Pokémon Anniversary 'Drabble' (kind of...) Bingo stuff

[Seren]

So this is a thread for my collective bingo prompts, featuring side characters (at various points in time) from my main fic as well as characters from other back burner works.

This here is my prompt list from 2021:



I went with the first row for the immediate prompts because two of the three gave me immediate inspiration. (I actually tried drawing the first one, but didn't like how it came out so I just returned to writing.) The third took longer, but I got them all here. (I do plan to complete the card entirely at some point, which I'll post here as they're finished.) Anyway, here's my three drabble-ish things:


1. A Fresh Start

Sunlight was strong in the port of Lentic when the S.S. Dragonair arrived. The trip from Vermilion was not long, but Kirsten's indecision about whether to continue to be a trainer or not left her feeling as though she'd been locked up in her bunk for a month. The general restlessness of her team hadn't helped matters, either. No one had wanted to talk about "the incident" but, being unable to battle on board the ship, there was little else for her and her team to do and she didn't think she could handle being alone with her thoughts, so they all got to remain out of their balls and keep each other company.

But now, they'd arrived at her destination, far, far away from Kanto, and to her surprise she felt her sense of adventure and excitement returning, the way she had when she and Bulbasaur left Oak's lab in Pallet. This was a brand new land, after all, far from home, and she couldn't help but feel curious as to what she'd find here. Lentic reminded her of the photos she'd seen of Pacificlog a section of her guidebook once, and she'd always wanted to visit it; Kanto had route 12, but a route was in no way the same as an active town. She supposed this was close enough.

In her arms, Tentacool wiggled, eager to explore the unfamiliar waters of the peculiar city. Beedrill buzzed in her ear, hovering by her left shoulder and enjoying the sunlight for the first time Kirsten could remember (which, really, was her own fault; she vowed not to keep him locked in his ball anymore). Even Crobat, despite the brightness, flew laps around the dock, happy to be able to spread his wings and get off the ground.

This was it, then. She wasn't in Kanto anymore; there was no going back there. At least, not for a long, long time. With her three pokémon this ready to go, then maybe... just maybe, she could find a way to press onwards, too.

---

2. Traveling Companions

I'd never been to a ranch before. Hoenn had a daycare, but it was nothing like the one here in Solaceon. This would be a wonderful addition to my research project, if Bobby let me stay and explore for a while.

A red-haired woman inside a wooden enclosure leaned on it as I approached, talking to my overseas contact, Bobby. Behind them, a tauros turned his head and snorted in my direction, attracting the attention of the two humans. The woman whistled at me upon making eye contact and I immediately felt my face heat up. She must be my guide... oh no, she's cute! Symphony - my chimecho - wrapped his tail around my arm and vibrated calmingly. Right, focus. I took a deep breath and pushed forward.

"Ah, Kari! It's nice to finally see you again," Bobby said, holding out a hand for me to shake. "How's Lilycove University?"

We made small talk briefly before he introduced me to Ana, my guide to the Sinnoh region. I blushed again as she also offered me a handshake, and - wait, was she blushing, too?

"Sorry you won't get ta travel with yer friend here," she said, jerking a thumb at Bobby. "Looks like I hit the jackpot, though." I was momuntarily distracted as she crushed my fingers - wow, she's got some strength in that grip! - but she didn't miss my gaze resting on her muscles. As soon as she let go of my hand, she flexed, I suspect for my benefit.

"W-would you mind if we, um... have food? Before we leave town?" I asked, struggling to get the words out. Gods, even with Symphony doing his best, my nerves were getting the better of me again.

"Oh, absolutely! You haven't really eat'n 'till you've been to Crazy Ernie's!"

As Ana recalled her tauros and started to walk away, beckoning me to follow, Bobby leaned towards me with a knowing wink and whispered, "Didn't I tell you she was your type? Have fuuuun!"

---

3. Losing Battle

The ghosts came out of nowhere - as ghosts do. Venonat was only out of his pokéball for seconds before realizing the team was outnumbered. Badly.

Bennett wasn't the smartest insect in the colony, but Venonat hadn't thought he was serious about coming to this forest. He'd only been a trainer for, what, a month before Venonat was caught? Even Venonat knew to stay out of ghost territory!

Well, it was too late now to be angry over it; the ghosts attacked at will, and they weren't pulling their punches. This wasn't a fight they could win, that much was obvious. In between launching confusion and foresight attacks, Venonat tried to find a path to escape. In the chaos, he almost hit Sentret, and by complete accident, he did hit a ghost - a haunter, he thought - that hovered behind Bennett. But that didn't stop the ghost from entering Bennett's body. Wait, what was it doing?

A shout distracted him: "Will you pay attention? I can't hit them without your foresight!" Sentret, ever demanding. Sometimes, Venonat wondered if he thought he was the trainer. That attitude was going to get him killed... just, hopefully not today.

Taillow was the first to fall; Bennett made no effort to recall her as one of the ghosts carried her away. Instead, Totodile sprinted after them, diving through a bush and out of sight. Venonat called after him to come back - he couldn't defend both Sentret and their trainer by himself!

A shadow ball exploded in front of him, and Venonat lost all sense of direction as he was thrown back like a ragdoll. That wasn't even a direct hit, and he felt as though he had no energy left; he just wanted to return to his ball and sleep. That wasn't possible right now, though, he knew. They had to get to safety.

The ghosts were closing in with Sentret unable to even touch them, forming a ring around him and their trainer. The human must have mistaken Venonat's cry of warning from outside the ring as a cry for mercy, though. The last thing he saw before the pokeball beam sucked him back to its confines was a large shadow behind his trainer, and Venonat could only hope this wouldn't be the last he'd see of Bennett Clarkson.

 

[Seren]

Alright, here are the 2023 prompts:



I know I said this last year (and every year), but I do intend to finish the rest of these prompts at some point (and this year I actually have the time to do so!) and I'll post those here when I do. Because these are some gooooood prompts! I honestly kind of want to expand upon the ones I've already done here below, too, but for now, they get the message across. (I also do kind of still want to finish the previous year's cards, too, so I may yet do that.)


1. Shared Nightmares

Spoiler: Just some thoughts

I couldn't not use this pair for this prompt. I have no regrets. I'm considering this a "bonus/AU" scene for SS, the night after the forest incident (chapter 3). This is not what actually happened, but perhaps what should have happened (well, except for the 'actually talking it out' part). Maybe in the re-write...

The room was still dark when Alex jolted awake. The fact that the sun hadn't even broke the horizon yet meant that even though they'd arrived in the dead of night, he hadn't slept for more than an hour or two. The bed was comfortable and he was tired, but peaceful rest was difficult when he saw ghosts every time he closed his eyes. This was not how he imagined his first night as a trainer would go twenty-four hours ago.

He groaned in annoyance as he sat upright, casting a quick glance beside him at his girlfriend, making sure he hadn't woken her. He couldn't see Kimiko, veiled by the night as she repositioned herself. He was grateful that she'd rolled off him at some point; he surely would have woken her by accident when the nightmare jolted him awake. Even in sleep, she seemed restless, never staying still for more than a minute. At least she was asleep.

He and Kimiko were lucky to escape that forest with their lives. He almost lost her in there. And it had been his idea. Guilt ate at him even more than he'd realized at the time. Well, up until this nightmare. If he'd been unable to protect her... If anything had happened to her, he'd never have forgiven himself.

It wasn't long after he'd lay back down that Alex was startled by a scream. He flailed under the blankets to reach up and turn on the desk lamp as Kimiko bolted upright, looking around for a moment as though she'd forgotten where she was. But when the light clicked on and she turned his direction, recognition and relief were visible on her face. Then she wrapped her arms around herself as her face flooded with color, embarrassment catching up with her.

Before she could speak, Alex guessed what was on her mind. "Nightmare?"

Her relieved smile turned into a frown. Had he not already been awake to see it, she probably wouldn't have even mentioned this to him in the morning.

"Ghosts, I bet?" Alex prompted again. "Want to talk about it?"

Instead of confirming, she said, "I'm sorry for waking you..."

"You didn't," he replied, holding out his arms. "I had one, too."

Kimiko's distant frown melted into something softer and she leaned into the embrace. He could feel her trembling as she started to open up to him.

"They were about places that dusclops was going to take me," she whispered. "I saw several... don't know how many, they're all blurring together now... Something awful would happen and then it would reset and I'd be taken somewhere else..."

They lay there recounting nightmares of ghosts, until exhaustion eventually reclaimed Kimiko. Alex was just happy she'd calmed down enough to drift off again, though he did not rest any further. They remained there in each other's embrace until dawn broke and drove off the night.

---

2. Bump in the Night

Spoiler: Actual content warnings in this one

Carrie here is the protag of my Johto fic, which is on indefinite hiatus until I can reboot it completely.
TW for bloody violence and implied abuse.

At first, Carrie didn't even question the thumping. It had become background noise in her dreams by this point. She was a very light sleeper, for numerous reasons; one of those being the frequency with which similar thumps happened. She needed to be aware of what was happening at all times, even while asleep.

In fact, it was rarer to have a quiet night, what with wild sentret scurrying across her trailer home's rooftop, random pineco falling from the trees above and exploding like grenades as they landed, or occasionally something far more sinister, like her large father or his vile machamp stomping around the kitchen in search of midnight snack.

But when the thumping shifted, it was clear this was no wild pokemon. Carrie woke herself quietly; if she didn't want Machamp to take out some energy on her again, the last thing she needed was to startle the damn thing. Not that he wouldn't choose to anyway, but making him jumpy would make pain a guarantee.

Her doorknob twisted, and the thumps got louder. Carrie was torn between the desire to roll over and face her attack or remain perfectly still and pretend to be sleeping. If she could roll over and make it sound natural...

A hand clasped over her mouth before she could decide; and instinct took over. She thrashed and flailed in attempt to throw off her attacker; and to her surprise, the figure flinched back with a curse when her elbow connected with its face. Puzzling... Machamp wouldn't have even noticed if she'd landed a direct hit on him, even unprepared. And why would her father, scum that he was, be sneaking into her room and trying to suffocate her?

The next several seconds happened in a blur, triggered by a sound from the doorway. The intruder jumped, surprised, and before Carrie could so much as register her hair being yanked, the figure had her held against him, one hand back over her mouth, and another holding a knife to her throat.

Her eyes went wide as she spotted Machamp silhouetted in the doorway. If she hadn't already frozen at the knife, the sight of the demon pokemon would have scared her stiff.

The figure behind her spoke, addressing the machamp. "Stay where you are or the girl loses her head."

Machamp laughed, an eerie, guttural sound that Carrie knew well. His two lower arms crossed, and he made a shooing motion with a third hand, as if to say "go ahead". Then he started forward.

The knife pressed deeper into her flesh, a terrible, uncomfortable sensation. It didn't hurt, yet... but Carrie knew one small flinch was all it would take.

"I'll do it!" the intruder insisted, moonlight gleaming off the blade as if to emphasize his point.

In response, Machamp visibly rolled his reddish-orange eyes, almost aglow in the otherwise dark room. Then, without warning, Machamp was virtually on top of them, planting bullet punch into the intruder's face with an absolutely sickening crunch.

The knife clattered to the ground as the burglar crumpled to the floor, and Carrie took her chance to leap onto her bed, sliding off the other side and covering her ears. Despite that, she could still hear Machamp's fists clobbering the man.

Suddenly the lights flickered on and Carrie peeked over her bed just in time to see her father, a fat, balding man, standing in at the door. "What the hell are you doing in-"

He cut himself off upon the room being illuminated, and Machamp held up the remains of the burglar with a hand clasped around the head, like a pet displaying a prize. His face was a bloody, unrecognizable mess, he hung limp in the pokemon's grasp. Carrie couldn't tell if he was even still alive.

"Heh. What a clown, trying to steal from me. Didn't even bring a pokemon to back him up, cocky bastard. Serves him right. Take him out back."

He stepped aside to allow Machamp through, and his eyes fell on Carrie beside her bed.

"You. Clean this up," he snapped.

Carrie knew ignoring his orders was just asking for punishment, so she quietly stood up, her hands gently prodding at her throat. Her father stomped over like a rhydon and forcibly jerked her head upwards to take a look, running a finger along her throat. She flinched at the touch; it hurt like a papercut.

"You're not even bleeding!" he said after a few moments. "You'll live. Go back to bed."

He thrust her away and turned to leave. Was that his attempt at pity that she'd been attacked? Carrie was too stunned to move as he tromped out of the room. But as she stared at the messy remains Machamp left behind, she doubted she'd ever be able to sleep again.

---

3. Self-Sacrifice

Spoiler: Back to no actual warnings here

Tori here is a side-character from the same Johto fic as above, and one of the reasons it is awaiting a reboot. The characters are Not Good and need to be fleshed out a bit. This is probably going to be a basis for her backstory later on.

Tori wasn't sure what her destination was as she sprinted though the deserted Violet City streets, guided only by moonlight. Her mind raced, faster than her legs could cary her, but she couldn't make sense of anything. The only thing she was sure of was that she needed to put distance between herself and the burning building behind her.

Sirens blared as they raced passed her towards the fire. Aubree was still back there. She said she'd be right behind. But so far, Tori hadn't seen her. Her elder sister sounded so angry, so desperate, when she ordered Tori to run. She fought to give her sister an escape route while she stayed behind, doing her best to hold the line. How- why had things gone so wrong?

All they'd wanted to do was check out the Sprout Tower ahead of the tournament. Aubree had heard wild gastly lived there and came out at night. She thought having a ghost on Tori's team would give her an advantage against all the other rookies she'd be fighting, with all of their pidgey and sentret. It was the smart thing to do.

Except they weren't the only ones in the tower. Tori couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the unmistakable red R on their uniforms... how were there Rockets there? The question contaminated Tori's mind as she fled. It was impossible, everyone knew that Team Rocket was gone...

Tori never found out what they were doing in the tower. The Rockets hadn't been happy that the sisters walked in on them, and they were willing to go to extremes to prevent the girls from escaping, including trying to trap them inside while burning the tower down, destroying whatever evidence remained of their motives.

Aubree had managed to open a path, urgently demanding Tori take the chance to escape, to go and get help. So she ran, leaving her sister behind to buy her time.

But no one would believe her. Team Rocket was disbanded, twice. They were willing to destroy the tower and themselves to prevent anyone from knowing what they were doing there. She'd alerted the nurse on duty when she arrived, then went back outside to wait. Aubree said she'd come. She... she'd just been held up explaining the situation to the firefighters!

But when the sun rose what must have been hours later, it began to sink in that Tori, still sitting in the dirt outside the pokemon center, was waiting out here in vain.

 

[Seren]

Apparently I never posted my 2022 prompts either, so uh... here is that card:




Had some good prompts here too, but merged two into one so.


Prompts 1 and 2, Sigilyph and Golurk, gave me an idea for a joint scene. They each get a PoV scene, but are both related to the same setting, so I decided to merge them together.

Prompt 3 apparently featured me re-writing a scene from the Johto fic again, also featuring Carrie. Perhaps I will also use this whenever I get around to rebooting that fic.

1. Golurk

Something shifted in the air. There was no wind, yet the air seemed to be in motion. Annoyance was briefly replaced by curiosity. Somewhere in the distance, the unown were in an uproar. This time, they were not causing the disturbance, they were responding to it. Not the first time an unwelcome guest had come, but certainly the first in several hundred years.

The commotion was far from the master's chamber, however the room's sigilyph stirred anyway, likely sensing the unown's psychic field far more intensely than Golurk. The guardian's eyes lit dimly, the only sign that it had woken from it's slumber. Sigilyph floated towards the doorless entryway, its body unmoving, pausing only to rotate towards the clay golem in acknowledgement, satisfied that it was also aware of the trespasser, its sense of duty still undiluted.

Golurk caught sight of another of the temple's sigilyph as it hovered passed their doorway, moving as silently as its counterpart. Golurk's companion sigilyph once again turned back to look over the room, the unown's psychic warning urging the temple's ancient guardians into action. Golurk wasn't worried. The sigilyph had only once failed to keep an intruder away from the master's chamber, and where they failed, Golurk had not.

The ancient guardian craned its head ever so slightly to gaze upon the clay remains of its own counterpart, the other pokemon lost to time. No matter. The master would be protected, even if Golurk was alone as the final obstacle.

---

2. Sigilyph

Only five sigilyph besides itself responded to the unown's summons; the rest continued their eternal patrol of the temple's dusty, vacant corridors. Even so, the six had been excessive, but it had been so long since anything interesting had happened that perhaps, somewhere in their subconscious, they were eager for something new.

The swarm of unown had trapped the trespassers in some illusion or another, their panicked gasps echoing in the cold stoney corridor. It was impossible to tell by sight alone what the human and her companion were witnessing, and neither Sigilyph nor its five companions felt the need to pry. Eventually, the gasps evolved into screams, the sigilyph's cue to take over control of the situation. The unown scrambled and scattered upon realizing the temple guardians had arrived.

None of the sigilyph knew nor cared what the human perceived them as, as they led her and her pokemon companion to the sand pit. The illusion they'd trapped the human in had been so strong, she hadn't offered any resistance as she sunk down into the sand, her pokemon realizing too late what was happening. It was almost anticlimactic; the sigilyph hardly needed to vacate their patrols.

There was no need to communicate as Sigilyph returned to the master's chamber. The clay giant Golurk had already returned to slumber, having sensed the unown's psychic field dissipating. The master's bones, meanwhile, remained remained undisturbed.

---

3. Can't Go Back

Spoiler: Content warnings

TW for implied abuse

Professor Elm's voice never failed to grate on Carrie's nerves. She didn't dislike the man, and even felt bad about attempting to steal one of his starters, but damn, his voice got under her skin. The words themselves were no consolation, either.

"Your parents must be worried sick about you! We should let them know where you are."

Oh no. She had to stop him. Her father could not find out what she'd tried to do. The only thing worse than Elm calling the cops would be... well, that.

"My parents are the reason I'm here," she replied, sitting up too quickly and immediately regretting it, her vision going blurry as she began to feel lightheaded again. But she didn't need to see right now. She needed to stop Elm from ratting her out. "Or, well, at least my father is. He... his machamp..." Just thinking about that four-armed monster made her quiver in anger. The rage actually began to clear her head, her vision slowly returning. She spotted her baseball cap further down the desk, sitting next to a curious cyndaquil, and she returned it to her head. "I can't go back there. I just... I can't."

Why? Why was she protecting them? Why did she feel the need to keep this a secret? All she had to do was tell Elm how she got her bruises, and her father would be ruined. But... what if he'd found out? And he would. Her mother had lived with him since before she was born - there was no chance she'd be the one to turn him in. And Machamp reveled in the torment he dished out. They'd know she squealed, and then they'd find her, and...

Carrie froze, drawing in a sharp, surprised breath as something touched her leg. Her accelerated heart rate refused to slow even when she looked down and realized the pressure was only the cyndaquil leaning on her, not the threatening pressure of a fist. The cyndaquil timidly ignited the flame on it's back, bathing Carrie in a quite relaxing warmth. As the pokemon flopped down against her, head tilted upwards, she began to calm down.

Well, she did say once that she'd burn all her father's boxing trophies to the ground... a tough fire-type might be just what she needed to finally turn the tormentors into the tormented. At least, far in the future. Not today. She couldn't go back there today. She'd already made her choice. She'd finally escaped.

"Professor... I need a pokemon."

 

[Flyg0n]

Figured I'd have a go at reading a few bingo prompts! And boy, these did not a disappoint. (also, Johto fic omg).

I really enjoyed them all, in particular the first two.

I'm kinda a sucker for nightmares and bad family (who would have guessed, right?).

The first one was rather wholesome, despite the circumstances. It was sweet to see them taking comfort in each other after such a scary experience and honestly it would make a tasty addition to the rewrite. Loved getting more into their emotional states!

The second one captured a very grim feeling. A lot was said without being directly said, and I always dig that kind of writing. Sometimes less is more. There's an immediate sense Carrie is not in a great place and in the short time you layer in the gruesome details very well. Yikes.

The last one was pretty different in that it was a lot of reflection and flashback on a situation, as opposed to directly showing something. I really liked the vibes of that tbh, especially the building toward the ending. As a reader I could guess that it wouldn't end well, but it was also delicious seeing the character slowly realize this terrible conclusion.

Please revive this johto fic sometime!

 

[Railgun]

Yoooo, so I finally got to read your prompts for this year, and holy hell those last two! But before I get to them... let me talk about the first one.

1. Shared Nightmares - This one starts out like your typical nightmare but I love that Alex was there for Kimiko. Like who wouldn't want to comfort their significant other during a nightmare especially after what they have been through? He seems like a very kind and supportive boyfriend, I am glad Kimiko has someone who loves her dearly. I definitely need to read more for this pair, so kudos!

2. Bump in The Night - Holy hell, holy shit... just you were not kidding. Jesus Christ, I am officially afraid of machamps now. It's clear he was raised to be an abusive monster by an abusive and disgusting trainer such as Carrie's father. Wait - is he even a father at this point? Because I am absolutely appalled by the conditions Carrie lives in. How did her father turn out to be such a monster? What happened to her mother? I really really hope Carrie gets out of this situation because at this rate I genuinely fear she might die.

Spoiler: Also this line

[He cut himself off upon the room being illuminated, and Machamp held up the remains of the burglar with a hand clasped around the head, like a pet displaying a prize. His face was a bloody, unrecognizable mess, he hung limp in the pokemon's grasp. Carrie couldn't tell if he was even still alive.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, THE MACHAMP LITERALLY TURNED THE ROBBER INTO GROUND MEAT. NIGHTMARE FUEL.

3. Self-Sacrifice - As always Team Rocket is always up to no good, where is Lance when you need him? They seriously are gonna let Tori and her sister burn inside the Sprout Tower. They're that petty, it's quite fucked up. But it is given from how cruel and ruthless TR usually is. They have definitely made a comeback if they are doing this.

Spoiler: Line Quote

But when the sun rose what must have been hours later, it began to sink in that Tori, still sitting in the dirt outside the pokemon center, was waiting out here in vain.

And Aubree is... dead is she? Oh my god, I feel so bad for Tori. This is horrible.

Overall, these were quite dark. I like that it starts out wholesome with your ship and then... BOOM! Crazy shit thrown in your face! Not that I am complaining but wow. I am stunned. Also, your writing style is quite nice. No complaints here and there! And the last two prompts are for a Johto fic? SIGN ME THE FUCK UP. This looks like a very dark side of the region that I wanna see more of. If you ever rework and revive the Johto fic, let me know, I'll be waiting. ;)

 

[Sastrei]

Hiiii, so it's high time I read some of your writing given how excellent you are on discord, and these popped up so here I am!

First, although I'm unfamiliar with your characters, I already have a lovely idea of their relationship and how they behave around one another. Job well done getting that across in a relatively short space. ALSO I am currently going through Legends: Arceus and finishing the damn pokedex and I just completed a dusclops entry, where it says behind the bandages is a void that people get sucked into... SCARY AS FUCK. So good to see some more dark sides of ghost pokemon explored.

Next, I LIVED for the machamp gore, oh my god. When the machamp made the "come here" motion, I was like HOT DAMN IT'S GONNA GET UGLY. Ever since I was a kid machamp always gave me weird vibes and now I can't unsee this whole scene, but I am here for it. Again, loved how quickly you drew me in with that tense and disturbing setting.

Last, poor Tori sitting there in the dust, ugh. What a good big sister. Fires, sprout tower, Surprise!Team Rocket, I love all these very Johto things.

This is what I'm doing instead of finishing my own bingo -- but thanks for posting these and for the inspiration! Looking forward to exploring more of your writing soon.