Chapter 13
" We were victims of the night, The chemical, physical, kryptonite, Helpless to the bass and the fading light,"- Shut Up And Dance by Walk The Moon
"Hello students!" Juniper says as though the debacle from an hour ago never happened. I can't help but digest all of it. I ignore Juniper's usual long lectures and do a play-by-play of her interaction and N's, as well as White's interactions with him. And how yesterday was such a weird day full of unwanted emotions. Yes, I have them, but they don't surface like that ever, yet it perfectly matches White's description about the Shadow Triad.
And it matches what Cheren had to say to me through our conversation. It also explains why my babies were acting out all of a sudden.
But that doesn't matter. What matters is how I'm going to help White take down Team Plasma. I may not be as adamant on it as she is, but I want to see it happen. They've caused too much pain and suffering for myself and people across Unova. I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I swear I'll find a way. I'll find a way and White will meet her goal as N's chosen rival.
"Bianca?" Colress' voice drowns my thoughts. His glasses shine in the cave, which would probably seem creepy to most people, but after what's happened in the last hour, nothing can faze me. It also helps that his voice is friendly and approachable.
"Yes?" I say.
"Is this a bad time?"
"Uh, no!" I notice how everyone's dissipated and has started to look at the crystals and make idle conversation among each other. "I was just lost in thought."
"Ah yes. Happens to me quite often. I was going to ask you something." Huh? It makes my body tense up. Is he going to ask me for my number? Out on a date?
"Yes?"
"I had an ulterior motive in coming here." It makes me hold my breath. "See, you coming here is perfect for my plans. I kept thinking about what you said to me back then and I've decided that I'm here to catch my first Pokémon."
"Oh." I pause. "That's great!"
"My problem is that I don't have a Pokémon and I can't catch one unless its weakened."
"Of course." Oh wait. "I can help you out. Heck. Here, have these!" I spend about fifteen seconds digging through my bag and I give him five of the ten Ultra Balls Juniper has given me.
He begins to stutter. "I-I-I don't think that's necessary. I also have—."
"Don't worry about it! Once you become a trainer, you'll want to catch some more Pokémon to love! Or in your case, study. Anyway, I've got plenty more."
"Um, thank you?" Did I just make him blush? I can't see the color of his face other than the blue hues the cave gives out on this side. It's strange how when you're on the Mistralton side, there's less crystals. "By the way. I forgot to mention I'm interested in catching a Klink in particular."
"Wow. They're really elusive. Then again, Juniper's been annoying them and trying to inquisition them in a less than subtle manner. She means well, but this is probably the reason why she's a professor and not a trainer," I say. It might be the reason why I haven't taken out my Pokéballs and have done my duty as bodyguard.
There's that lull in the conversation. "Maybe we should go look for Klink over there."
"Totally. That could work." We stay nearby the group, but search for an actual Klink instead of clues to its origins. Instead, I feel something latching onto my skirt and I know it isn't Ganon or Courage, as they're inside their Pokéballs.
"Bianca—"
"Tiktiktiktiktiktiktik" About four Joltik climb up on my skirt, their little legs twitching in a rapid manner.
"Joltik. How fascinating!" Colress says, leaning down so that he can get an eye-to-eye view on them. "I've read about them. They're one of the smallest Pokémon on record, averaging four inches in height. They like to attach themselves onto other Pokémon as a natural part of their instinct and they'll try to generate electricity. It usually fails, as they're too small to conduct that much power." He straightens himself once more all the while the Joltik go about in their endless "tiks" across my body.
"That's nice and everything, but they're crawling all over my body! And it really—" one of them starts rubbing against my skirt and a second tries to climb up my left arm, making me laugh as it tickles me. "Ahahahaha. Help!"
Colress awkwardly stands there for a second, unsure on how to help. "So which one should I...?"
The one on my arm finds their way onto my hair and I feel a slight pull down. "That! One! The one on my...hair!" He quickly pulls the tiny Pokémon that is dangling from my hair. I turn around frantically as the tickles get worse, my body shaking all over. "Eeeee!" I'm not scared of them, as they're too adorable to be scary, but...
"If you could please stay still. I'd like to pry them out before the mother Gavantula finds us," Colress says, finishing my thoughts.
"Do it now! Hahahaha!" Colress pries a Joltik away from my back. One left and it's right on my chest. He awkwardly stares at the creature (or so I think). With just this one left, my giggle fit is gone.
"Uh..." I understand why he's at a loss for words.
"Hey there," I tell the Joltik on my chest.
"Tik?"
I bring my hand to it and bring it towards a nearby crystal, where it happily tries to play with the currents from it. "Well okay," I breathe. "That was an interesting experience."
"Very interesting. We—I, mean, I should do this more often." He pauses and I blush. Since the lights here are blue, I don't think he can notice it.
"We need to find that Klink then. Maybe if I take out one of my Pokémon, it'll react and want to fight."
I decide to take Madge out on account of her more neutral damage. Taking out Ganon would end up with Klink floating away in fear like they do. Instead, she takes sight of Colress and examines him, reacting very differently than she did yesterday, thankfully. This totally affirms the fact that the Shadow Triad were stalking me.
"Madge, do you think you can sniff out a Klink?" She gives a low bark, which indicates both a "no" and how I think she's close to her final evolution into a Stoutland. "That's okay. If you see one, then engage it." Her bark is more affirmative this time.
We look around with some of the other scientists for evidence and discover loads of possibilities of data that could trace into the Klink line. For one, they are a relatively new species and are attracted and born from industrialization. I mean, Steel is a relatively new type, as it was founded and categorized about a decade ago, but I'm unsure how it was discovered. "Colress, do you know how scientists discovered Steel Types?" I ask, taking myself out of my reverie and the somewhat comfortable silence between us.
"Magnemite and Magneton are often cited as the primary Steel type, at least as a beta. It was always right in our faces, yet no one noticed it. It's the most interesting part about science. Everything is always right under our noses. That's why we always look into places that have been discovered and seen hundreds of times because there's always the distinct possibility of something new." I can see him wavering from the topic. I gotta get him back on track.
"Okay, but what about Steel Type moves? How were they discovered, then? It's a thought that's always made me wonder."
Colress's face lights up at my question. I have no doubt he knows the answer. "After the type was categorized and announced, trainers like you were sought out. Specifically trainers who had managed to train Pokémon like Magnemite. At the forefront of this study was Steven Stone, who recruited about half of the Rock Type trainers and joined him in efforts of bringing out their potential. They also made man-made technical machines and took notes if the Pokémon would respond. Some of these types are able to breed, like Steelix, for example, and have been able to pass on these learned moves to their young. It goes back to those who have been nigh impossible to breed, like a Klink. Klink have been shown to breed with Ditto to create a new Klink. Yet there has been no data on Klink breeding with others of its line and this brings us back to the fact as to why Professor Juniper is so interested in their origins."
"I see. It's all roundabout."
"Exactly." I take a small sense of pride as he nods at my words.
"Klink?" We get so caught up in our conversation that we don't even notice Madge attacking a Klink on her own.
"Madge! I'm sorry!" She barks nonchalantly. "I know you've got this. You're a fierce, independent Herdier who don't need no man." Madge barks back at my lame joke and I record the Klink's data onto my Pokédex as Colress watches enthusiastically.
"So this Klink could very well be mine?"
"Yeah. I don't think he—I mean, it's weakened yet. Think you can Crunch it, Magde?" Her bite does neutral damage, but I see the Klink floating a little less straightforwardly. My experience with Munny has helped me notice this in hovering Pokémon. "Okay. I think it's time. Colress, you want to throw one of the Ultra Balls I gave you?" I ask him, my line of sight facing towards him.
"I'll do that," he hesitates for a second, unsure if his throw is going to reach the Pokémon hovering in front of us. "So how is this going to happen? Is it going to absorb the energy from the ball or—"
"Just throw it!" He throws the ball and like he said, it gets sucked into the energy it produces. "And now we count three rolls until it clicks. Or else, it's rinse and repeat." There's a dramatic pause like always when catching Pokémon. "One..."
"Two..."he says.
My hand somehow finds his arm, which is covered by a lab coat. I don't know why I'm touching him, but I somehow am. "Three," we both say.
Time stretches and the ball makes the most wonderful sound in the world. Click!
"Yay!" I take my hand away and jump midair! "We caught the Klink!" I run up to the ball and pick it from the ground. "Here you go!" Madge barks enthusiastically. "Thank you so much, Madgey! I'll give you a Poképuff when we reach Mistralton." I call her back into her ball. "Oh right. This is yours." I walk back and give the ball to Colress. "Congratulations, you officially have your first Pokémon."
"I don't know how I can ever thank you."
"Don't worry about it. It feels nice to help people out. Especially a friend." I don't really notice how I probably just friendzoned him completely by accident. Whoops. I want to smack myself, but instead, I awkwardly wave my hand.
He reacts by giving a small smile. "You consider me a friend?"
I nod repeatedly. "Yes! We get along well enough, don't we? And I like our conversations."
"I'm not very good at making friends. I'm too focused on my own work to really notice." Hmm. I think since we're friends now, I can look at him a bit more sideways. There's more to him and I know it. Well, there's more to everyone than what they seem, but he's kind of vulnerable. But like, in the opposite way I am.
"I'm kind of shy around people, but I loosen up eventually." Except I think you might be the exception, Colress. "Or at least I think I'm that way. Okay, mostly around Cheren and White, who are my best friends, but our journey's kind of separated us."
"What do you mean?"
"We're all pursuing different things. Cheren—he's the one who called me last time we spoke—he wants to replace Alder as Champion. And White—well, her goals are a bit difficult to explain. Then there's me. I'm just running around Unova trying to find what I want. Most people want to find themselves but the thing is, I know myself. I know myself better than anyone else. I don't know what I want with my life, while my friends do. And in that way, we're all being pulled apart. It's terrifying, if I'm being totally honest."
Colress is silent and I notice I just told him one of my bigger insecurities. I need to say something before he says something or this becomes too unbearable and I run away.
"I'm sorry. I was rambling. Why don't you take out Klink and say hi to it? I think friendship is the most important foundation of a Pokémon-trainer relationship."
Colress is taken aback by my instructions. "I'll do that. Klink, come out."
"Klink?" It stares at Colress with its their beady eyes with wonder.
"Does it...like me?"
"It might eventually if you treat it nicely. Don't worry, all Pokémon-human relationships have to start off somewhere." Okay, I'm back in a more comfortable conversation topic. One that actually deeply interests me as my relationships with my own Pokémon have evolved since I set out.
"I understand. It'll be in good hands with me."
"Yeah, take him to the Center in Mistralton and get him checked up. I have an app that can determine his...oh darn. I keep using the wrong pronouns."
"That's fine," he reassures me.
"Well, you can take it to Center but right now I can use an app that checks on their nature. My Xtransceiver can totally do that for you. I can teach you how to install the app on yours." Wow, Bianca. Smooth. So smooth. You deserve a gold medal.
"Mine's outdated by a few years so I'd love to see yours."
Still smooth, Bianca.
"Okay then!" I pull up the app and have it scan Klink.
"Pokémon identified: Klink. Nature: Hasty. Highly persistent."
"Well there you go. It's a hasty Klink."
"Thank you for everything. I'm glad this was a success."
"Me too."
Juniper passes right through us. "Hey you two. How's the front, Bianca?"
"Other than Joltiks trying to climb up on me, we're fine and there's no attacks. I think most of them are scared."
"Oh. That's rather regrettable, but it might be due to how we humans might be intimidating them. Pokémon don't generally attack those in packs, but there are a few who are bold enough to," Juniper says. "Oh well. Anyway, we're just about done with the mission. We've collected almost all of the data we were looking for so thank you to you both for your efforts. I had a lot of fun here and I don't get to say that very often."
"I totally had fun too, Professor Juniper!" I tell her. "This was probably the best job I've done so far!"
"That's really great. So if I need you in the future, I can always call you?" Juniper asks.
"Of course!" She reaches and shakes my hand. "And we can have coffee together!"
"And doughnuts! And you can join, too, Colress," she says to him.
"That sounds splendid," he says, positioning his glasses.
We're on the more normally lighted side of the cave now, and I can see his face a lot better. For some reason, it makes me feel less confident, but in another, it makes me even more content we're almost out because I really want to rest.
"So what are your plans, now, Bianca?" Colress asks as we leave the cave. It's a warm day outside and the air feels a lot less humid and stifling. The sun is out, but it's kind of weak. I think it's about four or five in the afternoon.
"I'm going to go visit the Center now and check in. Then I plan on going to Celestial Tower early tomorrow morning."
"Celestial Tower?"
I nod. "Yes. I'm going early to see the sunrise." I don't go beyond the subject.
There's a pause in the conversation. "Can I join you? Maybe I can train Klink. I'm also curious to see what Celestial Tower holds."
"Yeah. I see no reason not to."
"Great. I plan on going to Castelia in the early afternoon. I should go check into a motel, but I should more importantly heal Klink." I nod, steering towards the Pokémon Center as we walk together. It's silence, but I don't mind. I'm actually really tired and since I plan on going to Celestial Tower tomorrow, I better go to sleep early as well.
"So do you have a trainer ID?" I ask him as we enter.
"Sort of. I don't have an identification in the way you do, but one that shows that I am ready to catch Pokémon and store them in a PC if need be, but not for traveling or obtaining Gym Badges," he finishes as he turns in Klink's ball to the nurse. I follow and turn in the rest of my lovelies. Since they didn't do almost any battling, the healing process is relatively short.
We both stand in the middle of the lobby and I'm unsure what else to say. I should ask him about his contact info, but why am I frozen in place?
"So I'll see you tomorrow?" he says.
"Totally."
"That's great. I'll meet you here at around five in the morning?"
"Is four thirty okay?"
He nods. "Yes, that's fine too."
"Um. Bye then. I'll see you tomorrow," I quickly say. He walks out and I'm left alone. I then spend the next minute chastising myself for not being forward enough. I can talk about anything in the world but when it comes towards personal stuff, I look like a dumb blonde. I sigh and go find my room, feeling the need to pass out.