Hello~! I'm Bugsy, and they call me "The Walking Bug Pokemon Encyclopedia". I'm the Gym Leader of Azalea City, and let me tell ya, my awesome bug Pokemon never lose! Click for mobile links. ღ Affiliated with Wild Encounters ღ
The time was 3:30 PM. As soon as the school bell had rang (precisely thirty minutes ago), Bugsy had rushed home, backpack slung over his shoulders, pedaling his bike with all of the vigor he could muster. It took him a total of ten minutes to arrive at his front door, where he dropped his bicycle to the ground, leaving it in a heap of aluminum and rubber. He had swiftly thrust open the wooden door of his home and forgotten to shut it on his way in, causing his mother to reprimand him as he started to run up the front stairs. Groaning, he ran back down the first few steps and pushed it closed, only to turn back around after he had done the task, and to head to his bedroom.
Finally.
He sighed happily at being in this special place - the place where no one else belonged - his place. Small hiking boots padded across the hardwood floor towards an old desk. Above the floor was a slanted, triangular roof decorated with various anatomical posters of bug-type Pokemon and sticky, glow-in-the-dark stars. Bugsy’s desk also held several items of interest: a old microscope with a tray of lenses set to one side, a purple binder, several jars with samples he’d collected from the Ilex Forest (silk from a spinarak, part of a kakuna shell), and a stack of reference books.
Bugsy pulled his chair out to sit down and get to work. He’d collected more samples to take notes on, and, reaching down to unzip his backpack, pulled them out and placed them onto the desk. Most of the new items he’d discovered were fairly uninteresting or multiples of things he’d already found before, but there was one thing that…oh, it was simply amazing.
Within Bugsy’s hands were the large, delicate wing scales of what he thought to be a butterfree. But not just any butterfree, no. They definitely weren’t the same light blue of an average type, but rather a lovely shade of light rose, indicative of a shiny type. Excitement welled up within the violette’s chest and he opened the purple binder upon his desk, quickly writing down every last detail he could observe from the scales. Mid-furious scribbling, Bugsy had a sudden thought. These scale didn’t seem to have been lost very long ago…that butterfree had to still be out there somewhere. His eyes grew large at the realization, and he immediately knew what he had to do. The chair fell to the floor with a bang as Bugsy once again grabbed his backpack and a butterfree net, rushed down the stairs, and burst through the door, leaving it hanging open once again.
“BUGSY,” his mother called out loudly, running to the door and watching as her son sped off on his shiny bicycle, “where are you going??”
“Ilex, Ma!!” he called back. He heard a sigh and a shrill “Be back by dinner! And be careful!!”
The words were merely a fading echo in the bug-type trainer’s ears as he pedaled faster towards the forest. It was one of the only places his mother was actually okay with him going by himself, though a thought crossed his mind that it might be nice to have someone with him in case that shiny was hard to catch. As he rode along, he momentarily took his eyes off the path to press a button on his pokegear to call a friend who wasn’t so far away. After a few seconds, the ringing stopped as the call was answered, and Bugsy quickly relayed his plans to the pretty girl on the other end. As soon as he hung up, the boy was grinning from ear to eat - not only was he going to catch a rare pokemon today, but he was going to be with her.
Once at the edge of the dark woods, Bugsy tied his bike to a tree and fastened a lock around the front wheel. Necessary bug-type capturing items in tow, he stood quietly for a moment and listened for anything, eyes wide and observant. His heart pitter-pattered at the idea of seeing a flash of pink before him, and he kept that thought near the front of his mind for encouragement. Hopefully it wouldn’t take his fellow gym leader too long to get here - after all, Goldenrod wasn’t so far away from the forest. If Bugsy’s heart was beating quickly before, the idea of having a chance to impress the girl on her way here just increased the rate.
Bugsy had been taking a break when he first noticed the suspicious figure making its way through town - a woman with pink hair, wearing a black uniform - a very recognizable black uniform at that. His heartbeat had sped up ever so slightly at the idea of one of them being back in Azalea Town, and with hardly a second thought, he pulled himself from the outside steps of his gym and snuck after her, following quietly and pausing to hide whenever he got too close. The direction she was walking in - oh…it definitely didn’t look good.
Autumn had all but forgotten the gym leader was barely a teen. It took her aback for a moment. She was so used to dealing with Lance and Barry that this seemed almost…disarming. She wondered for a moment if Bugsy had seen her around. She had only been to one of the League’s parties around Christmas, but she liked to think her disguise was a good one. Still, there was no point in worrying about that now was there?
“Recon for what? Who are you?”
He was trying to remain calm, she suspected, and he had a Pokeball in his hand, which she suspected was his favorite. She’d heard horror stories about that Scizor, and she didn’t fancy facing it. Not here at least. Not with him blocking his only means of escape.
“I don’t have to tell you what the recon is for. Sorry. That’s classified information.” She said, waving it away before placing her hands behind her back in a manner she hoped was non-threatening. “Believe me, though. Team Rocket is done with the Pokemon here. It’s too much trouble for us to try again.”
“I’d be happy to introduce myself to you, though. Autumn Sinclaire at your service.” She gave him a faux curtsy. “I’m going to be a bit here. Dipper is still a Slowpoke and they’re not exactly known for speed. Then I’ll be out of your hair.”
Bugsy flashed Autumn a confused look at her response - he hadn’t expected anything that wasn’t a fight coming from a Rocket. He scrunched his brows together and slowly lowered his hand that contained Santschi’s pokeball. For a moment he merely stared at her, almost analytically, taking in her features - her rose-colored eyes, her non-threatening smile, her bubblegum colored hair. He felt a heat rise onto his cheeks at that aspect, trying to kick out the thought of another girl in his life who had a similar shade. He shook his head, bringing himself from his reverie.
“W-well,” he answered back, voice wavering a bit. “I think...I think ‘Dipper’ better hurry then. I don’t think it’s good for you to be here, to be honest.”
The cool of the well made his hair prickle as Bugsy tried to think fast. His eyes shifted around as he weighed his options.
“I don’t know what all this about, but I’m coming with you,” he stated. “Saying Team Rocket is done here means nothing - ‘s not like they were ever known for telling the truth to begin with. A-and if you get to have a pokemon out, then so do I.”
Immediately he released the scizor, her eyes instantly flashing to the unknown person before her trainer before snapping her pincers together to intimidate. Bugsy crossed his arms - just having Santschi there made him feel a little bit better about this entire situation.
“Well?” He gestured at Autumn to lead the way, a smirk spreading on his face.
When you’re really into something, you’re usually really into it. You might spend hours researching a specific topic to learn everything you can about it. For example, when you’re really into volcanoes, maybe you’re spending time on your laptop, reading up on recent explosions or planning your next big trip to Mt. Chimney. When you’re into pokemon battles, you’re probably digesting heavy material about what items your team can hold to best prepare them for your next challenge or trying to research new moves. When you’re Bugsy, you eat, sleep, and breathe bug-type pokemon - anatomy, recent discoveries, nutrition - the like.
On one particular morning, Bugsy was lying on the floor, a magazine opened up before him as he swung his legs back and forth in the air, the toes of his socks slipping down slightly. This specific magazine dealt with entomological research in the various regions, and the article that had him so interested focused on an invasive species in Johto. It wasn’t uncommon - to have new pokemon species accidentally introduced in new regions, with people occasionally releasing them or focusing on breeding. The thing about bug-types, however, was that they tended to procreate quickly, and not all invasive species were a good thing.
The magazine described an issue in northern Johto, near Mt. Mortar. All it had taken were a couple of foreign ninjask being brought into the area for a brood of nincada to be created, though at the current time, the magazine stated that these still hadn’t emerged from the ground. Thankfully, these were a bug-type that took a while to develop. The ninjask, however, were alive and well, their buzzing cry echoing throughout the area. So far, the ninjask hadn’t been caught and really didn’t seem to want to. As he read further, Bugsy bit his tongue, standing to grab a map from his bedroom desk.
Mt. Mortar...it was pretty far from Azalea - he sighed. If anyone could catch those pokemon, surely it was him! He had half a mind to ask why no one had contacted him yet - a gym leader and a bug expert? He scoffed. Guess I’ll just have to do it myself. Immediately, the boy grabbed his knapsack and a butterfree net. He shoved the magazine into his bag, the title of the article visible - “Invasive Issues at Mt. Mortar” - and quickly ran down the stairs. As soon as he’d begun his journey, however, it came to an abrupt halt.
“Benjamin Conway,” the voice said sternly, though the source flashed a kind smile. Bugsy froze, looking back at his mother and returning the smile, nervously. “Where are you headed off to today?” she asked.
The gym leader hesitated for a moment. “Um...well, I....”
He suddenly noticed her eyes moving to his bag and its contents. Oh no! The magazine! I left it open! He knew she’d never let him go that far alone. Dang it!
Bugsy watched as his mother’s eyebrows raised in surprise.
“Mt. Mortar, huh?”
She crossed her arms and chuckled before pausing and releasing a heavy sigh. Her face - it was one of a mother who knew her son was growing up, but still worried about him. She’d known what it was like to be in his position, having had the same exploratory nature as a child as he had now. Bugsy swallowed as the gears in his mother’s mind turned round. Finally, she spoke.
“Look, Bugsy,” she began. “I really don’t have a problem with you going off like this - trust me. I get it - I was just like you when I was younger.” She paused, looking in him the eyes. “But, if you’re going to be traveling that far, you need to at least take someone with you. Surely you can call on Morty or Falkner to go. I trust them.”
For a moment, he looked at his mother in disbelief, finally resigning to the idea of taking someone with him.
“Oh, alright,” he sighed.
Immediately the boy ran back upstairs to grab his pokegear and find someone willing to travel with him to the north. His first thought was of Morty, but...he knew the gym leader had been spreading himself thin lately. Falkner it was.
Quickly, he pressed the contact button he had for Falkner and waited until an answer. As soon as it clicked, Bugsy spilled out his idea.
“Falkner! HeyIwaswonderingifyoucouldcomewithmetoMt.Mortar! It’s like...super important! Butmymomwon’tletmegoaloneandshesaidshetrustedyou! So...will you please come with me? Please?”
Azalea Town wasn’t one that Autumn was extremely familiar with. She’d only been there once, right before the incident at the Slowpoke well, back when she was bright-eyes and bushy-tailed and ready to do good by her Team. Still, she hadn’t been able to resist taking a Slowpoke for herself. At the time she told herself that having a psychic type would be handy. But now, after making it through Ilex forest, faced with the town itself she knew it was a completely different reason. One much more tender-hearted.
She was going soft, she realized as she made her way through the town, avoiding any main parts lest someone spot her in her uniform. Dipper, the slowpoke in question, was happily draped over her shoulder, content with watching the scenery before they made it to the well. Luckily, it was deserted save for the Zubat, Geodude, and other Slowpoke that occupied it. Their tales had grown back just fine, something Dipper had never had to endure thanks to Autumn.
“Alright, Dipper.” Autumn said, facing a body of water that seemed small. Autumn knew better, though. It was deeper than it seemed, and at the bottom was allegedly a treasure. That was their mission. “Go look for it okay?”
Her slowpoke took a moment, then nodded, slowly moving to the water and disappearing below. The wait was long, as Autumn had expected. What she didn’t expect was the sound of another person climbing down the well, and making their way, quite deliberately, towards her.
“I’m just here for recon.” She said, turning to her stalker.
They were a small form, and she didn’t realize it was the gym leader until his hair caught the light. She groaned internally. This, a member of the league, was the last thing she needed.
“It’s only me.“ The pinkeye said, keeping her voice even "I’m not here to start trouble.”
Bugsy had been taking a break when he first noticed the suspicious figure making its way through town - a woman with pink hair, wearing a black uniform - a very recognizable black uniform at that. His heartbeat had sped up ever so slightly at the idea of one of them being back in Azalea Town, and with hardly a second thought, he pulled himself from the outside steps of his gym and snuck after her, following quietly and pausing to hide whenever he got too close. The direction she was walking in - oh...it definitely didn’t look good.
Still, Bugsy had to wonder if what he was doing was rash - he was at least thankful he’d brought Santschi and not his more...defensive pokemon. He reached a small hand into his pocket and stroked the pokeball protectively with his thumb - yeah - Santschi would definitely get them out of any trouble. And anyway, whoever this Rocket was couldn’t possibly be as bad as...that guy. It had been a while now, but Bugsy still felt a pang of guilt whenever he thought about the slowpoke at the well. While their tails were getting cut off, he wasn’t there. He’d been back at the gym with his pride...but...back then he’d been younger. He hadn’t really realized all the damage Team Rocket could cause. If he’d just known, he would have done something - he would have saved them!
The violette clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. The thought that something bad could happen to the slowpoke again filled him with the conviction he needed to continue running after the Rocket. After a while of following slowly behind her, he watched as she entered the Slowpoke Well, eyes focused and brows narrowed. As quietly as he could, he ran after her and entered the well, grabbing the ladder at the top and lowering himself onto the wet ground at the bottom.
The last thing he caught before the Rocket turned was a slowpoke going off further into the well - it seemed to be domesticated, obeying a command. Bugsy took a few steps forward and -
“I’m just here for recon. It’s only me. I’m not here to start trouble.”
The gym leader glared at her, instantly pulling out Santschi’s pokeball from the pocket of his khaki shorts. He swallowed - confronting a Rocket grunt all alone might not have been the brightest idea Bugsy had ever had, but at least she hadn’t attacked yet. Holding his pokeball up where she could see it, he raised an annoyed brow at her and put on his most “grown-up” voice.
"Well...to be honest, I'm kinda self-conscious about stuff like that. I mean, kids at school go skinny dipping and stuff but...I'm kinda small for my age. I don't think it'd go over very well..."
"Like....a crush or somethin'? I mean...I wouldn't really tell anyone about that. I guess I do have 'the hots' for someone though - hnhn that just sounds so ridiculous to say...."
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