NOVEL WEB Chapter 3.2: Together
“That was… really weird right?” I look behind us, then back at my friend. “Like, to a suspicious degree?”
After Blaines abrupt departure, we had quickly pulled up the compass on Sofie’s phone to be safe, finding that the direction she had pointed us in was in fact, true north. Her movements stiff, Sofie picks up Cappuccino, hugging the chinchilla to her chest. Atop her head, Chamomile sits quietly, seemingly uncaring of the mind bending path we had been brought through.
“Yeah, Clumsy, it was,” Sofie murmurs, a bit of concern on her face, “Are you and Eve okay?”
A quick check to my partner, who I find sniffing a shroomish a few feet away, tells me that yes, she was fine. I send her love, and the Absol comes trotting over to rub herself across my back. I shrug, then gesture forward. We begin to walk, silent as we listen to the unceasing sounds of wild pokemon going about their lives. Sofie stares blankly ahead of us while petting her Minccino all the while, and after a few minutes, I soon find my lips moving to break the foul mood.
“You know Sofie,” I say with a bit of reservation, “I never actually got to use a styler.”
Sofie doesn’t turn to look at me, squeezing Cappuccino a bit.
“Why not?” Shifting her weight, Sofie awkwardly stumbles a bit, catching herself without a word.
I breathe through my nose, stroking Eve’s back. She sends me a bit of love dyed with a distinct anxiety, to which I mirror.
“My… teacher decided I wasn’t ready. I kept failing to perform to his expectations.” I crack my neck, carefully stepping around a Foongus. “If you handed me one today, I’d probably still be able to make it work.”
Hearing a sudden noise, I glance to my left to see a flash of pink and blue light in the distance. I stop, turning to look closer, but whatever it was had vanished. Mentally shrugging, I catch back up, matching my steps with Sofie’s.
“The student ranger curriculum is mostly a bunch of law stuff for the region mixed with practice bonding to a partner.” I take a deep breath, glancing around to see if the bright glow would appear again, “I actually did have a few lessons in their tech, but it was mostly superficial. In hindsight, beyond the ability to control capture disks, stylers are pretty similar to a pokedex.”
“Did the way they do things ever… give you pause?” She looks at me with curiosity, yet her steps remain stiff.
I mull over the question for a moment, looking at my partner, who just smiles as she spreads some reassurance.
“Before I met Eve, no. I was caught in their echo chamber since I was born, so it was difficult to break out,” I sigh, tilting my head to rest against Eve’s side.
“They’re hypocrites. They decry trainers, referring to a minority as the whole, when in the end every single ranger with a styler does the same thing they curse.” I clench my eyes shut, a disgusting ball of sludge rolling in my core.
“They don’t treat pokemon as our equals,” I spit out, unable to hold back my vitriol.
For a while we just walk, neither of us daring to say a word, but I do eventually open my eyes when I almost trip myself. After a while, moving over to stand just in front of me, Sofie comes to an abrupt stop. I bump into her back, but before I can apologize and step away she speaks, her voice shaking. “Do they… scare you?”
I pause for a moment to think, then after rousing some determination, reach forward and wrap my arms around her stomach.
“They do, but probably not in the way you think,” I whisper, my friend’s warmth spreading against my skin.
We stand there in silence for a good while, but then I feel Sofie’s tummy rumble. She jerks out of my grip, stepping off to the side while I smile. “Well, I guess we’re both hungry. Shall we stop for lunch?”
Sofie nods meekly, pulling out a fancy box from her bag. I raise my eyebrow as we sit, and when she clicks it open I see two large sandwiches within. I reach over, taking one for myself while Eve begins to play with Cappuccino, dashing around the woodland like we owned the place.
“Another gift from your mom?” I giggle, then take a bite of my sandwich.
Turning a bit red, Sofie’s eyes land on mine, lingering as she speaks: “No… this one… is on me.” The girl looks away and quietly pauses before she unwraps her lunch.
My heart does a little flip, and I struggle to find an appropriate response.
“I… see,” I eventually mutter, finding the forest floor incredibly interesting as I do.
We slowly eat, a warm atmosphere spreading despite neither of us saying a word. I soon find myself watching our pokemon with interest, Eve standing over Cappuccino as the little Chinchilla slowly gathers energy in her tail. The Minccino whips its tail, causing a sonic boom and sending a huge gale around her. The larger Pokemon shakes its head, then mutters something to Cappuccino, wind picking up as she gathers her power in her horn.
Then she flicks her neck, sending a wave of sharp force through the air, slashing through a branch high up on a tree. Wrapping up the paper that had been around her meal, Sofie stuffs it into the box before turning to me with a bit of confusion.
“Is Eve trying to teach that move to Cappuccino?” Tilting her head back, Sofie raises an eyebrow at our Pokemon.
I nod, scratching my chin, “It’s Razor Wind, Eve’s ranged option. It’s interesting, because I know she can use Echoed voice, so it’s not like she really needs it.”
Once again gathering energy, Cappuccino's tail whips out, once again sending a sonic boom through the forest around us. This time however, a tree splinters in the distance as a wave of force slams into it. Sofie and I jump to our feet, gaping as we look at our Pokemon, who cheer and dance around like what they just did wasn’t a big deal.
Sofie looks at me, her eyes showing her mind running a mile a minute, “Uh, that was… Echoed voice, right?”
I huff a laugh, putting my hand on my hip in wonder, “She wasn’t teaching the move, she was showing how to release the force. Clever girl.”
Sofie squeals, running over to her Chinchilla who looks at her trainer in surprise as she picks it up and raises it into the air above her head. “That was awesome! That was so much more impressive then how we were doing it before!”
Hugging her Cappuccino to her chest, Sofie gives Eve a small bow. Proud of herself, the Absol smugly walks over to me, looking down like she had done something I couldn’t have done myself. Pursing my lips and running my tongue over my upper teeth, after putting my own paper into the box, I stand up and walk over to Sofie, taking Chamomile off her head.
“My turn,” I say confidently, placing the plant onto a nearby root as Sofie looks at me with a raised eyebrow.
“Okay, little one,” I say with my hands on my hips, “You know how you were using Growth in that fight you had with the Pikachu?”
After a moment of staring at me with little to no reaction, Chamomile grunts an affirmative. I grin, and while raising my pointer finger up I say: “Instead of spreading the power across your body, why don’t you try sending it out of your leaves?”
The pokemon immediately obliges, a tiny puff of verdant grass energy shooting out of its head. Satisfied, I walk the plant back over to Sofie, placing it back into its spot.
“My job’s done,” I boast, smirking, at which point Eve rolls her eyes.
My friend tilts her head, looking up at the surprisingly happy plant on her head. Chamomile spits the energy out a few more times, though nothing ever seems to form of it.
“I don’t get it,” Sofie says as she scratches her ear, “That wasn’t even close to a move.”
I rub my hand against my neck, scratching beneath my hair. “It’s basically the same thing Eve taught to Cappuccino, just the other side of it…”
“Ah… Wait…” Spreading across her face, a grin stretching wide, Sofie steps over and pokes my arm as she teases: “Clumsy, were you… jealous of your pokemon? That’s adorable.~”
Face heating up, I puff my cheeks out and walk over, stuffing our trash into my bag.
“S-She was being all smug,” I mutter as I throw the backpack over my shoulder, “So I decided to prove to her that I could do the same thing. That’s all it was.”
Picking up her own bag, Sofie sticks her tongue out at me and winks, “Sure sure~.”
“Ugh! I’m serious!” Clutching my bag, I glare at my friend.
“I believe you~,” Sofie chirps, playfully leaning a bit over me.
Throwing my hands up in the air as I walk away, Sofie giggles and we resume our stroll north. With the mood now far less tense than before, I begin to notice the various pokemon that make Santalune forest home. Near the top of the trees, the many birds of Kalos make their return, and in this case I watch as several Fletchling defensively chirp at a Rufflet, who seemingly doesn’t care about their presence as it wrecks their nests. A pack of various elemental Sage monkeys swings through the trees in the distance, grabbing berries from the middle branches as they go. When I look and see several metapod hanging from the bottom branches, I pale and take a step closer to Eve, who quickly refreshes my mood with her affection.
“Morgan, thanks,” Sofie suddenly mutters, her voice barely above a whisper
I blink at the words, turning to look at the girl beside me.
“Why the sudden gratitude?” Looking at Eve in confusion, she just shrugs.
Sofie sniffles, looking at a group of Pikachu as they run through the underbrush.
“It's just, you’re the first real friend that I’ve made in a while,” She finally says, her voice weakening a tad as she speaks under her breath: “It’s nice, to speak with someone like we have been.”
I tilt my head, taking an extra step forward to be able to see the girl’s face. Sofie wears a small, warm smile, and my heart seems to really like that. I habitually turn away, wringing my hands as I find a few words.
“R-really? You’re so… well you, so I-I sorta just assumed I was one of many,” I manage to stutter out, hyper aware of each mistake I seem to make as I speak.
Sofie giggles, placing Cappuccino on the ground before stretching her arms in the air.
“Yuuup,” She says, her dissatisfaction plain, “In the few years since me and mom left Floaroma, it was only Celine.”
“Floaroma?” Curious, I tilt my head, “Isn’t that the flower place in Sinnoh?”
Nodding enthusiastically at my question, Sofie dips low, picking a small bright pink daisy out from between two intersecting roots. She brings it up to her nose, breathing in its scent.
“That’s a good way of describing it really,” Sofie mutters as she reaches up, placing the flower onto her Petilil’s head, “But for me, whenever I picture Floaroma in my mind, the first thing I think of is the windmills.”
Chamomile chirps in pleasure at the flower, and as it sends a bit of grass energy in the air, the girl beneath it spins around, beginning to walk backwards as she reminisces.
“They loomed over the horizon wherever you went, a promise that the lights would be on when you went home,” Face falling as she speaks, Sophie mumbles: “One day, they weren’t though, despite the windmills turning the same as ever.”
Cappuccino, distressed, runs up to brush her tail against Sofie’s leg. A bittersweet smile on her face, the girl leans down and scratches the chinchilla’s ear.
“Putting that aside, since it’s not really that important in the end,” She mutters under her breath, then continues: “It was a few years after that day when Mom decided that we needed to go somewhere else, and a week later we were in Vaniville.”
Hitting the back of her foot on a root, Sofie awkwardly stumbles before turning around and walking normally.
“A few days after we arrived, Celine quite literally stumbled into our lives.” Sighing, Sofie looks up at a Butterfree fluttering in the distance.
I feel myself opening my mouth to speak, I can’t seem to find any words before the girl in front of me speaks once again.
“I’ll let her tell you that story herself, but after that mess we were pretty close.” Stopping her feet, Sofie murmurs quietly: “She was the only one in Vanville who really gave me and Mom the time of day.”
Sofie snorts, looking back at me with a grin, “cept’ when they needed a haircut, of course.”
I return her smile, but quietly bite my lip. During her talk, the once comfortable warm flame in my heart had begun to heat up and grow, slowly scorching away at me from the inside as she spoke. Having failed to squelch it in time, I now find myself wondering what it would be like if I had been there too, what our relationship would be like if I knew her for as long as Celine had, would I be as close to her as they are to each other? I huff, my lips betraying me as they spread wide across my face.
This was probably really bad.
Clamping down on my errant heart, I skip out in front of my friend, not wanting to ruminate on that issue too much at the moment. Eve follows behind me, a knowing look on her face. I huff as I send her a jolt of annoyance, to which she responds with a teasing flame that I immediately return with twice as much annoyance as before. My partner snickers, leaping close and rubbing up against my side.
I clear my throat, looking behind me at the girl currently dominating my mind, before uttering: “How much longer do you think it is before we reach the edge of the forest?”
Pulling up her phone, Sofie turns to me and shrugs. “Not that long, I guess. We should see some man-made trails before long.”
Right on que, I soon notice a typical ranger mark on a tree, an orange fabric flag wrapped around the edge of a branch. I walk up to it, taking it in my hand to get a closer look. It was higher quality than anything I had ever had, and a tag near its edge tells me it was put here by a top ranger. Following my training, I look to the left to see a slightly hidden footpath carved through the underbrush.
Looking back at Sofie, I wave her forward. Eve steps out and dips into the brush, popping her head out with a grin when she notices me staring at Sofie. I roll my eyes but do look away, my focus shifting to a strange indent in the grass. Walking towards it, I hesitantly poke it with the toe of my boot. The earth explodes as soon as my foot makes impact with the ground, a quite young, very dirty boy screeching as he flies at me through the air.
I calmly take a step back, and the boy slams into the ground where I had been standing a second before. He leaps to his feet, his face completely covered in dirt, pointing at me. I grimace when I realize what his intention is.
“You! I challenge you to a battle!” Running a hand through his hair, a little bit of the mud covering it comes off, revealing its blond hue.
“I think this is going to go terribly for you,” I say, reaching up to pinch the bridge of my nose, “You should back off while you can.”
“Psha, you’re just scared of losing!” Reaching towards his bandolier, he pulls a pokeball off and begins to toss it in the air. “Not like a runt like you could beat me anyways.”
Sofie snorts as my forehead twitches. Eve peeks out of the grass, her eyes narrow.
“Fine,” I spit, feeling a migraine coming on, “But first, you’ll have to lead us out of the forest. I don’t want to accidentally hurt any Pokemon by battling here.”
The boy clicks his tongue, but seems to oblige my request as he starts to head down the trail. Eve, apparently deciding not to reveal herself yet, lurks a bit behind our group. Cappuccino, meanwhile, stares at my challenger with eyes aflame. Sofie, incredibly amused by this situation, sneaks up behind me and whispers into my ear.
“This will be fun,” she quietly says, her breath warm on my skin, “I finally get to see you two have a real fight!”
“Sure, but Eve is definitely going to get out of hand,” I groan, scratching my eyebrow.
“Bah, let her!” Snickering, Sofie pokes my cheek. “She deserves to let loose a little!”
I roll my eyes, playfully elbowing my friend. She dramatically spins away, Chamomile giggling on her head, looking at me with feigned shock as she comes to a stop. Clutching her chest with her right hand, Sofie wipes a fake tear and falls to her knees. Cappuccino, distracted from her extended glare, cries out in fake anguish as she rushes up to her trainer, mirroring her fall.
“Ah! Betrayed by the fair maiden!” Pressing her left palm into the ground, Sofie looks up at me as she says: “Why must fate be so cruel, as to stick me with such a fate?”
Clearing his throat, the dirt covered boy looks at us with an unamused face.
“Can you two like, stop flirting and get moving? I wanna battle.”
Sofie snickers as she jumps up to her feet and moves back towards me. Her Minccino moves in a flash, quickly cleaning all the dirt off of Sofie’s clothes, then goes back to her longing stare at the boy. I take a few steps forward, then put my hands on my hip.
“You don’t have the right to complain, Boyo.” I say, unamused, “You literally just ambushed us in the middle of a technically dangerous forest.”
“How else am I supposed to get into a good battle?” The boy tilts his head, his voice completely serious, “Dad always said that you’ll find the best challenges in the most dangerous places.”
“You… do you know he was probably referring to wild pokemon right?” Sofie ducks beneath a branch, then continues: “It’s honestly kinda rude to insist on a fight with someone like you did.”
“I… Probably should have realized both of those things earlier.” Scratching his head and sending dirt in his vicinity, the boy has Cappuccino positively vibrating as he says: “Oh well. I think it worked out in the end anyways.”
Unable to help herself any longer, the distressed Minccino rushes forth and swings her glowing tail once, Tidying Up the boy in one fell swoop. Grunting as he grabs a branch to stay upright, the boy looks down at himself in shock as his true colors are revealed. He honestly isn’t much to talk about, just a kid in a baby blue sports shirt and too large shorts, but to his benefit, his face is sorta above average. I guess.
“Whoa! I mean, it was unnecessary, but thanks, lil’ guy!” Rolling his shoulder, the boy kneels down and offers his hand to the small chinchilla. “I’m Hunter! Nice to meet you, Minccino!”
Unsure of what to do, Cappuccino looks back at us in confusion, then slaps his hand with her tail and runs back to Sofie. The girl giggles as she picks her pokemon up, giving it a pat on the head. The tense mood now entirely squashed and with a bit of reassurance that Raul wasn’t as bad an apple as Albert, I wave my hand up at Eve. The Absol immediately leaps out, slipping behind me with a satisfied smile.
“Uh… Is that… Your Pokemon?” Blinking at least four times, Hunter repositions his bandolier anxiously, then surprises me by excitedly saying: “Oh man, oh man! Fighting an Absol is gonna be a great experience!”
I pause for a moment and look at Eve, finding her eyes shining with excitement at the prospect of a real battle. I breathe in, doing my best to prepare myself for this upcoming fight, a couple memories of the past slinking into places where they aren’t supposed to be. As the treeline begins to spread, a conversation that I had two years ago echoes unceasingly in my mind.
“You’re crazy if you think I am going to battle you,” I said, having received a challenge just moments before, “I’m a trainer, but I’m not really a fighter.”
“Hmm, that may be true, for you at least,” The giant man said, stepping to the side, his eyes firmly locked on me, “but have you asked your Absol what they want?”
Eyes wide, I peered to the side at Eve, and I immediately knew what he meant. My partner’s eyes were shining with both excitement at having received a challenge, and drowned in disappointment at my refusal. Feeling my heart clench, my face fell as I stepped in front of Eve and put my forehead to hers.
“Eve… I feel your desire… but I…” Clenching my teeth, I swung around to lock eyes with the old man. “Is hurting pokemon not wrong?
“It’s not that simple,” the man states as a matter of fact, “ I once thought that it was. However, there is a lesson I was forced to learn not too long ago, about the truth of what it means to be a trainer.”
Taking a pokeball off his belt, he released a gigantic Golurk, who quietly kneeled down, placing his palm on the ground. The man stepped on and after offering me his hand, pulled me up when I took it. Eve leapt up herself as the gigantic golem raised us up, revealing a beautiful view of northern Paldea over the nearby cliff’s edge.
“Our role is to assist our pokemon with their growth, and that includes the things they gain through battle. “They do after all, seek it themselves, to gain the strength to protect what they love.” Taking a deep breath, the man extends into the sky, towering over me. “You might seek to prevent this sorrow, this tragedy, by keeping your loved ones away from it. It is a fool’s errand.”
His long, gray ponytail floats in the mountain breeze, the rising Paldean sun behind him cradled by the golden sea.
“We strive as humans to protect them, but ironically, to do so requires us to hurt them as well, and eventually accept their inevitable passing.” The giant touches a beautiful black and orange pokeball on a copper chain, smiling wistfully as he does. “To be worthy as trainers, we must be willing to accept them as they are, to live our days with them to the fullest.”
Cracking his fist, the man turns to me.
“Now trainer, tell me, do you wish to battle?”