Blemish of Perfection

Two

The rest of the day passes as though a dream,  the minimized Pokéball in my pocket fills me with excitement as I seem to breeze through the rest of my classes.

Then, on the way home from school, I let the Treeko out of his Pokéball and put him on my shoulder, talking with him as we walk.

"So, little guy, what should I name you?"

"Eeko?"

"Yeah, me too." I sigh, walking slowly, then ask, "Marcus?"

"Neh." Treeko shakes his head, then looks at me expectantly.

"I guess that's too mainstream."

We walk in silence, then I ask, "Do you want a name, besides simply 'Treeko,' little guy?"

After a moment, he shrugs, and I chuckle as I say, "Treeko it is, then."

Then, as I near the orphanage, Moe slips out of the door and walks over to me.

"You did a good job of staying away from me today, punk." He stops as he notices the Treeko on my shoulder, then asks, "Where did that ugly thing come from?"

I frown, taking a step back as I raise a hand to comfort the Treeko, and can't find anything to say.

He smirks, reaching into his pocket, and pulls out an old, beaten Pokéball. "Let's have a battle then, and the winner gets all."

A rather angry Geodude appears, and he grins as he asks, "Do you think your scrawny little lizard can handle him?"

I take another step back, reaching to hold the Treeko back, but he jumps down and seems ready to fight. "Ko!"

"Dude."

Michael smirks, then says, "Geodude, kill it."

I find myself rooted to the spot as his Geodude chases my new friend around, slamming its rocky fists into the ground in near miss after near miss, then I hear another voice say, "Treeko, hit it back!"

My Treeko nods, stopping, and plants its hand firmly on the Geodude's face. Slowly, I watch as Treeko's face brightens and the Geodude seems to crumple, then Treeko jumps back after Geodude collapses completely.

A knockout.

Exultant, Treeko jumps back up onto my shoulder, then I hear Mr. Kelly's familiar voice ask, "Moe, do you know what you just did?"

A sneer on his face, he says, "I lost to a cheater."

"No; you lost to a double type advantage. This is why you're not going anywhere."

Moe spits on the ground as he pushes the button on his Pokéball, retrieving his exhausted Geodude, then asks, "I'm still going to do better than an old geezer and a thin shrimp, jii-san."

Mr. Kelly sighs as Moe walks away. "Liam, are you ever going to forget your mistake?"

I step back, moving for the first time since Treeko jumped off my shoulder, and feel ashamed... "No, never."

Mr. Kelly nods. "Good. Learn from your mistakes, and if you never repeat a mistake you'll run out of mistakes to make before long."

With that, Mr. Kelly leaves, and I find myself wondering at what he said as I walk into the orphanage. I'm greeted by thirty sets of staring eyes when I pass through the door, but I slip past my classmates without a word as they all stare incredulously at my new friend.

That evening as I change for bed, everyone leaves the dorm suddenly while I'm feeding my Treeko with food I smuggled out of the dining hall. I look up after a moment to find myself alone with Moe, whose face is twisted in a sneer.

"You dishonored me in front of everyone." His hands clench into fists, then unclench, then clench again, as he walks towards me, then he says, "Give him to me."

Treeko's green and grey splotches come to mind as I say, "No. No!"

He reaches past me, and I retrieve Treeko into his Pokéball quickly enough that his hand closes around empty air. After a short struggle, I find myself on the ground, curled up around Treeko's Pokéball, cringing as Moe's foot connects with my side, my ribs, my arm, my head, my back...

The curfew bell rings, and he moves away from me quickly as our roommates flood in to avoid the wrath of our minders, muttering under his breath until I can no longer hear him.

I try not to sleep at all, opting instead to curl tightly around Treeko's Pokéball and keep him safe, but I find myself drift into exhausted sleep soon after the room is finally quiet.