Solo 1
“So hungry,” Risty muttered, with a sigh, to no one in particular. She had been on the move for days, her belongings, which didn’t amount to much, were stuffed into a pilfered sack that she wore on her back. Her home, it was no longer safe for her. A human child, a trainer, had seen her. He must have told others of his kind about her, about the Rattata that wore clothing and walked on its hind legs. Not long after she fled from him, other humans seemed to swarm all around her home. Trainers of all ages, genders, and sizes came to see her; she was a curiosity, rarer, in their eyes, then a shiny Pokémon. Honestly, she had no idea if she could still be caught, if her new form was capable of being trapped in one of those balls, but she didn’t dare risk it. She just wanted to be left alone. So she had gathered her things and set off. She had no idea where she was headed, other than as far away from humans as she could get.
Her stomach growling, she sniffed at the air, hoping to catch the scent of some food. She had found a berry bush earlier in the day, but it had been nearly stripped clean. Her journey had been slow going, weighed down as she was, and she was spending far too much time hiding, to be able to find a decent meal in this unfamiliar territory. Suddenly, though, she caught a whiff of something. She smelled cheese? And bread? And berries? And nuts? Her first thought was that it was human food; she froze in fear. She was an adept runner, but currently she was weighed down and had no idea where the humans were. She couldn’t smell them anywhere around. Maybe there is just food.. And no humans? Maybe it is safe? The prospect of there being no humans and of finally being able to eat a decent meal filled her with hope. She would have to investigate! She would be sure to be cautious, but she would definitely check it out.
She carefully crept towards the source of the scent. Before long she found herself at the edge of a clearing. She found her heart beating rapidly; there was no cover in there. She could see the food though. It was a picnic basket, abandoned and out in the open. The food called to her; it was beckoning. For a moment, she worried that it might be a trap, but hunger was getting the best of her and it was so close. Sniffing at the air, she could smell no one else around. Unfortunately there was a breeze and it was possibly that, if someone was around, they were downwind of her. Straining her ears, she quietly listened and heard nothing but the rustling of the leaves. Risty needed to eat and her hunger was getting the best of her; she would risk it. If worse came to worst, she could abandon her pack. She might have carried it with her this far but her belongings could be replaced, if the worse befell her.
She carefully made her way to the basket, scanning her surroundings and sniffing at the air as she covered the distance. Upon reaching the basket, which seemed much larger than it had seemed from a distance, she ran her fingers along the edges, and then looked around, once again. Satisfied that no one was about, she unstrapped her pack and set it on the ground next to her. Risty then pried open the lid and gasped. Who..who carries around this much food and just leaves it there? There had to be a good 25 sandwiches in the basket. Some of them smelled of cheese and some other strong smell, others smelled of fruit and peanuts. There was also a paper sack and, upon peaking inside it, she discovered it was crammed full of a variety of berries. There was also a plastic cylinder, with a screw off top, which was full of juice. She couldn’t help but just stare at her bounty, dumbfounded. The shock quickly wore off, though, and she happily dug in.
She started with the sandwiches that smelled of fruit and nuts. The sticky fruit mixture and gooey peanut filling were delicious, though she found that she soon had trouble chewing. The gooeyness was quite overwhelming; whoever had made this sandwich, had applied quite a large amount of the peanutty goo. It took her a moment to work it through her mouth, but she found the effort worth it, and soon she was opening a second sandwich, which had been filled with the same. After that sandwich, she took a long gulp of the juice, to help wash it down. She had tried juice before; she loved the liquid berries. She then downed a handful of berries and, after swallowing those, she set to work on the cheese sandwiches. They had a yellow goop spread on them, between the cheese and the bread. She didn’t know what it was, but she found the whole combination delicious. Before she knew it, she had downed three of those sandwiches. She lay back with a plop, a content smile spread across her face. She was pretty sure she had never before eaten that much; she was so full! She was also rather distracted and, lost in her post meal reverie, as she was, she didn’t notice that the owners of the basket were returning.
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I am so going to beat her back! Lexi thought triumphantly, as she zoomed through the forest, levitating inches over the rough terrain. Her and her near constant companion, Sasha, had been exploring the forest, for what seemed like hours. Now, though, it was time to eat! Her stomach growling, she sped towards the clearing, where they had left their picnic basket. Silently zooming along, inches above the vegetation, she suddenly burst out of the forest. What she saw caught her by surprise. There was a Rattata girl lying next to the basket. Not only that, but Lexi was pretty sure she recognized the girl, despite it being quite some time since she has last seen her. “Risty?”
Seeing the other girl burst forth from the woods, Risty panicked. Unable to hop onto her feet, she proceeded to crab walk backwards, away from the newcomer. It was then that she heard her name. Who is this girl? How does she know me? The little Rattata was about to have a panic attack. Looking the girl over as she fled, she noticed some similarities to a Ralts she had once met. “A…A…Alexis? Is that you?” she asked sheepishly. Lexi had grown and gone through some changes since the last time they had met, but she was still recognizable, and it wasn’t like she had met many humanoid Pokémon before.
“Yeah! I am Alexis!” Lexi exclaimed, in reply as she rushed over to the Rattata and hugged her. It had been ages since she had seen Risty; she had, on occasion, found herself wondering what had happened to the Rattata. It was quite a relief to run into her. “How have you been? Are you hungry? Want something to eat?”
As Lexi’s arms wrapped around her, Risty couldn’t help but squeak. She found the turn of events to be rather unexpected and didn’t really know how to react. “I..I..I’ve been better,” she stammered out, “my home was overrun by trainers…. I don’t really have anywhere to go….” Looking down slightly, she continued, “And well, I was hungry, but, um, I sort of already ate a bunch of your food. I’m sorry…I just was so hungry…” It was one thing to scavenge some stranger’s food; it was another thing to steal the food of a friend.
“That’s fine,” Lexi giggled, “we brought plenty of food to spare!” Before she could continue, though, she was interrupted by Risty screaming.
“Wh..wha..what is that!?” the Rattata shrieked as Sasha bounded out of the woods.
Laughing, Alexis replied, “That’s Sasha, don’t worry about her. She is a bit off, but she is nice; she lives with me!”
“Oh, I see….” Risty trailed off and then added, “Hello Sasha, I am Risty….” If Alexis said the other girl was nice, she probably was, but the Rattata still couldn’t help but be intimidated by her; Sasha towered over her.
Leaning down over her, Sasha, a wide smile spread across her face, happily stated, “Hello Risty! It’s nice to meet you!” She then licked the other girl on the face.
“SASHA! You need to stop doing that!” Lexi exclaimed. No matter how many times she told Sasha that I was rude to lick, she continued to do it. In general, she had given up on telling her to stop, but Risty was freaked out enough as it was.
“Normal Type…” Sasha observed, deep in concentration. Technically she had correctly determined the other girl’s type, but still, who didn’t know what type a Rattata was?
After a moment of stunned silence, Risty giggled. It had taken her off guard, but, in a way it had reminded her of her childhood, of being licked clean by her mother. While Sasha’s licking seemed to confuse and offend most Pokémon, Risty found it somewhat comforting.
“Well, you could live with us,” Lexi commented, remember that the Rattata had said that she had nowhere to go.
She was about to say sure, but then she remember something from their previous encounter. Lexi lived with a human. “Um, do you still live with that human?” she inquired.
“Yeah, her name is Celes! She is so nice,” Sasha replied, cutting in.
“I…I don’t think I am ready for that,” Risty muttered, shaking her head, “but thank you for the offer….” It would be nice to live with someone, but, despite Alexis and Sasha’s opinion of the woman, she couldn’t bring herself to live with a human, not yet.
“Well, Sasha and I know the area pretty well; we are always exploring it,” Lexi started, “we could help you find a place! We know a few good spots! Then we will visit all the time!”
“That would be nice,” Risty replied. She wasn’t use to such generosity; she was thankful for the help.
“Ok! We will show you them and then you can pick! Just as soon as we eat!” Lexi stated, full of excitement. She couldn’t wait to help her friend. Also, she would be able to visit her whenever she had a chance. She didn’t want to lose track of Risty again.
“Thank you,” Risty said with a sigh. A sense of relief flooded over her. She was almost home.
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