Chapter Thirty Six: Wild about Safari
Anuvi felt his body rise and fall gently as he awoke the day after his crushing defeat on the blazing sands of White Cliffs. Lying prostrate upon the white sheets, he began to feel the bruises act up again under the stiff bandaging administered to him whilst he was still out cold. Though he'd been in Pokémon Centres before, there was something- nostalgic- about the way he rested in this one. Like he felt truly peaceful (a feeling he had not felt since Dopeak City). This was the first one that seemed to rise and fall on its own. Maybe his head (the crown of which was also bound tightly in bandages) was still spinning.
I've gotta stop winding up here, he thought furtively, cursing the Terrotor that landed him there as he turned his head sideways to see who or what was in the room beside himself.
A tan-shaded cabinet stood beside his bed head, a glass vase filled with dainty purple flowers standing atop it. It, together with a brown bottle Anuvi guessed was full of ointment or medicine that stood beside it, glinted in the sunlight coming through the circular window set in the pastel blue wall. All the Grass type could see was the blue sky scudded with wispy cirrus clouds from his point of view and the random Wingull gliding by. A smooth hand lay of the bed inches away from his own viridian forelimb and sitting up a little, followed it to its owner's body saw a young boy asleep in the chair besides him, his messy dark hair falling into his face. He had apparently sat up with the Squirrage until sleep had taken him prisoner.
With a rush of understanding, Anuvi knew where the feeling of contentment and security had arisen from. After all, his trainer had only once spent the night in such a position before. Back at the beginning of the duo.
The beginning, hunh? Anuvi thought with a smile as his thoughts drifted back to that day that seemed like yesterday, yet felt so far away all at once:
-Flashback-
Olville Town, Pokémon Center, roughly three months ago
"I dunno," Sapph whispered. "I just snapped. Some Pokémon master I turn out to make…I beat up my own Pokémon the day I get them! I mean, what will he think of me?"
"I guessing he needs you, which is why I haven't thrown you out yet," Nurse Joy went on patiently.
You better believe it, buster! Chansey chirped happily.
"How can you say that? He clear can't trust me now," Sapph said hoarsely. "I mean which Pokémon would?"
"See for yourself," Nurse Joy said with a small smile nodding towards the bed.
Sapph turned to see Mongle crying out feebly in discomfort gesturing towards Sapph with his now dull red eyes pleading with Sapph's blue ones. Sapph quickly wetted the other sponge and used it to cool his Pokémon down and soothe its wounds. Mongle snuffled softly and stop its feverish stirring.
"I have to see the other Pokémon, Sapph," Nurse Joy said, turning to leave. "Keep him cooled down, alright?"
"Sure thing, Nurse Joy," Sapph said with a smile.
As the door closed gently behind the two nurses, Sapph felt something push its way into his hand. Looking down he noticed that Mongle had snuggled up to his hand. Sapph's smile faltered.
Mongle, Sapph thought sadly. Could you really need me? Like I need a Pokémon like you…
Mongle awoke feebly two hours later to see the young boy still there. Mongle tried to hastily get away but couldn't stray far enough and flinched, ready for the blows he was sure would follow.
"Still can't trust me hunh?" Sapph said sadly, trying to smile. A cracked sob issued from his mouth instead and he started crying again.
What's with this guy? Mongle thought. Wasn't he gonna hit me again?
"Are-are you OK?" Sapph asked, taking his hand out of the water that he had used to sponge his Pokémon through the night.
Why is he here, though? Did he tend to my wounds all night? I thought it was the nurse! Does he really care now? Mongle wondered.
"I'm… so …sorry! I'm sorry… I promise I'll… I'll never abandon you again, if you take me as your trainer… after… after all, it's what you think that counts. D'you… d'you reckon you could forgive me? After all I did?" he ended, a pleading look in his watery eyes, tears dripping down his scratched and burnt face.
Mongle looked deeply into the boy's eyes and saw nothing of the cold stare he received hours earlier. He saw in his earnest eyes a fervent desire to keep his promise and leave what had happened today behind. Mongle's face relaxed into a smile.
The boy trainer's joy was beyond words. He hugged his Pokémon, whispering words of profound thanks. Guess those two were wrong after all, Mongle thought.
A couple of hours later on their night time rounds, Nurse Joy and Chansey looked in to see Sapph asleep in the chair, leaning over onto the bed hugging his Mongle. Both trainer and Pokémon had looks of content upon their faces. Nurse Joy smiled down at Chansey, who smiled back and gently closed the door.
-End Flashback-
As Anuvi's reminiscing came to an end, the boy began to stir and opening one eye in a frowsy manner, looked up at his first Pokémon and smiled.
"Hey, buddy," Sapph said blearily, rubbing the gum out of his eyes. "Sleep well?"
Anuvi's smile lingered a little longer as he watched the boy stifle a long, open yawn.
I guess you could say that, he replied passively, his pointed face returning to its presently original look. You didn't have to spend the night babysitting me...
"That's what this is now, is it? Babysitting?" Sapph asked, the incredulity of his reply dimmed by his exhaustion.
Anuvi gave neither a negatory nor affirmative reply as he closed his eyes and faced the opposite wall.
Sapph glared at the emotionless face a few moments longer and deciding on balance it would be best to let Anuvi deal with whatever was bothering him however he wanted, Sapph rose to his feet and walked to the door. Pausing at the threshold, he turned back to his Pokémon who seemed to have fallen asleep and said, "I'm here if you need to talk, OK? We're all here if you need to talk."
Nothing.
"I'll leave you to it, then," Sapph said unsurely, walking out of the room and closing it with a snap.
Leaning against the other side of the door, Sapph slumped to a sitting position and lightly banging the back of his head against the vertical surface, muttered, "I just wish we could help you. That's all we want, Anuvi."
At the same time, Anuvi opened his violet eyes and thought despondently, I know you guys wanna help, but I gotta deal with this on my own.
Along the golden shores of Utopia Island City, couples littered the beach almost like a convention. Many seaside shops with open air patios were fully open for business and many more people sat in the open breeze and warm afternoon sun, slurping down ice creams, scarfing down pizza or generally enjoying each other's company over cold drinks.
Among the people who patronised one of these restaurants, a tall youth with shoulder-length, burning reddish-blond hair looked out over the sea, the peaceful atmosphere not on his mind as he sat with his eyes closed in contemplation, his fingers drumming away at the terrazzo table top as the patrons around him buzzed cheerfully.
Kamren blew a strand of hair out of his silver grey eyes and glanced around, not truly seeing his surroundings. Two things presently weighed on his troubled mind: the Dragon Cove, which served as a natural reserve for Dragon type Pokémon just to the south of Utopia Island and the whereabouts of his friends Carla, Calvin and Dex, whom he hadn't seen since they parted ways in the Grand Corei Desert. While he was able to carry out his investigations more freely, he was faintly concerned for their well-being, especially...
"Your iced tea, sir," a jarringly familiar voice rang out close to his ear, causing him to look up into the attendant's green eyes and stare. Speak of the devil, he thought in surprise. Well, one of them...
Aloud, however, Kamren said in a cool voice, "Thanks, Carla."
The waitress blinked in shock as she gasped and dropped her large, circular plastic tray and gasp, "Kamren?! Is it you?"
"Yeah," Kamren said calmly as Carla regained her wits and scuttled into the seat opposite him.
"Your hair's a mess," was all Carla could get out after looking her friend over.
"You like it?"
A moment's pause. "Actually, yes," Carla said in surprised admittance. "But what are you..."
Kamren wordlessly reached into his pocket and pulled out a royal blue badge case and opened it, showing seven League badges, the last one resembling a sprig of leaves, green in the foreground and black in the back.
Carla looked embarrassed at her need to ask such a question and muttered, "Oh. Congratulations."
"What about you?" Kamren said calmly, returning the case to his pocket. "How are you doing? And where's Rubin? I thought you were travelling with him..."
Carla muttered something indistinctly and Kamren raised an eyebrow.
"Fine," Kamren said distantly. "You don't have to tell me. It was a stupid question. Just answer me this: what's a twelve year old Coordinator doing serving iced tea at a Utopia Island café? Dressed like a senior high school waitress?" he added, taking in her rather-revealing outfit, which comprised of a simple white T-shirt with the name 'Louie's' stamped across it and her short and tight blue denim shorts.
"Paying off a debt," Carla whispered.
Kamren took a sip of his tea and gave Carla a look that plainly said he was listening.
Carla sighed and told her tale:
"Rubin and I arrived here about a week ago. He was being distant, but then again, he'd always been that way since the White Cliffs contest convention. I won my third ribbon there whilst Rubin failed to win his fourth by losing in the semi-final heat to the one I beat in the final."
Kamren took another sip of tea and sighed noncommittally; inviting her to continue.
"We got to the island and prepared to train for the Northern Isle Convention. Rubin told me to train on my own while he went to secure our ride to the first Trigello Contest. I spent the day brushing up on our appeals and at lunchtime came to this café, where we agreed to meet. I waited for him all afternoon. He never came."
Kamren's eyes narrowed slightly, but otherwise gave no sign of change.
"When I decided to go to the harbour to get on the boat, the proprietor and a couple of thugs came out and asked me if I knew Rubin Manson. Next thing I knew, I was being forced to work here!"
Carla buried her face in her palms to stem the flow of tears and said in a hollow voice, "I thought it was just a misunderstanding. That Rubin would come back for me and straighten it out." Carla sniffled miserably and repeated, "He never came."
Kamren had barely opened his mouth to ask a question that tugged on his mind as Carla's tale came to an end, but before he could open his mouth a rough voice from inside what seemed to be the kitchen hollered, "OI, BLONDIE! BACK TO WORK!"
Wiping her eyes noisily, she looked at Kamren, flashed a watery smile and said, "Guess this is my just desserts. Enjoy your iced tea, sir."
Kamren watched her leave slowly, her tray clutched to her chest as her head was bowed. Wolf whistles erupted from the guys at the tables which she passed, causing her head to droop even lower in shame. Exhaling heavily, the boy got up and followed.
"Hey, Blondie," the head chef, a wiry, bucktoothed young man who looked no older than nineteen said coldly, as Carla walked back in slowly, "we don't have all day! Table Nineteen needs two pizzas out there three minutes ago! So hop to it!"
"Yes, sir," Carla replied despondently, moving towards the steaming pizza pies that stood at the end of the counter, her long ponytail swinging from side to side in the salty breeze.
"Sounds like you're quite the hit out there," the boy went on slyly. "Particularly with the WTU students on summer vac. Business has never been so good!"
A lewd smirk crossed the pimply teen's face as Carla shot him a look that carried a trace of defiance and anger. As she scooped the pizzas onto her tray and made to leave, he reached out and slapped her on the butt, causing her to gasp in shock and anger.
Losing the little control she'd exercised since returning to the boy's presence, Carla swung around and using the broad side of the tray, slapped him heavily in the face and sending him reeling into the counter.
"Did you just slap me?" the boy said coldly, back on his feet and looking scandalized. Carla, realizing her mistake, shrank away in terror as the teen stomp towards her menacingly.
"Have you forgotten," the boy whispered in soft, vicious tones. "That your pal Rubin owes me? That you have no power over me as long as I have your Pokémon? Or that with one phone call," he snatched a phone up and began to dial slowly, "you can kiss your career as a Coordinator goodbye?!"
Carla dropped to her knees piteously as the boy mercilessly continued to dial, stopped only as a small bolt of electricity hit the phone and shorted it out.
"So that's what's going on," a voice said from the doorway calmly as the boy and Carla looked at the doorway to see a boy in his early teens stand there, a small yellow creature at his heels, sparkling with electricity and its beady black eyes fixed on the pimply youth in clear dislike. "Louie, is it?"
"Who the hell are you?" Louie yelled angrily as Kamren stepped into the room, twirling another pokéball on his finger.
"Someone's who's going to trash this place and turn you in to the authorities in five seconds flat," Kamren said calmly as Saffron's ears stiffened, his hair on end.
Louie gaped in shocked anger as Kamren looked into his milky pale, terrified face without blinking. "Are you a Junior Ranger?" he asked in hushed, terrified tones.
"Nope," Kamren said calmly. "But I make those guys seem like small fry by the time I'm through with you."
"OK, easy buddy," Louie said quickly, his oily voice developing an unctuous note. "Let's not get too hasty..."
"You're right," Kamren said conversationally. "It'll be so much trouble dialling the authorities when we could just strike a deal here."
Louie nodded feverishly, his face a cascade of icy cold sweat.
"You let Carla and her Pokémon go, and we have no problem. You can continue to run your..." here, Kamren looked around disdainfully as he uttered the next word in a disgusted tone, "establishment, and the cops need not know anything about your illegal practices. Deal?"
Thirty minutes later, Kamren walked out of the café with a newly freed Carla, who couldn't stop stammering her thanks to her rescuer.
"Don't mention it," Kamren said coldly. "Ever," he added emphatically as Carla opened her mouth again. "Hopefully this will teach you a lesson about picking whom you travel with..."
"Kamren?"
"Yeah, what?"
"I'm sorry I...," the blonde Coordinator began faltering as Kamren raised his hand firmly.
"Just as long as you understand," Kamren muttered, pulling out his PokéNav and dialling a number.
"Who are you calling?" Carla asked curiously as she walked next to Kamren along the beautiful beach.
"The authorities," Kamren replied, placing the phone to his ear as it began to ring.
"But," Carla said in confused tones. "Didn't you tell Louie that you wouldn't call the authorities if he let me go?"
"I did."
Carla only got more confused at the boy's answers. "But... that means..."
Kamren nodded and said, "Yep. I lied."
The tropical paradise of the Corei region, Utopia Island was filled with lush jungle life, and many houses similar to the ones one might see in Pacifidlog Town or Fortree City in the Hoenn region. The many homesteads that made up the downtown here, however, were mounted on powerful bamboo stilts and platforms, interlinked with well-veneered bamboo planks as opposed to the stone platforms that the pier was constructed on. Sapph and Haley walked along the bamboo walkways that served as the streets of the island city, having the usual argument the pair were prone to the moment they landed in a city with a gym.
"For the last time, Haley, I'm not going to the Safari Zone!" Sapph argued hotly.
"For the last time, Sapph, you are!" Haley countered.
"Do you have to be this annoying?" Sapph said rolling his blue eyes in exasperation.
"Do you have to be this selfish?" Haley countered furiously. "It's the same with you wherever we go! 'Where's the gym?'! 'Any idea where the gym is?'! 'Take me to you gym leader!'! It pisses me off that you can only think about yourself all the time!"
"Yeah?" Sapph countered, flaring up. "Well, you're one to talk, Prissy Miss 'Oh no, a white hair!'!"
"I'm not arguing this any further with you!" Haley snapped.
"Good!" Sapph snapped back.
"We're going to the Safari Zone, and that's final!"
"No, it's not!"
"Yes, it is!"
"Nope, no sale, Haley!" Sapph said angrily.
"There's only one way to settle this!" Haley growled, rolling up her sleeve and clenching her right fist in her left palm.
"Oh, is that how this is gonna be, hunh?" Sapph countered, mimicking her actions and standing his ground, his blue eyes seemingly on fire. "Well, bring it on!"
The two pre-teens glared at each other for a couple of tense minutes, the wind whistling as Haley's ponytail danced in the wind. Then, in one fluid motion both stomped forward and yelled, "Rock! Paper! SCISSORS!"
On 'scissors', both boy and girl swung their fists forwards, showing each other clenched fists.
"It's a draw!" they yelled in unison, raising their fists again and bringing them down again, both showing open palms. Again, they yelled, "it's a draw!"
A third flash of fists. Both scissors.
"It's a draw!"
The duel of luck raged on, drawing a couple of curious and frightened stares as the yokels around them gave the duo a wide berth as they walked up and down the street.
"It's a draw!"
"It's a draw!"
"It's a draw!"
"It's a draw!"
"It's a draw!"
"It's a draw!"
Then, suddenly:
"Yes!"
"Damn it!"
Haley turned her scissors into a victory sign and grinned as Sapph clenched his open hand in frustration at his loss.
"Best two out of three!"
Seven rounds later, Haley and Sapph walked to a large, log-fenced area with the words, 'UTOPIA ISLAND NATIONAL PARK' stamped in stencil lettering on a neat sign board.
"I can't believe I lost seven out of seven rounds of Rock, Paper, Scissors!" Sapph grumbled darkly, weighed down with nearly all of Haley's surveillance and recording equipment.
"Stop whining," Haley beamed, sticking her tongue out cheekily. "You lost fair and square!"
Sapph and Haley stepped into the foyer of the Safari Zone, a fairly short corridor of sorts lined on either side with long desks, behind each sat an identical female attendant decked out in a tan safari suit and bright red neckerchiefs. Both had long, emerald green hair and broad smiles on their freckled faces as they chatted with a tall, elegant teenager several years younger than the twins. This girl's soft brown hair framed her thin face rather nicely as she wore a rich green kimono, her equally green eyes were alight with animated cheer as she laughed at the attendant on the right's last statement, which Sapph didn't catch. Despite her regal airs, Sapph noticed that she had a bit of a tomboyish personality as she sat cross-legged atop the counter, all vestiges of blue blood masked by her informal interaction with the twins.
Sapph grumbled as he walked past Haley and dropping her equipment heavily, stepped up to the attendant at the left.
"Hi! Welcome to the Safari Zone!" she said in a sunny voice. "Will you be participating in a Safari Game?"
"Obviously," Sapph said grumpily, brightening slightly at the continuous smile the cheerful attendant, whose name seemed to be Debbie, according to the brass name tag clipped to her lapel.
"Then we'll take your Pokémon and five hundred pokédollars from your account, please," she went on calmly.
"Hey, Haley, fork over five hundred will you..." Sapph started without looking back until a loud voice thundered through the narrow room.
"TAKE THAT BACK, YOU HUSSY! SAY YOU LOVE WATER TYPES!"
"NEVER, YOU UNCOUTH VAGABOND! AND HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A HUSSY, YOU BARBARIAN!"
"Oh, not again!" Sapph said weakly as he turned to see Haley in heated debate with the young lady who was until a moment ago, chatting with the other attendant, who was desperately trying to keep the peace.
"Oh, dear," the attendant chuckled nervously; sweat dropping as she too looked over at the squabbling girls. "Nicola's at it again. Anyone who knows Nicola knows better than to recount Grass types in her presence."
"Shame Haley doesn't know either," Sapph muttered exasperatedly, turning away and pulling out his own wallet. Pulling out five pastel blue bills with a '100' stamped on the corners of each paper note, he handed them over to Debbie, reaching down to unclip his pokéballs off his belt and passing them to the attendant as the argument behind him began to escalate.
Debbie placed the six pokéballs into a basket and handed him a tag with the number '37' printed on it and thirty odd-looking green and white pokéballs, the upper green half possessing a yellow-petaled flower tattoo near the centre of the balls.
"Here are your Safari Balls," Debbie explained with a bit of a shout (Haley and Nicola's shouting match had reached colossal volumes and it was hard to hear anything else for miles around) "Your game ends after three hours, or when you run out of Safari Balls. I hope you enjoy your time in the Safari Zone."
"Thanks!" Sapph half-shouted back, keen to get away from Haley, even if it meant going into the Safari Zone.
Hefting the equipment back over his shoulder, Sapph hurried into the Zone as a tall, elderly man ambled in, his receding, snow-white hair framing a prominent forehead. The two attendants noticed his arrival and said formally, "Leader Herbert! Good afternoon!"
The man acknowledged the greeting with a genial wave of his hand as Nicola looked up and suddenly stopped shouting, bowing low in an attempt to hide her scarlet face as formally as possible.
"Honourable Grandfather!" she said abashedly. "Forgive my attitude!"
Crossing her arms rudely, Haley muttered, "Who's this geezer?"
A vein pulsed angrily at Nicola's temple, but in the presence of this venerable stranger dared not speak out of turn.
Chuckling mildly, the man said to his granddaughter, "Oh, do relax, Nicola. I know you're trying your hardest to follow in your idol Erika's footsteps, but like a Torterra, you must first be a Turtwig and then a Grotle. And it seems we have a new face," he added, looking intently at Haley with a steady, unwavering curiosity. "And who might you be, my dear?"
Haley had been taken aback somewhat by the man's polite and jovial manner of speech. After a moment, she unfolded her arms and said a little sourly, "Haley Kent," and as a mere afterthought, figured she'd do the thing properly and added, "Sir."
"Well then, Ms. Haley Kent," the man said with a hearty laugh. "My name is Herbert Brambles the First, and I am the resident Gym Leader of Utopia Island."
"Well, my friend's all eager to meet you, sir," Haley said brightly. Turning to where Sapph stood five minutes ago, all she saw was air. "Hey! Where'd Sapph go?"
"He left whilst you were arguing," Debbie supplied cautiously.
"I'm sorry," Herbert said calmly. "But did you say his name is Sapph?"
Wheeling around in surprise, Haley said, "Yes. Do you know him?"
"Not personally," Herbert said with a chuckle, "but he's made quite an impact amongst my colleagues, the Coreian Gym Leaders. I certainly hear no end of complaint about him from Clyff Endlethorn and Fuego delMorro..."
Haley chuckled drily as the memory of Sapph's two least favourite Gym Leader opponents came to mind.
"So it's my turn to face the mysterious Sapph Manson," Herbert went on to himself, laughing softly. Beckoning to his granddaughter, he turned to leave saying, "I'd like to meet this Mr. Manson, if that can be arranged. I'll be waiting in the Pokémon Centre, is that alright?"
Haley, Debbie and her twin nodded in unison.
"Excellent! Come, Nicola," he said to his granddaughter. "It's time for afternoon tea."
"I'm coming, honourable Grandfather," Nicola said calmly, walking out coolly shooting Haley a contemptuous glare.
Urchin, I'll show you Grass types are the strongest in the world if it's the last thing I do! She thought furiously.
Waving farewell to the formal Brambles family, Haley smiled a huge artificial smile and thought back, Arrogant hussy! I hope we meet in battle soon and when we do, I swear I'll beat the truth that Water types reign supreme into your very soul!
Ten minutes of tramping about the jungle landscape brought Sapph deep into the heart of the Safari Zone. A Technicolor shower of vivid plant life burst from every bush as flowers as wide as Sapph's face was long spilled from every hedge, filling the path with a million scents, some alluring, others deceptively poisonous. Large Mimifly and black Darupa flitted about, the high-pitched whine of the latter's wings filled the air where ever Sapph turned, their beetle black eyes and stubby yet pointed proboscis turning towards anything that moved.
The dangerous bloodsuckers steered clear of Sapph however as a Pokémon Repellent Sapph had applied to himself after his first close run-in with the species did its work. Hoping it stayed effective until he left the park grounds, Sapph nevertheless kept his eyes on the insects as he ploughed onwards, Haley's 'request' still ringing in his ears.
"I wonder if there's such a thing as trainer life insurance," Sapph thought glumly as he stumbled around tropical undergrowth, the blazing sun and moist air making him feel uncomfortable under his anorak. Unzipping it completely, Sapph looked up and saw a couple of sleepy-looking Pokémon sunning themselves as they draped themselves over tree branched several feet off the ground. The sun glinted off their tough looking golden-brown armour as they snoozed, evidently without a worry in the world.
Swatting away a bothersome Darupa, Sapph rounded a clump of trees and came face to face with a large lake, off which the sunlight shone with almost criminal brightness. Shielding his eyes, Sapph took a look behind him and wondering where Haley got to, decided to try his hand at some angling and settled himself in the shade of a tan brown Cliffside and pulled out a fishing pole he had acquired at the Entover City Port whilst looking for the ferry that played the stage for his first face-off with Team Shadow.
Scowling at the memory of what the terrorist group had attempted to do to his Pokémon, his friends and himself, Sapph cast his line in a semi-expert fashion and flapped his collar in a vain attempt to keep cool.
The gravel underneath him felt warm through his denim shorts and after a while the beauty of the island begun to do its work and captivate its visitor.
Finally smiling, Sapph leaned back and exhaled heavily, his worries concerning the Light, Team Shadow, his dangerous travel mate and even the league finals all shrinking away almost as if he were surrounded by a litter of Mogshex. Clasping his hands together, Sapph leaned back against the cliff face and began to drift towards blissful sub consciousness when something small and hard landed smack in the centre of his head.
Gasping in pain, Sapph clutched the crown of his head as whatever hit him landed with a clunk beside the bag that held all of Haley's research equipment. Turning to look at the item that had assaulted his head, Sapph's glare turned into a stare as he beheld a green and white sphere glinting in the early afternoon sun.
Sapph looked straight up towards the lip of the cliff to see if he could find anyone to claim responsibility for the lost pokéball but saw no one. A loud rustling, however, told another story. It almost seemed the pokéball and its occupant (whatever it was) was being abandoned.
Scrambling to his feet, Sapph grabbed the pokéball tightly in his hand. "Oi! Anybody there?" Sapph called up the cliff before a bright red flash erupted from his hand. "You dropped your... what the?!"
By the time Sapph had registered the flash of light coming from the odd pokéball, it vanished leaving his hand clenched around nothing.
"What the heck is going on here?" Sapph gasped, stunned at what had happened. Pokéballs usually vanished like that when the trainer had more than six Pokémon on his person. But something didn't ring true about this. He didn't catch whatever was in the orb, and yet the ball had acted as though he had.
Shaking his head, Sapph decided to get out of the park as quickly as he could and make some inquiries.
Packing his fishing gear and Haley's equipment, Sapph gave the cliff one last sweeping glance before turning around and walking away, back through the overgrowth to the entrance... and he hoped, some answers.
"So you're saying you've never seen that type of pokéball before?"
Sapph walked back to the Pokémon Centre, his mind buzzing. He had hardly left the Safari Zone when a seething Haley had told him that the local Gym Leader had wanted to see him at the Pokémon Centre before snatching the equipment away and huffing off into the national park. Given his past experience with gym leaders and his violent travel mate, Sapph decided to leave Haley to vent and fume about someone whom he'd heard her call a 'Grass-loving Daddy's-Little-Snotbag' and phone Professor Yew's Observatory on his PokéGear about the mysterious pokéball and its occupant.
"No idea, whatsoever," the professor's young assistant Kyle repeated, poring over some data that had returned from the pokéball's primary analysis. "It's a pokéball Steven- that's the other assistant who runs maintenance on the machines here- and I have never seen before." He scratched the back of his coal-black hair and rubbing his slight stubble, added," the only thing I can propose from the ball's design and the way you got it is that the Tentacruel inside was abandoned."
Sapph ground his teeth in anger at the thought of inconsiderate, selfish trainers who, for any reason, threw away loyal Pokémon and asked Kyle, "Any record on who the owner was?"
"None," Kyle said in nonplussed tones. Regarding Sapph with his blood red eyes, he went on," the pokéball ensured that. Well, according to Steven, anyways."
"How?" Sapph asked, now confused himself.
Kyle looked to a man who stepped into the frame of the Pokégear's tiny screen and fixed his thin slanting eyes upon Sapph's somewhat hard blue irises and Sapph guessed that this was Steven. Steven cleared his throat and to answer Sapph's question, said in a booming voice, "The ball is designed to register the first person to touch it as its contents- in this case, the Tentacruel's- original trainer."
His greasy brown hair which was tied in a ponytail shook from side to side as his eyes skated over an ever-lengthening printout. Looking up, he said seriously, "Whoever wanted to lose... sorry, what are you calling it?"
"Tentis," Sapph answered, after dodging a couple of excited children that ran up the street.
"Brilliant," Steven replied calmly although sounding slightly insincere. "Anyways, whoever wanted to lose Tentis... did a pretty good job of not getting caught."
Scratching the back of his head, Sapph queried, "Does the professor have any ideas?"
"He's not home right now," Kyle said in a harried tone, moving back into frame, keeping a squealing Buneary away from a besotted and aggressive Floatzel.
Sapph reached the Pokémon Centre and crossed the threshold as Steven continued from somewhere out of sight, "He left by helicopter with your Pokémon this morning for Utopia Island... hang on," he said as Sapph fell silent, waiting as the glass doors slid shut behind him, Steven's PokéNav's message tone going off. "It's from the Prof. He says here his chopper let down in Entover to wait for a sudden summer storm to blow over!"
"'Summer storm?' There's no..." Sapph echoed in a mystified voice, turning to the glass doors, through which one could see the sea and gaped as he saw a torrential downpour raging in full force. It had apparently started the moment Sapph had entered the building.
Sapph smiled ruefully, as he thought, Whoa, Haley is not going to be happy!
"Sorry?" Kyle said loudly. "Sapph, you're breaking up... llo?" he called as the stormy weather interfered with the reception. "Sending... is... ntover... Prof... bring it... you..." and with a loud crackling noise, the screen went cloudy and the connection was lost.
So, looks like I have a Tentacruel now, Sapph thought, staring at the fuzzy screen as he ended the call.
"So you're Sapphire Manson!" A jovial voice said, bringing Sapph back from out of his reverie. Blinking, he turned around and saw a couple of people dressed in traditional central Johto garb; a young girl with shoulder length hair who looked to be a few years older than Sapph himself and an old man in a similar yet markedly more masculine outfit whose snowy white beard made him look nearly old enough to be his great-grandfather.
"Depends," Sapph said warily. "Who's asking?"
"Herbert Brambles the First, Utopia Island Gym Leader," the elderly man introduced himself, and turning to the young girl, added, "And this is my granddaughter, Nicola."
Looking out the window at the storm, Herbert chuckled good-naturedly and said, "You lucked out, Sapphire. Summer storms here are as fierce as they are unpredictable."
"I noticed," Sapph said drily, knowing Haley was not as lucky.
"I heard you wished to battle honourable Grandfather for his Herb badge," Nicola said in a slightly austere voice.
Sapph looked up at her (for a girl of sixteen, Nicola was rather tall) and nodded determinedly.
"Well, due to bad weather, I'd say we'll need to take a rain check on that challenge," Herbert said brightly, tipping the youths a heavy wink. "How does tomorrow at ten sound?"
"Sounds good," Sapph said cheerfully, liking the charismatic gym leader more and more.
"Then it's settled! Ah, look! The sun's out again!" Herbert chortled, causing Sapph to wheel about; stunned to see that the storm had vanished as quickly as it had hit and the island back to its former paradisiacal self, albeit looking a little storm-swept.
"Don't be late," Nicola warned him darkly, as she turned to leave after her grandfather, giving Sapph a scary look. "I'll be most displeased if you are. The consequences could be... dire."
"Uh, sure," Sapph said weakly, turning to the counter and handing in his Pokémon for a pre-match check up. At the door, Herbert turned back and called, "Ah, and one more thing, Sapphire!"
"Yes?" Sapph replied, still a little jumpy after Nicola's warning.
"Just thought you should know," Herbert went on calmly. "I use only Grass types to battle. So do your best to give me a good match, alright?"
Smiling in a mysterious way, and with another wink, he turned to go leaving Sapph rattled, flabbergasted and thinking hard.
No gym leader had ever flat-out told him what to expect in their upcoming battles. Most gym leaders wouldn't even give him a hint unless they were forced to reveal their hand before the match. Just what was this old man thinking?
The doors whirred open once more and a drenched Haley Kent lumbered in, lugging her now-useless Pokémon surveillance equipment behind her, leaving a wet trail behind her. As they hissed shut behind her, her narrowed eyes spelled trouble as an awful billowing silence began to grow.
What's her deal? Sapph thought worriedly. She can't blame me for the bad weather? Or will she?!
Haley dropped the bag of gear heavily (Sapph winced as they clattered loudly) stalked past Sapph to the counter (Sapph flinched, ready for the hurricane of rage to break) and stopped beside him, the sound water dripping from her clothes ominous.
In a constricted voice, Haley bade Sapph good night despite it being only seven o' clock in the evening, and collecting her card key from the front desk, walked off to the bedroom for the night, her boots squeaking comically all the way down the hall.
Sapph didn't move. He was just grateful to Celebi he wasn't toe jam.
The next day, the Pokémon Center ward where Sapph's team rested after their check up was in utter disarray when Crimson, as per usual the first to rise noticed something distinctly different (and wrong) with the picture that hit his tinted eyes.
Uh, oh, Crimson swallowed, gazing at the bed nearest the window and at the open window. Raising his voice to an urgent shout he roused the others, his voice full of panic. Guys! Wake up, we have a big problem!
Within minutes, Ace, Zen, Lavender, Arcana and Crimson were crowded around the window, their heads sticking out and looking in all directions for where their 'fearless leader' had vanished to.
Damn it, Zen growled, looking around, his head jammed between Ace's and Crimson's. Where the hell did he go today of all days? We have a gym match today!
Dunno, homie, Arcana said, sniffing the air around the window for a scent. He definitely didn't leave too long ago...
Do you think Anii overheard the nurse tell Sapph that he shouldn't fight today? Lavender asked, the reason she was staring around a mystery to all the others.
We all heard her, Lavender! Crimson said worriedly. I really hope Anuvi doesn't do what I think he's going to do...
Which would be what exactly, Lieutenant? Ace asked in a snippy voice. The corporal wouldn't think of ritual suicide no matter what!
R-r-ritual suicide? Lavender squeaked in alarm. He can't!
Arcana managed to work one large paw out of the window and clocked Ace over her helmeted head, saying, Can it, Sergeant Dumb! Can't ya see Lavender's worried enough?
I was going to say he went to gym early to be sure of a spot in the line up for today, which probably might happen if Sapph finds him before we do!
Well, we're lucky in one way, Crimson said grimly as the group pulled their heads back in. Sapph is usually much earlier than this whenever he has a gym battle...
I wouldn't worry about Sapph, Zen said mounting the windowsill, a mischievous grin on his face. He's taking an, uh... extended potty break at the moment. Tell Sapph to go on ahead without us. Good luck!
Oi! What did you mean 'extended...', Lavender interjected starting forwards.
Save it, Lav, Arcana said with a slight groan. He's gone.
I wonder what Zen meant by an extended... Crimson began before the door to the ward banged open and Sapph hurried in, looking frantic.
"Oh, crap, oh crap... we are so totally late!" Sapph muttered to himself, raising six pokéballs in his hands and returning all his Pokémon in a collective flash of light. "When I find the guy who decided to lock me in the toilet, he's so gonna get it!"The boy trainer was so focused on getting out and to the gym on time that he hardly noticed Anuvi and Zen hadn't been recalled.
Half an hour later, as the sun begun to reach its peak, Sapph stood before the oldest and wisest of the Coreian gym leaders, prepared to put his skills to the test. Although the focus was different, and the screens of different tincture, all who would bear witness to the battle to come had their minds fixed solely on the encounter.
"A lot is riding on this battle," Haley muttered to her Pokémon, whom she had decided to let out to spectate from the large yet cramped battlefield's sidelines. "I just hope Sapph doesn't freak out and lose focus."
Sapph, lose focus? Mace barked raucously. Not a chance! Look at 'im... the limey's totally psyched!
It would be a totally uncool turn of events, Vapor conceded in his languid voice, shaking his head and ruff as he assumed a more comfortable position near Haley's heel.
Like, totally, Bubbles agreed, settling on the bench between Haley and Bltzkrieg, who looked around excitedly.
"OK, we all know why we're here, so let's get to it!" Nicola announced, brandishing a pair of referee flags as she stepped up to the side line opposite Haley. The teenager had pulled her chestnut hair back into a bun and donned a green and white hakama identical to her grandfather's. "This'll be a four on four with no time limit! Are both trainers prepared?"
"I believe I'm ready for some fun," Herbert said with a smile.
"Ready," Sapph replied tersely, his mind fixed on following the strategy he'd rehearsed a hundred times since he'd left the Safari Zone. Yet some concerns still clouded his otherwise determined mental poise.
For a gym leader, Herbert sure is lax, Sapph thought worriedly. He's the first one to actually come out and tell me his speciality! What could have been on his mind?
"Then," Nicola said with a flourish of her flags. "GO!"
"I'll take point, shall I, Sapph?" Herbert called out; enlarging a pokéball and cocking it back in one fluid motion. "Come on out... Jumpluff!"
Out of the pokéball and into the warm air came a flash of light which materialized into what looked like a giant clump of dandelions. It was hard for Sapph to tell if the majority of its body was the bulbous blue central part of its body, which was dotted with two sparkling red eyes and a smiley mouth or the three balls of feather-light spores that adorned the tips of its three slender appendages. It rose a few feet as it released a cheery, piping cry and hovered gently back to earth.
Sapph smirked at his opponent's choice of Pokémon.
This match is in the bag.