[Pokémon] "All We Have Is Each Other": A series of one-shots by Controversial? [latest: CAUGHT]

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction/Acknowledgements
Ambitious
Caught​

Hey guys.

I've had forays into writing before, but they've always been few and far between. If you go through my post history here, I've had times where I've been a complete nonce and written terrible #edgy Pokémon/Skins crossovers that make me cringe, and another time I wrote a one-shot story about dreams.

This is a continuation of the second idea.

The first story I posted was titled Ambitious, and it featured two Pokémon trying to make sense of the small world they lived in, and the bigger world they wanted to experience. I think a lot of what I write - both fanfiction and non-fanfiction - have similar themes to this, so I thought it might be a good idea to make a small series out of them. None of these stories will be following the same narrative, but they will all be thematically linked in some way. I chose the name "All We Have Is Each Other" because I felt that it best reflected the relationships I've been trying to portray in my stories. I linked Ambitious in this post and in the contents above, and I'll be posting my newest one-shot, Caught, just below here. I'd love to hear all of your thoughts on it, and I may end up adding to this series whenever I feel like. ^_^

So here's Caught. I was predominantly inspired by the Dennis Kelly play DNA, and a quote from a TV Tropes article I found regarding wild Pokémon's thoughts of trainers.

Caught​

"Caught?"

"Yeah." He looked away from the other figure for a second, his eyes briefly darting to a patch of uneven dirt on the ground before drifting their focus back onto the pair of eyes in front of him. "Caught."

The two figures remained silent, their bleak faces hidden in the shadows by the drab canopy taunting them from above. "Not, like…" one of them paused momentarily, seemingly unable to find the right words, "…caught caught, right?"

He sighed falteringly. "Caught," he repeated, with exasperation. "I know. But I'm afraid that's how it is."

The second figure stepped out into the moonlight. His yellow eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, contrasted by the dim radiance of the night sky turning his normally light blue face a disconcerting shade of grey. "Surely not," he started, his eyes inflecting towards the moonlight. "Maybe he's… just forgaging for food, or, taking a walk-"

"Valiente, you aren't listening to me," he said, with conviction. "He's been caught."

There was silence for a moment, until the faint call of a bird Pokémon echoed throughout the forest, its cry breaking the tension for a brief moment. Taken aback, Valiente closed his eyes briefly, a subtle tremble emerging in his usually sturdy paws. "B-but Trueno, he…"

Trueno stood solemnly, his eyes connecting with that of his longtime friend's. "I'm sorry," he uttered. "I know how much he meant to you. To us."

The forest remained stoic, the canopy of the surrounding trees seemingly trapping them within the confines of its grasp. Valiente let out an agitated sigh, the air propelled from his lungs forming a faint wisp in front of him. "No."

"I know."

"He was…" Valiente let his voice trail off, his body starting to crackle with the faint hints of electricity. "NO!" he clamored into the foreboding forest, letting his frustration culminate into a jolt of electricity aimed into the nearest tree. The startled cry of a sleeping Pokémon preceded the faint sounds of rustling as it fled into the darkness of the forest.

"Valiente, calm down!" Trueno shouted, his demeanor shifting from solemn to austere.

The indignant Pokémon turned around to face his old friend. His eyes blurred with a mix of red and yellow, he charged his companion in a blind rage. Trueno jumped expertly out of the way, his black mane clipping the side of his friend's face. As Valiente stumbled and his shaking paws gave way, his ally turned and firmly placed his clawed paws on his chest, preventing him from executing another blind attack.

Trueno held steadfast against his partner's struggles. "Valiente," he began, "I know how hard this must be for you, but please. You can't do anything rash."

His friend's pupils dilated, the look on his face changing from that of unsighted anger to defeat, and finally to sadness. "I…" he stammered. "I know. He was just our…"

"Our best friend," Trueno finished for him, relaxing his grip on his friend's limp body and putting his front paws back on the ground. "I know."

"Our best friend…" Valiente tried his best to hold back the tears slowly forming in his glistening eyes. "Someone we've known for so long."

"From back when we were still Shinx."

"We grew up together." The distressed Luxio slowly picked itself up from the dirt, his paws starting to strengthen. "This was our forest. Mine, yours, Voltio's," he stood up on his four feet, "and now he's just… gone."

"Not gone." Trueno's gaze directed towards the ground for a brief second. "Just… caught."

The crisp night air stood still as the two friends locked eyes, the moonlight reflecting off both of their faces. "So what happens now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is this…" Valiente struggled for the right words, "is this the end, then? Will we never see Voltio again?"

A bird Pokémon called out in the distance, the sound catching Trueno's attention for a brief second. "I'm not sure. Perhaps."

"But isn't that was being caught is?" Valiente asked, his voice starting to crack in distress. "Being taken away by a human? Not being seen again?"

"Not neccessarily." Trueno thought for a moment, endeavouring to comfort his friend. "He's… just moved on to another stage of his life." The Luxio looked up towards the moon, its dim glow appearing more radiant to his eyes. "He'll be learning new things. Training to become stronger, like we've been trying to do here. Except with him…" Trueno closed his eyes. "It'll be with an expert. Someone who may know more than us here. Maybe he'll learn things we can only ever dream of. Maybe he could even evolve. And one day," he opened his eyes, looking at his friend with a sense of conviction, "he could come back here and see us. Tell us about the adventures he's had. Maybe teach us a few things that we may not know."

"But Trueno…"

"I know it must be hard for you now," he continued. "I know how much he meant to you, Valiente. But he won't be gone forever. He's still our best friend. And I'm sure he won't forget us. When he's out there, with his team…" Trueno looked up into the sky, the full moon shining a brilliant light onto the faces of him and his friend, "he'll be thinking about us. And he'll be thinking about the day he'll return to this forest, and see his childhood friends again. And we just have to make sure we'll be here when the time comes."

A faint smile emerged on the Luxio's face. "I hope so," he said, simply. "But I guess until then, he's just…"

"Caught?"

"Yeah." Valiente locked eyes with his longtime friend, their faces almost shining in contrast with the drab canopy above. "Caught."

Your one-shot really interested me in that I've written the other side of the spectrum - y'know, Pokemon attacking humans for being caught - but I've never thought of it in this way: a caught Pokemon isn't necessarily "gone" to his wild friends, but out there fighting and learning and growing, that being caught is "another stage of life." The way that they say "caught," even, changes meaning through the story I feel, from disbelief to anger and finally to dismal acceptance. You're imagery is also very good, i.e. "His yellow eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, contrasted by the dim radiance of the night sky turning his normally light blue face a disconcerting shade of grey." Keep it up sir!

Like Aisu, nice to see a different perspective on a Pokemon's reaction on being caught. Yeah I read fics where Pokemon would go against training and rebel, so it's refreshing to see other Pokemon thinking that training has its advantages. Nice work, looking forward to more of your work!