Pokemon blues
Bonnie suppressed yet another sigh. When she had made her offer to Oddish, she had been fairly sure that it would, if not leap into her arms, at least respond positively. Instead, it seemed to have frozen, as if the suggestion to join her team had been more than it could bear, and it had completely broken down. That had been more than two hours ago. The sun was now reaching its zenith, and the three friends were still not sure how to proceed. It seemed wrong to just leave Oddish to her grief, but what else could they do if she did not want to stay with them? Bringing the little bulb pokemon back to the pokemon centre did not seem like a lasting solution. Though maybe Nurse Joy would at least have some idea of what to do.
Max was torn between a need to do everything possible to comfort the stricken creature, and a longing to be on his way, finally free to move on to his next challenge. He exchanged one more glance with Laura, the last of a long series. Neither of Bonnie's friends had dared to make any suggestion. The Kalos girl usually was a fountain of positivism and energy, having her so unsure and despondent was really out of character. But then, most of the time, all the time really, she got positive responses from people around her, as if the good waves she seemed to be sending off in all directions compelled everyone to live up to her good view of them. Not so with Oddish, lost to the world around her, mired in her well of pain.
One of Max's pokeballs burst open on its own, a familiar green and white figure emerging from the red light.
"Ralts?" It asked, looking at Oddish with empathy.
"Don't ask me, I don't know what to do, buddy," Max answered with a small smile to its oldest companion.
"You know," Laura said quietly, "you never got around to telling us how you came to meet each other the first time, and how you found each other again."
"It's a long story," Max protested perfunctorily.
"Well, it looks like we have some time on our hands, anyway," Laura replied with a side glance at both Bonnie and Oddish. The blond girl turned towards her friends, glad to have something else to focus on besides her own thoughts.
"Yes, do tell us," she pleaded.
"Alright," Max surrendered. "It started when I was travelling with my sister, Ash and Brock. One day…"
The black-haired boy recounted its first encounter with Ralts, half reliving the scene. The child-like pokemon in his arms seemed to be reliving it too, as it shuddered several times during the story. Max reflexively tightened his arms around him, a silent reassurance that did much to calm Ralts down. The pair both had moisture in their eyes as Max told of their first farewells, though. And smiles when he recalled their next meeting, years later.
"I tell you, I'd never been so nervous in my life as when I set out to look for Ralts. I mean, we had promised we would find each other again, but I had no idea if he would still want to be with me after all that time. Turns out, he practically flew into my arms when we set eyes upon each other again, and that was it. We've been together ever since."
"Cool story, Max, Ralts!" Laura replied with a smile.
"Yeah, good one, but it makes me shudder, to think how it would have been if I had had to wait years for Dedenne and me to finally be together!"
"De-dedenne", said the little rodent, affectionately nuzzling his trainers' neck until some electricity shot out of its cheeks. Bonnie jumped at the shock, and Dedenne chittered apologetically, but she laughed right after and cuddling him right back.
"Don't worry buddy, I'm used to shocks. If it wasn't my brother's machines exploding it was Pikachu, or you, or residual electricity from the battles at Lumiose's gym. I'm almost as immune as a ground type by now."
"How did you and Dedenne meet anyway?" asked Max with curiosity. Bonnie looked fondly at the brown fur ball in her hands.
"Well, there was this little thief…"
After that, Laura explained how she found Swablu's egg, and they swapped more stories about their current friends, and those they had met before. At some point, Bonnie became aware of a presence behind her. A glance at Max and Laura confirmed it: Oddish had slowly crept closer to the little group, and started to listen to the stories.
"There is one more story I would love to tell one day," the blond girl continued without breaking the flow of the conversation or turning around. "One with a hard beginning but a happy ending. One about a brave little pokemon and how she overcame adversity. Do you know a pokemon who could help me tell that story, Oddish?"
The pokemon behind her was clearly startled, but before she could run away, Ralts and Dedenne went to her, one mumbling, one chittering, both clearly intend on soothing her anxiety. Nervously, Oddish came to stand next to Bonnie.
"I can't kiss your hurt better, no matter how much I want to," Bonnie said. "But my offer still stands. A new beginning, new friends, new places. I believe the friends you had here are alright, but I am sure they've fled very far from here. Maybe you'll meet some again, if we travel?"
Oddish pondered the girl's words for a while more, then, steeling herself, very gingerly climbed into her lap. Max's mouth dropped, and Laura's eyes got very big, while Dedenne started making delighted cartwheels. Bonnie felt the pokemon tremble, and marveled again at her courage. Oddish was offering herself entirely, agreeing to a strange new fate and putting her trust into Bonnie, and the Kalos girl felt awed. At the same time, an enormous grin broke onto her face, and it was all she could do not to shout her joy to the skies. But she did not want to frighten Oddish. Cautiously, she felt around for her bag, only to see Dedenne with a shrunken pokeball already in his paws. Bonnie took it, enlarged it, and gently touched Oddish with it. Her new friend vanished in a beam of light. One, two seconds passed, while Bonnie looked with some incredulity at the pokeball, and then she could not control herself anymore, jumping to her feet, shouting, and doing a happy dance all at the same time. Laura let herself be pulled into the dance, laughing as well, for Bonnie's antics were always infectious. When she felt sufficiently calmed down, the blond girl called on Oddish.
"Welcome to the family, Oddish. I am very glad that you'll be coming with us. Are you ready to go on, now?"
"Oddish," was the reply. Uncertain and determined at the same time. And Bonnie vowed that she would never let her new friend down.
xxx
"Azalea town, finally!"
Max's voice was exultant. The last few days had been uneventful, and they had made good time, even though they had stopped relatively early each day to allow for more training time. Max and Bonnie had had several heated battles, winning one and losing the next one, quite equal in strength. Bonnie had not yet started training with Oddish but her other pokemon were in peak condition, as were Ralts, Treecko and Poliwag. And Phanpy had seemed eager to do some battling too, so Bonnie and she had a few rounds against Laura and Swablu. It had helped not only the little elephant but also the Hoenn pair, who were becoming more comfortable with the apparent violence of pokemon battles.
"Let's leave our stuff at the pokemon centre and head directly towards the gym, ok?"
Laura smiled at Max's eagerness, but looked curiously at Bonnie, who should have been sharing the same feeling, but obviously was not.
"Ok, we can do that," the blond girl currently responded in a rather good imitation of her usual cheer. She let her eyes rest longingly on an advertising poster for a few seconds before tearing herself away. She entered Azalea Town at something like a run, a determined smile plastered on her face.
I wonder what is up with her, Max thought. It is really unlike Bonnie to be so undecisive, and she's been that way time and time again ever since we left Violet City.
"Hey, do you know what's wrong with Bonnie?" He asked Laura, when the Kalos girl was out of earshot. "You know her best."
"I think I do," the dark-haired girl replied. "But it's not my place to tell you, Bonnie should really be the one to do that."
"Tell me what?" Max asked.
"You'll see."
The Hoenn girl turned away, following after her rapidly departing friend, and Max followed them, muttering something under his breath about contrary girls. But his good mood came back soon. After all, they were in Azalea Town, and he was going to challenge the gym leader and gain his second badge, he knew it!
"Oh, what an adorable phanpy!" said a young girl when they entered the Azalea pokemon centre. "Is it yours?" She asked Bonnie, who was the closest.
"I wish she was, but she already has a trainer somewhere," the blond girl replied. "They got separated somehow."
"Oh!" The girl seemed to hesitate at what to say, making the three friends look at her more closely. A slight girl who did not look quite old enough to have any pokemon, she was wearing a blue dress and had a hair clip shaped like a marill.
"That's cute", Laura pointed out with a smile.
"Thanks. Err…" The next words came out in a rush. "You know, if you really want to find Phanpy's trainer, you should come to the meeting."
"The meeting?" Bonnie repeated, mystified.
"Look, do you have any other blue pokemon besides Phanpy?"
The three friends were even more bewildered than before.
"Yeah…?" Max ventured cautiously.
"Oh, good, I'm not supposed to talk about it otherwise. It's at sunset in the blue house next to the swimming-pool, and…"
"Minnie, where are you?"
An older girl came into the pokemon centre, wearing a blue dress identical to the one their small interlocutor sported. Their facial features were also eerily similar. Sisters, certainly.
"Ah, there you are, I've been looking everywhere for you. Come on, I've already picked up Azumarill and we don't have time to dawdle today."
With a short apology, the girl – Minnie – took leave of the three friends and ran after her elder sister. Bonnie, Max and Laura looked at each other, nonplussed.
"I wonder what that was all about," Laura mused.
"I don't know, but it seems like it could be important for Phanpy," Bonnie said. "We should go look for that place."
"But my gym battle…" Max started to protest, but the look the two girls gave him was enough to silence him, and he flushed. "Oh, alright. I want to find Phanpy's trainer too, you know, you don't have to look at me like that! The gym will still be there tomorrow, I guess."
"Great!" Bonnie beamed.
xxx
"This is really strange," Laura commented, and her two friends nodded in acquiescence. The three of them had found the blue house easily enough, as there was only one swimming-pool in Azalea Town. Not sure what to expect, and since they still had a bit of time before sunset, they had elected to observe what was going on first. For the past thirty minutes, they had seen various people come up to the back door – never the front one – with a pokeball in hand, and show the pokemon inside before being allowed to step into the house. A marill, a zubat, a croconaw, a luxio, a mareep, a vaporeon… As the girl at the pokemon centre had said, there was a definite pattern to the pokemon, and most of the trainers even wore blue clothing themselves.
"Well, strange or not, let's go have a closer look," Bonnie suggested after a while. "Dedenne, if these people love blue pokemon, you'd better stay in my bag, ok?"
In the end, they decided that they had no option but to be brash, and they went up to the door as if they had every right to be there. Bonnie, Phanpy at her side, knocked decisively on the wooden panel. A big man in a blue uniform opened it.
"Proof of admittance?" He asked in a bored tone.
"Err," they hesitated.
The man made a brusque gesture.
"Well, come on, I haven't all day. You, blondie, you can go inside. What about you two?"
"Ah, of course," Laura replied, suddenly understanding. Grabbing one of her pokeballs, she called on her swablu, and Max followed suite with Poliwag. The warden ushered them inside. They arrived in a big hallway. It was almost empty except for a big desk, and from rooms on both sides drifted the sounds of animated conversations. Behind the desk sat a young woman, also dressed in blue from head to toe.
"Welcome to the Blue Club. Water types on the left, others on the right," she said in a bored tone. Her attitude brightened when she saw Swablu, perched on Laura's shoulder. "Oh, it's been a while since we had a Swablu, and they're so cute! Is this your first time at the club?"
Laura nodded.
"Well, you'll have a great time, you'll see. My name is Marilee, by the way. Now go on, we're going to start soon."
The three friends were just as puzzled as before. Max was reluctant to part from Laura and Bonnie, but apparently he had no choice, so he entered the room on the left, while Bonnie and Laura went into the other. There were already around twenty people there, gathered around a round stage, and maybe twice as many pokemon. All in different shades of blue. They noticed the luxio they had seen arrive, as well as a glaceon, a minun, a meditite, a riolu, several zubat and golbats and shinx and mareeps, another phanpy, and even a dratini, among others. Whatever this place was, and it seemed to be getting stranger by the minute, all those colour-coordinated pokemon next to each other was a great sight, and the two girls hardly knew where to look first. A few minutes later, a little fat man climbed on the stage, a wobbuffet at his side.
"Welcome to this month's session of the Blue Club!" He boomed, and the crowd roared. "What's our motto?"
"Blue pokemon power!" They yelled.
"What did you say? I didn't catch that."
"Blue pokemon power!" The trainers yelled louder.
"Blue like the sky, blue like the sea, blue like infinity, blue, the most royal of colors, for the most royal of pokemon!"
It seemed to be a ritual of sorts, though it did not make much sense. Bonnie and Laura had retreated into a corner, apprehensive, and wondering whether they should not attempt to leave immediately. Fortunately, the yelling went down a notch or two after that, as the little man extolled the virtues of (non-water type) blue pokemon for a while.
"As usual, you can all take the stage to present something about your pokemon or to pass along some piece of blue news," he finally concluded. "And after that, we'll have the traditional water against non-water battles in the arena! Non-water blues rock!"
A final cheer, then everyone started to chat in little groups again. One trainer followed the little man on stage with her newly evolved golbat, showcasing her pokemon's new moves. There were a few more announcements about pokemon care, then the stage stood empty. Bonnie swallowed, nervously.
"We should do it, it's going to be quicker that way," she told Laura.
"Do what?" The dark-haired girl asked. But Bonnie was already walking away, Phanpy at her side. Laura saw her talk to the first speaker, which they supposed was one of the club's leaders. He gestured towards the stage, and the blond girl climbed on it and cleared her throat.
"Err, excuse me, everyone? There is something I'd like to share with you…" Several heads turned in her direction, and she looked down, uncharacteristically feeling somewhat flustered. Then Phanpy bumped her gently, and she breathed deeply and smiled at the crowd, her sunny nature coming to the fore.
"I wanted you to know, this phanpy by my side isn't mine," she continued with more assurance. "My friends and I rescued her in the mountains a few days ago, halfway between here and Violet City. She already has a trainer and seems anxious to go back to him or her, but we have not been able to find any notice of a missing phanpy. Does any of you know Phanpy here? We hoped that Phanpy's trainer might have come here before."
Laura braced herself anxiously when Bonnie stopped speaking, scanning the crowd around her. Most just stood with confused expressions on their faces, and she sighed. Well, it had been worth a try. Bonnie's smile faltered, and she started to get down from the stage.
"Well, it could be Katie's phanpy, I suppose," a new voice said a bit doubtfully.
Laura and Bonnie both zoomed in on the person who had spoken. It was the boy with the other phanpy, a teenager with baggy pants and a camouflage shirt.
"She only came here like twice though, so I'm not sure if it's the same pokemon or not," he continued somewhat defensively. "I only remember because we exchanged some words about the care that phanpys need. But Katie's phanpy is female, so it could be."
Bonnie jumped from the stage and ran to him, Phanpy at her heels. The two little elephants greeted each other first cautiously, then joyfully. The blond girl gave a delighted shout, oblivious to the people watching the little scene, while Laura did her best to blend into the background.
"They recognize each other, how cool! It has to be the phanpy you met before. So who is Kaetie and where is she now?"
"Whoa, whoa!" The boy was clearly taken aback by her enthusiastic response. Must not have had much experience with females practically throwing themselves at him with happy faces, thought Laura with an interior smile, before blinking. Where had that irreverent voice come from?
"Well, I don't know much, honest. But you should try with Marilee later."
"My dear members," called at the same time the leader. "It's now time for the part that you're all waiting for. Let the battle phase… begin!"
Everyone roared again at this announcement, and the two girls became conscious of a similar roar coming from the other room. Then everyone moved towards a big staircase, going down. And down. Finally, they came to a couple of big doors, which swung open to reveal a complete underground battle arena. All the club members took seats, water types on one side, non-water types on the other. Bonnie spotted Max on one side, looking just as puzzled by the strangeness of it all as she felt. Sure, those trainers had some neat pokemon, but what was with the blue theme, and the water/non-water divide? It seemed very artificial. But very real to those people, who were already hurtling sneers and insults at each other across the arena. Good grief, she thought, the phrase a favorite of her father's. We have not even started the battles yet! Their fervor was a bit scary.
A series of matches ensued, always water-type against non-water type, each win bringing a point for the, well, team, apparently. The strengths seemed pretty even. Bonnie fidgeted a bit after a while, she wanted to take part, but she did not have a blue pokemon that could battle, and she did not dare do it with Phanpy. She saw Max hesitate, then get up to take his turn. A quick glance at Laura, really uneasy in these surroundings, was enough to tell her that her friend was not up to being Max's opponent. He was paired against a bespectacled girl, a blond one, with an azurill. Poliwag made quick work of the bouncing little mouse, and Max returned to the bleachers with a smile.
After a while, the battles ended, with a win for the water-types. People began to leave the arena in small groups, still being cautious of avoiding contact with the other side. Max caught Bonnie's eyes and gestured towards the stairs, asking if they could go too. The girls still wanted to talk to Marilee to enquire about the mysterious Katie, but the woman was not in the arena anymore, so they agreed to go up. They found Marilee in the first room, heading towards Azurill's trainer, who had flopped down on a chair, looking annoyed. Her azurill was at her feet, looking anxiously up at its trainer.
"Hey, Nina, how is Azurill doing?" She said by way of starting the conversation. Bonnie and Laura listened in, waiting until she was free.
"He looks ok, now. But if I'd known he was such a weakling I'd never have battled with him!" The defeat obviously rankled, and that could explain the short temper, but Laura frowned at the choice of words.
"Well, there's always an element of risk in battling with a new pokemon," Marilee replied. "He is a new pokemon, right? I've never seen you with him before." The girl – Nina – nodded. "Though I didn't know you were thinking of switching over to the other side! I prefer to tell you, quite a few people noticed…"
"Switching to the other side? Whatever the hell do you mean? I'd never do that!" Nina protested vehemently.
"Then why did you get a water-type?"
Nina's face cleared. "Oh, you're mistaking Azurill for Marill! I did as well at first. But no worry, Azurill is even cuter, and he is a normal/fairy mix! I was really happy to find that out."
"I know dear, but Azurill evolves into Marill, and since that's a happiness-based evolution, I don't really see how you can stop it besides making him miserable."
"My Azurill will evolve into that blue water rat?" Nina yelled. She looked horrified. "Are you sure? Gosh, that's disgusting!"
At that point, Bonnie, incapable of staying silent any longer, cut into the conversation.
"How can you call any pokemon disgusting? And what's the big deal with the water-type/non-water-type divide anyway?" She asked. Marilee and Nina turned two astonished and incredulous faces at her.
"How can you not know that?" Nina blurted out.
"Err, it's the first time we're coming here, you know," Bonnie replied, feeling embarrassed under the scrutiny, though her determination did not waver. To her surprise, Laura came to her rescue. "The blue club is really interesting, but we don't quite understand the rules yet." The Hoenn girl had a gentle, calming voice, and Marilee gave her a smile.
"Don't worry dear, it's alright to ask if you're new, no one can know everything, right, Nina?" The blond girl huffed, still looking at her Azurill with a hard expression.
"When this club was started we were all together, the only requirement was colour," Marilee explained. "But then some water-type trainers decided that only water-types could be considered true blue pokemon, and, well, it degenerated from there."
Bonnie and Laura looked at each other. What kind of nonsense was that? But then, the whole club seemed quite nonsensical to them, so what was one more crazy thing? Meanwhile, the bespectacled girl had brusquely got up and turned to leave.
"Hey, you forgot to recall your azurill!" Marilee called.
"I don't want the little rat anymore, not if it's going to turn into a stupid marill!" Nina did not even turn around. "Anybody can have him for all I care!" Both the girls and Marilee stared, stunned, at her retreating back.
"Azu?" A small voice, trembling a little. The azurill was looking at them with big, humid eyes. Heart breaking at the thought of the little fellow all alone, Laura knelt next to him, though she refrained from touching the blue mouse. "I'm sorry Azurill," she said. "Most people are really nice, but there are a few who harbor really stupid ideas sometimes, who can't see right. Don't let it sour you on having a trainer though, it's a most beautiful relationship…"
"Azu?" The little pokemon asked again, not really understanding.
"It's just a baby, I think," Marilee said. "I understand that Nina would not want to keep him, but that reaction was a bit harsh."
"I don't understand any of this," Laura replied truthfully. "But I'm going to take Azurill to the pokemon centre for now," she added, grabbing the blue mouse in a gentle hug. Swablu, on her shoulder, crooned softly at him. Resolutely, Laura stepped into the hallway, joining Max. Bonnie stayed behind to ask for information about Phanpy's probable trainer, and was rewarded with an address close to the Azalea gym. Soon after that, they were back at the pokemon centre, still not quite sure about what had happened at the so-called Blue Club.
END OF CHAPTER
Well, that's certainly my last installment before Christmas, and probably for 2017, as I'm going to be rather busy over the holidays.
So Merry Christmas everyone!
