“Hey there, I’m here for the daycare drop off! Got a Ralts for you,” Maoja dropped a Poke ball onto the desk. The rest of her creatures were either government-mandated or already in her PC. In all honesty, she just wanted the little guy to make friends more than the need to hold a Pokémon at a place like this.

Not that she knew exactly where she entered. She had intended to go to the better daycares, but a wrong turn took her here on accident. Even worse: she hadn’t the slightest clue of her folly.

“Yea… uh, sure, I guess,” the attendant said as they took the ball. “We’ll keep an eye on it for you–”

“Oh, and before I go,” she knocked on the desk, “this one has a little trouble hearing! So, if you need anything, you’ll need to tap him on the shoulder.”

“Right, right,” they said. Who cared? Fucker was going to be dropped in a glorified playpen while one of them watched the cameras as they did their thing. “Okay, bye!”

Maoja left, satisfied that Big Man was in safe hands. Time to go to the annual DMV meeting held for all the government employees-- which basically boiled down to an opportunity to hit on some cute, hot men. Just needed to figure out where it was...

“Who the fuck was that?”

–

Inside the playpen, Big Man was hard at work doing… something. It sort of stood there, on the edge, unsure of what or who to approach. All these other Pokémon looked scary, their jaws or mouths moving but no sound coming out. What was a little guy like him supposed to do?

But… that’s why he was here! To make friends, and bonds! So, he gathered the courage and approached the closest one to him. He gave an eager wave and looked at whatever it was that they were doing eagerly. Were they playing with blocks, shapes, or a puzzle perhaps?

---

Bullet Valentine

Oh joy, a new Pokémon! A cute Sneasle, but they looked different from normal. All… purplely, and with long claws. Were they always that long? And why were they tearing up that perfectly good blanket? Maybe this wasn’t the best one to approach. Big Man took a few steps back, away from the odd Sneasle.

As soon as they locked eyes, though, he knew things were not going to get better. He took a few more steps back, unaware of the building blocks scattered all over the ground behind him. Her lips moved, but it was hard to tell what they said. “Uh, hello! Do you want to play?”

And then, his foot slid out from underneath him. A red, wooden cylinder flew out and right into the face of the Sneasle while he fell down. He hit the ground, his head colliding with another block. Tears sprouted from underneath his hair as he rubbed the back of his skull. “Ouchie… that hurt…”

Yet all he needed to do was look back up to forget that slight pain. “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to– It was an accident–”

---

Bullet Valentine

Big Man grabbed onto the claws of the Sneasel, desperate to free himself from the painful grasp of his bully. She did not relent, as she tried to pull off his ‘helmet’. He screamed,“P-please let me go! It doesn’t come off, that’s just my hair!”

But the gloves were off now. It looked like this one would only accept absolute victory in this fight. Do or die, win or lose. Even though her victory would, quite literally, end in his gruesome death. He quite liked having a head on his shoulder! So, he needed to fight back.

But how?

Something wiggled inside Big Man. Something hot, something rather tangible. A feeling built up inside his chest. White light filled its body, a visible projection different from its natural color. Like a spotlight on inside its heart that filled the area and even room around it. Limbs elongated, hair grew. It also grew taller, until it stood on equal height with the Sneasel.

Big Man was no longer a Ralts. He was now a Kirlia!

And he was still not strong enough to push his bully away.

“Aaaa, it hurts! Seriously, I’m sorry!” He used Life Dew, hopeful that it would numb the pain until its bully relented. It did a piss-poor job of it.

---

Bullet Valentine

Once more, Big Man found himself on the end of Lizzie’s awful attacks. Even with the increased height and longer arms, the Sneasel had some sort of chip on its shoulder. At least he could read her lips without all that hair in the way.

“Hat? That wasn’t a hat, that was my hair! Let me go,” he tried to wriggle his way out of her grasp. Tiny arms swung backward, and his legs kicked hard. His trainer had always told him to never let a bully get the better of him, and now was the time to make her proud! If he swung enough times, surely one of his hits would–

Hit, bingo! With one lucky blow, he managed to hit both Lizzie’s nose AND eye. The moment of confusion allowed him to break her grasp and shoot forward. While the back of his neck stung, he was free from her grasp.

However, all he had to do was look back to feel that sense of terror once again. Her face was… oh Arceus, he was going to die!

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA–” Big Man threw his hands up and ran towards the edge of the pen. Any hints of courage burrowed back into his heart, now taken over by absolute fear. “HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP–”

“-LIA KIRLIA KIRLIA KIRLIA!” A voice called. One of the daycare attendants looked up from their latest volume of ‘Hoenn’s Gossip Digest’, annoyed but obligated to pay attention. All they say was a Kirlia about to shit itself and a Hisuian Sneasel with the most violent look on its face. Yea, that was a Bullet Valentine Pokémon alright.

“Hey, knock it off over there! I’m a little busy right now!”

---

Bullet Valentine

“We got a code… three? I think it’s three,” The daycare employee grumbled. They set down the magazine onto the black, rickety coffee table, reached down to their side, and picked up a gun. Not a gun-gun, but a tranquilizer gun.

They pointed it right at the now-evolved Sneasel, Sneasler, Lizzie, whatever– and shot without a moment’s hesitation. It did not take long for the sedatives to kick in, and Lizzie was firmly knocked out on the ground. All the other children Pokémon merely spared her a glance before they returned to whatever kiddie stuff they were doing previously.

“Code three? More like Code… pee! Yea, hehe,” they chuckled to themselves. Good one. Their magazine was picked up, and they quickly ruffled the pages back to wherever they left off. If they concentrated hard enough, they could ignore the Kirlia who was sobbing against the daycare playpen wall.

Surely…

---

Bullet Valentine