Wonderlocke - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

“Well,” said David quietly. “I guess we need to take out another member from the purple group.”

“That would be best,” replied Fredric softly. “We would have taken one out for you before now, but the PC refuses to work for Pokémon and I don’t think Nurse Joy is able to remove them for you either. Not without your permission and you were in no state to give it.”

“I know,” muttered David. “The loss still hurts, but I’m not going to let it rule me. Bailey was right. Shutting everyone else out won’t bring him back. I just need to be careful.”

“Who are you going to have join us?” asked Casper as he landed on David’s shoulder and clung to it.

“Well,” said the boy slowly as he walked over to the PC and plugged his Pokédex into the slot. “I now only have two members on that team. Panos the Pansage is a Grass-type so he’s not going to be good against a Bug-type gym, and Brylie.”

“Who’s Brylie?” asked Flint as he came to settle on top of David’s head and peered at the PC as he selected her icon. “Please tell me she’s a Flying-type of some kind.”

David picked up the blue and yellow Quick Ball which had materialized and tossed it into the air.

“Come on out, Brylie.”

In a flash of pale blue light, the Bunnelby appeared on the floor of the Pokémon Center beside David. Flint let out a slight huff of disappointment.

“You returned me to my Quick Ball and then stuck me in the PC?!” exclaimed Brylie in anger. “This is not acceptable!”

“You stole Nurse Joy’s keys,” said David. “And then took off across Santalune City. What else was I supposed to do to get them back?”

The bunny Pokémon glared at him. “Fair enough, but you could have at least let me out for a final word before unceremoniously stuffing me into suspended animation.”

“Would you have stayed put without stealing anything else?” asked Fredric calmly chewing on the end of the stick his red ribbon was wrapped around.

“I …” started Brylie before she trailed off.

“That’s what I thought,” replied the Braixen.

“Fine,” grumbled the Bunnelby. “Whatever. Who are the small fry water starters?”

“This is Timmie,” said David as he pointed out the Froakie who winced when mentioned. “And the Squirtle with the bad attitude using his scarf like an eye patch is Spike. The new hat is called Flint.”

“Inspiring,” muttered Brylie with an unimpressed glare in his direction. “One scared of his own shadow, one who has horrible aim and a bird with gravity issues.”

“Hey!” exclaimed Flint in a huff. “I fly all the time. I merely like conserving my energy by roosting up here.”

“In other words, the boy doesn’t have the right badges to train you and you intend to rub that into his face by sitting on his head. You would make a lovely Tyrolean hat if we covered most of you in green paint and left those big fat tail feathers of yours alone. Add that to my list of important things to do later on in the future.”

“Say what?!” yelped Flint. “You’re making that up.”

“You’ve never heard of a Tyrolean hat?” asked the Bunnelby in mock surprise as she began pacing around in a circle. “It’s usually a green hat which tapers to a slight point and has a feather or two sticking out of the side of it. I used to pilfer hats like them from the hikers who left the forest on their way to Aquacorde all the time before one decided to hit me with a Quick Ball and deposit me into the Wonder Trade system as soon as he could.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Casper as he flew down from David’s shoulder to land beside the Bunnelby.

“Pfft,” snorted the rabbit as she stopped her pacing beside the PC. “Why? That trainer was useless for thinking he would get a better Pokémon out of it than me. Besides, I wouldn’t be here to pester David if it weren’t for them.”

“It be trainin’ time yet?” asked Spike in annoyance. “Why’re we still dwaddlin’ here? I wanna be a Blastoise already.”

“Fine with me,” said Brylie. “You boys can eat my dust.”

She snatched his Pokédex from out of the PC and dashed out the automatic doors before anyone else could move.