Chapter 3: Encouragement
After fleeing from an enraged Tommy, Tango the Buizel gets some moral support and encouragement from a good friend.
Warning: Strong language and sexual references are used in this chapter.
DISCLAIMER: All characters and properties are copyright their respective owners. All original characters, plot, and concept is copyright 2007 Zephyr Paws. The author is in no way associated or affiliated with any third-party. This original fiction was created with no intention of any copyright infringement against any third-party, and is purely for fan enjoyment. Do not redistribute.
"I'm sorry, dear, I..."
"Bitch, I don't want to hear it! Stay the fuck out of it!"
"You... you can get another job. I hear that Silph Co. is hir-"
"Did you not fucking listen to me or are you just too fucking stupid to understand, woman!?! You can get a fucking job too. Oh wait, you already have one, you whore. You filthy whore with your filthy mistake. Your filthy bastard son, straight from the bitch!"
The sound of shattering glass could be heard as these voices kept up. The shouting and crying wouldn't end. Nothing could be seen of the two voices, save their shadows from behind the corner. One shadow was a tall, muscular man. His motions instilled fear into the other shadow, who was cowering before his threats. They were so familiar... yet so foreign at the same time.
The view crept closer to the corner, in to the entrance of what appeared to be a living room in a house. Two absurdly tall figures -- a man and a woman -- were the source of the shadow. Their presence was only a blur, but their emotions and intentions were all too clear. The woman was crying. Whatever more the man said to her must have really hurt her. But the man seemed to be unphased by her emotions.
Suddenly, the man swung his hand across the woman's face, knocking her down right to the field of view. Her saddened face was clearly visible. It looked broken... shattered... but not physically -- only emotionally. For whatever reason, every ounce of willpower she had vanished, and she was nothing more than a hollow, emotionless shell.
The man drew closer to where he had knocked her down to. His menacing figure had a terrifying feel to it. His intentions were clear. And lacking any self-control, it was nothing to him to seize the fallen woman's neck with the powerful grip of his hands.
"I'm going to fucking kill you, you stupid bitch!!!"
Pure fear was the only feeling felt in this vision. It was as if time just stopped. The sight of his hands against her neck...
But before any more of this horrific scene could be viewed, the entire sight shattered into a million pieces, like a piece of glass being thrown down against the ground. The only thing that remained in this empty world was a mirror sitting several feet away. Everything else was pure and absolute darkness.
A few steps were taken closer to the mirror, and inside was Tommy, the human boy, looking back from it.
"This... this is what you've gone through... and as irony would have it, this... this is what you have become."
The boy, as well as the mirror, faded off into the blackness. There was nothing more, now. Nothing. Not even the broken glass remained in this pitch black realm. Only those haunting words echoed in the darkness now.
Then, the blackness started to take on a deep red tint as the echoes started to become more and more quiet. The deep red turned into an orange, and finally into a sky blue.
It was morning.
Tommy got up from the beach he fell asleep on. The sun had woken him up from an awful dream. He knew that it wasn't a dream, though... these feelings... these memories... they were a faint and distant part of his past. Somehow, the events of yesterday must have dredged up something awful locked deep inside of himself, but he still couldn't place his fingers on exactly what it was. Not just yet, at least.
His thoughts were quickly overtaken by something more pressing: hunger. The only food he'd eaten in the past two days were just the berries from yesterday, and although they were good, they were far from filling. He got up and shook his head a bit.
"Hey Tango, where did you find those berries again?" he asked, although to nothing but air. It slipped his mind that she wasn't present, and he felt bad now, thinking about the events of last night again.
"Damn... I was such a jerk. Why did I do that... why...?"
His words were meaningless at this point -- no one would hear them. They would only ring in his ears as a passing afterthought.
Tommy took a few slow, depressed steps towards the forest. It seemed as logical of a spot as any to find the berries that were given to him by Tango yesterday. After all, why would berries be out on a beach?
After rummaging around in the forest for awhile, Tommy eventually managed to find the source of the berries. They adorned the foliage inside and were easy to pick on his own. He grabbed one berry from a bush and took a bite out of it. Bland. Nearly tasteless. It was entirely different from the delicious berries from yesterday. Maybe this was a fluke? Just a bad berry? He took one more berry and had a bite, but it too failed to taste good. This one, in fact, tasted for more bitter than the last.
"Are these even the same berries?" he asked himself. Tommy was puzzled. He looked at the berries but could discern no pattern. Feeling daring, he grabbed one more berry and had a taste of it. This one was more sweet than the last two, but still couldn't compare to the ones from the previous day. "It's like playing Orre Roulette, except with food."
A few minutes and bad berries later, Tommy wandered his way back outside to the shore and proceeded to sit down on the beach, holding his knees with his arms. He could do nothing more but just gaze off into the horizon. He was bored, lonely... a tad hungry... and naked. Every bit of what he knew of life seemed to be turned around. There seemed to be nothing for him now. All he could do for now was stare blankly at the sea, wishing his life would just be like it was before.
On the island where Tango had fled to, sorrow and emotion loomed over the little Pokemon's head as well. Tango was very confused about the actions of yesterday. Her friend had become so violent... so terrifying... she still had bruises and felt achy after what happened, even after a night's sleep.
But absence does make the heart grow fonder. She missed him... he was far more fun than any Pokemon she's ever played with. His voice... the sound of his voice... the way he talked to her... it felt so powerful and loving -- up until that last part. Curses, her thoughts just had to travel back to that awful experience.
Unbeknownst to her, she had company. "Are you alright?" asked a caring voice, clearly male.
"Tommy?" answered Tango, looking around behind her in a mix of excitement and fear. To her surprise, it wasn't Tommy, but rather a fine looking Floatzel -- a familiar one at that.
"No, it's just your bro," the Floatzel responded. He was a bit curious who this 'Tommy' was, but figured it wouldn't be appropriate to ask just yet.
"Jazz... what are you doing here?" Tango wiped off a tear from her furry face. She wasn't expecting to see her older brother, as she thought he was with his mate like he has been for the last few weeks.
"I happened to be in the area, you could say. Since I was, I wanted to stop by my favorite island to get Olmen Berries, and I couldn't help but see you here crying," he paused for a few seconds, "Do you... want to talk about it?"
"I... I don't know. I feel really kind of let down, bro. And I feel disappointed in myself..."
This wasn't like Tango, or whatever the Pokemon name her brother knew her by was. Jazz knew that she was usually an energetic bundle of playfulness. He couldn't remember a time that she would run off and cry, because she was usually far too quick to get over things due to her positive outlook.
Jazz gave his sister a gentle hug. He was known for his strong yet gentle hugs. "Little sis, whatever it is, it's alright."
"Bro... do you remember all of the stories you used to tell me about humans?"
"Those old stories? About Trainers and their battles?"
"Yes, those."
"What about them?" He remembered the stories that he used to tell her when she was younger about his encounters with Trainers and his understanding of how they catch Pokemon and use them to fight in structured tournaments and the like.
She didn't exactly know where she was going with this. She wasn't sure if she wanted to tell Jazz everything that happened just yet, although that would have been her standard course of action had it not been for the fact that she didn't want to worry him. "Well," she started, "do they... do they really become violent? The humans? Or... or do they just force their Pokemon to be that way?"
Jazz was a clever Floatzel -- he could sense that something was up, and it more than likely had to do with an encounter she had with a human. "What did the human do to you?" he asked bluntly.
His question took her a bit off-guard. It was as if he knew exactly what the problem really was. "Bro, how did you...?"
"It was just a guess," he answered, adding "Plus those bruises don't look too pretty on you, and I doubt they came from rocks or other Pokemon. I know you better than that."
She didn't know how to respond. She was nervous, to say the least. All of the stories she's heard about humans still couldn't satisfy her curiosity, and it caused her all of this pain -- both physical and emotional.
After at least a minute of silence, with no response other than several torn expressions on Tango's face, she finally mustered up the courage to admit to her mistake. "I was with a human... he was going to drown, so I saved him because you told me it's the right thing to do -- saving lives and all if Pokemon, or even humans are drowning. But bro, I couldn't just leave him... he was hurt and wasn't waking up. And he... I... I..." She couldn't help but stutter. She still felt embarrassed -- not just at the situation and her failure in judgment, but at the feelings she developed for him. The feelings she still has for him.
"You...?" urged her brother in an attempt to get her to continue.
"I wanted to stay with him. I wanted to see what a human was. How he moved, how he spoke... all of the stories just weren't enough for me!"
"Then what happened? Why did he do this to you?"
There he went again, knowing exactly what happened in an eerie big brother is watching way. "I didn't even say anything about that!" blurted Tango.
"I'm sorry. I really shouldn't be one to just assume everything. It's just unlike you to be secretive, little sis, and you know how good I am at figuring things out." He patted her on the back, gaining a smile in response.
"Yeah, I know, like how you knew that Polka snuck away to Leafbloom Town in the sheltered land," she reminded her brother. The sheltered land was a fair size island filled with Pokemon that had yet to be discovered by humans.
"I do miss her," he tilted his head upward a bit, now staring at the horizon.
"Uh huh," Tango nodded, "I wonder how sis is doing?"
"Well, I'm sure. Knowing her, she's already found a Rescue Team to join."
"Well, since you do have everyone figured out. Heh." Tango smiled at the confidence her brother had. He was really smart, and she admired that about him.
"You know, it's good to see you smile like you usually do," he said to her, "Do you want to talk about it any more, or can I just assume that what happened was as I thought?"
Tango thought about this. There was a lot more to the situation than he could even guess. Maybe she should just tell him and get his advice on it, like she's gotten from him many times in the past, particularly when they were younger. "Bro, I do need to talk about it..." she answered shyly, putting emphasis on the word 'do.'
"Well," Jazz sat down, "Talk. Tell me what's on your mind. You know you can tell me everything."
"Can humans... fall in love with Pokemon?" No sooner than when the words came out of her mouth did she feel that she misspoke. She didn't even know for sure what her feelings were. The pain he put her through was depressing, but she couldn't easily forget the fun that they did have and the times before his assault.
He didn't see that one coming. Tango has come to him in the past about advice on love and mating, although she never acted responsibly with the advice he gave her. But could she be infatuated by a human this time? Oh no, he thought, thinking of the possibility of what the human -- confirmed to be a male -- might have done to her to cause those bruises.
"He didn't force himself upon you, did he?" he asked. Tango was beginning to get a little upset with his responses to her questions, which seemed to be limited to either assumptions that were usually correct or questions in return.
"N-no. It was sorta my fault. But bro, please, can you just answer the question?"
He was hoping he wouldn't regret telling her the truth, but honesty was a point of his. "They can, according to some cases I have heard." During his travels, he had heard of cases where humans and Pokemon Trainers develop strong bonds and relationships, and it eventually turns into love. It was very uncommon for it to progress that far, but it did happen, although the cases he heard usually ended only in trouble.
This somehow relieved the female Buizel. She didn't know why, because it was just the opposite of his recent actions, but it led her to still believe that maybe there was a chance. "Brother, I think I'm attracted to him... that's why this all happened. I saw his... his... his penis," She blushed, "It looked a lot different from yours and from other Pokemon's. And I just couldn't stop staring, even though I knew I shouldn't have!"
Jazz blushed as well. He couldn't forget the time she stumbled across him and his mate -- a lovely Azumarill -- in the process of mating. The barrage of questions she asked wouldn't stop, but since their parents weren't good parents and never explained those kind of things to her, he had to be the one to give her the talk about the birds and the Combees. During this talk -- or rather due to her persistent curiosity, series of talks -- he simply had to show her how his stuff worked, which at first he felt a bit awkward about, but knowing that it was simply to educate her so she wouldn't be as confused in the future, he went along with it and later grew fine with her examinations.
"So? Humans have them, too," he answered, somewhat afraid of where this was going.
"Well... I, something about it, uh, I just wanted to keep seeing it because it looked so different... so when he took off his clothes-"
"Took off his clothes?!" interrupted Jazz. That is the kind of negative stuff he'd heard about. If a Trainer starts taking off their clothes... it usually meant that he would try something.
"No! It's not like that! His clothes were torn and dirty, and he took them off to take a dip in the water to clean off, that's all. He left them out to dry in the sun. But bro, what I did was... well, I took the clothes while he was resting, and I threw them away in the water. I think the idea of clothes is silly anyway! I mean, why would you want to hide your stuff, huh?"
"So he beat you up because you took his clothes?" At this point, Jazz wasn't quite sure what to make out of everything. Tango had always acted on impulse, but she was usually pretty honest about things. It still didn't add up, though.
"No, no... well... maybe... I don't know! It might have been because he was yelling at me not to do it."
"Then why did you do it, sis?"
"I... I... Like I said, I just wanted to see him without his clothes on! I thought they were stupid anyway!"
"Sis... you're hiding something from me." His gaze was stern. He could see her flustered demeanor holding her back. The last time she was this flustered... he had to do a lot of talking with her afterward, you could say.
"Bro! I..." she paused once more, feeling guilty for even thinking it for some reason, "I really liked him. I really wanted to mate with him, right then and there, but I didn't want to scare him... I... after he took his clothes off, I couldn't stop thinking it, from the moment he walked back into the forest. I didn't want to get hurt, or to freak him out though... but when I thought of him putting back on his clothes and ruining my fun, I really felt like I needed to act, otherwise he'd leave them on all the time. I'm sorry!" she let it all out, feeling shameful and guilty, but at least being honest. Tears started to return to her eyes partially due to her guilt but mostly for missing him now.
"Sis... I don't know what to say." He really was speechless. He was also relieved, though, that Tango learned her lessons and resisted mating with him right on the spot there. That was more maturity than she usually exhibited. The unsettling thought of his own little sister having feelings for a powerful human made him worry for her own safety. But, he did want her to be happy...
"I shouldn't have done it! I never should have taken his clothes! I should have just listened to him! Why did I have to do that?!" At this point, she'd broken out into tears. Jazz held her close in another of his comforting hugs. What a pickle, he thought to himself.
"So, is he just alone on the island now? Stranded, with no way to get out?" he asked, trying to take a different approach than what she might be expecting.
"Y-yes? He said something about getting rescued, but I don't think a Rescue Team would know where to find him."
"Sis, think about it for a sec," hinted Jazz, taking a brief stop to allow her time to think, "Do you see it yet?"
She was trying to process all of the possibility in her mind, but was still a bit too flustered to think about it properly. "Uh, ummm, I could...? He's stuck there? I don't know, bro, I'm really not doing a great job at thinking now..."
Jazz smirked, "Fine, I'll make it easy on you, then," he patted her on the back, "You can be his ticket off the island if he treats you right. I'm sure you could carry him off to his home, or at least with other humans so he can find his way back." Tango was looking very excited at this point; why didn't she think of this before? "It's just a matter of him realizing that, and I guarantee you will have him at your mercy," he added.
"Brother, you're a genius! I love you!" exclaimed Tango as she grabbed her brother's hands and happily danced around with him. It made perfect sense to her now.
"Hey Slowpoke, you're still forgetting something: he might still be angry at you when you get back."
That thought, unfortunately, didn't cross her mind. Her face drooped as she heard those words, realizing that it might be true. He certainly wasn't very inviting to her before she fled. Hell, she fled because she'd have been killed by him had she not. Was it even possible to forgive and forget that much, that soon? He tried to kill her. Kill.
"Dammit... why did you have to go and ruin that plan, Jazz," scowled Tango. Now she was depressed again. But her mood was quick to take another change as a new idea ran through her mind, "I've got it!" she exclaimed, "I'll just go and watch him for a bit! Like, spy on him, you know? Plus, as long as I stay near the water and able to run, I'll be fine... right?"
Jazz was proud of his younger sister. Those were the kind of details that he would usually be thinking of. "Now you've got it, cutie."
Tango gratefully hugged her brother for his seemingly infinite advice and knowledge, and for taking the time to help her out. "Thank you, bro," she whispered, holding him even closer. Jazz enjoyed the hug as well, petting her head and smiling.
"Go get 'em!" he cheered as he broke the hug and gave her one final pat on her shoulder. She nodded with a smile in response, turned around, and then walked over to the ocean, ready to face Tommy again. "Thanks for everything, bro!"
Also, I haven't entirely decided if Tango is a virgin or not. I sort of left it open to either possibility (although somewhat hinting at the fact that she's gone around, but saying nothing exact), and may just leave it ambiguous and up to the reader. But, I might also like to have it be set and decided upon rather than left ambiguous. If you'd like to give input, feel free to do so in a review, IM, or e-mail (or any other means of contact). :3
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