Chapter 89 – Destiny Achieved!
The final week of gym leader / breeder academy was an exciting time for May and myself. We had both passed our finals with flying colors, and would be certified at the end of the week! I would be a certified gym leader, recognized by the Pokemon League, and May would be a certified Pokemon breeder! All that remained was the construction of the gym/breeding center/sanctuary. My parents owned much of the land just outside Crimson Town, which is where I thought the ideal spot would be for the building. They agreed, and I had been working on designs for my gym based on the conceptual drawings courses I had taken. I already decided the badge would be called the Crimson Badge, a golden flame with a crystal red center. May, meanwhile, had been designing her own breeding center, and during the weeks, we'd always put our heads together on how we were going to do this. The gym was going to be the front of the building, and the breeding center was to be the back of the building. Inside, of course, we also had living quarters for ourselves, as well as any help we might need to hire to maintain such a large place of business. There was plenty of acreage of forest, as well as grassy and rocky areas for all types of Pokemon to live on, as well as ponds and a lake for water Pokemon. I lay on the bed in my dorm room and looked at the design schematics on my laptop, as Flamefox lay next to me, looking at the screen. "That's it, Flamefox! After this week, construction can begin!" I e-mailed a copy to my home PC and then I turned off my computer and we went to meet May for supper in the cafeteria.
As we ate, May asked, "So, are you nervous?" I said, "Not at all! Excited is more like it! I can't wait to get this built! I think I'll ask Martin and some of the others to help, too." May asked, "I wonder how Martin is?" I answered, "I haven't seen him in a year. He's been too busy, especially with Sneasel finally being included in the worldwide Pokedex. That, and all the researchers, major breeders, professors, and League officials are very busy with the rest of the research being done on all the new Pokemon discovered in the Silver Cave. I'm sure he must have his hands full right now." May said, "Maybe we'd better not bother him right away then. There's a lot of time. It will be a while before this is constructed." I said, "True! But it sure will be awesome once it's done!"
The end of the week came before we knew it, and we were awarded our certificates in an official ceremony, attended by our parents and Professor Oak. "Well done!" he told both of us. "Joseph, I'm sure you'll make a great gym leader, and May, I'm sure you'll be a top notch breeder!" We both thanked him. We sent a bunch of our stuff home with our parents that night, and decided we would ride home to Crimson Town the next day.
With the last of our things in our packs, May mounted on Fierymane and I mounted on Tauros, and we began the ride to Crimson Town. It would take us 2 days, but we should arrive by nightfall on the second day. That night, we camped out in the middle of some woods. I awoke with a gasp in the middle of the night. May also woke up and asked, "What's wrong?" I replied, "I don't know. I felt like we were being watched! It was a strong sensation. I haven't felt it since back when we were travelling in Kanto." We looked around. Flamefox, Amber, Firestorm, Inferno were all asleep, as were Tauros and Fierymane. I said, "It's probably nothing. Go back to sleep." May said, "Okay" and just gave me a funny look, then lay back down. I lay on Tauros' side, falling asleep to the sound of his breathing.
The next day, May jolted me awake! "Joe! The Pokemon! They're all gone except Tauros, Fierymane, Flamefox, Firestorm, Amber, and Inferno!" I asked, "What are you talking about?" as I rubbed my eyes. She said, "I opened my backpack, and my pokeballs are gone! Raichu, Clefairy, and the others… but look what I found!" and she pulled out 6 packages of chocolate chip cookies. I opened up my backpack, and my pokeballs were gone, too, also replaced with chocolate chip cookies! I said, "Now this is really strange!" May said, "We have to report this!" I said, "Wait a minute – where are we?" We were not in the spot we had chosen to camp the night before. Everything was where we had put it, but the woods were different. "This is really freaking me out, Joe!" May exclaimed. I said, "It's okay. Hold on." I grabbed my Pokegear and tried to dial out. "Strange. I can't seem to get a signal" I said. May asked, "So what do we do now?" I said, "Let's ride! We're bound to find civilization sooner or later." So, we packed up, and May and Amber mounted on Fierymane while Flamefox and I mounted on Tauros. We began to gallop ahead – but to where, we still weren't sure.
It got to be midday, and we were still completely lost. May asked, "Do you have any idea where we are?" I said, "Not a clue." She said, "We should give these guys a break." I said, "Good idea" and we dismounted from our riders. Tauros and Fierymane found a nice open field of tall green grass, and started to graze. As I stood there, I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I turned and for a second, thought I saw Kadabra! "Kadabra!" I shouted, and I ran in the direction of where I thought I saw him. May asked, "Kadabra?" I said, "I swear I just saw him! Right by this tree!" May looked, and then said, "Look at this!" On the other side of the tree was a sign that read "Ilex Forest/Brushfire Woods line". I exclaimed, "I don't believe this! We're on the borderline of Ilex Forest and Brushfire Woods! Crimson Town is only half a day away!" May asked, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" and we once again mounted our Pokemon. They galloped us ahead, through the woods.
It got dark soon and it felt like the trees were watching us. "Something doesn't feel right" May said. I replied, "There is definitely something weird going on." We reached the edge of the woods, and it was dark, but the moonlight lit our way. May dismounted from Fierymane and asked, "What's that?" I asked, "What's what?" She walked ahead, and hit an invisible wall. "You okay?" I asked. She said, "Yeah." I said, "Barrier! Only a psychic Pokemon could do that, but who…" Suddenly, Kadabra materialized in front of us and looked at us strangely. I asked, "Kadabra, what's going on?" All of a sudden, he teleported all of us, except Tauros and Fierymane, to a bush on the other side of the barrier. We looked over and were stunned – there was the backbone of a building that looked very familiar. It was hard to see only by the moonlight, but there were dozens of Pokemon working, some carrying wood, some cutting wood, electric Pokemon sparking as they powered electric tools, including May's Raichu and my Jolteon, and I could see Arcanine melting steel and Vaporeon and Blastoise cooling it with water gun. Tauros and Fierymane were pulling up a wall with ropes. Kadabra then lit up a small flash, and we saw several nocturnal Pokemon working, and other diurnal Pokemon sleeping. There were also some Pokemon center devices lying around. May and I took out our pokedexes and identified several newly discovered species, including Steelix, Hitmontop, Sneasel, and Tyranitar. Then we noticed people. They were wearing black uniforms with the letter "R" on their chests, and had hats covering their faces. "Team Rocket?" May asked. I asked, "But what would they be doing here? And with my Kadabra?" May asked, "Maybe he's not your Kadabra." I replied, "I know its him! I recognize his psychic signature." May said, "They tried mind control in the past. Maybe they're doing it again!" I said, "No, something's not right here! I mean, yeah, our Pokemon are working, but they're being nice to them, letting them rest and eat!" May said, "If you're not doing anything about this, I am! Amber, create a diversion!" Amber was about to use a fire attack, but Kadabra used disable on her. Then, the flash grew brighter, and the people saw us and surrounded us. Then they smirked and stepped aside. We could see our Pokemon resting or eating, and then May's Raichu and my Jolteon projected something onto the wall. It was the schematic design for my gym! The "Rockets" revealed themselves – it was all 8 Johto Gym leaders, as well as the Elite Four! May and I both stood there, in shock, and a final 4 revealed themselves and shouted, "Surprise!" – it was Martin, Simon, Blaine, and my father! I asked, "What's going on here?" My father said, "We saw the final copy of your plans for your gym and breeding center, and decided to begin construction a bit early. A lot of it was Martin's idea." We looked at him and he said, "It was the least I could do for my friends." Simon said, "And you said I could be your computer programmer! I've already got some great things started for you." May then asked, "What about all these gym leaders – and the Elite Four?" Martin answered, "When a new gym is built, all the continent's gym leaders are present for a ceremony, as well as the Elite Four that person battled." Then I asked, "Kadabra, how did you get involved in this? I thought you had to stay with the Unown?" He replied, "When I sensed what was going on, I had to get involved." Martin said, "Yeah, if it hadn't been for Kadabra, a few things wouldn't have worked out, so I'm glad he decided to show up." May and I just began to laugh. We couldn't believe they concocted this whole scheme! We thanked everyone for their involvement, and we received gifts from everyone, including gym and breeding equipment, new Pokemon, and other things necessary for our life ahead.
Construction continued in the months ahead, and soon enough, it was almost complete. May gleefully inspected her breeding center, while I checked out my office. The armor and sword from Phoenix Island was brought in, so I could hang it up. I also kept the Rainbow Feather, well concealed, in a glass case, hidden inside a safe, which was concealed in the wall by a painting that was hung in front of it. Professor Oak allowed Simon to bring the 2 reprogrammed NIDOs to assist with some construction, as well. The 2 NIDOs would later permanently stand to either side of the door to my gym office, in standby mode, until we needed them (or wanted to play with them!) Simon had done some amazing work with the gym, itself. The floor could be opened up to be dirt, grass, ice, or water, or a little of each! There was an amazing CD digital sound system installed, as well, and when the gym was empty, the acoustics were perfect. The sanctuary out back was ready, too – acres and acres of wild land just for my and May's Pokemon. All that was left was the inspection, which was done by Crimson Town's Nurse Joy. She gave us 100 and we gave Professors Oak and Elm the O.K. to send over all of our Pokemon!
Once everything was finished, Simon came to me. "Joe, as part of our agreement, you said I could build a special sanctuary just for the good MechanPokemon. I wanted you to see it." I said, "Okay." Simon led me to the middle of the sanctuary, to a place far away from the building. He said, "It's a hologram." I looked and there was nothing but grass and shrubbery. I asked, "Where is a hologram?" He said, "Right here" and walked through the shrubbery like a ghost. I followed him. Inside, there was a large door, which led to a very secluded part of the sanctuary, well masked by deep foliage and trees. "It's very dense. You can't see through it" he said. It was quite spacious and beautiful inside, though. "There's an energy wall that nothing can get through." I said, "Simon, this is brilliant!" He said, "It gets better! You can only access the door with a secret code!" I said, "Simon, this is all great, but the MechanPokemon have been living in another dimension with Suicune for years now. I'm just afraid they might not like this as much – no offense." He said, "Please, just get them to come here! I'm sure they'll like it! I know they will." I said, "Okay." There was only one way I could think of to contact them and that was to summon Ho-oh, so I took out the Rainbow Feather and ran it between my fingers 3 times. A rainbow appeared, but not Ho-oh. Instead, a dimensional portal opened, from which Marc, Maury, Mel, and MechanCharizard emerged. I said, "Its good to see all of you – but where is Ho-oh?" Marc replied, "She knew why you were contacting her, so only we were sent." Maury said, "This is nice." I ran to Marc and petted him with both hands, saying, "Words can't even express how great it is to see you again. I've really missed you guys." Marc said, "That will never happen again. For from now on, we will stay here." Simon asked, "You mean it?" Mel said, "Indeed, you have built us this sanctuary out of selflessness. We are grateful to you." MechanCharizard said, "It could use a bit more space for flying purposes." Marc yelled at him, "MechanCharizard, this human created this for us! You could show him a little more gratitude." He said, "I apologize. It is very nice." I said, "You're safe here. If you really want to fly, you can fly around out in the open. Just keep out of sight when we have visitors." Marc said, "You will not even know we are here. But if you should ever need us, for any reason, remember then that we are here." I nodded and said, "I'll know you're here and I'll probably be visiting with you guys a lot." Simon said, "This is great! And don't worry – I'll be visiting with you guys a lot, too!" Marc said, "I look forward to it."
All that was left now was staff. I was the gym leader, May was the breeder, and Simon was the computer programmer. But with such a large sanctuary, we needed help to take care of the Pokemon, and May and I came to the same conclusion! We called Trevor. He jumped at the opportunity to be our Pokemon "wrangler", as he was getting fed up with the racing scene. Not only that, but his Rapidash really missed Fierymane. So, he arrived in a couple days and set up residence. The League hired referees and gave me a scoreboard, as well. Once a few more minor details were taken care of, we were ready. Our first breeding pairs were Flamefox and Amber, Firestorm and Inferno, Vaporeon and Jolteon, Redfur and Fiona, Fierymane and Trevor's Rapidash, Tauros and a Miltank I had gotten from Whitney, and a few others. As for my gym, Simon performed some final tests on the computer systems, and it was ready for use in battle. Already we had friends that we had made throughout the years lining up to battle. I couldn't believe it – our dream had finally come true! Crimson Town Gym / Breeding Center / Pokemon Sanctuary was open for business!