The day is slowly coming to its end. We have spent so many time on planning and preparing that even didn`t notice the time flow. At least, we have returned back to Cerulean City and now head to Route 5 where we finally deal with pokemon hunters. After what I`ve seen on Route 24 I can`t even call them hunters anymore. Hunter is a quite rare profession and not all people approve it, but there is some honor in hunting anyway.
Poachers – this is who they are. Damn poachers. And poachers have absolutely no honor. Their methods – like the mined traps - are disgusting. And today I will finish someone`s career.
As they said, I followed the side road on Route 5 that led me right into the woods. The old roadblock stated that this way is long forgotten and thus making this area completely abandoned. It`s just a perfect place for a hideout.
The road led me to a construction site of some sort. I tried to understand what this place supposed to become, but didn`t succeed in it – the constructing process was stopped very early, just when the resources were brought here and some cabins for workers were placed. All of them looked abandoned too but I think I got to the right place.
On the entrance to construction site I noticed a small mark on one of trees. Made with knife it looked like the letter 'M'. I immediately understood that Misty prepared this place for the performance and is hiding somewhere near, ready to go.
The area was fenced so the only way inside was just the main gates. As I approached the entrance I noticed some thin ropes stretched on small height over the ground. From one end the ropes were bound to the gates and from the other one are bound together and connected to wheel mechanism on the other side. And that device too was bound to another rope which leads right to the biggest cabin on the site across the whole area.
An alarm system, I guess. Have to admit, it`s pretty smart. The ropes are almost on ground and when someone will step on them – this will alert those who are in the main building. Ropes are very thin and blend with the ground pretty well so you don`t notice them even when you step on them. Nicely done, bastards.
But at first I have to do a quick look around this place without revealing myself. The ropes are placed at a small distance from each other, but together they form some sort of net which the foot will definitely step in if the trespasser walks in. But if the trespasser notices that and jumps over all of it – the alarm won`t work. So I made some steps back and did exactly this, accelerating and carefully jumping over, and landed inside the area. I looked around suspiciously to make sure no one is watching me – although I am absolutely sure that someone is – and headed to the biggest cabin.
I noticed some iron cages near the main cabin. Looks like they transport pokemon in such cages, not in pokeballs. But why? Aren`t pokeballs easier to transport? There is something else hidden behind this mystery, maybe something about the trap pokeball itself. It was so special type I even started to call it a trapball for some reason. Maybe it is dangerous for pokemon to be inside it for too long? Well, there is just four ways to learn it, and I`m going to do the worst one.
So I approached the main cabin and looked inside the window. I was absolutely right - one of the familiar hunters was sitting on the couch and drinking something from the bottle. I walked around the cabin and found the window to another room – and I could hear very quiet voices of the rest two hunters talking.
"That damn shit! How will we tell them that we lost another trap?" The moustached one asked.
"They will send us another one, don`t worry. I hope that damn Bellsprout was in here and at least blown to pieces." The other hunter replied, the one with ugly eye.
"Do you think that guy didn`t catch it?"
"I don`t care even if he did. It doesn`t matter. We should worry about other things…"
"What if he activated the trap?"
"If he did – he`s no longer alive…"
I stopped listening to them as I already learned enough. Time has come to learn even more. So I walked around the house once more and headed to the entrance to the area. This time I intentionally stepped on the ropes, activated the alarm and directed back to the cabin. Now they will be sure that`s me and don`t suspect anything.
I came to the door and knocked. Some time later a rude voice sounded from behind the door.
"Who the heck are you?" His voice sounded really drunken and annoyed.
"The one who completed your quest…" I tried to answer with straight tone.
"Hey, it`s that one!" He shouted to the rest of his crew. After some quiet mumbling they finally opened the door and let me in.
And I found myself in a lair worthy of damn poachers. This place was filled with different broken cages, parts from traps, some strange rusted weaponry and even a table with pokemon trophies like fangs and horns. I hope there is no a Stantler head on the wall.
They led me to another room where all of them took seats on a very old coach. I preferred to stand for a while. The first hunter – the one with ugly eye – took a bottle of beer and made a sip and a loud burp. Fascinating.
"So… You dealt with that Bellsprout?" The second hunter with funny short moustache asked me while rubbing his knife. I should remember this detail.
"Yes, I did."
"Can you prove it?" The third hunter - without any remarkable details in his appearance questioned me. He looked at me very mistrustfully like he didn`t believe in my success at all.
I didn`t reply to this and just took the fourth pokeball on my shoulder belt and threw it high under the ceiling. The capsule almost didn`t reach the top and opened in the midair, releasing light blue energy outside that formed the Bellsprout on the floor. At the first second the hunters twitched before the sight of him but then just become angrier. And Harry become angrier in before the sight of them too.
"Yes… This is the one bastard." The first hunter stood up and made some steps closer to my pokemon to observe him better. The other two still couldn`t believe that I actually caught this troublemaking Bellsprout.
"Take this thing away. Here`s your reward." The third hunter took a small pouch with coins of his pocket and threw it to me but I didn`t move to catch it. The pouch went just near me and fell on the floor.
"I want another type of reward." I said. The hunters became more tense after this but didn`t hurry to do stupid things.
"What do you want?"
I smiled with small corner of mouth and started to slowly walk back and forth across the room.
"I am a hunter too, you know. But sometimes I hunt for another prey. I hunt for… The information!"
Hunters stared at me contemptuously and waited for my next move.
"Stop talking shit!" The second hunter shouted suddenly. "Take the money and get the hell away!"
"Aren`t you going to take this Bellsprout first?" I asked them cunningly.
"No, we don`t need this creep. We hired you to catch it, we don`t care about the rest of its fate. Kill it, eat it, sell it – we don`t give a shit!"
Finally the pieces of a puzzle connected together, just like I expected.
"And now, gentleman, let me tell you a story." I came closer to the window and swiped the dust from it with my finger. "Maybe you know this story already, but I want to tell this anyway."
"I`m done here, boys. Throw him out!" The first hunter finally got mad at me and ordered to attack. Three of them took out their knives and slowly approached me.
"Harry, Wrap them!"
Harry the Bellsprout quickly stretched his vines to wrap legs of two hunters and pull them closer to him. The third one ran to Harry to free his friends but there was me on the way, nicely punching him in the face. Hunter fell on the floor and accidentally hit his head with table and lost conscious.
Harry was busy with other two hunters pulling them across the room.
"Okay, Harry, let`s move to the Gallows maneuver."
Bellsprout pulled his vines with all strength to throw the hunters up and make them lose all their weapons. Then he immediately threw vines over the ceiling beam and caught the bandits again making them hang with their heads down.
"Good job, Harry, keep them here." I complimented the Bellsprout and cautiously approached the hunters. They tried to reach something with their hands but all they could reach were just themselves. They looked very angrily at me when I came closer.
"Who the heck are you?" One of them roared at me.
"I`m just a guy that doesn`t like being attacked. Too bad for you to attack me. Now we will talk, will we?"
"We know nothing!"
"Oh, you know quite a lot. You may not remember now, but you will call to mind a little bit later. In this position the blood will come to your head very soon and let your… brain replacers… work harder. But you don`t want this conversation to last very long as this will also raise body pressure… So let`s do this the easiest way. I tell you the story and you nod me if it`s true. Then I ask – you answer."
"Screw you!"
"Harry, would you please hit the floor with this gentleman?"
Bellsprout gladly listened to me, stretching his vine and lowering the swearing hunter until he hit the floor with head. After some more curses from him Harry raised him back to previous height.
"Okay… I noticed a very interesting detail… You sent me to catch this Bellsprout but NOT to transport him here. Why? I guess you just wanted me to dispose of him as he was troubling you with the hunt in that forest, right? There are plenty of different pokemon, and this guy was keeping you away from them."
I turned to the pile of broken trap parts and pointed my hand at them.
"As I can see, you are lazy hunters. You don`t use pokemon to catch other pokemon. You use traps for it. Produced and delivered to you by Team Rocket. Why would they do that? Such equipment is quite expensive. I think it`s because all pokemon caught by you… are sent directly to Team Rocket!"
Judging by the look on their faces I could see I`m right. For a moment I looked at the fainted hunter in the corner – he was still there. I should watch for him as I wouldn`t want to get a knife in my back.
"I found two of your traps in that forest. And guess what the most interesting thing in them was? The bottle of vine used to attract pokemon. Grass-type pokemon, because I know that this exact vine`s smell is just like their Sweet Scent. This stuff is made of Vileplume spores. You tried to catch not just any pokemon, you were hunting exactly grass-type pokemon. This conclusion leads to the first question. What does Team Rocket need them for?"
"Why would we know? We just sell them!" One of the hunters shouted at me.
"Shut up!" The other one interrupted him. "We tell you nothing!"
"Oh, come on, guys! You should be kinder!" I approached them but had quickly to jump back as they tried to reach me with their fists. Harry reacted to this squeezing their legs tighter, and that sounded pretty hurt. "I have some good experience in interrogating people, you know… I know what makes people talk and perfectly see the lie. And I don`t want to use my full arsenal of… methods of giving a loose to your tongue. So… Should we do it the easy way or the hard way?"
"You don`t dare…"
These guys didn`t want to talk to me anymore but I really wanted to do this easier way. Looks like sometimes humaneness is not profitable. Quiet knock in the window glass signaled to me that we can now proceed to the next stage.
"Ah well… I don`t want to spend the rest of my weekend on you…" I made some steps back and clicked my fingers. "Scarlet Fury, we can begin."
The poachers were surprised in the beginning as they realized that I`m not alone here but soon they became very frightened as the smell of smoke and burning reached them. The walls near them were in flames dangerously cracking. Despite that fire was just in that half of the room where hunters are hanging the temperature started to rise quickly and Harry felt it on himself. I know that grass-types are afraid of flames but not this one. Also we were prepared.
"What the hell?" The first hunter shouted in primal fear.
"You perfectly know what it is. It`s fire coming to you. And the longer you keep silence the nearer it comes to you. So… how about a little chat now?"
The hunters stared at me shockingly. Not surprising as my timing to talk is perfect. The flame covered the inside wooden beams of house and caused some of them to fall down. Slowly fire comes to our side too and makes Harry nervous. Have to admit, I don`t have any intentions to be burned alive too, but we should deal with our matters here and now.
"Lavender town!" Suddenly one of the hunters started to scream. "Lavender town! This is where we deliver pokemon! The black garage near the PokeCenter!"
"You idiot!" The other one grabbed him and started to shake furiously. "They will kill you!"
Suddenly the hunters began to fight hanging in the midair. Not the best timing for this crap, I think. I sighed and looked again at the third hunter slowly coming to his senses and starting moving. I carefully kicked him in the stomach to move him away from the coming flame and returned to the hanging couple.
"At least I will survive THIS!" The second hunter shouted.
Meanwhile the flame comes even closer. I quickly looked up to the place where the Harry`s vines are thrown over the beam and noticed that beam is also already burning and hurting Harry. We need to finish this quickly. I came to them and cautiously separated them from each other.
"One last question. Who gives you orders?"
"Some guy in grey coat just like yours, but shorter! He didn`t tell the name, just the place… We get the notes with orders there and then the payment. That`s all!"
I feel this to be true. This not much but at least something. Looks like I should check the Lavender town too. Maybe I can find their base or something.
"Thank you, gentlemen, for your nice talk. Harry, we`re leaving."
Bellsprout released the poachers and they fell on the floor. I turned around and met Misty behind me. She nodded and took a pokeball out of her pocket and threw it to the ground, releasing a star-like pokemon on the floor. Didn`t expect to see it here – I thought she will find fire extinguisher or something. But having a water-type pokemon was much more convenient.
"Staryu, Water Gun!" Misty ordered the attack, and the pokemon reacted. Staryu jumped on place and released a huge water stream right in the faces of hunters, also extinguishing the fire in small area around them. "And that one, please…" Misty didn`t forget about the third one and ordered to wash him too. A strong water stream helped him to come back to senses quicker. After some loud coughs he tried to get up. "Thank you, return…" Misty returned her pokemon back and headed after me.
We left the poachers alone and exited the building. Everything around was in flames… Misty burned literally everything on this abandoned site. She had to improvise a lot during the preparations, and she did well.
"Wow, you worked hard on this, didn`t you?" I complimented her and we headed to the exit from this damned place. Misty took a bag standing nearby and handed it over to me. I accepted it and took over the shoulder.
Near the entrance we heard some screams from the direction of main building and noticed the angry hunters running to us. We accelerated a bit and ran though the entrance outside the area. I noticed a pile of trash nearby.
"Golduck, use Psychic!" Misty suddenly shouted. A blue pokemon appeared behind the trees gladly greeting us. He stared at the trash pile and raised hands up, his eyes and a point on forehead started to glow red. The same red glow appeared around the pile as it started to move. It was raised up and placed right in the middle of narrow passage to the construction site, completely blocking the way in or out.
Hunters realized that they are trapped inside and started to climb over the walls, but to prevent it I just came to a generator that was moved to outside of fence and turned it on. A small electricity charge across the entire fence made poachers stop their attempts to escape. They started to shout at each other and soon another fight started.
"Meh, they just can`t stay quiet, can they?" Misty cunningly smiled watching at the three criminals beating the shit out of each other. I hope they are smart enough to keep away from the flames until the police arrive and save them. And doom them, of course.
"They can`t…" Turned back and looked at the road. My companion came closer and touched my shoulder. "Nice job anyway." I gave her a high-five. "I didn`t expect you to use water pokemon. Are they yours?"
"Yes, they are." Misty approached the Golduck and petted him. After some time she returned him back to pokeball and put it in her pocket. "I`m… not a usual teacher, you see."
"You amaze more and more each time, Misty. What teacher exactly are you?"
"Oh, I will tell you. How about to learn this tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow? I wanted to visit pokemon gym in your city tomorrow and challenge the leader." Just now this thought appeared in my mind. I completely forgot about one of this plans and I should deal with this before I leave the city.
"Great! I will be there tomorrow too."
"Really? That`s… Convenient."
"It really is. So let`s leave this place and see what I`ve found." She pointed with her eyes at the bag in my hands. Hope she really succeeded in the before burning the entire hunter hideout.
"Yeah… Let`s go, Harry." We turned left and headed to the depth of the forest. But suddenly I noticed that my new pokemon doesn`t follow me. Instead of it he just stared at us very angrily, even furiously, like he`s going to attack us.
"What`s wrong?" I crouched before him. Bellsprout pointed at the burning site. "Oh, I see. You think your captured friends are there? But they are all here." I put the bag on ground and opened it. Harry mistrustfully looked at me and just then cautiously approached the bag and looked inside. It was full of those damned trapballs.
"By the way, Misty, did you find the key?"
"Of course, I did." She gladly handed over to me a small mechanical device.
"Good. We can return back to Route 24 and release all your friends." I gave a serious look to Bellsprout. I understood the worry for his own kind very good, but right now I need to be sure everything is all right between me and my pokemon. Harry doesn`t trust me, and acts just because he is forced to cooperate, but I don`t know whether he will follow me after that. Such good pokemon could a great addition to my team, but I don`t want to force him into it.
Harry finally nodded to me and I returned him back to pokeball.
"Now we can go back, I guess." I reported to Misty and we headed to the main road of Route 5. Soon the police and the firemen and ambulance passed near us, heading to the place of our small performance.
"Do you think these idiots will survive?" My companion asked me.
"I`m sure of it. Our methods may be harsh, but super effective and almost safe. Don`t worry, they will spend the rest of their days in jail, where they belong." I gently hugged her shoulder and smiled with sarcasm.
"I stole the half of evidences and burned the rest..." Suddenly she said.
"Damn it…"
The rest of day was absolutely uneventful. We caught a taxi on our way back to Cerulean City and reached the woods of Route 24. I immediately sent Harry out to control us. I wanted to show him what my real intentions are, to earn some trust. This is not a proud and arrogant pokemon like Moment, and I have to find some other way to his heart.
Harry looked at the bag and then switched to us. His look still had no trust in eyes, much more of an impatience. I noticed some bad burning marks on his body, and he didn`t even tried to show me that. Admiring the will of this pokemon again, I took out a potion and approached the pokemon. He cautiously retreated away from me.
"Come on, man! Don`t be afraid, this will heal you."
He just shook his head and jumped back. This pokemon still don`t want to cooperate in full. I sat on ground in lotus posture before him and put the potion away. He watched over all my actions very attentively. I looked at his eyes and put my hand into the bag continuing staring at him. Using my another hand I took out the key to a trapball and opened the first one. It creaked and opened, releasing the energy form of pokemon outside. It turned into an Oddish between me and Harry. All this time I was continuously looking at Bellsprout`s small eyes, and he did the same even when a pokemon was released. The weed pokemon gladly squeaked before us and moved away.
I grabbed the second pokeball and opened it too. This time there was a Bellsprout inside. He rushed to Harry, happy to see him but when noticed our 'game of peepers' he moved away cautiously too.
A complete silence fell upon the forest. I could hear Misty breathing not far from us. She didn`t interrupt us and I was thankful for it. This psychological battle I need to win alone.
I took the third trapball and put a key to it but stopped. Harry twitched a little.
"You`re a tough guy, I see. But you`re as stubborn as my dad was." I put the trapball on ground and got up. "You don`t trust human, and that`s right. I don`t trust them either. I would never trust anyone like me, so let`s not waste this mistrust." I took the potion off ground and handed it over to Harry. "Here`s the deal. I will open all your friends only after you let me heal you."
That was definitely the weirdest ultimatum I`ve ever done. But this seemed to work. After some time of mistrustful looks Bellsprout lowered his head and closed accepting the offer. I gladly sprayed the potion on him. The wounds and burns soon faded away, but small scratches remained. The main scar remained.
"This will do, friend."
I sat on ground again and continued opening the rest of trapballs. Harry was watching closely as I open new capsule and set another wild pokemon free. Time passed and finally all trapballs were opened and the Harry`s flock was back.
But I noticed surprised look on Bellsprout`s face when the last trapball was opened. He didn`t believe that is all and rushed to the bag to check by himself.
"What`s wrong, Harry?" I asked him. He snorted as he realized the bag is actually empty and turned back to me pointing at the sack. I stood up and came closer.
"Someone is missing, right?"
Harry nodded in agreement. I could suspect that.
"Maybe some of your friends were already delivered to the Lavender town." I believe that Misty worked hard enough to collect all trapballs in hunters` hideout and that means just that the others are sent to Team Rocket.
"Listen, pal." I crouched before Harry again to look straight in his eyes. "I can see that you`re a freedom-loving pokemon, but life changes too quickly. You want to save the rest, right?"
He nodded again. That sounded just like the unneeded rhetorical question.
"I will visit Lavender town anyway. I will try to find the place where hunters were leaving caught pokemon to Team Rocket. But I need your help in that. I need strong and fearless pokemon like you in my team."
He perfectly understood what I`m going to say and lowered his head.
"Hey, don`t do that! That looks like I force you to go or enslave you… No, you should walk proudly with your head held high! This is your decision. Come with me and save your friends. Misty can watch over this place during this. Or stay here and continue avoiding contacts to people."
I put the scratched pokeball on ground between me and Harry and pointed on it. I didn`t earn his full trust, but maybe he will at least give me the chance to.
He had to think it through. I waited for it. I gave him the time he needs. I sat there without moving, just looking at him.
Some minutes passed, I`m sure. But finally Harry made his decision and came closer to his pokeball. He looked indulgently at me and then tackled the capsule with his head, making pokeball to open and beam him inside.
He agreed.