Pokémon Charitable Home

[EonFive]

Prologue

The Audino

The young Audino watched as her mother tended to the poisoned Petilil. Sometimes the Venipede line would try to feed off the poor grass types, leading to the interactions making the grass types sick. She joined her mom in creating a soothing bell, clearing the status effect.

As her mom wrapped the damaged leaves of the Petilil, a faint noise alerted the Audinos to trainers. They moved the Petilil into the bushes, hiding as a group of trainers, all in white and gray outfits emerged.

“Are you sure this is a good place?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty secluded and the trainers won’t go looking here.”

The nervous Audino watched as they tossed several Pokeballs into the vegetation before trotting away. Her mom looked serious at the sight and as they checked, they found several Pokemon they didn’t recognize. A couple of brown striped, tired looking Pokemon that with some help, hung onto trees lazily. A couple round blue Pokemon with tails that ended in spheres of the same color.

Two different bugs that reminded her of the Venipede line, one green with a yellow belly and circles on their body and another orange with a single toxic spike on each side of its body. And finally a ton of grass types, these ones different from the Petilil and Cottonee lines they were familiar with.

These were similar to the mushrooms that grew in the shade, producing spores as they huddled, afraid of being harmed. One had a mark on the top of their head that reminded the curious Audino of the balls they came out of. The other was pink, similar to her, with green spots and a rather stressed frown.

As the Pokemon that were left behind stared at the unsure Audino and her mother, the worried Audino watched her mom’s smile disappear. She had a sinking feeling that things were going to change.

–

As she grew up, she watched as the Pidove line that once flew around disappeared, frightened by the spores the newcomers produced. Many Pokemon became sick, and some of the newcomers were unable to hunt, not knowing how to survive.

Her mom, alongside the other Audino, worked hard to tend to the newcomers, but as the disease spread, it began to hit the Audino as well. The heartbroken Audino tended to her mom desperately as she grew weaker, but it was in vain. She felt a wave of resentment at the trainers that left these Pokemon here to suffer, to perish, to cause so much harm to her home.

Without hesitation, she left. As she travelled, she saw other signs of destruction, Pokemon abandoned by the same uniformed trainers that ruined her home. She learned much about them from the abandoned Pokemon.

Some were stolen from their trainers, some were released by choice. They claimed their actions were guided by a trainer who could speak to Pokemon, who acted in the best interest of them. If that was the case… then what cruelty did trainers put Pokemon through for it to be kinder to leave them in danger?

She did her best to help the Audino in each area, but she felt her anger grow as time passed. Soon, she found herself in a location with a large building, but she simply avoided the trainers, not wanting to deal with them.

She helped the Pokemon called Houndour, helping them form a pack and watching as they worked to keep trainers far from the depths of the surrounding forest. She appreciated them, and they appreciated her. Some of those uniformed trainers returned this time trying to recapture the abandoned Pokemon but now those Pokemon had numbers and quickly drove them off.

She ignored them, focusing on growing berries and avoiding the other Audino. While many of them would go out and help the trainers on the route with injured Pokemon, she knew what trainers were capable of. And she wouldn’t give them a chance to hurt her. She had become the Bitter Audino.

–

“A trainer fell out of the sky,”a Houndour yapped excitedly at the Bitter Audino’s den.

The Bitter Audino glanced at her herbal stash worriedly, “Anyone hurt?”

Houndour beamed, “Just the trainer!”

“A good lesson for them,” The Bitter Audino noted, “I'm sure they'll remember to stay far from here.”

“They didn't leave.”

“What?!”

The Houndour shuffled, “That's why the leader sent me. He said to tell you they never left and are still there. It looks bad.”

The Bitter Audino sighed and grabbed at her Rawst Berry paste, “Take me to them.”

–

The Bitter Audino stared at the trainer, who was curled up in a tight ball, aside from the occasional whimper, it was hard to tell they were alive.

“They normally run,” the Houndoom seemed horrified, “Why didn't she run?”

“Right now we need to focus,” The Bitter Audino ordered, coming up with a plan, “When I travelled through Lostlorn Forest, they hunted for months for a missing trainer and when she was found deceased with wounds inflicted by a Zoroark…”

The Houndoom leader tensed up, “You don't think…”

The Bitter Audino shook her head as she checked the vitals, “We're going to try to prevent this. Her bones aren't broken, she must have been in the trees rather than flying.”

“Look up.”

The Bitter Audino looked up and stared. The broken branches formed a perfect path to the sky. She stared at the trainer in disbelief.

“It's strange,” the Houndoom interrupted her thoughts, “She doesn't smell of any flying Pokemon.”

“The scent was probably burned off,” The Bitter Audino began to work on applying paste and using Heal Pulse, “We need a way to move her, could you get…”

She flinched back as the human stirred, not prepared. They looked at her and she stared, seeing their eyes clouded with pain.

“Where…” They tried to speak, but tears formed.

“You fell from-” The Bitter Audino started to explain, before realizing how pointless it was, and going back to talking to the Houndoom, “Hopefully she'll be easier to move awake.”

“Move?”

The Bitter Audino froze at that. A single memory formed as she stared at the trainer. The human that ordered the release of so many Pokemon could speak to them.

“Yes, you need medical attention.” The Bitter Audino stared at the Houndoom, who looked equally shocked, “You have nasty burns.”

They didn't reply but nodded, trying to sit up. The Houndour and Houndoom tensed but The Bitter Audino helped her to her feet. A wave of sympathy, followed by confusion filled her. They were far too young to be that trainer.

As she led them away, she tried to ask questions but they were in too much pain to respond. Soon they were out of the forest and she helped them sit down, ducking out of sight of the building. As she prepared to leave, they spoke and she froze.

“Please don't leave,” the trainer sounded genuinely distressed. A wave of feelings that confused The Bitter Audino filled her as she paused, and found herself sitting with the trainer.

As the rescue humans arrived, the confused, apprehensive, Audino followed, unsure of why she did this. After all, bonds with trainers never ended well.

 

[EonFive]

Chapter 1

Charity

Everything burned. That’s all Charity could think about. She was in agony as she woke up, tears streaming down her face as she looked at her surroundings, lying in a bed in a large white room.

“Hospitial,” Charity remembered the name as she stared at the pink creature sitting on the small chair next to her in bewilderment, unable to recognize it. She tried to remember anything as the creature looked at her, but aside from her name, nothing more came to mind.

“Oh, you woke up.” the creature spoke, sounding a bit uncomfortable, “I…”

A man came in, and Charity stared at him, hopeful for answers. She felt a wave of confusion as he spoke, his words sounding alien to her. He stopped, staring at her.

“I… I don’t understand!” Charity cried out, causing the man to start. He said something quietly to himself as he left the room, leaving Charity and the creature alone.

“He’ll be right back,” the pink creature tilted their head thoughtfully, “You can’t understand him and he can’t understand you. Yet you can understand me…”

“Do… do you have a name?” Charity tried to speak to them, hoping to distract herself. Her body ached, “Why am I here?”

“I don’t have a name, but you can call me Audino,” Audino responded curtly, “And you fell into a pack of Houndour and Houndoom. Scared them pretty badly, and got some nasty burns.”

“Oh.” Charity thought for a bit, “My name is Charity. Maybe we can come up with a name for you?”

“Have any in mind?”

Charity thought for a moment, “Audrey?”

Audino snorted, “Because of the Aud? Pass.”

Charity, forgetting her burns, tried to think of names. Not many came to mind as she mused. She felt a bit panicked, “I don’t remember any other ones.”

“That’s fine,” Audino pulled back the blanket and Charity stared at the raw, reddened skin, peeling away in spots, “They got you good.”

Charity gave a slight gasp as Audino’s paws shimmered with a gold and pink light, soothing the burns. She felt herself beginning to relax, the burning pain dulling as she closed her eyes. With that she nodded off once again.

Clark

One year ago

Clark stared at the black screen of the phone excitedly. Soon that would be his home and life. Helping trainers keep organized and on top of things, with the added bonus of being cared for.

“I’ll be able to see all sorts of Pokemon and learn all about them,” he mused excitedly, “I can’t wait!”

As he buzzed around, watching trainers choose phones and Rotoms, he wondered what sort of trainer would take him in.

–

It had been a week since the release and Clark was still waiting on someone to choose him. A lot of trainers, he noted, already had Rotoms.

“It’s good to see plenty of Rotoms getting love,” he pondered, “Though I want a chance to help!”

As the store closed and he was yet again let behind, he decided if he wasn’t going to be chosen, he could at least take some time to practice his phone working skills. No use in getting rusty. As he darted into his phone to power it on, he felt a wave of pride. Followed by confusion.

“Is that… a Porygon?” he stared at the screen as a small round pixelated feline with orbs serving as the mane appeared, “There’s no way… right?”

Whatever they were, they seemed frightened at the sudden activation of the phone, so he quickly sent a message to them, reassuring them he was just testing the phone.

“What’s your name and are you a Porygon?” Clark typed as they calmed down, “I’ve seen a few during my internet training days but most were… more birdlike.”

“Processing…” the stranger said, “Name: B3T4; Species: Porygon2.0-Beta.”

Clark had no idea what any of that meant, but he supposed it didn’t matter, “Why are you on my phone? I don’t mind, but Porygon tend to either run their own phones or help with online code, right?”

“Affirmative,” B3T4 agreed, “B3T4 is… different, does not wish to be a normal Porygon. Code is damaged due to incompatibility.”

“Well…” Clark thought for a moment. “I can help with that, I suppose. I’m waiting for a trainer and well… it’s part of my job to take care of this phone. We can make an app to hide you in for now and work from there, on fixing your incompatibility. Just let me do some research on the Safarizone, okay?”

Clark opened the browser and began to work on googling what to do. He may not have been trained to code, but he was willing to learn to help out. Besides, the Porygon was respectful, and hadn’t made a mess. He remembered the situation in his training with a PorygonZ darkly, the phone being unusable after that.

“As long as they’re respectful, things will be okay,” Clark thought.

–

And things went swimmingly. While phones were purchased, his phone went untouched. By day he watched and waited to see if anyone would choose it, by night, he took time to help B3T4 and chat with them.

Clark learned so much from B3T4, about the early days of the internet. He had run away from Silph Corporation due to backlash at his model and design. As research continued, B3T4 suggested DucklettDucklettGo as Clark’s default search engine. It had features to keep the research more private, which would be important once a trainer came into play.

“I’m sure it’ll happen any day now.” Clark mused as the Christmas rushes arrived, buying gifts for their kids, “Surely someone will want a new Rotom and phone model.”

But it didn’t happen. Clark soon found more months had passed and he went from the newest model to the discounted model. He heard the shopkeeper talking about returning him to the factory. As he began to mentally prepare himself for failure, someone showed up.

They were dressed so formally, they must have recently gotten out of work. He watched them, as they walked past the newer models to stare at him.

“Do you think you’d be able to help someone who knows nothing of this world,” they questioned.

Clark had never had someone ask him a direct question, and he wondered how someone wouldn’t know anything. He pondered the question, before nodding. They smiled as they grabbed his phone and went up to the checkout. Clark felt relief at that. He was finally going home.

The man spoke to Clark of a hurt child, one that couldn’t speak to him, one that needed a way to talk. He noted the Audino they had found with the child, one that was insistent on coming with, seemed capable of understanding her based on her reaction to what the girl had said.

Clark listened to every word without interrupting, taking notes as he listened. He noted the girl had not given her name, was burned by territorial Houndoom, and assessed she was probably scared and confused. When they arrived at the room, they found the child asleep. Gently, the man placed Clark down on the bedside, causing the Audino to shoot them a curious look.

“This Rotom agreed to try to help,” the man’s words cause a wave of pride in Clark, “He’s been very diligent.”

As he left, Clark decided to talk to B3T4 about making his real form similar to a plush to comfort the child. B3T4 assessed the idea before agreeing to it, telling him that making his physical form a plush should prevent people from noticing him as much. With his affirmation, Clark set to work.

 

[EonFive]

Chapter 2

Charity

Charity woke up to see a small, familiar stuffed animal (a new word that popped in her head at the sight of it) on the bedside table. Its bright yellow fur and orange mane made her smile, though seeing only two back legs gave her a pause.

“A lion,” she remembered the name as she carefully lifted it up, “It’s a strange lion.”

She swore she saw it move slightly, but it was definitely her imagination. She looked around for Audino, but they were not in the room. After a bit, Charity hugged them tightly, feeling a bit safer before seeing an orange rectangle that appeared to have a face. The eyes were closed. She studied it carefully, not noticing Audino reentering the room.

“They were gifts,” Audino startled Charity, “The stuffed Pokemon showed up after the Rotom was dropped off. Don’t know what it’s supposed to be.”

Charity furrowed her brow, “Pokemon…”

A headache formed as she remembered someone telling her Pokemon was demonic, a distraction from God. Her parents. If she fell, where were her parents?

Audino cleared her throat, “Uh, Rotom, the human is awake.”

Charity opened her mouth to tell Audino they could call her Charity, but as the rectangle’s eyes opened and they floated, she felt too shocked to speak.

“Hiya! I’m Clark!” Clark dipped slightly at her, “I’m glad you like Beta! He’s a sweetheart!”

Charity looked at the stuffed Pokemon, fully expecting it to come to life, but they remained motionless. She wordlessly glanced up at Clark, not sure what to say.

“He’s a bit shy,” Clark joked, “I’m sure he’ll warm up to you with time! Anyways, since you’re going to be my main user, I wanna get introduced to you. What’s your name? Favorite color? Do you have a preferred theme? Light or dark mode?”

Charity’s head swam at the questions. She hesitantly gave her name and tried to think of her favorite color. What was it? Her eyes landed on Audino.

“Pink. I like pink.”

“Great! You wanna choose a theme? Here’s a list of pink themes!”

Charity stared at the screen as different images formed. She didn’t know what to do. Clark seemed to notice.

“Oh, you can touch the screen, don’t worry! You can just slide around and if you see one that screams, ‘Charity’ you can pick it!”

Charity hesitantly poked the screen, feeling a bit worried that she might hurt Clark. He didn’t react, so she carefully slid her finger, watching the images move as she did. She stared, feeling a bit overwhelmed at all the choices.

She paused at a yellow and pink one. Despite being predominantly yellow, the pink petals and small red berries felt right. She clicked it.

“Ah, cherry berry,” Clark seemed delighted, “I’ll also see if I can get the case at a discount. It’s a nice theme!”

Charity wanted to ask why he called them that, but she remembered the dilemma with Audino.

“Can you help me pick a name for Audino?”

“You don’t need to do that,” Audino responded, “I’ll be leaving soon enough. I’m here to make sure you recover.”

Charity opened her mouth to ask what she meant, but just then someone cleared their throat. She looked over to see the guy from yesterday. Again he spoke, the words sounding like noise to her.

“He’s asking if you’re okay,” Clark spoke.

Charity looked at her burns. Was she okay? They still burned a lot, though the pain was certainly less severe than yesterday.

“I think so. The burns still hurt, but not as bad.”

Clark chirped sympathetically before replying to the man. She noted the noises he made sounded different than his normal speech, less excited and eager and more monotone.

The man’s response was very long. She stared at him, watching his lips move as she wished she knew what he was saying. She felt a bit anxious as he finally stopped speaking.

“First of all, he wanted to introduce himself,” Clark beamed, looking excited, “His name is Edric. He wanted me to explain what happened. You fell here! From a different time, a different universe! He was asking if you remembered anything from before you fell here. I told him your name already, but is there anything else you remember?”

Charity let that sink in, “I fell?”

“Yeah,” Clark hesitated, “I suppose it would be confusing especially if you forgot a lot. But let’s just say there’s sometimes holes that open up like tunnels through different universes and times. You fell through one and now you’re here!”

“This is a lion in my world, but they have four legs.” Charity held up Beta as she spoke, feeling further lost at Clark’s explanation, but not wanting to ask more questions, “And cherry berries are just called cherries. They aren’t berries, they’re fruit. They look like berries, but they’re not.”

“Oh!” Clark laughed, “I wasn’t talking about cherries! I was talking about cheri berries! It’s spelled C-H-E-R-I! Unlike the tart but sweet cherry, cheri berries are spicy! Do you have any more questions or should I tell Edric what you said?”

“I think I’m okay.”

Charity thought everything over as Clark responded to Edric. She had never heard of cheri berries. She had never heard of Audino either. She looked at Beta, the lion plushie. She did remember them. She had never seen one in person, just in a book at…

“School,” she tried to focus on the memories further, but nothing further came to mind.

“Edric says once you’re more stable they’re going to be moving you,” Clark’s voice cut through her thoughts, “You’re going to Alola, specifically the Aether House. Alola has a lot more precautions in place, it’s the more common place for people to fall.

“There’s also a few psychic types that’ll be helping you, a Malamar and Beeheyem, they’re good at looking into minds and might be able to pull a few memories up! Oh, and you’re getting a Lucario language therapist, a few Pokemon can talk, so he’s gonna try to help you!”

Charity’s mind spun at all that. Audino hesitated.

“It sounds like everything is figured out,” she murmured.

“Do… Do you wanna leave?”

Audino looked sad, “I don’t.”

“They offered you a Pokeball, so you can come with!” Clark pointed out. Charity didn’t remember him mentioning that.

“Out of the question. It would be irresponsible for me to leave. I look after the Houndour and Houndoom.”

“It’s Unova,” Clark scoffed, “As much as they need you, another Audino will help them. What’s stopping you from coming along?”

Audino glared at Clark, before storming out. Charity watched.

“It must be pretty important to her,” Charity said quietly.

Clark looked a bit embarrassed, “I owe her an apology. I got carried away. I can understand the importance of a job.”

Clark left, leaving Charity alone with the plushie. She hugged him tightly as she felt a wave of sadness and worry.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t understand what Clark was saying, but I know I’m not home anymore. That nothing is familiar anymore. Even if you are a stuffed Pokemon, you look the most like something from home. Thank you.”

Charity swore he looked at her, but she didn’t care. If he was real or fake, he was the closest thing to home. As she hugged him tightly, she closed her eyes.

Clark

“I apologize,” Clark spoke to the Audino, who seemed adamant on walking away, “That was incredibly tactless, disrespectful to your job, and hurtful on my part to say. I’m sure the Houndoom will miss you if you leave. If you don’t want to stay with Charity…”

“That’s the problem,” the Audino cut him off, “I do want to stay with Charity.”

Clark felt confused, “Why is that a problem?”

“Have you ever lived in the wild?”

“No.”

Audino sighed, “That’s why you don’t get it. The wild, it’s changed over the years. When I was a child… a lot of Pokemon showed up. Pokemon that didn’t belong. It hurt a lot of people. And it was because people carelessly released and abandoned their supposed friends.”

Clark processed that information, “Team Plasma.”

“What?”

“Team Plasma stole and mass released Pokemon. They also convinced trainers that the bonds they shared weren’t real and they were hurting Pokemon by keeping them captive. It led to a lot of trainers giving up their Pokemon thinking it was the right thing to do. That was 15 years ago.”

“What difference does that make?”

“Have you ever thought you were doing the right thing only to discover you were wrong? People have been trying to fix the damage that was done for years. Sadly it’s not that simple, but… sometimes people mess up. Team Plasma reformed and while they still fight for Pokemon rights, they also do a ton of environmental cleanup.”

Audino just stared at Clark, who felt a pang of regret. He probably pushed too hard.

“Again, I’m really sorry for my harsh words!” Clark quickly left, returning to the room where Charity and B3T4 cuddled. He smiled, noticing how happy B3T4 looked. At the very least, Charity would have a Pokemon companion if the Audino chose to leave.