Chapter 5

"You are weak, a weak pathetic excuse of a son," the man sneered down at him, "You're not worth my time." He turned his back on the cowering five-year-old behind him, preparing to leave the kid on his own.

"No! Please, I'll be better," the boy sobbed, "Don't leave! Dad!" He lunged forward, grasping the man's sleeve in his tiny hand. The man turned disgusted eyes on the child dirtying his suit. He roughly shook his leg, sending the boy flying away to slam into the metal boxes behind with a loud clang. The boy crumpled to the ground, breathless. He struggled to get up before collapsing on the aluminum tile underneath. "Please," he breathed, tears welling up in his orange eyes.

The man stared before tossing a pokeball at the fallen boy. "Here," he said with derisive sneer, "this Shinx is weak and pitiful, just like you. A perfect match."

The boy reached out an arm and grasped the pokeball, turning to the man with a questioning look in his eye. The man just scoffed at his unasked question, "Take that Shinx, grow strong, if you can. Only then will I take you back, accept you into the family. Prove me wrong. Until then, you are worthless." With those last cutting words, the man turned around and walked away, not once glancing back at his now-sobbing five-year-old son.

The boy clutched the pokeball to his chest as he released his tears, "We only have each other. You'll stay with me forever, won't you Shinx?" he asked in a trembling whisper. The pokeball warmed as if in response to his question. He gave a watery smile before the scene changed.

"You'll never amount to anything... Losers will stay losers... Hah! What a weak Shinx! Just like its trainer... What'd you expect, he's worthless... Yeah, even his family knew it. They're too ashamed to associate with him. That's why he doesn't have any!"

He fell to his knees as the jeers from the kids continued. Then, the kids disappeared and the man showed up once again, his mouth moved but no sound came out. His lips curled into a smirk and he started to fade as the boy's vision darkened. "You're still too weak..." his final whispered words echoed through the boy's head and the last thing he saw through his blurry vision, was a bold red R, and a Persian with an arrogant visage so similar to its master's.

Shadow jerked awake, tears blurring his vision and chest burning from lack of oxygen. His hand scrambled to his belt to grab his pokeballs for reassurance but it only swiped through empty air. Panic swelled inside him and his chest heaved, breath quickening.

He heard shouts filter through his muffled ears but his brain didn't process the words. Hands and paws swiftly pinned down the struggling boy, who panicked even harder at the touch of foreign hands, nobody but his pokemon had ever been that close to him and without their protection, he was vulnerable. His struggling renewed, pushing violently at his captors and headbutting a furry snout above him that let out a surprised yelp.

Something about it made him stop and he peeled his eyes open and rubbed at them to reveal the police and their pokemon. His situation suddenly came rushing back to him, with no regard to his mental state, as he remembered that his pokemon, his friends, his family, were gone.

His gaze was drawn to the Arcanine he'd headbutted. It was scrunching up its nose and let out a sneeze that rocked its whole body. Shadow's heart clenched. The fire pokemon reminded him, not of the powerful Luxray he fought beside, but of the gentler, funny, fuzzball marshmallow he traveled around with. The big teddy bear he cuddled up with when he slept at night, the one he would rant to about arrogant trainers as they journeyed to wherever the road took them. And back then, when he was just a Shinx, those yellow eyes staring up at him, still so innocent and curious, despite all he'd went through, all he'd seen. The one that would hop on his head and just sit there, gazing at the world with the slightest hint of defiance in his eyes. The day when he'd finally evolved into a Luxio and finally a Luxray, he was still such a child at heart. He had danced happily, strutting back and forth in front of the trainer who watched him with fondness in his eyes, still too scarred to laugh, despite his partner's many attempts.

And now, now he was gone. They would reunite, yes, but how long until then? Shadow didn't like being without his pokemon, he felt vulnerable for the first time since Shinx evolved, like the sobbing, broken boy he had promised himself he would never become again.

He didn't like it one bit.