The Sun & The Star - Memories (Prequel Chapter)

Loss

Celosia had to show this to rufus, he was gonna be so thrilled! She lifted off the ground and flew out the door to the gym, looking for her master.

Eventually, Celosia found him and landed in front of him, smiling. "Look, Master! I did it! I defeated the houndoom!" She said, making a happy noise. She turned so he could look at her wings. "Look! I can fly now! I can finally get up the stairs!".

Celosia looked around and noticed that Rufus wasn't with him.

The human smiled a tiny bit and pat Celosia on the head. What's wrong with him? Is that all? Shouldn't he be excited? Surely he'd be more excited than this!!

"Where's Rufus? The pokemon center only takes a few minutes, does it not?" Celosia asked, tilting her head. She was a little worried.

The human stopped petting Celosia and cleared his throat "Nichi...I have some bad news about Rufus..." he said. He sounded like he had been crying...

The human took a deep breath and took out Rufus' pokeball. He opened it and dropped it on the ground. He wasn't inside, the ball was empty.

"R-Rufus...h-he..they couldn't...he was in pain...I had to make a decision...I-I couldn't see him like that..." he said, tears beginning to form in his eyes. He fell to his knees and tried to hold in the tears, but no matter how hard he tried, they just ended up coming out either way.

Celosia thought about what he said. She had a moment of realization and her eyes widened. "N-No...He can't be...I-I promised him that he would see me evolve! That is not his pokeball! You must be lying to me!" She said, refusing to believe that her friend was gone. Her wings turned a dull, greyish color, and she started shaking. It all happened so suddenly...could she have done something?

•~☀️~•
"STOP!! STOP IT!! NO MORE!!"
"S-Sorry...but...I need some time..."
•~☀️~•

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(Part 2)

•~☀️~•
"Ugh...I apologize for what happened before, everyone. I got a little...emotional... while I was talking about Rufus. It is very difficult for me to talk about how I lost my dear friend...he raised me better than my own mother...

Oh! Right...sorry. Allow me to continue."
•~☀️~•

February 9th, 1967. 6:45AM
(One week after Rufus' death)

Celosia, now fully grown, was lying next to her owner on his bed. After Rufus passed away, it had been a very hard time for both of them.

The trainer had stopped taking care of himself, and he started giving much less attention to Celosia. All he did was work, barely even leaving his bedroom. All signs that Rufus was in that house were gone, no toys, no bowl, not even his scent...the only things left were a photo album with pictures of him, and his orange bandana, which his master kept in a box, hidden.

The one that was suffering the hardest, though, was Celosia. She didn't eat, she barely slept, and she couldn't even look at a canine the same way without thinking about Rufus or the houndoom that took his life.

Everything was miserable...even the air they breathed felt different without Rufus in their lives.

The human woke up and rubbed his eyes, yawning. He let out a low sigh and gave Celosia a pat on the head. He got off his bed and went downstairs to make himself a cup of coffee. He saw a letter had arrived, so he opened it up and read what it said. It was from the lab he worked at!

'Dear Dr. Maxwell,
We at the laboratory have heard about the hard time you are going through at the moment, and we've decided to give you until the 16th of this month to rest. We care about all the members of our team, and you are in no condition to work. You won't be asked to mail any reports or photos to us, but you can still send us anything you'd like. We're very sorry for your loss, and we hope that this break will help.
Take good care of your pokemon, but most importantly, take care of yourself.

Sincerely,
The Growhil Labs Team'

The scientist, who from now on I will refer to as Maxwell, was relieved to see he wouldn't have to work until next Thursday. Having a job to worry about while in mourning can really drain you. Now he could spend some time with his moth daughter, Nichi.

After he finished his coffee, Max ran upstairs and gave Celosia a hug "Good morning, Nichi. I got a letter from the lab just now...I don't have work until next week! I can spend all week with you" he explained to her, a small smile on his face.

Celosia woke up and groaned, looking up at her human "Good morning..." she said, her wings still a dull, grey color. "I already spend enough time with you...leave me alone..." she mumbled, turning away and hiding her head under a pillow.

Maxwell shakes his head and takes the pillow off Celosia's face. He puts her in her ball and releases her downstairs in front of a bowl filled with all of her favorite berries! He drizzled them with a bit of honey and knelt down, watching his bug partner. "Come on, at least eat something. Look at you...you're barely even glowing anymore..." he said, concerned.

Celosia sighs and starts eating her berries, not looking very motivated. She didn't know how her master could've gotten over Rufus so quickly...especially since it was both their fault... if only she had evolved just a bit sooner, she could've stopped this!

Maxwell frowned, he couldn't bear seeing his close friend eating with such pain in her eyes. "Nichi...I'm not sure what you're thinking about right now, but what happened to Rufus wasn't your fault. You're not the one that started the fight, you're not the one that made him try to fight the houndoom...and you're not the one that was supposed to keep him safe..." he explained to her, letting out a sigh. 

"You know, I had Rufus for a really long time. I adopted him back when he was so tiny he could barely reach his water bowl! Hehe...I remember how much he'd stumble and fall over when he was running. It was adorable...even with that serious of an injury at such a young age, he was always full of hope..." he continued, his eyes filling with tears as he glanced over to Rufus' bandana.

Celosia nuzzled up against his leg, comforting him. "It was not your fault either...please cheer up!" She said, looking up at him. Her glow was starting to come back.

Maxwell pet Celosia "Heheheh...looks like Rufus taught you a few tricks on how to be cute...thanks, Nich" he says, scratching behind her horns since she liked being scratched there. Even if Rufus wasn't around, he still loved Celosia just as much as before.

Celosia's legs twitch from the tingly feeling. The moth rolls over onto her belly just like Rufus taught her. He taught her all about the sacred art of begging! No better teacher than a dog.

Maxwell laughs and gives his partner a tight hug "You're the best, you know that? I don't know what I'd do without you" he says, hugging her and burying his face in her fluffy white fur. It reminded him of Rufus' fluff.

Celosia smiles, closing her eyes and returning the hug.

"I'll be strong for you...and for him...I will protect you so this never happens again..."