Pokémon: Dark Armor

Tesseract: Chapter 1

"Honey!" Mum called, concern leaking from her voice. The Pangoro snarled, it's eyes flaring with irritation and aggression. I clung to Mum, shaking with fear as she covered me with her arms.

Dad quickly ran over when he saw the Pangoro. "Wow, it's not every day you see a brute like this around here," he said, a smile still etched into his face.

My eyes lit up, "Yay! Daddy's gonna battle!" I exclaimed excitedly.

Dad looked down at me, his deep black beard being parted by the white of his teeth. "That's right, Shield," he said, reaching down and picking me up. I giggled excitedly as he perched me on his shoulders before pulling a Pokéball from his belt. "Now, watch closely."

Dad threw out the Pokéball, and Toxtricity emerged in a flash of light. "Sludge bomb!" Dad shouted.

The Pangoro swung at Toxtricity, but the purple lizard simply stepped out of the way, flinging a glob of poison right into the bear's face. It roared in frustration, charging towards Toxtricity. Dad didn't say anything, allowing Toxtricity to casually dodge all of the Pangoro's attacks.

"Alright, buddy, that's enough showing off. Overdrive!"

Toxtricity strummed at its chest, the sound waves charging with electricity and shocking the Pangoro, which crumpled to the ground.

Dad pulled out an Ultra Ball, throwing it at the Pangoro. The bear was sucked inside, and the ball shook three times before clicking.

"Right then," Dad said, walking over and picking up the ball. "Let's see what our new friend thinks of us."

He tossed the ball out, and the Pangoro surged out, still weakly on its knee.

"Dear, are you sure that's a good idea?" Mum asked worriedly.

"Relax, Love," Dad said, carrying me over to the Pokémon. "It'll be fine." He pulled out a full restore, spraying the Pangoro's wounds with it.

The Pangoro regarded my dad cautiously before hesitantly standing up. It's eyes looked directly into mine, and I nervously tried to hide behind my dad's head.

"Go on, Shield. It won't bite."

I slowly reached out my hand, starting to pet the Pangoro's head. The massive bear begrudgingly allowed me to, and I started to laugh happily, petting it with both hands.

Mum walked up beside us. "I swear, you're going to give me a heart attack one of these days."

"I know what I'm doing, Love," Dad replied. "And remember this, Shield..."

I curiously looked down at him, and he said, "While Pokémon can often seem scary, with enough time and care, any Pokémon will become part of your family."

Minutes later, I was playing with Pangoro, who was being overly gentle with me, and my parents were sitting under a tree together. I looked over, and Dad gave me a big grin, which I returned with another laugh.

I woke up staring at the wall. I took a shaky breath, sitting up and covering my mouth with my hand. I felt the tears start to stream out of my eyes, and I tried to choke back the sobs, as to not wake up the girl sleeping next to me.

I failed.

"Shield?" Marnie said quietly. She sat up as well, placing a hand on my leg in concern.

I glanced over. "Sorry, did I wake you up?"

Marnie didn't respond, instead pulling me into a hug. I held her tightly, crying into her shoulder. She slowly ran her hand up and down my back, not saying a word. After I had gone from bawling to sniffling, Marnie started to plant comforting kisses on my neck.