Just a note that the italics are memories of the past.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

Piplup POV:

The cool evening air was a wonderful contrast to the extreme heat from earlier. The sunset painted the sky a delightful shade of orange, signaling the end of the day. Puffy clouds floated lazily in the sky, adding to the brilliant canvas of color around us. A gentle breeze flowed by us with the pleasant scent of the sea as the boat made its way across the ocean.

Jervis had finally arrived with the boat, letting us escape from the dangerous Onix Island. I was so thankful; it felt like we had been stuck at that cursed place forever!

Now that we were safe, I thought about the memories I had on Onix island. The ones without a certain wonderful otter in them.

The Onix had been constantly attacking us, just like the King Steelix had warned. I doubted it actually was a king at first; but when all the Onix started attacking us I realized it was telling the truth.

I remembered how we had been blocked by a bunch of those awful Onix. We were stuck in a canyon with our backs to a wall of rocks and fighting them seemed like the only way out. So Dawn ordered me to do a Headbutt on one.

I rubbed my sore head at the memory. That still hurt; what a stupid idea that had been!

Then there had been a roar and all the Onix halted. It was so strange and made no sense; until a shiny Onix appeared in the distance."Leave them!" it had roared, and all the Onix had obeyed, turning around and crawling off. I remember I had been confused why they obeyed.

"That must be the Queen" Oshawott had muttered. Yep, that explained why the Onix had followed its order.

I shook my head to dispel the memories. Enough of that! We were all safe now and that's what mattered.

I noticed Meloetta sitting alone on a bench and realized how much had changed for me, and in a short period of time. As I watched her hair blow in the wind and noticed her eyes reflecting the setting sun, I realized I no longer saw her as a 'radiant beauty', but rather a nice-looking Pokémon. In less than a day, I no longer desired her as my mate.

Now, however, I felt those feelings with Oshawott, but even more intensely. I felt happy when I saw his shimmering eyes. I felt cared for when he smiled and winked at me after we did our pretend fighting. I felt safe when he was next to me, standing so tall and confident. He just made me feel so protected, so…loved. And I knew how much I loved it, and that I was starting to…love him.

Could it even be love, especially in such a short period of time?

I sighed before hopping up on the bench next to Meloetta. I really did not want to continue this act, especially now that we were off the island. But I figured it was probably a good idea to do so until we reached shore. Then we could figure it out from there.

"Piplup (Hello gorgeous!)" I greeted her. She turned slightly to look at me before I was hit on the side and faceplanted on the floor. "Oww."

"Osha! (Hi beautiful!)" I heard, making me feel jealous. I knew this was all an act, but it still hurt to hear him say that to another Pokémon. I jumped back up and knocked Oshawott down with me. We pressed our foreheads together and growled at each other in pretend anger.

Meloetta started to sing a song, apparently buying our act. It had become obvious she didn't like conflict.

However, this was a different song I had never heard before. It also seemed to be drawing up the same type of memories for everyone.

"Whoa, listening to that beautiful singing somehow makes me think of my home!" Iris exclaimed.

"Yeah, me too!" Dawn added.

"And me!" Cilan said.

"Wow, me too" said Ash.

"Myself as well" Jervis said.

"Dad…" I heard Oshawott say. I looked at him and saw a happy smile on his face. I guess 'home' was different for everyone. But why wasn't I-

"You actually came in useful after all."

My eyes widened at hearing his voice, causing panic to flood my body. 'No, not that home!' I thought as my vision faded into the past. 'Not him!'

"Premium Piplup Purveyors" the sign read at the entrance. The private hellhole of a breeder I was hatched and raised at.

I struggled in the rotting rope tied around me. It was so tight that I was having a hard time breathing. Let alone speaking. But that was surely done by design.

I was pushed from behind and stumbled forward, tripping and faceplanting into the soft soil.

"Who knew such a little, weak runt would end up protecting us all" his voice said mockingly as I struggled to get on my knees. "This is the perfect plan! We feed the Ekans some bait, then we swoop down from the trees and kill them!" Cheers erupted from the other Piplup, giving the leader, and my personal torturer, praise.

"What a great plan!"

"Brilliant!"

"Nobody will miss him!"

"Nobody cares about him!"

"What a great use for a runt!"

Tears ran down my face at the cruel taunts. And the worst part is that they were true. Nobody cared about me. Not even the humans.

"Think of it this way" he spoke slowly to me. "You're a unique, useless freak. At some point the breeder was going to sell you to some laboratory to be tested and tortured. You'd be lucky if one of those tests killed you. But now you can save us worthy Pokémon AND die quickly!" He laughed darkly. "Well, maybe quickly. Depends on how hungry those Ekans are."

I watched in horror as he and all the other Piplup abandoned me and disappeared into the trees. I could not believe it; as unliked as I was, everyone was really going along with his sick plan! I was really going to be eaten alive!

"What have weee here?" a voice asked from behind me. Icy terror flowed through my nerves as I did my best to turn around and saw the thing I feared. An Ekans was a mere foot away from me, and there was a large group of them behind it.

I tried to scream, but the old rope was too tight to let me speak. Tears clouded my eyes; I knew this was the end. The Ekans grinned sickly.

"A niccce, young, juicy Piplup; giftwrapped just for meee." I looked in horror as the blurry figure of the Ekans reared back. "Don't worry little one. I'll make this quick for you." With that, the blurry shape opened its jaw and prepared a fatal crunch attack.

Then everything went black.

/

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