It has been roughly a month and a half since I passed my Dragon Trainer evaluation. After Axew and I had said goodbye to Evan and his Haxorus, who flew back to Opelucid city, Axew continued to train with my help. Recently, Axew had managed to learn Taunt, as we were lacking in utility moves. I had looked over his move pool, and there wasn’t much we could make use of at this stage, since False Swipe was essentially a Scratch that can be held back, while Assurance required more energy than Axew could currently store. We were making good progress towards it though, as the constant use of moves during the training sessions helped Axew’s body toughen up and begin to store more energy. I was hoping to eventually move onto Slash once Axew managed to learn Assurance, as Scratch wasn’t strong enough for it’s small range. We still hadn’t made any progress on training Rivalry since it needed more energy storage as well, which was frustrating, but I was sure that once Axew learnt Assurance we would be able to make a start on it.
I had also finished my Trainer Courses final exam two weeks ago and received a passing mark. With that, I was officially a certified trainer who could compete in the next League season, which was due to start in two weeks. Ever since I had passed my course, Axew and I had been taking small jobs from a terminal at the Pokemon Center. It was a service every Center offered where anyone could post a job and reward for trainers to take, and if they finished it they were given the reward. According to a nurse who showed it to me, the company offering the service apparently originated from Galar but recently started to branch out into other regions.
For me and Axew this was the perfect training opportunity, as most jobs seemed to be to help convince some wild Pokemon in the city to relocate somewhere else. We had already helped move a Deerling who had wandered into a market, a Pidove who kept using Gust on people who went close to its nest, and even a small colony of Patrat who had built a den under someones house. For the latter job we worked with several trainers to help move them, as there were 10 Patrat we needed to defeat.
Another reason why we did these jobs was because I needed more money. My fund was due to get cutoff when the League season starts, and I wanted a decent amount of savings for the journey, as I would have to start buying food and supplies. Currently, I had just under $3300 saved, which wasn’t much, but the jobs paid much more than my weekly allowance from the fund. I was aiming for at least $5000 before the season starts so that I could buy a basic set of camping gear for long journeys.
Today though an unusual job had been posted. Apparently there was some strange activity being reported at the Mistralton airport in a warehouse where they store cargo. There were reports of floating objects and missing cargo, which lead the airport staff to suspect a Ghost type was haunting the area. According to the job description I would have to help a member of the airport staff search the warehouse and see if we could find the cause of the reports. They said that if they find nothing they will assume it’s a Ghost type and pay the helper anyway. If something is found then the helper must help move it out of the airport. Either way, it paid a decent sum.
After I finished reading it I turned to Axew and asked “Do you want to do this one today? We get a good pay either way and we might get to fight a Ghost type as well.”
Axew stared off into space as he pondered the question I gave him, before snapping back and giving me a nod.
With that, I accepted the job and was given a time to meet up with a member of the staff at the airport.
I saw that we had to meet up in roughly 2 hours, so I decided that we should start walking there immediately.
Eventually we arrived at the airport with 10 minutes to spare, so we went inside to cool off in the air conditioning while we waited for the staff member we were supposed to meet. Eventually a man dressed in a high-vis vest with a Lillipup started to wait around the entrance, so I went up to him and asked “Are you waiting for a trainer named Charlie?”
He smiled and said “Yep, I’m Anthony and this,” he waved his hand at Lilliepup, “is Odie. We’re the staff members who will be working with you for this job, so nice to meet you guys.”
Didn’t think the first nicknamed Pokemon I would meet would be called Odie.
I smiled back and said “It’s nice to meet you too Anthony and Odie.”
Once we finished introducing ourselves Anthony gestured for me to follow him. We walked outside the main building towards a warehouse and soon we were standing in front of the entrance to it.
“This is where we store various types of food before they get flown to various towns and cities across the region. Because some of the food is fresh and can spoil the entire warehouse is cooled to roughly 8 degrees, so you might want to wear this jacket,” Anthony said, handing me a thick, yellow, high-vis jacket while he swapped his vest for an orange version of the jacket he handed me.
“You might want to return Axew to his ball as well, since we don’t have anything for Pokemon to wear. Odie will be alright since his fur is so thick,” Anthony advised.
Axew didn’t seem to happy about being in his ball until I let him feel the cold air from the door. After that he went into his ball with zero fuss.
With our preparations completed we entered the cold warehouse. It was filled with various rows of crates and other packages. All of them were sealed tightly but from the labels I could see that they were mostly normal fruit and vegetables with the occasional berry crate. The entire warehouse was lit up with white fluorescent lights, with the occasional flicker of a light being the only movement I could see.
“Right, we’ve got 37 aisles to search, so lets start from the left side of the warehouse,” Anthony said as I continued to look around from the entrance.
Nodding, I followed him and Odie as we walked to one end of the warehouse. Anthony was right about the cold though, as my hands were already pale from being exposed to the cold air, and I was glad he gave me a jacket.
Once we reached the left-most aisle we began our slow search, checking behind every crate and package, while Odie tried to find any foreign smells using Odor Sleuth, although sometime I would see it standing still, turning its head in different directions. When I asked Anthony abut this he told me that Lillipup have very sensitive fur on their faces, which they can use as a form of radar to detect changes in the surroundings. I vaguely remembered a PokeDex entry mentioning this and chalked it up as a unique trait of the species.
We continued our search like this until we reached aisle 17, where Odie smelt something new. He let Anthony know and led him to a crate marked as “Watmel Berries” that had been opened slightly. Grabbing the lid, we lifted it off and saw that some of the berries had been eaten.
Anthony sighed and said “Well that looks expensive. Better let the warehouse manager know after this.”
I didn’t know how much this berry cost so I kept quiet. We quickly checked the inside of the crate again to make sure a Pokemon wasn’t hiding in there before we lifted the lid back onto the crate and shut it firmly.
While we were halfway through doing this Odie’s face twitched, and he turned around and started barking.
Because the crate lid was so heavy we weren't able to turn around until we had placed it on the crate. When we turned around we found several smaller crates had their lids floating above them, with their contents spilling into the air with them.
I slowly placed my hand around Axew’s ball, ready to send him out if needed while Anthony and I walked towards them.
When we were roughly 5 meters away from the nearest open crate all the objects floating in the air seemed to freeze. We quickly copied them. Slowly, the different types of food turned to face us and Anthony quickly yelled out “Behind this crate!”
The floating food seemed to unfreeze, and began flying at us, while both of us and Odie dove for the large crate Anthony had pointed at. I got hit by some carrots and an apple, while Anthony barely avoided getting spiked by a pineapple.
We all ducked behind the crate as food continued to pelt it, trying to hit us behind it. This continued for about half a minute until it began to die down. Eventually it stopped, and when I cautiously looked over the crate I saw that a small mountain of food had formed in front of it.
Anthony stood up as well, looking tense and slightly pale from the near pineapple experience he had had.
“Well. That was probably what we’re looking for,” he said.
“Do you think that was a Ghost type?” I asked.
“Probably, probably. Sure seemed like one,” he muttered “We should probably get out of here. Ghosts types like to play pranks on people and the next one might be deadlier.”
With that, we started to move towards the exit, taking care to not trip on any stray food items. Odie seemed shaken by the experience as well, and stayed close to Anthony while we walked back. Seeing this, I contemplated sending Axew out and came to the conclusion that I value our safety over his comfort, and sent him out of his ball.
When he came out he was sleeping but immediately shivered and woke up, shooting me a glare of “Why did you send me out of my warm ball!”
“Sorry buddy, we just got attacked by something. It might be a Ghost type, so your Bite and Taunt would work well against it,” I said explaining the situation to Axew.
Understanding the seriousness of the situation, Axew stopped glaring at me and instead began glaring around him, looking for the force that had attacked his trainer.
Our group continued to move down the aisle, but when we were near the end of it we were attacked again. This time, the amount of floating food was only half of what it had been last time, but there was still enough to force us to take cover.
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Axew tried to look around for the aggressor so that he could target it with his moves, but was unable to find anything. Then, when the food barrage was nearly over, Odie perked up, his face twitching as he looked around us. After a few moments, he locked onto a corner in front of us, slightly off to the left, and barked something at Axew.
Understanding whatever Odie said to him, Axew faced the same direction as him and used Taunt, throwing insults and taunts in a language that only Pokemon know.
“What the hell are those two doing! Do they want the Ghost type to kill us?” Anthony hissed under his breath, looking worried.
However, instead of a Ghost type suddenly attacking us like expected, a beam of rainbow light flew out of the darkness towards Axew. As if he expected it, he dodged to the side and continued to use Taunt, with Odie staying behind him and constantly twitching his face.
“Th-that’s Psybeam. Why would a Ghost type know Psybeam?” Anthony said.
Or rather, is it even possible for a Ghost type to learn Psybeam?
After several more beams, which all missed, had been sent out, something green flew out of a nearby crate and charged towards Axew.
It was a Solosis!
Axew was caught off guard by the sudden melee assault, letting the enraged Solosis charge right into him, knocking him to the ground. Odie backed him up, charging at the Solosis and trying to bite it with Bite.
“Axew, latch on and Scratch!” I commanded, using one of our code phrases.
Axew jumped back up and ran at Solosis, who was busy dodging Odie.
As he ran, his claws and tusks began to glow white, and when he reached Solosis he lunged forwards headfirst and bit down hard with Bite while he raked the soft green membrane with consecutive Scratches. A green goo bled from the bite and scratch marks, and when he let go the Solosis flinched from the pain.
Not wanting this to go to waste Anthony commanded “Now, Tackle! While it’s flinching!”
Hearing his trainer, Odie slammed into Solosis with a full body Tackle. The Bite from earlier must have done lots of damage, as the Solosis collapsed to the ground after the Tackle and didn’t get back up again, as it had fainted.
With the “Ghost” neutralised, Anthony and I got out from behind the crate we were huddled behind and walked over to our Pokemon. After we both made sure they were OK we went over to the Solosis on the ground.
“I must say, it’s rare to see a Solosis around here. Usually they hang out around outside of Nimbasa city, so I wonder how this one got here,” Anthony said as he looked at the small green ball on the ground.
Suddenly, the Solosis began moving again, and our Pokemon jumped in front of us, ready to defend us against any attacks. But instead of attacking us, the Solosis stared at our group before beginning to cry, its wails echoing around the warehouse.
Well now I just feel bad.
“Hey, uh, Solosis? I know you might be a bit upset but we really do need you to move out from the warehouse. Besides, it can’t be healthy for you to stay in a place as cold as this all the time,” Anthony said, awkwardly trying to get the wailing green ball to agree to come with us.
Hearing Anthony, Solosis stopped crying, but it still looked really upset.
“Why do you want to stay here anyway Solosis? This doesn't seem like a home you would enjoy,” I asked, hoping to get the point across.
The Solosis slowly faced towards me, and it’s eyes glowed a light blue. At the same time, I could feel something in my head, It was like a finger was pressing my mind, almost asking for permission to come inside. Curious, I did my best to make my mind feel open for the finger, and felt it connect to me.
Images flashed through my head, of a large group of Solosis, Duosion and even a Reuniclus gathered in a forest. Of feelings of closeness and safety. Then, an image of an airport in a city full of colour, and feelings of curiousness. After that, I saw that I was inside a crate of round, green Watmel berries, and that the lid to the crate was closing above me. Finally, there was an image of the warehouse, and feelings of loneliness.
When the images had finished passing through my head I realised that Anthony was shaking me.
“Charlie, hey Charlie! You there?” he said, almost yelling at me.
“Y-yeah. What happened, why do you look so worried?” I asked, feeling a little dizzy.
“You blanked our for a minute, and nothing could get your attention. Axew even tried scratching your leg.”
So that's why my leg hurts.
“I’m alright. I think Solosis just told me why they don’t want to leave with some sort of telepathy.”
With that, I quickly explained what I saw to everyone else, while Solosis watched all of us from the ground.
“I see. From the sounds of it, Solosis was accidentally trapped in a crate while it was being packaged in Nimbasa City somewhere. Then it was probably flown up here by mistake and wants to stay here to try and find it’s way back to its family,” Anthony said once I finished telling him of what I saw.
“Well, now that we know what Solosis wants, why can’t we just help it get back to its family?” I asked.
“That’s easier said than done, but I’ll ask someone to ring the Displaced Species Department later. For now, lets just get everyone out of the cold.”
With that we left the warehouse, our job finished. I was given the task of carrying Solosis as I was the only person they weren't afraid of. I was confused about why Solosis trusted me so much, but Anthony said it might be because I let it get inside my head earlier. I still didn’t know why that would make me trustworthy, so I just went with it and carried Solosis to a break room in the airport, while Anthony got a receptionist to ring the League department he told me about.
Someone also marked the PokeJob as completed and transferred money to my account, but I didn’t feel like leaving until I knew what was going to happen to Solosis.
It took about an hour before a member of the department came to the airport, and Solosis was feeling better by then as a kind stranger had given us a potion to heal Solosis with.
Axew was trying to get Solosis to play with him when the door to the break room opened and a man in a suit with the League logo on its pocket walked in.
“I take it you’re Charlie?” he said.
“Yeah I’m Charlie. Are you from the department I was told about?” I asked him.
“Yes. You can call me John. From what I understand there is a Solosis here who is displaced from its home in Nimbasa city?”
Hearing John say its name, Solosis turned to look at him.
“Ah, you must be that Solosis then. Tell me Solosis, would you be comfortable coming with me back to Nimbasa?” John said, leaning down and holding his hand out towards Solosis.
Unexpectedly, Solosis didn’t go over to John, who still had a hand outstretched towards it. Instead, Solosis hid behind my head, peeking out from behind it a John.
Sighing, John straitened back up and glanced at me and Axew.
“Well that’s troublesome. Tell me Charlie, from what I’ve heard Solosis communicated telepathically with you. What did it feel like when it tried to communicate at first?” John asked, sitting down at the table with me.
“Well, it felt like someones finger was poking my mind. I just tried imagining opening the part they poked and it worked,” I replied.
“let me ask another question. Did you feel this ‘finger’ retract after the communication finished?” John asked, shooting a glance at Solosis.
Actually, now that I think about it I didn’t feel anything change after the images stopped flooding my mind. Was Solosis supposed to end the communication another way instead?
“From the look on your face I’m going to assume that’s a no. From what I know, Psychic types who can communicate telepathically usually form a tether of sorts between their mind and their targets mind. However, they are supposed to break this once they are finished. That ‘finger’ you felt was probably Solosis’ mental tether, and it’s possible that it’s still connected to your mind. Has Solosis been acting different towards you since the tether formed?”
I stopped to think for a moment.
“Solosis had been trusting me ever since it showed me its memories, and wouldn’t let anyone else even touch it. I thought this was because it thought I understood it’s situation, but it’s a good chance it’s because of this tether you told me about,” I told John, subconsciously feeling around my mind for any sort of change.
John sighed pulled out his phone.
“Excuse me for a moment, I have to make a call.”
As soon as he left the room I turned my head around to face Solosis.
“Hey, is what he said to me true? Did you really leave a tether connected to my mind?”
A feeling of shame leaked into my mind, confirming John’s theory.
“So you did. But I still don’t understand why you trust me so much compared to the others. Can you try and tell me please?”
Solosis floated back to the tables surface and closed its eyes. I closed mine as well as I tried to prepare for whatever it was about to send me.
Meanwhile, Axew was on the floor watching us with curiosity.
Soon, I began to receive things from Solosis. I saw a picture of a mirror reflecting me, and felt intense feelings of homesickness. I saw Solosis reflecting in the mirror too, except in the background was its family and home.
Is it trying to show that we are similar? Because I’ve lost my home as well?
I opened my eyes to see Solosis nodding, or at least, nodding as best it could without a neck.
Well that’s my question answered.
John came back into the room a few moments later.
“Alright, I’ve finished my call and have an offer to make you. I did some quick research on you within the League and I know that you intend to compete in the League next season, so you’ll be passing through Nimbasa city at some point. I would like to ask you if you would be willing to bring Solosis with you on your journey until you reach Nimbasa. You seem to be the only person Solosis trusts right now, and I’m not sure if Solosis would want to be separated from you and brought somewhere by strangers. Don’t worry about money though, as we can include feeding costs in the deal.”
I was a little stunned, as was Solosis and Axew. The three of us sat there in shock for a moment before I recovered and started thinking.
We can get paid to do this. If I accept then I’ll have to ask for a form of payment as well. Besides, I don’t mind helping Solosis get back to its family.
“I’m willing to do that, for a fee, but I need to know if Solosis is fine with this, as it will take awhile for me to get to Nimbasa,” I replied, hoping Solosis would give me a response.
Solosis sat still for a moment before doing its weird whole body nod and floated over to me.
“Well, I’m glad that’s settled. Now, ready to discuss payment?” John said.
We then spent the next 20 minutes going over the details of the job. The department would provide me with a Pokeball and food money for Solosis while I would get a hefty sum of money when I reached Nimbasa and helped Solosis return to its family.
With the details finalised, I was given a digital contract to sign by John on a tablet he pulled from somewhere. After I signed it, I was considered Solosis’ guardian/temporary trainer.
With the airport job finished and the Solosis situation sorted, I left the airport with Axew and Solosis as we went home to the Pokemon Center. When we got back I caught Solosis in a Pokeball John had given me before registering them in my name at the Pokemon Center’s reception.
And with that, Solosis was officially part of my team, albeit temporarily.