Chapter 37 - A Matter of PokeBalls
"You want me to go in there with you and cause havoc?"
Khrista nodded, a smile on her face. "Do you want to?"
Raichu was surprised by this question. "Want to? Does a Pidgeot fly? This sounds like the opportunity of a lifetime!" She looked at Sparkler. "What do you think?"
The other Electric Mouse frowned for a moment, a Sitrus Berry in one paw. "I've got one condition to add to that plan of yours," he finally stated.
"And what's that?" Khrista inquired.
"Take me with you."
The blue-eyed teen blinked in surprise. "Take you with me? But you belong with a different Trainer!"
"If I come with you, then I can join up with her," Sparkler replied patiently. "You said Mist is up there, so I'm going."
Khrista let out a sigh as her eyes scanned the Square, where Trainers and Pokemon alike were eating lunch. "I don't know, guys. I was planning on only bringing along two Pokemon, not three."
"Well, those are the terms," Sparkler responded boldly. "You can take it or leave it."
Pika, who happened to be sitting nearby, called out, "Take it, Khrista. This is a perfect opportunity for you to bond with them."
"Well, sure, but I don't have the PokeBalls for any of them." Khrista looked at Red's Electric-Type. "You wouldn't happen to know where they would be, would you?"
When Pika shook his head in response, Linoone suddenly spoke up, "The Professors have been keeping them under lock and key, just in case anyone might try to steal them."
"Under lock and key where?" Khrista inquired, turning to face the Normal-Type next to Pika.
"Somewhere in their lab. I haven't really bothered to ask them where specifically."
"Now would be a good time, then," the teen noted. "Come on - we can go ask Professor Birch about it."
Leaving the Pokemon to decide whether or not they were going to follow her, Khrista made her way through the Square over to where the Professors were eating lunch together.
Oak took note of Khrista's approach, and waved in greeting. "Hello there! What seems to be the trouble?"
"It concerns Pokemon transport," Khrista responded. "I've been considering bringing a Pokemon along with me, just to help with any inner chaos and destruction. Another Trainer's Electric-Type wants me to take him along with the two I'm bringing already. Problem is, I have no idea where their PokeBalls are kept, which makes me feel like a bit of a clumsy, forgetful Trainer."
"You're not forgetful," Birch replied, "and I certainly you'd suspect that you're clumsy. We just happen to be a bit overprotective. We've got your PokeBalls in the lab under lock and key." He peered around her and caught sight of the two Raichu and the Linoone who were approaching. A mischievous grin appeared on his face when he saw how close the Electric-Types were. "Do you think those two could-"
"Birch," Oak stated, giving the Hoenn professor a warning look.
Khrista let out a cough, trying to look anywhere but the Electric Mice or Professor Birch. "About those PokeBalls..."
"Oh! Right," Birch got up from the picnic table. "I'll take care of that for you." The group (which now consisted of the three Pokemon, Khrista, and Professor Birch), made their way through the Square and over to the Professor's building.
As they stepped inside, Khrista suddenly bent forward as weight accumulated on her back.
Raichu's head appeared on Khrista's right shoulder, Sparkler's appearing a moment later to the teen's left.
"Sorry," Sparkler said with a sheepish grin. "It's just been so long since we last did this."
Oh, you two," Khrista murmured in mock scolding. "You can act like Pichu sometimes!" She looked over at Professor Birch, who had been looking on in amusement.
"So, where are the PokeBalls?" Khrista asked, shifting her weight slowly from foot to foot in order to get a new sense of balance.
"Right over here," Birch replied, motioning to a door that was steel that had been painted blue. "We have them arranged according to Trainer, and then according to Type and power." The Hoenn Professor removed a ring of keys from a pocket in his lab coat, choosing a small key and placing it in a comically large keyhole in the center of the door. There was a loud clank as the locking mechanism unlocked.
Birch pushed the door open, revealing a large room, which the group was blocked off from by walls of glass. Beyond said glass, there were shelves upon shelves of PokeBalls.
"Just use the computer there to find the PokeBalls you're looking for," Birch explained, nodding to the device on their side of the glass. "They'll be teleported here automatically."
"Thanks," Khrista stated, nodding to the professor as she walked into the room with her load. Upon reaching the computer, the group jumped off, allowing Khrista to have a little more free movement.
"That's a lot of PokeBalls," Raichu noted, her nose to the glass.
"It's also a lot of Trainers," Khrista responded, looking at the computer screen. "I mean, I've got three book shelves, and there's somebody else who managed to lay claim to five of them. Oh, wait - that's White." She typed "Electric-Types" in the search bar and came up with a list of her own Pokemon. "Let's see..." Quickly, she clicked on one of the names there, then hunted down a name under the Normal-Types. A moment later did the same under Mist, only looking into the Electric-Types.. "They should be coming through in a few minutes."
Off in a far corner of the room, three lights shot up into the ceiling. A moment later, two PokeBalls and a Safari Ball appeared in some sort of dispensing machine right next to the computer.
As Khrista picked up the PokeBalls and examined each in turn, Raichu remarked, "This room looks a lot bigger than the building does outside."
"It could be a hologram of some sort of storage room," Sparkler suggested.
"Or, Palkia made a room that gave more space but takes up less than that," Birch remarked from the doorway. "He did it before Cyrus came back."
"I thought as much," Khrista remarked. She then frowned. "Wait - he made the room?"
"He set up this whole place with Dialga's help," the Hoenn Professor explained. "They had known something was up, but they couldn't quite place what was about to happen."
"So, they didn't know when he was coming, but they did have an estimation," Khrista guessed.
"I guess you could say that." Birch took note of the three spheres in Khrista's hands. "So, you found what you needed?"
Khrista nodded, a look of slightly repressed excitement on her face. "I kinda want to test them out, but I'm a little nervous. Plus, despite the fact that I'm an experienced Trainer, I..."
"You don't really know how to use one," Birch finished. "Relax. I'll give you a quick lesson right now." He chose one of the PokeBalls Khrista had picked up, motioning for the teen to put the rest elsewhere, which happened to be the pockets Khrista had available to her in her jeans. She held onto one herself, so that she could mimic what the professor was doing.
"First, let's figure out who owns which one of these," Birch remarked. "Just point the PokeBall in their general direction and say 'return.' Like this." The Hoenn professor pointed the SafariBall he held at the Electric-Type and stated, "Return."
As though it was expected, Khrista watched calmly as Sparkler turned into a red bean of light and disappeared into the sphere.
Khrista nodded upon seeing the example, then held out her own sphere and stated, "Return," delighted to find that she had chosen Raichu's PokeBall. Turning to look at Birch, she said, "Okay; now I toss the PokeBall to let her out, right?"
Birch nodded. "Like so." He tossed Sparkler's SafariBall into the air in front of him, and the Electric-Type popped one in a flash of light. Khrista then mimicked the Professor's toss, Raichu coming out in the same manner.
"Keep practicing," the Hoenn professor told her. "I'm going to get something for you to carry those PokeBalls for you." He dashed up the stairs and returned a moment later with a belt that looked like it had been designed to carry PokeBalls, as well as a red backpack.
"Put these on," Birch said in a commanding manner.
Khrista nodded and, after putting down the PokeBalls she had been holding, took the belt and put it on. "Huh. Perfect fit," she noted as she threw the backpack over one shoulder.
"Those had been Sapphire's, before she decided to leave behind the whole idea of PokeBalls and items bought in PokeMarts," Birch explained. "All the other belts I have were made for boys."
"Figures. Boys were the first to really become Trainers," Khrista remarked. She then clipped her PokeBalls to the belt, muttering the order she had chosen. "Raichu, Sparkler, Linoone." After giving a quick nod to the Electric-Types and Normal-Type, Khrista turned to look at Birch. "All right, then. Now, do you know where I can find Green?"
This scene came to mind rather easily, actually - as for why Khrista had to learn how to use the PokeBalls, let's just say...she didn't like the TV show enough to watch it.