Getting back on track

"I slept like a log. What about you, Dedenne?"

"Dedenne!" The rodent answered, scrambling on his owner's knees to take up his place on her bag.

On, and not in. Dedenne had wanted to travel in Bonnie's bag this time also, but as she explained to him:

"We don't have my big brother to carry all my stuff for me this time, so I'm afraid there will be no place for you inside the bag. But don't worry, there is more than enough place on top, and it will be very comfy as well."

The two had left Lumiose City the previous morning, and Bonnie, walking briskly, had put quite a few kilometres behind her on that first day. While she was not accustomed to walking long hours anymore, her enthusiasm had carried her on that first leg of the journey, and she had reached a pokemon centre in the evening, where she had spent the night. She was now rather regretting that enthusiasm: her leg muscles were so stiff that she feared she would not be able to move at all today!

"So how are you this morning?" Nurse Joy asked, as Bonnie sat at a table outside of the centre, nursing a cup of hot chocolate – curtesy of Wigglytuff, who seemed to think it was as much his job to take care of the trainers than of the pokemon.

"A bit sore," Bonnie admitted with a wry smile. "I clearly overdid it yesterday! I had forgotten how painful walking could be when you're not used to it. I don't know if I'll be able to walk today, my legs are killing me!"

"That's too bad," Nurse Joy said, "This is such a fine day for travelling! I'll tell you what: I'm not very busy right now, so I'll mix some berries for you, as a muscle relaxant. It's actually a recipe for pokemon, and it works wonders on them, but I already tried it on several trainers as well and they all felt a lot better afterwards!"

"Oh, would you?" Bonnie asked, beaming. "That would be so nice! And if it's good enough for pokemon it's definitely good enough for me! We're not so different from pokemon ourselves, are we?"

Nurse Joy smiled at the remark from the exuberant blond girl. A nice child, she thought, but a little strange. The nurse went back inside to prepare the potion, while Bonnie relaxed in the sun and thought about all the things she could do on her journey. The thing was, while she was perfectly happy to finally be a pokemon trainer – and that was a serious understatement –, she was not sure what to do now. Travelling was a lot of fun, as she well knew, but Kalos held little mystery for her, and there was not the same flavour of discovery as the last time. But then, she thought, I wasn't a pokemon trainer either last time, so that part is going to be very different indeed! I wonder which pokemon I'll meet on my way? I'm sure there will be many cute ones!

Lost in her thoughts, she almost did not notice when a bowl appeared in front of her a moment later.

"Thank you so much Nurse Joy!" She exclaimed. "I hope I will be able to move better afterwards!"

Scooping up the bowl, she put a big spoonful of the potion in her mouth… and it took all her willpower to not spit it out immediately afterwards.

"Whoa, it's so bitter! Why didn't you warn me?"

Nurse Joy smiled.

"Well, it seems to work best when I put a lot of sitrus berries in it, I'm afraid, so there's no helping the taste. Now eat it up like a big girl."

The oblique suggestion that she could be anything other than a big girl did not sit well with Bonnie, and she saw no way out of gracefully giving in. She quickly gobbled down the rest of the potion, while her mousy friend laughed at the faces she was making.

"Dedenne, next time YOU don't feel well, I will have no pity at all," Bonnie warned, shaking her finger at the little pokemon.

But her bad mood did not last, as the realisation that the bitter potion really did work came upon her. Fifteen minutes later, the blond girl was stretching her legs with a big smile.

"Hey, you know, it was really worth it! Nurse Joy, would you give me the recipe for that bitter potion? It might come in handy later on."

"Of course, I will write it down Bonnie. Though I would advise you not to abuse your muscles too much in any case, the potion will only bring you so far," The red-haired nurse admonished. "And can you do me a favour as well?"

"I sure can, Nurse Joy! What is it?"

"I heard yesterday, when you were discussing your plans with the other trainers, that you were going to the Kalos Fireworks in Santalune, is that right?"

"Yes! I loved the Fireworks last year, so I'm really looking forward to this year's edition."

"In this case, can you bring some rawst berries to my cousin at the Santalune pokemon Centre? She has called me this morning and said she was afraid she would run out. They're great against burns, and with so many fire pokemon gathering for the Fireworks, she had to treat a lot of those already in the past few days."

"No problem at all, I'll do it!"

A few minutes later, potion recipe in her pocket and rawst berries in her bag, Bonnie was setting out for Santalune.

xxx

"You know Dedenne, I'm sure we have passed this big stump before, don't you think?"

"Dedenne?"

A few hours later, Bonnie was feeling quite discouraged again. The portion of the road she wanted to cover today had seemed straightforward enough on the map. Follow the road until the next village, then take left at the fork, cross the woods, and on the far side was the rest stop where she intended to spend the night. The first part had gone exactly as planned: her legs were all better, the weather was as nice as could be, and while they were in the village, a nice old lady with an emolga had even offered Dedenne a special poke puff for electric rodents, saying they were her favourite kind of pokemon.

But things had gotten more complicated after she entered the forest. It was kind of her fault too, concluded the blond girl with inner honesty. The road was making a big bend in the woods, and she had wanted to try a shortcut through the trees. It had seemed to work, too! There was a bit of a path, and she had been so sure that it had been created by other people who did not want to go the long way! But the path, if such it was, had totally disappeared a while back, and Bonnie had lost her bearings. The canopy was thick, and she was not even sure where the sun was.

Bonnie was not too worried yet: she had time before nightfall, and it was not as if it was the first time that she was lost in the woods, after all. It was, however, the first time that she was lost alone in the woods, except for her little friend, and she was discovering that it was quite a different proposition from being in a group. Still, she did not scare easily, and the day was still very nice.

"Let's rest for a bit Dedenne, what do you think? After all, if we stop, we won't be drifting further off path, at the very least. And I'll figure something out. Say, I'm getting hungry, do you want to eat something too?"

Her pokemon agreed happily, as usual when it came to food. He was a bit of a glutton, and it was a mystery how such a small body could consume so much food without exploding. Bonnie got out his special food, and the sandwiches she had packed before leaving the pokemon centre. She sat on the grass under a big tree, and sighed happily.

"This is a really nice spot," She commented. "If we didn't plan on reaching Santalune in two days, I would definitely be tempted to stay and explore the woods for a while. Look at all the wild pokemon!"

Indeed, the forest seemed to be teeming with life in this spot. Several fletchlings were singing in the trees, two zigzagoons were chasing each other in the grass, and a vivillon was floating gracefully in the wind. It was a colour she had not seen previously, mostly green with a little bit of red, and doing a pretty good job of blending in with its surroundings. Gazing up at the treetops, Bonnie also spotted some burmies and a weedle.

"What do you think Dedenne, should we try to catch anyone? They could be our new friends!"

There was no answer from the rodent, and, turning around, Bonnie saw that he was sound asleep on her bag. I guess catching pokemon will have to wait for later, she thought with a smile. But in truth, she was not disappointed, for all the pokemon around her seemed to belong here in this forest. I'll only catch pokemon that are interested in me and want to come with me and Dedenne, she resolved. Her eyelids were getting heavy, and she decided to rest for a few minutes before resuming her journey. Five minutes, she thought. Ten at the most… A moment later, both girl and pokemon were sound asleep under the big tree.

xxx

Sunlight on her face. Moss under her cheek. The smell of sun-warmed grass… As she woke up, Bonnie was feeling very comfortable, and it took her a while to remember where she was. As memory returned, though, she sat up with a start, and the two zigzagoons from earlier, which, driven by curiosity, had approached Dedenne and her during her sleep, took fright and disappeared in the next bushes. But Bonnie hardly noticed, for she was looking in consternation at the sun. The low sun, whose rays were now reaching her almost horizontally.

"Oh no Dedenne, I slept most of the afternoon away! I should have set up the alarm clock that Clemont gave me before falling asleep! Now there is no way that we can reach the rest stop before dark, and I still don't know where we are!"

The blond girl berated herself for a few more minutes, while Dedenne, who paid no attention to her antics, was looking interestedly at some berries in a nearby tree. But, Bonnie being Bonnie, she did not let this set back annoy her for long.

"Oh well, if we don't make it to the rest stop, we don't, it's ok. It's not like I hadn't planned on doing some camping anyway, I just thought I'd give it a few more days before camping on my own. But I'd still like to know where we are. We can't be that far from the road, really, unless I walked even more in circles than I thought."

She eyed up the big tree under which she had slept so well and so long. It was quite a bit bigger than the trees surrounding it, and seemed easily climbable, if she could reach the first branches. I bet I could see where I need to go from up there, she reflected. Action directly followed thought. It was a bit touch and go at the beginning, and Bonnie wished her brother was there to give her a lift. But the going got easier afterwards, and before long, she was at treetop level, gazing over the sea of lesser trees at her feet.

"Let's see if we can spot the road," she told her furry little friend, who had followed her on top, and actually preceded her for most of the climb.

The road was easy enough to find, but it clearly was not where she had expected to see it, and Bonnie pursed her lips at this confirmation that she had indeed drifted more off course than she wanted. But it would not take more than an hour to get back on track, provided she did not get lost a second time. And somewhat up the road, she could see a little river weaving its way through the trees. A good spot to stop for the night, she decided. And she still had about two hours of light, so it looked like it would work. She scrambled down the tree with more haste than caution and scooped up her bag.

"Okay let's go Dedenne, we've tarried long enough as it is! You know, this travelling business is a lot harder than I remember. I wonder if it's because I'm not used to it anymore, or because I don't have my big brother or my friends to help me out this time?"

Half walking and half running, she disappeared through the trees. Only the imprint of her body on the cool moss remained.