Lost and Found

Chapter Four: A Fruitful Conversation

The Hattrem woke up disoriented, assaulted by multiple strong feelings of happiness. While the happiness itself wasn't upsetting the intensity was, so she grumbled her way from her comfy tent and rubbed her eyes as she made her way to the edge of the forest.

She found a familiar pair of humans laying on their sides and facing each other on a blanket a good distance away from where she had exited the forest, farther than the last time she had seen them, so their feelings must have been pretty intense for them to reach her so deep within the forest. Like last time, they were repeatedly pressing their mouths together. Wanting the emotional noise to stop she decided to address the pair. "Excuse me?" she said with all the politeness that her overstimulated brain could muster.

The humans scrambled to a seated position, both of them red-faced. "Not you again!" the male cried as he somehow grabbed up the female and their blanket, one under each arm. "And we even found a different spot!"

"Wait, please!"

He froze mid-step while somehow keeping his grip on his companion. "Wait a minute; did...it just talk into my head?"

"You heard it, too?" The female looked back at the Hattrem, who waited with a concerned expression. "Hold on. Dale: Put me down; I want to hear what she has to say." He hesitantly complied, and the two of them faced the small Pokémon.

"My name is Cookie. I'm sorry about last time," the Hattrem said contritely as she approached the pair again. "I understand human language but can't speak it very well, so I was trying to explain myself the best I could."

"You seem to be doing okay now," the male remarked while watching her with a wary eye.

"A friend of mine named Kiki taught me how to mind-speak," Cookie explained as she stopped a respectful distance from the humans. "Her trainer was a really nice man who plays a guitar."

"Good for you," the male said with a sniff.

"Please excuse him," the female said while lightly elbowing her companion. "He's very protective of me." She giggled. "Most of the time."

"Hey, I said I was sorry about that!" he protested. "It won't happen again!"

"I know, I know," she giggled again while resting a hand on his chest. She shifted her smile to the Hattrem. "By the way: I'm Megan, and this is my boyfriend, Dale."

"I'm pleased to meet you both."

"So what was eatin' you the other day?" Dale asked, finally starting to relax around the Pokémon. "You seemed pretty grumpy."

"That's because I was," Cookie replied, casting her gaze to the ground as she spoke. "You see, I'm very sensitive to strong emotions, and I woke up that morning to your strong feelings."

"I get it," Dale said with a snap of his fingers. "It's like when my kid brother wakes me up with his stupid drumming; I'm all groggy and stuff."

"Strong feelings..." Megan mused...then blushed furiously. "Dale, I think we woke her with our...with our kissing."

"Our...?" he started to echo, then suddenly blushed as well. "Yeah, I guess we were feeling some pretty strong emotions, huh?" He chuckled awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry about that...'Cookie', was it?"

"That's right."

"Sorry for upsetting you like that," he said with another sniff, and Cookie recognized that he was trying to make amends while still retaining his pride.

"I forgive you; thank you."

Megan briefly studied the small life form before speaking again. "Cookie? Why are you all the way out here? You're obviously not a wild Pokémon. Did something happen?"