#parkshipping

“Wha, I-“ Estelle had no time to process what was going on, all she knew as that the girl wanted to catch that Minccino for whatever reason, and so in the heat of the moment she dove for the Pokemon, not really thinking it through.

In less then three seconds she had dove for the Pokemon but it was more nimble then she gave it credit for as it jumped over her and scurried away into one of the many trees that decorated the park. Estelle laid on the ground, being both confused and mortified as to why she did that. The brown haired girl caught up to where she was, panting loudly with her hands on her knees.

“Ugh darn it, that was a rare berry too”. She was still panting and got out her complaints between breaths.  It took her a second before she noticed Estelle still lying on the ground.

“OH MY GOSH ARE YOU OKAY!?” she shouted again,  kneeling down and putting a hand on Estelle who was just now struggling to get back up to her feet. She had some minor cuts on her knees and had a few scuffs of dirt from diving straight into the grass.

“Uhh, yeah I’m fine. That wasn’t my best idea was it?” She had fallen back on her behind, failing to get her footing. Estelle tried to laugh it off but winced a bit at the cuts on her knees, that was gonna be annoying to deal with when she got back to work. Katie noticed this and got a serious look in her eyes.

“Stay here, I’ll be right back,” she bolted away. Estelle watched as she saw the girl pick up her bag and run back towards her. Placing it on the ground, she ruffled through her bag for a moment until she found what she was looking for: some disinfectant and Band-Aids.

“My Dad told me to never be unprepared and I guess he was right heh heh”.  The humor was lost on Estelle who just raised an eyebrow.

“She cleared her throat”, getting back to the matter at hand she grabbed the disinfectant spray and aimed it at Estelle’s cuts . “Anyway, this might sting a little so brace yourself.” Estelle closed her eyes and let out a small whine. She had always hated getting shots and equated the feeling to this.  As the girl said, there was a quick surge of stinging pain once she sprayed and she inhaled a sharp gasp. “It’s okay, now lets put on the bandage and we’re done.” She placed two bandages on Estelle’s knees and the pain subsided.

“There, that wasn’t so bad was it?” she said proudly, admiring her handy work.

“Yeah umm, thanks for your help.” She was grateful but wondering if this wouldn’t have happened if she didn’t try to help this girl.

“You can stand right? Here let me help you.” She rose and stretched her hand out for leverage, which Estelle gladly accepted.

“ Well, that was…something,” Estelle said awkwardly, not really knowing what to say

“Yeah…”she responded similarly

A brief silence hung between them for a bit until the girl decided to break it again.

“O-oh by the way, my name is Katie. I’m really sorry for getting you involved in my mess,” she bowed in apology

“Not a problem, don’t worry! I’m just sorry I couldn’t catch him for you haha, and my name is Estelle.” Estelle wanted to lighten the mood to make Katie feel better “It’s very nice to meet you.” She placed a hand on her shoulder, wanting to let her know there was no harm done.

“Thanks, same to you!” Katie managed to perk up from this.

“So, why where you chasing that Pokemon anyway? Was it because of the berry it was holding?” Estelle inquired.

Katie donned an annoyed expression, crossing her arms in frustration.

“That thief, it stole one of my berries,” she huffed. Estelle gave a quizzical look.

“You see that was a ganlon berry it stole. It’s super hard to find one in the wild and I was just taking it out to study its properties a bit more. I looked away for one second and that Minccino up and swipes it, sigh” she wore a melancholic expression and her explanation continued.

“I’ll probably never find a berry like that again, after all that searching, too”

Estelle, hearing her explanation, didn’t blame her for chasing after Minccino, she was not a berry expert but she did know that it was something important to her.

“Hey, it’s okay. Maybe you can look at one of the berry stores in the city and see if they have another one of those berries.” Estelle tried to offer any advice she could.

“Hmmph please,” Katie said a bit condescendingly, making Estelle a bit put off.

“Berries sold in the city come from mass produced factories and not natural farms, the taste is duller and more muted and the abilities that the berries come with are barely half as potent as those naturally grown. Even if I were to find a ganlon berry here, it wouldn’t be the same, not even close.”  Katie’s rant surprised Estelle a bit, not really expecting it.

“W-wow you sure know your stuff when it comes to berries huh?” Estelle was surprised and rather impressed by Katie’s sudden berry knowledge

“Of course! As a Pokémon Environmentalist, knowing this stuff is basic after all!” Katie couldn’t help but brag a bit.

“Oh wow you are? That’s really cool!” She had never met an Environmentalist, before being mostly a city dweller you didn’t get the chance to meet those kinds of people too often.

“I’m a Pokémon Groomer myself-“ Before she could continue she immediately looked at her watch and saw that her break would be over in 15 minutes. She inwardly groaned.

“Ah, looks like I lost track of the time and forgot I had to get back to work soon.” Time management was not one of Estelle’s strong suits and now she barely had any time left to reach that donut shop. Katie once again got apologetic

“Oh geeze, I’m sorry. I must’ve kept you with my problems, I’m so sorry”. I haven’t spent much time in the city, so I guess I still don’t realize how busy everyone is most of the time.” Katie bowed her head again.

“It’s fine really, everyone has days like this.” She offered a genuine smile to Katie and she seemed to have accepted it.

“I guess I’ll have to try that donut shop another time.”  Estelle let out a twinge of disappointment when those words left her mouth

“Oh? Do you mean the one a few blocks down? Because I was just there and had gotten some for myself.” She rummaged through her bag and pulled out another bag that contained a dozen doughnuts, all seemingly different kinds.”

“I was planning on eating some after I was done looking over the berry, but since it’s my fault all this happened to you I’d be more than happy to share with you.” She pulled out the bag and held them towards Estelle.

“I couldn’t do that, you paid for those after all.” Even though her mouth said no, truthfully those doughnuts did look rather scrumptious. But she resisted the urge to say yes.

“It’s totally fine! Truthfully, I probably bought too much and wasn’t going to eat all of them anyway. And it’s always more fun to eat with someone then by yourself. So I insist.” Katie stood firm on her offer, Estelle didn’t say anything, still apprehensive but now considering the offer.

Katie thought on how to make her accept on her terms and had an idea.  “Tell you what, if you want to make it up to me why don’t you show me around the city sometime when you’re not busy? I would like that!”

Estelle was no longer able to resist and accepted the terms. “Okay deal. There are so many nice places to see, you’re going to love it!” She smiled.