Lilac Blob
BalloonOne sunny spring morning, you decide to take a walk through Floaroma Meadow to enjoy the nice weather and the lovely scent of all the flowers that grow there. Ordinarily, you'd take your Pokémon team and a few Pokéballs out with you, but you don't feel like hauling your bag along today. Besides, it's perfectly safe: in Floaroma Meadow, wild Pokémon only appear on the Honey Tree that grows there, not in the flower fields.
Or so you thought.
You realize just how wrong you were when, as you're shuffling through the flowers, you hear an ominous rustling right by your feet. Yikes! you think as you freeze, staring down into the thick growth of flowers surrounding you. What if it's a dangerous Pokémon? What if it attacks me?!
When nothing else happens after a moment, you take a cautious step forward, then another. With a sigh of relief, you start to hustle back to the edge of the field. . . until you feel something wrap around your ankle and hold on tight, nearly tripping you.
That's when you hear a wild Pokémon's cry as well. It sounds rather. . . squeaky.
"L-let go!" you stammer weakly, tugging on your ankle. You peer down at the flowers and are unnerved to realize that now, you can see two shiny eyes peering back up at you from within them.
"Please, don't go!" a voice - also rather squeaky - begs. "Do you have a moment to talk about--"
Our Lord and Savior, Arceus? you wonder. My car's extended warranty?
"--Drifloon?"
"Drif. . . loon?" you mumble. Hardly what you expected, especially considering you don't generally go around thinking about balloon Pokémon. Still, Floaroma Meadow is pretty close to the Valley Windworks power plant, where Drifloons sometimes appear.
"Yes! Drifloon!" You understand a little better when the owner of the squeaky voice finally emerges from the flowers. He is, in fact, a Drifloon (which explains the squeak) who drifts up to float at about chest height. He had one of his two strings wrapped around your ankle but lets go as he rises, letting both of his heart-shaped. . . hands? feet?. . . extremities dangle beneath him.
He's a rather singular Drifloon, not only because he can speak human words unlike most Pokémon, but also because he's wearing clothes - a robe and clerical collar, specifically. The cloud-like fluff on his head even appears to be better-coifed than that of most Drifloons.
Special features aside, he's still a Drifloon, and that makes you nervous. You think about all the spooky information you've read about this Pokémon in your Pokédex: It's said that a Drifloon's puffy body is filled with countless souls. Children holding them sometimes vanish. If for some reason its body bursts, its soul spills out with a screaming sound. It dislikes heavy children. And worse.
"Uh, I-I'm sorry, but I really need to be getting back to town--" you protest, taking a step back from the round purple soul-stealer. You can't help feeling a little bad about it, though, when his admittedly cute X-marked face falls and his strings droop a bit more.
"Please, it will only take a minute!" squeaks the Drifloon. "I'm on a mission, you see, and I'm trying to speak to as many people and Pokémon as I can!"
The little guy seems so earnest, and since you're not a kid, it isn't too likely that he could drag you off to the underworld. . . so you decide to humor him.
"Um, all right," you mumble. "What's this mission of yours about?"
The Drifloon perks back up and clears his throat (Do balloons even have throats?) before explaining, "My name is Brother Evion, and my mission is make everyone appreciate Drifloons! Specifically, I'm setting the record straight to counter the negative propaganda of anti-Floon extremists."
"Anti. . . ," you trail off in confusion, but Evion just squeaks cheerfully.
"That's right! There are so many lies spread about us, particularly with all the awful things the Pokédex claims. And they just aren't true!" Evion digs around in a pocket of his robe with one heart-shaped hand, then produces a slightly crumpled piece of paper and holds it out to you. "Please take some literature!"
You take the paper and, upon smoothing it out, realize that it's a hand-drawn diagram of a Drifloon, carefully labeled.
"Erm, thank you. This is very. . . informative," you say politely. And well, the Drifloon in the diagram is pretty cute, as is Evion, and the latter seems harmless enough. You realize he's the first Drifloon you've ever met, and that all your negative impressions of the species came from secondary sources like rumors and the Pokédex. Maybe Evion's right; maybe you should give Floons a chance rather than let your prejudices color your behavior.
Meanwhile, Evion is looking up at you hopefully with his shiny round eyes.
"You will spread the word, won't you?" he asks, and you nod.
"Of course." You reach out intending to pat him on the head, but then you realize that might be rude. Besides, his fluff is so meticulously styled, you'd hate to muss it. You hold out your hand instead, and shake Evion's when he extends a string in return.
"Thank you so much!" he squeaks. "You're the first human to listen to me! I was actually thinking of giving up, but you've given me some hope that maybe we Drifloons won't always be feared and hated. In fact, I think it's time I ventured out of the meadow and started visiting some towns!"
You wish Evion the best of luck as he starts out on his journey, headed towards Floaroma Town. Then you carefully fold the "literature" he gave you, tuck it into your pocket, and continue on your walk, wondering who else you might meet.
