"Ugh, I'm tired now.", Cedrick says as the four of them walk down the street. By now it's early evening, and they are all ready to retire for the night.
"Yeah, I hear you." Wyatt opens up his pokegear again, checking the GPS app. "We're only a few blocks away from the Pokecenter."
Taral glances over to the backpacks Wyatt and Cedrick are wearing. "I know those Shadow pokemon are dangerous, but they still need to be fed. We're going to have to take them out sooner or later."
Wyatt thinks for a moment. "Maybe we should take care of that first. Wouldn't want to risk them tearing up one of the rooms in the Pokecenter."
"Maybe we should go camping instead, then? That way we wouldn't have to worry about getting caught with them.", Taral says,
Wyatt looks over at the Pokemart nearby. The sign shows they close in 20 minutes.
"That sound like a good idea to you, Cedrick?"
He shrugs. "I can pay for a couple tents. Don't think I could get a separate one for each of us, though…."
"That's fine. I can buy my own.", Taral says, pulling out his pouch of Ranseian currency.
"Uh… I don't think the Pokemart will take those, dude. They accept these." He pulls out a small green bill with a pokeball symbol on it, the symbol of the League Sovereignty
"Well, it's worth a try."
They all go into the mart, the bell on the door ringing as they open it. The glass door is plastered with a plethora of different offers and running deals, one of which shows a bedroll and tent combo.
"Oh, hey, that looks perfect!", Cedrick says, checking the listed price. "Hmm…. it comes with one tent and two bedrolls…." He looks over to Taral. "So, can you check real quick and see if they accept your funny coins?"
"They're called 'Drackos', I'll have you know.", he says as he approaches the cashier, a short man of toned build with a heavy tan. He seems to be texting someone on his phone, but puts his pokegear away when he sees Taral coming up.
"Do pokemarts here accept these as payment?", he asks, pulling out one of the coins. They have the Dragon symbol stamped on them, and are made of gold. The man gives the coin an odd look, and pulls out a set of papers stapled together from under the desk.
"Uh, lemme check….." He flips through them, before getting to the last page.
"Uh.. yeah, that's the Ranseian currency, right?" Taral nods. "If you can't accept it then do you know of anywhere I could potentially exchange it for-"
"Nah, that won't be necessary. You can pay with Drackos.", he says. "What is it you're wanting?"
He points to one of the ads on the door. "I'd like to buy one of those tent and bedroll kits, please."
"Alright, lemme see if we have any left." The guy goes into the back room where the surplus goods are stored, closing the door behind him.
"Hopefully they still have a few in stock.", Wyatt says, browsing the different products they have on the various shelves. Since it is later in the day, some of the stock has been mostly bought up. Namely basic necessities for a trainer, such as pokeballs, potions, antidotes, kibble, and such.
"Hmm… they've got different food bags for different diets, here. Maybe we should see if they have, like, a variety pack or something?", Cedrick wonders as he peruses the inventory.
The bell on the front door rings again as a man and a woman, both dressed in bright white jumpsuits, walk into the shop. They look around for a few moments, checking a few nearby aisles as they walk about the store. One of them has a small gadget out that makes a quiet beep every couple of seconds. They slowly and methodically scan the room with it, staring intently at the screen as they do so. The gadget itself vaguely resembles a radar gun police would use to check for speeding cars, but it has that signature Aether Foundation motif, with a sterile white casing with metallic gold accents. Once the device faces Wyatt and Cedrick, namely their backpacks, it begins to beep like crazy. The employee is a bit startled by this sudden spike in the device's readings, and whispers something to the coworker next to them.
"...think she gave them the Ultra Beast to throw us off?"
The woman merely nods her head 'no' before walking up to the four of them.
"Have any of you seen a slim, blonde girl in a white dress with blonde hair? She probably had a strange-looking pokemon with her?"
Wyatt and Taral look at each other, neither having the slightest idea as to what they're talking about. Cedrick, on the other hand, doesn't even realize they're talking to them, and continues browsing the wares.
"Uh…. no? Are they a wanted criminal or something?", Wyatt asks.
The two well-dressed employees laugh it off, trying to keep them from getting suspicious.
"No, not at all. Her name is Lillie, and she doesn't get out much. She was supposed to have been back home an hour ago, and we're just trying to make sure she's okay."
"...and what does your fancy gizmo have to do with that?", Cedrick asks, not bothering to look up from the rows of pokefood.
"Oh, th-this?" The male employee holds the little handheld radar up, accidentally pointing it at the backpacks again. It goes off once more, this time noticeably louder.
"The pokemon she has with her is-is quite rare, and gives off a unique energy signature. We were hoping it would help us get a general idea of where she is." The female employee chimes in, trying to explain the situation in a disarming way. She stutters just a tad bit, tripping over her own words as she scrambles to come up with a concise explanation.
There is a long, tenuous silence as none of them respond, and the Aether Foundation employees don't really know what else to say.
"Alright, looks like we still have a few left in the back, you said you were paying with Drackos-"
He stops as he sees the Aether Foundation personnel.
"Oh, hey! What brings Aether Foundation people, such as yourselves, here? Need anything?"
"No, we're just looking for someone, is all. Have a good evening." They both leave before the cashier can even respond, hurrying out of the building.
"...that was weird. Anyway, one of those tent-bedroll combos will be 388 Drackos, according to my little cheat sheet, here."
Taral counts the coins as he puts them on the table. "Who were they?", he asks.
"Dunno. They were definitely from Aether Foundation, though. No one else would walk around in such a ridiculous getup.", he says, double-counting the coins to make sure he has the right amount. "I try to avoid them whenever I can. They kinda creep me out." He grabs one of the last remaining tent bedroll kits from the back room and sets it on the table. It is surprisingly light. "There ya go!"
"Any reason why they creep you out?", Taral asks as he slings the kit behind his shoulder. The tent and bedroll are both stuffed into a tube of nylon fabric with a strap for easy transport.
"Well, most people like 'em, and for good reason. Their products are top-notch, some of which you can't find anywhere else on the market, like their signature Rotom OS. One of my friends saved up for one and now she doesn't know how she lived without it."
"She 'bought' a new OS? Mine just updates itself every now and then….", Wyatt says, looking down at his pokegear.
"Well, these Rotoms are more than just normal software. They're also pokemon. They're, like, little code ghosts that possess electronics and appliances. They exist in the wild, but Aether Foundation found out how to, like, make them, I guess? I dunno how they're manufactured, but they ain't cheap. And they can do a bunch of stuff for you, which is why most people get one. They can also be trained for battle, but I don't think the ones Aether Foundation sells are really meant for that, though."
"Interesting. Doubt we'll ever be able to afford one." Cedrick pulls out some of his own money.
"I'd like to buy one of those tent combos, too, please."
"Alright, that will be 500 dollars. Lemme get the last one we have in the back."
Taral gives the cashier a confused look as he goes into the back room one more time. "Why does it take so much more of your money to pay for the same thing?", he asks.
Cedrick just shrugs. "Dunno. Probably because your 'Drackos' are literal gold coins, if I had to guess."
The cashier comes back with the last tent kit they have in stock, and places it on the counter.
"Here ya go!" Cedrick hands over the 500 bucks, not bothering to wait for him to count it before grabbing the tent and turning to leave.
"Let's go find a place to set up camp. I'm ready to get a good night's sleep.", Cedrick says as he leaves the shop.
"There's some forest just south of Malie City along Route 11. That's probably the most convenient place to camp in the area.", the cashier says to the other two.
"Thanks for the tip! Have a great evening!" The others promptly leave, not wanting to somehow lose Cedrick.
"Hey! The cashier mentioned that there's some forest along Route 11. If we just go south from Malie City we should find it. It's nearby.", Taral says as he catches up to Cedrick.
"...did you guys hear how their little scanning tool was beeping when it was pointed at us?", Wyatt wonders.
"It wasn't us, dude. It was our backpacks. Specifically our backpacks.", Cedrick says. His normal carefree attitude is all but gone as he looks to the others. "If there's just random people walking around with scanners that can detect the pokemon we're carrying, then maybe we should keep our trips to cities to a minimum. Or, at least have one or two of us go and get food and stuff while someone stays with the pokeballs."
"Yeah. Maybe that's a good idea. We definitely shouldn't have them with us if we ever go into a Pokecenter.", Taral says.
They leave the city through the southern entrance, and head into the woods along Route 11. The trees are fairly densely packed, with the occasional bamboo shoot interspersed between them. Eventually, they find a small clearing with flat, even ground for them to easily set up their tents.
"Wait! I forgot to buy some pokefood!", Cedrick says as he jams the stakes into the ground.
"Well, you have those Pokepuffs you won at the eating challenge, right? Couldn't you use those?"
"Oh, yeah!" He pulls out the bag of puffs from his backpack, setting them down on the ground.
"Should probably get those balls out of the bag…" He digs around, looking for them.
"They should all be in mine.", Wyatt says, putting his bag down and doing the same.
"Nah, I only gave you most of them. I kept a few, including the one with the Shroomish."
Wyatt decides to turn his bag on its side, making it easier to dig through its contents. Dozens of crushed plastic bottles, empty cans and crinkled wrappers spill out as he looks for the capsules containing the shadow pokemon. He pulls out 8.
"Hmm. We should probably let them out one at a time, and feed them as carefully as possible…", Wyatt says as he picks one of the pokeballs at random.
"You all ready?", he asks. Taral and Cedrick both nod in affirmation, but Stella hides behind Taral, her tail twitching nervously.
"Don't worry. We can just recall them back to their balls if any of them turn violent.", Taral says to her as he rubs her head.
"Alright, time to get this over with." Wyatt pushes the button on the front of the ball, and a dark, faded purple energy releases from it. It darkens the air as it streaks from the ball to the ground in front of him, coalescing into a Mime Jr that floats an inch or two above the ground. Its eyes glow a faint red as it scans its surroundings with an empty gaze. Its expression is inscrutable; almost machine-like as it examines the four of them. When its eyes meet Stella's, it holds its hands up, and a flash of sinister red energy coalesces around it, forming a transparent box. Its movements are quick, almost unnaturally so, which startles all of them. It proceeds to sit there, not taking its eyes off of Stella.
"H-hey there, little b-buddy…." Wyatt pulls out a random puff and slowly extends it towards the creature with a trembling hand, for fear it might respond by blasting him with a Psychic attack. It looks down at the puff, floating up to the edge of its little box to take a quick look. It stands there for a few moments, before letting the panel between him and the puff fade away briefly. Instead of going for the puff in Wyatt's hand, it uses its telekinetic abilities to grab a different puff out of the bag, quickly flinging it into its little box. It closes the box back up before grabbing the puff and nibbling away at it. Due to its small size, the puff is almost as big as its head, and it barely finishes a fourth of it before letting out a tiny burp and setting it back down. It does not react even remotely cheery or positively throughout this process, nor does its gaze leave Stella for more than a split second.
"I think its done. Guess we should put it back." Wyatt clicks the button again, but the box of red energy seems to prevent the device from retrieving the pokemon. It looks up at Wyatt with little red eyes and tilts its head.
"Uh…. what do we do now?", Cedrick says, slowly backing away.
"Let me try it again." He clicks the button one more time, and this time the Mime Jr lets the box fade away, allowing the pokeball to suck it back up.
"I pray that's the only one capable of doing that.", Taral says in a worried tone.
"Yeah, me too."
Wyatt grabs the partly-eaten puff and puts it back in the bag before letting the next pokemon out. This one is his Rockruff he owned for a few months before it ran away. He's not sure how Cypher managed to get a hold of it, but he has clearly undergone whatever process they did to the others. He looks incredibly sickly, and his fur is wiry and mangy. Usually Rockruffs always have their little curled tail up as they bounce around, full of energy, but this one barely stumbles to its feet as it looks around.
When he sees Wyatt, a spark of recognition can be seen on his face, before the negative emotions overtake him. He backs off, growling as he does so.
"Don't worry, little guy. It's me! I'm here now. You're safe, I promise!" He pulls out a puff and slowly holds it out towards him. The slight crinkling of the plastic bag only makes him more nervous, and his growls get more aggressive. He hunkers down and folds his ears flat against his head. Wyatt accidentally drops the puff in surprise, letting it fall to the ground with a soft bounce.
The Rockruff immediately runs up to it and practically swallows it whole, trying to be as quick as possible. He keeps looking up to the others as he scarfs down his meal, keeping a particularly close eye on Stella.
"This is gonna be more difficult than we thought-"
Three streaks of golden light fire off from behind some bushes in the distance, encasing the three of them in one large bubble of transparent golden energy, and the Rockruff and Stella in separate bubbles of their own.
"What the-!"
The Rockruff goes absolutely crazy, devolving into a brown blur of fur and teeth as it repeatedly throws itself against the barrier, desperately trying to escape.
The two Aether Foundation employees emerge from the bushes, both holding little gun-shaped devices in their hands with a glass pane on the end of the barrel. The glass panel has little circuits of prismatic energy running through it, much like the force fields themselves.
"Look, we're just trying to help you, here! Those pokemon are extremely dangerous!", the woman says as they run up to them.
"Trying to 'help' us?! Looks to me like you're holding us hostage!", Cedrick snaps as he kicks the field a few times. Small ripples of energy flow out from the impact.
"We're trying to protect you! It's a miracle none of them have broken out of their capsules and attacked you yet! Do you have any idea what those creatures are?!", the man says, gesturing to the Rockruff that is still trying fruitlessly to break out.
"You saw how that first one resisted being recalled, right? I can assure you their 'peculiarities' do not end there!"
"AS IF THAT'S ANY OF YOUR BUSINESS!" At this point, Cedrick is absolutely fuming, and begins digging through the pack for the remaining pokeballs.
"Cedrick, stop! They have us trapped! The least we can do is listen to what they have to say!", Wyatt says, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Cedrick merely huffs, plopping down on the ground beneath him.
"Alright, make it quick, though. I'd really like to hit the hay soon."