Work Text:
The creature shook in fear as it floated away from the child, readying Poison Jabs just in case she tried to attack it.
"H-Hey, it's ok! I'm not going to hurt you."
At first, it wouldn't trust the girl at all. That dangerously bright color she had all over her and a pair of horns on her head, they made her look very intimidating despite her small size.
There was something small in her hand, she held out to show it to the creature.
It was a berry, which smelled...fragrant and delicious. So mouth-watering in fact, it could feel acid dripping out of its mouth.
However, it could not trust her just yet; what if the human was trying to trick it?
It pulled back its tentacles, afraid of what she was going to do.
"No no no, don't be scared—look!"
She took a small bite out of the berry, chewed and swallowed it, then pursed her lips together.
They both waited a few minutes and the girl stuck out her tongue in disgust as a result of comsuming the berry.
A few seconds later, she looked at the creature and put on a smile.
"S-See? It's r-really tasty!—"
She choked midway her sentence and coughed out the remenants of the berry.
"Hehe, I mean it is a bit sour, but maybe you'll enjoy it! Why don't you have a bite?"
The girl extended her hand and gave it the 'tasty' berry.
Slowly but surely, the Pokémon finally gave in to its needs and devoured it within seconds.
"Hmm, you seem to love the Iapapa Berry!"
Very shyly, the creature nodded and floated a little closer to the human.
"Maybe you like sour flavors! I don't like sour myself, but I sure do enjoy sweet things! Speaking of sweet, maybe I could find a berry that's both sweet AND sour! Wouldn't that be great so the both of us can enjoy it?!"
The girl went on talking for such a long time, and it understood her every word.
Nobody had ever been so kind to it before, and it had initially expected the child to run away in fear the moment her eyes fell on its writhing form. She instead gave it a berry and treated it well, as if it were her friend.
"What's with the sad look?"
The creature shook itself out of its thoughts and looked at the girl again. She was as small as itself, so frail, yet so energetic.
"Those people can't judge you for who you are! Just because you're one of those alien Pokémon, doesn't mean that you're as dangerous as them—you're a nice jellyfish alien!"
All of a sudden, a loud whooshing noise was heard. Before they knew it, a hole tore open in the sky.
It was time for the Pokémon to go home.
The girl watched as it floated away from her and up into the strange portal.
As much as it wanted to, the creature couldn't stay for long. The other humans were going to hunt it down, and it didn't want to endanger the life of its new friend.
"Get back safely, okay?! Don't get hurt! Tell your friends I said hi!!"
It waved with one of its tentacles and she waved back. Then, it entered the hole as it sealed shut seconds after.
————————————————————
"Tch, ain't no way am I gonna let you take my Pokémon from me!"
"Oh really? Whatcha gonna do then? You said it yourself before that they had to take a rest, so ya can't battle us bro!"
"Yeah, that means you got no choice yo! You gotta hand your Pokémon over!"
Well this was a tight situation for the champion of Kanto. Normally, she'd beat Team Skull's asses within a minute, but she knew that her team needed to rest after a long day of battling.
Yes, you read it right. The champion of Kanto was a girl.
Well, more of a woman now.
Sophie Makuro had been the reigning champion for 6 consecutive years after beating Red Crimsona, the previous champion of Kanto, and she refused to lose in what was technically not a Pokémon battle to a bunch of gangsters.
"Grr…What am I gonna do…"
"Give it up, Soph. Hand over ya Pokéballs and we can get this shit over with."
Sophie looked up to see none other than the Team Skull leader, Guzma, extending his hand out with a grin plastered on his face.
"There's no way in hell am I ever gonna give in to your stupid hippy gang."
Out of nowhere, a whooshing sound was heard.
Before they knew it, a hole tore open in the sky.
"What in the…"
The Team Skull boss and his grunts stepped back as a creature emerged from it.
Its white tentacles and star-patterned membrane brought back bad memories to Guzma as if one of his worst nightmares had been revived from the depths of his memories.
"That—That's one of those Ultra Beasts, boss!"
One ear-piercing shriek was enough to send everyone in the area who wasn't Sophie running for their lives.
All the woman could do was cover her ears and shut her eyes tightly as she awaited pain from the thing that emerged from the portal—until she sensed that it had stopped moving just behind her.
An alien-like questioning sound was heard as its shadow loomed over her.
It took all her courage to glance behind her and look at the creature—and she was rewarded by relief as her eyes fell upon it.
"Wait...it's you!"
She quickly stood up and got a good look at it, then she whipped out her Pokédex to run an analysis.
"Nihilego, the Parasite Pokémon.
It appeared in this world from an Ultra Wormhole. Nihilego appears to be a parasite that lives by feeding on people and Pokémon."
"...Nihilego...Is that what they call you now?"
The Pokémon, now known as Nihilego, nodded and floated around Sophie in delight. She remembered it!
"Heh, look at you. You've grown quite a lot since we last met, haven't ya?"
She reached out to pat its head, and it felt like she was patting a very wobbly and excited jelly.
She turned to look at Guzma and his grunts—only to discover that they were no longer surrounding her.
"Hm, seems like they took off too early. The fun was just about to start!"
A thought came to Sophie's mind as she looked at the excited Nihilego.
After rummaging through her coat pockets, she pulled out a familiar plump, yellow and orange berry and held it out.
"Hey buddy, remember these berries? You really liked them back then, so I was wondering if you wanted to recall the fun times we had with these!"
Without hesitation, Nihilego grabbed the berry from her hand and munched on it.
The sour flavor and soft texture of the berry's flesh brought back memories to it within a few seconds; when they would run away from the scary humans, admire the Alolan sky on hilltops, explore the different islands together, and especially when they would hunt for berries to feast on.
"Tasty, ain't it? You really behave like a little kid when you're excited ya know."
She patted it again and this time, it held Sophie's hand with one of its tentacles. It felt nice and warm and made it feel…safe.
Despite her scary appearance, the woman was actually a kind person. If only all humans were as nice as she was, then the world could be a better place.
"Could I…call you Nihi? Ya know, short for Nihilego?"
Nihilego stopped moving around and got into a thinking position, folding one tentacle and another tapping on its head. Eventually, it nodded in agreement.
"Alright, then why don't you come with me Nihi? We could have all sorts of adventures together! My Pokémon will surely welcome you with open arms!"
So she had more Pokémon with her.
This made Nihi nervous because it had never stayed around so many other Pokémon for a long time. Now it was worried about hurting them or Sophie, or that its mind would slowly turn to the dark side just like others of its kind.
It seemed as if the woman understood what it was worried about, because she hugged its floating body and smiled.
"It's alright, they'll accept you into the team eventually! You can all be good friends and take on battles side by side!"
Nihi felt assured by the word 'friend'. If it meant that it could make more friends as nice as Sophie was, then Nihi would be willing to take the opportunity. So as soon as Sophie brought out the Premier ball she specially saved for Nihi, it tapped on the button and disappeared in a red light.
————————————————————
A spurt of red. A scream. A crash on the floor.
Laughter.
Pain.
Never in her life had Sophie ever encountered someone so vicious or insane. The aforementioned person was working with Team Rainbow Rocket and had kidnapped Lillie, who she was currently trying to rescue. Sophie had challenged him to a Pokémon battle—to which he lost, but she was unexpectedly ambushed by one of his Pokémon from behind.
The bottom half of her body became encased in ice and the man brought his staff down on her. Being unable to escape led to the consequence of her legs being completely shattered in the process leading to the ongoing events.
"Khhh…G-Ghetsis, Y-You…monster…"
Sophie coughed out even more blood. Despite her vision dimmening and her strength failing her, she still had to rescue Lillie; that was her top priority.
"How ridiculous. No matter how much pain I've put you in, you're still alive and determined to save your little friend. Why aren't you dead yet?"
The champion tried to crawl towards the girl, only to be kicked to the side by the Plasma Leader.
"AGHH!"
Lillie could only let out a small plea left unheard by Ghetsis. It was the least she could do, but her words changed nothing as the man cackled at Sophie's pain.
"N-No! Please, stop hurting her!"
Sophie's limp body tumbled to the other side of the room, leaving a trail of her blood which was blackening quickly. Her Pokéballs fell from her waist, tumbling away far from her reach. There was no point in trying to attack him back in this state. Lillie burst into tears at the sight of her friend suffering in so much pain.
Suddenly, she heard a faint click from a corner of the room, and a flash of red light signalled that a Pokémon had just been let out of its ball.
Nihilego made a confused sound and glanced around the room, its tentacles swaying around to and fro as its head turned left and right.
There was a man in a colorful cape with a not so colorful expression which gave off a menacing aura. A blonde girl in white who was on the floor, cowering in fear under the gaze of the man. It finally spotted its friend lying down beside a wall—
It quickly floated towards the body.
There's the scent of blood in the room. It's coming from her, she's bleeding! Where are her legs? Why is she sleeping at a time like this? What happened?!
It's questions were answered when Nihilego took one good look at the man; there was blood on his feet and cane, and black and reddish chunks of ice laid half-melted on the floor.
He hurt her.
At once, it lashed its poison-laced tentacles out at Ghetsis. Lillie shrieked in fear and pulled her legs closer to her body, her breathing becoming unsteady and tears flowing rapidly. She recognized it as the creature that took her father,
That nearly took her
Ghetsis' screams of terror and the angered Nihilego's shrieks were the only sounds that she could hear, having muffled her sobs and whimpers. The struggle ended when she heard a body fall on the metallic floor with a clang, but she didn't dare to look back; she would be scared of the victor no matter who it was. Groans came from the only other human in the room, indicating that the Ultra Beast had successfully taken down its opponent.
The Nihilego slowly began to approach Lillie who could do nothing but watch as its tentacles stretched out towards her, but she heard her wounded friend call out to get its attention.
"N-Nihi…Don't….hurt her…"
The Nihilego turned its back on the young girl and floated over to check on Sophie. It held onto her hand; it no longer felt warm and welcoming, but almost as cold as death. Nihi carried the champion and nuzzled against her face, making her smile. Sophie looked over to Lillie, who was staring at her with wide and teary eyes.
"Lillie…this Nihilego isn't…like the others…It's my friend…i-it won't hurt…you…"
She coughed out blood and Nihi instantly clamped her mouth. It shook its head and made worried noises, which was a sign for her to not talk due to her severe injuries. Lillie got on her knees and inched closer to her backpack. The 10 year-old trainer brought out a large medical kit and opened it, revealing an assortment of potions, sprays, bandages and—
berries.
The Ultra Beast saw them and memories flashed within its mind. Sophie gave it those berries when it was injured during the first time they met. She gave one to it after its rampage against Team Skull—right before it became part of her team.
"...There's gotta be something we can do to help her—Wait, what are you doing?"
Nihi gently laid the trainer down on the metallic floor and picked up the familiar soft, orange and yellow berry with two of its tendrils. With a worried noise, it shoved the berry against her pale lips as if encouraging her to eat it.
Surely she'll get better after eating these, just like how I did!<
Sophie weakly took a bite. Even though the berry's flesh was softer than a Swirlix, she still found difficulty swallowing it. Lillie watched as the Ultra Beast, which was renowned for its merciless attacks on humans and Pokémon alike, gently cradled her friend's torso as she held in the excrutiating pain.
"Their bond must be very strong", she thought.
The girl approached with caution and placed a shaky hand on Sophie's arm. The noises stopped and Nihi observed in silence as the two trainers conversed.
"I-I'll get Mr. Red to help. H-He should be in another room…battling another boss."
She turned to look at the Nihilego.
"Can I…trust you to take care of her? To make sure that she doesn't…y-you know…"
Surprisingly, it nodded in affirmation almost instantly before going back to nurse its friend.
"Lillie…please…be careful out there…"
Sophie turned her head to her fallen Pokéballs.
"Take my Pokémon with you…they'll keep you safe."
The blonde girl stumbled onto her feet and picked up all 5 balls that were scattered on the floor. She then ran to the damaged doorway before turning back to look at her friend with affirmation.
"D-Don't worry, I'll make sure to bring Mr. Red with me when I get back!"
And with that, she made her way through the dark hallways of the Rainbow Rocket HQ.
The Nihilego tried to wipe the blood rolling down Sophie's face. She chuckled at her Pokémon's actions as her already blurry vision was now darkening.
You're safe now, your friend is getting help and I will take care of you, you will get better—
"Nihi, I'm sorry…the berries…won't be enough…to help…"
Sophie groaned as she shifted her body closer to the Ultra Beast's. It felt soft, warm and safe.
"My legs can regenerate, but…it's going to take some time…I'm not going to die any time soon y'know…"
It laid a comforting tentacle on her tummy and nuzzled her, causing her to laugh weakly.
"H-Hey! S-Stop that!"
She reached out to pat its transparent membrane and smiled. It pressed harder against her hand.
"What's with the sad look?"
It was getting harder for her to breathe and her eyelids were getting heavier by the second. Sophie took a huge breath, feeling comforted by the smell that surrounded her.
She liked how Nihi always smelled fruity, especially of Iapapa berries. She smiled, remembering how it tried to help her a few minutes ago by feeding her an Iapapa berry.
Just like how she healed it on the day they first met.
Then everything went black.