Sappire

Still living at home with mom; still have epilepsy, still not able to work or drive, still trying to earn my keep by helping out around the house.

Last winter we had some pipes burst! I’ve had to master the art of DIY plumbing and got it mostly fixed but it was way more stressful than it should’ve been and that was preeetty much why I vanished on here again.

I don’t recall ever putting it on here; our dog, Elvis, ultimately passed away about a year or so after my step dad did. He ended up with cancer and we had to put him down. He was a good pupper right up until the end and I had to do my darnedest not to cry in front of him since he was such a sensitive bab. At the time, our car was in the shop and we had to call for a taxi. The driver was insanely kind to us and put up with us putting a hundred pounds of dog in his backseat, and didn’t charge us extra when we asked to stop at a gas station to get some junk food to drown our sorrows in. He also told us the story of how he put his own dog down, and how sorry he was to hear it had happened to us, too.

One of our cats died- Tricky, our big black kitty. She got cancer, as well, and when we couldn’t get her to eat even with taking something to increase appetite we had to have her put down. She was an absolute sweetheart and the vet let me hold her while they gave her the injection.

I’m pretty sure I posted on here when our other kitty- Moony- died year before last? In case I didn’t: It was kidney failure. There wasn’t anything that could be done. He became joined at the hip with me when he first started getting sick, and having to make the call myself to have him put down hurt.

More kittens happened!! We had a feral kitty (feral as in you didn’t want to approach her or she would probably attack) that was best friends with Elvis and used to eat and sleep with him for protection against our other feral cats. After we lost him, we kept putting food out in his bowl for her to eat in the garage. That became primarily my job and after working with her for around three years (I’d started trying to work with her before Elvis even got sick) she started approaching me and rubbing against my legs. Then she proceeded to have kittens and I had to activate CODE ADORABLE and we adopted all four of them- and her! The kittens were darlings and one in particular (named Cobbler now) considered me his second mother, but it was pretty easy to coax them inside the house once they were around three weeks old. Mama cat followed them and we led them into a spare bedroom. That was two years ago, and they’ve all been fixed and given their shots and they’re a bunch of healthy little babies! Cobbler is still the mama’s boy, though, and he won’t eat in the morning unless I pick him up and talk to him for a good few minutes.

Pokemon!! Pokemon has been something of a saving grace for me! Between car break downs (which happen every few months it seems), doctor appointments, and just life being generally not fun, Pokemon has helped keep me a little sane. In the past year and a half I’ve played through around... seven games, including the USUM and LGPE. Let’s Go Eevee is stupidly fun, for the record, and Eevee, Mew, and I are steamrolling over Kanto and finding shinies along the way.

This spring! This! Past! Spring! I saw someone reblog a post on here talking about turning characters without a set backstory into a fighting game, then someone added to make a dating game and included links to Ren’py and a few other engines and whoo boy. I decided to try Ren’py and I got hooked and now I’m making a game I guess?? It’s a weird mix of point-and-click, dating sim, and adventure at this point. I’m making it entirely myself (art, programming, writing/plot) and it’s been super fun!! My art’s improved a lot as a result and I totally need to share game progress on here!

My mom’s wheelchair thing is a loooong story. In an effort to keep it a little short: basically her VA doctor ignored her back pain, sent her to physical therapy, ultimately drove her into a wheelchair. Not fun.

This past November was a mess of no sleep and little food and I’m still kind of reeling from it. Slowly getting back into the swing of things, though!

Throughout all of this, I’ve been super grateful for my uncle!! He lives an hour away and preaches at a church in his city, but he makes a concentrated effort to come and pick me up once a month to go to church with him and have a meal with his congregation. He also sometimes drops some food off for me and my mom when he knows things are particularly tight for us. I’d never tell him and he probably doesn’t realize it, but he feels like the closest thing I have to a dad these days. <3

AND YEAH BASICALLY THINGS HAVE BEEN HECTIC.

But there’s been some good hectic buried in there!

Guzma stood, hands bound with rope, staring down the noose that waved cruelly at him in the wind. The bags under his eyes were more pronounced than usual, evidence of the sleepless night he had spent in the cellar of his father's estate, and his hair was hanging damp around his ears from the nervous sweat even his stubborn pride had been unable to prevent. It was just as well it left him dehydrated, really- with his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth he was less likely to try and make a scene. At this point he half suspected that was what they wanted from him; to prove before the town he was still a boisterous nuisance that needed to be silenced. The sort that no one would miss. He wouldn't give them that satisfaction. Finally, when the swinging rope became too much, he dropped his eyes to his bound hands, raising them so he could stare at his palms. He might have been bound to a post beside the gallows' platform and in front of the slowly-gathering crowd, but they had left him enough freedom to raise and lower his arms. Again, probably in hopes he would react like a chained animal and try to escape, making a show for the people.

In all honesty, he had never really attached that much importance to his life. He only existed so his family could say they had an heir. They had to have someone to put on display and then try to whip into shape when no one was looking, it was just that he had just refused one too many times to get into whatever shape it was they expected of him. Every disappointment he'd caused them had led to this- his final punishment for rebellion. Even now, he felt nothing when he thought of going through the ordeal ahead of him. Just one more son disowned by his family, destined for the chopping block so they could make room for another and use him as an example. But as his mind wandered further from himself, instinctively searching for some kind of emotion to feel so it wasn't left drifting in this sea of apathy, his fingers curled inward into fists. Erika. She had been his future. The one thing that had given him a spark of hope for something better down the road. He had told himself from the onset that nothing good would come of getting too close to her- eventually his father had been bound to intervene- but that hope had persisted. That terrible, lovesick hope that made him feel nauseous with loneliness when he was shut up in his own chambers. The rebellious ache in his chest when his father spoke to him at dinner about his family's plans they had set for him without his consent. The wonderful thrill of a quickened heartbeat when he found himself meeting her at three AM in the gardens outside his window.

His stomach tightened into a knot and he had to swallow a lump in his throat.

He wouldn't cry. He couldn't let his father think he had won. To show tears now would be to show weakness and fear. It would show regret.

He didn't regret the evenings when Gladion would buy out an entire inn and Erika and her group of friends would gather with him in the lobby to waste half the night laughing and joking as if for all the world they had no responsibilities. He didn't regret actually taking the time to live a little bit of life, even though he knew punishment came swift and painful afterwards to remind him of his place. He didn't regret the awkward flirting or the unbidden blush he had been so often suffered from.

He didn't regret falling in love with a woman that had actually made him feel like he was worth something.

His attention was drawn from his hands as the creaking of wooden steps broke through the whispering of the thickening crowd. As everyone fell silent, he looked towards the gallows again and saw his father now standing a few feet away facing the people, decked out in richly colored robes with a rolled piece of parchment in his hand.

He definitely didn't look like a father mourning the upcoming loss of his only son.

Guzma closed his eyes and hung his head as the all too familiar voice began to address the gathering. "Today we witness the execution of a punishment handed down from the local court..."

---

The dust rose in thick clouds as hooves the size of dinner plates flew over the the ground, covering the distance quickly not due to speed but solely because the length of the strides were twice that of another horse. Sappire had needed power and stamina over short bursts of speed, and her prized shire horse hadn't failed her in that department.

As she neared the edge of the town now, she tightened her grip on the rope she'd fashioned into reins and dared to draw her steed to a slow canter and then a trot, coming upon the pair that stood there waiting beside the road. Erika stood wringing her hands anxiously, looking as though her nerves were frayed beyond all repair, while Gladion was at her side, holding on to the reins of his own horse as if prepared to jump into the saddle at any moment. Sappire didn't wait for either of them to speak. "Where are they at?" Given Erika's state, it was Gladion who answered, voice tense. "Town square. They're bound to start any minute." Reaching one hand to the satchel at her hip, Sappire gave the reins a sharp slap against her horse's shoulders with the other, bouncing her heels against his sides to further illustrate her intentions. Javelin was not a horse that needed to be told twice, and he shifted back from fast trot to full gallop effortlessly, pausing only long enough to almost rear onto his back hooves to get a small hop of a start. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew his rider needed his utmost obedience- and he intended to give it to her.

A second later the two were lost in a cloud of dust again and the clattering of horseshoes echoes down the cobblestone street. By the time it had settled a little around them, Erika turned to Gladion only to be greeted with the sight of him in his own saddle, reaching down a hand to her. "Get on. You ought to be there, too." There was only a moment of hesitation- a flicker of doubt that perhaps they'd arrive too late and meet with a scene she didn't think she could face- but it faded as quickly as it had come and she took the offered hand with as much courage as she could muster.

They were going to make it in time.

They had to make it time.

---

Danie darted in and out among the crowd of people that now stood in silence around the gallows, listening to the long list of crimes Guzma had allegedly committed against his family. Where was Erika? She looked from face to face for her friend, desperately hoping to find her and determine what was taking so long. Sappire had said she had a plan the night before- she'd all but stormed out of the room upon hearing the news of the verdict that had come in near midnight. Whatever that plan was, it was already running late if it was meant to put a stop to this public hanging.

If Archie hadn't gotten himself locked up for trying to storm Guzma's family estate by himself... Bless his stupid little bravado-filled heart, but trying to determine the state of his imprisonment had caused Danie to run late herself, effectively leaving her out of the loop. Supposedly Erika had been left under Gladion's watch but... but oh, if she could just find her in the crowd-!

This thought process, as well as the reading of Guzma's apparently numerous transgressions, was interrupted by the crashing of hooves against stone, and everyone turned as one in the direction they came from. It didn't take long for everyone to realize that a very large horse was coming at a very fast gallop directly towards them and there were scattered yelps and screams as everyone scrambled to clear the way. Sappire barely managed to stop Javelin in time, and he slid to a halt mere inches from the wooden stage that Guzma's father stood on. Or, well, had been standing on. Nearly getting run into by a shire horse of that size had caused him to stumble backwards and trip, landing on his back and presently scrambling to sit back up. "A decree!" Sappire cried, barely waiting for the clamoring around her to settle as she whisked a gold-trimmed scroll from her satchel. "A decree and royal pardon!" Guzma's attention had been won the moment he'd heard the yells from the crowd and he looked over the edge of the stage to see what the fuss was about. Seeing Sappire unroll the paper in her hands, he felt his heart jump to his throat. A royal pardon? For him? Of all people, he considered himself the least worthy person in town to warrant any attention from the king, and yet...

A second set of hoof beats drew him away from his thoughts. Though Sappire had begun to read from the document she held, Guzma shuffled a few steps to the side- using up about all the length he had with the rope tying him to the pole- and his eyes widened as he saw behind her.

Approaching now (admittedly at more reasonable pace so as to avoid terrifying any of the bystanders further), Erika was clinging on for dear life to Gladion on the back of his own stallion. She peered over the duke's shoulder as they slowed their pace, and her eyes flicked to the empty noose for just a second before searching out the face of the man still bound beside it. Once she met the pair of wide, confused eyes she could only breathe a sigh of relief. They had made it. She barely waited for Gladion to come to a complete halt before leaping off the back of the horse to the street below. She stumbled at the force of her landing, almost falling, before gathering up a few handfuls of her skirts into her arms and running to the man who had only moments before been destined for the noose. Danie had seen her by now, as well as made an effort to call out to her, but it died midway when she realized it was pointless. There was no getting Erika’s attention at this point.

Guzma stared at her for a moment before speaking in a broken, hoarse voice hardly loud enough to be heard, let alone at the distance she was at. "Erika...?" Then, as she drew closer, he found his volume again. "Erika-!" By the time she had rushed up and thrown her arms around him he was only vaguely aware that his cheeks were beginning to feel wet with tears. He wasn't even sure when they had started. With his hands still bound by the rope all he could do was bury his face in the crook of her neck to return her embrace, but it was enough for him in that moment. Taking in a deep breath and savoring the familiar scent of her perfume, faded as it was from a night of pacing the floors with worry, he let it out in a half-sob. She was there. It was going to be okay because she was there. He didn't even care that he was crying on her shoulder now; if it ruined her dress he'd buy her a new one. He'd buy her a dozen new ones. All he had to his name was a pill bug and a stale piece of bread in his pocket, but he'd figure out how to afford them later. For now, he just needed to let everything sink in. He needed to let her presence sink in.

"Hey, kid." Sappire turned her head towards the voice, giving her legs another swing as they hung over the edge of the couch in the center's lobby. "Mm?" "Hey there." Grinning, the man dared to inch a little closer to where she sat, causing her to lean away instinctively.

He was a stranger and Charmeleon was still back being healed, leaving her- an out-of-shape six year old- pretty much defenseless. His choice in clothes further made her nervous; dark glasses and a wide-brimmed hat shielded most of his face from view, and he wore a long brown trench coat that made his exact build impossible to determine. In all honestly, she thought to herself, he looked exactly like one of the men from the PSAs they liked to play in the Pokemon center waiting rooms. The men they usually cautioned young trainers to stay away from. "Um," she said at last, dropping her eyes to the floor and tensing her shoulders. "Hi." "Hey," he said again, coming still closer, "you all alone?" "Mm," she replied, not wanting to admit to anything. Maybe if he thought she had someone else there he'd leave her alone. "I don't bite! C'mon, you come here with anyone? An older brother maybe?" Sappire shook her head. "What about a mommy or daddy?" She didn't want to respond to that and placed her hands on either side of her on the cushion, inching towards the edge of her seat as if she intended to get up. "Oh now, hey!" The man started to reach a hand out towards her shoulder in an effort to stop her, but paused a second later when a threatening growl was heard from the direction of the center's main counter not far away. "Hold on-!" came the harried voice of the nurse, only to be stopped when a very large, very angry Charmeleon vaulted over the top of the front desk in a single leap and ran quickly in the direction of the two by the couch. In a moment he was positioned between the girl- who had jumped up to meet him- and the man now frozen with an arm partially outstretched. With a snarl, Charmeleon narrowed his eyes and released a puff of black smoke from his nostrils, clearly more than capable of stopping anyone from laying a hand on his human. Though the stranger returned his hand to his side for fear of losing it- he really didn't like the look of those teeth- he found himself trapped when a nurse came running up to join them. "Charmeleon, what-?" She stopped, then turned an accusatory glare to the man that had started all of this. "What's going on?" "N-nothing," he began quickly, shoving both hands safely into his coat pockets. "I just saw the little lady was sitting alone and-" Charmeleon took a step towards him, lowering his head like a creature preparing for an attack. Unsurprisingly, this did wonders for speeding up the explanation. "I was- I was just looking for a customer! I thought maybe she knew someone and-" "What kind of customer?" the nurse demanded, placing her hands on her hips. "I'm just a small businessman-" "What kind of customer?" "Here- here, uh," he undid the top button of his coat and reached into it, removing a single pokeball polished to a shine from some unseen pocket. For a split second, Charmeleon looked braced for an attack, but the man immediately placed it gingerly on the couch cushion and gave it a nervous pat. "There," he went on, sounding desperately hopeful, "it's uh- this one's on the house. Just a- just a gift! Go ahead, little girl, just, uh... I'll be going." "Now wait just a second-!" The nurse's protest fell on deaf ears and the man practically sprinted past her to escape, holding on to his coat as though afraid something would fall out in his attempt at a getaway. The next second he had rushed out the center's front doors and off in the direction of Mt. Moon. Hmph'ing in disgust, the nurse turned back to Sappire and leaned over, watching as Charmeleon turned back to her and nudged her shivering form with his dark nose. "Are you alright, hun?" she asked gently. Sappire took her Charmeleon's head in both hands for a second before pulling him in for a tight hug around his neck. "Mm-hm. I think so." "That's good. Did you catch that man's name?" "No." "That's alright, don't worry. Your Pokemon are already healed up- Charmeleon, here, just jumped the gun a minute ago and ran out of the examination room." Releasing the Pokemon in question from the choking hug, Sappire took a step back to look at him in awe. "Did you know I was scared?" "Meleon." "T-that's so cool!" The nurse smiled faintly at seeing some of the tension lift and straightened back up, instead approaching the pokeball that the man had left behind. Before she could walk away with it, however, Sappire stopped her. "C-can I see what's in the pokeball?" "Hm? Oh, well..." She turned back to the little girl with some confusion. "It might be a dangerous-" "That's okay!" Sappire brought her little fists up even with her chest as though she herself was ready to fight. "Charmeleon is feeling better, right? He can take 'em!" As if in agreement, Charmeleon turned to the nurse and raised his head in pride. "Well-" "Please? Just for my Pokedex?" Dropping her arms so she could wiggle free of her backpack, she shoved a hand into one of the side pockets to remove the device that had been given to her by the professor. "I'll just- I'll just read its Pokedex entry and then you can return it. Pretty please? The professor wants me to see all the Pokemon in the whole world and it's gonna take a really really long time and- and maybe it's a rare one!" Though she hesitated, the nurse finally sighed and wrapped her fingers more tightly around the ball, turning it outward. "Alright. Only for a second." "Yay!" A flash of white light later and all three of those present found themselves staring down at a rather pathetic Magikarp. It gave a single flop of its tail in response to being released, but then lay still.

A little too still.

Sappire's Pokedex beeped to life, but it was quickly thrown on the couch beside her as both girl and her Charmeleon dropped down onto the floor to better observe it and confirm that it hadn't immediately died on the spot. The nurse herself dropped the pokeball and brought both hands to her mouth with a quiet gasp before her training kicked in and she turned back towards the front desk where an obliviously calm Chansey now stood. "Chansey! Get the doctor- it's an emergency!" "Cha~ansey," came the cheerful response as the large pink blob turned around to comply. "Sappire- Sappire, don't touch it." Sappire was, in fact, touching the Magikarp when the nurse looked again. She was stroking it, to be exact, and talking softly to it as she tried to determine its condition. It was still breathing, but that much was only noticeable thanks to the wheeze in the poor thing's lungs. More interestingly, though, was that petting it on its side resulted in a thick coat of green slime on the girl's hand when she removed it. It smelled a little too much like raw sewage, and made it obvious that it hadn't come from the cleanest home environment. "It's so dirty," Sappire said quietly, turning concerned eyes up to the nurse. "Is it- is it gonna be okay?" "... The doctor will be out here shortly and we'll take her back to the... to a special room."

---

Sappire was again sitting on the couch in the center's lobby, a single pokeball in her lab as she swung her legs anxiously in the air. At her side, Charmeleon had curled up on the cushion and rested his head over her arm, joining her in staring at the ball. Waiting was hard. The light above the door where the Magikarp had been taken had remained on for a good hour now, and the girl was beginning to doubt that any good news would ever come. Finally, with a deep breath, Sappire slipped her arm out from under her Pokemon's head and rested the hand on top of him, giving him a small pat. "It looked really bad," she said, still speaking softly in the otherwise empty room. "It... it probably hurt a lot." A tiny nod. "Char." "If... if it hurt a lot, maybe... maybe it would be better if... if..." "Char?" Sappire clenched her small fists, allowing the pokeball to settle in the folds of her skirt as she placed her hands on either knee and stared down hard at it. "If- a Pokemon is in a lot of pain, then... then sometimes it d-dies," she managed, swallowing a lump in her throat as tears started to fill her eyes. "That- that's what mommy used to say. A-and sometimes that's better 'cause it doesn't... it doesn't feel anything any more." Charmeleon lifted his head to nudge her arm gently, hating to see her upset. It was a Pokemon's job to help their trainers, wasn't it? Surely there was something he could do to make her feel better about things. Before he had the chance to try, however, the light above the door finally dimmed and the nurse from before stepped out of the double doors very carefully, pausing to look around the room. Noticing Sappire was still there, she tried to put on a small smile. "Sappire?" The girl looked up, tears now running down her face as her hands returned to the pokeball, gripping it tightly in hopes that it would give her some kind of strength. Looking sympathetic, the nurse's smile became just a little more genuine when she saw the tears. "The Magikarp should be fine." Sappire swallowed another lump in her throat. "R-really?" "Her lungs were very... dirty," the nurse went on, trying her best to simplify their findings for the little girl. "She's still very weak, but... would you like to come back and visit her?" Choking out a sob, Sappire stumbled off of the couch, barely aware that she was still holding the pokeball in her vice grip. "Y-yes." "Please, come with me. You're welcome to come too, Charmeleon." "Meleon!"

A few minutes later found the girl and her Pokemon standing beside the small bed that the Magikarp had been tucked almost humorously in. Her scales were clean now, and her breathing was quiet and steady. Even the bad smell had been cleared away. Still, Sappire was already an emotional mess and quickly burst into tears the moment she lay eyes on the poor Pokemon. Charmeleon peered over the edge of the bed himself and tilted his head to one side, curious as to why the fish was tucked into the sheets. Didn't fish belong in the water? In response, the Magikarp gave a single flop of its tail from beneath the blankets, and Sappire finally dropped the pokeball to the floor and reached over the bed, partially lifting the Magikarp gingerly up into her arms so she could hug it, tears quickly making the sheets wet. Another feeble wiggle. "I thought you were gonna be dead!" Wiggle, wiggle. "I- I dinnit want you to be dead!" Flop. "Y-you're a good Pokemon! You're- you're a r-really good Pokemon!"

---

It was much later that night when Charmeleon dared to leave the side of his sleeping human. She had fallen asleep on the bench that was pushed against the room's window, having exhausted herself with crying and worrying, and he had been curled up on the floor beside her. They obviously weren't going to be traversing Mt. Moon tonight. Despite the fact the Magikarp was the reason for this, Charmeleon couldn't resist the opportunity to talk to her and made his way very carefully across the floor, making every effort to keep his claws from clicking on the polished tile as he moved. Coming up to the bed, he lay his head on the edge of it and inched himself closer to the fish in the middle of the blankets. {Psst,} he hissed, giving the bed a little thump with his chin. The Magikarp's eyes flew open at this interruption of her sleep and the one facing upwards moved to look at him with some curiosity. {Hi!} Charmeleon began, flashing a wide, toothy smile. {My name's Charmeleon! How are you feeling?} The Magikarp gave a little flop. {Better...?} {That's good. Sappire was really worried about you.} {S... Sappire?} {That's my human! The little girl over there.} He pointed his nose towards the bench. {She's nice.} The Magikarp flicked her eyes over to the girl for just a second. {Oh, yes. She cries a lot.} {Only because she was worried. She means well!} {I don't mind.} {Say, um... can I ask what happened? You looked really sick.} A small, anxious wiggle. {Bad things.} {Yeah, I bet! It looked really bad.} {Bad things,} she repeated, shivering, {really bad things.} {Er.} He tilted his head a little in confusion. {Do you... do you remember what kind of bad things?} {Dead. Lots of dead.} {Dead... Magikarp?} {Yes! Dead! So many dead.} She gave a small, weak hop. {They died, but they stayed. So many.} {Like... in a tank maybe?} {Yes! Small tank! Many dead! It was scary. It was full of bad things.} Charmeleon furrowed his brow at this, taking a moment to consider the somewhat broken sentences. {Were you raised there?} {Hatched. Hundreds of eggs. Small tank. Dirty.} Another short pause for consideration. {... Well, it's a good thing you're not there any more!} {... Yes.} {Is this your first time out in the world, then?} {Yes.} {It's nice out here! Sometimes it's a little scary and big, but my human is nice and she likes to battle. I like to battle, too! We're going to get really strong and beat all of the other trainers to be the best.} {... I'd like to be the best.} {Oh! Um... well, maybe you can find a human? There are a lot of them.} {No one wants me.} Again, the Charmeleon had to pause. {... Of course someone wants you.} {No,} the Magikarp sighed, {not me. No human for me. I am a disappointment.} {That's not true! Sappire was happy to see you were safe- she wouldn't have been crying like that if you had disappointed her.} {I was raised to disappoint.} {No you weren't! Well... well, maybe you were raised to think that- but it's not true. Any Pokemon can find a trainer.} {Human man sells us. He tells other humans that we are great. He gets lots of money for great Pokemon. We are not so great and we disappoint. We are brought back to him.} Charmeleon wiggled his upper body a little more on the bed, standing on the very tips of his clawed toes. {Well- well even if someone did pay for you, any Pokemon can be good.} {Not for me. I am no good.} Charmeleon frowned. Then, turning his head, he aimed his scarred, blind eye towards the Pokemon on the bed. {Here- look.} A beat, then, {... Blind?} {Completely,} he replied, turning back to face her head-on so he could see her properly. {It was an accident during a battle. Everyone said a half-blind Pokemon would never be able to battle again and told Sappire she should try something else like- like contests or something. I wanted her to replace me at first since I'd slow her down.} {But... she did not?} {No. She didn't. She just buckled down on the training and tried to teach me how to work with a blind spot. I'm good, too! I even beat the Pokemon that took that eye from me. Everyone said I wasn't good and that- that I would only bring disappointment. Sappire proved them wrong! That's what humans do. Humans see things that are bad and try to make them good. They're smart. They can be our eyes when we lose one- or even both- and they take care of us. You can find a human to take care of you, too.} {I cannot fight.} {Well... well maybe not yet! But you could! Like that backpack Sappire always carries around with her? It's got a Pokemon inside. A Kakuna! Kakuna can't even move, but Sappire keeps insisting that he'll evolve one day and be useful. Right now he's just kind of... sleeping, I guess. But still! Maybe you'll evolve one day, too.} {I... don't know.} {You won't know until you try! Maybe you'll evolve and be really, really strong! You've just got to find a human to help you. They can take you places and teach you things. They can keep an eye on you while you're weak.} {... I would like that.} {Yeah! See,} Charmeleon smiled once again, {you've just got to believe in yourself a little. You're away from the weird man now, so you can find a trainer that won't be expecting something else from you. They'll catch you just for you.} Magikarp gave a small, almost excited little flop among the sheets. {Maybe I will. Maybe I will be strong!} Laughing softly, Charmeleon finally lowered his feet fully back to the floor, leaning away from the bed. {For now you should sleep. You need to heal up before you can get strong.} {I will rest.} {And then you can wake up in the morning and be ready for the new day!} {I hope it will be a good day. I would like to be strong soon.} {You will be. Just don't try to rush it.} {I will try.} {Good night, then. Sleep well!} {Good night, Charmeleon.}

---

"Okay, so Magikarp with white whiskers are girls," Sappire was muttering, perched on the edge of the recovering Magikarp's bed and consulting her Pokedex. She paused here, however, to look at the Pokemon in question and grin. "So that's how come everyone knew right away that you were a girl!" She wiggled a little in response.

The nurse had already been in that morning and informed everyone that the Magikarp would be free to go shortly. It was too complicated to go into when speaking to a child, but they were presently attempting to track down the man who had been trying to sell her in hopes of hitting him with a charge relating to the state his 'merchandise' was in. Unfortunately, it seemed as though the search turned up nothing and, as a result, it was around noon when the nurse returned with an almost sad smile. "Everything's settled," she announced. "Magikarp is free to go." "Yay!" Sappire sprung off the bed and broke into a wide smile, stopping for a moment to turn and pick up the wiggling fish into her arms before turning back to the nurse, struggling to hold onto her. "Where does- where does Magikarp go now?" "Well." the nurse paused and crouched down so she was about level with the little girl. "Well you see, she doesn't have a trainer any more." "Okay." "That means she has to go back to the wild until she can find a new one." Sappire frowned just a little. "... But she might not be better yet." "We think she's well enough to fend for herself. Pokemon heal very quickly, after all. Would you like to come with us to release her?" The girl hesitated, giving the squirming Magikarp a little squeeze as she considered her options. "... Okay."

A few minutes later found Sappire and the nurse standing beside a small pond tucked away in a corner of Mt. Moon's craggy border. At Sappire's side, Charmeleon was looking at the little collection of water suspiciously. It was a little out of the way. There was a chance no trainers would think to stop here while traveling. Sappire seemed to have similar qualms and hugged the fish a little more tightly to herself, causing it to squirm around in her arms. "Are you sure this is a good place?" she asked, looking to the nurse. "It's the nearest body of water," the nurse replied. "She can stay here as long as she wants until a trainer comes along." "Is she gonna be safe here?" "Most aggressive Pokemon stay away from the area near the Pokemon center. I'm sure she'll be fine." Sappire crouched down very carefully, arms still around the Magikarp, but stopped again before placing her in the water. "Do you think she'll find a nice trainer?" The nurse smiled kindly. "I'm sure she will." Leaning forward, the girl came within inches of letting her go only to stop yet again and look back at the nurse. "What about her pokeball?" "We've already deactivated it. That means we've turned it off so someone else can catch her in a new one." "A nice person, though, right?" "Of course." At last, if a little reluctantly, Sappire dropped the Magikarp into the small pool before sitting back on her heels and watching as she flicked around in the water eagerly. At least the water was clean and probably easier to swim in than wherever it was she had come from. That was a plus. Charmeleon released a happy growl as he bent down near the water's edge, grinning at the surface. In response, the Magikarp chose to give a particularly impressive jump out of the water only to come crashing back down and send the splash directly into his face. As he sat back and snorted, shaking his head to dry it, Sappire again looked back at the nurse. "Can I stay here and talk to her a little?" "Of course you can," she replied, giving her a little pat on the head. "I'm going to head back inside, though, if you'll be alright." "Okay."

The minutes that followed were mostly spent in silence with Sappire staring down at the water with a look of deep concentration on her face. Finally, she leaned forward and placed her hands at the waters edge. "Magikarp?" A rustle of water and then the orange head emerged, curious. "Are you feeling better?" A little nod. Or at least it looked like a nod- it was hard to tell when her face was practically built into her body. "Do you... do you want a trainer?" Another full-body nod. Sappire hesitated, chewing her lip nervously for a second. Then, finally, "... I kind of want a water type Pokemon." "Kaaarp?" "I have Charmeleon and- and Drills, so that's fire and bug and poison, and Otto is flying and normal and... and I don't have a water type. Water types are supposed to be good for Mt. Moon." She turned pleading eyes on the Magikarp. "You're a good Pokemon. W-would you... would you like to be my water type?" The Magikarp stared at her for a moment, eyes wider than usual at the proposition. "I mean- you don't have to. You're probably still a little tired and stuff but..." She bit her lip again before sliding the backpack off her shoulders and shoving a hand into a random pocket. Pulling out a pokeball, she held it up to the edge of the little pond. "If you want," she said quietly, "you can come with me. If- if you don't want to, you can just stay here and wait for someone else. I know I'm little and I have a whole lot to learn but- but I really like you. I think you're really strong." Cautiously, the Magikarp swam a little closer to the pokeball, looking at it as though trying to determine if it were a trick or not. When Sappire continued to hold it in place, she released a delighted shout of "Kaaaarp!" and lunged, allowing the light to engulf her.

She would be strong one day. She had a human now.

xxx

"Okay, Magic," Sappire was saying, holding the Magikarp in the shallow part of the river outside Cerulean Cave, "Splash!" Magic obeyed, flailing wildly between her trainer's hands and wiggling her fins around in glee. This had been their training for the past week. Sappire had been stumped by the difficulty of Nugget Bridge, and even being young she could still come to conclusion that if the bridge was hard, the gym would be impossible. As a result, her and the team had come out here near the river's shoreline every morning and she would wade in up to her ankles to hold on to her Magikarp and command her to splash. The goal, ultimately, was to teach her to escape from her trainer's grip in hopes it would help her to become more mobile and useful in battle. Charmeleon's task was to ward off any Pokemon that came too close hoping to take advantage of either of the girl or Magic, and Drills- that is, the Kakuna that was now a Beedrill- hovered around her head to cheer them on. Drills knew firsthand how it felt to be useless. He'd struggled with being trapped in a cocoon for long enough to understand the frustration of being unable to contribute. As such, he quickly became the Magikarp's personal cheerleader.

Magic flailed a few more times in the water before pausing, out of breath from the burst of exertion. "Ha!" Sappire threw her head up, triumphant. "I win again!" "Karp-karp," Magic admitted, sounding defeated. "Karp." "Aw, no, you'll get away one of these times! You've just gotta keep trying." "Maybe you should just let her get away." Sappire turned at the strange voice, and felt the brush of Drills' wings as he dropped to shoulder height, buzzing angrily at the interruption. At first, the red hair and swimsuit of the approaching woman meant nothing to the girl, but then she spun around- releasing Magic in the process- and pointed an accusing finger. "You're Misty!" "That's right," the gym leader replied, sounding stern as she came to a stop in front of the young trainer. Throwing her towel over her shoulder, she frowned as her eyes flicked towards the water's surface. "What do you think you're doing to that poor Pokemon?" "W-what?" "That Magikarp. It's cruel to hold them like that- it's not like they can get away from you." Sappire glanced down at the water around her feet where Magic now sat propped up against her ankle to watch the conversation. "N-no, see, I was..." "No excuses!" Misty crossed her arms over her chest and looked furious at this development. "I see kids come out here all the time to bother the local water Pokemon- and I'm sick of it! You either need to learn how to respect them or else-" "Meleon!" From the tall grass nearby, Charmeleon's voice caused the woman to stop and look in some surprise. A second later, the Pokemon himself had leapt from the damp greenery and darted around her, placing himself between his human and the stranger much as he had at the base of Mt. Moon. Sappire bent down and scooped up Magic and stepped out of the water, standing carefully behind Charmeleon and holding her Magikarp close. "She's my Magikarp," Sappire said, speaking quietly and looking nervous. "I wanted to train her to be strong enough to get away." Drills reminded them of his presence by buzzing in agreement. This was delaying their training and he very much wanted to get back on track. Glancing between all three Pokemon present, Misty finally settled her gaze back on the girl. "Aren't you a little... little?" "I'm six!" Sappire replied, giving her Magikarp another squeeze. "Professor Oak gave me Charmeleon and- and I caught everyone else by myself." "Are you traveling alone?" "No. The professor is s'posed to be showing me around a little." "Wait a second..." The woman crouched down so she could better see the Charmeleon- who snorted in frustration at her- and her eyes widened when her gaze fell on his scarred eye. "You're the blind Charmeleon Brock was talking about!" "Char?" "Charmeleon beat Brock by himself!" Sappire offered, sounding more than a little proud of the fact. "I've got his badge on my backpack. We're gonna- we're gonna try and beat all the gym leaders!" Misty straightened back up and looked doubtful of this. "With a Charmeleon and a Beedrill?" "Well- well I have a Pidgeotto, too! She's in her ball, but she's strong! And- and Magic, here, is our newest friend so-" "So that's really your Magikarp?" "Mm-hm! R-right, Magic?" As the girl looked down at the Pokemon in her arms, she was greeted with an enthusiastic "Karp!" and an excited wiggle. For Magic, the idea that she was part of a team was the best thing she could possibly be reminded of.

One day soon she'd be strong. She'd be strong enough make her trainer proud.

---

The day Magic broke away from Sappire's hands and slipped right into the water was the day she knew she was getting closer to reaching her goal. She could feel herself getting stronger, and the force she used to free herself from Sappire's grip had sent the girl flying into the knee-deep water herself. Magic had only been able to celebrate for a brief second because of this, as the next she had swam up to her fallen trainer with concern, only to be met with her sitting up and laughing through the coughing up of river water. It had made a good start to the day. For that matter, Drills and Charmeleon hadn't been idle, either. Though the mornings had been spent in the water, the afternoons were spent with them sparring in the tall grass, working on their speed and ability to dodge. Even Otto had brought herself to join in to make the battles all the more challenging. As a result of the combined improvement across the board, the evening found Sappire finally standing at the end Nugget Bridge, Pokemon huddled around her, and grinning widely at the upcoming challenge. She'd beat the bridge and then she'd beat Misty. Her team was going to be unstoppable. Hugging a squirming Magic close to her- the Magikarp had grown large enough she was now almost too big for her to hold in both arms- she led the group unto the first plank.

The battles moved swiftly due to the week's worth of training they'd done and Charmeleon alone had been able to make swift work of almost everyone on his own. Drills had been eager to help with the few poison types they encountered along the way, but when they came to the final young trainer with a Mankey Otto came out of her Pokeball long enough to secure the final win.

"Congratulations!" The man at the end of the bridge announced, laughing as the little girl came bobbing up to him with her Magikarp still held close. "You've beaten all the trainers and won a prize!" As he reached into the bag at his side to remove one of the nuggets he kept for the victorious trainers, the girl grinned and turned back to behold the now empty bridge. After losing, they'd all retreated to the Cerulean center, grumbling about having to heal their Pokemon again. It solidified her confidence that she had done a good job to see them still missing. Turning back to the man clad in black just as he pulled out the lump of gold that was her prize, she ventured a question. "Where do you find so much gold to give away?" "Hm?" He glanced at her, then to the prize in his hand. "Oh, my boss gives 'em to us." "That's awful nice of him." "It is! He's a generous kinda guy. Maybe when you grow up you could work for him? You've got some good Pokemon there and he's always looking for more help." Not missing a beat, Sappire's smile widened. "What kind of help?" "Oh, you know. Collecting things." "What kind of things?" "Pokemon and uh... other stuff. Do you have a hand for the nugget or-?" "Charmeleon can carry it for me!" At the sound of his name, Charmeleon pulled himself away from the water's edge where he had been watching some of the fish and approached the man cheerfully. Just as he went to accept the gift, however, the man pulled his hand away and recoiled in terror. "The blind Charmeleon!" Both trainer and Pokemon tilted their heads almost in sync at his sudden outburst. "Do you know my Charmeleon?" The man stumbled back against the fence behind him, shoving the nugget back into his bag as his other hand went to the pokeballs on his belt. "You were the kid from Mt. Moon! It was you-!" "Mt. Moon-?" Sappire continued to look confused for a few seconds, and then something clicked. The man's hat and his clothes, though they were a solid black and lacked any kind of insignia, looked all too familiar. "Team Rocket!" In a moment, Charmeleon had taken a battle stance, head lowered and teeth bared. Before he could strike, however, the man had already sent out both an Ekans and Sandshrew. Squaring her shoulders, Sappire braced herself for the upcoming battle. "Charmeleon, Ember! Drills-" she stopped, then turned around in confusion, "... where did Drills go?" Unfortunately, the temporary distraction cost her a moment later. While Charmeleon had taken it upon himself to lunge for the Sandshrew, flames licking at the corners of his mouth, the Ekans was granted a rare opportunity.

He had a clear shot at the girl.

A dash and leaping tackle later saw Sappire falling backwards, one arm flying out to try and find something to grab on to. Just as the snake opened its mouth wide to show off venomous fangs, however, angry buzzing filled the air as a single sharp drill drove neatly into his side, sending him flying in the other direction. By the time he rolled to a stop in the grass, Drills was already on top of him again, the second strike ready and making direct contact with his skull. As far as Drills was concerned, you didn't touch his trainer. Attempting to bring her any harm automatically made any value placed on your life null and void in his eyes.

It was all over in a moment and both Drills and Charmeleon turned to face the Rocket member, staring him down angrily and awaiting further instructions. They didn't come. A few seconds passed before Drills looked over his shoulder only to release a panicked buzz, his deadly arms falling to his side in a moment. Charmeleon only afforded a quick glance behind him, unwilling to let the grunt out of his sight, only to do a double-take and spin his entire body about.

Their trainer was gone, leaving only a small puddle on the grass where she had been standing, evidence that she had stumbled back into the water and was now the source of the occasional bubble rising to the surface. Needless to say, both Pokemon immediately forgot the importance of the Rocket and rushed to the shore, peering down into the depths in desperate hopes of locating her. Despite their buzzing and calling, however, no answer came.

Sappire herself was presently curled up around her Magikarp, panicking internally as her held breath began to slowly run out. She couldn't swim. She had never had reason to learn. Even now, clinging to Magic, she had no idea where to even begin if she wanted to reach the surface again. Magic wiggled in her arms again, and at last the girl released her. Did Magic need air? Sappire wasn't entirely sure, but it wouldn't make sense to keep her from it. At least Magic could swim if she needed to. "Karp," Magic began, swimming around so she was near the girl's head. "Karp-karp?" Sappire couldn't respond, looking at her Pokemon with nothing short of pure terror in her eyes. "Karp! Karp, karp!" Still no response. It was so quiet underwater, Sappire realized suddenly. Aside from Magic's frantic attempts at getting a response, there was no sound. There was no anything, really. It was slowly getting darker, and soon she suspected there wouldn't even be any light. Closing her eyes against the idea, she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. In a panic, now, Magic relocated herself to underneath her trainer, swimming upwards in a vain attempt to push the small body back to the surface. Humans needed air. Her human needed air. Her human- the only human who had been willing to keep her and treat her well and make her feel useful- her human was going to drown if she didn't get air.

Curse her stupid, useless body. If she couldn't even get her human back to safety- back to land- then what good was she? If she could just swim harder.

Back at the water's edge, Charmeleon had taken to pacing anxiously, pausing every few seconds to lean towards the water itself and get his nose so close he was almost touching it, only to retreat again. He couldn't swim. Even if he knew how, it was no secret that suffocating his tail flame would result in his own untimely death. Without a doubt, if he were to dive in after his trainer- as desperately as he wanted to- he'd be dead before he could even locate her. Drills likewise knew his own jumping into the water would end no better. He'd sink like a rock and be unable to offer any help on his way down. Buzzing overhead, he flitted from one end of the small river shoreline to the other, hoping for any trace of the girl floating back to the surface. If she could just get that far, he was confident he could get a hold of her somehow and fly her back to land safely.

Just as the wait began to stretch into the minutes, another bubble surfaced, larger than the others, and brought with it a terrifying finality. Both Pokemon started to react in horror, but both were also silenced a second later when the surface of the river all but exploded upward.

At first it looked as though a pillar of water had risen from the depths of its own accord, but once the shower had died down this proved to be false.

Charmeleon and Drills were staring up at a giant Gyarados.

Huge, translucent fins ran down either side of her back, fluttering delicately despite the creature's explosive entrance, and the face was thin and sleek, built for beauty over raw power. Even the tail that floated to the surface behind the beast was thin and fragile-looking, though much longer than that of a normal Gyarados. Opening her mouth and revealing a set of razor-sharp teeth, she let out a deafening roar that made the ground shake beneath their feet, and a single flick of her webbed tail sent a small wave washing over the nearby bridge. She might have been pale and delicate compared to others of her kind, but her size highlighted the fact that she was just as deadly.

For just a moment, both Charmeleon and Drills forgot about their trainer in the face of a terrifying sea monster that had seemingly materialized out of nowhere. Then, before they could even recover, the graceful head bowed low and the pointed nose touched the shore, giving itself a little shake to cause the small form of Sappire to slide off of it, sputtering and choking and gasping for the air she had been deprived of for too long. As Drills rushed to their trainer's side in concern, Charmeleon allowed himself a moment to stare up at the Gyarados in awe. He started to open his mouth to thank her, but was stopped when she turned familiar eyes to him and the corners of her great mouth curled upwards in a small smile.