Ch. 8 - She Has A Heart After All!

Carrie, Tori, and Nichole returned to their seats in the stands as Sam and Falkner took their spots on the battlefield. Much to Carrie's surprise, Nichole seemed to be focused more on her than the battle-to-be. Carrie shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"He's going to get crushed," she said in an attempt to distract herself.

Tori was the first to respond. "Don't say that! He might be, like, totally fashion challenged and clumsy, and… clueless… but… well, maybe you're right."

"Have you actually seen him battle?" Nichole asked shyly, still staring at Carrie.

"Well… no," Carrie admitted. "We'd tried to battle once, but…" She remembered how that battle went and made a mental note to buy him a new tent first thing after leaving the gym. She decided the other girls didn't need to know that fact, though. "…It got interrupted about two moves in. I haven't seen him battle since."

"You shouldn't do that," Nichole said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Do what?"

"Make assumptions," Nichole whispered, flinching back as Carrie turned to glare hotly at her. "I-I mean… if you don't know his battle style…"

"Nichole, the fact that I beat this guy is a miracle in itself. Even I'm not naïve enough to think it was more than a fluke. Sam is a mess. He'll be lucky to take down even one of Falkner's Pokémon."

"We're about to find out," Tori intruded. "Now shush, they're starting! They've already chosen their Pokémon!"

Carrie and Nichole glared at each other for another few seconds before looking towards the field. Falkner's Pokémon was a rather large creature, with brown feathers, two long, skinny legs, and three feathery heads with necks as skinny as its legs. Sam, meanwhile, had chosen his newest Pokémon, Mareep.

"He's screwed up already, see?" Carrie pointed, a smug smile on her face.

"No he hasn't," Nichole whispered, sinking down in her seat as Carrie glared at her again. "E-Electric-types have the advantage against flying-types."

"He just caught that Mareep yesterday, that's why he wasn't watching the tournament. I doubt he's even trained it. Nevermind the type advantage, Falkner's Pokémon has more experience. Besides, it doesn't even have wings, how is it supposed to fly? I see no type advantage here. What the hell is that thing, anyway?"

"You have a pokédex, use it," Tori snapped. "Now shh!"

Down on the field, the battle had begun. Sam moved first, ordering a Thundershock. Unfortunately, Carrie was right. The Mareep obeyed, but rather than targeting Falkner's Dodrio, the electric sheep blasted Sam instead.

"Dodrio, Quick Attack!" Falkner ordered. His large bird was more than willing to comply, and ran hastily forward. Surprisingly fast, the bird crossed the field in a matter of seconds, ramming itself hard into Sam's Mareep, who until then had been laughing in the face of his trainer.

"Mareep! Are you okay?" Sam cried as he stood himself up, smoking slightly. "Please, listen to me! We have to slow it down! Thunder Wave!"

Mareep either decided to trust Sam, or simply agreed with him on this one issue, but whatever the reason, Mareep stood up and launched a tiny blue electrical surge at Dodrio.

Dodrio, however, easily avoided the blast with its natural speed, without an order. Mareep tried again, but this time Dodrio jumped into the air, quite high. Sam looked up in awe as the bird nearly rammed its heads into the roof before coming crashing down on Sam's side of the field. Falkner wasted no time taking advantage of his shock.

"Fury Attack now!"

Before Mareep even turned around, Dodrio was on it, jabbing furiously with each of its three beaks. Mareep cried out in pain as blood lightly stained his yellow wool. But suddenly, Dodrio stopped, as if it were frozen.

"Oh damn it," Falkner muttered.

"What's Dodrio doing?" Carrie asked.

"Nothing," Tori replied. "Mareep's Static paralyzed it."

"Static?"

Tori sighed. "Mareep's special ability. You know they store electrical energy in their wool. Some of it can get discharged when an opponent makes contact, and paralyze them, just like a Thunder Wave."

"Quick Mareep, return!" Sam called, holding out Mareep's pokéball. The worn down sheep glared at him, but swallowed his pride and allowed the recall.

"So much for type advantage," Carrie said, casting a glare at Nichole once again. This time, though, she kept her eyes focused on the battlefield, though she looked as though it wasn't without great effort. "Interesting," Carrie continued. "Both of us had to recall our ace in the first battle."

"Go, Abra!" Sam shouted, throwing his pokéball to the field, revealing his most trusted partner. The thing looked asleep, as usual.

"Hm…" Falkner mumbled. "Dodrio, Quick Attack!"

With a loud cry that reminded Carrie of her alarm clock back home, Dodrio took off running again. This time, Sam was ready.

"Abra, Teleport!"

Just before Dodrio collided with the sleeping Abra, it vanished. Sam screamed as he dove sideways to avoid Dodrio, who was running too fast to stop and crashed into the wall of the arena. Abra, meanwhile, reappeared in the center of the field.

"We got it now! Hidden Power!"

"Dodrio, Rage!"

As several multicolored balls of energy encircled Abra, Dodrio let out a deafening cry, turned around, and charged Abra. The tiny Pokémon squeaked, losing his concentration and therefore causing his attack to fade into nothing, while Dodrio came barreling into him, sending him flying into the wall behind Falkner.

"Now, Peck attack, Dodrio!" Falkner ordered.

"Abra, stop it with Confusion!"

"Maybe he does have it in him," Carrie said, more to herself than anyone else. "Nothing can stop that."

She was quickly proved wrong, however. Abra cast his blue glow all around the arena, momentarily snaring Dodrio, but the bird's rage proved more powerful than Abra's mental abilities, and rather easily forced itself to run on, much to Sam's surprise. Abra looked visibly worn from his failed attempt to stop Dodrio, and had no other option to Teleport away at the last second, again leaving Dodrio to crash into a wall. The relentless bird didn't give in, however, and almost immediately turned around and sped towards Abra yet again, now hovering just above the ground in front of Sam.

"Abra, look out!" Sam cried, knowing Dodrio was much too fast for Abra to launch any kind of offensive before being struck.

As fortune would have it, however, the paralysis kicked in a second time, causing Dodrio to freeze up just about a third of the way across the battlefield and topple over. Sam tried to make the most of the opportunity.

"Abra, Teleport onto Dodrio's back and use Confusion!"

Ever loyal, Abra obeyed. Dodrio screeched in pain, being unable to do anything else. However it quickly regained control of its muscles and stood up, causing Abra to tumble off.

"Teleport out of there, hurry!"

"Enough of this. Dodrio, use Pursuit!"

Just as Abra teleported away, Dodrio vanished in a flash of black. Abra reappeared, for safety's sake, a few feet from the roof of the building, though the strain of the constant teleporting and hovering left him to wobble in the air unsteadily. Unfortunately for him, Dodrio reappeared a second later behind Abra, again in a flash of Dark-Type energy, and rammed into Abra, both of them hitting the ground hard. Though worn, Dodrio shakily stood up once again, but Abra was out cold.

"Nice try," Falkner said as Sam recalled his partner, looking heartbroken. "Trying to use your friend's strategy yourself. Your Abra just isn't built for that kind of physical endeavor."

"Yeah, well, your Dodrio's weak now, Abra did his job," Sam shot back, looking just as confident as ever. "So let's win this one, Mareep! Thundershock!"

As the sheep burst from his pokéball, Dodrio took off running. With a very weak-sounding "Maaah!" that caused Sam's face to fall, the sheep hurled a bolt of electricity at the oncoming bird. By some stroke of luck, paralysis kicked in for a third time just as Dodrio attempted to jump, and the bird took the brunt of the blast, toppling over and, with a final cry, submitted to unconsciousness.

"Hah!" Sam shouted in victory. "See what happens when you do as I say?"

Mareep seemed to be paying him no attention however, more focused on trying to clean his blood-stained wool. Falkner, meanwhile, tossed another pokéball onto the field, revealing a black crow with a yellow beak, and a small red ring around its tail.

"Game over," Sam said, clenching his fist. "Murkrow are horribly weak Pokémon, no matter how rare! We've got this, Mareep! Thundershock!"

"Night Shade!" Falkner ordered.

Mareep stumbled as he fired a weak jolt of lightning at the crow, but the attack was way off target. Murkrow, however, was spot-on, and the blast of purple ghost energy from its eyes exploded on contact with the sheep Pokémon. When the dust cleared, Mareep lay on his back, twitching, but otherwise showing no signs of continuing.

"It was a good battle. But you've lost," Falkner said sternly. Sam looked at his fallen Mareep for a minute, and then fell to his knees, recalling the sheep. Likewise, Falkner recalled his Murkrow, and began the walk across the field.

"Don't even say it," Tori said up in the stands. Carrie obeyed and kept her mouth shut, but that didn't stop the smug grin from spreading on her face. Nichole, meanwhile, would fall off her chair if she sunk any lower; the redness on her face was noticeable even as she tried to hide underneath the chairs.

"Come on," Tori said with a sigh. "We'd better go make sure he's all right…"

"You remember what I said when I let you come with me," Carrie said. "I'm not waiting for you. 'As long as you don't slow me down,' remember?"

Sam had taken his loss rather well, considering how confident he had been at an easy victory beforehand. The three girls walked with him to his room at the Pokémon center, where Carrie packed away her belongings in her own room before joining the group in Sam's room.

"I know," Sam said, hanging his head.

"But Sam!" Nichole urged from next to him on the bed. "If you don't get the badge here, you can't compete in the league!"

"It's okay, really," Sam said. "I did already promise I wouldn't slow her down. And besides, we can't waste time. There are more important things that Carrie and I have to do."

"Sam!" Carrie shouted fiercely and tossed the nearest heavy object, a television remote, at him, but it was too late; the damage had been done.

"Like what?" Tori asked as Sam rubbed his bleeding nose.

"Nothing you two have to worry about," Carrie answered. Tori looked as though she was about to protest, but Carrie shot her a death glare, and she closed her mouth.

"It must be important if you're giving up your shot at the league this year…" Nichole contributed instead.

"I'll just try again when I get stronger," Sam said, dotting the blood with a tissue. "When we go through Goldenrod, before Ecruteak, I'll loop around back here. I'm more concerned about Mareep than my badge."

"What about him?" Tori asked. "The nurse said he just needs rest, he wasn't too badly injured."

"It's not that… it's just, how am I ever going to get him to obey me now, after that epic fail? I couldn't get him to listen at first, and part of me suspects he only obeyed when he did because he knew it was the best course of action, not because I told him to do it. But he lost… and since I did tell him what to do, now he'll just pin it on me. I'll never get him to do what I say again."

"But surely… if he thought it was the right thing to do, and he was going to do it anyway, he can't blame you for that, right?" Nichole asked.

"Not really," Tori replied for Sam. "Whether Mareep was going to take those actions anyway or not, Sam still ordered them first. So Mareep could, like, just as easily associate that loss to Sam."

"You really know how to cheer a guy up," Carrie grunted as Sam buried his face in a pillow. If she were honest with herself, part of her was angry because she knew she was in a similar situation with her Butterfree, and Tori's explanation was just as valid to her as it was to Sam.

But of course, she couldn't admit that in front of everyone else. While Tori and Nichole tried cheer Sam up, Carrie headed downstairs to pick up her Pokémon, who were being healed by the nurse. She quickly assured Sam she wasn't leaving town just yet as he panicked before slamming the door and hurrying down the hallway before anyone decided to follow her.

"Ah, there she is now," came a familiar voice. Carrie looked up and was surprised to see Falkner standing there in the lobby, with another familiar face, Spearow and all – the boy with the Zubat that Cyndaquil had lost to a few days ago.

"You?" the boy said, not bothering to hide his surprise. "You defeated Falkner?"

In answer, Carrie simply pointed to the badge now pinned to her hat. Without a word, she turned to recover her Pokémon, but much to her annoyance, Falkner and the boy followed her.

"I hear you have a rather… irate Butterfree," the boy said as the nurse went to the back room to retrieve Carrie's pokéballs.

"What of it?" Carrie snapped.

"I was wondering if you'd be interested in a trade. As you know, I train at Violet's Flying-Type gym. I have this Furret here, but he clearly can't fly, and honestly, I think he's more suited for life on the road rather than sitting still in a town. But your Butterfree, from the sound of it, could use a bit of a more – how should I put this – seasoned trainer. How about it?"

"I'm only really interested in Ice-Types," Carrie answered, turning her back on the two men.

"You're in the wrong region, then, girl. Ice-Types are few and far between, here. And the ones that are around aren't easily found for miles."

Carrie grunted in response, though she honestly thought about the offer. While not an Ice-Type, the Furret was probably at least reasonably well trained and would at least listen to her, unlike Butterfree, who had a mind of his own. Trading it away solved the problem of not only trying to convince the bug to listen, but she'd also get a strong addition to her team in exchange. It was natural to her what the logical choice was.

"You want a trade? Fine. He's all yours."

"Really?" Falkner said, taken aback. "That Butterfree has huge potential, and you're just willing to give him away so quickly?"

"With all due respect," Carrie spat as the nurse came back with her pokéballs, "he's my Pokémon, and what I do with him is my business. Besides, this way I won't have to bother wasting my time trying to train him."

"That's a horrible thing to say!" chimed in the nurse. She reached for Carrie's pokéballs, which she had placed on the desk in front of her, but Carrie swiped them up first. "How is your time wasted on trying to help a living being?"

"Not that it's your business, but the thing won't even listen to me anyways. What's the point of trying to force it?"

Falkner sighed. "If you want to trade him away, that's your business, but with that attitude–"

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard it before," Carrie said, growing more and more irritated by the second, proving Falkner's unfinished lecture correct. "Here," Carrie held out her hand, Butterfree's pokéball in her palm. The boy with the Spearow took it wordlessly, but stared at Furret's pokéball for a moment as if he was second-guessing himself, wondering if he was really sure this was a good idea.

Carrie couldn't help notice that she had to choke down an odd feeling as the boy picked up Butterfree's pokéball. A little voice inside her head told her this was a mistake, but she had no idea why she was suddenly feeling as though she didn't want to let Butterfree go. It's not worth the time, she forced herself to think. "I've got things to do here," she said. The boy reluctantly dropped a blue Great Ball into her still open palm.

"No," said the nurse. "I can't allow this. How could Professor Elm trust such an uncaring girl with a Pokémon?"

Carrie had just about had enough. "For your information, Cyndaquil and Spinarak agreed to go with me. I'm not forcing them."

A wave of pure shock flashed across the nurse's face, but she quickly regained her composure. "Then why don't you ask the Furret first?"

"Fine! Fine, whatever!" Carrie shouted, dropping the Great Ball to her feet. A long, thin brown and cream striped Pokémon emerged.

"Furrrret!" it shrieked happily.

"Hey buddy," the boy said, and pointed at Carrie behind it. "This girl is your trainer now. Like we talked about, remember?"

"Furrrr…" the Pokémon responded, sounding sad.

"I know, buddy, I know. But she can give you what you want… I think. You don't want to be cooped up anymore, do you?"

The Furret shook its head violently. He then turned around and began squirming his way around Carrie's legs.

"Hi…" she muttered weakly. "Can we move this along please?"

"Is… do you want to go with her?"

Carrie tried her best to put on a smile for the long Pokémon. It didn't work. Even so, the Furret beamed at her and rubbed against her leg affectionately.

"Well, okay then… take care, buddy," the boy said, and the Furret dove into his arms in tight embrace. Seconds later, the Furret was back in his pokéball, safely on Carrie's belt.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, my friends are waiting," Carrie said. She turned to Falkner and said: "Thanks for the badge." Then she turned to the boy with the Spearow, wondering if the thing could even speak – she'd never seen a more well-behaved Pokémon – and added: "Take… take care of him." Then, without another word or even a glance at the nurse, she turned on her heel and stomped up the stairs, all the way back to Sam's room.

"You what?" all three of them shouted when Carrie told them what happened.

"I traded Butterfree. Now I don't have to train him. I got this in exchange." Carrie dropped Furret's pokéball to the ground, and the creature popped out. He took in his surroundings for a second and then squeaked, hiding behind Carrie's legs.

"I think he's scared," Sam observed. "Too many new people."

"Why in the world would you trade for this?" Nichole asked rather loudly, quite unusual behavior for her. Furret let out a whimper. "N-not that there's anything wrong with Furrets! But… trading just to get out of training your Butterfree? That's awful!"

Carrie looked at her in shock. Even Tori and Sam stared at her, mouths hanging open. Nichole suddenly blushed furiously and backed away, surprised and embarrassed by her own sudden outburst.

"Come here," Carrie said quietly, looking at Tori, and walked to the door. Tori shot her a curious glance, but obeyed. "The rest of you, wait here." Nichole, Sam, and Furret just looked on curiously as Carrie led Tori out of the room and across the hallway to her room, to which she still had the key. Once inside, she closed the door and leaned against it. Tori sat down on the bed.

"Nichole was right," she said, not meeting Tori's gaze. "I did trade Butterfree just to get out of training him."

Tori looked as though she were struggling to speak. Carrie watched her as she tried to put her thoughts into words. Eventually, managed to voice the same concerns Nichole had.

"Nichole's right… that's awful," she said. "But… I think we'd already gathered that much. You told us so when you first came back in. So… why the secrecy? What's this about?"

Carrie shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know…" she admitted, her voice getting louder with each word. "When you were talking to Sam about his Mareep… I realized I was in the same position. We both had a Pokémon who we were already having trouble controlling, and then we both subjected them to a loss in battle, through our own commands. I… I already have my hands full as it is. Spinarak won't battle for me unless he thinks it's worth the challenge. And Cyndaquil… I don't even know what's going through his mind. I don't have time to worry about another Pokémon who has issues with me."

"Carrie, you keep saying that, but, like… what does it mean?" Tori asked gently, standing up and walking up to Carrie. "Why don't you have time? What is this whole secret mission that you and Sam seem to be on? You can tell me."

"No, I can't. I shouldn't have even told him. It's too dangerous."

"Well, we all know something is happening, and I'm totally not cool with this whole secrecy thing. Let me help… You can tell Sam, who you claim you don't even like… but you can't tell me?" She put a hand on Carrie's shoulder.

"It's bad enough I've got one loony risking his life to help me, I don't-"

"Risking his life? Like, what are you trying to do, anyway?"

"I'm trying to find my dad's murderous Machamp, okay?" Carrie blurt out, then quickly face-palmed.

"…What?"

"Ugh… You can't tell anyone about this, okay? And you're not getting any more than Sam knows."

"It's better than being left in the dark!"

Carrie sighed. "Okay, well… My dad was… violent. He had a Machamp who was even more violent. He didn't want me to be a trainer, but I left anyway because I couldn't take it anymore. They both tried to stop me, but my mom cut in and bought me the time to escape. Next thing I know, I hear that my house is burned down, my mom is hurt and staying with Professor Elm, and my dad and his Machamp are nowhere to be found. Then, Sam tells me he's seen a Machamp heading towards Violet City. Alone. I can't imagine why he'd leave his glorious home; he was more comfortable there than I was. All I can think of is that he's after me for some reason. But I can't let that stop me. I need to find out where my dad is, and why Machamp turned on him."

"Ouch," was all Tori could say. "Did you try asking your mom what happened?"

"No," Carrie said. "I doubt she even knows. It's complicated. Anyway, that's enough… Sam doesn't even know the whole story, you do. That's enough."

"So, like, why did you tell me all of that and not him, if he's the one you asked to help you?"

Carrie had to think about that one. "I didn't ask him to help. He coaxed it out of me, and offered. I… I don't know why I told you all of that, honestly."

"So let me see if I understand," Tori whispered, looking Carrie straight in the eye. "You're trying to find your dad's Machamp, who you totally think is out to get you, just to satisfy your curiosity?"

"Pretty much," Carrie admitted sheepishly. "I mean, it's more than just that… I swore when I set out on this trip that I'd become strong enough to get revenge on him for all he's put me through… but I know I can't take him on and win yet."

There was a brief silence as Tori took in all the information before Carrie spoke again.

"But now do you see why I don't have time to waste on a Pokémon who won't listen to me? I have to find Machamp and find out what happened that caused him to turn on my dad."

"No, I don't," Tori said. "In fact, I don't get why you even want to find him in the first place. You think he's trying to kill you! You should be, like, trying to avoid him, at least until you're stronger! And what's more important right now is, I totally don't understand how dealing with Butterfree ties in to all this. You don't even know where Machamp is, and even if you did, you know you can't beat him now, you said so yourself. It sounds to me like you have plenty of time to spend training. Isn't that what you're going to be doing anyway? Training until you're strong enough to defeat him?"

"Tori, that's not all of it," Carrie admitted, walking to the bed and sitting down, Tori following her lead. "Yeah, the whole Machamp-revenge thing is one story, but… Butterfree is another completely, that just happens to tie in, in an odd way. You want to know what's really bothering me right now? I didn't think twice about any of this once I realized that trading Butterfree away was the easy way out. It all made perfect sense to me. I wouldn't have to waste time trying to convince him to listen to me, and I'd get a well-trained, stronger Pokémon in return."

"…But?" Tori urged.

"But… when that guy took Butterfree's pokéball from me… I had this weird feeling. Like… I don't even know what to call it. But I don't think I wanted him to."

"You do care about Butterfree," Tori whispered.

"But why?" Carrie shouted. "I can't see any reason to! He never listened to me."

"He did as a Metapod. He totally obeyed you, very well too, in the tournament battles, despite what Kit said about him. And he battled well, too. And again when he fought Falkner's Hoothoot. From what you've told me, he was an angry Pokémon since the moment you caught him. So… he may be easily agitated, yes, and he may have disobeyed you right when he evolved, but… maybe he was frustrated."

"Frustrated?" Carrie asked, confused.

"Well, yeah… what you were asking him to do… he only just evolved, and you expected him to know how to fly as well as Falkner's Pidgeot. But Metapod – well, Butterfree then – had never flown before. I personally thought he handled himself very well, considering, even if he did keep trying to charge right in. I mean, like, anyone would be totally frustrated at being asked to do something they've never done before, and being expected to do it perfectly, too. Add that to the fact that Butterfree was never really a 'happy' Pokémon to begin with, and it just… makes sense that he wouldn't listen to you."

"I hadn't thought of that," Carrie admitted. "You're right… I never really thought about the fact that Butterfree might need to learn how to fly. I just thought it was… I don't know, built into their brains or something."

"Newborn humans aren't born knowing how to walk, Carrie," Tori whispered. "It's the same with Pokémon."

Carrie was silent, lost in thought, her anger evaporating.

"You're totally a mess, you know that?" Tori chuckled.

"This whole situation is a mess," Carrie shot back, but managed a small smile.

"How did Butterfree feel about being traded?"

Carrie looked taken aback by the question, followed by an embarrassed blush. "I… I didn't ask him."

Tori looked disappointed. "You just traded him away without even telling him or asking if he wanted to go to someone else?"

"Like I said, I didn't think about it, okay?" Carrie snapped. "Besides, he seemed to hate me, why would he not want to be trained by someone else?"

"You didn't really want to trade him, did you?"

Carrie thought about that. Swallowing her pride, with a visible gulp, she forced out the words she didn't want to admit. "I did then… but I wish I didn't."

"Come on," Tori said, taking her arm and standing up. "Let's go get Butterfree back."

A/N: Yeah, I'm on a roll this month. What can I say? I've spent a lot of my anti-social time reading other fanfics and it's really gotten me in the mood to work on my own. I'm not sure I like how this chapter ended up... I like it to the point of Sam's gym battle, but after that, something about it just bugs me. Can't put my finger on it, though, after re-reading it three times for the last three nights each, so, up it goes.

It's hard writing an angsty teenager. It really is. It seems it's much easier writing everyone else, but I actually have to struggle to put myself into Carrie's mind, because I'm so not used to thinking the way she does.

Anyways... yeah. Falkner had a Dodrio in the anime, too. So here is it's cameo. Fun fact: I originally intended for him to use a Farfetch'd instead of Murkrow, but I don't think the whole spinning the leek to deflect the electricity thing from the anime would actually be possible, so I scratched that plan. Not sure why I went with Murkrow other than the fact that it originated in Johto.

More angry Carrie... I hope I wrote that whole second half well enough. As I said, it's hard getting to think like her... So I just hope people can understand her thought process behind why she traded Butterfree. And then how she realized she was wrong and did have an attachment to him. Meh.

So um... next chapter is looking like Carrie and Tori try to get Butterfree back, and when that whole ordeal is settled, it's onwards towards the next gym. Oh, and eventually, maybe not in the next chapter but eventually, we'll explore why Sam is only just starting to collect badges despite being so late into the league season, because I'm sure everyone's noticed how consistant that must be. /sarcasm

Yeah... more actual plot coming soon, to a fic near you. Maybe not this one, but some fic somewhere! Just kidding. It will be there, I promise. ...Somewhere.