Dollventures, Part 1: The Problem Child

–England–

“I’m reluctant to part with this one,” said the man, scratching his scruffy chin. “I raised it by hand, and it’s never left my side.”

“O-O-Oh. Um... th-that’s... that’sokayI’lljustfindsomethingelse!” Momoko squeaked. She pivoted on her heel and started to walk briskly away, but given her size, even her briskest walk was a slow one. The man reached down and gently plucked her off the floor. She squirmed in his hand.

He chuckled. “Easy, now. I won’t hurt you. I’d be happy to trade my Slurpuff to you, but I’d need something better than what you’re offering.” He set Momoko back down.

Melody frowned at her sister. “D’you got anythin’ else you wanna give, Momoko?”

Momoko stared at the Poké Ball in her hands. It contained a Vullaby. She had caught it on a whim while practicing with Cerise, and Melody had suggested she keep it, but it had responded poorly to Momoko’s attempts to train it. After a few weeks of struggling to befriend the ornery bird, she gave up and decided to trade it for something... softer.

“I... I d-don’t have an-n-nyth-thing else t-to trade...”

“What about your Ditto?” asked the Pokémon breeder. He inclined his head towards Amity, newly renamed and currently shifted into the form of a Herdier. Confused, Amity tilted her head... and kept tilting it until it was completely upside-down.

“M-My Ditto?”

“My ‘dex here tells me that’s a Ditto you’ve got, and it so happens I’ve been searching high and low for one of them. They’re the Holy Grail for a Pokémon breeder like myself; gotta catch them in the wild because they can’t be bred, but then they’re little egg factories, breed them with anything. Ain’t too many of them around here.” He glanced resentfully towards the window and muttered under his breath, “Should’ve stayed in Manhattan, but things just got too crazy there.”

Momoko scuffed her feet against the hardwood floor. “W-Would you... t-take... g-g-good care of h-h-her?”

She had to admit, Amity wasn’t the easiest to train or care for. She often disappeared, and hours later they would find her, disguised as some common object they had taken for granted. She failed to come when called; she seemed to think it was a game, just simple hide and seek, but it caused much panic and anxiety until Amity was found. She didn’t obey orders either. They’d been home several months now, yet Momoko had managed to teach her only one thing: how to play fetch, like a dog. She thought it might be good to focus on training that wasn’t combat-oriented, since that had been a spectacular waste of time. Ever since, she’d made no progress except to hone Amity’s stick-retrieval skills. She loved Amity, and it didn’t really matter to her if Amity could fight or not. But it was so frustrating that sometimes Momoko wanted to give up. She was ashamed to admit it, but maybe she just wasn’t good enough to train a Pokémon like Amity.

“Of course!” chirped the breeder. His eyes lit up just hearing that Momoko was considering it. “I take excellent care of all my charges! Why, I’d treat that dang blob like it were the Queen herself, God save her!” The man rubbed his hands together greedily.

Melody frowned at Momoko. “You wanna get rid of Ami?” she asked bluntly.

Momoko wavered under Melody’s scrutinizing gaze. “N-No! W-W-Well, I, uh, I mean, I d-don’t... she is r-r-r-rather... p-prob—problematic...”

polbem? whispered Amity.

Momoko turned to stare at her Pokémon like a deer in the headlights.

m-moko no loev me?

“Oh, Amity, no!” cried Melody, distraught. “Momoko does love you! And I love you lots! We both do! Don’t we, Momoko?”

moko? whimpered Amity, eyes huge and wet. frands?

“I...” Momoko struggled to find the words, but it was in vain. They were all gone.

Later, she’d regret her silence. Melody would tell her it wasn’t her fault; she’d gotten tongue-tied, froze up. She’d backed into a corner, stuffed her foot in her mouth and couldn’t get it unlodged again.

But Momoko knew it was more than that.

At the time... she didn’t feel like she deserved Amity. If she loved her Pokémon so much, why didn’t she have more patience? Why, when Amity asked if Momoko really cared, did it make her think of all those afternoons she’d wasted trying and failing to coach Amity on the simplest of commands? Why did all that frustration and irrational blame come boiling back to the surface, and make Momoko want to say ‘no’ just to spite Amity? If Momoko knew, deep in her heart, that she would never find another Pokémon as loving and loyal as Amity, why did the voice in the back of her head argue that Amity was too stupid to be of any real use to her?

Momoko didn’t have an answer to any of those questions. She still didn’t. Back when it happened, well...

It felt like an eternity of silence, but really, it was just a few seconds of awkward pause.

And then Amity bolted out the door, flowing through the crack in the doorjamb mere millimeters wide, a sentient puddle of purple pouring onto the sidewalk outside, through the gutter, down the sewer drain.

Gone.