Butterfree, Spinda, and Mismagius
"Nectar, nectar, nectar," the Butterfree sang as he flitted and glided along the air currents. His white wings were quite noticeable in the forest with its dark greens and browns, but he was able to fend for himself well enough.
Stopping at a flower patch, he landed and sniffed out the flowers that had nectar. Unfortunately, most of them were quite dry now, harvested by other Pokémon. The Butterfree took what he could find, but wasn't satisfied. He would have to find another patch. The trouble was, there was one flower signal that was overpowering all else in this part of the forest. It promised the finest and most glorious nectar he had ever found, in great quantities too. Every time he passed through here, that scent taunted and teased him.
But he never went to its source. The flowers that produced it were in the witch's garden. In a little cottage by a spring, there lived a Pokémon who was said to practice strange magic. If one angered her, then she gave that Pokémon a terrible curse that was difficult to get rid of. He had heard about her as a little Caterpie and made sure never to go near that cottage.
He wasn't finding much nectar today, though. He checked other flower patches, but they were dry as well. To make it worse, the witch's garden smelled particularly wonderful. Maybe she wasn't there today. Did he want to risk that chance?
Clank, clank, ka-clank…. clankclankclankclankclank…
Hearing the strange rhythm of metal, the Butterfree looked up from the flowers to see what it was. An unfamiliar Pokémon was walking along the forest path. Despite the steel-quality of the sound, she was actually a Normal type, a Spinda. Short tan fur and pink splotches showed under ill-fitting steel armor, including a too-small helmet sitting lopsided over one ear, a too big chestplate that flopped around, and steel knee-high boots that were only snug on feet. Right next to the helmet, there was a brown jug perched on the Spinda's head. Something sloshed inside.
Despite carrying some kind of liquid on her head, the Spinda walked in a bizarre fashion, leaning far to the right, then turning about , walking backwards a few quick paces, leaning back for half a minute, and finally turning back forward and wobbly lurching ahead. Yet during this clumsy dance, she kept the jug upright and did not lose a drop. That didn't make any sense to the Butterfree. If he were carrying something delicate and spillable around, he would fly slowly, as carefully as he could.
"Say there," the Spinda said, saluting and still keeping that jug on her head, "Good afternoon, dear citizen! How are conditions in the forest today?"
The Butterfree watched in fascination as the Spinda managed to totter while standing in place. "Er, um, well, it's okay for the most part. All the flowers are dry, though. How are you keeping that on your head?"
"Good balance and posture," she said, holding her short arms out to wobble less. "Essential for the graceful knight. Sir, if the flowers here are dry, you may wish to try the ones in the witch's garden."
He shivered. "But she's a witch! She'll put a nasty curse on me."
The Spinda knight shook her head (still not losing a drop). "I wouldn't worry about that, now. She strikes me as a nice lady. Spooky, yes, but rumors grow wilder than the truth. Well, carry on, fine citizen! I have a delivery to make." She then clanked and tottered on down the path.
After watching her disappear, the Butterfree was left to wonder who would employ a knight who walked as strangely as that. And about the witch and her garden. Was it just a rumor that she was nasty and vengeful? Or had she fooled the knight and other city folk.
Then a thought came to him. The Spinda was obviously a city Pokémon, as evidenced by her manufactured though ill-fitted armor. If she had met the witch, then the witch had to leave her cottage from time to time. Was this a time when she would be away? He might be able to sneak into the garden and get at that wonderful nectar after all.
It was worth a try, and he was hungry. The Butterfree left the dry patch of flowers and finally followed the overpowering scent of the witch's garden. After a couple of minutes of flying through the trees, he spotted the cottage. It looked small and cozy, with its round windows and pastel colors. But the garden… oh, it was as magnificent as it smelled. The flowers were large and colorful; the herbs were strong and lush. There were honeysuckles, dozens of types of roses, fruit trees, lavender, cilantro, basil, oregano, rosemary, and more. So much choice; what should he try?
The Butterfree went to the honeysuckle; the vines were growing over the fence at the edge of the garden, so if he needed to escape, he could do so quickly. He landed on the fence and took a sip out of one of the orange flowers. And loved it. The nectar was sweet, clean, and thick, and the flower was full of it. If he ate until he was bursting, he probably wouldn't even be done with this vine! And there were so many others to try. He wondered briefly why he hadn't come here before.
"Excuse me," a female's voice said near him. Just behind him, there was the witch, a Mismagius. Her sparkling hat looked as real as himself, but her trailing purple cloak blurred into the air. In the shadows of her face, her red eyes glowed.
"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" the Butterfree screamed, launching himself off the fence hard enough that it shook. He flew frantically away from her, only to realize that he was flying right for her cottage. Which way did he go?
"Wait a sec," the Mismagius said, floating after him.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
The witch Pokémon disappeared and reappeared in his path. "Now calm down, please!"
"!"
Seeing as he couldn't figure out which way to fly, she enclosed him in a small spherical energy field. "And it might help to breathe."
"AAAaaaaahhhhhic…" he collapsed and ended up all sprawled out on the bottom of the sphere. Since Bug types breathed through pores all over their bodies, enclosing him in this sphere was like giving a hyperventilating mammalian Pokémon a paper bag. "Hic."
"That's better," the Mismagius said, floating over to him. "Don't want you hurting yourself in that kind of a panic. What are you doing here, Butterfree?" She looked at him, with her hat tilted slightly. "Don't worry; I'm not going to hurt you."
"Are you going to turn me into a Lotad?" he asked, now that his body had calmed down.
She chuckled and shook her head. "Oh, no. I just want to know."
Shivering nervously, the Butterfree scrunched up. "Um, I was hungry and looking for nectar, but lots of the flowers around here were dry. I didn't really trespass; I was just on the fence."
Clanking sounds started up in the background. The Mismagius looked back into the woods, then at him. "That's fine. I don't mind your kin coming here to help pollinate the plants. It's a lot easier for you than for me."
"Um, what do you mean?" he asked, relaxing a bit. She did seem nice. "I just wanted to drink nectar, not, uh, pol-lin-ate. What's that?"
"Don't let it bother you," she said, drifting away from him to her gate. "Hello, lady knight."
Stumbling through the open gate, the armored Spinda came in. "Good day to you," she said, saluting and nearly knocking herself over. "I've brought your delivery."
The witch nodded. "Excellent; you can set it down by the door."
"Right-o." The Spinda tottered along the path, eventually facing the Butterfree in the orange sphere. "Hello, I think I've seen you before."
Well if the knight was here, he'd be safe. The Butterfree relaxed then. "We did, a little while ago. Is she going to turn me into a Lotad?"
She laughed as she carried on down the path. "What, her? No. She could if she put her mind to it, but then you'd have to really anger her. She's got the patience of a saint, though. And she's really well connected to the royal family, another proof of her good soul." The Spinda came to the porch and slipped the jug off her head and onto the steps.
But then the Mismagius started chanting in strange words, coming back over to the sphere. The Butterfree scrunched up again. Maybe she wouldn't turn him into a Lotad, but supposedly, she could turn him back into a Caterpie. That would be horrible. But then the sphere vanished, forcing him to beat his wings rapidly to stay in the air.
The witch's red necklace glowed. "There, that's done," she said.
Looking over himself, he seemed to still be a Butterfree. "Um, what did you do?"
"I gave you a blessing to find happiness today," the Mismagius said. "You may return to my garden any time, you and any other wild Pokémon that may be interested."
A blessing to find happiness? That was completely not what he had heard when he was younger. But he felt thrilled already, since he could come back to this delicious garden any time he wanted. "Oh wow, thank you! You're much nicer than I thought. Bye!" He flew off into the forest, wondering who he should tell.
The Spinda knight weaved along the path once more. "Wild Pokémon believe the strangest things, don't they?"
The witch smiled and playfully swatted at her. "Now don't look down upon them. At one time, all of us Pokémon were wild. And we're never very far away from that either."
"Right, treat them well and they may just decide to become civilized." She saluted. "I'll see you next week, then."
"Be careful on the way back." And they all went their separate ways.
…
Butterfree D/P/Pl entry: It loves the honey of flowers and can locate flower patches that have even tiny amounts of pollen.
Ruby entry: All the Spinda that exist in the world are said to have utterly unique spot patterns. The shaky, tottering steps of this Pokémon gives it the appearance of dancing.
Mismagius Pearl entry: It chants incantations. While they usually torment people, some chants bring happiness.
This entry is for my birthday! I like both Butterfree and Spinda, but haven't used them much in the games. On the other hand, I chose to get Pearl because of Misdreavus and Mismagius because the former had never been available in the games that I had gotten up to that point. But now I have a few games where I can get it. I still love the pair.