Chapter Ten: A Name for Bulbasaur
I had my third Pokemon and a whole day to train it. As I woke up in my bunk at the Pokemon Center, Allie appeared right in front of my face and said, "GET UP, SLEE - oh, you are up! Sorry!" She went off giggling to find breakfast and I attempted to recover from my near-heart attack. Ash and Brock, in the bunk beside mine, had been awakened by Allie's failed wake up call. Misty was already up. "Who, what, where, when?" Brock bolted up as Allie left, and Ash groggily replied, "Don't worry, Brock, it was just Allie." "Well, at least it worked for someone!" I grumbled. I got out of bed and dressed in the bathroom. By the time I was ready for breakfast, I was more awake, though not much more pleasant. That changed when Kanna and Spike gave me my plate of food. Kanna carried it on her back, and Spike held it on. Misty and Allie had thought it up, knowing I wouldn't like being woken up quite so early, and it worked to put me in better spirits. "Why'd you wake me up - or tried to, that is - so early?" I asked Allie. She looked at me like as if I had forgotten a wedding date. "You have to train extra hard so your new Bulbasaur will be ready for the gym match, remember?" I shot straight up in my seat, and began to eat as quickly as I could without choking. Ash and Brock came in right as I finished my plate. "Gee, Mist, and you say I eat quick!" "Well, I have to! I need to get training, I've already lost 20 minutes," I replied as I deposited my plate in the sink. Ash looked up, a smile on his face. "Hey, when I'm done, can Bulbasaur and I join you?" I nodded. "Sure, why not?" I left, Bulbasaur's Pokeball in hand. I gotta get him a name! I thought to myself.
~*~*~*~*~ Bulbasaur and I were outside in the park working on Vine Whip. He was almost to level 15 and learning both Poisonpowder and Sleep Powder. Those moves would come in handy against Jori's Flying types. Ash came up the hill, his Bulbasaur hot on his heels. From the sheer size of it, it must have been very advanced in both level and training. Ash's Bulbasaur looked confident as well, almost as confident as Ash himself. You have to be good to be confident, but not overconfident. "Hey, how's it coming?" Ash called as the pair made their way up the hill. "Fine, he's almost to level 15! And he can easily KO a Rattata." Ash came to stop beside me and knelt down to tickle my Bulbasaur's chin. "He looks a bit bigger." Ash looked up at me quizzically. "Have you fought any Flying types yet?" I shook my head no. "We haven't even run into any yet! How are we supposed to train for a battle against birds if they all hide from me?" Ash laughed. "I don't think they're hiding from you. You just aren't looking in the right place. Kanna knows Headbutt, right?" "Yeah, why?" "Well, have her Headbutt a tree and see what falls out." I gave Ash a look, but turned to try and find Kanna. She and Spike had decided to race each other for a bit, but now they were resting near a tree. "Hey, Kanna!" Kanna's head rose, and I heard a faint "Kan?" "Could you Headbutt a tree for me?" I asked. Kanna gave me the same look I had given Ash, but did as I asked. She got up and looked around. Finding a tree she liked the looks of, she ran at it head first and right into the trunk. I was worried she'd hurt herself, but she started shaking the tree. What should fall out but a sleeping Hoothoot! "Alright! Ok, Bulbasaur, are you ready?" "Bulba!" We ran over to Kanna and the Hoothoot as it recovered from its rather rude awakening. After a Tackle and a Leech Seed, it was finished with us and flew away. We'd won our battle against the first bird of the day! The win was also enough to put Bulbasaur up a level, and now he knew the two power moves. The only problem was, I still didn't have a good enough name for him! "Great job! I think we're almost ready to take on Jori!" I started petting Bulbasaur, and got lost in deep thought about his name. It had to fit his personality and species, but. "Hey, what's wrong?" Ash kneeled beside Bulbasaur and me. "Oh, I just can't think of a good name for Bulbasaur. It's driving me crazy, because I want him to have one by tomorrow." Ash shrugged. "Why not just call him Bulbasaur? I never named any of my Pokemon. Most people only name their favorites, anyway." "Well, yeah, but that would put Kanna and Spike over Bulbasaur as being my favorites, and that's not true. Kanna may be my favorite, but that's because of how we met. It was a once in a lifetime thing, and that's pretty special, you know? But Spike and Bulbasaur both come right after Kanna and I want them to know that. So I'm going to give them both names." Ash nodded. He seemed to understand what I meant, but not necessarily agree with it. "I understand. Either you name them all, or none, in order to be fair. Well, I'm not very good with names, but I'll try to help you out." "Thanks, Ash," I smiled at him. "There's one resource I want to try first, though."
~*~*~*~*~
"Well, how about Bubba?" "Mom! That's to, to. country! I don't want my Bulbasaur to think he's a red-neck!" My mom laughed. "Ok, then, how about, um, Lightheart?" I sighed. My mom just didn't get it. Of course, she never did. There was one point in time when she wanted to name one of our newborn Elekids Plorex. Dad wouldn't hear of it, and never even let her see its paperwork while he was naming it. We ended up calling him Sparks. "Mom, a REAL name!" "Those are real names!" Mom said, acting hurt. "Why won't you believe me?" "Because their terrible!" She sighed. "Alright, alright! How about Sprout? Is that more your style?" "Yeah. Ok, thanks Mom!" As I hung up the VidPhone, Allie walked over to me with lunch. We decided to eat in the park, so we asked Nurse Joy if we could borrow a spread and a basket, and we went for a picnic. My Pokemon were healed, so they tagged along too. Even though Kanna and Spike hadn't fought, I still wanted them in tiptop shape. If we were lucky, we'd get a battle after lunch! Allie helped me lay out the spread, and we set up the food while Kanna, Spike and Sprout played. "Do you have a name for him yet?" I smiled. "Yeah, Mom was serious for a second or two and came up with Sprout. It fits him, too, 'cause he's just starting to gain momentum. He'll be great with some time and practice." "Hmm. Sprout, I like it! It does fit him. Hey, guys and gal! Time to eat!" Allie called to the three romping Pokemon, and they came running. "Can Furret join us too?" "Of course he can!" I laughed. "Why couldn't he?" Allie shrugged. "Just checking." She threw her Pokeball and out popped Furret. We had a great meal, and just sat around watching our Pokemon playing after that. Too bad a big mouth interrupted it.
I had my third Pokemon and a whole day to train it. As I woke up in my bunk at the Pokemon Center, Allie appeared right in front of my face and said, "GET UP, SLEE - oh, you are up! Sorry!" She went off giggling to find breakfast and I attempted to recover from my near-heart attack. Ash and Brock, in the bunk beside mine, had been awakened by Allie's failed wake up call. Misty was already up. "Who, what, where, when?" Brock bolted up as Allie left, and Ash groggily replied, "Don't worry, Brock, it was just Allie." "Well, at least it worked for someone!" I grumbled. I got out of bed and dressed in the bathroom. By the time I was ready for breakfast, I was more awake, though not much more pleasant. That changed when Kanna and Spike gave me my plate of food. Kanna carried it on her back, and Spike held it on. Misty and Allie had thought it up, knowing I wouldn't like being woken up quite so early, and it worked to put me in better spirits. "Why'd you wake me up - or tried to, that is - so early?" I asked Allie. She looked at me like as if I had forgotten a wedding date. "You have to train extra hard so your new Bulbasaur will be ready for the gym match, remember?" I shot straight up in my seat, and began to eat as quickly as I could without choking. Ash and Brock came in right as I finished my plate. "Gee, Mist, and you say I eat quick!" "Well, I have to! I need to get training, I've already lost 20 minutes," I replied as I deposited my plate in the sink. Ash looked up, a smile on his face. "Hey, when I'm done, can Bulbasaur and I join you?" I nodded. "Sure, why not?" I left, Bulbasaur's Pokeball in hand. I gotta get him a name! I thought to myself.
~*~*~*~*~ Bulbasaur and I were outside in the park working on Vine Whip. He was almost to level 15 and learning both Poisonpowder and Sleep Powder. Those moves would come in handy against Jori's Flying types. Ash came up the hill, his Bulbasaur hot on his heels. From the sheer size of it, it must have been very advanced in both level and training. Ash's Bulbasaur looked confident as well, almost as confident as Ash himself. You have to be good to be confident, but not overconfident. "Hey, how's it coming?" Ash called as the pair made their way up the hill. "Fine, he's almost to level 15! And he can easily KO a Rattata." Ash came to stop beside me and knelt down to tickle my Bulbasaur's chin. "He looks a bit bigger." Ash looked up at me quizzically. "Have you fought any Flying types yet?" I shook my head no. "We haven't even run into any yet! How are we supposed to train for a battle against birds if they all hide from me?" Ash laughed. "I don't think they're hiding from you. You just aren't looking in the right place. Kanna knows Headbutt, right?" "Yeah, why?" "Well, have her Headbutt a tree and see what falls out." I gave Ash a look, but turned to try and find Kanna. She and Spike had decided to race each other for a bit, but now they were resting near a tree. "Hey, Kanna!" Kanna's head rose, and I heard a faint "Kan?" "Could you Headbutt a tree for me?" I asked. Kanna gave me the same look I had given Ash, but did as I asked. She got up and looked around. Finding a tree she liked the looks of, she ran at it head first and right into the trunk. I was worried she'd hurt herself, but she started shaking the tree. What should fall out but a sleeping Hoothoot! "Alright! Ok, Bulbasaur, are you ready?" "Bulba!" We ran over to Kanna and the Hoothoot as it recovered from its rather rude awakening. After a Tackle and a Leech Seed, it was finished with us and flew away. We'd won our battle against the first bird of the day! The win was also enough to put Bulbasaur up a level, and now he knew the two power moves. The only problem was, I still didn't have a good enough name for him! "Great job! I think we're almost ready to take on Jori!" I started petting Bulbasaur, and got lost in deep thought about his name. It had to fit his personality and species, but. "Hey, what's wrong?" Ash kneeled beside Bulbasaur and me. "Oh, I just can't think of a good name for Bulbasaur. It's driving me crazy, because I want him to have one by tomorrow." Ash shrugged. "Why not just call him Bulbasaur? I never named any of my Pokemon. Most people only name their favorites, anyway." "Well, yeah, but that would put Kanna and Spike over Bulbasaur as being my favorites, and that's not true. Kanna may be my favorite, but that's because of how we met. It was a once in a lifetime thing, and that's pretty special, you know? But Spike and Bulbasaur both come right after Kanna and I want them to know that. So I'm going to give them both names." Ash nodded. He seemed to understand what I meant, but not necessarily agree with it. "I understand. Either you name them all, or none, in order to be fair. Well, I'm not very good with names, but I'll try to help you out." "Thanks, Ash," I smiled at him. "There's one resource I want to try first, though."
~*~*~*~*~
"Well, how about Bubba?" "Mom! That's to, to. country! I don't want my Bulbasaur to think he's a red-neck!" My mom laughed. "Ok, then, how about, um, Lightheart?" I sighed. My mom just didn't get it. Of course, she never did. There was one point in time when she wanted to name one of our newborn Elekids Plorex. Dad wouldn't hear of it, and never even let her see its paperwork while he was naming it. We ended up calling him Sparks. "Mom, a REAL name!" "Those are real names!" Mom said, acting hurt. "Why won't you believe me?" "Because their terrible!" She sighed. "Alright, alright! How about Sprout? Is that more your style?" "Yeah. Ok, thanks Mom!" As I hung up the VidPhone, Allie walked over to me with lunch. We decided to eat in the park, so we asked Nurse Joy if we could borrow a spread and a basket, and we went for a picnic. My Pokemon were healed, so they tagged along too. Even though Kanna and Spike hadn't fought, I still wanted them in tiptop shape. If we were lucky, we'd get a battle after lunch! Allie helped me lay out the spread, and we set up the food while Kanna, Spike and Sprout played. "Do you have a name for him yet?" I smiled. "Yeah, Mom was serious for a second or two and came up with Sprout. It fits him, too, 'cause he's just starting to gain momentum. He'll be great with some time and practice." "Hmm. Sprout, I like it! It does fit him. Hey, guys and gal! Time to eat!" Allie called to the three romping Pokemon, and they came running. "Can Furret join us too?" "Of course he can!" I laughed. "Why couldn't he?" Allie shrugged. "Just checking." She threw her Pokeball and out popped Furret. We had a great meal, and just sat around watching our Pokemon playing after that. Too bad a big mouth interrupted it.