Chapter 21 - Jiaozi
After the incident under the cycling road, the group did their best to move quickly. They no longer stopped to look at every new Pokémon, and Cyan did his best to not get excited about every flower. Phoenix, in particular, seemed to be in a hurry. Immediately after the dome disappeared, he made a call on his Xtransceiver.
Their walk took them the whole day, and they reached the end of the cycling road as the sun went down. They could see the lights of Oreburgh City in the south. To the west was the Eterna Forest, which expanded much further out than they had anticipated. And to the east was Mt. Coronet, which loomed over the group in an intimidating fashion.
Phoenix sighed as the group finished climbing the steps from under the cycling road. He placed his black bag on the dirt path of Route 206 and looked south. He wiped his dirty blonde hair out of his eyes and examined the sweat on his fingers. He shivered, not only because he hated sweat but because his simple red t-shirt and white athletic shorts combination wasn't enough for the evening cold. But, he was determined to wear his shorts until he couldn't bear the cold any longer, just like a true Unovan.
"Maybe we should camp here," he suggested after a few seconds of thought.
Cyan's eyes widened. "But, you hate camping! I assumed that you were just going to fly to Oreburgh and get a good night's sleep there. You don't have to stay here for us."
Phoenix kept looking toward Oreburgh. "Any other day, I would. But, my friend is coming to meet us from Oreburgh. I think it'd be wise if we all heard of what he has to say. I told him it was an emergency and to meet us here."
"In that case, I'll get started on some dinner!" Yurie said as she placed her bag on the ground. She pulled a small pot that she had wrapped in plastic from her bag. She then took inventory of what ingredients she could use to make food. Once she emptied her bag of ingredients, she put on an apron. She wanted to protect her beautifully knit red sweater and white skirt from any splatter.
Cyan eyed Phoenix. He had always come off as level-headed and cool. The way the boy looked so seriously at Oreburgh City made Cyan anxious. But, maybe Cyan wasn't taking the incident in the dome as seriously as he should have. Neither was Yurie. She just wanted to eat. Maybe Phoenix was the only one reacting appropriately.
And after roughly half an hour of waiting, someone came over the horizon. The sun had set and the person approached them quickly. The person let the light of the cycling road's terminal illuminate him, revealing a teenage boy around the same age as Phoenix. The Autumn weather dictated that he wore a dark blue sweater and black jeans.
"Yo!" the boy said as he looked at the three trainers.
Cyan and Yurie waved at the teenager, but Phoenix opted to instead run to him. He embraced the boy tightly, pulled back, and patted both of his shoulders.
"Unovan boys are so cute," Yurie said with a smile. She remembered how much she enjoyed getting unprompted hugs from Logan.
"Alola is similar. I really miss how friendly everyone was," Cyan exclaimed.
"Yurie, Cyan, this is Casper! He's one of the reasons why I came to Sinnoh," Phoenix explained.
Casper had tanned skin and short, brown, curly hair. He smiled and spoke, "Cheers! I'm Casper. Casper Galvez. I came here a few months ago to study under Professor Rowan." The boy spoke with an English accent that Yurie wasn't too familiar with outside of movies. "I was just in Oreburgh getting a look at some fossils. The ones that have been discovered in Sinnoh are fascinating."
"I haven't talked about it much, but I was a part of a research group for a while. When the group moved to Galar, I met Casper. He studies myths and legends," Phoenix explained.
"I forgot that you mentioned you used to do research," Yurie muttered. "Come to think of it, we haven't talked too much about what you did before Sinnoh."
Casper laughed and clapped Phoenix on the back. "That's what ya get with Nix! This guy is a closed book! You gotta ask the right questions, but I guess that you never thought to ask 'Were you ever in a research group?' right?"
"Eventually, the research group split up, and Casper and I came to Sinnoh together. But, he got wrapped up in his research while I wanted to challenge the Battle Frontier," Phoenix explained. "It's not too complicated."
"It's a little bit more complicated than that," Casper said while scratching his chin. "But, anyways. Why did you get into contact all of a sudden? You sounded flustered."
Phoenix took in a deep breath and grabbed a Poké Ball off of his belt. He pushed the button, releasing his newly acquired Pokémon. It barked as the Poké Ball's energy slowly dissipated off of its body.
"Blimey!" Casper exclaimed as he saw the Pokémon. "I didn't think I'd ever see one of these with my own eyes! Where? How? I literally was just studying about Hisuian Pokémon a couple of days ago! Amazing!"
"I have a thousand questions," Cyan muttered. He raised his hand. "First off, what is it?"
Casper dropped his large backpack onto the ground. He unzipped the top and began to dig through it, looking for something. He handed a sleeping bag to Phoenix, who immediately laid it out.
"Oh! This! Found it!" Casper exclaimed while pulling a thick book out and holding it high. Many pages were marked with neon-colored tabs. He opened it to a page that was marked with a red tab and held it open, showing off a picture of the same Pokémon that Phoenix had caught. "Growlithe! It was a species of Growlithe that lived in Sinnoh until about one hundred years ago! Researchers refer to it as Hisuian Growlithe!"
Growlithe eyed the picture before looking down at the ground and digging his paws into the dirt.
"Over the last one-hundred fifty years, Sinnoh has developed quite a bit, becoming a home for humans and Pokémon. Researchers think that human expansion is what drove Hisuian Growlithe and a few others to extinction," Casper explained. "I mean, but if there is a Growlithe right here, I guess that we can claim that they're not extinct! This is incredible news! How-how did you even come across this creature?"
"Well, we probably shouldn't claim that they're not extinct," Cyan said with a grimace. He removed his silver BayStaryu hat and fanned his sweaty black hair. "We were caught in some kind of storm. Pokémon of all kinds attacked us, even a Rampardos. And, those are definitely extinct."
"A storm?"
"It was kind of like a dome, and Pokémon emerged from lightning," Phoenix answered. "Actually, can I get your book? There were a few Pokémon that we knew nothing about."
Casper handed over the book, and Phoenix flipped through it, taking in all of the pictures that had been marked. His eyes widened, and he turned the book to show the Electrode that he had fought.
"I just knew from battling it that it was a Grass-type! This guy gave me quite a bit of trouble."
"You battled with one?" Casper asked. "This is amazing! Where? We should go see if we can catch it!"
Phoenix shook his head. "We couldn't catch it even if we wanted to. When the dome disappeared, so did the Electrode and its gang of Voltorb."
Casper sighed and put his fingers to his chin. "I wonder if the dome was noticed by anyone else. If it really was a concentrated storm of some sort, then maybe I should talk to a meteorologist. This is truly fascinating!"
"Cyan and Yurie also fought with this," Phoenix said as he pointed to a picture of the large Sneasel-like Pokémon. "Sneasler?"
"That thing was brutal," Cyan said. He balled his fists. "It gave a lot of trouble to Urshifu."
"Urshifu?" Casper wondered. His eyes widened and he bounced up and down from excitement. "Now, I have so many questions!"
"It says that Sneasler used to give rides to the people of Hisui on its back. I can't imagine befriending a Pokémon with that sort of killer instinct," Phoenix said as he read from the book. "And, I guess that the smaller Pokémon were all Hisuian Sneasel."
"You have to tell me where the dome was, Nix!" Casper exclaimed. He looked at Phoenix before punching him in the arm. "This is just too exciting to not look into!"
Phoenix shook his head. "Look, we barely got out of those battles. Yurie is a top coordinator, Cyan is a champion-level competitor, and I'm-well-me. No disrespect, but you shouldn't go alone. If you find a dome, it can be very dangerous."
"I'm well-studied on the Pokémon, and my Cinderace is a real contender. I'm sure that we could handle it," Casper responded. "However, if you're so worried for my safety, you should just come with me! It'll be like the good-ole days."
Phoenix sighed. "I am in need of a shower. We've been outside for a whole day. I am miserable. I would love to go with you to investigate and research, but I've promised Cyan and Yurie that I'd travel with them. Weird stuff happens to us sometimes, so if you traveled with us, I'm sure you'd get a chance to investigate the dome."
Cyan couldn't help but laugh. He sat down and stretched his legs out. "That's an understatement. I wouldn't mind another traveling partner. The more the merrier!"
Yurie approached the three boys and held out a platter. It was topped with grey dumplings that had been boiled. The breading Yurie had used was thin, which made the mixed vegetables on the inside visible.
"I'm okay with another person as long as you buy some ingredients for food at times," she said with a smile. "This is jiaozi. It's sort of a boiled gyoza."
"Gyoza?" Casper wondered.
"Dumpling," Cyan answered.
Phoenix made a small fire, and the four trainers sat around it. They ate Yurie's food while talking about their journeys in Sinnoh so far. Cyan mentioned the two badges that he had won. He told Casper about Urshifu and that he wanted to see where his Pokémon originated from. Yurie talked about her contests so far and her struggle to get away from the fiery image that she accidentally created for herself.
"And you? How is your challenge going?" Casper asked Phoenix.
Phoenix took in a deep breath through his nose and smiled. "Well, traveling with Cyan and Yurie has been rewarding in many aspects. I'm learning about contests, and Cyan's Venusaur and Urshifu are top-level sparring partners. However, I haven't progressed at the speed I wish I had. There is the Battle Hall in Hearthrome. It'll be my second challenge in the Battle Frontier."
"I'm surprised that you're not taking on gyms," Casper said. "You tried so hard to get sponsored in Galar."
Phoenix shrugged. "I guess that putting in all of that effort for ultimately nothing left me with a sour feeling. Besides, if I can beat all of the Frontier Brains, I'll be entered into the conference. I'd have to fight Cyan in the finals."
"I never even thought about that," Cyan said quietly. "Does that make us rivals?"
"It doesn't have to be worded like that," Phoenix exclaimed with a laugh.
Casper finished his plate of jiaozi and placed it down in front of him. "Well, thank you for the meal! I'll stay the night with you guys, but in the morning, I'm going to immediately start looking into this dome of yours. Thank you for inviting me to join your group, but I don't want to take the chance of just running into another one. It's best to be proactive with science."
"I told you it was dangerous," Phoenix said with a glare.
Casper nodded. "I know. And, I'll take the precautions. I won't go looking for it alone. I'll go to the weather institute in Jubilife City to see if there have been any anomalies. There are a few people that I'm sure would be interested in what you're describing. Some of them are from the old group."
Phoenix looked at the ground. "Who?"
Casper observed Phoenix momentarily. He thought over his answer, and Cyan and Yurie could tell that what he was going to say was going to hurt Phoenix. They weren't sure why, but they could see from the look on Casper's face that it was potentially unpleasant.
"Avery. He recently came to Sinnoh as well. He's challenging gyms, just like Cyan."
"I see."
The group was quiet. Cyan and Yurie wanted to ask about Avery, but they could tell from Phoenix's silence that it was best not to. They exchanged looks with one another before Yurie spoke up.
"So, what about Growlithe? What should we do with him?" she asked.
"I can take him with me so we can study. It's fascinating to think we could get such a close look at the past," Casper said.
Phoenix slowly shook his head. "No, I want to keep him. I haven't had the chance to raise any new Pokémon yet. I only have four more Frontier challenges left. I can use the time in between to raise him. Sorry."
Casper held his finger up and winked. "I'm glad you said that! I think it's the best option! I'm sure that once another dome comes around, I'll get my chance to get my eyes on the past! In other words, I'll catch 'em all!"
Phoenix nodded and continued to look into the flames. His tired eyes told the story of a long day.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
So, here we go! Season 2, so to speak. I wanted a short chapter that focuses a bit on Nix and his past. Casper seems like a nice guy, but who is this Avery?
Next chapter, we'll bring back one of Cyan's rivals!
As for the short/movie story, I think I'm either going to go with a simple retelling of the battle on Mt. Coronet OR a Pokémon Ranger story. Which one interests you more?
REVIEWS
pokemonking0924 - "Galaxy Team has arrived in Hisui and already experiencing the dangers of the space time rifts. The platinum clan is certainly an interesting addition to Legends Arceus but I don't like it's currently leader (he's arrogant and dismissive of others not in his clan), his daughter Kina is kind and has a good head on her shoulders. I also enjoyed how Laventon created the word Pokémon." - You won't have to see or hear from the leader again, probably! Kina, however, will be back! Also, I didn't think of Laventon like that, but it makes sense. Haha
