Wonderlocke - Chapter 25

Chapter 25

“Well,” said Alexa while pulling away from him. “Now that that’s settled, let’s keep heading to Lumiose City.”

David nodded with a grin. “Thanks. You didn’t really need to come with me, but thanks anyways.”

“Nonsense!” exclaimed Alexa while picking up her Helioptile and settling him back around her neck. “I’m already heading back to my office in Lumiose City to publish that battle of yours, why not travel with you and learn some more along the road? It was my idea for you to head to Lumiose to take on Clemont after all! I’m intrigued to see how you fair against his Electric-types!”

David raised an eyebrow at her as they continued down the path.

“What?” she asked. “Can’t I hit two Pidgey with the same stone? I saw an opportunity and I seized it. Besides, I wouldn’t have confirmed my suspicions over your ability and your connections you already share with your Pokémon had I not tailed along.

“What can you tell me about each of them?”

“Well,” said the boy while gesturing to his head where Flint had returned to his perch. “Flint here has an annoying habit of chasing after anything that can fly and trying to flirt his tail feathers off at them.”

“I recall you mentioning that during the battle,” replied Alexa with a brisk nod. “He went after Viola’s Vivillon!”

“Yup,” agreed David. “If it can fly or float, he’s usually after it. Casper seems to be his primary target though. He tried it with Wenona the instant I let her out of her ball and she wouldn’t stand for it. Within seconds of officially meeting, she’d already poisoned him with a well-aimed Poison Sting to the throat … Good thing we were still in the Pokémon Center!”

“Ha!” barked the woman loudly. A slightly startled group of Combee buzzed out of the nearby patch of flowers only to settle back down once Alexa and the boy had passed them. “Understanding them certainly keeps things from being boring.”

“Exactly!” agreed David. “Apparently, and I didn’t find out until recently, Flint absolutely hates Psychic-types. They are the only floating Pokémon he will go out of his way to avoid, which is probably why he’s pouting on top of my head again. He won’t even tell me why he hates them.”

“Interesting,” murmured Alexa while running her thumbnail over her lower lip. “I’d wager he had a bad experience with one. So, has my Helioptile said anything to you?”

“No,” he replied with a curious glance at the Pokémon in question. It stared back at him with wide eyes which fail to give off any kind of emotion. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard him talk. What’s his nature?”

“He has a Quiet nature,” she replied automatically.

“Ah, okay,” commented David. “I find the nature my Pokédex assigns each of my Pokémon is more of their primary personality trait. They can be caring and supportive and do things against their nature when they need to, but usually you can expect Impish Brylie to be up to some sort of trick, Modest Casper to not want to be the center of attention, and Bold Wenona ready to take on the world.”

“That’s a very interesting way of putting it,” said Alexa while absently trailing a hand down the back of her lizard Pokémon. “I don’t think anyone’s been able to look into it. It certainly helps being able to understand what they say.”

“My ability doesn’t work on every Pokémon though,” mused David. “I don’t think I’ve been able to understand most of the wild Pokémon I’ve come across, and usually with other trainer’s Pokémon, they’ve gotten so used to using actions to communicate and rarely say anything. There have been some exceptions. A guy I met back in the Santalune City Pokémon Center, when I was first getting my team, had a Luxio which kept grumbling about his actions.”

“Mmhmm,” murmured Alexa with her mouth pursed and her green eyes narrowed. “This could make for an interesting story segment in my paper. I wonder. Would any of your Pokémon be willing to answer a few questions? Either about how they came to be with you, or maybe a fond memory of travelling with you so far?”

“There’s no harm in asking,” stated David as his Pokémon each became rather alert concerning the conversation. “Casper, Wenona, Giordan, and Ian were all hatched from eggs just before being sent through. Both Casper and Wenona took it badly and I had to show them I wasn’t going to abandon them like that again. They are stuck with me. I haven’t really had much time to connect with Ian and Giordan yet, but I believe having each other is helping since they knew each other before being traded. I’d assume having a familiar face will help, even if Giordan was a Pumpkaboo back then.”

“Fascinating,” said Alexa with her note pad out and scribbling wildly. He hadn’t noticed her take it out. “I never would have thought of that.”

“That’s the thing,” he replied. “I don’t think many trainers do. From what I’ve heard, trading used to be a face to face confrontation where you knew who you were trading with and so did your Pokémon. Wonder Trading sends them into a system of suspended animation with the Pokémon having no clue what kind of trainer will take them out. I have a Gabite who is on the same blue team as Casper and she was very distraught to be sent to me. So much so that she began attacking the Pokémon Center. I’m planning to wait off on training her until after I have the appropriate badges to help.”

“Uh-huh,” muttered Alexa with her eyebrows as high as her hairline and her eyes wider than he’d ever seen them before.

“I don’t believe it,” muttered the Helioptile on her shoulder with a slight snicker while his demeanour remained calm and quiet. “She’s speechless for once.”

“But,” added David with a slight smile towards the electric lizard. “I’m happy the original trainers did abandon their Pokémon into the Wonder Trade System. If they hadn’t, I wouldn’t have the team I do now. I wouldn’t have such good friends to journey with.”

Alexa nodded with a grin. “That does sound like a good thing. Would you look at that! I believe we’ve reached the Lumiose City gate. What do you say; do you think you’re ready to meet another gym leader?”

“I think I could meet him,” replied David. “I don’t think I’ll battle him just yet, but it wouldn’t hurt to know who I’ll be facing before I face them for once!”

“Guilty,” chimed Alexa with a grin and nod. “Alright. Follow me and I’ll get you to the gym in no time.”

David felt a slight tug on his jean leg just before he could enter the city gate behind the reporter. He glanced down into Brylie’s wide eyes and she was bugging them out in a bid to look cute again. The boy snorted as he knew it could only mean something was up.

“Yes, Brylie?” he asked while raising an eyebrow in time with his smirk.

“Can you get her to write about the green paint incident?” asked the bunny while wiggling her nose.

“Don’t. You. Dare!” exclaimed Flint in fury. “Not. One. Word!”

Both David and Brylie broke into snickering as they followed Alexa into Kalos’s largest city.