Celadon's air really had been, much to Agatha's dismay, cleaned up nicely. She supposed it really wasn't 'dismay', to be honest; More of a disgust that the evil man- the one who stole the Championship, the one who tortured a gym leader into an odd case of Stockholm Syndrome, the one who lead Team Rocket- had managed to do something good during the brief time he was in power.
She reminded herself that it was the only good thing with a solid "Hmph", surveying the city from the shade of a bordering tree. … One of the trees that had its stunted growth resume, with the inclusion of fresh air and removal of Grimer and their toxic waste.
Agatha silently thanked Arceus that Giovanni's rule was over. It had been a year since he had disappeared off the charts completely. People knew he was alive- But nobody had ever found him. Not even the infamous clairvoyance of Morty. Not since he left the Plateau to "train".
The prospect of Giovanni possibly training even more was difficult to handle. He had defeated Lance so easily. The idea of someone having so much power, especially someone as ill-intentioned…
And Agatha saw him everywhere.
In the accent of a kindly old man holding the door open for her, in the interested gaze of someone looking for a coat [that trench coat was much better than his orange suit, Agatha would always say], in the intensity of trainers calling commands for a Pokemon battle. She would suddenly get a flash of his face, his voice, his posture and reserved but calculating nature… She would see flashes of him. In crowds, out of the corner of her eye.
… In street vendors.
There was a man near the border of the town- almost by Erika's gym. Agatha leaned, squinting to see- He was leaning against a tree with a dozing rhyhorn laying beside him, a basket perched on top of the Pokemon's head. And he was doing… Something. With his hands.
The look was all wrong. Long hair with a slight wave fell to his shoulders, dark grey with age. He wore a brown coat, with the arms tied around his waist due to heat, and underneath was a simple T-shirt. Agatha sincerely doubted that Giovanni would ever wear jeans. But it was him. She knew it.
Agatha's heart rose in her throat as she tried to search for a way to escape, instinctually. And then, she cursed herself for being so stupid. He had admitted he was afraid of her- She had no reason to fear him! And if there was a way to get the man incapacitated…
The ghost-type trainer snuck back into the trees, quietly bidding her Haunter to mask her presence as she walked. The mist shrouded the sound of her cane hitting the gravel, the shifting of grass under her feet. The man yawned, covering it with one arm and going back to his-
Agatha paused, gazing in wonder. He was crocheting? The hook in his right hand was deftly pulled through yarn wrapped around his left. And as the man finished the design, he pulled a handful of stuffing from the basket nestled on his rhyhorn's back and inserted it into the ball, stitching it shut.
"A Pokeball?" Agatha found herself asking. The man spun in his seat, looking wildly around for where the voice had come from. Agatha frowned and dismissed her Haunter, taking a step closer. That was Giovanni. His face. It had to be him- the spark of recognition in his eyes told volumes. He frowned. "Well, well, look at what we have here," Agatha started, trying to sound braver than she felt. "Giovanni Sakaki, reduced to making crocheted Pokeballs."
The man paused, before breaking out into a grin and laughing [the laugh- the laugh!], tossing her the poke ball casually and turning his back again. "Giovanni? Nah, man. M'name's Sage. Isaac Sage."
As she turned the yarn Pokeball in her hands, Agatha frowned. Gengar wasn't picking up any ill will from him, and… His voice sounded nothing like Giovanni's distinctive accent- it sounded light and friendly. It sounded-
"I get that a lot, y'know," Isaac continued, shrugging as he pulled another length of yarn from the bag slung across his shoulder. Red- he was making another Pokeball. "Sayin' that I look like tha' Sakaki guy? Ever since I got to Kanto…"
"You just came to Kanto?" Another thing Giovanni didn't seem like he would do- leave his homeland. For any extended periods of time.
Giova- Isaac nodded, cursing quietly at a dropped stitch. "Mmhmm. Spent 'bout five months in Sytar, hung around Isshu for a bit, visited in Hoenn. I travel a lot." The comment was so casual and offhanded. Everything about his manner screamed more and more that this wasn't the man she had been ready to lay the smack down on. Almost defeated, she approached and put the Pokeball into his basket, seeing a wide variety of crocheted items. Pokedolls of all kinds, each one handcrafted. About five Pokeballs, including the one she just placed back in the basket. And, off to one side, a little bag of what looked to be single stranded bracelets.
But one Pokedoll caught Agatha's eye. She picked up a Banette plush, seeing how lifelike the thing was. Weighted in its hands and feet, with a working zipper for a mouth. Isaac leaned, shading his eyes to see what she was so interested in. "Tha' one's not 'fer sale," he informed her, with a hint of sadness in his voice. "It's certainly one'o my best. But it reminds me too much 've an old friend."
Agatha paused, placing the plush toy back in the basket. "Child, you do this for a living?" The suspicion may have left her outermost thoughts, but not her mind completely. It showed in her voice, the cautiousness with which she worded things.
"Mmhmm. I travel 'round and sell handmade Pokedolls, ma'am," Isaac nodded, "Sometimes I stay in a city a few days if there's a special request someone wants an' stuff, but otherwise, I'm always movin'."
Agatha frowned. If he moved, it was harder to get a hold on where he was. "Child, I have a request. How much will it take to make me a Banette like the one over there?"
Isaac judged, musing for a second. "'Bout two days an' 7,500," he frowned. "If 'yer willing to wait, though, I can do it." Agatha whistled under her breath at the price, but nodded. Even a Pokeball was 200 and the man had to rent a hotel room if he was going to stay the nights to make the doll…
"Yes. It's a deal." It would keep him in one spot, at the very least. … And she had to grudgingly admit, he was skilled.
At the end of the two requested days, Agatha found herself drawn back to the spot where she had met this… Isaac fellow. This time, he was perched on his rhyhorn's back, laying between two of the rock spines. Agatha approached cautiously, as not to startle the large Pokemon, and marveled at how utterly at peace he looked. That couldn't be Giovanni, now could it? The face was a near-perfect match, but the fact that he was laying down on his Pokemon's back, whistling to himself, and crocheting of all things, made her begin to doubt.
"Isaac, child?" she called up. He glanced down at her before breaking into a lopsided smile and sliding off his Pokemon's back.
"'Ello, ma'am," he greeted politely, "I'm actually jus' finishin' your banette. Workin' on an eye." He paused, looking over at her. Agatha shifted, wanting to pull away from the scrutiny of those eyes. One more thing that reminded her of Giovanni- how intense those eyes were. "Are you Ms. Agatha? 'O the Elite Four?"
Agatha frowned. "I quit the 'Four a while ago, child. But you are correct."
Isaan nodded, leaning against the rhyhorn. He tapped something on its rocky hide and the Pokemon swung its head around, bringing the basket closer. Isaac grabbed the unfinished banette out from the pile of other plushes, as well as a needle and some scissors. "'S great 't meet someone so famous, yeah?" he offered as he joined the second eye on to the doll. Studying it for a second to make sure the details were correct, he- seemingly-reluctantly- handed it over.
Again, the little Pokedoll astounded her. Agatha reached for the zipper and paused, thinking twice about opening the plushie's mouth. If there was stuffing inside, it might have fallen out… She fished into her pocket for the money, counting it out and handing it over. "Child, your craftsmanship is exquisite," she admired. It wasn't like her at all to gush, but the little Pokemon doll was so realistic it looked almost as if it could come to life and cling to her shoulder.
Isaac paused. The silence held a wisp of uncertainty. "Thank 'yeh, ma'am. It means a lot." Agatha nodded curtly in his direction and turned to leave.
The salesman took twenty-five carefully-counted seconds before he dropped his small friendly façade. How close had he been to being discovered? He straightened out of his forced slouch, mouth set again in a hard line and eyes narrowed to mere pinpricks. "Hmph," he snorted under his breath.
Agatha paused in her walking and he busied himself- forcing himself to relax, starting up another Pokeball, leaning against his rhyhorn and slouching. She glanced back at him, all senses on alert. The prickling on the back of her neck was no mistake- something had changed, within those few seconds- something deadly arose.
Agatha turned a corner, hand tightening on her cane and around the pokedoll. Her heart beat like a drum inside her chest. What if this banette was rigged or a trap? She couldn't take the chance- but it could wait. Until she got to the Pokemon center.
Then they had medical attention if needed…
Agatha pushed the doors open and took a seat on one of the cushions, hands trembling as she unzipped the pokédoll's mouth. A small scrap of paper fluttered out of it and she bent to pick it up.
It merely read 'It was nice to see you again", in Giovanni's handwriting.
Agatha was tempted to run back to the spot in which she had seen him last, but she already knew it was far too late. Giovanni Sakaki- Isaac Sage- was gone again. Agatha hugged the little doll closely while wanting to throw it across the room. It was both a gift and a curse. Hope that they would soon find the elusive man and put an end to him… And fear that, like the banette, he was nothing but an elusive ghost.
Luckily for Agatha, she was the master of ghost Pokemon. The thought brought a rare smile to her face. "He who laughs. Very clever, Giovanni. Let's see who's laughing at the end…"