Lucy had been casting side-long glances at Gwyn from the moment she had woken up to the smell of breakfast. It didn't take a genius or an Alakazam to know that something was wrong with the gloomy, blond girl. Her eyes were bloodshot, her face was pale and, well, she just looked plain awful! If it had been any other person, they would have straight up asked her if she was okay. But the person was Lucy and Lucy knew that Gwyn wasn't very fond of questions; especially personal questions. She watched, as discreetly as possible, as Gwyn stuffed the rolled-up blankets and pajamas into her bag. It wasn't until Gwyn robotically reached for Murky, yanked at his tail-feathers, and tried to stuff the poor bird into her bag that Lucy decided to intervene.
"Uh, Gwyn, are you okay?" she asked as she quickly removed the girl's grip from the bird's tail.
Gwyn hissed in pain from the harsh pecks she received from Murky. "Ow, ow, ow! What was that for, Murky!?" She completely ignored Lucy's question, focusing instead on swatting away the offending pokemon.
"Gwyn! You tried to stuff Murky into your bag!"
This caught Gwyn's attention. Her eyes widened in shock as she regarded Lucy. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah. You've b-been kind of off since we woke up."
"Since you woke up. I didn't sleep at all," she grumbled before shooting Murky an apologetic look. "You okay, Murky?"
The bird had flown onto its usual perch atop Kurt's wardrobe. He was currently giving Gwyn the 'stink eye'.
"There better not be any claw marks on that wardrobe when I decide to check," called out Kurt as he stacked dishes together. Lacie snickered softly before continuing to dry off a plate.
Lucy cringed. "Sorry, K-kurt… Do you guys need help with the dishes?"
"The more help, the merrier."
"Grandpa!" Lacie gasped in an absolutely horrified way. "No, guys! Guests are supposed to just sit back and relax. Don't worry about it!"
Lucy returned Lacie's grin, albeit in a more nervous fashion. She turned away to face Gwyn again.
"A-anyways, What h-happened? Why didn't you fall asleep last night?"
Gwyn just shrugged. She reached her hand up towards her head and smoothed out any frayed hairs that were sticking out.
Lucy sighed heavily. She went back to tidily packing her belongings into her knapsack. Once done, she tightened the buckle and closed the bag shut. She opened one of the side pouches and retrieved a little, leather bag before offering it to Gwyn.
"Want some candy?"
"What flavors do you have?"
Lucy beamed. "All of them! Here you go, j-just pick out which ever you like." Before she could pry the bag open though, Lucy was tackled and forced onto her belly.
"Ooof! Hey! Igni!" She desperately tried to keep the bag at a distance while the Magby desperately tried to reach it. He wriggled atop her back and nearly stepped onto her head. "Igni you can't have candy! Gwyn, take it!"
Gwyn caught the bag expertly. "Why can't he have candy?"
"Because he gets too energetic! Keep it away from him!"
"Gwyn, toss it! C'mon!" Lacie threw the moist hand-towel to the side and waved her hands eagerly.
Gwyn hesitated. She glanced down at the leather bag, back at Lacie, and then at Igni. She finally pitched it to Lacie after a couple of seconds.
"Hee-hee!" Lacie squealed as she tried to keep the bag away from the hopping, fire pokemon. "I'm gonna eat all your candy, Igni!"
"Lacie!"
Said girl ignored her protesting grandfather and ran to Dopey. Dopey was still busy eating his portion of the breakfast; he, nevertheless, smiled at Lacie warmly when she shoved the bag into his face.
"Okay, Dopey's got it! He's gonna pass it to you, Lucy!" She circled the little bag around his head and tossed it to the older girl. Igni crossed his stubby arms against each other and let out an indignant croak. He looked just about ready to throw a tantrum.
Lucy, in turn, passed it to Gwyn again, who quickly picked out a candy for herself before motioning to throw it once more. It was plucked from her grasp by a grumpy-looking Kurt before it could be tossed again.
His wrinkled lips were pinched and almost as ashy as his hair. "No throwing in the house, dammit! Put this bag away, Lucy."
"S-s-sorry, Kurt," she replied glumly as she tucked the candy bag away.
"Yeah, what she said."
Lacie just made a sharp, 'tsk' sound. "You're such a party pooper, Grandpa." She shrunk rapidly, however, at the severe glare she received from Kurt.
"Lacie," he warned, "I could be an even worse party pooper by prohibiting radio or T.V time."
"I'm really sorry, Grandpa! I'll never throw anything in my life for as long as I live, I promise!"
"Hmph." Kurt's mouth twitched. It almost contorted into what seemed to be a grin before settling back into its usual scowl. "Good to hear. C'mon, we got some dishes to clean."
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~XX~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
"I'm, sniff, going to miss you so m-m-muuucccch!"
Lucy soothingly patted Lacie's head as said girl bawled into the fabric of her shirt. "There, there…Don't c-cry, Lacie."
"Buh-Buh-But I'm never gonna see you guys again!"
"Jeez, kid, you make it sound like we're dying or something." Gwyn stood off to the side with Murky and Sentret, like always, but wore a somewhat apprehensive expression on her face.
"Lacie, we'll definitely come back one day so please don't cry!"
"Sniff…o-okay…"
"Hey, Lucy?" Gwyn called for her to come closer. "Hey, uh, do you remember that bracelet I gave you? The one I found in Sprout Tower?"
"Yeah, of course," Lucy waited patiently for her to continue.
Gwyn appeared to be deep in thought as she scuffed at the ground with her mary-janes. "We should give it to Lacie. Like a gift from the two of us." She paused for a moment, studying Lucy's reaction. "If you don't mind."
"No, of course I don't. You know, that's a pretty good idea!" Lucy rummaged through her knapsack and brought out the delicate, little bracelet.
"Hey, Lacie? We wanted you to keep this," Lucy motioned for her to stick out her arm. She held it to her wrist and gently clasped the ends of the bracelet together. "Gwyn gave this me as a gift pretty soon a-after we met. Once our journey ends, I'll be returning here for it and I need someone to keep it safe."
Lacie glanced down at the bracelet. She ran a chubby finger along the bumpy surface of the wooden beads and lightly flicked at the hanging bell. The weathered, silver bell chimed softly; it was such a fragile sound that a gust of wind could have easily smothered it.
Lacie raised her head. Her eyes glistened visibly before she moved to hug Lucy. She didn't say a word as she went and hugged Gwyn as well. Gwyn patted awkwardly at her back before the little girl moved away.
Both Lucy and Lacie sniffled loudly as their faces grew even redder.
"Really, you too?" Gwyn's only response was a combination of two, heart-wrenching sobs.
Kurt cleared his throat suddenly. He stepped away from his granddaughter's side and walked towards the older girls. "I have you two to blame if my granddaughter gets dehydrated from crying so much."
He shifted his hands, which had been concealed behind his back, and held them out to the girls. Both hands held a simple, metal case with a latch in the front. "But I have you two to thank for helping get rid of those hooligans. And for making Lacie happy," he muttered the last part as he glanced at Lacie.
"I made a Dusk Ball for you, Gwyn. Dusk balls increase the chances of pokemon getting caught if used in a cave or during the night."
"Thank you, Kurt."
Kurt nodded. "Lucy. I made you a Heal Ball. Heal balls, as the name states, heals the caught pokemon and eliminates any status condition."
Lucy hastily wiped her face off on her sleeve. "T-thank you so much, Kurt!"
"G-grandpa! I wanna go with them!"
"No. We already talked about this."
Lacie shrugged before laughing. "Yeah, but it was worth a try!" Her eyes will still moist with tears but she flashed a toothy grin. "You guys better be ready when you come back cause," she pointed at them as she shouted, "I'm gonna beat your butts when you do!"
"You won't even be old enough to be a trainer when they get back, Lacie."
"Oh…Well, one day I'll beat you guys in a pokemon battle! Me and Dopey are gonna best in pokemon battles!"
"I'm going to really hold it against you if you aren't able to beat us," Gwyn warned as a wicked smirk bloomed on her face.
"I'll definitely be looking forward to that b-battle!"
Lucy and Gwyn, alongside their respective pokemon, waved goodbye at Kurt and Lacie. Eventually, the grandfather and granddaughter shrunk away from their view as they moved closer and closer to Ilex forest.
A familiar sight, however, greeted them at the entrance of the town's rest stop.
"Good-bye guys!" Bugsy held his hand out for both them to shake. "It was great to meet and battle you both."
"B-bugsy, I'm so sorry for freaking out like that yesterday," Lucy began as she and Gwyn politely shook his hand.
"Why are you sorry? I'm the one who should've apologized. In person. So, I'm sorry."
"Ah…I, uh…it's okay."
Bugsy scratched at the bridge of his nose. "Thanks for forgiving me, Lucy. Um…I know I already mentioned it to you guys bu-"
"Yes, Bugsy. We will go and tell the police station what happened here. You do know we don't have the memory of a fish, right?"
He just chuckled. "Okay, okay. I'll stop bugging you guys. Good-luck on everything in your journey, especially Whitney."
"Whitney?" Lucy watched as he retreated, pointedly ignoring her question, and headed for the Azalea Town gym.
"Bye, guys!"
Lucy and Gwyn looked at each other in confusion.
"Isn't she only specialized in normal types?"
"And fairies too, I think."
They remained quiet for a moment, perhaps mulling over Bugsy's parting words.
Gwyn finally broke the silence and shook her head. "We don't need luck for that. She's just a normal-type gym leader," she declared haughtily as they made their way into Ilex forest.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~XX~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
"So, how exactly did you manage to save Murky from being poisoned?" Lucy ducked in order to avoid being thwacked by a low-hanging branch.
"Simple. I got a pecha berry from one of those berry trees we constantly found during Cherrygrove. And I stuffed it in his chest-fluff thing."
"Ohhhh," she looked over her shoulder for a moment. Chikorita and Igni trotted along without much difficulty behind them as they made it into a clearing. She peered up curiously and could vaguely make out Murky and Specs flying past the tree-tops. In some moments, it almost seemed as if they disappeared from the face of the earth when the canopy became too dense. She couldn't make out where Wisp was but she knew the ghost pokemon was also present. She could sense it and so could her body, as evidence by how the fine hairs on her neck stood up.
"So, he just knew he had to eat it when he felt the smog getting too thick," Gwyn's voice caught her attention and brought her out of the frightful thoughts she was having about ghost pokemon.
"Hmm," she hummed. "Hey Gwyn?"
"Yeah?"
"I just wanted to say that what you did for Lacie was really nice! She liked you a lot, you know?"
"Ugh, you're killing me here Lucy," Gwyn sighed heavily. She removed the scrunchie from her hair and gathered up her hair in a neater fashion before tying it up again. She fixed up her hair while regarding Lucy with an annoyed expression.
"W-what? What are you talking about?"
"Well…I told you to give her the bracelet because I thought she was upset with me."
"Why would she be upset with you?"
Gwyn crossed her arms against her chest as Lucy stared at her. She glanced away before clarifying. "I dunno. Look, she was being annoying last night and I kind of told her off. And then she whined about it."
"Oh...okay? Wait. So you didn't a-apologize to her?"
"Yeah. I gave her the bracelet."
Lucy's face slowly morphed into an exasperated look. "So what? You j-j-just buy people's forgiveness?"
"What? Buy? I'm not buying anything."
Gwyn's words did nothing but kindle the flush creeping up Lucy's neck. The more she spoke the more the red-head got agitated.
"Yes you are! Y-you did the same exact thing to me, with the same item by the way, when you yelled at me back in Sprout Tower!"
Igni, unlike Chikorita who remained behind Lucy, marched up to his trainer's side and warbled angrily at Gwyn's direction.
"All you had to do was say sorry!"
Gwyn waved her hands gingerly in an attempt to placate Lucy. "Okay, okay. You do know your turning as red as your hair, right?"
At that point, Lucy's face was actually getting dangerously close to a more purplish color. She flung her arms down next to her sides; her hands were in a constant state of clench and unclench.
"You're horrible," she spat out through clenched teeth. She began to trudge with Igni and Chikorita in tow, attempting to leave Gwyn behind.
"Lucy?" The girl didn't stop for her. "Wait, Lucy! I'm…ugh… I'm sorry, okay?!" Gwyn gaped, with her mouth hanging slightly open in shock, at the retreating girl's back. "I said I was sorry."
Lucy and her pokemon never turned back. They vanished from her sight as they went through the deciduous thickets surrounding them.
"Fine," she began to mutter bitterly underneath her breath. "I don't need you or anyone. Never have, never will."
As if understanding what Gwyn had just said, Sentret scurried down the expanse of a giant tree and made his way to his favorite spot- her shoulders.
He was about to curl up between her shoulder and neck when he was suddenly snatched up.
"Get off. You're getting pretty heavy, okay?"
Sentret cocked his head to the left a bit, scrutinizing her for a moment. Apparently deciding that it was safe, he leaned forward and pressed his twitching nose against her's.
"Squeak!"
Gwyn narrowed her eyes at him. "You think you can make me forget you're a normal type just cause you're cute?" Sentret responded with licking the tip of her nose, much to Gwyn's chagrin. "Well, it's working." She settled him back on her shoulder.
"Okay. I'll make an exception with you. You'll be the only normal type I ever…catch."
She glanced at all the foliage and shadows around her. "Hey, Wisp! Come out!"
For a moment, there was nothing but silence. Then a smooth laugh filled the air and a shroud of violet gas materialized around her. Wisp's grinning face abruptly appeared in front of her face, as if to frighten her. Gwyn, however, just stared indifferently at the ghost.
"There you are. Okay, follow me." She clambered up onto a nearby boulder and stood tall. "Where is he...Murky!" She cupped her hands around her mouth in order amplify her voice. "Murky! Caw, Caw!"
She saw him dart once, no, twice, across the sky above before drifting lower to the treetops. He fluttered slowly towards her in a spiraling motion.
"Murky, did you see which way leads to Goldenrod?"
He landed onto her arm, making her grimace somewhat as she felt his talons prick her skin. "Which way, which way," he garbled before pointing westward with his crooked beak.
"Great, Lucy went the opposite way." She frowned to herself as she struggled with making her decision.
"Okay. This is a Code Red-Head, ladies and gentleman. Mission: Find Mother Hen," and with that, she led her unusual troupe deeper into the forest.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~XX~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
Her hair was cluttered with small twigs and leaves by the time her ears caught wind of a conversation. It was Lucy's voice, she noted, and a random girl's voice. She stepped carefully through the remaining underbrush, not wanting to get any more of those irritating seeds hooked into her socks.
"Lucy," she croaked, "there you are."
Lucy gasped in surprise at the sudden sight of Gwyn emerging from between the shrubs, but quickly recuperated. She glanced at her unsurely. "Um, hey Gwyn." She hesitated, not knowing what to say and looked at the girl beside her. "Maya, meet Gwyn. G-gwyn, meet Maya."
Maya sat cross-legged between a row of shrubs and a strange, weasel-like pokemon. Gwyn, apparently, wasn't the only with leaves and branches in her hair. The bird's nest that lay on Maya's head was actually her mane of brown hair, which was riddled with twigs.
"Hi! What's up, Gwyn?" She held her hand in the air as a welcoming gesture.
"Hello. What is that?" The words fell out of her mouth with very little pause between them. She rudely pointed at the pokemon sitting by Maya's side.
"Him? Oh, that's Mienshao. He's my bud."
Said pokemon nodded solemnly. He, apparently, agreed with the sentiment of them being good friends.
"She's from Unova. Well, t-they're both from Unova."
Gwyn's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Whoa."
"That's what I said when I arrived here. Johto's soooo different. Its towns aren't as cramped as ours and even the air smells cleaner!"
"Your air isn't clean?" That sounded like an exaggeration to her. If the air wasn't clean over there, then how did people live?
"Well, I lived in Castelia City and the air there tends to stink more than in other places. Actually, I still live there. I'm just staying in Johto for a while with my cousin."
"And her cousin is the police officer Bugsy was talking about!"
"Yeah, that's right! I did tell Bugsby-"
"Bugsy," corrected Gwyn. She watched as the girl stuck her pinky finger into her ear; rolling it around eagerly.
"Yah, that's what I said," she flicked out a white flake from under her pinky finger's nail. "Anyway, so I told Bugsby that I'd tell my cousin, Merrick, to report to the station. But Lucy here told me what happened with those Team Rocket people. I couldn't believe it when she told me! The town was a-ok when I left it."
"When was that?"
"Three days ago."
Lucy widened her eyes, seemingly in shock. "You've been in here for thru-thru-three days?!"
"Oh yah, I've been camping out here ever since I beat Bugsby. I'm hunting for a Pineco for my cousin. For Merrick, I mean."
"You haven't found anything at all in three days?"
"Nope," she sighed sadly. "Nada. Zilch. Well, to be fair I have been spending time looking for something else."
Both Gwyn and Lucy looked at her expectantly. Their respective pokemon also stared attentively as the waited for her to continue. She was too preoccupied, however, with the task of digging out junk from her ear.
"Well?" Even Igni shared Gwyn's impatience, as evidence by the exasperated "Buh!" that he let out.
"Oh, yah, sorry. So, get this. I overheard a particular rumor about Ilex forest. The rumor is that there's an invasive pack of Litwicks in here, but, more specifically, near the shrine."
"Wait, wait. Number one," Gwyn held up her pointer finger, "What's a Litwick? Number tw-"
"The shrine for Celebi? Um, Maya, there's another rumor about this forest. And that puh-particular rumor says the forest shifts itself in order to hide the shrine," Lucy interjected.
"Gwyn, a Litwick is a ghost pokemon from Unova. More specifically, it's a dual type consisting of ghost and fire." This statement definitely caught Gwyn's attention. She shuffled closer to her in order to get a better listen.
"And, yah, Lucy, my cousin told me about that one too. She said people have even gotten completely lost and have never returned! But that makes it even more exciting, right?"
"No! Not at all!"
"Oh," Maya's face stretched into a cat-like grin, "Well, I personally just do it for the adventure. I already caught some Litwicks back in Unova so I'm not doing it for them."
"I'm going to go find those Litwicks," Gwyn declared with a look of determination.
"But Gwyn! The shrine is super hard to find and-"
"That's just a rumor," she shook her hand dismissively at Lucy. "Besides, this is an opportunity to catch a really rare ghost pokemon!"
Lucy squirmed; her hands wriggled desperately against the leg of her pants. "Y-yeah, but still…it's dangerous."
"What do you care," she enunciated in a callous undertone. "It's not like we're going to be traveling together anymore, are we? You made that pretty clear."
Lucy sputtered furiously.
Maya glanced from one girl to the other. The previously content grin she had worn on face melted into an uneasy smile. "Uh guys? Hehe…Uh-"
"I never even suh-suh-suggested anything like that, Gwyn! All I said was that you could be a little nicer!"
"You said I was, and I quote, 'horrible'."
"Quuuuuaark! Horrible, Horrible," mimicked Murky. He was completely unaware of the tension in the air, as the amusement in his eyes suggested.
Maya and Meinshao shared a concerned look between themselves.
"Erm," the older girl cleared her throat. "Hey, so, I could find a Litwick for you, Gwyn."
Gwyn titled her head towards Maya's direction. The favor seemed to pique her interest, and it even smoothened the scowl on her face.
"You would?" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What's the catch?"
"Uhh," Maya scratched at the base of her neck as she contemplated the question. "Why would there be a catch? If I find the location of the shrine, I'll capture a Litwick for you. It's as simple as that."
"S-see, Gwyn," Lucy began to chastise the shorter girl, "She's just being nice."
Gwyn shot her an irritated glare, which, surprisingly, Lucy didn't back down from.
Before any of the three girls could say anything, a high-pitched squeal rang out. It was followed by a tiny, somewhat spherical object being launched into Lucy's stomach.
"Oof! W-what," she had caught the object by its…wing? "Oh! Hey, little guy. What happened?"
The bat Lucy had caught the day before hung upside from her grip on its wing. It twittered joyfully as it stared up at her. Chikorita quickly joined the scene; she bolted into the clearing, looking particularly terrified.
"What happened, Chikorita!?" One of Chikorita's vines emerged from the buds on her neck, only to point accusingly at the bat pokemon. Her headleaf had bite marks on it in one corner and was slobbered with saliva.
Lucy gave the bat pokemon a questioning look, but the bat pokemon paid no mind to her. Instead, it started to drool at the sight of Chikorita's headleaf gently swaying in the wind. Igni snickered as quietly as possible at the sight.
"Call out the jury for this one. I think we have our culprit," Gwyn said. Her lips were pressed into each other awkwardly, as if she was trying to avoid laughing.
"Noibat, you aren't supposed to eat teammates!"
"Noibat?"
"Y-yeah, Maya said that's what it's called," she explained. Noibat smacked his wings against Lucy's hold in a desperate attempt to reach Chikorita. Lucy sighed, brought out a pokeball, and returned Noibat back into the device. "D-don't worry Chikorita. I'll take you to the Pokecenter as soon as we get to Goldenrod."
Gwyn gazed over at Maya, who was currently stuffing her face with a full-stacked sandwich.
"I thought you said you were from Unova."
Maya snorted. "Dude, why are you so suspicious?"
Gwyn grimaced at the five-star view she was getting of the mashed-up sandwich in Maya's mouth.
Maya rolled her eyes. She gulped down the last morsel of food, thoroughly chewing on it. "I got cousins in every region. Kanto, Hoenn, Kalos; you name it! Besides," she smacked her lips lightly, "you could just pick up a book and read about pokemon from other regions, ya know."
"I don't appreciate your condensing tone."
"And I don't appreciate your rotten attitude, missy. But you gotta make due with what's given."
Gwyn scoffed. "That doesn't even make any sense."
"Stop! Let's…L-let's all just stop fighting, okay?" Lucy rubbed at her eyes tiredly after making her plea.
"Whatever," Gwyn crossed her arms over her chest. "So," her voice sounded dull but Lucy could make out her curiosity, "What type is it?"
"Dual type. Dragon and Flying!" Maya patted at the ground beside her and Meinshao. "Want some sandwiches, guys?"
Lucy stared at her incredulously. The teenager seemed as chipper as ever, as if the previous squabble hadn't even occurred. She nodded, but fidgeted uneasily as Gwyn sat next to her.
"What types of sandwiches do you have?"
"Turkey and swiss on rye." Maya dove her hand into her bag and took out two more sandwiches. She lightly unwrapped the aluminum foil covering the food.
"Thanks," chirped Lucy.
"Uh, do you have peanut butter and jelly by any chance?"
"Turkey and swiss on rye. That's all I got, kid."
"Swell," Gwyn said sarcastically. "Well, it's like you said. 'You gotta make do with what's given'."
Maya cackled wickedly. "You're a pretty fast learner, kid!"
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~XX~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
Maya huffed out a heavy breath before patting at her stomach. "Whew," she adjusted her arms behind her head and wriggled her back even closer to the ground. "I'm stuffed."
Gwyn glanced down at her with a mocking smile. "You ate like a Swinub. Of course you're stuffed."
"Ugh, what was my sandwich count?"
Lucy plopped herself onto the ground next to Maya and the curled up Mienshao. Chikorita lay her head comfortably against Lucy's bulging stomach.
"Urf, Five."
"You ate like a Swinub too, red-head."
Maya suddenly shot up from where she lay. "Let's battle! That's the best way to burn this unexpected weight gain!"
"Unexpected. Really?"
Maya disregarded Gwyn's little quip. She stretched her arms up as far as possible, her shirt and jacket shifting up with the motion. "Okay, let's go guys!" A crack or two was heard as she arched her back.
Lucy raised her head just enough to regard the two other girls. "I'll p-pass for now. Sorry Maya," and then her head rolled onto the ground again. Igni poked inquisitively at her belly with the tip of his claw.
"Gwyn, you wanna battle me while we wait for Lucy to nurse her food-baby?"
Gwyn wasted no time in snapping her fingers, promptly answering Maya's question. An abundant amount of purplish smoke began to emerge from thin air and, soon enough, a pitch-black sphere with two eyes and a gaping, fanged mouth appeared. Its mouth curled up into a mischievous grin as it floated towards its trainer.
"Cooooool. Alright, let's do this!" Maya was in the process of retrieving a pokeball from the pocket of her jacket when Gwyn gestured her hands at her.
"Wait, wait. I wanted to fight Mienshao." Said pokemon didn't seem to be very interested in fighting at the moment. One of his ear's twitched at the mention of his name, but he remained curled up with his back facing the girls.
"Oh no. It wouldn't be fair. I'll battle you with-"
"Why wouldn't it be fair?"
One of Maya's bushy, unkempt eyebrows quirked up in amusement. "Cause…He's too strong, dude. He's from my Unova team."
"So? What does that matter?"
"It does matter, kid. He'd wipe the floor with your Gastly. He didn't help me place 8th in the Unova League just by looking cute."
Lucy gasped in astonishment. Gwyn's eyes widened; she was too impressed with the older girl's feat to argue with her.
"You placed 8th in your first league competition?!"
Maya gave Lucy a fervent nod.
"Yah. And I would of beat the guy if he wouldn't have had that Medicham on his team," she explained as her forehead creased up into a deep scowl. She glared at the ground; her mind had clearly drifted off into another train of thought.
Gwyn and Lucy shared a puzzled look between each other.
Maya snapped out of her reverie and back into reality with a quick shake of her head. "Anyways! Let's stop talking about stupid Medichams and get to battling!"
She gathered herself up, dusted off the dirt and grime from her shorts, and, with a precise flick of her wrist, threw a pokeball onto the ground.
A stocky, bipedal crocodile emerged from the device. It wore a pleasant, content look, which clashed oddly with the sharp-looking teeth jutting out of its mouth, on its teal face.
"That's a… Croconaw, right?" Lucy stared at the name that appeared on the screen of her Pokedex. Her eyes scanned over all the information about Maya's Croconaw being transferred to her Pokedex.
"Yep!" Her eyes narrowed faintly. "Heeey, don't you even think about helping little Gwyn cheat in this battle!"
Lucy attempted to ignore the warm blush starting to flood her cheeks. "N-no, of course not!"
"I don't need to cheat. Let's do this," Gwyn stated proudly.
"Alright. Croconaw! Careful with this one; it's a ghost pokemon and it's pretty slippery!"
Croconaw rolled its shoulders back and stood as tall as possible.
"Wisp, Curse!" Wisp's gaping mouth suddenly began to move rapidly as if attempting to talk. She shut her eyes for a moment, all the while still moving her mouth.
Croconaw seemed to be frozen in place; the crocodilian could have been confused for a statue if not for the fact that it fidgeted and struggled against Wisp's powers. It was when Wisp's eyes reopened that Croconaw's arms rose up to the side of its head.
"Wisp, use Lick!" Finally out of her trance, the Gastly rushed forward to run its wide tongue along Croconaw's face.
Croconaw, now out of its stupor, shuddered visibly at the sensation.
"Croconaw, show 'im your scariest face!" At Maya's command, Croconaw turned, albeit sluggishly, and met Wisp face-to-face. It curled the corners of his mouth upwards; the movement made it seem as if its fangs had grown. Its brow rolled all the way up and its eyes stretched open in an exaggerated manner. Arched forward, it held its scaly hands by the side of its jaws and made it a point to show off its claws.
Wisp, however, was completely unaffected by the blue crocodile's display. She cackled amusedly before starting to curl herself around Croconaw's body.
"Night S-"
"Oh no ya don't! Croconaw, bite 'im and keep 'im still!"
Croconaw wasted no time in biting down at the smoke-like tail trailing from Wisp's main body. It, surprisingly, maintained a good grip and, before Wisp could slip away, Croconaw began to tug her back.
"Wisp! Make yourself disappear!"
Wisp began to wriggle desperately but appeared to be in shock; her face, usually smirking in glee, was devoid of any confidence. And then something strange began to happen. Wisp's shape began to stretch out and spikes began to appear on the back of her head. She started to glow and, for a moment, only her outline remained. She continued to glow even when she was brutishly tossed towards the ground by Croconaw.
"Is Wisp…?" Lucy watched in awe from where she rested on the earth.
"She's evolving!" Gwyn exclaimed. She paced towards her backpack and reached for her Pokedex.
The ghost pokemon dizzily floated close to the ground. It was apparent, once she had stopped glowing, that her size wasn't the only thing that had been altered. A pair of disembodied hands hung in front of her and her body had extended to include an actual tail. Wisp stared at her new hands in wonder; she twisted them about in order to analyze every, little detail.
"Congrats! Ya got a Haunter!" Maya rewarded Gwyn with a thumbs-up. "But, this battle ain't over yet! Croconaw, use Ice Fang!"
"Wisp," she hastily glanced from the ghost pokemon to her Pokedex, "Use Sucker Punch!"
Wisp delivered a swift blow to Croconaw's stomach just as it leaped towards her with jaws wide open.
"Croconaw, now! Use Shadow Claw!" It clenched its teeth in pain but kept steady and lifted its hand up. All of the sudden, its hand became enshrouded by a black aura in the shape of elongated claws. It gripped Wisp with the other hand before slashing her across the side of her body.
The ghost pokemon groaned in anguish before sinking through the ground. Most of her body, except the pair of hands, just dissipated as she met the earth.
Croconaw clutched at its belly and panted with fatigue. It hobbled back, with steadfast loyalty, to stand by Maya's side.
"Good job, buddy. You did great," she praised it and gently patted it the head before returning it to its pokeball.
Gwyn silently stared at the fainted pokemon. "You're the best Haunter ever, Wisp," she said as she brought out a pokeball. "Great job! Get some well-deserved rest."
"She really did a great job! She even managed to paralyze Croconaw!" Maya grinned at the soft smile that emerged on Gwyn's lips.
"I guess it's your turn, Lucy," Gwyn casually pointed out.
"Well, I was thinking of using Specs but…"
"She's still flying?"
"Oh no; I returned her to her pokeball a while back. It's just-"
"Wait," Maya interjected, "Who's Specs?"
"Her crazy Hoot-Hoot."
Maya gave Lucy, who nodded solemnly in agreement, a curious look. "Well, what's so crazy about her?"
"W-well, for starters, she doesn't really listen to me. And she's kinda…hmmm…"
"She's a bloodthirsty bird," clarified Gwyn.
"I see…I'll tell ya what! My cousin, Merrick-"
"We know your cousin's name by now. You've mentioned it like fifty times."
Maya placed her hands on her hips and scolded Gwyn with a mere look. "I have Arceus-knows how many cousins scattered all over the place. I gotta say their names because even I lose track. Annnyways, Merrick is really good friends with a bird tamer. I think he lives in Ecruteak City if I'm not mistaken."
"A bird tamer? T-that's great!"
"That's perfect! That's where Morty is!"
"Yah; I'll call Merrick later to ask her just in case, though." Her eyes lit up for a moment. "I got an idea! Let's trade numbers!"
However, before either Lucy and Gwyn could pull out their Pokegears, Maya brought forth another pokeball from her pocket.
"But first; Step up to the plate, Lucy! Choose another pokemon and let the battle begin!"
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~XX~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
Noibat rolled across the ground, successfully eliciting a crunching sound from the pile of leaves under him. He struggled against the web restricting for a good second or two before deciding it was a fruitless venture. Instead, he opted to just snuggle further into the webbed trap and promptly dozed off.
"Wow," began Gwyn, "I've never seen anyone fall asleep that fast. I'd say that should go in Guinness."
"Wait; Guinness allows pokemon to hold records?" Maya only received a shrug in response.
The three girls stood hovering over the sleeping bat, expecting for it to at least try again. Even Igni and Chikorita kept watch over him in hopes that something would happen. When a good two minutes passed, Lucy let out a quivering sigh and returned him back to his pokeball.
Maya returned her Ariados as well. She giggled and gave Lucy a soft punch to the shoulder. "Man, you don't catch a break do you? You get all the problem pokemon."
"I-it's just him and Specs."
"And Chikorita," added Gwyn with a glance to the pokemon in question. Chikorita just ducked behind Lucy's leg in response.
"Don't t-tease her Gwyn. She's sensitive."
"Like her owner," she muttered under her breath.
If Lucy had heard the insult she chose to ignore it. "I feel like most of Noibat's problem is that he's a baby."
"Yeah, he just needs a bit more practice. And a little incentive too. Try giving him treats or something."
Lucy nodded attentively at Maya's advice.
Maya pulled out her Pokegear and waved it expectedly at Lucy and Gwyn.
The three girls huddled together to exchange numbers. Once done, Gwyn and Lucy stepped back; they looked at each other in uncertainty.
"I guess I s-should be going now," Lucy's words were barely audible. She hunched over slightly and tried to avoid Maya and Gwyn's gazes.
"So," began Gwyn, "You're gonna go that way to reach Goldenrod, right?" She pointed fixedly at the path behind them.
"Y-yeah."
Maya swiftly jumped into the conservation. "That's the wrong way, guys! Yah gotta head back from where Gwyn came from and then go west."
"I know. I came all the way over here to find her and tell her that," replied Gwyn in a begrudging tone.
Maya's face cracked a broad grin. "Awwww, so you do care! Ain't she so sweet."
Gwyn vehemently glowered at the teasing teenager.
"O-oh. Thank you, Gwyn…" Lucy twiddled her fingers nervously. She still kept her eyes on the ground, though. "Gwyn, I n-never said I didn't want to keep travelling with you. You're a great friend! I just wish you were a l-little…nicer."
Gwyn frowned. "You think I'm a good friend?"
"W-well," Lucy gave a brittle laugh, "you're the closest thing I have to a f-friend." Her chin quivered noticeably, but she titled her head down in order to conceal it.
"I guess…you're the closest thing I have to a friend, too."
"I'm sorry to interrupt this beautiful moment," Maya announced suddenly, "but I have a suggestion. Why don't you guys start over?"
"Start over?" Gwyn held her hand underneath her chin and made a humming sound.
"Yeah. Introduce yourselves to each other like you're meeting for the first time."
Gwyn stepped closer towards Lucy. Her nose made a whistling sound as she let out a sharp breath and stuck her hand out. "Hi, my name is Gwyn. I'm going to be a ghost or dark type gym leader in the future," she paused to mull over her next words. "Some people have told me I'm a bit…. insensitive, so I hope you can forgive me if I hurt your feelings."
Lucy's cheek twitched. She gripped Gwyn's hand and shook it firmly. "N-nice to meet you, Gwyn. My name is Lucy and I hope I can become a member of the Elite Four. It's okay; at least your honest about it. I…I hope, if y-you don't mind, that we can travel together."
Gwyn returned the handshake and gave her a quick nod. "That sounds nice. I was thinking about heading to Goldenrod. How about you?"
"W-what a coincidence! So was I," Lucy replied with a barely contained snicker.
"Welllll, now that you two five-year olds have stopped arguing," Maya disregarded the glares she received, "I can finally talk."
"You haven't stopped talking since we met."
"That's cause I got so much wisdom to deliver. Anyways, I just wanted to say good-luck with everything."
"What wisdom."
"Wait, you aren't coming with us, Maya?"
Maya shook her head at Lucy. "Nah; I still gotta catch that Pineco for Merrick." She glanced at Gwyn for a moment. "And, of course, the Litwick for Gwyn."
"Yeah, thanks for that. But you are going to remember to call your cousin and tell her about the whole 'Azalea Town thing', right?"
"Yah, don't worry about it. You cute, little squirts just focus on collecting your badges and leave all the police stuff to me."
The two girls gathered up their things and called for their pokemon. They turned to face Maya again and waved goodbye to the girl.
Maya froze as they caught her stuffing another sandwich into her mouth and tried to play it off. "Bye," she shouted.
"Don't think we didn't see that, Maya!"
"Maya, you're going to g-get into a food coma!"
"Shaddup! You can't tell me what to do," she replied before promptly shoving the food into her mouth.
Lucy and Gwyn just shook their heads in frustration before disappearing into the brush.