Chapter 54: A Good Start to the Day
Riolu, Combee and I hurried through the underground passages as quickly as we could to locate the person who was possibly in danger.
We encountered a few passages filled with Paras and their spores, but Combee made quick work of them before we continued on. I'd have to reward her when we get back or something.
Thankfully it didn't take us long to reach the same passage where the aura I felt was, and I quickly located a man in a lab coat huddled on the ground.
"Excuse me sir! Are you ok?" I asked from a short ways away, maintaining a slight distance just in case.
Surprisingly, the fear and anxiety in the man's aura shot up at my voice as he whirled around to look at me.
"More Rockets! W-w-well you won't be s-s-stealing t-these f-fossils from m-me!" He declared while also seeming like he was protecting something from us.
"No. I'm not a-"
"Go! Voltorb and Magnemite!"
"Orrrb!"
"Mite!"
The two Pokemon cried out as they appeared, the former being a red and white sphere that resembled a Pokeball, while the latter looked like a piece of metal with eyes and a magnet on ether side of its body.
I just signed while shaking my head, as it apparent the guy wasn't going to listen to me.
"Wanna handle this bud?" I asked Riolu.
"Ri!" Riolu barked in affirmation as he stepped forward.
"Magnemite, use thunder-"
*Boom!*
Without warning, the man's Magnemite was sent flying back from the 'light' Force Palm Riolu used on it, visibly stunning the man at the instant defeat.
Riolu then pivoted on his foot, and directed a kick right at the Voltorb that connected to send it flying as well. Unlike the Magnemite though, the Voltorb then began to flash as it built up power.
"Shit!" I exclaimed as the Voltorb prepared to use the signature move of their species, Self Destruct.
Voltorb and their evolved form, Electrode, were known for being so volatile that the slightest impact from an opponent could trigger an Explosion or Self Destruct. This made them a risk to battle against, and to train since they were always unable to battle afterwards.
But in this confined cave, which could cave in at the slightest impact, any use of Explosion or Self Destruct would be deadly.
As Riolu tried to get away from Voltorb, I used my aura to create a barrier around it to seal it in right as it finally blew up. Thankfully my barrier managed to contain the Explosion, though I did notice a few cracks before I dispelled it.
"Whew..." I breathed out in relief, while Riolu wiped his brow nervously.
I then turned towards the guy in the lab coat, and exclaimed, "are you an idiot or something?! You could've gotten ALL of us killed!"
"W-w-well I-I-I..."
With his nerves getting even worse as he tried backing away from me, I shook my head before pulling out my Ranger badge to show him who I was.
The man squinted at the badge in the low light, illuminated only by his lantern on the ground, before his eyes went wide.
"A Ranger!" He exclaimed in shock, his stutter now gone since he realized I wasn't a threat.
"That's right. And I also dealt with all the Rockets that were moving around Mt. Moon, so you don't have to worry about them."
"Haa..." The man breathed out a sigh of relief at the information, before looking at me worriedly.
"I'm SOOO sorry for attacking you! I ran into one of those Rockets earlier, and thought you were with them!" The man exclaimed while bowing his entire upper body, and clapping his hands together above his head apologetically.
"Don't worry about it, as long as everyone's safe." I told him, though I couldn't help but to glance over at his beaten up Magnemite, and his charred and unconscious Voltorb.
"Right..." The guy said as he hurriedly returned the two of them to their Pokeballs.
"Don't worry. I'll head back to the Pokemon Center and get you two healed up." The guy whispered to them before pocketing the Pokeballs, and then collecting the fossils he had tried to protect.
"You with Brock's sanctuary?" I asked him as the guy made sure there was nothing else he was leaving behind.
"Oh no. I greatly admire his work, but collecting fossils is just a hobby of mine. I'm actually in charge of one of the R&D departments at Silph Co. I just came out here to find some fossils for my vacation. I'm Miguel by the way." Miguel stated while holding out his hand.
"Ace. Ace Ketchum." I responded while shaking the offered hand.
"Follow me Ace. I know a shortcut out of here." Miguel said as he took the lead.
"Been in the mountain much?" I asked him curiously, as he now had a strange sense of confidence.
"Haha. It's my favorite fossil hunting spot. But I've collected all the fossils that you can find around here, so I'm thinking of heading to Sinnoh for my next vacation. They have a whole underground tunnel system under the surface of the entire region!"
The two of us then spent the remainder of our walk through the tunnels of Mt. Moon discussing the fossils of different regions, and I made Miguel seethe with jealousy when I showed him the jaw fossil I looted from the Rockets. Unfortunately for him I wasn't willing to part with it, even after he threw some ridiculous numbers my way.
Soon enough we reached the surface, at a far quicker pace than I thought we would, and could see the Pokemon Center lit up in the dark night. Thankfully it appeared as if there'd be a few hours left until dawn, so I can at least get a little bit of sleep after all the aura use tonight.
"Thank you again Ace, for stopping Team Rocket and preventing Voltorb's Explosion from causing a cave in." Miguel said suddenly.
"Don't worry about it Miguel. I was only doing what I wanted." I replied back truthfully.
"Well, if you ever need anything and find yourself in Saffron city, then look me up at the Silph Co headquarters." Miguel told me seriously.
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." I answered, before a certain thought entered my head as he mentioned Silph.
"By the way, Silph is responsible for the production of Pokeballs, right?"
"That's right!" Miguel stated proudly.
"And you've managed to incorporate the same spatial tech into our bags, right?"
"Yep! We've managed to drastically expand the storage capacity of the average backpack and such so that trainers could carry everything they need on their travels!" Miguel stated proudly with his nose in the air.
"Then couldn't the same tech be applied to buildings to make them bigger on the inside than they are on the outside? And couldn't the same theory as the Pokeballs be applied to buildings and vehicles to shrink them down into little...oh I don't know, capsules or something?"
"Pft! Like that'll ever work!" Miguel snorted in amusement.
"Oh yeah? How come that wouldn't work?" I asked curiously.
"Well you see..." Miguel began with his attitude shifting to that of a know it all, before he suddenly fell silent in contemplation.
"The science doesn't support it because..." Miguel began again, before losing the wind from his sails yet again as he fell silent a second time.
"Excuse me!" Miguel exclaimed as he suddenly took off towards the Pokemon Center, leaving Riolu, Combee and I alone in the dark.
"Lu?"
"Yeah. I guess it might be possible." I stated while watching Miguel's figure shrink, his aura a beacon of excitement.
"Anyways, good job tonight Combee." I told my little bumblebee, who circled me happily from being praised.
"Bee bee! Bee bee!"
She had defeated a fairly large amount of Paras while also making sure the passages we traveled through were clear of spores, which was quite a bit of work for one little Combee. And not only that, she was more than likely quite a bit closer to evolving after all that work.
One could only hope at least.
After thanking Combee one last time I returned her to her Pokeball before returning to the Pokemon Center, where I found everyone still gathered in the nurses station with the Pokemon from the smuggler.
"Ace!" May exclaimed as she noticed me, alerting everyone else to my presence.
"Are you ok?"
"You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"
The three girls, the nurses Joy, and the officer Jenny all rushed us to look Riolu and I over, while I also noticed the Pokemon behind them all looking at me curiously.
All except the Tauros and Miltank, who was currently fluttering her eyelashes seductively at him and moving so that her udders were swaying slightly. Tauros appeared as if he liked what he saw, if his aura was any indication despite the drugs still running through his system.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." I told everyone to calm them.
"Good. Though you'd probably like to know that our little holding cell is at absolute capacity now." Officer Jenny stated as a matter of factly.
"Oh? Then I'll have to be careful if I find any more bad guys." I told her jokingly, though she just deadpanned at me.
"Anything exciting happen here?" I asked the girls.
"Nothing aside from Miltank showing up with a wounded Zubat, and then Grovyle and Exeggutor getting here a little while ago." Misty stated as she pointed to the same Zubat I'd helped earlier, which was now perched atop one of the cabinets.
"A little rest and her wings will be as good as new by morning." One of the Nurses Joy said helpfully, which relieved me since she wouldn't be grounded for life.
I then handed her a sack I pulled out of my bag, and said, "these are all the Pokeballs I got from the team Rocket members. Most should be Pokemon they caught within Mt. Moon, so they can probably be released once they've been looked over."
"Oh! Thank you very much!" Nurse Joy exclaimed as she accepted the sack, and started distributing the different Pokeballs amongst the other nurses.
"If there's nothing else, I'm going to bed." I told them while turning to leave, with the girls and my Pokemon falling in behind me.
I did feel bad about leaving them with yet more work, but none of the nurses complained as they dutifully worked to help the Pokemon captured and used by Team Rocket.
The girls and I however returned to our room, where we quickly dropped into bed after pausing only long enough to strip down first. And almost as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out.
...
As per the usual I was the first one awake as the sun started coming up, and made my way out of bed as carefully as possible without waking the girls.
It was our first night in a real bed for the last several days, and we ALL had a late night last night, so I intended to let everyone sleep in for a little bit. Even when I was already awake myself.
Once I was free of the bed with its mess of limbs, I quickly threw on some clothes and grabbed my bag before exiting the room.
The Pokemon Center was still fairly quiet in the morning as some people slept and few others started their day.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?!" Roared a voice that made me groan, as I recognized it from yesterday.
I made my way over the counter in front of the nurses station to find the rich brat from yesterday, his face red with fury while a lone Magnemite floated in the air around him.
"I was told I'd get a Beldum, but all it was was this STUPID Magnemite dressed up to look like a Beldum! I demand that the Pokemon Center do something about this, or i WILL hold YOU all responsible!"
"Sir." The Nurse Joy currently stationed there said with a forced smile. "The Pokemon Center has no control over trades made between the trainers and other parties. If you suffered from a bad trade, that falls entirely on yourself."
"THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!" The brat screamed indignantly.
"You can bet my father will hear about this!"
"Yep. That's how a REAL trainer behaves." I sneered at him in contempt.
"Keep your nose out of this poser." The rich brat sneered back at me when he noticed I was there.
"Why're you mad at me? You're the one who made a lousy trade with an illegal smuggler." I told him with undisguised humor in my voice.
The brat opened his mouth to make a retort back at me, but before he could,
"Niid niid!" Cried out a Nidorina as she ran out from behind the counter, and up to the brat.
"What do you want?" The brat snarled at the sight of the Nidorina.
"Niid!" Nidorina exclaimed as she grabbed his pant leg excitedly.
"Who says I want a loser like you back!" The brat exclaimed as he shook her grip off his leg.
"Nii?"
"I'm getting my Beldum. You can be turned into poison paste for all I care." The brat snarled at her, shocking the Nidorina as she fell back on her butt, and tears began to pour from her eyes.
"You're out of line." I snarled at the guy angrily, as there was absolutely no reason for a person to talk to their own Pokemon like that.
As I approached him though he stepped back and snapped at me, "don't you dare! Lay a single finger on me, and my father with end whatever career you have as a trainer!"
"Ok!" I said, backing off slightly while raising my hands in defeat. The brat smirked from his 'victory' as his cocky demeanor returned, right before my foot went up between his legs.
"!!!"
"..."
His expression warped into shock before he began to soundlessly gasp in pain from the merciless attack. Meanwhile I turned to the Nurse Joy and said,
"You saw that right? I did not lay a single 'finger' on him."
"Of course." Nurse Joy stated in affirmation, though I could see her trying to hide her smirk from seeing the brat being dealt with.
Ignoring him writhing on the floor, I turned to the heartbroken Nidorina and asked, "what are you going to do now?"
"Nii?" She asked while looking at me with emotionless eyes.
"I asked what you're going to do now." I repeated to her patiently.
I then knelt down in front of her, and said, "what do you want to do now you're free to do whatever you wanted? Return to the wild? Find another trainer? Grow stronger?"
Nidorina twitched slightly at the last option I gave her, making me ask, "you want to get stronger then? You want to prove him wrong?"
"Nido?" Nidorina asked hesitantly.
"'How'? By getting stronger than you ever would've with him. Show him you're not the loser he thinks you are." I told her firmly making Nidorina look at me more seriously as I offered her a hand.
"It'll be hard and painful! But if you come with me, I'll make you a queen amongst queens!" I declared dramatically.
Nidorina then looked from my hand to me thoughtfully, before she finally reached out and took it with her paw. I then looked up at Nurse Joy and asked,
"There isn't a problem with that, right?"
"Nope. Not at all." Nurse Joy said while shaking her head. "It may have been illegal, but her original trainer already gave up his rights to her. So if she wants to go with someone else there's no problem."
I nodded in affirmation while pulling both a Pokeball and moon stone out of my bag, the latter of which made Nidorina's eyes go wide.
"This isn't for right now, but I want you to know that I do have the means to evolve you when you're ready in the future." I told her seriously, and Nidorina nodded in affirmation as I felt her motivation increase.
She then pressed the button on the Pokeball herself, which sucked her inside it and closed before issuing a soft ding to notify capture.
I smiled to myself as I then scanned her data to see what she was capable of.
~~~
Nidorina-the poison pin Pokemon
Type-poison
This Pokemon grows barbs across its body that excrete poison, but grow more slowly than the barbs grown by Nidorino. When threatened, it raises these barbs to poison its attacker. This Pokemon has the Poison Point ability.
Moves- Growl, Poison Sting, Scratch, Tail Whip, Fury Swipes, Tixic Spikes, Double Kick
~~~
Though not as strong as the male Nidoran line, I knew I could turn Nidorina into a real powerhouse with the proper training. Even more so when I eventually evolved her into a Nidoqueen.
I just wanted to ensure she had a good base before evolving her into her final stage, otherwise she'd have no real control over her strength.
Another reason I was glad to have her was because I originally planned to add a Nidoking to my team eventually as well, and it was infinitely easier to control them with a Nidoqueen around.
I immediately began planning out a training regime for Nidorina when something flew out from behind the nurses counter, and alighted on top of my head.
"Zu Zu!" The female Zubat from last night cried out happily while flashing her wings, allowing me to see that they had completely healed aside from some remnant scarring. But that should fade soon as well.
"Good morning to you too. It's good to see you're doing well." I told her honestly, as I hated seeing a Pokemon being treated the way she had been.
"Zubat is doing exceptionally well. We were just preparing to discharge her so she could go home to the mountain. But I don't think she wants to go back." Nurse Joy said before adding the latter part in amusement.
"How about it? You wanna join me as well?" I asked her.
"Zu Zu!" Zubat exclaimed eagerly, making me smile as I pulled out another Pokeball after putting Nidorina's on my belt.
A second later I had another captured Pokemon in my hand, who joined the first on my belt after I scanned her.
~~~
Zubat- the bat Pokemon
Type- poison/flying
Though this Pokemon has no eyes it can still 'see' through the use of ultrasonics waves emitted from its mouth. They can usually be found within caves, but will venture forth at night to find prey to drink blood from. This Pokemon has the Inner Focus ability.
Moves- Absorb, Supersonic, Leech Life, Astonish, Mean Look, Poison Fang, Bite
~~~
Two poison types one right after the other. Must be my lucky day~!
And that was AFTER I possibly reduced the amount of stupidity in the gene pool. Not a bad start to the day.
Just as I was starting to feel good about myself, another Nurse Joy emerged from the nurses station behind the counter and asked,
"Are you Ace Ketchum?"
"Yes?"
"There's a call for you from professor Oak."
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