Past-Life Archive
Name: Solaire Carter
Lifespan: 1968–1984
I don't own Pokemon.
Born with talent, pushed to her limits.
Potential realised, by those in it to win it.
To reach the top was all she knew.
It was her parents' wish…
…was it hers too?
Today was the day her parents were going to die. Solaire did not know how or the exact time when, but it would happen today. She just knew.
Thus here she was in the kitchen, trying to whip up an in-bed breakfast for them. Why not treat them well on their final day? After all that they'd done, surely they deserve a welcome end.
From the moment she was born, they knew that she was something special. They decided that she was a Pokemon destined for great things and wondrous achievements.
They sent her to courses every day to pick up many talents.
They sent her to multiple tuitions every day to ensure she got the highest grades.
They highlighted her most minor mistakes to fine-tune them to perfection.
They enrolled her in contests where she steamrolled the competition.
They showed off Solaire's achievements to friends, family, and any Pokemon who would listen.
They got what they wanted; a daughter they were proud of.
She got insecurities and depressive symptoms.
She never got to make friends. It was drilled into her that everyone was a competitor she HAD to surpass. Relationships with others were formed to benefit her in some way, and when that Pokemon's usefulness had passed, both parties drifted away into obscurity. It had helped her get an edge over the top percentile in Rattata races present in every aspect of her life. It was how she gleaned slight moments of fame; a news article there, and a small headline somewhere else about her accomplishments.
It never lasted, though. The attention Solaire had garnered always slipped away eventually. It was too small to be satisfied with her efforts, and yet sufficient to leave her wanting more. Her parents no longer pushed her to her limits, but she did so anyway, hoping to receive as much attention as she did in her former glory days. Attention from family. From friends. From Pokemon elsewhere. She took all she could get, although, by this point, it was never enough.
Solaire was left alone, constantly trying to fill a hole that kept digging itself deeper.
That didn't even include her other extraordinary traits. Her cyan gem and red eyes—a deviation from her species' normal colouration—drummed up headlines since her birth. She recalled her childhood spent in front of cameras and clipboards, at the mercy of photographers and scientists that poked and prodded and ordered. She'd earned a small sum of money after each photoshoot or experiment, which her parents used to better the family's living quarters. She'd gotten a larger bedroom, but it still felt as cramped as before with how much time her parents spent in it. They looked over her shoulder while she did her homework, and notified her of her other responsibilities when she had finished.
Her parents were overjoyed to see the breakfast: A baker's dozen of cupcakes alongside two warm cups of coffee made to their preferences, plated on a large silver tray. It was a first for her.
They ushered her and the food out of the bedroom, down the stairway and into the living room. It was the best place in their house to snap a picture. Whenever she returned home with a new award, certificate, or even a newspaper or magazine that simply mentioned her name, to the living room her family gathered to snap another photo. Every picture recording her efforts had her sandwiched between her parents.
They were a huge part of her success, Solaire reminded herself. It was only through them pushing her that she achieved as much as she did.
"Hold the tray a little higher, Solaire."
Her extraordinary psychic abilities. A gift that she was told to treasure. Her parents had told that story millions of times to millions of people: It was on the day they brought Solaire home from the hospital. When they arrived in her room at night to check on her, they were both astonished to find the Espeon levitating three metres above her crib.
The image they took was plastered all over the next day's newspapers.
Examinations weren't the only thing she had to prep for. Interview answers were shoved into her brain too, answers that would elevate her and her parents higher and higher in the public eye. She wouldn't be able to name all of the talk show hosts she sat in front of, surrounded by an audience that oohed and aahed at her every move.
Solaire had been encouraged by her parents to perform increasingly amazing feats, to the delight of the viewers at the spectacle she created on television. Local news networks sometimes still aired the clip of her lifting a semi-trailer truck.
Her parents squeezed everyone closer into the frame, flashing their pearly whites.
A car crashed through their living room and killed everyone instantly.
Solaire had not expected to die today.
Ironic.
She was greeted by Arceus in the Hall of Legends and introduced to her mentor, Mewtwo. They shared similar innate powerful psychic abilities that allowed each party to relate with one another on a scale she hadn't felt back on Earth. It didn't mean that training would be any easier though, since Mewtwo was already a stern Legendary to learn under.
She'd wanted to become more powerful, so Mewtwo watched her isolated in her blank room with them for days at a time, meditating. Testing her after each self-imprisoned session. Giving small tips on how to improve in the areas she wanted.
Her Psychic skills were honed even further in dexterity and intensity through her training. Mewtwo even commented once that she would be able to surpass him one day. That comment made two decades ago had stuck with her ever since.
Time was now a plentiful resource and she put it to good use. Every faction of the Arts. All types of combat. She practised each one behind closed doors, confiding in Mewtwo with her attempts until mastery.
Solaire lay on her bed after a long training day. Mewtwo had wanted to focus on training mind and muscle simultaneously through a combined course that tested both. It was definitely strenuous, but achievable— for her.
Her insecurities used to nip at her self-esteem, but they did not matter anymore. She was a Champion now.
The best of the best.
She'd done it.
She was at the top.
"I am proud of you," Solaire told herself before bed. It was probably what her parents would have said if they were around to see her now. She'd excelled in everything they wished her to do well in. They would be proud of her now, wouldn't they?
The voices of doubt no longer whispered at her, but there was one voice left.
Your voice, reading this sentence right now.
She knows you, the reader, exist. She knows, but she doesn't care. Unlike her parents, you do not affect her in any way. You watch her complete tasks, and she can deal with that. She has dealt with that before. She will prove to you that she IS the best Pokemon out there.
You do not bother her as much as her parents.
You do not bother her as much as an author's existence does.
Solaire knows she's in a story, but that knowledge ends when a chapter does. She doesn't know when other Pokemon will end until a chapter is planned. During the fleeting moments between concept and realisation, to know that a Pokemon is fated to die… it scares her.
That is why she does not like to use her psychic powers to this extent, but she does it anyway out of curiosity. When will another rival show up? What does she need to surpass them?
What will happen to her? The Champions? Solaire believes that because she is in a story, living forever is a pipe dream. As long as there is a new chapter, the flow of the plot is almost as inevitable as the flow of time. Someone will further the story.
Who will it be? And what will happen when they do? She does not know.
Perhaps if she doesn't form bonds with anyone, she won't be as devastated when she knows when they leave for good.
That's what she thinks.
Or is that what the author makes her think?
"It is," Solaire said under her breath, knowing full well everyone could hear. "And making them read my Past-Life before I give it to Zenith two chapters later is a plot hole, by the way."