Chapter 21: Becoming an Avid Listener

November

Wally was making terrific progress. He had a Pokemon team that he loved; they loved or were growing to love him. Along with the Swablu (now an Altaria), the Magneton, and Sandy the Vibrava, he had a Roselia and a Skitty. They put forth their best efforts in battle and he treated them well, making sure they were happy. His parents still sent him long letters of advice, but he didn't follow them unless it was something he felt comfortable with.

With the help of Altaria, he spent weekdays on the League Challenge and weekends volunteering at the Fortree Ranch. The workers there liked him and were willing to answer any question he had, even if he felt it was a dumb one. And unlike his parents, they didn't pressure him with unwanted advice or plans.

One Friday evening as he came in, he heard a commotion in the healing area. Something was making a lot of splashing and crashing. He walked into the hall. "Is something wrong?"

"Hello Wally," Nurse Joy said. The elf sounded shaken. "I am having some trouble with a patient."

"What is it?"

She put her hand on her chest. "If you wish to help, I will heal you of any damage done. One of the Sharpedo from our lake has been badly injured. He is frightened and attacks anything that comes close. Also, as with his kind, he cannot stop swimming or he will be in greater danger."

A Sharpedo. He had heard of them, the great gray fish of Hoenn who had rough scales and sharp teeth. They had frightened him just at the image before. But this one was hurt, so it needed help. "Okay. What should I do?"

She looked calm again as she pulled a pair of gloves out of thin air. "These will protect your hands. If you can stroke his head between his eyes, that usually calms them down. But you may wish to call your Kirlia to judge if it is safe."

"Sure." He pulled of Amigo's ball and released him, telling him what was going on as they went back to the holding tank for injured fish.

'I will help quiet this fish,' he said.

The Sharpedo was in a tank of moving water, so he could safely swim in place. A piece of metal was stuck in his left side, sticking out two inches. As they approached slowly, he watched them.

'I will see if he will talk,' Amigo said. He came closer. "Pokemon of the sea, would you listen?"

"What do you want?" he growled. "If you're here to hurt me too, I'll rip you to shreds."

"No. We're here to remove what harms you."

"You can't prove that."

"We come with one of the elves; we know they always are there to heal. It is their duty."

"Then what are you two here for?"

"We are here to assist."

"Fine, but if it hurts, you're getting hurt."

'I've got him to open up some,' Amigo related, which Wally told Joy.

"Good, thank you." She went to work.

Wally put the gloves on, then came up to the tank. After Amigo nodded, he reached in and began petting the Sharpedo. "This won't take long," he said in a soothing voice. "Brace yourself."

Joy pulled out the metal shard, then immediately put a healing spell over the wound. The Sharpedo glanced between them, but didn't fight back again. After a few minutes, he was whole again. A pair of gray scales came off in Wally's gloves. They looked interesting, so he stuck them in his pocket. Amigo was pleased enough that he got a gold aura around him.

"Good work," Joy said. "You have a real talent for calming nervous Pokemon and understanding them."

"Amigo helps me, and I don't want to scare anyone. Especially not an injured Pokemon."

The elf nodded. "I still think you ought to find a way to develop your talent. I wish to thank you both for helping me. I will allow your Kirlia to evolve."

'Now?' Amigo asked, puzzled.

"You have the aura sign," Wally pointed out.

'But I don't feel it's time...' he frowned in puzzlement.

"It is not the right time," Joy agreed. "Within his race, the males are particular about always and only evolving at dawn. It is their tradition."

"Oh. That's odd."

'Not really. The rising sun is very important to us.'

"Until then, there is something you both must consider." She twisted her hand and made an encyclopedia volume appear. "Here."

Wally opened the encyclopedia to an entry on the Ralts family. He sat down to skim the article; Amigo got up on the sofa's arm and looked as well. A row of pictures pointed out the issue. "The males have two forms they can evolve into?"

Joy sat on the couch beside them. "Yes. The default is the same as the females, a Gardevoir, which is a strong Psychic that relies on spells and prefers to fight defensively. A Gardevoir has vivid precognitions and a greater degree of emotional empathy. But there is also the form exclusive to males, the Gallade. A Gallade prefers to fight offensively and is more capable of physical skills. He is much stronger physically than a Gardevoir, but has a weaker precognition and empathy. You must chose which path to take, Kirlia, before dawn comes, for I will have to know which way to guide you."

Amigo was outside with his teammates while Wally was checking up on some of the Ranch Pokemon. It was a tough decision ahead of him. He wasn't sure which way was right. There were some obvious advantages to choosing the male form, especially others no longer mistaking him for a female. But there were reasons to choose the other path too.

Bit crackled as he hovered nearby. "Hey."

Amigo looked up at him. "What is it?"

"You're a bad leader."

The Roselia, who refused to acknowledge any nickname, snickered.

"But I'm not the leader," Amigo said. "Wally is our Trainer and leader."

The Magneton lowered himself. "But you're the first Pokemon he caught."

"Yes, I am."

"So then you're our leader. Except you're horrible at it."

"Oh don't be mean," Altaria said, lifting his head up from preening. "Amigo's a good listener."

"He's really sentimental," Roselia countered, fussing with her red rose hand. "Wally's not much better. It's okay, I guess, but where's the drive to win?"

Altaria whistled, indicated that he didn't agree. "He's concerned for us; how can that be a bad thing?"

Amigo nodded. "Yes, he wants to make sure that we can be our best. Certainly you wouldn't want to be with someone obsessed with battling."

"We'd get powerful more quickly," Bit said.

Right, he did just care for battling. Amigo shook his head. "But there's more to life than just being powerful."

"Only suckers and weaklings say that," Bit retorted, causing Roselia to laugh again.

"Oh, can't you consider what other people might think?" the Kirlia snapped, then teleported off a short ways.

He could hear them laughing again. Amigo sighed. He really had to work on restraining those outbursts of anger. It wasn't polite for him to be acting that way. Still, sometimes he could hardly keep from lashing out.

Before long, Altaria landed by him. "There you are."

"Sorry about that."

The bird bumped his head in a friendly manner. "No need to be sorry to me. They're not very good at being team players."

"You're right." He put his hand to his cheek. "Altaria, do you think I'm a bad leader?"

"No. Like I said, you listen and are patient. At least, more patient than them."

"Thanks. I could try harder at it, I guess, but that would mean finding some way to strengthen our team's unity."

"I'll help you, and I'm sure Sandy will too. She's a nice Pokemon." He tilted his head. "I'm not so sure about Meg, though, cause she always seems scatterbrained."

Amigo nodded. The Skitty was easily distracted and had not been helpful in working out his weakness to attraction magic. Would his evolved form be able to handle that better?

"What's the matter?" Altaria asked. "You're scatterbrained today too. You should be happy that you're close to evolving."

"I am, but I've got to figure out what I want to evolve into."

He chirped. "Whoa, you get a choice? That's awesome."

"I suppose. I'm not sure which one would be better." He telepathically sent the images he'd seen in the book to Altaria.

The bird considered. "Huh. Well, it's just my thoughts, but..."

"What is it?"

"We're gonna be working here with Wally, right? And many of the Pokemon around here are like I was, scared of stuff even if it's nonsense. I think the Gallade is rather intimidating with those blades."

"They would be retractable, I'm certain of that."

"It's still intimidating to Pokemon that would be scared of the smallest things. I mean, I'm sure both forms are really powerful, but I would have been more comfortable being around a Gardevoir than a Gallade."

"That is something else to consider. I have until dawn; I think I'll know by then."

Amigo was sitting by the window when Wally woke up. "Are you ready?"

'Yes.' He turned from watching the predawn light. 'I want to be a Gardevoir, if it's all right with you.'

Wally patted his head. "It's what you want to do. I know you've been thinking about it."

'I have. Some of the others wanted me to be more aggressive, but Altaria pointed out that while working here, I might want to be more approachable. But it was something else that made the choice for me.'

He checked his uniform, as he had agreed to work an early shift. "What was that?"

'I must have drifted off to sleep for a bit, because someone spoke to me. It said something strange. Go one way, he won't speak. Go one way, he will speak. Whatever he does, it splits the path of destiny.'

"That sounds kind of like what Darkrai was talking about, when he told Steven and I that a rock would fall across our paths, but we could switch rocks, and therefore destinies."

Amigo nodded. 'Something in the future depends on whether I'm a Gardevoir or a Gallade. I think the Gardevoir is the better choice.'

"We'll never really know, so we have to go with what we've chosen. Okay. Let's go to the nurse's station."

As Wally left the Mossdeep Gym with his seventh badge, the twin Leaders came after him. "Wait a moment," Liza said.

"We just thought of something," Tate went on.

"What is it?" Wally didn't want to say it, but the twinspeak was kind of spooky.

"You have one of the psychic gifts," Liza started.

"A knack for understanding and listening,"

"To the point of knowing a Pokemon even without your Gardevoir."

"But if you truly want to know what Pokemon say,"

"You'll need some help."

"I could know what Pokemon are actually saying?" Wally asked.

"Certainly, with a certain charm."

"You have two scales from a Sharpedo?"

"Oh, yes." He pulled them out of his bag. "I was helping heal one that was scared."

"That is a good start," Tate said.

"Now you need a few other items to make a pair of earrings."

"Fragments of the shell on a wild Bagon's forehead, enough to make small circles within those,"

"Two pearls from a Grumpig, given willingly by the Pokemon."

"And two hairs from a Gardevoir."

"That one should be simple."

Wally nodded. "Yeah. So I have to find a wild Bagon and a Grumpig."

Tate pulled a pen out of his pocket and twirled it. "We'll send you the instructions in a few days, but go to a jeweler, most likely in Lilycove, and have them make a set of earrings with them."

"Then bring them back here and we will help you enchant them."

"Then when you have them pierced into your ears,"

"You'll know exactly what Pokemon say to each other."

"Great, thanks! I'll get to work on that."

"Good luck," the twins said, then went back inside.

Since he managed the twins well enough, Wally went to Sootopolis the next day and took the underwater ferry to reach the hidden town. The fight against Wallace was tough, but he earned the badge. As he came out of the Pokecenter, he found a Grumpig.

There were three grassy fields in the dormant volcano where the sun shone through. On the field below the Pokecenter, an artist was absorbed in painting. His Grumpig had wandered off; she looked bored as she sat in the grass and plucked it. She was pretty in her own way, with black skin that grew black pearls. Carefully, Wally approached her. "Hi."

The Grumpig looked up at him. 'What?'

He sat by her. "I just thought you looked bored and decided to give you some company. Is that your Trainer?"

She sighed. 'Yes. I like him, but he's going to be like that for hours. Sometimes he paints me; I don't mind that. But there'll be nothing for me to do today.'

"I'm Wally. I have to wait another day before I can do anything, so I don't have anything to do either."

'Well thanks for talking to me. He calls me Cassie.'

Wally opened his bag and pulled out a green ball. "Want to play catch?"

She twitched her nose. 'Sure.'

Cassie played and talked with him for a good hour, until the sun's light began to climb the inner wall. "I'd better go check into the center and talk with my own Pokemon," he told her, putting the ball away.

'Okay, Wally. What will you be doing?'

"Actually, I'm looking to make a pair of enchanted earrings, so I can listen to all Pokemon."

'Are you sure you want that? Pokemon vary widely in intelligence and temper. Some of the others will talk way over your head, while others repeat mindless chatter endlessly.'

"I know, but I've always wanted to be able to talk like this with any Pokemon, psychic or not."

She tapped her hoof on the ground. 'You are a nice person. Okay, here.' She plucked off two small pearls and handed them over.

"Thank you, Cassie."

'You're welcome. Just don't tell anybody.' She glanced at her Trainer. 'Especially him.'

"I won't. It's our secret."

The Grumpig winked, then ran over to the artist.

December

At the top of Meteor Falls, a member of the Dragon Tamer Clan led Wally to where the wild Bagons lived. "You just want part of their shell?"

He nodded. "I'm happy with my team, thanks."

The little dragons lived on the top levels of the mountain, by its spring. They would sprint off the tall cliffs and fall head first onto the ground below. But they didn't seem fazed by the cliff diving. They seemed to be enjoying it.

"Why do they do that?" Wally asked.

"All Bagons dream of flight; if they grow strong and develop right, they can fly as a Salamence. But at this stage, all they can do is jump off cliffs." He shrugged. "They're stubborn that way, and some of them aren't too bright. We advise new tamers to observe them carefully for one that is fairly young. Even if they take a long time to train, it's worth the wait."

After a while of their watch, one Bagon did not leap back up the mountainside. Instead, she began scratching at her shell. Part of it had cracked and was coming off. It must bother her, Wally thought.

"Be careful, kid," the tamer said.

He nodded and approached slowly. He made sure to be right in front of her, to be less threatening. Also for that reason, he kept his hands down and open, his steps slow but steady, and his gaze not quite at her.

She noticed, of course. She didn't growl, just kept an eye on him while she dealt with the cracked shell. When he was close enough, he knelt down to be closer to her eye level. The loose piece looked small, but it would be the right amount for his project. He spoke softly, like he did when approaching new Pokemon at the Ranch. "Hi. It's okay, I'm not here to hurt you."

The Bagon looked at him, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth. Wally held his hands up and let the dragon sniff them. Once she seemed all right with that, he brushed one hand against the broken shell. It seemed there were no nerves in the shell, but the broken bit was pushing into the skin underneath and irritating her.

Wally tugged at the broken piece, taking it off. He carefully plucked out pieces that remained, then cast Cure over it. It took him a minute to cast the spell. Once she no longer felt the itch, the Bagon made a pleased half-bark and gently nipped his hand. Then she jumped back up the cliff to rejoin her peers in cliff diving.

"I haven't seen a wild Bagon that tolerant of anyone in a long time," the dragon tamer said.

"The methods to calm one Pokemon usually work for others," Wally explained. "Most will let someone who speaks calmly and softly approach them."

Wally went to Lilycove to put the earrings together, then went to Mossdeep to get them enchanted. Then he had to go back to Lilycove to find someone to pierce his ears with them.

Eager to try it out, he called out Amigo. He touched the earrings, with the gray Sharpedo scale backing the white Bagon shell which held the black Grumpig pearl. A thin green hair from Amigo held them together. "I've got them now. I can't take them off or the enchantment will break, but I think they look neat."

"That is so," Amigo said. "But shouldn't you test it on a Pokemon you don't know?"

"True. Well there's plenty of Pokemon here." He looked around.

Amigo tapped his shoulder and pointed to a Tentacruel floating in midair near a teenaged girl in a red dress. The girl, who was really attractive... no, that wasn't important right now. The Tentacruel was rubbing its tentacles together in a method of cleaning itself out of water. Wally went up to the Tentacruel.

"Hello," he said.

"Hi, green boy," the Tentacruel responded. "I don't think she'll talk to you."

"Why not?"

It turned to look straight at him. "Hmm? You can understand me?"

He nodded and touched his ears. "Yeah, I can. So why won't she talk?"

"She's rude, a snot, and a snob. Oh, but could you tell her something for me? I've been dying to tell her in some way."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Tell her that her butt is fat."

Wally turned pink. "Ah, ahem, I don't think I can do that."

The girl then spun around and looked at him. Her face was as pretty as the rest of her, although there was a definite snobby attitude. "And just what are you doing, talking behind my back, literally?"

He touched his cheek bashfully. "Um, I was talking to your Tentacruel here. He's, uh, kinda quirky, isn't he?"

"Oh, you can understand Pokemon?"

He nodded. "Yeah, my earrings let me do so."

She smiled. "Incredible. Where can I buy those kind of earrings?"

"You can't buy them."

"Will you sell them to me?"

He shook his head. "No, I just got my ears pierced with them. You can make your own. You need two hairs from a Gardevoir, two pearls from a Grumpig, two scales from a Sharpedo, and a piece of a wild Bagon's shell, all willingly given."

"Oh. That's an awful lot of work. I think I'll pass."

The Tentacruel bobbed in the air. "Come on, tell her, tell her!"

"What are you so excited about?" she asked.

Wally scratched his head. "Well, um, he kinda asked me to tell you something, but it's not exactly nice. I mean, it's his opinion, not mine."

"What's he said about me?"

"He, um he said your butt is fat."

"WHAT?!" She went to punch Wally, but Amigo pulled him back in time.

"That was a dangerous thing to say," the Gardevoir noted.

"Did you really tell him that?" she asked the Tentacruel, glaring at him.

"And it's absolutely true!" he replied merrily, nodding by bouncing up and down quickly.

"That's it! I've had enough of you. You're going right back into that ocean." She stormed off.

The Tentacruel chuckled. "Hey, thanks buddy. Here." He handed over a pink scale shaped like a heart. "Give that to your girlfriend, alright? Good luck." He rushed after his Trainer and smacked her with a tentacle.

"Well, it helped the Tentacruel, at least," Wally said.

His mom nearly fainted when she saw him enter the house. "W-Wally, what have you done?"

"I got my ears pierced, mom," he said, secretly enjoying her shock. "They're enchanted so that I can hear the language of Pokemon. But I can't take them off or they won't work anymore."

"Oh well, I suppose, if you must leave them in."

"They'll be a great help at the ranch."

"I hope the place you got them in is reliable," she said, not certain what else to talk about.

"They were great; it was called The Biker's Tattoo and Piercing Parlor. They offered to give me a nosering too."

He could make out her silently thanking the spirits that he hadn't accepted that offer. But that relief was short lived. "You didn't get a tattoo too, right?"

"No, but I thought about it. They had some neat designs."

"No, don't."

"Aw mom, I'm almost eighteen. I can do this if I want."

"Just don't."

His father wasn't so grateful that he hadn't come back with a tattoo. "Proper boys don't do that sort of thing."

"It's a magic tradition," he argued. "Nobody in Lilycove thought I was strange for getting them in."

"That's Lilycove and this is Petalburg. You are not keep those."

"They're for my job. They're going to take me on officially and give me thirty hours a week until I've got enough experience for full time."

He sighed. "You were always a proper young man, doing the right things. What happened to you?"

Wally bit his lip, but his anger wouldn't stay back for long. "I went out and figured out what I wanted to do instead of what you two are always pushing me to do!"

"We're always thinking of your best interests," his mother said, but weakly.

"You can always try next year to be a Mage," his father added, missing the point. "There's still time and you were almost chosen."

"Well maybe I wasn't chosen because I didn't want to be. I never wanted to become a Mage and I'm not trying next time. I like what I'm doing right now."

That was absolutely it. "In that case, just leave and go back on your own," he said sternly.

"Fine." Wally stormed out of the house.

But now he wasn't sure what to do again. He went next door to the Brown's home. They were more accepting of his chosen way, his earrings, and of who he was. "Maybe all of you just need time to think over what's happened in the past year," Norman said. "In the meantime, you're welcome to stay here."

"Thanks." He looked down at his hands. "I didn't even get to tell them that I was going to challenge the Elite 4 this weekend."

"That could change their minds about you," Kiri said.

"I hope so."

Later, Kiri asked, "So those earrings let you hear Pokemon? Do you want to come with me for a couple of days to Rustboro?"

"What for?"

"Samba wants to visit his parents at the lake, just to let them know how he's doing. Choora told me about it, and I see no reason why not."

"That could be interesting. Okay, we'll go tomorrow."

Kiri and Wally made it through Petalburg Woods quicker this time, partly due to Surefoot and partly due to Wally's better strength. Samba walked alongside them the whole time, excited. At the lake outside Rustboro, he asked around until some other Lotads found his parents.

His mother had evolved into a Lombre too, mostly by age, and nuzzled him when she recognized her son. His father was still a Marill, still hopping along happily. And they had a new child, a little Azurill girl who bounced up on her tail. "So my big brother is real big," she said.

"And strong too," Samba said. "I've been to all sorts of places and been in all sorts of battles."

"That's great," the Marill said in relief. "We worried about how you were doing out there and if you still thought of us."

"I think about you lots, which is why I came."

"They're not that much different then human families," Wally whispered to Kiri. "I wonder what exactly makes the difference."

"Maybe if you listen a lot, you can find out," she whispered back.

Then another Lombre came out of the lake. This one had a faded lilypad, as if he was an elder. Which he was. "And what are you doing back here?"

"Just visiting, Grandad," Samba said. "I've been away for a long time."

"And you left without consulting me."

"Aw, come on. Lots of Lotads leave with Trainers. I just happened to leave with a Mage."

"Are you challenging my authority?"

"Well, not exactly, but I'm not going to stay, cause I have to stay with Kiri, no matter what you say."

Grandad Lombre growled. "Then you do challenge me. Then we must fight, without your human."

"He just challenged Samba to a fight," Wally said. "Without you."

Samba was looking back at them. "But..."

Kiri clapped her hands together. "I believe in you, Samba! Give it your best."

With that, he smiled and turned back to Grandad. "Okay, then, a battle with you."

The old Lombre grunted and climbed onto the wooden footpath over the lake. "In case your addled brain has forgotten, fights around here are decided by who can knock the other off the bridge and keep them from climbing back on for a count of ten."

Samba got onto the footpath as well. "I remember."

A trio of Taillows descended onto the path. "Woooo, fight!" one called.

"You birds keep count or I'll chomp on your feathers," Old Grandad snapped at them.

The three laughed, not terribly concerned by the threat. "Okay dokay," they agreed.

Old Grandad turned to Samba and put his front paw down firmly. After taking a deep breath, he shouted, "AND NOW YOU'LL PAY FOR YOUR INSUBORDINATION!"

His voice was so forceful that he got echoes from the trees surrounding them. Everyone there cringed, not at the volume, but at the aura that infused every word to be powerful. Recovering from the shock quickly, Samba matched his power by responding, "INSUBORDINATION? IS THAT WHAT YOU CALL THINKING FOR YOURSELF?"

Wally had his hands over his ears, but it didn't help much. "Yikes, I wasn't expecting them to do that."

Kiri traced a symbol in the air, putting a shielding spell over their ears. "You like Uproar? I just hope no one's trying to sleep around here."

The initial argument of Uproar was always most powerful, but the two Lombres continued their shouting match. "Most people aren't meant to think for themselves and you're one of them!" Grandad countered.

"Well then what makes you absolute ruler of the lake when you're just a stubborn old crank?"

"You ought to respect your elders and do as you're told, nitwit!"

"Why should I respect you when you've shown no respect for anyone else?"

"I've survived fifty harsh years while you're just a year from your egg. I deserve respect for that and you don't deserve anything! There's no reason why being with some human would make you better than me!"

Not well-practiced with the skill, Samba calmed down out of Uproar. Thinking quickly, he cast Surf and summoned a large wave out of the lake to crash into Old Grandad. The wave knocked him, and unfortunately some watching Pokemon, off the footpath and into the lake. "That's something that you'll never learn if you don't bond with a human!" he called out. Then he looked to the birds. "Count!"

The Taillows squawked. "Yes, yes, count!"

"One... two... three... uh, three... hey, what comes after three?"

"Beats me."

"Four," Wally told them.

The Taillow flicked his tail. "I knew that! Four! Uh... four... ten, you're out!"

"Samba wins!" one of the Lotads called. "And that makes him the leader of the lake!"

Others cheered. Injured, Grandad looked around. "Do you all disrespect me?"

"You're annoying, and bossy, and rude."

"Yeah, you only ruled cause nobody could beat you, but now this Lombre has. So you have to leave our lake!" Others cheered this idea.

Grumbling, he swam off and went into the woods. "Ungrateful nutcases. Just wait till something bad happens; then they'll want me back." Before long, he was gone.

"But I can't rule the pond," Samba said. "I have to stay with Kiri."

"But then who's in charge?"

Samba scratched his head, then nodded. "I know. My mom and dad will rule the lake. They're good Pokemon."

"We will do our best," the Marill said.

"Yes, certainly," the Lombre added.

He did a backflip, gaining a blue aura as he did so. "Great! Then I'm glad I helped."

Most of the Pokemon, save for Samba and his family, went back into the lake. Kiri came up to them. "Good work. And I think it's time you had this." She pulled out the Water Stone she had been saving.

"That smells good." He ate it. After a moment, the blue light of evolution surrounded him. This time, he transformed a lot, becoming bipedal, growing a more pronounced beak, growing long yellow-orange body hair, and turning his shallow lilypad into a triangular sombrero. "Yes, now I can really dance!"

"Wow, you look funny," his sister said, bouncing along beside him.

"You ought to go with a Trainer some time," he replied. "You might becoming funny looking too."

"Okay, I'll look for one."

"It's good to see you've reached our full potential," his mother said. "Come back and visit any time."

"Certainly. Goodbye mom, dad, sis."

Pokenav Extra

Pokemon

Roselia
Trainer: Wally
Nature: Careful
Likes: grooming
Dislikes: messy things

Meg (Skitty)
Trainer: Wally
Nature: Rash
Likes: chasing noisy objects
Dislikes: being told to focus

Spells

Surf: This is another multipurpose spell. Old texts state that Surf gives one power over the waves. The standard use of Surf is the battle use: the user summons a strong wave of water to crash into everyone within the attack radius. This does not require a body of water, surprisingly. Surf can be used anywhere, even in a desert, and a large amount of water will briefly appear to attack, then vanish.

The secondary use of Surf allows those with strong mana to walk across water as if it were land. Originally, it was believed that one must be barefoot in order to accomplish this. Then it was discovered that the user can indeed wear shoes so long as they don't think about their shoes. This matches with the ability for Teleport users to not wind up naked at their destination point: if the clothing item is a part of the user's current identity and self-image, the item will be affected by all spells that affect the user.

And the problem of not teleporting naked is something that has to be considered in a magic system that allows for the ability.

Some of my favorite characters in this fic are the Pokemon. Even the ones that only show up once, like Old Grandad and the Tentacruel. They have really silly moments, and they also have some touching moments.