Chapter 15

Selven didn't like the night as much as he did the day but the Bulbasaur did enjoy seeing the stars. As he sat down beside Kurer after a hard day's work he looked up at the silver speckles set against the black dome that was the night. Cinder joined him as he sat next to him, his tail illuminating the hill they sat atop.

Boy, I never thought I'd get to meet a real Fire-type. He thought. Everyone back home made them out to be monsters but this one seems really nice. Mom and dad will have to meet Cinder to find out not all Fire-types are bad.

While Red was off training Leta and Hurzer, Kurer and Selven were ordered to rest until tomorrow. Selven rolled back and forth a little, content with the sight as the Grass-type attempted to make sense out of his surroundings. With the new words Selven had learned from being caught he tried to exercise them in a way pleasing to him.

"Night," Selven said. "It's as dark as tar yet...more calming than the still waters. The black sky is ornamented with silver...with silver gems like earrings on a human woman."

"That's beautiful," Kurer said. "Did you make that up yourself?"

"Sure did," he said. "I always liked playing with words but ever since I could talk human I liked it more than anything. It feels kind of odd, stringing these words together like this."

"It's poetry," Cinder said. "Poetry is a form of art and self-expression. Humans do it if they're particularly artistic."

He smiled.

"Cool!" the Bulbasaur shouted. "I can't wait to tell my friends back at the fence what that's like. My parents will be over the moon to hear all the stories I tell about my travels."

He looked at both of them to find their faces full of horror. Kurer looked away, clearly too afraid to meet him eye to eye. Cinder stared at him in pain.

"What?" Selven asked. "You guys keep acting weird whenever I mention my family back behind the fence where we grew up."

"Wel…" Cinder said. "That...that's because-"

"Your parents are dead," Kurer said.

The Bulbasaur whirled to see the Electabuzz hanging her head in shame, shaking her head. He couldn't comprehend what she was saying. His parents being dead? No way was that possible considering what the ranchers who raised him told them.

"What?" he asked. "That can't be true."

"It is," she said. "I know where you come from. The Bulbasaur raised on farms are cultivated as food for humans to eat. Once their bulbs get just the right size they're killed for them and put on plates for humans to eat. I've seen them do it while observing human society."

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Selven began laughing.

"Wow!" he said. "That's funny! I-I kind of-!"

He couldn't stop laughing, the idea was just so absurd. He then turned back to Cinder to find the Fire-type was giving him a mournful expression when the Bulbasaur thought he'd been laughing at Kurer's joke. This only made Selven more confused.

"So…" he said. "Why...why aren't you laughing?"

"Because it's true," Cinder replied. "Your parents are dead. And your friends and other family will one day wind up the same way. I'm sorry but the truth is the truth."

He shook his head.

"Impossible," Selven replied. "The ranchers on the farm told me that my family and friends that went away were just gone because they needed to mature. Why would they lie about something like that?"

"The same reason they would warp the entire environment to their own favor," Kurer explained. "For selfish gain. What, you think Electric-types are the only Pokemon that humans extort? Bulbasaur are the same way."

The Grass-type then began laughing again.

"Then why was I allowed to leave the farm?" he asked in between chuckles. "Why was I deemed special enough to not be eaten?"

"Because you were stolen," Cinder answered.

The tone in his voice caused Selven to stop laughing.

"What did you say?" the Bulbasaur asked.

"You were stolen from the farm," he said. "I...I was trying to convince Red that Pokemon were not just tools of war and in order to...to prove that he was better than that...he stole you from the farm because I made him feel guilty."

Something about how serious he sounded made Selven believe in their words just a little.

"That can't be," he said. "Humans are nice. They don't want to hurt us."

"They've certainly hurt me and my kind," Kurer replied.

"Mine too," Cinder said. "Our kind has been exploited by humans for their own personal gain. Your species is just another victim of that."

"Do you think I was lying about humans destroying the environment here?" Kurer asked. "You think I'd willingly partner up with a human if things weren't so bad?"

The Bulbasaur looked down at the ground in front of him before looking back up at the starry sky. He shook his head in disbelief at their words, unable to comprehend the truth. Maybe the humans Cinder and Kurer encountered but not the ones that raised Selven from such an early age. They were too kind to do something so evil.

But then again, he began to wonder why else would he have been taken by Red if what Cinder said wasn't true. It was perfectly within Cinder's character to save others for no reward, so why would Red choose him? It wouldn't make sense for him to lie like this. But Seleven couldn't believe that they were telling the truth because, if they were…

That would mean my parents were dead. He thought. And my friends are next.

He looked up at the sky and no longer saw the stars as distant, far away objects. Selven saw each of them as an individual Bulbasaur. And just like the stars, according to Cinder and Kurer at least, they would be gone quickly only to be replaced with the coming night.

Grown and bred for such a simple, evil purpose? He thought. The fact that I would survive that...does it mean I'm special? Who am I that I would survive such a thing? Why should I survive when other Bulbasaur who are better than me die? Of all of them to die...what is the likelihood that I wouldn't perish?

Selven then began to grow angry. But at what, he wasn't sure. He stood up and turned around to walk away from his new friends.

I can't believe that. He thought. Because if I do, then I am forced to believe that I am better at them. Somehow special. I can't believe that no matter how hard I try.

"Selven, where are you going?!" Cinder shouted.

"Away from liars!" he yelled back. "That's where I'm going! I agreed to go with you guys on some cool adventure and you choose to repay me with a cruel joke! That's not cool!"

"But, Selven-" Kurer said.

He grew a vine from beneath his bulb and whipped at her from behind. He could hear a quick crack in the air reverberate. He looked back to see the Electabuzz was keeping her distance before Selven turned around and marching forward, hoping not to see them again for the rest of the night.