Wobbuffet

The next part of the garden was interesting. Squared off by tall hedges, it had a circle in the middle defined by wedges of alternating muted red and yellow-green wedges. Low lying pink-flowering bushes set in the corners, while all four walls had arched doorways. And whether by design or accident, a Pokemon stood in the very center of the circle. He was a tall blue one, looking oddly like a punching bag. One would think the Pokemon would not invite attacks on themselves by looking like that.

Seemingly noticing her enter without opening his eyes, the Wobbuffet shuffled into a position to where he was facing her. He had strange jagged lips, like one might put on a jack-o'-lantern. That plus his closed eyes made it had to tell if he was scary, silly, or strange. But whatever he was, she had something else she was doing.

She checked the scavenger hunt list and noticed that one of the clues did point to a red and yellow circle. It didn't mention the Wobbuffet, but that wasn't too important. According to that clue, there was a small Bug Pokemon figurine to find in this 'room' of the maze. Where was it? She didn't think it would be in the colored grasses. But maybe in the bushes. She knelt down and began examining the bushes.

As she moved around the bush, she noticed that the Wobbuffet kept watching her. It even shuffled a bit to constantly face her. That was pushing towards creepy and scary, she thought. So after examining one bush, she got back up and faced the Pokemon. "Um, why are you watching me? It kind of bugs me." She wasn't sure if the Pokemon could respond understandably.

But he could, though telepathy. "I'm not important," he stated. "Just ignore me."

"You keep turning to watch me, though."

"It's not important. Don't mind me. Find your thing and move on."

That was weird. But she wanted to win the scavenger hunt, so she moved to the next corner bush to check it for the figurine. As before, the Wobbuffet turned to keep facing her. It was very distracting. Maybe that was part of the challenge.

As she finished looking through the bush without finding anything, she heard a commotion from elsewhere in the garden maze. She looked up, but couldn't see anything due to the thick tidy hedges. She did notice that the Wobbuffet was mumbling, tensing his flipper-like arms. After a second, he actually turned from her, to partly face her and partly face the doorway right near her.

A Geodude came rolling and bouncing in at high speeds. It bounded up and struck the Wobbuffet, causing his body to lean back. However, he never got knocked off his feet. Instead, he rebounded back upright quickly, launching the unfortunate Geodude back the way it came.

And the Geodude's Trainer had come running after it. "Geo…!" the boy stopped, then rushed out of the way before the rocky Pokemon crashed into him. There was a noisy collision with a leafy hedge instead.

Worried, she got up and looked in the doorway. "Hey, you okay?"

The boy was sweating, clutching a Pokeball to his chest, his knuckles turning white. His eyes were still wide. But the question broke his panic enough for him to nod. "Y-yeah. That was close; how'd he change directions so fast?"

"That Wobbuffet," she said, pointing into the particular room.

"Pay no mind to me," he telepathed, sending out feelings of being as nervous as the boy. "I'm just waiting on someone."

"Oh… okay," the boy said, relaxing some. He pressed the button on the Pokeball in his hands, recalling the Geodude. "Phew. Oh hey, isn't this where one of the items is? I gotta look." He came in and searched the bush she had just looked in.

The Wobbuffet didn't relax, though. She could tell by how he tried to figure out whether to face her or the boy. Looking at the two bushes she had left to search, she wondered how she could find the figurine without letting her competitor know. Unless the figurine wasn't in the bushes.

She looked over where the blue Pokemon was. As she did, he noticed. "Don't look near me," he insisted.

Unfortunately, that got the boy's attention. She went ahead and asked, just in case. "Well could I check the center of the room, though? I'm looking to find a secret."

"There is no secret about my tail!" the Wobbuffet insisted. "So don't go looking at it."

She gave him a critical look. "Are you hiding the figurine under your tail? So you're supposed to be here."

"No, it's not important. Don't ask about my tail! That Ledyba figurine you're looking for is over there, so go take its picture. But don't take a picture of my tail, even though there's absolutely nothing special about it." Putting a lot of insistence to his words, he pointed to the bush she would have moved to next, near the further edge.

"Oh, thanks!" the boy said, going over to see. "But what's… not special about your tail?"

"I said don't ask about it!" he fussed. As he did, she could get a glance at his tail. It was black and flat, with a larger rounded end to it. It didn't seem like anything special. But then why was the Wobbuffet so adamant about them not asking about his tail?

She went over and found the hidden Ledyba figurine, hanging near a cluster of pink flowers. After taking its picture, she left through the nearest arch, as it was a way she hadn't been. And the boy followed soon after. Glancing back at the room, he said, "You know, I've never thought about a Wobbuffet's tail before. But now I want to know why he didn't want us to ask about it."

She smirked. "Yeah, and now we're not going to be able to stop wondering why. Rather counterproductive for keeping secrets, if you ask me."

…

Wobbuffet D/P/P entry: It desperately tries to keep its black tail hidden. It is said to be proof the tail hides a secret.

I don't know that secret, but now it's gonna pester me until I figure something out...