~Igglybuff vs. Chatot~
an Igglybuff the Prodigy AU
Chapter One: Fun
There was a plain in the Pokémon World. A green, green plain with the grassiest of hills and the prettiest of flowers and the best of Apple trees. This green, green plain has seen the happiest, sunniest of days, and it will continue to see more of those days for times to come. It was a plain filled with peace, love, the joy of giving, and the joy of having, and being, friends.
This green, green plain had a suiting, cheerful name. Yes. This green, green plain was the Happy Vale.
...
It was a dawn. Although it was still early, the golden sun was starting to peek over the horizon, greeting the green grass, flowers and Apple trees of the Happy Vale.
The Pokémon there were also starting to rise from their slumbers. The moms were starting to get breakfast ready, and the dads were preparing to go to work, seated at the table and reading the newspaper over the rims of their coffee cups.
But the kids had the best of days ahead of them - they were getting ready to play.
IGGLYBUFF woke up. The first thing he saw was sunlight dancing through the window into the cozy house of the Pukurin family. The first thing he heard was his parents' greets.
"Good morning, Igglybuff," his mother said cheerfully, setting down Mr. Pukurin's coffee cup onto the dining table. "You sure are up early!"
"What's going on today, big buddy?" his dad asked.
Igglybuff hopped out of bed. "Good morning Mama! Good morning, Papa!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, walking over to the dining table. "Well, today I'm just going to play with my friends. I think it's a good day to play catch! Don't you think so, Ma?"
"Oh, I think so too, Igglybuff," his mom said. His dad tossed over the ball to him. "Here's your ball, boy!"
Igglybuff caught it. "Thanks, Pa!"
"Oh, and speaking of your friends..." his mom added, "Why don't you bring these Gummis along to share with them?"
Igglybuff nodded and took the paper bag from his mom. "Great idea. Thanks, Ma! Can I go now?"
"Not so fast!" exclaimed his mom. "You haven't had breakfast yet! You can play if you've had your breakfast."
"OK," Igglybuff said, then sat with his dad at the table.
WOOPER by now had strapped on his favorite blue helmet and had his matching blue skateboard tucked under one arm.
"Mom! Dad! I'm going outside to play!" he shouted happily, setting his skateboard down and jumping on it, kicking off.
However, when he got near the door, he saw that it was barricaded by the tall, rather fat figure of his mom.
"Not so fast, young man," she said, smiling and shaking her head. "Bath first. Breakfast second. Play third."
"Oh, all right," Wooper sighed, taking off his helmet and riding back in, thinking, "I hate baths!"
SMOOCHUM, meanwhile, didn't need to be told to take her bath. After all, taking a bath was one of her favorite routines of the day. She loved to cover her golden-blonde hair with bubbly shampoo, then rinse it all off, then come out of the bathroom smelling like a princess.
She sang as she scrubbed her hair clean, accompanied by her pink rubber duck, her bathtub nearly overflowing with a thousand pink bubbles.
"Dadadadada... Dum dee dum dee dum... Tattatatataah... And Princess Smoochum comes out of the Magic Cleansing Spring looking like... A princess!"
She shook her bubble-covered head and a thousand pink bubbles flew into the air.
"Yeah, a princess... But cleaner! Prettier! And-"
"SMOOCHUM!"
She was interrupted by her mother's calls.
"Are you done taking your bath? Come on now, young lady, you've had your bath since half an hour ago!"
Smoochum sighed. Oh, why were baths meant to be only short-period activities? She LOVED baths.
"Yes, Mom," she called back. "I'm done now."
She hopped out of the bathtub and picked up a towel. The next second Princess Smoochum was enveloped in the warmth of the pink towel.
BUDEW was one step ahead of Smoochum. He had finished his bath - and now he was already walking out of his house.
"Bye Mom, bye Dad!" he called back. "I'm going to play with Igglybuff and Wooper and Smoochum."
"OK, son," his mom called out. "Your dad's going to be at work, OK? So come to me if you need anything - and oh, have you used your mosquito repellent? It's very important to use them nowadays... And have you finished your breakfast, Budew? What about your bath? And don't forget to bring your raincoat and a spare band-aid, OK? You're really accident-prone these days, Budew, I can't understand why... Why, you're even more accident-prone than Wooper!"
"Yes, Mom," said Budew, who really couldn't wait long enough to hear how much more accident-prone he'd become these days. "I've finished my breakfast, I've had my bath, and I've brought my raincoat and a spare band-aid. And not to mention the mosquito repellent. So can I go now?"
"Of course you can, dearie," his mom replied. "Just be back before dusk, OK?"
"OK," Budew called back, because by this time he had set off in the direction of Igglybuff's house.
CHATOT couldn't understand how he'd managed to get himself into this mess.
'OK,' he thought, 'Remind me again why I'm sitting at the back of a moving van?'
He didn't know how he'd quite managed it, but somehow he had accidentally chosen to ride in the back along with the stacks of cardboard boxes filled with furniture, while his parents were sitting at the front.
"Oh, squawk!" he cried out as the van jumped and he nearly bumped his head on one wall of the van. He sighed as he tucked his favorite encyclopedia closer to him. He was sure he was going to come out of the van black and blue all over.
"How much longer is it to the Happy Vale?" he groaned.
⌣»̶✽«̶
Meanwhile, back at the Happy Vale, Igglybuff had met Wooper and Budew. Wooper had nearly crashed into him on his skateboard, whereas Budew had met him more normally, lugging a big jumble of stuff that looked like a raincoat and a few packs of band-aids.
"Smoochum isn't here yet, no doubt," complained Wooper. "She always takes the longest just to take a bath! Yuck!" He stuck out his tongue.
"Um... Why don't we go and get her at her house?" Budew suggested.
"Great idea, friends!" agreed Igglybuff. "Let's!"
...
So, the three friends went to where Smoochum's house was (Happy Vale didn't have any streets - it was just one big plain, remember). And they knocked on its door. "Hello!" sang Igglybuff. "It's us!"
Smoochum's mother opened the door for them. "Oh, hello," she said when she looked down and saw Igglybuff, Wooper and Budew. "You're looking for Smoochum, aren't you? Sorry, Smoochum's still in her room."
She grimaced. "Why don't you come in first? I'll call Smoochum for you."
Igglybuff, Wooper and Budew went inside and sat down on the pink sofa while Smoochum's mother climbed up the stairs to her room.
"Smoochum! Your friends are here!"
"Well, sorry Mom, I'm not finished getting dressed yet," they could hear Smoochum call back. "It takes this long for a proper lady to get dressed, you know."
Her mother, who was a 'proper lady', sighed. "I know, Smoochum," she said. "But a proper lady also knows that it's not wise to keep best friends waiting, remember?"
"Oh right," Smoochum said. "I almost forgot that one."
And finally, she emerged from her room.
"How do I look?" she asked, winking at her mother.
"You look fine, Smoochum," she said, despite the fact that the red hairbow she was wearing totally clashed with her dark pink skin and her blonde hair.
"OK!" With that, Smoochum flew down the stairs. "Here I am, friends!"
"About time," Wooper grumbled at the same time as Smoochum's mother who was descending the stairs.
"Yeah!" Igglybuff cheered, not seeming to remember that they'd had to wait for her to get dressed before they could go out and play. "Let's play catch!"
"OK!" everyone exclaimed, Wooper instantly brightening up. Then they rushed out of the house.
"Wooper, how do I look?" Smoochum's mother heard her ask as they rushed off to play.
"Umm, you look fine," Wooper replied, although he hasn't even noticed Smoochum's hairbow.
And finally Smoochum's mother closed the door as Igglybuff and his friends disappeared out of sight.
⌣»̶✽«̶
Once they reached the sunniest part of the Happy Vale, Igglybuff set down his paper bag of Gummis and his ball, while Budew put down his raincoat and the band-aids.
"Hey, let's choose the teams!" shouted Wooper as he whizzed by on his skateboard.
"I'm with Igglybuff!" exclaimed Budew, bounding over to his friends. He and Igglybuff instantly slapped high fives.
Wooper pouted. "Hey, does that mean I have to be with Smoochum?" he grumbled.
Smoochum in turn stuck her nose high into the air. "Well, so what if you get to team up with me?" she snapped. "Though I'm a proper, elegant lady, I'm still good at sports, mind you."
Wooper sighed. He ALWAYS gets to team up with Smoochum, and he was always looking forward to teaming up with Igglybuff or Budew for a change. Teaming up with Smoochum wasn't that bad, actually, and Smoochum was right - although she was picky and sensitive about her appearance, she WAS good at sports. The bad thing about Wooper and Smoochum was only that they were almost always arguing with each other.
"All right, you can be in my team," he gave in.
Smoochum instantly jumped around and flicked her eyelashes at him. "I won't disappoint you, Wooper," she sang, "As long as you promise not to stand in my way of excelling, either, OK?"
Wooper's face scrunched up into that of disgust, and Igglybuff and Budew laughed. Smoochum didn't seem to notice.
"Oh, well, let's just get this game started, shall we, friends?" Igglybuff said, tossing the ball into the middle of the field. "Ready, set... GO!"
And as Wooper and Smoochum both dove for the ball, their game of catch officially started.
⌣»̶✽«̶
"Chatot!"
Meanwhile, Chatot's family had finally reached their new home at the Happy Vale. It was a small but cozy-looking treehouse, a perfect fit for Mr. Perap, Mrs. Perap and Chatot. Its walls were painted bright blue, while the roof was painted a sunny yellow. The house had a small patio in front of it, where Mrs. Perap had arranged little pots of flowery shrubs. The house didn't have a ladder to get to - the Perap family didn't need a ladder, given that they could always fly up.
"Yes, Mom!" Chatot, who had been reading one of his favorite encyclopedias on the patio called back. He left his book on the wooden patio, straightened out his red-and-white polka-dotted bowtie, and flew into the house. "What is it?"
"Oh, there you are," said his mom, who was arranging the last small trinkets on the new shelves. "I was wondering where you'd got to."
"I never went anywhere, Mom," Chatot said, reaching into the cardboard box that lay near his mother's step stool to pick out a picture frame and handed it to her. "I was out on the patio, reading my encyclopedia."
"Oh, well, I just want to say that your dad and I are nearly finished arranging the furniture in the new house, so you can go outside and play if you want to," she replied.
"OK," Chatot said, "But I think I'll just sit outside and continue reading."
His mother looked away from the picture frames lined on the shelf to frown at him.
"Are you sure you don't want to go down there and explore?" she said. "I think it'll do you some good to get away from your world of books for a while and actually play with others your age. I thought I saw some kids pass by under our tree earlier?"
Chatot was quiet for a second. He also did see some kids who seemed to be his age running past their tree - the one at the front was light pink and shaped like a bouncy ball, and he was actually carrying a ball his size. Another was blue and was wearing a blue helmet and whizzing by on a matching blue skateboard. There was a girl next to the ball-shaped one - she was blonde, had dark pink skin and was wearing a red hairbow that didn't seem to match the rest of her outfit. And the last one was trying to catch up to the others - he was small and green, and was dragging along a bundle behind him.
He finally gave in. "OK, I'll go out and explore," he agreed. He also didn't think his encyclopedias could keep him entertained that long, either.
"OK! Have a good time, Chatot!" his mother called out as he went outside again. He picked up his book then set off in the direction the group he'd seen earlier had gone.
⌣»̶✽«̶
"Ow!" "Ouch!"
Thirty minutes of catch had elapsed, but Wooper and Smoochum, as always, wanted to be the one who got the ball at the same time. It wasn't surprising that they bumped their heads on each other's as they both dove for the ball for what seemed to be the thirtieth time.
"Ow... Smoochum!" Wooper groaned, rubbing his head. "It's my turn to catch the ball now!"
"No it isn't," snapped Smoochum. "And have I mentioned anything about not standing in my way, Wooper?"
"Yeah, but-" Wooper shot back, but he was interrupted when a dark shadow flew over them.
Everyone instantly looked up. "Wh-what was that?" wondered Budew. "Was that a Fearow?" Budew trembled even harder after having mentioned a fierce, scary bird Pokémon. And Grass-types like him didn't like birds.
"The shadow seemed to be headed for that tree!" exclaimed Wooper, pointing at a dense tree a few meters away. "Come on, let's see what it was!"
He hopped onto his skateboard and whizzed away, and his friends had no other choice but to follow. Budew followed a bit reluctantly.
Wooper reached the tree first and looked up at the dense leaves."Who are you?" he demanded. "Show yourself!"
Suddenly, there was a crash and a thud and a scraping noise as if someone had brushed over the leaves rather clumsily.
"Oh, ow! Squawk!"
Wooper and Budew looked at each other. That didn't seem to be the cries of a fearsome bird Pokémon.
"Ugh!" CRASH! THUD! "Squaaaaawk!"
Wooper, who was at the front, yelped and jumped back when a figure practically fell off the tree and landed in front of him.
THUD!
"Ow," the figure groaned again, rubbing his bruised and scratched wings. "That hurt."
Igglybuff and his friends stared at him. They had never seen him before: he was a Flying-type, all right, but unlike the brown Pidgey they usually see at the Happy Vale, this one was downright colorful. He had blue and yellow wings, a green and yellow stomach, a pink beak, a black head shaped like a music note , and a black tail shaped like the needle of a metronome. He was also wearing a red-and-white polka-dotted bowtie and carrying a leaf-stuffed book.
"Who are you?" Wooper repeated.
The figure who had fallen out of the tree shook his head as if to clear his vision of the dancing stars. "Urgh," he groaned as his vision finally cleared, and he could finally see Wooper, Igglybuff, Smoochum and Budew clearly.
"Oh, hello!" he exclaimed when he realized that he was ignoring Wooper. He jumped up. "Sorry. I was surprised when you shouted up at me, so I slipped and fell and etc. etc. and-"
Wooper raised his eyebrow. "Who are you? Are you OK?"
"Yeah, I'm OK!" the bird said enthusiastically, tidying his scrunched bowtie. "Well, I'm Chatot!"
Wooper smiled once he had answered his question. "Well, I'm glad you're OK," he replied. "I'm Wooper, by the way."
"Your landing was 100% inelegant," Smoochum chimed in.
Wooper rolled his eyes. "That's Smoochum," he said. "And Igglybuff and Budew. By the way, are you new here?"
"Yeah, I've just moved in with my mom and dad," Chatot replied.
"Oh! So you just moved in," said Smoochum, who seemed interested. "No wonder we've never seen you before. Where did you come from?"
"The Treetops Jungle," Chatot said. "It's a popular place for Flying-types, like me!" He flapped his colorful wings enthusiastically. "It's not very far from here, so we rode a van."
"Oh! You rode a van," Wooper also seemed interested, since they don't usually see vehicles at the Happy Vale. "That's cool!"
Chatot seemed to disagree. "It isn't if you have to ride in the back with the cardboard boxes," he grimaced.
"So where's your house now?" Budew spoke up.
"Oh, now I live in a treehouse," Chatot explained. "It's somewhere over there." He pointed in a direction.
"A treehouse?" Smoochum's eyes widened. "That's fun! Can we come and visit you sometime? Besides, your house is near mine! That means I can have my bath a little longer..."
Wooper interrupted, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, can we come to your house to play sometime?"
Chatot laughed. "Of course you can." Then he quickly added, "But I'm going to need to ask Dad to build a ladder first..."
To this point, Igglybuff hasn't said anything. Now he said, "Hey, Chatot, friend, do you want to play catch with us?"
"Oh, yeah!" Smoochum exclaimed. "We've completely forgotten about our game of catch. Come on, say you'll play!"
"Umm..." Chatot wavered. "I don't know... I'm not that good at sports..."
"Oh come on, friend!" Igglybuff sang. "It'll be fun!"
"No, thank you," Chatot said, more firmly this time. "I'll just sit here and watch you play. It's all right. I'll just sit here and read or something."
"Oh, OK. We won't push you if you don't want to," said Budew, although Igglybuff still seemed as if he wanted to get their new friend to play with them. Budew turned to his catch player friends. "Come on, let's continue our game, shall we?"
"Yeah! Come on!" exclaimed Wooper, and they bounded off.
Chatot, meanwhile, sat down and began to read.
They played catch many times, with Igglybuff's and Budew's team winning every single one, only stopping to eat Igglybuff's Gummis (Igglybuff picked all the yellow ones, Wooper blue, Smoochum pink, Budew green and Chatot red). Their last game ended a little before sunset, and since Budew had to be home before dusk, they decided to call it a day and go home. However, they decided to meet again the next day to play, including the newcomer Chatot.
"Bye, friends!" said Igglybuff as they dispersed back to their homes.