Recovery

Orion and Polan made their way into Ordinaria Town and were enjoying lunch in the local pokemon center waiting room. Despite the nap Swablu privileged them with; they were exhausted and were delighted to have an interlude from their journey.

The waiting room was cozy, but a bit monotonous. The two were slouched in beige chairs on either side of a glass table. To one side was a window, with the blinds raised, looking out to the buildings of the town. They all looked similar except for one. It was log-shaped building. It had a glass dome at the top, and the base was a bright red. There was a neon sign hanging over two glass doors that read 'gym.'

Orion pointed. "Look Polan, there's the gym. You do plan on challenging it right?"

Polan nodded then talked through a mouth full of Oran Berry Salad. "Yup." He swallowed. "But first I think we need to report those kids to the authorities. Maybe officer Jenny can talk some sense into them."

"Yea, you're right. We'll head over to the police station as so-"

Nurse Joy walked up. Swablu was sitting on her head happily and she had a pokeball in her hand. She smiled. "I think these belong to you." She handed the pokeball to Polan and when Swablu saw Orion it made a happy chirp and flew from Nurse Joy's head to his. It left her pinkish-red hair in a mess.

"Their bellies are full and their wounds are kissed. You two come back if your pokemon ever need anymore medical attention. Ok?"

Orion and Polan both nodded and stood up. They threw their leftovers in the garbage and walked through the sliding doors.

"The Police station is just over there." He pointed to two story square building, a few feet to the right of the Gym.

Orion and Polan were surprised to find a line of people when they walked in the door. All of it was chaos. There were people shouting and shoving others. Officer Jenny was trying to calm the riot, but it seemed to be getting out of hand.

Officer Jenny threw a pokeball into the air and it released a strange purple pokemon with a large mouth and large round ears. Orion pulled out his pokedex and it flickered on.

"Loudred- The Big Voice Pokemon. It positions the round speakers on its head to assail foes with ultrasonic waves at massive volume. Its ultrasonic waves are powerful enough to blow apart a house."

Loudred let out an intense high pitched noise that made everyone in the police station hold their ears in anguish. Swablu squawked and burrowed its head into Orion's hair. Loudred stopped screeching and Officer Jenny spoke up.

"Now all of you listen. I am trying to accommodate to all of your complaints, but this chaos is not helping. From what I hear, you all have the same problem. Your pokemon have been stolen by thieves claiming to be part of a legendary army or something. I can assure you, the authorities are on the case already, just stay calm and we will try our best to get all of you pokemon back to you safely"

Polan ran up to Officer Jenny and hugged her. "Aunt Jenny, long time no talk! The same thing happened to me and if it wasn't for Orion here," He stepped aside and waved for Orion to come over. "I would have had my pokemon taken too."

"Oh Polan, I'm so glad that didn't happen." She looked at Orion. "Thanks so much." Orion nodded.

"So what do you think is wrong with those people? Do you know why their eyes were glowing like that?" Polan asked.

She shook her head frustrated. "No, you probably know more than I do right now. All I know is that ordinary people, people that I talk to everyday, have become criminals overnight."

"I can tell you though aunty, something is wrong with them. They aren't themselves. The kids that tried to steal mine, they weren't normal. They didn't show any apparent emotion. They were like puppets, being controlled by a puppeteer."

"Well, we are working on the case. I will try my best to get to the bottom of this, but I have a good idea. How about you two go over to the pokemon gym and talk to Zander, he is the town's gym leader. He might come off as strange at times, but he knows his stuff."

"Ok, we will."

"Be safe out there and keep an eye out for anything strange." She hugged him. "And if you find any information that could be of used, contact me."

"Ok, thanks, love you. See you soon" Polan gave her one last hug and they left Jenny with the panicked people.

Orion and Polan walked into the gym. It was nice. There were stands on either side of a pokemon battle area. The gym had only one occupant, sitting on the stands farthest from them. He had purple curly hair. One part of it seemed to come to a point at the top of his head and the other jutted out to the side. He was scrawny and had a pointed nose. He wore a white button up shirt and black slacks and shoes.

He ran up to the boy and screamed with delight. "AHHH! Visitors! It has been slow all day!" He put his hand on his chin and started mumbling to himself. "Which is strange being today was the day everyone got their starters." He suddenly shouted. "It's me isn't it!? They don't like me! Do you like me?"

Orion spoke up quickly. "Of course we do!"

"We love you actually" Polan chimed in nervously.

Zander clapped his hands and gave them both a hug. "Ah! Fantastic! Now what is it you need? I am very busy!"

Orion and Polan both exchanged glances. Polan spoke up. "Well we were wondering if you could possibly know anything about what's been happening to the people around here. It's like they've been possessed. They have blue, glowing eyes and-"

"Blue eyes you say?! Oh no! Oh no, oh no, oh no!" Zander looked astonished. He had a hand over his mouth.

"What is it Zander? What's happened to them?" Orion asked curiously.

"Oh, I haven't a clue. Now do you two want to battle? What say you t 2, 4 pokemon for each team? You two can pair up since you're just beginners." Zander asked.

"What, but you and we.." Orion gave up. "We don't have but one pokemon each."

"Well I don't see how that's my problem. Do you have pokeballs?"

"Yes." Polan responded.

"Great, so I'll see you around this time tomorrow then?" Zander asked.

"Um, sure, but what if we can't catch any pokemon by then?" Orion said hesitantly.

"Well," Zander smiled from ear to ear. "then you two would just be two big failures, now wouldn't you? ANYWAYS, bubye!" Zander flipped them around and pushed them towards the exit.

"Wow, that guy is something else. Where should we go to look for pokemon? I really don't want to go back to route 1." Orion said timidly.

"Just beyond there," Polan pointed to a luxurious, open, metal gate. "is the birthplace of your dreams."

"Wow, that's deep bro." Orion said.

"No, there's a sign that says that on the gate." Polan laughed. "but there are orchards and special berry bushes and trees that attract of lot of flying, plant, and normal type pokemon. That would be a great place to start looking."

"Great, then lets go. This town's irony is starting make me uneasy."