Chapter 7
Graveler spun through the sky, reeling from the force of the last attack. He felt as light as a feather, before the weight of the world took its toll on his propulsion, and dragged him back towards the ground. The crowd on the roof of the pokémart gasped at this unusual spectacle, and remained helpless as the man stole more of their pokémon.
As Graveler shot faster and faster towards the ground, a blackened blur whipped through the buildings behind it, and swept it back up into the air, guiding it towards the building. As it slowed, the blur left the creature, revealing Winona's Swellow, helping Graveler back to safety.
The two landed softly next to Winona, who promptly returned Graveler to its pokéball, leaving Swellow out to continue the fight. Two other trainers appeared next to her, with their pokémon ready to aid her in her attack. They had a Whismur and a Marill on either side of Swellow, both obviously with little battle experience.
"Marill," it squeaked as it let loose a thick stream of bubbles at the Quilava the flames evaporating the water causing a smokescreen of steam. Swellow flew up into the sky, before shooting straight back down at top speed, wings outstretched, the pure stream of wind slipping from the tips enough to slice into the floor, before bringing it sweeping back up, cleanly connecting with Quilava. The Whismur inhaled deeply, holding the breath in for a few seconds, before screaming at the top of its little voice, the noise literally exploding from its body. The shockwave of sound severely dented the floors, buckled the rails and KO'd the Quilava, the man returning it to its pokéball.
"Fancy moves, but you still have a way to go yet," he sneered. "Go Espeon!" He launched a pokéball in Quilava's place. The white light arranged itself into the form of a pokémon, and then faded.
"Eevee," it purred.
"What are you?" the man cried. "You're not an Espeon, just a useless Eevee! Those idiots screwed up the experiment!" He kicked the Eevee to the side, discarding the pokéball, before calling out a Skarmory, hopping onto its back before flying away from the battle.
"Setijin, get Medicham to knock him out of the sky!" Winona called, Lucia walking over to and comforting the Eevee, lying on its side. Setijin remained frozen to the spot, his Nincanda wandering next to Winona, looking for advice or instructions. The trainers with pokémon left returned them to their pokéballs, and began to aid the less fortunate ones, most in tears over their loss. The local authorities finally appeared on the scene with their Growlithe's taking point. They made their way across the roof, assessing the damage, and interrogating trainers who weren't already in enough distress. The man and his Skarmory were now out of view, flying way off into the clouds above Mossdeep Island.
"Setijin, are you feeling ok?" Lucia asked, striding up behind him cradling the Eevee in her arms. He mumbled a short sequence of undecipherable words, before crouching down next to his Nincanda.
"Thanks for all your help little guy. In you go now." He returned him to his pokéball, leaning backwards against a rail, shuffling into a sitting position. He looked up at Winona who had joined them. "Do you think my Cyndaquil was used as an experiment?" Winona closed her eyes and shook her head.
"I seriously doubt it. That was one very highly skilled pokémon. It is far more likely that he evolved through genuine battle experience," she explained. She sat down next to Setijin. "You know we're going to get him back soon. Don't forget that. We're not going to just sit back and do nothing to stop whatever it is that's going on...especially not after so much has happened," she paused as Setijin shot up to his fight and bolted down the stairs. She looked to Lucia for an explanation, which was not provided before they initiated the chase, following him back into the pokémon center. He stood in the corner, in front of the PC, with one hand on his head, the other slowly typing in a combination of random letters, one at a time.
"Is he doing what I think he's doing?" Winona pondered out loud. Lucia turned to her in confusion.
"I don't know, what do you think he is doing?"
"I think he's trying to get back into that mans pokémon box..."
"Back into?"
"Long story... Long to the point of 'telling you now would be a tad inconvenient'".
"That's your excuse for everything," Setijin called as the PC screen burst into life, and the mans pokémon boxes were displayed. He made his way through the lists, before coming across another set of familiar faces. "Guys, get the trainers from the market. It's time for them to be reunited!" Winona and Lucia nodded, and ran off, after Lucia handed the small Eevee to Setijin. "You are a cute little fellow, aren't you?" he whispered, stroking it. It purred joyfully as it wriggled into a comfortable position in his arms.
"Ok, who had a Staryu and a Cascoon?" Setijin called from the helm. A trainer near the back of the crowd raised her arms, and squeezed her way to his side, retrieving her pokéballs from the pod. Setijin then called out another set of names. "Vulpix, Slugma and Koffing?" Another trainer made his way forward. Winona and Lucia sat at the other side of the room on the sofas, lying back with their eyes closed.
"Setijin sure does odd mood swings," Lucia commented, petting the Eevee. "One minute paralyzed at the site of his old pokémon, then within seconds, he's back to his normal self, helping others."
"Like some sort of Samaritan streak running down his back," Lucia chuckled. "He always seemed like such a quite person, but in the day and a half I've spent with him, he seems completely different. He has an admirable personality." Lucia opened her eyes and leant her head to face Lucia, who was looking straight up at the ceiling.
"Was that simply a compliment, or was that something a little bit more 'special'?" she laughed. Winona blushed, ignoring the large man who had appeared next to her.
"You're right, I do have admirable qualities, don't I?" he said, his voice deep, and eyes dark. Lucia and Winona turned to him, with a severely confused expression on their faces.
"I'm sorry?" Lucia replied. He was quite tall, with his short brown hair slicked back, and his white shirt quite obviously too small for his body.
"No need to apologies, you can't help me being lovely!" he started to laugh hardily.
"No, I mean we weren't referring to you..." Lucia finished. "Sorry."
"You mean you don't dig my buff bod?" He slid forward, pushing his face straight in front of Lucia's. "You broken or somethin' missy?" Lucia pushed him away. He reached for a pokéball. "Fine, if you wanna be like that, then lets battle. Then you can see my real skills!" Winona stood up to the challenge.
"Fine, you want a battle, you've got one. Both of us against you."
"Hey, you're a gym leader, aren't you?" he responded. Winona blushed.
"Well, yes actually..."
"That one, what was it, Wilma or something..." The flattered smile on her face dropped to a scowl.
"Quit stalling and get outside now," she grumbled as she led the way, Setijin still dispensing pokémon to the trainers.
Swellow and Eevee stood side by side, facing the fighters Machamp. It slapped its two sets of hands together before charging forwards, pulling its fist back to punch. It swung down, narrowly missing Swellow and Eevee as they shot out of the way, the force of the blow shattering the concrete of the road they battled on. Eevee jogged towards the wall of the pokémon center, leapt up at it, clinging to it for a split second before blurring back the way it came, tackling the Machamp at mach speed. It flinched slightly, but did not seem phased by the attack. Swellow flew back, and began to beat its wings wildly, causing a small whirlwind, sending it forwards, and catching Machamp in the updraft. The high winds lifted him progressively faster up into the air, then dropping him back to the floor. The paving crunched as his large body smashed back to earth.
"Nicely done!" Lucia complimented Winona, turning back to the fallen pokémon, which began to melt in front of them. Both watched in surprise as the puddle it left grew and formed a small pink jelly pokémon.
"Ditto"
"No, this wasn't supposed to happen! I can't let people see me without a cool, powerful Machamp!" the fighter cried as he fell to his knees.
"I think he's sorta cute," Winona commented. The man looked back at it.
"But...but its pink!"
"Yeah, but look at it. He's so adorable! How can you not like something like this?" she asked as she went to pick it up, its body slipping through her fingers like a liquid. "Ew"
"I guess..."
"Plus it has so much potential: it can change its shape into any pokémon its seen!" Lucia added.
"I suppose you're right," he said, picking himself back up. "Ditto, transform into an Eevee!" The Ditto wobbled happily as it morphed into Lucia's Eevee, which wandered over to observe its copy.
"It's identical!" Lucia smiled, as the two Eevee's studied each other.
"Eevee?" they whined simultaneously.
"This is quite cool, isn't it," the man said, returning to his old, 'macho' tone of voice. "Well, I can't be sticking around here for much longer. I've got to go and beat all those other poor saps of trainers who think they're better than me! Come on Macha - I mean Ditto." He walked off down the road, laughing forcefully, Lucia and Winona turning to each other looking quite dumfounded.
"Are you entirely certain about what happened here just now?" Lucia asked. Winona shrugged, and returned to the pokémon center.
Graveler spun through the sky, reeling from the force of the last attack. He felt as light as a feather, before the weight of the world took its toll on his propulsion, and dragged him back towards the ground. The crowd on the roof of the pokémart gasped at this unusual spectacle, and remained helpless as the man stole more of their pokémon.
As Graveler shot faster and faster towards the ground, a blackened blur whipped through the buildings behind it, and swept it back up into the air, guiding it towards the building. As it slowed, the blur left the creature, revealing Winona's Swellow, helping Graveler back to safety.
The two landed softly next to Winona, who promptly returned Graveler to its pokéball, leaving Swellow out to continue the fight. Two other trainers appeared next to her, with their pokémon ready to aid her in her attack. They had a Whismur and a Marill on either side of Swellow, both obviously with little battle experience.
"Marill," it squeaked as it let loose a thick stream of bubbles at the Quilava the flames evaporating the water causing a smokescreen of steam. Swellow flew up into the sky, before shooting straight back down at top speed, wings outstretched, the pure stream of wind slipping from the tips enough to slice into the floor, before bringing it sweeping back up, cleanly connecting with Quilava. The Whismur inhaled deeply, holding the breath in for a few seconds, before screaming at the top of its little voice, the noise literally exploding from its body. The shockwave of sound severely dented the floors, buckled the rails and KO'd the Quilava, the man returning it to its pokéball.
"Fancy moves, but you still have a way to go yet," he sneered. "Go Espeon!" He launched a pokéball in Quilava's place. The white light arranged itself into the form of a pokémon, and then faded.
"Eevee," it purred.
"What are you?" the man cried. "You're not an Espeon, just a useless Eevee! Those idiots screwed up the experiment!" He kicked the Eevee to the side, discarding the pokéball, before calling out a Skarmory, hopping onto its back before flying away from the battle.
"Setijin, get Medicham to knock him out of the sky!" Winona called, Lucia walking over to and comforting the Eevee, lying on its side. Setijin remained frozen to the spot, his Nincanda wandering next to Winona, looking for advice or instructions. The trainers with pokémon left returned them to their pokéballs, and began to aid the less fortunate ones, most in tears over their loss. The local authorities finally appeared on the scene with their Growlithe's taking point. They made their way across the roof, assessing the damage, and interrogating trainers who weren't already in enough distress. The man and his Skarmory were now out of view, flying way off into the clouds above Mossdeep Island.
"Setijin, are you feeling ok?" Lucia asked, striding up behind him cradling the Eevee in her arms. He mumbled a short sequence of undecipherable words, before crouching down next to his Nincanda.
"Thanks for all your help little guy. In you go now." He returned him to his pokéball, leaning backwards against a rail, shuffling into a sitting position. He looked up at Winona who had joined them. "Do you think my Cyndaquil was used as an experiment?" Winona closed her eyes and shook her head.
"I seriously doubt it. That was one very highly skilled pokémon. It is far more likely that he evolved through genuine battle experience," she explained. She sat down next to Setijin. "You know we're going to get him back soon. Don't forget that. We're not going to just sit back and do nothing to stop whatever it is that's going on...especially not after so much has happened," she paused as Setijin shot up to his fight and bolted down the stairs. She looked to Lucia for an explanation, which was not provided before they initiated the chase, following him back into the pokémon center. He stood in the corner, in front of the PC, with one hand on his head, the other slowly typing in a combination of random letters, one at a time.
"Is he doing what I think he's doing?" Winona pondered out loud. Lucia turned to her in confusion.
"I don't know, what do you think he is doing?"
"I think he's trying to get back into that mans pokémon box..."
"Back into?"
"Long story... Long to the point of 'telling you now would be a tad inconvenient'".
"That's your excuse for everything," Setijin called as the PC screen burst into life, and the mans pokémon boxes were displayed. He made his way through the lists, before coming across another set of familiar faces. "Guys, get the trainers from the market. It's time for them to be reunited!" Winona and Lucia nodded, and ran off, after Lucia handed the small Eevee to Setijin. "You are a cute little fellow, aren't you?" he whispered, stroking it. It purred joyfully as it wriggled into a comfortable position in his arms.
"Ok, who had a Staryu and a Cascoon?" Setijin called from the helm. A trainer near the back of the crowd raised her arms, and squeezed her way to his side, retrieving her pokéballs from the pod. Setijin then called out another set of names. "Vulpix, Slugma and Koffing?" Another trainer made his way forward. Winona and Lucia sat at the other side of the room on the sofas, lying back with their eyes closed.
"Setijin sure does odd mood swings," Lucia commented, petting the Eevee. "One minute paralyzed at the site of his old pokémon, then within seconds, he's back to his normal self, helping others."
"Like some sort of Samaritan streak running down his back," Lucia chuckled. "He always seemed like such a quite person, but in the day and a half I've spent with him, he seems completely different. He has an admirable personality." Lucia opened her eyes and leant her head to face Lucia, who was looking straight up at the ceiling.
"Was that simply a compliment, or was that something a little bit more 'special'?" she laughed. Winona blushed, ignoring the large man who had appeared next to her.
"You're right, I do have admirable qualities, don't I?" he said, his voice deep, and eyes dark. Lucia and Winona turned to him, with a severely confused expression on their faces.
"I'm sorry?" Lucia replied. He was quite tall, with his short brown hair slicked back, and his white shirt quite obviously too small for his body.
"No need to apologies, you can't help me being lovely!" he started to laugh hardily.
"No, I mean we weren't referring to you..." Lucia finished. "Sorry."
"You mean you don't dig my buff bod?" He slid forward, pushing his face straight in front of Lucia's. "You broken or somethin' missy?" Lucia pushed him away. He reached for a pokéball. "Fine, if you wanna be like that, then lets battle. Then you can see my real skills!" Winona stood up to the challenge.
"Fine, you want a battle, you've got one. Both of us against you."
"Hey, you're a gym leader, aren't you?" he responded. Winona blushed.
"Well, yes actually..."
"That one, what was it, Wilma or something..." The flattered smile on her face dropped to a scowl.
"Quit stalling and get outside now," she grumbled as she led the way, Setijin still dispensing pokémon to the trainers.
Swellow and Eevee stood side by side, facing the fighters Machamp. It slapped its two sets of hands together before charging forwards, pulling its fist back to punch. It swung down, narrowly missing Swellow and Eevee as they shot out of the way, the force of the blow shattering the concrete of the road they battled on. Eevee jogged towards the wall of the pokémon center, leapt up at it, clinging to it for a split second before blurring back the way it came, tackling the Machamp at mach speed. It flinched slightly, but did not seem phased by the attack. Swellow flew back, and began to beat its wings wildly, causing a small whirlwind, sending it forwards, and catching Machamp in the updraft. The high winds lifted him progressively faster up into the air, then dropping him back to the floor. The paving crunched as his large body smashed back to earth.
"Nicely done!" Lucia complimented Winona, turning back to the fallen pokémon, which began to melt in front of them. Both watched in surprise as the puddle it left grew and formed a small pink jelly pokémon.
"Ditto"
"No, this wasn't supposed to happen! I can't let people see me without a cool, powerful Machamp!" the fighter cried as he fell to his knees.
"I think he's sorta cute," Winona commented. The man looked back at it.
"But...but its pink!"
"Yeah, but look at it. He's so adorable! How can you not like something like this?" she asked as she went to pick it up, its body slipping through her fingers like a liquid. "Ew"
"I guess..."
"Plus it has so much potential: it can change its shape into any pokémon its seen!" Lucia added.
"I suppose you're right," he said, picking himself back up. "Ditto, transform into an Eevee!" The Ditto wobbled happily as it morphed into Lucia's Eevee, which wandered over to observe its copy.
"It's identical!" Lucia smiled, as the two Eevee's studied each other.
"Eevee?" they whined simultaneously.
"This is quite cool, isn't it," the man said, returning to his old, 'macho' tone of voice. "Well, I can't be sticking around here for much longer. I've got to go and beat all those other poor saps of trainers who think they're better than me! Come on Macha - I mean Ditto." He walked off down the road, laughing forcefully, Lucia and Winona turning to each other looking quite dumfounded.
"Are you entirely certain about what happened here just now?" Lucia asked. Winona shrugged, and returned to the pokémon center.