Chapter 4: A Child's Training
Route 4,
Kalos,
3 AFC,
"Pidgey, use Gust!"
The sound of blistering winds filled the air and the scenery being blown away by a minor twister heading straight for a little mouse Pokemon trying to brave the winds. Behind the bird was Bonnie Edison, training her new Pokemon in preparation for a new challenge.
It had been almost hours after a rather tumultuous but rewarding experience for our young Bonnie.
Previously, she met up with a very hostile and territorial Pidgey who was always spitting seeds, bashing her up and even blowing her away with its Gust attack for her persistence in catching it. Eventually, through a lot of care for its needs and help in dealing with a pesky bunch of Fletchling, the Pokemon had opened up to her and was now a welcome addition to her team, alongside her trusty Dedenne.
After being lost in the forest surrounding Route 4, she was now well on her way back on the road to Santalune City thanks to Pidgey's help.
She was able to walk on the straight dirt path again, thankfully glad to have a smooth and clean walk unlike the rough traversing of the tall wild grass and thick trees she was forced to go through to catch her Pidgey.
Said bird Pokemon was now being trained by its Trainer after getting a rest from leading its new Trainer through the forest. It was certainly happy to be part of Bonnie's group, even though it had to leave behind its old home to follow her and get stronger, having the feeling that perhaps, if Bonnie could prove further, her Pokemon party would be its new home.
Bonnie was feeling all pumped up even after a tiring walk. It must had been the excitement of catching her first Pokemon that lifted her spirits, leaving her daydreaming of the new possibilities of even more friends to capture and train, or it could be the comfortable feeling of being able to walk on a flat road again after the grass, trees and wild Pokemon she had to deal with.
Either way, she was now in the middle of a training session with her Pokemon, testing their strengths before her first ever Gym Battle in Santalune City.
Dedenne was also trying to maximize its potential by taking on Pidgey as an opponent against Bonnie, allowing the girl to train their new friend.
"Dene!" The Pokemon was soon blown away a few feet until he crashed to the ground. The winds died down as Bonnie called out to him.
"Come on, Dedenne!" She cheered. "Let's get back up, shall we?!" The little guy leapt up and was ready for another attack.
"Dene…DEE!" After barely enduring the winds, Dedenne fired a lone Thundershock on the bird Pokemon. Pidgey caught sight of the speeding bolt of electricity and planned to dodge the attack with its flight skills.
"KRROWW!"
"Pidgey!" Bonnie screamed worriedly. Unfortunately, it was unable to fly away in time. The bolt zapped at its body and shocking the poor Pokemon. The voltage began to jolt all senses in its body as Pidgey was forced to land down to recover from the shock.
Bonnie had her hands on her hips, looking quite disappointed with the outcome of the battle. Shaking her head at herself, she walked for the landed bird.
"Oh man." she sighed. "I guess you need some practice on your flying."
Pidgey could feel a pang of disappointment in its heart. For Bonnie to call out its apparent lack of skills, it was a little discouraging. Nevertheless, it did feel that Bonnie was right about one thing. It clearly needed more practice, for after what Bonnie told it about Viola and her powerful bug Pokemon, every bit of training counted.
"But don't feel bad. We just need to work on your manoeuvring. I know Ash's Fletchling would have been to do it, but I'm sure we'll find some way for you to beat Viola's Pokemon!"
Bonnie's words of encouragement restored Pidgey's own confidence, raising a wing in approval. Dedenne joined the two, apologizing to Pidgey for the attack it did. Pidgey just nodded and chirped positively, accepting the apology.
"And Dedenne." Bonnie then called for the rodent. "I know your Electric attacks are strong." Dedenne smiled brightly at Bonnie's comment. "But I'm more worried on your endurance against wind attacks." It then lowered its head sadly after hearing Bonnie's later sentence.
Noticing their disappointment, Bonnie stood firm and gave them a knowing look.
"Don't feel bad, guys." She said, prompting the two Pokemon to stand at attention, listening to Bonnie like a public speaker giving out words of inspiration to a crowd in need. "We just need to work a little harder and become strong enough to withstand these attacks."
They all agreed, determined to carry on further and achieve the level they needed to fight back against Viola. Pulling out her Poke Ball, she withdrew Pidgey back to rest. After stuffing the ball into her pocket, she reached for her bag and let Dedenne hop aboard on her fedora.
"We better go sit down somewhere and discuss a strategy to combat Viola's Bug Pokemon. I'm pretty sure she'll stick to her old duo to battle us."
"Dene."
Bonnie looked back at her previous memories of Ash's Gym Battle with Viola.
Surskit was, without a shadow of a doubt, a force to be reckoned with. Even at its tiny size and low Evolution stage, it was capable of launching powerful beam attacks. It was able to turn an entire field of dirt into a blanket of thick slippery ice, allowing for its thin fine legs to ski across as if it were doing the same on water with the same grace. Its Signal Beam was also a hard-hitter, making short work of any opponent who could not have their Pokemon dodge the move. All of these strengths made Surskit so formidable that it even went up against another Gym Leader, Grant's Onix and managed to hold on for a few minutes without getting squashed!
Then, there was Vivillon, Viola's strongest Pokemon. With all of its beauty and grace, the Scale Pokemon was still packed with immense power and strength. Its large wings make for a tremendous wind maker, throwing in blistering winds that could send a Golem flying. And that was only the icing of the cake. Its Solarbeam was just as powerful and awesome as a Hyper Beam, completely decimating its competition with absolute force.
Surely enough, even with just two Pokemon, Viola had a powerhouse in this team.
With all of these strategies in mind, Bonnie was sure that she will face them head on sooner or later. However, she had her memories to her advantage, remembering on the tactics used to combat against Viola. If she could get Dedenne and Pidgey to follow up or come up with new techniques, she felt that she would have a better chance of taking on Viola's Pokemon.
Bonnie and Dedenne were now once again within the woods, away from the route. The girl looked around the thick forest for a nice spot to sit down and think of the strategies she would need against Viola.
Otherwise, Bonnie would also resort to another tempting idea; one that had now made her change her mind about relaxing down on the ground.
"Perhaps we'll find some random Pokemon or Trainer to challenge to pick up on your skills. I could use another Pokemon to my team. That would help even the odds, wouldn't it?" Bonnie said with optimism at an all-time high, with Dedenne agreeing to his Trainer.
"Dedenne." With the thrill of going on a Pokemon catch, Bonnie continued on walking, allowing Dedenne to sleep off on his own.
The Trainer scanned the forest around her, turning her body round and round, bobbing her head up and down to make sure that every branch and every patch of grass is checked and confirmed.
"I wonder what we'll find next." Bonnie enthusiastically said to herself, playing out the brand new types of Pokemon just waiting to be caught and trained.
Much to her disappointment, however, there was just not a single Pokemon willing to cross her path. The tiring search lingered on for ten more fruitless minutes, and yet, not one critter even bothered to make an appearance.
"Oh, come on. Really?" complained Bonnie. "How has it been so easy for Ash and the others to stumble upon a Pokemon while I just go around like I'm invisible or something? Really?"
Her brows furrowed and she let out a huff of frustration for the long minutes of searching, all while the Sun was shining brightly on her, heating up her skin from the rays of light.
"Hrrgh…" Finally, she could not afford to be patient for long, choosing to sit down against a tree with a pouted face.
Dedenne noticed to stop in motion and saw that his Trainer was now down on the ground with a tree behind her. He scurried down to see if there was any problem that forced her down.
From his view, he could see the frustrated Trainer looking down at the ground with a face of disappointment and impatience.
"This really sucks, Dedenne." she ranted. "How could I possibly not see a single Pokemon at all? Not even a Scatterbug."
"Dene?" The Pokemon just shrugged his shoulders. Bonnie took her time to cool off and breathed out her vexation, resulting to just resting her head against the bark.
"So much for another Pokemon…" Defeated, Bonnie could no longer carry on, giving up on her pursuit for new members to the team. What did Ash always tell her? Never give up? She guessed she learnt the hard way that not everything was worth not giving up. Besides, maybe she'll do some catching another time. There's always a lot of time and places to explore and catch Pokemon in.
Realizing that her odds were against her for now and deciding to result to more training for her two current Pokemon, Bonnie stood back up and planned to resume the next leg of her journey.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. She perked up her ears and cupped her hand to her ear, listening to a noise.
She listened in to what was like a series of murmurs and cries coming from her right, deeper into the forest. The voices were faint, but as far as Bonnie could hear, the cries sounded troubling, almost like an argument was happening.
"Sounds like trouble." And if anyone knew Bonnie, she would most definitely jump to find out what was going on. Not that she was a busy body… well, at least not anymore or so she claimed, but the sounds of a fight were a sure call for help or at least something worth investigating. Pushed to act, Bonnie rushed the scene, wanting to find out what the commotion was all about.
Rustling through the bushes, the girl Trainer was inching closer to where the voices were coming from. The noises became clearer and louder as she moved, indicating that she was getting nearer to the source.
Finally, after hearing enough, Bonnie stopped, crouched down to the ground and walked behind a thick line of bushes, where the situation was.
As soon as she was about to lay her fingers into the bush to push through to look, she could already hear a very unsettling call.
"Please! Stop!" She opened up and peeked through the leaves with Dedenne popping out on top of her.
Bonnie saw four boys conversing each other in a scuffle from the looks of it. One boy, seemingly younger and smaller than the other three boys, was down on the ground while the others were looking down on him. The biggest boy of the group, fat and tall, was showing him a fist and smirking at him. The other two boys snickered as the little boy dragged back from the bigger boy. Beside the young boy, a pink deer-like Pokemon with a flower on its head was trying to comfort him with a nuzzle. On the big kid's side was a slimy Pokemon shaped like a mound with its ooze dropping down.
On the big kid's hand, there was a Poke Ball, but with a blue hemisphere replacing the usual red, marked by two red lines coming from back to front towards the middle button.
Bonnie knew what was happening from the very moment she saw the whole scene. The hostile environment was a sure sign that this was nothing more than a cold case of bullies ganging up on a little kid. She would have commented on the fact that the Deerling was just the cutest thing, but right now, even she had to put all cheery expressions aside and spectate the scene from afar.
She cringed her face and furrowed her eyebrows angrily. If there was a type of people that she didn't like the most were bullies. She had met several in her past and of all the times to come cross them again, it just had to be now. Even though she was not the victim, she was still very much bewildered by the sight of a bunch of kids ganging up on another kid.
"Make me, kid!" The big kid clenched his fist at his victim, inciting more fear. The small kid continued to back away, much to his Deerling's growing worry.
"G-give me back my Great Ball!" he tried to defend himself. Unfortunately, his plea was not taken seriously. The boys made taunting laughs at him while pointing fingers at him.
The Deerling was now becoming very tired of the bullies' antics and moved at front to defend its Trainer.
"Deerling!" It warned the human and his Grimer, but the warnings were just laughed off as well.
"What a puny Pokemon! Not to mention girly too."
The boys kept on teasing the two, while the Grimer made a menacing look on the Deerling.
"Grimer Gri!" The Sludge Pokemon threatened the Deerling to back off, or it would show no mercy. Even with its dangerous look, Deerling refused to budge, defiantly standing in front of its Trainer.
"You better tell your Deerling to show some respect around here, Todd!" The second boy from behind called.
"Yeah!" The third one added. "You don't want to mess with Raymond and his Grimer. You don't want slime to dirty your little diapers now, do 'ya?"
"P-please!" Todd cried out. "Leave me alone!"
"Oh no." The one they call Raymond sneered at him; his voice filled with arrogance. "Your Deerling's been a naughty little Pokemon. So, I'm going to teach it a lesson!"
Just then, Deerling leapt forward and charged at the bully.
Raymond panicked at the sudden move. He rashly called upon his Pokemon to defend him from the attack.
"No! Deerling!" Todd cried again, but to no avail. Deerling kept on moving.
"Grimer! Use Sludge Attack! Quickly!"
"Gri! MER!" The slimy Pokemon swung its mucky hand at the charging Deerling, releasing a blob of icky sludge and sent it hurling towards Deerling. The attack then splashed on the beautiful Pokemon's skin, enveloping its whole body with sludge.
Somehow, while the slime was all over it, Deerling was losing its energy from the attack, and it happened so fast that the victim was sent crashing down to the ground. It then fell right in front of the victorious duo.
"Oh no!" Todd held his hand out front, traumatized beyond belief as he watched his Pokemon become powerless by the Sludge. The fallen Deerling was now covered with the filthy slime all over it, which was still taking effect on it in draining its energy, let alone also being blinded by the sludge on its eyes.
"Heh!" Raymond wiped his nose with one hand and had his other hand on his hip. Grimer imitated its Trainer by doing the same. "What a weakling."
"Grimer!" The two bullies chuckled coldly, followed by the other two boys.
Todd wept after watching his Deerling take the full blow of the attack. Unable to contain his sadness, he shed tears, which earned more taunts from the bullies.
"And now! To add some punishment to this little whimp!"
Todd got the shock of his life when, even after all that had happened to him and Deerling, Raymod still had intentions to bring more pain. There was no stopping this monster until he is satisfied with his kill.
Grimer naturally crawled towards the downed and blinded Deerling ready to bring the hurt.
Todd did nothing but sobbed, desperate to hope for any miracle to spare the pain he and his Deerling would suffer. Grimer was already in front of Deerling and raised its arm to make another dirty move.
"DENE!"
Suddenly, a streak of electricity blazed towards Grimer and hit the ground between it and Deerling, blasting the dirt off and startling everyone within the area. The Grimer stopped to avoid being hit by the bolt, while everyone looked to the direction from where the attack originated from.
"Huh?!" There, they saw a slightly older girl with blonde hair and a little Dedenne standing firm. The little mouse was still sparking up, waiting to deliver another attack.
"You leave that kid alone!" Bonnie warned the boys.
"Dedenne!" Dedenne squeaked in the same manner. The boys walked up, passing Todd and Deerling, seemingly unfazed by Bonnie's warning.
"Look here, you! You better scram!" Raymond pointed rudely at Bonnie.
"Grimer Grime!" Grimer added.
"Yeah! What are you going to do, girly?!" The other boys also teased at her.
Bonnie was now steaming at the sounds of these discriminative clowns underestimating her because of her gender. It was about time they learnt their lesson.
"Oh, I'll show you what a girl like me can do!"
"Grimer, use Sludge on that puny rat!" Raymond ordered his Grimer to launch another slime ball at Dedenne.
"Dedenne, use Thundershock on Grimer!" She directed her Pokemon to launch the attack.
"Dene… DEE!" After being infuriated by being called a rat, Dedenne unleashed its strongest Thundershock towards Grimer. The lightning bolt surged towards the sludge ball, blasting through it as it exploded into many bits. The bolt then struck the Grimer who launched the attack. Upon impact, the Grimer was put down by that single attack, shutting its eyes in utter pain.
"GRIMER!" It yelled. At once, the Grimer drooped down as if it was melting. Its eyes still shut, Raymond put up a baffling look at the outcome.
"Ah! Grimer!" The boy could not believe what had transpired. His Grimer was beaten by a little Dedenne?! "Get up, Grimer!" After trying to encourage it, it took thirty seconds for Raymond to realize the inevitable.
"Looks like your Grimer's unable to battle." gloated Bonnie. "Give it up!"
Grunting, he came over to the defeated Pokemon and recalled it into its Poke Ball, angered by the loss. He stared at Bonnie and gave her a nasty glare, vowing to do more pain.
"Ergh!" Raymond let out a frustrating cry before stomping his foot on the ground. "Come on, boys! I got what I need." Eventually, there was no point continuing the humiliation. At his call, Raymond took the rest of his gang before walking away with his prize.
"Dude, did you just lose to a girl?" one of the boys teased, only for him to be whacked in the back by Raymond, causing him to nearly trip.
"You shut up, Malcolm!"
Finally, after a while, the boys were out of earshot and nowhere to be seen, disappearing into the forest.
The situation was now defused as Bonnie called Dedenne back to the top of her hat. The Pokemon gladly returned to the comfortable spot on his Trainer's head.
The sounds of battle and shouts were now replaced with silence. Bonnie looked to the boy and his Deerling, only to find the boy holding the Deerling by its head, cradling it with his hands being slimed by the sludge.
"Deerling. Are you okay?" Todd asked sadly; his face riddled with devastation.
"Deer…" The Pokemon trembled in pain as it tried to get back up. It then cried out in agony while it fell to the ground again. Todd panicked at the event and quickly caught Deerling before it could crash its head on the ground.
"Oh no…" Todd grew more frantic as Deerling's pain continued to drain it of much needed energy. "What am I going to do?" He held on to the Deerling with the care of a Kangaskhan mother to its baby, while also weeping for being unable to help it recover.
Witnessing the sorry scene, Bonnie decided to take action. Clearly, judging by the kid's size and inability to act out against the bullies, this kid must be one too young to be a Trainer. She slipped her backpack to her front and dug through the contents inside. Immediately, she was able to fish out a spray bottle filled with yellow fluid inside of it. She then walked over to Todd and handed it over to the boy.
"Here." told Bonnie. "Use this."
"Huh?" Looking up, Todd could see Bonnie handing to him the spray, curious about what good would that do.
"It's an Antidote. It should be able to heal the Poison off of it."
"Poison?" Todd's inexperience was further proven, not even knowing of the condition that was affecting Deerling.
"Just use it first." Bonnie did not want to waste any more time. Deerling was losing strength each passing minute, and the last thing she wanted to happen was it to faint and make things more depressing than it needed it to be.
Bonnie's insistence was a sign to Todd to just go ahead and spray the stuff on his Deerling. Without hesitation he took hold of the yellow spray bottle and proceeded to aim it at Deerling's back. He pulled the spray trigger and started spritzing drops of the antidote on the injured Pokemon.
Tiny stains were now spotted on Deerling's fur, with the antidote now soaked by the little drops of it. To remove the sludge, Bonnie went to work and pulled out a towel from her bag. Todd slowly moved Deerling to Bonnie's lap as she began wrapping it around Deerling and rubbing it all around it as gently as she could, removing the gunk of it while staining the towel. She could always wash it up at the Pokemon Centre before having her next shower. Bit by bit, the sludge was finally off the Deerling, allowing its pink fur to be almost completely clean, with a little bit of dirt still stuck to it.
Stroking its fur, Todd could finally smile in relief feeling the soft fur again.
Todd could notice that Deerling was starting to breathe much calmer now, indicating that the antidote was working.
"See, when a Pokemon is Poisoned, it will take some damage even after the attack that poisoned it has finished. The best cure for the job is a genuine Antidote." Good thing Bonnie packed one up from a mart back home, or this would have been a real disaster.
"Deerling." The Pokemon cooed at the comfort of its friend's hand on its head. The boy faced Bonnie as he stroked Deerling's head.
"Thank you so much." he thanked.
"No problem. Just helping out a person in need is all!" cheered Bonnie.
"Dene!" agreed Dedenne.
"By the way, my name's Todd." The boy then introduced himself to Bonnie.
"The name's Bonnie. And this is my Dedenne."
"Dedenne!"
After feeling a little better, Deerling began to move its feet again and tried rise back up.
"Deer!" But then, it slumped back down again. still wincing in pain. Todd grabbed on to it and wrapped his arms around its belly.
Slowly descending down to the ground, the boy continued to hug the Deerling carefully as he tried to comfort it.
"I'm so sorry, Deerling. I wish I could have done something." he sighed sadly.
"Deerling will be fine. It just needs some extra healing." Bonnie then took her bag again and grabbed for a bottle of Potion she also got from home. She then moved to spray the soothing fluid onto the poor Deerling.
She backed away, allowing the Potion to seep in and wither away the pain it had suffered from the ooze. She expected the Potion to have fully healed the Pokemon back to a sustainable level of strength.
However, the Deerling's face was still showing an expression of hurt and struggle. Its legs trembled, weakening its balance and causing it to nearly fall.
"Must have been bad." Bonnie could not put a finger as to why Deerling was still hurting. "Hold on." When it came to identifying a Pokemon's problems, she had to result to researching the Pokemon itself. So, it was time to open up her PokeDex and find out what was going wrong.
"Deerling, the Season Pokemon. Their coloring changes according to the season and can be slightly affected by the temperature and humidity as well."
After the PokeDex read the description, Bonnie then looked to the upper right corner of the screen to identify the type. She found two mini bars, one white and another green, with the names of the types placed on the both of them.
"So that's why it's still hit hard. Other than being a Normal-type, it's a Grass-type too." acknowledged Bonnie as she stuffed her PokeDex back in her pocket.
"Well, what do we do?" Todd, holding onto Deerling, asked worriedly. Without hesitation, Bonnie took out another bottle of Potion from her bag. Her last one.
"Here. I'll use my last one." She was about to spray her Potion on the Deerling. However, she was then stopped when Todd stood back up, placing Deerling gently down on the ground and waving his hands out front.
"No, wait!" He wailed, catching Bonnie by surprise. "I… don't want to trouble you."
Bonnie could not understand why Todd refused her help right about now. His Deerling was still in pain after the Sludge attack proved to be super effective, but he was still not willing to accept the Potion now.
"But… but your Deerling…" Her voice stumbled.
"It's fine. Really." Todd continued to insist. "It's my fault Deerling got hurt in the first place. I don't want to drag other people into this."
It was then that Bonnie frowned sadly at the boy. Those bullies were as wrong as they come for targeting the boy, but to hear that kid blame himself for his Pokemon's pain, that was a real shocker. She began to feel very sorry for the boy as he slowly stood back up.
"I'll just find an Oran Berry somewhere in this forest." Todd's voice softened again, lowering his head down in shame. Deerling watched on as its friend was feeling the aftermath of his torment; itself too feeling let down by the disastrous attempt to defend the boy.
Upon hearing him, Bonnie had had enough.
"You know what? I'll help 'ya find one." She declared, causing Todd to confront her again.
"That's really okay, Bonnie! But…"
"No buts!" The girl interrupted him, hushing the boy in the process. This time, Bonnie will have her say. "If you wanna heal your Deerling, sure. But there's no way I'm letting you beat yourself up."
"But… It's my…" Then, Bonnie pulled the weirdest trick in the book. She bent down at Todd's level, grasping her hands together and… begged?
"Just let me help, please?" she sweetly pleaded.
"Dene De!" The Pokemon did the same. Todd and Deerling widened their eyes awkwardly at their desperate pleas. They wondered if she was feeling alright, even if she was insistent on helping.
Nevertheless, Deerling was still in a dire state. Looking up at its Trainer, it then gave a weak smile, telling the boy it was okay to let Bonnie help out.
Todd saw no option to argue with. Thus, he looked at Bonnie, still frowning, and nodded in approval.
"O-okay."
Bonnie was extremely satisfied enough to leap in the air and land on her two feet, placing her hands on her hips with the same determination etched in her face and devotion burning in her heart.
She pulled out the Poke Ball that had Pidgey resting inside and threw it up to release the small bird Pokemon. It fluttered above the group while facing Bonnie at attention.
"Wow…" Todd stared in awe as he saw the sight of Bonnie summoning a Pokemon in front of his own eyes and not through a television screen. He did not even get to see Raymond's Grimer coming out of its Poke Ball, so seeing Bonnie doing it, and knowing that she was a good person with evident care of Pokemon, felt even more special.
"Alright." She faced her Pokemon. "Dedenne, Pidgey, go find us an Oran Berry we can use. You know which one to find."
"Dene!" Dedenne made a salute, but since his arm was too small to reach his forehead, he did as much as tap his chest. It would have to do.
"Pidgey!" The bird Pokemon mimicked the salute, only it was able to make a full salute with no problem, even flying with one wing as it gestured.
The two then ran off to the bushes and disappeared in search for the ripe blue berry that can restore Deerling back to normal. After living in this exact same forest long before he even met Bonnie, Dedenne was sure to remember to find the right berry for the job. And of course, Pidgey should also be very familiar with his old home enough to locate some sources of his own.
"Oh!" Then, Bonnie stopped them for a while. "And do fetch us some other berries to eat as well!"
Nodding once more, the pair went off to pursue the fruits they needed.
Once the Pokemon disappeared into the woods, Bonnie returned her attention to Todd and his Deerling.
Right now, the boy was once again tending to Deerling with an affectionate hold that made Bonnie coo inside. She was really happy to see such care from a person to a Pokemon and vice versa coming from these two friends.
However, she then noticed that Todd, despite the improving conditions, still had tears flowing down his cheeks. Wondering if he was alright, Bonnie went up to him and bent down to talk to him.
"Hey. What's wrong?" she began. Todd looked at her, slightly surprised, but immediately answered her afterwards, but not before rubbing his eyes to dry out the tears.
"Those boys…" he said with a stricken tone. "They took my Great Ball."
"A Great Ball?" Bonnie asked further.
"Yeah. You know? The ones that allow a Trainer to catch a Pokemon with greater chances?" Bonnie knew what a Great Ball was, but judging the situation, there was no point talking back since the Poke Ball was something of a treasure to him. "It was a gift from my uncle from Sinnoh as a birthday present."
Her silence was then replaced with shock and anger mixed together with a furious taste of frustration.
"And those bullies just took it from you?!" Todd nodded at Bonnie's question. Now, Bonnie was fuming inside. Those fiends did more than enough when they threatened Todd and Deerling and weakened the Season Pokemon, but to steal a prized possession? They had gone too far. That was not all that baffled her, though.
"But… why didn't you do anything?" she calmly asked, keeping her composure as she continued talking to Todd for his sake.
The boy then looked down again, with his eyes being shrouded in the shadows beneath his hair.
"It's just… I…" After a few brief seconds of sniffling, he then confessed to Bonnie. "Don't know how to battle."
"What?" Bonnie was getting more curious about Todd, wondering why, after all that abuse, he would be unable to do anything.
Then again, however, she already pointed out something about the boy that seemed to justify his inability to battle. This kid seemed to be younger than her, judging by his small size compared to her. Coupled that with the unfamiliarity of Pokemon battling, it made sense to her that Todd was unable to do anything because Todd was not ten years old. Thus, Todd was not a Pokemon Trainer.
Regardless, Todd carried on before she could speak up.
"Well, I'm… not even a Trainer, and I don't even know what kind of attacks Deerling can use. She was actually a baby from my mother's Sawsbuck, and when my birthday came two weeks ago, she decided that I could keep her. And that's how we both became best pals."
"Deer…" As he told his story, Todd smoothly coursed his fingers across Deerling's short but dirtied fur to provide extra comfort.
"That's really cute." She said with half happiness, while she was also still inquiring about Todd's inability to at least counter. "But still, you could have at least tried. Deerling was willing to fight."
"Yeah." Todd protested. "But I don't even know if what she did was an official move."
After looking at Deerling, Todd teared up, unable to handle the fact of his supposed failure to protect his Deerling. He was soon overcome with grief and depression, losing hope for his future.
"What's the point?! I'll never be a Pokemon Trainer now!" He neared his head towards Deerling's body and sobbed some more.
"Deerling…" The Pokemon in turn tried to comfort her Trainer by rubbing her head against his black hair. She really wanted Todd to know that it was her own decision to fight and protect him, but being a Pokemon speaking to a young boy who had just met only weeks ago was harder than it looked.
Bonnie and Dedenne looked at each other with mutual empathy for the two. After all, Bonnie also cared for Dedenne when he was not her official Pokemon even at such a young age. What it was like for her to look after him before was almost the same as Todd with his Deerling. They saw it as an early start before the real adventure begins. It should be a beneficial step in becoming a Trainer, but Todd's feelings had been hurt enough to discourage him.
Unable to fathom with the idea of giving up, Bonnie went over to convince him to let go of his sadness. She touched his shoulder, getting his attention.
"Come on, Todd." she told him. "You can't just let this affect what you choose to be."
"I let Deerling get hurt." Todd still protested. "What kind of Trainer would I be if I just let my Pokemon end up being beaten?"
"Todd, I understand your pain. It's tough seeing a Pokemon getting themselves in a pickle." The boy looked at his Deerling, feeling a little worse about remembering how Deerling ended up being hurt. "But you can't just blame yourself for what you weren't able to do. Deerling just did what was natural. It wanted to protect you, no matter how dangerous the threat is. And if you ask me, that is pure devotion from a Pokemon if I ever see it."
After Bonnie's motivational words, Todd gave himself more thought on himself and Deerling's devotion to his well-being. Deerling did care for him a lot, but never would he think that she would go so far to protect him.
"Gee, I-I didn't really think about that."
With that in mind, he gave Deerling a sad little grin in appreciation of her actions, nuzzling his cheek against her forehead.
"Thanks, Deerling. You're really something special."
"Deerling!" The Pokemon returned his affection, gently rubbing against him as well. Bonnie's smile got wider watching the blissful moment between boy and Pokemon happening in front of her. Her feelings were even warmer with the fact that she was able to talk sense into the boy.
However, the moment was still bittersweet. A frown was seen on Todd's face, earning more concern from Bonnie.
"But still…" he mused. "I wish I would have gotten my Great Ball back." He rested his chin on top of his palm while settling his elbow down on his lap, feeling more lost by the unfortunate event.
Bonnie too regretted not doing more for Todd. If only she knew about the theft of Todd's Great Ball sooner. She would have made them give it back to him.
However, that was when she had an idea.
"Alright! Then it's simple." exclaimed Bonnie. "If you want that Great Ball back, then you're going to have to battle those punks to get it!"
"Wh-what?!" Todd yelped in shock. Did Bonnie just say what he didn't want her to say? He was to battle the crooks who took his Great Ball? He could not believe what crazy idea Bonnie had concocted. "You just heard me earlier, right? I-I can't battle. I'm too young."
"That's no excuse if you're being harassed by a bunch of big bullies. You're going to have to stand up to them or you'll end up being a target for who knows how long." Todd grew very distressed by Bonnie's opinion in the matter to exclaim to her. His voice, shrill and stumbling, being expressed to Bonnie, hoping to pull himself away from the impossible task of battling without any experience.
"But I…" Todd stuttered. "I… I can't."
"Why?" snapped Bonnie. "Those boys just took the one treasure you can always remember your uncle by. And you're just going to let them? What's keeping you from doing anything about it?" At this point, Bonnie bit her tongue after realizing that she may had gone too far.
However, Todd was still going on, blurting out more about his inability.
"I… I'm scared… And Deerling… What's going to happen to her if I let her fight those boys again?"
Bonnie thought about it a little more, thinking of another way to convince Todd. Then, she had one way to settle it. It was time to result to the one way her brother Clemont knew of. The logical way. At the same time, though, she had to sound very truthful and effective because no way could logic alone be enough, so she suited for more emotion into the mix.
She began her statement.
"Listen, Todd." She cleared up for him as he listened in. Knowing how she sincere she was, Todd allowed her to speak uninterrupted.
"There's a clear difference between battling as a Trainer and battling for yourself. "When you become a Pokemon Trainer, you're going to end up meeting despicable people like them in your life. There are many people out there who would do anything to get what they want. They could be thieves. They could be gangsters. They could be members of some evil organization who could be bent on making others suffer. And if you're going to let a bunch of losers like those boys get the better of you, then I say we step up!"
Todd was now feeling a lot more frightened by the possibilities of horrible people willing to bring pain to him and Deerling. Those kind of bad guys could make Raymond and his gang look like mere kindergarteners.
Bonnie could go on about the bad people she knew of, but right now, it would be overkill to do so, especially for Todd.
"Wh-what do you suggest I do?" asked Todd, slightly intimidated.
"When it comes to being harassed by these people, there are many exceptions to battling." Bonnie hunched her shoulders up while she continued. "When the going gets tough, you're going to have to do whatever it takes to protect the things, people, and especially Pokemon you love. You need to stand up for yourself and show these people that, even at such a young age, you are willing to defend yourself."
At once, Bonnie gave Todd a brand new sense of realization, or perhaps a completely reasonable way to convince him of Pokemon training.
Maybe she was right after all. Perhaps it could be best to forget about his troubles and not let his flaws get in the way of being a Pokemon Trainer. Thanks to Bonnie, he knew he had to step up and show the world like he dreamt of doing one day.
"I-I understand. Thanks, Bonnie." Todd nodded slightly as he acknowledged Bonnie's support.
"I'll have to tell 'ya. Deerling clearly shows how much she cares for you enough to come up and fight. She'll be a wonderful battler once you get some of that spirit in you." Bonnie continued to cheer him up even more, while also crediting Deerling's own power.
"And another thing, all Pokemon, no matter how small or young, Deerling will always have some moves available for you. At Deerling's age and level, she should have some moves of its own, even if they are not up to the standards."
Deerling gave a small scoff. She was somewhat offended by Bonnie's words about its skills. She did, however, know that the older Trainer was right. It had been only weeks since she hatched from its Egg, and not much training was done to make her strong enough to take on that Grimer. She would need all the help she could get.
"I think that by learning to battle, you do so much on the long run, Todd. Trust me. I used to be able to learn battling myself even when I was your age."
Todd looked upon Bonnie with admiration, awed by how Bonnie was able to show him how much she knew of Pokemon. Working with her would be just what he needed. Those mean old kids would think twice to mess with him and Bonnie again.
Then, the group listened in to what sounded like slow squeaky grunting noises coupled with a set of fluttering sounds coming from behind Bonnie. They turned around and there they saw Dedenne walking in and then, Pidgey flying from the sky and coming in for a landing.
"Oh, here's Dedenne and Pidgey right now." In Dedenne's grasp, a lone blue berry was being cuddled by the small rodent, considering it was almost the size of his whole chest.
Pidgey had better luck carrying more berries as each of its talons had a different type of berry in its hold. One was a reddish orange berry with spikes all over it and another was a yellow pear-like one.
They both approached their Trainer with their bounty and gave them to her. Bonnie happily accepted the berries from them and flashed an appreciative grin in return.
"Thanks, you two!" she cheerfully thanked the two Pokemon for their efforts. Seeing that they were not going to eat simply meant that they must had had some spoils on their own before picking up more for the group.
"Dene!" Dedenne squeaked before it let out a hiccup, further proving that his hunger was satisified.
"Krow!" Pidgey also voiced its gratitude in helping out a fellow Pokemon, and a few hungry stomachs. With its job done for now, Pidgey soared low enough for Bonnie to zap it back into its Poke Ball.
She decided to drop down one of the berries and gave the other two to her new friends. Primarily, she gave the Oran Berry, the blue one, to Deerling for her to fully recover.
Bonnie felt like a Pokemon's meal is made all the more special when the Trainer, or in this case friend, is the one who feeds it. Thus, she handed the Oran Berry to Todd before giving him his Aspear Berry.
"Here you go. Now feed it to her." Todd took the Oran Berry and the Aspear Berry with both hands. He then moved the Oran Berry to Deerling's mouth while holding onto the Aspear Berry for later.
Deerling took a little whiff at the berry with a few sniffles. She being part Grass-type had made her completely careful around the food it wanted to consume. After smelling the fruit, she took one good bite out of the berry, chewing in a chunk of the fruit with pleasure.
After enjoying the savory taste, Deerling swallowed down the chewed bits into her stomach, allowing the nutrients of the berry to be absorbed into the Pokemon's body and slowly regaining her health.
Deerling continued to chow down on the sweet and scrumptious berry, consuming it in a few bites until there was no more of it to devour. Finally, after eating the Oran Berry, Deerling could feel her strength being recovered after a minute and rose back to her feet without any problems.
"Deer!" She stood happily and cheerfully, stroking herself against Todd's cheek and making the boy laugh with joy.
"Hahaha! You're okay." he cried in pure delight.
Bonnie watched the exchange rather fondly as she then petted Dedenne in her arms. Nothing was more touching to them than a Pokemon bonding with a human of its choice. She grabbed for the last berry that was foraged by Dedenne and Pidgey. Before she could munch, she was then approached by Todd and Deerling.
Todd looked at her with much dedication and courage before finally speaking up to her.
"Bonnie." he began. He then fired away with a fist pumped in front of him and shouted in full confidence. "Will you train me and Deerling and help me get my Great Ball back?!"
"Deer!" With the combined force of Pokemon and uh… pre-Trainer as Bonnie put it, she gave an accepting smile, at the ready to teach Todd on how to defend himself and show Deerling what it means to be in a full battle.
"It's a deal! We'll give you guys a pre-emptive training session to give you a head start!" With her eyes closed with a toothy grin, she took a big chomp out of the berry and wiped her mouth before swallowing it.
"Yum!"
Unfortunately, she failed to see what kind of berry Dedenne had given her.
Three…
Two…
One…
"YYAAAAHHHH!" A powerful flame burst out of Bonnie's mouth, shocking all around her. She ran around in a panic as her lips burned up and throat being incinerated, all because of the orange spiked berry she ate.
It was a Tamato Berry…
"HOT! HOT HOT HOT! HOTTT!"
The training began after Bonnie extinguished the spiciness burning at her throat with a full canteen of water. Todd was seated against a tree with Deerling lying down at attention next to him. Bonnie and Dedenne were marching about like a couple of boot camp instructors while teaching them the basics of Pokemon battles.
"Okay!" exclaimed Bonnie like some sort of tough guy. "The first rule of Pokemon battling is you do not back off from a battle." All the while, each step told involved her staring right into Todd's face. The boy was getting startled each time she did that, wondering if having her as an instructor was even a good idea.
"The second rule of Pokemon battling is… you do not back off from a battle."
"Third rule of Pokemon battling: the battle's over."
"Fourth rule: Only two Pokemon to a battle, unless there's another Trainer in the opposite side, then you add one more to your squad."
"Fifth rule: A Pokemon shows its type, fight back with a type advantage, "And finally, seventh rule. Even with a type advantage, don't fall back! You take them on with full courage and care for your Pokemon!"
It was at the end of the final rule that Bonnie came forward to Todd and exclaimed with all her passion, but this caused Todd to get startled and fell back on the ground.
"Any questions?" When she turned around, Bonnie expected some response to her instructive lecturing. After hearing none of it, she looked behind to find Todd sprawled on the floor.
"Uh…? Bonnie?" Todd spoke up dizzily. "I'm… kinda spooked right now…"
"Deer…" Deerling was also seated down, shivering slightly at the tense situation. Bonnie sighed, knowing that how she was being helpful to him was anything but. It did show, however, that Todd and Deerling needed some work on their attitudes.
"You're right. Just saw that from a movie once. I thought it would be cool." admitted Bonnie. Her face then cringed, imagining Todd watching the movie in mind. "Then again, you… don't want to know what movie that was."
Choosing to forget what she had said, she needed a little more… child-friendly approach to the younger boy. Something that inspired her when she was younger. Bonnie easily came up with one little sentence that did the best when it came to inspiration.
"Anyways, basically what I would like to say is; don't give up until the end." She clenched her fist, flashing a confident smile at Todd. Her words came to give Todd a new feeling of courage inside of him, pushing him forward to embracing his own dreams. "Those were the words of the very Pokemon Trainer who inspired me to do what I dream to do, and he is getting close to achieving his dreams."
Afterwards, she then concluded her speech with a firm thumb's up to Todd and Deerling, signaling her own resolve to train the boy, at least with the few basics.
"And today. We're going to show you how to battle. For beginners of course."
"Cool!" Todd clasped his hands together afterwards, followed by a happy cheer from Deerling, who was also ready to learn from Bonnie.
"Okay. Since Deerling's not my Pokemon, my PokeDex cannot register the moves she can do. But it can still identify what moves she could learn. And based on what I read, it appears that she would learn three, if not four attacks."
Bonnie opened up her PokeDex and looked through the page on the Deerling species to read through the same section on possible Deerling moves.
"These moves are Tackle, Camouflage, Growl and Sand Attack. At least that's as far as she should know."
"Okay. So, how do I begin?" Todd skipped lightly as excitement filled inside him, ready to take the first steps in Pokemon training.
Bonnie ran all the way further from the group with Dedenne on top of her hat.
"First things first, to battle, you must first find a genuine opponent. And for this lesson, I shall be your opponent." She pointed to herself with her thumb before Dedenne leapt down on the ground.
"And for my Pokemon of the battle, you shall battle Dedenne." The little mouse Pokemon's cheeks sparked up to his whiskers.
"Okay." Todd stood up with Deerling at the ready, standing in battle position.
"Now, we go through this." resumed Bonnie. "I'll let Dedenne use low-powered attacks on Deerling, and you go all out."
"You ready, Deerling?" Todd told his Pokemon.
"Deer!" The Pokemon responded with a confident call. Dedenne stepped right up to face Deerling in battle.
The two sides stared each other down, ready for the training session that would help Deerling and Todd face those bullies and get their Great Ball back.
"Dedenne! Use Tackle!" Dedenne began with a quick charge towards Deerling. As he did so, he made sure to use as little power in his attack as he could for the sake of this course.
Nevertheless, Deerling, having been inexperienced in combat, took the move as serious as any Pokemon would in a real battle.
"Deerling, let's try and use Tackle too." Todd's first order came and Deerling followed up with a dash of her own, speeding towards Dedenne with all her strength.
As soon as Dedenne was in range, he jumped up and attempted to bash Deerling on the head. At once, he and Deerling collided into each other, heads banging at one another.
Suddenly, Dedenne could feel a sudden force pushing against him. He then realized that Deerling was able to put in much more power than he thought she would, enough to send him flying back to Bonnie and crashing onto the ground.
Bonnie and Todd both had their mouths wide open in shock. Clearly they did not anticipate such strength within Deerling. Wasn't she just hatched out of an Egg two weeks ago? This must be one heck of a baby Pokemon!
"Sheesh. Deerling's actually stronger than I thought." Bonnie remarked. Seeing this, she had to raise the bar a little. "Todd. Keep it up. Just let her battle on some more."
"Right." The boy was now a lot more confident after seeing Deerling's unexpected strength. He carried on with the battle, hoping to see more from the young Pokemon. "Deerling. Uh…" He took a brief second to remember the moves mentioned by Bonnie earlier. "Use Sand Attack!"
Deerling turned around so that her rear was facing Dedenne. She then kicked up the dirt underneath her and shot out sand at the opponent's face. Dedenne was hit by the attack, having his eyes stinging from the attack and forcing him to continue on blindly.
Todd did feel a little bad for Dedenne. That was such a dirty move he pulled off and he saw Deerling commit it. Though, he knew well enough that that was how it was supposed to be.
"Dedenne, use Thundershock!" Bonnie ordered.
Despite his blindness, Dedenne complied, doing his best to bounce up in the air and fire a bolt of electricity at his opponent. However, with his vision limited, the mouse fired blindly and was unaware that Deerling managed to jump out of the way in a panic for the bolt to hit the ground instead.
As she looked on, Bonnie saw that Todd was unsure on what to do to help Deerling get out of the way. He just stood there and watched, unsure on what to do. Deerling only leapt out of the way upon instinct; no word from Todd to dodge.
"That was close." Todd said to himself. Bonnie knew she had to give him some pointers on that moment.
"You might need to be careful when your Pokemon is about to get hit, Todd." She told from the other end of the field. "If your Pokemon is fast enough, then you can find the opportunity for them to run."
"Oh. Okay." Todd understood Bonnie's advice. Next time, he had to be more careful with his Deerling's
"Well, I'll give you points for blinding Dedenne with that Sand Attack." Bonnie mustered up a praising smile for his command, making the boy feel a little grateful that he was going the right path.
"Did that do any damage to Dedenne?" he asked.
"Nope. Sand Attack does not do any damage at all. It only reduces a Pokemon's accuracy, but only for a little while. So you have to think of something to take advantage of the handicap." The boy took in the advice again and immediately went to do more.
"Okay. Use Tackle again!" Todd commanded.
"Counter with Tackle too!" Bonnie followed up with a counter move.
Both Pokemon listened to their Trainers and ran for each other in another clash of strength. This time, Dedenne put in a little more power after he knew that Deerling could be strong enough to take a hit.
The two Pokemon crashed into each other in a rough collision again. This time, with Dedenne's increased power, the forces were now evenly matched. After a second later, the two were both beaten back, pushing them back to their Trainers.
"Not bad, Todd." complimented Bonnie. "Deerling's actually a strong Pokemon!"
"I know." agreed Todd. "I didn't know she had it in her." The boy continued on, getting more and more confident in his battling as Bonnie also went on to train him in this fight.
"Deerling, show them a Growl!" Todd prepared for the next move, calling for his Pokemon to deliver an intimidating and powerful yell to slow Dedenne's offensive power.
"Deer?" Then, as soon as he was expecting Deerling to use the move, she didn't. All the Pokemon did was look back at him with a muddled look, as if she did not know how to use it. It did say in the PokeDex that Deerling also that she should be able to perform the move at her age, didn't it?
"Huh? Nothing's happening?" Todd's expression said it all. No words could describe the confusion he was having in this situation; the inexperience of a boy too young to become a Trainer taking its toll on his determination.
Unaware of what had happened, Bonnie then smirked. It was time to play a little trick of hers. It was not as big as she would usually like, but for this training session, it would be decent enough.
"Dedenne. Nuzzle!"
Snickering with her, Dedenne ran right up to Deerling, who was still at a state of uncertainty. He ran up to her face and threw his back at her. At once, he started rubbing himself on her, instantly producing a spark that immediately turned into a powerful surge of electricity, shocking Deerling all over her.
"Oh no!" Todd shouted in horror as Deerling was being hurt by the attack. His confidence lowered down again, forced to watch his Pokemon getting hurt again.
Dedenne disengaged himself and returned to Bonnie's side, stopping the shocking effect and leaving Deerling in pain after the attack.
Deerling returned to standing position and faced Dedenne again, prepared to retaliate against him for pulling off that mischievous move.
"Deerling, you okay?" asked Todd, clearly shaken by the damage done and the weird absence of a Growl attack. However, there was no time for stalling.
"Todd. Make your move." reminded Bonnie. Todd snapped out of his trance and returned to the battle at hand.
"Okay Deerling! Use Tackle again!" Deerling steadied herself for another run at Dedenne, legs bent and body ready to pounce.
BBZZZTT!
However, a sudden shocking feeling coursed through her legs, causing Deerling to fall down on the ground. Suddenly, she felt numb all over her body during the brief moments of shock, unable to move properly as she was stung by the effects.
"Wha-?" Once again, Todd could not understand what had transpired. He did not know what caused Deerling to stumble in pain. Was it the Nuzzle being that effective enough to cause it additional pain? Or was it something else?
"Deerling's paralyzed." explained Bonnie, confusing Todd more. "She's unable to move."
"Oh no…" At this point, Todd was feeling even more distressed. He was learning bit by bit, but the class itself was not being as pleasant as he thought.
Finally, after watching Deerling taking hit after hit, he just could not do anything to continue on, upset beyond belief.
Bonnie saw how the boy looked with the situation, seeing that he was now getting upset by how Deerling was now paralyzed and unable to move properly.
Seeing this, she knew she had to put a stop to the training session, having seen enough for the time being.
"Okay, Dedenne." She signaled to her Pokemon to stop the battle, to which he stopped the sparking on his cheeks. The two were finally finished teaching Todd, though the outcome was not what they hoped for.
She walked on over to a slightly depressed Todd. The boy soon saw that bonnie had decided to cut the battle short and was walking up to him. Realizing the battle was over, he walked over to Deerling and attempted to comfort her.
Stroking through her fur, he could feel the Pokemon shaking sporadically from the Paralysis it had sustained from Dedenne's Nuzzle, with small bumps of her body from the shocking effect.
Bonnie went over to her bag and looked for something to help out. It seemed like she really did have a whole assortment of items. It was courtesy of her brother, who was helpful enough to give her a kind of healing item each, always making sure his sister was prepared for the long road ahead.
But, it also meant that she was free to do whatever she wished with them all, and right now, a bottle of Paralyze Heal was just the thing she needed to wash the shock away from the body.
She walked towards the tired pair of boy and Pokemon, kneeling down and handing over the bottle to Todd. It was best if Todd was the one spraying the healing fluid on Deerling, since she was his Pokemon and being the person to do it would help improve the bond between Trainer and Pokemon.
"Here's a Paralyze Heal." she handed out the potion to him. "It should heal Deerling of her Paralysis." Without hesitation, the boy grabbed hold of the bottle and immediately pulled the trigger to release a fine cloud of the healing liquid, with fine particles pouring down on the soft fur.
A few more sprays with the Heal and the shaking finally stopped. Deerling could now rest easily, sleeping down while still panting from the distress and pain she did her best to endure for Todd.
The boy was let down by his inexperience. Losing your first battle was really not the best thing to experience, especially at such a young age.
"Darn it." he sighed. "Now, how am I supposed to get my Great Ball back?" His words of negativity brought sadness to his Pokemon as well. Deerling's ears flopped down in sorrow, feeling like she had failed Todd in this fight.
Bonnie, on the other hand, did feel a little weight on herself when watching Todd and Deerling go through this sad ordeal. After the way she battled, she felt like she went a little too much on the boy, even with a reduction of power in Dedenne's strikes. This sense of training towards the boy and his loss reminded her of her own first battle against Clemont just a day ago. How Todd got defeated from his own battle must had been exactly how she had felt before, and now, it seemed she knew Clemont's position of the mentoring.
Now, all she had to from here was to make sure Todd understands the meaning of loss to his advantage rather than taking it as a means to a horrible end.
"Don't worry, Todd." Todd looked up to see Bonnie knelt down next to him with a knowing smile. "Let's not get sad over this loss, okay?" She told the boy as sympathetic as she could, but Todd did not budge just yet.
"I know I should be trusting Deerling to battle for me, but I just can't bear to watch her get hurt." he said with a sad sniff.
Then, as he rubbed his eye, he felt something soft and slightly wet rubbing against his cheek. Opening his eyes, he saw Deerling having just licked him while letting him know that everything was going to be fine from here on out. She did not want her pain to affect his dreams of being a Pokemon Trainer, willing to fight for him until the very end.
At once, Todd could feel a bit of cheer thanks to Deerling's support for him. Perhaps it was for the best that Deerling could learn from its mistakes and fight harder to become stronger, but she was not the only one who needed to be strong.
"I guess I should learn to be a little stronger too, huh?" He hugged Deerling affectionately, rubbing their cheeks against one another.
"Now that's what a true Pokemon-Trainer bond is all about." Bonnie remarked to the relationship between the two young friends. Nothing made her happier than watching a Pokemon and its Trainer learning together and sharing their feelings together. Judging by how these two are able to cheer each other up with love from one another, they were well on their way. "Just keep rooting for each other and you both can come out of any battle."
While Todd was happy with Bonnie's praise, there was still something that puzzled him. The way Deerling became clueless with the command of Growl to be used. Instead of a simple low roar to disorientate her opponent, the Pokemon just could not do anything. It was not a refusal, however, but more of an unknowing, as in it was not within her knowledge.
"Still, why didn't Deerling use Growl like your PokeDex said she would?" wondered Todd loud enough for Bonnie to hear him. He hoped for Bonnie to at least have some information on this little detail.
The only response he got was Bonnie scratching her head with a really dumbfounded look on her face.
"I actually don't know. Your guess is as good as mine."
"What?! But you are a Pokemon Trainer, aren't you?" Todd yelped in disbelief at how a Pokemon Trainer did not have the knowledge he wanted.
"I said I was a Pokemon Trainer, but I didn't say I was a good one." scoffed Bonnie as she crossed her arms defensively.
"Then, how do you know how battling works? Your Dedenne is quite powerful!"
"Let's just say we had some first-hand experience before we officially began too." Bonnie said before returning to the topic at hand.
Both humans just could not find the definite answer to Deerling's inability to use Growl, but there could be only one reason as to why it has occurred.
"Do you think she hasn't learnt the move yet? After all, she just hatched from her egg." suggested Todd.
"That's a good guess." Bonnie snapped her fingers in agreement. Maybe it was the fact that Deerling was just too young to learn a move, and thus, was only down to three moves instead of four.
However, the lack of Growl in Deerling's move set was not going to deter Todd easily. His training may had hit a roadblock, but there was a lot of hope in Deerling's strength in battle. All she needed was sheer determination and the unexpected power she possessed, and she was good to go. Todd would do his best to direct his Pokemon and reach for the goal to return his prized possession from the bullies.
"You know what? Maybe we don't need a Growl or any other move just yet." declared Todd. "We can beat Raymond with or without it." With a fist in the air, Todd cheered on with Deerling. Bonnie and Dedenne smiled at their determination, having high hopes that they had done enough to help him overcome his lack of battle skills.
"Then, let's practice a few more before we go up to those guys!" declared Bonnie, willing to continue the training with Todd.
However, no one seemed to notice that Todd was still harboring some doubt in his mission, even if he was all battle-ready. Hiding a small worrying face, he sighed with a small dose of anxiety from his voice.
"I hope…"
A/N~ I've been meaning to make this chapter far longer, but I wanna try and see if I can deliver within a shorter word count than intended, so it doesn't really drag on for too long.
But let me know if you'd like me to write longer, then I would try my best to keep on writing longer chapters.
With that settled, let's go through the reviews.
MerlockVonBaron – We'll see how the progression goes
IICosmixII – And you are right about that! There will be several in the future and they'll obviously have different personalities. But there will be one that will definitely be very familiar.
– Not sure if I can last that long for Dedenne to reach lvl 100 O.O He'll be strong, but do I want him to be THAT strong? We'll just see if we can get there