Chapter Text
"Oooooh! Fried pidgeotto! I love fried pidgeotto!" Gloria announced.
As the young girl examined the meat on the kabob stick that happened to be bundled up in a large glass mason jar on the merchant's cart, a little fluffy ape-like creature with the fur color of a bright green granny-smith apple, popped his bulbous head from behind her cardigan.
It was a bright and sunny day at the pleasant pokemon seaside town of Plainville. The weekend farmers market was buzzing with the excitement of the upcoming holiday parade later this morning. A young Pokemon trainer and her beloved first pokemon, Grookey, were enjoying the sights and sounds of the English countryside. The ocean waves provided a nice ambience to the chatter of the townsfolk, the gaggle of live street performers– most of them accompanied by some kind of pokemon to assist in their acrobatics, fire spinning, or juggling to win over the crowds. A chimchar climb on its owners back leaped into the air and caught the flaming stick the man was twirling and the audience cheered.
But out of all the wonderful sights and sounds, Gloria's Grookey was hyperfocused on one particular item. He immediately began soaking up every inch of the crispy covered delectable bird meat with his two enormous black eyes. Pure innocent wonder. As he observed the food, it was honestly hard to tell it was meat at all! Especially when it had such a sweet-smelling, crunchy coating of crumbly bread and seasonings. To which, it smelled mouthwatering, despite the Pokemon's fruitarian and high-fiber diet. But that wasnt even the best part. For you see, it also came pierced on a stick. All Grookies liked sticks, like, alot. So naturally, all this Grookey knew was that he needed to have it, and he needed to have it now.
"Groo….key…" Gloria's Grookey squeaked in soft, innocent wonder, into her ear. Without taking his eyes off the prize, as if hypnotically drawn to the unfamiliar food. Did food really come with a free stick? He didn’t want to ever look away. He had to have it. He would die if he didn’t have it.
This just made Gloria giggle and she pulls out the cash her mum gave to her before hitting the seaside market and points politely to the skewer holding up two fingers with her other hand. Grookey watches in utter amazement.
“That will be 20 pokebucks." The food market vendor says in a low, gruff voice with a clenched jaw. His chin was so enormous, that with a hat on, it was difficult to see the expression in his eyes, but his voice had just the thread of warmth. His red flannel that black suspenders came up over top of hiked his pants up way past his pot belly.
The young girl forked over one of the two of her last remaining crinkled up 20 pokebucks–and in no time at all, he expectedly handed over the two fried pidgeottos on a stick. What was unexpected however, was what came seconds before the stick was in Gloria's hands…
In a flash, Grookey leaps into the air, snatches the two treats on a stick with his little pudgy graspers and leaps onto the candy cane striped tarp canopy of the food cart!
"Grookey!!!" Gloria yells immediately, stomping her foot.
"Grookey, come back here this minute!"
A few people passing by, do in fact turn their heads and look up to see the grass-type pokemon on the merchant’s cart, but after a brief pause, few think anything of it. As mildly concerning as it was, it just didn't seem out of the ordinary for a young trainer to temporarily lose control of her pokemon. But a few people giggled and this made Gloria grumble and her face turn a shade of red. She hissed through her teeth and pointed her finger at him;
"Alright, you listen here mister! If you don’t get down here...I...I will make you get down here!!” The young girl stammard. She could feel the heat building up in her throat.
Grookey turns around and spanks his ‘lil tushy at her, while making a chirping noise to mock and tease her. This causes that small crowd of people behind Gloria to laugh even more hysterically.
"Key! Key!"
Gloria groans. "Alright little man! You asked for this!”
Digging her feet into the dirt, Gloria pulled her arm back and twisted her torso. With the sweat dripping from her brow, she paused to squint fiercely as she then threw her fist with all the will she had in her. Out of her grasp, she let a Pokeball fly out of her hand, into the air. The pokeball busted open. Out of a blue flash where the pokeball shell lay, emerged a fluffy chestnut, four-legged pokemon, with just about the biggest incisors jutting from his mouth. Just above that, the creature had the beadiest blackest eyes.
"BIDOOF I CHOOSE YOU!”
The bidoof stared blankly up at his trainer, and blinked in confusion. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was facing the wrong way. He took all the time he needed to gradually waddle around on his hind legs–in a circle–so he was at least facing in Grookey's general direction.
“.....Bidoof!” Bidoof grumbled.
"Alright Bidoof, use Tackle!" Born with every fighter in her nobel family's bloodline, Gloria commanded her pokemon with all of her might.
"Bidoof!”
Grookey watches from the canopy of the food cart, as Gloria's bidoof starts scampering on all fours, and headbutts guiltlessly into the food cart. Grookey, completely unharmed but feels the rock of the cart, squeaks in fear and leaps and climbs up a nearby light pole. Tragically. Losing one of the sticks of fried piggiodo down into the oceanKnocking against. The rocky cliffs. below.
Out of startle, Gloria sputters out; "D-do something!”
But this just confuses the already pretty perplexed bidoof even more. He thought he was already doing a good job! He cocks his head and blinks at her with a blank look. And so, Gloria’s two pokemon just sort of keep side glancing at each other with mountains of complex confusion, before Grookey decides to sit down on a nearby rocky ledge, and begins to nibble at his delicious salty protein packed treat, while overlooking the grand view of the ocean. He settles down and curls his tail up against his bum to show he had absolutely no intention of of paying attention to anything but his delectable reward. It tastes like sweet, sweet victory..with a hint of savory zest of course! Grookey licks it and there are many visible drippings of saliva. A few drops land on the food cart vendors’'s head.
“Excuse me ma'am but would you mind getting ahold of your Grookey?” He grumbles as he looks up, but quickly has to close his eyes as a few more drops of saliva fall onto his forehead.
Gloria lets out a frustrated sigh. She facepalms her forehead, taps her foot, and soon begins to rub her temples. What now?
Grookey, now drooling and smiling at his wonderful treat, is just about to take a big bite into his snack when a woosh of feathers, a startling screech, plucks the fried pidgeotto and carries it into the sky! It's a Steraptor! The little chimp Pokemon instinctively is gripping his treat for dear life!
"Nooooo!! Grookey!” Cries Gloria.
"Grookey!?" Grookey watched as his trainer waved at him from hundreds of feet below, she began to look like a tiny dot while he flew over city rooftops.
“Grookey let go! Let-”
No use. Steraptors were just too fast at getting up to high altitudes and Gloria was certain her grookey wouldnt even survive the jump let alone hear her.
“Well Bidoof, I guess it's up to us to save Grookey!” Gloria clenched her fist with determination, and lunged forward digging her feet into the gravel. She was getting ready to sprint after the Steraptor.
"...Bidoof?”