"Don't complain, May; it's enough to last us until we get to the next gym."
"Just barely, as not if we keep stopping to rest all the time," May whined. She was smart enough to hold her complaints about the prize money until we were outside, but now that we were out of Roxanne's earshot, she decided it was a great time to voice her discontent.
"It's plenty of money, especially if we camp instead of staying in centers. That's part of the trainer experience, after all." Trent, still sitting on my shoulder, nodded in agreement.
"But Spencer, we don't spend that much time in centers as it is. It wouldn't actually cut costs that much. Maybe if you didn't catch every Pokémon you came across, you could spend less on Poké Balls."
"May," I sighed, "we really don't need to argue about this right now. Maybe if we start getting low on money, we talk about it, but I promise you that we'll be fine." She shrugged after a few seconds.
"Fine, we'll talk about it later. We need to talk about what gym we're going to challenge next, anyway; I suggest Wattson's gym in Mauville, since we can get there easily from here by taking the Rusturf Tunnel."
"Stop! Thief!" From the building across the street, marked as the headquarters of Devon Corporation, the thief we'd encountered in Petalburg Woods came running towards, Edward's package tucked under his arm. When he saw us, recognition flashed through his eyes and he bolted down a different street. Edward followed quickly behind, but stopped when he saw us.
"Need more help?" He nodded, already out of breath."C'mon May," I shouted back to her, already chasing down the thief. He led us through several alleyways, and eventually out of the city. He continued running, even when we were reayd to collapse from exhaustion. When we managed to chase him into a cave a bit outside the city, he collapsed, hardly able to breathe.
"You... brats," he spat between gasps for breath as he stood up. "Couldn't leave... alone, could you?" Neither May or I said anything, being just as out of breath as he was. "Well... you're not taking... this back... go, Poochyena." He pulled out his Poké Ball and released his Pokémon. It snarled at us, fit and ready to fight.
"Crap," I snapped under my breath when I looked back at our Pokémon. Kelso, Jackie, Maria, and Jessica were nowhere to be found, and everybody else was obviously exhausted.
"Hah, you don't even have... your Pokémon ready... to protect you this time," the thief smirked. "Rip him to shreds!" The Poochyena jumped at me, snarling with its teeth bared. It knocked me to the ground and dug its teeth into my arm. I cried out in pain and felt adrenaline surge through me. I pushed my arm deeper into its mouth and it let go in surprise. I threw it off of me and scrambled to my feet, with May's help.
"Lotad!" The Poochyena stopped short of attacking me again when Maria's cry came from the mouth of the cave. Everybody turned to see her run into the cave, with Jessica still sitting on her head. She stopped, gasping for air, several feet from the Poochyena, but Jessica flew off her head. Midair, she began to glow and shift, and floating trumphantly there was her new form: a Beautifly.
"You're just full of surprises... aren't you?" The thief almost looked scared now that we had a Pokémon who could fight back. "Poochyena, tackle!"
"Poison sting, Jess!" The Poochyena climbed up onto a pile of rocks near the wall of the tunnel and leaped at Jessica, to no effect. Jessica simply dodged the attack gracefully and fired off a flurry of toxic barbs from her proboscis, landing a solid hit on her foe as it landed. "Now, use tackle!"
"Tackle that bug right back!" Jessica dived swiftly down, slamming into her foe who jumped up to meet her attack head-on. The Poochyena fell uncerimoniously back to the ground, but Jessica was flung backwards into the wall before she could regain stabalize herself. The Poochyena jumped again at her, but she managed to get back into the air just in time to avoid the attack, and latched her proboscis onto it. The Poochyena collapsed with a wimper, glowing lightly with the light I'd quickly grown to recognize as an absorb attack.
"Whatever," the thief spat, recalling his Pokémon. "I've got a second Pokémon now, just stole it!" From a second Poké Ball, he released a Wingull. It looked around, scared, for a moment before flying out of the cave as fast as its wings could carry it.
"Some Wingull," I laughed.
"Fine! If you want this damn thing so much, take it!" The thief threw the package towards us like it was a frisbee and I caught it, wincing in pain as I was suddenly reminded of the wound the Poochyena had inflicted on me. "I swear, though, that this isn't the last time you'll see Team Aqua!" The man turned and ran deeper into the tunnel, tossing several black sphere up at the ceiling. They exploded suddenly with a deafening boom, and the entire tunnel began shaking suddenly.
"Everybody, out," May shouted. We all forgot how tired we were from chasing the thief and ran out of the cave, the sound of the ceiling collapsing chasing us as we did. May stopped me once we were a safe distance away from the entrance of the tunnel, May stopped me and forced me to the ground.
"Stay still, I need to treat your wound," she said simply, seemingly oblivious to the cacophony only a short distance behind us. She sterilized the bite and bandaged it, and stood up triumphantly. "That should be fine until we get you some proper treatment. Shame about the tunnel, though, because I have no idea where we're going to go now."
"May, why are you so nonchalant about all this? Don't you think the fact there's a terrorist gang we've fought twice now running around is a bit more iportant than the fact that our journey is mildly inconvenienced?"
"I figured you'd worry about that," May said, helping me back up to my feet. "And I was right. C'mon, let's get this package back to Edward." She picked up the package from where I'd placed it while she was treating me, before setting off back to the city. I sighed and followed behind. Kelso and Jackie joined us about halfway through the walk, coming out of their hiding place behind some bushes, and the Wingull the thief had tried to fight us with was following closely behind us. Between our slower pace and our exhaustion from the chase, we took about thrice as long getting back to the city as we had getting to the tunnel, but Edward was already waiting for us at the edge of the city.
"Oh, great! I can't thank you enough for getting that back again, truely!" Edward's face fell when he noticed my bandaged arm. "Oh, you didn't get hurt on my behalf did you?"
"It's fine, just a flesh wound," I said, waving dismissively. "I'll be fine once I see a doctor."
"Well," he frowned, "I still feel terrible that you got hurt because of me." I stood there, thinking silently to himself for a few moments. "You know, I bet my boss will want to meet you, now that you've saved that package twice. You go get that arm looked at, and I'll bring him to see you, alright?" Edward nodded to himself, as if that was all the confirmation he needed, and walked back into the city to find his boss.
"You heard him, we're getting you to a doctor." May lead me to the Pokémon Center and we explained what had happened to the receptionist at the front desk. After leaving to talk with the staff, she lead us into a room where we waited. When a nurse arrived to examine my arm, a police officer was with her, hoping to get information on exactly what had happened.
"You're quite lucky," the nurse said as she looked at my wounds. "This could have been a lot worse, but it isn't that bad of an injury at all." The officer interviewed us both while the nurse worked. The officer thanked us for our time when he had finished and left the room, while the nurse told me that I was free to go. I thanked her for her treatment and stepped out into the lobby, where Edward was waiting with a short man in a suit similar to his. He had white, balding hair.
"There they are, sir," Edward said, directing the older man's attention to us. He looked us over then smiled and stood up, holding out his hands.
"Ah, Spencer and May. I am Mr. Stone, president of the Devon Corporation. Edward explained what exactly happened, and how he lost the package." I was about to point out that it wasn't his fault, but Mr. Stone held up his hand to silence me. "Now, now, I'm not going to reprimand him too harshly. He was attacked, and there truely isn't much he could have done to prevent being robbed. The fact that the thief attempted to take the package twice makes me think that it was a competitor, and our competitors are particularly fierce and hostile. Jealous of our success, you know!"
"But I digress," he continued. "I think we need a bit more security for the next leg of the journey this package is meant to take. It's destined for Captain Stern in Slateport, and considering the town's status as a port town, I think it's possible this 'Team Aqua' will attempt to steal it once again. Given the track record you two have, I would like to hire you to deliver the package for me. You're trainers, no? Then you could very easily pass through Mauville and get your badge on the way if you go through Rusturf Tunnel, and-"
"I'm afraid we can't do that, the thief collapsed it," May interrupted. Mr. Stone frowned. but resumed speaking almost immediately.
"Ah, a slight set back. It should be equally easy to get a boat ride down to Dewford, which also has a gym, then sail to Slateport from there. That's actually probably much better for you."
"But what's in this for us?" I blinked in surprise at the bluntness of May's question, but Mr. Stone just laughed.
"Being transparent about your intentions? That's quite a rarity in my business, and very refreshing, I must admit." He stopped momentarily to wipe a tear that had formed in his eye before continuing. "But of course, I intend to reimburse you for your efforts. I will offer both of you one personal favor from me. I'm a fairly powerful man, and I'm sure you can see how great of a deal this is for you two." May nodded, satisfied, and I had to admit that a personal favor from the head of one of the largest companies in the region was far more than I'd hoped for as far as any reimbursment. "Excellent. Don't take too much time delivering that package, but don't feel as though you'll have no time to rest, either. I was a trainer once, believe it or not, and I know that the urge to explore can be a difficult one to resist." Mr. Stone left without much cerimony after that, and Edward followed him out.
"Wow, he sure talked a lot," May said once Mr. Stone was out of hearing range. "Awfully good payment just for delivering some package, though," she smiled.
"It certainly is," I said, turning to the receptionist. "Can we have two rooms, please?"
"Certainly," she said, "but could you stay here in the lobby for a few minutes. We believe we know whose Wingull that is, and he'll be here mome-"
"Peeko!" May and I turned to look at the front doors of the center and saw another older man standing there, staring directly at the Wingull perched on the desk by us. He looked a lot older than Mr. Stone had, but was also much taller. "Was it you two that found my dear Peeko?" the man asked us.
"Yes, we did," I said, stepping to the side so he could get his Pokémon. He ran up and hugged it, getting a cheerful cry in return.
"Oh, I can't thank you enough! I'm Mr. Briney, by the way. I used to own a small personal ferry service, and though I've been retired for many years now, if you have anywhere you need to go, I'd be more than happy to take you there!" I glanced over at May, who simply shrugged.
"Actually," I smiled, amused by the sheer serendipity of the situation, "how about a trip to Dewford, and then Slateport?"