The sentence 'the sky is blue' is true if and only if the sky is blue- Alfred Tarski
It's immediately obvious that the scream is one of anguish, not pain. As we turn to look for the source, two plasma members run past. "Out of the way!" one of them hurriedly calls out, hoping to avoid collision. As we step aside, they continue running. "What was that about?" It's obvious he's talking to me, since no one else is there. Still, I can't give him anything he doesn't know. We have more important things to worry about than two passersby. Like, for instance, finding the source of that scream.
Before Cheren and I get far, we see Bianca and a little girl running at full sprint in the opposite direction. When they reach us, they come to a halt. From the tears on the girl's face, it's pretty clear she has been crying, and recently. I think we've found the source. Cheren opens with a question. "Bianca, why were you running?" Instead of an answer, all he gets is a question in return. "Hey! Where were those people headed?"
"That way" is his quiet response. "but why are you running now?"
Her next response also doesn't contain any relevant details. "Oh, seriously! They run so fast!"
Before either of us can get a word in, the girl speaks as well. "Miss… oh… My Pokémon?" She looks about to cry- as though the only reason she hasn't is that she is still trying to process what has happened. I'm glad she's here- even though it seems cheap to give that kind of work to other people, I have never been good at interactions.
Bianca is quick to reassure her "Don't worry, it'll be okay."
"Bianca, really, why were you running?" Cheren is quite plainly getting ticked off. He isn't very good at reading social cues- worse than I am, even. He's much more confidant, but at times like this he's almost helpless. What he's trying won't accomplish anything, though. I'll have to step in.
"Cheren, stop that. Bianca, what happened here? I think we need to know."
"You have to hear this! Those people stole this girl's Pokémon!"
In an instant, all Cheren's earlier annoyance vanishes, now aimed at targets no longer in sight. One of his cousins had the misfortune to encounter Pokémon thieves, and hasn't really been the same since. This is personal to him now. "You should have spoken up sooner! Come on Black, let's go get them! Bianca, can you take care of her?"
Good, he's still keeping his head. I was afraid he'd get so angry he'd stop thinking, but that isn't the case. He still has the presence of mind to realize the girl is probably disconsolate. That doesn't change his hurry, however, so he barely waits for an affirmative response to go rushing off. I have no choice but to follow after. It's not like I wouldn't have followed anyway.
Around the quarter is a long straightaway. There is no sign of them, so they didn't go that way. That leaves only one choice- the cave.
As caves go, Wellspring isn't that bad. Certainly it isn't as difficult as Mamoswine cave out in Kentucky. The problem is that Wellspring, like almost all caves, is a dead end. This means that they aren't in there, they have another way out, they don't actually expect anyone to follow them, or they are desperate. While I'm guessing it is the third, if it's the fourth, we could be in trouble. It's not like we'd lose- If anything, my last encounter goes to show that team plasma is really weak- but desperate people can do terrible things, and our Pokémon might be permanently injured. That would suck, both for me and the Pokémon, although probably more for it.
It would probably be best to stick with Kusanagi. As a recently evolved Servine, the rapid of metamorphosis should still be at least partially in effect. What's more, his defenses are far higher than Panpour's. He should be fine. Still, if only he was in better condition…
As if reading my mind, Cheren pulls out a potion. "Take this. I've already mostly healed my Pokémon, and your Servine is a harder hitter than Flare, anyway." I really need to buy some of my own- this is embarrassing. It's not like being helped is necessarily a bad thing, but I really should have gotten some potions back in Striaton.
Before I can thank him, he walks into the cave. Honestly, that guy. I send out Kusanagi, spray the potion and rush off after him. Does he not know the meaning of wait? If I wasn't in such a hurry, I would have been upset at my wastefulness, but every second I spend making sure the potion touches Servine is a second they have to get away.
When I enter the cave, I can see cheren glaring at the Team Plasma trainers. As I run over, I remember just what Cheren does when he is annoyed. I hope that, for once, he'll display some common sense...
"Black! This bothersome bunch doesn't listen to reason."
Gah, I was hoping to avoid this. When Cheren gets annoyed, his insults go from witty to sad. I doubt they'd take him seriously anyway, but he really dislike being looked down upon. It seems to have sparked a reaction, however, because one of them started to speak.
"That child cannot use a Pokémon to it's full potential. Doesn't that make the pokémon sad? To be kept captive, and never get a chance to be themselves? Your pokémon are the same! Give them to us, Now! Better yet, we'll just take them."
Upon saying that, he hurls out a Patrat. I'm still surprised, however, That monologue really did a 180, and it doesn't make any sense to try and justify their actions if they are going to go ahead and admit to stealing pokémon anyway. The Patrat charges towards me, hoping to take advantage of my distraction. Luckily I have Kusanagi's pokéball in my hand- if I didn't, I probably couldn't have sent it out in time.
"Patrat, go! Beat up this snotty kid, and show him what a real pokémon can do!"
With that, Patrat charges forward and I have to suppress a sigh. Shouting out commands like that isn't a sign of skill- it's a sign of insufficient training. I only do so myself because I haven't been training Servine for long enough to have taught it general strategies. Still, it's good to know that for all his bluster he is still fundamentally unskilled.
"Servine, vine whip. Pin Patrat down."
Servine looks surprised at the fact that I didn't order a direct attack, but readily complies. Just as I suspected, the patrat is weak and is easily bound. From there, I have servine continue wrapping it until it falls unconscious. Despite that anticlimactic start, there's no knowing how many pokémon he has, so we'll have to conserve energy.
Apparently, the answer is none. Go figure.
"How did I lose to a kid?" The surprise is evident in his tone, and it seems like his worldview has taken a major hit. Or maybe I'm just imagining things? Regardless, he didn't seem to expect that, which is heartening.
I can almost here Cheren smirk as he steps over. He's clearly beaten the other member, so this is a clean victory. That's always good to see. "Now, hand over the girl's pokémon. We're going to return it to her, and you aren't going to interfere."
Then from deeper in the cave comes a shout. "You don't have to return it!" Another pair of Plasma members runs up from behind the previous, and those two step aside. Is this a hideout? Or some kind of meeting ground? The first of them, who spoke before, comes a bit closer.
"Not only do you not understand, you stand in our way! Well, there are two of us, and as for you- just give up! We'll show you who is right!"
Cheren seems genuinely confused, and I don't blame him. "Why would pokémon thieves need to justify themselves to us?"
"It doesn't matter, because you won't be needing to know for much longer! Patrat, go!"
"Allright let's do this! Patrat, Go!"
Is… patrat some kind of theme for them? I genuinely don't get it. It isn't like Patrat is popular, or powerful, or really exceptional in any way. Still, if they want to be that way, I see no harm in obliging them.
"Kusanagi, come on out!"
"Flare, lets win this!"
Apparently they want to double team us, because the two Patrats rush at Flare. I'm not too worried for the Pignite, but I suppose it never hurts to play it safe.
"Kusanagi, Hit them with leaf tornado. Spin them around and don't let them move!"
"Flare, light the leaves on fire with ember."
These two patrats seem to be stronger than the previous pair, and at the behest of their trainers they push their way out of the fiery column. They aren't free yet, though- not by the long shot.
"Kusanagi, glare!"
"Flare, flame charge!"
The two watchog are frozen in place- easy pray for slow but powerful attacks. Now if only we had some. Well, I suppose we will have to make do.
"Watchog, bide!"
"You to, Watchog!"
What? No! you don't have them bide. You get them out of the way! What kind of trainers are these? Do they not care about their pokémon, or even winning?
Sure enough, they let their pokémon stand there and get knocked over.. A bright light envelopes Flare, and he begins to evolve.
"Flare, now! Heat crash!"
So, he does have a slow but powerful attack. Well, way to go. The fire builds up around Him, so much so that I can feel it even from 15 feet away. From the wince on Kusanagi's face, I guess that he can feel it as well.
WIth a massive effort, Flare leaps high into the air and comes crashing down. The Watchog are sent flying, which is a bit of a relief. I was afraid they might actually get the bide attack off.
With an anguished cry, the plasma agent that spoke first rushes towards his pokémon. The other simply recalls his, but seems upset as well.
"In order to liberate pokémon from foolish people, we will take their pokémon! Our lord says this, so it must be true." The man says it triumphantly, as though he has found something irrefutable. For once, however, Cheren beats me to the punch.
"What a waste of time. What excuse could possibly justify stealing pokémon from people?"
Taken aback, the man takes a moment to reply.
"Pokémon trainers like you are making pokémon suffer…"
"What do you mean, Pokémon trainers are making pokémon suffer? I don't understand you at all!"
Before he can reply, one of the people from before steps forward.
"We'll give you back the pokémon… But we are aware of how this pokemon suffers from being used by people. Someday, open your eyes to your complicity.
As we leave, Cheren turns to talk to me.
"Pokémon believe in their trainers and respond to that. How could that possibly be making them suffer?"
"I don't know, Cheren. I don't know..."
But for some reason, my mind flashes back to that encounter…
"Thank you so much! You brought him back! I won't let him out of my sight again!"
Bianca seems to have calmed her down- she is a far cry from the teary eyed girl she was when Cheren and I went running off. Bianca shoots me a grateful glance- from what I can see, she has obviously been assuring the girl that we would be able to return it. Revealing our failure would not have been good.
"It's time for you to go home, I think. I'll come with you, don't worry. We need to report this."
As she walks away, I have the strangest sense that I have forgotten something…
A/N-So, I'm back! And not dead (although you probably already knew this). In this chapter, we begin to slide away from the games- although a lot of the text is still lifted, the story is progressing in a different manner. This isn't a direct port of the game, but you should notice many similarities even when all is said and done.
As always, Thank you for reading. Feel free to point out any mistakes, be they factual or grammatical.