In some other cultures, each birthday was considered a cause for great celebration and excitement. But not for you. For you, each birthday represented you coming one year closer to today… the day that you would have to finally wander off from the village, leaving your family and friends behind as you ventured towards what felt like certain doom. It doesn’t help that you were just generally an anxious person.
You had been overwhelmed by anxiety for this day all year… but by now, you were just numb, glancing over at your backpack dejectedly as you laid in bed. Stupid village. Stupid ritual. Why are they making you leave? None of the other kids seemed to mind leaving, granted, but you? You don’t want to go. As you contemplated this, you didn’t even notice the entire night pass you by. You had gotten so caught up in your thoughts that you only snapped out of it when you noticed the morning’s sunlight pouring in through the window.
Great. Now, not only were you going to have to brave the big, scary world, you were going to have to do it on no sleep.
“Ooooh, honey… you didn’t get a wink of sleep last night, did you?” Your father, an umbreon, frowned as you stumbled down into the living room, bags under your eyes and your pack lazily slung over your back. He sighed as he sat down across from you at the table. “You know what I’ve been telling you. When I was your age, I felt the exact same way. But you know what? Everything turned out just fine. And you’re even tougher and smarter than I was, so I know you’ll do great out there.”
You don’t even bother to reply to him, just staring downwards with a frown on your face. In response, he just nuzzles your side. “You’ll see. You’re gonna look back on this day and wonder why you were ever worried,” he said simply, before hopping down and heading towards the pantry. “But I know we’re not gonna see eachother for awhile. Which is why I made you your favorite…” Your moping was disrupted as a delicious fragrance reached your nostrils… and you looked up to see a huge tray of muffins plopped down in front of you! “Sitrus berry muffins! Eat as many as you like, sweetheart!”
You stare at his smiling face for a moment, before sighing, unable to resist. “Thanks, dad…” With that, you started to reluctantly chow down, stuffing the delicious muffins into your maw in the hopes of quelling your anxieties. It works alright… but before you know it, you’ve burned through your entire plate! You let out a shuddering burp as you lean back in your chair, grunting as you knead your paws into your big, stuffed full belly. Well… at least you won’t have to eat anything else today…
With that, it was off to the town gates. You huffed and puffed as your now huge, round belly swayed beneath you with every step, but eventually, you made it to the crowd of Pokemon that had been waiting for you. They all cheered and wished you good luck, and gave you all sorts of gifts and trinkets to take with you on your travels. All the while, you did your best to fake a smile, trying to act like you were actually excited to leave, like most kids were.
The celebration was over mercifully quickly, and soon, all that was left was for your dad to give you one last, big, long hug. “I love you, sweetheart. Never forget that.” He whispers. And with that, you just have to walk away, out into the forest, while everyone in town stands at the gate, happily waving you goodbye. You want to take one last look at the village, but you don’t dare turn around… if you did, they’d all see just how much you were crying.
Even once you were out of eyesight, you kept walking for as long as you could, but eventually, you just had to collapse onto your heavy belly and bury your face in your paws, so you could let it all out.
“Hey, kid. Are you alright?”
Startled, you look up to see a pudgy raichu looming over you, looking vaguely concerned when he sees how red your eyes are. You were embarrassed to be seen like this. You had no idea how long you’ve been crying. But that embarrassment was quickly replaced with fear! You remembered that you weren’t supposed to trust the Pokemon on the outside! Terrified, you backed away a bit… but he just patted your head.
“Hey, c’mon. No need to get all scared. If I wanted to eat ya or something, I would’ve already,” he says confidently, trying to soothe your fears. You cringe when he reaches down a paw and takes a handful of your belly, squishing and kneading it a bit. “Although honestly, with a belly like this, you’d definitely be scrumptious. Hah!” With that, he leaned his head back and let out a big, jolly, guttural laugh, patting his own belly happily. This, obviously, failed to reassure you.
“J-just...” You whimper. “Leave me alone!”
He frowned, crossing his arms. “Oh, c’mon. You just got kicked out of that village, right? You’re probably scared, confused, alone… don’t you need a place to stay?” You wanted to ask how he knew that, but before you could speak up, he continued. “I’ve got a couple of pals in a comfy cabin just a lil north of here. If you’d be willing to do some chores for us, we’d be happy to keep you fed and safe!”
You paused, unable to help considering it. He… was a little creepy, but… he did seem nice. And like he said, if he had bad intentions, he would’ve just grabbed you already. Besides, you were really desperate not to have to take on this big, scary world all by yourself. You knew it was crazy, but some part of you wanted to trust him...
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