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AceTrainerWesley

Espeon Lover
Location
Colorado
Pronouns
He/Him
This story contains strong language, mild violence and topics of mind control. If any of these bothers you, proceed with caution.
This story is set in the same world as Midnight Hollow Pokémon School. Please check it out!

This story a part of Short Stories involving Wesley. If you would like to read them, I suggest this order, despite it not being chronological:
Abandoned > Worthy > Liberation

I would love to hear any feedback you have to give me!

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



WORTHY


“I think we had best stop here for the night.”

The landscape looked more like a stylized painting than real life. The sky was a bright magenta color, with purple clouds. Wesley worked in the orange glow of the sun which was cast upon the mountain. Liana’s paws carefully trotted over patches of pine needles, observing his work.

“How does this work again?” He glanced over a manual which he pinned the pages in place with two pebbles to prevent the light breeze from flipping to whatever page it pleased. He fiddled with the light metal beams a little more, until it snapped into place. “Ah, there we go.”

The sun fell beyond the horizon, casting the world into darkness. Wesley sat close to the campfire which his Braixen helped him light, holding a pair of marshmallows into the flame with a stick he found and sharpened, while twisting and turning his arm every few seconds. The higher of the marshmallows caught on fire, and Wesley lifted the stick up above his head, similarly to a torch. He swung it around carefully, watching the trail of fire dance behind it, before finally lowering it a few inches from his mouth. He watched a moment longer, then blew it out.

He blew on the marshmallow a few more times, despite it being extinguished, before he bit down onto the stick, and pulled the marshmallows off with his teeth. He leaned over and grabbed a couple more from his bag, and plucked them onto the stick.

Liana watched him, and so did Midnight. They were not quite used to their new trainer. They both had only been caught a few weeks prior. Wesley’s foot tapped the ground rapidly, as though he was anxious. Dust puffed out from under his shoe. Aside from the few patches of mountainous plants, pine needles, and the numerous pine trees towering up into the sky like spears, the area was rather dirty. There was a river nearby, adding a relaxing ambiance to the soothing crackles and pops of the fire.

From what she gathered at first, Wesley was just a beginner trainer. He looked the part for it. He was about the size of a typical ten-year old. Liana was caught off guard when she learned he was actually 14. It made some sense though. Some members of his team seemed rather experienced. He had already caught several Pokémon, some of which were quite strong. Liana looked up at the sky. Silhouettes of towering pine trees pointed to the center of her perspective, like arrows pointing at different stars that they thought were interesting

“Liana?”

Liana’s attention snapped back to Wesley. “Want one?” He stretched out his hand, offering a crispy, golden marshmallow, though there were some bits that looked a little burnt.

Liana trotted up to Wesley and sniffed his hand, then the treat. She shyly grabbed it with her mouth, and ate it. It had a slightly crunchy exterior, but her teeth had no problem penetrating it. When they did, an extremely sweet flavor oozed into her mouth. Her eyes widened and the stars reflected off of them, it was delicious. Her tail unconsciously began to wag. “Bwee! Bwee!”

Wesley chuckled, the Eevee was incredibly adorable. His male Eevee, Midnight, looked up at his trainer curiously. Wesley picked the second marshmallow off the stick and offered it to Midnight. As the male Eevee ate it, it looked rather surprised, but not enamored by the flavor in the same sense the female was. Liana was now excitedly pawing his leg, as though asking for more.

Wesley grinned and grabbed three marshmallows from his bag, and jabbed them on different branches of the stick he was using.

Wesley dumped a bucket of water onto the embers, which seemed instantly protest, sizzling and popping, as the water drowned them out. Soon after, he withdrew into his tent. Liana and Midnight followed him as he checked all of his Pokéballs, which contained the other four members of his current team. He wrapped himself up in a thick, fluffy red blanket, and tucked himself into a sleeping bag. Liana and Midnight nestled up to him, and he wrapped his arms around each of them respectively, and they all fell asleep.

The morning was chilly. Even in her thick fur coat, Liana was shivering. Wesley sat up, and the blanket slipped off his shoulders. He was shivering as well, even though he decided to sleep with pajamas on. Liana and Midnight watched as he slipped a hoodie and a jacket over the shirt, as well as a second pair of pants over his pajamas. They all noticed the shadows of small dribbles of morning dew on the outside of the tent. Wesley unzipped the entrance, and went outside to stretch. The eevee followed, and they each took a deep breath of the cold mountain air.

Wesley packed up camp and loaded it into his backpack, and they left. The river followed them along the trail down the mountain and into town. It was a small, rustic town. They went to a breakfast restaurant, but Wesley was required to return all his Pokémon to their Pokéballs before he went inside.

When she next emerged, the rest of the team was there with them. They were at a park in the town. Wesley had gotten extra food from the restaurant for all of them. He sat in the grass in the shade of a tree, and flipped open his 3DS game system. He looked up every so often to check his Pokémon. Liana’s belly was filled shortly, so she walked over to Wesley’s side to watch him play. She couldn’t really comprehend it, but it seemed like Wesley was playing as an angel that wasn’t flying for some reason, even though it had wings. His character seemed to be using a staff that fired blue beams at wacky monsters.

After a level or two, Wesley closed the system and sent all his Pokémon back into their Pokéballs. That night, Wesley stayed at the Pokémon Center in town, which is what many trainers normally do. This was how it had to be from here on out. In cities, they stayed in Pokémon Centers. Sometimes other trainers there would challenge Wesley to battles, but usually he minded his own business.

Days passed into weeks, and weeks into months. Wesley’s team grew. Wesley hummed as he effortlessly clipped together the metal rods to his tent. The sun was still high in the sky. Liana and Midnight chased each other around the site. “Alright, that’ll do. Let’s get to training!” The two Eevees jumped up and ran over to Wesley, who rummaged through his jacket, and pulled out a Quick Ball and a regular old Pokéball that were promptly thrown up into the air. They burst open, and jets of red light erupted and crashed to the ground. As the figures took shape, Wesley said, “Luxio! Delphox! You two keep an eye out on our belongings. I don’t want anyone to take them.”

The pokemon obeyed, and settled down at the camp. Wesley turned and addressed the two Eevee. “Let’s go then!”

They battled the afternoon away, and day quickly became night. They stopped back at camp every half-hour or so to rest up.

“Midnight, use Bite!”

Midnight leapt at the enemy Pachirisu, and used the attack. The Pachirisu yelped in pain, and ran backwards. It cloaked itself in electricity, and darted at Midnight. “Dodge it!” Midnight jumped, avoiding Pachirisu’s Spark attack. “Swift!”

Midnight’s tail became cloaked in light, and Midnight flipped midair, releasing a flurry of stars at the Pachirisu. It tried to run away, but there were too many stars for the Pachirisu to avoid the attack. The dust settled, and the Pachirisu laid on the ground, fainted.

“Great job, Midnight!”

“Bwee! Bweevee!”

Wesley walked up to Midnight, and patted him on the head. He grabbed a Sitrus Berry from his bag and set it next to the fainted Pachirisu. He did this for just about every wild Pokémon he defeated.

Wesley looked up to the sky. “Aw, hell. It’s late. Let’s return to camp.”

They walked under the night sky for a good ten minutes before they could see orange light from the campsite. “Delphox must have started a fire,” Wesley mumbled to himself. Luxio ran over to the group, and greeted them with enthusiastic barks. Delphox was practicing its Mystical Fire attack on a patch of snow, using Psychic to lift patches of dirt over any bits of pine that ignited, and dropped them onto the small flames, extinguishing them immediately.

Delphox turned and nodded curtly at Wesley as he arrived, before spinning its wand in a circle twice, creating two large rings of fire. Delphox jabbed its wand directly in the center of the two rings, and out from it shot a fireball.

Delphox nodded pridefully as the fireball slammed against the snow, and mist erupted from it. Wesley brushed the back of Delphox’s head with his hand. Delphox’s ears fell back a little, relaxed by the soothing sensation. Delphox turned to Wesley, its fiery orange eyes stared up at him. “You’re really starting to get the hang of that move now, aren’t you?”

“Del.”

“Good job. How long have you been practicing?”

Delphox looked away. Wesley shrugged and let out a sigh. “You know, it’s no good if you tire yourself out from training too much. Let’s all take a break for the night.”

“Bweevee! Bweevee!”

“Bweeveevee!”

“Lux! Luxio!”

It was Delphox’s turn to sigh, but it did not disobey. They all gathered around the fire and sat, allowing the heat to ease them.

Wesley had just returned to his lawn chair and cracked open a soda when a loud crunch killed the silence from behind them. Wesley got back up, taking a drink from his soda can and looked out into the darkness. “Hello?”

“Well, look at what we got here boys. Another young kid on their Pokémon journey.”

Delphox jumped out of the lawn chair it sat in and aimed its wand into the darkness as well. The flame that ignited from the wand as Delphox drew it lit the surroundings. From the shadows, three large men in leather jackets emerged. “You’re a long way from the Pokémon Center, you know,” the skinniest one said.

Wesley did not respond. He glared at them.

“Silent type, eh?” Said the skinny one again, “What do you think, Bane?”

Wesley’s eyes widened upon hearing the name, and his eyes darted to the bulkiest of the three thugs. Although he couldn’t see the thug’s face well, the man’s build was identical to all the documents about the criminal mastermind that Wesley had ever seen. Bane examined the campsite, and Wesley’s Pokémon.

“This will be easy,” he said at last. He removed a Dusk Ball from one of his leather jacket’s pockets, and pressed the button on it. The Dusk Ball opened, and a dark mist seemed to pour from it, as opposed to the usual bright light that would erupt out of most Pokéballs. From the mist, a Malamar appeared, hovering slightly above the ground. It landed gracefully, and opened its eyes, seeming to thirst for battle. Liana felt a shudder run along her back, and stared up at the enemy Pokémon. The other two thugs tossed out Dusk Balls as well, sending out a Scrafty and a Rhydon.

Wesley appeared to be deep in thought, trying to calculate a way out of the situation. Wesley grabbed an Ultraball inside of his Jacket, and threw it out. Light emerged, and his Araquanid appeared. “Araquanid. Delphox. Luxio. I’m counting on you guys. Liana, Midnight, stay back.”

The three Pokémon on each side sized up their opponents. “Malamar! Superpower on Luxio!”

“Scrafty, use Brick Break on Araquanid!”

“Rhydon, use Drill Run on Delphox!”

The three Pokémon darted at Wesley’s. Chaos ensued as Wesley shouted commands at his Pokémon. Liana stared around nervously. Rhydon charged at Delphox, but it was stopped in its tracks. It looked stunned as a mystic red aura outlined it, and it was hurled across into a pine tree by Delphox’s Psychic. Luxio jumped away as Malamar smashed a boulder into pieces with a powerful whip of its tentacle arm. Water splashed across the ground as Arquanid headbutted Scrafty into the ground.

“Bug Bite! Spark! Psyshock!”

Araquanid bit down on Scrafty, Luxio cloaked itself in electricity and slammed into Malamar, and Delphox caused several stones from Malamar’s wreckage to float around Rhydon. The stones orbited the rock type for a moment before stopping, and then shooting into the opponent. All three enemy pokemon returned to their feet.

“You ruined my Scrafty’s Focus Band, you little shit! Headbutt!”

“Rhydon! Do it again!”

“Malamar, Psycho cut!”

Malamar floated up into the air again, and gathered psychic energy, and launched a slash at Luxio. Rhydon charged once again, and Scrafty jumped at Araquanid. Luxio used spark again, and leapt at Scrafty. Lucio slammed into Scrafty, launching it away from Araquanid, who lifted up one of its legs, and shot a flurry of bubbles at Rhydon.

Delphox jumped aside from the large rock type’s unconscious body as it fell, and shot a Mystical Fire attack at Malamar, but Malamar cut through the flame with a Night Slash attack.

Bane stared at the two fainted Pokémon on each side of Wesley. “I underestimated you. But that’s enough playing around.” He tossed up another Pokéball. White light erupted from it, and a Smeargle appeared.

“Smeargle, use Follow Me.”

Smeargle raised its paint brush-like tail, and waved it wildly. Liana looked straight at it. She couldn’t figure out what it was doing, but then Malamar swooped in front of the Smeargle, and took in all the attention.

“Hypnosis!”

Wesley covered his eyes and turned away as Malamar’s spots lit up with yellow light. He stared at the ground, and only when the light dimmed did he dare to look up. All his Pokémon stood still. “Delphox?”

His fire-type did not react. His heart rate accelerated, and he stared at Luxio. Its mouth hung agape, and it had no reaction to Wesley’s voice.

He began to panic. As he turned to Araquanid, Bane said, “Malamar, have them come here.”

Malamar turned and nodded at its trainer, then began chanting its name. Araquanid, Luxio, and Delphox all began to move forward. Wesley felt a brush against his leg, and looked down. He was horrified to see that it was Liana, who was also walking towards the thugs.

“No…” Wesley quickly turned to pull his last Pokéball out. Bane shouted, “Malamar!” and Wesley felt his body freeze. His arms were outlined in a redenergy. No matter how hard he tried to move, it was as though his body was encased inside a statue of itself. He glanced upwards, and saw Delphox holding its wand towards Wesley.

“Delphox…”

“Look at him, boss! Not so cock-sure now, is he?”

Wesley glared to his side at the second thug, who wore shades and had a scruffy beard. Bane did not react. He only stared down at Wesley. “Search his tent. Take anything valuable and let’s get out of here.”

Bane walked up to Wesley, and shuffled his hand around the inside of Wesley’s jacket. He removed his hand from the pocket Wesley was reaching towards with his last Pokéball. “Let’s see what we got here.”

Bane pressed the button on the ball, causing light to shoot out from the Pokéball, and crash to the ground, revealing a mere Trapinch. Trapinch looked at Wesley, who was staring at it out of the corner of his eye. Trapinch seemed to realize immediately that something was wrong, but before it could do anything, Malamar swooped in front of it and used Hypnosis once again, plunging the ground type into a trance.

“Let… Them… Go!”

The skinniest thug laughed before spitting in Wesley’s face. “Ain’t no way in hell we’re doin’ that, kiddo.”

“I’m done searching the tent, Bane. He doesn’t have anything of much value except for some video games.”

“We can make money off those. Take ‘em.”

“What about the brat, boss? He’ll just run off and squeal to the police.”

“I know. That’s why we’re taking ‘im with us.”

Wesley glared at Bane. He struggled against his own Delphox’s Psychic attack more, but to no avail.

“I’m sure we can make a bandit outta him. Send his ass off to jail for life so we don’t have to deal with ‘im ever again.”

Wesley looked at the Malamar, who smirked ominously, he felt a sense of danger overcome him. “Hypnosis.”

Wesley woke up in a dirty room. He wiped his hand over his cheek, where he remembered he had been spat on. Rage and hatred began to build up inside of him as he began to slowly remember what had happened to him last.

“So you’re up.”

Wesley turned. Bane sat in a corner of the room, cloaked in darkness. “Even under hypnosis, you hafta be a pain in the ass, don’t you.”

Wesley simply glared as a response.

“You broke out of the trance so many times I had to send Drew off to the Pokémart to get some Elixirs. Not very suggestible, are you?”

Wesley continued his glare. “What… Did you do to me?”

“Nothin’. As I said, you’re not very suggestible. You wouldn’t move an inch even when Malamar demanded you to. Had to use your Delphox to carry you back here. It was the only way without you breaking the trance.”

Wesley squinted at the man. “You’re not Bane.”

The bulky man chuckled, “Of course I’m not. Bane’s been missin’ ever since the Breaking ended. I was one of his old colleagues. I just use his name to make people afraid. People are a lot less rational when they’re afraid. Bane did teach me a thing or two- such as the Follow Me/Hypnosis stunt.”

They stared at each other for a long, silent, unsettling moment. Wesley couldn’t figure out why the thug was telling him all this. Then, Wesley thought of something. He wasn’t sure if it would work, but he had to try it.

“Where are my Pokémon?”

The thug laughed, “D’ya think I’m dumb as a rock, kid. No way in hell am I gonna tell you that.”

Well, it was worth a shot, Wesley thought. His eyes traveled around the room and landed on a framed photograph. The glass casing was a little cracked, but Wesley could see the bulky thug in the photo laughing with the actual Bane. They had similar builds, but the thug had a slightly darker skin tone and was a little shorter. In the picture, the thug also had rather long hair, but looking at him now, Wesley could see he shaved his head to take on a closer resemblance to Bane.

Wesley glared at the man, and stared at the door to the room. “Don’t ya even think about it, kiddo,” the thug warned, “We might just be a band of three, but I’ve got plenty of Pokémon out there with commands to attack if they see you out.”

“So what? We just wait here until your friend gets back, then you put me under mind control again?”

“Pretty much.”

“Well. Do I get to say my last conscious words or something?”

“You’ve been doing that. And don’t get me wrong, if you’re too much of a hassle to keep hypnotized. Once Drew returns with Malamar, we’ll just kill you and spare ourselves the trouble. So these might be your last words at all.”

“Comforting,” Wesley scowled. He looked up at the ceiling, and wondered where his Pokémon were.

Liana blinked. She felt as though she had gotten more than a full night’s worth of sleep, and was fully refreshed. She shook herself, licked her paw, and kicked her ear rapidly to scratch an itch. “Bwee?”

She realized that she was in a cage, inside of a dark room. She called for her trainer. “Bwe-bwe?”

Only silence answered her. She felt concerned, and slowly turned to look at the other side of the room. “Ee?” She was startled to see Midnight standing right next to her, like a statue. His eyes were open, but they were empty.

“Eev? Eevee? Bwee?”

She pawed his leg, but he didn’t react. She shivered. This was completely unlike him. “Bweee?”

She looked around the room once more, and saw Luxio in a cage. His eyes were similar to Midnight’s. Behind their cage, Trapinch was in one of its own, with Delphox’s and Araquanid’s Pokéballs.

Memories of what transpired were beginning to return to Liana. All her friends were battling… And then a Smeargle got her attention… And then Malamar appeared, and a bright yellow light shone through the darkness. But after that, she could not remember a thing. She began pawing Midnight's face, calling him desperately. But no matter what she did, Midnight did not seem to care, or react at all for that matter.

“Bwee…” She backed up nervously, and bumped against the cage. To her surprise, the door swung open. “Bwee?” She quickly turned, and sniffed it. She pawed it again, and the door opened wider. She looked around, and noticed that none of the cages were actually locked.

But if that was the case… Why didn’t the others just leave the cages themselves? Liana concluded that something was very wrong here. Suddenly, a clicking noise emanated from the door to the room. Liana jumped back, and stood next to Midnight, imitating his mindless behavior.

“Nothin’ bad happen while you were out in the city, Drew?”

“Nah. The merchant didn’t recognize me. It was the easiest trip I’ve had in awhile, honestly. Hey, Mikey, where’s Bane?”

“He’s in the office with the brat.”

The door opened, and the two smaller thugs from last night entered the room. Liana had to try her hardest to look straight forward. “Good.”

“Aw, jeez Drew. Not again.”

“What’s so wrong about it? You know I love fluffy things!”

“Drew, you’re a criminal. Ya gotta act like one.”

“Just a second. I want to do this just in case Bane figures these two would make better money than fighters.”

He opened the door to Liana and Midnight’s cage, and grabbed Liana by the scruff of her neck. It took all of her willpower not to resist. “I always wanted an Eevee when I was young, ya know?” His voice suddenly became uncharacteristically high, “They’re just so ad-or-a-ble!”

“By Arceus, Drew. Grow up.”

Drew nuzzled his face against Liana’s cheek. His breath smelled horrendous, and his body odor stung Liana’s nose. He smelled as though he hadn’t showered in months. It took all she could muster to hold back every urge to resist.

“Drew!”

“Alright, alright. I’m done.” He placed Liana back into the cage and closed the door to it.

"Who do you think Bane sells his Pokémon to anyways?"

"Who cares? Could be scientists experimenting on 'em, shiny breeders, people who sell them to others, all sorts of fucked up people... If we're being honest, they'd have to win the lottery to end up with a trainer that loves them as much as that last one did. Especially that female Eevee you just drooled all over- I hear female Eevee are a lot rarer than the males..." They shut the door behind them as that thought was finished. A moment of deafening silence passed before Liana realized that she had been holding in her breath. She released her tension and began breathing heavily, her heart pounding with terror.

Wesley was bored out of his mind, despite his life being in imminent danger. The only thing giving him any sort of energy was his heart beating and twisting in anxiety. The doorknob creaked, and the second largest thug stepped in “Hey boss. I’m back.” He tossed the Elixir to the big thug, who caught it without looking.

“Any trouble”

“Nah. Wasn’t followed either. Easiest trip I have had in a long time.”

The thug looked at Wesley.

“Awake again, huh.”

“Yup,” the large thug answered for Wesley as he stood up, “Not for much longer. Bring ‘im out.”

Liana sat alone in the darkness. Although her friend’s bodies were in the room with her, their minds weren’t present. They weren’t any fun in this vegetative state.

“Bring ‘im out.”

Liana recognized the voice as the burliest thug from the other night. “Hey, Wait! Wait wait waitwaitwait. I want to see my Pokémon!”

Liana’s ears perked up. She could recognize her trainer’s voice from anywhere.

“This dumb fuck thinks we’re just gonna do that? Who the fuck does he think he is?”

“Do it.”

Silence fell. “Bane, are you kiddi-”

“Do it. This kid thinks that just because the Breaking is over, means that the whole world’s all fine and dandy again. We outta teach him a lesson. A lesson called: Reality.”

Once again, there was more silence. “Alrighty then. You’re the man, Bane.”

Light erupted from the door once again, and the skinniest thug entered the room, and grabbed Liana’s cage. Once again, Liana stiffened herself up, and they were carried into the light. Liana’s eyelids twitched, yet she stood completely still, even in the presence of her trainer. “Midnight… Liana…”

Liana’s willpower broke for a second. Upon hearing her name, she felt her body want to move, begging to jump back into his arms. She needed to remind herself that if she did that, that would just put him into immediate danger. The two other thugs walked past Liana and Midnight, and sent out Delphox and Araquanid. They each landed on the ground, but looked forward mindlessly.

“See boy? They’re completely entranced. Give up.” An object blocked some of the sunlight emitting behind Liana. It slowly crept around Liana and cast her into an ominous shadow. Liana couldn’t help but shudder, staring at the shadow’s tentacles twisting and turning.

“Mala mar mar mar…” Heh hah hah hah...

She didn’t dare to look up. She could feel Malamar’s icy gaze upon her back.

A heavier iron clunk noise rang from next to her. She could tell that it was Luxio. Trapinch’s cage was set onto Luxio’s, based on the second iron clang.

“Mala mala.” Come here.

Midnight and Luxio began to move. Liana moved with them.

In a slight moment, she looked in the direction of her trainer, and their eyes met. Wesley’s eyebrows raised slightly for a small moment, but he quickly retained his glare, and looked up at the thugs. Liana heard a couple more footsteps behind her. She could tell just from the noise that it was Delphox and Araquanid.

“See, boy. Your Pokémon are all here. Try telling them to use a move.”

Wesley glared at Bane. “Midnight, use Tackle.”

“Malamala, mala ma malamar.” Use the move against your trainer.

Midnight turned to Wesley, his eyes blank. He positioned himself to attack… but something deep inside him appeared to be fighting back.

Bane turned to Malamar. “Malamar.”

“Mala ma mala. Marmala malamar mar. Mala.” That is not your trainer. That is the person who attacked your trainer. Attack.

Midnight glared, and jumped at Wesley. But Wesley didn’t resist. He let Midnight attack him. Liana felt sweat drip down her forehead.

“Tell your Pokémon to get off! Do it, do it!”

Wesley remained silent. He stared directly into Midnight’s eyes. Midnight growled at him. Wesley reached over, and pet Midnight’s head. Although Midnight acted abrasive at first, Midnight didn’t stop him. Midnight’s glare lightened.

“MAR MALA MAMAR!” HE KILLED YOUR TRAINER!

Midnight’s glare sharpened, and he slashed at Wesley. Wesley instinctively shot his hand back, but Liana could see that Midnight had gotten him. Wesley’s hand began bleeding, and he grabbed it. Liana trembled as her trainer grunted in pain, and she bit her tongue, trying to tell her body with her mind to stay still.

“So much for a Trainer’s best friend,” the skinny one chortled. Liana glared at him for a moment, before realizing what she had done, and snapped back to her standing pose. The thugs all began laughing, but there was one low, grumbly string of laughter that was absent… And it’s lack of sound was a lot more prevalent than the chortling.

“Mala...?” What…?

Liana’s heart plummeted into her stomach, and she felt the Malamar's frigid glare piercing her. She sensed Malamar float closer to her, and knew it was examining her. Suddenly, Wesley dashed into Malamar, shoving it away from Liana.

“GET HIM!” The large thug shouted.

“MALA MALAMAMAAAR! MALAMA MAR!” GET THAT EEVEE! GET THE KILLER!

Liana darted back into the room she was hidden in, as she saw Luxio and Araquanid turn towards her.

Wesley held Midnight tight in his arm, despite his biting and clawing, glaring at the Malamar. He felt heat bellow from the side, and looked at Delphox, preparing a second Mystical Fire Attack.

Wesley jumped back, landing painfully on his back, clutching Midnight. He heard the sound of Pokemon being sent out, and turned. “Scrafty! Headbutt!”

The thug’s Scrafty glared at Wesley, and charged at him. Wesley turned to protect Midnight. A searing pain roared through his back as the Scrafty Headbutted him. He shouted in pain. “IT’S ME MIDNIGHT! COME ON, SNAP OUT OF IT!”

“SCRAFTY! BRICK BREAK!”

Liana lept onto a chair, and jumped onto the desk her cage was set on. A loud crashing sound caused Liana to jump and turn around. Luxio glared at Liana, and Araquanid climbed into the room behind it.

“Bwee! Bweevee!” Luxio! Araquanid!

They didn’t respond. “Malamar mala mar… Malamar.” It’s a wild Eevee… Let’s use it to train.

Liana spotted Wesley’s bag, and his Pokeballs. She leapt over to it, and began pawing the Pokeballs into the bag. She heard the crackling sound of Luxio cloaking itself in electricity, and Liana grabbed the bag in her mouth, and jumped off as Luxio crashed into the desk.

Liana darted away, but came to a screeching halt as one of Araquanid’s legs cut her off. “Bweevee!” Araquanid!

Araquanid raised its leg, and pointed it at her. “Bwe-ee…” P-Please…

A blue aura emerged from the tip of its leg, and Liana dived, avoiding the stream of bubbles that crashed behind her. She stared timidly at her friends, and ran as Luxio jumped at her, jaw wide and fangs bared.

Liana had a flashback… She had seen this before. She was at a lower level then, sniffing at a wild Razz Berry bush. Suddenly, Luxio lept at her out of nowhere, its jaw wide and white fangs ready to chomp down upon her. Liana jumped and braced herself. “Bwee! Vee… Vee?” No! Please… Huh?

Luxio simply patted Liana’s head with his paw. “Luxi!” Got ya!

Liana’s cheeks flushed, and she began shouting at him, as Luxio began laughing hysterically.

Liana was lifted up, and she found herself in Luxio’s Crunch attack. Luxio’s fangs crushed down, and Liana gritted her teeth in pain. As Luxio’s jaw pressed harder against her skin, she managed to set her paw firmly on Luxio’s forehead.

“Bwee… Vee…”

Got… ya...

Something flashed in Luxio’s eyes. They went from fierce, to stunned. Luxio dropped Liana, looking horrified. “BWEE BWEE!” LOOK OUT!

Luxio turned, and was bashed away by Araquanid. Liana ran to Luxio, who was gritting his teeth, glaring up at Araquanid.

“Malamar, Malama” Finish it, Luxio.

Luxio glared at Malamar with the most intimidating look that Liana had ever seen, even compared to moments before, Luxio growled. Liana was sure he had remembered everything that happened. “Lux! Luxio!” Go! Get to Wes!

Luxio stood up and cloaked itself in Electricity again. Malamar looked incredulous as Liana nodded, and darted away.

Wesley ran down a hallway, still bearing the fierce Eevee. Scrafty was the closest to Wesley. Behind him, were the three thugs and Delphox. Wesley’s foot yanked on the spot, as though he had tripped over a thick root. He turned midair, and fell on his side, protecting Midnight. He looked around, and saw his foot ensnared in Psychic energy, as the thugs approached with their pokemon, and his own

“Delphox! Snap out of it!” Wesley pleaded.

Delphox stepped closer, pointing its wand at Wesley’s foot. “Finish the boy!”

Delphox appeared to obey the largest thug, and flung three fireballs at Wesley. He braced himself and turned, clutching Midnight, who was biting at his cheek.

The flames consumed him, and heat flared around his body in three different waves. Wesley screamed and swore in agony as the flames washed across his back. He panted, but an idea appeared in his head.

“Good going, Delphox. Just… Just try not to overexert yourself! It’s no good if you tire yourself out!”

Delphox stopped behind the thugs, without their noticing. “Scrafty! Headbutt!”

Wesley felt his foot release, but the pokemon was already right above him. Suddenly, a Mystical Fire consumed Scrafty, sending it flying over Wesley.

The thugs turned around. Delphox’s wand was poised over their heads, Delphox glared at them, and swung its wand downwards in a half-circle, sending fire spiraling down on the thugs.

“Delphox!” Wesley cried happily, “You’re ba-OW!”

Midnight had bitten his ear. Delphox ran to his trainer and looked at Midnight, still in a trance.

Delphox looked at Wesley, concerned. A crash boomed from behind them. Wesley and Delphox spun on the spot, and saw Rhydon in the hallway. Wesley and Delphox looked at each other, and Delphox nodded at Wesley. Wesley returned his Pokemon’s nod curtly with understanding. He turned and ran down the hall, trusting Delphox to hold its own, as it brandished its wand.

Liana followed Wesley’s scent as best she could. She dragged Wesley’s backpack up the stairs, and darted down the hallway. Ahead, she saw Delphox fighting all of the thugs at once. Rhydon was lifted into the air, and thrown down the hall. Liana dived to avoid it, and nearly slipped off the balcony. She gripped onto one of the beams on the guard rail as though her life depended on it.

Suddenly, her body felt weightless. She let go of the railing, and floated around and above the guard rail onto the floor. Delphox grinned at Liana. Delphox’s eyes darted back up, and Liana glanced to see Malamar land at the top of the stairs again.

“Malamar, Hypnosis!”

Malamar glared, the yellow light from the spots on its body shined brightly once again, but Liana and Delphox both looked away.

“Night Slash!”

Malamar swooped to Delphox, and its tentacles became cloaked in dark energy. It slashed Delphox and sent it flying backwards. Delphox grunted, kneeling in pain and gritting his teeth, but he stood back up. Without looking at Liana, he said, “Delph Pho! Delphox phox!” Get going! He’s up ahead.

Liana nodded, and took off. Behind her, the sounds of battle raged on. She eventually arrived in what appeared to be the lobby of the house. Wesley’s blood spotted the floor, making a trail to the door. Liana ran as fast as she could, seeing Wesley’s silhouette.

Finally, they would be free. All Liana needed to do was deliver the Pokeballs to Wesley and--

WHAM

Liana flew across the room, and slammed into the wall opposite of the door. Her whole body seethed with pain, and she could feel her conscience starting to fade. She shook, her head bobbing as she squinted towards the door again. The sky was golden, and the Sun’s light seemed to cause Malamar’s menacing figure to be silhouetted in the doorframe.

Malamar’s silhouette floated closer to Liana, and slowly, its colors reemerged out of the silhouette. It glared down at Liana. “Mala mala mar… Mar mala malamar… Mala ma mala ma malamar?!”

So much trouble… over some little Eevee… How did you break out of my hypnosis?!

Liana sat on the ground, breathing heavily. It was all she could do. Malamar chuckled. “Malmar ma malam mala malamar!” I am going to make sure you never see your trainer again!

Malamar chuckled as it poised itself. Liana looked away, trying to avoid looking at the imminent flash of hypnotic light. “MAR!?”

Liana looked up. Midnight was biting Malamar’s arm, and Wesley grabbed its body, dragging it away from Liana. Wesley spun it around, and threw Malamar onto the ground. Malamar tried to get up, but Midnight darted at it, and used Quick Attack, hitting it directly in the gut.

Malamar groaned as its wind was knocked out of it, and collapsed. Wesley exhaled a sharp, exhausted breath. He turned to Liana and asked, “Are you okay?”

Liana stood up, and limped over to Wesley. She licked his face, and he picked her up, whispering, “I’m sorry. I am so, so sorry…” Luxio and Delphox ran into the room. Araquanid limped in behind them, carrying Trapinch on its back.

Wesley stared at all his pokemon, smiling at each and every one of them. He grabbed his bag off the ground, and Delphox gathered all their pokeballs with Psychic. “Let’s get out of here, everyone.”

They all stepped out into the light, and strode fifteen feet from the house before three voices spoke in perfect unison, “I won’t let you get away.”

The three thugs strode out of the house, walking in perfect sync with each other. Their eyes were now blank and empty. Malamar rose behind them. They all spoke once again, in perfect sync.

“After all the trouble you have given me, I am going to make you all my slaves for the rest of your worthless lives, like these three idiots and their pokemon! I am going to use you to find my trainer. And you will never be free again.”

Wesley, and all his pokemon glared at the Malamar. Liana limped forward. “Liana...” Wesley muttered, reaching for the small eevee.

“Bwee… Vee… Bweevee eevee espe!” I… Will… Never let you do that!

Wesley’s eyes widened. Liana’s body began to glow with bright light, and she began to grow as she walked forward. Her ears became larger, and her tail became slim and long, splitting into two towards the tip.

Midnight stepped forward as well.

“Bwee vee vee umbre!” I’m going to make you pay!

Midnight started to glow as well, as shade enveloped the area. Wesley turned to the sun, which had just vanished beneath the surface. The sky was orange, and the clouds were indigo.

Midnight grew in height as well, and his ears became rounder, and his tail stretched out in length, without losing much of its fluff. Malamar looked furious, and swooped at the two evolving pokemon. The light erupted off of them at the same time, and an Espeon and an Umbreon stood in front of Wesley.

“Liana, Midnight! Get ready! LET’S FINISH THIS!!!”

Malamar hovered higher into the air as Wesley, Liana and Midnight poised themselves. Suddenly, Malamar swooped down at them, both of its arm-like tentacles radiating dark, malicious energy. The moment Malamar moved, Wesley shouted, “Both of you, use Quick Attack!”

Liana and Midnight glew faintly white, and they both darted at Malamar with immense speed. Liana was slightly faster, and she hit Malamar first, causing it to flip midair. As Liana bounced backwards, Midnight jumped through the air, above Malamar. He then darted downwards, slamming into Malamar and crashing it into the ground. Mamamar gasped, then glared at Midnight. It whipped its tentacles around, and grabbed him.

“Midnight, use Bite!”

Midnight struggled in the tentacles a little, before slamming his jaw shut on them. Malamar screamed in pain as it dropped the newly-evolved Umbreon.

“Liana, use Swift!”

Liana’s new forked tail began to glow white, and she jumped up, flipping around and whipping her tail. A flurry of stars appeared from the energy, and were flung at Malamar. Other stars that missed Malamar hit the ground with enough force to send small chunks of earth and puffs of dust into the air. All of the impacts from the stars caused a cloud of dust to envelope Malamar.

Wesley, Liana, and Midnight, as well as the rest of Wesley’s party, glared into the dust- anxiously awaiting to see if Malamar would emerge again.

“I’m not… done yet…”

Wesley’s team all turned to the criminals as they all spoke in unison. They stood completely still, except for the large thug, who reached into his jacket and threw a pokeball out. Smeargle emerged, it’s eyes devoid of any semblance of emotion. “Use… Follow Me.”

Everyone realized what was about to happen. All their eyes locked onto the Smeargle- despite their judgement screaming at them to do anything but that. Liana felt her heart thud painfully in a massive panic attack. A breeze of air brushed against her back, and curled around her neck. And as Malamar burst out of the cloud of lingering dust and swerved in front of Smeargle, Liana knew exactly what she needed to do.

Liana ran at Malamar, as fast as she could.

“LIANA!”

The rest of Wesley’s pokemon gave panicked yelps as Liana ran. Liana glared straight into Malamar’s eyes. “MALAMAR! MALA!” IT’S USELESS! SUBMIT!

The hypnotic yellow light erupted from Malamar. Liana scowled at the cackling Malamar. Suddenly, a magnificent sheen coated Liana’s fur. Malamar’s eyes widened, as the hypnotic yellow light seemed to reflect off of Liana, and into Malamar’s own eyes. Malamar gawked in fear and confusion, as its eyes slowly lost their color. The Hypnosis attack stopped. Both pokemon collapsed onto the ground. “LIANA! LIANA, ARE YOU OKAY?!”

Wesley ran up to his Espeon, and grabbed her. Liana turned her head to Wesley and smiled, “Espe... Esp…” She licked his cheek, and nuzzled her head into Wesley’s chest. Wesley felt the new jewel on her forehead press into his chest, he was unfamiliar with the sensation. He stroked her back, and it was no longer long and fluffy as an eevee normally was. The new feeling caught him off guard, but it was soft, and velvety, and perfect for him. But perfect or not- he was just glad she was okay.

The rest of the team walked up to them as well. Midnight, stared carefully up at Wesley, Luxio sat against Wesley and hugged him with his paw, Delphox knelt down next to Wesley and stared at him comfortingly. Trapinch joined too, laying its head against Wesley’s leg.

After a small moment of peace, reunion, and victory, Liana turned to Malamar, who had remained still, with the same horrified, wide-eyed expression on its face.

“Espeon!”

Release them!

Malamar’s beak closed, and it turned around, obeying Liana’s command in the same mindless manner its victims obeyed it. “Mala… mar.”

Wake… up.

The thugs all blinked at the same time. “Wha… What happened?” The bulkiest one groaned, gripping his head as though he had a headache. “Who… Who are you people? Where-- WHERE’S MY HAIR!?”

“Eevee? Where’s my Eevee? Wait, where am I?”

“Ugh… What the? What’s going on?”

Wesley sighed. “Well. What now?”

…Five Years Later…

Liana sat with another stranger’s Espeon. “Esp. Es-pe-on?” So. That’s your trainer?

“Pi,” Yes, Liana answered. The other Espeon looked wryly at her. “You know, us Espeon are supposed to be loyal to people who are worthy. I just don’t see it in him”

Liana shot a stern look to the other Espeon.

“It’s purely subjective,” the male Espeon said in an ‘I’m just saying’ sort of manner, “He acts so childishly. So recklessly. I just can’t see it.”

“Uh-huh. And what exactly makes your trainer so worthy?”

“She is righteous, and she is proud! Your trainer is selfish and stubborn!”

Liana rolled her eyes, and the other Espeon scoffed, “Disgraceful. You should know better.”

“If you were raised to be so judgmental, then maybe your trainer isn’t as righteous of a human as you make her up to be.”

The other Espeon looked incredibly offended. “Excuse me!? I’ll have you know that--”

“It’s purely subjective,” Liana repeated sassily, staring back at her trainer, who ran out onto the battlefield and grabbed his Luxray in a big hug. Liana stretched and added, “You have no idea how much we’ve been through,” She looked back up at her trainer with adoration, “It doesn’t matter if he’s a worthy person as a whole. He’s worthy to me.”

Liana leapt off the bench, and trotted over to her trainer. “Hey Liana! Ready to take off?”

“Esp!”

Liana happily nuzzled Wesley’s leg. Luxray bounded over to them, and Wesley smiled at him. He took out Luxray’s Luxury Ball, and sent it back. Liana and Wesley stared at each other once again, and nodded as they walked off of the battlefield.

“Thank you for the battle!” Wesley called, to which the other trainer said, “Whatever,” and walked over to her Espeon.

As they walked, Liana looked out to the ocean, watching the distant sun shine off the distant waves. “Hey, Liana. I got some marshmallows. It’s been a while since we roasted Marshmallows, hasn’t it?”

“Espe! Espeon!”

“Heh. I thought you’d like that.”

~fin
 
Last edited:

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
And now, part 2 of my review of these stories.

While these are all standalone oneshots, I certainly see the context between them. Interesting that this one takes place before the other one, since a lot of my wants for the missing context in the first one seem to be found in this one. I do actually question why the order is like this, then, but perhaps I'll find out as I read more of this one.

Some passages near the beginning have questionable word choice. For what seems to be more slice of life or a relaxed scene, there are terms like "screams of pain" or "impale" instead of simpler, casual words like jab or poke, or sizzle and pop. The word choice was a little awkward there, and I don't know if that's the intended or desired effect for this portion of the story, before things start kicking off.

Not sure who the antagonist figure here is, but it's related to a greater context, I figure. That's a pretty powerful Hypnosis to be able to work on all Pokemon at once and without even failing! Gotta admit, it's a bit hard to work with something that powerful if it can be so easy to do, seems kind of overpowered. Even after the big reveal at the end of this part, it seems a little too strong for a single mundane Pokemon to really be able to do, and I had to suspend by disbelief a little hard while going through this section.

One thing worth noting after initially getting kidnapped--if this is chronologically the first in the trio as I suspect--is that Wesley seems a little too casual in front of them when he wakes up, considering everything else that we've seen of him so far. I wasn't really sure where to place his personality after that exchange, especially with how young he is, or maybe it's the previous one shot related to him that is coloring things.

'You're a criminal, act like one' is a little bit of a twirling mustache villain moment. Maybe a bit on the nose, no idea if people would actually say that one way or another.

The clash at the end had some expected outcomes, but in a good way. It was nice that the overpowered Hypnosis being used here actually got some counters with some basic snap-outs. I do wonder, though, how this Hypnosis worked if some could be snapped out of it, while others seemed to be under permanent control with little issue. I don't really know if willpower alone would be enough for that, at least to that dramatic a shift in power.

Still, of the three, I'd definitely argue that this had the most tension, in a good way, against a very powerful foe! I think, in terms of standalone pieces, this was the strongest one. Onto the third!
 
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