Chapter 17
As always, the sun was shining brightly on this beautiful day on their journey through the Johto region. But maybe it was shining a little too brightly for their taste. The path they were walking on had thick trees on either side, but they were doing nothing to stop the sun's rays from beating down on them. Sweat was pouring from their bodies, and sapping their energy all at the same time.
"Ugh, I'm dying of thirst..." Ash groaned. He had to force himself to stop walking, as his legs didn't have the energy to go forward any longer.
"There's no water left," Gary told him, holding the canteen they shared between the two of them upside-down to prove his point. "You drank the last of the water this morning." Ash's spine curled at the information, and his arms hung limply down to the ground.
"How far is it until the next town, Gary?" His traveling companion replaced the canteen with the guidebook and flipped through the pages.
"Looks like we're not far from a place called Bloomingvale," he read.
"How far is 'not far'?" Ash barely had the strength to walk forward a few steps, so he didn't want to hear the answer anyway, but something caught his ear that made him look further up the path. Up ahead was a pipe that was peeking out from the bushes, and bubbling out of one of the grooves and splashing on the dirt was... "Water!"
Gary's eyes pulled him from his guidebook and looked at where Ash was looking, and his eyes widened. "No way..." Both of them stared at the water leaking out of the pipe, wondering if it was real or not, when a young girl walked up the path. She was holding a large wrench in her hand, and closed the wrench around the groove before tightening up where the water was leaking out.
"Excuse me, miss," Ash spoke up, walking as fast as his tired legs could get him over to the older girl. "Is it okay if we take a drink from that pipe?"
"And fill up our canteen as well?" Gary added.
The girl looked at them, and the sunhat she wore over her forest green hair blocked out the sunlight above her eyes so she didn't have to use her hands to see them. She smiled and stopped twisting the bolt that connected the two pipes together. "Sure! It's okay with me!" Twisting the bolt the other way that she had been, the young woman quickly disconnected the pipe, and held it up for them to fill up their canteen. Between the pair, they drank the entire canteen two times over before filling it up to the brim and closing the lid shut.
"Thank you very much for your generosity," Gary thanked as he twisted the cap to his water container shut. "My name's Gary."
"No problem," the girl smiled back. "My name's Sonrisa; nice to meet you."
"You too," Ash added, wiping his lips of any stray droplets of water that had escaped. "My name's Ash." She nodded at him, and then brought the pipe back together again. "We're looking for a place called Bloomingdale to stop and rest; do you happen to know where that is?"
"Sure! I actually live in Bloomingdale, and it isn't far from here," Sonrisa answered, standing up and wiping the dirt from her dress. "If you'd like, I can show you the way. I'm going that way anyway."
"That would be great!" the dark-haired Trainer agreed. And once they were all ready, they let Sonrisa lead the way down the path.
o 0 o
Bloomingvale was a beautiful town that was built on a series of terraced hills, and was about as green as one would imagine. As it turned out, the warm climate was perfect for the town, as Sonrisa explained that most of the residents were gardeners by profession. "Bloomingvale seems really nice!" Ash complimented as they walked a concrete path through a neighborhood in the middle of the town.
"I love it!" Sonrisa agreed. "The sun shines almost every single day. The weather's perfect for raising my favorite Pokémon." She turned to the right, and faced a cozy one-story house with a perfect yard that was filled with gardens and flowers. The gate that welcomed them into the small yard was even colored with vines of beautiful flowers that intertwined around it like a flower crown.
"This place almost reminds me of Pallet Town," Gary muttered, and his eyes trailed to the left. They walked into the yard, and Sonrisa flipped a latch in the grass, which made the sprinklers scattered throughout the yard in front of a greenhouse spring to life. "So that's the pipe that connects to the one from the mountain?"
"Uh-huh," Sonrisa nodded. "I built my own system of pipes that bring pure water down from the mountains." Gary looked fairly impressed, and Sonrisa cupped a hand around her mouth. "Okay! Time for your daily sprinkle!" With her cry, the front door to the greenhouse flung open and a pair of green Pokémon with beautiful yellow heads came dancing out like a pair of ballerinas and pirouetted into the misting waters from the sprinklers.
"Sunflora sunflora!" the sang with each step. Soon after, a third one came out, but with a lot less pep in its step. Unlike the other two, it was dragging its leaves on the ground.
"What are they?" Ash asked, watching as the pair danced around the water and having the time of their life whilst the third one stayed in the back and just stood with its head down.
"I've never seen a Sunflora before!" Gary said with a smile.
"Yup! There are a lot of them here in town," Sonrisa answered as Ash fished out his Pokédex. "In fact, Bloomingvale's famous for Sunflora."
"Sunflora, the Sun Pokémon. This smiling Pokémon loves the sun, but it also needs plenty of water to ensure healthy development."
"Just like a flower!" Ash realized as the Pokédex's covers clicked shut in his hand.
"Then it makes sense why you would want clean mountain water," Gary said to Sonrisa.
"Pure water makes the Sunflora happy," she agreed. "And they have to be happy or they don't have a chance at the Sunflora Festival."
"What's the Sunflora Festival?" Ash asked.
"Oh, it's a big celebration they have here every year. And every year they have a competition to see who has the best Sunflora."
"Cool!"
"Sunflora Trainers like me train all year long just to have a chance at the first-place trophy."
"Have you ever won before?" Gary questioned.
"No, but I think I might have a chance to win this year!"
"How you doing, Sonrisa? How come you're not training your Sunflora?" A new voice spoke up from the road, and everyone looked over to see a young man with thick, wild brown hair looking at them from the shrubs that separated Sonrisa's yard from the road. In addition to the three humans in the yard, the Sunflora in the corner also perked its head up upon hearing his voice, doing so for the first time since coming outside.
"We did some training earlier and now I'm just watering them," Sonrisa replied to the other Bloomingvale resident.
"Well I hope it makes them happy, cause I just heard Lester's doing something to make his Sunfloras' smiles even happier! He's hired a comedian!" The young man and the Sunflora by his side laughed. "That's a laugh!" he added, and the pair walked away.
"A comedian..?" Gary whispered, both him and Ash exchanging looks. "Was that guy making fun of you?"
Sonrisa shook her head. "Cyrus is a Sunflora Trainer who lives down the street. He's won the Sunflora of the Year award three times."
"So he wasn't kidding about the comedian?"
"People try everything to give their Sunflora an advantage." She looked up and pointed at a young woman walking on the sidewalk across the street. "See there? That Trainer makes her Sunflora wear a mud pack to cut down on wrinkles." The woman in the dress was walking with a happy-go-lucky Sunflora that waved its leaves at it walked, and the normally yellow face of the Sun Pokémon was bright white.
"And that girl takes hers to a tanning salon." The woman in the dress walked by and waved to another girl whose skin was dark, and in contrast to her own Sunflora, the dark-skinned girl's Sunflora had a very dark face. And just beyond them, in a field across from Sonrisa's house, a young man was standing with a stopwatch in his hand, and a Sunflora was running back and forth with a tire tied around its waist dragging behind it as it ran. "He thinks daily workouts will work."
"Looks tiring," Ash muttered, his eyes darting back and forth between the three.
"Do you do anything special for your Sunflora?" Gary asked.
"I just give them fresh air, clean water, and try to keep them happy."
"That one doesn't look too happy," the auburn-haired Trainer pointed out, extending an index finger towards the depressed Sunflora standing with its head down and letting the water from the sprinklers drip down its face.
Sonrisa frowned and her face resembled the saddened Sunflora as she reached down and turned the sprinklers off. "It looks like this Pokémon's got a problem," Ash commented, approaching the Sun Pokémon, and the other two joined him.
"That's my prized Sunflora," the older girl told him. "The one I was planning to enter into the competition tomorrow. But lately it's been so sad." Gary looked at the Grass-type Pokémon and ran his thumb across his chin in thought, and while he did, Ash spoke up.
"Hey, why don't we help? You helped us when we needed some help; the least we could do is to help make your Sunflora smile again," he offered. A smile spread across Sonrisa's face, and she nodded. Suddenly, the two happier of her Sunflora perked up, and both of them let out a loud cry which shocked both Ash and Gary. "Hey, what's..." Ash began, but before he could finish his sentence, the two Sunflora bounced daintily into the greenhouse's open door, and trailing at the tail end was the final one.
"Flora..." it said as it too disappeared in the doorway of the greenhouse.
"What happened?" Gary asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"They're just getting ready for the sun to set," Sonrisa answered, and when she mentioned it, Ash looked up. It was then that he noticed the sky was turning different colors as it transitioned from day to night. "Sunflora go to sleep as soon as the sun goes to sleep." She approached the greenhouse door, and Ash and Gary peeked in as well. The three Sunflora all let out large yawns.
"Sunflora..." they all muttered sleepily, and then their heads lowered, and the petals that normally orbited around their face closed to cover them.
"Now close your eyes and sleep tight," Sonrisa told them with a hand lingering on the door. "Pleasant dreams, and I'll see you in the morning." She closed the door and flipped the lock.
"Why don't we come back tomorrow when the Sunflora wake back up," Ash suggested. "After seeing the Sunflora go to sleep, I'm ready for bed myself."
"Is there a Pokémon Center in town, Sonrisa?" Gary asked.
"Sure, and it's really easy to get to."
o 0 o
A good night's dinner and rest at the rosebud-shaped Pokémon Center was just what the pair needed. With his belly full of two hamburgers and a good shower and sleep, Ash felt invigorated with a new energy that the morning sun's warmth only added when they left for Sonrisa's the next morning.
Sonrisa was outside waiting, and while the other two Sunflora were playing with each other in the sun, Sonrisa stood with the depressed Sunflora. Its condition didn't seem to change at all with the day before, and even with its Trainer's comforting words, it wasn't doing much other than wilt.
"Seems like a good night's sleep wasn't what it needed," Ash said as they approached the pair.
"Good observation, Sherlock," Gary said sarcastically, and knelt down to study the green and gold Pokémon. Though the Sun Pokémon's eyes were narrowed, it didn't look Gary in the eyes and only stared at its feet with a frown that looked as though it might cry at any moment. "I may have a theory," the Pokémon Trainer began, and Sonrisa's eyebrows rose slightly.
"You do?" Ash asked. "What is it?"
"Well, I don't want to say until I know for sure."
"I've tried to get Sunflora to talk to me, but it simply won't tell me what's going on," Sonrisa explained.
"Luckily, I've got something in mind," Gary told her, and pulled a Poké Ball from his belt. "Go Venusaur!" Over the perfectly-cut grass, a flash of light condensed and pulled together into Gary's starter Pokémon.
"Saur!" the Seed Pokémon roared as it appeared.
"Hey, that's a good idea! We'll use our Grass Pokémon to see if we can try and get Sunflora to say what's going on!" Ash agreed with an ear-to-ear smile, and plucked a pair of red and white spheres from his own belt and held one in each hand. "Bulbasaur, Chikorita, I choose you!" A pair of lights burst from the Poké Balls and appeared on either side of Venusaur.
"Saur!" the smaller Seed Pokémon cried, and looked up at its final evolution beside it with a grin.
"Chikah!" Chikorita chirped when it appeared on the other side of Venusaur, but it paid no mind to any of the Grass Pokémon around it and trotted up to Ash before snuggling up against his pantleg. The dark-haired Trainer let out a nervous chuckle.
"Venusaur, why don't you talk to Sunflora here and see if you can get it to tell you why it's been so sad," Gary told his Pokémon.
"You too, Bulbasaur," Ash added. The two Grass and Poison Pokémon nodded, and trotted up to Sunflora.
"Saur," Gary's Venusaur spoke up, which grabbed Sunflora's attention. "Venu, venusaur."
"Bulba, bulbasaur Bulba," Ash's Bulbasaur encouraged.
Sonrisa's Sunflora looked at the two. "Sunflora-flora. Flora flora Sunflora. Flora flora Sunflora flora flora." The Pokémon talked with more animation than the pair had seen from it since they met Sonrisa, and all the while, Venusaur and Bulbasaur nodded along as it spoke. Finally, the pair turned back to their Trainers.
"Did you guys figure out what was wrong?" Ash asked.
"Venusaur," Venusaur nodded.
"Bulba. Bulbasaur. Bulbabulbasaur," Bulbasaur translated, taking out its vines and gesturing to Venusaur and itself.
"Friend...?" Ash asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"What friend are you talking about, Sunny?" Sonrisa asked her Sunflora.
"I'm gonna guess that kid from yesterday," Gary deduced. "I noticed Sunflora perked up when he spoke to you, but when it saw that Sunflora that was with him, it went back to moping."
"Cyrus?" she muttered, more to herself than the others. "You know, I do remember him having a Sunflora that Sunny used to play around with when he would come over to visit. But we've all been so busy for the upcoming festival that he hasn't been over in a while. Is that who you want to see, Sunny?"
"Flora..." her Pokémon answered with a weak nod of its head.
"Perfect! Then let's go see Cyrus!"
o 0 o
At the end of the road was where Cyrus lived. Like Sonrisa, he too had a greenhouse beside his house, and it was here that they found him tending to his Sunflora. Sonrisa quickly explained the situation to him while Sunny seemed to look around anxiously. "Sure! I know the one you mean," Cyrus answered, adjusting the red headband around his messy hair. "But I traded that Sunflora yesterday for one of Joy's Pokémon."
"Nurse Joy?" Gary asked. And so they were off again, but this time they headed out to where they had started their day: at the rosebud-like Pokémon Center. Going to the center of the lobby where the nurse's station was, they greeted Nurse Joy and once again explained the situation, starting with Sunny being sad about missing its friend, and ending with Cyrus trading his Sunflora with her. She nodded her head as she followed along, and when she looked down at Sonrisa's Sunflora, she smiled.
"Oh, you must be talking about my new Pokémon, Gwendela." Ushering a Pokémon forward, they saw that it was a Sunflora as well, and Nurse Joy led it around the counter to display it to the group.
"Sunny, is this your little friend?" Sonrisa asked her Pokémon, and instantly, the Sun Pokémon grew a wide smile and held its leaves up.
"Flora flora!"
"Sunflora Flora!" The two Sunflora trotted up to each other, crossed their leaves, and spun around in a circle before embracing each other.
"I wish I knew what they were saying," Ash murmured quietly.
"That's one of the many mysteries of Pokémon that we will never fully comprehend, Ash," Gary replied to his rival, and the boy answered with a cocked eyebrow.
"If you say so..."
"I'm just happy that my little Sunny is happy again," Sonrisa stated, her happiness very apparent on her face as she watched the two Sunflora part from each other and teeter back and forth in unison. "Oh, it's been so long since I've seen that smile!"
"Feel free to bring your Sunflora over as often as you'd like," Nurse Joy told her sweetly with her hands folded in front of her uniform. "Maybe we can even take them to the playground."
"Thanks! That'll be fun."
"Sunflora, Sun!" Sunny cried, waving its leaves happily in agreement.
o 0 o
With Sunny cured of its depression and Sonrisa happy to have her prized Sunflora in better spirits once again, they parted ways with promises of seeing each other at the festival. Initially, Gary wasn't too keen on visiting the Sunflora Festival, but seeing as they had to cut through the festival grounds in order to get to the other side of town, Ash begged him if they could at least see who got crowned the winner of the Sunflora Festival. Since Sonrisa was entering with Sunny, it would at least be worth supporting a friend.
The festival seemed to be enjoyed by the townsfolk and people from all over the region as well. There were games with Sunflora-related prized, booths selling fried foods whose smell made Ash's mouth water, and people from all around walking with their Sunflora.
The main attraction, of course, was the large pavilion in the middle of the festival grounds. People gathered all around to have their Sunflora judged, and as Ash and Gary pushed their way to the front through the sea of people, they saw that they had arrived just in time for the finals.
"Now here are the finalists hoping to be named Sunflora of the Year!" The MC holding the microphone gestured out to a pair of Trainers at center stage with their Sunflora standing beside them. Ash and Gary applauded loudly after recognizing that one of the two was their friend Sonrisa. Standing beside her was her smiling Sunny. The Grass Pokémon's grin was truly radiant, and was like a breath of fresh air that seemed to brighten the already sunny day.
"First, here is our returning champion: Cyrus and his Sunflora Dorabelle!" Sonrisa's neighbor that they had encountered before stepped forward, and Ash's jaw dropped at the Pokémon beside him. Cyrus was not a small young man by any means, but his Sunflora was taller than he was. While most Sunflora only went up to Ash's stomach, this one would have towered over him by at least two feet.
"It's humongous!" Ash gaped.
"Cyrus must be an excellent Pokémon Breeder to make his Sunflora that big," Gary commented, his eyebrows almost hitting his hairline.
"Last up is Sonrisa and her Sunflora with the fresh mountain spring smile!" Sonrisa folded her hands in front of her and both her and her Pokémon smiled out at the crowd.
"Go get 'em!" Ash shouted with a fist in the air through the applause.
"It looks like a two-flora contest, so now let's hear what our distinguished panel of judges has to say," the announcer called, gesturing over to the three people that were sitting behind a desk off to the side of the stage.
"The sheer size of Cyrus's Sunflora is simply astounding," a male judge complimented, and gestured to the Pokémon he had mentioned. "It's very impressive."
"I think Sonrisa's Sunflora has one of the loveliest smiles I've seen," the middle judge, a woman with her turquoise hair styled into a pixie cut said.
"It's quite clear that either of those two could be the winner," the final judge finalized, adjusting the red horn-rimmed glasses on her face. "I know that I'm here as the one to sway the vote, but I simply can't decide which Sunflora stands out more! I'd say it's a tie." A series of gasps waved through the crowd, followed by a receding of murmurs.
"What do you think they do about a tie?" Ash whispered to Gary, but his rival only shrugged and looked out onto the stage.
"Well folks, it seems that the judges can't decide on which Sunflora is the winner, so we're gonna move onto our tie-breaker round!" A loud, boisterous cheer rang out from behind the two Pallet Town Trainers, and they turned back to see everyone wore a mask of sheer excitement on their face. "As you know, ladies and gentlemen, our tie-breaker round has our contestants and their Sunflora show off their best attacks and see who can bring out the beauty in their Sunflora. The winner by the judge's decision will be crowned Sunflora of the Year, and win the prize of a year's worth of instant noodles!" The MC stopped for dramatic effect, and was not disappointed by the round of applause that followed his silence. Up on stage, Sonrisa and Cyrus exchanged friendly smiles, and even shook hands to wish each other luck. "We will have Cyrus and Dorabelle start us off. Take it away!"
The announcer shuffled off the stage as Cyrus and his giant Sunflora stepped forward, and then the Sunflora Trainer stepped off to the side. "Dorabelle, use your Petal Dance!"
"Sunflora!" the giant Grass Pokémon stated, and opened its leaves wide. A spinning twister of pink petals spun high into the air from its face, and shot the petals out over the audience. When the attack ended, the petals slowly drifted over the crowd like breathtaking snowflakes made of cherry blossoms. The audience marveled at the petals, and some even reached up and attempted to snatch some of them out of the air as they descended over them.
"A beautiful display of Petal Dance! Dorabelle is here to show that size isn't everything! It's certainly going to be tough for Sunny to beat that!"
Cyrus and his Sunflora stepped backwards, giving space for Sonrisa to walk forward. Kneeling down, she placed a hand on her Sunflora's shoulder. "You know what to do, Sunny."
"Flora!" her Pokémon responded with a nod. Facing forward, Sunny gave a wide smile and cried out before one of the petals on its face began to glow white. One by one in a counter-clockwise rotation, the yellow petals began to glow white, and once the glow had spread all around, its entire head glowed as well. The brilliant glow was blinding, and Sunny's face almost resembled a second sun.
"Is that what I think it is?!" Ash questioned.
"It's using SolarBeam!" Gary confirmed Ash's thoughts as Sunflora gathered energy in its face. Turning its head skyward, it fired the brilliant beam of energy straight into the sky toward the sun. The powerful Grass-type attack soared high into the air before finally exploding once it reached a certain point. The explosion was blinding, but when their eyes adjusted, they looked up to see a brilliant cascade of sparkles falling to the ground like warm raindrops. The sparkles reflected the rays of the sun, giving them an iridescent hue as they fell over the audience and disappeared before touching them.
A huge roar erupted around them when the attack was over, and Sonrisa looked at her Sunflora with a smile almost as bright as the SolarBeam it had just fired. "That was cool!" Ash cried.
Sonrisa and Cyrus both took their positions back on stage, and they both looked out with their grinning Sunflora at the audience applauding their efforts. "This is it, folks! The judges will now make their final evaluations and select a winner!"
"Cyrus's Sunflora is excellent, but Sonrisa's is simply extraordinary," the first judge spoke up.
"Sonrisa's Sunflora has such a sensational smile," the third judge with the horned-rimmed glasses agreed.
"Just looking at it makes me feel so warm and happy," the middle judge added.
"And I think the power of its SolarBeam makes the choice clear," the first judge concluded, giving a nod to the MC.
"Well, the decision is unanimous, folks!" he said, and gestured to Sonrisa. "Here are your winners of the Sunflora Festival! Let's hear it for Sonrisa and her super-smiley Sunflora of the Year!" The male judge walked forward, and as the applause and cheering rang out around them, he presented Sonrisa and Sunny with a sash each, and handed Sonrisa the winner's trophy. It was glittering gold, and featured a golden Sunflora sitting on top of the cup itself.
"Hooray!" Ash and Gary cheered together with their hands in the air.
o 0 o
Now that the festival was over and they had been crowned the winner, it was time for Ash and Gary to depart from Bloomingvale. Sonrisa and her Sunflora were seeing them off, and provided them both with warm smiles – and a good chunk of instant noodles for them to take on their journey. "Thank you so much," Sonrisa thanked. "If it weren't for you, we never would have won the Sunflora of the Year award!"
"You didn't win because of us, Sonrisa," Ash said with a shake of his head.
"It was all your hard-work and how well you trained your Sunflora," Gary complimented. And with a wave from the two Pallet Town Trainers, they headed on their way to the exit of town. Behind them, Sonrisa returned their wave, and as did her Sunflora, bouncing happily from leg to leg. While they didn't help Sonrisa win the festival by any means, it was clear that with their help, the clouds were gone, and now Sunny's smile was shining brighter than ever.
Ash:
Party:
Blastoise (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: Skull Bash, Dig, Hydro Pump, BubbleBeam
Bulbasaur (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: SolarBeam, Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, Tackle
Heracross (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: Horn Attack, Tackle
Chikorita (Poké Ball)
Moves: Razor Leaf, Tackle, Vine Whip
At Professor Oak's Lab:
Tauros (Safari Ball) x2 (m)
Moves: Fissure, Horn Attack, Take Down
Kingler (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: Water Gun, Bubble, Crabhammer, Hyper Beam
Muk (Poké Ball)
Moves: Poison Gas, Sludge Bomb
Primeape (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: Thrash, Mega Kick, Scratch, Seismic Toss
Pidgeotto (Poké Ball) (f)
Moves: Gust, Quick Attack, Whirlwind, Double-Edge
Stantler (Poké Ball)
Moves: Hypnosis
Training at Charicific Valley:
Charizard (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: Flamethrower, Fire Spin, Skull Bash, Slash
Kanto Badges:
Boulder Badge
Cascade Badge
Thunder Badge
Marsh Badge
Rainbow Badge
Soul Badge
Volcano Badge
Earth Badge
Diamond Badge
Indigo League Rank: Top 4
Johto Badges:
Zephyr Badge
Gary:
Party:
Venusaur (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: SolarBeam, Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, Mega Drain
Arcanine (Poké Ball)
Moves: Take Down, Fire Spin, Fire Blast, Flamethrower
Nidoqueen (Poké Ball) (f)
Moves: Rock Smash, Hyper Beam, Mega Punch, Double Kick
Nidoking (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: Horn Attack, Earthquake, Tackle
Pinsir (Poké Ball)
Moves: Fury Attack, ViceGrip
Hoothoot (Poké Ball)
Moves: Foresight, Peck
At Professor Oak's Lab:
200+ Pokémon
Kanto Badges:
Boulder Badge
Cascade Badge
Rainbow Badge
Seven unknown Badges
Indigo League Rank: Winner
Johto Badges:
Zephyr Badge