The Friendly Battle & Other Pokemon One-Shots

Disillusioned

Ru'd had a great day so far.

Ru wasn't actually her name. That was just what Mom'd called her. Her name was pretty and important and meaningful, and her wonderful owner had picked it. But Ru didn't mean anything but her, and that was even better.

And today Ru got to go on a long adventure and see lots of new things and meet some of her adoring public!

If her owner's parents were here, they would definitely not allow this. They'd say Ru was in no condition to stay out after an exhausting day. And they'd be right. Ru's throat felt sticky as melting rubber and she had the extra bad headache she always got from being too hot, and she was so dizzy she thought if she was set down she'd fall right over. But she didn't want this to be over yet so she didn't fuss.

And it made everyone else they met happy to see Ru too. They petted her fur and called her beautiful or adorable, and sometimes they'd ask about getting somebody like Ru themselves. Sometimes they'd even ask about getting Ru themselves, but Ru didn't mind. Her owner's said the king of the world could ask to buy Ru and she'd say no.

Ru hadn't really thought much about how somebody could take her even if her owner said no.

Ru knew better than to struggle in the new arms she found herself in. She wouldn't accomplish anything more than to wiggle around a little and the exertion could make her faint. Her mouth was so dry she wouldn't even be drooling on the thief's clothes, And even if the thief did drop her, so what? She didn't think she could even stand up on her own by now. If they decided she was too much trouble, she could die before her owner found her.

After a minute or two the jolting from the running made her body spasm and choke. Ru was quickly set down and tilted partway over, with one of the thief's hands getting shoved into her mouth to hold her head at the right angle to keep her throat open. While it helped physically, it was even more of a relief that she hasn't been stolen by some ignorant person who just knew she was valuable. Her heart stopped pounding so hard. This must be another breeder. Maybe they were a rival kennel or maybe they were hired by one. She may have been stolen, but she wasn't in danger.

She tried to take a few breaths until her vision came back. It took her a while to realize they were in an alley. Ru was propped up on the ground behind a dumpster, getting dirt on her feet and fur.

Ru knew that if she was stolen, she should try to find a phone and hit the right numbers, but she figured smart thieves would know that, and so it'd probably be a while before she got the chance. Maybe weeks or even months. It's really exciting. And the pokemon thief looked nothing like any of the people at contests Ru'd ever seen before. They must be in disguise as an ordinary person so they wouldn't be suspected... She wondered how much they were disguised. Maybe now that they'd stolen her and gotten away, they'd pull their hair and it'd turn out it was a wig!

"Sorry," her thief said. "I have water. Would that help?" Ru nodded, then did a happy wiggle and rubbed her face against their knee so they'd know she was feeling better.

Her thief took a crumpled plastic bottle from their bag, unscrewed the cap, and offered it to Ru. Ru'd never been allowed to drink out of one of those before! Her owner said the water could have all sorts of chemicals. It tasted sweet. Maybe that's what plastic flavor is? Ru mouthed at the emptied bottle and it didn't taste sweet but did have a wonderful texture.

"God, I really should've thought this through," her thief told her, opening a second bottle and handing it to her. Then they took out a pokeball and released a pokemon with strange fur, like her, although theirs is all white.