Pokemon: The Queen of Kalos

The Pyrokinetic and The Girl

Alternate title: character development! Plus a bit of a strained bond starts to get mended!

~

Our heroes found a Pokemon Center not too far north of where they'd been, Bonnie grabbing the door to the Pokemon Center and holding it open for the others.

Inside, Bonnie asked Nurse Joy if Bunnelby and Charizard would be all right, and Nurse Joy told them that although both Pokemon would be alright, she had just run out of a medicinal plant called Nicera that she needed. Serena went to look up the plant in her Guidebook, but Shadow already had it pulled up on her Pokedex/phone.

"Here. It looks like this. It grows pretty commonly in this area; Profess Sycamore had me gather some to research once or twice."

Nurse Joy said that she'd go get some, but someone else in the Center called for her so she had to go off and held them instead, the group waiting for her to return.

Only a few minutes later, Zenith noticed Bonnie trying to sneak out, but surprisingly, Shadow had also seen and held a hand out. A silent signal for Zenith to stay put while the ravenette went after her. Trusting her sister's judgment, she stayed put and kept waiting.

~

Outside the Center, Shadow followed Bonnie, watching the blonde begin trying to scale a small hill in search of the herb. Her foot was about to slip when Shadow spoke up.

"To your left. There's a rocky ledge you can use; put your foot there. Then you should be able to reach the top and pull yourself up."

"Shadow?" The blonde asked, but did as the older girl said. "Hey, I did it..."

She quickly climbed up after Bonnie, dusting herself off at the top. "I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a liar, and I know my way around Kalos."

"Thank goodness you do! I would've totally slipped." Bonnie pointed at the forest ahead of them, a bit nervous now. "Should we go this way?"

"We can, but keep an eye out. Scolipede are very common in this area, and very hostile if you get near their nests. Nicera grows in trees, though, so it's worth a shot."

Bonnie nodded. "Okay... Why did you follow me, anyway?"

"Why did you run off?"

"...To get the medicine."

"Still feel like it's your fault Bunnelby and Charizard got hurt, huh?"

The blonde looked back at her. "How did you...?"

Shadow shrugged. "Been there before. Until my youngest sister was born, and even some time after that, I was the runt of the family. A lot of the blame naturally fell on my shoulders. It didn't help I was always running off and putting myself in danger to prove I was brave and strong like the rest of my siblings. I know how it feels to think this kind of thing is your fault."

"It's just that... I let Squishy get away! I promised I'd never let it get caught or harmed as long as it was with me, and now I have no idea where it went... And in my haste to help find and rescue it, more Pokemon got hurt in the process! The least I can do is try to help, right?"

"I get where you're coming from, but you don't have to do everything alone, especially without your own Pokemon yet. Which, might I add, you should be able to use to fight by now. You're more competent than a lot of fully-grown trainers I've met."

"Really? You think so?" Bonnie was surprised to hear that from the girl who had at first been so mean to her. Their first meetings in Coumarine and Lumiose City had consisted of Shadow yelling at Serena, running off, shouting at the boy called Gary, and screaming at Bonnie when she crashed into her. But now that they had all been traveling together for a while, she was beginning to see a different side of Shadow, that was nicer and more honest.