#reminds me of old venomoth | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

imjeralee · 4 years

Text

Comfort in Despair: Chapter 14 - D R E A M I N G

Leon x F!Reader

Disclaimer: Do not own Pokemon

Summary:

Galar is rich in folklore and tales of the supernatural.

As a Pokemon Researcher who specialises in ghost types, this is a great opportunity for you to investigate and learn more about the paranormal.

Along the way, you meet Leon (in the most awkward way possible) who becomes embroiled in your adventures.

^ Basically this story is about ghosts :/

Rating: General/Teen

Notes: This chapter features a binary message

@marydragneell - here is the latest update

D R E A M I N G

…

[01001000 01101001 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01101110 01100001 01101101 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01010010 01101111 01110011 01101001 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01001001 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101110 00100000 01101111 01101100 01100100 01100101 01110010 00100000 01110011 01101001 01110011 01110100 01100101 01110010 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01100001 00100000 01101101 01101111 01101101 01101101 01111001 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100100 01100001 01100100 01100100 01111001 00100000 01110111 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101101 00100000 01001001 00100000 01110000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100101 01101100 01110000 00100000 01110000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100101 01101100 01110000 00100000 01110000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100101 01101100 01110000 00100000 01110011 01101111 01101101 01100101 01101111 01101110 01100101 00100000 01110000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100101 01101100 01110000 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100100 01110101 01101101 01100010 00100000 01100010 01101001 01110100 01100011 01101000 00100000 01001001 00100111 01100100 00100000 01101100 01101001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110011 01100101 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110100 01110010 01111001 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110011 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01101101 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01001001 00100111 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100010 01100101 00100000 01110111 01100001 01101001 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101]

…

There’s a strange noise in the bedroom.

Opening your eyes, you struggle to see properly in the darkness of the room; Rosie’s bed stands opposite yours and you see it is empty. She is not in her bed but in fact, standing in the middle of the room in her pajamas, her Teddiursa doll discarded at her feet.

“Rosie?” you mutter groggily, sitting up and flipping on the switch of your bedside lamp, dispelling the darkness. “Rosie, what are you doing?”

Your little sister does not answer and continues to stand and sway, her eyes half-closed.

Sliding out of bed, you hurry towards her and grasp her gently by the shoulders.

“Rosie?”

Her mouth moves but her voice is very soft; as you strain to hear, you make out, “Live morf su reviled tub, noitatpmet…”

Puzzled, you can only shake her with a little more force in an effort to make her snap out of her stupor as she mumbles and mutters but to no avail, “Rosie!”

The unresponsiveness of the little girl is worrying so you quickly leave the room and slip into your parent’s which is down the hall to the right. You open their door wide and say, “Mum, dad!”

Following your cry of distress is a groan.

A tussle of the covers.

The silhouette of your father pokes out from the sheets. “Wh…what’s wrong?” he says, voice thick with sleep.

“It’s Rosie. I think she’s having another fit.”

Immediately, your mum and dad rise from bed, cursing under their breath as they follow you back into the bedroom you share with your little sister, only to see that she’s fast asleep in bed with her eyes closed and Teddiursa in her grip.

You blink in confusion, and expecting yourself to be scolded, you bite on your lip worriedly but your parents give you a reassuring pat on the shoulders and head over to Rosie’s bed where they sit on either side.

“Rosie?”

Your little sister stirs awake and opens her eyes groggily.

“Hiya sweetie, you okay?”

Whilst you stand in the doorway, Rosie fiddles and fidgets with her doll before she shakes her head.

“I had a bad dream…” she mumbles quietly.

“What happened, sweetheart?”

“…I saw a….a man,” she says, struggling with her words, pointing to the empty corner of the room. “Standing over there, staring at me. He wanted to take me away.”

…

Rosie is five years old.

She’s a smart child who likes dolls and playing tea parties with her Sinistea and Cutiefly, and she has told you and your parents many times that someone is trying to take her away; though she never explains who or what, she describes this unknown entity simply as a 'man’.

Your parents are ghost-type researchers and heavily invested in the supernatural so instead of going to the police to report this, they take you and Rosie to visit a spirit medium who lived far away from Laverre Town. This medium informs your parents that Rosie can see and hear spirits and for that reason, spirits are attracted to her. She tells Rosie to ignore them, not to respond to spirits or else risk drawing attention to herself. Essentially, they are drawn to her like a Venomoth to a flame.

The medium also predicts that you too, will soon be able to heed the spirit’s calling one day.

To your parent’s dismay, she becomes too terrified to speak of this entity which is after your sister, and cannot divulge anything more except it’s evil and not belonging to this world and asks your family to vacate your premises at once.

With no luck and no help, your parents have no choice but to take it upon their own hands to investigate and apply surveillance on Rosie on a twenty-four seven basis.

It’s usually at night-time when bizarre incidents happen, however.

And you hear the noise again at exactly three am.

As you hold your breath and listen, the sound of nails scraping against a board grows louder and louder.

Sitting up, you glance over to see Rosie missing from her bed once again and on this occasion, she is not in the room at all and the door is open. You quickly peel the covers off and rush outside into the cold landing; your attention is grabbed by the little sounds of footsteps and so you peer over the banister where you see Rosie’s pale form idling through the hallway and towards the front door which flings open as she nears.

“Mum!! Dad!!” you yell, as you trample down the stairs. “Rosie, no!!”

She leaves the house, and as you leap off the last step and to the doorway, the front door violently slams shut in your face, the walls of the house trembling in its wake.

Your parent’s bedroom light goes on and they bumble out. “What’s wrong?”

“Rosie went outside!” you yelp, trying your hardest to open the door with the keys but the handle is stuck, as though someone on the other side is holding it down. “It won’t open!”

Your father curses loudly before he joins you, trying to open the door before he angrily thumps a clenched fist against the surface. The door still does not budge and so he rushes to the kitchen where the backdoor is.

“I’ll be back soon! Don’t leave the house!”

Mum nods and as you begin to sob and wail, she brings you into her arms and you clutch onto her, scared and confused by the entire ordeal.

Outside and you can hear your father shouting, his voice muffled and growing distant.

“Rosie! Rosie, where are you?”

In the house, you sit down in the lounge with your mother where she asks you calmly to explain what happened. You tell her you woke up at three am because you heard the noise again and you tell her what the sound reminds you of: nails scraping against a chalkboard. Then you saw that Rosie had left the room and so you went out and heard footsteps downstairs. You saw the front door open and she went outside. She didn’t acknowledge you, as though she was in a trance.

Your mother nods and thanks you for your bravery and encloses you in another hug, and you huddle together for a while until the front door opens and dad enters with Rosie in his arms.

You both rush over at once with relief.

Rosie is fast asleep in dad’s arms, seemingly unharmed yet he looks troubled.

“Look,” he says, lifting the back of Rosie’s shirt to reveal claw marks on her skin.

….

“You’re getting all worked up for all the wrong reasons,” says Graves. “It was probably just a wild pokemon. Could’ve been a Drifloon or Drifblim trying to steal your little girl away.”

“We live in the suburbs, there are no wild pokemon in a two-mile radius.”

Graves sighs in response. “It could’ve been your Haunter or Sableye. You saw claw marks, right?”

“Haunter and Sableye have never harmed my family, and they were with me the entire time.”

You and Rosie play together in the living room with Sinistea and Cutiefly whilst Graves and your father sit on the leather recliners, watching the football game with beers in hands. Dad is clearly stressed, his eyes are dark and dull due to a lack of sleep. Mum prepares food in the kitchen. Graves will be staying for dinner.

You’ve never liked him.

He has an aversion to ghost-type pokemon although you and your entire family have a high affinity for (and are thus drawn to) ghost-types. Rosie doesn’t like him either and he often tries to win favor with the two of you by handing out candy. He is unfortunately your father’s best friend and thus your ‘uncle’ and since he's watched you grow up, he inevitably becomes your ‘godfather’ after Rosie’s birth.

Graves is a police officer and with his trusty Growlithe and Manectric, he quickly rose through the ranks to become Inspector of Laverre Town. He is also apparently seeing a woman called Ellen whom you've never met before but from what you gather, they have a strained relationship.

He and your father never get in each other’s way but Graves doesn’t believe in the supernatural and you wonder how they could have been friends for such a long time.

“Let me show you something,” dad says, when it’s half-time.

“But the Primarina Divas are about to come on!” Graves complains as busty, buxom women in blue and white cheerleading outfits come cartwheeling onto the pitch and the audience on TV cheer and scream raucously as they begin their routine.

“Get over here, Chris,” dad says. He’s standing at the door that will lead to the basement.

“Fine…”

Dad glances at you and beckons you to follow so you get up, dusting your palms and knees. “Rosie, go help mum in the kitchen.”

“Okay, sissy,” she says with a giggle, getting up with Cutie and Sinistea, waddling over to the direction of the kitchen.

You follow dad and Graves down the stairs; dad tells you to be careful on your way down as the stairs are steep and when you arrive at the last step, you and Graves stare at the massive pokemon that’s being held inside a glass container.

It’s a Dusknoir.

“I put an advert online if anyone was interested in trading and someone answered it,” dad says as he stops beside the glass container, “I reckon Dusknoir can help with what’s been going on lately. I’ve asked Haunter and Sableye…unfortunately none of them can help me. They don’t know what it is so I’ve resorted to this. Dusknoir should be able to help.”

“…Dusknoir?” Graves says with a brow raised, before he treks over and stops by your father's side.

The pokemon is conscious of your presences, its single red eye rolling left and right between Graves and your father, before it lands on you. And it stares, planting its large hands flat against the surface of the glass as it hovers in the air.

You gulp and take a step backwards once you feel the intensity of its unrelenting stare.

“…Dad?” you croak, but your father has moved to his desk, moving away some old cassette and video tapes to pick up a leather-bound journal which he flips open.

“Yeah. It's known that Dusknoir receive transmissions from something in the spirit world. My theory is that this 'something' is trying to take Rosie and with Dusknoir’s help, I’m going to find out what it is. I could use Dusknoir to communicate with it.”

"Communicate with it?"

"Yes, it receives signals and I've been trying to decode what type it is. I've been trying all sorts... Binary, morse code, satellite radio waves-"

“Dad!” you exclaim.

“What is it?”

“….I think you should release it,” you say quietly, “….It doesn’t look very nice.”

Dad chuckles and walks over to you, patting your head affectionately. “It’s okay, dear. Remember that ghost-type pokemon look scary but they are just lonely and misunderstood creatures, that’s all.”

“Uh, does the wife know?” Graves utters, and dad nods.

“I’ll be conducting experiments down here.”

“…I can’t believe I’m saying this, but…why don’t you just ask Rosie what it is?”

“She doesn’t know, and I’m not putting my daughter in danger,” dad replies; he returns to his desk, puts down the journal and goes through his papers before he picks up a small black device which you can see is a radio.

Graves sighs. “Well…be careful,” he murmurs.

…

Since Dusknoir has joined your father’s pokemon team, albeit being encased in a glass container for the time being whilst he conducts research, you no longer hear the odd noises and there are no more incidents.

You find Rosie playing in the basement one day. She isn’t allowed in dad's laboratory without adult supervision, so you quickly rush downstairs before either your parents could find out and scoop her up and off the ground, her dolls falling out of her grip.

“Ahh, dolly!” she cries, reaching out for them.

You sigh and bend down to quickly pick them up with one hand whilst the other is wrapped around her waist tightly. “Rosie, what are you doing here?”

“He wants to play with me!” she exclaims, pointing to the glass container where the Dusknoir is.

You follow her gaze to see the large Gripper pokemon staring at you and your sister with its hands flat against the glass. It’s silent but its red eye beadily follows your every moment, watching.

You quickly look away from it, an uneasy feeling settling in the pit of your gut. “Don’t come down here on your own,” you tell Rosie, but she merely giggles.

“It’s okay, sissy,” she says with a giggle, before she glances at Dusknoir and goes, “Beep boop beep boop,” and she continues for a while but alternating between the noises.

“What does that mean?”

“You mean…Beep boop beep boop...?”

“Yeah.”

“It means…come play with me.”

“Huh?”

“He taught me,” she says, pointing to the massive Dusknoir.

“Can he even hear us?”

“Of course he can! But he’s been in a bad mood lately. Beep beep boop boop boop!! That means, ‘I only play tea party, sorry’!”

“And what does, ‘what do you want with my little sister’ mean?”

“Hmm…” Rosie ponders before she says, “Beep boop boop beep beep beep," and again, she continues reciting an extremely complicated and elongated message.

Once she finishes, Dusknoir emits a loud, aggressive roar and slams his fists against the glass repeatedly; you step backwards with fright and with Rosie in your grip, you hurry up the stairs and close the basement door shut behind you.

…

Days pass and Rosie goes to school and you go to school and when you come home, it’s warm and welcoming. Your mother is in the kitchen and she smiles and it’s the most beautiful smile you’ve ever seen and she makes you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and if you knew any better it’s the last one she will ever make for you and she asks you to take one to your dad who is in the garage and chatting to some neighbours and when it’s almost dinner, you both go back into the house and help set the table up and mum asks about school and how it’s going on and she asks you if there’s any cute boys and you shyly think about one particular lad in class who has caught your eye and when dad tries to joins in, you and mum tell him it’s girls only and you laugh and Rosie joins in, wanting to know what’s going on and then it’s time to eat dinner and you’re sitting down at the table with your family and looking around, at their smiling faces, and you look at your plate to see your mum’s made your favourite food and dad’s eating his steak with his weird protein shake again and mum is scolding him whilst Rosie sticks her tongue out with distaste because there’s vegetables on her plate and -

Screaming.

You’re awoken in the middle of the night by screaming.

Glimpsing over, you see Rosie’s bed is empty.

This isn’t like the normal nights.

Overwhelmed by a sense of dread, you exit and pass your parent’s room; neither your father or mother are inside.

Downstairs, the basement door is wide open and flashing lights flicker from within.

Screaming.

That’s where it’s coming from.

I’m here, you want to say. I’m here.

Each step is heavy, the cold wood under your feet is unwelcoming and chilling to the core. Your house is foreign to you.

In the basement, you make your way down to see the glass container has shattered and a massive swirling vortex of black, blue, purple and white has appeared in the middle of the space.

Dusknoir is halfway inside, feeding the wriggling bodies of your father and Rosie into its mouth.

Your mother lies on the ground, unconscious.

Confused and shocked, you rush towards the huge pokemon.

Stop!!!

Your voice is drowned by the noise. It turns to you, its single red eye flashing before an unseen force knocks you off your feet and your back hits the floor, your head slamming hard against the concrete ground.

You wake up when something cold splashes on your cheek and you wrench your eyes open before you sit up with a gasp, glancing around.

It’s quiet.

Your mother sits on the basement floor, her gaze empty.

Dusknoir is gone.

“Mum!” you exclaim.

She slides her eyes to you as you crawl over to her and grab her by the shoulders.

“Mum?”

She does not respond.

You let go of her and glance around the cold and dark basement. “…Dad? Rosie?? Where are you??”

“Gone,” your mum utters, “They’re gone.”

As you glance at her in bewilderment, she lifts herself off the ground and pads to your father’s desk.

She goes through the papers that have become strewn over the floor and mumbles and mutters and utters under her breath incoherently. She shakes her head repeatedly as she bunches the papers in her hands, muttering ‘no, no, no’ and ‘my baby, my poor baby’ over and over again.

You call out to her but she doesn’t respond.

Therefore, you silently pick yourself up off the floor, leave the basement and phone Graves.

You didn’t know what else you could do.

Graves arrives and it’s almost dawn. He’s brought his partner with him and he enters the house to see you at the door and your mother is surrounded by your father’s papers and obsessively skimming through them whilst seated on the sofa and when he asks what happened, your mother’s ramblings don’t appear to help but when you try to interrupt, Graves isn’t interested in what you have to say or add to the conversation. He leaves your mother in the lounge then heads to the basement, alone.

You sit with her, watching her hysterically pour through the research.

Whilst his partner stays in the lounge with you and attempts to strike up some meaningless small talk, Graves returns empty-handed.

He's confused.

They converse silently and routinely throw you and your mother concerned glances before they split up; Graves checks the rest of the house, inspecting the kitchen, dining room, the bathroom and all the bedrooms upstairs.

He thinks of all sorts of logical reasons why your father and Rosie have disappeared in the middle of the night.

It could have been…

A nasty spat between spouses.

A break-in.

Your mother is the only person who saw what really happened.

He sees that the two of you are badly shaken yet unharmed and drives you to Laverre Police Station to officially take testimony. A search subsequently begins but their outcome is not successful.

When it’s finally your turn to speak to Graves, you have sat in the police station for hours and when you’re brought in the room, it’s intimidating but you tell him what you saw in the basement; Graves stares at you silently the entire time, eyebrows scrunching and lifting everytime you detail how you saw the Dusknoir with your father and Rosie in its clutches and putting them into its mouth when they were still alive.

He remains quiet, doesn’t ask you any questions, doesn’t interrupt. The pen remains untouched by his notepad.

“Kid,” he says, after a pregnant pause following your explanation, “your mother’s said something entirely different.”

It takes a while to register this.

You sit in silence as Graves regards you intensely for a moment before he gets up to leave.

A kind-looking woman with glasses is beckoned in and she plops herself down in Graves’ seat which he has kept warm for her. She adjusts her frames, propping up a manila folder in front of her before she scoops out some documents. She asks you questions which are a little strange because they’re personal and unrelated but you soon realise it’s to assess and revaluate your current mental state. She even has your school records. Unfortunately, the more she asks and the more she doesn’t make any progress with your interrogation and you’re clean but you’re not exempted yet.

Perhaps you have a disturbed mind or Dusknoir devouring your father and sister is a metaphor for a sadistic murderer who has kidnapped them?

“After all, if the public finds out a pokemon had devoured two people, there would be madness.”

And due to the horrific nature of the crime, you had mentally blocked or changed some aspects?

“Why don’t you believe me?” you asked, “Why doesn’t anyone believe me?”

Raising your voice, you slam your bunched fists on the iron table and yell, “What’s wrong with you??? What’s wrong with all you?! I’m telling the truth!! Why won’t you believe me?!”

You receive no satisfactory answer, your words are taken with no seriousness and you and mum are informed to go home whilst the initial investigation goes underway.

“Mum, why didn’t you tell them what you saw? They think I’m lying.”

When you look at her, all the colour has left her face and you begin to feel you no longer recognize her.

“They won’t believe us,” she utters, “We’ll get your father and Rosie back ourselves.”

Stunned by her words, you can only nod limply.

You’re expected to go to school in a few days. By then, your father and sister’s disappearance have hit the tabloids. Everyone whispers and looks at you, in the school, the neighbourhood….you get stared at when you walk through the halls to your next class, you end up sitting alone in the cafeteria during lunch, even the teachers are careful around you. People think they were murdered.

There is nothing about Dusknoir.

And often, you wonder to yourself if it truly was a nightmare.

You miss your father and sister terribly and your mother inevitably begins to obsessively investigate; she spends much of her time in the basement and rarely eats, drink or sleep.

As the days passed, you become used to seeing her less and less often around the house and though you want to help, your mother brushes you off, asking you to focus on your studies.

Soon, the upkeep of the house falls in your grasp.

You make it a habit to go out to the supermarket and buy food by yourself, dragging a wheeled shopping bag with you each time when you go during the weekends, heading to the ATM when you were strapped for cash.

You look up recipes online and learn how to cook meals for yourself and your mother, leaving food for her on the desk. You eat on your own in the dining room, sitting at the large table, surrounded by three empty seats.

Graves visits as much as he can; he usually talks to your mother but sometimes he sits with you in the living room to watch football whilst your mom slaves away in the basement on her own. He tells you her appearance is turning haggard, which you are aware of.

Worried about her behaviour, you look up various kinds of available therapy which you think will benefit her, spending many late nights on your laptop browsing online and calling up various clinics to enquire but the costs are going to be high so you decide to secure a side gig tutoring some kids to pay for your mother’s treatment, placing an advert online which you didn’t think would get noticed.

Inexorably, your grades begin to fall as you balance your newfound hustle and school. That cute boy in class no longer occupies your mind. You come home late in the evening from your work, exhausted. You stop smiling and overall, you’ve mentally aged.

At night, you lie awake in your bed and glance over to Rosie’s empty bed where the sheets and pillows are unwashed, and you think about that night and you think about it a lot; you wish you could’ve done more and you begin to hate yourself for not paying enough attention to your father’s research and what he was trying to accomplish with Dusknoir. You should’ve done more to help your father. You should’ve studied alongside him.

Rising from bed, you make your way downstairs to the basement where your mother is, hunched over the desk with a black device in hands.

It’s dad’s radio.

“Mum?”

“Yes?”

You walk up to the desk, where you see your father’s old notes which have been collated into his journal with the leather-bound cover. You pick it up and open it, flipping through the pages where you see his handwriting and hold the book to your chest, closing your eyes. There is also a family photo in his study which you pluck out from the stand and hold gingerly in your hand.

On the verge of tears, you croak out, “I want to help. Please tell me how I can help. Please. Talk to me.”

Finally, she swivels round in her seat when she hears you sobbing and for the first time in a while, she embraces you.

She says, “We need to get a Dusknoir.”

Since it started with Dusknoir, your mum entrusts you with this task so you upload another advert and put up a Phantump you had caught beforehand in the PC box and send it on its way to the Kalos GPS.

A few days later, someone answers your advert and you receive a Dusclops through the GPS which evolves into a Dusknoir in process.

Satisfied that you’ve made some progress, you head to the basement with Dusknoir’s capsule in hand, wanting to show your mother. To your surprise, she’s moved from her seat and is clutching the radio in hands, smiling widely.

“Mum?”

She spots you and the smile widens, “They’re alive!” she exclaims.

You can only stare at her, stunned.

“Listen,” mum switches the radio, rotating the small, rounded knob as carefully as she can and you watch the little dial move across the screen.

The crackling static of white noise fills the quiet basement until your mum reaches eighteen ninety-eight hertz and the radio fizzes into life.

“…..hello? This is- ….I’m in a dark place, and….…”

It is your father’s voice.

As your mum grins at you, you rush over, eyes wide. “Dad? Dad! We’re here!!!”

“….I think I’ve been stuck here for three days…”

“He can’t hear us,” mum explains when your face falls. “This is a spirit radio, dear. It only works on this frequency, it picks up transmissions from the spirit world, and it’s picked up your father! He’s alive! Alive!!!”

Alive.

Stiff with shock, mum envelopes you into a hug and sobs and wails with laughter.

It’s been a while since you’ve seen her happy.

“Mum,” you utter, “I…uh…I got the Dusknoir.”

“Excellent!” mum cries as you hand her the capsule which she holds close to her chest.

“Mum…promise me you won’t do anything stupid,” you say, and she nods but somehow you don’t believe her.

…

“Mum, I’m home,” you say wearily, locking the front door behind you and removing your shoes.

You step inside the lounge only to be met with silence.

“…Mum?”

The lights are still on.

You had gone to work for four hours.

She is possibly in the basement, you think, and so you creep down the stairs only to see it is empty. She’s not in the basement, where could she be?

Your search does not last long as you breeze through the lounge and into the kitchen which is in uproar; the stools have been knocked over, there are various cassette and video tapes lying all over the surface of the counter along with an opened dusk ball. Dad’s radio lies on the floor beside a screwdriver and some scattered parts. You spot his journal and the family photo, which has fallen out from the pages.

“Mum?” you call as you pick up the journal and the radio, your voice echoing in the empty house.

“Mum?”

“Mum!”

“MUM!!!”

“…Mum?”

“Mum, please…”

“Not you too.”

Did your voice always sound so sad?

…

Professor Magnolia and Sonia enter the ward.

A girl in a white gown sits at a table with a Sinistea and Cutiefly perched on her shoulders, staring morosely at various untouched chess pieces on the surface. Her eyes hold no life, her hair unkempt, her face a grim portrait of melancholy.

There are other patients but they walk around aimlessly or yell or wail and talk to themselves and Sonia huddles close to her grandmother, wondering why she is in such a scary place.

They don’t come to Kalos often but Magnolia had received an emergency call from a Police Inspector called Chris Graves.

“She ran all the way to the police station,” Graves says, sighing. “I didn’t know what to do with her so I put her there for a while. Maybe she’ll feel better.”

“I hardly think so, Mr Graves. This girl needs proper care.”

“Listen, she had a mental breakdown…and, um…I’m her godfather…so legally, I…I’m supposed to take her in but she doesn’t want to live with me and I don’t wanna force her. I’m paying for her treatment and I’m not offended or anything ‘cos I’m not good at this stuff, I’m not fit to be a dad in any way,” Graves tells her during the phonecall, “And I know you’re her mother’s mentor and so I thought….you might be better to…I dunno, talk to her.”

“Where are her grandparents?”

“They’ve passed away. She has some relatives but they don’t want to take her in. Too much hassle, and the medication’s expensive too.”

Magnolia and Sonia walk up to this girl at the chess table, and says her name.

She looks up, her tired and sunken eyes meeting theirs.

“My name is Magnolia. I’m a Professor from the region of Galar. This is my granddaughter, Sonia. She’s the same age as you,” Magnolia gestures to Sonia who offers you a meek wave.

“Hi….”

“I’m your mother’s mentor so I knew her well, and I’ve been informed about your circumstances. Would you like to come with me?” Magnolia says, “…Would you like to live with us?”

Indifference slowly dissolves to shock as this woman called Professor Magnolia and her doe-eyed granddaughter Sonia stand before you. The chess pieces on the table blur together as you emit a quiet sniff, the corner of your eyes leaking with tears.

...

In the hospital, Leon remains by your side.

Some people came and went, namely Magnolia, Sonia and Chief Inspector Graves. He was your godfather. Who knew?

You're only allowed one visitor at a time and Leon has made it quite obvious to everyone that he will be the one to stay by your side as the two ladies came and went due to the ungodly hour, and Graves has left to talk to Chairman Rose and the Ghostbunkers and he won't be coming back anytime soon.

Leon has faithfully stayed with you as you were taken to hospital and he sits on the chair by your bed, waiting for you to wake up. You’ve fallen unconscious since you were brought in and the doctors say your condition is stable despite the blood loss and you will make a full recovery very soon. It's good news and Leon holds your hand tightly in his, closing his eyes. He silently thanks Arceus that you're unharmed and prays that you will wake up soon.

However, the door is suddenly thrown open and a blonde-haired young man in black enters the room unannounced, his head wrapped with a plethora of bandages whilst a Joltik is perched on his shoulder with a little bandage tied around its body.

"Chuck!" he yells loudly, and Leon turns round to face the newcomer.

The two men regard each other; the blonde looks at Leon, who's still donned in his torn shirt and his cape appears to be missing and although Leon doesn't quite appreciate the intrusion and the unwelcome noise, he says calmly, "Chuck? I think you've got the wrong room..."

"No, no, that's just my nickname for her, for duckie. I mean chuck. Wait-" the blonde keeps correcting himself until he says your name.

"Who are you?"

"I'm so sorry, I should've introduced myself first," the blonde tidies his act up, lowers his voice and closes the door quietly behind himself, "I'm Jace. It's nice to meet you, Sir Champion."

Jace.

So this is Jace.

Leon has seen his testimonial on your blog and you've mentioned him once or twice. Now he can finally put the name to a face and this is Jace. He must be older than the both of you and he is not bad-looking; he's tall with a thin frame, sharp jaw and chiselled features. One can tell he is friendly from a simple glance.

However, quite the opposite occurs: a surge of discomfort flits through Leon's mind when he realises you and Jace are friends and you are close. Close enough that you have nicknames for each other. The champion's expression doesn't change despite this fact though he tenses in his seat and he clinches your fist with more force than before.

The pit of his gut suddenly bubbles with an unquenchable uneasiness he hasn't experienced before; it's different. It's new, and most unbecoming. Initially, Leon ponders if it's the tension he feels before a battle...but this is indeed a wholly different sensation.

"It's nice to meet you too," Leon does his best but ultimately ends up forcing a smile at the blonde, "And there's no need to be so formal. Just 'Leon' is fine-"

Jace wheezes a little.

"-and you were with her at the art gallery, right?"

"Yeah," the blonde replies, nodding vigorously, "Sir Champion, I mean, Leon...she didn't have to take the case. She knew you had spoken to Rose and you had put in a good word for her, and it's not in her heart to turn down a client."

Leon lowers his gaze. "...I know."

"Rose isn't happy. He says we violated the terms and conditions because I used Joltik and that counts as pokemon battling, which isn't allowed on the premise. But I had to. I had to protect myself and chuck."

"I'll talk to Chairman Rose. Don't worry, I'm sure he'll come around. Thank you for protecting her, Jace."

"You're welcome..."

The room settles into silence; Jace is clearly intimidated by Leon's presence and it's then he sees that the Champion is also holding your hand very tightly.

And then there's the note on the door that says 'One Visitor At A Time'.

Three's a crowd and so Jace utters, "Right, well then, I imagine she's in good hands since you're here and all, so I'll...I'll be off now. Goodnight."

Leon nods.

Without much further ado, the blonde wordlessly leaves the room, closing the door behind him once more.

Leon is left with you and you alone, and that's the way he likes it. Upon Jace's departure, his gut loosens up and the strange swirling and jittery feeling ebbs away in a second and finally, he is able to relax. He swivels round in his seat to face you, leaning over to sweep away a loose strand of hair that's lingering over your closed eyelids. You look peaceful and he wonders what you're possibly dreaming about.

Hopefully, it's a pleasant dream.

…

#pokemon #pkmn #pokemonsword #pokemonshield #pokemon sword and shield #leon #dande #reader #reader insert #leon x reader #Leon x you #jeralee #fanfic #fic #archive of our own

17 notes · View notes

imgonnaketchumall · 4 years

Note

... story time...

I wrote a thing this morning based on me and @frostbittxntrainer-returned Rowdy Boys verse. Shit, I can’t tag anything but uhhh...warnings?

---

You are two years old.

You are two years old and Mama and Red bury their noses in your soft raven baby curls. Red, who never talks back, moves his hand in funny shapes you don’t understand and plays clap-clap games with you. He shakes your toys and pushes you on the baby swing at the park.

Red always, always, always protects you and gives you extra snack when Mama’s not looking.

Daddy’s never really there, but when he is he takes you both to the park. Red sits with glares and pouts at the older man who is more interested in newspapers and magazines than his youngest son who falls down the slide wrong.

You roll and tumble down the plastic slide, Red going over to you who just laughs and laughs, then cries when you see the sliver of red on your knee. Red pats your head and ruffles those baby curls. He keeps extra bandaids in his pocket because you just attract scrapes like venomoths are attracted to light. Red kisses the bandaid just like Mama.

Daddy looks up from the paper and scowls. “Ashton, don’t do that. I think it’s time we go home.”

You get home to find Mama in the kitchen, laughing and talking with your Auntie. She looks at you and smiles. “You know, the community center is doing a little pageant. Maybe Ashton would like that? The winner gets a gift basket of baby goods and a year supply of diapers.”

Mama looks at you and smiles. She says okay because what’s the harm of one little pageant? Plus, saving money on diapers is always worth it.

“Great.” Auntie smiles at you.

Mama knows what’s coming and is sniffling and dabbing her eyes with a tissue. Red is sitting on the ground with some toys. He gives you a thumbs up because this is a big day in your life. Mama is just crying because that’s what Mama does when you’re getting too old for something.

A woman with long fingernails ties a cape to you printed with baby pokemon on it. She takes out the comb and yanks through your hair, snipping off the long curls Mama loves. You don’t really get what’s happening and start to cry. Red looks over concerned, but he doesn’t really get why you’re crying. He thinks maybe you’re just scared, because you’ve never had a haircut before. He just gives you a thumbs up again to help you feel better.

Mama sniffles and takes a picture because now you look grown up. Your hair is shorter than Red’s but Mama says it’s okay, because you’re a big boy now. She takes you and Red for ice cream and buys you a new toy because it’s a big step in your life.

Three days later, Mama and Auntie are in the living room putting you in a Pikachu onesie. Auntie is teaching you a little dance that makes everyone coo and laugh. It’s easy, and the grownups love it. Red watches, but even he smiles, because you are cute.

Red is sitting on the floor of the community center when you come out to do your Pikachu dance. You don’t like everyone watching. You don’t like all the pictures being taken and the giggles. You don’t like showing the world your Pikachu dance, but you do it anyway.

Auntie and Mama are very happy that you won the basket of prizes. You get to go out to get ice cream after, so it’s all good.

You are three years old.

You are three years old, and Auntie has been bit by what is called the pageant bug. You have been in three pageants, with little boys and girls. All the girls wear fluffy dresses. The little boys are in nice clothes and have hair combed to the side like yours. You do your Pikachu dance again and everyone just smiles and coos at how cute you are.

Daddy sits in the stands with Red, Red who has his ears covered and is crying. People glare at Daddy and at Red. A woman you don’t know snaps harshly at your brother. Daddy grumbles something and his face goes red. Mama is sitting next to Daddy and Red, leans over to whisper something, then takes Red out. Red doesn’t talk, because Red never talks. But for some reason, these people think that’s funny.

The woman that gets mad at Red for crying just snaps once again. “That kid is eight years old, he shouldn’t be crying.” Mama glares at her, and promises Red he never has to go back.

Not long after, Daddy wakes up early one morning. He doesn’t have his briefcase like he’s going to work. He smiles at you. “Be good Ashton, Daddy loves you.” You don’t really get it, because Daddy says that when he goes to work. Daddy says it when he goes to the store. Daddy says it all the time. You know Mama and Daddy have been loud, louder than normal, but you just don’t know.

You sit on the swing in the garden that Daddy built you. Red comes out a little bit later and pushes you on the swing gently. He makes sure to hug you when you get off. You know Red can’t talk, but Mama has been teaching you to use the hand shapes that Red does. You do the one for I love you and Red’s smile makes your heart warm.

Mama and Red don’t come to the next pageant your Auntie enrolls you in. Mama smiles sadly and says it’s because Red doesn’t feel good. You know it’s because Red can’t handle the bright lights and loud noises. You’re not mad, after all. Red is Red, and you love your brother.

Auntie and you are alone this time. Auntie grabs some tan puffs from her bag and presses it to your cheeks. She combs some goop in your short short hair, because Auntie doesn’t let you have long hair. You have never had to look like this before. Auntie just smiles. “Your cheeks are darling, sweetheart, but they’re just not perfect. Judges don’t really like that sort of thing. You’ll understand when you’re older.” She presses down your short short hair and reminds you to smile.

Something inside your tummy hurts. “Why can’t Red come?” you ask, and Auntie just shakes her head.

“He’s such a dirty little boy. Doesn’t really care to.”

“What about Daddy?”

“Your daddy sends his love from far away. If you’re good, he’ll come next time.”

Mama and Daddy don’t live together anymore, but you can sometimes hear Mama on the phone with him. Your auntie promises though, that Daddy will come if you do good. What she means by good, is if you win in first or second place.

You win a trophy and a ribbon. Your aunt is happy, and she takes you to get pizza for dinner.

You are four.

You are four years old and so far, Daddy’s never ever come to one. Red doesn’t come to any. One time, Gary Oak came and brought you a flower. You smiled because usually the girls get flowers, and the boys don’t get nothing like that. Gary gives you one and says you did really good. He doesn’t understand what it is you’re doing, but you did really good.

Gary understands that you don’t really like this sort of thing. Gary knows that you like games in the pond, and chasing the pokemon at the ranch. Gary and you like to have contests about who can swing the highest, or do flips on the jungle gym. Gary and you play treasure hunter at the beach, and pokemon adventures outside. Gary and you like to skateboard and ride bikes.

Gary knows that you’re just trying to keep the grownups happy.

One day you and Red are at Mama’s beauty salon. You’ve always wondered what would happen if you got to get your hair cut like Red. You like how Red’s hair fluffs out and he gets to wear a cap sometimes and twist at it. You like how Red looks like a pokemon trainer, like the ones you see leave Gary’s house every April. Red maybe can’t talk, but he still gets excited about how soon he will be a pokemon trainer. You want to be a pokemon trainer too.

You decide to ask Mama if you can please please please cut your hair like Red. Mama’s smile is small as she shakes her head. “You’re a bit too little, sweetie. This is easier to clean after you and Gary come back from your playdates.”

Red, ever the observer, notices that your Mama isn’t telling the entire truth. Gary has pointy spikes and his grandpa never says anything about that. So does Green. Red just looks at Mama but doesn’t say anything.

Your eyes water when the dumb lady cuts your hair short.

Sometimes when Red doesn’t feel good, you notice he runs off. He always comes back happier and one time you watched him go off to the tall grass where pokemon play. He even told you about it one time, and you too, once found a place where weedles and pidgeys like to crawl on you. You come home with muddy hands and smiles, and Mama just smiles back.

Red is excitedly signing to Mama one day when your auntie picks you up. Mama is going to take Red to get some stuff for his journey, and then they’re going to do fun stuff. You can’t go, because Auntie and you have a pageant. They’re starting to be even worse.

You’ve never liked them. You have never liked dressing up and getting your haircut so short and doing that dance. But you just do it, because Auntie promises you candy, and treats. She promises you toys and treats it like a game. It makes your tummy crawl when you have to get on stage and do that cute little dance. Everyone likes it, and Auntie gets a lot of compliments.

You don’t place in one or two this day. Auntie glares at you and tells you it’s because you’ve got scrapes on your knees and your nails are dirty. She’s already caked your face with that powder to hide your z’s on your cheeks. She tells you it’s because Red’s put all these stupid ideas in your head about being a trainer.

You tell her you think you wanna be a pokemon trainer one day, too. She looks down at you smugly, and just shakes her head. “Ashton, sweetheart, boys like you aren’t trainers.”

One day you and Gary play camping in the woods, and you think you might like to be.

Red tugs and cries and pulls, but he manages to go to your last pageant before he goes on his journey. He gets all dizzy and he can’t really pay attention, but he’s there. Auntie slaps more of that powder stuff on your face and knees, ripping off the bandaid Red put on. It was a charmander, but she says it’s too distracting.

You go on stage and by now, you know how to gloss your eyes over so that you don’t have to really pay attention. You know these movements like clockwork. You know that Little Ashton is from Pallet Town and that your dance makes everyone giggle.

You place as the winner, and Auntie has the biggest smile on her face as a man comes up to talk to her.

Red leaves for his journey, and you’ve never felt more lonely. Red has always been your big brother, and while you beg and beg and beg to go, you can’t. Mama won’t let you because almost five year olds still need their Mama to fix them breakfast and tie their shoes.

Almost five year olds, however, do not need their Mamas to come with them to auditions to commercials. The big man at the last pageant Red went to? He was an agent for television. He turns little boys and girls into actors and actresses. You don’t get a say if you want too, because a long time ago, you’ve learned that Auntie says yes to anything that will make you look good. Correction, make her look good. Mama goes with it, because if you try and tell Mama how you don’t like it, Auntie gets mad. You don’t want to make Auntie mad, because then you get yelled at. One time, when you told Red and he told Mama, Auntie found out and got really mad. She took you to a place that is like manners camp, where old ladies yell at you and get mad if you slurp your soup or eat wrong. Then Auntie takes you to a place she calls a treat but it’s not. It’s a place where ladies cut your fingernails so short it hurts and makes them shiny and yucky.

You’re in your car seat going to the studio where little boys and girls are lined up. It’s for cereal, a kind that all kids like to eat. Auntie keeps brushing your hair and telling you nice things. She doesn’t put powder on your face because the agent said not to.

You hear your full name called, and you don’t tell them how you like to be called Ash. Auntie has said Ash isn’t a professional name, and Daddy never liked calling you Ash either. The woman in charge of the commercial tells you to eat the cereal and laugh. You do what is told, and they smile at you and ask you just a few simple questions. Auntie’s not around, and so you giggle and tell them answers about your best friend Gary, and how you like sweets. They smile at you and nod, as you go back to your auntie with a smile. She’s dusting your shoulder off when she notices another boy doing the commercial.

Auntie lets out a loud snort and mumbles something. “You’ve got this Ashton, just look at your competition. Boy doesn’t need anymore cereal. Needs exercise is what he needs.”

You don’t get it. Your Auntie just looks at you and sighs. “Ashton, little boys like that aren’t pageant worthy. Remember how I told you all good little boys are pretty and not ugly?”

You nod your head and you feel very very sick.

You get the commercial. You get that one, and a few others. Auntie is so happy that she buys you a new toy and takes you out for pizza. Mama just smiles and asks if you like it. You say it’s kind of fun, and she seems content with that answer. When it airs on tv, Mama tapes it because it’s just so cute.

You are five.

You are five years old when you quit. Mama is at one of your pageants. It’s one of your last pageants. Mama watches as Auntie puts the powder on your cheeks and knees. She watches with a look that is of concern. She asks just why her little boy’s face is covered up. Auntie just smiles and says it’s this once, and this judge doesn’t like it.

Mama’s seen other photos where your cheeks are powdered and your knees are covered. Mama knows that’s not true, and watches intently as you do your routine. Mama notices that your eyes are blurry and you’re not smiling. She notices how you cry when Auntie pulls out a curling wand and twirls your short hair up.

Mama tells you when you’re leaving that you’re a pretty looking little boy, and that you don’t need other people’s approval. Mama tells you that it’s okay to not like this, and you don’t have to pretend. Mama tells you she’s sorry she didn’t see it. Mama starts to cry because she feels bad.

Auntie is covering your face one more time as Mama comes and wipes it off. They get mad at each other, but Mama says that you’ll do okay anyway with them. That it’s your cute personality, after all. Auntie rolls her eyes, but agrees to leave the powder off. She does, however, use the curling wand on your hair and twirls it up. She glares at your mama, but doesn’t say anything.

You look at your mama and your auntie. Mama is watching you, and her heart is breaking as she sees you. Auntie is glaring at Mama, and Auntie wants to glare at you. You do your motions just like you’re supposed to, and at the end, you win.

You get the top prize and you look at Mama. Mama has her eyes watering, some other parents thinking it’s happy. It’s not, and you know it’s the same sad Mama had when Red told her Daddy wasn’t going to come home.

Something inside you that day snaps, and you end up feeling like you’ve had enough. You’re tired of this. You’re tired of nice clothes, and short hair. You want to play in the mud all the time, and play with weedles and pidgeys. You want to be like Red, and travel.

You throw yourself on the floor, and throw the biggest tantrum you can muster.

Mama says the words to Auntie, the words that change your life. “I think Ashy’s done for a while.”

Mama doesn’t make you put on powder. When your hair gets long, Mama allows it. She doesn’t cut it short, and when you want to go to Pokemon Camp, she signs you up. She lets you play, and Auntie doesn’t come over anymore.

Gary and you get dirty in the pond, and swim at the beach. You get dirty and sandy and Mama only makes you take a bath, but nothing more. She washes your hair with warm soap and laughs at how much energy you have. You smile, and Mama takes you to get snowcones and to the carnival with Gary.

You’re almost eight.

You’re almost eight the first time you see the picture. It’s two of them. One, is of you and Red playing on the swing in the garden. Even after Daddy is gone, you love that swing. It makes you happy to play on it, and have adventures.

The other, is a picture of you and Daddy. He’s sitting close to you while you’re on the swing. He’s smiling at you like you’re his world. You think, maybe, he did love you. You tuck the pictures in your pocket and take them on your journey.

You’re almost twelve when Mama puts all your things from your pageant days in a box. She rids of most of the costumes, and instead keeps just the trophies and ribbons. She shoves all the papers and cards in an envelope, and places the dried flower at the bottom.

You help carry the box to the shed. When Mama leaves, you open the envelope, even though you shouldn’t. You read the letters and cards. Many of them are from Daddy, and he’s talking about all the money you’ve won. He wants Mama to loan him some, that you’re his son too, and he shouldn’t be left out your cash winnings.

He writes how he wants Mama to tell you he loves you. He loves you, and he supports your hobby. Mama writes back and asks if he wants to see you. He doesn’t respond to that, but says he loves you and that it’s unfair he doesn’t get a cut of your winnings.

You feel even sicker.

You’re in Alola when someone you don’t know comments on your face. You don’t say anything, and you know they’re not worth acknowledging. Team Rocket don’t even acknowledge that. You just simply mention how you’ve always had them. But when you get back home, you find Burnet’s powder and messily scrape it over.

She comes home and wipes it off gently, telling you that you’re handsome no matter what some dumb tourist says.

You get home from Alola as champion. Mama supports you, just as she always had. Red would too, you know, but he’s been off on his own journey. Mama greets you with warm hugs and you see a boy come home with warm hair and a red hat. A smile bursts across your face and Red takes you in for a hug. He laughs at how your hair is long and you’ve gotten scruffy. He’s being playfull, but you don’t mind. Your brother is home, and that’s all that matters.

Red decides to cut your hair and style it so you look nice for Gary. Gary Oak, your boyfriend. You’ve been with Gary for a bit now, and he’s honestly the greatest. You love him, and you’re not afraid to admit it. Red just laughs and agrees, and then Mama says you both should watch home movies.

She puts on that tape, and suddenly everything comes whirling back. You understand, suddenly. Suddenly, you understand why the powder was on your face. You understand the demeaning tones. You understand but you don’t. You get that now, now everything is different. You know why you get sick when someone suggests you cut your hair short, or when you’re given make up.

You don’t see it anymore through the eyes of the silly game it was presented as. You don’t see it as boring, with treats. No, you see it as a sick woman who takes pleasure in having a child prance on stage. You see your eyes glossed over like a robot. You hear the cruel things that are supposed to be off camera. You remember the letters from your father, and you don’t like it.

You’re a cash miltank for the money hungry members of your family. You want to be sick.

You take off and you run. You run and run and then you fuck up by saying something to Red and run again. You get sick on yourself, then run again. Suddenly, it all feels like your fault. Red never went, because he couldn’t handle it. Red couldn’t handle seeing his baby brother prance around like a puppet. Red couldn’t handle the mean ladies who’d laugh at him for not talking verbally. Red didn’t go, so Mama would stay home with him. Auntie never told Mama anything she promised.

Daddy wanted your money, not you.

Mama never knew.

Gary listened, and he never laughed.

You feel sick when you hear Red come. Pikachu is stuck in your grip, and he’s pawing and crying. He doesn’t know what’s wrong, and neither do you. You’ve just unlocked everything you’ve never understood. You’ve just unlocked everything you wanted to bury.

Why did you keep that dumb photo?

It’s rained a bit and you look in the puddle at your reflection. Your hair is a mess from how much you’ve run fingers through it. Your face is scratched right over your birth marks, like you’re trying to claw them off. Your eyes are bloodshot.

You feel sick.

Red comes over and the first thing he does is pull you to a hug. Your voice is raw, hoarse. You feel even sicker and Red just remains quiet. “I’m sorry,” you whisper. You repeat the words over and over and over.

You’ve unlocked the trauma, and nothing will ever be the same.

#v; rowdy boys

2 notes · View notes

drscotcheggmann · 6 years

Text

Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You Review & Wider Reflections

On Sunday afternoon I went to see Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You. As a longtime fan since Generation 1, the thirteen year old boy still hiding inside this now thirty year old man (sometimes not all that well hidden) was nothing short of buzzing; but while excitement was running high as the lights dimmed and the curtain went up, at the same time I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I knew what I wanted: a huge slice of nostalgia; to be transported back to the late 90s, a reminder of when my love for these little monsters was still in its infancy; a warm, tingling Thundershock of a hug from Pikachu and the gang. But would this be what I would get? Would the film alter or even damage my memories of watching the original Animé all those years ago? Getting up early before school, willing to forgo breakfast to make sure I’d watched the latest episode. Some will say “Get over yourself and stop being so precious”, arguing that no matter if good or bad, those golden mornings watching Mew dance across the screen as the ridiculously infectious theme tune rose to crescendo shouldn’t be and can never be touched by watching this one film. Yeah, that’s all well and good in theory but it’s never nice having a half baked reimagining or rehash of something classic seemingly shit all over your childhood. And this was a slight worry because....I’d heard things. That Brock and Misty had been ditched for two other male and female companions. That the movie was only loosely based on the original Animé and might stray from what longtime fans like me might expect. It’s always the longtime fans that feel most entitled, whether it be video-gamers, movie buffs or Pokémaniancs. So as Ash’s Mum comes in to wake her long sleeping son, dreaming of his future adventures in the early hours of his tenth birthday, the weight of expectation was weighing on my mind. But. I’m pleased to say that this longtime, entitled, nostalgia crazed Pokémon fan had nothing but a huge smile on his face when all was said and done. I would go as far as to say that I left the movie theatre, mentally waving my arms in delight, like a Togepi on speed. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t perfect and it didn’t tick all of my own personal boxes but sitting at the end watching the credits roll, I realised that it didn’t have to. Looking around me as the lights went up I realised that it was about more than just me and all of the other Gen 1 superfans sitting there in the semi darkness (and I would wager there were quite a few of us)! Let me explain. WARNING: FULL SPOILERS AHEAD. Something for the Oldies The movie tells a story which is, at its core, rooted in the original Animé. Ash, a regular 10 year old boy living in a world inhabited by Pokémon, dreams of one day becoming the greatest Pokémon Master (yes, the greatest Pokémon master, not trainer). Ever. Like no one ever was (sorry, couldn’t resist). And in this fact alone, the film lavishes longtime fans with nostalgic riches at every turn. From Ash’s frantic dash out of the house (he doesn’t seem to shower at any point before setting off, as noted by my cynical cinema going companion), to those first wonderfully endearing moments of love hate interplay between Ash and Pikachu, it’s all just ‘kid in a sweet shop’, ear to ear smile inducing stuff. Another thing that struck me as a fan from the beginning is that I’ve never seen so many Gen 1 Pokémon in such a short space than in this movie. As Ash tumbles off a cliff into a river clutching Pikachu, a murmuration of angry Spearow in pursuit, a snarling Gyarados darts downstream in what is a near miss for our hapless duo (but at least he has a wash in the river). Pinsir prowl the forests, people can be seen strolling down streets and indoors with their Pokémon at heel. A slumbering Onix is provoked into pursuing our group of heroes. Nidoran of both genders, a Sandshrew and a Paras are all led into a cave to shelter from the rain by a certain legendary dog (more about them later). At one point, I even had to laugh as Ash approaches the summit of the mountain towards the end of the film, only to be greeted by an audience of exclusively Gen 1 Pokémon: Graveller, Venomoth, Golbat, Nidoqueen, Nidoking, Magnemite, Magneton, Electabuzz and Magmar. You wonder if some of these even belong on a bloody mountain but this is the love the filmmakers are keen to show those fans of the earliest generation. A clear message: ‘Here we are! The originals. Back in all our glory again’. And the effect of this is wonderful. I actually began to go through how many of the original 151 Pokémon I hadn’t seen. There were still quite a few but not as many as you’d think. And it’s not only Gen 1 that seems to get that special treatment. Gen 2 is just as lovingly captured. Ho-Oh is the Gen 2 Pokémon at the heart of Ash’s quest in the movie, a quest which was never realised in the original anime but still has its roots there, as Ash spots Ho-Oh flying over the rainbow in the very first episode. But there are others too. The legendary dogs, Raikou, Suicune and Entei all feature, the latter most prominently. When I say prominently I mean this in the most literal sense for Entei - he’s the size of a freakin’ house! There’s even a glimpse of Lugia as the film draws to a close. As a longtime fan it’s great to see all of these guys on the big screen again but I’m also quite honestly glad that the movie did not become an exercise in crowbarring in every legendary Pokémon across the generations, just for the sake of it. Arguably seeing all 3 legendary dogs, who are so incredibly rare that hardly anyone ever encounters them, is a bit much but I was ok with this. It’s not all about the legendaries though; the not so legendary Pokémon spanning all generations are well represented. That first moment when I saw a non Kanto Pokémon alongside a Kanto one and the realisation that this wasn’t a world totally rooted in Kanto. It was great, despite my Gen 1 bias. It really showed how far the Pokémon phenomenon has come over the years and that the filmmakers weren’t afraid to lay out all their wares and risk upsetting those wanting a solely Gen 1 affair. What’s there to be upset about anyway? We all love Pokémon, right? Classic Pokémon from numerous generations are one thing but it’s the set pieces from the Animé that I still remember fondly today and some of these have been reimagined in this iteration of one of Ash’s adventures in Kanto. A clever use of the slightly jazzier (but not necessarily better) theme tune advances Ash’s journey as far as Erika’s Gym, but not before we see him catch his very first Pokémon in the form of Caterpie. We see those initial struggles (and shocks) with Pikachu, the Charmander left out in the rain and Butterfree’s departure to the spawning grounds, presumably to do some spawning with his female companion (can we not even say ‘mating’ anymore?). These set pieces are either bang on the money in terms of paying homage to the original or are slight twists on the original formula (most notably, the Charmander arc). Unfortunately for me, Butterfree’s departure to pastures new didn’t really have the same gravitas here as it did in the original Animé. I think the reason for this is partly due to the time constraints of the movie and that we don’t really get to see Ash’s relationship with Butterfree develop in any sort of meaningful way, except for seeing Caterpie evolve into Metapod and then into Butterfree. The tears flooding down Ash’s face, while they served as a call back to what was a particularly heartbreaking farewell in the Animé, just didn’t have the same punch. But perhaps without a direct comparison, this wouldn’t be an issue at all. Regardless, it’s still a touching monument, showing the deep and lasting bond humans form with their Pokémon; perhaps one of the best outside Ash’s relationship with Pikachu, which shines as brightly as it ever did despite having only 90 or so minutes to show it. And it’s perhaps because it seeks to wow its audience with so many of these individual moments, both past glories and new, that the movie feels a little disjointed in places. At times the action moves on a little too quickly, leaving no room for character development beyond the high octane chase/fight we have just witnessed. Consequently I didn’t feel that the synergy was quite there between Ash, Sorrel and Verity. Marshadow on the other hand is well deployed, being introduced gradually as the movie progresses. I actually thought that using Marshadow as the primary Pokémon antagonist was a good move as opposed to the likes of Darkrai or something a little more obviously evil looking. Marshadow’s ability to seem innocent enough but to pack a few punches when backed into a corner was well done, even if Marshadow isn’t a Pokémon just for the fans of yester year. But this is ok. More on why is coming. Team Rocket make their appearance as you would expect but maybe not in quite the way I expected. If anything, Team Rocket are fringe players here. There is no grand and bombastic entrance with the Team Rocket signature jingle; in fact, I can’t recall a moment when Ash and his friends actually come into direct contact with Jesse, James and Meowth. There doesn’t seem to be much of a grand plan from Team Rocket: they want Entei, then abandon that and go after Ho-Oh but are always thwarted without our heroes ever knowing, either propelled into the air or disappearing off the side of a mountain and always into a glinting star denoting that they might not be back for a while. But they do keep coming back, which is fine, but to no great effect. It’s all a little bizarre and you can’t help but feel, having watched the original Animé, that they could’ve been put to better use rather than simply be made to seem even more ridiculous than they already are. To the movie’s credit though (and this sounds like I’m wanting to have my cake and eat it here), the filmmakers don’t beat us over the head with Team Rocket, as was sometimes the case in the Animé. I remember physically sighing and rolling my eyes at times when Team Rocket would appear and break the flow of a perfectly good episode. The XY Animé moved away from this thankfully but I suppose it was nice to not have Team Rocket dominate, despite also being a tad underused. For longtime fans (or certainly for this one), there were one or two other things missing that, while they didn’t detract massively from the overall experience, just would’ve been nice and not too much trouble to implement. For one, although Ash seems to be largely the same character as I remember, here he comes across as even more gung ho and sure of himself than usual, to the point of actually losing some of the naivety that made him so endearing in the first place. At no point in the film does he whip out the Pokédex, looking confused and saying ‘What’s that?’ as he spots a Pokémon he’s never encountered before. Indeed, there is no Pokédex AT ALL as far as I can remember, just like the one so ceremoniously presented to Ash by Professor Oak in the Animé. There is a smartphone though which Verity uses to take pictures (sigh). Not even Kanto is free from the reaches of modern tech it seems. The lack of Pokédex and ‘what’s that?’ moment made me a little sad as Ash’s confusion was once my confusion, as a 13 year old sitting in front of the TV, pre widespread internet and readily available lists of information, wondering what this new and wonderful Pokémon Ash had just run into actually was. And then running into school to chat wildly with my friends about it - “Did you see this morning’s episode?! That was awesome!” I still remember the original speculation about who the Pokémon at the beginning of the theme tune was and why it wasn’t part of the original 150. Ash’s naivety was mirrored in my own. Don’t get me wrong, Ash is still green around the gills in the movie, pushing Pokémon to their limits at times without fully knowing their capabilities or strengths. But maybe the absence of this wide eyed naivety, even if only a little, struck me so much as I’m not that naive young person anymore. Someone who lives in a different world where information is at our fingertips and there is no excuse for not knowing. I’m digressing slightly here but it did make me think about the then and now. But perhaps the movie’s most striking departure from the Animé is the absence of some key figures. Brock, Misty, Officer Jenny. I understand that maybe 90 or so minutes just wouldn’t be enough time to make Ash’s relationship with Brock and Misty believable, especially when Ash’s relationship with Pikachu should be centre stage. I know that the movie is really only a side quest in Ash’s overarching journey. A snapshot of his travels on his way to glory. But a small cameo would’ve been nice. Fighting a gym battle in Pewter or Cerulean City, especially since the only gym battle we see is beyond this point chronologically and so it’s not a case of Ash having not run into Brock and Misty yet. Ash’s direct rival, Cross left me feeling a little dissatisfied too. What was wrong with good ‘ol Gary. Even though Cross goes from Pokémon masochist to seeing that there’s more to the whole Pokémon thing than ruthless ambition, he’s still a bit of an ass when he goes his own way, despite the fact he owes Ash (and Charizard) his life. The Charizard he abandoned as a Charmander. The bastard. Yeah, he wasn’t my favourite. Let’s leave it at that. Something for the Newbies While you may think that because I’ve spent the last section of this review picking at this bit and that bit and perhaps making unfair comparisons to the Animé days, I just want to reiterate: I loved the movie, imperfect as it was. I loved it for all of my own reasons, some of which I’ve mentioned and some I’m yet to mention but also for other people’s reasons too (bear with me on this one). For as I watched the audience file into the cinema (and I saw absolutely everyone file in, having been über keen in arriving half an hour early), I began to realise that the Gen 1, diehard Pokémon fan wasn’t going to be the only type of Pokémon fan represented. I’m talking about the kids, of course. Kids ranging in age from 4 to 14. The younger ones especially excited to be seeing their favourite Pokémon on the big screen for the first time. One particular Mum and Dad ushered their two young daughters to their seats, one carrying a Squirtle and the other with a Charmander tucked under one arm and an Eevee peeking out of her bag dangling off the other arm. This is a whole new wave of Pokémon fans, all of whom weren’t even born when Ash first set foot out the door and the Gen 1 hype was thriving. And I can’t overstate how much this is a great thing to behold. That the love of Pokémon is still running strong some twenty plus years later. And that’s of course thanks to Pokémon moving with the generations. Literally. I know I’ve been banging on about how wonderfully Gen 1 is represented in I Choose You but in actual fact the movie does a great job of pleasing fans of all generations. If you grew up with Piplup as a starter, you’ll be happy to see that little guy flapping about onscreen; Lucario is perhaps one of the most recent Gen Pokémon to be embraced by both old and new fans alike and he’s here by Sorrel’s side in all of his hard assed glory. And even if you just dived into the world of Pokémon last November with the release of Sun & Moon, there’s plenty to keep you happy here. Marshadow appears and disappears, Cross’s midnight Lycanroc is broodingly evil at all times, and Incineroar, while low down on my favourite starter evolution list, will have younger fans especially bicep flexing and fist pumping in delight. Personally I would’ve loved to have seen Decidueye unleash the full extent of his ghost/grass power, being what I feel is the most impressive starter final evolution in generations but the fight with Charmeleon would then not have been a fair one. Again, to hammer home my slight bias for the original 151, I was glad to see Charizard kick Incineroar’s ass in the end, not just in terms of satisfying the movie’s story but also as a mini victory of Charizard, THE ultimate fire starter Pokémon of all generations for many, over Incineroar, who I feel would look better placed on the side of a cereal packet. Rarrr! That was a bit catty but yeah, he’s just not a favourite of mine but I’m totally fine with these younger generations cheering him on. I did actually force my eyes to leave the action now and again during the screening, as I sometimes do, just to see if everyone else is enjoying the action as much as me. Of course there were the parents, some of them maybe older fans like me but there were an equal if not greater number of bemused parents whose faces seemed to be struggling to grasp what all the fuss was about. But I salute these parents for giving up a chunk of their Sunday afternoon for the sake of their young Pokémaniacs. And what a wonderful sight it was to see this new generation of Pokémon fans hanging on Pikachu’s every ‘Pika’. One little boy stood up through majority of the film, clutching and peering over the empty seat in front, so obviously brimming with excitement. Someone somewhere in the darkness screamed a giddy ‘Pika-pi’ at one point, causing a fair few chuckles. Another child sitting along my row had an expression of pure awe etched on their face the whole time and I can completely understand why: imagine seeing the Legendary dogs for the first time; not just onscreen but EVER. Imagine seeing Ho-Oh for the very first time, gliding over that rainbow; imagine hearing the names Articuno, Zapdos & Moltres, as they were mentioned at the movie’s conclusion, and thinking to yourself ‘I wonder who they are?’ and then rushing out of the cinema to look them up and find out. Oh, to be young again and see it all with fresh eyes. Something for Everyone So far I’ve tried to look at how I Choose You might appeal to the older generation of Pokémon fans as well as the new. But although I’ve painted a picture of distinct camps of Pokémon fans, the movie does a great job of bringing fans from all corners together thanks primarily to its rich visual aesthetic. Everyone can appreciate the sun drenched vistas, rainswept plains, snow capped mountains, billowing clouds drifting over fields filled with flowers dancing in the wind, dense forests and buzzing metropolises so vividly and vibrantly depicted; each area alive with Pokémon just waiting to be discovered, caught and loved. The visual feast starts and continues unabated to the end, never more so than in the Pokémon battles which have never looked sharper and more dynamic. Charizard zooms into the air with a menacing elegance; Pikachu nimbly dodges this way and that, all before landing a thundershock attack of seismic proportions; you can almost feel the flames lick your face as Entei or Incineroar unleash a frightening flamethrower blast; and some of the Marshadow-possessed Pokémon’s attacks land onscreen with the megatonne force of an atomic bomb, or so it seems, also offering a stark contrast between the affectionate side of Pokémon and their über aggressive side when given the chance. It’s all lovely to watch and your senses aren’t allowed a moment’s rest. And that goes for your emotions too. In keeping with the willingness of some of the more recent video game entries in the series to explore powerful and often dark themes, I Choose You also does not shy away from putting its audience through the emotional grinder (the dark lore threads in Sun and Moon are especially worth reading about; I still think about that abandoned Stuffl). There’s neglect (Charmander in the rain), physical pain (Lycanroc biting Cross and not letting go, something that shocked me particularly for some reason), the dangers of greedy ambition (as Ash ponders if Pikachu would’ve won the fight which his Charmeleon just lost). The latter is particularly interesting if we consider the end of the movie; we see Ash finally battling Ho-Oh and the scene cuts to a long shot of the battle taking place from afar, represented by flashes of light on the mountainside. But we never actually find out if Ash managed to catch Ho-Oh or even come close, despite seeing Pikachu looking a little worse for wear as Ash delivers him to the Pokémon Centre after the battle. And this is ok, because we don’t really need to. Arguably, Ash’s greatest adversary isn’t Marshadow or Cross; it’s himself, as he has to put aside all of his own ambitions to save his friends and his beloved Pikachu. Some may perceive this uncertainty over Ho-Oh as quite unsatisfying but Ash’s willingness to let Ho-Oh go might point to him growing and realising there is more to his journey than ruthless ambition. Viewed like this, I find this ending very satisfying and think that had Ash done a pompous and over the top victory dance having caught Ho-Oh, this would not have been tonally in keeping with what we have just seen: everyone escape with their lives narrowly and Ash come back from the dead (or a state of semi death at least in an alternate reality). I’m glad that Ash emerges at the end of the movie better off having not had a moment like this. The Pokémon Centre Lady’s ‘That’s nice’ when Ash tells her they’ve just been battling Ho-Oh is perfect in showing that the result of that battle (caught or not) doesn’t really matter. And, most importantly, Ash seems ok with it too. I would go as far as to say he looks pleased to have had the opportunity to battle Ho-Oh, caught or not and Pikachu having lost. We can see he’s come a long way. Ash’s brush with death is incidentally not the only occasion that the movie is happy with testing its audience. I sat wide eyed as I watched that Luxray found dead in the snow, frozen, trying to protect its infant owner from the fate it ultimately suffered itself. This idea that Pokémon are dispensable yet indestructible; that they can be pushed to the limit with few consequence that a Pokémon Centre wouldn’t be able to fix. With Luxray’s onscreen death, this notion is shattered in an instant and the world the movie seeks to flesh out is made all the more real and believable for it; a tenderness and bond exists between people and their Pokémon which shouldn’t be scoffed at. And, in closing out this section of the review, that bond between person and Pokémon is hammered home no better as Ash and Pikachu part into different worlds, at the tail end of the movie. That moment as they lie face to face and Pikachu speaks. PIKACHU SPEAKS. I actually thought I was hearing things. The minute I saw it I knew this would be a scene to divide opinion. The cynical side of me initially thought this was an easy pull on the heart strings. The Pokémon equivalent of Jack and Rose. But it’s actually much more than this. Having begun watching the original Animé, I’ve been used to Pikachu communicating with Ash by way of facial expression or tonal variations on the same word or half word for nigh on 20 years. But to actually hear what the little guy truly thinks of his partner, that he never wants to leave his side. I’m going to level with everyone reading this. A tear welled up in my eye. The fact that Pikachu never wants to leave Ash’s side wasn’t exactly a revelation I admit but to allow something like this to happen by way of them sharing different realities and one of which being situated a stone’s throw away from death. It was beautiful. It won’t win and Oscar and some won’t think it was anywhere near as impactful as I’m describing. Some will think that it probably wasn’t necessary at all, seeing as a trainer’s bond with their Pokémon seems to transcend language. But, to put forward the most compelling argument for the scene’s inclusion, this is arguably what gives Ash the push he needs to transcend death and push out of that nether realm. Not for himself, but for Pikachu who he would be leaving alone otherwise. Aww man, I can feel the tears coming all over again. Joking (or not) over tears aside, the willingness of the Pokémon universe, both in film and video game media, to engage with what are uncomfortable topics, gives me lots of hope for the future. I still hope for a more adult fan orientated game in which our hero feels like he or she is in genuine peril or at risk of death (I don’t think I fainted once in Pokémon Moon!), a game which makes fans confront real world problems but then allows us to eventually overcome them. I know I’ll be hoping for a long time, as Gamefreak would be unlikely to make such a move and risk alienating such a huge demographic represented by the series’ youngest fans. But, on the flip side, I wouldn’t want this alienation to happen either. The fact that the movie was able to articulate some of these themes and do so in such a way as to make it palatable for younger viewers is a triumph in itself. Those wide eyed children in the audience of my screening were the proof of the pudding and long may it continue. Conclusion I really enjoyed I Choose You. Even though the movie wasn’t perfect, it did one thing really well for me personally: it affirmed my love of Pokémon, as if that really needed any affirmation in the first place. It reminded me just why I fell in love with everything Pokémon in the first place and why that loves has endured until today. The world of Pokémon and the simple but powerful messages it communicates are timeless: that someone seemingly insignificant can achieve great things and make a difference; that we should all step out of the front door and pursue our dreams; that we can rely on our friends and family for support along the way. Never have these messages been more relevant and important than in the shitstorm of a world we live in today and it’s always nice to be reminded that this is the other side of what humanity is capable of, even if that reminder does come from a fictional world filled with fictional creatures. Such is the power of art and fiction. I’ll finish here with a reflection on a scene from the movie which really made me pause and think (to the point where I nearly missed the five minutes of the onscreen action that followed). The scene is when Ash first succumbs to Marshadow’s dark seduction and is taken to an alternate reality where Pokémon don’t exist. He leaps out of bed, a poster on his bedroom wall of a blue car, a red car and a green car in place of Blastoise, Charizard and Venusaur. He’s late to school that day, not for Professor Oak’s lab. Just regular, boring old school. He looks out the window as he sits daydreaming in class , glimpsing Ho-Oh gliding high above, except it’s not Ho-Oh at all but an aeroplane. And when he questions what is beyond the confines of the school fence, we hear something along the lines of: towns, forests, fields, more towns, forests, fields and then the ocean. What is essentially being shown, described and imagined by Ash is a world without Pokémon. A drab, boring and monotone world which lacks a layer of purpose. Quite ironically, this is our reality. Real life. I remember sitting as a kid and thinking that the coolest thing in the world would be if Pokémon were real. To be caught, trained and loved. To some extent a virtual version of this was achieved via Pokémon Go but the initial hype has died down. I knew then, as a kid, and I know now that there won’t ever be anything approaching what Pokémon does in the real world but this scene in a Pokémonless alternate reality got me thinking about the wider implications of this being communicated (and I think intentionally) by the filmmakers. Imagine a world, this shitstorm of a world we live in, WITHOUT something as wonderful as Pokémon, even if they are only virtual monsters living on our screens. This phenomenon which has brought and continues to bring so many people together, be it via the TCG, games or Animé. The phenomenon which was a huge part of my childhood and is something I engage with in some way every single day as a grown man. Imagine if all of that didn’t exist and never had done. It’s a frightening thought and as Ash snapped out of his alternate reality and I came back to mine, I gave thanks for the enduring charm and appeal of Pokémon. The fact that I was sitting in that cinema seat almost twenty years on, still enjoying everything the Pokémon universe has to offer is something that I’m so pleased the film allowed me to experience and feel and give thanks for. Thank you for the memories, Pokémon and here’s to the memories still to be made. My final parting piece of advice: stay beyond the credits. A few shorts, a goosebump-inducing rendering of the initial start sequence to the original Pokémon games on Gameboy and a beautiful piano arrangement of the Pokémon Animé theme tune. A shout out also to @brayshgaming - I hope he particularly enjoyed the Noivern clip but also hope that it isn’t now a regular feature in his nightmares. There is no escape! Thanks for reading guys. Comments on my reflections are most welcome and I’d love to hear some of your own thoughts about the movie. This review was written solely from my memory of watching the movie (and thanks to lots of frantic jotting down of ideas the moment the lights went up, while they were still fresh in my mind). There may therefore be some inaccuracies in here which I cannot yet verify without watching the movie again. Apologies if so.

#pokemontcg #pokemon #ichooseyou #pokemoncollector #pokemonmovie #pikachu

1 note · View note