Adventure's Past

Chapter 12 - Astray

Clemont had decided on giving up trying to decipher the little evidence that Goh had left behind and tried calling Bonnie again to see if she would come back to the Pokemon Center for the day. When she had answered, she was able to convince Clemont to let her sleep out in the woods to 'clear her head', as she had put it. So whenever he went to his room and realized that he needed to do a few things regarding his business, he instantly got to work.

He was so engrossed in his work that he never heard the person who had just rented the last room at all. But what he did hear was a knock on the door, courtesy of Nurse Joy. "Your... papers are still out in here in the lobby," Nurse Joy said to Clemont, who fumbled with his words as he exclaimed, "Oh! I-I'm sorry! I must've forgotten them!"

He followed her to the lobby, where she left Clemont to check on a few Pokemon staying the night. Feeling embarrassed about leaving his mess everywhere, Clemont quickly gathered up all the notes and stuffed them into his pocket. As he grabbed the last piece, the outside moonlight against the constant peaceful downfall of snow caught his attention.

It sure is pretty here, Clemont thought to himself, staring outside the window. His eyes wandered around, absorbing the view of the beautifully dangerous nighttime that disguised itself as a desolate scene to many. The view at Lumiose City was interesting enough to Clemont, but what he was witnessing right now really caught his attention.

Such as his eyes were wandering, so was his mind, racing to try to figure out what he was going to possibly do with his company. He simply hadn't found a proper replacement to run it yet, with the only person he would truly consider being Goh. But that ship has obviously sailed, he told himself, feeling disappointed in how things had played out.

As Clemont sat in the dark Pokemon Center, unable to sleep due to his predicament, the other Lumiose sibling was deep into the woods, in a small cave situated inside of a small hill. Bonnie had managed to find suitable shelter for the night after deciding she wanted to be away from other people to clear her head. What that meant to her was beyond her, but she wanted to have an excuse to be able to come up with strategy guides for her battle in her notebook.

Tapping her face with her pen, she noticed a lack of ideas sprouting to her head, but not before a brisk breeze managed to creep its way into the cave. Shuddering, Bonnie grabbed a Pokeball and whispered, "Pyroar, help me out here," sending out the Royal Pokemon. "Py!" Pyroar roared, shaking the cave a little. "Calm down, dude!" Bonnie exclaimed, patting Pyroar on the back.

"We're gonna be out here in the wild for a night, so I was wondering if you could light up the place with some heat?" Bonnie asked, rubbing her hands together. Pyroar nodded and opened his mouth, sending a small ember flame towards a pile of sticks in the corner of the small cave, creating a small fire. "Thanks a lot," Bonnie said, huddling by the fire.

She grabbed the rest of her five Pokeballs and sent out the rest of her Pokemon to stay by the fire with her. First, there was a yellow-flowered Florges, which matched Bonnie's hair color and outfit style. Next was Dragalge, her trusty Dragon-type that she had rescued from a group of poachers.

After that appeared Phantump, her most recent catch and most mischievous of all her Pokemon. When she had bonded with the white Phantump while traveling with Ash and the others, she told herself that she would catch a Phantump at one point, so she did. Following Phantump was Vivillon, a beautiful Bug-type she had caught as one of her first catches ever.

And finally, of course, was Dedenne, her first traveling partner that had stuck with her through thick and thin. She loved all of her Pokemon, but Dedenne had a special place in her heart simply because she had owned it for so many years, proving their bond to be unbreakable many times.