Bogdan Johnson
You may call me Bogjon
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2014
- Messages
- 9
- Reaction score
- 1
Hello fellows! I'm posting here my attempt at a Pokémon fanfic, that has been inside my head for a while, and now I'm (trying to) write it down. It is a fic about Kanto, more precisely, Kanto during the events that happened roughly 50 years before the events of the first generation. That being said, some old faces will make a cameo, alongside new ones, and what I plan to do is to depict the roots of a lot of things that are already established during Generation I, all that set in times of hardship in the region. These roots vary from the Gyms, the Pokémon League, the Indigo Plateau and cities, to the past of some characters that we love. No Red, no Blue, no Lance, no Giovanni and no Team Rocket, but instead, my attempt is to portray how these people and organizations were preceded by the old timers, and how Kanto turned into what we could see in the first games.
I'll keep a handy summary of the characters, so that you may see their current Pokémon teams and some artwork that I did. As for the chapters, they will be all here in the first post for ease of access, all enclosed in the spoiler tags. I begin this by already posting 5 short chapters simultaneously, but if doing this is somehow against the rules, I can remove some on request.
Please, take in consideration that I'm definitely not a native/fluent speaker, and you may find some (probably many) flaws in my writing, but I hope you'll be able to understand things. Also feel free to point me some mistakes that you may encounter, so that I may correct them and improve my knowledge. I'm having fun doing it, and hope that you have some while reading it. Thanks in advance.
Characters:
Note: I suggest that you do not open the spoiler tags if you haven't read the respective chapter, to avoid some light spoilers. The same goes for the introduced Pokémon.
Chapter 1:
Chapter 3:
Chapter 8:
Chapter 9:
I'll keep a handy summary of the characters, so that you may see their current Pokémon teams and some artwork that I did. As for the chapters, they will be all here in the first post for ease of access, all enclosed in the spoiler tags. I begin this by already posting 5 short chapters simultaneously, but if doing this is somehow against the rules, I can remove some on request.
Please, take in consideration that I'm definitely not a native/fluent speaker, and you may find some (probably many) flaws in my writing, but I hope you'll be able to understand things. Also feel free to point me some mistakes that you may encounter, so that I may correct them and improve my knowledge. I'm having fun doing it, and hope that you have some while reading it. Thanks in advance.
Characters:
Note: I suggest that you do not open the spoiler tags if you haven't read the respective chapter, to avoid some light spoilers. The same goes for the introduced Pokémon.
Chapter 1:
Hiroshi
Introduced Pokémon (Chapter 4):
Introduced Pokémon (Chapter 11):Rising Sun
Zealot
Oak
Introduced Pokémon (Chapter 5):
Introduced Pokémon (Chapter 7):Mighty
Brute
Galvanizer
Chapter 3:
Pryce
Introduced Pokémon (Chapter 7):
Harpooner
Agatha
No Pokémon introduced yet
Chapter 8:
Halberd
No Pokémon introduced yet
Speer
No Pokémon introduced yet
Yavleen
Introduced Pokémon (Chapter 7):
Nebula
Fauchard
Introduced Pokémon (Chapter 7):
Fallen Star
Chapter 9:
Captain Audrey
Artwork unavaiable
Introduced Pokémon (Chapter 8):
Navy's Pride
Chapter 1: A PURE WHITE BEGINNING - 2014-06-25
I see no reason why my life before arriving in Pallet Town should be detailed in this writing, so I'll focus on the portion that took place after that. My life until then was spent mainly working in the crops in my family's old house in a small island to the southwest. We lived there until some natural phenomena turned it impossible to properly cultivate the crops like we used to do to make a living. It was a time of trouble and after a while some people began migrating to other places, as I also had to do. By chance - or destiny, I don't know - me and my father moved to Pallet, and so my journey began.
The Kanto of now is something quite different than what it was back then. Things like the Pokémon League and the current purpose of Gyms came into being in the process of cultural changes that happened some decades ago. Changes that I took some part in, alongside some distinct people that helped a lot in the process, each in its own way; people that also presented me to a whole new purpose.
Well, the cogwheels for this change in my life started moving in the day of my arrival in Kanto during the winter, many years ago. The moment we arrived in the docks, I found it a very beautiful little town. Some flocks of Pidgey were flying between the trees, the Rattata made burrows in the snowy ground and people closed the stores earlier due to the snowy day. It seemed overall a quite place to live, just my kind of place.
Our new house was located near the Pallet Woods, a bit isolated from most of the other houses and buildings, and although it was located on higher grounds, it was partially hidden due to the trees surrounding it. The nearest building was a ranch that stood roughly two hundred meters away. From the rear window, which looked to the yard, one could see part of the lake that is located far in the middle of the woods.
My father chose that house because it was one of the few suitable places to grow crops around that land, and he paid a considerable price for it. As we know, the soil of the Kanto region is mostly volcanic, and there was demand on this kind of business, that was mostly concentrated in Fuchsia city, but sort of lacking in the other places. So with my father's knowledge of cultivating crops we could have a chance of being prosperous there. We would need to wait until the end of the winter though, to begin planting on it. Until then we would have to resort to some other way to make a living, since our saved money wouldn't last for the entire season.
I remember well that early in the next morning our new - and only - neighbors stopped by to welcome us. While my father was having a conversation, and also getting up to date about the current situation in the region with two other people, I was finishing to unpack my things in my room. One of the voices was absent for a while, and then returned, this time accompanied by a young voice. I heard it salute my father, followed by my father giving it directions to my room.
Shortly after there was a boy standing near the opened door; the boy that would be one of my greatest friends for the years to come.
He was all wrapped in a heavy, long coat, with some detailed patterns on it, which slightly resembled Magikarp. Other than that, there wasn't too much that really stood out in him. Maybe the eyebrows, that were a little bushy, and his light, short hair. His eyebrows were also almost always frowned, and that made him look as if he was constantly reflecting about something. Knowing him after all this time, I have no doubts that it is some sort of side effect of his studies; all the time spent concentrating in reading must have conditioned his eyebrows to stay like that unconsciously.
After I invited him to enter and introduced myself, he promptly identified himself as Samuel Oak - Oak, for short -, and he had with him a bag with a lot of papers badly stuffed in it, full of drawings and written stuff in them. It was Oak that would later foster the efforts on the study of Pokémon in Kanto, and the moment he began talking about his drawings I knew he was a visionary.
Trying to find something to talk about, I pointed to his drawings, asking something just for small talking. The question seemed to please Oak a lot though, and he quickly took them out for showing, while talking a bit about the Pokémon he had encountered so far.
At some point he was very surprised when I told him I never had trained a Pokémon. We actually had a Pokémon known as Taurus back in our old house in the island, that helped plowing the earth - which we had to sell before moving to Pallet -, but I never had so called Pokémon partners and was surprised to see that some people held them in such a high regard.
Things were different in that new land though, and Oak had such a lively spirit when talking about these creatures that it eventually drew me to the whole Pokémon thing. The way he talked about them made them look like very mysterious beings and that really caught my attention.
He gave me only a few opportunities to actually say something, given his fiery interest in talking about Pokémon, and so I stood there listening and nodding with my head, amazed at what my random question had unleashed. After an excited brief explanation about what he knew about the Pokémon world and what he wanted to become - the authority on the study of Pokémon -, we heard the other two people calling him to go.
I accompanied him to the living room, where his parents were waiting. I didn't knew Mrs. Oak until then, but I recognized his father, Mr. Oak - I never really knew his full name. He was an acquaintance of my family back in the days when my father helped during his ventures on the island, on some research. He was a Pokémon breeder and the owner of the aforementioned ranch, and also probably the inspiration of Oak's strong interest in the nature of Pokémon. He told me that my father mentioned that I still hadn't my very own Pokémon, but perhaps he could pave the way for me.
He could pave the way for me; I didn't knew the meaning of this, so I just nodded in agreement. They didn't stay for lunch, because they had some work to do in the ranch. On that day me and my father were also quite busy doing some checking in the house, and after that my father went to the neighbor city, Viridian, to do some registration procedures. I myself decided to walk a little around the town, to know the place a little bit.
It was another cold day of winter, and so there weren't many people around, and the few that were outside didn't remain in the cold for too long; the shops would soon be closed, so I didn't bother checking them. I went just so far as to the square, from where you can have a nice view of the docks, which were rather empty that day, aside from two Taurus-ridden carriages stopped there.
In the center of the square rested a statue of a bird Pokémon, and the benches were placed in a circular form around it. I sat there for a while, observing the surroundings; the town featured a lot of trees in it, and some kept under their shadows some old styled houses.
I tried to see my house from there, but it wasn't possible because of the elevated ground that hid the path; I could see some part of the woods though, and yonder, stood intrepid a huge mountain. That was indeed a very picturesque place.
As snow began to fall heavier, I gave up on the tour and was already on my way out of the square, when I noticed some dim lights arriving on the docks, coming out of the mist that shrouded the sea.
Turns out that it was actually an old boat - not exactly old, but only in style; a more traditional style. It was very distinct, decorated with a lot of lamps, and there was a fearful wooden Gyarados on the top of it. It grabbed attention easily, but there weren't many people out there to see that fancy big boat.
After it stopped, some very well dressed people in dark robes went promptly to the carriages, and while watching them enter in the carriages, my eyes caught the glimpse of a classy girl. Soon the carriages started moving, and in a minute passed right were I was staying; as they passed by, I got a quick, but better view of the girl, who was on the second carriage, and could see her face for a moment.
What I could see, was that she had her bluish hair ornamented with a pretty ribbon, and that her beautiful black eyes turned away when I looked into them. I could also see that the other people inside were also looking at me, for I stood there - then I noticed -, alone on the streets, with my clothes all covered in snow. So the carriages soon disappeared in the fog, while heading in the direction of a big road, and I went away from the town center.
On my way back home, I heard my father calling me; he was just arriving from Viridian and told me that he had seen me coming from the town center, so we went home together. By then the ground was already covered in snow, and two times we almost stepped on some running Rattata, which tried to bite our feet.
At home, while we were having dinner - a Sandshrew stew with Lum Berries and Oddish leaves, that at least filled our stomachs -, I asked my father if he had noticed the carriages, to which he answered positively. He also said they were probably some very important people, since he noticed the crest of the Indigo Plateau on the carriages. "What's is this Indigo Plateau?" I curiously asked, but he said that he would have to tell me about that later. He must have had a very tiresome day dealing with regulations on that day, so I didn't bother him further; he went to sleep right away after washing the dishes, and so did I.
That night I had a strange dream. In my dream I was talking to Oak in the square, then suddenly his coat went flying away to the sea, and then that old boat appeared, with its mighty Gyarados; and above the Gyarados, that girl I saw earlier. That was really an eventful day, I think.
In the next morning, both Oaks stopped by our house again. I had already forgotten about what Oak's father told me in their first visit; turns out that the thing he had for me was a Pokémon egg. Never before I had seen such a thing as a Pokémon egg; I had only heard about it. It was unusually big, very hard and was all tinted in an reddish color. When I picked it up in my hands it felt warm, as if it didn't need something to keep it from cold, but instead sort of nurtured itself in heat.
Oak's father said that he had received that egg from a traveler from far away some days prior, and although he accepted it, he was already very busy with other Pokémon. He also said that it was an unusual egg; indeed a remarkable first Pokémon to give someone that just arrived from another land. The place was totally knew to both me and that Pokémon, so we had at least this one thing in common. I ended up accepting the gift. He just asked me to leave it in a safe place and to notify him when the thing was born, to which I agreed.
Their visit was very brief, because they took care of some Pokémon in the ranch, and those winter days made the labor specially harder. Before leaving, they invited me to some first special class of the winter season, that would take place in the ranch, in the next day. I accepted, although not really knowing what would be that; it would occur during the morning. Later I would know that Oak's father gave away Pokémon to some people who had interest in creating them, a custom my friend Oak still keeps to this day. Until then I had no great interest at all in taking care of a Pokémon, but that egg started to change something inside me.
The rest of that day was spent in my house, because it was snowing a lot. So I fixed some place for the egg and considered it for a while, even approaching my ear trying to hear something; although I heard nothing, I could feel tiny vibrations. My father was preparing some bonsai for selling, and asked me if I didn't want to help a little. That saved an entire afternoon that would be otherwise lost to boredom.
Later during the night, I remember being in the living room with my father. The egg was there too, and it emanated subtle warm waves that kept the room from being cold. It was a nice thing to have it indeed.
My father began talking about his trip to Viridian, in the previous day, and then I suddenly remembered that he had mentioned that Indigo Plateau thing; this reminded him that he owed me that explanation he said he would give. So the subject of the conversation changed, and I was finally able to have some understanding on what was happening in Kanto at that time.
The Kanto of now is something quite different than what it was back then. Things like the Pokémon League and the current purpose of Gyms came into being in the process of cultural changes that happened some decades ago. Changes that I took some part in, alongside some distinct people that helped a lot in the process, each in its own way; people that also presented me to a whole new purpose.
Well, the cogwheels for this change in my life started moving in the day of my arrival in Kanto during the winter, many years ago. The moment we arrived in the docks, I found it a very beautiful little town. Some flocks of Pidgey were flying between the trees, the Rattata made burrows in the snowy ground and people closed the stores earlier due to the snowy day. It seemed overall a quite place to live, just my kind of place.
Our new house was located near the Pallet Woods, a bit isolated from most of the other houses and buildings, and although it was located on higher grounds, it was partially hidden due to the trees surrounding it. The nearest building was a ranch that stood roughly two hundred meters away. From the rear window, which looked to the yard, one could see part of the lake that is located far in the middle of the woods.
My father chose that house because it was one of the few suitable places to grow crops around that land, and he paid a considerable price for it. As we know, the soil of the Kanto region is mostly volcanic, and there was demand on this kind of business, that was mostly concentrated in Fuchsia city, but sort of lacking in the other places. So with my father's knowledge of cultivating crops we could have a chance of being prosperous there. We would need to wait until the end of the winter though, to begin planting on it. Until then we would have to resort to some other way to make a living, since our saved money wouldn't last for the entire season.
***
I remember well that early in the next morning our new - and only - neighbors stopped by to welcome us. While my father was having a conversation, and also getting up to date about the current situation in the region with two other people, I was finishing to unpack my things in my room. One of the voices was absent for a while, and then returned, this time accompanied by a young voice. I heard it salute my father, followed by my father giving it directions to my room.
Shortly after there was a boy standing near the opened door; the boy that would be one of my greatest friends for the years to come.
He was all wrapped in a heavy, long coat, with some detailed patterns on it, which slightly resembled Magikarp. Other than that, there wasn't too much that really stood out in him. Maybe the eyebrows, that were a little bushy, and his light, short hair. His eyebrows were also almost always frowned, and that made him look as if he was constantly reflecting about something. Knowing him after all this time, I have no doubts that it is some sort of side effect of his studies; all the time spent concentrating in reading must have conditioned his eyebrows to stay like that unconsciously.
After I invited him to enter and introduced myself, he promptly identified himself as Samuel Oak - Oak, for short -, and he had with him a bag with a lot of papers badly stuffed in it, full of drawings and written stuff in them. It was Oak that would later foster the efforts on the study of Pokémon in Kanto, and the moment he began talking about his drawings I knew he was a visionary.
Trying to find something to talk about, I pointed to his drawings, asking something just for small talking. The question seemed to please Oak a lot though, and he quickly took them out for showing, while talking a bit about the Pokémon he had encountered so far.
At some point he was very surprised when I told him I never had trained a Pokémon. We actually had a Pokémon known as Taurus back in our old house in the island, that helped plowing the earth - which we had to sell before moving to Pallet -, but I never had so called Pokémon partners and was surprised to see that some people held them in such a high regard.
Things were different in that new land though, and Oak had such a lively spirit when talking about these creatures that it eventually drew me to the whole Pokémon thing. The way he talked about them made them look like very mysterious beings and that really caught my attention.
He gave me only a few opportunities to actually say something, given his fiery interest in talking about Pokémon, and so I stood there listening and nodding with my head, amazed at what my random question had unleashed. After an excited brief explanation about what he knew about the Pokémon world and what he wanted to become - the authority on the study of Pokémon -, we heard the other two people calling him to go.
I accompanied him to the living room, where his parents were waiting. I didn't knew Mrs. Oak until then, but I recognized his father, Mr. Oak - I never really knew his full name. He was an acquaintance of my family back in the days when my father helped during his ventures on the island, on some research. He was a Pokémon breeder and the owner of the aforementioned ranch, and also probably the inspiration of Oak's strong interest in the nature of Pokémon. He told me that my father mentioned that I still hadn't my very own Pokémon, but perhaps he could pave the way for me.
He could pave the way for me; I didn't knew the meaning of this, so I just nodded in agreement. They didn't stay for lunch, because they had some work to do in the ranch. On that day me and my father were also quite busy doing some checking in the house, and after that my father went to the neighbor city, Viridian, to do some registration procedures. I myself decided to walk a little around the town, to know the place a little bit.
***
It was another cold day of winter, and so there weren't many people around, and the few that were outside didn't remain in the cold for too long; the shops would soon be closed, so I didn't bother checking them. I went just so far as to the square, from where you can have a nice view of the docks, which were rather empty that day, aside from two Taurus-ridden carriages stopped there.
In the center of the square rested a statue of a bird Pokémon, and the benches were placed in a circular form around it. I sat there for a while, observing the surroundings; the town featured a lot of trees in it, and some kept under their shadows some old styled houses.
I tried to see my house from there, but it wasn't possible because of the elevated ground that hid the path; I could see some part of the woods though, and yonder, stood intrepid a huge mountain. That was indeed a very picturesque place.
As snow began to fall heavier, I gave up on the tour and was already on my way out of the square, when I noticed some dim lights arriving on the docks, coming out of the mist that shrouded the sea.
Turns out that it was actually an old boat - not exactly old, but only in style; a more traditional style. It was very distinct, decorated with a lot of lamps, and there was a fearful wooden Gyarados on the top of it. It grabbed attention easily, but there weren't many people out there to see that fancy big boat.
After it stopped, some very well dressed people in dark robes went promptly to the carriages, and while watching them enter in the carriages, my eyes caught the glimpse of a classy girl. Soon the carriages started moving, and in a minute passed right were I was staying; as they passed by, I got a quick, but better view of the girl, who was on the second carriage, and could see her face for a moment.
What I could see, was that she had her bluish hair ornamented with a pretty ribbon, and that her beautiful black eyes turned away when I looked into them. I could also see that the other people inside were also looking at me, for I stood there - then I noticed -, alone on the streets, with my clothes all covered in snow. So the carriages soon disappeared in the fog, while heading in the direction of a big road, and I went away from the town center.
On my way back home, I heard my father calling me; he was just arriving from Viridian and told me that he had seen me coming from the town center, so we went home together. By then the ground was already covered in snow, and two times we almost stepped on some running Rattata, which tried to bite our feet.
***
At home, while we were having dinner - a Sandshrew stew with Lum Berries and Oddish leaves, that at least filled our stomachs -, I asked my father if he had noticed the carriages, to which he answered positively. He also said they were probably some very important people, since he noticed the crest of the Indigo Plateau on the carriages. "What's is this Indigo Plateau?" I curiously asked, but he said that he would have to tell me about that later. He must have had a very tiresome day dealing with regulations on that day, so I didn't bother him further; he went to sleep right away after washing the dishes, and so did I.
That night I had a strange dream. In my dream I was talking to Oak in the square, then suddenly his coat went flying away to the sea, and then that old boat appeared, with its mighty Gyarados; and above the Gyarados, that girl I saw earlier. That was really an eventful day, I think.
***
In the next morning, both Oaks stopped by our house again. I had already forgotten about what Oak's father told me in their first visit; turns out that the thing he had for me was a Pokémon egg. Never before I had seen such a thing as a Pokémon egg; I had only heard about it. It was unusually big, very hard and was all tinted in an reddish color. When I picked it up in my hands it felt warm, as if it didn't need something to keep it from cold, but instead sort of nurtured itself in heat.
Oak's father said that he had received that egg from a traveler from far away some days prior, and although he accepted it, he was already very busy with other Pokémon. He also said that it was an unusual egg; indeed a remarkable first Pokémon to give someone that just arrived from another land. The place was totally knew to both me and that Pokémon, so we had at least this one thing in common. I ended up accepting the gift. He just asked me to leave it in a safe place and to notify him when the thing was born, to which I agreed.
Their visit was very brief, because they took care of some Pokémon in the ranch, and those winter days made the labor specially harder. Before leaving, they invited me to some first special class of the winter season, that would take place in the ranch, in the next day. I accepted, although not really knowing what would be that; it would occur during the morning. Later I would know that Oak's father gave away Pokémon to some people who had interest in creating them, a custom my friend Oak still keeps to this day. Until then I had no great interest at all in taking care of a Pokémon, but that egg started to change something inside me.
The rest of that day was spent in my house, because it was snowing a lot. So I fixed some place for the egg and considered it for a while, even approaching my ear trying to hear something; although I heard nothing, I could feel tiny vibrations. My father was preparing some bonsai for selling, and asked me if I didn't want to help a little. That saved an entire afternoon that would be otherwise lost to boredom.
Later during the night, I remember being in the living room with my father. The egg was there too, and it emanated subtle warm waves that kept the room from being cold. It was a nice thing to have it indeed.
My father began talking about his trip to Viridian, in the previous day, and then I suddenly remembered that he had mentioned that Indigo Plateau thing; this reminded him that he owed me that explanation he said he would give. So the subject of the conversation changed, and I was finally able to have some understanding on what was happening in Kanto at that time.
Chapter 2: POLITICAL STRUGGLES IN KANTO - 2014-06-25
Kanto was, by then, a region remarked by its division by lands that were ruled by clans. Each land was notable for providing Kanto with something, be it produce or services. All that was administered by a central body that ruled the other clans and also commanded the regional military troops - although each clan commanded its own guard inside its governed city -, the security and the laws, and also mediated in the discussion between the cities. So was the Kanto Empire back then. We call it the 3rd age of the Kanto Empire.
The empire itself has existed for some 600 years or so, but it was marked by some changes in its government, which we call the ages of the empire. The 3rd age had been existing for roughly 80 years at that time. The empire, despite its minor problems, was marked by hundreds of years of prosperity and was always a little bit ahead of its time.
Things started going really bad after some specific clans began to have a stronger hand in the matters of the region. Those were clans that by the course of the decades had acquired a lot of power and influence inside the empire, and greed began taking a more prominent role in the deals that happened in Kanto.
The clan of Vermilion oversaw the majority of transportation by sea, that came mostly from Olivine, in Johto. The ruling clan of Saffron had an important control over key trading routes by land. The clan of Fuchsia possessed a land full of natural resources such as Pokémon fauna and fertile lands, but depended on Vermilion to connect itself to other cities, since there were no routes connecting it to Celadon at the time, and even Lavender had no Silence Bridge yet.
The clan that ruled Pewter had in its territory a lot of valuable mineral resources, and the clan that controlled Cerulean dominated a key route to the precious minerals that went through it from Pewter to the other cities - mainly Vermilion -, and also had the power plant. There was also the ruling clan of Viridian, who had grown to become the most powerful clan, with the majority of the representation in the Indigo Plateau, the imperial city, house of the ruling family and other high ranking people of the empire.
The great influence of the Viridian clan existed mainly because part of the administrative body of the empire outside the Indigo Plateau was located in Viridian, and through the years that provided Viridian with close proximity to the administrative matters. The other less powerful part was spearheaded by the clan that ruled Celadon, which had also a well developed commerce.
The few other lands - Pallet, Cinnabar and Lavender - didn't possess much influence in the politics of Kanto, and as such were often subjected to the resolutions of the strongest clans, existing under their jurisdiction; Viridian, in the case of Pallet and Cinnabar, and Saffron, in Lavender's case.
From the Indigo Plateau were commanded the military troops, composed of soldiers from all lands, and aside from the Indigo Plateau - and all the way down to the gates near Viridian -, the military troops were more present in Vermilion - a key strategic position -, and in Cinnabar island, which held a prison at that time.
The Imperial House itself was naturally established in the imperial city of the Indigo Plateau, but it had a branch that stretched as far as the land of Blackthorn in the younger empire of Johto, so the two empires were somewhat connected in good terms. The Imperial House rarely appeared publicly in the other cities, but only in special occasions, although they said that the emperor granted a hearing to everyone who wanted an audience with him; poor or rich, the doors were opened to any citizen, when he traveled through the cities.
As for the foundations of the Kanto Empire itself, my father only knew that the royal family settled on the land a long time ago, stretching from a distant kingdom, and together with other settlements they managed to stabilize the region and began expanding on it. Those settlements gave origin to the clans that would later govern the various cities, and eventually the Imperial House achieved independence from the former kingdom. Many years later, part of the Imperial House eventually migrated and mixed with another clan in the region of Johto, a mixing that would later originate the Johto Imperial House.
These stories about the origin of both empires where full of myths though, but what was certain is that the Imperial House was very respected in the region, and although not traveling very often to the other cities, they worked in the process of mediating the various interests of the cities, in a way that would benefit everyone. Over time, however, these interests turned it increasingly hard to maintain the balance, and what was peace began to turn into turmoil.
My father told me that for some weeks prior to our arrival, there was already some growing tension between the clans, and this supposedly started after Cerulean began demanding higher taxes for the trading of goods that went out from Pewter through it.
The people in command of Cerulean had started a very expensive and bold attempt in building another harbor in Kanto, that would greatly improve their influence in the region. If the harbor were to be finished, Cerulean would have direct access to trading routes by sea, besides the existing key position in connecting Pewter to a key trading route such as Saffron and the direct access and control to the very important power plant.
But things weren't as expected in the construction of the harbor, and the process began proving very costly to maintain, whilst also maintaining the power plant. Cerulean began raising its taxes a lot, but that wasn't enough, and then it resorted to dangerously exploit the taxes upon the connection with Pewter.
Despite being greatly affected by this, Pewter's ruling body decided to abide to Cerulean's demands, because without it, it would be very difficult and even more costly to siphon its goods through the region - the most obvious second option being Pallet with its docks.
The taxes seemed to have a good result for Cerulean, and - maybe blind by confidence of its binding over Pewter - it soon after rose the taxes again, but this time Pewter had no option but to appeal to Viridian for some immediate measures.
Viridian began mediating an agreement with Cerulean, but it was useless because the ruling clan of Cerulean refused to drop the taxes; after some pressure by the neighbor cities, out of spite the Cerulean rulers decided to sever the connection between the city and Pewter until further resume of the payments.
This was a rather bold move, but a foolish mistake from Cerulean, since Viridian would also be directly affected by this blocking, although not as much as Pewter, for Viridian had influence on the administration of Pallet and Cinnabar.
This situation caused social unrest in Cerulean, because besides the already higher taxes, the citizens feared - and it eventually happened - that a big city such as Saffron would certainly retaliate this action by denying Cerulean access to it, rendering Cerulean even more isolated than Lavender, and victim of its own blockage.
The blocking of the access to Pewter had been in place for a day when we arrived in Pallet, two days before, and so that present day was the third day of the blockage. "Those carriages," my father said, "it is probably not a coincidence. This situation is probably so serious as to justify the visit of some politicians from some other city."
"Do you think they came from Johto?" I asked, to which he replied "Most certainly, otherwise they wouldn't arrive in Pallet, unless they came from Cinnabar. Who knows if they aren't actually some fancy people from the Johto Imperial House?"
My father said that last sentence to finish the conversation, because it was already late, and meant no seriousness in it, but he didn't saw that boat arriving in the previous day. A fancy boat, to some fancy imperial people; that made some sense to me.
This way I was informed about what was happening in Kanto at that time, and how it could possibly affect our plans to sell crops to the other cities, should that cloudy atmosphere over the relations between cities continue like that. If that situation went on, we would need to figure out a way of dealing with it before the end of the winter.
After a while I went to bed and brought the Pokémon egg to my room; fortunately no strange dreams occurred that night. In the next day, when I was having breakfast, my father returned home after buying some tools in the town. He brought with him a newspaper with some ominous news in it: the embargo on Cerulean came into reality, and aside from Lavender, it was deprived of further connections with the other cities of Kanto.
That was the first big crack on the 3rd age of the empire; the first crack, they say, is the one that shows the extension of what a surface can endure, and let it weakened to the following cracks.
The empire itself has existed for some 600 years or so, but it was marked by some changes in its government, which we call the ages of the empire. The 3rd age had been existing for roughly 80 years at that time. The empire, despite its minor problems, was marked by hundreds of years of prosperity and was always a little bit ahead of its time.
Things started going really bad after some specific clans began to have a stronger hand in the matters of the region. Those were clans that by the course of the decades had acquired a lot of power and influence inside the empire, and greed began taking a more prominent role in the deals that happened in Kanto.
The clan of Vermilion oversaw the majority of transportation by sea, that came mostly from Olivine, in Johto. The ruling clan of Saffron had an important control over key trading routes by land. The clan of Fuchsia possessed a land full of natural resources such as Pokémon fauna and fertile lands, but depended on Vermilion to connect itself to other cities, since there were no routes connecting it to Celadon at the time, and even Lavender had no Silence Bridge yet.
The clan that ruled Pewter had in its territory a lot of valuable mineral resources, and the clan that controlled Cerulean dominated a key route to the precious minerals that went through it from Pewter to the other cities - mainly Vermilion -, and also had the power plant. There was also the ruling clan of Viridian, who had grown to become the most powerful clan, with the majority of the representation in the Indigo Plateau, the imperial city, house of the ruling family and other high ranking people of the empire.
The great influence of the Viridian clan existed mainly because part of the administrative body of the empire outside the Indigo Plateau was located in Viridian, and through the years that provided Viridian with close proximity to the administrative matters. The other less powerful part was spearheaded by the clan that ruled Celadon, which had also a well developed commerce.
The few other lands - Pallet, Cinnabar and Lavender - didn't possess much influence in the politics of Kanto, and as such were often subjected to the resolutions of the strongest clans, existing under their jurisdiction; Viridian, in the case of Pallet and Cinnabar, and Saffron, in Lavender's case.
From the Indigo Plateau were commanded the military troops, composed of soldiers from all lands, and aside from the Indigo Plateau - and all the way down to the gates near Viridian -, the military troops were more present in Vermilion - a key strategic position -, and in Cinnabar island, which held a prison at that time.
The Imperial House itself was naturally established in the imperial city of the Indigo Plateau, but it had a branch that stretched as far as the land of Blackthorn in the younger empire of Johto, so the two empires were somewhat connected in good terms. The Imperial House rarely appeared publicly in the other cities, but only in special occasions, although they said that the emperor granted a hearing to everyone who wanted an audience with him; poor or rich, the doors were opened to any citizen, when he traveled through the cities.
As for the foundations of the Kanto Empire itself, my father only knew that the royal family settled on the land a long time ago, stretching from a distant kingdom, and together with other settlements they managed to stabilize the region and began expanding on it. Those settlements gave origin to the clans that would later govern the various cities, and eventually the Imperial House achieved independence from the former kingdom. Many years later, part of the Imperial House eventually migrated and mixed with another clan in the region of Johto, a mixing that would later originate the Johto Imperial House.
These stories about the origin of both empires where full of myths though, but what was certain is that the Imperial House was very respected in the region, and although not traveling very often to the other cities, they worked in the process of mediating the various interests of the cities, in a way that would benefit everyone. Over time, however, these interests turned it increasingly hard to maintain the balance, and what was peace began to turn into turmoil.
My father told me that for some weeks prior to our arrival, there was already some growing tension between the clans, and this supposedly started after Cerulean began demanding higher taxes for the trading of goods that went out from Pewter through it.
The people in command of Cerulean had started a very expensive and bold attempt in building another harbor in Kanto, that would greatly improve their influence in the region. If the harbor were to be finished, Cerulean would have direct access to trading routes by sea, besides the existing key position in connecting Pewter to a key trading route such as Saffron and the direct access and control to the very important power plant.
But things weren't as expected in the construction of the harbor, and the process began proving very costly to maintain, whilst also maintaining the power plant. Cerulean began raising its taxes a lot, but that wasn't enough, and then it resorted to dangerously exploit the taxes upon the connection with Pewter.
Despite being greatly affected by this, Pewter's ruling body decided to abide to Cerulean's demands, because without it, it would be very difficult and even more costly to siphon its goods through the region - the most obvious second option being Pallet with its docks.
The taxes seemed to have a good result for Cerulean, and - maybe blind by confidence of its binding over Pewter - it soon after rose the taxes again, but this time Pewter had no option but to appeal to Viridian for some immediate measures.
Viridian began mediating an agreement with Cerulean, but it was useless because the ruling clan of Cerulean refused to drop the taxes; after some pressure by the neighbor cities, out of spite the Cerulean rulers decided to sever the connection between the city and Pewter until further resume of the payments.
This was a rather bold move, but a foolish mistake from Cerulean, since Viridian would also be directly affected by this blocking, although not as much as Pewter, for Viridian had influence on the administration of Pallet and Cinnabar.
This situation caused social unrest in Cerulean, because besides the already higher taxes, the citizens feared - and it eventually happened - that a big city such as Saffron would certainly retaliate this action by denying Cerulean access to it, rendering Cerulean even more isolated than Lavender, and victim of its own blockage.
The blocking of the access to Pewter had been in place for a day when we arrived in Pallet, two days before, and so that present day was the third day of the blockage. "Those carriages," my father said, "it is probably not a coincidence. This situation is probably so serious as to justify the visit of some politicians from some other city."
"Do you think they came from Johto?" I asked, to which he replied "Most certainly, otherwise they wouldn't arrive in Pallet, unless they came from Cinnabar. Who knows if they aren't actually some fancy people from the Johto Imperial House?"
My father said that last sentence to finish the conversation, because it was already late, and meant no seriousness in it, but he didn't saw that boat arriving in the previous day. A fancy boat, to some fancy imperial people; that made some sense to me.
This way I was informed about what was happening in Kanto at that time, and how it could possibly affect our plans to sell crops to the other cities, should that cloudy atmosphere over the relations between cities continue like that. If that situation went on, we would need to figure out a way of dealing with it before the end of the winter.
After a while I went to bed and brought the Pokémon egg to my room; fortunately no strange dreams occurred that night. In the next day, when I was having breakfast, my father returned home after buying some tools in the town. He brought with him a newspaper with some ominous news in it: the embargo on Cerulean came into reality, and aside from Lavender, it was deprived of further connections with the other cities of Kanto.
That was the first big crack on the 3rd age of the empire; the first crack, they say, is the one that shows the extension of what a surface can endure, and let it weakened to the following cracks.
Chapter 3: THEIR FIRST MEETING - 2014-06-25
While reading the newspaper, my father mentioned that there was murmur all around Pallet Town; everyone was talking about Cerulean. Everyone was afraid and wondering, for Kanto didn't had a problem so big for a long time.
Those bad news almost made me forget about that special class thing, that probably had already started. So after eating something and checking the egg, which curiously was making bumping sounds sometimes, I went right away walking down the muddy path that led to the center of Pallet - in which the ranch was located midway, following a bifurcation -, and ended up in front of the gates of the ranch; after hesitating for a while, I called for Oak.
In a minute he greeted me there, and I promptly asked him, letting away my curiosity "So Oak, what is exactly this winter class? The only thing I can figure is that it's probably related to Pokémon stuff."
"Oh, it's just a special class my father holds during winter. Think about it as a complementary course, while the Viridian Trainer School is closed during he season." he answered my question, while not answering it.
"Viridian... Trainer School?" I said, trying to make sense of what he had just told me.
"Oh, sorry! I forgot that you probably don't know Viridian yet. Well, in Viridian there's a school where people can attend to learn the basics about Pokémon, but it remains closed during the winter season, so my father gives some extra lectures here in the meantime."
"I get it," I started, as he began to lead the way, "but say Oak, why did your father invite me, since I have no Pokémon to begin with?"
"No Pokémon?" his eyebrows were already frowned, "Eventually that egg will hatch, you know, and my father probably wants you to already know some things when that time comes."
"He wants to make sure the egg is in good hands, right?" I joked, and he just laughed.
We shortly arrived at what looked like a large barn, with roughly twenty people inside; his father greeted me and presented me to everybody. Oak directed my attention to two people, telling me that they were two great friends; judging by the way that they looked back at us, Oak had probably talked about me to them.
So we sat down, as Oak's father explained some thing called basic movepools, and how that was related to each type of Pokémon. Those types didn't enter in my head immediately, but I could get the concept in his explanation: it was related to the variations of moves that a determined Pokémon could probably use, given its body form and type. This helped a lot when dealing with a new Pokémon.
He said that the basic movepools thing wasn't error proof though, because of the complexity of the Pokémon body and details not very well deciphered at the time. There were also some people who could actually, through training, teach a Pokémon some move that it doesn't naturally knows. At that time, the knowledge people had regarding movepools and other peculiarities in training Pokémon wasn't as vast as it is nowadays; even the Technical Machines didn't exist by then.
After the class, seeing that I was a bit confused about all that information, Oak said he could lend me some books, and I gladly agreed. He then asked me to follow him to the place where those two he pointed earlier were; before going to fetch some books, he presented me to the two - a boy and a girl.
They were two siblings, and as we talked a little bit, I came to know that both weren't natives from Kanto, but from Johto instead. Both traveled quite a lot between the regions though, since their relatives were scattered through both regions.
They were basically of the same age as me and Oak - around 16 at the time, although the boy was a bit younger -, and looked very alike, with light blond hair and blue eyes. The girl seemed very fond of dark-colored clothes, from top to bottom, and had short hair, covered by a cloche hat. The boy wore a scarf on his neck, and also a coat decorated with a single big pattern in it; his pointy hair gave him a very stylish look.
I found them very nice people, and it seemed to me that they also sympathized with me; I was never the shy kind of person, but we got along surprisingly well. Before Oak came back with the books, the girl told me that they visited the class each year, but due to the recent blockage on Cerulean, they still couldn't get to Saffron, where their grandparents lived; in the meantime they were still hosted in a hotel in Viridian.
She talked about some of her favorite places to visit, making a remark on a city named Ecruteak, and the boy also talked about some places he had traveled to during vacations, and how he was proud of his Pokémon, which were not found easily in the region; some weren't found in the region at all.
By the way, their names were Agatha and Pryce, who hailed from the far city of Mahogany. This marked the very first time we were together, and since that time, Agatha didn't change much; she is still someone you can't top easily, when it comes to the sheer will to battle, and still admires Oak a lot, although her despite for his increasing focus on research has grown over the years.
In Pryce's case, things changed a lot - for worse, unfortunately; at that time, however, despite being usually serious, he still wasn't the cold person that he is today, but I will come to that later on.
When Oak came back, I was just talking about the egg I recently received, and when they heard that it had started to make sounds that morning, they got really excited. That - so Oak explained to me - meant that it would be hatching very soon.
His remark made me share their excitement, and after that, I felt an urge to go home right away. It was already around noon when Oak accompanied us to the gates, so we said goodbye, but not before deciding to meet again in the next week - when the next class would take place. Oak also requested them to tell some guy named Fuji that the class had already started, if they somehow managed to get to Saffron. The siblings and I then went onto different directions - theirs to the town center, while I headed home.
When I arrived at home, I remember helping my father putting together a modest greenhouse in the backyard, and after having lunch, I went right away to my room, to check the egg. It was still making some sounds from time to time, and I stood sitting in a chair before it for very long, until my back started to hurt, and I decided to lay in my bed.
I laid there, thinking about the people I just met earlier, and how I would soon have my own Pokémon to train. "Training, " I thought, "Why am I thinking about Pokémon training now, of all things?" I was curious with myself, and that thought made me remind of the books I borrowed earlier. So I picked one and started to read. It was titled "Study on the physiology of Pokémon."
Couldn't go past the first pages though, before falling asleep. When my father woke me up, it was already night time, and during dinner - still some leftovers from the two previous nights - I told him about the earlier class. He told me that he was never of the trainer type, but rather preferred using Pokémon as helping hands in the daily routine. "But it is a fine sport, and a good thing to foster the bonds between the trainer and his Pokémon," he added later, which I took as his way of encouraging me.
"And speaking of that, how's the egg, Hiroshi?" I recall him asking, and so I gave him a brief update on the status of my Pokémon egg that let him excited just as the guys earlier. It seemed that everybody but the egg itself knew about that bumping sounds thing, because it stood the same way as it was during the morning.
After a while we went to sleep, but for me it was not an easy task; the Hoothoot were cooing a lot because of the full moon, and besides, I had slept a lot during the day. So during my second trip to the kitchen, to drink some water - because it was strangely very sultry in my room -, I thought I heard my father calling me. After checking on his room, I noticed that he was still sleeping.
The calling was heard again, but this time I knew it was totally coming from another place - my room -, and was definitely just a strange noise. At that time my heart was beating quickly, and I went cautiously in that direction.
"It can't be," I whispered to myself, "Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Could it be?" That was presently all that was going within my head, and as I approached the door, I noticed some movement inside my room; big shadows danced back and forth along the walls, growing wider and then suddenly shrinking, and then suddenly stopped moving, merging themselves into a single darkness again. That's when I first saw the thing appearing at the door, and scared out of my wits, even my scream didn't go out.
Those bad news almost made me forget about that special class thing, that probably had already started. So after eating something and checking the egg, which curiously was making bumping sounds sometimes, I went right away walking down the muddy path that led to the center of Pallet - in which the ranch was located midway, following a bifurcation -, and ended up in front of the gates of the ranch; after hesitating for a while, I called for Oak.
In a minute he greeted me there, and I promptly asked him, letting away my curiosity "So Oak, what is exactly this winter class? The only thing I can figure is that it's probably related to Pokémon stuff."
"Oh, it's just a special class my father holds during winter. Think about it as a complementary course, while the Viridian Trainer School is closed during he season." he answered my question, while not answering it.
"Viridian... Trainer School?" I said, trying to make sense of what he had just told me.
"Oh, sorry! I forgot that you probably don't know Viridian yet. Well, in Viridian there's a school where people can attend to learn the basics about Pokémon, but it remains closed during the winter season, so my father gives some extra lectures here in the meantime."
"I get it," I started, as he began to lead the way, "but say Oak, why did your father invite me, since I have no Pokémon to begin with?"
"No Pokémon?" his eyebrows were already frowned, "Eventually that egg will hatch, you know, and my father probably wants you to already know some things when that time comes."
"He wants to make sure the egg is in good hands, right?" I joked, and he just laughed.
We shortly arrived at what looked like a large barn, with roughly twenty people inside; his father greeted me and presented me to everybody. Oak directed my attention to two people, telling me that they were two great friends; judging by the way that they looked back at us, Oak had probably talked about me to them.
So we sat down, as Oak's father explained some thing called basic movepools, and how that was related to each type of Pokémon. Those types didn't enter in my head immediately, but I could get the concept in his explanation: it was related to the variations of moves that a determined Pokémon could probably use, given its body form and type. This helped a lot when dealing with a new Pokémon.
He said that the basic movepools thing wasn't error proof though, because of the complexity of the Pokémon body and details not very well deciphered at the time. There were also some people who could actually, through training, teach a Pokémon some move that it doesn't naturally knows. At that time, the knowledge people had regarding movepools and other peculiarities in training Pokémon wasn't as vast as it is nowadays; even the Technical Machines didn't exist by then.
After the class, seeing that I was a bit confused about all that information, Oak said he could lend me some books, and I gladly agreed. He then asked me to follow him to the place where those two he pointed earlier were; before going to fetch some books, he presented me to the two - a boy and a girl.
They were two siblings, and as we talked a little bit, I came to know that both weren't natives from Kanto, but from Johto instead. Both traveled quite a lot between the regions though, since their relatives were scattered through both regions.
They were basically of the same age as me and Oak - around 16 at the time, although the boy was a bit younger -, and looked very alike, with light blond hair and blue eyes. The girl seemed very fond of dark-colored clothes, from top to bottom, and had short hair, covered by a cloche hat. The boy wore a scarf on his neck, and also a coat decorated with a single big pattern in it; his pointy hair gave him a very stylish look.
I found them very nice people, and it seemed to me that they also sympathized with me; I was never the shy kind of person, but we got along surprisingly well. Before Oak came back with the books, the girl told me that they visited the class each year, but due to the recent blockage on Cerulean, they still couldn't get to Saffron, where their grandparents lived; in the meantime they were still hosted in a hotel in Viridian.
She talked about some of her favorite places to visit, making a remark on a city named Ecruteak, and the boy also talked about some places he had traveled to during vacations, and how he was proud of his Pokémon, which were not found easily in the region; some weren't found in the region at all.
By the way, their names were Agatha and Pryce, who hailed from the far city of Mahogany. This marked the very first time we were together, and since that time, Agatha didn't change much; she is still someone you can't top easily, when it comes to the sheer will to battle, and still admires Oak a lot, although her despite for his increasing focus on research has grown over the years.
In Pryce's case, things changed a lot - for worse, unfortunately; at that time, however, despite being usually serious, he still wasn't the cold person that he is today, but I will come to that later on.
When Oak came back, I was just talking about the egg I recently received, and when they heard that it had started to make sounds that morning, they got really excited. That - so Oak explained to me - meant that it would be hatching very soon.
His remark made me share their excitement, and after that, I felt an urge to go home right away. It was already around noon when Oak accompanied us to the gates, so we said goodbye, but not before deciding to meet again in the next week - when the next class would take place. Oak also requested them to tell some guy named Fuji that the class had already started, if they somehow managed to get to Saffron. The siblings and I then went onto different directions - theirs to the town center, while I headed home.
***
When I arrived at home, I remember helping my father putting together a modest greenhouse in the backyard, and after having lunch, I went right away to my room, to check the egg. It was still making some sounds from time to time, and I stood sitting in a chair before it for very long, until my back started to hurt, and I decided to lay in my bed.
I laid there, thinking about the people I just met earlier, and how I would soon have my own Pokémon to train. "Training, " I thought, "Why am I thinking about Pokémon training now, of all things?" I was curious with myself, and that thought made me remind of the books I borrowed earlier. So I picked one and started to read. It was titled "Study on the physiology of Pokémon."
Couldn't go past the first pages though, before falling asleep. When my father woke me up, it was already night time, and during dinner - still some leftovers from the two previous nights - I told him about the earlier class. He told me that he was never of the trainer type, but rather preferred using Pokémon as helping hands in the daily routine. "But it is a fine sport, and a good thing to foster the bonds between the trainer and his Pokémon," he added later, which I took as his way of encouraging me.
"And speaking of that, how's the egg, Hiroshi?" I recall him asking, and so I gave him a brief update on the status of my Pokémon egg that let him excited just as the guys earlier. It seemed that everybody but the egg itself knew about that bumping sounds thing, because it stood the same way as it was during the morning.
After a while we went to sleep, but for me it was not an easy task; the Hoothoot were cooing a lot because of the full moon, and besides, I had slept a lot during the day. So during my second trip to the kitchen, to drink some water - because it was strangely very sultry in my room -, I thought I heard my father calling me. After checking on his room, I noticed that he was still sleeping.
The calling was heard again, but this time I knew it was totally coming from another place - my room -, and was definitely just a strange noise. At that time my heart was beating quickly, and I went cautiously in that direction.
"It can't be," I whispered to myself, "Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Could it be?" That was presently all that was going within my head, and as I approached the door, I noticed some movement inside my room; big shadows danced back and forth along the walls, growing wider and then suddenly shrinking, and then suddenly stopped moving, merging themselves into a single darkness again. That's when I first saw the thing appearing at the door, and scared out of my wits, even my scream didn't go out.
Chapter 4: THE DAWN OF A JOURNEY - 2014-06-25
As I stood paralyzed in the corridor, my eyes scanned the thing completely; and its eyes seemed to do the same thing. Big dark green eyes. Its hands rested in front of its light colored belly, that contrasted with the overall color of the skin. As my eyes moved to the extremities of its body, I noticed that the thing was on fire, although it didn't seem to bother with that.
A minute or two passed by, while we were there stopped, looking at each other; analyzing the strange being that stood in front of ourselves. As the shock of the sudden encounter passed away, I began approaching the thing, which was by then actually pretty cute.
It wasn't scared of me at all, and due to part of it being on fire, I thought for a while that it was just too dumb to notice. Finally I stood right in front of it, and crouching, stretched my arm to touch its head, to see how it would react. That move surprisingly pleased it a lot, and as it got closer to my hand, I felt a really strange feeling. "My very own Pokémon," I thought, smiling to myself.
For quite a while I examined it - now with my hands -, feeling its odd skin, its paws, even going as far as approaching my hand to the fire, to see if it was real. To my surprise it wasn't - or better, it was real, but didn't work like normal fire; it only appeared to be fire, illuminating things and all, but when you placed your hand in it, it didn't burn at all. That was a really odd thing indeed.
It was already around three in the morning when I checked the clock, after turning the lights on in my room. For a while I tried to find the broken egg, that previously stood near my bed, but without success - which I found very strange -, but didn't bother, because my attention was totally focused on that curious orange thing, my new Pokémon.
After quite some time considering it, and trying to speak some things - to which it answered with growls -, it stopped minding me and began to walk out of my room, with its fire working like a torch. I followed it, trying to figure what it intended to do, until it stopped in front of the bathroom, sniffing something in the air.
Differently of what I thought it to be, in the end it was actually water that the Pokémon was searching, for it went right away to the toilet and started to drink from it. It fought a little as I quickly picked it up - the Pokémon wasn't very heavy at all -, and then brought it to the kitchen, where I fixed some bowl of water for it.
We probably made some noise in there, because my father shortly appeared there too, and became very surprised as he saw my newborn Pokémon.
"Oh my, Hiroshi! Finally! When did it happen?" He asked excited.
"Some two hours ago," I answered, while caressing the head of the Pokémon, that drank the water delightfully. "Hey, give a look at his tail," I added.
"What a strange thing. Doesn't it hurt?" he asked, approaching us and then crouching. The Pokémon stopped for a while, and after looking at my father, resumed his drinking.
"Well, see for yourself," I said to him, in a challenging tone, to which he gave me a suspicious look, but then proceeded to approach his hand to the fire.
"Aaargh!" He startled me, and after noticing it, he quickly followed with a laugh.
"Hah! I got you, boy!"
"Okay, you caught me of guard," I waved my hand, trying to hide the scare, "but tell me, how was it like?"
"Very strange, Hiroshi. It's like it's fire only in appearance. Very odd!"
"Very odd," I echoed, "now I want to see Oak's father right away. Do you know at what time the ranch opens?"
"Well, its already five in the morning. I can make something to eat, and so we can go there and talk to him. What do you say?" He was also clearly excited with the new Pokémon.
"Great!"
The Pokémon had finished drinking all the water, and loafed around the kitchen while we had that early breakfast. Even before washing our faces, the sleep was already gone from our minds, thanks to that orange being walking around and growling.
Soon we went to the ranch in that early - and cold - morning; the sky still dark, with some violet shades appearing in the horizon. My Pokémon kept the pace pretty well, illuminating the surroundings with its tiny live torch. We arrived at the gates just in time to see Oak's father putting some food to the Hoothoot that were gathered near the fences. We greeted him and he went quickly in our direction, as he saw that a third being stood there with us.
"It finally came out, Mr. Oak," my father started, "we came here to see if you could give us some clues about it."
"So it was it after all," Oak's father said, while opening the gates, "a Charmander, just as I thought!"
We looked at him, trying to figure some thing to reply, "Charmander?" I finally let something out.
"Yes, I thought it could be one, judging by that egg, but still wasn't sure about it. This Pokémon species is known as Charmander."
"So, this is what a Charmander looks like after all. I've only heard about it," my father said, "they say it is a pretty distinct Pokémon, right?"
"Indeed," he replied, already caressing Charmander's head, "Please tell me, would you mind if I examined it a little bit? Just to have a check on its health status and all."
"Of course not!" I promptly answered, before he began to lead us into a shed not far away; the Charmander following us very curious with the surroundings. On the way, I remembered to ask him about the egg, and how I couldn't find it again, to which he answered that it was an usual thing; that the egg sort of dissolves when the Pokémon comes out of it.
In the shed, the Charmander interestingly didn't worry about the examination procedures, that were finished in a matter of minutes. I thought it would fight when Oak's father began to take a blood sample, but it didn't; I didn't knew if it was Charmander's nature or if it was Oak's father's talent in breeding.
"Okay neighbors, it seems that everything is fine with this Charmander. When the blood test results are finished, I'll be sure to let you know right away," he said, after being absent for a while and then returning.
We were all glad with the news, and thanked him, also apologizing for appearing so suddenly.
"Oh, no problem! I begin my activities very early in the morning anyway," he said leading the way to the exit.
"Please, Mr. Oak, I would like to ask you, if you can notify Oak that my Pokémon finally came out," I said.
"Alright, I'm sure Oak will want to go see it right away! And by the way," he continued, "this Charmander... it is actually a 'she'. Very unusual."
"A 'she'," I echoed, looking at the Pokémon, and then my father proceeded to tell me that I could give it a name - a remarking that Oak's father also shared.
That came to me very unexpectedly, and I instinctively looked around the surroundings to try to came up with something. Then I looked at the Charmander, with its glowing tail still casting a light on the ground around us. "Torch", I thought, but quickly gave up on the idea, while still looking at the light, then less intense because of the advancing dawn. As my eyes traveled from the ground around us to the mountains in the horizon, something came up in my mind, and I didn't think much before saying it: "Rising Sun."
"Rising... Sun," Oak's father repeated.
"Rising Sun," my father also echoed, "sounds catchy!"
Rising Sun growled happily when I repeated the nickname to her. Finally we arrived at the gates again, and after thanking Oak's father again, we went back onto the path that led to our home; the advancing sunlight bathing our backs, and casting a stronger glow in Rising Sun's tail, that made the morning dew around look like tiny bright stars.
A minute or two passed by, while we were there stopped, looking at each other; analyzing the strange being that stood in front of ourselves. As the shock of the sudden encounter passed away, I began approaching the thing, which was by then actually pretty cute.
It wasn't scared of me at all, and due to part of it being on fire, I thought for a while that it was just too dumb to notice. Finally I stood right in front of it, and crouching, stretched my arm to touch its head, to see how it would react. That move surprisingly pleased it a lot, and as it got closer to my hand, I felt a really strange feeling. "My very own Pokémon," I thought, smiling to myself.
For quite a while I examined it - now with my hands -, feeling its odd skin, its paws, even going as far as approaching my hand to the fire, to see if it was real. To my surprise it wasn't - or better, it was real, but didn't work like normal fire; it only appeared to be fire, illuminating things and all, but when you placed your hand in it, it didn't burn at all. That was a really odd thing indeed.
It was already around three in the morning when I checked the clock, after turning the lights on in my room. For a while I tried to find the broken egg, that previously stood near my bed, but without success - which I found very strange -, but didn't bother, because my attention was totally focused on that curious orange thing, my new Pokémon.
After quite some time considering it, and trying to speak some things - to which it answered with growls -, it stopped minding me and began to walk out of my room, with its fire working like a torch. I followed it, trying to figure what it intended to do, until it stopped in front of the bathroom, sniffing something in the air.
Differently of what I thought it to be, in the end it was actually water that the Pokémon was searching, for it went right away to the toilet and started to drink from it. It fought a little as I quickly picked it up - the Pokémon wasn't very heavy at all -, and then brought it to the kitchen, where I fixed some bowl of water for it.
We probably made some noise in there, because my father shortly appeared there too, and became very surprised as he saw my newborn Pokémon.
"Oh my, Hiroshi! Finally! When did it happen?" He asked excited.
"Some two hours ago," I answered, while caressing the head of the Pokémon, that drank the water delightfully. "Hey, give a look at his tail," I added.
"What a strange thing. Doesn't it hurt?" he asked, approaching us and then crouching. The Pokémon stopped for a while, and after looking at my father, resumed his drinking.
"Well, see for yourself," I said to him, in a challenging tone, to which he gave me a suspicious look, but then proceeded to approach his hand to the fire.
"Aaargh!" He startled me, and after noticing it, he quickly followed with a laugh.
"Hah! I got you, boy!"
"Okay, you caught me of guard," I waved my hand, trying to hide the scare, "but tell me, how was it like?"
"Very strange, Hiroshi. It's like it's fire only in appearance. Very odd!"
"Very odd," I echoed, "now I want to see Oak's father right away. Do you know at what time the ranch opens?"
"Well, its already five in the morning. I can make something to eat, and so we can go there and talk to him. What do you say?" He was also clearly excited with the new Pokémon.
"Great!"
The Pokémon had finished drinking all the water, and loafed around the kitchen while we had that early breakfast. Even before washing our faces, the sleep was already gone from our minds, thanks to that orange being walking around and growling.
***
Soon we went to the ranch in that early - and cold - morning; the sky still dark, with some violet shades appearing in the horizon. My Pokémon kept the pace pretty well, illuminating the surroundings with its tiny live torch. We arrived at the gates just in time to see Oak's father putting some food to the Hoothoot that were gathered near the fences. We greeted him and he went quickly in our direction, as he saw that a third being stood there with us.
"It finally came out, Mr. Oak," my father started, "we came here to see if you could give us some clues about it."
"So it was it after all," Oak's father said, while opening the gates, "a Charmander, just as I thought!"
We looked at him, trying to figure some thing to reply, "Charmander?" I finally let something out.
"Yes, I thought it could be one, judging by that egg, but still wasn't sure about it. This Pokémon species is known as Charmander."
"So, this is what a Charmander looks like after all. I've only heard about it," my father said, "they say it is a pretty distinct Pokémon, right?"
"Indeed," he replied, already caressing Charmander's head, "Please tell me, would you mind if I examined it a little bit? Just to have a check on its health status and all."
"Of course not!" I promptly answered, before he began to lead us into a shed not far away; the Charmander following us very curious with the surroundings. On the way, I remembered to ask him about the egg, and how I couldn't find it again, to which he answered that it was an usual thing; that the egg sort of dissolves when the Pokémon comes out of it.
In the shed, the Charmander interestingly didn't worry about the examination procedures, that were finished in a matter of minutes. I thought it would fight when Oak's father began to take a blood sample, but it didn't; I didn't knew if it was Charmander's nature or if it was Oak's father's talent in breeding.
"Okay neighbors, it seems that everything is fine with this Charmander. When the blood test results are finished, I'll be sure to let you know right away," he said, after being absent for a while and then returning.
We were all glad with the news, and thanked him, also apologizing for appearing so suddenly.
"Oh, no problem! I begin my activities very early in the morning anyway," he said leading the way to the exit.
"Please, Mr. Oak, I would like to ask you, if you can notify Oak that my Pokémon finally came out," I said.
"Alright, I'm sure Oak will want to go see it right away! And by the way," he continued, "this Charmander... it is actually a 'she'. Very unusual."
"A 'she'," I echoed, looking at the Pokémon, and then my father proceeded to tell me that I could give it a name - a remarking that Oak's father also shared.
That came to me very unexpectedly, and I instinctively looked around the surroundings to try to came up with something. Then I looked at the Charmander, with its glowing tail still casting a light on the ground around us. "Torch", I thought, but quickly gave up on the idea, while still looking at the light, then less intense because of the advancing dawn. As my eyes traveled from the ground around us to the mountains in the horizon, something came up in my mind, and I didn't think much before saying it: "Rising Sun."
"Rising... Sun," Oak's father repeated.
"Rising Sun," my father also echoed, "sounds catchy!"
Rising Sun growled happily when I repeated the nickname to her. Finally we arrived at the gates again, and after thanking Oak's father again, we went back onto the path that led to our home; the advancing sunlight bathing our backs, and casting a stronger glow in Rising Sun's tail, that made the morning dew around look like tiny bright stars.
Chapter 5: A QUICK LESSON - 2014-06-25
It wasn't much later, when Oak finally came into my house; he was still munching something that he had brought along the way. He also had with him his old bag, and promptly drew some papers while we talked in the kitchen. As he began making some sketches, I understood that he was actually drawing Rising Sun, a Pokémon that he had seen only in pictures before.
"Oh, it's a thing I'm working on," he said, noticing my interest in his sketches.
"What's it for?", I asked, with my eyes still on the lines that he was drawing.
"I've told you before that my dream is to become the authority on Pokémon studies. Well, this thing has an important role on that task. It's something I use to catalog the information I gather regarding the Pokémon."
"Like some sort of Pokémon index," I replied.
"Yeah, sort of. 'The Pokémon Index'..." he stopped drawing for a while, his eyebrows already frowned, "Hey, that actually sounds cool, Hiroshi! You are quite good with names."
"Why, thank you!" I said, after letting a laugh escape.
He then asked for help to take some measures of Rising Sun, and wrote down some things that he could conclude of that. After that, he proceeded to show me drawings that he didn't show me when we first met. Some of those drawings were familiar to me, but other depicted Pokémon that I never had seen before.
We spent the rest of the morning talking about Pokémon - with me hearing more than talking -, and that conversation didn't seem to disturb Rising Sun, who was by then taking a nap in the backyard, where my father was.
Oak accepted the invitation to have lunch with us; it was some rice with Octillery dumplings that were too good to have been done by my father, and were probably bought by him in the stands near the docks. After finishing it, we went to the backyard to see something that my father wanted to show. It turns out that he had finished some of the bonsai that he was working on, and they were definitely very beautiful pieces of craftsmanship. He asked me to go to the Viridian administrative building, to fetch some papers for him, that were related to his visit to he city, three days earlier.
My father said that I wouldn't have trouble getting them for him, and besides, that I should use the opportunity to register myself as a trainer in the same building. He also asked me to bring along with me one of the bonsai that he had finished, to give as a token of gratitude.
It was a hard thing to choose one, because they all looked outstanding to me; all the containers were skillfully painted with Pokémon patterns. As I looked carefully onto them, I noticed one that had a terrific depiction of a stormy sea. It featured a rampaging Gyarados, that made me remember right away of that old boat that had arrived in Pallet.
So I chose that one, and my father gave me the name of the person that I should look for: Mrs. Kohiro. Oak offered himself to accompany me, to which I gladly accepted. After picking up my wallet, and also encasing the bonsai in a net, we left together with Rising Sun, who had woke up by that time and followed us.
"Hey, Hiroshi," Oak said while we walked down that muddy path.
"What?"
"Now that you finally have Rising Sun, you will have no trouble with the wild Pokémon."
"But what kind of trouble I would have with them?" I said, curious, but also remembering the Rattata trying to bite my feet the other day.
"They sometimes come attacking when you venture in tall grass. You've probably been a lucky person then."
"You're right, I barely walked around in these days. But I think I could just throw some stone anyway."
"Yeah, you could. And besides, it's also how people usually catch their first Pokémon, but" he looked at Rising Sun for a moment, "if you have the option to fight, that can be of good use."
"How?" I asked, noticing that Oak now looked around, trying to find something.
"Oh, it's simple! The more your Pokémon fight, the stronger it becomes, and--" he suddenly interrupted himself, "-- there!"
He was pointing to some bush, on which I could see something shaking the foliage. The moment I looked back to Oak, he was already holding a ball in his hand, which he drew out of his bag and gently threw in the ground roughly two meters ahead, after spinning a mechanism. I could notice that this ball had a spiral painted on it.
"Better done, than said," he said, still looking at the bush, waiting for something, as did Rising Sun, I noticed. Then it finally came jumping out of the bush; a spiky purple Pokémon.
"I know that one! A Nidoran!" I remarked excited, as if making a big discovery.
"Exactly. A male one," Oak added, before giving some command, "now come!"
As soon as he commanded that, the ball in the ground opened itself, casting a bright light that quickly took the form of a Pokémon. A Pokémon that resembled a lot some that I once sighted back on the island, in a swamp, although it was probably an evolved form.
"Poliwag, right?" I asked, this time not so sure about the name.
"Almost," he corrected me, "it is actually its evolved form, Poliwhirl. His name is Mighty."
"Mighty?"
"Yeah, Mighty," he replied, with his eyes focused on the Nidoran, "Now pay attention, Hiroshi, because it's a good opportunity to learn the basics of catching Pokémon!"
By hearing this, I also laid my eyes upon that Nidoran, sometimes alternating the target to Mighty, the Poliwhirl. My Charmander was by this time behind me, also curiously examining the other Pokémon's movements; the fire on her tail glowing brightly.
"Very well," he started, "the first thing you should take note is to avoid battling if your Pokémon are somehow incapable to do so. As you can see, it's not my case."
He was right. Mighty was very pumped, and swinged his strong arms quickly, warming himself, while his eyes examined the opponent. The big spiral on his belly was vibrant, which probably indicated that he was pretty much prepared to fight.
"The second thing is to come up with a strategy based on the Pokémon that you are currently facing and your own Pokémon. This is where a knowledge of type effectiveness comes in handy --" he stopped again, as the Nidoran jumped to attack Mighty with his poison stings. "See?" Oak resumed his talking, "It tried to attack with Poison Sting, but that will do little effect on Mighty. Do you know why?"
"Because Mighty's type has some resistance to poison?" I answered.
"Actually not," he said, in the tone of someone that just had an idea, "it's Mighty that's just way better trained than that Nidoran. But look!" Then, as I looked back at the battle, he commanded, "Mighty, Double Slap, now!"
Mighty quickly approached the Nidoran, and gave him a beat two times.
"Great, Oak!" I commemorated, but he waved his hand.
"Not quite," Oak pointed to the Nidoran, "See? He's barely hurt at all. Now that answer you gave me fits better in this case, with some adjustments. Nidoran's Poison type is the one that has some resistance to Mighty's Fighting type moves."
"I see, but how will you be able to inflict more damage on him then?"
"In this case, I could resort to some other Pokémon that I might be carrying with me or try another type of attack."
"An attack with better effectiveness on Nidoran's type," I tried to finish his sentence.
"That would be good," he replied, "but although a good solution, it doesn't mean that the battle is lost by lack of super effective attacks. Mighty's other type is the Water type, which has no super effectiveness on the Poison type, but also finds in it no resistance. Besides," he went on , "a Pokémon's movepool can sometimes encompass moves from various types, even if the Pokémon doesn't share the same typing, although when it does share the same type of the move it's using, the damaged inflicted is boosted!"
I considered the battle again, just in time to see the Nidoran prepare for another attack. "Here he comes!" I warned him, but to no avail. The Nidoran landed his horn right on Mighty's leg, and although he stood up, that clearly did some more damage than the Poison Sting. I also noticed that Mighty wasn't still as vibrant as before.
"Tsk!" I heard Oak complain, "His earlier attack wasn't really strong, but that let Mighty poisoned! It happens sometimes, Hiroshi, a move that can have some secondary effect, but let's finish it already." He then urged to Mighty, "Get him, Mighty! Use Bubble!"
His Poliwhirl proceeded by fiercely gushing a spume that caught the Nidoran off guard, instantly knocking him out.
"You did it, Oak!" I shouted, as the Nidoran hit the ground.
"Hah! Great! Now, onto the third part, that is the actual catching," he said, while picking another of those balls, "you spin this mechanism," Oak pointed to a spinner located at the top of the ball, which popped itself open, "and then you throw it at the disoriented Pokémon!"
The ball fell right next to the wild Nidoran, who turned into a flashy form that was absorbed by the ball, which then closed itself. Oak waited for some seconds, with his attention directed to the ball, before saying something.
"There. Got it!" He finally said, "But now, I must take care of Mighty's poisoning."
He drew some little flask out of his bag and applied it in Poliwhirl's wounds, before picking up the first ball on the ground, and opening it again. "Good job, Mighty.", he said to his Pokémon, before it was absorbed into the ball, and Oak put the two back inside his bag.
Rising Sun was now sniffing around the place where the two Pokémon were previously located.
"So, how was that?" Oak asked, smiling.
"That was pretty good. Also pretty fast, but I think I could understand it well."
"Yeah, it's the best way to learn, but keep in mind that I actually already knew something about that Nidoran. During battles it's not uncommon to find yourself facing some opponent you don't know very well, and so you have to come up with something on the go."
"I see. It's certainly the key to winning a Pokémon battle," I reflected , "The ability to overcome the situation and find a proper solution."
"I agree. But the easiest way to do so is to have already some knowledge on the matter, and those books I have lend to you might be of good help. You better read that stuff."
"Alright, understood. And by the way," I changed the subject a little, "tell me, will you name the Nidoran you just caught?"
"But of course!" He answered, with his eyes now set on his bag, "Naming your Pokémon gives them more personality, besides helping to identify them. It's a fine custom."
"So, how will you call it?"
Oak frowned his eyebrows and thought for a moment, and then proceeded "Did you see how this Nidoran attacked my Poliwhirl with such a rudeness, even interrupting my lecture? I think I'll call him Brute. What do you think?"
"Hah! The name sort of fits!" I laughed, "I hope they get along well. Brute, Mighty and Rising Sun."
"Oh, I bet they will! And you know what? Just wait until Pryce's and Agatha's Pokémon also join in the gang. It will be hammer!" He happily said.
And it would eventually happen, and even more, because the four of us were only part of our future team; only part of what would come into being as the original Pokémon League, that was born during the hard times that already weren't very far.
But at that time, our mission was to just fetch some papers for my father. So we continued through the center of Pallet Town, onwards onto Viridian City.
"Oh, it's a thing I'm working on," he said, noticing my interest in his sketches.
"What's it for?", I asked, with my eyes still on the lines that he was drawing.
"I've told you before that my dream is to become the authority on Pokémon studies. Well, this thing has an important role on that task. It's something I use to catalog the information I gather regarding the Pokémon."
"Like some sort of Pokémon index," I replied.
"Yeah, sort of. 'The Pokémon Index'..." he stopped drawing for a while, his eyebrows already frowned, "Hey, that actually sounds cool, Hiroshi! You are quite good with names."
"Why, thank you!" I said, after letting a laugh escape.
He then asked for help to take some measures of Rising Sun, and wrote down some things that he could conclude of that. After that, he proceeded to show me drawings that he didn't show me when we first met. Some of those drawings were familiar to me, but other depicted Pokémon that I never had seen before.
We spent the rest of the morning talking about Pokémon - with me hearing more than talking -, and that conversation didn't seem to disturb Rising Sun, who was by then taking a nap in the backyard, where my father was.
Oak accepted the invitation to have lunch with us; it was some rice with Octillery dumplings that were too good to have been done by my father, and were probably bought by him in the stands near the docks. After finishing it, we went to the backyard to see something that my father wanted to show. It turns out that he had finished some of the bonsai that he was working on, and they were definitely very beautiful pieces of craftsmanship. He asked me to go to the Viridian administrative building, to fetch some papers for him, that were related to his visit to he city, three days earlier.
My father said that I wouldn't have trouble getting them for him, and besides, that I should use the opportunity to register myself as a trainer in the same building. He also asked me to bring along with me one of the bonsai that he had finished, to give as a token of gratitude.
It was a hard thing to choose one, because they all looked outstanding to me; all the containers were skillfully painted with Pokémon patterns. As I looked carefully onto them, I noticed one that had a terrific depiction of a stormy sea. It featured a rampaging Gyarados, that made me remember right away of that old boat that had arrived in Pallet.
So I chose that one, and my father gave me the name of the person that I should look for: Mrs. Kohiro. Oak offered himself to accompany me, to which I gladly accepted. After picking up my wallet, and also encasing the bonsai in a net, we left together with Rising Sun, who had woke up by that time and followed us.
***
"Hey, Hiroshi," Oak said while we walked down that muddy path.
"What?"
"Now that you finally have Rising Sun, you will have no trouble with the wild Pokémon."
"But what kind of trouble I would have with them?" I said, curious, but also remembering the Rattata trying to bite my feet the other day.
"They sometimes come attacking when you venture in tall grass. You've probably been a lucky person then."
"You're right, I barely walked around in these days. But I think I could just throw some stone anyway."
"Yeah, you could. And besides, it's also how people usually catch their first Pokémon, but" he looked at Rising Sun for a moment, "if you have the option to fight, that can be of good use."
"How?" I asked, noticing that Oak now looked around, trying to find something.
"Oh, it's simple! The more your Pokémon fight, the stronger it becomes, and--" he suddenly interrupted himself, "-- there!"
He was pointing to some bush, on which I could see something shaking the foliage. The moment I looked back to Oak, he was already holding a ball in his hand, which he drew out of his bag and gently threw in the ground roughly two meters ahead, after spinning a mechanism. I could notice that this ball had a spiral painted on it.
"Better done, than said," he said, still looking at the bush, waiting for something, as did Rising Sun, I noticed. Then it finally came jumping out of the bush; a spiky purple Pokémon.
"I know that one! A Nidoran!" I remarked excited, as if making a big discovery.
"Exactly. A male one," Oak added, before giving some command, "now come!"
As soon as he commanded that, the ball in the ground opened itself, casting a bright light that quickly took the form of a Pokémon. A Pokémon that resembled a lot some that I once sighted back on the island, in a swamp, although it was probably an evolved form.
"Poliwag, right?" I asked, this time not so sure about the name.
"Almost," he corrected me, "it is actually its evolved form, Poliwhirl. His name is Mighty."
"Mighty?"
"Yeah, Mighty," he replied, with his eyes focused on the Nidoran, "Now pay attention, Hiroshi, because it's a good opportunity to learn the basics of catching Pokémon!"
By hearing this, I also laid my eyes upon that Nidoran, sometimes alternating the target to Mighty, the Poliwhirl. My Charmander was by this time behind me, also curiously examining the other Pokémon's movements; the fire on her tail glowing brightly.
"Very well," he started, "the first thing you should take note is to avoid battling if your Pokémon are somehow incapable to do so. As you can see, it's not my case."
He was right. Mighty was very pumped, and swinged his strong arms quickly, warming himself, while his eyes examined the opponent. The big spiral on his belly was vibrant, which probably indicated that he was pretty much prepared to fight.
"The second thing is to come up with a strategy based on the Pokémon that you are currently facing and your own Pokémon. This is where a knowledge of type effectiveness comes in handy --" he stopped again, as the Nidoran jumped to attack Mighty with his poison stings. "See?" Oak resumed his talking, "It tried to attack with Poison Sting, but that will do little effect on Mighty. Do you know why?"
"Because Mighty's type has some resistance to poison?" I answered.
"Actually not," he said, in the tone of someone that just had an idea, "it's Mighty that's just way better trained than that Nidoran. But look!" Then, as I looked back at the battle, he commanded, "Mighty, Double Slap, now!"
Mighty quickly approached the Nidoran, and gave him a beat two times.
"Great, Oak!" I commemorated, but he waved his hand.
"Not quite," Oak pointed to the Nidoran, "See? He's barely hurt at all. Now that answer you gave me fits better in this case, with some adjustments. Nidoran's Poison type is the one that has some resistance to Mighty's Fighting type moves."
"I see, but how will you be able to inflict more damage on him then?"
"In this case, I could resort to some other Pokémon that I might be carrying with me or try another type of attack."
"An attack with better effectiveness on Nidoran's type," I tried to finish his sentence.
"That would be good," he replied, "but although a good solution, it doesn't mean that the battle is lost by lack of super effective attacks. Mighty's other type is the Water type, which has no super effectiveness on the Poison type, but also finds in it no resistance. Besides," he went on , "a Pokémon's movepool can sometimes encompass moves from various types, even if the Pokémon doesn't share the same typing, although when it does share the same type of the move it's using, the damaged inflicted is boosted!"
I considered the battle again, just in time to see the Nidoran prepare for another attack. "Here he comes!" I warned him, but to no avail. The Nidoran landed his horn right on Mighty's leg, and although he stood up, that clearly did some more damage than the Poison Sting. I also noticed that Mighty wasn't still as vibrant as before.
"Tsk!" I heard Oak complain, "His earlier attack wasn't really strong, but that let Mighty poisoned! It happens sometimes, Hiroshi, a move that can have some secondary effect, but let's finish it already." He then urged to Mighty, "Get him, Mighty! Use Bubble!"
His Poliwhirl proceeded by fiercely gushing a spume that caught the Nidoran off guard, instantly knocking him out.
"You did it, Oak!" I shouted, as the Nidoran hit the ground.
"Hah! Great! Now, onto the third part, that is the actual catching," he said, while picking another of those balls, "you spin this mechanism," Oak pointed to a spinner located at the top of the ball, which popped itself open, "and then you throw it at the disoriented Pokémon!"
The ball fell right next to the wild Nidoran, who turned into a flashy form that was absorbed by the ball, which then closed itself. Oak waited for some seconds, with his attention directed to the ball, before saying something.
"There. Got it!" He finally said, "But now, I must take care of Mighty's poisoning."
He drew some little flask out of his bag and applied it in Poliwhirl's wounds, before picking up the first ball on the ground, and opening it again. "Good job, Mighty.", he said to his Pokémon, before it was absorbed into the ball, and Oak put the two back inside his bag.
Rising Sun was now sniffing around the place where the two Pokémon were previously located.
"So, how was that?" Oak asked, smiling.
"That was pretty good. Also pretty fast, but I think I could understand it well."
"Yeah, it's the best way to learn, but keep in mind that I actually already knew something about that Nidoran. During battles it's not uncommon to find yourself facing some opponent you don't know very well, and so you have to come up with something on the go."
"I see. It's certainly the key to winning a Pokémon battle," I reflected , "The ability to overcome the situation and find a proper solution."
"I agree. But the easiest way to do so is to have already some knowledge on the matter, and those books I have lend to you might be of good help. You better read that stuff."
"Alright, understood. And by the way," I changed the subject a little, "tell me, will you name the Nidoran you just caught?"
"But of course!" He answered, with his eyes now set on his bag, "Naming your Pokémon gives them more personality, besides helping to identify them. It's a fine custom."
"So, how will you call it?"
Oak frowned his eyebrows and thought for a moment, and then proceeded "Did you see how this Nidoran attacked my Poliwhirl with such a rudeness, even interrupting my lecture? I think I'll call him Brute. What do you think?"
"Hah! The name sort of fits!" I laughed, "I hope they get along well. Brute, Mighty and Rising Sun."
"Oh, I bet they will! And you know what? Just wait until Pryce's and Agatha's Pokémon also join in the gang. It will be hammer!" He happily said.
And it would eventually happen, and even more, because the four of us were only part of our future team; only part of what would come into being as the original Pokémon League, that was born during the hard times that already weren't very far.
But at that time, our mission was to just fetch some papers for my father. So we continued through the center of Pallet Town, onwards onto Viridian City.
Chapter 6: MATTERS IN VIRIDIAN CITY - 2014-07-05
It took us about half an hour of walking in that big road that goes from the center of Pallet Town until we finally arrived at the southern gates of Viridian City. Carrying that bonsai around ended up being no easy task, and Oak and me shared the burden during the trip.
By approaching the gates, one could see the guards that protected it, all clad in an armor that resembled that of older times; their faces were covered by masks designed after the face of a Noctowl, and in their hands were menacing lances. I also noticed that from their waists laid pendent some balls, just like the ones that Oak used before. As we passed by some guards near the gates, I could hear them talking about the arrival of someone, that would take place very soon.
When we finally arrived inside the city, a drizzle had already joined that cold weather, and so we promptly looked for a covered place to avoid becoming all soggy, presently finding a wide marquee above a shop that would do the job.
While we waited there, I took a moment to observe that new city, which had old styled houses just as Pallet Town, but was noticeably bigger and more active. Three main roads leaded out of the city; besides the one from where we had arrived there, the second one headed to a long path surrounded by a mountainous terrain, and the third one to a path densely surrounded by trees, that stood near a small forest.
As I admired - feeling very diminished - all those buildings intertwined mostly by narrow streets, Oak nudged me and directed my attention to the opposite side to the one that I was looking at.
"That's the one," he said, "The Viridian administrative building."
As I looked in that direction, I could see that rising above the various buildings, more to the outskirts of the city, was a large construction - actually a set of buildings that together formed a larger, homogeneous, palace-like structure -, situated on the top of a elevation with a beautiful stone stairway that led to it. The whole building was surrounded by walls, just like it were a tiny version of the city, and above the main gate stood in place a standard with a flag that bore the city's crest.
"So, that's our destination then," I said.
"Yeah, let's just wait for this drizzle to subdue. We could give a look inside the shop in the meantime, what do you think?"
Finding that a good idea, I promptly looked around for calling Rising Sun, but shockingly couldn't find her; actually, the last time I recalled seeing her, was when we arrived under the marquee, some minutes before. So we went immediately into the shop, asking if a Pokémon didn't went inside recently, but no one had seen it.
I was already worried, when Oak - who had gone outside again -, shouted something.
"C'mon, Hiroshi, quick!"
In a moment I was outside the shop again, and suddenly found myself looking at some place to where Oak was pointing.
"There, can you see it?" He said, while pointing at an intersection fifty meters ahead.
"Muk's guts! It's her!" I let a swearing escape, while catching a glimpse of Rising Sun's glowing tail turning on the intersection.
We sprinted as fast as we could, with Oak a bit ahead, because of the bonsai slowing me down, for I didn't dare to leave that thing behind; at some point I just gave up on trying to avoid the many puddles on the way.
After some minutes running through the alleys, we sighted Rising Sun one more time, before she disappeared again behind some bushes.
"Damn, where's she going?" I tried to shout to Oak, already exhausted of all the running, but he could barely hear it, only looking behind to see my body giving up on the chase.
"Hiroshi!" He said, before coming to a full stop, "We can't stop now!"
"I need a break, Oak. This thing isn't something you can run around with indefinitely," I replied, then seeing that he was also pretty exhausted.
"Rising Sun is acting very strange, we should find her quickly to avoid trouble," he said, with his eyebrows already frowned, "This chase, Hiroshi," Oak proceeded, "I think I'm noticing a pattern on it."
"What pattern?" I asked between heavy breaths.
"All the way down from that shop, through these alleys and then the bushes... If we continue like this, we'll eventually come to an dead-end around the eastern side of the stairway that leads to the Viridian administrative building," he said, looking again at the direction of the bushes where Rising Sun previously vanished.
Only then I paid attention to our surroundings, and noticed how the administrative building had ceased to be in the far place that it were, to be situated obliquely to our right, rising from behind the many rooftops, roughly 300 meters away.
"I think we should give it a try going in that direction," Oak finally said, "We have nothing to lose."
"Alright, let us give it a try then. I will be right behind you, if this thing cooperates," I picked the bonsai again from the ground, where I had left it while catching my breath. Rising Sun was already missing, we truly had nothing to lose.
"Fine, and it might be actually of good help, because if Rising Sun somehow manages to sneak out of my vision, you may give us a second chance in sighting her."
Then we resumed the chase, with Oak quite a distance ahead, while I did my best to not lose him from my sight while we headed in that direction. Some people peered at the windows as we proceeded trough the narrow streets between those buildings in the outskirts of the city, and whose decorating lamps I two or three times mistook for Rising Sun's tail. After a few minutes, I saw Oak running up in a path full of trees, to the left of the path that would lead us to the stairway, before disappearing out of my sight.
As I arrived at the place where I had last seen Oak, I ended up in a slope, from where I could see him again, stopping abruptly, and then turning left into a seemingly isolated place, surrounded by big stones; at some point he had put his bag under his coat, to avoid letting it exposed to the rain - that was by then pouring down heavier.
While approaching the turning, between my own heavy breaths, I was able to hear some noise, which I recognized as Oak's voice; he was shouting a lot, and as I heard that a sudden rush of adrenaline began flowing through my body.
By approaching the gates, one could see the guards that protected it, all clad in an armor that resembled that of older times; their faces were covered by masks designed after the face of a Noctowl, and in their hands were menacing lances. I also noticed that from their waists laid pendent some balls, just like the ones that Oak used before. As we passed by some guards near the gates, I could hear them talking about the arrival of someone, that would take place very soon.
When we finally arrived inside the city, a drizzle had already joined that cold weather, and so we promptly looked for a covered place to avoid becoming all soggy, presently finding a wide marquee above a shop that would do the job.
While we waited there, I took a moment to observe that new city, which had old styled houses just as Pallet Town, but was noticeably bigger and more active. Three main roads leaded out of the city; besides the one from where we had arrived there, the second one headed to a long path surrounded by a mountainous terrain, and the third one to a path densely surrounded by trees, that stood near a small forest.
As I admired - feeling very diminished - all those buildings intertwined mostly by narrow streets, Oak nudged me and directed my attention to the opposite side to the one that I was looking at.
"That's the one," he said, "The Viridian administrative building."
As I looked in that direction, I could see that rising above the various buildings, more to the outskirts of the city, was a large construction - actually a set of buildings that together formed a larger, homogeneous, palace-like structure -, situated on the top of a elevation with a beautiful stone stairway that led to it. The whole building was surrounded by walls, just like it were a tiny version of the city, and above the main gate stood in place a standard with a flag that bore the city's crest.
"So, that's our destination then," I said.
"Yeah, let's just wait for this drizzle to subdue. We could give a look inside the shop in the meantime, what do you think?"
Finding that a good idea, I promptly looked around for calling Rising Sun, but shockingly couldn't find her; actually, the last time I recalled seeing her, was when we arrived under the marquee, some minutes before. So we went immediately into the shop, asking if a Pokémon didn't went inside recently, but no one had seen it.
I was already worried, when Oak - who had gone outside again -, shouted something.
"C'mon, Hiroshi, quick!"
In a moment I was outside the shop again, and suddenly found myself looking at some place to where Oak was pointing.
"There, can you see it?" He said, while pointing at an intersection fifty meters ahead.
"Muk's guts! It's her!" I let a swearing escape, while catching a glimpse of Rising Sun's glowing tail turning on the intersection.
We sprinted as fast as we could, with Oak a bit ahead, because of the bonsai slowing me down, for I didn't dare to leave that thing behind; at some point I just gave up on trying to avoid the many puddles on the way.
***
After some minutes running through the alleys, we sighted Rising Sun one more time, before she disappeared again behind some bushes.
"Damn, where's she going?" I tried to shout to Oak, already exhausted of all the running, but he could barely hear it, only looking behind to see my body giving up on the chase.
"Hiroshi!" He said, before coming to a full stop, "We can't stop now!"
"I need a break, Oak. This thing isn't something you can run around with indefinitely," I replied, then seeing that he was also pretty exhausted.
"Rising Sun is acting very strange, we should find her quickly to avoid trouble," he said, with his eyebrows already frowned, "This chase, Hiroshi," Oak proceeded, "I think I'm noticing a pattern on it."
"What pattern?" I asked between heavy breaths.
"All the way down from that shop, through these alleys and then the bushes... If we continue like this, we'll eventually come to an dead-end around the eastern side of the stairway that leads to the Viridian administrative building," he said, looking again at the direction of the bushes where Rising Sun previously vanished.
Only then I paid attention to our surroundings, and noticed how the administrative building had ceased to be in the far place that it were, to be situated obliquely to our right, rising from behind the many rooftops, roughly 300 meters away.
"I think we should give it a try going in that direction," Oak finally said, "We have nothing to lose."
"Alright, let us give it a try then. I will be right behind you, if this thing cooperates," I picked the bonsai again from the ground, where I had left it while catching my breath. Rising Sun was already missing, we truly had nothing to lose.
"Fine, and it might be actually of good help, because if Rising Sun somehow manages to sneak out of my vision, you may give us a second chance in sighting her."
Then we resumed the chase, with Oak quite a distance ahead, while I did my best to not lose him from my sight while we headed in that direction. Some people peered at the windows as we proceeded trough the narrow streets between those buildings in the outskirts of the city, and whose decorating lamps I two or three times mistook for Rising Sun's tail. After a few minutes, I saw Oak running up in a path full of trees, to the left of the path that would lead us to the stairway, before disappearing out of my sight.
***
As I arrived at the place where I had last seen Oak, I ended up in a slope, from where I could see him again, stopping abruptly, and then turning left into a seemingly isolated place, surrounded by big stones; at some point he had put his bag under his coat, to avoid letting it exposed to the rain - that was by then pouring down heavier.
While approaching the turning, between my own heavy breaths, I was able to hear some noise, which I recognized as Oak's voice; he was shouting a lot, and as I heard that a sudden rush of adrenaline began flowing through my body.
Chapter 7: UNEXPECTEDLY... A BATTLE! - 2014-07-05
"Give her back now!" I finally could understand his shouting, after turning around the corner.
"Or what?" A female voice challenged him.
"This Pokémon came to us, it's ours now!" Another voice, this time a male one.
They were all facing Oak, and didn't notice when I arrived at the place, due to some big rocks placed in such a way that they formed a corridor, that helped keeping the area a bit more secluded. It was actually a very isolated, but rather large square, that was situated on the hillside of the elevation that grounded the administrative building. The place didn't seem to have another exit, besides the one through which I entered, and was surrounded on the inside by a wall of moss-covered stones three or four meters high. The few benches that were still in place, were worn out by time, and the grass growing on numerous spots through the cracked floor revealed that it was probably an abandoned place.
There was a big tree near the center, where four people were sitting in the strong branches, protected from the rain. A red haired young man, that seemed to be the oldest of them, was gently playing some kind of flute whose sounds couldn't be heard from where I was standing; by his sides were a boy with dark hair and two blue haired girls, one of them being the one I had seen on the docks before - whom I recognized by the distinct ribbon she was using -, the other being a bit taller girl, also very pretty. They were all wearing a cape over their dark blue robes.
Oak was standing several meters away, as the tall girl and the boy mocked him, while holding Rising Sun between them. The other two didn't seem to care much about the situation. I could see that Oak was clearly enraged, and seeing my Pokémon being held by those two made me share of that anger. So I let the bonsai behind one of the benches, and approaching Oak I shouted, calling for Rising Sun.
Presently the attention was focused on me, the very angry boy that just arrived on the scene, all soaked - as was Oak -, and with my top knot already undone by the rain.
"Hiroshi! Thanks goodness! I saw Rising Sun as I was passing by here," he said, as if relieved at my sighting.
"What are they doing with her?" I asked, as I noticed Rising Sun looking at me, and jumping from the branch, which made the dark haired boy noisily fall to the ground.
She went quickly after me, and before we could go past the surprise moment, we could hear the fallen boy cursing.
"Muk's guts! You fools will pay for it, dammit! You bet you will!" He spitted threats, and as I was about to pick up Rising Sun, Oak halted me.
"Dang! It looks like there's no way around it. I'm sorry, but we'll probably have to face them, Hiroshi. We must give our best," Oak said, promptly reaching his hand inside his soaked coat, and drawing another ball, this one painted with a lightning, "Mighty is still in bad shape, and Brute hasn't fully recovered," he continued, "I'll have to resort to the remaining Pokémon I'm carrying with me."
The boy had also already reached a ball inside his cape, and was shortly followed by the tall girl, who had climbed down the tree and already had a ball in her hand.
"Get ready, Rising Sun!" I shouted to my Pokémon, and she let away a growl. My mind was at the moment trying to put itself together on that unexpected situation, but I couldn't help but dive right into it.
"Galvanizer, it's your time!" Oak shouted, followed by a flash.
The other two did the same, and in a moment our Pokémon were facing theirs, that stood at some distance. I could recognize Oak's other Pokémon as a Magneton, while the other two were unknown by me.
"What are those two Pokémon?" I asked Oak, but to no avail.
"I-I don't know. I have never seen such Pokémon before," he replied astonished. His uncertainty made me feel less confident about what little chance we could have, but I tried my best to put that thought away.
The boy's Pokémon was hidden in a rugged shell, with four short black legs, and it's big yellow eyes stared outside furiously. The one belonging to the tall girl was a beautiful blue Pokémon, whose fluffy wings seemed like clouds, which together with its long neck and two long feathers on its head, gave it a very elegant look.
The other two still sitting on the branch were by then paying attention to the quarrel; the red haired young man had already put his flute inside his clothes, and seemed a bit annoyed by the situation. When I switched my attention back to the Pokémon, the shell one was running towards Rising Sun, and Oak tried to intercept it on its way.
"Be careful, Hiroshi! Galvanizer, use Thunderbolt!" He urged to his Pokémon.
The Magneton released a powerful bolt of electricity, but that didn't work very well on the foe, which resumed the running after being disoriented for a moment.
"Fallen Star, Headbutt!" The boy commanded to the shell Pokémon, to which I shouted to Rising Sun the first thing that came into my mind.
"Dodge it, Rising Sun! Please!"
It surprisingly worked, and my Charmander could narrowly avoid the impending attack. By this time, the blue Pokémon was already flying towards Oak's Galvanizer.
"Use Take Down on the levitating one, Nebula!" The girl yelled at her Pokémon.
"Thunderbolt one more time!" Oak said in perfect timing, just before the blue Pokémon landed with its feet on Galvanizer.
The Magneton could sustain the damage, but the other Pokémon was noticeably affected by the electrical energy, and also suffered some recoil from the impact on Galvanizer's steel body, making cotton-like feathers scatter in the air. Then Oak promptly looked at me.
"Hiroshi, Rising Sun is a fire type Pokémon. Remember the yesterday class!" He told me, while the blue Pokémon was still startled by the shock, and the shell one was running again in Rising Sun's direction.
"Fallen Star, Bite!" The boy shouted.
"Beware, Rising Sun!" I said, to which Rising Sun presently obeyed by dodging the attack again, this time more quickly; two dodges in a row, that was a rather lucky start for me.
"Now!" Oak said to me, and I instinctively reacted, commanding the first attack that I could remember of that fire movepool thing.
"Water Gun, Razor Leaf, Thunderbolt," I searched in my mind as fast as I could, until some Fire related thing finally came to me, and without hesitation I let it out.
"Rising Sun, attack with Flamethrower!"
Rising Sun reacted, as if snapping out of a thought, and then suddenly stored air and spitted a concentrated gush of fire out of her mouth. Although being a very strong attack and fully hitting the shell Pokémon, it inflicted little damage, but incredibly made that Pokémon stumble and fall during its rush. As I looked to Oak, I noticed his frowned eyebrows while he looked back at me.
"What... was... that? You should have used Ember! How could Rising Sun even do that?" He said, half surprised, half disappointed with my memory.
That attack seemed to surprise the boy and the tall girl too, and soon after she desperately commanded her Pokémon two use Take Down again, this time on Rising Sun, who was breathing heavily and whose mouth was exhaling dense fumes.
"Don't ignore me, you coward!" Oak said to the girl, when he saw the blue Pokémon flying towards a new foe, "Galvanizer, intercept it with Sonic Boom!"
Suddenly a piercing noise was heard, as sound waves quickly traversed the air, carrying a lot of raindrops with it all the way to a big splash on the blue Pokémon's body, which couldn't dodge in time and fell to the ground, midway on its course.
As all that initial excitement began to wane a little, the situation could be analyzed more clearly; I was battling alongside Oak against two unknown foes, and due to them being suddenly affected by an unexpected move, we were dominating the battle.
"Fallen Star, use Ember on the steel one!" The boy suddenly urged, as he saw the blue Pokémon struggling on the ground. Then the shell Pokémon released a burst of fire from inside its shell that, although weakened by the rain, still managed to damage the Magneton. When I urged my Charmander to attack that one, it protected itself inside its shell, after the boy ordered it to do so, rendering the attack useless; in two moves he had turned the tables.
"Now Headbutt!" He quickly ordered again, but this time there wasn't time to react as the fierce attack caught Rising Sun off guard, and sent her rolling on the ground.
"No!" I screamed, as I saw my Pokémon being hurt for the first time.
That also apparently moved Oak, since he angrily ordered his Magneton to attack the shell Pokémon.
"Galvanizer, use Sonic Boom on the other foe!"
But before his Pokémon could even unleash the attack, it was furiously assaulted by the blue Pokémon, that seemed to be recovered of some injuries and was once again into the fight, attacking Galvanizer with its beak and talons.
Although the attack wasn't very strong, the boy smartly ordered the shell Pokémon to join the beating, and suddenly Galvanizer couldn't react, as the two Pokémon attacked it altogether.
"Rising Sun, please get up!" I screamed, but she was only then coming back to her senses, while Galvanizer was being hit by both sides by fierce thrusts and fire.
"No! You cowards!" I screamed angrily, spitting rain water while doing it, as I rushed to where Rising Sun was located. Desperation began taking place again, and not knowing what to do, I confusedly looked at Oak, and he was reaching his other ball, probably planning to use his still weakened Mighty.
I looked at the two people we were facing, and they seemed to enjoy that coward advantage; then I looked at the two sitting on the branch, and they were staring surprised at the direction of the entrance of the square. Then I instinctively looked at that direction too, just in time to see a rainbow crossing the air.
"Harpooner, Aurora Beam!" Someone had said shortly before, and the rainbow ray hit the shell Pokémon on full, knocking it out as it jumped to attack Galvanizer, but the blue one retreated, avoiding the attack. Oak quickly turned away to that same direction, from where the colored beam had come, and his semblance quickly changed, as he could see something that pleased him somehow.
"A Dewgong," he said, "The cavalry's here."
"Or what?" A female voice challenged him.
"This Pokémon came to us, it's ours now!" Another voice, this time a male one.
They were all facing Oak, and didn't notice when I arrived at the place, due to some big rocks placed in such a way that they formed a corridor, that helped keeping the area a bit more secluded. It was actually a very isolated, but rather large square, that was situated on the hillside of the elevation that grounded the administrative building. The place didn't seem to have another exit, besides the one through which I entered, and was surrounded on the inside by a wall of moss-covered stones three or four meters high. The few benches that were still in place, were worn out by time, and the grass growing on numerous spots through the cracked floor revealed that it was probably an abandoned place.
There was a big tree near the center, where four people were sitting in the strong branches, protected from the rain. A red haired young man, that seemed to be the oldest of them, was gently playing some kind of flute whose sounds couldn't be heard from where I was standing; by his sides were a boy with dark hair and two blue haired girls, one of them being the one I had seen on the docks before - whom I recognized by the distinct ribbon she was using -, the other being a bit taller girl, also very pretty. They were all wearing a cape over their dark blue robes.
Oak was standing several meters away, as the tall girl and the boy mocked him, while holding Rising Sun between them. The other two didn't seem to care much about the situation. I could see that Oak was clearly enraged, and seeing my Pokémon being held by those two made me share of that anger. So I let the bonsai behind one of the benches, and approaching Oak I shouted, calling for Rising Sun.
Presently the attention was focused on me, the very angry boy that just arrived on the scene, all soaked - as was Oak -, and with my top knot already undone by the rain.
"Hiroshi! Thanks goodness! I saw Rising Sun as I was passing by here," he said, as if relieved at my sighting.
"What are they doing with her?" I asked, as I noticed Rising Sun looking at me, and jumping from the branch, which made the dark haired boy noisily fall to the ground.
She went quickly after me, and before we could go past the surprise moment, we could hear the fallen boy cursing.
"Muk's guts! You fools will pay for it, dammit! You bet you will!" He spitted threats, and as I was about to pick up Rising Sun, Oak halted me.
"Dang! It looks like there's no way around it. I'm sorry, but we'll probably have to face them, Hiroshi. We must give our best," Oak said, promptly reaching his hand inside his soaked coat, and drawing another ball, this one painted with a lightning, "Mighty is still in bad shape, and Brute hasn't fully recovered," he continued, "I'll have to resort to the remaining Pokémon I'm carrying with me."
The boy had also already reached a ball inside his cape, and was shortly followed by the tall girl, who had climbed down the tree and already had a ball in her hand.
"Get ready, Rising Sun!" I shouted to my Pokémon, and she let away a growl. My mind was at the moment trying to put itself together on that unexpected situation, but I couldn't help but dive right into it.
"Galvanizer, it's your time!" Oak shouted, followed by a flash.
The other two did the same, and in a moment our Pokémon were facing theirs, that stood at some distance. I could recognize Oak's other Pokémon as a Magneton, while the other two were unknown by me.
"What are those two Pokémon?" I asked Oak, but to no avail.
"I-I don't know. I have never seen such Pokémon before," he replied astonished. His uncertainty made me feel less confident about what little chance we could have, but I tried my best to put that thought away.
The boy's Pokémon was hidden in a rugged shell, with four short black legs, and it's big yellow eyes stared outside furiously. The one belonging to the tall girl was a beautiful blue Pokémon, whose fluffy wings seemed like clouds, which together with its long neck and two long feathers on its head, gave it a very elegant look.
The other two still sitting on the branch were by then paying attention to the quarrel; the red haired young man had already put his flute inside his clothes, and seemed a bit annoyed by the situation. When I switched my attention back to the Pokémon, the shell one was running towards Rising Sun, and Oak tried to intercept it on its way.
"Be careful, Hiroshi! Galvanizer, use Thunderbolt!" He urged to his Pokémon.
The Magneton released a powerful bolt of electricity, but that didn't work very well on the foe, which resumed the running after being disoriented for a moment.
"Fallen Star, Headbutt!" The boy commanded to the shell Pokémon, to which I shouted to Rising Sun the first thing that came into my mind.
"Dodge it, Rising Sun! Please!"
It surprisingly worked, and my Charmander could narrowly avoid the impending attack. By this time, the blue Pokémon was already flying towards Oak's Galvanizer.
"Use Take Down on the levitating one, Nebula!" The girl yelled at her Pokémon.
"Thunderbolt one more time!" Oak said in perfect timing, just before the blue Pokémon landed with its feet on Galvanizer.
The Magneton could sustain the damage, but the other Pokémon was noticeably affected by the electrical energy, and also suffered some recoil from the impact on Galvanizer's steel body, making cotton-like feathers scatter in the air. Then Oak promptly looked at me.
"Hiroshi, Rising Sun is a fire type Pokémon. Remember the yesterday class!" He told me, while the blue Pokémon was still startled by the shock, and the shell one was running again in Rising Sun's direction.
"Fallen Star, Bite!" The boy shouted.
"Beware, Rising Sun!" I said, to which Rising Sun presently obeyed by dodging the attack again, this time more quickly; two dodges in a row, that was a rather lucky start for me.
"Now!" Oak said to me, and I instinctively reacted, commanding the first attack that I could remember of that fire movepool thing.
"Water Gun, Razor Leaf, Thunderbolt," I searched in my mind as fast as I could, until some Fire related thing finally came to me, and without hesitation I let it out.
"Rising Sun, attack with Flamethrower!"
Rising Sun reacted, as if snapping out of a thought, and then suddenly stored air and spitted a concentrated gush of fire out of her mouth. Although being a very strong attack and fully hitting the shell Pokémon, it inflicted little damage, but incredibly made that Pokémon stumble and fall during its rush. As I looked to Oak, I noticed his frowned eyebrows while he looked back at me.
"What... was... that? You should have used Ember! How could Rising Sun even do that?" He said, half surprised, half disappointed with my memory.
That attack seemed to surprise the boy and the tall girl too, and soon after she desperately commanded her Pokémon two use Take Down again, this time on Rising Sun, who was breathing heavily and whose mouth was exhaling dense fumes.
"Don't ignore me, you coward!" Oak said to the girl, when he saw the blue Pokémon flying towards a new foe, "Galvanizer, intercept it with Sonic Boom!"
Suddenly a piercing noise was heard, as sound waves quickly traversed the air, carrying a lot of raindrops with it all the way to a big splash on the blue Pokémon's body, which couldn't dodge in time and fell to the ground, midway on its course.
As all that initial excitement began to wane a little, the situation could be analyzed more clearly; I was battling alongside Oak against two unknown foes, and due to them being suddenly affected by an unexpected move, we were dominating the battle.
"Fallen Star, use Ember on the steel one!" The boy suddenly urged, as he saw the blue Pokémon struggling on the ground. Then the shell Pokémon released a burst of fire from inside its shell that, although weakened by the rain, still managed to damage the Magneton. When I urged my Charmander to attack that one, it protected itself inside its shell, after the boy ordered it to do so, rendering the attack useless; in two moves he had turned the tables.
"Now Headbutt!" He quickly ordered again, but this time there wasn't time to react as the fierce attack caught Rising Sun off guard, and sent her rolling on the ground.
"No!" I screamed, as I saw my Pokémon being hurt for the first time.
That also apparently moved Oak, since he angrily ordered his Magneton to attack the shell Pokémon.
"Galvanizer, use Sonic Boom on the other foe!"
But before his Pokémon could even unleash the attack, it was furiously assaulted by the blue Pokémon, that seemed to be recovered of some injuries and was once again into the fight, attacking Galvanizer with its beak and talons.
Although the attack wasn't very strong, the boy smartly ordered the shell Pokémon to join the beating, and suddenly Galvanizer couldn't react, as the two Pokémon attacked it altogether.
"Rising Sun, please get up!" I screamed, but she was only then coming back to her senses, while Galvanizer was being hit by both sides by fierce thrusts and fire.
"No! You cowards!" I screamed angrily, spitting rain water while doing it, as I rushed to where Rising Sun was located. Desperation began taking place again, and not knowing what to do, I confusedly looked at Oak, and he was reaching his other ball, probably planning to use his still weakened Mighty.
I looked at the two people we were facing, and they seemed to enjoy that coward advantage; then I looked at the two sitting on the branch, and they were staring surprised at the direction of the entrance of the square. Then I instinctively looked at that direction too, just in time to see a rainbow crossing the air.
"Harpooner, Aurora Beam!" Someone had said shortly before, and the rainbow ray hit the shell Pokémon on full, knocking it out as it jumped to attack Galvanizer, but the blue one retreated, avoiding the attack. Oak quickly turned away to that same direction, from where the colored beam had come, and his semblance quickly changed, as he could see something that pleased him somehow.
"A Dewgong," he said, "The cavalry's here."
Chapter 8: THE TRUCE - 2014-07-05
The white Pokémon came to our place sliding fast with its flippers on the ice path that it created while advancing. Shortly after Pryce appeared, following it by skating on the same path, with his scarf flapping behind him. He quickly arrived on the spot where I was crouched near Rising Sun, with Oak by then at my side, and extended his umbrella to cover us - a gentle, but useless action, since we were all soaked already. Oak promptly withdrew Galvanizer before talking to Pryce.
"I thought we would be seeing each other only in the next week. Thanks goodness I was wrong," he said.
"You can thank me later, Oak. Right now, let's finish this business with these Blackthorns," Pryce said, while looking at the boy and the tall girl.
"Nebula, retreat now!" The girl said, visibly startled, while pointing the ball to her blue Pokémon.
The boy similarly withdrew his knocked out shell Pokémon. Both turned into a light form, that was absorbed back into the balls.
"There, finished," Pryce said, "Already done you two? It looks like you only have courage while fighting two on one, am I right? I wonder where is that mystical strength of your prized dragon Pokémon now," he shouted, mocking their attitude.
"So, they're--" Oak started.
"Dragon users of the Blackthorn Dragon Clan," Pryce interrupted him, "You can't miss the robes, when you've seen them."
"Dragons, you said?" I asked Pryce.
"Precisely. Resistant to quite a lot of things, except when it comes to my pal Harpooner here," he pointed to his Pokémon, which was threatening our previous foes from a distance with its two big teeth.
"Dragon Pokémon, I see..." Oak seemed to reflect about something.
Pryce's statement confirmed what I thought about those people that arrived at the docks some days prior. I looked at those two that fought against me and Oak, and they seemed very surprised with what had just happened. The other two had descended from the branch, and they were talking to each other. The red haired one then began to walk in our direction, with his hood covering his head from the rain, now that he had left the protection of the tree.
"You guys are so unlucky, to face dragon users without capable Pokémon," Pryce said, "but also so lucky to get my attention while running like mad through the alleys that--"
"Greetings, fellow trainers!" The young man arrived at our place, smiling, "It looks like we all had a bad start here, but tell me, do you guys mind going to that tree, so that we may talk this down out of this cold rain?"
We looked at each other, while trying to think about something to say. Then Pryce finally had the initiative.
"Well, I'm here now. I think we have nothing to worry about."
"Alright, I guess," Oak said.
So after Pryce retrieved his Pokémon back into the ball, we followed the red haired guy to that tree, where the other three were. Rising Sun had already recovered well from her injuries and followed us.
It was a relief, getting out of that cold rain. And under that strange big tree I could notice some nests obviously made by Spearow, but that were now empty, since those Pokémon prefer warmer places.
"Well," the young man said, taking his hood off, "Firstly, although a bit late, I believe it's a good idea to introduce ourselves now, right? Let me start, I'm Halberd."
"I-I'm Oak", Oak said, after hesitating a little.
"I'm Hiroshi," I said right after.
"And my name is Pryce, the dragon slayer," Pryce mocked, looking at our two previous opponents, who pretended to ignore that.
"Well, I'm honored to meet you all", Halberd said, smiling, "But please don't extend your wrath upon my dragon Pokémon, O fearful dragon slayer!"
His joke helped to soften the mood a little bit, and Halberd's gentle way of speaking, combined with his serene looking, made one's first impression of him that of a very calm person, and by his overall appearance one could imply that he probably grabbed some attention from the ladies.
"So it seems that you really are the owner of this charming Charmander, right?" He asked me.
"Yeah, she's Rising Sun," I answered.
"Rising Sun... but that's a very beautiful name. A perfect fit for a dragon, I might say," Halberd seemed to have really enjoyed the name, "Well, then I think I owe you my most sincere apologies, Hiroshi," he continued, while taking his flute out of his robes, "You see this thing? It's called a Dragon Flute, whose sounds have also a deep effect on dragons, sometimes summoning them even at a far distance," he showed us a strange flute, which looked like a horn, with a polished ornament at the end.
"So, this is what made Rising Sun come all the way here," Oak said, "She was attracted."
"Exactly," Halberd continued, "I honestly didn't think that there would be any dragons around, and so we were quite amused when your Pokémon arrived here. Soon after, Oak here also arrived, claiming this Pokémon, but Rising Sun didn't reacted, so we thought he was just lying. I'm also sorry about that, Oak."
"Alright, I understand your point," Oak replied.
"But why didn't you guys let us just go away then?" I asked Halberd, and he promptly looked at those two.
"Well, this one wasn't my fault. By the way, these are Fauchard," he pointed to the dark haired boy, "Yavleen," he pointed to the tall girl with blue hair, "and that one is Speer," he finally pointed to the girl that I had seen on the carriage the other day.
The two girls were quite beautiful; Yavleen used a pair of earrings that resembled teeth or claws, and Speer's ribbon featured a black jewel that combined well with her long hair, arranged in a ponytail. Fauchard was clearly shorter than the other three - even shorter than Pryce -, and his dark hair was similarly short. All four wore similar dark colored clothes, which included a short cape and a pair of fine white stockings, accompanied by knee-long breeches on the lads and a long dress on the lasses, who also had a bow around their waists.
They all proceeded to bow slightly, and we bowed back, before Oak finally asked something.
"But why did you two do that? That was really unfair, you know!"
"W-We just got desperate, right? We thought you were ordinary trainers, but it turns out that you weren't as weak as we expected," Yavleen said in a self indulgent tone.
"She means that you guys scared the Muk's guts out of her!" Fauchard said, "And besides, you made me fall to the damn ground, and that hurts! That drove me mad!"
"You're gross, Fauchard! Watch your muzzle, you prick!" Yavleen said, insulted.
"Hey, I'm sorry for that," I said to him, not actually sorry.
"Listen, I'm sorry for your steel Pokémon, right? But after that Flamethrower coming from this little thing, what could the steel one possibly do? It was a risk we couldn't take," Yavleen attempted to justify the double attack on Galvanizer.
"That was nasty, you know? Doing a two on one on a weakened Pokémon," Pryce reprimanded, "I thought you dragon users had some code of honor or something like that. Anyway, since everybody is apologizing, I'm sorry for knocking out your Pokémon in one hit, friend," he added, "I should've gone easier."
"Big deal, you cocksure! You caught me off guard, that was it," Fauchard retorted.
"Alright, alright, I believe we settled it, then," Halberd tried to change the subject, "But since Yavleen mentioned it, I must admit that it also let me very curious, Hiroshi. How long have you been training your Charmander to do that Flamethrower?"
"Well, it was actually the first time. I just commanded the first fire attack that came to my mind," I answered him.
"That's right! Rising Sun was born during last night. We're in Viridian so that Hiroshi can register himself as a trainer," Oak confirmed my claim.
That seemed to amaze the others a lot, and even Speer, who hadn't talked by then, finally let something out.
"You're telling us that this was your first battle with this Pokémon? For real?"
"Yeah, that's about it. Truth be said, it was my first battle, regardless of Pokémon," I replied, strangely delighted in talking to her.
"Impressive," Halberd said, "You and Rising Sun are quite something, fellow. Oak too," he looked at Oak, "Your well timed attacks show that you are pretty good with your strategies. And your Pokémon resisted bravely while being attacked."
"Oh, thank you. Galvanizer did a good job," Oak sincerely accepted the congratulation.
"And finally," Halberd went on, "Pryce's Pokémon unleashed a precise attack, at such a long distance. I'm led to believe that you already had some experience dealing with dragon Pokémon, am I right?"
"Yeah, sort of," Pryce shrugged.
"I'm sure Fauchard and Yavleen will take as a lesson, what they witnessed here," Halberd looked at the two.
"Yeah, I got it. Just stop reminding us of that," Fauchard replied.
"You sure love being so preachy, right Halberd? We learned the lesson already," Yavleen was clearly annoyed.
"Fine, I'm glad things are cleared now. I just wish we could have met earlier, guys. You certainly are no ordinary trainers," Halberd sighed.
"Well, I kind of second that," Fauchard agreed, "We are going back to home tomorrow, and that little battle was the only exciting thing we had so far since we arrived."
"Tomorrow?" I tried to hide my disappointment, while redoing my top knot.
"That's it. And by the way, it's a shame we won't see your next weird dressing again," he said, seemingly remembering something as he looked at my hair.
"You what?" I asked confused.
"You're the guy that was near the docks the other day, correct? You were all covered in snow when we saw you. Today you arrived here all soggy," he proceeded, "What would be next, I wonder? Covered in mud or something like that?"
I just laughed with them, but clearly embarrassed.
"So this is the boy that stood on the street on that day?" Yavleen asked, "What was it that you called him, Speer? Popsicle, was it?"
"Shut up, Yavleen!" Speer quickly reprimanded, with her cheeks visibly flushed.
"Hey, take it easy girl, no need--" Yavleen started, but was abruptly interrupted.
"And there you are, indeed!"
As I looked in the direction from where that deep voice was coming, I could see a tall black man at the entrance of the place. At his side was a Pokémon that I recognized as a Blastoise, but unusually bigger than the average size of that Pokémon.
That imposing figure coming in our direction of course surprised all of us; his raincoat and straw hat, along with black glasses and beard, obscured a lot of his identity, and that big Blastoise suggested nothing else than one thing: danger.
"I thought we would be seeing each other only in the next week. Thanks goodness I was wrong," he said.
"You can thank me later, Oak. Right now, let's finish this business with these Blackthorns," Pryce said, while looking at the boy and the tall girl.
"Nebula, retreat now!" The girl said, visibly startled, while pointing the ball to her blue Pokémon.
The boy similarly withdrew his knocked out shell Pokémon. Both turned into a light form, that was absorbed back into the balls.
"There, finished," Pryce said, "Already done you two? It looks like you only have courage while fighting two on one, am I right? I wonder where is that mystical strength of your prized dragon Pokémon now," he shouted, mocking their attitude.
"So, they're--" Oak started.
"Dragon users of the Blackthorn Dragon Clan," Pryce interrupted him, "You can't miss the robes, when you've seen them."
"Dragons, you said?" I asked Pryce.
"Precisely. Resistant to quite a lot of things, except when it comes to my pal Harpooner here," he pointed to his Pokémon, which was threatening our previous foes from a distance with its two big teeth.
"Dragon Pokémon, I see..." Oak seemed to reflect about something.
Pryce's statement confirmed what I thought about those people that arrived at the docks some days prior. I looked at those two that fought against me and Oak, and they seemed very surprised with what had just happened. The other two had descended from the branch, and they were talking to each other. The red haired one then began to walk in our direction, with his hood covering his head from the rain, now that he had left the protection of the tree.
"You guys are so unlucky, to face dragon users without capable Pokémon," Pryce said, "but also so lucky to get my attention while running like mad through the alleys that--"
"Greetings, fellow trainers!" The young man arrived at our place, smiling, "It looks like we all had a bad start here, but tell me, do you guys mind going to that tree, so that we may talk this down out of this cold rain?"
We looked at each other, while trying to think about something to say. Then Pryce finally had the initiative.
"Well, I'm here now. I think we have nothing to worry about."
"Alright, I guess," Oak said.
So after Pryce retrieved his Pokémon back into the ball, we followed the red haired guy to that tree, where the other three were. Rising Sun had already recovered well from her injuries and followed us.
***
It was a relief, getting out of that cold rain. And under that strange big tree I could notice some nests obviously made by Spearow, but that were now empty, since those Pokémon prefer warmer places.
"Well," the young man said, taking his hood off, "Firstly, although a bit late, I believe it's a good idea to introduce ourselves now, right? Let me start, I'm Halberd."
"I-I'm Oak", Oak said, after hesitating a little.
"I'm Hiroshi," I said right after.
"And my name is Pryce, the dragon slayer," Pryce mocked, looking at our two previous opponents, who pretended to ignore that.
"Well, I'm honored to meet you all", Halberd said, smiling, "But please don't extend your wrath upon my dragon Pokémon, O fearful dragon slayer!"
His joke helped to soften the mood a little bit, and Halberd's gentle way of speaking, combined with his serene looking, made one's first impression of him that of a very calm person, and by his overall appearance one could imply that he probably grabbed some attention from the ladies.
"So it seems that you really are the owner of this charming Charmander, right?" He asked me.
"Yeah, she's Rising Sun," I answered.
"Rising Sun... but that's a very beautiful name. A perfect fit for a dragon, I might say," Halberd seemed to have really enjoyed the name, "Well, then I think I owe you my most sincere apologies, Hiroshi," he continued, while taking his flute out of his robes, "You see this thing? It's called a Dragon Flute, whose sounds have also a deep effect on dragons, sometimes summoning them even at a far distance," he showed us a strange flute, which looked like a horn, with a polished ornament at the end.
"So, this is what made Rising Sun come all the way here," Oak said, "She was attracted."
"Exactly," Halberd continued, "I honestly didn't think that there would be any dragons around, and so we were quite amused when your Pokémon arrived here. Soon after, Oak here also arrived, claiming this Pokémon, but Rising Sun didn't reacted, so we thought he was just lying. I'm also sorry about that, Oak."
"Alright, I understand your point," Oak replied.
"But why didn't you guys let us just go away then?" I asked Halberd, and he promptly looked at those two.
"Well, this one wasn't my fault. By the way, these are Fauchard," he pointed to the dark haired boy, "Yavleen," he pointed to the tall girl with blue hair, "and that one is Speer," he finally pointed to the girl that I had seen on the carriage the other day.
The two girls were quite beautiful; Yavleen used a pair of earrings that resembled teeth or claws, and Speer's ribbon featured a black jewel that combined well with her long hair, arranged in a ponytail. Fauchard was clearly shorter than the other three - even shorter than Pryce -, and his dark hair was similarly short. All four wore similar dark colored clothes, which included a short cape and a pair of fine white stockings, accompanied by knee-long breeches on the lads and a long dress on the lasses, who also had a bow around their waists.
They all proceeded to bow slightly, and we bowed back, before Oak finally asked something.
"But why did you two do that? That was really unfair, you know!"
"W-We just got desperate, right? We thought you were ordinary trainers, but it turns out that you weren't as weak as we expected," Yavleen said in a self indulgent tone.
"She means that you guys scared the Muk's guts out of her!" Fauchard said, "And besides, you made me fall to the damn ground, and that hurts! That drove me mad!"
"You're gross, Fauchard! Watch your muzzle, you prick!" Yavleen said, insulted.
"Hey, I'm sorry for that," I said to him, not actually sorry.
"Listen, I'm sorry for your steel Pokémon, right? But after that Flamethrower coming from this little thing, what could the steel one possibly do? It was a risk we couldn't take," Yavleen attempted to justify the double attack on Galvanizer.
"That was nasty, you know? Doing a two on one on a weakened Pokémon," Pryce reprimanded, "I thought you dragon users had some code of honor or something like that. Anyway, since everybody is apologizing, I'm sorry for knocking out your Pokémon in one hit, friend," he added, "I should've gone easier."
"Big deal, you cocksure! You caught me off guard, that was it," Fauchard retorted.
"Alright, alright, I believe we settled it, then," Halberd tried to change the subject, "But since Yavleen mentioned it, I must admit that it also let me very curious, Hiroshi. How long have you been training your Charmander to do that Flamethrower?"
"Well, it was actually the first time. I just commanded the first fire attack that came to my mind," I answered him.
"That's right! Rising Sun was born during last night. We're in Viridian so that Hiroshi can register himself as a trainer," Oak confirmed my claim.
That seemed to amaze the others a lot, and even Speer, who hadn't talked by then, finally let something out.
"You're telling us that this was your first battle with this Pokémon? For real?"
"Yeah, that's about it. Truth be said, it was my first battle, regardless of Pokémon," I replied, strangely delighted in talking to her.
"Impressive," Halberd said, "You and Rising Sun are quite something, fellow. Oak too," he looked at Oak, "Your well timed attacks show that you are pretty good with your strategies. And your Pokémon resisted bravely while being attacked."
"Oh, thank you. Galvanizer did a good job," Oak sincerely accepted the congratulation.
"And finally," Halberd went on, "Pryce's Pokémon unleashed a precise attack, at such a long distance. I'm led to believe that you already had some experience dealing with dragon Pokémon, am I right?"
"Yeah, sort of," Pryce shrugged.
"I'm sure Fauchard and Yavleen will take as a lesson, what they witnessed here," Halberd looked at the two.
"Yeah, I got it. Just stop reminding us of that," Fauchard replied.
"You sure love being so preachy, right Halberd? We learned the lesson already," Yavleen was clearly annoyed.
"Fine, I'm glad things are cleared now. I just wish we could have met earlier, guys. You certainly are no ordinary trainers," Halberd sighed.
"Well, I kind of second that," Fauchard agreed, "We are going back to home tomorrow, and that little battle was the only exciting thing we had so far since we arrived."
"Tomorrow?" I tried to hide my disappointment, while redoing my top knot.
"That's it. And by the way, it's a shame we won't see your next weird dressing again," he said, seemingly remembering something as he looked at my hair.
"You what?" I asked confused.
"You're the guy that was near the docks the other day, correct? You were all covered in snow when we saw you. Today you arrived here all soggy," he proceeded, "What would be next, I wonder? Covered in mud or something like that?"
I just laughed with them, but clearly embarrassed.
"So this is the boy that stood on the street on that day?" Yavleen asked, "What was it that you called him, Speer? Popsicle, was it?"
"Shut up, Yavleen!" Speer quickly reprimanded, with her cheeks visibly flushed.
"Hey, take it easy girl, no need--" Yavleen started, but was abruptly interrupted.
"And there you are, indeed!"
As I looked in the direction from where that deep voice was coming, I could see a tall black man at the entrance of the place. At his side was a Pokémon that I recognized as a Blastoise, but unusually bigger than the average size of that Pokémon.
That imposing figure coming in our direction of course surprised all of us; his raincoat and straw hat, along with black glasses and beard, obscured a lot of his identity, and that big Blastoise suggested nothing else than one thing: danger.
Chapter 9: MRS. KOHIRO - 2014-07-05
Presently it could be noticed that that black man was being followed by two other people; a woman with short black hair dressed in a white kimono, and a chubby man, who wore a robe similar to those of the Dragon Clan members that were with us, along with an odd hat; they were both using large umbrellas made of bamboo.
"What's this, hail?" I heard the chubby man wondering, as he walked by the melting ice that was left of Pryce's Pokémon passage.
We stood there surprised until the black man finally arrived at the tree, with that menacing Blastoise leaving the atmosphere very tense, and then took off the black glasses that he was wearing. As he did so, Rising Sun went scared to the back of my legs.
"You pests thought you could hide forever? There is no way you can hide from my pal Navy's Pride here," he said slowly, while staring deeply into our eyes, "He heard it all. Your stupid Pokémon battle, oh yeah! The sound waves traveled through the rain right into the ears of my Navy's Pride. But what I do not understand, is what you brats, royal blood or not, are doing in this off limits place. Now," he went on, ignoring Halberd's attempt to speak something, "if I remember correctly, there is always a small, cold room waiting in Cinnabar, to people that do not like to abide to rules, and I surely could provide--"
"Captain, thank you very much for your cooperation!" The woman finally arrived, interrupting him with a smile, trying to counter the black man's short temperament, "If it weren't you we would be looking for these kids for hours, right Mr. Angon?"
"Oh, right! Absolutely!" The chubby man agreed, a bit worried about the Captain.
"Alright miss, sure enough, sure enough; you called the right person, indeed," the Captain said seemingly glad and snapping out of his rant, while he put his black glasses on, "Come back, Navy's Pride, my buddy."
And that big Blastoise went back into the ball in a flash.
"You brats better stay out of trouble next time. Consider yourselves very lucky for Mrs. Kohiro being here. I am going," he then simply went away without standing on ceremony.
"I guess you can breathe now," the woman said, noticing our astonishment, "but you kids really shouldn't be in this place, you know. It's off limits."
"We didn't know, Mrs. Kohiro, please excuse us!" Yavleen sounded quite convincing.
"Yeah, we were bored and tried to find some place to entertain ourselves, but then it started to rain and we were stuck here," Fauchard added.
"Bored? Entertain yourselves? We could all solve that by playing some card games inside the building!" The chubby man emphasized the "inside" bit, "Now, although I would expect this from Fauchard and Yavleen, I'm really surprised to see you, Mr. sweet-talk, and you, Miss Speer, involved in trouble, and I demand some explanation right now!"
"I think," Halberd slowly started in his charming way, "I think that all this can be explained over a cup of hot Moo-Moo milk, Angon. What do you say?"
"Don't try to flatter me, boy!" The chubby man replied in a serious tone, but then realized that some interesting word was said, "Wait, you said hot Moo-Moo milk? You mean they even have Moo-Moo milk around here?"
"Specially blended with Nanab berries, I should add," Halberd answered suggestively, "We discovered it in a place, while walking around the town yesterday."
"You four... You come with me now," the chubby man quickly changed the conversation, and extended his umbrella to the two girls, "Maybe we can talk this down, so that your parents, once again, can be spared of the hard truth, don't you agree kids? So... you said you kids were wandering around the town, right? But I don't recall overseeing that trip."
"A cup? I meant two cups, Angon," Halberd tried to amend his little slip of the tongue.
"Two cups sounds good. I believe we're coming to an agreement, my dears," the chubby man sounded satisfied.
"Yavleen will pay this time!" Fauchard quickly demanded.
"Oh yes, yes, you go on believing that, Fauchard," Yavleen said, sarcastically.
We then proceeded to say goodbye to those people, but on their way, Halberd talked something to the others, and then went back to us.
"You know, we'll be departing tomorrow, but it would be really great if you guys appear by the dock in the morning. We've just met, but it would be good to see you one more time anyway. What do you say?"
"That would be great! Right, Oak, Pryce?" I could barely contain a sudden, strange excitement.
"You're right, it might be good. We live near there, after all," Oak said.
"I don't know, but I'll talk to Agatha," Pryce tried to act uninterested, but that request clearly surprised him.
"Very good, very good!" Halberd said, smiling while he put the hood back on.
Soon those dandy people turned around the corner, and we were left with the woman.
"The Johto Imperial House, so human!" She thought aloud.
"That Captain," I said to her, "He called you Mrs. Kohiro, right?"
"Yeah, that's me. Head of the registration department of Viridian and it's jurisdiction. Also, official hostess of the Blackthorn delegation in Viridian," she proudly answered, directing her attention to us again.
"Mrs. Kohiro, are we in trouble?" Oak asked her.
"Well, I won't arrest you kids for being here, although it's a place you really shouldn't be hanging around. You know, it's dangerous to wander in an isolated place like this without permission," she answered, but something in her eyes made me think that she was omitting something.
"Unfortunately that Captain clearly doesn't share your complaisance," Pryce said.
"Oh, Captain Audrey; he's a strange man, switched from his position in the Navy to a place in the security inside Viridian. He's been around here for some years, and no, you don't get accustomed with him after some time. But he's no evil person, you don't have to worry, although I suggest that you be careful, may you encounter him again."
"Captain... Audrey?" We three asked in unison, as if we had rehearsed that.
"Audrey. Long story. But I don't need to warn you to not make fun of that. No one is that crazy," Mrs. Kohiro replied.
"Please, hang on a second, Mrs. Kohiro," I said after remembering something, and went quickly to the bench near the entrance, presently returning with the bonsai. As I returned, I noticed that Oak and Pryce were talking to each other.
"Here, miss!" I offered the wet bonsai to her.
"Um, what's this? Is it for me?" She asked surprised.
"Yeah, my father came here some days ago to do some registration procedures, and requested me to come and pick up some documents for him. He said that I should talk to Mrs. Kohiro," I explained, "He also said that I should take the opportunity to register myself as a trainer, and entrusted me with this bonsai as a token of gratitude."
She had her eyebrows frowned for a moment, trying to figure who I was talking about, and then proceeded to ask me a question.
"Say, would this man be by any chance the one that is opening a business related to cultivation in Pallet?"
"Yeah, exactly! That's my father," I answered.
Suddenly her face really flushed, and she couldn't contain a mix of surprise and delight, that I found really unexpected. But she proceeded to put aside her umbrella and accepted the bonsai, and after removing the wrapping around it, she admired the beautiful Gyarados pattern for a while.
"So beautiful. I must say that I'm really flattered," she said, "but unfortunately, you should've talked to me earlier, because today we worked only until lunch time, due to the preparations."
"Preparations?" I asked, more surprised than disappointed.
"Yes, some of the Viridian Clan's top brass will soon arrive from an expedition to another region. We will hold a celebration tonight, which I find very unnecessary, but you know these important people," she explained, "And tomorrow the workers of the administrative building will be likely very busy with internal matters."
"I see," my surprise finally gave way to the disappointment.
"The next two days after that will be weekend, but you can see me right on the Monday, and I promise you will have all the documents you need," Mrs. Kohiro tried to cheer me up, "Just leave your personal data with me, and when you come back, your papers will also be waiting."
"Alright, deal!" I said. That was really better than nothing.
She wrote down the information I gave her regarding my personal data, while I held the bonsai for her. When she was finished, I helped to arrange the bonsai in her arms, and handed her umbrella back.
"Hiroshi, please send my greetings to your father. Tell him that I really liked this beautiful gift and that I will be glad to receive him again, if he needs some help with the documents," she said, as if choosing the words cautiously, "Also, explain to him this little setback we had, and try to stay away from battles in the open, while you don't get your registration documents."
"Alright, Mrs. Kohiro," I replied.
"And you kids better get out of this place as soon as this rain lets you, you hear me?" She said, and then bid farewell to us; in a minute she disappeared at the corner.
"So, no papers?" Oak asked me.
"No papers."
"What a bad luck, huh? Public service," Pryce said, "Oak was telling me all the trouble you had today."
"Yeah, it was a very tumultuous afternoon. But hey, at the end, they seemed nice people to me," I said, suddenly remembering Speer's face.
"Not bad people, I'll give you that. What I hate is when they make boastful claims about their dragon Pokémon, as if they were more special somehow. That really pisses me off," Pryce said.
"But Pryce, you do the same thing, with your ice Pokémon," Oak reminded him, "I think it's normal."
"It doesn't matter, they take it a step further," Pryce shrugged.
It was very noticeable that Pryce's mood really changed, when the situation involved dragons, but at the moment we had no idea why.
"Hey Pryce, how come you're so good dealing with dragons?" I asked him.
"Yeah, lord dragon slayer. I didn't knew you knew about a dragon's weakness," Oak mocked him.
"Never mind. I just learned it the hard way. That's all," Pryce answered very enigmatically, "So, Hiroshi, it looks like you also have a dragon after all."
"Well, I don't know, is it?" I was puzzled, while I remembered Halberd's remarks on the name of my Charmander.
"Yeah, I don't think Charmander is a Dragon type," Oak diverged, "Although I never have seen it's evolutions, and besides, it was attracted by that strange flute."
"It's not a Dragon type per se, but it is one among few Pokémon that those dragon lovers regard as some sort of honorific dragons. I don't really understand those people, but they say these Pokémon have some dragon sparkle in them, or something like that," Pryce explained.
"Hey, if you and Agatha appear at the docks tomorrow morning, we could all go to the woods later, to see the extent of what Rising Sun can do, if Hiroshi agrees," Oak had an idea.
"It's fine to me. I believe there won't be people around the woods, since I never noticed someone going up on that muddy path," I agreed happily, "And besides, the amusement you guys demonstrated, let me also very curious about that whole Flamethrower thing."
"Alright then, I just hope Agatha doesn't bite my ears off, when I tell her that there was a Pokémon battle going on while she was buying new clothes," Pryce said seriously, and I fancied if the ear biting thing was or wasn't for real.
"I think we better get going, while the rain has subdued a little bit," Oak said, after stepping out of the tree's protection.
Pryce picked his umbrella, and accompanied us throughout the path full of trees. I carried Rising Sun on my piggyback, despite her being already fine. So we said goodbye to Pryce at some point in the alleys, and Oak guided me to a shop were I could buy some stuff like antidotes and pokéballs - I finally knew the name of those things. I chose not to put Rising Sun inside one of them at the moment, because her warm body was really welcome on that cold afternoon, and besides, it helped to dry my clothes a bit.
The preparations that Mrs. Kohiro mentioned earlier were by then very noticeable, as a greater flux of people was slowly concentrating in the parts more to the southern entrance of the city. I could see musical instruments being carried, among which some banjos, that looked like the one I had and learned how to play with my father, back in the farm. There were also a few people half dressed with traditional costumes, that I soon recognized as actors.
While we drank Razz berry juice in a stand nearby, people were already gathering near a large covered platform that was being set up, and the decorated lamps were also being put around the streets. But we didn't stay any further, because Oak wanted to take care of Galvanizer, his Magneton, and I wanted to go home, to try to digest in my mind the things that happened on that day.
And so we left the city, and in the middle of that big road, filled throughout its extension by energy poles, we passed by a lot of those Taurus-ridden carriages, scouted by numerous of those armored guards, but these ones using Persian masks. There were also a number of big carriages that carried lots of equipments and crates. Rising Sun on my back grabbed some attention as we passed by, but they soon vanished behind us and in fifteen minutes we arrived at Pallet's town center, from where we could see the docks, now full of boats.
Some people in white robes stood on guard on the docks, as if they were expecting something. And two or three talked while looking at that old boat, the one with the wooden Gyarados, and sometimes pointed to it.
"Viridian Clan's authorities," Oak said, deviating his attention from his coat, which he was trying to dry on the way.
"The most powerful clan," I said.
"Exactly. You already know about them?"
"My father told me a little bit."
"They say their reputation on training Pokémon rivals that of the Blackthorn Clan."
"Well, so there's probably a version of Pryce to deal with them, right?" I joked, but Oak was serious.
"Don't be fooled, Hiroshi. Those people are known to have secret methods of training their Pokémon, and the results are respected throughout the region. You can't even think about underestimating them. Even Pryce knows this, despite acting all smug."
"Alright, I won't do that."
That advice was something that would be proven true so many times, that I wonder if at that time Oak already really knew about what he was talking.
When we finally arrived at the bifurcation that leaded to the ranch, the Sun was already going down. I bid farewell to Oak, after we decided to meet on the square on the next morning, to see the Blackthorn people one more time.
As I went up on the path, with Rising Sun then on my side, I could see some dim lights far away in the woods, but I didn't encounter someone on the way. Even my father said - when I arrived at home - that he didn't notice people going through that path, but that was dubious, because he greeted me with a "Back already?", probably having spent the entire afternoon crafting his masterpieces, unaware of the time.
As usual, at dinner - again rice with Octillery dumplings - we talked about our day, and my father was really entertained as I told him about everything that had happened. He was so delighted when I delivered Mrs. Kohiro's errand, that he didn't bother that I couldn't fetch his papers. He actually didn't bother at all, even when I told about the battle, just telling me to be cautious with Rising Sun.
I think that even before my mother died, he was just like that; what some people could regard as laziness, to me it was just my father's trust in his son, and so he never really worried with me being in trouble, because I never gave him good reasons for that, despite the little incident earlier.
When we finished, I went right away to take a bath, albeit having spent the whole afternoon soaked, and as I arrived in my room, I noticed that my father had set up a place for Rising Sun. I put the stuff that I had bought over a table, where Rising Sun's egg was previously located, and went right away to my bed; Rising Sun stood near the window at her place, gazing at the moon. I thought I would ruminate the excitement of that day in my head for sometime, but I soon fell asleep; the skipped sleep of the previous night, and all the running in the rain had finally taken their toll.
On that night I had a nightmare, on which I fought side by side with Oak and Pryce, and soon we were joined by Halberd, Speer and the others. We fought against those masked guards, and at some point, that big Blastoise inundated all the place, and after that Rising Sun went way up into the sky, never to return.
As my father woke me up on the next morning, he promptly told me that there was a commotion going on in the town center.
"The docks," he said, "It's unbelievable, Hiroshi, they're being attacked!"
"What's this, hail?" I heard the chubby man wondering, as he walked by the melting ice that was left of Pryce's Pokémon passage.
We stood there surprised until the black man finally arrived at the tree, with that menacing Blastoise leaving the atmosphere very tense, and then took off the black glasses that he was wearing. As he did so, Rising Sun went scared to the back of my legs.
"You pests thought you could hide forever? There is no way you can hide from my pal Navy's Pride here," he said slowly, while staring deeply into our eyes, "He heard it all. Your stupid Pokémon battle, oh yeah! The sound waves traveled through the rain right into the ears of my Navy's Pride. But what I do not understand, is what you brats, royal blood or not, are doing in this off limits place. Now," he went on, ignoring Halberd's attempt to speak something, "if I remember correctly, there is always a small, cold room waiting in Cinnabar, to people that do not like to abide to rules, and I surely could provide--"
"Captain, thank you very much for your cooperation!" The woman finally arrived, interrupting him with a smile, trying to counter the black man's short temperament, "If it weren't you we would be looking for these kids for hours, right Mr. Angon?"
"Oh, right! Absolutely!" The chubby man agreed, a bit worried about the Captain.
"Alright miss, sure enough, sure enough; you called the right person, indeed," the Captain said seemingly glad and snapping out of his rant, while he put his black glasses on, "Come back, Navy's Pride, my buddy."
And that big Blastoise went back into the ball in a flash.
"You brats better stay out of trouble next time. Consider yourselves very lucky for Mrs. Kohiro being here. I am going," he then simply went away without standing on ceremony.
***
"I guess you can breathe now," the woman said, noticing our astonishment, "but you kids really shouldn't be in this place, you know. It's off limits."
"We didn't know, Mrs. Kohiro, please excuse us!" Yavleen sounded quite convincing.
"Yeah, we were bored and tried to find some place to entertain ourselves, but then it started to rain and we were stuck here," Fauchard added.
"Bored? Entertain yourselves? We could all solve that by playing some card games inside the building!" The chubby man emphasized the "inside" bit, "Now, although I would expect this from Fauchard and Yavleen, I'm really surprised to see you, Mr. sweet-talk, and you, Miss Speer, involved in trouble, and I demand some explanation right now!"
"I think," Halberd slowly started in his charming way, "I think that all this can be explained over a cup of hot Moo-Moo milk, Angon. What do you say?"
"Don't try to flatter me, boy!" The chubby man replied in a serious tone, but then realized that some interesting word was said, "Wait, you said hot Moo-Moo milk? You mean they even have Moo-Moo milk around here?"
"Specially blended with Nanab berries, I should add," Halberd answered suggestively, "We discovered it in a place, while walking around the town yesterday."
"You four... You come with me now," the chubby man quickly changed the conversation, and extended his umbrella to the two girls, "Maybe we can talk this down, so that your parents, once again, can be spared of the hard truth, don't you agree kids? So... you said you kids were wandering around the town, right? But I don't recall overseeing that trip."
"A cup? I meant two cups, Angon," Halberd tried to amend his little slip of the tongue.
"Two cups sounds good. I believe we're coming to an agreement, my dears," the chubby man sounded satisfied.
"Yavleen will pay this time!" Fauchard quickly demanded.
"Oh yes, yes, you go on believing that, Fauchard," Yavleen said, sarcastically.
We then proceeded to say goodbye to those people, but on their way, Halberd talked something to the others, and then went back to us.
"You know, we'll be departing tomorrow, but it would be really great if you guys appear by the dock in the morning. We've just met, but it would be good to see you one more time anyway. What do you say?"
"That would be great! Right, Oak, Pryce?" I could barely contain a sudden, strange excitement.
"You're right, it might be good. We live near there, after all," Oak said.
"I don't know, but I'll talk to Agatha," Pryce tried to act uninterested, but that request clearly surprised him.
"Very good, very good!" Halberd said, smiling while he put the hood back on.
Soon those dandy people turned around the corner, and we were left with the woman.
"The Johto Imperial House, so human!" She thought aloud.
"That Captain," I said to her, "He called you Mrs. Kohiro, right?"
"Yeah, that's me. Head of the registration department of Viridian and it's jurisdiction. Also, official hostess of the Blackthorn delegation in Viridian," she proudly answered, directing her attention to us again.
"Mrs. Kohiro, are we in trouble?" Oak asked her.
"Well, I won't arrest you kids for being here, although it's a place you really shouldn't be hanging around. You know, it's dangerous to wander in an isolated place like this without permission," she answered, but something in her eyes made me think that she was omitting something.
"Unfortunately that Captain clearly doesn't share your complaisance," Pryce said.
"Oh, Captain Audrey; he's a strange man, switched from his position in the Navy to a place in the security inside Viridian. He's been around here for some years, and no, you don't get accustomed with him after some time. But he's no evil person, you don't have to worry, although I suggest that you be careful, may you encounter him again."
"Captain... Audrey?" We three asked in unison, as if we had rehearsed that.
"Audrey. Long story. But I don't need to warn you to not make fun of that. No one is that crazy," Mrs. Kohiro replied.
"Please, hang on a second, Mrs. Kohiro," I said after remembering something, and went quickly to the bench near the entrance, presently returning with the bonsai. As I returned, I noticed that Oak and Pryce were talking to each other.
***
"Here, miss!" I offered the wet bonsai to her.
"Um, what's this? Is it for me?" She asked surprised.
"Yeah, my father came here some days ago to do some registration procedures, and requested me to come and pick up some documents for him. He said that I should talk to Mrs. Kohiro," I explained, "He also said that I should take the opportunity to register myself as a trainer, and entrusted me with this bonsai as a token of gratitude."
She had her eyebrows frowned for a moment, trying to figure who I was talking about, and then proceeded to ask me a question.
"Say, would this man be by any chance the one that is opening a business related to cultivation in Pallet?"
"Yeah, exactly! That's my father," I answered.
Suddenly her face really flushed, and she couldn't contain a mix of surprise and delight, that I found really unexpected. But she proceeded to put aside her umbrella and accepted the bonsai, and after removing the wrapping around it, she admired the beautiful Gyarados pattern for a while.
"So beautiful. I must say that I'm really flattered," she said, "but unfortunately, you should've talked to me earlier, because today we worked only until lunch time, due to the preparations."
"Preparations?" I asked, more surprised than disappointed.
"Yes, some of the Viridian Clan's top brass will soon arrive from an expedition to another region. We will hold a celebration tonight, which I find very unnecessary, but you know these important people," she explained, "And tomorrow the workers of the administrative building will be likely very busy with internal matters."
"I see," my surprise finally gave way to the disappointment.
"The next two days after that will be weekend, but you can see me right on the Monday, and I promise you will have all the documents you need," Mrs. Kohiro tried to cheer me up, "Just leave your personal data with me, and when you come back, your papers will also be waiting."
"Alright, deal!" I said. That was really better than nothing.
She wrote down the information I gave her regarding my personal data, while I held the bonsai for her. When she was finished, I helped to arrange the bonsai in her arms, and handed her umbrella back.
"Hiroshi, please send my greetings to your father. Tell him that I really liked this beautiful gift and that I will be glad to receive him again, if he needs some help with the documents," she said, as if choosing the words cautiously, "Also, explain to him this little setback we had, and try to stay away from battles in the open, while you don't get your registration documents."
"Alright, Mrs. Kohiro," I replied.
"And you kids better get out of this place as soon as this rain lets you, you hear me?" She said, and then bid farewell to us; in a minute she disappeared at the corner.
"So, no papers?" Oak asked me.
"No papers."
"What a bad luck, huh? Public service," Pryce said, "Oak was telling me all the trouble you had today."
"Yeah, it was a very tumultuous afternoon. But hey, at the end, they seemed nice people to me," I said, suddenly remembering Speer's face.
"Not bad people, I'll give you that. What I hate is when they make boastful claims about their dragon Pokémon, as if they were more special somehow. That really pisses me off," Pryce said.
"But Pryce, you do the same thing, with your ice Pokémon," Oak reminded him, "I think it's normal."
"It doesn't matter, they take it a step further," Pryce shrugged.
It was very noticeable that Pryce's mood really changed, when the situation involved dragons, but at the moment we had no idea why.
"Hey Pryce, how come you're so good dealing with dragons?" I asked him.
"Yeah, lord dragon slayer. I didn't knew you knew about a dragon's weakness," Oak mocked him.
"Never mind. I just learned it the hard way. That's all," Pryce answered very enigmatically, "So, Hiroshi, it looks like you also have a dragon after all."
"Well, I don't know, is it?" I was puzzled, while I remembered Halberd's remarks on the name of my Charmander.
"Yeah, I don't think Charmander is a Dragon type," Oak diverged, "Although I never have seen it's evolutions, and besides, it was attracted by that strange flute."
"It's not a Dragon type per se, but it is one among few Pokémon that those dragon lovers regard as some sort of honorific dragons. I don't really understand those people, but they say these Pokémon have some dragon sparkle in them, or something like that," Pryce explained.
"Hey, if you and Agatha appear at the docks tomorrow morning, we could all go to the woods later, to see the extent of what Rising Sun can do, if Hiroshi agrees," Oak had an idea.
"It's fine to me. I believe there won't be people around the woods, since I never noticed someone going up on that muddy path," I agreed happily, "And besides, the amusement you guys demonstrated, let me also very curious about that whole Flamethrower thing."
"Alright then, I just hope Agatha doesn't bite my ears off, when I tell her that there was a Pokémon battle going on while she was buying new clothes," Pryce said seriously, and I fancied if the ear biting thing was or wasn't for real.
"I think we better get going, while the rain has subdued a little bit," Oak said, after stepping out of the tree's protection.
***
Pryce picked his umbrella, and accompanied us throughout the path full of trees. I carried Rising Sun on my piggyback, despite her being already fine. So we said goodbye to Pryce at some point in the alleys, and Oak guided me to a shop were I could buy some stuff like antidotes and pokéballs - I finally knew the name of those things. I chose not to put Rising Sun inside one of them at the moment, because her warm body was really welcome on that cold afternoon, and besides, it helped to dry my clothes a bit.
The preparations that Mrs. Kohiro mentioned earlier were by then very noticeable, as a greater flux of people was slowly concentrating in the parts more to the southern entrance of the city. I could see musical instruments being carried, among which some banjos, that looked like the one I had and learned how to play with my father, back in the farm. There were also a few people half dressed with traditional costumes, that I soon recognized as actors.
While we drank Razz berry juice in a stand nearby, people were already gathering near a large covered platform that was being set up, and the decorated lamps were also being put around the streets. But we didn't stay any further, because Oak wanted to take care of Galvanizer, his Magneton, and I wanted to go home, to try to digest in my mind the things that happened on that day.
***
And so we left the city, and in the middle of that big road, filled throughout its extension by energy poles, we passed by a lot of those Taurus-ridden carriages, scouted by numerous of those armored guards, but these ones using Persian masks. There were also a number of big carriages that carried lots of equipments and crates. Rising Sun on my back grabbed some attention as we passed by, but they soon vanished behind us and in fifteen minutes we arrived at Pallet's town center, from where we could see the docks, now full of boats.
Some people in white robes stood on guard on the docks, as if they were expecting something. And two or three talked while looking at that old boat, the one with the wooden Gyarados, and sometimes pointed to it.
"Viridian Clan's authorities," Oak said, deviating his attention from his coat, which he was trying to dry on the way.
"The most powerful clan," I said.
"Exactly. You already know about them?"
"My father told me a little bit."
"They say their reputation on training Pokémon rivals that of the Blackthorn Clan."
"Well, so there's probably a version of Pryce to deal with them, right?" I joked, but Oak was serious.
"Don't be fooled, Hiroshi. Those people are known to have secret methods of training their Pokémon, and the results are respected throughout the region. You can't even think about underestimating them. Even Pryce knows this, despite acting all smug."
"Alright, I won't do that."
That advice was something that would be proven true so many times, that I wonder if at that time Oak already really knew about what he was talking.
When we finally arrived at the bifurcation that leaded to the ranch, the Sun was already going down. I bid farewell to Oak, after we decided to meet on the square on the next morning, to see the Blackthorn people one more time.
As I went up on the path, with Rising Sun then on my side, I could see some dim lights far away in the woods, but I didn't encounter someone on the way. Even my father said - when I arrived at home - that he didn't notice people going through that path, but that was dubious, because he greeted me with a "Back already?", probably having spent the entire afternoon crafting his masterpieces, unaware of the time.
***
As usual, at dinner - again rice with Octillery dumplings - we talked about our day, and my father was really entertained as I told him about everything that had happened. He was so delighted when I delivered Mrs. Kohiro's errand, that he didn't bother that I couldn't fetch his papers. He actually didn't bother at all, even when I told about the battle, just telling me to be cautious with Rising Sun.
I think that even before my mother died, he was just like that; what some people could regard as laziness, to me it was just my father's trust in his son, and so he never really worried with me being in trouble, because I never gave him good reasons for that, despite the little incident earlier.
When we finished, I went right away to take a bath, albeit having spent the whole afternoon soaked, and as I arrived in my room, I noticed that my father had set up a place for Rising Sun. I put the stuff that I had bought over a table, where Rising Sun's egg was previously located, and went right away to my bed; Rising Sun stood near the window at her place, gazing at the moon. I thought I would ruminate the excitement of that day in my head for sometime, but I soon fell asleep; the skipped sleep of the previous night, and all the running in the rain had finally taken their toll.
On that night I had a nightmare, on which I fought side by side with Oak and Pryce, and soon we were joined by Halberd, Speer and the others. We fought against those masked guards, and at some point, that big Blastoise inundated all the place, and after that Rising Sun went way up into the sky, never to return.
As my father woke me up on the next morning, he promptly told me that there was a commotion going on in the town center.
"The docks," he said, "It's unbelievable, Hiroshi, they're being attacked!"
Chapter 10: STRANDED - 2014-07-27
It was only after a moment that I could make sense of what my father had told me, but I still couldn't find the proper words to say.
"They're what?" Was my best attempt.
"The docks are being attacked, son. The town is in alert!"
My mind was then divided into receiving those news from my father and suddenly thinking about Oak and the others, and our meeting at the docks.
"But," I tried again, "how's that, father? How come the docks are being attacked? I would meet Oak there."
"I don't know very well. I went early to the town center to buy some things, but the stores were all closed, and there was military activity around the docks."
"But what about Oak and the Blackthorn people?"
"I didn't see Oak there. Everyone is trying to be in safety inside their homes, it seems. And those Johto people, well, they are probably stuck, since all the boats on the docks were destroyed."
"Were what? But who is doing this?"
"Destroyed. By Pokémon. I heard some guards saying that there were rampaging Gyarados around, and also some big Tentacruel."
"What a situation... it's unbelievable."
"Indeed. From what I know, it's been happening for some hours by now. What a misfortune!"
"I must go see Oak in the ranch," I said, without thinking very much.
"Are you kidding me, boy? Oak is probably safe at home, and you will do just the same thing."
My father was clearly worried, but so was I, and I felt that urge to know that the others were really alright. But it turns out that I didn't complain about staying at home, for I knew that my father was right, although that uneasiness would stick around until I could have some news regarding the others. So I tried to get along with it.
It was only when I was having my breakfast, that I paid good attention to the outside; it was raining very noisily and heavily, and the far surroundings were shrouded by mist. The heavy raindrops could be heard falling on the greenhouse's ceiling, although it didn't restrain my father from working on his bonsai, which by then were numbered by half a dozen or so. A low noise could also be heard, which sounded like a siren, and was coming from the direction of the town center; it was a sound muffled by the rain, but that would persist for some hours.
After I finished, I was already on my way back to my room, when someone knocked at the front door. "Oak," I thought, as I did a 180° turn to answer it, but my father was already going towards the door, and after a moment, he inquired whoever was knocking.
"Who's there?"
"Viridian Police Force, please open the door," someone answered.
"Viridian Police Force," my father whispered, confused. He didn't wait, though, and promptly opened the door, surprised by the event.
"Good morning, officer. Can I help you?" He asked to someone.
When I approached one of the windows, I could see some people through a gap. They were all wearing mostly white uniforms, complete with boots, spats, helmets and a long raincoat, but weren't as equipped as those masked guards I had seen on my way back from Viridian. There were about fifteen people in total, but there was also a carriage nearby, whose people inside couldn't be discerned.
"Security proceeding, mister. I will ask you a few questions, to which I expect your cooperation," I heard the officer say, bluntly.
"Oh my, but of course! What do you need to know?"
"Good. First: Have you noticed any strange activities in the vicinity in the past few days?"
"Strange activities? No, officer, unheard of. There isn't much activity around this place at all, at least since I arrived here."
"Alright. Speaking of it, in our most recent records, this house was listed as uninhabited. Since when do you live here, mister?"
"Well, I bought this house and moved here just a few days ago. Here," my father quickly picked a document that was pinned to the wall, near the entrance, "this is a copy of the document of the property."
The man briefly examined the paper, before talking again.
"This explains it."
He then looked back to another man, who nodded with his head.
"We can see that your house is the closest to the Pallet Woods. Did you hear something unusual coming from there during last night?" The officer proceeded.
"During last night? I'm afraid I didn't hear anything. Even with the house located somewhat nearer to the woods than the other buildings, the rain wouldn't let anyone hear anything. And besides, there's mist all around."
"I see..."
That officer then went a few steps away and talked something briefly with the others, before returning to our door.
"The storm last night took down some trees, and there's risk of landslide in some parts, so we strongly advise that no one approaches the woods until the area is out of danger. We are currently sending troops there to investigate the situation."
"Understood. But, officer, if you allow me a question..."
"Speak."
"Does it has something to do with the attack on the docks, if I may ask?"
"We don't know yet", the man answered a bit nervous, quickly dismissing the question, "But until you get official word from the Police Force, don't leave the safety of your house. That is the advise we give to all citizens. Thank you for your cooperation."
My father bowed and the officer left to the woods, along with the rest of those men, with the rain falling heavily on them. I looked through the gap until they were all out of range, with nothing remaining but their footsteps in the mud, and the trail of the carriage's wheels.
"You see? It's still dangerous to go out," my father said, right after closing the door.
"I heard it, but," I started.
"But?"
"You told him that there wasn't unusual activity around, but yesterday I noticed those dim lights in the woods, when I was coming back."
"Oh yes, you mentioned something, I didn't forget that. But I don't know, Hiroshi, I think it's better not to draw suspicion."
"I don't get it."
"Well, maybe it's just me, but the officer's tone wasn't the tone of someone who is simply making questions just for the record. I felt that he was instead probing the extent of what I knew about the incident."
"So you don't trust them?"
"It's not that. I just don't know them, so the best thing you can do is being cautious with those people."
He then walked towards the rear window, that was directed to the yard.
"This night I thought I had a dream in with I could hear a strange noise, as if something was roaring, and then I woke up and came here to drink some water, but it turns out that I could still hear the sound again. It was real, and was coming from there," he opened the window a bit, and pointed to the trees far away, hiding part of the lake.
"From the woods?", I asked, "Are you sure it wasn't the siren?"
"Not a siren, definitely. When I looked through the window, I could see that the trees were shaking a lot. It was probably the fierce winds, I don't know, but something really unusual was happening in there. Then in the morning there's this rampage in the docks..."
"Do you think they're related somehow?"
"I don't know what to say, son. Right now we just have no clue as to who or what is behind these strange events."
"When I talk to Oak, maybe we can figure it out together. He or his father may have noticed something too, since they live not very far."
"Yeah, who knows. But right now we just stay here, understood?"
"Alright."
My father went back to the greenhouse, and I to my room, where Rising Sun was still sleeping in her place below the window. Without nothing else to do, I decided to pick another of those books that I borrowed from Oak. This one was titled "The Pokémon Encyclopedia, Volume III". It entertained me with images of some Pokémon, alongside their names and common habitats, and there were diverse annotations in the pages, probably made by Oak. The book featured also valuable information regarding Pokémon evolution, growth and types.
I had a great time reading that, and it somehow reminded me of when I used to pick up my father's botany books to read as a kid, back in the farm, and how I constantly asked my mother the meaning of some unknown word. Most of those botany books were still inside the boxes since we moved to that new house, together with my old copies of "Spinarak Web Castle" and "The Seven Pokémon Masters" - which my father gave me as a gift in my 13th and 14th birthdays, respectively -, but at that time I wasn't reading much, and so it pleased me to delve into a book again, since my failed attempt with "Study on the physiology of Pokémon."
Two hours passed as I read one third of it, before Rising Sun finally woke up, around ten in the morning. She went right away to the kitchen, where her bowl of water was located, near her bowl of berries. Some fifteen minutes later the downpour began to subdue a bit, and shortly after something fell just outside my window.
I approached the window carefully, but then, looking through the glass, I noticed that a Pokémon was trying to enter. It was a Pelipper, a Pokémon that was vastly used to deliver mail. As soon as the window opened, it bounced at once into my room, sprinkling water around as it landed inside, and then spat out a rolled paper on the floor.
I promptly picked it up, but to my surprise there were just a few sentences, which I considered for a moment:
"Popsicle. No departure. Others surely fine. We meet when possible. Have answer? Give Pelipper. Write in code. No names. The index maker."
The word "Popsicle" was clearly me, in a reference to an event in the previous day, and "The index maker" left no doubt that it was sent by Oak. From what I could understand, he confirmed what my father had said about the Blackthorn people probably stuck, due to their boat being destroyed, and wanted to meet me when the situation allowed it. If I had something to say, I should write in code, just as he wrote to me, and give it to that Pelipper. That writing style meant that Oak was worried about something, and didn't want anyone else figuring out the contents, should the letter fall in the wrong hands.
So I quickly picked a pencil and a piece of paper and tried my best to mimic his writing:
"Index maker. Glad you alright. We meet when possible. Where I first met Dragon Slayer. Have things to say. Popsicle."
That meant to tell him that I planned to meet him on the same place where I first met Pryce, that is, at the ranch. Rising Sun arrived in the room while I was wrapping the paper, and the Pelipper almost went away scared, but I managed to get it and shove the paper into its throat pouch, and then proceeded to guide it to the window again. In a moment it flew, doing a turn around, before finally heading in the direction of the ranch. The rain didn't seem to bother it.
"Others surely fine, Rising Sun," I quoted part of the message, and she growled back, "We'll be stuck here for a while, though."
I closed the window again and went back to reading the book; Rising Sun entertained herself with a set of leather balls that she found below my bed.
Soon it was lunch time, and we both went to the kitchen, where my father was preparing a Magikarp - the only thing he could buy from a wandering fisherman, during his brief trip to the town center. I told him about the Pelipper and showed him the letter, and he was glad that Oak was alright too.
"I told you," he said.
"I just hope he receives the reply."
"Well, the code thing was smart. That Oak is indeed a clever boy. But tell me," he looked at me, scratching his beard, "is Popsicle some sort of nickname?"
"Oh, it's just a name that that Blackthorn girl called me, because you know, I was covered in snow and also use a top knot on my hair," I felt a little embarrassed.
"You mean the girl from yesterday? What was her name again... Sword... Pike..."
"Speer."
"That! Speer. Those people have a thing with weird names, it seems. So, um... we never talked much about this, but uh well..." My father tried to find the right words to say.
"Um what?" I could already infer what was coming.
"You know, if you want to give her a gift or something like that, you can take one of the bonsai if you want," he finally said, lifting his pinky finger.
"Hey, she's not a girlfriend! I barely even talked to her," I said, now really embarrassed.
"And yet she has already given you a nickname," he said with his eyes closed and waving his hand, mocking me.
"Alright stop. It's not funny," I said, already with a retort on my mind, "And besides, it wouldn't work out anyway."
"And why not?" He was suddenly curious.
"You see, if I invited her to have dinner with us, she would go away and never return, right after tasting your Sandshrew stew."
"Now, that's not funny."
"We're even then."
"Hey," he said between chomps, changing the subject a bit, "you just remind me of myself. I was around your age when I first met your mother. I gave her a flower ornament, and she..." He laughed, "She just said a polite thank you, bowed and went away. It was hard to gain her affection."
"Mom's family was comprised of some fairly important people, right?"
"Is. Some of them still live in Celadon, where your mother was born; some went to Ekruteak, in Johto. So, I had a hard time convincing her parents that I could afford her a peaceful life in the island, but it ended well."
"Her family never showed much in the island, right? I remember just a few of them."
"That's right, but it was because it was quite a trip from their homes to ours. They were present in most of your birthday celebrations, though. Even after, you know..."
"Yeah, but I always preferred your side of the family."
"Nonsense. You're just more used to them, since they lived nearby, but both sides are great, and together form a great family. Be sure to teach that to your kids, when you are older."
"Alright," I shrugged.
After having lunch I went back to my room and played a little with Rising Sun to stretch myself. Then I spent the whole afternoon waiting to see if that Pelipper would return again. It didn't, but at least I could finish that book in the meantime; if I was supposed to be stranded at home, at least I would use the time to gather some knowledge on Pokémon. It was already dusk when I thought about distracting myself a bit with my banjo, but rather decided to pick another book to read: "The Mysteries of the Pokémon."
I was on the twentieth page or so, when the lights suddenly went out; all of them, except the light of the moon and Rising Sun's glowing tail, that shone strongly in the blackness. I tried to peek out of the window, but nothing below the sky could be really discerned. It was almost pitch black all the way down the muddy path, because the rain still hadn't fully stopped by then. Rising Sun noticed my movement, and got up from her place, where she was taking a nap, moving a lot of shadows while doing so. So I called her and we went out of the room, but my father met us holding a candle, halfway through the corridor.
"Hiroshi! I forgot you already had a torch with you," he said.
"Just what we need now, a power failure."
"Is it general?"
"I don't know. I tried to look through the window, but I couldn't see a thing."
"I'll go to the rooftop to have a look around. Maybe there I can get a clearer vision."
"Good. I'll go with you," I said.
My father set up a ladder on the yard, and we climbed it, finally arriving at the rooftop. For a moment we looked around, but to no avail, since the lights went out on the whole town, it seemed. But after directing my attention to the sky, I noticed something unusual: black smokes, which I first thought were clouds, were rising to the sky in a dense black column.
"Father..."
"Yeah?"
"There's a volcano at Cinnabar, right?" I asked him, while he was still looking at another direction.
"Yeah, why the question?"
"Look! It has erupted!"
He promptly turned to that direction with an expression of doubt, as if trying to make sense of what I said, but his semblance quickly changed to awe.
"But... But that is not where Cinnabar is located, Hiroshi. That's..." He wiped away the rain from his face, trying to see clearer, "That's the direction of Cerulean."
We gazed at those black clouds of smoke before climbing down, and then my father locked both doors and all windows.
"Is that really Cerulean?" I asked him.
"Undoubtedly. The power plant... It makes sense now. Something must have happened to it."
"When we thought it was already bad..."
"Yeah... Come, I'll prepare something for dinner," he said, still trying to believe in what he saw.
We three stayed in the kitchen for quite a while, even after having dinner, but we didn't talk much besides some remarks on that new incident. My father thought that it was probably a technical failure, due to the storm and subsequent downpour during the whole day, and closed the windows to avoid any possible burglars. But despite what he said, that whole situation just went even more mysterious. While he distracted himself painting one of the bonsai in a depiction of the lake behind the woods, I tried to continue reading the book, but soon gave up on the effort of doing so under the flickering light of a candle, and also because I lacked the concentration to do it properly.
So after a while we went to sleep. When I last checked Rising Sun, she was playing with her tail, amidst the darkness. I closed my eyes and soon my mind was busy with a lot of thoughts that varied between those men from the Police Force, Oak, Speer and the others, the enigmatic attack on the docks, the mystery in the Pallet Woods, and finally, the blackout.
At that moment, the connection between all those dots was still unclear to me, but it was just a matter of time before they would be bound together.
"They're what?" Was my best attempt.
"The docks are being attacked, son. The town is in alert!"
My mind was then divided into receiving those news from my father and suddenly thinking about Oak and the others, and our meeting at the docks.
"But," I tried again, "how's that, father? How come the docks are being attacked? I would meet Oak there."
"I don't know very well. I went early to the town center to buy some things, but the stores were all closed, and there was military activity around the docks."
"But what about Oak and the Blackthorn people?"
"I didn't see Oak there. Everyone is trying to be in safety inside their homes, it seems. And those Johto people, well, they are probably stuck, since all the boats on the docks were destroyed."
"Were what? But who is doing this?"
"Destroyed. By Pokémon. I heard some guards saying that there were rampaging Gyarados around, and also some big Tentacruel."
"What a situation... it's unbelievable."
"Indeed. From what I know, it's been happening for some hours by now. What a misfortune!"
"I must go see Oak in the ranch," I said, without thinking very much.
"Are you kidding me, boy? Oak is probably safe at home, and you will do just the same thing."
My father was clearly worried, but so was I, and I felt that urge to know that the others were really alright. But it turns out that I didn't complain about staying at home, for I knew that my father was right, although that uneasiness would stick around until I could have some news regarding the others. So I tried to get along with it.
***
It was only when I was having my breakfast, that I paid good attention to the outside; it was raining very noisily and heavily, and the far surroundings were shrouded by mist. The heavy raindrops could be heard falling on the greenhouse's ceiling, although it didn't restrain my father from working on his bonsai, which by then were numbered by half a dozen or so. A low noise could also be heard, which sounded like a siren, and was coming from the direction of the town center; it was a sound muffled by the rain, but that would persist for some hours.
After I finished, I was already on my way back to my room, when someone knocked at the front door. "Oak," I thought, as I did a 180° turn to answer it, but my father was already going towards the door, and after a moment, he inquired whoever was knocking.
"Who's there?"
"Viridian Police Force, please open the door," someone answered.
"Viridian Police Force," my father whispered, confused. He didn't wait, though, and promptly opened the door, surprised by the event.
"Good morning, officer. Can I help you?" He asked to someone.
When I approached one of the windows, I could see some people through a gap. They were all wearing mostly white uniforms, complete with boots, spats, helmets and a long raincoat, but weren't as equipped as those masked guards I had seen on my way back from Viridian. There were about fifteen people in total, but there was also a carriage nearby, whose people inside couldn't be discerned.
"Security proceeding, mister. I will ask you a few questions, to which I expect your cooperation," I heard the officer say, bluntly.
"Oh my, but of course! What do you need to know?"
"Good. First: Have you noticed any strange activities in the vicinity in the past few days?"
"Strange activities? No, officer, unheard of. There isn't much activity around this place at all, at least since I arrived here."
"Alright. Speaking of it, in our most recent records, this house was listed as uninhabited. Since when do you live here, mister?"
"Well, I bought this house and moved here just a few days ago. Here," my father quickly picked a document that was pinned to the wall, near the entrance, "this is a copy of the document of the property."
The man briefly examined the paper, before talking again.
"This explains it."
He then looked back to another man, who nodded with his head.
"We can see that your house is the closest to the Pallet Woods. Did you hear something unusual coming from there during last night?" The officer proceeded.
"During last night? I'm afraid I didn't hear anything. Even with the house located somewhat nearer to the woods than the other buildings, the rain wouldn't let anyone hear anything. And besides, there's mist all around."
"I see..."
That officer then went a few steps away and talked something briefly with the others, before returning to our door.
"The storm last night took down some trees, and there's risk of landslide in some parts, so we strongly advise that no one approaches the woods until the area is out of danger. We are currently sending troops there to investigate the situation."
"Understood. But, officer, if you allow me a question..."
"Speak."
"Does it has something to do with the attack on the docks, if I may ask?"
"We don't know yet", the man answered a bit nervous, quickly dismissing the question, "But until you get official word from the Police Force, don't leave the safety of your house. That is the advise we give to all citizens. Thank you for your cooperation."
My father bowed and the officer left to the woods, along with the rest of those men, with the rain falling heavily on them. I looked through the gap until they were all out of range, with nothing remaining but their footsteps in the mud, and the trail of the carriage's wheels.
"You see? It's still dangerous to go out," my father said, right after closing the door.
"I heard it, but," I started.
"But?"
"You told him that there wasn't unusual activity around, but yesterday I noticed those dim lights in the woods, when I was coming back."
"Oh yes, you mentioned something, I didn't forget that. But I don't know, Hiroshi, I think it's better not to draw suspicion."
"I don't get it."
"Well, maybe it's just me, but the officer's tone wasn't the tone of someone who is simply making questions just for the record. I felt that he was instead probing the extent of what I knew about the incident."
"So you don't trust them?"
"It's not that. I just don't know them, so the best thing you can do is being cautious with those people."
He then walked towards the rear window, that was directed to the yard.
"This night I thought I had a dream in with I could hear a strange noise, as if something was roaring, and then I woke up and came here to drink some water, but it turns out that I could still hear the sound again. It was real, and was coming from there," he opened the window a bit, and pointed to the trees far away, hiding part of the lake.
"From the woods?", I asked, "Are you sure it wasn't the siren?"
"Not a siren, definitely. When I looked through the window, I could see that the trees were shaking a lot. It was probably the fierce winds, I don't know, but something really unusual was happening in there. Then in the morning there's this rampage in the docks..."
"Do you think they're related somehow?"
"I don't know what to say, son. Right now we just have no clue as to who or what is behind these strange events."
"When I talk to Oak, maybe we can figure it out together. He or his father may have noticed something too, since they live not very far."
"Yeah, who knows. But right now we just stay here, understood?"
"Alright."
My father went back to the greenhouse, and I to my room, where Rising Sun was still sleeping in her place below the window. Without nothing else to do, I decided to pick another of those books that I borrowed from Oak. This one was titled "The Pokémon Encyclopedia, Volume III". It entertained me with images of some Pokémon, alongside their names and common habitats, and there were diverse annotations in the pages, probably made by Oak. The book featured also valuable information regarding Pokémon evolution, growth and types.
***
I had a great time reading that, and it somehow reminded me of when I used to pick up my father's botany books to read as a kid, back in the farm, and how I constantly asked my mother the meaning of some unknown word. Most of those botany books were still inside the boxes since we moved to that new house, together with my old copies of "Spinarak Web Castle" and "The Seven Pokémon Masters" - which my father gave me as a gift in my 13th and 14th birthdays, respectively -, but at that time I wasn't reading much, and so it pleased me to delve into a book again, since my failed attempt with "Study on the physiology of Pokémon."
Two hours passed as I read one third of it, before Rising Sun finally woke up, around ten in the morning. She went right away to the kitchen, where her bowl of water was located, near her bowl of berries. Some fifteen minutes later the downpour began to subdue a bit, and shortly after something fell just outside my window.
I approached the window carefully, but then, looking through the glass, I noticed that a Pokémon was trying to enter. It was a Pelipper, a Pokémon that was vastly used to deliver mail. As soon as the window opened, it bounced at once into my room, sprinkling water around as it landed inside, and then spat out a rolled paper on the floor.
I promptly picked it up, but to my surprise there were just a few sentences, which I considered for a moment:
"Popsicle. No departure. Others surely fine. We meet when possible. Have answer? Give Pelipper. Write in code. No names. The index maker."
The word "Popsicle" was clearly me, in a reference to an event in the previous day, and "The index maker" left no doubt that it was sent by Oak. From what I could understand, he confirmed what my father had said about the Blackthorn people probably stuck, due to their boat being destroyed, and wanted to meet me when the situation allowed it. If I had something to say, I should write in code, just as he wrote to me, and give it to that Pelipper. That writing style meant that Oak was worried about something, and didn't want anyone else figuring out the contents, should the letter fall in the wrong hands.
So I quickly picked a pencil and a piece of paper and tried my best to mimic his writing:
"Index maker. Glad you alright. We meet when possible. Where I first met Dragon Slayer. Have things to say. Popsicle."
That meant to tell him that I planned to meet him on the same place where I first met Pryce, that is, at the ranch. Rising Sun arrived in the room while I was wrapping the paper, and the Pelipper almost went away scared, but I managed to get it and shove the paper into its throat pouch, and then proceeded to guide it to the window again. In a moment it flew, doing a turn around, before finally heading in the direction of the ranch. The rain didn't seem to bother it.
"Others surely fine, Rising Sun," I quoted part of the message, and she growled back, "We'll be stuck here for a while, though."
I closed the window again and went back to reading the book; Rising Sun entertained herself with a set of leather balls that she found below my bed.
Soon it was lunch time, and we both went to the kitchen, where my father was preparing a Magikarp - the only thing he could buy from a wandering fisherman, during his brief trip to the town center. I told him about the Pelipper and showed him the letter, and he was glad that Oak was alright too.
"I told you," he said.
"I just hope he receives the reply."
"Well, the code thing was smart. That Oak is indeed a clever boy. But tell me," he looked at me, scratching his beard, "is Popsicle some sort of nickname?"
"Oh, it's just a name that that Blackthorn girl called me, because you know, I was covered in snow and also use a top knot on my hair," I felt a little embarrassed.
"You mean the girl from yesterday? What was her name again... Sword... Pike..."
"Speer."
"That! Speer. Those people have a thing with weird names, it seems. So, um... we never talked much about this, but uh well..." My father tried to find the right words to say.
"Um what?" I could already infer what was coming.
"You know, if you want to give her a gift or something like that, you can take one of the bonsai if you want," he finally said, lifting his pinky finger.
"Hey, she's not a girlfriend! I barely even talked to her," I said, now really embarrassed.
"And yet she has already given you a nickname," he said with his eyes closed and waving his hand, mocking me.
"Alright stop. It's not funny," I said, already with a retort on my mind, "And besides, it wouldn't work out anyway."
"And why not?" He was suddenly curious.
"You see, if I invited her to have dinner with us, she would go away and never return, right after tasting your Sandshrew stew."
"Now, that's not funny."
"We're even then."
"Hey," he said between chomps, changing the subject a bit, "you just remind me of myself. I was around your age when I first met your mother. I gave her a flower ornament, and she..." He laughed, "She just said a polite thank you, bowed and went away. It was hard to gain her affection."
"Mom's family was comprised of some fairly important people, right?"
"Is. Some of them still live in Celadon, where your mother was born; some went to Ekruteak, in Johto. So, I had a hard time convincing her parents that I could afford her a peaceful life in the island, but it ended well."
"Her family never showed much in the island, right? I remember just a few of them."
"That's right, but it was because it was quite a trip from their homes to ours. They were present in most of your birthday celebrations, though. Even after, you know..."
"Yeah, but I always preferred your side of the family."
"Nonsense. You're just more used to them, since they lived nearby, but both sides are great, and together form a great family. Be sure to teach that to your kids, when you are older."
"Alright," I shrugged.
***
After having lunch I went back to my room and played a little with Rising Sun to stretch myself. Then I spent the whole afternoon waiting to see if that Pelipper would return again. It didn't, but at least I could finish that book in the meantime; if I was supposed to be stranded at home, at least I would use the time to gather some knowledge on Pokémon. It was already dusk when I thought about distracting myself a bit with my banjo, but rather decided to pick another book to read: "The Mysteries of the Pokémon."
I was on the twentieth page or so, when the lights suddenly went out; all of them, except the light of the moon and Rising Sun's glowing tail, that shone strongly in the blackness. I tried to peek out of the window, but nothing below the sky could be really discerned. It was almost pitch black all the way down the muddy path, because the rain still hadn't fully stopped by then. Rising Sun noticed my movement, and got up from her place, where she was taking a nap, moving a lot of shadows while doing so. So I called her and we went out of the room, but my father met us holding a candle, halfway through the corridor.
"Hiroshi! I forgot you already had a torch with you," he said.
"Just what we need now, a power failure."
"Is it general?"
"I don't know. I tried to look through the window, but I couldn't see a thing."
"I'll go to the rooftop to have a look around. Maybe there I can get a clearer vision."
"Good. I'll go with you," I said.
My father set up a ladder on the yard, and we climbed it, finally arriving at the rooftop. For a moment we looked around, but to no avail, since the lights went out on the whole town, it seemed. But after directing my attention to the sky, I noticed something unusual: black smokes, which I first thought were clouds, were rising to the sky in a dense black column.
"Father..."
"Yeah?"
"There's a volcano at Cinnabar, right?" I asked him, while he was still looking at another direction.
"Yeah, why the question?"
"Look! It has erupted!"
He promptly turned to that direction with an expression of doubt, as if trying to make sense of what I said, but his semblance quickly changed to awe.
"But... But that is not where Cinnabar is located, Hiroshi. That's..." He wiped away the rain from his face, trying to see clearer, "That's the direction of Cerulean."
We gazed at those black clouds of smoke before climbing down, and then my father locked both doors and all windows.
"Is that really Cerulean?" I asked him.
"Undoubtedly. The power plant... It makes sense now. Something must have happened to it."
"When we thought it was already bad..."
"Yeah... Come, I'll prepare something for dinner," he said, still trying to believe in what he saw.
We three stayed in the kitchen for quite a while, even after having dinner, but we didn't talk much besides some remarks on that new incident. My father thought that it was probably a technical failure, due to the storm and subsequent downpour during the whole day, and closed the windows to avoid any possible burglars. But despite what he said, that whole situation just went even more mysterious. While he distracted himself painting one of the bonsai in a depiction of the lake behind the woods, I tried to continue reading the book, but soon gave up on the effort of doing so under the flickering light of a candle, and also because I lacked the concentration to do it properly.
So after a while we went to sleep. When I last checked Rising Sun, she was playing with her tail, amidst the darkness. I closed my eyes and soon my mind was busy with a lot of thoughts that varied between those men from the Police Force, Oak, Speer and the others, the enigmatic attack on the docks, the mystery in the Pallet Woods, and finally, the blackout.
At that moment, the connection between all those dots was still unclear to me, but it was just a matter of time before they would be bound together.
Chapter 11 - 2014-08-26
I woke up very early and left Rising Sun in her usual heavy sleep. To my surprise, my father was already awake drinking a cup of hot Mago berry tea in the kitchen. I joined him and we just shared that moment together for a while, before I finally cut the silence.
"So..."
"Um?" He turned to me, in the middle of a sip and another.
"Any news about the incident?"
"The incident?"
"Yeah," I said, with my mind set on the blackout, and briefly forgetting that there were actually two incidents on the previous day.
"If you mean the strange things in the woods, no. No news. If you mean the blackout, then there's actually news, maybe."
"Oh, really?"
"Really. Some people are talking about a malfunctioning due to the storm, others are making theories about a terrorist attack..."
"Terror what?"
"A terrorist attack. An attack with the purpose of seeding terror. It's getting more common nowadays, with gangs popping here and there."
"Do you think it's true?"
"Well, as I was saying, people are coming with a lot of causes for the blackout, but we'll get a better idea only when the newspapers become available. They are probably delayed by the sudden shortage of electrical energy."
"At least it seems safe to go out, right?"
"Maybe... but not too far," he answered, already knowing my intentions.
"Hey, I can handle myself."
"I know. Just like that time with the Taurus. Now you made me remember it."
"That... that was all planned." The memory of a furious wild Taurus running behind me on the island suddenly came to my mind.
"I believe it. You can really handle yourself, even at the top of a tree, waiting for hours until the Taurus went away. You're a master of handling for sure! Or would it be master of hanging?"
"Patience is a virtue, they say, and it actually worked in the end. You ended up proving my point. I can handle myself."
"Alright, alright. But seriously now, don't wander around too much. Although it seems safer, it's still uncertain."
"Fine. I'll go to the ranch. Maybe to the town center later."
"Well then, bring me the newspaper if you go there."
"Alright."
I finished my tea and picked up two slices of bread, which I ate while going back to my room. Rising Sun was still sleeping, and so I decided to put her inside one of the pokéballs that I had bought in Viridian on my trip two days before. That way I could go right away to the ranch, without having to wait for Rising Sun to wake up.
Before I did it, though, I thought about decorating it the same way Oak did to his pokéballs. After searching for something to use in it, a piece of red cloth caught my attention, and ended up being a perfect fit, since I could pass it through a small pin on the top of the ball and then use the lace to tighten it to my belt.
I grabbed my wallet and then went away to the ranch; the expectation of seeing Oak again was already growing since the previous day, when my father told me about the attack on the docks.
Outside, I noticed that the sky was very cloudy, but there was no other sign of the recent rain than that of the wet ground and little water droplets on the leaves all around the surroundings. It was also strangely sultry for the time of the day - and for the season -, and so on that early morning one could hear the buzz and chirping coming from the bushes and trees along the track. A strong, distinct odor permeated the atmosphere, exhaling from honeycombs scattered here and there.
Half the way to the ranch, my ears began to catch some sounds apart from the brimming sounds of the morning, and not much further away I was finally able to discern what was causing them; on the grounds, roughly thirty meters or so off the path, a fighting was taking place.
As I deviated to the left from the muddy path to approach it, in a mix of curiosity and a bit of fear, I could have a better idea of what was happening; it was a wild Pokémon fight between a Pinsir and a Heracross - a male one, judging by the horn. From what I could deduce from the scene, the Pinsir was trying to claim a honeycomb tree - a tree known to be used by Pokémon to store honey, hence the name -, but the Heracross wouldn't give it away without a fight - and what a fight. I had arrived just in time, although at some distance, to watch the Heracross throw the Pinsir away with its horn, after the later's failed attempt at rushing into its foe in a fierce thrust. The Pinsir was thrown over the Heracross' head, having its own weight and speed used against it. It was an amazing move, and executed so skillfully that I instinctively looked around to find a trainer commanding it, but there was none.
Instead, I noticed something else. There was already another Pinsir knocked out on the ground, and looking again at the Heracross, this time paying more attention to it, I saw that he was showing signs of fatigue. He was clearly fighting for quite a while before I even noticed the fight on my way. But it wasn't all. The two Pinsir on the ground weren't the problem anymore, but other two were coming out from the bushes near the tree, and those would be a problem.
The sighting of those two made me inadvertently misstep the dry root of the tree that I was hiding behind, making a cracking sound and promptly drawing the attention of the Heracross. However, the two Pinsir didn't heard it - or at least ignored it -, and used the opportunity to launch themselves against the lone Heracross. He turned to them, but not in time to avoid being hit by the two pairs of horns in the chest.
That seemed to hurt him a lot, but to my surprise he somehow endured the hit, and in a fast movement of the arms, coupled with a sturdy sticking of the legs on the ground, he braced the horns of the two Pinsir at once - one horn from each -, following it with a rotating throw, that hurled both foes several meters away. Another amazing feat of skill and raw strength, although he hurt himself even more by doing it.
He could use a moment of relief, though, but it didn't last very long before his two foes stood up and were ready to resume the fight. One of the Pinsir rushed against him to attack with its claws, which the Heracross narrowly evaded by quickly jumping back with the enhanced propulsion of his wings. Before he could resume his defensive stance though, the same Pinsir rushed again at him, doing the same attack. This time, the Heracross didn't had time to move out, and could only defend himself by grabbing both of Pinsir's paws, which resulted in a sort of a reverse tug-of-war between the two. With his arms busy, the Heracross could do nothing when the second Pinsir tackled him on the side, making him fall to the ground with a growl of pain.
When the second Pinsir would apply the final blow with its horns, the Heracross boldly hooked his arms on them in a last stand, and tried to thrust the foe with a boost of his wings, but he was very tired to accomplish this, resulting in the Pinsir dragging him all the way back until both smashed into a tree, with Heracross' back hitting the trunk. I instinctively looked away from that terrible view, but by doing so, I ended up laying my eyes on the other Pinsir again, and I saw how it was going towards the other two; Heracross was using his last strength to avoid being caught by the grip of Pinsir's horns, while being pressed against the tree, and if the other one joined in again, it would be his demise. Suddenly came to my mind the memory of those Dragon Pokémon cowardly beating Oak's Magneton in Viridian. When I snapped out of this bitter thought, I found myself already throwing Rising Sun's pokéball at half the distance between me and the fight.
There was a flash, then a sudden stop, and then the second Pinsir was rushing towards my disoriented Charmander; the Heracross was spared for that moment, but now Rising Sun was the target. Then I, in a desperate move, threw a rock at the Pinsir, that hit it right in the head. It somehow worked in diverting its attention, and now Rising Sun was briefly forgotten, but the target had switched to me.
I got down just in time to avoid Pinsir's air dive, and I could clearly hear the sound of its carapace hitting the ground just a few meters away. Rising Sun came quickly to my side, by then fully awake and enraged. It was the first time that I saw her enraged.
Although doubting a bit, that we would manage to pull it out again, I commanded her to burn the heck out of that Pinsir as soon as it stood up again, gnashing its sharp teeth and making clacking noises.
"Flamethrower!" I ordered, without further hesitation.
Rising Sun took a deep breath and then let away a mix of a husky growl and a menacing blaze, three meters long. The Pinsir cried in pain as it tried to protect itself with its arms, partially blinded by the fire. I never was so thankful for the memory fail that made me mistake Ember for Flamethrower in the beginning of my trainer life. It was the second time that that attack proved itself a very valuable and lucky weapon.
When I noticed that the other one - the one holding the Heracross - was running towards Rising Sun, I could only grab her in time to narrowly evade the killing air dive performed by the Pinsir. By doing so, I fell on the ground with her, with her side of the head landing in a bunch of thistles, but thankfully it didn't do much damage.
With no time to waste, I urged Rising Sun to attack our new attacker while it was still recovering from the air dive.
"Rising Sun, now! Use your Flamethrower again!" I commanded, but all she could do was put forth dense black fumes. It seemed that, although she could somehow impressively perform that move, it took a tool on her by doing it. Ordering physical attacks would be useless against that enraged Pinsir, that was standing again, heading to our direction.
"C'mon, Rising Sun! Please, do it!"
Useless. Too much for her to do again, and too late to do anything else, as the Pinsir prepared to jump on Rising Sun with its stretched claws.
"Muk's guts!" I said, while looking desperately for another stone. As soon as I found one, I threw it with all my strength, just before I stumbled on a tree root, falling into a bush. The last thing I could see before falling, was that I missed. I heard a hum, followed by a clash, and then a muffled sound of something falling on the ground.
I felt as if my heart stopped for a moment, as I expected the following cry of Rising Sun, but it never came. Then I stood up as quickly as I could, while getting out of the bush, and there she was, on all fours on the ground, with her eyes wide open showing a mix of anger and surprise on her expression. I followed her look until my eyes got the vision of a tree; a trace of a green liquid made its way on the ground, from Rising Sun's position up to that tree, where it ended its trail to give place to two bulky figures.
It was Heracross; his horn carved in Pinsir's carapace. After a while he moved back a few steps, did a brief flapping on his wings, and let away a cry, while putting his arms in the air. After that he fell on his back. The Pinsir remained immobile; it would never get up again. When I looked for the other one, the one burned by Rising Sun's Flamethrower, I couldn't find it anymore in that place.
Then I hurried up to Rising Sun to see if she had any injuries, and found that she had a considerable scratch on the right cheek, but didn't seem to bother much about it. Instead, she promptly approached the fallen Heracross' body, and by following her I ended up crouching by his side. She licked his face, and it was then that I noticed that he was still alive - although barely -, because he opened his eyes. The Heracross tried to make some sounds, but they barely propagated in the air, given his weakened state.
I checked his injuries and could ascertain that he hadn't any open wounds, so that green blood on the ground was certainly Pinsir's. He had some scratches though, and probably contusions due to the fierce tackles it suffered. I felt that I shouldn't leave him there. Rising Sun helped to save him, and he returned the favor by saving her back. That unusual bond was already in place between us three, so I decided to take him with me. For a moment I looked back at the tree he was protecting, and saw again the two bodies of the knocked out Pinsir on the ground near it. The third one was laying lifeless just in front of us. The fourth one had run away.
"You are sure a hard stone to break, huh?" I tried to express some kindness to him, "I'm truly impressed by your vigor and devotion into not letting a single one of them take that tree, although we'll have to leave it here now, so that I may take you to someone who can take care of your wounds."
I picked one of his hands and felt a weak grasp.
"Welcome to the team, Zealot."
Having walked out of home unprepared, I had no choice but to place him inside Rising Sun's pokéball. So I got up and went out of that place, returning to the main path that leaded to the ranch. The second half of the way I went on by running, with Rising Sun catching up pretty well. It gave me - us both, I think - a nice feeling of freedom, after having spent the previous day at home.
In five minutes we were already at the gates of the ranch, and after I called two or three times, Oak finally appeared and let me in.
"Hiroshi! How are you? It's good to see you again! You too, Rising Sun!" He happily said, caressing her head.
"I'm fine, thanks! Good to see you too, but please Oak, I'm in a hurry. Is your father around?"
"Yes, he's inside, but what happened?"
"This," I showed him Rising Sun's pokéball, "It's Rising Sun's pokéball."
"What? Is it broken or something like that?"
"No, there's another Pokémon inside. A Pokémon I caught on my way here."
His eyes grew wide, but then he frowned his eyebrows as usual.
"Another Pokémon? Which one?" He asked, closing the gates and leading the way.
"It's a Heracross, but he's badly hurt. I'll explain the details, but now we really must put it to rest."
"Let's go to the shed!"
Oak went on in advance to call his father, and in a minute we were all reunited.
"Hiroshi! Hello, boy. What's happening?" Oak's father greeted me.
"Hello, Mr. Oak. I have a Pokémon with me that is in a bad condition. I came here as quickly as I could, to see if you could take care of it."
"But of course! You two, give me a hand here."
We helped him make some room inside the shed, so that we could lay the Pokémon in a bed of hay on the ground. Then I released it from the pokéball.
"A Heracross! Blessed creator! How did you catch this Pokémon, Hiroshi?" Oak's father asked, clearly impressed.
"It's impressive!" Oak said, "The Heracross is a Pokémon
that's very tough to fight against, let alone catch it. Even less probable as a rookie trainer!"
"Well, I didn't fight against him. I helped him."
They were puzzled.
"You helped it?" Oak asked.
"Yeah. On my way to the ranch, I noticed a fight in which this Heracross was involved. He fought against two wild Pinsir!"
"Two Pinsir!" He said, not containing his astonishment.
"Yeah, but there's more! After he defeated them, two other Pinsir appeared, but he couldn't hold up against them, and then I tried to help with Rising Sun."
I paused for a while, waiting for a comment by one of them, but they remained speechless, waiting for me to continue.
"So, Rising Sun managed to get the attention of one of the Pinsir before it would finish the Heracross, even pulling out another Flamethrower, that really affected her foe. But then the second one came attacking, and we were hopeless until the Heracross saved Rising Sun from it. He was greatly injured in the fight, and now we're here."
There was a short moment of silence before Mr. Oak snapped out of the amazement and got up to fetch medicaments.
"It's incredible, Hiroshi! You were very lucky!" He finally said.
"Pinsir are a dangerous Pokémon species. My father is right, you're really lucky! Two times lucky!" Oak said.
"I guess so, but I hope I can be three times lucky, if this Heracross can get out of this one alive."
"He sustained some injuries," Mr. Oak said, examining my Pokémon, "But I'm certain that he will survive, since you came here right away. It's a really strong Pokémon."
"A Heracross, only a few days after starting as a trainer. Hiroshi, I envy you," Oak said, half kidding, half serious, "Hey, what's his name?"
"His name? Well, I called him Zealot."
"Zealot?" Mr. Oak asked, without taking his eyes out of his task.
"Yeah, Zealot. That's because he was protecting a honeycomb tree very heartily, so that the Pinsir couldn't claim it."
"The name suits him well, then!" Oak smiled, "But what I find odd, is that these Pokémon usually don't show up very much during the winter season."
"This morning is an exception to the rule, then. It's not even eight o'clock and it's already sultry, which is an oddity by itself on this season," I said.
"Maybe it's because of all that rain yesterday," Oak said.
That made me remember the events of the previous day.
"Hey, now that you mentioned it, do you know something about what happened yesterday?"
"There was an attack on the docks, but I stayed at home. Only my father went briefly to the town center," he said.
"That's right," Mr. Oak commented, "Very early in the morning a bunch of Pokémon destroyed the boats on the docks. No one knows really well what caused them to do it, and the only thing they told us in the town center, was to stay at home to avoid danger."
"Oh, you mean the people in white that went on the trail to the woods? They stopped at my house too."
Mr. Oak stopped briefly the cleaning of Zealot's wounds. Oak was equally perplexed.
"People in white?" His father asked.
"That's it. Didn't they stop here too? Around fifteen people on foot and a carriage. White uniforms, spats, helmets..."
"That describes vaguely the Viridian Police Force," Mr. Oak said.
"Exactly! They identified as such."
"And you said that they went on the trail heading to the Pallet Woods?" He asked.
"Right there. Is something wrong?"
Oak and his father looked at each other for a moment.
"My father told me about something happening on the night before the attack on the docks," Oak finally said.
"Really, Mr. Oak? My father told me the same thing! He woke up and could hear sounds coming from the woods. Then he checked it through the window at the kitchen and noticed some disturbance there."
"Well, I can't say anything about hearing sounds, but I could definitely feel the ground vibrating, and although we can't see the woods from here, I could get a glimpse of lightnings striking on that direction. Later, an eerie aura engulfed the atmosphere around these parts," Mr. Oak said, "And around two hours later..."
"The attack on the docks," I added.
"Tell me, Hiroshi, what did those men want?" He asked me.
"Well, one of them asked my father some questions, asking if he had noticed something strange in the woods or in the vicinity lately. He also wanted to know since when we are living in that house. My father didn't tell him about what he noticed in the woods, though."
"He did well. This way you will avoid attracting their attention, which is something you never want to attract."
"Are they bad people?"
"I wouldn't say bad. But wouldn't say good either. It's just better to avoid them, if you know what I mean," Mr. Oak was sounding exactly like my father. "You mentioned a carriage, didn't you?"
"Oh, yes. There was a carriage with them."
"And could you see the people inside?" He asked, really interested in my answer.
"No, unfortunately not. I was looking through a gap."
"I see. Well, all this is really strange. The fact that you both live in that house probably prompted them to check it, since it is the building nearest to the woods."
"And to sum up on the strange things list, there was this blackout last night," Oak mentioned the other strange event.
"The blackout, that's right!" I said, "I went to the roof with my father, and we could see the smoke going up far away. He said that it was the direction of Cerulean."
"What! Smoke?" Oak asked.
"It makes sense," Mr. Oak said while extending a towel over Zealot's chest area, where he had applied a pink paste, "People are talking about an attack on the Power Plant, but no one is really certain about it."
"Yeah. My father said that even the newspaper is delayed due to it," I said.
"Some areas are getting the business done by using spare generators, but this night will probably be all black again, until they fix this problem. There," Mr. Oak had finally finished applying the medicaments.
"Look, he is even opening his eyes," Oak noticed.
Zealot found those two new faces strange at first, but after sensing that they weren't dangerous, I guess, he closed his eyes again. Rising Sun demonstrated happiness when she noticed that brief sign.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Oak! You really saved him," I said.
"Don't mention it, Hiroshi. It's my duty, as well as my passion, to take care of Pokémon. C'mon, let's leave Zealot resting here. I believe that in a few hours you can already take him back. And in two or three days he'll be fighting fit again.
"Really? Great! I was thinking about going to the town center anyway. I can pick him up on my way back, then."
"Oh, why don't we go together, then? My father needs some products that he couldn't buy yesterday, because of the attack. Maybe today the shops are open," Oak said.
"That's right. There's no danger in the town center right now, but it's better not to go alone," Mr. Oak said.
"It's alright to me," I replied.
So we left Zealot there, and I followed Oak into the house, where he ate his breakfast. There I could see Mrs. Oak again too, and she urged me to eat something in her very own manner.
"Hiroshi, dear. Your Pokémon won't battle well if their trainer isn't well. That including well fed up."
I couldn't help but accept a bowl of a delicious berry porridge, that until now I don't know from what berries it was consisted, although I don't regret any spoonful.
Before we finished, I asked Oak about some annotations on the table, and he explained to me that he was making other copies of the papers that got wet in the rain, during our trip to Viridian.
Around nine o'clock we finally left to the town center. While we were eating, Mr. Oak had treated the scratch on Rising Sun's cheek, and gave her a berry to eat. He also mentioned that he hadn't forgotten that he owed me the results of Rising Sun's blood tests, and would yet finish them. Then I put her back on her pokéball.
On our way to the gates, we passed by a bunch of the Pokémon that lived in the ranch, and among them I recognized the Pelipper that delivered the letter to me on the previous day, and I made a comment about it.
"Hey, is this the Pelipper that you sent me yesterday?"
"Oh, yes, the same! I almost forgot about it. It's one of my father's Pokémon," Oak answered.
"That was really clever. The way you wrote it down in code, you know," I said, as we went past the gates.
"Thanks, but if it weren't for that whole Popsicle thing, I wouldn't know how to mention you without mentioning you. And by the way," he continued, "for a while I thought you would write something back."
"Huh? But I did write a reply."
"What? Really?"
"Yeah. I put it on Pelipper's throat pouch. I said that I had something to talk to you, and that we should meet in the ranch, that I mentioned as the place were I first met the Dragon Slayer, that is, Pryce. I copied the style you used in the message."
"You did that? Strange... The Pelipper didn't bring anything back."
"Very odd, because I saw it flying back to the ranch after flying around a bit. Maybe it swallowed it."
"Yeah, it could be that. It wouldn't be the first time it swallowed a letter."
That was enough to settle the matter. During the rest of the way we commented on the book that I had finished, and I also talked a bit about my other books, notably the "Spinarak Web Castle" and "The Seven Pokémon Masters" - the later being also one of Oak's favorites.
When we finally arrived at the town center, the streets were already fairly populated. Curious people were walking near the docks, hoping to fetch information about the attack, but had their intentions presently frustrated by the guards. Other people talked in groups gathered around the statue on the square. A little boy in a heavy coat was selling the freshly arrived newspapers near the place where the carriages with the Blackthorn people passed by me on the other day.
"Hey, check it out," I said to Oak, but he was paying attention to a conversation.
"Will you buy a copy, mister? They arrived just now," he asked me.
"Yeah, give me one. How much?"
"That's five yen, mister."
"Five! But it costs usually one."
"But the demand is high right now, mister. I hope you understand the economic panorama we find ourselves in right now."
"Alright alright, just give me one already," I said, after staring at him for a moment.
While I picked the money in my wallet, I noticed that his eyes were really focused on my belt, or more precisely, on the pokéball that was hanging from it, but I didn't care much about it.
"Thank you. Now I gotta go restock my supply, if you excuse me. Have a nice day!" The boy said, as he retired from the place.
"What a strange kid," I said, this time to myself, although Oak replied.
"What?"
"Well, never mind, I just bought the newspaper. Where do you have to buy those things for your father?" I replied, while putting the newspaper between the straps of my belt.
"Oh, it's just around the corner. C'mon!"
Fifty steps or so later, we arrived at a stand that was very crowded, since most customers had to wait until that day to be able to buy things. Then we went among them to wait for our turn.
"Hey, you heard what those people were talking about a while ago?" Oak asked.
"No, what was it?"
"They were saying that some gangs are popping around here too. Shady characters coming directly from Vermilion. And even from Cinnabar."
"Dude, is there a place in Kanto without problems? In a week I had a selection ranging from political struggles, Pokémon attacks, mysterious investigations, now gangs."
"Well, at least there's always Johto just across the border."
"But tell me, do you think that these gangs are dangerous?"
"I don't know very well. There are people blaming them for the incident at the Power Plant, but I think it's exaggeration."
"Hey, I almost forgot!" I said, remembering that I already had the newspaper, "Let's see if there are more details on that."
But then I stood still, as I tried to pick the newspaper from between the straps around my waist. Oak noticed my sudden stop.
"What's it? Are you alright, Hiroshi?"
I didn't answer. Instead, I began patting around my clothes, while also looking at the ground, trying to find something.
"Hiroshi, did you lose someth--" Oak figured it out before finishing the question, "Rising Sun!"
"I lost the pokéball!"
In a moment Oak was already crouched, trying to help me find a trace of the pokéball on the ground. I asked some people around if they had seen it, but to no avail. Frustration was already taking place, when I found something moving past us on the street, walking distractedly. It stopped abruptly after I let away a scream, clenching my fists.
"You little rascal!" I cried, drawing the attention of everyone around.
The newspaper boy slowly looked back, but started to run like mad as soon as he saw me rushing towards him. We ran through the whole street, passing by the square again, and startling a number of people - including two guards, who thankfully didn't pursue us -, but I didn't care about that. I couldn't stop. After a while, the boy finally gave up on the newspapers that he was holding, seeing that they were slowing him down, but it was too late for him, because I was already only a few steps away of catching the runaway. Oak was right behind me, not really understanding what was happening.
Soon after I got the boy. We both fell on the ground, and Oak arrived at our side shortly after.
"It's that newspaper boy, Hiroshi! Why did you run after him?"
"Didn't you see? He stole it!"
"No! No, mister, please! I didn't steal anything!" He said, with an indication of a cry being held at his throat. His eyes were already wet.
"Stop talking like that! Give it back now!"
I was really mad at him.
"You heard him! Give it back!" Oak tried to strengthen the pressure.
"Please, don't beat me! Please! I'll give it back to you!" The thing was becoming a little awkward, since some people were walking nearby and seemed to be paying attention to the scene.
I released him when he said that and proceeded to search on his pockets for something. Finding it after a moment.
"Here, take it back. I'm sorry! Please, let me go now!"
"Wh-what is this?" I was puzzled by what he handed over to me.
"Your money. Isn't it what you were asking for?"
"Are you kidding me? Give my pokéball back!"
"But I'm not with your pokéball!"
"Dang it! Stop lying! You ran away as soon as you saw me!"
"But I thought you were mad because of the newspaper."
"The newspaper? But why?" That answer caught me off guard.
I could see that Oak had his eyebrows frowned when he looked around, and then proceeded to pick my copy out of my belt. He stared at it briefly.
"Tsk! Look, Hiroshi, that's why he ran away," he said, handing it over to me, "This kid is selling yesterday's newspapers. What a prick!"
"Muk's guts!" I stood up, "Get... Get out of my sight already!" I was feeling bad. I wanted to be angry at the boy, but I felt pity.
"Your money, mister!" The boy said, with his arm stretched.
"Scram already!" Oak finally scared him, who then got up and run away, keeping the money.
"What are we going to do now, Oak?" Frustration found her place again amidst that mix of emotions. Out of shame, I lifted my eyes to see if those people around were still looking at me, but they weren't. In fact, I think they didn't hearken at all at the scene with the newspaper boy. Instead, I noticed that their gazes were resting on a commotion not very far.
"Oak?"
"Wait," Oak was then also carefully observing that situation.
I tried to look at the same direction, but couldn't discern exactly what was going on.
"Near the berry shop, look," he pointed his finger at two figures. One of them was a guard, the other was a teenager being interrogated. Some people were gathering around, and after considering that scene a bit, we could understand that he had stolen something, because the owner of that stand where I was with Oak a while earlier, was coming down the street infuriated, and scolding at him.
"That dude..." Oak started, "He's familiar. I think I saw him at the stand."
"What, really?"
"C'mon, let's have a look."
When we were nearby, the thing was already a heated discussion, with the guard trying to mediate the situation, sometimes blocking the old man from hitting the young with a broom. At one of those attacks though, the old man swinged the broom in such a way towards the young one, that the later had to abruptly defend himself with both arms, and that movement made the bag he was carrying to rip off.
The people around instinctively stepped back, as half a dozen silver knives, among cups and spoons, fell to the ground. Nothing else. When he got down to pick his bag though, a small ball slipped through his coat. It had something attached in it, a small piece of red cloth.
The thief noticed me running to his encounter, and so squeezed through the people surrounding him so swiftly, that it took them a while to locate him again. He climbed on a building, and Oak suggested that we separated, since he new that area, and it would be possible to reach him from both sides when he tried to climb down. He wouldn't go back to face the guard, so it seemed a good plan.
We followed him on the ground until we reached the place that Oak had mentioned, but to our amazement, the guy performed a high - and risky - jump to another building, then slipped and fell to the ground again, right near the passage where the road to Viridian is located.
Although it was quite a fall, he got up quickly before we could get him, and went on the road, sometimes limping between a step and another.
"He's taking another path!" Oak said, already breathing heavily.
The thief entered a side path, that stretched away from the main road, but was somewhat hidden between small trees and thorns. Two or three minutes later, we three were exhausted, but I wouldn't give up on recovering Rising Sun, neither would Oak. Finally, to our surprise, the thief reduced his pace a lot, while starting to scream something that we still couldn't understand, fifty meters behind him.
It was only when he stumbled and fell, that we could get close enough to get a better idea of what he was saying.
"Plane! He's saying 'plane'! What does it even mean?" Oak tried to keep the pace between talking and breathing.
At ten meters from that guy, we were both taken by astonishment, as a crescent sound quickly approached our ears, as if hundreds of fruits were suddenly falling heavily from a tree very fast. We were so dazzled by that sudden occurrence, that when we turned around to see what was happening, a fiery gleam assaulted our eyes, so we hurled ourselves to the ground, disoriented. As we tried to make sense of that event, I could hear the thief exultantly exclaim a name.
"Blaine."
That was the first time I heard that name. The name of the young man mounted on that magnificent Fire Pokémon. His scarf covered part of his face, and at the top of his head he was using a worn out flat cap. His clothes were a bit torn overall, except for his brown boots and gloves.
"What have you brought for me, Kazuma?" He said to the thief, totally ignoring Oak and me.
"They almost got me! But here, I managed to fetch this!"
The thief then proceeded to throw Rising Sun's pokéball to him, an act that made the red cloth loosen itself from it and fall on the ground. By seeing that he handed over my pokéball, I tried to do something, but I quickly fell back when I heard that Pokémon's imposing whinny.
"Hah! A pokéball! Now you've surprised me! Let's see what is insid--" The young man interrupted his sentence, and suddenly switched his attention to the horizon, in the direction of Pallet, "Guards? Dang it, Kazuma! You fool!"
Oak rose up in his direction in that moment of seeming distraction.
"Give the Pokémon back, you punk!" He said, which made me remember of the same situation that had happened with the Dragon Clan people, two days earlier, and how Oak didn't measure efforts to try to back me up, even not knowing me for much long.
Oak tried to pull him out of that Pokémon, but he kicked Oak, who fell back. Out of anger, I tried to flung a small branch at Blaine, who was hit by it, and at first was enraged, but quickly changed his expression to a sarcastic smile, teasing me by showing my pokéball in his hand. Then without hesitation he turned away on his Pokémon, and the thief climbed on it, before both went on galloping deep on that hidden path.
I was left without action. Oak had just recovered from the kick. Behind us, at a distance, a carriage was approaching, with guards on it, but it was too late. Rising Sun was stolen, this time for real.
Laying on the ground was the red piece of cloth that tied her pokéball to my belt. By then, at a far distance were the captors of my Pokémon, thundering through their way above that galloping flame; guiding it, my enemy, Blaine.
"So..."
"Um?" He turned to me, in the middle of a sip and another.
"Any news about the incident?"
"The incident?"
"Yeah," I said, with my mind set on the blackout, and briefly forgetting that there were actually two incidents on the previous day.
"If you mean the strange things in the woods, no. No news. If you mean the blackout, then there's actually news, maybe."
"Oh, really?"
"Really. Some people are talking about a malfunctioning due to the storm, others are making theories about a terrorist attack..."
"Terror what?"
"A terrorist attack. An attack with the purpose of seeding terror. It's getting more common nowadays, with gangs popping here and there."
"Do you think it's true?"
"Well, as I was saying, people are coming with a lot of causes for the blackout, but we'll get a better idea only when the newspapers become available. They are probably delayed by the sudden shortage of electrical energy."
"At least it seems safe to go out, right?"
"Maybe... but not too far," he answered, already knowing my intentions.
"Hey, I can handle myself."
"I know. Just like that time with the Taurus. Now you made me remember it."
"That... that was all planned." The memory of a furious wild Taurus running behind me on the island suddenly came to my mind.
"I believe it. You can really handle yourself, even at the top of a tree, waiting for hours until the Taurus went away. You're a master of handling for sure! Or would it be master of hanging?"
"Patience is a virtue, they say, and it actually worked in the end. You ended up proving my point. I can handle myself."
"Alright, alright. But seriously now, don't wander around too much. Although it seems safer, it's still uncertain."
"Fine. I'll go to the ranch. Maybe to the town center later."
"Well then, bring me the newspaper if you go there."
"Alright."
I finished my tea and picked up two slices of bread, which I ate while going back to my room. Rising Sun was still sleeping, and so I decided to put her inside one of the pokéballs that I had bought in Viridian on my trip two days before. That way I could go right away to the ranch, without having to wait for Rising Sun to wake up.
Before I did it, though, I thought about decorating it the same way Oak did to his pokéballs. After searching for something to use in it, a piece of red cloth caught my attention, and ended up being a perfect fit, since I could pass it through a small pin on the top of the ball and then use the lace to tighten it to my belt.
I grabbed my wallet and then went away to the ranch; the expectation of seeing Oak again was already growing since the previous day, when my father told me about the attack on the docks.
***
Outside, I noticed that the sky was very cloudy, but there was no other sign of the recent rain than that of the wet ground and little water droplets on the leaves all around the surroundings. It was also strangely sultry for the time of the day - and for the season -, and so on that early morning one could hear the buzz and chirping coming from the bushes and trees along the track. A strong, distinct odor permeated the atmosphere, exhaling from honeycombs scattered here and there.
Half the way to the ranch, my ears began to catch some sounds apart from the brimming sounds of the morning, and not much further away I was finally able to discern what was causing them; on the grounds, roughly thirty meters or so off the path, a fighting was taking place.
As I deviated to the left from the muddy path to approach it, in a mix of curiosity and a bit of fear, I could have a better idea of what was happening; it was a wild Pokémon fight between a Pinsir and a Heracross - a male one, judging by the horn. From what I could deduce from the scene, the Pinsir was trying to claim a honeycomb tree - a tree known to be used by Pokémon to store honey, hence the name -, but the Heracross wouldn't give it away without a fight - and what a fight. I had arrived just in time, although at some distance, to watch the Heracross throw the Pinsir away with its horn, after the later's failed attempt at rushing into its foe in a fierce thrust. The Pinsir was thrown over the Heracross' head, having its own weight and speed used against it. It was an amazing move, and executed so skillfully that I instinctively looked around to find a trainer commanding it, but there was none.
Instead, I noticed something else. There was already another Pinsir knocked out on the ground, and looking again at the Heracross, this time paying more attention to it, I saw that he was showing signs of fatigue. He was clearly fighting for quite a while before I even noticed the fight on my way. But it wasn't all. The two Pinsir on the ground weren't the problem anymore, but other two were coming out from the bushes near the tree, and those would be a problem.
The sighting of those two made me inadvertently misstep the dry root of the tree that I was hiding behind, making a cracking sound and promptly drawing the attention of the Heracross. However, the two Pinsir didn't heard it - or at least ignored it -, and used the opportunity to launch themselves against the lone Heracross. He turned to them, but not in time to avoid being hit by the two pairs of horns in the chest.
That seemed to hurt him a lot, but to my surprise he somehow endured the hit, and in a fast movement of the arms, coupled with a sturdy sticking of the legs on the ground, he braced the horns of the two Pinsir at once - one horn from each -, following it with a rotating throw, that hurled both foes several meters away. Another amazing feat of skill and raw strength, although he hurt himself even more by doing it.
He could use a moment of relief, though, but it didn't last very long before his two foes stood up and were ready to resume the fight. One of the Pinsir rushed against him to attack with its claws, which the Heracross narrowly evaded by quickly jumping back with the enhanced propulsion of his wings. Before he could resume his defensive stance though, the same Pinsir rushed again at him, doing the same attack. This time, the Heracross didn't had time to move out, and could only defend himself by grabbing both of Pinsir's paws, which resulted in a sort of a reverse tug-of-war between the two. With his arms busy, the Heracross could do nothing when the second Pinsir tackled him on the side, making him fall to the ground with a growl of pain.
When the second Pinsir would apply the final blow with its horns, the Heracross boldly hooked his arms on them in a last stand, and tried to thrust the foe with a boost of his wings, but he was very tired to accomplish this, resulting in the Pinsir dragging him all the way back until both smashed into a tree, with Heracross' back hitting the trunk. I instinctively looked away from that terrible view, but by doing so, I ended up laying my eyes on the other Pinsir again, and I saw how it was going towards the other two; Heracross was using his last strength to avoid being caught by the grip of Pinsir's horns, while being pressed against the tree, and if the other one joined in again, it would be his demise. Suddenly came to my mind the memory of those Dragon Pokémon cowardly beating Oak's Magneton in Viridian. When I snapped out of this bitter thought, I found myself already throwing Rising Sun's pokéball at half the distance between me and the fight.
There was a flash, then a sudden stop, and then the second Pinsir was rushing towards my disoriented Charmander; the Heracross was spared for that moment, but now Rising Sun was the target. Then I, in a desperate move, threw a rock at the Pinsir, that hit it right in the head. It somehow worked in diverting its attention, and now Rising Sun was briefly forgotten, but the target had switched to me.
***
I got down just in time to avoid Pinsir's air dive, and I could clearly hear the sound of its carapace hitting the ground just a few meters away. Rising Sun came quickly to my side, by then fully awake and enraged. It was the first time that I saw her enraged.
Although doubting a bit, that we would manage to pull it out again, I commanded her to burn the heck out of that Pinsir as soon as it stood up again, gnashing its sharp teeth and making clacking noises.
"Flamethrower!" I ordered, without further hesitation.
Rising Sun took a deep breath and then let away a mix of a husky growl and a menacing blaze, three meters long. The Pinsir cried in pain as it tried to protect itself with its arms, partially blinded by the fire. I never was so thankful for the memory fail that made me mistake Ember for Flamethrower in the beginning of my trainer life. It was the second time that that attack proved itself a very valuable and lucky weapon.
When I noticed that the other one - the one holding the Heracross - was running towards Rising Sun, I could only grab her in time to narrowly evade the killing air dive performed by the Pinsir. By doing so, I fell on the ground with her, with her side of the head landing in a bunch of thistles, but thankfully it didn't do much damage.
With no time to waste, I urged Rising Sun to attack our new attacker while it was still recovering from the air dive.
"Rising Sun, now! Use your Flamethrower again!" I commanded, but all she could do was put forth dense black fumes. It seemed that, although she could somehow impressively perform that move, it took a tool on her by doing it. Ordering physical attacks would be useless against that enraged Pinsir, that was standing again, heading to our direction.
"C'mon, Rising Sun! Please, do it!"
Useless. Too much for her to do again, and too late to do anything else, as the Pinsir prepared to jump on Rising Sun with its stretched claws.
"Muk's guts!" I said, while looking desperately for another stone. As soon as I found one, I threw it with all my strength, just before I stumbled on a tree root, falling into a bush. The last thing I could see before falling, was that I missed. I heard a hum, followed by a clash, and then a muffled sound of something falling on the ground.
I felt as if my heart stopped for a moment, as I expected the following cry of Rising Sun, but it never came. Then I stood up as quickly as I could, while getting out of the bush, and there she was, on all fours on the ground, with her eyes wide open showing a mix of anger and surprise on her expression. I followed her look until my eyes got the vision of a tree; a trace of a green liquid made its way on the ground, from Rising Sun's position up to that tree, where it ended its trail to give place to two bulky figures.
It was Heracross; his horn carved in Pinsir's carapace. After a while he moved back a few steps, did a brief flapping on his wings, and let away a cry, while putting his arms in the air. After that he fell on his back. The Pinsir remained immobile; it would never get up again. When I looked for the other one, the one burned by Rising Sun's Flamethrower, I couldn't find it anymore in that place.
Then I hurried up to Rising Sun to see if she had any injuries, and found that she had a considerable scratch on the right cheek, but didn't seem to bother much about it. Instead, she promptly approached the fallen Heracross' body, and by following her I ended up crouching by his side. She licked his face, and it was then that I noticed that he was still alive - although barely -, because he opened his eyes. The Heracross tried to make some sounds, but they barely propagated in the air, given his weakened state.
I checked his injuries and could ascertain that he hadn't any open wounds, so that green blood on the ground was certainly Pinsir's. He had some scratches though, and probably contusions due to the fierce tackles it suffered. I felt that I shouldn't leave him there. Rising Sun helped to save him, and he returned the favor by saving her back. That unusual bond was already in place between us three, so I decided to take him with me. For a moment I looked back at the tree he was protecting, and saw again the two bodies of the knocked out Pinsir on the ground near it. The third one was laying lifeless just in front of us. The fourth one had run away.
"You are sure a hard stone to break, huh?" I tried to express some kindness to him, "I'm truly impressed by your vigor and devotion into not letting a single one of them take that tree, although we'll have to leave it here now, so that I may take you to someone who can take care of your wounds."
I picked one of his hands and felt a weak grasp.
"Welcome to the team, Zealot."
Having walked out of home unprepared, I had no choice but to place him inside Rising Sun's pokéball. So I got up and went out of that place, returning to the main path that leaded to the ranch. The second half of the way I went on by running, with Rising Sun catching up pretty well. It gave me - us both, I think - a nice feeling of freedom, after having spent the previous day at home.
***
In five minutes we were already at the gates of the ranch, and after I called two or three times, Oak finally appeared and let me in.
"Hiroshi! How are you? It's good to see you again! You too, Rising Sun!" He happily said, caressing her head.
"I'm fine, thanks! Good to see you too, but please Oak, I'm in a hurry. Is your father around?"
"Yes, he's inside, but what happened?"
"This," I showed him Rising Sun's pokéball, "It's Rising Sun's pokéball."
"What? Is it broken or something like that?"
"No, there's another Pokémon inside. A Pokémon I caught on my way here."
His eyes grew wide, but then he frowned his eyebrows as usual.
"Another Pokémon? Which one?" He asked, closing the gates and leading the way.
"It's a Heracross, but he's badly hurt. I'll explain the details, but now we really must put it to rest."
"Let's go to the shed!"
Oak went on in advance to call his father, and in a minute we were all reunited.
"Hiroshi! Hello, boy. What's happening?" Oak's father greeted me.
"Hello, Mr. Oak. I have a Pokémon with me that is in a bad condition. I came here as quickly as I could, to see if you could take care of it."
"But of course! You two, give me a hand here."
We helped him make some room inside the shed, so that we could lay the Pokémon in a bed of hay on the ground. Then I released it from the pokéball.
"A Heracross! Blessed creator! How did you catch this Pokémon, Hiroshi?" Oak's father asked, clearly impressed.
"It's impressive!" Oak said, "The Heracross is a Pokémon
that's very tough to fight against, let alone catch it. Even less probable as a rookie trainer!"
"Well, I didn't fight against him. I helped him."
They were puzzled.
"You helped it?" Oak asked.
"Yeah. On my way to the ranch, I noticed a fight in which this Heracross was involved. He fought against two wild Pinsir!"
"Two Pinsir!" He said, not containing his astonishment.
"Yeah, but there's more! After he defeated them, two other Pinsir appeared, but he couldn't hold up against them, and then I tried to help with Rising Sun."
I paused for a while, waiting for a comment by one of them, but they remained speechless, waiting for me to continue.
"So, Rising Sun managed to get the attention of one of the Pinsir before it would finish the Heracross, even pulling out another Flamethrower, that really affected her foe. But then the second one came attacking, and we were hopeless until the Heracross saved Rising Sun from it. He was greatly injured in the fight, and now we're here."
There was a short moment of silence before Mr. Oak snapped out of the amazement and got up to fetch medicaments.
"It's incredible, Hiroshi! You were very lucky!" He finally said.
"Pinsir are a dangerous Pokémon species. My father is right, you're really lucky! Two times lucky!" Oak said.
"I guess so, but I hope I can be three times lucky, if this Heracross can get out of this one alive."
"He sustained some injuries," Mr. Oak said, examining my Pokémon, "But I'm certain that he will survive, since you came here right away. It's a really strong Pokémon."
"A Heracross, only a few days after starting as a trainer. Hiroshi, I envy you," Oak said, half kidding, half serious, "Hey, what's his name?"
"His name? Well, I called him Zealot."
"Zealot?" Mr. Oak asked, without taking his eyes out of his task.
"Yeah, Zealot. That's because he was protecting a honeycomb tree very heartily, so that the Pinsir couldn't claim it."
"The name suits him well, then!" Oak smiled, "But what I find odd, is that these Pokémon usually don't show up very much during the winter season."
"This morning is an exception to the rule, then. It's not even eight o'clock and it's already sultry, which is an oddity by itself on this season," I said.
"Maybe it's because of all that rain yesterday," Oak said.
That made me remember the events of the previous day.
"Hey, now that you mentioned it, do you know something about what happened yesterday?"
"There was an attack on the docks, but I stayed at home. Only my father went briefly to the town center," he said.
"That's right," Mr. Oak commented, "Very early in the morning a bunch of Pokémon destroyed the boats on the docks. No one knows really well what caused them to do it, and the only thing they told us in the town center, was to stay at home to avoid danger."
"Oh, you mean the people in white that went on the trail to the woods? They stopped at my house too."
Mr. Oak stopped briefly the cleaning of Zealot's wounds. Oak was equally perplexed.
"People in white?" His father asked.
"That's it. Didn't they stop here too? Around fifteen people on foot and a carriage. White uniforms, spats, helmets..."
"That describes vaguely the Viridian Police Force," Mr. Oak said.
"Exactly! They identified as such."
"And you said that they went on the trail heading to the Pallet Woods?" He asked.
"Right there. Is something wrong?"
Oak and his father looked at each other for a moment.
"My father told me about something happening on the night before the attack on the docks," Oak finally said.
"Really, Mr. Oak? My father told me the same thing! He woke up and could hear sounds coming from the woods. Then he checked it through the window at the kitchen and noticed some disturbance there."
"Well, I can't say anything about hearing sounds, but I could definitely feel the ground vibrating, and although we can't see the woods from here, I could get a glimpse of lightnings striking on that direction. Later, an eerie aura engulfed the atmosphere around these parts," Mr. Oak said, "And around two hours later..."
"The attack on the docks," I added.
"Tell me, Hiroshi, what did those men want?" He asked me.
"Well, one of them asked my father some questions, asking if he had noticed something strange in the woods or in the vicinity lately. He also wanted to know since when we are living in that house. My father didn't tell him about what he noticed in the woods, though."
"He did well. This way you will avoid attracting their attention, which is something you never want to attract."
"Are they bad people?"
"I wouldn't say bad. But wouldn't say good either. It's just better to avoid them, if you know what I mean," Mr. Oak was sounding exactly like my father. "You mentioned a carriage, didn't you?"
"Oh, yes. There was a carriage with them."
"And could you see the people inside?" He asked, really interested in my answer.
"No, unfortunately not. I was looking through a gap."
"I see. Well, all this is really strange. The fact that you both live in that house probably prompted them to check it, since it is the building nearest to the woods."
"And to sum up on the strange things list, there was this blackout last night," Oak mentioned the other strange event.
"The blackout, that's right!" I said, "I went to the roof with my father, and we could see the smoke going up far away. He said that it was the direction of Cerulean."
"What! Smoke?" Oak asked.
"It makes sense," Mr. Oak said while extending a towel over Zealot's chest area, where he had applied a pink paste, "People are talking about an attack on the Power Plant, but no one is really certain about it."
"Yeah. My father said that even the newspaper is delayed due to it," I said.
"Some areas are getting the business done by using spare generators, but this night will probably be all black again, until they fix this problem. There," Mr. Oak had finally finished applying the medicaments.
"Look, he is even opening his eyes," Oak noticed.
Zealot found those two new faces strange at first, but after sensing that they weren't dangerous, I guess, he closed his eyes again. Rising Sun demonstrated happiness when she noticed that brief sign.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Oak! You really saved him," I said.
"Don't mention it, Hiroshi. It's my duty, as well as my passion, to take care of Pokémon. C'mon, let's leave Zealot resting here. I believe that in a few hours you can already take him back. And in two or three days he'll be fighting fit again.
"Really? Great! I was thinking about going to the town center anyway. I can pick him up on my way back, then."
"Oh, why don't we go together, then? My father needs some products that he couldn't buy yesterday, because of the attack. Maybe today the shops are open," Oak said.
"That's right. There's no danger in the town center right now, but it's better not to go alone," Mr. Oak said.
"It's alright to me," I replied.
***
So we left Zealot there, and I followed Oak into the house, where he ate his breakfast. There I could see Mrs. Oak again too, and she urged me to eat something in her very own manner.
"Hiroshi, dear. Your Pokémon won't battle well if their trainer isn't well. That including well fed up."
I couldn't help but accept a bowl of a delicious berry porridge, that until now I don't know from what berries it was consisted, although I don't regret any spoonful.
Before we finished, I asked Oak about some annotations on the table, and he explained to me that he was making other copies of the papers that got wet in the rain, during our trip to Viridian.
Around nine o'clock we finally left to the town center. While we were eating, Mr. Oak had treated the scratch on Rising Sun's cheek, and gave her a berry to eat. He also mentioned that he hadn't forgotten that he owed me the results of Rising Sun's blood tests, and would yet finish them. Then I put her back on her pokéball.
On our way to the gates, we passed by a bunch of the Pokémon that lived in the ranch, and among them I recognized the Pelipper that delivered the letter to me on the previous day, and I made a comment about it.
"Hey, is this the Pelipper that you sent me yesterday?"
"Oh, yes, the same! I almost forgot about it. It's one of my father's Pokémon," Oak answered.
"That was really clever. The way you wrote it down in code, you know," I said, as we went past the gates.
"Thanks, but if it weren't for that whole Popsicle thing, I wouldn't know how to mention you without mentioning you. And by the way," he continued, "for a while I thought you would write something back."
"Huh? But I did write a reply."
"What? Really?"
"Yeah. I put it on Pelipper's throat pouch. I said that I had something to talk to you, and that we should meet in the ranch, that I mentioned as the place were I first met the Dragon Slayer, that is, Pryce. I copied the style you used in the message."
"You did that? Strange... The Pelipper didn't bring anything back."
"Very odd, because I saw it flying back to the ranch after flying around a bit. Maybe it swallowed it."
"Yeah, it could be that. It wouldn't be the first time it swallowed a letter."
That was enough to settle the matter. During the rest of the way we commented on the book that I had finished, and I also talked a bit about my other books, notably the "Spinarak Web Castle" and "The Seven Pokémon Masters" - the later being also one of Oak's favorites.
***
When we finally arrived at the town center, the streets were already fairly populated. Curious people were walking near the docks, hoping to fetch information about the attack, but had their intentions presently frustrated by the guards. Other people talked in groups gathered around the statue on the square. A little boy in a heavy coat was selling the freshly arrived newspapers near the place where the carriages with the Blackthorn people passed by me on the other day.
"Hey, check it out," I said to Oak, but he was paying attention to a conversation.
"Will you buy a copy, mister? They arrived just now," he asked me.
"Yeah, give me one. How much?"
"That's five yen, mister."
"Five! But it costs usually one."
"But the demand is high right now, mister. I hope you understand the economic panorama we find ourselves in right now."
"Alright alright, just give me one already," I said, after staring at him for a moment.
While I picked the money in my wallet, I noticed that his eyes were really focused on my belt, or more precisely, on the pokéball that was hanging from it, but I didn't care much about it.
"Thank you. Now I gotta go restock my supply, if you excuse me. Have a nice day!" The boy said, as he retired from the place.
"What a strange kid," I said, this time to myself, although Oak replied.
"What?"
"Well, never mind, I just bought the newspaper. Where do you have to buy those things for your father?" I replied, while putting the newspaper between the straps of my belt.
"Oh, it's just around the corner. C'mon!"
***
Fifty steps or so later, we arrived at a stand that was very crowded, since most customers had to wait until that day to be able to buy things. Then we went among them to wait for our turn.
"Hey, you heard what those people were talking about a while ago?" Oak asked.
"No, what was it?"
"They were saying that some gangs are popping around here too. Shady characters coming directly from Vermilion. And even from Cinnabar."
"Dude, is there a place in Kanto without problems? In a week I had a selection ranging from political struggles, Pokémon attacks, mysterious investigations, now gangs."
"Well, at least there's always Johto just across the border."
"But tell me, do you think that these gangs are dangerous?"
"I don't know very well. There are people blaming them for the incident at the Power Plant, but I think it's exaggeration."
"Hey, I almost forgot!" I said, remembering that I already had the newspaper, "Let's see if there are more details on that."
But then I stood still, as I tried to pick the newspaper from between the straps around my waist. Oak noticed my sudden stop.
"What's it? Are you alright, Hiroshi?"
I didn't answer. Instead, I began patting around my clothes, while also looking at the ground, trying to find something.
"Hiroshi, did you lose someth--" Oak figured it out before finishing the question, "Rising Sun!"
"I lost the pokéball!"
In a moment Oak was already crouched, trying to help me find a trace of the pokéball on the ground. I asked some people around if they had seen it, but to no avail. Frustration was already taking place, when I found something moving past us on the street, walking distractedly. It stopped abruptly after I let away a scream, clenching my fists.
"You little rascal!" I cried, drawing the attention of everyone around.
The newspaper boy slowly looked back, but started to run like mad as soon as he saw me rushing towards him. We ran through the whole street, passing by the square again, and startling a number of people - including two guards, who thankfully didn't pursue us -, but I didn't care about that. I couldn't stop. After a while, the boy finally gave up on the newspapers that he was holding, seeing that they were slowing him down, but it was too late for him, because I was already only a few steps away of catching the runaway. Oak was right behind me, not really understanding what was happening.
Soon after I got the boy. We both fell on the ground, and Oak arrived at our side shortly after.
"It's that newspaper boy, Hiroshi! Why did you run after him?"
"Didn't you see? He stole it!"
"No! No, mister, please! I didn't steal anything!" He said, with an indication of a cry being held at his throat. His eyes were already wet.
"Stop talking like that! Give it back now!"
I was really mad at him.
"You heard him! Give it back!" Oak tried to strengthen the pressure.
"Please, don't beat me! Please! I'll give it back to you!" The thing was becoming a little awkward, since some people were walking nearby and seemed to be paying attention to the scene.
I released him when he said that and proceeded to search on his pockets for something. Finding it after a moment.
"Here, take it back. I'm sorry! Please, let me go now!"
"Wh-what is this?" I was puzzled by what he handed over to me.
"Your money. Isn't it what you were asking for?"
"Are you kidding me? Give my pokéball back!"
"But I'm not with your pokéball!"
"Dang it! Stop lying! You ran away as soon as you saw me!"
"But I thought you were mad because of the newspaper."
"The newspaper? But why?" That answer caught me off guard.
I could see that Oak had his eyebrows frowned when he looked around, and then proceeded to pick my copy out of my belt. He stared at it briefly.
"Tsk! Look, Hiroshi, that's why he ran away," he said, handing it over to me, "This kid is selling yesterday's newspapers. What a prick!"
"Muk's guts!" I stood up, "Get... Get out of my sight already!" I was feeling bad. I wanted to be angry at the boy, but I felt pity.
"Your money, mister!" The boy said, with his arm stretched.
"Scram already!" Oak finally scared him, who then got up and run away, keeping the money.
***
"What are we going to do now, Oak?" Frustration found her place again amidst that mix of emotions. Out of shame, I lifted my eyes to see if those people around were still looking at me, but they weren't. In fact, I think they didn't hearken at all at the scene with the newspaper boy. Instead, I noticed that their gazes were resting on a commotion not very far.
"Oak?"
"Wait," Oak was then also carefully observing that situation.
I tried to look at the same direction, but couldn't discern exactly what was going on.
"Near the berry shop, look," he pointed his finger at two figures. One of them was a guard, the other was a teenager being interrogated. Some people were gathering around, and after considering that scene a bit, we could understand that he had stolen something, because the owner of that stand where I was with Oak a while earlier, was coming down the street infuriated, and scolding at him.
"That dude..." Oak started, "He's familiar. I think I saw him at the stand."
"What, really?"
"C'mon, let's have a look."
When we were nearby, the thing was already a heated discussion, with the guard trying to mediate the situation, sometimes blocking the old man from hitting the young with a broom. At one of those attacks though, the old man swinged the broom in such a way towards the young one, that the later had to abruptly defend himself with both arms, and that movement made the bag he was carrying to rip off.
The people around instinctively stepped back, as half a dozen silver knives, among cups and spoons, fell to the ground. Nothing else. When he got down to pick his bag though, a small ball slipped through his coat. It had something attached in it, a small piece of red cloth.
***
The thief noticed me running to his encounter, and so squeezed through the people surrounding him so swiftly, that it took them a while to locate him again. He climbed on a building, and Oak suggested that we separated, since he new that area, and it would be possible to reach him from both sides when he tried to climb down. He wouldn't go back to face the guard, so it seemed a good plan.
We followed him on the ground until we reached the place that Oak had mentioned, but to our amazement, the guy performed a high - and risky - jump to another building, then slipped and fell to the ground again, right near the passage where the road to Viridian is located.
Although it was quite a fall, he got up quickly before we could get him, and went on the road, sometimes limping between a step and another.
"He's taking another path!" Oak said, already breathing heavily.
The thief entered a side path, that stretched away from the main road, but was somewhat hidden between small trees and thorns. Two or three minutes later, we three were exhausted, but I wouldn't give up on recovering Rising Sun, neither would Oak. Finally, to our surprise, the thief reduced his pace a lot, while starting to scream something that we still couldn't understand, fifty meters behind him.
It was only when he stumbled and fell, that we could get close enough to get a better idea of what he was saying.
"Plane! He's saying 'plane'! What does it even mean?" Oak tried to keep the pace between talking and breathing.
At ten meters from that guy, we were both taken by astonishment, as a crescent sound quickly approached our ears, as if hundreds of fruits were suddenly falling heavily from a tree very fast. We were so dazzled by that sudden occurrence, that when we turned around to see what was happening, a fiery gleam assaulted our eyes, so we hurled ourselves to the ground, disoriented. As we tried to make sense of that event, I could hear the thief exultantly exclaim a name.
"Blaine."
***
That was the first time I heard that name. The name of the young man mounted on that magnificent Fire Pokémon. His scarf covered part of his face, and at the top of his head he was using a worn out flat cap. His clothes were a bit torn overall, except for his brown boots and gloves.
"What have you brought for me, Kazuma?" He said to the thief, totally ignoring Oak and me.
"They almost got me! But here, I managed to fetch this!"
The thief then proceeded to throw Rising Sun's pokéball to him, an act that made the red cloth loosen itself from it and fall on the ground. By seeing that he handed over my pokéball, I tried to do something, but I quickly fell back when I heard that Pokémon's imposing whinny.
"Hah! A pokéball! Now you've surprised me! Let's see what is insid--" The young man interrupted his sentence, and suddenly switched his attention to the horizon, in the direction of Pallet, "Guards? Dang it, Kazuma! You fool!"
Oak rose up in his direction in that moment of seeming distraction.
"Give the Pokémon back, you punk!" He said, which made me remember of the same situation that had happened with the Dragon Clan people, two days earlier, and how Oak didn't measure efforts to try to back me up, even not knowing me for much long.
Oak tried to pull him out of that Pokémon, but he kicked Oak, who fell back. Out of anger, I tried to flung a small branch at Blaine, who was hit by it, and at first was enraged, but quickly changed his expression to a sarcastic smile, teasing me by showing my pokéball in his hand. Then without hesitation he turned away on his Pokémon, and the thief climbed on it, before both went on galloping deep on that hidden path.
I was left without action. Oak had just recovered from the kick. Behind us, at a distance, a carriage was approaching, with guards on it, but it was too late. Rising Sun was stolen, this time for real.
Laying on the ground was the red piece of cloth that tied her pokéball to my belt. By then, at a far distance were the captors of my Pokémon, thundering through their way above that galloping flame; guiding it, my enemy, Blaine.
Last edited:
