“You see Grant I had arrived nearly an hour before your heroics, but every time Pidgeot and I tried to get to the emperor dustox we were swarmed by dozens of the smaller dustox. I can’t believe I didn’t think of something as simple as using a repel!” Professor Oak sat in a chair next to Grant’s hospital bed. Grant had been treated shortly after arriving back on the ground. He had needed stitches in both the dustox bite and the fletchling cut, and he had broken two ribs when he smashed into the emperor dustox. He had been put on a blood transfusion, and in general felt horrible. Grant knew though that he had been one of the lucky ones. Dozens of trainers and pokemon alike had been killed in the attack. Virtually nobody in the village was uninjured, and while Grant’s wounds were severe, he knew that there were nurses still working to save lives a full day after the attack. Grant tried not to think about it and did his best to focus on Professor Oak. Grant had been in the pokemon center hospital for nearly a day when Professor Oak arrived.
“I know I wish everyone had thought to use them.” There might not have been so many dead if they had, were the words that went unsaid.
“What is it you wanted to speak with me about?” Grant finally asked. Professor Oak nodded and pulled out a very official envelope from a pocket in his coat.
“Oh yes, first I wanted to bring you this! This is your compensation package for helping in the defense of the village. There is a pretty hefty amount of money in there as well as a coupon for two months of free food at Maryanne’s. She makes my Pokémon’s food you know.” Professor Oak said. Grant took the envelope but didn’t open it.
“Thank you.” Grant said, and he meant it. After buying the pokemon food he had been nearly broke so the money was great. It would also be nice to not need to worry about buying more food for a couple months. Professor Oak nodded, and then his smile fell as he pulled out two more official looking envelopes. They were edged in gold and carried the league’s official emblem.
“I’m afraid that is where the good news ends. You have received two legal challenges. The first by the owner of the shop where you stole the repels from, and the second from a boy whose fletchling gave you that cut on your leg.” Grant couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had risked his life to save the village and these people wanted to challenge him? They could have died if it weren't for Grant.
The worst part was a legal challenge wasn’t like the challenges people fought in every day on the road and in town. A legal challenge had real stakes. Sure, normal challenges had the 100 pokedollar wager, but legal challenges were another thing all together.
“What do they want for satisfaction?” Grant asked. Satisfaction was the wager, set by the challenger. The wager had to be approved by the league. The problem was the league almost always said yes to any wager. The league was a believer that overwhelming adversity built strength, so satisfaction requests could at times get out of hand.
“The shop owner wants you to pay for the max repels you stole, along with the other equipment you took from his shop. It will run you 6,000 pokedollars if you lose.” Grant winced at the high cost. He knew those repels were high quality, but 6,000 pokedollars was a lot more expensive than he anticipated. Grant had no idea where he would get that kind of money. He highly doubted the envelope on his lap had 6,000 pokedollars within.
“The trainer of the fletchling first wants you to pay for the fletchling’s medical bills. It broke a wing and received several deep cuts as it fell.” Grant was surprised to hear that the trainer had to pay for medical bills at all. Grant was lucky in that being a Foundation sponsored trainer meant the foundation covered his medical bills. Most trainers had such arrangements with labs or gyms because the bills could really add up with how often pokemon were in battle. He also doubted very much that the bill for a broken wing was that expensive, so he felt like that demand was reasonable.
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“She is also putting her fletchling up as a wager. If she wins, she wants your horsea, and if you win, she will give you her fletchling.” Grant choked in surprise at the second demand. Those terms were absurdly high. It wasn’t unheard of, but over such a minor incident?
“The league surely won’t agree.” Professor Oak sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
“I’m sorry to say they already have. Normally they would say no because horsea is your only pokemon, but they watched what video exists of the battle and saw you working with that tangela, so they assumed you just hadn’t had time to register it yet. So, since you have two pokemon in their eyes putting one up in a challenge is acceptable. I don’t relish being the one to have to tell you this news.” Grant tried to feel sad or disappointed, but more than anything he felt angry. He was furious that he and horsea had fought to save this village and were now being forced to fight in a challenge that could result in them being seperated. Not to mention that he hadn’t even caught tangela. He hoped to track her down after the battle, but he had been taken directly to the pokemon center for treatment, and Grant hadn’t seen her since.
“When are the challenges?” Grant asked trying to keep the frustration out of his voice. Professor Oak gave a weak smile.
“On that at least I have a bit of good news. It won’t take place until your horsea is all healed up, which according to the nurses will take two more days. After that you will be given 24 hours to train, until your first challenge. The second challenge depends on how injured your pokemon is after the first battle, but it will likely take place the next day.” Grant nodded; they would be ready, even if the whole thing made Grant extremely angry. Grant expected Professor Oak to leave after delivering this news, but he seemed to mull something over for a few moments before finally speaking.
“Grant, I hesitate to bring this up, but I have a favor to ask.
“What is it?” Grant asked.
“Well, you see, nobody is really sure why the dustox attacked. Despite what some people claim pokemon are not mindless monsters that attack randomly. Something provoked the dustox into attacking, and” Professor Oak hesitated, and leaned in to meet Grant’s eyes.
“Can you keep a secret Grant?” Slowly Grant nodded. This had to be extremely serious, he had never seen the normally happy go lucky professor like this.
“Okay, well this isn’t the first attack like this. Six other small towns and villages like this have been attacked by massive hordes of pokemon lead by a strong alpha. We’re not sure who is doing this or why, but there are concerns among the other professors and the gym leaders that this is another team rocket.” Grants heart pounded in his chest at the words. Grant didn’t remember much from when Team Rocket had been stomped out six years ago. Despite that Grant hated Team Rocket and organizations like them. How could he not, when both of his parents had been killed in the final attack on the Team Rocket headquarters.
“What is the favor you need.” Grant asked. Professor Oak looked a little taken aback by the coldness in Grant’s tone.
“Well, I am sure that you will be headed into the forest soon, and I was hoping you could poke around a little. See if you can find something to point us in the right direction. We haven’t managed to find much, but it isn’t exactly safe to go poking around pokemon nests to find clues, and I don’t want you doing that either. Just keep an eye open and call if you see something strange.” Grant agreed, but his mind was spinning with ideas. He would keep an eye out as the Professor asked, but Grant planned to do a little more than simply hope he stumbled onto something in the forest. It wasn’t Team Rocket, but if they were even a little similar Grant needed to do what he could to stop them. He refused to let what happened to him happen to anyone else.