“Okay buddy, now, with your coils heated, I want you to try to roll.” Stovetop rocked his raised chest forward, trying to initiate a roll, but his face just smacked into the ground. The coils immediately lost their consistent output of heat as he raised his head in frustration, letting out a low, annoyed hiss.
It was the morning of our third day in Ilex Forest and Stovetop and I were getting in some morning training. First I had him try to avoid net swipes for 30 minutes to build his dexterity. I managed to catch him twice in that half hour, but was exhausted by the end of it, 30 straight minutes of “Hunter Mode” being much more exhausting than I had thought; but Stove Top demanded every fraction of my attention. The little bug was more maneuverable than one would assume from his spike-like legs.
We then moved on to practicing his moves. I had him shoot Embers again and again, but, even with a long charge time, the conjured fire simply could not match the output that Stovetop was able to pump through the heating coils on the underside of his belly. So our focus began to shift.
First, the move we used to defeat Stinger, a combination of Wrap and Stovetop’s own physiology. This move allowed him to wrap his body around an enemy and press his heated coils into them, squeezing and burning them at the same time. While I had no idea how this wasn’t a registered move already, as it seemed to be how Sizzlipede hunted in the wild, I had taken to calling it Cooking Coils. Stovetop seemed to like the name, and was shocked when I told him that humans hadn’t officially recognized it as a move.
I then had the idea to try to see if we could kick start learning Flame Wheel by getting him to roll with heated coils, but that wasn’t going well. Turns out he’d need to learn how to roll first, something that apparently did not come naturally to the flat bodied insect.
“Okay, it's nearly noon, why don’t we call it here for right now so we can start heading towards the exit?” I asked my friend as I leaned down, holding out my arm for him to crawl up.
“Pede.” Stovetop refused, turning away to go back to training, his frustration at his inability to roll plain.
“Okay, you don't have to stop training. You can keep trying to roll but you have to keep up with us while we are walking and stay on high alert in case there are any threats.” I conceded instantly, I admired his motivation and didn’t want to stamp it out. I also knew that, if he actually wanted to keep up, he wouldn’t be able to wear himself out too much with his attempts.
“Sizz!” he had a thankful look in eyes and confidently trotted away before throwing himself forward into another attempt, instantly face planting into the ground. He huffed, he hissed, and he got back up and did it again. Even as we continued moving through Ilex, Stovetop did not stop his attempts. But, every time we started to gain some distance on him he would catch up in a burst of speed, ever mindful of our deal.
The day continued this way until mid afternoon, when we ran into a trainer who was around our age. She was a quiet blue haired girl with a Psyduck, and had one badge. Though she seemed eager to get a move on, Maizie convinced her to stay for a quick battle. It started out easily enough, I was acting as referee so I clarified the rules of the match and told them to begin. After I cleared the area, Sunday and the Psyduck began exchanging blows, but their mutual Water Guns seemed to do little damage. It was likely going to be a slow fight.
Maizie was going easy on the girl, and mostly just screwing around. She did not have Sunday deploy Trick Room and just kept the Psyduck dodging barely effective blasts of water. She had quickly realized that though they both had a badge the girl was woefully unmatched and began running and jumping around her side of the battlefield, throwing a ridiculous flourish on every order just to keep things interesting.
“Sunday, try to throw him into a tree with Confusion!” Maizie yelled and dramatically threw both hands into a small Oran tree to demonstrate. Sunday started to concentrate on the Psyduck, his soft pink body gaining a deep blue glow as he attempted to lift the Psyduck with his mind. All eyes were on him.
Except mine. 17 times I had heard this particular sound. A sound that preceded danger to such a high degree that my brain had quickly become hard-coded to recognize it among hundreds of others that echo through the forest at any given time. It was the telltale snap of a Pineco dropping.
Time slowed. Seconds seemed to stretch to minutes. I saw the Pineco, body glowing, begin falling from the thin Oran tree that Maizie had been messing around with. My eyes flicked to Maizie, who hadn’t even noticed the danger she was in. Her eyes were locked on her pokemon giving his all in battle. I knew, even though my view of him was blocked at this angle, that Stovetop was behind Maizie, practicing his rolling. My net appeared in my hand, instinct having completely taken over. I broke into a sprint, my mind screaming that somehow, someway, I had to catch that Pineco.
At the midway point of the Pineco’s fall Stovetop came into view. We locked eyes. In that moment I poured every ounce of willpower I had into trying to convey, without the time for words, what I needed from him. I broke eye contact for a fraction of a second to look to my net and then the Pineco.
‘Please understand. I'm not fast enough to get there in time. You need to bring it to me.’ I prayed the few motions I could afford would be enough.
Stovetop launched forward into an imperfect roll, heated coils now billowing flames, and smashed into the still midair Pineco, leaving a trail of burned grass in his wake. It was a rough execution over a short distance, and probably not yet replicable, but a Flame Wheel nonetheless.
Pineco soared.
I only had one opportunity. My mind recalled the exact shape and feel as the Pineco I had caught last week fell into my net. ‘Replicate it. Find the angle. Catch this thing or it’s Self-Destructing on top of you.’
The blue, armored bug sailed directly towards me. I stopped and braced myself, clutching my net in front of me like a shield. I felt the pokemon collide with me, pushing the air from my lungs on impact. Light washed over my body and I braced for the incoming searing pain.
But that pain did not come. The light disappeared, as the portion that didn’t hit me fell into the net, the whole body falling into the chasm that laid within my hands.
I had caught a Pineco.
x-x
“I thought I heard something weird but then Stovetop came rushing in, looking like someone set a bicycle tire on fire! And he hit the Pineco like a volleyball and then you effortlessly caught it with your net! Just held it at the perfect angle and Pineco flew in like a fastball! I had no idea you were that coordinated!” Maizie was still riding out the adrenaline of both a victory and an apparent near death experience.
We were in a small clearing not far from where the battle had taken place, healing our pokemon and letting the rush of previous events die down.
“It was very much a do or die type of situation, I had to catch the Pineco or I was definitely going to the hospital, that kind of motivation can do wonders.” I chuckled.
“Well, I guess your, ‘I want to conquer them with my own two hands’ thing wasn’t all talk.” she chided, sticking her tongue out at me but then softened. “Seriously though, thank you both,” Her gaze carried warmth as she offered her gratitude towards us. “I could have gotten really messed up by that Pineco if you guys didn’t save me, that was some quick thinking and skillful teamwork.”
I decided not to mention that my current catch record with Pineco was 2/18, enjoying the compliments while they lasted, as they helped ease the pain of the bruises that were developing on my chest. The full force collision of the Pineco, though mostly blocked by my net, had done a number on me.
“Anytime! Now you owe me that catch we talked about a few days ago, I save you, you save me.” This time it was my turn to stick my tongue out at her.
“I had been thinking that your idea of catching a Flying type was a good one but, since you keep bringing it up, you can forget it!” Maizie crossed her arms in mock annoyance but the smile in her eyes told me everything I needed to know.
“Time to get acquainted with my newest teammate.” I declared before trudging over to my net, my body very tired between the recent incident and the morning’s training.
I snatched the Ilex Oak carved net from the ground nearby, and flipped the dark, apricorn enriched, netting inside out; sending the fainted Pineco to ground in front of me. It was sleeping peacefully, regaining strength from the Self-Destruct. But I’d rather get this figured out sooner than later, so I pulled out a potion and began applying to speed up the shelled bug’s regeneration.
After a few minutes I heard the sound of pieces of armor clinking against each other as the pokemon stretched inside of its shell, having regained consciousness. It’s eyes flicked open, revealing a suspicious red glare lying between the plates.
“Hi, I’m Terry, the guy that caught you.” I offered a light swing of my net in demonstration.
“Piiiiine.” The creature bellowed in a threatening tone, not appearing very interested in conversation. I took a few steps back and slowly held my hands up. Dad always told me to show the Beedril my hands and not make any sudden movements when they got angry, and I hoped Pineco operated similarly. Plus, a little distance probably wouldn’t hurt in case the bug decided to take out its frustrations with me.
I crouched lower to the ground so I could speak closer to eye level with it. “Sorry if you didn’t wanna be caught, I just didn’t want my friend to get hurt.”
“CO!” it barked back at me, clearly not accepting blame in the situation.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Okay, I get it, she messed with your tree and that’s how you do things. I had the ability to possibly stop you though, so I had to try. That’s how I do things.” I countered.
“Pine.” The bug huffed with a roll of its eyes, seemingly accepting my argument for the moment.
“Do you like it here in Ilex Forest?”
“Co…Pineco.” It thought for a moment and then was somehow able to convey a shrug without appendages.
“Do you want to see more?”
“Piiine.” It huffed once again, and fell on its side in display. The armored pokemon attempted to move around by flexing its body inside of its shell. The blue plates slowly dragged through the grass, taking nearly half a minute to cover just a few inches of ground. “Co.” It scoffed, considering its efforts as proof that my question was ridiculous. Even climbing back up its tree would have likely been an arduous and hours long affair, aided by the creature’s uncanny ability to stick to surfaces.
“Well if you can't walk then I can carry you.” I stepped closer and reached out my arms, the Pineco balked at me, but did not move away. I scooped its body up, its rough armor feeling heavy in my hands.
“Pine!” it yelled with indignation and lightly squirmed around in my grip, but made no real attempts to escape.
“Come join us Pineco.” I turned her body to face in the direction of my loyal Sizzlipede, who was currently back to practicing his rolls. “That’s my teammate Stovetop, he’s the one that sent you flying earlier. Him and I are on a journey through Johto to become the world’s strongest Bug team.”
The Pineco stopped squirming and attempted to look back towards me. I turned it back around and saw a question in its eyes.
“That’s right. I’m asking you to become strong. Your movement is an obstacle, but not something we can’t work around. If you can’t move around the battlefield then we’ll just turn you into something that’s terrifying to approach.” I lifted the pokemon into the sky and gave it a little spin. “Be my turret, Pineco.”
Any trace of the glare that Pineco wore at the beginning of this discussion was long gone, replaced by a look of adoration. I had sold the bug on my vision, now I would just need to deliver on my end of the bargain.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my Pokedex, giving my new teammate a quick scan. It revealed general information about the pokemon’s biology, things I had mostly already read before seeking one out initially. I scrolled quickly to her moves. Tackle, Protect, Self-destruct, and Bug Bite.
‘Yes, a bug type move! And it’s one that Stovetop can learn! I can use this as a starting point for them working together, hopefully they’ll get along.’
“This is a nice little set to start with, how’s your Protect?” I eyed her with curiosity.
The Pineco focused for a moment and a white, transparent bubble appeared around her. Her eyes were closed and her face locked into a scowl as she struggled to maintain concentration on the barrier. After a few seconds, the bubble faded.
“Piiiine.” She let out a deep exhale. Even a few seconds of Protect was extremely tiring for her at the moment, so I decided it would be saved as a last resort during battle.
“Good job, Pineco! Protect is supposed to be really hard to master, so having a foundation with it early on is a huge boon.” I patted her jagged shell, and she stretched her body within upwards, a clear request for me to pick her up again. I caved immediately and scooped her up into my arms once again.
“PINE!” She shouted with joy as she rose back into the air. I wasn’t sure whether she wanted to be held or she just liked being high up but I was happy to assist.
“Hey Pineco, would you like a name?” I turned her to face me and saw a look of unbridled joy on her face as she began squirming around in anticipation. “Okay, I’ll take that as a yes.” I determined with a chuckle.
“We want you to be big and unbreakable so how about Ironclad?” I offered, but the bug leaned back away from me in its blue armor.
“Co.” she responded curtly, a clear rejection.
“Yeah honestly that was weak, you’re a burly lady so about Bertha?” Tossing out another idea casually but the Pineco looked at me angrily and a familiar glow began to emit from her body.
“WOAH, Okay! Bertha is a no, I get it!” I pleaded with her and the light quickly faded away, Self-Destruct having been terminated before it could complete. She still looked incredibly annoyed and jerked her body in the direction of a patch of flowers on the nearby ground.
“Pine!” She looked at the flowers and then back at me.
“You wanna be named after flowers?” I asked with a raised eyebrow, genuinely surprised.
“Piine” she shrugged, flowers weren’t the point.
‘Something pretty.’ I suddenly realized, my image of Pineco was completely different from her own. Many Pineco, as the Pokedex had reminded me, use the glue-like substance that they can produce to stick pieces of bark to their shell to further enhance their defence and camouflage. This Pineco’s shell was a pristine blue, almost completely unmarred by nature.
Pineco wanted to be beautiful.
“How about Dahlia? They are these ball shaped flowers that my mom likes, they’re really pretty!” I offered with a wince, concerned at what another rejected name may bring.
“Pine!” she cheered.
‘Safe.’
“Glad you like it! Alright Dahlia, let’s go introduce you to our only other current teammate.” I jogged off, with her remaining blissfully in my arms, to go meet my friend.
x-x
THE HIVE - DAHLIA
The feeling of being carried in my trainer’s arms was very different from being in a tree. Trees were towering, unmoving, and cold; but they were also shelter, sustenance, and familiar. From the arms of the boy (Terry, he called himself) the world was ever changing, every step bringing new views to the eye. Warmth coursed through him and into my shell, a comfort I had never known and quickly latched onto.
He was certainly naive though.
Every wild pokemon knew to flee from an attacker that was stronger than you, but not the boy. I had prepped my Self-Destruct, keen to teach those who had disturbed my slumber a lesson, the drop itself was perfect. But then the Wheel of Fire threw me off course and towards him.
I had heard tales from my kin of trainers that wielded nets and focused only on those of The Hive. In ages past they had been the earliest trainers in this land, helping to bring us and humans together for the first time. In the current age however, trainers preferred their Catching Orbs and Wielders of the Net were mostly children who quickly discarded the lifestyle with age. The link between those of The Hive and the Wielders of the Net was not what it once was, but The Hive remembered.
The boy did not view me as an easy, beginner teammate, no. When he spoke of his plans to journey this land and assemble a team capable of felling the mightiest of foes, his eyes held a hunger for my strength. I could see behind them plans being set in motion to build me into a powerhouse, something I had never really considered before he offered it to me.
But when those big violet eyes shined at me and he said ‘be my turret’, it was suddenly all I wanted. Now I just had to find out what exactly a turret was, but that would be saved for later as right now I was being placed in front of my new teammate.
“Stovetop this is Dahlia. Dahlia, Stovetop.” Terry declared giddily as he motioned between us. “You guys are gonna be working together from now on so try to get along, we are all in this together okay?” He stopped and looked between them but they both just stared at him. “Well, get to know each other, I'll be right over there prepping dinner.” He walked away with a shrug, not really sure of how to approach making his pokemon be friends.
The pokemon laying a few feet in front of me was unlike any I had ever seen, a Burning member of The Hive was unheard of. I looked to him warily, remembering the sting of his flames. “Hello, as the boy told you, I am Dahlia. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I bowed within my pristine shell, hoping to get things off to a good start. I did not understand the creature’s name but it contained ‘Top’ so I assumed he had some kind of designation as a secondary leader.
“Hi, I’m Stovetop!” the little red creature positively hissed in return, in a much more childlike voice than I had expected from its previously serious expression. This ‘Stovetop’ couldn’t have been more than a winter or two old, as if I would fall in line behind a child, much less one as flat as a reed.
‘Patience Dahlia, our trainer will see who should really be in charge soon enough. For now just play along.’
“Well aren’t you a powerful little thing? I still owe you for that strike from earlier but I suppose I'll forgive you this time in the interest of establishing a good partnership.” I tried to keep my voice cheerful, but some annoyance did sneak into my tone. The little punk shifted to a glare.
“You’re lucky you didn’t hurt Maizie or it would have been a lot worse!” the bug snapped back and then stuck out his tiny tongue in my direction, possibly in a threat to eat me.
“The brat that woke me up from a wonderful dream? She’s the lucky one.” I huffed, unable to believe the audacity of this pokemon. “My home was under attack and you begrudge me for defending it?”
“Well...I didn’t think of it that way, and she didn’t get hurt so I guess we are okay. Just don't do it again!” His voice was softer now. “Sunday would have messed you up anyway.”
“The Slowpoke? I have seen many of his ilk in this forest, they aren't too much of a problem for one who isn’t Burning.” I brushed it off.
“He’s not like the other one’s around here, Maizie made him strong!”
“What do you know of strength?” I scoffed at the child, a limited view of the world would leave one ignorant of the true dangers that lie out there. I had seen true strength only once before, five winters earlier. It carried thunderclouds at its feet.
“It could probably take any one of Terry’s hive back home!” Stovetop argued.
“The boy has a hive at his home?” I asked, surprised. My new teammate seemed to know more about our trainer than I did, so getting this information out of him would at least make him useful.
“Well I think his Dad is the Hivemaster? But there are over 300 members, all Beedrill or their kids.” he said offhandedly.
“Our trainer is progeny to a human who controls a hive 300 strong?” I asked, my voice lowered.
“Uhhh, yes? Is that bad?” Stovetop wondered cautiously, skittering from side to side as he asked each question.
“No, it’s not bad at all…” I trailed off, staring back at the boy who captured me just a few hours earlier. He was thin and unassuming. His black hair hung down just above his violet eyes, and his clothes were, annoyingly, slightly covered in dirt and dust. He looked little different from hundreds of trainers I had seen cross Ilex. So why did he feel different?
“Do you think Terry is stong?” I asked the child after staring at my trainer for a while.
“Yeah, he saved me! He threw a Pineco that was about to explode at a Bird that was gonna eat me!” Stovetop regaled me with a play by play of the events that lead to their union, when he finished I was dumbfounded.
My trainer was not a naive child who didn’t know the dangers he put himself in. My trainer was an insane human who was willing to dive into danger on a regular basis if it felt ‘right’. Just what had I gotten myself into?
My suspicions only worsened when Terry shouted out from the sideline: “Dinner’s ready, eat up! After that we are gonna battle Mazie!” He struck out towards the sky with a spatula in his hand at that proclamation and then shifted his focus specifically to me. "Her Slowpoke, Sunday, is crazy strong! But if the three of us work together we might be able to take it!" The carefree way he described our likely defeat seemed completely lost on him.
The unchanging world of my view from the tree was gone, from here every day would bring new sights.