And so we slept over the whole night, and even more. The loud snore of Dumpling finally woke me up when he was breathing right over me. Actually, seeing a threatening face of dragon-like monster as the first thing in the morning is not a thing for nervous people.
I couldn`t get used to the fact my pokemon finally evolved.
"Hey, big boy…" I greeted Dumpling in the morning. "You finally grew up. I`m proud of you."
He gladly growled in reply. Maybe, he is not used to his new body yet, but anyway Charizard looks amazing.
I stood up and looked around. Seems like nothing changed here yet. But some smell of melted metal is definitely coming from outside.
"Are you coming?" I asked my Dumpling, and he tried to get up too. With my help he did it, and both of us headed outside. I easily opened the mechanical door from inside and moved forward.
Firstly, the shining sun blinded us for a bit, but we got used to it quickly. Getting used to the sight before us was much harder.
Well… The machine is a scrap metal now; cops were trying too hard to protect it… by destroying it. Ratz the Raticate was sleeping in a stack of hay nearby, tired flying heroes were resting on a tree. Two Pidgeots and two Fearows – almost untouched. They were very lucky about that.
But what about the prize… I don`t know if we will be able to do something about it. The insides look fine… Despite seeing the insides from outside is not fine at all. I think, Bill can do something about it.
Dumpling behind me growled quietly. I turned around to him and noticed again how much he grew. He`s nearly of my height now and even a bit bigger! That`s just so cool. And now, as he evolved into Charizard and grew a nice pair of wings, maybe he can fly now and carry me around the world?
"Hey, partner." I poked him into the massive stomach. "You rule."
This time he raised his big paw to give me a high-five. And a high-five I gave him! So strong he even shrieked from my hit and howled from the sudden pain in the hand.
"Oh, I`m sorry. You`re not healed yet. I will send you to the nearest PokeCenter when guys come." I promised to my partner Dumpling. He nodded and slowly headed back into the Bill`s workshop.
As for me – I laid right on the hay and had a rest until the very arrival of my partners-in-crime.
The actual arrival happened pretty soon; maybe, in an hour or two. I had some time to think where my life falls now and to create a couple of good ideas for maneuvers.
But in the end my rest was interrupted by the loud sound of tires. The host is back.
I lazily stretched myself on my hay bed and got up. The car behind gates really looked like Bill`s – just he can put a sun battery on his car.
The inventor approached the gates and pressed something inside his cabin to open the entrance from distance.
"Hey there!" I greeted him and his companion Leaf. For some reason she didn`t look very happy.
Bill parked his car and finally left it. Leaf quickly went out too and headed to me, very determined to give me a slap. But she didn`t. Maybe I overdid a little when playing a bad guy this night.
"Come on, girl, make your mind!" I said her.
After some seconds of confused thinking she suddenly rushed to me and hugged tightly.
"Ouch, why? What did I do to deserve that?"
"She was really worried about you." Bill explained her strange behavior by explaining nothing.
"We could just trade…" Leaf quietly said while squeezing me tighter in her grasp. "I didn`t want to risk your life and life of your pokemon for that!"
"Hey-hey, listen!" I finally escaped and grabbed her shoulders. "We`re fine. I am alive, Dumpling alive and finally evolved! You`re alive, Bill is alive and all our small gang is alive. Don`t worry."
Girl made a couple of steps back and suddenly looked at my right arm.
"You`re bleeding again."
After that I looked at it too. Looks like the bloodstream reached my palm and dried up when I was sleeping. Damn, I have to clean my shirt again.
"It`s nothing. Must be my wound opening again. We must work now."
"Okay now, stop." Bill suddenly interrupted me. "No work for you now." He took out a pokeball from his pocket that appeared to be Dumpling`s. "I will go to Cerulean and give your Charizard to nurse. He needs serious medical attention. Meanwhile Leaf will take care of you… You know how to apply bandages, right?" He addressed Leaf.
"I… I will try." She timidly replied.
"That`s better than nothing. You can find them in my big white box in the kitchen. And you. You don`t do anything stupid, okay?" This time he obviously addressed me. "I will return and then we summarize the results of our… operation. Deal?"
"Deal." I boringly answered.
Bill nodded, gave Leaf keys and headed into his workshop, to take my Dumpling. Girl carefully took me under shoulder and led to the main building.
"Hey, Bill!" I shouted to him. "If you meet Misty… Tell her I was right about not promising her. She will understand."
The man confusedly nodded once more and walked away.
Leaf carefully got me inside Bill`s house where I silently pointed at the direction of main room. There we sat on sofa and sighed. I bended on back while Leaf was looking around for new bandages.
"How did your Dumpling survive? Bill told me it… evolved into Charizard. Is that right?" Girl tried to begin the conversation.
"Yeah. But if you think that he immediately spread his wings and learnt to fly like this would be in a movie or a fantastic book – you`re terribly wrong. He fell in someone`s garden and barely stayed alive. If it wasn`t for Bill`s teleporter thingy we would be finished."
"Oh, Ven, why did you begin all this in the first place?" Leaf lectured me while returning back with bandages in her hands. "Was it even worth it, this damn machine?"
"Machine was not my primary target." I confidently answered her. "My plan is to make their boss - Giovanni - angry. He tries to keep his Team Rocket`s status a secret, and I didn`t see anything such big in their activities."
"I don`t understand…"
"These days I… studied them a little. All they do is steal pokemon and rob small shops. Nothing outstanding. Nothing like what we did. This will attract attention to them. And I`m sure Giovanni will understand who is behind all this."
Leaf sat near me and stared at my eyes. She listened to me without any movement.
"You`re taking them too serious, Ven. They are just a bunch of robbers."
"Oh no, my dear. They are not." I got up from my place and raised my hand up. "They are much, much bigger! Team Rocket are not idiots… Giovanni is not an idiot. They are planning something. Now they steal pokemon to sell them for money… or use them to rob people and make even more money."
I sat back on the sofa and stared deep into girl`s eyes.
"They are not just mafia. They have high-qualified engineers, scientists! They have equipment! I saw it in their hideout in Celadon City. More than that - the whole Saffron City is completely cordoned by cops because of them! They are up to something really, really serious. Maybe this will endanger the whole Kanto, the whole world! I want to find out what it is."
Leaf looked down in thinking. Maybe she didn`t believe me, maybe she did. But I made her think. But she was thinking not for long, with raising her cold eyesight at me again.
"You can`t stop villains in such condition. Remove your shirt."
"Hey, lady! We know each other for so little time. I am not used to you yet…"
She seriously looked at me. After that I just couldn`t argue and obediently took off my shirt. Leaf carefully took off my old dirty bandages, slowly and painfully tearing them off my body, and replaced them with the new ones.
And here we go again… I am half-naked, in bandages and a pretty girl running around me. That reminds me a little… I wonder how is Erika doing.
Bill returned surprisingly quickly. The nurse promised him that my Charizard will be fine after a short recovery period. Everything returned back to normal, and to the end of work day all of us met again around the supper table. The host even grabbed some vine for this small event.
"Well, team… Looks like we finally finished our job." I joyfully began. "What`s the machine`s status?"
"I think it will live." Bill replied and made a small smile. "We were really lucky that the insides are almost intact. The chance actually exists. I can make it!"
"WE can make it, because I will be part of this too. Maybe you will teach me something."
"No problem, Ven."
"Then this is great! We successfully acquired the machine, we have sent a message to Team Rocket and… also my Dumpling evolved." I looked at Leaf` face and noticed how she doesn`t take all that as a success. "I know you were worried. I was worried even more. But it was me who screwed up the operation…"
"Don`t blame yourself. We did it!" Bill cheered me up. "That was the best thing I`ve ever done! Next time we will be more ready."
"There will be no next time." Leaf interrupted him. "I… I still don`t understand why you decided to rob a Pokemon Center in the first place! There is an easier way."
Bill suddenly gave me a suspicious look.
"You didn`t tell her?" He asked me.
"What he didn`t tell me?" The girl questioned Bill.
"You see…" He turned to Leaf and began explaining. "I always wanted to get a trading machine, to learn it`s technology. I never could because they are sold ONLY to PokeCenters. And this… this is the opportunity of life."
"I can`t believe I agreed to that!" She shouted. "Don`t you realize we robbed a damn Pokemon Center! Just to… steal the technology of trading machine?"
"We were going to return it back after we finished." I said her. "But I`m not very sure it will be that easy now."
"Not the technology itself that is actually important. We want to study the process of trading and find out the cause of pokemon evolution during this." Bill explained.
"And that`s how your request led us to… this." I pointed at the warehouse where our melted prize was stored.
Leaf lowered her eyesight to think more. She was in doubt, and that`s not surprising. The fact that she agreed firstly – THAT`s what is surprising. Persuading Bill was easy too, but he is a man of these things. I knew I can count on him.
"What if we will be wanted now?" After taking her time Leaf asked.
"You definitely will not." I calmed her down. "You were in the epicenter, and you acted like savior. But… you may want to avoid returning there for a while…"
"Anyway, I cleared all our trails – in my command center and your room." Bill added after me. "There is no way they can find out who that was."
"Yes, but I will have to return there." I said. "Because I still want to try challenging the local gym."
"Ah, the poison-type gym of Fuchsia… A really tough challenge."
"But for now we have some work to do and vine to drink." I raised my glass high up. "For us, my partners in crime!"
"For us!" Bill joined me in this small celebration.
Leaf had to think some more before finally joining us too.
"Ah, screw that. For us!"
The next days were hard. Me and Bill were working on studying the machine we got. It was some really nice experience for me as his assistant: I actually learnt something and Bill managed to understand how the machine works. Leaf stayed with us too, helping in the house and controlling us so we don`t forget to eat at least once a day; the process of inventing was so enthralling. I learnt that Leaf cooks pretty good. But I also learnt much about engineering during our hard work. We even set a couple of experiments with our pokemon to check our theories.
Finally, we proved that when trading the machine emits some sort of waves that have a strange effect on pokemon: they temporarily forgot who their trainer is. Bill called this 'straight psychic influence'. This helps pokemon to get used to their new owner, but has a small side effect when the trade is made again. My Reaper had no idea who I am when Bill returned him back. Anyway, this definitely not a good thing to trade pokemon often again.
But in the end we somehow succeeded in replicating the wavelength of this waves and even evolve Bill`s Kadabra into an Alakazam! That was a real success.
I felt myself a serious scientist here. All this is so amazing and interesting… I wish I had more time for this. Too bad Team Rocket doesn't give me any.
In a small break I even remembered to call professor Oak and ask about the progress of that pokemon record analyzing. Professor compared that cry with all Kanto pokemon and didn`t find any, but he said to have an idea. I had to trust him and just wait… Wait and work even harder.
"So… Does that mean you`re going back?" Leaf asked me when we were having a rest sitting on a bench outside of the house.
"Yep. I did what I wanted. That was… a very good experience. Now I have to move forward. I still have job to do."
"And you didn`t help me evolve my Graveler!"
"We will have a surprise for you in the morning."
The late night looked really calm. The cloudless sky, warm air, easy wind – everything is so nice. Bill has a really nice place to live here. Far enough from the city, all alone with your ideas, your inventions and your pokemon. That looks like a paradise, actually. That`s how I want my pension to look like. But firstly I have to live until that.
"Leaf… Tell me one thing." I asked the girl and looked deep in her eyes. "You`re not connected to the guys in black suits I saw on the ship?"
She was confused by this sudden question and opened her mouth to say something, but I interrupted her even before that.
"Please, don`t lie to me. I can perfectly see the lie."
"I swear I don`t even know who you are talking about!" She sincerely replied.
For nearly a minute I was staring into her eyes looking for the truth. I didn`t find it. As well as I did not find the lie. Maybe it`s me who is wrong?
"Tell me something that is definitely a lie." I asked her.
"What? Well… Um…" Leaf was caught by surprise again by my unexpected requests. "I`m the pokemon champion of Kanto region!"
That worked. She is definitely not the champion, and I see it. I feel it.
I sighed loudly and bended on the bench.
"Do you want to know one of my darkest secrets?" I asked her.
"Well… If I don`t have to rob anything again for this – yeah."
It`s been a while I told this to anyone. Just two people know this.
"My eye… is a lie indicator." I mysteriously whispered.
"How is that?"
"When people lie to me, my scarred eye itches a little. Maybe this is magic, or just a thousand-times proven random coincidence… But it is." I suddenly felt some relief after telling this. Too bad I can`t tell her anything more like this.
"How… how did you get this scar?" She asked carefully.
Oh, this question again… It`s good that my eye doesn`t react to my own lie.
"Ah, it`s nothing… Just a drunk battle with some idiots. Armed idiots." I said and turned my head away. This lie is too obvious, but I just wanted to close this question for now. This girl doesn`t want to hear the truth. And thus Leaf didn`t asked that again. This girl has secrets of her own, and I don`t insist on telling everything. Not now, at least.
"You`re blaming yourself for what happened to Dumpling, aren`t you?" Leaf suddenly asked. I was really shocked by the suddenness of this question, because it was… true.
"Yeah. You all did great. It was me who screwed up everything." I guiltily replied. "I unwillingly released the nurse and then all operation went to hell."
"You couldn`t predict this." Girl tried to calm me down.
"I could! But I didn`t… This is the weakness of all my plans." I put my coffee away and looked at the right arm. "I provided all possible ways of events… I had the backup plans for you failing, for Bill failing, for Dumpling failing – for everyone! Except for myself…"
"You`re pushing yourself too hard…"
"And it`s still not enough. It`s just…" I tried hard to tell this. I couldn`t believe my own words although I perfectly knew it`s true. "I always consider everyone`s chance for failure. But I don`t have the right to this. Because my failure always leads to something terrible."
The silence fell on the yard. We were sitting there for some more time enjoying the warm night. I was drinking my tea from Bill`s self-warming cup and sometimes switching my eyesight to the workshop where the engineer is working now.
I finally finished my cup of tea and looked at the stars again. Right at this moment I didn`t want to think about anything. But I couldn`t. The plans were floating in my head: what I will do next and where to head after that.
"And where will you head after Fuchsia City?" Again, very suddenly Leaf asked me like she was reading my thoughts.
"I still don`t know. I have a couple of ideas… And a couple of ideas have me."
She noticed how unwillingly I tell her my plans.
"Tell me… honestly… You still don`t trust me, do you?" The girl pressed on me again.
"Ah, Leaf, Leaf, Leaf…" I got up and looked away. "If you lived a life like mine, you would trust no one." I returned my eyesight to her. "And especially – yourself. Please, don`t take this too personal. That`s just stupid me and my stupid world view."
Girl stared at me seriously. I felt a little bit awkward after that. I closed my eyes and sighed and in a few seconds sat back near her.
"But I`m grateful to you. You helped me a lot. You saved my life. You agreed to join my suspicious operation without a pile of unneeded questions… And that`s why…" I looked aside and pointed at the sun slowly rising over the horizon. "…that`s why we will go visit Bill and do something useful. Take your Graveler with you."
Leaf checked her bag and made sure the pokeball is still there. She nodded to me, and we headed to the workshop.
"Hey, Bill!" I called the inventor when we reached the building. "Are you done?"
We proceeded deeper into the workshop and suddenly found Bill soldering the chip of his new invention with… closed eyes. And snoring at the same time.
"He is sleeping!" Leaf shockingly shouted.
I rushed to him and carefully took the soldering-iron from away from his hand. That`s a thing you would not be sleeping with when it`s turned on.
"Hey! Wha…?" Bill immediately woke up and unpleasantly looked at me. When he realized the situation, he sighed and looked at the chip. "Was I sleeping?"
"Yes, you were." I seriously told him. "This is a very accurate and concentrated work! How could you fall asleep while smoldering, damn it?"
"Sometimes this happens…" He lazily answered. "But even asleep I finished the chip."
"You were actually smoldering while sleeping?" Girl surprisingly asked.
"Yeah, that`s one of my strange skills…" Engineer got up from his chair and put off his working gloves. "I`m almost done. You can take a seat." And he nodded in the direction of a couple of chairs in the corner.
We proceeded there and took our places. Leaf was still waiting to know what we have prepared for her.
Bill got the small metallic box from his shelf nearby, turned upside down and opened its bottom. That`s where he placed the new chip, fixed a couple of wires and closed the box. When he turned it again and unscrewed the top, revealing a round metallic slot perfectly fitting for a pokeball to insert.
"Aaand… it`s ready!" Bill announced and approached us. The small device in his hands turned on and flashed the small red light on it.
We together got up and came closer to the man. Leaf looked very impressed and interested at the same time.
"What is ready?" She asked.
"Don`t you guess? Well, this is our 'Portable Objective Trade-Evolving Device'. POTED for short. This can replace the trading machine when you need just to make your pokemon evolve."
Leaf was shocked but I could clearly see she is really excited. I think right at this moment she realized what all this was organized for.
"Can I… try it?" Girl shyly questioned.
"Of course! This is my gift to you." I answered her. "For all you did for me." After that I switched my eyesight to Bill for some seconds. "I feel like a jinn today… I have fulfilled your dream, Bill. I got a present for you, Leaf… One more wish and I may be free!"
"Yeah." The engineer pleasantly said. "This technology is just great. I will patent my device somewhere far away… In Hoenn, maybe… after some time. Thank you, Ven for this."
"This was risky. This was scary. This was chaotic. This was not easy. But in the end it was a success." I carefully took the box from Bill`s hands and looked at it by myself. "Life gave me much lessons… And one of them states one thing. Borders block us away from the future."
I smiled and gave the device to the amazed Leaf.
"We broke the border of law. Now… use it to step into the future." Maybe this sounded a little to pathos, but I liked it. And others didn`t care.
Leaf unsurely took her pokeball from the bag and carefully placed it inside the box. Bill helped her to activate the device with two buttons. Machine turned on and buzzed quietly. A couple of distorting air waves struck into the capsule, and then disappeared in the air.
"Let`s check it."
The girl took out this pokeball from device and opened it. The energetic beam appeared from the inside and fell on the floor, forming a pokemon. I saw her Graveler Rockheart earlier and already know that it`s an evolved form of Geodude. He is bigger, he is heavier, he is angrier and he has more limbs. Now let`s see what he will become.
When Leaf`s pokemon appeared on the floor, he surprisingly looked at us. And the effect didn`t make us waiting.
The girl Rockheart shined brightly, as expected. She became even larger and rounder. The additional pair of hands disappeared inside the form, and the whole body became tough shell. When the light faded, a completely another pokemon was looking at us.
Now she has the plated, green rocks as its shell, head protruding out of the center of the shell, short arms and two even shorter legs. Her red menacing eyes looks at us now and proves our victory.
"We did it!" Bill joyfully shouted. "We actually did it! POTED is working!"
I was really excited. Now I see what inventors feel when their precious inventions actually begin to work. I understand almost everything about this exact device, so… maybe I can call myself an inventor too?
"Congratulations. Your Graveler evolved into a Golem…" I said to Leaf and then turned to Bill. "…and your idea evolved into a reality."
My partners laughed loudly. The confused Golem between us shyly hid in her shell and after that Leaf returned her into the pokeball.
"Thanks, Ven." The girl looked at me and smiled kindly. "Thanks to both of you."
"Ah, don`t mention it." Bill waved at her. "It was cool to take part in something like this. It would be perfect if it wasn`t for the unexpected turn of events."
"Yeah… Looks like our small vacation is over." I turned away from them and looked at the sun through the window. "I`m heading back to Fuchsia City and challenge the gym. What do you know about it?"
Bill approached me and looked at the sun too.
"Well, it`s a poison-type gym. His leader – Koga – is a really experienced trainer. You should be careful with him and you may want to buy some antidotes. Don`t underestimate this guy. He has mastered the skills of ninja and teaches it to his students. Who knows what can they teach their pokemon?"
"Well, I already have some antidotes… But wait, did you say… a ninja?" I asked again.
"Yeah, that`s what I heard. Poison-type pokemon were often used among the ninja clans in the past. Those who still follow this way… follow this until the end."
"I was dealing with ninjas once. This could be useful to finally make some connections among them…" All this made me think about new crazy idea that can be very useful in the future.
"Well, good luck with that, Ven." Bill shook my hand. "I`m ready to rock if you need me."
"Yes, man, thanks. I`ll remember that." I nodded and sighed. It`s a good thing that Misty actually acquainted us to each other.
"And I will return to Cerulean City and write an article…" Leaf shared her plans. "May I have this thing?"
"Sure. But if your article will NOT be about us stealing the trading machine and the secret technology." Bill winked to her.
"Of course. The article will be about Team Rocket stealing the trading machine and the secret technology. This will definitely interest people, make attention to those bandits and take attention away from us. This will sound especially good from a person that have been in the center of all this."
Damn, I begin to really like this girl. What a good idea despite being a dangerous idea.
"Then… It`s a goodbye." I said, waved at Bill and headed outside.
"Bye, Bill! See ya!" Leaf followed me and after nearly half an hour we were packed up with our stuff and ready to move. I have already checked the transport line that will take me to Fuchsia City, so in a few days I will be on place. I could use services of Bill`s pokemon, but I guess they suffered enough.
Me and Leaf left the large fence of Bill`s residence and together headed to Cerulean City. I will catch a bus there later, but for now we have one common way.
We didn`t talk much. Each had his own thoughts to think and plans to make. That was until one terrible thought came to me.
"Aren`t you afraid that Team Rocket will do something to you for that article? They can even try to get me through you." I warned her.
This suddenly made her extremely sad. She even almost cried there, I swear I noticed the small glimp of tear on her cheek.
"What`s the matter? Did I say something wrong?"
"Don`t worry. It`s nothing." She brushed away her tear and looked at me with her wet and serious eyes. This girl tries to hide her emotions from me, but I clearly see it. "I`m a journalist. We all live dangerous life. I know how to stand for myself."
"You sure do, Leaf." I shortly replied and turned away hiding my emotions too. I don`t want to show her that I care about her life much more that she thinks.
"You`re a good man." The girl suddenly stopped and stared at me. I stopped too and looked at her too. "You`re trying to show yourself as cold-hearted and senseless bastard, but deep inside… you`re kind. Don`t express yourself worse than you actually are."
And after that she suddenly approached me and gave a quick kiss in my cheek.
"You`re not as bad as you think you are." She whispered in my ear and continued her way. I didn`t follow her.
So she walked away, leaving me alone with my chaotic thoughts. The thoughts caused by her sudden statement.
No, I`m not as bad as I think I am.
I am much worse.