• …Pokemon…

    We’ve been a part of this world for countless years. It is said that even the most powerful and rare of our species created the world we all now live in….I was not there to witness such an amazing creation, but I have seen things in this world, magnificent things, that have shown me that we really did create this world. The very fact that we exist proves it.

    As Pokemon, we are gifted. We were born as the original inhabitants of this world, we have been given abilities that other creatures of this world do not have. We’ve bent and shaped this world as it should be…though, since humans have come along with their technologies, they have reshaped our world to something that suits them better…we’ve had to fight against our own kind to avoid captivity…and once we lose, we’re captured and forced to fight even more and treated badly once we lose…our lives turn horrible once humans interfere…

    At least…that’s how it was for me…

    …I was hatched in the captivity of a male human trainer. He was excited to have a Pokemon such as me on his team, he said I was a great addition to his party…I felt loved an accepted for the longest time. He played with me, he took great care of me, I pleased him with my abilities in many battles…and yet, I wasn’t exactly what he wanted…I found that out before I was two months old…

    He called me out to face a Pokemon I knew I couldn’t beat…it was a fully evolved Charizard. I was still so young, I believed that, if my trainer thought I could beat an opponent, I could…I was foolish to even think that, he was foolish to even think that…with a single attack, I was out cold and badly burned….I don’t even remember being returned to my ball…

    Hours after the battle was over, I awoke…he had revived me, but I was still so burned…I couldn’t even squeak to thank him for waking me up. In his eyes, I saw nothing but cold disappointment…he put me down on the ground and removed my pokeball from his belt, I thought he was going to call me back to it and take me some place where I could heal completely…but he merely turned his back on me and said, “..you’re worthless…”

    With that, he tossed my pokeball to the side…and discarded me a long with it. As he disappeared into the thick forest trees, I thought it might have been a joke, a rather cruel joke, but a joke nonetheless…I thought he’d come back, heal me, and apologize for scaring me the way he did…

    I waited for an hour…wavering between consciousness and unconsciousness…and he did not come…I slipped into a troubled sleep for what seemed like three more hours…I awoke to thunder and rain began to soak my fur. As I blinked the water from my eyes, I spotted my discarded pokeball…the last thing that connected me to the life I loved…Weakly, I crawled over to the now cracked ball and pulled it close to me…how I wished I could be inside it again…I never liked it’s captivity…but it’s closed space would mean that I was a part of a family again…and I longed to feel that again…

    As much as it hurt me, I clung to the pokeball as my body shook with my sobs…I was alone…I felt like I would never know happiness again…and worst of all…now, I would never evolve…I closed my eyes an let the rain and my tears soak my fur until sleep claimed me.

    A few nights later, I woke up again…not on my own…something was sniffing at me. I didn’t move for a moment, hoping that whatever it was would leave me alone if it thought I was dead. I squeaked softly in pain and fear when I felt it’s warm tongue lick the side of my face. This thing was going to eat me!

    When the thing barked, I opened my eyes just a little, enough for me to see what it was; it was a Growlithe, I had seen one a few times before…always as my enemy…

    When I heard another set of footsteps, I could feel my heartbeat speed up…the steps were light, cautious, and somewhat slow…I knew those footsteps to belong to a human…The Growlithe had called a human! I refused to be treated the way I was before…I had lost all faith in any humans…none of them were good in my eyes…and yet the Growlithe who was still interested in me seemed to get so excited when the human came by…like they were…friends?

    “Pyre, buddy,” through my fading vision, I saw the human, a male, about fourteen years old, kneel down and pet the Growlithe lovingly…I still felt as if the affection the human was showing was false. The human spoke again, “…What is you’ve found here?”

    I was a Riolu; like he didn’t know…

    As he reached down towards me, I found the strength to weakly stand on all fours and growl at him. My fur bristled, making myself look only a little bigger, but the human did take his hand back. I was satisfied with the reaction I had gotten…but I couldn’t keep up my threatening façade for long…my growling became softer and I collapsed beside my pokeball.

    When I awoke hours later, it was completely dark, not even the moon was visible from where I was…as I moved, I realized I had my face buried to the Growlithe’s fur…I quickly panicked, how did I get there?! As I moved my face away from the Growlithe’s fur, I squeaked in pain when the sunlight hit my eyes, it looked to be late morning…but even with all of the trees blocking the sun…the light still burned my tired eyes.

    My squeaks awoke the Growlithe I was curled up against and I could feel my heartbeat speed up again, what if this thing really was my enemy? What if he was only waiting until I was well enough to put up a fight before he attacked me? I was frozen with fear in his warm fur. Though, his soft blue eyes told me that he wasn’t going to hurt me…and I calmed down a little bit. This seemed to make him happy because he licked me again. I winced slightly, waiting to feel the pain of being touched because of my burns, but, I felt nothing save for his warm, wet tongue.

    I blinked, surprised; had I been healed? I shifted myself to a half-standing position against the Growlithe to get a better look at myself; my paws were bandaged, my fur smelled strongly of medicine, and there was no trace of a burn on my body, not even a patch of singed fur! I looked up at the Growlithe, almost expecting him to say that he was the one who tended to my wounds, but he just panted happily and barked, jerking his head to the left…directing my attention to the sleeping human…

    The Growlithe must’ve sensed my immediate fear, because he tried to curl up closer around me in a protective manner…admittedly, I did feel a little safer, but when the human stirred, I couldn’t stop my heart from speeding up the way it did. He may have been the one who healed me…but humans always had other motives…he wanted something of me…probably wanted to treat me just as badly as the other human did…all he needed was a reason…

    The Growlithe’s bark had brought the human into consciousness, he rolled over and moaned at the early morning hours, but once he opened his eyes and focused on both the Growlithe and I, he sat up and exclaimed, “Oh!”

    Quickly, he grabbed his bag and shifted through it’s contents; he pulled out two bags full of what looked to be food…it didn’t look a thing like any food I had been given; it was large, brown pellets with crushed berries mixed in it…my stomach rumbled, it actually looked good…and I had been practically starved for the past three days by my last trainer.

    The trainer must’ve heard my stomach growl, because he smiled and began pouring the contents of the two bags into two bowls. I didn’t see any other pokeballs at his belt or anywhere else around him, the Growlithe must’ve been his first Pokemon, yet the fact that he had two bowls meant that he was preparing to get more soon. When both bowls were full, he placed one in front of the Growlithe and one near me. The Growlithe quickly stood and began eating, he clearly enjoyed the food…but I was a little more cautious, I still didn’t trust this human…

    I stood on all fours and sniffed at the food in the bowl…it smelled alright…I took a small bite…it was delicious! Forgetting the human was still watching me, I practically buried my face into the food, it was by far the best thing I had ever tasted in my life! I never knew such food existed!

    The human laughed and scratched my ears, my fur stood on end and I growled, but he still laughed and continued to scratch my ears, “So you like that do ya, little guy?” when I growled in a happy tone, he sat back and watched me finish, “good to see you’ve still got an appetite, you really had us worried back there!”

    The Growlithe barked at me in agreement, slightly showering me with the food he had in his mouth. I shook the food from my fur and the human laughed again, “Pyre, chew first, talk later.” the Growlithe, Pyre, panted and wagged his tail happily as he went back to his bowl.

    The human smiled and also scratched Pyre’s head, “Good boy.” again, he turned his attention to me, a soft smile still playing on his young face, “Oh! I still haven’t really introduced the two of us, have I? Well,” he pointed to himself, “I’m Adrian Waltz, I’m a new trainer. And this,” he motioned towards the Growlithe who was sitting in front of a now empty bowl, “Is my first Pokemon, my best friend, Pyre.” Pyre wagged his tail happily at the mention of his name and status with Adrian.

    Adrian patted the ground beside him and Pyre immediately bounded to his side, the puppy panted happily and nuzzled his friend’s shoulder while Adrian continued to speak, “What about you, little guy? Do you have a name?”

    I lifted my head from my bowl and tilted my head, eyeing him questionably. Did I have a name? My species was called ‘Riolu’…but my last trainer never gave me a name…he named all of his other Pokemon…but never once did he call me anything more than what I was by nature…well, he called me that…and worthless…

    Adrian stared at me for a moment, and nodded, “So you weren’t given one then? Well, we’ll just have to think of something that suits you…” he stared thoughtfully at me for a moment, but he shook his head…he couldn’t think of a name for me either… “I’m sorry, little guy…I’m not exactly good at coming up with names off the top of my head…” he shuffled through his bag again and pulled out an odd red device, “This might help me think of something.”

    He flipped the small mechanical device open and pointed it at me. It made an odd beeping noise and I honestly became curious; I left my half-eaten bowl of food and stood beside him, clinging to his arm to see what the device was doing. He smiled at me and tilted it downward so I could see; the machine had my picture on it’s screen and it said my name:

    Riolu, The Emanation Pokemon.
    ~It’s body is lithe, yet powerful. It can crest three mountains and cross two canyons in one night. The aura that emanates from it’s body intensifies to alert others if it is afraid or sad.

    I tilted my head in surprise, the little device knew something about my kind…I was impressed, but I was still confused as to why Adrian used it. I looked up at him for an answer, but he was still staring at the device thoughtfully, so I tugged at his sleeve and muttered, “…Rio?…”

    He blinked and looked down at me, smiling softly…he smiled quite a bit…my other trainer rarely smiled at all…how could the two already seem so different? But to answer my questioning cry, he laughed and said, “I thought looking up your data would help me think of a name for you…sounds like you’re really strong, but I still can’t think of a good name for you…” he glanced over at Pyre and chuckled, “It took me several weeks to find a good name for Pyre, but we both think it works very well for him.”

    He softly placed his hand on my head in a gentle pat and smiled again, “If you’re willing to stay with us, I’m positive I can think of something you’ll like to be called.” he scratched my ears softly, it felt so good, I purred. He laughed, “I’ll take that as a yes then! Welcome to the team, little guy!”

    I was kind of enjoying being called ‘little guy’, it meant that the human accepted me…but I never expected it to last long…in fact, what Adrian did next proved to me that he wasn’t looking for a friend in me, he was looking for another fighting machine…just like every other human…

    Pyre nosed into Adrian’s bag and pulled out a pokeball, it was cracked and lightly chewed on…I recognized it as my old pokeball…but why did it have teeth marks on it?

    Adrian noticed my questioning gaze and chuckled, “Your old pokeball is broken.” He held it up as if to examine it, and Pyre fidgeted eagerly upon seeing it. My attention was now divided, I was angry at Adrian for keeping my pokeball, but I was also curious as to why Pyre was acting the way he way.

    The Puppy Pokemon was bowing down on his front paws, his tail was stuck high in the air and wagging wildly. Adrian continued to hold up the broken pokeball, turning it so that the crack -- which was much bigger than I thought-- was facing the light, “It’s pretty much useless now…” Pyre whimpered, still fidgeting like he was ready to pounce on Adrian. Again, the human chuckled, “Well, it’s useless to hold you now.” he tossed it to his side and Pyre immediately bounded off after it, causing Adrian to laugh loudly, “But it’s Pyre’s new favorite toy.”

    I tilted my head as I watched Pyre chase after what was now my old, useless pokeball. I couldn’t help but smile as he pounced after it and tossed it around…Adrian kept the pokeball not because it would hold me, but because Pyre saw it as his new plaything…was it possible that some humans viewed Pokemon as friends rather than tools? I haven’t been on this earth for very long, but all the humans I had encountered so far seemed to be nothing more than power hungry creatures with no respect towards any other creature but themselves…After seeing how Adrian behaved towards Pyre and myself…I no longer knew what to believe…

    Adrian placed his hand on my head, bringing me out of my deep thoughts, “Since your pokeball is broken, that technically means your free.” He smiled, but his eyes held the deep glint of worry, “I’d understand if you’d like to leave us…but you were in such a bad shape when I found you, I don’t know if you’re ready to fend for yourself just yet…”

    I took offense to that, I may have been hatched in captivity, I may have been left for dead due to an error in battle, but I was a Pokemon! I was born with natural instincts higher than a normal living creature…higher than any human…If both Adrian and I were left out alone in the forest; I with only my instincts and my abilities and he with only the clothes on his back, I would live much longer than he would because that’s how I was built!…wouldn’t be ready to fend for myself…the human had some nerve!

    I growled at him, showing my dislike of the way he spoke to me. Knowing that his words upset me, he immediately tried to make it better…like he ever could.

    “I-I didn’t mean that the way it came out…I wasn’t calling you weak, I just wasn’t sure if you were fully healed yet. What if I let you go and your wounds weren’t completely healed over? What if we left you to the wild and something attacked you?” he sighed, “I couldn’t easily live with myself if you got hurt or died because I left you alone before you were ready to actually face things alone…”

    I blinked, he actually did a very good job of making things better. I smiled, but I was still so unsure…Why did this trainer care about me? Was he always like this? Or was he just pretending to cared about me so I would join his team and become another fighter against my fellow Pokemon just so he could prove he was better?…just like my old trainer…

    Again, my attention was drawn to Pyre, the Puppy Pokemon seemed so happy with his life with Adrian…however short the time they’ve been together may have been…he genuinely seemed happy.

    During his playtime with my discarded pokeball, Pyre noticed me staring at him and bounded over to my side. He dropped his new toy and playfully licked the side of my face, making me smile. “Growl!” he barked at me, sounding excited. He knew what Adrian was trying to say, and he seemed to want it too.

    His excited bark easily translated to ‘Stay!’.

    Convinced that Adrian was a decent person only by Pyre’s excited persuasion, I nodded, accepting both of their offers to accompany them. Though, I quickly cringed away when Adrian pulled out a brand new pokeball. This one didn’t look to be a plaything of any kind…after knowing that I was willingly going to join him…he was still going to capture me in one of those dreadful containers!

    Adrian shook his head, almost knowing what I was thinking, “I won’t keep you in this if you don’t like it, Pyre didn’t like his ball either. I only use it when he’s tired or sick…just until I can get him to a place where we can rest undisturbed…” he smiled lightly, “He is my best friend, after all, he deserves to be treated as such, as my equal.”

    Pyre barked happily, acknowledging the truth of his friend’s words. Both Adrian’s words and Pyre’s actions…their happiness together, brought a smile to my face and a tear to my eye…I wanted a life like this so badly…if a minute in a pokeball was the price to pay, I guess I had to pay it. Submitting to the both of them, I closed my eyes and awaited the red light of captivity.

    Adrian raised the red and white ball and touched the button to my head, it was a gentle capture, much more gentle than how my old trainer would call me back to confinement. For once, I put up no struggle, I just let the restraints of the device take me. It held me for what seemed like forever…I thought for a moment that Adrian lied to me, but the light of freedom greeted me just a minute afterwards.

    “Ro!” I said as I stretched, grateful for the kept promise. I already felt better, even my bandaged paws no longer ached…I already felt like I was getting stronger just because I was liked by Pyre and Adrian. For the moment I was no longer afraid to be attached to my present company, “Rio!” I exclaimed as I rushed forward and hugged him around his leg.

    Adrian laughed and smiled, gently scratching at my ears, causing me to purr again. He repeated his previous statement again, this time, he made it sound more official, “Welcome to the team, little guy!”