First aid kit, check. Potions, check. Escape Ropes, check. Signal flares, check. Radio, check. Utility belt, check. And… what are the rest of these things? I don't recognise most of the equipment here.
"Do you know how to use these?" Mary asked in concern and upon seeing the shake of my head, she guided me through on how to use the standard gear used by PWL agents.
According to Akamu, Mary was the person who designed and invented many of the standard issued gadgets PWL agents are using even till today. After they left the PWL, the design of the various equipment she had left behind was improved on by other engineers over the years, but the basic design and usage largely remains the same.
Mary held up some sort of upper body suit that is undoubtedly made for me given the size. She helped me into it, and I was proven right when it fits me just right. It had looked heavy, but when I wore it I barely felt anything. It's like wearing an extra shirt over what I'm wearing underneath.
Huh, now I do look like a professional agent of the interpol. Guess clothes really do make the man.
"Looker told me that your body is naturally frail and you sometimes have difficulty trying to breathe, so I designed this respirator suit for you if you ever have any troubles breathing. See the button located near your right collarbone? Press it."
Inwardly, I flinched a little when Mary mentioned Looker. It's only been less than an hour since I had that conversation with Looker. I'm still not exactly comfortable with anything related to him at the moment.
"Mary?"
"Hmm?"
"How much do you know about Looker? Like, for example, how old is he?"
"How old does he look like to you?" Mary asked me instead.
"Somewhere in his mid twenties to thirties?"
"He's definitely older than that." Mary replied as she helped me out with some minor adjustments in regards to the suit.
"By how much?"
"I have no clue. Not sure if he uses some really good quality skincare products or what, but he doesn't look any much different from when Akamu and I first saw him. He ages well, that is all I can say. As for whatever questions you have next..."
Mary's words trailed off for a moment before she spoke up again.
"It's not really my place to reveal. Either they are classified even from you, or they are probably things that Looker prefers to keep private. Akamu and I may not like him much after… that incident, but certain boundaries have to be respected."
I took the cue and stopped asking her questions about Looker.
Mary quickly walked me through on how to use the respirator suit after she helped me into it. I pressed the yellow button as instructed and out from nowhere, a mask sprang up from underneath the collar of my suit and firmly wrapped around the lower half of my face, but not to the extent that it will feel uncomfortable. I can actually breathe easier now.
"W-Wow." I cannot help but look at Mary in awe upon seeing what this respirator suit can do. Mary let out a laugh when she spotted my starstruck look and pressed the button a second time, making the mask fold back and tuck itself below the collar. No matter how I looked I could not see any hints of an oxygen mask being folded under the collar of the suit.
Just what kind of technological advancement was necessary to make such inventions possible?
"If you think this is amazing, wait till you use the pokeball gauntlet I designed many years back. It's still standard issue gear for many PWL agents even till today." Mary said with a slightly smug tone, dragging my attention back to reality.
"Pokeball gauntlet?" I asked. Mary had successfully piqued my curiosity about what other kinds of inventions she has on hand. Mary let out a soft hum as she dug around the workshop that was set up in Volkner's garage before taking out a pair of metallic wrist gauntlets.
"Try them out first and tell me if it feels uncomfortable. I adjusted these to fit your size, but I don't have your exact measurements so I might need to readjust them later."
"They feel fine." I told Mary after I put on the wrist gauntlets. Like the respirator suit, I could barely feel the weight. On each gauntlet are four metallic indentations near the wrist area which I suspect is where the user should place their pokeballs in.
"See the slots around your wrist? Up, down, left, right. Put four pokeballs of your choosing into those four slots."
I did as Mary told. She put on a gauntlet herself as she demonstrated to me how to properly use the tool.
"Point your hand towards where you want to release your pokemon." Mary said as she pointed her left hand towards the far side of her lab, which I followed suit. "See how I folded my thumb inwards towards the center of my palm? Yes, do just that. Now, you still have four remaining fingers, right? The index finger releases the pokeball on the right of your wrist, the middle finger releases the one one top, the ring finger releases the one below, the pinky releases the one on your left."
I nodded my head to signal to Mary that I am following thus far.
"Now, let's say I want to release the pokemon in the pokeball I slotted into the gauntlet on the right side of my left wrist. I will fold my index finger inwards after I fold my thumb inwards. That is the release command."
With her left thumb still folded inwards towards her palm, Mary folded her left index finger as well and pressed it over her thumb. In the next instant, the pokeball slotted in the right side of her gauntlet she is wearing on her left wrist opened and released an oricorio, who let out a happy chirp when it made its appearance.
"The same gesture applies when recalling your pokemon back. You can easily release and recall all your pokemon at the same time too as long as you take some time to get used to the hand gestures. Just remember, thumb first, then the other fingers later. Since there will only be eight slots in total and you have seventeen on hand, I would suggest slotting in the pokeballs that you use most often into the gauntlets. And oh, the gestures for the right hand is the mirror image of your left when it comes to its usage. The general feedback I got from the other agents is that using the gauntlets is rather instinctive, so I wouldn't worry too much about you not being able to use it properly."
"Thumb first, fingers later." I recited that phrase as I held my right hand out and pointed it in the direction where Mary's oricorio is at. "So, if I want to release the pokemon whose pokeballs are slotted at the left and top of my right wrist, I fold in my thumb first followed by my index and middle finger."
I did those motions just as I finished saying it, accurately releasing Archer and Lily out of their pokeballs. Mary's oricorio hovered in front of Lily in curiosity and began to chirp at her.
"You did great." Mary said in encouragement. "Now try recalling them. It's the same thing."
I repeated the hand gestures I did earlier and successfully recalled Archer and Lily back into their pokeballs, leaving Mary's oricorio to stare at us in dismay.
"It is really easy to use. Releasing and recalling pokemon never felt so easy and fast." I said while looking back at Mary and a sudden thought suddenly hit my mind.
"But what if I have to… Let's say, punch somebody? Won't it accidentally release or recall my pokemon by mistake?"
Mary stared at me in confusion for about two seconds before breaking out into a laugh.
"My dear, you clearly haven't socked someone in the face before." Mary told me with amusement dancing in her eyes as she held my right hand with hers before closing my fingers inwards. "To punch someone, your thumb needs to be tucked outside your fist. If you do otherwise you will only injure your thumb at the moment of impact. Very likely, through dislocation."
"Oh." I replied lamely and suddenly felt a little embarrassed for asking such a stupid question.
"If you want to learn how to properly punch someone I'm sure my husband will be more than willing to teach you. He was the one who taught me the basics of self-defense." Mary patted my head before unstrapping the gauntlet she was wearing on her left wrist.
"How did the both of you meet anyway?" I asked in curiosity. Maybe I can catch a glimpse of how Akamu was like before he became the person he is today.
"Hmm? Well, I guess you can say he quite literally fell from the sky. I was very young back then but I could still remember that particular moment. The entire tribe spotted his fall and we all thought he was dead when we rushed over, only to find that he didn't even break a single bone. That was how we first met." Mary said with a faraway look in her eyes, a small smile gracing her face.
"I'm surprised he didn't break a few bones."
"Me too, but Akamu is the toughest man I had ever seen, be it mentally or physically. It's been that way ever since we were young so I'm not really surprised." Mary said with another laugh. "Do you need any further adjustments for your equipment? The suit? Gauntlets? Everything fine? If it's not, don't be afraid to speak up, fixing and calibrating them is my job."
"They are really fine." I reassured Mary. "Just need some time to get used to using them properly."
"Just be safe, okay? You are assigned to Goldenrod, right? That is one major place of interest and Proton will most likely be there. I know Whitney will be the one to face him but anything can happen tomorrow, so just be careful. Proton used to be a serial killer, he is not one to show mercy, so don't show him any too if you ever face him in battle."
"I will be fine." I try to reassure Mary with a smile, who only sighed.
"It's times like this that I wish that I am a pokemon trainer. Sending out children to fight our battles, we adults really should be ashamed of ourselves."
"No offense, but weren't you and Akamu technically children too when you two joined the PWL?"
"It's precisely because of our experiences that I said that. Akamu didn't have much of a choice back then because of his status as a Faller. If he wants to live that was the only way out for him." Mary told me before taking a brief pause.
"As for me, I was simply too young and naive, thinking that the PWL is where I can use my talent to help the greatest number of people. It was only when I was pregnant that I started to realise how utterly wrong it is to have children within our ranks. That thought never hit me until then. Having a child really puts things into perspective, you just start to view the world very differently."
"Sorry if I… reminded you of unpleasant times." I said awkwardly, not really knowing how to proceed with the conversation. Mary simply patted my head once more.
"Please don't say that. Akamu and I are past that now, and I just underwent surgery before you came to find us on Looker's orders. There is a chance that I can conceive again since the surgery was a great success. To be honest, I cannot wait for this to be over, so that Akamu and I can go back to try and start a family of our own."
"Your home is at the Lush Jungle, right? How do you two live in a jungle?"
"I'm an inventor, I have my ways. Akamu and I have also made many connections in high places during our time as PWL agents, which helped too when we were rebuilding our home." Mary easily brushed my concerns aside. "You should come over for a visit if you ever have the chance. Akamu and I will be more than happy to have you around."
"I will take you up on your offer then." I replied, and Mary sent a smile my way.
"Are you hungry? I can cook something for you if you want. Akamu's cooking really isn't that great. Those saimin noodles he cooked that day? I will only give him a six out of ten at the most. Why don't I cook a true Alolan dish for you to try out? How about some manapua buns? If anyone else is hungry they can join us too."
I perked up when I heard that. Mary can be very picky when it comes to food because her culinary skills are just that good. I had the luck to try some of Mary's cooking while working alongside her, and it makes me wonder why she is an inventor instead of being a chef.
"That sounds great. You don't mind if I help out, right?"
"Of course I don't. In fact, this will be fun!"
"Smells nice."
"I'm calling dibs."
"I was here first. Go queue up behind."
"Fighting me for food? Seriously, you guys are grown men. Have you no shame trying to fight with a little girl for food?" I rolled my eyes at the people waiting right outside the kitchen. Bill and Professor Elm at least have the decency to look sheepish.
"Hey, in our defense, it's Mary's cooking."
"True." I conceded. "But I helped her with it so I called dibs."
"Vel and I made enough for everyone." Mary helpfully reminded us all as she took out the finished products from the steamer. "There, done. Just in time too. Help me put it on the table in the dining room, okay?"
Bill and Elm were more than eager to offer their assistance, so we let them be. The crowd gathered quickly when word spread around that Mary is done with the buns.
"It smells reeeeally nice." Shannon stared at it dreamily as she said that.
"The taste has to be even better." Nova added.
"Not everyone is here, right? Who else is missing?"
"Samuel and Blaine, I believe. I think Mr Fuji isn't around too. Looker, Volkner-"
"Let's just start without them." Bill said impatiently. "Can we dig in before the food gets cold?"
"Someone's hasty."
"Can you blame me?" Bill retorted.
Soon, all of us are eating the steaming hot manapua buns that Mary and I prepared. It's more of Mary than me, since I only helped out in preparing the ingredients. Most of the time I simply stood aside and tried to learn how she does it.
"Ah, Akamu sure is one lucky fellow, to be able to eat the food of the gods every single day. Where can I find myself a wife like that?" Bill lamented dramatically, making us laugh.
"First, you need to find yourself a girlfriend." Akamu blatantly pointed out.
"You make it sound so easy! It's harder than it sounds!"
"You probably didn't try hard enough." Akamu shrugged rather unapologetically, eliciting laughs from everyone present.
"Well, then can you at least give me some tips then? How did you even manage to woo Mary anyway?" Bill asked while taking another bite from his own bun.
"Good question." Nova said with a smirk as the topic of the discussion now shifted to the husband and wife pair from Alola. Bill had successfully roused the gossipy nature within all of us and we are now curious about their love story.
Akamu and Mary shared a look. The look Mary is giving Akamu is obvious. It's the go on, tell them look.
"Mary and I knew each other since we were children. I was Mary's convenient lab rat for her to test out all her inventions ever since we were young. Naturally, we spent a lot of time together. But if we really have to pick a point where we started to confirm our feelings for each other, it will be the hoverbike incident."
"A hoverbike? You guys have a hoverbike?" Bill exclaimed, tongue-tied. Mary and Akamu merely nodded, as if possessing a hoverbike is the most normal thing in the world.
I have to ride it someday. It's a hoverbike.
"It started from a silly bet, really." Mary explained. "Back then I wasn't anything like I am now. I was a lot more rash, hot-headed, and competitive. I was boasting to Akamu about how there's nothing I could not invent and I might have annoyed him a little too much with my boasting, so he bet that there will be something that I could not invent. So I challenged him to name one such thing, and he randomly threw out the idea of a hoverbike."
"That's it?"
"Oh, no. I invented it within… Was it a week? Or two? Honey, do you remember?"
"About a week or two, give or take." Akamu agreed. "The thing is, Mary could never properly ride the hoverbike which she invented herself, leaving me alone to try and figure out how to use it. We kept arguing whether the fact that none of us could properly ride the hoverbike is more of a machine fault or user error."
"The conclusion?" Shannon asked.
"I initially believed that it was a machine fault, but after I got the hang of how to ride the hoverbike it became obvious that it was a user error. Mary wanted to prove to me that it wasn't a user error on her part so she tried practicing how to ride the hoverbike. She never succeeded, but she also really wanted to ride the bike she invented herself."
"Let me guess, you rode the bike and she became your pillion rider?"
"That was the start of it." Akamu nodded. "So, we rode the hoverbike together for the first time and Mary being Mary, wanted me to test the maximum speed of the hoverbike so that she could get some performance data. I reminded her that we were not wearing helmets, but my advice fell on deaf ears."
"And I clicked on the overdrive button against his advice. Akamu wasn't expecting for the hoverbike to be able to go at such a speed and he lost control of it. Naturally, we crashed. Really badly." Mary admitted before adding. "We really should have worn helmets before going on a ride."
"So you two fell in love with each other after you crashed the bike?"
"Oh, it wasn't really the crash that made me realise that I view Akamu as more than a friend, but what he did right before the crash." Mary continues with the story from where she is sitting beside Akamu on a couch, her hand in his. "I emerged relatively unscathed because Akamu used his body to shield me from harm at the very last second. I was feeling very guilty because Akamu did warn me that he wasn't confident in being able to handle the bike's maximum speed and that we were not wearing helmets, so I took care of him after the crash while he was bedridden. We got a lot closer during that period of time and… Well, you know. We got together."
"Do the both of you ever ride the hoverbike ever again?"
"We do, especially when we go out for our dates. It's just that we made sure to wear helmets every single time thereafter."
"The hoverbike can now go over 350 km/h and float over twenty metres off the ground ever since its last upgrade, if you guys were wondering. I personally don't really recommend going that fast at that altitude." Akamu added as an afterthought.
"Now that you say it, I still haven't got around to address the air drag issue." Mary said with a slight frown at that reminder. "It can go even faster-"
"Dear, the bike is already plenty fast. At the rate you are upgrading the bike it will be faster than a mini jet by the end of the month."
"Wouldn't it be cool? To race our hoverbike against a plane?"
"Dear."
"I can help." Bill volunteered right away. "I never really dealt with that side of technology before but I am sure that I can help somehow. Think about it! Personalised jets for everybody! What if we commercialise it and reduce the cost enough such that the ordinary household can afford it?! We can revolutionise the way people travel from places to places and maybe even region to region! And what if-"
"Woah woah, calm down, Bill. Aren't you thinking a little too far ahead?"
"Thinking far ahead is the job of an inventor!"
"Well said." Mary nodded seriously before turning back to face Bill. "We should find a time to discuss our ideas after we are done with the Rocket affair."
Just then, the front door opened, and the owners of this place walked through the doors.
"Yo, sup? Looks like we were missing out on something."
"Hi Volkner! Hi Jasmine! Mary made some really nice steamed buns for us and we were grilling her and Akamu about how they fell in love!" Shannon returned the greeting as she hurriedly gestured for Volkner and Jasmine to come over and try the steamed buns Mary had made.
"Guess we really were missing out." Jasmine said with a slight laugh. I haven't seen Jasmine all that much even after staying here for so long, because Jasmine left for work rather early and returned late every single day. That is not including the days where I was out helping the interpol with missions. I didn't really have many opportunities to interact with her even when most of my time here was spent in the West Forest.
And then Shannon, being the gossip queen that she is, decided to ask Volkner and Jasmine the same question we asked Mary and Akamu.
"Hey hey, how did you and Volkner meet?"
Shannon's question got Jasmine's face to redden with immediate effect. Alright, now we are really curious.
"Oh, it was straightforward. I was on my world tour and my ship had only just touched down at Johto, right at Olivine. I had only just disembarked from the ship and then even before I could look around, she walked up and challenged me to a battle."
"So you guys first met each other through a pokemon battle?"
"Yeah."
"What happened next? Who won?"
"I scored an overwhelming victory, crushed her dreams, and took her money. That was it." Volkner replied with a lazy yawn.
Cue the awkward silence.
"You suck." I stated plain and simple.
"Yeah, I know. Jas even told me later on that she cried herself to sleep that night. But do I regret it? Nope."
"Volk isn't wrong, that was how we first met and he did make me cry." Jasmine said with a laugh. "We happened to meet again by chance two days later. He asked me for tips on how to raise steel types since he already has a magnezone and a probopass. We started to talk and train together more and more often and we got to know each other a lot more from there."
"And then about half a year later, she phoned me and asked if I would mind her tagging along on my journey. Obviously I said yes. We decided to tour Kanto together and the entire duration lasted about a year or so before I headed back to Sinnoh."
"So you guys were already a couple from back then?" Shannon gasped. "That's like… a very long time ago!"
"No, we weren't a couple back then." Volkner clarified immediately. "We were stuck at the friends-but-actually-more-than-just-friends stage for years because not long after we ended our Kanto journey, we both became Gym Leaders of our respective cities. With our new workload and the fact that we were separated across the ocean, you can guess just how often we could actually see each other. In fact, we never saw each other in person in the first three years in our tenure as Gym Leaders. We were just that busy."
"So when did you guys start to get together?"
"For me to know and for you to find out."
"Volkner!"
"Not telling."
"Jasmine?" Shannon asked hopefully, to which she gave us a sheepish smile.
"Uhm… about four years ago? It was the same day when Team Galactic made their first real appearance and launched a siege on Sunyshore. I happened to be there at the time. One thing led to another and…"
Jasmine trailed off awkwardly and her face reddened even further, obviously a little embarrassed at telling us about the love story between them.
"So how did that insensitive prick ask you to be his girlfriend?" I asked curiously. The rest of the audiences backed me up with eager nods of their heads, ignoring the offended "OI" from Volkner.
"I remembered that day very clearly." Jasmine nodded in thought. "Volk just… He just asked directly. It was so embarrassing because he has no tact at all."
"It saved us a lot of time rather than beating around the bush like we had been doing for years prior to that." Volkner argued, which Jasmine ignored.
"Do you guys know how the confession went? He simply asked me, You like me, right? Like, like me? Those were his exact words when he was asking me to be his girlfriend."
"And he said it straight to your face?" Nova asked in disbelief.
"Yes."
"He really has no tact at all. Which girl would like having their innermost thoughts revealed like that?" Shannon commented with a frown, sending Volkner a disapproving stare.
"And here I am, happily married and living the blissful retired life until you guys come into the picture. Whatever works, works."
"To be fair, he more than made up for it when asking for my hand in marriage." Jasmine said with a laugh. "Do you guys know about Sunyshore's Vista Lighthouse? He made it shine Will you marry me into the night sky. It was very romantic."
"Wait, I know he was Sunyshore's Gym Leader, but can he really do something like that to a city's lighthouse?" Akamu asked in surprise.
"Pretty sure he couldn't, legally. He abused his authority as Gym Leader, that must be it." Mary deduced.
"Hey, if you have power, then don't be afraid to use it. What's the point in having power if you don't use it?"
"You really are the worst example, Volkner." Nova stated. Jasmine only laughed at the response.
"Yes, he really is. During his proposal half the time I was amazed at the amount of work he put into it, the other half was me freaking out at the fact that he actually modified the city's lighthouse behind everyone's backs and whether we would be arrested for doing so. I would never think about doing such a thing to Olivine's Glitter Lighthouse."
"Jas! You are supposed to be on my side here!"
"So is that why the both of you modified your home to be similar to a lighthouse?"
"Mostly." Jasmine nodded in affirmation. "We just fell in love with the idea of living in a lighthouse so we decided to make our home look like one. Volkner did most of the planning and design, actually. The entire West Forest that you see here, he built it up from scratch. He's multi-talented. I don't know what else is there that he cannot do."
"Trying to be a nice decent human being to anyone that does not go by the name of Jasmine…?" I whispered cheekily and immediately went to hide behind Akamu when Volkner tried to swat at my head again.
"Annoying short stack."
"I'm not short." I defended myself. "Unlike you, I can still grow!"
"Yeah, and the sun will rise from the west."
"The sun already rose from the west." Jasmine took my side as she stuffed a bun into her husband's mouth, hinting for him to shut up. "You are actually helping us in this Rocket mess right now, which is a miracle in itself."
For once, Volkner actually could not find any words to retort.
AN: This chapter is supposed to be posted before I posted RE, RFTS, and TSOS. I can't believe I forgot all about this chapter until almost 12 hours later. Oh well, mistakes are made, nothing I can do about that now.
As always, hope you guys enjoy the story.
Character and pokemon list:
Velda Vera, Age: 13, Female, Pokemon Trainer, Runner-up in the 528th Ever Grande Conference
Pokemon on hand:
1) Rapidash (Flamel), male
2) Swampert (Bigblue), male
3) Banette (Dolly), female
4) Flygon (Snap), male
5) Absol (Kelsa), female
6) Charizard (Toothless), male
7) Cradily (Lily), female
8) Espeon (Rena), female
9) Pachirisu (Fuzzy), male
10) Tyranitar (Kratos), male
11) Cleffa (Joy), female
12) Nidoqueen (Ness), female
13) Pangoro (Hulk), male
14) Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless
15) Scizor (Archer), male
16) Lapras (Chill), female
17) Gengar (Wacky), male