He was cold.
He was hungry.
He cried.
He was cold again.
He was hungry again.
And he cried, again.
He was cold.
He was hungry.
He didn't cry.
Waking up to a dark, filthy place wasn't anything new to him. The hunger or the cold wasn't anything new either, finding food on the street was quite difficult with Pokemon as his opponents.
But he managed, Pokemon were quite similar to people by his reasoning. He made some bribe here, with food he scavenged, and whispered something to others.
One would imagine that Pokemon on the street would all fight savagely, and he would be probably right. But they weren't without reasoning. Some of them at least.
He got up, his rags of clothes hanging on him. Cole tried to keep at least some of his hygiene as much as he could. To not die and also to feel like a human for a few minutes, not a Pokemon fighting for his food.
He went out of the old building he had been residing in for some months, in the past it was probably some sort of store. Now it was just an old building, almost falling on itself.
Around him, it was pretty much the same, certainly not something one would expect from Jubilife City. He walked around, hiding before some Pokemons, nodding to others.
Cole got to the end of his street and stood in an alley leading out of it.
He simply sat down and watched the other people.
This was probably his favorite way to spend his time. Just watching.
He saw people on this early morning going to work, trainers laughing and couples giggling.
Cole did not find himself longing for anything. He also did not cry as he did many times in the past. He simply watched.
He also heard some interesting conversations along the way as the people moved. Some people talked about their research, which was not common, and most of the conversations were about Pokemon and training.
Going into his bag, Cole took out a lone notebook some old pencil and charcoal. He opened the notebook, seeing many of his charts and sometimes his notings about things that interested him, most about Pokemon he saw here or on the street he lived in.
Pokemon interested him, like many others. So, it wasn't anything special, but he liked doing it. And also people-watching, as he was doing right now.
He started looking around for something to dra-
Something hit his face, hard, and he sprawled on the ground. His notebook and writing things flew away from him.
His head hurt a little bit, he patted it gently feeling a stinging sensation.
Cole looked to his right, seeing the reason his head was hurting right now. It was a small blue feline Pokemon, it was also immediately on its legs and looking out of the alley.
He followed his gaze and saw a small kid, younger than even him.
"It is your fault that we lost! Don't ever come back! You are pathetic and weak and and..." He got lost at the end as he was shaking from his apparent anger.
The people around them stopped and looked on.
The kid also looked around himself, his face looking nervous and he seemed to almost take it as a challenge as he took out a Pokeball and stepped on it.
A red light shined on the small Pokemon and then a sound as if something broke was heard all around.
The kid, with tears in his eyes, turned around and went away.
The people looked on even then.
Cole looked at the small Pokemon, it seemed like someone had killed him then and there. The Pokemon didn't even start to follow the apparent trainer, it just stood there watching his back.
Cole picked up his notebook and his writing things and started to draw the small Pokemon and the trainer's back.
Some people went to the small Pokemon, whispering kind things, giving some food, and also some gesturing to a Pokeball but the Pokemon didn't respond to any.
Every time the Pokemon didn't respond they just sighed and after a pat went on their way.
Everyone also seemed to ignore Cole, as if he didn't exist. He was used to this, he was dirty and stunk. The Pokemon was cute. He was not. Or that was probably why they did that. He didn't know himself.
But he drew the Pokemon, not out of some sick pleasure at the abandonment. He didn't know why he was drawing it, he just wanted to.
Cole finished after some time, the Pokemon didn't move a muscle. He looked at the food on the ground and knew that if they weren't in broad daylight right now then the Pokemon would probably already jump them both for the food.
He looked at the Pokemon, and he recognized him as Shinx. He saw a few of those around, there is also a Luxio on his street, which is one of the strongest Pokemon around his street.
Shinx suddenly started wailing like a small child, just wailing.
The passerby's looked at Shinx something akin to pity but moved on, focusing on their lives probably.
The cry was really loud to his ears being almost right next to him but it surprised him even more when the Pokemon turned around and jumped right at him.
Almost hugging his midsection with his claws out, it hurt quite a bit but Cole decided to ignore it as the cry was muffled by his rugs of clothes. For the Shinx's part, it didn't seem disgusted at all. Which was weird. What was also weird was the physical touch he was experiencing. He didn't remember when was the last time someone touched him.
Cole continued to watch the people but it got somewhat distracting as more and more people looked at him back.
He looked down at the Pokemon currently lying in his lap, the probable reason why he was gaining more looks. It was a little funny what a Pokemon could do for an image.
He returned his things to his back and slowly stood up, carrying the Shinx in his arms.
He promptly strode out into the street, the people giving him strange looks. The Pokemon in his arms clung to him heavily, as if finding some comfort in his touch.
Cole went into the direction of the Pokemon Center of Jubilife.
After quite a long time, as Jubilife was a big city, he got there. All around him were trainers of all kinds. He got more than fair share of looks, probably due to his clothes and filth.
He ignored them, he didn't feel any shame.
Cole continued, some trainers almost seemed to want to stop him.
The doors opened and he walked in, immediately hearing the sounds of chatter and talking. More trainers were inside.
He went to the reception, Nurse Joy and her assistants were already there, working or talking amongst themself.
Shinx for his part just seemed to be looking around with curious eyes.
As he went into the vicinity of the Reception some trainer blocked his path.
"Hey, man. You shouldn't really be her-".
Cole again ignored him and just sidestepped him, also dodging the trainer's arm that shot out to catch him. He wasn't as fast as Pokemon.
Nurse Joy and the other workers tensed up as he got to the reception.
Cole just put Shinx on the reception desk.
"He was abandoned." His voice was rough, accompanied by a strong rasp. One of the many consequences of scrapping with Pokemon sometimes. The food wasn't free.
Nurse Joy almost jumped up as he started speaking but looked at the Shinx with pity,
"Oh, the poor thing." She wanted to pet him but the little guy just growled at her and jumped into Cole's arms.
She looked at Cole for the first time, really looked at him. Her eyes were very strange at that moment,
"How old are you?" Her voice was gentle, though it didn't really matter to Cole.
He tried putting the Shinx back at the desk but he wouldn't let go of him. Tearing up his clothes even more and revealing his pale chest, full of scars.
The Nurse seemed almost horrified as she was looking at him.
Then someone caught him by the shoulder and started to drag him away,
"Stop!" Nurse Joy shouted.
The one dragging him stopped, Cole looked and saw the trainer from before. Brown hair and eyes, shorter than Cole but older. He just looked at the Nurse questioningly, not seeming to understand her.
"Don't you see that he needs help?!" She almost shouted.
Cole nodded, the Shinx needed help. And started to again try to put him on the desk, but he just didn't let go. His claws even drawing his blood by how much he was holding him.
He looked down at him, the small Pokemon seemed frightened and alone.
He felt nostalgic seeing those emotions and impressions.
Cole looked up and saw that the Nurse seemed to have watery eyes as she watched him and the Pokemon, her eyes going up and down from him to the Shinx.
She went around the desk and hugged him and the Pokemon, he felt as his shoulder got wet.
After a while she started dragging him away,
"Come with me please."
Cole thought about it, he didn't really want to but he still needed to help Shinx.
So he went.