Chapter 44
[Jay]
Dinner's really comforting and homely this time, with the food being really good as well. It might be because I'm eating home-cooked food in a house on a ranch, but I digress. Joey's grandfather was even nice enough to let me stay and sleep for the night, so that's good. My team and I have already cleared up most of the goodies on the table, with Chell and Dani being at the forefront of all the food consumption. Dani is simply floating above the food and picking up whatever her leaves and mouth can reach, while Chell is quickly and politely shoving food down her gullet at a frightening pace. However, Alita and Katrina seem to be catching up, the Liepard using her slender tail to swipe food off of their respective plates and into her maw, while Alita pecks rapidly at her plate like a machine gun would fire bullets. I swear, if she pecks any harder, the plate's gonna crack down the middle!
While Lily, Nesia and I eat calmly and slowly, Joey and his Grandpa simply observe the scene of food murder before them, Joey watching with more awe than his Grandpa. "Do they always eat that quickly?" He whispers to me, having had to scoot closer to my chair and poke me in the side to grab my attention. "No, they don't. They're only like that when there's good food in the house." I reply, Joey's Grandpa smiling as he hears the compliment. "Why thank you, Jay. I'm glad to see that your team appreciates my cooking." He nods in my direction, to which I nod back in acknowledgement. He's been calm so far, observing my team eating up with an odd sense of déjà vu. It's almost like he's been in my shoes before… Oh wait, didn't he say he was a Trainer back in his day? That explains it.
Joey had explained to his old man about the device we had accidentally found, and needless to say he was suspecting that something big was going on. I don't blame him. Some guys simply take his Pokemon, and a device causing them to go rampant is dropped on his land on the same day? Not a coincidence by any means, I'm pretty sure. After that, there was the problem of cleaning up the mess caused by the swarm of Venipede on the property. It was looking to be quite the problem, but I had the team help me out. The Venipede were sufficiently gummed up and worn out due to dealing with the sticky wool, which made handling them all the more easy. However, we had to wear gloves to pick them up, as not to accidentally touch any of them and activate their Poison Point ability accidentally. Once we did that, we let them stay inside the TBA that Joey's Grandpa had on him at the moment. He still hasn't taken it off for dinner, which is weird to me in a personal sense. (What a TBA is, I'll get into in a moment.)
Well, the release wasn't initially what Joey had planned for them. He had suggested we call pest control in order to deal with them without much fuss from our end of things. "I still don't get why you didn't just call them up to get rid of those stupid bugs for us." Joey pouts as I fork some roasted potato into my mouth. As you can see, he still hasn't gotten over how I had made him do all that extra work in helping the very same buggers that had attacked him and his grandpa in the first place. At the time, I had told him that the fates of those bugs would have been much worse if we had called the exterminators in to give him a valid reason, but I don't think he really got the point. His grandpa was much more understanding, immediately supporting my choice to free the Venipede ourselves.
"Ya see Joey, I don't think you get what Pest Control does to any bugs they find." I reply, reaching for some more potatoes before the team takes them. However, I am disappointed to find that my stab simply hits the plate, indicating a loss of potato goodness to chew on. Looking around, I see that the team still has some amount of potatoes left, and that they're in the middle of eating up. Sighing, I place my fork down on the table. Well, it's not that important. I'm not that hungry, anyhow. "What do you mean?"He asks, genuinely confused as to what I was implying. It's not his fault. I used to believe that humans treated Pokemon better as a kid, after all.
His grandpa simply looks his way with a solemn expression as he explains to the kid about how the world really works. "Joey, those exterminators wouldn't have taken the Pokemon back to the forest." He begins, to which Joey raises an eyebrow. "Wait, what are you talking about? Aren't they supposed to look after Pokemon, like my mom said?" He picks at his food, now really surprised at what we were saying. "Well, the exterminators do exactly what their name implies. They exterminate, or kill, any Bug Type Pokemon they find harassing humans, no matter what the reason." I finish, Joey now quite shocked as he hears me out. "Wait, so they kill any bugs they find!? But these guys weren't even attacking us for real! They were forced to with that thing you found!" He shouts, now a mite ticked off at how humans operate. "Yup. But do you think they care, even a little? Nope. As long as they get rid of the problem, they get paid. So, they just kill them with poison."
Now, Joey is stunned, as well as Lily and Dani. "That's so mean! Those Pokemon don't deserve to die like that!" Lily cries, horrified by my revealing of the situation between humans and Pokemon. "That's so much bull! They can't kill Pokemon for those stupid reasons!" Dani objects, her outburst getting Nesia and Alita to sigh. Chell looks saddened by the facts, but nods in confirmation regardless. Putting a hand on the kid's shoulder, I tell Joey something personal. "Me neither. It's pretty unfair for the Pokemon, to be honest. That's kinda why I'm a Trainer. If I get to a point where I'm a really good Pokemon Trainer, I can affect the way people see Pokemon. This way, people will listen to me due to my strength." I look his way, determination burning in my eyes. "Woah. That's really cool, Jay." Joey replies, in awe when he hears my personal goal. Joey's grandpa is shocked by my statement, but he soon regains himself, smiling widely at my words.
"I see. I was skeptical of your standing in all this, but now I see the truth. If what you say is true, then I wish to aid you in your quest for a better world." He stands up, walking into a room separate to the kitchen. "Wait here, please. There is something I wish to give to you." He tells me, walking inside and reappearing with a gauntlet and a disc. He hands both objects to me, while I give him a look of confusion. Nesia seems to be really curious about this tool, staring at it with stars in her eyes. "I recently got it fixed, but I think you'll find a much better use for it." Hearing his words and taking a look at the screen located on the wrist of the gauntlet, I finally see what this is, and I give him a look of shock. "Whoa! Is this what I think it is?" I ask him, putting on the glove as he nods. "Well, what is it?" Alita asks, to which the old man explains to me. "This is a Trainer's Battle Assistant, which also connects to the Adaptable Virtual Ranch and the Pokemon Storage Unit. This disc allows you to download your own Pokemon Storage Unit on your own laptop, due to lack of space inside the gauntlet."
Smirking as I observe the gauntlet, I can't help but pump a fist in happiness. This just made my life a hell of a lot easier. "Thanks a bunch, sir." I nod in gratitude, making the old man smile in return. "No problem, young one. If you really want to thank me, just make sure you uphold your end of the promise." He tells me, Joey staring at the glove on my arm in envy. "Aw, man! Gramps never let me use one of those!" He pouts, making me grin as I pat his shoulder. "It's fine. It's not about the tools, it's about the Trainer." I tell him, making him perk up a bit. "Okay, Jay! I got it!" He nods, making me and his Grandpa laugh as I ruffle his hair. "Now come, Joey. There's still the dishes that need to be done, and I need some assistance with the washing up." He adds, getting Joey to nod and hop off his chair to follow his Grandpa. "You got it, Gramps!" He replies, picking up as many dishes as he can carry and dashing off into the kitchen to clean up after himself. "Should I help you with the dishware?" I ask Joey's Grandpa, getting up to move some of the dishes into the kitchen as well, before I'm stopped by a shake of the old man's head. "That won't be necessary, Jay. You're our guest, after all. We can handle this on our own, so take some time to figure out how the TBA works." He tells me, heading off into the kitchen to check up on his grandson. As he walks into the room, I hear a clanging of metal impacting marble tiles. "Oops. Sorry about that, gramps…" I hear Joey apologize as I sigh and shake my head.
"What does it do, Master?" Nesia asks me, her eyes showing her desperate need to figure out the inner workings of this strange glove. Seeing her curiosity, I turn on the device and show her, as well as the rest of the team, the workings of this gauntlet. "Well this is the TBA, or the Trainer's Battle Assistant. It allows me to freeze a Pokemon and store it inside this gauntlet without hurting it with a method called Cryo-stasis, although it needs to be weak in order for the Cryo-stasis to work. It also allows me to summon any of your Pokeballs, or any of you if I want to, directly from inside this gauntlet."
Dani looks more that a bit confused at the mention of them being inside the glove. "Wait, what do you mean by us being inside this thing?" She asks, eyeing the glove with a look of suspicion. Chell seems a little scared when I mention the idea of sending her inside the AVR, tensing up when I explain how the gauntlet works. "I'm getting to that." I reply, a little irritated by her interruption. "Well, this glove also has access to a space I can place you all in, which is called an Adaptable Virtual Ranch, or an AVR. It's a place where I can load in bits and pieces of an environment for all of you to enjoy." Looking towards Chell I pat her head. "And don't worry, Chell. It's not like a Pokeball at all. In fact, Pokemon have told their Trainers it's like the real outside." I reassure the Dewott, who visibly relaxes with a thankful smile on her face as she nods in gratitude. "For example, if Nesia likes the trees that a forest has, then I can give her a forest inside the AVR." I explain, typing in the necessary commands for a forest area to be set up inside the virtual ranch. As I finish up a forest spawns in for them to see, which catches them off by surprise. "That does appear to be an actual forest." Katrina comments, looking at the forest with curiosity. "Whoa! Does that mean that I could fly around all the time, even though I'm inside that thing?" She asks, to which I nod. "Yup. You can do whatever you want inside this thing, except train your moves to make them stronger. This is because your bodies are turned into digital forms of themselves, so your muscles can't improve over time inside the AVR. You can, however, improve how familiar you are with your attacks." I add, already seeing Nesia's eagerness to see the environment inside for herself.
"As I can see that Ness is already feeling up for a test run, I'll suggest that you girls enter the AVR for a look around." I speak up, pointing to the AVR. "So, you ready to head on inside?" I ask them, to which they all nod, save for Lily. "Is this going to hurt, Sir? I'm a little scared…" She whispers, making me shake my head in response. "Nope, the digitalization process will not hurt a single bit. I just need to hold still for a little bit as the gauntlet converts you into data. Fair warning though, the first time of being digitalized takes some getting used to, and so you may feel dizzy upon entering." I warn them, to which Alita scoffs. "Yeah, yeah. Now hurry the hell up and put us in!" She buts in, making me sigh as I type in the command for digitalization. "Okay, geez. Now hold still, and let the device do its thing." I tell her, scanning them over with the gauntlet and preparing the gauntlet to digitalize the targeted Pokemon. As soon as the device locks on, a wave of energy washes over them and begins to turn them into data. They seem to be a bit shocked at the sudden pixilation of their forms, but they hold still regardless and let the device complete its transformation of their bodies. Well most of them seem shocked. "It tickles, Sir!" Lily giggles, feeling the energy slowly working its way through her body and sending her to the AVR. Alita and Dani are surprised at the sudden transformation, while Nesia and Katrina have the same calm expression worn on their faces. Chell seems to be a mite scared of the process, but a reassuring look from me is all it takes to calm her nerves and gain a smile.
As for me, this is quite the exciting thing to see for myself. I've never seen this kind of technology being used before, so I watch the process with interest, observing the digitalization of my team to its completion. As soon as they're completely transported into the gauntlet, followed by a ding sound from the gauntlet to signal the completion of the digital transfer, I take a look into the AVR app of the gauntlet's screen. Opening up the application, I can already hear the sounds of rustling trees and slithering feet in the background of the forest. The sky of the AVR is already showing a setting sun as well as a couple of orange clouds, indicating the time similarities of the AVR with the real world as well. Man, technology rules. Turning on the intercom that allows us to communicate both ways, I decide to speak to the team that are sitting on the grass, save for Alita, Nesia and Katrina. Katrina should be running off into the forest somewhere with Nesia, while I can already spot Alita flying up high into the sky in the virtual space. They don't seem to be aware that I can talk to them while they're inside the Virtual Ranch, so this may be a little surprising to them.
"Hey girls, everything okay in there? I can't really see Kat, Ness or Ali from here, so I'm not too sure that the place is to your liking." I speak up, startling the heck out of Lily and Chell, who jumps a bit upon hearing the sound of my voice. However, both calm down again once they realize it's still me talking from the other end of the gauntlet, even though my voice is kind of everywhere. "Woah! Where the hell are you talking from!? I can't see you anywhere from in here!" Alita yells, making me chuckle lightly as she voices her confusion. "I agree. Listening to your disembodied voice is a rather strange experience." Katrina adds, having stopped her running in the forest. "Master, where are you talking from?" Nesia asks me, to which I explain. "There's a speaker on the side of this gauntlet of mine, so I can talk to any of you in here whenever I want. I can also hear you when you want to talk to me." I explain, sating Nesia's curiosity for now. "That is really freaking cool." Alita replies, making me grin in response. Humans make some really cool stuff, and this is no exception.
"So, how is it in there anyways? I can't tell from here." I ask them again, having not gotten an answer the first time around. "It's really nice, Sir. I can see trees, clouds in the sky, and there's even a light breeze in here." She tells me, looking around the place to tell me what she sees. "The sky here is great! These clouds feel so real!" Alita shouts, flying through one to prove her point. "Yeah! It's really nice in here! The stuff I can see in here makes it feel like I've never even left the real world!" Dani pitches in, floating up a little higher as to get a better view. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll just ride the wind for a bit. Woohoo!" She laughs, the wind sweeping her light, cotton covered body out of the corner of the screen. As she exits my sight, I can see Lily smiling at Chell, who smiles back at her small, cute friend. However, I feel that Chell could use some areas of her own to enjoy her stay a little more in.
"Hey, kid. You feel like swimming in there?" I ask Chell, who perks up a bit at the mention of a place to swim in. Seeing her nod, along with the sudden positive shift in her expression, I smirk. "Alright then. One lake, coming up!" I answer her, typing in the command needed to place a moderately sized body of water near the two sitting Pokemon, as well as a couple of flowers around said lake for decorative purposes. The lake shows off a nice orange color, the light of the sun reflecting onto the water itself. As soon as Chell sees the lake materialize, she quickly jumps in the lake to have a splash, sending a small spout of water upwards with her sudden entry into the otherwise calm body of liquid. She soon surfaces after a little bit of swimming in the deeper area of the lake, a smile now quite obvious to see on her face. "Thanks a lot, Mister Jay." She expresses her gratitude, making me smile as she thanks me. "No prob, kid. Now have some fun, alright?" I chuckle, seeing her head sink back into the water again as soon as I said that. Meanwhile, I see Lily sniffing at the flowers around her, soaking in the warmth and light of the setting sun as she smiles softly, humming a tune to herself. The song that she's humming sounds quite familiar to me, but I can't really place the tune of what she's humming. Her voice is quite nice to listen to, if I do say so myself.
Before I decide to talk to her, I decide to make myself a digital avatar within the virtual space, so that the team has a reference point that they can talk to. Talking to nothingness can be really weird, as I can relate to from personal experience. Being alone for most of my childhood gets really boring sometimes. Punching in the settings I need to make a digital copy of myself, I finally can begin talking to Lily as if I was in there with her. "Heya, Lily. Liking the flowers, I see." I speak up, Lily smiling at my digital avatar when she hears me speak. "I really like these, Sir. Thanks for putting them here for me." She tells me, to which I smile back at her via my avatar. "No prob, Lily. Just tell me if you need anything else to make your stay here better, and I'll make sure you get it. Oh, and nice humming voice by the way. I like the way you sound when you hum." I tell her, seeing a blush form on her face as she hears my compliment. "Um, thank you Sir. No one's ever told me that before…" She shyly replies, making me look at her in disbelief. "Surely you're lying to me, right? That's some of the best humming I've ever heard, and my mom sung me to sleep every night when I was a kid!" I tell her, making her giggle a bit as she hides her face with the leaves on her head. "Sir, please stop. You're embarrassing me…" She timidly tells me, before suddenly remembering something she still had to tell me.
"Oh, that's right!" She suddenly says, making me raise an eyebrow in her direction. "Yeah? What's on your mind, Lily?" I ask, getting her to look my way. "Sir, I've been thinking about this for a bit, and I've decided that I wanna stay with you from now on." She tells me, getting my grin to falter a bit and become unsure of her words. "Are you sure, Lily? 'Cause if you decide to be part of the team, I'm gonna need you to learn how to fight along with the rest of the girls. I can't say it'll be easy, ya know." I warn her, but she shakes her head confidently as she reinstates her decision. "No, I've made my choice. I want to travel with you, and that's that!" She boldly states, before seeming to shrink a bit as she calms down after her little speech. "If you'll let me, that is…" She adds, making me chuckle at her sudden increase in gutsy attitude. "Sure thing, Lily. I'll let you join the team." I tell her, when Dani decides to but in with her own confirmation. "If she's in, them I'm in too! I can be a really good fighter, just you wait and see!" She boasts, floating back down from the air to side with the Petilil in her decision to join me. "Really, Dani? You too?" I ask her, Lily seeming just as surprised. "But I thought you were going to leave when you were healed!" She looks at her friend, shocked at her sudden change of heart.
Seeing the Petilil's confusion, Dani decides to explain why she wanted to stay here. "Well, it's because Jay's team is really freaking tough, and I don't wanna get caught by any other humans by accident and get used like that again." She tells Lily, growling at the mention of her darker past. "And besides, Jay… isn't that bad." She adds, looking away as she utters out that last bit in a hushed whisper. Seeing her act like this is quite cute if I'm to be honest, so I unexpectedly let out a chuckle in response to her actions. "Hey! What's so funny, huh!?" She shouts, trying to get me to stop laughing at her. "Nah, it's nothing. You're really cute when you're being all bashful, ya know? It's not like you at all to be like that, but it's really cute to me." I explain to her, making her smile when she hears that. "Alright, ya dumbass. It's fine if you think of it like that. So, are ya gonna let me join your team along with Lily?" She asks me, to which I nod in response to her question. "Do Cottonee have cotton on their bodies? Don't ask dumb questions, Dani." I smirk, making her smirk in return. "Yeah, yeah, smartass. Just make sure I get to sleep in a bit, alright? A girl gets cranky if she doesn't sleep enough, and you sure as hell don't wanna see me when I'm angry." She warns me lightheartedly and grins my way, making me grin back at her. "Alright, then. I'll make sure of it. Welcome to the team, you two." I reply, Lily smiling upon seeing us get along after some silence. Chell surfaces to smile and wave at the two as well, having heard most of our conversation from the relative comfort of the lake.
"Say, how did the both of you get in the hands of those rich pricks anyhow? I've been wondering that for a bit now, but I never really got to ask you two about it." I ask the two Grass Types, curious as to how their lives used to be. Lily is immediately reminded of something she most likely didn't want to remember, and her expression grows sad as a result. Dani seems to be quite hesitant to tell me anything about herself either, as her face now holds some traces of a scowl as she remembers her past as well. Seeing this, I decide to drop the subject for now. "Well, if ya don't feel like talking, it's fine. I can wait. I'll go talk to the others in the meantime." I reply, making sure to give the two some space to chat alone.
"Wait." I hear Dani speak up, her face unreadable as she approaches my avatar. "Yeah?" I ask her, to which she lets loose a sigh, before looking at me with a slightly saddened expression. "I'll tell you our story, then." She starts, getting me to sit down and listen in. "We used to live together in the same forest, with my family and Lily's. It was small, but we liked each other because we were Grass Types." She speaks, smiling a bit as she remembers some of the good times she had as a kid. However, her face darkens considerably as she scowls all of a sudden. "Then the humans came along. They cut down our trees, one by one. They fought us with Bug Types, and we couldn't do anything to fight back. So, when we lost our home, they caught us all. We were separated from our parents, and they forced us to watch what they did next." She chokes, Lily shedding some tears as she heard what her friend had to say.
"They… they…" Lily sobs, unable to hold back the flow of sadness coming to her. "They fed them to their Scolipede and then sold us out to traders. Their pained screaming is something I'll always remember, even to this day." She finishes, crying a little herself as she forces herself to tell me her story. My face darkens when I hear that, my avatar pulling them in for a hug as they cry their hearts out. "Don't worry, you two. I'll find them, and make sure those assholes get what they deserve." I snarl, furious at how humans had treated them in the past. Chell also looks pissed off, her paws clenched as she hears them out. Lily takes this moment to look up at me, a small smile on her tear-ridden face. "But then you came along, and showed us kindness that we had long since forgotten." She adds, making Dani nod despite herself. "Yeah. You were nice to us, where other people weren't. You showed us that the world of humans wasn't all bad. Thanks for that, Jay." She mumbles, nuzzling herself into my chest as Lily nods with a teary smile. "Yes. Thank you for your kindness, Sir. I'm so glad we met you…" She sniffs, making me smile as well. "Yeah, I'm happy that I met you too." I tell her, hearing their breathing slow as they close their eyes and fall asleep. I hold a finger to my lips in order to tell Chell, and she gets it, nodding as she quiets down.
"They're cute like this, aren't they Mister Jay?" She smiles sadly at the two, while I nod. "Yup. Come on, Chell. We need to be ready when we find those humans that hurt them." I tell her, getting her to nod while I pull out the card that the Plasma Grunt dropped. "Maybe this'll lead us to something helpful…" I muse, holding it up to my eyes in the silent living room.
