"Sulia," Pete exclaimed as we entered. "You just have to hear this!"
"Yeah, it's really something!" Micto added.
"What is it?" I rubbed an eye with my free hand.
"In two days, a whole group of kids are going by bus to Pallet Town! And there are some empty spaces! They said we could tag along!" Pete sounded thrilled.
"I don't know," I began a bit dubiously, scratching the Vulpix's ears. I've never trusted Chance or Coincidence, and this seemed too pat.
"Professor Oak lives there, and that's why they're going," Micto told me. "We can get official licenses there!" He thought a moment. "Well, as long as it's okay with my mom! She said I could go only as far as Pallet or New Bark! I'll have call her about it!"
"Well..." I temporized, thinking this over.
"There will be other adults along, ma'am." One of the Nurses had noticed our conversation and joined in on the boys' side. "We do this sort of thing pretty often. There's a birthday almost every day in a town this size, and usually we end up with about five kids starting their journeys every month. The bus heads south, picking up more people along the way to get their licenses. I or one of the other Nurses often go along to reassure the parents, and sometimes we'll get an older person whose parents delayed their journey until they're more mature or responsible." This Nurse looked just like all of the other nurses, and was probably named Joy just like all of the other nurses.
I sighed. In spite of my suspicion, I was already half-convinced. "What do you think, Zephyr?"
"Hopiiip!" She bobbed her head and smiled.
"Well, I guess it will be all right. I do need to get a license."
Pete and Micto cheered.
Our two days in "Tacky" Prickleback Town were rather uneventful. I continued to coach Zephyr in her Razor Leaf lessons, and Micto managed to get his Metapod to evolve. He named his new Butterfree "Jary" and started training his Kakuna as well.
We had tried—unsuccessfully—to teach one of the Magikarp one of my TM's. Fortunately, I didn't waste the TM—they were incompatible so it didn't do anything. Micto was about to use his dwindling funds to buy a water TM from the local Mart when one of the Nurses confirmed that Magikarp can't learn attacks by TM!
Micto's mother was worried, but he managed to talk her into letting him at least get a license. She wanted to talk to Professor Oak herself before allowing her son to go on an actual journey!
I realized that I was getting used to Calda. The Vulpix had a sweet nature and didn't seem inclined to singe me. I was still extremely cautious around her, but I think my unreasoning terror is going away.
Nectaar surprised us all by evolving into a Gloom the afternoon before we were to leave on the bus. From hearsay, and the encyclopedic memory of one of the Nurses, generally Oddish don't evolve so quickly, and that by all rights, Zephyr should have evolved before Nectaar. She spouted some nonsense about levels and experience, which I promptly forgot, and finally gave up and attributed the unusual development as a "quirk."
I made sure all of my clothes were clean, and took the opportunity to make sure all of my Pokémon were groomed. I would say "bathed," but Flim-Flam dislikes being immersed in water—he just got a good rubdown with a damp cloth.
During our journey, the Wind had been nearly nonexistent. I figured that it was rather pleased with itself for getting me to finally leave my safe garden and had decided to bother someone else as long as I was doing what I was "supposed" to be doing. It picked up a bit during our "break," but didn't misbehave.
I learned in Prickleback why we hadn't run into any Gyms yet. It seemed that this region didn't have an official league, and people were reluctant to start one with the famous Gyms of the Kanto league a day's ride to the south. The Johto League was nearly as close—an extra day's walk from the official starting point of the Kanto league.
Like my little home near Virescent City, most of the Trainers in the entire area were passing through to more famous places.
I was quite impressed with our bus, when it pulled up in front of the PokéCenter. It was one of the sleek new Suicune Zoom models, painted in appropriate colors. Considering Suicune's association with the wind, I took this as a good omen.
Three boys and two girls were going to ride with us. Of them all, only one of the girls already had a Pokémon, a rather adorable but tough Tangela, which made the wishy-washy Vine Pokémon of my garden look like frilly wussies! They were all rather polite to me, acting like I was a rarely-seen Aunt and unwilling to risk angering me.
The interior of the Suicune Zoom was rather luxurious, compared to the busses I'd ridden in the distant past. According to the sign in the front, it could seat twenty-eight people comfortably, and up to forty in a crush. I doubted we would get that many passengers. The large seats were upholstered in a blend of blues and grays, and there was even a sign that indicated a restroom in the very back!
I sat on one of the chairs near the front of the bus, with Pete and Micto claming the two seats immediately behind me. The girls sat together, and so did a pair of the boys, the third sitting across the aisle from them. I had invited the Nurse to sit with me, but she hadn't boarded yet.
Once everyone was seated with their baggage stowed in the spacious under-seat drawers or in the narrow overhead areas, the door squeaked shut and the driver began to speak. I missed the first few sentences—he was speaking so fast!
"... and down through Moon View, Pewter City, Viridian City and Pallet Town," I assumed that he was explaining the route. "The rules are simple. Large Pokémon remain in their Pokéballs. Lap-sized Pokémon are permissible if the person next to you does not mind. You are responsible for your Pokémon's actions. You may not put your head, hands, arms, feet, legs or other body parts, or Pokémon out of the windows while the bus is moving. You may not throw anything from the windows. This includes Pokéballs thrown to catch Pokémon we may pass along the way!" This comment merited some quiet laughter.
The Nurse made her way onto the bus. She spoke briefly with the driver then smiled at me. "Okay everyone," the Nurse began, "I have all of your parent's numbers. If Vurtis or I see any of you breaking the rules, you can be assured that your parents will know of it. If you weren't paying attention when Vurtis told you, we'll be stopping for the afternoon in Lunar Peak. By the time we reach Viridian City, we'll have about twenty people riding, so you will all be very tired of the rules speech. That won't make you exempt!
"I hope we aren't sick to death of each other by then!" She stowed a small pack under her seat and sat down.
"Don't worry," I told her, "If they get too out of hand, you can always assign seats."
She laughed at me. "That's a good idea, Miss Sulia." As the bus headed out, we chatted for a little bit, mainly about my garden and some of her stories about her experiences as a Nurse. Eventually we ran out of things to discuss, so I started to watch the passing scenery.
I thought I saw a large blue Arcanine running along the side of the road, easily keeping pace with the bus. It didn't look quite like an Arcanine though, maybe more like a Houndoom. While I was deciding what precisely this creature was, a voice interrupted my thoughts.
"It's pride, isn't it?" I jolted awake. That sounded like Micto. I must have dozed off.
"What?" Pete sounded defensive.
"You were too proud to be given a Pokémon, you had to catch them yourself."
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Oh? So why didn't you let your father give you a Pokémon before you left?"
Knowing it was rude of me, I eavesdropped anyhow. The Nurse seemed to be absorbed in some novel.
"Because I don't want to be just like him."
"What?" Micto and I both were confused by this answer.
"Ever since I was a little kid, everyone said that I looked just like my Dad, ex he was taller. That I acted just like my Dad, but he was more polite. Even when I tried to act differently, they brought up a time my Dad had done that better. If I started out with a Pokémon that my Dad trained, it'd give them another excuse to compare me to him." Pete sighed.
"Hmm, that's a good excuse," Micto replied after thinking a moment. I agreed silently. I returned my attention to the window, vaguely recalling that I had seen something unusual outside. I dismissed it as a dream when I couldn't remember anything clearly, and if there had been anything out there, we had surely passed it miles ago.
We passed through several small towns, varying in size between Amethyst Stream and Mauve Thicket. By noon, we had picked up eight more people—five youngsters, and three teens.
Vurtis and Joy repeated their explanation of the rules at every stop. It got very boring, but none of the children started acting up. I dozed most of the trip, and watched the scenery. I also overheard another conversation between Pete and Micto, about Micto's supposed victory over a Gym Leader. It turned out that Micto hadn't defeated a gym leader—just passing rookie who had been named after a famous Johto Gym Leader.
The pale boy seemed to be politer now. He kept his Vulpix on his lap for the trip, but I didn't mind too much. I don't know what caused the change in Micto's attitude, and I never asked him about it, but I'm glad that he isn't really the snotty bully we met.
Lunar Peak was about as large as Prickleback Ridge. It was obviously a tourist site though, with all sorts of silly signs and monuments. The bus pulled up in front of a large fast food restaurant. The sign had a comic drawing of a Delibird balancing on a Slowbro's shell, without any words.
When I asked, Joy shrugged. "Everyone calls it the Delibro. I guess it's the name, but nobody's ever really told me. It's part of a chain, but there aren't many of them."
The restaurant sold mostly cold-cut sandwiches, though hamburgers and hot sandwiches were listed on the menus. All of the children paid for their own meals, but I treated Joy and Vurtis to lunch.
Our break was scheduled to last an hour, which provided more than enough time for everyone to eat, and stretch, and talk. I let my Pokémon out for a breath of air—the managers of Delibro were very understanding about Trainers, and had even constructed an informal, half-scale stadium. A grassy area with a few trees separated the "stadium" from the children's playground. The girl who owned a Tangela also had her viney Pokémon out of its ball, and one of the teens, a dark-blonde girl named Katha, had a Meowth.
When Zephyr was released from her ball, she danced around for a moment, stretching and chattering happily. Then she saw the Meowth. For some incomprehensible reason, the little turnip attacked the cat!
The Meowth hissed at the Hoppip, but Katha and I managed to pull them apart before they hurt each other. "I don't know what's gotten into her," I told the Meowth's Trainer. Zephyr struggled to get out of my grip, squealing.
Katha seemed to be having trouble containing her own Pokémon. The Meowth continued to hiss and growl, writhing and scratching. "Do you want to just have them battle?" she asked, wincing as the cat's claws scored on her arm.
"Okay," I told her, clutching Zephyr by her leaves and reaching for her ball with my other hand. Once the Hoppip was gone, the Meowth was instantly well-behaved and contrite for scratching her Trainer. The blonde carried her feline companion over to the small stadium area—an asphalt rectangle marked by white lines—and I walked to the opposite Trainer's box, scolding Zephyr's ball as I walked.
The Tangela's owner, whose name, interestingly enough, was Angel, agreed to be the referee. Pete and Micto had heard the commotion and were heading over as she announced the start of the battle. Katha's Meowth leapt lightly from her arms and headed toward the center of the arena. I threw Zephyr's ball—underhand because I wasn't sure if I could throw it far enough normally—and muttered something that I hoped didn't sound too cliché.
Zephyr appeared looking somewhat sheepish, but rustled her leaves menacingly at the Meowth, who hissed again. I didn't have many choices when it came to commanding an attack, but I decided that a Tail Whip might give me an advantage in the long run.
"Zephyr, use a Tail Whip!" At the same moment, Katha ordered a Growl from her Meowth. The two faced off, and I could tell that the rumbling feline growl had shaken my Hoppip. "Now Razor-Leaf!" Zephyr continued to rustle her leaves, and suddenly two green crescents shot from her toward the growling cat.
"Maou, try to dodge! Use Payday!" The Meowth was scratched by the edge of one of the leaves, but was otherwise unscathed. I hurriedly ordered another Razor Leaf as Maou started to use Payday.
Another pair of leaves shot toward the feline, who suddenly released what looked like an explosion of glowing coins. Zephyr tried to dodge, but couldn't avoid all of them. At least three shining circles, and probably more, smacked right into the Hoppip, then fell to the ground, clinking. Squealing, Zephyr drifted to the ground. At the same time, the Meowth had fallen, knocked off her feet by Zephyr's attack.
"Zephyr, use Synthesis!" Katha encouraged her Meowth to get up. It looked like both Pokémon weren't about to give in. The Hoppip glowed for a moment, and looked like she was mostly recovered from the Meowth's attack. Maou didn't look as good, but was nowhere near out of the battle.
"Try to get in a Fury Swipes, and if that doesn't work, Payday!"
"Zephyr, go for a Razor Leaf when you get the chance. Avoid those claws!"
The Pokémon faced off again. Zephyr stayed on the ground—she had excellent reflexes and would go aloft as soon as the Meowth made a move. Maou hissed at the turnip again, her curly tail lashing from side to side as she crouched.
I never really knew much about cats. I never paid attention to my friends' house Meowths or their habits. Perhaps if I had, I would have been ready for what happened next. Abruptly, Maou, who had been perfectly still—except for her tail—was flying through the air, landing on Zephyr before the Hoppip could so much as squeak!
" Get away!" I shrieked, panicking. But Maou had Zephyr firmly in her claws, and set about shredding the hapless turnip's leaves. Seconds later, the Meowth had backed off and started to clean her whiskers, leaving a stunned Zephyr whimpering on the ground.
Somehow, I was right there, scooping Zephyr from the asphalt, cooing at her and reassuring her. Katha scolded Maou for being so rough, and was genuinely sorry that the feline had misbehaved so much. The cat went back into her Pokéball. We had about fifteen minutes before everyone was supposed to meet back up at the bus. That was enough time for a quick run to the PokéCenter just down the street!
Pete and Micto hurried after me as—so they told me later—I flew to that PokéCenter! There was a line, five or six youngsters I didn't recognize, and only one open counter. Fidgeting at the end of the line, I rubbed Zephyr's ears and tried to avoid looking at the shreds that Meowth had left of her beautiful leaves. When we finally reached the front, the nurse gasped at the sight we made. She carefully took Zephyr from my arms and put the Hoppip into her healing machine, muttering something.
A few tense moments later, the machine ceased clicking and whirring, and a flash of read coalesced into my pink turnip. Zephyr looked better, but her leaves were still mangled. Typically enough, nobody had gotten in line behind me, so the nurse and her Chansey whisked Zephyr away into another room, before I could even ask where they were going! I followed them, but was halted by an "Authorized Personnel Only" sign.
I paced anxiously outside this door, for what seemed like hours, sure that I had missed the bus. I didn't notice Micto and Pete, nor did I see when they left. Another nurse bustled past me into the room, in such a hurry I couldn't get her to stop. Three more centuries passed, and I continued pacing.
Then a light I hadn't noticed before blinked off. It was placed above the doors to the room, and had a stencil of a stylized syringe needle on it. Moments later, the two nurses and came out, preceding the Chansey, who carried Zephyr in her stubby arms.
"Chan-sii!" the pink egg-shaped creature exclaimed happily, holding the Hoppip out.
"Piiip!" exclaimed Zephyr, when she saw me. She leapt—or tried to—from the Chansey's arms to my shoulder, but faltered halfway. Her leaves looked like they had been bound in a light gauze, and she couldn't move them well enough to be agile in the air. I caught her, and rubbed her head, looking at the Nurses.
"She'll be okay, Sulia," one of them reassured me. Then I recognized her—the nurse from the bus! Now that I had two Nurses right in front of me, I could see subtle variations in their features and physical build.
"In a few weeks, her leaves should be well enough for you to remove the bandages," the other Nurse added. "Frequent visits to PokéCenters should ensure that the scar tissue is minimal, and once she evolves she will be perfectly fine."
"Don't let her battle until the bandages are removed," the Bus Joy continued. "A Razor Leaf would tear through them, and a Tackle could inhibit her healing."
"They're thin enough that she'll be able to get sufficient sunlight."
"But make sure you feed her high-iron and high-calcium foods!"
"She isn't traumatized, but try to keep her quiet and still."
"Come on," Bus Joy told me as I nodded dumbly at their instructions. "The bus is waiting for us!" She led me from the PokéCenter, and the Suicune Zoom was parked right out front, engine idling.
When Vurtis saw us emerge from the building, he opened the doors and we boarded. The children were acting like they normally do—quiet conversations, with some reading or playing video games. There was just one minor difference; Katha was sitting alone in the back.
Although my belongings were stowed under the seat in the front, I decided that I wouldn't need them during the ride and headed back to sit with the girl. She tried to avoid looking at me—and especially at Zephyr—as the bus started moving, but me being the stubborn person I am, started a conversation with her, even if she was trying to ignore me.
"It wasn't your fault Katha." No response. "I am a bit upset, but the damage wasn't permanent, and Zephyr isn't traumatized. It was just another example of how Pokémon are their own people, and you can't always predict their actions." I tried to sound philosophical about it, I tried to reach Katha through logic. But Zephyr's method was more direct, and more effective!
The Hoppip jumped from my lap to Katha's squeaking at her. I had picked up enough of the language to understand that Zephyr was concerned, and didn't want Katha to be sad. Zephyr looked ridiculous, with those bandages wrapped around her leaves, waving her stubby arms around and talking in her squeaky Hoppip voice, but she got through to the girl.
I won't go into detail.
When Katha was able to speak again, she whispered hoarsely, "I love Maou, but I don't know if I can trust her after—after this."
"The Pokémon-Trainer relationship is based on trust," I replied truthfully. "You trust them to do their best and they trust you to know their strengths and weaknesses. I don't know why Zephyr disliked Maou on sight, nor do I know why Maou decided that shredding Zephyr's leaves was acceptable. Discipline her over that for a while. When Pokémon battle, it is friendly competition, like a footrace or chess. You try to win, you don't try to maim. I know you know this, but maybe Maou hasn't caught on."
Katha sighed. "I don't know what to do."
"How long have you had Maou?"
"Since I was ten. My parents wouldn't let me start my journey until now, but they didn't want me to be too far behind my friends."
"Did you train her at all since then?"
"Not really. We battled some wild Pokémon, and did pretty good. Not many Trainers." Suddenly the blonde gasped. "She used to bring in wounded Pidgey and Rattata some nights. I always thought she was finding them so we could care for them. But what if she was battling them on her own?"
"Well, even if she was, we'll have to figure out a way to keep her from seriously injuring her opponents in battles."
"We?"
"Yeah. You, me, and whoever else with a good idea."
We got the kids around us started on ideas, but none of them were too good. One boy suggested tying the Meowth up, another passed on a rumor about a Pokémon obedience school.
"Maybe we're taking this from the wrong angle," Katha interrupted a particularly outlandish idea involving Gyarados and Paper Plates. "What do we know about Meowth?"
"Um, they play with string," a brown-haired boy suggested. He was sitting on the right side, in the row in front of us.
"They don't like Growlithe." This from a blue-eyed boy with freckles, next to Brown Hair. I felt somewhat cynical for doing so, but I wondered how many of these kids would wash out after a week.
"They learn Payday." A blonde boy with glasses. He was new, one of about six kids that had met with the Suicune Zoom at the Delibro.
"My guidebook says that they like round things." This one looked just like the boy next to him, I guessed they were twins. They were seated right in front of us.
"Round things?" I caught that idea. "Round like a ball, or round like a CD?"
"Um, I think it doesn't matter. It says Meowth look for loose change at night, and they love balls of string." I could hear him flipping pages. "The picture of the Meowth near the front shows it holding a small ball in its mouth, and there are pennies all around it."
"How does Payday work, exactly?" Everyone looked at Katha. I had seen it earlier, but I didn't know what precisely happened.
"Uh, well, the Meowth sends out little balls of light. When they hit something—an opponent, a tree, the ground—they turn into coins. Maou sends out nickels at the moment, but when she learned it, she shot pennies. I heard that a really high-level Meowth or Persian can send out gold coins."
"Is there a way we could use this?" I vaguely recalled something from a Psychology class.
"Well, when Mom taught our little brother how to go potty like a big boy," the twin with the guidebook began.
"She'd give him a cookie every time he made it to the potty," the other, sitting window-side from his brother, added.
"And he'd have to take a nap every time he didn't make it in time," the first finished. They exchanged glances and laughed.
"What does your Meowth dislike?" Brown-Hair had been thinking while the twins were talking.
"Um. She dislikes being kept in her Pokéball for long. She doesn't like sleeping in it overnight and she hates having her fur rubbed the wrong way." Katha rubbed a temple. "I rubbed her fur the wrong way before putting her in her Pokéball after Sulia left. She probably knows how mad I am, because I never did that before."
"Ugh. I should have been a psychologist," I muttered. "Then I'd probably know all sorts of ways to deal with these problems that keep popping up." The twins laughed.
"Well, I can't give Maou a coin every time she loses," Katha mused. "Then she'd lose on purpose for the coin."
"And you can't give her a coin every time she wins," a twin began.
"Because she might go back to seriously hurting the opponent."
"Do you guys always talk like that?" Brown-Hair inquired.
"Um. Not really."
"Only when we're thinking pretty hard about something."
"That's why we always have the same test scores, even if we're across the room from each other!"
"Must be useful if one of you is pretty good at tests," Freckles put in.
"Well, how about you tell Maou that if she behaves herself, without seriously hurting her opponents during battle, she'll get whatever coins show up from Payday, and if she really hurts another Pokémon, she stays in her ball for the rest of the day with her fur rubbed backwards?" Brown-Hair appeared to have thought about that for a while.
"Most Pokémon understand English fairly well, so she should know what you're saying," Window-twin pointed out.
"Mom's Flareon always knew what we were saying. She was our babysitter when we were tots," Guidebook-Twin added.
"She's also why we'll both have Eevees, when we reach the Professor."
"Mom wouldn't let us take them with us on the bus."
"We have no clue why." They winked at me.
"Probably because she wants it official," Window-twin confided. "Our older sister had some trouble when she showed up without her Eevee, because they ran into a Water Stone on the way there and it was a Vaporeon. They had to call all sorts of people about it."
"Do you think we have the problem solved?" Katha asked timidly.
"I think so," I reassured her. Zephyr squeaked happily. "At least, as solved as it's going to get. You'll have to keep working with Maou though. It's partly Zephyr's fault too." I scowled at the Hoppip. "I still don't know why she tackled Maou earlier."
"Um." Katha blushed. "When she saw your Hoppip, Maou said 'Look, it's a flying weed. Bet it's brain is full of dandelion fluff.'" Zephyr scowled and jumped back to my lap. "Or at least, that's as I understood it. I've never seen a Hoppip before, but I heard they're weak. Zephyr did really good out there."
"I used a TM to teach her Razor Leaf," I commented.
"Razor Leaf? I didn't hear Silph Co. made that kind!" Window-twin blinked in blue-eyed shock
"I made it."
"How'd you do that?" Brown-hair looked rather curious, and since we had a long ride ahead, I decided to explain the process.
The twins were Shayn and Shonn—Shonn had the guide book. Freckles was called Dak, and Brown-Hair was known as Niles. Zephyr took turns meeting each of them, and they all rather adored the cute Hoppip, and it was her favorite thing to be adored.
