"It was great meeting you Kau'i, you're welcome to sleep at my house like last night anytime. My little sisters will keep you safe there no matter what these numskulls get up to. And just ask if you need advice about Poison-Types, I'm the best in the business.", Plumeria said, congratulating my induction into the Team. "Thanks big sis, I'll see you soon.", I said back, a smile on my face. Eva just sighed contemptuously behind me.
"Eva, there you are!", came a voice from behind our huddle around big sis Plumeria. A young grunt with blue hair framing one side of their face had approached, looking for Eva. Eva's face grew just that bit more friendly and she introduced me, "Will this is Kau'i, some newbie Rich dragged in. Kau'i, Will here is the only reason I haven't ordered my Croagunk to melt Rich's eyeballs. They're a, how do you say, a soothing presence." "Don't say that to a kid Eva.", Will said. "I feel soothed already.", Eva quipped back.
Plumeria walked off as our new huddle came together to get me situated. "So you're new Kau'i? Do you know where to get your clothes all Team Skull'd? Have you got your chain yet?", Will asked excitedly. I answered back, "No, I don't know where or how to do any of that stuff." "Well I do, so allow me to guide you.", Will said cheerily.
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Once again I had been dragged through the brick streets of Po Town to complete some sort of introductory process for Team Skull. My nose caught the unnatural scent of bleaches and detergents before I ever saw the clothing building. A troop of Drowzee, Ratata, and Raticate moved piles of clothes inside, to the center of the smell, and outside to black and white spattered clothes lines.
"So you'll be getting your clothes bleached then dyed black over most of it. Super cheap way to do coordinated outfits. Both of the two steps are done by pokémon, so it's pretty much free.", Will explained. As we walked through the doors of the home turned dyeing factory, the process was laid out in front of me. Grimer and Muk swallowed clothes and spat them out, bleached white. Gastly and Haunter absorbed the noxious byproducts into themselves. The process continued with wood blocks carved with patterns coated in ink from Tentacool and Tentacruel pressed into the many shirts, shorts, jackets, and pants while hats were just dipped right in the ink. At the end a Smeargle had access to some supplies to embellish the clothes with extra flair and add the designs to the Team's iconic skull caps.
"I need to get the stuff out of my pockets, but I'm in.", I said to Will upon taking it all in. "Already got 'em from the boat, just uh… give me a second…", Will confirmed, reaching over their back for the strained drawstring containing my other sets of clothes. I released Kawami again and with a quick command the Zubat had helped Will bring the bag around. I snatched the bag and quickly rifled through the many pockets, accumulating a small pile of miscellaneous stolen and kludged items at my feet. Finally, I was left with just the empty clothes.
"Where do I put these to get them bleached?", I asked, seeing no obvious designated area for it. "Just on the lawn, we are a Team of teenage criminals after all.", Eva answered with a smug grin, another snarky comment to reach her quota. I sighed and threw the clothes out of a broken window to the lawn. "And when do I get them back?" "It won't be long, let's get your chain in the meantime.", Will supplied, straightforwardly trying to help.
I followed as Will climbed a set of carpeted stairs rich with mold, escaping the worst of the fumes, and turned into a small makeshift workshop. A young man laid back in a busted rolling chair at a desk, twiddling something in his hands. A mass of stone seemed to have crashed into a pile of scrap in a corner of the room. A long moment after we entered, the tinkerer put his work down and turned to us. "Is it another chain? If it's something more than a chain I won't do it today.", he said, unenthused. "Just a chain.", Will said for me. I gave them a confused look, saying without words, "I can talk for myself ya know?"
"Comin' right up.", the chain guy groaned. Then he clapped so loud it left my ears ringing a bit and the stone in the corner returned to animacy. A statute-esc rocky face floated out of the scrap, some of the metal sticking to its face in a drooping mustache. The Probopass meandered over to the guy through the air, and when it was handed a chain from a box on the desk it let out a low magnetic hum. It seemed to be groaning. A chunk of the scrap pile floated up and the statue's accompanying heads spun around it, creating a gravelly whiring. The scrap and chain slowly turned under the compass pokémon's control, forming into the familiar skull shaped "S" that all Team Skull members wore. The chain floated back to the craftsman, now fully formed. "Done, now leave me alone.", he said tiredly. I grabbed the chain, threw it around my neck, and did as he asked.
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A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"You look like a true blue Team Skull grunt.", Will encouraged me. "Yes, what color of hair are you thinking? Blonde? Pale green?", Eva prodded. My nose scrunched up in disgust. "It's not the typical Team uniform but it suits you.", Rich said. I socked him appreciatively on the shoulder. Rich's small crew had invited me to their hangout spot, a house with an overgrown tree in the lawn and a hole in the roof. Presently we lounged under the opening of the roof unto the sky. After days of running around doing something or other, the relaxation was nice. Then again, I was already starting to itch for more training.
"How long have you had your Zubat Kau'i?", Rich asked. "I caught her the night before I met you, so this is my third day with Kawami.", I mumbled, crunching on the stolen snacks the group had gathered for these hangouts. Eva and Rich gaped. "You mean to tell us that you've only trained this Zubat for three days? And you already have hand signals and complex strategies for battles?", Eva more so accused than asked. "Yeah! You and Kawami are so in sync I thought you'd had her as a pet for years before now. What kinda freaky prodigy are you?", Rich added, doubling the sudden pressure in the room. "I, uh… I don't know.", I sheepishly offered. Will burst out laughing.
Rich continued the conversation, letting the pressure fade, "You said you were gonna train Absorb and Hypnosis next right? Weird choices for a Zubat, most grunts I know would go for Wing Attack and Poison Fang as soon as possible." "She's weak, she's going to need the healing from Absorb and the assistance of Hypnosis to actually deal with a large threat. Poison Fang is tempting, but we're going to need better basics to take advantage of it." , I pensively explained my decision. Eva raised an eyebrow, looking me over. The others noticed her stare and copied it, lacking the same intent in their analysis. "How would you like to catch another pokémon?", she asked, her face morphing into a devilish smile.
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We crouched in the brush jungle surrounding Po Town's thick walls. Kawami bit her lip with a fang, annoyed we were here. I sent her a look to show my agreement. Eva and her Nidorina stalked through the foliage, silently pointing out the pokémon around us. Pancham, Scraggy, Pineco, Paras, Meowth, Zubat, Grubbin, and Ledyba all made their homes here. She also pointed out a few things that weren't pokémon but signified the presence of one, mouthing a name as she pointed to each. Scyther, from a slash in a tree. Gastly, a blighted set of trees. Rowlet, a hollow coated in dark lichens and moss. And finally Spinarak, as evidenced by nets of webbing in the canopy. Then she guided us to a bramble with a quiet space in its middle, crawling in under a tunnel-like gap. I motioned for Kawami to watch the entrance.
"So what are you going to catch?", Eva whispered. I hesitated for a second, before responding, "Paras is nice, Gastly could work, but I think Spinarak is what I want to catch." Her face released that devilish smile again. "Alright, you'll need to climb a tree.", she said. I sighed and left the bramble. 'Thanks for the net ball and all but why am I doing this?', I thought. I motioned to Kawami, mouthed "Spinarak" and pointed up then put a hand over my brow as if looking around. Kawami bobbed up and down, getting my meaning, then flew up into the canopy to spot a Spinarak.
Soon Kawami returned, and I followed her to a tree that was decorated on a side in intricate webbing that looked somehow artistic. I climbed the tree, branch to twisted branch, until I was face to face with a foot and a half wide Bug-Type. I jolted back in shock, nearly falling off the branch I stood on. The Spinarak just raised a leg and waved at me. I paused, staring at the pokémon as the face-like pattern on its abdomen began to smile.
Kawami came up after me, satisfied nothing was going to come up behind us, and upon seeing Spinarak tried to attack it. I grabbed her to my chest before she could. "Do you mind if we join you?", I asked. Kawami gaped up in shock at me, but I ignored her as the spider led us up into its home. I set myself down in the bowl at the top of the tree where its branches spread out and where Spinarak had been a moment ago, and Spinarak climbed up a few branches and then let out a length of thread to dangle a few feet from my face.
"I'm a pokémon trainer, and a member of Team Skull, and I want to catch a Spinarak, like yourself. This here is Kawami, she's a bit flighty.", I explained. The spider motioned to continue. "Would you like to join my team?", I propositioned. The face on its abdomen shifted rapidly in response. First the smiling mouth broke in two to be a circle, a shocked expression, then it closed again in a straight line quirked up at one side and the eyes stretched into flat lines, contemplative. It twiddled its mandibles and began to swing slightly left and right as it thought.
"No rush. And if you have anything you'd like out of the deal I'm up for it.", I said assuringly. The face changed again, smiling once more, and Spinarak dropped down before beginning to weave a complex pattern of webs. It went back and forth between branches and up and down its newly formed structure, like a printhead run wild. Finally, it stood back right at my side, admiring its art. And it was art. Spinarak had drawn a leppa berry, a dress, and an Ariados and had used the thickness and density of webbing to create shading akin to a tattoo.
"So you want leppa berries, to evolve, and to make dresses?", I translated. Spinarak nodded, still admired their own craftsmanship. "I'm not really a dress girl but if you can make skirts that have pockets that I can fill while still looking like a skirt, I'll wear them. The rest I can totally do", I said. The face on its back turned scheming in a way I would've expected to see from the beginning. "You'll need a name, are you a boy or a girl spider?", I asked in introduction to the way things worked in a trainer's world. Spinarak motioned for a while, attempting to tell me of boyhood, before gesturing '1. yes. 2. no.' "How about Toma then?", I asked, and Toma raised his forelimbs to cheer.
Having established that, Toma returned to thinking about my skirt idea and I pressed the net ball on his back. The ball wobbled briefly before holding still. With my goal complete, I climbed down the tree and left the jungle for Po Town. Eva could figure out I had left herself, it was all I could do to get her back for being so tricky. Kawami snickered the whole way out of the brush.