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CHAPTER VI

INTO THE WILD

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(-o-)

Gah! I’d been so taken by everything happening that I forgot to tell the committee about Glee.

We had just split from Myke and Kieran when Charli questioned as to why I hadn’t brought Glee with me.

“I think I need to go back,” I said uncomfortably.

“Dude,” Charli replied, his light-brown eyes twinkling with amusement, “we have phones?”

Oh…

I unzipped the pocket with the cellphone and picked up the little thing. It was hard to not press two buttons at once.

I opened the contact list and calmed down after seeing all three of the committee members’ names listed. Professor Cid’s contact was at the very top of the list simply named ‘professor’.

There were another seven contacts listed as ‘A’ all the way to ‘G’. They were likely for the other hunters. I noticed though, that letter 'E' was missing.

I selected Mr. Mahon’s contact and rang the number, putting the little phone to my ear. Rather than the normal buzz, it made a ‘blip’ sound every second that made me wonder whether it was a long-distance radar instead.

Mr. Mahon eventually picked up the phone.

“Hello, letter E,” he spoke over the line and as I began to open my mouth, he said, “Let me guess who it is… It’s Rubert, isn’t it? Run into a pickle this early?”

“No, sir,” I replied, “it’s Tomas…”

“Mr. Tovis! What is it, boy?”

I explained all to do with Glee and he replied with disapproval. “You left her behind? Why on earth would you do that?”

“She isn’t a fighter, sir. She doesn’t have the nerve for battling, and I didn’t want to separate her from my grandmother…”

Charli had taken out Natu from her pokéball. He was carrying her in his palms, whispering things and pointing at nearby objects, explaining them like a teacher.

Mr. Mahon did not argue the point, only saying, “Very well, I will work something out with the staff. She will be looked after. Focus on the road, young man.”

We ended the call, and I sighed with relief.

After almost two hours of unhurried walking, we came across a little roadside village with a number of shopping stalls. Most were selling berri fruits and vegetables. It was still early in the morning and the pair of us got several looks from the residents.

“Are you trainers?” a lady called out from behind her porch fence. She was a young woman, probably only a handful of years older than Anna. She had her hair tied into a messy ponytail and was dressed like she was going hiking.

“Well, kin-”

“Not really!” I replied, raising my voice over Charli’s. It sounded like he was going to say yes!

I gave him a look and shook my head slightly. He nodded discreetly.

“Not really?” the woman replied with a frown. “Well, you either are or you aren’t. Which is it?”

“We are not trainers.”

She flicked her chin up in acknowledgement. “Alrighty, then.”

I was curious and said, “Why?”

She replied, “Because we have some trainer items that just came in. D and C-quality potions.”

Charli and I immediately shared a look.

“We’ve got pokémon,” Charli said. “We don’t battle them though.”

She eyed us for a few moments with a look of skepticism. “That’s odd… Are all wild pokémon your friends?”

“Well, actually, they are,” Charli said, and I stifled a smile.

The woman raised an eyebrow and walked over to the waist-high porch gate, swinging it open and a taking leisurely steps toward us. Her boots scrunched against the ground.

“Should we get some?” I said to Charli in a whisper, and he whispered back, “Yeah!”

“Now that’s a secret I would love to know.” The woman stood a few yards away. From this distance, I noticed a minimized pokéball hanging from a short string on her waist. She paused for a brief moment to look at my face, and I knew she was wondering what had happened to my eye.

“Are you a trainer?” I sent her own question back at her, ready to get moving the moment she said yes.

“Oh, naw… not technically. I’m a ranger. I patrol the routes around these parts.”

Charli’s demeanor switched up in a flash.

“You’re a ranger? Like an actual ranger?”

The woman gave him a quizzical look. “Is it surprising?”

She must be a tough battler, is what I thought.

It was too early on in the mission to be thinking of battle, and my mind echoed with the advice from both Professor Cid and Mr. Mahon. We had jobs to do. Gran was waiting.

“Well, yeah!” Charli replied. “I’ve never seen one in the flesh before.”

That seemed to bewilder the woman, who said, “Where are you from? There should be rangers patrolling most routes that I know of.”

“Oh, we’re not from any kind of town or city. Our village is so out of the way, you probably haven’t heard of it.”

I took a step onward and gave Charli a glance.

“We’re kind of going far, so we’ve gotta keep moving,” Charli said. “Can you show us those potions you mentioned?”

The woman was sensible enough to get to business.

“Sure thing,” she replied and took the lead. “Whenever I see a trainer pass-by, I make it a thing to ask.”

“How come?” Charli asked.

“Trainers get into trouble when they’re out there without the necessary tools,” she explained. “If a potion can keep your pokémon from fainting, that could be difference on whether or not you get out of the wild in one piece.”

I turned my good eye to her, ahead of us, and felt an itch in the other.

“Are the pokémon really that dangerous out there?”

This time it was the woman who turned to gaze back at us, though we all kept our feet moving.

“It’s definitely not safe without a pokémon to protect you. Having your own means two things:

“One. You can battle to defend yourself.

“Two. Your pokémon can communicate with other pokémon in ways you never could. Some wild pokémon will let you off the hook if your own doesn’t rub them the wrong way.”

“And what if they don’t?”

The woman smiled. “If they don’t… well that’s why I’m here.” She turned her head forwards once more as we were coming up to a large wooden cottage.

“I patrol both on foot, and with scouts. They let me know if they spot a trainer in a jam, and I make my way there to help in whatever way I can…” She reached the cottage door and pulled out a key from her coat pocket.

“A whole lot of broken bones, though! And a good bunch of broken spirits too!” She clinked it at the keyhole and unlocked the door.

The inside of the cottage was warm and dry. The woman opened the window blinds, and the morning sun flooded into the room.

There was a large “L” shaped counter near the entrance, and a big white cardboard box on the floor beside it. It was covered in duct-tape.

“I’m Audrey, by the way,” the woman said, kneeling by the box and pulling out a utility knife from one of her numerous pockets. “And yourselves?”

“I’m Charli,” Charli replied.

“I’m Tomas,” I added.

Audrey began to cut the tape. “So, what’s this place where wild pokémon don’t attack?”

Charli looked sideways at me, and I shrugged.

“It’s Kakuna Village,” Charli revealed. “Quite a walk from here.”

Audrey looked up in thought as her hands kept working. “Kakuna Village… hmm…

“Is that up towards Viridian?”

“You know of it?” I said with surprise.

Charli said, “No way, we rarely see any trainers around, let alone rangers!”

Audrey slid her hand into the box and pulled at it, tearing off some duct-tape. “Our main job is to assist trainers and handle hazards. There are a few spots within the Viridian area that we are told not to bother with. You’re telling me there are whole villages living there?”

“There’s only a few,” Charli replied. “We come from the best one.”

“Lucky yous.” She plied the box open and stood. “This is what we have,” she said, taking a step to the side. Charli and I leaned in to take a look inside. Translucent purple vials were arranged in rows of seven by seven. Each was small; only about 100ml, and had black trigger-top lids.

“How much are these?” I asked.

“These are D-quality, and they go for ₽15.95 apiece. 75% discount if you are a registered trainer.”

For just 500ml of this thing, I’d be paying something close to eighty bucks.

“Sixteen bucks each…” I muttered, and Charli blew out quietly.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Yeah, quite the price for non-trainers,” Audrey agreed flatly.

“So,” Charli said, looking into space like he was calculating. “If I was a trainer… I’d get them for…”

“They’d go for an amazing ₽4.00 each,” Audrey said with a smile.

“Now that’s reasonable!” Charli exclaimed and I wholeheartedly agreed.

“How many times can we use one?” I was full of questions, and Audrey seemed like she was starting to find it amusing.

“I don’t know about general public products, but these are designed for trainers specifically. They work almost instantly, and their reliability is guaranteed,” she explained. “They are single use. A few pumps of the trigger is all that’s needed to empty the vials.

“I understand that it’s not cheap, which is why I asked if you were trainers to begin with.”

True, it wasn’t cheap, but she had no idea just how loaded we were.

“What about the C-quality ones? How much are they?”

She seemed surprised, but she went into the box and pulled out the tray of D-potions, revealing an almost identical set below. The only difference was the color of the vial. These were in orange vials.

“These C-quality ones go for ₽20.95 each. Up by five dollars.”

I was somewhat relieved. It wasn’t that high a jump.

“What’s the main difference between the two?” Charli said. Audrey shifted on the spot. We must have looked like the biggest rookies she had ever met.

“Well that greatly depends on the level of your pokémon, but let’s put it like this,” she began. “If your pokémon is on the verge of fainting, a D-quality one will be enough to give it an extra push - a final leg to stand on… While a C-quality one will give it back both its legs. If it is a low level pokémon, it will likely restore it fully.”

Our pokémon are on the low side, I thought.

An image of the battle with Lenn flashed in my mind. The D-potions sounded like too close a call to risk with Drowzee.

“I’ll take five C-ones,” I declared.

“So will I!” Charli concurred.

Audrey was lost for words, only managing a skeptical, “Are you serious?”

I nodded. “Do you take card payments?”

She did.

We walked out of the cottage with our potions, feeling like I was ready to dip my toes in the wild. Audrey asked where we planned to head next, but we lied, telling her we planned on taking the round-about way back to Kakuna Village.

She still offered us her cell number in case we ran into any trouble on the way. We saw no harm in taking it, so I added her to my contacts as ‘Ranger Audrey’.

Once we were clear of the little shopping village, I took out my Tracking Tool and both Charli and I peered at it. It was set at a 35-mile radius and thankfully all targets were still within it. I reduced the radius all the way down to 5-miles. A total of three targets blinked on the screen.

We were definitely going to capture something today.

Both our heads were pushing against each other, and I pulled back and blew at his hair. “What the hell, bring yours out!”

He pulled in closer to keep looking at the screen. “Don’t be selfish, dude! I was counting something – check it out, check it out!” He was pointing with his index finger at something on the screen.

I leaned in closer, frowning hard.

“One, two,” Charli muttered.

“There is one two miles away…” we said together, sharing a look of what I could only describe as uncertainty.

“What about the next one?” This time, I counted it myself.

“The other two are around 4-miles away, and 1-mile apart.”

There was a silence filled with the rustling wind in the trees and the faraway cries of avian-pokémon whistling through the clear sky.

Charli looked directly into my eye and said, “Let’s hunt together.”

I took another look at the screen. They were all so close to each other, a mere couple of miles. We were both aware we had been told to split up, but in this particular situation, I just didn’t see why we should. Hunting together would also be safer, and it would ease a load off my back having a good pair of eyes on the lookout.

“I was thinking the same thing.” I smiled.

We chased down the closest target, walking fast enough to build up a sweat. It showed slight movement on the tracker, but nothing major. We would close in on it within the hour. I was excited, and way too determined to feel fear.

“Should we bring them out?” Charli asked some twenty minutes later. We were still following a wide dirt path, and we had encountered no wild pokémon yet. I was sure they were lurking past the tree lines though, in their bushes and nests, out of the way of humans. I could almost sense them.

“You can carry Natu, but I don’t think Drowzee can keep up with us,” I replied. “I will bring him out if we have to go in there.” I nodded past the tree line to our left, which is where the tracker suggested we would end up.

Charli did bring Natu out, letting her perch on his shoulder as we continued our fast walk, and I felt my anxiety go down by degrees. Her pokémon senses would alert us to any incoming threat.

Ten minutes later, when we could no longer avoid it, we set foot off the path. The Tracking Tool indicated that the target was to our northwest, cutting right into the wilderness. My mind thought of Pokémon Ranger Audrey, and how nice it’d be to have her with us right about now.

Natu seemed calm, however, and that kept me steady.

I went into my fleece pocket and pulled out Drowzee’s ball. I let him out and patted him on the head.

“Hey Drowzee,” I said, looking into his eyes. They squinted slightly and he looked mischievous. He greeted me with a whining purr. “We are in a dangerous place right now, so pay attention all around us.” I spoke slowly, in a similar way that Charli did when speaking to them. Drowzee grunted and then let out a cheerful cry when Natu chirped from up on Charli’s shoulder.

We carried on slowly, the four of us barely opening our mouths as we treaded through pathless, untread grounds. After another five minutes, the Tracking Tool began to glitch out. The target on the screen blinked out for seconds at a time, then flickered back on randomly, so I switched it off and put the tool back in my bag. This is it, I thought, and looked at Charli, whose temple was trickling with sweat.

“Should we both give the command?” I asked him.

“Why not?”

I turned to Drowzee. He was healthy and alert. Sunlight poured from up high, littering the forest floor with hundreds of broken pools of light, and some shone on his white coat of fur-skin, producing light glare that made me squint my eye.

“Drowzee, discover the ghost…”

“Natu, discover the ghost.”

Drowzee’s eyes widened briefly, and his snout extended forward. He was sniffing the air.

Natu hopped off Charli, beating its small wings rapidly to soften its landing. It bobbed up and down, turning on the spot several times.

After what seemed like a minute, Drowzee started walking, his snout still extended. Natu let out a squawk and hopped rapidly ahead of Drowzee. Charli and I kept up behind them.

Drowzee’s progress was steady and continuous, whereas Natu rushed ahead then stopped, feeling for the environment repeatedly.

By my estimates, our target was no further than 300 meters away. I brought my backpack to my chest and rummaged for one of the Professor’s custom pokéballs, keeping it handy in a pocket of my cargo jeans.

Drowzee suddenly stopped and cocked his head.

“Charli,” I called out immediately, and looked intently ahead where Drowzee was focusing. A similar feeling in my body like the one I’d felt when facing Lenn’s Skorupi seized me.

Natu hopped and flapped it wings, perching atop Charli’s head, much to his discomfort.

Drowzee let out a shrill cry and something burst from the bush.

I roared like my life depended on it.

Like a shadow in the undergrowth, it rushed through and leapt at Drowzee, flailing through the air like an angry whirlwind of teeth and claws. Drowzee leant into it, driving his head towards the attacker with a cry of ferocity that matched my own.

The Headbutt connected, bashing the thing and sending it hurtling some yards back. It quickly gathered itself and faced Drowzee once more, though this time, it remained at a distance, hissing and baring its fangs.

It was close to the ground and big as my backpack, maybe bigger. Spiky brown fur jutted from it to give it an even more fierce appearance. It had long front teeth, and a tail that stood straight in its fit of aggression.

“Raticate!” Charli shouted. “It’s a Raticate!”

The evolution of Ratatta. I had only seen one a handful of times before in the village.

“Drowzee, use Psybeam!”

A powerful beam of psychic light shot out towards the Raticate, who screeched and moved to scurry away, but it was too slow, and the beam struck it, lighting it in a colorful rainbow display that buzzed and undulated through the air like something alien.

When the Psybeam ended, Raticate staggered momentarily, whining angrily.

“Hypnosis!”

With another dominant cry, Drowzee sent a couple of hypnotizing pulses that hummed through the air and wafted the stunned Raticate. It fell asleep at once, losing its legs like its soul had left its body.

After another few moments where I stared at the sleeping pokémon, myself breathing quick breaths, I slowly turned my head to Charli. He had an incredulous look on his face. Natu was still perched on his head, pecking into his hair as if it was a nest.

A smile slowly formed on his mouth and my own.

“Holy moly…” he whispered.

“Wow…” I breathed in sharply through my nose and sighed.

Charli began moving. “That was incredible, bro! The way you kept your cool.” He was looking at me in a way that made me feel like we were strangers.

“They were just basic commands, come on. Don’t’ exaggerate it.”

“I’m not!” he cried back. “You actually looked like a trainer there, I swear.”

I felt myself beginning to blush at the discomfort of having him complement me for real, but inside my heart of hearts I had never been so thrilled.

“If only we had some pokéballs…” I said with disappointment. The first wild pokémon we had encountered, and it was an evolved one no less. It seemed like a pity to leave it lying there when we so desperately needed to beef ourselves up.

Charli seemed repelled. “You wanna catch a Raticate?”

“I wanna catch anything to lighten Drowzee’s burden.”

While it was true that I didn’t particularly like Raticate, so long as it listened to me, it’d be welcomed abroad. Charli seemed to have this idea that we were setting out on our own adventure journeys. He seemed to think that we’d get to keep the pokémon the professor had lent us. I wasn’t under that spell.

“We should keep tracking the target. It’s got to be close,” I said, minimizing Drowzee’s empty pokéball and pocketing it.

We gave them the tracking commands once more and resumed the search.

“The battle with Lenn really did you some good, don’t you think?” We spoke quietly as we followed our partners.

“I guess so, yeah…”

“Who would have thought it, bro…you seem totally different when you have your own pokémon.”

I looked sideways at him. “What do you mean?”

He scratched his head where Natu had been perching and picked at something. “I dunno,” he replied, scrutinizing something between his fingertips before flicking it away. “You just seem to know what you’re doing.”

I turned my eye back ahead. “I do know what I’m doing, bro. I’m here to wake up Gran. That’s it.”

He hummed musingly. “But wouldn’t you like to become a trainer? Travelling and seeing new regions, meeting cool people…”

I shrugged. “Right now, I just wanna make sure Gran wakes up… Don’t tell me you were actually serious about that Indigo thing…”

“I was.” Charli chuckled. “I don’t want to spend my life in the village, dude.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you have to go and challenge the Champion, does it?”

“That’s just a dream of mine. Can’t a guy dream?”

I nodded slowly. “You can dream, but not while we’re hunting these things. Trust me, man, it will just distract you. We should be super focused.”

Charli huffed lightly, shaking his head with a smile. “See what I mean? You’re different…”

Before I could respond, he added, “But I'm with you, we have people depending on us… I'm with you.”

After fifteen minutes, Drowzee and Natu came up to an especially large tree, a willow of some kind with vine-like stems on its branches that drooped all the way down to the ground. It was blooming with pink flowers that filled the air with a sweet aroma.

Natu chirped and chirped, hopping up and down in place.

“What is it, girl?” Charli coaxed.

Drowzee too, behaved oddly. He gave a low purr and started glowing with a bright blue outline that alarmed me, and I called out to him, “Drowzee! What do you see?”

He replied with a grunt, and I felt every inch of my skin buzzing softly.

“Woah! Hey!” Charli shouted. He was pointing a shaky finger at me. I looked down at myself and yelped in shock. I was glowing. The same blue glowing outline that was around Drowzee was around me.

There was a nudge somewhere in my mind. It was distinct and I immediately sensed that it wasn’t me. An Image of the tree before us flashed in my mind, clear as a photograph; way more vivid than anything I could ever picture myself, and I saw the scene with a new eye.

A faint, swirling mass of smoky light grew and shrank with a breath-like rhythm. There was something coiling up there amongst the branches. Something almost invisible.

Is this Drowzee? Is this what he sees? I wondered.

What a strange day it was turning out to be. Everything had been strange since the day the professor’s experiment backfired.

“There is something up there,” Charli warned, and I turned to him and found him glowing with the same blue outline. It was hard to keep my attention on him, because the image of the tree remained so vivid in my mind that turning my sights to anything else felt as uncomfortable as crossing your eyes and keeping them crossed.

“This is our target!” I said with a pang of certainty, and as if it heard me, the form up in the trees weaved through the branches, making its way down the wide trunk in swift and coiling motions. Once it reached the undergrowth, the foreign presence in my mind disappeared as Drowzee’s glow faded. Charli’s did too.

Drowzee looked back at me and whined.

Something rose up from the undergrowth. Dark and purple, glossing in the sparse rays of the sun. An Ekans?

It rose one meter, then another, and then another. A fan-like hood expanded from its neck.

An Arbok.

The first real-life Arbok I had ever seen.

The most massive Arbok ever.

(-x-)