Starlight Aurate
Ad Jesum per Mariam | pfp by kintsugi
- Location
- Route 123
- Partners
-
Hi everyone! This is just a silly one-shot that I thought of one day and decided to write it. It's a simple man-and-his dog story, meant to be mostly comedic. It's a spin-off of my main fic, Drowning, but you can read this without having read Drowning. As long as you know that Team Magma commander Tabitha has a Mightyena, that's enough background info. I had the RSE character design for Tabitha in mind when I wrote this, but it doesn't make a huge difference if you think of the ORAS or manga design.
Also, for simplicity's sake, I wrote the Pokemon speech with typical dialogue tags. I realize it's not consistent with what I normally do, but I felt like it worked better for this one-shot.
Content warnings: singular mention of blood, singular use of a swear word.
Enjoy!
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“Who’s a good boy? Who’s the best boy?”
“Me! I’m the best boy!”
Mightyena wagged his tail as Tabitha patted his head and ran his fingers through Mightyena’s thick, matted fur. Tongue lolling out of his mouth, heart bursting with joy, Mightyena looked up at his trainer. Tabitha smiled—one of those special smiles that he reserved only for Mightyena. He never smiled at other humans. Other humans didn’t deserve his love the way Mightyena did.
And loving Tabitha was his favorite thing ever! This had been the best day ever—Mightyena did a training simulation in front of weak humans and their weak Pokemon, then he and Tabitha played, and then Tabitha did desk work, and then he and Mightyena got to cuddle! It was just like yesterday—only better.
“I have a meeting with Maxie right now, Mightyena. But I’ll be able to play after that. Sound good?”
Mightyena’s tail stopped wagging and hung low. He yipped—but he and Tabitha had been together for so long that, by now, his human understood him perfectly.
“I’m always sad when you have to work…”
“I know, I know. Do you want to come with me to meet Maxie?”
Mightyena huffed. “No thanks. I’ll go outside while you have human-talk.”
Tabitha smiled again. “Sounds good. I’ll see you later.”
The prospect of seeing his beloved trainer again soon made Mightyena just a little less sad.
++++++++++++++++++++
The sun warmed the dirt beneath Mightyena’s feet as he trotted up the path to the Team Magma base. The jungle of northern Hoenn echoed around him with the twitters of Taillow, the roars of Vigoroth, and the barks of Linoone. Before him, the Team Magma base loomed as a large, imposing, conspicuous figure amidst all the foliage.
Maybe the humans chose this place because it was so far away from other humans. Or maybe human eyesight and smell were so bad that even they couldn’t notice the base. But to Mightyena’s heightened senses, it was always easy to find—and that was good, because he always knew where to find Tabitha.
His bushy black tail wagged. It had been such a great day—and it was only going to get better! The sun was in the center of the sky, at its zenith. There was plenty of time have so much fun with Tabitha! Maybe they would go on a walk through the jungle, or if it was raining they’d play inside. Then they would snuggle and go to bed. What a great day!
The human doors for the base were closed like they always were. But Mightyena didn’t need doors. Spotting some shadows cast by large, broad-leafed plants, he slipped into them as if they were water.
The blackness of the shadowy world twisted and turned about Mightyena as he passed through them. But it didn’t bother him. It was something all Dark-types could do. He had always been able to pass through shadows, ever since he was a Poochyena. He even brought Tabitha with him! The shadows looked confusing, but Mightyena could navigate them easily, as if they were the outside world. Tabitha said he was getting the hang of it, too! And passing through shadows made it so much easier to battle against other Pokemon and sneak up on them.
Mightyena emerged from a shadow in one of the hallways near Tabitha’s office. Tabitha was so close! He couldn’t wait to play with him.
As Mightyena jaunted through the hall, he stopped dead in his tracks, his nose twitching. Something smelled burned—but it smelled alive. It smelled acrid, fleshy, like death and decay—but not quite dead. Only mostly dead.
Houndoom.
The only Houndoom in Team Magma belonged to Tabitha’s boss, Maxie. Was Maxie here?
Mightyena turned a few corners, and sure enough, Maxie’s pair of Houndoom stood in the hallway. Tabitha stood with them, talking to a human-grunt. The two Houndoom turned to see Mightyena walking towards them.
“What are you two doing here?” Mightyena asked while Tabitha kept talking to the human.
“Our human is away for the time being,” one of them said idly. He flicked his pointed tail as he turned to Tabitha. “So we’ll be staying with Tabitha.”
Mightyena started. He didn’t expect that.
“Oh… How long is your human away for?”
“Couldn’t hazard a guess,” the female Houndoom said. She exhaled deeply, a few embers puffing out of her mouth as she rolled her eyes. “Looks like we’ll have your human for the time being, at least until ours returns.”
Mightyena’s fur bristled at the words. “You can play with Tabitha for a bit, but he is not your human. He can’t even understand you!”
The female Houndoom sneered, her narrow eyes half-closing. “Maybe not yet. But he strikes me as a fast learner. Didn’t he learn how to communicate with those Pokemon in the clinic after spending only a day with them?”
Mightyena realized she meant the Breloom, Claydol and Golbat that helped out the human working in medicine and his heart twisted with jealousy. “Yes, he did—but that was after spending an entire day with them.”
“We’ll be here for quite a bit more time than that,” the male Houndoom said with an ugly smirk.
Mightyena’s ears twitched. “You can spend some time with Tabitha—maybe he’ll even understand you, eventually—but he will never be your human. He loves me.”
“Wh—oh, Mightyena!"
Mightyena looked up as Tabitha dismissed the grunt and noticed him for the first time. His human smiled and bent down to be eye-level with Mightyena. Now that he had filtered out the less familiar scent of Houndoom, he could smell the stale sweat and cooked rice scents that always seemed to linger around his human. The scent warmed Mightyena’s heart and his tail wagged uncontrollably back and forth.
“Hey, buddy, what have you been up to?”
“I was just outside. It’s a beautiful day! Are we going to go on a walk later? Or maybe hunt? Or maybe we can go to the river? Or how about we roll in the dirt outside?”
Tabitha smiled. “I never roll in the dirt; that’s always just you. And I can’t play with you today, I’ve got a lot of office work to do. By the way, Maxie is gone for a bit and he asked me to look after his Houndoom while he’s gone, so we’re going to be with them for a while. Okay?”
Mightyena looked back at the pair of Houndoom, who stared back at him smugly. Hearing Tabitha say out loud that he would have to share his time with them made it somehow more painful.
“It won’t be for too long, but I want you to make them feel at home. Maxie and his Pokemon deserve the best.”
Mightyena didn’t say anything as Tabitha stood up and headed down the hallway, the Houndoom trailing after him without sparing Mightyena a passing glance.
Sure, Mightyena would be nice to them. But he would not defer to them. Tabitha was still his, and his alone.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Mightyena’s head rested on his large paws as the sound of Tabitha’s scribbling pen reached his ears. He opened his eyes to see the two Houndoom lying near the far wall, apparently asleep.
Mightyena was sad. He really wanted to just play with Tabitha all day. But Tabitha had work. But he wanted head pats and scratches and snuggles. And Tabitha only needed one hand to write!
Getting up, Mightyena started to plod over to Tabitha—but the female Houndoom got up at almost the exact same time, walked over to Tabitha, and placed her head in the human’s lap.
Tabitha looked slightly surprised—but he still reached down and began petting the Houndoom’s head. In a few short moments, the head pats were mechanical, and Tabitha was once again completely engrossed in his desk work.
Mightyena froze, unable to tear his eyes away from the Houndoom. Her head was on Tabitha’s lap—and she was receiving head pats from him! Tabitha always gave Mightyena head pats—they weren’t meant for Houndoom!
Anger and jealousy boiled within Mightyena. His claws scratched against the metal floor as the muscles in his legs and feet tightened. His nostrils flared and the fur rose on his back like a ridge. It took all of his control to not let a growl escape from his throat.
The Houndoom opened an eye and smiled cruelly at Mightyena. “Upset? I just want some affection while my human is gone.”
Mightyena didn’t care how reasonable that was. He was still mad. He would not let someone else take Tabitha’s attention from him!
Plodding over, he placed his head on Tabitha’s other leg and looked up at the human with wide eyes.
“Wh—oh, hi, Mightyena,” Tabitha said idly. He traded off between patting the Houndoom’s head and patting Mightyena’s.
Even though receiving head pats from Tabitha was Mightyena’s most favorite thing ever, knowing that another Pokemon received them, too, made him angry. It just wasn’t right!
+++++++++++++++++++++
Mightyena went in the jungle by himself that evening. He poked around through the foliage, sniffing out wide varieties of different Pokemon. But he didn’t know what he was looking for, or why, or anything. He couldn’t stop thinking about seeing Houndoom with her head on Tabitha’s lap. How dare she try to get head pats from Tabitha!
After half-mindedly sniffing out a Zigzagoon, he caught the shrieking creature in his fangs.
“Oh, please, let me go!” the prey Pokemon cried. “I haven’t done anything! And you’re domestic—why would you eat me, anyway? Won’t your human feed you?”
Mightyena’s jaw clenched—Zigzagoon squealed. Mightyena opened his mouth to bark at the stupid Pokemon.
“Of course my human feeds me!” he shouted to Zigzagoon as he limped away, leaving a bloody trail behind him. “He loves me! I don’t need to feed on prey like you to survive!”
Disgruntled, Mightyena plodded back to the human base. It was almost sunset—time for him and Tabitha to cuddle!
Going back to Tabitha’s bedroom, Mightyena nosed the door open. He was so excited! Cuddles were his most favorite thing ever. The day had been rough, for sure, but nighttime cuddles were always worth it.
As Mightyena pushed the door open, his heart pounding with excitement, he stopped cold. His tail stopped wagging. He stared wide-eyed at the scene before him.
Tabitha sat on the ground. And they were with him. The two Houndoom pranced back-and-forth on the floor as Tabitha playfully tapped the sides of their heads (just like he always did with Mightyena). The two Houndoom scattered about, tongues lolling from their mouths. The male Houndoom glanced over and saw Mightyena for a split second before pouncing on Tabitha, sending the human sprawling flat on his back.
“Oof! You’re a big boy, aren’t you? Haha, let me up! Let me up, come on.”
The Houndoom got off Tabitha and the human sat up. His hair was disheveled and he was breathing hard—but he was smiling. His eyes lit up when he saw Mightyena standing there.
“Oh, hey Mightyena! You wanna come play with us?” The smile faded from Tabitha’s face as Mightyena made no response. “What’s the matter?”
“What… what are you doing?” Mightyena asked uncertainly.
“We’re just messing around,” Tabitha said as the female Houndoom slunk under his arm and he started patting her head. “Since Maxie is gone, I thought it’d be nice to give them a bit of attention.”
“Yeah, come on,” the male Houndoom said silkily. “Join us. It’s fun.”
Mightyena stiffened and directed his words to Tabitha. “I—I think I’ll just—I just wanted to sleep, actually. It’s been tiring today. But I’ll go somewhere quieter.”
Tabitha looked slightly surprised. “Oh, okay. If you’re sure.”
Mightyena didn’t spare him or either of the Houndoom another glance as he turned tail and left the room. He walked aimlessly through the hallway, his spirits low and his tail trailing on the ground. He didn’t know where to go, or what to do… Maybe he would go back at nighttime and cuddle with Tabitha then? After all, Tabitha’s bed was still Mightyena’s bed. Sure, he had that cushion on the side of the room that Tabitha got for him when they joined Team Magma, but he never actually used it.
But Tabitha actually played with Maxie’s Houndoom! How could he do that? Mightyena had never seen him do that with any other Pokemon!
“AGH what are you doing with tha—NO, DON’T STICK THAT THERE!”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but you need your medications!”
Mightyena perked up at the sound of shrieking Pokemon from a door down the hallway. Wasn’t that where the medical Pokemon and their human lived?
Nosing his way through the door, he saw a Claydol psychically levitating a syringe in front of a Cacnea who sat on a tall stool. The Cacnea’s eyes were wide with fright as she eyed the syringe with distaste. Her right arm was heavily lacerated and oozing sap. Behind her, a Golbat sat perched on a metal rail of one of the many beds dotting the room.
“I am NOT taking whatever is in there! Just patch up this arm!”
“That’s not how it works,” the Claydol moaned. “You need to take some of this first to truly heal your injury. And your racket seems to have caught the attention of others.”
Cacnea turned her head to look at Mightyena; Claydol’s vision allowed him to see in all directions at once, and so Mightyena was in clear view the entire time.
“If you need any medications, don’t take them from him!” the Cacnea shrieked. “He’s mad!”
Mightyena plodded into the room and looked up at the three other Pokemon. “What are you all up to?”
“Trying to fix Cacnea’s arm,” Golbat said tersely.
“They are trying to stick me with that!” Cacnea shrieked as she gestured to the syringe. “All I want is some bandages for m’wound, but they won’t give them to me!”
“Ma’am, please,” Claydol said again, “your wound is infected, and we can’t give you the bandages until—”
“Help! Help! I’m being repressed!” she shrieked.
While the two of them argued, Mightyena glanced around the room. Apart from a lone Zangoose lying on a bed, the room was empty.
“Hey,” Mightyena said as the Cacnea’s shrieks cut off—Claydol had successfully hit her with the syringe and injected the solution into her. “Where’s your human?”
Cacnea’s eyes rolled up and she slumped on the stool, unconscious.
“He and Breloom are away for a bit. Asked us to take care of patients for him,” Golbat said while Claydol levitated some bandages and began binding Cacnea’s wounds. “Where’s yours?”
“He’s in our bedroom,” Mightyena sighed. “But he’s taking care of his boss’s Pokemon, so now a couple of Houndoom are in there playing with him…”
“The Houndoom?” Claydol said with a shudder. “I can’t stand those things. I can’t sense their presence, I can’t feel their minds, and they always give me creeps.”
“You can’t sense me, either!”
“But at least you don’t slink around, acting all suspicious. Your body language is easy to read. But there’s just something else that’s off about those two.”
“Maybe because they’re hellhounds?” Golbat noted.
Claydol nodded. “That might have something to do with it. Why is Tabitha playing with them?”
“Oh, you know Tabitha—the kindest, sweetest, most loving human ever—”
“He’s an asshole,” Golbat said.
Mightyena leapt to his feet and bared his fangs at Golbat. “You do NOT talk about Tabitha that way! He’s the best human ever!”
“I just watched him send a Flygon out over the jungle and had his trainer chase after him.”
“Well, then, that human probably deserved it.”
“He also fought someone who challenged his authority.”
“As he should treat anyone who challenges his authority!”
“And he stopped the grunts from partying and told them to go to bed early.”
“An early bedtime is needed for everyone to perform at their peak!”
Golbat stared deadpan at Mightyena over his folded wings. “If Tabitha is so perfect, why are you here while he’s with someone else’s Pokemon?”
Mightyena’s ears drooped and his tail fell as he sat back down on the floor, hanging his head. “I don’t know what to do. I saw him giving them head pats and belly rubs. He’s never done that with anyone other than me before.”
“Head pats?” Claydol asked as he finished binding Cacnea’s arm.
“Yeah… Is that normal for other humans to do with someone else’s Pokemon? Your human sees other Pokemon all the time—how does he treat them?”
Golbat glanced at Claydol. “Derek just fixes the Pokemon’s wound and lets them go. He also feeds them and makes sure they get rest—but he never plays with them.”
“The only one who really tackles him and messes around with him is Breloom,” Claydol said. “Golbat’s just not a fan, and I’m too big and heavy to do it without crushing him.”
The words struck Mightyena’s heart like a hammer striking a nail.
“He… he doesn’t play with others?”
“No,” Golbat said.
“But… but why would Tabitha do this, then?”
“It might be like you said. Maybe he’s just that nice to Pokemon. Maybe he’s just sucking up to Maxie.” He raised his wings in a half-shrug. “Or maybe it’s time to let him go.”
“Let him go?!”
“Only if things are serious,” Claydol said with a reproving glare at Golbat.
“What—serious? What do you mean? How serious?”
“As long as he doesn’t push you away or replace you,” Golbat said.
“Replace—no.” Mightyena shook his head. “Tabitha would never do that to me! Why would you even say something like that?”
Golbat didn’t respond but just kept eyeing the sleeping Cacnea with his beady little eyes. With his wings covering the majority of his body, Mightyena couldn’t read his expression.
“Don’t mind him,” Claydol said. “He’s just been through a lot in his life.”
“I don’t just say things,” Golbat suddenly said. “It happens, sometimes. Look at me. I’m a Golbat. I’m common—a ‘com mon,’ as our kind call it. Most trainers don’t want me. One who did got tired of me when he saw other Golbat and Zubat everywhere. He didn’t give me attention. Other Pokemon mattered more to him. He had me stored away with other Pokemon at his professor’s lab. Other Pokemon were cycled in and out. I was stuck there. For years. So I left. Derek took me in. My specie didn’t matter to him. It never has. He never replaced me. He never pushed me away. So I’m staying.”
Mightyena stared at Golbat while Claydol unsuccessfully tried to turn away from the awkward situation, cursing his panoramic vision.
“You… just left? But what did your human think?”
Golbat lowered his eyes. “I don’t think Randy ever noticed.”
For the first time, the commonality of his specie hit Mightyena. The Houndoom were foreign, rarer—special. He was a Mightyena. His kind was found all over the Hoenn region, in every patch of grass and swath of trees. There was nothing special about him.
He was replaceable.
“I’m not saying you should walk out on your human.”
Mightyena looked up at Golbat as he interrupted his flow of thought.
“I’m just saying that, sometimes, lack of interest happens. Replacement happens. Tabitha has loved you and cared for you your entire life. But don’t close off the possibility of walking away.”
Mightyena mulled over Golbat’s words. As he thought on them, he felt indignant—and angry. And the more he thought on them, the angrier he grew.
“No.”
He stood up.
“Maybe your first human—Bob, or whatever his name was—didn’t care about you. But Tabitha has always loved me. And he always will. A few Houndoom won’t change that.”
Without a second glance, Mightyena walked back into the hallway. He would show that Golbat—he would show those stupid medical Pokemon!
As he walked into his room, he pushed the door open much more confidently this time—and stopped dead in his tracks once more.
The two Houndoom lay on Tabitha’s bed—on Mightyena’s bed. Tabitha stood off to the side and looked up as Mightyena walked in.
“We’re going to sleep, Mightyena. Is it all right with you if they sleep in bed? Just to make them more comfortable and feel at home.”
Mightyena said nothing. He couldn’t say anything. His nose was filled with the acrid scent of not-quite-dead, and all he could see was the two Houndoom lying in his place.
“Mightyena?”
He looked up and saw Tabitha gaze at him with concern.
“Is something wrong?”
“Oh—oh—I—uh—well—you see—” Mightyena stuttered for a second before inhaling deeply and looking up at Tabitha with large, doleful eyes. “Where am I supposed to sleep?”
“You can always sleep in that bed I got for you.” Tabitha gestured to the large, untouched cushion lying against the wall.
“Oh… you’re right. I can.” Without another word, Mightyena plodded over to the large pillow and lay down on it. The cushion was comfy, shaped perfectly for his canine form—but without Tabitha’s embrace, Mightyena might as well have been sleeping on sharp volcanic rocks. The bed was soft and warm, but without Tabitha, Mightyena was colder than he had ever felt in his life.
The room went dark as Tabitha turned the light off. But Mightyena could still see clearly. He shut his eyes and borrowed his snout into the crook of his leg. He didn’t want to see those Houndoom.
But he could still hear them. He could still make out the words that Tabitha failed to understand.
“This bed is so comfortable… I’m so happy we get to lie here…"
“And this human is so warm and snuggly…”
Tears weren’t a natural reaction for a Mightyena. They were a strange phenomenon that only happened to humans—and he had seen Tabitha shed them a lot. But if Mightyena possessed the faculties to do so, he would be crying softly as he fell asleep.
++++++++++++++++++++
Mightyena nosed his food as the two Houndoom next to him licked their bowls clean. Nearby, Tabitha got his things ready to prepare for his work that day.
“This is a nice setup,” the female Houndoom noted as she licked food specks off her snout. “That human is very nice. He gives nice cuddles. I practically wanted to melt when he gave me those head scratches.”
Mightyena stiffened and put his nose in his food. He didn’t need to respond—he shouldn’t respond.
“Agreed,” the male Houndoom murmured. “And I slept so well last night. He’s really taken to us, hasn’t he?”
“He has not.”
The two Houndoom looked over as Mightyena glared at them over his food bowl.
“Tabitha has not taken to you. He’s just nice to everyone.”
The female Houndoom cocked her head back and stared down her nose at Mightyena. “Is that so? I’ve only ever heard the opposite. That Flygon’s Damien said Tabitha treated him cruelly and made him trudge through the jungle for hours. And I heard he beat Hariyama’s Georg in a fight. Seems like he isn’t so nice to others.”
“That’s because they deserved it,” Mightyena snarled. His blood aced—the hair rose on his back back as flashes of anger zipped through his body. His lips curled back, exposing his long fangs. “Tabitha is nice to you, but you do not own him.”
“Maybe not now,” the male Houndoom said. “But I think he’ll take to us soon enough.”
Mightyena growled. “Don’t lie. He would never do that.”
“Might want to double-check with him on that.”
“LIES!”
Lunging forward, Mightyena snapped at the male Houndoom with bared fangs. Houndoom jumped back, pulling his lips tight and exposing his own set of canine teeth.
“Mightyena, what are you doing?”
Tabitha rushed over and stood between the growling canines.
“He’s full of LIES! I want to shut him up for good!”
“NO!”
Mightyena pounced forward, trying to get around Tabitha, but his human knew him too well, was too experienced with him. Tabitha caught Mightyena in mid-pounce and pinned him to the floor, holding him down with his body weight.
The Houndoom were still within sight—within range—if he could just get free! Blood still pounding through his veins, Mightyena struggled and wriggled—stopping when Tabitha’s fist came down on his head.
Mightyena had been through countless fights in his life. Even when he was a Poochyena, he got into scraps with other village Pokemon—the neighbor’s Zigzagoon, the wild Rattata lurking under houses, and plenty of Sentret. As he grew older, he fought more frequently—he fought for himself and Tabitha when they were living in the jungle, and he fought all sorts of Pokemon when they lived in the streets of Rustboro. He had endured beatings, bites, slashes, stings, toxins, burns, paralysis, choke holds—
But nothing had ever hurt as much as that one blow from his Tabitha.
“No! Bad boy!”
If that physical blow had hurt, the words hurt a thousand times more. It was like a thousand pairs of fangs biting into Mightyena’s heart at once and rending it apart. He stopped struggling against his human and lay in a curled-up heap on the ground, shivering.
Mightyena's ears flattened against his head. He looked up at Tabitha with wide eyes as his human got off him.
Tabitha was angry.
And he was angry at Mightyena.
Tabitha was never angry at Mightyena. He was always angry at humans. Always at the grunts. Never at Pokemon—never ever at Mightyena.
But Mightyena saw—felt—Tabitha’s cold gaze bore into him. He saw the human’s hands clenched into fists. He heard Tabitha exhale deeply and slowly.
“Don’t ever try to attack them again.”
Without another word, Tabitha finished getting dressed and walked out. Mightyena heard the clack of the Houndoom’s nails on the floor as they followed him. He heard the clack! of the door closing. But all he could feel was his heart being ripped apart over and over again.
Bad!
Tabitha had never called him that before. He was always a good boy—wasn’t he?
Bad!
He and Tabitha had been through so much together—Tabitha always loved him. Tabitha always told Mightyena how much he needed him.
Bad!
Would he actually prefer a pair of Houndoom to Mightyena? He thought of what Golbat said to him: don’t close off the possibility of walking away.
Bad!
The pain was too great. He couldn’t bear it any longer—he wouldn’t! He loved Tabitha. He loved him so much that it hurt. But he couldn’t stay and watch Tabitha trade in Mightyena’s love for that of another.
He would leave a note. Going to Tabitha’s desk, he jumped up and put his forepaws on the top of the desk, picked up a pen in his mouth and left the message:
“I have left. Don’t come looking for me. I’ve made up my mind. I’m not coming back.”
Mightyena looked at the indecipherable scribble on the paper before him.
“I don’t know how to write!” he realized. And that just made him feel even more sad.
Dropping the pen on the desk, he got down and walked out the door, through the hallways and into the grey gloomy outdoors. The sky outside reflected Mightyena’s dismal mood: dull clouds blocked out the sun and blocked out the blue sky. The occasional thunder rumbled in the distance. A few drops started falling from the sky. He missed Tabitha already. It was starting to drizzle—Tabitha hated drizzles.
As Mightyena plodded down the dirt path, his head hung low and his heart sunk even lower and lower with every step. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Tabitha’s angry face. Every time he stopped focusing on the current moment, he felt Tabitha’s weight pinning him to the ground. And the same word kept running over and over again in the back of his mind, each time more painful than the last:
Bad!
The rain drops fell more heavily. Mightyena stopped walking. His heart hurt too much. He whined and his whines turned into howls. Sitting in what quickly turned into a puddle of mud, he raised his head and let loose a long, mournful howl, singing his sorrow and pain out to the world at large, letting everyone listen to his distress and despair.
He howled again and again, letting out his mournful keen amidst the thundering downpour and crackles of lightning. It hurt, it all hurt so much.
“Mightyena!”
A clear voice cut through Mightyena’s howls—but it wasn’t just any voice.
It was his voice.
Mightyena ceased howling and lowered his head to see a shadowy figure coming towards him through the rain. The downpour blocked out his scent, and the crash of rain and thunder blocked any sound the on comer made—but Mightyena knew who it was.
Getting on all fours, Mightyena turned and took a few steps before his voice cut through the rain again.
“Mightyena, don’t leave! Please, come back!”
“Why should I?”
Mightyena wheeled around, and Tabitha was close enough now that Mightyena could see him more clearly. His human was soaked to the bone, his hair sticking to his face, his hood sagging down his back, his clothes weighing down from the weight of all the water they absorbed. The human stared at Mightyena with drooping eyes and his hands held out.
“Why should I go back to you?” Mightyena repeated. “You don’t want me anymore!”
“That’s not true, Mightyena!” Tabitha dropped to his knees, splattering mud over himself. “I do want you!”
“Then why did you say it?” he said tearfully. “Why do you keep those Houndoom with you? Why do you keep them so close and let them sleep in my bed if they don’t matter to you?”
“Those Houndoom belong to Maxie—I’m only taking care of them as a favor to him! There’s nothing between us, I swear—I want you, Mightyena, not anyone else.”
“But you—you hit me!” Mightyena cried with a sob. “And you called me a—” he almost couldn’t say it.
“You called me a bad boy!
“I—I gave you everything! When your younger brother was kidnapped and your home village burned to the ground, I chased after those kidnappers with you! My clan took you in when your family died! I went with you to Rustboro when you had nothing. I lived on the streets—I did everything for you!”
“You’re right, Mightyena, you’re right. And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hit you or called you bad! You’re not a bad boy, Mightyena, you’re a good boy.”
At the words “good boy,” Mightyena’s heart lightened. He stared, thunderstruck, at Tabitha as his human walked over to him and bent down, cradling Mightyena’s face in one hand.
“Y—you mean it?”
“You’re more than a good boy, Mightyena—you’re more than the best boy.” Tabitha slicked back the fur on Mightyena’s head with his other hand as he gazed meaningfully into Mightyena’s eyes. “You’re my boy. No one else. Just you. There’s only you—there’s only ever been you. I love you, Mightyena. And I promise you, no matter what, we’ll stick together.”
Mightyena’s tail wagged as his heart soared. “Even if it means leaving Team Magma?”
Tabitha didn’t respond. He stayed on his knees, water dripping off him, staring stonily at Mightyena.
“Tabitha?”
“We don’t need to go over hypothetical scenarios, Mightyena. But I love you and I will always stick by you.”
“Oh, Tabitha!”
His heart flooding with peace and joy, Mightyena pounced forward, knocking Tabitha flat on his back in a muddy puddle.
“I promise you, Tabitha, I’ll never leave you again!”
Getting to his knees, Tabitha wrapped his arms around Mightyena in the warmest embrace Mightyena had ever received. Warm embraces were Mightyena’s favorite thing ever! All the ice-cold pricks, all the hurt and pain in his heart—it was all gone, washed away to the bottom of the sea.
The two of them stayed like that as the rain pounded down and lightning sizzled in the sky above them. After a few minutes, Tabitha asked, “Can we go inside now, please? I really hate the rain.”
“Of course!” Tabitha relinquished his embrace and the duo made their way back to the base. Mightyena’s tail wagged uncontrollably, flinging droplets of water everywhere. “Once we awaken Groudon, you won’t have to worry about rain much anymore!”
Tabitha said nothing—but Mightyena saw a smile.
As the two of them went back to Tabitha’s bedroom to dry off, Mightyena saw Maxie’s Houndoom lounging on the bedroom floor. Mightyena planted his feet firmly on the ground, the fur on his chest and back bristling. He bared his large fangs in a snarl. The two Houndoom looked up at him—Mightyena’s intimidation attempt must have worked, for they looked slightly uneasy and shrank back.
But he wasn’t going easy on them.
“Listen, you two!” he declared. “Tabitha is my human, and—”
“We know,” the male Houndoom said lazily. “Did you want to sleep in your bed tonight?”
“Why, yes I did! And I want to make it clear that nothing will chase me away from him! You won’t have him, and you won’t keep him away from me!”
“Well, duh,” the female Houndoom said as she swished her thin, whip-like tail. “Maxie is our human, after all. We’re not staying here.”
The snarl fell from Mightyena’s face and his fur laid flat on his body. “You what?”
“You want to sleep in the human bed tonight, or not?”
“Wha—yes, I do! But—but if you’re not after Tabitha, why did you say you were earlier?”
“We’re Houndoom,” the male Houndoom said. Raising his head, he looked deadpan at Mightyena. “Hellhounds. Antagonism is our thing.”
“Y—you just—you were just mean to me because you felt like it?”
The female Houndoom raised her haunches in a half-shrug. “Felt like it—driven to it. It’s our nature. Our design. It’s what we do best. Don’t always feel like we have much of a choice in it.”
“It’s just easiest to go along with it and strike out at those closest to us,” her companion said.
“So… you don’t actually want Tabitha?”
The pair of hellhounds looked at Tabitha: he had shed his clothes and sat shaking in his chair, curled up into a ball with a towel wrapped around him. He sniffled—and let out a sneeze.
“No,” they said unanimously.
“Oh.” All the anger and ill-will within Mightyena was gone. “I guess you couldn’t really help it, then. No bad blood between us—I forgive you.”
“We’re not sorry,” the female Houndoom said, but Mightyena didn’t hear her. He plodded over to Tabitha and snuggled his great head into his shivering owner.
“I love you, Tabitha.”
That night, the Houndoom chose to sleep in Tabitha’s office. Mightyena and Tabitha snuggled together in bed, hearts full of joy, finally at peace.
Until the middle of the night when Mightyena had night terrors and started whining and crying in his sleep.
Tabitha started petting Mightyena to console him. “Hey, Mightyena, shhhh, it’s ok—oof!”
Mightyena lashed out, first kicking Tabitha to the edge of the bed and then stealing all of his pillows.
“Mightyena, calm down—AAAHHHHH!”
As Tabitha shoved Mightyena, the Dark-type let out a shadow ball attack. It collided with Tabitha’s chest, sending him flying off the bed and into the far wall.
Grumbling, Tabitha got up—Mightyena was still sleeping on the bed. Now that his assailant was gone, the canine slept soundly. Tabitha laid on the large cushion he had originally bought for Mightyena, thinking that his chances of getting any sleep were better there.
But for Mightyena, it was the most peaceful night of his life.
Also, for simplicity's sake, I wrote the Pokemon speech with typical dialogue tags. I realize it's not consistent with what I normally do, but I felt like it worked better for this one-shot.
Content warnings: singular mention of blood, singular use of a swear word.
Enjoy!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Who’s a good boy? Who’s the best boy?”
“Me! I’m the best boy!”
Mightyena wagged his tail as Tabitha patted his head and ran his fingers through Mightyena’s thick, matted fur. Tongue lolling out of his mouth, heart bursting with joy, Mightyena looked up at his trainer. Tabitha smiled—one of those special smiles that he reserved only for Mightyena. He never smiled at other humans. Other humans didn’t deserve his love the way Mightyena did.
And loving Tabitha was his favorite thing ever! This had been the best day ever—Mightyena did a training simulation in front of weak humans and their weak Pokemon, then he and Tabitha played, and then Tabitha did desk work, and then he and Mightyena got to cuddle! It was just like yesterday—only better.
“I have a meeting with Maxie right now, Mightyena. But I’ll be able to play after that. Sound good?”
Mightyena’s tail stopped wagging and hung low. He yipped—but he and Tabitha had been together for so long that, by now, his human understood him perfectly.
“I’m always sad when you have to work…”
“I know, I know. Do you want to come with me to meet Maxie?”
Mightyena huffed. “No thanks. I’ll go outside while you have human-talk.”
Tabitha smiled again. “Sounds good. I’ll see you later.”
The prospect of seeing his beloved trainer again soon made Mightyena just a little less sad.
++++++++++++++++++++
The sun warmed the dirt beneath Mightyena’s feet as he trotted up the path to the Team Magma base. The jungle of northern Hoenn echoed around him with the twitters of Taillow, the roars of Vigoroth, and the barks of Linoone. Before him, the Team Magma base loomed as a large, imposing, conspicuous figure amidst all the foliage.
Maybe the humans chose this place because it was so far away from other humans. Or maybe human eyesight and smell were so bad that even they couldn’t notice the base. But to Mightyena’s heightened senses, it was always easy to find—and that was good, because he always knew where to find Tabitha.
His bushy black tail wagged. It had been such a great day—and it was only going to get better! The sun was in the center of the sky, at its zenith. There was plenty of time have so much fun with Tabitha! Maybe they would go on a walk through the jungle, or if it was raining they’d play inside. Then they would snuggle and go to bed. What a great day!
The human doors for the base were closed like they always were. But Mightyena didn’t need doors. Spotting some shadows cast by large, broad-leafed plants, he slipped into them as if they were water.
The blackness of the shadowy world twisted and turned about Mightyena as he passed through them. But it didn’t bother him. It was something all Dark-types could do. He had always been able to pass through shadows, ever since he was a Poochyena. He even brought Tabitha with him! The shadows looked confusing, but Mightyena could navigate them easily, as if they were the outside world. Tabitha said he was getting the hang of it, too! And passing through shadows made it so much easier to battle against other Pokemon and sneak up on them.
Mightyena emerged from a shadow in one of the hallways near Tabitha’s office. Tabitha was so close! He couldn’t wait to play with him.
As Mightyena jaunted through the hall, he stopped dead in his tracks, his nose twitching. Something smelled burned—but it smelled alive. It smelled acrid, fleshy, like death and decay—but not quite dead. Only mostly dead.
Houndoom.
The only Houndoom in Team Magma belonged to Tabitha’s boss, Maxie. Was Maxie here?
Mightyena turned a few corners, and sure enough, Maxie’s pair of Houndoom stood in the hallway. Tabitha stood with them, talking to a human-grunt. The two Houndoom turned to see Mightyena walking towards them.
“What are you two doing here?” Mightyena asked while Tabitha kept talking to the human.
“Our human is away for the time being,” one of them said idly. He flicked his pointed tail as he turned to Tabitha. “So we’ll be staying with Tabitha.”
Mightyena started. He didn’t expect that.
“Oh… How long is your human away for?”
“Couldn’t hazard a guess,” the female Houndoom said. She exhaled deeply, a few embers puffing out of her mouth as she rolled her eyes. “Looks like we’ll have your human for the time being, at least until ours returns.”
Mightyena’s fur bristled at the words. “You can play with Tabitha for a bit, but he is not your human. He can’t even understand you!”
The female Houndoom sneered, her narrow eyes half-closing. “Maybe not yet. But he strikes me as a fast learner. Didn’t he learn how to communicate with those Pokemon in the clinic after spending only a day with them?”
Mightyena realized she meant the Breloom, Claydol and Golbat that helped out the human working in medicine and his heart twisted with jealousy. “Yes, he did—but that was after spending an entire day with them.”
“We’ll be here for quite a bit more time than that,” the male Houndoom said with an ugly smirk.
Mightyena’s ears twitched. “You can spend some time with Tabitha—maybe he’ll even understand you, eventually—but he will never be your human. He loves me.”
“Wh—oh, Mightyena!"
Mightyena looked up as Tabitha dismissed the grunt and noticed him for the first time. His human smiled and bent down to be eye-level with Mightyena. Now that he had filtered out the less familiar scent of Houndoom, he could smell the stale sweat and cooked rice scents that always seemed to linger around his human. The scent warmed Mightyena’s heart and his tail wagged uncontrollably back and forth.
“Hey, buddy, what have you been up to?”
“I was just outside. It’s a beautiful day! Are we going to go on a walk later? Or maybe hunt? Or maybe we can go to the river? Or how about we roll in the dirt outside?”
Tabitha smiled. “I never roll in the dirt; that’s always just you. And I can’t play with you today, I’ve got a lot of office work to do. By the way, Maxie is gone for a bit and he asked me to look after his Houndoom while he’s gone, so we’re going to be with them for a while. Okay?”
Mightyena looked back at the pair of Houndoom, who stared back at him smugly. Hearing Tabitha say out loud that he would have to share his time with them made it somehow more painful.
“It won’t be for too long, but I want you to make them feel at home. Maxie and his Pokemon deserve the best.”
Mightyena didn’t say anything as Tabitha stood up and headed down the hallway, the Houndoom trailing after him without sparing Mightyena a passing glance.
Sure, Mightyena would be nice to them. But he would not defer to them. Tabitha was still his, and his alone.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Mightyena’s head rested on his large paws as the sound of Tabitha’s scribbling pen reached his ears. He opened his eyes to see the two Houndoom lying near the far wall, apparently asleep.
Mightyena was sad. He really wanted to just play with Tabitha all day. But Tabitha had work. But he wanted head pats and scratches and snuggles. And Tabitha only needed one hand to write!
Getting up, Mightyena started to plod over to Tabitha—but the female Houndoom got up at almost the exact same time, walked over to Tabitha, and placed her head in the human’s lap.
Tabitha looked slightly surprised—but he still reached down and began petting the Houndoom’s head. In a few short moments, the head pats were mechanical, and Tabitha was once again completely engrossed in his desk work.
Mightyena froze, unable to tear his eyes away from the Houndoom. Her head was on Tabitha’s lap—and she was receiving head pats from him! Tabitha always gave Mightyena head pats—they weren’t meant for Houndoom!
Anger and jealousy boiled within Mightyena. His claws scratched against the metal floor as the muscles in his legs and feet tightened. His nostrils flared and the fur rose on his back like a ridge. It took all of his control to not let a growl escape from his throat.
The Houndoom opened an eye and smiled cruelly at Mightyena. “Upset? I just want some affection while my human is gone.”
Mightyena didn’t care how reasonable that was. He was still mad. He would not let someone else take Tabitha’s attention from him!
Plodding over, he placed his head on Tabitha’s other leg and looked up at the human with wide eyes.
“Wh—oh, hi, Mightyena,” Tabitha said idly. He traded off between patting the Houndoom’s head and patting Mightyena’s.
Even though receiving head pats from Tabitha was Mightyena’s most favorite thing ever, knowing that another Pokemon received them, too, made him angry. It just wasn’t right!
+++++++++++++++++++++
Mightyena went in the jungle by himself that evening. He poked around through the foliage, sniffing out wide varieties of different Pokemon. But he didn’t know what he was looking for, or why, or anything. He couldn’t stop thinking about seeing Houndoom with her head on Tabitha’s lap. How dare she try to get head pats from Tabitha!
After half-mindedly sniffing out a Zigzagoon, he caught the shrieking creature in his fangs.
“Oh, please, let me go!” the prey Pokemon cried. “I haven’t done anything! And you’re domestic—why would you eat me, anyway? Won’t your human feed you?”
Mightyena’s jaw clenched—Zigzagoon squealed. Mightyena opened his mouth to bark at the stupid Pokemon.
“Of course my human feeds me!” he shouted to Zigzagoon as he limped away, leaving a bloody trail behind him. “He loves me! I don’t need to feed on prey like you to survive!”
Disgruntled, Mightyena plodded back to the human base. It was almost sunset—time for him and Tabitha to cuddle!
Going back to Tabitha’s bedroom, Mightyena nosed the door open. He was so excited! Cuddles were his most favorite thing ever. The day had been rough, for sure, but nighttime cuddles were always worth it.
As Mightyena pushed the door open, his heart pounding with excitement, he stopped cold. His tail stopped wagging. He stared wide-eyed at the scene before him.
Tabitha sat on the ground. And they were with him. The two Houndoom pranced back-and-forth on the floor as Tabitha playfully tapped the sides of their heads (just like he always did with Mightyena). The two Houndoom scattered about, tongues lolling from their mouths. The male Houndoom glanced over and saw Mightyena for a split second before pouncing on Tabitha, sending the human sprawling flat on his back.
“Oof! You’re a big boy, aren’t you? Haha, let me up! Let me up, come on.”
The Houndoom got off Tabitha and the human sat up. His hair was disheveled and he was breathing hard—but he was smiling. His eyes lit up when he saw Mightyena standing there.
“Oh, hey Mightyena! You wanna come play with us?” The smile faded from Tabitha’s face as Mightyena made no response. “What’s the matter?”
“What… what are you doing?” Mightyena asked uncertainly.
“We’re just messing around,” Tabitha said as the female Houndoom slunk under his arm and he started patting her head. “Since Maxie is gone, I thought it’d be nice to give them a bit of attention.”
“Yeah, come on,” the male Houndoom said silkily. “Join us. It’s fun.”
Mightyena stiffened and directed his words to Tabitha. “I—I think I’ll just—I just wanted to sleep, actually. It’s been tiring today. But I’ll go somewhere quieter.”
Tabitha looked slightly surprised. “Oh, okay. If you’re sure.”
Mightyena didn’t spare him or either of the Houndoom another glance as he turned tail and left the room. He walked aimlessly through the hallway, his spirits low and his tail trailing on the ground. He didn’t know where to go, or what to do… Maybe he would go back at nighttime and cuddle with Tabitha then? After all, Tabitha’s bed was still Mightyena’s bed. Sure, he had that cushion on the side of the room that Tabitha got for him when they joined Team Magma, but he never actually used it.
But Tabitha actually played with Maxie’s Houndoom! How could he do that? Mightyena had never seen him do that with any other Pokemon!
“AGH what are you doing with tha—NO, DON’T STICK THAT THERE!”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but you need your medications!”
Mightyena perked up at the sound of shrieking Pokemon from a door down the hallway. Wasn’t that where the medical Pokemon and their human lived?
Nosing his way through the door, he saw a Claydol psychically levitating a syringe in front of a Cacnea who sat on a tall stool. The Cacnea’s eyes were wide with fright as she eyed the syringe with distaste. Her right arm was heavily lacerated and oozing sap. Behind her, a Golbat sat perched on a metal rail of one of the many beds dotting the room.
“I am NOT taking whatever is in there! Just patch up this arm!”
“That’s not how it works,” the Claydol moaned. “You need to take some of this first to truly heal your injury. And your racket seems to have caught the attention of others.”
Cacnea turned her head to look at Mightyena; Claydol’s vision allowed him to see in all directions at once, and so Mightyena was in clear view the entire time.
“If you need any medications, don’t take them from him!” the Cacnea shrieked. “He’s mad!”
Mightyena plodded into the room and looked up at the three other Pokemon. “What are you all up to?”
“Trying to fix Cacnea’s arm,” Golbat said tersely.
“They are trying to stick me with that!” Cacnea shrieked as she gestured to the syringe. “All I want is some bandages for m’wound, but they won’t give them to me!”
“Ma’am, please,” Claydol said again, “your wound is infected, and we can’t give you the bandages until—”
“Help! Help! I’m being repressed!” she shrieked.
While the two of them argued, Mightyena glanced around the room. Apart from a lone Zangoose lying on a bed, the room was empty.
“Hey,” Mightyena said as the Cacnea’s shrieks cut off—Claydol had successfully hit her with the syringe and injected the solution into her. “Where’s your human?”
Cacnea’s eyes rolled up and she slumped on the stool, unconscious.
“He and Breloom are away for a bit. Asked us to take care of patients for him,” Golbat said while Claydol levitated some bandages and began binding Cacnea’s wounds. “Where’s yours?”
“He’s in our bedroom,” Mightyena sighed. “But he’s taking care of his boss’s Pokemon, so now a couple of Houndoom are in there playing with him…”
“The Houndoom?” Claydol said with a shudder. “I can’t stand those things. I can’t sense their presence, I can’t feel their minds, and they always give me creeps.”
“You can’t sense me, either!”
“But at least you don’t slink around, acting all suspicious. Your body language is easy to read. But there’s just something else that’s off about those two.”
“Maybe because they’re hellhounds?” Golbat noted.
Claydol nodded. “That might have something to do with it. Why is Tabitha playing with them?”
“Oh, you know Tabitha—the kindest, sweetest, most loving human ever—”
“He’s an asshole,” Golbat said.
Mightyena leapt to his feet and bared his fangs at Golbat. “You do NOT talk about Tabitha that way! He’s the best human ever!”
“I just watched him send a Flygon out over the jungle and had his trainer chase after him.”
“Well, then, that human probably deserved it.”
“He also fought someone who challenged his authority.”
“As he should treat anyone who challenges his authority!”
“And he stopped the grunts from partying and told them to go to bed early.”
“An early bedtime is needed for everyone to perform at their peak!”
Golbat stared deadpan at Mightyena over his folded wings. “If Tabitha is so perfect, why are you here while he’s with someone else’s Pokemon?”
Mightyena’s ears drooped and his tail fell as he sat back down on the floor, hanging his head. “I don’t know what to do. I saw him giving them head pats and belly rubs. He’s never done that with anyone other than me before.”
“Head pats?” Claydol asked as he finished binding Cacnea’s arm.
“Yeah… Is that normal for other humans to do with someone else’s Pokemon? Your human sees other Pokemon all the time—how does he treat them?”
Golbat glanced at Claydol. “Derek just fixes the Pokemon’s wound and lets them go. He also feeds them and makes sure they get rest—but he never plays with them.”
“The only one who really tackles him and messes around with him is Breloom,” Claydol said. “Golbat’s just not a fan, and I’m too big and heavy to do it without crushing him.”
The words struck Mightyena’s heart like a hammer striking a nail.
“He… he doesn’t play with others?”
“No,” Golbat said.
“But… but why would Tabitha do this, then?”
“It might be like you said. Maybe he’s just that nice to Pokemon. Maybe he’s just sucking up to Maxie.” He raised his wings in a half-shrug. “Or maybe it’s time to let him go.”
“Let him go?!”
“Only if things are serious,” Claydol said with a reproving glare at Golbat.
“What—serious? What do you mean? How serious?”
“As long as he doesn’t push you away or replace you,” Golbat said.
“Replace—no.” Mightyena shook his head. “Tabitha would never do that to me! Why would you even say something like that?”
Golbat didn’t respond but just kept eyeing the sleeping Cacnea with his beady little eyes. With his wings covering the majority of his body, Mightyena couldn’t read his expression.
“Don’t mind him,” Claydol said. “He’s just been through a lot in his life.”
“I don’t just say things,” Golbat suddenly said. “It happens, sometimes. Look at me. I’m a Golbat. I’m common—a ‘com mon,’ as our kind call it. Most trainers don’t want me. One who did got tired of me when he saw other Golbat and Zubat everywhere. He didn’t give me attention. Other Pokemon mattered more to him. He had me stored away with other Pokemon at his professor’s lab. Other Pokemon were cycled in and out. I was stuck there. For years. So I left. Derek took me in. My specie didn’t matter to him. It never has. He never replaced me. He never pushed me away. So I’m staying.”
Mightyena stared at Golbat while Claydol unsuccessfully tried to turn away from the awkward situation, cursing his panoramic vision.
“You… just left? But what did your human think?”
Golbat lowered his eyes. “I don’t think Randy ever noticed.”
For the first time, the commonality of his specie hit Mightyena. The Houndoom were foreign, rarer—special. He was a Mightyena. His kind was found all over the Hoenn region, in every patch of grass and swath of trees. There was nothing special about him.
He was replaceable.
“I’m not saying you should walk out on your human.”
Mightyena looked up at Golbat as he interrupted his flow of thought.
“I’m just saying that, sometimes, lack of interest happens. Replacement happens. Tabitha has loved you and cared for you your entire life. But don’t close off the possibility of walking away.”
Mightyena mulled over Golbat’s words. As he thought on them, he felt indignant—and angry. And the more he thought on them, the angrier he grew.
“No.”
He stood up.
“Maybe your first human—Bob, or whatever his name was—didn’t care about you. But Tabitha has always loved me. And he always will. A few Houndoom won’t change that.”
Without a second glance, Mightyena walked back into the hallway. He would show that Golbat—he would show those stupid medical Pokemon!
As he walked into his room, he pushed the door open much more confidently this time—and stopped dead in his tracks once more.
The two Houndoom lay on Tabitha’s bed—on Mightyena’s bed. Tabitha stood off to the side and looked up as Mightyena walked in.
“We’re going to sleep, Mightyena. Is it all right with you if they sleep in bed? Just to make them more comfortable and feel at home.”
Mightyena said nothing. He couldn’t say anything. His nose was filled with the acrid scent of not-quite-dead, and all he could see was the two Houndoom lying in his place.
“Mightyena?”
He looked up and saw Tabitha gaze at him with concern.
“Is something wrong?”
“Oh—oh—I—uh—well—you see—” Mightyena stuttered for a second before inhaling deeply and looking up at Tabitha with large, doleful eyes. “Where am I supposed to sleep?”
“You can always sleep in that bed I got for you.” Tabitha gestured to the large, untouched cushion lying against the wall.
“Oh… you’re right. I can.” Without another word, Mightyena plodded over to the large pillow and lay down on it. The cushion was comfy, shaped perfectly for his canine form—but without Tabitha’s embrace, Mightyena might as well have been sleeping on sharp volcanic rocks. The bed was soft and warm, but without Tabitha, Mightyena was colder than he had ever felt in his life.
The room went dark as Tabitha turned the light off. But Mightyena could still see clearly. He shut his eyes and borrowed his snout into the crook of his leg. He didn’t want to see those Houndoom.
But he could still hear them. He could still make out the words that Tabitha failed to understand.
“This bed is so comfortable… I’m so happy we get to lie here…"
“And this human is so warm and snuggly…”
Tears weren’t a natural reaction for a Mightyena. They were a strange phenomenon that only happened to humans—and he had seen Tabitha shed them a lot. But if Mightyena possessed the faculties to do so, he would be crying softly as he fell asleep.
++++++++++++++++++++
Mightyena nosed his food as the two Houndoom next to him licked their bowls clean. Nearby, Tabitha got his things ready to prepare for his work that day.
“This is a nice setup,” the female Houndoom noted as she licked food specks off her snout. “That human is very nice. He gives nice cuddles. I practically wanted to melt when he gave me those head scratches.”
Mightyena stiffened and put his nose in his food. He didn’t need to respond—he shouldn’t respond.
“Agreed,” the male Houndoom murmured. “And I slept so well last night. He’s really taken to us, hasn’t he?”
“He has not.”
The two Houndoom looked over as Mightyena glared at them over his food bowl.
“Tabitha has not taken to you. He’s just nice to everyone.”
The female Houndoom cocked her head back and stared down her nose at Mightyena. “Is that so? I’ve only ever heard the opposite. That Flygon’s Damien said Tabitha treated him cruelly and made him trudge through the jungle for hours. And I heard he beat Hariyama’s Georg in a fight. Seems like he isn’t so nice to others.”
“That’s because they deserved it,” Mightyena snarled. His blood aced—the hair rose on his back back as flashes of anger zipped through his body. His lips curled back, exposing his long fangs. “Tabitha is nice to you, but you do not own him.”
“Maybe not now,” the male Houndoom said. “But I think he’ll take to us soon enough.”
Mightyena growled. “Don’t lie. He would never do that.”
“Might want to double-check with him on that.”
“LIES!”
Lunging forward, Mightyena snapped at the male Houndoom with bared fangs. Houndoom jumped back, pulling his lips tight and exposing his own set of canine teeth.
“Mightyena, what are you doing?”
Tabitha rushed over and stood between the growling canines.
“He’s full of LIES! I want to shut him up for good!”
“NO!”
Mightyena pounced forward, trying to get around Tabitha, but his human knew him too well, was too experienced with him. Tabitha caught Mightyena in mid-pounce and pinned him to the floor, holding him down with his body weight.
The Houndoom were still within sight—within range—if he could just get free! Blood still pounding through his veins, Mightyena struggled and wriggled—stopping when Tabitha’s fist came down on his head.
Mightyena had been through countless fights in his life. Even when he was a Poochyena, he got into scraps with other village Pokemon—the neighbor’s Zigzagoon, the wild Rattata lurking under houses, and plenty of Sentret. As he grew older, he fought more frequently—he fought for himself and Tabitha when they were living in the jungle, and he fought all sorts of Pokemon when they lived in the streets of Rustboro. He had endured beatings, bites, slashes, stings, toxins, burns, paralysis, choke holds—
But nothing had ever hurt as much as that one blow from his Tabitha.
“No! Bad boy!”
If that physical blow had hurt, the words hurt a thousand times more. It was like a thousand pairs of fangs biting into Mightyena’s heart at once and rending it apart. He stopped struggling against his human and lay in a curled-up heap on the ground, shivering.
Mightyena's ears flattened against his head. He looked up at Tabitha with wide eyes as his human got off him.
Tabitha was angry.
And he was angry at Mightyena.
Tabitha was never angry at Mightyena. He was always angry at humans. Always at the grunts. Never at Pokemon—never ever at Mightyena.
But Mightyena saw—felt—Tabitha’s cold gaze bore into him. He saw the human’s hands clenched into fists. He heard Tabitha exhale deeply and slowly.
“Don’t ever try to attack them again.”
Without another word, Tabitha finished getting dressed and walked out. Mightyena heard the clack of the Houndoom’s nails on the floor as they followed him. He heard the clack! of the door closing. But all he could feel was his heart being ripped apart over and over again.
Bad!
Tabitha had never called him that before. He was always a good boy—wasn’t he?
Bad!
He and Tabitha had been through so much together—Tabitha always loved him. Tabitha always told Mightyena how much he needed him.
Bad!
Would he actually prefer a pair of Houndoom to Mightyena? He thought of what Golbat said to him: don’t close off the possibility of walking away.
Bad!
The pain was too great. He couldn’t bear it any longer—he wouldn’t! He loved Tabitha. He loved him so much that it hurt. But he couldn’t stay and watch Tabitha trade in Mightyena’s love for that of another.
He would leave a note. Going to Tabitha’s desk, he jumped up and put his forepaws on the top of the desk, picked up a pen in his mouth and left the message:
“I have left. Don’t come looking for me. I’ve made up my mind. I’m not coming back.”
Mightyena looked at the indecipherable scribble on the paper before him.
“I don’t know how to write!” he realized. And that just made him feel even more sad.
Dropping the pen on the desk, he got down and walked out the door, through the hallways and into the grey gloomy outdoors. The sky outside reflected Mightyena’s dismal mood: dull clouds blocked out the sun and blocked out the blue sky. The occasional thunder rumbled in the distance. A few drops started falling from the sky. He missed Tabitha already. It was starting to drizzle—Tabitha hated drizzles.
As Mightyena plodded down the dirt path, his head hung low and his heart sunk even lower and lower with every step. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Tabitha’s angry face. Every time he stopped focusing on the current moment, he felt Tabitha’s weight pinning him to the ground. And the same word kept running over and over again in the back of his mind, each time more painful than the last:
Bad!
The rain drops fell more heavily. Mightyena stopped walking. His heart hurt too much. He whined and his whines turned into howls. Sitting in what quickly turned into a puddle of mud, he raised his head and let loose a long, mournful howl, singing his sorrow and pain out to the world at large, letting everyone listen to his distress and despair.
He howled again and again, letting out his mournful keen amidst the thundering downpour and crackles of lightning. It hurt, it all hurt so much.
“Mightyena!”
A clear voice cut through Mightyena’s howls—but it wasn’t just any voice.
It was his voice.
Mightyena ceased howling and lowered his head to see a shadowy figure coming towards him through the rain. The downpour blocked out his scent, and the crash of rain and thunder blocked any sound the on comer made—but Mightyena knew who it was.
Getting on all fours, Mightyena turned and took a few steps before his voice cut through the rain again.
“Mightyena, don’t leave! Please, come back!”
“Why should I?”
Mightyena wheeled around, and Tabitha was close enough now that Mightyena could see him more clearly. His human was soaked to the bone, his hair sticking to his face, his hood sagging down his back, his clothes weighing down from the weight of all the water they absorbed. The human stared at Mightyena with drooping eyes and his hands held out.
“Why should I go back to you?” Mightyena repeated. “You don’t want me anymore!”
“That’s not true, Mightyena!” Tabitha dropped to his knees, splattering mud over himself. “I do want you!”
“Then why did you say it?” he said tearfully. “Why do you keep those Houndoom with you? Why do you keep them so close and let them sleep in my bed if they don’t matter to you?”
“Those Houndoom belong to Maxie—I’m only taking care of them as a favor to him! There’s nothing between us, I swear—I want you, Mightyena, not anyone else.”
“But you—you hit me!” Mightyena cried with a sob. “And you called me a—” he almost couldn’t say it.
“You called me a bad boy!
“I—I gave you everything! When your younger brother was kidnapped and your home village burned to the ground, I chased after those kidnappers with you! My clan took you in when your family died! I went with you to Rustboro when you had nothing. I lived on the streets—I did everything for you!”
“You’re right, Mightyena, you’re right. And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hit you or called you bad! You’re not a bad boy, Mightyena, you’re a good boy.”
At the words “good boy,” Mightyena’s heart lightened. He stared, thunderstruck, at Tabitha as his human walked over to him and bent down, cradling Mightyena’s face in one hand.
“Y—you mean it?”
“You’re more than a good boy, Mightyena—you’re more than the best boy.” Tabitha slicked back the fur on Mightyena’s head with his other hand as he gazed meaningfully into Mightyena’s eyes. “You’re my boy. No one else. Just you. There’s only you—there’s only ever been you. I love you, Mightyena. And I promise you, no matter what, we’ll stick together.”
Mightyena’s tail wagged as his heart soared. “Even if it means leaving Team Magma?”
Tabitha didn’t respond. He stayed on his knees, water dripping off him, staring stonily at Mightyena.
“Tabitha?”
“We don’t need to go over hypothetical scenarios, Mightyena. But I love you and I will always stick by you.”
“Oh, Tabitha!”
His heart flooding with peace and joy, Mightyena pounced forward, knocking Tabitha flat on his back in a muddy puddle.
“I promise you, Tabitha, I’ll never leave you again!”
Getting to his knees, Tabitha wrapped his arms around Mightyena in the warmest embrace Mightyena had ever received. Warm embraces were Mightyena’s favorite thing ever! All the ice-cold pricks, all the hurt and pain in his heart—it was all gone, washed away to the bottom of the sea.
The two of them stayed like that as the rain pounded down and lightning sizzled in the sky above them. After a few minutes, Tabitha asked, “Can we go inside now, please? I really hate the rain.”
“Of course!” Tabitha relinquished his embrace and the duo made their way back to the base. Mightyena’s tail wagged uncontrollably, flinging droplets of water everywhere. “Once we awaken Groudon, you won’t have to worry about rain much anymore!”
Tabitha said nothing—but Mightyena saw a smile.
As the two of them went back to Tabitha’s bedroom to dry off, Mightyena saw Maxie’s Houndoom lounging on the bedroom floor. Mightyena planted his feet firmly on the ground, the fur on his chest and back bristling. He bared his large fangs in a snarl. The two Houndoom looked up at him—Mightyena’s intimidation attempt must have worked, for they looked slightly uneasy and shrank back.
But he wasn’t going easy on them.
“Listen, you two!” he declared. “Tabitha is my human, and—”
“We know,” the male Houndoom said lazily. “Did you want to sleep in your bed tonight?”
“Why, yes I did! And I want to make it clear that nothing will chase me away from him! You won’t have him, and you won’t keep him away from me!”
“Well, duh,” the female Houndoom said as she swished her thin, whip-like tail. “Maxie is our human, after all. We’re not staying here.”
The snarl fell from Mightyena’s face and his fur laid flat on his body. “You what?”
“You want to sleep in the human bed tonight, or not?”
“Wha—yes, I do! But—but if you’re not after Tabitha, why did you say you were earlier?”
“We’re Houndoom,” the male Houndoom said. Raising his head, he looked deadpan at Mightyena. “Hellhounds. Antagonism is our thing.”
“Y—you just—you were just mean to me because you felt like it?”
The female Houndoom raised her haunches in a half-shrug. “Felt like it—driven to it. It’s our nature. Our design. It’s what we do best. Don’t always feel like we have much of a choice in it.”
“It’s just easiest to go along with it and strike out at those closest to us,” her companion said.
“So… you don’t actually want Tabitha?”
The pair of hellhounds looked at Tabitha: he had shed his clothes and sat shaking in his chair, curled up into a ball with a towel wrapped around him. He sniffled—and let out a sneeze.
“No,” they said unanimously.
“Oh.” All the anger and ill-will within Mightyena was gone. “I guess you couldn’t really help it, then. No bad blood between us—I forgive you.”
“We’re not sorry,” the female Houndoom said, but Mightyena didn’t hear her. He plodded over to Tabitha and snuggled his great head into his shivering owner.
“I love you, Tabitha.”
That night, the Houndoom chose to sleep in Tabitha’s office. Mightyena and Tabitha snuggled together in bed, hearts full of joy, finally at peace.
Until the middle of the night when Mightyena had night terrors and started whining and crying in his sleep.
Tabitha started petting Mightyena to console him. “Hey, Mightyena, shhhh, it’s ok—oof!”
Mightyena lashed out, first kicking Tabitha to the edge of the bed and then stealing all of his pillows.
“Mightyena, calm down—AAAHHHHH!”
As Tabitha shoved Mightyena, the Dark-type let out a shadow ball attack. It collided with Tabitha’s chest, sending him flying off the bed and into the far wall.
Grumbling, Tabitha got up—Mightyena was still sleeping on the bed. Now that his assailant was gone, the canine slept soundly. Tabitha laid on the large cushion he had originally bought for Mightyena, thinking that his chances of getting any sleep were better there.
But for Mightyena, it was the most peaceful night of his life.
