Chapter Eleven – Forging a Friendship
Joshua
From here the forest seemed to stretch on forever, nothing but mist-shrouded trees marching endlessly into the far distance. The southern side of the forest was dominated by oak and hornbeam, tough old branches frosted with a flush of young spring foliage. Further north, the conifers took over, pine and fir and the great redwoods of the Heartwood. The trees in those groves were the tallest in Johto; they towered up to three hundred feet tall, almost otherworldly clad in their misty cloaks.
Stood with Eve on the foredeck of the paddle-ferry, their new travel backpacks resting on the deck beside them, Josh mentally went over the route ahead one last time. They had decided to head for the Violet City Gym, in a circuitous sort of way, first taking the paddle-ferry from Longwater up the River Esk to Withy End. At Withy End, the Esk was joined by the Withywindle flowing down out of the otherworldly Heartwood. Through the Heartwood, round the Lake of Life Reserve and on through the Ilex Forest to Len Town, following trainer's trails along the way – Josh had chosen that path himself, and Eve had cheerfully accepted it.
The ferry paddled on at her gentle pace, as patient and unhurried as the river itself. She was a quaintly handsome vessel, not so much a ferry as a floating bed and breakfast. Eighteen cabins, a dining room-slash-bar and a tiny shower block were crammed aboard, along with the open foredeck at the bow. It seemed that in defiance of the modern age, steam driven paddle-ferries like this were still one of the easiest and cheapest ways for people to travel in this part of the world.
In many ways, sailing on the Esk was like travelling back in time a hundred years. The river meandered right through the middle of Eskershire; almost every town and village along its banks had a quay or landing stage of some sort to accommodate river traffic. The shire was what Josh liked to think of as 'patchwork quilt country', that part of rural Johto characterised by the distinctive patchwork of fields divided by hawthorn hedges. They had boarded the ferry with a few other trainers at Longwater two days ago, killing time with battling, training, and in Josh's case, studying battle theory. Once or twice Josh teamed up with Eve to fight a double battle – in the evening, they talked about nothing much, forging their friendship one conversation at a time.
Inevitably, last night they ended up having their first fight.
It was a clear, chilly night, tinted yellow by the soft glow of the ferry's lamps. The deck along the sides of the boat was a narrow strip hardly more than three feet wide, hemmed in by the cabins on one side and the river on the other. The captain – a kindly old soul with a beard you could lose a furret in – had decided on the spur of the moment to treat his passengers to a barbecue on the foredeck. Josh nodded to a few of the other trainers as he made his way to Eve's cabin near the stern. She would enjoy this, no doubt – Josh hadn't met anyone who could demolish a burger half as quickly as Eve could.
"Hey Eve, it's me!" he called loudly, with a firm knock for good measure. A muffled curse came from inside, followed by some hurried clothy noises and what sounded like the whirr of a zipper. Eve wrenched the door open a moment later.
"What?" she said shortly. She had her long-sleeved black polo shirt on, and her cheeks looked rather flushed.
"Er, the captain's got a barbecue going and since you haven't had any dinner yet … I can come back," he said. Eve gave him a glazed look, like she was thinking about something else entirely.
"No. No, I'd rather hang out anyway," she said eventually. "Give me a minute to get dressed."
"I'll be on deck," Josh said, and headed back to the foredeck. He assembled a burger for her while he waited. Mustard, she likes a lot of mustard.
Eve managed a smile and mumbled thanks when she joined him a few minutes later. She'd exchanged her burgundy coat for a sleeveless jacket, forest green with vertical rows of three Poké Ball clasps on either side of the chest. The green matched her brown trousers but clashed absurdly with her pink hair.
"Looking good Eve," Josh lied. "The jacket suits you."
"Thanks. It's a gilet," she corrected with her trademark wink. Food seems to have improved her mood, Josh thought as they fell to their usual aimless chatting. That, and the captain's apparently endless repertoire of tall tales.
"... This is what he said, no word of a lie, 'Ladies and gentlemen. I fear the boat is sinking. Would there be anyone among you skilled in prayer?'
The passengers nodded sagely to themselves, aye, prayer's just the thing at a time like this. Anyhow, up steps a young clergyman, and he says, 'Yes captain, I have some small skill in prayer.'
And the captain replies – no word of a lie, I was right there – 'Excellent! You just stand there and pray, while I hand round the life vests. We're one short!'"
A scattered ripple of laughter went round the deck. "Oh, by the way," Josh said to Eve, "if there's a Pokémon Centre at Arborville I'll need to visit the library," he sighed heavily. "I wish these books weren't so damn heavy. I could carry more of them on the road then."
"Will you quit studying theory so hard and relax? Why don't you just get a Pokédex if the books are too heavy?" Eve said flippantly.
"Easy for you to say."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's supposed to mean that it's easy for you to 'just get a Pokédex'," Josh replied sharply. The scowl forming on Eve's face was getting on his nerves. "Do you think that running parcels from the back of a bike pays well? I didn't have the privilege of Pokémon Centre wages."
"So it was easy for me was it?" Eve demanded, fury edging her voice.
"Easier than trying to stay employed in Mulberry Town? Yes, I should think so!" Josh retorted. People were beginning to notice the raised voices. Josh ignored them. He wasn't going to put up with a slight like this, not from Eve.
"Are you seriously trying to tell me that you couldn't find better work? You, an intelligent guy? Bollocks. You just weren't trying hard enough!"
"That's exactly what I'm saying! Not that you'd have any idea what it's like to actually compete for a job, Evelina Joy!You have a high-status job waiting for you whenever you want it!" Eve opened her mouth to shout back but he cut her off. "And I can do without your condescension – don't you dare call me indolent you middle-class snob!"
Eve looked as though she'd very much like to hit him, her fists clenched, the shadow of a snarl on her face. One of her canines glinted fiercely. Bring it on Joy, I'll damn well bite you back.
Eve growled her fury at him and stormed off back to her cabin, leaving a hush in her wake. The sidelong looks and sotto voce commentaries of the other passengers drove Josh to the empty scrap of deck space at the bow. He leaned against the rail, looking out onto the ink-dark river, ignoring the rising conversation behind him. How dare she! How could she?
The biggest shock of Josh's life had been learning that, in Mulberry Town at least, being employed had little to do with merit. All of his certificates of education, his baccalaureate in Modern Kalosian … ironically they had turned out to be a liability rather than an asset. Nobody wanted a fresh-faced clerk when there were any number of experienced administrators competing for the same work. Shops and bars turned him away just the same, under the bizarre assumption that he was too intelligent for the job. Maybe if I bashed my head on this rail hard enough I can become stupid enough to be employable.
So he'd got by with sporadic courier work, dodging rush hour traffic on his bike. Until the day he'd had enough, and poured all of his Metal Earth profits into pokémon training.
Obviously Eve didn't understand this any more than Dad did. She was a Joy from thriving, bright, Cherrygrove City; her name had a history of honour and respect. He was an overqualified Cook from post-industrial Mulberry Town; his name meant nothing at all.
"She really pushed your buttons, eh Cook?" the captain said, joining him at the bow.
"You could say that."
"Beer was made for times like this. On me, son," the captain said, pressing a lukewarm can into Josh's hands. "You know, I've been sailing up and down this river since I was your age. Seen, oh, must be hundreds of couples in that time -"
"We're not a couple," Josh interjected.
"Couple o'friends," he replied, not missing a beat. "Couple of inseparable friends. My wife, God rest her soul, she always knew which of the hundreds of couples would stay together."
"Thank you for your concern, captain," Josh said stiffly. "But -"
"You can take old Hoster's advice or you can leave it, son. But you'd be wise to kiss and make up, shake hands, whatever. A fight like that's not worth feeling awful about."
Captain Hoster left him there at the bow, sipping the warm beer and staring at the river. In their twos and threes the other passengers drifted back to their cabins. The red heat of his anger drained away, leaving behind a horrible resentful sadness. He found himself listening for footsteps on the foredeck behind him.
When they did come, they were surprisingly quiet.
"Josh, I'm sorry," Eve muttered. She looked the way he felt – resentful and sad.
"... I'm sorry too," he said. There was a lump in his throat. "What I said wasn't fair. I'm sorry."
They stared at each other's eyes for a long moment, each unsure what to say to the other. Eventually, Eve drew something out of her pocket.
"I had this made for you in Azalea. A little thank you for giving me a great idea. Meant to give it you earlier, but I kind of forgot ..." she opened her hand. A reduced Poké Ball lay in her palm, its upper hemisphere pink rather than red.
"A Love Ball?" Josh said.
"Don't read into it."
"So you don't like me?" Josh joked.
"If I didn't like you, I wouldn't want to travel with you," Eve said in a tight little voice. For the first time since he had met her, Eve sounded almost … vulnerable.
"Friends?" she asked.
"Friends."
It was past noon by the time they reached their last stop at Withy End. The village was perched at the junction of the River Esk and its tributary, the Withywindle. Most of the village was on the right hand side of the Withywindle, along with the red brick landing stage. Weeping willows dipped their long, tendrilly branches into the water, overhanging the landing stage like huge umbrellas. Eve insisted on taking a photo once they'd disembarked, perhaps trying a bit too hard to be friendly after the last night's argument. The photo showed them side by side, Josh with his arm around Eve's shoulders, dappled by spots of sunlight that found their way through the willowy canopy.
It was about a fifteen mile walk to the next town – Arborville, by the Arbor Falls where the Withywindle flowed down out of the Heartwoods over a cliff. They followed the path on the right hand side of the river, walking by orchards for the first six miles or so. After that, it was thick woodland both left and right.
The afternoon's walk was an undemanding one, despite the new weight of their backpacks. They strolled along at an easy pace, taking long breaks to exercise their pokémon. Pidgeotto now liked Eve enough to fly to her wrist on command. Eve cemented their bond by christening her Gail. "Because her Gusts are so strong," she declared.
Late in the afternoon Josh happened upon a troupe of five bellossom in a ferny glade. Captivated, he'd watched them dance until a sixth bellossom appeared at his feet and challenged him to battle in its high, sweet voice. It was taller than the others, the rafflesia blooms on its head a deep, lusty red. Curiously, this bellossom wielded Leaf Blade like a sabre fencer, dipping a graceful curtsey before drawing its Leaf Blade. The sight of it had melted Josh's heart into a warm puddle, it was so unbearably cute.
As it turned out, catching Bellossom was much easier said than done. The first Poké Ball Josh threw was rent into two ragged, sparking halves by Bellossom's Leaf Blade. His second throw overshot by a good foot, bounced off a rock hidden somewhere in the undergrowth, and struck one of the five still-dancing bellossom in the back of the head, swiftly enveloping it with a flash of red. The Ball hardly rattled before bursting open again. Josh found himself being driven off with a storm of razor-edged Petal Dance; apparently the other bellossom decided to interpret his mis-throw as a sneak attack.
The woods rose steadily up as they drew closer to the high conifers and stately redwoods of Arborville. A fine day gave way to cloudy evening twilight; beneath the towering trees it was like walking through a gloomy, roofless hall. Cloudy skies brought on an early sunset, the world fading to dark shades of shadow grey. Josh noticed that Eve started walking closer to him, and he was glad that she did.
Nightfall was not far away when Josh stepped off the path to pee. The spaces between the tree boles felt uncomfortably wide. Josh squared up to a handy pine and unzipped, resolving to finish this task as soon as possible – he didn't much like turning his back on the woods. He couldn't help glancing around cautiously, irrational though it was. Both Bulbasaur and Screwball were within easy reach at his belt, after all. A light spring rain had been falling off and on for the past hour.
"Are you finished yet? Let's go, I don't want to stand around in the rain!" Eve called from the path.
"Don't talk to me, I cannot go if you talk to me!" Josh shouted over his shoulder.
Thunder boomed, and the heavens opened up, cold rain sheeting down like it was personal. Both Josh and Eve let out cries of wordless dismay. Hurriedly stowing himself away, Josh experienced a brief second of pure panic as something got caught. He ran back to the path muttering imprecations against the capriciousness of zips.
"We'll get soaked!" Eve yelled, trying to shelter under a tree. "Quick, under a tree!"
"Won't work! Not enough cover from these pines!" Josh countered.
"What do you suggest then, clever clogs?"
"We should be about half a mile from Arborville! Let's make a break for it!"
"Aaagh, alright!" Eve ran off along the path, Josh chasing close behind. They splashed noisily through rapidly-forming puddles on the gravel path. In the gathering dark, left and right were beginning to look the same, but for where the beam of Eve's torch illuminated the silvery curtain of hammering rain. Josh's jacket and jeans were already wet through.
"Why does this keep happening to me?" Josh roared.
Raindrops were clustering thickly on the lenses of Josh's glasses, turning his vision into a confused blur. It occurred to him that at this rate he could very likely end up running full pelt into the Withywindle and not know it till he fell in. "Eve! Eve!" he called. "Eve, slow down, I can't see!"
"Oh for God's sake," Eve said, grabbing his hand. "Come on!"
They awkwardly ran hand in hand down the last furlong, Eve towing Josh along behind her. Blurrily, Josh got the impression of monolithically tall trees, those stately giants that he had seen far off from the deck of the ferry. Lights spilling from the windows of the town refracted through the raindrops on his glasses – if he looked over the top of them he could just make out the heights of the Arbor Falls, the hundred-foot falls rendered unremarkable by the indistinct arboreal giants nearby.
Eve stopped with an abrupt splash. "Where the hell is the Pokémon Centre?" she yelled, looking round in every direction. "This way!"
She grabbed Josh by the hand again and dragged him into a nearby building. Light and warmth doused him, and as he huffed down air to recover from the mad run, he realised that Eve had pulled him into an inn rather than the Pokémon Centre. They looked at each other, each soaked through, Josh half-blind, Eve's hair hanging limply, and simultaneously started giggling breathlessly. Eve gently removed Josh's glasses. Josh couldn't help but wince – he didn't like people touching his glasses without asking.
Eve seemed to pick up on this. "Everything ok?" she asked.
"Fine, fine," Josh replied. For some reason, he felt that Eve should be an exception. She carefully wiped them clear of water and set them back on his nose. "Thank you," he said, feeling a little taken aback.
The inn's lobby had a homely, traditional look to it, old wood panelled walls and flagstone floor offset by the obviously modern reception desk. The receptionist behind the desk was a middle-aged woman, wearing a sensible cardigan and a welcoming smile.
"Good evening. Are you looking for somewhere to stay this evening?" she said. "The Pokémon Centre is a good thirty minute walk from here," she added cunningly.
"Shall we just stay here for the night?" Eve said immediately. Almost too quickly. Maybe she doesn't want to deal with her relatives.
"If you like," Josh said. There was a flicker of relief in his friend's eyes.
"Would that be singles, or a double?" the receptionist asked.
"Double," Eve said.
"Eve!" Josh snapped.
"Singles," Eve corrected, giggling. Despite himself, Josh laughed along with her.
Sat cross-legged at the head of the bed, Josh took a sip of hot chocolate. It had been Eve's idea, and a rather good one at that. After a shower and a change into his pyjamas, Eve had turned up at his door with a mug in each hand. She was laid back on the bed beside him, clad in a blue hoodie dress that served as nightwear, scrolling through the menu of her Pokédex.
"Bellossom, the Flower Pokémon. When these pokémon move, their petals rub together, creating a pleasant ringing sound."
"Carry on?" Eve asked.
"Mmhm."
"Johto's largest population of bellossom inhabit the Ilex Forest area, ranging from the Lake of Life through the majority of the Heartwood. Concentrations of Sun Stone within the topsoil of this area support this high rate of evolution, the highest rate of natural bellossom evolution outside of the Hoenn region. Unusually for their species, the bellossom troupes of the Ilex Forest area tend to be aggressive in their usage of Leaf Blade. Individuals have been known to wield their Leaf Blades in a manner similar to the style of nineteenth-century sabre fencers. How such distinctly human behaviour could be learned and passed down across generations of bellossom is not yet fully understood, but it is thought that like many anthropomorphic pokémon, bellossom mimic useful behaviours they observe in humans."
Eve carried on idly scrolling through her Pokédex while Josh quietly finished his hot chocolate. The downpour lashed against the windows, now a cosy reminder that they were both warm and dry for the night. Ok, let's recap. There's a girl lying next to me wearing mostly a hoodie. I'm in my pyjamas, and this is, for all intents and purposes, my bed. By rights I should be feeling nervous, and yet I'm not.
It had only been a week since their chance meeting in Azalea Town, and yet Josh felt as though he had known Eve for much longer. Maybe it was the length of time they had spent together so far – after all, there hadn't been a lot of moments during that week where they had been apart. Truth be told Josh more than liked Eve as a person, he admired the way she dealt with life. She seemed to have a complete disregard for expectations others had of her; Eve did exactly as she pleased and was happy doing it.
Eve shut her Pokédex with a click. The silvery, liquid rattle of the rain was the loudest sound in the room.
"Hey, Josh," Eve said. Josh looked down at Eve lying beside him. She looked back up at him with a serious, slightly sad expression.
"About last night … we're ok, aren't we?" she said.
"Yeah. Yeah, of course."
Eve was quiet for a moment. She wouldn't look at him, instead looking down at her own hands. "It's just … look, I know that some things are easier for me. You're right, I have a job waiting for whenever I want it," Eve sighed and fiddled with her hoodie. "Being a Joy means everyone thinks your choices are their business. All I want is to be my own woman, make my own choices, for me. Maybe someday I will go to nursing college and take my place in a Pokémon Centre. But I won't do it to be a dutiful daughter!"
Eve looked back up at Josh, a complicated look on her face – partly sad, partly fierce, and partly something else entirely. "I took it out on you last night, and I'm sorry," she said.
"Eve … I really am sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you the way I did."
"So we're really ok?"
"I don't want to fight," Josh said emphatically. "Forgive me?"
"Forgiven," Eve smiled. "Are we ok enough for a hug?"
"Come here, you."
Eve scrambled into a sitting position and slipped her arms around his middle. She had a forceful way of hugging him, squeezing rather than just holding. Josh folded his arms around her back.
"From now on, let's just say how we feel," Eve murmured, without breaking away.
"Deal. I don't want to fight again."
"You promise?"
"I promise."