{"sf1_id":896037,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Of the Persian Persuasion","author":"foxohki","words":1826,"posted_at":"2015-08-08T20:53:00.000Z","tags":["Human","Persian","Plot Development","Trainer","pokemon"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/896037-of-the-persian-persuasion","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/896037","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=896037\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"Chapter one of my continuous story about a maturing young man and his marvelous Persian! Artwork by","content":"\nOf the Persian Persuasion\n\"William! Come open your present!\"  \nThe faint shouting of an older woman's voice could\nbe heard through the closed door of one young man's bedroom, and soon after he is\nseen powering down his computer and motioning to leave the sanctity of his room\nin. Little did he know what was to come...\nIndeed he was a 'young man' now, and at that age\nwhere he should be \"accomplishing\" things... And accomplishing \"real\" world\nthings...  He was at that age now where he\nshould be perusing his life's ambitions and goals, or at least getting towards\nthem some measurable sort of \"physical\" way... \nYes, he was definitely at that age now where he should be \"making\nsomething of himself\"; or at least this was the mentality and feelings in the\nhearts and minds of his parents who told him these things time and time again. They\nwere the two people who had given him everything in this life and all of the\ncomforts that this material world had to offer, and they never let him forget\nthat, however, today...  Today they had\nfinally decided to give him a swift kick of the metaphorical boot.\n \n* * * * * * *\nOh I hate it when they use my full name like\nthat...  Why can't they just call me Will,\nlike everyone else? But no matter... Today is my sixteenth birthday!  Which means! I will be receiving the latest\nexpansion pack for Pokémon Online! \nWhich is only the world's very first and very greatest Pokémon based\nmmorpg!  Where you can catch, train and\nbattle all of the Pokémon you could ever want to! For a small monthly\nsubscription fee of course..!  But my\nparents pay for that, so I don't have to worry about getting a job just yet; as\nwe have always been quite well off and 'in the money', so to speak, after my\nfather established a chain of successful pokémarts in the area here\nquite some long time ago...  But enough\nabout that! Today is my birthday!!!\nMaking my way out of my room and towards the living\nroom where I had heard my mother calling for me, I see a humungous sized\npresent-box in the center of the floor upon entering; complete with all of the\nwrappings and fancy bows that a family such as mine could afford, it was all a\nbit weird...  Because...  It was much too large to be Pokémon\nOnline expansion pack sized...  Did they\nget me another gift besides my expansion pack? \nThey knew it was the only thing I wanted...  Just like how the past two birthdays I have had\nit was the only thing I wanted and asked for... \nThe expansions always seem to come out yearly around my birthday!  Like the game was made and built around me and\nI was destined to play it! So what gives...\nMy parents said nothing to me as I slowly advanced\ntowards my perfectly presented gift, and with eerie, stern looks of silent\nconviction upon their faces, I began to gently pull on the top most prominent\nribbon that was holding the secret structure together in an attempt to reveal\nwhatever was to come of it all.\n\"We think it's about time that you got out there in\nthe real world and made something of yourself, son...\"  My father started up as I continued to\ndismantle the luxurious anomaly before me; and if there was any doubt of\nsomething big and ominous  was going down\nhere before, it had definitely become all too clear now...  Just hearing that phrase he used: 'real\nworld', always sent a fit of tensed emotions into me, as my parents and I would\nconstantly get into a debate over my Pokémon Online obsession, and by\ndebate, I mean, they would hassle me about it and tell me how they weren't pleased\nas I kept my mouth shut.\n\"You have been playing that game of yours for\nexactly two years now, non-stop, ever since it was released...\"  He continued. \"Locked away in your room most\nevery day...  It isn't a healthy habit, nor\na productive one.\"\nI knew then that my fate was sealed; whatever they\nhad planned for me, it was a done deal... \nIndeed I knew this day was coming and it was just a matter of time, but\nstill my heart sunk as it was finally here, as surely my beloved Pokémon\nOnline would be taken away from me... And on my birthday of all days!\n\"We think you could both benefit from one another.\"\nMy mother finally chimed in.  \"And at the\nvery least, at least you will be able to have said you tried.\"\n'Tried...\nTried at what?!  One... Another...  She said... Who......' I\nthink to myself as I continue to open the mystery box before me; and with the\nribbons holding everything in place removed, I steadily began to open the very\ntop of the box and peer inside to see the glistening of some sort of red gem as\nits contents were gently exposed to the light.\n\"Ral~ rawl!\" \nThe loud cry of some sort of Pokémon sounded in the air as the top of\nthe box was forcefully flung open and a tan furry blur flew out from inside and\ndirectly above me; knocking me to my rear end in the process, I then slowly\nturn around to find a Persian casually grooming itself on the floor before then\nquickly stopping to intently stare at me out of the corners of its eyes,\nmotionless and in mid-lick of its fur.\n\"A Persian?!\" I shout in response to all of it.  \"It would have been my last choice!\"\n\"A Persian is fine...\" My father ignorantly tells me.\n\"It's normal type... NORMAL!  How am I supposed to gain any sort of\nadvantage with a normal type Pokémon? \nHow can I do anything but just throw it into battle and hope for the\nbest?  There is no strategy there... No\nskill... No--\"\n\"The Persian was Aunt Katy's, and she couldn't\nhandle her anymore.  So now she's here\nfor you to handle.\" My mother abruptly interrupts.  \"You're always playing that silly game of\nyours, and so now this is your opportunity to go out there and do the real\nthing with a Pokémon.\n\"Yes, that's fine, but...\"  'But\nwhat can I tell them?  That I'm terribly\nshy and anti-social... That I don't know where to begin with any of this, and I'm\nafraid...'  \"But how couldn't she handle\nthe Persian exactly?\"\n\"Well, Katy kept the Persian as a pet Pokémon,\nbut that didn't fare too well...  It\nseems she would rather be out of the house, or doing something else, but\ndefinitely not cooped up inside all day; and those were her words exactly.  The curtains, the furniture, they were all\ntorn to shreds! A bloody mess of a state her home was in when I went to pick\nthis Persian up from her!\" My mother exclaimed.\n\"So it was just a pet Pokémon, too?!\" I\nbark in response.\n\"Yes, it was, now, on your way.\"  My father replied while both he and my mother\nstood up and proceeded to swiftly escort me to the front door of our house and\nthen outside to the entrance as Persian followed behind the entire commotion.\n\"Now, your pokédex, your pokéballs,\nsome potions, and all of your Pokémon oriented and essential needs can be found in here.\" My\nmother tells me as she motioned to a green backpack with black straps already\nconveniently placed against the side of the house.  \"And your sleeping bag and tent can be found\nthere on top of it.\"\n\"Yes, I see, but...\"\n\"No buts... You are off on your epic journey of\ninsight and intrigue.  Good luck, you!\"  My father tells me as he gives me a cutesy\nlittle punch on the chin.\n\"We love you!\" My mother follows up as she gives me\na quick little hug and then scurries back into the house; and I just stand\nthere a bit awe-struck in response as everything finally increasingly still, in\na way... 'I guess this is really\nhappening...?!'\n\"There is enough money in here to last you for three\nmonths...\" My father explains as he hands me a generic kind of themed wallet with\na pokéball pattern on it.  \"Now\ngo catch some bucks!\" He goes on to chuckle to himself.\n\"But...\"  I\nstumble in vain.\n\"Look. If you can't handle it after three months,\nyou can come home, and we'll talk. But until then, enjoy your adventure!\"\n\"But!\"\n\"I have faith in you!\" Are the final last words he\ntells me before leaving to join my mother and closing the door behind him.\n\"Persian per...?\" \nI hear the inquiring sounds of my brand new Pokémon I never\nknew I even wanted as the gravity and realness of everything seems to sink in\neven further. \nIt felt like she was asking me if I were ready to go.  Somehow, I knew that...  And for some reason, I felt oddly reassured\nas she walked a bit forward and looked back over her shoulder at me; as if\nasking me if I were coming or not.\n\"Per--sian per?\" \nShe went on to say as I attempted to further gather my thoughts,\nfeelings... Anything and everything I could gather...  But it seemed that all I had right now to my\nname was my backpack and this gear now, so I decide to just gather that instead\nand follow Persian wherever she seemed so determined to get to.\nSure she was just a normal type, and a former pet\nPokémon as well...!  But she had a\nkind of presence and confidence about her that I felt oddly compelling... Comforting\neven...  \n\"I'm coming!\" I told her as I ran a bit to catch up\nwith her, and then followed closely behind her she led the way and headed towards\nthe forest nearby where I used to play with the wild Rattata when I was younger;\nthat is, until one of the Raticate there decided to attack me out of the blue\none day and send me to the emergency room...\nEver since that encounter so very long ago I've been\na bit afraid of venturing into the unknown, and I suppose that's truly what\nheld me back from becoming a real Pokémon trainer in the first place. Until\nnow that is...  Because now it seemed there\nwas no other option... But with this Persian, I did somehow feel a bit safe and\nsecure... And I think... I think that everything just might be alright...\n\"Ral rawl~!!!\" Sounded the battle cry of Persian, my\nvery first Pokémon,\nas swiftly sped up and then pounced into the dense and tall grass that laid all\nalong the outskirts of the forest, no doubt hiding one or more Rattata inside\nwithin their hidden leafy realm.\n\"I'm coming too! Persian!\"\n"}