Chapter Eight – Two is Company
Joshua
Pokémon are endlessly fascinating in their incredible diversity, their powers and abilities unlike any other form of life that we know of. They wield elemental forces that range from the mysterious to the spectacular. They heal wonderfully from all manner of injuries - a process that the technology of the Poké Ball accelerates - and they have an instinctive understanding of our languages. It is not for nothing that spiritualists throughout the ages have speculated that humans and pokémon were somehow meant to co-exist.
It is for this reason that I devoted my youth to the understanding of pokémon psychology, and why I chose to write this book. There is nothing remarkable in the character of myself or any of my family that prefers us to the care of pokémon. It is a skill that anyone can develop if they do so with an open heart -
"One cranberry juice aaand one perry. Your lunches will be following in a couple of minutes. Can I get you guys anything else?"
Josh looked up from his book as the waitress set down his drink. It was another bright spring day, and both he and Eve had been determined to stop for lunch at the riverside bistro from the moment they had set eyes on it that morning. The little town of Longwater was a half hour's journey away from Azalea by bus. It had a similar quaint charm, living half in the past with its red-tiled houses, its winding alleyways leading to unexpected courtyards, its ivy-hung walls and window boxes overflowing with flowers. Against all reason, steam driven paddle-ferries plied the waterway, visiting the villages up and down the river. A light wind blew from the north-east, bringing with it the scents of the river and the barest hint of distant redwoods. Sitting outside on the bistro patio, Josh took a long, contented breath and savoured the myriad springtime aromas.
"A bit early in the day, isn't it?" Eve said, raising an eyebrow at the perry.
"A cold perry on a sunny lunchtime? What could be finer?" Josh replied with a smile. Eve was still giving him a sceptical look. "Oh, alright. Normally I would wait, but since we'll be back in Azalea by dinnertime I want to have one now. This is cider country, Eve! And I am reliably informed that Crossbow Summer perry ranks among the best that Longwater has to offer."
He took an experimental sip of the pale cider. It tasted crisp and clear, with the light, sweet flavour of wepear offset by the sharp tanginess of the alcohol. The perry went down almost as easily as water. Thirsty though he was, Josh resisted the urge to finish half the pint in one pull.
"Oh yes? And who's your reliable informant?" Eve asked playfully.
"My dad."
"Big drinker, huh?"
"Not really. He's what you might call a connoisseur, though he'd never call himself one. On weekends he has a pint or two of something ordered from a micro-brewery … when I was a teenager he used to give me a sip, and if I could tell him exactly where the beer was brewed I could have a full pint," he half-smiled at the memory. Eve smiled back at him, leaning forward on the table. She has such a pretty smile, Josh thought, and fiddled with his book reflexively.
"And so are you, by the look of it," she said, nodding at the book. "Every Trainer A Nurse. It's the best general pokémon healthcare primer around."
"Oh, do you have a copy?"
"You haven't looked at the inside cover have you?" she replied with a quick wink. Josh opened the front cover – the inside dust jacket showed a photo of a bespectacled Joy in a white lab coat, watching a young Joy play with a totodile. Beneath was a short caption: 'The author, Dr Imogen Joy with her niece Evelina'. It almost looked like a spontaneous snapshot, Dr Imogen watching with a proud smile as the teenage Eve played with the totodile without a hint of self-consciousness.
"So your aunt is a pokémon professor?" he asked.
"Well, sort of! Aunt Immey is the secondary at the Cherrygrove Centre now – oh, that's like the second-in-command of a Pokémon Centre – but way before that she got her doctorate at Celadon University, studied pokémon psychology under Professor Oak, even did a bit of pokémon training as part of her research!" Eve stopped abruptly and contemplated the photo of herself and her aunt. "It was Aunt Immey that helped me get the money together for this journey. Oh, here's our lunch."
Josh straightened up in his chair while the waitress made her way over, plates in hand. A loud ding! soundedas he accidentally kicked something metallic under the table. "Sorry Magnemite," he apologised. "You alright there, screwball?"
Magnemite didn't answer. It was trying to think. Its trainer had polished it, before they left the Pokémon Centre that morning. It had been the single most enjoyable experience of its life. Now Magnemite was having to think, really think for the first time. For reasons it couldn't quite understand, Magnemite wanted to please its trainer. I must think about this some more, it thought, and then tried to remember what 'I' meant.
Magnemite's trainer was peacefully disassembling a splendid river trout, while Eve attacked a lentil salad as if it had personally offended her.
"I almost wish I'd ordered the fish myself," she said.
"You wish, you wish, you'd ordered a fish. Here, try some of mine," Josh said, loading his fork with a mouthful of trout.
"It does look good," she admitted. "Hold on, are you sure?"
"Yes."
"You know, you don't have to share -"
"I know. I'm offering."
"Yeah, but you've paid for it."
"It's only a taste, Eve!"
"I mean, you're welcome to try my salad -"
"Eat the damn trout!" Josh stretched his arm out a bit further, the fork hovering below Evelina's nose. She still hadn't taken her eyes off it.
Eve leaned over a little shyly and ate the proffered mouthful off Josh's fork. "Mm," she said indistinctly, "s' good."
They glanced up at the sound of wings thrashing at the air. A wild pidgeotto was circling above the bistro, crest feathers blazing a brilliant scarlet in the sun. It looked small for its species, perhaps a feather over two feet from beak to tail.
"Pidgeooo!" it cried triumphantly. "Pidgeot-TO!"
The pidgeotto landed on a convenient lamppost and glared down at Josh.
"I don't like the way it's looking at me," Josh said.
"Don't be silly," said Eve, reapplying herself to her salad. "All pidgeotto look like that."
"No way. It's staring at me," Josh glanced down at his trout. "Oh no," he said as the pidgeotto leapt from its perch. "No no no, this is mine ..."
Josh raised his fork threateningly as the bird bore down on the table. Pidgeotto landed, ignoring Josh's attempts to stab it, screamed "PIDGEOOO!" in his face and delivered a painful peck to the ear. Then it was off in a whirl of feathers, leaving behind Josh clutching his ear and Eve shrieking curses.
Pidgeotto retreated to the roof of the bistro with Josh's trout clutched in its talons. It immediately began tucking into its stolen prize. Josh leapt to his feet with a growl.
"Oi! That cost me seven dollars, you pirate!" Josh raged. Then he noticed his upturned perry glass. "That was my – that was my bloody pint! That tears it! Magnemite, Thundershock!"
Magnemite emerged from its place under the table. It paused, aimed, and shocked the pidgeotto thoroughly. Josh watched in disbelief as the bird pokémon screamed in fury, apparently completely unharmed. It took to the sky again, sweeping its wings back and curling into a dive.
"Tackle, a Normal-type attack -"
"That's not a Quick Attack?" Eve gasped.
Pidgeotto smashed into Magnemite, sending it spinning away. Magnemite steadied itself and hit pidgeotto with another Thundershock as it started to regain height.
"Look!" Eve called out. "There's a glow, around its feathers!"
She was right. It was hard to see through the glare of the Thundershock, but Josh could just make out a golden haze outlining pidgeotto. Whatever that is, I'll bet it's why Thundershock won't work.
"Alright, Magnemite! Get ready for Sonic Boom," he commanded. A Poké Ball whizzed past, cracking open to reveal a scruffy black meowth. It took one look at the pidgeotto and unsheathed its claws.
"Sorry Josh, but I want this," Eve cried. "Meowth, Fury Swipes!"
Pidgeotto lined up for another attack run on Magnemite. It swept down in a couple of wing beats, faster than ever. Meowth grounded it in a single leap, giving no quarter as it slashed madly at its foe.
"Enough! To me!" Eve barked. "Poké Ball, go!"
Eve pitched her Poké Ball with deadly accuracy, striking pidgeotto square on the back before it could take flight again. The Ball rattled and bounced around wildly -
- the pidgeotto within thrashed and struggled in fury. She refused to be captured so easily! If she just struggled hard enough, then -
- the Ball burst open as the capture lock failed. Pidgeotto shot up into the air even before it had properly re-materialised, calling in triumph before wheeling away south-east over the town. Evelina cursed sincerely. Both she and Josh watched the pidgeotto soar over the roofs of Longwater - here on the eastern side of the river the town tumbled down a steep hill till it met the riverbank. Josh looked back at his spilled perry ruefully. It would have served the blasted pigeon right to have been caught by Eve.
"Sir? Miss? Are you both ok?" A man in a neatly pressed shirt and apron was making his way through the tables towards them. "I'm the owner," he said, shaking Josh's hand. "And I'm very sorry about that pidgeotto. We've been trying to capture it for a while, but for some reason electric attacks don't affect it at all. If you'd care to reorder then your lunch is on me, with my apologies."
"What's up that way?" Eve asked, pointing towards the south-east.
"That way? The battlefields are in that direction, by the apricorn trees. Pidgeotto likes to roost there, we think."
Eve looked up the hill thoughtfully. "Right," she said. "Come on, Meowth! Let's go bag that bird!"
"Eve, wait!" Josh called after her. "What about our lunch?"
But Eve was already pounding up a flight of stone steps. Josh sighed and held up Magnemite's Poké Ball. "Come on, screwball. Looks like lunch is going to have to wait."
The cyndaquil blew out a dense Smokescreen, forcing Magnemite to abort its Tackle.
"Way to go, Sori! Now, use Ember!" its trainer ordered. She was a perky black girl in a red tartan miniskirt, and had been fighting hard to keep her advantage over Magnemite. A Zephyr Badge glinted proudly on her lapel. Josh had been trying to get one final clean hit in but her cyndaquil just kept evading Magnemite's attacks.
A cloud of fiery sparks jetted from somewhere inside the smoke, catching Magnemite off-guard. It spun on its axis rapidly to try and throw off the embers clinging to its metal skin.
"Hang in there, screwball! Come on, Sonic Boom, through the smoke!" Josh called. The Smokescreen burst apart as easily as Sleep Powder, the shock wave blowing it apart and tossing the cyndaquil across the concrete battlefield. Both pokémon were looking battered, each snatching a moment to rest while their trainers took stock. Magnemite had battled tenaciously despite its type-disadvantage. It was more focused on the battle than before, Josh was sure of it. After taking direct hits from several Fire-type attacks, Josh felt he owed his pokémon a break.
"Hey. How about we call it a day? I don't know about your cyndaquil, but my screwball here has fought enough," he said.
"Yeah, ok," his opponent replied. "Sori's pretty tired too. Good battle, mister!"
She recalled her cyndaquil and took off at a run, leaving Josh alone on the battlefield with Magnemite quietly circling him. He flung himself onto a bench at the edge of the field. The battlefield was surrounded by a chain-link fence, overhung in places by the branches of apricorn trees. The pink and white apricorns were in season, the bright fruits hanging heavily among the budding leaves.
He was about to call Magnemite to him when he remembered what he had read in Dr Imogen's book. 'Magnet pokémon display affection by repeatedly orbiting objects.' Josh smiled at his Magnemite. It was a strange creature, but armed with Dr Imogen's book, he was beginning to understand what made his little screwball tick.
Just then, Eve joined him on the bench, plunking herself down with a "Hmph!" She folded her arms tight across her chest and scowled into the middle-distance.
"Still can't catch that pidgeotto, eh?" said Josh.
"Hmph."
"I've been thinking. I reckon I know how you can catch it."
"Hmph?"
Josh pointed to the overhanging branches. "White apricorns," he said.
"White apricorns," she repeated dully. "White apricorns! Fast Balls! Josh, you're brilliant!" Eve leapt up and carefully selected an apricorn, slicing through the stem with a pocket knife.
"Josh, you're brilliant," Eve beamed at him. "Hmm … maybe I'll take a couple of colours."
"Don't thank me too soon. I think you'll find that you owe me lunch."
"What? I do not!"
"You do, Miss Evelina, because the bistro owner was going to offer us lunch for free but you ran off to catch a pokémon."
"But pidgeotto was getting away -"
"Free lunch," Josh countered.
Eve looked ready to keep arguing, but her scowl changed to a smile instead. "Maybe I'd rather take you out to dinner," she said archly.
"Do I get to choose the restaurant?"
"I don't see why not. You seem to have good taste," she said with a wink. "Are we square?"
"We're square," he said. "Come on, let's head back to Azalea! If we're quick you might have your Ball ready for tomorrow."
Humming happily to herself, Ledyba landed on the damp turf and clicked shut her wing cases. Her armour shone a healthy crimson, flecked with a cluster of irregular black spots.
"Kind of looks like a constellation, doesn't it," Josh said thoughtfully. "A bit like Lyra."
"You think so?" Eve replied.
"Sure. That big spot there could be Vega. And there, R Lyrae, beta Lyrae ..."
Ledyba buzzed her way over to her trainer and landed on her head. "Maybe I should call you Lyra then," Eve said. "Yes. Lyra's a good name."
Pidgeotto circled slowly over Longwater. She had lost her, and now she couldn't find her again. She was looking for the female human with the pink crest, the one with the savage black meowth. On some level she was aware that the human was trying to catch her. On some level she wanted to be caught, by a human strong enough to overmatch her.
She mugged a passing human for his hamburger, but it just wasn't the same.
Sunset was fading into twilight when Josh got back to the Pokémon Centre. He found Eve relaxing outside with her ledyba. She'd let down her rings, the loose locks falling to the small of her back.
Lyra buzzed something at Eve. "Are you sure?" she replied. "You're usually too sleepy around this time."
"Dyyy-ledyyy," Lyra said cryptically.
"Ok then. Be back when the stars come out," Eve told her. Lyra spiralled into the air and flew off into the dusk.
"You can understand her?" Josh asked uncertainly.
"The words she said? No. But I understand the meaning well enough," she giggled at his surprised expression. "It's not that unusual. You can already read your bulbasaur's moods, can't you? I wouldn't be surprised if you started to understand his speech before long. It happens with most trainers, sooner or later. Anyway," she added, "I'd best shower and change since we're going to dinner."
"Erm, Eve? We can eat at the cafeteria here if you like."
"Mm-mm," she said, shaking her head firmly. "I said I'd take you out to dinner, and I meant it. And, um, it's nice to have company … I had a lot of fun today."
"I'll see you when you've won your Badge!" She had meant it in a playful way, but to Josh it still felt like a vote of confidence. He had wanted to win anyway - for the sake of proving Dad wrong, and for the sake of his own pride. But now he also wanted to win because of the confidence Eve had in him. She was probably in Longwater by now, Fast Ball in hand.
He leaned against the bole of a chestnut tree and took a few deep breaths. The Gym felt more like a forest than a building. This is ridiculous. I'm never nervous. The strategy he'd devised should work, but … Bugsy might throw anything at him. There was no way he could research all the possibilities. Closing his eyes, he forced himself to breathe slowly. When his heart rate dropped, Josh headed to the dirt battlefield in the middle of the Gym.
"So Joshua, come to challenge me already?" Bugsy called. He was standing up in the branches of a tall elm, his retinue of bug catchers clustered below.
"I've come here to win a Hive Badge," Josh called back, trying to sound more confident than he felt.
Bugsy shrugged. "I accept all challengers. Benny, would you fetch the referee? Tell him Joshua has arrived for a two-on-two battle. Brandon, hold the ladder please."
They took their places on the field while they waited for Benny to return with the referee. After a while Bugsy said, "Have you ever heard the saying 'He who learns the rules of the Bug pokémon, learns to rule the Bug pokémon'?"
"No. As I recall, I was told to go and bond with my Electric pokémon," Josh replied evenly. He was faintly pleased to see Bugsy raise a quizzical eyebrow, as if not quite sure what to make of his remark.
Josh was still focussing on keeping his breathing steady when the referee arrived, standing out in sharp contrast to the Gym Trainers in his black and gold uniform. With a flourish of his flags – red for Bugsy, green for Josh – the referee announced the rules.
"This official Gym battle between the challenger Joshua Cook of Mulberry Town and the Gym Leader Bugsy of the Azalea Town Gym is about to commence! Each trainer will use two pokémon and only the challenger may make substitutions! A Hive Badge is at stake!"
My pride is at stake.
"And … begin!"
"You had better be ready, Joshua! Go Spinarak!"
Stay calm. You can do this. "Magnemite! Let's win this."
There was a moment of absolute stillness. Magnemite hung motionless, unfazed by Spinarak staring back with a spider's patient menace. There was something unnerving about the way it stood perched on the tips of its yellow legs, beady black eyes giving away nothing. Your move, Bugsy.
Bugsy broke cover first. "Use String Shot," he yelled. Spinarak went from statue-still to lightning-fast. Magnemite instinctively dodged the String Shot and retaliated with a Thundershock, but Spinarak was already moving, somersaulting into the trees on the end of a silken safety-line.
"Thundershock, again," Josh said.
"Webs, Spinarak."
Chased by Thundershocks, Spinarak zipped from tree-to-tree leaving behind trip-lines as it went. It moved with sudden bursts of frantic movement, all skittering legs and flying String Shot, and before long it had spun a net of silk over the whole battlefield.
But Josh had spotted a mistake. "Sonic Boom," he ordered calmly. The Sonic Boom sounded off with the familiar crashing ckroom that Josh was beginning to love, accompanied by a clatter of snapping threads. In one swift attack, Magnemite ripped Spinarak's net to ragged shreds.
"He who learns the rules of the Bug pokémon, learns to rule the Bug pokémon," Josh quoted. "Spinarak spun its web too taut."
"... very clever, Joshua. Let's see if you can figure this out – Shadow Sneak!"
Darting into the gloom beneath the branches, Spinarak melted into the shadows and disappeared from sight. Josh was instantly suspicious. Why Shadow Sneak? A relatively weak Ghost-type attackshould barely affect Magnemite with its Steel-typing. But Spinarak hadn't attacked – it had melted into the shadows beneath the trees as perfectly as if it was not there at all. What are you up to, Bugsy?
"On your guard, Magnemite. As soon as you see Spinarak, zap it."
"Sorry Joshua, but it won't be that easy. Use Night Shade!"
Black rays like the negative of a Psybeam lanced out from the gloom, smashing into Magnemite's left magnet with a flash of shadow. The blast shaded to a sinister red at the edges, throwing out shadows rather than glare. Shadow Sneak was never intended to be an attack, it was camouflage. Josh racked his brain, trying to remember the effects of Night Shade. It was a Ghost-type attack, but why then was Magnemite so easily injured by it? Volleys of Night Shades shot out from the trees. Many missed, but too many found their mark. Josh winced as Magnemite let out a grating screech – one of its magnets had bent out of shape. Switching for Bulbasaur won't solve anything. I can't see Spinarak and neither can Magnemite. Night Shade bypasses Steel-type resistance somehow …
Josh realised he was in trouble.
Pidgeotto was getting angry. A ledyba, a damn bug, was challenging her to battle! What was worse, this bug wasn't afraid of her! She just couldn't squash it, try as she might, this brave little ledyba that fought for the female human with the pink crest. She didn't want this.
She wanted to battle the meowth!
Pidgeotto decided that she had had enough. She climbed sharply to gain some height, fully expecting the ledyba to follow. No matter. She was fast and nimble, and could out climb any mere bug. Wheeling round, she glared down at the ledyba and the pink-crested human far below. Time to make an end of it!
Rolling into a dive, Pidgeotto swept her wings back and plummeted like a meteor. A few quick flaps of her wings corrected her course, a barrel roll compensated for ledyba's sluggish dodge. Next, the talons swung forward, six gleaming claws ready to crush ledyba once and for all. Less than a second before impact, there was a flash of green and then -
It was like flying into a brick wall.
Disoriented and half-conscious, Pidgeotto tumbled to earth. The pink-crested human threw a ball at her, a red, yellow and white ball …
Magnemite narrowly evaded another Night Shade. It flicked a Thundershock into the trees, guessing at Spinarak's position and failing.
"If you can't cope with surprises, how do you expect to win one Badge, never mind eight?" Bugsy said. "You should probably quit now rather than lose completely."
Josh ignored him. Calm down and think, you fool! Spinarak hadn't stepped out into the sun since using Shadow Sneak. That must mean it could only hide in the shadows. But surely it couldn't hide in just any shadows, it would still need to be able to see Magnemite. Which means that it's probably hiding in the widest patch of shadow …
There. A space overhung by the evergreen spray of a cypress. "Magnemite!" he called, pointing with an outhrust arm. "Sonic Boom that area now!"
Whether it was out of trust, Josh didn't know, but Magnemite didn't even hesitate. It simply spun, and fired. And fired. And fired.