Unfortunately, Hobbes’ ability to reform his disguise with transform wasn’t quite as overpowered as I first believed.
With a few quick tests on the streets of Fuschia City, using Seb’s slakoth’s claws to temporarily damage Hobbes’ costume, we determined that it took Hobbes roughly nine seconds to ‘fix’ his disguise with transform.
Nine seconds was an absolute eternity in a pokemon battle, especially higher leveled battles. For comparison, it only took Hobbes three seconds to use a normal transform, which was already pushing the limits of what I would consider the slower end of viable moves, especially for a move that didn’t do any damage. I was sure we could get both of those times down with time and some training, just as I was also sure there would be situations where we could use Hobbes’ ability to reform his disguise to great effect, even at its current slow pace. But it wouldn’t be the free ‘auto-win’ button I’d first imagined.
Which was actually fine, to my mind. Power was well and good, and I obviously had no intention of purposefully handicapping my pokemon. But half the joy of pokemon battling came from the possibility of defeat, from the opportunity to get knocked down, learn from our mistakes, and then come back stronger than we were before. If Hobbes had a method to perfectly negate the damage from all attacks…well, it really wouldn’t even qualify as a ‘battle’ anymore.
That wasn’t to say that I didn’t intend for my pokemon to become as powerful as they could possibly be. Regardless of how we trained, the world was wide and there would always be others more powerful than us — either through their own fusion ‘gimmicks’ or through sheer strength. And I wasn’t so deluded as to forget that there were motivations for chasing power outside of the dueling arena. As my recent encounter with Team Rocket had reminded me, a trainer’s safety on their journey was often directly proportional to their pokemons’ strength.
For the moment, though, we decided to resume our walk to the pokemon center. It wasn’t unusual for trainers to have pokemon out of their balls in the streets of the city, or even for those pokemon to use the occasional non-violent moves. But it was frowned upon to have a full training session in the busy city streets, which our impromptu testing was dangerously close to becoming. Plus, I had injured pokemon still in need of treatment.
In no time at all we arrived at the center and had our pokemon healed. I released Porygon and Sableye to congratulate them on their efforts in their first battle and make sure they weren’t punishing themselves for their defeats.
Surprisingly, Porygon seemed much more down on himself than Sableye, despite having an objectively much more impressive showing. Thankfully, my over-the-top praise managed to get him out of the funk that getting knocked out had put him in, and he ended up giving embarrassed bzzts as I described his battle against slowpoke to an impressed Hobbes.
Fifteen minutes later, I was preparing to head back to the battle courts. I hoped to find more opponents for Porygon and Sableye to sharpen their (in Porygon’s case) metaphorical claws against, but before I could leave, Seb waved me over from the pokecenter’s entrance.
“Hey bro, just wanted to say — good battle.”
“Thanks, you too.”
“Yeah…I was a little worried yesterday with how you were talking about strategy an’ all that. But you’re cool. You vibe with your pokemon.”
I squinted at the friendly trainer. I wasn’t sure I agreed with his philosophy or even truly understood what he meant — any serious trainer had to make use of strategy if they wanted to win, and it wasn’t like he was above using strategy himself. His usage of sucker punch proved that much.
But I decided to take the compliment as it was intended and gave him a shallow nod.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“So I’m gonna go check out the Safari Zone,” he continued a moment later. “Wanna join?”
“The Safari Zone! Of course!” But then I hesitated. “Doesn’t it have some restrictions though? And a fee?”
“Yeah, that’s actually why I asked. You aren’t allowed to bring any pokemon inside, they have to stay in a daycare while you safari — a normal daycare, not one of those weird experimental training daycares. And I’d like for my pokemon to have some friendly faces while they’re there.”
I nodded, considering. I definitely wanted to check out the Safari Zone. They had some of the coolest and rarest pokemon in Kanto, plus they had been the pioneers of much of Kanto’s effort to relocate pokemon species from other regions. So I’d be willing to wager they had many rare pokemon from other regions, too.
However, the price to go on a safari wasn’t quite as reasonable as it was in the games, and the odds of catching one of the truly rare or powerful pokemon were low. With my current funds, I couldn’t justify such a large ‘frivolous’ expense, not with how much traveling I still needed to do before my first gym challenge.
I had no intention of mimicking my new friend and challenging Koga for my first badge.
But just as I came to that decision, Seb continued.
“…I’d really like my pokemon to learn that not all opponents are enemies. Sure, sometimes they will be. But most of the time it’s good to be able to play with and learn from those they were just battling. So if you’re willing to leave your pokemon at the daycare with mine for a few hours, I’d be happy to cover your fee.”
For a moment, I hesitated, my pride warring with my greed. On the one hand, I didn’t want to accept a handout, not from someone I barely knew.
On the other…
Kangaskhan, chansey, dratini, scyther, and all of their amazing fusions.
Greed won out, and I accepted the offer with a smile.
----------------------------------------
Dropping our pokemon off at the daycare was a simple process. It was a building adjacent to the Safari Zone, a massive gymnasium with a doorway leading to an even more massive yard, complete with ponds, caves, and any other common habitat a pokemon might desire. Dozens of pokemon could be seen napping and playing in the space, with uniformed trainers, their own pokemon by their sides, walking among them and making sure there was no conflict.
There were a few rooms off to the side where those more aggressive pokemon who didn’t get along well with others could be stored, for an additional fee. Thankfully, none of our pokemon fell into that category, and after filling out a couple of forms, I was waving goodbye to an eager-looking Hobbes and Porygon and a nervous Sableye.
A short walk later and we were at the Safari Zone, ready to see — and hopefully catch —exotic pokemon in their natural habitat.
After the safety briefing, of course.
“…and no matter what anyone has told you or what rumors you may have read online, do not throw rocks at any pokemon. I repeat: do not throw rocks — or anything else, for that matter — at any of the pokemon you encounter. They may be less startled by your presence than others, but these are still wild pokemon. Throwing a rock at them will not make them easier to catch. It might make them angry, though, and you will not have your pokemon by your side to defend you. If we catch you throwing anything at any of our pokemon, you will be arrested, assuming there is anything alive left to arrest.”
Aside from that detail, the Safari Zone mimicked the games in almost every other aspect. We had a certain amount of time we could wander freely, with a couple of small handheld buzzers-slash-radios to alert us when our time was up or call for help if it was needed. No battling or antagonizing the pokemon was allowed, but we could attempt to catch whatever caught our fancy.
In practice, this meant we had to persuade any pokemon to join our teams before trying to catching them, as capturing a pokemon that didn’t want to be caught without battling first was practically impossible, even with uber-expensive ultra balls with their boasts of increased catch rates. Unlike the games, we were allowed to use whatever balls we had on hand to catch pokemon, though the headquarters did sell ‘safari balls’ — a different-colored version of a normal pokeball, sold at an exorbitant markup.
There were a number of different ‘areas’ within the Safari Zone, each with its own biome for the pokemon that called that area their home. Some of the areas had special rules which would be made obvious upon entering the zone.
Beyond that…we would be free to explore and interact with whatever pokemon we saw. Of course, we still had to listen to another half-hour of rules and safety presentations, and we signed what felt like dozens of forms absolving the Safari Zone of liability in case of any accidents. By the time we wrapped up the paperwork, Seb’s eyes were drooping and he was yawning every five seconds.
But eventually, we were finished. And, with the rest of the thirty-person group going through the same introductory presentation, we were free to explore the Safari Zone.