Chapter Text
Throughout all the regions it was common knowledge that you did not, under any circumstances, pull on the tail of a Ninetales. Now, they were mild mannered pokémon, and overall a good companion for people with families. Despite this though, a Ninetales when angry is rumored to not be a pretty sight. ‘1,000 year curse’ level not-pretty to be exact, and pulling on one of their tails was the fastest route to catching a Ninetales ire. This was something that was considered common sense amongst most of the population of Galar and other regions.
These two facts were a recipe for disaster when it came to you. You weren’t exactly a child who had a good amount of common sense. You were however obsessed with your papaw’s Ninetales. To you, Blaze was the most gorgeous pokemon to ever walk the earth. She was calm, had glossy beautiful fur and was your papaw’s absolute pride and joy. He brought Blaze everywhere he went, always excited for a chance to show her off.
It was all of these circumstances combined that lead to the unfortunate events of your sixth birthday party, which was later dubbed as ‘the situation’ by the rest of the family.
Things had started off fine with you petting Blaze, showing off the Ninetales and bragging on how good she was to your friends. Well, your friends and a jerk named Trevor.
The thought of Trevor being a friend to you was sickening. In your opinion he was a Trubbish disguising as a human boy. He was only here because he was in your class at school and your mom insisted you couldn’t invite the whole class excluding Trevor. No matter how much you cried and begged otherwise.
“Bet she wouldn’t be so good if you pulled on one of her tails.” Trevor says, sitting amongst the kids you were showing off Blaze to and looking as smug as could be.
Why did he look so smug? Well most, if not all, kids at this age knew you weren’t supposed to pull on a Ninetales tail. Of course, it depended on the kid themselves if they knew fully why. Trevor, who had been telling people he was going to be a pokémon trainer since he was four probably knew why. You however, who had been ignoring your papaw’s and dad’s ramblings on pokémon since forever, did not.
In Trevor’s mind he was telling the group a fact, proving he knew more about pokémon than you. In your mind you interpret the statement as an insult against your papaw’s Ninetales. As if he was saying that she wasn’t as good or calm as you claimed.
“Oh yeah!? Watch this!” You snap back, reaching back and giving one of poor Blaze’s tails a good tug.
The results were immediate, the usually tolerant Blaze, twists back and snarls at you. Later all your classmates swear her eyes flashed a brighter red than usual. Papaw, as if sensing his pokémon’s distress, comes running over. Once he is on the scene and sees all the guilty and scared looking children combined with his angry pokemon, he immediately understands the situation. Then proceeds to make it worse.
He runs over and grabs you by the shoulders as the Ninetales retreats behind him.
“You muppet! Did you pull on her tail?” He yells, shaking you a bit.
Teary eyed and unable to speak, you nod your head weakly. His eyes widen and he lets go of your shoulders.
“You’re CURSED! For 1,000 years! How many times have I told you not to touch Blaze’s tails!”
You, whose selective hearing has gotten you in this mess, could only focus on the fact you were now cursed. The rest of the kids hear it too and become spooked, cringing away from you like they could catch the curse as well just by being in your presence. Some even start crying, and the whole situation becomes very chaotic as concerned parents rush over to check on their children.
After hearing of the situation, the adult’s quickly take their kids and leave. Even the most rational and skeptical individuals got weary when it came to an upset Ninetails. A thousand year curse was something you didn’t want to somehow accidentally get involved in after all. It also didn’t help that your papaw was still hollering about it to anyone who dared to get close to him.
Soon, the party was completely abandoned, you were crying, and most importantly you were cursed. This was the scene your mum came out to from where she was occupied grabbing the birthday cake from the fridge.
Your mum then proceeds to get into an argument with papaw, asking why he couldn’t have waited until after the party before he lost the plot, while you try to settle down and wipe your eyes. You look over to Blaze who is staring at you coldly in a way she never has before. Turns out tail pulling is a quick way to burn bridges with a Ninetales as well.
And thus, those were the events of ‘the situation’ which was actually only called that by your mum and dad because for the longest time if the word curse was uttered, you would break out in tears. Papaw on the other hand could care less about your tears, and just told it as it was.
Regardless of what was said or how it was phrased, ever since that day you were convinced that you were completely cursed. Any luck you may have had was gone and misfortunes just kept piling up. For example, your father had taken it upon himself to enroll you into pokémon trainer school.
The worst part was your dad didn’t even live with you, he was miles away doing research in Kanto and was still contributing to ruining your life.
It wasn’t fair, yet here you were freshly turned eight years old reading a letter from your dad gushing how he got you accepted in the local trainer school. On your birthday. Didn’t mum tell him that they don’t celebrate on your actual birthday but instead the day after? Who wanted to celebrate on the day they got cursed?
However he did promise you something special upon graduation, so you figured you could try and play along without too much of a fuss. You just hoped the special something would be a cute new hair scrunchie.
“Are you excited for school, dear?” mum asks excitedly, holding your hand as she walks you towards the entrance for school.
Your hair swings back and forth as you shake your head no. What a dumb question.
“Aw, sweetie don’t be so negative! You look so cute today,” It’s true, your mum had gone and bought you a cute new outfit for your first day.
“Plus, this will be a good opportunity to make some friends!” your mum squeezes your hand as you both stop at the entrance of the school.
You had lost any friends you had after that disastrous party. Not only that but rumors of the curse had spread to kids outside your class as well causing everyone to avoid you. No one would know you at this school however, it was a whole town over.
“Mum, d’ya think I’ll really be able to make friends?”
“Of course, sweetheart.”
Your mum and you share a smile and you finally let go of her hand to walk in the building determined to make some new buddies.
You didn’t make any friends.
Despite your mum dropping you off early in hopes of you having a chance to talk with your peers and your own determination , neither one of you had accounted for Trevor.
You hear a giggle as two girls whisper back and forth to each other.
“Did you hear what the boy was saying - that girl pulled on the tail of a Ninetails!”
“How stupid everyone knows your not suppose to do that!” More giggles breakout between the two of them.
In the seclusion of the back of the class, a few frustrated tears slip out of your eyes. Your bad luck has struck once more as Trevor had wasted no time in regaling the class with the story of how you got cursed. Now your situation was exactly the same as it was at your old school.
You watch as Trevor turns around in his seat to talk to the two girls giggling about you. Seeing him befriend your classmates as easy as a Goldeen swims was like torture. It should be you up there making friends while he sat in the back and cried. You really were cursed.
The door to the classroom opens and you quickly wipe away your tears. The last thing you needed was to be called out for crying by a concerned teacher in front of everyone.
The teacher introduces himself as Mr. Brown and spends some time talking about their pokémon and how much they loved them.
“Now that you know about me, how about you all introduce yourselves! Tell me your name and your favorite pokémon!” Mr. Brown says, smiling at them all.
The introductions start from the front and as they work their way towards the back you can feel your heart pound faster and faster in your chest. How were you supposed to introduce yourself to people who already didn’t like you? They all had heard all they had needed to hear about you from Trevor. No one wanted to know anything else about you beyond the fact that you were cursed.
By the time the girl in front of you went to introduce herself you were sweating bullets.
“My name is Olivia and I love Sylveon!”
You also really liked Sylveon too, but would you be copying her if you said that?
“Alright, next is-”
The door of the classroom bursts open before the teacher has the chance to finish his sentence.
“Sorry I’m late! I got lost looking for the classroom..” In the doorway stood a sheepish tan boy. He closes the door and his face starts to look red after noticing the whole class looking at him.
“Ah...That’s fine. But don’t let it happen again! Now go take a seat.”
The boy looks around, but the only seat available was the one to your right. He happily rushes over, probably excited to sit down and get everyone’s eyes off him.
“Now, where were we?” Mr. Brown says out loud, tapping his chin, “Ah yes! Introductions, you came at a good time young man! Now, tell us, what's your name and favorite pokémon?”
He had forgotten it was your turn! Your shoulders relaxed and you felt like cheering in relief.
“My name’s Leon and Wooloo’s are the best pokémon! Ever!”
Little did you know that this was the start of the complete downfall of your life.