CHAPTER 14 – FRIENDS AND CONNECTIONS
Brock opened the door to the hotel room, letting Ari and Dawn enter ahead of him before he swung it shut. As the clock hit eleven thirty, and the two of them made themselves comfortable on the lounge, he fetched himself a glass of water in the kitchen and drained it quickly. Just as he put the glass down on the kitchen-top he heard a small noise coming from Ash's bedroom, and he strolled over to investigate.
Ash was lying spread-eagled on his bed, deep asleep, with Pikachu lying on his stomach in a curled-up ball. A small book was lying upturned on the floor, and Brock guessed that it must have fallen out of Ash's hand as he fell asleep. He smiled and walked over to the book, and glanced at the page that it was opened to. He saw a picture of a small, purple flower, petals closed, on one side, and Brock looked over at Ash, surprised.
Since when does Ash take an interest in flowers? he thought to himself, closing the book and placing it on the bedside drawer. Then he noticed a small shape lying on Ash's chest. Brock quietly craned his neck to get a better look, and he saw the same purple flower he had just seen in the book moments ago, only this one had its petals opened. He caught a whiff of the flower's scent, and it reminded him of something deep in his memory, from something that had happened long ago, far away. He scrambled over to the book and snatched it up, riffling through the pages until he saw the picture of the flower again. He read the small paragraph on the opposite page, hoping it would provide answers.
"Kasib berries," he muttered. "Considered to have a special power in the olden days, this Berry is sometimes dried and used as a good-luck charm. Keeping a Kasib berry close by can help in warding off malevolent spirits, which seem to fear the strange aroma that the berry gives off. If a Kasib is eaten by a Pokémon in battle, the Pokémon will resist the next Ghost-type attack that would otherwise cause serious damage to it. These berries are quite firm, and when eaten…" he read, not bothering to read further. He put the book back down on the bedside table, and looked at the flower rising and falling on Ash's chest as he snored. Brock slowly moved his hand forward to take the flower and inspect it closer, but as he raised it off his chest, Ash's hand shot up, grabbing Brock's wrist with a grip of iron. Brock cried out in alarm.
"Let go," Ash whispered. Brock dropped the flower in surprise, and Ash relinquished his grip, his eyes snapping open. As he sat up, Brock staggered back, wringing his wrist.
"Ash, what's going on?" Brock asked, hurt.
Ash blinked, realising who Brock was. "Sorry, Brock," he mumbled, moving Pikachu onto a pillow. "I thought you were stealing—"
"Ash, why would I ever steal from you?" said Brock, picking up the book on the bedside. "So how come you were looking up Kasib berries? I didn't know you had an interest in them."
"I didn't—I don't," said Ash, holding up the flower. "But I wanted to know more about this flower."
"The flower of a dried Kasib berry?" puzzled Brock. "Where'd you get it from?"
Ash's cheeks went red for a moment, but Brock didn't seem to notice; he was riffling through the book again, looking for the page on Kasib berries. "I, uh, got it a souvenir shop on the way back here," he invented. "The merchant who, uh, sold it to me said it was a good luck charm, uh, but I wanted to check."
"Really?" said Brock, reading the rest of the passage on Kasib berries. "That's impressive; from what it says here about Kasibs, they're pretty rare to get a hand on as they are, but it's even harder to find them like that," he explained, pointing at the flower Ash was twirling in his hand.
"Must be a sign," said Ash, focusing on the flower. "I was pretty lucky in the first place to find one, and now I've got one to improve my luck." He laughed. Brock chuckled, and the two stared at the flower in Ash's hand for several moments.
"So how come you stormed off right after the match?" Brock asked, taking him off-guard. "You looked pretty unhappy."
Ash stopped twirling the Kasib and sighed. "Y'know how neither of us like Paul? The way he battles, the way he is?"
"Yeah," said Brock, frowning. "But I don't see how that—"
"Well, when Kaiden beat Totodile with his Feraligatr, he said 'a loss is never a job well done', and it got to me. I don't know if it was the crowd, or him, or me, but I lost it. I wanted to beat him so badly that I wouldn't have cared if I'd done it with myself going against his Marowak; I wanted to humiliate him publicly for thinking like that. And because of that, I ended up just like him and Paul," Ash said bitterly, his eyes darkening.
Brock nodded grimly. "So you feel like you sank to their level just to teach them the error of their ways? Bit ironic, don't you think?" he asked rhetorically. "Come on, Ash, everyone who's met you know that you're a kind-hearted Trainer. Paul and Kaiden aren't important, and you need to focus on winning this tournament. You can't afford to have distractions like that keeping your mind away from your main goal," he advised.
"Distractions, huh?" said Ash, smiling weakly.
"Speaking of which," Brock added slyly, "What was with you and Anabel at the start of the match? I'd always thought that I'd be the first one out of us to have a girlfriend, but well—I always thought that you were a bit of a bachelor." He smirked.
"What are you talking about?" asked Ash defensively.
"Well, come on, thousands of people in the stadium saw the two of you kiss each other, and that match probably went out to millions more on television," chuckled Brock.
"Millions?!" said Ash, his heart jumping into his throat.
"Probably, so there's not much point in you denying anything," Brock said. "Wow, first Dawn gets with Ari, and now you and Anabel—"
"What are you talking about?!" repeated Ash, throwing his Kasib on the bed.
"You two kissed each other! That usually means that the two of you are in a relationship!" said Brock, feeling like he was talking to a five-year-old.
"Well, not this time it doesn't!" challenged Ash. Brock sighed and remembered who he was talking to; Ash's knowledge in relationships was about as deep as a five-year-olds.
"Then what would you call it, 'pre-match encouragement'?" Brock retorted, snorting. Ash considered it for a moment, and then shook his head.
"Look, I don't know what it was, but it wasn't a sign that we were 'going out'. It was just a kiss, that's all; it doesn't have to mean anything," he said. "Does it?"
"When a girl like Anabel does something like that in front of that many people, you can be sure it means something," said Brock.
"Great, just great," said Ash, defeated, as he fell back on his bed and picked up the Kasib flower, twirling it again. Brock stood where he was, watching Ash as he blindly placed the berry book back on the bedside.
"What's the big deal with that flower, anyways?" he finally asked.
"It's… familiar," said Ash cryptically. He wasn't lying either; it reminded him of Anabel, and of the moment they'd had in the doorway of his hotel room. He wasn't sure what had come out of it, but now he was starting to finally get an idea, thanks to Brock. The latter realised that there was something Ash wasn't telling him, but he decided not to badger him over it. After all, he thought, there was enough on Ash's mind at the moment, with the tournament and everything else, without him being pressured further by anything on top of it.
"Well, I'm going to get something to drink," he said reluctantly, turning towards the door. "You want anything?" he asked Ash. After several moments of silence, he turned back and saw that Ash wasn't paying attention, instead staring at the small purple flower continuously turning between his fingers. His face expressionless, Brock walked out of the room.
Ash had heard what he had said, but he had been transfixed by the Kasib flower; staring at the petals whirling around as he twisted the stem, and the angle that the petals made with each other reminded him of Anabel's sweeping hair; he moved his gaze to the centre of the flower, and he thought he saw her eye gazing back at him like it had done so recently, so lovingly; and the aroma of the flower was her perfume, intoxicating his brain and driving out all other thought. He'd been so mesmerised by it all that Brock's last comment hadn't registered, and as Brock left, he continued looking at the flower, his face as expressionless as his friends.
What's wrong with me? All I can seem to think about is her… this can't be doing my chances in the tournament any good, this… obsession… then why can't I stop thinking about her?
Meanwhile, Brock, Ari and Dawn were in the dining room, discussing Ash's strange behaviour.
"So how come he went out of the stadium right after the last battle?" Dawn asked Brock.
"He thinks that he lost control of his emotions and turned into a Paul-like Trainer when he was battling Kaiden's Marowak with his Donphan," Brock explained.
"Ah," said Ari concernedly. "Well, right at the end, that Marowak was looking pretty beaten up, y'know, as good as out, and Ash didn't let up at all. He seemed to go after it even harder with Donphan."
"Maybe that's why he was so angry," Brock suggested. "Going after the win that badly, having his Donphan listen to him while he was like that."
"Yeah, I'd feel pretty bad if I did that," Dawn agreed, glancing in the direction of Ash's bedroom. Brock looked over too, and an idea came to him. He looked back over towards Ari.
"Hey, Ari, what do you know about Kasib berries?" Brock asked him inquisitively.
"A fair bit," Ari said, smiling. "What do you want to know?" he asked casually.
"How easy would it be for a souvenir stall, or a shop-salesman, to get their hands on one?" Brock said.
Ari blew out a long breath and adjusted his hat. "Well, you're not likely to find one around these parts," he said, furrowing his brow. "The soil's too dry and the climate around here is too temperate; you need somewhere a bit cooler, with plenty of water available. Not that there isn't enough water here, though," he added, chuckling. "But no, I don't think I've ever seen a Kasib berry native to this island. So shop-owners would have a hard time getting their hands on one, they'd have to go somewhere less tropical. The Tohjo Falls area has a Kasib orchard, because the soil stays moist from the waterfall, and the climate seems to be perfect for growing them," he added on a side-note.
Brock nodded, his suspicions confirmed; Ash was indeed keeping something from him. "What about a Kasib berry charm?" he asked seriously.
"Well they're even harder to get," Ari said. "I certainly haven't got one. You see, the flowers of a Kasib plant last a long time, but there's only a short period of time in their growth cycle where they can be dried properly and still keep their shape. Too early and the flower will just burn up; too late and it ends up falling apart and dissolving into powder. But there's a short window where they're just right, and once you properly heat it and let it cool and dry, they're indestructible. So you have to pick them at a fairly precise time to be able to have a proper flower that you can dry and fashion into a good-luck charm. Why do you ask?" he asked Brock after he finished, puzzled. "Are you looking to try and make one yourself?"
"No, no, nothing like that," Brock said quickly. He glanced back at Ash's room before he beckoned for Ari and Dawn to come closer. "Ash has one of them, a Kasib good luck charm, and he says he got it from a souvenir stall here a couple of hours ago, but I think he's lying."
"Lucky him," said Dawn merrily, looking at him. Ari on the other hand, leant back in his seat, rubbing his chin.
"He's got one, you say?" he said, making sure he'd heard properly.
"Yeah, do you know where he might have gotten one?" Brock asked him.
"Well, your best bet is somewhere or someone in western Kanto or eastern Johto," said Ari, standing up suddenly and walking into the kitchen. Brock heard him muttering something, so he signalled to Dawn to keep quiet, and slowly edged towards the kitchen wall and put his ear out into the open space that led into the kitchen. All he could hear were pieces, which did little to give Brock any clearer ideas about the origins of the flower.
"…near Tohjo Falls… of course… gets that scent from… smells like them… the hair… the eyes… Ash sees the connection… Psychic Pokémon… help with their Ghost… need to remember… some for Horazon… still a pretty bold move… could be wrong… should ask… make sure… very sly, An—"
Brock heard Ari break off, and he knew that he'd been spotted. He dived back to his seat and tried to salvage any hope that he might not have been found out, but as he straightened up, he saw Ari leaning on the door frame, his eyebrows raised. Brock hung his head in shame.
"I hope you've gotten something out of your eavesdropping?" said Ash, his voice indifferent.
"No—not really," Brock admitted. "Look, Ari, I'm sorry for—"
"Don't worry about apologising," Ari replied coolly. "I was going to tell you what I was thinking, but now I think I'll keep it to myself for the time being, don't you think?"
Brock knew that he would be out of line if he said otherwise, so he had no choice but to agree. "Yeah I guess so," he said awkwardly.
"Well, I've got to go for my first match," said Ari, checking the clock on the wall. "It starts in under half an hour and it wouldn't be a good look if I turned up late."
"I'll come too!" said Dawn, bounding over to join him and grabbing his hand. "Coming, Brock?" she asked with a grin.
"What—? Yeah, sure," grunted Brock as he stood up. The three of them headed out the door, and Brock closed it behind him, leaving Ash and Pikachu alone in the hotel room.
Trivia:
*When I inserted the Kasib charm into the story, it was purely intended to be just a purple flower used as a good luck charm – its purple colour was simply meant to represent Anabel. But a day later, I checked through the BerryDex on and found that Kasib berries shared the exact same properties! Talk about coincidence!
*Ari's vast knowledge of Kasib berries can be attributed to his Dusknoir; all members of the Duskull family, in the games, can occasionally be found holding Kasib berries in the wild.
*Anabel's Battle Tower is located near Tohjo Falls, which could explain where she had obtained such a rare object.
Quiz:
*In the 4th generation of Pokémon games, which number berry is the Kasib?