Lancelot

I have a soft spot for rabbits. I don't know exactly why. Maybe it's because the rabbit is my zodiac sign. Perhaps I found them endearing. Whatever the reason, I couldn't help but have a fondness for them. However, something happened not too long ago that changed my outlook on rabbits. Not for the worse, strange though it may seem, but for the better.

It all started when I decided to replay Pokemon SoulSilver. It had been a while since I had played it, and I felt nostalgic to venture through the Johto region once again. After deleting my old game, getting my starter (I chose a Cyndaquil, in case you were wondering), and defeating my rival for the first time, I had begun to build my team. Said team consisted of Badgah (Cyndaquil), Sen (Sentret), Stonah (Geodude), Pergy (Pidgey), and an egg I had gotten via an egg trade with a friend of mine.

I began to run around in the game in order to make the egg hatch. Once it did, I was filled with joy. It was a Nidoran Male. One of my favorite Pokemon. I smiled at the little pink horned rabbit creature. The game asked me if I wanted to give a nickname to my newly-hatched Nidoran. I decided to name him "Lancelot" after the famous knight of legend. He was much weaker than my other Pokemon, so I had to spend some time grinding in order to get him leveled up.

To my surprise, he grew rather quickly. I wasn't sure if that was because he was an egg-trade, or if something to do with his stats allowed him to level up faster than normal. In fact, it wasn't long before he was the strongest Pokemon on my team.

After defeating Falkner in Violet City, I had gotten the Togepi egg from the Lab Assistant and ran around once again to hatch it. I then showed the newly-hatched Togepi to Prof. Birch and he handed me the Everstone in response. I decided to give the Everstone to Lancelot since I didn't want him to evolve.

Once again, I found myself level grinding my team (Badgah, Sen, Stonah, Pergy, Lancelot, and now Rollypolly the Togepi). I fought and defeated Team Rocket in the Slowpoke Well, beat Bugsy in Azalea Town, and taught Cut to Sen before going through the Ilex Forest. I fought some trainers on Route 34 and made my way to Goldenrod City. I knew Whitney wouldn't be easy to defeat, so I figured I should train my team to make them stronger.

That's when things got, well, a bit odd. I was wandering about in the tall grass looking for some wild Pokemon to battle. Lancelot was at the front of my team, so his sprite was shown following after me. I turned around to "talk" to him, since that was a feature exclusive to both HeartGold and SoulSilver.

"It's late out. Lancelot thinks you should get some sleep."

Odd, I don't recall that being one of the phrases that would come up when you talked to your Pokemon. Normally, it would just say that your Pokemon was rolling around in the grass or doing some other cutsey action. This was oddly specific. I looked at the clock in my bedroom. It was nearly one o'clock in the morning and I was getting a bit tired. After saving the game, I turned off my 3DS and went to bed.

The next day, I woke up, went through my morning routine, and started up my 3DS before continuing on with my SoulSilver game. A text box popped up after I had opened my saved game.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

Lancelot was standing in the grass facing towards the front almost as though he was staring at me. I blinked a couple of times. Maybe I was still groggy. The game had never greeted me in the morning before. I gave a simple nod before I resumed leveling up my team. A couple of hours passed until I went to heal my team at the Pokemon Center. I felt that they were leveled up enough to face Whitney.

It took me a while, mostly because I had to use several Potions to heal my Pokemon after each battle, but I finally made it to Whitney. I knew she wasn't going to be easy, but I felt ready to take her on. The battle started and she sent out her Clefairy. I sent out Stonah. After a close battle, Stonah managed to make Clefairy faint using Rock Throw. That's when she sent out her Miltank. I frowned slightly before switching out to Lancelot.

Her Miltank then used the move I was dreading. It used Rollout. I watched as the pink cow slammed into my Lancelot while he was barely able to make a dent in the bovine's hide. It wasn't long before Lancelot was low on health. I didn't want my Nidoran to faint, so I tried to switch out.

A text box popped up that read, "Lancelot is unable to switch out."

My eyes widened. That couldn't be right. I should've been able to switch out my Pokemon. I tried to switch out Lancelot with another Pokemon once again.

Another text box popped up that read, "Lancelot refuses to go back into its Pokeball."

I frowned. Was Lancelot disobeying me? No, that couldn't be it. I had enough badges to train him, and he wasn't over-leveled. So, why was he refusing to back down from the battle? Was he trying to prove himself? Trying to show me that he could beat Whitney's Miltank?

Letting out a nervous gulp, I selected the next move for Lancelot to make. I commaned him to use Double Kick. It was now either him getting in a couple good hits, or missing and Miltank finishing him off with another Rollout.

"A critical hit!" the text box read as the second kick made contact with Miltank, "It's Super Effective! Miltank fainted!"

I cheered before getting the badge from Whitney. Quickly, I headed to the Pokemon Center and healed my team. I was so proud of them, especially Lancelot. Afterwards, I saved my game and turned off my 3DS since the battery was running low and I wanted to charge it before playing anymore.

Later that evening, I had gone out for dinner with some friends. We caught up with current events, enjoyed our meal and a couple drinks, and chatted for a couple hours before leaving. As I made my way towards the bus stop, I suddenly felt something pressing against my back. I glanced behind me to see a masked man pressing a pistol against my back. To my horror, I was being mugged.

"Put the purse down." he growled pressing the pistol further against my back to show he meant business, "Now."

I trembled as I set my purse down. Silently, I hoped he would just take it and leave. To my horror, though, he kept the gun against my back and picked up my purse with his other hand. I watched paralyzed with fear as he rummaged through the bag looking for any valuables to steal. What happened next, however, I don't think either of us were expecting.

The mugger suddenly yelled in pain before dropping his pistol and crumbling to the floor in a heap. He writhed as he clutched his leg in pain. Blood could be seen oozing from between his fingers as though he had been stabbed by something. While he was distracted, I grabbed my purse and ran into the nearest building before calling the police. I watched from the safety of the window as flashing lights and the sound of sirens could be heard.

When the police arrived, they made sure I was ok and arrested the mugger. During that time, I glanced over and noticed a rabbit rushing off towards the bushes. I blinked a couple of times, because I couldn't help but notice something.

I could've sworn that rabbit was pink.

Written by Chelsea.adams.524 Content is available under CC-BY-SA