A Pallet Pair #5a:
Remmy's Rocket Problem
"Guess this is it."
"Guess so."
Ivonar Marain kicked down her kickstand, sighing as she put her weight on her aching right leg. They had been biking for two straight hours on a slight incline. Though it wasn't exactly a hill, most of Route Three sloped gently upward, which meant non-stop pedaling. Ivonar felt like her legs were going to fall off. "Decided what you're going to do yet?"
Beside them was a small log cabin, maybe three rooms at most, quaint but homey. There was a small fence around it, and gardens growing on either side of the path to the door - flowers on one side, vegetables on the other. Ivonar was going in, without question: she was just wondering if Remmy was going to, too.
Remmy shrugged. "Probably just wander," he replied. "Maybe try teaching some of my Pokémon new techniques. I don't know. If I get too bored, I'll knock."
Ivonar gave him a tolerant half-smile, as she always did for his cynical jokes when she couldn't come up with a reply. "Take your time," she told him wryly.
Remmy got off his bike, wincing as he stood on his still sore feet. "You too," he replied. "Come on, Chia." The Pikachu leaped out of the wire basket on his handlebars, the black tail-tipped Eevee hugged tightly in her arms.
Sweetie jumped to Ivonar's shoulder as Ivonar put Fluffball and Static on the ground. "You can look after the troops, right?" Ivonar asked Remmy. "I'll need Manx with me, but the Eevees don't have to be cooped up."
"I think I can watch Cole," Remmy said, "but I don't think Fluffball wants to leave Manx, or Sweetie you."
"What about you, little guy?" Ivonar smiled as she crouched down, tickling Static under the chin. "What do you want to do, huh?"
Static purred, then jumped to her other shoulder. Ivonar laughed. "Okay, I guess you just have to watch Cole, then." She started to stand up, but Static had much less practice sitting on shoulders than Sweetie did; with a squeal he tumbled forward into Ivonar's arms. She rubbed his head soothingly as she went through the fence toward the door of the cabin. Manx gave Remmy and Chia a pointed look for no apparent reason, then trotted after her, with Fluffball at his heels.
Remmy sighed, looking around. "Now what?" he asked the two Pokémon.
"Chee," Chia replied, shrugging a little. She let Cole go. He trotted a little ways away, sniffing the air, then yawned and sat down, looking bored.
Remmy crouched down, closer to their eye level, wincing as his aching knees argued against the move. "Any ideas?" he asked them jokingly. Chia smiled at him, jumping onto his shoulder. Cole turned around, saw that he might get left behind, and ran back. Remmy tried to pick him up, but Cole danced away. Shrugging, Remmy stood up and began walking, leaving his stuff behind, taking only the two Pokémon, the clothes he had on, and his pokéballs, which were in his pockets. Then he frowned, squinting in the bright sunlight, turned back, and, fishing through his gear, pulled out a baseball cap. It had been his dad's, when he was a kid. It was red, with a white front and the odd-looking blue "L" logo of the Lavender Town Little League baseball team, the Lavender Town Lapras. The hat was at least thirty years old, but still in pretty good condition. Sticking it on his head, he started down the road, in the opposite direction from where they had come.
He had no real destination in mind; he just felt like wandering for awhile. Further down the road there was a small patch of trees - not really a forest, but too natural to be considered an orchard - which looked interesting. Anyway, exploring it would give him something to do while Ivonar figured out what to do with her too-powerful Pokémon.
Remmy grinned to himself as he rubbed Chia's head. It was funny, how the one of them who wanted to be a trainer was the one who had trouble doing it. He chuckled. "Maybe she's trying too hard," he suggested to the Pikachu. Chia giggled. Cole trotted along at Remmy's side, his tail waving through the air, happy to be away from his brother and sisters for awhile, feeling quite grown-up with just the other human and Chia.
The trio wandered along the slightly sloped path, quiet with their own pleasant thoughts, when Remmy chuckled again. "You know, it's probably easier to walk this than ride it," he laughed. Chia giggled again. Cole trilled out a purr as he loped along to keep up with Remmy's long stride. "Legs were meant to go uphill better than bikes."
He grinned to himself. Truth be told, training wasn't as bad as he'd thought it'd be. Ivonar was right: the Pokémon did like to battle. That was as obvious as the good moods Saurus and Drake had been in since winning that badge. He craned his neck to look at it again; for lack of anything better to do with it, he'd left it clipped to the collar of his jacket. Personally, he didn't feel any pride for it: he honestly didn't think he'd done much of anything. The badge he wore was for Saurus and Drake.
"Guess I'm just lucky with Pokémon," he laughed, rubbing Chia's head affectionately. He stepped over a fallen branch as he passed the first of the trees. He had to give Cole a boost over it before continuing on the much narrower path. "Saurus respects me more than Char does Eevee… Drake and I…" He just grinned. The beautiful Dratini had been scared of him at first, but the moment it smiled, he knew… just knew… Drake, as he'd named it, wasn't going anywhere. He joked about giving it to Ivonar, but he hadn't meant a word of it. He was glad she hadn't even let him finish the question. "You're great, Chia." The Pikachu grinned as he ruffled the fur between her ears. "Now, Nasty…" He laughed. "Pi's a little shy, but, I don't blame him. And Ratzy is cool. Ivonar actually did pretty good with him. And she's great with the Eevees. I guess she's just unlucky 'cause she keeps getting Pokémon that're too strong, that's all."
"Pipi chi," Chia said, shrugging a little.
"Hope that Old Farley guy can help her," Remmy murmured. Chia frowned a little. "I mean, Eevee's really into this. I feel kinda bad, you know? I know Ash and Gary and me kind of made fun of her, 'cause she was older than us and all, but it's not her fault. I remember getting sick a couple years ago, too, when the flu went around. And it's not like she could train with a broken leg, right?" Chia nodded in agreement. "She had to wait two years to do what she really wants to, and still it's not going right. While me, I get kicked out of the house to do the same thing, that I didn't want to do…" He sighed. "It just…" He tried to think of the word that would best describe it, but only one came to mind - a word he didn't really like using. "It just sucks." He shoved a branch out of his way, then another, and found himself in a sort of clearing - too big to be a clearing, really, but far too small to be a meadow or field or anything like that. A deep ash pit showed that it was a popular campsite; some short logs formed a vague circle around it. A small pond took up most of the clearing: from the looks of it, the clearing had once been a whole lake, but the water level had dropped, allowing grass and small bushes to grow, leaving only the much smaller pond. Remmy reached into one of his pockets, pulling out a pokéball. "Come on out, Drake," he said. "Have a swim."
The ball cracked open, allowing the five and a half foot long Dratini to escape. It trilled happily at the sight of the pond, leaping in with barely a splash. Remmy grinned. "Static should've come along," he said, sitting on one of the logs. "He likes water."
Chia shrugged a little, jumping off his shoulder to sit on the log beside him. Cole boosted himself, with some difficulty, onto the log beside her. "Pika pi, pika pikachu," Chia said, looking at Remmy.
Remmy looked down at her and grinned. "You know I have no idea what you just said, right?"
Chia just grinned back.
*
"Is that-" Before the sentence was out of his mouth, he got clobbered. He wasn't even sure who did it this time, or with what, for that matter. He rubbed his sore head. "Isn't that that brat?" he asked his two companions in a quieter voice.
"Sure looks like 'im," the shorter of his teammates agreed, his large eyes narrowing. "I mean, he's got dat dorky hat, right? And dere's dat Pikachu!" His eyes narrowed greedily.
"And that little waif is no where to be seen," their third compatriot sneered eagerly. "All alone in the woods, what could be more perfect?"
The first one who had spoken frowned a little. "I don't know…" he said, squinting a little. "Something about him just doesn't look right…"
"Dat's just de lighting," the second one chided him. "Let's just grab dat Pikachu and get goin'! De Boss is gettin' pretty annoyed dat we haven't sent 'im nothin' lately…"
"If you would just stop talking," the third snapped, slapping him in the back of the head, "we might just do it!"
"Can we just do it?" the first one begged. "I'm hungry!"
"That's what we're going to do!" the third one snapped.
"So let's do it already!" the second shouted at them.
*
"So let's do it already!"
Remmy frowned. "Who's there?" he asked, standing up.
"Prepare for trouble!" a voice cried out, from one side of him.
Another voice answered it, from a different side. "And make it double."
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation."
"To denounce the evils of truth and love."
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
From a tree nearby, a tall, thin woman with long, brilliant pink hair leaped out dramatically, and struck an even more dramatic pose.
"Jessie!" she exclaimed.
From another tree, a slightly taller man, his somewhat long, pale blue hair parted down the middle, jumped down gracefully, then stood tall, a rose in his hand.
"James," he introduced himself.
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!" the young woman sneered.
"Surrender now," the young man said, looking directly at Remmy, "or prepare to fight."
A third figure leaped from the trees. This one had familiar ivory fur, but was much smaller than the one who Remmy was used to being that color, not to mention that he stood on two legs, and had a dull brown tail.
Cole frowned a little, cocking his head to the side. Curious, he walked toward the trio of strangers.
"Meeeeeowth!" the third figure, an evolutional step downward from Manx, exclaimed. "That's right!"
Remmy looked at the Pokémon skeptically. "A talking Meowth?" He turned his skepticism on the dramatic young woman and mysterious-acting man. "Who are you people?"
A frown passed over the man's face, and he looked at his human companion. "I don't know, Jess… something about him just doesn't look right!" He looked at Remmy again, his frown deepening. He tapped his rose against his lips thoughtfully.
"Would you shut up, James?" the woman snapped at him harshly. "Let's just grab the Pikachu and go!"
Chia frowned. "Pika chi?"
The Meowth frowned, too. "Huh?"
"Pika, pikachu, chi, pichi chipika."
The Meowth looked at his teammates. "Dat ain't de same Pikachu!"
"Don't be stupid!" Jessie snapped. "He only has one!"
"Unless he caught another…" James muttered, apparently oblivious to the Eevee sniffing his boot.
"Would you just shut up!" Jessie slapped James in the back of the head, spilling the rose to the ground. James looked at her in surprise, not having seen the attack coming.
"Look," Remmy said, frowning even more, "I don't know what you guys' problems are, but, I don't know you, and I think that's a good thing."
"How can you not know us yet?" the Meowth demanded sharply. "We've done our motto for ya t'ree times already!"
"Umm…" Remmy shook his head. "No."
"He's just trying to confuse us!" Jessie snarled. She pulled a pokéball out of a pocket in her skirt. "Well, it's not going to work!"
Remmy frowned. He didn't think he really wanted to battle, especially not if they were set on stealing Chia… or another Pikachu, anyway. His frown deepened, as he decided what to do. "Drake?" he called. Behind him, he could hear bubbles rising in the pond. "Drake, Water Gun."
"Drake?" James echoed. "Who's-" Then his mouth fell open. His eyes glittered as a smile took over his face. "Jessie! Look! Is that- that's a- a-"
Before he could say what he wanted to, a blast of water shot him, Jessie, and their Meowth straight backwards.
Jessie was the first one to get up, sputtering. "That's a Dratini!" she yelled, getting to her feet. "Forget the Pikachu! Do you have any idea how well we'll be rewarded if we bring The Boss a Dratini?"
"We'll be rollin' in cash, caviar, an' tunafish!" the Meowth cried, jumping to his own feet.
The two human members of Team Rocket looked at their Pokémon teammate, somewhat confused. Jessie's hands were at her sides, clenched in fists; James's were behind his back. "Tunafish?" James echoed. The Meowth ignored them.
"You'll leave Drake alone," Remmy snapped. "I'm training it."
"He gets the Pikachu, and a Dratini?" James's voice was dangerously close to a whine. "That just isn't fair!"
"What Pikachu!" Remmy snapped. He grabbed the baseball cap from his head and threw it down in frustration. "What are you talking about!"
"Hey, Jessie?" James's frown had returned.
"What?" his partner snarled.
"Since when did the brat have red hair?"
"He doesn't, you-" Jessie glared at Remmy for a moment, then did a double-take. "Well, maybe he does, I didn't really-"
Remmy's eyes narrowed dangerously. He was really getting tired of this. He'd just wanted some peace and quiet! "If you don't just leave me alone, I'll have Chia Thundershock you from here to Lavender Town!" he threatened, not sure if he meant it. Chia, though just as unsure, got on all fours, her cheeks sparking, ready to attack if necessary.
"That might be a bad idea," James said, shaking his head. He pulled one of his hands out from behind his back.
"Eee!" Cole squealed, squirming, but the man had him firmly by the scruff of the neck.
Chia's eyes went wide, her mouth dropping open. Her cheeks sparked more, as her eyes narrowed into thin slits. "Pi… kaa…"
James clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned her. "You shock me, you shock your little pal here."
Chia scowled, staring at him. Then she looked at Jessie, and the Meowth. Her cheeks sparked brightly. "PIKACHU!!" she screamed, clenching her eyes shut. The clearing lit up in bright yellow light.
Her reasoning was simple.
Just because one of them had Cole, it didn't mean all of them had Cole.
"Great… going… James," Jessie muttered in a slurred voice, dropping to her knees. The Meowth was out cold.
James looked in surprise at his two smoking teammates, then glared at the Pikachu. "That wasn't very nice!"
Chia's only reply was to spark her cheeks, her eyes still dangerously narrowed.
"You can't electrocute me while I hold your precious little Eevee," James reminded her sharply. He looked behind her, his eyes glittering. "And you can't spray me again, either!" he called to Drake. "Now, if you want this little guy back, the Dratini comes with me."
Remmy clenched his fists. "No way," he snapped.
"It ain't like we're givin' ya a choice, twerp," the Meowth sneered, swaying back to his feet. He swayed back and forth as he stood, not fully recovered from the shock. "Just hand ovah de Dratini, an' we'll give ya back ya stupid Eevee."
"Why should I believe you?" Remmy demanded.
The Meowth looked back at Jessie, who had managed to get up again, and James. "He's good."
"Like he said, brat, we're not giving you a choice!" Jessie snapped. "The Dratini comes with us, or you can kiss any hope of getting your Eevee back goodbye!"
"Da Boss would prob'ly love choosin' wed'r ta evolve it inta a Flareon, or a Vaporeon…" Meowth added, sounding thoughtful.
Remmy gritted his teeth. He felt something brush his leg; Drake looked at him solemnly, its beautiful, dark purple eyes glittering.
Remmy looked down at Drake, frowning. Drake met his gaze. After a moment, its eyes narrowed playfully. It glanced at Team Rocket.
Remmy was lucky he had practice in not smiling.
He regarded Team Rocket, his eyes narrowed. "All right," he said hoarsely. "Give me Cole back."
Chia looked at him, startled. "Chee!" she cried.
"Quiet, Chia!" he snapped at her. She pulled away, looking at him in amazement. He ignored her. "Give me Cole back, and Drake will go with you."
"Ya think we trust ya?" the Meowth snapped. He laughed. "No deal! Da Dratini foist!"
Remmy grimaced, looking down at Drake. Drake's right eye narrowed, just slightly, but then it slithered forward, toward Team Rocket.
Jessie gripped the pokéball in her hand. Her eyes narrowed. A Dratini for a little Eevee? Something just didn't seem right… She bared her teeth.
Wait a minute!
Just because the Dratini was coming, didn't mean it was coming quietly…
"Ekans, go!" she barked, throwing the pokéball at the Dratini. It smacked into Drake's forehead, making it squeal. The pokéball popped open, but instead of taking the Dratini in, another Pokémon, equally long and serpentine, but of a color like a lighter shade of Drake's eyes, coalesced.
"Hey!" Remmy shouted. Drake, dazed from getting the pokéball in the head, could barely resist as the snake Pokémon wrapped itself tightly around it. Drake squealed as the Ekans squeezed.
"Pika pi!" Chia yelled, darting forward. "Pika, pika, pika pikachu!"
"Koffing!" James threw a pokéball of his own. "Smog attack!" The ball cracked open, and a ball-shaped Pokémon, as purple as the one attacking Drake, appeared. With a deep-throated cry of "Koffing!", it opened its mouth and spewed out a nauseating black cloud.
Remmy dug into one of his pockets. "Pi!" He threw the ball into the air. It cracked open, and his Pidgey came out. Pi flapped his short wings quickly, surprised to find himself in mid-air. "Gust attack! Get rid of this… junk!" Coughing, the Pidgey did as he was told, blowing the smog back into the faces of Team Rocket.
Jessie glared at Remmy even as she gagged. "Give it up, twerp!" she snapped at him. "Ekans! Poison Sting!"
"Drake! Leer!" Remmy shouted.
Drake twisted, facing the Ekans, its eyes glowing a fiery blue.
"Ekans! Return the Leer!"
The Ekans glared right back at Drake, its own eyes gleaming yellow.
"Great!" the Meowth muttered, rolling his eyes. "A staring match!"
Remmy grimaced. The Ekans and Drake were in a stalemate, their bodies intertwined, their blazing eyes staring into each other's unblinking leer. Both were beginning to sweat. "Chia!" he barked. "Quick Attack! Help Drake!"
Chia looked at him, shocked. Double-team an opponent?
"No fair!" James shouted. "Only we're allowed to cheat! Koffing, Sludge Attack the Pikachu, like you did the other one!"
Chia grimaced in an unintentional mimicry of her trainer, then darted forward before the Koffing's attacks hit her in the eyes. She barely flinched as it smacked into the tip of her short tail. She sprinted forward, slamming herself into the Ekans' head. The Ekans squealed in surprise at the sneak attack, while Drake took the chance to use a very handy move it had learned from Brock's Onix: it wrapped itself around the Ekans, and squeezed.
The Ekans' eyes flew open wide, and tears streamed down its face as it screamed. Drake bound it even tighter, wrapping its top coil just below its head. In a moment, the Ekans' eyes rolled back as it lost consciousness. A moment later, Drake unwrapped itself from its KO'd enemy, slithering to Remmy, and wrapped itself twice around his waist with its head resting over his shoulder, glaring spitefully at Team Rocket.
"Ekans, return!" Jessie ordered, holding out its pokéball. It did.
"We still have your Eevee!" James reminded them, holding Cole up even higher.
Remmy frowned. Chia's Quick Attack had made her look like nothing more than a blur. He glanced at her. She glanced back.
"What do you think, Chia?" he asked her quietly.
Chia looked at Cole, her eyes narrowed. She frowned.
"Chu," she replied, then seemed to disappear.
What happened next, happened too fast for Remmy to see, or to really understand at first. In the end, he only remembered a streak of yellow, a flare of white, a blinding yellow flash, and a loud scream of, "CHU!"
It took a few moments for Remmy to blink away the temporary blindness the second yellow… thing… had left behind. Dazedly, the two other humans and the Meowth were picking themselves up: the Koffing was out cold. Cole was no where to be seen.
"Chia? Cole?" Remmy called, looking around.
When he saw them, his jaw fell in surprise.
Chia, her eyes narrowed dangerously, put Cole gently on the ground. She glared spitefully at Team Rocket as James recalled his Koffing. "Chu!" she snapped.
The Meowth's eyes widened.
"Chu!" Chia yelled. She placed the tip of her tail against the ground. Sparks flew from her cheeks as she charged up.
"James, you moron!" the Meowth yelled at him.
"What'd I do?" the human squealed, staring fearfully at Chia, knowing what was coming.
"You threatened that dumb Eevee, that's what!" the Meowth yelled.
"So what?!"
"So now we're really in for it!"
"Chu!" Chia screamed, clenching her fists and squeezing her eyes shut. "Raichu!"
Brilliant yellow light filled the clearing, but the attack was direct, condensed, and perfectly aimed. The enormous blast of electricity was more than enough to literally send Team Rocket flying.
Distantly, Remmy heard three frightened voices yell, "Looks like we're blasting off again…!"
Pi fluttered to a landing on one of the logs. He, too, stared at Chia in amazement.
Cole trilled a cheer, leaping into Chia's arms. She hugged him tight, and, for the first time, her arms went all the way around him.
Remmy chuckled in amazement. He rubbed Chia on the head, but he didn't have to lean down very far to do it. "No wonder the Viridian City Pokécenter blew up," he told her. "You probably weren't the only Pikachu holding back on evolving." She glanced at him. "You had to be holding off. I mean, the timing was too perfect. You were holding back, weren't you?"
Chia boosted Cole to her shoulder, shrugging a little. "Raichu," she admitted, her tone the same as if she'd said, "Maybe."
Remmy shook his head. "First Ro, then the Poliwhirl… now you." Remmy chuckled, turning a little to look at Pi. "You're not about to evolve, are you?"
Pi's eyes narrowed a little in his equivalent to a smile. "Pidge, pid," he replied, shaking his head.
"I won't stop you."
Pi cooed a chuckle, and shook his head again. He was sure.
"Want to go back in your pokéball?" With a trill of agreement, Pi did just that. Remmy regarded Chia with a grin. "You walk back. There's no way you're riding my shoulder again!"
Chia just grinned.
A Pallet Pair #5b:
The Making of a Team
Ivonar hesitated a moment before knocking. She hugged Static to her chest nervously. Manx, the picture of calm, sat beside her, and began licking his right front paw.
The door opened, to reveal a small man whose entire face but for his cheerful eyes seemed lost in a cloud of curly white hair. It was impossible to tell where his hair ended and his thick, long beard began. "Welcome!" the man cried, his eyes sparkling with humor. "Come in, come in! I don't get many visitors! Yes, do come in!" He stood aside to let Ivonar in.
A little stunned at the enthusiastic welcome, it took a moment for her to realize she was a Pokémon short. "Come on, Manx." Manx glared at her, then snorted, returning his attention to his paw. "Manx!" This time he didn't even look at her.
"Come on in, and I'll give you a nice big fish," the man offered.
Manx glanced at him, frowning a little, then stood, stretched, and meandered inside.
"So, what brings you here, young lady?" the man asked her. She started to follow him, but he gestured for her to sit down. "No, no, you stay here. Old Farley keeps his promises! And I'll bring us some lemonade to drink while we talk." He wandered deeper into the cabin. Ivonar made herself comfortable in an armchair as she listened to Old Farley hum to himself. Sweetie jumped into her lap for pets; Fluffball and Static amused themselves by untying Ivonar's shoelaces and playing with them. Soon the man returned with a plate of fish in one hand and two tall glasses of lemonade in the other. "So, what brings you here?" he asked again, as he placed the fish in front of Manx.
"I'm Ivonar Marain, from Pallet Town," Ivonar began. She thanked him with a smile as she accepted one of the lemonades. "I would have started training a couple years ago, but when I was ten I got the flu, and last year I broke my leg. But now that I've finally started training… it really hasn't gotten any better."
"Oh?" Old Farley sat in a rocking chair, sipping his lemonade.
Ivonar shook her head. "I keep getting Pokémon that are too strong, and won't listen to me," she explained. "One of the first Pokémon I caught was a Spearow, which evolved into Fearow, and the only reason I still have her is because she's thankful I helped her evolve." Ivonar put the untouched lemonade down on the small table in front of her. With one hand, she pet Sweetie; with the other, she toyed with the pokéball in the fifth pocket in her belt. "My friend caught a Poliwag and let me have it. I sent it away for a little while because I already had six Pokémon, but when I got it back, it came back as a Poliwhirl. As a Poliwag, it was a skittish little thing, but now it's too stubborn to listen." Briefly, her hand slid from the fifth pocket to the fourth, then moved to the third. "And there's Manx. He was my mom's Pokémon, but she insisted I take him with me. He won't battle, and he keeps coming up with excuses not to go into his pokéball." Finished with his treat, Manx glared at Ivonar for a moment, then, ignoring her, curled up by Old Farley's chair. Ivonar bit her lip. "Then there's Nuisance," she said finally. "My brother gave him to me last year, partly because he felt bad because it was his fault I broke my leg, and partly because he didn't really like him. I never trained Nuisance, not like my mom did Manx. So far, all I've taught him is Tail Whip."
"Has he been giving you trouble, too?"
"That's just it," Ivonar said, shaking her head. "He hasn't." She sighed, trying to think of how to explain. "I never trained Nuisance," she said again, "but someone did. Nuisance is extremely powerful. He knows Psychic Toss, and he used it on a huge Onix."
Old Farley's mouth fell open, revealing itself from within his beard. "Psychic Toss on an Onix?" Ivonar nodded. The man frowned, his mouth disappearing again. "Go on."
Ivonar grimaced. "There really isn't anything more to say," she told him. "Nuisance has been a great pet. He sleeps on my feet every night. It's… it's like capturing a Caterpie, then finding out it's a Weedle. My harmless pet is an extremely dangerous Pokémon. But he always listens to me. He's never once been a problem."
Old Farley's fist disappeared as he rested his chin on it. "When you first start training," he said thoughtfully, "It's natural to have problems. You don't know what you're doing yet." Ivonar could tell he was frowning, because the cheerful sparkle left his eyes. "Let all your Pokémon out. Let me talk to them in private." He stood up, reaching down to ruffle the fur between Manx's ears. "Come on. You first." With a snort, Manx climbed to his feet and followed Old Farley deeper into the cabin.
"You heard what he said," Ivonar said. "Everybody out." With one big flash of red light, the room was suddenly crowded with Pokémon. "All of you behave," Ivonar told them, rubbing Sweetie's head nervously.
Ro glared at her, then lay down on the couch, eyeing the other Pokémon warily. Tagalong sat in the rocking chair, sulking. Char played with Fluffball by rolling an ashtray around for her to chase, then bring back when it stopped rolling and fell over. Static got himself hopelessly tangled in Ivonar's shoelaces, but was having fun trying to get out. Nuisance sat by Ivonar's chair, his fingers pressed to his forehead, looking upset, while the Kakuna simply stood perched against the table, looking bored.
Manx returned after a few minutes, and Char took Fluffball with her. When those two returned it was Ro's turn, then the Kakuna's. After the Kakuna, the Poliwhirl went to "talk" with Old Farley. While the Poliwhirl was gone, there was a knock at the door. Nervous about what the Pokémon were telling Old Farley, and feeling desperate for something to do, Ivonar answered the door. There was Remmy, with Cole and-
"A Raichu?"
Remmy grinned, giving the Raichu's head a rub. "Chia," he replied.
"Oh." She left the door open, going back to her chair. "Make yourself at home. He's talking to Tagalong at the moment."
Remmy frowned a little, sharing a skeptical glance with Chia, then shrugged it off and, after shutting the door behind them, took a seat in the rocking chair. He returned Ro's suspicious glare with a grin, which made her look away.
The Poliwhirl returned, wondering into the room, looking much more cheerful. Old Farley peeked in the doorway. "Well, that one was simple enough," he said. "I'm ready for Nuisance now. While we're gone, you two can figure out the name thing."
"Name thing?" Remmy echoed.
Old Farley looked at him in surprise. "Where'd you come from?" he asked, then he shrugged. To Ivonar, he said, "The only problem your Poliwhirl has is that he hates the name you gave him. You and him figure out something else, 'kay? Come on, Nuisance."
Nuisance glanced at him, then looked at Ivonar. She forced herself to smile, rubbing his head. "Go on," she told him. "It's okay." Nuisance frowned, and, for a moment, Ivonar felt… cold, nervous, alone. "What…" Nuisance stood up, giving her leg a brief hug, then waddled after the old man.
Ivonar shook off the cold feeling that had come over her, and looked at the Poliwhirl, which was still standing near the doorway. "I'm sorry," she said.
"I'd been wondering why you named it Tagalong," Remmy told her.
She shrugged a little. "I only caught Tag- er, the Poliwag - because Static liked him, and because he didn't look interested in going back in the water. He was sort of tagging along with us." The Poliwhirl frowned a little. "I'm really sorry," Ivonar said again. The Poliwhirl shrugged slightly. "Do you… uh… have any suggestions, or anything?"
"Po," the Poliwhirl replied, crossing its arms and squinting a little.
Remmy grinned. "Didn't know you could talk to Pokémon too, Eevee."
"Shuddup," Ivonar told him ruefully. She grinned at the Poliwhirl. "He's right though."
"Po!" the Poliwhirl said again. He put his hands on his almost nonexistent hips. "Po."
"You want to be called Poe?" Ivonar asked, frowning a little.
For the first time, the Poliwhirl smiled. "Po!"
"Okay!" Ivonar smiled. "Poe it is. I'm real sorry, Poe." The Poliwhirl shrugged a little. He perched on the table next to the Kakuna. "That's really it? You just didn't like your name?" Poe shrugged a little, frowning slightly. Ivonar smiled a little. "That's all that really bugged you?" Poe smiled a little, nodding slightly.
"Who needs somebody who can talk to a Pokémon when you can guess?" Remmy asked Ivonar.
She glared at him ruefully. "How many times have I told you to shut up today?"
"Not as many times as yesterday."
"I'll have to speed it up."
"Tha-"
"Shut up."
"Okay, you're caught up."
"Am not."
"You think I'd lie to you?"
"About that, maybe."
"Be nice, Old Lady."
"You first, red-haired kid."
Remmy grinned. Ivonar gave him a tolerant half-smile. "You know, I've been wondering," Remmy said, doing his best to look thoughtful while still grinning, "when, exactly, did I stop tagging along?"
Ivonar frowned a little. "What do you mean?"
"When we left Pallet, you said I could stick with you as long as I could keep up."
"Why'd you decide to come with me, anyway?"
"I wasn't about to talk to Gary about that," Remmy replied. Ivonar rolled her eyes; she knew what he meant. "And Ash… I don't know. He's always been kind of obnoxious, you know? Bragging about how great he's going to be. They make a great pair - Ash bragging about how great he's going to be, and Gary having a whole squad of cheerleaders yelling about how great he is." Remmy looked thoughtful for a moment. "You just didn't."
"Didn't?"
"You just try your best. You don't act like you're already perfect. Can you imagine Gary, or Ash, coming here, if they had a problem with their Pokémon listening to them?" For the first time, Ivonar saw Remmy smile. Not grin - just smile. "You didn't answer my question."
She considered it, then shrugged a little. "I don't know. I guess it was after we caught Pidge and Pi. When we actually started training, you know, not just getting our starting Pokémon. When it just… started." She laughed. "Am I making any sense?"
"No." Remmy grinned. "But who said you had to?"
"That's true. I mean, after a week with you, how could I possibly know what sense means anymore?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Manx rolled his eyes, putting his paws over his ears.
"Miss Marain?"
Ivonar looked up, surprised. Her surprise increased when she saw the solemn look on Old Farley's face. She stood up. "What? What's wrong?"
Silently, he motioned for her to join him in the next room. Ivonar glanced at Remmy; without a word, they both stood up (pausing a moment for Ivonar to get Static out of her shoelaces, and her laces re-tied) and entered the small kitchen. Old Farley sat at the table, and motioned toward the one other seat in the room; her mouth set in a grim line, Ivonar sat down. Remmy looked around for someplace to sit, and finally chose to perch on the counter next to the sink. Nuisance, looking kind of distant, wandered from a corner to lean his head against Ivonar's leg.
Old Farley folded his hands together, looking thoughtful for a moment, before speaking. "Well, I talked to all your Pokémon," he began, "and I must say, each one of them has a very interesting story. One day, I'm sure they'll tell you them, because I'm sure you'll be training them for quite some time - long enough to learn to understand them." Ivonar looked at him in surprise. Old Farley smiled. "They all respect you, in their own way. For example, Ro is quite taken by your bravery. Rather than hide, you chose to fight those Beedrills. The Kakuna, too, is impressed that you fought so hard for it. It'll be hatching in a couple days, by the way." He winked at her. "As I said, with the Poliwhirl, he was simply upset that you chose such a demeaning name for him. I'm sure you have that worked out now." Ivonar nodded slightly. "He realizes that you didn't really want to catch him, and is quite pleased that you would allow him to fight for you anyway. Now, Char is willing to respect you…" His tone became that of a gentle warning. "… but only if you use her more in battle. She feels left out." Ivonar frowned a little: she'd only been in two battles - the one with Samurai, and the one with Brock - and she'd used Char in the one against Samurai. Then she remembered how quickly the Pinsir had given up, and nodded again. If Char wanted to battle more, she'd battle more. "Now, Manx…" Old Farley chuckled. "Manx is an exceptional case…" He glanced toward the other room, then leaned forward, as if to tell a secret. Ivonar leaned forward as well. Quietly, Old Farley said, "Manx has the natural aloofness of a cat. He doesn't want to look like he cares. But one thing is clear about him: he has a very protective nature. Forgive the expression, but Manx is quite the mother hen." Ivonar giggled in spite of herself. "You're actually better with him out of his pokéball, I think. He admits to adopting the Eevees, but I think he's adopted you, too."
Ivonar smiled, but then her smile faded. She remembered how much she'd hated - well, not really hated, but extremely disliked - Manx back home. But, since starting her training… it was like with her and Remmy. Without really noticing, they stopped simply tolerating each other or just knowing of each other, and worked as a team. She remembered Manx, his lips pulled back, snarling at thirty Beedrills, daring them to attack.
Never once had she realized he'd done that for her.
The shock of the sudden realization made her jump slightly, as if she'd dragged her socked feet across a thick carpet and touched a metal doorknob. She looked toward the doorway to the other room, where she could see Manx trying to keep Static occupied while Ivonar's shoelaces were not available. She smiled to herself: here she'd thought he'd "adopted" four Eevees, when the whole time, he'd adopted five.
When she turned back to look at Old Farley again, he was frowning once more. "Then, of course, there is the matter of Nuisance."
Instantly, Ivonar's smile died. She looked down at the Pokémon who had his head rested against her leg; he looked up at her, and she felt it again: the cold nervousness, the sense of distance that came with being utterly alone. "What about Nuisance?" she asked quietly, rubbing his head gently. The cold feeling faded almost instantly.
"Well, for one thing," Old Farley began with a sigh, "he's older than you think. A year older, actually. And he did have a trainer before you." Ivonar looked up, away from Nuisance, at Old Farley. "His other trainer was quite strict with him. Not physically brutal - not strict in that sense - but strict in training his mind. Simply put, his old trainer wanted him to evolve, and they wanted it very badly." Old Farley sighed again. "But his other trainer had other Pokémon. They had another Psyduck, who evolved first. They abandoned Nuisance about three weeks before your brother found him. A week after that, he was given to you." One of Ivonar's hands rested gently on Nuisance's head, but the other, on the table, shook violently. Old Farley smiled a little, reaching over the table to stop her hand. "He was quite adamant in saying that that was the best thing to ever happen to him."
Ivonar wasn't sure where to look, or what to say. First she stared silently at Old Farley, gratitude and sorrow warring for control over her face. Then she looked at Remmy, but his face was blank, impossible to read. Finally, she slid out of her chair and wrapped her arms around Nuisance, hugging him tight. "Oh, Nuisance, I'm so sorry…" she whispered.
"Psy…" He hugged her back, his bill rested over her shoulder. "Psy ai, ai psy-ai-duck, psyduck psy duck psy."
"He says that you have nothing to be sorry for," Old Farley translated.
Ivonar shook her head a little. "I know," she replied.
Old Farley stood up quietly. "I don't think I need to tell you how he feels," he said. He glanced at Remmy, still perched on the counter. "Don't you have anything better to do, boy? Get offa there." He ushered Remmy out of the room.
A moment later, Ro stalked in, her wings folded to her sides, her dangerous eyes looking around suspiciously, checking for any danger. Seeing none, she hopped onto the chair Ivonar had abandoned, spreading her wings protectively.
Next to enter the room was Char, Fluffball still tagging at her heels. Char ducked under Ro's left wing, looking at Ivonar worriedly. Silently, she rested a paw against Ivonar's shoulder. Fluffball stopped prancing about, frightened by Ro's spread wings and worried by the silence.
Poe came next, lugging the Kakuna with him. Static was trying to help by shoving at the base of the Kakuna with his head, but in reality he wasn't really doing anything. Poe put it down, resting it against the chair Ro had commandeered, and stood next to Char, equally silent, equally solemn. Static sat next to Fluffball, equally as upset and confused as his sister.
Finally came Manx, carrying Cole in his mouth. Sweetie raced passed him to jump onto Ivonar's shoulder, wrapping her tail protectively around the back of Ivonar's neck. Manx put Cole with Fluffball and Static, then nudged Ivonar's shoulder with his head. She looked at him, and his pointed, impatient look. She looked at the others - at Ro, her wings spread wide; at Char's worried face; at the upset Eevees and unreadable Poliwhirl and Kakuna; and at Nuisance, who was just starting to smile again. Then she looked at her impatient, tailless Persian once more.
And, for no reason at all, she had to laugh.
And so she did.
*
They stayed for a couple days, resting for the long trip ahead of them. Remmy and Ivonar agreed to head for Cerulean City next, but this time, they would walk and enjoy it.
The day before they left, Old Farley took Ivonar aside. "Whenever I give someone help with their Pokémon, I give them a gift to help them on their journey," he told her. "Usually, I give them super potion, or some other healing, or energy, sort of thing… but, considering your crowd, I've decided to give you something a little different." He held out a small pouch, putting it in her hands. Before she could protest, he said, "I know you'll get use out of these - at least, with some of them. Not right away, perhaps, but some day." He smiled. "Perhaps when you're ready for some of your Pokémon to evolve again."
Even though she knew he was trying to get her to look, Ivonar managed to wait until she was alone. In the little pouch there were three stones - one ocean blue, one bright yellow, and one fiery orange.
Not sure whether to grimace or smile, Ivonar had closed the bag and packed it deep in her backpack. Old Farley was right - she wouldn't be needing them any time soon.
The next day, leaving their bikes behind with Old Farley, Remmy and Ivonar slung their backpacks on their backs and headed out, their Pokémon beginning their journey with them. Remmy and Ivonar waved back to Old Farley for a long time, until finally they couldn't see him anymore.
For awhile, they walked in silence. Sweetie rode on top of Ivonar's backpack, enjoying the view. Drake had managed to balance itself on Remmy's pack while wrapped in a tight coil, its purple eyes glittering happily. Ratzy and Saurus walked on one side of Remmy, glad to be able to stretch their legs and enjoy the brilliant sunshine. Somehow, Cole had figured out how to balance on Chia's narrow shoulders, but that might have been because she had her long tail wrapped around him once, to keep him there. Static pranced along between Poe and Nuisance, who seemed deep in conversation; to anyone who could understand, it was obvious that Poe was trying to explain how to use a Water Gun attack, but at the moment it didn't really matter to any of the others. Fluffball was busy alternating between trying to climb onto Manx's head as he walked and trying to capture Char's tail without getting burned; she wasn't having much success at either, but she was having fun just in trying. Overhead, Nasty and Pi flew on either side of Ro, although Pi flew noticeably lower than Nasty, his natural dislike of the other birds showing itself in the distance he chose to keep. However, their newest member flew even lower - in fact, he kept barely a foot above Manx, his fragile wings beating the air with a gentle hum.
He'd hatched from his Kakuna shell quite late the night before, and right until sunrise they'd tried to come up with a name for him, but, quite frankly, there was no name he liked better than what he had been called before.
Ivonar looked at her newest Pokémon with a grin. "I'm probably the only Pokémon trainer with a Beedrill named Kakuna," she laughed.
"Not Kakuna," Remmy corrected her. "The Kakuna."
"Of course," Ivonar chuckled. "My mistake." She hitched her backpack higher onto her shoulders, grinning at the cry of protest from her passenger. "Hey, Remmy?"
"Yeah?"
"What did you do, while I was at Old Farley's? You were gone for almost an hour."
Remmy laughed, grinning. He bent down a little to give Chia's head an affectionate rub. "You're probably not going to believe me…."