FA+
Shop
2410
Views
Views
56
Favorites
Favorites
Category
Artwork (Digital) / Macro / Micro
Species Pokemon
Size 1919 x 1919
File Size 1.97 MB
Report this content
More from Mekal
Listed in Folders
<<< PREV | FIRST | NEXT >>>
The following day, at 8 am, Silas and Niko were there.
And Bill trained them for the physical part of the construction business.
They were pretty good students.
During all of it, Bill kept an eye on Niko, to try and figure out something about his timidity.
And after all the second guessings, hesitations, panicked apologies at the tiniest mistakes, and others, Bill realized that this timidity was actually a symptom of the Electivire's real problem.
At the end of the day, the Mega-Swampert confronted him about it.
"All right, Niko, that was some good job you did, but I noticed a problem."
"A problem?!" yelped panickedly the Electivire.
"Yeah. You have absolutely zero self-confidence. And that's a problem with any job."
Niko lowered his head.
"I mean, I find this weird because... er..."
"I'm guessing Cid told you about how I bullied him in high school, right?" sighed Niko.
"Yeah..."
"Yeah, I was like that. Making others doing my homework, getting in detention, cheating at the exams... Not hard. I turned Electabuzz then, I was way bigger and stronger than anyone."
"..."
"But high school has an end. When I went to college, bye bye the "bigger and stronger" advantage. I had to do homework and exams all by myself. And since I never bothered to do so before..."
"It went badly," ended sadly Bill.
"Euphemism of the century," muttered Niko. "After the third time I got held back, I had to give up and try and find a job, any job, but..."
"At this point, your self-confidence was already in the gutter, and that didn't help..."
"Yeah. I never could keep a job for long. I always messed up and got fired."
A silence.
"So that's me. Only failures in my experience, failures in my skills, failures in knowledge... I'm a failure..."
Another, longer silence.
"Well, I'm going home. See ya tomorrow, until I mess up and you fire me, like all the others..."
And on that, the Electivire got up and left.
"Damn..." muttered a voice that wasn't Niko.
"Cid?"
The Emboar got out of the place he was hiding.
"You heard everything?"
"Yeah. I didn't think it was that bad..."
"No kidding. How to help him with that?"
"..."
"..."
"... I think I have an idea," finally muttered Cid.
"What idea?"
Cid told him.
"... You're sure that's a good idea?"
"Sure, no, but I have a good hope on it. Besides, if we hire him, we'll have to tell him about that."
"True... Okay, let's try it, but I need to ask Arceus first."
Arceus hesitated, but accepted.
The following morning...
"Hi," mumbled Niko when he saw Cid and Bill.
"Hi. We need to talk," bluntly stated Bill.
"Oh. Er... Okay..."
"Well, Bill, here we go," commented Cid.
And before Niko could ask what that meant, Bill put his hand on his shoulder and called slightly on his power, making the Electivire gain a few inches in height and a few pounds of muscle.
That was Cid's plan: talk with Niko, convince him that how he failed didn't mean he was a failure, that there were options and help to correct his flaws (like remedial school)...
In short, rebuild his self-confidence.
Normally, that kind of talk wouldn't work because of Niko's huge depression, but the jolt of surprise and pleasure caused by the growth would break through it and allow the words to be heard and listened.
But it still wasn't easy. It took many hours, and Bill had to regularly cause new growth spurts to fend off the encroaching depression.
But in the end, it worked.
And when the other Big Arms Inc. boys came for the afternoon, they enjoyed the vision of a titanic and overmuscled Electivire giving a gun show (idea of Bill, because it would be a shame to let all that beef go to waste) with a huge grin on his face.
"So, how you feel?" asked Bill.
"Like I could take on the whole world!" roared Niko.
"Now that's the Niko I knew," smiled Cid.
"But seriously, thanks! Arceus, I needed that so much..."
"Funny you speak of him, we're going to introduce you to him once you've shrunk down," laughed the Emboar.
The flabbergasted look the former bully gave his former bullied was priceless.
"True story, but very long, he'll tell you himself."
"Oh, one last thing before we do that," said Bill.
This time, the Electivire turned to him.
"You do realize that if you go back to being a buly, a brute, or any other crap like that, I'll kick your ass to the next year, right?"
"If I ever do, I'll give you the bat," smiled Niko.
Art by
MakeEmBig
Original here: https://twitter.com/FissureBarawak/.....70075630215168
Niko © me
Electivire © Game Freak
The following day, at 8 am, Silas and Niko were there.
And Bill trained them for the physical part of the construction business.
They were pretty good students.
During all of it, Bill kept an eye on Niko, to try and figure out something about his timidity.
And after all the second guessings, hesitations, panicked apologies at the tiniest mistakes, and others, Bill realized that this timidity was actually a symptom of the Electivire's real problem.
At the end of the day, the Mega-Swampert confronted him about it.
"All right, Niko, that was some good job you did, but I noticed a problem."
"A problem?!" yelped panickedly the Electivire.
"Yeah. You have absolutely zero self-confidence. And that's a problem with any job."
Niko lowered his head.
"I mean, I find this weird because... er..."
"I'm guessing Cid told you about how I bullied him in high school, right?" sighed Niko.
"Yeah..."
"Yeah, I was like that. Making others doing my homework, getting in detention, cheating at the exams... Not hard. I turned Electabuzz then, I was way bigger and stronger than anyone."
"..."
"But high school has an end. When I went to college, bye bye the "bigger and stronger" advantage. I had to do homework and exams all by myself. And since I never bothered to do so before..."
"It went badly," ended sadly Bill.
"Euphemism of the century," muttered Niko. "After the third time I got held back, I had to give up and try and find a job, any job, but..."
"At this point, your self-confidence was already in the gutter, and that didn't help..."
"Yeah. I never could keep a job for long. I always messed up and got fired."
A silence.
"So that's me. Only failures in my experience, failures in my skills, failures in knowledge... I'm a failure..."
Another, longer silence.
"Well, I'm going home. See ya tomorrow, until I mess up and you fire me, like all the others..."
And on that, the Electivire got up and left.
"Damn..." muttered a voice that wasn't Niko.
"Cid?"
The Emboar got out of the place he was hiding.
"You heard everything?"
"Yeah. I didn't think it was that bad..."
"No kidding. How to help him with that?"
"..."
"..."
"... I think I have an idea," finally muttered Cid.
"What idea?"
Cid told him.
"... You're sure that's a good idea?"
"Sure, no, but I have a good hope on it. Besides, if we hire him, we'll have to tell him about that."
"True... Okay, let's try it, but I need to ask Arceus first."
Arceus hesitated, but accepted.
The following morning...
"Hi," mumbled Niko when he saw Cid and Bill.
"Hi. We need to talk," bluntly stated Bill.
"Oh. Er... Okay..."
"Well, Bill, here we go," commented Cid.
And before Niko could ask what that meant, Bill put his hand on his shoulder and called slightly on his power, making the Electivire gain a few inches in height and a few pounds of muscle.
That was Cid's plan: talk with Niko, convince him that how he failed didn't mean he was a failure, that there were options and help to correct his flaws (like remedial school)...
In short, rebuild his self-confidence.
Normally, that kind of talk wouldn't work because of Niko's huge depression, but the jolt of surprise and pleasure caused by the growth would break through it and allow the words to be heard and listened.
But it still wasn't easy. It took many hours, and Bill had to regularly cause new growth spurts to fend off the encroaching depression.
But in the end, it worked.
And when the other Big Arms Inc. boys came for the afternoon, they enjoyed the vision of a titanic and overmuscled Electivire giving a gun show (idea of Bill, because it would be a shame to let all that beef go to waste) with a huge grin on his face.
"So, how you feel?" asked Bill.
"Like I could take on the whole world!" roared Niko.
"Now that's the Niko I knew," smiled Cid.
"But seriously, thanks! Arceus, I needed that so much..."
"Funny you speak of him, we're going to introduce you to him once you've shrunk down," laughed the Emboar.
The flabbergasted look the former bully gave his former bullied was priceless.
"True story, but very long, he'll tell you himself."
"Oh, one last thing before we do that," said Bill.
This time, the Electivire turned to him.
"You do realize that if you go back to being a buly, a brute, or any other crap like that, I'll kick your ass to the next year, right?"
"If I ever do, I'll give you the bat," smiled Niko.
Art by
MakeEmBigOriginal here: https://twitter.com/FissureBarawak/.....70075630215168
Niko © me
Electivire © Game Freak
Category Artwork (Digital) / Macro / Micro
Species Pokemon
Size 1919 x 1919px
File Size 1.97 MB
Comments