Episode 29: Trophy Garden

"Grotle, energy ball!" Niko shouted out loud.

"Shroomish, dodge and use mega drain!" JJ directed. The mushroom pokémon rolled out of the path of grotle's attack and, using the hole on the top of his head, attempted to drain grotle of his energy. The grove pokémon wasn't having any of it, rushing forward and biting down on shroomish's head and swinging it upwards in an arch-like motion. However, before shroomish left grotle's mouth, he released a stun spore, temporarily stunning his fellow grass type.

"Alright, that's enough for today, I think," Niko said, walking over to heal grotle with a cheri berry JJ had given him. Grotle began to move slightly moments later, leering at shroomish.

"That was a good battle, though," JJ commented. "It's not often shroomish and I get to battle. Usually it's more passive about these kinds of things. Umbreon, growlithe, and azumarill are usually more interested," Niko nodded, looking down at grotle. The grove pokémon stood back up and walked with his trainer back over to their campsite, which rested along a river.

Since grotle's evolution, the group had been moving northwestwards towards Hearthome City, and were out of the swampy environment and now in a more comfortable plains area a few days south of the city. Much of the journey thus was just walking, with hardly any time in between to train. However, Lauren's roselia was now making progress on grasswhistle, and Niko planned to help her out with teaching haunter dream eater, which he promised to work on with her that day.

Niko saw Lauren sitting with buneary and roselia, who had just put the former to sleep with a successful grasswhistle. "Hey."

"Hiya!" Lauren said, looking up at Niko with a smile. "What's up?"

"Want to work on dream eater?" Lauren nodded, shouting for haunter, who was busy playing tag with monferno and togepi. The gas pokémon floated over to his trainer.

"Niko's going to show us a new move, haunter," Lauren said.

"Hey, piplup!" Niko said to his penguin, "Can you come over here for a second?" The penguin nodded, running over to his trainer. "So, I'm going to help Lauren's haunter learn dream eater. To do that, he needs an opponent. Do you think you could help us out?" Piplup looked up at his trainer hesitantly. Eventually, he nodded. "Great! So, Lauren, haunter, essentially dream eater is the ability of a pokémon to use psychic powers to invade their opponent's dreams. So first off, your opponent—piplup, here—needs to be asleep. Can you do that?"

"Haunter, hypnosis on piplup!" Lauren shouted. Haunter's eyes began to glow red and large rings emitted from them, hitting piplup and quickly putting it to sleep.

"Great. Now haunter, try and see if you can focus your energy on piplup's mind. Once you do that, it'll be easy to manipulate them and do more harm to your opponent. Also be careful: you don't want to accidentally see your own dreams and thoughts. That's the mistake my noctowl made at first. Now, try it and let me know if you see anything."

Haunter nodded, closing its eyes. For a few moments, it remained silent until piplup started screaming in its sleep. Haunter opened its eyes quickly and backed away all of the sudden , hiding behind Lauren.

"Piplup, it's fine. I'm here," Niko said, but piplup lashed out, slapping his trainer with his flipper. Niko looked up at Lauren and haunter with a concerned look. "I've never seem that kind of reaction. Haunter, did it work? Did you see something?"

The gas pokémon nodded slowly with an oddly terrified look. He floated over to piplup and tried to gently touch the penguin's head in an attempt to soothe it. Piplup calmed down for a moment before opening its eyes. It was sweating profusely.

"The move must've worked," Lauren began, crouching down next to Niko, "but haunter clearly saw something that he shouldn't have. And what he saw must've been pretty scary."

Niko sat down on the grass and thought for a moment. What was piplup thinking about? Did it know haunter was going to invade? Was dream eater too successful, and haunter accidentally came upon some unconscious thoughts, or forgotten memories? What exactly did it see?

"On the positive side, haunter seemed to get it right pretty quickly. But let's not practice it for a bit, and especially not on piplup. I think maybe haunter went too deep into piplup's mind."

"Yeah, we should pay a little attention to piplup for the next few days. Hopefully nothing else happens. Anyways," She leaned forward to kiss Niko, "thanks for the help," Lauren said with a radiant smile. Niko returned the gesture with a gentle rub on her shoulder before helping her back up. He then helped piplup up, and the four went back to the campsite, where JJ and Brittany were getting ready to pack up.

On the way to Hearthome City, Niko relayed haunter's experience with dream eater to Brittany and JJ. Both of them, having remembered the first time Niko had to learn the move, agreed with their friend that haunter's attempt worked too well, and it accidentally came upon some memory that still haunts piplup, or one that the penguin is trying to forget.

"Niko, what do we know about piplup's past?" JJ asked. Niko placed his hand on his chin, scratching the fuzz on it.

"Well, we know that piplups aren't normally found near Oreburgh City, and that Professor Rowan was missing a piplup when we went to visit him," He then remembered his dreams about a piplup getting abused by its trainer, but he decided to keep that information to himself, as it was only a dream, and might not have meant anything. "But other than that, I don't know. Why?"

"Well, I don't know. But maybe something bad happened to it when it was younger that it wants to forget about, and haunter just accidentally stumbled upon it."

"It also wouldn't be a good idea to bring this up with piplup, I don't think," Brittany said cautiously. "Because it can't actually tell you, and it might hurt it more to touch on the topic at all."

"I agree. But…I don't want it to be hurting and not be able to do anything about it," Niko said with a concerned expression.

"Hey, guys, not to interrupt or anything, but what's that?" Lauren said, pointing to a massive mansion standing in front of them, roughly a hundred yards away and to their right. The mansion was protected by a gate with a massive courtyard behind it. The courtyard was decorated with bushes in the shapes of a variety of pokémon.

"No idea, want to check it out?" Niko asked. Lauren nodded in awe.

"Guys…" JJ said in a lightly scolding tone. "We really need to get a move on. We've already spent too much time not walking. We might not make it to Jubilife City in time for Brittany's contest."

"That's in over a week, JJ," Lauren snapped back. "Let's check this out. Come on, it might be fun! Who knows, you could find some cute rich girl to date!" She said with a wink, dragging Niko and Brittany over to the gate.

JJ sighed. "I'm already taken!" He said, running off after them, togepi in arms.

As they entered through the gate, they saw the front door of the mansion burst open, with dozens of small pokémon running around and half a dozen men and women in butler and maid outfits chasing after them. One of them ran up to the group, confused as to why they were there in the first place.

"We're just here to visit the mansion," Niko said politely.

"Well, we're not taking visitors right now!" A maid snapped back at him. "As you can see, we're very busy."

"Why don't we help you, then?" The maid just sighed loudly and nodded before running after what looked to be a cleffa, the pre-evolution of clefairy. Niko looked to his friends, all of whom nodded. They split up and, using their pokémon to help them out, managed to round up a lot of the small pokémon, which consisted of cleffas, igglybuffs (jigglypuff's pre-evolution), pichus, azurills, marills, and an eevee that Lauren picked up.

The maids and butlers looked at the group with awe as they herded the little pokémon back to the front door of the mansion. As they did so, a short, portly man walked out. He had light gray hair and a thick mustache that sat below his lowered spectacles. "Ah! You managed to find my pokémon! They had gotten loose from my Trophy Garden, and I was hoping none of them would escape. Did you all help in returning them?"

"Yessir," Lauren said, placing down the eevee in her hands. The evolution pokémon ran back up to the man, jumping into his arms.

"Well, I must thank all of you properly. Come in, come in," He said, motioning for the whole group—humans and pokémon—to follow him inside. The mansion was far more wondrous on the inside as it was on the outside, with pillars lining the walls of the front hall that then broke off into two directions. The floor was covered in a scarlet red carpet. "Now, pokémon, please head into the backyard. We've got food ready for you," He said, motioning for the crowd of small creatures to go down the hall and through a backdoor that a butler had just opened. The pokémon obliged, racing each other. The last one to leave was eevee, who looked back at Lauren for a split second before turning around and running off. "Oh! Silly me!" He said, stopping and turning back to the group. "I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Mr. Backlot. And who might all of you be?"

They all introduced themselves, and Mr. Backlot nodded pleasantly, turning back to continue walking into a large dining hall at the east end of the mansion. Everyone took a seat, their pokémon released on Backlot's suggestion, and a dozen butlers and maids walked out with plates of food.

"So, tell me about yourselves! I love meeting new guests!"

The group each talked about themselves for a brief moment, with Backlot nodding happily while eating his dinner. Eventually, they all finished talking.

"Well, it seems like you four have quite the journey ahead of you. Especially you, Niko," He said with a wink. "Being a pokémon master is no easy feat."

"I don't expect to be one for a long time. I'm just continuing my journey and trying to get better at battling alongside my pokémon."

"And that's good. You shouldn't get too ambitious. It will do more harm than good. Also, another word of advice—keeping your emotions in check is important. Not just for any goal, but for this one in particular."

Niko nodded, feeling like he already did. Since the Hearthome Tag Competition, he was feeling much better about his feelings and how he dealt with problems. But he also recognized that these weren't going to go away easily. He'd have to work harder to be more in control of himself and his emotions.

"Well, then," Backlot said, pushing his plate aside and standing up. "Why don't I show you my Trophy Garden, yes?"

The group all nodded and Backlot escorted them back down the hall, where they took a right opposite the entrance and walked through the backdoor. Outside they saw a magnificent garden on the side of a rather large hill. Pokémon of all shapes and sizes and species were running around and playing with one another.

"I do not own any of these pokémon, you see," Backlot explained as he saw the four trainers looking out in awe. "But a few decades back I decided to dedicate a part of my land to give wild pokémon a place where they can grow up and feel safe and at home. That is the story behind Trophy Garden. Occasionally, trainers might visit and catch one of these pokémon, provided that they will provide the best care to the pokémon. I only allow certain types of trainers to take them, even though they technically aren't mine to own."

"This is amazing…" JJ said. "It's almost like a daycare," He said, letting togepi down so that the baby pokémon could join and play with the others. She immediately fit in, joining with cleffas and an igglybuffs in a game of tag.

"Essentially, yes. You mentioned wanting to be a breeder. Well, if you ever decide to open up your own daycare, you're free to stop by here again or give me a call."

JJ turned to look at Backlot. "I will. Thanks, sir."

Meanwhile, Niko and Brittany were off playing with some of the baby pokémon. Lauren, on the other hand, was looking around for the eevee from earlier. She had noticed it briefly look back at her, and wanted to properly introduce herself.

She eventually found the little foxlike pokémon sitting under a tree, watching the other pokémon from a distance. As soon as Lauren approached it, the eevee flinched, looking like it was about to get up and leave.

"It's fine, I'm not going to hurt you. I promise," She said, sitting down next to eevee. After a minute of silence, she continued. "You don't like being social, do you?" Eevee shook its head. "I get that. Growing up, I didn't either. I didn't like talking with others, and was afraid of being judged for my looks, or for my smarts. And I still do today, but I found some great people," She pointed to Niko, Brittany, and JJ, "who aren't like that, and who like me for who I am."

Eevee sat in silence, looking up at Lauren.

"Do you enjoy being here?"

Eevee hesitated, but ultimately nodded.

"Well, I get it if you don't. Mr. Backlot provides everything possible to create a healthy and safe environment for wild pokémon, because the world can be a scary place if you're not strong. But he also understands that pokémon come and go. So, if you want to leave, you know that you can."

Eevee nodded, standing up and walking towards Lauren.

"Wait…what? We hardly know each other. Do you…want to join me?" Eevee nodded. "But why? I mean, I get it if you want to get stronger so that you can defend yourself. I'm challenging pokémon gyms and contests, so you'll get plenty strong with me. Is that what you want to do?"

Eevee nodded again.

"Alright then. Let's go tell Mr. Backlot," Lauren said, running towards the mansion owner. She approached Mr. Backlot with the idea of catching eevee, and he was absolutely thrilled by the idea.

"Of course you may take eevee! It's a strong-willed pokémon, but tends to sit on its own and watch others. It's very perceptive, but a little afraid of things bigger than it. At least, these are just my observations."

Lauren nodded, looking down at the eevee. "Well then, eevee, do you want to join my team?"

The evolution pokémon nodded, and Lauren pulled out a pokéball, tossing it down at the foxlike pokémon, who flashed bright red before going inside the ball. It wiggled a few times before ultimately clicking, signaling that the pokémon was caught.

She picked up the pokéball and turned to her friends, all of whom were watching the capture with pleasant interest. Niko walked over and gave her a quick side-hug.

"Ahah! Congrats, Lauren! I do hope eevee helps you on your journey!" Mr. Backlot said. "Now, I'm sure you four are exhausted from your trip. You are more than welcome to stay with me tonight, if you would like."

"We would love to," Brittany replied. Backlot chuckled loudly before bringing them back inside. After telling someone to arrange four—three, Niko corrected him—bedrooms, he gave the group a quick tour of his mansion, showing them statues and pictures of rare pokémon, as well as manuscripts of ancient documents relating to Sinnoh's legends, which piqued Niko's interest.

Half an hour later, the four of them were in their bedrooms, with Niko and Lauren sharing one. As they lay down to fall asleep, Lauren cuddled up close to Niko and looked up at him.

"Hiya," She whispered.

"Hey?"

"Today's been quite the day, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it has. I hope piplup is doing alright. He seemed happy in the Trophy Garden."

"Mmm, so did haunter. Let's just not do that again," She laughed softly. Niko stroked her hair for a bit before she continued talking. "I hope eevee likes travelling with us."

"I'm sure it will. You're a great trainer."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"But you always teased me about it."

"I was being cocky. I didn't really mean it," Niko said with a frown. "Which I'm sorry about."

Lauren reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "You're fine! I still like you," she was then silent for another moment. "Speaking of which…what exactly are we?"

"What do you mean?" Niko asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean…like, are we just friends? Are we in a relationship? Or are we somewhere in between?"

Niko looked up at the ceiling, thinking for a moment. If he was being honest with himself, then he wasn't quite sure. But he was afraid of saying that to Lauren, out of fear that he might upset her. "Well, we both like each other, and we kind of show it, so wouldn't we be in a relationship?"

Lauren nodded, smiling. "Yes, of course. That makes sense."

She then kissed him, this time with passion behind it. They continued for a few more minutes before falling asleep.


Author's note: Alright, kind of a lot going on in this episode. Lauren catches an eevee (which could have gone better, but i'd rather have a quick capture and flesh out its character in later episodes than the opposite); Niko and Lauren have an intimate moment at the end (kinda threw that in there last minute. I've been meaning to have them show their feelings for each other for a few episodes now, and this is the kind of thing that can be thrown into any episode, really, so I figured to put it here); and we get to learn about the mystery behind piplup's background (or, rather, hints that there is a background to our favorite little penguin), which will be expanded upon in due time.

Hope you enjoyed!