Chapter 48 - Shima-Zushi
As Yurie had said, it only took them a day to reach the Sevii Islands. Yurie's contest was set to take place on Kin Island, but they figured that it'd be best to give Seshiru's Lapras a small break by heading straight for the closest piece of land, which was Knot Island.
It was a surprisingly busy place, even though it was relatively small. Once arriving at the Pokémon Center, they were met with a bustling crowd of trainers, who appeared to be from all sorts of regions. Logan was from Unova, so he was used to an eclectic array of people, but Yurie and Seshiru were from mostly homogenized lands, and it took them by surprise.
The three went to the Pokémon Center's counter where they met with Nurse Joy. Although the center was busy, she appeared as cool-headed as ever.
"Can you check out our Pokémon?" Logan asked while clicking his belt and setting it down on the counter.
"Of course!" she exclaimed. "Are you three here to take part in some of the trading?"
"Trading?" Yurie wondered.
"This is a Pokémon Center, but with a little bit of a twist. It's known as the Pokémon Network Center. Hundreds of trainers come every day to trade Pokémon. You can trade locally or even with people who are on the other side of the world," she explained.
The three looked at one another, unsure of how to respond.
"I don't really like the idea of trading my Pokémon to a random person," Yurie said. "How would I know if they're getting treated properly?"
Seshiru shrugged. "If someone had a rare or strong Water-type Pokémon, I'd consider trading, but it's not something I'm eager to do."
"I've traded a Pokémon before," Logan said. "I think that was enough trading for me." He laughed to himself and looked around the room at the different trainers.
In the corner of the diner sat a boy that was familiar to the group. He had white hair and a red headband that ran through it. His eyes were deadpan and silvery, as though they were gazing through everyone in the room. He had on grey baggy clothing, giving him the look of a sage. In his hands, he held a high quality camera.
"Sora!" Logan exclaimed loudly, catching the boy's attention. Logan waved his arms over his head, and then ran to Sora's table. Yurie and Seshiru were quick to follow.
"Logan?" Sora said. "It's nice to hear from you. How has your journey been treating you?"
"I just won my seventh badge a couple of days ago. How about you? I heard that you had trouble with Midori," he said.
Sora shrugged. "I wouldn't go so far as to say trouble. I have it under control. I just can't beat him. I'll have my rematch in a couple of weeks though."
"Me too! Let's win and then battle in the conference!"
Yurie looked down at the food that Sora had been eating, and her eyes widened. "Is that shima-zushi?! It's famous on the Sevii Islands! Where can I get some?"
"You can order it here, but I don't recommend it. Pokémon Center food is only okay," he answered. Sora smiled, but his deadpan eyes remained still. He looked around the room cautiously.
"What's up?" Seshiru asked. "You seem shier than usual."
"Well, I'm thinking about a trade," he answered. "There's something called a Wonder Trade. I put my Pokémon into the machine, and then it's sent off into the world to a random trainer. I then receive a random Pokémon myself. No one ever knows what they're going to get until they get it."
"That sounds exciting!" Logan exclaimed.
Yurie shook her head violently. She couldn't imagine sending off any of her Pokémon to a random trainer.
"You're thinking about trading?" a voice called.
The group turned, finding a lanky man with forest green hair and a button-up plaid shirt. He had on thin-rimmed glasses, and his skin was pale, as though he didn't get out much.
Sora didn't look at the man, but he nodded nonetheless. "I think it sounds like it could be fun. But my bond with my Pokémon is strong, and I'm afraid that they'd feel betrayed."
The man smiled. "Well, it's never a bad thing, I think. New experiences are great! My name is Celio. I'm the man who's running this whole operation."
"Celio?" Seshiru muttered. "You're friends with Bill, right?"
Celio nodded. "Yeah. He actually helped me develop the system! It was intended to just trade between regions in the East, but it's developed into something much bigger! I encourage you to use it! If you feel inclined to trade, please don't hesitate to do so!"
With that Celio walked away, and the three joined Sora in sitting at the table while they waited for Nurse Joy to check over their Pokémon.
"Come to think of it, Yurie, if you wanted to trade your Wartortle, I'd be willing to give you something cool," Seshiru said. "I know we're friends, but I've never forgiven you for taking away Squirtle from me."
"Really? Now?" Yurie asked. "It's been over half a year and you're still mad at me?"
Seshiru shrugged and then playfully smiled. "Any of my Pokémon pique your interest?"
Yurie shook her head and then paused. "Zapdos!"
"There's no way!" Seshiru screeched. "I almost died for Zapdos! Besides, it's no longer my Pokémon. It's been released into the wild."
Before Yurie could answer, the lights in the center started to flicker, and within a couple of seconds, they shut off completely. Everyone went silent, and what followed was an explosion. The lights came back on, revealing two teenagers dressed in black. Red 'R's' were tattooed onto their shoulders, and they had sinister looks on their faces.
One of them was recognizable as Aira. She was the teenager with blood red hair and black lipstick. Her leather dress was skin tight and went all the way to her ankles. The other person was new. He looked nervous but ready to prove himself.
"Neo Rocket!" the three exclaimed while getting up from the booth.
"It's you three again?" Aira wondered. "You're so boring. Every time we meet, I want to rip my eyes out from my sockets. Don't get in our way anymore. We already had to sacrifice two of our precious members because of you. I heard about your little encounter in Pallet Town."
Logan reached for his Poké Balls, but he found nothing. He gasped. "My Pokémon are with Nurse Joy!"
Yurie and Seshiru exchanged glances. They also didn't have Pokémon with them at the moment.
"Aira, we hacked the system!" a voice yelled from the massive machine.
Aira looked back towards the machine and nodded. "Fantastic."
"How dare you!" Celio yelled from afar. He had been attacked, and his hands were tied with a thick rope. "Those Pokémon don't belong to-" Before he could finish his sentence, a member from Neo Rocket put duct tape over his mouth.
Aira looked around the room at the dozens of trainers. Most of them appeared frozen with fear. She smiled sinisterly and then caught the trio's eyes. "I think I'll take you three out for good. You've been a thorn in our side for months now. Go, Beedrill! Use Twineedle!"
In a quick burst of light, Beedrill came forward. She jabbed, ready to directly strike the three.
"Iron Defense!" Sora's voice yelled. There was a sudden burst, and a Bug-type Pokémon with red armor materialized in front of the three. It took Beedrill's attack directly but seemingly no damage.
Beedrill quickly retreated to Aira, bothered by the opposing Bug-type Pokémon's strength.
Sora stepped forward, staring at Aira with his deadpan expression. His lack of fear or concern had seemed to bother Aira, making her angry glare only more terrifying.
"You dare step up to me?" she questioned.
Sora smiled and then took a picture. The flash only made Aira even more angry. "Yeah. I think I will. You don't scare me. I can sense that you're terrified of me though. You were hoping to come in here and take people's Pokémon without being challenged."
"You assume too much," Aira said while raising her wrist. In a scene that had become familiar to the three, Beedrill surged with energy before transforming, taking her mega form.
Sora's expression didn't change. He closed his eyes and then took a breath through his nose and breathed out his mouth. "C'mon."
"I'll show you! Beedrill, use Twineedle!"
"Bullet Punch."
Beedrill zoomed forward at an incredible speed, but Scizor's speed was outmatched. As though he teleported, he suddenly appeared in front of Beedrill, and then, with one quick strike, he knocked her back. She landed on the ground in front of Aira but quickly got up, now surging with fury.
"Fine! Use Pin Missile!" Aira commanded.
"Iron Defense."
Beedrill pointed her two stingers towards Scizor and unleashed her attack. Hundreds of small needles blasted into Scizor, but he stayed still, withstanding the stabbing pain. When the attack stopped, he puffed out his chest, making any of the needles that had stuck in him fall to the ground.
He hasn't broken a sweat, Logan thought.
What's this kid's deal? Seshiru pondered.
Sora opened his eyes and glared, something the group wasn't used to. "Slash!"
Scizor's feet scraped against the ground as he zig-zagged towards Beedrill. Once he reached her, he slashed at her midsection, making her crumple into the ground.
Aira and her companion stood in shock, and the crowd of other trainers started to stir and cheer. Aira glared and withdrew Beedrill. She held onto her Poké Ball tightly, almost with enough force to crack it.
"Aira, we've got what we want," the voice from before yelled.
The nervous Neo Rocket member nodded. He looked at a cellular device and smiled before handing it over to Aira. "With the information we've got here, we'll be able to track it."
Aira laughed while looking at the device. "Finally. We'll soon be able to set everything into motion. You four are going to regret taking us on and getting in our way. When we get what we want, we'll take joy in tearing you apart. Don't forget about us until then."
Before Logan or anyone else could retort, there was an explosion of black smoke. There was a scramble and a lot of people panicked. The roar of a few motorcycles resonated through the center but then slowly faded away. When the smoke cleared, the Neo Rocket members had disappeared, leaving only black tire marks and a massive hole in the wall.
A random trainer had helped Celio get free. He ran over to his machine and typed on the computer, trying to find what they had done.
"They didn't steal any Pokémon," he said, baffled. "What were they looking for?"
The four trainers looked around at one another. Seshiru ran to check on Celio while Logan and Yurie admired Sora's Scizor.
"You're an amazing trainer," Yurie said. "Thanks for stepping in."
"There's something called the bystander effect. The more people that are around, the less likely someone is to step forward. I've decided to never let that happen to me," he said. "I'm just glad that I could hold them back. I'm worried about what they were talking about though. What kind of plan?"
"I'm not sure," Logan said. "But I'm afraid that we're going to find out if someone doesn't stop them soon."
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Easy chapter with a simple battle. I didn't want to write anything too difficult at this time, as I just did a gym battle and the next chapter will feature quite a bit of small contest battles. I'm aiming for less than 5,000 words for the next chapter, but we'll see. I'm very excited to show all of you guys!
I'm choosing to call the islands by what some of the fans have ended up calling them over the years. So, instead of One Island, this was called Knot Island. Next chapter will take place on Kin Island (Three).
REVIEWS:
pokemonking0924 - "That was an epic battle and all that hard work paid off. Logan even got a reward from Seshiru a electirizer to evolve Electabuzz at some point." - No spoilers, but Electabuzz will evolve sooner than later!
The Imprisoned of Hell - "Great battle. I was honestly expecting Himiko to have something like an Arcanine on her team." - I'm actually saving Arcanine for another key trainer. An Arcanine will be in a very important battle in a about 10 chapters.
CrescentApple - "Favorite battle was Poliwhirl vs Flareon. It was just so wacky. Im not sure if in the end Poliwhirl will still like Flareon, or if he will forget about it, but Flareon seemed genuine and caught up in her own love spell." - This is something I've thought about. I think the next time that Poliwhirl takes to the field, he'll be sad that it's not to take on his true love again. As for Flareon, I'm not sure. Haha
wisdom-jewel - "Oh, I love how tough love that Himiko she's giving to Logan. I'm glad that Logan won with his second to his last badge. I love how you did the battle. I can see Eletrabuzz would become Logan's best friend. I do think Poliwhirl needs to be trained a bit more to get him on par with his other Pokemon. Next to his Charmeleon." - There's still plenty of story left to be told, but I do like how his team is shaping up. In my mind, Electabuzz is the leader of the group, even if he's not the strongest.
