Hey y'all, sorry I haven't updated in a while. As you may know, Thanksgiving was last week, which put a pinch in my writing time. On top of that, I got hit with the flu not long afterward, which made it pretty hard to do anything, especially write. I'm feeling better now and you can look forward to our regular erratic updating schedule. Enjoy!
Chapter 24: Lake's Closed
It wasn't hard to make our way to the Galactic HQ. Since it was set on top of a tall mesa, it rose above the city skyline, dominating the horizon, Dawn and I merely followed the streets towards it. Once we climbed the stone steps up to the main building, the sun was starting to go down.
"Whew. Veilstone is a big city." I mused, out of breath. Dawn's silence didn't surprise me. I probably wouldn't be saying stupid stuff like that if my partner had been stolen. Once I straightened out, I realized what was the real cause for the girls silence. "Closed!? What do you mean closed?" I barked, slamming my fists into the metal gate shut across the doors. "This is bullshit!"
I turned to Dawn, who looked completely defeated. "We're not giving up yet. C'mon, I saw some warehouses down this way." I led the way back down the steps, turning at the bottom to move towards the mentioned storerooms. As we moved around the large buildings, we started to hear voices in the distance. Getting closer, we started to catch words. We stopped around the corner, listening in.
"-things are rare man. Like, really rare." someone said.
"Thanks for clearing that up for us." another voice snarked.
"Seriously! Piplup are hard to find, how much do you think we can get for this little anklebiter?" the first voice replied. At the mention of a Piplup, Dawn gasped softly. Before I could stop her, she ran out around the corner.
"Give Lizbeth back!" she cried, tossing a pokeball. I was certainly surprised to find she had other pokemon, and a Clefairy appeared. I walked out into view, releasing Lola from her pokeball.
Two grunts were sitting on a crate, which contained the captured Piplup. Lizbeth seemed elated that we had arrived. The grunts, on the other hand, were far from pleased to see us. "What's going on here? Some kind of shake down?" The first grunt asked.
"Looks to me like they're offerin' their own pokemon up for the cause." the other grinned, pulling out a pokeball.
"How nice of them." the first agreed, withdrawing his own pokemon. They both tossed them into the air, two Zubats appearing in the sky.
"Zubat, huh? This'll be easy." Lola said.
"Couldn't agree more. Lola, use Return." I called. The large rabbit leaped into the air, white energy already formed around her paw. She bashed one bat to the ground, and took a swipe at the other one for good measure. It had already flown out of the way, chirping shrilly. It's comrade was not so lucky, the blow knocking it out instantly.
"That flying's going to get annoying." I groaned.
"Leave it to me." Dawn called. She seemed much more eager to battle Team Galactic since the last time they confronted her and the Professor. She nodded at her Clefairy, which held up a small paw, fingertips glowing white. "Use Gravity Celeste!" A large orb of transparent purple energy enveloped the airborne Zubat. It hovered in place momentarily, undisturbed by its new surroundings. With a sudden squawk, it crashed to the ground, now unable to rise.
"You little punks, you should be glad we went so easy on you." one of the grunts scowled, returning his Zubat as his partner did the same.
"Yeah, now the kid gloves have to come off." the other added. They tossed two more pokeballs, revealing a Stunky and Croagunk. The Croagunk threw me off, I wasn't expecting to see one so soon. It was a small frog-like pokemon that stood on two legs. White bands wrapped it's belly, providing a break in it's purple color scheme. It's yellow eyes were latched onto Lola, a small grin hidden behind its black lips.
"Lola, that things going to be a problem if we don't take it down now!" I called.
"I know, I've got it!" she replied, already on the move. The Croagunk surprised me, it was a much more capable fighter than I had expected. He and Lola traded blows, though "traded" was hardly the word. They each launched attack after attack at the other, but neither one could land a hit. I imagine the toad must have the Anticipation ability, otherwise he wouldn't be able to keep up with the brown bunny. While I was distracted by their battle, I saw movement in the corner of my eye.
The Stunky, which I had almost completely forgotten about, was rearing back, ready to pounce on Lola the first chance he got. I was about to shout a warning when a dodge left Lola at a weird angle, leaving her open for a short time. The Stunky launched itself into the air, claws bared, ready to slash into her hide.
"Celeste, use Metronome!" Dawn ordered. The small Clefairy waved its glowing hands again before pointing at the airborne skunk. An incredibly large torrent of water shot out of her fingertip like a cannon, hitting the poison-type square in the side. "Wow, I didn't expect a Hydro Pump." Dawn muttered. The attack pulled the Croagunks attention away from Lola enough for her to land a blow with Return. He stepped back slightly before falling onto his face, his expression unchanged.
I turned to the two grunts, the girls at my side. "So. Unless you have more pokemon on you, why don't we say you give us back the Piplup and we'll let you go."
Dawn gave me a look. "What do you mean, "let them go"? They stole Lizbeth! They need to be arrested!"
I shook my head. "That will cause a lot of problems in the city. We need evidence, which we don't have. Sure, they're right here with her, but once we get her back it's just our word against theirs. Team Galactic is a respected part of the community here, it's not going to work." I took a step towards the pair. "That being said, if you try to keep her imprisoned I'm going to have Lola pull your arms off." The Lopunny cracked her knuckles behind me threateningly.
"Okay, okay, jeez." one of the grunts muttered, producing a key. "Don't have to tell me twice." He opened the cage and Lizbeth came running out, jumping up into Dawns open arms.
"Oh Lizbeth, I'm so sorry!" Dawn cried. "I'll never let that happen again, I promise!"
"Ugh, look, you've got the damn bird back, so take off. You're on private property and such." the other grunt barked, shooing us away with his hands. Dawn looked pretty put off by his remark, but Lizbeth looked absolutely livid. If Dawn hadn't been holding her I was sure the little water-type would have attacked the man.
"Alright, we're leaving." I said. "C'mon Dawn." I muttered, grabbing her by the arm and pulling gently when she didn't budge. We walked away, leaving the warehouse area. It was dark out now, so for protection I kept Lola out of her pokeball.
"I can't believe they're getting away with this." Dawn muttered.
"They're not. Not exactly." I said. The black haired girl gave me a questioning look. "Okay Looker, you can come out now." I called.
There was a small crash and clattering of metal behind me. Dawn jumped about a mile at the noise. I just turned around, smiling bemused at the inspector sprawled in the spilled trash. "How did you know I was there?" he asked, genuinely curious.
"Lucky guess. Wherever there's Team Galactic, you're not far away." I said, helping him up. "I take it you saw what went down?"
"Everything." he answered, holding up a battle recorder like the one I had. "Plenty of evidence to help support a warrant."
"Wait, didn't you get that illegally if you need a warrant to get in the building?" Dawn asked, the shock wearing off.
"Technically, no." Looker explained. "I wasn't actually in the building, or on their property. I was at my warehouse, checking up on things when I heard the noise." He talked with a tone that revealed he was talking out of his ass, but it would be enough to get the papers he needed.
"Excellent. Well, it's back to the Center for me. Take care Looker! And be careful Dawn, I won't always be around to help out." I called. She rolled her eyes but waved as I left.
The next day as I was leaving the Center, I found out a package had been delivered the night before from an anonymous person for me. I opened the small brown box and discovered a HM disc inside labeled "HM02 Fly". Under the HM was a note. "Heard you beat Maylene. Hope this will come in handy. Looks like I'll be seeing you sooner than I thought. Good luck." There was no signature but I was pretty sure I knew where it came from. "Thanks Cynthia." I muttered, throwing the box away. I taught the new HM to Sora, preemptively getting it out of the way.
"You know, this move isn't one I'm very keen on using in battle." Sora muttered as the glow faded.
"I know, but chances are I'll never order you to use it." I said. "Aerial Ace is much better and quicker in the long run. Plus you'll learn other combat moves too, don't worry."
We made our way south, down Route 214. By midday we had arrived at the Valor Lakefront. Quickly poking around in the tall grass, I managed to catch a Girafarig with the help of Sora, depositing the strange giraffe in the PC. As we moved further south, we came across the entrance to the Lake. "Wonder what kind of pokemon I can get there." I thought, moving towards it. Coming around the bend, I found my way blocked by two large men in suits.
"Hold it. No one gets into the Lake today." One said gruffly, holding up a hand.
"What do you mean, it's public property! I can go in if I want!" I said, indignant.
"Maybe any other day, but not now." the other man said. "Lake's closed. We've been hired by a special interest group to keep people out, might disturb the wildlife."
The other man leaned close to me, eying the pokeballs on my belt. "You wouldn't be someone who'd want to disturb the wildlife, are ya?" he asked.
I backed off, waving my hands non-threateningly. "Nope, just someone who enjoys lakes. Guess I'll be going now." I muttered, turning and heading back to the road. That was weird I thought.
All thoughts of the strange events at the lake were soon buried. After a nice lunch at the restaurant on the beach, I turned west and arrived at Route 213. Excited at the chance to get a new pokemon, I eagerly dashed into the bushes, Cerberus slowly trotting in behind me.
"I don't get what's got you so excited, all you need is me on the team." he growled.
"Oh? And what'll happen when you get taken out for having such a big mouth? I'm supposed to suck it up and never replace you?" I asked, jokingly.
"Yep." he replied simply. I was about to quip back at him when movement caught my eye. A Buizel walked onto the path, gingerly washing its face with its paws. "Oh sweet, a water-type! Quick, Cerb, use-" I was cut off by the hound rushing forward. The Buizel was alerted to the noise and tore off, running down the path, Cerberus hot on his heels. I chased after them barely keeping pace. A short distance away, Cerberus leaped and latched onto the orange mammal with his teeth, shaking him roughly, killing it.
"Cerberus! What the hell was that for!?" I roared. Cerberus dropped the dead Buizel and looked up at me, blood on his muzzle.
"What? It's the natural order of things, kill or be killed. Besides, I was hungry." He moved back to the weasel, taking a bite.
"You can't just kill a wild pokemon like that!" I reprimanded. "God, it's a wonder why I even keep a psycho like you in the team!" I stalked off, leaving him with his meal. To be honest, I wasn't even that mad about him killing it. I felt bad, sure, but like he said, it was the natural order. I was more pissed off about loosing another potential team member and him disobeying me. Which honestly scared me a little. Since when have I been so insensitive to random death? I shivered at the thought. This challenge is going to be the death of me. "Come on Cerb, we've got to get to Pastoria before nightfall." I called. He pranced over, liking his chops exaggeratedly. I rolled my eyes and we continued down the path.
Not long after we arrived at the city. Pastoria was a swamp town, very much rural. Their biggest claim to fame was the Great Marsh, a safari zone of sorts where you can see and catch rare pokemon. I was tempted to head straight there, but I decided the best thing to do was go check in at the Center. It's not like the Marsh isn't going to be there tomorrow I thought.
As it turned out, it wasn't. It had been a while since I had last looked at a calender and it turned out to be a Sunday. For whatever reason, the Marsh was closed on Sundays. "Goddammit!" I yelled, kicking a nearby trashcan in frustration. "The hell am I supposed to do now!" I grumbled.
"We can always go to the other routes, loop back up to Hearthome for the day." Sora suggested. She was always the positive one in the group, which I appreciated.
"Alright, we'll go to the other routes. Might as well train for the gym while we're at it." I agreed, moving back across town. The day was spent pretty quickly, time flying by. We traveled through the murky brown mud of Route 212, capturing another Shellos while we were there. This one was an East Coast colored one, blue and green with two small fins on her back. "I'll keep you nice and safe in the box." I muttered as the ball disappeared. That got me thinking and I released Rose, deciding that Sora's training was pretty much done.
"Hey Rose, I've always wondered. What's it like in the PC?" I asked.
Rose snorted a bit. "You askin' me cause you've kept everyone else on the team since you caught 'em?" I tripped a little on the path, the statement catching me off guard. "Thought so." she chuckled. There was a short pause before she started talking again. "It's not like it's a bad place. We're not lost in some kind of dark void or anything. It's more like we're dreaming. Same with the pokeballs. We're not actually asleep, we're just kinda put in a trance. We dream about our happy place, or at least, I do."
"Where's that?" I ask.
"The waterfall back home." she said softly. She shook her head. "Nevermind all this stuff, we've got training to do." Her sudden change in demeanor wasn't unnoticed, but I let it slide. She's gonna have to stop pretending eventually I thought.