Taking a Peeko
Tyson was late. That wasn't unusual in and of itself but the night had been rough and he lay awake for hours after the drama with Emerald's family, wondering if every shadow he saw out the window was a creepy dream-eating Pokémon. The others would already be waiting for him at the Gym and he'd even missed breakfast – his favourite Pokémon Centre meal of the day. So much for trying to convince the others to take the day off. What good was that plan when they'd already taken off ahead of him?
He was trying to yank on his right shoe as he hopped down the stairs, tripped and then tumbled the rest of the way down. His shoe arced through the air and landed a couple of feet away. He grumbled and picked himself up, retrieving his shoe as he glared resentfully at it. This time he took the time to put it on properly and as he was he heard low voices coming from the reception area. The voices were too low for Tyson to make out. Once he had his shoe on, he scuffed it to make sure it was secure and stepped out of the stairwell properly. He blinked in genuine surprise to see that the others hadn't gone ahead of him. Instead, they were standing around in the lobby whispering in a group. Kai wasn't with them, he was talking to Nurse Joy in front of the desk with his back to Tyson. She had her arms akimbo and her eyebrows slanted like she was scolding him. Togepi was nestled in Chansey's pouch instead of Kai's arms.
Not being one to sense the mood very well, Tyson ambled up to the blunette and said loudly: "Yo, Kai. What's up? I thought you'd be way ahead of everyone."
Kai turned around and gave Tyson a positively scathing glower of annoyance. Tyson gulped. He was generally used to Kai giving him the cold shoulder and treating him like a bother but his mood seemed more intense than usual.
"What do you want?" Kai snapped.
"Geez! What's your problem?"
"Tyson!" Hilary called, grabbing him by the back of his jacket and dragging him away. "Why are you always sleeping in?"
"Hey, what's going on?" Tyson asked, looking back at Kai who'd turned back to the nurse. "Usually if I sleep in someone wakes me up."
"I'm not your mom!" Hilary yelled at him.
"We were thinking of going out of town or to the beach," Max explained, "to catch some more Pokémon."
"The weather's still pretty bad," Mari added, sounding apologetic about the situation, "but that's sometimes a good thing. Rarer Pokémon often come out during extreme weather."
"Sounds great. What's the deal with Kai, though?" Tyson asked.
"Apparently he went solo trooping again," Hilary sighed, "and decided he'd take a shot at the Gym Leader last night."
"What?!" Tyson gaped, bristling at the news. "He battled the Gym Leader? So that means he has a badge now, right? That little…! First he has more Pokémon and now he has a badge—!"
"He lost," Ray interrupted. Tyson quickly shut his mouth and blinked at him. "He didn't win the badge. Not only that, Magikarp was taken into intensive care after the battle."
"Wh-what? How?" Tyson spluttered. "Why?"
"Not sure," Mari answered, glancing at Kai worriedly. "That's all the information we were able to get, mostly from Nurse Joy. Kai's been super tight-lipped about the whole thing."
"Then what about his other Pokémon? Kai!" Tyson shouted after the Hiwatari but he was following Nurse Joy into the surgery rooms and ignored Tyson completely. "Hey! Get back here! I didn't say I was done with you!"
"Hold up!" Ray exclaimed as Tyson ran after Kai.
The Japanese boy dashed around the corner and burst through the swinging doors between the wards and the lobby. The room he entered was full of recovery beds in all shapes and sizes for all types of Pokémon. As the others barged in behind him, Hilary paled at the sight of two massive cots at the back of the room and the thought of what kind of Pokémon could possibly be big (and terrifying) enough to fit in those. More interesting to them right now were two smaller beds to the left. Seedot and Poochyena were snuggled together on one bed, injured but rested. Nurse Joy and Kai stood beside the other bed where Tyson saw the saddest thing he'd witnessed in a while. It was Kai's Magikarp but the life and energy seemed to have just been sucked out of her. Tyson would have thought she was dead if not for the IV stuck in her nose. Nurse Joy scolded Kai harshly, picking up from an earlier unheard conversation:
"Pokémon aren't tools or toys! They're living creatures and there are limits to how far you can push them!"
Kai didn't respond. He just stared ruefully at Magikarp. Then his eyes suddenly snapped to the rest of the group gawking at him and he frowned. "What are you looking at?" he snapped.
The others started but Tyson just huffed. "We just want to know what's wrong!" he argued. "You went up against a Gym Leader and your Pokémon came out looking like that. Why'd you think we wouldn't be worried?"
"Just wanted to see that your Pokémon were okay," Mari added sadly.
"Che! Okay, you've seen. Now get out."
Nurse Joy shook her head reproachfully at Kai before giving the others a softer look. "Well, the Pokémon really do need their rest. It would be best if you didn't all crowd them."
"No way!" Tyson protested just as the rest of the group was about to leave. "Something major went down and I'm not letting it go until Kai talks to us about it."
"I have nothing to say to you," Kai replied, stomping over to the group. "Now… Get. Out!"
He shoved the entire group back through the swinging doors and kicked the floor bolts closed to lock them out. Everyone tumbled to the floor and Tyson was the first to jump back to his feet, practically steaming in fury.
"Kai! Let us back in!" he shouted, running back to the door and banging on it angrily. He glared through the window, ready to yell some more but he stopped abruptly. He was so shocked by what he was seeing that he barely registered Max dragging him away by the arm.
"C'mon, Tyson. Kai can do what he wants, let's just go."
Tyson listlessly followed everyone else out into the dismal weather but he knew there was probably nothing in the world that would erase the image of Kai tenderly cradling his Magikarp with tears streaming down his face.
They were about to leave the lobby when all of a sudden a melodic tune sounded from Mari's hip. The PokéNav's cursor ball was alight. Getting over the initial surprise, Mari picked up the device and opened it up. The screen folded out and a text message appeared. She grinned.
"Hey, what's that?" Daichi asked.
"A message from a friend of mine," Mari replied. "Says she wants me to visit her sometime now that the Hoenn League is over."
"That's really nice of her to think of you," Max said. "Where does she live?"
"Here in Petalburg. She stays with her grandfather in a cottage by the sea. We can go and see her now. She's a sailor, so she can even take us out in a boat and help us find Pokémon that live out at sea. This a great idea or what?"
"Are you sure that's responsible in this type of weather?" Ray said.
"That's an awesome idea!" Daichi interjected. "Let's do it!"
He charged out of the Pokémon Centre before anyone could get another word in. Hilary and the other bladers sighed exasperatedly and Mari stared at his retreating figure with some sort of frustrated expression. Hilary turned to Tyson and her eyebrows rose. She expected that he would rather chase after Daichi, not stand here and stare at the floor with a mopey expression.
"Tyson, are you alright?" she asked.
He looked up at her wide-eyed for a moment and then laughed and waved her off. "Nah, it's nothing. Let's go see what kind of awesome Pokémon we can find."
He took off running hot on Daichi's trail. Hilary took up a thoughtful pose, feeling that something was still definitely not okay. She looked over her shoulder at the entrance to the inpatient wards wondering if perhaps Kai wasn't as alright as he seemed to be either.
The waves crashed roughly on the beach. All of the beach stalls were closed and the beach was dark and windy but not deserted. There were some Pokémon trainers out and about, braving wild conditions for the purposes of training. At the end of the beach on some higher ground was a small seaside cottage with a private pier beside it and a motor yacht. The building wasn't built lightly for the heat and humidity, like most buildings in Petalburg City. It was much sturdier with a wave breaker built on the side facing the sea. Mari pointed towards it, telling the group that that was where they were going.
As they approached it, a young girl – only a bit older than Mari – came out of the cottage with a green raincoat slung over one arm. She had light brown skin and dark brown hair cut in a bob. In her rubber boots, blue trousers and white shirt she appeared ready to go sailing in spite of the weather. Mari ran the rest of the way up the beach, waving excitedly.
"LLAAAYYLLAAAAA!" she shouted up to the girl.
Layla looked in the direction her name was being called from and her face lit up at the sight of her old friend. She hurried down the stairs taking them two at a time and the two girls crashed into a hug.
"Mar! It's so good to see you again!" Layla laughed as they released each other. "Can't believe my luck! You were already in town."
"Yeah," Mari chuckled sheepishly. "Things didn't really go according to plan…"
"I saw what happened at the League, Mar. Those things happen sometimes, even to the best of trainers. You'll thrash it next time! By the way, who are your friends?"
"Oh! They're beginner trainers I met in Littleroot Town. That's Tyson, Max, Ray, Hilary and Daichi," Mari introduced, gesturing to everyone in turn.
"Trainers, eh? I see; trying to take advantage of some rough weather for the ultimate training experience… or maybe to catch something?"
"Both, if we can feasibly manage it," Ray answered.
"Hey, that's great! The waves have calmed a little since yesterday so I was going to try sailing the yacht with grandpa. If you come along some interesting Pokémon might have surfaced since yesterday."
The bladers and Hilary looked at the waves uncertainly. If this was calmer than yesterday, they didn't want to think about what the sea had been like then.
"Well, if you say you can handle these conditions, I believe you," Max said, sidling up to stand beside the two girls. "Say, how do you two know each other?"
Layla laughed. "It's kind of a long story but the shortest version is that Mari helped us out big time when some crooks tried to steal our Pokémon along with some of grandpa's treasures. Got everything back even before the police arrived."
The rest of the group discretely sent Mari a concerned sideways glance, hoping the mention of thievery hadn't brought her mood down. Her expression didn't change, which they took as a positive sign.
A deep, throaty bird call carried across the beach. The sound came from a blue and white bird sitting on the railing at the back of the yacht. It had a large yellow beak that seemed to take up almost half of its entire body. Its skinny little wings didn't look like they should be strong enough to carry a bird that size.
"Whoa, that looks like some kind of deformed pelican," Max commented, taking out his Pokédex. "What is it?"
"Pelipper, the water bird Pokémon. A messenger of the skies, this Pokémon has been known to carry its eggs and small Pokémon to safety in its bill. It bobs on waves, resting on them on days when the water is calm."
"What's a 'pelican'?" Layla whispered to Mari, covering her mouth with her hand. "Is that Pelipper's second stage?" Mari just shrugged.
Pelipper's call was followed by the creaky voice of an old man: "Ho? What seems to be the matter?"
He climbed out of the hold and looked over the railing, squinting despite the strong prescription glasses he was wearing. This man was as wrinkled as a prune, bald and had a long, white moustache and bushy eyebrows. He was followed by a tall, young man who looked quite similar to Layla but with wavy, black hair and bright blue eyes. Layla waved up to the two of them with both arms.
"Grandpa! Nicky!" she yelled up to them. "Mari's here!"
"Hello, Mr Briney!" Mari called.
"What's that?" the old man rattled. "Marry hair? Well, I wish I still had some!" He patted his aged scalp, laughing heartily.
"No, Gramps, it's Ma-ri," Nicky corrected. "You still remember the girl who helped us chase off those weird thieves last year, don't you?"
"Oh! Ohohoho! Yes, I remember! Honestly, those other things didn't really matter so long as I had Peeko back but it was sweet of her to do her best and make sure everything was returned." The Pelipper chirped happily as if to agree.
"Come on, let's meet them," Nicky suggested. "Looks like Mari brought some other friends."
"Of course! Peeko, you man the boat until we get back. Can yer handle that?"
Peeko squawked determinedly and saluted with her wing. The two men disembarked and travelled down to the beach to meet the group. Meanwhile, the pair who had been hiding patiently under the pier finally showed their faces – Jemima and Jamie, dragging their sodden and affronted Purrloin with them. Jemima grumbled about the state of her hair and lifted herself onto the jetty. She immediately began rummaging through the waterproof bag she was carrying for some supplies that would help to fix her hair while Purrloin shook vigorously. Jamie's, on the other hand, seemed to just spring back into its original style as soon as he was out of the water. They both kept close to the boat to avoid being seen from the beach.
"Crap!" Jemima swore loudly, making Jamie shush her half-heartedly. She sheepishly continued at a lower volume: "Didn't expect those trainers to be here. What are the odds of them turning up in the exact place where we want to get up to no good?"
Jamie shrugged and smirked. "'S fine. We can get another one-up… after last year."
"Is it just me or is Ms Champ off her game lately?" Jemima snickered. "Didn't expect to nab that Growlithe off her that easily."
"Could be…" Jamie mused, peeking around the boat to observe the group. "Beginner trainers…"
"What about the dweebs?"
"Could be holding her back or maybe she just hasn't gotten over being crushed in the Top 16."
"Whatever," Jemima huffed, combing out tangles and shaking out her hair. "So long as we get to humiliate her. Now let's hurry up and steal this boat so we can fulfil admin orders."
"Stealing's effort," Jamie drawled. "And illegal. Can't we just ask them to take us there?"
"Since when have we ever done something that wasn't illegal?"
"This morning we paid for breakfast with actual money."
"Shut up and help me untether this boat."
Down on the beach nobody was any the wiser of what was transpiring.
"So you see," Mari said to her little band of fledgling trainers, continuing the story she had already started, "Mr Briney is a super famous seafarer."
"Don't know about 'super famous' but I hardly ever laid a foot on land back in the heydays," Mr Briney said. "'Fraid I ain't much to look at now."
An engine suddenly roared to life, startling the party. They turned to the pier. The yacht's propeller bubbled viciously and it jerked away from its dock, swerving out onto the choppy waves. Layla and Nicky wasted no time, running back up to the pier but the boat was already too far away to leap to by the time they made it.
"Seriously?!" Layla shouted aghast. "Someone's stealing the boat!"
"What about Peeko?" Mr Briney exclaimed. "Where's me sweet little Peeko?"
"We left her on board," Nicky said grimly. "Looks like she's still there."
"Then we have to go get her," Mari said, running out into the waves and taking out a Pokéball. "Come out, Rush!" The Pokémon she released into the surf was a brown-furred weasel-looking creature with two tails and a yellow tube around its body. It bobbed on the water with a kind of buoyancy that seemed unnatural. Mari jumped onto its back and pointed out to the yacht. "Rush, chase that boat!"
The Pokémon took off speedily as if the wind and waves weren't even a bother. Layla and Nicky saw her go and exchanged looks. They both nodded determinedly and took their own Pokéballs out of their pockets.
"Go! Sealy!" Nicky said.
"Let's go, Tanta!"
They called out a blue and yellow seal with great, white whiskers and a giant blue and black jellyfish with wicked-looking eyes and great, red crystals on its head respectively. Nick and Layla jumped on their Pokémon, surfing them out to sea in pursuit of the yacht. They left Mr Briney, Hilary and the bladers standing dumbstruck on the beach. Tyson suddenly spluttered to life, looking wildly from his group to the receding forms of the other trainers.
"We should go and help them!" he blurted out.
"How?" Daichi asked. "We don't have any Pokémon that can carry us like that, or a boat."
"There's that," Max piped up, pointing to something at the end of the pier. It had been hidden by the much larger yacht before. A small dinghy with an attached motor was moored to a post.
"Hrm…" Mr Briney muttered. "Don't remember having a boat like that."
"It doesn't matter who owns it," Tyson said, "so long as we can use it. Come on, or we won't be able to catch them up." He ran up to the pier, knowing that the others would follow him. He was the first in, followed by Daichi, Max and Ray, and he started to look over the motor. It didn't have any slot for an ignition key, which was a relief.
"Okay, how do we start this thing?"
"Why don't you start with the great big ripcord handle right there," Hilary answered sardonically, pointing to a plastic handle sticking out the side of the motor ostentatiously. She unhooked the lasso tying the vessel to the pier and threw the rope into the boat.
"If you wanna be a smartass," Tyson growled, standing up and putting one foot on the edge of the boat, "then get down here and do it yourself!"
"Oh, hey, that's easy," Daichi remarked, grabbing the handle with his right hand and giving it an almighty pull worthy of a world class beybattle.
The motor sprang to life and the boat roared away so suddenly that Tyson lost his balance and fell overboard. Hilary gaped at the speeding boat, so shocked by its sudden take-off that it took her a little while to realise that she'd been left on the jetty.
"H-hey!" she stammered.
Tyson burst out of the sea, spitting out a mouthful of salty water. He glared angrily after the rest of the group and started shouting mostly profanity and insults all directed at Daichi. Max looked back sheepishly as he manned the tiller and the shore got further and further away.
"Do you think we should go back for them?" he wondered.
"We'll just waste time if we do that," Daichi argued. "They're getting away really, really fast."
"I can't believe those creatures are so fast," Ray muttered, trying to look them up in the Pokédex. "What even are they?"
Mari and her Pokémon had already gotten too far away to be registered on the camera but it picked up Tanta and Sealy well enough to explain:
"Tentacruel, the jellyfish Pokémon.It has 80 tentacles that are normally kept short but can be extended to move about freely. They can sting, causing poisoning and sharp, stabbing pain. It alerts others to danger by stridently flashing the red orbs on its head."
"Sealeo, the ball roll Pokémon. It lives in herds on ice floes and dives into the sea to hunt prey five times a day. It often balances and rolls things on the tip of its nose. While the Pokémon is rolling something, it checks the object's aroma and texture."
"Tentacruel and Sealeo, huh?" Daichi mused, looking over Ray's shoulder. "I wonder where you catch those. I really want one!"
"I'm pretty sure you've said that about almost every Pokémon you've seen," Max deadpanned.
As they were speeding off to catch up with the boat they were being watched from one of the many boulder formations jutting out of the water around this beach. Josie took the binoculars off her eyes and let out a longsuffering sigh.
"Can't those two do anything quietly?" she said to herself. "Haven't they ever heard of something called stealth?"
"Whaddo we do?" Jake asked, keeping their boat close to the rocks. "Let 'em make fools of 'emselves?"
"If we do that they might get taken in and who knows what they'll spill," Josie replied bitterly. She hopped down to the boat with a resigned growl over what she saw as the only option. "We should go help them and if that's too much, then we stop them somehow."
Jake nodded in agreement and started up the outboard motor. They patrolled around the reefs slowly, sneaking up to the yacht that the trainers were already catching up to.
A/N: Sooooo... this two week hiatus somehow ended up being two months and that was mostly because (cue multitude of excuses) during November I was also trying to write and original story for NaNoWriMo, a writing challenge where you have to try to write 50,000 words in a month and I failed spectacularly at it and in the process lost a lot of fanfiction momentum. And then in December I went on holidays and subsequently didn't write anything. But I'm back now! Back now and still invested in writing this story because I've already planned the general plot of the whole thing and have more detailed plans for individual chapters up to Chapter 37 and I have no intention of quitting. I'm back just in time to wish you a Happy New Year too.
In any case, I feel sort of sad for Kai and kind of made myself sad while writing that part... but then when proofreading I just ended up laughing at that part because anything involving a Magikarp is pretty automatically hilarious... and then I feel bad because that's actually supposed to be a really sad part.
But please review! Give me fuel to resolve not to go on extended hiatuses in 2014. What's your New Year's Resolution?