*~*The Felicities and Fallacies of Pokémon Training*~*
Chapter Twelfth: When Two Become One
Written by the Duke of Briarcliffe
*~*
Author's Notes: Yes, I know. The name of this chapter is a Spice Girls song, but I thought that its meaning deals with a lot of stuff that I hope to accomplish in this chapter. Read and enjoy! —The Duke of Briarcliffe
*~*
"When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." —Richard Buckminster Fuller
*~*
A MONTH HAD ROLLED BY very much like a Miltank whose child was being carted away by some no-good Houndour—or rather, like a Miltank on a rollout rampage. The grass, or the days, were flattened down into nothingness and the only things that remained prevalent were Nasturtium's extended stay at the Pokémon Center, often visits to the Gym, the metamorphosis of the lovely Moon, and the rising and falling of the Sun.
During that month, Aerin and Duncan had engaged in one more date. They went to see a flick at the Regal Cinema in Downtown Celadon. The movie was good. Both of them looked nice and they had a good time. Afterwards, they dined at a small restaurant that wasn't too far from the cinema. Everything was as perfect as it could be.
Nasturtium's condition had worsened, for she had suffered from a bout of pneumonia and, under Nurse Joy's advice, as superfluous as that might sound, she stayed there until she was completely healed, physically. The process was a slow one that involved frequent visits on everyone but Aerin's behalf and a lot of thinking and some re-evaluation on Duncan's. Guilt is a horrible attribute to have on one's conscience.
Naturally, the conditions at Imagen's apartment did not improve, readily, that is—most was temporary. She went on about her daily routine: work, train, cook, clean, etc; however, many times was it changed when, at the spur of the moment, Duncan or Aerin would have her visit for a while. Those were, surprisingly, the highlights of her existence at that time.
At the present moment, Duncan was just on his way to the Cheapside Pokémon Center in order to retrieve Nasturtium. The sky was darkening early, proof of the oncoming autumn, and a slight breeze grazed the landscape. Boomer was affectionately cradled in his arms, the two having bonded during the lapse of time, and was yipping out little statements or whatever, all things that Duncan couldn't comprehend, naturally.
"[Hooray. We get Nasturtium and she play with me!]" he cheered in a happy voice. At times, it seemed that his eyes were always shut in an expression of blissful happiness and that his mouth was always curved like a "U".
Duncan nodded and said, "That's right," whenever he thought it appropriate. Once prompted by this little cheer for him to go ahead, he chattered away very much as he did before.
"[We gonna have so much fun! I'm even gonna let her eat first, so she won't be angry. When we get home, we're gonna jump over each others' vines and wrestle too. Ooh! I can't wait.]" He absolutely boiled over in excitement.
A breeze whispered a secret message in his ear and he snuggled closer to the warmth of Duncan's broad chest, producing a wide grin on his behalf. It was almost like raising a child. He decided that, if it was that pleasurable, he wouldn't mind having more than just one in the future. Boomer always brought out the good side in Duncan's personality.
The building loomed a few meters before him. "There it is, Boomer. We're here," he pointed out.
"[Yea!]"
The glass doors parted when his presence was determined by the automatic sensors and the pair strolled inside. Imagen was off tonight, so he didn't have anyone to laugh with after his rendezvous with Nurse Joy. She was behind the desk, looking very much like a mannequin with that cheerful grin and those big, expressive eyes.
"Oh, hello...Duncan, right?" she asked, narrowing her eyes as she questioned his true identity.
"Hello. Where's Nasturtium? Is she ready to come home yet?" he asked her.
"Oh! Nasturtium's in the back room, waiting for you. Why don't you just come with me (she added a giggle right here)? I'm sure that she's just dying to see her trainer again."
Great choice of words, he thought as he followed her down the corridor. To the right, near a large metal door, there was yet another door made of a wooden material with a golden knob with a slot for a key. Down a foot or so from the very top of the door was a sign that said, The Personal Room. Nurse Joy pulled out the golden key and revealed the contents of the room.
Near a window framed by midnight blinds, the was a large, comfy looking desk chair and logically, there was a big wooden desk not too far away. On the desk was a golden lap with a beaded switch and a small stack of papers that were neatly shuffled and placed in one of the corners. The lamp radiated a soft, pearly light. On the opposite side of the desk, coming from the door, was an oddly-shaped chair with yet another one situated on its right. And, in the smaller chair sat the rejuvenated Nasturtium, waiting for their arrival.
Duncan was relieved upon seeing that her body was once more, plump and robust. Her chest rose up and down, in a gentle manner. The leaf on her head was as lush and green as ever; it swiveled on the top of her head in anticipation. Her fur was tan once more, like sandalwood. And, most importantly, her beautiful, sparkling purple eyes were shiny and luxuriant.
"[Nasturtium! Nasturtium!]" Boomer cried, quite literally. He wiggled and squirmed out of Duncan's clench; he dashed straight over to his comrade and jumped up on the chair and threw himself on top of her.
"[Kid? Why are you crying? It's not even that serious,]" Nasturtium asked, inconspicuously rolling her eyes up to the ceiling. She picked herself up and gave him a reassuring pat on the back.
"[But it is...serious! Me miss you so bad! Me wanted to be in hospital too,]" he explained to her as he trapped her in a tight embrace with his green vines. Tears of joy gushed out of his eyes like they were faucets.
"It seems as if Boomer really missed Nasturtium," Nurse Joy pronounced as she sat herself down in the chair, which seemed about twice her size.
Duncan falsely grinned. No, really? Duh! Thanks for stating the obvious, Nurse Joy. I mean, it's right there in front of me, for the both of us to see. Impelled by her gesticulation, Duncan sat himself down next to Nasturtium, whom, hesitantly, he rubbed on the head. She didn't flinch. What was done was done—over with.
"Well, in case you haven't noticed, we're about to begin our little session. I hope that you don't mind."
"Why would I?"
She pensively stared at him for a few seconds, with the random blink of her eyes here and there. She rested her face on a propped elbow and twirled a skein of pink hair round her finger. "Hum...I don't know why you would mind;" she giggled. "Silly me."
"Can we get down to business?"
She leaned forward and intertwined her fingers. "You're right. Important matters lie ahead."
After she twiddled her thumbs for a few seconds, she said, "Well, we might as well start by asking Nasturtium exactly what happened...after you threw her out... Well, Nasturtium, I'm going to say a few words and you can nod your head when I am right, O.K.?"
Nasturtium nodded her head, a bobbing motion actually, and waited for Nurse Joy's signal. Nurse Joy opened her mouth, then paused, as if she forgot what she was about to say. Then, after seemingly having a debate with herself, said, "Rain."
Nasturtium nodded, meaning that it was raining.
"Where did you go?"
"Joy, I already know that. I just want to know what happened once she got to the park!" Duncan divulged. "Imagen told me that."
"Oh." She then said, "Grass."
"All of the park is covered in grass!"
"Not the pool," she immaturely reported. He felt as if she was about to blow a raspberry at him right then and right there. "Near water?"
Yes.
"Big?"
No.
"Small?"
Yes.
"Flowers?"
Yes.
"Ah ha! See? My technique is working already. Now we know that she went to that small pond, close to a small glade, that is surrounded by all those pretty flowers. I think they're called moonflowers. Were they white, Nasturtium?"
Yes.
"Now we have to see what she was doing there, or rather, why she went there," she whispered to Duncan. Nasturtium and Boomer heard the entire thing. She was a lousy whisperer.
"Did you used to live there?"
She was unsure.
"By yourself?"
No.
"Then you were with someone."
With a flat stare, she replied in the affirmative.
"[Ooh! Guess-y games—me want to play,]" Boomer cheered, but was soon cut short by a shushing noise by Duncan. He leaned in closer to Nasturtium, a smile still on his face.
"Was it another human?" When she saw Duncan and Nasturtium's infuriated glare, she cracked a smile and said, "I was only joshing you two. Come on. Lighten up!" Loud sighs prevailed.
"Was this pokémon, a water type? Was it a grass type?" she asked. Nasturtium replied that he was a grass type—the pokémon that she was staying with that is.
"Good, we're getting somewhere," Duncan commented, fully interested in her statements to come. Once she revealed this to him, he felt as if it would solve a lot of problems by providing answers to her strange, rather abusive, behavior.
"Is that pokémon gone?"
A tear welled in her eye, yet somehow she managed to blink it back into where it came from. She'd cried enough. She was tired of being sad and glum. She hoped that her companion, her mate, was having a good time, wherever he was at that moment.
"So," Duncan began, summarizing all of her utterances into one synopsis. "After I kicked you out, you went down to Celadon Park. And I'm guessing that you met up at your secret meeting place with your pal—although I don't know how Joy could possibly know about it. But, when you arrived there, he wasn't there. And...his absence made you stop caring about yourself and fall into a state of decline?"
"You're good," Nurse Joy remarked.
Nasturtium nodded her head.
"Therefore, he must have been captured or something because, he would never leave a pokémon like you, one so devoted in more ways than one, voluntarily." This caused a smile on Nasturtium's part. Duncan, no longer afraid of her, rubbed her on the head and said, "I'm sorry. Things are so screwed up nowadays. I wager that you never even saw it coming; much like I did when I kicked you out. Everything was so sudden. I hardly recognized myself."
"You're hair has gotten longer since the first time that I saw you." When he rolled his eyes once more, she said, "You're really good. You should take over my job."
"No thank you."
*~*
"[It feels good out here,]" Nasturtium announced as soon as the trio had hit the pavement and began their trek to the jewelry shop. A solitary leaf fell down to the ground and got poked by Nasturtium. She bent down her head to pick it up. Boomer, however, was way ahead of her.
"[Ha! I beat you. You too slow,]" he cheered as he proudly strutted down the sidewalk, the leaf gallantly raised over his head, a prize for all to see and marvel over.
"[I resent that,]" Nasturtium seethed as she quickened her pace, only to allow Boomer to match it and walk faster. He never seemed to run out of energy. He just latched on to her whenever he could. It was cute in a sense, but it got annoying. A mischievous curl arched on her lip.
"[Hey Boomer, do you see that ever there?]" she asked, using her head-leaf as a guide.
"[Ooh! See what? Me want to see,]" he exclaimed as he began to jump up and down, and all over Nasturtium might I add, in wonderment. After picking herself up from the floor she said, "[It's right down that alleyway. Hurry up and you'll catch up with it. Try to do it before Duncan notices that you're gone!]" Before she could finish her last words of encouragement, Boomer had already disappeared.
Relieved, she trotted back up to Duncan and walked beside him. He looked down at her and smiled. "It sure is quiet out here; don't you think so?" Nasturtium nodded and sneaked a grin once his gaze was directed onwards once more.
They walked on, for another five minutes or so. "[He's been gone for a long time now,]" she soliloquized—that is, she said to herself. (I read a few of those whilst I was reading the Shakespearean tragedy, Macbeth, which I have to write an essay on.)
People were beginning to come out for the lunch hour. It began to become a bit crowded and significantly warmer. It was best that she stayed close to Duncan just in case there was some fool who thought that they could really capture her. Feeling energized, she stuck even closer to him.
"[Oh look. There's the store,]" he directed. There was a long row of shops in front of them. The shades varied amongst each store, as did the style of architecture. Bright signs were either laminated onto the very window or painted on long banners in catchy colors. In the designated store, there were two people: one behind the counter and the other appraising the different specimens of trinkets and such. Displayed on the window was the name; in elegant goldenrod and luxurious forest green it read Chandler Jewelers & Company.
In order to get inside of the store, they had to cross the street. It was very busy. Cars whined as they passed or tooted their long, irritating horns. The air was thick with exhaust fumes that incited a lot of coughing and wheezing on both their parts.
"Someone needs to develop a new energy source," he coughed, placing his hand over his mouth. When the light turned red and the sign flashed "WALK", Duncan said not to stray from the pedestrian lane as they traversed the street. Reaching the other side, they entered the store, and were graciously welcomed by the cashier behind the counter.
"May I help you with anything?"
"Yes," Duncan said, pulling off his silver chain with the solitary pokéball looped onto it and taking out a new Metallic Ball. "I would like to have Nasturtium engraved onto this pokéball and I would like to have it a loop attached onto it."
"Oh. Is that all? If so, that will be twenty five dollars."
Duncan forked over the money.
"Just give me about twenty minutes while I go to the back." She called over to the other person, a male, and asked if he needed anything, that she would be back soon.
The guy couldn't have been anymore than seventeen or so. He had his eyes on the silver section in particular. After the woman had left, he turned around and greeted Duncan, being a friendly sort of person. He said that he a very healthy looking Chikorita and Duncan smiled, asking him if he had any pokémon.
"Yeah, I have a Chikorita too."
"What a coincidence: I have another Chikorita too." Duncan looked down, expecting Boomer to be there right by his side, but he wasn't. Terror gripped his conscience and Nasturtium watched as his eyes lit up in worry. "Where is he?" Looking down at Nasturtium expectantly, he found that her only reply was a shrug of the shoulders.
"What do you mean, 'you don't know?'" he dubiously asked, his voice raised about one octave or so, enough to make Nasturtium get a little bit agitated. She stared at him and said, "[I don't know. He just, disappeared.]"
"Is there something wrong," the young man asked.
"My Chikorita is missing. I have to go look for him. If the lady comes back, tell her that I'll be back shortly. Come on, Nasturtium; I know that you had something to do with this."
She frowned and grudgingly followed him. Her steps were slow and deliberate. A loud click resounded after each tap of her heel. "[Well, it's not my fault. He shouldn't have fallen for the oldest trick in the book,]" she grumbled as Duncan threw open the door.
Once they were outside, the most unexpected thing happened. Boomer had practically caused a five car collision when he dashed across the street. A barrage of horns invaded everyone's eardrums within the radius of about one half-mile as Boomer hurriedly marched up to Duncan.
"[Nasturtium! There was something in that alley! I couldn't get it though. It ran away real fast.]"
A nervous grin was emitted from her mouth. She hadn't really seen anything, so this came as a surprise. "[See? I told you there was something there.]"
"[You should've gone after it. You're older than me.]"
She thought for a second before saying, "[But...if I went, Duncan would've been really worried out me, considering that I just got out of the hospital and all. You're in better condition than me.]"
"[Yeah,]" he gullibly agreed. "[Faster too.]" He began to laugh.
"[Ha ha,]" she falsely chuckled, then, mumbling under her breath, "[I could take you anytime.]"
After Duncan's worries were put to rest, the trio went back into the store.
"So," Duncan said, making conversation as he waited. "When did you capture that Chikorita?"
"Little more than a month ago," he replied. "I was here in the city for a while last month. I'd been visiting my grandfather. I found him in Celadon Park. He's really nice, strong too."
Nasturtium leaned in more, in order to hear better. Then, once filled with an idea, began to rub her body up against Duncan in a very urgent way. She called his name repeatedly before he finally looked down at her. She had his attention. "[Ask him to release his Chikorita. Ask him! Ask him!]"
"Nasturtium, you know that I can't understand a thing you're saying," he reminded her. She stuck out her bottom lip and pouted. Then, she found herself head-butting him on his leg. He frowned as he asked, "What's gotten into you?"
The guy looked down at her and said, "She really perked up once I mentioned having a Chikorita. Maybe she wants to see him."
"Why would she want tha—" But then he remembered the whole session he'd just participated in. Maybe she thought that this guy's Chikorita was her mate from Celadon Park. Her very happiness probably rested on this so he asked him to release his Chikorita.
"No problem." He dug into his pockets and came out with a shining pink and white ball with a heart on it. Then, reciting the magic words, the crimson energy soon forged itself into solid matter, and a healthy Chikorita was born...sort of.
Nasturtium tackled him with all her affection upon laying eyes on him. It was him! It was really him. She began to lick his face and cheeks and she released a beautiful mauve powder into the air that smelled like bananas and vanilla all rolled into one. She showered him with fondness...yet...none of it was returned.
"[Don't you remember me?]"
The male Chikorita backed away from her. "[I only love one pokémon and you are not her.]"
"[That can't be! I am that pokémon. Who else would it be?]" Taking one step closer, with a bewildered look on her face, she placed a vine on his forehead and asked, "[Are you feeling well?]"
He recoiled. "[I'm perfectly fine...and I remember who you are. But I no longer love you. I love someone else, so would you please just back off and leave me alone. I don't want you!]"
These words were too much for poor Nasturtium to handle. The only reason why she continued to live was because she knew that he was out there, as lovesick as she was. It was her bosom plea. But now, to hear him utter those disparaging words was heartbreaking. It was mind-numbing. However, although her heart was frozen with having just suffered a catastrophe, the white-hot fiery depths of her anger was enough to melt it. Blinded by animosity, she extended her vines and coiled them round his head, and slammed his face right onto the hard stone floor. Satisfied, she stomped over to Duncan and pulled on his pants' leg.
"What was all of that for?" the boy asked, after comforting his fallen pokémon.
"It's a long story. I believe that Nasturtium wants to go," he said as he proceeded to the door.
"But what about your stuff?"
"The name's Duncan Beechcombe. Tell her to hold it for me."
Unless he wanted her to return to her former ways, it was a dire necessity that they make a hasty exit.
*~*
Concluding Statements: Yet another transitional chapter. At least now you know why she was so bugged out. Speaking of bugged out, did any of you see the latest Pokémon episode? What the hell was up with Lugia? She was having a whack attack. And she looked so stupid while she was doing it. The Lugia in the movie looked different. That Lugia was cool. These two Lugia looked fake! While she was spazzing out I was like, "It's not even that serious. Calm down." Anyways, don't forget to review. Oh, read The Fourth Key by Marie: it's cool. —The Duke of Briarcliffe