Chapter 5 – The Next Step
The boss laughed an evil laugh. "Hahaha! We have it! We finally have it! It may be only a third of the completed plan, but it brings us this much closer."
"Yes Richard, sir. I will make it my top priority to acquire the other two."
The boss sent his employee out of his office. Richard walked back to his elegant office chair and sat back in it smiling as wide as possible. He sat staring at the prize that his efforts had yielded. Held inside an electrical cage sat a large silver and black object. There was one peculiar thing about the object inside the cage. As Richard looked at the large object, it suddenly moved. He wasn't startled at this, as he already knew what it could do.
It started to make a loud noise that sounded almost like a mechanical roar. Two arms on the object took a swing at the electrical bars on the cage, and then retracted quickly when the pain of over three hundred volts of energy surged through its body.
"You can try to escape, you foolish Pokémon, but you will only fail". Richard started to laugh maniacally again. The Pokémon inside the cage stopped flailing and calmed down a little.
Suddenly there was a beep and an electronic voice saying, "You've got mail". Richard turned to his computer and double-clicked on the new e-mail in his inbox. The message read:
Sir, here is the report on the newly acquired Pokémon. All details are complete and included. A team is being organised to investigate Mt. Coronet. We will report back as soon as we know anything.
Richard opened the attached report and began to read.
"Four hundred and fifty-one point nine pounds…. Six foot three… Adamant nature…"
After he finished reading the report, Richard sat back in his chair with a satisfied look on his face. He stared straight at the caged Pokémon and simply said, "You will be disposed of soon. You are merely a pawn in my elaborate chess game. Enjoy what little time you have left."
The Pokémon flared up again and tried desperately to break free of its cage. It wasn't hard to see that the poor creature was in pain, but it kept trying and trying. Suddenly the Pokémon began to glow a bright blue colour. Richard became extremely terrified for a split second and dived down to the floor behind his desk. Hiding behind the desk, Richard saw the reflection in the window of an enormous blue light. The light flashed brighter than anything he had ever seen before, and then the desk went flying over him and through the huge curtain window.
Numerous identical bursts of light sent different objects flying out the broken window until there was only one thing left. Richard knew that if he were to survive this following burst of light that he would need to get to the cage and press the 'stun' button.
He made a desperate sprint across the room, hoping against hell that he could make it. The terrifying excitement made the dash for survival seem like an hour long run. Richard made it to the cage just as the light burst was about to go off. The Pokémon in the cage saw that he was going for the 'stun' button and just as the burst went off, Richard managed to push the button.
The cage shot an enormous surge of electricity through the Pokémon, rendering it unconscious. At the same time as the surge, Richard let out a vile scream as blood began to spurt out of what was left of his hand. The Pokémon's attempt at stopping him wasn't wasted. The powerful attack had managed to amputate about two thirds of his hand.
The pain flooded into Richard like Hoover Dam had just burst. He lay writhing on the ground, losing blood fast. Everything started to go dark around the edges of his vision. Before he knew what was happening, he was lying still and silent on the floor in a large pool of scarlet blood.
-- -- -- --
It was early morning, and Zane was stretching his tiredness out in the way that feels almost godly. His previous day had been a complete and utter disaster, starting with a brutal defeat by a mere Shinx, and a panicky sprint through the dark forest.
Now he lay in the bed he had rented for the night at the Jubilife Pokémon Centre. In his tired stretching routine, he had almost completely forgotten about his Snover, all couped up inside its uncomfortable Poké Ball. Zane turned and looked at his Pokémon belt that was hanging over the bed railing behind his pillow. A moment later and Snover was also stretching.
After the spectacular stretching ritual, Zane rummaged through his backpack and removed his brown and grey Pokémon egg. He sat back on his bed and lovingly stroked it for a few minutes. It was nice and warm from its overnight stay in the bag. The egg had a more comfortable night than Zane did.
As he was rubbing it gently it vibrated gently for a second then stopped. "Wow! Snover come have a look at this!"
Snover sidled over to the side of the bed and Zane put it's hand (or what passes as a hand) on the egg.
"Snooooooooo………" Snover said slowly and calmly.
Zane began to rub the egg some more, and quickly realised that the spot where Snover had touched had become ice-cold. He quickly wrapped the egg back up and gently placed back into his backpack.
"I'm getting hungry, how about you Sno?" Snover nodded at Zane and the two of them headed out of the sleeping hall and into the lobby. It was lucky for Zane that the breakfast after a night at the centre is free, as he couldn't really afford to be spending too much until he went to a bank.
After a rather tasteless meal of scrambled Pidgey eggs on toast and a glass of Oran berry juice, Zane recalled Snover and exited the large Pokémon Centre and went into the city to have a look around.
Because the city didn't use cars very often, it was relatively easy for him to get from one block to another. There were hundreds and hundreds of useful little buildings peppered throughout the city, but one caught Zane's eye in particular. He couldn't give it a miss once looking at it.
He approached the glass automatic doors of the Pokémon Trainer School and saw a poster pinned up to the wall next to them. It read:
Cheap Pokémon trainer lessons here! Only five Pokédollars an hour! Select one of our high-quality training classes and leave as a better trainer.
After the embarrassing defeat the previous day, Zane thought it was absolutely necessary for him to take a class to improve his battling skills. He walked into the building and approached the reception counter. The lady at the counter greeted him.
"Hi, welcome to the Jubilife training school, is this your first visit?"
"Uh, yeah this is my first time. Do you have a list of classes I can take?" The receptionist woman pointed to a rack of pamphlets on the counter.
"Have a look through one of these and see what classes you might like to try."
Zane picked up a pamphlet and began to study it. There were classes for all sorts of things to do with Pokémon. He read through them all. 'Pokémon types, I already know about all that… Pokémon attacks, know it… Pokémon diets, could be handy to know… Battling strategies, I think I will take that one.'
"Umm, can I do an hour of battling strategies please?" Zane asked, putting five Pokédollars on the table.
"Not a problem, the next class starts in about five minutes, so you can take a seat over by the window and a teacher will come get you when it starts."
Zane headed over to the seating area where, coincidentally, there were a few other people sitting and waiting for the next class. Being as shy as he is, Zane didn't really engage in conversation with anyone, but another trainer about the same age s he was winked at him. Zane thought something about the trainer looked familiar.
Suddenly his hand was being grabbed by the kid and was then bombarded with excited speech. "Hi!!! You are that kid I battled on the hill yesterday! Wow what are the odds of meeting you here again! I didn't get to introduce myself yesterday, my name is Zack, what is yours?"
Taken by surprise, Zane took a few seconds to process what Zack had said. "Oh… yes I remember you now… my name is Zane. Nice to meet you." Zane was a real novice when it came to socialising.
"Hi Zane. Are you taking the battling strategy class as well?" asked Zack quite excitedly.
"Uh… yeah. I am pretty bad at battling so I reckon I need it." He really didn't want to be talking to Zack at that stage, having vivid memories of his Snover being pummelled by this kid.
"Hey it looks like the class is about to start!"
It was true. A door had opened and a tall man in a faded brown suit emerged. "Battle strategy students follow me please." All the trainers sitting in the seating area stood and followed the teacher into the teaching theatre. Zack was the first in line, with Zane trying to avoid contact with him at the back of the line.
The teaching theatre was rather large, about the size of the average university theatre, but much less populated. Zane took a seat right near the front. The teacher came in behind the nice wooden desk at the front of the seats and began to speak.
"Good morning students. For those who haven't before taken a class with me, my name is Professor Stan. In the next hour I will teach you how to become a more efficient battler by utilising your Pokémon's abilities and strengths to your advantage. At any time feel free to raise your hand and ask questions."
There was a little murmuring from some students, but it stopped when Professor Stan began to speak again.
"Now, I have worked with Pokémon for a large portion of my life. I have battled all the gyms from Sinnoh, and even some from other areas. When I was only seventeen I defeated the Elite Four and officially took the title of 'Pokémon Master'. I too started out as you all did, getting your first Pokémon from the local professor, and I had a goal… That goal was to be the best trainer I could be. Look where a simple goal has got me".
Professor Stan pulled a Poké Ball from his belt and pressed the small button. Out of the ball came the weirdest Pokémon Zane had ever seen. It was green and looked like it was made of vines.
"This, students, is my beloved Tangrowth. I caught him as a Tangela a long time ago. Now, you may not believe it but every single Pokémon has strengths and abilities that can be utilised in battle." The Professor pointed at a student who had quickly raised his hand. "Yes, even Magikarp has its strengths, although there are very few".
The atmosphere in the theatre was powerful. All eyes were on the Tangrowth, and all ears were directed at the Professor.
"I will now demonstrate some of Tangrowth's abilities and show you how you could use them to give yourself a better chance in a match." The Professor turned to the Pokémon. "Tangrowth, use Sunny Day!"
The reaction speed was impeccable. Within three seconds, the temperature in the room rose by a few degrees.
"OK, here is how this can be an advantage. Sunny Day creates heat and brightness in battle. Tangrowth can have one of two abilities. Both abilities are activated only in strong sunlight, so on the first move it is ideal that Sunny Day is used. Your Tangrowth will either heal itself of all status problems, for example freezing or paralysis, or it will become a lot speedier in the sunlight. Both of these abilities can be key to gaining the upper hand in battle."
There were many 'Oohs' and 'Aahs' from the students as the Professor explained the advantages to Tangrowth's abilities. The Professor continued.
"Now, abilities are vital to all Pokémon, but there is another factor that you can use to aid you in a match. For example, Tangrowth's weight stands at roughly two hundred and eighty pounds. That weight can be turned into pure power when physical attacks come into play. Imagine something weighing only ten pounds trying to tackle powerfully. It can happen, but a Pokémon with a larger weight will always be more effective."
After that, the class got very technical, mainly talking about the power of certain moves and how they can be used to swing the direction of a battle. The class was nearing the end when the Professor made a final statement.
"Ah, look at the time, only five minutes to go. Remember this everyone. Abilities and physical measurements can be very handy. Strength can be a large factor, so make sure you train your Pokémon on inanimate targets from time to time. Last but not least, confidence. Be confident in your battles and try not to panic, it will only make things worse."
The mesmerized audience began to applaud the Professor on the hour lesson he had given them.
"OK OK, that's enough" the Professor smiled. "On your way out you will see a box with handbooks inside, make sure you grab one on the way out as it lists almost every Pokémon ability known. It also lists the average weight and height of most. Thankyou for listening, hopefully I will see you again in the field."
The students all took their handbook and began flipping through the pages to find details on their Pokémon. Zane didn't have time to search, as he wanted to make sure he got away from Zack before he got dragged into a tedious conversation.
At any rate, Zane left the lesson with a different mindset and newly gained battling knowledge that he hoped would help him out.
As he walked down the road towards the outskirts of Jubilife City, he thought to himself, 'Here I come Oreburgh.'