Author's Note: And here we finally start the action. I know I said I'd put each pairing in a separate chapter, but I finally decided to write a little bit about each pairing in every chapter. It keeps the suspense going.
Enough of my chattering. Here we go.
~ Meteor Mashed! ~
The truth had finally sunk in: Darwin wasn't paired up with Hypno.
And unfortunately, the Roserade couldn't do anything about that. What has been done cannot be reversed, so she could only stand and think over and over again, "No no no I don't want to be with Tepig!"
When Lopunny told everyone to go and find their partners, Darwin didn't move.
That meant Tepig Pokabu had to go and get her.
Tepig, Darwin found, was a timid Pokémon. Starting from the moment he walked towards her, he seemed to have already found Darwin's tight expression intimidating. It wasn't hard for the fire pig to see that Darwin wasn't really enthusiastic to get paired up with him.
However, being the stalwart Tepig Pokabu, he knew that he at least had to try. Someone or the other was going to have to start a small conversation sooner or later, and since it was obvious that Darwin wasn't, he was going to have to be the one who did it.
"Umm, hello, you're Darwynette, right?" he said awkwardly once he had reached the grumpy-looking Roserade, shuffling his orange hooves. "I... I'm Tepig."
Zero points for poor Tepig.
Although the fire pig often talks with Roselio, the Thorn Pokémon had never told him the fundamental rule when it comes to interacting with sister Darwynette de la Verde.
Darwin's face instantly clouded like the sky before a raging thunderstorm.
"Do not call me Darwynette." She scowled, and her scowl was a particularly bitter-looking one, indeed.
Ouch. Pairing 9: Tepig x Darwin isn't going well at all.
Speaking of thunderstorms, Roselio had to go and meet a Pikachu named Storm. Luckily, it wasn't hard at all to find her - he only had to follow the yellow light of electricity to where she was standing. She was the Pokémon Altaria had seen earlier who looked as if she was getting ready to battle.
Roselio walked over to her, smiling a signature Roselio smile.
"Hello!"
Storm looked up. "Oh, hello. You must be Roselio de la Verde."
"Yeah, that's me! Nice to meet you!" He stuck out his red rose.
"I'm Storm," the Pikachu said seriously. "Nice to meet you too."
She actually couldn't figure out what to do with his hand, since she couldn't really shake his rose petals. It would be ridiculous, and besides, Storm had battled enough Roselia to know that they didn't like having their roses messed up. In the end, she took the base of his flower. OK, so it was the equivalence of shaking someone's wrist, but it was better than pissing off someone she was supposed to spend time with.
As for the Thorn Pokémon, he may not show it but he felt a tiny jolt of electricity when she shook his hand.
Yikes, he thought. How no-nonsense. She's almost as serious as Treecko.
"Anyway, I like your name," Storm went on, though she never lost her no-nonsensical air about her. "Lopunny said it was French. Can you speak the language or something?"
"Well. Oui."
"Is that a yes? Try saying something, then."
Roselio laughed. "I just did."
Storm rolled her eyes. "Come on."
"OK, OK." Roselio gave in. Then he said with surprising (few Pokémon could speak more than one language) fluency, "Je voudrais aller aux toilettes."
Storm stared at him. "Which means?"
"I want to go to the toilet." The smile on his face was annoying. Annoying but mischievous. Storm couldn't decide whether to roll her eyes and tell him to be serious or laugh.
She apparently chose the latter.
"Well, that was very sophisticated," she joked sarcastically. "Yes, very sophisticated of you."
"Why, merci beaucoup," he replied, the smile still there.
Storm thought, Wow, what a happy-go-lucky Pokémon. All smiley faces.
"Lopunny said you liked battling," the Thorn Pokémon said suddenly.
"Yes," Storm replied. She was very pleased he had brought this subject up. This was the topic she was most passionate about. "Do you battle, Roselio?"
His answer surprised - but delighted - her.
"Yeah, actually, I do!"
If Storm was pleased earlier, now she was really, really pleased. Roselio may like friendly chats, but she liked something more action-packed. Like a battle.
Although she was usually known as aggressive and no-nonsense, Storm couldn't help but smile, very slowly.
Lopunny is going to have to keep an eye on Pairing 5: Roselio x Storm. Otherwise it could get pretty messy.
Cleffy Clefairy, meanwhile, was stuck in her own mind. She was standing in the midst of the confusion, wondering if she should go and look for this Riolu called Nile or to stay put and wait for him to find her.
I'm beginning to feel I've been pretty foolish, she despaired. Why did I ever think I'd get paired up with him and not someone among the other nine? Froslass would probably have said that the chance of my ending up with him was actually pretty small. Smart, Cleffy, smart.
She also knew that she wasn't good at these social things at all. She was just too shy. She stammered even when she was talking to her teammates in Team Overgrow. She would be even more of a wreck talking to someone she had just met.
Nile the Riolu, whoever he is, is going to have a lousy girl to spend time with, she thought. A girl named Cleffy Clefairy, who's going to stammer and blush and never actually say anything. He'll have participated in this Meteor Mash-up for nothing, because the only thing he's going to do is try to tolerate the nervous wreck in front of him. And it'll be all my fault.
She saw that all her teammates were on the move. Breloom was walking towards Braixen. Treecko was walking towards Amelia. However, she didn't see Lombre anywhere.
Suddenly she felt someone tap her shoulder. Nile! She whirled with a forced smile pasted on her face, thinking, Oh, no, the nightmare starts now.
However, it wasn't Nile. It was Lombre.
"¡Ay caramba!" her teammate exclaimed indignantly, clomping about in her combat boots. "Where's this Whimsicott guy? I haven't seen him anywhere. Callate, d'you think he's chickened out?"
Cleffy felt a wave of relief crash over her. She dropped her stupid smile.
"L-L-Lombre! I'm g-glad it's y-you!"
"Well, of course it's me," Lombre said matter-of-factly. "Who else could it have been?"
"I thought y-you were Nile..." Cleffy bowed her head.
Lombre took one look at her friend and understood everything. She'd been friends with Cleffy for so long, and even though they were as different as night and day, they always knew how the other was feeling. Right now was the same - with just that one look, Lombre knew what Cleffy was worrying about.
"Ay-ay-ay," she said, putting an arm around Cleffy's shoulders and shaking her gently. "Don't fret, mi amiga. You'll do OK, I'm sure of it. You know how the song goes: 'Hold on loosely, but don't let go'? Don't worry so; just be yourself. Nile's gonna love having been paired up with you."
Cleffy blew out a long sigh. "I-I know," she said quietly. "Hold on loosely. D-don't let go. You're right, Lombre, I p-probably shouldn't w-worry too much. If I worry, I'll be even m-more of a wreck. I hope you're right that I d-don't mess up."
Lombre grinned and punched her shoulder lightly. "That's the spirit, Clefpud!" She added as a matter of fact, "And of course I'm right. I'm always right."
If Lombre had a fault, it was that she wasn't really modest.
Cleffy smiled shyly. "Th-thank you, Lombre. A-and I hope your Whimsicott shows up soon, I'll r-really feel b-bad for you if he d-d-doesn't show up at all."
"De nada," Lombre said, and then her face turned serious. "And yeah, he'd better show up."
Suddenly there was another tap on Cleffy's shoulder. Cleffy whirled around again. She immediately regretted not having armed herself with a fake pasted-on smile because this time it really was Nile the Riolu.
Cleffy blushed. "O-oh. Sorry. I m-mean, h-hello. U-um..."
She wanted to berate herself for having stammered, but it seemed as if Nile hadn't even heard her. The Dance Zone was so loud, so of course Cleffy's unconfident, inaudible voice got lost in the chaos.
Nile smiled at her. Somehow, that smile sort of reassured Cleffy. "You're Cleffy Clefairy, right?" he said. His voice was a trifle bit louder than Cleffy's.
Cleffy only nodded. She didn't even try to speak - she knew he wouldn't be able to hear her for her voice always annoyingly goes quieter every time she was nervous or shy. Well, of course, another reason was that she was also tongue-tied.
Although he was a Fighting-type, Cleffy liked the look on his face; it was friendly and soothing, as if she would always feel safe around someone like him. Or maybe it was because he was a Fighting-type; she surmised he was a good fighter.
Lombre gave her arm a meaningful squeeze, then turned to the both of them. "Well, looks like I'd better leave you two alone," she said. "Have fun~!"
She left... And Cleffy was alone with Nile.
Cleffy didn't dare look at the Fighting-type, so she kept her gaze on the ground. Nile, meanwhile, was looking around, squinting at the noisy chaos. He turned back to Cleffy.
"Hey, want to go somewhere quieter?"
Cleffy's whole face went fire engine red. Yes, if they went somewhere not as loud, he would be able to hear her tiny voice. Then she might actually pluck up enough courage to strike up a conversation.
Hold on loosely, but don't let go.
Smiling shyly up at him, she whispered gratefully, "O-okay." Then, remembering that he might not hear her, she nodded. Just in case.
"Hey, want to go somewhere quieter?" Nice one! Pairing 6: Nile x Cleffy seems to be going well. But maybe it would be even better if Cleffy would actually start talking.
And as for Pairing 8: Rem x Lombre... Nothing's happened yet. Hmm. Where could Rem the Whimsicott be?
Meanwhile, high up from the air, Staraptor had spotted a Gardevoir seated on a bench in front of Chandelure's tent. She was still reading a book.
Staraptor landed a few paces away from the Psychic-type. He didn't want to disturb her from her reading.
That, and he actually wanted to... "observe" her first.
Tori was a pretty Pokémon. She had short bright green hair and snow-white skin. She was wearing a beautiful white dress that reached her ankles. A pair of reading glasses was perched upon her dainty nose. The book she was reading seemed to be about advanced physics.
OK, Staraptor thought. So she's a smarty, like Fro. Good Arceus, she's pretty.
He slowly went over to her. "Hey."
Yikes, Staraptor! he chastised himself inwardly. Just "hey"?
Tori looked up from her book. "Oh. Hello." She rose, closing the book and tucking it under one arm. The hem of her white dress flowed around her ankles.
"Hey. I'm Staraptor Mukuhawk, but you can call me Staraptor." He groaned inwardly again. Another "hey".
She nodded her head. "My name is Tori. It's nice meeting you, Staraptor."
Staraptor was racking his brains. What should he say next to this beautiful Pokémon in front of him?
"Uh... I see you like physics, Tori?"
Tori's tranquil face lit up with a smile, and Staraptor felt relieved. It was obviously the right thing to say.
"Why, yes," she said, the smile never leaving her face. Then she went on to enthusiastically explain why physics was really fascinating, which Staraptor actually didn't listen to at all. He was too busy staring at her as she explained about hydrostatic pressure and the laws of Newton and Carnot machines and why they were so damn fun to study.
Finally, she turned the question back to him as she said, "And what about you? What do you like to do, Staraptor?"
"Huh, me?" Staraptor was snapped out of his reverie. "Uhh, I love flying and aerial acrobats."
"Really?" Tori was grinning. "Did you know that air is considered a dynamic fluid as well, thus when you're flying, you're actually applying the principle of dynamic fluids? The higher the pressure, the lower the velocity, and vice versa. Since you're an avid flyer, I suppose you have heard of it, right?"
"Uh, yes, I think so." If he wasn't mistaken, he'd once heard Froslass say something like that. It wasn't as if he cared, though. He didn't care about pressure and velocity - he was good at flying and that was all that mattered. He continued, "But hey, I love the actual flying more than the theoretical side of flying."
Actual flying.
Suddenly he got an idea.
When he turned to Tori, his face was surprisingly sincere. If Roselio and Froslass were there, they wouldn't have believed their eyes.
"Tori, would you care to join me on an aerial tour of Wish Park?"
Oooh! If Lopunny were there, she would definitely have squealed. It seems as if Pairing 4: Staraptor x Tori is off to a high-flying start!
Treecko had by now found Amelia the Umbreon. He actually wasn't enthusiastic in participating in the Meteor Mash-up, but he had to cooperate since he was already deep in it now. Amelia was staring at nothing, so of course she was surprised when Treecko greeted her.
"Good afternoon."
The Umbreon jumped and whirled around. "Oh, hello. Good afternoon to you too."
The Wood Gecko Pokémon stuck out his hand. "I am Treecko. Treecko Kimori."
Amelia shook his hand. "I'm Amelia. Nice to meet you, Treecko."
"I apologize for having surprised you earlier," Treecko went on seriously.
Amelia smiled a small smile. "No, it's all right," she said. "It was me, anyway. I was staring off."
"Staring off? Why? Is something bothering you?"
Treecko held back his tongue. Why did he say that; Amelia could think he was poking into other people's business.
"Oh, no, not that," Amelia quickly said. "I was singing a little song I made."
"Oh?" Treecko stared at her. "You like to make songs? That is none short on impressive."
Amelia blushed good-naturedly. "Yeah, I like to write songs. I sing, too, of course."
"Mm-hmm. So you are the musical kind of Umbreon. I... Um, you know." The wood gecko broke off and cleared his throat instead.
Amelia tilted her head to one side. "Huh? You what?"
Suddenly Treecko's face looked more red than green. However, the only thing he did was clear his throat again.
"Sorry, it was nothing," he said.
Amelia nodded, although she was weirded out. She had no choice but to change the subject.
"Do you mind going somewhere not as loud? All this noise is making my head spin," she said.
The wood gecko nodded. "Of course. Where would you like to go?"
Amelia thought for a moment. Hmm. She liked a good chat with cake and tea, so maybe...
"How about the Cake Zone?" she suggested.
"Agreed," Treecko said.
They started walking towards the Cake Zone part of Wish Park. Both Pokémon were quiet, so the walk was filled with silence.
However, Treecko realized that if you listened hard enough, you could hear that Amelia was singing softly.
"Blue moon floating, blue seas sparkling. You emerge from a little egg, by the ocean. Sandy beach, Manaphy, and I. Krabby singing, Wingull winging. Sandy beach, Manaphy, and I. This is Manaphy's little lullaby."
Treecko had never heard that song before. It must be one of those Amelia had made herself.
He swallowed. Amelia's voice was nice, and she really was good at singing.
The calm, cool, and clever wood gecko thought he detected a foreign feeling.
He felt like... singing along.
To Manaphy's little lullaby.
Stay tuned on Wish Park FM, everyone, Lopunny would have said. Something tells me that Pairing 2: Treecko x Amelia is something worth keeping an eye on.
Author's Note: Double update! I was actually planning to put Chapters 3 and 4 in a same chapter, but it ended up really long, bypassing the 4000-word count. So I've decided to put them in separate chapters. I don't know about you, but I don't really like super-long chapters. So if your character's pairing hasn't been written about yet, it's in the next chapter. Chapter 4 is coming right up!