Chapter 65: The Rarity of Berries

"'Listen pal," the Graveler spoke as I casually walked towards him and the Pokemon he was in a fight with. "I don't care whether you're a wild, a tamed wild, or a pet. Anyone who starts trouble in here gets tossed!"

"That other mon started it!" the Pokemon arguing with him yelled. "Why doesn't he get tossed out too? He's clearly cheating."

"Says the mon who gambled everything he had away," the Graveler stated. "If you're cocky enough to risk it all then the only one you have to blame is yourself."

"I just had a few bad hands is all," the orange furred Pokemon argued. "He clearly was trying to jip me to make me look bad."

"You did that all by yourself," the Graveler argued back. "So why don't you do yourself a favor and let it go?"

"I'll let go," was the Pokemon's response as his clenched paw began glowing. "When I teach that Pokemon a thing or two of cheating me."

Watching the Pokemon swing his paw forward, I made to intercept despite the fact that I lingered watching for too long. The Graveler crossed his upper arms in front of him to take the blow of the attack, taking the Pokemon by surprise. What was even more surprising was that barely any damage was done to the Graveler as he took the attack on full on.

"Was that supposed to do something?" he asked as he shot out one of his lower arms to pick the Pokemon up. "Your bite is as weak as your bark. Now… get lost!" With that, he used his upper right fist to deal a blow to the Pokemon, sending him flying back. "And don't come back unless you want more of what I gave you!"

The orange furred Pokemon staggered to his feet coughing, staggering away as quickly as he could. "You'll pay for this!" he said in between coughs. "All of you will! You'll see!"

The Graveler merely grunted in response as the Pokemon staggered away before dispersing the crowd that had formed, both humans and Pokemon alike.

"Good to know he wasn't that strong," I said to him. "I hope your arms aren't that injured."

"It did sting a little, but nothing I'm not used to," the Graveler spoke. "It comes with the job after all."

"What job is that?" I asked.

"Guarding," the Graveler replied. "I make sure no young Pokemon wanders in. The guy sitting on the inside does the same for humans."

I took a look inside the noisy room to see that there was in fact a human sitting on one of those four legged seats with some kind of oddly shaped dark thing covering his eyes

"What was all that about then? I asked curiously. "Did a fight happen or something?"

"Nah," was his reply. "In addition to guarding out here, we also make sure no one causes any trouble. Anyone who does gets the boot. Luckily for me the fight happened right near the entrance so I didn't have to go far from my post."

"What kind of Pokemon was that anyway?" I asked curiously.

"That I believe was a Pawmo," the Graveler answered. "Though at a disadvantage being an electric type, it makes up for it with Metal Claw. Quite a nasty sting for one who has a lower defense. Luckily for me I have a higher defense compared to my previous form."

"But doesn't it also depend on how strong the other is?"

The Graveler laughed. "You know your stuff! I like that!"

"I'm just spouting the facts is all," I replied with a smile.

"Well I appreciate the thoughtful input," the Graveler said. "But yes, it does depend on the strength of the other Pokemon as well. I'm just thankful he wasn't that strong."

"Same here," I said before shifting my gaze into the noisy room behind him, flattening my ears to reduce the noise coming from within. "I have to ask: what's up with that room behind you? It's so noisy!"

"I take it you're a wild," the Graveler assumed.

"Tamed wild actually," I corrected him.

"I see," he said as he shifted his body slightly to look into the room. "This is what you call a casino. It's a place people come to to gamble their money." He paused momentarily as he leaned in towards me, placing an upper arm between him and I with his palm facing outward as he spoke in a lower tone. "Between you and I though, the majority of games in there are rigged mostly to take all their money. It's only on an occasional chance that someone hits the big one."

"The big one?"

"They call it the jackpot," the Graveler continued explaining. "It's when the humans win themselves thousands of dollars to do as they please with, but there's a lot more that goes into it that I won't bother you with. It gets a bit complicated but that's for the humans to worry about."

"Fair enough," I said as I pondered on the info he explained to me. "Seems unfair that only one human out of all the others get that much while the rest lose everything they have."

"It really all depends," the Graveler said. "Some actually do spend everything they have and wind up broke before the cruise is even over. Others are smart and spend a limited amount while still having money saved to the side. Then you have the ones who do get some money back but nothing like the jackpot. It ranges from low digit numbers to say triple, quadruple digits. It all comes down to luck, experience, and the ability to bluff, which is the ability to deceive others into thinking you're on the verge of victory when, in reality, you have a really crappy chance of losing."

I rubbed a paw on my head as I focused my hearing upon him, information overwhelming my brain as I made to retain as much as he could tell me. He must have noticed the reaction, for he waved a hand dismissively.

"Thankfully you don't have to worry about that," he said. "What you have to worry about are the berries that you offer."

I tilted my head curiously at that. "What do you mean?"

"The Graveler took a moment to check the few Pokemon walking in, making sure they were good enough to go in. I took notice of the pouches each one carried, whether by mouth, tied around their neck, tied to their side, or by simply carrying in a paw. I couldn't quite tell what was inside them but I had a feeling the Graveler would explain that.

Once he had cleared the few to go in, he turned his attention back to me. "Now then, you asked what I was referring to, yes?"

I nodded once in response.

"Simply put: you know how I explained how humans use money to gamble with, correct?" I replied with another nod. "Pokemon do the same but with berries. Now I'm not talking about the currency but with the actual berry foods. The berries are categorized based on how common and uncommon they are. For instance, Oran berries are a common berry so Pokemon need a lot to gamble with.

"Then you have your uncommon berries like the Pomeg berries. Unlike the Oran berries which help cure effects, Pomeg berries help with forming bonds between humans and tamed wilds. Those ones are a bit harder to find considering they don't grow in normal areas.

"Next you have your super rare berries such as the Yache berry. Those ones are much harder to find considering they grow in places depending on the climate. Yache berries only grow in cold, snowy climates like Snowpoint City since they help half the damage done by super effective ice attacks.

"Another prime example are Occa berries which can only be found in warm, humid places such as Cinnabar Island. Those berries help half the damage of super effective fire attacks."

"That's kind of ironic, don't you think?" I pointed out as he finished. "The berries you need against certain types can only be found in the exact areas that they live in."

"Heh, when you put it like that it doesn't really make any kind of sense," the Graveler chuckled. "But then if if they were that easy to find it'd be a mad scramble to get as many as one could, especially when it comes to the ultra rare berries such as the Golden Razz berry. Those kinds of berries are extremely hard to find!"

"What makes them that hard to find?" I asked curiously.

"The ultra rare berries grow in out-of-the-way places," the Graveler explained. "While uncommon berries grow in places you wouldn't think to look, the ultra rares grow in the most unusual spots that no one would think to look. They could be at the base of a volcano, by the sea shore, a secret spot somewhere in the mountains; practically anywhere!"

"Coooollll!" I said in awe. "It's kind of like a treasure hunt in a way!"

"Something like that," the Graveler said as he quickly checked a few Pokemon walking in. "There are rumors though I've heard of that may or may not be true. They say that there's a place where you can find every kind of berry in altogether in one spot; groves of trees with every kind of berry out there."

"Such a place exists?" I asked in shocked awe.

"No one knows," the Graveler replied with what I believed was a shrug. "Like I said though, they're just rumors. No one knows if such a place really exists."

"But then how was such a rumor started if such a place didn't?" I asked.

"That's something I'm afraid I can't answer," the Graveler said. "All I can really do is believe that there is such a place."

"It's exciting though to think that there is!" I said, wagging my tail excitedly. "My trainer's traveling around collecting gym badges so maybe there's a chance we'll come across it."

The Graveler smiled. "If you ever do, I would certainly love to hear about it," he said. "In any case, if you're ever wanting a list of all the berries out there, I hear there are particular buildings that have them known as Contest Halls. That's a place where trainers go to show off their Pokemon's talents by combining moves in a spectacular display of fashion so to speak."

"Sounds cool," I said. "I'll definitely get my trainer to stop by so he can get one."

"Well you're in luck," the Graveler said. "There just so happens to be one in Saffron."

I grinned widely at that. "All right! I said, jumping into the air. "Now I'm really excited to find this place."

"I see someone's been telling the story of the hidden berry paradise," someone said suddenly, drawing both of our attentions to the entrance as, what I can only describe, a white, long bodied Pokemon stood there with what looked like long ribbons protruding from either side of its face, tipped with a yellowish tip. Its bottom part was a sort of purplish color which matched the tip of its tail, the tip of whatever it was that covered its paws, and the circular loop in the middle of its body. "Keep it up and it won't be hidden for long."

"Like anyone's going to believe in such a rumor anyway," the Graveler said. "They've all scoffed and chalked it up to imagination."

"I believe it," I said, causing the two to look skeptically towards me. "Why wouldn't such a place exist? Rumors have to start from somewhere and if they've traveled from one mouth to the next, why shouldn't we believe that it exists somewhere?"

The other Pokemon who had joined us snickered. "That's the most unexpected thing I would ever expect to hear," he said. "You're quite the odd one."

The Graveler remained silent, staring intently directly towards me. It was like he was boring straight into my soul and making actual progress due to the fact I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with every passing second.

"I think he's being earnest," he said before too long. "I can see it on his face; and I can say for sure that not many can straight up say something like that and actually mean it."

"You think so?" the long bodied Pokemon asked with a half belief tone.

"Call it a gut feeling," the Graveler said. "Who really knows what mysteries lie out there? If it does exist, maybe he can be the one to find it."

"If it exists," the long bodied Pokemon said. "But who am I to deter you? If you believe it's out there then all the best to you."

"Do you not believe it does?" I asked him.

"While there are many things I do actually believe in, a berry paradise is not one of them," was his reply. "I can wrap my head around the idea of it, but to believe it exists is another story."

"I see," I said thoughtfully. "Well I guess there's no real telling then if it does. It doesn't really matter if I'm being honest. What matters is the journey to see if it really does. Even if it doesn't, at least Ill have fun along the way."

"You are definitely something all right," the long bodied Pokemon said with a burst of laughter. "You're one of a kind!"

"Heh, took the words right out of my mouth," the Graveler said in agreement. "What brings you here anyway? I meant to ask."

"I guess you were so engrossed in your conversation you didn't realize your shift had ended," was his reply.

"Already?" the Graveler said. "Time sure does fly when you're deep in one. Thanks Mein."

"No worries," Mein said. "I enjoyed what I was able to join in on." He then turned to me. "Whether or not the paradise exists, I wish you the best on your journey."

"Thanks!" I said with a grin. "Journeying is what makes life fun after all!"

"No truer words could be spoken," Mein agreed.

"Speaking of, I'm kind of curious about that noisy room," I said pointing. "There's like this mixture of noise that's putting a strain on my hearing yet it's almost… musical when it all blends together." I thought back to what Priscilla and I had talked about and how all that noise did in fact sound like a mixture of music.

"If you'd like I could give you a tour of the place," the Graveler suggested. "Explain how some of the games work."

"Sure!" I said excitedly. "I keep hearing this really weird thing rolling around sometimes. So consider my curiosity piqued."

"Right this way then," the Graveler said. "Just make sure to stay close to me. Don't want bribers drawing you in."

"You got it!" I said as I turned to Mein. "It was great talking with you. If I ever do find the place exists I hope we meet again so I can tell you about it."

"I'll be impressed if you do find it," Mein said. "Take care!"

With that said, I followed the Graveler closely behind as we entered the room, being met with a blast of all the noise that's been playing nonstop in my ears.