#Pokemon This is a fanfic kids. These aren't my OCs.
At school, no one appreciated his name.
He always knew he was a boy. Some boys did, some boys didn't, some boys are only sometimes boys. He knew he was a boy and would always be a boy. He told his parents and they laughed because he had girl parts. He didn't see how they were girl parts if he had them and he was a boy. They were his parts, and why did everyone care so much about it? It made him uncomfortable.
His parents said girls were supposed to be skinny. He wasn't skinny. He liked that, it made him feel less like a girl. Confident in his gender, it was just annoying that he needed to prove it to everyone else. He hated dresses, but even if he liked dresses he'd still be more manly than either of his fathers. They raised him well, but he still resented them. The forum he found solace in while his parents lived in their delusion told him he'll always have his family. He owed them his existence, and thus was eternally indebted to them. He internalized this, and when a little boy two grades below him, when he was just in fourth grade, sobbed into his shoulder that his mom burned cigarettes all over him and even showed the scars, Tabitha relayed the information he'd been taught. Then, a rumor spread the abusive mother was arrested and not allowed within 500 feet of the school. Tabitha stopped living by that advice and hoped the other boy did, too.
The school cared as much as his parents. Older bullies called him Jigglypuff. When mad, his cheeks would swell and turn red like a Leppa berry, and everyone only laughed harder.
"She even looks like one when mad!" they'd giggle.
The bullying stopped after Tabitha punched the teacher's pet in the face with a solid, "Yoom-Tah."
Max was the only one who got it. His parents thought Maxine was a bad influence. He saw Maximillion as a big brother. Max always picked Tabitha first in gym. All of a sudden in the middle of fourth grade, he transferred schools. No one told Tabitha. He thought he died, or something, any crazy thing a child dreams up happened.
He was picked last until he punched a bully in the face, to which his status upgraded to being fifth or sixth. Despite being such a great dodgeball player, he was not a great sport, and got in trouble for pegging the ball. Revenge would've been more satisfying if the bullies weren't too stupid to not realize what they did to deserve a concussion.
A tutor privately taught him after his expulsion. Girls got off the hook easy. Wasn't fair, and he cringed every time they called him that, but he still took advantage. His parents hated how their little girl was so angry all the time. If that was how they were gonna be, fine. He switched his tactics. No more physical violence. He could do plenty with words.
Tabitha's tutor taught him well. He earned his high school diploma earlier than he would have had he stayed in school. He went to college in Pacifidlog. It was the only college he could afford with a course on volcanology. The co-ed dorms were nice, too, atmospherewise. The people were something else.
Pacifidlog was hell. He hated the constant rocking motion, the smell of crusty wood, the cries of Corsola before the buttcrack of dawn, and the waves whispering behind his back, saying what a pretty girl he was, wouldn't he try on the dresses his parents sent him? His parents called every week, asking when they could come visit their only daughter.
There were rallies all over Hoenn. Red and blue banners slashed across campus. 'Aqua' and 'Magma' were spoken in either praise or disgust. Magma was hated at the university.
"Who needs land to live on?" Tabitha's roommate sneered one day.
He hated her. Her spoiled Corphish was always all over his bed. He didn't even know how that was possible, the ruffian slept in her bed, in another room. He tried to get even by letting Golbat sleep with him, but he hated the bed. Closest he could get was for him to hang on the windowsill. He could bribe Shelly with a dress, but that only worked so much.
Tabitha scoffed. "Humans, obviously. Ground types. Rock types. Any Pokémon that is not a water type."
She tied a blue bandana in her hair. "Malamar isn't a water type, but it still needs the ocean."
"That's because its prey is in the ocean, obviously." He went back to his books. "It can feed on anything just fine. Fish are an easy target." He closed his books. "Shelly, you should know this as a marine biology major."
She balked.
He took the opportunity to leave and get some real studying done.
Tabitha found out what happened to Maximillion.
There was a rally on the way to the library. A redhead with flowing coattails stood proudly on a makeshift stage (Tabitha snorted when he realized it was a covered fountain. Very symbolic.) with red streamers all over. The crowd had red banners and signs.
He didn't know anyone else on campus supported Team Magma. Pacifidlog was obviously full of aquaphiles. He got enough trouble from Shelly, he didn't need the whole campus to know he was a traitor.
"You there, sir!"
Tabitha swore the redhead was looking right at him. He saw everyone else looking at him, too, and dear Arceus he was addressing him, as 'Sir', and he wasn't even wearing his good binder.
He cleared his throat and tried not to let his voice crack. "Yes?" Oh nice. Totally sounded like a confident man there.
"Are you sick of the ocean, nothing but emptiness around you?" Redhead's eye burned.
The redhead's words stirred something in Tabitha. "Yes," He swallowed, "I hate it! I hate the crusty wood, the corsola waking me up, the wingull mocking Golbat," The dam holding back his flood of feelings broke. Hot hatred flowed free, uncontrollably, softly, slowly, densely, like lava "The marine biology, and the waves whispering behind my back!" He knew he sounded crazy. He knew he wasn't crazy, he just sounded like it. Redhead was smart, like him. He had to understand. He had to know how he felt.
The friend he hadn't seen in far too long didn't look at him like he was crazy. His eyes softened. "I, too, have heard the waves whisper." He turned away to speak to everybody. "They tell me their secrets. They say they plan to drown us all!"
The crowd cheered.
"You have all heard of that Team Aqua," he spat, "They want to destroy us, claiming it's for all Pokémon." A Camerupt mooed out of an Ultra Ball tossed in the air. The redhead rested a hand on its hump. "I found this Camerupt when he was just a Numel. If all Pokémon were really meant for water, would this Camerupt's poor parents have been killed in a flood?"
He was trying to get the crowd's pity, Tabitha admired that. Hundreds of people waving red flags, red bandanas strapped across their foreheads, holding red banners all roared. Tabitha's face felt weird. He reached up and he was smiling really wide . The redhead's words moved Tabitha, and he knew he had a place cloaked in red.
After the rally Tabitha decided he needed to join. He needed to get away from Pacifidlog, from Shelly, from his parents. He cleared his throat and approached Magma Leader. "Maximillion," he wasn't sure if he needed a title or not.
Handshake was firm and powerful. "It's Maxie, now. What's your name, sir?" he asked even though Tabitha knew he had to know. He must've thought he changed it.
"It's still Tabitha."
"Strong name. Like Virizion, eh?"
"Maxie, I..." His parents named him Tabitha. It was a beautiful, feminine name that imbued the grace of Virizion. That was their only intention, grace; not resiliency, strength, nor perseverance. He knew this and kept his name to spite his parents, to show them Virizion was more than a pretty face, that he was not a pretty face. "I meant what I said about the ocean. My roommate is an Aqua sympathizer." He looked to the side. "Much as I am loath to admit, Shelly has potential." He turned back to face Maxie. "That Camerupt sob story? Nice touch."
Their eyes met. Maxie knew Tabitha knew he was lying. Volcanology student, Tabitha was familiar with Camerupt. They lived in large herds, not small families. An orphan Numel would be cared for by the rest of the herd. They were very strong swimmers, the best ground type swimmer native to Hoenn, and could hold their breath the longest of all fire types. Magma Leader was lying. People in a waterlogged town didn't pay attention to fire types. The idiots at the college wouldn't know until it was too late, already indebted to serve the new world.
Maxie sent out a Flygon from a red-and-black Poké Ball. "I've been looking for an admin," he said as he mounted the beast, silhouetted by the setting sun. He held out his hand.
Tabitha grabbed it. He didn't know how he was supposed to feel, so he felt everything at once. Joy at seeing his long-lost friend stitched with spite. For once, he didn't mind the cold, salty air. |
