The Fabulous Trick Master, Chapter 47
I was heading north on Hoenn Route 110, and much like when I first started exploring Johto, I was a witness to the wonders of the Pokemon world. Critters both new and familiar took flight before me, going about their lives while I hiked forward. Vulpix chased a couple of them down, barking all the while to clear a safe path for me. Just a short ways down the road, it spit in two directions, though both still went to the north. At the fork there was a man on a bicycle, taking a breather after what looked like an arduous workout.
"Excuse me," I asked him, "Is there a difference between these two roads?"
"They both head towards Mauville, though this here's the Seaside Cycling Road. Can't use it without a bike."
"Oh, I see. Thanks for the help!"
I immediately went to assemble my bike, when I looked down at Vulpix. She was barking at some of the wild Pokemon on the other route, looking back at me as if to ask if we were going that way. Though the cycling route would've been much easier and possibly more scenic, I went against it. There were all sorts of new Pokemon to meet in Hoenn, so I couldn't go avoiding them every chance I got. Plus, what would Professor Oak say about me not completing that Pokedex?
"Come on girl, let's get in there and catch ourselves a new friend!"
Without concern or fear of the Pokemon within the tall grass, I ran head first into it. The Pokemon scattered, startled at my sudden intrusion in their space. A couple of them, however, stood their ground, growling at me and prepping for battle. Vulpix took the front, while I produced my Pokedex to scan the two critters.
"Poochyena, the Bite Pokemon. It has a very tenacious nature. Its acute sense of smell lets it chase a chosen prey without ever losing track." I closed the device and held it close. The other Pokemon was an Oddish, a critter common in Kanto and one I was pretty familiar with. Vulpix awaited my command, and instead got herself a partner to help her out: Ariados.
"Vulpix, rain down Embers! Ariados, String Shot on Poochyena!"
Ariados stepped forward, blasting Poochyena with a mass of silk as Vulpix used his back for greater reach with her own attack. The small flames covered a great part of the road, with a few bushes catching fire, but not enough to cause concern. The route was close to the sea, so there was enough moisture to douse the flames. Oddish took the brunt of the attack, while Poochyena clawed and bit through Ariados's strings.
"Vulpix, Quick Attack Oddish! Ariados, be careful!"
Vulpix vanished from Ariados's back, while the large bug braced itself for Poochyena's incoming blow. As Oddish recovered from the burns, Vulpix slammed into the small purple critter, sending it reeling back into tall grass. Ariados was hold his own against Poochyena's scratches and bites.
"Vulpix, Tackle him!"
The small fox crashed into Poochyena, granting Ariados a bit of reprieve. Before I could order the final blow on the Pokemon, a third wild critter joined the fray. A white bird flew in from the sea, raining down water on the field. Unfamiliar with this critter, I pulled out the Pokedex to scan it quickly.
"Wingull, the Seagull Pokemon. It soars high in the sky, riding on updrafts like a glider. It carries food tucked in its bill."
"Vulpix, Quick Attack Poochyena! Ariados, String Shot that bird!"
Vulpix slammed into Poochyena again, keeping the angry dog Pokemon on the ground. Meanwhile, Ariados aimed its mouth towards the Wingull in the air, blasting it with a spray of silk. The bird tried to evade the attack, but its wings were tangled up in the string, causing it to come crashing to the ground. I took advantage of the opportunity and prepared a Pokeball. The first to come out of my bag was a normal one, so I threw it at the Wingull, capturing the critter inside.
"Vulpix, Tackle that Poochyena one more time! Ariados, String Shot again!"
While they continued the assault on the much more resilient Poochyena, I turned my attention to the Pokeball with Wingull in it. It was still shaking, as the Pokemon tried desperately to break free. After a few moments, it stopped, confirming my successful capture. Back with my other Pokemon and the Poochyena, they had both succeeded in executing their commands. The black dog was trying to break free of its bonds, but the strings were too tight, and its energy was quickly draining from the battle.
I reached into my bag, and found the last of my Pokeballs: the Fast Ball Kurt made for me back in Azalea Town. Poochyena was trying desperately to free himself, which gave me the opportunity to throw the Pokeball at him. He was locked inside, and thus began the waiting game. Vulpix, Ariados, and myself all watched in anticipation as the Pokeball shook violently. It almost popped open a few times, but it eventually quieted down. Both Pokemon were now part of my team!
As were the rules of the League, I couldn't carry all my critters with me now. I had Yanma and Beedrill sent to the storage system, seeing as how Ariados was quickly proving himself a powerful ally, and I only needed one bug Pokemon on my team. With Wingull, I finally had a primary flyer, and with Poochyena, a tricky dark type. Once Ariados was back in his own Pokeball, I pushed onward with Vulpix in my arms, so she could rest up a bit.
I didn't want to excite anymore wild critters along this road, so I tried my best to wade through the grass as stealthily as possible.
~o~
"Trick House?" I read aloud, looking at the otherwise normal house sitting before me. I peered through a window, but couldn't see anything beyond the curtains blocking the view.
"What do you think this is, Vulpix?" I asked my red companion. She cocked her head to one side, like she usually did, and barked softly. That meant she was voting to go inside. After what happened earlier that day, I wasn't so sure about going into this strangely named house just like that.
I looked around for a moment, hoping to find someone nearby I could ask about this place. I looked at the sign again, and was a bit shocked to see additional words underneath the name of the house.
"'Three steps to your right, and two steps ahead to reach the wondrous Trick House'...?" Had that line always been on the sign? Before I could give it more thought, the door of the house creaked open, beckoning me to go in. Of course, since Vulpix voted to go inside, she ran in before me, much to my dismay.
"Vulpix, no! Get back here!" I ran in after her, only to have the door slam shut behind me. How typical.
The interior of the Trick House was, for all accounts and purposes, normal. It was modeled after the houses in Fuchsia City, with only a table and a few floor pillows in the center of the one room. The house was clearly much larger from the outside, so there had to be more to this place. The moment I took a step further into the room, I felt this chill run down my spine, as if someone were watching me. I shrugged it off, as I tried to find Vulpix to get out of this place. There had to be a trap door or fake wall, because she was no where to be seen.
I started feeling around the walls for any hidden switches to trick walls. After only a moment of searching, I felt a switch, and without thinking twice, pressed it. Expecting to hear some hidden door click open, I heard what sounded like gas seeping in from somewhere. Before I could react and back away, I took a huge breath of the stuff, and felt disoriented. My vision got all blurry, and I passed out on the floor.
~o~
When I came to, I was in a different room, though the design was certainly similar to the previous one. I got up from the floor, though I instantly noticed how much lighter I felt. My bag was gone, as were my Pokeballs. My mind instantly assumed the worst: I had suffered the loss of my Pokemon again. My heart began to race, and without thinking straight, I started running down the hallway. It forced me to make a right turn, then a left, then another left before turning right again. Here, I was given the choice to make either a right, left, or continue straight ahead. Panicking, I turned to the right, which took me down yet another hall to a left turn. I made the turn here, only to run head first into someone around the bend.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Of course, being the smaller girl, I was knocked to the ground. It was just the push I needed to break out into tears completely.
"Oh, hey, don't cry! I didn't mean it!" She kneeled down in front of me, trying to comfort me. I let the tears flow, not even trying to contain them. My Pokemon were gone; I had failed as a trainer again.
"Come on, don't cry! I said I didn't mean it! Here, take this!" The girl offered me a lollipop, as if I was some baby to be comforted with candy. Her gesture was nice enough to finally get my impulse control into gear. It took me a moment, but I finally stopped the tears.
"I'm sorry," I started, wiping away some of the moisture on my face. "It wasn't you. I just, I can't believe I lost my Pokemon again."
"Cheer up, kid! It's nothing major-"
"Cheer up? My Pokemon were stolen!" I screamed back at her. The girl gave me a quick swat to the head, which made my eyes well up again. I fought back a couple sobs.
"Now I'm sorry. Listen, it's just the Trickmaster's game. Once we figure our way out of this giant puzzle box, we'll get our Pokemon back no problem! Now stop being such a crybaby and help me out, would ya?"
"Okay," I said meekly, while fighting back the tears. I guess I did fly off the handle there, but that smack really hurt!
"I'm Robin, what's your name?" She offered me a helping hand to get me back on my feet.
"Star."
"Alright, let's get moving. I just spent the last half hour running around that hallway, so let's get back to the intersection down this way and try another route."
Together, we walked back to the first intersection, and we each took a different route. Robin went straight ahead, while I hung a right. Now that we knew each other was there, it'd be easy to find our way through the house. However, my biggest question was why this 'Trickmaster' had a house like this in the first place? If he gave the Pokemon back to the trainers trapped within once they got out, why bother with it all?
My mind wandering, I ran face first into a wall when I lost focus. Before I could react accordingly, I fell right through the wall, and into a different room. This one was styled differently, so that meant I was headed in the right direction. I turned around to call for Robin, only to catch the wall door slamming shut behind me. I pushed against it, but it wouldn't budge. I sort of expected that as well.
"Robin! Can you hear me?" I screamed into the wall, hoping she could hear me. I pressed my ear against the wall, but there was nothing coming from the other side.
"Robin! Robin!" I pressed my ear against the wall again, but I couldn't hear a thing. Perhaps the walls were soundproof? Well, either way, I couldn't go back the way I came, so I pressed onward.
From here on, the floors were tiled, rather than traditional mat like the previous part of the house. I couldn't seem to wrap my brain around the Trickmaster's reasoning. Why go through all this trouble? What was the point of it all?
After walking down a few more hallways, I spotted something on the floor that I recognized: my bag! I ran down the hall to retrieve it, the thought of it being a trap not hitting me until it was too late. I scooped up my bag, only for the tile I was standing on to collapse beneath my feet. I let out a shriek as I fell, though the fall itself didn't last more than a couple seconds. I landed on something soft; a bed, to be precise.
It was dark in this particular room, so I started feeling my way around the bed, eventually getting off it and slowly reaching ahead for a wall or door or something. Once I felt the wall, I made my way around for a bit, until I felt a doorknob. I turned it and pushed, flooding the room I was in with light. On the other side, I was surprised to find myself right back where all this started!
"I'm afraid you lost, my dear." The voice came from a middle aged man, who was dressed in a hideously faded blue suit. His hair looked unkempt, as if he hadn't tended to it in weeks, if not longer.
"Lost? Who are you?"
"The owner of this house: the Trickmaster himself!" He stood up and pounded his chest for emphasis.
"There's another person trapped in there! How can she get out? And where're my Pokemon?" I was in no mood to play his games anymore. My attitude surprised the large man, especially considering I looked the way I did in my adorable yellow dress.
"Right here," he said, snapping his fingers. A portion of the wall flipped open, revealing Vulpix and my belt with the rest of my critters. She barked once she saw me, and ran into my arms. I admit, I got a little weepy when we hugged; the fear of having lost her and the rest of my friends earlier still a strong memory.
"I take it you didn't like my Trick House challenge?"
"No!" I screamed at him. "How can you put someone to sleep, take their Pokemon, and expect them to solve some riddle to get them back? That should be a crime!"
"I didn't mean any harm, I was just testing something new out! The other girl, Robin, volunteered to give the Trick House a run. But when you showed up, well, I thought I could see how a normal trainer would react when forced into the house."
"Well, now you know!" I snapped my belt on, and carried Vulpix in my arms. "Thank you."
"Thanks? For what?" He asked, puzzled.
"For returning my friends. I- I don't know what I would've done if they had been taken from me."
~o~
I didn't stray far from the Trick House at first, hoping to say farewell to Robin before I went on my way. After an hour or so, she walked out of the house, a belt with a couple Pokeballs strapped to her waist.
"Robin! Over here!" I called out to her.
"Star, glad you see you again," she said, walking up to me. "I heard what happened from the Trickmaster. Seemed you got to him with what you said."
"I didn't mean to hurt his feelings, it's just that I know what it's like to lose your Pokemon. I didn't want anyone else going through that like I did."
"He said because of you, he'll be closing down the house for a while, until he finds a friendlier way of engaging trainers. Between you and me: he could lose the tacky suit."
I giggled at Robin's remark. Now that we were outside, the threat of a challenge was present, but I wasn't going to engage her. I was tuckered out from the day's ordeal, and I just wanted to get to the nearest Pokemon Center and call it a night.
"Robin, where's the closest city from here?"
"Mauville, maybe. It's still several hours to the north, bit less if you have a bike and take the cycling road. Or, you can head south to Slateport City. Shouldn't be more than a couple hours on foot." I nodded, then turned to the left. There was another route leading from the Trick House.
"Where does this road lead?"
"A dead end," Robin said bluntly. "That's Route 103, which leads to Oldale Town. Problem is there's a river in the middle of the route, so you'd have to swim across or pay for a ferry. You're much better off taking the long way around past Mauville and Verdanturf."
"Oldale... that's near Littleroot, right?"
"Yeah, it sits between Littleroot and Petalburg City. Have some business in that tiny little town?"
"As a matter of fact, I think I do," I told her, recalling Brawly's words. Though he said the Professor could get me a Trainer card over the phone, I figured there was no harm in paying him a visit personally. Plus, one of those towns probably had a gym, so two birds and all that.
"Well, I'd be careful if I were you," Robin warned. "The river on Route 103 is swarming with some pretty nasty Pokemon. You may want to camp out until morning before you tried to cross it, ferry or no."
Taking Robin's advice to heart, I bid the friendly, if prickly, trainer adieu. I hadn't camped out under the stars in some time, so it would be a great way to settle back into my routine as a trainer. With Vulpix at my side, as always, and a slew of new friends, my journeys in Hoenn had only just begun.