Coming To Terms

I reclined against the curved wall of the inside of my pokeball and sulked. I had been captured. Captured! The very word revolted me. But here I was, trapped in a pokeball. In anger, I began drumming the red ball on the tip of my black-striped tail on the wall. I had just evolved, too. I was finally a Flaafy, proudly able to stand above all the Mareeps in the valley in two legs, not four. My cream-colored skin was an improvement over the dark blue one of my pre-evolution. I had less fleece, too, just some on my head like a hat and an attractive collar around my neck. I was distracted from these pleasant thoughts of my evolution as I heard my new trainer--my trainer, hah! Like I'd ever let her train me in anything--being challenged by another trainer. I crossed my arms and humphed. I'd have to fight, too, or suffer the consequences. That was how it went, I was told. Why would I want to fight for her? I was happy having friendly matches in my home valley with my friends and family. My friends and family. I'd never be able to see them again. Unless, by some chance, I was reminded as the battle started outside, and I was forced to fight them for some reason. My tail drummed against the wall harder and faster. Why couldn't my little brother been captured by this person? He was always an annoyance. Well, at least I'd never have to listen to him bugging me to teach him attacks that I knew that he didn't. That was some consolation. I was a good battler, too. I won most of the battles at home that I was in. I sat up tall, remembering what a good time I had beating the majority of my peers in combat. I would have won against this trainer, too, if she had made it a fair fight and used just one pokemon. Well, one perk of being captured was that I'd be able to battle some challenging opponents, I thought as my trainer's Quagsire fought a Houndour. That'd be a change. At home all the pokemon around had gotten too easy to beat recently. My tail slowed it's beating slightly as this came to mind. And I'd never have to get rained on, either. The valley didn't offer many places to take shelter in a storm. My family and I mostly huddled under a bush or tree, or against a large rock. At least this small, but adequate, pokeball would keep the elements off me. My trainer's Quagsire beat the Houndour, and was recalled in favor of a Mankey when the opposing trainer sent out a Miltank. Miltank. Milk. That reminded me of how hungry we always were at home. With so may pokemon in the valley, the berry bushes, fruit trees, and edible plants were often scarce. With a trainer, I'd get meals, as long as this trainer was a good one. And she seemed pretty nice, I grudgingly admitted. My tail's thumping was now infrequent, and almost inaudible. This might not turn out to be so bad, I realized as my tail ceased to strike the wall. Sure, there were disadvantages to it, but that could be said for any way of living. The Miltank was defeated, and a Murkrow sent out in it's stead. I winced, thinking how disastrous the Dark/Flying type could be against the Fighting-type Mankey. The pig monkey pokemon was recalled, and I felt my own pokeball being lifted and enlarged. "I know you're new, Flaafy," I heard her say to me, "but I believe in you. You can beat that bird!" Her confidence did it. I stood up, got in a fighting position, and waited to be released. I vowed then and there to show this trainer that she made the right choice by choosing me out of all the Flaafy and Mareep in the valley. I'd exceed her highest expectations. My life would never be the same, but it'd sure be more that it had been.