POKÉMON: INFINITE LEGACIES
THE CIPRYS REGION
CHAPTER 17
BUT I'VE GOT DEODORANT!

Yes! Here at last, thought Flame, taking off his headband for a moment and wiping away sweat from his face. Luckily he'd chosen a black top to wear that morning and the sweat under his armpits wasn't so visible. The smell, though, he wasn't so sure about. His legs ached, his feet were sore, his entire body craved rest, but as they passed a 'Welcome to Whistltree Town' sign, excitement washed away his fatigue; he had a huge grin on his face, knowing he had reached the location of his first gym battle.

Selina didn't look as relieved to have made it to their destination, but Flame put it down to exhaustion. She'd dressed for the occasion—black shorts and a light green sleeveless top, her long mostly dark brown hair kept out of her face in a ponytail—but it had been hot and that hadn't stopped the sweat gathering across her body.

It had taken most of the day to navigate through Whistltree Forest, and Flame had a lot to thank his travelling companion for: Without Selina's guidance through Whistltree Forest, he was sure it would have taken much, much longer to overcome the wild Pokémon they'd encountered and to choose the right direction through the narrow paths and thick undergrowth. And eventually Litten had been so exhausted he'd stopped complaining when Flame had returned him to his Poké Ball.

"We're going to the Pokémon Centre first," Selina said suddenly. "The Pokémon need to be healed and"—she sniffed the air—"I need a shower. And so do you."

Flame was in a good mood: "But I've got deodorant! Let's go to the gym now and hit the gym leader with our Toxic."

Selina not so much: "It's a gym battle for Zeurelic's sake. You can't go in looking like you've just dragged yourself through a forest. You must look presentable."

Flame grinned at her. "But we have just dragged ourselves through a forest."

Selina's expression softened; she started to laugh. "Oh, really? I hadn't noticed, smart guy."

Flame's laughter added to hers. He was pleased to have lifted her spirits (even if it wouldn't last for long).

At first glance Whistltree seemed not much bigger than the villages and towns Flame had encountered on his journey so far. The locals were friendly too, quick to say hello, particularly to Selina who knew and led the way once more. But the architecture impressed Flame the most. Whoever built this place must have had a thing for Grass-types, he thought, for every building merged into a tree one way or another. It was almost like Whistltree Forest and Town were one in the same; the founders of the town had clearly had the surrounding forest in mind.

But the town with its wide pathways was more open than the dense forest. Air flowed more easily between the wooden and stone buildings, a great relief to Flame's and Selina's skin, and the trees were so high and so many, that shade covered most of the town. But a flash of sunlight caught his eye. He glanced up. Overhead, the sun was trying to peek through the canopy to scorch their skin, but could do little to achieve its goal. Flame imagined the town would look incredible at night with only the luminous glow of the moon and the overhanging lanterns for light.

The Pokémon Centre was different to any Flame had encountered before: every surface was wooden one way or another, vines crawling up the outside walls, and inside, in the centre of the lobby, was a massive tree that stretched up and out of a hole in the roof. Its leaves were strangely green one side, white the other, and its trunk was humongous. It filled his vision. Awe gripped him. Nature really is important here, he thought.

Since there weren't many other trainers about, Nurse Joy had their Pokémon healed more quickly than usual. Flame thanked her as she handed back their Poké Balls, and Selina asked about rooms for the night. Their rooms booked, Flame and Selina agreed to meet back in the lobby in 30 minutes.

Flame kicked off his running shoes and threw his backpack onto the bed, then jumped in the shower. Cold water was his preferred choice until, after a few seconds, he felt like he was going to die from hypothermia. He quickly raised the temperature. While he showered, he thought about what his strategy should be. He had a hard choice to make between Litten, Eevee, and Oriota—only able to choose two, someone would be left out.

By the time he'd dried off and put on a fresh set of clothes—a black sports top with orange along the shoulder line, white shorts and socks, and an orange headband—he had reached a decision. He picked his backpack up, retied his white running shoes, and went downstairs to wait for Selina.

Flame rubbed his palms together. "So, where's the gym?" he asked her once she'd rejoined him in the lobby.

Selina looked at him strangely, hair still damp and flowing freely. She had changed into grey shorts and a purple sleeveless top. "Hmm, it's not far," she said.

"You okay to show me where it is then?"

"Maybe."

"Is that a yes-maybe or a no-maybe?"

Selina paused, then said, "A yes-maybe."

"What's up?" asked Flame, unsure why Selina wasn't acting like her usual self. "You're not normally this tense."

"Nah, I'm fine," argued Selina. "Why wouldn't I be? I'm back home." But she avoided his gaze and then laughed softly.

Unlike before, it sounded nervous, forced. Flame could sense something was worrying her, but before he could say anything about it, Selina told him they should eat first. Flame felt like he had to agree. He glanced towards the Pokémon Centre's automatic doors, then followed her reluctantly. There's still a few hours of daylight left . . . he reassured himself.

Flame hadn't felt particularly hungry, but within seconds, the smell of fresh food had changed that and he gulped down a late lunch. Selina ate her sandwich more slowly. She was clearly distracted, looking out the nearest window more often than not and responding to him in short, quick bursts. Flame wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable, but something was definitely not right and perhaps talking about it would help Selina feel better.

"Selina, I'm only asking 'cause I care," began Flame after a moment to process what he was going to say, "but you've been acting strange ever since we got here. What's wrong?"

Selina sipped her lemonade. "Don't know what you mean."

"I think you do," insisted Flame. He paused for thought. "We are friends, aren't we? If you want to talk about it, I'm here to listen. If you don't want to, well . . . that's okay too. Just know you can talk to me if you want to."

Selina appeared to suddenly realise her hair was loose. She raised her hands behind her head, gathered up her loose hair, and fastened into a ponytail with a dark purple hair tie from her wrist. Then she met Flame's eyes and slowly nodded. "Yeah, we're friends. It's just . . . I find it hard to go into."

Flame looked at her as seriously as he could. But the illusion was quickly shattered, a cheeky grin forming on his face, as he said, "Please, please don't tell me you're Declan in disguise."

Selina laughed. "No, of course not. It's nothing like that. I love it here. I do. But . . . well, okay. Maybe it's better to tell you now." Selina took a deep breath. "I—"

"Selina! Is that you?" called a girl with dark red hair and grey-blue eyes from the direction of the lobby. She came rushing over, and on closer inspection, Flame realised she was a few years older than Selina.

A smile lit up Selina's face. She got up and hugged her friend. "Maizie! It's so good to see you!"

Perfect timing . . . thought Flame, feeling uncomfortable. Selina seemed genuinely happy to see Maizie, which was good, but he was more than a little annoyed, truth be told, considering a breakthrough was about to be made.

"Who's the boy?" Maizie whispered.

"Oh, yeah, his name's—"

"He's not your boyfriend, is he? He's cute, I guess . . . in an unconventional way."

Selina's face reddened. She glanced back over her shoulder, hoping Flame hadn't heard. "No, no, it's nothing like that," she protested, sitting back down. "So, Maizie, this is Flame. Flame, this is Maizie."

"Hi, Flame!"

"Hey."

"Actually Maizie"—Selina started delving into her yellow drawstring bag—"since you're here now, this is probably the best time to ask." She produced her green Apricorn. "We got given one each on the way here. Can you turn them into Poké Balls for us?"

Curiosity widened Flame's eyes. "You can do that?" he asked excitedly, all animosity forgotten.

Maizie smiled proudly. "I'm one of the few who can. My grandpa's the real Apricorn expert, though. I've just been out collecting some, so I need to get my Pokémon healed first, but we can go and do it after that, if that's cool?"

Maizie sat at her work desk, only half concentrating on their Apricorns as she made her adjustments. She had studied under her grandfather intensively during her adolescence and was practiced enough to be able to chat away at the same time: "You have the large guys like Silph Co. in Kanto where my dad works, Devon Corp in Hoenn, the Poké Ball Factory in Kalos, and Osivin Inc. here in Ciprys who have the funds to mass-produce Poké Balls nowadays, but I think you'll agree that nothing can beat a good old-fashioned Poké Ball made direct from Apricorn."

Flame and Selina watched the complicated process with interest. They'd never seen a Poké Ball being made before, and they held their breaths throughout, worrying that if they responded it would disturb Maizie, even if she told them otherwise.

Maizie's Slowpoke didn't have the same concern. "Slow . . . poke . . ." he yawned. When Maizie had returned and showed him to Selina and Flame, he'd decided that the best place to be was the basket Maizie had used to collect her latest batch of Apricorns. With the Apricorns still in there, it looked uncomfortable, though Slowpoke didn't seem to have noticed. His tail dangled over the side, having grown back following a run-in with his home region's villainous group.

Maizie took a few more moments. She paused several times, tinkered some more, inspected the finished Apricorns, and then announced, "All done!" happily handing back the now-modified Apricorns to Selina and Flame. "Selina, yours is a Friend Ball—the Pokémon you catch with it will be more friendly; Flame, yours is a Blaze Ball—it improves your chance of catching Fire-types."

"Wow. Looks really cool," responded Flame. His Blaze Ball had an orange lower half and a red upper half. A little above the release-return button was a black flame in the shape of the Fire-type symbol.

"Thanks, Maizie," Selina added. "That was really impressive." Her Friend Ball had a white lower half and a green upper half with pink petal shapes and a yellow circle at the top of the semi-circle design.

"I might be wrong, but your grandfather lives in Johto, right?" Flame asked out of curiosity. "Why you'd come to Ciprys?"

Maizie leaned back in her chair. "I heard there were some Apricorns here you can't find back home, simple as that." She smiled. "Grandpa always told me making Poké Balls is lots more complicated than people think it is, and these new ones definitely were in the beginning. And . . . I did fancy a break somewhere hot." She frowned. "Although I didn't realise how hot it gets here in the summer—thank Ho-oh for aircon. Maybe I should try Hoenn next."

"It certainly sounds like Poké Balls run in the family."

"You could say that," giggled Maizie. "Anyway, where are you guys heading next?"

"We're—"

"To the gym." Selina beat Flame to it. "Declan's gym. Flame's challenging him."

Maizie exchanged a knowing look with Selina, and to Selina's relief, said nothing more on the matter. "We'll have to catch up later then, Selina. Good luck, Flame. Declan might be the first gym leader, but he is tough to beat. Just ask Slowpoke."

"Slow . . . poke . . ."

Flame smiled. "Thanks, Maizie, but me and my Pokémon are prepared and ready for the challenge."

Selina and Flame each said one final thank-you before departing Maizie's workshop. As Flame shut the door behind them, the phone rang. Maizie stretched back and held it to her cheek.

"Hello," she asked on reflex. "Maizie here. Who am I speaking to? Oh . . . hey, Grandpa. How's it going?"

Author's Notes:
I did consider the chapter title 'Gotta Spray 'em All', but I thought I might have been trying to be too clever. I'm expecting to release the next chapter next week. Flame finally participates in his first Ciprys gym battle—how do you think he'll do?

No chapters in March, unfortunately. A few different reasons, but the main one is that I've been very busy preparing to self-publish two novels as a part of my university dissertation. I am ahead on first-drafts for Infinite Legacies, though, but they still need to be edited. I first-drafted a spinoff standalone last weekend, actually—somehow wrote around 6,000 words a day, which is not usual for me—but that needs to be edited before being released too.

And, to confirm, that was Maizie—Kurt's granddaughter from Gen II. If everything goes to plan, this is a hint towards something which I'm very much looking forward to going into later in the story. I also wanted to bring back the idea of the Apricorns, which was only really a thing in Johto. I'll be hoping to blend in some other 'legacy' characters (as I like to say) throughout the story.

'Grandpa always told me making Poké Balls is lots more complicated than people think it is'—is a reference, pretty much a direct quote, to Pokémon: Season 3 (Gold and Silver), Episode 7: Going Apricorn! It is spoken by a young Maizie to Ash, Brock, and Misty as they are about to gather Apricorns for themselves. I watched the episodes Maizie was while editing and thought it would be cool to repurpose a piece of her dialogue.