3 short stories i wrote about my character meeting his Pokémon again (Reunion / Mirrored / Old Friends)

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ThatAlex
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3 short stories i wrote about my character meeting his Pokémon again (Reunion / Mirrored / Old Friends)

Post: # 15280Post ThatAlex »

Reunion

En arrived at the entrance to the Pokémon Rehabilitation center. He was nervous, having barely caught any sleep last night with this appointment coming up, but he was not about to cancel it either.
Salt, the little RTMP-Ralts, was sitting on his shoulder as always, being in a semi-meditative state to focus on controlling his prosthetics as well as monitoring his mental state. En was thankful to have her with him, despite the role she played.
He had even put on his old ranger uniform. This design had been long discontinued, and was somewhat customized anyway, so it was no problem for a non-ranger to wear one. He hopes this would help Sickle recognize him quicker, and maybe calm it.

Sickle, the reason he came here. His Gallade, well, formerly his. It had been his partner Pokémon of sorts, and after the incident with Jake, he had lost custody of it. Today would be a test to see if both En and Sickle had recovered.

After going through the front door, En was told to sit for a while, as preparations were made. A few documents and safety talks later, he was led through a secure hallway into the closed-habitats. At first he would have to see if Gallade was aggressive towards him, so the Pokémon had been moved into an enclosed room, made to resemble a typical plains environment. A thick glass barrier was between En and the enclosure, for protection. Apart from the personnel that follow him, a Mr. Mime was also present, with the function to put up whatever barriers were needed should things turn ugly.
After En had sat down in front of the glass, the door from the outside into the enclosure was opened, and Sickle walked through. En's heart skipped a few beats, as it been ages since he had seen his Gallade. Almost 15 years now.

Sickle looked into the enclosure curiously, quickly scanning for other Pokémon or anything unusual in it. It had been subjected to many tests here, and it had gotten somewhat used to the routine. This time however it seemed there were no dummies to save or snarky Pokémon to ignore. Instead it was just an empty enclosure. Sickle looked to the glass, where normally the Caretakers would give it order, but its eyes widened as it saw a familiar uniform, accompanied by a face just recognizable enough, even after all the years.

A few droplets of sweat shone on En's forehead. Sickle, after having spotted him, seemed to have frozen up. Gallade were incredibly empathetic creatures, and seeing one so flustered was no good sign. Still, nothing particular had happened yet, so he remained quiet.
After around half a minute, though it felt like an eternity, Sickle relaxed, slowly walking up to the glass. Its expression was hard to read. Once it reached the glass, it put one hand onto it, just in front of En. He did the same, slowly moving his prosthetic onto the barrier between them.

Sickle could hardly believe what it was looking at. It concluded that this was just another test. After all, the little Ralts on the mans shoulder seemed to occupy his mind enough to where Gallade couldn't have tried to connect with it, even if this was En, a human with which this kind of connection came easy.
Still, if this was him...

At this point a long enough time had passed for the caretakers to grow uneasy. Too little had happened. One of them walked over to En and told him to get up, which he did. He was led over to an opening in the glass, since it was mostly soundproof. Sickle followed him to the opening, not letting the man out of its sight.
He was then left alone again, cleared his voice and spoke up. "Its been a while Sickle." En simply said.

Sickle took a few steps back. The voice was undoubtedly his. For a few moments, it almost seemed as though psychic energy was crackling around the Pokémon, its emotions swirling like a thick fluid in its head. The Mr. Mime had a concerned look, preparing a barrier just in case. But it didn't come to it. Instead, after another few moments that seemed to stretch into eternity, the glow that had gathered on Gallades' blades disappeared, and it stepped up to the opening.
It gave En a look, its expression now less of an unreadable mask and showing its surprise and joy and anger all at once. It simply plopped down in front of the glass and let out a small, almost inaudible chirp.

Earnest instantly recognized this sound as one of the signals he had taught Sickle back during his ranger days. A quiet signal to tell his other Pokémon to gather back at their meeting point. It was almost the same sound bug Pokémon would make, and thus the signal he chose for this action. It almost made him tear up to see that Sickle still remembered it. "I'm happy to see you again" he said, his voice quivering ever so slightly.
The Gallade still didn't seem fully over the initial shock of this encounter, but it sat quietly over the next 15 minutes, letting out the odd sound to try and convey its thoughts to its old trainer. En could gather that Sickle wasn't entirely happy to see him, seeming to throw insults at him every now and again. Still, most of their interaction was positive, until eventually En was led out by the Personnel that had accompanied him. He waved Sickle goodbye, although it still seemed lost in thought.
Just as he was about to step out of the room connecting him to the enclosure, En suddenly got a feeling in his ears, as though the pressure had changed. Then a thought entered his mind, clumsily and slightly unclear, but it was easily recognizable nonetheless. From atop the largest tree of the swamp near Ferrite, he looked down at a bright beam, followed by a scream of pain and the smell of burned meat. The wave of regret and negative emotions that followed almost gave En a headache, though his Ralts had noticed and withdrawn its own influence from his mind for now, easing the pressure a bit. He looked back to see that Gallade had turned its head and started to walk out of the enclosure.
Salt had noticed the exchange, at least enough to know En had suddenly received a shot of negative thoughts from a Pokémon able to do so. What this meant for him and Sickle, the little Ralts didn't know, but it seemed a simple picture-perfect reunion was not going to easily happen between them.
Last edited by ThatAlex on Thu Jul 08, 2021 12:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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ThatAlex
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Re: 3 short stories i wrote about my character meeting his Pokémon again (Reunion / Mirrored / Old Friends)

Post: # 15281Post ThatAlex »

Mirrored

Gallade were strange Pokémon. Smart, empathetic, strong, and very rarely occurring in the wild. They could meditate for hours, if not days.
But this was unusual even considering that.
Sickle had barely moved for almost a week. Accepting food, but unresponsive to its normal routine.
The reason was clear to the caretakers however. Sickle and its trainer had a problematic connection, and the recent visits had likely put the Pokémon in some turmoil.

This was the briefing Earnest received as he visited the rehabilitation center. He did love these visits, especially since they had become more frequent, but there had always been a certain… distance between him and Sickle. Knowing this, Earnest filled out some extra paperwork, receiving permission for something he had been wanting to try.

He entered the enclosure. As per usual, a Mr. Mime was there should anything happen, as well as a few employees and volunteers. The Gallade sat motionless behind the glass separating the room from the grassy, walled off area that allowed the Pokémon to see into the visitor’s room.
However, Earnest left Salt, his little RTMP-Ralts, on a chair as he walked towards the glass. Salt was clearly unhappy with this, though if it was out of worry or change of procedure was impossible to tell.
Though they were only a few steps apart, already the telepathic and psychic grip of the small Ralts weakened, and En could feel the pressure in his head releasing a bit, as if he turned off the radio and listened to silence instead. His arms also became more stiff, eventually going completely limp at his sides, the Ralts no longer able to properly control the metallic frames.

At this change, Sickle perked up. It could feel the mind of its former trainer clearing up, becoming, for lack of a better word, vulnerable.
Nevertheless, Earnest approached, stopping at the glass door that enabled access into the enclosure directly.
“Mind if I come in?” he asked. The Gallade nodded slightly, not being able to fully understand the words, but able to feel Earnest’s intentions clearly once again.
He pushed open the door, walked through and had it fall shut behind him. The Mr. Mime looked nervous, but En was calm, walking closer and sitting down barely a meter away from the Gallade. It eyed him with an unreadable expression.
“You feel responsible right?” Earnest asked simply. “Guilty maybe… But I… I want you to know it wasn’t your fault.”
Sickle turned to him fully now, still sitting. It couldn’t quite make out what Earnest was saying, but his open mind allowed it a look into his intentions.
En sighed, seeing that he wasn’t going to get anywhere by talking.
“Listen… There are some things you don’t know. Why I've been gone for so long. Just… try to understand.”
With this, he fully opened his mind, practically able to feel the Gallade’s grasp strengthening, like the start of a headache. He tried his best to recall long gone events. How Gallade was taken, how he had attempted an act of terrorism, his time in prison, all of which through the clouded view of a disillusioned and illogical mental state.
Sickle was visually taken aback by all this. It had assumed Earnest simply abandoned it after their time in the jungle, but this…

Salt could feel this wave of emotions, even at a distance, and gave one of the caretakers a concerned look, but they didn’t intervene yet.
Earnest looked up again, locking eyes with Gallade properly for the first time in years.
“I'm sorry, I could have, should have done better. But if you’re still willing to join me again, maybe you can help me set things right again.”
While speaking, he stood up, Sickle mimicking his movements.
He raised his hand, as if for a handshake, the Gallade once again copying this, until their hands met. A faint purple light shone through the hollow framework of the prosthetic limbs. Gallade looked almost surprised to have caused their movement once it noticed.
Earnest just smiled, trying to hold back a few tears. Sickle then looked up to him again, suddenly lunging forward and wrapping its arms around its trainer. En closed his arms around the Pokémon, accepting the memories of the Gallade as their connection tightened even more. Seeing how it had spent years in a routine, just going through the motions. How it looked on during the fight that cost Earnest not only his arms, but his life as he knew it. How he had looked through Sickle’s eyes, as he descended further into misery.

“Never again” He whispered “We can handle it together from now on.”
Sickle nodded, quietly shedding a few tears. They then released each other from their embrace, still mirroring their movements almost perfectly.
Looking at the Sanctuary-Employee, En asked “How much longer?” to which the employee just sighed and said “How about 5 more minutes?” with a sympathetic smile.

En nodded thankfully, stretching as best as he could, and saying to Sickle with a cheeky smile “How about we try this out a bit more?”
Sickle grinned widely as well, smiling for the first time in ages, and without any more words, they chose a random rock as their target and engaged. Like a dance, they spent the next few minutes completely in sync, moving as if to attack the rock, but always feinting or retreating before hitting it. It would have looked impressive was it not so clumsy, though they quickly go more elegant the longer they went. As if Gallade was getting used to reading its trainer's mind, applying the movements to both its own body, and Earnest’s prosthetics. At the same time, Earnest adjusted his movements to Gallade's position.

The RTMP-Ralts almost looked jealous at this display, though it couldn’t help but be a bit impressed. Still, seeing as how time was up, it made a small, annoyed vocalization towards one of the employees, who tore his eyes from the almost meditative dance of the two, and cleared his throat to get their attention. “Sorry but…” he just motioned to the door.
Earnest nodded, breathing heavily after this workout. The Gallade looked between the two people with a bit of a pleading look, making it look almost cute.
“Don’t worry, I'll be back soon. Hey, maybe we can go outside next time!”
En said, giving the Gallade another hug, before he walked towards the glass door. His arms once again went completely limp, as Gallade sat back down, trying to look annoyed, but still smiling from their exchange.
After Earnest had left, it went back to it's proper enclosure, deciding to actually play with some of the friends it had made over time. After all, it might not see them again in a bit.

As he was escorted towards the reception desk, En could feel a slight headache coming on. Whether this was due to the sudden and strong connection to his old partner, or just Salt trying to annoy him he could not tell, though the latter was unlikely. Salt was a little brat, but somehow En could feel it being worried for him, even though their connection was usually pretty one sided. Maybe it would open up to him after all.
“Can I leave this here before I go?” He asked the employee who had led him to the door. “Of course” she said, smiling warmly. En then left a little packet of documents. An application it seemed, with all the needed paperwork already filled on his end.
“Since you took care of Sickle for so long, I’d like to return the favor. Thank you again, for keeping him safe, and well fed, and…” he stopped himself with an awkward chuckle, before he looked even more soft.
“Sorry, have a good day!” he said leaving.
Once outside he looked up, taking in the fresh air and enjoying the sun for a few moments. He almost felt as if his mind had cleared, clouds that had blocked out the sky having disappeared, and allowing him to just enjoy the present. Even Salt felt this, closing her eyes and smiling, with her face warmed by the warm weather.
“Alright, back to work!”
Salt groaned, instantly back into her regular bad mood. “Oh don’t be like that, if you want snacks i need money”
They kept going back and forth like this, while Earnest called for his Archeops, and flew towards Adamas, knowing the rowdy Darumaka at the daycare were already waiting on their caretaker to play with.
Last edited by ThatAlex on Thu Jul 08, 2021 12:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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ThatAlex
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Re: 3 short stories i wrote about my character meeting his Pokémon again (Reunion / Mirrored / Old Friends)

Post: # 15282Post ThatAlex »

Old Friends

The Accelgor looked around the water curiously. It hadn’t been in a swampy environment for a while, and while the one here at the sanctuary was just a reconstruction, it still made the little bug feel right at home. The Escavalier however, stood motionless on a rock. It hadn’t had much energy for a while now, but watched protectively over the Accelgor as it jumped around.
A Braviary was perched nearby as well, the open sky of the fenced area allowing a pleasant breeze to rustle through its Feathers.

These three Pokémon had been old team-members of Earnest. He read a quick summary on their recent behavior in the lobby, filling out the usual stack of paperwork while he waited for one of the caretakers to show him in. Salt was sitting on his shoulder as per usual, legs dangling and absent-mindedly moving the man's prosthetics, as they had become much easier to control for the little psychic type once they had upgraded. But the Ralts was not the only RTMP-Personnel present, a young officer also arrived, tasked with overseeing this procedure.
With the preparations done, En was led to a little waiting room until he was called.

The two bugs, Cloth and Lance, perked up as two of the sanctuary employees walked into the enclosure. Beak, the Braviary sitting atop the tree, didn't seem to mind or even acknowledge the intrusion, though it was still watching intently.
Sickle then came into view from behind the workers, wearing its usual blank expression, but lighting up as soon as it saw its old friends.
The Gallade rushed past the person in front of it, and ran towards Cloth with an almost excited shriek. The Accelgor, initially taken aback, jumped to it as well now, the two of them embracing upon contact. Although it was really more of a catch by the Gallade, as Cloth really was rather small.
The other two Pokémon, now recognizing their old friend and teammate, also rushed forward, Lance jumping into Gallade’s arms as well, and Beak enclosing all of them in a big feathered embrace.

After a few moments of this, they all let go, the bugs jumping back onto the ground, and tilting their head at the Gallade questioningly. Beak let them all go as well, but positioned itself somewhat between the group and the workers overseeing this exchange.
Sickle, remembering their previous training together, decided to communicate with their old sign language rather than how Pokémon would normally vocalize. While it was technically harder, this was something that connected the group, and Sickle knew it was tasked with preparing the Pokémon. Though even then, this was what it would have done regardless.
With a few simple gestures, it communicated the concepts of “Not apart” and “Meet up” to the group, which they all seemed to interpret as them being a proper team again.
Still, the 3 Pokémon looked somewhat down. This was due to no fault of Gallade, or the workers, or anyone else really. Sure they had spent years in relative luxury, but the event that had separated the group still weighed heavily on all of them. Especially since none of them really understood what had happened. To them, they simply went on a dangerous mission and then their trainer and leader left them.

Sickle understood this well, as it had assumed the same things. With what little of their Cypher it remembered, the Gallade communicated “Mission Over” and “Return to meeting point” to the Pokémon. They all seemed rather excited, as well as confused, by this. Braviary especially started to look around, its razor sharp eyes focusing on every out of place detail it could find.
This was when one of the workers went to get Earnest from his waiting room.

Once he stepped outside, and was in view from the enclosure, the Accelgor and Escavalier seemed to almost step back out of shock. The Braviary spread its wings, still between the people and the Pokémon, almost as an aggressive gesture. All of them vocalized heavily, and it took a small surge of psychic energy coming from Sickle to quiet them down. It used to do this back when all these Pokémon still needed training, and that memory alone was enough to calm them a lot.
During this, Earnest had approached enough to enter the enclosure. The officer close by looked a bit skeptical at the scene that had unfurled, but nothing had gone wrong yet, so they proceeded.

Once inside, the Braviary leaned down, as it had puffed up to look quite tall, closed its eyes, and sniffed En’s neck. It then cooed quietly, pushing its face against that of Earnest who took the opportunity to pet the bird. With Salt controlling the prosthetics, they moved quite well, and the Braviary thought for a moment its trainers arms had somehow returned. Once Beak removed itself from the hug, it stepped aside, but once again blocked the view of the group of people slightly. It was still watching En carefully, but with an almost worried look now. Beak was always the calm one in the group, quick to spot anger and act independently, but more than once had this cost damage to its team, and it was no laser-focused on the exchange between its old trainer and friends, in fear they might somehow get away again, or get hurt by something.

The Escavalier was first to shuffle forward, dragging its tiny, but rather heavy body towards En, and eyeing him suspiciously. It let out a small chatter, like the gnashing of teeth, or stones clattering against each other. Earnest could of course not understand this, but he had known this Pokémon for long enough to know what it was trying to convey.
“I'm sorry, I was gone for a long time”
He said, looking towards the Ralts, and then the Gallade, to signal them. Sickle stepped closer, and started emitting a slight purple glow around its own arms, taking control of the prosthetics for now.

Earnest used this to motion in the same Cypher Sickle had used. They had come up with it together after all.
“Problems arose” and “New plan” is what he conveyed. He spoke immediately after.
“It’s going to be hard to explain, but just know I didn't leave you. I never wanted to. And i never will again”

The three Pokémon didn’t properly understand the words, of course they didn’t, but even after all this time, they still could tell from the tone of voice and body language what Earnest was trying to convey. And though for a moment, they each considered how easy it would be to lean back, and enjoy the cozy life they all had now, seeing Sickle together with Earnest again, not to mention how different their trainer looked now, it took not even a seconds for them to jump into another embrace.

Earnest was very much surprised by this, and would have fallen over, was he not essentially surrounded.
From the front, the surprisingly heavy Accelgor and Escavalier jumped into his arms, which luckily were held by the Gallade and not the Ralts, as the little one did not like bugs near it.
From behind, the Braviary calmly, but affectionately pressed it's head against En’s back, both stabilizing him and also essentially sharing in the moment. Gallade, after a moment of surprise, joined in as well, though a simple pat on the bug’s heads sufficed for the proud Pokémon.
While En was not entirely surprised by this outcome, after all he had essentially raised these Pokémon from birth, he still had to try his best to hold back tears, while he just sat there and enjoyed the once familiar weight of the two bugs on him, the constant quiet sound of wind blowing through Beak’s feathers, and the ever so slight, but pleasant pressure in his head from the strong connection he had to Sickle.

“I have some other friends to introduce, couldn't be all by myself for so long. But you'll like them, promise”
He said to the Pokémon, which now returned back to their comfortable spots.
For about half an hour, the caretakers watched while Earnest simply spent time with his old team, seeing how much of their training they remembered, if he could recall their favorite berries to eat, if they had learned any new tricks.
As no problems were in sight, they simply sat down, still watching, but letting Earnest simply enjoy himself for a bit. Of course, the officer was ever vigilant, but with the warm sun shining down, he also did not deny a little break.

By the end, the old pep of the Pokémon had returned. Their cushy lives over these past few years had been pleasant, but had lacked the sense of adventure they didn’t know they had. Or rather, the sense of adventuring with their friends, their family.

By the time Earnest was reminded to leave, Cloth and Lance had already fallen asleep, tuckered out, and Beak felt too bad to move, since the bugs had both made themselves comfortable in its plumage.
Sickle stayed with them in the open-air enclosure, since it had yet to properly return to Earnest as well, but with all of them reunited, even the ever-stoic Gallade couldn’t hide a smile, as it sat down next to Beak and took the opportunity to make itself comfortable and warm as well.
Earnest, seeming tired but happy, stepped out quietly and walked back to the reception to fill out the usual paperwork, trying his best to be quiet so he would not wake the napping Pokémon.
Or rather, his napping Team.
Nihilego is a parasite
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