4/5. This one takes place after Blue and Red parted ways but probably before Red caught Oddish.
Recommended music: "With a Few Good Friends" from Piglet's Big Movie(Specifically the polish version which is called "Kilku kumpli weź", but the english one is also good). I got this song in my head even before I was completely sure what the chapter would be about. I had like an idea of what it would be but that wouldn't be enough so I let it become something else. I'm not even sure why I remembered this song but I know that's the only Winnie the Pooh song I can sing in any capacity.
Pokemon Tales: Red Side Story 4: B-Side Part 4.
11 - Parallel
Blue opened her eyes and immediately closed them again. She still didn't get enough sleep but it seems some bird Pokemon must have landed on the tree next to which she set up her tent. She almost slipped up while getting herself to a sitting position. She started wondering what time it was. If it was still early, she would try to go back to sleep, but if it was late, it was weird that Red didn't wake her up. She was still out of it and that passing thought wasn't enough.
Only after standing up and opening her tent, she realized that Red wasn't there. No sleeping bag, no makeshift roof, no breakfast waiting for her. She felt a little sad when she reminded himself how they parted ways a couple days earlier but that feeling immediately change to disappointed. She needed to believe that she could function properly without him and that meant having an ability to wake up early.
She looked to the sky and from what she could tell, it was almost 10 am. She was in a daze for a short while before she reminded herself that she needed to make herself a breakfast and to dismantle the tent. When she looked down, she saw Bell who was already awake but had his eyes closed as he enjoyed bathing in the sun.
"Bell?" she asked, quietly, in order not to startle him.
The Pokemon opened his eyes and after seeing the girl, smiled happily, before carefuly detaching his roots from the ground. He walked over to receieve a pat on the head.
"I have a mission for you. Are you ready?" she tried to sound serious, making a voice that would suit an officer of some kind.
Bellsprout decided to play along and saluted her while putting on an intimidating face, showing that he was focused and preapred to do whatever was required of him.
"I'm gonna fold down the tent and gather some wood to set up a campfire. But it's already late and we're out of water. Can you find a stream and fill up a bottle or two?"
Bellsprout nodded and after recieving the bottles which his trainer took out of her inventory pad, he went on his way. After a couple minutes, he began to realize that he didn't have any reason to believe that the direction he was walking in would lead him to a stream and he could end up wandering for too long and miss the breakfast. He couldn't allow that to happen.
After placing the empty bottles below him and grabbing them with his roots, he used Vine Whip on a sturdy tree branch and launched himself high into air. He had a couple seconds before he would land but he still wanted to survey the area as quickly as possible. Although he didn't see a stream because of how dense the forest was, there was a gap in it, where there were no trees, which was stretching as far as the horizon. He deduced that it was a big stream, or even a river and, after grabbing another branch, started swinging through the treetops, headed in that direction.
A short amount of time later, he landed next to the stream, which had white rocks and dust spreading along its shore, after doing an amazing backflip. He thought to himself that it was a shame that there was no one there to witness his acrobatic abilities. Not wasting any time, he let go of the bottles and proceeded to fill them with the water. After closing the first one, he turned around to reach for the second, not realizing that someone has appeared on the opposite shore.
Only after turning back towards the stream, his eyes caught a glimpse of something. After lifting his head, what he saw shocked him so much that it caused him to immediately drop the bottle. In front of him were Eevee and Pikachu, seemingly assigned a similar task to his own, since the former had two empty bottles straped to his back. If he were a human, Bell would probably try to rationalize that those were not the same Pokemon he knew but the monsters could see particular traits of other ones which allowed them to immediately recognize any Pokemon they've met in the past.
The other party looked similarly surprised by their meeting but Pikachu was the one who came back to his senses faster than the other two. He immediately turned around and prepared himself to run. Seeing that, Bellsprout also got over the initial shock and acted instantly, hoping to do what was best in his trainer's interest, since it was obvious what the electric Pokemon planned to do. Bell used his vine on a tree next to Pikachu and launched himself in a way that would allow him to block the mouse's path. Pikachu started running at the same moment but when the unexpected obstacle suddenly appeared before him, he had to brake with his legs which caused him to slip and bounce off the ground, sending him flying above the plant Pokemon.
Bellsprout didn't have time to react, especially since he didn't expect the mouse to recover instantly, but there was someone there that wanted to help him in stopping Pikachu's advance. Eevee used Mirror Room to make sure that Pikachu would not stay in place. He kept it up until he noticed that the mouse decided to give up and see what the other two had to say. Eevee wanted his friend to knew that they were both on the same side, but at the same time he also considered Bellsprout to be one of them. If Pikachu did what he planned, it would please Red but Bellsprout could be put in a hard situation.
The mouse, even after all that time, was still learning how to live in such a way where he didn't care only about his own well-being. The sad eyes of the worried plant broke his resolve. He looked at him while trying not to lose composure but finally, he gave up and decided that they should let Bellsprout leave. The grass Pokemon was unsure but Eevee convinced him that he should go away before looking at him would change Pikachu's mind. The dog promised to keep the mouse honest and the two sides parted ways.
. . .
"There you are, Bell." said Blue who was already busy with grilling a couple berries over the fire.
Only after hearing her voice, the grass Pokemon returned to a clear state of mind. This also caused him to realize that he forgot to fill one of the bottles. Blue noticed that but decided not to comment. She trusted her Pokemon enough that she knew that something must have stopped him from doing it.
Seeing that he seemed down, she extened a hand, holding a stick with an impaled berry, towards him "Here. Try this. It's still not good as Red's but maybe it'll lift your spirits."
He noticed that even after leaving Red, his trainer would still mention the boy a lot. This made him wondered if what he did was right. But in the end, even if he cared deeply about the girl, he had to believe in her decisions, even if she were to regret them someday.
. . .
A couple kilometers away, Red, who was resting with his Charmander, after a Pokemon battle, was deeply confused as to why Eevee and Pikachu returned without bringing back any water.
"You didn't drink it all on the way back, did you?" he aksed while raising a brow.
Eevee was keeping a watch of the mouse who seemed like he was giving it his all not to get angry.
Initially the only thing I wanted this chapter to do was to show how Blue was holding up after leaving Red but this kind of story is also good to have, especially since Bellsprout didn't get focus since Chapter 4. That's it.
