Adventures In Galar: Pokémon Haven

In The Shadows (Feebas x Gloom)

    In a little lake in the wild zone, there lived a Feebas. In amongst all the cute Wishiwashi and the brightly coloured Magikarp, she felt a little out of place. She was the only Feebas in the lake, her mother long since passed away and without her she couldn't evolve into a beautiful Milotic! Traditionally, Milotic would give their Feebas children a Prism Scale when they came of age to receive one, however Feebas lost her mother before she reached adulthood. So poor Feebas, was such eternally a Feebas.
    Sometimes trainers would come to visit her lake. "Oh a Wishiwashi!" They'd shout delightedly, the most popular fish in the lake. Sometimes they would come looking for a Magikarp to have a strong Gyarados on their team...however they never noticed little Feebas swimming by the reeds near the bottom of the lake, and the few trainers who did would shout "ew! What is that ugly looking Pokémon?" And start laughing at her. Even the other Pokémon would laugh at her and poke fun at her ragged fins. Eventually, Feebas isolated herself from the rest of the lake dwellers, and hid in her patch of reeds in the corner, just wishing her days away. Too scared to come to the surface, she'd look at the sun stone her mother gave her and dream of the days when they played in the lake and her mother told her stories.

   One day however, Feebas heard a noise overhead, and could smell a unique smell she had never experienced before! So strong, it even reached the bottom of the lake. Curious, she swam cautiously out of the reeds, and came close to the surface to take a look. "What if the elders were right?", Feebas could hear a voice saying, "What if we really DO stink! Maybe I scared all the Pokémon away!" This voice said and then Feebas could hear crying! The poor owner of that voice, she thought she smelled bad, when Feebas loved the smell!
   "Excuse me, but I think you smell wonderful!" Feebas shouted up to the voice.

   "Hey, I'm down here!" And she splashed the water to get the attention of the owner of the voice. A face appeared above Feebas, sitting on the bank at the edge of the lake. "Was it you who spoke to me?" The Pokémon asked cautiously. Feebas grinned, "it was indeed! And you do, you smell wonderful to me!" The Pokémon looked taken aback. "You must be lying! The elders said the other Pokémon don't like us because we smell!" then the Pokémon started crying again! Feebas was heartbroken for the Pokémon. "Well I like you" she said. "I'm Feebas" and she introduced herself. "What's your name?"

   "Gloom" the Pokémon replied. "What a funny name for such a happy Pokémon!" said Feebas. "I was watching earlier, usually I hide in the reeds at the bottom of my lake, but I heard you laughing and I had to see who was so happy!" Feebas grinned up at Gloom. A small smile formed on Glooms face, Feebas was relieved to see she had stopped crying. Gloom told Feebas all about the adventure that had brought her to the lake as Feebas was looking up with wide eyes. "That's amazing! I wish I could see the world, it sounds beautiful." said Feebas, a sad smile on her face. "Then why don't you pop your head out of the water and take a look?" Asked Gloom curiously. She couldn't understand how someone could live surrounded by beauty and never have seen it! "Pokémon...don't like me either." Feebas said, and looked away from Gloom. "They think I'm too ugly to be friends with. Even the trainers keep their distance when they come to my lake...the Magikarp always get a home, but never me." She said sadly. "Sometimes the trainers come, hoping I have a beautiful Prism Scale...but I don't! My mama died, I have no one to get one from!" and Feebas swam away to hide in some reeds, heartbroken from saying the truth out loud to someone.

   "Hey, come back!" shouted Gloom, "Those Pokémon are wrong! You're not ugly! I want to be your friend, please come back Feebas!" The lake remained still, as if made of glass. Feebas heard Gloom sigh. "I'll just lie here and watch these beautiful clouds pass then" Gloom said, and Feebas was tempted to come up and see the clouds too, but then she hesitated and went further into the reeds, and fell asleep for a while.

   A few hours passed, and Gloom fell asleep. The sky got darker, night came. Still, Feebas hid in her reeds. Eventually, in the middle of the night, Feebas quietly swam over to the lily pads, scooped up a water lily and swam over to the side of the lake to leave it for Gloom. Morning came, another beautiful sunny day! "Thanks for the beautiful flower, Feebas! Although it's not as beautiful as you are! You're such a wonderful Pokémon, your beauty shines right through from your heart!! You don't need a Prism Scale to be beautiful, you already are!!" Gloom shouted at the top of her lungs. Feebas looked up, her heart so full she thought it would burst! All the other Pokémon had laughed at her for not evolving, for looking so ugly...and here this wonderful Gloom had come into her life and brought the sunlight with her! Feebas noticed she started to glow, faintly at first. Then trails of light snaked around her body and bubbles started to form all around her, floating up to the surface. Faster and faster the light spun itself around Feebas, and she thought of her mother. Her beautiful mother, who had loved her so dearly...and now this Gloom had brought the light back in after so many years of sadness. She felt the joy fill her entire soul and she swam as fast as she could to the surface, breaking through and splashing up into the air in a beautiful arc! She was a Feebas no longer, she had finally become a Milotic like her mother!

   Gloom looked up at her in shock and awe, both of them surprised at what had happened! "I'm so sorry Gloom! I should have come back, but I was too scared you would see me properly and think I was ugly too so I ran away and hid!" Milotic looked down at Gloom and started crying. "I hope you can forgive me, of course I would love to be your friend!"
   Gloom started to cry too, "Of course I forgive you!" Gloom exclaimed. "I took this trip out of the deep woods, hoping to find myself, to see more of the sunshine." explained Gloom to her new friend. "You see, my family belong in the darker places, they prefer that. However I have always longed for the sun" Gloom sat on the grass again and looked up at the sky, admiring the sun with a big grin on her face. "Then please, let me give you my most treasured possession! It was a gift from my mama when I was little" and with that Milotic dove to the bottom of the lake to collect the gift.

   "Here, Gloom. Now you can always have the sun with you!" Milotic grinned at her friend. "This is so beautiful! Are you sure I can have this?" asked Gloom. "Of course I am sure, I owe you so much for everything you have done for me Gloom! Thank you for helping me realise the truth" Milotic smiled at her friend. "Besides, what better gift for someone who loves the sun, than a sun stone?" They both laughed, and Gloom picked up the stone. As she did, she started to glow.
   Beams of light shot out of Gloom. She looked at Milotic in shock, "what's happening to me?!" as her face disappeared into the light. "You're becoming your true self, Gloom!" Milotic shouted as the wind whipped around them both, and the light got stronger. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, the light disappeared.
   Milotic looked at her friend in awe, and they both laughed in shock! "Gloom, did you know this would happen if you picked up the stone?" Asked Milotic, still in shock at what she had just witnessed.
   "Milotic, let me tell you a story." said Bellossom, who told a tale of her village.

   Once upon a time, when the tribe lived in the fields, there were a few Glooms who would long for the sunlight so much that they would worship it all day long. After generations passed, they started to grow petals that would sing like bells as they danced, so they could summon the sunlight. "We called them Bellossom" Bellossom explained. "However I thought it was just an old folk tale!" She exclaimed and Milotic chuckled. "My mother used to tell me that story too when I was very small, that's why she gave me a sun stone, as part of the story" Milotic said. "So imagine my surprise when I meet a Gloom who loves the sun! I guess it was just destiny that we were supposed to be friends and help each other!!" And they both grinned at each other as they played. Milotic splashing water up into the air to sparkle in the sunlight as Bellossom danced, and Bellossom spinning round, bringing the sunlight with the bell like sound from her petals.

They lived happily like this forevermore, never forgetting the day that they met and forged a friendship like no other!

Until next time trainers, keep adventuring!