EPIC DREAM: The Last of Peach Creek
Chapter 4: Hoedd Confirmed
They barely made it to the next flight back to the Pokémon world.
Oliver wondered how they would find Edd's two friends. He didn't even know what they looked like, or if they even looked the same way they did before. Considering they were in the Pokémon world, one of them, if not both, could be a Pokémon.
The flight eventually landed in Hoenn, in the town of Rustboro, and Oliver, Edd and Buddy wandered about until they wound up in Slateport City.
"Hoenn's pretty big," Buddy said, "It could be months before we find him!"
"Edd, you know Eddy," said Oliver, "Is there anywhere you think he could be?"
"Hey, I haven't been here before," said Edd, "I don't know about this place at all."
Unsure of what to do, they went to the local Pokémon center.
A lot of people in there hadn't seen a Helioptile before, thus Edd got a lot of looks.
"Where's he from?" A little kid asked, rubbing Edd's back, "He's so cute."
"He's from Kalos," Oliver replied to the kid and several other folks who asked about Edd.
"Hey, man," Buddy asked Edd, "Why are you in such a hurry to get back to being human again? I mean, look at how nice these people are being to you!"
"It is nice, but I lost my family and friends," Edd said, "If it is possible to bring them and my real home back, I'll do whatever it takes!"
"But what if we can't?" Buddy asked.
Edd frowned, and then went to look at the brochure rack by the door. There weren't very many things to do…though ones about a nearby space station and an elevated bike trail definitely caught his eye.
"What about your pal Eddy?" Buddy asked, "He's apparently around Hoenn somewhere, but where would he be?"
Edd looked back at the brochures. Perhaps something on there would give him a clue…
Then he saw a brochure for a place in the nearby town of Mauville. An arcade called the "Mauville Game Corner".
"Could you give me a lift?" Edd asked Buddy.
Buddy allowed Edd to climb up his back and grabbed the brochure, which had been on a top rack.
Looking inside, Edd saw that it had slot machines, roulettes and other ways to get cash.
"This is it!" exclaimed Edd. If he had kept his large vocabulary and braininess even after losing his memory, then surely Eddy would have kept his signature greediness.
Edd slid off Buddy's head, ran to Oliver, and showed him the brochure.
"Mauville Game Center?" Oliver read out loud, "What does this have to do with anything?"
Edd explained Eddy's traits and why this would be exactly the place a guy like him would be.
"Well, if you say so…" Oliver said.
So they headed to the northern side of the town where the trail leading to Mauville City started.
Shortly after starting down the trail, they saw a large elevated highway of some sort nearby.
"I wonder what that is…" Oliver wondered out loud.
Edd recognized it from one of the brochures he saw at the Pokémon Center.
"I believe it's an elevated bicycle trail, Oliver," said Edd.
"Really?" Oliver said, "Cool! I think we should take that instead! I brought my bike."
"We would probably get there a lot faster going that way," Edd said, "The sun is starting to set anyway…I'm getting tired."
"Well, I guess that's what we'll do then," said Oliver.
They entered the welcome building, but Pokémon had to stay within their Pokeballs while you rode on the trail, unless you came across unsavory characters, other trainers, or wild Pokémon. The tired Edd obliged, but Buddy was a bit reluctant, as usual.
So Oliver rode down the trail. The view was really nice up here, and the sunset shining on the water made it even better. He was so engrossed in the cool view that he didn't notice people following him.
…
"Is that the kid?" a voice said, hiding in some bushes at the entrance to the trail.
"Yes, he's got it," another said.
"Good, let's get them."
…
About halfway down the trail, Oliver thought he heard something from behind him and stopped. He looked around, but didn't see anything.
Confused, he slowly started forward again, only for something to grab his bike, causing him to tumble down onto the ground.
"Who is that? Who's there?" Oliver cried. Looking behind himself, he saw a strange figure in a purpleish-red colored jumpsuit behind him.
"Hello, kid," the man said, two more people dressed similarly coming from behind him.
"Uh, what do you want?" Oliver asked. He noticed that not only was the jumpsuit the three men were wearing the mahogany-ish color, but their skin was too.
"We know you have someone who isn't from here…"
Oliver strongly suspected they were talking about Edd. "Why does it matter to you?" he asked.
"Because we need him for something!" the stranger said.
Oliver didn't want to trust them, considering their rather creepy appearance. He wondered if they were with a team like Team Rocket or something.
"I don't have him," Oliver lied, but it was obvious the purple guys weren't buying it.
Before Oliver knew it, one of them dove at the Pokeball belt Oliver was wearing and grabbed one of the two Pokeballs from it. Oliver was very nervous until he saw that it was Buddy's.
They released Buddy from it.
"Are we there already?" Buddy started to say, but then he saw the purple guys and his small eyes widened.
"Wrong one!" The lead guy said, pulling out a strange gun and aiming it at Buddy.
Oliver gasped and quickly pulled the Lickitung out of the way just as he fired the weapon, which emitted a strange red substance that landed where Buddy had been standing. By the way it sat there sizzling; it must have been very hot.
"What are you doing?" Oliver yelled.
None of them answered and instead pulled even more of the same weapons from seemingly out of nowhere.
"Oliver," said Buddy, "Just a hunch, but I think we should get out of here like now!"
Buddy grabbed his Pokeball with his tongue, and they both jumped back on Oliver's bike and sped down the trail as fast as they could. The purple guys fired their weapons away as they ran after them.
"Pedal faster!" Buddy yelled, "They're gaining on us!"
"It would be easier if you weren't so big!" Oliver wheezed.
They took a turn, but Buddy's extra weight caused them to crash into the railing instead.
The purple guys were almost to them.
"Buddy," Oliver said, "We gotta do something! Use Rollout!"
"Ok!" Buddy curled up and rolled straight toward them.
Crash!
He knocked two of the purple guys down. One banged his head on the railing and knocked himself out.
The guy still standing up charged toward Oliver, who grabbed his bike and spun into him.
Wham!
The purple guy staggered backward and wound up falling off the walkway into the water below.
Oliver then ran and grabbed the unconscious man's weapon and aimed it at the remaining guy.
"If you move, I'll use this!" Oliver said, grabbing his PokeNav, "I'm also going to call the police!"
The man then grabbed his unconscious comrade and ran away.
"We'll remember this!" He called back.
"Who were they?" Buddy asked, rubbing his head.
"I have no clue," Oliver replied, "but they really wanted Edd. We need to be on the lookout for more people like that."
Oliver checked to make sure Edd's Pokeball was still attached to his belt. Fortunately, it was.
"Let's keep going before it gets completely dark," said Oliver, "I don't want to be up here when it does."
Oliver returned Buddy to his Pokeball and got back on his bike.
…
The rest of the bike ride was uneventful, and they were almost to the end of it, anyway. They came down off of it and followed the rest of Route 110 to Mauville City.
It was a nice town that was bigger than Viridian City back home. Straightaway, Oliver ran to the nearest Pokémon center to make sure Buddy and Edd were squared away.
Afterwards, Oliver released them both from their Pokeballs. Buddy and Oliver told Edd about what had happened on the bike trail.
"What would anyone want with me?" Edd asked.
"Maybe it has to do with your status as a fish-out-of-water," Buddy suggested, "They weren't after Oliver and nearly shot me with…something."
Oliver remembered he had one of the strange weapons the purple guys had been carrying. He took it out of his backpack and looked at it.
"I wonder just what they were," Oliver said, "I thought they might have just been a group of Gengars or something trying to troll us, but they probably would have killed us had we not gotten away."
"Not to mention the fact that we actually hit them," said Buddy.
"I should probably catch some more Pokémon in case we meet up with more of those guys. I'm surprised we got away from them."
Oliver looked at the weapon again before sticking it back in his backpack. "I should probably turn the gun into the police station. I might get in trouble if I still have it by the time we leave for Kalos."
"Okay, now for the reason we're here in the first place," Buddy said, "Where's the game center or whatever it was called?"
They left the Pokémon center and asked someone nearby for directions. It was just down the street.
Walking down, they found a large brightly lit building at the edge of the town.
"That must be it," said Oliver.
They walked inside to see quite a few people inside playing the various games that we around the building. Many were at the slot machines.
"What do you remember Eddy looking like, Edd?" asked Oliver.
"Short, a bit on the heavy side, a bit of an overbite, only has about three strands of hair on his head," Edd answered, "But there's no guarantee that he is still a human. He may have become a Pokémon like me."
"I guess all we can do is look," said Oliver.
They walked around the building. Most of the kids around Oliver's age were at some arcade games in the back of the building. None of them fit Edd's description at all, and only two kids currently had Pokémon with them.
Looking around at the slot machines, the only kid they saw was a brown haired kid wearing an earflap hat. He had four Pokémon with him, a Swampert, a Gulpin, a Meowth, and a Sableye. Judging by the sleepy look in his eyes, Oliver guessed that he must have been there for a while.
"Skipper sure has been here for a while," Oliver heard the Swampert say. "He should get some sleep."
"I'm getting hungry," the Gulpin said, "If he plays another round, I may have to eat you, Gil!"
"Don't even think about it," the Swampert replied.
Oliver noticed that the kid otherwise fit the description Edd gave him, except for the fact that he had hair.
"So close…" Oliver thought.
The kid noticed Oliver and the two Pokémon accompanying Oliver looking at him. "What are you looking at?" he asked, annoyed.
"Sorry," Oliver apologized. He, Edd, and Buddy walked away.
"Well, I guess I conjectured incorrectly," said Edd, "I don't know where else we could look."
"Guys, let's get real, here," Buddy said, "Hoenn's a big place, and Oliver says that Kalos is even bigger, it could be months before we ever find either one of the two guys that are here!"
Oliver and Edd had to agree. "I'll call Dexter and tell him that finding them is just too difficult and that we're coming back to the lab," said Oliver.
Edd looked especially dejected that they hadn't been able to find his old friends at all. He was just going to have to accept what had happened and move on with his new life.
Suddenly, their thoughts were interrupted by the doors suddenly flying open with a loud bang, followed by several gasps and a scream.
"Oh no…" said Buddy, pointing.
Oliver looked, and, to his horror, saw that the three purple guys who attempted to mug them and kidnap Edd were back.
"Who on earth are they?" cried Edd.
"Those are the guys who attacked us on the trail and tried to get you!" replied Oliver, "We gotta get out of here!"
They looked for a way to escape, but the only other doors they saw were behind the front desk and the doors to the restrooms across the room. They couldn't get to either one from their current position without being seen by the purple guys.
"What do we do, man?" whispered Buddy in a panic.
Oliver looked around and saw a row of fake trees in some pots nearby.
"Let's hide there!" said Oliver. Then he turned to Edd. "Hey, Edd, for your safety, you're going to have to return to your Pokeball, ok?"
"Understood."
"You too, Buddy."
"Ok…"
Edd and Buddy retreated into their respective PokeBalls, and Oliver hid behind the trees.
He watched as the three purple dudes walked in.
"Has a boy in olive green named Oliver walked in here?" The leader asked a man standing by the door.
"I don't have any idea," the man stammered.
The purple guy shot him in the foot with his weapon. The man yelped and dropped to the floor clutching it.
"No way!" Oliver whispered.
The Purple Guys went around asking people if they had seen Oliver, Buddy, or Edd. They wounded several more people with the contents of their weapons. Oliver noticed that one of the cohorts was weaponless.
"I still have his gun!" Oliver realized.
As Oliver fished it out of his backpack, he saw the Purple Guys walk up to the fat kid and his Pokémon, the former of whom was still sitting there on the same slot machine as before. (Oliver noticed that the Swampert was halfway inside the Gulpin's mouth, kicking frantically.)
"Have you seen a boy in olive green named Oliver?" the leader barked.
"Who wants to know?" the kid replied, "Can't you see I'm busy? I almost hit the jackpot."
"I doubt anyone will miss you," the Purple Leader said, he and his armed comrade aiming their weapons at the boy's head. His Pokémon looked on in horror. (With the Swampert escaping the Gulpin's mouth in the process.)
"Hey, uh, this is just a joke isn't it?" the kid said nervously.
"Wait!" Oliver cried, springing from his hiding place, the weapon in hand, "don't hurt him!"
The Purple guys lowered their weapons from the fat boy's head.
"Hey! That's mine!" the unarmed Purple Guy said, noticing Oliver with his gun.
The Purple Guys ran for Oliver.
"Uh oh," Oliver started to run away.
"Hey, Gil! Use Water Gun!" Oliver heard the fat boy say.
The Purple Guys were suddenly swept off their feet by a spout of water via the fat boy's Swampert.
Before they could get up, another person yelled: "Kecleon! Use Psybeam!"
A woman's Kecleon shot a beam at the Purple Guys.
"Hey, what happened?" one of the Purple Guys cried, "The floor is all swirly."
Then a mob of Pokémon and people swarmed the three Purple Guys, who were too disorientated to fight back, with someone's Ekans using Wrap and another person's Graveler using Rock Tomb forcing them into submission while the woman at the front Desk called the police.
In the commotion, Oliver ran for the front door only to run into the fat kid as he himself ran to it.
Whack!
"Ow!" the kid said.
"Hey, thanks for stopping them," Oliver managed to say to the kid.
"Sure, whatever," the kid replied, "Now let us outta here…my hat! Where's my hat?"
Oliver looked up to see that the boy's hat lying down on the ground…along with a pile of hair!
Oliver looked to see that the fat kid was completely bald…save for three large strands of hair.
"Eddy?" Oliver asked.
"Eddy?" the kid said, "My name is Skipper, pal, now let us go."
Skipper then got up, grabbed his hat (but forgot his wig), and ran out the door, his four Pokémon following close behind.
Oliver looked down at the wig, and then looked back at the fleeing Skipper.
…
Ten minutes later, the police had arrived and carted the three Purple Guys to the police station, the injured people were being treated for burns (fortunately, no one was seriously injured), and Oliver finally gave the strange weapon to the police. The Game Corner was being closed for the rest of the evening.
Oliver had released Buddy and Edd from their PokeBalls.
"Well, this is even better!" said Buddy sarcastically, "We'll never find any clues now!"
"Don't be so sure," Oliver replied. He showed Edd and Buddy the wig Skipper lost.
"What is that?" Edd asked.
"The kid who looked like Eddy but we thought it wasn't," Oliver said, "turned out he was wearing a wig, and he's bald…except for three gigantic strands of hair."
"Either that is a very strange coincidence, or that was most definitely Eddy," said Edd, "Where'd he go?"
"I don't know," said Oliver, "He ran off after we stopped those Purple guys. I don't think he could have gotten far."
"I would say to find him posthaste," said Edd, "but I cannot stay awake! We should rest!"
Oliver and Buddy were very tired as well. It had been a very long day, and everyone was very tired.
"We'll find him again tomorrow," Oliver said, "I doubt he would have gone very far."
The three of them stayed at the Pokémon center for the night.
…
Oliver tried to call Dexter to inform them of their finding Eddy, but Dexter didn't answer at all.
"Hello, Dexter? Are you there?" Oliver called. No answer.
"Well, I'll just leave you a message then. I'm pretty sure we found Eddy, and he was in Hoenn like we suspected, doesn't have his memory back though. I'll call again later."
The message ended.
"Let me go! Let me go!" Dexter yelled, "Don't listen to that message!"
"Sorry Nerdy Pants!" someone said, "We heard it loud and clear! Deploy more Jelly Men. We'll have them before you can say "Hoenn confirmed"!"
END CHAPTER 4 (Sooner or later, we'll find out who that voice belongs to…or if Skipper is indeed Eddy…which he probably is, but oh well!)