"You lost a mega stone."
Falkner have no words to say to that as he stood in front of Lance, the current Champion of Indigo. The loss of his mega stone was a grave mistake that he had committed.
Mega Evolution. A power that allows certain species of pokemon to go beyond their final evolutionary forms with help from their trainer, under the help of certain items. One of them is the rare mega stone. The other is the key stone.
And he lost his mega stone, a Pidgeotite, because he got careless and allowed a Rocket's zoroark to steal it with Thief. He should have made sure that the zoroark had really fainted instead of letting it fool them by playing dead. He shouldn't have gotten himself fooled from such a silly trick.
Some Gym Leader he is.
"I have no excuses." Falkner finally spoke. "I'm willing to accept any punishment."
"If a simple punishment can resolve this, do you think I will be so angry?" Lance roared out as he slammed his hand on the table. "Mega Evolution, Falkner! Team Rocket now has a Charizardite Y and a Pidgeotite! You know how rare those are. Do you know how much damage they can bring onto our lands if they have someone capable of mega evolving a charizard and a pidgeot? On top of a Rocket who we now confirmed is already able to mega evolve a houndoom?! Do you?!"
"I will hunt him down." Falkner replied as he held back an audible gulp. An angry Lance is not someone anyone will be willing to face at any time.
"How?" Lance questioned, still seething in rage at the whole debacle that had happened thus far. "We don't even know where that Rocket had disappeared to! We don't even know where any of the Rockets went!"
In the background, the TV in Lance's office is still running, showing the news of the attack on Johto National Park. Falkner faintly heard the words of the reporter currently speaking, saying that the death toll is still rising without showing signs of stopping.
The attack on National Park had ended a few hours ago, ever since the Rocket who he rescued Skye from left in a Teleport. After doing what he can as a Gym Leader on site, he was called in by Lance after the Champion found out the entire story from Skye's commander, Pyral Furnes. Pyral himself was given a good lashing from the Champion because of a similar blunder that he had committed. He lost his mega stone, a Charizardite Y, to the Rocket too.
They had been played like suckers. The Rocket obviously knew that they were coming and was waiting for them, fooling them with layers upon layers of deceptions that he was cornered and helpless until he revealed his hand.
The Rocket could have escaped even before they arrived but he didn't, which means he was obviously after their mega stones all along.
Lance isn't happy. Not only had countless innocent lives have been lost, they had confirmed that one of the greatest secrets kept by the Pokemon World League for centuries had been found out by Team Rocket since Arceus-knows-how-long ago. A Team Rocket member had just casually utilised Mega Evolution in front of their eyes, as if taunting them that Team Rocket too, wields the same power that the Indigo League possess. Already, fear is running rampant throughout Indigo and even behind closed doors within the Indigo League itself. This is not good news at all.
The power of Mega Evolution in the hands of the wrong people can bring about irreversible destruction to the region. Like what happened a few hours ago.
"So many died." Lance muttered as he started to pace about frustratedly. "After Team Aqua performed that stunt, crimes across Indigo just increased all of a sudden. It's like every single criminal was inspired by their work. A ripple effect. Even after Team Magma and Team Aqua got wiped by the Hoenn League they still managed to leave an impact on our world, but at least they got wiped ten days after the Lilycove Invasion."
Lance punched the wall in rage.
"And look at us, the first Pokemon League to be ever founded in history, still stuck here, still having problems trying to find out who the leader of Team Rocket is."
A brief silence fell upon the room.
"The Ranger who was fighting alongside you, the one who also lost his mega stone, the Charizardite Y. I forgot to ask him about this earlier, but do you know why was he there so quickly?"
"My siblings were there at the park to participate in the contest. My sister is also from the same squadron as Pyral. She called him over immediately when disaster struck."
At the words, Lance's head shot up immediately, a look of concern flashed across his eyes.
"They are fine." Falkner quickly reassured Lance. "It was because of them that I know about the attack and managed to reach there in time, but…"
Falkner trailed off, not really wanting to bring up his failure right now.
"Playing the blame game would not help." Lance pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes to calm himself down. "How did the Rocket play the two of you for suckers anyway? He fooled a Commander from the 1st Regiment and a Gym Leader. Now that is something we need to review. There is too little that we know about his abilities and any camera footages were somehow wiped. The only people who had a glimpse of that Rocket's full strength were you and Pyral. Pyral had gave me his account, but I want to hear yours too."
"His zoroark was employing a wide area illusion, one so big that I had never seen before." Falkner quickly recounted the events in a concise manner, his training from his experience in the police force automatically kicking in. "My sister, who was the first to find that Rocket, managed to have her crobat and sigilyph to locate the zoroark and break that illusion, allowing me and Pyral to find her. Pyral's emboar supposedly defeated the zoroark and his charizard trapped the Rocket and the rest of his pokemon in a Fire Spin. He only had a hydreigon, weavile, and houndoom on hand that time. None of those pokemon were supposedly capable of impressive defensive capabilities that can properly shield themselves from the Fire Spin."
"And after that?" Lance pressed on.
"After an undetermined period of time, the flames of the Fire Spin was suddenly sucked in by his newly revealed ninetales and we were suddenly on the defensive. Not only was the Rocket unscathed, he somehow found the time to release his entire team and mega evolve his houndoom. The zoroark that was supposed to have fainted escaped Pyral's emboar with a Substitute and then subsequently stole both our mega stones with Thief using the element of surprise."
"And then the Rocket made his escape with a Teleport." Lance completed the story.
"Yes."
"Great." Lance sank in his chair, already feeling a headache forming. "And there's nothing the League and the Government can follow up on because the only Rockets left behind were dead Rockets. The media ripping us into shreds is one thing, the more important thing is that we cannot do anything about the Rockets because we have no clues to follow up on. We cannot even launch a counterattack like what the Hoenn League did on Team Aqua and Team Magma."
"Lance." Falkner spoke up. "I'm not sure if this is related to the Rocket we are talking about, but my sister did bring up a point she found odd."
Lance perked up.
"And what is that?"
"A few months back, there was an incident about prehistoric pokemon getting stolen from a Government sponsored facility and an aerodactyl from there being hypnotised to attack a civilian ship. By some twist of fate, that aerodactyl now belongs to my sister. My sister suspects that the Rocket that stole my mega stone is the same one who hypnotised the aerodactyl, because her aerodactyl went berserk during their first official encounter with the Rocket in Cherrygrove Nature Reserve. There is no other explanation we can think of for aerodactyl's sudden aggressive behaviour. I suspect that Rocket is the Level 9 threat that was responsible for the facility's break-in."
Lance's eyes narrowed.
"Hypnosis. You are saying that the Rocket is capable of hypnotising a wild aerodactyl to attack a specific civilian ship."
"Yes."
"Believe it or not, this is the first time I'm hearing about this." Lance frowned as his eyes went sharp. "Putting the fact aside that you said a League sponsored facility that housed prehistoric pokemon, which means I will have words with the President later because I have no idea about this, did the Rocket you face showed any signs that he may be an expert in Hypnosis?"
"No, but my sister reported that her aerodactyl had been very docile ever since its breaking in after the influence from Hypnosis was removed. Her first encounter with that Rocket was the first time her aerodactyl went berserk for seemingly no reason, even going so far as to breaking formation when such behaviours had ceased after it was fully tamed."
"Give me a moment."
Lance typed on the keyboard on his computer, finally finding the correct files and brought it up on the screen. After quickly reading through the details of the incident Falkner mentioned, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and think.
"I really need to have words with the President. I have no idea why this incident was not brought to my attention when it is clearly under my jurisdiction, not his. Arceus knows how many more of such cases are purposely diverted away and hidden from me, but yet somehow the President knows everything and chose not to tell me."
Lance looked back up at Falkner.
"And assuming that this Rocket is indeed the one that can control an aerodactyl to fly all the way from the secret facility located on the outskirts of Blackthorn to New Bark Town just to attack that one ship on the sea, then his threat level just increased, by a lot. What was the threat level given to the Rocket that hypnotised the aerodactyl?"
"I checked earlier, it was Level 9."
"And the maximum threat level we can give is 10. There's not much of a point to increase it to 10 when he is already at 9." Lance deadpanned. "If the two Rockets are one and the same, then he needs to be dealt with extreme prejudice. Immediately. This is no laughing matter. Hypnosis is a very dangerous move when used by an expert. We need to capture that Rocket immediately, or if that fails, kill him on sight. I will bring this up when I hold an emergency meeting between us Pillars tomorrow."
"Regarding the matter of capturing that Rocket, I volunteer myself for the job." Falkner said immediately. "It's only right."
"Have Morty assist you." Lance added. "He's good at snooping around and gathering information. Since the Rocket is a Dark Specialist, ask Karen and see if she has any advice on how to deal with him. Hopefully, we can make some headway on this matter with you two working together. The faster we know the various bases of Team Rocket and who its leader really is, the faster peace can arrive onto our lands. Already, people are not happy with the Government because of the Kanto ban. I don't want them to feel the same way towards the League. The last thing we need is to deepen the divide between Kanto and Johto. Peace is fragile. The only thing it takes to spark a war is for one idiot with too much power to fire the first big shot."
"I understand." Falkner replied in a solemn tone.
Lance sighed.
"I really hope you do, Falkner. I really hope you do."
"Big bro!" Ciel ran up to Falkner the moment he reached back home in the dark of the night. He had obviously stayed up to wait for his return. "You're alright!"
"I am." Falkner said in relief as he hugged his younger brother close. He's so glad that his siblings are all alive and fine despite getting themselves caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. "Thank Ho-oh you two are safe."
"Falkner."
Falkner looked up and saw his sister standing by the corridor, a look of relief and concern in her eyes as well.
"Hey, Skye." Falkner greeted as his gaze softened. "You alright?"
"That should be my question to you." She walked up to him, already checking him over with her eyes. "That Rocket was dangerous. Are you alright? I'm starting to think that he might be on your level after my two run-ins with him."
"He got me and Pyral good. We screwed up. He's not quite at the level of a Gym Leader yet in terms of firepower, but he is close." Falkner admitted. "If only he didn't turn onto the dark path, Indigo would have another brilliant trainer in her ranks. A pity."
"... There's a kill-on-sight order on him or something, is there?"
"Yes, but keep this among the three of us. If you ever encounter him alone, run."
"Got it."
"Kill-on-sight?" Ciel asked in disbelief, his voice a pitch higher than normal. "I mean, I wasn't there so I wouldn't know, but was he that strong?"
"Strong is not the same as being dangerous." Falkner corrected. "You can be weaker than someone else, but yet more dangerous than they are. That guy is dangerous, I cannot stress this enough. I myself will be launching a full scale investigation on that Rocket with Morty helping me. Skye, anything else you know about him that you haven't told me yet?"
"No, I already told you everything I know." Skye replied. "Which isn't much. I just know that he is strong enough to bring down a mamoswine that can rival an ice type of Lorelei's and that he is a very tricky opponent to face, and he also may be the one who had hypnotised and controlled Aria to go after the ship. Other than that? Nothing."
"I will go and heat up dinner." Ciel cut in. "I don't think you had eaten yet, right?"
"You know me so well." Falkner ruffled his brother's hair with a hand. "Thanks, Ciel."
"I'll have to report to camp first thing tomorrow morning." Skye told Falkner the moment Ciel disappeared into the kitchen. "Everyone had been mobilised and is on high alert. I don't think you and Ciel will be seeing me around much for quite a while."
"Got it. Stay safe."
"I will."
Team Rocket quietened a little after the attack on Johto National Park.
It's not like they fully disappeared or had ceased their terrorist activities altogether, it's just that an attack as large a scale as the one on the park had never popped up again so far. There were numerous attacks conducted by Team Rocket after that day, just being a lot more low-key now that the Indigo League is on high alert.
Almost six months have passed since then. Six months of uneasy lookout as Team Rocket did a couple of atrocious acts every now and then to remind Indigo that they are still around and kicking, gradually getting bolder in their actions. Some of their terrorists acts were prevented in time, but many more aren't. According to Falkner, it's just so hard to find them or to predict their next move. Any member of that organisation caught by the cops or the STAR forces were also not high enough in their food chain to know anything important, so progress was slow.
Pokemon poaching activities had also increased to an all-time high. The entire 1st Regiment is working round the clock to prevent as many poaching activities and arresting as many poachers as we can. I haven't been home for months because of this and I am starting to miss my brothers. The last time I saw them, Ciel was preparing for his examinations. Falkner still hadn't made headway on that dangerous Team Rocket member that nearly killed me twice now. Not even with help from Morty and the occasional aid from Karen.
I don't even know that Rocket's name. Not even an alias. Not even his face since most of it were covered. I don't even know how he managed to trounce me without getting so much as a single scratch. Both times I fought him I just felt so confused because I could not tell how I was getting beaten in our battles. Many details in our battles just don't add up.
Falkner reminded me that the Rocket has a zoroark, which might explain certain things but that can't be all. There must be a trick somehow, something that I am not seeing.
The best thing that happened within the six months was when Jacky and Amy finally returned back from Hoenn after completing the Ever Grande Conference. They finished Top 8 and Top 16 respectively, which are impressive results. Considering that the Ever Grande Conference is a lot bigger in scale this year, the difficulty of this year's conference must be a lot harder than it usually is. Them finishing as somewhere within the Top 16 competitors out of hundreds is already worthy of praise.
The funny thing is that both Amy and Jacky lost to the same challenger. Amy first, then immediately Jacky. Adam is throwing a fit about it, saying something about their losses not reflecting well on Black Squadron because we are the best of the best but now two of our members had just lost to a little girl.
Honestly? I'm more impressed that a little girl actually did what I couldn't by somehow beating Jacky. Adam's reactions to Jacky's loss is hilarious.
"Thirteen year old, goody-two-shoes! THIRTEEN! How on fucking earth did YOU lose to a THIRTEEN YEAR OLD?! YOU ARE JACKY! Our SECOND-IN-COMMAND!"
"Now, she won fair and square." Jacky defended himself. "She got the skills and I admit that I was careless. Should have noticed the trap she was setting up."
"She beat you by using fucking Baton Pass! BATON PASS! AND THAT WAS YOUR SIGNATURE BATTLE STYLE! How did you not realise the obvious signs of her setting up a Baton Pass?! That's your favourite move with your fucking scolipede! WHO EVEN USES THAT MOVE NOWADAYS?! "
"Hey, in Jacky's defence, she's really good. I got a feeling that we might be watching the rise of Hoenn's version of Cynthia. And ooooh. Imagine when I tell my future grandchildren that I once fought against Hoenn's version of Cynthia. Epic." Amy said in a carefree manner as she snacked on some biscuits.
Excluding the boss, who is an antisocial workaholic, the rest of us are now lounging in what we Rangers affectionately call the "Scramble Room", a place where we just wait and do nothing until an emergency pops up for us to scramble. This room is designed such that we can easily be deployed within minutes. We are in there since it is now our squadron's turn to be on standby. Every single thing we need for swift deployment is in this room.
All we are doing now is waiting for time to pass until the standby period is over in a few hours. Unless there is an emergency during this period, then we will have to scramble immediately. Until then, it is break time.
This period of time is when all the juiciest gossip are shared simply because you are stuck in the Scramble Room with nothing else to do. It is where the best memories of being a Ranger are always made. It is because you are so bored from having to do nothing for hours on end that you have no choice but to socialise, and that's when all the fun stuff happens.
"Firstly, there's no way someone will marry a weirdo like you so there's no way you are going to have any grandchildren. Secondly, you have no right to say anything about Jacky's battle, weirdo." Adam pointed a finger at Amy, who simply shrugged without a care. "You fucking FORFEITED!"
"Her absol used a Perish Song." Amy deadpanned. "With two pokemon left on her side while I only had wigglytuff left. What do you think?"
"Well, genius, I think that you should have just taken both her pokemon down before Perish Song's effect was triggered!"
"She's cute." Rufus commented, totally off topic as he used his phone to watch a replay of Jacky's battle against the challenger that we are talking about. The video was easily found on the internet since the Ever Grande Conference fever had not died down yet and the girl's performance was impressive. Every single video of her battles in the conference are a hotly searched topic along with some of the other popular competitors like Jacky and Amy. And she is not a Specialist, but one of those rare Generalist. To top it up, the girl is the perfect combination of pretty, cute, and beautiful all in one. Someone having such good DNA should be illegal. Furthermore, she hails from some sort of noble family in their region from what Amy told me.
Add all these factors together, you get a girl who suddenly became a star overnight.
Even Adam cannot help but drop his jaws when he saw the beautiful little girl having total command over her tyranitar, something which he hasn't managed to do yet when he is the Dark Specialist. It's hard to earn the respect of such a creature even when they are in the larvitar stage. The contrast of the image of a little girl commanding something as vicious and brutal as a tyranitar somehow just feels so… contrasting.
Seriously, can you imagine that? No, seriously, close your eyes and imagine that: a little girl commanding a vicious tyranitar. The image just feels so… off.
My attention was on how the little girl took down Jacky's nidoking, the cornerstone of his team. However, Rufus' attention is on the admittedly beautiful little girl, not the battle.
"Just think about it. She's already this cute." Rufus said dreamily. "Imagine the kind of beauty she will grow into when she grew up."
"Woah, careful there, she's definitely underage." I warned. "Jailbait material."
"Jacky said she's thirteen, right? I can wait another five more years."
"You are like, what? Twenty?"
"Twenty-one."
"Even worse."
"Did I tell you guys about this? She's apparently some rich kid, like super rich. I couldn't tell until she said so herself." Amy stated, still munching happily on her snacks. "Ever heard of the Veras? That super ancient family that runs the largest pokemon breeding farm in Hoenn? She's the heiress, youngest out of two. She's a freaking princess."
"Rufus is right on one thing though. She's definitely a good catch when she grows up. She got both the looks and personality. Hard to think any boy her age will not be smitten by her." Jacky laughed out in good humour.
"My sixth sense is telling me..." Rufus said with a glint in his eyes and a wag of his eyebrows. "Why? You already got your paws on her?"
"Huh? Oh, no." Jacky waved it off with a look of horror on his face after understanding what Rufus was insinuating. "Anyway, there's something very interesting about Vel that I found when I talked to her. Want to hear it?"
"Vel?"
"The girl we are talking about for the past ten minutes, Adam. Does anything ever go into your brain?" Amy scoffed.
"The fucking jailbait that took down your pidgeot with a motherfucking noisy FLYING pachirisu?"
"Yes. Problem?"
"Back to the story." Jacky got everyone's attention on him again with a clap of his hands. "So the both of us were just talking about pokemon in general. She had some really informative things to say about ghost types too, made me really want to catch a gastly for myself after I saw how her banette cleaned house for most of her matches."
"Hey, Rufus." I nudged, another thought filling my mind since I am not that interested in hearing what Jacky has to say. "Imagine if Amy is Vel, what would you say to her to get her interested in you?"
Rufus moved his arms about in a 'what-do-you-want-me-to-do' manner.
"What do I say to her?"
"Are you kidding me? You are the resident flirt here! Do your thing!"
"But she's Amy! Not Vel! I cannot imagine them to be one and the same!" Rufus whined as he pointed a finger at Amy. "You want me to flirt with her? It's impossible! Amy's not on my radar because she's flat-"
"Rufus Grandell!" Amy roared. "Do you want to die?!"
"... flat… she has a flattering figure. Hey, Amy. How's the weather today?"
Amy looked up, obviously spotting nothing but the ceiling since we are in an enclosed room. There's no weather to be seen here.
"Sunny." She looked down to face Rufus with a flat look on her face. "And the weather forecast just predicted that it will be raining blood soon. Your blood."
"So halfway into our conversation, a gengar simply showed up. Like poof! Out from the shadows." Jacky continued his story, cutting into our conversation forcefully because he absolutely wants us to listen to his story and now we have no choice but to listen. "We had a nice pleasant conversation about poison and ghost types, especially about the gengar species since it has the poison-ghost typing."
"Hold up." Adam suddenly held up a hand upon hearing this. "Why would there be a gengar appearing in front of the two of you from out of nowhere?"
"And I was about to get there if you didn't interrupt me, potty mouth." Jacky replied in an annoyed tone before turning back to face me. Rufus and Amy are still squabbling on the couch behind him, Adam doesn't really seemed like he care too much about the topic, so Jacky's only active audience is now me. "As it turns out, that gengar belongs to Vel's brother, and it is definitely a very well-trained one at first glance. The thing is, now hear this, the gengar allowed Vel to hug it."
That got everyone's attention immediately.
"Wait." Amy jumped out of her seat excitedly. "I didn't know about that."
"What's so… special about the hug thing? I hug my pokemon all the time." I asked, puzzled at their reaction.
"Many people don't know about this because ghosts are so rare, but ghosts never allow humans to touch them, ever. They don't really have solid bodies, we simply pass right through them." Rufus stated with awe and disbelief mixed in his voice. "They don't even allow their trainers to touch them. Only very few trainers ever claimed to have ever done it, and those are always very experienced Ghost Specialists or Ghost Masters, and they are one of the rarest breeds around. And this Vel, a thirteen year old child, managed to not just touch, but hug a gengar. GENGAR, one of the most malicious and strongest ghost types around. It's not even her own pokemon. Friendly ghost or not, it's not possible, man."
"I know, right? But she did it so casually like it is an everyday thing, like how we pick up our phone to answer a call. She doesn't even realise how… impossible her actions were." Jacky stated with animated hand gestures. "Of course, I acted like nothing out of the ordinary happened since I have experience in dealing with somebody similar. I mean, we do have a Bird Whispe-"
"Say that term." I warned Jacky with a finger. "I dare you."
"If we already have a Bird Whisperer here, I shouldn't be too surprised, right? The world's full of mysterious wonders." Jacky totally ignored my threat as he continues. He is so dead. "The only ghost I saw her using in the conference was a banette, but considering that almost everyone who participated in the conference calls her the 'Ghost Mistress', she probably is very damn good at interacting with ghost types and probably has more that she never showed. I wouldn't be surprised if she is Skye's equivalent, the Ghost Whisperer."
"Now, no offence, Skye, but Ghost Whisperer sounds a lot nicer than-"
I threw a cushion at Rufus, shutting him up before he can speak that blasted stupid term.
"Wait a sec." Amy suddenly cut in, scrunching her face in thought. "If you are telling me that she has the ability to touch ghosts all along, then does it mean that the banette that she is always carrying around in her arms all this time… is… real..." Amy trailed off, her eyes widening to impossible proportions, an expression of dawning realisation and horror spreading on her face. "I THOUGHT IT WAS A DOLL ALL ALONG!"
"Fucking idiot." Adam muttered as he facepalmed.
"THE BANETTE WASN'T MOVING! I WAS STARING AT IT THE WHOLE TIME WHEN I WAS EATING WITH VEL! THE COMBO MEAL! MOSSDEEP TWIN WAFFLES! THE WHOLE TIME! AND THE BANETTE NEVER MOVED!"
Adam just looked so done with us, especially with Amy.
"And tell me why, o wise one, are you staring at what you think was a fucking doll the whole time when you were eating your waffles?"
"IT LOOKED SO LIFELIKE! I THOUGHT IT WAS REAL! BUT THEN I WAS LIKE, nah it can't be real~ COS GHOSTS CANNOT BE TOUCHED! AND NOW I REALISED THAT IT REALLY IS REAL! I WAS HAVING MY MEAL WITH A GHOST STARING RIGHT IN MY EYES THE ENTIRE TIME! AHHHHHH! NOW I'M CURSSSSEDDDD!"
I cannot help it. I am now rolling on the ground breaking out in peals of laughter. Typical Amy.
"Holy water! I need holy water!" Amy is now running around the lounge in a panic. "Or a Cleanse Tag! Anything! Something!"
"Calm down, Amy." Rufus tried to pacify the now panicking Amy, who always had been a little superstitious when it comes to ghost types. I suspect her irrational fear of ghosts is why she becomes a Normal Specialist in the first place, because ghost type moves have no effect against normal types. "I'm sure-"
"AHHH! YOU TOUCHED ME! NOW YOU ARE CURSED TOO! YOU NEED HOLY WATER TOO!"
"Fuck. This. Shit." Adam groaned as he squatted on the floor with his hands over his face. "Why am I friends with you idiots?"
My laughter just got louder. In fact, I am now rolling on the couch and I'm laughing to the point that my stomach actually hurts.
Vrr...Vrr...
The sudden vibration of Jacky's phone on the coffee table got everyone to miraculously quiet down in an instant. Everyone's gaze was suddenly onto it.
Guess whose name popped up on Jacky's phone screen?
"V-V-Vel?" Amy's face was one of epic horror when she spotted the girl's name on the phone's screen. "AHHH! JACKY! YOU ARE CURSED TOO?! THE BANETTE'S CURSE FOLLOWED US HERE BACK TO JOHTO! RUN, SKYE! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE LEFT BECAUSE ADAM DOESN'T COUNT! LEAVE ADAM BEHIND AND RUN! GO! DON'T LOOK BACK! RUN!"
"There's…" I am breathless at this point with how hysterical I am laughing right now. "There's no curse!"
"THERE IS!"
"A Normal Specialist afraid of a ghost type. Typing wise, this is so wrong." Rufus commented with a wide grin on his face. "Hey, Jacky! Answer the call! I want to hear the cutie's voice!"
"You guys better not scare her away with your antics." Jacky said jokingly. "She is probably calling me to ask about poison types, since I offered to give her some advice if she ever wants to add one into her team."
"Way to go to get a girl's number." I teased before throwing suggestive glances at Rufus. "Been learning from the master here?"
"Please, he scares girls away more than he attracts them." Jacky rebutted.
"Oi, I take offence to that. I'm a gentleman."
The call was picked up, and the voice of a young girl could be heard through the phone.
"Jacky? Is that you? Oh thank goodness. I was starting to think that I got the wrong number somehow."
"Sorry, my Ranger friends were being a handful." Jacky spoke over the phone which he put on speaker. "Phone's on speaker, by the way. My friends all wanted to meet you after watching how your espeon destroyed me. Word of warning, one of them is very vulgar. Adam, say hi!"
"Fuck you."
"Ew, no thanks." Was the immediate reply to Adam's words over the phone. The rest of us were simply stumped into silence.
"I like this one." I decided immediately. "Hey there, name's Skye! Nice to meet you, Vel! Good job beating Jacky and Amy!"
"Thanks. Hello to you too, Skye. I'm- Wait, Amy? As in Amy Rose? You know her?"
"VEL! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT THE BANETTE YOU WERE CARRYING AROUND WAS A REAL ONE AND NOT A DOLL?!" Amy wailed out. "NOW I'M CURSED BECAUSE I WAS STARING AT ITS EYES AND WHAT IF THIS CURSE IS CONTAGIOUS AND-"
"Wait, what? Amy? Is that really you? How did you know Jacky? And Jacky! Why didn't you tell me that you were friends with Amy?!" The child at the other end of the line is now obviously confused at what is going on. I'm not blaming her. It takes quite a while to get used to our brand of crazy.
"Surprise, surprise." Jacky replied in a carefree manner. "Ignore Amy, she's just being overly superstitious about ghost types."
"Surprise, surprise doesn't answer my question." I nearly laughed again when I can hear the literal deadpan through the phone. This girl has character.
"You are calling me because you have questions on poison types, right?" Jacky dodged the topic entirely as he carries on the conversation. "Finally deciding to add one to your team?"
"As a matter of fact, yes. But you know of my concerns when it comes to poison types, they aren't exactly very healthy."
"Well, jailbait, isn't unhealthy the whole point of poison?" Adam rolled his eyes with a scoff.
There was a brief silence over the phone before Vel spoke up again.
"Well, Mr Polite, wasn't the whole point of me saying no thanks earlier a big enough clue that I'm not interested in talking to you? Shoo, I'm talking to Jacky here."
I'm starting to really like this little girl.
"That's a new name for Adam that we can use." Rufus pointed out before speaking into the phone. "Good job for thinking of that, Vel! My name's Rufus! Call me up for a date if you ever want a boyfriend, okay? I'm a gentleman! I don't bite!"
"He does bite when he's drunk." Jacky quickly pushed Rufus away with a hand to stop him from embarrassing us further. "Sorry about that, but that's how my friends are. In Johto, people from the Rangers are always kind of crazy."
"I don't even know you and Amy are in the Rangers. I couldn't tell." Was the reply over the phone. "Anyway, do you have any recommendations for me?"
"I remember you saying that you are afraid that prolonged exposure to poison types might deteriorate your already frail health, right?" Jacky asked, which was confirmed by the little girl on the other end of the line. "Where are you planning to get your new poison type from anyway? Surely you have a location in mind? Maybe we can work with what you can possibly find in that area first."
"My family's farm, actually." Vel replied. "I really don't want to wander too far now that I have a baby cleffa to take care of. She's a little delicate to handle."
Jacky and Vel continue to have their conversation while the four of us left them alone to talk it out, with Jacky giving advice on what species of poison type the girl should add onto her team. It surprised me that this girl with an affinity for ghosts is a Generalist. If she has such an affinity for ghost types, why not aim to be a Ghost Specialist? It's difficult to be a Generalist. Generalists have no specialisations because they specialise in everything.
The road to be a true Generalist is absurdly difficult, there's no way to stress this enough. They need a lot of time and resources to learn. Their pokemon team tend to get overly huge at first because most of them have to get all eighteen pokemon types into their team to start learning how to be a proper Generalist. Assuming it is the minimum of one pokemon per type on a Generalist's team, that is still eighteen pokemon, not a small number by any means.
It's not easy to manage such a big group of pokemon, especially when you progress to the higher levels, because each type and species of pokemon have their own personality, temper, and traits that differ too much from each other. It's hard to get them to mesh well together and work as a team. Conflicts between your pokemon are bound to happen and from there, it is a matter of how bloody it gets and how you resolve it. It's where your skills as a trainer are truly put to the test.
Specialists have it much easier because pokemon of the same typing usually exhibits similar traits and characteristics, which makes them easier to manage as a whole. The only downside is the lack of variety, but many others face the same problem too, so it ended up not being a problem when everyone else is facing the same problem.
There's a good reason why trainers are wary of their pokemon team getting too big. Once a pokemon team got too big, most trainers are forced to give some pokemon away or release them because sometimes, it is just simply impossible for one trainer to manage so many pokemon or earn enough to feed them all. As Rangers, sometimes we would encounter such cases, helping such trainers to release their pokemon properly back into the wild or to find them a new home with another trainer that can give them the proper care.
The worst case scenario of anybody owning an overly large pokemon team would be a mismanaged or neglected pokemon simply lashing out and hurting their trainer out of stress or rage. That's why it is not easy to be a Generalist despite the long list of pros to being one, because their teams will get big and the trainer will inevitably hit their limit. When they do, they will have no choice but to release or give away some of their pokemon to get their team into a manageable size. Knowing when to stop adding pokemon and when to let go of them is also a key part of being a pokemon trainer, because pokemon are living creatures like humans as well. No one likes to get neglected.
Sometimes, the best form of love you can give to a pokemon is to let them go.
Of course, there are always trainers that are exceptions to the rule of having an overly large team. There are cases of trainers capable of managing a literal army of pokemon. However, such trainers, as far as I know, belonged to the history books. There are no trainers currently alive that I know of that are capable of replicating such a feat. Currently, the most number of pokemon anyone had ever gotten in their team was somewhere in the twenties if my memory serves me right.
Generalists have to learn a lot of things. They require a lot of practical hands-on experience to be a good one. They need to be capable of managing an overly huge team of pokemon and to also immediately recognise when and where their limit is. You cannot play favourites, at least not overly so.
I heard that even the likes of Cynthia, a renowned Generalist and Sinnoh's Champion, had to significantly downsize her team at a point in her training career when she was younger. It's simply not easy trying to be a Generalist when pokemon are real living creatures, where they are their own beings with their own personalities, thoughts, and dreams.
The little girl beat Jacky, which means she must be doing things right. Princess of her region or not, her skills can only be something that she acquired after years of practice and hard work. There's no shortcut to this. I have no idea how the little girl did it.
Then again, she lives together with an entire farm of pokemon. Her family owns the largest pokemon breeding farm in Hoenn. Assuming that she had mingled with a diverse range of pokemon ever since she was still in her diapers, it's not… impossible for her to acquire the skills she needs to be a good Generalist even before she sets out on her journey.
I still find it hard to believe though. She must be a child loved by pokemon no matter how I think about it.
"So, yeah, something from the nidoran line would be best for you given your circumstances and given the species of poison types living on your family's farm. Whether you want a nidoking or nidoqueen is really up to you though. They are practically the same in battles, except that nidoking has stronger offensive powers while nidoqueen has stronger defence. Which one you need really boils down to how you are planning to train them and what role they are going to fill in your team."
Oh boy, a Generalist that beat Jacky getting a nidoking or a nidoqueen on her team? Also getting advice from an expert on the nidoran line? I pity her future opponents already. We are grooming a little Cynthia here.
Watch out world, the Black Squadron of the 1st Regiment from the Johto Ranger Force is grooming the next Hoenn Champion, the next Sinnoh's Cynthia. She's only thirteen. Imagine the things she can do when she becomes an adult.
"VEL! DE-CURSE ME! PLEASE!"
"Can someone shut the weirdo up? This is getting annoying." Adam muttered as Amy is still making a big fuss about having stared into the eyes of a banette. It is an old superstition in Johto that one should never directly stare into the eyes of ghosts and Amy is freaking out all over it.
"Shut up, Mr Polite." Rufus and I retorted as one while I try my best to pacify Amy and telling her that no, she is not cursed.
It's not working. She is still yelling.
"I will fucking murder all of you."
"I will set Aria on your ass."
Name: Skye Bale, 16, Female
Known affiliation: Indigo Ranger Force, Johto Region, 9th Ranger Regiment, 1st Ranger Regiment
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Code Name: Zephyr
Pokemon Team:
1. Pidgeot (Crown), male
2. Gliscor (Glide), male
3. Skarmory (Dia), female
4. Crobat (Beats), male
5. Jumpluff (Cotton), female
6. Dragonite (Tino), female
7. Noivern (Echo), male
8. Emolga, (Emi), female
9. Hawlucha (Hawk), male
10. Sigilyph (Cosmo), female
11. Aerodactyl (Aria), female
12. Masquerain (Heli), male
Name: Falkner Bale, 25, Male
Known affiliation: Johto Police Force, Johto Thirteen Pillars, Violet City Gym Leader
Pokemon Team:
1. Pidgeot (Majel), male
2. Noctowl
3. Fearow
4. Dodrio
5. Honchkrow
6. Xatu
7. Crobat
8. Skarmory
9. Delibird
10. Togekiss
11. Swellow
12. Staraptor
13. Pelipper
Name: Ciel Bale, 13, Male
Pokemon Team:
1. Pidgeotto (Queenie), female
2. Wimpod, male
Name: Walker Bale, 55, Male
Known affiliation: Ex Violet City Gym Leader, Ex member of Johto Thirteen Pillars
Pokemon Team:
1. Pidgeot
2. Skarmory
Name: Jacky Marsh, 19, Male
Known affiliation: Indigo Ranger Force, Johto Region, 1st Ranger Regiment
Rank: First Lieutenant
Code Name: Venom
Pokemon Team:
1. Scolipede
2. Crobat
3. Tentacruel
4. Nidoking
5. Skuntank
6. Venasaur
7. Toxicroak
8. Weezing
9. Dragalge
10. Beedrill
Name: Amy Rose, 17, Female
Known affiliation: Indigo Ranger Force, Johto Region, 1st Ranger Regiment
Rank: Sergeant First Class
Code Name: Powergirl
Pokemon Team:
1. Furret
2. Pidgeot
3. Lopunny
4. Ursaring
5. Wigglytuff
6. Exploud
7. Blissey
8. Tauros
9. Miltank
10. Cinccino
Name: Adam Clive, 20, Male
Known affiliation: Indigo Ranger Force, Johto Region, 1st Ranger Regiment
Rank: Sergeant First Class
Code Name: Nightmare
Pokemon Team:
1. Houndoom
2. Honchkrow
3. Umbreon
4. Weavile
5. Shiftry
6. Sableye
7. Greninja
8. Hydreigon
9. Pangoro
10. Krookodile
Name: Rufus Grandell, 21, Male
Known affiliation: Indigo Ranger Force, Johto Region, 1st Ranger Regiment
Rank: Master Sergeant
Code Name: Torrent
Pokemon Team:
1. Poliwrath
2. Kingdra
3. Dewgong
4. Gyarados
5. Feraligatr
6. Slowking
7. Crawdaunt
8. Floatzel
9. Jellicent
10. Golisopod
Name: Pyral Furnes, 38, Male
Known affiliation: Indigo Ranger Force, Johto Region, 1st Ranger Regiment
Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
Code Name: Cremator
Pokemon Team:
1. Typhlosion
2. Arcanine
3. Charizard
4. Magmortar
5. Magcargo
6. Alolan Marowak
7. Torkoal
8. Infernape
9. Emboar
10. Pyroar
11. Chandelure
