An Apple A Day Chapter 7: Misadventures, a pokémon fanfic

Chapter 6: Misadventures

Dresses.

I love them.

Short or long. Glittery or plain. Colorful or gray.

Whatever the case, I love them.

I love them as much as I love myself.

They are a shadow of the wearer, revealing to the world the wearer's mood.

Her style.

Her spirit.

They are beautiful.

But one was the most beautiful.

And most important.

This was the dress that was going to win me the pageant.

Win me my dream.

My dream of becoming a model.

My dream of wearing and showing the beauty of dresses to the world over and over again.

My fallen dream.

They did it. They tore away the dress's beauty. They tore my dream to pieces. They would—

DONG

I spun away from the mirror I had been staring at, still holding the tattered dress against my body, as if I could magically heal its wounds.

"It would have been perfect," I whispered to the little red fox lying peacefully on a vermillion cushion next to my bed.

The Vulpix opened its sparkling golden eyes and nodded in agreement. The well groomed fox not only matched the room's color, but its elegance. Everything, from the mosaic border of the mirror to the intricate design of the translucent lamp shade created an aura of flowing beauty. Sunlight danced through glittery shades onto the soft gold-colored comforter of a bed fit for a queen. The sparkling crimson stone walls reflected bits of light onto a beige carpet, as if blood-rubies had been dribbled about the entire room.

Even the tattered dress seemed to fit in with the design of the room. The ripped cloth twirled itself into curls, like the golden hair of a goddess. Ribbons once perfectly placed streamed from the dress wild in every direction. Yet, despite this wildness, the ruins of the dress managed to maintain a certain dark beauty. The wild ribbons glimmered red, black, and gold— a faded sun, a fallen star.

I sighed and slumped onto the plush bed. I would call a friend to blow off some steam or at least find someone to gossip with in order to make my problems seem less problematic, but my friends and classmates had all left on their journey. They were all on their way to becoming trainers, researches, coordinators, or whatever the hell they were in the mood for. They had all turned thirteen.

I sulked.

Why did I have to be the youngest person in my grade? While everyone else left on their journey, I was stuck in my house for another two July weeks until my birthday.

Even Reece had abandoned me! Though what the heck he would be doing… I snickered. He thought he was going to be a trainer, but I would bet money he had already changed his mind. He was much too lazy to ever work hard and too greedy to be able to keep his hands to himself. Maybe he had already gotten himself thrown in jail. Then I would be able to catch up with him in Azul City.

Maybe he had seen Anita. I growled. Even that rotten goody-two-shoe had left. Left with those vicious little f—

DONG

Wasn't that good-for-nothing butler going to answer the door? Ugh.

I stomped out of the room, closely followed by Flora, the sleepy Vulpix. I peered over the fine wooden railing into the main hall. Past the spiral staircase, I could see the butler, John, scurrying to open the door.

I turned away and started back to my room. I honestly could care less who was at our door as long as that irksome doorbell stopped ringing.

I heard the door creak open and a stranger's voice say, "Good afternoon. May I speak with the lady of this house?"

This got my attention. Who would want to speak with my mother? We rarely got visitors, and those who did stop by were not visiting to see my pompous mother.

I twirled around and looked back over the railing to the door. An important looking man in a black suit and a briefcase was standing in the doorway. Who was this guy?

"Please wait—." John began.

"John, let me speak to this man. You know how mother hates to be disturbed for miniscule matters," I called down to the butler. I hurried to the staircase and then descended. When I reached the door, John gave me a slight bow and scampered off to the kitchen.

I turned to the man in the door. Up close he looked nervous, as if he felt out of place. "What do you want?"

"Miss Goldenthrill," the man started. "I am from… err… from an organization that tracks Pokemon, and our machine reported some strange data from this area. Did you happen to see anything unusual around your house yesterday? Any odd people or Pokemon?"

Yesterday… that was when…

I suddenly grinned.

This had the sweet scent of revenge all over it.

I invited the man inside.

"Let me tell you about Anita Parkwood."

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Okay, I could handle this.

I took a deep breath and turned to Apple and Fiery who were still absorbed in practicing Iron Tail.

{Umm, I have to go to the bathroom. I'm going to go and bring the other four with me,} I nervously told the two Pokemon.

Fiery didn't even answer. He nodded and then demonstrated to Apple how to smash a rock with his tail.

Though Apple appeared to be avidly watching Fiery, she smirked slightly and answered only to me, {You lost them, didn't you?}

{Ugh. I'm going to go find them before Fiery finds out. Keep him busy, will you?}

{Fine, but buy me a hotdog on your way back.}

{Alright.} I tried my best to walk at a normal pace away from the practice area.

The second I was out of their hearing range I raced through the undergrowth, looking frantically in every direction. The Eevees couldn't have gone too far.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

It had been fun watching Apple and my big brother battle, but then they started practicing, and who wants to watch that? Boring!

"Let's go exploring!" I had told my fellow siblings. To a human, it would have sounded like "Eeeveee eee," unless the human was a psychic who could understand the thoughts behind the words, which my trainer was. So cool.

Too bad she wasn't listening at the moment.

"Whatever," Vanilla answered.

"I'm not sure that's the best idea." Allo looked hesitantly at our new trainer.

"They won't even notice we're gone." I looked over at Anita, who had just slammed her head on a tree branch, and I chuckled. "Come on!"

I jumped through a bush and began my stroll through the forest shrubs.

Allo sighed and followed. "I have to make sure you guys don't get in too much trouble."

"We're already in trouble," Vanilla stated, carefully stepping around the bush I had jumped through.

"Good point. Okay then, I have to make sure you guys don't get yourselves killed." Allo turned around suddenly. "You coming?"

I stopped too. I had forgotten about Sunflower because, no offence, she wasn't very exciting.

"…" Sunflower had replied as she looked fearfully at Anita, but she finally padded after us.

So now we were all wandering somewhere in the woods! Whoooo! There was so much stuff to look at and sniff! I ran from tree to tree inspecting everything.

"Calm down Splash! You're going insane!" Allo tiredly insisted.

"He's always insane," Vanilla declared. I turned, planning to retort something like, "I'm insanely awesome," but then saw that Vanilla had stopped to sniff a suspicious looking mushroom.

Hehe…that was not a mushroom!

"OWWWW!" Vanilla squealed.

A Paras clenched her nose with one of its pincers.

When she saw what was on her face, she freaked and ran in frantic circles.

"GET IT OFF OF ME!"

"That's for invading my private bubble!" a new voice yelled. I assumed it was the Paras.

"Hold still!" Allo called. "I'll get it."

"AHHH!" Vanilla didn't seem to hear him.

Allo ran at Vanilla and miraculously managed to bite the Paras.

"Hey! Buddy, this does not involve you," the Paras said to Allo, still gripping Vanilla's nose. "This is between me and the bubble invader, so butt out!"

Allo suddenly let go of the Paras and collapsed. I could see he hadn't fainted though. He was snoring.

"HELP ME!" Vanilla was still running in circles.

She tried shaking her head, but the Paras still tightly held her snout. Vanilla was so dizzy from trying to get the Pokemon off that she ran into a tree and collapsed.

The Paras let go of her and scolded, "I hope you learned your lesson." He then scurried off.

The episode terrified Sunflower so much she almost fainted.

And I watched the whole thing laughing my butt off.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

I opened the door to my room.

Nobody was inside.

Not that I really expected Anita to have waited, but I was kind of hoping.

Oh well.

I set down my pack and fell onto my bed. I had just finished packing up all of my stuff at the lab and informing everyone that I was leaving. Everything I needed was safely shrunken and packed away in my bag. Shrinking technology these days was really amazing; I could carry a full wardrobe, research equipment, and Pokemon supplies in a small lightweight bag.

Now I was left with two options.

I could go looking for Anita. I'm sure Griffy could easily find her.

Or I could get a manicure. Manicures were half-price every Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Betsy's Beauty Salon.

Today just happened to be Thursday.

I looked at my watch. It was 12:40. I knew a shortcut through the park that could get me to the salon in time for a half-price manicure.

Wow. This was a real tough decision.

I picked up my pack and headed toward the park.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

I opened an eye.

That was a mistake. There was a giant killer fluffball hovering over me. It looked like a cushion with teeth.

I closed my eye and then opened it again, hoping the image would disappear.

Unfortunately, now there were three giant killer fluffballs hovering over me.

I blinked again.

This time my eyes focused. My three siblings were all looking down at me. Siblings, giant killer fluff balls… same difference.

I slowly got up. I looked around at the surrounding woods. Where was I?

"What happened?" I asked, struggling with my memories.

"A Paras put you to sleep," someone replied. "Luckily, Sunflower here found a special berry to wake you up. You were out for, like, twenty minutes."

I looked at the speaker and my memory came flooding back. "How'd you get rid of the Paras?"

"It ran off." Vanilla scowled and then added: "No thanks to any of you!" She glared at Splash.

Splash ignored her and scampered off into a bush, uninterested now that the excitement of my awakening was over.

I turned to Sunflower and smiled warmly at my sister. "Thanks."

Sunflower blushed but didn't answer. She never did. She was brilliant, but extremely shy. She never talked to strangers and rarely even spoke to us.

I called out to Splash, "Don't you think we should go back now?" I knew what the answer would be, but I could still hope…

Vanilla apparently had no hope. She scoffed at me.

Splash, of course, replied with a "No!"

I sighed and followed after Splash. I could leave him… I'm sure my sisters would follow me… but without me, Splash would get himself into even more trouble. It had happened before. It was safer to simply follow him.

"Hey guys! Come look at this!" Splash's voice wavered in excitement. I followed his voice to a patch of bushes and found my crazed brother running in circles around a rugged sign next to a hole in the ground. Vanilla and Sunflower trailed behind me.

"Look!" Splash squealed again. He seemed rather pleased with himself.

I sniffed the sign curiously and then turned my nose to the hole in the ground. Sweet natural aromas wafted from below the ground.

Vanilla sniffed too, and was apparently soothed by the sweet smell as well. "Maybe we should go down," she said.

"Yes!" Splash rushed toward the hole.

I grabbed his tail a second before he jumped. "We don't know what's down there!" I warned.

Splash was not deterred, and continued to fight my bite on his tail.

"Help, anyone?" I mumbled through clenched teeth. Vanilla joined my struggle to prevent Splash from jumping. We managed to get him under control.

I thought a moment and then glanced up at the sign. I could not read it. Neither could Splash or Vanilla for that matter; Fiery had not taught us, and I wasn't even sure he could actually read. I shifted my eyes to Sunflower. I suspected she had taught herself how to read because I had seen her looking at a newspaper back in the big golden place we had been kicked out of.

"Can you read it?" I asked her.

She only half-nodded and half-shrugged in response. I waited.

"I can read the letters," she finally whispered, "but I don't know the word."

"Well, what is it?" Splash asked impatiently and then tried to jump through the hole again. Vanilla caught him.

Sunflower mumbled, "It says…. G…..Y…. and what's that W doing upside-down…. Oh…. That's an M."

"What?"

"G. Y. M," she said more definitively.

"What does that mean?" I asked more to myself than anyone.

"Well, it spells out G-gggg-ggg-yeeee-ggg-yeeum," Sunflower sounded out. "Gyeum," she concluded.

"Sounds like geese mixed with yum to me. Maybe there's yummy geese down there," Splash suggested.

"And maybe my tail will fly off my butt to spread peace and happiness throughout the land," I added, frustrated.

"And farts," Vanilla inserted. I glared.

"It could happen." We all stared at Splash. "What?"

Sunflower yawned, and I noticed how shaky and tired she looked. "We need to go back," I announced, nodding toward Sunflower.

"But—" Splash started.

I growled deeply, and he thought better of arguing. "This way."

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Tra-la-la, tra-traa-la-la, tra-le-la-le-la.

I hummed to myself as Griffy stepped through the undergrowth as quickly as possible without falling. My shortcut to Betsy's went right through the woods in the park. Even though Griffy could not run without falling in here, it was still shorter than going around.

Griffy suddenly stopped. Four small rugged Eevees scampered in front of us.

What the…?

I cursed silently. Why was my life suddenly haunted by Eevees? Eevees were not even supposed to be found in the wild in this area. First Anita has one, then she tells me she has five others that are hurt…

Wait a second. Anita probably picked up her five other Eevees in the morning. What if…?

"Griffy, stop those Eevees with psychic!" I yelled.

I examined the scraggly Pokemon. They definitely looked malnourished, but not starving.

"What do you think, Griffy? Are these Anita's Pokemon?"

{Most definitely. Their thoughts have revealed they are searching for Anita.}

I bit my lip. I really did not want to talk to Anita just yet. She would definitely still be mad. Plus, manicures were half off…

But these Pokemon were more important. I sighed. "Let's go find Anita."

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

"Crud, crap, cruddy crap, crappy crud crap," I whispered to myself as I glanced at my watch. It was already 1:05. I was missing the tournament, I still couldn't find the Eevees, and surely Fiery had figured out that I did not just leave to take a dump by now. I had tried listening for them psychically, but I was too worried to concentrate. The bushes suddenly rumbled.

"Erin!" I exclaimed in surprise as she and Griffy leapt out of the bushes. Then I remember what she had done to me this morning. I growled, "Erin."

Erin grinned madly and winked at me. "Hey there."

I'm sure my face was turning purple with anger, but before I could start shouting, Erin said in a mock serious voice, "I felt so bad about this morning that I decided I had to make it up to you." She gave me a sad, puppy-dog look. "So I brought you a present. Griffy?"

I noticed Griffy's eyes were glowing. Behind the Girafarig floated Sunflower, Splash, Vanilla, and Allo. They struggled against the psychic, but were unharmed. I forgot Erin, ran to the Eevees, and pulled them into a hug as Griffy released the psychic. My worries gone, I was able to open my mind to their thoughts.

Splash squirmed. {Geez, woman. We don't even know you.}

Though I did truly care for the Pokemons' well being, truth be told, I was more worried about Fiery killing me than them getting hurt in the wild.

{Hey, cut it out. You are going to ruin my fur,} Vanilla complained. I let them go and reluctantly turned to Erin.

"I guess I owe you one," I grumbled.

Erin smirked. "I'll keep that in mind."

I looked at my watch again. I really did not want to ask Erin, but…

"Hey, Erin? Do you think you could give me a ride back to the path? I am late for a battle tournament I entered and I need to find Fiery and Apple."

Erin's eyes flashed. "You're entering a battle tournament?"

I nodded.

"Hop right on," Erin invited.

I turned back to the Eevees, who were looking at me in with big adorable eyes. "Alright, we will discuss your actions later. Just don't tell Fiery about this or we'll all be in trouble. For now, return." They disappeared in a flash of red light.

As we raced through though the undergrowth, I plotted the story I was going to tell Fiery. By the time I had pointed out the clearing Apple and Fiery were in, I had thought of a very simple explanation.

"I met Erin in the woods and I became rather distracted as we discussed the happenings of this morning," I explained to Fiery when we finally reached the clearing. Fiery looked confused and turned to Apple for a clearer explanation. I had forgotten that Fiery had not witnessed my argument with Erin this morning.

Apple shrugged. {She and Erin roomed together and had a loud quarrel. Well, Anita was loud anyway.}

I inwardly sighed in relief. Apple had not told Fiery about his siblings getting lost.

"Alright, let's go!" There might be a chance that I would still be able to participate in the tournament, even if it had already started. I hurriedly pulled out a Pokeball to return Fiery.

{Wait,} Fiery demanded. {Where are my brothers and sisters?}

I pulled out their four Pokeballs to show him. Fiery nodded in acceptance, and I returned him to his Pokeball.

{But I still want a hotdog!} Apple whined. {And you owe me big time, Anita.}

{I'll get you one on the way there. Now come on!}

Apple jumped into my arms, and we took off on Griffy.

{Ugh. I forgot how sick this makes me feel,} Apple moaned.

I told Erin and Griffy to stop at the hotdog stand. As soon as we dismounted and Erin returned Griffy to his Pokeball, Apple bellowed, {HOTDOG, HERE I COME!} She raced to the hotdog stand, all traces of motion sickness gone.

I ran after the Eevee. "Apple, NO!" I yelled when I saw what she was going to do. I was too late. Apple pounced at a wide-eyed hotdog salesman and demanded a hot dog. The poor man stumbled backward in surprise, knocking over his stand and spilling hotdogs everywhere. Apple immediately started devouring the spilled meat filled buns.

I quickly reached Apple, but not before she had consumed four of the hotdogs. I scooped her up into my arms to keep her from continuing.

{Enough!} I scowled.

She licked her lips, grinning.

I helped the salesman up with the arm not holding Apple, frantically repeating, "I'm so sorry!"

The disgruntled salesman stared blankly at his fallen stand. He didn't say anything until I reluctantly offered to pay for the damage, and then he finally muttered, "It's fine."

Erin caught up to us just as I was handing the salesman the majority of the money I had saved up in the past few years for my journey. She tapped my shoulder. "Hey, don't you want to go see if you can still participate in the tournament?" She pointed beyond the fallen hotdog stand to a wide field where I could see three battles going on.

"Oh yeah!" I glanced toward the field. I had been so flustered about the fallen hotdog stand that all thoughts of the tournament had left my mind. I hastily handed the salesman a few more dollars for two out of three hotdogs that had not fallen out of the stand. I tossed one hotdog to Erin, muttered another apology to the salesman, and rushed toward the tournament while gobbling my own hotdog.

The salesman behind us was left bewildered. For a moment, he stood in the midst of the sprawled hotdogs and stared at the large wad of cash in his hand—more cash than he would have made in the next six months. The man glanced around shiftily.

Finding no witnesses, the man whistled and walked away.