Harry was sore upon waking to his alarm, and did something he very rarely did and hit the snooze button displayed on his Masterdex. He hit it three more times before finally rolling out of bed and blearily making his way to the bathroom. He was rethinking the schedule he'd made for himself today. His pokemon hadn't gotten a free day without training since Harry had left Vermillion, and neither had Harry. Coming out of the bathroom after a much refreshing shower, he looked at the second queen bed that his pokemon had all claimed last night and none of them had so much as moved the entire time he'd been up and moving around. Yes they all needed a good break.
Trying to remain quiet, Harry grabbed his wallet and exited the room heading straight for the small diner that was attached to the Pokemart. It was quiet for the morning, likely because most of the workers got their breakfast in the camp provided cafeteria. The diner was more for trainers like Harry, or for special occasions if the workers wanted to celebrate something. Harry ordered a large breakfast for himself, and asked to purchase, a container of strawberries, two dozen raw eggs and a pound of raw beef, for cost from the diner, wanting to give his pokemon a treat and something different than pokefood, and knowing that there was no grocery store besides the small convenience pokemart attached to the local pokecenter.
One of the waiters, likely the son of one of the industrial workers currently on shift in the industrial park, offered to help Harry carry the food back to his room. Help, Harry gladly took, knowing that he would never be able to carry his meal along with his pokemon's meals alone. Upon entering the room Goldfyre flicked one eye open, likely smelling the food, but the lazy beast didn't move. Harry directed the other young man to put the food down on the small table by the door, and the boy did eyes locked in awe on Goldfyre who easily took up one of the beds all on his own though his other did pokemon curl in close to him.
"You're Harry Oak!" the boy said, voice filled with admiration, "And that's Goldfyre! He's beautiful. When did you evolve him? How much stronger is he now? Can I have your autograph? And a picture?"
"Yes," Harry said, "I'm Harry Oak, this is Goldfyre, I evolved him after I challenged Lt. Surge. He has gained a lot more strength and speed. Yes I suppose I can give you an autograph and a picture," Harry answered all of the other boy's questions at once.
"Awesome! I'll be right back! I have to get my camera! And my poster!" the boy said before racing out the door.
"Poster?" Harry directed the question to Goldfyre who finally raised his bulk off of the bed, the frame creaking dangerously. Harry made a mental note to make Goldfyre sleep on the floor tonight, even if he had to request extra blankets from the front office, lest Goldfyre's weight break the frame.
His pokemon now awake, Harry fed them. Half of the strawberries went to Dorothy along with a dozen raw eggs, shell and all. The other half of the strawberries went to the twins along with three eggs each, leaving the pound of raw beef and a half dozen eggs to Goldfyre. While his pokemon chowed down, Harry worked on his waffles with whipped cream and strawberry sauce.
He had barely finished his breakfast and begun brushing his teeth when his door was being knocked on. He quickly spit out his mouthful of toothpaste and rinsed his mouth out before going to the door where the boy had returned along with four other people.
"Hello," Harry said to the four people who he didn't recognize.
"This is my big brother, Albert and his friends.
"Hey," the single female of the group waved. "I'm Nina, the lug there," she pointed at the tallest of the three men, "Is Emmett, the red head here is Cooper, and of course Albert and his little brother Beckham. Beckham here told us he met Harry Oak and we didn't believe him. Shame on us I suppose."
"Yeah he asked for a photo, and for me to sign a poster?" Harry said, with a slight questioning tone.
"Yeah he loves photography," Albert said, "Both his own and other people's. He was pretty impressed by the League's photography during your battle with Lt. Surge, and got the biggest poster he could." That answered Harry's question. The League must have started releasing promotional items based off of him. Because Harry was a League employee they were legally allowed to do so as long as they gave him notice and at least fifty percent of the profits generated. Likely Harry had an email sitting unread in his inbox giving him notice, having not checked it since leaving Vermillion.
"Well me and my pokemon can certainly pose for a photo, and I can sign his poster, I think I have an ink pad somewhere too if he wants my pokemon to sign as well," Harry said looking down at the boy.
"That would be awesome!" Beckham said excitedly.
It took only a short amount of time for Harry to get his pokemon arranged for the impromptu photo op. Goldfyre had to lay down on the ground with Harry, Dorothy and the twins arranged around him in order to get them all in the picture. Afterwards Harry used the ink pad to gently press Goldfyre's foot on the ink pad and then to the poster that Beckham rolled out for him. He repeated the process for Dorothy and then helped the twins slither through the ink pad and then onto the poster before he signed it himself. The boy thanked him a multitude of times, making Harry almost uncomfortable with how it reminded him of Colin Creevey from his other life so long ago. Soon enough Beckham, his brother and acquaintances all had to get back to their work and Harry and his pokemon were able to escape back into the motel room. Harry was already debating as to if he should stay and get his pokemon the resistance to poison training; he felt they needed, or to leave before anyone decided to post his whereabouts on the messageboards and he was inundated by fans.
They had a lazy day, not really bothering to leave the motel except for when his pokemon had to relieve themselves or when he needed to get food. Harry let Helix play music from Kanto's top pokestation while he sat on the motel bed, having put on a pair of sweats and an over-large sweatshirt, puttered about on his laptop. He went through emails, some of them dated the day he'd left Vermillion City. He declined several invitations from the Regional Leagues of Johto, Sinjoh and Almia to work at one of their Labs. There were a few party invitations which rather than outright declining, Harry sent a simple 'I'll have to see if I'm in the area'. There was even an email from the Kanto League office, asking him to log into his employee accounts so that he could officially approve or disapprove of a few promotional items that they needed permission before selling. They also wanted him to fill in the public profile page that could be accessed by the public now that he was of age. Theoretically he should have done that before attempting to get Kanto's Thunder Badge but Harry truly disliked the idea of having fans who thought they knew about him just because they read something. Instead he ignored the profile page, approved a few of the promotional items, not including the posters they were already selling since they had the right to do so already. Harry was sure that by this time tomorrow little collectable figurines of Harry and Goldfyre would be in the works. He may have only gotten one badge but with his work as a Pokemon Professor, and his father's own fame, his name was quite well known. Finally he set his computer up to skype. His father was first.
"Harry!" it wasn't his father who answered but Anne, one of his father's newer lab techs.
"Hello Anne, is my father in?" Harry asked. Anne's face dropped.
"No, actually, there was an issue with several rampaging Steelix in the Coastguard Mountains, Orange, unfortunately. Only two confirmed deaths so far, but," Anne paused. "According to the League's satellite records of the area, sixteen people are still missing, plus Stone, Lax, and Dark town all had to be evacuated, and the mine at Cindor Town collapsed only minutes after the last of the miners evacuated. He might have his cell phone on him but I can't say that he'll answer.
"That's alright, I don't want to bother him. He'll probably be too busy helping either with subduing the rampaging pokemon or maybe search and rescue. That's more important. Let him know I called whenever he gets in. I'm not sure how long I'll be here in Gringy City but I should still be here till tomorrow morning at least," Harry said.
"Of course," Anne said. "Since you're so close, are you planning on going through the Safari Zone or the Diglett Mountains?"
"The Mountains," Harry said. I wanna get a look at the dam. It's supposed to be one of the largest structures built in all of Kanto, plus I heard there were a few Lapras sightings in the lake made by the dam. It would be amazing to see one in person." Harry's voice took on a wistful quality. Anne giggled.
"Of course you do. I'll let your father know you called," Anne said.
"Thanks Anne, bye," Harry said with a smile and a wave before he logged off the call. Unfortunately calling Giovanni was out too. The Coastguard Mountains fell under the jurisdiction of Viridian City, and as the Gym Leader Giovanni was most certainly helping with the situation. Instead Harry sent a text letting Giovanni know that for the time being he was in an area with cell reception but understood that the other might not be able to call before Harry was out of reception yet again. Flopping down on his back on the bed with a huff, Harry took a few minutes to just completely veg. Unfortunately for the dark haired teen his brain was not one for being quiet. Within minutes Harry was sitting back up and logging in to his employee accounts with the League.
He pulled up the profile page he was supposed to fill out and looked at it with loathing for a few minutes before getting started. His name and birthday were the easiest things to fill out, along with the mailing address for his post box at the Commerce City Post Office, all three items already well publicized. He'd gotten a post box shortly after turning eleven when it became clear that his published works and the fact that his name was credited with the creation of the first ever laptop meant that he was going to be inundated with fanmail. Commerce City was technically the closest city to Pallet Town, which didn't have its own post office. It had Pidgeot riding mail carriers of course but after the third time a second carrier was needed just to bring Harry his mail, he'd aquesed and got his own post box. Commerce City was across the mouth of the Bay of Gyarados to the west of Pallet Town. Harry's father had his own post box there as well. Anything important from the League or other Pokelabs generally came by courier so Harry or his father had only gone once a week to pick up their mail. Harry was sure that his father would let Harry know if anything important came for him and they'd make arrangements for Harry to meet a courier if it was something he needed to pick up.
The rest of the page was not so easy. It took him way too long to find a picture to use for his profile. He didn't want to pick one of the pictures one of the League photographers had taken during his first and only gym battle. The good ones, and he was surprised at just how many good ones there were, were already being formatted to be made into posters. Eventually he'd chosen one that his father had actually taken only about a month or two before he'd decided to take the League's Gym challenge. It was a candid Harry in his lab coat smiling widely as though he'd just been laughing, standing by a oran berry bush in the Lab's biodome. He had been. The eevee kits that had hatched only a few days before the picture had been running around and found the bush. All four of the kits had gorged themselves on the berries and their fur had been stained purple from the juices. Harry had laughed himself silly looking at the kits and apparently his father had caught a picture of him shortly after.
Writing a profile for himself was even more difficult. Eventually he settled on a short sweet statement about how he wanted to meet as many pokemon as he could and test himself in the League's Gym Challenge. He added that he was partial to the peace of being unknown and his dislike of the limelight, but he knew that it was unlikely to actually deter very many fans. Still he could hope. Then there was a section that read like an article of one of Gary's preteen mags that he always hid. The Articuno or whatever it was called. It asked for things like, favorite color; dark green, favorite food; Slowpoke Tail Quiche, and favorite song; currently 'Wide Eyes' by the band The Three Shiftry Sticks.
It was past lunch time by the time he finished filling it out and Harry ordered from the diner once again. This time however his pokemon got pokefood, though he did put in for a dinner order at the diner to be delivered to his room, along with a few treats for his pokemon later that night. Harry knew he was spoiling his pokemon, but he also knew when it came down to it he worked his pokemon hard. That night, although he attempted to convince Goldfyre that sleeping on the floor would be best, Goldfyre once again took up one of the beds, though Pollux and Castor slithered atop him as though he was a heated rock for them to sleep on. Dorothy curled up gently against Goldfyre's side and Harry didn't have the heart to even try pushing his lazy and heavy Arcanine off of the bed.
Unfortunately it was clear after breakfast, that he was right, and although he had posted that he didn't particularly want to be inundated by fans, word had spread about his location via the message boards and already trainers were pouring into Gringy City. Even as he made his way to the diner he noticed not one, or two but three different trainers landing their flying pokemon mounts just a few meters away from the beginning of city limits, since there was no official landing zone in the city. He kept his head down and paid extra for his order to be delivered to his room not wanting to be seen and bombarded, before hurrying back to the motel room and beginning to pack up.
"Breakfast is gonna be quick today guys," Harry said. "I don't want to stay too much longer," He continued as he set out food for them and continued packing up. All four of them sensed that Harry was serious and ate quickly, their trainer joining them when his breakfast arrived at the door. Packing away their dishes Harry put them all in pokeballs, even Goldfyre. Though the pokemon was fast and would definitely get Harry away from the city quickly he was also distinctive, and Harry still had to pick up a bit of last minute stuff before he attempted the mountains. He had his Masterdex of course, but it would still be good to have a few flares just in case. Also, given the events of the Coastguard Mountains, Harry thought it prudent to pick up a few extra pieces of survival gear and a bit more rations for him and his pokemon just in case.
He managed to do his shopping quickly enough, the small pokemart carrying what he needed. Given that this was the only city at the base of the northern side of the Diglett Mountains it was unsurprising. Unfortunately Harry did not manage to leave Gringy in the dust before being recognized.
"Harry Oak! I challenge you to a battle!" said an older teen, probably the same age as Harry or maybe older, as Harry exited the pokemart. Though he wanted to deny the challenge, Harry knew that doing so wasn't smart. Even if it meant that Harry may have to stay in town another day if his pokemon got injured. It was too early in the morning for Harry to even pretend this wasn't his first challenge today and even if it wasn't too early, Harry was a League employee. If he got caught breaking the official rules, which stated that a trainer participating in the League Challenge is required to at least accept the first challenge they receive every three days, as long as no mitigating factors could change or influence the battle, such as a still healing pokemon or during an alert. With a sigh Harry pulled Helix from his waist.
"Probably best to do this away from the buildings if we can," Harry said, hoping the other boy would take the hint that they should move away from areas that might pose a fire hazard.
"Central road through town is big enough for a battle, don't ya think?" the other asked with a smirk. Harry knew what he was doing. Though Gringy City didn't have challenger courts, Harry knew exactly what the other trainer was doing. The other was trying to cripple Goldfyre's most powerful move. Goldfyre was the only pokemon of Harry's who had been videotaped in battle, so anyone who wanted to challenge him would have thought of anything they could do to turn tables to their advantage.
"Very well," Harry said, motioning with Helix. "You're the challenger, what are the battle parameters?"
"Slide scale bet for sure," the other trainer said as he pulled out his own subpar but still adequate two year old model Dex.
"Scanning," only Helix, spoke aloud, the other pokedex not having that feature. "Battle between Poketrainer Slade Sapphire and Poketrainer Harry Oak, Tier Four and Tier Three trainers respectively," Helix continued as Harry slid his Battle Glasses out of his bag and onto his face, leaving his bags on at the entrance to the Pokemart as they moved towards the center of the main road. "Awaiting full battle parameters," Helix said.
"I carry four batte-able pokemon," Harry said.
"I carry five," Slade said.
"Well personally I'd like to get this over with," Harry said. "I was planning on heading out today. How about a four pokemon battle, with doubles format, recalls out permanently?" Harry asked.
"Sounds good to me," Slade said typing the parameters out onto his Dex.
"Update parameters," Harry said to Helix as he pulled out his battle glasses and slid the earpiece connected to Helix into his ear. "Clear the field of battle!" Harry called out. As Harry and Slade prepared for their trainer battle, other trainers cleared out of the immediate battle area. As Harry centered himself he saw several trainers with newer models using their pokedexes to record the coming battle. Pulling the twin's pokeballs from his belt Harry started devising a strategy.
"Ready?" Harry called.
"Ready," Slade answered. Harry aimed the twins' ball and pressed their release just as Slade released his two pokemon.
"Weepinbell, a grass and poison pokemon that is the second evolution of the flycatcher pokemon line. Secretes a poison that is acidic to items that are organic that it can spit almost four meters. Electrode, an electric type pokemon second and final evolution of the ball pokemon line. Is in some ways a very delicate pokemon due to its propensity to amuse itself by exploding," Helix reported in his ear. Harry smirked as a strategy formulated itself in his mind. Neither Castor or Pollux had any true battle experience beyond their amusement of hunting Ratatta's in the grassland and the training battles he had set for them against Goldfyre and Dorothy. Individually they never won, and together they had never beaten Goldfyre, but they had managed to put Dorothy to the test several times and had even won once. As Harry had suspected they fought far better as a team and were almost synchronized at times. There were notable differences in their abilities however.
Pollux was by far the better offensive fighter, and his ability to learn fire moves was extremely impressive. Harry often set him up with Goldfyre to practice and fine tune their control. Castor on the other hand, while decent at offensive moves, was far better at the more passive and defensive aspects of battle, complimenting his brother in battle. It was an almost direct contrast to their personalities considering Castor was brash and brave while Pollux tended on the more quiet, intelligent side.
"This one is real boys, not play, let's get to work," Harry said as the twins materialized. He reclipped the balls to his belt, placing them in easy reach in case he had to withdraw them. "Entwine yourselves together, Castor focus on defense, Protect when necessary but don't waste energy if you can dodge together. Small Thunder Waves on the Electrode when you can but stay out of range, try to make him explode. Pollux fire in the hole. Put that oversized fly trap down." Harry ordered, and the twins instantly obeyed Castor, sliding over his brother and entwining himself with the white snake.
While this move meant both of them would be hit if one of the opponent pokemon managed to get an attack through, it was also a brilliant defensive tactic. With Castor playing defense and using Protect when necessary it would be far more difficult to put the more offensive Pollux out of the fight.
"Siras lightscreen and keep moving don't get hit by their electricity. Belle Sleeping Powder, let's kick them right out of the fight," Slade ordered his pokemon. Instantly a greenish powder was spewed from the Weepinbell, as a glowing and evermoving shield sprung in between the two teams, even as Helix began the quick description of the known moves in his ear. As the powder began to fall towards Harry's two snakes, Castor visibly brought out his defensive power, protecting himself and his brother with the simple looking but hard-to-master pokemove Protect, rendering the sleeping powder useless. Castor then did something Harry didn't expect and pulled out an Icy Wind. It was a move Harry would never have Castor use given that neither twin was very effective at pulling off ice-based moves for all of Dorothy's attempts to teach them. It did do something, however. It pushed the sleeping powder still in the air back at the opposing pokemon. While it didn't affect the Weepinbell as it was her own powder, it did visibly make the Electrode droop in sudden exhaustion.
"Siras get in close and self-destruct!" Slade ordered, even as Pollux came out to play, throwing a Firespin at the much more susceptible grass type Weepinbell.
"Castor keep that bomb away, Pollux, more heat," Harry ordered. Castor continued using Icy Wind though it wasn't strong enough to keep the Electrode completely away, it forced the clearly flagging electric pokemon to use some of it's internally stored energy to force itself forward. Pollux began throwing a flamethrower at the far more stationary flower pokemon, only having to dodge once, with Castor's help once when the pokemon attempted to return fire with a spurt of Acid.
Several things happened simultaneously. Castor and Pollux performed an impeccably practiced rolling dodge maneuver that required them both to move in a synchronized motion to avoid the acid. Castor had to let go of the Icy Wind he was performing even as Pollux gave one last fiery Flamethrower. The Weepinbell passed out and the Electrode got too close. As the electric pokemon exploded, Castor attempted to perform Protect, but he was too slow and he and his brother caught the brunt of the blast. However, due to Castor's earlier efforts at keeping the electric pokemon at bay the ensuing blast was nowhere near as powerful as it could have been. Still Castor swiftly passed out and Pollux was definitely concussed, and only awake due to Castor having been wrapped around him.
"You did well," Harry said even as he recalled them both. While technically this round had ended in a draw, they had fought to a standstill, two pokemon who were two tiers above them. Harry released Dorothy and Goldfyre with little fanfare, both of them immediately shifting into battle ready responses as they took in their surroundings.
"Lady and Reaper lets go," Slade called, releasing two more of his pokemon team as well. Harry raised an eyebrow. It was an interesting typing combination.
"Jynx, an ice and psychic pokemon of the stationary evolution line of human-like pokemon. This pokemon often purposefully uses its body language to perform seductive dances to humans and pokemon alike, causing those caught in their allure to dance without realizing it. Scyther, a flying and bug-type pokemon that is the pre-evolution of the mantis pokemon line. With ninja-like speed and agility and sharp scythe-like arms it easily cuts through unsuspecting opponents," Helix reported. In his head Harry cursed. That Scyther was going to be absolutely devastating to Dorothy who while she had certainly gotten faster was nowhere near able to go toe to toe with a pokemon as fast as a Scyther. On the other hand with her typing and move set she was also going to have a difficult time with the Jynx. The best Harry could hope for was that Dorothy could deal with the dual ice and psychic type while Goldfyre took on the flying bug. Harry did have one advantage with Dorothy and Goldfyre. Both had more training and knew combo movesets.
"Piggyback bite Jynx and get wet Dorothy," Harry ordered Dorothy. "Let's play bugcatcher and tighten the net Goldfyre." Dorothy moved forward for the Jynx, just barely dodging the Ice Beam that was shot at her before managing to leap onto the human-looking pokemon. She clambered around and onto the back of the Jynx before latching onto the pokemon's shoulder with a painful Bite and hanging on even as she summoned a personal rain cloud above them using Rain Dance. It was a move Dorothy had basically developed herself in battle against Goldfyre when the dog-like pokemon had gotten cocky and let the much slower Totodile in a little too close. Harry had laughed for a solid minute as Goldfyre had tried to shake the other pokemon using Extreme Speed only to screech in pain a moment later when she bit his shoulder in order to stay on. Harry had to use a patch on the Arcanine to let the wound heal and Goldfyre hadn't made the mistake of letting Dorothy get that close during a battle again.
As the Jynx twirled, screeching in anger and pain as she attempted to remove Dorothy, Goldfyre cast a wide reaching net. Unfortunately, Slade ordered his Scyther to use Wing Attack to disrupt the small flame throwers before ordering his pokemon to go up high and divebomb. Harry saw the strategy swiftly and as the Scyther began his descent ordered frantically.
"Dorothy dismount! Goldfyre firebomb Jynx," Slade's eyes widened as he shouted for his Scyther to abort. An unfortunate side effect of fast pokemon is that they have difficulty in stopping their momentum in full swing. Dorothy managed to disengage the Jynx just a second before the Scyther hit its mark, rolling away as the bug pokemon sliced into its own teammate and received a aerial divebomb attack of its own, this one filled with flames. The Jynx was out of the fight but as Goldfyre jumped out of range a very burnt and very furious Scyther stood eyes locked on Goldfyre. Scyther were well known for their very prideful and often arrogant natures and Harry fought the urge to laugh as Dorothy shot a high powered Water Gun at the pokemon's back, knocking the bug down again. It gave a screech and moved to stand only for Goldfyre to hit it with a flamethrower. The pokemon refused to stay down and as Dorothy and Goldfyre began circling they hit the Scyther with alternating water and fire attacks trying to get the very prideful pokemon to stay down. After a minute of attacks its trainer took the decision into his own hands, recalling the pokemon.
Recalling his own Harry brought his masterdex out and walked towards the other trainer.
"That's a rather determined Scyther you got," Harry said as the other trainer let his pokedex be scanned. A transfer of three hundred pokedollars was completed from Slade's account to Harry's.
"I caught him in Viridian Forest near Mulberry City. That Totodile of yours, where did you get her?" Slade asked.
"On the road only a short distance from Viridian on Route One actually," Harry said. "I got lucky."
"A pokemon native to a whole other region and twin Dratini is more than luck mate," Slade said.
"I recorded the catch in the public records if you'd like to check," Harry said, not liking the other's tone.
"Wouldn't be that hard for you daddy to make it look like that now would it?" the other trainer said snarkily.
"I don't have anything to prove to you," Harry said. "I beat you and you're pissy about it. Train and get better. Challenge me again when you do. I don't care. But I suggest you be very careful what you imply out loud, the League doesn't take well to those who disparage their employees falsely." The other boy scoffed but said nothing more. Rather than sticking around Harry headed towards the small Pokecenter. While Goldfyre and Dorothy probably just needed a little rest, Castor and Pollux had taken a beating and definitely needed to be looked over.
Thankfully, beyond the minor concussions and some nasty but not too terrible bruising, his two little snakes were perfectly okay. Harry collected the last of his necessary supplies, however it seemed he had gathered a few hangers, none that were quite bold enough to approach him, at least not yet. Harry would have to worry about leaving Gringy City without large numbers of people following, at least if he wanted to view and study rarer pokemon on his way. Even if he didn't stick to the established path, which could be extremely dangerous considering he was traveling into a mountain terrain he was unfamiliar with.
Harry had only been in the mountains once, when he visited Stone Town with his father after the minors had found a giant, almost fully intact fossilized Gyarados. They'd figured out that the skeleton was at least fourteen hundred years old using carbon dating. The massive pokemon had once swam in the ocean that covered all but the tallest mountains of Kanto. According to the scientists who were far more learned in the area than Harry or his father, the beast had been swimming along what was now called the Coastland Mountains, but back then were active underwater volcanoes, and had gotten caught up in an underwater eruption. It had happened fast, fast enough that the beast was mostly intact fourteen hundred years later. Still that little bit of experience, and in an area that was well mapped and mostly urbanized, at least as much as a small mining town could be urbanized, was not enough experience for Harry to go trekking through unfamiliar territory, which was why he'd been planning to stick to the Cailn Trail through the Diglett Mountains.
Harry headed back to his room and closed the door, resting against it briefly. He certainly wasn't moving out of Gringy City today but he'd have to make sure he was gone in the next two days before he was required to accept another challenger, hopefully also escaping his very unwanted followers. Unpacking his things minimally Harry ordered food to his room, content to stay locked in his room for yet another day.
Logging onto his laptop, Harry puttered around on a rendering program upgrade for Helix. Biting his lip, Harry posted an anonymous request for a guide experienced in the Diglett Mountains. He was hoping that he could meet with them tomorrow at dusk on the southern outskirts of Gringy City. He posted what he was willing to pay for a guide to lead him to Fuschia City via the Cailin Dam. He had over two and a half weeks before he had to be in Fuschia for the party with Giovanni and he hoped to not only experience many new pokemon but also learn more about surviving in mountainous terrain.
Only minutes after he made the posting a skype request came through, from Giovanni. Swiftly Harry answered it with a beaming smile.
"Giovanni how are you?" Harry said happily, beaming into the screen at the other man. Unfortunately Giovanni didn't seem nearly as pleased as Harry. "What's wrong?"
"You've been in Gringy City since yesterday," Giovanni said.
"Well yes," Harry said, a little unsure. "Though I'm planning on leaving tomorrow."
"You never called," Giovanni said. "You would have had cellular service since yesterday."
"Sorry," Harry answered. "I was going to after I called my dad, but then I heard about the Steelix in Coastguard Mountains, I assumed you'd be out of contact like my father."
"It still would have been nice to have had a message from you, instead of finding out where you were via the public message boards," Giovanni said firmly.
"I'm sorry, I guess I didn't think of that," Harry said.
"Next time you will," Giovanni said.
"Of course," Harry acquiesced.
"Now that we've cleared that up," Giovanni said. "Your battle this morning was filmed. You did well. Interesting tactics with your Dratini twins, not something you'll be able to do often of course. Not every trainer will battle doubles."
"I know," Harry said, feeling a little off balance. "Castor and Pollux did really well. It was their first official battle. They'd practiced with Dorothy and Goldfyre of course but this was their first real all out test." They were both silent for a minute before Harry spoke again. "Did I do something Giovanni? I feel like you're upset with me."
"I've just been a bit stressed," Giovanni answered. "Do you still want to attend th party in Fuschia City with me love? I only ask because I noticed you filled out your online League profile and didn't mention that you weren't single."
"Of course I still want to go with you. We decided that we would try whatever this is when we were in Vermillion. I didn't think when I was filling the page out. There wasn't even a box to put whether I was taken or not in the profile. I'll put it in my summary right after this call, I promise," Harry answered quickly.
"Good," Giovanni said with a suddenly dark look on his face. "I don't like the idea of others hitting on you, especially when I'm not around to stop them."
"I can stop them myself Gio," Harry said. A banner across the top of his laptop screen accompanied by a beeping sound let Harry know that there was another skype request for him. "I have to go Gio, my dad is calling."
"Can't you call him back?" Giovanni asked. "I only ask because I don't speak to you as often."
"I actually haven't spoken to him since I left Vermillion," Harry said. "But I promise I'll call as soon as I get to Fuschia!"
"Very well," Giovanni said.
"Bye!" Harry said, only a second before Giovanni's screen went blank as he logged off. Harry frowned before accepting his father's call.
"Hi son," his father said, before seeing Harry's frown. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Harry said shaking his head, brushing the doleful feelings away. "I was just talking to Giovanni, he seemed a bit stressed."
"But everything is okay?" his father asked.
"Of course," Harry reassured. "But what about you? I heard about the Coastguard Mountains, how bad did it end up being?"
"Two dead trainers, one dead civilian, a whole lot of injuries, and two displaced villages," Samuel said. "We've got over a hundred civilians staying in emergency tent housing on the outskirts of Hollywood. On the brightside, we were able to evacuate the villages out before the Steelix set off the mountain slide. Stone and Lax were completely destroyed, hence the tent village in Hollywood. Four of the six Steelix were captured alive and only two had to die, and after a bit of temperament testing it was decided that, two, a breeding pair will remain in the League's custody and the other two are going to be tagged and released in the northern side of the in the Rainbow Mountains away from civilization."
"Is there a relief fund to donate too? And maybe you can donate some of the clothes that I left at the house to those who were displaced," Harry said.
"Of course," his father said. "I think the donation link is on the regional board. I can certainly grab a few of your things from storage to donate. Are there any items of clothing in particular that you don't want me to donate?"
"Just that Charmander sweater you got me on my first Yule with you," Harry said.
"Of course," his father said. "Now why don't you tell me how you've been?"
The next evening as dusk began to fall Harry discreetly checked out of the motel room and made his way to the meeting spot he'd arranged with his mountain guide. There was a large well muscled man with dark hair waiting for Harry. Harry's guide got a good look at Harry when he stepped out of the shadows of the industrial buildings and back onto the main road that was illuminated by electric light, and the man snorted.
"The whole secrecy thing makes a hell of a lot more sense now. Was wondering if maybe you were gonna try and kill me and take my pokemon or something. The nickname you used, 'Firebug' makes a whole lot more sense too," the guy said. "Name's Henry, Henry Bexter but most call me Bex."
"Harry," Harry said. "If you thought I might be a psycho why did you agree to meet alone?" Harry asked. Henry chuckled.
"Why don't you come out of the shadows Pip, he's friendly," Henry said. Harry positively jumped when a Haunter literally slid out of Henry's shadow. "Pip's a member of my team. He was even with me when I served. Excellent at recon. So, you promised thirty thousand for me to guide you through the Diglett Mountains, and you also mentioned that you wished to travel by the Dam. I'm going to guess that the reason you need a guide is that you are not taking the proper mountain pass?" Harry nodded his assent. "In that case I'm going to need half of the cost up front and the other half can be paid once I've seen you safely to Fuschia."
"Works for me, as long as we can leave tonight," Harry said. "Goldfyre can carry both of us to the foot of the mountains tonight and we can set up a camp there, preferably a decent distance from the established trail."
"Not fond of your followers are you?" Henry asked.
"It's not that I hate them, but a bunch of people tramping after me when I'm trying to explore and learn new things about pokemon and their habitats? It's certainly not ideal," Harry said.
"I can understand that," Henry said. "Now I have packed up already and am good to go, I take it you are too?"
"Definitely," Harry answered.
"Well call out your famous and distinctive Goldfyre, and lets hit the road," Henry said and Harry smiled.