Chapter Text
The forest is alive with beauty.
The trees on either side of the path softly sway, their canopies aglow with moonlight. Kricketune chirp a distant duet with wind-strummed leaves. The stars shine like scattered pearls, the moon a radiant diamond.
Ben fills his lungs with cool air and relishes the notes of young grass, fertile soil, and gently rotting wood as he sways in tune with the song of life.
His first friend sits in his pocket, Ben’s thumb gently stirring the viscous slime in sleepy circles. His first pokemon sleeps in his hood, the fabric perfectly shaped to hold their keystone for as long as they need to recover. His so-called “imaginary friend” orbits around his head as an adoring satellite.
In the reprieve from noise and pain and fear, Ben notices for the first time in a long time that he has a body, and his eyes drift shut. His green hair is heavy with dirt, his pale skin is tacky with grease, and his gangly limbs rub against his clothes with every step. His jacket is archaeologically dirty and his “blue” jeans are closer to beige, both now like a second skin with how much of his dead skin they must contain. His sneakers keep no secrets, and his sordid socks shall be spared description - along with the rest of his unmentionable unmentionables.
Ben knows that he should feel disgusted, but he doesn’t. He had forgotten himself for so long that he feels nothing but gladness at the reunion. He claps himself on the back, asking himself where he has been and what has him in such a chipper mood.
He trusted himself today, and trusted his friends. In the end, they didn’t win, and they still don’t know what’s wrong with him, but for their courage they might have earned two more friends.
He opens his eyes again, and takes in the moonlit forms of Red and Sora.
Sora’s black hair spills down her back like wild ivy, and he smiles as he notices a twig or two entangled in it. He’ll tell her about them later. She didn’t wear any perfume or makeup, and her loose-fitting outfit was plain and dirty. Did she also dislike her reflection? He looked forward to learning more from her, and teaching her what he could. She was mean, and rude, and hurt people, but so did Ben, and he could tell that Sora, too, was just doing her best in her own way. Sora seemed to be weird like him, angry like him, but she has somehow survived wearing it all on the outside without shame. She must be so strong.
Sora rejected everything that Ben tried to be, but Red exemplified it. He is SO cool. Red has mastered the art of being a normal person and somehow perfected it. Unlike normal people, however, Red has not decided to hate him. Instead, he has waited, listened, and even given Ben a chance to be his friend. He didn’t get a chance to ask how he met his Pikachu, but he knows it must be a good story. Shoulder friends are the best kind of friends. His clothes are so stylish and clean, he has pokeballs to spare, and has so much food he can invite OTHER people over to eat? He probably envied Red earlier today, so he silently thanks Softie for helping take the edge off.
Dancing Volbeat and Illumise decorate the distant gloom like stars vacationing on earth.
A huge, cozy house appears in the distance, and Ben’s heartbeat echoes in his ears. Red and Sora mean so much more than just new friends. Sora knows how to get a trainer’s license before age ten. Red is rich enough to give away food and pokeballs. Both of them want to get stronger and go on a pokemon adventure, and Ben’s stomach flutters as he imagines going with them.
His dreams, his friends, the world around him, it all blurs into a beautiful flurry of hope and joy that swirls about inside his head. He is so scared. He wants to run home and hide under his bed and apologize to his parents for being late. He knows that he can’t. He told himself that today he was going to repay the kindness of his only friends, and he isn’t going to be weak like mom and dad.
The clean wooden door opens, and a blinding world of light opens up before him.
I can do this. I NEED to do this.
It’s time.