The burden of reality can be so harsh at times that people would wish to just delve into their own world and make it go away in their mind. However, that would be called...denying. I had faced the truth so many times that I had lost count, but at least I know I wasn't so strong after all. Only a strong man can deny what is in front of him, even if the truth split your skull open and seep their way in. The same could be said for another type of strong, where you have no trouble accepting the truth - Eric Angelo
Play this as opening theme
Night had fallen, the stars and the moon itself adorning the skies across the expansive universe. Nothing would escape it’s beauty this night for everypony has yet to sleep.
Within those very skies, was a figure with several other forms upon it’s back slowly gliding it’s way through the countryside visible below. Yet upon closer look, the figure revealed itself to be a Salamence with three more figures on it’s back. A Hydreigon with a Volcarona clutched close to his chest, and a Reuniclus who sat behind the Hydreigon.
Not a single one of those passengers expected a slight turbulence in flight that startled them. However, said flight was quickly corrected back to it’s straight course.
“Fantastic, after a hard days work and suddenly we find ourselves about to become stains on the ground. We avoided one problem and yet we’re about to decorate the ground. Arceus, what did you just do to make our day so wonderful when Fox suddenly got a boyfriend to help her?” Will snarked as his body glowed blue again, signifying another recover that healed his injuries.
Eric swore that if he listened closely, Sally was gnashing her teeth. Yet he knew she was too tired and in too much pain to retort. His worry got the better of him. “.....Sally, girl....can you manage?”
“Don’t...” She was cut off as another sharp pain shot through her, yet she willed herself to maintain a correct course. “Don’t worry....I’m going to....get us...agh...home.”
“....don’t push yourself if you can’t hold out. We can walk the rest of the way and I’ll carry you the rest of the way if I have to.” The Hydreigon replied.
“Aww, how sweet of you, brooder. Give her a pat on the head and this will make her day a lot better.” Will quipped from behind him.
“Eric...don’t worry....I’ll...get...us back!” Sally countered.
It was clear to anyone who saw it that Sally was trying to maintain consciousness. “....she wouldn’t be able to last much longer.” The Hydreigon muttered. “...dammit, I knew that cop was trouble. This is why I don’t want us to get involved with cops.” Eric cursed silently.
With a few minutes of flight, Sally’s eyes found her destination. “Guys...we’re...here!” The Dragon grunted in pain due to the sheer poisonous substance that had been reeking havoc in her body.
Her words rang true when the Hydreigon looked up and saw that the coastal city, Vanhoover is indeed within sight. The expansive tourist city seemed to stretch on within the darkness of the night. Little dots of lights swarmed the entirety of the city streets, house and skyscrapers let out
“.....looks like this is still early in the night....after all, those dots of lights are just signs that its still early.” The Hydreigon brooded in silence.
Will couldn’t help, but felt tension leaving his shoulders. “Finally, (cough) home sweet home. Oh, I want to marry it.”
Yet Eric knew that it is still far from over. “....not yet, we need to get there unharmed. ....but nothing was ever really simple.”
“And I was just in a good mood. Breaking was the first thing on my list to do tonight, congratulations for breaking it by the way.”
Unfortunately for Will, his trainer didn’t give him the benefit of a reply. His mind solely focused on his team’s two injured members and getting back to Dawn in one piece....mostly.
Flying over the city and toward its edge was easy because there are no skyscrapers in the way and finding the suburb was easy considering the city was still lively this time of night.
All of them saw their destination at the edge of the suburb, a house with a whole meadow behind it. Without saying a word, Sally dived as gently as she could as to prevent herself from crashing in the event of another Arceus-wrenching pain.
The Dragon eased and stabilized herself moments before she had touched the ground and landed on all four paws gently.
Eric and Will dismounted their ride with Alex still clutched close to Eric’s chest like a baby within his mother’s arm.
“Home sweet home, I’m missing it already.” The Reuniclus added sarcastically.
“.....let’s just get inside and treat all of you.” Eric could sense that Will was about to retort, but he was never given the chance. “Will, that means you as well, I don’t want any permanent injuries to resurface later on.”
“Thank you so much for caring about this sarcastic idiot.” Will added with a roll of his eyes.
“....Sally,” Eric took a momentary glance behind him. “....can you manage?”
“Don’t....worry.” No matter how she put it, even Eric knew she struggled to even from those words.
Eric made a reluctant nod as he flicked his head toward the front door before floating forward. Will had wasted no time to follow his trainer with Sally right behind them.
Meanwhile, just like Alex before her, her vision swam uncontrollably. The last thing she sees before she gave into unconsciousness was the dirt underneath her paws. The poison had finally done it’s job in aggravating Sally’s injuries
Both trainer and Reuniclus heard the dull thud behind them. They didn’t want to turn, yet they already knew what was coming anyway. A simple glance told them all they needed to know, Sally had finally fell prey to the poison.
“Sally!” The worry was clear in Eric’s tone.
“Oh, now she decided to stand there and become a welcome mat?” Will added sarcastically.
Quickly, both went to Sally’s side, and as per the usual medical procedure Eric put a head underneath her neck. He was relieved to find that the pulse was there albeit subdued like any unconscious creatures would give off.
Eric looked up at Will. His eyes told the Reuniclus everything.“.....she’s fine.”
“Yeah, great, it comes as a big surprise to me. That woman is stubborn as a mule anyway.” Will added nonchalantly.
With a simple shrug, the now-recovered Reuniclus floated up to Dawn’s house and knocked on the door three times. He didn’t need to wait long as the doorknob turned and the door slowly swung inward to reveal the host of the house they stayed.
“Will?” Dawn scratched her head in confusion.
She was about to let Will in, but she notices one peculiarity. “Wait a minute, where’s Eric and the rest?
“Lady Dawn, as a gentleman, I would just love to continue this conversation. As luck deems to give us this night,” Will floated aside so Dawn could bear witness to what is going in her front yard.
“Celestia!” It took her no time to quickly zip toward them with a worried expression on her face.
“....we had an important matter to deal with.” Will finished with grin.
Dawn’s household soon became filled with heavy activity as soon as said hostess found out that her friends had been injured once more. This time it seemed Will had been spared from such a beat down, yet Sally and Alex weren’t so lucky.
Both unconscious Pokémons were quickly moved inside. Sally was laid down on the carpet where she usually curled up while Alex was laid face-up to the ceiling.
“Dominus! I need a first aid-kit, there’s one in the bath-” Dawn could never finish her words as said Valiant Pokémon was gone as if he had the devil himself on his tail.
Dominus was back in a few seconds with the box’s hanging precariously within his beak. “Already got it, Dawn!” The Braviary dropped the box in his beak before the mare’s hooves.
With a wordless nod, Dawn had handed over said box to Eric as she watched him does his magic again. With nothing else better to do, they just stood there. They didn’t need to wait long however.
“....it’s done.” The mare and her partner leaned beside Eric to see the results of his handiwork.
Soon the two Pokémons that were bare of anything are now clothed with bandages. Alex’s mid-section was completely bandaged up while Sally’s neck and right front leg was mummified.
It was yet another shoddy job from one with average knowledge of first aid, but it had done it’s purpose well.
“....I’ll be in the kitchen...I’ll prepare dinner for all of us.” Eric was just about to make his leave, but a wing on his shoulder stopped him dead on his tracks.
“What happened, dude?” The eyes told Eric that he is not going to let him go unless he had all the answers.
“It went pretty well all things considered.” The condescending voice of Will had came from the spot he usually sat, in one of the two sofas in the other living room. “Trust me, oh, I wish you were there. To see all of us get our butts handed to us by some thief and her boyfriend.“
“No one asked you, grandpa.” The Reuniclus just shrugged. “And how did you remain unscathed through this?”
It was a fact that Dawn herself missed, how come he is the only one unscathed. She knew that Eric was some sort of leader, so her guess would be that he stayed to command like how he did with Alex two days ago when he battled with Dominus. The fact remains that the obnoxious Pokémons were unscathed throughout the journey through the meat grinder....mostly.
“Finally, you noticed. Did you know that there are some Pokémons out there who are blessed with the ability to use Recover? Of course, you wouldn’t. I mean, if you had just read some books and put everything in that brain of yours, I’m pretty sure you would have known kid.”
“....You know what, forget I asked.” Dominus swore that the Reuniclus was really getting on his already damaged nerves. “By the way, how did you guys ended looks like you guys went through a bar fight or something?”
With a sigh, Eric turned around to let out the storm. “Simply put.....it went badly.”
A momentary blank stare later from Dawn then her hoof met her face. “I figured as much.” The mare sighed as she tried to come to terms with the news, but this leaves one question. “So..... how exactly did it go bad?”
“....nothing.” The answer served to fuel the mare’s curiosity, until Eric continued. “...it was supposed to go well....that is until I saw the cop and his team. As you would have guessed, it quickly went south.” Eric replied with tiredness visible in his tone.
“The cop?” Dawn questioned watch a scratch of her head.
“What, the weirdoes yesterday?” Dominus got his reply from a simple nod.
“No, just a bunch of kids playing investigators....” Silence followed in regards to his sarcasm, that is until he grinned. “Of course, they are. Who goes around strutting through the street with the so-called badge of authority hanging on their hips?”
Dominus only gave Will a blank stare of unamusement. “Can you be much more informative, grandpa obvious?” The Braviary’s tone was thick with sarcasm.
“Your welcome by the way.” The Reuniclus finished coupled with the condescending grin.
Dawn’s hoof quickly met her face. “Anyway,” She said with more curtness than necessary. “What does the cop yesterday has to do with this?” The mare asked in disbelief.
“In other words, he fought alongside the thief and we got....” Eric pointed toward the direction of the unmoving Sally and Alex. “....defeated as a result.”
Those words caused Dominus’ temper to flare a bit. “Why those no good cops!” He growled.
“About time you figured it out. Congratulations, kid, you just won a lottery.” All Will was getting was a snap of Dominus head and the glare coming his way that made him put up his arms in defense.
Meanwhile, Eric was deep in thought. “....I don’t really know why the cop would defend Fox. Three likely answers, he was related to her, or he knows something about her that I don’t, or he just wanted to see me captured for....property damage. I’m not going to deny that it was partly our fault, but why would the cops prefer to fight alongside the thief really?” The Hydreigon mused silently with a head underneath his chin.
“Eric?”
“Hmmm?” Said Hydreigon glanced at the mare.
“I think you’re brooding again.” Dawn pointed out.
“....yeah, sorry about that. Anyway, is there anything else you want to ask?”
“Well...not really, no.” Dawn replied.
With a nod, Eric simply turned around and floated toward the kitchen door. “....I’ll be cooking the dinner then. Just wait until I’m done.”
“In the meantime,” A yawn came out of Will’s mouth, the battle took a lot more out of him than he thought. “....I’ll be taking my beauty nap. Wake me up if the house is on fire.”
“Oh yeah, I’ll wake you up alright.” Dominus mumbled a sarcastic reply as soon as he heard the soft snore coming out of the trash-mouth.
“Eric, wait...” Dawn was already unsure, yet what she about to ask didn’t serve to abate her agitation.
Now was the only time to get answers and the one who could give it is still awake and she decided to take her chances. With eyes full of determination, she stood up and walked over to Eric. Said Hydreigon had seen her coming from a mile away as he made simply glance over his shoulder at her.
Eric knew what was coming, but he simply raised an eyebrow. “....yeah, what is it?”
“I...uh....er...I was going to...” Dawn scratched her head as she tried to get any decent sentence out of her mouth, yet it was failing due to her nervousness. Finally, she just resolved to tell it straight. “To Tartarus with this! Eric, I just had to know, okay?”
It didn’t take much for Eric to figure out what she had meant, but he just decided to play along just to be polite. “....what is it about?”
“What’s with Sally this morning?” Straight to the point question, nothing was hidden. “She seems....what was the word for it?”
“....hell-bent?” The Hydreigon offered.
“Uh....what?” The mare was confused at whatever it is just mentioned.
“Tartarus-bent.” Eric corrected quickly, the knowledge he had gathered proved to be useful.
“Yeah, that.” Dawn couldn’t help, but scratch her head at her slip-up. “But the point is, why is she so Tartarus-bent about a thief? There are a lot of other thieves out there and.....and...you get what I meant. Aside from that, why did she seems to....”
“Beg me to go after her?” Eric offered with an eyebrow raised.
“Not the way I put it, but yeah, begging when you declined to go after the thief yesterday morning. That’s so....unlike her.”
“Dawn,” Dominus’ teen-like accent cut through the conversation. “That’s pretty much only just icing on the cake. So yeah, sorry about this, but I don’t think that’s the whole story.” Dominus nodded.
Dawn had realized her partner took the words right out of her mouth. “Yeah....that.” At the end, Dominus proved to be the better speaker than her.
“C’mon, we’re friends. It’s not cool to keep secrets from each other, you know? I won’t be a good friend either if I force you. If you want, just tell us a little bit and we’ll work it out from there.” Dominus finished with a wing-slap to his own chest.
“...whoa.” The mare couldn’t help, but marvel. Dawn had realized what Dominus had just said. Whenever he opened that beak there seems to be some sort kinds words coming out of it, sharp contrast to Will’s constant sarcasm as far as she was concerned.
“...hmmmm…”
In her momentary surprise, she had forgotten about who it is Dominus had addressed. Dawn’s eyes found Eric once more and inwardly, she thought he was gonna scream at them both, or just plain lash out with colorful words when she had accidentally pried again.
Yet her worry is unfounded, when Eric simply sighed in surrender. “....I’ll tell you...” Eric replied simply.
“Eric, I know about you and Sally want to do and-” Dominus cut himself off when the latest word had been processed by his brain. “Wait...what?
“I’ll tell you two if this will keep you at ease. This is Dawn’s house after all.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Dawn couldn’t believe this for one second because she knows that he usually kept quiet about a subject like this. But the eyes of the Hydreigon tell differently. “Are you sure about that?”
“.....I don’t want to trouble you. If this will make things a lot more clear, then I don’t really have a reason to keep it from you any longer.”
“Uh...thanks?” The mare didn’t really know what to say otherwise, she could only scratch her head like usual.
Eric closed his eyes for a moment to take a deep breath. “....okay. Where should I start?”
“Well, start from the beginning, dude.” Dominus added.
Seeing as his friends anticipation seems to rise, he didn’t want to disappoint. “....alright, like any story, let’s begin from the start....”
“Mommy....” The little Bagon cried out.
A loud bang nearly led to the Bagon’s heart jumping out of her chest. “Hey, quiet in there!”
The Bagon only whimpered in response toward the man who is guarding the cage she was in.
She could only stare helplessly at the environment around her. It was all just a simple clearing bathed in the moonlight in the middle of a woods. What caught her attention however was that the two men standing side by side guarding her cage seems to be carrying some sort of long things she didn’t want to find out.
As far as she knew, they were bad men and putting her in a cage spells out trouble. The thought alone was enough to send shiver down her spine.
“Man, I don’t really get it.” The man on the right spoke. “What’s with all this secrecy? I mean, all we had to do is catch a Bagon.
“Don’t know.” The other man on the right shrugged while putting a cigar on his mouth. “Bagons are supposed to be rare in Unova. The fact the boss went all out just to get a Bagon means that this guy is hardcore collector or something. And you know the boss, call him on something rare and he get it to you no problem. And if he went that far, then that means this guy must be paying us some big bucks.”
“Man, that’s one scary son of a bitch.” The second man whistled. “Wish I had that kind of money. Mansion, servants, luxuries. The best dream a man could have.”
“Yeah me too. Can’t wait to get out of this dump.” The man in front of the cage pulled out a lighter then setting the end of his cigar alight as he inhaled the gassy substance before puffing it out.
“So now what? We just supposed to wait here until the boss comes back with the crate and the van?”
“That’s the idea, yeah.”
And that was the peak of her fear. Her entire body was overcome with fear at the thought of being sold to some random human like a slave. “No, please, mommy. Help me....”
Another startling bang caught her attention. “Shut up, I told you to be quiet! Stupid little-”
“Hey,” The one guy on the left tapped his friend’s shoulder who is currently busy trying to get the Bagon to be silent. “What’s that over there?”
“What’s what?”
“Over there, don’t you see it?” The man in front of the cage pointed at a spot in the blue skies.
His friend stared into the sky toward the direction where the guy in front of the cage pointed at. “I don’t- wait...is that?”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know, I think it’s a-“ His eyes went as wide as saucers when the object came close enough for his vision to make out.
“SALAMEN-“ He is unable to finish his shout as his face and his partner’s ended up on the receiving end of a whirling tail slap that sent them crumpling aside and into dreamland.
As soon as said Pokémon finished the maneuver, she slid across the ground and digging trench before coming to a stop before the cage where the little Bagon had been held in.
She stared in awe at the stunt the Salamence had just pulled off. But the awe was broken for another glorious sight, her mother came for her rescue. “Mommy!” The sight of her mommy in front of her was enough to broke her fear of the bad men.
The same could be said for the mother who had witnessed her baby within the cage. “My little Dragonling!”
“Stand back!” The Salamence let her tail glow a lavender hue before whirling around.
With one clean swipe of Dragon Tail later, the cage bars dented inward. The gap was large enough for the little Bagon to slip through and ran to her mother. “Mommy!”
The mother was happy to oblige and was about to embrace her daughter. “My little Dragon-“
“Hey, the Bagon’s escaping!” The voice of the bad men broke the reunion.
This prompted a feeling of a pinch to be felt on the scruff of the Bagon’s neck. Not having the time to react, her mother bit down and flung her upward and she suddenly found herself landing perfectly on her mother’s back.
“Hold on tight!” With a quick beat of her wing, she took to the skies quickly just as she glanced back at the ground and saw the humans aiming something at her.
Her eyes widened quickly as she banked, allowing something to zip by the space she had occupied moments ago. It wouldn’t take a genius to know what would happen if she got hit by that. More soon followed the first one. The Salamence took evasive maneuvers.
Hailstorm of bullets zipped by her form, many narrowly missing their targets. Yet, her complicated zigzagging flight path had helped keep their aim unsteady. Soon enough, the bullets stopped in intensity, though only a few still zipped by her before dying down completely.
With one final glance at her daughter’s kidnapper, she quickly blasted toward the horizon at full speed.
“Mommy, are the bad men gone?”
With their daring escape, the little Bagon rode on her Salamence mother as they glided across the sky accompanied with the occasional beat of the Salamence’s wing. So far, the Salamence didn’t see hair nor hide of those men who had kidnapped her daughter.
She had troubles tracking them all the way from Hoenn, but now she had gotten her precious baby back and that’s what matters.
“They are, my little Dragonling. Don’t worry mommy is going to ge...get us..home!” Her voice seems strained for some reason near the end.
“Mommy?” No answers were given, only a simple groan.
And it came abruptly, she was helpless as her ride immediately took a turn for a diagonal dive. The little Bagon screamed as she held on for dear life the best she could.
“Mommy! Mommy!” She cried out in desperation. “Mommy, we’re going to crash!”
Unfortunately, her words were unheard and the ground was closing in fast. With that fact settled in, she braced herself. As expected in the event of a crash, it caused the passenger to be launched forward from her sitting position and tumbled away. She came to a stop moments later with a groan of pain all over.
“Ouch...” She couldn’t help, but let a small tear escape her eyelids due to the pain.
After a few seconds, she slowly brought herself up and ignored the pain the best she could. Looking all over herself, she spotted nothing, but superficial injuries that is not fatal toward Pokémon. She would recover in no time.
But this leaves her with the matter about her mother.
“Mommy? Are you oka-“ The moment she turned around is the moment where it will be burned into her memory forever. “MOMMY!” She ran toward her downed mother as fast as her legs could carry her.
Her mother as how she put it, was a mess. She lay crumpled onto her side but that wasn’t the worse of it, the prize goes toward the pool of blood that is slowly widening underneath the Salamence.
The closed eyelids fluttered open to witness her daughter crying her tears out right in front of her. “(cough) My little Dragonling?” She said with labored breaths.
The voice of her mother brought her out of her crying fit and embraced her mother’s muzzle. “Mommy!”
With her vision filled with blue, she giggled. “I’m (cough) so glad you’re okay.” She weakly reached out toward her daughter, but by then a wrenching pain around her chest seized her coupled with a coughing fit that sent a paw straight toward her mouth to cover it.
The sight horrified her daughter even more when she saw what happened. “Mommy!”
Weakly, she lifted the paw away. She could see the sticky substance underneath her paw. Blood, she had just coughed up blood.
The Salamence took a look at the source of her misfortune. The pain was the most intense just a little below her collarbone, and that’s when she witnessed the extent of her injury. There it was, the injury that had been there the whole time, a bullet hole just beneath her collar bone.
The Salamence knew what this meant and she accepted it.
“Mommy!” the voice of her daughter brought her attention back to her. “You’re going to be okay!”
”I’m...sorry, I won’t be able to protect you, my little (cough) Dragonling.” The cough sent out more blood out of her mouth. “....can I (cough) ask you a favor?”
“Anything!” The answer came before she could even think.
“Don’t blame yourself or anyone else for...my misfortune.”
“But, mommy, those bad men-” Whatever she wanted to say was silenced when a paw was put over her mouth. The same paw that still had the metallic blood on it.
“Ssshh, it’s (cough) okay now.” Even with all the pain inflicted upon her, she cooed with the gentleness of an angel. “This happened outside what we’ve expected to happen. Find yourself a trainer, he would be able to take care of you. Remember above all, live your life to the fullest.”
”I will, mom. I’ll become a strong Salamence like you! I promise!”
”I know you will…” Her lungs couldn’t take it anymore, she coughed up more blood. “I can’t (cough) take it anymore.....One last thing and the most important one..... don’t blind yourself with vengeance. I know that after this you might think that (cough) all humans are bad, but the action of the few don’t dictate the actions of (cough) the (cough) many. Please, remember that.”
Her words flew out from one ear and out the other. ”Forget about that, mommy! I swear, I’m going to save you. Don’t you worry.”
Her little daughter’s bravery sent happiness through her and that was enough. “Be safe (cough)(cough) my little, Dragonling....and....be strong...we’ll see each (cough) other again soon.” The words had been said. The Salamence gently closed her eyelids.
“Mommy?” She poked her mother in the muzzle. “Mommy?” She remembered what her mother told her about the day that this will eventually come for all living beings, she had hoped this was not the day.
“Mommy....Mommy....you’re sleeping right? Please tell me you’re sleeping?” She prodded her mother’s face in every way she could, yet no response was made. “Please....please...say something....anything.”
The little Bagon knew what had come and no amount of begging will bring her mother back. Yet she kept trying. “Please....please...”
“Mommy....come back...please...come back. ” A silent sob escaped her and the tears fell freely across her mother’s face.
That night, the seed of hatred had been planted.
She didn’t know what was worse, either it was that the rain that had decided to accompany the already gloomy atmosphere or the fact that her mother had just.....left her. Honestly, she didn’t know where she had wandered off after the event that had been painfully burned into her memory nor did she care.
Without thinking, her path led her straight out of the forest. With nothing else better to do, the little Bagon trudged her way toward the town.
The little Bagon was now nearing the outer edges of the suburbian part of the city. Looking over the environment from her elevated spot, she just saw houses after houses, nothing too big or small. Once more, she trudged on. However, with her attention elsewhere at the moment, she is helpless as she tripped on rock jutting out from the grass. The result caused her to trip and roll down a small hill, unfortunately landing on her jaw causing her to cry out in pain.
It took her a few minutes for the pain to die down and got up on her feet again, tears visible on the corner of her eyes. She’s surprised to find that she’s staring at the back of a house. The Bagon stared up at the sky to see the moonlight trying to penetrate through the cloud, she decided to go in there to get some rest.
After crawling through below the wooden fence from where the ground caved in a little. The backyard seems to be quite small. It’s also seemed rather plain, except there’s a just a single tree with a swing attached to a branch.
After a looking around, she spotted a hole in the wall of the house, near the right corner. Seeing as there nothing else in to sleep in, she made her way over and crawled into it. When she’s inside, she felt the tingling sound of some coins in here. Other than that, the hole is actually big enough to house a Galvantula.
And she closed her eyes to let whatever nightmare take her.
The first rays of the morning sun beamed over the horizon and straight into the city. This in turn, caused said beam to glare into the alcove where the Bagon was currently sleeping.
The rays of the sun was draped over her face, causing her to slowly lift her eyelids to see a new day had come to greet her. The little Bagon tried to get up, but the size of the alcove itself made it into a difficult task.
After squirming herself off her side and sitting up properly, she tried to crawl toward the exit of the alcove, only to found herself face-to-face with someone else’s face.
They stared at each other for a long while, until the boy with the dark brown hair spoke. “Who are you?”
The shock and surprise came immediately that she backpedaled away until her back hit the end of the alcove.
“Whoa there, take it easy, I’m not going to hurt you.” That caused her to whimper.
“B-bagon!”
Once the sun had properly let out a few lights into the alcove, the boy could see the form of the Pokémon inside. “A Bagon?”
The whimper caught the boy’s attention once more. “H-hey, it’s okay. You don’t need to be scared. You look hungry, you want something to eat?” The boy offered. Silence was all he got.
“So you don’t want...some food? I got some nice berries that you can choose here. Want to try them out? I promise they’re delicious.” The second silent treatment was given.
“Well, I got the berries in the kitchen. I’ll be back in a jiffy.” The little Bagon could hear footsteps and the creaking of a door latched to unoiled hinges.
With the human gone, she crawled forward with caution to make sure he won’t be coming back soon. The footsteps returned quicker than she had imagined and she backpedaled back again. A plate was suddenly put down right in front of the alcove. A glorious sight consisting of berries on the plates made her drool.
“I figured you might be hungry. So I brought you some berries.” The boy crouched down and put the plates full of all sorts of berries in front of the alcove. “Here you go.”
“Go on and eat, they won’t bite.” The boy chuckled.
Unfortunately, he was given no other reaction than a whimper. “C’mon, I told you, it’s fine. Really, I won’t do anything.” The silent treatment was still in play.
The boy sighed at the Bagon’s unwillingness to come out. “Well, if you won’t get out. I’ll leave the plates here, I’ll get them later. You’re free to eat anytime.”
She could hear footsteps going away from the spot beside the alcove before she heard a door creaking shut. The Bagon sighed in relief that the threat had gone, now she could focus on getting out of there.
Only to find that her stomach had disagreed with her via a growl.
Eyeing the berry on the plates....she figured a few bites wouldn’t hurt.
Days have passed without much going on. Other than the fact that the house now had one uninvited guest in the form of a Bagon. The boy had always come and gone, bringing more berries for the Bagon to eat. Whenever he come back, the berries would have been gone. The thought alone made him smile, but the little Bagon has yet to leave her comfort zone.
The fact that the Bagon was still in the alcove to this day, caused the boy to take a more direct method on getting her out of there.
“C’mon, won’t you get out of there and meet me? I promise, I won’t bite.” The boy sitting in front of the alcove said as gently as he could.
It was proven to be useless, however. The Bagon remained resolute to just stay in the alcove for fear that the human will do something similar to the bad men from before.
The whimper caught the boy’s attention. “I know you’re scared, but don’t worry, I won’t do anything to you. C’mon out and meet me.” The boy motioned for her to come out. All he got was more whimper with the Bagon remained in there.
“C’mon. It’s easy. Just walk out of there and say hi. I swear with all my heart that....huh, that sounded clichéd there. Anyway, I won’t do anything to you.....except petting you that is.” The boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
With no reaction other than another whimper, the boy sighed at the unprogressiveness.
The little Bagon was scared. She knew that the human had been no less than kind to her the days she spent in here. He had given her food when she sees that there is no reason for the boy to do so, he could have stuck his hand in, dragged her out a long time ago, but that didn’t happen. What exactly happened was that the boy didn’t do anything besides giving her some space and giving her food. But right now, she wasn’t taking any chances.
A dull thud broke her train of thoughts. She could see a leg sticking forward to the right of the alcove. “You know,” The boy spoke again as he sat against the wall beside the alcove. “I was once sad like you, not wanting to get out of the room or eat. I wonder where I had messed up, I just wanted to know that. I kept thinking that it was my fault those bullies attacked me and I ended up trashing them.”
“Then mom, entered my room and gave me a lecture. Ha, you know how it goes, a mother lecturing their child, it was cliched.” The boy chuckled, and the Bagon could share his sentiments. “And what she says was something she probably got out of a movie, but I still could see that she had meant every single word. Just don’t blame yourself for what had happened, learn from it and move on.”
Those words had resonated within the Bagon’s mind. Was she really blaming herself for the fate of her mother all this time?
The boy stood up and “Just so you know, you don’t need to be scared of me. You can come out whenever you like.” The boy let out a parting smile headed toward the back door.
“....Bagon....” The sound that he had longed to hear came from behind him. Turning around, he saw the Rock Head Pokémon squirmed out of the alcove and out into the afternoon sun.
He couldn’t help, but let a gentle smile adorn his face. “See? Wasn’t so hard was it?”
This was his first time seeing her form at full and she was a mess. She was ragged and smeared with muds all over. “Whoa, how did you end up like that?
“B-b-Bagon!”
He didn’t know what she said, but the fact didn’t escape him that the Bagon before him was shivering. “Why don’t we give you a bath?”
“Ba-Bagon?”
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll make sure the water is not cold.” The boy’s smile could replace the sun itself.
Somehow, that didn’t abade her worries.
Compared to the rain she had been a few days ago, this was best described as heavenly. She let the warm water and steam wash away all of her worries. Another fact she enjoyed, was that whenever the boy decided to rub her back, she couldn’t help but let out a purr comparable to that of a household Purrloin or Meowth.
“Gon....” She let out a gentle purr as the gentle rub went down across her back once more.
“Told you that you would like it.” The little Bagon had no choice but to agree.
The bathing process went on with a breeze, nothing that a simple soap rubbed all over hear couldn’t get rid of mud and dirt. She was lifted out of the bathtub with some bubbles still clinging to her form. She saw something overtook the top of her vision with yellow. With the towel draped over her head, the boy went to work in drying her off from the water by rubbing her here and there.
Once he was sure that the Bagon underneath the towel, dramatically, the boy pulled off the towel off the Pokémon. “Tada! All clean and sparkly!”
True to word, the Bagon was all sparkly after she had received one of the most satisfying baths ever. The high-quality soap itself is responsible for making her scales reflected off the light of the bathroom.
Even the Bagon herself was impressed. “Gon, bagon!” She let out a squeal of happiness.
The boy smiled as he stood up from the small chair he sat down on during the process of bathing. He unplugged the hole and let the water within the tube wash away before hanging up the towel on the rack attached to the door.
As soon as she was done, he picked up the Bagon into his arms again before they were out of the bathroom. Pretty soon, they found themselves in a living room with a low-height table glass with a rose inside a vase and a plate full of berries on it between two sofas facing each other.
The boy sat down while putting the Bagon beside him. He reached toward the plate and put two berries between his fingers and dropping them before the Bagon.
“Bagon?” The Pokémon tilted her head in confusion.
“Well, go on, eat.” Eric motioned. “You haven’t eaten anything before the bath. Berries don’t bite, you know?”
She is happy to oblige, making sure to eat slowly this time. The two berries quickly found themselves within the Bagon’s stomach. She sat down in content, allowing a belch escape from her throat.
The boy merely chuckled. “Looks like someone’s full.” That caused her to blush.
The boy slapped a palm to his forehead which drew the Bagon’s attention. “Oh, yeah, I almost forgot to introduce myself. Lucky us, I didn’t forget, huh?” He chuckled alongside the Bagon. “Anyway, the name’s Eric. Nice to meet you, Bagon.”
“Bagon!” She cried out excitedly.
Eric smiled at the Bagon’s excitement. He was glad that all the effort he put into befriending the Pokémon was not in vain because the Bagon has opened up to him. Just then, he realized that he is of that age. And with a Pokémon right now standing in front of him....he knew he could kill two birds with one stone.
“Hey, Bagon.”
“Gon?”
“I have an idea, but first I need your agreement with this.” Eric leaned forward with his elbow propped on his legs. “Will you agree to become....my very first partner and Pokémon?”
The Bagon’s eyes went wide in an instant. Her legs move to bolt away from the boy.
Sensing this, the boy put up his hands in defense. “Not like that. I mean, all I’m going to do is put you in a Pokéball and with that you can become my first Pokémon. There’s nothing painful about it and I promise I will let you out from time to time. All I’m asking you is to be my partner and friend, we’re going to travel together, do battles together, and become the strongest together. But,” Eric sighed. “I won’t force you to do this, either. You had your whole life ahead of you, I’m just helping you. If you want to leave then I won’t stop you.”
“What do you say?” The boy held out a hand for her. “Will you be my partner and friend?”
She thought about it. The Bagon had heard of Pokémon being captured by human by some sort of ball-like device. She shuddered at the thought of being put into another cage, even if it’s a different one. But seeing the boy’s eyes, they were....different from the bad men. She could see anticipation and nervousness for her upcoming decision. She realized another fact as well, these last few days, Eric had been nothing but kind to her. It was completely different from the look the bad men gave her, essentially, they were full of nothing but malice and disgust for her.
The Bagon was still unsure, however. She was about to decline out of fear alone that at that time, the boy’s words rang through her mind again. Don’t blame yourself for it.”
But she had misheard the voice, it wasn’t Eric’s voice, it was someone she knew very well. Swiveling her head around, she saw nothing, but the house’s appliances, walls, etc. There is no else beside the boy and herself.
Eric just stared at the Bagon in confusion.
The collateral had been done, the words kept ringing through her ears. Don’t blame yourself, don’t blame yourself and more. She closed her eyes as she took the advice to heart
Deciding to put her trust in the boy, she had made her decision the moment she opened her eyes. “Bagon!” She slapped her tiny arm into Eric’s palm in agreement.
“Great, but that also leaves us with another thing,” Eric put his hand underneath his chin in thought. “How am I supposed to explain this to mom?”
“Bagon, gon, bagon?”
“Hmmm.....well,” The boy shrugged. “Not like there’s anything I can do about it. I’ll just tell her the full truth. She’s bound to return about-“
As if fate decided to drop in the bomb, here comes the voice of the person Eric had just spoke about. “Sonny, I’m home!”
“.....now.” Eric finished.
Without warning, the door opened inward to reveal two figure standing side by side. One is a woman whose appearance and figure could make stars jealous and allure men who had crossed path with her. She is in her mid-thirties wearing a lavender vest with a white blouse underneath , black jeans, lavender high-heels and icy blue eyes, but her most noticable feature was her long blonde hair, with a long bang that almost covered her right eye. It also had about four rubber bands on it and one hairband with a Key Stone inserted into it keeping the rest of the strands from falling onto her face, all of them are lavender in color.
The second was a Garchomp standing beside the woman and wearing an ornate metallic armband on his right arm with a Garchompite inserted into it.
The woman had her mouth opened in order to say something. She never got the chance due to the fact that she witnessed her son looking back at her alongside a Bagon she didn’t know of. She was willing to bet said Pokémon was a wild one.
The boy’s head went on a swivel as he eyeballed his mother and the little Bagon sitting beside him. The atmosphere is thick with silence because no one really know what to say. The Garchomp beside her merely crossed it’s arms.
Eric decided to be the first to break the ice. “Mom....I can explain.”
“Now I wonder where had my berry supplies had gone to these last few days, hm? Seems like I found our culprit.”
The situation had gotten tense the moment Eric’s mother stepped into the house. She is now sitting on the sofa on the other side of the glass table with her Garchomp standing behind with it’s arms crossed. A few minute of explanations later and the woman had gotten a grasp of the situation.
Eric’s head rubbed his head sheepishly. “Uhhhh....sorry, mom.”
“It’s okay sonny, problem solved. But you gotta make sure to inform me first, okay?”
“That’s out of the way.” Her attention quickly shifted toward the Bagon sitting up on the glass table. “What are we going to do about the Bagon, sonny?”
This was it, the hour of reckoning. Eric steeled himself. “Mom....” The boy closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I want to have the Bagon as my first Pokémon. Pretty please?”
Another silence was added into the conversation. The boy’s mother slowly looked up toward her son with a smile. “Weell….” The drool in her tone was noticed by everyone in the room. “I don’t really see why not.”
The answer given was enough to make the boy’s day. “Yes!” Eric let out a fist pump.
“Buuuut,” Eric’s mother drooled. “Are you really sure about this?” The mother gave her son the look that any mother could give.
“I’m sure, mom.” The boy stared back at her mom.
The atmosphere got thicker as the result. It went on for a few seconds, and it gone as soon as it come when the boy’s mother let out a ear-splitting smile.
No warning was given when the Bagon was suddenly lifted off her feet and was given a bone-crushing hug. “Then welcome to the family!”
The Garchomp sighed before rubbing it’s head with it’s claw while the boy smiled sheepishly as the life was crushed out of the Bagon.
Once the hug was finished, the poor Bagon who’s face was now almost green was dropped to the glass table. She took a much needed breath into her poor lungs.
“Bagon!” Her breath came in labored. The familiar feeling of a hand running down her back returned, she couldn’t help but purr.
“There, there, easy now.” Eric smiled as he rubbed her back to ease her breathing.
The boy’s mother smiled. She could see ther her son bonded with the Bagon already. “Sonny, I think it’s time to do the thing to make someone your official partner now.” Eric’s mother smiled.
“Oh yeah, that....wait a minute,” Eric felt around his pockets for the item he seek. “Uh...I don’t have-“ Just then a hand stuck out in front of him with the item he needs on the palm, a Pokéball.
Looking to his forward, the Pokéball was in the palm of his mother. “Go on, sonny.” She encouraged.
Without a word, the boy took the Pokéball. He saw that her mother had vacated her seat and was now heading somewhere. “Wait, mom.”
“Yes, sonny?” His mother beaming smile was infectious.
“Where are you going?”
“There is no way I’ll let a new member of our family starved to death. No can do, sonny, I won’t allow it.” Her mother skipped away from the living room with her Garchomp chuckling behind her, but it sounded more like a growl in human ears.
The Bagon stared at the female human just now. The feeling that she gave off was just....weird.
The feeling of a hand on top of her head turned her attention back toward the boy. “Yeah, she can be very childish for an adult.” The Bagon agreed in no time.
“So....ready for this?” The boy held up the Pokéball in front of her.
In truth, she wasn’t ready. She had heard of those Pokéball. They are supposed to be some kind of device that stored Pokémon into it. She tried to discern whatever feeling that is to come. None came to mind.
Seeing the Bagon’s worried face, the boy smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.” When she tried to say something, the Pokéball tapped her head and she felt herself being sucked into it.
The feeling she had was...indescribable, but it was also comforting for reasons unknown. She didn’t resist during the entire process, allowing the ball to shake three times within the boy’s grip before a soft click is heard. Now, she is officially the boy’s Pokémon.
With a simple flick of Eric’s wrist, the ball was thrown upward and it opened up to release the energy-turned Pokémon captured just now. The white energy coalesced right in front of him, forming the shape of the Rock Head Pokémon and the white glow went away in a shower of sparkles, revealing the Bagon.
“Bagon!” She cried out excitedly.
Two hands wrapped around her midsection and Eric lifted her up before him. “There not so bad, was it?”
A nod came, she felt like she had the best sleep so far in her entire lifetime.
“Don’t forget about the ritual, honey!” Eric’s mother sing-songed as she from somewhere.
“I won’t mom!” The boy yelled a reply. “And that’s taken care of, we had to do the ritual!” The Bagon tilted her head at the mention of ‘ritual’. Before that, Eric must know one thing. “Hey, Bagon?”
“Gon?” Said Dragon looked up with a tilt of it’s head.
“Are you a boy or a girl?”
“Bagon!”
“What?” The boy looked down in confusion.
“Bagon, gon!”
“....sorry, but I don’t understand you.” The boy rubbed his head sheepishly. “Can you make, uhm, gestures?”
If her arms had been big enough, the little Bagon would have facepalmed. Instead of trying to get him to understand what she had said, she simply pointed to her left. Eric’s head turned left to stare at his mom who was still on the phone with someone on the other line.
The boy was still confused about what she meant. “I don’t get-” It immediately came to him when he thought about his earlier question. “Oh, a girl. You’re a girl!” An excited nod came from the Bagon.
“Hmmm, how about....Sally?”
The little Bagon stared at her new trainer in confusion. “Gon?”
“Sally, you’re a girl, right? Here in our family, we always give our Pokémon human names to show that we are family and equal. What do you say? You like the name?” Another nod. “Then that’s will be your name from now on. Welcome to the family, Sally! I hope we can be best of friends.”
For some reason, the Bagon’s burden had been eased off her shoulder by just hearing that. She simply closed her eyes and let herself fall into the black void of sleep.
The boy patted the Bagon’s head.
“Thank you.” Eric heard another voice. It was female, but it was not his mother’s. He looked toward the source in front of him.
He involuntarily shivered when he registered the sight in front of his eyes just behind the sofa. It was a Salamence, but not by any means normal because he could see through her. The only thing that kept the boy from backpedaling was the fact that the sofa was in his way.
“Please, take care of my daughter.” The voice was ethereal, hypnotic.
The figure smiled one last time before fading away, leaving Eric all by his lonesome, wondering what just happened.
Silence, silence stretched on through the kitchen as Eric was currently cooking a dinner for his hostess and friends. “...a few days later I heard the news that a dead body had been found near the place that I lived. It was reported to have been a Salamence. I assumed it was....her mother’s considering she showed up at the alcove where I stored my money all dirty and ragged. It wasn’t until I asked Rey.....a friend to initiate a Psychic link that my suspicions were proven correct.”
The two occupants currently on the table stared slack-jawed at the story told by their friend who is currently cooking their dinner. They didn’t really know how to react properly other than to initiate a blank stare at the back of the Hydreigon.
Dawn could already feel the Salamence’s pain, to witness such an event right before your very eyes. She couldn’t imagine if she herself had come to experience it. “... I’m....sorry to hear that. Celestia, I shouldn’t have asked...now I feel ba-“
“It’s nothing really. There is no need to be angry at something that is already been done. The best thing we can do....is just move on.”
“Still, I-“ A growl caught her attention. As usual Eric gave no sign of hearing it.
A deep growl that is not heard before came from Dominus beside her. “What. The. Heck!? Those sickos, what kind of crazies would do something like that!” He nearly roared, but sensible enough to keep his voice down.
“....the one who plagued our world. It was what motivated me to become a vigilante in the first place. But like all evil, they are weeds, rip one out and it will grow back.” Eric replied with his eyes closed in resignation.
“I get that, but,” If Dominus had fists instead of wings, he would have clenched it until it bleeds. “If I could go back! I’ll be gladly teach those sickos a lesson. No one murders one’s mom and gets away with it!”
“....that’s impossible. As Arceus said, only the good ones are brought here. With that, I just assumed that all the bad apples and weeds are left behind in our old world.” Eric explained while absentmindedly putting a salmon onto the plates.
“Yeah.....I wish I could pound their faces in, but you’re right dude, it’s just not possible anymore. Man, I feel for Sally really. No wonder she is so bent on taking down the Phantom Burglars.” Dominus sighed, he didn’t feel hungry at all anymore.
“...I know the feeling.” As if on cue, Eric turned around with two plates held aloof by his two arm heads, on top was your typical Salmon with severals pickles and vegetables.
Eric simply put the dinner before Dawn and Dominus, but their eyes strangely lack the luster that they had earlier this night. The Hydreigon returned later with his own plate and sat down.
As if some force had sucked all the previous activity in the room, silence descended upon the kitchen like an unpredicted storm.
Dawn was simply too focused on what Eric had said to even become agitated about it or eat the dinner in front of her. Dominus himself was unspared, instead of his perkiness whenever he saw Eric’s heavenly food, he slowly lowered his head and chewed on the Salmon silently as his wings couldn’t support spoons or forks.
Both facts didn’t went by unnoticed by Eric. “....are they still thinking about it?” It was all that prevented the former human from rubbing his head. “.....I can’t really blame them. After hearing something like that, even I could barely stomach it when I first heard it with Estelle’s help. All it take was always one blow to one spot to make even the strongest fall. No one was without a weakness, including me.”
The former human decided to take the initiative to destroy the gloomy atmosphere. “....look, just.....forget about it. There’s no use in dwelling on things that already happened.”
“How can I just forget about that?” Dawn asked incredulously. “I mean, one of my friend's mother just got....just got.....” The mare silent cursed her tendency to fumble with her sentence.
This time Eric wisely decided that it’s best not to let her finish the sentence. “....just forget about it, move on.”
"How? How can I just forget that?"
“...that’s why learn from that. I know for a fact that it is a terrible incident, and it shaped her to what she is today, a hatred toward all things criminal. But she also learned something,”
“What is that?” The words quickly flew out of Dawn’s mouth that made her thrust her hoof into her own mouth.
Eric took a deep breath before he spoke. “.....so know what it feels like to be helpless, to just stand there and can’t do anything. You saw how protective she is right?”
“....was it really that? Helplessness? Or am I deluding myself? ......I’ll never know or I’ll just find out when the time comes.” Eric muttered.
Both the mare and the eagle turned to stare at one another, their mind already knew what their friend had meant.
“Yeah, yeah,” Dawn scratched her head as she recalled one memory regarding a certain rhino and the event leading up to that Pokémon sent flying by a simple punch. “She always....got angry whenever you were in danger.”
“Dawn, no offense, but that’s an understatement right there.” Dominus cut in.
“None taken.”
The Braviary nodded. “But yeah, girl’s got one heck of a protective streak there. At least, if what I saw yesterday morning was like that too.” Dominus recalled to that scene before Eric had confronted the cop, he had saw Sally jumped to her feet the moment Dawn mentioned someone was looking for Eric.
“...she’s like that because of what I told you just now.” Eric sighed. “But I won’t justify any of her actions from that reason, I’ll accept full responsibility if I have to, because I’m her friend first and caretaker second.”
That is...actually pretty sensible. Even if this shapes her to what she is today, it seems better than nothing. But because of that, she didn’t want to lose her new friends either now she knows what Sally had gone through.
With how fast Dominus agreed, the mare was outvoted. Dawn sighed. “That...strangely makes a lot sense. I’ll take your word for it.”
Dawn sighed, she didn’t know what do anymore considering the news she had heard. “I pity the poor girl. I wish I could do...do....I don’t know.”
“You and me both....you and me both.” The Braviary added with a sigh. “I was wishing we could help her, dude. Anything is fine.”
“.....the feeling of.....helplessness....I know what it’s like....standing by as you watched your beloved die in front of you is not something that a kid should face. These two.....they are my friends, I won’t get them in my ‘side activities’ if I can help it.” Eric muttered to himself.
No further words were exchanged during the rest of their dinner.
The gloomy atmosphere permeated throughout the house. Dawn and Dominus headed upstairs after filling their stomachs with nutrients for the night.
“....I’ll see you guys tomorrow morning.” They agreed with a silent nod. Both wanted nothing more than to just pass out on their beds, partly from exhaustion from the earlier event and partly...from hearing that stories.
The thought alone made them shudder as they decided it was time to enter the slumber land.
The Hydreigon stood above the sofa he usually slept in before sitting down with a sigh. He saw Alex laid down on the right armrest and gently laid an arm against his belly. He smiled
“.....tonight has been exhausting.....now the earlier adrenaline already got out of my system.” Eric’s eyes drifted from Alex, to Sally and to Dominus. The Hydreigon rest easy knowing that at least they would be walking fine in at least two days. “....all you have done your best....you guys deserve some rest.”
As the former human leaned his head against the headrest, his mind flew back toward what he said to Dawn and Dominus earlier. “.....forget about it and move on.....then why can’t I seem to forget it no matter how much I try. Dammit, is it really getting to me? Maybe....just maybe it was the feeling that makes it hard to forget.”
“....dad...”
Eric’s mind soon went blank as he joined the other inhabitants of the house in their deep slumber.
Play this as closing theme
