~ Chapter 57 ~

Catching Contest Number Two, the Great Marsh

"The Great Marsh has always been a sore spot for us ever since we left Pastoria City. For reasons you will soon find out, something happened at the Great Marsh that we feel we could have prevented had we been more vigilant and alert. Because of us, countless people and Pokémon suffered…well, I feel that way anyway. Everyone says I'm taking this too harshly, but to this day, I feel I can never do enough for Pastoria City and the Great Marsh. But that's not what this chapter is about. No, it's about the second Catching Contest we had. This time, the stakes weren't so big. Who won? You'll just have to read to find out."

The group stood before the entrance to Pastoria's Great Marsh. It was a large brick building with several floors. It was the most modern looking building in the area. The top floors were research labs apparently, where Pokémon Scientists and Professors studied the Pokémon that lived naturally within the Great Marsh, as well as the Pokémon that the marsh seemed to attract.

The bottom floor resembled a train station, where two massive, passenger trains—built to run on tracks built on the soft, muddy ground of the marsh—brought passengers to the different zones of the marsh.

The massive trains betrayed their size. They were silent, and they were eco-friendly, being mainly electric and solar powered. No fuel or coal required. It helped protect the marsh, and also meant they were near silent so that they did not disturb the Pokémon living in the natural eco-system.

Pastoria City was very protective, and very cautious with its Great Marsh—as was the Sinnoh League who regulated it in conjunction with Pastoria City.

For their trek through the marsh the group came prepared. They had Poké Balls, natural bug spray, wide brimmed hats to keep out the sun—these hats had mosquito net veils to keep bugs away from the face. They had neoprene overalls for wading in deep waters, thick neoprene boots to keep the water out and the mud off their feet, and rubber ponchos for keeping their arms free and moveable, without exposing too much skin to the elements.

They carried their supplies in small waterproof bags slung across their shoulder. Each of them had their Poké Ball Belts on them to battle the wild Pokémon of the marsh.

Jeremy kept Pikachu on his shoulder—and even Pikachu wore thick boots to prevent himself from getting stuck in the mud.

"Do you all have your train passes?" asked Sam as the group walked up the stone steps into the building.

Before anyone could respond they bumped into a large figure.

The figure wore a long, black coat, a fedora, and heavily tinted sunglasses. A scarf was wrapped around his face, so you couldn't see anything below his eyes—which were hidden by the glasses anyway. He walked quickly, looked jump, and had his hands tucked in his pockets.

Two smaller figures followed behind him, dressed similarly.

"Excuse me," said Sam carefully, trying to be kind, "Guess I didn't see you there. You all right?"

The man said nothing. He nodded and kept walking—faster than he had before. His two followers kept up with the breakneck walking pace as they disappeared down the street.

Sam could've sworn he saw a flash of red hair as the figure—obviously a man—charged off down the street.

"That was weird…" said Niya warily, "You okay, Sam?"

Sam nodded. His eyes narrowed as he stared off the figure. His gut sank.

"Sam?" asked Alyssandra, "Are you okay?"

Sam nodded again. "Yeah I'm fine."

"What's wrong?" asked Jeremy, "You seem focused on that man."

"He seemed…off to you, didn't he? Something didn't seem right," muttered Sam.

"A little yeah…what do you think it is?" wondered Niya, now following Sam's gaze to where the man had disappeared around a corner a few blocks away.

Sam sighed. "I don't know. Probably nothing," he shrugged—he lied through his teeth. His gut was screaming, as was his head, but he didn't have time to ruin the group's fun right now. He was probably just being paranoid.

"Come on," motioned Sam with his arm as he continued to walk up the steps, "Let's get going before we miss the train."

Niya and Alyssandra exchanged looks with each other and Jeremy. Even Pikachu questioned how quickly Sam brushed that off—but they really didn't have time to argue either. The next train was due to depart any moment now. They couldn't miss it, or it would seriously eat into their Pokémon catching time.

Within minutes the group had rushed towards the massive red train heading into the Great Marsh's depths.

The train stopped at regular intervals at each of the Great Marsh's "zones" and connected to other rails and routes that led to other zones to the east and west. The line the group was on went north and south only.

The group boarded quickly and sat themselves down on the cushioned bench seats, waiting for the train to arrive at each of their marked destinations. Jeremy was heading all the way north to Zone 12. Sam was going to Zone 6. Alyssandra was heading west to Zone 15, while Niya was going to hop off at Zone 1 and just explore the first section of the Great Marsh with her Pokémon, as she had no intention of catching anymore Pokémon on this trip.

Pikachu chose to go wherever Jeremy went, so he would likely be in Zone 12—if he didn't run off to go find someone else or change his mind about whose shoulder he wished to be perched on for the day.

The train was quick for something so massive, but slower than a normal train due to the Pokémon and the swampy terrain.

It was a good hour before everyone had departed on their own trains and separate ways towards the different Zones they were looking for.

But once they arrived, they began tracking.

Jeremy had been hot on the pursuit of a Buizel for an hour now. He had tracked it down a river as the Pokémon swam away from him.

He met the Pokémon near a small, swampy pond a few kilometres back.

His Luxray stood beside him, helping Jeremy track the Pokémon. Anyone else might've used Luxray's Electric attacks to shock the Buizel in the water—but Jeremy wasn't risking the other Pokémon in there.

He was going to try and track Buizel down, tire it out by chasing it, and hoping it would come out on land to fight—that was the plan anyway.

Jeremy just hoped it would work.

But, just as Jeremy started to doubt, the Buizel stopped and turned back towards Jeremy.

The Pokémon looked agitated. It didn't respect being followed…and a waterfall just a few feet down the river stopped Buizel from going any further by water.

It was do or die for Jeremy and the Buizel. It was time to fight.

The Buizel started it off by charging at Jeremy from the water with Aqua Jet.

Jeremy steeled himself and had Luxray loose a Discharge at the Buizel.

The Buizel took the hit and flew from the water onto the sand by the river. But it wasn't down for the count. With a growl, the Buizel charged after Luxray with Pursuit as the Pokémon stepped back towards Jeremy.

Jeremy managed to get Luxray out of the way in time, but Buizel wasn't giving up.

The Pokémon came back at Luxray quickly, using Swift to shoot glowing stars at Luxray.

This time, Jeremy wasn't able to get Luxray to dodge in time. Luxray took the hit, flew back, and skidded a bit on the ground.

Pikachu cried out to Luxray in concern.

Lucky for Jeremy, Luxray was able to get back up in seconds and continue to fight.

Jeremy commanded Luxray to use its Roar attack. The attack caught Buizel full force, sending the Pokémon back as Luxray's roar shook the nearby trees loose of Bird and Bug Pokémon.

Buizel became frozen with fear, unable to retreat back to a Poké Ball as it was free. But Jeremy could tell that the Buizel was trying to fight against the effects of Roar.

Jeremy smiled. It was gonna be close.

"Luxray, Thunder Fang!" he called, "Go after Buizel and latch on! Don't stop until it's down, but don't hurt it! We want to catch it, not kill it!"

Luxray's jaws sparked with electricity, and it ran at the frozen Buizel, and latched down on the Pokémon, sinking its teeth into the Pokémon's fur. Luxray let out a massive electric shock that vibrated to Buizel's body, but Buizel refused to fall.

This Pokémon was stubborn.

But so were Jeremy and Luxray.

Sam let out a deep breath as he looked at the two Poké Balls at his feet. His leg shook because he knew it wasn't going to be enough to guarantee his victory.

He was a little disappointed that he hadn't caught more. But luck wasn't with him today.

He wondered how many Pokémon Alyssandra and Jeremy had caught…something in Sam's gut said more.

"Well, we're here," smiled Alyssandra, her Piplup at her side.

The Pokémon was covered in mud, as was Alyssandra.

Jeremy came up behind her—the two must've caught the same southbound train to the Entrance Hall. He too was muddy, and so was Pikachu. Jeremy's Luxray silently stalked behind him, muddy, wet, but proud of itself.

"Where's Niya?" asked Jeremy, looking around, noticing she was missing.

Sam shrugged. "Probably out exploring Zone 1 still," replied Sam, "We can go look for her after. Let's get counting."

"Someone's antsy," smirked Alyssandra, "Confident? Or do you know you're going to lose?"

Sam didn't respond.

The group went over to a nearby bench and lined up their Poké Balls to display their catches.

Jeremy displayed a Net Ball, an Ultra Ball, and a Poké Ball. Three Pokémon.

Sam had two Ultra Balls. Two Pokémon.

Alyssandra had only a single Poké Ball. One Pokémon.

"Well," snorted Lyss, "The winner is clear. As are first and second place."

Sam sighed. "Yeah…dammit!"

Jeremy laughed, cheering alongside Pikachu and his Luxray. The competition was admittedly close, but there was no denying Jeremy had won it this time.

"It's too bad we didn't bet this time like we did last time," sighed Jeremy, "A high stakes gamble would've been nice to win."

"Niya probably would've killed us had we done that," added Alyssandra, "She didn't seem all too impressed with the bet we made last time—especially considering how bad you and Sam get when it comes to being competitive."

"We're not that bad!" cried the boys in unison.

Alyssandra giggled. "Whatever you say. So, what did you guys catch?"

"A Buizel and a Gastrodon," replied Sam.

"A Drapion, a Carnivine and a Buizel myself," smiled Jeremy proudly, "The Buizel was a tough one…I'm thinking I'm going to keep him on my main team. Catching him wasn't easy."

"How about you Lyss?" asked Jeremy, "What did you catch?"

"Just a Shellos," sighed Alyssandra, "Cute, but nothing spectacular. With some training though, might not be bad for a contest in the future. But for now, I have my six Sinnoh Pokémon."

Sam was about to reply when his Pokétch started to ring suddenly. He looked at Alyssandra and Jeremy who simply shrugged. They couldn't explain it either.

The call was from Niya.

Sam picked up as soon as he saw that. "Hello?"

"I…need your help," she sighed. Niya's voice was broadcast to the rest of the group, as it was by default on speaker.

"What's wrong?" asked Sam worried, "Are you hurt?"

Niya sighed loudly on the other end. "No…I'm…"

"You're?" pressed Sam.

"I'm stuck in the mud," Niya responded quickly, obviously embarrassed, "I've been stuck in the mud for three hours and I just worked up the courage to call someone for help. Can you please help me?"

Sam stifled a giggle. "We're on our way, Niya. Are you in Zone 1?"

Niya responded in the affirmative.

"Wait right there," smirked Sam, "We'll be there soon."

"Don't go anywhere!" cried Jeremy, holding back laughter.

Niya hung up immediately, clearly not appreciative of Jeremy's jokes.

"Come on, let's go save her you guys," sighed Alyssandra as Sam and Jeremy almost fell over laughing at the situation, "And no laughing when we get there. She's bound to kill you for what you've already done once she gets out as it is."

"Come on," replied Sam, "Don't be a stick in the mud."

Sam and Jeremy laughed, as did Pikachu. Even Luxray purred her contentment at the revelry.

"I'm serious," warned Alyssandra with concern, "I wouldn't do that when we get there. You better stop the puns."

The puns did not stop—even after they yanked Niya from the mud.

Alyssandra was, in fact, correct—she was not pleased with Sam and Jeremy.

Their day ended when two Pokémon Rangers came by and fished them out from the mud along with Pikachu and Luxray, while Alyssandra and Niya sat at the Pokémon Centre, enjoying a warm cup of tea, and laughing over having pushed the boys in to the bog.