Thieves' Honor
Either I have lost my skill, or karma has caught up with me. The only junior salesman from the pokemart that is out in the swap meet happens to be extremely smart. He apparently has quite a few friends, considering the two slightly burly dark eyed men standing beside the scrawny guy.
I'm guessing they were paid or something to guard his booth for thieves; so smart of him. Why don't I ever get the dumb ones? Usually the only place you can really steal from in Rustboro is the swap meet; the stores always having high tech detectors and whatnot. Now when people at the swap meet get smart, then you're in trouble.
I decided on another way to get my items. All I had to do was 'borrow' a person's wallet. I hope there won't be any other incidents like what happened earlier, it wouldn't be pleasant. Looking around, I spotted someone with a wallet sticking out of their back pocket.
I walked casually over, pretending to brush past him while I snatched the wallet with one hand. I noted what the target looked like, then walked past a stall while surreptitiously keeping an eye on him. Without turning away, I opened the wallet and took the cash out, and then closed the wallet.
I didn't like to take anything other than just cash, people who use credit cards can be easily tracked nowadays; I didn't want to go to jail after all that's happened. Following the target, I dashed past him, acting as if I had to go somewhere quickly. I rammed half into his shoulder, making him recoil while I slipped the wallet back in his pocket and kept running.
I stopped sprinting after a while, not because I was tired, but because I was about a hundred yards away from the salesman from the pokemart. Looking at the cash in my hands, I was satisfied to see that I would have more than enough to get the few things I needed.
Surskit, by mutual agreement that if he stayed out of his pokeball he could (ironically) get stolen without my knowing, stayed in his pokeball. I was getting the hang of understanding the little guy, but he did make it easier by nods and tones of voice, no matter how squeaky.
Walking casually again, I went to the stall and looked at the wares. The common things that trainers needed were there; different kinds of pokemon food, pokeballs, all kinds of healers, belts, berries, pokeblocks, toys, and a few other things. I just wanted food, a few potions, and a few pokeballs so I didn't have much to carry.
Pointing to my choices of four regular pokeballs, four potions, and a bag of vegetarian food (after consulting the salesman about Surskits) he rang up the total and I got out the borrowed cash. I had stolen about three thousand yen (the currency of trainers) which was a low amount, but the stuff only added up to about one thousand five hundred yen, easily paid off.
After leaving the stall with my goods, I went over to a bench to put the stuff in my pack. The potions and pokeballs were put in the smallest pocket, while the food was stuffed into the side of the biggest pocket. To say the least, it wasn't much so it wasn't very hard to find room.
Wandering out of the swap meet, I started down to the pokemart. I wasn't intending on ever getting a pokegear, pokenav, or pokedex. I thought it was kind of useless since one, nobody would ever need to call me because I intend to only have to tell my pokemon about me; two, I'd rather buy a regular map than be tracked down by having an electronic one; and three, I've got a book on pokemon, so I don't need an electronic device that could be used to track me down. Basically, it all leads to the fact that the police and league keeps an eye on trainers by their helpful inventions.
It would be all right for any other person to have those kinds of things, but I rather not take risks. Of course, the easiest way to blend in is to have those kind of things, but I could always make out to be a poor person. That should be easy enough with my shabby clothing and common pokemon. Yes, I think I'll try for only common pokemon… Maybe if I get to be a great trainer, people will see that rare pokemon aren't always the best way to go.
Bah. Dreaming of 'changing the world' never does anyone good. A petty thief could never do that. I bet that no trainer who has ever left on their 'journey' has ever done that, I thought, taking a left at the corner of the street I was walking on. And why do they call it 'journey' anyway? I mean, honestly, it sounds so cliché. It's not much of a 'journey' if it's walking along paths and streets that millions of other people and pokemon have walked over already. I think I'll call my 'journey' a 'jaunt across the continent to make friends with retarded cliché people and pokemon, with and altruistic cause of disabling myself saving people who couldn't keep their mouth's shut'. And if anyone asks, I'll just point out what that kid Ask Ketchup or whatever did a hundred years ago, dying from gunshot by a rocket because he decided to save a kids ass from being gunned down.
In truth, that is indeed what happened. One hundred years ago the newly crowned 'Pokemon Master' Ash Ketchum went on a journey to demolish the Rockets. Later on his quest he found a minor hideout of a rather small squad of Rockets. One of the Rockets just happened to be in the middle of trying to gun down a child because the cheeky brat told him he was ugly and deserved to go to hell because his mom told him that evil people went to hell. Of course, the child being six and this Rocket having an especially short temper and a reputation for overreacting wasn't the best situation for that comment. Anyway, Ash tried to save the child but they both ended up dead by about twenty bullets being piled into them by the Rocket's trigger happy hand.
But hey, that was life. And if Ash hadn't been so rash and thought before acting, he might have been able to figure out that he could have sent one of his pokemon out to knock the gun out of the Rocket's hands with a long range attack. Don't you just love it when people don't think?
I looked up from where I was standing in front of the pokemart and looked at all the new 'trainer toys' in the two display windows to the sides of the small automatic door in the middle. I walked in, holding a sense of anticipation about me. I trotted lightly up to the unmanned counter and rang the small silver serving bell. A harried looking middle aged man with balding brown hair came out, holding a screwdriver in one hand and a pokeball in the other.
"Yes, yes, what do you want?" he asked bitterly, obviously having too much work on his hands. Well, I said to myself, he's just going to have to handle my request.
"Well, err… I'm looking for something to hold my pokeballs, I mean the full ones… umm…" I didn't really know what to say, so I tried to explain my request carefully. "I don't know really how the pokeballs attach, but I'm wondering if there is a way to hold them on the shoulder straps of my pack?"
He looked thoughtful for a moment, and I wondered if he could actually do so. "Well, from the looks of you, you must be a beginning trainer! A bit older than most of the new sprouts, but that's not unusual. The way we attach pokeballs is by magnets actually, if we can sew magnets into the shoulder straps, it could work. Ok, take of your bag, that's it. Put it on the counter and let me get my tools, this is actually the first time I've heard a suggestion like this so I'll give the magnets to you for free, if you let me use the idea."
I complied with the order and thought about letting him use the suggestion. If I didn't, he could use it anyway and I would have to pay. If I did, I could get it for free and thus be able to save my money for other supplies when needed. The only thing bad would be that other people would use my way… Well, no reason to be stingy about that I guess. The man came back with a small knife, six round magnets about an inch wide each, and some sewing equipment.
"Okay, if I get this for free you can use my idea," I said genially. He nodded briefly then dropped everything on the counter except the knife, and then grabbed a strap of my pack.
I watched as he cut a small space open in the front of the strap, right where the front of my shoulder would be. He slid one of the magnets into it and started sewing it back up in a tight stitch that would be the envy of anybody in the business of sewing. He then cut another space about two inches down from the first and did the same once again. He did another one two inches lower on that strap then did the other strap in the same pattern.
As he was stitching the last one I looked up at the clock that was on the wall to the left of me. I was quite surprised to see that an hour had already gone by, for I hadn't ever sewn before to know how long it takes. The process was actually fascinating to me, but anything that could help me fascinated me. I looked back at the man again the see him standing straight with his hands on his hips looking proudly down at his work. I looked down also and noticed happily that the only thing you could see of the work was the stitching with black thread that was barely visible against the black of the straps.
I smiled and thanked the man before he shooed me off, backpack in my hand. I unzipped the smallest pocket of my pack, taking out the four extra pokeballs before zipping it up again. After shouldering the pack and attaching the pokeballs to the bottom two magnets of each strap to make sure that I would be able to tell which pokeballs had pokemon and which didn't easily, I grabbed the pokeball holding Surskit in it from my pocket and tossed it onto the ground. Holding up my hand and catching the ball in my hand as it flew back to me, I felt a sudden surge of satisfaction. I only needed my trainers' license and then I would be able to catch pokemon and train them!
"Hey little buddy, look at what I just got," I said, pointing at my right shoulder with one hand while attaching his pokeball to the top magnet of it with the other. He squeaked with pleasure when he looked at it. Chuckling slightly, I picked him up and put him on my hat. With only a warning of "hang tight," I was dashing off to the pokecenter, Surskit hanging on for his dear life.
I knew where the place was because I had passed it so many times in the middle of the city. Seems odd that I know where the 'center is and not the 'mart? That's because the 'center is near the square where the swap meets are held, while the 'mart is near the outskirts of the city. I chose to stay in the middle of the city most of the time, because it had easier places to steal from.
Finally, as I turned a sharp corner that left Surskit squealing in protest, I saw the 'center. The huge dome shaped building had the trademark red roof on it, with many trainers hanging outside with pokemon. I slowed to a trot as I neared it.
Walking inside the automatic doors, I looked around at the room. It had red carpets and whitewashed walls with red and white comfy looking furniture dotting the room. Off to my right was a doorway that looked like it led into a cafeteria, to my left was an open door leading to a stairway that I presumed led to accommodations for trainers. Seeing this made me think about just sleeping here for the night and leaving the sleeping pad and old lantern for some other thief to find. The thought of getting a more comfortable sleeping bag and tent lingered in my mind for a moment before I shook my head a little to clear my head and walked up to the counter. I probably would go with that plan, but right now I had more important business.
I had heard that all 'centers had their clone like caretakers called Nurse Joy, so I wasn't surprised to see the red haired lady that was about four inches taller than me with a mechanic smile. She looked like she had come right out of a stupid cartoon where everything was all happy and smiles. I hid my disgust and waited until she noticed me.
She finally did. "Oh! Hello, what can I do for you today?" I shivered inside at the overly cheerful voice and felt Surskit shiver slightly also. Maybe pokemon only pretended to be good with her, fearing what she might do? A possibility, I mused to myself.
"Yes, I need to get my trainers' license; you do that right?" I asked, thinking about the possibility that I might have to go to the 'starting town' of Littleroot. Every region had something called a 'starting town' where a professor lived to hand out pokemon to new and aspiring trainers and gave them all the basic equipment, right down to the pokedex.
The nurse nodded and bent over to grab something from under the front desk. Standing straight up again, I saw that it was a paper. She attached it to a clipboard and handed it to me, along with a pencil.
It was an application form. I felt dread closing around my heart, but took the clipboard ad pen anyway to sit down. I didn't know how to write. I decided that if I knew how to read, writing wouldn't be so hard. With a shaky hand, I grabbed the pencil and lifted it, putting it down on the line of the first question. I was glad there weren't any trainers sitting nearby me, it would be kind of embarrassing to let them see a person who couldn't even write her name!
The first question was easy enough. I just had to write my first name and make up some initials for the middle and last name. I saw that my handwriting was very shaky, and tried to get it to look like the print in all the books I have read. I succeeded in writing my name, but it was still very shaky looking. I heard a small thump from beside me and I looked up, startled. Sitting next to me was a cheerful looking man, looking to be in his mid twenties or so.
"Having a little trouble there? Look, you can barely write your name!" He said genially, I was too full of surprise and fear that I might have been discovered to answer back, but he kept talking. "Yeah, I remember getting my license. I couldn't even move! Finally, Joy offered to just type it up right there if I would just answer the questions verbally. The one here can probably do the same for you!"
Before I knew it he had taken my hand and was pulling me off the red leather couch I was sitting on a moment before and hauling me to the front desk, clipboard and all. He started talking rapidly with the nurse, but I was too surprised to listen to it. He stopped as quickly as he started and grabbed the clipboard, sliding it over the counter to Joy.
Finally, he spoke to me. "Alright, kid. Just answer the questions." He had a foreign accent so I guess he must have been from one of the other regions. The nurse started her questions and as I answered, she typed on the computer that was to the side of the desk.
"Name?"
"Err… Ayshen." The nurse looked annoyed at that.
"Full name," she said firmly. I thought quickly for something, looking around me for something to give me an idea. Finally, my eyes rested on a pair of pokemon in the lobby that were playing tag. An awkward kind of tag, since the small reddish caterpillar pokemon and the blue bird with a red face didn't really seem to be masters of walking on the ground.
"Ayshen… Tagward," I said unsurely, knowing that the combination of tag and awkward wasn't very good. The man and nurse had probably both met their share of odd names because they didn't change their expressions at all.
"Adress?" Oh shit, I thought, trying to remember the warehouse address. I might as well use that…
"Err… 104 Warehouse Lane, Rustboro." This time the nurse looked at me oddly before typing it out and going on.
"Emergency phone number?"
"None," I said truthfully. The man looked at me with understanding.
"So I guess you're one of those kids too, the kind that trains against family will or something?" I nodded slightly, deciding to go on that.
"Okay then… Birthdate?" I thought it kind of odd that she would ask birth date later rather than one of the first questions, then felt panic run through me. This was going to be so tough! I decided to go on something that I thought might be close to my real birthday.
"Errr… October 24, 1154 A.H." I said, hopefully keeping my voice calm. The nurse typed that down and started clicking around with the mouse. A machine hurred from under the desk and Surskit started from what apparently was a deep sleep. The machine stopped the noise after a while and Joy picked something up from under the desk, and then held it out to me.
"There you go! Hope you have fun," the clone like person said cheerfully as I took it. The man looked quite happy and followed me as I trotted outside with Surskit on my arm inspecting the card. I realized that I forgot to thank him, but when I turned shyly towards him, he was gone. I looked around, confused, but didn't see him in sight. I shrugged and sat on a bench that was conveniently put right in front of the 'center.
"We did it buddy! I'm a trainer now!" I said, putting all my happiness in those words. He squealed and stopped inspecting my new license, I then put the license in my pocket and hugged the bug hard until he squeaked in protest.
"I don't want to call you 'Surskit', since we're on more friendly terms than that." I said as I remembered that most trainers nicknamed their pokemon. I thought about the perfect name for him, trying to come up with something unique. Unfortunately, creativity isn't my strong point. "Err… Bubbler!" I said cheerfully, he squealed with happiness and produced a few bubbles to show that he understood. I chuckled at that, and decided to go get that new seeping bag.
Dashing around the city looking for a camping store, I thought about the events of today. Maybe, just maybe, I could change my life around and lose my title as thief. I don't want to be a pokemon master, breeder, gym leader, or anything else. I just want to stop being a thief, I mused, and then chuckled, looking up at Bubbler wiggling his but at someone I had just pushed past. Pokemon really do change people.
Author's Note: Let me inform you thatthe title of my story was created by me because it went with the plot that this story would have; I didn't know that there was a book with the same title and I will not change my title just because of that. Thank you for the reviews and comments people, and special thanks to Fate's Dice Kyre for being my beta reader.
Also, I own all characters except Nurse Joy or pokemon.
