Tamer

You know, all in all, it isn't so bad being a pokemon. I've heard all the sob stories about how hard it is to find food and survive, but really. Yes, a magikarp can't fight other pokemon for it's food. But magikarp live in those huge schools for a reason. Plus, those things can eat anything short of rock and be fine. Weaker pokemon in general just eat more different foods then strong pokemon, and they often group together. Sure, one little pidgey is easy to beat, but a huge flock of raging ones all attacking at once isn't.

Then, after they moan about how hard it is, constantly battling and struggling for food, others (and sometimes even the same ones) will whine about how tough being a trainer's pokemon is, with all the battles going on constantly.

Pathetic. Is it really so hard to fight another pokemon? We do it all the time in the wild. Yes, perhaps not so ruthlessly, yes, perhaps we can pick and choose our opponents, but the strong still try to attack weaker opponents who often can't escape. Besides, if you get hurt, your trainer will heal you, something not done in the wild.

I listen to them whining, moaning and complaining, and I always get the urge to tell them so what, they don't have it so bad.

You think being a trainer's pokemon is hard? You think being a wild pokemon is so bad? Try belonging to one of the tougher trainers, the ones who have renounced the very name trainer and call themselves pokemon tamers.

Ever seen one? They're not easy to miss. They use a whip to control us, and that whip isn't for show. If questioned about the marks all over their pokemon, they just say it's something we got in battle, and they aren't lying. But it wasn't battle with another pokemon, it was the battle with them.

You would think that the fact all their pokemon are covered in scars might be a tip-off, especially considering that the ones on us happen to be whip scars. But of course, it's rare that someone gives us a second glance, and they often don't even give us a first glance. Besides, it's assumed that pokemon get can get scars in battle. Fools. Pokemon aren't like humans. We don't scar easily. Humans never think about the fact pokemon don't scars easily. When they see us, they don't usually notice the scars because they take it for granted. They never think it's strange most pokemon don't get scars. They never think it's strange that we have scars. May those fools become blind, deaf, and dumb.

Tamers are merciless, having decided long ago that healing injured pokemon makes them weaker, that battling with exhausted pokemon makes them stronger. If you're a tamer's pokemon, you either die or wish you had.

Oh sure, I'm one of the strongest. I can beat other, normal trainer's pokemon easily, and so can most of us. Part of that is the never-ending training, and part is fear for what will happen if we lose, and no small part is that those not strong enough to do so are dead. And I can say, without a second thought, that it was not in any way worth it.

Of course, even the very name tamer should be a tip-off. Tamers break the spirit, bind the will of powerful, disobedient creatures. They chose that name, generations ago when the first began, because a pokemon can only take their abuse for so long before turn on them.

And then the true battle comes. It can be brief and brutal, a pokemon lunging and being whipped back until it gives up, or it can take weeks, months, years, and sometimes a lifetime.

I am the oldest of my tamer's pokemon, and the fourth He got. The other three were killed, one in the battle for dominance, the other two in pokemon battles. I have watched, seen others come and go. Some die from Him, when He hits them too hard or once too often after losing a battle. Some die in battle, because the battles do not end until either we lie unconscious on the ground and even the whip cannot awaken us or the other pokemon is beaten. He refuses to even use an antidote in battle. I've seen, more then once, a pokemon who won a battle, but lost the war for life in it.

It seems like insanity, to be so brutal that most of your pokemon die. But the tamers believe that only worthy pokemon deserve the right to be trained by them. We who are their pokemon may not be weak. It would be cruel if we chose to battle with them. What it is truly is, considering that we have no choice, that they simply catch a pokemon and demand this from us, is something I feel confident they will pay for when, one day, they die. If I get the chance, I will gladly help bring this day closer.

Just by looking at us, you can tell we are not normal pokemon. All of us are thin, and strong. There is Machoke, who lost an eye by the whip when he fought back. He will die soon. Being half-blind would be a danger even to normal pokemon. For us, it is a death warrant.

Then there is Sandslash, who's body was broken once too many. His bones healed badly, and he moves slower then normal. He already had an advanced case of arthritis. He, too, will die soon.

Next comes Tauros the powerful. His body, though marked so much he looks like he's striped, is currently devoid of any permanent damage. I think he might make it, but I thought the same of Machoke and later Sandslash, and while it is true they lived longer then most, they too will die soon. He is becoming weak, though. It takes a lot of muscle to move his large body, and much more to be able to tackle and headbutt like he must. The amount of food he gets will not be enough for even a foal. Still, he may, just may, make it.

After that was Nidoqueen. She was strong and obedient, and never fought against Him. I really thought she would make it. Though she was newer then Tauros, she adjusted far better to this lifestyle. She was, however, killed in a battle with a psychic pokemon. He knew poison was weak against psychic, so He chose to send her out.

Then, caught last, comes Gyarados, the twenty-fourth of the thirty magikarp He caught. The other twenty-three are dead. Of them, only two others lived long enough to evolve. Gyarados' battle with Him ended recently. I don't think Gyarados will live. I have experience with this, and his wounds are deep and badly infected. Even a normal pokemon would be in minor danger for this, even with all the pokecenter offers. For us, who must heal on our own, he doesn't have a chance.

Finally, there is me, the oldest of us. I am the one who looks the worst, for I am the only one still fighting. Sometimes I think I should just give up and obey, but the look in His eyes every time I do so is reason enough to continue. He wants to be my master, to force me to obey.

I, Charizard, the great fire dragon, I am the only one who dares fight Him. He starves me, but will feed me just enough to live, for I am the strongest of all of us. Out of His first sixteen pokemon, I am the only one left. Machoke was number seventeen.

He threatened, recently, to take a knife and rip open one of my wings, crippling me. I laughed in His face and unleashed a flamethrower on Him. He didn't feed me for a week, but it was worth it. The fool actually thought such a thing would make me obey? Ha. Wild charizard fought long before the first trainers. Our wings are one of the most delicate parts, and were often damaged. Short of ripping my wings off, He can do nothing permanent to me. Any other injury is healable. Yes, it would take a long time, but I have patience. If He does not kill me, I will live long after His presence is long forgotten. What are a few months to me? Besides, even if I could not heal such a grave wound, I would still not cower before a human, let alone before Him. I am a charizard, and I have my pride.

I know this cannot go one forever. The day He decides not to feed me again, to let me choose to obey or die, or perhaps the day when, after tearing my wings a while before, He realizes they are healing and He resolves to rip them off. Then I will fight in earnest, to kill Him or be killed by Him. Better to die fighting then die starved and crippled, or worse, to live obeying Him.