=Chapter 6, The Ugly Fishy!=
*Jacob to Arky*
*Hey Arky, it's been one heck of a week since I first entered the Petalburg Woods, first I meet a legendary Pokemon, a Suicune, and not only that but I helped nurse it back to health. It was amazing Arky, let me tell you the descriptions of it on the Pokenet do not do Suicune justice; it was more incredible and more amazing than I ever imagined. The gossipers on the Pokenet Blogs said nothing about how its fur was so much like water, or how fast it could run when it really wants to! And that power it showed, you should have seen how strong Suicune was in battle, I never saw a Hydro Pump as strong as the one you showed me, or what an Aurora beam looked like in person, and that Mist that appeared was of its creation clearly. Which was good because, while I can handle beginner trainers like myself with Harold, Ivan, and Roran's help, against really strong trainers like that guy's Pokemon we wouldn't have stood a chance.*
*In any case, after Suicune saved us, she let me ride on her back to safety as we ran through the forest faster than I ever imagined possible. I was so tired that I didn't realize it at first, but she had dropped me, Sara, and the rest of our team right near the edge of the Petalburg Woods, or at the very least we were close to it. As repayment for helping her, (at least I think that's what it is) she left us a lot of items, like potions and antidotes and even some food. She must have spent all night searching the woods and gathering whatever she found lying around to give to us. What really confused me though was the strange black Pokeball that she seemed to have left me. I found it among the items as well, I guess she must have used some kind of Psychic powers or so to transform one of my spare balls into it, because I was missing one of the spare Pokeballs I purchased in Petalburg City.*
*I found out from a passing trainer that was traveling to Petalburg from Rusboro that it was called a Luxury Ball, and according to him the Luxury Ball is supposed to make Pokemon caught with it much friendlier. I decided that I'll save this ball for a special occasion, I don't really know what I'll end up using this Luxury Ball for, but I'm sure it will be for a special Pokemon.*
*Now I bet your wondering where I am now, that's right, you guessed it, Rustboro City… actually I'm at a trainer rest stop near Rustboro City but that's close enough! Remember what I said when Suicune eft us near the edge of the Petalburg Woods? Yea, we were just a day's travel to the exit, but we took a little longer because I was hoping to see Suicune again, I should have known better than to expect a roaming Pokemon stay in one place too long. In any case, after we left the woods we made our way to Rustboro, and to our first Gym battle. We decided to take it slow upon nearing the city, so we could give the fighters on our team a chance to practice.*
*Harold and Ivan are really getting better, they really make great rivals, and they both inspire each other to become stronger. Ivan recently learned how to use Bite, and Harold learned Quick Attack, these attacks are definitely going to help us in the upcoming Gym battle, I've learned that the leader there uses Rock Pokemon, and the only ones I have effective against those types are Harold and Sara.*
*I'm really against the idea of using Sara at this point, it's not that I don't trust her Arky, but she's still so young. I know you taught me that Pokemon, even at a young age, are really strong unlike us Humans, but she's still only a month old. I can't just ask Sara to go into a Gym battle when she hasn't even fought real battle! Yet she's asked me to help her practice using her psychic abilities, so for the last few days I've been helping her by tossing rocks into the air for her to control, and even Harold has helped her hone her recently mastered Confusion attack by being her, pardon the phrase, Test Subject…*
(Jacob's PoV)
"In any case Arky, tomorrow we head into Rustboro to sign up for our first Gym match, and who knows I may end up having to rely on Sara for the match alongside Harold and Ivan." Jacob whispered to himself as he wrote in the book Arky gave him, even as he wrote the words he had written before were vanishing at a steady rate. "Wish us luck, I have no idea how we'll do, but we'll do our absolute best!"
As he finished writing he replaced the pen back into its special slot before closing the book and putting it in his pack. He was careful to take his time and be gentle so as to not wake the sleeping Ralts in his lap. Sara was fast asleep in his lap, taking a nap after a whole day of practicing with her powers. Because it took so much concentration just to use any of her powers her mind was just a giant jar of jelly after three long hours of levitating rocks to help build endurance and practicing using her confusion attack on Harold to practice her aim. Still she was really determined to help him, so she was pushing herself really hard, which was causing her to tire herself out much more than she ever did before.
Thus the reason why she was sleeping in his lap as they sat in the rest area before Rustboro City, instead of helping him prepare lunch for the rest of his team.
The rest area, a gathering of some thirty or so tents all stationed around a very small Pond was about two hours walking distance from the city. About ten or twenty years ago these rest areas started springing up around cities where Pokemon Trainers went for their Gym Matches, and thus they were perfect spots for trainers to stay if they didn't want to spend their nights in a hotel or in the Pokemon Center.
The rest areas were also popular places for trainers to practice and prepare for their upcoming Gym Matches, and to show off their skills among other trainers. It was also a social place for both the trainers and their Pokemon to mingle and socialize with others like them. Over the last few days Jacob has swapped stories, rubbed elbows, and traded blows with several beginning trainers like him, he even showed off his cooking skills and taught other trainers how to care for their Pokemon.
As he sat there thinking about everything that's happened over the last few days, a kid about one year older than him, wearing a lime green jersey and a set of azure blue jeans, as well as sporting an official Pokemon League hat walked up to him from his left. He recognized this kid as Arnold, a trainer who shared a tent with an older female trainer named Natalia two tents to his left where he slept at night in his sleeping bag.
"Hey there Jacob, how is your Ralts feeling today?" Arnold, a fellow beginner from the town of Lillycove City asked.
"She's alright; she's just resting after all the training we've been doing." Jacob said with a smile.
He had become good friends with many of the trainers who stayed in the rest area before proceeding to Rustboro or going to travel through the Petalburg Woods. He showed them his cooking techniques, how to cook berries in a soup, and even helped them treat some of their Pokemon after a tough battle.
"That's good that you're training your Ralts now, a Ralts is a rarity nowadays, I haven't seen one in a long time." Arnold said. "Oh, here comes Natalia, I just came to say goodbye because we're both leaving now."
"You are, where you both heading?" Jacob asked as he spotted an older girl of about fifteen years, wearing a short white tank-top, a pink vest, bright green pants and a red bandana with a heavy pack on her back.
"I'm heading to Rustboro for my first battle, it's later today and if I win I'll be heading back through the Petalburg Woods to catch a ferry to Dewford Town." He said with a grin.
"Yea, well hopefully you do win or else I'll be miles ahead of ya kid!" Natalia said with a smug grin. "If your too slow than I'll have to spend so many loooonely nights alone in my tent with no Arnold to poke fun at. Speaking of tents, can I ask you a question Jacob?"
"Uh… yea?" Jacob replied nervously, already sensing what was coming.
"Tell me, do you change clothes in front of your Sara, or do you sleep in the nude with her in that sleeping bag?" Natalia said with a huge grin, causing Jacob to blush and only making her laugh all the harder.
"Natalia stop poking fun at him…" Arnold said with a facepalm. "He gets enough from the other trainers, leave him alone for once."
"Oh don't take it serious, I mean it all in good humor and fun!" She said with an almighty slap to Jacob's back. "See ya round Jacob; meet ya near Petalburg Wood later today Arnold!"
Jacob nodded and watched both Arnold and Natalia go their separate ways to Rustboro and the Petalburg Woods, thoroughly embarrassed at the conversation.
A lot of trainers made fun of him here at the rest area, despite how skilled his Pokemon were and how well he raised them. This was because, while every other trainer in the rest area had or was sharing a tent with another trainer, he only had his sleeping bag to spend his nights with.
He wasn't too ashamed that he was using only a sleeping bag for shelter, it was a miniature tent with all the comforts and accommodations it could provide, all wrapped up in one small package that saved space and more importantly, spared his back and legs extra work. The only real problem, and this was the constant source of his problems, was that the sleeping bag provided absolutely no privacy, a necessity for any trainer traveling with his Pokemon.
That and because he was sleeping with Sara, a female Pokemon, in that sleeping bag every night, a lot of the older and more mature trainers poked fun at him. Especially the teenaged girls, they giggled every time as they saw him in the early morning waking up with Sara asleep on his chest.
While it had been no big deal for him during the Petalburg Woods, here in public and so close to civilization it was a real embarrassment. He wasn't sure what they were talking about either, but after they discovered him overhearing they just giggled even harder and ran away in fits of laughter. Whatever they were talking about, was something he did not want to know.
"Arky… perhaps one of your lessons should have been about what makes girls brains tick." Jacob whispered to himself as he shook his head, rubbing Sara's green hair gently as she kept on sleeping through the conversation.
His teacher taught him many things, but one of those was not girls. This was a lesson he accepted from the beginning to the end of his lessons with the Pokemon. Arky told him that there were many things that he could not teach him, not because he didn't want to, but because there were some things that Jacob had to learn for himself.
(They need to… stop making fun… of you!) Sara whispered to him in his mind.
"Were you up the entire time Sara?" He asked as he watched Sara sit up and rub her eyes.
(I just… woke up… why do they… make fun of… you Jacob?)
"I don't know honestly, but I'm not too bothered by it and neither should you!" Jacob said cheerfully as he put Sara back on his shoulder. "Alright let's start making lunch, come on out everyone!"
Jacob released each of his Pokemon one at a time, and after telling them the plan they started gathering the necessary firewood to prepare soup for today's lunch. In a few minutes they were ready to start cooking.
"You guys sure are hungry today aren't you?" He asked as he lit the fire and started feeding it small sticks to get it going. "Guess all this training has given you empty stomachs."
"Treecko!" Harold said happily.
"Arf!" Ivan barked.
"Tailoow!' Roran chirped with a sharp nod.
"Wurmple!" Kora said, munching on a leaf.
"Well… at least most of you have gotten an empty stomach thanks to this training." Jacob said with a chuckle. "Kora just seems to never have a bottom to her stomach!"
"Wurm!" Kora declared, finishing her leaf.
(Kora if we… didn't hold you… in your ball… we'd have no… food for the… rest of our… trip!) Sara translated to Jacob after she spoke it normally to them all.
They all laughed at that, including Kora because of how true it was. The only thing stopping Kora from pigging out and seeing how big her stomach was is her Pokeball and the rest of Jacob's Pokemon keeping an eye on her.
"It's okay Sara; I really doubt Kora would eat all of our food in one day." He said, petting Kora's head. "If she did, then how could we feed that empty stomach of hers?"
"Wuuuuurmple!" Kora said happily.
Lunch was cooking in a few minutes, and the smell of spices and berries mixed with some new ingredients soon was wrapping around the entire rest area, including those of other meals being prepared around the crystal clear pond.
"I still wonder how the water got so clean." Jacob whispered as he eyed the pond.
When Jacob came to the rest area several days ago, the pond was quite dirty and very filthy, full of garbage and unfit for anything. Because of this the trainers who stayed at the rest area had to purchase Rustboro City water in bottles in order to cook, clean, and other things, they even had to pay extra at a nearby bathhouse because of it. This was a problem for Jacob, because since he didn't have any sort of steady income, he couldn't afford to purchase water each day to cook food and clean himself at the bathhouse, as well as clean his dirty clothes here in the rest area.
So to try and help his situation he started trying to clean out the pond on his first day there. A lot of trainers were laughing as he and his Pokemon hauled out garbage all day, making fun of them for doing 'charity work' when there was no way it would work. After a long day of cleaning up garbage for the rest area, he took that and the garbage from the Petalburg Woods and tossed it in a garbage can nearby.
Later that night they went to bed, and only added to the laughter that he was receiving from the trainers around the pond. However in the morning, he awoke to the sight of a beautiful crystal clear pond of water. All of the grime and dirt and everything else was gone from the pond, much to the surprise of every one of the trainers. Nobody could explain why the pond was so clean, but it certainly changed everyone's opinion about Jacob and his team.
Jacob wondered if there was another reason for the pond becoming clean overnight, but pushed it aside. There was no way that Suicune was so close to Rustboro and all of these trainers.
After lunch they decided to let Harold and Ivan practice fighting some more away from the rest area. The two Pokemon were practicing dodging each other's primary attacks when Jacob saw a couple trainers talking to some kind of salesman near the public bathhouse. The salesman looked rather pathetic when compared to the trainers, he was wearing a very dirty trench coat that looked like it had been through every kind of weather, and his hat had patches for all of the countless patches that were used to patch it up.
"Come on take a good look at this specimen that I have for sale today trainers!" The man said to two trainers, pointing with a large fan at a tank full of water in front of him. "Tell me who is ganna buy this fine Pokemon specimen from me for the reasonable bargain of two hundred Pokedollars?"
"Guys come with me for a second; I want to check this out!" Jacob said to his team, and instantly Harold and Ivan stopped practicing to join him.
They walked over to the salesman and Jacob examined the Pokemon inside of the tank. The Pokemon looked like a fish type, but it was so filthy that it looked like its scales were made of dirt and mud instead of scales. It had this strange, dimwitted look like it had no clue what was going on, and all it did in the tank was float in the one spot. It looked at them all with a clueless expression, apparently unaware that there were trainers staring at it.
"So tell me youngins, what do you say, will you buy this Pokemon from me?" He asked them with a big grin, looking between the male and female trainers on Jacob's sides.
"As if, look at this thing, it's absolutely pointless to have this Pokemon." The male trainer said in with a sneer. "It's weak, it's pathetic, there's no way I'm buying this fish from some dirty smelly salesman. I'm trying to WIN in the Hoenn League, not get laughed at."
"Yea, I'm entering a Pokemon Contest in Dewford, and I need cute Pokemon for my routine, this thing is about as far away from cute as you can get." The female trainer said, turning and walking away without a second glance with her fellow trainer.
"What about you young man would you like to buy this Pokemon?" He asked. "I'll tell ya what, I'll cut ya a deal and sell it for only one hundred Pokedollars."
"What is it first…" Jacob asked himself, pulling out his Pokedex and having it scan the Pokemon.
[Feebas, the Fish Pokemon, Feebas's fins are ragged and tattered from the start of its life. Feebas live in ponds that are heavily infested with weeds. Because of its hopelessly shabby appearance, it seems as if few Trainers raise it.]
After this description he looked at the Feebas, and asked himself if there was another reason why this Pokemon was so shabby.
[Feebas are known to be very tough survivors, capable of surviving in almost any environment, however the only moves Feebas are only known to learn how to Splash, Tackle, and Flail naturaly.]
Jacob looked at the Feebas again and wondered just why this man was trying to sell such a Pokemon to trainers. "No offense sir, but why are you trying to sell this Pokemon?" He asked.
"Ah that is a good question my young man, why indeed, and I'll tell you if you buy this Feebas from me!" The man said with a grin. "I can tell you have a thing for Pokemon, a lot more than those trainers that just left, because you haven't left yet and you are asking me questions. So I'll promise to answer your question if you buy it. Come on, buy it, this Feebas is a fine catch; I'll cut you an even better deal and sell it to you for fifty Pokedollars! What do you say?"
(I don't like… this man… he's selling a… Pokemon!) Sara said to Jacob angrily. (This isn't… right!)
"Yea I know Sara, Pokemon don't deserve to be treated like merchandise." Jacob said unhappily as he looked at his Pokemon, each of whom looked angry at the sight of the salesman.
Jacob looked at the Feebas again, stared at the dimwitted and bored expression on the Pokemon's face. Jacob had been taught to not treat any Pokemon based on appearance only, but even the Pokedex's description and scientific evidence pointed to Feebas being absolutely pointless and worthless. By all rights he should just walk away and forget about this Pokemon. Even if it was a water type, from what the Pokedex said, it was completely useless. Splash did absolutely nothing, Tackle was only good if it was in or near the water, and Flail depended on Feebas being attacked first to do much damage. For his journey he should just leave this Pokemon alone.
Jacob sighed to himself as he imagined how many other trainers have stared at this Feebas and called it pathetic and ugly. He felt sorry for it; it wasn't Feebas' fault that it looked this way, which is why what he did next did not surprise him.
"I'll pay the original two hundred for it." Jacob said, pulling out two hundred Pokedollars from his backpack.
(Jacob… why are you… buying this… Pokemon?) Sara asked him in shock. (I thought you… said… Pokemon deserve better… than that!)
"Yea, they do deserve to be treated better than this." Jacob said, handing the money over to the salesman. "That is exactly why I'm buying it from him, so that he doesn't treat it like this anymore."
The salesman grinned again as he counted the money before looking up at Jacob. "Nicely said kid, which is precisely why I'm giving you your money back and letting you keep this Feebas for free!"
"What?" Jacob stated, shocked that the man was handing over the money back to him. "But you just… why would…"
"To answer you, the reason why I'm trying to sell this Feebas to trainers is to see how well they treat Pokemon." He said with a grin. "There are three types, the kind that would buy Pokemon if they could, the kind that dislike Pokemon being sold as merchandise, and the kind that treat Pokemon as merchandise. I have my reasons for picking this Feebas, and only the absolute best trainers or the more experienced will know the reason why. However I wanted to see what would happen and how people would react to this situation. Now tell me what do you think of this Feebas, based your own opinions of it right now."
Jacob looked between the Feebas and the man and answered instantly. "Well… I know it's weak and… forgive the term, pathetic." He said. "But… I've been taught that all Pokemon are unique and powerful in their right. They just need the right trainer to realize their potential."
"So given that… are you the right trainer for this Feebas?" He said with a smile. "I won't force you to take it, if you want to you can release it into a river, a pond, a swamp, anywhere is fine. It's a strong survivor, so you don't need to worry about it not living without you. Plus it's not too bright so I highly doubt it will even notice you releasing it."
Jacob looked at the Feebas again and noticed that this was quite true. It was staring at him, but it still hadn't lost that bland, bored, dimwitted expression on its face. In fact if Jacob didn't know any better, he might have assumed it didn't care about anything.
(Jacob…)
"Yea Sara?" He asked Sara, looking at her as she sat on his shoulder.
(Don't leave it… please?) She asked him nervously. (It may be… dumb now… but you said… each Pokemon… needs a great… trainer to raise… them!)
"You sure about this Sara, you know I have no idea how to raise this Feebas." He whispered to her. "What do I do with it, it probably doesn't even talk."
(You are a… good human Jacob… and a great… trainer!) Sara said confidently. (I'm sure… you'll find… a way!)
Jacob looked down at his Pokemon Harold and Ivan, who both nodded confidently. Jacob nodded as well, and made up his mind. "Alright it's decided, I'll keep the Feebas." He said, looking at the dirty fish and smiling. "So Mr. Salesman, what gender is… it?"
He looked up and saw that while he, Sara, Ivan, and Harold were all talking to each other and deciding what to do with the Feebas, the salesman had gone and vanished.
"Ivan did you or Harold see where he went?" Jacob asked.
"Rrrrrf…" Ivan moaned sadly.
"Tree…" Harold said in amazement.
"Sara… did you sense anything bad from him?" He asked.
(No… he felt nice… I didn't mention… it before but… he was really… nice!) She said to him. (I didn't care… because he was… selling a Pokemon... forgive me Jacob.)
"It's alright Sara, but now that I'm keeping a Feebas, what do we do with it?" He said, looking at the Feebas in the tank still staring at him. "Well for now let me put my bag down and try to carry it."
He put his bag down as well as Sara so that she wouldn't get hurt if the Feebas proved tougher to handle than he imagined. With the bag down he pulled out the Pokeballs and placed them on the ground, including the Luxury Ball. He was going to use a standard Pokeball to hold Feebas, mostly because it was the most common and standard ball he had. Also he wasn't sure how he was going to use the Luxury Ball yet. Also he had his hat on the ground with the balls so it wouldn't get blown away if the Feebas jerked violently.
"Okay Feebas, out of the water you come." Jacob said as he rolled up his sleeves and dipped his hands into the tank.
The Feebas was, quite docile in the tank, even when he had his hands on it and started tugging at it to pull it out of the water. However once it was out of the water entirely, its docile look vanished entirely. It started flopping madly, violently, and wiggling furiously each second he held it out of the water.
"Feebas Fee Fee Feebas Feebas!" It said over and over as he tried to hold onto it with one hand and grab a Pokeball with the other.
"Hold still… Feebas…" He groaned as he held on tightly, trying to grab a Pokeball. "Hold still… now… come on… just… WHOA!"
The Feebas gave an almighty jerk and flew out of his hands and directly onto the Pokeballs below. It landed heavily on the balls, and in a flash of red light, vanished into the Luxury Ball.
It shook twice before a loud ping, signaled that the capture had been successful.
"Did… I just capture Feebas… with the Luxury Ball?" He asked his team as he stared at the ball.
(Yes…) Sara whipered.
"Tree…" Harold said.
"Arf!" Ivan barked.
"Well… there's no point moaning about it now…" He said to himself as he put all of the spare balls back and placed the Luxury Ball on his belt. "Well team, let's get introduced to our newest teammate."
They headed back to the rest area, and after releasing Roran and Kora to explain why they were out before dinner, released the newly acquired Feebas into the pond water.
The Feebas looked around a bit before it swam to face him with its still dimwitted expression. "Hello Feebas, I guess I'm your trainer now huh?" He asked it.
"Feebas…" It said slowly. "Fee… Feebas… bas bas Fee. Fee bas bas Fee"
He looked at Sara with a raised eyebrow. "Uh… Sara… can you translate please?" He asked.
Sara nodded and instantly replied. (She says… Thank you… but you should… not have… bought me… I am just… an ugly fish. I'm useless for… anything besides to… make fun of… she says.)
"Maybe to others, but to me you're a really special Pokemon." He said with a smile. "And to the rest of my team, you're now a valued member of our team! So don't ever think of yourself as ugly ever again. You may not be the prettiest fish out there, but you are most definitely one of the toughest."
"Feebaas!" The Feebas said happily, smiling with its eyes and splashing the water with enthusiasm. "Feebas Fee Fee Feebas bas!"
(She says… thank you so… much for saying… that, I will… not let you… down… I promise!) Sara translated.
"No problem Feebas… but now that we know you're a girl you need a name." He said. "How about Coral, do you like the name Coral?"
"Feebaaaas!"
(She says yes… she loves it!) Sara said happily.
"Alright then, welcome to the team Coral!" Jacob said with a smile, glad to have a new member on board his team.
(?'s PoV)
"Ha tata lala dida!" He said with a smile and a skip as he wandered into Rustboro's high status grooming section.
A lot of people walked away from him, looked down at him, and whispered about how dirty he was and why he was in the most prestigious section of the grooming part of Rustboro. He walked over to the most expensive, most high class boutique salon for Pokemon grooming and entered it, ignoring the 'Closed for Today' sign. "Hello sister, how is business today!" He asked the girl inside.
"Hey bro, you're back earlier than expected, I'm guessing you were successful in finding a trainer for the Feebas?" She asked with a smile.
"You betcha, found the best trainer for it in the last three weeks!" He said happily. "I swear none of these new trainers have a sense of beauty or inner strength in ANY of them, they all just made fun of me and that Feebas. Was going to pay full price for it even after I turned down the offer to one fourth of the original, didn't care about the price. I must say it was a match made in Hoenn!"
"Oh you're very clever with the pun bro." She said, giving him a slap on the head. "So do you think he'll make it work? Will your plan work?"
"Who knows, but I do know this, I hope that he finds the inner beauty of that Feebas!" He said with a smile. "After all, it doesn't matter what's on the outside, it's on the inside that truly tells what kind of Pokemon you are!"
"I hope so, I spent two months finding that Feebas on Route 119." She said with a sigh. "Really brother you have more patience then me, you should have been the one finding it."
"Oh you know me sister; I prefer to see trainers first hand!" He said with a giggle. "After all, what's the point of having only Pokemon that look nice to you? True beauty is on the inside, and it's up to the trainer to find that inner beauty in ALL of their Pokemon."
"Yea I know, you've told me that before, now shut up and clean up that MUD your tracking in here!" She yelled, taking a mop and smacking him with it. "THIS IS A BEAUTY SALON, NOT A GARBAGE DUMP!"