An attractive proposition

"What kind of pokemon do you want to catch?" Laura asked Max the next morning.

"I'm not sure. Against bird pokemon, an electric or ice-type would be best. I know where to go anyway."

"Oh, where is that?" Bonnie piped up.

"Directly to the west, there's a patch of woods with a reputation for having lots of wild pokemon. I asked Nurse Joy yesterday, she told me it would be the best area to explore."

"Sounds good!"

A while later, they were on the road again. Max had mixed feelings about leaving Violet City: he was glad to see it behind him, but his failure, and for such a stupid reason, was still stinging.

"Next time we come here, it'll be for a victorious battle, don't worry," Laura told him quietly, seeing his discomfort. Max gave her a smile, marveling once more at her perceptiveness.

The road was quite pretty, much smaller than the main road between Cherrygrove Town and Violet City, and weaving its way between flowery fields. Soon, they reached the edge of the forest.

"Let's just have a look around," Max suggested. "Ralts, come out! I may need you soon. Today we're catching a new friend, if we're lucky!"

Even a quick stroll through the woods confirmed what Nurse Joy had told them. There were indeed plenty of pokemon running or flying around. Bonnie saw a sentret, a ledyba, and a flock of pidgeys in short order. She had to check what the sentret was on her pokedex, having never seen one before.

"What about this sentret?" She asked Max. "They're cute!"

"Na," Max answered dismissively. "I need a strong pokemon, I'd like to challenge Falkner again very soon so there won't be much time for training."

"Oh, that psyduck is adorable!" Laura gushed. Max gave her an incredulous look. "A psyduck? I'm not going to win any battles with that!"

"Fine, then do your own choosing," the dark-haired girl shrugged. "I'm getting hungry, how about sitting by that pond over there and having some lunch?"

The motion was quickly adopted. Laura broke out sandwiches for them all, and they got all their pokemon out for a bite and a bit of stretching. Dedenne and Chespin devoured their lunch, then set out for a bit of frolicking with Treecko and Swablu, while Espurr climbed into Laura's lap for some cuddle time.

xxx

Bonnie was munching energetically and looking at the sun rays playing on the water when she heard Max swear.

"Hey, stop it!"

"Stop what?" She asked.

"Stop throwing water at me!"

"What? I haven't done anything!" She protested.

"You're the only one sitting near the pond, so that's not very believable," Max retorted. "Just stop it, ok?"

"Hey, where did that water come from?" Laura said at the same time. She turned to her friends, who both shrugged, nonplussed. "See, it wasn't me!" Bonnie told Max self-righteously.

"There!" Laura said suddenly. "There's the little scamp!"

It was a poliwag, who had been hiding in the water and using water gun on them when they were not looking. Bonnie laughed, and her friends joined. "I like its spirit," she said.

"Yeah," Max agreed, a glint in his eyes. The poliwag had come closer, looking at their pokemon with curiosity. Max slowly inched towards the pond, then, scooping water in his hands, quickly doused the poliwag before it could go underwater. It made appreciative noises and responded in kind, and before he knew it, Max was drenched from top to bottom. He jumped into the water and continued his attack.

Bonnie and Laura watched the mock-fight for a while, then went to gather up their things. The double shower that took them from behind thus came as a huge surprise. They turned with identical indignant expressions on their faces, to be confronted with two impish-looking figures: the poliwag's, and Max's. They had decided to team up on his unsuspecting friends. But the girls could not stay mad very long, and in the next few minutes a free-for-all water fight unrolled, with their companions participating joyfully as well. Even Ralts and Espurr, who usely stayed aside during the rougher play, were right in the middle of things, using their psychic moves to make water do things the others could never have managed.

"Hey, unfair!" Laura said, laughing and coughing, as a curved jet of water hit her right between the eyes. She was, however, pleased to see how much training for a few hours with Max and Ralts had improved Espurr's mastery of psychic.

Only Litleo and Swablu had refrained from joining in the fun, Litleo because he really was not that fond of water, and Swablu because his fluffy wings took forever to dry. They were napping in the sun instead. After a while, everyone flopped down on the grass, drenched and out of breath.

"That was fun," Max said after a while. "But let's get back on track. You want to change before we go or what?"

"Na," Bonnie replied, "it's a beautiful day, our clothes will be dry in no time. Laura?"

"Yeah, I agree. But Max, I'm wondering… don't you think you've found a new friend already?"

Max glanced at the little guy still playing with Chespin and Treecko.

"This poliwag? It's cute and funny, I'll give you that, but I need to do better than that to defeat Falkner! It wouldn't stand a chance against those big birds…"

Laura sighed. "If you say so. You made a good team though…"

As they left the pond, Max could not help but get a last look of the poliwag: standing on the edge of the water, it was watching them go with a wistful face.

xxx

"So, where do you want to go?" Bonnie asked as they continued through the woods.

"Oh, any direction will do," Max replied.

"We'll get lost!" Laura warned.

"Don't worry, I have my pokenav, so I'll always know right where we are." Max hoped he sounded more confident than he felt. He really had no particular plan to find his next pokemon, trusting everything to luck. Apparently Bonnie did not pick up on that, or she did not mind, because she gave him a big smile.

"Technology is a pretty amazing thing," she said. "My brother always had machines to get ourselves out of difficult situations, it's good to know we'll have some technological help here too! Of course, my brother's machines tended to explode as often as they worked, I'm hoping your pokenav won't do the same!"

"Little chance of that, I'd say. Let's go!"

Their good spirit was waning by the end of the day however. The girls' steps were quite a bit less springy, and Max was tiring too, though he would never have admitted it. Ralts was still with him, but he was now carrying him on top of his backpack. They had seen quite a few pokemon while wandering around, but nothing that had really appealed to Max. He had seen an adorable pichu, but concluded that he did not have the time to evolve it to a pikachu. Laura had been so taken with it that she had wanted to catch it for herself, but by the time she had Swablu out of his pokeball, the pichu had already disappeared, leaving the dark-haired girl quite disappointed. A weedle, a chikorita, a hoothoot, two rattata… The only one he had considered to catch was an ekans, reasoning that a poisoned bird would be easier to beat, but the snake had had a good defense, and slithered back into the bushes before Ralts could weaken it enough to catch it.

"Chespin!" The little hedgehog had suddenly jumped out of his pokeball, startling Laura and Max. Bonnie sighed: Chespin had been known to do that a lot with Clemont, but she had hoped – against reason – that he might have outgrown the tendency. He started running to the left, and she took off after him, her friends at her heels.

"Hey, where is he going?" Max shouted.

"If I'm any judge, there must be something good to… eat", Bonnie replied, coming to an abrupt halt as Chespin started pulling berries out of a hollow tree. "When there is anything yummy around, his sense of smell is incredible," she explained with some resignation. "Chespin, stop that!" She told the little scamp. He was happily munching and did not look very disposed to listen to her. "Those berries do not belong to you! We'll have dinner soon, don't worry."

"-ursa?" "Teddy, teddy!"

The three companions turned around at the sound of the new voices. Not far from the tree, two teddiursa were half-hidden in the bushes, trembling. Bonnie immediately seized the situation.

"Chespin, stop eating those berries NOW! They belong to those little guys." At her tone, Chespin stopped in mid-munch and looked guiltily at the two bear cubs.

"We should go, and now," Bonnie continued uneasily. "When there is a teddiursa around, its mother is usually not far, and they're very protective."

xxx

"Ursaring!" The roar of the big bear was deafening. The cubs' mother was back, and she did not look happy to find thieves stealing her babies' food. She reared back on her hindlegs, growling.

"Run!" The cry had come from Bonnie, and it was immediately obeyed. Not really caring about the direction, they took off as fast as they could. Behind them, another roar and the sound of broken branches were testimony to the fact that the ursaring had decided to follow them.

"That's bad," Max yelled. "She's quicker than we are!"

"Gee, thanks for the reassurance!" Laura yelled back, trying to find more speed in her tired legs. She stole a quick glance back, which proved to be the wrong move: her feet tangled in a root, and she found herself sprawled on all fours right in front of the approaching bear.

"Missile pin!" Two green streaks went past her, and the ursaring roared again as they touched her. Then Bonnie and Chespin were in front of Laura, and Max was helping her up.

"Don't worry," Bonnie said over her shoulder, "we'll cover you."

"Ralts, psychic!" The pink beam hit its target as well, but the only sign it had done any damage at all was a small flinch. The ursaring growled again, even more enraged than before.

"Chespin, tackle!"

The hedgehog's spiky head was hard and he knew how to use it to his advantage, but again, the damage was minimal. The ursaring charged, and Chespin barely dodged her. The bear turned right back, her right arm glowing.

"That's hammer arm!" Max yelled. "Watch out! Ralts, use safeguard!"

The little guy was already running as far as he could towards Chespin. He reached him barely a second before the ursaring, and instantly created a glowing orb around the two of them. Hammer arm rebounded on it, countered, but the strength of the blow was visible, and the energy necessary to sustain the shield in the face of such might almost brought Ralts to his knees.

"Chespin, as soon as Ralts drops the safeguard, launch another missile pin!" Bonnie shouted.

"And Ralts, follow it up with psychic!" Max added. "Now!"

The glowing orb disappeared and both pokemon went on the attack again. This time, the two point-blank moves made Ursaring stagger and take two steps back, allowing Chespin and Ralts to make their escape and regain some distance. But the big bear was far from vanquished, and it looked as furious as ever. Max and Bonnie exchanged worried glances.

"Chespin, go for tackle again!" ordered the blond girl, undaunted. She did not want to give Ursaring time to launch another attack. But her little friend was tiring, and not as quick as he usually was. He landed his attack, yet got caught in the middle of the fury swipes counterattack. Chespin went flying, and Bonnie launched herself at him, catching him in mid-air and finishing on a double roll to try and soften the impact.

"Bonnie!" Laura shrieked from behind.

Her head was ringing and there was something not quite right with her shoulder, but the Kalos girl did not weaver. "Dedenne, nuzzle!" She shouted from the ground, telling her little partner that it was his turn.

Meanwhile, Max and Ralts had launched another psychic attack at Ursaring, drawing the bear's attention. But Ralts was also tired, and the black-haired boy wondered how long they could keep it up. The electric mouse jumped on the ursaring from behind and gave her as good a shock as he could, then jumped back down. Ursaring shook her head as if to clear it. Dedenne had been swift, and the bear had not even noticed him. She continued to advance on Ralts, who, pressed for space, suddenly began to multiply, in a desperate bid to confuse its opponent. The bear launched a new series of fury strikes, clearing her path from the ralts' images one at a time.

Suddenly, she got a jet of water right into her face. It was the poliwag from before, who had apparently followed the friends the whole afternoon, and had finally decided to take its turn in the battle.

"Poli poli – wag!" It called defiantly. The bear turned at yet another small opponent, snorting. She got another face full of water, which did not deter her much. Then poliwag launched an ice beam, not at the ursaring, but at the ground right in front of her. Ursaring slipped and fell heavily on the ground. Bonnie seized the opportunity. "Dedenne, thunder shock!"

At the same time, poliwag sent off another strong jet of water in the bear's direction, and Max ordered Ralts to do his psychic move once more. Wet, ursaring felt the sting of electricity much stronger, and the repeated psychic attacks were also having their toll on her. She got back up, roared a last time at the three friends, and turned around, her attitude making clear that she still had some fight in her and they were not to approach her cubs ever again.

xxx

"We won!" Bonnie cried happily, as soon as the ursaring disappeared in the bushes. She was too tired to jump around, but she gathered Chespin and Dedenne in her arms, a big smile on her face. "You did really good you two, thank you! But Chespin, please don't run to a food pile like this again, ok?" The green hedgehog nodded, his eyes big, and still puffing from the fight. Bonnie diving to the ground to spare him the impact had done quite an impression on him.

Meanwhile, Ralts had jumped in Max's arms, who was holding him up high in the air, delighted. "Ralts, you learned a new move, that's great! Great use of double team under stress too. I'm sure this will be very useful in our upcoming challenge!" He then turned to the poliwag, who had stayed a bit to the side, as if unsure about what to do. "Poliwag, thanks for saving our bacon here! Without you, we would have had a hard time making that ursaring retreat."

"Poli?"

"Yes, you were amazing, Poliwag!" Bonnie agreed, approaching. "Thanks a lot! Good thing you were following us!"

"Thank you from me as well," Laura added timidly. The violence of the fight had taken her by surprise, and she had followed it with fright, not daring to participate. Only now did she come forward, and her cheeks were burning with shame from the way she had let her friends down, when they were only fighting to protect clumsy her in the first place!

"Laura?" Bonnie said gently, noticing her friends' discomfort. "It wasn't your fault, you know that, right?"

"But if I hadn't fallen…"

"We would still have had to fight," Max told her firmly. "Ursaring was gaining on us anyway."

"And if anyone is responsible for this mess, it's me," Bonnie added. "I should have kept a firmer leash on Chespin, I know how he is."

"Not sure that would have helped a lot," Max laughed, "that's a determined little glutton you've got here! And I thought Dedenne was the gluttonous one…"

"What can I say, we love good food in Kalos!" Bonnie joked. Laura had to smile at their banter.

"All good?" Max asked.

"Yeah," the dark-haired girl replied. "Sorry for being such a chicken though."

"Come on, I know you can do great under pressure, you were just taken by surprise, that's all!" Bonnie declared.

xxx

The blond girl turned back towards Max, who was eyeing Poliwag appreciatingly.

"I think you know what to do," she told him. He gave her a rueful smile.

"Yeah, I gotta eat some crow, and make some amends!" The black-haired boy knelt next to the tadpole. "Poliwag, thank you again for intervening in the battle. You were really great, and I'm sorry I doubted your strength earlier. Now, I have to ask: did you follow us this far because you wanted to come with us?"

"Poli?" It said inquisitively.

"Because myself, I'd love to travel with you, if you'll have me. What do you think? Do you want to see Johto with my friends and me?"

The poliwag looked at Max with big eyes, seemingly thinking the offer over. Then, it spurted water right into his face, and jumped back with a double flip and a laughing expression.

"Hey, what was that for?" Max protested. "I was serious!"

"I think that means Poliwag is accepting your proposal, but you'll have to fight it first!" Bonnie told him, amused.

"Is that what you want?" Max asked Poliwag, who did another flip in answer. "Then of course I accept your challenge. Treecko, come out and help me!"

The green lizard popped out of its pokeball with a determined expression.

"Why does Poliwag want to battle Max?" Laura quietly asked Bonnie, looking at the opponents. "I thought it wanted to join him since the beginning!"

"Well, yes, but it also wants a trainer that it can respect, that's my guess," Bonnie explained. "There has to be mutual trust between trainer and pokemon, and by battling Max Poliwag is ascertaining whether Max is worthy of its trust. Might be a little payback for being abandoned earlier as well, though," she concluded, grinning.

"Oh! I'd never thought about it like this. It seemed like people who caught pokemon while battling them were forcing the pokemon to join them."

"I'm not saying it never happens, but in almost all cases, if a pokemon doesn't want to come with you, it will run away rather than fight, believe me!"

Meanwhile, Treecko and Poliwag had traded a few blows, water gun against bullet seed. Treecko was freshly rested and had the advantage. Contrary to his previous stance, there was no hint of shyness in his battling style either. "Now an energy ball, come on!" Max called. Poliwag dodged the first one and blocked the second with an icy counterattack, but it was being drawn into a corner, and knew it. All of a sudden, it winked at Treecko. Little hearts fluttered around the green lizard, and, before it could dodge, hit their target. Treecko looked confused.

"Hey, I know that move, that's attract!" Laura said.

"That means that poliwag is female, how cool!" Bonnie commented. "Good move, Poliwag! Max, don't let her get away!"

"Treecko, bullet seed again!" Max said. Treecko obeyed, but the move was harmlessly aimed at the bushes to Poliwag's left. "No, aim it at Poliwag! Treecko, listen to me!" Taking advantage of the situation, Poliwag approached Treecko and started slapping him right in the face. The lizard flinched, then fell. He picked himself up immediately but still seemed confused. Poliwag slapped him again.

"Treecko, listen to my voice!" Max told him. "Don't focus on the attack for the moment, I know you can take it. Close your eyes and let me guide you!" His little green friend complied. "On my command, use your tail to jump into the air as high as you can, then prepare an energy ball…. Do it now!" Treecko jumped, eyes still closed. It seemed that not seeing was helping him clear his head. Poliwag prepared to blast him out of the air with an ice beam. "Now aim it down and left!" The range was very short, and Poliwag did not have time to dodge the ball. Being a water pokemon, it was super effective, leaving her panting. She looked at Max with serious eyes, and he took out a pokeball and aimed it at her. The tadpole disappeared into it with a flash of red light, and did not come back out. Max picked up the pokeball with a broad grin.

"I caught a poliwag!" He exclaimed with a broad grin, lifting it high into the air.

END OF CHAPTER

So here it is at least, Max's new friend (and the first pokemon he actually caught, now that I think about it). Had you guessed it? When I first thought it up, I merely believed it would be a good fit between the two. It turned out, however, that Max had already trained with a poliwag once, at the pokemon trainers' school, which I had totally forgotten (I last watched that episode ages ago). But maybe it influenced me subconsciously, who knows? Anyway, you can tell me what you think it should evolve into, I haven't made the decision yet. You've got time though, it will be a while before Poliwag reaches her final evolution.

On another subject, someone asked me why I had painted such a negative portrait of Falkner. To be honest, I mostly thought of him as a stickler for rules, arrogant, and convinced of the superiority of his flying pokemon, but not a bad fellow per se. He has high standards of training and discipline and little patience for those who, in his opinion, fail to reach them. Max WAS badly prepared for the Violet City gym, after all.