Keep Your Focus [wild]

Hoothoot fell back to him when the Espurr barely moved from the blow, despite being injured. She gave a small hoot in confusion, and sat upon Lio’s shoulder again where she had been moments before to try and get comfort. Lio was just as confused, it didn’t do anything. It was as if the espurr was possessed or-

It was a cat. A household pet. Why was he scared?

The young male cringed, but for some reason he felt himself moving forward instead of backwards. The owl on his shoulder gave another hoot of concern, and he shushed her. His own heart was pounding at an incredibly fast pace, and he could feel adrenaline rushing through his body rapidly. His eyes widened and he stared at the Espurr, cocking his head to the left in confusion.

Did it feel pain?

He needed to get those thoughts out of his head. This was wrong, he must be dreaming or this pokemon was sick. Yeah, that must be it. He’ll just take a ball and-

Lio froze when he reached for the ball, heart pounding faster. There was an urge to run away, turn away, pretend like this didn’t happen, like this didn’t exist. As much as a scaredy cat he was, he found himself ignoring them and forcibly pushing them to the side no matter how much stronger they became when he pulled the pokeball out.

A surprise hoot startled him, and he jumped. “Shh its okay, its not going to do anything.” He said softly, but his voice betrayed what he was trying to portray due to the shaky and clearly timid tone that came with the sentence. After a moment passed, he took a shuddered breath and threw the ball at the Espurr.

Now all he had to do was wait, wait for it to shake and catch. Then it would be all over, he could see the pokemon center in the next town and it would explain why this cat was all bloody and- Eww, he didn’t want to think about that. He never liked horror films, ever since he walked in on the slasher his parents had been watching. It was the most traumatic experience in his life.

So why wasn’t he turning tail and running, when everything that screamed “horror movie” was played right in front of him?

He had no idea.

MADE BY ★MEULK

The male let out a yelp and jumped back slightly, he was not expecting Espurr to catch the ball. The sudden jerking motions made Hoothoot have to dig her claws into her new companion’s shoulder in order to keep herself from falling. This resulted in another yelp, but for a different reason, and Lio stiffened somewhat, looking between the Hoothoot apologetically and the Espurr with a tinge of some unknown fear or curiosity.

Lio felt his heart leap when the Espurr knowingly pressed the button on the pokeball, and allowed itself to be caught. When the ball stopped shaking he tentatively moved from where he was standing to get a closer inspection. He stood there, looking at the ball as if it would come to life and eat him. Then, after the moments had past, he deemed it safe and picked it up.

When he picked it up, he felt his heart jolt again and then he relaxed. It was as if the situation didn’t happen at all, and in the process he would recall the Hoothoot on his shoulder and call his Turtwig out again. The turtle was still in his shell, causing Lio to knock on it lightly. “Hey, its okay now. Espurr’s gone.” He said softly to the turtle, smiling widely when a small head poked out, followed by each of the feet and a tiny tail. Snickering, he picked the turtwig up and placed it on his shoulder. Grotto let out a yawn and nuzzled himself into the crook of his owner’s neck.

For Lio, he still felt that there was something ominous. He couldn’t quite place it, Espurr was still in his subconscious. But questioning had to wait right now, he needed to check up on these new party-mates before something else happened. He had enough excitement on this route right now, and he felt fear slowly trying to inch itself back into his heart.

It wasn’t a good feeling, even with the turtwig snuggled on his shoulder. It made him grip onto the side of his starter, and make a bolt into the next town like a madman.

MADE BY ★MEULK