Interview with a Wobbuffet

"To save time, let's assume I know everything." - Unknown

Pikachu

Ash takes off down the empty city street, and I'm right by his side. Where are we going? Do we have a destination, or are we just running for fun? I can't remember, but it doesn't matter. As long as my buddy's with me, I don't care what we're doing.

He looks down at me with warm brown eyes and that easy smile of his. "Come on, Pikachu!"

Ash picks up the pace, so I do too. The faster he goes, the faster I go. Eventually, he runs so fast I have to use Quick Attack to keep up. And, he still goes faster, getting farther away from me.

"Hey," I call to his retreating form, "slow down!"

But, that only seems to repel him further. His form shrinks in the distance, and the street only seems to get longer and longer.

"Wait for me!"

He doesn't.

"Ash!"

I can barely see him now.

I run and run, but he's so far away! What if I can't catch up? His silhouette vanishes, but I know he's there! I keep calling to him, but there's no response. Suddenly, the ground shakes, and the city crumbles around me.

I wake with a gasp and practically leap to my feet. It takes a moment for me to remember why I'm in a nest of leaves in the woods. Still reeling from my dream, I give my pelt a good shake and survey my surroundings. It's still dark, not even the break of dawn. The PokeSquad members are still sound asleep. Absol's head is resting on his forepaws. Eevee is curled into a tight ball. Sprout apparently sleeps standing up like a real flower, her legs dug deep into the earth. Wobbles is...nowhere to be found. Her nest is there, but it's vacant. Perhaps she couldn't sleep and decided to go for a walk.

With a sigh, I lay back down. After some tossing and turning, I give up on sleep and look for a way to fill my time until the others wake up. I'd like to just go off and find Ash on my own, but it wouldn't be right to abandon these guys after they were kind enough to nurse me back to health. That revival herb really worked wonders, not to mention the oran berry juice Sprout put on my scrapes.

Maybe I'll look for Wobbles. A traitorous part of me says I shouldn't care about a Wobbuffet, but I push it back. She's not with Team Rocket, and I hate that I have to keep reminding myself of that.

Careful not to wake the others, I sneak over to her nest, take a good whiff, and sniff the air. I follow her scent deeper into the woods, a cool breeze ruffling my short fur. A Noctowl and a few Hoothoot coo above me. I pass over a large flower and apologize when I discover it's actually a sleeping Vileplume. Getting chased out of a Raticate's territory throws me off a little, but I manage to pick up Wobbles's scent again. I follow it to the base of a huge tree. The scent leads upward, and I have to squint to make out the blue speck high up in the branches. Well, Absol did say that Wobbles does whatever she wants.

Curiosity drives me to climb up the tree and see what she's doing. The darkness makes it a little more difficult, but I manage to avoid scratching myself or spooking any pokemon on my way up. Though I did get Wobbles's attention.

"You're up early," she says from the thick branch she's sitting on.

I climb the rest of the way up and, after testing the branch's strength, sit next to her. "I couldn't sleep. Guess I'm not the only one."

"Actually, we Wobbuffet don't need much sleep." She shrugs. "A few hours, and I'm good to go. But, you store electricity in your sleep. You should really get back to that."

"Oh, do you want some privacy?" I hope so. Being this close to her is putting me on edge.

"I didn't say that."

Okay then. "You really do know a lot about pokemon, don't you?"

Wobbles looks back in the direction of camp. "Eevee: the evolution pokemon. A normal-type. Eevee's unstable genetic makeup allows it to easily adapt to even the harshest environments. It has eight possible evolved forms, more than any other pokemon in existence, and our Eevee just can't seem to make up his mind. Not that I blame him."

I hadn't asked for an analysis, but I suppose this is Wobbles's way of telling me about her companions. Or, maybe she's just showing off. "I thought he wanted to be a Jolteon."

"And, before that he wanted to be a Glaceon. Absol: the disaster pokemon," she continues. "A dark-type. Absol can predict natural disasters by sensing changes in weather patterns with its horn. There was a bad flood about a year ago, and if it weren't for our Absol, a lot more pokemon would have been lost."

I nod solemnly. Any casualties at all is a bad thing, but at least those pokemon had some time to prepare.

Wobbles smacks her chest. "Wobbuffet: the patient pokemon. A psychic-type. We are a peaceful race who are completely incapable of initiating attacks. But, touch our tails and, well," she winks at me, "that's another story."

I laugh. "I'll keep that in mind."

"I know I've already mentioned Bellsprout, but did you know that they thrive in high heat and humidity?"

"I did not." Wobbles knowing about her friends' species doesn't surprise me, but she knows a lot about Pikachu as well. "How do you know so much?"

Wobbles shrugs modestly. "I've traveled a lot. Even before I met the PokeSquad." She stares out at the horizon. "Hoenn, Johto, Sinnoh. Name a region, I've been there."

"Oh, yeah? Did you have a trainer?"

"Nope. Never. I've found my own way around."

I have more questions, but my voice leaves me when I finally turn away. The view is spectacular! The sky is full of tiny, twinkling stars surrounding a half moon that gives a silvery glow to everything beneath it. Greenery stretches over the landscape, various pokemon either sleeping or exploring the night. In the distance, I see the faint silhouettes of mountains. Beyond that, I know there's a clear blue ocean. Beyond that, who knows?

No matter how many times I see the horizon, it's always striking. The world truly is a vast and strange place.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Wobbles says. I must have spoken aloud. "Ever since I was a hatchling, I've been curious about the world. Specifically, the pokemon in it. There's such variety, you know?" Her face takes on an awed, starry-eyed quality, her voice a hushed, almost reverent tone. "So many species, types, attacks, and abilities. Some pokemon even have two types or two potential abilities. Then there's evolution. Heck, even two pokemon of the same species can be so, so different from each other in temperament and personality."

"Not to mention," I add, humbled by her passion, "how types can be strong or weak or just average against each other."

Wobbles claps her hands together. "I want to learn everything I can. That's why I go everywhere I can." She pauses, something I can't place crossing her face. "It's usually just me. I pick up travel companions here and there, but they always end up doing their own thing in the end."

Nostalgia sets in. A sad smile pulls at my mouth as I remember all the friends Ash and I have made on our journey. So many, people and pokemon alike, that naming them would take all night. I wonder how they're all doing. Are they well? Are they still working on their own dreams, or do they have new dreams now? Do they ever think about us? My throat tightens. "I know how you feel."

Wobbles gives my head a comforting rub. "Yeah, I guess you do. You and your trainer- What's his name again? Al or something?"

"Ash."

"You and Ash must have made a lot of friends."

Flashes of Ash and our friends play through my mind. No longer trusting my voice, I simply nod.

"I bet I'm not the only one who's well traveled either. You've got the faraway look of someone who's seen some stuff."

I smile and dab at my eyes, hoping she doesn't notice. "I've certainly been around."

She's staring at me in a way that tells me she did notice. "Ever been to the Orre region?"

"No."

"Lucky. The place is a dump." The deadpan way she said that makes me laugh. She grins. "Yeah, you looked like you needed that. But seriously, don't go to Orre. Unless you like pollution and organized crime. In which case, send me a postcard. But, you know what's not a dump? The Orange Islands. You wanna talk about gorgeous? Wow."

"I've been there," I say. "They really are something. But honestly, the Orange Islands don't even compare to the islands of Alola."

Wobbles gasps and claps her hands again. "I love Alola! You know, there are a few things out there I've always wondered about but was never able to really experience. For instance, there's a special kind of attack that trainers in that region can have their pokemon use."

"You mean Z-moves?"

"Oh! Of course! You have a trainer. You must have used Z-moves before."

My smile is so broad now, I feel like my face is being stretched. "A few, yeah! Gigavolt Havoc, Breakneck Blitz, Corkscrew Crash. Though, my favorite is 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt."

"I've never heard of that one."

"Yeah, Ash and I kind of invented it."

Suddenly, Wobbles leans in really close. "You invented a Z-move?"

"Well, uh," I'm starting to feel like a science project, "it just sort of happened when we were battling this Ultra Beast-"

Her forehead is touching mine now. I think I've found the other thing she wanted to learn about. "You battled an Ultra Beast?"

I guess I sometimes forget just how fantastic my and Ash's adventures can be. Which is probably why I then make the mistake of saying, "Y-yeah. See, we were in Ultra Space-"

"YOU'VE BEEN TO ULTRA SPACE!?"

Cue the startled cries and frightened scattering of the tree's inhabitants.

What follows is a series of questions thrown at me so fast, it all sounds like one giant sentence; everything from how many Ultra Beasts I've seen to what Z-moves smell like. ("Why would they have a smell?" "So, Z-moves are odorless! That is most fascinating!") At some points, she gets so excited I have to steady her so she doesn't fall. At other points, I have to dodge her flailing arms so she doesn't knock me over.

And yet, I'm happy. I always enjoy telling stories, talking about my adventures, but no one's ever been this enthusiastic about them. It's nice to meet a fellow traveler, someone who's been all over the place and can relate to the nostalgia and wistfulness I feel sometimes. Ash understands, of course, but a new perspective, someone who hasn't experienced the same things as me, is refreshing.

But, it works the other way too. When my friends tell me of their own experiences, it helps me see the world from their perspective, to understand how those experiences shaped them into who they are today.

I would love to hear some of Wobbles's stories, if she could only take a breath.

She shuts up when we notice the hoard of irritated pokemon growling at us. I shiver under their glares. An apology is on the tip of my tongue, but Wobbles grabs me, crushing my insides as she wordlessly leaps down the tree. Luckily, no one is chasing us. They're either too tired or are just glad we're gone. I shrink into Wobbles's grip as branches come dangerously close to my face, but somehow we both avoid injury.

At long last, Wobbles slams feet-first on the ground, her torso rocketing forward then springing back up and shaking, me along with it. "And, that's why they call me Wobbles." She flings her arms wide, and I fall ungracefully into the soft grass. "Well, that and I was a really clumsy Wynaut."

Despite my disorientation, I start giggling which quickly turns into hysterical laughter. Maybe it's stress, or maybe it's just Wobbles's...Wobbles-ness, but I feel lighter than I have since Team Rocket showed up. As she looks at me with a mix of curiosity and concern, I realize that I don't see Team Rocket when I look at her; I just see Wobbles the Wobbuffet, my new friend.

Ash, I'm going to find you. Until then, I think I'm going to have a little fun.