Waterworks
It was another bright and beautiful day and Maki and I were wandering down the main road of some miscellanious town. As per usual, Maki was unable to sit on my shoulder and was currently entertaining himself by running along the top of the fences that bordered peoples' property. Suddenly he paused and leapt from the top of the brick wall he was currently wandering over and onto my shoulder.
He tugged insistently at my hair, as if I had not already noticed him. "Maki ki ki murr!" He said urgently.
"What is it?" I queried.
He leapt up on the top of the wall and beckoned to me. "Maki kimur mur."
Feeling like a criminal, I clambered up after him. The wall was rough and I grazed my hands trying to climb over it. What I saw on the other side brought pain to my heart. It was a little Nidoran, chained to a post outside a shed. He stood there, head hanging. His legs were as thin as sticks and you could almost count his ribs from here. Maki jumped down and approached it cautiously. It growled at him.
"Maki maki MAKI!" He shouted at me – telling me I had to do something. He jumped back up the fence. From here I could see that it was quite a nice garden, with a large pond and lots of plants. A large patch of ground about the size of a tennis court appeared to have suffered some kind of fire though.
I knew I had to do something – I could hardly just leave it there, but I had already been reprimanded once for entering where I was not supposed to. Perhaps this time I should go and fetch the law. I was just pondering what I should do, when a voice came from below.
"Hey, what do you think you're doin'?"
"Maki," Maki hissed. I dropped down the other side of the wall, onto the footpath.
It was a familiar looking boy about my age, with dark eyes and dark hair. Despite the hot day, he was wearing a large trenchcoat.
I glared at him, "have you been following me?"
"Of course not," he replied brashly. "Why are you climbing other people's walls?"
"There is a Pokemon in trouble over there," I snapped at him, "not that I expect you to care. Why don't you just get out of here, scram?"
He grinned at me, he had a cute, crooked grin, I found myself unwillingly noticing. "Bye, bye then, until we meet again," he waved and walked off along the road.
I glanced at the house. I was by nature an impatient person, and running around and looking for the Police would take too much time. It would not hurt to look at the front of the house, would it?
A sign hung on the gate – "Fire and Ice Pokemon Breeding Centre" it proclaimed in faded script. A bush partly obscured the sign, it looked like it had been there a very long time. A Pokemon breeding centre then… well, at least I had a reason to go in.
"Stay close to me," I whispered to Maki. "If anyone tries to grab you, Starblaze them." Starblaze was Maki's attack, it was not as strong as Solar Beam, although the method was the same. However, it tended to blind the target for several seconds.
Maki nodded.
Nervously, I rapped on the door. I could hear footsteps inside.
The door swung open and a scrawny woman, who looked a little like a crow, stared down at me. "Yes?" She asked.
"Hi," I said, shuffling nervously under her pale blue gaze. "My names Cathy and I read the sign on the gate. I haven't been in town long but I do have some water Pokemon and thought you might be able to help me train them." I was not about to tell her my real name. Call me paranoid, but she had a Nidoran tied up in her backyard!
She smiled at me, the smile never reaching her eyes. "My husband bred Pokemon, trained them too, finest trainer in the town. But alas, he died some years ago. I still look after them, but I'm afraid I cannot be of much help."
She seemed about to close the door. I could not let her throw me out yet, I hated admitting to defeat.
"Look," I said. "Do you still fight Pokemon?"
"On occasion," she replied. "I was once a master Pokemon trainer, but since marrying I settled down and helped breed them."
"I don't have any fire Pokemon," I informed her, "but I do have a very interesting Vaporeon, perhaps we could have a little fight."
She smiled. "I have not fought for a long time. I hope I am not too rusty at it." Her smile broadened. "Perhaps we could make it a little more… interesting?"
"Yes?" I asked.
"If I win, I get to chose one of your Pokemon to keep and if you win, you get one of mine."
"Maakiiii!" The Makimur cautioned.
I felt a lump in my throat. But here was a way I could get to save the Nidoran without causing any problems. "Ok," I replied, "but you can't chose Maki."
"Is that what the little guy's called – he doesn't look like a fire or water type Pokemon anyway. Don't worry, he's safe. And, because you're the challenger, I'll let you choose the medium – water or grass?"
I pondered for a moment. I had three Pokemon that could cope with water, but two that could not cope with fire, which she would have difficulty using on water. "Water," I replied.
She nodded. "Come through here."
She led me through a gate and into her back garden. As we made our way towards the path, I pointed to the Nidoran.
"If you are a Fire and Ice trainer, how come you have a grass Pokemon?" I asked, all innocence.
The lady frowned. "Sometimes we must put them up against different Pokemon types for the training. So we used to catch wild Pokemon on occasion and bring them back here for trials. This one was kept to guard the garden from unwelcome intruders."
I bit my tongue before I asked the obvious, why is it chained up? It was chained up in front of a shed after all. Perhaps there was something important in the shed.
"Wait here," she said, walking over to the shed. The Nidoran cowered back as she approached it, and unlocked the shed, coming out with five Pokeballs.
"You are familiar with competition rules, yes?" She asked.
I nodded. "We get three Pokemon each, first one to defeat the opponent's Pokemon wins?"
"Indeed, Cathy," she led me towards the water field. It was a large pond, probably about the size of a tennis court with a deep pit in the centre third and shallower water at both ends. I was relieved – this meant that I may be able to use Maki as well.
We took our positions at each end.
"Because you got to chose the field, you also get to chose first Pokemon," she declared. I knew this really put me at a disadvantage, because I had no idea what she would chose. Better play it safe.
"Ozmos, I chose you!" The vaporeon stood proudly on the rocks, waving her tail in the air.
"Interesting vaporeon," the lady replied, "I see it has fins and webbed feet, most unusual. Go Wartortle!"
Well, it could have been much worse.
"Vaporeon, bubble!" I called.
"Wartortle, dive in and try to grab it," she shouted. Wartortle dived down beneath the bubbles and into the centre third of the pond.
"Keep watching!" I shouted. "When you see it, use your watergun, don't let it get out of the water!"
Ozmos danced along the rocks. Suddenly the Wartortle lunged out behind her.
"Behind you!" I shrieked.
Ozmos whirled, spraying water as Wartortle tried to tackle her. The water knocked it back.
"Quick, use your tail whip!" I shouted. "Knock it over before it can recover."
"Wartortle, withdraw," she shouted.
The turtle disappeared into its shell as Ozmos whipped her tail around, doing very little damage.
"Now, bite!"
The Wartortle lunged forward, clamping its teeth about Ozmos's tail. Ozmos squealed.
"Don't give up," I shouted. "Bubble beam it!"
But it was too late, Ozmos had fainted.
"Return Ozmos," I replied, heart broken. "Go Razor!"
My Seadra sprang at the wartortle.
"Dragon Rage attack!" I shouted. And Razor went wild. His fins cut into the turtle's protective shell and he bubbled in its face. Very quickly, the Wartortle was recalled.
"Go Dewgong," she shouted. The beautiful Sea Lion Pokemon dived into the water. "Aurora beam!"
"Razor, use your agility!" I shouted. Razor avoided the beam of white light.
"Tackle it!" I shouted.
Razor dived at the Dewgong and wrapped his tail around it, dragging it under. What went on beneath the surface we could barely see, nothing but the tumultuous water and the bubbled floating to the surface. A moment later, it was over, Dewgong floated to the surface, unconscious. Razor sprang into the air, flapping his fins cheerfully. He almost seemed to fly.
The lady was non-plussed. "Go Blastoise!"
Blastoise, I felt my heart grow cold. She had a Blastoise and had kept it for last, she'd been toying with me, letting me get ahead… and now I was going to lose.
The enormous tortoise stood there, "blaaast," it bellowed. Razor looked downhearted.
"Don't give up," I shouted, wishing I had some kind of electric Pokemon. "Use your agility and attack it with your fins."
"Sea-draaa!" Razor bellowed, flying straight at the enormous turtle Pokemon's chest.
"Blastoise, swat the nuisance away," the lady shouted.
Blastoise struck out at the Seadra with its huge arms. Seadra was still pummelling it with his fins, but was plainly losing the battle. I was about to withdrawal him, when Maki suddenly sprang from my shoulder.
"Maaakiiiii!" He shouted and leapt across the rocks. He was so fast that the huge Blastoise could do nothing to stop him as he leapt up and into the gap where the Turtle Pokemon's legs erupted from the shell. He was small enough to do it.
"Seadra, return!" I shouted quickly, saving Razor from further pain. "Maki, use your Starblaze."
"Blastoise, withdrawal!" The lady shouted. She was plainly not used to a Pokemon getting inside the great creature's shell.
Blastoise ignored her, he bellowed in pain, tried to hit himself in the shell and then slowly, gracefully, toppled over backwards with a great crash.
"No, Blastoise!" She shouted. Maki popped his head out of the gap.
"Maki mur?" He asked ("did I do good or what?"), he wormed out and leapt into my arms.
"You did great," I replied. I looked at the lady. She was fuming.
"You cheated!" She shouted. "You did not send the little thing out, it sent itself, before the other was withdrawn. Therefore, I win by default."
I paled. Maki had cheated, after all.
"So I guess, you owe me a vaporeon," she declared.
My shoulders slumped. She was right, she had won by default. Maki had cheated. He had only been trying to help, but he had lost me my vaporeon. I held the ball out to her. "Look after her, please," I muttered.
"No!" A voice shouted, and I saw the dark-haired kid jumping off the wall. "I saw the whole fight and I don't think she cheated. She was just about to call the Seadra back when Makimur went over there. At no time were both attacking the Blastoise at the same time!"
"Who are you?" She asked, "what are you doing spying on my property?"
He shrugged. "Me name's Kameron, miss. I'm a big Pokemon enthusiast and when I heard the fight going on, I just had to climb up on the fence and look. I'm sorry." He grinned. "You certainly have impressive Pokemon though."
The charm seemed to work its way through to her. "Ok," she muttered, "which Pokemon do you want of mine?"
Kameron looked at me hopefully, probably hoping I would take the Blastoise. I felt a little sorry for the woman though. Having her strongest Pokemon beaten by a tiny one.
"I only want the Nidoran, madam," I replied.
She gave me a disbelieving look. "You can chose from any of my Pokemon and you chose the scrawny one that won't fight and barely eats? You must be mad!"
Kameron shot me a look of pure disgust.
"Yes, that's the one I want."
She shook her head in amazement. "You only had to ask for that one! You can have the damned thing. It refuses to eat, attacks my other Pokemon and makes a nuisance of itself. I would've let it go ages ago, only I didn't think it would survive on its own. Look," she smiled at me, warmly, for the first time, "I see you have the makings of a great trainer, but with only water and grass Pokemon you are at a disadvantage. As a symbol of my faith in your skills, I'll give you a Pokemon, a fire one." She handed me a ball from her belt. "This one is very young and almost entirely untrained, but I'm sure you'll manage." She grinned wryly.
"I have nothing to give you in return," I muttered. I could not give away Razor and I had to hang onto the Butterfree, in case I found its original human. It was not mine to give away!
She shrugged. "Just tell me where you found that strange vaporeon," she replied, "then perhaps I can make a journey there and evolve an eevee of my own."
I gave her as precise directions as I could to Lake Eerie.
"Now, catch your Nidoran," she replied, leaning down and unclipping its collar. "It's virtually wild, so you'll have to do this the proper way."
The nidoran immediately made a dash for the shrubbery. It was not moving very fast.
"Butterfree!" I shouted, "I chose you!"
"Freeeee," it trilled.
"Sleeping dust attack that Nidoran," I commanded and pointed.
"Buuuttterrr freeeee!" It flapped after the Nidoran, fanning dust onto the creature. The Nidoran ran a few steps then fell over.
"Go Pokeball!" I shouted, throwing the ball after it. The ball twitched once and then was still. I picked it up.
"I doubt you'll be able to train it," she said. "But at the least, try and feed it up and set it free. I hate the condition it's got into, but there was nothing I could do about it. It just won't eat anything and has the nastiest temperament ever."
"Where did you find it?" I asked.
"That's the strange thing – it was wandering along the side of the road trailing a chain and broken post. I think it must have escaped form somewhere. I said to myself, Maria, you cannot just let the poor thing wander alone to be picked up by some kind of scavenger. So I brought it back here in the hope of trying it against my water Pokemon. But all it did was attack things and refuse to eat. I think it must have been mistreated in its old home and ran away. The one time I tried to fight with it, it poisoned a Flareon and then kept on attacking it after it had passed out. It took some emergency surgery to save the poor beast! After that I just kept it tied up until I could think of something else to do with it. Sorry you got it now?"
I shook my head. "The poor thing just needs some love and attention," I replied. "I'll do the best I can."
"Good luck to you. Um, your friend seems to be up to something…"
I turned, hearing for the first time Butterfree's excited trilling. Kameron had picked up my Butterfree. At first I thought he was trying to steal it, he was with Team Rocket after all, but then I realised he seemed to recognise it. Suddenly everything fell into place. Had the Dr not said that Butterfree had belonged to someone named Cameron?
"How come you had Dancer?" He turned to me, eyes narrowing. "She was stolen ages ago."
"I liberated her, from a ferry, from someone in Team Rocket."
"Team Rocket had my Butterfree?"
I nodded. "Aren't you with Team Rocket? Why would they steal your Pokemon?"
Kameron looked puzzled. "After I lost Dancer, a man in dark glasses came up to me on the street one day and told me that he knew who had stolen my Butterfree and if I helped him with a little task, he would help me get her back. After that I learnt about Team Rocket, who collected Pokemon and I figured that if anyone was stealing Pokemon, it might as well be me.
"After the boss found out that I'd been beaten by you, he fired me and told me to never come back, so I just wandered. He took back the Arcanine so now I only had Cubone, and then I saw you walking through the town. I figured that if I could get Maki he might let me back into Team Rocket." He shook his head. "And now I find out they stole my Butterfree! I won't forgive them for that. From now on I will no longer work for Team Rocket but will oppose them at every turn." He paused.
The lady was staring at us, puzzled. "We should be going now," I told her. "Thanks very much. I'll look after the Flareon well and I hope you get yourself a Vaporeon like mine."
She smiled, "be sure to come and visit next time you're in town, let me know how the Nidoran is going!"
"For sure," I replied. "Come on Kameron. You might as well come with me for a while, after all, it's a big world out there."
Kameron smiled at me, somewhat relieved. "I've been lonely," he replied.
"Goodbye, Maria," I called. "Maki, come here." Maki pulled his nose out of a flower. It was smeared with pollen.
Together, Kameron and I wandered away from the house, whilst Maki sat on my shoulder watching Dancer frisk around my head. I wondered if I had made the right decision, but time would tell.