Chapter Twenty-Eight - Spot Taker

The next morning started with more training, and Choco was all for it. He had to show that stupid fish what he could do!

Azurill was a baby, sure, but she was only a few months younger than him, that didn't mean that she should be allowed to be babied so much!

They had an early breakfast after picking up their camp next to the cliffsides overlooking the water. (He helped. Azurill very pointedly could not, because she had no hands!) and then he sat down with Broccoli as she explained how to use magic from the very beginning, this time explaining it to an attentive Azurill.

It annoyed him that he was relearning something he'd already heard... but at the same time, now that he knew what she was talking about when she mentioned energies and shaping stuff, it made a lot more sense than it had before.

Then Broccoli sat Azurill down on her lap and had the little pokemon practice.

Choco grumbled to himself as he walked off. He started to form Cleaning balls and flung them forwards, working out his anger with the motions.

"Gas, gastly?" What is wrong, little one?

Choco looked up to find Sage hovering nearby, the old ghost was smiling slyly, as usual, but there was some amount of concern in his big eyes.

"Buneary, bun bun," he said. It's nothing. I'll be fine. We're all friends.

He understood when Broccoli said she had room for plenty of friends. His momma had had room for him and all of his siblings, so it wasn't anything new to him. But before Azurill, Broccoli had been his trainer, teaching him cool moves and powers.

"Gastly? Gaaaas." Sometimes, we are upset even when we know we should not, by all means, be upset. Acknowledging this and moving past it is an important step in growing wiser.

Choco puffed his cheek out in a big pout. "Bun. Buneary." I know. Don't like it.

The gastly chuckled, and Choco felt a wave of warm air patting him on the head. "Gastly, gastly gas." You will learn. Patience, and kindness.

He nodded along, then continued his practice. An hour or so later, he wasn't sure if he was really improving. His move was coming in a tiny bit faster, but it wasn't sharper or harder hitting. When Broccoli showed him how to do things, he learned way better. Without her, he was improving only a tiny bit.

"Okay!" Broccoli said. "Time to head out! Camp's clean, pokemon are all ready? Breakfast breaked and fasted! Let's go!"

Jazz shook her head, then took the lead, walking them along the cliffside which seemed to stretch on forever. "If we make good time, we might, might make it to the entrance of the cave by tonight. There's a Pokemon centre on the route as well. If we make it there, I suggest that we stop for the night, get some sleep in a bed and some food that's not from a can."

"That does sound nice," Broccoli said. "And a shower! I know Cleaning magic fixes a lot of issues, but a nice warm shower is still great for relaxing and de-stressing."

"Azu?" Azurill asked what a shower was, and Broccoli explained it, then started to explain some other human things.

Choco chose to take that time to practice his more physical moves. He bounced ahead, then tried a few attacks against a tree, hitting it with his head and butt with quick Pounds.

Jazz had mentioned that he might be able to learn Quick Attack if he kept it up, and he really wanted to get that move down soon! He saw some rattata using it, and it was impressive how quickly they moved.

He wanted to be strong, sure, but no matter how strong he was, it wouldn't matter if he couldn't move fast enough to use that strength.

"Choco!" Broccoli called out. The girls and the other pokemon had moved past the spot he was training in. He perked up and bounced after them, trying to move quickly and making a show of dodging around bushes and smaller trees. It helped if he pretended that they were big attacks that he was nimbly dodging!

Then he discovered Broccoli and the others out ahead, and his heart sank.

Azurill was there, and she was riding on his spot.

"Un! Un Bun Un!" he shouted as he jumped closer. No! You can't be up there.

"Azu?" Huh? Azurill asked from the spot she sat on right between Broccoli's ears.

"What's wrong?" Broccoli asked. "Azurill was a little tired, so I decided to give her a ride. She's kind of bouncy-feeling, like a warm little water balloon!"

Choco glared. "Buneary! Bun!" That's my spot!

Azurill's eyes widened, then she grinned. "Azu. Azuuurill." Mine now. Be happy on the floor.

"Azurill, don't be mean," Broccoli said. "And Choco, if you want, I can carry you in my arms, or on my shoulders?"

He shook his head. It wasn't the same. "Un. Buneary... bun bun." No, that's my spot. "Buneary buneary, bun." You shouldn't put her there. Fish aren't hats.

"Azurill!" Not a fish!

"What are your pokemon arguing about?" Jazz asked as she looked at Choco and Azurill.

Broccoli sighed. "Choco is envious of Azurill's spot on my head, he wants to be there because it's his spot. Azurill didn't know that. Choco keeps telling her that she's a fish."

"I... don't think azurill are fish pokemon," Jazz said.

"Azu," Azurill nodded firmly.

Choco sniffed, but perked up when Broccoli came to a stop and carefully pulled Azurill down from her head. "Okay," she said. "I feel like both of you still have a bit of an issue with each other, and that's okay. Sometimes when you make a new friend, not everything clicks right away, but I do hope you give each other a chance? Please?"

Choco crossed his arms. "Buneary... bun bun, buneary?" Okay... but she's taking my spot, and that's not fair, right?

"I don't know if the top of my head is your spot, exactly," Broccoli said with a giggle. "But as long as you fit there, there will always be room for you, okay? But while you're just walking with us, or practising, would you mind so much if Azurill got to sit up there?"

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

He supposed it was okay, all things considered. "Un."

Broccoli smiled, big and happy. "Good! Thank you, Choco! Hugs?"

Hugs were had, and even when Azurill joined in and squished in next to him, the hug was still alright.

"Azu." Not a fish, Azurill muttered into his ear.

He grinned. "Buneary, bun bun? Buneary buneary!" Fishes can't move on land, can they? So let's run to see if you're fast enough to not be a fish!

They both hit the ground running, and Choco was proud to see that he was a whole lot faster than Azurill, who waddled after him as quickly as she could, her tail bouncing along behind her and getting dusty from the road.

The rest of the morning passed pretty quickly. He was getting faster, he could feel it. Around noon, when they sat down for lunch in a clearing free of tall grass, Broccoli showed him how good she was at jumping and explained how to push energy into his legs.

He wasn't quite able to get it down, but it was coming along. Another couple of days, and he was sure he'd master it!

They continued to walk, but at a much slower pace because their tummies were full. Then Choco decided that he was a little tired, he made the brave choice—Broccoli told him that it was brave to ask for help—and gestured for uppies.

Azurill was shifted to Broccoli's arms, with her tail dangling down, and Choco got to sit between Broccoli's ears and listen to her and Jazz talk about wool, of all things.

They paused a little bit later as a fragrant smell washed across the group. Choco sniffed at the air, raising his head to better track the scent. "Buneary?" What's that?

"Hmm, smells like berries?" Jazz wondered aloud. "Might be a berry tree around here that's ready to be picked. Come on!" They wandered off the road a little, but not by very much. There was a small clearing, well within sight of the cliffside, but otherwise protected on all sides by old trees and scraggly bushes. In the middle, right where it could get the most light, was a short berry tree. "Pecha berries!"

There were paw-sized berries hanging from the tree's branches, each one a small pinkish blob with some white speckles across it.

Choco's mouth watered at the scent of them.

"Can we pick some?" Broccoli asked.

Jazz looked around. "Yeah, I don't see any wild pokemon around. Don't take too many. And don't eat too many either. They're very calorie-intensive for humans. You probably shouldn't let Azurill and Choco eat more than one or two each, even."

They started to wander closer to the tree, then paused as they were noticed. There was a flock of wingull perched atop the tree. Their beaks were stained pink, and their tummies looked distended with how full they were.

"Win-wingull," one of them said. Go, go away.

It wasn't a very convincing argument.

"We just wanted a berry or two each," Broccoli said. There were dozens on the tree, the entire bottom half looked untouched.

"Wingull, wing gull." Whatever, just go.

With that less-than-enthusiastic warning, Choco and the others approached the tree. Broccoli leaned forwards so that he could pluck a few berries from atop her head. He picked the biggest, juiciest ones, then tossed them down.

Once they had a berry each, they moved off to the side near the edge of the cliff and sat down on the grass to snack on them. Choco took a big bite out of his, then hummed happily as sweet juice filled his mouth and ran down his chin. It was delicious!

Azurill made happy noises next to him, and even Broccoli and Jazz seemed happy to nibble on their berries. Bellsprout plugged the hole in his flower with one, and Sage stared at his intently. Choco thought that maybe he couldn't eat on account of being a ghost, but soon the berry started to decompose and rot away while the gastly stared.

"So sweet!" Broccoli said. She shook, then kicked out her legs against the ground as shivers overtook her. "Almost too sweet!"

"I think when they serve these they dilute the juice a lot," Jazz said as she took very careful nibbles. "Arceus, this really is almost too sweet."

Choco had no idea what they were talking about, but if they weren't going to finish their berries, he'd volunteer to help!

After their snack time passed, they decided to sit for a while to let their feet settle and to enjoy the breeze over the ocean. Broccoli and Jazz talked in low voices, Bellsprout wiggled in the sunlight, and Sage was blown left and right by the breeze.

Choco sat back and watched as Azurill finished the rest of her berry, then she started to bounce around. She only had tiny little legs, so her main way of moving involved squishing herself down, then bouncing up and onto the ball on the end of her tail. She'd then bounce on top of that to get around.

She moved towards the tree and looked up to the wingull atop it. "Azu?" Hello?

The wingulls, not not quite as stuffed, glanced down. "Wingull, wing, gull?" Doesn't that look like a berry? One asked.

"Wing wingull." An oran berry.

"Gull." Tasty.

The first sign of trouble was the flock licking their lips. Choco sat up straighter, then stood up completely when the birds cackled between themselves and took off from the tree.

"Azu?" Azurill asked as they gathered in the air. Then the flock of three spun around and swept low to the ground. "Azu!"

Choco gasped as the lead bird pokemon plucked Azurill right off the ground, grabbing her whole in his wide beak.

No! He jumped to his feet, then started running to intercept. They were still flying low, they were moving towards the edge of the cliff... they were moving faster than he could!

"Buneary!" he shouted as he ran faster.

And then, between one step and the next, he lunged forwards with a burst of speed that had him flying after the lead bird.

The wingull's eyes widened a moment before Choco collided with him.

The only problem was they were already past the edge of the cliff.

***