Episode 10: The horde of sweets
According to Charlotte, the road to Ambrette Town would take over a week. Most of that time would be spent walking along route, which is known as one of the longest pathways in the Kalos region. It also rests alongside one of the largest rivers in the region, and provided Niko and his friends with plenty to watch during their journey as far as Pokémon were concerned.
Occasionally they would stop, either to eat, train, or simply rest. Niko and Charlotte in particular spent most of their time training with their Pokémon. Charlotte wanted to focus not just on her Pokémon learning new moves—Larvitar was now attempting to learn rock slide (with great difficulty) and Frillish began learning ominous wind—but also on their speed. To accomplish the second, she began jogging with her Pokémon around the area they were in. At first, she could hardly keep up with Fennekin, Skiddo, and Deerling—the fastest on her team—and stuck with some of her slower Pokémon like Smeargle and Larvitar. However, over the days following the events in Camphrier Town, she started to get faster.
Niko, on the other hand, took a different approach. Unlike Charlotte, he only had two Pokémon, and so his training was far more limited. However, Fletchinder did find a new passion for her fire abilities, often spitting out embers into the air, either to practice the move or to simply marvel at the fact that she could spew fire. Chespin, on the other hand, was still getting used to training with Niko, and still refused his help on basic things such as the evasion exercise that Niko liked to try with his new Pokémon. The Spiny Nut Pokémon, nevertheless, did enjoy using his moves, particularly if he felt like he was being threatened (or teased).
Unexpectedly, during their journey Charlotte discovered that her newly-caught Skiddo was useful for carrying bags, and that his species generally enjoyed carrying things—even other humans! Niko was the first to learn of this, and made it known as soon as he could.
"Hey, Charlotte," he began one afternoon as they exited a forest and made it to the river's edge. "Did you know that skiddo are useful for riding?"
"Really? You'd think only gogoat would be," the brunette replied.
"Nah, skiddo too," Niko replied. "You should try it!"
"Err…I don't know about that."
"Then can I try it?" Niko asked. Charlotte hesitated before summoning the Mounting Pokémon. "Hey Skiddo…can I ride you?" the small grass type Pokémon nodded, albeit confused. Niko then got onto Skiddo's back, only to find his feet were close to the ground. "Well, this looks and feels awkward."
"Maybe you're more suited for a gogoat," Warren suggested. "Or a really large skiddo."
"I'm thinking the same thing, actually. But Charlotte can definitely ride this," Niko said, dismounting in lieu of his female companion.
"Skiddo…may I?" Charlotte asked politely. When her newest Pokémon nodded happily, she too mounted the grass type. "It feels…comfortable, actually. Might need to buy a saddle if I plan on riding Skiddo more often."
"They can also carry bags, too," Niko mentioned, reading his pokédex further.
"Really now?" Charlotte asked. When Niko nodded in response, she turned to Skiddo. "Are you fine with holding our bags on occasion?" again, Skiddo nodded.
"You have a really cool Pokémon, Charlotte," Niko said as they continued walking, this time with Skiddo out of his pokéball.
"Yeah, I really do. Smeargle, Frillish, Deerling, Fennekin, Larvitar, and Skiddo…" she replied, petting the latter right behind the horns. "I got lucky."
"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity," Warren said sagely. "You had both every time."
"I suppose that's one way of looking at it," Charlotte said, looking ahead to the road in front of them. "This looks like it's been well-traveled."
"Probably because it's so long, actually," Niko commented, putting his pokédex away. "Most travelers have probably had to take this road to Cyllage City."
"By the way, Niko," Warren asked, "what's this 'Oliver' guy like? You and Charlotte didn't really mention much of him."
"Oh, Oliver? He seems pretty nice, actually. Quiet, but nice," Niko said, a slight smile emerging. "I haven't had a rival like that in some time…"
"Elliot seemed nice enough!" Charlotte replied.
"Elliot is. He's just…he likes to keep to himself."
"Fair enough. When was the last time you had a rival you liked?" Warren asked, trying to continue the conversation.
"Hoenn. I had a couple rivals then—Wally and Melinda—that I was on good terms with. And, to be fair, I was on good terms with Elliot, too, but our relationship was more cordial than friendly."
"Well, you've got that Ian guy, and now Oliver. Looks like you've got your work cut out for you this time, especially if they both enter the Kalos League too!"
"Only matters if they end up battling with me," Niko turned to Warren with a smirk.
The trio continued down the path by the river for most of the day, eventually stopping at sunset where Niko and Charlotte continued their training. While Charlotte went on a brief jog with her team of six, Niko and his two Pokémon worked on their moves.
"Chespin, c'mon, let's try rollout again! You used it against that charmander, you can do it now!" Niko pleaded, watching Chespin sit down decisively, clearly choosing to give up for the night. "If you give up, then we won't get stronger. Not me, not Fletchinder, and certainly not you. We have to put in the effort now if we want to see improvements later down the line when they actually matter."
The Spiny Nut Pokémon looked up at Niko before closing his eyes again, refusing to move. Niko then sat down next to him.
"Fine. Your choice," he said, just before he heard Charlotte scream. "Woah! Warren, did you hear that?"
"I did, let's go," he said, scrambling up onto his feet to run with Niko, Fletchinder and, for whatever reason, Chespin as well. They made it to the edge of the forest when they noticed Charlotte, five of her Pokémon, and then half a dozen floating white balls of fluff floating in the air, one of which was holding Fennekin in its elongated pink tail.
"What the hell?" Niko demanded to know.
"Everyone, attack!" Charlotte screamed. Each of her Pokémon attacked the fluffy Pokémon, prompting Niko to pull out his pokédex:
"Swirlix, the Cotton Candy Pokémon. Fairy type. Because it eats nothing but sweets, its fur is as sticky as cotton candy."
"I love cotton candy…" Niko said.
"Not the time, Niko!" Charlotte shouted just as Larvitar whipped up a sandstorm out of anger, catching everyone in it. In response, the six swirlix conjured up a strong gust of sparkling wind that, together, blew the group away, even Larvitar. "Fennekin! Use ember!"
The Fox Pokémon looked up at her captor and fired off a powerful orange fireball, hitting the swirlix in the face and causing it to instinctively let go. Fennekin fell to the ground and ran off towards Charlotte, leaping into her open arms.
"I'm so glad you're safe," she said, looking back at the swirlix who, now angry, seemed to flee back into the forest.
"What happened, Charlotte?" Warren asked as he crouched down next to her.
"We were just running and Fennekin got picked up by one of those…those…"
"Swirlix," Niko said, "they're called swirlix. And they're fairy type."
"And fairy is weak to poison and steel. I have neither of those…" Charlotte said, looking dismayed.
"And that's fine!" Niko said, patting her shoulder. "We got Fennekin, and that's what matter," he paused, "although, I do want a swirlix now."
"Because it looks like cotton candy…?" Charlotte asked jokingly.
"No!" Niko replied, looking away. "It…kinda looks adorable…but it's a fairy type, too! I've never owned a fairy type!"
"That's also true. It'd be nice, wouldn't it?"
Niko nodded. "In the morning, I'm going back for one," he decided.
Niko woke up to see Charlotte sketching her frillish by the river and Warren writing in his booklet. They were both sitting near the water, eagerly engaging in their respective arts. It brought a smile to Niko's face to see them with other hobbies and interests besides Pokémon training.
Speaking of which…Niko thought to himself, time to catch a swirlix.
He stood up, catching Charlotte's attention. She turned around to see him briefly stretch before grabbing his two pokéballs and walking off.
"You don't want to eat first?" she called out to him while continuing her sketch.
Niko stopped in his tracks. "Right…eheh, of course," he said, turning back to feed himself, Chespin, and Fletchinder. While he did so, he explained to his two Pokémon what he planned to do. "So we're going to try and catch a swirlix. It's a fairy type and by the looks of it, they travel in packs. We need to be in tip-top shape. Can you both handle this?"
Fletchinder immediately nodded, but it took a while for Chespin to agree to this. Eventually, realizing that a Fletchinder couldn't take on a horde of Pokémon by herself, he nodded as well, munching on an oran berry. Minutes later, the two Pokémon and their trainer got up and left for the forest after being wished good luck by Charlotte and Warren.
"Think he'll get one?" Warren asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Charlotte said with a slight grin as she finished sketching Frillish's tentacles.
Niko and his Pokémon slowly made their way through the forest, watching for any sign of movement nearby. At one point they saw a volbeat fly past them, which nearly scared Fletchinder, who had prepared to use ember in defense. After being calmed down, Fletchinder continued flying around to spot any sign of swirlix from above.
Eventually, Niko noticed a pink tail swishing around on the ground near a bush. Stopping his Pokémon, he slowly moved towards what he believed to be his target. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny, red-and-white pokéball. However, when he clicked the center button to enlarge it, the noise the pokéball made alerted the swirlix, who appeared from behind the bush looking confused and scared.
"Hey! Were you that swirlix from yesterday?" Niko asked, "Do you remember me?"
The swirlix nodded, looking afraid. It was also the first time Niko noticed its feet—two small ovular white shapes sticking out from its sticky skin.
"Where are your friends? Aren't there more of you?" Niko wondered, approaching the swirlix. It nodded, but as Niko got closer, he noticed five others standing behind the bush, ready to attack. "OH MY!"
He was promptly blown away by the same sparkling wind as before, knocking him, Chespin, and Fletchinder to the ground. Scrambling back up, Niko commanded his Pokémon to attack—Fletchinder to use quick attack to knock them off of their feet, and Chespin to grab them with vine whip and throw them aside. Both Pokémon attacked relentlessly, but the latter was quickly overpowered by the sparkling wind and missed his vine whip.
"Chespin, get back up! You can do it!" Niko shouted through the heavy wind. Fletchinder then managed to force a few of the swirlix to the ground and briefly knocking them out. With the help of Niko, Chespin managed to get back up and release two green vines from his neck and throw down a fourth and later fifth swirlix, leaving only one left. "Fletchinder, use peck!" Niko called out now that the sparkling wind had died down.
"Fletch!" Fletchinder dove down at the swirlix, her beak bright white and elongated. As soon as she crashed into the swirlix, knocking it to the ground, Niko brought out his spare pokéball again.
"Let's…GO!" he shouted, throwing the pokéball at swirlix. The Cotton Candy Pokémon began to glow bright red before going inside the ball and falling to the ground. It wiggled a little before ultimately clicking, an indication that it had been successfully capture. "Well done, you two," Niko said to Fletchinder and Chespin. "Especially you, Chespin. We couldn't have done it without you."
Chespin scratched his head nervously, as if embarrassed. Niko looked around to see the swirlix rising from the ground, looking genuinely saddened by the capture of their friend.
"Don't worry, swirlix—your friend is fine with me," Niko said in a kind tone. "I'm going to do everything in my power to keep this swirlix safe. And one day we might come back and visit, and it'll be so much stronger. I promise you that."
The swirlix looked at Niko suspiciously before nodding their approval. Niko and his Pokémon had beaten them in battle; they couldn't deny that. Nodding, Niko summoned his newly caught swirlix.
"Hi, my name is Niko. These are my other Pokémon, Fletchinder and Chespin. We're currently travelling the Kalos region, collecting gym badges and hoping to enter the Kalos League next spring. I'd like for you to join me; you seem strong, and that's why I caught you. We might come back here for a long time, so I wanted to give you a moment to say bye to your friends."
Swirlix nodded before waddling around (it was on its feet on the ground) and looking up at its five other friends. They all floated down to the ground and began talking to each other in a language Niko couldn't quite understand, but Chespin and Fletchinder did, and seemed moved by it. From what Niko got from the dialogue, his new swirlix was leaving his close friends (or family) to move on with Niko. It made him, in a way, feel bad about splitting up a group for his own interests.
Niko then crouched to the ground to address his swirlix. "Look, I'm sorry if I'm making you leave your friends. If you want to stay, you can. But if you come with me, I promise to make sure you have plenty of new friends. I'm travelling with two other humans, and they both have a lot of Pokémon, too. We'll make sure you get along well with all of them. And, if you come with me, we'll keep training, battling, and getting stronger."
He then patted swirlix's skin, feeling the sticky, sugary exterior of his new Pokémon. He suddenly found himself having a craving for something sweet.
"Alright you three, let's go. Swirlix, it's time to meet your new friends," Niko said decisively. While he stood up, swirlix turned to its friends and said a final farewell before rising into the air and following Niko.
"You caught it?" Warren asked when he saw Niko emerge from the forest with three Pokémon instead of two.
"Yup. Everyone, meet Swirlix," Niko said, motioning to the Pokémon floating next to him. Charlotte's team side-eyed swirlix; Fennekin in particular began growling at it. "Alright, calm down everyone."
"No, they won't calm down," Charlotte said, "they're upset by the swirlix."
"I know they are, but we can move past it I'm sure."
"So am I, but let them have this," Charlotte replied as Niko walked past her. Fennekin looked like she was about to leap up and bite swirlix, but Smeargle stopped her, clearly urging restraint.
For the rest of the day the group continued on their journey to Ambrette Town, as part of a larger journey to Cyllage City. And, throughout the day, Niko kept reflecting on capturing Swirlix, wondering if it was still the right decision. Charlotte and Warren noticed this, but didn't say anything in response, hoping that whatever Niko was thinking about would subside.
For its part, Swirlix also felt some separation anxiety, but tried to hide it and put on a brave face for itself; that's what it's friend would have wanted.