Chapter 78 – Meeting New Faces

  The following day I awoke to the sounds of my dorm room neighbors waking up early. Rustboro city was packed, and the center’s crowded accommodations reflected that fact. We were forced to room with three other trainers partly because I didn’t have the foresight to book a single room in advance. I just thanked my lucky Jirachi that not a single trainer that I had to room with suffered from sleep apnea. All of my Pokémon had to stay inside their balls this time, even Orin was forced to even though the little ghost type much preferred to stay outside his ball while I was asleep. By the time I had entered the dorm room last night the three other occupants were already fast asleep which spared me from having to engage in any lengthy conversations. Now that it was early morning that was no longer the case.

  ‘I’ll pretend to be asleep for a little while longer, giving them just enough time to leave the room.’

  “Are you scared?”

  ‘It isn’t like I am socially inept or anything. Just… that I prefer the company of Pokémon over strangers.’

  “Go talk to them!”

  Victini, not having any respect for my life choices, used her impressive psychic powers from within her poké ball to rip off my bed coverings leaving me exposed to three sets of eyes.

  “Hello…”

  “Greetings!” “Greetings!” “Greetings!”

  In an odd sort of synchronicity, the three trainers addressed me at the same time. Now that I got a closer look at them, I noticed that all of them were wearing some form of martial arts wear. Two of them were wearing classical Karate Gi’s while the older one was sporting a Keikogi marking him as a Judo practitioner. Trainers on the circuit could make use of the Pokémon center dorms for free during their first year and even senior trainers receive a generous discount on center services. Which led me to believe that the older man was a master taking his two disciples on a field trip to broaden their horizons.

  “Egon’s the name Pokémon training is my game. How about you fellas?”

  “My name is Unshō and these are my students Goro and Koichi. We follow the martial way. Would you care to enjoy breakfast with us? By the amount of poké balls attached to your waist I can tell that you are an experienced trainer. Goro and Koichi still have a lot to learn before they are ready to set out on a journey of their own. They stand to benefit a lot from exchanging stories with one in a position such as yourself.”

  Their open demeanor and can-do attitude left me no room to refuse and just like that I was coaxed into having breakfast with them. Even though I was used to waking up at eight and not seven, our group’s tardiness caused me to have my morning meal at around the same timeframe. The impracticalities of sharing a single bathroom with four people made me commit to only getting personal rooms in the future.

  The conversation was kept to a minimum while we were inside the dorm room but as soon as we reached our tables near the walking buffet, we got to know each other a bit better. It seemed like the three of them were set to visit Dewford Town to broaden their horizons at the fighting type specialist gym. The two students Goro and Koichi were citizens of Fallarbor Town and in fear for their safety Master Unshō had joined them in this excursion.

  “Fallarbor Town… so the three of you traveled through Meteor Falls on foot?”

  “Yes, it is one of the safer routes as long as trainers don’t walk off the beaten path. The Meteorite Pokémon are docile and quite friendly and when the sun is up the local zubat colonies tend to stay inside their homes.”

  “What about all the wild dragon Pokémon!?”

  “Hmm yes, the area is indeed known to house wild Salamence and their progeny. We don’t know how the ranger corps managed to broker the current standing peace. However, only foolhardy trainers that go looking for them have any reason to fear for their wellbeing.”

  “After travelling through Meteor Falls you would still have to go through route 115 what’s the situation like over there?”

  “Route 115 has been cleared out of any wild terrestrial Pokémon. Although there have been rumors about a group of wild Jigglypuff giving concerts to humans and Pokémon who come across their homes.”

  ‘Jigglypuff? That means the only wild Pokémon living near and inside Meteor Falls are Fairy, Rock and Poison types? The kinds of Pokémon who don’t have anything to fear from the predations of wild dragon types.’

  Poison types tended to disgust predators due to their venomous nature. The only Pokémon that could safely afford to consume them belonged to the same type. Rock types with a few exceptions fell into that same category. In the case of the wild Jigglypuff feeling safe enough to give out live concerts I hadn’t the faintest idea. I haven’t read any studies regarding the subject or if dragons even saw them as a viable food source.’

  “I was planning on going to route 116 for training purposes but having the chance to meet wild Jigglypuff is also tempting. Is it true that they draw funny faces on you with black marker if you fall asleep during their performance?”

  “That is oddly specific, no we haven’t. Where’d wild Pokémon get their hands on black markers?”

  “Nevermind, just something I’ve heard of happening all the way over in Kanto.”

  “Let’s go to route 115! Then we can teleport back there whenever we want to in the future.”

  ‘Tini… are you planning to secretly go off on your own looking for my sister?’

  “…No?”

  ‘…’

  ‘The Meteor Falls Mountain range is massive. Even if it is you, it could take weeks to find the hidden village.’

  “I can just ask other Pokémon for directions!”

  ‘Aha! Caught you!’

  “Muuuu!”

  Letting Victini steam in the embers of my verbal victory I refocused my attention on the three martial artists who had been quietly enjoying their breakfast meals. Although I couldn’t help but notice that my absent mindedness had caught the elder’s attention.

  “Sorry for that, one of my Pokémon is a psychic type and I often lose track of time while talking to her.”

  “No need for apologies. My partner Medicham and I are much the same way. Do you still have any words of wisdom to share with these two youngsters?”

  “Yes, you need to learn how to cook. Making prepackaged meals is a must in case you are to set foot on a particularly lengthy route. Also make sure to apply for as many sponsorships as possible before starting off on your circuit run. I am not saying it’s impossible to earn enough money to support yourself but that forces you to rely on wager battles. Challenging tough opponents is an important educational experience but when you need to subsist on the money gained from winning battles… You’ll be forced to choose between growing your wallet or advancing as a trainer.

  “But we don’t know any rich people…”

  “I myself had the luck to get sponsored by my long-time employer. If all else fails, I’d recommend pausing your journey and saving up some money by working at a local Pokémart or something. I’ve heard that employees that work there get large discounts which would also help newbie trainers like yourselves.”

  Master Unsho seemed to approve of my messaging that being a successful trainer was about more than being good at battling. I figured an old veteran like himself must have some money set aside for his personal disciples first circuit runs but that didn’t mean that they should start expecting to be able to rely on Unsho for everything.

  After our conversation came to a close it was time for the four of us to part ways. The trio were headed further south while I was now very interested to check out route 115 for little sister related reasons. In any event I figured having Victini be able to teleport to and from Meteor Falls even if only in the ranger approved areas could be useful.

  Route 115*

  Route 115 was a collection of hills overlooking the ocean, the perfect place for a family picnic or hiking trip. We on the other hand had different plans for this short venture. I was intrigued by the stories of wild Jigglypuff making their homes in these highlands so me and the gang would keep our eyes open for signs of life while making our way to the very end of the route. Where at which point Victini would go off on her own to explore Meteor Falls I didn’t hold any high hopes for her finding the hidden village but it wouldn’t hurt having the option to teleport on over in the future. Despite the route being quite scenic we didn’t spot any tourists; its proximity to Meteor Falls scared off any but the most seasoned trainers.

  “You! I challenge you to a battle!”

  The trainer who challenged us was wearing a ninja outfit complete with hooded cowl and chain link undergarment. By the look of him I judged this teenager to be around my age, maybe a year older and sporting red hair which suggested the kid was born in a highland Hoenn village. Now being a ninja was a respected profession within the regions that bordered Kanto. It had been a long time since any of them participated in warfare but people don’t quickly forget entire regiments being taken out by nothing but a single vial of Arbok venom mixed into one’s food supply.

  Most of the team were out of their balls aside from Orin who didn’t particularly enjoy the bright morning sun despite being a fire type. On the way over Halo tried guilt tripping the rest of us into making Numsy give her a ride which we resisted. We were about a quarter’s time inside the route before we came across this new character.

  “Sure. Do you want to wager anything or is this going to be just for fun?”

  The Ninja boy gave my team a scrutinizing look before deciding.

  “Either, I don’t care. We are still testing ourselves and vowed to challenge any traveling trainers we came across. I request however that you don’t use some of your bigger Pokémon. Their size would make them liable to our secret ninja arts.”

  ‘He doesn’t feel confident taking on any of my fully evolved Pokémon? Must be a rookie getting his feet wet before actually taking on the circuit.’

  I didn’t feel like taking money from a rookie now that I was flush with cash. So I considered this an excellent time to have Halo get some practice battling against a real opponent.

  “How many Pokémon are you able to field?”

  “Two.”

  “Great! Let’s make this a two-on-two singles battle.”

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  “Go! Gulpin!”

  “Vess!”

  Halo, who had been watching our short interaction from behind, crawled up to the plate eager to show off her stuff. When we first entered the route I told Halo that the chances of encountering a trainer at an appropriate skill level for her to battle were quite low unlike on route 115. Seeing as this was not the case, I couldn’t help but relent to her desire for battle.

  “Halo, you’re up!”

  The two Pokémon stared each other down. Unlike official battles the rules for route battling are a lot more freestyle. So even without a battle judge’s input anyone was free to initiate the first move.

  “Acid Spray!”

  Gulpin inhaled its body almost doubling in size before shooting out wads of projectile acid towards Halo’s position.

  “Quick! Struggle Bug!”

  Halo was too slow to dodge most projectile attacks this was our way to relieve some of the pressure giving her time to close the distance.

  While the acid rained down on our team’s princess a green aura engulfed her and as if trying to shake off the biting acid her struggling form projected multiple streaks of light which homed in on our opponent halting the following waves of acid coming our way.

  “Flame Charge!”

  Halo wreathed herself in flames and blasted off towards Gulpin’s position. Instead of ordering for an evasive maneuver the ninja boy opted for an alternative battle strategy.

  “Toxic!”

  The same mouth which had previously released gouts of acid was now shooting off something far more sinister. A type of intensifying venom that could debilitate any Pokémon given enough time. There wasn’t enough time to dodge. Once Halo charges she can only move in one direction and I knew from personal experience that the ambient heat from her flames are not intense enough to evaporate the venom coming at her.

  The wad of poison stuck true hitting her square on the mandibles no doubt already infiltrating her body’s organ system but like an absolute trooper she carried on smashing into Gulpin horns first. The amorphous blob got smushed like jelly before reforming back into its prior shape. This time looking worse for wear having lost its initial dopey expression and taking a more combative stance.

  ‘Toxic? That’s an advanced move only seen in poison types which have been training for a good while.’

  “Venoshock!”

  Lances made out of specially crafted poison barraged Halo exacerbating her already worsening condition. At this range it would be near impossible to dodge that’s why I went for the all or nothing.

  “You got this Halo! Flame Wheel! Don’t let go until it’s finished!”

  “Laaar!”

  Instead of the shapeless flames exuded when Halo performed Flame Charge, she instead somersaulted into the air forming a literal wheel of flames around her body keeping the bug type aloft with the propulsions of fire coming out of her horns. At this distance she merely had to cling onto Gulpin’s form cooking the poison type extra well-done.

  “Guuuuul!”

  The once stoic looking Gulpin let out a small cry of pain as the perpetual Flame Wheel did its work. Its trainer also looked perturbed at our lack of tactics but came up with his own solution.

  “Such a lack of finesse…! Fine, keep using Poison Jab until they let go!”

  This style of battling lacked finesse, but Flame Wheel was currently the strongest move Halo could perform. Unlike this Gulpin who seemed to have access to all the poison type staples the difference in experience seemed quite stark.

  “Vess!!”

  ‘She’s losing out! I’ll have to call it.’

  “Halo return!”

  Activating the return mechanism of her Net Ball I quickly swapped out a surprised Halo who will undoubtedly nag my ears off once she’s recovered enough to do so.

  ‘Judging by Gulpin’s strength I’d need a Pokémon that is a bit more experienced to take home a win.’

  “Go Orin!”

  After the battle*

  “That was a close match! Thank you for holding back your strength.”

  “Yeah, it’s what one does when encountering a less experienced trainer. That Ninjask of yours nearly threw us for a loop. I am betting once it’s gotten the hang of that Speed Boost it will be a real menace on the battlefield.”

  “As the loser I am obligated to compensate the winner in any way he chooses. Do you require me to hand over my monetary funds?”

  “Hmm, well we’ve been looking for a group of Jigglypuff said to hang out around these parts. Could you help us track them down with your ninja skills?”

  “Apprentice Ninja Jaiden is on the case! Nin! Nin!”

  It felt very chuuni asking for assistance like that, but the boy seemed eager enough to show off his skills. However, the smokebomb he used to cover his exit was less than called for.

  “Egghhh… Kukh! Keh! Why!”

  “I am still not good enough to make a silent exit, Nin! Wait for me to return with the good news!”

  The smoke cleared away and the boy ninja was nowhere to be seen. Content to do as he told me to, I instead released Halo from her ball. The little bug type was looking worse for wear with purple ooze coming out of her orifices. It was common knowledge that Pokémon poisoned by the move Toxic had to be cured of their ailment as soon as possible before their condition worsened. My bag which had previously been set aside during the battle had already been plundered for the necessary supplies. As I could see Glove awkwardly handling the antidote spray with his overly large hands not being able to get past the child safety lock.

  “It’s push and then turn. See what my hands are doing? Like this…”

  After my explanation Glove got it down in a single try and proceeded to apply the antidote liberally to our sickly-looking princess. He actually used more Antidote than necessary but I couldn’t complain after seeing how much better Halo looked after the Antidote started working its magic. Even though Victini wasn’t actively translating for me somehow, I managed to perfectly understand what Halo was trying to convey.

  “Vess…” “I lost…”

  “You’ve worked very hard to win me that battle I couldn’t be prouder.”

  “Vess?!” “Really?!”

  “Yes!” “Nitan!”

  “Your opponent was older and more experienced. Once you’ve reached that same level there’s no doubt in my mind that you’d win the entire match for me. Think about it, if you only ever win you can’t learn how to cover for your weaknesses.”

  “Vess Vess!” “I’ll try my best!”

  Halo’s form suddenly started glowing, growing a translucent white when the process was over her wheezing was replaced by healthy steady intakes of air.

  “You finally mastered it, Halo! Morning Sun is a great move to add to your repertoire!”

  Morning Sun was a move only learned by a select few Pokémon who had mystical connection to the sun. Being able to reliably keep a Pokémon in good health on its own power was a boon when exploring uncharted places far removed from civilization.

  “Lit!”

  Orin who had been watching all of this go down reminded me to give praise to him as well for winning us the battle.

  “You did a good job as well. Remind me to get you a gift once we’ve returned to the city.”

  Just like that we spent a few more minutes enjoying the views before we heard the crackling of bushes and the familiar figure of Jaiden the ninja boy stepped out of the shrubbery.

  “Nin! I have found your quarry! Follow my lead!”

  “Great! You must be pretty skilled to have found a single Pokémon den within the span of what could only be a few minutes.”

  “Like a Shiftry one must be able to listen to the wind to be a good ninja.”

  Recalling the rest of my team in order to avoid spooking the jigglypuffs I hurriedly followed along the overly excited ninja boy. We weren’t walking for long when I heard the melodious voices of the local fairy type Pokémon. Their cute squeaking leading us to a smaller hill on the edge of the forest canopy. What greeted us was the wondrous sight of a quartet of pink colored balloon like Pokémon with small tufts of hair growing out of their forehead.

  They didn’t seem to be afraid of the two unknown humans walking up to them and actually seemed sort of excited. The biggest one was actually hopping up and down while giving us a dose of Baby-Doll Eyes.

  “Jiggly! Puff!”

  ‘What is that one saying?’

  “Jigglypuff is happy because now they get to have impartial judges for their singing competition.”

  “This is perfect! I’ve always wanted to hear a jigglypuff's singing voice! Their vocal range exceeds human’s by at least two octaves. Oh, sweet Jigglypuff, may the rest of my Pokémon companions listen in as well?”

  “Puff! Puff!”

  “The more the merrier, only sophisticated Pokémon are able to judge our singing though!”

  “Honored opponent this is where I leave you to return back to my training.”

  “No way you’ve gotten all this way and now you want to leave already? It’s only good manners to help these Pokémon decide who among them has the best singing voice!”

  “My personal hobbies are more of the manly variety…”

  “You think helping the Jigglypuff with their singing competition is too girly?! I’ll have you know even the manliest of men appreciate the musical arts! Koga himself is known to use a variety of sound-based moves in battle; having a good ear for these types of activities makes for a good trainer.”

  “Are you sure? Grandmaster Koga does?”

  “Let’s talk about it some more while listening to the melodious tunes of these clearly skilled songstresses.”

  POV - Mrs. Stone

  “Madam Stone, we have already reviewed yesterday’s camera footage and found nothing out of the ordinary which could possibly lead to the nature or whereabouts of the ghost Pokémon. This must have been a one time fluke occurrence not worth looking into.”

  “I’ll decide that for myself. Now bring over the camera footage.”

  “Right away Madam!”

  ‘It is so hard finding good help nowadays. Once Roxy makes a good showing for herself, I can finally retire. I’ve waylaid my own family matters for far too long. When I get back home, I’ll have Steven show off his rock collection again. How long has it been since the last time we’ve had time to go over his hobby?’

  “Four months sixteen days three hours and thirty-seven minutes ago.”

  ‘Thanks Nicolas, you are a lifesaver.’

  Only my own Metagross was allowed to link minds with me on his own initiative. The rest had to be either in battle or find themselves in an emergency situation. Nicolas made it a point to assert his will over the younger rebellious beldum and metang.

  The girl had proven herself to be a mixed bag so far. Out of all the applicants for the position I had chosen her because she was articulate and knew how to work a computer. Both qualities that could also be found amongst Nicolas’ brood. The current Pokémon labor laws being the only thing stopping me from actually employing one of my Metang at the service desk. The fact that the association was okay with having construction companies pay their machop and machoke employees with just food, shelter and a trainer’s affection while I couldn’t do the same was ludicrous. We needed our Pokémon partners to do hard labor but any mention of them taking up more skill intensive jobs was laid by the wayside.

  The girl named Cindy came back, this time holding a DVR storage device and pulling along a television we kept in the back room. Without any further prompting from my side, she slipped the disk inside and clicked play. The screen lit up showing the image of the gym’s hallway. Yesterday’s incident was displayed in front of my eyes. The chandelier swinging, our visitors leaving and our receptionist watching on helplessly until a boy walked in. After her first attempt to shoo him off the chandelier stopped swinging.

  “We have indeed been visited by a special Pokémon.”

  ‘Are you seeing something?’

  “The light’s distorted, I only know of two Pokémon gifted enough to bend light itself.”

  “Cindy, have you made any backups of this recording?”

  “Not yet Madam, should I?”

  “No, why don’t you take the rest of the day off and let me handle this?”

  Cindy, not needing any further prompting, left the room as I called out my most trusted long-standing partner to help further analyze the contents of the security tape. Nicolas wasn’t the largest example of his species, but his meticulous nature had been a boon to our shared battling career. Oftentimes it only took him a single glance to assess our opponents’ weaknesses.

  Using his psychic powers on the remote rewind button my Metagross analyzed the footage once more, this time in person instead of through my human eyes. He kept the video footage running long after the chandelier stopped swinging and only after the boy trainer had left did Nicolas’ curiosity subside.

  “The Pokémon left with the trainer while hanging onto his neck and shoulder. I have seen enough to be able to render an image of that Pokémon into your mind. Without any coloring but it should help us narrow down which legend has graced this boy with their companionship.”

  Giving him my assent, the image of an unknown Pokémon was projected into my mind.

  ‘Cute… It is not one of the Eon Pokémon. A foreign Pokémon no doubt, it doesn’t seem all too powerful.’

  “What do you want to do?”

  “That…it was just playing atop our chandelier, right? If it were a regular Pokémon doing that, we’d give him a scolding or ban him from entering the gym. Still, he’s shown me such an interesting Pokémon. We’ll see what he’s about when he inevitably comes back here to challenge us. The fact that we haven’t heard about a trainer going around with such an interesting Pokémon means that he’s keeping its identity a secret.”

  “Should we keep an eye on him just in case?”

  “Who do you think I am? My husband? No, the boy seems smart enough to not advertise this cutie in front of the masses. Although I am fairly sure you’d be quite interested in sharing experiences with this whatever its name is Pokémon.”

  “The technique to bend light has eluded me for so long…”

  “Hmm… how about we make these two undergo a special challenge to earn their badge?”

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