Pedestal: Chapter 74

So now that Alice had been (reluctantly and semi-accidentally) named, it was time to introduce her to the rest of the team. This was much, much easier said than done. I figured out why she was so calm now; she took one look at Des, shrieked, and flapped off in the opposite direction.

It was a good thing I'd had the forethought to introduce her to the others one at a time, otherwise I might not have ever caught back up to her. I finally did, however, though I was sweating and panting by the time I rescued her from a roof. She calmed down again once she was in my arms.

But one look at Des caused her to panic and squawk. He stared at us both in bewilderment, obviously not having a clue as to why she was behaving like that. I returned him, and almost instantly, she was perched on my shoulder again, preening her wings.

"…Why are you so scared of Des?" I asked worriedly. Would she react that badly to the other three? If so, that would be a big problem.

"Did he attack her?" Jude asked.

"No--I told you. I caught her by accident. We never even saw her."

"Here, you hold her tightly this time. You can borrow my glove if she scratches you." He took one off and tossed it to me, and I gingerly moved her to that hand. He had showed me before how to hold a bird's claws to prevent it from flying away, and I was thankful for it now. Alice eyed me with obvious suspicion. "Try releasing one of your other Pokemon. I'd suggest Carlita. They're both female and Alice should know instinctively that she had a type advantage, so that may work to calm her down."

Holding my arm and Alice out away from me, I tossed the pokeball down on the ground. Alice surveyed Carlita with remote interest, nothing more. Carlita, on the other hand, was immediately in front of us, standing on her tiptoes to inspect the new teammate. "Hey! Carlita--back off!" I held Alice away from her, scared of a catfight breaking out. Alice tweeted in annoyance at the sudden move, but otherwise, she really didn't seem to mind Carlita's close presence at all. "…Huh. Good call, Jude."

"I have those sometimes," he replied with as much dignity as he could muster.

I instructed Carlita to sit down in front of us, and reluctantly released my grip on Alice's feet. She hopped over onto my elbow, stared at Carlita for a long moment, and then looked back at me with a glance that very clearly said, "Well, what do you want me to do now?"

"What's her name?" Carlita asked, practically vibrating in her effort to stay still.

"Alice," I said. Alice twittered and bobbed her head in agreement. At least she seemed to like the name, too. Or maybe she was just easily attached to things like I was. "Alice, this is Carlita. She's the other girl on the team."

The Swablu hopped over and landed neatly on Carlita's hat-like thing. She said something quietly and fluttered down to the ground, regarding Carlita with something like a grin. Carlita snorted at her. "Yeah right."

I opened my mouth to ask, but Jude gestured frantically at me. I shrugged in confusion at him. When he didn't respond, I returned my two girls (two! That was something I'd have to get used to) and asked, "What?"

"If they're having a conversation, don't ask them about it! They could be bonding, and if you need to be privy to what they're talking about, Carlita would have translated for you," he said impatiently. I somehow doubted my Breloom would translate for me. Not for a lack of caring, but for a lack of thinking about it. "They seem to get along, so don't question it. Just be grateful."

"Yeah, but that's one for two right now. Kostya creeps the other three out as it is, and Ike… I don't know, he could be pretty vicious to her." I hadn't expected her to dislike Des of all of the team members. But at least she and Carlita were fine…

"I'd suggest your gh-ghost next. He'll at least behave, won't he? And we can see if she's just scared of Des, or male Pokemon." Oh boy. If Alice didn't like guys, that'd be a major problem.

"But--wait. She likes me."

"You're human."

"But--still."

"Fine, maybe she only dislikes Des because he's bigger than her. I don't know."

"Carlita's bigger than she is, too…" I mumbled defensively, glancing down at the great ball in my hand. Alice came back out with a flurry of cloudy wings. A beat later, Konstantin came out, too--and predictably, went for my face. I managed to duck in time, and as a result, he latched onto Jude instead. The breeder screamed very shrilly, which thankfully caused the Duskull to let go of him in confusion.

"Comrade! I--"

"Kostya, no tackling! Meet Alice!" I held up the Swablu almost like a shield. Alice looked back and forth between us, alarmed, but didn't start panicking. I slowly lowered her, surprised--and thankful.

"This is Alice? A new comrade already?" Konstantin now lost interest in me and studied her intently, one paw covering the teeth of his skull mask. Alice tweeted at him and fluffed up. He giggled guiltily. "You did get a bird. She can fly, correct? She's so small…" In response to the jibe, Alice flew out of my hands and pecked at his face. "I'm sorry! I-I apologize!" he shouted, covering his face with his hands as he tried to get away from her. She followed him, however, still chirping and squawking loudly.

"Is this considered progress?" Jude, having recovered from his fright, stood behind me now. He peered over my shoulder, squinting at the two.

"She's not afraid of him… And I think I like this turn of events. I'm not the one getting my face attacked for once." I shrugged, feeling a little guilty for it.

"Call her off! I am sorry, I did not mean to call you small!" Konstantin shouted, vanishing into the shadow below him. He reappeared behind Jude--I had never seen another human being go so pale so fast--and hid behind my head, panting. Alice swung around in the air, looking around for just moments before spotting him again. "I'm sorry!"

"Promise to not attack me every time you come out and I'll stop her," I told him.

"I'm not attacking you, comrade, I just--Yes, okay!" He ducked back into the shadow as Alice pelted at him again. I threw out my hands and caught her in midair, very grateful for the glove Jude loaned me. Konstantin reappeared in the shadow of a nearby building, looking frightened. I looked down in amazement at the Swablu in my arms. She wasn't struggling or fighting me, though she was glaring at me reproachfully. Maybe this team would survive her addition after all.

"Alice, don't attack Kostya anymore. He's your teammate." She looked down at her wing and murmured something I assumed was an agreement. "Kostya, you don't attack my face anymore."

"I'm not attacking you! It's just--I am not used to not being near you at all times. I worry about you. I'm glad you're still safe whenever I see you."

"Still safe? I can take care of myself--a bit--!" I said crossly. His excuse didn't hold much water. Then again, with his personality and sense of duty, not to mention the look on his face right then, I wouldn't doubt it if he really did feel like hugging me every time he came out.

"A bit," he replied, sounding much too smug.

"Return," I deadpanned. Alice made a sound that might've been a giggle. So she had issues with Des, bickered with Konstantin, and got along more or less with Carlita. That left only Ike, and I had to work out her and Des' problems.

Ike, much to my (and Jude's) surprise, didn't do a single thing to Alice. He barely even spoke to her, instead mumbling out some greeting and then requesting to go back into his ball. Alice looked vaguely miffed at being mostly ignored like that, but I figured it was one of the better results of their first encounter with each other.

"Okay… So what's with you and Des, huh?" I asked peevishly, plucking her off of the top of my head. She had settled there earlier and seemed to like the spot; I didn't want it to become a habit of hers. Alice looked away from me, clicking her beak. "Alice, why don't you like Des?"

"Swablu," she replied shortly.

Right. I still had to buy a translator for her. I sighed and released her. She fluttered over to land, light as a feather, on the ground. She practically floated. She hopped about, tweeted a bit, and pretended to otherwise ignore me. Curious, I decided to experiment.

I released Des. She didn't start to panic until she saw him; it wasn't any Pokemon being let out that bothered her, just Des. That was worth knowing, right? He flicked his ears back in annoyance at her shrill cry. I returned him again. It took a couple moments, but she calmed down again, glaring at me with watery eyes.

"Alice, I'm going to release Des," I told her slowly. She nodded.

And this time, she didn't freak out.

"So she doesn't like surprises?" Jude remarked, chin in hand. I shrugged. It made sense, I guess. "But then why did she freak out the second time you released him…?"

"I guess we didn't announce it with trumpets or something. But--I didn't really say it for any of the others, and Kostya came out without a warning, too."

"…Maybe she just doesn't like him. I don't know. Maybe she was just doing it for the attention."

"I don't think she'd do that. She seems too sweet to me." To prove my point, Alice hopped over and batted her eyes at us. Des snickered. "I think it's something else."

"Then what?"

"I don't know! Isn't that what we're trying to figure out?" I said in exasperation, throwing up my hands.

"Maybe she doesn't like fire Pokemon?" Des suggested, leaning against me. I nearly fell over because of it.

"Maybe she just doesn't like Camerupt. The Pokemon in this area are a little used to seeing strong trainers, so she could've come across one before and had something happen," Jude suggested.

Alice tweeted angrily at our feet, drawing our collective attention. Jude and I just stared at her, however. Des sighed and translated, "She, uh, demands to know why we're not just asking her."

"…Alice, why don't you like Des?" I asked, a little nonplussed by her attitude.

She chirped something rapidly, hopping once. Des translated once again. "She says that she doesn't dislike me. That's good."

"Then why were you carrying on earlier?"

More chirping and tweeting. Jude was right; she did have a pretty musical voice. "She says that she thought it was appropriate."

"Appropriate for what?" Jude and I said in unison. We looked at each other, and then back at the Swablu on the ground in front of us.

This time, she talked for the longest period of time yet. She even gestured to us with her cottony wings. Des nodded in approval by the time she was done; that only made us more curious. I'd have to get that translator soon. "She says she was frightened and alarmed at being captured like that. She also asked if you'd like it if you were suddenly sucked into a pokeball and whisked away without forewarning."

"Um… No?"

"She says she's fine with it now, though. She just wanted to panic a little to see if you'd let her go or not. …Trainer, I like her. She's funny," Des remarked simply. Alice beamed at him. She said something else, and he added, "She does say that she doesn't like surprises. She asks you not to surprise her anymore, especially like that."

"But then--why was it only you--ah, nevermind." I gave up at that point. Alice twittered, which I assumed was her version of a giggle. Unfortunately, that set the tone for more of our relationship after that.

Even more unfortunately, I couldn't keep my word that I wouldn't surprise her anymore. For at that moment, a Gallade Teleported onto the scene. Alice shrieked and immediately took to the air. I dove after her and grabbed her by one foot, but my forward momentum meant that I didn't stop her. I was just dragged along behind her.

The Gallade grabbed me by the back of the shirt, reached over and grabbed Jude by the upper arm, and said, "I believe the English term for this is 'yoink'." Then we all Teleported away.