Absol took her time, going back in the direction of the hole. She would stand before it, guiding a quick escape once done. It was her job to be the rear guard.
Sableye gave a short yank, pulling her back to attention. She watched as he hung fom a horizontal metal rod meters from the ground. He motioned towards her to look, as he spun around and wiped at the contraption as gently as he could. She was about 10 meters away, but could see the glint of a reflection beginning to appear. Sableye had found glass.
‘A window?’ Lilith appeared hopeful.
Sableye pulled beck, before using his momentum to fing himself across the room. It amazed her how well he could move, and especially how quiet he could be. The small Pokemon landed without a sound. It wasn’t as if it was muffled, but literally nothing rippled through the air.
Moments passed before Sableye leapt down.
He rushed back to her side as he motioned towards her. She got the message, handing the Pokedex to him. With the item acquired, he got back to work. Once knowing where to go, his climb was much faster. He appeared to be in a movie, doing strange parkour to climb to his destination. His eject button was fastened to him tightly, with the Pokedex tucked in between.
He paused once back at the original position of hanging on the horizontal bar. The picture function was already opened, and all he would have to do was hit the circular button at the bottom. She had already primed him for success, turning the flash and other notifications off. She had watched too many spy movies where some idiot had their phone ring wen they weren’t where they were supposed to be. It wouldn’t happen to her.
Sableye held the item up for a few seconds, Lilith praying he could figure it out. The picture wasn’t that hard to take, but Pokemon weren’t known for their use of technology outside of holding items.
With the deed done, he swung back towards her. He handed the Pokedex back to its original owner, wanting to be done with the place. The sentiment was a growing one, Lilith quickly swiping through the collage of photos Sableye had just taken.
The glass was dry and greasy, but clear bodies could be made out behind it. Large bulbous heads and beaks could be seen. There were indeed multiple Magby nesting inside the generator of some sort.
‘So it's some sort of bottom lever door with glass in front… A stove?’ She couldn’t help but make the comparison.
‘But how do they get in and out?’
They all clumped together, making her wonder how they planned to get out when all encased in metal.
On second thought, she really didn’t care. The picture would be enough proof to get paid, having found multiple Magby. The League forbit sharing similar information to multiple parties. There wasn’t getting paid multiple times, spreading the location of the rarer breeds. It allowed young Trainers like herself to still come back and find special encounters over time.
Lilith practically pranced over to Absol, her joy evident. Even the hole would be better than this place. Absol made a quiet chuff before quieting herself. Sableye crawled up behind her, jumping into the hole. His tiny body was perfect for clearing the way. Seconds later, he popped back up, motioning for him to follow. Given the all clear, Lilith dove straight down, twitsting and turning.
Her body radiated warmth, but the cool dirt around her sucked away her worries. The hot air had been trapped due to its need to constantly rise. It created a cool pocket to the outside world. Despite her fear, she took a second to bask in the feeling of air conditioning. The feeling faded, ready to make her escape.
She wormed through the tunnel, finding the other side. Sableye helped her up in the same swift motion. Finally she was back outside. Absol quickly followed behind as the group vacated the premises. Standing right next to the hole as she wrote up her report seemed a little stupid.
Once clear, Lilith typed at her Pokedex. She included the details of the nest, recommending they come out right before they wake up and challenge them outside the nest. It was probably best to follow them for a distance even. A dot formed on the large geometric shape that showed the Complex. Her position was included in the report, hitting send.
The process took a few seconds, but the information was accepted. Her information would be reviewed before payment to her account could be made, but the verification came almost instantly.
“Ding!”
“Hmm? Paid already? That’s weird.”
At that speed, the League must have known the location of the nest. Rare Pokemon locations weren’t shared to everyone to create better competition. With the job done, Lilith could feel the exhaustion nipping at her heels. She checked the time, finding it still a long while before the sun threatened to rise. She let out a sigh, unsure what to do next.
“What do you guys think?” She asked.
The two followed behind her, voicing their own opinions.
“Another job? Wasn’t the last one stressful enough?” She sighed.
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Sableye jumped up and down. He had rather enjoyed himself. It hadn’t come to a fight, and sneaking around was his favorite thing to do. Absol gave a laugh at her plight as she gave in and pulled out the app once more.
She marveled once more at how technology-heavy their world had become despite being entangled with Pokemon. The app had the dual function of posting jobs as well as submitting them. Just another reason to keep the League sponsor as the Holo castor didn’t have such function. Pokedex were expensive to make so they were given out to the most promising of trainers.
Lilith sighed as she scrolled through the list. A few taps later and she lowered her requirements to first badge jobs. Maybe in her free time she could peruse others, but time was ticking. Anything not in the immediate area was filtered out soon after. The list was much smaller, only taking a few minutes to read through them all.
“Ah, here we go.” She let out an evil smile.
Sableye jumped around nervously, wanting to have been a part of the selection.
“This one’s going to be all about fighting!” Lilith cheered.
Sableye froze before waving his arms up and down.
“Hahaha” Lilith let out a laugh.
Everyone froze, having gotten caught in her prank.
“Would I ever do that to you guys?” She smiled slightly. “As long as we’re as stealthy as last time, we’ll be fine.”
They backtracked to the forest's entrance and returned to the main road.
“This way!” Lilith cheered.
She had still not told them the details yet, the anticipation killing them. She glanced at her Pokedex occationally, making sure they werre going in the right direction. The previous job was looking for something, the new one was checking up on a particular gathering.
The further into the Complex they got, the stronger the stench of the sea became. Lilith knew they were getting closer. The road ended abruptly, stopping right before the ocean. The whole area opened up, with no buildings either left or right. Only the rocky beachside remained.
Where they stood was cordoned off by cement, with the only way to get down to the water was a small set of stairs. Lilith shook her head, bypassing the stairs. She was looking for the rocky bluff. They walked the serene coast and peered out into the water.
“Look over there!” She pointed off into the distance.
A small Island mounded over the horizon. It was a great deal away, only barely seen. The one thing that dominated its shoe was the lighthouse. It stood tall, much taller than anything around it.
“That there’s Liberty Island. It’s said Victini lives there.” She said.
She assumed the Mythical Pokemon inhabited the same location from the games. The trio looked out at the sight in wonder.
It was the first ocean either Pokemon had ever seen. Both like their feet firmly planted on the ground. It was easily the longest distance they had ever looked. Large ripple in the water happened far out of shore. They wer so big they could be seen with the naked eye from such a distance.
Absol sat back and took in the view. It truly was something seeing it for the first time. Light started to form to their left, chasing away their sight.
“We better get this done real quick then.” Lilith commented.
They had lost track of time. The night had been filled with many fun new encounters. They would have to go and look for more Audino if they ever got the chance.
“Eye!” Sableye jumped down from the railing he stood on.
Lilith would have liked to go down the steps and hang out by the water, but with daylight approaching, it would have to wait.
“Whis way.” She hurried off to the right.
The cliffs of the beach were rocky and stiff, they wouldn’t want to go down there even if there was a path. The main target was much farther out. They followed the coast, making their path easy. Rays of sunlight peaked over the horizon as they rushed forward
“All we have to do is film this section of rock for all the Krabby we can find. We can’t have them overcrowding and spilling out into the complex. I’m not sure how much is too many, but once they get too populated, someone comes in and cleans them out.” She said.
Like most other Pokemon, they slept at night and came out en masse during the day. It was the perfect time to catch all of them emerging from their nests together. Any other time and the population would be too scattered for any documentation.
“Eye” Sableye’s shoulders drooped.
The sun was starting to get to him. They watched as the rocky beach below was illuminated. Soon after, a scurry of motion ensued. Kraby were small, not much bigger than her feet, but they formed a tidal wave, spilling out of every nook and cranny. It was a sight to behold.
‘Where the heck are they coming from?’ She swore internally. ‘Why are there so many?!’
Their numbers didn’t stop, in fact they continued to grow.
“Sol!” she barked.
“Yeah, I think that’s definitely too much!” She yelled, turning to run.
The Pokemon all scattered to the wind, looking for food. Some climbed the rocky cliff, moving towards their direction.
It was time to leave.
“Why the heck are missions like this voluntary!” she shouted as she ran.
In hindsight, the people of this world did some incredibly stupid things that were common sense for them. People like her didn’t have the tools to take on many Pokemon at once. She could probably take on around 6 one stars by themselves, with many more if they were not starred, but without access to a spread move, they were sitting ducks.
Lilith hit the send button to complete the mission as they ran. They looked back, but nothing ever got too close to threaten them. It helped that they seemed to have no interest in them.
“Huff, Huff, Huff.” Lilith panted rather hard, trying to catch her breath.
“I really need a Ride Pokemon…” She eeked out.
“Sol!” Absol barked.
“Or I could just get in shape…” Lilith held her hands to her knees, her head lowered.
The Pokedex dinged, denoting that a message had been received.