Chapter Three - Mother and Child

Oh my god. Chelsea said, inhaling sharply. It s so... Cute! She grit her teeth, and dismounted from her bike slowly so as to not frighten the absurdly adorable Pok mon. As bad as it was, she hoped the parents weren t nearby... Or maybe it didn t have any parents at all. It seemed off to encounter the bear Pok mon alone. It was... uncommon.

Are you calling dibs on it? She asked Rose, seriously. She didn t care if she had to carry the Pok mon. She would get it somehow. She had a very soft spot when it came to Pok mon that were just plain in need of her company.

Chelsea. Chester called out, seeing the look on his sister s face. We may or may not be in trouble. What if there are Ursaring around here? He pointed out, frown evident on his face. Without getting off his bike, he took the only pokeball in his belt and released his gastly, just in case. Hypnosis could put the Pok mon out should it be spoiling for a fight. They couldn t afford to get into a big fight yet. Rose could bearly command her swinub, and Chelsea... Heck, his sister hasn t even been in a real battle yet.

"Chester is right," Rose seconded, keeping her eyes on the wild Pok mon. "Yeah, Chester is right," she repeated warily; she was feeling distinctly uneasy. "If its mother is around, we could be in a lot of trouble. ursaring are too strong for our Pok mon to tangle with right now."

The tiny bear flopped down on its haunches in a patch of grassy sunlight and looked at them curiously. It opened its mouth and let out an innocent yawn. "But," Rose began, steeling herself, "if you want to try to catch it, I've got your back." she said, trying not to sound afraid. "It will be your first battle with Togepi, are you willing to risk it? Do you have pokeballs?"

Chester, hanging back, sighed at Rose words. It seemed like the girl was supporting his sister s decision, and it wasn t good. Just for safety, he didn t get off his bike. It would be easier to avoid danger just in case somthing unpleasant went down. Gastly, his Pok mon, floated around him, seemingly ready to support him. Chelsea was his sister, and he really couldn t just abandon a very close relative... even if said relative is prone to making bad decisions.

Don t worry guys. Chelsea said, voice waxing confident before taking out her own Pok mon gently. The togepi was a bit confused at where she was, but immediately calmed when she saw her trainer. Don t be afraid. Use Charm! She commanded, fairly brimming with excitement. It was non-damaging anyway. Just in case the cute bear Pok mon was going to attack them.

But Teddiursa just blinked in surprise at the appearance of togepi. Rose gripped her bike handles a little more firmly and scanned the nearby woods for signs of movement. Togepi obeyed Chelsea easily, just as Gastly had for Chester. It trilled happily and faced the wild teddiursa. the moon-faced bear sucked its paw and looked on with an apparent interest. Togepi gazed at it and waved cutely. It was an adorable display and suddenly Teddiursa looked enchanted with Togepi's cuteness, it stood up and hurried over on two short legs. Growling cutely it hugged the slightly smaller fairy type, and sat down on its haunched is in the road. The sheer cuteness of Chelsea's Pok mon had distracted it quite effectively. Rose began to feel a bit silly for her anxiety about danger. There didn't appear to be any sign of a mother bear just yet.

Chester, on the other hand, didn t like it, not at all, or maybe it was just a sign of his paranoia. But the scene playing out in front of him put him quite on edge. It was plain that Chelsea was potentially endangering their lives just because of her obsession with cute things... He sighed again, because if she wants something, she s going to get very angry if she doesn t get it.

At the moment, Chelsea was evidently pleased. The bear Pok mon didn t look wild, or remotely like it was looking for a fight. So she did the logical thing in her mind. She went and cautiously crouched near her Pok mon who was currently being held by the teddiursa. Hello there. She crooned, smiling widely and trying not to frighten the bear Pok mon. I m Togepi s friend. Do you have any friend nearby, or parents? If you want... You can come with me, too. I can buy you honey and stuff. Togepi will be with us, too.

And then she did something Chester found completely reckless and stupid. She reached out, calmly, as if to stroke the bear Pok mon s fur.

On the sidelines, Chester was trying not to groan. Teddiursa have sharp claws. They re Pok mon, and not cuddly harmless creatures. Hypnosis, Gastly, he said in a low voice, so the teddiursa wouldn t hear but his Pok mon would. If that teddiursa make any sudden moves. He added.

Good Lord he never thought his sister was this stupid.

Wary Teddiursa moved out of Chelsea's reach. Togepi's charm attack wore off. It seemed to sense that it was the center of attention now and it was inwardly questioning their intentions. It gave Chester and Gastly a particularly cute little scowl and sniffed the air with its little black nose. It stood behind Togepi, which it didn't seem to see as an opponent.

For her part, Rose admired Chelsea's peaceful tactics. She didn't feel ready to handle taming wild Pok mon just yet, but the other girl seemed to have confidence in spades. But if there was one thing Rose had learned in her 24 hours as a Pok mon trainer, it was that food was a powerful motivator. She also suspected that in early springtime, when most of the bees had used up their honey reserves, that the normal type might respond well to such incentivization.

Moving as cautiously as she could, Rose slunk within hailing distance, laid her hands on her knees, and whispered her thoughts to the other girl. "You could try offering it something sweet? Maybe it'd like that." She said, and then added with a dramatic sigh: "my swinub is surprisingly cooperative when food is involved."

Chelsea wasn t deterred that the teddiursa didn t seem to trust them... yet. She still smiled widely, still coaxing the Pok mon to believe that she really doesn t mean any harm. What she wants, she gets. She took Rose input into consideration, and remembered she had some sweets in her backpack. Cautiously, she took them out. She had candies, of course, (Chester rolled his eyes at that. He never thought of bringing candies). The various confections nested in crinkly paper of different colors and they tempted with assorted flavours. After his last trip overseas, Mr. Moon had brought home a few bags of them for her, as he usually did, because he knew she loved sweets. Lastly, she also took out the bag of Pok mon food that was supposed to be for Togepi who didn t seem to mind sharing with a friendly stranger; the little half-egg Toge-pi -ed supportively as they all seem to focus on Teddiursa.

I promise I m nice. Chelsea said. I ll take care of you. Togepi likes me because I m her friend, an trainer. I can make you strong and I want you to be on my team. She continued to talk, itching to hug the cute Pok mon and just go on their merry way. We re going to travel, and see lots of exciting nice new things. Wouldn t you love to go an adventure with us? It would be fun!

It would be more fun , Chester thought snidely, if Gastly could just use hypnosis and Chelsea stopped being ridiculous and acted like a normal trainer. The teddiursa was a wild Pok mon. It s not raised to be someone s starter Pok mon. He really tried not to be the bad guy, but seriously... He was pretty sure Chelsea could have easily captured the Pok mon if she asked for help from him or Rose. Two against one would be easy as pie. And they wouldn't waste nearly as much time playing tea-party.

He can t just say that, though. So he just stood there and silently endured the absurdity it all from astride his bike, while gastly orbited his head, grinning.

Teddiursa, sniffed the air when Chelsea produced the sweets from her backpack. The normal type inched closer, under the encouragement of the chirping Togepi. Rose watched intently from just a little behind the other girl. Closer, came the little bear, and closer. finally... It reached out a paw.

"Urrr...!" it gurgled, reaching upwards like it wanted to be picked up, actually. It's big black eyes seemed to soften and it begged cutely. Rose was shocked! Apparently it wasn't at all hard to convince. Teddiursa were not unable to care for themselves, but this one was very young, still a baby really. Even though it was a fuzzy head taller than Chelsea's starter, who was now cheering and standing on one pastel tip-toe. To Rose, who was sort of a tomboy, the idea of raising two infantile Pok mon, struck her as challenging. But she considered the idea that it would probably end up creating a powerful bond of trust between them. Chelsea already looked like a mother to her Pok mon. In a way, Rose envied all three of them. Her mother had never been a part of her life. She was a trainer too, or so her father told her.

Chelsea was very happy. She took the teddiursa into her arms and hugged her baby. Yes, she got what she wanted, when she wanted to. I m going to take care of you, darling. I don t have any honey now but I ll make sure you get some as soon as we reach the city. She told Teddiursa softly and adoringly. The baby-like Pok mon wasn t very heavy, but it wasn t as light as togepi either. It hugged her in a comforting soft tight way. It was like a teddy bear was hugging her. It took a lot of will not to squeal and suffocate the Pok mon with a tighter hug.

It only took a few minutes for Chelsea to turn towards Chester and Rose, with that wide smile growing wider still on her face. Let s go. She said, before reluctantly putting down teddiursa back to the ground. The Pok mon almost didn t let her go seemingly liking the warmth of her hug. It looked at her with cute blinking eyes, questioning her why she put him down. I can t carry you all the way to the city, since I ride a bike. How about I, She paused, opening her bag and taking one pokeball out, use this and you rest here for awhile? Her brother and her had been given one each by their parents and instructed to just buy more from the nearest city. It was fortunate she had been given this one. One was enough.

Teddiursa merely looked at her, tilting his head and raising his arms as if to take the pokeball. Obviously, Chelsea did what she wanted to do. One bright flash and Teddiursa vanished. The pokeball dinged once. No struggle. The wide smile turned into a confident smirk, and togepi, on the ground, cheered her trainer on.

She laughed, poking togepi gently before withdrawing her into her own pokeball.

Chester, who had been grudgingly watching the whole time, scoffed. Annoyed, he said, "That sure took some time." He wasn t impressed at all. He knew it would be so like her to do that whole taming thing.

Let s go. He told the two girls, withdrawing gastly, and then holding onto his bike. Or night will catch up to us before we get to the city.

Night caught them before that. Chester was glad enough when, after they ascended a little farther into the hills, he realized that there seemed to be no Pok mon who wanted to encounter them. It was really a good thing. Because after he had biked from morning 'till night, his legs were starting to get a little bit cramped. His sister had always been much sportier than him, but in terms of endurance they re still on the same level. It was getting chilly, and before he knew it, it was already dark. He shot an I told you so look towards Chelsea, who only stuck her tongue at him knowing what his message was instantly.

The road and the ashy scrub forest of mingled pines and birch were beautiful and lonely and sinister in the twilight. The road, which was eroded from the heavy rains that usually blew in off the sea coast in winter and spring, was treacherous for their bikes in the dark. Rose checked the map on her pokedex; the pale light of the screen made her face look ghostly in the semidarkness. They were maybe about three miles from Fallarbor, and they had not had any encounters like the teddiursa. The Pok mon in the forest seemed unusually skittish, in fact. She had seen them slinking and slithering away into the brush as she rounded corners and passed boulders all afternoon.

When Rose paused to look at her pokedex, he took the time to open his bag again and drink some water. He didn t want to get dehydrated. It was then that he decided to let Gastly out of his pokeball. The Pok mon seemed to appreciate it, too, since the night had always been the element of ghost Pok mon. It would be training for Gastly to keep up with them as they biked and it wouldn t be too hard. The only reason he hadn t done that earlier was because it was still bright out.

Not long after that, Rose had put a little distance between herself and the twins. A pair of red lights up ahead caught her attention and she let her bike coast quickly downhill until she caught up with a big pickup truck that was crawling down the poorly-paved road into a sharp corner on a ledge. She gasped suddenly. In the back of the truck, was a heaping something draped with black tarp, but from underneath hung a massive, brown paw, limp, bloody, and lit up red by a brakelight. She stopped and stared aghast. The truck continued down the road and turned off to the right up some weedy driveway and vanished in the trees.

"Could that be Teddiursa's mother?" she wondered to herself

If Rose hadn t gasped as he pedaled up, Chester wouldn t have paid much mind to the truck. He was busy keeping an eye on Gastly as it wove between shadowy trees when turned to see what had caused her surprise. A brown paw. Now, he s no expert when it comes to all Pok mon, but he knew that something that size, and something of that colour, in this area could only belong to a specific Pok mon.

Chester saw how Chelsea looked, too, and it was the exact expression that Rose wore.

Before you two get any ideas, He started to say, his voice oddly calm and low. We have four weak Pok mon, and we only got our starters yesterday. We can t do anything stupid tonight.

Rose nodded grimly. "We'll ask some questions when we get to the Pok mon center. We have no idea what happened, I know it looks bad, but we can't assume it's poachers." She kicked up her bikestand and leaned on the handlebars. "And even if they are, Chester is right, if they took down a Pok mon that big, imagine what they could do to us, or our partners?" She looked at Chelsea through the damp darkness, "I was really hoping you wouldn't see that but, it's really strange to find such a young Teddiursa with no mother, and this solves that mystery, but now we've got another one on our hands, We're going to have to stay in the area for a while anyway, we're not strong enough to cross the desert to get to Mauville, or go through the mountain to Rustboro, which means we're gonna have to train in the area around Fallarbor." Chelsea still hadn't said anything and Rose, who was behind her now, reached out and put a hand tentatively on her friend's shoulder. "Are you... alright?"

When Rose touched her she almost sneered, but then she remembered that Rose wasn t her indifferent brother who mocked her at times. Of course I m fine. She replied in a clipped tone. I m not stupid. We can t do something like that. Not yet, anyway.

Rose words made sense; Chelsea knew it... but that didn t mean she wasn t about to get upset. Don t get her wrong she was glad she now had Teddiursa in her team, but that didn t mean she could just brush off a mother Pok mon being taken away by men who were probably poachers. Actually, she didn t know what to feel. If the ursaring hadn t been taken away by those guys, then she wouldn t have Teddiursa. Does that make her a bad person? If she had been like her twin, she wouldn t have to deal with feelings. Chester was a real piece of work when it came to having a conscience.

It really made her angry that there were such bad people in the world. She almost forgot about it sometimes, because of the cloistering shelter their lovely town. And what pissed her off even more was the fact that she couldn t do a thing about it, right now.

Let s just hurry up. Maybe we can report it to some officers. She said, inhaling deeply and trying to calm her beating heart. Then she proceeded to bike, much faster but not in a careless manner. With the way she was biking angrily, always ahead, she was the first one to get to Fallarbor.