A/N~ So sorry to keep you waiting! It's been a messy few months of writing, but after some cleaning up with my schedule, I've got the works back in order. I've been unable to make this chapter longer, but I feel that I should update the story for being inactive with it for so long. Not to mention that the second half of the chapter originally had a battle sequence involved, so I feel that for as long as this chapter went on, I feel I should continue with it in the next one.
And now, without further ado, let's get the show back on track!
Update (3/6/2018): Due to the initially short amount of words of the next chapter, I decided to try and edit it, so that some parts here would be in the next chapter, instead.
Chapter 6: A Skater's Mischief
Near Santalune City,
Kalos,
3 AFC,
Garden life can be so calming. Especially for one girl, who lived in a small house not far from the big city that was Santalune.
The girl, dressed in a purple jacket with darker purple sleeves and a purple long skirt; hair tied into a ponytail but still had more falling freely below it, and a hairband with a bow stuck to it. She also wore a pair of brown boots and a white necklace with ball bearings gently hugging her neck. She was knelt down, one hand on the dirt, to pick up one of the many daisies stuck to the ground in a line.
She moved it to her nose and let her nose sniff up the wonderful aroma of a well-planted flower. She let the sweet smell sooth her body as she also felt a tingling sense of pride in her achievement of planting such beautiful flowers. All around her she was surrounded by many more patches of flowers and other grown plants such as vegetables and fruits. All seemingly grown to perfection. The work was not hers, but she was certainly glad to be part of the gardening.
The wind blew by, blowing her hair along in the breeze and cooling her in an otherwise hot sunny day. Right beside her was an Espeon. The four-legged cat-like Pokemon with a red jewel on its forehead sat down on its four legs, tail swaying from side to side as it watched the girl smell the fresh scent of the garden around them.
It seemed like a simple life for the two, away from the busy city life just ten minutes away. Living in a secluded area with only the forest to cover the area, what more could they possibly want?
"Sarah!" Suddenly, an older woman's voice called out to the girl. She poked her head over and looked towards the house. The voice came from inside the house, but the call was clear enough to let the girl know that she was needed in the house.
"Coming, Aunt Penny!" Sarah rose from the ground. She placed the flower to her ear, feeling like the perfect place for it to be for a girl like her. "Come on, Espeon." She then picked up her quiet but loving Pokemon to her arms, bringing it along with her.
"Esp!" The Pokemon purred, rubbing its forehead up to her chin as they jubilantly went back inside to attend to business.
It would be just another day for them. Little did they know that something was going to make their lives just a whole lot crazier…
"At last! Santalune City!"
On the other hand, another girl was shouting out her excitement back in the city of Santalune City. She had finally arrived after a few day's walk from Lumiose. This was where she was going to start her first ever Gym Battle against Viola and claim her first badge; one step towards her shot at the Pokemon League.
"Dene!" Her Pokemon was sharing her excitement. He was feeling all suited up and ready to get some action at the Gym to help his Trainer win her first badge.
She walked around joyously at the paved pathway, looking around the buildings and streets while remembering the last time she had been here for Ash's own battle years ago. It was the first city she had ever been to other than Lumiose, so her past feelings for adventure were beyond expectations as a kid. Now, time has passed and here she was, grown and ready to take on her next challenge as a Pokemon Trainer.
They reached a fountain somewhere in the middle of the city, one Bonnie could remember very well. Just a left turn from that fountain and Bonnie had found the place she needed to be at.
"I can't wait, Dedenne." she told her Pokemon. "Our very first Gym Battle's right here." She pointed her hand out to the large open building with greenhouse windows as its roof. This was it; the Santalune Gym!
Bonnie's time has come at last. Her first Gym battle was about to begin. She felt her excitement meter rise to overwhelming extremes with anticipation for victory burning up inside. This was where dreams begin!
She looked around the town as she headed towards the gym. She hoped to meet the Gym Leader herself and challenge her for her first Gym Badge. She was expecting the photographer to be right inside viewing her precious gallery of the many Pokemon she had seen in her adventures. Maybe she had more photos set up since the last time Bonnie was there.
On her way to the entrance, she then had her attention caught by a certain blonde woman who wore a white sleeveless blouse and a pair of greyish-green pants and most prominently, a camera with its sash slung around her neck.
"Hey, isn't that-?" Bonnie took a closer look and immediately recognized the woman. "Viola!" She ran towards the person who happened to be that challenger' the Gym Leader in the flesh.
"Oh, hello?" Viola was surprised by the sound of the energetic Trainer running towards her. Bonnie smiled at the sight of seeing a familiar face for a change. On the other hand, Viola didn't seem to recognize Bonnie at all. "And who might you be?" Bonnie's eyes widened in disbelief, refusing to believe that Viola had forgotten her.
"Wha-?! You don't remember me?" She waved her arms up and down trying to get her to notice the features that made her so recognizable. "It's me! Bonnie! You know? Sister of Clemont? The little girl who travelled with Ash?"
Viola took a second to take in what this girl had said and managed to recall the memories of seeing said person. And it was made more effective when she caught sight of a lone Dedenne hanging onto her like a baby.
"Oh! That's right!" Viola finally remembered. "Oh, of course, I remember you!" She then rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "It's just that you look like you've gain a few inches since the last time we met."
Viola did remember the little tyke who followed Ash all the way from Santalune, to the Battle Chateau, and all the way to the very end of his own journey in the Kalos League. She was even there when the Team Flare crisis erupted, and for a little girl to go through all that destruction and agony, it was certainly impressive even if she wasn't a Trainer. Now, here Bonnie was, all grown up and at the right age to become a Pokemon Trainer.
"And I guess your Dedenne's your starter?" Viola asked.
"You bet!" cheered Bonnie, stroking Dedenne by the cheek. "And he's going to wipe the floor off of your bug Pokemon!"
"Dene!" Dedenne cried with excitement as well.
"Oh, I see." Viola understood what Bonnie's intentions were. It was truly interesting to see little Bonnie now standing in front of her challenging her to a Gym match. How time really flew. "You must be here to challenge me, aren't 'ya?"
"Ohhh, I've been waiting a long time for this." Bonnie clenched both of her fists while letting her own excitement build up. Her chance to finally enter the Gym to fight Viola had come at last! At least, so she thought…
"Actually, can it wait a little longer?" Bonnie's eyes widened and her smile turned upside down, opening in disbelief as Viola had thought about postponing the fateful battle.
"What?!" exclaimed Bonnie.
"Dene?!" added Dedenne, equally shocked.
"I've just got back from an event back at Coumarine City and I took a ton of photos!" confessed Viola, still feeling bad about the suggestion to change their day of battle. "Right now, I could use the rest. Sorry, Bonnie."
Bonnie loosened her hold on her body as her torso drooped down in sadness and Dedenne nearly fell from her hat but shared her disappointment. All that walking, all that battling. The preparation for her upcoming first Gym Battle was almost for naught. She was so pumped up for this moment that Viola's request to postpone her battle was almost a joy-killer.
"Awww, man!" whined Bonnie. "I was so itching to have my very first Gym Battle!"
"Dene!" Dedenne sighed as well. Viola, on the other hand, refused to let Bonnie swim in her sea of disappointment for long. She knew Bonnie was a very cheerful girl and would be happy to look at the bright side of things, almost like a miniature version of Ash. She was looking at it now. A ten-year-old Bonnie; the same age the boy was when he first challenged her. She knew Bonnie wouldn't mind allowing the rest if she promised to do it as soon as she could.
"But don't worry! How about you come to the Gym first thing in the morning?" she assured. "I'll get my Pokemon ready, so we can have quite the battle!" On point, Bonnie cut the disappointment act and thought about the offer to start her battle early. It wasn't too late, she knew, and she would still have her battle anyways. The League was still a year away. She had all the time she could have to prepare for one battle.
"I guess it won't hurt to train a little more." she reasoned within herself. Eventually, like anyone who knew her would expect, she immediately put into a cheerful mood and smiled as brightly as she could. "You're on! Tomorrow is where I make my presence known to Kalos Trainers everywhere!" Her fists were clenched and energetic as ever, she showed her fist to prove her point. Amused by her spirit, Viola just smiled approvingly at Bonnie's determination, but she still had to show the young Trainer that she still had some tough competition ahead.
"Don't get cocky. You still gotta find a way to beat my Pokemon. Remember how Ash used to struggle during his first match?" Bonnie remembered the unfortunate first start her hero had suffered from, seeing that how he was obliterated by the Gym Leader's own menagerie of bug Pokemon.
"Y-yeah. That was a hard hitter for him." But like Ash before her, she wasn't going to let the odds from her inexperience get in the way from an all-out battle with her current party. She was going to tackle the challenge head on and she would win her first badge, whether Viola liked it or now. "But if he can come back and claim a victory, then I will too!"
Viola returned the cheerful gesture with a thumbs up, enjoying every bit of the girl's enthusiastic demeanour. However, she wasn't intending on going easy on her, especially since Bonnie at least had the experience of watching Ash's battles all the way. She would expect nothing less from a Trainer who had memory and learning by her side. Then, a drowsy Viola began to stretch her arms out from her exhausting day at work, resorting to going back to the Gym for a good rest.
"Well, I got to get back and get some shut eye." she said. "See ya, tomorrow, Bonnie! Don't expect me to hold you back!"
"You know I won't!" Bonnie declared. "Goodbye!"
"Dene Dene!" The two youngsters waved at their upcoming opponent before Viola headed back into the building, going their separate ways with Bonnie now on her way to the Pokemon Centre to book her stay for the day.
After a few hours of rest upon booking her room in the Centre, Bonnie was now all refreshed after a nice shower and her energy levels once again off the chart. After spending a few days without a proper bath, she felt all brightened up that she was finally able to cool down from her tiring first trek. Good thing she knew how to rent a room too, for she would be stuck clueless if it weren't for Clemont's lesson on Centre stays. Now, she was out at the city again, wondering what she would do to pass the time before tomorrow's epic match with Viola.
"Okay." she told to herself with Dedenne resting lazily on her head as always. "While we wait for the day we fight Viola, let's just take our time and revisit Santalune and enjoy ourselves for the next hour."
"Dene." agreed Dedenne, although he was still snoozing on top of her head.
"Then, we'll get back to the Pokemon Centre and train some more before we face the Gym Leader tomorrow. We have to come up with new strategies to one up our opponent." As Bonnie continued to monologue through her plans, she was also thinking about what to do next for her visit of the city. She hasn't really been around much during her time travelling with her brother, so she would have to do the exploring on her own. She planned to walk around the city a while to see if there was anything interesting she would find and dive into. Once she was done, she would return to the Centre and train Dedenne and Pidgey to withstand the power of Viola's Bug Pokemon.
She reached a flight of steps over a grass hill, where she could see a nearby café that seemed to have a growing number of customers. She thought this place was quite popular for it to have this many people. Maybe the food was good. So, she decided to give it a try and was on her way down the steps to see what could satisfy her appetite.
KRRRR!
KRRRR!
Then, Dedenne perked up his ears after hearing a rough, hard scratching sound from out of nowhere. He looked at all sides, looking for whatever was making that noise. Bonnie was already down the steps when she noticed Dedenne waking up from his slumber and making some squeaks of curiosity, which she grew to recognize.
"What is it, Dedenne?"
KRRRRRK!
KRRRRRK!
Soon, Bonnie began to hear the sounds as well. It sounded like her toy cars she used to play along the sidewalk outside her house. Almost like… "Huh?"
KKKKRR…KRK!
Almost at the moment she looked behind her, she saw something blocking the Sun from her face, leaving a silhouette in front of her, above her flying from the hills, …
… And coming down on her, fast!
"WAHH!" An alarmed Bonnie quickly ducked down, remembering to hold on to her hat as she fell forward, making sure Dedenne wasn't caught by the falling object right above her. While she was down, the object came landing down at the next moment, with the same scratching sounds continuing upon touchdown. Bonnie opened her eyes once she felt the danger had passed. She reached for her hat and took it off with her Pokemon still on top of it.
"Are you okay, Dedenne?!" she asked her Pokemon. She could see the little guy was clutching on to her hat for dear life with the most fear-stricken look on his face.
"Dene…" The poor Pokemon squeaked, shaking all around. Bonnie let out a sigh of relief before placing her hat back on her head. Dedenne started to feel easy after Bonnie put her hat back on, but was still wide awake shivering after that near-disastrous occurrence. Now, the question was; what or who was it that nearly came crashing down on her from the steps?
"What the?!" When she turned to hear the same crushing sounds, she quickly caught sight of what nearly gave her a nasty headache. Who would dare do something so dangerous and nearly squishing her in the process?! That was when she saw what… or rather who… was responsible for the terrifying scare fest.
It was a girl wearing a white tank top and a pair of blue shorts. Her dark brown hair was tied into two pigtails and all over her she was wearing an assortment of protection wear. Elbow pads tied to her arms with gloves worn on the hands. Knee pads shielding her legs and a bright orange helmet covering the top of her head. And above all else, she was also wearing what appeared to be a pair of roller skates as she glided across the brick road. Her rapid racing around the area caught the attention of everyone in the café, who saw Bonnie almost getting whammed at by the airborne skater, which apparently encouraged the skater to increase her speed. She rolled round and around without a care in the world, drawing more attention to herself as she aimlessly skated on and on.
Once Bonnie and Dedenne saw the skater moving around, she was definitely angered by the sudden appearance of this reckless rider going around jumping over hills and skating all over the place, making things uncomfortable for nearby patrons. However, she really didn't care about what the patrons thought, she was just downright frustrated at what had nearly happened to her and she wished to set the stage to rebuke the girl for her incautious behaviour.
"Hey!" she screamed as loud as she could. "Watch where you're going!"
"Dene!" Dedenne followed along, probably angrier since he was almost a hair's width away from being pulverized by the thick wheels on that girl's skates. They were both going to remind this girl of her manners, but the skater kept on skating around.
Then, she made a sharp turnover and skidded to roll over to Bonnie. The Trainer was frightened by the incoming approach and jumped to the side right as the skater was about to bump into her. She was relieved that the skater had missed, although she knew that was the intention. She was definitely messing with her right now.
"Sorry, loser!" The skater then spun around to face Bonnie while still rolling, hands to her hip and attitude clearly showing. "But this is my turf! You can't do a thing about it!"
Bonnie grew very irritated by her insulting behaviour and threw an unforgiving rant at the reckless kid.
"How about you just tell me the next time you start jumping off of things?!" screamed Bonnie, but the skater just couldn't care at all. She just skated on and on, clearly just toying with Bonnie's patience. Then, she shrugged her shoulders and kicked her feet across the brick floor, propelling her forward and off away from bonnie and deeper into the streets.
"Whatever, loser!" She gave one last insult to Bonnie before she fled the scene, leaving behind a stunned Bonnie and a crowd of onlookers. The frustrated Trainer just stood there, not believing what she just witnessed. That skater nearly clobbered her and Dedenne to the ground and she was just so coy about it. That was all enough to make the blonde-haired Trainer all the more aggravated, almost to the point of throwing a hissy-fit.
"Why that little-?!" She was about to scream at the top of her lungs. Dedenne was again shaking in fear, waiting for whatever Bonnie would scream about. He had a right to be scared. During her younger days, Bonnie was indeed prone to throwing tantrums when push comes to shove. As she grew older, her tempers started to improve. However, should anyone really get so riled up, then she was going to let them have it, reverting back to her old, immature scream fests.
Fortunately, all that came out of Bonnie was a less volatile groan and a deep exhalation of breath to relieve her stressed out nerves.
"Ugh!" She finally let out her frustration before loosening her body to slump her hands down. Not long after, she huffed out stressfully, finally getting the anger out of her system and choosing to forget the whole thing had happened. "Forget it. She's just not worth my time." She just hoped that the skater would not come back and ended up captured by the local Officer Jenny or something. However, Bonnie knew better that a girl like that who seemed to love cruising throughout the city would eventually turn up at some point in her little trip around the joint.
"Come on, Dedenne." She huffed before saying to her Pokemon. "We've got better things to do than quarrelling with that skater girl."
"Dedene." The little mouse couldn't agree more. Because of that wild skater, his nerves were fired up enough to keep him awake for quite a while, so napping off was out of the question. He was going to have to stay up throughout the whole trip around while being disgruntled with his rude awakening.
And with that out of the way, the pair were now well on their way to try their best to forget the whole incident and enjoy their day.
Five minutes since their close brush with excruciating pain, Bonnie and Dedenne were now back to walking into the streets and finding something to satisfy their excitement and relaxation before the next day. They decided to skip the café they found earlier, not feeling the need to grab attention to themselves after what happened.
They already passed through a few shops and restaurants, as well as a few unique places where she could find some neat tips and tricks about Pokemon training. Alas, there was nothing she could find that would provide her the fun to pass her time. At least, not for now. She tried her hardest to find something to do. In fact, there were surely a lot of places she had passed that would have attracted her attention. The only problem was that she was apparently not feeling the mood for trying out these interesting places and her mind was just too focused on the one person she really wanted to unleash her frustration at her.
As much as she wanted to forget that skater girl, she was too aggravated about the whole ordeal that she wasn't able to get her out of her head. The way she just came at her with no care, without a single sign of regret was more than enough to paint her a very troubled figure in Bonnie's mind. She couldn't understand why someone would actually want to bash her out just because she was in the way. To add insult to the injury, she just rode off, not even leaving behind a word for forgiveness. There was only utter rudeness.
The skater was certainly someone Bonnie didn't really want to meet again, but at the same time, she was just itching to teach her a lesson and set things straight with her before anyone else gets hurt. Nevertheless, she knew better not to start a reckless fight without considering the repercussions to her etiquette. She was better than that; she was going to brush it off, whether she'd like it or not.
In the midst of doing her best to find something worth her time and patience, she then stumbled upon a very peculiar sight. In front of her, she stopped to see something happening to the outer wall of a big palace-like building. She saw a trio of officers, dressed in their light blue uniforms and fitted with official dressings made for the law, inspecting said wall, accompanied by a lone Growlithe right by the middle officer's side. That officer, most definitely identified by Bonnie as Santalune's Officer Jenny, with her permed cyan-coloured hair tied to a fluffy pony-tail, watched inquisitively at the wall like she was reading a book. Bonnie thought something was definitely wrong, especially since Jenny was involved in the scene.
As always, her curiosity was driving her to investigate the situation. So, she went over to find out what was going on. If there was anything she could do to help, then that would serve as a more exciting way to finally have some fun before nightfall, doing something that would not only satisfy her excitement, but would also make her feel extra proud of contributing to society.
She ran for the three officers to see what the problem was. Once she arrived took a good look at the wall where the officers were inspecting. There, she saw what appeared to be some lines of text all over the wall. They were very bubbly and with different colours and different styles; all of them bordered with a thick outline of black, while also joined by a few scribbles of Pokemon drawn with black ink; looking like an Arbok, a Drapion and a few Scolipedes drawn here and there. The words themselves were all giving out a rough depiction of trouble and dissatisfaction written all over the wall like 'GET OUT OF MY LIFE' and 'Can't Catch Me, Idiots'. Indeed, she was looking at an act of vandalism, graffiti sprayed all over the place with a hint of mischief and revolt in the wording. Still, she wanted to know a little more of the big picture.
"Excuse me, Officer?" Bonnie asked the Officer Jenny. The older woman turned around to find the Trainer calling her. "Just what is going on here anyway?" Without hesitation, the officer told Bonnie of the mess that had happened to this fair building.
"A kid has been going around trying to make a mess of buildings in this city." she reported. "Then, we suddenly caught her spraying all this graffito on the mayor's building. We tried to catch the girl, but she was just too quick. Even our Pokemon were unable to get her to stop." Bonnie was somewhat amazed by how elusive this girl must had been to commit such an act and evade the police and their Pokemon with the greatest of ease.
"Wait a minute!" Then, it was at that moment Bonnie knew. The speed of the crime, the delinquency of the act, the fact that it was a girl who did this. It all added up very fast and she was going to make sure she had the right answer before jumping to conclusions. "Did this girl happen to be riding on roller skates?"
"Why yes!" Officer Jenny confirmed her suspicions. "Did you happen to see her?" It was indeed that girl! The girl on the roller skates!
"Oh yes, I did!" she exasperatedly confirmed, still sour about her impolite encounter with the skater. "She even nearly got me road-killed!" She felt like throwing a tantrum just thinking about the rude little brat who made a fool of her. "She then skated off and was nowhere to be seen after that." After Bonnie's recount of her unfortunate meeting with the skater, the officers were now giving their attention to Bonnie, even if the details were brief and inconclusive. Either way, they were glad someone was able to help out anyway she could.
"Oh well. Thanks for your help." Officer Jenny thanked her. "This girl has been running amok for two weeks now. We just don't know what motivation she could have or what she wants from all of this."
"If I see her, I'll let you know! Don't worry about a thing, Officer Jenny!" declared Bonnie.
"Dene!" With Bonnie and Dedenne's offer to assist the officers on the search for the girl, Officer Jenny nodded in approval for their cooperation.
"That'd be much appreciated." the officer showed her gratitude with a salute to the Trainer. Bonnie was grinning from the thought of bringing in that rude and wild girl for being such a stuck-up little jerk to her as payback for the awful treatment she had given her and Dedenne. It was time she got the punishment she so deserved for publicly shaming her in front of so many people, even if the pedestrians were almost as baffled of her behaviour as Bonnie and Dedenne were.
"ARGH!" Just as she was about to leave and search for the suspect, Bonnie and the officers heard a rough groan of frustration. They turned to the side and found a very irritated middle-aged man in a suit with a bag hanging under his arm, scratching his hair violently as if he had suffered a very terrible blunder in his day. He so happened to be walking towards the group while being all riled up about something.
"Who is that?" Bonnie asked herself, though her voice was audible enough to be heard by Officer Jenny.
"Oh. That's Mike Lambert." She gladly answered for her. "He is a building director sent to Santalune to work on a new building project." Again, the conversation was clear as a whistle, heard by the man who walked right up to the officers and moaned some more before trying to calm down with a few breaths in and out of his boiling system.
"And I just have had enough of that miserable delinquent running around town trying to ruin my work!" Bonnie was certainly interested the more she delved into this mutual hunt for the skater girl. Now, it seemed like the guy in charge of some building project was also having trouble facing the mischievous skater girl, but she was also very curious about what the man had in store for the city of Santalune.
"Your work, sir?" she asked the man. Mr. Lambert then threw a questioning look at the girl and her little Dedenne present in the situation before him.
"And you are?" He asked, still a bit rough from stress.
"Oh, sorry. My name's Bonnie. And here's my partner, Dedenne." The Trainer introduced herself and her Pokemon.
"Dene!" The cheerful chirping of the mouse Pokemon joined in the welcoming, although the man himself was not as occupied with saying hello right about now.
"Well it's nice to meet you too. But I just don't have the time or place for such meetings right now." he groaned, earning a distressed pout from Bonnie.
"Sheesh. You didn't have to rub it in like that." She crossed her arms as her cheeks bloated from annoyance. Twice was she already given the rude look on their faces today and it was not doing her any good.
"Nene." Dedenne mimicked his partner's expression, being a bit defensive towards Bonnie for the rude comment.
"Don't worry, Mr. Lambert." Officer Jenny assured the director. "We will have the kid found and explain herself."
"The sooner the better, Officer." The director put his hands on his hips, flabbergasted for some results in the thwarting of the skater's misadventures of vandalism and shaming. He was about to finally leave the officers to do their part in finding the mischievous skater.
"Umm…" Bonnie called on the man before he could move. "If you don't mind me asking, sir. What exactly are you going to build here?" The man motioned to clear his throat, moving his fist towards his mouth as he coughed. Bonnie's interest in what he had in store for the city was an opportunity he could not refuse. He eagerly turned to face Bonnie and began to present his project to the Trainer.
"Ahem. I suppose I could spare a few details." He began his presentation. "Are you a Trainer, Bonnie?"
"Yes, sir!" Bonnie cheered.
"Then you're going to love what we'll have in store for you! What I have planned is a brand new way for you to get all the stuff you need to enhance your Trainer experience!" Bonnie listened into what appeared to be another business proposal which did interest her since it had to do with improving her Pokemon Training skills. She wasn't usually so in tune with long boring advertising, but to her surprise, she was actually invested into paying attention for once, listening to the building manager as he explained his plans. "I call it, the Trainer EXP Expo!"
Hmph. How unoriginal…
"It will feature some of the best tools and equipment just right for your needs! You'll never have to lag behind on a training lesson ever again! Technical Machines, Trainer Tools, even Hidden Machines! They'll be all available for you to get one step ahead of the competition! The future is now!" Bonnie couldn't help but sigh at the last sentence, clearly reminding her of another very familiar quote in mind from a certain nerd.
"Well, that was quite… brief." She quietly whispered to Dedenne.
"Dene…" agreed the mouse Pokemon.
"Hey! I know I'll do!" suggested Mr. Lambert. "You help us round up that no-good scallywag, and I'll see if I can whip up a free gift courtesy of the Expo!"
Bonnie's eyes glittered at the sound of a tempting reward for her contribution in catching that arrogant skater. She was going to give it her all to bring in the wrongdoer and help allow peace to be restored from the ruckus caused by her loud and dangerous escapades. The rewards didn't really matter, at least so she thought; it was all about helping the people and that was all that mattered.
"It's a deal!" She gladly accepted her task with a strong fist.
"Dedenne!" Her Pokemon was as equally as enthusiastic.
"Good." The manager smiled, knowing that the job of keeping the peace while he was busy with his work on building his new expo centre. There was going to be zero tolerance for any sabotage or destruction of property from that skater girl. A Trainer like Bonnie was sure to get it done, even if she was just a beginner, which he was unaware of. Bonnie didn't want to spoil this good opportunity to snag a good re- Uh… Help out the manager and get some payback to that speed demon. "Then, please be on your way!"
"Just remember to send her to us when you've got her." reminded Officer Jenny. "We'll contact her parents once we get a hold of her story."
"You got it, Officer Jenny!" Bonnie gave a very bubbly salute to the officers, which Dedenne then mimicked. "I'm on the case!" And just like that, Bonnie was already on the move, getting right to the task at hand, leaving behind the bunch of amused adults watching them being ever so cheerfully. The Trainer-Pokemon duo were already about to disappear into the streets to search for the skater and bring her in.
Bonnie and Dedenne were both strolling through the streets, searching for signs of their target; the skater girl that nearly gave them sick days with nasty headaches. She kept on looking here and there for the speeding delinquent, making sure that Dedenne was powered up in case she needed him to do a little shock therapy.
They scanned through each open road and clear street where one might find a rogue skater flourishing around and up to no good. However, it had been already ten minutes since Bonnie had begun her search and yet, even with all the possible places the skater could be, she was getting nowhere. There was not a single sight of the rollerblade riding devil roaming around anywhere, nor were there any clues like disgruntled passers-by or damaged property to lead her to the skater.
The lengthy search was starting to get on the pair's nerves. If this kept up, then the skater was going to do some more damage to the construction of the Expo and she would not gain the manager's trust. She had to search even harder and find that girl before anything could happen.
"Come on!" groaned Bonnie. "She's got to be around here somewhere!" She was almost on the verge of kicking something to ease her stress. Dedenne did the only thing he could do and calm her down with a little shocking surprise.
"Dene!" He climbed on down to her face and rubbed his cheek against hers, giving her a nasty jolt of electricity to snap her from out of her nerving tantrum.
"YAAAAHHH!" Her body was hit hard with volts of electricity, shutting her up really good. With her body now fried but finally relieved of her stress, she was free to take a breather and dust herself from the soot. She breathed out to slowly utter out her thanks to Dedenne for keeping her in check.
"Thanks for the charge, pal." she said to Dedenne. "This girl really needs a chill pill after this." She got her nerves back in the game and was somewhat refreshed to continue her quest to find the skater running wild in the streets as of this very moment. "I just wish I had a better chance of finding her." Bonnie was all open for suggestions right about now, hoping that she'd come up with a way to make things easier for her.
"Wait a minute!" She slapped herself at the side of her head. She had just realized there was just one sure fire way to find things with the greatest of ease. She dug into her pocket and took out the PokeBall she could had used from the very beginning, enlarging it and tossing it into the air. The ball opened up and ejected the only other Pokemon she had in her party. Pidgey flew around after being warped out, flapping at attention to Bonnie's command.
"Okay, Pidgey!" Bonnie yelled from below. "I need you to find a little troublemaker around the city! She's riding around on a pair of skates like a beast, so she shouldn't be hard to find!"
Pidgey knew the task would be difficult. It was a Pidgey after all. With such a short wingspan, it would require multiple stops here and there atop the roofs. Life for a Pidgey was usually restricted to the forests where food is plentiful and flight was minimal; from tree to tree. Only when evolved into its next stage would it finally soar into the air and be able to migrate much further. However, Bonnie's Pidgey would do its best, trusting its Trainer as it did back in the forest and its first Battle against two full-fledged and trained Pokemon.
"Krow!" Pidgey cawed in response, giving an aerial salute with its one wing to Bonnie.
"Okay! Go for it!" The Trainer gave a swipe of her fist into the air, signalling for Pidgey to commence the aerial reconnaissance mission to hunt down and find the rogue skater. It fluttered on out and away over the city to locate its target while Bonnie watched on with hope. "There it goes." As Pidgey left her sight, Bonnie and Dedenne were prepared to continue their hunt, bolstered by the addition of Pidgey into the search party.
The pair walked some more for another few minutes, looking around on the ground while awaiting any word from Pidgey in the air. They peered up occasionally to find the bird Pokemon still soaring up in the air and landing on top of buildings to rest before going up again for another sweep.
In the midst of her trek, she was still unable to find anything that could lead the way and find the girl. All was relatively quiet in Santalune. No officers chasing around, no Growlithes or any other police Pokemon barking or roaring in the background. There were only pedestrians walking about, most side by side with a Pokemon or two for each individual. No one was in any harm or pursuit. Everything was quiet.
She stopped at a crossroad where she would scan the premises for trouble. She figured it'd be the best place for some mayhem and not to mention the area was on a hill, wide enough for a good view of most of the city. But even with more visibility, she was finding no one within her sights. The skater was proving to more and more elusive with each passing half an hour.
"Huh?" But then, just when she was about to move on, she heard it. The same dragging sound of asphalt being crushed and rolled down, speeding towards her direction. The sounds she reminded herself not to forget that signalled the near painful slam to her head. She turned around just a she heard the noise and surely enough, her hunt was over.
KRAK!
With one jump of the pavement, the skater girl had finally re-emerged, once again right above Bonnie's head.
"AAHH!" Bonnie was, if not slightly more prepared this time, as she instinctively ducked down just in time to allow the skater to soar above her and land right in front of her. This time, she just ran off without looking back at the blonde Trainer she nearly crashed into.
Bonnie got back up and took a good look at the runaway racer speeding away into the distance. She soon riled up in accomplishment that she found her target, but also a bit of anger in knowing that the skater had tried to bump her in the head twice. With her sights set, she and Dedenne were ready to pursue her and bring her in to be questioned for her unsettling behaviour.
"Hey!" she yelled to the skater. "Get back here!" Her cries were obviously falling on deaf ears, forcing her with no choice but to run after her on two feet. There was already a good amount of doubt she would be able to catch up, but she had to do her best to close the distance and follow her as much as she could. She hoped that Pidgey was in the air at the time of her pursuit. She kept on running towards the skater, but was already losing her as the speed demon was much faster, skating hard without any notice to her chaser.
She was already about to lose Bonnie when she turned left to a crossroad, leaving Bonnie only halfway to the turn. Bonnie picked up the pace and ran towards that corner of the building where the skater was lost from her sights. She turned to her left to that same direction and saw that the skater was still riding straight along the sidewalk, rushing through panicked people and Pokemon alike. Bonnie's patience with her grew even thinner, pushing her forward to chase her again. Dedenne jumped off his Trainer's head, hoping to help gain some ground with his own agility. But the skater was still too quick for them to shorten the gap between them. Sooner or later, she was going to vanish over the hill again before Bonnie could even catch up.
The skater was then seen jumping over a crosswalk and again, disappearing over a hill. Bonnie was now losing steam as she began to slow down from losing energy in her running. Dedenne had a little more speed and energy to try and catch up to find where the skater was going to end up next.
When they reached the hill where they last saw the skater, they looked over for her again. This time, after searching around the area, there was no sign of her. The girl was once again gone from her sights.
Bonnie gritted her teeth and stomped her foot in her usual habit of frustration. She was so sure she'd have the skater in her clutches but the girl was just too elusive to be caught. For the second time of the day, Bonnie had missed her mark again.
"Darn it!" She kicked her foot onto the pavement before sinking down on the ground with her arms crossed. "I was so close this time!"
"Dene!" Dedenne tried to calm down his Trainer, but only with some tiny pats on her leg as she knelt deeper into failure. However, just as Bonnie was about to finally give up again, she then remembered one thing that could put her back on track. She snapped her fingers and shot back up with cheer and hope again.
"Of course!" she yelled to herself with relief. "Why did I forget?" She then looked up to the clouds above her and called upon her 'eyes in the sky'. "Pidgey!" She cupped her hands and brought them to her mouth before calling out to her Pokemon as loud as she could. Thankfully, Pidgey was not far away as the bird Pokemon came flying towards her from across the road where it was, Bonnie hoped, following the skater to wherever she went to.
Pidgey came swooping down and perched on Bonnie's arm as she raised up her elbow to let it land, clutching its talons around her arm.
"Did you manage to find her?" Bonnie asked, actually pleading inside for an answer.
"Prr-idgey!" The bird Pokemon cawed in acknowledgement, giving Bonnie a sure sign of hope.
"Then, lead the way!" She raised her arm up and let Pidgey take off into the air to show Bonnie the way to the skater girl. They followed closely behind, keeping a good look at Pidgey as it led them towards their location. The bird flew higher to see if the target had not strayed far from where it left her. Thankfully, it didn't take long for Pidgey to relocate the skater, catching her speeding through another crowded street. Bonnie and Dedenne made haste and followed it through the city, keeping a close eye on Pidgey along the way.
TO BE CONTINUED…