Heart thudding in her chest, Kate pushes herself upright from where she’d thrown herself off the trail to get away from… whatever that was.
She looks across the trail to where Tyler and Sam are doing the same, one looking up the path to make sure nothing else is coming while the other looks to where the screaming blur went.
Hesitantly, Kate gets back up and dimly registers that the front of her pants are now caked in mud after she was so careful to avoid it.
Ten seconds ago she’d be really upset about that, but with the adrenaline still running through her system any feelings about the mess are muted.
After giving the others a moment to stand up as well, she slowly raises a hand and waves at her travel mates.
“Um… Everyone alright?” She asks, answered by two nods after Sam gives himself a patdown. “What was that?!”
There’s a moment of silence before Tyler shrugs.
“...I think it was… pink?” He says, voice titled as if half guessing, but before he can say anything else the sound of a heavy thunk before the crackle of splintering wood echoes through the air.
Looking towards the source of the sound, Kate sees the top of a tree just hidden behind a shallow bend in the trail begin to tilt slightly and starts putting it together.
That was… a pokemon of some kind, and a human, sliding down the hill at incredible speed, who’d just hit a tree hard enough to almost topple it!
Oh no.
The realization has Kate break into a dead sprint across the muddy further down the trail, shouting for her friends to follow as she struggles to keep her feet and move as fast as she can toward where the impact happened.
They had to have been going as fast as a car just now! Faster maybe! Then they just rammed into a tree!?
As she runs Kate rips her distress beacon from where she’d clipped it onto her belt and cant decide whether she’s relieved or even more worried that as she rounds the corner she hears people shouting, almost screaming–
Kate finally gets around the shallow bend and sees one human and one ‘mon, standing next to the titled tree they hit hard enough to strip the bark, create an indent, and tilt the entire tree almost to collapse, struggling to stand straight as they scream… with laughter.
…What?
Kate lowers her beacon from where she’d just been about to send out an emergency signal, almost falling onto her butt again as she abruptly slows down from a sliding sprint.
Because, despite the fact that the just rammed into a tree hard enough to almost knock it over, they’re just standing there laughing, the large pink ‘mon’s laughter alien but unmistakable as she’s warbling hard enough she’s struggling to breathe, her bulk–wait a second.
“Amelia!?” Kate shouts in shock, recognition of the unbelievably large chansey shifting to suddenly look at the Joy’s unmistakable hair and face, twisted into a rictus of pained humor as tears cut tracks through her mud covered features.
At the sound of her voice Amelia’s head snaps up to look back at her, tears swimming in her eyes and, after a few failed attempts to speak, holds up a finger for them to wait as she composes herself.
It takes long enough for Kate to hear her friends round the bend and their own shocked shouts of recognition before the Joy can compose herself with a noise that’s halfway between a cough and a yell before straightening her posture to be perfectly upright and clasping her hands at her waist, the classic Joy pose looking completely ridiculous in with her entire front covered in mud.
“Oh hey! I didn't think I’d see you guys again!” She says, her chipper tone completely at odds with what Kate feels like should be a normal reaction to… all of this. “I didn't think I’d see you again! Sorry about almost running into you all, Chansey slipped. Does anyone need medical attention?”
The instant the ‘mon’s name is mentioned, especially once the word ‘medical attention’ comes up, Chansey’s already quieting warble cuts off in the middle of a laugh as she stands up fully again and looks them over with a dissecting eye.
Kate is… at a loss for words, the rapid shift in expectations compounded by Amelia acting like any of this is normal has her just repeatedly opening her mouth and failing to say a word.
Thankfully Tyler has no such issue.
“No! We’re not just gonna ignore that!” He shouts as he comes up alongside Kate. “You just slid– How are you– Do you need a doctor?”
Amelia smiles and shakes her head at the question as she starts walking toward them, Chansey following a few steps behind.
“No, thankfully I’m fine. Chansey’s the one that hit the tree and…” She trails off, looking over her shoulder at the ‘mon.
“Chan an an chansey.” The ‘mon chatters, her voice carrying a distinctive almost subaudible low tone that Kate’s sure she would have noticed if it had been there the last time they met.
Whatever the ‘mon says has Amelia tilt her head the slightest of degrees to the left.
“...Really? Not even a stress fracture?” She asks, turning back toward them as the ‘mon nods. “Apparently Chansey just got some bruises but… there really should something else, we hit that tree at–”
“An chan.” The ‘mon interrupts, raising her arm as it flares for a moment with green sparkles.
“Alright, fine.” Amelia replies without looking back at her partner as a Swellow lands on the large ‘mon’s head. “Are you all sure you’re alright? I was a little… distracted but I’m sure I saw someone jumping out of the way, I’d really hate if–”
“That was me.” Kate interrupts, raising her hand and stepping forward to get out of this loop. “I’m fine but… you were going pretty fast.” She says with a slight chuckle, the humor starting to come to her now that the worry and confusion is fading.
To this Chansey steps forward, almost looming above her as she reaches out with an arm faintly glittering green.
“Chan?”
Kate smiles and shakes her head.
“Thank you, but I’m fine, really.” She says to which Sam cuts in after her.
“Yea, she’s not the one who hit a tree hard enough to do that!” He reiterates, pointing at the slanted tree that’s so thick Kate would barely be able to wrap her arms around it, in the process forcing her to acknowledge it.
Amelia is acting like it’s no big deal, like what happened to her is normal, and Kate is not going to be the person who tries to unpack that.
At the reminder, the Joy looks at the tree, giggles, then forces her expression into a grimace.
“Yea, that was… pretty dangerous.” She admits as she starts wiping mud off of her face, assisted about halfway through the process by a purple glowing washcloth that floats out of her bag and hovers until she grabs it. “Just got lucky I guess. Thanks Chansey.”
There’s a short and slightly awkward pause after that, eventually filled by Kate as she realizes no one else is gonna fill it.
“So…” She starts, saying the first word without knowing what to say next. “When did you get out of Lavaridge?”
“Oh… uh…” Amelia hesitates, almost sounding surprised by the question. “Yesterday morning… I dunno the exact–”
“Chans.”
“Around eight thirty.” She corrects herself. “...Uh… What about–”
“Right! Walk and talk!” Sam interjects, not looking up from his map that he’d pulled out sometime during this conversation. “I’m just about sick of all this mud on me and there’s some kind of river or stream or something like… two clicks down trail.”
The information seems to capture everyone’s attention and almost immediately the group is moving again down trail, now one trainer and two ‘mon larger.
As they walk the conversation gets significantly less awkward, shifting from stilted nonsense to the slightly meandering path of any group discussion, but as Sam is telling the story of how he managed to beat Flannery with only grass types for the millionth time, this time to a new person, Tyler gets Kate’s attention and gently guides them to be a few steps behind the other group before leaning in.
“You good?” He whispers. “You’re normally all… social-y, but you’ve been acting–”
“Hey. I dunno if you noticed, but that was weird.” She whisper shouts back.
That entire situation was weird. The rapid emotional shifts, the absurdity of the situation, Amelia constantly giving off the impression that this is normal.
Kate almost trips over her own feet as she considers the idea that all this might actually be normal to the girl, then dismisses it out of hand, because that’s insane.
But even aside from that, the fact the girl is Nur– a Joy does still tint her perspective, as much as she tries not to let it, because seeing Amelia do the classic Joy pose as she’s covered in mud immediately had her half expecting to see a center spontaneously appear around them.
But Amelia made it very clear what she thinks about being called ‘Nurse Joy’ even in the center, and Kate’s not an idiot, practically half her thoughts at the hot spring was constant internal reminders to not slip up, with any luck she’ll never know Amelia’s reaction to being called ‘Nurse Joy’ off the clock.
Tyler nods, looking at her face for a moment as if searching for something before looking forward with half a shrug.
“Yea. That makes sense, just checking.” He whispers back, “All good?”
Kate nods back.
“All good.”
With that they slowly start to pull back towards the rest and, just a few minutes after they finally arrive at the ‘river or stream or something’ is a small, relatively quick moving creek, swollen with the recent rainwater and flowing parallel to the path until both disappear behind a bend.
Unfortunately it’s flowing too quickly for them to get in, but after going down the trail for a bit they come to a spot where the creek widens, forming an area of relatively still water.
Coming to a stop, Sam immediately drops his bag into the slightly damp grass on the other side of the trail, groaning as he pinches his overcast sun dried clothes and dirt crumbles off of it.
“Finally. I swear if we didn't find this I’d actually tie a rope to a tree and just throw myself in. Pressure wash me clean.”
Tyler laughs at the idea as Kate lets her bag slide off her shoulders and places it next to her friend’s.
“That sounds awesome.” He agrees, throwing off his own bag. “We should do that!”
Sam hesitates for a second, glances at the fast moving water, then shakes his head as Tyler wades in.
“Somewhere with less rocks–”
“Fewer rocks.” Kate interrupts, to which Sam sends a glare.
“Please don't start that again.”
Kate gives a smug smile as she walks closer to the water.
“I’ll stop when you start using words properly.” She responds, as she takes her boots and socks off, hesitates, then steps into the water and immediately regrets it.
“Cold!” She screams out on reflex, stops with barely her ankles in the water, then takes another slow step. “Whyyyy is it so cooold!”
She almost walks right back out, but the feeling of her muddy clothes clinging to her skin is just enough for her to work up her courage and fling herself forward.
The moment the water gets to her thighs she regrets the decision, but the water does not stop at her thighs, the only reason she does not scream is because she threw herself in a kind of wading bellyflop and her head is underwater.
This was a mistake! She’d thought that if she just got it over with it wouldn't be that cold! But it’s so cold!
Whyyyyy?!
Kate pulls her head out of the water with a gasp, trying to stand on the bottom where she is only to realize she can't.
Treading water, she rotates around to where Sam and Amelia are looking at her, Amelia’s partner in the process of removing her own bag as the two humans look at her with hesitant expressions.
Amelia breaks the silence first.
“...Is it really that cold?”
It’s colder.
“Oh nah, I was just being dramatic.” Kate laughs. “You know it’s actually pretty deep, I bet you could jump in from that rock over there, just let me make sure it’s deep over there too.”
Sam doesn't believe her for even a second, but Amelia’s face relaxes almost immediately and it’s telling that neither Tyler, who’s in the water, nor Sam who knows her, is calling her on it.
Checking to confirm that it’s just as deep, and cold, beneath the rock as it is everywhere else, Kate smiles and waves for her new Joy friend to jump in as she swims a short distance away to give her room.
Watching the girl take off her boots and socks before shuffling up to the lip of the rock with a hesitant expression on her face, the trainer has to duck her mouth underwater so as not to give away the game before Amelia crouches down and takes the plunge.
“Gah! Cold! Cold! Whyyyyyy is it so cold!?” She screams as soon as her head breaches water, answered by laughter from everyone else as she begins to tread water.
Kate smiles and gives a thumbs up as she swims back toward where she can properly stand so she can rub the mud out of her clothes.
Hopefully Amelia will stick around for at least a few days, after getting two badges Chris decided he was done and wanted to go home, so the group feels a bit empty, and hiking stopped being fun about a week ago.
With any luck the Joy will add some excitement.---A/N: Not... entirely happy with this chapter. Distinct possibility I might rewrite it. I dont think I'll change any plot points, but... just something isnt right I feel. I'll sleep on it.