Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Charon's Pursuit ❯ Male Delusions ( Chapter 14 )

Author’s Note: Uh, yeah…it’s been awhile since the last time I updated this story. Hopefully there are still people out there holding interest. If not…oh well. I’m not doing this to earn a paycheck, after all. :P

As usual, don’t hesitate to share your critique. I’ll do my best to improve on my shortcomings. Priority one would have to be reducing the lull between these updates. For most of you it would be unacceptable, I’m sure.

Chapter 14

Journal Entry for The Day of New Family:

So it has been done. A new member will enter the ranks of our bloodline. I cannot say whether I’m dismayed or thrilled, for my feelings are mixed on the matter. You see, it’s like this: our new member of the family isn’t popping out of the uterus of my mother, but instead he’s being bought at the pet store. On top of that, he’s not the average pet. I do not know what strings my sister pulled to get Dad to blow so much cash…he’s, of all things, a pichu. Sigh…

Not know what that is? I’ll tell you, my dear journal. A pichu is a rodent, bright yellow in color, drowned by Mother Nature in so much cuteness the very sight of one would make Satan cry. They’re a lucrative item in the pet business, for their biological parents, pikachu, are rare, meaning that pichus are even rarer, which of course means that everyone wants one. God knows what those pet companies do to get their hands on enough Pichus to meet demands…

That sister of mine is determined to name him Sparky. I didn’t want the poor rodent to endure the circles of hell that would devour him due to such an idiotic name, so I at once drove the point into my sister’s thick skull that Charon would be a much better name, under the ruse that it would be “cooler.” She, of course, gagged at the idea, called me a runt, and stuck her tongue at me. Ooooooh, that was crossing the line! I had no choice but to retort that she was being a selfish brat, to which she promptly responded by whacking me with a nearby couch pillow. Not one to take such abuse, I brandished my own pillow against her. Oh, the ferocity of that battle…it made the world wars look like a game of cowboys and Indians!

Dad brought that to an abrupt end, much to my dismay, by grabbing our noggins and head-butting them together. He clearly doesn’t follow the rules of sibling war all that well, using such under-handed tactics! He made us compromise on the issue by placing all of our hopes on the single flip of a quarter later that night. I can’t tell you how frustrating that is…not having the power to control your fate like that. It makes life feel like nothing more than some deity’s fleeting game.

By some stroke of luck I managed to win that coin toss. My sister fumed, while I walked away with content. Until that coin toss, I believe that she was under the impression that she could have Charon all to herself. She tends to be controlling like that, something that I will have to fight against in the future. Knowing her, she would pamper that rodent into a helpless blob of flesh whilst pulling his strings to do her every wish. I won’t let such things happen.

I’m looking into the field of pokemon training, for Charon’s sake. As a pichu he wouldn’t be able to do much, but if I don’t lay the foundations for his strength and confidence in his youth I don’t see how he’s going to survive. He has to someday understand that we won’t always be there for him…that, in the list of priorities of our family, he might one day be considered expendable.

I’ll let you know how I progress with Charon, journal. Hopefully he won’t be terribly stupid, for that would put my goal in jeopardy.

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“Lily? Lily, keep your distance. Achoo! I cannot have you catch this either.”

Only a short amount of time passed since the maiden vulpix had collapsed. Calien, through valiant efforts, pulled her back to the conscious realm, away from the mental void of the comatose and brain-dead. With Calien inspiring as much energy as possible into them, the couple (with the fainted offspring in tow) trudged through the rain, the mud, and the dark, until the discovery of dead, fallen logs of fallen trees, lying upon a boulder in such a slant that it created a crude, tent-like space, gave them the bare shelter needed to escape the downpour. The water brought upon by the rain easily seeped into their space as well as the cold night air, thus Calien and Lily, lying side-by-side with the comatose Ivy in-between them, shivered as they continued to suffer the harsh punishment of nature.

Calien had fallen ill, his energy siphoned away to the point where he couldn’t stand and his lungs and nose cursed with a chronic, pain-inducing sneeze. It was hard to tell if the cause was the horrible conditions of their shelter, their prolonged exposure to the rain, or simply because he experienced hell first-hand. Regardless of the source of the problem, the maiden vulpix could barely keep her composure, for the male vulpix distanced himself from Ivy and Lily, not intending to spread whatever sickness had ensnared him, but suffering alone in the rainy, night-time chill as a result. Lily knew that such an act would only worsen his health. Such unconditional behavior could cost him his life.

“Calien…please, I don’t want you suffering like this,” Lily said to her mate-to-be, as her ears wilted down in guilt and pity while she was observing the sickened Calien, “You need to stay warm if you’re going to get any better. Come close to us.”
“You act as if I have a choice,” Calien remarked, his voice fragile yet deadly solemn, “Since we first layed eyes on Ivy I had nary a choice at all.” He sneezed. “I have taken a back seat to that orphaned offspring that clings to you and I do not see that changing anytime soon.” He sneezed again, more violently this time around. He stared to the ground, at once pained and angered by his weakening body.

“Don’t be crazy like that!” Lily nearly wailed, “You know that I care for you, Calien. I didn’t want to lose you when the zangoose attacked us and I don’t want to lose you now. Please, you need our warmth if you want to get better!”

“You could get sick. Ivy could get sick. All three of us could wind up dead in the morning. If I was not meant to be your mate I want to at least ensure you live on to find someone who will be.” He sneezed a few times in succession, the resulting pain hitting him hard. For a moment he bowed his head to the ground, gathering the energy to be able to talk again.

“Stop that! I won’t hear any of it!” Lily snapped, pushing herself to her feet, Ivy’s body slipping off in the process, “I’m not going to let you die, you hear me?! I’m coming over there to keep you warm. If you don’t like it, too bad!”

Calien would have snapped back at her to keep her distance, but he was never given the chance. Lily rapidly closed the space between them and pounced upon the male vulpix. Calien yelped in surprise as the maiden vulpix’s weight slammed into his back, pinning his body to the ground.

“Lily…get off me!” Calien demanded, as he tried forcing Lily off of his back by pushing upwards with his legs.

“Not until you stop doing this to yourself!” Lily demanded in return, referring to how self-destructive the male vulpix suddenly became. She pressed down her body against Calien, fighting to stay upon him for the sake of his health.

“Go back to Ivy! She is the one you care about. I am just extra baggage to be dragged until I die. Why not hasten my bitter end so you can be done with me?!”

“No, you have it all wrong!” Lily wailed, “It’s not like that at all! Why won’t you listen to me? I don’t want to lose you. I want you as my mate!”

“Do you? DO YOU?!” Calien exploded suddenly in a fit of rage. With bared teeth and a growl he turned upon Lily, his anger surging adrenaline into his ill-fallen body, tripping her off her feet and driving her back into the ground. The maiden vulpix froze in terror as Calien loomed threateningly over her, fire blazing in his eye while the repulsive gashes on his face flooded her senses with nausea.

“We had every opportunity to commit the act,” Calien seethed, “The chances we had to conceive our offspring outnumber the stars of the sky. But you…you found an excuse to delay each time. First, it was just that you were not ready. Then it was because of the Arcanine. Now it is because you are sacrificing our lives for the sake of an orphan who is not even our own kind! The reason why we abandoned our comfortable lives, starved throughout the winter, and narrowly averted gruesome death was so that we could have our own litters in the first place!”

Calien leaned his head further down, forcing Lily to stare helplessly into the gaze of his gouged eye. “Look at what you have done to me, Lily! Does this face instill comfort in the minds of babes? On the contrary, it terrifies them, just as it terrifies you! Now if we ever mate, our kits would forever have to live with the fact that their father is a monster! And if they do not hate me for the shame that will loom over their heads, they will hate you for letting such a repulsive creature take your womb!”At that moment, Lily could no longer withstand the torment. Calien’s piercing words, his violent anger, the cold, the water, the orphan, and the grotesque sight of the violated eye…all these things cast her into a horrid spasm of illness. The maiden vulpix vomited what little there was in her stomach, the contents surging to the side as she turned her head to avoid choking. The action petrified Calien in shock as he realized all too late what he had just accomplished.

The maiden vulpix turned back to Calien, her muzzle stained by her vomit. She stared up to him, drained of energy, desperate, like an animal trapped in a barbed, filthy cage. “Calien,” She struggled to say, her voice a whisper, “I’m sorry…please…forgive me.”

From that point on, all Lily could do was weep. Calien, devastated by the actions he committed, crumbled to the ground, his body on top of hers. He knew of no words that could mend the mental wounds he inflicted. Instead he shared his own tears with her, not knowing when their horrible night would end.

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Journal Entry for The Day of Conspiracy:

Hello, Journal. It has been some time since I last filled your pages with the ink of my pen. Plenty has happened since then, but were I to indulge on every detail of past events I’ll find myself too drained to get the newly acquired knowledge that gnaws my conscience out of my chest. You’ll have to settle for a brief blurb instead of my aimless rambling for a change.

Charon turned out to be a good pet. Very intelligent, easily housebroken, but a tad sensitive. Quickly grew fearful of brooms. His days would alternate between my sister’s playtime hell, my training regimen, and the typical eat and sleep. He loved us both regardless. Developed a shared fondness for the pichu next door, which everyone found cute until the two of them evolved on his birthday. He was clearly saddened to be separated from her, most likely not understanding the reasons as to why her presence was forbidden. His training became an outlet for his frustration, which undoubtedly scared my parents shitless, which is the reason they berate me everyday for training him to begin with. That does not bother me, however, for Charon’s strength with electricity has advanced so far it is nearly godlike.

Ok, I think that’s enough. Now to the heart of the matter.

Never in the household has there been so much tension. They’ve told us what we’ve wanted to hear. “Charon won’t be neutered! No, he won’t lose his electric sacs either! Of course we’ll keep the little fella, he’s one of the family!” Despite all this, I cannot dismiss the apprehension in their tone whenever they’re in the same room as him. My sister has taken their word for truth, but I wasn’t born yesterday: Only a fool would doubt that they were plotting some way to get rid of the pikachu, most likely by quietly selling him off.

Good god, the irony sickens me. My sister and I, in our own ways, worked so hard to make him strive for the best in life. So much confidence, so much passion…so much power. All it really accomplished was to make his monetary worth in the pet industry skyrocket. We made Charon even more expendable. We cursed him!

I wish there was some way I could help Charon escape from here, but what could I do? If I simply set him loose, animal control would catch him and throw him into the nearest pound. If I ran away with Charon to, god forbid, live as a full-time trainer, we would constantly be on the run without a moment of peace until the local authorities catch us and ship us right back home. And to end his life before he’s trapped in some filthy hellhole is something I just can’t do. I would sooner kill myself than lay a finger on him.

There’s only one course of action that I can take…I have to sabotage their plans. As Charon is now, he’s the perfect pet: strong, healthy, and easy to train and tame. But I know of a way to shatter that image like a bullet through glass. I can turn him into a monster, a creature synonymous with a harbinger of death. He’ll strike fear into man and beast alike, for they will know the destruction he can reap. Few will want to even touch him. Those who do can expect to meet their maker.

All this, my dear journal, can be accomplished with merely a tiny stone…It is only a matter of obtaining it. Wish me luck.