I don't own pokemon. And whoever doesn't get that doesn't own a mind.

The Last Straw

By Farla

There were a lot of things that led up to it. There was the fact I'm high level, which is kinda like a human's IQ. The higher level you are, the smarter you get. Still, that wasn't just it, though many of them think so.

And of course, I'm fully evolved, which is like the slower maturing of a human over a very short time. You see things differently after evolution. And plenty of them think that it was just my level and evolution stage that did it.

But that's not it. The fact I'm high level and the fact that I'm fully evolved just let me see the world clearly enough to realize what was going on.

I thought my trainer loved me and all that. I thought he cared. And then I evolved.

I started to get a bit more cynical then. I started to question battling. What did it get me? All I got were bruses and scratches. Sure, I was stronger, but that's only worth something if you want to battle in the first place. Still, I obeyed, even when I thought my trainer's orders were wrong.

The real turning point was one fateful battle. I was up against a graveler, and he told me to use thunder wave. To this day I have no idea why.

Thunder wave wouldn't have worked against the part-ground pokemon. Even if it had, or even if he had somehow forgotten it wouldn't work, there were three reasons it was stupid to use. A) graveler attacks slow anyway, and half the point of paralyzing a pokemon is to slow it down. Total paralysis happening occasionally is just an added bonus. B) it was the end of the battle and wouldn't effect the outcome much. C) I knew mega punch and could have beaten the graveler just with one more hit.

I guess I'll never know what I would have done. Would I have obeyed and done the useless attack, or would I have actually done the unthinkable and disobeyed? Back then, I had never even considered it. I probably would have just stood there for a while until he gave me a new command.

I didn't get the chance. While I was trying to decide what to do in that last moment, the graveler used earthquake

Still, the seed was planted. Why should I listen to a trainer who knew less then me about battling?

Then I evolved again.

All the things just slowly built up. All the things he told me over the years.

Some were big, like how he was just using me, how he didn't care about me personally, just whether or not I would win a battle. Or how while he wasn't brutal, his training drills were.

In the end, though, it was the little things. Like how he would tell me to dodge an attack, as if I couldn't even think on my own enough to do that. Like how he would be so understanding when I lost a battle, telling me he knew I did my best and how I must feel horrible, and that he would make sure we won next time, and then force me to train. Like how he would tell me 'no pain, no gain' as I slaved away on training equipment while he sat under a beach umbrella with a cool drink.

And one day, when he told me during a hard battle that it was okay if I wanted to quit, that we could come back when I was ready, I turned around and looked at him. The other pokemon and I were evenly matched, but I was losing. If it wasn't for the fact he kept telling me to use the wrong attack, I would have already won. When I lost these battles, though it was truly his fault, it meant even more then usual brutal training was up ahead. I had never just given up because I knew what it would mean. And then I walked out.

Needless to say, he was surprised. I had never taken him up on the offer before, mainly because I knew I would just have to come back and do it all over again.

He followed me out, very confused. He asked me how long I would like to train before going back to fight again. He told me that he understood how hard it must be to just walk away from a hard fight, knowing I couldn't win. He was so damned sympathetic. And I knew he would keep being nice as he ordered me through drills until I collapsed, and keep being nice and understanding until I won. And it was just the last straw. Then he took out his pokeball to recall me. I looked at him and laughed in his face. This was the creature who I obeyed without reason?

I beat him up and walked away. He might still be alive, but I doubt it. He was, however, still alive and screaming when I wrote my little message with his blood. I went back and hid just to see what they thought about it later.

You don't give me a reason to fight

You don't care about anything but the fight

You never gave me anything but pain

Yet you think I only live for your battles

Yet you ask the world of me

It's still there, no longer bright crimson but a reddish brown. I guess they didn't know what to do with it. As people walk by, they give it short, scared glances. To them, I suppose, it is a lasting reminder of what a pokemon could do, when it's pushed just a tiny little bit too far.