Young Writers Society

As was to be expected, Minerva immediately began instructing Darren on what to collect from the supply cabinet, but he dashed off to the back of the class before she could even finish her first sentence.

‘Darren! How will you know what you have to fetch me if you run off while I’m still busy talking?’

‘I shan’t, and that’s the point!’ he called back. He grabbed one of the plastic bags that Miss Antoinette kept specifically for collecting ingredients and began scooping Berries into it. Unfortunately, the majority of the class was jostling around in front of the cabinet, so it took him a while to collect everything he needed. When he returned to their bench, Minerva was writing something down in her notepad.

‘See,’ she said, looking at him without moving her head, ‘if you had stayed just a while longer, we could have saved time.’

‘Actually,’ he replied, tipping the bag’s contents onto the bench, ‘The ingredients I need simply have to fulfil a vague requirement.’

‘And what might that be?’ the Vulpix asked, finishing her writing.

In total, there were fourteen Berries on the surface. Of those, Darren moved two aside and grouped the rest in coloured pairs. The two isolated Berries were certainly very strange to behold, for the one consisted of azure lobes with cream shoots sprouting from them, while the other looked like a spiky pink flower. He identified them as a Rowap and Petaya Berry, respectively, explaining, ‘I simply grabbed these two because they are easily recognisable. I couldn’t think of a potion that requires them, so I figured mixing them together would be sufficient to create a Colourful Shake.’

Minerva made a face that seemed to show approval and contempt at the same time. (Mostly, her facial features just looked contorted, as if she had eaten Starf Berry, which was notorious for its extremely bitter taste.) ‘Everybody knows how to make a Colourful Shake, Darren. Granted, not everyone can make a creamy, smooth one, but it is still one of the most commonly prepared mixtures.’

‘But it is still a potion, isn’t it?’ Darren asked, raising his eyebrows.

‘Yes, but–’

‘Sorry for interrupting you again, but that’s my point. You should definitely go ahead and brew the more complicated potions, but the point is to make as many as possible. The easy potions should therefore be at the top of our priority list.’

Minerva considered it for a moment before nodding. ‘All right, I’ll do as you suggest.’ She looked at the red, purple, pink, green, yellow, and blue pairs of Berries. Lowering her voice, she said, ‘I suppose those are for the coloured juices?’

‘Yip,’ Darren responded, already peeling off the skins of his Berries.

When it came to making shakes or juices, the trick was to peel the Berries before crushing them into a pulp, since the skins could easily be grated over the shake or juice, thereby providing more texture. Creating a Colourful Shake or any of the six coloured juices was hardly a difficult task, and indeed, it was prepared in everyday life, but that was the point. They could be easily overlooked, due to its commonness.

The Rowap Berry was particularly sticky, so he tried to cut as little of the flesh as possible, so as to prevent frequently washing his paws at the laboratory sinks. The Petaya Berry proved less of a nuisance and was skinned easily. Darren wanted to take a bite, since it fell under the “Sweet” Berry category, but he thought better of it and proceeded to prepare the shake.

Meanwhile, Minerva had gone to fetch her own ingredients once the frantic rush had passed, and had since returned to their bench. She had just finished squeezing the juice out of a third Starf Berry (what a coincidence) and was taking a basket of Lansat Berries to the blender at the leftmost wall of the class. Watching her go, Darren realised he had too few Berries for a proper shake, so he called the Bellossom teacher over and voiced his concern.

‘Ideally, you’d use at least three or four,’ she agreed, ‘but a small glass of a potion is still a sample of a potion. Don’t fret, just continue.’

Reassured, he did. Minerva returned with the blended Berries and mixed the two liquids together. Once she was done, she said, ‘Darren, would you please take this,’ – she pushed the mixture towards him – ‘and bubble carbon dioxide through it?’

‘Why? I’m busy here.’

She pointed at the Enigma Berries before them.

Darren opened his mouth, forming a silent “oh”. ‘Sure.’ He stoppered the flask in which Minerva had poured the almost-finished Rare Soda and trotted to a station close to the blender. Miss Antoinette must have anticipated that somebody would make a soda, for there was already a retort filled with hydrochloric acid ready. The marble cubes necessary were also neatly stacked beside it. He unscrewed the retort’s cap and dropped a single cube into the acid. Immediately, bubbles began forming around it, so he poured Minerva’s mixture into a beaker and placed the retort’s downward pipe into the liquid.

He was about to return to the bench when he remembered all sodas contained water. Backtracking, he quickly filled the beaker with some, replacing it afterwards, and then heading back to the bench. Minerva was sniffing around beneath it. A mallet lay on her side of the surface area.

‘I crushed two of the five Enigma Berries,’ Minerva explained, hearing her partner approach, ‘but the third shot away on impact. Incidentally, it hit your chair before disappearing.’

‘Luckily, I followed your advice.’

‘Luckily indeed – each year, more Pokémon are hospitalised by rogue Enigma Berries than by Sharpedo attacks. It makes you wonder if we should really be working with them in school.’