Hoothoot and Gligar

Faulkner's office had large openings in every wall, open to the air so Flying Pokemon could come and go as they pleased. The breeze coming through felt nice, although that meant that loose papers couldn't be kept around. With that in mind, there was a pair of large filing cabinets in the corners behind the large wooden desk. In other corners, as well as near the desk and in the windows, there were perches for the Pokemon to sit on. There were two Spearows, a Pidgeotto, and a Hoothoot in the room now. The first three belonged to the Leader, but the last was perched on the edge of the chair where her Trainer sat.

Setting a pewter Fearow paperweight on the application papers, Faulkner skimmed it briefly before saying, "All right Gail, tell me why you want to be a Gym Trainer here."

"I want to work on my battle techniques, but with different people instead of the same ones every day," the twelve year old boy said. "Also, both of my Pokemon are Flying Pokemon and I've gotten interested in knowing more about them."

He nodded. "Would you tell me a little about your two Pokemon? Including how you got them."

Gail looked down at the Hoothoot; she was sitting there quietly, tilting her head back and forth. "This is Luna, the first Pokemon I got. I had gotten some Quick Balls from my parents and they thought I'd just get whatever Pokemon I ran across. But she had been coming to the fence in our backyard every evening at the same time. I had been giving her some nuts, so she knew me well enough that I probably could have gotten her with a regular Pokeball. She's been a good friend of mine for two years, although she's agreeable to any who are nice to her.

"The other Pokemon I have is a Gligar; I call him Goof because he can be silly at times. Last winter, I was on a trip with my parents and he stole my mom's purse. Luna and I chased after him to get it back. He was tough to fight, so I decided to have Luna put him to sleep with Hypnosis and capture him. Even though he was asleep, he managed to break several balls before I finally got him. Like I thought, he's a strong fighter, but I have trouble teaching him to be mannered and he can be disobedient even to me."

"Some can be proud or troublesome, but they tend to come around when they really respect you," Faulkner said. "I've reviewed the three battles you turned in for the application. Tell me what you remember about one of the battles."

This was one of those interview questions where he hadn't been able to determine how important it was or why they asked it. But as he had heard that it came up regularly, he had reviewed those battles himself this morning and decided on one to talk about it.

As he needed a certain amount of recorded battles, Gail had spent several days near Sprout Tower with a camera he borrowed from a friend. He could have won easily against the monks inside; he had defeated their challenge not that long after he had gotten Luna. But he didn't think that would impress the Gym Leader. Instead, he challenged Trainers that had come to defeat Sprout Tower and Faulkner's Gym.

While waiting on other Trainers to come by, he let his two Pokemon fly around. It was daytime, so Luna would rather sit on the unlit torch and keep the time by tilting her head back and forth. On the other hand, Goof was splashing in the water and making mud on the path. At least, he had been. "Goof, where are you?" Gail called.

"Eee!" The Gligar then landed on his head, putting his muddy claws on Gail's shoulders and leaning over to peer into his eyes.

He would have been startled if the Gligar hadn't done this already dozens of times. "If I wanted to be messy, I'd stomp in your mud spot myself."

Goof clicked and turned his ears forward. "Gliii!"

"No, now please get out of my face," Gail said, trying to grab the Gligar. But Goof just flew off and dove into the water.

Then a girl came down the bridge towards Sprout Tower. "Oh hey, are you a Trainer too?" she asked. "Ready to battle?"

"Of course," he said. "Luna, you start this time."

The Hoothoot flew off the torch and landed on the ground while the girl called out a Wooper. She tried to have it use a muddy attack, but Luna was able to hover in the air a few seconds to avoid it before landing again. Knowing that most good Trainers wouldn't try a totally missed attack again (although a good Trainer should have known Ground wouldn't work), Gail had Luna put the Wooper to sleep, then attack it. Even if he had worked with her a long time, she still didn't have a strong attack. He hoped that she would be able to evolve soon, so she'd be stronger.

When the Wooper was defeated, the girl brought out a Girafarig. Gail decided to swap out Luna for Goof. As usual, the Gligar preferred to attack by flying at the opponent Pokemon's face to startle them. They were going to poison the Girafarig, as Gail hadn't fought a Trainer with one and wanted the extra poison damage in case it turned out to be tough. But then as soon as Goof struck it with his tail, it fainted. Goof also took out the girl's last Pokemon in one hit, being quicker to take out the two than Luna had in taking out the one.

Faulkner continued with the interview, asking about information on Flying type Pokemon, having him talk about other battles, and giving theoretical battle scenario to see how he would handle them. Then he asked a question Gail wasn't expecting. "If you were offered a rare Flying Pokemon if you gave up one of your current, which one would you let go?"

A rare flying type? Was that an offer, or just another theoretical question? But after giving it a moment's thought, he knew what he'd do. "I would rather keep the ones I have."

"Are you sure about that?" Faulkner asked, sounding serious about it.

Gail nodded. "I know Luna's not a strong Pokemon, even for her kind, but she's been my friend and partner for so long that I wouldn't want to give her up for any other Pokemon. And Goof causes me trouble, but he's strong and I'm sure that I can get him to be more obedient in time. He's amusing at times too."

"Hooo hooooooo!" Luna called out, echoed by other Hoothoots that were outside.

"It's five o'clock," Gail said when Faulkner looked at her. "She'll hoot on the hour if she's awake, but the wild ones won't start until now."

"That's right," he said, making a note on the application. "If you're here to learn more about Flying types, then you might want to reconsider. You know a lot about them already, including things that I usually have to teach the younger Trainers." Then he smiled. "But there might still be more to learn, and I'd be glad to have a Trainer around who is loyal to his Pokemon. Can you start on Tuesday morning?"

So it didn't even need consideration. Gail smiled and nodded. "Sure, I can do that. Thank you."

"Hoot!" Luna said, flapping her wings. But then she flew off to a perch on the desk when Goof came out of his Pokeball without warning and clomped onto Gail's head affectionately.

"Hey!" Gail called, grabbing a hold of Goof. But he ended up laughing with Faulkner about it. It was good to see that the Gligar was happy for him, if not so good in how he decided to show that.

…

Hoothoot Soul Silver entry: It has a perfect sense of time. Whatever happens, it keeps rhythm by precisely tilting its head in time.

Gligar Leaf Green entry: It flies straight at its target's face, then clamps down on the startled victim to inject poison.

For the fourth day of Christmas... a story about friendship. And face hugs.