Chapter 31 – Roserade Red, Roserade Blue
Hey, Alex? What's a Mudkip doing in Almia anyway? Ryder asked as he looked up at Alexa. The both of them sat in front of the lake still.
"Who knows? Maybe it likes the mud around here," Alexa joked. "But wild Pokémon can live wherever they like, Ryder, so I don't think it's worth worrying over."
That's true. I was just curious because I thought Mudkips were rare, Ryder mused.
"They are, but they're commonly seen with trainers from the Hoenn region," Alexa explained.
Oh right. Alex? Why didn't you pick another starter Pokémon every time you went to another region? Ryder questioned.
"Two reasons. One, I had Phoenix with me every time I went to another region. Two, that starter Pokémon wouldn't technically be a starter Pokémon," Alexa laughed.
Good point, Ryder chuckled.
BOOM…Huh? Ryder and Alexa looked up at the cloudy sky above them. They saw a brief flash of light from within the thick grey clouds.
"Storm's coming," Alexa stated quietly. "Come on then; we'd better get back to the Union before it gets really bad."
I hope the Ranger Union has a lightning rod on it, Ryder said as he stood himself up from the ground. Alexa did the same.
"Ryder, do you even know what a lightning rod is besides it being a Pokémon ability?" Alexa questioned.
Uh…no, Ryder said nervously. What is it?
"A lightning rod is a small rod that's built onto a building to protect it from being struck by lightning," she explained.
How does that work? Ryder asked.
"In a similar way the Pokémon ability version of it works; the lightning rod attracts lightning, thus it protects the building from being struck by lightning," Alexa smiled. "Now let's go before we're the lightning rods," she laughed as she ran away from the lake. Ryder chased after her.
Hey, wait for me! He yelled.
Later…KER-RASH!"Gosh…this storm's pretty bad," Alexa said quietly as she sat on the bed with the blue bedding. As a change of pace, Alexa was dressed in her seemingly baddy red pyjamas. Keith, dressed in his usual black and white nightwear, entered the room from the en suite, with a relatively small yellow towel covering his head.
"And the rain's about as bad; listen." He and Alexa stayed quiet to listen to the light, yet rapid, drumming sound of the heavy rain outside.
"Crikey…I hate to think of the damage this storm will cause overnight," Alexa said worriedly.
"I think it'd be a good idea to patrol around tomorrow and check the damage. I'm sure the Area Rangers will be doing that anyway," Keith said.
Yup, I know Barlow and co will be out with that, Ryder nodded. Huh…now that Kincaid's rotting away in prison, there's nothing for the Top Rangers to do.
"I'm okay with that," Keith shrugged.
"Same here…the last thing I need is another mission as heavy as Operation Brighton…" Alexa sighed. Keith pulled the towel from his head and held onto it as he sat next to Alexa. He soon placed the towel on his lap and stroked Alexa's hair.
"It's over, Alex; that's the main thing," he smiled. Alexa turned her head to face Keith; her look of slight uncertainty soon changed into a warm smile.
"Yeah. And we're all okay," she added. Keith nodded.
"See? Things are looking up. If anything does happen, it won't be as serious as Operation Brighton or-" Keith abruptly stopped his sentence as he looked away from Alexa; he knew what he was about to say could have intimidated her.
"Or Cyrus…" Alexa sighed as she lost her smile as she looked away from him. Keith soon lost his smile as well.
"Sorry…"
"Don't be. It's my own fault I got involved in the first place," Alexa said quietly.
Aw, go back to being adorable! Ryder complained playfully. Don't worry about Mr Cheekbones and just be yourself again, girl. Keith soon smiled as he faced Alexa once more.
"He's right, Alex, don't beat yourself up about it; what's done is done, so try to move on," he added. "But if you need to talk…I'll listen. Okay?" Alexa looked back at Keith again and gave him a gentle smile.
"Okay," she nodded. She laughed quietly to herself as she looked up at the ceiling. "I think I'm going soft…I need to change that." Keith laughed.
"I don't mind. Just as long as you won't change too much."
"Hey, I just need to make myself tougher again, I'm not having a personality transplant," Alexa laughed. "No, I just need to stop thinking about it, that's all."
"I think going on patrols and stuff will help out," Keith said optimistically.
"Oh, please, I don't need to be a Ranger to help me forget my screw-ups," Alexa said playfully.
Just so long as there's no more missions like Operation Brighton, Ryder added.
"I already said that, Ryder. Is that because we were both hanging by threads, metaphorically speaking?" Alexa questioned.
No, I just don't want to go through any more Wheelers. I mean, who with the right mind would send out a Bidoof at the endgame?
"Yeah, well, you can dream about booting Wheeler's backside tonight, Ryder," Keith sniggered quietly. "Wait, which one was Wheeler again?"
"The one that made those stupid food puns when he threatened me," Alexa sighed. "As if the Bidoof thing wasn't enough…" Alexa stood up from the bed and made her way to the other side of the bed.
"Alex, anyone who makes puns during a conflict clearly lacks maturity," Keith said as he folded the duvet back.
"And IQ," Alexa added as she scrambled into bed. Keith laughed quietly.
The next morning…Linda ran up to Rhythmi after descending from the escalator leading to the Union roof.
"Is everything sorted?" Rhythmi asked.
"I don't know, we'll need more time," Linda said hastily.
"Aw, I really want to make this special!" Rhythmi complained.
"So do I!" Linda pouted. "How're we supposed to buy more time?"
"It doesn't hurt to ask!" Alexa sighed. Rhythmi and Linda watched as Ryder and Alexa ascended from the escalator ahead of them. "I'm just trying to be considerate."
I didn't think you needed to ask to do your job, Ryder shrugged.
"I don't, but it doesn't hurt to anyway," Alexa said. She looked towards Rhythmi and Linda. "Hey, is Professor Hastings up there?"
"No!" the Operators exclaimed abruptly, at the same time.
"Okay, okay, no need to yell! What happened, misplace your make-up?" Alexa asked, with suspicion about her.
"N-no, it-it's just…uh…" Rhythmi trailed off.
"Th-the roses…" Linda muttered.
"Oh! Yes! We were debating about the bouquets on Roserade's arms! Which hand has the red bouquet?" Rhythmi asked. Alexa raised an eyebrow out of suspicion.
"The right hand," Alexa answered. Linda and Rhythmi were left stunned.
"R-really? Are you sure it's not blue?" Linda asked.
"No, that's on Roserade's left hand," Alexa sighed.
And it's unwise to question her on that, there IS a Roserade among her collective group of Pokémon, Ryder added.
"And if I don't know a simple thing like that about my Roserade, why am I a Pokémon Trainer?" Alexa asked rhetorically.
"But you're not anymore, are you?" Rhythmi asked.
"No, I'm just not battling competitively anymore; nobody ever stops being a Pokémon Trainer once they've obtained their very first Pokémon," Alexa explained.
"Hey, I've never actually seen a Roserade up close before, think you can catch one to show us?" Linda asked abruptly. Alexa looked flabbergasted.
"Say what?"
Why catch one when we can just call upon Bouquet? She's Alex's Roserade, by the way, and it'd save both of us a lot of time and energy, Ryder argued logically.
"Look, will you just do it?! Please!" Rhythmi snapped. Alexa scoffed.
"Murph makes a lot more sense than you two combined! Come on, Ryder." Alexa turned away and left the two Operators blocking the escalator. Ryder followed her.
Outside…The weather was perfectly calm with clear blue skies. The earth below, however, wasn't as pleasant; the grass was stained with cold damp mud, and the pathways were stained with muddy footprints of various Pokémon. There were puddles everywhere, and the riverbanks were on the verge of breaking because of the heavy rainfall overnight. Alexa and Ryder looked around as they walked into the forest.
At least there isn't any real damage from lightning, Ryder smiled.
"That might be in other parts of the forest, or even anywhere else the thunderstorm was," Alexa said seriously. "Where would a Roserade be in Vien Forest?"
You still want to get one? Why not just call Harvey and ask him to send Bouquet over and claim that it's one caught in Vien Forest? Ryder asked.
"I understand that doing that would be the easier option, but it's too trivial a concern to bug him with," Alexa sighed. "Besides, we might as well take this to our advantage and check out the forest for any damage."
Any MORE damage, you mean? Ryder asked. This place has already been through a forest fire.
"I know, I know," Alexa sighed. "Well, Roserade isn't in the main part of the forest, so I guess we should check by the riv-AAAGH!"
SQUELCH!"Aagh!" Alexa slipped on the slippery grass and fell on her back. Ryder helped Alexa onto her feet.
You okay? Ryder asked.
"Yeah, it's only mud. It'll wash out," Alexa said, sounding completely embarrassed. She was even blushing with humiliation.
The sooner we find that Roserade, the sooner you can have a bath, Ryder smiled reassuringly.
"Bath? A shower would be a lot more hygienic if I'm covered with mud."
Your clothes are going to take most of it, Ryder laughed as he and Alexa approached the river.
"Well there is that, yeah," Alexa said sheepishly.
Besides, I've noticed Rhythmi and Linda gave you a lot of grief, and a bath will relax you—WHOA!
SPLASH!Ryder slipped on the mud near the riverbank and fell straight into the river. Ryder surfaced and spat out the water that somehow ended up inside his mouth.
"Are you all right, Ryder?"
It's only water, it'll dry off…but I am gonna stink, Ryder complained. Alexa carefully made her way to the edge of the river and extended her arm.
"Come on, I'll help you out," she offered.
Alex, can I swim? Ryder asked.
"You never tried to, but you don't seem to be drowning," Alexa replied.
A little trick I picked up; stepping water, isn't it?
"Treading water," Alexa corrected. "Come on, let me help you o-AAAGH!"
SPLASH!Alexa also slipped on the mud and ended up in the river. Alexa gasped for air and coughed as soon as she surfaced.
I never realised how muddy this forest can be, Ryder complained quietly. He and Alexa made their way to the opposite riverbank and started to climb out of the river.
"Did you notice how Rhythmi sounded pushy earlier on?" Alexa questioned. "I think she's hiding something."
What, a sudden and unexplained dislike for you now? Ryder asked rhetorically. Alexa paused for a few seconds to consider a response to Ryder's question; she felt almost certain that he had a point.
"Maybe…but this stupid Roserade hunt had better be worth it," she muttered.
Why Rhythmi couldn't take your word for it is beyond me, Ryder said as he slowly shook his head. He and Alexa eventually scrambled out of the river; the both of them were wet, muddy, and mildly frustrated. You're pretty much the Union's Pokémon Expert.
"I don't know if I'd put it like that, but I would imagine there're things that I'd know more about compared to the others," Alexa sighed as she stood up onto her feet carefully.
Well, the sooner we find this Roserade, the sooner we can tell Rhythmi off for wasting our time, Ryder huffed.
"I agree," Alexa nodded. She and Ryder then carefully made their way further into the forest.
"Rose!" a Roserade, being cheeky, by nature, suddenly revealed herself from the bushes near Alexa and startled her. Alexa yelped and stepped back in fright, but she lost her footing quickly and slipped on the mud beneath her. She crashed and fell on her left hand side. Even her face hit the mud. Ryder snarled at the highly amused Roserade angrily.
Why you little…! Ryder attempted to lunge at the Roserade, but his foot slipped in the mud and he fell flat on his face in a very muddy puddle. Roserade couldn't contain her laughter any longer, and burst out laughing. Ryder lifted his now very muddy face from the puddle and glared at the juvenile Roserade. Okay, that's it…
Ryder roared as he sprang up from the ground. The Roserade quickly fled in terror, thinking Ryder would catch up to her…but…
SQUELCH!Ryder fell flat on his face once again. Alexa lifted herself up from the ground and wiped some mud away from her cheek. Ryder carefully stood up and faced Alexa, looking humiliated.
Are you okay? Ryder asked. Alexa sighed as she flicked the mud away from her cheek. She looked worn out already.
"Y'know, it would've been easier to call upon Bouquet…" she said quietly. "Why's Rhythmi doing this to us?"
I don't know, but I don't care right now. There's a Roserade I want to get even with, Ryder growled.
"Which way did she go anyway?" Alexa asked.
I think towards the cave further downstream, Ryder replied. Let's take our time getting there, though; both for our safety and to get on Rhythmi's nerves for the heck of it.
"Y-yeah, okay…" Alexa shivered slightly as she and Ryder walked on.
It took them a little while, but Alexa and Ryder finally managed to corner the juvenile Roserade inside a large cave. Alexa looked cold, as she was shivering slightly as she breathed, and her skin looked slightly paler than usual. Ryder was also shivering subtly.
All right, cornered! Listen, little lady, it's not nice to scare folks, y'hear? You need to learn a lesson.
"Capture on!" Alexa said suddenly as she released her capture disc from her styler; although it suffered almost exactly what Alexa had suffered, the styler's functions still functioned at 100% capacity. The Roserade was caught off guard by the capture disc, but she attempted to attack it with multi-coloured glowing leaves that she unleashed from her right bouquet-arm. Alexa tried to prevent her capture disc from getting damaged, but, during the capture process, her capture disc sustained some damage. Eventually, however, the capture was complete as soon as Roserade shone white.
"Rose?" Roserade looked around in confusion. Alexa and Ryder sighed with relief as Alexa recalled her slightly damaged capture disc.
"Right, let's get out of here now…"
Hey, Alex, look! Ryder spotted a strange looking statue inside the cave; it was of a rocky pillar with some strange Braille at the base of the statue. Alexa examined the statue, namely the Braille.
"…Regirock…"
You know what this is? Ryder asked.
"It must represent Regirock; that's its Braille symbol," she explained as she pointed to the strange 'M' mark at the statue's base.
Does it mean anything?
"I don't know. I'd have to look into it some more, but…right now, I just want to get out of here and have a bath," Alexa sighed as she stood up. "Let's go." She, Ryder and Roserade left the cave.
Later…"There! All done at last!" Linda said happily. "I hope everyone will like it."
"I think they will," Rhythmi agreed. "It was hard keeping Alex away, though; she's not easily tricked. If at all…I'm not sure about that…"
"I'm concerned, Rhythmi; you sounded harsh to her," Linda said worriedly.
"I'm not worried. But what's taking her so long with the Roserade anyway?" Rhythmi pondered.
"Several things," Alexa answered abruptly. Rhythmi and Linda looked towards the wet, muddy, worn out and frustrated girl and her equally soggy and dirty Lucario. The Roserade looked squeaky clean compared to Alexa and Ryder; Alexa's hair was stained with mud and stray strands of grass, on top of it having been tangled throughout her slips and falls into the mud. Ryder's fur was just as untidy as Alexa's hair. Rhythmi struggled to contain her laughter.
"What happened to you two?! Are you all right?!" Linda asked.
Nothing a bath won't cure, Ryder sighed.
"We brought Roserade, NOW do you believe me?" Alexa questioned snidely, noticing Rhythmi's lack of concern; it was because of her and Linda that she and Ryder became so dirty in the first place.
"Sorry…! Yeah, you were right all along," Rhythmi said innocently. "Okay, you can go to the roof now!"
"What?! B-but I didn't want to go up there in the first place!" Alexa exclaimed.
"But you were looking for the professor, weren't you?" Linda questioned.
"Yes, but I didn't necessarily want to go up there myself! What's up there anyway?" Alexa asked.
"See for yourself!" Rhythmi smiled. She and Linda moved aside to allow Alexa and Ryder to go up the escalator. Alexa released the Roserade before she and Ryder did so.
When the two got to the rooftop, they couldn't believe what they saw. They saw a neatly placed picnic laid out near the Tree of Harmony. There was several cushions lined up around the picnic cloth, which had the picnic basket in the centre. Several little plates were placed in front of the cushions, along with plastic cutlery and plastic drinking glasses. Around the picnic basket was various food items and different bottles containing different beverages. Neither Alexa nor Ryder could believe their eyes, but not in a good way. They were horrified; all of their efforts had been wasted just so they wouldn't see a typical, albeit nicely placed, picnic? Alexa's eye twitched occasionally. Rhythmi and Linda approached Alexa and Ryder, both with cheerful smiles on their faces.
"Ta-da! What do you think?" Linda asked. Not long after, Professor Hastings, Erma, Sven, Wendy and Keith, one after the other, came onto the roof and admired the nice set-up.
"Oh, what a lovely surprise, dears!" Erma smiled.
"We just wanted to do something to thank you all for your efforts," Rhythmi said kindly. "So…Linda and I came up with this idea!"
"What do you think?" Linda asked.
"You've outdone yourself, ladies," Sven complimented. Ryder laughed nervously.
I wouldn't necessarily put it like that, he said feebly. Ryder had a weird look in his eyes; it was as if he was about to snap into insanity at any moment. Keith was the first to notice how filthy Ryder and Alexa had gotten.
"What happened?! Alex, are you okay?!" Keith asked worriedly.
"Last night's weather get to you, pet?" Sven teased. Alexa was far from amused.
"Y-you mean to tell us…that you ignored what I told you and…and sent us on a stupid errand…just for a picnic?!" she fumed.
"Aw, come on, Alex, don't be a kill-joy!" Rhythmi smiled.
"Do you have ANY idea of what Ryder and I have been through just to prove my point!? And all because you were so adamant about keeping this whole picnic idea a secret until you finished dillydallying with it!"
"Lighten up, Alex, Rhythmi and Linda did their best with this set-up," Wendy said with concern.
"Well excuse me for thinking that this was not worth all of the crap – and mud – that Ryder and I have been through this morning!" Alexa snapped. "And this was because you wanted to thank us for our efforts!?
"Y-yeah…for Operation Brighton," Rhythmi said nervously.
"Didn't it occur to you that you could've pulled this stunt within the first week after Operation Brighton!?" Alexa yelled angrily. "Did you really have to wait until I went through MORE crap to pull this off!? I mean, come on! Do you enjoy me suffering or something?!"
"Alexa, that's enough!" Hastings said abruptly. "I suggest you take a deep breath and calm down."
"N-no, I'm sorry, but I can't deal with this," Alexa said quietly.
"Why don't you and Ryder get some rest, dear? Take the rest of the day off and enjoy the picnic," Erma suggested kindly.
"No," Alexa declined, somewhat harshly. "Besides, I don't want to ruin Rhythmi's precious doilies with my filthiness."
Alex and I are gonna get ourselves cleaned up, and we're going to put our feet up in the comfort of our room, thank you very much, Ryder added. Before Rhythmi could object, Alexa and Ryder made their way back down the escalator. Keith looked at Rhythmi, looking mildly disgusted.
"All right, what've you done?" he asked.
"W-we just asked her to get a Roserade, that's all…w-we wanted to see what arm the red bouquet was on," Linda answered.
"That was just a cover, Linda," Rhythmi sighed.
"I'm beginning to see why Alex was so angry with the two of you," Keith sighed. "Alex knows a lot about Pokémon, so why did you have to question her on a simple matter like that?"
"Oh, come on, let's just enjoy this picnic, okay?" Sven said suddenly.
Elsewhere…Alexa sighed contentedly as she lay in a hot bath veiled with foaming bubbles. Her hair was wet, but clean, and she was mud free. Her body, from the neck below, was hidden within the foaming bubbles and the relaxing hot water underneath.
Ryder, meanwhile, was nearby in the shower cubicle. The hot water raining onto him satisfied him to the core and the mud gradually ran off of his fur and down the plughole underneath the showerhead. His fur was smothered with a smooth lather of bubbles, and he massaged his head to create more bubbles.
Look at me, I'm showering! Ryder said happily. And I'm using the Pokémon shampoo you got me last week!
"At least we're getting clean this way," Alexa smiled. "Do you think I was being too harsh on Rhythmi?"
Nope. She wasted our time and our effort today. She needed a good talking to, Ryder replied. But I don't think I'd speak to her for a while.
"Don't worry, I won't," Alexa said plainly.
Rhythmi and Linda's picnic was a success, regardless of Alexa's harsh reaction to what was supposed to be a nice surprise. Keith, however, couldn't shake off the feeling that he should've been with her instead of enjoying the picnic. Sven, Wendy, Erma and Hastings were mutually relieved that there was absolutely nothing that could threaten Almia, considering that Team Dim Sun was disbanded, at last. Keith decided to sneak away while everyone was distracted. As he left, he could've sworn he heard Rhythmi and Linda talking about Alexa. He shook the thought off quickly and left before he was spotted.
Ryder and Alexa sat on one of the beds and looked through a photo album. The both of them were clean and dry, with Alexa now dressed in her violet pyjamas and cyan blue dressing gown. They were happily looking through the photos depicting some moments in Alexa's past. Until Keith carefully entered the room, at least. Alexa and Ryder looked up at him.
"Are you okay?" Keith asked as he made his way in.
"Y-yeah, we're fine," Alexa replied. "How was the picnic?"
"Pretty boring, considering you weren't there," Keith answered. "But I don't blame you for not wanting to be there. If I were in your position, I wouldn't want to be there either."
You wouldn't believe how many times we've been in the muck, Ryder sighed.
"Slipped on the mud, fell in the river, slipped on the mud because Roserade startled us…"
Slipped in the mud again while trying to chase the Roserade… Ryder continued.
"That's…quite a lot… Why didn't you call me? I could've helped you," Keith said with concern.
"And let you get just as dirty? No thanks," Alexa sighed. "I need to stand on my own two feet…"
"We know you can do that anyway," Keith said as he sat next to Alexa. He placed his arm around her shoulders as he looked at one of the photographs in the album she and Ryder were looking at. He looked at one photograph in particular; the photograph of a 10-year-old girl with blonde hair and fuchsia eyes sitting with a young-looking Charizard with a small black band on its left horn. Keith pointed to that photograph. "See?" Alexa looked at the photograph.
"What about it? That was taken on the day Phoenix evolved from Charmeleon," she said.
"If you can stand on your own two feet when you were that young…you can do so now too," Keith smiled. He faced Alexa with a loving smile. "Listen, I know I've saved your life more than once, but that doesn't make you incapable of looking out for yourself."
I know that, Ryder smiled.
"Yeah…thanks, Keith…" Alexa smiled sweetly.
Keith drew Alexa's head closer to him until her head rested on his shoulder. Keith kissed her gently as he held onto her with one arm. He, Alexa and Ryder then continued to look through the photo album.
To be continued…