Girafarig and Ledyba

Jenny stamped her hoof down. "No, I am not going back over there to check out some scent you've picked up," she insisted. "Not after that mess you started with the stinky Gloom the other day. I've had just about enough of trouble from you."

She wasn't answered exactly with words, but it was something like, "Gnash, gnash," in a grumpy annoyed way.

"You're an idiot and we both know it," she retorted.

A Sentret near her fluffed his striped tail and asked, "What did you say about me?"

"It wasn't you I called an idiot," Jenny said. "It was my tail."

He gave her a puzzled look. "Um, your tail?"

She nodded her yellow head. In the meantime, the little black head that was stuck to her tail turned its beady little eyes at the Sentret and showed off its sharp pointed teeth. "Gnash, gnash."

"It's a horribly tempered brutish little beast," the Girafarig said sharply. "And it's got no reason going on in its little bitty brain cell."

"That's too bad," the Sentret said, although his honest thoughts were more along the lines of 'too weird'.

"I know you think it's too weird to grasp," Jenny stated. "Just be glad you don't have to live with a demi-sentient extra brain in your tail."

"Uh-huh," he said, then decided it was a good time to move on. As he went past Jenny, her black head lashed out and got a good chunk of his brown fur.

"Huuu nmmmm," Sam the Ledyba mumbled, stretching his six legs outward. He felt a good deal better after that restful night's sleep; the previous night, he had been kept awake for all hours of the darkness by a Noctowl that had been looking to make one of his swarm a midnight snack. Last night, they had been left at peace.

He got up and flexed his spotted shell out, to stir wakefulness into his wings. The sun was shining clearly today. Once he was fully alert, he could go look for some dew to drink, then find out where his swarm was thinking of heading. However, there didn't seem to be much dew this morning. The sun was high overhead, so it should be sparkling off the green grasses, and the red shells of his brethren.

No, the sun was too high. It was almost noon. And he didn't see a sign of red anywhere.

Sam froze up in fright. Where was his swarm? Had he overslept enough that they had moved on already? What did he do now? He'd never been separated from his swarm before. Too scared, he stayed right where he was. Maybe they would come back. Some days they did return to where they had slept. Other days, not.

Overhead, a Butterfree flitted around, looking for flowers. A Pidgey flew at it, but missed. The tan bird searched for it, or an easier prey. For a terrifying moment, it looked right at the Ledyba. It either wasn't interested or wanting the Butterfree, as the Pidgey moved on.

Every motion around him caused Sam alarm. The swaying of the grasses could either be the wind or things sneaking towards him. Any sound, even if he knew it, could be an unknown danger. However, he was too scared of being alone to run. A Bug had to be with a swarm, not alone.

A yellow Pokemon with long legs and a long neck walked by. It was snuffling along, chewing grass. It was nothing dangerous to him, but it could be covering for something dangerous. Waiting for it to pass by anxiously, Sam continued to hold perfectly still. But as it was almost past, its tail suddenly grew fearsome jaws and snapped at the Ledyba.

"Eeeee!" Sam squealed, falling off the rock he has slept on.

"Oh, what now?" Jenny asked in annoyance. "Can't you just leave me in peace for a day?"

Sam trembled as it turned to him. Even though the evil tail jaw was away from him, only a terrible Pokemon would have just a terrifying tail. His throat went dry as he wished again that his swarm had not left him alone.

"Oh, it's just a Ledyba," Jenny said. She brought her head down and sniffed. "A scared one at that. You shouldn't be spooking little Bugs like him."

"Gnash, gnash," the tail replied.

"You can't just chomp at any smell you think is interesting." She smiled at him. "Sorry, Ledyba. I'm Jenny, a Girafarig. Your name's…" she tilted her head in question.

"Krrruuu," he said softly.

"So you're Sam, huh? Yeah, I can understand you Bugs. Comes in handy, even for me. I'm sorry about my tail. I know it's crude and scary, but I'm kind of stuck with it. So what're you doing?"

Feeling that the front half of this Girafarig was friendly enough, Sam rubbed two of his forelegs together and shifted his pheromones. He was alone, having overslept on accident. He didn't know where his brethren in the swarm were and he was too scared to leave this spot.

"Oh dear," Jenny replied. "It must be dreadfully disorienting to be without your swarm. I thought it was odd seeing one of you by yourself. Do you want some help in finding your swarm? You're small enough, so I should be able to carry you on my back."

Sam tensed again. Wouldn't that put him close to that evil tail again? No way he was going to travel near that thing.

Disappointed, the Girafarig lifted her head. "Well, I don't blame you for not trusting my tail. I don't trust it most of the time."

"Gnash, gnash," the tail retorted.

"If you had some real brains, maybe I would," she taunted back. "I'll take a look around anyhow. Maybe I can tell them you're still here." Jenny trotted off, careful to not let her tail too close to Sam the Ledyba.

He hid in the grass and stayed there.

Despite giving her word to try, Jenny knew she was facing a daunting task. A swarm of Bugs didn't seem hard to miss. Then again, their minds were simple, so simple that her telepathic searches didn't always recognize them. Sure, maybe a stronger Psychic, or one that wasn't dual-typed, could have located the swarm faster. But a pure Psychic would have more reason to stay away.

She supplemented her mental searches with pauses to listen and sniff around. Ledybas had a strong language of scent, so one could often smell them before seeing them. Also, there were certain habits to the swarm's movements. If Jenny had actually paid them more attention before, she might have figured it out herself.

"Gnash, gnash, gnash, gnash," the tail said eagerly.

"What do you smell now?" She thought about it, then focused on her tail's mind. It too was a simple thing, so she couldn't always tell what it was thinking. "The swarm?"

"Gnash." It seemed to be giving an affirmative response.

"Well good. Where are they?"

"Gnash!"

Jenny sighed. Of course it was going to be difficult. But she wanted to help the lost one. "Okay, okay… would you please lead me to them?"

"Gnash." It gave her some mental proddings to head up the slope to her right.

Following its directions, she picked up on the swarm's scent herself. She tracked them down to a small stream. The Ledybas were split between those who were keeping watch and those who were eating, bathing, or drinking. As she approached, the guards became alert.

Jenny lowered her head, hoping not to completely spook the timid Pokemon. "Hey, it's okay. I'm not here to hurt you. I wanted to tell you that one of your brethren got separated from you this morning. Sam is back where you slept last night. You ought to go pick him up; he's scared witless without you."

The swarm was indecisive for a moment. Some were concerned about Sam; their scent clearly referred to him. But then, others weren't about to trust a stranger, especially not one that wasn't one of them.

"I'm not trying to trick you," she insisted. "I was just worried about Sam. A little guy like him, and the rest of you, ought not be alone."

That convinced them. A small group of five separated from the main group to go looking. To Jenny's surprise, her black tail did not snap at them when they went by.

She turned around to follow the group, just in case they got in trouble. "Well, I suppose you can restrain yourself from time to time. Have you learned to be polite now?"

"Gnash!" It was giving a negative response. It had just decided to be restrained this one time.

"I suppose some things never change." She trotted after the group of Ledyba, to make sure Sam got back with his swarm.

...

Girafarig Heart Gold entry: Its tail has a small brain of its own. Beware! If you get too close, it may react to your scent by biting.

Ledyba DPP entry: It is so timid, it can't move if it isn't in a swarm with others. It conveys its feelings with scent.

Gnash! I love that tail.