Rehome Event Prompt: 'Vacation! Summer! Fun! It's time to get away from the day to day and have a little fun! What's the plan? A day (or week) at the beach? A trip to the mountains? Maybe just spending time with friends? Tell us about how relaxation and fun is found!'
Date: June 2013
Word count: 2222
Interaction with: Nigel, Eclipse the Umbreon, unnamed wild Tauros
Nigel Monday would never argue the fact that he was cityfolk. But he would also never deny his roots. His family, and more specifically his aunt and uncle, were pokémon rangers. They serviced a pokémon sanctuary on the Moldavite Plains, and often brought sick and injured wild pokémon back to the pokémon center for treatment and rehabilitation.
Nigel loved nothing better than to spend time with that family helping them at work. But this summer he was old enough to call it an internship and actually get paid. He was very excited. Soon he would be able to make his own living working with pokémon.
But just what exactly would he spend his life doing, with regard to pokémon?
Just this morning, his aunt had asked him that very same question. “Have you decided what you want to do?”
With his mouth full of breakfast, he had merely shaken his head negatively. (He knew better than to speak with his mouth full; he had only needed to feel the wrong side of her spoon once to understand the consequences.) All he really knew was that he liked to help -- to help both people and pokémon alike. He liked to make things easier on them, especially when they weren’t able to help themselves.
“Would you like to be a nurse?”
“I’m no Nurse Joy,” he had laughed, finally at liberty to do so. They both had laughed. No one was as good as Nurse Joy, neither this Nurse Joy nor the one back home. “All I know is that I want to work with pokémon.”
While Nigel had finished up the last of his meal, his aunt considered their conversation carefully. Her husband was already out on the plain wrangling up some unruly tauros that had recently been causing trouble for other pokémon, so she could not discuss it with him just now. “Well, then I think you should make it the goal of your internship this summer to decide once and for all what your calling in life should be.”
Her intentions were only for the best, of course. She wanted him to choose not only the “right” path in life, but also the one that would make him happiest. But an ultimatum was not really going to help matters.
Nigel sighed and kicked at the bone-dry earth. He wore a duster jacket and boots but the dirt still managed to cake everybody’s clothes. Not that he noticed. He just wasn’t sure what direction to take himself, other than toward his uncle. He sighed again and mounted one of the homestead’s resident ponyta; it was one that had grown with him through the years and never failed to recognize him. It made an inquisitive little snort, upset by his apparent distress. He cracked a smile and the tension subsided for now in the face of his friend’s worry. “It’s fine. Let’s go find my uncle,” he said, patting its neck.
When the man finally saw him, Nigel still felt unsure of himself. As he trotted up to the boy on his prized wrangling rapidash, Nigel attempted a grin, but his uncle wasn’t fooled. “Nige! You look worn out, like you just blew in off the plains. You all right? You gettin’ enough sleep?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He certainly didn’t want his uncle to worry. “Auntie wants me to decide what I want to do with my life so it’s been weighing heavily on my mind.”
His uncle grunted and nodded, then turned the rapidash around so they could ride side-by-side. “Sounds like you’ve got a lot to think about.” He turned back to Nigel and grinned. “Nigel, only you can choose what you wanna do. It’s got to be you because only you will know that it feels right to you.” He shrugged, “There’s probably somethin’ you like to do best and you just haven’t thought much about it yet.”
His grin slipped away and his face suddenly became like steel. “But now it’s time for more pressing matters. Don’t let this distract you today, or you’ll regret it. We’ve got a rogue band of tauros runnin’ amok and you’re going to need to be alert.”
“Yessir.” Nigel understood that while he had a lot to think about, he would have all summer to do so. And it was thanks to interesting challenges like the tauros today that he would get a variety of opportunities.
- - -
Many pokémon made their homes on the Moldavite Plains, not just the tauros. One such pokémon was a young doduo. His heads had never seen eye-to-eye, not even when they were glaring at one another.
The head on the doduo’s right side, for now known as Head One, liked to sing. When he did, the sweet sound lilted on the breeze. Pokémon from all over the field stopped whatever it was they were doing to listen. They gathered around and sat quietly, eyes wide and glittering, as if in a trance. Even the wildest pokémon were gentled by his song.
Head Two (on the left) seemed completely tone deaf. He was jealous of the attention his brother received. There was nothing he could do once a concert was conducted; he was expected simply to listen like all the others. He used to try to sing along, but the noises that erupted from his throat were nothing short of hideous. Once he opened his mouth, calm pokémon became enraged and the well-mannered kicked dirt at them.
Head One had learned their lesson. Whenever Head Two tried to sing, Head One pecked at him. As a result of Head One’s diligence on the matter, Head Two rarely managed more than one flat note.
Head Two was ever in a sour mood and today was no exception. While his twin napped, he kept watch, brow furrowed. His brother had had another successful performance and had fallen asleep feeling very accomplished. And what had Head Two to feel so great about? Absolutely nothing.
Sullenly, Head Two surveyed the vast grassland and the hazy mountains beyond, eventually spying some strange behavior among other pokémon. A lone tauros pawed at the ground and lowered his head while trotting around. Sometimes he flicked his tails and a distinctive snap! could be heard hopping across the tops of the breeze-touched grass.
Earlier today the doduo had witnessed from afar a commotion among the herd of tauros. One bull had challenged the leader and won. The loser had not lost in many years (never in the doduo’s lifetime), and now he was taking it out on whomever he could.
The doduo twitched. Head One stirred but did not wake; Head Two would wake him if danger was imminent. Head Two watched his slumbering twin for a few heartbeats then steeled himself before letting out a loud, reverberating honk! Throughout the scattered pokémon body, heads lifted and glanced around until they saw the culprit. GWAH. Yes, he sounded horrible, but his cry made an excellent warning call. Even his twin blinked awake and peered up at him with sleepy curiosity. When everyone realized his reasoning was the irate bull, they closed their ranks and as one began to move away. And Head One realized that while danger was indeed imminent, Head Two had done the right thing. It was surprising, admirable. Had his brother always been this courageous?
The ousted bull would have none of this. He was practically itching with fury, and now he had just one target available to him. He snorted a low, deep-chested chuckle. Someone was going to pay, even if it had to be this scrawny little bird. Pawing the ground once again, he focused on the lone doduo and charged.
The twins honked with fright as one and leapt two feet in the air. Head Two suggested that they lead the bull away and try to lose him. Perhaps they could find a tree or rock face to put between them. The twins were in agreement on this and fled at top speed. Doduo is known for its high landspeed, even if they are weak fliers. This pair was no exception.
But now that he had begun his charge, the tauros would not rest until he fought them or something stopped him.
- - -
“Nigel, look!” The boy’s uncle pointed out across the grassland as a multitude of pokémon ran past them. Beyond, they could see the chase unfold.
“He’s going to catch that doduo, isn’t he?” Nigel asked.
“At this rate, he probably will. Come on.” They raced after the two runaway pokemon.
- - -
It was only a matter of time before the doduo tired. The tauros was fueled by rage, but the doduo only had fear to draw upon. Eventually the doduo was cornered between the tauros and a large old tree; their round, fluffy body heaving. Head Two had a plan, but it would take inner strength he wasn’t sure they had available to muster. Head One, drooping a little with his tongue lolling from his long narrow beak, watched the tauros approach at full speed, booming out a bovine bellow.
Get ready.
The doduo planted wide feet firmly in the grass and crouched, two sets of beady eyes narrowing. Ready, brother.
We have to time this just right.
I trust you. It was probably the first time Head One had ever consciously felt, let alone mentioned this sentiment to his brother.
Jump! The young doduo could not fly like other birds, nor could it jump like a ponyta (which one head thought he could see out of the corner of one eye -- perhaps a good omen?). But it could jump off to the side! And as it did so, twin beaks struck viciously at the battle-scarred tauros. Fury Attack!
The enraged bull tossed his head in frustration when he saw the doduo leap out of the way. He swatted them with his trio of tails in retaliation, from which he heard a satisfying pair shrieks. But in his inattention, he knocked himself senseless on the ancient trunk of the tree.
The doduo watched the world whirl completely around, with a ponyta and a rapidash spinning with it. Each equine pokémon had a rider that jumped off his mount and ran to the scene.
Ah! It hurts!
You’re pecking me!
I can’t see!
Stop pecking me!
Now you’re pecking me!
Then stop!
Ahh! I can’t!
Me either!
“Uncle, is there anything we can do?” Nigel asked, feeling a bit winded, but more from fear than anything else. The tauros lay on his side, legs twitching in midair. And while he watched, the doduo ran haphazardly, its twin heads attacking one another.
“Nothin’ we can do for the doduo for now. Those heads won’t stop until its fainted.”
Nigel frowned with worry. After a moment of consideration, he pulled a pokéball from his belt and cried, “Eclipse!” When his hand-raised umbreon appeared he pointed to the frenzied doduo. “Keep an eye on that doduo! When it faints, come get us!”
“Breo!” With a bright flare of his golden markings, Eclipse bounded off after the doduo and slipped into the grass like a shadow.
Nigel turned back to face his uncle, who had carefully moved to the tauros’ side to investigate his condition. “So he was finally ousted from his herd,” the man muttered to himself, shaking his head.
“You know him?”
“This was the leader of the herd that roams these parts. That is, until today he was. One of the younger bulls was causin’ trouble for weeks now. They musta finally squared off in a duel this morning. I’ve been watching them closely to make sure they don’t hurt anyone over it.”
Nigel watched the tauros closely, studying his face. Even though he was out cold, his twitching spoke more of energy and fire than of nerve damage. “What’s going to happen to him now?”
“Well, it’s only proper to take him back with us and make sure he isn’t injured too much from that blow to the head. He also has some cuts from earlier. Nige, tauros pride themselves on the scars they carry but there’s a wound that may never heal. We’re going to keep him for observation for a while and decide what’s best for him.”
The boy was still frowning, but he nodded in understanding. The rest would be up to the tauros. “And the doduo?”
“Brrreee!” Nigel’s umbreon returned, hopping through the grass like a gazelle, calling out to them with each leap. He seemed to love it out here, despite the blazing sun. Perhaps Nigel would have to keep Eclipse out of his pokéball a while longer. It suited him just fine; it was a bit lonely without him nipping at the boy’s heels.
“Well, well,” his uncle chuckled. Eclipse was always a kick to have around. “Let’s go check him out and see how he’s doing. I’m worried about the eyes, one of the heads was acting like he’d been blinded. A doduo relies on keen eyesight to watch out for predators. That way, one head can always stay awake and keep watch. So if his eyesight’s permanently damaged he won’t be able to come back out here.”
Had the doduo’s eyes really been damaged? Would they heal completely? If not, what then?
