Excerpt: Pokémon fanfic
Every Tuesday around noon Pacific, I host a writing stream on Picarto (look for my tweets around that time for the link) to write up some fanfic or other stuff I’m not worried about people having spoiled for them. Recently I’ve been writing a fanfic starring a Growlithe and Krokorok who are best friends having an adventure where they learn what sex is. I’m not sure where it’ll be posted when it’s done, but below is an all-ages appropriate section where they are traveling through Spikemuth (in Galar) and get help from some locals.
(The Pokemon fanfic is almost done and I’ll be moving on to another one soon.)
Some whispers came from behind the counter, during which Arson identified the scent: they were Zigzagoon. Finally one of them said, “Where are your trainers?”
“Far away,” Arson said, “in Stow-on-Side.”
“They have trainers,” another voice whispered, and the eyes retreated.
“Wait!” Mica said. The voices of people outside grew louder. “We’re trying to get back to our trainers but we just want help. We don’t want to harm you or do anything else that, ah, you don’t want.” He looked at Arson and whispered, “I can’t tell if they’re scared of trainers or if they’re scared that we’ll help them get caught.”
For a few moments they waited. Noises came from outside the metal grate, but nobody seemed to be forcing their way in. Still, Arson shifted impatiently.
Finally one pair of eyes reappeared. “You can come back this way. But no trainers!”
“No,” Mica promised. “Of course not.”
The eyes didn’t move. “And no telling trainers after. No trainers come here.”
“That’s fine.” Arson pawed the ground.
“Promise,” the Zigzagoon insisted.
“We promise,” Mica said, and Arson echoed his promise.
The Zigzagoon hesitated long enough for them to hear a whispered, “No!” from behind it, but then it said, “All right. Follow me.”
And it led them back behind the counter into a dark narrow space. “Only Pokemon here,” it said.
“I know, I can smell.” Arson rubbed his nose. Back here the thick smell of Zigzagoon was impossible to mistake, but there were other scents too: Scraggy and Purrloin, and an unmistakable Stunky. His nose twitched as he followed Mica and the Zigzagoon down the hall, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the blackness. “How many Pokemon live back here?”
“Why you want to know?” the Zigzagoon snapped.
“He’s just curious,” Mica said soothingly. “I’m Mica and that’s Arson, and we’re very happy that you’re helping us. It’s very nice of you. What can we call you?”
They padded along in silence over warped floorboards through a faint smell of rot, and finally the Zigzagoon answered. “I’m Zik.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Mica said.
Another voice, farther ahead of them, said, “And I’m Zob. I don’t trust you.”
“Hush,” Zik said. “They’re fine. There’s no trainers after them.”
Two bright red luminous eyes floated out of the wall next to Arson and a deep spectral voice said, “I don’t trust them either!”
Arson jumped back and spit flame reflexively, but thankfully only hit Mica, who didn’t feel it at all. “Who are you?”
The Sableye laughed, a chilling sound that made Arson grind his teeth. “I’m the guardian of this place! I protect it against anyone who might threaten the Pokemon who live here.”
“You’re a Ghost,” Arson said. “Trainers can catch Ghosts. Do you have a special power?”
“I’m…very sneaky,” the Sableye said, its red eyes fading to a light blue.
Arson snorted and walked forward through the ghost. “Hey!” the Sableye said, trailing after.
“You know,” Arson said to Mica just as Zik guided them to a set of stairs, “I really hate ghosts.”
Mica laughed. “They’re mostly harmless. They just want to scare you.”
“Yeah, but some of them are really nasty.”
The Sableye ran up alongside Arson. “I am not nasty! I’m here to protect my friends.”
“Where were you when they were deciding whether we were a threat?” Arson demanded. “Hiding back in the shadows?”
The Sableye’s eyes shimmered in the darkness. “I was…watching. If you’d tried anything, you bet I would’ve been there.”
“To scare us?” Arson asked.
“Yeah. I’m super scary.” It brandished its claws and danced around.
The sight would’ve been scary if Arson hadn’t been talking to it for the last few minutes, but he was still annoyed at it, so as the Zigzagoon guided them down a flight of rickety stairs, he said, “Doesn’t seem that scary.”
“You were scared enough when I jumped out at you.” It sounded very smug.
“Sure!” Arson spat some sparks to light his way down the stairs. “You jump out at someone, that’s scary. But if I jumped out at you when I didn’t know you were there, you’d be scared too.”
“Would not.” The Sableye folded its arms and tapped its claws.
“Sure you would. Anyone would. That’s why you Ghosts are scary. You jump out at people.”
“Scaring is a lot more than just jumping out at people.”
“Pff.” Arson fluffed his tail and swished it as he made his way down the stairs. “That’s all I’ve ever seen you guys do.”
“Okay,” the Sableye said, “okay, like Gastly? That’s all Gastly does. Just jumps out and laughs. But Haunter—Haunter are so cool. They’ll like, possess objects and create illusions and they’re just the best.” It sighed wistfully. “And Dhelmise? Oooh. If I were a Water-Ghost Pokemon, that’s what I’d be. They’re so creepy!”
“I’ve never seen a Dhelmise and I hope I never do,” Arson said.
“Ah, they’re great!” The Sableye walked alongside Arson even though there wasn’t really room for it to do so. “They’re like this ship’s wheel, big wooden thing, and an anchor attached to it, but it’s dripping with seaweed so it’s like it’s been lying on the ocean floor but then it comes toward you and these eyes just open up out of it.” It laughed, not a spooky laugh like it had before, but a genuine, happy laugh.
“It sounds awful.” Arson shuddered. “Ghost and Water? No thank you.”
“Ha ha.” The Sableye peered at him. “Oh, you’re Fire, sure. I should’ve tried to make a rain shower or something. That would’ve scared you even better!”
“You didn’t scare me at all.” Arson huffed and tried to move ahead.
The ghost kept pace with him easily. “So what are you two doing here anyway? Nobody comes to Spikemuth anymore ‘less it’s for music or fashion, and you don’t wear clothes.”
“We’re trying to get to Stow,” Arson said. “We were kidnapped away from our trainer and she’s back there, probably worried about us.”
“Pfah, trainers,” the Sableye said. “They just carry us around and make us do what they please. No freedom.”
“Ours gives us freedom.” Arson reached the bottom of the stairs and almost bumped into Mica, who’d stopped. “And we like fighting battles. The worst that happens is we faint sometimes.”
“Arson doesn’t,” Mica said, resting fingers on the Growlithe’s shoulder. “Hardly ever. He’s a fantastic battler.”
“Pff.” Arson spit a few sparks. “I’ve been lucky and our trainer knows when to throw me into a battle. Mostly all I fight are Grass and Bug Pokemon.”
“Remember that one time when you beat the Machoke, though?”
“Ah, he was already weak,” Arson said modestly.
The Sableye seemed entirely unimpressed by their battle talk, so Arson asked, “What do you do here, without trainers?”
“We just live our lives. Every week or two there’s a concert down the street so we get to enjoy music. Some of the boys here steal food from the shops, and I defend the home.”
“What can you do besides jump out of walls and scare people?”
The Sableye sniffed at him. “I’m not gonna reveal all my secrets.”
Arson was about to snap back a retort but Mica turned around first. “I think it’s really interesting, Pokemon living by themselves here. I know there are wild Pokemon but I don’t think most of them live together in places like this. Is this an old shop?”
The lead Zigzagoon turned around, its eyes shining in the dim light. “It used to be a shop where trainers would buy clothing to wear. Then the store closed and we moved in. Before that we lived in a cellar. It wasn’t very nice but it was safe. This is safe too but there are many more parts of it to watch and sometimes the trainers come in the front and talk, but they always leave again.”
“If they try to come back,” the Sableye said, and made a scary face while brandishing its claws, “RRAAH!”
“Won’t they try to catch you?” Arson asked.
“They can try.” It subsided and grinned toothily. “I’ve had all kinds of balls thrown at me, nobody’s caught me yet.”
“How many other Pokemon live here?” Mica asked.
“That’s not your concern,” the Zigzagoon said.
“Enough of us.” The Sableye poked a finger at Arson, who drew back. “You’re just passing through, you said so. You don’t need to know more than that.”
“We’re just curious,” Mica said soothingly. “We haven’t lived apart from trainers for a long time and this is new to us.”
“There’s a way out this way,” the Zigzagoon said. “It comes out at the back of the train station.”
“Perfect,” Mica said. “And thank you so much. We won’t tell anyone about your home.”
“We trust you,” the Zigzagoon said, as the Sableye fixed Arson with a stare that said that he didn’t, not completely.
Do you release these anywhere? Or are they all Patreon exclusive?