Pardon me for not updating in a while. I wasn't able to type up this chapter until I was finished with a report I had to turn in. Now that it's done, I'll continue with the story.
Chapter 24: Coffee is Good
"So what'd he do to the radio?" Jonathan asked.
"THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE," Alpha explained, "GAMMA'S PROGRAMING WAS SO ADVANCED AND COMPLEX THAT THE RADIO WAS INCAPABLE OF PROCESSING ALL OF THE DATA THAT WAS BEING INSERTED."
"From the looks of things, it would've taken about three fourths of a supercomputer to successfully process the data," Beta concluded.
"0oOps s0rr3."
"Don't worry, Jonathan, the repairs on the radio are done now. Oh Gamma, remember that radios can't run programs to serve coffee, get the newspaper, and turn into giant mechas of mass destruction (using fruitcake of all things as ammo)."
"fRu1tC4k3 Iz 1ndiztrUc7iBl3!!!!1!"
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Meanwhile outside, a yellow figure was running in the direction of Jenny's apartment as fast as he could. A random trainer who was passing by caught a glimpse of him earlier and was giving chase. No matter how many bushes he darted through, he couldn't shake the trainer.
He jumped behind a nearby trash can and watched as the trainer ran by. Rocky slowly poked his head out and looked to both sides, releasing his breath when he saw the street was empty.
Then a poke ball flew over his head.
Without bothering to look back, he ran off in all fours in the opposite direction. He could hear the trainer's steps as he ran after him, getting further away by the second. Rocky was still in the range of poke balls, though. He turned and ran into an alley, but unfortunately for him, it was a dead-end.
Beginning to panic, Rocky looked around for anyone to help him. Seeing no one, his heart sank. Just as the trainer was about to round the corner, he gave out a cry for help, despite the fact that it was futile. "Help mee!!!"
His cry for help attracted the attention of an old man. "Hello there, little Pichu," he said. Before Rocky could react to the sudden appearance of an old human in the middle of a dead-end alleyway, the old man scooped him up. He was about to struggle to try and escape when he felt something soft wrap around his neck.
The trainer rounded the corner and spotted Rocky. He was about to throw another poke ball, when he noticed that the Pichu was in the arms of an old man, and with a black scarf wrapped around his neck. "That wouldn't be your Pichu, would it, sir?"
"Yes, this is my Pichu, young man," the old man lied, "If you were trying to catch him, then I'm sorry to disappoint you."
"Oh sorry, I didn't know it had a trainer."
"It's alright, I should keep him in his poke ball more often anyways."
Once the trainer left, the old man put Rocky down, "Run along now, little Pichu. You can keep the scarf, I've no need for it," he said as he left.
"Thank you, mister," Rocky called at the old man.
"No need to say thank you, I wouldn't understand it anyways."
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"GET SOME WATER, GET SOME WATER!!!!" Ember yelled out.
Gamma floated into the room at max speed and poured the gasoline on Jonathan. "AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" Jonathan yelled as the fire got worse. Beta then floated in and blasted Jonathan with the fire extinguisher, as well as everywhere the fire had spread too. Luckily, nothing was burned too badly, so it was easily covered up. "I thought you said nothing was wrong with the radio anymore," Jonathan remarked.
"NOTHING WAS WRONG WITH IT. YOU JUST EXPERIENCED WHAT IS KNOWN AS SPONTANIOUS COMBUSTION," Alpha explained. A tapping came from the window, so Jonathan went to answer it, preferring not to ask what the chances of spontaneous combustion were.
When he opened the window, he was pounced upon by a yellow blur, "Et tu, Rocky?" Jonathan remarked.
"Well, it looked fun when Ember did it," Rocky explained, "Hey, why are you covered in soot?"
"I got set on fire twice in one day. Not a very pleasant experience, trust me."
"Where'd you get that scarf, Rocky?" Ember asked.
Jonathan then noticed the scarf he was wearing. It wasn't human sized, so his ability to move wasn't hampered by extra length, but it wasn't too small either. It was as if the scarf had been designed just for him. "An old man gave it to me," Rocky said, "I was being chased by a trainer and he helped me escape hi-what are those things floating in the air?" he asked.
After another set of introductions everyone got to know everyone. "Being an artificially created pokemon, I'm curious as to what the wild may be like. May I ask you a series of questions regarding the matter?" Beta asked.
"What's artifisheal mean?"
"Perhaps it is best to ask an older pokemon," Beta concluded.
"THE HUMAN IS APPROACHING," Alpha announced. As expected, the pokemon flew back into their appliances.
"How many times do I have to tell you guys it's ok to trust her?" Jonathan asked.
"423947482358234137126578634780ty TwO," answered Gamma.
"Relax, Jonathan. We'll reach a conclusion eventually," Beta answered.
Jennifer entered the room, "Hello Jonny, you too Ember. The Pineco Café needs a little help with some stuff. Something about their new coffee attracting more customers that expected. Mark gave me permission to take Ember along, so he can come too."
"Why are you covering your eyes with your paws, Jonathan?" Ember asked as Jennifer changed into her uniform.
"Private reasons," Jonathan replied. Rocky squinted his eyes to try to see through Jonathan's hair.
"You have eyes?"
"Of course I do. What did you think I had underneath my hair?" Rocky squinted even further.
"Are you really covering your eyes?"
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After giving Alpha and Beta a list of what not to let Gamma do while they were gone, they left. As they were walking, Jenny asked, "So Jonny is this Pichu a friend of yours?" Jonathan nodded his head in response. "I wonder who his trainer is," she asked herself.
"Hey, Rocky, that scarf practically guarantees that trainers'll stop trying to catch you," Jonathan observed.
"Yeah, when people see your scarf, they'll assume a trainer gave it to you," Ember said.
"Wow, really? I didn't think it would be so useful!" Rocky remarked.
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Whoever called Jennifer to tell her the new coffee was bringing in more people didn't feel like it was needed to tell her that there were actual lines waiting outside the café to try it out stretching throughthe whole sidewalk. That must've been some good coffee.
All the employees were working their bodies to the limit just to fulfill all the orders that were coming in. Deciding to help, the pokemon tried to take orders too.
Jonathan walked up to a family who were sitting in a table, waiting to order. In his left hand, he held a small notepad, and in his right, he held a pencil that was close to being used up, so it was small enough for him to hold. He figured it shouldn't be too hard to take someone's order.
He tugged on the man's pants to get his attention. The man looked down, bewildered. It was certain he wasn't expecting a Ralts to come to him. "You don't understand what I'm saying, so I'm going to ask without any etiquette. Wadda ya want?" Jonathan asked.
"Hey, look honey!" the man said to his wife, "A pokemon!"
"Aww it looks so adorable holding that little pencil like that!" exclaimed the wife.
"(Sigh) You're going to make a big deal out of this, aren't you?"
"Ooooh, I've just got to take a picture!" exclaimed the wife, obviously a tourist. Probably came to see the wide range of terrain around the city.
"Mommy," the little boy that was with them began to cry out, "I want my sandwich, when is the waitress gonna come to take our orders?!"
Jonathan began to write the word 'sandwich' in his notepad. The husband took notice and pointed it out to his wife, "Look, honey! The pokemon knows how to write!"
"My god, you're right! Do you think it's taking our orders?"
"If so, then all I want is that new coffee," said the husband.
Jonathan nodded his head and kept writing. Once all the orders were filled out, he walked to Jennifer and tugged her sock. Once Jennifer noticed him, she knelt down to see what he wanted. He handed her the notepad, "Oh, I didn't know you knew how to write, Jonny!" As she read over the list, Jonathan's horns could feel the amazement Jennifer was feeling as she read the list. She turned to the counter and gave the order to the person in charge of making the food.
Once she got the food, she thanked Jonathan and proceeded to deliver it to the table. Unfortunately, other people wanted their orders filled out as well, "Excuse me, sir. Sorry, please wait a while. No, we don't serve alcohol." She didn't even have enough time to deliver the order Jonathan had gdelivered to her.
Deciding to take action again, Jonathan got Jennifer's attention with another sock tug. When she looked down, she saw that Jonathan was holding his arms up to hold the tray. "Gimme the tray, it'll probably be easier for you if I helped," he said.
Understanding what he meant, she put the tray of food in his hands. "Thank you, Jonny," she said as she went to assist other customers.
Balancing the tray on his horns and keeping it steady with his hands, Jonathan took the food to the awaiting family.
"Would ya look at that!" the husband said, "The little guy does work here!"
Once he put the tray on the table he left to help out with more orders. As he left, he heard the wife say, "Poor little thing must be tired from doing all this work. Leave a little extra for him, honey."
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It had been a long day, but closing time had finally come. Jonathan, Ember, and Rocky were exhausted. While Jonathan was filling out orders, Ember and Rocky were busy helping out with other things as well.
The stove had failed, so they were having trouble cooking the hot meals. That's where Ember came in. As for Rocky, he learned about the wonders of janitorial duties. They had all made a fair amount of money.
Jonathan, Ember, and Jennifer were walking back to the apartments, seeing as they forgot their poke balls at home. It was getting dark out, so Nutty came to pick up Rocky before they reached their home.
Rather than take the fire escape as usual, they entered through the front door like normal people. Before the door closed, however, Jonathan noticed that a man in a trench coat was outside, looking at the apartment complex.
Jonathan decided to think about it later.