My Puppet (Volo x Reader)

Okay I'm putting this here too as there is a hefty trigger warning on this one!! It describes, in depth, the emotions behind an emotionally abusive relationship with a manipulative narcissist, so if this is something that is triggering for you then please, please don't read this!

(Just for clarity, the italics are from Volo's POV.)

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At first he was the charming friend, there for you in your times of need, always making you laugh and smile no matter the situation. Over time you realised your feelings had developed into something far more than platonic. Always there for you? Most probably because he stalked you around the region, closing in on his latest target.

Soon after you recognised these feelings, he confessed - a heartfelt confession where he put pretty much everything you were feeling into words. It was perfect. Little did you know that, noticing your little infatuation, he'd snuck into your room and extracted those words straight from your diary.

Your relationship was amazing, picture perfect, an absolute dream. He was the perfect boyfriend - he supported you through everything, made you feel loved, questioned you when he wasn't sure if what you were doing was right and made you rethink some potentially bad decisions. He was so supportive. He built your trust then started to question you... that constant challenging of your actions made you start to lose faith in your own ability to make decisions - the first key part of his plan.

He was always there to offer advice when you needed it, to help you figure out the right thing to do in any situation. Soon you were compliant enough to do exactly what he wanted of you.

You enjoyed spending time with him so much that you decided to invest all of your time into the relationship. Only people who were truly compatible could possibly spend as much time together as you did. You were made for each other. His plan of slowly isolating you from your friends was working perfectly. Soon you'd have nobody left but him. Just as he wanted.

You came to him crying one day. Turns out Kamado had kicked you out of the Galaxy Team because of the chaos caused by the space-time rift. He managed to stay positive through everything, and helped you out so much. Maybe he truly was the only one who cared. Kamado kicked you out of the Galaxy Team? Wow these people were really just doing his job for him at this point. What a perfect opportunity to truly turn you against everyone you ever cared about.

You didn't go to the Harmony Festival after defeating the legendary Pokémon at the Temple of Sinnoh. He had organised a date on the same night and, after everything, there was no way you'd let him down to spend time with people who didn't care about you anyway. That's what he'd said, and he knew better than anyone what was best for you. You trusted him unconditionally. You ditched a festival celebrating your achievements to spend time with him like he'd asked? You were well and truly under his control now. Perfect.

You worked tirelessly to help him collect the many plates across Hisui. You didn't know why it was so important to him, but you loved him and were prepared to put your own life on hold to help him achieve his dream. His dreams were so important to you. The plan was all coming together. Soon he would have no need for his little puppet anymore.

You stood atop Mount Coronet, your entire being shattering as your boyfriend turned against you. You never saw this coming. He was so perfect, how could he have done something like this? Too stunned to move, you stared in silence as he pulled out the final plate, before demanding the rest of them from you. This was it. He was about to achieve everything he'd ever wanted, all thanks to you. What a good little puppet you were.

It's at that point something clicked inside you, and you immediately backed away from his touch. What was going on, why weren't you complying?!

He threatened to use force. You responded in kind by engaging in a Pokémon battle. As the battle raged on, you thought back on everything he had said and done during your relationship, and suddenly it was as if the clouds cleared and you realised he'd been manipulating you all along. Why weren't you doing what he said?! Why weren't you just backing down and giving him what he wanted?! Had he underestimated you?

Eventually, you defeated him, before defeating Giratina twice as well after he tried to set the legendary Pokémon on you. How were you so strong? How could he lose to you?!

You stood triumphantly at the dais of the temple, the site of the battle with the man you thought you loved. He might have tried to break you, he might have tried and succeeded in manipulating you, but he would never truly defeat you. You would bounce back from this. That light in your eyes... When did it come back? How had he lost to you, after everything?!

You said nothing to him as he left the temple in disgrace. That was okay. You didn't care about him any more. Now was the time to rebuild your life with the people who had actually cared about you all along, the people you'd pushed away yet who were the first to greet you back at Jubilife Village to make sure you were okay after hearing what had happened. They still cared. You weren't alone; you never were. The only one left alone in the end was him.

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Author's Note: Well that was something a bit different from my usual stories, but I wanted to write for Volo and just found it impossible to write a cute story after everything he did, so I thought I'd try something new. I have no idea why I'm coming up with so many ideas for stories this week but I guess I shouldn't complain! I just want to say that if you're in a relationship like this, take this as your sign to take that step to leave if it's safe for you to do so. It's so much easier said than done, trust me I know, but there's no better feeling than when you finally do manage to step away. No matter what, you're not alone, and you can do this❤️