It was a familiar scene, for Daniel.
His wheelchair sat, folded up by the side of his bed, as he'd settled in for the night. Serperior was his pillow, curled up asleep beneath his head. Mightyena was his hot water bottle, having snuggled up right next to him, as always. Daniel loved snuggling up next to her, especially on colder nights; she was cuddly and warm, and her presence always comforted him. Honchkrow roosted at the foot of the bed, having made a makeshift nest on Daniel's feet...
And then, there was the new addition to Daniel's team, in the corner of the room. Well, technically, it wasn't part of the team yet, but it would be soon.
Daniel had gone in search of an eevee near Geosenge Town, but he hadn't even managed to find one, let alone catch one. And after he'd wasted all that money on ultra balls, and rode through the grass on Serperior's back instead of in his wheelchair, so that he would be able to sneak up on unsuspecting eevees without the squeak of his wheels frightening them away...
But the day hadn't been a total waste. Daniel had found an abandoned egg on his way to the pokemon centre, and with no trainers or other pokemon in sight to look after it, Daniel had decided to take care of it himself. He'd always liked surprises, plus, a cute little baby pokemon could make an adorable appeal in a contest! Come to think of that, he still needed two more ribbons before he could go to the grand festival...
So, he'd put his newly acquired egg in an incubator, as per Nurse Joy's instruction, and now, it sat in the corner of his room, waiting to hatch, as he lay in bed, snuggled up with three of his soon-to-be team of four pokemon...
"Get to a pokemon centre as soon as you see signs that this egg might hatch, ok?" Nurse Joy instructed, placing the egg in Daniel's lap.
"Will do, Nurse Joy," he replied, turning himself around to leave.
As soon as he'd wheeled himself out of the door, Daniel decided to get Mightyena out, put her on a leash, and attach it to his wheelchair. She needed a little exercise, and besides, he didn't really feel like wheeling himself around, first thing in the morning...
Around one o'clock, Daniel let Mightyena off of the leash, so that he and his other pokemon could stop at a café for lunch, and so that he could check on his egg...
"Oh, it's you. Little Mr Ungrateful."
Daniel knew that he'd heard that nasally voice before...
He turned to the right, and saw...Yep, it was her alright. A change of outfit, and the fact that she didn't have her hair tied back didn't hide the fact that it was Sophie, that annoying girl from his previous contest. Today, her hair hung in tube-like curls, and she wore a frilly pink dress...
"Hello, Sophie," Daniel greeted coolly, biting into his sandwich.
The black-haired coordinator's face screwed up. "You made me look bad in front of all of the other coordinators! And then you made me lose," she cried, "I hate you!"
Daniel sighed deeply, and finished his bite. "I won against you in Cyllage City. So what? Are you going to declare that you let me win, and that you'll beat me by a mile in Shalour City?" he retorted, "Like in some bad TV show?"
"Big sis, is that the mean boy who beat you?"
Just as she was gearing up to reply to Daniel, with a suitably catty comment, Sophie's attention was turned towards a smaller version of herself, who was chubby and covered in jam. "Yes, sweetie-pie, this is mean old Daniel, who wouldn't let me help him get into his wheelchair, and then he got lucky in the final round and beat me!"
"Actually, you got all huffy when I said that I didn't need your help, and then I won against you, fair and square," Daniel corrected.
The jam-covered 'sweetie-pie' wouldn't accept Daniel's version of the story. "Liar!" she shrieked, pointing a small finger at the boy, "Sophie wanted to help you because you're sick! Sophie never gets huffy, because she's the nicest person in the world!"
"That's exactly right, Ashlynn!" Sophie praised, ruffling the little girl's hair, "I saw Daniel backstage and I thought, 'oh, that poor disabled boy, he clearly needs my help!'"
Daniel shook his head. Sophie was a terrible human being, and, by the looks of things, Ashlynn was going to grow up to be just like her. Either way, he hoped that his pokemon would hurry up and finish eating, so that he could get out of here, away from Sophie and her bratty little sister...
"The judges only let you win because they pitied you," Sophie sneered, "Face it; if you didn't have that wheelchair, they would have let the better coordinator win; me!"
"Yeah! Sophie's the best!" Ashlynn added.
How many times was he going to have to say it?
"I won, and you lost. The judges happened to like my performance better. Get over it!" Daniel snapped.
Sophie's expression soured again. "Fine. But I won't lose to you ever again!" she declared.
Having finished their lunches, Daniel returned his pokemon to their respective pokeballs, and put them in his bag. At least he had an excuse to leave now...
Crack!
Or maybe, he had two. He looked at the incubator, and saw that a small crack was starting to form in the top of his egg. He had to find a pokemon centre, and fast...!
Unfortunately for him, though, Ashlynn happened to spot his egg as he wheeled himself away...
"How cute! Is the baby pokemon gonna hatch soon?!" she cried, "I wanna see, I wanna see!"
So Sophie grabbed Ashlynn's hand, and blocked Daniel's way as he headed for the door.
"We want to watch your egg hatch," Sophie demanded.
Daniel backed himself up, and tried to wheel himself past them. "You can't! I have to get to a pokemon centre, so that Nurse Joy can make sure that the pokemon inside it is ok!"
"We want to watch it hatch!" Ashlynn demanded, "I wanna see the baby pokemon!"
At this point, all of Daniel's patience was gone. "Listen here, you little brat, I don't care what you want! If this pokemon is born sick, or something, then it'll need Nurse Joy's attention, or it might die. Now get out of my way, so I can go to the pokemon centre and hatch this egg!"
Ashlynn's lips wobbled. And then the tears started. And then she erupted into wails, big, frame-shaking wails, which silenced the entire café.
Sophie picked Ashlynn up, and bounced her around, before she turned back to Daniel, blocking his way once more. "You big meanie-pants! How dare you yell at her like that"—
Daniel panicked as he heard more cracking sounds coming from the egg. This pokemon just would not wait...
"Get out of my way!" he interjected, wheeling himself forward at full speed. Fortunately, he managed to get out the door this time, but he still had Sophie and Ashlynn hot on his...Wheels, not heels.
Unfortunately, he only made it to a nearby lake before a huge crack split the egg down the middle. He hurriedly got it out of its incubator, and got out a towel and flannel, ready to wash the newborn pokemon when it came out. He thought about the pokemon near Geosenge Town, as he wondered what could hatch from it. Would he get a hawlucha, a snubbull, or an emolga? Or would he finally get an eevee?
Two small, red ears emerged first. Then came two little cream-coloured paws. And soon, the eggshell was completely broken, and sat on the towel was...A plusle? But you weren't supposed to be able to find plusles near Geosenge Town!
"Plus...Plusle?"
Daniel held the little pokemon gently, and whispered, "Hi there, Plusle. I'm Daniel, and I'm your trainer!"
The little creature twitched her ears in delight, nuzzling Daniel's arm. "Plusle!" she squeaked approvingly.
"Now, how about we wash you off?" Daniel offered, readying his flannel.
"Plusle!" the little pokemon agreed, as Daniel scooped up a handful of lake water, showering her tiny head with it.
Sophie carried Ashlynn, until they spotted Daniel, sat on the ground out of his wheelchair, drying off a tiny plusle.
"Is that your baby pokemon?!" Ashlynn asked, as Sophie rushed her over.
"Plus?" the plusle squeaked, having noticed the commotion.
"Yeah, she just hatched," Daniel informed them, as Serperior helped him back into his wheelchair, "Don't make too much noise, or you'll frighten her."
"Plusle..." the little pokemon agreed, sitting on Daniel's lap. He scratched her little head, eliciting tiny cries.
Ashlynn looked closely at plusle...And within seconds, she was absolutely in love.
"I...Want...That plusle!" Ashlyn demanded, pointing to the baby pokemon, "It's so cute and cuddly!"
Sophie bent down, so she could get right in Daniel's face. "Give her your plusle!" she instructed, "C'mon, she wants it, and I can't say no to that cute wittle face!"
Intimidated, Plusle snuggled into Daniel's shirt.
"You'll have to say no," Daniel said coolly, getting an ultra ball from his bag, "I'm not just going to give my newborn plusle to an irresponsible little brat like her!"
Sophie opened her bag, and got out all of her pokeballs. "Then how about this? I'll trade you for that plusle," she offered.
"She's not having her," the boy growled, holding the little creature protectively.
Apparently deaf to his objections, Sophie held out a pokeball with a heart seal on it. "I'll give you my vaporeon! You gotta love eeveelutions, right? Everyone does!"
"I said no."
"Slaking!"
"Don't want it!"
"Emboar!"
"No way!"
"Murkrow!"
"Why would I want a normal murkrow, when I have a shiny honchkrow?!" Daniel retorted, "You're not having my plusle!"
Sophie leaned in even closer, and grabbed the lapels of Daniel's jacket. "Listen, Mr, my little sis wants that plusle, and if she doesn't get it, she's gonna start screaming and crying!" she hissed, "You've already made her cry once today, so don't you dare upset her again!"
"If the brat cries, then just deal with it yourself," the boy stated plainly, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to take MY plusle to the pokemon centre, so she can be checked over by Nurse Joy!"
And he let the small, mousey pokemon sit in his lap as he began to wheel away.
"I want that plusle!" Ashlynn whined, "I want it right now!"
"Sweetie-pie, don't you worry, I'm gonna get you that plusle!" Sophie assured her, "Come on, we're not gonna let Wheelie-boy get away! Go, Meowstic!"
And the three began a mad dash towards Daniel, who was rolling at quite a speed down a hill.
"Meowstic, use Psybeam!"
The pokemon shot a colourful beam straight at one of the wheels on Daniel's wheelchair, missing it by a small margin.
"Plusle," Plusle cried, snuggling into Daniel for comfort.
"It's alright, little Plusle," he soothed, "I won't let them get you."
He looked behind him, and saw Sophie and Ashlynn in the distance, with a meowstic shooting psybeams at his wheelchair...What could he do?
"Come out, Honchkrow!" he commanded. This plan would lose him a bit of time, but at least Sophie wouldn't be able to hurt him or plusle this way...
Hurriedly, he got on Honchkrow's back, folded up his wheelchair, and tried to strap it to the big bird's tail. He held Plusle with one arm, while he held onto Honchkrow with the other.
"Fly!" he ordered, "As fast as you can, please, Honchkrow!"
"Krow, krow!" the pokemon affirmed.
The object of Ashlynn's affections soared into the air with Daniel and Honchkrow, up, up, and away from the two brats.
"Get me that plusle!" Ashlynn screamed at Sophie, "No matter what it takes!"
"Go, Murkrow, use dark pulse!" Sophie commanded, determined to not give up.
The dark pulse missed...But only just.
"Again, Murkow!" Sophie ordered.
As the dark pulse skimmed Honchkrow's back, Daniel was forced to jump off, along with Plusle, to avoid being hit. Fortunately, though, Honchkrow caught him and Plusle, by diving down as they fell.
"Nice save, Honchkrow," Daniel praised, re-adjusting his position on the pokemon's back.
"Krow!" the pokemon cried.
And Honchkrow flew up even higher, eventually losing sight of Murkrow as they flew through the clouds...
Murkrow admitted defeat, and flew back to Sophie and Ashlynn.
"Where's my plusle?!" Ashlynn shrieked.
"Mur, mur, murkrow," the bird pokemon explained.
"Murkrow, you useless sky-rattata!" Sophie seethed, "I'm going to trade you away! I can't believe you failed to catch up to Wheelie-boy and snatch that plusle!"
Sophie continues scolding Murkrow as Ashlynn threw a colossal tantrum, screaming and kicking and pounding at the ground...
That night, Daniel settled into bed at a pokemon centre, after his plusle had received a clean bill of health from Nurse Joy. Once again, Serperior was his pillow, Mightyena was his hot water bottle, and Honchkrow nested at his feet...
And now, Plusle was asleep on his chest, her ears bobbing with each tiny breath that she took.
"Sleep tight, little one," Daniel mumbled, with a smile on his face as he drifted off to sleep...