Electronic Island
Chapter 2: Beach
Matt and Maya completed their quick trip to the Pokemon Center and then went to the outside border of the city. There were many residential houses that people were entering and exiting, but soon they reached the large hotel. It was at the center of the buildings in the back and was pretty much directly behind the Coliseum.
"This is a really nice hotel…" noted Matt with a smile as he looked around at the lobby. "I'm really enjoying it already."
"Excuse me!" a free receptionist called out. "Are you two new trainers here looking to check in?" Matt and Maya explained that they were and walked over to do so.
The receptionist explained that new people staying as trainers and not just watching battles get good discounts based on their improvement of the economy. Matt and Maya quickly accepted and got rooms right next to each other on the fourth floor of the hotels.
"Just be careful not to go to the sixth floor or higher because they're currently under renovation. Enjoy your stay!" the two thanked the receptionist and headed to the elevator to go to the fourth floor.
"I'm glad we've got rooms right next to each other!" Maya beamed, strolling out of the elevator once it reached their destination. Matt agreed that it was great and walked over to their rooms. Matt's was 410 and Maya's was 412. The evens of the hotel faced the city while the odds of the hotel faced the wild areas of the island.
The little amount of luggage that the two brought was them was dumped in their respective rooms and they took a moment to truly enjoy their new homes, including the view. After, it was time to get to business and really see what the island was all about. They took the elevator down, passed a trainer in a purple beret getting upset at a receptionist as she was checking in, and left the hotel.
It was a short journey to get to the Teleport Station. People were wandering around the general station, either waiting for people that they knew or deciding where to go. Two guards, a male and a female, were farther ahead at a large gate.
"Only one gate, huh?" Matt murmured as they walked closer. "It must get pretty swamped." He and Maya greeted the two guards when they were close enough, introducing themselves and saying that they were new trainers.
"New trainers? You need a trainer card," one guard said, bluntly.
"Steiner, you don't have to be so rude…" the girl guard replied, sighing and shaking her head. "It's our job to give the new trainers their trainer cards anyway. Matt and Maya, correct? This will just take a second." She turned to a computer, typed something in, and then grabbed something from below the keyboard.
"Whatever," Steiner scoffed, crossing his arms. The girl guard took their pictures, did a little more fiddling with typing and the cards, and handed Matt and Maya their cards.
"Here you two go!" the female guard handed them their cards. "You start out at rank 1. Technically 1E, taking the Double Coliseum into consideration."
"Thank you very much, erm…" Maya started thanking her, "What did you say your name was?"
"Oh, excuse me, I'm Beatrix. Lovely to meet you two." Beatrix turned to Steiner. "And my buddy Steiner thinks so, too, right?"
"Yeah yeah, nice to meet you," mumbled Steiner, sniffing. "Let me explain a few rules to you two. You can currently only access the Beach, but you gain more locations when you increase in ranking. There are two gates in every location: the gate that you arrive in and another gate that you can find by exploring the area. You can return to the city through either, but the first time you come back from the second gate you will receive a good item. Another way to return home is by an escape rope that you can buy at the Pokemon Market."
"Great explanation, Steiner," Beatrix smiled and told him. Steiner let a little laugh out and nervously scratched the back of his head. "That's pretty much all you need to know. I'm sure you've been told that if your Pokemon are defeated out in the wild they won't return. Be extremely careful. Here's a few escape ropes." She handed them the free items.
"Where would you like to go?" Steiner asked Matt and Maya. They both chuckled because they both knew that there was only one location, but played along and said that they would go to the Beach. Steiner did something on his monitor and told them to have a good trip. Matt turned to Maya.
"Let's go through the gate together," he suggested. Maya nodded and then looked forward to the white light surrounded by the outline of the gate. They took simultaneous steps forward until they heard a "ping!" noise and vanished into the white light.
The other side of the gate showed a bright and shimmering beach with a beautiful beach. There were huge trees, high ridges, beach towels, umbrellas, docks, and Pokemon everywhere.
"Wow!" Matt was really enjoying the view of the wild. "This is truly quite something, isn't it?"
"There's so many Pokemon!" Maya beamed, looking left, right, and then left again to get as much sight as she could on the area. "I think someone was saying something about random items lying around on the ground, too, so look out for those."
"Do you want to spread out on the Beach and catch Pokemon?" Matt asked. "I think we're both perfectly capable of defending ourselves, but we'll be near enough to each other if one of us needs help." Maya agreed this was a good idea. The two walked farther out, but then split up in the sandy areas of the Beach and looked around for Pokemon.
Some time passed in the day and the sun was closer to setting when Maya walked over to Matt, saying that she was gonna head back to the City to heal up her Pokemon after extensive training. An Eevee was following close behind her. Matt asked if she had caught any other Pokemon and Maya told him that she didn't.
"I only really felt a connection with this Eevee here," Maya looked down to her new Pokemon and smiled. She got a happy cry in response. Matt explained that he also caught an Eevee, but he also caught a Scyther and a Pikachu, who was out of her Pokeball.
"Aww, look at that cute Pikachu!" she smiled and started saying to the little Pokemon. "Do you think you're going to make it out to the second gate on your own?" Maya wondered, looking up to her friend and putting her hands on her hips. Matt shook his head.
"No, I've been training Pikachu and it's pretty hard when she's at a lower level than my Totodile! I'm going to need to heal at the Pokemon Center and then come back." Matt told her. Maya nodded and said a quick goodbye as she headed to the gate. Soon after, Matt followed suit through the gate and to the Pokemon Center.
"I'm still here!" Maya giggled, walking over to him when he walked inside, which greatly startled him. Matt healed his Pokemon and the two decided to venture to the second gate together as they trained their Pokemon.
"Hey Steiner, hey Beatrix," they greeted the two guards again and requested to go to the Beach. Maya taunted something about seeing them next when they crossed the second gate. They crossed through the gate in the station and found themselves in the familiar location.
"Okay, so we've just got to go farther to the right I think," Matt explained as they walked across the long dock that cut the beach in half. A Corphish jumped out and was quickly taken down from a Thunder Shock blast from Pikachu.
"Nice job," said Maya with a smile as they continued across the sand. They found a grassy ridge and walked through a short valley where Maya had to stop to let her Eevee attack a Doduo to get a lot of experience. Once outside of the valley, the gate was essentially straight ahead, but there was more to the Beach to the right.
"Give me a second to check it out…" the boy decided. Maya nodded and leaned back on the rocky wall behind her. She crossed her arms and watched Matt pass a section of grass to get to the end of the area that overlooked water. He bent down to pick something up and started walking back only to be startled by a Scyther that jumped out from the grass.
"Damn!" Matt called out with a small smirk, seeming to enjoy this little game of getting items from the Beach to having to battle a strong Pokemon. "Pikachu, you've got the type advantage, so paralyze him and then use Thunder Shock!"
Scyther was quicker than Pikachu, so it swung at the Electric-type Pokemon with a Fury Cutter. However, the attack paralyzed Scyther upon impact of hitting Pikachu's electric-charged fur. The Pokemon crouched down a little to charge more and released its Thunder Shock on Scyther. Scyther wasn't quite done yet, so Matt had Pikachu do Quick Attack and the wild Pokemon was defeated.
"That was easy!" Matt lifted his arm and flexed a little. He petted Pikachu on the head to show his gratitude to her and then pulled something out of his pocket. "It was worth it too; I got two Super Potions!" Matt handed Maya the second Super Potion and she thanked him.
"It really was worth it!" Maya replied, in an interesting tone. Matt was unsure of how sarcastic she was, but ignored it and turned to the second gate. It was time for them to return to the City and get their rare gift.
"Here we go," they crossed through the threshold once again and returned to the sight of Steiner and Beatrix, the former with a smirk on his face and the latter with a smile on her face.
"You made it to the second gate!" Beatrix congratulated them.
"Yep, you two really weren't lying about being able to make it," chuckled Steiner. He and Beatrix both grabbed something to give to them and handed them their gifts: Rare Candies.
"Thank you!" Maya turned to the two of them and smiled. She put away her gift and looked back at Matt. "Let's go to the Coliseum and increase our rank! I'm sure with all that training that we did at the Beach today we'll be able to do it!" Matt agreed and the two left the Teleport Station and went to get ready for their first battles in the legendary and giant building at Paradiso.
Once healed up and stocked up on items, Matt and Maya stood in front of the Coliseum and took a moment to really take everything in with the huge building before going inside past the automatic doors. Inside, the lobby was rather simple and there was a receptionist area with many attendants.
"Let's get on with it then!" Matt shouted, throwing his arm into the air. He walked over and talked to a receptionist about getting started with a battle. Maya went to the attendant next to him and got sorted for the same. She quickly was heading into the actual inside of the Coliseum.
"Okay, so you will do a battle with rank 1," the receptionist was typing away at her computer. There was a noise on the computer and she typed a little more and then ushered Matt to follow her to the interior. "Are you excited for your first battle and possibility of advancing to rank 2?" The attendant smiled and asked, walking through the huge interior.
"Yeah I am…" Matt sounded distracted, however, as he was looking at what the inside of the Coliseum looked like.
There were rows and rows that were dedicated solely to elevators. Attendants were standing outside of the elevators and either helping people inside, standing waiting, or escorting people back from their elevators to the entrance. Eventually, Matt was led to his own elevator. The attendant pressed her hand on the sensor pad next to the door and it opened up.
"The technology on this island is incredible, isn't it?" she asked Matt. "Well, here you go. Once you enter the elevator, you'll be taken to your arena to fight a trainer of the same rank to see which of the two of you will advance. Good luck!"
Matt thanked the attendant and entered the elevator. The doors shut and he waited seconds for the quick elevator to take him to his destination. A noise emitted from the speakers and the elevator doors opened again. The arena was a standard Pokemon battle arena with the rectangle shape and the Pokeball in the center to divide the area in two.
Matt's opponent was already in the room, sporting a blue baseball cap that was worn backwards, a plain white T-shirt, green plaid shorts, and white tennis shoes. His arms were crossed and he looked very confident. Another attendant was there in the arena to ref the match. These attendants were everywhere!
"Hey man, I'm Matt! What's your name?" Matt called out to the guy. He responded by saying that his name was Josh. "Isn't all this technology stuff just crazy?" Matt sparked up a little conversation before they were to have their battle. Josh shook his head and shoved his hands into his pockets.
"I'm not really keen on any of this technology stuff, but I am extremely eager to be a trainer a battle, so that's why I came to Paradiso!" answered Josh. "Actually, if anything I don't really trust that this island is so reliant on technology. If something goes wrong then… nah, forget it! Let's just focus on the battle ahead of us, huh?"
"You read my mind!" Matt smirked and pulled out a Pokeball. Josh did the same. Josh sent out a Cleffa, which interested Matt, while Matt sent out his Pikachu. The attendant was controlling her need to obsess over the two cute Pokemon.
"Cleffa, I know you can do it!" Josh encouraged his Pokemon and told her to use Sweet Kiss. Cleffa rushed up to Pikachu and kissed her on the cheek before giggling and rushing back to her side. Pikachu's eyes started rolling around and around as she awaited orders.
"Pikachu, you have to snap out of it! Use Thunder Shock!" however, Matt's words were of no use. Pikachu let out a groan and fell on its back. Cleffa saw her opening and ran over and used Pound. The attack made Pikachu lose its confusion and she jumped to her feet and grabbed Cleffa while charging her Thunder Shock attack.
"There you go Pikachu!"
"Cleffa, quick, use Sing!" the little pink Pokemon opened its mouth and sang a quick, strange melody that slowly put Pikachu to sleep. Matt called out to try and wake Pikachu up, but she slept as Cleffa used Pound multiple times until Pikachu fainted.
"You did your best, Pikachu…" he said, under his breath, returning her to her Pokeball. He held out the Pokeball for Totodile next and sent him out. "Be wary of attacks that affect you, Totodile. Now use Water Gun!"
Totodile opened his mouth and a stream of water went in Cleffa's direction. She jumped out of the way in time and went close to try and use Pound on the Water-type Pokemon, but she missed as well!
"She's close enough, now use Bite!" Totodile used its giant jaw and trapped the cute Pokemon in its attack. It was such a startling hit that it made Cleffa flinch. "Water Gun, Totodile!" He repeated his water attack and shot a stream of water from his mouth that pushed Cleffa back and to the ground. Josh frowned and pulled out his Pokeball to return the fainted Pokemon.
"The winner who will advance to rank 2 is Matt!" the attendant announced, even though it was rather obvious. She informed them that when they were ready to return to their respective elevators.
"No hard feelings, right?" Matt walked ahead and held out his hand. Josh smiled and returned the kind gesture.
"Of course not, dude," the two shook hands. "I guess I just need to train more. Or get some new Pokemon. You fought really well!"
"So did you! You had a great strategy with your Cleffa," Josh thanked Matt for the compliment and said that they would see each other again.
"Oh, Matt!" Josh turned back around, holding one hand in between the door of his elevator to keep it open. Matt turned around to see what Josh had to say. "Just… be careful with all this technologic stuff. Paradiso's been doing well for three years, but the longer a place thrives, the bigger a downfall will be. Keep that in mind." Josh continued and went into the elevator.
Matt looked down and then skeptically at his own elevator before going inside and heading back down to the first floor. The receptionist congratulated Matt, walked him back to the front desk, and took his trainer card to update the rank.
"There won't be as many changed with this rank increase; mainly just the new location you can reach from the Teleport Station," the receptionist told Matt, handing him back his trainer card. "We'll see you again soon!"