A/N
Back again with a calmer chapter this time.
Disclaimer: Pokemon does not belong to me or my friend and we take no credit for any of them. The only things that belong to us are the human characters, the personalities of the Pokemon that are central to the story, and the story lines.
Chapter 11: Calm in the Cafeteria
Back in the Resistance, Adria had invited Matt and Tary to join her to get something to eat. Her room wasn't shared with them, so this was the first time they really had contact with one another since being separated in that abandoned base. She didn't seem to mind it, though. The time alone just gave her time to sit and mull over her thoughts and grab hold of reality. Any and all attempts to talk with her were turned down before this. She hadn't been ready for what Alex had told her, and it was taking a day with her brother to heal enough. Although she was likely to have nightmares in the future, she seemed just fine now, at the table with a plate of her favorite Onigiri triangle balls with steamed vegetables or meat hidden inside.
They weren't as good as Mom's, though.
Matt and Tary had joined her for food. Seeing that they were kind of stuck in the Resistance for now, they had nothing else to do and no one else to talk to. If it was safe to stay here, so they wouldn't be caught by Alex, they were fine with that. It was just strange to be surrounded by strange people in a strange building; Matt wasn't even sure where the building was in the region. It didn't really matter, in the long run. Right now, he was just happy to be reunited with his sister.
Tary hadn't spoken a word to anyone other than Matt; the strange atmosphere was making her nervous and she didn't much like to be surrounded by so many strangers. The Growlithe that Matt had released hadn't left her side for a minute and was constantly running around her ankles and carefully watching any strangers that happened to get too close.
Ender had taken to exploring a little bit and getting to know his surroundings more. The people here were nice enough; Benn was good company and Ender rather enjoyed observing the little boy in an attempt to prove his prior theory. Ender seemed more outgoing and talkative than either Matt or Tary, and was pretty good at getting along with people.
Now, he was with Matt, Tary, and Adria, curiously examining what they were eating. The rather familiar food was nice. Matt and Tary seemed to be enjoying it, though Tary was just as quiet and withdrawn as ever. The bruises were still prominent on her exposed skin, just as the bandage over Matt's eye was glaringly obvious. Despite this, Matt seemed to be more relaxed and friendly now that his mission had been accomplished.
Adria was relatively silent at the table as well, but this time it wasn't because of what had happened. She merely observed the odd atmosphere and wondered how she could get Tary to maybe open up a tiny bit, or at least say hello. This building was strange indeed and filled with so many different people. The organization was in Viridian, going under the alias of a Lava Lamp distribution company and, to keep that up, they really did have to distribute lava lamps.
Adria never understood why it was lava lamps, though apparently it was all the founders could think of. Otherwise, it would have looked mighty shady to find people running in and out of an abandoned building. The base was underneath the building, stretching to outside the town perimeter for a back entrance, where few people went. The facility was large, and it was unclear on how it got there.
But that didn't matter at the moment. "The chefs here make good food. Not as good as my Mom's, though," Adria began. Then she thought back to when Matt took over her kitchen at Nathan's house. "Oh, but your cooking was also amazing, Matt!" she added, grinning widely. Adria loved food. "Where did you learn to cook like that?"
Matt offered his attention when Adria began to speak. He smiled slightly as she brought up the topic of the small meal he had cooked before they had run off in search of his sister. "Self-taught. After Alex left, it was just me, Tary, and my dad. Dad can't cook worth a damn, so we learned how to cook for ourselves," implying that Tary, despite only being 11, could also cook a decent meal. It was necessary to be able to do so when living under the same roof as their father.
"Dad made a turkey come to life..." Tary's voice was soft, and tiny, as she contributed her small part to the conversation.
Matt smiled slightly at the memory, though it was just a little bit bitter. "Yeah, I wasn't exaggerating when I said my dad can't cook. It gets ugly when we leave him in the kitchen. An exploding microwave is nothing compared to the damage he can do." Matt still remembered the mess that had been made in the microwave in Nathan's house; Adria obviously wasn't adept at cooking. Matt and Tary, on the other hand, had learned to be good because otherwise they would be eating store-bought, pre-prepared, or take-out food. Although nice every once in a while, a good home-cooked meal was always the best.
Adria's smile widened and she laughed uncontrollably at the idea of a turkey coming to life. She hadn't had a good laugh like that in a while. The idea of bringing a turkey to life because of the insane lack of cooking skills was something incredible in itself. Tears pricked her eyes as she found it difficult to breathe; she really shouldn't laugh at these things, it was bad for her lungs.
"O-oh that's beautiful!" she chugged down some water to get herself to calm down a bit. She hadn't laughed like that in a long time. "I'll bet that was a horrible experience." Although funny to look back on, she hoped.
Matt was amused by just how amusing she found the story to be. It hadn't been quite as funny when it had actually happened, but it was rather amusing to look back on now. "I think it chased Dad out of the kitchen and then took a flying leap out the nearest window."
Tary had cracked a small smile at the sight of Adria laughing so hard she was almost crying. Laughter and happiness tended to be infectious, so even the withdrawn little girl couldn't help but smile at the sight. It was nice to smile every once in a while; Tary just hadn't felt like smiling lately.
"We try not to let him cook anymore. It usually ends in bad things." Ender put forth his two cents into the conversation. He, too, could remember when their father had made a mess of the kitchen and brought the turkey to life one year.
Adria's laughter died down to a few chuckles lest she choke on her food. The last thing she wanted was to die by food. "Was it for that American Holiday, erm…?" What was it called again? Welcome Giving? Welcome Thanks? Thanks Welcome? Thanks Giving? "Thanksgiving, I think it's called?" she asked. It was strange to celebrate it, Adria thought, but each family had their traditions. Each family was different in their own way and came from different parts of the world. They could have different celebrations and traditions. Adria just thought it was strange.
Matt smiled. "Heard of it, but never celebrated it. It was for Christmas one year. Dad was trying to make it extra special and have a full holiday meal. Didn't turn out quite like he planned, though, what with the turkey escaping and the rest of the food growing some sort of blue mold. We decided to eat out that year." None of them had wanted to get food poisoning from whatever mysterious fungus had taken root on their food. That was alright; Christmas turned out to be good anyway, despite the small setback.
Adria beamed. "Christmas!" In Japan, Christmas wasn't as widely celebrated as it was in the US. Until her father came into the picture, her mother, Jun, had never celebrated Christmas because the holiday wasn't as big. But her father loved Christmas with a passion and, being that he didn't originate in Japan, celebrated it yearly. He brought it to the family, and Adria was brought up on the same traditions he taught her mother when they were younger.
Adria didn't know any other families who really celebrated Christmas. Most people who celebrated it just kind of threw on a hat and gave a present to someone while sitting around a 2-foot Christmas tree. They decorated by stringing some lights and decor, but it was never a grand celebration. "You guys celebrate it too? That's awesome!"
Matt chuckled slightly at the wide-eyed, excited response to the knowledge that they celebrated Christmas, as well. It was an exciting, lovely holiday. Neither of his parents were fully Japanese; they had mixed backgrounds and ancestry, so they picked up some odd traditions like Christmas and celebrated it more than people normally would in this country. "It's a fun family holiday. We love Christmas and spending the time just enjoying each other's company."
"Presents are fun too. Plus the cookies!" Ender butted into the conversation again. Ender loved Christmas cookies. In fact, he loved cookies period. Ghosts didn't really have to eat, but that didn't mean he couldn't eat; he enjoyed sweet things and there were always cookies and sweets in the house around Christmas time.
Adria grinned, nodding eagerly in agreement with Ender. "Oh yes! The presents and the cookies I think are the best. Dad often ordered Ginger Bread House kits for us from out of the country. You don't find them really around here, so he feeds money to his dad and grandpa ships it over here – often he'll send the money plus whatever else right back to dad," she grinned. "I like making the gingerbread house. But it's difficult; Nathan and I eat all the candy before the house is built," she grinned wider. "The cookies are the best part, though! I'm a fan of sugar over gingerbread, but gingerbread is good too. Nathan likes gingerbread more." She looked over to Tary. "What about you?"
Tary seemed startled to be put on the spot by Adria, withdrawing into herself slightly as she sought an answer. Favorite cookie? Off the top of her head it was hard to think. Cookies were good, though, but what kind specifically? "Sugar."
Matt was slightly amused with his little sister; she had always been rather quiet and that hadn't changed in the time he had been away. Even in front of Adria, who was obviously friendly and somewhat-friends with Matt, Tary was withdrawn and shy. At least Adria had gotten an answer out of her. "Tary's really good at baking. She makes some awesome sugar cookies. My personal favorite, though, are the peanut butter cookies she makes."
Ender seconded Matt's comment, making Tary go a rather vibrant shade of red in embarrassment. "She makes really good cookies. I love the peanut butter ones, too!"
Adria beamed. "Really?!" She looked cookies. Cookies and chocolates and sweets in general were amazing. Adria loved chocolate the best. She was impartial for chocolate-flavored things, but loved just straight chocolate. "I'll definitely have to try your cookies." She was no doubt going to be looking forward to it. "Cookies are great. I remember Nathan and I used to make cookies," she paused. "Well, he made them while I watched," she continued, "and they were very delicious inside; the chocolate melted in our mouths and the cookie crumbled almost as soon as we touched them. I was 7 at the time. They had chocolate in them, but I don't remember what else was in them," she laughed a bit. "By the time we finished, we were sick of cookies. But it was fun making them, I remember."
Matt laughed a little as well, enjoying the short snippet of a story. Making cookies was fun. Matt had seen firsthand how poor Adria was when it came to cooking, when she had made the microwave explode, but he had also been warned by Benn not to eat anything that Adria cooked. It was no surprise that Nathan did most of the actual baking when it came to baking cookies.
"I think the last time we really sat down and made cookies together was last Christmas." Matt had been busy traveling and exploring, but had come home to celebrate Christmas with his family. It had been a wonderful little holiday and he had been able to spend more time with his little sister. "As for your special cookies, have you tried finding the recipe?" Either online or otherwise, if it existed it could probably be found.
Adria shook her head. "No. It wasn't so much a recipe as it was just adding more things into an already existing recipe to make it tastier. I do remember, however, that we'd put a lot of colored sprinkles on top." She grinned even wider, taking another bite into her onigiri.
Something brown and beige and very fluffy hopped up on the table from the floor nearby Tary and sniffed at her food curiously. Adria giggled. The Buneary liked food, and she liked Tary, too, though she liked just about anyone who had food. Hopping down from the table, she hopped up again by Matt, sniffing him and his food as well. She liked food, though she liked sweet things and honey the most. Adria named her Honey because when they first met, it was in a store and the Pokémon had shattered jars of honey onto the floor, then tried licking her fur clean of the sweet, sticky mess. Needless to say, the shop keeper wasn't happy. Several people chipped in to pay for the damage.
Waka, who had been lying peacefully by Tary's feet, looked up at the inquisitive Pokémon that had gotten close to his trainer and sized her up from his position. He didn't immediately smell danger, but he hadn't smelled anything wrong with James either and that had turned out to be a huge mistake. Now he was being extra careful with anyone that dared to come close to the little girl, including Adria and her tiny, fluffy Pokémon named Honey.
Matt was also watching the little brown Pokémon, though was way more relaxed about it than Waka was. It was just an adorable little Pokémon that he had met before and he patted her on the head as she sniffed at his food. "Colored sprinkles make everything taste better, I think," he mused aloud, smiling at the thought.
Tary was too busy watching the Buneary to participate in the conversation. It was an adorable Pokémon, honest to goodness, but Tary did wonder if the little thing was going to try to steal their food from the way she was running around sniffing at it all.
Honey was of no harm to anyone. She was too small and too cute to do anything other than steal food from people. She liked sweet things, and she seemed to be more interested in what Tary was eating, returning to her from Matt's side and sniffing her food even more. She turned large, cute and begging eyes upon Tary. She liked Tary, too, but at the moment she was more interested in the food that Tary was eating. She also seemed to like the red puppy underneath, but she was still more interested in the food that the girl was eating. "Indeed," Adria agreed, watching her Buneary closely. She was curious to see how Tary, the meek little girl, would react to such adoring eyes.
Tary seemed more uncomfortable than anything. Although the Pokémon was adorable, she wasn't familiar with it. She'd been taught not to play with unfamiliar Pokémon for safety reasons and the same generally went to sharing food with strange Pokémon. Of course, Tary was aware that Honey belonged to Adria, but she didn't make a move to do anything with the Pokémon and didn't seem to have the slightest clue of what to do. She looked to Matt for help.
Her brother, of course, came to her rescue and tugged gently on Honey's ear. "Leave her alone, you great fluff ball," his tone was calm, resigned, and faintly amused. Retracting his hand, he broke off a piece of his own food and held it out to the Pokémon to take so she might stop staring at Tary and making her nervous.
The small Buneary gave a squeal in protest from Matt's tugging and telling her to leave Tary alone until she saw the food he was offering her. She swiped it from Matt and nibbled on it to see if she liked it. Once she was satisfied, she hopped down and away from Tary and over to Matt's side once again, sitting down next to him.
Adria smiled a bit more. "She's a food scavenger," she commented softly, glancing over to Tary. "Sorry if she made you uncomfortable," Adria wanted to see her reaction, so she hadn't pulled her troublesome rabbit away from the young girl. Maybe after a little while she'd be more open enough to interact with Honey like Honey wanted.
Matt smiled slightly at the fluffy Pokémon that seemed perfectly happy now that he had given her food. He patted her on the head, tousling her fur slightly before returning to eating. Occasionally, he passed Honey a bite of his food. He didn't mind sharing with the relatively familiar Pokémon.
Tary shrugged slightly to Adria; casting her gaze around the room while nibbling lightly on the food they had been provided. It was good; Tary hadn't been able to sit down and cook a proper meal in a little while, so the food was appreciated. This was such a strange place, though, and it was making her uncomfortable. Too many people she didn't know; too much going on. At least Matt was there. Matt was picking up on her discomfort and searched about for a topic that might help draw her out, or at least get another small conversation going. "So... Nathan works here? At, uh... 'The Resistance', right?"
Adria's eye flicked over to Matt briefly then returned to her food. "Yeah," she answered. "As I said, this place is pretty secretive to the public. They focus more on Team Rocket and such, and some of the bigger criminals that seem to avoid the police the most. Some, though, they don't hear about until someone says something," by that, she was talking about Alex. "Nathan's only a rookie, though; he's still learning and is sent to get the smaller missions with a partner rather than going alone, like some other people do. But I hear the guy who runs this place prefers that people go out in pairs. Maddie also works here, though she's a techie and only part-time," she shrugged. "But I think the funniest part about this place is that it's run under the alias of a Lava Lamp Factory."
Matt smiled, pleased that he had gotten another conversation started that might be able to go somewhere rather than petering out and leaving them in a somewhat awkward silence. "A lava lamp factory, you say? They make decent lava lamps?" That would be both interesting and curious; apparently this was a super secret organization that conspired to defeat the evil organizations and other criminals and they were based on top of a lava lamp factory. Those things just didn't seem to go together.
Adria smiled. "Yeah. Above us is a Lava Lamp factory. They make lava lamps, though not nearly as many as other factories, and sell or distribute them. It's only to keep the cover, really. It would be strange to see so many people walking into a building that's absolutely abandoned if there was nothing inside. The founders used their own pocket money to purchase this place, I think after learning there was this massive base underneath," she explained. "I think they think this was a very old abandoned Rocket Base. The Government is funding this operation and has stationed other bases over the regions. This one is actually in Viridian," which meant that it was nearby where Matt and Tary lived.
"Really?" Matt seemed intrigued by the location of the base. "Hard to believe we've been living so close to a bustling underground government base without knowing a single thing, eh?" He glanced to Tary to see what she thought and she gave him a nod in response. She had been listening curiously to the information about the base. They were already inside and underground; neither of them had been conscious when they had been brought here, so they previously had no idea where they actually were. It was kind of weird to think that they were in some giant sprawling underground base at that very moment. "How are things going, anyway? Taking down the Rockets, I mean."
"It's going good, I believe," Though Adria wasn't a member of the organization she got information from Maddie and her brother Nathan. "Nathan says that there's an increased activity in kidnapping Pokémon. It doesn't seem like they're being used to be sold, either. He thinks that there's something more going on, and we'll only find out in the future." Adria took another bite, quiet for a moment while thinking about something. "James is being sought out for this, as well. One of Maddie's co-workers had gotten a hold of personal files from one of the bases. They analyzed it and found James's name in it; everyone else fled to other bases, or died before they could be caught. There's no doubt James knows about what's going on, either. And I think he's pretty high up in the Rocket Bases, too, so there's no way he doesn't know what's going on."
"So James is actually part of the Rockets?" Not exactly surprising, but Matt hadn't got that sort of vibe from the man. It really seemed like James had almost nothing to do with Team Rocket. He had teamed up with Alex to take down a couple of kids that weren't really involved in anything, after all, and that didn't really seem like something a Rocket would do. In any case, it was an interesting fact to know about the man. "Speaking of James... why, exactly was he after you?" Adria knew about Alex and how she was related to Matt and Tary, but Matt still didn't know very much about the man that had attacked him and practically destroyed one of his eyes. Despite that being an accident, it was still James's fault that it had happened.
Adria bit her lip, glancing away for a moment and looking around, almost nervously. She saw Sam interacting with a Weedle and feeding it some of his food in the other corner of the room. He looked quite happy to be with his Weedle. "It's understandable that you see him as not a Rocket, really," Adria began, reading Matt's thoughts. "He's not actively Rocketing. He's just kind of there to scare the rookies into doing what they're told, I guess. But everything he does isn't related to being a Rocket. I guess it just kind of keeps him off the roads and out of the open outside for a change every once in a while." As for his question about why he was attacking... Well, the answer seemed very complicated to Adria. If Matt saw James's face, then he had to see the similarity between Nathan and James. Nathan was, after all, the spitting image of his father, and his father had a twin brother.
Adria seemed a bit more hesitant to answer this question. She really didn't mean to fall on the topic of James, but they had thanks to her big, running mouth.
Matt noticed how nervous he had become and decided to backtrack when she stopped speaking; this topic wasn't important enough to talk about right now, so soon after their rescue from the abandoned base. "You know what, never mind. It's not important right now." He could find out later from someone that wasn't so intimately intertwined with James and his crazy antics. Besides Tary hadn't seemed exactly comfortable about talking about that man; he must have been the one that had caught her and brought her to that stupid base.
Ender, meanwhile, had wandered away from the conversation. They could handle themselves for a little while, but Ender wanted to go speak to the kid and figure out if his theory was right. It didn't seem like it was all that hard to figure out, though that may just be because Ender could speak two languages. He examined the Weedle, but couldn't immediately identify the gender. /What's your Weedle's name?/ This time, when he opened his mouth and spoke it wasn't Japanese that came out. It was a strange combination of sounds that his species of Pokémon made when they spoke to one another. It was a form of Pokéspeech.
Adria's gaze fell back onto the food she was nibbling at, feeling a bit bad she couldn't answer. "I'll..." she frowned. "I'll tell you later," she promised Matt, glancing to catch his gaze. "Just not now, though. But I'll tell you later." She herself didn't know why he was going after her. In all honesty, it could have been for another reason that he was doing it, or so she'd like to believe. But that wasn't the case. She didn't want to believe the answer she already had.
Sam didn't pay all too much attention to who was speaking, just letting his Weedle nibble on her food, amused with her. "I've named her Hornet because she'll be a Beedrill, and hornets are a species of bees. She'll sting if she doesn't like you," he answered automatically before realizing that the speaker wasn't a human.
Matt offered a smile to try to put her at ease. "It's alright. I won't make you share if you don't want to. If I'm desperate for information, which I'm not, I'd ask someone else. The Resistance has some knowledge of James, after all, so I could ask anyone else." Besides, it wasn't really important to him to know how Adria was connected to James. He had just been a little curious because the man had attacked him with his Pokémon and Matt had ended up losing his eye in the process. It wasn't important enough that he would make Adria uncomfortable and put her off to more conversation.
Ender smiled widely. "I knew it, I was right! How fascinating." It was probably not exactly a good thing that he had kind of tricked Sam into speaking, but Ender was just honestly, innocently curious. He moved to get a better look at the Weedle. "She's cute. Where'd you meet her?"
Adria gave him a small smile in reply. She didn't want to talk about it at the moment. In the future, if Matt knew, he'd likely understand her hesitance to explain it to him. After all, it was the same situation that he was in, or relatively similar. He was sure to understand the hesitance in her explanation. "Alright," she agreed quietly, nibbling on her food once again.
Sam was startled to see that it was Ender the moment he'd said something, and it didn't seem all too pleased to have been tricked like that. He fell quiet for the moment, feeding himself a spoonful of miso. "Viridian Forest," he answered, glancing over to Hornet as she nibbled on the soggy seaweed piece he'd given her. "I was five."
Matt was glad to have restored the peace to their conversation. Tary had been watching silently, not wanting to speak about the strange man that had caught her, either. She didn't like him; he was scary and had threatened her and hurt her with his Scizor. She still liked Scizor, though; Riley was one of her most favorite Pokémon ever.
Matt allowed the conversation to dwindle for the moment, not wanting it to return to the unpleasant topic of the two insane people that were after them.
Ender admired the tiny little Pokémon. Bug Pokémon were not the most popular with a lot of trainers, but the Weedle was adorable. "She's cute... Sam, I do hope you'll forgive me for that. I was merely curious about your abilities. I've not yet run across someone who could understand Pokémon."
Adria allowed the silence to settle a bit, glancing back over to where Ender had wandered to see the interaction between him and the boy, Sam. Sam was young and he loved Pokémon. He had one best friend who was human, but other than that he was a shy boy. Adria had to wonder what interest Ender held in him.
Sam nibbled his lips for a moment then nodded. "Yes..." he nodded. "I-it's okay I guess," the blond little boy shrugged. "I... guess an ability like this is a bit uncommon..." It was an understatement, but it was clear that Sam didn't mean it by that. He stroked his little crooning Weedle. It was clear she loved him a lot. And he adored her, too.
Ender smiled slightly. "Uncommon is an understatement kid. I've never met a person that could actually understand what we say and Matt and I have been all over the place." They'd seen a lot of people and had done a lot of things while they traveled yet they had never come across someone like Sam. "Would it be prying too far if I asked how?" It was clear that Ender was just genuinely curious about the ability and what it stemmed from. He had to wonder where something like that came from.
Sam was quiet for a moment, pondering on if he should answer or not. "Yes," he said. But he could sense that he wanted to know why. Everyone was curious about it, after all. "I think... dad says it's tied to the old legends of the Viridian Forest," he answered after another moment. "Like Yellow from long ago, and Lance, and Giovanni," he added. "I connect with the Pokémon, but the worst I can heal is a paper cut," he admitted. Lance was known to read thoughts, control Hyper Beams, and heal his Pokémon. Yellow was able to control a Pokéball and heal her Pokémon and read their thoughts.
Ender listened intently to Sam's explanation, nodding slightly indicate that he understood what the kid was talking about. He had vaguely heard of some of the stories of Viridian and the almost mystical Viridian Forest. "Fascinating, kid. I won't ask any more questions. I think it's an amazingly useful ability, though. A lot of Pokémon have a lot to say. Being able to speak the same language as someone else helps to make friends closer, too." He glanced down at Hornet again to emphasize his point. Sam would become closer to Pokémon than most people could ever dream because he had the uncommon ability of understanding them.
Sam couldn't hide the blush that was spreading across his cheeks at the praise. He was very close to the Pokémon. He was very close to his Weedle and other Pokémon, and also had made friends with the Diglett that Benn brought back when he brought Matt back as well. "Thank you..." he smiled up to Ender, looking a bit more open than he did three minutes ago. It was fascinating, he guessed. The power to understand Pokémon was an amazing ability that Sam had. He grew closer to his Pokémon because he could understand them. It was all for the better.
It was good to see the kid smile and blush; he didn't look as withdrawn and uncomfortable now. It was a much better look for the kid. Ender was pleased that he'd made Sam smile; he was also amused to have made him blush with the compliments. He had been serious, though, when he was talking about the amazing ability of being able to speak with Pokémon. "You're welcome."
If only more people had an ability like that the world would probably be a better place; people would get along with Pokémon even more than they did now and maybe there wouldn't be as much Pokémon-related crime in the world. Maybe. Maybe not, but it was an interesting thought nonetheless.
Sam took another moment to regain his composure, but kept the smile. "You should also be careful," he began. "A talking Pokémon who understands human language is truly wonderful. I imagine most would find it fascinating to have a common language between them and their team. But Team Rocket's been increasing their thieving ways. We... don't know what they're up to, but a talking Pokémon will only draw their attention. I'm not saying you should talk normally when they're around, but be careful. Odds are they might go after you because of your language abilities for some reason..."
The warning was appreciated and the fact that Sam had also just complimented him made Ender smile. Sometimes it was nice to be complimented on the ability; learning the human language was hard. "Thanks for the warning, kid. I think I'll be okay. I'm a ghost, after all, and it's hard to pin down a ghost. They can't catch me unless they've got my Pokéball, and sometimes Matt doesn't even know where he put it." Ender practically never retreated into the ball. He preferred to be out and about with his trainer where he could talk and experience the world.
Sam smiled a bit wider and nodded his understanding. "I understand that. The same thing goes for my dad's Pokémon, Bebe. She's a Beautifly and calls herself his 'First' because she was his first Pokémon as a child. She's always fluttering around here somewhere and never retreats into a Pokéball. I don't even know if she has a Pokéball anymore," he laughed at the thought, "and she perches on the heads of people she likes and kisses them with her nose. She likes to do that. Although it would be easier to catch her, she's fast."
Ender chuckled a little at the kid's explanation of the Beautifly that never retreated to her Pokéball. It was much better out in the real world, honestly. Things were prettier and more vibrant, though having a Pokéball was sometimes good for ease of travel. Sometimes a Pokéball was good for safety. There were good things about having a Pokéball, but Ender much preferred the outside world. "Sounds like bug Pokémon run in the family." He commented offhandedly. Bug Pokémon were not usually a major part of older, more experienced trainers' teams. They were generally weaker than most other Pokémon and didn't have a lot of strength or speed going for them, but it was nice to see that some people didn't care about things like that and made friends instead. "She sounds like a nice Pokémon, though." Friendly, certainly.
Sam liked bug Pokémon, but he had other reasons to like his little Weedle. And his father liked Bebe because she was his first Pokémon from when they were younger. Naturally, they'd be best friends and he'd keep her. He loved her very much just as she loved him very much. "She is very friendly and very nice. Maybe she'll fly in and meet your trainer or that girl," he gestured to Matt and Tary over at the other table. It was likely that Bebe would do something like that. She loved getting attention from anyone and everyone who was nice and not evil in any sort of way. She was an attention-hog.
Ender glanced back over to his trainer and the little girl that was sitting closer to him than she maybe normally would have. It was clear she was still feeling a little uncomfortable in this environment and Ender couldn't blame her for that. She was shy and withdrawn and didn't like to spend so much time around this many strangers. "I dunno. Matt would be more than happy, but I think she'd just make Tary nervous. Everything is making her nervous today." It worried him a little to see her so uneasy. Ender was close to the two humans – he had grown up with them, after all – so he didn't like to see either of them uncomfortable. It hurt to see them as injured as they were, too; Matt seemed to be doing fine overall, but Tary was more withdrawn than he would have liked.
Sam understood what he was talking about. He understood being withdrawn and being shy. He understood about being nervous in an unfamiliar environment around strangers. Long ago, Sam felt that same way, as well. Only a few years back he'd finally managed to get used to these odd surroundings and relax. But to wake up in such a strange place wasn't all that good for someone who was naturally shy. "I see..." he fed his little Weedle another piece of soggy seaweed from his Miso. "Perhaps I should warn Bebe before she goes by and visits."
"Perhaps that would be good. Though... if I may be so bold to suggest, maybe she'd feel better if someone her own age spoke with her." It was an obvious hint to Sam that maybe he should try to talk to the little girl. They were close to the same age and seeing someone else as young as her might put Tary a little more at ease. Maybe they could find things in common. "You've got a few things in common already, I think. You both love Pokémon, you both have a bug-type Pokémon with you – she's got a Butterfree – and you're both close to the same age," Ender ticked things off on his fingers as he listed off similarities. Ender had gotten a look at Tary's team and had noted what Pokémon she had on it. There was a little Butterfree there, a Pokémon she had probably picked up in the Viridian Forest as she passed through.
Sam tilted his head a bit to the idea of going and talking to her. Would it made her feel a bit better to talk to someone else relatively her age?
Sam mentally put himself in her position and thought about it before agreeing with his idea. "I... I guess I can do that," Sam agreed. He wouldn't like being in such an uncomfortable situation; he'd like to meet someone his age, too. It would be nice to meet someone his age or relatively his age. "Um... when, though?" he asked, fiddling with the ladle-spoon in his fingers. It wasn't like he had anything to do that day, so any time, really, was good for him. But he didn't know when it would be a good time for her.
"Whenever you're feeling comfortable about it. I'd suggest maybe later when they're not in a place with so many other people. She might be more willing to talk if there aren't so many people around. But thank you for at least considering. I don't like seeing her so uncomfortable." Really, Ender was almost like a second older brother to Tary; he was just as protective as Matt was over her and he hated to see her unhappy. She was looking rather unhappy at the moment. The Haunter took another glance over at the girl before looking back to Sam. He offered the kid a smile. "You could let whatever Pokémon you have meet whatever Pokémon she has. Maybe they can make friends."
Sam nodded quietly in agreement. Yeah, he could probably do that. Hornet would like to meet the Butterfree. Sam spent majority of his childhood when he was five and up in the forest, so there was a small chance that he may have known the Caterpie that was now Tary's Butterfree, or maybe as a Metapod, but he'd not seen very many free-roaming Butterfree. "Alright. I'll... I'll drop by a bit later," he agreed. He knew that he'd like to talk to someone his age when in a strange and unknown place. So it made sense to Sam what Ender said.
Ender smiled. "I'll probably see you then. Until then, though, I'm going to rejoin their conversation. Enjoy your lunch with Hornet." He waved his good-bye to the little boy and began to head back to where Matt and Adria were sitting with the little girl that had shortly been the subject of Sam's conversation with Ender. Things had at least relaxed between Adria and Matt; it was nice to see them getting along relatively well now that Matt wasn't so high strung about his sister being missing. Things seemed to have finally settled down.
