Chapter 24: Shield (Narrated by Dozy)

  My name is Dozy, and I am an Alolan Grimer… or so I was told. I was born with a bright purple color and a yellow stripe around my mouth that marks me as shiny. But since I look purple, people mistake me for a Kantonian Grimer, and many get scared or reject me because Kantonian Grimer stink more and are toxic to the touch. When people approach me, instead of getting excited at the sight of a rare Pokémon, they frown and murmur that I smell bad, that I’m toxic, that I shouldn’t be out in the open. It makes me feel a little sad and a little angry: brrrr… brrruuuggg. It’s not my fault that I look like this, and on top of that, I’m not even a Kantonian Grimer—but whatever, I’ve already gotten used to being looked at with disgust. At least my companion Aspen never rejected me.

  At the beginning of my life, before I understood anything, I hatched from an egg in a warm little room. I opened my gooey eyes, expecting to see an older Grimer who would be my mother, or an Alolan Muk with whom I would share my scent and poison. Instead, I was met with a human—dark-haired and round-faced—who carefully picked me up. It was very strange: his firm hands lifted me, and instead of disgust, I noticed joy in his expression. His lips moved, making strange sounds that calmed me, like a lullaby. For a few days, brrr… I thought he was my mom. But it didn’t take long to realize that he wasn’t a Pokémon, but one of those beings called humans. His name was Aspen, and he seemed happy to have me, despite my sludge and my strange color.

  I remember that when I first looked around the place, I saw more humans: Aspen’s mother and grandmother. At first, I didn’t understand what they were saying, but I could sense that they were arguing about me. His mother moved her mouth with words that sounded like disagreement, and Aspen raised his voice, as if defending me. He pointed at me and responded with phrases that included “Grimer” and “Dad” and “Take care.” I understood that, for some reason, his mother didn’t want me to stay, or at least she was wary of having a Poison-type Pokémon freely roaming the house. But Aspen insisted, and his grandmother got involved, too. In the end, they let me stay. It was a relief: brrrr… brrruuug. I had nowhere else to go.

  The following months were peaceful. My routine consisted of eating, sleeping, and slowly wandering around the house. No one expected much from me; Aspen called me “Dozy” (I think he found my sluggishness amusing) and let me rest wherever I wanted. From time to time, his mother would look at me warily, as if I reminded her of something she didn’t like, but luckily, she eventually grew fond of me and didn’t kick me out. His grandmother, on the other hand, looked at me with curiosity. Sometimes she would shake her head, muttering something like, “I hope it has that ability… it’s not a normal Grimer.” But she never rejected me.

  Everything changed when Aspen started school and took me with him. People his age looked at me even worse. They said toxic Pokémon should be kept in Poké Balls, that a Grimer shouldn’t be allowed to roam the hallways. But Aspen defended my freedom. I didn’t really care: brrrr… brrrruuggg, I just stayed in a corner, half-asleep. I hated the disgusted looks, but it comforted me to know that my trainer wasn’t ashamed of me.

  However, that peace was shattered one day when we encountered a girl with psychic energy: Vera. She was a student with a very strange aura. I don’t know why, but Aspen ended up facing her in a battle at the Academy. It was the first time I was sent to fight seriously. I didn’t even know how to battle, but Aspen shouted something like “Stockpile,” and my body absorbed air and poison, hardening my sludge. Then he ordered Spit Up, and I launched a blast that knocked over books and furniture out of pure surprise. I felt a strange excitement: “This fighting thing can be intense!” It didn’t last— the psychic girl lost control, and her energy spread throughout the room.

  At one point, Aspen took a mental attack that knocked him to the ground, his face twisted in pain. Brrrr… I got so scared that I rushed (or slithered) to cover him. I saw a pink glow from that girl, as if trying to invade Aspen’s mind, and I got in the way. It was strange—psychic attacks don’t usually affect me much because I’m Poison/Dark-type (well, I guess since I’m a shiny Alolan Grimer, people mistake me for a Kantonian one, but my actual typing is different). Even so, the energy made me horribly dizzy. I endured the attack, and the girl screamed in fury. I don’t know what happened next. All I know is that I was put into my Poké Ball for protection. I had no idea if Aspen was okay. Later, I found out the psychic girl went crazy, and then her Abra teleported her away. That was my first battle experience, and it was awful. The worst part was seeing Aspen injured and not being able to help him more.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  His grandmother, furious, took Aspen home. In a mysterious move, she ripped out my teeth (crystals). That was the first time I cursed, brrrruuuurrrr!!!!!!! She then gave Aspen my teeth to eat. My mouth hurt for weeks until I managed to regenerate them. Brrrrr… it was torture. And Aspen fell into a deep sleep. Then his grandmother demanded that we train. They made me practice with Pokémon bigger and stronger than me. I learned Swift, Toxic, and perfected Stockpile to use it multiple times in a row. It was exhausting—I slept less, brrrr… brrr…, but I decided to endure it. When Aspen woke up, he tried to create poisonous crystals with his body. I found it fascinating—seeing my trainer generate solid poison, like my crystallized teeth, made me feel more connected to him. But peace never lasted—another crisis arose.

  A day after Aspen’s awakening, we were taken to some caves (I think it was part of an Academy event). There, we fought several Rhyhorn and a huge Rhydon. It was terrifying. My Stockpile helped me endure, but even so, I was almost crushed, and Aspen ended up covered in rock dust. The most shocking thing was seeing Kara, a new human, fighting the Rhydon directly with her body—kicking and punching. I was stunned: “Can humans be that physically strong?” I wondered if Aspen would ever achieve something like that.

  After that event, we went through more battles. In one of them, a Pokémon with a similar typing to mine appeared, and people murmured: “A bigger Kantonian Grimer,” or “a Weezing,” I don’t know. But then clan and ninja problems got mixed in, and Aspen was badly injured again. It was frustrating. But I knew we had caught a new teammate, a Zubat named Noizy. Personally, I found her a bit annoying at first—she’s noisy, hyperactive, and her Chatter makes me dizzy. But if she’s useful in battle, fine. I didn’t know her well, had trouble syncing with her, and we didn’t use her much at the Academy. Though her sound-based attacks were devastating.

  Then came the battle against Niko, a Poison-clan boy. When I saw him, brrrr… I felt strangely drawn to him—not in an affectionate way, but as an instinct. Maybe it was his powerful poisonous aura, something that reminded me of my own nature. But at the same time, his attitude was arrogant—he looked down on us, saying that a Grimer wasn’t worth anything, that Aspen was weak, and so on. I didn’t know whether to stay with him or remain loyal to Aspen. Obviously, I chose Aspen.

  But the battle was humiliating. He sent out a Bulbasaur and a male Nidoran, both Poison-types. I couldn’t poison them, brrrr…, and we didn’t have any other effective tactics. I struggled with Stockpile to stay alive, but in the end, Aspen was the one who got poisoned (ironically, the only one poisoned in that battle was our human). It was devastating. I remember Bulbasaur entangling Noizy while I bit Nidoran, unable to intoxicate him. We barely held on, but Aspen kept taking hits. In the end, they returned me to my Poké Ball before I even knew what happened to him. What a humiliation.

  The next thing I knew, Aspen had once again survived his poisoning and was in the infirmary, physically and mentally drained. During those days, something changed inside me—I didn’t want to be just a mass of sludge or poisonous goo, incapable of protecting him. That’s when I made a promise to train harder.

  And yet, we arrived at a terrifying place, by order of his grandmother, where my trainer was pale with fear because of something he saw. I didn’t understand it. I only noticed that his eyes revealed an indescribable trauma. Then we ran into a completely deranged Gastly, who, at the end of the battle, decided to explode—Explosion.

  Aspen, too weak to even give many commands, could barely react. I, brrrr… brrruuug, realized that if Gastly detonated, my trainer would die. I threw myself forward, using Stockpile repeatedly. And when the boom sounded, I put my body up as a shield, taking the full brunt of the explosion.

  It was the first time I completely blacked out, losing all consciousness. Until then, I had endured many hits, but never to the point of total unconsciousness. It was a shock. When I woke up, I learned that Gastly had been captured and that Aspen was alive—though badly injured.

  That was the moment my conviction solidified: I want to be a shield.

  Not just any shield, but one that strikes back, that harms anyone who dares to touch Aspen or my teammates.

  I am Dozy, a shiny Alolan Grimer, judged for my appearance and my scent. I am naturally lazy—I love to sleep and eat garbage, brrrr… brrruuug, but I care about my human. I would rather sacrifice a thousand naps and put myself between him and death than watch him fall.

  When I got in the way of Vera’s psychic attacks, I did it without thinking. When I blocked Gastly’s Explosion, it was pure willpower to protect him.

  That’s when I discovered who I want to be: a shield that isn’t fragile—one that hurts anyone who dares to strike it.