Chapter Four - The Pokédex Unveiled!
August 2nd, 2022
Pokémon Research Laboratory, Jay Town, Asture Region
Raine sat in the lab hand feeding Buizel as many PokéTreats as he wanted. He deserved to be spoilt for the valiant effort he had put up against Mirella. It wasn't his fault that Raine hadn't been able to claim the Gym badge. Raine needed more Pokémon in his team if he was ever to face her again. Until he had a non-Water type Pokemon, Zangoose could always just keep using Thunderbolt and overpower Buizel. During all of the Gym battles that Raine had watched he had never seen Zangoose use an electric attack before. So he had thought he had a chance to wear him down. It was disappointing to realise that Mirella had developed her Pokémon with the use of Technical Machines - or TMs - and it didn't just know Normal type moves like he had expected.
However, Raine didn't want to just go out and catch Pokémon only to raise them to fight. Buizel was so much more than just his little battler and he had always promised that any additional Pokémon he caught he would make just as useful. He wouldn't do that. Not yet at least. He had been humbled by his defeat and would put the idea of becoming a Pokémon trainer to the back of his mind where it had lived for so long. It was time to put his full focus back into his research.
"Raine," Professor Sakura said, laying a hand gently on Raine's back. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I know how hard you practiced."
"It's okay, Professor," Raine responded. "Buizel is already doing so much better and by this afternoon we will have both forgotten what happened."
"That's probably for the best, but I wonder if we could have the conversation we put off before your battle yesterday." He sat down on a stool beside Raine and placed a box on the counter.
Raine had no idea what he was talking about or what the box was for. "Okay," he said casually.
The Professor laid a hand atop the box and said, "You clearly don't remember and I understand that you had a lot on your mind. This is the Pokédexes that Professor Oak sent over to me to distribute."
"Oh. Yes, I remember now." Raine looked at the box excitedly. "Have you decided that we can keep one here?"
"No, not at all, but I am very serious about my offer to send you out as a mentor to the kids I do choose." He opened the top of the box, but left the five Pokédexes safely inside.
"I couldn't, especially not after yesterday."
"Now now, before you argue, take a second to think about it from my point of view. I need to ensure that these remain safe and I need people who are eager to explore Asture. Other than just handing them over to children I need an adult to accompany them. The Pokédexes, not the children. We all know that it's a young trainer's world designed for their safety. But as everyone learns about these," he tapped the side of the box with his nails, "they'll want to get their hands on them."
"I understand everything that you're saying, Professor. But how can I protect them when I can't even win a battle?"
"Well, I doubt that you'd actually be battling trainers for them," the Professor said dismissively. "You'd just be there to make sure nobody steals them in the usual way. But that's not the point that I wanted to make anyway. I want at least one Pokédex to be in the hands of a researcher. It just so happens that I also know one of those who wants to do more than just stay in this musty old lab for the rest of their lives. Someone who dreams of becoming a Professor one day. Someone who doesn't have to travel the world just for the sake of becoming a Pokémon Champion."
"What do you propose I do with the Pokédex though?" Raine asked, peering at the box. "What's the point of being able to identify Pokémon if I'm not strong enough to capture or collect them?"
"You know that we don't have to always fight Pokémon to get them inside of a Poké Ball. Most of my field researchers don't battle either and they manage to succeed."
"So you want me to explore, unable to battle, while babysitting four ten-year-olds to make sure that nobody steals this precious piece of technology? That doesn't sound like a task that I'm suited to."
Professor Sakura finally took one of the small, red Pokédexes out of the box and tried to hand it to Raine. "What will it take to convince you to take this and explore Asture?"
Raine gleefully accepted the Pokédex and flipped it open, pointing it at Buizel.
"Buizel, the sea weasel Pokémon," the Pokédex announced. "It inflates the floatation sac around its neck and pokes its head out of the water to see what is going on."
"Can you really pass up this opportunity?" the Professor asked, elated by the excitement of the Pokédex. "Your journey to becoming a professor will be much harder if you are unwilling to explore and take chances. At least spend the day with that and let me know in the morning if you will go with me to Sparrow Town to pick the others or if I have to find someone else."
"Do you really believe that I can do this, Professor?" Raine asked disbelievingly. "Become a field researcher and also a better trainer?"
"Of course, Raine. I've seen all of the hard work that you've done here. I know that you can apply that out in the world. And when you come back eventually you'll be capable of so much more."
Raine stared at Buizel and questioned if he could take him out of the lab and expose him to the potential of battle again after their defeat to Mirella. Did he have the confidence to keep fighting until they started to win? Or was it just cruel to subject Buizel to that?
"I'll take this," he said, closing the Pokédex and slipping it into his lab coat pocket, "and think about it. I make no promises, however. There's no doubt in my mind that if I step foot outside of Jay Town that I will have to battle other trainers and wild Pokémon alike. I'm not sure if I can accept that fate. So we'll see."
"The least I can ask of you is that you consider it." The Professor grasped Raine reassuringly on the forearm and then picked up the box and left.
"What do you think, Buizel?" Raine asked, scratching his partner on the cheek. "Should we go out and explore the world?"
"Bui, Bui," Buizel chirruped happily.
"Are you sure? You're not afraid of battle?"
Buizel shook his head sternly and then nuzzled Raine's hand. Of course he wasn't afraid. It was in a Pokémon's nature to fight, even if Buizel spent most of his time training in the lab he couldn't avoid that. Defeat at the hands of Zangoose hadn't shaken him up too much at any rate.
"Okay, "Raine said confidently. "But we're not going alone. Let's get you a buddy before we decide."
As Raine left the lab he realised that he didn't even have any spare Poké Balls. He had never been given any as a child and he'd never had the need to buy any. Buizel had been a gift from Professor Sakura and he came inside of a ball already.
So his first stop was the PokéMart to stock up on balls and other supplies that he might need to catch his first ever wild Pokémon. He had a never ending supply of PokéTreats in his deep pockets, but he bought a container of berries and a lure just in case he needed them. Although Jay Town was brimming with wild Pokémon he doubted his skills at whittling down a Pokémon's defence until he could guarantee that he would catch them.
With a backpack full of items he had never imagined needing, he walked a full circuit around the edge of Jay Town, looking for somewhere to set up camp. There were fields of tall grass and flowers from right at the outskirts of town, hundreds of metres deep with a forest at the far edge.
He eventually decided to place a camp chair and his bag down at the edge of a field brimming with yellow flowers. He took out one of the twenty Poké Balls he had purchased. Surely that number was great enough that if his aim was poor or the Pokémon simply didn't want to be caught he wouldn't lose them all in the field.
Buizel stood confidently at his side as he faced the flowers and watched hundreds of bird and bug Pokémon flutter around. The variety of Pokémon interacting with nature was so vast that he could take his time deciding who would make a good teammate.
He held the Pokédex in his other hand and tried to track an elusive Pidgey just to hear the Pokémon's entry. It wasn't as easy to lock it down at a distance or while it moved, but eventually the Pokédex spoke.
"Pidgey, the tiny bird Pokémon. Pidgey has an extremely sharp sense of direction. It is capable of unerringly returning home to its nest, however far it may be removed from its familiar surroundings."
It was as enthralling as it had been the first time he had heard it speak and he longed to see what it said about more Pokémon. Perhaps the Professor was right in asking him to go and see as many Pokémon as he could around the Asture region. This was a dream come true for a boy who longed to know the minute details about every Pokémon he came across.
"What do you think, Buizel?" Raine asked, scratching Buizel on the top of his head. "Who should we catch?"
Buizel chirruped, lifting his chin to see over the tall flowers that were just taller than him, but ensuring the scratching continued. He seemed interested in anything and everything that moved, especially the bird Pokémon.
"What're you thinking? A Pidgey? Spearow? Or Taillow?" He continued, rattling off all of the bird Pokémon he could spot, even though Buizel couldn't respond with anything other than a cry.
When he gave up listing the bird Pokémon he looked for what else he could see. Somehow a small movement at the far edge of the field caught his eye. He strained to see a sight that brought the widest smile imaginable.
A small brown and fluffy Teddiursa was climbing up the base of a tree. He had absolutely adored the Teddiursa that one of the lab researchers had many years ago before it evolved into Ursaring and was released into the wild. So this opportunity to catch one and add it to his team was unmissable.
He scooped up his backpack, leaving the chair behind as he ran into the flowers. "Come on, Buizel," he called even though the Pokémon was hot on his heels.
Pokémon flew and leapt out of Raine's way as he rushed to catch the Teddiursa before it could decide to move along. He slowed to a stop twenty metres away and slipped the bag onto his back. He hadn't yet figured out how to go about catching it. Did he fight it first? Or use a berry to distract it and catch it at full health? First things first he pulled out the Pokédex and pointed it at the Pokémon.
"Teddiursa, the tiny bear Pokémon," the Pokédex explained as Teddiursa clambered up the tree towards a beehive. "This Pokémon likes to lick its palms that are sweetened by being soaked in honey. Teddiursa concocts its own honey by blending fruits and pollen collected by Beedrill."
Had Professor Oak come up with these tidbits of information about every Pokémon in the World himself? Had he collated thousands of years of data and put it all inside of the Pokédex? Surely he had a huge team of assistants to help him.
However he had done it, it was a monumental effort to create such an amazing piece of technology. The least Raine could do was utilise it to its fullest. Whatever that meant.
He watched the Teddiursa for several moments. It managed to climb up to the branch where the beehive was hanging and crawled along, grabbing it with both paws. It struggled for a moment and then managed to knock the beehive to the ground below. It growled in annoyance and started making its way back along the branch.
Wild observation wasn't one of Raine's regular tasks. That was left up to the field research team. Many of whom he was surprised not to have seen in the fields around Jay Town. They were usually hard at work cataloguing and catching Pokémon for Professor Sakura and the lab researchers like himself.
The Teddiursa finally found its way to the ground, picking up the beehive and shaking it ferociously.
"Now!" Raine decided, thrusting an arm towards the Teddiursa. "Buizel, stun it with a Water Gun."
Buizel, who couldn't even see through the flowers, just tilted his head to the side in confusion. He had no idea who or where he was meant to attack.
"Oh, right," Raine said, realising his error. "Sneak forward to the edge of the flowers and then use Water Gun."
Buizel crept forward to the edge of the flower patch as the Teddiursa stayed well and truly distracted by its prize. It had no idea that Buizel was sneaking up on it from behind so was caught unawares as the jet of water slammed into it. It flew several metres through the air and crashed into the trunk of a tree. It moved slightly before collapsing in a heap.
Raine ran forward to stand beside Buizel. He pulled his arm back and judged the distance to the downed Pokémon, throwing a Poké Ball for the first time since he was a young boy. It soared perfectly through the air, bouncing up off of Teddiursa's back before expanding to its full size. Raine stood frozen, patiently hopeful as Teddiursa phased into the ball. The Poké Ball fell to the grass, shaking once, twice, three times before falling still.
"Woah," Raine said, rushing forward to collect the Poké Ball. He held it gently in his cupped palms, expecting something to go wrong to prove that he hadn't actually just caught his first Pokémon. "Great shot, Buizel. I don't think I could have caught Teddiursa without you."
"Bui," Buizel chirruped, nuzzling into Raine's leg. "Bui, Bui."
"Let's get back to the lab so that we can let them out and introduce ourselves."
Raine was so giddy that he ran the whole way back to the lab with a smile plastered on his face.
"What's all of this about?" Professor Sakura asked, seeing Raine and Buizel running into the lab.
"I did it, Professor," Raine said, placing the Poké Ball down onto a circular metal stand specifically designed to hold a ball. "I caught a Teddiursa. My first time catching a Pokémon."
"Well done, Raine. Does this mean that you've changed your mind?"
"Perhaps." Raine pushed everything on the table within a metre of him to the side and reached out and touched the release button on the front of the Poké Ball. "Let me focus on this and I'll let you know tomorrow."
Teddiursa came out of the Poké Ball with a flash of light, sitting on its rump with its stubby little legs keeping it balanced.
"Teddi?" Teddiursa said, tilting its head to the side.
"Hi, Teddiursa," Raine said, taking a PokéTreat out of his pocket and holding it out on a flat hand. "I'm Raine, your new trainer."
Teddiursa sniffed the air and then leant forward and gently took the treat in its mouth.
"You're a placid little thing, aren't you?" Raine observed. "Good riddance. I don't think I would have known what to do if you were out of control."
Teddiursa slapped Raine's extended palm and made a low growling sound. Raine took this as a sign that they wanted more so he placed another on his palm and Teddiursa snatched it up gratefully.
"Looks like you two are going to get along fine," Professor Sakura said, patting Raine on the back. "Your first step as a Pokémon trainer."
Raine wasn't sure about that just yet, but it had been thrilling to hunt and capture the Teddiursa. He really could start to envision himself doing it again and again across the Asture region.
