#in the first scene you know how rei grips onto the roof of the car?

[faerociousbeast]

watched the first two episodes of buddy daddies with my sister. i wish gay people were real

[ayanamimon]

DRABBLE // Origin Story (Pt. 2)

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It had been about an hour since Rei had set off towards the Eterna outskirts. Aside from Zee floating by her side, she was completely alone; no cars drove past on the icy roads, there were no other pedestrians with her... of course, it being the middle of the night may have had something to do with that.

On top of that, it was freezing cold. Normally, this wasn’t something Rei minded all that much, but even she had pulled her hood up over her head to deal with the harsh conditions. Zee, meanwhile, had converted to a Fire-type. “We... s-should be getting close...” Rei informed her cyber companion, shivering all the while.

The bluenette knew everything now... she knew about the miscarriage that essentially started Charon’s downward spiral. She knew about the horrific experiments he was conducting. And, most importantly, she knew she herself was the result of those experiments, the creation of a mad scientist.

What does this make me? Am I... not human?

As the buildings became more and more sparse, the two turned onto Conifer Street - a name Rei recognized. Her pace picked up slightly as she scanned the houses along the sidewalk, until finally, their destination became clear. A street lamp illuminated the large, abandoned house where blades of overgrown dead grass peeked out of the snow covering the lawn. All but one of the windows had shattered, and there seemed to be a hole in the rotting roof.

“...we’re here, Zee.”

Heaving a heavy sigh, Rei gave the Pokemon their first order since they’d been released. “Please... melt a path to the front door.” Zee, after briefly glitching while processing the command, nodded and released a small beam of heat energy, cutting through the pristine white blanket of snow and making way for their trainer. “T-thank you,” she chattered out before beginning to head for the door.

Once she’d stepped up the two cracked concrete stairs, Rei... stopped. Looking up at the house’s dilapidated facade, a sense of dread overwhelmed her. This was her home once, but it did not look like her home.

She pushed the door open; nobody had bothered to lock it when the house was abandoned. Most of the furniture was gone, and thick layers of dust covered whatever remained. There were holes in the walls, likely eaten through by wild Rattata. As she stepped forward, the wooden floor creaked beneath her feet, giving the impression it would give way at any moment.

This did not feel like her home. This was not her home.

Rei sighed again, making her way towards a dusty sofa that had been left behind and taking a seat on it. It was around this point that she’d noticed Zee hadn’t yet followed her inside... in fact, they were still floating above the sidewalk. “Zee,” she called out through the still-open door, “you can c-come with me.” Two seconds later, Zee was right by her side.

For what seemed like hours, Rei sat on that couch, staring up towards the ceiling she was afraid would collapse on her. She tried taking in everything she’d learned since the conversation with her mother, but... even for her, someone who seemed to have a mini-existential crisis every night, this was too much.

Turning to Zee, she asked, “Zee, do you think that I am... real? Despite where I come from... am I a real person?” Unfortunately for her, the only response she’d get was a series of confused beeps. “...oh. I... suppose that was a question beyond your understanding. I apologize.”

Were Zee any more perceptive, they’d probably have been able to notice what Rei was doing; she clearly didn’t want to be there, and the amount of stalling she was doing proved it. She was only staying because she felt she needed to be there.

Of course... she couldn’t stall forever. “I... am ready to continue on, Zee... follow me, please.” She pulled herself from her seat reluctantly, trudging through the freezing house and looking out for any sort of stairway heading down. After searching through the kitchen with no luck, Rei and Zee came to the back end of the house... where a set of stairs descending into the dark basement awaited them.

The creakiness of the steps was expected, but that didn’t mean it unsettled Rei any less. Whatever natural light seeping into the house from the moon soon disappeared, and before she knew it, she was in total darkness. If Zee listened closely, they’d be able to hear the quickened pace of their trainer’s heartbeat.

“...is... there a light...?” Fortunately, it seemed as if they wouldn’t be fumbling around in the dark for long; after a little while, a light (albeit a dim one) became apparent, making the last few steps clear for Rei. Once she stepped off onto the basement floor, she took a moment to look around... and the surroundings sent a chill down her spine.

All sorts of computers and other machines sat around the laboratory, every single one of them long broken down and rusting away. Numerous medical devices in the room had met a similar fate. Perhaps most menacingly, right in the center of it all, what appeared to be an operating table sat right beneath the exposed lightbulb illuminating the room.

Numerous emotions ran through Rei’s mind. Fear was perhaps the most obvious, but disgust and anger were there, as well. The bluenette felt the urge to cry, to scream, to do something... yet, like so many other times before, her emotions essentially bottlenecked, leaving her staring blankly ahead at the scene before her.

A series of beeps snapped her out of her stoic state, however, as Zee gestured for their trainer to come look at something they’d found. “Z-Zee... what... what is it?” she questioned, mildly dazed as she walked towards the Pokemon. They beeped again and gestured one of their featureless arms towards a stack of papers lying on a desk. Rei glanced at the first page...

“...Project Lilin. Doctor... Charon Ichijo...” 

She buried her face into her hands. What awaited in those papers... it would surely stay with her forever. Yet, at the same time, hiding from it would ultimately be even worse. The truth was ugly, but... it was the truth. She had to know the truth... especially the truth about herself.

“...Zee. Leave me be.”

The Pokemon had returned to their ball within seconds, and Rei took the stack of papers with shaky hands. She sat in a tattered office chair sitting nearby - one Charon had no doubt spent countless hours in - and with one last deep breath, turned the first page and began reading everything.

She’d finished reading the papers a good while ago, yet Rei remained sitting in that chair, staring up at the ceiling.

She could barely believe what she’d just read.

“...that man... murdered an innocent Pokemon... why would I expect any different of him? Just... horrific...” The part about the Hitmontop DNA used in her struck a chord with Rei the most, it seemed, but this of course did not diminish the other horrors written in those pages. Even worse, as the days went on, she was able to decipher just how much the man’s mental state was weakening. And that wasn’t even getting into the... failed prototypes, as it were.

If there were any sort of silver lining, she at least knew things about herself she should’ve known long ago. She finally knew her birthday... the last entry had been dated March 6, 1997.

Rei pulled herself off the chair and looked towards the stairs; she noticed faint sunlight shining down, meaning she must’ve been reading for hours. “...I... suppose if I have no more business here... I should be-”

The sudden flash of one of her Pokemon’s balls interrupted her, and even before she saw who’d let themselves out, the welcome warmth made it more than clear it was Rotom. “Rotom? Do... you need something?” The plasmatic phantom gave off a series of beeps and buzzes (notably different from Zee’s) before floating off deeper into the lab.

“Where are... Rotom? Rotom, come back.” Rei followed right behind Rotom, and soon found herself in... what appeared to be some sort of bedroom, though clearly not her own. Rotom was looking down towards what appeared to be a journal, beeping forlornly. “Rotom... have you... been here before?”

Rei took a look at the journal, reading aloud the dusty page it had been turned to for so long. “‘It was by pure chance that I obtained information about the Pokemon Rotom... remarkably, Rotom has the ability to enter and merge with special motors... ... ...to ensure I get all the credit, my Rotom research must be kept secret... Dr. Charon Ichijo...’”

She looked back towards Rotom, then back at the journal, then back again. If what she was assuming was correct... then it was no wonder Rotom had sought her out after her gym challenge. “...Rotom...” Before Rei could say anything else, the Plasma Pokemon gestured one of their appendages towards the journal again, seemingly wanting Rei to turn the page... which she did, and after taking a seat on the nearby bed, she continued reading on.

“‘...finally, I came to realize that the Pokemon only wished to be friends. I have decided to name this most wondrous Pokemon Rotom... ... ...Rotom and I became fast friends. We were perpetual companions... ... ...We could not touch, let alone hug or hold hands, but we cared not, for... we were bonded on a much deeper, incorporeal level...’”

After a small anecdote written by Charon, Rei - whose shaky hands could barely grip the journal at this point - read aloud the final words of the entry. “‘Somehow, I felt... I could understand Rotom's thoughts better than before. Also, I... realized that we would remain friends... throughout our lives...’”

The book fell from her hands, and she looked up once again, her eyes meeting Rotom’s. “...you are... you were... the Rotom he knew, are you not?” Rotom beeped and buzzed in confirmation, then... covered their face with their aura appendages, almost appearing ashamed. “And... you left him behind due to his deteriorating mental state. Is that not correct?” The phantom gave the same series of beeps.

“...we... we should be leaving.” Letting a sigh slip through her lips, the bluenette rose to her feet. “I have gathered all of the information I needed to know... and clearly, there are far too many painful memories in this house for both of us. We have spent enough time here.” Rotom buzzed in agreement before voluntarily recalling themselves to their ball. Rei did not question it; she threw up her hood, shoved her hands into her pockets, and headed back the way she’d came.

This was not her home, and she did not want to be there anymore.