NOTES: Well, I've decided to change around Chelsea's personality quite a bit. Or maybe it's not such a great difference and you'll hardly even notice it…?

But anyway, I was getting tired of my attempts at making Chelsea perky and cheerful all time. She just felt so cheesy to me, so… I'm going to make her more… awkward. I think it'll make her feel a bit more authentic, well to me at least.

Anyway, let me know what you think of the change; I'll be eager to see how it seems to go over with everybody. But I'm probably going to keep the change anyway, regardless of anybody's opinions… *evil laugh*

Egh… But I'm so not looking forward to going back and changing all those old chapters… DX

Although, I was thinking of revising everything anyway, and I guess this just might give me more motivation to do it.

Anyway, I'm sorry for the long wait (as usual) and please enjoy.

Spring 11

A Toss for Affection?

'Okay, so… Gannon's shop… it must be here…'

I slowly considered the sturdy wooden house before me. Honestly, I hadn't ever visited the guy before, so I supposed the best-looking house that didn't already belong to someone else I knew had to belong to him. All I really knew was that he was a carpenter, and well… this place looked well-made...

I carefully opened up the door and was greeted with what sounded like a low grumble. Just behind the counter several feet beyond the door sat Ganondorf himself.

Er, I mean Gannon.

"Hi, I was just wondering if I could look over your prices…?"

"O' course! Course! Come right on over, missy!" the burly man grinned, revealing comparatively small and weak-looking teeth.

"Sure. Thanks." But my smile soon faded once I saw his prices…

Why was everything on this island so expensive!

I would definitely have to plan all these expenses out… To be honest, the buildings on the farm would likely fall apart in a few years if I didn't find the money to fix them up a bit. And not to mention, that bridge construction everybody in town wanted me to help pay for…

After gathering my fill of the harshness that is reality, I pushed the lists back to Gannon. "I think I'm going to try for the bridge construction first, once I—"

"Bridge construction! Perfect! Would you like to pay a little extra for my lumber or would you like to save a little and use your own?"

"Oh no!" I hurriedly shook my head. "I'm not actually going to pay for that today. I guess I was just talking to myself… I don't have any money right now."

Gannon trembled slightly. After a few seconds, his face turned a brick red. "WHY CAN'T YAH MAKE UP YER DANGED MIND!" he roared, spraying spit everywhere.

I stumbled backwards in horror, too stunned to even wipe away all the saliva that had flown onto my face. "I-I I'm sorry! I didn't even—Sorry!"

"Oh, Daddy! Are you scaring away the customers again?"

Um… who was that? That voice sounded so… young and feminine… Did he have a niece or something? Who would…?

"Oh! Chelsea!" Gannon suddenly perked up, all anger completely forgotten. "Have you met my daughter, Eliza?"

"Your… daughter…?" I repeated faintly.

"Eliza! Come on out here and meet Chelsea, that rancher girl!"

"I'm right here, Daddy…" a tiny girl, probably not much older than Charlie, stepped out from behind the wall. Without a second thought, she marched right up to me and stared me down, as if she were appraising my worth.

Somehow feeling a bit intimidated by those adorable, yet piercing and disapproving, green eyes, I hurriedly wiped away all that spit from my face and gave her an undoubtedly sheepish grin. "Well, hello… um…?"

"Eliza! My name is Eliza!" she shot back with obvious annoyance.

"Yes, Eliza! It's… nice to meet you!" I said hurriedly, offering my hand to shake.

But she ignored my outstretched hand and returned to her appraisal, even going so far as to touch my clothes and prod at my boots.

"Well…" she began finally, folding her little arms and practically glaring at me, "I wouldn't say you're pretty, but with a little work on your outfit, maybe you could pass off as a little above… okay. Anyway, you'll never be as pretty as me, that's for sure. I'd be willing to give you lessons though, since you obviously need help from a master."

"Uh… Okay…?"

"Ain't she just a doll?" Gannon spoke up, beaming proudly.

"Yeah…" I trailed off, doing my best to conspicuously back away for the door.

oOoOoOo

With a small sigh, I tentatively reached up and knocked on Mirabelle's door.

Regardless of the reassurance Lucario had given me earlier, I still felt that I had a long way to go when it came to caring for Torchic. I needed help. That was for certain.

"Hello!" Julia sang out cheerily, just seconds after bursting through the door. "Hey! Chelsea? Why didn't you just come right in? I mean, you're one of our best customers after all, right?"

"Well… I didn't actually come here to shop…" I pointed out awkwardly, somewhat afraid of being blasted down again for not wanting to purchase something. "You see, I just wanted to… Well, I need help. Could I… ask you for some more tips for raising Torchics?"

"Well, of course! I'd be happy to teach you all about it! Caring for them is a piece of cake, really! Come on!"

"I sure hope so…" I trailed along after her, following her to the back of the house where the fields laid in wait.

She hopped right over the fence without a second thought, although I figured it'd be best for me to just hang back here… behind the fence. There were quite a few cow Pokémon sitting around in the pasture, and, considering that mini war that had gone on between my Torchic and Azurill, I really didn't want to go anywhere near these larger Pokémon. Though they looked harmless enough, just munching on the grass and chatting to each other, I didn't want to imagine what might happen if they decided to start fighting. Azurill and Korra's "weak" battle was more than enough for my liking… I just didn't want to get caught up in something even worse… or worse yet, cause another battle with my ignorance…

"Hey… wait a second…" Julia held a hand over her eyes, blocking out the afternoon sun's rays as she gazed at… none other than Vaughn. Not surprisingly, he was tending to the sheep Pokémon several yards away, paying no mind to either of us. "Wasn't Vaughn supposed to teach you about raising Torchic?"

"Oh, he did!" I jumped in quickly, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. "He helped out a lot; it's just… well, I guess I'm just dumb…"

She turned back around and giggled, waving her arm as if to dismiss the idea, "Oh, don't be silly! You're not dumb at all!"

"Well, close enough. Anyway, I can tell your Torchic really seem to like you… so could you tell me the best way to help mine like me?"

"Well…" Julia glanced skyward, thinking carefully, "I'm sure Vaughn already told you that you need to feed them regularly, take their eggs, and let them outside to play… You'll have to bring them back inside every night, of course… and don't let them out when it's raining… Well, and… aside from that, all you really have to do is throw them every day…That's really all there is to it! Easy peasy!"

"Wait. Do you just say you need to… throw them?"

"Yeah. Like this," Julia stated nonchalantly and ran over to the nearest Torchic, seizing it and holding it up above her head before tossing it into the air.

Upon landing, the Torchic squealed, dancing a little jig before resuming its business of pecking at the grass.

"What… the…" I stared. "This… this has to be some kind of… This is a joke, right?"

"Um… no…" Julia seemed just as confused at my reaction as I was to this outrageous way of befriending Pokémon. "That's what they like. Everybody does it."

"Everybody…?" I paused, trying to consider all this wackiness.

It really seemed stupid as all get out, but… maybe it might work? I mean, that Torchic seemed happy…?

"Does Vaughn throw Torchics too?" I couldn't help but wonder aloud. He seemed like a sensible guy… Not that Julia wasn't sensible… it was just… I couldn't imagine him doing something like that… at all.

"Well, yeah…" Julia shrugged. "If the Pokémon like it, then why not?"

In my mind's eye, a cartoonish yet demonic Vaughn grabbed up Torchic after Torchic and threw them everywhere in a manic frenzy…

I shook my head furiously to get rid of the image. "Okay, let me get this straight… Pokémon actually like to get picked up and then thrown? It's not a form of abuse?"

"I guess it might seem a little strange, but yeah… that's kind of how it is…"

Huh. Well no wonder Lucario was so annoyed with me all the time... I hadn't even thrown him once!

oOoOoOo

You're back early… Lucario paused, looking up from his lunch to shoot me a puzzled look.

Both he and Azurill were sitting on the floor, eating the berries that were spread out on the ground before them. Well, that was sanitary…

"Yeah… I'm too broke to buy seeds, and I haven't gone fishing yet…" I explained, crouching down to scratch between Azurill's ears once she ran over to me. "But I did learn something new today, and I really wanted to test it out!"

Hmm… sounds frightening. Well, go ahead. What is it?

"Just watch!" I said proudly, seizing Azurill and holding her up above my head. From there, I tossed her to the ground, where she landed with graceful bounce of her tail. Much like Julia's Torchic, she gave a little celebratory dance before squealing her name. "Ha! It even works for Azurill too!"

Well, of course it would work on her. Many Pokémon like to be thrown. Lucario agreed, rising to his feet and dusting himself off.

"That they do!" I echoed with a grin, running right over to him and clutching his waist. I was pretty sure I couldn't hold him up over my head, but I figured I could at least lift him off the ground for a minute before tossing him. "Gah, what the-? Why are you-so heavy!"

What are you even-doing? he exclaimed, flailing around in my grip before finally pulling free. What are you, a complete moron! What were you even trying to-!

"Hey, come on! I just want you to like me too!" I cried, chasing him around the house. "What are you even running away for? I thought you'd like this! Aren't you a Pokémon too!"

Don't be stupid! I had finally cornered him by the counter of the kitchen, but he held me back with an outstretched paw. It doesn't work on me, you idiot! Listen! Did you really think you could pick up and throw a Miltank every day! Why would I be any different? You can't pick up and throw Pokémon that weigh over a hundred pounds! It just doesn't make sense! Use your head for once!

"Wait, what? You weigh more than a hundred pounds?" I couldn't help but ask, looking over him doubtfully. "But you're so short… not even five feet tall, I bet. How could you ever get that fat?"

I am not fat! he exclaimed indignantly, now more irritated than ever. I'm a Steel type Pokémon!

"So what? Does that mean your bones made of steel then?" I wondered, prodding his arm lightly.

I don't know! I certainly haven't seen them before! he huffed, pulling his arm back and ducking around me to make his escape.

'Well… I guess that turned out to be a bit of an epic fail…' I sighed inwardly while he glared daggers at me from across the room. 'I wonder if I'll ever get the hang of this caring for Pokémon business…'

oOoOoOo

"Whoa! Nice! That might be a new record!"

"You think so?" I eagerly hauled in my catch, placing him carefully in my bucket. "So are we talking about your record or mine?"

"Yours." Denny hesitated a moment, looking over my rod thoughtfully. "Yeah, your rod's a little old. No way it can stand up to mine!"

"Huh. Well, we'll see… It's old, but it's still not broken in yet!" I pointed out, tossing the line back out. From there, I paused, glancing out at the beach. "Hey… is that… Vaughn…? What's he doing over there?"

Denny leaned back, apparently unconcerned. "Yeah, Vaughn sometimes hangs out around the beach at this time of day. I don't really know what he's up to… but I usually don't bother talking to him unless he comes up to talk to me. He's kinda funny that way, you know?"

"Um… not really…?" I shrugged, confused as to what he meant by that. "Hey, maybe I should go and ask him if he'd like to fish too? Er wait, do you have an extra fishing rod he could use?"

He laughed, "Yeah, of course! Being a fisherman who's always prepared, I've got plenty to spare, but the question is: does he even want it?"

"Well, he's just standing out there all by himself… I hate to just leave him there like that… I mean, even if he doesn't want to fish, at least he could hang out and chat with us, right?"

"Alright…" he shrugged, eyeing me with a small grin, "but it's your funeral…"

I shook my head and chuckled, rising up to my feet before heading over to the lone cowboy. Vaughn seemed to stiffen at my approach and was actively avoiding my gaze. His arms were crossed and his gaze, firmly fixed on the sea, even once I was within only a few feet of him.

"Hey Vaughn," I flashed a smile, hoping to set him at ease. "What's up? You want to join me and Denny? We're fishing right now, but we could all just talk if you want… I mean…"

"What do you want?" he suddenly demanded, his cold gaze finally meeting mine.

I faltered a moment, a bit flustered by the severity of his tone and the abruptness of his question. Didn't he hear me just a second ago? But I hurriedly repeated myself, hoping not to annoy him even more by not talking fast enough.

But he cut me off midsentence. "No."

Just a short and simple word, but his intention couldn't be clearer. He sounded so disgusted with me, like I was some kind of annoying fly who just wouldn't go away, even though I had only been around for a few minutes. Maybe… it just didn't take long for me to become really annoying.

His words sounded so final as well; nothing was going to change the mind behind that intimidating gaze.

At a loss for words, I just turned back around and headed back to the pier, without replying.

"Well… I take it that's a no…" Denny said slowly and awkwardly once I plopped down beside him.

"Yeah… I think he's ticked off at me now too…"

"Eh, don't mind him. He's just… Well, he can be a pretty grumpy dude, you know?"

I didn't respond, choosing to instead toy with the reel of my rod. Maybe it really wasn't that he was grumpy; maybe it was just that I was irritating. The same went for Lucario, Gannon… There were just too many people involved for it to be just a coincidence. Maybe there was just something about me that rubbed people the wrong way…

"Hey, um…" A piece of wood on my rod was peeling off, and my messing with it was worsening the issue. "Do you think I'm…? Well, do you think I'm pesky?"

"What?" he laughed, shrugging and shooting me a comically puzzled expression, "Of course not! Why would I?"

"Well…" That bit of wood was just so fascinating now. "I think… maybe…"

"Hey, you know what?" he stopped me, leaning over so that he could make eye contact. "Why don't we head inside and I'll make you my specialty? Fish stew? It can be good… sometimes at least."

"Um, really? You don't have to…"

"Come on! I'm hungry; you're hungry; it's lunchtime; let's go!" he exclaimed, jumping up to his feet and heading for his house.

Smiling and shaking my head once more, I rose and followed after him.

Despite the amount of times I've fished with him, I had never actually been inside Denny's place before, and its interior surprised me. The majority of the house, save for the bathroom, was entirely one room, just like mine and Lucario's. But right in the middle of this house, however, laid a traditional Japanese hearth. On the far wall to the right, rested an old, yet impressive, collection of fishing gear. Overall, the place felt very cozy and well taken care of, despite the occasional clutter.

"Wow…" I immediately moved over to the hearth to admire it. "This is amazing…really…"

"Heh, you like it?" he sent me another of his playful grins before moving towards his small, yet surprisingly tidy, kitchen. "It's not much, but I try to keep everything in good condition, at least."

"It's great…" I turned back to smile at him. "Where did you get this hearth? Do you like Japanese styles?"

"Of course. You like it? Hey, you make me to make something using that?"

"I would love that, actually… I've always wanted to try out something like this before…!"

"Heh, well then, how could I refuse?"

He moved over to the hearth, starting up a fire with what looked to me like a practiced expertise.

"Do you know a lot about Japanese cooking?" I asked as I watched him prepare a fish.

"I wouldn't say a lot, but I'll admit I did learn a few things about it while I was there…"

"You lived there?"

"Heh, you better believe it. The fishing's great over there."

"So why did you leave?" I questioned without thinking. And then it hit me. Old habits never die hard… "Um, I mean, if you don't mind me asking, of course!"

"Nah, it's alright. I don't mind," he began, moving back a little from the hearth to take a seat on a nearby cushion. He gestured for me to do the same and continued, "Mostly, I just wanted to get away from it all. There's a lot of hustle and bustle in those ports and shipyards… I just want to take life in the slow lane… take the time to appreciate the small things, you know?"

I smiled softly. "I know what you mean…"

He smiled in return, one that seemed far less boisterous than all previous smiles he had shown me before… It was actually… very sweet.

Before I knew it, several minutes had passed, with the two of us just sitting there smiling blankly at each other. Denny realized this before me and promptly shook his head before pointing over in the general direction of his fishing supplies. "Hey, I ever, uh, show you this stuff before?"

"Um! No, I haven't seen it…" I rose and followed after him to take a closer look.

Indeed, the gear was very well taken care of; the nets weren't tangled, instead arranged in separate piles. It was a little cluttered, but everything did seem to have its own place. I couldn't resist touching one of the spears; it was still very smooth despite its obvious age.

"You really take great care of this stuff…"

"Yup," he nodded, "this gear's my livelihood after all. Gotta take good care of it."

"Good care of it!" Popper squawked suddenly, causing me to jump. I had almost forgotten he was even there.

"Um…" I turned back to the spears. "Do you… use these often?"

"Not recently. But I have used them quite a lot, back when I went diving."

"You've been diving?"

"Yeah! Did I ever tell you? It's where I found this! My shark tooth!" he exclaimed, gesturing to the keepsake on his chest.

I gazed at it carefully. Previously, I had just thought he wore some kind of necklace or something, but now, on closer inspection, I could see that a decent-sized shark tooth hung on the end of the cord.

"Where did you find it, at the bottom of the ocean?" I asked, eyes wide. I could hardly imagine being that deep down underwater.

"No way!" he burst out laughing. "I got it off a shark I speared!"

"You speared a shark!" I cried, incredulous.

"Yeah, it was a pretty nasty one… He and I… well, it wasn't pretty. That's why I keep this. It's a reminder to respect nature. I know to give it space, but if it comes after me, I'm going to fight back. Always gotta be prepared, ya know?"

"Yeah…" I said weakly, "that's so… scary! I'm glad you're okay!"

"Yeah, it can get pretty intense…" he acknowledged, stretching lightly.

"Denny's showing off! Denny's showing off!" Popper squealed, flapping his wings and spattering feathers everywhere.

"Eh, shut up…" Denny swatted the bird away playfully, and he flew off to rest on the futon rolled up in the corner. "See? He is an annoying bird…! Spreading lies and stupid stories…!"

I couldn't help but smile, which only grew stronger after hearing Popper's over-the-top "sobbing" sounds.

oOoOoOo

When I returned to the ranch, seeds in hand, I was surprised to not see any sign of Azurill and Lucario. Were they… done training for the day? Already? And they were just out when I came to pick up my earnings from the shipment box…! That was only a few minutes ago.

Shrugging, I headed up to the house to discover that they were relaxing on the kitchen floor, much like they had been back when I had visited them earlier that afternoon. "Well hey there! What are you two up to?"

Lucario looked up, regarding me with that usual annoyed look. So… you're in love with the fisherman…

Stunned by the suddenness of the statement, I quickly covered my face with my hands to hide the fact that it had flustered me. "What the-? Where did you-Why do you-Why are you even bringing it… up…! I don't even—! Okay… I mean: why do you even care about any of that anyway!"

I don't care actually. It's just written everywhere, all over your face, your Aura… it's like you're just begging for me to bring it up…

"That's-What? That's not even… That's not even true…! I just… um… I didn't say anything about that!"

You don't have to. Like I said, it's everywhere.

"That's not true…! You're just… messing around…!"

Whatever. It's better than the cowboy, at least. He turned to Azurill and motioned for her to follow me. You wanted Azurill, right?

"Um, yes, but… you're done training?"

Yes… he sighed, rather heavily, we decided to finish early today.

"Oh…" This response puzzled me. "Are you… feeling okay?"

Of course I am! he shot back, rising to his feet and crossing his arms. I just thought… it might be nice if I gave Azurill a break.

"Oh!" I couldn't hold back a grin. "Well that's… so nice of you!"

It's not that amazing, you know… he grumbled, turning his back to me and heading over to the wall, where he always liked to meditate. Just go water the plants…

oOoOoOo

NOTES: Ahahaha, Azurill is starting to grow on Lucario…

And you know, I always thought it was a little strange that, in the games, you always throw your chickens around to keep them happy… I bet a real chicken would just love it if I tried that out… XD

So, personality change? Love it? Hate it? Don't care? Didn't notice it?

Anyway, I'm thinking it might take me a while to post another chapter… I really want to fix the older chapters, though I'll still be likely to work on the newest one whenever I start to get bored with that. We'll see what happens, I suppose.

I'm just happy to be free from school for a while… sigh…

Keep a lookout on my profile (at the bottom) if you want to keep track of the updates for the older chapters! By the way, chapter one is already done, and two is on its way soon. Please feel free to let me know what you think of the new revisions, if you'd like. You might have to do it by PM or something, since FFNet is a little particular about letting you review the same chapter twice… (Found that out the hard way before… :/)

Ah, but I'm rambling again! Thank you and I hope to see you soon (ish!)