Someone to Guard the Monster I've Become

[Fluffy]

» Aiden walked alone towards the shiny lab. Well he wasn't really altogether alone. Following behind him at a distance was a ghostly looking form of a pokemon that resembled his warped body. Echos of his own dark gray ears and tail appeared on the creature as did his sharp claws and slightly protruding teeth. His dark clothes seemed to be mimicking the dark mane of fluffy fur along the translucent pokemon's back and dark triangles beneath his bright blue eyes mirrored hers, yet the light in his eyes contrasted greatly to the dead and blank look of hers. Those eyes... he couldn't bring himself to look at them.

» Even as he resisted the urge to turn and face her, the one he had once felt was a part of himself, he felt the strange feral instincts inside of him raging again. He felt the uncontrollable need to tear at people and destroy grasp at his own will to protect others. As he fought the feeling inside he closed his eyes and clenched his fists, his tail going erect as he concentrated. If anyone was near enough to see, he knew they were staring, but they had probably seen too many pokemorphs to actually fear him. That was what had brought him here today.

» Reclaiming his complete control over his own will, Aiden continued forward, faster now, toward the lab. He needed to get a pokemon and train it well so that if and when the feral rage inside of him grew too strong, there would be someone to protect those around him. He didn't care what the pokemon was nor did he care what its personality or looks were like. As long as it was a strong pokemon that looked different enough from any old cuddly pokemon to warn others away from him, and it was willing to do the job, he would take it. With that in mind he knocked on the door to the lab, hoping someone would answer soon and he could get this finished with quickly.

Requesting shiny charmander xD He might not care, but I do ^-^ You might throw in a few other powerhouse pokemon so that he has to think, but the charmander will be my final decision xD charmander=capable of protecting through out all its evelolutions+ shiny=warning to others xD especially as a charizard BD

[Rin]

Unusually, Professor Pine and his dæmon, Telepa, were not in the Laboratory when Aiden knocked on the door. Instead, they were in the long fields that stretched behind the Lab, caring for the various Pokemon that were currently being stored in PCs, as well as various starter Pokemon that hadn’t been chosen yet or had felt too nervous to go with adventurers. At the moment, Pine was feeding a tiny Abra that a Trainer had sent to him earlier that morning, claiming that he had found the little Pokemon starving and unable to move on the side of one of the Routes. He bent over the psychic-type, keeping a firm hold on the milk bottle he had gently inserted into its mouth. It was suckling feebly, but at least it had been drinking.

He found himself interrupted as a Furret suddenly streaked up to him, thick tail waving from side to side. ~Prof. Pine, Prof. Pine!~ it called with agitation, knowing that Telepa would hear and translate. ~Prof. Pine, someone’s at the front gate, knocking on the lab door! He’s kind of…he’s kind of…~ The Furret shivered visibly. It clearly had been intimidated by the visitor. Wondering what the new Trainer had done to frighten the Pokemon (after all, Pokemorph Trainers were quite common to Enera Labs, so it couldn’t just be that) Professor Pine swiftly entrusted the Abra to a nearby Kangaskhan and hurried back to the front of the Laboratory, Telepa soaring above him.

Finally, after a few minutes of running, Professor Pine spotted the Trainer knocking on the front door. A Mighteyna ‘morph, by the look of it—Mightyena were scary to smaller Pokemon, but the Trainer didn’t seem too strange for now, all things considered. Good thing that fieldwork had kept him in shape. Hastily unlatching the gate, he stepped out into the compound, calling to Aiden to get his attention, ”Hello! Sorry I took so long, I was out in the fields!” Telepa alighted on the nearby fence, giving a strong hoot to alert the Mightyena ‘morph and his dæmon as to where they were, several meters to the side of where Aidan was knocking. Then she paused, shocked, as she saw the ghostly shell of all that remained of Anya. ~Pine…is it…no…no…~

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[Fluffy]

ooc//lawl, Aiden learned intimidate! xD (despite the fact that it is an ability.. x-x)

» Aiden knocked once, then waited for a few minutes. Wondering at first if no one had heard him he started to knock again. Just as his first knock on the second try though he heard someone calling him and apologizing from not too far away. Turning and trying to spot the person he was alerted suddenly to their location by a strong hoot and turned to see a professor coming his way with a noctowl dæmon.

» Now that he spotted them he watched them as he saw the noctowl's face go into a shocked expression as she spotted Anya, for what else could she have seen that would have put that pure look of surprise on her face? He knew fully well that they saw plenty of pokemorphs here, he had heard so, and he knew they were seasoned in dealing with almost any kind of person. That she seemed so shocked, and did he sense someone near by felt fear of him, made the feral side of him rage again, trying to take him over whilst he was weakened by an emotional wincing at the dæmon's expression.

» After a moment of silence he felt as if he had to explain himself. "Ummm... I'm sorry to disturb you..." He started feeling stupid, then just blurted the story out to get it over with. "My father, no, not my father, but an evil minded professor, thought it would make people stronger to morph them with their dæmons so that they couldn't die because their dæmons died the way my mother did. He kidnapped and killed many children trying to get it to work, and I am one of the results."

» Aiden said this all short and simple, in a voice that said it was over and done with and that he didn't want to talk on it anymore then he had to and that also expressed a dislike for any pity that might be offered. He tried to meet their eyes, but instead looked down to the ground, holding back the raging inside of himself and trying to calm it by taking a deep breath. It worked a little.

» "The point of all of this is that because of what has happened to me, a part of myself, or perhaps a part of... her, has gone feral inside of me. I feel as if I am a danger to the people around me and especially to those I love. I don't want to hurt anyone, but I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to hold this part of myself back. So I decided the best thing i could do was become a pokemon trainer and train my pokemon to be strong and protect others from me if I go feral on them." He hoped he wasn't sounding too ridiculous right now.

» "If you are willing to grant me a starter for this purpose I need a pokemon who can be trained into a very strong pokemon and whom would be willing to turn against me if I ever do loose control. I also don't want to take a pokemon that doesn't want to come with me. I don't want to hurt them and I want to care for them, but you must warn them that there will never be a promised safety around me."

» Aiden felt his hands fidgeting, but the strange part of him had settled down for the moment and he was able to look the professor in the eyes for a moment. "Might you have any pokemon that would take up such a task?" He asked hoping his eyes weren't showing as much emotional pain on the outside as he was feeling on the inside at having to retell the story and remember it in his mind. His hopes were crushed though as he felt a hot tear stream down his face through the grime of his travels. He wiped it away hastily and tried to hold back a sniffle.

[Rin]

Ooc:// That’s what I was thinking of, actually. XD

Ic:// The Professor, stunned with grief for the stranger, tried hard to refrain from letting his jaw drop at the phantom dæmon, and while he did a fairly good job, his eyes widened noticeably, holding out his arm; immediately Telepa landed on it, hooting mournfully and pressing herself close to the side of Professor Pine’s neck and face. ”I…” He continued fighting his urge to cry as the boy told his story, wanting to go, hug the child, and comfort him, telling him everything was alright, only if to ease the pain for a few moments. The fact that his own father had maimed the dæmon, the very soul…straightening, he nodded, composing his stricken expression and walking a little closer. Clearly the Mightyena pokemorph didn’t want to be babied, and the Professor nodded as he listened to what Aiden’s plan was, reaching up to touch the downy feathers on Telepa’s wing so as to steady himself. ”I…commend you—that is a noble purpose, and while I don’t doubt that there will be Pokemon who will fear you, I can assure you there will be one here that will be able to take up the position you seek—they have strange ways of understanding, and perhaps you might fare better emotionally with them than you do with other humans or pokemorphs.”

Taking a deep breath, he continued, ”I apologize for not introducing myself earlier; my name is Professor Pine, and this is Telepa.” As she was introduced, the Noctowl dipped her head silently to both Aiden and the ghostly form of Anya beside him. Pine reopened the gate that led to the fields, moving to the side to allow Aidan to pass through with as much space between himself and the Professor, hoping that this would help calm Aiden’s feral nature, if just a litte—after all, it was clear from the occasional straining of muscles that the Mightyena ‘morph was doing all he could not to give himself over to rage. He held Aiden’s gaze, calmly and a little sadly, saying, ”I’m afraid all of the Pokemon are outside today, so I offer you this; take a stroll with me through the fields. Those who are bold and curious will come to you, while those who are not up to the task will most likely stay away. Together, you can decide who to give the task of the guardian of those around you.”

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[Fluffy]

» Aiden was ever so slightly thankful that the professor stayed away, even though it was obvious from his expressions that he probably would have loved to comfort the young adult morph. At the sight of the professor's dæmon landing on his shoulder and nuzzling up to him Aiden instinctively reached out to his left side where Anya would have always been standing normally. Now though his hand fell through empty air as the mightyena dæmon stood far back from him. He couldn't help it, the fact that she wasn't there still surprised him and he choked down a sob as he forced himself to not turn towards her and at the same time fought back a sudden wish to run away from here. He had to do this.

» As the gate was reopened Anya's ghost form moved on before Aiden could calm down enough to. She didn't notice the noctowl's polite nod, rather she just moved on, blank eyed and empty. By moving ahead thought she had forced Aiden to look at her and he felt the rage suddenly drown out by an overwhelming grief. He sometimes wondered if it wouldn't have been easier if she hadn't been here in any way at all. Maybe he'd have learned to let o, but with this always teasing existence of a form beside him, he could never really recover.

» "Th-that sounds like a good plan." he choked out, following his ghost-like dæmon into the fields. He walked on for a few yards, then waited for the professor to follow. He didn't feel as if he could do this on his own very well. He felt an old instinct in him working, the instinct to reach out to other humans for friendship and comfort, and he forced that down just as he forced down the rage. Friends were in danger if they were around him. Until something could be done about the rage inside of him, he couldn't allow himself any pleasures of the like.

[Rin]

The Professor watched Aiden carefully as he crossed the threshold, concerned for the Mightyena ‘morph as sorrow threatened to drown him. Even so, he seemed to be pushing his emotions down, almost as if he was attempting to become the empty husk of what was left of his dæmon. Here was clearly a person on the brink, teetering on the thin cord between insanity from grief and rage, and complete loss of will. Thank Arceus he had come now; perhaps, without anything to hold onto and alone, his Pokemon might be able to save him. Sadly, he reached up to stroke Telepa’s crown as he followed Aiden, stepping widely around him to give him space, and took the lead. ”Unfortunately, we will need to go to the back area to find the younger Pokemon without trainers—I keep most of the strong ones who have already pledged their allegiance at the perimeter, to guard the younger ones if danger comes.”

Adopting a pace that was fast enough to be efficient but slow enough so that Aiden could get a good look around himself, Professor Pine led Aiden through the fields, keeping a couple meters ahead of him. It was easy to see the progression of types and strengths. The Prof. hadn’t been lying—as they entered the gigantic field, an enormous Aggron whirled around, snorting as it peered at them for a moment. Recognizing the Professor, it turned back to what it was doing, apparently unconcerned. Only a few meters farther in, a tough-looking Sceptile and a Marowak stepped near to the group, looking Aiden up and down for a few seconds before walking calmly away. These Pokemon were obviously completely used to people and Pokemorphs. Farther in, a fairly strong looking Arcanine marched right up to Aiden, sniffing him curiously, and gave a light wary growl and respectful nod allowing what seemed to be its’ puppy, a Growlithe who had been whining and panting, to run up to Aiden and rub itself against his legs. Telepa blinked, a little worried that this would incite Aiden’s feral side, but the parent Arcanine seemed to be confident in its’ ability to protect its’ young one.

Pine smiled at the Pokemon’s antics, but now they were entering the zone where Pokemon were weaker; just weak enough that some wouldn’t be confident enough with their strength to stay comfortable with the intimidating Mightyena pokemorph. As they approached a Pidgeotto, it eyed Aiden and the phantom Anya dubiously, taking flight and gliding six or seven meters farther away. An Ursaring that had been dozing near to the pathway awoke with a start, snarling aggressively at Aiden and backing up slowly. An Electabuzz raised a paw, calling out to the strange Trainer and his dæmon, ~Yo!~ before he realized the dæmon…didn’t seem to be there. Clearly, the Pokemon sensed something was wrong.

However, just before entering the starter Pokemon area and leaving the fields which held PC Pokemon, a Mightyena bounded towards them. It stopped only a few feet away from Aiden, and looked straight into his eyes for a moment. Then it issued one, slightly hoarse bark—a bark that held something akin to loss, and yet somehow seemed hopeful as well. Suddenly, the Mightyena dashed forward, nosing Aiden’s hand and then briefly touching the ghostly muzzle of Anya before it leapt away, disappearing among the other crowds of Pokemon. Pine watched Aiden a little apprehensively—how would the troubled boy take this all in?

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