Wingull and Pelipper

The town of Slateport was busy again today. The marketplace especially, with flags fluttering in the wind, colorful tents open and welcoming, many interesting goods being bought and sold, and many humans milling about, doing business. Above them, a Pelipper flew north, away from the sea. She was a large bird, with a bill nearly as big as her body. Still, she flew gracefully with the setting sun sparkling off her white and blue feathers.

She went past the town and to a grassy route that wandered about over a crystal blue lake. Landing there with a few running steps, she checked around. There seemed to be no humans about. With that assured, she crouched down and opened her bill. A small yellow and blue Pokemon hopped out.

"Gee, thanks Gracie," the Minun said with a smile. "That was a fun adventure."

"I'm glad you liked it," she replied cheerfully. "And thanks for not sparking while I was carrying you."

"Of course I wouldn't do that! I couldn't be that insensitive. Here's a berry for you." He gave her an Aspear berry, then hopped off into the lush grass. "Bye!"

"Goodbye!" She ate the berry; it would do until she could catch a fish later. Then she took off and flew over Slateport again. The wind was so good today, steady, warm, and salty. Gracie could just fly around enjoying the lovely weather, but she felt that she should check back home first.

This time, she went east, to a rockier part of the coastline. There was a cliff there. Relatively small one, but it suited her kind. She went by her nest. Immediately, she noticed the smell of old dead fish. Grimacing, she wheeled away and landed in the water by some rocks. It wouldn't be relaxing to rest at her home with that stench.

Gracie looked at the Wingulls circling overhead in the orange sunset sky. Their kind's younger forms flew differently, relying on the winds to stay aloft. As she could now fly wherever she wanted, she was quite glad. "Jimmy, Winnie, Bobby! I'm back!"

Her three children broke away from the group and landed on the rocks by her. They had smaller bodies than her, along with smaller bills and longer legs. So they liked resting on top of rocks rather than on the waves. "Hi Mom," the eldest Jimmy said. "What'd you do today?"

"I took a Minun out to an island because he wanted to see what it was like out there. We had a fun time."

"Islands aren't much different than the mainland," Winnie said.

"To land Pokemon, they are," she pointed out. "What did you three do today?"

"I caught lots and lots of fish this morning!" Bobby said, excitedly spreading his wings (to the annoyance of his brother and sister).

So that was it. She narrowed her eyes at him. "And you left one at home to stink up our nest, didn't you?"

"I, um," he ducked his head down in embarrassment. "I was full, but I had this really nice fat one, so I wanted to save it for later…"

"Well now it's rotted, stinky, and horrid tasting. Go dig it out and take it somewhere else." The mere taste of having to carry the rotted fish away would hopefully teach him not to do that again.

"But Mom…"

"Go do it now."

"Awww," he said reluctantly. He flew back to the nest to retrieve his hidden fish.

Gracie shook her head. It was a habit of all young Wingulls to try and store extra fish they had caught, to show that they were so good at hunting that they caught too much. But unless the fish was put alive in a cold or wet place, it would die and rot. Even if it was retrieved before it stank, it wouldn't be as good as fresh caught. Thus, it was a habit that had to be broke early.

She looked at her other two kids. "So what did you two do today?"

"I challenged Tentacools to battle so I can grow stronger," Jimmy said. "And I hung out with Pelly too. She really likes me." He beamed at the thought.

"That's wonderful," Gracie said. "You two get along so well. What about you, Winnie?"

"I found lots of treasures today," she said, puffing her chest feathers up. "I found three pretty pearls and buried them all in the sand." She then flicked her tail, showing some annoyance. "I also saw that jerk Kelly bury a bigger pearl nearby. She probably stole it from somebody and wanted to show off how much better she is than everybody else in the flock. But then I fixed that."

"What did you do?" Gracie asked, in a tense voice of warning.

"I unburied her pearl and reburied it three feet away," Winnie stated. "But I didn't tell nobody until just now."

"I suppose that's all right," the Peliper mother decided. Pokemon often forgot where they hid such things anyways. She occasionally wondered how many little treasures were hidden in the sandy beaches, the grassy lands, or the rocky hills.

"I also found some pretty round things," the Wingull girl added. "I buried those… actually, I'm not sure where. I think in some grass."

Forgotten just like that, every day. "They might have been coins," Jimmy suggested. "Or buttons. Or bolts."

"I woulda known if they were bolts, silly."

"Hey Mom!" Bobby called, flying over with a discolored fish hanging out his bill. "Where should I put this?"

"Oh gross!" Winnie said, covering her nostrils with her wings. "Don't bring your rotten stinky fish over by us!"

"Just go dump it somewhere away from here," Gracie said with a grimace. "And you're still in trouble for this."

Bobby sighed, then flew off to find somewhere to drop his dead fish.

"There was something else neat that happened today," Jimmy said, changing the subject. "There were these humans along the coast wearing blue clothes. They called themselves Team Aqua, and they were saying that they were gonna make the oceans bigger! They've been catching Pokemon to help them too, and I thought about going with them. It sounds pretty neat."

"Humans are going to make the ocean bigger?" Gracie asked. "I didn't know they could do that."

"I didn't either, but I might be gone with them tomorrow. Maybe if I can talk Pelly into coming with me."

"But if they make the ocean bigger," Winnie interrupted, "what's gonna happen to our nest? And what'll happen to the land Pokemon?"

"They can swim," Jimmy said.

"Not forever," Gracie said. "But maybe if there were patches of land left for them, it might be okay. There would be more fish, after all. Go if you like. I hope you get a nice Trainer."

"Yeah, me too."

"I know what I want to do!" Winnie said, fluttering in excitement. "I wanna fly off to Sinnoh and find a Coordinator."

"You can find Coordinators here in Hoenn, silly," Jimmy said.

She wasn't going to have anything to do with that, judging from the look in her eyes. "But the ones in Sinnoh don't just groom their Pokemon and teach them to act. They actually let you dress up in pretty things! Like scarves and rings and collars and feathers and flowers and…"

"That's interesting," Gracie said. "But Sinnoh is a long ways off."

"Yes, but it would be so magnificent," she said dreamily. "I could be a star if I could get there."

Bobby came flying back. "Okay, I got rid of it," he said.

"EWWW, but now you stink like rotted fish!" Winnie declared. "Ew, ew, ew! You make my stomach feel queasy."

"So you're sleeping elsewhere for the night," Gracie stated. "And I hope you've learned your lesson. Be careful where you hide your fish, get back to it quickly, and never ever hide it near our nest."

"Awwww," Bobby said, trying to get some sympathetic lenience. But it wouldn't work when he was stinky.

...

Ruby entry: Wingull has the habit of carrying prey and valuables in its beak and hiding them in all sorts of locations. This Pokemon rides the winds and flies as if it were skating across the sky.

Pelipper Pearl entry: It acts as a delivery service by carrying small Pokemon in its bill. It bobs on the waves to rest.

Ew, stinky rotted fish! This was posted on New Year's Day of 2010.