xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Virbank City, 12:00 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
After humiliating himself at the Battle Club, Keats opted not to stay in the building and decided to head back to where he slept the night prior: a bench in a park at the center of the city. Laying on the bench, Keats looked up at the sky as the bird Pokémon flew overhead as he just stared upward with a blank expression and his arms folded.
"Bug is weak to Fighting... Bug is weak to Rock... Rock is weak to Fighting..." Keats thought as he tried to remember everything that Don George told him earlier that day. "How am I supposed to remember all this?! This is so annoying!" He exclaimed in frustration as he clutched at his head with his hands.
"I'll say..." The voice of a man said as Keats tilted his head forward.
Looking straight ahead, Keats looked over at the sight of a man and a woman sitting on the bench he was laying on, his legs draped over their laps as they stared at Keats.
"Excuse me but we were here first..." The woman said as she looked at Keats' feet in front of her.
"Actually, I was here first... Last night." Keats muttered as he looked back up at the sky.
"You said that already when you came along and sat on us..." The man said in a tone of concern as Keats looked over at him.
"It's been twenty minutes. Can you please just get up?" The woman said in a tone of rising annoyance.
"Ugh, fine..." Keats said as he swung his legs off the couple and proceeded to stand up, grabbing his messenger bags on the side of the bench. "Sorry." He said in a disgruntled tone as he walked away towards the bushels of trees in the park.
'"Weirdo..."' The couple thought in unison.
Walking over to a tree, Keats sat down on the ground with his back against a tree as he placed his bags next to him. Reaching into one of them, he pulled out his box of Revive pills to see how many were left inside.
"Four left..." Keats thought as he pulled two out of the box before reaching into his pocket and pulling out Pineco and Timburrs Pokéballs. "Soon to be two..." He continued mentally as he stood back and readied the balls, throwing them in the air.
As the balls opened, out came Keats two Pokémon, Pineco and Timburr, still unconscious from their losses prior as they were both sporting swirled eyes and laying on the ground. With a sigh, Keats shifted over to his Pokémon and crushed the pair of Revive pills in his hands as the dust spread over Pineco and Timburr, the two Pokémon starting to stir.
"Pine?" Pineco muttered as her eyes blinked open.
"Timburr..." Timburr mumbled as he clutched at his head with his hands.
"...Hey..." Keats said as he sat back against the tree towards his Pokemon.
"Timtim-Timburr..." Timburr said as he picked up his squared log and placed it on his right shoulder as Pineco rolled over back to an upright position.
"Pineco-co?" Pineco said in a questioning tone.
"Wondering where we are?" Keats said. "It's the park where I slept last night... Decided not to take you guys to a Pokémon Center yet..." He said as he scratched his head as Rotom popped out of his pocket.
"Why not, zzzzt?" Rotom questioned as Keats looked over at the floating phone.
"Because I want to wallow in a bit of self-pity for a moment..." Keats said in a disgruntled tone.
"Oh, come on, even children lozzzze Pokémon bat-" Rotom said until Keats cut the phone Pokémon off.
"Yeah, and I am not a child..." Keats said with a furrowed brow as his Pokémon looked at his aggravated expression.
"Tr-true but-" Rotom said until Keats cut it off again.
"This is why I didn't want to come out here by myself... I am not a trainer." Keats said as he aired his grievances.
"Hey, it's not been that-" Rotom said before being cut off once more.
'"-Bad?" I've been beaten up by an Audino, electrocuted by a crazy Stunfisk, humiliated multiple times and now here I am, sitting on the ground in a park, a step away from finding one of the scumbags who stole my sisters Pokémon and I feel even less prepared than I was back home!" Keats continued as Timburr and Pineco just looked at one another, unsure of what to do.
"I have the recordzzzz on file now. We can start hunting them down." Rotom explained as Keats glared at the phone.
"Yeah, and then they get beat up because I don't know what I'm doing." Keats said as he pointed at Pineco and Timburr.
"Then learn how, zzzzt!" Rotom exclaimed loudly, startling some of the people casually walking through the park. "All you are doing is whining!" The phone Pokémon angrily shouted as Keats just looked at the ground.
"Pineco!" Pineco exclaimed as Keats, Timburr and Rotom turned towards the Bug type, who looked at Keats and Rotom with an angry expression in her eyes. "Co-copine. Pinecococo-pine." The Bug type continued to speak as Keats raised an eyebrow.
"What's she saying?" Keats asked towards Rotom.
"She says she wants you to stop zzzzulking." Rotom said, translating for Pineco.
"Timburr-timtim..." Timburr said as he walked forward.
"And him?" Keats asked.
"He said he izzzz not happy about losing." Rotom said, translating for Timburr.
"Well, one, I feel like sulking and two, sorry if you're upset but that's on me apparently." Keats said as he crossed his arms after looking at Pineco and then Timburr.
"Pineco-co..." Pineco muttered as she looked at her trainer.
"Zzzzhe says for you to try again." Rotom translated again.
"Yeah... Easy for you to say." Keats said as he looked at the pinecone-like Pokémon.
"Well, we're not making any progress until you look at the Battle Club trainer records." Rotom said it flashed a screen of trainers in the circuit to Keats as Keats just put his hand up and covered Rotoms screen.
"Not now!" Keats exclaimed as he continued to grimace.
"Timburr-timtim." Timburr said as he placed his log down and sat on it as he rubbed his belly.
"Timburr says it's normally in the mood for a fight but for now, it'zzzz hungry." Rotom said as Keats looked at the mole-like Pokémon.
"Oh yeah... Pineco doesn't need to eat but Timburr does..." Keats said as he looked at the Fighting type. "...You know what..." He said as he scratched at his beard. "There is something I can do..." Keats said as he stood up and grabbed one of the messenger bags.
"Where are you going, zzzzt?" Rotom asked as Keats' Pokémon looked on.
"First, you wait here. Pineco, Timburr, watch the other bag for me. I'm going to go grab some things to help make me feel better." Keats said as he put his hands in his pockets and walked away from his Pokémon companions.
"Something to make him feel better?" Rotom thought.
After an hour of waiting, Rotom was laying its phone body on the other bag as Timburr and Pineco sat around.
"Pineco!" Pineco exclaimed as she looked over and noticed Keats walking back towards the group, holding two brown paper bags.
"Timb?" Timburr said in confusion as Rotom begun to wake up.
"Zzzzt, "power nap" is over. Keatzzzz?" Rotom said as it floated back up into the air and looked at Keats as he placed the paper bags on the ground.
"I went shopping." Keats said casually as Timburr and Pineco looked at him.
"What did you buy, zzzzt?" Rotom asked.
"Something that helps me calm down. Whenever I got royally pissed at the ranch back home, just dealing with some of the Pokémon that I couldn't handle or hearing my sister yelp at me, there's always been one thing that calmed me down." Keats said as he pulled out a battery powered hot plate and a water bottle.
"What?" Rotom asked.
"Pasta." Keats said bluntly.
'"Pasta?"' Rotom replied as Timburr and Pineco looked at the bags.
"My own special recipe." Keats said with a smirk as he took out a pot with a jar that read "Tamato Berry Sauce."
Turning on the hot plate and setting the sauce inside the pot, Keats took out two boxes of spaghetti noodles and took out another pot, placing water in it from the water bottle. After a few minutes, the sauce was boiling as Keats quickly took it off the hot plate and placed the water filled pot on it.
"Tiiiiim..." Timburr said as his stomach grumbled.
"Ah yes, almost forgot." Keats said as he reached inside one of the paper bags and pulled out a small box. "Here." He said as he handed the box to Timburr.
Opening the box with his small hands, Timburr reached in and pulled out some Pokémon food that took the shape of edible brown squares. Placing them in his mouth, Timburr begun to eat them.
"Timburr!" Timburr exclaimed with content as Pineco looked on with a similar happiness.
"Had to look around, figured the higher protein Fighting type food was something you'd like." Keats said as he watched the water boil as he put the pasta in the pot. "I almost never cook inside the house at the ranch. Marie always says I undercook everything." He said as he grabbed a wooden spoon from the paper bag and stirred as Pineco looked at the pot with interest.
"I'm... A little imprezzzzed." Rotom said.
"See, I can retain a few things." Keats said with a smirk.
"...You forgot how to set up a tent. That's the reason you slept on a bench last night." Rotom said as Keats winced.
"...Didn't need to be reminded of that. Ah perfect!" Keats grumbled until he took out a noodle and ate it.
"Online articles say pasta should be cooked for longer than that, zzzzt." Rotom said.
"Like I said, I always tend to undercook it so what I do is..." Keats said as he took the pasta off the hot plate then took the heated sauce in the spoon and poured it on the pasta. "Pour a little on the noodles and then..." He continued as he reached into the paper bags once more. "Add a bit of butter!" Keats said happily as he took out a small stick of butter that was coved in a wrapper that says "Miltank Butter" on it.
"How does thizzzz help?" Rotom said as Timburr continued to eat.
"Mix the butter with the sauce so the pasta absorbs it, not just coat it." Keats said as he took a bit of butter and placed it in the pot. "Always gotta be careful with this stuff. Worst trip to the hospital I've ever had." He said as he looked at the butter.
"...You ate a zzzztick of butter?" Rotom questioned as Pineco and Timburr looked at Keats.
"If they don't want people to eat this stuff, they shouldn't make it tasty." Keats said with a serious face as he looked at the butter as he was on the verge of sticking it in his mouth before quickly stopping and chucking it back in the bag. "Save me from myself..." He thought as he shivered from nearly eating raw butter again. "Now I gotta stir the sauce and butter back on the flame for a good forty-five seconds." Keats continued as he stirred the butter and sauce into the spaghetti.
After the near minute passed, Keats finished the sauce covered pasta and grabbed the rest of the sauce and poured it onto the spaghetti to finish making the pasta. Reaching into one of the paper bags, he grabbed a fork out of it and a paper plate, scooping out of some of the pasta and putting it on the plate.
"And served." Keats said with a smile as he begun to eat his concoction. "Feels weird making it on a hot plate in the middle of a park but it came out good either way." He said with a smile.
"Surprised Marie doesn't let you cook at all if you're that willing to try, zzzzt." Rotom said with a curious expression.
"I can only really cook basic things like pasta or make a sandwich. Don't expect me to make anything "fancy."' Keats said as he sat against the tree once more while eating.
"Finally in a better mood, zzzzt?" Rotom asked as Keats slurped up pasta before grimacing once again.
"So much for the pasta helping me... You really had to bring up earlier today, huh?" Keats said with annoyance.
"Kinda have to, zzzzt..." Rotom stated as Timburr continued to eat his Fighting type food as Pineco watched on. "Do you plan to go back to Don George after you're done?" The phone Pokémon continued.
"Probably not..." Keats grumbled as he used the bottom of his shirt as a napkin, cleaning his face. "Last thing I need is that man giving me another lecture on "stuff I should know."' He thought with frustration.
"Then do you want to look at the recordzzzz- oh!" Rotom said until it suddenly remembered something.
"What?" Keats asked as Pineco and Timburr looked on, the Fighting type finishing up eating his food.
"Did you buy Pokéballzzzz?" Rotom questioned as Keats looked over at the paper bags.
"Oh yeah... I got one." Keats said as he reached into the bag.
"Wait, just one?" Rotom said in confusion. "How is that going to help that you only bought one Pokéball, zzzzt?! You needed as many as possible!" The phone Pokémon exclaimed in frustration at Keats and his decision.
"The Pokémart had a special offer on buying one of these incredibly expensive and different looking Pokéballs at a discount if I bought a certain number of items! Don't sass me, you dumb phone!" Keats shouted as he pulled out a different than normal Pokéball.
In Keats' hand was a Pokéball but unlike the traditional red and grey balls, this ball had a black top to it with a yellow H-like shape painted on it as Rotoms eyes widened.
"That's an Ultra Ball!" Rotom exclaimed as it looked at Pokéball in Keats' hand.
"A what?" Keats replied.
"It's a type of Pokéball that can be used to catch wild Pokémon, but it hazzzz a higher rate of success than a traditional Pokéball." Rotom explained as it showed Keats a description on an Ultra Ball on its screen.
"...What does that mean?" Keats said, confused.
"It means if you throw that at a Pokémon, it will most likely zzzztay in." Rotom said, repeating itself.
"Oh... Wait... There are even different types of Pokéballs?" Keats said as he put away the Ultra Ball in his pocket before going back to eating spaghetti. "Why is all of this stuff so confusing!?" He mentally screamed in contempt.
"Yezzzz..." Rotom replied. "How have you lived to be thizzzz old and know so little about Pokémon?" The phone Pokémon asked in an honest tone as Keats slurped up pasta.
"I don't know. I haven't brushed my teeth in four weeks and that's not been bothering me." Keats said with a shrug.
"Well, that's- wait, you haven't bruzzzzhed your teeth since the theft happened?" Rotom said until noticing something gross that Keats mentioned as Pineco and Timburr looked on, confused.
"...My time was preoccupied..." Keats said in an embarrassed fashion. "Probably shouldn't have brought that up..." He thought.
"It takezzzz an average of five minutes to practice good oral hygiene!" Rotom exclaimed in frustration as it got close to Keats' face.
"Ahhh! Stop getting so close! At this rate, I'm going to need glasses- gah! Tamato Berry sauce!" Keats said as he pushed Rotom away before rubbing his eyes with his hands without realizing he still had spicy pasta sauce on them. "Water! Water!" He said as he put down his plate and reached around for the water bottle from before.
"Timburr!" Timburr exclaimed as he got up from sitting on his squared log and gave Keats the water bottle.
"Gah! Pugh!" Keats babbled as he took what was left of the water and splashed it on his eyes as he got rid of the sauce in them. "Guh... Thanks Timburr..." He said with red eyes towards Timburr.
"Pineco." Pineco said towards Timburr as Timburr nodded.
"Translation?" Keats asked towards Rotom.
"She thanked Timburr for doing that, zzzzt." Rotom said towards Keats.
"Well, that's nice..." Keats said as he sat back against the tree once more.
"Look, all of thizzzz has been fun but can we seriously talk about what happened now?" Rotom asked, pleading for Keats to listen.
"...Fine." Keats said with a sigh.
"Good, zzzzt!" Rotom exclaimed loudly. "About time!" The phone Pokémon continued.
"I already got a lesson beaten into me verbally by Don George. I don't think I want one from a floating phone." Keats said disgruntled.
"You need to learn about proper battle zzzztrategy, not just "how" to battle." Rotom said in a serious tone as Keats looked at the phone. "Typing, moves, status ailments, enhancements, lowering the enemies guard. There's more to just battling than just throwing yourself at the opponent and brute forcing it, zzzzt." The phone Pokémon continued as Keats rolled his eyes.
"Alright then!" Keats said loudly. "Then show me something that can help me!" He exclaimed.
"Thought you'd never azzzzk." Rotom said as flew over to Keats' hand. "I'm pulling up basic strategy articles for you to read that will teach you about moves, types and how to fight. Now you better not fall azzzzleep!" The phone Pokémon continued as Keats took a deep breath.
"This should be fun... Not..." Keats mentally complained once more.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Virbank City, 6:48 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Several hours had passed since Keats began to read Rotoms many different articles it had pulled up from online on Pokémon battling with the moon now overhead and Keats' Pokémon were sleeping outside their Pokéballs. Researching various battle strategies that were utilized by many different trainers, browsing the various kinds of status ailments and the moves that correspond with them and lastly, viewing the differences between typings and their strengths and weaknesses.
"Why is Steel immune to Dragon? Shouldn't Dragon be unstoppable or something?" Keats mentally questioned as he continued to look at the screen page Rotom had open. "Also, since when did Clefairy and Jigglypuff be classified as "Fairy types?" I thought they were Normal types?" He questioned. "Someone's really gotta contact that gym leader girl in Goldenrod City. She's not a Normal gym leader anymore if this is true..." Keats thought as he continued scrolling.
"Keatzzzz... Are we done?" Rotom said in a tired tone. "I thought this would take an hour, but it's been more like seven hours..." The phone Pokémon thought with exhaustion.
"Not yet. I need to figure out why Ghost types are weak to themselves. And why you can't hit them with Normal type or Fighting type moves." Keats said with a tone of intrigue.
"Look, you can keep zzzzzearching if you want... I need another "power nap."' Rotom said as the phone Pokémons screen went dark.
"Hey! I was reading- oh." Keats said until the screen returned back to the open webpages. "So, Bug types are strong against Dark, Grass and Psychic types and Fighting types are strong against Normal, Steel, Ice, Dark and Rock types." He thought as he looked over at Timburr and Pineco as they slept. "...Kinda wish you guys were strong against Ground and Electric types... But "beggers can't be choosers."' Keats continued to think before pressing a button to go back to the home screen.
Looking at Rotoms apps, Keats glanced over at one that read "Battle Club" as he winced slightly, still remembering what transpired earlier today.
"...You know what, screw it." Keats thought as he clicked the app, opening up the official page for the Don George Battle Clubs. "Okay, let's see... "Trainer Listings," here we go." He said as he looked around the trainer records. "So, it takes keywords to find specific trainers..." Keats thought as he looked at the various trainers.
Skimming through the listings and the Pokémon the trainers had, Keats wasn't sure anymore what to do to lead himself in the right direction.
"None of these people look familiar. God! This is so- okay, okay... Think Keats..." Keats said to himself quietly as he tried to be calm. "The one who brought up the Battle Clubs was the one who stomped on my hand... He sounded like a young kid too... A boy." He thought as he continued to search around the Battle Club records on the Rotom phone. "Wait... What if I looked up this...?" Keats said to himself as he typed something in the search bar.
Using a certain keyword, Keats' search of trainers narrowed to the smallest amount of possible people as only one trainer listing had appeared on the screen, Keats' eyes widening as he stared at the image on his phone.
"I need to see Don George..." Keats thought as he pulled out Timburr and Pinecos Pokéballs and recalled the two sleeping Pokémon whilst grabbing his bags and putting the Rotom phone back in his pockets.
Rushing to his feet, Keats ran out of the park as he sprinted down the sidewalk, passing by the streetlamps and still open businesses as he ran to the entrance of the Battle Club. As the doors opened, Keats walked up to the front desk as Don George was talking to the front desk clerk.
"Oh? Welcome back Keats." Don George said casually as Keats walked up to him. "You here for a late-night battle or did you find a clue for the people you were looking for?" He said as he looked at the husky framed trainer.
"I need... to ask you something..." Keats said in a serious tone while breathing heavily.
"What?" Don George replied as Keats showed him the screen on his Rotom phone of an image of a teenage boy with a blonde mullet and sporting a brown and black pilot jacket over a green shirt and wearing brown pants and shoes. "Oh, I know that boy. That's a trainer named Carter. Strong lad." The Battle Club manager said as he recognized the person on screen.
"How long has he been in the club?" Keats questioned.
"Not that long. About a month ago he arrived." Don George explained.
"...Did he happen to have a Pokémon in his possession that had a stone with it?" Keats questioned further.
'"A stone?"' Don George replied.
"One that can cause a Pokémon to evolve again into a stronger form?" Keats asked as Don George raised an eyebrow before widening his eyes at the realization.
"...Actually... Yeah, he did." Don George said with a surprised tone as Keats looked at the image on the phone.
"...Got you..." Keats thought as he bit his lip in rising agitation.
*Dramatic Music plays-*screech** Damn it, who left this record player in here? Seriously, this is not the place to leave overly dramatic overtures. Anyway... After a depressing showcase of his skills as a Trainer, Keats headed back to the park to collect his thoughts and to undercook pasta to feel better. Reading dozens of articles from online on Rotom on how to battle before finally hunkering down and searching the records, we finally have our first clue into hunting down the young thief who came out to join the Battle Clubs: Mega Evolution. What does it all mean? Is this trainer using Marie's Pokémon in the Battle Club? How can that be? We'll just have to wait and see... Next time! On "Wannabe!"
Keats' Pokémon:
1. Pineco.
2. Timburr.
Authors Note: (I'm sorry if it seemed like nothing happened in this chapter compared to the last few having more battles take place in them. Thought this was the best way to get to this point... Also, I finally gave the first clue as to finding out who the thieves are and what the stolen Pokémon are.)