Episode 41: The beached jellyfish
The day following the World Tournament Junior Cup, the trio left Lacunosa Town and continued their journey towards Humilau City. To get there, they would have to get to Undella Town and then towards their destination via the Marine Tube.
It would take roughly a week to reach Humilau City, and a little less than that to get to Undella Town, which was on the eastern coast of the Unova region. A day into their journey, the trio finally reached the coast, a sight they hadn't had the privilege of seeing since leaving Castelia City. In addition, it was no longer snowing, as winter was slowly making way for spring. This allowed Niko, Warren, and Charlotte to shed their winter clothing in exchange for more comfortable t-shirts and light long-sleeves shirts.
"Wow…" Niko said as they looked over a cliffside at the ocean below them, and smelling the fresh air emanating from the winds coming from the east. He always enjoyed seeing the ocean, even if he did get motion sick travelling across it. Nowadays, it reminded him of the first time he saw the coast on his travels, when him and his friends were walking to Lavender Town in Kanto. "The ocean always amazes me." He said to Warren and Charlotte, both of whom were equally amazed.
"And this is way more fascinating than seeing it from Castelia City." Warren added. "Too many boats."
"Agreed." Charlotte said. "I've never actually seen something like this before."
"You see a lot of it when you travel through the world." Niko said. "But I never get tired of it. Even in Hoenn, where we spent almost a couple months on the ocean, it always feels new to me. Like…what's on the other side of that water? If we travelled in a straight direction, where would it take us?"
"I like the way you think, Niko." Warren said. "Oddly romantic of you. Not in the way you might be thinking, but in a more poetic sense."
"I suppose so." Niko replied, not quite sure what Warren meant.
The trio then spent the remainder of their day on that cliffside, allowing their Pokémon to view it as well. For the most part, they all seemed to find it awe-inspiring. Particularly, and oddly enough, Braviary found it the most fascinating. Niko had never realized how much his bird Pokémon enjoyed the natural world until that day, and this was evident from the fact that the Valiant Pokémon flew off of the cliffside and over into the ocean for a while before coming back. Druddigon did the same, but went slower and glided his way off of the cliff and over the water below.
During that time, Niko contemplated ways to train his constantly evolving—in two senses—team. He had to start thinking about the Unova League, and not exclusively the next gym battle. The last time he challenged a Pokémon League, he had assurance from his reserves of Pokémon back in Pallet Town. Now, for the first time in nearly four years, he did not have that same assurance, and it worried him. For not only did he have to simply win battles to go further, he had to potentially go against trainers that he has never managed to defeat, namely Hunter and Elliot. Both of those trainers were strong enough to make it to the end on their own—Niko, with his current roster of Pokémon, was not. He had to now find ways to improve in such a short period of time. And it bothered him more than he let on.
Charlotte began to catch onto this during their first day on the cliffsides of route 13. She didn't say anything to him, but she certainly sensed that he was pondering a more complex problem that he probably didn't want to discuss at length yet. Meanwhile, Warren was simply enjoying the sights, recording them in his booklet. At one point, he even tried to sketch the scene around him—detailing the ocean, his rendition of the cliff they were sitting on, and the many pointed and jagged rocks below that appeared in a variety of sizes.
On their second day, Niko finally got down to training. With Charlotte's help, he learned that, upon evolution, Serperior had learned a move called "coil." This move helped to increase Serperior's strength during battle, as well as allow her to move faster. In addition, since Serperior was a serpent Pokémon, Niko figured that learning a move like giga drain might be beneficial.
"This way, Serperior could just wrap herself around an opponent and drain their energy that way." Niko said, suddenly getting excited by the prospect of a new move combination. Charlotte smiled, noticing Niko's raw enthusiasm at trying to figure out a novel idea (at least, novel to him). "How does that sound, buddy?" He asked, addressing the now massive Regal Pokémon. Serperior nodded her approval.
However, the two ran into one unexpected problem—Serperior still had to get used to her new body. Her entire life was spent on two feet, albeit small feet. Now, she had no feet, and had to slither to get anywhere. During her first few days as a serpent, she had difficulties moving at the same speed that she used to, but kept at it with the same determination that characterized her as a Snivy or a Servine, which made Niko quite proud.
At first, Niko's other Pokémon weren't quite sure what to make of Servine's evolution. At nearly eleven feet in length, Serperior was massive relative to the others. Braviary found it amusing that the Pokémon he had known the longest, and the only one with determination to match his, was struggling with basic movements all over again. This angered Serperior, who eventually snapped and whacked Braviary in the side of the head with a leaf blade, nearly knocking the Valiant Pokémon off of the cliffside. Generally speaking, though, the other Pokémon were very kind to Serperior, and tried to help where they could with her brief "re-training" period, which she appreciated (even if she didn't express it).
The other Pokémon, on the whole, were working on new moves. Eelektrik was, like Serperior, adjusting to a new body and a new limit of power. He would, on occasion, unleash a random thunderbolt attack without realizing it. Once, he accidentally picked a fight with Druddigon for this random release of electricity. Niko again found himself having to break up another fight.
Boldore, Litwick, and Braviary were all trying to learn new moves while the trio travelled down route 13. Boldore—who was trying to master stealth rock—seemed to be getting the move down-pat, but had difficulty on his release time, which Niko continuously emphasized as important. Litwick was trying to get the hang of inferno, which was an enormously powerful fire attack, but couldn't manage to muster the amount of fire necessary for the move to be effective. Nevertheless, she kept going. Lastly, Braviary was learning a move called crush claw, and seemed to have little difficulty while they were moving towards Undella Town.
As usual, Charlotte and Warren would aid Niko if he wanted someone else to battle with. Usually Warren stepped up, since Charlotte didn't believe—much to Niko's disagreement—that she could actually provide a real challenge to him. This nearly sparked an argument between the two, and would have escalated to a shouting match had Warren not interfered.
"Guys…we don't need to fight. We're all part of a team here, and we all have our own skills that make this journey work out." He said, trying to calm down Niko and Charlotte.
"But he keeps asking for our help when he knows we can't give it to him!" Charlotte snapped. "It seems like he just gets a kick out of us losing."
"That's not true at all!" Niko shouted back.
"I don't know why you're getting mad at me! You started this!"
"I started this? You're the one complaining about how 'weak' you are as a trainer! How did I start anything?"
"By even mentioning it in the first place! It wasn't necessary! Look, I know I'm not good at battling. Deerling and Smeargle don't have as much experience under their belt as, say, Serperior. But don't go around acting like we can help you when we can't! It almost sounds arrogant."
"Arrogant? Really!?" Niko spat back. "I'm arrogant? Have you met Hunter?"
"Hunter is a class-A douchebag, Niko! And don't think that because I called you arrogant that you're even on the same level as he is! You can be both arrogant and not as arrogant as he is." Charlotte said. She then grabbed her book, and Deerling and Smeargle's pokéballs, and stormed off towards the beach below their campsite.
"Where are you going?" Niko asked, although it came off as more of a demand.
"To get some peace and quiet!" she shouted back, not even thinking to look back at Niko and Warren. Once she was out of sight, Niko collapsed on the ground, exhausted.
"I hate arguing, Warren…" He said. "It makes me feel light-headed. And…it's just exhausting on so many levels."
"I get that. She probably feels the same way. But we all deal with anger and conflict differently."
"Did I seriously do anything wrong?" Niko said, looking up with a guilty expression.
"No, but neither did she. Look, I think she's just unhappy with her performance in Lacunosa Town. When you were battling—I forget who—she mentioned to me that this was her first ever tournament for Pokémon battling, besides the occasional competition in school. But the difference was that it was with Pokémon that she had built real relationships with, and she felt like she did them a disservice by losing."
"So…she's upset by losing…I get that. I mean, I really do."
"I know you do. Which is why I don't fault you either. She's mad about something else, and you had no context for why she was angry in the first place. It was just a friendly argument, the way I see it." He said, sitting next to Niko and overlooking the ocean. "She has a good heart, and it's usually in the right place. But, like the two of us, she has her moments, right?"
"Indeed. We all do." Niko said, staring off at the ocean, sparkling under the shining sun in the sky.
Charlotte sat on the sand, only feet from the water. Her shoes were off and placed in the wet, hardened sand at the water's edge. To her left and right were Deerling and Smeargle. She tried reading her book, but stopped after a while. Too much was going on in her head.
"Guys…I'm sorry." She eventually said. "I shouldn't have entered that tournament. It was a mistake, and…I don't know. I'm not cut out to be a trainer, I guess." She then felt Deerling rubbing his nose against her. It tickled a little. "Hehe, stop that…" She said softly. "I'm just confused. I wish I was as adept as Niko at this, or as carefree as Warren. I don't feel like I belong sometimes, and I don't know what I want to do with my life, really."
Deerling and Smeargle continued listening, unsure of what to make of their trainer's monologue.
"But I love travelling, and having got the chance to meet you, Deerling. And Niko, and Warren, and all of their Pokémon. I just wish that I could contribute more sometimes, or at least have something else to occupy my time with other than this book." She said, staring down at her ever-helpful book on the Unova region.
She was about to continue talking when Smeargle poked her in the side. Turning to her right, she noticed something off in the distance. It was small, and pink-colored. It looked to be about four-feet in length, and was pale. Very pale.
"What's that?" She wondered, standing up. She motioned for Smeargle and Deerling to follow, and they did. It took them only a minute to reach the Pokémon, but when they did, Charlotte was able to get a better idea of what exactly she was looking at.
It was a jellyfish-like Pokémon. It had a round, pale pink head with a rounded crown-like tuft on the top, and five tentacle-like appendages. It had oval eyes with white pupils, and a collar around its neck. Lastly, it appeared to have blue eyes with red sclera and a curled eyelash on each eye. Its collar was frilled, and it was passed out.
"Frillish, the Floating Pokémon. Water and ghost type. If its veil-like arms stun and wrap a foe, that foe will be dragged miles below the surface, never to return." Charlotte's pokédex said in its usual monotone voice.
"It looks like there are gender differences between them…so since this one is pink, that means it's a female. Either way, what is it doing unconscious on a beach?" She looked at her Pokémon. "It was probably attacked or something, and barely managed to escape. Smeargle, Deerling, can you help me get this Frillish back to our camp? I don't think I can carry it on my own."
With the help of her Pokémon, Charlotte managed to take Frillish back to Niko and Warren, who both stood up immediately upon the sight. At first, they had several questions, but Charlotte ignored all of them until Frillish was besides their campfire and on a blanket.
"Ironically, it might need some water. And…it looks like its cut in some places. Warren, can Leavanny help patch her up?" Charlotte asked.
"Yes. Leavanny!" Warren said, calling out to the Nurturing Pokémon, who was in the middle of a game with Braviary, Druddigon, and Pidove. "We need some help healing this Frillish that Charlotte found. Can you patch her up?"
Leavanny nodded, and quickly got to work while Charlotte got some water. Due to the heat of the campfire, Frillish eventually woke up and, unsurprisingly, began to look around in genuine surprise.
"Hi, Frillish. I'm Charlotte, and this is Warren. I found you passed out on a beach, and brought you back to my camp to help heal you up." She said softly. "You're probably very confused, but don't worry about it. We're just here to help."
Frillish slowly nodded, at first seeming skeptical. Charlotte then gave her some water, and Leavanny finished patching her up with silky bandages. To no surprise, Frillish was feeling a little better, eventually hugging Charlotte.
"Ow…ow…those tentacles…are strong." She said, gasping for air. Frillish let go, looking apologetic. "It's totally fine! I'm just glad you're alright. Will you be able to get home from here?"
The Frillish looked around, clearly unsure of where she was. Charlotte then pointed in the direction of the ocean. Frillish shook her head in response. She did not know how to get home, if she had one at all.
"Oh…" Charlotte said in despair. "I'm sorry that you—err—don't have a home to go back to."
"Then why doesn't she just join you?" Niko suggested. He had been silent for much of the recovery process for Frillish, admiring Warren and especially Charlotte for taking the lead on this. Not that he was acting high-and-mighty—if he was honest with himself, he didn't really know what to do or how he could have contributed.
Charlotte thought about her friend's idea for a moment before looking at Frillish, who was floating just at her eye level. "Do you…?"
Frillish shrugged before smirking a little. She looked like she would be interested in this.
"Well, we're travelling throughout the Unova region. If you're interested in seeing more of the world, then I'd love to have you come with us. We've met a lot of cool—and even dangerous—people and Pokémon along the way." When Frillish didn't respond, Charlotte pulled out an empty pokéball. "Here, you can choose now if you want. I'll be fine with whatever decision you make."
Frillish then touched the middle of the pokéball, eventually turning a bright red and going inside of it. The ball sat in Charlotte's outstretched hand that she gradually brought closer to her. It wiggled around in her palm a few times before ultimately clicking. She caught a Frillish.
"Great job, Charlotte." Niko said, walking over to her. "And…I'm sorry about yelling at you earlier. Warren told me about the tournament. I—I didn't know how it affected you."
"Niko, don't worry about it. I'm feeling a little better about it. Plus, what friendship would be without the occasional arguments? I'm also sorry for snapping at you. I shouldn't have."
"Well, I'll try to take your feelings about battling into account next time. Promise." He then held out his fist. Charlotte smiled, and bumped it in return. "Great. I don't know about you, but arguing makes me hungry." He said with a light laugh.
"Same here, oddly enough." Charlotte said, sending out Frillish again to introduce her to all of the Pokémon. A day characterized by argument and slight panic ended up better than either Niko, Charlotte, or Warren had envisioned.