Generation Z - Hoenn Alone

Chapter 11: Treecko the Gardener

"Flyyy!" Beautifly cried out, hitting the ground hard after Beedrill's stingers struck her in the chest. Bonnie could see a purple tinge coming to her face as she fell, knowing immediately that she was poisoned.

"Beautifly!"

Bonnie ran to her fallen Pokemon immediately, forgetting the attacker. She felt panic inside her as she remembered she didn't have a berry to cure the poisoning, and looked to a worried Clyde as he held up the tired Treecko. Dedenne and Rotom were also at her sides now, the former looking ready to defend Bonnie as he looked back towards the girl in the boat, who seemed to be approaching.

"Just what do you think you're doing?!" the girl shouted as her boat reached the edge of the water. Bonnie glanced towards her, seeing the girl's purple eyes flashing angrily while her Beedrill flew to her side. The Lotad that had taken the berry was also making its way towards her, disengaging from the group of them that was watching nervously. "I'm sick and tired of people stealing our berries, but to attack my Lotad as well-"

"We didn't steal anything!" Bonnie shouted back, getting up as she met the angry girl's eyes. The girl was probably a couple of years older than Max, but Bonnie wasn't intimidated. She was heading to her first gym match, so she was ready for any challenge in her way. "That Lotad stole our berry!"

"He...what?" The girl looked uneasy, glancing to her Lotad who looked both guilty and confused, as though realizing it had made a mistake with something. "Oh no...not again," the girl muttered, her palm hitting her head. "This is the sixth time, Lotad."

"Lotad..." the Water Weed Pokemon murmured, lowering its head.

Bonnie got up, holding Beautifly, while Clyde and Treecko emerged from behind their tree. "Um...what's going on?" Bonnie asked, narrowing her eyes as she stepped forward towards the girl. "Why did you attack us?"

"I...oh great, my sisters are going to be so mad," the girl said, shaking her head. "How about you guys come with me and I can help your Beautifly and Treecko out? We've got lots of berries at our shop." The girl looked like she was dreading something, a scowl on her face, but sympathy was in her eyes as she looked to the Pokemon that needed help.

Bonnie looked to Clyde who seemed to think there was no better option, because he nodded fairly quickly. "We don't have much of a choice. Treecko and Beautifly need something to help them feel better. Seems like it was just a misunderstanding."

"Well...you were invading the Lotads' territory..." the girl muttered, shuffling her feet. It seemed like she was trying to make an excuse, which irritated Bonnie.

"We weren't invading anything!" she growled back. "You-"

"Just leave it, Bonnie," Clyde said quickly, chuckling nervously. "We'd like to see this shop," he said to the girl. "Our Pokemon could definitely use some help and if you've got some berries, we need to fill up our supply. We weren't stealing anything. We just got out of the Petalburg Woods."

The girl nodded, seeming as though that was what she expected after realizing she'd made a mistake in calling them thieves. "You can come with me in the boat. We're just a little further up the river."

Bonnie was a little reluctant to go with the girl, but she supposed Clyde was right that they needed help and that it would be a good opportunity to fill up their berry supply. She just made sure to whisper to him that it was partly because of this girl that they needed help in the first place. He didn't say anything in response to that, and the two were quiet as they got into the boat and the girl started taking them up the river.

"I'm Natalie by the way," the girl said, looking up as her Beedrill started to fly next to the boat, overtop of her Lotad, which was at the head of the larger group of them. "My sisters and I run a berry shop around here, and this group of Lotad helps us with watering the trees to make sure everything grows just right. My Lotad is sort of the guard of group, but sometimes he gets a bit carried away when he sees someone he doesn't know with a berry. I saw you battling him, though, and I thought you were attacking the whole group."