"Well, congratulations to her, she's just won some money." Zapp commented. Seth was too caught up in his own little celebration that it took several seconds for what the Gym Leader said to sink in.
"Wait… what?"
"Do… do you have any idea what the rules are to this tournament? You seem to be confused at every turn." Zapp chuckled. "First place is five hundred bucks. Runner up gets three hundred. Third and fourth – or, the semi-finalists that lose – get one hundred each. No matter what, she's got at least a hundred."
"… Awesome!" Seth cheered.
You did it, Holly! I knew you could. Two more wins and the five hundred is ours!
Seth watched proudly as Holly exited the battlefield, and Growth took the microphone to announce the next battle. His voice was, however, blocked out by another.
"Seth?" The new voice asked, entering the room. Zapp and Seth turned to the newcomer, and Seth smiled.
"Stan! Have you been up here for the other rounds?"
"Yes. I had to miss that battle, though, I was on the phone to father." Stanley replied. "Who battled, and who won?"
"Holly was battling against Kenny… she won in a black wash." Seth replied, brimming with pride.
"Oh, wow. Kenny's one of my friends, I didn't think he'd go down so easy… Holly must have gotten better since I saw her on Route 15." Stanley commented.
"Yeah… it's been less than a full day and you can already see the confidence she's picked up." Seth agreed. He was then struck by a thought. "Oh, is it alright if I borrow your phone? I want to make a call."
"Yeah, of course." Stanley said, handing Seth his phone. Seth took it, and went to the back corner of the room as Stanley went to join Zapp in watching the start of the next battle.
Seth dialled his mother's number, and waited.
"Hello. You've reached Minerva Hopper. My answering machine is a bit broken at the moment, so I won't be able to receive your message or call you back, unfortunately. Have a… great day!" The message was followed by a brief pause, and then a beep. Seth hung up without leaving a message, and then frowned at the phone. Something seemed off about the message, but he couldn't put his finger on just what it was. With a shrug, he decided to try the number again. He put the phone to his ear just as Stanley and Zapp cheered at something in the arena.
Damn it, I'm missing another good match…
"Hello."
"Hi! I-"
"You've reached Minerva Hopper. My ans-" Seth hung up with a groan and without waiting for the message to finish. He shook his head, and then dialled the number again. It may not work, but he decided to try leaving a message anyway.
"Come on, pick up…" He mumbled.
"Hello. You've reached Minerva Hopper. My answering machine is a bit broken at the moment, so I won't-"
"Seth, come on, you're missing everything!" Stanley urged. Seth looked up at him for a moment.
"Yeah, won't be long."
"-… great day!" Seth waited for the pause and the beep.
"Hi, Mum, it's Seth. I know I should've told you before starting my adventure… things are just a bit… complicated. I'm sorry. I'll ring again a bit later, hopefully you'll be able to answer the-" Seth was interrupted by a beep. He cursed loudly, but figured what he'd left was adequate. He hung up the phone, and raced over to the window, handing the phone back to Stanley as he did.
"You just missed a whitewash, Seth!" Zapp said, obviously impressed. Seth looked down to see a tall boy with thick, messy black hair covering his face standing next to a brutish, hovering steel pokemon – a Metang. The contestant on the other side withdrew his Minun with a dejected look on his face.
"Whoa, damn. What else did that Metang just beat?" Seth asked, in awe of the great blue beast of a pokemon. With a pang, he realised that for Holly to win, she would have to go through this boy, and whatever other pokemon he had.
"It also beat a Flareon and a Poochyena, both of which it could have struggled with if it weren't trained so well." Zapp replied.
"That's Damien's third straight whitewash," Stanley added, "I'll be surprised if he doesn't win the whole tournament."
"If anyone can do it, it's Holly." Seth said earnestly, thinking of the aggressive black wash she'd just completed.
Wait… Poochyena! I need to take Holly's pokemon to the pokemon centre! Unless… unless Stan has a spare Health Ball!
"Oh, hey, Stan, do you have a spare Health Ball I could borrow? Holly's Poochyena got hurt in a fight recently and I don't wanna get caught up at the pokemon centre and miss the semi-finals."
"I don't, sorry," Stanley responded, "they're still in development, not many exist yet."
"Damn. Thanks anyway." Seth said with a sigh, watching Damien exit the arena with a pokeball in hand and a beaming smile on his face. This kid was good.
But Holly is better, Seth thought to himself. It was an odd thought, considering he hadn't actually even seen Damien battle, but deep down he just knew that Holly could best him.
"If you don't want to wait for the pokemon centre, why don't you just go to the mart and buy a couple of potions?" Stanley suggested.
"I don't… I don't have any money." Seth admitted, meeting a surprised reaction from Stanley and a confused reaction from Zapp.
"But… oh… you're completely relying on Holly's performance in this tournament, aren't you?" Zapp thought aloud.
"Yeah…" Seth admitted, suddenly realising how horribly unfair that was on the brunette.
"You know what?" Stanley said with a smile. "Come with me, I'll buy you some."
"Really?" Seth shouted. He quickly realised how loud he was and covered his mouth with his hands, stifling the noise but not managing to hide the smile.
"Yeah, of course. Besides, I… uh… I kind of owe you money."
"What? Why?"
"Our battle…" Stanley said slowly, as if it were obvious.
"What about our battle?" Seth asked, and Zapp couldn't help breaking into laughter and gently smacking the window in front of him.
"When you defeat another trainer in a sanctioned pokemon battle," Stanley explained, "you're entitled to some of their money, based on the level of their pokemon and how many badges they have. The pokedex can calculate it all for you."
"Oh… yeah… about that…" Seth said, scratching the back of his head and looking down at the floor, "I'm… I'm not officially a part of the League. I was banned."
Zapp and Stanley openly gaped at the blue haired boy before them, completely oblivious to Professor Growth announcing the next match.
"You were banned? Why?" Zapp asked cautiously. Seth was all too aware that the former Elite Third was slowly reaching for a pokeball.
"For catching a pokemon too early, Professor Moss banned me."
"Oh, that's absurd." Zapp claimed, throwing his hands in the air. "That's a relic of a rule leftover from a stupider time, it shouldn't even still exist. You can take that up with the Pokemon League, you know."
"I know." Seth replied. "After the tournament, Holly and I are headed to League Mountain."
"Haha, now you're talking. Still, to overturn the decision of Leapton Town's professor, you'll need someone higher up to back you up. Like, for example, the Smeltite City Gym Leader." Zapp said, grinning.
"Really?" Seth yelled. "You're serious?"
"Yeah," Zapp responded, "I can probably get Titus to agree as well. You'll be a part of the League in no time – on one condition."
"What's that?" Seth said, his heart sinking slightly. He knew it was too good to be true.
"You'll come straight back here and make your first Gym battle against me." Zapp said with a smile and a wink. Seth simply smiled and nodded in return.
"I'll still buy you a couple of potions if you like, Seth." Stanley added as the next two contestants entered the arena. Seth looked between his new friend, the Gym Leader, the kids inside the Gym and Holly's Poochyena attached to his waist.
"Okay, but let's make it quick, I don't wanna miss this entire round." Seth said, turning and leaving the private room. "We'll be back soon, Zapp!"
"Take your time." Zapp called as the two boys left.
"Wait," Seth said, a thought occurring as they walked towards the pokemon mart, "your pokemon are all healed up, yeah? Couldn't you just have let one out for a bit and Poochyena could've gone in the Health Ball?"
"It's not that simple." Stanley replied, taking a Health Ball off his belt and looking at it. "If you could do that, then you'd only ever need one ball to capture everything, and Price Industries need to make money from the stuff they make somehow. So, they're all coded to whatever pokemon they capture – once they capture something, they can't capture anything else. Although, I think they're working on a Program Ball or something, which would let you erase the record on a ball so you could capture something else with it."
"… Wow." Seth finally uttered. He hadn't realised pokeballs were so complex.
I guess they do turn creatures into pure data; they'd have to be pretty complex…
"Are Price Industries working on any others?" Seth prompted, fascinated. He wanted to be like Stanley, trying one of everything.
"Yeah, a few. Price Industries is one of the only developers of pokeballs in the entire Narho region, and definitely the biggest. They make the standard ball, as well as the great and ultra pokeballs in towns near stronger wild pokemon. They've got Health Balls, Program Balls and Struggle Balls in the works – Struggle Balls would actually do a little bit of damage to a wild pokemon when used, helping out novice trainers with a single weak pokemon. There's Shrink Balls, which shrink to a far smaller size than the normal balls – hopefully small enough to just wear on the wrist. They've got Repeat Balls that use the data in the pokedex to aid in capturing a species you've already caught, and Dive Balls which use the water pressure to help in capturing a pokemon – of course, that only works underwater. Though, they're developing a Rain Ball that will try to use the rain to do the same thing. I don't think it'll work. Oh, and they've got Solar Balls, which use solar power to help with capture as well." Seth couldn't even manage a 'wow' this time – he was slightly overwhelmed at the sheer variety Price Industries was working on.
"That's… that's awesome. Where do they get the ideas for this stuff?" Seth finally found his words just as the two of them entered the pokemon mart.
"Well, the Solar Ball was actually my idea." Stanley confessed with a proud smile as he swiftly darted through the store to where he knew he'd find the potions. "While it was in development, it was actually called a 'Stanley Ball'."
"Haha, that's pretty cool!" Seth conceded as his friend took five potions and two super potions off the shelf, then began walking over to the counter. "I wish I had a ball named after me."
"Well, I don't anymore." Stanley replied. He placed his items on the counter, and then pulled out a plastic card. "That is, unless you count-"
"That all?" The shop owner interrupted, clearly grumpy and unimpressed. She had a scraggly, underfed and tired look about her, as if she hadn't slept, eaten, showered or stopped working in six months.
"Um… yes." Stanley responded, slightly stunned. He tentatively handed the woman his card. She did some convoluted action with the card before handing it back to her customers and shoving the potions in clear plastic bags. The two boys turned to walk away, when the owner sighed heavily.
"I'm sorry." She called, and they turned to look at her, unsure what was coming. "I'm just… very stressed out lately. I apologise for being rude. My name is Hannah." She said with the brightest smile she could manage, and for a fleeting second Seth saw the image of his mother forcing out a smile on even her roughest days.
"It's fine." Seth replied honestly. "What's got you stressed out?"
"New laws passed down by the Champion. If needed, the Champion, the Elites and the Gym Leaders can now just come and take my stock for free."
"Oh, that's… not fun." Seth remarked. "Does it happen often?"
"No, it's a new law, I haven't had it yet. The Gym Leader here, Zapp, seems pretty nice; I don't think he'll abuse the power. It just… doesn't seem right, I guess."
"We would love to stay and chat, and we do feel sorry for your situation, but we have to go if we're going to catch the rest of the tournament." Stanley urged, nudging Seth.
"Oh, right. Good luck, Hannah. See you later!" Seth called as he started towards the Gym.
"Wait up." Seth called to Stanley as he slowed to a stop, taking a potion from the bag in one hand and Poochyena's pokeball in the other. "Let me just heal Fang first, then we'll go."
"Fang?" Stanley repeated with an inquisitive glance.
"Yeah, Fang. I think giving a pokemon a nickname helps bond with it, and this pokemon really doesn't like me at all right now." Seth said. He released Poochyena, who appeared still unconscious on the ground in a flash of red. "I'm gonna suggest the nickname to Holly after the tournament." He began spraying the potion all over the dark type pokemon.
"Oh, that's right, I forgot about that one." Stanley said suddenly and without any sort of context. "Price Industries is developing one other type of ball; the Absorb Ball," he elaborated, "which would let you just spray potions straight on the ball, and they'd be pumped straight to the pokemon still inside the ball. I prefer the Health Ball, though. Though the Health Ball would be really, really expensive."
"That's cool!" Seth said. "Hey, that reminds me. What were you saying back in the store?"
"When?"
"Before Hannah interrupted… something about another ball named after you besides the Solar Ball?"
"Oh…" Stanley mumbled, his face turning slightly pale. "I… um… that's sort of secret… I wasn't supposed to let that slip." He paused – the potion was empty, and Poochyena was stirring.
The pup slowly got to his feet, opening his eyes with some effort and surveying his surroundings. His eyes finally landed on Seth, and he grunted once and turned away from the boy. Seth sighed, and returned Poochyena to the pokeball.
"Have it your way, Fang…" he murmured. He and Stanley resumed their walk back to the Gym. "You can tell me, Stan. I'm not going to tell anyone, I promise." Stanley thought for several seconds before deciding that he could trust Seth.
"Alright. This one was kind of my idea too… I want to become the first ever pokemon master, and I thought it'd… it'd be cool to have a ball designed to help me with that. I think that's where father got the idea for the Program Ball, too. But, anyway, the original idea was a ball that wasn't just stronger depending on the conditions, but… perfect." He paused for a moment to look Seth in his bright green eyes and make sure the blue haired boy understood – which he didn't seem to. "As in… it would never fail. No matter what you threw it at, it would capture that pokemon. Every. Single. Time."
"That's… that's incredible." Seth breathed, clearly in awe. "They named that one the Stanley Ball, too?"
"No, that one was called the Master Ball. But, due to ethics and pressure from the League, it was cancelled half way through."
Seth and Stanley said nothing more to each other the rest of the way, save for the single password spoken by Stanley to allow them access back into the private box of the Gym. Upon walking through, they were greeted by an ecstatic Zapp.
"You two missed one hell of a round!" Zapp yelled enthusiastically. "An entire round… two black washes and two whitewashes… and that was it! The four that are left have some serious skill!" He gushed. Seth's jaw dropped.
"You're kidding. I missed another round of battles! Why is it that I only get to see Holly's battle every round, then something comes up?"
"Well, you only managed to see half of her battle last round." Zapp corrected.
"Not better." Seth commented. "Well, at least everything is taken care of, and I can sit up here and watch all of the semi-finals." He sat on the floor with a huff, crossing his arms and pouting.
Seth remained in that position barely speaking for almost an hour while the contestants had their pokemon healed. It had been what seemed like an agonisingly long day, waiting for battles then being blown away each time by what Holly could accomplish. Finally, the wait was over.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience. The Smeltite City Youth Tournament Semi-Finals are about to begin!" The roar of the crowd was louder than any roar Seth had previously heard from them. "The first semi-final will be between Smeltite's own prodigal son, Eric Cannon and the impressive traveller from Mantenno Port, Holly Dixon!"
"Cannon?…" Seth whispered aloud, looking at Zapp in slight shock.
"Yep. That's my nephew. Sorry, Seth, but I'm not going to be cheering for Holly for this one."
"Bring it on." Seth said with fire in his eyes.
Neither Eric nor Holly were going to pull any punches. This battle would take the winner to the final, and a guaranteed 300 dollar prize. They both released their pokemon in sync: Holly opted to lead with Ledyba again, whilst Eric sent out a Mightyena.
"How did Eric do last round?" Seth asked.
"You know how Damien won in the length of your phone call?" Stanley responded.
"Yeah?"
"Eric's whitewash was faster."
"… Oh."
"The nephew of a Gym Leader, huh?" Seth said with a slight smile curling his lips.
"Yeah. This is gonna be good." Stanley said, transfixed on the battle.
"Begin!" Professor Growth announced above the growing din of the crowd, and Seth's smile grew wide as Ledyba and Mightyena turned into black and red blurs in the battlefield.
"Take him down, Holly."
Pokedex:
Name: Seth Hopper
Location: Smeltite City
Seen: 27 (New – Metang, Minun, Mightyena.)
Caught: 3
Badges: 0