"How's everything going?"
A simple question for most. But for Magikarp, it was crushing. Day after day, its life has been one thing, to splash. It can't take it anymore. It can't take the pressure to live up to. Being born with a rare "square shiny" condition, its peers and parental figures have done nothing but pressure him to be perfect to be able to flaunt his condition in battle.
"A one in 65000 chance."
Magikarp was salty. And not just because of the sea water. A one in 65000 chance to just have been a normal child, not some sort of prodigy. Many of his peers envy him, but he just wishes to have been born normal.
Nothing to do now but train. And splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash.
"Now," his Flareon mentor commanded, "evolve..."
But alas. He did not evolve. He was still a lowly magikarp who could barely flail. It was not until, a strange face showed himself during a training session. It certainly was strange. It was spherical shape, with a black line in the middle dividing the red from the top and white on the bottom. However, his appearance was not important. Magikarp with his condition, knows this. What's important was what he was doing there.
"Would you like a pokeball in this trying time?"
Magikarp felt a surge of emotions. Two of them was anger and confusion, because why would this man want to give him something which enslaves his people? Another was joy, because no one ever offered him anything other than to make him train more. And then he was confused and angry again because the community was supposed to be on lockdown because of COVID-19. Then he felt joy again because if he was sick he won't be allowed to train. Then he was scared because that probably meant his mentors would make him do online splashing.
Magikarp didn't know why, but he told this stranger his story. The sphere person just nodded at the end. Then, a light bulb went off in his head. Instead of a pokeball, he offered EXP candies, which were spoils of war from his home region. Magikarp had tears in his eyes. With this, he could be able to evolve without needing to strain his body more.
The next day, Ball Guy waved farewell to Gyarados and continued his adventure bringing aid to the people. But he was stopped on the road by a familiar educator.
"Its over!" shouted H. byleTh.
Mar 29, 2020
by
An Asocial Moth
