< The Path We Create >
The next day was, thankfully, a weekend, so Felicia quickly said goodbye to her mother and left for the Pokémon Center, where she could see Nurse Joy yawning as usual.
"Hello! I want to buy two berry bags." Felicia was practically beaming, nothing like her usual mood at all.
Nurse Joy, seeing this, could only snicker a little before handing her two bags of berries along with capsules containing the vitamins for the little villainess. Felicia also gets some Pokémon food too. Although it is not that much, they contain many more nutrients than berries.
"Thanks for taking care of the little gal; she's quite the handful when she wakes up." Nurse Joy said, prompting Felicia to look up.
"No problem!" Felicia replied with a smile before saying goodbye and rushing toward the forest with glee, and met with Ponewt again. The Pidgeot was busy preening for her mate, which is a lot smaller than her.
The male Pidgeot seems quite content. This is probably the second time Felicia has ever seen Ponewt's mate. Unlike the norm of their line, he came with a golden feather and mane, a shiny, a rarity in the breeding scene, and even more rare in the wild.
The shiny Pidgeot was naturally very proud of its feathers, as it was silky smooth and void of even tiny dust. Probably maintaining it with some Flying-type energy.
"Pidge!" Ponewt cried out the moment she saw Felicia approach, and stopped her preening session midway, earning a dissatisfied cry from her mate, which she just appeased with a gentle peck on the head.
"Sorry for interrupting your moment. Can I count on you today, too, Ponewt?" Felicia slowly rubs her mane, which makes the Shiny Pidgeot quite jealous as he quickly pushes her hand away gently with his beak.
"Sorry, sorry…" Taking out her bag of berries before letting the Shiny Pidgeot pick the one he wants as an apology for touching his mate casually.
She got up on the back of Ponewt, and she quickly took up into the sky. The blue sky was very clear today, a very good day for sunbathing. Which means the grass-type Pokémon would have a very nice day, bathing in the sun.
Ponewt didn't go as fast as yesterday, as she slowed down to let the Shiny Pidgeot keep up with her. So Felicia has around five minutes of sunbathing before she reaches the ranger post, where Mr.Marcelo is still sleeping…
Well…he got all his Pokémon out patrolling the area, so there's not really anything for him to do. Felicia thanked the two Pidgeot that carried her over, and the two flew away for their private time.
Now then, Felicia knows how to track the little villainess. The only problem is, how would she get the little Sprigatito to eat her food and vitamins? The trick last time probably won't work; they are very intelligent, after all, and quite mischievous too.
Knowing the same trick won't work twice, Felicia started making her way through the first location she had in mind, and soon enough, she could smell the sweet scent that she had smelled yesterday, the same scent that Sprigatito releases when they rub their little paws together.
"Nyan…" Oh, oh…look at her go, the little villainess is sleeping atop the Conttonee, surrounded by little Applins and Smolives and Dollives, on the side were little deerlings, with a brown/orange coat, sleeping peacefully with their parents, the Sawsbucks.
Then up in the tree, Felicia sees Sewaddle hanging down, sleeping.
"The scent is really potent during a sunny day like this…" Felicia muttered as she took out her prepared bowl and then slowly approached the sleeping group of Pokémon. The naturally sensitive bug-type, like Sewaddle, woke up first, then the Sawsbucks also woke up, but upon seeing her, they did not even think that Felicia was a threat and continued going to sleep.
Now that she is getting close, the little group of Pokémon wakes up and yawns lightly. Sprigatito, upon seeing Felicia, gives her a frown and a little hiss before trying to escape.
"W-wait! I got berries!" Upon hearing that, the little Villioness stopped and glared at her, probably remembering yesterday's incident where she ate a berry full of vitamins… "Don't worry, I won't put vitamins in the berries…"
Sprigatito eyed her suspiciously, but still didn't run away. This was a good sign. Although the little villain didn't trust her, she didn't hate her either. Felicia didn't know why; was it because Felicia saved her life?
Maybe, but could the Little Sprigatito even be conscious enough to know that it was her? But that was that, and this was this; the point is the little Sprigatito didn't hate her, just didn't trust her, otherwise yesterday's trap would probably be deadly.
Felicia knows that, when Mr.Marcelo asks her to do this, he probably has Pokémon trailing her, but she has never seen any of his other Pokémon besides Ponewt, mainly because they patrol other parts of the forest.
If she were to guess, then the Pokémon trailing her yesterday and even now would be the ghost-type, because no reasonable adult would send a child alone in the forest. Felicia just didn't think much of it.
So Felicia knew she was safe, very much so; that's why no harm was done to her during the past six or so months working as a photographer for the lazy ranger.
Felicia put down the bowl and filled it with the Pokémon food she bought, decorated with a few berries, before showing the little Sprigatito the Vitamins. The little villainess in the making growled at her, but Felicia broke it in half and stuck it in the food bowl before mixing it and handing it to the huffing Sprigatito.
"You need to eat them, they're prescribed by Nurse Joy, you know? The one who heals you up." The little Sprigatito seems to remember Nurse Joy and reluctantly eats them. The other Pokémon, seeing the bowl of food for the little Sprigatito, also let out a drool and glared at the bowl.
Seeing this, Felicia could only smile and thank Arceus that she bought two bags of berries, and there was still almost a full bag of Pokémon food left, more than enough to feed this little group.
"Don't worry, there's enough for all of you." Felicia quickly used her pocket knife and cut open the bag for the Pokémon to enjoy, and immediately they swarmed the bag, making Felicia let out a little giggle, and even the Deerlings joined in after their Parent nudged them to come.
Felicia quickly took her Camera and captured the moment, taking various pictures from each corner, the Pokémon, which was so focused on eating the food and the berries, didn't make for a very good pose, but that not Felicia line of work, she capture the moment of the nature, not some dramatic fashion, she want what real, not create up with hours of make up and pose guidance.
As Felicia continued to take the picture, she didn't even notice the strange glare that the little villainess in the making was giving her. Once the photo session finally finished with the last berry being fought over by the Deerling and Cottonee, Felicia gave out a satisfied sigh and wiped out her nonexistent sweat.
"Do you like it?" Felicia asked as she patted the little Deerlings on the head. They just continued to nudge their heads at her, asking for more. "Hehe, I will take that as a yes then. Don't worry, I will bring more tomorrow, and that includes your vitamins too, Sprigatito, so don't dare escape."
Felicia glared at the Sprigatito, who glared back at her before making her escape. "Ah…I didn't get to pat her today…" Sighing in disappointment, Felicia instead takes her time playing with the Pokémon who are still nudging their not-so-little head at her. There is even a sign of a horn on the little deerlings, so it quite hurts.
< The Path We Create >
After the playing session with the Pokémon finished, Felicia waved goodbye to each one of them, before lying down tiredly, playing with all these energetic Pokémon took too much out of her…
"Corvis!" Suddenly, a familiar cry came from above. When Felicia looked up, she could see the Crovisquire from the Park. What's more, she could see Fletchinder following behind from a distance.
"Did you two come to see me? Sorry, I'm out of berries…" Felicia gave out a sheepish smile as she slowly caressed the Corvisquire who had flown toward her.
The bird Pokémon cooed at her as she aggressively asked for a pat on her neck, which Felicia concedes and just starts to roughly rub behind Corvisquire's neck, but the time was interrupted by another voice.
"Wait up, Kaencho! Kincho!" A man's voice rang out through the forest, startling the whole forest, including Felicia and Corvisquire, who just sighed.
"There you are! Man, don't fly away after I catch you like that. It almost gives me a heartache." The man, likely in his twenties, said as he held up two Poké Balls. "And you guys just refuse to get in the Poke balls too ... oh? Who's this?"
The man finally noticed her as he just stared at the two Pokémon, Fletchinder, who came down and also nudged his head into her.
"Are you… a trainer?" Felicia asked as she continued to pet the two unusually aggressive Pat, "Did you catch the two of them?"
"....Ah! Yeah! Are you…their friend?" The man asks, hesitantly.
"I see, so you two come to say goodbye, hm?" This time, Felicia slowly and gently petted the back of their neck. The two Pokémon coo at her before slowly getting up and leaving for the man's side, who still seems uncomfortable during the whole situation.
"Uhh….well. I didn't know they got an owner…" The man said uncomfortable. "Want me to release them?"
Felicia shook her head and smiled. "Those children are the ones I befriended for two years; I didn't catch them, as you can see by the fact that you can catch them," Felicia said, a bit amused at the older man's lack of knowledge of how the Poke Ball works.
"Oh…oh yeah, they have that function too. I forgot hehe." He laughed awkwardly. "Welp, I saw those two having their fight for the third time today, and they seem to really want to get stronger, so I sent one of my team to battle them, and they work together so well that I just invited them to my team, you see. And they surprisingly agree. I only managed to catch them just now, and here they are flying away from me." The older man said as he patted the two Pokémon roughly, making them angry, and started pecking at him.
"I see…I'm a bit sad, but oh well, they found a good trainer, right? Corvisquire, Fletchinder?" The two Pokémon stop their pecking session and respond to her with their respective cries. With Corvisquire starting to put her wing over the man's head and starting to pat him, mimicking Felicia's familiar gesture but much rougher, she thought she was being careful not to let her metal feather hurt the man.
"They are quite happy to have found you, it seems. I have never seen you here before, and your face doesn't really align with a Paldean native…if I have to guess…are you from Kanto?"
"Oh! Almost hit the mark! I'm from Hoenn. Well, we often get mixed up because of how similar our faces seem to be ahaha…"
"I see…"
The atmosphere turned a bit awkward…Felicia was never a good talker, so when out of topics, she usually turned quiet, just like now.
"...Ahem! Well! Uhh… I'm here for a week trip, so…uhh if you want to meet your friend, I will bring them to the park every day, how about it?" The man said as he put the Poké Ball back into her clipper.
"Ah, I would be very grateful if you do that…" Felicia thanked the man, and then she ran out of topics to talk about again.
"Oh…uh…Corvisquire's favorite type of berries is the sweet kind; she likes them especially sweet if she has just come out of a fight…while Fletchinder's favorite is the spicy one, he also prefers them roasted or being turned into poffin. Ah, Corvisquire hates dried berries, while Fletchinder hates sour ones, and if you get it after the battle, he will just burn them away…'
"I see, thanks for the info. Ah…I've been meaning to ask, but…why are you in the forest? This area is quite dangerous, as you know…? Also, without a Pokémon or an adult to protect you, too." The man asks, showing concern.
"Ah, that's no problem. I'm quite familiar with the forest. Besides, the ranger Pokémon is also looking after me; if something bad does happen, I'm sure they will swiftly come and rescue me…" Felicia avoided saying what she came here for. While she trusted the judgment of the two Pokémon who had been with her for so long, she didn't know what his thoughts were about rare regional Pokémon like Sprigatito. IF he attempts to catch her without even knowing the trauma of the little gal, then Sprigatito will surely not be happy with the man, but if luck finds him and the little Sprigatito opens up to the man or others, then Felicia would be happy.
"I will go back to the ranger outpost in a little bit, so you do not need to worry about me."
"I see! Well, I will meet you at the park tomorrow at…evening?" Felicia nodded, and so did the man. "Oh, by the way, I'm Kawagi! What's yours?"
"...Felicia."
"I see! Then see ya tomorrow!" Kawagi waved her goodbye before turning back to leave, along with his two newly caught Pokémon, the Corvisquire and Feltchinder, and gave her a nod before flying after Kawagi.
… It's going to be a little lonely without their daily duel…
"Hmm…It's a bit…hurt seeing them leave…" Maybe it's because they are the ones who have been with Felicia the longest, but seeing them get a trainer both makes her feel happy and sad at the same time. Felicia herself is not even ten, not allowed to catch a Pokémon, and not even allowed to adopt one as a pet for some reason.
Her time at the park made her meet many young trainers and many Pokémon, many of them got taken into the house as either a battle Pokémon, some are performance, while most are pets or waiting to go on their own journey.
She makes friends with many such Pokémon, and seeing they go with someone they like makes Felicia very happy, but today…it seems especially sad. But the good thing is she will have a proper goodbye this time, with one week left to have a proper send-off…
What should she get for them? Hm…both are quite independent, but they love to cuddle up, especially in the winter, where she would often see Corvisquire cuddle with Fletchinder for warmth.
Hm…a brush…probably a steelwool or some polish would be good for Corvisquire too, then for Fletchinder, she should get something he would eat, not berries, but probably some spice he could put on his berries, something local…
Maybe a chili flask? Or maybe Felicia could learn how to cook…? Hm…within one week, she probably can't get something good for the picky Fletchinder. Then Chili flask it is, one with a lot of spice.
"Mhh, that would be good, Chili flasks aren't hard to find, but the ones here are more spicy than probably any other region. So he would surely like it, I should get him two packs? Should make it last long." With the gifts decided, Felicia decides to make her way back into the town to start preparing.
Unaware of the thing that slowly stalks her.