And another!
Chapter Ten: A Stray
Misya and Tenga reported that nothing had happened during their watches in the morning. Kyra was preoccupied by the darkness that had filled her dreams once more, though no voices had come from it. She wondered if they were ever going to come back, and was not sure if she wanted them to or not.
Ammy whined and pawed at her worriedly. Seeing this, Misya said, "Everything okay?"
"Yes, thanks. I'm just thinking," Kyra answered, forcing herself to smile. "So how long until we reach the next city?"
"Not long now. It should be bigger than the past two we've seen," Grisom said. "It's called Sapphire City, and it's very close to the ocean."
"It's a good thing we're about to arrive. I'm running out of food," Misya said as she watched Hama, Yuki, and Leena finish eating. "My extra store was needed for Leena."
"I think we all need some more," Tenga said. "Along with some healing supplies."
"Oh, we're covered there." Grisom pulled a Potion out of his pack and tossed it to Tenga. "There, a replacement for yesterdays."
"You sure come prepared," Kyra commented. Her thoughts were briefly directed to the stone in her backpack, but she pushed it aside.
"That I do." Grisom stood up. "Everyone ready?"
They followed his lead. Since they were close to the city, all but Ammy, Hama, Neji, and Hinata were returned to their Poké Balls. Tenga had decided that Neji and Hinata deserved a break from their balls and to let Ranma stay inside instead.
As Grisom had said, they reached Sapphire City quickly. When they came over a particularly steep hill, they saw it below them. The white buildings sparkled in the sunlight, and the ocean spread out behind it, leaving a bright impression.
"You were right, it is big!" Kyra said, staring.
"It's a pretty neat sight," Tenga said. Neji and Hinata made noises of agreement.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Misya said.
When they entered the city, they saw many people going about their business. Several carried shopping bags and came out of the numerous stores. All of them wore shorts, along with t-shirts and other short-sleeved (or non-sleeved) shirts. The sun beating down on them showed why.
"It's hot here," Misya remarked.
"I noticed," Tenga said, eye twitching.
"What's wrong?" Kyra asked.
"I hate the heat," Tenga answered tightly.
"Oh, sorry," Kyra said.
Tenga shrugged. "I'll get over it. Can we go in there for a moment?" He indicated to a clothing store.
"Sure, though I don't know why you'd want to," Grisom said.
Once inside, they split up to browse. Upon grouping back together, they found Tenga was wearing a new pair of pants. They were orange with yellow, jagged lines on the bottom.
"Hey, those are pretty cool," Misya complimented.
"Thanks. They're for Ranma," Tenga explained.
Kyra lifted an eyebrow. "So you base your clothes on your Pokémon?"
"That's right. I'll be getting new ones if I catch any more," Tenga said.
"I knew you were weird, bookstore, but that crosses the line," Grisom said with a laugh. "Let's keep going."
When they left the store, a girl ran over to them. "Excuse me!"
"Yes? Can we help you?" Misya inquired.
"I made a mistake and bought the wrong TM at the store," the girl said, holding up a disk. "So I'm willing to trade it to you. But I want a rare Poké Ball in exchange. Something that can't be bought here. Is that okay?"
"Sure, I think I have something for you," Grisom said. He reached into his backpack and brought out a black Poké Ball with yellow lines. "This is a Luxury Ball. It makes the Pokémon it catches grow happier towards you. That sound like a fair enough deal?"
"Yes, thank you! Here you go!" She handed him the disk while taking the Luxury Ball and skipped away.
"TM49, Snatch," Grisom said as he examined the disk. "It'll probably be more useful than that Luxury Ball would have been." He gave it to Misya, who placed it with the other TMs.
"She said that they sold TMs here," Kyra said. "Should we take a look at them?"
"We have to be careful with our money situation, but I think it's worth checking out," Tenga stated.
After visiting the grocery store to pick up food, they went to a large building that had a sign outside that said, Buy two TMs, get one free! Only this week!
"That's a good enough deal to me," Grisom said as they headed in.
Inside they found many TMs behind glass cases. There was a major difference between some of them price-wise, so they looked carefully for some cheaper ones. In the end they decided on TM44 Rest, TM51 Roost, and TM82 Sleep Talk. None of them were that expensive, and they left with their pockets only slightly lighter.
"So, the pre-gym next?" Misya said.
"That would probably be best," Tenga replied.
They arrived shortly at a large, white building with many windows that were well above the ground. When they went up to the door, they noticed a sign hanging from it.
"Closed," Kyra said with a sigh. "Guess it can't be helped-"
She was cut off by a cry of, "Hey, you! Stop!"
"Catch that thing already!" someone else yelled.
"Huh? Did you hear that?" Misya asked.
"Yeah. Sounded like it was coming from behind the pre-gym. Let's check it out!" Tenga said.
The scene they walked into was quite a frantic one. There were three people there, two males and a female. They all wore a similar outfit, with a black long-sleeved shirt and black pants. On the sides of them were three green hexagons attached together in a triangular formation, along with a green stripe going horizontally across the chest. They also had black hair and green eyes. The woman was standing near a closed door, appearing confused. The two men were chasing an Eevee. In its mouth was what looked like a silver key, and it was running away from them. The men were not nearly fast enough to keep up with it.
"What's going on?" Misya asked the woman.
"That twerp stole our key!" the woman exclaimed. "Here we were, all ready to steal some TMs, and then it popped out of nowhere!"
"What? Steal TMs?" Grisom said, eyes narrowing.
"…Oops. Oh well. We'll take you out… once we get that key back," the woman said.
They looked to see that the Eevee was hopping up a bunch of crates to the side of the building. From there it leapt onto a wooden beam on the building next to it. This one was under construction, with only the bottom portion finished. The Eevee kept hopping up, leaving the men on the ground.
"Get back down here!" one of the men shouted.
In response, the Eevee went next to a switch that held up a scaffolding. With a smirk, the Eevee hit the switch.
"Aw crap!" the woman shouted, diving away from the door. The group was luckily a good distance away from it, and the woman was able to get out of the way just in time. The scaffolding hit the ground with a mighty crash, bursting into pieces and tumbling steel bars over the door. When the dust cleared, it was obvious that nobody would be able to get through the door.
"Damn it! You stupid mutt, this is all your fault!" one of the men yelled at the Eevee.
The Eevee's only response was to drop the key. It went whistling down and hit the guy solidly on the head. He cried out in pain, and the Eevee waved her tail tauntingly at them.
"I can't believe we were just outsmarted by a Pokémon," the woman said in disgust. "Let's retreat for now! We'll come up with a new plan." They fled, leaving the group to stare at the scene.
"There are more safety regulations for scaffoldings than that," Tenga said. "She must have set that up before they arrived…"
"That's incredible," Kyra said in wonder.
The Eevee hopped down the building and came in front of them. It carefully picked up the key and regarded them curiously.
"Hi there," Kyra said, crouching down. "We came to challenge the pre-gym leader here. Do you know where he went?"
The Eevee shook its head.
"Oh well. We'll wait for him then. We should probably do that anyway to make sure those people don't steal anything." She looked at her companions. "Right?"
"Of course," Misya agreed. "We'll make sure they don't come back."
"Though you were doing a great job defending the place on your own," Kyra said.
The Eevee's chest puffed out at that. It went to Kyra and placed the key in her hand.
"Thanks. I'll return this to the leader when he comes," Kyra assured. "Are you one of his Pokémon?" A head shake answered that question. "Are you a wild Pokémon?" A nod. "Then why defend this place?"
"Maybe the leader has been nice to it," Misya suggested. The Eevee nodded.
"That makes sense," Kyra said. "So, are you a male?" A head shake. "Female then. Do you have any friends other than the leader?" Another head shake. "Well, then maybe Ammy and Tsuku can be your friends. They're both Eevees." She released Tsuku, who regarded the Eevee curiously. Ammy jumped down from Kyra's shoulder and pressed her nose against the Eevee's, her tail wagging. The Eevee looked wary at first but then relaxed a bit and spoke to them.
"You're an Eevee magnet," Grisom joked.
Kyra blushed. "I don't know how I could be. They're supposed to be rare."
They were still chatting when a crash came from the front. The group, alarmed, headed for it. They arrived in time to see one of the two men vanishing through a top, broken window, and a third man well up a rope that led to it. The woman was not in sight.
"Hey, stop!" Misya said, running forward. But she was too late. The rope was pulled up after them.
The Eevee went into action at once. She ran towards the crates and leapt up them, jumping onto the roof from there and speeding towards the window. Then she dropped into the building.
"She may be clever, but there's no way she can open the door," Grisom said. He released Aves. "Could you go through the window and open the door for us?"
As if to deny what he had said though, the door swung open, and they caught sight of the Eevee's tail as she bolted away.
"…HOW?" Grisom said, staring.
"She's smart," Kyra stated before following. Grisom shook his head as the others went too.
The room they went through looked like a typical battle arena with polished wooden floors. There were three doors, and the back one was slightly open. They headed for it.
Inside they saw the three people, the Eevee, and the people's Pokémon, which were two Zubats and a steel orb with two magnets and an eye in the center that Kyra recognized as a Magnemite. The Magnemite still had a rope tied around it, showing how they had broken in. The three Pokémon were cornering the Eevee, who was pressed against the wall. She looked for a way to run, but they continued to close in on her.
"Not so clever now, are you?" one of the men sneered.
"Leave her alone!" Kyra shouted.
"Or what? There's not much you can do to stop us," the woman said.
"Aves and I disagree," Grisom said. "Aves, help the Eevee!"
The woman laughed. "That's rich! Magnemite, give the bird a shock treatment!"
Sparks flew from the Magnemite, and electricity shot out towards Aves. He screamed and fell towards the ground.
"No!" Kyra cried.
"Now that that nuisance is out of our way, Magnemite, you may shock the Eevee," the woman said, smirking. It prepared to do so.
But before the Magnemite could, a white light burst from Aves. He began to take flight again, and then started to grow bigger. When the light cleared, they saw that he was much bigger and looked quite different. His tail feathers were all dark gray, except the center one, which was white. In addition, his body was mainly gray, with a white spot near his neck. The head area was mainly gray, with a white star spread across his eyes and beak. Aves spread out his wings, screeching, and dove forward.
"Did Aves just… evolve?" Kyra said in shock. She had barely managed to recall the term from her readings.
"He did," Tenga said, grinning. "Now he's a Staravia. I'd say things have turned to our favor now."
Shocked by the transformation, the Pokémon were unable to act quickly enough to stop Aves. He dove between them and scooped up the Eevee in his claws, and then returned to Kyra and dropped her in her arms. Kyra held her close and found that she was shaking slightly, apparently relieved that she had gotten out of that close one.
"Bah, it doesn't matter! You're still weak to Magnemite!" the woman said.
"He is, but Ranma isn't," Tenga said, releasing him. "Ranma, Ember!"
"Wukong, help him out! Aves, get the Zubats!" Grisom ordered, bringing out Wukong.
The fight was over in an instant. The two Ember attacks easily caused the Magnemite to faint, and Aves hit the Zubats with Wing Attacks. The trio quickly recalled their Pokémon, now visibly sweating.
"Drat! We'll have to run for it!" the woman said.
But before they could get anywhere, a voice came from the door. "You three, put your hands in the air! You're under arrest!"
They turned to see a woman that looked identical to Officer Jenny coming into the room along with four other policemen. Clearly outnumbered, the three surrendered at once and were taken away, leaving the group and the Officer Jenny look-alike.
"It looks like you kids were able to handle this well," she said. "Those were Team Evolt members. I recognized them at once. What were they doing here?"
"They were trying to steal TMs, miss… um…" Misya said.
"I'm Officer Jenny," she replied.
"But we met Officer Jenny a while ago," Kyra said in confusion.
"We're all Officer Jennies, and we're all related to each other," she explained. "So that was what they were up to. No big surprise I guess. There are a lot of TMs stored here."
"Is everything all right?" a man said as he came in. He wore a formal brown shirt and black pants along with black shoes. His short hair was brown, and he had glasses over his brown eyes.
"Ah, yes, it is. These kids helped take care of the criminals," Officer Jenny said. "They were defending your TMs."
"Then I owe you my gratitude," the man said to them. "My name is Hugo, and I am the pre-gym leader here. Thank you for your help."
"It wasn't a problem," Grisom said, holding out his arm for Aves to land on. He stroked him a couple of times before having him and Wukong return to their Poké Balls. Ranma was brought back as well.
"Besides, this Eevee did a lot of the work," Kyra said. The Eevee waved her tail as she set her down and went to Hugo.
He bent down to stroke her. "Thanks a lot, girl. I'm sure you ran circles around them."
"She did." Kyra handed him the key she had. "She had that and gave it to me."
"Ah, I was wondering where my spare key had gone." Hugo slipped it away. "Officer Jenny, I believe the situation is now under control. Thank you for coming."
"Anytime," she said, saluting before she left.
"So does this Eevee have a name?" Kyra asked.
Hugo shook his head. "She does not. I didn't want to get too attached to her, so I didn't give her one."
"Huh? Why?" Misya questioned.
"Because I always knew she would eventually find a trainer she would want to go with," Hugo explained. "All I've been doing is feeding her and playing with her occasionally. She hasn't expressed any desire to be my Pokémon though. It's as if she was waiting for someone."
To confirm what he said, the Eevee stood up and walked over to Kyra, sitting at her feet and staring up at her. It took a moment for Kyra to realize what that meant. "Me? She wants me to be her trainer?"
"I wouldn't be so shocked," Tenga said. "You gave her the most attention and tried to protect her when she was in danger. Aves may have saved her, but you kept her close afterwards. She probably also likes Ammy and Tsuku. The potential to make friends is there."
"And you are, as I said, an Eevee magnet," Grisom pointed out.
Kyra looked sheepish at that, but said, "I'd love to have you along." She brought out a Poké Ball and dropped it. The Eevee jumped into it, and the ball went still.
Kyra let her out immediately afterwards. "Now, what to call you. How about… Ilya?" She seemed to approve of this and wagged her tail again. "Then that's your new name."
"In that case, I ask that you come here for a moment, Ilya," Hugo said. She approached him. He stroked her once, saying, "I'm going to miss having you around, but this is for the best. Being a loner doesn't suit you. Go with them and make some close friends." He took out a disk. "But before you go, I want to give you this, as a going-away gift and a thank-you one for defending this building."
"What is it?" Kyra asked.
"TM45, Attract," Hugo said. "Trust me, she'll make good use of it." He handed it to Kyra. "Here, give it to her."
"Okay." Kyra knelt in front of her and held up the disk in front of her forehead. A light flashed, and the disk vanished. Ilya looked excited and wagged her tail several times.
"Looks like it worked," Grisom said.
"Great. We'll move on to other important matters then," Hugo stated. "Mainly, I assume that you came to this pre-gym for a reason before realizing people were trying to break in."
"Yeah. Speaking of those people, what is Team Evolt?" Misya said. "Are they connected to Team Remnant?"
"Team Evolt is a group that tried to tamper with how Pokémon evolved," Tenga explained. "They also started several projects that were labeled inhumane. The team broke up some time ago though."
"So they were probably Team Remnant members," Kyra inferred.
Tenga nodded. "I'd assume so. As for what you said, Hugo, we came to try earning your badge."
"Fair enough," Hugo said. "I'd be happy to take on any of you."
With a nervous expression, Misya said, "I'm the one who will challenge you."
"All right. Let's get started," Hugo said.
He led them to the arena that they had passed earlier. Once there, Misya and Hugo took their positions.
"Good luck!" Kyra said from the sidelines. Ammy barked her encouragement while the other two Eevees wagged their tails.
"Thanks!" Misya replied, looking a bit more confident.
"I'll start with this Pokémon," Hugo announced, pulling out a Poké Ball and throwing it. "Go, Chroma!"
Out came a chameleon that stood on two legs. Her face had yellow lines on it, her tail was curled up, and a red zigzag stripe was on her stomach.
"That's a Kecleon," Tenga said. "It starts off as a Normal type, but changes to the type of attack used on it."
"That gives me an idea then," Misya said. "Hama, I choose you!" Hama eagerly went to the battle field.
"Hm, that is problematic," Hugo remarked. "Chroma's main strategy involves Focus Punch, but that won't work against a Ghost type. Ah well, we can still do something. Chroma, Thunder Wave!"
"Hama, Psywave!" Misya ordered.
Hama managed to get off the psychic attack before being hit by the Thunder Wave. She froze in place, and then began to slowly move. Chroma, on the other hand, was bowled over by the attack. When she rose, she was a purple color, though the red stripe remained the same.
"Thunder Wave is a paralysis attack," Grisom said to Kyra, who looked confused. "She'll have a hard time doing much of anything now."
"It's also a TM for Kecleon," Tenga noted. "I assume most of his attacks will come from TMs."
"Chroma, follow up with Water Pulse!" Chroma held out her hands, and a ring of water shot out of them. It hit Hama brutally.
"Hama, try to use Astonish!" Misya said. Gritting her teeth, Hama managed to pull off the attack. Chroma looked brutally hurt from it, and her color changed to a pale purple.
"Clever," Hugo said. "You can use Psywave, then Astonish, then Psywave, then Astonish, and so forth until she faints."
"That's the plan," Misya said. "Hama, Psywave!"
"Chroma, let's try to finish this up quickly! Faint Attack!" Hugo commanded. Chroma vanished, only to reappear next to Hama and swipe at her. She looked badly hurt from it, but managed to respond with a Psywave. Chroma swayed from the strike.
"Finish her with Astonish!" Hama still appeared pained, but pulled off the attack. Chroma collapsed to the ground with her eyes swirling.
"Chroma, you did well. Return!" Hugo smiled as he brought out another Poké Ball. "Let's see if you can handle this. Hitomi, I call for you!"
His next Pokémon looked like a blue rabbit with buck teeth, spots, red eyes, and a small horn on her forehead.
"That's a… Nidoran Female, right? I remember seeing a picture of one," Kyra said.
"You're right," Tenga confirmed. "The Nidorans can learn a lot of TMs, so it's fitting for him to have one."
"Hitomi, Shadow Claw!" Hitomi sprang forward with her claws trailing light purple smoke. She slashed Hama, and it proved to be too much for her to handle. Hama sank to the ground.
"Hama!" Looking deeply worried, Misya brought out her Poké Ball. "You did wonderfully. Return!" Afterwards, she brought out another one. "Looks like it's time for our first battle together. Go, Leena! Stun Spore!"
When Leena emerged, her first action was to sprinkle golden powder over Hitomi. Hitomi struggled to move but could not.
"Now use Acid!" A spray of purple liquid struck Hitomi. Though she was a Poison type, the Acid attack seemed to do a fair amount of damage. Encouraged by that, Leena used it again, and then again as Hitomi tried to break free of the paralysis. Finally, she was able to.
"Hitomi, Ice Beam!" Hugo called. A white beam came from her horn. It shot through Leena, encasing her in ice briefly before it shattered. She collapsed at once, and though she tried to get up, could not.
"Leena, come back!" Misya looked very nervous at this, but sent out her last Pokémon. "Yuki, it's up to you!"
The watchers were not encouraged by Yuki's first action, which was to dance upon being released. Hugo blinked, but said, "Hitomi, Thunderbolt!"
Perhaps it was due to the paralysis slowing Hitomi, or maybe Yuki had intended it to be like this. Either way, Yuki somehow managed to dance out of the way of the Thunderbolt, much to everyone's surprise.
"Um… Yuki, Powder Snow!" Misya said. Yuki spun in a circle, snow coming from her and hitting Hitomi. Already severely weakened, it proved to be too much to handle, and Hitomi collapsed.
"Hitomi, good work! Return!" Hugo said. "Looks like I'm down to my final Pokémon. Come out, Kendi!"
The Pokémon he sent out looked almost like a miniature clown. He had a pink body, a purple hat with a white ball at the tip, and a big red nose. His entrance was to spin around on one foot.
"Mime Jr.," Grisom said. "Misya should be able to handle him."
"Kendi, use Substitute!" He twirled and vanished, replaced by a doll that looked vaguely like a dinosaur with closed eyes.
"He's a Psychic type, right? In that case… Yuki, Bite!" Misya said. Yuki gleefully latched onto the Substitute and began to shake it around.
"Kendi, Calm Mind!" By the time the doll was destroyed, they were able to see Kendi gathering energy. "Now use Shockwave!"
"Try using Bite again!" Misya ordered.
Yuki managed to latch onto Kendi's arm before he could attack. He cried out and blasted her with a Shockwave, sending her flying back. But it was not enough to keep her down, for she sprung back up as if nothing had happened.
"Yuki, one more Bite!" Yuki ran forward.
"Shockwave!" The attack came too fast to avoid, and struck Yuki dead-on. Though she was weakened by it, she still managed to leap and clamp onto the Mime Jr. Pale and badly injured, he fell to the ground.
"Kendi, you did your best. Return!" Hugo looked somewhat surprised, but soon smiled. "Congratulations. You are the victor."
"Great job Misya!" Kyra said with Tenga nodding.
"You may be a walking disaster, but you nailed it," Grisom joked.
"Oh, you!" Misya said, pretending to be annoyed but too happy to look mad for long. "Thanks everyone."
Hugo approached her and placed a badge in her hand. It looked like a small TM. "This is the Tutor Badge. Along with that, I will give you this TM. It is TM90, Substitute."
"Thanks. I'm sure we can put this to good use," Misya said before putting it away.
"So you have three badges now?" Hugo assumed.
"Yep," Grisom said. "By the way, Jen says hi."
Hugo looked surprised at that, and then happy. "Thank you."
"You must be good friends," Kyra said.
"Yes," Hugo confirmed. "I used to be completely absorbed with things such as learning and data. I never thought of people because I was no good at making friends. Jen changed that though. She gave me Kendi, and from there, I learned to care about Pokémon and became a good trainer."
"That's a touching story," Misya said.
"Yes, I suppose it is," Hugo replied.
Before he could say anything else, a crash came from the front. The group traded looks of alarm before heading out.
Outside they saw two people, each with a Pokémon. One was a woman who wore a blue suit and black high-heels, had long blonde hair, and blue eyes with glasses. Her Pokémon was a small brown bear. It had a round tail and round ears, a yellow crescent moon on its forehead, and black beady eyes.
The other was a teenage boy that had a green shirt, jeans, black hair, and green eyes. In front of him lay a camel with light brown fur and green at the top of its only hump. Its eyes were wide and with small pupils.
"Get up, you stupid lump! Up!" To their disbelief, the boy kicked the camel. It made an agonized sound and tried to stand again as the boy prepared to kick it once more.
Before he could, however, Tenga snapped, "Hinata, Reflect!" She waved her arms, and a clear barrier appeared between the boy and his Pokémon. His foot hit it with a jarring crack, and he leapt around on one leg. "OW! Damn it! Who did that?"
"Why are you attacking your Numel?" Tenga said sharply, not bothering to answer his question.
"Because it's an utter failure and can't even beat a lame Teddiursa!" the boy said. "I, Don E. Cass, will not allow such weakness to be in my party!"
"Your name… that explains a lot. You're no wiser than your relative," Tenga growled.
"What, Mor? He's a little on the stupid side, so I gave him my old Croagunk to help out. He doesn't come close to my wits though," Don said arrogantly.
"You really think so? Then try battling me," Tenga said, eyes hard.
"You asked for it! Get back here Numel!" He tossed a Poké Ball. "Go, Sneasel!"
The only thing that happened, however, was the ball popping open. No Pokémon came out. They stared at it for a few moments, and then Don cursed. "It must have run away again. I'll strangle it when I find it!"
"I wonder why it ran off," Tenga said sarcastically.
"Shut up, wuss! You've lucked out for now, but I'll get you next time!" He grabbed the Poké Ball and ran off.
"What a fool," the woman said, straightening her glasses. "Kuma, return." The Teddiursa vanished.
"Did he want to challenge the gym, Aida?" Hugo asked.
She nodded. "I gave him a test run and he was horribly unprepared." She gave the group a curious look. "They were the ones who helped catch the thieves?"
"Yes, and Misya here beat me in a gym match," Hugo explained. "All of you, this is my trainer, Aida. She's a big help to me, especially since she acts as my secretary too."
"You know you wouldn't be able to get by on your own," Aida said with a slight smile.
"No, I would not, especially with all the TMs I need to be kept in order." Hugo paused, stroking his chin, and then said, "I am intrigued by how you act with your Pokémon, Misya. Perhaps we can battle again someday."
"Thank you. I would like that," Misya said.
"Then I'll say farewell temporarily," Hugo said. "Let us meet again someday."
"Goodbye," Misya said, and the other three echoed her. Ilya rubbed against his leg briefly before returning to Kyra as they went on their way.
"Interesting kids, aren't they?" Hugo said to Aida.
"Yes, very," she answered in an absent-minded tone, seeming disturbed by something.
To be continued…