Disclaimer: We don't own Loud House or Pokemon. All rights to Loud House belong to Nickelodeon. All rights to Pokemon belong to Nintendo and Game Freak.
Pain in the Nectar
It was the end of another school day at the Hau'oli City Pokemon School. Lincoln was just exiting through the front gate.
"Hey, Lincoln!" Mallow calls out to him from behind, getting his attention.
"Alola, Mallow." said Lincoln.
"What are you up to?" asked Mallow.
"I'm gonna train my Pokemon up on Route 3 for my upcoming Grand Trial this weekend." said Lincoln. "Maybe even catch some new Pokemon."
"Can I come with you?" asked Mallow.
"How come?" asked Lincoln.
"There's a recipe I've been working on for the cafeteria." explained Mallow. "I'm almost done with it, but I need some Yellow Nectar to complete it."
"Do you know where to get some?" asked Lincoln.
"There's a place on Route 3 called Melemele Meadow where some flowers containing it is found." explained Mallow.
"Sure, you can come with." said Lincoln. "Maybe I'll find some Pokemon I can use for my team."
"Great, let's go!" said Mallow as she and Lincoln start walking towards Route 3.
"So where is this meadow?" asked Lincoln. Mallow pulls a map out of her pocket and looks at it.
"There's a tunnel around here that should lead right to it." said Mallow. The two follow Mallow's map until they soon find the entrance. They go in and walk until they reach a large meadow filled with yellow flowers.
"Whoa." said Lincoln as he looks around at the natural beauty of the area.
"It's really nice here, isn't it?" asked Mallow. She then takes a thermos she had hanging from her back and starts looking around. While she was doing that, Lincoln was exploring in the hopes of finding some Pokemon.
As he looks around, he sees a white flower floating towards him; when he gets a closer look at it, he sees that it was being carried by a small Pokemon with a white upper body and a green lower body, long notched ears, a pointed nose, pink blush marks on its cheeks, and a crown made of yellow beads of pollen.
"What's that?" asked Lincoln as he takes out his Rotom Phone and points it at the Pokemon.
"Flabebe, the Single Bloom Pokemon. It's not safe without the power of a flower, but it will keep traveling around until it finds one with the color and shape it wants." said Lincoln's Rotom Phone.
"This Pokemon looks cute." said Lincoln. "Lola would definitely like this one; but I don't want to hurt it." Deciding to try his luck, he takes out a pokeball and throws it at the Flabebe, hitting it, and sucking it in; the pokeball wiggles a few times before clicking. Lincoln lets out a sigh of relief. He then decides to check out his new Pokemon's information.
"This says that Flabebe's a girl, she knows Tackle, Vine Whip, Fairy Wind, and Lucky Chant; and she has the Flower Veil ability which protects other grass type Pokemon fighting alongside her from status conditions and stat-lowering effects." said Lincoln. He makes a note to send her to Lola when he gets the chance.
As he continues to explore, he decides to take a rest from the long walk from Hau'oli City and lies down in the flowers with the top of his head sticking out from them. As he does so, he suddenly feels something land on top of it, startling him.
"What the..." Lincoln started to say before reaching for the top of his head to feel something moving around on it; he lifts it off so he can see it, revealing that it was a cottony Pokemon with a light green top and bottom, a white middle with two leaves sticking out of the sides of it, and orange eyes; looking back at him. Out of curiosity, he takes out his Rotom Phone and points it at the Pokemon.
"Cottonee, the Cotton Puff Pokemon. To protect itself, it shoots cotton from its body. When it gets wet in the rain, its cotton grows moist and heavy, and it can't move as well." said Lincoln's Rotom Phone.
"How are you doing?" Lincoln asked the Cottonee, getting a head tilt in response. After he gets up off the ground and sets the Cottonee onto it, he starts to go look for Mallow. He soon finds her looking through the flowers.
"Where is it?" Mallow asked herself.
"Is something wrong, Mallow?" asked Lincoln.
"I've looked through dozens of flowers so far and I haven't found a drop of nectar in any of them." said Mallow with frustration.
"I'm sorry." said Lincoln. "How about I help you look for some?"
"That would be great, Lincoln." said Mallow. The two started to look through the flowers until Lincoln found one that had a bit of nectar in it.
"Mallow, I think I found some." said Lincoln. As Mallow runs over to where he was, a yellow object moves quickly past her and knocks Lincoln over.
"Lincoln, are you okay?" asked Mallow.
"Yeah, but what hit me?" replied Lincoln as he picks himself off the ground. The two look to see a pale yellow, birdlike Pokemon that look like it had bright yellow pom-poms on the end of its wings, drinking the nectar from the flower. Lincoln takes out his Rotom Phone and uses it to see what the Pokemon was.
"Oricorio Pom-Pom Style, the Dancing Pokemon. It lifts its opponents' spirits with its cheerful dance moves. When they let their guard down, it electrocutes them with a jolt." said the Rotom Phone.
"That was rude of it to knock you over like that, Lincoln." said Mallow.
"I'll be fine." said Lincoln. "Let's just find some more nectar." They continue to look until they found another flower that had nectar in it; but when they tried to collect it, the same Oricorio suddenly appears and starts drinking it.
"Not again!" shouts Mallow in frustration.
"Let's hurry and try and find some more before it finishes the nectar in that flower." said Lincoln. The two try to get some nectar before the Oricorio could get to it, but it beats them every time. After a dozen failed attempts, the two were starting to get frustrated.
"That Oricorio is being very selfish." said Mallow with a frown.
"Hey, Oricorio!" said Lincoln, getting its attention. "Ever heard of sharing?" The Oricorio just ignores him and continues drinking the nectar.
"Someone should teach it some manners." said Mallow with a frown. Not seeing any other way around the situation, Lincoln takes out his Rockruff's pokeball and lets him out of it, getting the Oricorio's attention.
"Just so you know, you gave me no choice." said Lincoln. "Rockruff, use Rock Throw!" Rockruff launches rocks at Oricorio, but it dodges by dancing around each one.
"That Oricorio's quite the dancer." said Mallow.
"Even so, that doesn't give it the right to go around being pushy to others." said Lincoln. "Rockruff, try using Tackle!" Rockruff charges at the Oricorio and tries ramming it, but it spins around, making him run past it, then pecks him with its beak.
"That Oricorio's not making it easy to hit it with an attack." said Mallow.
"There has to be a way to slow it down." said Lincoln. Suddenly, something bounces off Lincoln's shoulder and floats towards the Oricorio.
"What's that?" asked Mallow. Lincoln looks up to see the Cottonee he saw earlier.
"What are you doing here, Cottonee?" asked Lincoln. He got his answer when it releases a blast of pink wind that hits Oricorio and knocks it to the ground.
"Hurry and attack it, Lincoln!" said Mallow.
"Rockruff, try another Rock Throw!" said Lincoln. Rockruff launches another batch of Oricorio, and this time, thanks to Oricorio's current condition, the rocks hit it, doing super effective damage, and knocking it onto its back. Lincoln quickly takes out an empty pokeball from his backpack and throws it at the Oricorio, hitting it, and sucking it in; the pokeball wiggles a few times before clicking.
"You did it, Lincoln!" cheered Mallow. Lincoln walks over to the pokeball and picks it up.
"Oricorio is mine." said Lincoln. He then looks up at the Cottonee which was floating gently towards him.
"Thanks for the help, Cottonee." said Mallow. Cottonee lands on Lincoln's head and starts nuzzling his hair.
"What's with this guy?" asked Lincoln.
"I think it likes your hair, Lincoln." said Mallow with a giggle. Lincoln then lifts Cottonee off its head and sets it on the ground.
"Let's keep looking for more nectar." said Lincoln. The two continue searching and found some more and, thanks to the Oricorio being captured, gather enough to suit Mallow's need.
"This should be plenty." said Mallow.
"Should we start heading back?" asked Lincoln.
"Yeah, let's go." said Mallow. As they started walking back to the tunnel, they hear something following them, making them look to see the Cottonee bouncing after them.
"I wonder why this Cottonee's following us?" asked Lincoln.
"I think it's following you, Lincoln." said Mallow with a smile. Lincoln looks at Mallow, then back at the Cottonee.
"Do you want to come with me?" Lincoln asked Cottonee, making it hop up and down with joy.
"I think that's a yes." said Mallow as she chuckles. Lincoln smiles as he takes an empty pokeball from his pocket and tosses it at the Cottonee, hitting it, and sucking it in; the pokeball wiggles a few times before clicking. Lincoln goes over to his new Cottonee's pokeball and picks it up.
"Yes! I caught Cottonee!" said Lincoln. Suddenly, Cottonee's pokeball disappears to storage. He then looks up his new Pokemon's information on his Rotom Phone. "This says that my new Cottonee is a girl, she's part grass and part fairy, she knows Absorb, Fairy Wind, Growth, Leech Seed, and Stun Spore; and she has the Chlorophyll ability which doubles her speed if it's really sunny out."
"Since Cottonee's part fairy, she should have an advantage against fighting type Pokemon." said Mallow.
"That could come in handy during my Grand Trial." said Lincoln.
After that, the two walk right back to Hau'oli City, where Lincoln goes to the Pokemon Center to swap the Oricorio that was with him for Cottonee, as well as send Flabebe to Lola.
"Thanks again for the help today, Lincoln." said Mallow.
"Sure, I was glad to do it." said Lincoln.
"I'm gonna work on my new dish and bring it to school for us and our friends to enjoy tomorrow." said Mallow.
"Sounds great; I'm looking forward to it." said Lincoln. After Mallow starts walking to her home, Lincoln goes back to Iki Town and has dinner with Kahuna Hala and Hau. Once he finishes eating, he calls his family back home to tell them about his day.
"We're glad you're doing fine in Alola, sweetie." said Rita.
"Thanks, Mom." said Lincoln. "Did Lola get the Flabebe I sent her?"
"Yes, she did, sweetie." said Rita as she points her camera's phone towards Lola who was cuddling her new Flabebe.
"Oh, I just love her, Linky!" said Lola as Flabebe nuzzles her cheek.
"I figured you would." said Lincoln.
"Just remember to send me more cute Pokemon when you find some." said Lola.
"Okay, Lola." said Lincoln. The family talks for a while longer before ending the call. After that, Lincoln ends the call and goes to bed to rest up for school tomorrow.
End of Chapter 23
Pokemon that Lincoln has with him: Torracat (M), Pikachu (F), Rockruff (M), Rufflet (M) and Cottonee (F).
Pokemon in Lincoln's collection: Torracat (M), Grubbin (M), Pikachu (F), Rockruff (M), Ekans (F), Misdreavus (F), Crabrawler (F), Zubat (F) Noibat (F), Makuhita (F), Smeargle (M), Spearow (M), Rufflet (M), Mankey (F), Hawlucha (M) Flabebe (F), Oricorio (M), and Cottonee (F).
Pokemon in Lana's care: Ekans (F), and Mankey (F)
Pokemon in Lucy's care: Misdreavus (F), Zubat (F), and Noibat (F)
Pokemon in Lynn Jr's care: Crabrawler (F), Makuhita (F), and Hawlucha (M)
Pokemon in Lola's care: Flabebe (F)