(((All characters belong to me. Nintendo's credit goes to the weird and wonderful creatures known as Pokemon.)))

Chapter 2
Eggnapp'd!

Indeed, considering the perfect weather conditions, and the peaceful, unstirred atmosphere of the route, one could say this was a fine, fine day. The kind of day when life seems just perfect. When it seems absolutely nothing could go wrong…

cliché plot music start

"Hwa-"

"Char-"

"Jeh."

"Char."

"Hwa-"

"Char-"

"Jeh."

"Chah."

"You have to move your lips, Hwajeh. Like this." She pointed to her mouth with both index fingers, drawing back her lips as she pronounced his name again. "Huuuuuwaaaaaaa…" she puckered her lips out, then spread it out slowly, dragging out the syllable. Then bared her teeth for the next part. "Je. Now try it."

The fire Pokemon lowered the egg it held in its arms, watching its trainer's face carefully as it twisted about. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, drawing his lips back to reveal rows of tiny, pointy teeth. He tried with so much effort to bend his face in the way instructed, so much that it was becoming rather difficult not to laugh as she observed and demonstrated. The best she could coax out of him was a "Chwaaaaaaa….cheh."

"Keep trying," she muttered, patting his head, and scribbled something down on her notebook. We're making progress at least. She glanced up into the trees, watching the birds flutter about in their business, their chirping cries echoing far and near. Hardly anything else stirred. In short, peaceful, yet boring. She chewed irritably on the end of her pen, and proceeded on.

The remainder of the day went by without much incident. Save encountering some vicious rodent-types and observing a swarm of Bellsprout, she had to say everything went well. Too well…it was getting bit suspicious. Nonetheless, so as long as they were still safe and happy, it didn't matter.

She had decided to venture at the further parts of the route, following the Starflow River down to its origins in the mountains, where the current was gradually getting stronger. A forest soon came up where the running water entered and disappeared within. They took the chance for a break, within the cool shade of the trees, appreciating the vast beauty it had in comparison to the wide-open plains they had previously trekked before continuing on.

The small blue Aura rested comfortably on the young researcher's head, cotton wings wrapped around its body in such a way that it resembled a strange cotton hat. Hwajeh lagged behind, hauling the large Pokemon egg with him. For reasons the girl couldn't fathom, he insisted on keeping it to himself, even when it seemed he was having difficulty walking with it. She didn't bother to think about it much after a while, and devoted her attention to her notes, only looking up from time to time to make sure he was still following when she felt she could no longer hear his shuffling steps behind them. She didn't bother to tear her eyes away after a time until she felt the bird's frantic chirping and beating of wings. Finally looking up, she turned to check on how her fire companion was doing. Still busy carrying the egg, as usual, but not paying much attention to the path he trudged on. A huge tree root stuck up before him.

"Hwajeh, watch ou-"

Thud.

He fell forward with an annoyed "Chaarr!",the egg rolling away from his arms. They both watch it come to a stop in the grass, and Swablu and human shook their heads sadly.

"Alright, you've had enough, Hwajeh. I'll carry the egg…" She never noticed the shadow looming above as she walked over to pick it up. Not until it finally dive-bombed from the sky like a missile, missed hitting her hand by inches as it landed before her, cutting off her reach. It took a bit of time for a proper reaction, her mind trying to shake off its surprise when it realized there was suddenly a large Pelipper looming over her egg. A larger version of the waterfowl she had encountered the other day, but with an immense mouth that was several times wider than any of its pre-evolved forms. She wasn't appreciating the look it gave her; a sneering glare as it held its head up higher; she could very well feel it was looking down on her if she weren't towering above it. The top portion of its beak opened, a salty, fowl, fish-smelling sea breath blasting at her with a deep, honking "AWWWK!" that rattled her so much that she stumbled back. Actually, it was probably more of the stinking breath that she held her distance. Seeing that the human was backing off, the water Pokemon placed a webbed foot atop the speckled egg. Aura's feather's ruffled at the action, and Jemilie narrowed her eyes.

"What a fascinating breed you are," she said in cooing tones, inching closer, hand outstretched to reclaim the egg. "Maybe perhaps you're interested in taking a bit off your busy schedule to help me in my research…HEY!" She drew her hand back swiftly, just narrowly avoiding getting her forefingers chopped off by a swift snap of the beak. It drew itself closer to the egg, and Jemilie understood now that it had no intention of giving up its prize. She clicked her tongue, making her displeasure understandable even to a mentality as limited as the Pelipper's. "Alright, bird brain. Unhand that egg now, and you won't have to answer to the butt-kicking end of my boot."

The water fowl's head swung sideways, its tiny eye relaxed and unphased by the threat. While she was thinking it probably hadn't understood what she was saying, it started to slowly release its hold on the egg. Jemilie bent down once more just as the webbed foot left the shell, but before her fingers could so much as brush against it, the bird's head snapped forward, and a torrent of cold, disgusting, smelly salty water slapped her square in the face. Sputtering, she fell back, running her sleeve nonchalantly over her face to rid the rancid liquid, muttering "Ugh...Ye bastard." The Pokemon delighted itself in watching her, then lowered its large mouth…and scooped the small egg inside proudly.

The action pretty much did it to finally provoke the small cotton bird into attack mode. She soared off her perch, screeching angrily, pecked and clawed at the offending beast, who released small streams of water to fend off its attacker. A minute of confusion in the whirling of feathers and cotton, and Aura finally backed away. Thinking it was successful in routing away its small opponent, the Pelipper turned away, unfurling its wings to meet the wide blue yonder, but not before receiving a face full of fire from the angry Charmander that had been waiting patiently for its own attempt to strike. Screeches of pain and splashes of salty water rained in the air, and the waterfowl finally shot to the sky despite the searing pain it endured. The Swablu gave chase to it, unwilling to allow it escape with the item, and soon both avians disappeared beyond the leafy canopy, leaving a disgruntled Charmander and an even more disgruntled trainer behind, helpless in the situation.

Jemilie spat out the last of the salty water and tossed her soaking hair back, glaring at the sky. "C'mon. We can't lose them," she growled and ran off, following the direction of the fleeing birds, Hwajeh hobbling swiftly after.

To be continued

(((Stay tuned!)))