.
She continues to sing to him, until his tired little eyes give out, and he slowly drifts back to sleep, where hopefully, the nightmares will leave him be.
The boys play catch with a large pine cone, as Momma Raichu works on a little project inside. Papa Pikachu tosses the pine cone to little pichu, as he throws it back to his papa.
Papa Pikachu always plays catch with his son. He makes sure to keep him as happy and preoccupied as can be. Pichu wants to play with the other kids, but Papa and Momma say that he cannot. They were worried for him.
Papa Pikachu throws the pine cone to Pichu, but he accidentally over throws it, causing the pine cone to fly out of reach for the tiny pokemon. This doesn't stop the little guy though.
He reaches his arms out towards the pine cone, and his body begins to elongate. His torso stretches out long and tall into the air, as he reaches out to the pine cone. He catches it in his paws, and after stretching out like rubber, his long and thin torso retracts, shrinking back to a normal little tiny pichu. Papa Pikachu chuckles.
Pichu giggles as he throws the pine cone back to his father. They continue to throw the pine cone around as Momma Raichu walks out from the burrow. She calls out to their son.
"Sam!" She calls out, "Come inside, I have something for you!"
The pichu, who's name is Sam, drops the pine cone and bolts straight to Momma Raichu. He jumps in excitement as Momma Raichu leads him into the burrow, to present to him his surprise.
She grabs something and turns to him, holding it behind her back. After she walks up to him, she holds out his gift in front of her. It's a sort of necklace, made from string, sticks and different colored feathers. The sticks form a circle, where the string is weaved together like a spider web. The leaves hang by string, swinging from the bottom of the stick woven circle.
"It's a dreamcatcher," Momma Raichu says as she pulls it over Sam's head, to let it hang around his neck, "Wear it when you sleep, and it'll help keep the nightmares away."
Sam looks down at the dreamcatcher, and he holds it in his paws. He is mesmerized by its pure beauty and complexity. Then he looks back up at his mother, tears blurring his vision as he throws himself into her, hugging her tightly as he cries into her chest.
She smiles as she rubs his noggin, embracing him with her other arm. She knew how much his nightmares affected him, and how bad they were, so receiving this gift of hope and protection meant a lot for the poor child.
"I love you Sam. I promise to do everything in my power to keep you safe and happy, for as long as I breathe."
Papa Pikachu came inside the burrow, and from behind Sam, he joined the hug, wrapping his arms around both of his kin.
Sam wants to play with the other kids, but he's happy enough to be with his family. Parents who loved and cared for him, despite his differences. He wouldn't trade them for the world.
Sam is happy.
Chapter One
Head fuzzy, eyes blurry, the barely conscious rodent lies on the ground with his tail sprawled out away from his body. Small figures and shadows gather around him, looking at him with curiosity and awe.
His eyes flutter open, like opening a set of blinds at a window. He makes a soft groan, as he slightly pushes himself up, looking at his surroundings. As his eyes adjust to the sunlight, and the fog clears, he is met with four other figures, all small pokemon around his size. He jerks himself back, choking on his breath as he draws his appendages close to himself. The brown bunny holds her paw over her chest, as she sorta jerks back herself in surprise.
"A-ah," she says, "S-sorry d-didn't mean to frighten you."
The other two stay silent, but they slowly ease their way towards Sam. He backs up into a tree, banging his head against the bark. Without thought or fight, he looks away and covers his face from the strangers, his body quivering.
"Hey man relax," said the orange one, "We're not gonna hurt you… again…"
"Y-yeah– we're friends. You're safe here."
Sam slowly lowers his paws from his face, his ears rising upwards. He finally takes an actual look at the pokemon, to find out who they are. None of them were pikachu, all three were completely different species. None of which he's ever seen before. His heart continues to race, almost beating out of his chest. His paws still sweat, but he doesn't make an effort to escape, like he's allured by them. He sits there, his face uncovered, but his arms still up, just under his chin. Nothing comes out of his mouth besides his heavy and shaky breath.
The small squirrel murmurs something to the bunny, to which she nods and says something back to them.
"Hey, it's okay," she says softly, "My name is Izzie. This here is Suzuki, and that right there is Dalt."
The other two gently wave at him, slowly and methodically. Sam is still frozen, staring at the trio as he keeps his body away from them.
"What's your name, buddy?" Izzie asks him.
He stares at her in silence, his limbs growing sore from holding still for so long. In the back of his mind, he fights between telling them his name or not. Though regardless of what he decided, it wasn't going to change anything for the situation.
"I-I… I'm Sam…"
Izzie smiles warmly at him, tilting her head as dimples form in her cheeks.
"Well hi there, Sam. It's a pleasure to meet you."
She holds her paw out to him, the very aura around her arm burns his skin the closer she gets, making his heart pound. His body stiffens and he jerks himself away again, holding his arms against his chest. Izzie jerks her paw back, staring at the pikachu with worry.
Dalt says something under his breath, "Jeez did we actually bump you that badly?"
Izzie looks right at him with narrow and sharp eyes.
"Shut it," she says.
She looks back at Sam, going back to that warm and soft smile.
"Listen, Sam. We're not gonna hurt you, alright? We are friends. We are family. We're here to welcome you. Please don't be afraid. I know we may have gotten off on the wrong foot, but I promise we'll make things better."
Sam's memory is like a broken record, only bits and pieces here and there is all he can recollect. Especially with these three, he can hardly remember ever seeing them before. Yet they're talking about being his friends and family. Sam doesn't have a family… and he's never had any friends before. Out of the trio, Izzie seemed like the friendliest. The other two seemed more hardened, and tough. Suzuki wears a red bandana around her head, with white wrapping around her paws. Dalt, much like Suzuki, wore white wrapping around his paws, but also around his twin tails, and his feet. Their expressions weren't nearly as warm as Izzie's, who tried to talk to him like an older sister to a baby brother.
Sam's body relaxed a bit, lowering his arms back below his body. He looks around himself, spotting a campfire and a tent. He continues looking around, but is unsatisfied with anything in sight.
"W-where am I?" He asks.
"We're still in Oran Forest," said Izzie, "But we're at a lil camping spot. Just for the night though, and then we'll be heading out tomorrow."
"H-heading out where?"
"Home."
"Home? W-what do you mean?"
"In the city," said Dalt, "I take it you've never been there before?"
Sam stares at him for a moment, then pans his gaze across the group. He looks back at Izzie, his gaze more fixated on her.
"I-I don't live there, I live out here… i-in the forest."
"But now you'll have a new home… a better home," said Izzie, "No more having to fend for yourself, no more living day by day for survival. Trust us, we were all in your same shoes before. It only gets better from here."
Sam just continues staring at them, almost like anything they were telling him were just flying past him.
Izzie stands up, and holds her paw out to him again.
"Here, it'll all make sense soon. I promise."
He stares at her paw, which was held out to him. For a moment he just sits there in silence, alone in his head with his thoughts. Keeping his paws to himself, he ignores her paw, and stands up himself, but methodically. He keeps his arms tucked closely to himself, as he looks around the group.
"W-what kind of pokemon are you?"
The three glance back at each other, like they were surprised.
"I'm a buneary," Izzie says, "Scientifically proven to be the most attractive pokemon ever, heh."
"I'm a buizel," Dalt says, "And Izzie's full of crap."
"I'm a pachirisu," Suzuki says.
This is the first time that Sam hears Suzuki's voice. She's very soft spoken, but not angelic like Izzie's.
"U-um… I-It's very nice to meet you guys… U-um…"
Sam gestures to them, trying to remember their names.
"Izzie."
"Dalt"
"Suzuki."
"A-ah… r-right… Sorry my memory is very um… broken."
"That's okay, you're not the only one. I can barely remember what I had for lunch yesterday hehe." Izzie said. "You said your name is Sam right? That's a cute name."
He feels his face heat up slightly, his cheeks becoming rosy.
"E-ehm… ah… t-thank you?"
She chuckles to herself softly. She puts her paws behind her back, sort of rotating her body left and right slightly with her hips, while keeping her feet planted to the ground.
"There's one more person you haven't met yet. I think you'll like him a lot. He's a really cool dude."
Sam just stares at her, his expression is hard to read. Izzie can't tell whether or not he's still uneasy or not, as he doesn't seem to display much emotion.
"Come on," she said, "He's over here."
She turned away and started walking towards the other direction, towards where the tent is. Dalt and Suzuki followed her, leaving Sam behind for a moment, before he mustered up the courage to follow behind them. Sam looked around at all the foreign scenery surrounding him, consisting of cookware and human supplies. Truly a fascinating sight to see, compared to the simplicity of a burrow on the side of a hill.
The front of the tent was partly open, and looking inside the crack, Sam sees a much larger figure. He was sitting down with his front side facing away from them. Sam's heart skips a beat, and he almost instinctively backs away from the doorway. The figure was talking to himself, with his head down, looking at his own lap. He mutters quietly to himself, with varying pauses in between his sentences, met with nothing but silence.
After a moment, he slides something into the pocket of his pants. He sighs before turning his body towards the pokemon. Sam immediately freezes in place, as the light skinned figure stands straight up, looming over the four like a great tower. He smiles with his teeth, as he opens his mouth to say hi. His hand reaches out to Sam, making his skin crawl and scuttle even though the human is still across the tent.
His shadow grows in size, becoming ten times larger against the tent wall than the human himself. His fingers seem to elongate, his nails sharpening and becoming rigid. His hello becomes a demonic snarl, and Sam's ears begin to ring as the skin across his body burns like fire. He breathes heavy and rapid, falling backwards onto his rear, before desperately trying to crawl backwards.
The human stops in his tracks, his sadistic smile softening before he gets onto his knees. He chuckles to himself, lowering his head to hide his face. He looks back up, his demonic smile is replaced by a normal, soft expression.
"Don't be scared" He said, "It's alright, I won't hurt you. I wanna be your friend."
As Sam's body relaxes, the boy's shadow shrinks back to normal size, along with his nails and fingers. The shadow in his eyes dissipates, and they become more friendly and welcoming. Sam's body begins to cool down as well, and the scuttling sensation goes away. While still shaking a bit, Sam does not continue to scoot away. Instead, he allows himself to scoot forward slightly, though not very far. The boy's smile grows slightly, and he shifts himself while on both of his knees.
"My name is Ryder. And I promise to take good care of you, alright?"
Sam eases more forward, becoming much closer to Ryder. Ryder reaches his hand out to him to pet his head, but Sam's skin burns and begins to crawl, and he quickly jerks himself back. Ryder stops, and pulls his arm back. He shifts up onto one knee, and leans on his leg with his elbows, looking down at Sam.
"Sorry. I won't rush."
He grunts as he pushes himself off his knee and onto his feet. Sam looks up at his monstrous size. Never before has he ever seen another creature so tall. The back of his neck is cranked to an uncomfortable position just to look at his face.
"You hungry?" Ryder asked, "I was just about to serve some chow. It might be a bit different from your usual diet, but I think you'll really like it."
He walks past everyone, Sam is very quick to move out of his way. Izzie walks up to Sam, gesturing at him with her paw.
"Come on," she said, "It's good food."
Dalt and Suzuki have already left, but Izzie is still waiting for him. Sam stares down at the ground, away from Izzie. Nothing makes sense. It's a completely different life, and he doesn't belong here. It's like someone erased his story from the page, and wrote a new one. Everyone is so nonchalant, but Sam seems to be more aware. Is there a piece of the puzzle he is missing? Some kind of memo he has missed?
"Sam?"
He looks up at her, coming back into reality after having been lost in his own thoughts. He sighs softly to himself, before walking to Izzie, who leads him over to the others. Ryder grabs a stack of bowls, and large bag, its contents sealed tightly inside. One by one, he individually rations out the food, giving each pokemon their rations. Sam is the last one in line. Ryder pours the food into the plastic bowl, and slowly reaches out to Sam. Sam slightly jerks back, but Ryder simply puts the bowl onto the ground, and gently scooches it towards him.
"Here you go buddy," He said, "Hope you like it."
He gives him a warm smile before getting up to put away the bag. Sam looks down at the bowl, observing all of the little brown pebbles inside. They were small, brown, and rather unappetizing in appearance. He picks one up, they weren't soft and juicy like berries. Instead they were dry and hard. As he puts the pebble back in the bowl, he notices brown dust stuck to his paws.
"Don't hate it till you try it," Izzie said.
Sam jumps, looking right at her as he puts a paw over his heart. He sighs as he hangs his head down, looking back to the bowl.
"They're really good," she said, "You don't have to eat them if you don't like them, but at least give one a try?"
Sam's mouth hangs open for a moment as he stares at the bowl in silence. Then he reaches out and grabs a single pebble. Bringing it up to his nose, the aroma of the pebble is strong, but it isn't a bad smell. It is an unfathomable smell, but not one to make him wretch. Slowly the pebble slides against his tongue, the flavor seeping out across all of his taste buds until he starts to chew.
He licks his own lips as the salty and savory flavors dance across his tongue, and the pebble breaks down into tiny pieces before going down into his esophagus. It isn't sweet or juicy, but the salty and savory flavor is a surprising pleasure. He looks back down at the bowl, all of the small pebbles create a sort of mini mountain.
He reaches down for more, eating one at a time, before grabbing an entire paw-full, and stuffing his mouth with a whole bunch at once. Izzie quietly chuckles to herself.
"Hey slow down," she said, "Don't wanna make yourself feel sick now. Besides, it's better if you enjoy every bite."
She grabs three pebbles, and gently chews on them, savoring every second of flavor before ingesting them. Sam releases the large paw-full of pebbles, and methodically grabs three at a time, much like Izzie.
"So," she says, "What do you think of them?"
Sam continues staring at the food, waiting to finish this paw-full before speaking.
"I-It's very good. Thank you."
"Heh, don't need to thank me. Ryder's the one who feeds us. Though occasionally I still like to go out for some berries."
Sam continues to eat, as Dalt and Suzuki sit by them. Suzuki is more distant and respectful of Sam's boundaries, but Dalt is more laid back, and doesn't think about it much.
"Well," Dalt said, "How you liking us so far?"
Sam pans his eyes over to him, but nothing comes out of his mouth. His ears hang downwards, like floppy bunny ears.
"Uh… d-did you hear me–or…?"
"Just let him be," Suzuki said, "Give him some time to adjust. No need to pressure him."
"I-I wasn't trying to pressure him, I was just asking."
As the three talk, their voices start to fade away, becoming distorted and muffled, like hearing voices underwater. Sam continues stuffing his face with food, while staring at the grass below him, drowning out the noise. Sam tries to recall the recent events leading up to this, but like a broken record, bits and pieces are nothing but static and muffled sounds.
He must've been the most stupid pikachu on earth, or perhaps it is pikachu genetics that make his brain the way it is, with foggy memories lost to time. Muffled voices make themselves known in his head, repeating the same unidentified word. Getting louder, and more clear until he can hear his name being called.
"Sam," Izzie said with her voice raised.
His body jolts like being struck by lightning, and he looks around until he finds Izzie who still hasn't moved.
"U-uh… s-sorry?"
"You're fine," she said as she chuckles, "Just making sure you're alright. Are you alright?"
Sam nods his head lightly, still not making direct eye contact.
"You sure? You've just been really quiet," Dalt said.
"Well he hasn't been here that long, and we've just met," said Suzuki, "Of course he's gonna be quiet and shy."
"Well yeah, but Izzie and I weren't this quiet when we met you."
"Guys please," Izzie said.
She sighs as she stands up, picking up her empty bowl.
"Let me put that up for you."
She grabs Sam's bowl which is also empty, and stacks it over her's. She carries them over to the other kitchen stuff, as Dalt and Suzuki finish their meals. She walks back over to him, keeping that same warm smile.
"Come with me," she said, "There's something I wanna show you."
She leads him over back to the tent, where she digs through one of the pockets in Ryder's bag. After a moment, she begins pulling out dozens of photos. Each of them in their own setting, with either the whole team in it, a select few, or one. Izzie shows them to Sam, who curiously picks some up to look at.
"These photos are memories of our time together. They represent our bond, and friendship. They show our greatest moments, and our happiest."
Sam looks at one photo, which shows Ryder holding Suzuki and Izzie on both of his shoulders, all of them smiling with wacky poses. Another photo shows Izzie and Dalt fighting, with her ice beam, and his water gun colliding together, creating a beautiful sphere in the middle.
"These are cool." Sam said.
"Thanks. They really are cool. It also proves just how false those horror stories you may hear about pokemon trainers from wild pokemon. They're not scary monsters that enslave and abuse pokemon. We're a team… a family. And we're all in this together, no strings attached."
Sam continues staring at the photos, processing each one and creating his own rendition of them in his head. Thinking about what they could have been up to that day when the photo was taken. Sam recalls the elders' warnings about humans. Telling everyone to avoid them as much as possible, or else they would be at risk of being captured and enslaved. Taken away from their families for a life of servitude.
Sam does not have a family however, so it isn't like Ryder stole him away from anyone. But Sam still did all he could to avoid humans, but in the end– here he is now. Izzie and her friends seem rather happy though, and are convinced of them being family with Ryder. Ryder does seem like a chill, nice human as well.
But this isn't a life that Sam chose, this was one he was forced into, against his will. Why should he be happy here, when they are the ones who took him away?
But it is nice to be treated kindly for once, and to be taken care of. It is a foreign feeling to him, to not feel like an outcast. To be made part of something, rather than being pushed away. Being judged for who he was. Then again, neither Izzie or any of these guys actually knew who Sam was, and why he was such an outcast. If they knew, they would probably treat him the same as his village. As everyone else he has ever met.
He gave her back the photos, as she started putting them back into the bag.
"Why did you show me these?" He asked.
She looks back up at him, and stands up before giving him a warm expression.
"Because I know you're really uncomfortable around us, and I know you're scared. I don't want you to think we're bad people, and I want you to be comfortable around us. Trust me, I was in your position as well. I didn't know what to think of Ryder and Suzuki when they caught me. But after some time, I realized how pure their hearts are. And now, I'm stronger than I ever was before. Not only that, but I'm part of a family again, and it's wonderful. Plus it's fun."
Sam hangs his head for a moment, pondering to himself.
"I-I'm just…" He couldn't find the words.
Izzie tilts her head.
"Are you just a quiet guy?"
He nods his head.
"I-I've never been good with other pokemon."
"That's okay. I'm not really good at socializing either. Just, these guys have helped me get better at it."
He looks off to the side, his ears hanging down past his cheeks. Izzie perks her head up, and gently places her paw on his shoulder to tell him something. As her paw makes contact with his shoulder, he looks over to look at it, and immediately his skin begins to crawl. Her paw sears the skin on his shoulders, and his ears ring. As his heart pounds and sweat drips from his paws, he quickly smacks her paw away, and turns his shoulder away from her with a yelp.
She looks right at him with a sort of offended and confused expression, her eyes not knowing what to convey.
"W-what the f… s-sorry I didn't mean to scare you!"
Sam holds his paw over his shoulder, looking back at her with shaky limbs.
"N-no– I…"
He looks away in shame, as she studies him. He hasn't moved away from her, but merely moved his shoulder away from her reach. Her eyes widen a bit as she comes to a realization.
"Y-you're afraid of being touched?"
With his eyes clenched closed, he nods his head. Izzie's open ear goes limp, as she looks at him from the side.
"I'm really sorry. I-I'll be more careful from now on."
He uncovers his shoulder, and opens his eyes to look at her. Still ashamed of his ridiculous phobia, he thanks her for being understanding. For a moment, things go silent between the two pokemon. Sam gets lost in his thoughts while Izzie tries to figure out how to break the ice.
"W-well, what about you?" She asked, "I'd like to get to know you better, everyone here does. What's Sam the pikachu like?"
Sam grumbles to himself as he thinks, holding on to his elbows as he looks off to the side.
"I-I don't know. W-what do you mean?"
"Like… What's your personality? What do you do for fun? What are YOUR fondest moments in life?"
"Hm…"
Sam looks at Izzie for a moment, but retreats his gaze back to the ground. In his mind, he searches inside the inner mechanisms of his brain, searching through all of the books and files, skimming through and turning each page. Most of them were foggy or unintelligible. It's like the idea is there, but the description is vague.
"I-I… I don't know…"
Izzie's gaze fixates on him, the side of her mouth extends a bit, making an eye narrow.
"Hey, don't worry about it now. I get it. We just met, and that shock factor still hasn't settled yet. Why don't you get some rest? It's getting late anyways. We can talk more about it tomorrow."
Sam remains silent, rubbing his arm as he keeps his gaze away from Izzie's. Izzie keeps her gaze fixated on Sam, almost like she was sort of studying him. Trying to figure out his feelings, and character. She gestures to him, beginning to lead him outside. Before they leave, Ryder walks inside, getting down on his knees to fit through the little passageway.
"Oh. Eh, hi." He said. "Are you two getting along?"
Sam looks up at Ryder, looking towards him, but no eye contact. Izzie also looks over to Ryder, but doesn't show any clear answer through body movement. Regardless, Ryder still smiles and slowly approaches Sam.
"You still scared, Pikachu? I understand if you are, but I promise we're goodfellas."
Ryder reaches his hand out to Sam, but Sam doesn't make an advancement. He keeps his gaze fixated on his hand however. Ryder lowers his hand down, and slumps his shoulders as he shifts himself around on his knees.
"You're a very shy fella aren't you? I am too. Yeah, well, the campfire's lit. Later on we're gonna roast some marshmallows. You can stay in here if you want, but come out if you want some chill with us, and have some sweets.
Ryder grabs the stuff he was looking for, and carries them outside. Izzie walks past Sam, wearing that same warm smile as before.
"We can talk more there if you'd like. Or not, if you wanna just rest. But I wanna make sure you're alright, and I don't wanna leave you out. Okay?"
Sam looks over to Izzie, and lightly nods his head. Her smile grows a bit, as her little cotton-ball tail wiggles.
"Right this way then."
Sam follows behind her, keeping silent as they wander off outside to the fire. The sun is setting, turning the sky into a dark purplish-orange hue. The forestry around the area blocks some of the sunlight, making the area much darker. The fire however, gave them enough warmth and light to suffice.
Ryder pulls out his phone to snap a photo of the fire, typing down text to paste in front of the image, sending it to his friends. Suzuki jumps up onto his back, and climbs up onto his shoulder as he sits down. The two look at each other as he rubs his hand over her cheek. Suzuki watches his screen over his shoulders as he scrolls through social media.
Dalt joins up with Izzie, who stands near the fire pit. She gazes into the bark, as the flames burn the surface into a charcoal black, before disintegrating into dark smoke. Beautiful balls of flame float into the air, as the heat wraps the buneary in warmth and comfort.
"Where's the pikachu?" Dalt asked.
"You forgot his name? Don't listen to him Sa–"
Izzie looks to her side, but doesn't find Sam. She quickly looks around, the pikachu being nowhere in sight. It isn't until she looks over by the kitchenware, where she spots Sam sitting alone against a tree. She sighs as her shoulders slump.
"I didn't even notice he left."
"He's very quiet I guess."
"He is. We talked a little bit in the tent. I showed him some of our pictures. I can't tell if he's just like this, or if we're making him nervous."
Dalt crosses his arms, "Probably both to be honest. It IS his first day. What did you guys talk about?"
"Just stuff. He said he's scared of being touched."
"Really? I've never heard of that before."
"Yeah, well, just be mindful of that alright?"
"Well I mean, that's gonna make things kinda complicated. Can't really battle without getting a little touchy feely sometimes."
"Ah you're right, I didn't even think about that."
She puts her paw over her chin as she stares off into the fire. What is Ryder going to do if Sam's phobia gets in the way of battling? More importantly, has Sam ever even been in a battle before? Surely having been in the wild, he's been in at least one?
"Sooo… what are we gonna do about him?" Dalt asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Like– with his whole phobia thing and being so quiet?"
"Just give him time. We can't rush him."
"What about Ryder though? Remember, we kinda have a big event coming up soon?"
"Ryder will understand. Besides, we have plenty of time before then to earn Sam's trust. Ryder's a really good trainer, he'll get through to him."
"You sure? Sam is a very um… special case."
"Bruh, he just got here. Give him some time, you'll see."
"Alright, alright. That's fair. But the whole no touching thing, is definitely going to be a problem."
"I know."
Izzie looks back at Sam, who is curled up against the tree with his knees tucked into his chest. Should he tell them? Or can he keep it secret? Perhaps this is an opportunity to start over. Make a new life. Is this Arceus' plan for him? But what will happen if they find out, after hiding it for who knows how long? Then what?
Not only that, but what does his future even have in store for him now? Now that he is domesticated? He has heard many stories about humans, and how they capture pokemon for sport. Is Ryder the same monster as the ones described in the stories? Izzie and the others seem really happy, especially in the photos she showed him. But is it because they are brainwashed? Or are their feelings truly genuine?
Izzie kneels down in front of him.
"Hey," she said softly, "Don't be shy."
Sam looks up at her, before looking back down at the grass.
"You ever had a marshmallow before?"
He shakes his head.
"Well lemme tell you something. You have not LIVED until you've tried one. Trust me, it'll make you feel so much better. Care to roast one with me?"
Now he looks up at her, the caring, soothness of her voice sort of makes his heart do a couple of flips. It has been a lifetime since anyone has ever talked to him in such a manner, these feelings are so foreign. The slightest curve rises in his mouth, and he nods.
Izzie smiles and stands up, holding out her paw to him. She holds it out for a moment, only for Sam to just sit there staring at it. Her head sort of sinks back into her neck, and she pulls it away from him.
"S-sorry, I forgot."
She still maintains her warm smile, and awkwardly rubs the back of her head. Sam pushes himself up, and dusts himself off. The two head off to grab their own marshmallows. Izzie hands him one to try for himself. He squishes it in his paw, mesmerized by the texture and appearance. Izzie giggles as he squishes and picks at it.
"You gonna eat it hehe?"
He looks back at her, sort of embarrassed.
"Ah–sorry…"
"Don't be sorry heh. You're fine."
He looks back at the marshmallow, and puts it in his mouth. As he chews, he notices the foreign texture and flavor. Much chewier than anything he's ever eaten, and much much sweeter. Soft like a cloud, but a bit hard to chew. His eyes light up, each bite better than the last. Izzie chuckles as he doesn't even notice his tail wagging.
"What do you think?"
He covers his mouth as he tries to speak between each chew.
"I-It's… really really good."
He finally swallows the last bite, and licks the remaining remnants from his lips.
"Hehe, I told you they'd make ya feel better. Just look at your tail."
Sam looks back at his tail, and a faint blush blooms across his face as he forces his tail to stop with his paws.
"A-ah…"
"Hehe don't be so embarrassed. You chill. That's not even the best part. Now we're gonna roast some."
She grabbed two sticks, and two more marshmallows. Sliding each marshmallow through one of the ends of each stick, she hands him one. After grabbing it, she leads him over to the fire, where she slowly lowers the end of the stick into the fire.
"Just like this."
Sam synchronizes with her, watching as the marshmallow at the end of the stick catches the flames, its soft white surface slowly fading into a much darker saturation. His eyes sort of light up, his gaze glued onto the fire roasting the treat.
"Careful now," Izzie said, "Don't wanna burn it into charcoal now, unless you prefer it that way. Personally, I like mine to be a nice, golden brown."
She pulls the stick away from the fire, the marshmallow continues to burn like a torch, until she extinguishes the flame with her breath. Just like she said, her marshmallow is roasted to a near perfect golden brown. Sam stares off at her creation, as she eats the marshmallow from the stick. She hums to herself as she chews on the sticky treat. She looks at Sam and points at his marshmallow.
"Oop, it's burning."
Sam snaps his head back to the fire, and quickly pulls out his marshmallow. He quickly blows on the stick, until the flame is out. His ears go a bit limp, as he observes the marshmallow with black, charcoal like spots around the surface.
"It's alright," she said, "Some people like it that way. Dalt does at least."
Sam brings the end of the stick closer to him, and brushes his paw against the surface of the marshmallow. He feels the subtle difference of the texture, now feeling more crisp and dry. He pulls the marshmallow off of the stick, and takes a bite. Now the sweet flavor has been dampened by the roast, but after the first bite, he is hit with that same sweetness as before, but with a much gooier texture. A few parts that have been burnt are bitter, but the rest that have been well roasted give off a nice gooey texture and flavor.
"Good?" Izzie asked.
Sam nods his head to her, the corner of his lips slightly curved upwards. Ryder and the rest of the gang join in moments later, bringing their own sticks and marshmallows for the fire. Ryder sits down in between everyone as he roasts his marshmallow. Sam looks over at Dalt, who merely burnt his marshmallow to a crisp. The entire surface of the marshmallow has completely changed from cloudy white, to black. Sam shudders as Dalt eats the charred marshmallow, even smelling the burnt treat from where he was standing. Dalt looks over to Sam.
"Don't judge me," he said.
Sam recoils and looks off to the side.
"Ah s-sorry…"
Dalt chuckles.
"You're fine dude, relax. I'm not offended."
Dalt grabs another marshmallow to roast, while Ryder continues to roast his own. Much like Dalt, Ryder also likes to burn his marshmallows. Once cooked to his liking, he eats the treat straight from the stick, eating in comfortable silence.
Sam looks around the fire, watching everyone as they roast marshmallows and hang out. His gaze keeps scanning around, looking at himself, and watching everyone else. It's almost surreal, like it's all a dream. Being surrounded by so many different creatures. No judgment, no prosecution, and no fear. They don't know him though, so would they still treat him the same if they did know?
He stares off into the fire again, in a sort of trance. Within the flames, images and moments of his past rewind and unfold in front of him. Isolation and abandonment. Shame in oneself, and frowned upon by fellow peers. Wishing to be born different, or not born at all. An outcast, cursed and diseased. A bad omen. A mistake.
Being around these guys, it feels so wrong. It feels like he shouldn't be here, and that he doesn't belong here. Having been isolated for so long, he's forgotten how to even communicate with others. All he can do is sit there, and hide.
"You okay?" Ryder asked.
Sam looks up at him, then just looks back at the fire. Humans can't understand pokemon, so why say anything? Ryder's hand moves a bit, but he quickly pulls it back to his side.
"I've always wanted a pikachu. Been one of my favorites for years. Now I've seen a couple of em during my time out here, but none of them really clicked with me. But you, I think you're special."
Now Sam moves his gaze over to Ryder, who is looking down at him with a smile.
"Yeah. And I'm not just saying that either. I can't really put my finger on it, but, I guess after watching you for a bit, I can see myself in you. Like maybe you and I aren't so different. Maybe I'm just jumping to conclusions, but looking at you is kinda like looking in a mirror of sorts."
How could this human boy possibly see himself in Sam? How could a human possibly relate to a wild pikachu? Especially a pikachu with his special case? While Sam didn't fully believe what he said, his words stuck with him in his head while going to bed.
Later on that night the fire kept burning, but everyone else was going to sleep. Ryder changed his clothing and cleared the area inside the tent for an ample sleeping room. Ryder holds the tent open while the pokemon crawl inside. Sam is the last one left outside, already digging himself his own little hole to sleep in. He hears Ryder call out to him.
"Hey Pikachu," he calls out, "There's still room for one more!"
Sam's ear perks up, and he looks over to the rest of the team. They all peek their heads out, waving at him to come inside. It's weird not being shunned away, but instead to be welcomed. It makes his heart flutter and his cheeks flush. However, he feels more at home by himself. Secluded from everyone else, like it's always been. He waves to them, but continues prepping his sleeping hole.
Izzie comes up behind him, as he finishes up.
"Hey, Sam," she said, "You don't have to sleep by yourself. It's much more cozy inside."
He looks over to her.
"B-but I like being alone. I-I'm more accustomed to it. S-sorry…"
"Y-you sure? I mean it's gonna get cold and we'd all feel awful for leaving you out here."
"Don't worry about me. I want to be alone. M-maybe another time… s-sorry…"
"It's okay. If it's more comfortable for you, then I understand. We'll keep the tent open though, if you change your mind."
Izzie walks back over to the tent, looking back at Sam as he brushes the ground beneath him, before curling up into a ball and laying down in the ground. She leaves the zipper door open, and finds a spot on the floor to lay in. Inside the tent, Ryder lays down on his own sleeping mat, while suzuki lies nuzzled up next to his side, and Dalt and Izzie lay down around the rest of the inside.
Outside, Sam listens to the crackling of the fire, and the lapping water of the nearby pond. Curled up in the ground, he thinks to himself whether this is destiny, or an unlucky turn of events. And whether or not if it is destiny or not, should he embrace it and make himself a life he's always dreamed of, or should he try and run away? What good would it do to run away? There is nothing for him out here in the forest. But here, he has no freedom. Unless the tales are merely exaggerated. Even if he does embrace it, how long can he keep the act up? How long until the secret comes to light?
Then what?
His lips hang open, as the sounds of his own snores spring him awake. Looking around with only his eyes, he finds himself in a dark, empty plain. He grunts as he springs up, the sounds of a crying child echoes across the wind. He looks around the empty plain, his spine tingling from the shrieking of the child. Finally his gaze stumbles across a small pichu, alone on the ground. Dirty and hurt.
Sam quickly runs up to the pichu, and holds him tightly against his chest. Tears running down the sides of his cheeks, Sam cares for the pichu until his cries stop. For a moment they sit there in silence, until Sam looks down at the pichu to find that his paws are covered in blood. Sam recoils as he quickly finds the pichu in someone else's arms. Two shadowy figures, surrounding the pichu as they care for it. Sam looks on as the pichu opens its eyes, having the same sky blue hue like Sam's. Sam's heart stops beating for a long moment, as his breath comes to a halt. All he can do is stare, as tears run down his cheeks, at the young baby boy being taken in by these two mysterious shadows…
To be continued…