Chapter 11: Precious Things
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon (much to my wallet's dismay)
My victory over Gardenia had been my greatest achievement to date, but I still had a long way to go. She wished me well as I departed from her Gym with Lucas, at which time we returned to the Pokemon Centre to get Linoone and Kirlia treated. While Nurse Joy was taking care of the two of them, I took the opportunity to run some errands.
I had used the last of the five Pokeballs the Nurse Joy back in Jubilife had given me on Rotom, so I made a point to buy a few more. I stashed most of them in my bag, but placed one in my jacket so I could get at it easier if I needed to catch something. I also purchased some more curative items at the pharmacy, since I had gone through all of the initial supplies Uncle Chuck had bought for me. Lastly, Lucas and I both picked up some extra food supplies, since we were going to be on the road again.
While we were doing our shopping, I asked Lucas about where we should be heading next. According to him, the next Pokemon League Gym was located in a city called Hearthome. This was also the home of Pokemon Contests, which were like Beauty Pageants with a twist. They didn't interest me that much, but Lucas said that he wanted to go there to visit his mother, who was apparently a well known Coordinator.
Once we had finished with the errands, I picked up Linoone and Kirlia, both of whom had fully recovered. I bid farewell to Nurse Joy and thanked her before departing from the Pokemon Centre. After that, Lucas and I headed south out of Eterna, and were on our way once more. It would take us some time to make it to Hearthome City, but it didn't bother me any more, as I had grown used to travelling by now.
It had been three days since Lucas and I had left Eterna City, and our travels were going smoothly. Although I wanted to get to Hearthome and the next Gym as quickly as possible, there was one thing that I didn't hesitate to stop for: a Pokemon battle! I had encountered a trainer heading north along the same road Lucas and I were travelling south on, and had decided to get in some practice. Since she hadn't participated in the previous Gym battle, I decided to let Eevee have a turn.
The other Trainer had sent out a Doduo, which was a Flying-Type Pokemon. Oddly enough, it was completely incapable of flight. It had long, thin legs underneath a round, fuzzy body. It's most striking feature though was the fact that it had two heads, although they both looked the same. Each head was on a thin neck and had a long beak, both of which looked pretty sharp.
Doduo was at least three feet taller than Eevee, standing about even with me. However, being at a size disadvantage would also give Eevee the advantage in mobility, so it evened out. "Eevee, start off with a 'Headbutt'!"
"Doduo, fend it off with 'Fury Attack'!" called the other Trainer.
Eevee cooed at me and ran straight towards the enemy Doduo. In response, it let out a cry and began pecking at Eevee, alternating between its two heads. Eevee had to break off her charge to avoid the attack, but at the same time was caught between the pair of heads. They ceased their alternation and attacked her together, each catching her in one side with a beak. Eevee yelped loudly, which made me wince and hope she wasn't badly hurt.
Eevee hopped back, but staggered a bit as she landed, although she quickly regained her footing. "Looks like it's over Doduo," called the trainer. "Finish it with another 'Fury Attack'."
"Eevee," I called. "Stay low and use 'Quick Attack'."
Doduo ran forward and lowered its head to peck at Eevee once again. However, this time Eevee sped right past Doduo, underneath its legs. Both heads attempted to strike Eevee as she passed underneath, but instead they struck each other. Eevee turned around and prepared to attack Doduo again, but instead was met with the sight of its two heads squawking and pecking at each other. The other trainer let out a disappointed sigh and recalled Doduo.
"How come you're giving up?" I asked, walking to pick up Eevee.
"Once Doduo starts fighting with itself, I've never been able to get it to stop. Unfortunately I have a lot of work to do. Your Eevee must be in great shape though, to take an attack from both heads at once and still stand afterwards."
Eevee yipped happily at the compliment. "Thanks," I replied on her behalf. "Hopefully if we battle again I can win without such an anticlimax."
The trainer chuckled weakly and then headed off down the road. I stroked Eevee and turned to Lucas. "Eevee may seem alright, but I'd like to get her checked out to make sure. Is there a Pokemon Centre nearby?"
Lucas fiddled with his electronic map for a moment and then nodded to me. "There should be one a little further down the road. About a ten minute walk I'd say."
"Sweet, let's go."
We were in no hurry to reach the nearby Pokemon Centre, since Eevee seemed well enough. We walked along at a moderate pace and took a bit of enjoyment from the nice weather. However, when we came into sight of the Pokemon Centre, something else caught my eye. On the side of the road there was a small figure staggering forward. As Lucas and I looked on, it reached the middle of the road and collapsed onto its front.
Lucas and I wasted no time heading over to see what had happened. I handed Eevee to him and bent down to check what we now saw was a Pokemon. It looks like a small, purple skinned imp with small, spiky protrusions on its elbows and knees. I turned it over, and was remarked to see that, in place of eyes, a pair of large gemstones were set in its face. I pulled out my Pokedex to check what it was.
'Sableye: The Darkness Pokemon. This Pokemon usually lives in dark caves and feeds on stones and earth. Due to the way it digests minerals, gemstones form as part of its body.'
"Hey Amber," said Lucas, bending down next to me. "Something is off about this Sableye. Check the picture in the Pokedex."
I did as Lucas said, and saw what he was talking about. The image displayed showed Sableye to have a red stone in its abdomen, but this one's was missing. Instead, there was only a dark hole, with rough tearing around it. It only look me a moment to realize that the stone must have been ripped out by something, and that it had seriously wounded the Pokemon.
Without saying anything to Lucas, I grabbed Sableye up into my arms and dashed to the Pokemon Centre. I flung the doors open and ran up to the counter. "Nurse Joy, this Pokemon is seriously hurt!"
Without stopping to ask any questions, Nurse Joy placed the Pokemon on a small stretcher and, with Chansey's help, carried it into the back room. By now Lucas had made it inside, and I gestured for him to come along as I followed Nurse Joy. Back here, the Pokemon Centre actually looked like a hospital, with all manner of patient beds and medical equipment. Normally I would have been more intrigued, but right now all I could think about was that wounded Sableye.
Lucas and I approached a door with an Emergency sign above it, but were stopped by another Chansey. It directed us to sit on a bench and wait. While we were waiting, Lucas told me that he had seen footprints leading deep into the forest, indicating that it had walked quite a distance with that wound. We wondered what could have caused such a serious wound, as neither of us had actually seen a Pokemon hurt that badly before.
After half an hour of waiting, the sign above the door went off, and Nurse Joy emerged. However, instead of her usual cheerful demeanour, this one bore a rather stern expression. "I want to know exactly what happen to this Sableye, now!"
I was startled by the tone of Nurse Joy, as I had become familiar with her as being kind and gentle. Fortunately, Lucas covered for my hesitation. "Hold on before you accuse Amber of anything. We just found this Sableye outside the Pokemon Centre, it's not hers."
After Lucas spoke, I felt a bit of relief and was able to find my voice. "We were on our way here to get my Eevee checked after a battle, when we saw Sableye come out of the forest. Apparently it walked quite some distance with that wound before it collapsed on the road."
Nurse Joy let out a sigh. "That Sableye was very lucky, its wound was dreadful. I managed to patch it up, but it will be some time before it can recover from the shock. Inflicting that kind of injury on a Pokemon or allowing it to go that far during battle is more than reason enough to suspend a Trainer's license, at the very least."
"Frankly I agree with you; I'm appalled that such a thing like that could happen at all."
"Alright, don't beat yourself up about it. That Sableye will recover and it likely has you to thank for that. As for that wound, it didn't look like the kind of injury a Pokemon would normally receive in battle anyways. I hope you'll forgive me for being accusative."
"It's alright; you were concerned for its well being, like we were."
"Still, I wonder what could have caused that kind of injury."
"Perhaps the jewel has something to do with it."
"You're right! The wound I patched was right where you would normally find the red stone on a Sableye's stomach."
"There's one other thing I find strange," I remarked. "My Pokedex said Sableye were cave dwelling Pokemon, but this one came out of the forest."
"Well, I know there are Sableye living in the caves west of here, but I've never seen one leave before. Maybe whatever forced it out also caused that wound."
Our conversation was interrupted by a loud crash from the direction of the front of the Pokemon Centre. Lucas, Nurse Joy and I ran out of the back area to see what had happened. We were met with the sight of two men dressed in dark clothing who appeared to be scouting out the front area of the Centre. It seemed that they had kicked in the door hastily, and were talking between themselves.
"The trail ended just outside this place, so it must have been brought in here," said the first.
"This is a bad idea, charging into a Pokemon Centre is a sure way to get caught," replied the other.
"Look, it took us forever to coax that one out of the caves, and we don't have time to go looking for another one. Besides, it looks like there's just the nurse and a couple of kids here, so there shouldn't be any trouble."
"What on earth do you two think you're doing?" demanded Nurse Joy.
"We came here to take back our Sableye if you don't mind. Hand it over and there won't be any trouble."
"Certainly not, that Sableye is in critical condition and needs to remain in my care. Wait, I recognize you two; Officer Jenny showed me a wanted ad for you. You're jewel thieves!"
"Wait," I cut in, "does that mean these two hurt that Sableye just to get the jewels from its body? That's horrible."
"It was less obvious than robbing another store when we got people looking for us. Now, are you gonna hand it over or are we gonna have to get rough on you?" Upon saying this, each of the thieves pulled out a Pokeball and readied to throw them.
Lucas and I exchanged a look and nodded to each other. Lucas placed Eevee with Nurse Joy while the two of us stepped forward to meet the thieves. I pulled out Skarmory's Pokeball, while Lucas plucked one of his own from his belt. Upon thinking back about it, I realized this was the first time I had seen him do so. Even faced with the dangerous situation, I couldn't help but feel curious about what kind of Pokemon he had.
The elder criminal sneered at us. "We ain't afraid of a pair of kids. Go Mightyena!"
The other one called out his Pokemon as well. "Go, Raticate!"
The Pokemon unleashed by the first criminal resembled a large wolf. It had silver and black fur, and cruel looking red eyes. The other was a sizable brown rat with white fur on its belly and face. Large, sharp fangs were position on both its upper and lower jaws. The two Pokemon growled fiercely at us, and looked rather menacing. However, I wasn't intimidated and from his looks, neither was Lucas. We both hurled our Pokeballs out as well, Lucas calling 'Go Magmar!'
Skarmory appeared alongside Lucas' Pokemon, which was a sight to behold by itself. It was humanoid in shape, but its skin was red and yellow and scaly, giving it the appearance of a salamander. Its face was marked by a duck-like bill, and a furrowed brow. Heat seemed to radiate off its body, causing the air around it to shimmer. It also had a flame on the tip of its tail, radiating heat in a similar fashion.
The two thieves seemed taken aback at the sight of our Pokemon, but weren't ready to give up. "Go Mightyena, use 'Crunch' on that Magmar!"
"You too Raticate, hit that Skarmory with 'Hyper Fang'!"
"'Fire Punch'!" called Lucas.
"'Steel Wing', Skarmory!"
Mightyena and Raticate charged at our Pokemon, both of them baring their fangs. Magmar's fist became wreathed in red flames, while Skarmory's wings gained a silvery glow. Mightyena leapt at Magmar, but before it could make use of its jaws, it was struck in the side of the head by the 'Fire Punch', and thrown off to the side. It didn't get back up. Raticate attempted to attack Skarmory the same way, but instead caught its fangs on Skarmory's left wing. Skarmory proceeded to slam her right wing into Raticate's head, cracking its fangs as it fell loose of the other wing. It didn't get up either.
The criminals seemed horrified that their Pokemon had been defeated so easily, and turned to flee from the Pokemon Centre. Upon turning around, they were met with Chansey standing in front of them. Before they could make another move, Chansey jabbed each of them in the leg with a syringe, which caused them to become dizzy and collapse in a heap. Once they were out cold, Nurse Joy proceeded to tie them securely before calling the police.
Within the hour, the police arrived, led by a pair of Officer Jenny. Officer Jenny was a mystery similar to Nurse Joy, as all of her relatives bore the same name and looked exactly the same. They had long, blue-green hair that stuck out behind their head and neck, as well as a curly coif in front of their face. They were also wearing identical police uniforms.
After a bit of questioning, the officers hauled the two thieves off. Afterwards, Joy told us that she had recovered Sableye's jewel from them. If she could reattach it back in place, the recovery would be much easier. She also told us that she had treated the two Pokemon the thieves had used. She planned on retraining them and finding better Trainers to care for them. She also had checked out Eevee and told me she was doing fine.
With all the excitement from that day, Lucas and I decided to take a break and spent the night at the Pokemon Centre. Before we left the next morning, Nurse Joy told me that she has successfully replaced Sableye's jewel, and then asked me if I wanted to look after it once it had recovered. I accepted of course, which Joy was pleased to hear, and told me she would place it in the storage system for me once its recovery was complete.
While we were walking down the road, a thought occurred to me, and I turned to Lucas to address it. "Say Lucas, that was the first time I've seen you use that Magmar, or any Pokemon for that matter. Did you have it with you the whole time we've been traveling together?"
"Yeah I've had it for a while," he replied. "Why do you ask?"
"Is there any particular reason you saw fit not to use it while Skarmory was attacking us at Valley Windworks?"
Lucas let out a strange gulping noise and chuckled weakly, "Well; you seemed rather keen on doing it for yourself so..."
I had no intention of letting him live that one down, and looked forward to being able to tease him about it.
Author's Notes: My original version of this chapter had the Sableye's wound bleeding. My logic was that Pokemon, being living (and in most cases, organic) creatures, could bleed in the same fashion that they could break horns, bones and teeth, as well as be poisoned, burned and paralyzed. However, in retrospect it did not seem appropriate, considering the generally light nature of this story, so I removed it.
