Pokémon Wings

[Superbeans]

Hey there guys. A slightly grimdark fic I started back in 2012, so yeah it's been floating around on the internet for some while. I figured I'd transfer it over here because new website.

It's the story of Sparky the Emolga, who wakes up one morning to find out her trainer's not there. In her efforts to find out exactly where, she and her sibling Pokemon, Socks the Furret and Sir Higglesworth the Kadabra, uncover something awful. And it only gets worse from there.

(If there are formatting issues, I'll figure them out at some point.)

(Tags to go here)

There is a content warning for Suicide, plus some upsetting imagery at times. Anyways, without any further ado;

Chapter 1: Someone's Missing​

​

Accumula Town never was the busiest of places, only really serving as a gateway for those venturing to nearby Striaton. The famed Professor Cypress may have lived just a few kilometres away, but this sleepy little hamlet survived on a gentle trickle of tourism.

Besides, some liked it that way.

Around the corner, across the field and alongside a row of trees sat a quaint little house. Tumbledown and half overtaken by vines, the tiny abode was home to a family of four.

Roused by a thin beam of light creeping its way through the badly closed curtains was Sparky the Emolga. With a stretch prickling its way down her back, she yawned animatedly, rubbed her eyes, and peeled away from the enormous beanbag she’d practically submerged into. The beanbag crumpled and Socks the Furret flopped from around the shoulders of Sir Higglesworth the Kadabra and folded up around herself like an accordion. Sparky thanked her lucky stars that both of them remained asleep.

Sparky liked her name. It was a nice name, and easy to remember because she could make sparks and stuff. It wasn’t as funny as Sir Higgleworth’s, or as cute as Socks’, but her lovely trainer gave her this name, and because of that it was lovely.

And with that thought, her memory was spurred. Sparky jumped and scrabbled in her efforts to climb onto the big bed next to the beanbag, but confusion blossomed at the sight of a lot of nothing.

“…huh? Where’s Miss Holly?” Sparky mumbled. The sheets were all crumpled and stuff, which meant Miss Holly had slept there last night, and she definitely remembered her trainer tucking them in, plus Miss Holly was at that age where humans were lazy, so there was no way she was gonna get out of bed before the rest of them, especially her. Because Sparky always had lots of energy, and was always always the first one to get up in the mornings.

But her trainer wasn’t in bed. And that was weird, because there was this one time where Miss Holly stayed in bed until lunchtime, and Sparky’s stomach had been groaning at her for hours at that point.

Sparky tapped fingers against her chin. Was it a special day or something?

Her eyes lit up. Maybe Miss Holly was making a special breakfast for the special day?!

A soft tingle started rumbling from somewhere deep within her at the thought of Miss Holly’s homemade poffins – always perfect, and always a different combination of berries!

With a gasp, Sparky leapt from the bed and landed softly on the carpet. Sir Higglesworth and Socks stayed where they were as she scampered down the hallway. Practically gliding down the stairs, the thought of poffins was almost too much to resist!

But after scrabbling to a halt on the kitchen lino with a notable lack of poffins to smell, confusion struck again.

“Hmm... Miss Holly isn’t preparing a super special breakfast?”

Maybe getting excited over nothing wasn’t the best of approaches. Whatever Miss Holly was doing this early, she probably had her reasons. A cursory scoot into the sitting room let her confirm that her trainer wasn’t in there, either.

The Saturday sun was getting ever higher in the sky, casting a golden glow onto the squishy pink carpet and beaten up old couch. Miss Holly wasn’t even knitting in her chair like she always liked to do, either.

“Where is she…?” Sparky said. A shadow flashed past the room for a brief moment and Sparky’s excitement rose again. Had Miss Holly gone to the shops? It was a bit early to do that but maybe?

But it withered and died quickly when no one tried to open the front door. A wavy bluish silhouette wobbled up close to the lumpy windows, but it was only the mail lady because one, two three letters flopped through the mailbox instead of Miss Holly.

Sparky picked them up and rearranged them by colour; red first because that was an important colour, then the two yellowish ones.

“I wish I could read human…” she squinted at the squiggles. “Ahh well. Once I find Miss Holly, she can read them to me!”

Another slow venture had Sparky toddling up the stairs once again, passing by the photos on the wall. They were always fun to look at, because Miss Holly liked taking photos of them all and they were like a diary but with pictures instead of words because they showed what Miss Holly was like years ago.

There was the picture of her and Sir Higglesworth, back when he was an Abra and she was younger. Then there was the one where Socks joined her as a shy little Sentret, huddling close to her. Because Miss Holly was a careful and patient trainer, Sir Higglesworth quickly turned into a Kadabra and Socks became a Furret in no time.

Sparky didn’t meet up with Miss Holly until after she’d gotten on the big boat and moved to Unova, but she remembered it like it was yesterday. She had gotten up early – a lot like today! – and gathered herself a big pile of Chesto Berries for breakfast because they were her favourite. But a silly Natu flew past and shocked her, and she fell out of her tree.

The next thing she knew she was inside a pokeball, and then a part of Miss Holly’s family. Sir Higglesworth was the first one to reach out to her, teaching her the rules and nice things about being Miss Holly’s Pokémon, and why it was better than being a wild Pokémon.

The last photo on the stairs was taken outside the house they lived in now. The ivy wasn’t as bad back then, but it was a really windy day that day and the autumn leaves were blowing everywhere and so was Miss Holly’s hair.

“She looks so tired in this picture…” Sparky mumbled. Her trainer was still smiling, but there were dark rings under her eyes. She was also wearing a long hoodie instead of one of her usual t-shirts, though that could’ve been because it was windy.

“So many fun memories…” She said, looking away from the nostalgia and hopping up the last stair. The bathroom was just ahead, and it was about time she washed her face.

“I’ll give these to Miss Holly later.” She dropped the letters down on the little table outside and pushed the door open. She stumbled up the steps to reach the kitchen sink and made sure to pay extra attention to the sleepy dust in her eyes. But then an unusual sight in the mirror caught her attention.

“Huh…?” She span around, squinting. “Hey, wow!

Jumping down from the little steps, Sparky finally found her trainer. “Miss Holly, I didn’t know you could fly!”

But weirdly enough, Holly did not respond.

“Does it take a lot of concentration to fly like that?” Sparky prompted again.

Still no response.

“Oh yeah, I don’t speak human do I?” She chuckled. “I know! I’ll go get everyone! Stay there Miss Holly I’ll be right back!”

Sparky zipped back down the hallway and into the bedroom, where both Socks and Sir Higglesworth were still fast asleep.

“Guys, come quick!” Sparky shook the pair of them awake. “It’s amazing!”

“…what is it, Sparky?” Sir Higglesworth’s deep voice grumbled. With a heavy sigh, the Kadabra rose slowly and smoothly from his sleeping position. Socks remained asleep.

“It’s Miss Holly!” Sparky cried. “She’s flying!”

“Flying…?” Sir Higglesworth faltered. His mind still foggy, he summoned the energy to raise an eyebrow at Sparky. Was this another one of her pranks?

“Come quick, I’ll show you!” She tried to grab Sir Higglesworth’s arm and drag him out of the beanbag.

“Alright, all right, Sparky…” He grumbled again, rising to his feet. Meanwhile the still sleeping Socks just uncoiled on top of the beanbag.

“Flying. Peh.” Sir Higglesworth yawned, slowly padding after Sparky along the soft carpet. “I shall believe that when I see it. Whatever has her so excitable today is beyond me.”

“C’monnn, Sir Higglesworth!” Sparky flailed at the bathroom door. “Miss Holly can’t fly forever!”

“I assure you, Sparky,” Sir Higglesworth rose a knowing finger. “Believe what you will, but humans cannot-”

And then he saw. Panic curdled within him like a viscous slime, and his spoon fell to the ground with a clatter. For a few moments, all he could do was stare.

“See? See! I told ya she could fly!” Sparky just jumped about in her excitement.

“Y-y-yes, it is… indeed, a rather brilliant example of flying!” Sir Higglesworth’s voice cracked. “Did you want some breakfast, Sparky? I’m awfully hungry all of a sudden!”

“No way, not yet!” Sparky cried. “I’ve gotta show Socks! She’ll wanna see this!”

“No no no, don’t do that!” Sir Higglesworth said sharply, but it fell on deaf ears as Sparky charged out of the bathroom again.

Sir Higglesworth groaned. That was not going to end well, he could already tell.

But there was a more pressing issue at hand.

“Lady Holly, respond!” He snapped his fingers. Holly did nothing.

“Lady Holly I implore you, please respond!” He cried, floating up and shaking her by the shoulders. His efforts were in vain…

Meanwhile Socks was continuing to prod Socks in an attempt to rouse her.

“C’mon Socks! C’monnnnnnn!” She poked the young Furret repeatedly.

“Noo, I don’t wanna go to Day Care…” Socks mumbled in her half-asleep state, rolling over and burying herself farther into the beanbag. “…you can’t make me.”

“Gah!” Sparky grumbled. But with a glint in her eye, she charged up a little spark of electricity in her palm and jabbed Socks with the static.

“Yagh!” Socks yelped, bursting out of the beanbag and several feet into the air. “W-what the?!”

“Oh yay, you’re awake!” Sparky giggled, curling her hand into a fist behind her back.

“…yup, I’m up.” Socks said, smacking her lips. “But not for long. Come at me, beanbag.”

She spread her little arms out and collapsed forward toward the beanbag.

“Nooo, no no no, no more sleep!” Sparky dove underneath Socks to hold her up. “I’ve gotta show you something! It’s awesome!”

“Wha? Awesome?” Socks murmured, a shudder rippling along her skinny body as she stretched. “What’s awesome?”

“Miss Holly’s flying!” Sparky said. “Come see!”

“Flying?” Sparky frowned, her voice just as sceptical as Sir Higglesworth’s. She rubbed her eyes, “Whaddya mean flying? She’s a human. Humans can’t fly… can they?”

“Yeah, I thought that myself!” Sparky said. “B-but then I saw it and Sir Higglesworth agrees with me, and he knows everything so it’s gotta be true!”

“Higgle says so?” Socks’ eyes widened. “S-so you’re not making it all up?”

“Nope! It really really is true! Quick, come see!”

“Alrighty then…” Socks yawned. “You’re gonna have to drag me though. My legs are still asleep.”

Sparky just chuckled, grabbing onto a leg and attempting to drag Socks’ lazy body towards the bathroom, where a panicky Sir Higglesworth was still fretting.

“Oh bother, what shall I do?!” He pleaded with the very air. The odds of an ingenious answer spawning from the ether before more innocent eyes could be scarred were slim at best. But the grunting of Sparky dragging Socks’ unwilling body ever closer was going to have to force some drastic measures.

“That will have to do!” He exited the room and closed the door sharply. Just in time for Socks and Sparky to appear from around the corner.

“Heyyy, Higgle!” Sparky grunted, still dragging Socks for all she was worth. “Is Miss Holly still flying?!”

“Umm…” Sir Higglesworth merely plastered on a smile.

“Aww, don’t tell me she made it up?” Socks’ face fell. “And I fell for it again?! Stupid Socks, stupid!”

“No no, Lady Holly is indeed flying!” Sir Higglesworth stammered. “She just wishes for more time to practice and improve her technique, so that she may impress you further next time!”

“But I haven’t seen this time yet…” Socks mumbled. “C-can I see Trainer now please?”

“I am afraid she has locked the door, Socks!” Sir Higglesworth flailed an excuse. “She must really want to practice!”

“Locked?” Socks gave a suspicious frown. “…that door has a lock?”

“Yes it does, Socks!” Sir Higglesworth insisted, slapping her hand as she reached for the handle.

“Oww! Hey, what was that for, Higgle?!” Socks recoiled.

“That was for disbelieving in my integrity.” Sir Higglesworth snapped. “Now, please refrain from repeating that in the future. I abhor being doubted.”

“…okay, you just said a lotta really long words…” Socks yawned. “But whatever it means, I don’t agree with it. I wanna see trainer flying!”

“And I am under strict instruction to prevent that from happening!” Sir Higglesworth followed his arms. “I do apologise Socks, but Lady Holly has left me in charge. Now shall we put this awful moment behind us and get some breakfast?”

“Breakfast?!” Both girls shouted at once.

“It’s about time!” Sparky practically swooped downstairs. “I’ve been waiting all morning!”

Socks ambled after Sparky, wobbling down the stairs with her long, unwieldy body, and Sir Higglesworth watched the both of them disappear from eyeshot.
Before immediately breaking down.

“Oh, heavens above…” he sniffled. Hot, stinging guilt threatened to break loose from his depths. “Why did you do it, Lady Holly? Was there anything I could have done?”

“C’monnn, Higgle!” Socks’ voice echoed from downstairs. “Breakfast means you gotta make it dude! Don’t trust me with fire!”

Sir Higglesworth stared blankly at the row of photos on the wall. “…how will I tell them?”

 

[Superbeans]

Chapter 2: Scars​

An ashen faced Sir Higglesworth took slow, lumbering steps down the stairs, the wrenching feeling of guilt gnawing away at his insides.

“Whatever happened?” He mumbled to no one. “Oh Lady Holly, if only you had told – hm?”

The soft carpeting of the hallway floor had suddenly changed to a sticky, messy one. Sir Higglesworth looked down and found a perfectly stubborn patch of syrup seeping under the doorway.

“Oh dear… what have those two done…” He sighed, wobbling on one foot to minimise the mess. “N-now is not the time to worry. I must keep our family together! Lady Holly would be displeased if I just let things fall apart.”

He edged the kitchen door opened and hopped through, before immediately snorting in disgust as the acrid stench of smoke invaded his nostrils. “Wh-what has happened here?”

“About time, Higgle!” Socks squeaked, her face black with smoke – along with the chef’s hat she’d acquired from somewhere – but her eyes shining with achievement. “Remember when I said you shouldn’t trust me with fire? Well these are only burned so there!”

Sir Higglesworth groaned heavily. ‘Only’ burned wasn’t quite the phrase. In the few minutes it took him to get downstairs, the sink had been piled high with dirty dishes, an enormous bottle of syrup had been spilled over the floor, and both Sparky and Socks were sitting on stools to avoid it. To their credit though, they had managed to cook a stack of pancakes, which were also drowned in syrup and swaying dangerously.

“Didn’t we do awesome?!” Sparky giggled. She casually threw the spatula she was holding, which landed in the mess of syrup on the floor with a damp slap.

Sir Higglesworth sighed once more. “Y-yes, good job girls. Now shall we move to the kitchen?”

“Err…” Socks said. “I dunno if you’ve noticed, but the floor’s all syrupy, Higgle.”

His grimace stretched wider. “Yes, Socks. I had noticed.”

“How could he miss it, Socks? It’s everywhere!” Sparky laughed, provoking a tiny moan from the Furret.

Yet more distractions. How lovely. Sparky was practically glowing when he pried the stack of pancakes from her and splashed across the syrupy floor into the kitchen, but all of this was hardly necessary. A distraction from reality, maybe, but sooner or later he was going to have to burst that happy bubble.

How long would they last before someone got suspicious? An hour? A few hours? A couple of days?

They said ignorance was bliss, Sir Higglesworth mused to himself. Reality was certainly torturous enough to have him believe it. Was the rest of their time together going to be naught but lies?

The plate hit the table with a dull clatter. After opening a window to clear out some of the smoke, he fell into the nearest seat as Socks balled herself up into an adjacent seat, and Sparky scampered up a stack of books to reach hers.

“Heyyy, why’re you in Trainer’s seat, Higgle?” Socks’ head tilted sideways. “What if she gets hungry for these amazing pancakes we made?”

“…r-right!” Higgle stammered, shuffling around to the other side of the table. “Sorry Socks, I was just… rather distracted. I-I shall get those pancakes served now.”

The pancakes were easily shared out into four piles, for the girls’ sakes. Floating pancakes wasn’t much, but it was something he could still do at least. How dull his powers had grown over the years. He was a laughing stock. He couldn’t he have known? What manner of Psychic-type was he, to fail at basic telepathy? To not even know when his beloved trainer needed him most?

He was a disgrace of a Pokémon. If he couldn’t protect his trainer, then what use was he? It was all just so-

“Hey Higgle, gonna eat those?”

The angry mist thinned out, and Socks’ wide eyes blurred into his vision. Her eyes were wide and hopeful.

It was them. It had to be. He’d failed Lady Holly, but absolutely could not fail Socks and Sparky, no matter the cost. They were all he had.

Higgle summoned up a response, “…oh. Y-you can have them, Socks. I am not that hungry today.”

“Awesome, thanks again Higgle! You’re a star!”

All but one of his pancakes were swiped away, removed from his static line of vision. But of course, a fresh batch of guilt surged through his system at the sight of Holly’s empty seat, with her pancakes just sitting innocently in front of it.

A sudden twinge forced him to blink and look away. How long had he just been staring? His eyes were starting to hurt from it. This wasn’t good; he was unravelling already. For the good of the girls, he had to stay strong.

“M-make sure that you do not touch Lady Holly’s breakfast, okay girls?” He stammered, dismounting his seat with a flourish. “Like you said Socks, she may become… hungry.”

“Sure thing, Higgle!” She beamed at him, mouth bulging with pancakes. Socks’ smile slowly eroded as she watched Higgle slowly walk through the kitchen, not even caring about the syrup on the floor anymore.

That was weird. He was so mad about it earlier.

“H-hey, is it just me, or is Higgle acting kinda weird today?” She said to Sparky.

“Iunno?” Sparky shrugged, swallowing down her weight in pancakes. “I guess he’s just shocked about Miss Holly flying, maybe?”

“Huh. Musta been a big surprise then,” Socks glanced over to the sole uneaten pancake. “I mean, he didn’t touch his food, and he loves pancakes.”

“He loves Miss Holly’s pancakes.” Sparky raised a knowing finger.

“That’s true…” Socks mumbled. "Trainer’s pancakes are the best in the world, huh?”

“Mm-hmm!”

“A-and she’s gonna be so proud of us when she sees that we made breakfast on our own! I mean sure, we made some mess, got the place a little smoky, but the food’s great and we only set the house on fire once!”

“Not to mention me getting the stove started by myself!”

“Yeah, that was amazing Sparky! Where’d you learn that?!”

“You know those clicky sounds it normally makes before the fire starts? That’s electricity! A-and I make electricity, so I just put two and two together, y’know?!”

“Yeah, you sure taught that silly stove!”

“Yeah, ‘cause I’m awesome, huh?”

“…”

Suddenly the conversation wasn’t fun anymore. Sparky just wanted her to say nice things about her instead of conversationy things, and where was the fun in that?

“Aw c’mon, say it!” Sparky pleaded. “We’d still be hungry if it wasn’t for me!”

“But if I do you’ll spend like the next week screaming about it!” Socks cried. “A-and Trainer doesn’t like it when you’re loud!”

“B-but she’d be so proud of m…us!” Sparky got up from her book ladder and walked across the table to her. “You said it yourself!”

“Then go make her say it!” Socks huffed. “I-I don’t wanna break any rules!”

“Say it.”

“…nu!”

“Say it.”

“Nooo…!”

“Say it!” Sparky jabbed Socks in the waist with a spark of electricity.

“Yow…!” Socks flailed in protest. “Don’t do that, Sparky! Wait a minute… did you do that earlier too?!”

“Maybe I did…” Sparky smirked. “And I might do it again if you don’t say it!”

“Ohh… that’s super not fair, Sparky!”

“I’m listening…” The little Emolga cupped a hand to her ear.

Socks just groaned. Sparky was being mean and it wasn’t fair, but she didn’t have much of a choice.

“…you’re awesome.”

It was best to just get it out of the way. At least then she’d stop being mean.

“Yeaaaahh, I’m awesome!” Sparky cried, whooshing past Socks and charging around the kitchen, “Woohoo!”

Sparky’s shouting was extra loud today, so Socks got up and left the kitchen as quickly as she could. Maybe it was time to go see what Higgle was up to. Sparky was going to be busy shouting about herself for a while anyway, and the house was boring when she was on her own.

Socks mumbled to herself, noodling away across the floors and peering around corners to find Higgle. He wasn’t in the TV room or the hallway, and definitely wasn’t in the kitchen because it was still covered in syrup and she saw him leave it. So that just left upstairs.

Luckily she didn’t have to search for too long, because Higgle was sat at the top of the stairs. He was squashed up against the top wall and looking at a letter, but he wasn’t reading it because his eyes weren’t moving and because he couldn’t read human.

“Huh. Higgle’s zoned out again?” She frowned. “Weird.”

She wobbled her way up the stairs, landing softly on the carpet and squashing herself next to him.

“Hey there, Higgle.”

Even with her nuzzling her head into his shoulder, it took him a weirdly long time to say anything.

“…hunh? Who? What?!”

“Are you okay, dude?” She eyed him worriedly. “You’ve been acting weird all morning. Like, I spilled all that syrup earlier and you didn’t even yell. What’s wrong?”

“I-it’s nothing Socks, really.” Higgle looked away from her. “I’m just…”

“Distracted?” Socks mewled.

“Y-yes. Nothing to worry about though, however I thank you for your concern. H-how is Sparky doing?”

“She’s… awesome,” Socks grimaced. “But we’re talking about you now Higgle. Wanna tell me what’s up?”

“I am fine, Socks. Seriously. Please st-”

“But you’re not fine, Higgle.” Socks said, with more strength in her voice. Higgle’s eyes narrowed at her.

“I… I’m not so smart, I know that.” Socks rubbed her paws together. “But you know what else I know? I know you, Higgle. And I know that I know you, because we’ve been together forever, so I know that I know when you’re not being you, s-so c’mon, what’s wrong with you today?”

Higgle’s eyes bounced all over the place and his skin went clammy, like when you randomly get icky at night-time. He sighed and said. “It’s these letters that were delivered for Lady Holly. I am having trouble transcribing the text.”

“Uh huh…?” Socks nodded. “A-and what does that mean?”

“Read, Socks. I am trying to read them.” Higgle said more simply, with words that actual people used. “I understand that there is an abundance of red writing on these letters, and I can perceive that red writing is ominous, but I cannot for the life of me…”

Higgle’s lips continued moving, but the words just got longer and more complicated, and it just started to sound like the TV when there weren’t any channels on it, and before long her brain was starting to hurt.

“Agh…” She winced. “W-why is reading these letters so important Higgle? Can’t you just get Trainer to do it?”

“Because they contain information, Socks.” Higgle said flatly. “If I am able to decipher them, it may provide me with reasons.”

“…reasons?”

“Yes, reasons.”

“What kinda reasons?”

“Reasons as to why…” the letters in Higgle’s hands were shaking. “W-why…”

But then Higgle let out a loud, noisy sob, and his head crashed forwards into his knees. Her best friend was whimpering next to her, and all she could do was stare. She’d known Higgle for years, and he never ever got upset, even when sad stuff happened. But then tears started dripping onto the carpet, so something must’ve been really wrong.

Socks’ mouth tightened. Did she give Higgle space or comfort right now? She always seemed to pick the wrong one…

“…this had something to do with Trainer, doesn’t it?” Socks dared, the clues forming in her mind like a block puzzle. She wrapped her long, skinny body around Higgle. “I mean… you normally just let Trainer read her mail, so it’s gotta be something big, right?”

Higgle looked up, his face stricken. He didn’t look like he was about to cry any more but somehow Socks felt worse at the sight of him.

“…yes.”

“Can I… see Trainer?” She let out a tentative mumble. “I’d really really like to see her…”

“…alright,” Higgle sighed. Lips thin, he stood up straight again and offered Socks a hand up. “You deserve that much.”

“Thank you, Higgle.” Socks nuzzled against him again. “She’s just through here, right?”

“…yes.”

“A-and I can see her? No more hand slapping and stuff?”

“N-no more.”

Socks put a paw against the door. It felt cold to the touch, creaking gently. She glanced back and saw that Higgle’s eyes were gleaming. Whatever was going on here, it was behind this door.

“I-I don’t like this,” Socks mumbled. “Like, why’re you so scared, Higgle? It’s just Trainer… right?”

“You shall find out soon enough, Socks.” Higgle didn’t look her in the eye. “But just remember one thing for me, okay?”

“B-but I remember lots of things, Higgle?”

“But especially this, okay?”

“S-sure thing, Higgle.”

Higgle gulped. His arms started trembling. This was getting scary.

“Remember that we are a family, okay Socks? N-no matter what.”

“Th-that’s a silly thing to say, Higgle!” Socks’ voice cracked. “Why wouldn’t we be a family? I mean, we’re all under this roof and we love each other lots and we have fun together, a-and-”

Socks stumbled backwards and edged the door open.

And she saw.