"Ugh, I'm so fucking hungry! Where's that bush I always get my berries from?" My stomach growls even louder, a muffled, wet grumbling coming from my midsection. "If I don't find any food soon, I'm going to wither away." I keep up my frantic searching, eventually finding the Oran berry bush in the exact same place it has been for the past 4 years, ever since some forgetful trainer planted it there and just left it to become overgrown. The bush had managed to survive many fierce storms all on it's own, with no care from anyone until I found it. That's when it became my regular feeding spot, never taking more berries than I should, leaving the unripe ones to ripen over time and later be picked by me.
"Ahh, sweet delectable morsel, you shall be mine." I grin with somewhat of a mock evil, reaching out with a single paw, my claws extending and piercing the firm flesh of the Oran berry as I pluck it from it's stem. Before I engorge myself on the sweet treasure, I take a huge whiff, inhaling the scent of the berry, and gag, retching and dry heaving on the smell that assaults my senses instead of the sweet smelling berry.
"Oh Arceus, what is that terrible smell?" I whimper, covering my nose with the paw not holding the berry, as I begin searching for the source of the putrid oder. "Ugh, it smells like a Magikarp that has been sitting on the beach for a month." I press on past a couple of barren bushes, finally finding the source of the offensive oder, a small, black Umbreon, all skin and bones, just lying on the ground, and looking as if he hadn't eaten in years.
His fur is matted and filthy, with twigs and grass and the occasion leaf stuck in his black fur. The coat itself is fading, and almost looks gray. Surprisingly, instead of the normal yellow rings, his rings are a dull red, but are so faded themselves you can tell they don't have any glow whatsoever, a sure sign he is very ill and most likely dying. Ignoring his horrible smell, I rush to the side of the Umbreon lying prone on the ground.
"Oh my gosh! Are you ok? You don't look so good mister." I prod him, poking his side softly to see if he's still alive, and am slightly relieved when I notice the slight rise and fall of his chest. He barely moves, and I notice his eyes don't move to even acknowledge my presence. "Go away! Just leave me here to rot. I deserve to die!" He mumbles, as I can tell from his voice, as although weak and hoarse from what sounds like no water in just as long as he has gone without eating, is still rather deep and definitely male.
"What?!?" I screech at him in stunned amazement, "No one deserves to die! I don't know what horrible atrocity you could have committed, or what could have possibly happened to you, but you do not deserve to die."
"Yes I do. Just leave me here and let me rot in peace, so go away!" He barks out rather harshly, causing me to recoil as apparently the strain of almost yelling is too much for him, his body suddenly being wracked by a coughing fit, flecks of blood coming out and splattering the grass. He groans quietly in pain as the coughing subsides, starting to talk again, not even addressing me, talking like I'm not there. "Why can't I just die? Does the universe like seeing me in torment? I just want it all to be over!"
"Shh.... don't strain yourself, you need water. And by the looks of it, you need food as well." I tell him, attempting to sooth him "When was the last time you had anything to drink?" I ask him, trying to convince him to let me know why he believes he should die.
"I don't need water! Eventually my body will shut down from not having any energy or nutrients and a lack of water, and I can finally die in peace. Then my body can decompose and I will at last have a purpose. Food for the worms." "You mean, you haven't drank any water on PURPOSE, trying to kill yourself? Why on earth would you want to do that!" I ask him in astonishment, truly curious as to why he would want to just throw his life away.
"It doesn't matter, I'm just going to sit here and let death take me." He says, sighing in acceptance of the fate he has assigned himself.
"Well I won't. It goes against my being to watch someone harming themselves or others if I can change it. Now, will you tell me why you think you deserve to die, or should I probe your mind for the answers I seek instead?" I demand of him as he looks at me properly, probably just now realizing that I am an espeon.
"I don't want to talk about it. Besides, what's the point? I'll be dead soon anyways, I can feel it. I don't have much longer to wait." He manages to mumble out, looking in even more pain from the effort it is taking for him to talk to me. "Fine," I say with a sigh, "I wouldn't have done it anyways. I believe in privacy, and not invading someone's personal thoughts without permission. But I will not sit back and watch an uumbreon, such as yourself, waste away. I'm helping you, and right now, you are too weak to resist my help."
I sit on my haunches, staring intently at him as my eyes glow a soft red, the gem imbeded in my forehead illuminating a small area around his body from how powerful the glow coming off it is. He meeps softly in surprise, his body moving against his will as it slowly lifts off the ground, hovering a few inches above the grass. He stares down at the ground, not quite grasping how he's floating when he glances my direction and notices my eyes and the red glow coming off my gem. "Put me down!" He screeches, sending him into another coughing fit, the blood and spittle dripping off the side of his mouth as I don't bother to collect it with psychic, letting it drip to the ground.
"I said stop talking! You're only making yourself worse! I'm trying to help you." I say to comfort him, apparently not doing very well as he continues his weak struggles to get out of my psychic hold. I start walking towards him, but he stays the same distance away as I push him, knowing exactly where I'm going. I have to do a bit of extra work, making sure to move the tree branches away, not wanting him to get snagged on any. Luckily, it isn't a long walk, only a couple minutes, in which time he ceases his struggling, realizing it's pointless and he can't get out in his condition.
"How are you carrying me anyways? I thought I was immune to all psychic attacks?" He asks me, which I am happy to enlighten him about. "My father was a Mightyena, my mother an umbreon. With two dark type parents, you learn a thing or two about how to affect them with psychic. They taught me a few tricks, effectively letting me get around the immunity dark types have to my attacks. Not many psychic types such as myself can do it, the dark types that know about the weakness don't like to spread the word around, for obvious reasons. But don't worry, I promise not to hurt you."
He gets a faraway look in his eyes, not bothering to try and look at me anymore. "Is that why you care so much about helping a decrepit umbreon like me?"
"Kind of. I know how much it would kill me to see my mother in your condition, but that's not the only reason. I truly care about helping other pokemon whenever I get a chance. My father says that's my weakness and that some day, someone will try to take advantage of my kind nature, but I look forward to the day I can help them too."
His body gets racked by what I believe to be another coughing fit, until I find out he's actually chuckling! "Are you stupid? Or just plain naive?" He asks me, the first time I've seen him smile, and it's to laugh at me!
"What do you mean stupid? What's so wrong with wanting to help people?" The chuckling stops, and his body remains still again. "Trust me, some people may think they want help, and you may try to help them, only to find out you never should have bothered." Deciding not to push it any further, I drop the subject.
"So what's your name anyways? My name is Lira." It takes him a few seconds to answer, probably deciding whether or not he should, before mumbling "Jariah. But please, call me Shadow." "Alright then, Shadow, may I ask why?" He doesn't respond, so I take it as a hint to drop the subject, the rest of the walk to my den in complete silence.
I pad into my den, Shadow floating in front of me, and I set him down on a pile of pine needles covered in grass acting as my bed. "Now, you are going to sit there and let me take care of you. Got it?" He still doesn't respond, resigning himself to his new fate. I head to the back of my den, to a puddle fed by an underground reservoir, the water clean and cold. Some of the water suddenly rises in a small ball, my forehead gem glowing slightly, taking much less effort and concentration than it did to carry Shadow.
"Here, please drink. I can force you if need be, but I would rather not. So please just drink it." I tell him, the ball of water floating close to his head, and he sighs, letting his tongue draw the water into his mouth, causing me to smile. "See? That isn't so bad, now is it Shadow?"
"Of course it isn't bad. I haven't had any water in days. But because of you, I'm going to have to wait even longer to die now." I shake my head, seeing he still wants to die. "I wish you'd tell me why you want to die so much. I might be able to help you." I plea of him, truly wishing to know why he hates himself so much he wishes to die.
"I said I don't want to talk about it!" He snaps at me, causing me to recoil away from him, lowering my head in shame.
"I'm sorry..." I apologize, my stomach choosing that moment to grumble in protest. "Well, I'm going to go get us some food, I know it hasn't been as long for me, but I'm starving, and you, you're literally starving. Try and drink some more water while I'm gone." I tell him, walking away before he has a chance to voice his protests. It takes me a while to find it again, still not knowing why it always takes me so long to find my source of food. This time, I use psychic to pluck the delicious blue berries from the bush, taking more than I normally would, needing enough to feed two. The berries floating through the air, and I make them dance, causing me to chuckle softly, starting my walk back to the den.
I arrive back in my den, only to find that he hasn't moved a single inch, still in the exact same position I left him in. "You didn't even try to get any more water, did you?" I ask him, taking his silence to mean he didn't. "Oh well, I brought some Oran berries to eat."
The blue orbs float down, landing on the ground beside him as I decide not to eat until he does. I pick a berry up with my claws this time, holding it by his mouth.
"Why are you doing this? Why can't you just leave me to rot like everyone else?" He asks me, still not eating. "I told you already, I help people who need it, and I'm not like everyone else. I don't just 'leave pokemon to rot' as you put it. Now eat." I command, holding the berry slightly closer. He opens his mouth slightly, leaning forward to take a bite, hesitating instead and pulling back.
"Oh just eat it already!" I tell him, and he finally decides to cooperate, his teeth sinking into the soft berry and taking a chunk out of it, chewing it up before swallowing, then going in for another bite. He apparently likes the taste, as it is gone in only few bites, and he asks for another, the healing properties of the Oran berry causing him to look slightly better, his fur slightly darker and his rings have the faintest of glows. "See? You look better already." After awhile, he managed to put down six berries, and even asked for some more water, while I ate the last three berries.
He lets out a yawn, almost immediately followed by a yawn from myself, looking outside and realizing just how late it has gotten. "Oh my. Well, I need to go to sleep, and I think you do to." I tell him, unnecessarily I find out, as he has already nodded off, and I curl up on the ground a few feet from him, sleeping on the ground since he took my bed.
