Going with the flow
"Hey, what's up? You look like someone just stole your favourite teddy bear!"
Laura jumped. She had not noticed Max's arrival. The dark-haired girl was still somewhat nervous in front of the energetic and loud boy, so she looked around for Bonnie, but her friend was nowhere to be seen.
"Well," she finally replied, "I had a bit of a disappointment this morning. I asked Nurse Joy about the next circus contest, and apparently I missed one just a few weeks ago! And it will be many months until the next one!"
"Oh, that's a bummer!"
"Yeah, I'm not sure what to do now. I mean, of course I need time to put together a good act, but…"
"You didn't plan on having so much time on your hands, right?"
"Hey Laura, here you are! What's with the long face?" Bonnie had just appeared in the pokemon centre's entry hall, bouncing energetically as usual. Laura told her what she had just learned. The Kalos girl was sympathetic, but did not seem too disturbed.
"Oh well, we'll just find a new plan. Don't worry Laura, I'm sure we won't lack for things to do while you prepare for the next contest! Come on, there's the entire Johto region to discover!"
Bonnie had opened her arms wide, and Dedenne had jumped on her head, mimicking his trainer.
"You think so?"
"I know so! We just have to take the first step, and follow the flow."
"What's the first step?" Laura asked timidly, looking at Bonnie with big eyes. Though the two of them had planned the Johto trip together, and the region had been her idea, she had not really thought about the reality of their journey before.
Before Bonnie could answer, Max interrupted: "Why don't you come with me until Violet City? That's where I'm headed next, to challenge the gym leader and get my first badge! Bonnie, didn't you say you were considering entering the Silver Conference too? That would be your chance to try! Though of course, I get first dibs on battling the gym leader."
"That's a great idea!" Bonnie replied, enthused. She laughed: "I did want to go to the next city with a gym, but I didn't know where it was yet…"
The blond girl turned to her friend: "See Laura, that's what I was talking about, there's always something coming next. Why, without that pokemon thief I wouldn't have met you, and I'd never have thought about coming here in the first place."
Laura nodded with a smile.
"Pokemon thief?" Max asked, nonplussed.
"I met Laura when she rescued me from a so-called pokemon hunter," replied Bonnie. "We'll tell you the story one of these days!"
"I'd love to travel with you both," the Hoenn girl said, before Max asked any more questions. She was not sure what to make of the look he had just thrown her at Bonnie's off-ended remark. "Sorry about my mood earlier, I can easily get myself into a funk if I don't take care!"
Max dismissed the apology with a flick of his hand.
"Can I see all your pokemon?" He eagerly asked instead. "I love to study pokemon! Do you have any others from Kalos? Besides your dedenne I mean. I have very rarely seen any Kalos pokemon!"
Both girls laughed at his enthusiasm.
"Sure," Bonnie replied. "It's a lovely idea, let's get everyone acquainted! Come out, you all!"
She threw her pokeballs in the air, and Litleo and Chespin jumped out of them. Laura's companions followed more sedately.
"Cool!" Max exclaimed, eyes shining. "A litleo and a chespin, and… err, that's an espurr, right? First time ever I'm seeing one!"
"That's Espurr," Laura confirmed, taking the grey kitten into her arms. "And you already know Swablu of course."
"What about you Max?" Bonnie asked. "Do you have any pokemon besides your treecko?"
"Oh, of course! Come out you two!" Besides the green lizard appeared a small white figure with a green head.
"Oh, a ralts!" Laura exclaimed. "They're such cuties, you're lucky!"
"Yes," Bonnie immediately agreed, "Ralts is really really cute!" She rushed to the little pokemon, engulfing it in a big hug. The ralts was startled, but it did not try to break loose.
"Ralts was my very first pokemon," Max said. "We met years ago, when I was too young to legally be a trainer, and I promised him I'd come back for him as soon as I could so we could travel together. So I did, thought the traveling part didn't happen as soon as we hoped. One day I'll swap you that story for the one about how you two met!"
"Oh, it was the same for me and Dedenne," Bonnie said, "except my big brother caught it for me. So we've been together for years, though I'm only now officially his trainer!'
Max and Ralts looked at each other. "I never even thought of that possibility," Max said at last in a wondering tone. "And neither did May, for that matter! But then, at the time it was important for Ralts to stay with his family too."
xxx
"So," Bonnie asked later, as they got out of the pokemon centre. "Where is Violet City? That's a very nice name by the way! Do you think it's because they have lots of violets there? Or maybe they like violet pokemon? Imagine a place where all pokemon are violet, how cool would that be?"
"You don't know Johto's geography at all?" Max asked incredulously. "How were you going to move around then? Violet City is north from here. It should take us a few days to get there." He smirked, and produced a little flat device from his pocket. "With this, I can always tell where I am and where I need to go! That's the very latest version of the pokenav, a gift from my sister when she heard I was going on my trainer's journey at last!"
"Hey great! It's a good thing we're with you then, we're never going to get lost!"
"Err, hopefully," Max replied cautiously, remembering another journey where the pokenav hadn't stopped him and his friends from losing their way regularly. "Not between here and Violet City anyway, the land is supposed to be mostly flat and there are villages everywhere. But I'm sorry to tell you Bonnie, I don't think there are more violet pokemon in Violet City than anywhere else."
"That's a shame, that would have been so neat. Oh well. So, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Bonnie shouted, running ahead.
"Is she always so enthusiastic?" Max asked Laura, bemused.
"Yeah, most of the time. Come on, we'll lose her if we don't follow quickly!"
The next three days were good, and they travelled quickly. They stayed in a pokemon centre and a dedicated shelter the first two nights, arriving early so that Max and Bonnie could have more time to train with their pokemon. Bonnie had suggested that they practice against each other, and Laura had wanted to watch, but Max asked them not to, as his treecko did not like to battle when there were spectators. An issue he was still working on, he admitted when both girls sent him slightly incredulous looks. One could hardly battle a gym leader without anyone watching, be it only the referee, after all! So Bonnie trained with her own companions in the meanwhile, while Laura tried to design some fun routines with Swablu and Espurr.
The weather mostly cooperated on those early days, though the second day was really cloudy, and the three companions feared they would get rained on. But the rain nicely waited until they had found shelter for the night, and the third day turned out to be quite sunny. As the afternoon wore on, they noticed that that area of the road was getting quite deserted: little traffic, and few houses. Obviously, the region directly before Violet City was more sparsely populated than they had thought.
"Max, where is the next pokemon centre?" Laura asked, looking at the declining sun.
"Hmm, let me check," he answered, taking his pokenav out of his pocket. "It's quite a long way away, unfortunately. I guess that means we're camping out tonight."
"Our first camp together! I'm sure that will be fun!" Bonnie commented with a big smile.
The three of them had already discussed the possibility. It turned out Max had some camping gear too, and between them, they should be able to be quite comfy on those occasions where shelter was unavailable.
"There is a stream ahead, we should reach it in about an hour. We could turn at the bridge and set camp on its bank, what do you think?" Max suggested, still perusing the map.
"A stream is good," Laura answered. "If we're right next to water you won't have to carry it very far for my cooking!"
Max had already confessed that he was no better in the kitchen than Bonnie, so Laura had been elected cook-in-chief by default. She had agreed with good humor, warning her friends that if she cooked, they would do the carrying and washing though! Bonnie had offered to help with pokemon food, she was better with it than with human food. Especially poffles, which she had practiced with Serena: it was fun to do, and it would be useful to know if she decided to become a performer.
A bit more than an hour later, the stream was in sight. It was a pretty big creek, bouncing between boulders and frosting their crests. A wooden bridge went over it. The three friends crossed, then, leaving the road, turned upstream at Bonnie's suggestion. After a few minutes, they came to a calmer part of the creek: a collapsed tree was acting as a dam, forming an inviting shallow pool, and a big weeping willow was screening the area, providing some privacy.
"That looks perfect for a camp!" Bonnie exclaimed.
Laura and Max agreed enthusiastically, also seeing the potential of the place.
"Laura, I'll set up our tent, you get right to cooking please, I'm hungry!" Bonnie pleaded.
"Fine, if Max brings me some water I'll get started. Espurr, Swablu, come out! Dinner isn't ready yet, but you can play while I'm preparing everything. Look how pretty it is here!"
"Espurr!"
"…blu!"
"Oh good idea, let's get everyone out!" Bonnie agreed.
xxx
Soon after, Chespin, Dedenne, Swablu and Ralts were chasing each other around the willow, while Litleo was trying to get Espurr in a mock battle. He did not succeed, but Treecko obliged, pouncing on him from behind. Bonnie, who was taking her tent out of its bag, laughed.
"Your treecko isn't shy at all, actually. I thought he would be."
"No, as long as he thinks he's playing he doesn't hesitate to be a bit forward. It's when he thinks it's a formal battle that he starts getting nervous. We're still working on that. Hey, that's a very funny-looking tent you have. Is that supposed to be a shellder?"
"Yes it is. I think it's cute" Bonnie replied defensively. "But hey, if you want help training, I'm all for it. How about a battle before dinner, if Laura doesn't need us? Treecko shouldn't be too nervous if it's just amongst us, right?"
"Hmm, ok, you've got a deal! Let's finish this quickly."
Laura, consulted, had no problems with her friends training together before dinner.
"It will be ready in about thirty minutes though, so keep it short!"
"Great! So Bonnie, I'll choose Treecko obviously. What about you?"
"Well, I was thinking Litleo, since those two had started mock-battling on their own, but you'd have the type disadvantage, it might not be so great for Treecko. Though the other two might kill me if I make them battle on an empty stomach!"
"Litleo it is, then."
At their trainers' call, both pokemon stopped playing around and ran up to them with an inquisitive air.
"How would you like to battle for real?" Bonnie asked.
Litleo was immediately enthusiastic, but Treecko appeared more unsure of himself. He glanced at Bonnie, then Max.
"Tree?"
"Hey don't worry Treecko, you'll do great! And you were already battling with Litleo earlier, how is it different?"
The little lizard seemed to consider that carefully, then nodded.
"Alright, we're ready!"
"You can start," Bonnie offered generously.
"Ok, thanks! Treecko, bullet seed!"
"Litleo, counter with ember, then follow it up with headbutt!"
The lion cub was quick on his feet, and Treecko was bowled over. He got back on his feet immediately, but Max could see that his little friend was shaken by the attack. He went on quickly, before Treecko could get more uneasy:
"Ok Treecko, let's continue! Do bullet seed again, and follow with quick attack!"
"Litleo, dodge it, then fire spin!"
Treecko was quicker this time, and a few bullets managed to find Litleo, but did little damage. The little lion responded with flames, but Treecko dodged them all.
"Fire spin again, and turn on yourself this time!" The manoeuver surprised both Max and Treecko, and the green lizard was seared badly before he could get away. He was projected again the ground and did not get up. Bonnie immediately signaled for Litleo to stop.
"Oh Treecko, are you alright?" Max had immediately run to his friend.
"I'm sorry", Bonnie said contritely, "I got carried away…"
"Not your fault, I presumed too much of Treecko. He just wasn't up to this kind of battle yet."
"Is he alright?" Laura asked. She had followed the battle from afar, and was just coming to get her friends for dinner when Treecko got hurt.
"He will be, but I wish I had something for those burns. There is no pokemon centre nearby, unfortunately."
"Hey, I have some rawst berries!" Bonnie exclaimed suddenly, remembering. "I'll get one immediately!"
Patiently, Max coaxed his treecko into eating the light-blue berry. The little pokemon grimaced: it seemed like the rawst berry was too bitter for his liking. But its effect was spectacular, and a few minutes later Treecko seemed none the worse for wear. Max seemed relieved.
"I'm glad you had the berries! Thanks Bonnie."
"Yeah, that berry was great," Laura agreed. "I don't know much about berries, but I want to learn, they're even more useful than I thought! I'll ask Nurse Joy to give me an introductory lesson at the next pokemon centre. And we should make sure we always have some of the most useful ones with us."
Her friends agreed.
"Well then, since everyone is alright now, let's have dinner, it's getting cold."
xxx
"You look worried," Bonnie said, sitting herself next to Max.
It was later in the evening. Dinner had been gulfed down by both humans and pokemon, the dishes had been done, and Laura had already retired for the night. Bonnie had been going to do the same when she noticed that Max was still up, watching the flow of the stream with a very faraway expression on his face. He almost jumped at her voice, not having heard her approach, then glanced towards the base of the willow, where all their pokemon had found comfy spots and were sleeping peacefully.
"I'm worried about the gym battle," he finally confessed after some hesitation. "Especially with Treecko. Not only is he still very unsure of himself when he battles, but the Violet City gym leader favours flying-type pokemon, so he's going to be at a disadvantage from the start."
"Well, type-advantage isn't everything," Bonnie replied. "One of the friends who I traveled with before often used type combinations that didn't look too smart on paper, and with some innovative strategies he managed to win a lot of battles this way."
"True," Max agreed, thinking about his friend Ash.
"As for Treecko, I think he just needs more training, and in different situations. Tell you what, let's stop for a few days at the next pokemon centre, so you have more time for practice. I could certainly use the time too, for that matter! And you should ask Laura to help as well, her swablu would be a good training partner if the violet city gym is a flying type one."
The blond girl fell silent for a minute.
"You seem well informed on the Johto region," she said at last. "Me, I'm just here on a whim, really. I still don't really know what I should do."
"Well, maybe a good battle will clarify things up?"
"Yeah, maybe it will." She got up. "Good night Max."
"Good night Bonnie, and thanks for the pep talk. I needed it."
"Don't mention it."
END OF CHAPTER
So, it again took me much longer than I wanted to finish this chapter. No promises as to when you'll get the next one, I learned my lesson. But I'll do my best.
I noticed no one answered my question from last chapter, which pokemon would be Max's second companion. Was it because it was too obvious? I agree, Ralts was not much of a surprise. So let's up the ante a little bit, shall we? How about this: which pokemon is going to be the first to join the three friends on their journey? And who is going to catch it?