Am I the only one who has noticed this website has been slow with updates recently? When I open my profile, I see the old status of my fanfics like the same amount of reviews from last time I updated a story, fewer faves and follows and even updates of other's stories.
If there's an issue in FFN, I hope they'll fix it soon. Unless this is related to the current changes happening in the federal government in the US.

Next week is Pokémon Day, on the 27th, so I'll be posting a new chapter on that day to celebrate the anniversary of our favorite franchise. I hope you'll look forward to it!

Disclaimer: I do not own any Pokémon characters! I only own my OCs!

Chapter 8: The Lotad Lowdown

The weather was getting warmer as days just passed by and we were still in the Petalburg Woods. Luckily, Max found a lake with his PokéNav so we rushed there to set up camp and have a day of relaxation with a nice chilling bath. Brock set up a tent in which we could change our clothes into swimsuits. The boys went first before it was my and May's turn.

I didn't know why, but I felt teeny tiny awkward changing clothes with May right behind me. Or perhaps nervous was the correct word for it? Why did I feel like this, especially with May? I never felt like this whenever Misty and I were in the same room changing clothes.

I put on my royal blue swimsuit and tied up my hair with a sky blue ribbon, the same kind I gave my Pokémon. "Are you done, May?"

"Yep, I am!" May announced. I turned around and felt my heart almost leap out of my chest. She looked good in her bikini.

May in turn frowned at my swimsuit. "Why do you have a simple swimsuit, Ashley?"

"Um… It was the best amongst the ones I tried out before", I responded.

May shook her head, displeased with my choice. "When we get to Rustboro City, we'll go and buy new swimsuits for both of us!"

"Why?" I wondered, genuinely confused. "We have swimsuits we can use."

May raised a crooked brow. "You're not a shopping girl, are you?"

"I don't want to waste money."

"Fair enough. But still!" May suddenly grabbed my hand which caused me to nearly slip a shriek out of my mouth, my cheeks flushing by the soft skin contact. "I'm going to teach you how to shop! Now, let's go have fun!"

"W-Wait!" I shrieked as May pulled me out of the tent. She let go and rushed to the lake where Ash, Max and Pikachu were already swimming. She cannonballed into the water and splashed around, teasing our brothers.

I calmed down first before I joined Brock who did some stretching to warm up his body. "One and two! One and three! Oh, hi, Ashley!"

"Hi, Brock. You mind if I stretch with you?"

"Be my guest!" Brock grinned and continued stretching. "One and two!"

"One and three!" I stretched my arms and legs before we dived into the cooling lake. I swam over to Ash who was getting splashed by both Maple siblings. "Take this!" I splashed them back to aid my brother and soon we had a splashing war.

For once, it appeared we were going to have a peaceful day with no rude interruption from Team Rocket, but it didn't last long before some trouble popped up in the shape of lily pads with angry eyes. May was the first to notice them and let out a shriek. "W-What are those?!"

More and more lily pads surfaced from the water around us, trapping us in a circle. I held onto Ash fearing they were actually Pokémon that thought we were a danger to them. "We need to get out of here!" I called.

"But how?! They've trapped us and Pikachu can't attack or else we'll get electrocuted too!" Ash pointed out.

"Can't we waa-!" Max yelped before he was suddenly pulled under the water.

"Max!" May yelled before she too disappeared in the water.

I was panicking when Ash and I were dragged down with Pikachu and Brock. I didn't like being under water, even if it was in a calm lake. I covered my mouth and nose with my hands and had my eyes closed the entire time until Ash poked my shoulder. I opened one eye and realized the Pokémon that had caught us was a herd of Lotads. The Lotads were laughing and showed no hostility. They were lively and playful. So playful they gathered under us and then literally threw us out of the lake onto shore.

"Ow!" we all yelped when we crashed on the grass. The Lotads floated up to the surface and laughed at their mischievous joke.

"What was that about?" Ash groaned while he rubbed his sore back. "What are those Pokémon?"

"They're Lotads!" Max exclaimed excitedly. "This must be their territory and forced us out of the lake so we wouldn't bother them."

May grunted as she got up. "But did they really have to launch us out of the lake like that?"

"Pokémon herds react in different ways when somebody enter their territory", Brock explained. "We were lucky this time that they ejected us out like this."

I eyed the Lotads as they climbed up onto land, thinking they wanted to make fun of us. They gathered in a circle and got on their hind legs before they squirted gentle Water Guns in the air. "Guys, look."

The Water Guns clashed together and caused light drops rain around us. It was like they were creating a little fountain show for us. "How odd", Max commented. "Normal Lotads shouldn't be able to use Water Gun."

"Is this another Pelipper trick?" May questioned.

"No, but Lotads can learn Water Gun if one of their parents know Water Gun", I explained. "It's an egg move they can possibly learn."

"Pika pika", Pikachu called out.

"Hey, that Lotad seem to struggle with its Water Gun", Ash said, pointing at a Lotad that could barely spit water from its mouth.

Brock crouched down by the struggling Lotad. "Hey, little guy. You should-" He could even finish his sentence when Lotad suddenly launched a massive Water Gun and drenched our friend.

"Well, that was a wash-up", I commented nonchalantly.

"Hey, you!" A girl a little older than Max with red hair stepped toward us with a frowny glare. "This lake belongs to the Lotads so you cannot swim here! You must come with me at once!"

"Oh? And why should we listen to a little girl like you?" May retorted sarcastically.

Brock recovered from the sudden surprise and joined us. "Yeah, why should we go with you?"

"Because…you five need a lecture!" the redhead girl roared.

"What?!" I exclaimed, fearing we had accidently broken a rule or a law just by being by this lake.

"Get changed and come with me!" the girl demanded. "And don't even think about running away!"

XXXXXXXXXX

After a quick change, we packed up our stuff and followed the unknown girl around the lake to a cabin right next to it. The girl forced us inside the cabin where a woman in her early twenties was attending to flowers. "Nicole! I've brought intruders!" the redhead called.

"Intruders?" Nicole looked up from her work with a confused gleam.

"Yeah, they were swimming in Lotad's lake!"

"Excuse me, but we didn't know it was their home!" Ash spoke up.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu nodded.

"Yeah, this rude girl came up to us acting like she was the boss around these parts!" Max added.

Nicole immediately glared at the young girl. "Natalie, how many times have I told you? You must be kind to travelers!"

"I know, Nicole… But…", Natalie muttered.

"Looks like she's the one getting lectured…", May whispered in my ear. It caught me so off guard feeling her breath on my ear I flinched away with cheeks red as Tamato berries.

"Careful! I'm sensitive…!" I shushed.

Nicole bowed us and even forced Natalie to lower her head, even though her frown remained on her face. "I apologize for my sister's rudeness."

"It's okay, ma'am", Ash chuckled.

"I'm Nicole and this is my little sister Natalie", Nicole introduced herself. "The two of us and my other sister run this flower shop."

"That's cool!" Ash smiled. "My name's Ash and this is Pikachu. Nice to meet you!"

"Pika pikachu!"

"I'm Ashley, Ash's twin sister."

"Hi, I'm May."

"I'm Max!"

Brock leaped up to Nicole in his classic love-at-first-sight manner, gently cupping her hands. "I'm Brock and it's such an honor to meet such a beautiful woman like you! Your flowers are lovely, but they cannot match your elegance of a rose!"

"T-Thank you", Nicole replied awkwardly. "I just finished baking a pie that's cooling off right now. Would you all like to join us on our afternoon snack?"

"If we're not intruding, then yes please, ma'am", I nodded.

"Yes, please! All the swimming stirred up my appetite", Ash said.

"Me too!" May and Max called out simultaneously.

"It'd be an honor and privilege to sample the cooking skills of such a talented lady", Brock nodded eagerly.

"Nicole!" Another woman in her late teens stepped into the cabin with a Wailmer-shaped watering can. "One of the pipes for the sprinkler has another leak. Oh? We have visitors?"

"Another lovely flower?!" Brock shrieked.

"This is my other little sister Rita", Nicole explained. "And Natalie's other big sister."

Brock flung to Rita and clasped her free hand in a lovely manner. "Dear Rita, you are just as dainty as a daisy! I'd love if you could sprinkle some of your affections with your Wailmer Pail on me."

Natalie pouted irritably as her cheeks blossomed into a pink color. "Hey, Brock! Why are you only saying nice things about my sisters?! What about me?!"

That caught Brock off guard and me too. I hadn't seen a girl before who wanted to hear Brock say lovely things about them? Then again, Nicole was at least five years younger than him. "W-Well, you see…" Brock had no idea how to respond to the girl.

Rita grinned teasingly at her blushing little sister. "Is this another love-at-first-sight, Natalie?"

"Huh?!" Brock was stunned by the revelation.

"Love?!" May shrieked excitedly.

I didn't think much of it, but then I was briefly reminded of Gary's confession. Was it similar to this situation? Did he like me like how Natalie liked Brock? I was so confused.

Natalie hooked her arms with Brock's and dragged him to the kitchen where Nicole set up the table with cutlery and a blue pie made of Oran berries. We each got a slice along with herb tea while Brock got a mountain of pie served by Natalie.

I hummed in delight after I took my first bite of my slice. "Mm! It's delicious!"

"Yeah, the berry in it is tasty!" Ash agreed and gave Pikachu a slice.

"It's just as delicious as mom's pie!" May smiled.

Max sipped his tea with a big smile. "And the tea is perfect for the pie!"

"Thank you all", Nicole giggled. "I used Oran berries we grow in our garden."

"And I dried the flowers for our homemade blend of tea", Rita nodded.

Natalie held up a slice of pie to Brock with a huge smile. "Here, Brock! Open wide!"

Brock grimaced at the awkward affections he was getting from the little girl. "Um… Ah…?" He allowed Natalie to feed him until his stomach was as round as a Voltorb. "N-No more… Can't eat more …"

The sisters let us visit their garden while we let our stomachs rest after the nice snack. Their garden was blooming in all kinds of colors with berries and flowers. May inhaled deeply taking in the refreshing scent. "The air is so fresh and clean!"

"This is the perfect spot to raise Pokémon!" Max nodded.

"How about we let our Pokémon out for some fun?" Ash wondered.

"Is that okay?" I asked the older flower sisters.

"Go ahead, but make sure they don't harm any flowers or trees", Nicole replied.

We released our Pokémon so they could enjoy this little paradise. Rita went ahead to grab some tools to fix that leak she mentioned earlier, so Nicole showed us around. Natalie was busy staying close to Brock and hugged his arm while she pulled him around.

"Wow, your garden is so lovely!" May smiled.

"Thank you, May", Nicole said. "We grow lots of fruit and berries too. Over here, we have an Oran berry tree. I used its berries for the pie I made."

Natalie dragged Brock over to another tree. "And this is a Pecha berry tree! It's my favorite berry of them all!"

"N-Nice, Natalie…", Brock commented sheepishly.

Ash gently touched a large red berry with spikes on another tree. "What's this berry?"

"Pika?"

"That's a Tamato berry, but don't eat it", Nicole warned my brother. "It's a very spicy berry when you eat it raw."

"But it's a delicacy for fire Pokémon like your Magcargo, Brock!" Natalie giggled.

"I see…", Brock hummed, getting his curious gleam.

"These types of berries have all kinds of effects on different Pokémon, right?" I asked, remembering what I read before.

"That's right", Nicole nodded.

"Like what kinds of effects?" Max wondered. "I know Pecha berry can heal a Pokémon that's been poisoned."

"Yes, Pecha berry is known for its antidote effects for poisoned Pokémon", Nicole replied. "When a weak Pokémon eats a Sitrus berry, it recovers lots of its energy. Oran berry has the same effect, but it only restores a small percent of a Pokémon's health."

"We have a Sitrus berry tree here, but none of them are ripe yet", Natalie said. "The best way for the berries to have an effect is when you crush them and add them to your Pokémon's food!"

"I'd love to experiment with Sitrus berry and add them to our Pokémon's diet", Brock hummed.

"You seem very interested in the berries, Brock", Nicole pointed out.

"Yes, I'm on a quest to become a Pokémon Breeder and part of that is learning about Pokémon's diet and give them the best food so they can grow up healthy", Brock explained.

"I can make you a list on what berry to give to which Pokémon and how much of it to feed them", Natalie said. "Would you like that, Brock?"

Brock forgot the awkward moment as his eyes glittered with eagerness to learn more for his life mission. "Yes please! That'd be a huge help!"

Natalie giggled with a big happy smile. "Anything for you, sweet Brock! I'd do anything for my boyfriend."

"Huh?!" Brock froze in the middle of his happy reaction for the list.

"B-Boyfriend?!" I gasped, feeling super awkward hearing such intimate things.

Rita rounded the corner with a concerned look. "Nicole! I've checked the pipes and it's not looking good. We have to replace the whole thing."

"I guess so", Nicole sighed. "But it's a big job."

"How about we help you out?" Ash suggested. "The more we are, the faster you'll get the job done!"

"Ash's right!" Max agreed. "Let us help you as a thank you for sharing your pie with us!"

"I'd love to tend to the garden and soak in the flowers' scent!" May smiled dreamily.

A croaking noise echoed in the air before a row of Lotads walked in the garden. They went to each tree and bushed and watered them with water they carried in their broad leaves. "Thanks, guys!" Rita told them.

"What are the Lotads doing here?" I asked.

"You see, we live in harmony with these wild Lotads", Nicole explained. "We give them berries and in return they help us out in the garden."

"Let me see…", Ash hummed while he picked up his Pokédex.

Lotad, the water weed Pokémon. Water and grass-type. Lotad live in ponds and lakes, where they float on the surface. It grows weak if its broad leaf dies. It is known to ferry small Pokémon across ponds by carrying them on the broad leaf on its head.

"They're pretty cool", my brother commented.

"And really cute when they are friendly", May giggled.

Once their leaves were empty, the Lotads went to another part of the garden and sprayed gentle Water Guns to water parts that required a little more than what they carried. We too went straight to work and divided our duties. Brock stayed with Rita to repair the pipes with Magcargo while the rest of us fetched water from the lake with buckets. Our Pokémon improvised by carrying water in large leaves which worked perfectly fine. The Lotads went back and forth from the lake to get more of the clean water. May struggled with her bucket so I helped her carrying it by sharing the weight. "Thank you, Ashley!" she smiled sweetly.

"Y-You're welcome", I stuttered, feeling a little shy after she thanked me.

I was helping Nicole remove weed and withered leaves from bushes when the Lotads started croaking impatiently. A Lotad at the very front of the line stood in front of a flower bed with its leaf full of water, but it didn't lean its head to empty it.

"What's going on?" I wondered.

Max poked his head up from another bush. "Isn't that the same Lotad that couldn't use Water Gun first but then sprayed Brock like crazy?"

"That Lotad is unique", Nicole explained.

I never thought of this before, but what if Pokémon could be born with autism too? Some Pokémon learned things either slower or faster than the average just like humans. "Could this Lotad have autism?" I spoke out loud.

"That's a really good question", Max pondered. "Can Pokémon be born with spectrum disorder?"

Shortly after we left Petalburg City, Ash and I sat down with the Maple siblings and told them about my autism. They were very understanding and said they were going to keep in mind to be patient with me if I ever struggled with something.

Come to think of it, there were a few things that once were a huge problem for me before, but now I had gotten better with them. Was I evolving just like Pokémon?

Brock left his work in Rita's hands and crouched next to the slow Lotad. "Hey, Lotad. What's wrong?"

"Loo?"

"You don't know how to do this? Here, watch me." Brock bowed his head down for Lotad to see how to do it. "You just have to lower your head forward like this." Lotad studied him and stared back at the flower bed. "Take your time. Don't rush it."

"Loo…" Lotad registered what Brock had showed it and lowered its head, dumping the water in its leaf on the flower bed. It croaked happily at the successful move.

"See? You can do it if you put your mind to it", Brock smiled proudly.

"Lotad! Loo lootad!" Lotad stepped out of the line and bowed repeatedly at Brock, clearly thanking him for teaching it.

Brock chuckled awkwardly at the wild Pokémon. "You're welcome, Lotad. You're a great Pokémon, so there's no need to thank me so much."

Now that I thought about it, Brock was great at giving affection to people and Pokémon, but when it was switched around, he always behaved so awkwardly. That was a cute side of him that I never noticed until now. I couldn't help but wonder how he would behave if he met a woman who openly showed her love for him.

XXXXXXXXXX

We were done with our work just as the sun was about to rest for the night. Since it was too late for us to continue traveling, the Flower Shop sisters offered us a room where we could stay over the night. After we put our backpacks in there, we followed the Lotads down to the lake to make sure everyone was making it home.

"Thank you for your help today, Lotad!" Rita smiled. "I'll see you all tomorrow!"

"Loo lootad!" the herd of Lotads croaked before they jumped into the lake to get a good night rest. One Lotad remained as it crawled over to Brock. "Loo loo!"

"Hey, Lotad. Your buddies are leaving", Brock spoke gently. "You better get going so they won't worry about you."

"Lootad loo lo!"

"It really likes you after you taught it how to water the flowers, Brock", Ash chuckled.

"It's so cute!" May shrieked.

"Rita!" Nicole rushed to us with a distressed face. "It's terrible! Natalie is gone and left this note behind!"

"Let me see!" Rita checked the note their little sister wrote them. "'I'm going to the forest to get ripe Sitrus berries for Brock.' What is she thinking?! She knows the forest is dangerous at night!"

"Oh no!" Brock gasped. "It's my fault she went to get those berries for me! Rita, Nicole, I'll go look for her! Don't you worry!"

"I'll go with you too!" Ash said.

"Pika!"

"Okay! I think I know where Natalie is going, so I'll show you the way!" Rita nodded. "Nicole, you stay here if Natalie comes back!"

"Okay, please be careful!" Nicole whimpered worriedly. "And hurry back! It's gonna be dark soon!"

May, Max and I followed the worried sister back to the cabin and started playing the waiting game. I even made some tea we could sip while waiting anxiously for the others to return with good news.

"Natalie should know better…", Nicole murmured, staring at her cup of tea. "She always acts so impulsively when she falls in love with somebody."

"Does this happen often, Nicole?" Max asked.

A sigh was a proper answer from Nicole. "Not really, but once she falls in love with somebody, she easily forgets being rational…"

"Can love really change somebody so much?" I questioned before I took a sip of my tea. It wasn't as tasty as Brock's or Rita's, but it had a passing grade.

May stared at me like I was crazy. "Yes, love is a powerful emotion that affects everyone!"

Max groaned tiredly. "You shouldn't have asked that question, Ashley. Now you've opened the faucet…"

His sister couldn't go far into her deep detailed lecture about love when Nicole snapped her head up. "Shh! Quiet!"

As soon as we shut our mouths, we heard the noise of an engine and panicked cries coming from the Lotads. Not knowing what was happening, we rushed to the lake and found ourselves staring at a boat that went back and forth like crazy collecting the wild Lotads. The little group of four people on the boat was a dead giveaway of who was responsible of this mess.

"It's Team Rocket!" May gasped.

"What are you doing?!" Nicole shrieked. "Leave the Lotads alone!"

Team Rocket either ignored us or didn't even hear our cries because the noise was way too loud and our voices were overwhelmed by that. We could only watch in vain as Team Rocket collected the Lotads. Even if I called out my Pokémon to stop them, they couldn't deal with a large boat on their current levels.

"Is there nothing we can do to stop them?!" Max cried.

Like his prayers got answered, Pikachu was surfing on a Lotad that used a powerful Water Gun to swiftly swim across the lake. They apparently had a plan so we stood by and watched the whole scene as Lotad used Water Gun to break the shutter that had trapped the Lotads after Pikachu jumped onto the boat. The herd of Lotads escaped just as Ash and the others joined us with Natalie safe and sound.

"Good job, Lotad!" Brock praised the critter.

"Ash! Everyone!" I smiled, relieved they made it back in time to stop Team Rocket in their latest scheme.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted.

"PikaCHUUU!"

Pikachu launched a Thunderbolt and electrocuted the entire boat once it was empty of Lotads. Team Rocket didn't get spared and were blown away along with the boat that exploded into shreds. Pikachu safely landed on the helping Lotad as Team Rocket's cries faded into the night.

"LOOKS LIKE TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAaaaiiin…!"

"WOOOBBUuuffet…!"

Pikachu and Lotad returned to shore with the herd croaking thank you for saving them. Some even carried parts of the destroyed boat on their leaves and dumped them in a pile right next to us.

"Looks like the Lotads are okay", May sighed in relief.

"Yeah, and they're already bringing parts of Team Rocket's boat on land so it won't contaminate the lake", Max pointed out.

"We've got a lot to work on tomorrow", Rita agreed.

Nicole turned to Natalie who was all dirty after walking around in the woods. "Natalie, promise me you won't go berry hunting late at night by yourself, okay? You truly had me and Rita worried."

Natalie must have reflected on her actions as she was quick to apologize. "I promise, Nicole. And I'm sorry. I just wanted to help Brock…"

Brock gently patted her on her head with a smile I remember seeing him give to his younger siblings. "I appreciate the thought, Natalie. But don't do things that make your sisters worry about you."

"Okay, Brock. I'm sorry I dragged you into my mess."

XXXXXXXXXX

After a good night's rest and helping the flower sisters and Lotads to clean up the lake from the rubble as much as we could, we were ready to leave for Rustboro City. Natalie had black bags under her eyes, but she was still very cheerful when she gave Brock a notebook. "Here, Brock. Here's the list of berries and Pokémon diet I promised I'd make for you."

Brock was flabbergasted by the kind gesture and flipped through a few pages. "You really made this for me? This is great! So detailed with everything! Thank you so much, Natalie!"

"You're welcome!" Natalie smiled back.

"Rustboro City is north from here", Nicole informed us. "It's another two to three days from here."

"Good luck with your Gym battles, Ash, Ashley, May!" Rita cheered for us.

"Thanks!" Ash nodded.

"We'll our best", I said, pumping my fists. I just needed to train Emerald and Ruby a little more before we were ready to face the Gym.

"Y-Yeah, me too…" May sounded very hesitant. I guessed she wasn't that fond by the thoughts of challenging the Pokémon League.

"Lootad loootad!"

The same Lotad that Brock befriended yesterday crawled to his feet and croaked eagerly. "Hey, Lotad. What's up?"

"Lootad taad taad!"

"Well, I think Lotad's taken a liking to you, Brock", Nicole giggled.

"Yeah, I bet Lotad wants to go with you!" Max nodded.

"Taad taad!" Lotad croaked like it tried to say yes.

"Pika pikaa!"

"Nicole? Rita? Natalie?" Brock asked the sisters, hesitant if he could bring along one of the Lotads that assisted them on a daily basis.

"Sure, it's okay with me if Lotad wants to go with you", Nicole replied.

"I think Lotad can grow a lot if it stays by your side, Brock", Rita agreed.

"So take good care of it!" Natalie blushed while she cupped her cheeks. "And let it be a reminder of meeting me, sweetheart."

Brock laughed sheepishly at the redhead's remark. "What do you say, Lotad? Do you want to come traveling with me?"

"Lootad lootad!" Lotad smiled widely.

"We always welcome a new member in our family", I giggled lightly.

"Then welcome to our team, Lotad!" Brock smiled. He got happy croaks from Lotad. It then croaked goodbye to its friends while they croaked a farewell symphony to their comrade, wishing it best of luck in the wide world.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ashley's party:
Emerald the Treecko (male)
Ruby the Ralts (female)

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash's party:
Pikachu (male)
Tallow (male)
Treecko (male)

XXXXXXXXXX

May's party:
Torchic (male)

XXXXXXXXXX

Brock's party:
Forretress (male)
Magcargo (male)
Lotad (male)