Clemont's Lament
Part 1
Bonnie saw a playground in the distance. The little girl brightened up. She was tired of walking and just wanted to rest. She figured this playground was the perfect opportunity. Now to convince her big brother and friends.
"Hey, Clemont?" She spoke up. Clemont looked at her, as well as Ash and Serena.
"What is it, Bonnie?" Clemont wanted to know. Bonnie pointed at the playground. Her friends looked at it too.
"Can I play at that playground over there?" Her friends and brother all looked back at her.
"I don't know, Bonnie." Her brother replied. "We have to get to the next town before it gets dark." Bonnie began to complain.
"But Clemont, my feet are tired. Can't we just take a teensy break and I can…"
"Now, Bonnie." Ash heard his stomach growl.
"Actually, Clemont," He began. "I'm with Bonnie on this. My stomach is telling me that we should eat. Bonnie can go play while you cook for us." Bonnie cheered.
"Yay, thanks, Ash! You and your hungry stomach saved me and my sore legs!"
"Dedenne!" The little mouse Pokemon cheered as well from inside her bag. He was just happy that his young caretaker was happy. Clemont smiled.
"Fine." He said and looked at Serena. "That okay with you, Serena?" Serena smiled as well.
"Sure." She said. "We could eat. I'm actually a bit hungry myself."
"Then that settles it then. I'll go get my cooking gear and cook." He looked at his sister. "Come eat when it's ready, Bonnie."
"Alright." Bonnie told him. "Will do."
Bonnie walked over to the playground while her friends were with her brother. She marveled at the Pokemon themed playground equipment. She took Dedenne out so that he could play too.
"Aren't all of these Pokemon themed equipment just the cutest, Dedenne?" She asked her brother's Pokemon.
"Dedenne!"
"They all look so fun; I don't know what I should try first." She looked at all of the equipment and then decided. "I'll do the slides first." She went over to the slides. First she went down the Phanpy one, and then the Donphan one. She caught Dedenne as the Pokemon slid down both by himself as well. Serena then came over.
"How are you doing, Bonnie?" She asked.
"Pretty good." She looked at the swings. "Serena? Can you push me on the swings?"
"I'd be happy to, Bonnie. My pleasure."
"Yay!" Bonnie zoomed towards the swings and sat down in one. Serena went behind her.
"Ready?"
"Ready!"
"Okay, here goes!" And with that, she began pushing and whenever Bonnie wanted to go higher, that is what Serena did.
Bonnie's stomach growled as the swing slowed down.
"I'm hungry, Serena." She said to her. "Is dinner ready yet?"
"Not yet, Bonnie. Wait until your brother calls." Bonnie began to whine.
"But I'm hungry now! Serena's voice became firm.
"Well, I can't help it if dinner's not done, so you're going to have to be patient."
"But I'l star…"
"Bonnie!" Bonnie sighed. She wasn't happy.
"Alright, I'll wait." Serena then smiled. She spoke again when the swing completly stopped.
"If you don't mind, I'm going to see how your brother is doing."
"Fine by me. I'm going to try the Aipom bars now."
"Okay. Just remember to come when called."
"I know. I will." She then left. Bonnie was about to go to the monkey bars when she heard the ice cream truck go by. She beamed from ear to ear. She then remembered that Clemont was cooking dinner and didn't like her eating sweets this late and before dinner, but then her stomach growled again. She was hungry now and she didn't know when dinner would be ready. She figured that if she had just one, it'll satisfy her tummy until dinner time. And with that, she ran towards the truck.
Bonnie waited behind some other kids for her turn to get some ice cream. While she waited, she looked at the images of choices. They all looked delicious to her, but one stood out from the rest.
"Aw, isn't that Pichu head shaped ice cream just the cutest, Dedenne?"
"Dedenne!" The mouse Pokemon agreed. Bonnie then realized something. She didn't have any money. She sighed in defeat.
"I sure want that Pichu ice cream, but I don't have any money and by the time I get some from Clemont, the truck will be gone. Plus, I can't tell him." Dedenne was sad too.
"Don't you know?" The young boy next to her said to her. Bonnie looked at him.
"Huh? Know what?"
"Today's Wednesday, so kids eat free." Bonnie brightened her eyes at this.
"Really?!" The boy nodded.
"Yup. The truck comes here every day at this exact time, but every Wednesday, kids get free ice cream,"
"Wow, well in that case…" She looked at the man in the truck, "I want that Pichu ice cream please." The man nodded and gave her the wrapping to the Pichu ice cream. "Thank you." She then left.
She sat down in the shade of a tree to eat her ice cream. "I better eat this before Clemont finds out." She opened the wrapping and began eating.
"There you are, Bonnie!" Bonnie heard Serena shout at her. The little girl began to panic and looked at her.
"Serena, what are you doing here?! You here for free ice cream? You better hurry before the truck's gone.
"No, and you shouldn't either, You know your brother doesn't like you to have sweets before a big meal." Bonnie began to protest.
"Aw, but, Serena, the truck will probably be long gone when dinner's even ready."
"Doesn't matter. I promised your father that I would help look after you. Let's go now. I imagine you'll be in a lot of trouble."
"Yes, Serena." She stood up and walked with Serena. She feared that Serena would order her to throw the rest of the ice cream away, but luckily for her, she didn't. So she just had the rest on the way, wanting to finish before her brother found out. Dedenne jumped back into Bonnie's bag.
"Look who just couldn't wait for dinner." Serena said when she got back to where Ash and Clemont were as Clemont just finished setting the table with Ash. They looked at them. Bonnie had finished her ice cream, but the evidence was still around her mouth. Clemont narrowed his eyes at his sister.
"Bonnie!" He scolded. "You know the rules. No sweets before a main meal."
"But, Clemont," She began whining. "I was hungry and I…"
"Doesn't matter. Rules are rules. And since I'm the oldest, I have to enforce them and make sure you follow them. Now grab a napkin and clean yourself up; dinner's about ready." Bonnie sighed again.
"Okay." Bonnie grabbed a napkin from one of the park's picnic tables, and cleaned herself up.
Once her face was all clean, she went to the trash bin to throw it away. As she was doing this, she saw a young woman walking away. She saw her walk for a few seconds before her eyes lit up.
"Wow; what a keeper!" Her friends all looked at her as well as Clemont.
"Bonnie?" Ash asked. "What are you…" But without an answer, the little girl just ran off.
"Bonnie!" Both Ash and Serena cried out and ran after her. Clemont knew what this meant and panicked.
"Bonnie, no!" He shouted after her as well.
"Excuse me, miss!" Bonnie shouted at the woman. The lady looked at her, puzzled. She stopped. So did Bonnie and her friends when they caught up to her.
"Who? Me?" The young lady wanted to know. Bonnie nodded.
"It's my sworn duty to find pretty keepers like yourself to marry my brother and take care of him. Are you up for the task?" The woman was shocked, not knowing what to say. Clemont was embarrassed again. Why does his sister do this thing to him every time? It was extremely embarrassing and it made him feel like he wasn't capable of doing anything on his own, which was so not true and he felt like it must be highly inappropriate behavior and somewhat disturbing. He activated his Aipom arm from his bag.
"Well?" Bonnie asked her. "What do you say?"
"Well, I…" The woman began. Bonnie felt the Aipom arm grab her and lift her off of the ground.
"Bonnie," Clemont began, firmness and anger in his voice. "I told you countless millions of times not to…" All of a sudden, the Aipom arm went berserk, jerking Bonnie left to right, Bonnie screamed. Ash and friends panicked, as well as the lady.
"CLEMONT!" Bonnie yelled. "TURN IT OFF!" Dedenne saw what was happening from peeking out of Bonnie's knapsack and screamed as well.
"I'm trying, Bonnie!" Her brother called up to her, trying to figure out the controls. He then saw the controller begin to spark. This made him panic even more. "No, please, not now!" Ash grew determined.
"I'll get Bonnie." He offered, and rushed in to get the child from the rampant machine. Dedenne saw the right time to jump out and land safely, so the tiny electric mouse did.
"Ash, be careful." Serena informed her friend.
"I will." He was just about to reach Bonnie when the machine exploded, sending the little girl screaming into a tree.
"BONNIE, NOOOOO!" Clemont cried out with horror on his face and in his voice. His friends looked on in terror as well.
"DEDENNEEEEEEEEEE!" The little Pokemon screamed as well.
SMACK! Bonnie hit her head smack dab on the tree bark. She then fell to the ground, unconscious. Her friends all ran to her, checking to see if she was okay, so did Dedenne.
"Bonnie?" Clemont said, now by her side. "Bonnie, please, you have to wake up."
"She needs a hospital." The lady told him. "Luckily, there's one for humans nearby and it's a children's hospital no less. Can you carry her?"
"I think so." Clemont grabbed his sister and carried her in his arms and ran to the hospital with his friends, hoping against hope that she'll be recovered.
"Good luck!" The young woman shouted after them. "I hope she wakes and gets better!" Clemont and his friends didn't respond. They just kept on running.
"Dendenneeee!" The Pokemon called, trying to catch up. Clemont looked back at it.
"You're better in your Pokeball." He told him and returned him to his Pokeball. He put it away and resumed on running.
"My sister needs help!" Clemont said at the front desk. The woman at the front counter looked at Bonnie and frowned.
"Oh, dear." She observed. "You guys wait here while we…"
"No!" Clemont demanded. "She needs help now! Can't you see the way that she is in?"
"I understand you're upset, but…"
"No buts! She needs medical attention as soon as possible, otherwise if we wait…" He could hardly say it. He gulped a little. "If we wait, it might be too late." The woman looked at Bonnie again and understood.
"I'll see what I can do." She typed in her computer. "We have a room available. I'll see if some people can come get her. Uh, what is her name?"
"Bonnie."
"And what's yours?"
"Clement. I'm her big brother." She looked at Ash and Serena.
"And these people?" Ash was about to respond when Clemont spoke up.
"They're my friends. Can you get help now?" Clemont knew he might be being a little rude, but he didn't care. All he cared about was that Bonnie was going to be well taken care of. The woman nodded and called for a medic over the PA system. "Hopefully they won't be long." Clemont wanted to argue again, but knew it was no use. She was only trying to help, no need to make a scene to make things worse. Still Clemont wished things would hurry up and he'll once again have his cheery little sister again and their friends can continue on their journey.
Only a minute went by, but that minute to Clemont seemed like a lifetime.
"Clemont?" A doctor asked pushing a wheelchair. Clemont stood up from the chair that he was sitting on and ran to him, Ash and Serena did too and followed.
"I'm Clemont and this is my sister, Bonnie." He said. The doctor nodded.
"Would you mind setting your sister down here so that I can take her in?"
"Oh, sure." Clemont sat his still unresponsive sister on the chair.
"I'll run some tests. You wait here. Oh." He took Bonnie's bag and handed it to her brother. "You better take this."
"I understand." And with that, the doctor wheeled Bonnie away. Clemont watched him do this. He wanted so much to follow, but knew it was best to stay put. And so that is what he and his friends did.
Dedenne then released from its Pokeball. At first, Clemont thought it was Chespin who was summoning himself, but why would it? Then again, why would any Pokemon just summon itself? They can be unpredictable sometimes. The mouse cried out for Bonnie and started to run after her and the medic.
"No, Dedenne!" Clemont ordered. "You have to stay back with us." Dedenne stopped and looked back at Clemont who was trying hard not to cry. "I know you want to go back there. I know you want to see how she is. I know you want her better. I want that too. I want that because she's my little sister and I love her. As her big brother, I'm responsible for her. I'm supposed to look after her and aid in her well-being. I promised my dad and I don't want to let him down."
"Clemont." Ash began, but he didn't listen. Dedenne looked back. The mouse had tears in its eyes too. "I know you're sad. I am too. We all are. But you're really my Pokemon, not Bonnie's, remember? And as your trainer, I order you to stay and wait with us." Dedenne looked back at where the doctor took Bonnie. "Please, Dedenne." Dedenne looked back at his trainer as Clemont wiped away his tears. "We can wait together. What do you say?" Dedenne agreed with a nod and ran and jumped into Clemont's arms . "We'll wait right in the lobby with Ash and Serena. She'll be alright. She has to be."
"Clemont," Ash said again. "This isn't your fault you know."
"Yeah." Serena agreed. "Your dad will be so proud of you knowing you tried your best and will keep on trying your best to keep looking after her. She's lucky to have you, Clemont. You are a good brother to her."
"Pika!" Pikachu agreed. Clemont smiled and stood up.
"Thanks, guys." He said. "I appreciate that very much. I'm lucky to have friends like you two." It was his friends' turns to smile, as well as Pikachu.
As they were waiting in the lobby, Ash was telling Clemont and Serena about the time he and Brock and Misty had to fill in as doctors back in Kanto. Clemont wanted to listen, but he had a vision of his youth instead. It was the time that Bonnie first came home as an infant.
"Can I hold her, Daddy?" Little Clemont had asked. His father nodded and gave him his new baby sister to hold.
"Be careful, Clemont." His dad warned. Clemont nodded.
"I will." He looked down at his baby sister. "Hi, Bonnie. I'm Clemont, your big brother."
"And as your big brother," Meyer chipped in. "Clemont is going to promise to always look after you no matter what, aren't you, son?" Clemont nodded.
"Always."
"That's nice to hear, son. Very nice. You're going to make your ol' man proud. Mom too."
But Clemont didn't feel like he had made his dad proud. He could just imagine what his father would say to him once he found out about how he put his sister in harm's way.
"Your invention might've killed your sister." Meyer would say.
"Dad," Clemont began. "I didn't mean for things to end up this way. Things just got out of hand." Clemont knew that was the wrong thing to say immediately after he said it.
"Out of hand?" His dad boomed. "Out of hand?! This is much more than simply out of hand, Clemont. This is your sister that we are talking about. She's more important than your silly inventions." Clemont became defensive about this.
"They're not silly inventions! They're my life's work. Inventing is my passion!"
"Well, you need to think of your life's passions before they threaten another life." He took a deep breath, then continued. "I'm sorry, but I don't think your sister should travel with you and your friends anymore." Clemont was shocked about this.
"But, Dad, that's not…" He sighed, knowing very well not to argue. "Yes, Dad."
Clemont thought about all of his inventions. Most of his inventions had blown up in his and his friends' faces. Since they all explode, he shouldv'e known this would too eventually. He should've known that this was coming, yet he didn't and endangered his sister. Guilt was all he felt.
"Clemont?" Ash asked, worry in his voice. "You okay?" Clemont looked at his two worried friends.
"I'm not going to invent any more things." He said. They looked at him like he was crazy.
"What?!" They both asked at once.
"You heard me. I'm giving up on science and building things,"