(no subject)
WARNING! This story contains major Pokémon: Mystery Dungeon spoilers.
You need to have beaten the main plot, at least... Otherwise, read at your own risk.
(Can you tell I like Medicham?)
10. Confession
They don’t know. I’ve never told them. Keh! What use would that be, anyway? It’s not like they can do anything about it, can they?
Although I was about to tell her once. Ekans’s way too simple-minded, I never thought he would understand, or even care. As for Medicham, I know for a fact she just pretends to be that way. While experimenting with my powers as a Gengar, I have looked into her dreams and nightmares more than once, and I discovered that her personality’s more packed with contradictions than she thinks.
Anyway, it went like this.
I had been feeling a little under the weather… And one night, I decided I’d go back to that place and, at the very least, remember what had happened there.
Bound north-east, the darkness shielding me, I glided through forests and floated through clearings. I knew the journey to Mount Freeze would take me days, maybe a whole week, but I didn’t care.
After traversing a particularly thick forest, I sat on a rock, surrounded by thick grass. I looked at what was ahead of me, and I could make out the lights of a small human town. One I had probably visited, way back when. Just then, I realized how hungry I was. I always found it ironic, how, although I’m a ghost now, I still feel stuff like weariness, hunger, cold and heat...
I opened the toolbox I had brought with me, and picked up an apple from it. But just as I was about to take the first bite out of it, I heard a noise coming from the woods behind me.
It was a mixture of moaning and heavy panting, complete with quick, light footsteps I recognized immediately.
Now, normally, I would have turned to her with my usual, cold grin and remarked how weak she was, to be that worn out after such a short walk. But that time, my first reaction to the realization that that fatigued Pokémon was her… Was worry. Panic, almost. Not really like me, huh? I’m not going to dwell on this, but you see, I don’t really want another psychic girl on my conscience. One is enough, really.
“Ugeh! Medicham! What are you doing out here?” I asked, jumping down from the rock I was sitting on.
She ran up to me and, as soon as she stopped, she fell on all fours, panting. “I…” She said, her voice weak. The next moment, she stopped panting and she sat on the ground, looking up at me, her expression hard. She probably still thought she couldn’t allow herself to show any weakness while around me… But in that moment, I think I would have tolerated that. “I should be asking that question to you, Gengar.”
“I’m just taking a stroll.” I lied, smiling to her as I always do. “Why were you following me?”
She got up and looked at me with her usual, self-confident smile. “Oh, I just wanted to see if I could keep up with you. Ekans can’t hope to do that! See, I even used Mind Reader on you to always know where you were going! Bet you didn’t even notice that!”
I then realized this was going nowhere… She’d never admit she was worried about me. I held up the apple in my hand, and then threw it at her. “Here, catch this!”
She caught it perfectly with one hand. “Thank you, Gengar…” She said, smiling at me. In the blink of an eye, she took a huge bite out of the fruit. I don’t think I had ever seen Medicham that hungry. “Whoa! This is some good stuff!” She said, with her mouth full and her huge, dark eyes widened. “Who’d you steal it from?”
I shrugged. “I just bought it at the Kecleon Shop.”
“Ah.” Medicham answered, somewhat let down. She took another bite. “You see, we always buy lots of stuff, but I like it better when we steal. I mean, sometimes we’d really need more items than we can buy. Like…” She went on while taking bites from the apple from time to time, and she often had her mouth full as she talked. “I really like Wonder Orbs, and those never come for cheap. We could use some more Reviver Seeds too. Remember what happened to our last escortee? I mean… It was really funny to watch, I got a kick out of it, but we had to refund the guy afterwards, and that was annoying. We could have avoided that if we had brought more Reviver Seeds. What do you think?”
I was a bit hesitant to reply. “Medicham… I don’t really feel like stealing lately.”
Suddenly, Medicham froze. She gulped heavily, and stopped eating the apple (she was almost done with it anyway). “What… What did you just say?”
I hesitated again. “I guess I should just tell you.” I sighed briefly, but soon regained my usual grin. “I’m not up for anything mean at the moment.”
Predictably enough, Medicham got into that “angry” stance of hers I had seen countless times: her fists clenched in front of her chest, her elbows bent outwards. But this time, the energy animating that gesture was desperate as opposed to resolute, and I caught a brief glint in her eyes that made me understand she was sad, rather than angry. “But why?” She asked, pretending to snap at me. “That’s totally against the spirit of Team Meanies!”
Gengar hardly ever open their ever-grinning mouths to talk. I can guarantee that, had I still been a human, I would have opened my mouth, and I would have left it like that for a few moments without uttering a sound.
I was about to tell Medicham everything. About me having been a human, about Ninetales, about Gardevoir and her sacrifice for me, about my sheer ingratitude at that moment and throughout the years, about how I discovered that Gardevoir was still out there and she had forgiven me… And finally, about how confused and pathetic I felt at the moment.
But none of that came out.
“Keh! It’s all part of my new plan, Medicham. Listen up: Team Meanies acts all goody-two-shoes for a while, about a week or so. We help the Pokémon in Pokémon Square and we don’t create any trouble during rescue missions.”
“Boooring… Why would we do that?”
“Hear this! After some time, when nobody expects anything bad coming from us any longer, and they all let their guard down… We strike! We get back to stealing, attacking worthless Pokémon during our missions, and pursuing our goal of world domination! How does that sound?”
“Wow! I never thought of that… What an incredible idea! As brilliant as usual, Gengar…”
“Keh! Thanks. Say, how about we go back to the base?”
“That would be a good idea, too… I’m so tired…”
“Keh! Let’s go, then.”
You need to have beaten the main plot, at least... Otherwise, read at your own risk.
(Can you tell I like Medicham?)
10. Confession
They don’t know. I’ve never told them. Keh! What use would that be, anyway? It’s not like they can do anything about it, can they?
Although I was about to tell her once. Ekans’s way too simple-minded, I never thought he would understand, or even care. As for Medicham, I know for a fact she just pretends to be that way. While experimenting with my powers as a Gengar, I have looked into her dreams and nightmares more than once, and I discovered that her personality’s more packed with contradictions than she thinks.
Anyway, it went like this.
I had been feeling a little under the weather… And one night, I decided I’d go back to that place and, at the very least, remember what had happened there.
Bound north-east, the darkness shielding me, I glided through forests and floated through clearings. I knew the journey to Mount Freeze would take me days, maybe a whole week, but I didn’t care.
After traversing a particularly thick forest, I sat on a rock, surrounded by thick grass. I looked at what was ahead of me, and I could make out the lights of a small human town. One I had probably visited, way back when. Just then, I realized how hungry I was. I always found it ironic, how, although I’m a ghost now, I still feel stuff like weariness, hunger, cold and heat...
I opened the toolbox I had brought with me, and picked up an apple from it. But just as I was about to take the first bite out of it, I heard a noise coming from the woods behind me.
It was a mixture of moaning and heavy panting, complete with quick, light footsteps I recognized immediately.
Now, normally, I would have turned to her with my usual, cold grin and remarked how weak she was, to be that worn out after such a short walk. But that time, my first reaction to the realization that that fatigued Pokémon was her… Was worry. Panic, almost. Not really like me, huh? I’m not going to dwell on this, but you see, I don’t really want another psychic girl on my conscience. One is enough, really.
“Ugeh! Medicham! What are you doing out here?” I asked, jumping down from the rock I was sitting on.
She ran up to me and, as soon as she stopped, she fell on all fours, panting. “I…” She said, her voice weak. The next moment, she stopped panting and she sat on the ground, looking up at me, her expression hard. She probably still thought she couldn’t allow herself to show any weakness while around me… But in that moment, I think I would have tolerated that. “I should be asking that question to you, Gengar.”
“I’m just taking a stroll.” I lied, smiling to her as I always do. “Why were you following me?”
She got up and looked at me with her usual, self-confident smile. “Oh, I just wanted to see if I could keep up with you. Ekans can’t hope to do that! See, I even used Mind Reader on you to always know where you were going! Bet you didn’t even notice that!”
I then realized this was going nowhere… She’d never admit she was worried about me. I held up the apple in my hand, and then threw it at her. “Here, catch this!”
She caught it perfectly with one hand. “Thank you, Gengar…” She said, smiling at me. In the blink of an eye, she took a huge bite out of the fruit. I don’t think I had ever seen Medicham that hungry. “Whoa! This is some good stuff!” She said, with her mouth full and her huge, dark eyes widened. “Who’d you steal it from?”
I shrugged. “I just bought it at the Kecleon Shop.”
“Ah.” Medicham answered, somewhat let down. She took another bite. “You see, we always buy lots of stuff, but I like it better when we steal. I mean, sometimes we’d really need more items than we can buy. Like…” She went on while taking bites from the apple from time to time, and she often had her mouth full as she talked. “I really like Wonder Orbs, and those never come for cheap. We could use some more Reviver Seeds too. Remember what happened to our last escortee? I mean… It was really funny to watch, I got a kick out of it, but we had to refund the guy afterwards, and that was annoying. We could have avoided that if we had brought more Reviver Seeds. What do you think?”
I was a bit hesitant to reply. “Medicham… I don’t really feel like stealing lately.”
Suddenly, Medicham froze. She gulped heavily, and stopped eating the apple (she was almost done with it anyway). “What… What did you just say?”
I hesitated again. “I guess I should just tell you.” I sighed briefly, but soon regained my usual grin. “I’m not up for anything mean at the moment.”
Predictably enough, Medicham got into that “angry” stance of hers I had seen countless times: her fists clenched in front of her chest, her elbows bent outwards. But this time, the energy animating that gesture was desperate as opposed to resolute, and I caught a brief glint in her eyes that made me understand she was sad, rather than angry. “But why?” She asked, pretending to snap at me. “That’s totally against the spirit of Team Meanies!”
Gengar hardly ever open their ever-grinning mouths to talk. I can guarantee that, had I still been a human, I would have opened my mouth, and I would have left it like that for a few moments without uttering a sound.
I was about to tell Medicham everything. About me having been a human, about Ninetales, about Gardevoir and her sacrifice for me, about my sheer ingratitude at that moment and throughout the years, about how I discovered that Gardevoir was still out there and she had forgiven me… And finally, about how confused and pathetic I felt at the moment.
But none of that came out.
“Keh! It’s all part of my new plan, Medicham. Listen up: Team Meanies acts all goody-two-shoes for a while, about a week or so. We help the Pokémon in Pokémon Square and we don’t create any trouble during rescue missions.”
“Boooring… Why would we do that?”
“Hear this! After some time, when nobody expects anything bad coming from us any longer, and they all let their guard down… We strike! We get back to stealing, attacking worthless Pokémon during our missions, and pursuing our goal of world domination! How does that sound?”
“Wow! I never thought of that… What an incredible idea! As brilliant as usual, Gengar…”
“Keh! Thanks. Say, how about we go back to the base?”
“That would be a good idea, too… I’m so tired…”
“Keh! Let’s go, then.”