[Chapter 3]
The First Step of Friendship
I began to listen to Lillie introducing herself to the strange she just saves and while ignoring the threat in front of her which baffles me. I took my stance against this man and woman confidence on taking me on and Charmander roar at them. They both took out their poké ball from their pocket and throw it in the air to release their Pokémon into the sandy floor below us. A yellow duck Pokémon, Psyduck and little blue Pokémon bouncing with his blue tail, Azurill appear in the field. I became a bit unconfident with my new opponents and even worse I have to fight two of Charmander's Achilles heel by lonesome. I glance at the girl we save to see her carrying a poké ball with her as she clenches it with her hands to dear life and I guess that this two were about to steal it.
Even I know water type is effective against my Charmander and I need someone else to at least give a small gap of advantages.
I took a good look at her to see her long deep purple hair with blue eyes looking them and probably startle by their approach. Her attire consists of a simple white shirt with a picture of the famous Pikachu imprinted and a pair of jeans. Finally, She has a blue baseball cap and a pair of red sandals. I decide to use this girl to fight these people and work with me to end this meaningless fight cause by Lillie.
"You there? What's your name?" I ask.
The girl became startled by my question as she turns her gaze to me with a nervous expression but, she gave me the answer I was seeking.
"My name is Emma." Emma answer, softly.
I expect a silent respond from her introverted personality from I can tell but I became slightly surprised to see her respond. Nevertheless, I nod to Emma as I turn back to team Aqua as they smirk at my lonely Pokémon who is still lacking understanding of the situation.
"I see, I want you to be my partner against this incompetent fools who don't have any respect when it comes to other people's Pokémon," I spoke.
Charmander looks ready to fight this Pokémon and not realizing the danger they pose even if I think he is strong.
"Vergil, you shouldn't force someone to battle when they just experience something bad. Emma is probably shaking up from them." Lillie mention, worry about our new friend sake.
"No, it's fine Lillie. It is my fault for causing you two this problem so I must take responsibility." Emma spoke.
Lillie became speechless at Emma's courage to stand up as she smiles and I glance behind to become a bit shock from it. From a mere glance, anyone would expect her to be the shy demeanor who will get scared when trouble hit but strangely, she isn't like that. Emma walks to my side as she extends her right hand carrying her poké ball to them and looking confident.
"You think you can beat us little girl?" the man smirk, confidence.
"You do know if you lose, we will take your little Staryu friend and you will NEVER see it ever again" The woman intimidated.
I notice her left hand twitch for a second to that insult before she releases her Pokémon from her grasp and a Staryu appear next to Charmander. I felt a disappointed at her Pokémon since a water type won't give me any benefit from this battle regardless, it was better than nothing. Charmander greet his partner and Staryu greet him back while the man began his assault.
"Enough with the small talk, time to fight! Psyduck, use Scratch on Staryu!" The male grunt command, aggressively.
Psyduck quickly rushes toward Emma's Staryu as he raises his right arm to attack but I intervene such plan to ever happen.
"Charmander, stop Psyduck's assault with Dragon rush," I order.
Charmander stand bravely between the Staryu and the approaching foe as he roars to summon a light-blue aura to surround him. The aura shape into a dragon before Charmander rush at the unknowingly Psyduck which made me a contact and send him flying toward a nearby tree. I smile thinly at the impact and I notice Psyduck painfully sliding down the palm tree until I gasp to see him unconscious.
"What?" I ask.
I became disbelief at what I am seeing as the man quickly pull back Psyduck and mutter something under his breath.
"Curses! I knew that Psyduck was very weak. I shouldn't have stolen the Pokémon from little kids but I have no other choice." The grunt whisper
As I became confused by that little display, I let my guard down as the female grunt took this opportunity to attack.
"Azurill! Use this chance to use Water Gun." The female grunt command.
The Azurill inhale for a second before releasing a beam of water toward the puzzle and occupy Charmander. The water made a direct hit as Charmander painfully grunt at the feel of water on his skin and most importantly, his flaming tail. I gasp at the sight of the aftermath and I became angry at myself for losing focus on the other opponent.
"Grrr, how shameful…" I grunt, holding back my anger.
Charmander is on the floor as he wipes the water from his body with a little shake and gets up to continue fighting. Azurill began to approach Charmander as she was about to launch another water gun attack toward Charmander.
"Staryu, use Tackle!" Emma command.
Staryu began to rotate wildly as she bashes her entire rotating body at the unfocus Azurill and pushing her little body into the air from the force. I immediately notice an opportunity to make a follow-up and I point at the air born Azurill.
"Charmander, use Scratch and forcibly bring her down!" I order.
Charmander roar as his claw glow white and ran straight ahead with his claws marking the beach as he runs along. He made a jump as he slashes away at his opponent without mercy before he grabs her head and together falls to the floor while he slams her face into the beach below. Charmander retreat from that spot to reveal an unconscious Azurill on the floor and assuring our victory of today. The female grunt calls out her Pokémon back and leaving the loser angrily staring at me for intervening in their evil schemes. Although, Lillie was the mastermind of this operation so I had no reason to acquire such glare from them.
"Damn it, I can't beat I lost to some brats!" the man angrily said.
"Boss won't like this, we need to get out of here." The woman spoke.
They nod to each other before retreating the beach and leaving us with the girl to ourselves. I cross my arm as I began to think on what they say and how team Aqua is plotting something.
"Good job you two, you were all amazing out there." Lillie happily spoke.
I lost my focus on my thoughts as I glance at Lillie who approaches us and Emma sighing at the sight of them running away.
"Yeah, and I want to thank you two for saving me," Emma spoke, as she bows. "Thank you very much."
Lillie became a bit uncomfortable of seeing Emma bowing her head to us and I began to feel weird by this as well since people hardly thank me.
"Please, raise your head," I spoke.
Emma lifts her head as she looks at me and I became speechless since I don't have anything to add to my previous statement. I notice her Staryu stood next to her which brought me an idea to explain my sudden pause.
"You did good in the battle so.." I trail off, thinking hard. "In reality, you save yourself and stand up for yourself against those two lowlifes. That took courage, which no other person in this beach had the gut to do what you just did." I add.
I finish my sentence to see Emma's expression a bit shock and Lillie very surprise by my speech. Soon, Lillie smiles brightly as she thinks I had a heart and cheering another person.
"I am so proud of you Vergil, this is actually my first time hearing saying something nice for once." Lillie smile.
"…"
I turn away angrily at her smile as she doesn't have a clue I lie to escape Emma's intense stare and making me look like the bad guy here if remain silence. Now, our little sidetrack job is done and we can finally move forward without any more delay in our path.
"In any case Lillie, let's head to professor Kukui like you promise and don't stop for anything you hear," I spoke.
I approach her as I walk past her so we can make a move on into the original direction she had planned on.
"Sure, but I can't help myself if I see someone in trouble, I will step in to save them." Lillie mumble.
Lille began to follow me as I sigh at the arrogance of this girl and how her goodwill will be problematic for me. As we began to walk, I hear footsteps following our path and I ignore them until those same footsteps follow us even on the road. I turn back to see Emma following us and she notices my gaze as she looks away a bit embarrassed.
"What's wrong?" I ask.
"Well…I was wondering if I can tag along with you guys, you do know where this professor is located and I sort of know you guys now so…" Emma mutters, struggling to get to the point.
I narrow my eyes as I understand where she was heading and I didn't enjoy anything hindering my path. I slowly turn to give an excuse but Lillie beat me to it and she happily jumps to her side, welcoming into the little group of ours.
"Of course! The more people you have, the more fun the adventure of Alola it will be. I always imagine traveling with people and experiencing our life together." Lillie happily explain.
Lillie grabs Emma's hand and making her embarrassed by her upbeat personality which probably is a lot to handle for her. I sigh as I grab my head at her choice as she doesn't think too much of it and it will probably burden us if she is lack any talent to be useful. I decide to remain quiet since if I aggressively denied her companionship, Lillie will most likely won't help me and those two will depart without me.
I will endure this, for now, later I will discard them when I get my hands on the Pokédex.
"Fine by me," I answer.
"Great! It is nice to meet you Emma and welcome to the group." Lillie smile.
Lillie happily shakes Emma's hand and finally bringing a small smile from her which she indulges herself into her enjoyment.
"Yeah, glad to be here." Emma smile.
And with our new member joining this little group, we head north through the forest told by Lillie to be the fastest route to the Pokémon School which lead to the professor's house. We walk together as we pass through thick bushes, trees, branches, and stick along the way. We continue this walk as Lillie lead the way and I began to suspect something odd from this guidance. I began to feel like we are walking in a circle around this forest and I also know, that Lillie was mumbling to herself. My intuition was telling me we are lost and Lillie wasn't admitting her failure while Charmander's stomach rumble.
"You don't have any idea where we are, right?" I ask.
"W-What! O-Of course I know the way." Lillie panicking answer.
I became disbelief at the tone of her voice and how her reaction become panicking as I mention her little error. I turn to Emma who gave me a shrug since she too doesn't know the layout of this forest like myself. I sigh at our problem and hearing Charmander growling stomach made it more annoying as time went on. After a while of wasting time, we stay put in a place to take a break while Lillie nervously looks around for any hint of our exit. I took a seat on the floor as I lean back against the tree and Emma is next to a tree looking around this forest.
"Where is it? How did Sun found his way back and in of this forest.." Lillie mumbles, sighing.
It look like this could be troublesome after all, I have an idea to ease her worry and also helping Charmander with his hunger. I lift myself as I dust the dirt from my pant and move to Lillie as she became startled by my touch of her shoulder.
"V-Vergil! Arceus, you scare me…" Lillie yelp.
"I have a suggestion if you willing to listen." I ask.
Lillie became confused by my suggestion but she nodded to me and I began to explain the plan to her.
"Why don't we make lunch?" I ask as I glance at Charmander.
Lillie follow my gaze to see Charmander on the floor as he grabs his stomach and probably imaging food which made me it worse in our situation.
"Charmander won't hold much and we could calm our mind in the process while we enjoy some food" I remind her.
"I understand but, where exactly are we going to find food here?" Lillie asks, puzzle.
She had a point, I lack any kitchen utensil to cook something and also we have absolutely no ingredients to go with. My eyes narrow as I remember Lillie's backpack from the Pokemon center and maybe she could have some useful thing in there.
"Lillie, do you by any chance have a frying pan, a pot, or anything that can cook?" I wonder.
"Huh? Yeah, but why do you ask?" Lillie reply.
Lillie became curious as to the subject as I began to prepare something since we have the tool to work with and orders I need to give to them.
"Excellent, leave the tools here with me for the meantime while you and Emma gather anything food you can find lying around this forest," I explain.
Lillie follows the order as she brings her backpack to pull out a black pot from her belonging and I nod to this tool as it will become useful to me.
"What are you planning? It sounds like you are going to cook something?" Lillie ask.
"The answer will come in due time, for now, fetch the ingredients while I make some preparation on my end," I answer, thinking,
Lillie became even more curious as to the plan I had in mind but she actually follows my command for once and with Emma by her side they went ahead. I watch as those two leave the only open spot in this forest and I remember to tell her something important.
"Don't go too far!" I yell.
"We won't." Emma answer, from afar.
I pause my self as I see Emma speaking out loud and Lillie waving goodbye at me. I look down at the lonely pot as I became surprised at my sudden caring for their safety, I felt strange for doing something nice for once.
"Char?"
I turn to see Charmander looking worried at my deep stare and I chuckle at my deep thinking since it wasn't worth thinking of it.
"Don't worry, I am not down yet. You know the usual, gather sticks for the campfire and I do the preparation as always." I remind him.
Charmander nod as he happily looks for sticks for our campfire while I began gathering small rock to build a circle for the campfire. It took mere minutes for Charmander to return as I see him holding many dry sticks with him and I smile thinly at remembering to bring dry sticks rather than the live one.
"Nice job, you remember to bring dry sticks this time," I said.
Charmander stick his chest proudly at his job and he drops the stick in the center of the Rock circle which I had made. Charmander stick his tail in the pile of sticks while I sprinkle some dry leave to catch some fire from his tail of his. The fire sprung to life as he quickly pulls away his tail to see the fire illuminating brightly like his tail and he watches with amaze. I nod the fire as I pull the pan filled with water and holding it above the fire so I can start boiling.
"Now we wait for those two to return from their chores," I spoke.
A couple of minutes pass as I lay down as I hold the pot already seeing the water boiling to the perfect temporary and they return safely from their trip.
"That was close.." Lille mutters.
"What was?" I ask.
Emma and Lillie pause as they see me holding a boiling pot near the fire which shocks them to see. I became confused by their behavior and they began to approach me while looking at me still.
"What are you doing?" Emma asks, curious.
"I am preparing something to eat, I thought it was obvious," I answer.
"cook? You can cook!?" Lillie gasp.
I sigh as I didn't have the luxury to hold this pot for so long and I know I can't hold it for much longer.
"Did you bring the goods?" I ask.
Lillie immediately pulls out his backpack and open for me to reveal some vegetables and berries within the backpack. I use my right hand to pick each one to analyze the content and figure out the recipe for my next dish. From all of the goods they gather, they brought 3 Oran berries, 5 Leppa berries, 2 lemons, and 1 cabbage. I raise an eyebrow at the last two item they brought since normally it wouldn't be found randomly in this forest.
"How did you find lemons and a cabbage?" I ask, curious.
"We found a farm a bit far ahead and the owner gave us the lemon and the cabbages since he notices our food search," Lillie explain.
I see that would explain the arrival of this items.
"Do you want to go there?" Emma ask.
"It's fine, they having a lot of thing on their plate and I am already preparing the meal so don't let it bother you," I answer. "You can help me by grabbing this pot while I handle the items you brought in," I said.
Emma nod as she holds the pan while I move my business to the items and I took one look at Lillie's backpack to find a good find. I pull a small knife from the depth of her backpack and I look around as I have nothing to safely put the ingredients.
"Here use this."
Lillie suddenly speak to me from behind to see a handkerchief hanging above me and I sigh as I have little to work with but this will suffice. I began working with cutting and moving the ingredient to the pot while the other watch me which made me feel uncomfortable by their stare. It took a while for me to finish making the meal and with me holding the pan at the end. I sat on the floor as I became disappointed since I lack a few more ingredients to it and Lillie began passing bowls around with a smile. Emma and Lillie pour the soup I made into their bowl so they can begin eating. To my surprise, they were eager to eat the soup I made and I could tell they were hungry from the smell of it. Lillie took the first taste as she sips the soup with her spoon and her eyes gleam joyfully.
"Wow, this taste really good!" Lillie smile.
"Really? To be honest, the soup did lack some ingredients." I answer, sighing.
"Even so, it does taste wonderful so you should be proud of it and I do enjoy it." Emma smile.
I scratch my head as I became puzzled by their compliment of my meal since I had nobody to taster for me beside Charmander. I instinctively grab a bowl to my side and pour some for my Charmander like I always do but strangely, they began to gaze at me funny and Lillie immediately took away the bowl from my hand.
"Hey, what's the big deal?" I ask, slightly angry.
"Vergil! Don't tell me you were feeding Charmander this the whole time?" Lillie ask.
I thought about for a second since I always feed him the food I cook and I never did find it wrong in any way.
"Of course, as there a problem?" I ask, confuse.
"You can't always feed Pokemon real food, you know, you need to give him poké beans, poké Puff, or anything Pokemon related food," Emma explained, seriously. "You need to take good care of your Pokemon's health and choose wisely what he can or can't eat," Emma adds, seriously.
I became speechless as I am being lectured by this two about Pokemon and I look down angrily since they did have a point of me not knowing full well of my Pokemon. Regardless, I chuckle at Emma sudden courage to speak her mind against me since she always remains quiet the whole time when I speak.
"What's so funny?" Emma asks as she puffs her cheeks.
"Its nothing, it just seeing myself lecture by a little girl is funny to see and how you took it seriously with a straight face." I smile thinly.
Emma gasp at my statement as I call her a little girl and not respecting her entire blabbering, but it was amusing to hear. Emma embarrass from my previous saying, strangely began pounding very softly at my right arm and I became frozen to see Emma acting like this now. Emma's pounding began to move my pon as the hot water sway from side to side and making me worry about this hot, boiling water hitting anywhere.
"Hey! Stop hitting me!" I yell, as my eyes watch the pot moving.
"No! You are a bad person and should be punished!" Emma said as she raises her tone of voice.
I use my left hand to grab her little head as I try my hardest to move her away and it made me feel like a child compares to her childish actions.
"Grrr! Emma, I swear to Arceus I wi-"
Suddenly, I hear bushes rustling behind Emma and from the bushes, a young boy appear from it while he began muttering stuff as he writes something in his journal.
"So far, Alola is a great place to start for me and my partner Zorua," the boy happily said. "Too bad I haven't seen any...people.."
The boy looks up bewildered by the circumstance I am having with Emma right now which she didn't realize his presence.
Why do I have to suffer...
[Chapter 3 End]
