Episode 23. Through the Seasons
Niko sat in their regular booth in the Pokémon Center, near a window on the side of the building. He had just defeated Clay of the Driftveil City Gym, and earned his fifth badge in Unova. He had only been on a journey for nearly a month now, but it still seemed surreal that he was doing this again. Even weirder was that, at the beginning of the calendar year, he was travelling through Sinnoh, still earning his gym badges there. And here he was, coming to the end of the calendar year in the coming month, off in another region and over halfway to completing a gym challenge in another region.
Am I moving too fast? Niko thought to himself. If I want to attempt another run at a Pokémon League, are my Pokémon getting stronger at a fast-enough pace? Because…if I get to the Unova League, can I really count on everyone I abandoned back in Pallet Town? I told them they could leave if they wanted to, and never got a chance to see how they reacted to my leaving. So I can't really expect their help. And that means I have to rely on these four—and whoever I might meet in the future.
"So Niko, there's a gym in Mistralton City." Warren finally said. "It's maybe a week's journey from here, or more than that if we take our time. The only major roadblock we have is Chargestone Cave, which is actually closer to Mistralton City."
"Oh, cool." Niko said. "How'd you find all of this out?"
"Charlotte." Warren said, pointing a thumb to their third companion, who was busy reading her book on the Unova region. She looked up and nodded curtly, and with a smile as usual.
"Great. When do you want to leave?" Niko asked.
"Maybe tonight?" Warren asked. "That way we can get a head-start." Niko nodded. It made sense to him. "Let's go grab some supplies and then we can head out after that?"
Later that afternoon, as the sun was setting, Niko and his friends turned to look at Driftveil City for the last time before continuing on their journey. To be sure, not much significant happened while there, besides Niko obtaining a gym badge. However, the view of the city was beautiful at sunset, with the orange sheen of the water glimmering in the distance. Then the trio turned the other way and continued walking up the hill towards route 6, the first leg of their journey to Mistralton City.
That evening, the trio made some headway on route 6, but were stopped when it began to rain heavily. Looking around, they found a small enclave nearby to sit in and wait out the storm. Once they were in a drier area, Niko looked down at his drenched clothes. He'd never really dealt with this before, as he had usually only brought a few sets of clothes on his journey.
"So…" He finally said. "Can we get a fire going?"
Charlotte nodded, sending out Smeargle and asking her to use ember. The Painter Pokémon nodded after Swadloon and Servine brought in some sticks to create a campfire with. Soon enough, there was a fire going, warm enough for the entire group. Meanwhile, each of the humans changed into different clothes and dried off their wet ones, hoping that the rain didn't ruin any of the fabric.
Sitting in black athletic pants and a thin sweater, Niko stared at the fire passively while Warren was chronicling their day and Charlotte was either reading or trying to speed up the process of drying her clothes. Meanwhile, Servine and Solosis were sleeping while Boldore was playing some sort of game involving rocks with Rufflet. Poliwag was watching Warren write before falling asleep as well, and Swadloon was just playing around with her leaf coat. Smeargle was busy sketching something on the wall of the cave they were sitting in.
As his friends slowly went to sleep, Niko eventually stood up, walked around the fire, and stared out onto the expanse of land ahead of them. Route 6 was different from most of Unova that they've seen thus far. For one thing, weather seemed to be more prominent in this part of the region. Secondly, the foliage seemed more lush than normal. It was a beautiful sight, and reminded Niko of parts of Sinnoh that he had seen. Of all of the regions he had visited prior to Unova, Sinnoh exhibited the most variable weather. Kanto and Johto were more temperate, and Hoenn was generally sunny throughout their journey. But Sinnoh and Unova were different, and Niko appreciated that.
As he was considering all of this, he gradually noticed the raindrops freeze up over time, ultimately turning to snowflakes. It was snowing!"
Excited, Niko turned to wake Warren—who was not pleased—and Charlotte up to show them. "Look guys, it's snowing now!"
"Great…" Warren said groggily before heading back to bed. Charlotte seemed only slightly more enthusiastic, but woke Smeargle up and asked her to use ember once more to keep the fire going.
"Niko, please make your next Pokémon a fire type…" She muttered before falling asleep next to Smeargle. Niko nervously laughed to himself before turning back to watch the snow fall for a while longer, eventually succumbing to sleep as well.
The following morning, the trio woke up, heated their clothes a little, and took off on route 6. Most of the day was spent travelling, usually along one of the many rivers running through and across the route. Along the way, Niko got see a fair amount of unfamiliar Pokémon while wading through the snow. One of them was a small white-capped, mushroom-like Pokémon that reminded Niko of Paras and Parasect.
"Foongus, the Mushroom Pokémon. Grass and poison type. It lures Pokémon with its pattern that looks just like a pokéball then releases poison spores."
"Eek…" Niko said. "Glad I wasn't in search of a pokéball or something." He said before turning away from the Foongus and continuing on.
"Yeah, Foongus can be troublesome." Charlotte added. "But they're helpful in growing mushrooms for consumption."
"We don't…eat those things, do we?" Niko asked.
"Nope!" Charlotte replied with a smile, hiding behind her thick red sweater, which nearly doubled her already small figure. "But they grow other mushrooms that we do eat!"
"I don't prefer mushrooms, personally…" Niko began. "But I think I recall someone at my old job referencing Foongus before. I just didn't get the reference."
Due to the snow on the ground, which seemed to pile up as time went on, the trio didn't make significant progress on the first day of their journey. By nightfall, it was no longer snowing, and the trio took refuge under a collection of trees near a river. Fortunately, there was a path of grass untainted by the snow that they could sit by and rest at.
"I hope I have a chance to work with my Pokémon." Niko said as he leaned up against part of the tree trunk. "This weather isn't that great." He said with a sigh.
"Don't worry, Niko." Charlotte said. "You'll be just fine. I think that battle against Clay was one of your better ones yet, so your Pokémon seem to be in top shape."
"I hope they are…" Niko said, looking down at Servine's pokéball. He didn't want the Grass Snake Pokémon to have to deal with the cold weather, and so kept her in her ball. "Either way, we should be out of this weather soon. Maybe another day of this!" Warren, who had been writing for most of their break that evening, looked up and nodded. That night passed in much the same way as those previous, with most of the humans doing their own thing and the Pokémon—those that were most comfortable outside of their pokéballs—hung around with their trainers. Soon enough everyone was asleep, even Niko.
The following morning Niko spent some time training with Solosis and Rufflet, as they seemed more accustomed to the colder weather somehow, and were therefore more comfortable. Rufflet was practicing his aerial ace, focusing specifically on the speed of the attack. Solosis, as the target, tried to slow Rufflet down with psywave and collide into the Eaglet Pokémon with rollout. She would also conjure a reflect move to minimize the impact of aerial ace, which tended to work.
After a while, Solosis seemed to be getting more and more exhausted, but tried to not give up, having heard about what Niko was telling the other Pokémon during their gym battle with Clay.
Just then, as Rufflet was about to land an aerial ace, something caught his eye, and he nearly missed Solosis—which never happens. Niko noticed this, and glared at his Pokémon with a bemused expression.
"Rufflet, what happened?" He asked. Rufflet shrugged, pointing a wing towards the direction of the thing that he noticed. He then started flying off to go find it, with Solosis and Niko following closely behind.
"Niko, where're you going?" Charlotte asked, standing up and slinging her bag over her head. They had already packed up and were getting ready to leave, fortunately. Warren hastily placed his booklet and pen and ran off with Charlotte.
Everyone stopped at the edge of a small clearing, as Rufflet and Solosis were cautiously floating towards a small deer-like Pokémon. The upper side of its body was brown, and it had a yellow patterned rim with a peach underside. On the top of its head was a floral tuft, and a similar yellow coloration on the insides of its tapering ears. The tips of its limbs were colored black and its pink tail was small. Niko pulled out his pokédex to check it out:
"Deerling, the Season Pokémon. Normal and grass type. Their coloring changes according to the seasons and can be slightly affected by the temperature and humidity as well."
"It's so cute!" Charlotte said. However, the Deerling seemed frightened when Rufflet charged down at it, obviously without caution nor provocation. The Deerling then ran off. "Wait, Deerling!" She said, running off after it. "Rufflet! What the hell?" She snapped at the Eaglet Pokémon, who now looked absolutely ashamed of himself. Charlotte then continued running after it until she reached a building with a satellite dish on the top of a thin tower in the back. In the yard in front of the building, which Charlotte realized looked more like a laboratory, were a flock of Deerling and their apparent evolution, Sawsbuck. Slowing her pace to a casual walk, she proceeded down the road towards the laboratory, where the Deerling that Rufflet scared was standing near the front door.
"Hey there…" Charlotte said softly. "I'm sorry about my friend's Pokémon. He's a little…eccentric." She got down onto one knee and held out her hand, which had a berry in it. "My name's Charlotte. Don't worry, I don't bite!"
The Deerling cautiously looked at Charlotte before trotting forward and eating the berry from her hand. It seemed to like it, and smiled a little.
"Ah, there you are!" A tall, purple-haired woman in a lab coat said as she opened the sliding glass front doors. "I've been looking all over for you!" She then kneeled down and pet the Deerling before noticing Charlotte now standing a few feet away. "Oh, hello there. How may I help you?"
"Oh, my friends and I just found this Deerling running around in a clearing nearby and it ran back here. My friend's Rufflet accidentally scared it off, and I chased it down to apologize. And…my name's Charlotte. Hi."
"My name is Adrienne. I'm a researcher here at the Season Research Lab. And as a thanks for returning one of our Deerling, would you and your friends like a tour of the lab?"
"Sure!" Warren shouted from behind Charlotte, who turned to see both of her male companions standing there with Rufflet and Solosis. At the sight of the Eaglet Pokémon, Deerling hid behind Adrienne's leg nervously.
"Rufflet, return." Niko said, suddenly reading the room.
"Adrienne, these are my friends, Niko and Warren. We're all travelling through Unova together."
"Oh? Then I'm sure you'd all appreciate checking out what we've got here."
"Of course!" Warren said, taking a few steps to close the distance between him and Charlotte. "Any chance to see unique things in Unova is a chance worth taking!"
"I love the attitude. Come, let me show you around." Adrienne said, motioning for the trio—and Solosis—to follow her inside.
The inside of the laboratory was just like any ordinary lab. Machines and desks were scattered about, with nearly a dozen scientists all working with data and specific programs to run their studies. Adrienne walked them over to a desk in the back corner and shuffled some papers around before addressing her guests once more.
"This laboratory is a facility dedicated to the research of the seasons. We're also a greenhouse, and the plants we grow depend on the season. We're actually in the middle of planting a new set, since Winter began yesterday. Would you like to go see the greenhouse?" The trio nodded, and Adrienne and Deerling began walking out through a back exit into a tunnel with glass walls all around them. "As you can imagine, Deerling has been a subject of interest for us at this lab. In fact, it's part of the reason we got our grant to create this lab. A wealthy businessman in Driftveil City wanted to further understand why Deerling and Sawsbuck change their forms at the start of new seasons. And so while we study these Pokémon, we also study the seasons more generally."
"Must be fun. What made you want to study seasons?" Warren asked.
"Oh, I wanted to study Deerling, actually. The seasons is just part of it. I got my degree in Pokémon biology. But the way seasons change, and the impact they have on the environment is nevertheless fascinating." She said with a sparkle in her eye. Deerling looked up at her, and then reared its head back briefly at Charlotte, who smiled back.
They finally made it to the greenhouse, which was full of gardeners cleaning up the place and potting a wide assortment of plants. Niko walked over to the glass window and gently placed his hand on it. Suddenly, his hand felt like it was on fire.
"OW! What the—?" He said, caressing his lightly burnt hand.
"Oh…the glass has to be hot during the winter." Adrienne said with an empathetic look. "Don't worry, it happens to the best of us." She added with a light laugh. "Anyways, this is the greenhouse. We've got a variety of plants that we grow here, all for the purpose of studying what grows best in winter and under what specific conditions during that seasons that they need to grow."
Charlotte wandered around the aisles of different plants. After a few moments, she noticed the Deerling following her. "Oh, hello there." She said, crouching down and petting the Deerling on its head. "Do you like living here? There's lots of beautiful plants and flowers!"
Deerling nodded, albeit hesitantly. Charlotte noticed this and expressed confusion. Why would the Deerling not enjoy living around so many of its kind? It seemed like Adrienne took care of them, so what could this Deerling possibly want?
Putting the thought aside, Charlotte continued walking around with Deerling for a bit, examining the greenhouse some more before reuniting with Niko and Warren. They were sitting near the entrance, with Niko watching Solosis examine the plants and Warren taking notes of what he was seeing. "You guys seem to be enjoying this." She said teasingly.
"I guess so." Niko said, still watching Solosis. "I don't know much about science, or seasonal science. So none of this really makes sense to me. But I certainly appreciate the detour to check this out!" He added, trying to lighten the conversation a little more. He then noticed Deerling standing at Charlotte's side. "That Deerling is really taking a liking to you."
"Oh, you noticed?" She asked, again teasingly. "Yeah, I don't know why really, but it's a kind Pokémon. I wish I had more time to get to know it, you know?"
"Well, you could ask if Adrienne will let you take it with us?" Niko asked.
"Oh, I couldn't do that! That doesn't seem right." Charlotte said. "Plus, I hardly know the Deerling."
"Well, I hardly knew any of my Pokémon before catching them. But they wanted to travel with me, or get stronger. It's the same thing, really." He said with a shrug.
Charlotte looked down at Deerling, who briefly caught her eye. "I've never really caught a Pokémon before. Smeargle was more of a gift than anything. And I had known her before I caught her."
"Well, it's up to you. But I get the feeling Deerling would want to come along." Niko said with a kind smile towards the Season Pokémon, who shied away from him.
"I'd be fine with it." Charlotte heard Adrienne say behind her. "This Deerling in particular has always had a penchant for the outside world. The Deerling and Sawsbuck that live here were born and raised here. They don't know the world around them. It might do Deerling some good to see other places and environments. And plus, maybe it'll help our research to have someone take care of our Pokémon, to see if maybe its form changes under other conditions besides seasons."
"Well, if you insist…" Charlotte turned to Deerling. "Do you want to join my friends and I on our adventure, Deerling?"
The Seasons Pokémon nodded curtly, this time with a smile.
"Plus, it seems comfortable around you. I rarely see that Deerling comfortable around anyone other than me and its Sawsbuck parents." Adrienne said, pulling out a pokéball from her coat pocket. "This is Deerling's pokéball. Here. Its ownership has transferred on to you."
Charlotte took the pokéball and held it in her hand. It was cold to the touch, likely because of the cold environment everywhere except the greenhouse. She then showed it to Deerling, who touched it with its nose and went inside. "I…caught a Deerling." She said, this time with a smile.
"Great job, Charlotte." Niko said, standing up and patting his friend on the back. Warren did the same, and the three were then escorted by Adrienne out of the lab and back onto route 6.
"Well then, this is where we part, Deerling." Adrienne said, eyeing the pokéball in Charlotte's hand. "Please take good care."
"I will. I promise. And if we notice anything that might help your research, we'll let you know."
"Thank you, I appreciate that." Adrienne said. "Best of luck on your adventure."
"Thanks for letting us check out the lab!" Warren said, waving back to Adrienne as they exited the front yard of the laboratory and back onto the snow-covered road on route 6, ready to continue their adventure with a new friend.
Author's Note: Episodes for the next few days will be slow, due to writer's block and me being out of town. I'll try to add to this story when I can, but it'll be slower than usual.