Chapter Text
Sneaking out of the ‘watchful’ eye of the Syndicate was getting a little too easy. Especially since Dell had pointed out which door to sneak out of, as it wouldn't squeak or moan when he opened it.
As soon as the five-year-old was free, he ran off, towards a place his big brother had shown him. Dell had shown him the way a couple of times and told him not to get lost or else Father would be furious and the little boy knew that was correct. So, he was real careful about staying on the path.
Of course, as five-year-olds tend to do, he got distracted. He was marching his way to that fun little alley with the metal door when he passed right by a small park. Father never took them to parks, nor did Mother. Once or twice a Syndicate member had taken pity on him and had brought him here, but he'd never been able to go with Dell.
Immediately forgetting his mission, he stepped inside.
It was a little chilly, being early spring, but the trees were already growing their leaves back and they looked real pretty. He wandered for a bit, just watching the bird pokemon scatter about and playing in puddles from the recent melted snow. This was fun! He wanted to escape more often and maybe take Dell with him! But Father wouldn't ever let that happen, so maybe he could bring things to his brother instead-
On his next leap and splash, there was a little startled squeak around the tree he was next to. On alert instantly, the boy looked up and tilted his head. “Hullo? What's there?”
There was a little something waving around the trunk of the tree. Curious, the boy wove around the trunk to get a better look.
It was a group of three little pokemon. Two of them instantly fled, but the third stuck around, staring up at him. It looked a little wet.
Oh. “Sorry about that. Did I get you wet when I jumped?” The kid instantly knelt down and wiped off its face with his sleeve. Its huge pink eyes never closed, but it did squirm a bit as he wiped at it. It had a furry purple body and cute little tiny hands and big feet that the others hopped around on and two waving… ears? Those looked like big, big ears to him, though they were weirdly thin. Was it okay? Could it hear?
Well, what pokemon did he know of that had big ears? Hmm… one time Dell had told him about Bunnelby and how they were furry and had big ears and feet and little hands! This was a Bunnelby, then! Hadn’t he said it was a ground type, though? This didn’t look like a ground type… Well, Dell’s Klefki didn’t look like a fairy type, either, and he insisted it was.
Once he was done, the Bunnelby kept watching him, its head tilted to the side. “Nat?” it asked him.
“I didn't mean to splash you. I didn't know you were here.”
It seemed really curious about him. It hopped a little closer, its ears now brushing his cheeks. He giggled at the ticklish sensation. “You're funny,” he told it.
“Vennn.”
The boy stood up. “Wanna come play with me? Father won't let Dell out to play and I got no one else to play games with.”
It nodded. Oh, cool! He could have a friend to play games with!
Now that he remembered what he was about to do, he led the little thing to the playhouse that Dell had shown him last autumn. He promised to bring it home before he went home himself. It didn't take too long to get there, thankfully, and soon enough he was able to show the Bunnelby around the place. And that was fun! He never got to show anyone anything because everyone was too busy!
Before he realized it, the sun was across the sky and his tummy rumbled. The boy blinked. He'd paused in using the piece of stolen chalk from his pocket, mid-drawing the Bunnelby in front of him. “I gotta get back,” he sighed. He finished his doodle and pocketed the chalk. “Father will be angry if he hears I was gone too long.”
“Ven?” His shift in mood was abrupt, enough that the Bunnelby noticed.
He nodded solemnly, getting ready to stand. “Yeah. He don’t care at all what I do until I'm not there. He only ever wants to talk to Dell, even if Dell doesn't wanna…” He shook his head. “I need to go back to HQ. I can take you home, though.”
“Nat!” The Bunnelby bowled him over, landing right in his lap. It shook its head so aggressively that its ears were flapping around. “Venon-nat!”
“You don't wanna go home? Why?” The boy tilted his head, his brow knit quite deeply.
The pokemon pointed at him with its small hand, jabbing him in the chest with a ‘finger’. “Ven!”
At that, he grinned widely, his gold eyes sparkling. “You wanna come with me?”
It nodded.
The boy laughed. “Okay! We'll have to hide you away from Father until I can get you home but I want you to come, too!” He could have a friend! One of his very own! He hugged the creature with both arms, burying his face in its fur as he laughed. His face tingled a little bit, but he didn’t mind that.
Wait a second. This was special! He should do something real special! The boy lifted his head, gazing thoughtfully at Bunnelby. “If we're friends, you should have a name of your own…” He blinked. “Oh! I never told you my name, did I?”
The pokemon shook its head.
He pointed to himself. “I'm Corbeau. But my brother calls me Beau. Hmm…” He looked at the puffball for a long, long time. “How about Bunny? Cuz you're a Bunnelby?”
The Bunnelby hopped around, getting off his lap with a firm nod. The boy grinned again. “Okay, Bunny. I'll take you to my home. Uh… first we go to my house, then I go back to HQ. You hide in my room until I get there, okay?”
—---
His plan had worked perfectly! Nobody was any wiser and Father hadn't noticed. Now long after dark, the boy entered his bedroom after a long day of being at the boring HQ and quickly shut it behind him, having been dismissed to go to bed by Father. He flicked on the light.
His bed met his eye first. It seemed crumpled, like someone had been in it. A couple items were scattered about, but nothing too crazy. The last was the open windows letting in the cold air.
His heart dropped. “Bunny?” He had to keep his voice quiet or else someone might hear him. He pulled up a footstool to look out the window. “Bunny?”
At the foot of the window were three Bunnelbys. Two of them glanced up at him momentarily and nuzzled the third before hopping away. The third - Bunny - leaped for the windowsill but couldn't quite seem to reach it.
The boy leaned down, holding his hands out. “See if I can get you. Jump again.” Bunny jumped, and his hand was able to brush its fur. “Again, a little higher-”
“What are you doing?” The voice behind him nearly made him fall out the window. As it was, he jumped up and whirled around.
When he saw who it was, he let out a sigh of relief. “Dell! C'mere, you got longer arms than me.”
“Did you drop something?” Corbeau stepped off the stool to allow his big brother onto it. His neatly-trimmed black hair fell into his matching gold eyes as he looked over the sill. He squinted down, then looked over at the little boy with a raised brow. “Beau. That's a pokemon.”
Corbeau rolled his eyes. “Yeah and he's my friend. It wanted to come with me.”
“It did?”
“Yeah. His name is Bunny.”
His brother leaned out the window. “Is that true? You wanted to follow him?” Bunny must have nodded as his brow furrowed a bit further. That seemed to confuse his brother even more, but he obliged, reaching down and calling to Bunny to jump. It seems that he was able to grab it, as he gripped the windowsill hard to pull it up.
As soon as Bunny was over the railing, he hopped into the room, landing next to Corbeau. He reached down and patted its fur. “Were those your siblings?”
Bunny nodded.
The window was closed with a soft clunk. His big brother stepped off the stool. “Okay, tell me. What happened today?”
Corbeau excitedly, in hushed tones, whispered out how he'd met Bunny and the things they'd gotten up to today, his eyes never leaving his new friend as he petted his fur. Corbeau did not notice the spark of envy in the older boy’s gaze as he looked down at his little brother gushing over this non-steel pokemon.
But by the time he finished, his hair was being ruffled by a bigger hand than his own, messing it all up. “Hey, dork. Ya know that's not a Bunnelby?” His brother was trying not to laugh, but he was failing, little giggles wracking his body and making his shoulders shake as his gold eyes fell on Corbeau.
“Huh?” Corbeau looked between his brother and the pokemon. “But he's got the long ears and the little hands and big feet and he's furry…”
“Those aren't ears, they're antennae. And the other things are right, but that's definitely not what this is. And if I may, are you female?” Dell crouched down like Corbeau was, gazing at Bunny.
Bunny nodded.
“Thought so. Beau, this is a Venonat. A bug/poison type. And it’s a girl.”
“How do you know?”
“Well, first of all, she's purple and has huge pink eyes. Bunnelby don't have that. And she's an entirely different shape,” he added with a barely-suppressed laugh.
Corbeau pouted. “I don't care. Her name is Bunny and she's my friend.”
Dell nodded to himself, swinging his gaze over to the pokemon. “And you're pretty set on being Beau's friend, right?”
Bunny nodded, hopping closer to Corbeau.
His brother stood. “I'll be right back.”
“You're not telling Father, right?” the younger boy asked instantly.
Dell shook his head - and his hands, for emphasis. “Whaddaya think I am, a monster? ‘Course not. There's just a much easier way to hide her.” He silently slipped out of the boy's room, shutting the door softly behind him.
Corbeau looked at Bunny, still in a crouch half-hidden behind the bed. “That's Cordell. He's my big brother. He's eight. He knows how to do a lot of cool stuff like battling and he gets to go out and do things but he's annoying sometimes. I call him Dell. I think he likes it more. He gets mad if I call him Cordell even though that’s his name.”
Bunny nodded sagely.
After a minute or two, Dell silently crept back in. He shut the door, waiting for a moment to listen for footsteps, then dove behind the bed with Corbeau and Bunny. “Here. A snack for her because you were with me all day.” It was a blue Oran berry. He must have stolen it from the kitchen. Bunny grabbed it immediately and wolfed it down. He glanced at Corbeau with a serious expression. “From now on, it's on you to make sure she's fed. But to make it a little easier…”
He held an object out. It was a pristine white and red ball. Corbeau grasped at it, turning it in his small hand. He'd never actually been able to hold one of these before.
“You push the button and then touch her with it. If she really wants to be your partner, she'll stay inside,” Dell explained. “I only have the one, though, so don't fumble it-”
There was a heavy set of footsteps in the hallway. Corbeau looked up. If Father saw Bunny, it was all over.
Bunny seemed to recognize the rush, as she dove for the ball, smacking her head against it. Her body turned to light and disappeared inside the ball in an instant. There was another flash of light from Dell right as the door opened.
Klefki cried out as the ball in Corbeau's hands clicked. Oh, the clattering had covered the sound! Father hadn’t heard the ball click shut! The boy instantly set the ball on the ground between his feet, hidden behind the bed, and stood tall with his brother.
As expected, it was Father, glowering at them with dark eyes. “What have I told you about distracting him?” Father asked Corbeau.
Corbeau bowed his head. “Sorry, Father.”
“Klefki wanted to see Corbeau,” Dell said. “And you said pokemon are our greatest asset so if he's happy, he'll battle more strongly, right?”
Klefki, playing along, twirled in the air, nuzzling at Corbeau's cheek. The boy bit back a grin and ran a finger over its small silver body.
Father huffed. “Whatever. I want you in bed immediately, understood? We have a long day tomorrow.”
“Yes, Father,” Dell answered as the man left, leaving the door open. His lips were pursed.
Corbeau quickly threw his arms around his brother and whispered, “Thank you, Dell.”
A hand ruffled his hair as he pulled away. “Sure thing. See ya tomorrow.”
His brother left with his Klefki, shutting the door softly, leaving the littler boy alone with his new partner. At least he never ever had to be all by himself again, he noted with a grin, picking up the pokeball and releasing the occupant. Bunny gazed up at him, her head (her whole body, really) tilted to the side. "Ven?"
Corbeau disrobed and grabbed his pajamas from his dresser, shrugging on a new shirt and pants and climbing into the bed, beckoning to the bug. She hopped up right next to him as he turned off the light. "We're gonna be partners from now on, okay?"
Bunny dove under the blanket, snuggling up with him. She did not seem to mind that even a little bit. In fact, she nodded firmly at him.
They were gonna be best friends forever. He just knew it.