Husk

In a relatively normal suburb in Lilycove City, a young girl, barely seven years old, was having a tea party. Her guests included some much-loved Buneary and Teddiursa dolls, a patched- up stuffed Nidoran kissed nearly threadbare- and the little girl's very best friend, her most favorite doll.
It was an odd little character, charcoal-gray with a tassel-like tail and a zipper for a mouth. It was, to most people, unsettling at the very least, but the little girl loved it as if it were a little sister, baking it mud cakes, pouring it imaginary tea and snuggling with it at night.

But years passed, and the little girl's tea parties became less and less frequent. The doll eventually moved from its customary place on her bed to the shelf, where it collected dust for a long time. Little by little, the corners of the doll's zipper mouth sank into a lonely frown as it watched its best friend grow up without it.
Eventually the girl's family had a yard sale. Into a cardboard box went Buneary and Teddiursa dolls, the stuffed Nidoran, and the charcoal-gray doll with the zipper mouth.
As the day went on, small children begged their mothers for the cute and cuddly plush Pokemon, but the lonely gray doll went unnoticed, except for the occasional snort of disgust. By the time the customers stopped visiting the sale, only the doll and a few scattered items were left, and they were thrown in the dumpster that very night.

The forgotten doll sat in the dumpster among the rotten banana peels and newspaper clippings. A small tear slowly dropped from one of its sad red eyes and rolled down its cheek.

...Why...

A dark shadow oozed slowly from the corners of the dumpster, its mildewed tendrils reaching for the doll.

...Why did you throw me away?...

The shadow crept over the heap of trash until the doll was enveloped in its inky blackness.

...You said we would be together...Forever...

With the black shadow completely absorbed, the new Banette opened her menacing red eyes.

...It WILL be forever, big sister...Just you...and me...

The Banette climbed out of the dumpster onto the street. There was something she had to do.


Late the next morning the young girl's mother knocked on her door, troubled that she wasn't yet awake. When there was no answer she opened the door and let out a bloodcurdling scream.
On the bed sat the flayed skin of her daughter, crudely sewn together and stuffed with dirty, shredded newspaper. Her eyes were missing, leaving deep, pitch-black holes in her skull, and her mouth was opened unnaturally wide in a silent scream of terror. Beside the girl's dried husk sat a Banette, calmly placing needles into the body of her human sister.