After that dinner night in Turffield, the three of us decided to head south. That way, we would arrive in Motostoke in just a few days.
And truth be told, the walk so far has been very pleasant, even though it mightn't have seem so from the outside.
You see, I didn't mind traveling alone with Victini. After all, her presence was already an irreplaceable part of my life. However, it can't be denied that Serena also made for a great addition to the group, since, in some way that intrigues me even now, she and Victini manage to somewhat talk to each other. Serena seems to understand what Victini says by intuition or something, at least from the looks of it. Honestly, I stopped questioning myself about it.
Now that Serena has joined us, Victini got somebody else to talk with. And while I definitely appreciate her company, I must admit the extra time does come in quite handy, letting me strategize for upcoming gym battles.
We are now heading towards Motostoke and found ourselves in the middle of a plain made up of sparse grass and some trees strewn around here and there. Originally, we were going to head straight for Motostoke, but apparently there is a lake on the way, so we decided that we would stop there to rest and enjoy ourselves a bit.
As we walked, I looked at the Rotomphone's GPS.
"Is it still a long way? It's been two days since we left Turffield and there still hasn't been any sign of a town or anything really!" Victini said.
"I know, but it looks like we'll be there soon enough," I said and pointed in the direction the water was supposed to be.
With that, we continued walking in silence for some time, until a great blue lake emerged from the horizon. Victini immediately flew towards the lake, which got some laughs from Serena and me who found it quite comical for a fire pokémon to get so excited at the sight of water.
Serena and I continued walking until we were in front of the gigantic lake. In fact, it wasn't even possible to see the lake's source or outlet... Who knows for it how long it stretched on.
We decided to set up camp there, with Victini flying up to the trees, gathering branches to make a fire. Soon enough, we had everything set up and after Serena insisted on cooking for the day, I decided to go for a swim.
Victini preferred to stay with Serena, and after changing into a bathing suit inside my tent, I approached the lake on my own. I slowly dipped my foot into the water, realizing both that the water was quite deep and the temperature was fine. Satisfied with the results, I jumped in without any second thoughts.
As soon as I was underwater, I opened my eyes. I saw several pokémon swimming around - There were some Chewtle, Tympole, Goldeen and to my surprise also a relatively large group of Wooper, which quickly piqued my interest.
I swam closer to the group, careful not to draw unwanted attention from them. As soon as I was close enough, I could see what they were so attracted to.
In the middle of the group was another Wooper. However, it was clearly a lot smaller than the others, which is rather unusual for pokémon. Before I was able to question or properly think about that though, the little Wooper started to charge up a move. However, as soon as he started firing it, he seemed to lose his balance and aimed the move downwards, launching himself straight out of the lake.
I immediately started to swim towards the surface as fast my body would allow me to. When I finally reached the shore, I could see the little Wooper still spraying water, sending him higher, higher and even higher... until he suddenly stopped. Realizing he wasn't going to fall down back into the lake, I got out of the water and started running towards where he was going to land. Arriving just in the nick of time, I barely managed to grab him, though I fell to the ground in the process.
After a few seconds I opened my eyes and, after regaining my bearings, noticed the little Wooper in my arms. Relieved, I released a sigh I didn't know I was holding.
"Hey little guy, I don't think the flying type goes well with Woopers," I said jokingly.
As if nothing unusual happened, it looked at me with the same smiling look that every Wooper seemed to have. "Woo," it replied.
"I think you understand well enough. Let's go, I'll help you get back to the lake," I said and got up from the ground. The Wooper started to waddle behind me.
After a few minutes, we sarrived at our destination, and only then did I realize that I had no idea on which exact part of the lake I even was.
"Now that's just great..." I said. Out of a sudden, I felt something poke my leg. Looking down, it was once again the little Wooper that was headbutting me.
"Well, do you have any ideas, little one?" I asked, and as if to answer me, he started charging another move. Moving away out of caution, I was even more confused when he right after used something that looked like a Water Gun aimed towards the ground, once more sending him flying.
{I think I just found the first case of pokémon self-destructing outside of battles...} I thought and again did my best to fetch the pokémon. After barely managing to catch it, I at least was able to stay on my feet this time.
"Damn dude... I don't know if you understood this the first time, but doing this is a very bad idea!" I said, but not a second later, he jumped out of my arms and started walking. Not really knowing what else to do, I started to follow him.
After a few minutes of seemingly aimless wandering, I took note of a trail of smoke in the darkening sky, a sure sign that night-time was fast approaching.
And after passing through some bushes, I noticed the distant glow of a fire. Eager to not take my chances and spend the night unsheltered, I immediately ran in its direction and before I realized it, I found myself back in our camp.
As I approached, the flaps of Serena's tent opened, making way for Victini. She worriedly looked around until she noticed my presence.
"Harden!" she exclaimed and collided with me, hugging me in the process.
"Hey, hey, calm down, I'm fine," I said.
I already thought I was out of the woods when I managed to finally calm down Victini, only for Serena to come out of her tent and give me a lengthy scolding for disappearing for almost two hours. It was only after I promised that I would never do something like that again that she let me off the hook.
Soon after, the two noticed the little Wooper that accompanied me. It was still standing there looking at us, its expression unchanged.
I explained the whole story of how I found him and subsequently got lost, which left them both as confused as I was.
While I helped Serena make the finishing touches on dinner, Victini played with the little Wooper.
"I mean, don't you think it's too strange of a story? i've seen crazy things before, but a pokémon being launched into the sky by its own attack? Hard to believe..." Serena said.
"It's certainly weird, no doubt about that. I had a look at the Rotomphone data a few minutes ago, but there's nothing like that documented either. But believe me when I say that actually happened," I said.
"Maybe it has something to do with his size? It's pretty apparent that he is way smaller than most other Wooper."
"He's probably also lighter because of that. Maybe he just can't withstand the pressure of the water jet?"
"Does that mean he can't actually attack by using that move?"
"Looks like th-" Before I finished, an idea came to me.
"Or maybe... it's actually something useful," I said. Serena only gave me a confused stare in response.
I got up and walked over to Victini and Wooper.
"Hey there little guy, how about trying something?" I asked and it responded with a "Woop".
"Okay, so how about this: When you're falling, try using Water Gun again to break the fall and land safely." I said and he started jumping around excitedly.
"Uhm... Are you really sure this is a good idea?" Victini asked.
"Well, if I get the feeling that he won't make it, I'll try to grab him. If push comes to shove, you can always catch him using your psychic abilities as well," I said, to which she reluctantly nodded.
The little Wooper started charging another Water Gun. As soon as it was done, he threw his head down, the recoil once more launching him into the air. Victini and I readied ourselves in case something went wrong, but before we could even act, he shot a constant stream of water towards the ground that broke the fall. ...Not enough though, as he was still falling, and very fast.
I started to run towards where the little Wooper would fall, but before I could reach him, he just stopped mid-air, probably thanks to Victini's psychic powers.
While Victini and me were now thoroughly soaked, it was still progress and not bad at all for his first attempt! We both were quite excited... well, at least I was, as Victini didn't seem to enjoy being drenched in water that much if the annoyance in her eyes was anything to go by.
"That. was. incredible! Even if you didn't get it at first, you might be able to land without needing someone to grab you if you train hard!" I said and held the little Wooper, who was saying lots of 'Woops' and doing little jumps.
"That was really impressive." I turned around to see Serena clapping slowly.
"Wasn't it? I still can't believe what I saw," I said, passing the little Wooper to Serena in order to let her praise him even more. Looking around, I noticed Victini a small distance away, soaked and sulking.
Noticing her expression, and remembering some moments from our past, I approached her.
"Hey, don't tell me you're getting jealous again..." I probed. In response, she simply turned her back to me. It started to catch fire, instantly drying herself at the cost of leaving her fur all messed up.
"Uhm, okay, so I guess you don't want help grooming your fur," I said, though it didn't seem to affect her. "Or cuddle to sleep," I added, which seemed to do the trick. She caved in and jumped into my arms.
"Arceus above, when will you understand that you are my partner and that you have nothing to be jealous of?" I said and in response she lightly hit my chest, causing me to laugh.
After all that, the night was calm and the little Wooper decided to stay with us, which we didn't mind.
The next morning, we were once more getting ready to continue on our journey. However, just before we returned to the road, I felt the little Wooper poke my leg.
"Hey little one, what's the matter?" I asked and he just started jumping high enough to match my height.
"...He wants to come with us..." Tini said reluctantly.
"Really?" I turned to him as he simply replied with another "Woo" and more jumping, though this time he was also doing somersaults as if to stress his point.
I smiled and I extended my arm so that he could jump on it. "Well, if that's the case, I'll have to give you a name," I said and he started jumping up and down on my arm.
"Let me think... Kumen? No, too far from the original name. Lusper? Nah, it does not sound good... Well, uhm..." I mumbled. Suddenly, a name sprung to my mind. "How about Quarsh?" I asked, causing him to do even more somersaults in response.
{Thank Arceus he is so light... Otherwise, my arm would hurt for a while,} I thought with a smile and took a pokéball from my belt.
"I hope we'll have a nice journey together," I said and he headbutted the pokeball, which then sucked him inside.
"Well, certainly looks like you have a new friend now," Serena said, which made me laugh a little.
"I think you're right, and his help will prove very useful in the future."
Now with one more addition to the group, I felt even more confident. I was sure to help my new friend use his gift to the fullest.