Soothing the Pain

Things had been rocky since the whole ordeal with the Nothing and Rayquaza. Benny and his team had made it out fine, though not without injury. Benny himself was fine – physically, at least, and as for mentally…well, we didn’t talk about that – and so were Cookie and Bop. But one of them, his Impidimp and Purrloin fusion, wasn’t the same. He had suffered the most damage, to the point of losing an ear, getting one eye horribly injured, and a few scars all across his body. His confidence had taken a big hit, too. Even though he’d been up against a massive Garchomp – and won, let’s not forget that part – his inability to truly protect his trainer and his Pokémon teammates had really hit him badly. The jokester Pokemon who enjoyed causing trouble was now much more solemn, and much less adventurous.

And Benny was much of the same. He’d tried to help out others lately, and it hadn’t brought him much good at all. Seeing Piri-Piri like that was no reward, and it just made him feel like a failure, having been unable to protect his Pokémon. The days were long.

And then one day, the request came. It was Professor Blackthorn, of course, who spoke of something…much less dangerous than the Nothing. The trees and plants of the Sylvangloam were in pain? And the Professor was suggesting that trainers and Pokemon go there so they could…sing? Sing to the plants? That was certainly…what was the word…unorthodox?

But after hearing that, though, Benny had caught a little glimmer in Piri-Piri’s eye. Something in that news announcement had caught the Pokémon’s attention, and Benny could tell. “You wanna go?” He himself didn’t really want to go, but the words had just come out automatically. To see a glimmer of the old Piri-Piri, Benny couldn’t help but to offer.

And it seemed to work, because Piri-Piri seemed to perk up at the proposal. The Sylvangloam was a mysterious place, but from what Benny had heard, it was relatively safe. So surely they could go there without expecting the worst to happen.

And so, the small group decided to go along and visit the Sylvangloam. Benny wasn’t about to sing, but some of his Pokemon would be up to the challenge. Cookie was more than happy to coo and chirp even as they made their way there, and Bop was – no pun intended – bopping along the way, getting ready to perform on a mushroom stage. And in a way, it was very wholesome to see. It changed the mood from the depressing, aimless cloud that usually hung over Benny.

When they reached the Sylvangloam, things felt…good. He could see other trainers going in and out, all looking relaxed. Some of the music – whether from holopads or from people themselves – could even be heard at the edge of the large, bizarre plants and mushrooms that adorned the mysterious forest.

They ventured in, and the melodies intermingled, some louder, some softer, but all rather delightful. This was…nice. The place was nice, the atmosphere was nice.

If only he could share this with somebody. With another human.

As he got distracted there, he felt his foot bump over something. It snapped him right out of his daydream, and he looked down at what he figured had to be a Pokémon. “Uh, hey, sorry about…” He stopped as he recognized the Pikachu fusion at his feet. “Wait…”

And just like him, the Pikachu seemed to recognize him, too. She gasped excitedly at him and to his surprise, she seemed almost happy to see him. “You’re okay!” He remembered how this Pikachu had saved them from even more shadow Pokemon during that horrible experience. If it hadn’t been for her, who knows what would have happened to Benny and his team? Would Piri-Piri even still be here if she hadn’t allowed them to seek medical help right away?

“Chu!” she squeaked in reply, and it seemed to say “yes” to his statement.

“Ah…I was worried when…” Benny already wasn’t good with words: he was even worse when he had to say nice ones, or when he had to be honest about his feelings. “I’m glad you’re okay. Your trainer must’ve been glad too.”

The Pikachu tilted her head curiously. She then shrugged a little bit. “No?” Then Benny gave it some thought. “Do you…like, not have a trainer?” There was no way. He’d assumed she had to be somebody’s, and that was why she’d come to his rescue. “Are you…are you a wild Pokémon?”

The appropriate head movements were done in subsequent answers to his questions – “no”, and then “yes”. Benny could hardly believe it: she was a wild Pokémon! “So why did you help back then?” Why him? Why not somebody else?

The Pikachu seemed confused at the question. She looked around for a moment, and then she pointed at Piri-Piri, who had wandered just a little bit away. He had found a small cluster of mushrooms, one that included one huge, big mushroom even a human could sit on. He had settled there, and he was humming a soft little melody. In that moment, he seemed to find some sort of peace.

Benny looked at his Pokémon, and then it clicked. “You…you did it for him? ‘Cause he was hurt?”

She turned back to him and nodded, happy he had managed to put two and two together.

Something about this made his heart swell. This Pokémon, who was wild and not associated with any trainer, had willingly put her life at risk to save a fellow Pokémon. He slowly turned around; besides Piri-Piri relaxing by the mushrooms, he could see Cookie and Bop participating in the music, making all sorts of chirps and sounds, jumping, hopping, twirling – and everything else in-between.

But even as he looked at the three of them, he could tell they weren’t the strongest battlers. This Pikachu… “Uh, say…” He had no idea if she cared that much that she would agree, but… “If you don’t have a trainer…do you wanna…stick with me?” He felt the need to justify his asking. “My…My Pokémon don’t really fight. You really…They could really appreciate a strong Pokémon like you.”

The Pikachu blinked, and in that moment, Benny was convinced that she wouldn’t stick around. Why would she? She would literally be carrying an entire team all on her own. In retrospect, that wasn’t really fair.

But after deliberating it for a bit, she gave a hearty reply that sounded like approval. Right then, Benny thought he’d misunderstood her. “Wait, so you’re down?” When she clearly nodded, he still couldn’t believe it. “No way,” he whispered, mostly to himself, as the Pikachu-Litten fusion perked up, looking like she was ready to defend this little group of misfits.

He settled near Piri-Piri and watched as his three – now four – Pokémon sung to the trees and enjoyed the atmosphere. As he looked everything over, a thought came to him. “So if you were wild, you don’t got a name, huh?”

“Chu, chu!” the fusion replied, shaking her head and continuing right away with her humming.

“So you should get one now.” He looked her over. A strong, feisty Pikachu with a Litten’s markings that almost gave her a sort of fighter’s costume. A tough little Pokémon who wasn’t scared to jump into battle. One word in particular clicked in his brain. “Ah! Hmm…well, how ‘bout… Suplex?”