Droplets fell and echoed inside the cavernous Wooper Pool lagoon.
Luvia crinkled her nose every time she pinched a worm from the tin and offered it to one of the four hungry pokémon in front of her.
Taillow was a voracious eater. Loud chirp in the morning, loud chirp in the evening, loud chirp in the hours only ghost-types should be awake. Loud chirps everywhere in between.
He did not listen. He would eat his fill and flap over to the windowsill to perch and watch the views from the bedroom window.
Good thing Mom and Nana thought he was wild. She had swept up and binned any trace of eggshells and played the part of unsuspecting girl just minding her business, suddenly invaded by a young and hungry taillow who, for some reason, decided her room would make the perfect spot for its new nest.
Good thing the hatchling was bigger than normal – that detail made the lie seem plausible. Taillow leaving their groups and going stray was odd, but it could happen. There was an entire folk song dedicated to that, after all.
For several days Luvia “complained” each morning about the taillow “coming back” and refusing to leave, and Nana thought it was a good omen, passing it off as further proof that the girl didn’t need to go globetrotting through the mainland to have her adventure.
“I told you, everything is right here. Even the critters are wishing you’d take the hint, Luv.”
Taillow, being a hatchling, had no regard for the social order of things. He acted out of pure instinct and in those first days, Mida suffered the brunt of it. She got pecked a bunch of times, especially her jutting gills, but thankfully, there was no power in the beak. The only moves the infant bird really knew were Feed-Me-Chirp, and Floppy-Flight.
Oddly enough, he never pecked at Luvia (not that she was complaining.)
She knew that many pokémon bonded with the first person they met after hatching but it had always just been something ‘out there.’ She'd never experienced it herself or seen it with her own eyes.
If she took a pause, she did feel a strange connection with the Taillow, but she figured that had more to do with the fact that she had cared for the egg and been there when it hatched. She was the first being Taillow had ever seen, and for most pokémon, that meant you were either its sibling, or its parent.
She had fed him soon after hatching, and for most pokémon, that definitely made you its parent.
Taillow was nothing like Mida. Looks aside, even with them just standing still, you could feel the difference in personalities.
Mida was an alert, caring, and intelligent presence. The sort that filled you with confidence: Mida is here, I am safer for it.
… Taillow seemed about as bright as a bag of rocks, and about as blunt too. Luvia felt like she needed another pair of eyes to stay on the lookout in case he did anything silly.
“If you’re going to keep it, I don’t want to see a single dropping anywhere indoors, Luvy,” Mrs. Juneworth had said somewhere around the third day, when it became obvious that Luvia, despite all her “complaining” had no intention of chasing the bird away.
Suffice it to say that the girl had been on permanent clean-up duty since. Her room was ground zero for Taillow’s poop. Wardrobe, windowsill, night lamp – anywhere he decided to perch would need daily, soapy scrubbing.
And Luvia scrubbed diligently. It was super annoying when she’d just finished cleaning, only for Taillow to muck it up again right after, but it wouldn’t last very long.
She had learned that from raising Ziggy.
Pokémon weren’t like humans, who needed years to stop soiling themselves. Pokémon learned fast. They needed to. Biology geared toward survival in the wild demanded it.
It took just over a week for Taillow to understand that his only source of food didn’t like it when he pooped all over the place. He picked a spot – the windowsill, and made it his designated toilet/ lookout spot. Kind of like reading the newspaper during a long call.
That made it way better than having fifty different spots to clean every day.
Another thing that helped was doing what she was doing now; taking him out with Mida on their trips outside. Like Mida, Taillow followed her around everywhere, best as his little wings allowed him. He’d normally end up latching onto her clothes to hitch a ride when he got tired of flapping.
The cave-like lagoon next to the beach had become a favorite spot of hers. The pair of wooper there were so tame and affable, and she thought the more pokémon Taillow was exposed to, the quicker he’d mature.
“…And the last one for you.” Luvia held the briny worm over Taillow’s gaping beak, and he greedily snapped it up. She held the small empty tin for the pokémon to see. “Nothing left.”
The pair of wooper turned and shot a Mud-Shot each at the sloping wall, as they did every time the feeding was over.
It was quite funny. Luvia thought it was their way of mourning the end of a tasty meal. They’d hop over the edge of the rock bench and dive into the lagoon, and Mida would dive right after them.
Taillow would try to join them, flapping around like a zubat over the water, but never actually daring to touch the surface.
Luvia liked this mainly because it was exercising his wings. His feathers had darkened a shade and his flying looked slightly more graceful – he seemed to get a bit of wind under those wings now. Within a month, he’d be flying like any regular old taillow.
…
“Really… what should I call you?” Luvia mused, squatting at the edge of the rock bench and gazing sideways at Taillow as he tracked the water-types darting around underwater.
“Taytay? … No.” She frowned. “Chirpy? … Chiry? You’re always chirping, and you’re quite cheery, aren’t you…”
Taillow paid her no mind. He was glued to the lagoon, watching Mida and the wooper and the goldeen zip noiselessly beneath the surface.
“How about… Dumb-silly-dum-dum?” she suggested. “Dillydum for short.”
Taillow ignored her. Luvia grinned. “Ooh, you’ll like this one – Poopy. As in Sir Dillydum Poopyfeather? …No?”
His young little bird eyes glanced at her for a split second before locking back onto the more interesting sights in the lagoon.
He has no clue what I’m talking about, Luvia felt, holding down a laugh. She wanted to call him something cute. He’d one day become a sharp-eyed Swellow, right? Having a cute name would help remind her just the kind of taillow he had been. But it was still quite early…
“I’ll give you another month, alright? If you don’t want a silly name, then you should do two things: One, stop pooping inside the house – not even on the windowsill. And two, learn an actual move besides opening your mouth for food… Deal?”
Sir Dillydum Poopyfeather did not so much as spare her a chirp. It would have been a waste of breath to spend on her kind.
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The following day was Luvia’s birthday. She was born a few minutes past midnight, right between the 22nd and 23rd of September. Right at the end of Mid-summer, when many crops and berries were harvested. The end of year rains also arrived around this time, and the land was left to drink them up and rest for a few months before new sowing.
Today she was fifteen, an age that had felt so wise and mature when she had been younger, but now seemed no different than any of the years that had come before.
Today had started out the same way the day started since Taillow hatched – with a chirp to the face and a gaping beak asking for breakfast.
“Meehd!” Mida would wake up too, jump on the bed if she wasn’t already on it, and walk all over Luvia in an attempt to fend off the persistent bird.
The smart little guy knew he was the baby now. Luvia wouldn't let Mida use any of her moves on him, however dialled back they were.
Still, she appreciated the intent. She was grateful that Mida was so in tune with her mood – it was like the Mudkip knew exactly how much tomfoolery she could tolerate.
Yawning, she sat up in bed. “I’m already up, Mida. Leave him.”
Mida had chased Taillow to the headboard, where he perched and chirped aggressively, probably saying something like, “It’s time she woke up! We need to eat, so get off my case!”
…
15-years-old, huh…
She was hardly excited about what sort of birthday gifts she might be getting. Mom and Nana letting her keep the Taillow had been gift enough. One that she had been infinitely thankful for.
When Taillow grew strong, he’d make a great addition to her team. She compared herself with Andrea quite a bit, seeing as they were both more or less at a similar stage.
It had struck her as a funny thing that Andrea’s Hoppip and Aron were almost perfect opposites to her Mudkip and Taillow.
Mida’s water-type trumped Aron’s rock-type. Hoppip’s grass-type trumped Mida’s water-type. Taillow’s flying-type trumped Hoppipp’s grass-type... and Aron’s rock-type trumped Taillow’s flying-type.
If she ever battled Andrea, what could it be but fair?
Not that she would jump at the chance. From their wingull capture job at Slateport City, she had seen the way Andrea changed during battle. Not only that, but the phone conversations they’d had together since parting ways; it was clear that Andrea had Luvia beat in pretty much all things pokémon.
The only commonality they shared was being badgeless.
“First and second badge aren’t that hard, don’t worry,” Andrea had assured. “I’m thinking we start off with the Gym over at Lavaridge Town. They’ve just picked a new leader, so she’ll be inexperienced. Plus, she uses fire-types. Mida will be perfect.”
“But Salia is grass-type, and Aron is half steel-type, isn’t he? Aren’t you thinking about yourself?”
“That’s why I said I’d probably get a third… Even though I have Aron, I still keep thinking about a geodude. I gotta get one. That should help.”
“A geodude?” Luvia frowned in surprise. “Shouldn’t you cover more types? You’re the one always telling me about it.”
“I know, I know, but it just kept coming back to me,” she had replied, sounding like she had given it some serious thought. “You remember how you told me you like water-types because… uh… Why was it again?”
“Because they’re great and calm and smart.”
…
“Have you never met a magikarp?”
Luvia huffed, smiling. “Alright, most of them.”
“Yeah, well, I think I like rock-types. They’re hardy and really pack a punch. Perfectly balanced between offense and defense.”
For some reason, hearing that made Luvia feel excited.
“That’s interesting. When I first met you, I kind of had you pegged for a softie!” She laughed. “I feel like you’re coming out of a shell or something.”
Andrea didn’t deny it. “I feel that too! I dunno, I think it’s because I’ve finally decided to really go through with it! When we met, I knew I wanted to go, but I just didn’t have the guts! …
“I’m not being funny, but I think meeting you had something to do with it, Luvy.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. The way you hadn’t even done your trainer exam yet, hadn’t even battled a trainer before – but still looked so serious when you went up against that boy at the courts. Like you meant business. Like you weren’t going to back down no matter what. That stayed with me…”
A little heat went up to Luvia’s face. Of the list of possible compliments she’d give herself, inspiring was near the very bottom. She could only giggle bashfully in response before brushing it off with a question.
“You didn’t have any weird dreams, did you?”
“Dreams? Dreams about what?”
“About, like… rock-types or anything?”
Andrea took only a moment to think about it. “No, why?”
“No, never mind.”
The only other person who knew about her weird dream was none other than Elite 4 Glacia. She hadn’t told Neela, nor her mother, nor father, nor grandmother. Not even her childhood friends, Nelly and Carol.
If type-affinity wasn’t considered rare, then there was bound to be others out there who had a dream like hers, weren’t there?
A dream so vivid and captivating that you woke up feeling like someone else – or like something had fundamentally changed.
Questions she’d have to hold onto until she got to the shores of Sootopolis and found that woman, Zamal.
“?Happy Birthday to you?,” Mom, Nana, Nelly, and Carol sang.
“Maahd!” Mida warned.
“?Happy Birthday to you?,”
*chirp!* *CHIRP!* Sir Dillydum Poopyfeather could no longer stop himself. He floppy-flew himself in frantic, erratic circles around the table, swooping dangerously close to the birthday cake.
“Get down, you rascal!” screeched Nana.
Ziggy let out a raspy scream in her support.
Her mom swatted at the bird with a hand, missing spectacularly and almost falling on the cake, while Luvia began laughing uncontrollably at the sheer circus that had become her birthday party. She was extremely surprised that Taillow had managed to hold out as long as he did. Maybe the lit candles were warding him off, but kudos to him.
Nelly and Carol, grinning, somehow managed to keep the song alive amidst the chaos.
“?Happy Birthday, dear Luvia?,”
Mom and Nana had enough presence of mind to join back in then.
“?Happy Birthday to you?!”
Taillow dove head-first into the chocolate cake.
Birthday girl wasn’t even mad.
At least he waited until the song was over.
“I still can’t believe you’re really going to do this, but since you are, I got you this,” said Nelly, the sand-blonde berry-lover. She held out a wrapped gift which looked like it could be nothing but a book.
Luvia eyed her as she took it, smiling conspiratorially. “I thought the whole point of going on a journey was to get away from books?”
“Even trainers have to read, Luvy – bummer I know,” Nelly shot back.
Giggling, Luvia tore open the wrapping. “I really don’t know where you guys get the idea that I don’t like reading…”
It was a book. A Trainer’s Guide to Berries, Pokéblocks and How to Use Them.
Luvia’s shoulders dropped. “What the hell, this is actually pretty cool! Aww, Nelly!”
“I know you won’t listen, but if you have to pick between battles and contests – choose contests. I still think battles are dangerous.”
Mom and Nana had nothing but agreements there.
“Yeah, yeah,” responded Luvia with exasperation. The amount of times she’d heard this in the past couple months was legit bordering on the hundreds. “I already said, I’m only practicing for the exam. Sheesh.”
And a couple of Gym badges you guys will never know about…
Carol offered her gift next. She pulled it out of her fleece pocket like she was pulling out a bubble gum. It was tiny. Ping pong ball sized.
Laughs went around the table. And a whole lot of frowns.
Carol held it out for Luvia, and Luvia plucked it with a quizzical smile. She didn’t bother asking, she just opened it.
“Wha…?”
“My father says they’re called Rare Candies. He says that you give it to a pokémon that is close to evolving and it pushes them to evolve.”
The room was suddenly quiet, save the noise of Mida, Ziggy, or Taillow nuzzling or pecking at their bowls.
“No. Way!” Luvia brought the thing to eye-level. It was covered in a hard plastic shell. The pellet inside was smaller, only slightly bigger than a grape, and white as chalk.
“Like, does it really?”
Carol shrugged. “That’s what my dad says. He won a few in a raffle a long time ago – but don’t worry, they take years to expire. He says this one should still work.”
Nelly had pulled in closer too.
“You’re really giving this to me?”
“It’s your birthday? And you’re going on a pokémon journey. It just seemed fitting.”
Luvia found it hard to look away from it. There was definitely something about it that pulled the attention. “Wow. Thanks! You guys are the best!”
…
As they hugged, Mrs. Juneworth went over to the drawer in the plate cabinet and pulled out her own wrapped gift.
“This one is from Nana and I,” she said, strolling past the table and handing the little box-shaped gift to her daughter. “We expect you to use it immediately.”
Luvia hummed cooingly, putting the Rare Candy in her pocket and working her fingers around the new item.
The moment she tore the wrapping off, her heart leapt. Heat flushed past her temples in excitement. She had seen it. The unmistakable red. The unmistakable white.
“No!” she gushed. “A pokéball?!”
She quickly tore the rest off and there it was, in that soft, transparent plastic box.
A pokéball.
She looked at her mother wildly. At Nana incredulously. The old woman had a stern little smile on her lips.
They’d bought this here in Clearcloud? At double the normal price?
The feeling she had was identical to the one when her father had presented her with Mida’s pokéball.
A pokéball was a special thing. It meant a new friend. New family.
She was totally gawping.
“You expect me to use it immediately?” she mumbled. “What do you mean?”
It was Nana who spoke first. “That's the rascal's ball, Luv.”
Her friends laughed. It made sense now.
Taillow’s ball…
Luvia glanced over at the bird, still pecking at the grains in his bowl.
He already followed her around everywhere, and not just that, but he seemed to have a homing sense as far as Luvia was concerned. He seemed to know exactly where to find her at all times.
This is Taillow’s ball… ?
…
Nah.
This was her first empty pokéball, and she wasn’t about to use it by catching a pokémon that was already hers.
What nickname do you think fits Taillow best?
