Replies to reviews!
Ein Storm: Thanks!
emeraldsol: Thank you, and I have a vague idea for someone to accompany him right now, though I'm not sure if someone will and if so, what their origin will be.
Phoenix Vanguard: One of the Pokémon I'm planning to include on Michael's team is one who has a Sinnoh evolution, and I'm adding that for sure. Thanks for the review!
Chapter 2
As soon as I'm on the road, I turn the GPS on and type in 'Kaminko's house' as my destination. There is a pause while the computer figures out what location I mean, but as soon as it realizes exactly where the lab is, there is a burst of static and a robotic voice speaks.
"Destination KAMINKO'S HOUSE has been set. Confirm destination?"
Two icons appear on the GPS screen - one for yes, one for no - and I tap the yes one immediately. There is a loud beep, and I turn a rather sharp corner in the dirt road, kicking up a cloud of dust and grit, before the computer speaks again. "Average speed: 20 miles an hour. Range: 43 miles. Time to destination: 10 minutes. Turn right in .3 miles." Each bit of information the robotic voice tells me appears on the GPS screen as I cruise down the road, performing a right turn when the voice tells me to and realizing just how completely lost I would be without the device. Satisfied I'm getting the right directions now, I lean back slightly, still gripping the handlebars as trees and grass meld together into an endless green blur.
It's barely three minutes later that I notice a change in the air. Before, it possessed the sort of lazy warmth of your typical afternoon; now there's a certain sharpness about it, and when I glance up it's immediately clear why. Charcoal-gray clouds are beginning to close in around the edges of the sky, clouds I certainly hadn't seen before when setting out.
Unfortunately, it's not like I have a choice to turn back to the HQ lab; I need to find my sister. So I steel myself, hope it won't rain - and if it does, that my GPS won't immediately short out - and continue forwards. My scooter isn't any good in the rain, for sure.
As I near Kaminko's house, the sky grows steadily darker. The clouds spread, consuming every trace of blue under a blanket of darkness, and soon enough a rumble of thunder announces the coming of a storm, along with a flash of lightning that turns everything bright white for a brief moment. I blink spots from my vision and loosen up slightly on the accelerator as I round a corner and see the edge of a low stone wall. Instead of some type of barbed wire on the top of the wall like I'd expect, there are curled green sticks at irregular intervals, barely visible in the dim light.
It's not long before I find the gates, and as soon as I do, I park the scooter just outside the wall, under the spread of a particularly leafy tree, to protect it from the rain. The robotic voice has just started to - belatedly - inform me that I have arrived when I remove the key from the vehicle. The voice promptly gets stuck in a decrescendo on the end of the word 'have' and trails off into silence.
I raise an eyebrow at the scooter, but my expression is wasted on the inanimate object and after a moment I turn away and walk through the gates into the courtyard.
Another fork of lightning illuminates the scene, and I clearly see the electricity streak straight down towards the ground. I take a step backwards, startled, and watch the bolt hit a massive building in front of me, but it's not hitting the building - it's hitting one of the strange protrusions sticking up from either side of the roof. Both of them are crackling with electricity, and appear to be made of steel; that's probably what attracted the lightning in the first place.
Two huge dead trees stick up from the soil on either side of the building, seeming somewhat out of place among the pines standing just outside the fence. They do add to the overall gloomy atmosphere, however, and I assume that's the kind of atmosphere they're trying to cultivate here. Smirking at the thought, I walk towards the door of the building, passing a fountain with a statue of Groudon atop it as I do so. It seems like a strange choice for a water feature; replacing it with a Kyogre would make a lot more sense.
"WAIT!" someone yells as I approach the door, and I whirl around at the sound. A small man is walking in my direction - another bright flash of lightning reveals that he's wearing a white lab coat and thick glasses with swirls on them where his eyes should be. This seems so monumentally idiotic I have to stare at him in confusion for a few moments before I register his next words: "Who goes there?"
When he finally manages to waddle his way up to me, he stares at me and frowns. The expression is probably meant to be fierce, but I can't take anything about him seriously while he's wearing those glasses - I mean, how does he see? "You must be a burglar! Chobin will make you leave!" he shouts loudly, although his words are mostly drowned out by a clap of thunder that causes my teeth to rattle in my mouth.
"Chobin is the name!" he continues, a note of pride in his voice, but I'm mostly ignoring him and thanking Arceus it hasn't started to rain. "Chobin is the number one assistant to Dr. Kaminko! Chobin is the only assistant, so Chobin has to be the number one assistant!"
…Great. I wonder if he started talking in third person because of Jovi, or if Jovi started talking in third person because of him. I guess it could be a coincidence, of course, but I doubt it.
Before I can react, he shoves his glasses farther up his nose, adjusts his bowtie, and throws a Poke Ball at me. I jump off the stairs to avoid the projectile, and it hurtles by inches above my head and then pops open. A blaze of white light reveals a Sunkern; the Pokémon chirps excitedly, ready for battle, as I step back onto the cement and fumble for my own Poke Ball. My fingers eventually close around it, and a flick of my wrist sends it spinning through the air. Prince appears in a similar flash of white, tilting his head and staring at his opponent with interest.
Prince is a lot better trained then Sunkern; we've been together for nearly five years and have been working on battle strategies almost ever since. Without a verbal command from me, the Eevee lunges forwards, slamming his body into the seed Pokémon's face. It tumbles backwards with a squeak of pain. Prince innocently blinks and mews at it, as though asking if it's okay.
Sunkern is not fooled by this, and at Chobin's command, sends out a beam of red light from the double leaves atop its head. The light strikes Prince and shatters into several glittering green orbs that dart back towards Sunkern, absorbing into its body and restoring its health.
As soon as Prince recovers, he bears his teeth and pounces on Sunkern with a harsh little growl. His teeth sink into its side, and he shakes it violently before releasing it; it skids along the cement with a weak squeal and moves no more.
Chobin stares at me, openmouthed, as though he can't quite believe he lost, as I recall Prince with a word of thanks. It takes several seconds for him to remember how to move his mouth, as well as the fact his Sunkern has fainted; when he does, he returns the Pokémon in a whirl of red light and crosses his arms.
"You've made Chobin angry now," he declares in a squeaky voice that is not threatening in the slightest. If anything, it's mildly amusing. "Chobin might have lost, but you are not getting past Chobin!" He crosses his arms, as though this will make him harder to push aside.
I step forwards, and just as it looks like things are going to get violent, his glasses slide down his nose and his mouth drops open. "Oh, wait - closer observation reveals that the subject is a child! Therefore, the subject is not a burglar!"
This is not entirely true. There are a lot of child burglars, but I don't bother going into that with him; I don't think he'd understand, and it would probably just make him continue to refuse me entrance. Chobin chuckles sheepishly, uncrosses his arms, and rubs the back of his neck. "Chobin wishes you spoke up right away."
"You didn't exactly give me any time to," I grumble in response, but Chobin shows no indication of having heard me.
"Chobin apologizes for jumping to the wrong conclusion." He pushes his glasses back up his nose again and looks at me; I assume he's looking at me, at least, but I can't tell when his eyes are hidden behind those ridiculous glasses. I bet he's ruining his eyesight, and it serves him right. "Who are you?"
"Michael -" I start, and then the door creaks open. I'm expecting to see the mad scientist guy who owns this house at first, until I notice the person is about half my height and has light blue hair in a style so strange it could only belong to one person - my sister, Jovi.
She notices me immediately, of course. "Big brother!" she chimes, looking at me with wide eyes, the very picture of confused innocence, second only to Prince. "Why are you here?"
Before I can tell her that I'm looking for her, she starts talking again. She has difficulty with keeping that mouth shut for more then two seconds at a time, I've noticed. "Wait! Jovi gets it! You got lost, big brother, didn't you?"
"Um, no," I start to reply, but before I can continue she interrupts me, shaking her head quickly from side to side.
"There's no hiding stuff from Jovi!" she tells me with wide eyes. "Because Jovi knows! Jovi also knows this big house belongs to Dr. Kaminko, and she knows his job is to make incredible inventions. She can tell because there are a whole bunch of cool machines, like at the HQ lab! You should come in, big brother!" And without waiting for a reply, she turns and dashes back into the building.
Chobin's expression matches mine - irritated.
"You are that girl's older brother?" he asks. "Sometimes she comes here, but she wanders around the lab and Chobin finds it difficult to keep an eye on her…Chobin does not want her bothering the doctor." There is a moment of silence before he speaks again, with a lot more enthusiasm in his tone. "Michael, you will come look at Dr. Kaminko's inventions, yes? This way, please!"
"Doesn't look like I have much of a choice," I mutter. Things are not working in my favor today, but I need to get Jovi home, so I follow Chobin into the building without protest - audible protest, at least.
Inside, it looks like you might expect a mad scientist's lab to look. There are dials and monitors set along the walls, along with pipes snaking from the ceiling and into the floor. Heavy steel doors block the entrances into any of the adjacent areas, and in the middle of the room is an oversized plasma monitor.
As soon as he spots me, Chobin launches back into pointless rant mode. "Chobin will now show you the inventions of the amazing Dr. Kaminko! Dr. Kaminko's inventions are number one in the world! How does Chobin know this? Simple; in the whole wide world, no one else would invent such inventions as Dr. Kaminko does! Therefore, they are number one in the world!"
There is enough wrong with his reasoning to write a book about it, but I hold my tongue - I don't want to stay here any longer then I need to.
Chobin glances at the leftmost door. "Dr. Kaminko, who is most great, is inventing in there. Chobin assumes that girl is at Dr. Kaminko's side again," he says with a sigh, shaking his head. "Chobin hopes she is causing no disturbance…"
Girls are annoying, Chobin - get used to it. That's what I want to say, at least, but I don't think he's ever met a girl in his life and isn't likely to ever meet one besides Jovi, so I don't bother.
"Anyways," Chobin says, drawing my attention back to the monitor, "let Chobin show you one of Dr. Kaminko's most amazing inventions. Let the VCR roll!"
Wow. They still have a VCR here? Most people have switched to DVD players, but I know Orre isn't the most technologically advanced area (ignoring the HQ lab, of course) or the most well known. It's difficult to get shipments from other regions unless you personally know the person in the other region - the authorities can get things, but most of the average citizens can't.
I blink, startled, as the videotape starts. I immediately spot one thing that's wrong; Chobin's face is taking up half of the screen. I don't know who taught him how to record things on camera, but he sucks at it. His face is almost pressed to the lens, after all, and his head is bobbing up and down as if he's in the water. "Dr. Kaminko has many great inventions, and Chobin wishes he could show you them all at once, but Chobin's choice for today is the unhealthy sandals!"
Unhealthy sandals? I'm…not going to say anything. This guy is one weirdo scientist…
"The sole is studded with lumpy nubs that fail to stimulate every pressure point in a fabulous way," Chobin continues. "Keep wearing these, and Chobin guarantees painful feet and chronic worsening of your health!"
Huh…what kind of scientist even does this? Is he making pranks for people he hates, or something? I have no doubt all of his inventions have just as much comic value as these, but really? Don't people have better things to do with their time? How about making something useful, like a Pokémon translator?
As I stand there, staring at the now-dark screen with my mouth half open, Chobin laughs. His laugh isn't quite up to mad scientist caliber, but then again he's only the assistant. "Is it not incredible? There are many more inventions! The doctor's fantastic inventions can be seen on this monitor. Chobin gives you permission to watch it any time you like! Surely you will agree that Dr. Kaminko's inventions are number one in the whole wide world!" He spreads his arms apart to show how big said wide world is.
"That's…uh…great, Chobin," I tell him, "and I'd love to stay and look at more of Dr. Kaminko's inventions, but I really have to get my sister and go."
Chobin nods. "Good. Chobin hopes she has not distracted the doctor too much."
Trying not to look like I'm in too much haste to get away from him, I stride towards the door set into the left wall. It opens automatically as I approach, as many of the doors in the HQ lab do, and I quickly notice Jovi, who is hovering at the shoulder of an older man with broccoli-shaped gray hair.
I walk up to her and tap her on the shoulder.
"Oh, hi, big brother!" she chimes, pointing at a blueprint on the table with her index finger. "This is a really weird drawing. I think it's of a big machine!" she adds.
"Here's the deal, Jovi - we have to leave, like right now. Mom was wondering where you were, and she wants us both back at home," I tell her flatly.
Of course, she completely ignores the 'we'. "Are you going home already, big brother?" she asks. "But you just got here! You can't leave -" She trails off, and a wide smile spreads across her face. "Oooooh. Jovi gets it now! Jovi needs to show you the way home, and that's what Jovi will do! Jovi will take you home! Come on, Mimi, let's go home with big brother," she adds, and the Minun in the corner of the room smiles and chirps in response, leaping at her and climbing up onto her shoulder.
That's right - she named her Minun Mimi. Her Plusle's name is equally unoriginal; Pluplu, if you can believe it. She doesn't really have a knack for names.
"You!" Dr. Kaminko suddenly yells, and I jerk backwards reflexively. The man is staring at me, his glasses - like Chobin's - are marked with swirls, though the glass isn't quite as thick. "Will you do me a favor?"
"Depends on what it is," I reply cautiously.
"Will you test this invention for me?" he asks, his voice overly loud. "I call it…the odd candy!" At this point, he lifts a small object from his desk and shoves it in my face. I look at it, cross-eyed, as I back up. "It looks like candy, and it even smells like candy! But it tastes like broccoli!" he yells, his voice gaining several levels of volume by the end of this sentence.
"So it's still candy," I respond with a sigh.
He pauses, as though he hasn't thought of this. "Yes. But it's special candy!" he adds defensively.
"Yeah, okay," I say. "I'll test it for you." I can use it for pranks if nothing else, and it'll be hilarious to see Ryan's face when he eats a piece.
"Excellent!" he declares, shoving a bag of what I assume is the odd candy at me."Take this, and report back to me soon!" As soon as I grab it, he turns back to whatever blueprint is lying on his table and starts barking orders at a man in a colorful flower print shirt, who scrambles to hand the scientist a screwdriver and wrench. I shake my head, amused, and shove the bag of candy into the pouch at my hip.
Before I can move anywhere, though, the man in the flowery shirt notices me. "You came from the Pokémon HQ lab, right?" he asks, narrowing his eyes at me. When I nod in response, the man smiles. "Well, I'm Makan, and I run the Parts Shop in Gateon Port. When you get back to the lab, would you mind telling Professor Krane that his machine part is ready?"
"Sure," I respond, and - with Jovi at my heels - walk out into the main room of the house.
I find Chobin staring at the monitor, which features half of his face talking about yet another invention, a power-saving refrigerator. I don't stop to say goodbye to him, however - I want to get home right away - so I grab Jovi's arm when she tries to run over to him and drag her out the door.
It's weird, because almost as soon as I step out the door the P*DA buzzes, like it's been waiting for this moment. I pull it from my pocket immediately, tap the 'on' switch; the panels flip to reveal the screens and a waiting message for me, from Krane.
Michael -
You appear to have traveled far in your search for Jovi; come back to the HQ lab as soon as you find her. I need your help with something important.
-Krane
I hit my forehead with the palm of my hand, irritated. Jovi, luckily, hasn't run off, and is regarding the screen with big eyes. "The Professor wants you to come home quickly?" She stops for a moment, obviously thinking, and then jumps in place. "Jovi is worried about letting you go by yourself, so Jovi will come home too, big brother! Let's go right now!"
"Good," I say. "Let's go."
The weather hasn't improved during the brief visit to Kaminko's house, I notice as I shove the P*DA back in my pocket. It's still cloudy, and the thunder seems to be causing the very air to vibrate, but, most importantly, it hasn't started to rain. I find my scooter sitting where I left it, and when I insert the key it rumbles to life with nearly the same pitch as the thunder.
I hop on and grab the handlebars. Jovi climbs on behind me with a little more effort, holding her Minun to her chest with one hand and holding herself on the scooter with the other, by wrapping her free arm around my waist. I know from past experience telling her to recall Mimi is useless, and it'll only get her irritated at me, so I tap the accelerator and turn in a circle, driving towards the gate.
"Hang on tight," I advise her as we reach the road again and I push my foot down on the pedal harder, though I don't bring the vehicle to its full speed - I don't feel like a visit to the hospital this late in the day.