Decisions
Bonnie felt frozen to her seat for the longest time after Laura's dramatic exit, but it probably did not last more than a few seconds. Then she ran out after her friend, but the dark-haired girl was nowhere to be seen. Where had she disappeared to?
"You won't find her by yourself if she doesn't want to be found," said a voice behind her.
Reed, the nicer of Laura's brothers, had also come out of the tent, and he was looking worried.
"Those jerks!" Bonnie said angrily. "She was doing good, she really was! So what if the finale didn't turn out like she wanted?" She clenched her fists.
"I was astonished actually. Oh, not that she was doing good, don't look at me like this! I know my sister has talent! What she lacks is confidence. It's the first time ever that she puts herself forward like this. Such a shame it didn't go better, really! If she had pulled a flawless number through, this bunch might have started to take her seriously. But they can't see how far she's come already. And to gain the trust of an espurr, that was also an accomplishment in and of itself. Those pokemon have the reputation to be quite choosy about who they decide to follow."
"She practiced really hard in the evenings, you know." Bonnie sighed. "I just don't get it. A family should be supportive!"
"I guess everyone just sees her as the baby in the family," Reed replied with some embarrassment. "Heck, even I am guilty of that sometimes."
Bonnie did not reply, but to her it seemed more than a case of not recognizing that Laura was not a young child anymore. Clemont would never have treated her like that, not even when she really was just his annoying baby sister who rushed into things before thinking them through and who would try to marry him off to all the pretty women they met.
She frowned and shook her head to clear it, unwilling to be distracted by her own thoughts. The important thing right now was to find Laura.
"When she needs time to herself, where does Laura go?" She asked Reed.
"Beats me. Somewhere calm I suppose. I mean, we're always setting up in different places, so it's not like she can have a favorite spot somewhere!"
"So let's go look for her, come on!"
Reed grimaced. "Sorry, the show will start very soon, I can't leave now. But you go on. I'll lend you one of my pokemon, she'll help you. Tropius, come out!"
A big quadruped pokemon appeared in front of Bonnie, unlike any she had seen before. It was mostly brown, had sturdy legs, big leaves that looked like wings on its back, a very long neck, and some weird-looking fruit-like appendage under its chin. It also looked very affectionate, as it immediately started to rub its head against Reed's arm with much energy, almost making him fall.
"Hey, cut it down Tropius! Now, I need you to find Laura. When you do, go see Bonnie here and show her the way, ok?" The big pokemon took flight immediately, proving that the leaves on its back were indeed wings.
"What on earth was that?" Bonnie asked.
"A tropius. She was my very first pokemon. A grass/flying type. It's because of her that I started to be interested in grass types. Usually she's in my acts, but as luck has it my new number involves Breloom, Phantump and Nuzleaf instead. Laura loves her and she loves Laura right back. And it's not the first time that she helped me find her. But I need to go now. Good luck! Tell Laura she did good, will you? I'll talk to her after the show."
The teenager ran back into the big purple tent, leaving Bonnie alone. None of the other family members had even made an appearance, visibly more preoccupied by the upcoming show than by Laura being upset.
So, where should she start looking for her friend? Bonnie eyed her surroundings. On her left, the road which led to the center of Acquacorde. In front of her, some houses with well-tended gardens. And to her right, after a little meadow, a grove of pine trees. Hmm, Laura probably wanted to be alone, so the woods seemed the best bet. But the sun was setting, and it would soon be dark. Well then, she'd better hurry to find her.
She ran towards the woods, Dedenne at her side. The little mouse pokemon seemed as determined as she was to find their friend. Under the trees, the light was already half-gone.
"Laura!" Bonnie called, again and again. She searched until the night had completely fallen, without success. "Gosh, I can hardly see anything anymore." She muttered under her breath. "Litleo, come out, I need your help!"
"Lit?"
"Litleo, fire spin!" The lion cub obliged, and the dancing flames shed some light around them. A few seconds later, Tropius landed right in front of her with a heavy thud. She must have been looking for them and been unable to see them in the darkness. The big quadruped seemed excited.
"Hey, did you find Laura before the light went?" Bonnie asked. Tropius nodded vigorously.
"Alright, lead the way!"
xxx
"I'm not going back."
Those were the first words Laura had spoken since Reed's tropius had led Bonnie right to her hiding place. The girl was kneeling in a little hollow under a pine tree, hugging her espurr hard and with her swablu softly chirping on her shoulder. Tropius was trying to reach her, but could only fit her head and part of her long neck in the small space.
Bonnie puffed. She had run hard behind Tropius, and despite Litleo's light, had fallen twice along the way, not noticing roots until it was too late.
"I'm not asking you too." She finally said.
Laura looked up at her with surprise. Her eyes were red-rimmed.
"Really? Even Reed usually just tells me to forgive and forget. "They mean well sis, don't take it so seriously." That's his line." She sighed. "You know, for one moment there I really thought I could accomplish something for once. But I was just kidding myself. There's no way they'll let me be a real part of the circus, I'm just not talented enough. I'm a total failure."
"What are you talking about? Of course you're talented, you just need to train more!" Laura looked unconvinced. "Look," Bonnie went on, "I told you my brother is a gym leader. And he is really good, too! But he still loses every now and then, and he doesn't think it means he's a failure afterwards. He just goes right on training to get even stronger."
"Yes, but you said he was good…"
"And he became good by training! Another friend of mine is a performer. Her first show was a disaster. She didn't let it stop her though. That much my brother and my friends taught me: you get good by constant practice, and by meeting new people. You can learn a lot by seeing different methods of training and battling. And the many faces that friendship between trainers and pokemon can take. That's why I'm travelling now, even though I've seen most of Kalos already. There's so much to learn on the road."
Laura was taken aback by Bonnie's outburst.
"Look, did you mean it when you said you were not going back?" Bonnie asked.
"Well, yeah, I mean, I wanted to, that's why I even took my bag with me, but how could I?"
Bonnie frowned, confused, but pushed on.
"Easy! Just come with me! Oh say yes, pretty please! We would have so much fun, travelling together!" She was practically dancing in her excitement. It would be so perfect!
Laura stayed silent for the longest time. In the darkness that had enveloped then when Litleo returned to its pokeball, Bonnie could not see her face, and she wondered what her friend was thinking.
"You have very good potential, I'm sure of it, but you need time to practice, and you need to meet new people who can teach you new things." She insisted. "Your family, well… they don't give you much free time, do they?"
Actually, that was an understatement in comparison to what Bonnie really wanted to say about this sorry excuse for a family, but for once she had managed to control her usual impulsiveness. Still Laura stayed silent, and Bonnie did not know what to add. Tropius, who had finally managed to wrap her hand and neck around her old friend, was making soft crooning noises, and Espurr was purring. Suddenly, and to Bonnie's amazement, Laura started to laugh.
"Swablu, stop that!" she managed to say between two bursts of laughter. "I mean it, stop it, it really tickles! Nooo!" The little bird was apparently paying her no heed, because she continued to laugh and twist around. As far as Bonnie could tell, Swablu had taken a very direct approach to cheering Laura up by using his ultra-soft wings on her neck.
"Ok, ok, you're right, I'm taking this too seriously, you made your point!" Laura gasped finally. Swablu relented, and the dark-haired girl took a deep breath.
"I'd love to travel with you Bonnie, thanks for the offer!" She said, extending her hand to her friend. The blond girl shook it solemnly, then started laughing herself. Unable to resist, Laura laughed again, until both girls were on the ground with hands clasped around their middle and no breath to speak of, so strong were their peals of laughter.
"Oh, I'm so glad you said that, it'll be great!" Bonnie gasped.
xxx
"Sorry for having been in such a funk tonight" Laura said a few minutes later, when the two friends had regained some composure. "I'm not this emotional usually, but…"
"Hey no worry, everyone has down times every now and then."
"Oh no, I just realized I made you miss tonight's show! I'm so sorry!"
Bonnie pulled a face. "You really need to stop apologizing you know. It doesn't matter about the show, really. There will be other shows. Say, what do you want to do now? I left my bag at the circus so I need to go back in any case."
"No way I'm going to face them all!" Laura said.
"So let's go get something to eat instead. We'll wait until late, then I'll sneak in and grab my bag. I have a tent, we could sleep right there in these woods and be on our way tomorrow morning with no one the wiser. Oh, but what about Tropius? Would she show your family where we are?"
"Na, she's a good girl, she won't even let Reed know if I ask her not to, right, Tropius?"
"-pius!" Agreed the grass pokemon before nuzzling Laura one last time and taking off at a gallop.
"She doesn't fly at night," Laura explained when Bonnie looked curious.
The plan worked as well as they had hoped. They came back to the circus after a quick bite in a fast food joint on the other side of Acquacorde. The sandwiches were not great, but they were filling, and that was all that either girl wanted. By the time they actually got back, it was quite late, and all lights were apparently out.
"What, no one stayed up to be sure you made it back?" Bonnie whispered.
"Go figure," Laura replied with a shrug. "Wouldn't be the first time. So where did you leave your bag?"
"Hmm. I'm not sure, actually." Bonnie admitted sheepishly. "Maybe where we put the brooms back today?"
"Maybe? Are you kidding me? I hope it is there, we can hardly search the whole place, we'd wake someone up for sure!"
But as it turned out, Bonnie's bag was very easy to find. It lay directly outside the main entrance to the purple tent, and there was a note on it.
"Bonnie," It read. "I'm guessing from Tropius's attitude that you found Laura. I'm also guessing you two might not make an appearance back here anytime soon, if I'm any judge. She needed a good friend and I'm glad she found you. Tell Laura I support her and I think she's doing the smart thing. Reed."
Laura stared at the note for the longest time.
"Hey, come on, we need to get out of here," Bonnie said after a while.
xxx
"So where should we go?" Laura asked the following morning, as they were folding down the shellder tent.
It had been fun sharing that tent again, Bonnie thought. It brought back so many good memories with Serena and the gang!
"Hmm?" she said.
"I said, where should we go?" Laura repeated, seeing Bonnie distracted.
"Let's swing by the pokemon center, I'd like to call my brother, if you don't mind. We'll figure out the rest one step at a time."
"Works for me, as long as we detour around the town so that I'm sure not to cross my family. But I really want to put some kilometers between me and them, so let's not take too long ok? On the other hand, it would be a good opportunity for Nurse Joy to have a look at Espurr in particular, it really wore itself out for me yesterday, poor little buddy."
Bonnie was able to reach Clemont right away. It was the first call she had placed since the day they had helped capture the pokemon thief, and her big brother had an anxious look on his face when he answered her.
"Bonnie! Where have you been? I was getting worried. Please try and call a little more often, will you? Is everything alright?"
"You worry too much big brother, I was perfectly fine. I've just been busy, that's all."
Quickly, Bonnie updated Clemont on what she had been up to. "And so from now on Laura and I will be travelling together! Isn't that great?" She concluded. "We'll have such great times together, I'm sure of it!"
"You've been busy alright," Clemont acknowledged. "But I'm glad you found a travelling companion. It's really better to travel with friends, isn't it?" The two siblings shared a reminiscing smile. "And I'll worry less if I know you're not alone."
"Hey, I was never alone, I had Dedenne and then Litleo with me." Bonnie protested.
"I know, I know, but still I prefer it that way. So where are you going next?"
"Well, that's our next decision. But I have no idea, to be honest. Well, the only idea I have is to head for Anistar City, because Laura's espurr still has trouble with psychic, and with the psychic gym there, there are many trainers who should be able to help her with it. Maybe one of Olympia's disciples? Plus, I'm wondering if I could not teach Dedenne a psychic move as well, that could come in handy. That is, if Laura agrees to go there of course. Other than that though, I don't know. I still haven't found out what I'd like to do. I like both battling and performing, it's so hard to decide!"
"You know, I think what you need is a change of scenery. And from what you told me, it looks like your friend Laura could use one as well."
"What do you mean big brother?"
"You feel stuck here in Kalos, don't you?" Bonnie shrugged, then nodded. "So don't stay in Kalos!" Clemont advised. "I was hoping you would reach this conclusion on your own, but I hate to see you so aimless. There is a big world out there, you know. Go to Hoenn, like Serena did. Or to Kanto like Ash!"
Bonnie's mouth dropped. The solution was so blindingly obvious, she did not know how she could have failed to come up with it on her own.
"Whoa, thanks Clemont! This definitely bears thinking about! Hey, Laura is finished, so I'll call you back when I have more news, talk to you soon! I'll let you know what we decide."
"Take care, Bonnie. And don't forget to call!"
"What bears thinking about?" Laura asked, coming up behind her. Bonnie's friend had her espurr in her arms.
Bonnie told her Clemont's idea. Laura got a big smile.
"You have the coolest big brother!" She exclaimed. "I'd definitely be up to it! But not Hoenn, my family comes from there and I know it as well as Kalos, if not better. We lived there until about three years back."
The dark-haired girl was silent for a few seconds.
"Hey, what do you think about Johto?" She asked somewhat shyly. Her uncharacteristic ebullience from a moment ago was gone.
"Johto?" Bonnie repeated. "I can't say I've really thought about Johto one way or the other. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I've never been there myself, but I know they have this big circus contest once a year. If I can enter it and do well, heck, even win it, that would definitely show my family!"
Bonnie thought quickly. It was true, the Johto region had never been on her radar so far. Which was the best reason to go there, really. So many discoveries to be made! Just the idea filled her with excitement.
"I'd love to go!" She exclaimed. Then a thought struck her. "But do you know if they have pokemon shows there like in Kalos? I still haven't chosen what I'll do but performances is one of the options."
"They don't, sorry," Laura grimaced. "But they do have contests, would that work?"
Bonnie smiled. "Sure! I haven't even seen a contest before, so that would be one more new thing. So exciting! So… Johto?" She asked, just to be sure.
"Johto!" Laura confirmed.
Both girls high-fived each other and whooped around, under the indulgent gaze of Nurse Joy, amused by so much enthusiasm and energy.
