Chapter Twelve – Heart of the Heartwoods
Joshua
Majestic in their immensity, the redwoods of Arborville rose up like pillars of the world. Cloaked in the early morning mist, tall and strong and silent, one could almost believe that the trees somehow had a consciousness of their own.
Beneath the roof of sleeping leaves the dreams of trees unfold …
The fragment of poetry came back to him as he stood out on the balcony, clutching a mug of caustic coffee, enjoying the moment of unalloyed peace. Pale and cold, the forest had a washed-out, desaturated quality to it; wheeling sunbeams lanced down through the treetops high above, lending the mists a soft, ethereal glow.
Really, it was a privilege to be here.
From his perch on the narrow balcony, Josh had a panoramic view of the town. Most of the homes were treehouses, cosy little bungalows built up near the branches of a redwood. About a third of the town – the Low Village – was situated close to the banks of the Withywindle at the bottom of the Arbor Falls. The High Village lay at the top of the cliff, looking down upon the Low Village from dizzying heights.
Josh took a sip of his dark, sweet coffee – a second mug stood steaming on the balustrade. Behind him, floorboards creaked gently as Eve padded out to join him on the balcony. Her hair was still damp from the shower, and she shivered a little even though she was fully dressed. Wordlessly, Josh handed over the second mug. Eve drank her coffee in long draughts, heedless of the heat.
"It's a beautiful morning," Eve said after a while.
"Yeah," Josh replied. "Where did you say the Poké Mart is?"
"In the Pokémon Centre," Eve sighed. "Pokémon Clinic, technically."
"What's the difference?"
"Size," Eve said glumly. She took a gulp of coffee and huffed ruefully.
"Want me to go in? I can get your things as well as mine."
"Would you mind?"
"It's ok. Being a Joy isn't easy, right?" Josh said. Eve gave him a small smile.
"Anyway," Josh added, "if I'm going to the Poké Mart, you're getting the groceries."
Arborville's idiosyncratic architecture extended even to the Pokémon Clinic, which was a full-blown treehouse in the High Village. In all other respects, though, the Clinic resembled a scaled-down Pokémon Centre. Most of the floorspace was taken up by the common room, with the semi-circular reception desk directly in front of the door. Off to the right, two blue shelving units partitioned off the Poké Mart from the rest of the Clinic.
"Good morning! Welcome to our Pokémon Clinic," Joy said. She wore a different uniform to her peers, without the usual white apron and cap. Instead she wore a sleeveless pink dress, with a white armband around her bicep. It occurred to Josh that the teenage Joys at the Azalea Pokémon Centre wore an armband over casual clothes, rather than the full uniform.
"Hi. My magnemite just needs charging," Josh said.
"We can do that for you! May I see your Trainer Card?"
As Josh handed over his Trainer Card it occurred to him that the Joys weren't quite identical. There were differences in each of them, if you looked for them. This Joy had a paler complexion and slightly frizzy hair compared to her relatives in Azalea Town. Eve had a rather willowy figure – although, Josh realised, the uniform didn't give much away in that respect. Every Joy wore the same uniform, the same hairstyle, adopted the same calm, competent public persona. No wonder you'd think them identical at first glance.
"That's all ok Joshua. Is there any-anything else I can help you with?" Joy said, stumbling over her words.
"No, thank you," Josh said. "I'll just be in the Poké Mart."
There were differences in their mannerisms too, Josh thought as he picked out medicines. All Joys had blue eyes, but Eve … Eve's were special. It wasn't so much the way she could nail you to the spot when she was in a mood – she'd given that look to her cousins in the Pokémon Centre – but the way she looked at him in Azalea Town after her Gym Battle -
"Joshua?" Joy called, appearing from behind the shelves. "Y-You have a phone call."
Who the hell would call me here? Joy led him round into the common room. There was a row of video phones across the back wall. One was live, the video screen showing a Joy in full uniform. Josh sat down, wondering what this was all about.
"Good morning, Joshua! So nice to finally meet you," she said in that warm, melted-butter voice the Joys so often used.
"I don't believe we've been introduced, Nurse Joy," Josh said diplomatically.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Gabriella Joy. Evelina's mother. A little pidgey tells me that you're my daughter's new travel companion," she added playfully.
"Pleased to meet you, Mrs Joy. And yes, we are friends."
"Oh please, call me Gabriella! No need to be so formal," Gabriella said, smiling warmly. Typically for a Joy, she seemed to have aged well - a few thin lines around her eyes and mouth marked her seniority. "I like to get to know Evelina's friends when I can."
I'll bet you do. Josh came from a large extended family. The Cook clan often feuded amongst themselves, apparently just to give themselves something to do at family gatherings. Josh was beginning to suspect that Gabriella was playing Feud, and trying to pull him into it. Eve hadn't said much about her mother – Josh doubted they were on great terms. What do you want, Gabriella Joy?
Out loud he said, "Well, I'm a trainer from Mulberry Town, and I have one Badge so far. Eve and I met by chance at the Azalea Gym. She's good company."
"Evelina's become quite a young woman," Gabriella said. "Enough to make your girlfriend jealous, huh?"
Josh decided that he was fed-up with this game. "Does Eve know you're talking to me?" he demanded.
The smile froze on Gabriella's face. "That's an odd question to ask, don't you think?" she said jovially.
"She doesn't, does she?" Josh insisted. "Why did you call me, Mrs Joy?"
This time her smile disappeared entirely. "I told you once already. I wanted to get the measure of this Mulberry Town lad who has been hanging around my daughter," Gabriella said. Her Cherrygrove accent was beginning to slip out. "And to let him know that the Joys look after their own."
"Just what are you suggesting?" Josh said coldly. He didn't much like the implications in those remarks.
"That you'd better behave yourself," Gabriella replied. The butter in her tone had gone, replaced with a superiority that just made Josh angrier.
"Would you be telling me this if I was called Sebastian from Ecruteak City? No, don't answer that," Josh said, putting some iron into his voice. "You're a mother, and you don't know me, so I'll overlook that insult."
"You'll overlook it? I suggest you keep a civil tongue in your head, or else -"
"I don't answer to you."
They stared angrily at each other through the video screen. Gabriella was giving him the same sapphire-edged glare as Eve did when she was angry. Look, she's even gone a bit red in the cheeks like Eve, too, the observant part of his brain remarked.
"Eve will be as safe with me as she would be with her own dad. On my word of honour. Even Mulberry Town lads have honour," he added sourly. Gabriella said nothing, looking at him like she intended to burn him alive with the force of her glare. Josh kept his face as still as he could. Out of sight of the video phone's camera he compulsively drummed his fingers against his knee.
"People think that because nurses are everywhere that we're invisible. And that we don't have eyes and ears," Gabriella said slowly. "If you betray my trust I'll know."
"Duly noted," Josh snapped, abruptly stabbing at the call end button and hanging up before Gabriella could reply. For a moment Josh wondered whether it was wise to try and make her more angry. He didn't care – he was in no mood to be given orders by anyone, least of all Gabriella Joy.
It was hard to stay angry, walking through the Heartwoods with Eve. The forest that had felt so uncomfortably wide and gloomy last night now had a stately beauty to it. The air was bright and clear with a pleasantly earthy smell. The trainer's trail was little more than a forest path marked with wayposts every mile or so, following the course of the Withywindle. Once the trail passed close to the boundary of Lake of Life Reserve – legend had it the lake water had mystical life-giving powers. Josh doubted there was anything more than a grain of truth to the legend, but it was definitely true that the undergrowth was a lot lusher than he'd expected. All sorts of bushes and ferns – even the odd young tree – somehow managed to thrive in between the giants. Pokémon were in abundance too - Bug-types of all kinds, furret scampering up the trees, clouds of jumpluff floating through the canopy.
Eve was apparently in a playful mood. Her aimless chattering made him laugh despite his bad temper. At one point she punched him on the arm in retaliation for a snide remark – without really thinking Josh punched her back, and started a war that ended with sore arms for them both.
Late in the afternoon they came to a place where the trail was crossed by a muddy banked stream. The stream was only about a couple of feet wide, but somebody had built a wooden bridge across it anyway. And it was guarded by a knight.
There was no other word for it. He – presumably it was a he – stood at the near side of the span, statue-still. He wore a hauberk of bright mail beneath a black surcoat blazoned with a heraldic grumpig. The greathelm on his head completely obscured his face, with nothing but a narrow letter-box slit to see through. Josh shot Eve a quizzical look; the knight had made no indication that he'd seen them as they approached. She just shrugged, smirking.
"'scuse me, feller," Josh said awkwardly, moving to step round him.
"None shall pass!" the knight suddenly boomed.
"What?"
"None shall pass!"
"Why?"
This seemed to flummox the knight. "Because … because I am sworn to defend this bridge against all pokémon trainers!"
"Oh come on!" Josh said. "I could just walk across that stream!"
"Then you'll get muddy won't you," the knight said unsympathetically. The hollow greathelm made his voice echo. Josh gave him a cold stare. The helmet stared back impassively.
"Are you really a knight?" Josh said.
"My arms! Look!" his voice turned petulant and he pointed irritably at his surcoat. "My heraldry! See? I am Sir William the Black, and no man shall pass me!"
"What about women?" Eve piped up.
William appeared to notice Eve for the first time. "My lady!" he cried, dropping to one knee with a jingle of mail. To Josh's annoyance, he rather theatrically took her hand. "What manner of ill-fortune has led you to travel these lands, guarded only by a base cur?"
"A what?" Eve said.
"Oi!" Josh protested.
William ignored him. "A lady so fair should have a knight for her praetorian," he said softly. The effect was rather spoiled by the tinny echo from his greathelm. Without waiting for an answer he leapt to his feet and squared up to Josh.
"You!" he barked. "Guard yourself, peasant, and face me in honourable battle!"
Josh faced Sir William across the clearing, and wondered why he was playing along with this. Their chosen battlefield was on the near side of the bridge, at William's insistence, the stream trickling away to their left. The forest floor was carpeted with a deep, springy layer of leaf litter – the light alternately brightened and faded as clouds passed over the sun.
William unsnapped a Great Ball from his belt. "For the honour of the lady and for the passage of the bridge, I, Sir William the Black, of the noble line of Fairfax, challenge you to combat!" he declared. "Come forth, Caerbannog!"
Caerbannog was a large, spiny, rabbit-like pokémon, livid purple with a savage horn protruding from his forehead. Nidorino. Poison-type. An aggressive species. Hmm …
"I, Joshua, of the lowly line of Cook, who built this Johto from smoke and iron, accept your challenge. Bulbasaur, battle's on!"
Bulbasaur pawed the ground and gave a nervous bark. Josh could see why – Caerbannog had fixed him with a ferocious look, snapping his fangs with a kind of methodical menace.
"Don't let him intimidate you, Bulbasaur!" Josh called encouragingly. "There's power beneath your scales!"
[If you say so! I trust you Josh.]
Ok, so, tactics. We can use the sun – wait a minute. I understood that!
"I understood that," Josh breathed. He laughed joyously as the implications of it sunk in. It had finally happened! Just like Eve had said, Josh heard nothing but the usual 'bulba-bulbasaur' – but his mind understood the meaning as easily as if Bulbasaur had been speaking English.
The sun came out, and Josh laughed again. "Alright! Start off with Growth!"
"Charge, Caerbannog! Horn Attack, full tilt!" William boomed. Bulbasaur flinched at the sight of Caerbannog's powerful legs propelling him forward into a thudding charge. His bulb glowed brighter and brighter as he drew power from the sun.
"Trip it up," Josh ordered hastily. Bulbasaur's vines whipped out and he sharply smacked Caerbannog on the ankles, causing him to stumble for a few paces before losing his footing completely. Josh breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't had time to think that order through. What would Eve do now?
"Tackle."
Trailing yellow sun-motes, Bulbasaur counter-charged hard. Caerbannog gave a wheezy bellow as Bulbasaur knocked the air from his lungs, almost drowning out Sir William's complaints about unchivalrous tactics.
"Fury Attack!" he yelled tinnily. Caerbannog turned and drove Bulbasaur back with a flurry of attacks, primarily stabbing with his horn, throwing the occasional kick to keep Bulbasaur confused and off-balance. Come on, think of a counter! What have you read about nidorino?
[Back off, you!] Bulbasaur barked, and fired a Leech Seed at Caerbannog's face. The nidorino had to hop awkwardly to one side to dodge it, then rear up on his hind legs to avoid a follow-up shot. Bulbasaur seized his chance to create some space between Caerbannog and himself.
"Well done, Bulbasaur," Josh called. Get it together, man! Their pokémon circled each other warily. William seemed to like battling up close with his nidorino – Josh wondered whether it was capable of attacking at all from a distance. "Keep your distance Bulbasaur, and be patient," he ordered. They'll have to make a mistake sooner or later.
Caerbannog was growling something at Bulbasaur as they circled one another. [Hey, shut up,] Bulbasaur replied contemptuously. [You know nothing about him.]
Caerbannog bellowed in fury and charged again. Sooner rather than later. "Trip it!" Josh immediately ordered. Bulbasaur scythed at his opponent's legs, but Caerbannog simply leapt straight over the vines with one bound.
"Oh damnit!"
[Oh damnit!]
There was no way Bulbasaur could dodge in time. Hit head-on, Bulbasaur was thrown across the field like a football, where he collided heavily with a tree.
"Bulbasaur!" Josh shouted. "Are you alright?"
[I'm -] Bulbasaur started. Something plopped onto the leaf litter beside him, followed by another, and another, and another. There were five in total, like rather large pine cones covered with bark and bits of forest detritus.
"Pineco!" one of them announced. On cue, all five started to glow. Self-Destruct. Five Self-Destructs, right next to Bulbasaur. Josh's blood ran cold. He was dimly aware of Eve and William running for cover, but all he could think about was bringing Bulbasaur's Poké Ball up as fast as he possibly could -
- the next thing he knew, the scenery was whirling around him and there was a sudden sense of weightlessness. Dust and shredded leaf litter blasted by, and he landed heavily. He couldn't remember hearing the explosion, but he must have done because his ears were ringing. Josh instinctively clutched the Poké Ball hard to his heart.
Eve was pulling him to his feet. "Is he alright? Josh, is he alright?" she said gently.
There was a recall beam. I saw the recall beam! "He's alright. He's alright," Josh managed. His breathing was ragged and shallow. I saw the recall beam. I was fast enough. He's alright. He's alright. The pineco smoked innocently next to their tree while the nearby stream babbled in its muddy bed.
"You forfeit the battle," Sir William declared. Josh looked at him blankly.
"What?" he said.
"By recalling your pokémon, you forfeit the battle," William repeated. "Victory is mine, peasant. I win the bridge and the lady both."
Eve spun around and gave William a firm two-handed shove, pitching him into the stream. The knight impacted with an ignominious splat.
"I can't be won, Sir," Eve called down at him. "I don't care what you've won, I've chosen Josh, so deal with it! Oh, and learn to show some compassion, you jerk!" she added as an afterthought.
Josh smiled weakly, fumbling at his belt as he tried to clip Bulbasaur's Poké Ball back onto it. His hands didn't seem to work properly, and he dropped the Ball into the leaf litter. Eve picked it up, reducing it with a quick tap on the button. Before he could thank her she put her arms around him.
"Hey," she said gently. "It's alright. I'll check Bulbasaur out, he'll be fine." There was something reassuring about that voice, and in the forceful way she held him ... Josh felt his breathing slow down and match Eve's own.
"Feel better?" she said. Her voice was like melted butter.
"Yeah. Yeah, I feel better. Thank you, Eve."
"You're welcome, Josh."
They camped by the Withywindle that night. They weren't far from the north-eastern border of the Heartwoods now, with the majority of the redwood forest behind them. Their campsite was just at the edge of a little meadow surrounded by more familiar hazels, alders and willows by the river. Further east, there was a Pokémon Centre where the Heartwoods met the Deepwoods.
Next morning dawned pale and cold again. Josh was the first awake, and he'd set to building a fire to drive off the chill. His pokémon didn't seem to mind the cold – Bulbasaur was cheerfully downing mouthfuls of damp earth for his breakfast, his wounds sealing up nicely after Eve had treated them. Screwball hovered near to Josh's shoulder, wearing the vacant expression of a magnemite with nothing in particular to do.
This morning wasn't quite so peaceful as it had been in Arborville. Somewhere in the branches of the alder that overhung the campsite, a pair of mating pikachu were being annoyingly vocal -
"Piiika pikapikapikapikapikaaa!"
Josh did his best to ignore them. Screwball had no such sense of discretion and stared up into the branches – although Josh suspected he was more interested in the electricity stored in their cheek sacs.
Some sleepy mumblings drifted from Eve's tent. Yesterday she'd decided to catch a pineco, to add some balance to her team of speedsters. The problem was that the pineco seemed to know what she wanted. The first colony she approached immediately surrounded her with a thick field of Spikes. It turned out that Spikes were no match for aron steel soles, though Josh wished that he'd discovered that under other circumstances. Picking Eve up and carrying her out of the Spikes might have seemed like the most sensible solution but it was also the most awkward ... not least because it was only after he'd set her down that they'd both remembered Gail's Defog -
"PIKA-AAA!"
"Right, that tears it!" Josh snapped. "Screwball?"
"Maaag."
"Get rid of them."
Screwball swiftly headed into the branches. There was a brief blast of electricity, the ckroom of a Sonic Boom, and a pair of shell-shocked pikachu dropped into the dirt. The female gave Josh a reproachful look before they scampered away.
Still in her hoodie dress and yawning like a slowpoke, Eve emerged from her tent and plunked down opposite. "What's the fire for," she said tonelessly.
"Breakfast."
"Why didn't you just use my camp stove?"
"What? Oh. I forgot you had that. I guess my first instinct is to build a campfire," Josh said. Eve was giving him a sceptical look, "Blame my parents and their 'hunter-gatherer camping' trips."
"Well it's warmer than my stove," Eve admitted, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes. While Josh kept an eye on the fire, Eve rummaged after the bread for breakfast. "Ugh, great. The baguette's stale."
"I know what we can do with it," Josh said after a pause for thought. "Bulbasaur, would you find us some salad?"
[Sure thing,] Bulbasaur replied, and headed off into the meadow.
"You know what you're looking for, right?"
[Yep!] Bulbasaur called back, while Josh grabbed a cookpot and headed off downstream.
"Hey!" Eve said indignantly. "Aren't you going to tell me what you're planning?"
"Nope. It's a surprise!"
About half a mile downstream he found what he was looking for – a good spot to look for river clams, in the fine silty mud by the riverbank.
Unfortunately, that spot was on the wrong side of the Withywindle. This side was a flat, pebbly beach, and there wasn't a worthwhile crossing in sight. Damn. There was no way there'd be any shellfish in the shallows. Oh well, nothing for it. Making certain that a nosy Eve hadn't decided to follow him, Josh quickly stripped down. The waist-deep river water was chilly but it would be easier to dry himself than to dry his clothes.
It only took a minute of rummaging to find a clam, dull brown and about palm-sized. Josh liked foraging for shellfish in this tactile way, even if it was cold. He searched as much with his hands and toes as with his eyes. It was with toe-touch that he discovered a bed of freshwater mussels hiding beneath the overhang of a large boulder – Josh picked a double-handful of the biggest. He was bent double, digging out a particularly big clam when something growled softly.
There was an ursaring standing on the river bank.
Josh froze, the prize clam in his hand forgotten. The ursaring loomed like a wall of fur and muscle scowling down at him. His gaze was drawn inexorably to the battery of gleaming six-inch claws adorning its paws. And I left Bulbasaur and Screwball behind. Naked and unarmed, he could hardly feel more vulnerable.
Ursaring had been fishing, he noticed. It was holding a pawful of freshly caught trout and … not doing anything much. It was just standing there, scowling at him.
Hoping fervently that he was going to get away with this, Josh carefully tossed his prize clam at Ursaring's feet. Ursaring picked it up with a shovel-sized paw and examined it closely. Please, just take it and go! Ursaring grunted and daintily popped the clam between its teeth. With its free paw, it selected the smallest of its fish and held it out invitingly. Tentatively, and with one worried eye on those long claws, Josh took the gift. That done, Ursaring turned and ponderously stumped off, waving a paw as if to say 'So long!'
With Ursaring gone, Josh finally had a chance to swallow his heart again. Ok. He forced himself to stay calm. Just because an ursaring has given me a fish is no reason to start running around panicking. He made his way back across the river and sat down on the beach for a while, no longer caring who happened by. It would be nice to go for more than a day without being scared out of my skin. Then he got dressed and headed back to camp.
Back at the campsite, Eve was browsing her Pokédex while her pokémon finished their breakfast. Bulbasaur was back with bunches of wild salad held in his vines.
"How on earth did you catch that?" Eve demanded on spotting the fish.
"I didn't. An ursaring gave it to me," Josh said in the bright, brittle voice of a man who can't quite believe the morning he's had.
"You're not joking, are you?" Eve said. "That does it, I'm looking that up."
"Ursaring, the Hibernator Pokémon," her Pokédex chattered as Josh spitted the fish on a hazel rod. "Though these pokémon have a fierce reputation, they are not usually aggressive. When two ursaring meet, they will often exchange gifts of food as a method of avoiding territorial conflict."
"That explains that," Josh said with forced casualness. He suspended the fish over the fire to cook. "So Bulbasaur, what have you found?"
"Ooh, what we having?" Eve said, immediately interested.
"Wild salad, river clam and mussel sandwich with a bit of fish on the side. Ok, let's see … chickweed, dandelion leaves – hm, and flowers – wood sorrel, oh!" Josh gasped. "Wild garlic! Bulbasaur, you've excelled yourself."
[I looked really hard for it,] Bulbasaur said proudly.
Josh cleaned the shellfish while Eve cut the bread. The shellfish went into the pot with a cup of water, the wild garlic and a good splash of olive oil. I wish I had a bit of chili pepper for this. He set the pot over Eve's campstove to cook. Josh wasn't sure he approved of that stove. It was an expensive wood-burning model, with an integrated fan and electricity generator; Josh had been brought up to distrust devices like that.
By the time their food was finished Eve was hovering impatiently, the phrase 'Is it ready yet?' obviously teetering on her lips. Josh smiled with the satisfaction of a job done well as he added the gently steaming shellfish to Eve's sandwich. Eve bit into it eagerly, tearing away a chunk with gusto.
"Mmn," she exclaimed appreciatively. "What's that lemony kinda flavour?"
"That'll be the wood sorrel," Josh said, taking the fish off the fire. "Have some of the trout."
He peeled back the skin and pulled off a lump of the pale pink fish. The flesh was firm and light and gloriously oily from being cooked in its own skin.
Neither Josh nor Eve said much for a while, focussing on their hot breakfast for a cold morning. Inevitably the trout didn't last long. By rights, the sight of Eve methodically licking her fingers ought to be rather off-putting, Josh thought. Her lips were shiny with oil – oh, and a bit of her cheek too. Yet there was something endearing about that; it was cute, in a messy sort of way. Maybe it's because it's my food she's devouring. There was still something bothering him about their friendship though.
"Um, Eve? You know how we're being honest about how we feel?" Josh started. Eve looked at him apprehensively. "Well yesterday you told that idiot William that you'd picked me and I just wondered … why," he said rather more quickly than he'd intended.
"Oh!" Eve said with a relieved giggle. "I thought you were interesting. But more than anything else you really listen to what I've got to say. Most people don't, not really, they're just waiting for their turn to speak. Or they don't see Eve at all but just Joy and are only interested in putting a novelty notch in their bedpost," she growled.
Josh hurriedly took a bite of his sandwich. There was a warm, fuzzy-edged sensation somewhere in the region of his diaphragm that had nothing to do with the hot breakfast. Eve liked him and he was just being himself – that was a good feeling.
"Why did you say 'yes'?" Eve asked.
"I admire your passion. Your self-assurance," Josh said, looking at the fire. "You know exactly what you want to do, and why, and damn what anyone else thinks," he idly poked at the ashes. "And I usually feel intimidated and nervy around pretty, confident girls, but not with you."
"Oh ..." Eve said nothing else for a moment. It didn't sound like a disappointed 'Oh'.
"I guess I'll just have to try harder to be scary then! Grr!" she said, growling playfully. She was shivering again this morning. Josh grabbed the pot from by the fire, still holding the savoury broth from the shellfish.
"Here," he said, handing it over. "Have a mug of this, warm you right up."
"Don't you want any?"
"You have it, buddy. Call it my thanks for yesterday, if you like," he said sincerely. The events of yesterday had underlined something he'd managed to forget – that, in short, he loved his Bulbasaur dearly. His pokémon was so familiar that it was an emotion Josh didn't really notice any more. Screeching bull onix and wandering ursaring were frightening, but the cold fear that had gripped him when those pineco started glowing … his bruises were beginning to seriously ache, but it didn't matter because Bulbasaur was safe. Now that they could actually converse Josh resolved to tell his beloved partner these things.
"So are you still determined to catch a pineco?" he asked Eve.
"Yep. And I'm going to catch that pineco," she answered, pointing up into the branches of the overhanging alder. There was a solitary pineco looking down at them charily. This one had constructed its bag from a multitude of short twigs arranged like wooden spines.
"It's kind of small for its species, isn't it?"
"So are you. What's your point?"
Eve tossed a Poké Ball in the air, expanded it, and caught it in one smooth motion.
Eve tossed a Poké Ball in the air, expanded it, and caught it in one smooth motion. "Give it another Gust, and make it a concentrated one!"
Josh was watching the battle, taking mental notes. Eve had already had Gail harass pineco with a succession of Quick Attacks before knocking it out of the tree with Gust. Pineco hopped upright and briefly flashed a dull iron colour. Gail launched herself into the air, swooped down and trapped the grounded bagworm in the teeth of a Gust. Debris whirled erratically in a proto-vortex before the lashing wind flung pineco against a tree trunk.
"Got you! Go Poké Ball!" Eve threw the Ball with a quick flick of her wrist. Her Poké Ball struck pineco's centre of mass and bounced off without so much as opening.
"What the? Oh, you clever ..." Eve sounded more impressed than upset.
"What the hell happened there?" Josh asked.
"It's using anti-Poké Ball armour. Those twigs stop the Poké Ball from getting close enough for the Capture Net to deploy. Oh, I have to catch you now!"
Meanwhile Pineco was sensibly winching itself back into the branches while Eve was distracted.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" she yelled, throwing another Poké Ball. Josh could tell that she was trying to hit a broken spot in pineco's armour, but even Eve's aim wasn't that good. The Ball bounced off, pineco made good its escape, and Eve screamed wordlessly in frustration.
However, the wheels in Josh's head were beginning to turn. If he could find a length of hazel the right shape …
Josh sat cross-legged with a hazel branch across his knees. He was removing the surplus twigs with the saw blade on his multi-tool. With admirable bloody mindedness Eve was still trying to catch that pineco. Unfortunately, Eve's aiming problems were exacerbated by the fact that pineco was now deliberately trying to stop her from targeting the damaged spots of its armour.
Josh gave his work a critical look. It would still need to be straightened out over the fire – I wish I had some sandpaper and a bit of copper sheeting to finish it properly – but it would be fit for purpose.
Eve gnawed irritably at a chocolate bar. Pineco had retreated into its tree, watching Eve as intently as she watched it. "It's repaired its armour already, look," she commented.
Josh trimmed off the last few splinters with his knife. "That'll do," he grudgingly admitted.
"What are you making now?" Eve said testily.
"You're going to regret that, Eve, because it's something for you," Josh replied calmly. "I call it – the Capture Spear!"
The finished tool was over sixty inches long, making it almost as long as Josh was tall. For most of its length it was simply a stick of good hazel, but at one end he had left a few inches of the branches on the stick, so that a Poké Ball could nestle quite nicely there. He had secured one in place with a few strips of electrical tape, so that the button faced directly forwards like a spearhead.
"Josh, you hoopy frood," Eve exclaimed, understanding immediately. With a Poké Ball taped into place, the Capture Spear would allow her to strike faster and with much better accuracy than she could manage from throwing a Poké Ball. She spun it around in her hands a few times to get a feel for the balance.
"Yeeah, this'll work! Ok, let's do this while pineco's still tired!" Eve said with renewed enthusiasm, selecting a Poké Ball from her gilet. "Meowth, you have the honour!"
Meowth scratched an ear idly, giving Eve a look of feline disdain. He lazily meowed something to his trainer.
"Yes, you do, you rotten moggy. Now behave and cut down that pineco. There may be a fish head in it for you."
"Mee-owth!" the scruffy black cat replied, suitably bribed. He darted off towards the base of the big alder, splitting off into Double Teams as he went. The clowder of fake meowth swarmed up the nearby trees, converging on the solitary pineco. Unconcerned, pineco launched a flight of Pin Missiles, the pins arrowing and snaking down at the clowder. In one attack it destroyed most of the clones – but missed the real Meowth, who sliced through its silken anchor with one swipe.
"Chase it! Fury Swipes!" Eve ordered. Meowth dropped straight from the tree, claws unsheathed and ready. It should have been an unavoidable high-impact attack, but pineco simply started a Rapid Spin; Meowth was thrown violently clear before he could so much as land a blow. He howled harshly, as angry as he was hurt.
Eve paced back and forth predatorialy, holding the Capture Spear in both hands. Even as a high-speed Meowth whizzed by she lunged, jabbing once-twice-thrice. Eve apparently saw something Josh couldn't, since she suddenly cursed and retreated.
"Meowth, in front of me!" she barked in a tone that brooked no argument. Josh almost took a step forward before his brain reminded him that she was talking to the cat. Meowth looked like he was itching to attack, but he obeyed his trainer and placed himself between Eve and pineco.
"Flash," Eve commanded. Meowth's charm suddenly blazed like burning magnesium. Josh covered his eyes too late – by the time he blinked the glare out of his vision pineco was starting to glow yellow.
"Oh, no you don't!" Eve roared, lunging forward.
"Eve!" Josh shouted. What the hell is she doing?
Eve deftly spun the Capture Spear into an overarm grip. Pineco's glow brightened, its armour about to become a hail of flying shrapnel. Eve struck fast and true, thrusting the Spear down with both hands. With the distinctive whine-whoosh of the Capture Net opening, pineco was sucked into the Ball. The button light flashed half-heartedly a few times.
… ping!
"Ha-ha!" Eve whooped. "I finally gotcha, you cunning little bastard!"
I can't believe she got away with that. Eve started an impromptu victory-dance, waving the Capture Spear in the air while Meowth meowed insistently at her feet.
"Oh, calm down, you'll get your fish head – hey, what's up?" she said, seeing the look on Josh's face.
You got closer to a Self-Destructing pineco. "You are … a brave, crazy girl," was all he could think to say.