Corsola and Shellder

She had first seen the egg one summer morning as she awoke with the rest of her clan at dawn. There was no sign of the Pokemon that had laid it, and none of the other Corsola were in an egg-laying mood. While she wasn't sure what it was, she knew that some predators like Sharpedo around here would eat an unguarded egg. So she took her most recent discarded shell, a pale pink piece of coral, and placed it near the egg to better hide it.

For the next few days, she asked passing Pokemon if the egg was theirs. None of them claimed it, though, and none in her clan knew whose it was either. It came to her to watch over and care about it. But she didn't mind. While she liked watching over young ones, it would be some time before her time to lay eggs again. This one would be like one of her own.

The days were long and warm on the seabed. Plenty of sunlight reached them in these shallow waters, giving a golden shimmer to the water at certain times. All around the Corsola clan, life went about as busily and beautiful as always. The predators didn't often come after them, as their hard skins made them tough to eat. This encouraged smaller Pokemon and fish to keep near the corals where the Corsola lived, hiding out in the nooks and crannies made by their twisting branches and discarded shells. For generations, this was something their clan was proud of, protecting these creatures. But they didn't move as often as the other Pokemon did, so they could not always protect them.

One day, she noticed the egg shifting. Some of the plant coral had already taken hold of some discarded shells and fixed them permanently into place around the egg, but she was able to break away a few to give the new Pokemon some more space. The egg itself trembled in the water occasionally as the young one tried to break free. After several attempts, the egg's top half burst off with the movement of a dark violet shell. Then a large pink tongue emerged and flung away parts of eggshell to get that away.

It was uncommon to see a Shellder in these waters, the Corsola thought, although one often saw Clamperls. She'd only seen them in one location that her clan had settled, and that wasn't here. But however it had come to be here, it was still the one she'd be taking care of and protecting. Hopping down into the hiding hole, she gave a cheerful greeting to the new Shellder.

With his spiky shell only partly open, the Sheller looked at her warily, his bright eyes lurking in a secretive darkness. Then he shut his shell up tight, leaving his large tongue sticking out. He knew enough that he didn't recognize her kind and was going to be careful about her. That made the Corsola feel sad, but not discouraged. She would show him that she would continue to protect him.

He didn't talk much, mostly concerned with snatching up small fish for food and staying still to avoid predators. He stayed in the hiding hole or close to it; every evening, he dug himself into the sand with his tongue to sleep, emerging in the morning shortly after she woke up. Despite his quietness, she talked to him, telling him about all the Pokemon, little fish, and plant corals that she knew of. She told him of how beautiful the sunlight was in the afternoon and morning when it came into the sea at an angle. She told him about the humans who occasionally swam around here with their Pokemon and about the rare times when one of them recruited a Corsola or other sea Pokemon with their mysterious devices. All the while, he stayed nearby, only occasionally looking up at her.

Summer turned to autumn and the waters showed signs of cooling down. The plant corals would soon go dormant for the winter. When that happened, the Corsola clan had to be away in warmer waters to the south. Cool water would cause them to feel sluggish, or even go dormant too. That would leave them and any they protected vulnerable. It was time to move on.

For the migration, she discarded her shell for a more streamlined form, with less twisting branches and better formed fins. It would make the trip much easier, but took more time to recover from. Once she felt up to it, she spoke to the Shellder again.

"I don't know how you've felt about me," she said. "Your shell hides your emotions as well as it hides your body. I do feel sad to leave you. I've done my duty to make sure that you hatched and stayed safe in your early days. But, you seem able enough to take care of yourself without my help. I hope that you'll be okay and think of me fondly. I did enjoy talking to you."

As usual, he didn't respond. He wasn't even looking to her this time. Some Pokemon were more independent than others.

Sighing, she pushed herself off the old coral bed and tested out her migration fins. The rest of her clan was gathering at the south edge of the area, a mass of sparkling pink that kept them all safe while traveling. The others were talking about which way the currents were flowing and where they should try to find a new coral bed to settle. For once, she didn't feel much like joining the rest of the talk. Maybe they would come back here and she'd find her Shellder child to be much stronger, if still silent. Or maybe they wouldn't and she'd never see him again. That was a risk of looking after unknown eggs like that.

Then a movement of purple caused some agitation in their clan, startled at the unexpectedness of it. But it turned out to be the Shellder, having pushed himself out of the hole over to where they were. He landed on the edge of the coral bed and looked to them, searching. Once his eyes fell on her, he made a twitching motion of his shell and a curl of his tongue.

She left the clan's group briefly to return to him. "Oh, so you did come to say goodbye. Thank you, dear child. I'll miss you."

He gave her a friendly lick. Maybe he really was just not one for words. The Shellder stayed there watching until the Corsola clan left. In that, she knew that he was thanking her in his own way, even wishing her a safe journey on their migration south.

…

Sapphire entry: Clusters of Corsola congregate in warm seas where they serve as ideal hiding places for smaller Pokemon. When the water temperature falls, this Pokemon migrates to the southern seas.

Shellder Emerald entry: At night, it burrows a hole in the seafloor with its broad tongue to make a place to sleep. While asleep, it closes its shell, but leaves the tongue hanging out.

A simple one, for simple Pokemon.