kyle sits by the steps on the stairs that lead to the ground floor. a folder containing all the possible data he can extract from the file he used to create him was on his hands, some of the main points were bulleted on the first page.

a mightyena affectionately rests his head on kyle's shoulder, sitting on a step higher than where his trainer was sitting on. before them was an oddly behaved bioweapon against ultra beasts, or so what the dossier about it says.

"why are you so... domesticated?"

the elite four stares at the type:null's blinking eyes through its limiter. it lies on the floor, a foreleg overlapping the other as its fin-like tail wags softly. he's not sure if this was in the coding or if it was a habit picked up by the only social interaction the type:null gets besides kyle.

kyle whacks it softly on the head. it winces at the hit despite the negligible force and the protection that the helmet offers. "ugh! i thought you'd be cooler than the poochies! stop being cute." he starts to wonder if it'll live up to its title and actually manage to go up to par with monsters capable of leveling cities.

as much as he tries to read the files that came with the instructions on how to build their own personal chimera, kyle gets nothing substantial from it. every equipment used in creating life, boxed away in the corner of the basement, does not seem to clue in how exactly the type:null operates either.

kyle swivels his chair away from the computer screens and turns to find his type:null by his feet. it nudges a ball closer to him, and while kyle grumbles at his pokemon's request, he picks it up nonetheless and complies with the chimera's wishes. he throws it across the room, bouncing until it hits the wall on the other side and stops moving.

the type:null chases after the ball, leaving kyle to wonder if it's a trait he picked up from his other pokemon or if it was naturally playful. when it rolls the ball back with its head in a similar manner as his other pokemon, he is quick to assume it's the former.

the elite four throws it again, this time at the top of the stairs. his pokemon stares at it as it reaches the ground floor before settling on the floor, walking in a circle before curling up on the floor. "you don't want to come up, huh?" no reaction comes from the type:null.

not in a mood to force it against what it wants, kyle stands up from his seat and flops on the type:null's side, laying on the pokemon's stomach. it wasn't warm as the arcanines', but it was enough. he takes his phone out as he starts to play games, giving up on his initial objective of looking for clues from the original program.

"you can always come out as long as you make sure no one else sees you, you know? i can't keep you company all the time."

the type:null whines in response.

kyle scratches his stomach as he comes back from his late night kitchen trip for a glass of water. on his way to his bedroom upstairs, he finds the open door that leads to his basement.

he settles with a peek.

kyle finds the type:null was an oddity. the one he has was defective, having not really shown any traits described in the dossier. on hindsight, however, the files explicitly only mention its abilities as a weapon, and kyle hasn't found any opportunities to let his type:null display its skills to him.

the beast lays with a multitude of dogs at the bottom of the stairs. a pack of mightyena all curl around the sleeping figure of the beast killer, most of which are probably oblivious to what the type:null was created for. kyle lets them live in the illusion that the chimera was nothing but another dog, which works on the trainer as well.

instinctively, he pulls out his phone and snaps a cute picture of his pokemon. it takes him a few seconds to realize his mistake. "fuck. i can't risk this picture existing..." begrudgingly, he deletes the image.

he slumps on the floor where the type:null laid, laying on the pokemon despite its title of being a beast killer. at this point, kyle considers it one of his dogs and was probably next to harmless.

he flips through the pages of a handbook-- notes about galar pokemon he has zero idea about written in detail on every page. there was something about written copies being somehow easier to read than digital copies that prompted him not to open the pdf of the same book.

as he turns a page over, he hears scuffling on the top stair that led to the basement. curious eyes peer through the door as multiple mightyena try to squeeze, although kyle could recognize wariness and caution on their actions.

kyle recognizes their desire to cuddle with him from their whines, and only then does he realize they were being careful around kyle being snappy when he's in deep thought. he has showed them that he didn't want any distractions when he was building his chimera before after all. he wasn't a genius, and it took him a lot of effort just to even follow instructions.

the trainer sighs. his head jerks, motioning for the mightyena to come over since that period was long over.

alpha and delta stand in front of the type:null that lazily slouched on the floor. their wagging tails show excitement, but kyle, who just came down from the first floor, had no idea why.

"oi, i'll be needing you two later. gotta have the full set if i'm bringing at least three of you."

both of his mightyena whip their head back to see their trainer. energetic barks follow, and as soon as kyle appeared, they went. paws tap against the wooden stairs that led up as the two dark-type exit the scene, leaving kyle alone with his type:null.

his attention goes to the type:null. it never does anything spectacular, but it somehow managed to get the attention of his dogs. kyle scratches his head as he tries to contemplate on how easily distracted his pokemon were if wolt managed to keep them around like that.

kyle grabs a piece of cloth, tattered from wear and tear, and drapes it over the type:null as a blanket. although he gets no reaction from it, kyle assumes the gesture is appreciated if there were no negative reactions from it.

"you're always free to come up, by the way."

on that note, kyle leaves for a mission, closing the lights for the beast killer.

"alright, bravo, foxtrot, on the count of three. one, two..."

the final count ends with a heave. both mightyena's push with force alongside their trainer, trying to budge the type:null before them.

standing on all its fours, the chimera pushes back with an equal force, although kyle could tell that it can do more. with only its eyes to read its emotions with, kyle remains unsure if it's being playful or just plain stubborn.

the pushing eventually stops. kyle slumps on his type:null's helmet, draping himself all over its head. the mightyena notices and stops as well, their attention shifting to their trainer who seemingly gave in.

"i give up. you can live here forever."

the type:null slumps on the ground right afterwards. kyle doesn't move from his position and just hangs on the pokemon's head. the mightyena, confused, just follows their trainer's advance and curls next to the type:null.

"...that's not excercise."

kyle walks down to his basement to find his type:null lying on its back, paws up in the air as it juggles a rubber ball that some of the poochyena might have thrown to the open basement door and got too lazy to pick back up since they don't have arms to carry it up with.

its trainer coming in cancels the string of combos at the ball. the last swipe of his paw causes a hitstun that enables the ball to fall on its face, whose hitbox is too big with the helmet.

"come do actual exercises. maybe you'll change to something actually useful."

the files concerning the type:null did not include anything about evolution, but every year or so, scientists manage to find intricate ways to get pokemon to evolve strangely, such as an eevee becoming a sylveon or a porygon getting improved with new plug-ins.

maybe the type:null was similar.

despite kyle's request, the type:null just turns to its side and closes its eyes. kyle knows it's not actually asleep since its tail was still wagging. the urge to take a video of it surfaces, but he decides against it in case he gets drunk and sends it to someone he doesn't trust.

"no, you do it like this."

kyle sits down on the floor alongside his type:null, who slowly was starting to learn manners and not sleeping when company's around. he grabs its big talon-y foot and, with both hands, tries to curl it into a fist. every time kyle takes his hands off, it would retract, only to get molded back by kyle.

the type:null eventually learns not to move his curled talons after several tries. once it manages to hold it for a few seconds, kyle proceeds to fist bump it with his own fist.

"bam," he excitedly announces, albeit soft and hushed.

the sad realization comes in a wave as kyle sighs heavily in front of his type:null. he immediately lets go of its taloned foot, wherein the type:null places it on kyle's shoulder. the trainer takes it and softly places it back to the ground.

"...i should get an actual hobby."

"wolt."

he lowers his back to level with his type:null, who sits on the floor looking disinterested. the helmet turns to the wall of the basement that contained nothing of value besides maybe a shelf filled with books and cases for old game cds and cartridges, none of which meant something for the chimera.

"wolt," kyle repeats, this time in a clearer and louder voice.

there's no reaction from the type:null. it remains in place, as if trying to ignore the presence of his trainer. it's something that kyle cannot find a reasoning for, given that the basement has literally nothing to offer for a pokemon that cannot even waste its life playing video games.

a heavy sigh comes from the trainer. "wolt." the last iteration has rescinded back whatever fervor kyle's voice held previously.

his brows furrow. eventually he stands up, giving up on the type:null, and then parting his mouth for a yawn. he doesn't have the energy to deal with a stubborn and rebellious teen, and so he turns and gets up the stairs, exiting the basement.

"fuck you. i'm turning the lights off. good night."

the type:null scrambles to his feet and tries to chase after kyle right after, panicked. an attempt to persuade the trainer to leave the lights on was made as quick as regret settles on the type:null's conscious.

the type:null raises his head as he hears the door to the basement creek open. wary eyes soften all of a sudden as soon as it sees the form of its trainer. it shifts its eyes away as soon as it makes eye contact with kyle, however.

"wolt."

the call of its name gets the type:null to turn his head to kyle once more. it tilts its head to the side, confused with the sudden visit of its trainer. there's a moment of stillness where both the pokemon and the trainer stood in a standstill.

"fuck you."

kyle closes the door behind him, shutting it close.

the type:null gets up on its feet, confused with kyle's behavior, and feels like it has done something wrong. it follows its trainer up the stairs and reaches for the door, talons softly scratching the surface of the door until kyle opens it up for him.

kyle walks down from his bedroom upstairs, yawning as he scratches his stomach. barking and playing from the pokemon outside already started and the smell of morning coffee has already permeated his senses. it's the sound of the television that gets his attention since it's one of the things that weren't used unless it's for video games.

he turns to the living room to see the silvally not in his usual place in the basement. "wolt, why are you up here?" he asks, squinting his eyes because he just woke up.

the silvally doesn't react to it. instead, it continues to watch an animation in the screen about some person who can switch elements against a delibird who continues to shower him with explosive presents as a holiday special.

kyle vaguely recalls part of the documents concerning type:null and the beast killer's intended functions. it should be able to adapt to circumstances, similar to the main character of the show.

"noah, we're calling him robin now!" he yells as he has an epiphany. wolt never liked his previous name anyways since kyle just came up with it on a whim.

an arcanine blows on a pile of leaves just outside of kyle's house, setting it on fire with a controlled flamethrower for warmth. it's probably not the best for the environment, but kyle allows it if only because he's too busy with something else to worry about it.

"get out there," he grunts in between heaves.

he pushes the silvally away from the door and into his yard. a lot of the younger pokemon are loiter outside, waiting for a new playmate to get into roughhousing with, much to the silvally's chagrin.

eventually, kyle gives up. he lays on top of the silvally as it blocks the front door. "guess we're just doing it like this, huh!" he mutters on his pokemon.

it was so active during the war that he's not sure why it remained so timid afterwards. at first, he thought it was just the limiter, though he's more inclined to believe that his pokemon just didn't like the outside.

at least he's out of the basement, so that's cool.