Lost {1st Place Champion in Short Story (PWA 2017)}

Who?

The man's words still tread through my memory as we walked out of the swamps back onto the path. I couldn't comprehend the horrors that I had just heard, what my family had witnessed so long ago. It couldn't have been true at all, he must have been lying to us. But what else did I have to believe in?

Papa was dead.

My sister was gone.

What else was there to do?

A suspenseful silence hung through the air between Trixie and I. None of us dared to say a word to each other,

"Kipp...?" I finally heard her call. I stopped in my tracks, stunned at hearing my name coming from her own mouth for the first time. I hesitantly turned to face her, and she sighed. "I knew it... So that was your house... Your family..." I looked away from her, feeling ashamed that I had worried her so.

"I'm sorry," I wanted to tell her. "I'm sorry for scaring you... for getting involved with your life...! For everything I tried to tell you!" But there was no use. She'd never understand. I was only a Pokémon anyway. I shut my eyes, waiting for her next words to stab me like a knife.

But instead, I only heard fast approaching footsteps. I looked up and found that I was being pulled into her embrace. Trixie had hugged me many times before, but this one felt oddly different as if it was an act of forgiveness. No, not even that. An act of acceptance. And with that, her presence melted away all of my fears like it did the first day I met her. We stayed together, unmoving, feeling the warmth of each other's bodies until we felt secure. She kissed my forehead. "I don't care if you were human once. I don't care what happened to you. All I care about is our friendship, and all I truly care about is who you are now." she said sincerely. She let go and stared me deep in the eyes. "Whatever happens, you will always be my best friend."

I felt hot tears well in my eyes. Even after all of that, she still trusted me. She still thought of me as the same person, no, the same Phantump she had traveled with. She accepted me for who I was, and that was all that mattered. I only thought people like these existed in stories, but I was wrong, and I was happy I was this time.

I hugged her once more before she hoisted me up on her shoulders and beamed. "Well then, no more delays! Off to Lumiose City, buddy?" I grabbed on to her hat jubilantly.

"Phantump!"

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I was taken aback at enormous towers and glimmering lights in the horizon as we approached Lumiose. When we entered the city, the sound of bustling people and Pokémon rang through my ears. The towers were even bigger than it looked from a distance, almost scraping the clouds with their pointy tips. I stared in awe at the magnificent sight. Trixie chuckled. "Fifty years sure does a lot to a city, huh?" she asked as if she read my mind. I nodded in agreement.

She and I made our way to North Boulevard where the galette stand stood waiting for us. It looked immensely advanced, with a lighting system on the roof and an abundance of technology laid out on the counter in the back. The lady running the stand bowed politely and cheerfully took our orders. I watched her intently as she skillfully crafted the galettes, placed them in paper wrappers, and handed them to us all in a matter of seconds. Trixie paid her and we went to sit on a nearby bench and eat.

I had never savored something so much in my life. The flavor of the galette brought back the sweet memories of Papa and my sister, how we always were happy to be with each other. I recalled Papa's gentle hands as he danced with me in the living room to the music of his voice. My sister's bubbly laughs when we played our silly games in the yard. Every small memory I recalled seemed like scenes from a book being played out before me. Distant secrets that only I had the key to. For the first time, I was content looking back at my times as a human, and I smiled, knowing that with my new body, I would begin making my times as a Pokémon even more enjoyable with Trixie.