The Gnarled Gothita

“The Gnarled Gothita”

"Gothitelle, use Psychic!", Trevor shouted. Gothitelle's eyes glowed bright blue, and she pointed her hand at the formidably sized Golurk, larger than normal, even, and sent him flying into the nearest wall.

The Gym Leader said nothing, just kept the same silent, confident expression on his face he had had on this entire battle. Golurk slowly got up, and brushed himself off.

"Golurk", Golurk said, eager to continue the battle. "Golurk", the Gym Leader said, "use Shadow Punch." The Golurk instantly sent a barrage of Shadow Punches Gothitelle's way. She dodged all but that last one, and crashed to the floor. Damn that leg!, she thought to herself. She looked at Trevor. He shook his head, as if to say, no, Gothitelle, remember, you are strong, remember where you come from.


It was a cold, dark day, in the forest. A sole Gothita hobbled about, all by herself, a determined expression on her face. Puffing, and panting, she walked on, until she got to her destination--the river. She slowly bent over, cupping her hands for a drink. Suddenly, she heard a rustling sound. She tensed up.

It was a young boy, around fourteen or fifteen, with several Pokeballs around his waist--a trainer. Gothita’s eyes grew hopeful.

The boy surveyed the scene, and his eyes came to Gothita. “Oh, wow, a Gothita!”, he exclaimed! Better catch it!

She started hobbling to the boy, and then the boy frowned.

“Who wants a broken Pokemon!”, he said, and then walked away. She began to cry, although this was not the first time this had happened to her. Nor would it be the last, in all likelihood. She stopped crying, after some time, and then fell asleep in her favorite hiding spot.
A few hours later, Gothita woke up. She was still feeling sad, but she was getting hungry; a rumbling sound was beginning to issue forth from her stomach. There should be some nice leaves and fruits back by the fort, she thought to herself. Slowly, gingerly getting up, she began limping the long way back to the base.
After a long while, she finally made it to where she was going. She looked carefully under a non-edible leaves, hoping there was still a few berries. There were. Yes!, she thought, throwing a hand up in the air. She ate the berries slowly, conversing them. After she was full, she began to think. How much long can I keep this up, all by myself? Her brow furrowed.
        She heard a rustling in the woods. She tensed up, ready to defend herself. “Simisage”, came from out of it’s mouth, face to face with her. Two more faces appeared. It was just a harmless Simisage, Simipour, and Simisear. She breathed a sigh of relief.
“Gothita”, she said. May I join you, was the subtext?
“Simipour”, Simipour said, shaking his head. Sorry, we’re going to a family reunion. Take care, though! They waved goodbye. At least they weren’t mean. Still, she was quite lonely.
Another rustling, this time, accompanied by a male human voice. “Come on, Wobbuffet, Gengar, we’ll know what we’re looking for when we find it”
It was a man, tall, broad shouldered, and by human standards, handsome. He was dressed from head to toe in black, with a spiked collar on that Gothita was instantly drawn to. he had black markings on his face and nails, what the humans called makeup. He looked not unlike herself, to be quite honest. She smiled, feeling an unfamiliar sensation; solace. A thought occurred to her, then. This man WAS her trainer. She hobbled over to where he stood.0
“Gothita”, she said, wide-eyed. Next to him was a Wobbuffet, dopey looking yet kind, and a Gengar, mischievous, and, at the same time, friendly. They looked like a family, the three of them, and Gothita, for one brief, horrible instant, thought that maybe she didn’t fit in with them. Then the three of them smiled at her, and the man said “Hello, Gothita, my name is Trevor. This is Wobbuffet and Gengar.” He smiled, then added “I think we’ve found what we’re looking for. Would you like to come with us?” She took his hand with no hesitation, and smiled. She went them, then.
Three months had come and gone, and things were going great. Trevor, Wobbuffet, and Gengar quickly embraced her as one of their own, and they soon felt like a whole, complete, together family. Things felt right. Training had started early on, just a few days after she had started to get settled in. Trevor had called to her in the morning--he never kept any of them in Pokeballs, she noticed, smiling to herself, and she had come. Gengar was standing there, the usual troublemaking grin on his face.
“Gothita, you will be sparring with Gengar”, he said, matter of factly. “Try to dodge his attacks, then counter with your own. Later, we will be learning Shadow Ball, because one day you might be facing a Ghost Type, and it could come in handy.” Gothita nodded, Trevor nodded back, and Gengar nodded. The training had begun.
Gengar flung Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball. She tried to dodge, but failed, time and time again. “Gothita!”, Trevor shouted, “that’s not working. Try another way.” She thought for a minute, then got an idea. As the next barrage of Shadow Balls were flung at her, her eyes flashed bright blue, and she returned them directly back at Gengar in a volley of shadowy missiles. They struck with a devastating force, and he quickly fainted, letting out a brief “Gengar” before doing so. Trevor smiled. “Great job, Gothita!”, he exclaimed. She beamed with pride, blushing intensely.
He let her rest for six hours, then called her to where Wobbuffet stood, next to a tree, Cheri berries looking plump and delicious in the bright sunshine. “Gothita, now you will be training your physical body, which is just as important as your Psychic powers, especially because of your limp. You must be extra strong, but, I know you can it. I saw it in your eyes three months ago, when we first met, and I see it now. Your drive has only gotten stronger, Gothita. I believe in you.” Another blush from Gothita, and then she stepped forward to face Wobbuffet. She went at it for hours, punching and kicking at Wobbuffet, sweat streaming down her face in salty rivulets after a few intense minutes. Every time she hit him, he would bounce back, just like a big blue punching bag. “Wobbuffet”, he exclaimed blankly, every so often.
After a while, Trevor called for her to stop, so they could all eat lunch together. Trevor always made the best lunches. Today it was delicious Tauros sandwiches with a large helping of berries on the side--those same Cheri berries from before. Gothita ate every bite eagerly. After several minutes of silence,  she looked up at Trevor inquisitively, and Trevor returned her gaze. He smiled and said “next week we will teach you Shadow Ball. That’s the main thing” I actually think you might evolve soon, Gothy. Would you like to be a Gothorita?” Gothita nodded again. Of course, what she couldn’t see in plain English was that she longed to be an elegant, beautiful, powerful Gothitelle. She had seen a few of them, growing up in the forest, and she thought they were the most wonderful Pokemon ever. Becoming a Gothorita would just bring her one step closer towards achieving that goal.
She had done so much since then--evolved twice, which, surprisingly, hadn't hurt, as she had thought it would, but instead, gave off an ecstatic feeling of power and knowing, as if tapping into some primordial Psychic source. She had finally learned Shadow Ball, which had been a difficult feat for her; she had trained her body and mind beyond levels she thought possible. What's more, however, is she had finally found her family. Trevor, Wobbuffet, and Gengar; she belonged with them. She smiled in spite of the pain, knowing she could accomplish anything as long as she felt this sense of purpose, of loving and being loved unconditionally.
“Gothitelle, it's time!”, Trevor shouted, calmly yet with a frantic sense of urgency. “Use Shadow Ball.” Gothitelle gathered malevolent energy for a few seconds as the behemoth Golurk lumbered towards her. Shadow Ball, the gym leader said coldly. Gothitelle's eyes glowed red, her body surging with dark power, and then she released her own Shadow Ball. The two attacks met briefly, then Gothitelle's Shadow Ball flung threw it, and impaled itself threw Golurk, exiting his body just as quickly, leaving a smoldering hole. He gasped once, weakly, then crashed to the ground in defeat. Blood pooled around him; it wasn’t a fatal amount, but there was a lot. She began to fall, then, almost unconscious, but still aware enough to feel Trevor’s strong hands catch her, as she somehow knew he would.
“Gothitelle, you did it!”, he proclaimed brightly, happily, and, most of all, proudly. He was proud of her. “I knew you could do it, Gothy.” He took something from around his neck, and at first, she couldn’t tell what he was doing. Then, realization dawned on her, as he slid it around her neck. It was his spiked choker, the very same one that she had admired when she had met him oh so many years ago. “This is for you, Gothy”, he said, and, in spite of being in the process of passing out, and in a great deal of pain, she blushed, turning a deeper shade of crimson than she ever had before in her life. Gengar and Wobbufet grinned from ear to ear. She smiled at her family, loving them and being loved by them, and then she passed out.
It was exactly a week later. Trevor now had three badges; each shined inside his black cloth coat. Each of them had fought hard to win a badge for him. The next battle, she suspected, would take all three of them, perhaps even help from an as of yet unknown Pokemon. She smiled again, lying in a nice warm bed. She was at a very nice hotel. Trevor was waiting on her hand and foot, a deep concern for her in his eyes. Wobbuffet and Gengar were worried, too, and yet, the tone of the room was not negative. There was a great sense of accomplishment, of greatness. And, was she mistaken, or did he give her his beloved choker? Her hands went to her neck. No, that actually happened. She smiled, then, and thought about what was to come, embracing the idea of the unknown, and of facing it with the ones she loved.