"Yes?" Mimikyu answered in a calm tone. Outwardly, he seemed calm. But there was no denying the fact that inwardly, he was terrified. He turned around to face the pokemon who 'called' him, and tilted his head in a friendly, ignorant manner--all for a more innocent-looking effect.

"How may I help you?"

An orange, reptilian pokemon stood in front of him. A downgrading, judgemental look was plastered on his face (which Mimikyu immediately disliked), and he gave a rude sneer. Mimikyu was alarmed. It was obvious that the Charmander did not come alone.

On either side of the Fire-type salamander, there were two other pokemon. One was a Murkrow, the pokemon which Mimikyu could tell, was the one sitting in front of him. The other was a Magby.

The two fire-types had their arms crossed, a superior air floating around them. But Murkrow on the other hand, just seemed to be throwing him wary looks and frowns.

"I'll have you know." Charmander growled in warning. "We are the bosses around here. You mess with us, you'll pay for it."

"I-I'm not looking for a fight..." Mimikyu stuttered weakly. He knew that he already lost his cool, and he mentally scolded himself for the slip-up. He glanced to and fro around the room, but he saw that there was no one else left to help. He instantly knew he was in trouble. It was just him and the three bullies.

"What was that?!" Charmander yelled, raising his voice. His confident expression was immediately replaced with an intense scowl. "You being a scaredy-skitty?"

"No--! I--" Mimikyu shook his head, eyes growing wide with slight panic. But he was cut off before he could even try to defend himself.

"Coward." Magby taunted. "Or are you attempting to act cute and helpless? Well, I'm going to tell you that it ain't working."

"You aren't like the species you're trying to imitate." Charmander sneers, stomping forward.

"Creeper."

"You'd get an F in arts class with that kind of work!"

"Nothing but a copycat, huh?"

"Fake."

Mimikyu flinched. But he wasn't able to react in time before Charmander grabbed the neck of his costume with his sharp claws.

The fire-type shot him a triumphant, hateful glare. "Rot in the corner where you belong."

Mimikyu was hurled backwards with great force, and he slammed against the a wooden chair with a pitiful yelp. He was left alone, shocked and emotionally broken as the three bullies laughed and sauntered out the classroom. For the next moment, Mimikyu didn't move. He just listened. He listened to their heavy, uneven steps, growing more distant and distant, until he could no longer hear it and was left in piercing, suffocating silence.

All became quiet. But still, he dared not move.

He just stood there; staring, waiting.

He shook slightly, his head drooping forward. Mimikyu averted his eyes towards the ground. He felt absolutely miserable. "I..."

Silence.

"I..." He began sniffling. His perception of the floor grew blurry as tears threatened to spill from his small eyes.

"I-I just w-want to be accepted..." He whimpered. "Just like t-them...."

A dark claw reached out from under his hood. He wiped his tears away, and put up a brave face. Mimikyu looked upwards, and forced his costume's head upright with his limb.

"I just want to be accepted." He repeated. "So why?"

Why..?

We are all pokemon... We aren't much different, are we...?

So why do they judge..?

He asked himself those questions every time. Yet, never knew the answer, he never found it.

Mimikyu sighed. His gaze returned downwards, where the floor was slightly wet from his tears. Isolation was painful. He knew that better then anyone. He had hoped, at the farthest edge of his heart--that the pokemon of this school would be more different.

But was he wrong to think so?

'5 Schools.' He told himself blankly. 'In just one year, I've transferred to 5 schools.'

None of them were different. Everyone acted the same. Was he wrong to hope, again and again? Was he a fool for wishing to be happy?

He will always be an outcast, no matter where he goes. That was what Mimikyu decided, after many long years of futility. Why did he only realize it now, when he was at his breaking point? He wasted so much years, and allowed his now-dry heart to suffer so much.

Maybe... He should just give up hope of acceptance.

That way, maybe life can be easier.

~ • ♢ • ~

He briskly hustled towards the forest, his costume battered with tears pouring freely from his eyes.

Days have passed. Hours, minutes, weeks. He's been in the same school for 3 weeks, yet nothing's change. He was still at the recieving end of Charmander's insults, and also Magby's personal punching bag.

Murkrow generally avoided direct contact, but he was responsible for spreading deadly rumors around the campus. Rumors stating that Mimikyu was a cursed Pokemon.

Technically, it was a true fact. But the details were false. Any direct friendly contact will activate the curse, they said. So now, no one wanted to lend him a helping hand, or even as so much go near him.

He was so alone.

He paused to catch his breath, looking around him to make sure that he was finally by himself. He had gone far away from school grounds, but still, he didn't feel safe. Charmander's gang were very persistent, and they sometimes chased him all the way until he was near home.

Mimikyu glanced up towards the towering trees. He whined inwardly, silently jealous of their immense size and bulk.

'If I was as strong as a tree, maybe I wouldn't be forced around like a ragdoll.' He muttered weakly, cursing himself for his cowardly personality.

'Life would be so much easier.'

Mimikyu forced his gaze back down. He tried not to look anywhere else and just slowly trudged home, while he tolerated the chaotic thoughts which circulated within his tired brain.

All the insults he received again today, all those knives that tore through another layer of skin protecting his heart.

Loner. Bastard. Creepy, cursed, he shouldn't even exist.

Idiot. Stupid. Clone, demon, the infamous 'can't he just leave?!' phrase, and every possible insult he could imagine.

Yet no matter how many times he's heard them, it always still hurts. A fresh, new cut to his still healing heart. And the scars add up continuously--never ceasing. Never fading.

'How much longer can he stay alone?' He wondered. No one can survive alone. Or so he heard.

But how can he brush off that loneliness, when it seems to cling onto him like a Spinarak's thread?

Mimikyu shook himself back to dreary reality. He stared forward, his eyes still slightly moist, staring with relief at the familiar surrounding of the place he and his parents lived in. He was home.

Home--the one place that never rejected him.

With a smile, he rushed towards the small cabin, the illuminated windows giving of a warm, comforting yellow glow.

With a claw, he suddenly slid the door open, and called in softly.

"Ma? Pa? I'm home." A pause. "Hm, what? Oh. Yeah, school... School was great."

No.

It was not.