User19sq
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I dreamt about this last night, so deal with it.
Spoiler:
...Aura Sphere zooms through the flames...
* * *
My bare feet met with the cold concrete of the sidewalk. I caught my reflection in the window of a barber's shop; my hair had grown to flowing lengths, and my beard neared my collar. My appearance was the least of my worries, however, as hunger is a problem that never ends. But still, the child-like slapping sound my feet made against the sidewalk put me at ease in a serendipitous manner.
"Hey mom," a preteen girl and the accompanying Pokémon across the street walked up to a woman working under a car in her auto repair shop. "Can Meganium and I go get something to eat?"
The girl's mother slid out from underneath her client's car. "I could go for a snack too," she began. "How would you like to fetch some sandwiches with Meganium?"
The Meganium lowered itself, ready to give the girl a ride. The mother handed the girl her credit card, and the girl, careful with her skirt, mounted the Meganium.
"Oh, Meganium," the girl began as she rode into the sidewalk, "when mom lets me have a Pokémon of my own, I hope it will be as nice as you!" The Meganium gleefully agreed.
The sight of the two lingered in my head as I made my way elsewhere. Having found a large bill some time ago, I decided to hit up the nearest grocery store I could find in whatever town I found myself in at that time. I pondered on that young girl's nothing-of-a scene for a while, until something else caught my eye.
A little Pokémon, a Kirlia I think it was, had exit the store I was aiming for, happily swaying and spinning as she held a box of what appeared to be Pop-Tarts. Her Trainer, a young man with long fingernails like mine, carried a bag or two of food. The Kirlia lovingly pressed up against his side, and he returned her love with gentle petting on the top of her head. Her dainty hand took hold of his, and with a faint but brief flash, the two had vanished with the use of a Teleport. That's when it hit me.
Our relationships with Pokémon, were they important on a universal level? Had I been one among a select few to truly ponder this?
* * *
...The crowd groans with elated suspense as the Charge Beam nears, but narrowly misses the target, cracking the arena's cheap walls...
* * *
"You look filthy, young man," he said to me. "Care to get a cleansing from my Altaria's wings? A full scrub-down will run you only two dollars!"
I look down at the coins in my hand. The tenure was simply lacking, and I needed the service. Before I could look up, the man closed my hand for me.
"Looks like my Blue Prayer here wants to give you one on the house," he says as his Pokémon gently approaches me. With wings as soft as worldly comforts I've long-forgotten, I feel the filth fade away.
"Thank you both," I force myself to say, holding back tears.
"So, where do you come from, my man?" he struck up as his Pokémon took its time.
"Somewhere east; it's been so long, I think I've forgotten." I wasn't being cold; it's true.
"Out on a Pokémon journey of sorts?"
"No... I... I haven't had much need for partners in my travels."
"Really?" the young man seemed to be genuinely surprised. "Another guy like the rest of us, but without a Pokémon? How you do that? I can't do squat half my time without my boo Blue Prayer here! I mean, I got my day job in accounting and all, but hanging out in Central Park here would be boring as Hell without my darling."
His Altaria was working on my feet, finishing its work.
I paused for a moment. "Evidently, you've raised her to be quite the lady."
"That I did," he proudly agrees. "Thanks, man."
I looked down at my body. "No... Thank you both."
A relationship between human and Pokémon that another took benefit from. I always knew in the back of my head that these relationships were a wondrous, enjoyable thing fir those involved and not. So why was I so adverse to them? because I'm so special?
* * *
...The Earthquake begins to expand, only to be stopped by Protect...
* * *
I had found myself wandering through a forest, hoping for food of the free variety. I found a tree with the largest, most succulent yellow apples I'd ever seen. Having climbed the tree, I came to find that yanking these gargantuan apples would be no easy task.
Near my branch sat a Slakoth. With its dull yet joyfull sigh of relief, it used its claws to execute a Slash attack an apple's stem, allowing it to eat the fruit in seconds. Letting the core fall back to the earth below, it slowly readies its claws for another round.
I looked down at my own fingernails. When the ordinary person thinks of a Pokémon using moves like Slash, Tackle, or Cut, people take them as they seem on the surface. But the truth is that there's something a little more to them than that,something seemingly exclusive to Pokémon. I would know first-hand.
Mimicking the Slakoth, I tried to ready my own fingernails. I struck at the stem, only my execution was outdone by my use of force, and I fell to the soft earth below. The pain and hunger kept me below for a while, and I decided to move elsewhere after growing tired of listening to that Slakoth eat.
Passing through the forest, I'd found only berried that I preferred to keep for later, should the need for them had risen. And I was right to do so. I found a large Pokémon slumped over on the bank of a large lake. I ran to its aide.
"Are you okay?" I began, hoping it could understand me.
The Pokémon's blue eyes rested on me. I could tell it had been poisoned.
"Here" I searched through my bag and pulled out a Pecha Berry. "This should help."
Sniffing at my hand, the Pokémon gently began to nibble at the berry, and then gulped it down. It stood on its odd hoofs and chased the berry with a drink of lake water. And in a moment, it grew odd, multi-colored antlers as it shone in rejuvenating light.
"I take this means you feel okay," I praised.
The Pokémon snorted at me as it nodded in a way that showed off its antlers.
"You want to battle?" I asked as I pressed my hand against my empty gut.
The Pokémon repeated the gesture, while running its blade-like hoof on the soil this time.
"You Pokémon never cease to surprise me. People think we're wrong to use you for sport, but it seems that's exactly what you want anyway. But I'm afraid I-"
The beast's like grew wild. It enveloped me in a way that felt like the love of a mother, pure in delight, with heavenly breath the likes of which I could never describe in any metaphysical manner no matter how hard I tried. The hunger ceased. My aches fled. I felt alive.
"You really want this battle," I paused. "I thank you for your help. I will honor your request, but I doubt it will be what you'd expect." I walk back a bit to toss my bag against a tree. "Are you ready?"
The beast struck its antlers into the sky.
"...Then let us begin."
It was a while before I learned the beast's name. It was "Xerneas". It was a beast of legend, and the fun it brought me was proof of its status. I'd occasionally meet it in my travels, sometimes to find food together, other times to battle, and sometimes for no other reason than just. Pokémon are wondrous creatures, as am I.
* * *
"Ladies and gentlemen, these two have been in battle for a half-hour now, and they don't seem to be letting up! Can the newcomer take down Pig Daddy after all? Or will Pig Daddy come out on top? Let us see who moves on to take Machamp on in the next round!"
I figured I'd make a meal ticket of my status. This "Pig Daddy" was a large fellow, but I've taken on larger.
"What, you getting tired on me, boy?" Pig Daddy taunts. "Come on and hit me before I hit you first."
His fists swing down at me, but my smaller stature allows me to dodge them all and retaliate with a couple jabs of my own, only to have a hit to my gut send me zooming backwards.
"Yeah, that's what I want!" Pig Daddy screams as I form my hands together. "Back in action, boy! Give me a good one, won'tcha?"
The Aura Sphere grows between my palms.
"YEAH!" he shouts.
My Aura Sphere heads straight for him. The impact's debris take seconds to disperse before I notice his index and middle fingers charging with electricity, and his Charge Beam strikes at my shoulder before I can move.
"Special Attack, baby," he touts with his growing power. "That ain't all I can do!" He rushes at me with an Iron Head attack. I step back and find myself against the arena's wall, so I think quick. He slams down on the Protect I've conjured up. He strikes over and over again until he gives in.
I take a deep breath in... "AAARGH!!" Flames engulf me completely as I charge against him. I can feel my movements grow faster and faster with every hit I deliver of my Flame Charge. I stand back, and he turns around with a mouth full of flames of his own. He spits his Flamethrower in my direction, and I run to desperately avoid it.
"Do you think they'll ever start fighting in teams?" someone in the peanut gallery over my head starts.
"How so?"
"In tag teams! One of these guys and a Pokémon versus another pair!"
Not a bad idea, if I'm honest. This sport's underbelly would be quite fun with a partner, and I think I know who I'd want with me.
With some quick thinking, I raise my hand to prepare my Psychic. His Flamethrower reaches me straight-on, and I throw my Psychic blast in his direction. An explosion of debris washes over us as I use whatever remains of Psychic to levitate a bit. Over the debris, I can see a faint light. It's electricity.
"Ready for the end, boy?" Pig Daddy begins as he prepares another Charge Beam between his fingers.
I prepare an Aura Sphere of my own. I don't know who I am, and I know lesser what I am. Why this had to be, I'll never know. But I hope Pokémon will never stop being what they are, to us humans or otherwise. And I wish the same for myself.
I let Aura Sphere fly.
Pokémon: Obsolescence
* * *
My bare feet met with the cold concrete of the sidewalk. I caught my reflection in the window of a barber's shop; my hair had grown to flowing lengths, and my beard neared my collar. My appearance was the least of my worries, however, as hunger is a problem that never ends. But still, the child-like slapping sound my feet made against the sidewalk put me at ease in a serendipitous manner.
"Hey mom," a preteen girl and the accompanying Pokémon across the street walked up to a woman working under a car in her auto repair shop. "Can Meganium and I go get something to eat?"
The girl's mother slid out from underneath her client's car. "I could go for a snack too," she began. "How would you like to fetch some sandwiches with Meganium?"
The Meganium lowered itself, ready to give the girl a ride. The mother handed the girl her credit card, and the girl, careful with her skirt, mounted the Meganium.
"Oh, Meganium," the girl began as she rode into the sidewalk, "when mom lets me have a Pokémon of my own, I hope it will be as nice as you!" The Meganium gleefully agreed.
The sight of the two lingered in my head as I made my way elsewhere. Having found a large bill some time ago, I decided to hit up the nearest grocery store I could find in whatever town I found myself in at that time. I pondered on that young girl's nothing-of-a scene for a while, until something else caught my eye.
A little Pokémon, a Kirlia I think it was, had exit the store I was aiming for, happily swaying and spinning as she held a box of what appeared to be Pop-Tarts. Her Trainer, a young man with long fingernails like mine, carried a bag or two of food. The Kirlia lovingly pressed up against his side, and he returned her love with gentle petting on the top of her head. Her dainty hand took hold of his, and with a faint but brief flash, the two had vanished with the use of a Teleport. That's when it hit me.
Our relationships with Pokémon, were they important on a universal level? Had I been one among a select few to truly ponder this?
* * *
...The crowd groans with elated suspense as the Charge Beam nears, but narrowly misses the target, cracking the arena's cheap walls...
* * *
"You look filthy, young man," he said to me. "Care to get a cleansing from my Altaria's wings? A full scrub-down will run you only two dollars!"
I look down at the coins in my hand. The tenure was simply lacking, and I needed the service. Before I could look up, the man closed my hand for me.
"Looks like my Blue Prayer here wants to give you one on the house," he says as his Pokémon gently approaches me. With wings as soft as worldly comforts I've long-forgotten, I feel the filth fade away.
"Thank you both," I force myself to say, holding back tears.
"So, where do you come from, my man?" he struck up as his Pokémon took its time.
"Somewhere east; it's been so long, I think I've forgotten." I wasn't being cold; it's true.
"Out on a Pokémon journey of sorts?"
"No... I... I haven't had much need for partners in my travels."
"Really?" the young man seemed to be genuinely surprised. "Another guy like the rest of us, but without a Pokémon? How you do that? I can't do squat half my time without my boo Blue Prayer here! I mean, I got my day job in accounting and all, but hanging out in Central Park here would be boring as Hell without my darling."
His Altaria was working on my feet, finishing its work.
I paused for a moment. "Evidently, you've raised her to be quite the lady."
"That I did," he proudly agrees. "Thanks, man."
I looked down at my body. "No... Thank you both."
A relationship between human and Pokémon that another took benefit from. I always knew in the back of my head that these relationships were a wondrous, enjoyable thing fir those involved and not. So why was I so adverse to them? because I'm so special?
* * *
...The Earthquake begins to expand, only to be stopped by Protect...
* * *
I had found myself wandering through a forest, hoping for food of the free variety. I found a tree with the largest, most succulent yellow apples I'd ever seen. Having climbed the tree, I came to find that yanking these gargantuan apples would be no easy task.
Near my branch sat a Slakoth. With its dull yet joyfull sigh of relief, it used its claws to execute a Slash attack an apple's stem, allowing it to eat the fruit in seconds. Letting the core fall back to the earth below, it slowly readies its claws for another round.
I looked down at my own fingernails. When the ordinary person thinks of a Pokémon using moves like Slash, Tackle, or Cut, people take them as they seem on the surface. But the truth is that there's something a little more to them than that,something seemingly exclusive to Pokémon. I would know first-hand.
Mimicking the Slakoth, I tried to ready my own fingernails. I struck at the stem, only my execution was outdone by my use of force, and I fell to the soft earth below. The pain and hunger kept me below for a while, and I decided to move elsewhere after growing tired of listening to that Slakoth eat.
Passing through the forest, I'd found only berried that I preferred to keep for later, should the need for them had risen. And I was right to do so. I found a large Pokémon slumped over on the bank of a large lake. I ran to its aide.
"Are you okay?" I began, hoping it could understand me.
The Pokémon's blue eyes rested on me. I could tell it had been poisoned.
"Here" I searched through my bag and pulled out a Pecha Berry. "This should help."
Sniffing at my hand, the Pokémon gently began to nibble at the berry, and then gulped it down. It stood on its odd hoofs and chased the berry with a drink of lake water. And in a moment, it grew odd, multi-colored antlers as it shone in rejuvenating light.
"I take this means you feel okay," I praised.
The Pokémon snorted at me as it nodded in a way that showed off its antlers.
"You want to battle?" I asked as I pressed my hand against my empty gut.
The Pokémon repeated the gesture, while running its blade-like hoof on the soil this time.
"You Pokémon never cease to surprise me. People think we're wrong to use you for sport, but it seems that's exactly what you want anyway. But I'm afraid I-"
The beast's like grew wild. It enveloped me in a way that felt like the love of a mother, pure in delight, with heavenly breath the likes of which I could never describe in any metaphysical manner no matter how hard I tried. The hunger ceased. My aches fled. I felt alive.
"You really want this battle," I paused. "I thank you for your help. I will honor your request, but I doubt it will be what you'd expect." I walk back a bit to toss my bag against a tree. "Are you ready?"
The beast struck its antlers into the sky.
"...Then let us begin."
It was a while before I learned the beast's name. It was "Xerneas". It was a beast of legend, and the fun it brought me was proof of its status. I'd occasionally meet it in my travels, sometimes to find food together, other times to battle, and sometimes for no other reason than just. Pokémon are wondrous creatures, as am I.
* * *
"Ladies and gentlemen, these two have been in battle for a half-hour now, and they don't seem to be letting up! Can the newcomer take down Pig Daddy after all? Or will Pig Daddy come out on top? Let us see who moves on to take Machamp on in the next round!"
I figured I'd make a meal ticket of my status. This "Pig Daddy" was a large fellow, but I've taken on larger.
"What, you getting tired on me, boy?" Pig Daddy taunts. "Come on and hit me before I hit you first."
His fists swing down at me, but my smaller stature allows me to dodge them all and retaliate with a couple jabs of my own, only to have a hit to my gut send me zooming backwards.
"Yeah, that's what I want!" Pig Daddy screams as I form my hands together. "Back in action, boy! Give me a good one, won'tcha?"
The Aura Sphere grows between my palms.
"YEAH!" he shouts.
My Aura Sphere heads straight for him. The impact's debris take seconds to disperse before I notice his index and middle fingers charging with electricity, and his Charge Beam strikes at my shoulder before I can move.
"Special Attack, baby," he touts with his growing power. "That ain't all I can do!" He rushes at me with an Iron Head attack. I step back and find myself against the arena's wall, so I think quick. He slams down on the Protect I've conjured up. He strikes over and over again until he gives in.
I take a deep breath in... "AAARGH!!" Flames engulf me completely as I charge against him. I can feel my movements grow faster and faster with every hit I deliver of my Flame Charge. I stand back, and he turns around with a mouth full of flames of his own. He spits his Flamethrower in my direction, and I run to desperately avoid it.
"Do you think they'll ever start fighting in teams?" someone in the peanut gallery over my head starts.
"How so?"
"In tag teams! One of these guys and a Pokémon versus another pair!"
Not a bad idea, if I'm honest. This sport's underbelly would be quite fun with a partner, and I think I know who I'd want with me.
With some quick thinking, I raise my hand to prepare my Psychic. His Flamethrower reaches me straight-on, and I throw my Psychic blast in his direction. An explosion of debris washes over us as I use whatever remains of Psychic to levitate a bit. Over the debris, I can see a faint light. It's electricity.
"Ready for the end, boy?" Pig Daddy begins as he prepares another Charge Beam between his fingers.
I prepare an Aura Sphere of my own. I don't know who I am, and I know lesser what I am. Why this had to be, I'll never know. But I hope Pokémon will never stop being what they are, to us humans or otherwise. And I wish the same for myself.
I let Aura Sphere fly.
Pokémon: Obsolescence
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