Reed Richards had made a terrible mistake.
He'd tried to study Excadrill.
The mole Pokemon sat on the examination table, arms crossed, looking at Reed with an expression that could only be described as 'profoundly unimpressed.'
"If you could just hold still for the MRI scan," Reed said, adjusting the equipment for the third time. "I promise it won't hurt. I simply need to understand your internal structure, your energy signatures, how your body generates the forces necessary to—"
Excadrill held up one massive claw.
"But the scientific implications are—"
Excadrill kept her claw up.
Reed blinked. He'd encountered resistance to his research before, but usually from people, not... subjects. Though calling Excadrill a subject felt wrong. The creature was clearly sapient. Intelligent. And currently annoyed.
"I don't understand," Reed said honestly. "Don't you want to know how you work? The mechanisms behind your abilities? The physics that you defy?"
Excadrill hopped off the table and walked toward the door.
"Wait, where are you—"
The Pokemon didn't look back. She just pushed through the door and disappeared into the hallway.
Reed stood there, staring at the empty examination table, feeling like he'd just failed some kind of test he didn't know he was taking.
Living Room
Sue was reading on the couch when Excadrill wandered in. The Pokemon looked around, spotted Sue, and walked over.
"Hey there," Sue said, setting her book aside. "Escaping from the lab?"
Excadrill made a huffing sound and flopped onto the floor next to the couch, stretching out her limbs.
Sue laughed. "Reed being too much?"
The Pokemon nodded emphatically, then mimed someone talking endlessly with her claws opening and closing like a mouth.
"Yeah, he does that," Sue said sympathetically. "He forgets sometimes that not everyone wants to be studied and analyzed."
Excadrill sat up and tilted her head at Sue, then pointed at the book.
"Oh, this? It's just a novel. Nothing too exciting." Sue showed her the cover. "Do you read? I mean, from your world?"
Excadrill shrugged, then made a rocking gesture with her claws.
"Sometimes?" Sue guessed.
Excadrill nodded.
They sat together in comfortable silence for a while. Sue went back to her book. Excadrill seemed content to just... exist. No tests. No questions. No machines beeping and whirring.
After a while, Sue felt a gentle tap on her arm. Excadrill was pointing toward the kitchen.
"Hungry?"
Excadrill nodded.
"Alright, let's see what we can find."
Later That Evening
Reed found them in the kitchen. Sue was showing Excadrill how to make hot chocolate, and the Pokemon was watching intently, occasionally making small chirping sounds.
"Sue, have you seen—oh." Reed paused in the doorway. "There you are."
Excadrill glanced at him, then deliberately turned back to Sue and the hot chocolate.
Reed winced. "I... I think I owe you an apology. I was treating you like a science project, not a person. That was wrong of me."
Excadrill didn't turn around, but her ears twitched, listening.
"You're not a specimen or a puzzle to solve. You're someone who ended up here through no fault of your own, probably scared and confused, and I just wanted to poke and prod and analyze." Reed ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry."
Sue poured hot chocolate into mugs. Excadrill picked one up carefully in her claws, took a sip, and her eyes widened. She made a pleased chirping sound.
"She likes it," Sue said, smiling at Reed. "Maybe try just... being around her? Without the science?"
Reed nodded slowly. "I can do that. I think."
Excadrill turned to look at him, then gestured at the third mug of hot chocolate Sue had poured.
Reed took it as the peace offering it was. "Thank you."
They sat together at the kitchen table—two humans and one displaced Pokemon, drinking hot chocolate and not saying much. And somehow, that was enough.