Lost and Found

Chapter Six: Reunions

Cookie groaned delicately as her eyes fluttered open, and she immediately brought the tips of her arms to her throbbing head; she hadn't slept well for the past several days.

The problems had started the very night after she had kissed her human friend; when she had tried to eat her dinner of berries and leaves, her mouth would tingle at the slightest touch. Every time she closed her eyes to sleep, Matthew's smiling face would appear and her body would shudder in response to a similar tingling sensation along with an odd twinge in her abdomen. It was very distracting, to the point where she would storm out of her tent and into the night to find Pokémon upon which she could vent her frustrations, crawling back to her tent several hours later to collapse from exhaustion rather than normal fatigue.

She tingled her way through a healthy breakfast before heading out to train again; previously, it had been an enjoyable part of her routine, but it had lately become a necessity to help her keep her sanity.

She defeated a Scrafty, and as her human friend's face invaded her mind once again she found herself wishing that she was a Hatenna again; at least her less-developed mind would not be as likely to be bedeviled the way it had been.

She was about to head further into the forest when she felt a couple of familiar presences, and in spite of her distress she smiled and ran as fast as she could toward the source. She exited the forest to find... "Meg!"

"Hey, Cookie!" The young woman waved at her from next to her boyfriend, and the pair made their way over to her. "How's life?"

The Hattrem paused noticeably before replying. "It's...okay."

Megan exchanged a knowing glance with Dale, who smiled as he left her side. "Have fun, you two."

"Thanks, gorgeous," she said, then smiled as he gave a bored wave over his shoulder. Once he was far enough away she turned excited eyes on her protégé. "So, did you talk to him? Your face says you did!"

"It..." Cookie wasn't sure how to frame her thoughts, especially with her emotions and involuntary sensations messing with her ability to think clearly. "It's...embarrassing."

"What happened?" Megan asked, the Hattrem's distressed expression causing concern.

"Well..." Cookie traced a half-circle on the ground with a pointed foot. "How should I start...?"

"At the beginning," Megan replied in a gentle, even tone. "Just try to keep the emotions out of it if you can and just focus on what happened, okay?"

"O-Okay." Cookie closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. She then told the aspiring counselor about Matthew's visit, about her aborted attempt to ask him about his feelings early on, about his offer to help Diamond with her situation, about how Matthew would be going to college, meaning that he would have to give up his Pokémon for adoption...

"Oh my gosh..." Meg breathed, imagining herself in the trainer's situation. "And I'm sure he's had those for years, so it's like giving up on old friends. That's so sad."

"Yeah..." The Hattrem shifted her posture ever so slightly. "And that's when I tried to help him with his pain..."

A flash of intuition started to drain the blood from Meg's face. "Cookie? What did you do to him?"

"I was trying to help, honest!" Cookie wailed. "I've seen how happy you and Dale are when you...when you kiss, so I thought it would help Matthew!"

"Y-You kissed him?!" Meg blurted more loudly than she intended. "D-D-Did you k-kiss him on the cheek? Please tell me you kissed him on the cheek!"