Steel (Poke)Ball Run

Chapter 27 – VS THE TUBELINE BRIDGE

:

Gyro watched in curious horror as the Dragon Stone was reabsorbed into Johnny's left palm. He also noticed that some sort of words had been carved into his tone flesh along his forearm.

'Thanks.' Johnny said. He inspected the little metal trinket that Gyro had also brought back.

'Found it in that bugger's breast pocket. I'm never looting anyone ever else ever again, that was feral. He stank to high heavens.' Gyro muttered.

'I think it's legit.' Johnny said after a moment of deliberation.

'Wait, really?' Gyro quirked an eyebrow and his whole face conveyed either jealousy or disgust. Possibly both at once even.

'In the back of the SBR handbook, there are photographs of the badges they're supposed to be handing out. This is it, the flying badge, I'm certain. The Feather Badge. See, looks like a feather.'

Johnny held it up to Gyro, so he could get a better look. The little metallic trinket was shape sort of like a wing with some sort of green plating. It looked more like a leaf in his opinion, but he sighed, gave up.

'Congratulations Johnny.' he replied, in utter good nature too. Not even a twinge of contempt.

'Thanks.'

'So, uh, what about that.' Gyro pointed to Johnny's left hand.

The Dragon Stone had left a faint etching of itself on the skin of Johnny's palm but after another two seconds, Johnny's hand was good as new. It didn't even have a trace of injury.

'Don't get me wrong, I'm not interested in taking it but it's a little freaky, don't you think?'

'So, you didn't join the race to gather Dragon Stones?'

'Johnny, I don't even know what the hell a Dragon Stone is.'

'Thank goodness…' Johnny muttered.

'All I want is to finish this race and get amnesty, so I can save Marco. Plain and simple… But I wouldn't be surprised if there are others - terrorists - in this race who think I'm in it for whatever's going on with these Dragon Stone things.'

'I think the Steel Ball Run might be a conspiracy or a cover for the President to collect the Dragon Stones. I know, that sounds insane, but that Pork Pie Hat Kid was a legitimate chosen Trainer so unless he's acting under dual orders, I think the President might be connected to Team Pax Unova.'

'Team what? Oh goodness, just what kind of sport have I been caught up in?' Gyro interrupted. 'The Hell is a Pax Unova?'

'I… don't know. I just know that's what a team of thugs call themselves and that asshole over there, is one. And they're after the Dragon Stones so they can bring back the Dragons of Truth and Ideal because supposedly, they'll unseal if they get too close to each other or something.'

That struck a chord of memory in Gyro's head but Unova myths were beyond him. He didn't even know where he wouldn't have heard such a story; not in school, not by his father's mouth.

Johnny got out a map. 'I think it's possible…' he said as he scanned over it. 'That the course of the Steel Ball Run coincides with the general location of where Dragon Stones are…'

'Wait… don't tell me? You want to gather these Dragon Stones too?' Gyro asked.

'I've already decided. I will.' Johnny gripped his arm. 'I realise it could have catastrophic results after all, those dragons're are bad news if they're real but… But that Dragon Stone was the reason I could move my lame legs. Maybe that power can heal me. I'm not going back on this decision; even if it goes to hell and back. I'm not going to be a quitter. I'm going all the way!'

Gyro began to pick up some of their scattered belongings. He wore a serious expression.

'Well then let's make one thing clear: I'm not going hunting for these Dragon Stones.'

'I understand. That's my selfish goal.'

Gyro straightened up. He glanced at Johnny and remembered that he had one of his steel Balls with him but something else caught his eye.

'Wait, what's that on your arm Johnny?'

'Haven't a clue.' Johnny shrugged.

'Wait… That says… "Move your legs" in Old Kalosian; why do you have that on your arm?'

'I... I don't know. Wait, you can read it?' Johnny asked.

'I know a thing or two. Mysterious forces are at work here, I reckon. Forces that go beyond yours or my understanding of the spiritual world, possibly but you might be onto something. Maybe those Dragon Stones can do somethin' for ya, produce a miracle. But that's just speculation, don't get your hopes up.'

'I know. I know damn well.' Johnny replied.

'Alright, I think we've spent enough time dawdling. Grab your things and call back your Zebstrika back over here.' Gyro said. He held his hand out. 'Oh, and gimme me fucking PokeBall back, I know it's empty but it's mine. Not letting you keep everything you find.'

Johnny became sheepish. 'No can do, Gyro.'

'Johnny…' Gyro drawled. 'What do you mean?'

'Let me introduce you to my latest team member…' Johnny clicked the button on the steel PokeBall and in a flash of light, his Pokémon came out.

It seemed exude starlight, but it faded after a moment, but the blue of its head still caught sunlight, almost reflecting it off its spike. It cooed at Gyro and Gyro stared it down with an irritated brow. Beneath such heavy weight, Johnny's Pokémon appeared to cower.

'What the fuck is this thing?' Gyro asked.

He crouched down and began to play with it. Or, more, accurately, roughhouse with it. It ineffectively scratched at Gyro's hands and made whining, chattering noises before wriggling away from him. It latched itself onto Johnny's left hand and gave the appearance that they were holding hands.

He crouched down and began to play with it. Or, more, accurately, roughhouse with it. It ineffectively scratched at Gyro's hands and made whining, chattering noises before wriggling away from him. It latched itself onto Johnny's left hand and gave the appearance that they were holding hands.

'I call it Tusk.' Johnny said. There was a firm sense of resolution in his voice.

'Good name. Too bad it's too cool for a 'mon like it, look at it, it's terrified of me.'

'Any baby would be lookin' at your mug.' Johnny teased.

'What is it? I feel like I've seen one before but there's something… off.' Gyro stroked his chin. 'It suits you Johnny though.'

'You think?' Johnny said.

'Yeah, it's blue and it's got a face that just makes you want to bully it.' Gyro replied in good jest to meet Johnny's insult.

'Well, I know what you mean. It gave me a major sense of deja vu too, but I just worked it out myself.' Johnny began to explain.

Tusk, the mystery Pokémon, chattered. 'Chumimi.'

'And its speech impediment isn't helping its case either.' Johnny continued.

'Seriously, no matter how I look at it. It's bit of a runty Pokémon but I'm not surprised given that it hatched from a damaged Egg. As a Doctor, Johnny, I regret to inform you, but I don't believe you hatched a happy and healthy Pokémon here. I think it's a bit… special, if you catch my drift.'

'Damn right, it's "special". And I don't mean it like you mean it, asshole. We're busting all sorts of myths today but it's true. Oddly coloured Pokémon do exist, and this is one. It's a Pawniard but blue for some reason rather than red.'

Gyro's eyes widened. 'No.' he gasped.

'Yes.' Johnny confirmed.

Gyro looked at the Pawniard which was almost out of view, obscuring itself behind Johnny but he could see it now. He'd encountered a fair few Pawniard in his day; they tended to horde on Route 15, back home. He hadn't seen one in recent memory which hadn't helped either.

Gyro whistled and palmed his temple. 'Johnny, you lucky bastard, you should've entered the lottery today with the crazy luck you've had.' He sighed. 'I guess since you've filled my empty PokeBall, you can keep it. Just this one. Don't expect any more freebies off me. I don't care if you encounter another oddly coloured Pokémon or not. You're not getting anything off me.'

'Roger.' Johnny replied.

'Well, welcome to our quest, Tusk. I'm Gyro and let me just say, you're gonna end up regretting siding with Johnny because according to his other Pokémon, he is not very nice.'

'Hey!' Johnny roused. 'I'm a changed man after today. So, you're gonna eat those words one day.'

'We'll see about that.'

Gyro had a sing-song voice about him as he mounted his Mudsdale. He could hear it in Johnny's voice. He did seem to be something of a changed man, but Johnny seemed to have moods, so it would be interesting to see how long this conviction lasted, or, more importantly, if he could convince his Pokémon of it.

He leaned back in his saddle and grinned at Johnny.

'C'mon, let's do this! Let's cross Tubeline Bridge, enter the Third Stage, wind up at Opelucid City, and then the rest of the race! And I'll let you come with me, Johnny. Don't forget, I'll place first and you'll be right on my ass in second.' He paused, huffed. 'But no more of this surprising me with Badges bullshit. Remember the deal is, I get five, you get three so pick two more and stick with that!'

'Got it, Gyro.' Johnny replied, and a small, confident smile spread over his lips.

Gyro looked to the sky and three hit air balloons drifted into view.

'They can't disqualify me. I'll show them what's left of our wounds and Pork Pie's fishing rod's got blood on it. They'll understand.' Johnny said panicky.

'Good, good.' Gyro said and then something else caught his attention.

He turned his head and a bit of wind toyed with his long loose hair. His grin was partially erased. The pound of hooves soon filled the near silence of the wind. But it only sounded like one mount but there were other, sloshing noises which implied rapid movement also. Soon, a unique pair came into view.

'Who're they…?' Gyro murmured to himself as squinted into the distance.

Johnny turned his head. He saw a Sawsbuck with floral decals upon its antlers and it was competing with a man. The man had an odd form of running but it was doing him well since he was neck and neck with a Sawsbuck.

'Johnny! Grab your things, Dio and Sandman're here!'

Gyro bolted after. Johnny hadn't expected any charity from him; not after all having him fetch both the badge and Dragon Stone. So, Johnny had one of his Pokémon - a Minccino he named Showbiz Blues - grab anything too out of reach for him. It was eager to tidy up; usually was, after all he had trained it to do that after his accident. Soon enough, he was good to go and already right behind Gyro; right on his Mudsdale's thick and bushy tail.

Meanwhile, in the sky, hot air balloons drifted. A small and fluffy Noibat circled one of them and from its mouth, came a distinctly human and female voice; that of its Trainer, Maria the Commentator. With her lungs, she can drown t even the roar of the ocean lapping at the cliffs nearby. The afternoon is creeping in now over the once morning blue sky and there's bit of a muggy breeze. As the Tubeline Bridge is approached by a pack of Pokémon and Trainers, so does the end of this stage.

Johnny had visited the Tubeline Bridge a few times back when he was professional Trainer and jockey. It was known for all sorts of company savoury and sweet. He would know. Usually, it wasn't packed. But right now, up ahead of Route Eight, was a countless mob of people yelling and screaming; some had signs. He couldn't believe it. The poor prostitutes that were known linger here were either making a lot of money right now or none at all.

'In the lead, we've got Prince of the Kalosian racing and battling circuit, Diego "Dio" Brando!' Maria yelled. 'But Sandman is following right behind! So is Gyro Zeppeli and Johnny Joestar, who finished fifth in the last stage and, more excitingly, has been confirmed to have battled and won the first Trainer chosen by acting Champion, President Valentine!'

The finishing line of this stage was where a ribbon tapered across the beginning of the Tubeline Bridge. There was a lull in commentary which hailed a pause of contemplation and planning amongst the racers. In this slight dip of silence, the racers were free to compete until someone did something particularly interesting. And it was Gyro who happened to act first.

He swiftly pulled head of the pack, bursting through the blockades of Pokémon and people clustered at this segment of the nearly finished stage. Diego threw him a dirty look which was met with mischief and then, there was the boom of speakers. Once more, Maria yelled. Her voice reached far and wide over the thundering hooves.

'It's Gyro Zeppeli!' she shrieked. 'Right before the finishing line of the Second Stage, it's Gyro again! He jumps into the lead!'

The mounts continue to surge forward. The sun shone brightly overhead and there was the slightest whisper of a breeze. The roar of the ocean was dull on the ears; too distracted by the gallop of Pokémon.

The pack thinned slightly. Gyro took to a pointed lead and Sandman and his party lulled back. Diego and Johnny raced either side of each other. Both seemed the same distance from behind Gyro's tail.

'Only a straight line of six hundred metres remains! The marshy terrain, the unbearable heat! The Trainers have travelled one thousand and six hundred kilometres since the race started eighteen days ago but as we near Route Nine and Opelucid City, the most skilled Trainers are racing at the front! It's a re-enactment of the First Stage!' Maria storied.

Conclusion seemed so close and so far at the same time. Tantalising, shortly put. The wind picked up. The sound of people cheering, there were so many people clustered along the Tubeline Bridge, it looked fit to sag despite its strength. Balloons and other light, floaty things were released but no one was distracted by them at first.

Not even Gyro as he battered through a newspaper which had been blown from someone's hand. He fiercely continued onwards, not even shaking his head or flapping his hands or arms to get rid of it. Instead, he let it cross his face. Upon rolling off Gyro's face and shoulder, it flew in a panicky direction towards Johnny and Johnny was not as focused as Gyro.

It hit him in the head then coiled around his arm. In the collision, Johnny's movements became flurried and irritated. His rivals were able to overtake him as a result. Maria's voice rang out as the developments continued.

'Now Diego Brando is picking up pace!' she commentated. 'And Sandman continues to fly across the land on those glorious legs!'

Despite the distraction it had caused Johnny, he didn't immediately get rid of it. Rather than flinging it off, he grabbed at it as something about the front page had caught his eye.

'Gyro!' Johnny called out. 'Holy shit, Gyro! You need to look at this newspaper!'

Gyro huffed, not particularly caring for more of Johnny's presumed drama but he answered back anyway.

'We can win, Johnny! Keep it up at full speed, this stage is ours!'

'I can't believe this… But, it's the newspaper, Gyro, you need to see this!'

Johnny extended his arm, he held down the newspaper against it and Gyro ruefully looked back. He caught glimpses of a headline regarding the third stage of the Steel Ball Run race, but it was the picture above it that he realised that Johnny wanted him to look at. The coincidence was utterly unlikely.

'Look at this mountain! Look at those crests, they're the exact same as the scarring on my arm: "move your legs" in old Kalosian… I don't think the scars are letters but a place, I think there might be another Dragon Stone there.' Johnny explained. He sounded mad and desperate.

'What?' Gyro's voice came across the tight distance between them as hoarse.

In his distraction from Johnny, it was enough for the other competitors to creep up behind him and get the edge over him. It only took a single moment to completely change the line-up of the pack.

The beginning of the Tubeline Bridge was a hair's breadth away. Sandman surged past the mounts; his Pokémon trailing in tow and doing their best to block their rivals from entering Sandman's space. But, their combined efforts weren't enough. Diego's Sawsbuck and Johnny's Zebstrika burst through. Gyro and his Mudsdale completely shuffled backwards in the mess.

'Diego Brando finishes in first!' Maria announces as hooves rumble upon the grate. 'First place goes to Diego Brando! Johnny Joestar in second! Third is Sandman! And Gyro Zeppeli is in fourth!' Maria's voice rang out over the thousands of cheers from the sidelines.

Mudsdale slowed slightly as Gyro fumed. He glared as Johnny chased after Diego, leaving Gyro in the dust. He glanced around as he tried to recall the final few moments of the race. He was certain he had been ahead of all of those blokes who had just managed to take first, second, and third ahead of him.

'W-Wait? What's Maria saying? That can't be right?' he muttered in disbelief before it soured, turned to vehement annoyance. 'Oi! Johnny Joestar, you fucker! Wait!'

'And they continue onward! No stopping for rest! Each Trainer continues straight onto the Third Stage where another one of President Valentine's Trainers will await them? What sort of battles will unfold here, I wonder!'

Gyro recollected himself and he continued to zoom forward, right behind Johnny's Zebstrika. As a group, they continued to barge past through the Tubeline Bridge. It'd be a matter of minutes before they crossed the thing.

'So, you made it, Gyro Zeppeli. I will not be able to help you as you've made an enemy of yourself…' Mr Steel lamented; he sweated nervously as he watched Gyro's mount speed off into the distance from his carriage on the train.

From the sidelines, Mr Steel watched gravely. There was something about bad news which travelled fast as he was not the one to inform President Valentine of Pork Pie Hat Kid's defeat or who it was to. Now, thanks to Maria, this whole part of the countryside knew.

From President Valentine's carriage, strange news however took a little longer to get to him.

'Thank you, dear… Now what is it?' he asked as he accepted a piece of paper from one of his Pokémon which he had sent as a messenger to Pork Pie Hat Kid's hospital bed.

Pork Pie was no longer a member of the Team. He was too thoroughly beaten, a shame as he had once shown great promise.

'Hm, a letter…' President Valentine mused aloud. 'A phrase in Old Kalosian… "To move your feet", or something to that effect, depending on how you translate it.'

He had been shaving himself, but he put down his razor in favour of picking up a pen. He continued to mull over the contents of the letter - stunted sentences and other things which made little sense - and what had been announced.

'Something unexpected has a risen. Pork Pie Hat did not battle Gyro Zeppeli, nor did he lose to him. Instead, it was Johnny Joestar who took the Feather Badge I gifted Pork Pie Hat. This may imply, however, that it is not Gyro Zeppeli with one of the Dragon Stones. Instead, it is Johnny Joestar who has hidden it somewhere in his person.'

President Valentine paused and licked his lips. He glanced at his Pokémon clustered around him, listening to his prattle curiously with gleaming, beady eyes.

'I'm really quite thirsty, here, watch your master do tricks for a change. Watch this, this is how you drink beer from the can at once. And no, you gluttons, none of you are getting some, beer is not good for you, my darlings. Barely good for me.'

He stabbed the beer can he chose from his cooler with his pen. There was a foamy explosion which he put his lips to. He guzzled greedily from where the can had been pierced. Barely a moment passed, and the can was completely drained.

'Much better.' President Valentine commented to himself. He crushed the can in his hand and began to admire himself in the mirror before him; he also held up the letter, in case the old Kalosian words might mean something in reverse. 'Now, was it a Light Stone or a Dark Stone, Johnny Joestar has come into possession of? I think we can assume that he hasn't absorbed it into his legs or else, he might be walking once more. Truth, ideal, but not justice… which one appeals to young Joestar the most, I wonder. From that, we may come to understand which spirit has chosen him.'

President Valentine spoke bitterly. His Pokémon drew in closer and because of their thick furs, he grew warmer. But, also because of what beat in his chest. He could feel it rise through his skin once more, so he undid the buttons of his thick, pink overcoat and then the buttons of his white blouse. He watched as a large rock that almost shaped like an anatomically correct heart protrude from beneath his skin, between it and his muscles. Next to it, a few loopy scars dug out of his skin. He half smiled, half admired it.

'Anyhow, we now have two of the Stones pertaining to the draconic myths of Unova.'

He smiled almost serenely, and his Pokémon edged away from him. They were slightly unsettled by their Trainer's appearance, not sensing something was fully right about it. Their absence, meant he would cool somewhat so he buttoned up his blouse once more. The rock sank further into his body now as well. He swivelled around in his chest and glanced over where he had Lili's Map set up, on display.

'Given that we're now down one man in resources, it may not be a bad idea to let Johnny Joestar claim the next Dragon Stone. If he has it, it will be easier to find. Of course, that is gambling on the assumption he has realised the power the Dragon Stones contain and whether or not he wants said power. But, if he does find it, the locations of three of the Dragon Stones will be known and only six will remain unknown.'

He paused and mused something over. 'Prior to the beginning of this race, I had no concerns but now, it feels as though unprecedented forces are beginning to gather. Connections I didn't see until previously, I just hope my next "chosen" Trainer acts within the boundaries I desire but, I have a bad feeling. That man has always been something a sentimental, that could pose an issue, couldn't it, my darlings?'

His Pokémon trilled sweetly, as though in agreement. But, amid their voices, there was something unknown. Something human: a gasp.

President Valentine scowled. He looked around.

Lucy held her breath and got away from the keyhole. She had been the one to gasp because she had been the one to eavesdrop. She clamped her hand over her mouth and she trembled by the door. She flattened herself against it and became slick with sweat. Her heart quickened, and her breaths turned to pants.

What was that? She asked herself. In his chest…?

Things concerning President Valentine were becoming more stranger and more mysterious, the longer he remained as part of her husband's company on this train.