The next day, I was humming as Finnick and I walked down the street that leads to Petalburg Woods and Route 104. Mari told me last night that she was going to be travelling with Tony for a while (!). He is apparently already at Dewford Town with Axel (Ugh), and Mari would be catching the next boat out (very early morning) from a small jetty right outside Petalburg. Apparently Axel was planning to race the gym circuit, which was not Tony's plan. Or maybe he just wanted to travel with Mari.
'Well, you seem happy,' Finnick commented.
I was! I won a gym challenge, my first gym challenge! And right after that, I got a text from Ronnie.
'Sorry I couldn't stay, had an emergency. Good job on your battle :)'
Not that it affected my mood or anything. I also did some shopping with the money I won from the gym battle. Nothing much, stocking up on supplies like healing potions and food, a black adidas baseball cap and a black windbreaker jacket. Not that I was copying Ronnie or anything, but a jacket keeps the branches from scratching my arms and keeps out the chill at night.
As we enter Petalburg Woods, it turns out Finnick wasn't much for off roading and intense training.
'You don't have to train every day,' He told me, with emphasis on every. 'That's crazy, half the fun about training Pokemon is the time spent with them you know.'
I decided to go along with him. He also keeps the Pokemon he has out in rotation – Panda the Machamp, Snappy the Krokorok. Barbeque the Torkoal and Zoom the Skarmony.
'That way, you can spend quality time with each of them.'
He has 3 badges and is therefore more experienced. So I followed his lead I quickly found that this was good, I learnt to love the chaos of Lexy's childlike curiosity and Estelle's companionable silence. It was great, especially travelling with someone whom you can talk to. Though I just met Finnick, he was a great travelling companion, almost as good as travelling with Mari. He usually had many stories to tell me, of his life in Fallabor Town and a small public school. In exchange, I shared my stories of living in a big city like Mauville. All in all, it wasn't too bad. With the exception of Scyther. Nothing I tried worked still, though he was noticeably less cold. I kept him out as the same amount of time as the other two, though he spent most of those running off and hunting on his own. I tried bribing him with gummies, which I found out was his favourite. If I'm not careful, I'm going to end up with a diabetic team. The breakthrough came on the second day in Petalburg Woods.
We reached a fork in the road in the forest, where Finnick and I debated where to go, when suddenly, Scyther, who had been sulking behind, looked up in attention. Without warning, he shot down the path on the right, leaving a confused us behind.
'Looks like our choice is made for us,' Finnick shrugged, then did an exaggerated bow. 'Shall we, milady?'
We went down the path after Scyther. We quickly lost sight of my green sullen friend and once we realized the path was less well marked, we slowed down. We were not going very fast anyway, as Finnick had Barbeque out. After hours of fruitless search, and many twisting of cap in frustration, we saw a clearing a little off the main path. Finnick suggested we take a break, set up camp for the night and look for Scyther again in the morning. He looked tired and I immediately felt bad. So, I agreed. During dinner, I received a text from Ronnie.
'How are you and Scyther?'
My heart skipped a beat when I saw the notification How are you, before opening the entire message. Of course, it's about Scyther. Biting my lips, I replied.
'Not really good. He ran off, I can't find him. :/'
The reply came a second later. 'Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find him.'
Her message was meant to be comforting of course, but when someone says don't worry, well the first thing I do is worry. I typed a quick thanks in reply and pocketed my Pokedex.
'I'm going to find Scyther,' I announced, standing up.
'Are you sure?' Finnick looked worried. 'Its dark, I'll come with you.'
'No, its ok,' I said quickly, not wanting to trouble him. Seeing that he was unconvinced, I added. 'I'll take Estelle and Lexy.'
Lexy, Estelle and I crashed through the thicket, and I realized how convenient Scyther's scythes would be right now. Then I realized, if only I could find cut branches and I'll be able to find Scyther's trail, thought I had no idea where to start in such a huge forest.
'It's too much to hope you guys have a way to track Scyther right?' I asked my two Pokemons.
Lexy shook his head mournfully. Estelle though, had a better answer.
'I can try to… track the insect' Estelle said.
She then explained that her psychic sense could let her track basically anything. But the closer she is the object or person, the better it will work. Seeing that she hardly spent time with Scyther, she said that she did not have much hope.
'Try?' I beg Estelle. 'Please.'
Estelle led us through many bushes, which made me grateful for my jacket. Lexy, frustrated at the branches snapping back onto us, took to the trees. She came to a stop near a large tree.
'Is this it?' I asked Estelle, who looked unsure.
'I found brother!' Lexy announced, sounding very pleased with himself.
I looked up. He was crouching on a branch near a very annoyed looking Scyther. How ever am I going to talk to Scyther now? I stared at the tree trunk for a moment, remembering how Lexy scramble up a tree and decided that if a dinosaur can do it, so can I. Scyther stare at me with his big bug eyes as I slide off the tree and dropped my cap countless times (how do people manage to get their cap to stick to their heads?). After a few minutes, I managed to get the hang of it and haul myself up the tree, cap still on my head. When I reach Scyther, he turned away from me. I sat next to him, facing the same direction as him. Then I realized that his position from up on this tree gave him a clear view of a swarm of Scythers a short distance away. Some Scythers were sleeping and some appeared to be play fighting. Most of them were just lounging about. I turned to my Scyther, and realized he had a look of longing in his eyes.
After a moment of silence, where we sat side by side, I realized Scyther held no resentment against me. He just radiates a sort of sadness as he stared out at what I presume was his previous swarm.
'You know, I could release you.' I told Scyther after a while, dreading to make this decision. He looked at me with his big bug eyes, though I couldn't read his expression. 'You could be free, return to your swarm.'
'Scyther…' He said, then shook his head, eyes filled with melancholy. 'Scyther, scy scy scyther.'
'He said no, his place is not with them. He realized that now.' Estelle had glided up the tree using her psychic powers. I realized too late I should've asked her to lift me up too, instead of looking like an idiot trying to climb the tree. 'I think something happened between him and the swarm'
'Is that it?' I asked him, thinking about how dismissive the swarm was when I met them, only concerned about killing and eating.
'Scy,'
'He wouldn't talk about it.'
I considered it for a moment, taking down my cap and toyed with it. 'I can still release you, help you find another swarm.'
'Scy, scyther'
'He said his place will be with us from now on.'
I looked at him, his eyes still far out on his old swarm. 'I can't promise you what you had with your old swarm, but I promise you that you will always have a place here, in this family.'
'Yes brother,' Lexy chose this moment to pop his head out from the branch above us.
He turned and looked at me then, then at Lexy who was grinning with his tongue out, then at Estelle. He nodded. 'Scy.' Then shifted slightly closer to me so our shoulders brush as we sat in the tree, staring out into the forest. In a way, I was relieved he didn't want to be released. After all, he was my first capture. Estelle doesn't count because she chose to follow me. But I also felt some sort of guilt. I vowed then, to always ask the Pokemon before capturing them and tearing them away from everything they knew.
I took out my phone and sent a text to Ronnie. 'Found him.'
The reply was almost instantaneous. 'I knew you could do it.' And I know that somehow, she knew I was saying that I managed to get through to Scyther. A smile tugged at the corner of my lips.
'Scy?' He point one very sharp scythe at my Pokedex, his facial features arranged into an unmistakable teasing gesture.
'Oh, shut it,' I said without malice. After a moment, I asked 'What is your name?'
'Scy, scyther scy, scy scythe.'
'He said that they just called each other Scyther.'
'Would you like a new name?' I asked, to which him nodded. Having an idea, I googled the word to make sure I wasn't being dumb and suggested to him. 'How about Neo? It means new. I thought it would signify new beginnings, for the both of us.'
He nodded instantly.
I texted Ronnie. 'His name is Neo.'
'Greek, very classy.' I could sense her sarcasm even through text. I rolled my eyes, as my screen lit up with another message.
'Thought you would name him after me or something, how about Ronnie the Great? :)' I rolled my eyes again for good measure.
'What, name him Ronald? What is your name short for anyway?'
'For me to know and you to find out ;')'
'Anyway, update me on Ronnie the Great?'
The second message come after a while. And that was how I found myself texting her every night, NOT because I wanted to talk to her, but updating her about my Neo, and my travels.
