< The Path We Create >
"Hey! Are you LISTENING! Felicia?" Startled out of her mind, Felicia looked up to see a tan girl with long dark hair sitting on her table. It took a moment to get out of her mind, but she could now finally recognize the girl in front of her.
"Sorry…I was…thinking, Marisa." Felicai said, Apologize to her cousin of the same age, Marisa Martin, her cousin by her father's blood. Aunt Bruna was often the one who took care of her when her mother went to work.
"Come on, you daydreaming again? In the middle of my rant, too? What a bummer." Marisa said, pouting. She could have been one of the only friends that Felicia had, well, since they literally grew up together after all, so maybe more like a sister…?
Mh…Felicia couldn't imagine Marisa as a big sister figure…
"Anyway, Mom has been nagging me about my not taking care of Psyduck, but he's doing well! He even manages to control a little bit of his psychic power! SO he didn't have a headache all the time now! If I didn't take care of him, would he even be like that?" Marisa went on rumbling about her own Psyduck, how he was doing, how he controls his psychic power on and on.
Felicia knew the girl didn't mean to brag, but she did feel jealous. Here, she wasn't even allowed to have Pokémon, but Marisa was allowed one.
Her face darkened a bit, but otherwise kept up her usual blank expression that everyone came to expect of her.
"Maybe, did you take him for a swim? His natural habitat is in the water after all, so maybe Aunty was meaning that?" When Felicia said that, Marisa fell silent and stared at her, her eyes slowly turned from confusion to panic.
"Oh…right, oh right! Argh! I bathe him everyday, but I forgot he loves the pool! I'm so busy I even forgot that! Sorry, Felicia, but Imma cancel today's plan! I gotta take him to the pool!" Marisa said, and quickly left, the school already ending, the only reason they stay in the classroom is because today it matches their cleaning date.
"She…didn't take out the trash." Sighing, Felicia quickly finishes sweeping the floor, takes the trash out, and bundles it up before putting it in the new bag. She took her own backpack and the trash bag before getting out of the building to the trash area, where the trashman would take it to process at the factory, and feed some to Gabodor and Trubbish.
After finishing the duty, Felicia walked aimlessly to the Park. She didn't have a plan to come today, cause she had a shopping trip with Marisa, but well, the girl canceled at the last minute to take care of her Psyduck.
"What to do…mh..I guess…finishing my homework early would be good." Felicia walked toward her usual spot. She didn't forget to get a bag of berries, but wow, her weekly pay is already almost out, huh…
She sat down on the tree and lay on it for a few minutes, taking in the fresh air, before taking out her homework and quickly solving the problem. It's kinda peaceful today, the usual bickering of Corvisquire and Fletchinder didn't happen. There are no Pokémon around her, which is quite weird for a Pokémon park.
But it was calming nonetheless. As she slowly nibbles on the berry, a sudden rustle is heard in the bush. Felicia immediately drops her homework and focuses on the bush.
The bush was moving around erratically, as Felicia's eyes tracked its movement. Slowly, Felicia got up. There had never really been anything dangerous before, but since it was approaching dusk, the ranger was already starting to change shifts, plus Pokémon are unpredictable.
While most are friendly, they are nonetheless wild. You never know what would happen if a wild animal got cornered; even Pichu would unleash an electric shock strong enough to knock out an adult in danger.
Felicia made her movement as slow as possible to not startle whatever was in the bush. She decides to drop the berries in case they manage to stall the Pokémon a little longer.
Suddenly, the bush stopped moving. Felicia slowly picked up her backpack and stepped away, but then.
"Nyan!" Jumped out of the bush, it was a green furry creature with wounds all over its body, full of bite marks and blood. The Pokémon hiss at her for a few seconds, but keep their focus on the bush.
The green furry was ... .Sprigatito, it was undoubtedly a Sprigatito. Why here? Why is it here?! Its natural habitat should be at the Tagtree! That's at least their natural habitat, what's more, they are rare species too! Felicia knows they were given as starters in a lot of battle academies, but it's still a rare instance!
"Goos!" Suddenly, jumping out of the bush was a wild Yungoss, its sharp fangs full of blood as it panted heavily. It was already dusk, and this wild Yungoos was still hunting! How hungry is it!? D-did the two Pokémon playing chase for so long like this?!
"Nyan!" The wild Sprigatito was suddenly surrounded by glowing leaves, then rushed straight toward the wild Yungoos, trying to overwhelm it momentarily, but the Yungoos, with its strong jaw, just kept biting and biting away at the leaves.
Just as the Yungoos was about to break out from Sprigatito's Leafage, the feline Pokémon rushed from behind the hundred leaves it used as camouflage and bit onto the Yungoos's neck.
"Goos!" The Yungoos scream out in pain and try to shake the Sprigatito away using its long body movement, but Sprigatito just bites harder and harder. With each second, it feels as if light slowly gathers in its fangs, type energy…
But the Yungoos didn't falter, as it jumped up and let its body fall, along with the Sprigatito, using it as the cushion, causing the Sprigatito to gasp out in pain and let go of the neck.
The sprigatito fell on the ground, limping as it tried to get up, but before it could even recover, the Yungoos hit it with its full body, making the sprigatito finally fall, limping on the ground
The Yungoos let out a roar of victory, and just as it was about to feast, it was kicked away.
Falicia didn't know why she did that; it was just normal, wasn't it? Survivor of the Fittest, rule of jungle, whatever it is, it's normal for Pokémon to eat each other and other animals, some even eat humans or straight up killing them for fun or kidnap.
People even eat Pokémon too, such as delicacies like Slowpoke's tail, Magikarp sushi, and others, Chancy's egg, Milktank's milk, Torpius's Banana!
Those are normal occurrences, that's why there are so many Rangers that protect us from those kinds, that's why there are so many stories being passed down from generation to generation, either as folklore, or data from study. That's also why there are so many conservatives for these Pokémon; they are, in fact, wild Pokémon!
During her time working as the photographer for half a year for the ranger, she saw many things, didn't she? Pokémon that got lost in the forest and got eaten by a swarm of bug-type Pokémon, some even leave to die, getting half eaten, or even straight up just fight to the death with both Pokémon dying. Arceus, she even saw when the Yungoos eat the still alive Lechonk after they manage to take it down, people eat Pokémon too, it's the norm!
Yet! Why?! Why is she helping the Sprigatito by kicking the Yungoos?! Because it is a rare species? No, that bullshit, people with money could have bred these little guys to overpopulation if they wanted to, or hunt them to extinction and bring them back using fossil machines, but those things are just copy, so they do not really count.
No…It was because this guy didn't want to die, so he was fighting so hard just to live. Why would it fight so hard if it knew that the opponent was clearly above it, when it can't even run away? Why does it need to even fight if you know you can't win or run away? Why not just accept your fate?
Felicia quickly scooped up the still-breathing Sprigatito and sprinted the living Arceus out of there. Dusk had already fallen, and the Yungoos, even if it was not its home turf, would need to fall asleep useless; it really wanted to starve to death. She did drop the berries near them so they would have something to eat.
First, she needs to get this little guy to Pokémon Center fast, and inform the Ranger of wild Yungoos in the area; those guys are too hungry to be staying in the park otherwise, they would eat each and every Pokémon.
So Felicia quickly ran away from the hungry rage of Yungoos, and thankfully, just like she predicted, it would rather fall asleep than chase her to save its energy for tomorrow's scavenging/hunting.
Felicia left quickly. Thank Arceus, the Pokémon center wasn't that far away. When she arrives in panic, Nurse Joy is still yawning, playing with her phone.
"Please heal this little one!" Felicia yelled out, making the nurse startle and almost drop her phone, but she quickly changed into work mode, and the Blissey that was playing with the little Chansey and Happiny quickly stopped and turned to work mode alongside the Chansey while the Happiny watched from the side with focus.
"Lost a lot of blood, there are a lot of cut wounds and bite marks, could cause infection, do you have the pokeball?" Felicia shook her head at the nurse's question, which she nodded to. "I see, then it's a bit tricky but not a problem, this little gal here needs a good rest, potion, and blissy egg should get it to top shape, come back tomorrow, alright?"
"B-but!"
"Sorry, but from the look of it, this gal is a wild one, isn't she? Sorry, but since you are not related to her, even if you save her, I can't let you stay here. Professional Standard, if you will, but don't worry, she will still be here tomorrow." With a wink, Nurse Joy quickly turned back and pushed open a drawer, revealing various equipment, then she pulled out the wall and it turned into a treatment table, the first time Felicia had ever seen it used, because most of the healing is done using the Healing Machine.
"Now shoo! This gal is not gonna get better tonight, so go home and rest." Nurse Joy quickly shooed her away, and there isn't really anything Felicia could do now, so she just left as she was told, but not before going and informing the ranger about the wild Yungoos that were left sleeping in the park.
That night, when she returned, it was surprisingly one of those nights when her mother wasn't home; she was probably working…
There was already a meal left on the table, a simple Pizza. She sits down and eats slowly, still thinking about what she did today. She got quite an earful from the ranger at the station, because she did just disrupt the local ecosystem by helping that Sprigatito and stopping Yungoos from eating.
But that could also be argued that they were straying too far away from their natural habitat, and were invading human territory, also she could also maybe use some excuse like self-defence if she just…changed the story a little…
But she won't do that, what she did was wrong…but…she couldn't really leave that Sprigatito to get eaten in front of her either. Maybe, if she had quickly left in the first place, she wouldn't have dealt with this dilemma either.
"What should I have done then…" One way or another, she already does that. The fate of that Sprigatito changed because of her…
There is no point in thinking about it anymore, it's going to give her a needless headache…
"...I hope that Sprigatito is ok…" With that, Felicia slowly drifted into sleep.
< The Path We Create >
Thud Thud Thud Thud…
The loud sound of the feet, continuously stomping on the floor, but no one even tries to call it out. The person stomping the floor was none other than Felicia, as she herself was feeling anxious and wanted to get out of school as fast as possible. Next to her was none other than Marisa.
"Hey…" She whispered, but Felicia didn't listen as she just continuously stomped her foot and stared blankly at the board, making even the teacher nervous.
"Oi…" Marisa is still getting ignored, now with veins almost popping on her head, she finally snaps.
"Teacher! It seems Feliica didn't feel good today! I will take her to the infirmary!" Without even waiting for the teacher to respond, Marisa took Feliica's arm and forcefully dragged her away, startling the girl awake.
"Eh? Marisa?"
"Hush." Felicia did as she was told and stopped talking as Marisa dragged her between the stairs in front of the infirmary.
"Now then! Tell me what's going on? Why do you gotta make people uncomfortable like that? Those looks would make anyone getting them piss their pants, you know?" Marisa said, sitting down on the stairs and gesturing for Felicia to sit down.
Felicia sits down and stares at the infirmary. "...I probably did a bad thing," Felicia mutters. "I kick away the Yungoos who have won in a fight to get the food, the food being Sprigatito, I disrupt the ecosystem…I even got scolded by the ranger…but…I couldn't leave that Sprigatito alone, I don't know why…but my body moved by itself…"
Marisa just sat next to her and nodded along, then suddenly said. "Why do you care? You care about that Pokémon, right? That's why you save it. Even if it was wrong for the ecosystem or whatever, you still did the right thing, didn't you? If you just leave that Sprigatito alone, would you be here mumbling about how you do the Ecosystem wrong? I bet you would probably regret not helping that Sprigatito instead."
Marisa said as if it were natural, "Wanting to help someone is a good thing, even if you may feel it was wrong sometimes, but by saving that Sprigatito, it managed to live another day, didn't it? Besides, that Yungoos would survive, it's not like the ranger would let it starve to death outside of its habitat anyway."
"You want to know what happened to that Sprigatito, right? That's why you're so restless today. Well, I don't think projecting your frustration on our classmate and teacher like that is a good thing, but well. Just stay here for a few more hours, and you will be able to meet that little friend of yours-"
"What are you two doing here!? The class hours have already started!" Being hounded by the nurse, Felicia and Marisa drag themselves back to the classroom, but now Felicia feels much better.