TanTan

As a Larvesta, nothing seemed wrong. Going through life with her previous owner, winning and losing battles, enjoying the sun and the travels. Life was good. However, something went wrong during her evolution; too far into the change that stopping was no longer an option, she was startled by a wild pokémon suddenly charging towards her.

At first, everything seemed alright - even though her wings were lightly frayed, and not perfectly formed, attacks still hit, words were still heard and understood, but the trainer got suspicious of something else... The only thing that she could say in her evolved form was 'Tan'. The trainer, who couldn't grasp that this simple inability didn't change anything about her pokémon-self, abandoned her. They could deal with a 'damaged' pokémon, but now that it turned out she was 'mentally sick' as well, they simply didn't want to bother anymore.

Through the lands she wandered, nameless and homeless, until she happened upon a Larvesta-trainer named CatLady. Fearing the same rejection as all the others, the pokémon was prepared to turn around, only to be stopped by a weak string shot, not intending to stop, but simply intended to draw attention. "You look like you had a rough time... I'm not asking you to trust me, but I think you could use some food, before you continue on."

Wary, but stomach talking, she accepted the pokéfood, specially prepared for the bug-fire family. "Shila and I will be going now. Maybe we'll happen upon each other again." the trainer said, gathering up her items again. "Good luck on your trip. I hope you find what you're looking for."

A few months passed, the pokémon continued shunning humans, fearing the same rejection as her trainer had given her. A string shot hit her and fear temporarily paralyzed her, before she started preparing her counter-attack. "Is that you?" a voice she hadn't heard for a long time reached her, not ringing any bells, before she saw the same Larvesta. "You still searching? Need a little more food to help you along?"

Not as wary as before, but still preparing to flee the pokémon made her way over, eyeing the poké-food that hit the spot a few months ago. "I'm glad I bumped into you again. I was worried something would happen to you, but I'm glad to see you're still doing fine.""Shila, we need to continue... Wouldn't want to miss opening hours, right?"

These interactions happened a few more times, the Volcarona losing her wariness and starting to look forward to meeting (and the free food that came with it), even following the trainer around for a while before going her own way again.

"...Would you like to travel with us, instead of trying to keep bumping into each other?" a look of trepidation crossed her face. "You don't have to go into a pokéball; you'll still be essentially a wild pokémon, but maybe I can help you find what you need? You don't even need to fly right next to me; you can fly behind me a few steps, or you can lead the way and I'll keep my distance. I wouldn't want to scare you off"

And so the travel continued, the 'wild' Volcarona joined the trainer, but not interfering or joining in any battles. "To be quite honest, I'm not really interested in battles myself," the trainer confessed one day, "but if Shila isn't strong enough, she won't be able to defend the Larvestas in the sanctuary I'm planning." "Sometimes trainers can't or won't take care of their pokémon and I want to help those abandoned, for whatever reason they may have been."

Hope started growing in the Volcarona, but she wasn't ready yet. The marks humans had left on her once they found out were too deep. The fateful day started out sunny - "You must be the stealthiest pokémon I ever met; I haven't heard you make a sound ever since you joined permanently."

Her mind and her heart warred, one recounting every encounter with humans (however sparse they were), the other willing to trust the trainer, her trust only having grown in the months they traveled together. Decision made, she answered: "Tantatan...Tantanta."

Pity filled the trainer's eyes, only envoking an angry "TAN!" "Sorry. Not one for pity, he? I just couldn't imagine someone would leave you behind, only because you were a little different. You seem strong and capable; able to put up a fight if you had to, considering our few meetings before you joined actually happened." The Volcarona nodded, slowly going backwards, ready to leave, not believing it entirely. "Oh, you don't have to leave. If you still want to hang around you're welcome to." The voice sounded genuine, but memories are a tough master, always remembering the worst, at the best of times. "I'll prove it. You don't have to do it, but I'll tell you now; this ball is reserved for you. Whenever you're ready, someday or never, just let me know and it's yours forever." Her worries soothed, but some trust lost with the appearance of the ball, the Volcarona stayed.

"Would you mind if I called you TanTan?" the question caught her off-guard, the surprise plain to see on her face. The trainer colored red, "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I just thought it sounds like a nice name and it suits you, don't you think?" Still slightly taken aback by the question, the Volcarona slowly nodded her head. "Great! Now we can be properly introduced~ Hi TanTan, my name is CatLady and this is my first ever Larvesta, Shila. I hope we can go on many more adventures together."

And so they continued their journey, until one day, TanTan decided it was time for the next step - with a wing movement to the pokéball, and a reassuring nod to CatLady, she claimed the pokéball that was hers to claim, happy to be finally, permanently, part of a family. As with Shila, most of her time was spent outside of it, taking in the sights during their travels, but happy with the idea of home.

As one of the few evolved pokémon, she has accepted her role of Guardian; sworn to protect any Larvesta at the Sanctuary to make sure the horrors they endured don't befall others nor repeat themselves for those that lived them already.