Skye sat in the waiting room, nervously running his fingers along Pika's head and back as she lay on his lap. He eyed the door that led to where the resident Nurse Joy and Lucky had took Shaymin to be examined.
They had gotten to the Pokémon Centre in record time, thanks to Shigeru's Windie. All of their Pokémon were back in their Pokéballs, apart from Pikachu and Pika. He had brought out Pika to help himself calm down. He shifted anxiously in his seat on the hard bench, glancing at the two trainers with him.
Satoshi was pacing around the room, looking at the same door every odd turn or so. He hadn't been able to stay still since they had gotten to the Pokémon Centre less than a half hour before. He had tried to sit on the bench at the breeder's urging, but he quickly got too fidgety. Pikachu was perched on his shoulder, looking worried.
Shigeru was sitting a seat space away from Skye, staring into space with a faint frown on his face. Skye knew what he was thinking about, as if the constant side glances in his direction weren't giving it away already. He wanted to know why he recognised Shaymin.
The way Shigeru eyed him made his gut twist with unease. He knew Satoshi wanted an answer too, but at least he wasn't eye-balling him and making him feel like a suspect in a crime.
He would have given them the answer sooner, but he had been too busy trying to keep his anxiety from overflowing to do it. Now, his anxiety had been tempered and he was ready to answer.
"Aw right," Skye drawled with a loud sigh, slumping in his seat. Shigeru perked up and Satoshi stopped pacing to look at him. "ah dunno aw dat much aboot 'em."
"Still, you know more about that Pokémon than Satoshi and I." Shigeru said calmly, leaning his weight onto the arm rest with his elbow. "Where did you learn about. . ." he paused to recall the Pokémon's name.
"Shaymin," Satoshi finished, getting a thankful nod from Shigeru.
Skye shrugged, feeling Pika curl against his stomach. "Der wiz a book ah used tae hiv when ah wiz wee. Cannae remember da name eh it noo, but it wiz aboot a Shaymin. Dat's how ah know der name."
"Anything else?" Shigeru asked.
Skye pursed his lower lip slightly and shook his head. "Naw, jist der name 'n dat's aboot it."
"I'll check the Pokémon Zukan if it's got anything," Satoshi said, digging into his pocket to bring it out. He fiddled with it until it bleeped. "No data. . ." he disappointedly muttered, shoving it back into his pocket.
Shigeru grew pensive, crossing one leg over the other. "If the Zukan doesn't have anything, this means one of two things. Shaymin are a species not native to Sinnoh or they are so rare, they hasn't been enough information on them to input them into the Pokémon Zukan."
"Wit if. . ." Skye's face hardened as he sat back upright. "wit if Shaymin isnae in da Zukan becuz der a Legendary Pokémon?" His question took the two Masara Town natives by surprise. Even Pika had lifted her head to gawk at him.
"A-ah mean, we aw heard Shaymin talk, right?" He asked in a rush, focusing on Satoshi. "Wit did aw da uhduh Pokémon we've met dat could use telepathy aw hid 'n common?"
"They were all Legendary Pokémon," Satoshi breathed, giving Skye the hope that he was catching on. "apart from Lucario."
The corners of Skye's mouth twitched. "Aye, ah dunno if Shaymin cin use Wave like he could." He tilted his head. "Unless yae felt-"
"I can't sense Wave like Lucario could, even if I tried." Satoshi said in an almost sad voice.
The brunet huffed, tilting his head back to lean it against the wall behind him. He didn't need to look at Shigeru to know he was patiently watching them. Shigeru hadn't been at Rota, but he knew the story of what had transpired.
". . .we've nevuh met any normal Pokémon dat wir telepathic, so it cannae be dat big eh a stretch tae say Shaymin might be wan tae."
"Shaymin might be small, but whatever that attack was earlier, it had enough power behind it to blast Fushigibana, and Platinum off their feet." Shigeru mused, with a low hum. "You could be right, Skye, but we can't really know for sure."
"You know, we could just ask them if they're a Legendary Pokémon or not." Satoshi pointed out.
Before either brunet could respond, the door creaked open and Nurse Joy peeked out from behind it. Her blue eyes were bright behind her red winged glasses. "You can all come in now."
Skye wrapped his arms around Pika and picked up his bag as he, and Shigeru jumped out of their seats to stand with Satoshi. "Ir dey aw right?"
Rather than answer him, Nurse Joy pushed the door open completely to let the three of them inside. Skye awkwardly nodded to her in thanks as they walked past her and into the examination room.
The Centre's Lucky moved away from a human-sized bed, drawing Skye's eyes towards it. Shaymin lay sleeping in the middle of it, looking puny, but much more healthier.
"This little one was very exhausted." Nurse Joy explained gently, stepping over to seat herself at a computer, the screen covered in medical information that mostly went over Skye's head. "Since you three were the ones who brought them here, do you know what happened to them to get into such a condition?"
"No, we don't." Shigeru answered with a shake of his head. "This Shaymin appeared out of nowhere, covered from head to toe in dirt. We actually found them eating our lunch after our backs had turned."
"It's good to know they've eaten something, oh! So, you know about them, Shaymin, I mean." Her tone of voice hadn't changed, but Skye and Satoshi shared an uncertain look. Were they not supposed to know?
"Not much, ma'am." The tall brunet replied coolly. "Can you tell us about them?"
"Of course!" Nurse Joy smiled. "Shaymin are the Gratitude Pokémon, they are Grass type Pokémon, and are very secretive in nature. It's very rare to encounter one, so consider yourselves lucky!"
She turned her attention to her computer to read through what Skye assumed to be some sort of test results. "And they're a lot better now. It looks like you got them here just in time."
On the bed, Shaymin stirred, opening their eyes to look around. "W-where is this place?" They asked meekly, their green eyes darting about.
Placing Pika onto the bed beside Shaymin, Skye leaned down to answer them. "Yir in da Pokémon Centre."
The Grass type Pokémon squinted their eyes at him. "What's a Pokémon Centre?"
"It's a place where yae take yir Pokémon tae git some rest 'r hiv Nurse Joy-" he gestured towards the woman in the chair behind him. "heal dem 'n she healed you."
"You talk funny," they said bluntly. "and I didn't need healing. I could have done it all by myself." They brought their hindleg up to quickly scratch behind one of their flowers. "I'm hungry."
Well den. Skye knew his accent made him sound 'funny' to most, even to a point that many people are unable to understand him, but he wasn't really used to having it told to him so upfront.
Satoshi's face soured as he put his hands on his hips. "They don't seem the least bit grateful for being the 'Gratitude' Pokémon." He seemed annoyed for Skye.
The breeder had gotten used to Pokémon who didn't fit the bill of their species. He has known many Dragon types who were gentle, Dark types who were cheerful, and Electric types who were lazy. So, the supposed Gratitude Pokémon not being the grateful type didn't shock him. Actually, the concept of a cute little Pokémon having an attitude amused him.
"But, it sounds like they have an appetite." Shigeru noted. "Skye, don't you always carry some poffins as treats for your Pokémon? Maybe they'll like them."
"Dat's a good idea," Skye agreed. He placed his bag down, unzipping one of the many compartments to bring out a small tupperware tub filled with golden brown poffins inside.
"Can't believe they're still hungry after eating our lunch for us. . ." he heard Satoshi grumble to Pikachu.
Skye bumped him with his hip when he stood back up, making the trainer stumble. "Don't mind Satoshi. He's jist cranky becuz he didnae git tae eat his lunch earlier." He cast a glance at the shorter male. Satoshi pouted at him as he pried the tub open.
"I guess we should introduce ourselves since we didn't have a chance to before." Shigeru butted in with a short huff. "I'm Shigeru."
"Ah'm Skye," Skye took out one of the poffins and held it out for Shaymin to inspect. "'n da Pikachu next tae yae is ma Pika."
"Pi-pikachu." Pika chimed, bowing her head in greeting.
The small Pokémon sniffed at the confectionery before taking it into their mouth to eat.
Satoshi bent down to be at eye-level with Shaymin to introduce himself. "I'm Satoshi," he pointed to the Pokémon on his shoulder with his thumb. "and this is my partner, Pikachu."
"Pika!"
Shaymin finished the poffin, and gave Satoshi a grin before their face contorted abruptly. They let out a loud burp, releasing a big puff of black smoke out of their mouth. Right into Satoshi's face.
Satoshi shot up, coughing at the smoke as the three of them took a huge step back. "Whoa, you're not going to explode again, are you?" He yelped, bringing an arm out in front of Skye.
"Explode?" Nurse Joy queried.
Still tense from the scare, Shigeru turned his head to answer her. "Our stove broke and they absorbed all the smoke from it, then suddenly. . ."
"Ah, that would have been Seed Flare." She said matter-of-factly, drawing Skye and Satoshi's eyes to her.
"Seed Flare?" Satoshi echoed, slowly lowering his arm.
Nurse Joy went back to look at her computer to type something into it. On screen, a model of a Shaymin popped up, showing the three how Shaymin performed Seed Flare as she explained. "Shaymin can suck in polluted air, purify it in their body, break it down into water and light, and release it as an attack. That's Seed Flare."
"S-so, Seed Flare is a good 'hing?" Skye asked hesitantly, an awkward smile appearing on his lips. He was impressed that such a Pokémon could filter pollution and use it for their benefit. They must be perfect for fighting against Poison types. "Dat's really cool, Shaymin."
"Yes, I am amazing." Shaymin said nonchalantly.
Skye glanced over his shoulder, spotting Shaymin stretch. "Dat's no wit ah said. . ." Beside him, Satoshi pulled a face.
"But," Nurse Joy got his attention back with the seriousness in her voice. "there are records of a Shaymin that absorbed poison gas-" she brought up a picture from some news site of numerous flattened trees. "and blew down an entire forest with Seed Flare."
Skye's jaw nearly hit the floor. A whole forest?! A single Shaymin could flatten an entire forest?! All by themselves?! He realized that they had power, but nothing like that!
Together, Skye, Satoshi, and Shigeru turned to face Shaymin with shocked expressions. The little Grass type tilted their head upwards. "You should be grateful to me."
"Grateful dat yae didnae blow us up?" Skye muttered, sweat collecting on his brow. Ah guess we ir. . ?
Satoshi stepped forward, scowling down at them. "You should be the one grateful to us!" He yelled. "We're the ones who carried you here to the Pokémon Centre!"
"I didn't ask you to." Shaymin said flatly, turning their head to yawn.
"WHAT?!" Satoshi slammed his hands onto the bed, causing it to shake. Skye jumped at the sudden loud noise. The trainer next to him flashed him an apologetic smile. The brunet shakily returned it. They were really getting to him, weren't they?
"But what's a Shaymin doing in a town like this," Nurse Joy pondered to herself.
"I didn't mean to come here," Shaymin said, standing up on the bed.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Shigeru lifted an eyebrow.
The small monster shook their head with a frown. "I was swept here and there, it was terrible."
"Swept? Like being swept away in wa-" The taller brunet started to ask, but Shaymin rudely spoke over him, their face turning serious.
"You guys need to take me to the flower field!" The trio gave each other confused looks, which prompted Shaymin to continue. "I have to go to the flower field!"
"Oh, it must be time for 'Flower Carrying'." Nurse Joy said happily.
"Flooer Carryin'?" Skye asked, putting his tupperware back into his bag.
"Yes, each season, Shaymin gather in a flower field somewhere, and migrate from there." She told them. "Because a new field of flowers grows where they land, it's called Shaymin's 'Flower Carrying'."
"We fly from the flower field." Shaymin finished smugly.
"You can fly?" Asked Satoshi, looking as if he didn't believe them.
The tiny Pocket Monster twirled around to face Skye, their eyes gleaming. "Skye understands. You can fly, right?"
"Fly? A-ah cannae fly." The oldest of the three said, astonished. Pika threw the smaller Pokémon a questioning look.
Shaymin stared at him. "You can't?"
Satoshi interjected as Pikachu hopped onto the bed to mirror his mother's expression. "Where did you even get that from? Besides, you haven't answered my question."
Shaymin obviously let his questions fly over their head, choosing to jump onto Satoshi's head instead. "That doesn't matter, I just need to get to the flower field." They thumped a paw against his head. "You guys can take me. You've got longer legs, so that'll make up not being able to fly."
"Could you get off my head, please?!" Satoshi growled, reaching up to grab the Gratitude Pokémon.
In retaliation, Shaymin jerked Satoshi's head to the side so violently, Skye was worried that they had given him whiplash. "Come on, let's go!"
"Didn't you say you could fly?" The youngest between them grunted, rubbing his neck.
Shaymin shifted slightly. "I can't right now."
"What's that mean?" He pouted.
There was a long pause as the three of them looked at each other in turn. They didn't know what to do or say. Skye gulped. There was an urgency behind Shaymin's words that made him awfully jittery. It made him feel that if they didn't help Shaymin, something bad was going to happen or if they did, something bad would happen anyway .
Skye rolled his stiff shoulders and let out a sigh. Okay, he'll resign them to their fate. "Dis Flooer Carryin' 'hing sounds important."
"It is very important," Shaymin assured.
"Wit dey you two 'hink?" He gazed at them to gauge their reactions. Shigeru seemed sceptical for a moment, but then he shrugged.
"I think we don't really have much of a choice. We always get ourselves into these situations somehow." He pointedly cast a glance in Satoshi's direction. "Or, rather, one of us is just a magnet for this sort of thing."
"Oi," Satoshi deadpanned.
"I-it's no like we hivnae done dis sort eh 'hing before," Skye continued, trying to sound convincing.
"Sounds like I'm outvoted here," the youngest exhaled. "all right, let's do it. We'll take you to the flower field, Shay-" he was cut off by the sound of his own stomach growling. "Uhh, but first. Can we get something to eat? We didn't get to eat our lunch because someone ate it for us."
Shaymin frowned deeply, kicking against Satoshi's head. "We need to get to the flower field right away!"
"But I'm hungry. . ." Satoshi whined loudly, holding his stomach again.
"Eat later!"
"If we eat, then we'll have more energy." Shigeru reasoned. "And we fed you, so it would only be fair if we got something to eat too. We'll only take about an hour, tops."
Shaymin's green eyes narrowed in thought, then they huffed begrudgingly. "Fine, but be quick about it!"
The Pokémon Centre's lunch service had been over for a while when they asked Nurse Joy about it, but she thankfully made an exception for them since they had helped Shaymin. The trio had gotten their lunches, and had settled into a booth to eat.
Skye sat closest to the large wall-length windows, picking at his sandwiches. Satoshi sat next to him, wolfing down his sweet baked potatoe, while Shigeru quietly ate a ceaser salad opposite him. Their Pokémon sat in special Pokémon-sized seats, bowls of homemade Pokémon food in front of them. Shaymin had decided they were going to take a nap at the window next to Skye to take in the sun.
Skye couldn't eat. His stomach was churning in all the wrong ways, and he knew if he ate something, he would only upset it even more. He should eat something, but he couldn't. His nerves were buzzing with anxiety, but at least he hadn't went into a full panic attack for whatever reason that brought on this unease.
He had been doing good when it came to his panic attacks. Back when he started travelling with Satoshi, Takeshi, and Kasumi, there wasn't a moment were he wasn't on edge. Now, he only got them every once and a while. They were exhausting to go through, and he hated them.
"Skye? Aren't you going to eat your sandwiches?"
The breeder snapped out of his thoughts, and he turned his head to look at Satoshi. The trainer beside him frowned. Skye's eyes fell to his plate. He must have looked troubled.
"Are you not feeling good?" Satoshi swallowed his mouthful of food to speak more properly.
Skye shuffled nervously in his seat. "A-ah'm startin' tae 'hink dis wiz a bad idea. . ."
"Hey, come on." Satoshi gently chided, reaching out to place a reassuring hand on Skye's shoulder. "We're doing a good thing in getting Shaymin to the flower field. Don't feel bad about it, okay?"
"It's best if we take it as it comes," Shigeru told him, motioning his fork from side to side. "there's no benefit in worrying. We'll be fine."
"At least eat half of one of your sandwiches." Satoshi urged. "We know you'll feel even worse later on if you don't eat something."
At the end of the table, Pikachu and Pika squeaked sounds of encouragement. Skye felt awkward at having everyone staring at him, so he took a sip of his water to distract himself. Somehow, drinking never made his stomach worse.
"Aw right," Skye stuttered in a small voice.
Satoshi and Shigeru seemed to accept that, as they returned to eating their own lunches. The breeder inhaled to calm his nerves.
As he tentatively took a bite out of one of his sandwiches, he gazed down at Shaymin's sleeping form. Despite what Satoshi and Shigeru were telling him, Skye had a feeling that this trip wasn't going to be easy. He hoped his gut was wrong.
We hiv tae act nice towards dis guy. It'd jist make matters worse if Shaymin 'hinks we're jist gonnae fight wae dem da entire way. . .
