Chapter 10.5: Battle For The Plain Badge! Whitney's Counterattack!
"Flippy! Use Mud Slap!"
"Dodge it, Tokiko!"
As the sun set across the horizon, the sky was once again being painted a luscious orange color, streaked with soft blues and lofty pinks. But neither Caiseal nor Julia noticed, as they were still training on the Pokemon Center's battlefield. Flippy the wooper spat out balls of sticky brown mud before slapping them with her tail, throwing them right at Tokiko. Much to Caiseal's chagrin, Tokiko was dodging them all easily. Sometimes she would roll away, sometimes she would just run, and other times she would jump high in the air. Not too high, at most about three feet.
"Good job, Tokiko! Now use Headbutt!" Julia called. Tokiko gave a big smile before running right toward Flippy, her head ready for headbutting. Flippy cried and ran for her life, but Tokiko, being small, proved to be faster. Once the spiky egg pokemon caught up...BAM! She rammed right into Flippy, sending her rolling on the sand.
"Woopah!" Flippy fell on her tail with a cry.
"Come on, Flippy! Get up! You can do it!" Caiseal exclaimed, flapping his fists up and down. Encouraged by her trainer's kind words, Flippy stood back on her stubby feet despite having no arms.
"Woopaaaah!" Right before everyone's eyes, Flippy glowed in a radiant white light. Some of the pokemon had to cover their eyes, it was that blinding. Julia did the same. Flippy grew bigger and taller, soon matching Caiseal's height, right before going up another foot. Once the light faded, out came a different creature. Flippy had transformed into a large, light blue pokemon with long arms and legs, with three fingers and toes on each. Her spikes had completely disappeared, replaced with a wavy dark blue fin going down her spine, ending to her tail. Following along the fin was a wavy purple stripe, and two small dots hovered over its mouth.
"Quaaaaagsiiiiiiiire…" Flippy yawned in a lower pitched, almost whispery voice. She sounded like she wanted to take a long, peaceful beauty nap.
"Wow!" Perrine clasped her hands together in awe. "Flippy evolved into a quagsire!" She pulled out her PokeDex to examine her.
"Quagsire, the water fish pokemon. The Quagsire make their home in clean, fresh water lakes. Quagsire are covered by a slippery layer of skin, making this Pokémon especially difficult to handle. Quagsire have an easy going nature and don't care if they bump their heads on boats and boulders while swimming. It hunts for food by leaving its mouth wide open in water and waiting for its prey to blunder in unaware. Because the Pokémon does not move, it does not get very hungry."
"Awesome! She's so cute!" Julia wasted no time running over to Flippy and wrapping her arms around her. A cool, slimy sensation covered her arms and shirt, but it wasn't in any way sticky or icky, so Julia didn't mind one bit. Even Tokiko got in on it, though she was only able to hug the tip of Flippy's tail. Flippy flashed a big smile and embraced Julia back, relishing the hug.
"Hey!" Caiseal yelled, giving Julia an austere look. "I didn't give you permission to hug my pokemon, and we're not done training yet!"
"Quaaaaaag…" Flippy let out a long, drawn out yawn.
"Flippy says 'I'm done training. I love hugs!'" Julia cried out, letting her hair stick to Flippy's oily skin.
Caiseal gave Julia a quizzical look, wondering if she made that up. But Flippy didn't seem to mind, and had a content look on her face. It was clear that she liked being the center of attention. Fuwari floated on top of Flippy's head, sitting on it and smiling sweetly. Flippy didn't even notice. Caiseal let out a sigh before smiling. Flippy did deserve a break from all this training, after all. She was always a jolly little pokemon.
"Alright then," He looked down at Mallow. "You ready for some training, dude?"
"Cubone!" Mallow spun his bone around like a baton before gripping it again.
Julia kneeled down to Aqua's level as she pulled Tokiko away from Flippy. "Hey, Aqua! Do you want to have a go at it this time?" She asked.
"Marill maar!" Aqua chirruped and got into position. Caiseal and Mallow did the same.
"I'm making the first move! Mallow, you use Headbutt!"
The cubone charged right at Aqua, with his head lowered and ready for bashing. "Dodge it, Aqua!" Aqua did as ordered and leaped away from Mallow like Tokiko did, via jumping around, rolling, or doing cartwheels. "Use Water Gun!" Aqua shot blasts of water out from her mouth. Copying Aqua's dodging style, Mallow jumped around or did cartwheels whenever Aqua would try to shoot water at him. Every time the water hit the ground, the blasts would leave behind small holes about the size of Aqua's body.
Holes...Julia stared at them intently. Immediately, an idea flashed in her head. Her insides were doing backflips, and a torrent of words began forming in her throat, dying to push right out of her mouth. "Use BubbleBeam!"
"Maaar!" Aqua shot a barrage of fast moving bubbles at Mallow. Since he stopped to breathe after doing so much dodging, he was unable to evade it. The bubbles overwhelmed him at every turn, and the water soaked his body to the bone. "Okay, we're done!" Julia stormed over to Perrine.
"Whoa!" Julia came up to her so fast that she got really close to Perrine's face, making her recoil a bit. "You might want to back up a little."
"Oh! Sorry!"
"What's up?"
"I have an idea of how we can defeat Whitney!" Julia whispered in Perrine's ear, too restless to not let this information go to waste. Caiseal sprayed Mallow's elbow with an orange super potion, watching as the girls gossiped.
"Ooooh. That sounds like a good idea. I made up something we can do too," Perrine whispered in Julia's ear this time.
'I wonder what they're planning,' Caiseal asked himself as he finished spraying Mallow. The girls were nodding, waving their arms, letting their pokemon join in on their conversations, flailing their legs up and down, clasping their hands together, stuff like that. To be honest, he wasn't sure if they could possibly defeat Whitney. If he lost to her, then he was sure the possibility of them losing to Whitney was just as high.
Although he had to admit, he thought Perrine to be quite a good trainer, and beautiful, too. Her orange hair the color of the sunset, her ocean blue eyes, her poised demeanor, her motherly nature...everything about Perrine exuded a kind of warmth about her. It helped that she was quite smart, and seemed to be mature for her age. He smiled upon seeing Perrine snuggle Fuwari and Chirin warmly, like any kind mother would.
On the other hand, he wasn't so sure about Julia. She was nice enough, and he could see from the way she interacted with her pokemon that she loved them dearly, but he was sure that kindness could only go so far. She certainly acted and behaved like a naive little girl who knew nothing about the world. Just hearing the fact that she's on a journey for tracking down her sister...it just made him snap. To Caiseal, a journey was for oneself, not for the sake of someone else. He couldn't help but question if Julia was really a good pokemon trainer. Something about her just seemed bothersome to him, but he wouldn't dare say that in public. Not in front of Perrine, especially after the way she scolded him for yelling at her at the cafe. Her pokemon liked her well enough.
"I think that's enough training for one day," Perrine said, stretching her arms outward. "Anyone up for dinner?"
Julia's stomach growled lightly. "Definitely."
"Sure. I could go for some grub."
With that, the kids went inside to order some food. The kids were careful to prepare some food for their pokemon so they could have bites to eat. However, Caiseal noticed Julia giving Tokiko and Hikaru some cut up pieces of meatballs from her spaghetti. He found this to be unsettling. "Why are you giving your pokemon people food?"
"Huh?" Tokiko had already scarfed down her piece of meatball. "They like it. What's wrong with that?"
"I give Florian and Kitsune grilled dumplings all the time," Perrine added, taking a bite out of some chicken. "It's their favorite. Fuwari even likes brown rice," Florian rubbed his head against Perrine's arm, snuggling up against her. The orange haired girl smiled and stroke her friend's leaf with her hand gently. It was here that Ravenclaw snuck a piece of broccoli off of Caiseal's plate, swallowing it whole. Caiseal didn't even notice.
All of a sudden, a loud, rattling sound rattled the entire restaurant area, along with the sound of breaking plates. Julia's hands immediately flew over her ears as everyone turned to look and see what caused the loud crash. A silver tray lay upside down on the floor, with remnants of food and broken plates scattered all around. Ketchup melted into the broccoli and corn, turning them an ugly shade of reddish orange. Alfredo noodles were contaminated by the dirt on the floor left behind by many a dirty sneaker. A broken glass caused soda to spill all over the chicken. A young waitress in a black dress and white apron scrambled all over to try and clean up the mess, pulling out paper towels.
"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry!" The waitress exclaimed as another waiter came over to wash the mess with some paper towels. "I'll ask the chefs to make new ones for you, and it'll be on the house!"
Caiseal wasn't bothered by the mess, annoying as it was. But seeing Julia with her hands still on her ears didn't look normal to him. "Why are your hands still on your ears? Take them off. It makes you look weird," He said.
The next thing he knew, he felt something kick him on the shin. It was Perrine's brown shoe. Her shoe sent pain right up his foot, and he clenched his teeth together to keep from screaming in pain. "She's sensitive to loud noise, and it's not weird," She hissed in a no-nonsense tone of voice.
"Pichu!" "Choki!" Both Hikaru and Tokiko echoed Perrine's statement, annoyed by Caiseal's lack of understanding of her condition.
Once the fiasco was done and over with, the kids returned to their rooms. Julia and Perrine shared a room, whereas Caiseal had his own room, for obvious reasons. Perrine sat on her bed as Julia took a shower, absorbed in a new book she had just bought called 'All You Ever Wanted To Know About Autism/Asperger's Syndrome But Were Afraid To Ask.' She had intended on researching autism for a while, but never got around to it until now. This was her chance to try and get to know Julia even better.
She poured through that book, taking in all of its information. The more she read, the more she realized that many of the traits autistic people often displayed, he saw Julia display. Fear of loud noise, rocking back and forth, flapping hands, an intense obsession with routine, fixations on things or events...Julia did all of those things. So they weren't just personality traits after all.
None of this made Perrine think less of her, however. Autistic or not, Julia was still the kind, sweet, compassionate girl who loves pokemon, reading, and classical music. She was still the girl who took the time to help her and Florian back in Union Cave, when no one else would. So what if she was autistic? It wasn't as though she was some brain sucking alien from outer space sent here to kill everyone. She couldn't believe all the stigmas and stereotypes that autistic people were subjected to upon reading about them.
Lack empathy and affection, caring only for themselves? Please. Julia was the most empathic, affectionate, and emotional girl she knew. If she didn't display empathy or affection or cared solely about herself, she would never have become friends with Perrine or even stopped to help her when she needed it the most, and she certainly wouldn't care for her pokemon as much as she does. Flaps her hands and rocks constantly? Not all the time, only when she was anxious and needed to calm down. Throws tantrums all the time? Absolutely not! Julia never threw a tantrum once in the time she knew her. Causes trouble? That described Amara way more than it did Julia. A savant who was a genius at a certain skill? No, that didn't sound like Julia at all. She was smart, yes, and knew a lot about pokemon, but that was it, nothing more.
"Whee!" Julia found herself bouncing on the plushy bed with her wet hair tied in a white hair towel. "We're gonna try and beat Whitney tomorrow!" Hikaru, Tokiko, and Blossom jumped on the bed with her.
"Odd oddish!"
"Pichuuu!"
"Choki choki kriii!"
"Hey! Perrine! You remember our strategy, right?"
Perrine nodded, her eyes seldom averting their gaze. "You know I do. Let's win that Plain Badge together."
"Oh yeah!" Julia noticed the book she was reading. "Did you get that just now?"
"The book? Uhh...yeah, I did. Do you want to read it?"
"Not right now," Julia replied. "Oh! Some brochures!" She grabbed some brochures from the nightstand and browsed through them. Aqua and Ladybug peered over both of her shoulders to get a good look. Even Fuwari joined her by hopping on her head. "Ooooh. It says they're holding a Bug Catching Contest at the National Park soon. I wonder what that's like?"
"How about we check it out after we battle Whitney?"
"That'd be great!"
The moon glittered in the sky, accompanied by her beautiful stars. Julia and Perrine slept peacefully, lost in dreamland, surrounded by all of their pokemon, who slept alongside them. However, Ladybug found herself awakening at the sound of a soft breeze coming through the window. It was opened wide enough for a pokemon to sneak out of. Since they were on the first floor, the window was about two feet above the ground, making it easy for one to jump through it without getting hurt. Ladybug opened her wings and flew out the window.
Ladybug's buzzy wings pulled Fuwari out of her beautiful dream. She woke up early enough to see Ladybug fly out the window. The tiny pink cottonweed hopped out of the window and floated on the grass. Thankfully, the ledyba was only a few feet away, staring longingly at the round moon. What could she be doing up this early? Fuwari wasn't sure, but she was going to find out. Ladybug wasn't running away, nor did it look as though she intended to.
"Hoppip? Hop hop hoppip?" ("Ladybug? What are you doing out here?") Fuwari asked in a cute, sweet voice.
Ladybug said nothing, continuing to stare at the moon. The pink cottonweed noticed a sad, longing look in her eyes. "What's wrong? You look sad."
"Ledyba ledy ledyba…" ("I'm a weakling.")
"What makes you say that?"
"I can't battle very well. I always lose. I can't meet Julia's expectations," Ladybug buried her face in her white fists, even though she wasn't crying. "My family always said I was a puny, worthless little runt...and they're right!" Ladybug shook her head sadly. "I'm scared of everything, I don't like talking with others, I can't fight to save myself...I'm sure Julia hates me."
Touched by Ladybug's sad words, Fuwari put her stubby hand on the ledyba's arm. "You're not worthless or a weakling. You're a great pokemon, and Julia loves you. I've seen the way she talks to you and the others. She loves you all dearly, no matter what."
The pink cottonweed had a good point. Ever since Ladybug had been captured, Julia had been nothing but nice to her. She always thought humans were bad, and stayed away from them to avoid trouble, but Julia and her friends were different. Fuwari smiled and continued on. "I've seen humans who care only about strength, and yell at their pokemon when they lose battles. I'm glad Julia and Perrine are nice and don't care about that stuff."
"That's true…"
Fuwari began flailing her arms, hopping up and down. "It's okay! It doesn't matter if you're strong or weak! I'm not very strong, but Perrine doesn't mind. To them, we're their precious friends."
A smile creeped upon Ladybug's face. Fuwari was right. Strong or weak, they didn't care. Their pokemon were their friends, and that was what was important to them. Ladybug balled her fists and looked up at the moon, this time with a determined look in her eyes. "Even so...I want to make Julia and my friends happy…I'm not strong, but that's okay!"
"Choki!" ("Hello!") It came as a surprise to them as they found Tokiko trotting right up to them. "Are you two having a nighttime party? Can I play, too?"
The next morning, Julia and Perrine stood together on the left side of the battlefield, facing Whitney, whose arms were crossed. The pink haired woman's eyes were gleaming with intent to win. They could see it. For Julia, Whitney's determination to win felt like a suffocating aura coming from her very being. Caiseal sat on the bleachers, surrounded by Julia and Perrine's pokemon. Interestingly enough, Aqua and Fuwari weren't with them.
Two hands joined together, intertwining, giving each other strength. "You ready, Jules?"
"I am," An odd feeling surged through her being. At first, she was confused, but it wasn't hard to figure out what it was. Confidence, the very thing she thought she could never have.
"This is my first double battle!" Whitney exclaimed as she pulled out two PokeBalls. "You better get ready, girls! Fur-Fur and Mil-Mil! Come on out, sweeties!" On cue, her beloved furret and miltank popped right out.
"Aqua and Fuwari! You can do this!" Both girls used their free hands to throw their pokeballs, and Aqua and Fuwari came bouncing right out.
Caiseal gave them both a quizzical look. "Seriously? A marill and a hoppip? They're crazy…" He mused to himself. Marill and hoppip were relatively weak pokemon. Furret was fully evolved, and miltank was strong. In his mind, there was just no way those girls would be able to stand even a shadow of a chance against them.
"Ready?" The referee raised two flags in the air. "Battle begin!"
"Fur-Fur, you start off with Sand Attack!"
"Fuuur!" Fur-Fur kicked her legs into the battlefield, kicking dirt in the air.
"Fuwari! Blow it away with Fairy Wind, and make it a big one, too!" Perrine commanded.
"Hooooppiiiiip…!" Fuwari floated in the air, the two weeds on her head spinning like the propellers of a helicopter. A sparkling pink cloud came spiraling right out of the weeds, blowing the sand attack away. The pink gale suddenly ran past Fur-Fur and Mil-Mil, hitting them head on.
"Hm! Good move!" Whitney said. "But we're just getting started! Mil-Mil! Rollout, let's go!"
"Mil-Mil!" The big miltank immediately rolled into a ball, charging right at the two smaller pokemon.
This was their chance to put their plan into motion. In their hearts, they prayed that it work. "Aqua! Dodge it with Water Gun!" Julia called out.
"Marill!" Aqua shot a blast of water at the ground, pushing it so that she would fly up in the air. Mil-Mil rolled right into the geyser but didn't stop rolling. Fuwari was able to float away.
"Keep using Water Gun! Shoot that water everywhere!"
"Marill maaar!" Aqua began shooting blasts of water everywhere. With every blast, she left behind large, miltank sized holes in the battlefield. Soon, the entire stadium was covered with them. All of a sudden, Mil-Mil got caught in one hole, pulling her out of her Rollout attack.
"Whoa!" Whitney's eyes widened.
"Now's our chance!" Perrine shouted. "Fuwari! Use Bullet Seed to keep it from getting out!"
"Hoppipipipipip!" Fuwari took in a huge breath of air before suddenly assaulting the helpless miltank with a barrage of tiny, glowing yellow seeds. They came so fast, Mil-Mil was unable to dodge them or even so much as put her hooves up to shield herself from them.
"Fur-Fur! Use Fury Swipes to knock them all away!" Whitney cried. On command, her furret threw herself into the fray as her claws extended farther than normal. Once her claws grew out, the furret swiped at the glowing seeds, either cutting them to ribbons or knocking them onto the sides, protecting her friend from further damage.
Caiseal couldn't take his eyes off of the battle. It had only just started, but the determination coming from both sides was blazing passionately. Even the pokemon's eyes were glued to the battle, their mouths falling open in an ungraceful manner. Perhaps he had underestimated them. Those two small pokemon could easily lose, yet they were putting up quite a fight.
"Use BubbleBeam!" Julia cried. Aqua inhaled deeply before spitting out a storm of round, rainbow colored bubbles at the furrets feet. Since Fur-Fur's claws were facing upward, that left her lower body open for attack. As the bubbles popped upon making contact, Fur-Fur's feet burned. Mil-Mil took the chance to climb out of the hole she was trapped in.
"We're not giving up! No way!" Whitney balled her fists. "Mil-Mil! Use Stomp on that marill!"
"Miiiil!" With zeal in her heart, the giant pink cow lunged right at the blue mouse with one of its large feet ready for stomping. Aqua was quick to dodge. Since she was smaller and lighter than the pink cow, she evaded the attack easily.
"Fuwari! Jump on Mil-Mil's face!" Fuwari flew right onto the cow's muzzle. "Use Sleep Powder!" The weeds on her head spun around, causing a sparkling green cloud of powder to billow right out. Mil-Mil shook her head vigorously, managing to throw the tiny cottonweed off of her face. Unfortunately, her nose inhaled a scent of the power. Before long, her head began to feel light, and her eyes became heavy.
"Furret!" Fur-Fur was quick to cover her nose with her arms so as to not smell the power. It was too late for Mil-Mil, as she fell to the battlefield with a thud, completely unconscious. A big, drippy nose bubble came ballooning out of her nose. Aqua couldn't resist the urge to laugh.
"Awww noooo!" Whitney whined, with her hands on both sides of her head. "Mil-Mil's sleeping like a log!" As much as she hated to admit it, she was in a big pickle.
"Great job, girls!" Julia exclaimed.
Aqua and Fuwari turned to face their trainers and cheered. "Marill!" "Hoppip!"
Then it happened. Fuwari suddenly became enveloped in a harsh white light. She soon grew to about Aqua's size before the light dissipated. Her pink fur had turned a soft, light green color, with the weeds on her head having blossomed into a big flower with sunny yellow foliage. Her pointed ears turned round and floppy, like those of a dog, and her red eyes were brimming with cheer.
"Popo! Popo!" Fuwari squeaked in an even higher pitched voice than usual.
"Oh my gosh! Yay!" Perrine found herself jumping up and down like a little kid. "Fuwari evolved into a skiploom!"
Julia pulled out her PokeDex, holding it over Fuwari as the green pokemon danced alongside Aqua. "Skiploom, the cottonweed pokemon. This happy-go-lucky grass-type has a flower on its head which opens and closes depending on the temperature. For that reason, this Pokémon is sometimes used as a thermometer. It floats in the sky to soak up as much sunlight as possible by spreading the petals on its flower, and to get closer to the sun."
"Awesome, and right in the middle of our battle, too!" Julia exclaimed as she put her PokeDex away.
"We're not done yet!" Whitney shouted. "Fur-Fur! Use Quick Attack!"
Since Quick Attack increased the pokemon's speed, Fur-Fur was able to knock both Aqua and the newly evolved Fuwari out. Not to a point where they had fainted, but the giant ferret did leave some decent damage on the two.
"Careful, Jules," Perrine whispered. "Miltank may still be asleep, but her furret is just as strong. Don't let your guard down."
Julia nodded silently. The tension in the room was thick enough that a scyther could slice it with its sickles. Even Caiseal's eyes were glued to the action. "Bubblebeam!"
"Bullet Seed again!"
Once Fur-Fur stopped to rest, Aqua and Fuwari fired their attacks, stopping it from taking a moment to breathe. That was when Whitney commanded Fur-Fur to use Fury Swipes, and not just to slice and dice the barrage of bubbles and seeds. Once the attacks had ceased, Fur-Fur charged right at Fuwari and scratched her repeatedly with her long claws. "Popoooooo!" Fuwari tried to float away, but the ferret was able to jump at least ten feet and slammed on the green grass type pokemon with its claw. As a result, Fuwari slammed right onto the battlefield, her eyes swirling all around.
"Fuwari the skiploom is unable to battle!" The referee exclaimed.
"Oh no! Poor Fuwari!" Julia looked upon the fallen skiploom piteously. "She worked so hard…"
With a sad smile, Perrine put her beloved friend back in her pokeball. "You did great, Fuwari. I'll treat you to your favorite cupcakes later."
"Fuwari likes cupcakes?"
"Yeah, especially those chocolate ones with green frosting and flower sprinkles," Perrine turned over to the bleachers. "Hey, Baloo! Want to take on this giant ferret?"
The pink balloon pokemon's round eyes sparkled with delight. "Jiggly!" With a cheer, Baloo hopped off the bleachers and trotted over to the battlefield, giving Aqua a reassuring high five to assure her she wasn't alone.
The battle resumed. Fur-Fur was still tough to handle despite being at a disadvantage with Mil-Mil still sleeping. This time, plan B was set in motion. Since Whitney wasn't allowed to switch Mil-Mil out, Aqua took the chance to blast the sleeping cow with Water Gun and Bubblebeam, all at once. At one point, Mil-Mil managed to wake up, and would have defeated them had she not been so woozy and had she not fallen face first into another hole. Aqua took the chance and tackled the pink cow so hard, she made Mil-Mil fall on her back, leaving her unable to battle.
"Mil-Mil! Noooo!" Whitney whined.
All of the pokemon on the bleachers began cheering, jumping, and flailing their arms up and down. Hikaru jumped up and down, encouraging Aqua and Baloo to keep going. Tokiko and Ladybug simply shouted at them to win the battle no matter what. Everyone else simply shouted words of encouragement. Caiseal found their enthusiasm to be charming, if a little annoying.
"Alright! Let's finish this! Aqua, use Bubblebeam again!"
"Baloo, use Wake-Up Slap!"
Aqua shot bubbles at the giant ferret's eyes, making them sting from the piercing soapy feeling. Once she covered her eyes, Baloo hopped right up on her face and began smacking her with two stubby hands, left and right. The pain from the repeated slaps stung the ferret's cheeks. Finally, Fur-Fur couldn't continue, as her legs gave out, burning from too much running around. Fur-Fur collapsed on the battlefield, with Aqua and Baloo in battle stances. The referee looked closer and raised a flag in the younger girls' direction.
"Furret is unable to battle! Aqua and Baloo win, which means the victors are Julia Parisa of New Bark Town, and Perrine Innocenti of Goldenrod City!" The referee announced.
"Yay! We won!" The girls joined hands and jumped up and down. Baloo and Aqua did the same, only they danced around their beloved trainers, joining them in their rejoicing. All of their pokemon ran off the bleachers, performing their happy dances.
Whitney called Fur-Fur back into her pokeball. "You were great. We lost, though. It's okay. It was a fair fight," With a smile, she walked over to the happy girls and their pokemon. Once they calmed down, she said to them, "Great job, girls. You really kept me on my toes."
"Ehehehe…" Julia nuzzled Aqua in her arms, giving her an affectionate kiss on the forehead. "All we did was think up a strategy. The pokemon were the ones that gave it their all, so you should be giving them the credit. You and your pokemon were great, too."
"Is your arm okay?" Perrine asked.
The pink haired girl held her arm out like she was displaying some muscle. "It'll be a-okay! I see a lot of potential in you girls. Keep it up, and you'll win the Pokemon League in no time!" She dug through her pocket and opened her palm to reveal two square shaped silver badges. "In honor of your victory, here's your Plain Badges!" The two girls took the badges gratefully. "You'll be great trainers. You treat your pokemon with all the love in the world. A good trainer always puts their pokemon first. By the way…" Whitney got a closer look at Perrine. "Forgive me if this sounds rude, but aren't you the girl that went missing some time ago?"
"Urk!" Perrine's body stiffened. Caiseal walked over to them, curious. Julia just cradled Aqua in her arms.
"I don't mean to pry," Whitney began with a shrug. "But there's missing posters of you everywhere, and your picture is all over the news. I hear your parents are pretty worried."
"Please don't let anyone know I was here!" Perrine begged, clasping her hands together. Baloo, Florian, and Kitsune all looked at each other with confused faces. "My parents...don't want me becoming a trainer. I ran away from home so I could be a trainer."
"I see…" Whitney scratched one of her pink pigtails with one hand, wondering what she should do. "I don't want to lie to anyone. Maybe it'd be a good idea to just let them know you're okay? I mean, for all I know everyone might think you've been kidnapped or killed by some creepy child murderer. Trust me, I've seen stories like that on TV."
Although she wasn't sure what she should do, Perrine decided to take Whitney's advice into consideration. However, she wasn't sure if she could face them. More than anything, she wanted to stay the heck away from them. They said their goodbyes to Whitney and went to the Pokemon Center to get their friends healed up. Caiseal was the first to bring it up. "So you ran away from home, huh? I don't blame you."
"Yeah."
"So...are your mom and dad, like...I dunno...abusive?" Caiseal asked. "Do they hit you or beat you?"
"Hey!" Julia exclaimed. "It's rude to ask personal questions like that! She might not want to talk about it!"
"Shut your trap!" Caiseal snapped back.
"No. They're not," Perrine hissed, clutching the fabric of her skirt. "They just don't want me becoming a pokemon trainer. They're pretty adamant about it."
Julia gave Perrine a quizzical look. "What does adamant mean?"
Caiseal rolled his eyes before answering, in a condescending tone, "Adamant means if you have an opinion or idea about something, you stick to it no matter what and never change your mind," Julia noticed the disappointed look on his face, like he expected her to know what it meant. "Jeez, you must be really-"
"Zip it!" Perrine hissed. 'Man, what is this guy's problem?!' She thought. As much as she liked the extra company, she couldn't help but notice Caiseal's odd behavior toward Julia. Chastising her for doing something she usually does, for not knowing certain things, looking at her with disgust like she was an ugly Trubbish...she was liking him less and less every time he opened his mouth. What was he even doing hanging out with them anyway? Didn't he have other things he needed to do? She figured he didn't know about autism. Perhaps she could explain it to him later.
Once their pokemon were healed, the kids decided to head to the grassy areas of Route 34, just outside the city. Not so far that they would get lost or be out of the city's vicinity, but just enough so they could easily go back without problems. The kids let their pokemon out so they could play. Hikaru and Tokiko chased each other around, running and laughing happily. Perrine sat on a stump, brushing Kitsune's fur and tail with a brush she kept with her. Ladybug slept in Julia's lap, basking in her trainer's affection as Julia stroke her body with one hand.
"Chuuu!" "Choki kooo!" The two baby pokemon ran around like little kids, happy to be able to run around in the warm sunshine. At one point, Tokiko tripped on a small rock and fell face first on the grass. "Pichu!" Hikaru ran over to try and help her up, but oddly enough, something else did it for her.
Standing before the yellow mouse was a pink pokemon about Mallow's size. Its fur was a cotton candy pink color, with some of its skin coming loose to drape over its legs, making it resemble a dress. Said loose skin had four light blue spots dotting it, with a matching ruffle around its neck. The pokemon's floppy ears were black at the ends, its feet were a beige color, and it used its stubby arms to carry Tokiko up from the grass, holding her upright.
Oddly enough, Tokiko didn't even cry. Since she was still a baby, one would expect Tokiko to cry after falling on the ground, but the togepi proved to be quite a tough little thing. Tokiko looked up at the pink pokemon with a big, bright smile and chiruped, "Choki ko!" ("Thank you!")
"Snub snub snubbull," The pink pokemon told her. ("You're welcome. Just be careful next time.")
"Hey, look!" Julia exclaimed. "A snubbull! How cute!" She pulled out her PokeDex, watching as Hikaru and Tokiko conversed with the pink pokemon.
"Snubbull, the fairy pokemon," Julia couldn't help but think that snubbull looked absolutely nothing like a fairy, even though it was technically classified as a fairy type pokemon. "Although snubbull's grumpy face makes it look gruff and frightening, it is actually a kind, caring, affectionate, and even cowardly pokemon. They don't like to battle, and prefer to scare their opponents rather than fight. Because of their playful nature, devotion, and loyalty, it is popular with women. They also have a sensitive sense of smell, and can smell things like smoke from a thousand kilometers away." A pink female sign appeared on the PokeDex, signifying that she was a girl.
As soon as snubbull heard Julia's voice, she walked over to Julia, hopped on the stump she was sitting on, and poked at the PokeDex with her stubby hand. "Snubbull…"
"Do you want to look at it?"
"Snub!" Snubbull nodded, her floppy ears flapping right along with her.
"Here," Julia handed the snubbull the PokeDex. "Just be careful. It's very fragile," The snubbull sat down next to her and stared at the PokeDex with her small eyes, never averting her gaze. Perrine and Caiseal came over to look at the pink pokemon.
"Awww! It's so cute!" Perrine crooned, her blue eyes twinkling.
"I hear they're pretty strong," Caiseal piped in. "But they're usually found around Olivine City. What's a snubbull doing here?"
The snubbull handed the PokeDex back. Then she dug through Julia's bag, pulled out a pokeball, tapped it, and allowed itself to turn into light as she was pulled inside. The pokeball wiggled left and right for a few seconds before the blinking red light disappeared. Everyone's jaws were agape. "Wow. Looks like I just made a new friend."
"Pichuuu!" "Chokiiii!" The two baby pokemon cheered, happy that they could spend time with their new friend.
The pokeball disappeared, but that didn't stop Julia from announcing out of the blue, "Saoirse! That'll be her name!"
Perrine and Caiseal gave her a quizzical look. "Saoir...se?"
"Yep! I've always wanted to use that name! Oh! There's a ditto! I'm gonna try and catch it! Come on, Blossom! Wanna catch it with me!" Ladybug flew off of Julia's lap once she stood up.
The weed pokemon cheered happily. "Oddish odd!" The two of them trotted into the grass to search for that ditto. Perrine returned to a stump and brushed Florian's fur this time. The leaf pokemon cooed upon feeling his fur being brushed, basking in Perrine's affection.
"You like getting your fur brushed, don't you?"
"Chikori…"
"Yo, Perrine."
"What's up, Caiseal?"
Caiseal sat on the ground, right next to Perrine. The orange haired girl could tell he had a serious look on his face. That meant he had something to say to her. What could it be? Florian didn't have a care in the world, as he lost himself in his dreams as the brush stroke his fur. "I'd love it if we could go on a journey together. We both wanna win the Pokemon League."
"Sure! That'd be great! You, me, Julia...it'll be awesome-"
"Actually, I say we ditch her."
Ditch her. Those words made Perrine's warm, motherly smile morph into a confused yet disappointed frown. The warmth in her eyes disappeared, now gleaming with anger. "Why do you say that?"
"Come on, you've seen the way she acts, right?" He began. "She's just gonna hold you back and slow us down. She's freakin' weird."
Perrine put Florian down before suddenly yelling, "Absolutely not! She's my friend and has done so much for me. I really don't appreciate you talking about her like she's some kind of brain sucking alien from outer space out to suck the joy out of my life!" She balled her fists. All of her pokemon stopped to watch her scold him, wondering what was going on. "What is your problem?! She's been nothing but nice to us, yet here you are asking me to ditch her because you don't like her! If that's how you're going to be, then tough luck! I'm not going with you."
"I'm baaack!" Julia came right back, and the conversation stopped. Blossom was panting, her big leaves drooping downward. "Man, that ditto was strong! I didn't even get to pull a PokeBall out and it just escaped!"
"It's okay!" Perrine chirruped, her smile returning. Caiseal's eyes widened at the sudden change in mood. "There's plenty of ditto around here, so you can always-"
"...Perrine?!"
The voice of a middle aged woman suddenly stopped their conversation. Perrine turned around to find a woman standing right behind her. Said woman looked to be in at least her late forties or early fifties, with auburn hair tied in a round dango bun, covered by a lavender hat. A matching shawl wrapped around her shoulders, concealing a long sleeved brown dress that went down to her knees. The woman was also wearing black stockings, brown shoes, a ruby ring on her left ring finger, and sapphire earrings. She looked like the perfect rich socialite. The woman's blue eyes teared up upon seeing the orange haired girl.
"P-P-Perrine! My stars, it is you! My sweet little Perrine!" The woman cried hysterically before throwing herself on the smaller girl.
Caiseal and Julia looked at each other with confused faces. Who was this woman, and how did she know Perrine? In a flash, an idea popped in Julia's head, and it was confirmed as quickly as she thought it.
"...Mom?!"