Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ The Forgotten Son ❯ Not So Bad ( Chapter 2 )

Once the red-haired boy disappeared over the horizon, Luke gave the magikarp a tight hug.

 

“Shhhhh… don't be upset… I'll take care of you now.”

 

He felt the fish trembling in his arms as it began to weep. It was abandoned in the most cruel of forms, hated by the one person who it wanted to be strong for. It was a depressing thing, but Luke had seen it before.

 

“Miltank, take this guy and get him some milk. Let's help him feel right at home!”

 

***

 

Everyone was silent for the remainder of the day. Even treecko was surprisingly friendly to the newcomer, trying hard to be near it and comfort it. Miltank milked herself dry, giving her best milk to the red fish in hopes of cheering it up. That night as they all went back to bed, Luke was happy to see the magikarp smiling as it lay down beside treecko in its hay bed.

 

As Luke went to sleep that night, he kept hearing the words of that kid in his head over and over…

 

“You're training your pokemon to be weak, you're letting them get too close. I learned that getting close to a pokemon is painful- the hard way. I hope that you change your ways soon.”

 

He despised what the red-haired boy said to him, yet what he told him about his weak pokemon seemed to make perfect sense. Luke couldn't help but feel that unless he made his pokemon stronger, he'd regret it….

 

***

 

Luke opened his pokemon's shed that morning to see all of them getting along great. Miltank and Kenshin's efforts had appeared to have helped the magikarp, as it was grinning and laughing with them when Luke stepped in.

 

“Alright guys, good morning! Glad to see you all happy. Now, who wants breakf- oh.”

 

In that instant, Luke realized that he was officially broke. He used up all his remaining money on dinner last night, leaving him nothing to buy food with today. His pokemon, however, stepped forward, eager for a hearty breakfast.

 

“Umm, I don't know how to tell you guys, but, uh… I'm kinda broke right now.”

 

Suddenly all three of his pokemon looked utterly depressed. They all looked so hungry, Luke really wanted to feed them, but… well, he couldn't. He certainly couldn't steal food, as miltank would slaughter him. And he couldn't go and catch some fish for food, since… well, he didn't want to traumatize magikarp. Berries weren't going to be good substance for his pokemon, either, but… they had to do for then.

 

So, with that in mind they all set off on a berry picking search. They were able to find enough to feed all three pokemon, although Luke had to go hungry since humans couldn't eat most of the berries pokemon could- in fact, the only berries humans could eat grew in only a few places across the entire region of Johto, and discerning them from pokemon berries was awfully tricky business.

 

“Don't worry about me, guys…” he said. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes showed a lot of concern for what would happen to him now. He felt his stomach lurch and growl as it craved for some food, but the call went unanswered save for some milk he had in bottles from miltank, which he kept at home. So much miltank's milk throughout his life had actually given Luke a great height; he was tall for fifteen, although his cautious personality didn't fit this large exterior. His muscles, however, were not as well-toned as they should have been for a boy his age, due to his rather empty lifestyle.

 

Just as he was about to set off for his house, he heard a chipper call from behind; a very nasal-sounding squeal which startled him. He turned around to see a small blue pokemon, which had a small, armless body with an oversized head and small gray protrusions on the sides of its head; a pokemon called wooper.

 

“Huh… a wild pokemon. But it isn't attacking?”

 

Suddenly he felt a certain bloodlust- one he knew too well. He turned and saw Kenshin, trembling as he stared at that little blue creature, the insuppressible urge to attack it mindlessly surfacing on the green lizard's face.

 

“K-Kenshin… no… we don't attack other pokemon, Kenshin!”

 

But it was too late. With a sharp howl it had drawn its blade and rushed through the distance separating the two within a second, whaling on the small blue pokemon with everything it had. The small blue pokemon flailed helplessly as the green lizard circled around it, cutting it up from all directions. It had a completely frenzied look in its eyes and it was grinning, baring its pearly white sharp teeth as it whirled around the little wooper.

 

“Kenshin, stop!!”

 

It gave another howl, leaping into the air again and slicing into Luke's arm with its sword.

 

The pain was unbelievable.

 

With a loud yell Luke fell to the ground, clutching his arm which was now seeping blood. He gave a bewildered and confused look at his attacker who came to his senses and began screaming and beating itself with its blade.

 

“S-stop hurting yourself, Kenshin!”

 

The lizard dropped its blade, falling to the ground and closing its eyes. It looked very upset with itself, as once again it had failed its master and had attacked a helpless pokemon. Before it would get angry at Luke, but now it saw it had gone too far.

 

“Miltank… give the poor wooper some milk, and then Kenshin…”

 

The miltank, who up until now had been watching in motionless shock, stirred itself and bumbled over to the wooper, painfully moaning on the ground. After a couple mouthfuls of milk, however, it looked happy again, although its wounds didn't look too good. The milk it gave to Kenshin, however, seemed to leave no effect at all; the green lizard sat in place in total silence, its wounds giving off blood although it didn't seem to care.

 

They set off for home, taking the wooper with them to heal it and care for it. Kenshin refused to move at all, so miltank had to carry it home.

 

They got home in the early afternoon. Luke was able to bandage his arm, and with some more miltank milk wooper's wounds healed. Kenshin, on the other hand, refused to drink any more. It sat in a corner of the house, looking down at the ground solemnly. Luke felt an immeasurable level of guilt, but everything he said to comfort Kenshin didn't seem to reach the green pokemon.

 

After some time, Luke opened the door to his house and motioned for the wooper to leave and go back to the wild.

 

“Bye-bye, wooper. Thanks for stopping by, and I'm so sorry for getting you hurt.”

 

However the blue pokemon looked outside and frowned, shaking its head.

 

“Huh? Wooper, it's time to go.”

 

It closed its eyes and shook its head, then rubbed against Luke's leg.

 

“Wooper, you can't stay here! I'm nearly broke, I'll have no way to support you, let alone my own pokemon!”

 

Saying that reminded him of how hungry he was, and he frowned and clutched his stomach as it begged and pleaded for food.

 

The wooper sat down right where it was standing, looking up and frowning. There was nothing Luke could say to sway it into leaving.

 

Luke gave a terribly sad sigh as he slumped into the ground and shut the door. Yet another pokemon had the misfortune of being in his care, as he now felt painfully aware of his own ineptitude to raise pokemon properly.

 

And the entire house was cast in silence. Kenshin crossed its arms, staring mindlessly at the ground as if it were waiting for it to do something. Miltank, with a frown watched Luke who sat silently on the ground, deep in thought on how he could make more money. Magikarp, without the chipper atmosphere it had been caught up in now remembered its own pain of being abandoned only yesterday, and lost all of its happy energy. And wooper felt overwhelmed by the sadness of the entire room, killing even its own cheerful mood.

 

However the silence lasted for only a moment as a knock came on the door. With a new energy Luke leapt up, eager to raise more pokemon to get money. He opened the door to reveal a young boy, looking to be about ten years old. He had black hair which came out from his white and red cap, as well as a red and white jacket and white shorts. He was wearing his cap backwards, and carried a look on his face that really gave you the idea that he was quite a competent trainer.

 

“Hey there!” He said, “I'm on a journey to be the pokemon league champion. I've been battling all sorts of people, and I heard a pokemon trainer lived here. Is that you?”

 

“Yes, why?”

 

“Well, I'd like to battle you, please! Come out with a couple pokemon and let's fight!”

 

“Um, I'm sorry, I don't battle pokemon. I just… look over them.”

 

“Oh, you're watching your friend's pokemon?”

 

“Uh, no, I run a day-care center, but at the moment all of my pokemon inside-” he gestures toward the curious crowd of pokemon trying to get a good look at the visitor, “-are owned by me.”

 

“You… own pokemon… but you don't battle them?”

 

“Well, uh, yes.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Well, I… I don't want them to get hurt. And, I want to be friends with them. If they get hurt and I make them battle I'm afraid they won't like me anymore. Plus… to be a strong trainer, you have to give up friendship with your pokemon and order them around like tools. I could never do that.”

 

At this point, the boy had let himself in and sat down in one of the free chairs in Luke's house.

 

“Huh?? You've got it all wrong, dude. Raising strong pokemon doesn't require cruelty- it requires kindness!”

 

“It… it does?”

 

Luke sat down in a chair close to the kid, watching him intently.

 

“Well, yeah. And it's in pokemon's natures to battle. Your pokemon'd be happier if they battled; and if they got hurt, they'd be happy because they got hurt for you. Nothing makes pokemon happier than to see their trainer happy. And by the looks of some of these guys-”

 

The boy glanced around the room.

 

“-You haven't been very happy lately. What's wrong?”

 

“Well, it's just- I'm out of money and I can't support my pokemon anymore, and lately I've run into a really mean trainer who gave me a magikarp because it was too weak for him... I mean, it's really depressing. That guy told me to stop being close to my pokemon, because if I was too close to them I'd pay for it somehow. And now you're coming in here, and telling me that I should be close to them and battle with them to make them happy and strong. I-I just… I'm not sure who to believe, and the idea of battling them makes me uneasy…”

 

“Listen, I can tell you that whoever that kid was, I'm the right one. Why, my cyndaquil and I, we're best buddies, but we've never lost. Can you say that out friendship has made us weaker?”

 

“I, uh… I guess not.”

 

Luke winced a little at the thought of a cyndaquil. He didn't like them too much after he lost his with Griffe…

 

“And look at your pokemon- a lot of them look really weak and poorly raised because they've never fought. Pokemon that don't battle don't grow properly, you know? It's unhealthy. And the thrill of battling is just the thing that'll make some of them happy, I'm sure of it.”

 

“Well… fine, I suppose. Maybe it's time I took them out and battled them once in a while. But, still… I shouldn't battle anyway, since… I need to spend time making money to support them…”

 

“Ha ha ha! Listen, man. Winning battles gets you lots of money! You'll never have to worry about money problems again!”

 

“Wow, that's- really?”

 

“Yup! I can attest to how rich battling makes you!”

 

With that, the boy stood up.

 

“Well, it's been great to meet you. My name's Ken, don't forget it. I have to go now and find a more worthy opponent. Who knows, maybe someday you'll find me… and beat me!”

 

Luke gave a slight grin.

 

“Well… I wouldn't go that far. I'm sure I won't b so great, after all. I don't want to push my pokemon too far, so I'll keep it at a minimum… only for when I need money.”

 

Luke was impressed with what he just heard, but he was still uneasy about battling. He shouldn't try so hard, he thought to himself, and just keep it slow and easy.

 

“Well…do what makes you and your pokemon happiest, I guess.” Ken said.

 

And so Ken walked off into the distance, and Luke closed his door with the slightest hint of a smile. His own happiness gave a glimmer of hope to all of his pokemon, lightening up the room a bit.

 

Maybe he was wrong about battling.

 

Soon after this revelation, his stomach began rumbling again. It seemed ready to take his other organs hostage if it didn't get food soon.

 

“Guys, get up! We're going to try battling today!”