Pokemons Gift Chapter 6: Memories and lessons
Terra waited outside the store that Ark had went into for supplies. It wasn't because Pokémon weren't allowed in fact they were encouraged to shop with their trainers since they were more likely to buy treats for their companions if they were with them. An ingenious ploy by the owners, granting them thousands of yen more in profit each month. No, she waited outside because Ark wanted to keep their lessons a surprise for her and asked her to stay out.
Terra had an inkling of an idea that he was planning on teaching her human speech. She hoped however that it wasn't the case, her previous trainer had tried it with a less than desirable method since then she had no desire to ever try it again.
Terra frowned as the unpleasant memory surfaced.
_"Keep trying Lopunny." The trainer said to her in a very demanding tone, she expected perfection and nothing less. "This is all you have going for you in the contest, you defiantly won't earn enough pity points for your missing eyebrows to win." Every time her trainer mentioned her eyebrows it felt like she was being beat, doubly so after she had been so much kindness before her evolution.
"I swear if you get anything less than first place in the contest I'll release you, I can't have failures on my all-star team. Understand?" Terra finally realized for the first time that there never was a real bond between them, just an imitation of one. The trainer only showed her kindness so she would evolve quicker not because her trainer actually cared about her.
"O...Oh...ka...ka...kay." Terra stuttered out, feeling used.
"OKAY." Terra winced as her trainer yelled at her. "You can't even say simple four letter words, what the hell is the matter with you, are you retarded?" The insult stung unlike any other that had been aimed at her before, she felt like running off right then but didn't. Instead she decided right then to botch the contest, even though there really weren't any real feelings between them, she still felt the bond which made her feel obligated to at least go to the contest. Besides the chances of running free of a trainer were slim as long as they still had the pokéball they used to capture the pokémon.
A stressful and emotionally painful week rolled by before the contest, she endured many insults, was nearly force-fed poffins to keep her fur shiny, and worked on her human speech until her trainer seemed satisfied.
Her trainer seemed to have a change of heart right before the contest started. She lavished her with praise on how nice her fur looked, and how well she had done in her speech lessons. Her trainer continued as such until right before she walked up on stage. With a false smile she bent over her and kindly reminded that she would still be released if she took anything except first place.
The first round was the worst since it was visual based. Terra could tell by the faces of the audience that most, if not all, of the points she scored were "pity points". She knew that would be the case but it still didn't soften the blow. The second round wasn't much better, she danced without feeling, going through the motions and not caring how it looked. In the final round where she was supposed to amaze the judges by speaking to them about what she was going to do, she did nothing when her turn came, despite her trainer hissing commands at her.
When the judges finished calculating the results they announced that Terra had finished in last in each round, which was expected. They also announced that if she hadn't been missing her eyebrow tufts she could have scored first in the visual area. She didn't hear the rest because her trainer recalled her into the pokéball she kept at her side.
Terra had no idea how much time had passed when she was finally released from the cold metallic prison that was her pokéball. They were at a pokécenter and it was obvious that it wasn't to heal the team up.
"Hello may I help you?" The nurse at the counter asked.
"Yes, you can release it back into the wild." Her trainer said pointing, hate punctuated each word.
"The reason?"
"For being a complete failure."
The nurse sighed, mumbled something intelligible, and took Terra by the hand. The trainer stormed out of the pokécenter now without a Lopunny.
The nurse looked over Terra's body, checking for any signs of physical abuse that she half-expected, but found nothing. The nurse sighed again, she knew that there was most likely emotional abuse but had no way to prove it, and so the trainer would get away scot free. Sadly the nurse took her to the release chamber, removed the identifier chip implanted into the Lopunny's skin by the pokéball, recycled it, and finally with a apologetic glance teleported the Lopunny back to the clearing where she had first been caught.
Terra adjusted well to being back into the wilderness but life there lost most of what enjoyment it had before the short adventure. It had been fun being with a trainer even if it was just for the contest, nothing compared to the feeling of having someone care about her. She cursed her old trainer; she had shown her kindness and then ripped it away just as quickly.
Terra stayed at the clearing she had first been caught, maybe her old trainer would have a change of heart and come back for her lavishing her with the kindness she showed when she was a Buneary, apologizing for being so mean to her, and taking her back into the team. But it was a false hope; Terra knew that there was little chance she could ever change.
After a year of waiting in the same area Terra felt as if it was time to leave, time to forget about trainer's altogether, time to start anew. She was about to leave when she heard a Chatot telling someone about her. She just stood there, it could just be another pokémon who asked what prey the bird had seen, a thing that prey generally with predators, giving rumors and information in exchange for their lives. It was odd however, the Chatot was speaking human to whatever it was, and maybe it could be her old trainer coming back with a changed personality! Terra waited while her pulse raced.
Unsurprisingly a different human showed himself and from the pokéball in his hand she assumed he wanted to catch her, the human carefully scanned her. Terra waited for him to move on, surly no-one wanted a flawed Lopunny. The human announced what he was going to do, and gave her a chance to flee if she wanted. His voice held truth, he wouldn't try to catch her if she fled. After giving her a small grace period, the trainer then tossed the red and white ball at her, a flash of red light filled her eyes and she was sucked into it, She waited for the mechanical arm to implant the chip inside her but nothing came, almost as if this pokéball was stripped of everything except the transfer beam, no doubt even the slightest resistance would break the ball open. She didn't even try to resist it, allowing herself to become another trainer's pokémon; maybe this one had the capacity to care about her and her feelings._
With her paw Terra wiped away the wetness that accumulated in her eyes from the sad memory. It was just as well since Ark would be returning soon and she had no intention of making him feel as if she was weak and pathetic.
-Ark... Something just feels right about him, like he was meant to be even more than my trainer. He doesn't care about my flaw, and he appreciates the friendship that we share, he cares, understands, and accepts my views. In every single way Ark is better than my first trainer, It's only been a short time but already I feel as if I couldn't be closer to him.-
She paused for a second thinking about that feeling that was growing inside her. It dawned upon her that what else could it be besides love? The more she thought about it the more sense it made. She felt as if they could be that close, more than just a trainer and pokémon. Ark might just need a push in the right direction, to realize that they could be that close even if they weren't the same race. Terra mulled over it all while she waited for her trainer to come back.
Ark checked over the items he just bought. An assortment of food to replace what they had eaten, some medicinal supplies, a pokéball, a cheap pokégear preloaded with a battle reader and the other basics, some camping supplies, and finally a few books for their lessons. Everything seemed to be in order. There were a few more things he had planned on buying, but the ten-thousand he had was spent easily, and he didn't feel like breaking open his wallet to spend any of his savings.
Ark packed everything and left the store. He smiled when he saw Terra waiting for him in the same area where he'd asked her to stay. He expected her to wander around looking for something to do while she waited.
"I'm done Terra." He announced and was quickly hugged by the sweet Lopunny. He loved her hugs, her silk-like fur, and the feelings it gave him were unmatched, and he knew that every hug was her way of showing him how much she cared for him.
He'd had a girlfriend before but even that relationship paled in comparison to this one. They had kissed and hugged but never with as much meaning as Terra gave him.
Terra felt so right in his arms. He dreaded the moment when she would leave them. Soon enough she let go, despite his attempts to extend it. He wished he could say how much he loved them, how much he loved her touch, her caring, her...her...her everything.
-I love her. - It stunned him that he was admitting that to himself. A part of him tried to think of different explanations of why he was felling this way, it couldn't be love, not this quickly. But for every reason it made that this couldn't be love, another part of his mind made up an equal reason that it was love. Finally the part of him that tried to convince him it wasn't love went for broke and used the "it's not natural" ploy. His other part countered with a simple phrase that Draven had said a while ago, 'Always remember that all love is beautiful, no matter who it occurs with' Ark sighed calmly, finally accepting this love he was feeling was for Terra, but felt that if he said it now she wouldn't be accepting of it, she might never be accepting of it so he decided to keep the feeling to himself.
"I've gotten everything we need for a few days, and the books we need for our lessons." He smiled, wondering if she felt the same way about him. Terra cast him a questioning glance. "I suppose I can tell you what they are. I decided to teach us some sign language so we can communicate easier. I don't know much about it except for a few basic phrases that I was taught by my uncle so it will be a learning experience for both of us."
She still didn't seem to understand. "We use our hands instead of our voice to talk. I decided to go this route since you seem to like using expressions rather than your own voice. I hope its okay." Terra nodded enthusiastically, happy he hadn't chosen human speech and that this was something they were going to learn together.
"It's going to be a bit difficult since these books don't take Pokémon into account with the hand signs, but we can adjust to where it you can use three fingers for most of the signs, unless you want to shave off your wrist fur and free your other finger." Terra grimaced and quickly pulled back the fur on her wrist revealing her fourth finger, took a loose thread form Ark's shirt, and bound the fur back keeping it out of the way. "Okay that's one problem solved. If all goes well we should be able to communicate pretty well in a few days time. In fact I can teach you some basic phrases right now if you want." He looked hopefully at her, concerned that she might change her mind about this. The excited look in her eyes was all the he needed.
They proceeded to a small picnic area, sat down, made a quick salad, and Ark began teaching Terra some of the phrase's he knew by heart. It took some time for them to figure out a way to compensate for the fifth finger, but they made a manageable way around it using some different positions of her thumb and index fingers. It felt like something intimate when he took her soft paws in his and delicately guided her fingers into the different signs and when he explained what each of the meant Terra hung on to his every word.
Ark wondered why Terra seemed to be so focused on making sure she had the sign for "I love you" down perfectly. He thought for a second that she felt that way about him, but realized it probably wasn't. She just wanted to practice it because it was the most important to her.
When Ark finished with the phrases he already knew, he started to use the books and taught both Terra and himself from them, They became so consumed by this way of communication they even lost track of the time until a few mosquitoes stared biting them.
"Well that's enough for tonight." He said as he swatted a mosquito that was biting him. "It's too late to find a suitable camping spot outside of town, so I think we should stay at a hotel for tonight there's a cheap one nearby."
They both got up, and walked to the hotel. Ark paid the manager most of what he had left in his trainers account and received a room key for suite 42. The room was in good condition not the greatest, but livable for a night or two.
Ark took a set of clean clothes and showered quickly. He dried himself off and slipped on the new clothes, and took care of hygienic things. He came out of the bathroom and watched his Lopunny fluff the pillows and adjust the covers on the bed. When she finished she smiled nervously at him; she obviously wanted to tell him something but was being very cautious about it about it.
"What is it Terra?" Ark asked
Terra breathed deeply and prayed for strength and courage, she looked down at her paws and slowly and difficultly formed the sign for "I love you" hoping her trainer wouldn't react badly, that he could accept this, that he might even feel the same way. -This could have been too much of a push- She thought as she watched him freeze.
Ark froze as he watched her form the phrase and interpreted it perfectly. He could scarcely believe that she felt that way about him. -Maybe she was just practicing. - He thought but then she repeated the signs staring straight at him. The meaning was clear in her eyes, she loved him and she wasn't practicing. Ark tried to say something but couldn't find his voice. He slowly brought his hands up said "I love you" with them.
Relief flowed over Terra's immediately; she jumped over to her trainer and embraced him tightly. She had worried it would have gone horribly, that he would have been disgusted with her, or at the very least been angry. This however she had only hoped for, he accepted her love and responded with his own. Tears of happiness flowed down her face as she stroked his face with her paw.
Ark watched her tears form and her paw stroking him; he finally realized how lucky he was to catch her as his first Pokémon, how lucky he was to even begin this all despite the shaky start it had. He felt as if words weren't enough to convince her that he truly loved her, he decided to do something to prove it, he bent down, and kissed her putting as much of his emotions into in it as possible.
The kiss took her breath away. She was in love with him and everything he was, and now was assured that he felt the same. Humans never kissed like this if it wasn't love, she knew that from watching her old trainer with her boyfriend. She returned the kiss with an effort to make him enjoy this as much as she did.
When they broke the kiss they both felt as if nothing in the world could compare to the feelings they had for one another. They wondered how love could come so quickly and easily to them; maybe this was a miracle that happened with them. Whatever the reason they both cherished it. They both laid down on the bed and rested, feeling oddly tired despite the generally easy day.
Ark fell asleep quickly leaving Terra alone with her thoughts. She wanted so badly to give him the gift right now; he had admitted his love for her and accepted hers fully. He certainly met the condition her mother had spoken about, but it could put an end to their lessons, she didn't want him to think that they didn't need them anymore. For one she enjoyed them a lot, and for two she didn't like talking much even in her native tongue. This sign language would enable her to be as silent as she wanted, using her voice only when she wanted to.
She trusted him now, but decided when they were done with the lessons she would give him the gift, unless something happened where she would want to give it to him sooner. She closed her eyes and shifted close enough to Ark to feel his steady breathing, which sent her quickly into sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mist my love, everything's ready." Adair said to the extremely weak Vaporeon, sorrow etched into his face like it had been each time he saw her like this. He had waited so long for this day when he would finally cure his mate from her sickness. The sickness gripped her completely. He thought that it was just the common flu and she would get over it quickly but when he took her to the pokécenter they claimed that it was a very rare strain of pokérus, it stole the strength away from the infected and left them with just enough to live, There was no cure and she would most likely die within the first few months they told him. Despite their words she endured this past year because Adair cared for her no matter how weak she became. He made sure that she got her daily nutrition each day, even if she was too weak to chew the food.
Then his old friend Draven described a potential cure he'd found and he would bring a sample over as soon as possible, Adair couldn't help but cheer. Hope filled him that his mate could be back to her old self quickly an. Then he received the message that Draven wouldn't be delivering it his nephew would in around three days time, his heart sank. Then Draven's nephew showed up with the package a day early than expected. Nothing could compare to his feelings now, so much happiness contained it this one package. Adair knew it would work, it had to.
He took out the small but very dense potion bottle wrapped in foam. He opened it and poured the clear fluid from the vial down his mate's throat and scooted back waited, praying with every fiber of his being that it worked. He heard a small cough emanate from her as she weakly brought her head up. Joy filled Adair up as he rushed to her side; he embraced her crying his heart out. Mist licked his ear reassuring him that she was finally getting better.
"You don't know how much I've missed you." Adair said in between sobs.
"You speak as if I left you my love. I know what you mean though, I wasn't really much of a talker this past year." Mist chuckled it always reminded Adair of the babbling brook.
"I'm so happy to finally hear your voice again; I had almost forgotten what it sounded like." Adair smiled faintly.
"I'm sorry, I wish I could have done more than lay there, but this sickness stripped away everything." Mist said, feeling almost as strong as she had been before the sickness took her over. "This potion is very effective; I already feel good enough to walk. Maybe we should have a little celebration for this all?"
"Isn't it a bit soon to be thinking about that?"
"Listen mister, I've been bedridden for a year and just because the sickness took most of my strength away doesn't mean my heat cycle stopped completely though I wish it had. I have one year of heat induced sexual tension to relieve and I'll be damned if I relieve it with anyone except you." His mate growled cutely.
"Okay okay, I get it. I just wanted to wait until you were in tip top shape before we mated at all."
"Love you're an open book to me, you have as much tension as I do. But your right I'll get some rest first, but as soon as I wake up you're not leaving until I'm satisfied until lunchtime " Mist curled into a ball and closed her eyes
"I wouldn't have it any other way." His mate just mumbled something in response before she fell asleep.
Adair watched as Mist rested, her breathing was normal for the first time, her body cool again, and the uncontrollable mist he named her after slowly surrounded them both. He stayed there watching her, tears still rolling down his face. He sobered up after a little while and turned his attention to what Ark had said to him.
"The wings have flown and the sword sharpened." Adair said to himself thinking it over. It was one of Dravens old codes which had many meanings. This time it meant that Draven was working again and that he made the first attack against whoever he was fighting against this time. Adair shook his head and placed a bet with himself that his friend was going to need his help within the week.
He quickly banished the thought before it turned grim he didn't want to disturb Mist's slumber. Before Adair could even begin to start thinking about it again he fell asleep against his mate.