After a successful capture, Valerie urged the young girl back to sleep. She would be forced to sleep in her tent with Valerie, making for quite the cramped experience, but Valerie wasn’t cruel enough to let the girl sleep outside. It was still early spring after all.

  Waking up the next morning was an ordeal. Valerie was still very much new to the idea of living on the road. It was evident by how tired everyone looked the next morning. But they had a schedule to follow, so it wasn’t like they could sleep in either. Yawns and eye-rubs were par for the course as they trekked through the forest in the early morning, but Larry and Mori were to keep an eye out for any threats.

  Larry spotted a wild Spinarak in a web up in the canopy, its legs twitched in surprise when the party passed by. Luckily, it didn't act on any impulses.

  “Ugh…How long until we’re out of here again?” Matt groaned, the tiredness relieving the boy of some of his anxiety.

  “Should be…Today or tomorrow if we’re tardy.” Valerie yawned, “My money's on tomorrow.”

  “Hmm…W-Why?”

  “Well, we already had that run-in with the Beedrill, so we’re already somewhat behind.” She explained.

  “But weren’t we going quicker than before?” Stella, the least tired of the bunch, questioned.

  “Because usually there’s a bend you have to take, and we missed that in the panic.”

  “Oh.” She answered back.

  ‘Hmm…Viridian Forest is really that big?’ Larry wondered, ‘I guess the games just never showed it properly.’ With guard duties taking precedent, Larry had been keeping his eyes peeled instead of looking at the scenery too much. But Viridian Forest really was quite the sight to behold. It wasn’t terribly overgrown, but it also wasn’t being deforested, it truly felt like a place where Pokemon could live in peace and harmony with each other. Considering he hadn’t seen much fighting yet, Larry was led to assume that this place was largely peaceful.

  ‘Well, they’re bugs…Not like there’s gonna be many fights that others are going to be privy to. No earthquakes or rock slides around this place, probably.’ Even if some Bug-Types fought each other, Larry doubted they’d squeak loud enough for them to hear their fight from the trail they were taking.

  A Burmy hung on a branch at the side of the trail, swinging in the wind languidly.

  His thoughts were interrupted when Stella spoke up again while walking, “Um…I kind of want to bring out the Scatterbug…Would that be ok?”

  Mori glared at the idea, but Valerie and Larry nodded, “Of course, I’d like to meet Scatterbug again.”

  “Ok…”

  The young girl anxiously released the Bug-Type onto her palm, where it materialized with an adorable blink of its big, oval eyes, “Sca?”

  “Hello, Scatterbug.” She greeted the Pokemon with apprehension in her voice, “I caught you yesterday night, how…Um…How are you feeling?”

  “Sca?”

  Once again, the little Pokemon tilted its head to the side like a clueless dog, and Larry’s heart melted a slight bit, ‘Oh man, it's really adorable, isn’t it?’

  “Well, he isn’t complaining.” Valerie noted, “So I think that’s good.”

  Stella caressed the little Bug-Types cheek with a finger, which the Scatterbug reciprocated with a loving wriggle, “Baaah~”

  “Cute!” Valerie squealed silently.

  “He really is,” She agreed with a fond smile, “I didn’t think a Bug-Type could be this cute.”

  Mori gave his trainer and new teammate a glare, but decided to stay silent.

  “A-A lot of contestants have Butterfly Pokemon,” Matt commented, trying to enter the conversation.

  “They do?” Larry’s trainer questioned.

  “Oh yeah.” Stella picked up the thread of conversation, “Butterfly Pokemon are a staple of Contests, they evolve fairly quickly and are docile. They usually possess a lot of brilliant moves to dazzle audiences with and are generally easy to work with.”

  Everyone looked at Stella as she rattled off at them in surprise. Nobody expected her to become so talkative all of a sudden. When she noticed everyone's gaze on her, she shrank down, pulling her Scatterbug to her chest for comfort, “W-What?”

  ‘Well, she does seem to have a brain for what matters in her life.’ Larry thought to himself.

  Valerie simply smiled, “It’s nice to see you’re so passionate about Contests.”

  “Y-Yeah…” Matt agreed shyly.

  “Have you seen a Vivillon before?” His trainer questioned.

  Stella hemmed her head from side-to-side, “K-Kinda…I think I saw one once at a contest when I was young. It was pretty.”

  “Yeah, I think Vivillon is one of the prettiest of the Butterfly Pokemon.” Valerie agreed, “I said it yesterday, but apparently Vivillon looks different depending on its living environment and location. Their wings have a large variety of patterns they could evolve into.”

  Retrieving her phone, Valerie navigated to the PokeDex and picked out the list of pictures of the Bug-Types final evolution, “Check it out.”

  Everyone slowed for a bit and gave her phone a peek. Stella cooed when she spotted the one from her memory, “Ooh, that's the one I saw!”

  Larry was a bit limited in the height department, so he didn’t get a chance to catch a glimpse, but knowledge regarding the various forms of Vivillon wasn’t one of the most important topics for him to study up on personally, ‘I think there was a rare one that looked like a Pokeball if I remember…’

  “Oh yeah, that looks really pretty.” Valerie gave the design a look before turning to Stella’s current Scatterbug, “What do you think yours will evolve into?”

  “Hmm…I don’t know…” She deliberated as she looked between the Bug-Type and the choices documented in the Pokedex, “I think…”

  “I think it’s ok, whatever form it takes.” Stella spoke as she caressed the Bug-Type's cheek once again, “They’re all pretty after all.”

  “Good thinking!” His trainer commended the young girl with a pat on the back, “There is some other stuff to figure out, though.”

  “Like what?”

  “Is Scatterbug here a boy or a girl?” Valerie began counting up with her fingers, “And considering you named Mori, what’ll Scatterbug be called? And finally, will you use Scatterbug in the upcoming contest in Pewter City?”

  Stella took in the quaestiones one after another, clearly overwhelmed by the very pointed nature of all, “O-Oh, umm…I-”

  Interrupting the girl's sputtering, Valerie quickly revealed the answer to her first question as she scrolled through her phone, “There are no visual gender differences documented, so I think you’ll be forced to find out the answer to the first question in the Pokemon Center in Pewter City. That’s one down. Now, names…”

  A hand on her chin, the three of them thought as they walked, as for once everyone got quiet. Once again, Larry spotted a Silcoon dangling in the wind as a breeze passed through the forest.

  “W-What about…Scatsy?” Matt broke the silence.

  “Pretty simple,” Valerie commented, “What have you got, Stella?”

  The girl looked up at her from the Scatterbug in her hand with surprise, but answered regardless, “Umm…Buggy?”

  ‘Wow…These guys are real creatives,’ Larry rolled his eyes.

  “I guess you already have Mori, huh?” His trainer quipped, “Let me try one too…”

  “The whole Scatterbug line is known for the poisonous dust they spew and cover their body with…” Her gaze fell over towards the Scatterbug in Stella’s hand. The look in Stella’s eyes was now also trained on the bug sitting on her palm, a slight bit more concerned, “Oh, don’t worry! It’s only an issue if the Pokemon feels threatened. See those black specks on the hairs on its neck? That’s the bad stuff!”

  A short silence washed over the group, as Larry spotted a Metapod hanging on a tree on the side of the trail, its eyes tracking their band of trainers with its unblinking eyes.

  “Ok…” Stella spoke with a concerned nod, “Didn’t I touch that yesterday?”

  “And I’ve got Paralyze Heals with me!”

  “N-Not really the best answer…” Matt cut in.

  “Ahaha…Anyway…” Valerie returned to her name ideas, “Hmm…What to pick…”

  “What about…Dusty?” Stella tried, “Considering the dust?”

  “Ooh! Good idea!” Valerie liked it.

  “It sounds nice.” Matt agreed.

  She deliberated for a bit, but seemed far more sure after a moment, so she turned to the bug in her palm, “What about you, Scatterbug? Do you like the name Dusty?”

  The Bug still had the same ‘no thoughts-head empty’ expression on its face when it looked back at its trainer, but it didn’t look like it disliked the name in particular, “Ter~.”

  “I don’t think it’ll give you much of an opinion, unfortunately,” Valerie said.

  “Yeah…I saw…” She seemed conflicted by the implication before shrugging, “I guess it’ll be alright?”

  “W-Worst case, you can always change it.” Matt reminded the two.

  “Yeah, Matt’s right.” Valerie agreed, “And Dusty’s a cute name, so you won’t even have to!”

  “You’re right!”

  ‘I guess I’ll welcome Dusty to the group once we’re back to camping.’ Larry thought to himself as he scanned the treelines. He practically felt Mori’s glare on the adorable Scatterbug behind him intensify.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Now, third and final question.” Valerie paused for dramatic effect as they ducked under a low-hanging bunch of branches, “Contests.”

  Stella seemed to once again sputter, her gaze switching between Mori at her side and the Bug-Type on her hand, “I-uhm…”

  “Bug-Types evolve really quickly. I bet if we do some training sessions, you’ll have that Vivillon you wanted really quickly.” Valerie said teasingly, “When is the contest anyway?”

  “It should be in…” Stella calculated the dates in her head, “Five days? Yeah, five days.”

  Just hearing that made Larry unsure of the chance of Scatterbug participation, ‘Five days to evolve two times?’

  Valerie seemed to finally see reason, “Yeeah…I don’t think that’s gonna happen…Buuut…”

  Larry spotted the look on Valerie's face as she quickly leaned closer to Stella’s ear, ‘Oh, she’s up to something…’

  The two whispered for a short few seconds between eachother before Valerie gave a cheeky grin towards Mori. Soon after, Stella feigned a sigh, “Haah…You make a good point, I guess I’ll have to perform with Scatterbug…”

  “Yeah, I guess so.” Valerie agreed, her act sounding much more hammed up.

  “Huh?! What about me?!” Mori exploded towards the girls with an energetic hop, “Why can’t I perform?!”

  “Oh, Mori. What’s up?” Valerie looked at the bird, putting on a concerned expression, “Did you see something in the forest?”

  “I wanna be in the contest! Why can’t I be in the contest?!”

  “Whoa! Calm down!” His trainer almost dropped the concerned act at how extremely well Mori had fallen for their ploy, “Does this have to do with the contest? We were just talking about it after all…”

  “It has to…” Stella nodded back, “I don’t see him getting worked up over much else…”

  “Oh dear,” Valerie put a concerned hand on her cheek, “Were you also concerned for Dusty in the upcoming contest?”

  “NO! FORGET THE BUG!” Mori screeched out, incensed, flapping a wing at his chest as he stomped his talons on the ground, “WHY AM I NOT IN IT?!”

  Stella and Dusty in her palm flinched at the Flying-Types tone, but Valerie kept her cool, “Oh, does this have to do with picking Dusty instead of you?”

  “YES!” Screamed to the skies before nodding vigorously, “YES! YES! YES! WHY NOT?!”

  “Oh, well…” Valerie acted unsure, looking towards Stella for guidance, “Why don’t you tell Mori yourself?”

  “Mori…” Stella pulled Scatterbug defensively towards herself. The small Bug-Type was trembling at the sight of the angry bird in front of it, “I can’t win a contest with a Pokemon that won’t listen to me…You still don’t trust me, and I can’t see myself winning a Contest with a Pokemon that won’t listen…”

  ‘Whoa, was that from the heart?’ Larry thought he was in a soap opera with the way Stella was looking at Mori in front of her, ‘She’s got a real talent for acting if she can keep her composure.’

  Mori, meanwhile, looked ready to tear into his trainer, literally, ‘I better get between them…’

  Stepping between Pokemon and Trainer, Larry got on his best act, “Mori, calm down.”

  “I AM!”

  “You definitely aren’t, you should go back into your Pokeball for now and calm down.” He advised, “You look like you’re about to hurt Stella.”

  “I WON’T!”

  Just when Larry was about to throw out a life lesson, Mori cut him off, pushing him back a few steps, “Look-”

  “NO! I WON’T TAKE THIS!” He stepped up close to him, barely stopping from pressing his beak into his nose as he berated him, “YOU THINK THAT STUPID BUG CAN DO ANYTHING I CAN DO?! NO! IT'S GONNA LOSE THE COMPETITION AND NOT DO A THING! I’VE BEEN WORKING HARD ON THIS FOR YEARS NOW! YEARS!”

  “YEARS OF TRAINING WITH MY MOM AND THIS STUPID GIRL IS GOING TO THROW ME OUT TO THE WAYSIDE BECAUSE OF SOME DUMB BUG SHE FOUND IN A DIRTY, OVERGROWN FOREST?! HUH?!”

  “Mori-”

  “NO! YOU’RE NOT TALKING! I’M TALKING!” The Flying-Type interrupted, its wings spread wide in an intimidating posture as the humans watched from the wayside, “THIS THING CAN’T EVEN THINK PROPERLY YET! LOOK AT IT!” He pointed a sharp wing at the Bug, now held protectively in Stella’s arms, “THIS STUPID BUG DOESN’T EVEN KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON RIGHT NOW!”

  Stella tried to calm the Steel-Type down, “Mori, please-”

  But Mori exploded on her as well, “AND YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH AS WELL!” Mori turned back to Larry, “YOU THINK YOU KNOW ANYTHING?! HUH?! YOU THINK YOU CAN DO BETTER?! THINK YOU KNOW IF THIS IDIOT BUG WILL BE A BIG HIT?!”

  “Scatter!” The bug cried out in a panic as the mane of white fur around its neck began to bristle. It leaped from Stella’s arms, down onto the ground in front of her, “Bug!”

  “IT'S STUPID! IT’S UNFAIR! IT’S- IT’S…” As Mori raged, a small cloud of black specks left the bug's vicinity and floated over and towards him, landing on top of Mori’s silvery, metallic body without a sound.

  “IT’S! IT IS-” As the bird tried to lift its wing into another tirade, its muscles seemed to work against itself. Its head is fighting to turn even a smidge towards the offending wing, “W-What is…”

  When Mori shifted to look at the wing, his legs gave out under him, and Mori tripped on his own weight, “Wha- What?! oOf!”

  Mori was sprawled out on the floor helplessly as he cawed weakly, “H-Heeeelp…I can’t mooove…”

  The Bug inched past Mori in front of him and towards Larry and began to rub itself on his side protectively with a trill. “Aww, thanks for helping me out, Dusty!” Larry reciprocated the affection by petting the Bug, ‘Aww~. Did Dusty think I was being attacked by Mori and try to protect me?’

  Stella stepped closer to Mori and was about to poke him, “W-What just happened?

  Valerie stopped her short, “Don’t touch him. Remember the Pokedex Entry? That’s Stun Spore, it paralyzes.”

  “Oooohhhhh…” Mori seemed to tremble at the mention, “Ooouuuchh…”

  “I’m sorry, Mori!” Stella bowed to her Pokemon, “I didn’t think Dusty would do that!”

  “Well, he kinda put it on himself,” Valerie argued, “With how angry he was acting, he was bound to put Dusty on edge.”

  “Ooooohhh…” Mori simply groaned back, the feeling inside his body still lost.

  “I’ll get you healed up at the Center, return for now!” Stella pulled out his Pokeball and recalled him as he ground out the same groan as before.

  As Larry went back to his lookout position, he heard Valerie whisper into Stella’s ear, “I did say I had Paralyze Heals with me, y’know?”

  …

  With Mori out of the count, Larry was accompanied by Sybil the rest of the way. Larry couldn’t be entirely sure with how unresponsive the bird's face was, but he thought he could see a smirk on her face as she was released. As their group started walking again, Larry got into chatting with Sybil as they walked.

  “Let me guess, you saw what happened to Mori?”

  “Yes, I watched the event from inside my Pokeball.” Sybil’s eyes were focused on the treelines in their surroundings, on a Budew relaxing in a rare spot of sunlight breaking between the sea of treetops, but she responded anyway, “I severely doubt he will get his way in the end.”

  “I understand his frustration, but how does he expect this whole trainer deal to work?” Larry wondered, “His attitude isn’t going to do anyone any good, least of all himself.”

  “Perhaps it is something instilled from his parents,” Sybil advised, “A Pokemon’s parentage can instill a variety of factors into its young.”

  The theory was sound to Larry, it's what he and Valerie have been trying to do for a while now, ‘How do you get a rich, spoiled kid to wake up? Get him away from his money and show him a piece of the real world.’

  Now he wasn’t entirely sure if his plan was working, but the fact that Mori hadn’t immediately blown up when Valerie and Stella started talking about Dusty boded well for him, “I think he’s been improving…”

  “I agree with your assessment.” Sybil spoke, “Yet I also see Mori himself as not entirely at fault.”

  “Hm?”

  “Please remind yourself of his words,” She urged, “According to him, he had been training to compete in contests for his entire youth. I severely doubt his outrage to be simple childish anger, but a reaction to clear injustice.”

  Larry cringed when he was reminded of the Steel-Types freakout, “Yeah…I guess you’re right.”

  How Stella and Valerie managed to ragebait the bird with a single sentence was becoming more evident now, “I guess there isn’t just a lot riding on this journey for Stella, but also Mori himself.”

  “It is obvious he is eager to prove himself,” His Psychic teammate reminded him, “His manners are simply lacking.”

  “I guess Stella and Valerie are being pretty harsh on him.” Larry spoke as he returned to his thoughts, ‘Does this count as bullying? I think it was a lot…’

  The conclusion was pretty obvious, “Maybe I should go ahead and tell Valerie to ease up on him a little…”

  “With enough encouragement, Mori will come to the conclusion himself.” His teammate spoke.

  The two walked in silence for less than half a minute before Larry couldn’t help himself from continuing to chat.

  “You didn’t see it in the future or something?” Larry wondered.

  She readjusted her wings with a sigh at the mention of her future sight, “Future Sight allows me to see a variety of things, but not everything. In this case, it was but a simple bit of common sense.”

  “I see…”

  After a short moment, she added, “Personally, I would’ve liked to have had knowledge about those Beedrill’s existence beforehand.”

  “Really? You didn’t?” The fact made Larry curious, “You spoke about it before evolving, but how exactly does that future sight of yours work anyway?”

  “I wouldn’t have let the event come to pass,” Sybil spoke, slightly insulted, “As for the experience of future sight…It…is hard to explain…” She spoke apologetically.

  “Try me.”

  Sighing once again, Sybil gave it her best shot, “As mentioned before, Xatu see the future in one of their eyes and the past in the other, countless futures and pasts sprawl out before me at every possible moment.”

  “Whoa…” Just the sheer implication of that statement made Larry look at Sybil in a completely different light, “So, you see multiple ways the future can go, and the past could’ve gone?”

  “...That is a lacking, but acceptable assessment.” Sybil nodded, her eyes still tracking the forest, “While my evolution has given rise to heightened future sight abilities, it has also hindered me in some way.”

  “Hm? How?” Larry wondered, “Wouldn’t seeing the future and past at the same time be really useful?”

  “You are forgetting the most important time in one's life,” Sybil mentioned ruefully, “The present.”

  “What about it?”

  “Consider my two eyes, one of which sees the future and another sees the past,” She explained, “That leaves me with zero eyes to view the present.”

  “What?!” Larry swung his head towards his Flying-Type teammate, “You can’t see the present?!”

  Sybil was surprised by his animated reaction, “...I am able to, but the act is not as simple as simply opening my eyes. My vision…ebbs and flows with time. I am forced to put my focus on the present if I wish to experience it.”

  “You have to focus to stay in the present?” He couldn’t even imagine what that was like, “Like focusing on what is ahead of you instead of looking at the future and the past?”

  She nodded, “If I stray into my thoughts, I can easily lose sight of the present.”

  ‘Xatu are known for standing still, day in and day out.’ Larry remembered, ‘I don’t remember the full picture, but don’t some dex entries also talk about how they’re forced to experience the future? I thought her evolution would make her future sight easier, not an absolute necessity for her life experience. Is that why Xatu are always seen standing still, staring at the sun?’

  “I don’t know how to feel about you keeping watch then,” He spoke in a concerned tone, “On one hand, you might catch something in the future, but not the present, right?”

  Sybil hitched in her steps, craning her head towards him in confusion, “Tell me, how would I be walking if I could not see the present right now?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Larry uttered, “Sorry…”

  She sighed again, “Apology accepted. Explaining the concept of future sight is a wildly complicated process. I think you have received an acceptable explanation.”

  “Thank you.” He spoke honestly.

  Sybil took his thanks in stride, “My evolution is quite obviously a positive, yet it has given me a new perspective on my parent, who decided to stand in a single place for days on end and simply watch the future.” Her tone turned nostalgic, “In different futures, I could see myself following his example…”

  “What about now?” Larry wondered.

  The bird's tone turned serious, “I want to see where Valerie will take us. What the future has in store for us.”

  “Why not take a look yourself?” He joked.

  “I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise now, would I?” She joked back.

  …

  “So this isn’t that demanding on you?” Larry reiterated his worries after a few minutes, “I don’t want you to overexert yourself.”

  “Indeed, my focus on the present is tiring over longer periods,” Sybil explained again, wriggling her talons against the dirt with a groan, “Yet in our case, I think my feet will capitulate long before my focus will.”

  “You definitely aren’t built for this.” Larry joked, “Then just tell us when that is, and Patrat will take over for you.” He spoke with a hail over to his rodent friend, “He is actually built for this.”

  “Thank you.” His teammate gave a quick bow towards the two of them.

  Their group walked in silence for a bit before Larry's curiosity got the better of him, “You think you will be able to teleport us from city to city eventually?”

  Sybil took the question in and digested it for a moment, “Since our trainer wishes it to be so, I will train myself to do so. I think teleportation over that far of a distance is very…optimistic, yet I can’t say I am not excited by the prospect myself.”

  “I do like exploring,” Larry explained, “But who likes backtracking? A bit monotonous, don’t you think?”

  “It would certainly be quite a bit more convenient.” She hummed in thought, “My own thoughts have been focused on combat.”

  “Ooh yeah!” His mind went back to the Gym fight, “You really showed up Persian, even though you should’ve been outmatched. Those Teleports are gonna come in clutch at a slower Gym like Brocks even more.”

  “Brock?” Sybil repeated.

  “Oh, the Gym Leader of Pewter City!” Larry explained, “He uses Rock-Types, so most of his Pokemon aren’t that fast.”

  Sybil turned to him with a confused gaze, “Where did you learn of him?”

  Larry felt himself begin to sweat, "U-Umm…”