You Teach Me, and I'll Teach You

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The two buizel, Xeno and Bui, had come from Pecha Forest and were now arriving in the Small Pond area. Bui had been here many, many times before—if he were to pick a favourite place, this would be a candidate.

"I don't know if you've ever been around here before, but it's a nice, calm place. Pokemon tend to come here to swim or have picnics and whatnot." Bui examined the area, looking for a nice place for the two to set up camp.

If Xeno doesn't want to go near towns, then this place will make a fine alternative. I just hope the night doesn't get too cold—I'm not very confident in my fire-making skills; I'm a water-type, after all.


Bui spotted a decent-sized tree close to the shore of the lake. "That looks like a nice spot," Bui said as he pointed the location out to his companion. He began to make his way over, expecting Xeno to follow.

"This... suddenly became really awkward." Cirrus said to herself while watching Bui move over and sit next to the bush. Whatever happened to make this Buizel so skittish and shy, the Togepi could already tell that it was pretty bad. She almost got up to follow Bui there but successfully fought off that sudden urge. It just felt too early to impose her own presence on Xeno like this, since he obviously knew the other Buizel more than he knew her. Too early...

She instead continued to rest in the shade. Should Xeno choose to interact with her on his own accord, then great. Otherwise, Cirrus wasn't going to push it.

Xeno had no idea what to say, he just felt odd. "I-I'm s-sorry. I-its just that... I-I don't think p-people would like to know a-about me... I-I'm just s-scared...." Slightly ashamed of himself as well as being embarrassed, Xeno continued to stare at the ground, slowly turning a light shade of red.

Realizing that Cirrus was evidently a good distance away from himself and Bui, Xeno thought something strange.

D-Do you think.... Do you think we can tell him? .... .... .... Right. Anything goes wrong, we're hightailin' it outta here. You better not screw this one up. Please....

Giving a deep sigh, Xeno went down and curled up right next to Bui, whom he suspected was probably shocked at this point. "F-Fine... I-If you really want t-to know s-something.... A-Ask me... I-I'll answer it as honestly as I c-can." Shutting his eyes, he curled himself tightly, somehow resembling an orange fuzzy ball. Xeno was hoping that nothing horrible came out of his friend's idea.

And Bui was surprised. Surprised that Xeno—the shy and frightened buizel, whom Bui had only met yesterday—was opening up to him. No, not only was he opening up to Bui, but he was giving Bui control of what information was given. Bui places a paw on Xeno's shoulder—perhaps to comfort Xeno, or maybe to comfort himself.

"Okay, but..." Bui thought back to what Cirrus had said before. "I don't want to force you to talk about anything you don't wanna..." Bui looked at the reflections on the pond's calm surface. His mind was running through an abundant number of questions to ask, but he was quick to narrow them down. His first question was a bit risky—it was based on speculation—but he was going to ask anyway.

"Who hurt you, Xeno?"

I don't care why. I don't really care how, either. I want to know who did it. ...But why is that so important to me...?

Cirrus took a quick cursory glance over at the two Buizel, pleased that things were beginning to move forwards between the pair of them. With no particular wish to startle the timid Xeno, she got up and idly wandered back towards the pond's shore to give them a little space.

"I'll keep myself busy then... Where to start...?" the Togepi mused, eventually deciding to work on her Charm gaze. Lowering the opponent's attack power was good enough, but it would be great to let down their guard enough for them to dismiss her entirely. Now with something to do while Bui and Xeno had their chat, she got to it.

Xeno felt a bit awkward, he wasn't used to someone trying to comfort him. To him, he thought it was weird. Nobody should care... right? "I-I'm letting you ask the questions s-so I don't tell more t-than I have to..." Still staring and not looking up from his curled position, Xeno shuddered a bit. "M-My parents... T-they're the ones that have b-been abusing me..."

The words echoed loudly in Bui head: Parents... Abusing... Bui himself shuddered—but not out of fear—out of anger. All my life I've resented my parents; mom for abandoning me and dad for being a deadbeat—But Xeno? Xeno had his parents, and look what they did to him!


Bui was suddenly hit by a wave of intense anger and hatred. Hatred for Pokemon he had never even met. Bui stood up, he didn't have anymore questions. He didn't care what Xeno's parents' reasons may be or when it happened or for how long or anything. Bui found the first stationary object he could spot—
a nearby tree—and unleashed a Sonic Boom attack against its trunk. He had never met Xeno's parents, but he could picture them well enough in his head—something like his father, he was sure. He fired off another attack, and another, and another, until the bark of a portion of the tree was entirely stripped. Unleashing so many attacks one after another with quick succession left Bui slightly winded. "Bui... Bui..." The sounds came out panted. Whispering his own name was something Bui developed a habit of doing when angry—though it usually only helped in making him more aggressive.

Bui then remembered suddenly where he was and who was around him. Bui looked at Cirrus, then at Xeno, and then down at the ground below him. "...Sorry."

Cirrus dashed back to them both as soon as she heard Bui launch a furious flurry of Sonic Boom attacks against that nearby tree as though it were his most hated and despised adversary. She wasn't yet privy to Xeno's secret but the Togepi could surmise it to be something that seriously struck a nerve within Bui. Knowing full well about that Buizel's uncaring parents led Cirrus to the conclusion of Xeno having similar, or even worse issues. She didn't want to voice her guess however. She'd prefer Xeno to tell her that himself.

"Bui, Xeno, what's wrong?" she simply settled on saying towards the duo once Bui had finished.

Staring with a mixture of fear, shock, and surprise, all Xeno could do was a simple, "Please. No...." After Bui finished his flurry of attacks.it was all he could think of doing at the time.

In response to Cirrus's question, Xeno had to question it himself. What actually happened?

All Xeno could do was shrug. Getting up, he grabbed Bui and tried to get him to sit down. "D-Don't do this... P-Please"

At Xeno's touch, Bui was immediately aware that he had probably over reacted. No, I didn't. But... Bui looked back at Xeno. I've upset him... What now?


"Sorry... I just... Xeno, I never imagined parents worse than mine. I won't lie—I will never forgive my own parents—but yours? I don't know what they did, and I don't care." Bui placed both paws on Xeno's shoulders before continuing. "Xeno, look. Forget your parents, okay? They're not going to hurt you anymore. I—" Where is this coming from? This isn't the normal me; I don't make promises, I'm supposed to protect myself... "I promise, I won't let anyone hurt you, okay?"

Cirrus... honestly and truly didn't know what to say to this. Bui had pretty much confirmed her guess just now. The very same sad feeling she experienced when first learning of his less than happy past was suddenly returning with full force, but she had to try and find some way to console Xeno. From what Bui just said, it really did sound like Xeno's parents were more abusive than neglectful. Having been hatched into a loving and sheltered environment Cirrus couldn't help but feel outright horrified at the thought of what he went through.

"N-no wonder you're so skittish..." she managed while holding his hand. It made total sense now. "I'm so sorry to hear about that, really. It must have been horrible... Treated like that by those who should have been there..." the young Togepi continued. As though to prove her legitimacy with this, she had to stop there to wipe off a tear.

Xeno broke eye contact with Bui and looked down. "R-Really ... I-I'ts okay..." Staring off into the distance, Xeno was slightly concerned now. No, I shouldn't care for anyone else. He gave a little shrug and broke away from Bui. "I-It's kinda why I r-ran away.... I... I honestly haven't been c-cared for by anyone. I-It was more like t-they didn't want me to e-exist..." And at this point, I kinda wish that I didn't exist either.

Bui paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts to find exactly what he needed to say next. After the moment of silence, Bui spoke. "They're the ones that shouldn't exist. Pokemon like them, they're the problems, not you."

A short silence followed as Bui worked out what to say next—he wasn't usually the reassuring type, so he didn't want to say the wrong things. "We only met yesterday, Xeno, but... I care about you. And Cirrus just met you, and she cares. I'm sure if you got to know more Pokemon, you'd see lots of them would care about you."

Alright, I'm out of reassurance. Cirrus could probably do a lot better than I am—I probably sound like an idiot...

Taking Bui's unspoken cue, Cirrus took over as she begun to come up with the right words for Xeno.

"I'm with Bui on this. Forget about them. They're not important or worth remembering, you've turned out far better without their help." she said while continuing to hold his hand. Deciding to share some of the happiness stored within her shell with this Buizel to try and cheer him up, a natural talent of her species, the Togepi continued onwards with "Whatever they've put you through, it's only the beginning of your life. What really matters is how you move on from this. You're obviously a good sort, any Pokémon would be lucky to know you...", as the red and blue shapes on her shell exuded a faint yet warm and comforting glow...

Xeno gave an almost slight sigh of content. It had been a long while since he felt this way. What was it. Happiness? It was like the time he realized that he could squander his time away inside the library instead of getting hurt at home. He didn't know why he was being so accepting of Bui and Cirrus's words, it seemed to automatically comfort him. Or maybe it was just that ability that the togepi had, he faintly remembered reading about it somewhere.

"T-Thanks..." Xeno said, before staring off somewhere else. "Y-You'd really d-do that for me?..." He felt better than he had ever felt in a long time. All his life, he thought that he would be alone. You remember when I almost killed myself? You helped me live. Even though I absolutely hated it. Giving a sad smile, Xeno turned away as tears started to well up in his eyes. I can't cry...

Bui moved up to Xeno's side, opposite of Cirrus, and wrapped an arm around Xeno's shoulder. "Of course I'd do that, and I'm sure I can answer the same for Cirrus. We may not have known ya' long, bud, but it clearly doesn't take much time to see that you're well deserving of fair treatment. Forget your parents; you've got us now."

The rage Bui had before was not gone, but it was well pushed to the far reaches of his mind—at least for now—and was replaced with a legitimately happy Bui. I really am very, very glad you opened up, Xeno. I don't know what exactly it is about you, but there must be something different about you compared to nearly everyone I've met before. I actually feel... there's a word for it... Sympathy? Empathy? Both? I don't know. What I do know is that there's something new here. Something different. I want to keep you around.


Bui's thoughts drifted a bit, to the other friend he had made recently. And Cirrus too. And not just because she's going to be a doctor. But partly because she's going to be a doctor.