Episode 4: A Ralts and Skitty Story
Today began with Ensara meeting an old friend over breakfast: Lily Willow. Ensara was eating breakfast at the Pokemon Center's cafeteria when Lily came in an sat down next to her.
"Hey Lily! What are you doing here?"
Lily smiled.
"Oh, I just finally got here after going through Santalune Forest. Managed to catch a Panpour and a Caterpie."
Ensara just looked at her as if expecting more. Lily soon broke down.
"Fine I also caught a Weedle…"
"Knew it."
"I can't help it! Bug types are so cute! I know I'm supposed to be catching Pokemon for my communication research, but I just can't help it…"
Ensara laughs and pats her on the shoulder.
"Lily, relax you can still catch pokemon related to your research and pokemon you like. Its not as if we're in any big rush."
Lily nods
"Yeah, I just have to study and research pokemon who can talk to humans, doesn't mean caching them all the time. Though having some consistently around would be better than not. Speaking of catching pokemon, what have things been like for you?"
Ensara nods in agreement.
"Well I think you'll find my story interesting. Its honestly been an insane couple of days for me…"
Ensara tells Lily how she encountered Mew as the first pokemon she saw on her journey, then got teleported to this Pokemon Center, met Dex, fought Jansen then encountered the Mew Cult captured Masala. Lily's glasses slipped down her nose an she pushed it back up in surprise.
"Wow. If I didn't know you better Ensara, I'd say that you were crazy. But since I know how you seem to live in interesting times, honestly I'm not surprised. I mean remember the time you went on that field trip to a Tauros ranch and the Tauros kept mistaking your hair for a matador's cape? They kept charging at you and were running around screaming your head off."
Lily giggles a little at the memory while Ensara begins to shout.
"I nearly died! Its not that funny, when your the one being charged at!"
Lily continues to say
"Or that time you got kidnapped by that Miltank-"
Ensara cuts her off.
"No! Remember what I said about never speaking of that ever again!?"
Lily raises her hands in defense.
"Sorry! I see you feel bad about those experiences, and I won't bring them up, so lets focus on the present. You met two pokemon that could talk, a Mew and Riolu, and you caught the latter. May I meet this Masala?"
Ensara sends out Masala who stands upon the table and accepts Ensara offering of a bowl of pokemon food, sitting beside Flara who was already eating.
-Hello, nice to see one of these Centers. Its just so strange and clean to me.-
Lily's blue eyes begin to fill with a curious light.
"You CAN talk! and what is so strange about this?"
Masala gestures while eating more pokemon food.
-Because its human made. Humans are the strangest beings on the planet. While everyone else just makes do with having pokemon powers, they try to build all these great cities and devices instead, and they don't even speak the language everyone else does.-
Lily blinks at this response then begins to laugh. Masala is perplexed.
-Whats so funny?-
"I just….never thought of it that way before."
Lily said as she recovered.
"Its even accurate. Pokemon far outnumber humanity, we wouldn't be able to have so many pokemon trainers if pokemon weren't so numerous. Even if we could mass produce Master Balls and give them to every trainer, I doubt we would be able to catch every single individual pokemon in the world. Humans are technically the minority of intelligent life on the planet."
Ensara swallows a bite of her meal then asks.
"Wait, why don't we mass produce Master Balls?"
Lily leaned back as she explained.
"Simple. To skip the overly technical nerdy details, the engineering processes required to make the Master Ball are so ridiculously expensive and complex that its simply not feasible. Any reasonable price tag for it is big enough to make a rich man broke. Last time I checked there is only ten or twelve Master Balls ever made in the entire world, and most of them haven't been used yet. Companies like Silph Co only make them to prove that they can, or on request from someone who can actually pay for it."
Let it be known that her technical explanation would really be delving into things that would be hard to understand or follow and would also need some grounding in some of the basic parts of pokemon technology to understand, and really we don't need to cover the basics of how any of this works in some boring explanation. After all obviously they all use space-warping technology regularly, anyone could figure that out. Ensara replies
"Good enough for me. Though now that I got a talking Riolu right here, on't you think your goal is a bit, I don't know, already accomplished?"
Lily laughs and waves it off.
"Far from it! This is only one example. A telepathic one at that, which is more common than you think. I need to examine closer as things like: why can pokemon repeat their own names without any problems in pronunciation yet don't make any effort to pronounce any other words? They clearly have vocal cords sophisticated enough to make sure its possible. That and even if I learn how to speak to pokemon and vice versa, I have to think about how to use a method that will enable more widespread communication between humans and pokemon as only born psychics or trained Aura users can pull it off at this point. One requires genetics and the other requires a form of energy that isn't fully understood yet. That and achieving communication is only the first step. The next one is understanding how pokemon communicate, their culture on a level that is more sophisticated then merely just observing it from the outside. Who knows how much we can learn from one another?"
Masala comments again.
-Sounds like a big journey. You might need help with that.-
Lily smiles as she agrees.
"Yes, I will. That is why I want to go with you guys. That and you apparently have a talking pokedex, which is interesting by itself."
Dex chirps
"Hi by the way. Lets talk later."
Ensara smiles back at the request.
"Sure, come along. The more the merrier, and its always nice to have smart people like you around. You know a lot, and your conversations are never boring."
Lily questioned
"Very well, where are we going next?"
Ensara took another bite.
"I was going to go to Route 2, to catch a Skitty and a Ralts then come back to Santalune to take on Viola, the gym leader. After that, its off to Lumiose, and from there? Well we will burn that bridge when we get to it."
Lily replied
"Sounds like a plan. A Ralts would be another good example for me to study after all."
While they begin to walk out, Masala and Flara have their own little conversation.
"Hey Masala, can you teach me how to talk to humans?"
Masala considers this.
"I could, but its Aura-based. Your going to evolve into a psychic type, right?"
Flara replies, remembering her lessons at labs for newly bred starter pokemon.
"Yeah, Braixen then Delphox."
Masala nods at this.
"Then its best you wait for whatever Ralts Ensara catches to learn eh? They will probably teach you how to use telepathy in a way thats much more natural to you."
Flara huffs in impatience.
"Fine, but I'm still jealous that everyone gets to talk to her but me."
"We have someone joining who literally wants to spread that kind of communication to everyone Flara, I'm pretty sure you'll make it happen one way or another."
Flara could not find a way to reply to that so she just hopped back onto Ensara's shoulder as they began walking.
They soon depart from Santalune City and into Route 2, also known as Parterre Way. Being a direct route between Santalune and Lumiose City and a relatively short one at that, it more ordered and cared for than most, as many people gone through it. Vast hedge mazes, expansive flower fields, various ivy overgrowing stone columns and artistic open gardens with little homes as far as the eye could see. All of the pokemon here were completely avoidable if one simply kept along the main road of Parterre Way, while any who wished to catch pokemon simply needed to venture into the hedge mazes around it. The vast mazes were an intentional design to allow pokemon trainers some challenge to catch the pokemon they wanted while not disturbing anyone else.
"…There have even been been reports of small communities of pokemon hidden within the mazes, making their homes in a relatively orderly, safe environment and often eating from nearby berry trees."
Dex explained. Lily however was more perplexed than informed, but not about the route itself.
"Dex is strange to me."
She began.
"I mean, why would one Pokedex out of many just randomly be sapient? I have my own and it doesn't display any signs of Dex's intelligence. You sure that there isn't a Porygon or a Rotom in there?"
Ensara shrugged. As if she would know how any of this worked. Dex answered for her.
"I think I would know if I was one or the other, Lily. If I was the first, I'd be able to leave. If I was the second I'd be able to control this as my body, and it is only my prison."
Lily frowned at this. She may not know everything, but surely a Pokedex's processing power wasn't great enough to cause one to spontaneously start thinking for itself?
"Well, something weird is going on with you Dex, and I'm going to find out what."
Dex grew nervous.
"Please don't take me apart to try and figure me out."
"I won't! But really, Ensara, your not questioning this?"
Ensara shrugs again.
"Nope. Dex is useful and I kind of like him. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. That and he kind of needs help with the "finding a real body" thing. So. Seems more important than how he got to come into existence in the first place to me."
Lily and Dex both are silent at this, but Lily is the first to break it.
"With how much weirdness you gone through during the past couple days, your taking it awfully well."
Dex chirps along with Lily.
"Agreed. The degree to which your not questioning meeting a legendary, capturing a talking pokemon and owning a sapient pokedex in rapid succession is rather astonishing. One would hope some firmer skepticism should be applied."
Ensara rolls her eyes. These people and their doubts.
"Look, not all of us of overthink reality and perception to the point of being skeptical of every single thing. I have seen Mew, I talk to Pokemon and Pokedexes, I survived falling off a waterfall. Weird things just happen. Now lets get a Ralts and Skitty."
Lily and Dex sigh. They could both tell that they were going to be dealing with her recklessness for ages to come.
Ralts was eating an oran berry when her friend Skitty came running up and tripped and fell over, defying any and all myths of supposed catlike grace and elegance.
"Ralts! Ralts! I- ow."
-Are you ok, Skitty?-
"As usual"
Skitty said as she picked herself up.
"You know me, a big klutz as always."
-Yeah thats you, a little stumblebuppet as always-
"Stumblebuppet isn't a word!"
-It is so a word now. It mean "klutz".-
"Then why don't you just say "klutz"!?"
-Because stumblebuppet is more fun to say.-
"…Ok, you got me there."
They both repeat the made up a word a few times to themselves, pronouncing it in a couple different ways and playing around with it. Then Skitty remembered what she came running up to Ralts for.
"Oh right! I'm here to let you know: There are trainers coming!"
-Really? Good!-
"Yeah, we'll find a good trainer to travel with, and become stronger together! Someday we'll be a Delcatty and Gardevoir, partners forever!"
-So, what trainers did you see?-
"I saw three: a blue haired girl with glasses and a girl with longer red hair and a green hat and a Fennekin riding on her shoulder together, and this other taller older guy, with brown hair, a distant look in his eyes, black coat, bit grizzled with a scar, a real tough guy and has this Mightyena following him."
Ralts nodded at this information.
-Ok, just let me check something for a moment.-
Ralts concentrates for a moment, glowing with a psychic power. Then she gasps.
"Ralts? Whats wrong?"
-Skitty, we need to go find the red haired girl now. Stay away from the tall man!-
"But why-"
-Just do it! NOW!-
Ralts begins running and Skitty starts following after her.
Footsteps fall. The heaviness of a grey and broken past weighs down upon his shoulders. The Mightyena sniffs for the scent, and barks as he finds it. Good, it was time to pursue. He had a target today, and he was not going to let it slip out of his grasp. It was time for the hunt to begin, and he walks forward with the force of inevitability itself. It was not a matter of "if" he would get what he came for, but a matter of "when". People like him? Got the job done. No matter what.
As Skitty and Ralts ran, they soon heard the barking of the Mightyena behind them. The human behind them stomping not far behind. There was no doubt about it: they had been found. They begin going around corners through the maze of hedge trying to lose them. Twisting and turning their path went, going further and further into the hedge's complicated labyrinth in their fear. Yet the Mightyena never lost their scent and kept on their tracks, and the human never failed to follow.
"Any ideas?" Skitty called as they rushed.
-I can't use Confusion, that won't affect Mightyena. You can't use any of your moves, that would be getting too close. However I do have one.-
"Whats that?"
Ralts grabs onto Skitty with both arms. The human throws a Nest Ball.
-Teleport-
The two pokemon vanish in a little flash of light and the nest ball hits the ground uselessly. Footsteps fall. He picks up the nest ball and puts it back into his pocket with an annoyed look on his face. Teleportation left no scent. This would complicate the job. However he would get it done nonetheless. He always did. He had his ways.
Ensara meanwhile was getting frustrated.
"Freaking Combees! We've been wandering this maze for who knows how long, and all that we've been encountering is Combee after Combee! They are so annoying with their stupid smiling faces and stupider honey comb bodies with ridiculously small wings! I may not like bugs in particular, but seriously, Beedrill are far better than these things! Flara, another Ember!"
Flara blasts down another Combee flying into their face seemingly without a care in the world and it goes spiraling off to the side, knocked out instantly. Lily nods in disgust.
"Yeah, even by Bug type standards, I don't really like them. I'm just hoping to find a female one soon, so that I can evolve her into a Vespiquen. They are the ones worth catching, not the drones."
Of course all the male Combees behind her frown as tears run down their face as she states the truth of their existence so plainly. They could not deny it: that was all they were and all they would ever be. Dex counters her though.
"Well for battling yes, but male Combee are often used in farms to make honey. They are less harmful than Beedrill and much more cooperative. They do serve a use, just not any good battle one."
Ensara scowls
"You mean these pokemon are probably the source of most of the honey people eat? Then they should get back to that rather than-"
With a flash of light, Ralts and Skitty teleport in, arriving in front of Ensara.
"Nevermind about that stupid conversation! Time to get what I came for!"
Ralts then speaks
-Quick, Ensara, you've got to catch us! Now! We won't fight you!-
Ensara does a double take.
"….Ok? This seems awfully convenient. A pokemon with telepathy already knowing my name, won't fight me, wants me to catch them. Is this a Mew prank?"
Ralts just stares at her in disbelief.
-What? Mew prank?-
"Yeah, because this is exactly what she would do to troll me. Two pokemon I want with no strings attached? Thats way too lucky to be my life. As soon as I throw the pokeball, turns out she turned into a Ralts with a Skitty illusion and cackles at me for thinking it would be so easy."
Ralts and Skitty could not believe what they were hearing, their only hope thought they were Mew in disguise for some reason. Ralts waves her arms in exasperation
-We're not Mew! Just hurry up and catch us! We don't have time!-
Ensara folds her arms and arches an eyebrow.
"Don't have time for what? What could possibly make you rush that you don't have time to battle me before I catch you?"
Ralts sighed.
-Another trainer is coming this way trying to catch Skitty and only her, when we want to be caught by the same trainer go on a journey together. We don't want ourselves separated, we're friends. Since you want both a Skitty and a Ralts, you are our best bet.-
Ensara nods, that was more like it.
"See? String attached. Everything makes sense now."
Lily rolled her eyes.
"Only you would consider this series of events to make sense in that light, Ensara."
Ensara takes out a pokeball and takes aim.
"Oh hush Lily! Now let go Ralts, I will capture Skitty first to make sure the other trainer doesn't get her!"
Ralts lets go of Skitty and moves aside as Ensara throws the pokeball at Skitty with all her might, the ball spinning through the air to decide the pokemon's fate for better or worse as it closes in and hits…Ralts. She is sucked in through red light, the pokeball wobbles once.
Wobbles twice.
Wobbles Thrice.
Then…clicks. Everyone stares in disbelief, then Dex quips.
"Wow. Bullseye."
While Skitty slaps her face with her tail and Lily similarly hides her face in her palm, Ensara rages back at him.
"SHUT UP DEX!"
Dex responds flatly.
"No."
Ensara growls and picks up Ralts pokeball.
"No matter! Her name is Emerald now! Now I just need to-"
"Quick Ball go!"
A male voice resounds in the hedge and Ensara moves quickly to block an incoming Quick Ball, making it bounce off her stomach. She then yells at the approaching figure, her inner fire raging now.
"Hey! No catch-stealing! Who are you and what do you think your doing going around chasing these two pokemon!?"
The tall man comes into view, his grizzled stoic mug and distant tired blue eyes take stock of Ensara and Lily. He scratches his dull brown hair as his Mightyena plods alongside him and his Mandibuzz rests upon his outstretched hand. He lets out a world-weary sigh and speaks in a heavy Kalos accent.
"The names Robb. Robb the Pokemon Mercenary. I catch, and use pokemon for money. My business is completely legal, little trainer. I use legal pokeballs, to catch pokemon for completely legal means. Just like you, see?"
Ensara narrows her eyes
"What are you talking about!?"
Robb arches an eyebrow.
"What I mean, is that there is no law against being hired to go out and catch a pokemon and trade it to someone else and gain both money and another pokemon in the process, see? Quite simply, one of the jobs we pokemon mercenaries do is get paid to catch pokemon for other people then give that pokemon to them so that they can use it. Some people, need a few extra Machokes or Gurdurr's for construction, some trainers are too far away from any Professors so they get some other pokemon to start with. Loads of reasons I'm hired see? Currently, I'm hired to catch a Skitty. I always get my job done, see? Its not one of my usual jobs, neither is it glamorous. But I'm getting paid well for it, so I'm going to get it done anyways, see?"
She clenched her fists. He meant business. There had to be a way out.
"Well, why don't you go find another Skitty then?"
Robb shrugs.
"Could. Might have to. Will take time. The Skitty there is still up for grabs though. Until it isn't, I'm going for it. So, if you kindly move aside before I make you, that'd be great. I don't like my job getting complicated."
Ensara stands her ground.
"No! I can't let you."
Robb muses on this.
"Hm? Why not? You could go find another Skitty as well. Your a young trainer, you have all the time in the world to get one."
"Because the Ralts I caught and the Skitty want to go on this journey together. They want to be caught by the same trainer and fight together. I am not letting you getting in the way of that."
Robb sighs again at this.
"Listen kid. I always get the job done. The job doesn't care about the pokemon's feelings. If I'm not taking one Skitty away from their home and friends, I'm probably taking another just at a later time when your gone. It makes no difference to me and I need to eat. So move aside. Before I have to battle you and your pokemon."
He begins to advance upon her. Lily calls out in response.
"Wait! What are you being paid, and why! Is it possible to outbid the person paying, or know why its being done to solve this some other way?"
Robb responds casually.
"Eh? My job is to basically catch a Skitty for this spoiled rich girl for her collection or whatever, I don't really care what she does after getting it. I'm getting paid five hundred thousand poke dollars for it though."
Lily eyes widened.
"Five hundred thousand!? For a normal Skitty!? Thats ridiculous! Winning a battle against the Champion itself pays nowhere near that much!"
Robb shrugs.
"I know right? Its ridiculous but to rich people five hundred thousand is pocket change. Some people who inherit such wealth have zero idea of how to spend it properly, but I'm not complaining, see?"
Dex chimes in.
"It also means that we will not be outbidding this one any time soon."
Robb blinks in surprise.
"…Did that Pokedex just talk? As in, not recorded but actual response?"
Ensara just stands there not answering the awkward question, drawing out an "um" for a few seconds before proclaiming.
"Yoink!"
While grabbing the Skitty and running away. Lily quickly followed after her an they run into the maze of hedge, hoping to lose Robb in the path ways. He just sighs. Such foolishness. He had already thought a way around that. He commanded Mandibuzz to take to the skies again and keep an eye on them, then he sent out his Scyther.
"Follow Mandibuzz's directions."
He commands Scyther.
"Cut through any hedge that stands in your way."
Scyther smiles and utters its trademark cry in glee at the prospect of cutting down so many things and begins to charge through the hedge, hacking and slashing a path straight through it as Robb and his pokemon pursued the two trainers, keeping to close to them no matter how far they gone or how labyrinthine the hedge was through pure direct pathways, tearing through anything in their way to get what he wanted.
As they ran, Dex comments as they run.
"You know. This plan isn't actually working. The maze isn't stopping him. I suggest a different plan. Like catching the Skitty. Immediately."
Ensara growls back
"Yea, but if I stop to do that, he will catch up and might catch her instead! We need to slow him down!"
Lily was the first to suggest a plan.
"How about I hold him off by challenging him to a battle, while you run?"
Ensara considers this as they run.
"Oh, because your super-smart and that means your an awesome tactical battler or something?"
Lily was nervous at this question as she offered an awkward smile.
"Uh. Hopefully?"
Ensara scowls at her friend.
"What do you mean by that?"
Lily catches behind her head, clearly not exactly comfortable with the direction of the conversation.
"I mean that this is will be my first trainer battle? and I'm not very much interested in battling to begin with? heheheheheh…"
Ensara covers her face with her palm, making sure to keep her eyes unblocked so that she could see where she was going. Darn it, Lily. She was Ensara's friend but really, trying to pull this amateur outmatched heroics stunt? Ensara guessed she didn't have any ground to stand on complaint wise due to her little waterfall escapade, but that doesn't mean she should be emulated! However the alternative was Ensara herself fighting Robb, and she knew enough to see that if she fought Robb now, she would lose. No one had two evolved pokemon and a Scyther at the start of their journey and newbies like her certainly weren't that old. Ensara sighed.
"Very well then. You hold him off for as long as you can, I'll keep running."
While Ensara runs off, Lily turns around and takes out a pokeball.
Robb stops as he faces Lily.
"What are doing?"
Lily smiles.
"Challenging you to a pokemon battle."
Robb narrows his eyes at this. This will get annoying.
"Why?"
Lily begins to explain while standing her ground.
"Why, because I know two things for a fact: One, a Pokemon Mercenary is a legal profession and is of course, not allowed to kill anyone in any circumstance. Two, as someone who uses Pokemon you legally count as a Pokemon Trainer. All trainers are required to accept challenges to pokemon battles unless their pokemon cannot battle or the trainer is in no condition to command them, as pokemon battles are required for Pokemon's healthy growth and development."
Robb sighed. She was right, but he knew that in practice stronger trainers turned down weaker ones all the time on the logical thought that all their pokemon getting beaten wouldn't help them grow at all, as well as many other exceptions and situations where people just ignored it. However turning down a challenge was also legally the same as losing since you had to pay a fine in poke dollars to the challenger you turned down equal to the amount you would've paid out if you lost to them, and he couldn't afford to lose cash.
"I hate it when people bring the legal technicalities into it. Very well. Pokemon battle it is. I choose my Scyther, see?"
Lily nods and throws a pokeball, sending out her Chespin. The pokemon takes a ready stance with a yelp of its name. Lily tries to recall what she has read upon battling.
"Ok, now to assess the tactical situation so that I may command the optimal mo-"
"Slash."
Robb calls out once, and the Scyther moves forward at blinding speed, hitting Chespin with a single solid blow. In an instant, Scyther speeds back to Robb's side and Chespin faints instantly. Robb decides to give some advice.
"You got to think on your feet kid. You may be smart, but thinking well and thinking fast are not the same thing."
She stood in surprise for a moment. She could already tell this wasn't going to go well. But you can't run from a trainer battle. Not without forfeiting. She returned Chespin and said
"Go! Panpour!"
"Slash."
"Dodge it!"
Panpour tries to move itself out of the way but despite its natural acrobatic nature Scyther easily outside it and Panpour was soon lying on the ground, fainted as well.
"Two down and barely a minute has gone by, better think of something quick to make that next newbie pokemon last, Lil' Professor."
Lily narrowed her eyes. She knew she was a bad battler, but she had to do something. Ensara was count on her. She sends out Caterpie.
"Go! Use String Shot!"
Caterpie shoots the sticky webbing from its mouth and soon Scyther finds itself entangled, unable to move all that much. It struggles and tries to break out but to no avail, Caterpie holding Scyther in its web tight.
"Haha! See, lasting longer than few seconds now, huh?"
Well Robb had to concede that.
"Ok yeah, you accomplished that but, what now genius? I think you've already picked up that my pokemon are far stronger and well trained than yours. Even if you try to attack, it wouldn't do any damage to win against me."
Lily raised a finger knowingly.
"I know that. That is why I won't attack. I will just allow Caterpie to sit here, holding Scyther down, stalling out time until Ensara comes back to look for me, having already caught Skitty and thus winning the real battle at stake. I don't need to win against you, only wait long enough for this battle to become pointless."
Robb raised an eyebrow.
"Ah. I see. So your realistic about your chances. Good. Did you plan for this?"
He returns Scyther then orders his Mightyena:
"Tundra! Use Ice Fang!"
Instantly ice claws chomp down upon Caterpie and it faints in Tundra's jaws then flops down to the ground. Lily returns it. Robb explains her mistake.
"Yeah, it was a good stalling tactic in theory, but you'd need something like Mean Look, or was it called Scary Face, I don't remember? To keep the pokemon from switching out. So it didn't work out in practice."
Lily then took out her last pokeball with her Weedle.
"Well, I have one last pokemon to use-"
"Stop."
Robb said holding up a hand.
"I'd recommend against using your last pokemon here. If its your last well, your technically in the wilderness and its your last line of defense, no matter how pathetic it is. That one faints, your on your own. So yeah, you could continue this battle if you wanted. Or you could stop now, admit defeat and be able to go back to the Pokemon Center and get the rest of your pokemon healed without having to worry about the dangers. See?"
Lily was frozen as she considered what he said. It made sense. How much more time was she really going to buy with only her Weedle? And how much was she going to need a pokemon if any others attacked? The choice was obvious. She deflates as she admits.
"Alright. You win."
Robb then walked forward an her out his hand.
"It was a match, pay up."
She does so. He looks sadly at the minuscule amount of money, but pockets it anyways.
"Just what I get for beating up newbie trainers. Alright, time to move on."
Lily turns and ask
"Wait. Why do you do this? You don't seem to like doing any of this."
Robb just sighs.
"Its my job. My profession. I don't have to like it. I just have to be able to do it, and need money. See?"
He throws out his Scyther again, free from the web to once again start cutting through the hedge. Lily returns her Caterpie and follows him from a distance.
Meanwhile Ensara had gotten out of sight. She sets down Skitty and takes out her out her pokeball. This was going to simple now. All Ensara had to was to catch one Skitty who wanted to be caught, it wouldn't take five seconds and she will win.
"Go,pokeball!"
She throws the pokeball which of course begins to off course immediately while Skitty jumps up in the opposite direction of where it was heading in her excitement to get caught. Emerald sends herself out, her hand covering her face in embarrassment.
-Oh my Arceus. Between a trainer who can't aim a pokeball and a clumsy Skitty, this is going to hopeless.-
Masala sends herself out to pitch in her own thoughts.
-Want to grab a bite to eat from that nearby berry tree? This ought to be entertaining at least.-
Ensara glared at them in anger.
"Emerald? Masala? Screw you both."
They both answer back:
-But we can't breed yet!-
"Shut up, that not what I meant! Ugh, lets just get on with this.'
Emerald and Masala then proceed to eat Oran berries while watching the various ways they fail: In one attempt, Skitty jumps up only to knock the pokeball back into Ensara's face with her tail. In another the pokeball almost seemed to hit then Skitty trips and falls flat on her face and the pokeball sails right over her. In a third attempt, the pokeball hits but the button on is on the opposite side so it doesn't open, only causing a bruise. On the fourth attempt the pokeball leaves Ensara's hand too early while Skitty in her jump crashes into Ensara. And in a fifth attempt, Ensara tried to hold still while Skitty tried to jump into the ball only to end up knocking it out of her hand. Even the Mandibuzz flying above is bewildered as it beholds these aimless antics.
"What is with these people? Are they trying to perform slapstick comedy? Or just some weird dance?"
Mandibuzz mutters. Then shrugs her wings.
"No matter, I've flown staring at this nonsense long enough, time to report back to the boss."
Finally Flara has had enough of this as well, so she grabs Ensara's pokeball in her mouth, leaps down to Skitty and pokes her with the pokeballs button, sucking her in though the red light then it clatters to the ground, and Wobbles once.
Wobbles Twice.
Wobbles Thrice.
Then….Clicks. Flara then turns to Ensara and yelps.
"Fenne, fennekin?"
Emerald translates:
-She says: There, was that so hard?-
Ensara just groans at what happened.
"Ugh, do I really need my own pokemon to teach me how to throw a ball properly? Thats got to be a new low. But! Look on the bright side, we got Skitty, we've won. Now to name her."
She sends out Skitty once more.
"Hey Skitty, how about being named, Fortuna? Because your real fortunate to have friends like Emerald?"
Fortuna meows in approval. Emerald thinks
-She says she likes it because sounds like her battle cry: "For tuna!". By the way, I like my name as well, even if its a little obvious. I gleaned what you named me from reading your mind.-
"Glad to hear it. Don't worry. Now that your both my pokemon, you'll be safe and together."
They soon hear the Scyther slashing through the hedge and the footsteps of the mercenary and he soon comes stomping in with all the weight of a man out to get the job done. Ensara looks at him and simply returns Fortuna to her pokeball to get the message across. Robb sighs one final time.
"Ok. You beat me. You got the Skitty and its friend together. Hooray. Good job. You know this won't actually stop me right? I'm just going look somewhere else until I find another Skitty and catch them. There is more than one after all, and its not exactly the rarest pokemon in the world. Your just exchanging one pokemon being taken from its home and family for one you don't know suffering the same fate, only you won't be around to stop it."
Ensara remembered what Masala told her about pokemon views on capturing and decided she wasn't going to worry about it. However she still responded.
"Well I can do something about these two, and that is what counts."
Robb shrugs and replies.
"Well, you do realize that all you've really done is made my job harder, right? You've just delayed its completion when my current employer is a spoiled brat noble, who wants it as soon as possible. Would you be willing to trade? I've got lots of pokemon over my years of being a trainer, I'm sure I can find something for you to get in return."
Ensara stood her ground and folded her arms, anticipating a fight.
"Mercenary-man, I wouldn't trade away Fortuna even if you had Mew itself. They are friends, they want to travel together, they deserve to do so."
Robb shrugs again and says.
"Oh well. It was worth a shot. I'll be going then."
Ensara blinks at this.
"Wait your giving up, just like that? You did all this, and your just going to leave and find some other Skitty?"
Robb begins to turn around.
"Well. Yeah. I don't have time to agonize over this. Even if I beat you, I can't really get the Skitty. I'm no criminal. So yeah, I'm gone. See? I doubt we'll ever see each other again, so listen to this kid: Not everyone is lucky like you. The world can betray when you least expect it. Beware of the time when it will, because even the ones closest to you can betray you someday."
He then walks off into the hedge and out of sight. Footsteps fall. The heaviness of a grey and broken past weighs down upon his shoulders as he leaves. He was a man who got the job done no matter what, and he stalks off to find some other prey.
Soon after, Lily walks in and begins to apologize.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't hold him off longer. He was just too strong."
Ensara shakes her head and lays her hand on Lily's shoulder.
"Its ok. You held long enough for Fortuna to be caught, and that is what matters. I don't think I could've done any better to be honest. He and his pokemon looked they've been doing this sort of thing for a long time."
Lily smiles a little in response, being reassured that she did well.
"Thanks Ensara. Lets go back to Santalune. I'll need to heal up my pokemon. I have to ask through, now that we've caught them, whats your plan now?"
Ensara smiles her own more dangerous smile.
"Simple, Lily. Now that I've got a team of pokemon, I'm thinking of training them up and challenging Viola. If I want to catch Mew, I got to have a strong team, and the best measure of strength is how far I can go in the League."
Lily nods at this.
"Makes sense. Too bad that'll mean you'll probably meet Jansen again."
Ensara roll her eyes at the thought.
"Yeah, his mindset and attitude is so annoying. Especially if we encounter more people like him with his competitive attitude."
"I'm confused, wouldn't competition be a good thing, since you need to be strong, and thus strong people to test yourself against?"
Lily replied in thought, Ensara shrugged her shoulders.
"Technically yes, but that doesn't mean I like it. It quickly leads to arrogance and toxicity. I'm just not comfortable with that kind of mindset. Even though I need to win to achieve my dream. So the mindset I dislike is also the mindset I need to get Mew, and I'm not sure how I feel about that."
Lily smiled and hugged Ensara close
"Don't worry, you'll figure something out. You have smarts of your own."
"…Heh. Thanks Lily."
They break from the hug and as they begin to walk back, Emerald asks Ensara a question.
-Hey. You said that even if Robb had Mew itself, that you wouldn't trade us away. Mew is the goal your working towards, do you really mean that you'd turn down the chance of Mew itself just for two pokemon you just caught?-
Ensara bends down on her knee and pets Emerald's head.
"Listen, Emerald. You and Fortuna are apart of my team now. I don't sell people out like that. Especially not my friends. Not even for Mew. That and I want to catch Mew, not trade for Mew. The point is to work to catch Mew with my own skills at pokemon training and wit, not to get handed Mew through somebody else's work. The point is to earn Mew, not to have Mew."
Emerald considers this and her thoughts are filled with worry.
-But wouldn't that mean if somebody catches Mew before you, that you'll fail forever?-
Ensara eyes narrows at the question. Emerald had a good point.
"Yes. I guess thats true. But I guess if I can't beat all the other trainers to Mew, I don't deserve to have Mew."
Hour later, long after Ensara, Lily and their pokemon left, one of the gardeners comes by and harrumphs at the destruction caused through the hedge.
"Dang kids and their Cut. Its gonna take forever for my Tangela to regrow all of this properly."
The gardener sighs. Just another day in the job of a hedge trimmer, it sucked but he was a man who got the job done, no matter what.
