Chapter 6: Secret Agent Man
I recoiled a bit at the sudden change in the man's tone. Lizbeth stepped in front of Dawn protectively, flippers raised and ready to fight. People were starting to stare at the commotion going on, though the man, Looker, apparently, didn't seem to notice.
"I ask again! Surrender peacefully and tell me your plans Team Galactic!" he cried, stepping forward again and withdrawing a pair of handcuffs from his coat pocket, twirling them around his finger.
"Dude, I have no idea what you're talking about!" I yelled, getting more and more fed up with this guy by the minute. "We're not a part of Team Galactic! We're just regular trainers!" I gestured at Franklin, trying to get my point across.
Looker looked down at Franklin, then back to me. "You could have stolen that pokemon." he said, his softer tone revealing he was unsure of himself. "You have to be from Team Galactic! How else could you have seen through my clever disguise?" he asked, gesturing behind him at the trashcan.
I sighed, putting my head in my hand. I can't deal with this lunatic. I just can't. "Look, literally anyone could have seen through that. You're twice the size of the stupid trash can!" I explained. The crowd that had started to gather laughed at this revelation and Looker's face turned bright red.
"Well. That was...part of my plan all along! To test you!" he announced suddenly. "Here," he said, putting the handcuffs away and grabbing a rectangular device out of his coat. "I'll give this to you as a reward! Now, look out for Team Galactic! I'm off!" he shouted, shoving the device into my hand and running down the street, the onlookers parting to let the crazy bastard by. I stared after him before looking down at the thing he had given me.
It looked like a tablet from the real world, except it had a circular device at one end with a camera in it. Of course, like everything else in this place, it had a pokeball logo around the camera. Whoever invented pokeballs has to be loaded I thought, placing the tablet in my bag. I'll have a look at that later.
I looked over at Dawn, who was still staring in the direction Looker had run off in. "That...was weird." she said slowly. Lizbeth chirped in agreement, shaking her head.
"Yeah, definitely weird." I agreed. I checked my watch, seeing that I still had time before I should find a PokeCenter. "Still up for that tour?" I asked.
"Oh, right!" Dawn said, suddenly remembering the conversation we were having before Looker appeared. "Let's go!" she said, heading down the street, in the opposite direction as Looker I noted.
It was a fairly quick tour I noticed. The city was large, so we only walked around the few blocks near the PokeCenter. Dawn pointed out the Trainers School, which was an endless source of hilarity to me. They send 10-year-olds out with pokemon and there's a freaking school for it? I thought. That's like getting a job before jr high! Other than that, the "tour" was mostly restaurants and places to shop. Nothing that really interested me personally, but I humored Dawn and thanked her at the end. We parted ways and I headed back to the PokeCenter.
The next day I was at a loss as to what to do. After getting ready for the day, I released Franklin and we started walking the streets. "So buddy, what do you think we should do today?" I asked, glancing down at the turtle pokemon.
"I wanna go back to that Trainers School." he said happily. The answer caught me off guard.
"The Trainer's School?" I said. "Why? It's not like we need any lessons."
"I know that." Franklin muttered. "I just think it's a good place to visit. And I...want to play with the other pokemon." he said, so quietly that I barely caught it. I grinned down at him.
"Alright, if you want to go play, we'll go to the school." I said, crossing the street and heading towards the building in question. Franklin seemed glad that I agreed with him, happily trotting in front of me with his head held high. I almost laughed, but didn't want to put him out of such a good mood. After a short while we arrived at the school. The blue and red painted building sat in front of a decent sized lot that served as the playground for the students and pokemon. Dawn had mentioned that it was open to the public, so long as your pokemon were small enough. Apparently they had problems with punks coming in with scary pokemon like Steelix and Abomasnow.
I sat on an available bench and waved Franklin off to go play with the children. He was slow to join in, his shyness coming back again, but eventually he managed to join a game of tag. I let Mufasa and Sora out of their pokeballs too. Sora went to play with the children too and Mufasa lay down on the bench, apparently unfinished with the nap he had earlier in the day. I watched the blue-furred cat for a while before deciding to speak up. "Hey Mufasa, why don't you talk with us very much?" I asked.
The Shinx opened one golden eye halfway, staring at me lazily. "Because there isn't anything to be said." he grumbled, returning to his nap. I decided not to push it and turned my attention back on the playing pokemon and children.
We stayed at the Trainers School for a while but after a few hours I decided it was time to go. "Franklin, Sora!" I called. Franklin came running over, clearly tired but with a big grin on his face. "Have fun?" I asked and he nodded before I returned him to the pokeball. That's when I noticed that Sora hadn't come back yet. I looked back across the field and saw her standing in a circle of children. One of them had a pokeball in his hands. Oh shit I thought darkly, getting to my feet and jogging over. Mufasa noticed my movement and followed. As I got closer, I heard the children arguing.
"I saw the Starly first, she's MINE!" the boy with the pokeball screeched. He was a short lad wearing the school uniform of a white shirt and navy pants. He had glasses on and a pouting look on his face that utterly failed to be anything but funny.
The focus of his argument, a girl in her own uniform, a navy skirt and white blouse, stood on the other side of the circle, hands on her hips and a face to match his own. "You already have a Starly Harrison!" she whined. "I want one!" She stomped her foot to emphasize her point. Poor Sora looked completely flustered, unable to tell the kids that she already had a trainer. Thankfully, I got to the group at that point.
"Sorry kids, Sora's actually my Starly." I said. The circle broke, everyone turning to face me behind Harrison and the girl.
"That's right!" Sora chirped, flying up to land on my shoulder. "Sorry darlings. I'm stuck with this knucklehead." I gave her an angry glance, mostly because she knew only I could understand her but also because of the insult. Turning my attention back at the kids, I saw that Harrison had a competitive look on his face.
"Whatever, my Starly is better anyway." he said smugly.
"Really now? Want to test that?" I asked. Now it was Soras turn to glare at me. "Why are you picking a fight with school children?" she asked. "It's not my fault, they started it." I muttered.
The challenge seemed to catch Harrison's attention. "You're on! But if I win, I want that Starly!" he said, clearly planning this all along. Smart kid.
"Oh yeah? And what if I win?" I asked. Now Sora was really concerned. "Nick, that's a terrible agreement! If I loose, I'm not going to be able to be traded!" she squawked. I ruffled her feathers a little to calm her.
Harrison thought for a moment before the girl piped up. "I've got a Potion!" she announced, holding up the item in question. "But you have to beat me too to get it!" she added.
"Done." I said, stepping back in preparation for the match. The kids scattered, each trying to get the best view but also not wanting to get to close. Harrison and the girl stayed behind, and the boy sent out his Starly.
"C'mon Sora, let's show them what we've got." I said, nudging my shoulder a bit in encouragement. She glared at me then jumped off, gliding down to the ground. "Alright, let's start!" I announced.
"Starly, Quick Attack!" Harrison roared. His pokemon was better trained than the one from yesterday, immediately responding to the command and taking to the sky. It came back around and swooped toward Sora with impressive speed.
"Sora, dodge with your own Quick Attack!" I called. Sora flew up, dodging the incoming blow and circling around to strike her opponent from behind. The enemy Starly squawked in surprise, clearly not used to taking hits yet. A few minutes later, Sora was triumphant, standing in front of the fainted Starly no worse for wear.
Harrison was really mad about this turn of events. "This wasn't supposed to happen!" he whined, recalling his fallen bird. "It's not fair!"
The girl stepped forward, a pokeball of her own in her hands. "Go away Harrison, I need to get that Starly!" she announced, releasing a Bidoof from the pokeball. I glanced at Sora and shrugged.
"I don't think I'll use Sora for this one." I said, recalling her. "Mufasa." I called. The blue cat slinked onto the field from behind me. Apparently the children hadn't noticed him back there, as many "oohs" and "cool"s were uttered. The electric-type seemed unimpressed with the whole situation, his ever present bored expression on his face.
The girl didn't seem any less confident at this switch in opponents. "Bidoof, Tackle!" she cried. The brown beaver charged forward, directly at Mufasa. The cat just stood there, watching it get closer. At the last second, he braced himself. Bidoof slammed into him full force,but the cat didn't give an inch. In fact, he barely looked fazed.
"Scratch attack!" I called and he swiped at Bidoof's hide with his claws. The Bidoof yelped and ran away, surprised at the sudden attack.
"Bidoof, try Tackle again!" the girl said. Bidoof charged forward once again, head low and ready to ram him.
"Mufasa, dodge and use Scratch." I announced. Mufasa nimbly dodged the attack, reaching back with his claws and slashing at the brown fur of the enemy pokemon. Bidoof's momentum carried him a few feet farther before he collapsed, fainted.
The children cheered, happy at seeing such a good battle I guess. The girl seemed to take her loss in stride, at least, much better than Harrison. She returned her Bidoof and skipped over to me. "Good job mister. Here's your Potion." she said, handing me the item.
"Good job to you too." I said, putting to Potion in my bag.
"Eh, I could have done better." a voice said behind me. Turning, I saw Barry standing at the entrance to the school building, George the Chimchar at his side. "What's going on man?" he said, walking over to us as the kids went back inside.
"Not much, I was gonna hang around town for today before heading out." I said. As I put the Potion way, my hands brushed a rectangular box. "Oh shit, I forgot!" I said, grabbing the Parcel and handing it over. "Your mom caught up to me in Sandgem. Said you forgot some stuff back home."
"Oh man, you're right!" Barry said, grabbing the box and ripping it open. "Sweet, my map!" he cried, holding up the small GPS. "What the?" He reached into the box and pulled out another GPS, the same model as the other. "Why'd she give me two maps?" he asked.
"Maybe she thought you'd loose one?" I offered, the situation not that outside reality in my mind.
"Well that's dumb." Barry stated, looking at his two maps. He glanced up at me. "You want one? I really don't need two." he said, holding one of the devices out to me.
"Sure, thanks man." I said, taking it and putting it in my bag.
"No problem." Barry said, already making his way out to the street. "Hey, let's battle again sometime! I've got to train today, but next time I see you!" he called over his shoulder.
I spent the rest of the day wandering around town, exploring different shops and buildings. As I was leaving a shop that sold battle items for pokemon (all of which were overpriced) a man in a suit stepped out in front of me.
"Hello young man, I am the president of the PokeTech company." he announced. "I was wondering if you wanted the opportunity to get a free PokeTech?"
"Free stuff? Alright, let's do it!" I said. The man laid out the specifics of the contest and after an hour and some encounters with clowns, I was walking away with my new watch/smart phone/thing.
"Man, this thing is awesome." I said, scrolling through it. "It let's me know what condition my pokemon are in if I link it up with the pokeballs, lists their known moves so I don't have to remember, and even tells me what you're abilities are!" Franklin watched me fiddling with the blue watch.
"What's my ability?" he asked.
"That's easy." I said. "You have Overgrow. All starter pokemon have the same ability for some reason." I scrolled a few screens over. "Apparently Sora has Keen Eye, which explains how accurate she is, and Mufasa has Intimidate. Huh, that's why that Bidoof's attack didn't do much." I muttered to myself.
My feet hit gravel and I paused, looking up. I was so drawn into my new PokeTech that I hadn't noticed I walked right out of the city. A nearby sign told me this was Route 204. "Hey Franklin, want to go explore?" I asked. The turtle nodded vigorously and we set out down the route. A few trainer battles later, one of which was with an unfortunate young man whose dad had given him a Magikarp for his birthday, we found a cave. There was a sign in front of it, saying that there had been a cave-in and the path to the next town was blocked off temporarily.
"Well. I guess we're not going this way." I muttered, turning back to the patch of tall grass we had walked through. Strangely, we hadn't seen any wild pokemon yet. All the trainer battles might have scared them away I thought. Too soon, apparently, as a rustle in the grass caught my attention.
I almost didn't see it at first. A small lime green pokemon stepped through the grass. It had two arms that it held over it's head like a ballerina. It's small face was on the bottom of it's teardrop shaped body, and was glaring angrily at us. A Budew I thought mellowly. Dammit, I don't want two grass-types on my team. Guess I have no choice though
Before I could even give the order for Franklin to attack, the Budew started glowing green. Suddenly, green orbs of energy matching the color around Budew began appearing on Franklin's body and floating over to the wild pokemon. Franklin saw the orbs on him and began to panic, jumping around trying to get them off of him.
"Franklin, relax!" I said, trying to calm the pokemon. "It's an Absorb attack, it's not gonna hurt you very much. We just need to finish the fight and capture that Budew." My words seemed to get through and Franklin stopped fighting the orbs, turning his attention on the stationary Budew. "Tackle attack!" I ordered.
Franklin charged forward and slammed his head into the wild pokemon's body. She flew back, her smaller frame making her much easier to knock over. Her Absorb attack faded away, and she unsteadily got to her feet. My PokeTech beeped and I glanced at it, discovering that it had a wild pokemon readout as well. The Budew was barely above fainting. She probably would have fainted without that Absorb attack I thought.
I grabbed a empty pokeball on my belt and tossed it at the dazed pokemon. It hit right on target, capturing her in red energy before rolling on the ground. I counted the red flashed on the button. One...Two...Three...Done! The ball was still and my PokeTech beeped again. The newly captured Budew's information was all there. "Level 4...Knows Absorb and Growth...Natural Cure ability. Not bad." I said to myself, walking over and picking up the ball. "Welcome to the team Rose, for a while at least."