Chapter 48 – Haunting Escape
It had been four days since we entered route 120. After the Barboach incident Flannery insisted on riding her Ponyta for the remainder of the trip. Naturally this meant she had excess energy left over, which she helpfully used to motivate me to walk faster. Ponyta was only big enough to carry one of us and I didn't have the faintest idea how to ride the fire horse Pokémon. So even asking for a ride was a waste of energy. Having Oddish traveling with us had been a boon so far, the weed Pokémon had an excellent sense of direction and she made for great company. I was trying my best not to get too attached since eventually we would have to part ways with the quirky little grass type."Are we there yet?""Not yet we are still around a full day's travel removed from reaching route 121'sSafari Zone.""Ugh… are you sure we are getting closer?""Positive, the Safari Zone is situated on the northern side of Mt. Pyre. Haven't you noticed that giant mountain on the horizon getting closer with each day? Being able to spot natural markers like that is basic 101 for traveling trainers.""Odd!""See? Oddish agrees with me.""You don't even know what she is saying! And how come Oddish is still traveling with us?""Once we get to the Safari Zone, Oddish here will make it much easier for us to find a bunch of wild Pokémon.""That doesn't even make any sense!""If you paid attention during trainer school classes you would know that all Oddish learn the move sweet scent. The move subtly lures wild Pokémon to the user's location. We just have to camp out in the Safari Zone, locate the area most suitable for fire types to live in and wait.""Odd!""Fine…""Hmm we are getting kind of close to Mt. Pyre. I could ask my friend to come with us. She should've arrived back in Hoenn weeks ago.""Egon… You have friends?!""Hey! Just because I don't have any human friends living back in Lavaridge except for you doesn't mean I never socialize!""Prove it!""I don't get enough credit. Maybe I should've gone for the academic route…"Grumpy that she didn't believe me capable of making connections I turned on the Xtransceiver on my wrist and went through my entire contact list showing off all the different trainers and Unovan league staff I managed to befriend during my time abroad."See? I made lots of friends!""Liar! Those are trainer career relations. I bet you never take the time to call any of those people just to catch up!"'She's got me there… I should at least give Marlon a call and see if he managed to evolve that Feebas of his.'"Well anyway see this name here? That's the person I am going to call right now to prove you wrong."I initiated the call hoping that Phoebe wasn't asleep. Being a ghost type trainer made her as nocturnal as the Pokémon that she trained for a living. Phoebe usually slept through the entire morning period to catch up on sleep from her midnight training sessions so I hoped she wouldn't get angry with me for disturbing her beauty sleep. The call connected and my long time friend's groggy voice came out from the other end."Whosssiz?""Phoebe it's me Egon.""Egoooon you… IDIOT!""Wha?!""You just now decided to call? I've been back in Hoenn for weeks! Why is it always me who has to maintain this friendship?""Wait wait! I invited you over to Unova, we delved an ancient ruin together and I visited you at the Celestial tower. I am on my journey too, you know that. I've already earned two Hoenn badges and prior to that Mr. Moore my sponsor made me go through a two week long hellish training schedule.""Hmpff only two badges? Spit it out, why have you only just now decided to call me?""Mr. Moore wants his granddaughter to get some real traveling experience before she starts her journey for real. Catch a few Pokémon, get some practice in and learn what to look out for when you are going at it alone on the routes. The next stop on our sightseeing list is the Safari Zone and since that place is basically in your backyard, I thought we could all hang out.""You want me to climb all the way down the mountain just to lounge around in the Safari Zone?""We're still a day's travel away. So, we'd arrive around the time the sun goes down. Besides, when have you ever actually walked down like a regular person? Your grandpa's Xatu teleports you to wherever you need to go.""Ugh… fine I'll be there tomorrow morning. If that's all I'd like to hang up now and get some sleep in.""Actually, could you assist me with something else? The person I am escorting believes I am incapable of making friends. Can you let Flannery here know the error of that notion?""You… making new friends? What are you talking about? The only reason we started hanging out is because your grandpa is friends with mine."It was at this moment that Flannery decided to join the conversation. Much to my own chagrin"Ha! I knew you didn't have any friends other than me.""Just wait a minute there young missy! He might be a social reject, but we are good friends.""Can the both of you stop being so hurtful?! If anything, you girls are the ones not fit for polite discourse. I am hanging up now… I'll send you a text tomorrow morning.""Sorr…click*"'If the two of them meet it'll be non-stop riffing on me. Maybe I should have declined Mr. Moore's proposal to take care of Flannery.'Oddish encouragingly patted my arm with her head leaves in an attempt to cheer me up."Odd…""Thank you Oddish. Who needs human friends when I can exclusively hang out with Pokémon like you. Flannery, we ought to get going so we can make it there before the sun completely sets.""We would have already gotten there if you bothered to catch a riding Pokémon for your team.""All of my team members have unique and handy skillsets I just didn't get the chance to capture a riding Pokémon yet... Not all of us had the luxury to go to a fancy riding prep school and have their grandfather special order a well-bred Ponyta.""Numsy is big enough, why don't you ask him?""Numsy's entire back is a fire hazard, one accidental sneeze and I am cooked. Besides the bones in his body mineralized making for an extremely unpleasant ride.""Don't be a coward Egon, a little magma never hurt anyone!""Do you hear yourself talking? Whatever, I do concede to the point that having a riding Pokémon would shorten down my travel time significantly. Disappointingly there are none native to the Hoenn region that are also of the fire type. I still might get lucky finding one at the Safari Zone though."'At least traveling with Flannery means I never have the time to get stuck in my own head.' Late afternoon* We kept up a brisk pace letting most of our team members shuffle in and out so that they wouldn't have to stay stuck in their poké balls all day. Halfway through the day's travels we came upon a sign notifying us that we officially left route 120 and entered route 121. Underneath that sign the rangers posted a short but concise explanation on what to expect from the route we were about to enter. Seeing as the next route was close to Mt. Pyre, they mostly warned trainers about the wild ghost types inhabiting the area and ways on how to avoid or placate them should you come across dangerous specters.Wild shuppet seemed to be the most numerous on this route. They generally left travelers alone unless they exhibited a large amount of negative emotions which shuppet consider a delicacy especially those emotions that are linked to vengefulness. Next on the list are wild duskull these ghosts love consuming the vital energy of children, which is a demographic Flannery and I are a part of unfortunately."Egon this noticeboard says we shouldn't be on this route when night falls. Are you sure that we can make it to theSafari Zone before the sun sets?""It's fine, we'll skip our planned dinner break. I've already calculated our required travel time in my head. Try staying positive for this last stretch. We can deal with a handful of ghosts on our own but it's best to avoid their attention in the first place. Orin come on out!"Seeing as we are about to traverse ghost country, I called out my spooky friend to assist us. The little candle Pokémon would most likely be better at sensing oncoming specters than Victini."Lit!""Hey pal, can you keep an eye out for wild ghost types? There is only one ghost type Pokémon allowed to drain my vitality and that's you."The cute little guy having been informed of the task at hand was now sporting his serious face. Based on my previous experiences at the celestial tower I knew that ghost types disliked having to share the person responsible for feeding them. So, my Litwick was plenty motivated for the task at hand."Alright let's go. We should be able to get there by keeping to the path."We kept moving forwards, Flannery riding Ponyta and myself carrying Orin on my shoulder. Keeping our eyes out for wild ghost types all the way. About halfway through a shadow came out of the bushes picking Flannery as its target. The girl was acting nervously the whole way, which must have been what attracted this particular ghost type to come out of its hiding spot."Pett!"Naturally I didn't give this Shuppet the chance to make a meal out of my friend. Orin was already ready and prepared to ward off any ghosts."Confuse Ray!"The incoming Shuppet was exposed to a multicolored flash of light. The disorientation took effect immediately making the eager ghost type veer away from my friend and fall into a nearby bush."Let's get out of here before the confusion wears off. Wait! I just remembered that I still have that cleanse tag in my backpack that wards off ghost type Pokémon.""What! Why don't you stick that tag on you at all times?""Obviously the tag also affects Orin. I just keep it sealed so that he can actually focus during our training sessions. I'll let you use it just wait a second."'Tini, can you scrounge up my cleanse tag? It should be inside a wooden box.'"The one wrapped in duct tape?"'Yeah, that one. You can just tear it open if you have to. I won't be needing it anymore after this.'While all of this was happening, I kept running trying to keep up with Ponyta's brisk but modest pace. The fire horse Pokémon started galloping with my maximum speed in mind. I was thankful we were walking on a nature trail and not on city concrete else her clip clopping would have informed all the wild Pokémon of our whereabouts.In preparation for my journey I've long since worked on building up my stamina. Having gone through Mr. Moore's hell training I was somewhat confident I could keep up this brisk jog until we arrived at the Safari Zone's main entrance. My backpack flipped open and the cleanse tag floated out and affixed itself on top of Flannery's forehead."Hey!""Victini didn't know where to put the tag. It should be effective as long as you stick it to a visible spot on your body.""Dus skull!"Once again, another specter revealed itself, this time the more dangerous of the native species a Duskull. It completely disregarded the cleanse tag wearing Flannery and tried it's best to lock its singular red glowing eye with mine. I started feeling sleepy when all of a sudden my rabbit partner gave me a mental prod to keep me awake."Don't fall asleep!""Orin, use Nightshade!""Lit!"Victini managed to keep me awake and I quickly took the opportunity to fend off this hostile actor. Orin's eyes lit up and fired off twin beams of dark crimson impacting the wild Duskull's body and flinging it backwards. I wasn't planning to drag this altercation into a full scale battle; the Nightshade was intended to convey that we were willing and able to defend ourselves. We quickly took this opportunity to dash past the confused ghost types not sparing the Duskull another glance."Egon the building over there! Could that be it?""I don't know but let's not wait to find out!"We rudely dashed through the front entrance relieved that the double glass panel doors weren't locked. This seemed to be some sort of transit building judging by the interior design. With a large lounging area snack machines and a green carpet trailing towards the back. We weren't alone however seeing as there was a figure in one the corners which we quickly assessed not to be another wild Pokémon.The man who was sitting in the corner on a lazy chair and was wearing a stereotypical cowboy outfit introduced himself. He seemed to be oddly relaxed for someone tasked with running a Pokémon sanctuary."Welcome to the Safari Zone. The name's old man Jack, I am the warden of this here nature reserve."The man seemed disinclined to get out of his rocking chair, so I took this opportunity to introduce myself and my companions."Good evening, sir. My name is Egon from Lavaridge town, and this is Flannery also from the same town and these are our companions Litwick, Oddish and Ponyta.""Why are a bunch of young'uns like you lot out on the routes this late? You should know it's dangerous out there when the sun starts to fall.""Because Egon here thought we could make it from the end of the previous route to here before drawing the attention from the local ghost types!""Things worked themselves out in the end, did they not? We're inside the safari entrance building, probably safe from further ghost attacks. Besides you weren't the one who got beleaguered by that Duskull! It almost had me under hypnosis.""Well, that would make for an interesting tale. You kids want to stay over for the night?"We both eagerly agreed to accept the man's generous offer."Yes please!" Old man Jack was a gracious host filled with much wisdom and experience. He told us his life's story while I was busy prepping our meals. When the old warden neared retirement age, he wanted to keep performing his duties as a ranger. However, the league association forced him into retirement due to safety concerns. Not willing to stop working with Pokémon he came to a compromise with the league and started working here at the Safari Zone. His job entailed feeding all of the Pokémon that lived in the safari everyday, looking out for poachers and trespassers and also giving trainers like us the byplay of how to conduct themselves inside the reserve."I'll let you two inside first thing tomorrow. So, what kind of Pokémon are you two looking to capture?"Flannery answered for us."Fire types! You got any of them living inside the preserve?""Hmmm yes but those particular fire types are a bit too much to handle for your average trainers.""Old man Jack, I'll have you know that we are both experts when it comes to dealing with fire types. Me a bit more than Egon though.""Hey!""My grandpa is a big shot trainer and he taught me how to handle all kinds of fire types.""Young lady you might not have realized this but most of the Pokémon we keep here are ones that have been abandoned by their former trainers. Having been caught and subsequently released by irresponsible trainers you can expect these ones to be untrusting of humans. That's why this Hoenn Safari Zone enforces a strict no forceful capturing policy.""What?! How are we supposed to capture a Pokémon without weakening them first?""The Safari Zone provides visiting trainers with treats, and we also require you to leave your Pokémon and poké balls behind in this here facility. You get them back after returning from your tour through the zone.""No poké balls?""We provide trainers with our specially made safari balls. Unlike regular balls these ones only work when the capture is completely consensual."Old man Jack went back behind one of the counters and retrieved a box filled with green rimmed poké balls. Showing them to us before putting them away and walking back to sit back in his rocking chair."Green?! That's the worst color, don't you have any red ones?""Young lady you can always paint them red afterwards but if you are going inside theSafari Zone tomorrow it will only be with green ones. It's a rule we set up after some scoundrels tried to smuggle in regular ones. This way the safari personnel can easily spot what kind of balls you are using from a distance.""Fine… hey old man Jack can you please tell us which fire types live inside safari grounds?""Can't, you'll have to find out on your own. We have strict rules to keep the identities of the Pokémon we take in a secret."Flannery seemed to be mollified enough not willing to question the retired ranger any further. Seeing as I was almost done with preparing our meals I gave her the signal to help me with plating up."Hey old man Jack, do you mind the two of us releasing our teams inside your home?""Go ahead, this here facility was built to accommodate all sorts of Pokémon. It can even house larger sized ones like Onix and Aggron with ease."Me and Flannery simultaneously released our teams in front of the old man. Flannery's team didn't surprise him as much but when mine materialized he took an interest. Giving the non-native Pokémon like Halo, Glove and Orin a once over."Well, I'll be... Young man you must have visited Unova for a spell and somehow gotten around their iron clad no catching policy against foreign trainers. How did you manage that?""My dad's Unovan so I applied for dual citizenship. The paperwork and testing were a hassle, but it allowed me to bring along my new friends.""A Darmanitan, Litwick and I don't know what kind of Pokémon this little missy is, but I can hazard a guess.""Vess!"Ignoring Halo's fake outrage from being called missy by a stranger I eagerly questioned old man Jack about his experiences with foreign Pokémon."Not many Hoenn trainers are able to recognize my team members. You must be very well traveled sir.""Yes, but not to Unova. I did however get the chance to visit the Galar region to train up some of their ranger trainees during an exchange program. The Darmanitan over there didn't look anything close to this one.""Oh right! The Darmanitan living in Galar are ice types. In fact, they are the only ice types that can learn fire type moves. They must have retained species' specific traits from their Unovan cousins."To stop me from going off on a tangent, Flannery, who had just finished filling up all the food bowls, loudly announced that it was time to eat."Dinner's ready! Stop nerding out and come eat Egon."The rest of my pokémon except for Litwick eagerly sprang up and gathered around the lined-up bowls of food. Eager to fill their bellies with food pellets and sliced berries. Just like that we all started enjoying my well-prepared meals bathed in the candlelight our fire types naturally produced. That is until old man Jack asked a singular question."You kids, which Pokémon is that last bowl meant for?"Flannery, not paying enough attention, filled up Victini's bowl as well. Drawing an odd look from our wizened host. Flannery scrambled to come up with a good excuse."That ehm…! I forgot Litwick don't eat regular food.""It's fine I believe we can trust old man Jack. Besides, she is also getting tired of staying in my backpack all the time. You can come out now, Victini."The first thing the rest of us saw was a pair of rabbit ears sticking out of my trusty backpack which was followed by the rest of her body. Victini, now finally getting the chance to enjoy her meal levitated to her food bowl and started munching on one of the sliced berries keeping a close eye on the old man who seemed intrigued by the victory Pokémon."That's a funny looking Pokémon kid. I take it Victini are an uncommon find even in Unova?""Yeah… she's been hiding out in my backpack whenever we visit places with people in them. One of our immediate goals is to prove our strength in this circuit so thieves are less inclined to target her when Victini's existence becomes public knowledge.""I understand one of my colleagues has had a similar problem.""One of your colleagues?""Kaiser the warden running the Kanto Safari Zone. Decades ago, it became known that a dratini had made its home there. Trainers all over the region visited that place to get a chance to catch that elusive Pokémon. Unlike the Hoenn Safari Zone, Kanto's was made with the intent to preserve some of the rarer native species. So naturally the massive increase of visiting trainers became a problem for them. Not one of those trainers managed to catch a dratini so things went back to normal after a while but still… I understand wanting to keep your little friend here a secret for as long as possible. You kids won't have to worry I'll keep this encounter to myself""Vi!" "Thanks a bunch mister!"Victini expressed her gratitude by projecting her thoughts outward in a way that everyone in the room could understand."It's nothing, little gal. Rangers like me have a duty to protect endangered species of Pokémon like yourself."Mythical Pokémon like Victini were one of a kind and not endangered like the old man was assuming but I wasn't in a rush to more accurately explain our circumstances."I've noticed you two carrying around an Oddish. Did you meet this little one on the route outside the Safari Zone?""Yes route 120 I mistook Oddish for an herb and tried to pick her. She's been showing us around since then.""Odd!""Hmm Oddish aren't native to the Hoenn region and seeing as the two of you are both fire type specialists, I reckon this one is still uncaught. If you want, I could take her in. We have a great number of her species living inside the Safari Zone."I exchanged looks with Oddish. Her body language suggested that she wasn't against the notion of leaving behind living inside the routes for a safer environment like this nature reserve."Odd!""Are you sure? You could crash at my grandparents' home.""Dish!""Okay then, we are going to miss you once we leave this place."Oddish gave me some more leaf pats as if I was the one who needed comforting. The grass type was the first Pokémon who had me almost breaking my self-spun limitation of only using fire types. I knew for a fact that grass types could work really well with fire types in a competitive environment especially once I got Rena's drought working properly."You young ones are about my grandkids' age so be sure to go to sleep early. I'll wake you up during opening time so you guys can have the whole day tomorrow looking for fire types. Oddish are active at night and sleep during the day so I could help her settle into the native colony tonight if she is feeling up to it."Odd!""Stay here huh? That's fine by me. You can accompany these two to the safari in the morning."Jack put down a tarp for any Pokémon who preferred sleeping outside their poké balls and left us to go back to his personal quarters. The rest of us huddled up to discuss our plans for tomorrow."You guys can't come with us into the reserve, so you'll have to stay here tomorrow. I am thinking this facility probably has some sort of recreation room for Pokémon that have to wait for their trainers. And also… a training area to practice moves in. Numsy try to work on your bulldoze you are now strong enough to learn earthquake the natural progression of that move, Rena and Glove you two need to work on familiarizing yourself with psychic type moves Tini can help you further along and Orin can you start helping Halo with ember practice?""Lit!""Thanks, when we make it to Mt. Pyre, you'll have lots of experienced ghost types to give you personal training. Now let's rest up, we've got a busy day tomorrow." The following morning* We were sleeping peacefully inside our sleeping bags when we got rudely woken up by a cacophony of screeching sound probably made by a large grouping of bird Pokémon in the nearby area."First time being woken up by a dodrio?"Old man Jack was watching over us sipping a mug of coffee. I guess it was true what they say about old people waking up much earlier than the rest of us. I was mildly distracted by his figure nonchalantly drinking his morning beverage before realizing the issue at hand."Wait… that was a Dodrio!?""Yeah, we have three herds of them living inside the safari. The alpha males like to announce the coming of the morning every day at the first glimpse of sunlight.""Isn't that a bother for the rest of the Pokémon living inside the reserve?""Yeah, at first but they got used to it. Now the lot of them can just sleep on through."I knew that I would not be able to go back to sleep, so I packed up my sleeping bag and started preparing early morning breakfast. Most of my team was already up and ready to tackle the day but it seemed that Flannery was used to sleeping through."Old man Jack, a friend of ours is coming to visit. She lives nearby so I thought it would be a good idea to include her in the activities.""You know someone living on this ghost type infested route?""Yeah, you might have heard of her. Her grandparents run the cemeteries on top of Mt. Pyre.""Haha! You are talking about little Phoebe. Yes, I know her. She used to come around often playing pranks on the Pokémon inside the safari. She and her posse of ghosts got so bad we had to temporarily ban them from entering.""Really!? But she's not banned anymore, right?""Hmmm I don't know. She is actually the main reason why we don't allow trainers to bring in their companions inside the safari anymore. Those ghosts of hers lost all control of themselves for a hot minute and started badgering our rhyhorns and ursaring. Let me tell you, that little girl is packing a whole lot of guts to be confident enough to offend those temperamental Pokémon.""Egon! Where are you!!!?"Gulp!*
Chapter 49 – Exploring the Safari
Before I had the chance to properly mentally prepare myself the 14 year old girl burst through the main entrance ready to cause all kinds of mischief. She seemed energetic enough, probably having gone to bed early to conserve energy for this morning's meetup. She took one look at the lounging area before darting over to be her usual rambunctious self.
"Hi there… Phoebe how's it been?"
"As if you care. In any case I've been in a non-stop training frenzy ever since Shauntal showed me a few of her tricks. Just a little bit more polishing on what we already have, and I'll make my bid for a position on the elite four."
"That's great! You are finally getting closer to landing your dream job. So, who among the four are you thinking about challenging? I know it's not Sidney that'd be crazy even for you."
"Hey! My ghosts can wipe the floor with his dark types any day of the week! But no, I am thinking about challenging one of the older ones and Elite Moore's position seems ripe for the taking. It is about time that old man retired."
"Grandpa?!! As if he'd let some upstart floozy like you take away his position!"
The mentioning of her grandfather seems to have woken up my traveling sidekick. She awkwardly tried getting out of her sleeping bag in one go but failed then not minding the fact she looked ridiculous hopping on over to join in on the conversation.
"Egon, is this the spoiled heiress you have to look after?"
"Spoiled!? At least I am better than a menace who goes around ruining everybody's good day!"
"Now now, let's all calm down before something gets said that cannot be taken back."
The two of them were eying each other up like two meowth vying for contested territory. Any sensible guy would make for the hills until the situation calmed down. Sadly enough, I didn't realize that until it was too late. Luckily, I had someone in my corner who was an expert at drawing a lady's attention away.
Victini flew in between the two girls who seemed to be about ready to start brawling. Using her natural fluffiness she successfully managed to derail their ongoing dispute.
"Aww, hello to you too Victini! Let this big sister get a good look at you."
Phoebe took the rabbit Pokémon and started fuzzing over her.
"It's been a while, hasn't it? I hope Egon has been treating you right. If not, I'll set him straight."
'Can you distract Phoebe while I'll go through today's planned activities with Flannery? She hasn't met Halo, yet I bet you could get a good hour's worth of distraction just by introducing her.'
"Vi Vi!" "Sunny's egg hatched. Do you want to go see?"
"Of course I want to meet your newest friend. Let's go right away!"
Victini led Phoebe back into the lounging room where most of our Pokémon were shaking off the last dredges of drowsiness while I turned back to face my childhood friend.
"Yeah, but Phoebe won't tell. She might be a menace to society, but she won't actually deliberately harm anyone. After we are done here her old folks' home is next on our visiting list. Mt. Pyre is the place where I originally caught Rena. The gym doesn't have any vulpix so I thought it'd be a good opportunity for you to catch a new partner Pokémon. So please try to avoid starting a fight with her."
"Hmpff! As long as she keeps her comments about my grandpa to herself."
"We'll eat a light breakfast and then we'll set off. Since Oddish isn't a caught Pokémon I am pretty sure she'll be allowed to come with us into the safari."
The both of us went back to the lounge room and witnessed a peculiar scene. Phoebe was attempting to get onto Halo's nice list by telling her the story of our underground adventure together.
"Egon had this crazy notion that there was a camouflaged passageway down into the ruins, and he was right! My guess is that he just didn't want those expedition bozos to get all the credit for discovering your mother's nesting room."
"Ahem… First of all, that's not the reason why and I haven't shared any details of our little adventure together with anyone afterwards aside from my grandparents. Sunny and the Claydol would most likely prefer not to be poked and prodded by eager scientists looking to make a name for themselves."
"I was just telling this little princess all about the buried castle she stands to inherit. Isn't that right cutie?"
It seems like Phoebe's way of making friends with Halo was more effective than Flannery's method. Since the bug type didn't seem to mind the shower of attentions and head pats, she was receiving. Flannery watched on, clearly jealous of Phoebe's success at mollifying Halo's queenly temperament in contrast to her own failed attempts at making nice with Halo. Not wanting things to escalate further I quickly got out the bowls and cooking supplies to start making breakfast. Listening in on the conversations while pretending not to be a busy body.
'Good Phoebe seems busy with her regaling. Now to distract the other hellion in the room.'
Victini flew across the room bumping head first into Flannery. After which she gave the girl her trademark wink and victory sign pose.
"You are so adorable Tini!"
Being mildly miffed that Flannery stole my nickname for Victini, but glad that she successfully took Flannery's attentions onto herself, I continued preparing breakfast. After about an half hour had passed I finally finished up doing so and served each member of my team and that of Flannery's the usual serving of sliced berries and pellets. Old man Jack had at some point returned to his rocking chair seemingly content at just watching the girls interact with the Pokémon.
"Old man Jack, as soon as we finish these bowls we'll be ready to head into the safari. But I have to ask, shouldn't you be at the counter assisting visitors?"
"The safari isn't as popular as it used to be. The only ones who come to visit us are trainers looking to capture themselves a specific type of Pokémon. About a quarter of all trainers are specialists and seeing as we are located inside the distant route 121 far away from any towns or cities… We only get around two visitors a week at best."
Phoebe nodded as if she had expected this kind of revelation, but Flannery had a much different reaction.
"That's terrible! I'll ask all of my friends to come visit even if they don't intend to catch a new partner."
"It is what it is. We get our funding mostly from the league association and concerned trainers who donate whenever they can. Since the safari zone is classified as a charity organization we don't have to pay any taxes on our income. So, we aren't in any financial troubles at least. It's just that this place used to be very lively…"
Right there and then I started brainstorming ideas to help the old man out. If all of it came down to trainer visitation rates, then the question to be asked was: what would attract more trainers to come visit the safari zone? There was just one simple answer: rare and powerful Pokémon. With that in mind, I asked a series of hypothetical questions.
"Can't you just ask the Stone family to relocate some of their beldum to the safari? That would increase visitation rates for sure."
"I've met Joseph Stone. He won't ever grant the right to capture a beldum to someone who is not affiliated with his company. Besides that, it would do more harm than good just like that story I told you from before about the Kanto safari zone."
"The Pokémon living in this safari still have to agree to be captured right?"
"Yes, but there are various nefarious ways to manufacture consent. If the safari gets swarmed with eager trainers, I can't vet everyone who comes in and out of the reserve."
"Hmm another angle... How about…?!"
Before I could come up with another scheme the warden interrupted me by promptly standing up from his rocking chair.
"Don't worry about it youngsters, this is a problem for old folk like me to resolve. Just recommending the safari zone to your friends and family already helps out a lot. Now let's get you set up with all the things you need for a fruitful safari zone tour."
Old man Jack went inside the backroom before returning with boxes filled with green safari balls and Pokémon treats before depositing the lot of them on the coffee table inside the lounging room.
"These here items are what trainers are allowed to bring with them inside the safari. You have your standard safari balls and treats best used to let the wild Pokémon warm up to you. Each trainer can at most bring thirty balls with them on each run."
Flannery and I eagerly started taking out the treats and safari balls from their respective boxes. To not be bogged down by the added weight I passed on taking more than ten safari balls. I figured that if I couldn't convince a Pokémon to come with me within ten tries that I might as well give up on catching them. Contrary to my rational decision Flannery took as many safari balls from the box as she was allowed.
"Flanny, we need to venture across various types of terrain. Thirty balls put together is still quite hefty."
"There's no way I won't catch anything if I bring all thirty balls with us, Egon. What if there are lots of different fire types that want to come with us?"
I highly doubted that the safari zone was flooding with fire types for us to catch but I kept quiet, not willing to debate on the issue. After packing enough treats to feed dozens of Pokémon we followed old man jack to the counter to pay for entry.
"That'll be 1500 poké dollars in total."
I gingerly moved to pay the man, but before I could get Mr. Moore's card out of my pocket, Phoebe being quicker on the draw paid for all three of us. She insisted on paying our way since we would be staying as guests at her place afterwards. Flannery, seeing that Phoebe wasn't all bad, mellowed out a bit.
"Old man Jack, would it be ok to bring Oddish with us? She's going to be living at the safari and since technically Oddish isn't a caught Pokémon…"
"That'll be fine. However, do note that while she is traveling with the three of you, she won't be allowed to engage in battle with the other Pokémon."
With that said the three of us said goodbye to the Pokémon and made our way out to the safari proper but before we had the chance to step a single foot over crossing line old man Jack stopped Phoebe in her tracks.
"Missy, your Pokémon has to stay here."
"What are you talking about old man? I handed over all of my poké balls."
"Save it for the rubes lassie. Here at the safari zone we have come to learn about all of your tricks. Let me inspect that shadow of yours or do you want me to bring out the Noctowl again?"
Phoebe acted outraged until she couldn't hold it in anymore and started snickering.
"Can't blame a girl for trying right? Banette sweetie, the mean old man caught on to us. Just go ahead and play with Egon's darling Litwick over there."
Phoebe's shadow started molding into the shape of her most devious Pokémon. The marionette Pokémon zipped open her mouth for a quick cackle before heading on over to the rec room to join the rest of our Pokémon.
"Still can't get one over you old man."
"The same methods won't work twice in a row sweetheart. We've updated our security measures since your last visit."
Mildly concerned about Phoebe's penchant for mischief even in the face of a league backed facility I decided to quickly move out of the building before becoming an accessory to her crimes. Flannery must have been thinking the same thing because she followed me out of there in quick succession.
Our first view of the safari zone was a stunning one. Long patches of grass were being kept short by the many grazers who lived in this part of the safari. Giving us an unobstructed view of the various species of Pokémon who's combined efforts kept the grasses from growing out of control. Having gone over the reserve's map I knew this must be Area 1 where most of the completely harmless Pokémon were being kept. Phoebe didn't seem all that excited, probably having come here on a regular basis during her childhood.
A large herd of doduo led by a dodrio and a smattering of girafarig populated this zone and if my eyes were not mistaken the blue blob sticking out from behind a tree should be a wobuffet. The urge to interact with these Pokémon was overwhelming but I managed to hold off from going over there and acting like a crazed loon. Flannery asked a reasonable question while pointing at one of the girafarig.
Phoebe was the first one to take this opportunity to answer her.
"Girafarig is a psychic type. They are gentle in nature but anyone who approaches them from behind without warning is bound to get bitten by the second head attached to their tails."
I was about to approach one of them to start making a new friend before remembering Victini's reaction the last time I got cozy with another psychic type. I was pretty sure that even at this distance our psychic link was not completely severed. So even though I really wanted to, it would probably be best to move on. Although I couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment at the lost opportunity.
Just like that we passed on mingling with the herd Pokémon and made our way east. According to the map, area six is where the supposed fire type Pokémon reside. At the northeastern edge of the reserve where a steep mountain separated the safari zone from the rest of the route. It made sense really, fire types tended to prefer rockier areas with less greenery. Other Pokémon tended to not appreciate their forests burning down even if it was done by accident.
Oddish got pumped up all of a sudden and ran off into the tall grass. Worried that we might lose her I ran after the little grass type with Flannery and Phoebe following right behind me. Oddish seemed content with just following us around the safari so suddenly changing course just like that meant that she must have sensed something important enough to warrant her going off the visitor's path like that. We eventually stumbled across a clearing with multiple holes filled with Oddish leaves sticking out of the ground being tended to by a singular gloom.
'Oddish must have picked up on the distinct floral scent of her peers. Although to a human's nose these Pokémon smell particularly foul'
Me and my companions had to do our utmost not to start gagging from Gloom's stench. This Pokémon odor was well known for causing selective amnesia to those who stayed in its presence for longer periods of time.
The Gloom walked up to Oddish and gave the smaller Pokémon a once over smushing Oddish's face with her forelimbs. The evolved Pokémon then decided that it was a good idea to dig out a hole for Oddish motioning for the little weed Pokémon to get inside the hole just like the rest of her fellows.
"It's fine If you want to take this opportunity to hang out with the other Oddish. If you want, we can come visit you on our way out before we have to leave this place."
I started petting her leafy head. Somehow, I knew that this would be the last time that I'd get to assuage her worries.
I switched from addressing Oddish to Gloom.
"Now you take care of this little Oddish okay? She's very special, a top percentage Oddish for sure."
Hearing me describe one individual of her own species in a positive light allowed the Gloom to subconsciously ease up on us somewhat. The stink lessened to a degree where me and Flannery could start talking without making gagging sounds.
"Egon, are we going to stay around for much longer? Although I don't mind Gloom's wonderful aroma, we should really hurry up and complete our objective."
Being without her Pokémon forced Flannery to stay polite to Gloom. Without protection there was a good chance to get doused in stun spore for saying the wrong thing and offending Gloom by mistake. My lessons seem to have worked. Usually the hothead would openly declare the first thing that came to her mind. Phoebe being the more experienced trainer didn't need any of my lessons on propriety. Naturally spending most of her time around corpses Phoebe's sense of smell was abnormal to begin with so she didn't mind staying around for longer either way.
Me and Oddish exchanged on last look before the grass type hopped inside the hole Gloom dug out for it. Hiding inside holes while the sun was up is a common practice that all Oddish adhered to. The sun's light being too intense for them, especially the younger ones. They did most of their growing under the moon's light.
Now that my reason for being here was safely sleeping underground with the rest of her kind I waved the Gloom standing guard goodbye and headed back to the path leading to area five. I was still rather conflicted letting Oddish go like that but same species Pokémon tended to look out for each other so I couldn't have asked for better custodians. Phoebe gingerly patted me on the back curious about the nature of our relationship.
"Looks like that Oddish and you were pretty close. You want to talk about it?"
"I've only known Oddish for a couple of days and I wasn't all that serious about keeping her. We both knew that it would come to this. I just figured I would still have the rest of the day to say goodbye."
"There there… At least you know where she is."
"I guess so, let's head out catching a new team member should help cheer me up."
20 minutes later inside area 5*
"Egon… what do you think you are doing?"
"Just wait a minute, let me rest like this."
After the three of us made it to area five I was struck by the sight of these four-legged fluff balls. Their warm fluff looked so inviting that without wasting any more time I gave the closest one a full body hug not even spending a single second calculating if it was prudent to do so.
"I knew it! A mareep's wool coat is the most inviting; it's like being enveloped in a warm cloud."
"Egon, I don't think this is a good idea…"
"What are you talking about? Mareep are known for their kindness even when facing complete strangers."
"Ssshh it's okay Mareep, just let me restock my supply of flufftonium."
Suddenly I felt a rubbery paw poking me on the back. Knowing that this was not the feel of a human hand I looked up seeing an annoyed Flaaffy looming over me giving me a minacious glare. My shenanigans attracted the attention of the rest of the herd. As well as the herd's protector an even fluffier looking Flaaffy came forward to see what I was up to.
"Excuse me, I wanted to experience the softness of a mareep's fleece for myself. Please allow me to recompense you and this adorable fluff monster with some treats."
The Mareep seemed to be offended by my choice of words but Flaaffy seeing that I was not a threat gave me leave to continue my ministrations. I motioned for the duo of girls to pull out the treats from the bag that I dropped on the ground when I first spotted these woolie wonders. The treats old man Jack gave us all seemed uniform, and the nutritional values displayed on the wrappers left much to be desired. The retired ranger informed us that we weren't allowed to bring our own snacks with us since there'd be the chance that Pokémon could be tempted to come along with visiting trainers for the wrong reasons if they got a taste of better-quality food.
"There there, you should be proud Mareep. This fluffy coat would make for an amazing headrest. Not to mention all the practical uses it has during a battle."
"There's a bunch of good moves only Pokémon with a luxurious fleece like yours can learn. Like for example Cotton guard. Hey, you girls should totally stick your head in here, a minute of this and you'll be sleeping like a snorlax."
Flannery was the first to retort.
"You should stop bothering that cute little Mareep and buy a mareep wool pillows and clothes like a regular person."
"Not everyone has rich grandparents. Mareep only shed their woolen fleece once a year. Do you know how expensive the genuine product actually is? It costs more than gold by weight."
"You've never been in my room before! How would you know what kind of pillows I sleep on?!"
"It's obvious that Mr. Moore dotes on you! Besides the fact that you just casually mentioned buying mareep wool products is a dead giveaway."
Despite her complaints she did eventually cave in and touch Mareep's wool coat with her hand. Which inevitably led to her mushing the wool in between her hands and playing with it. Phoebe on the other hand seemed content just watching us from the side. Phoebe, being the most senior of us three, probably didn't want to lose her dignity in front of us by playing with Mareep's coat like the two of us. She did however help out our endeavor by giving Flaaffy and Mareep the treats I promised.
"Thank you for allowing us the honor of touching your coat. My little sister would just love to have a Pokémon like you on her team. I'll be sure to visit the safari zone in the future together with Zinnia. Perhaps she'll be the one that manages to convince you to give the life of a trainer owned Pokémon another go."
"Egon, I thought you told me that Zinnia wants to become a dragon type specialist?"
"Ahem, well regarding Mareep I've read a paper somewhere that Mareep are distantly related to dragon types. They also learn a bunch of dragon type moves."
"Really…? They don't have any scales or fangs."
"No, it's totally true. Mareep give us your fiercest dragon roar!"
"See? Totally like a dragon."
Finally, after a half an hour or so of messing around with the mareep our little group continued on to the last and final area. Which coincidentally also housed the fire types we were looking for. Area six was mountainous terrain, once one crossed past the warning signs and fences one would find oneself off route and outside the rangers' jurisdiction. Naturally the Pokémon living here were keenly aware of that fact. The benefits of staying inside the Safari zone had doubtlessly been made clear to them at the time of their arrival. Seeing as the Pokémon living here were fed regularly and didn't have to compete with their wild counterparts most of them would opt to stay inside the reserve. Only battle hardened Pokémon assured of their own strength would seek to leave the comforts of the safari behind.
"Egon, how are we supposed to find the fire types living here? Without Oddish our original plan is in shambles!"
"We can just ask around. Let's ask the first Pokémon we cross paths with. By the way Phoebes, since you've been inside the safari multiple times, why don't you show us the way?"
"It's been four years since the last time I've come here. The last time I was in this particular area there were only a handful of growlithe living here and those must have already been caught by other trainers."
Flannery hearing the word growlithe seemed to be enough to stoke the girl's enthusiasm.
"Growlithe!? Catching one of them would be amazing. I've always wanted one of my own, but grandpa couldn't get one for me. The Jennies get special privileges inside and outside our region. Grandpa says because it's league policy to give civil servants priority on all purchases with league certified breeders, but I think those ladies just don't want to share!
"Well that makes sense, growlithe are great in all sorts of roles. Transport, search and rescue, detecting contraband, herding and security. They are easy to train and fiercely loyal."
"Yes, that's why I want one! Oh, I hope there's still some left."
"I wouldn't count on it growlithe are hugely popular."
As we were making small talk, we eventually came upon a Hoothoot who was just chilling looking down at us from a high up tree branch. Seeing as the Hoothoot was already aware of our presence I saw no reason to delay and tried communicating with the owl Pokémon.
"Hey there, Can I have a moment of your time Hoothoot?"
"You see we've heard that there are fire types living inside this area and we wanted to see if we could try and catch one. Would you mind pointing us in the right direction?"
Sadly, none of us was proficient at communicating with flying type Pokémon. So, I had to completely rely on the bird's body language to guess what it was trying to convey to us.
"Can you use your wing to point in their general direction?"
It seemed like the Hoothoot was waiting for something that's when Phoebe figured out the Pokémon's intentions.
"Egon, all the Pokémon living here know that all the visitors carry treats with them. I think it wants to get paid for the information."
The bird confirmed Phoebe's reasonable conclusion with a series of head nods. Naturally I wasn't opposed to paying for Hoothoot's valuable information but I was sort of running low. Our earlier encounter with the mareep herd set me back by quite a bit. At this rate I might not have enough for the fire types living here. Reluctantly I fulfilled Hoothoot's request, tearing open the snack's wrapper and offering the exposed treat to the bird Pokémon. Hoothoot swooped in, grabbed the snack with its talons and landed on Phoebe's shoulder. Giving the teenage girl an affectionate nibble on the ear.
'Seems like this one prefers girls over boys. We could work this to our advantage.'
Phoebe didn't seem to mind as Hoothoot started devouring the treat spreading crumbs everywhere. Hoothoot eventually finished up and I felt him eying me measuring if he could get away with extorting another snack from me in all likelihood. Before he got the chance to pull a fast one on me Flannery jumped and used her patented pout to try and convince Hoothoot over to our cause.
"Can you please help us find the fire type Pokémon Hoothoot?"
Hoothoot pointed his right wing in the direction of the rocky cliff side near the mountain's edge. The owl Pokémon now finally having delivered on his side of the deal didn't want to leave us and stuck around for the free female attention. I was not looking forward to climbing the steep cliffside, but the mountain most likely had a path carved out for staff and visiting trainers. It was just a matter of finding it. Without saying anything else we departed guided by the occasional hoot from Phoebe's new feathery friend.
Chapter 50 – Man's best Friends
"Are we there yet Hoothoot?"
It's been a while since Hoothoot had agreed to guide us. The little owlet made us hike up and down the cliffs in search of a particular cave. The owl Pokémon knew that the local fire types lived in one of these caves but he didn't know which one. Leading us to have a few close calls with the Pokémon who were using the caves as their private living spaces. After an encounter with a particularly aggressive momma Ursaring I got fed up.
"Are you sure that you know where we are going, Hoothoot? By my reckoning there are at least fifty caves here. Going through them all will take hours."
"Hey stop bullying Hoothoot! He's just trying his best to remember."
Somehow the owlet had managed to endear himself to Flannery. Phoebe on the other hand seemed to be immune to Hoothoot's wiles but seemed amused enough by the situation to let this spiel drag on.
"I swear if the next cave doesn't… OW!"
I tripped and stubbed my toe against an inconspicuous rock. In my frustration I kicked against the large rock but to my surprise and everybody else's there was a Pokémon hiding underneath.
'Oh my…! What are the chances that I meet two of its kind within the same month?'
The girls also got a good look at the Pokémon hiding underneath the errant rock. After getting a good look at the hole's occupant they were surprised but not particularly ecstatic.
"Oh, it's just a shuckle. Egon put that rock back and let's keep looking for those fire types."
"Just wait a second Flanny. My grandma has always wanted to catch one of these for her shop. The unique bacteria present inside a shuckle's shell would give her fermented Lava cookies a certain oomph."
"The process by which bacteria or fungi convert organic compounds into lactic acid or alcohol. However, the bacteria living inside a shuckle's shell are wholly unique and can convert berries into a juice which produces special effects in Pokémon."
"Only you can make Pokémon sound boring! Whatever, go ahead and try to convince Shuckle into coming with us if you can."
"Hey there Shuckle. You have a very pretty shell, you must take very good care of your home."
I knew that most shuckle are extremely timid which made sense from a biological point of view. The species didn't have any natural weaponry to protect themselves and suffered from a debilitating lack of speed. Once caught their best shot was to just hole up inside their shells until any would be predator gives up or gets bored. The only time they appeared out in the open was to scrounge for berries and once they collected enough, they would go back inside their hidey holes for another month or two. This one's eyes seemed to follow me from inside the safety of its shell.
"How would you like the opportunity to come work for my grandma's store? We offer full benefits, medical insurance, paid time off and an intern who will wax and keep your hard-shell home in pristine condition. We can also give you all kinds of different berries so you can master the ancient art of berry mixology. The only thing that would be required from you is a certain percentage share of your berry juice. The exact specifics of our deal being completely renegotiable at any point."
"Egon! Shuckle is a Pokémon there's no way he'd be interested in paid time off or a slav… oops I mean cleaning intern!"
Contrary to Flannery's false assumptions my proposal got the mold Pokémon interested enough to come out of its shell. The bug type gave me a stern look as if pondering to determine my trustworthiness as a person.
"How about I catch you now and afterwards we can call my grandparents back at old man Jack's place. If you are still not satisfied after talking with my grandmother, we can cancel our deal."
After much ruminating Shuckle assented to be caught in one of my safari balls. Communicating his acceptance with a small nod. Naturally I couldn't be any happier, especially since this is the first time I was in a position to give my hardworking grandmother a meaningful gift.
"Thank you! Thank you! You won't regret this I promise!"
I presented one of my safari balls and Shuckle bumped heads with the capturing device immediately being sucked in with a flash of red light. Twirling around I presented my now filled safari ball to my other traveling companions.
My posing naturally got the attention of ladies traveling with me.
"Keep your distance, we don't want the Pokémon living here to think we are associated with a poser."
"From Phoebe I've come to expect this kind of behavior but Flannery you are the last person I would suspect of not appreciating a good pose. Don't most gym leaders have their own catch phrase and unique opening stance at the start of every official gym battle? Wattson did the exact same thing when I challenged him. You were there sitting at the bleachers when it happened!"
"That's for the cameras to keep the gym relevant!"
Their misconception about the importance of posing couldn't dampen my mood. It's been a while since I've managed to catch a new Pokémon. I almost forgot the thrill of convincing an intelligent living being to partner up with me. Shuckle was a great Pokémon in my opinion not directly powerful but in the hands of a skilled trainer could become a hassle to deal with. Too bad I wouldn't be training it for battle.
"What do you girls think? Shuckle are an amazing species of Pokémon, right?"
"Never mind that! Now I really want to catch a Pokémon of my own! March! We are not stopping until I've caught myself a new partner."
Under the duress of my red-haired slave driver we went back to exploring caves. Most of those caves were empty, their occupants probably out foraging for food most likely. We eventually did come across suspicious paw print marks going in and out of the latest cave we decided to venture into.
"The paw prints closely resemble those made by canine Pokémon. Judging by the sheer amount of prints left behind all over the entrance I am judging there to be at least six Pokémon living inside but there could be as many as nine occupants. Hoothoot you think this is the place?"
"The last one to catch a Growlithe is rotten exeggcute!"
After getting a positive confirmation from the little owlet Flannery couldn't help but run inside out of excitement without regard to her personal safety. Phoebe, getting more used to the red-head's actions sighed in exasperation before addressing me.
"Aren't we going to chase after her?"
"Just let her run out of steam. Growlithe are not known to lounge around in caves during the middle of the day like this. If my hunch is correct, then there's another species' of Pokémon that have made this cave their home. Besides… this is the safari zone. Old man jack would not admit Pokémon dangerous to humans inside the reserve. At most they might rough her up for a bit. Just like that Ursaring from before."
"You care saying that again!?"
We both sprinted inside trying to catch up with Flannery in time before whatever trouble she found herself in decided to put teenage girl on the menu. Unlike Flannery I was prepared enough to have prepared torches beforehand. I always kept them inside my backpack in case I'd ever come across mysterious caves that needed exploring. This cave wasn't mysterious but using up my torches now was better than tripping and falling because I couldn't see anything. Not to mention my team being all fire types this was probably the only chance I'd ever get to use them non frivolously.
"Here take one of these."
"Thanks, this would have been so much easier if that stupid old man allowed trainer owned Pokémon inside. My Sableye or Lampent would make for a great addition to any cave exploration team."
Now safe from accidentally falling off an extra slippery piece of sediment we moved onward to the direction the initial sound came out of. It didn't take long before we were greeted with the sight of Flannery who was now surrounded by a group of cranky canine Pokémon who didn't like being disturbed while asleep.
"I knew it! A pack of houndour would be one of the only fire types still resting inside caves like this one during daytime hours."
"They might seem intimidating, but these Pokémon are one of the most social creatures around. Try offering them some of those treats you've been lugging around with you. That'll get you on their good side."
Slowly without making any sudden movements Flannery pulled out a treat from her pocket, unwrapped it and presented the food to the houndour closest to her as a peace offering. The canine Pokémon sniffed it before taking the morsel inside its mouth, making some distance between him and Flannery and chowing down. I knew the Pokémon was male based on the fact that the boney protrusion on its head was a bit larger than that of a female's. Mr. Moore did have a houndoom on his team, so it seemed weird to me that Flannery got spooked the way she did. The rest of the pack started lazing about while still keeping an eye on us.
"Flanny, how come you freaked out like that? I am pretty sure I've seen you ride on Mr. Moore's Houndoom as a kid."
"Houndoom is a sweetie, but grandpa has always warned me that their species' fire moves leave a wicked burn that lasts for months even with the right treatment."
Our mentioning of a Houndoom seemed to have garnered the interest of the whole pack. Most of them coming closer to listen in on our conversation. I pulled out my own remaining treats to distribute among the pack evenly figuring that I wouldn't be needing them anymore after this. So far, I had my sights set on the second biggest houndour of the pack. With pack hunters like these it was always a good idea to get in good with every individual in the group even if you wanted to endear yourself to only a single one of them. After throwing my unwrapped snacks to all eight of them. I decided to approach the female one with an open hand.
"Hey, do you mind getting your ears scratched?"
Her response told me I could go ahead but that she wasn't expecting much from me. Unbeknownst to her I've gotten in a lot of practice with Rena. If her fox ears were anything like other canine ears this one would be in for a pleasant surprise. On the other end of the cave Flannery was attempting to get in good with the leader of the pack.
'She always was an ambitious one. Let's see if she has what it takes to convince their pack leader to part with his subordinates.'
In the meantime, the Houndour I was working with seemed content with the ear scratches until my fingers reached a particular spot.
'Her sweet spot is right behind the skull cap, good to know.'
"Say, me and my team are looking for a strong battler to win this year's championship circuit. Do you have any interest in duking it out against the strongest competitors?"
"We'd be traveling around Hoenn seeing the sights, having the occasional battle and training for the upcoming conference. You see I specialize in fire type Pokémon like yourself. I have a bunch of companions waiting near the safari's entrance, but we still need a sixth competitor in order to challenge the eighth gym and eventually compete in the Ever Grande conference."
"Let's just hang out for now and see if we have chemistry. Maybe watch some more of my friend's failing attempts at getting the big guy to join up with her."
And we did just that it was amusing to watch Flannery desperately try to convince the pack leader to join her team. That Houndour seemed to be receptive enough to Flannery's attempts at bribery and head petting but leaving its pack to wallow alone inside the safari seemed to be a nonstarter for him. That was until Flannery gave the dark type a strong counteroffer.
"I'll bring along everyone who wants to come! My grandpa runs a gym, and we always have herd Pokémon that need looking after. Grandpa's Arcanine and Houndoom are off with grandpa when he's out on league business so they can't be around to keep watch most of the time."
Her counteroffer seemed to have garnered the interest of the entire pack. It made sense really, Houndour living in these conditions are pitiable. In the wild their diet consisted mostly of berries and the occasional prey items such as a nice juicy sentret or the like. Being stuck inside the safari zone forced them to suppress their natural instincts. A houndour was happiest when it gets to battle or hunt whenever it wants. Naturally most visiting trainers would not be able to afford housing and food for all eight Pokémon in order to keep the pack together.
Their leader was now giving Flannery his full attention. Flannery, picking up on the increasing amount of interest, quickly gave a hasty sales pitch on all the gym's amenities available to the entire pack if they agreed to be caught by her. Up to and including better quality food stuffs, health care, training to become one of the gym's battling Pokémon and lots of tummy rubs.
'The last offer was a nice touch I should've led with that one myself.'
The entire houndour pack except for the one who was currently enjoying my own ministrations huddled up together to discuss the redhead's proposal. Judging by the heated barks and yips there were quite a few houndour in the pack who wanted to join up with the Lavaridge gym. While there were some others who were skeptical about the veracity of her claims. Their leader who has been eyed by Flannery all the while kept his silence content with letting his subordinates decide for themselves.
"What do you think? Will they go for Flannery's deal?"
"She needs to show some kind of proof…? And if she wants the big one to accept her as his trainer, she'll need to show her competence in battle?"
I could still sort of guess what houndour was talking about seeing as I've been Rena's trainer for multiple years now. Their body language was oddly similar and it's not like I had zero experience interacting with fire type canines back at the gym.
"Well, Flannery probably has some photos of the gym saved on her Pokégear. Still… she is a rookie trainer Flanny doesn't have much battle experience and the rules of the safari prevent trainers from battling while inside the reserve."
I signaled Flannery to come our way so that we could discuss and improve her attempts at persuasion. The timidly eager girl came close to the three of us seemingly eager to hear my sage advice.
"You are doing well. Just show them some pictures of the gym from your pokégear to prove that you are telling the truth. If you want their pack leader on your personal team you'll have to demonstrate your competence as a trainer."
"A demonstration battle against you?"
"When we get back to the main entrance you can show off some of your skills in a practice match. It could work… but I don't think the big guy would be impressed by you winning against a hatchling like Halo."
"Hey! I'll have you know that my Pokémon are just as strong as yours!"
"Doubtful. My team has more experience battling. Unless you've been moonlighting as an underground battler while I was off in Unova."
"That's it! When we get out of here you and me! One on one bringing our strongest competitors!"
Phoebe who has up until now been content with just watching us work our magic on the houndour came forward with her own proposal to have Flannery show her worth.
"Would that really prove your skills as a battler? Ask Houndour to place himself under your command for a single battle against me. I too managed to catch a few new additions for my circuit team that still need to be trained up. Having them learn how to deal with dark types early would be of help in their training."
"You are an Ace trainer who has already won all eight gym badges and made it to the top sixteen on her first circuit run. There's no way that's a fair fight even with type advantage!"
My reprimand seemed to just stoke Flannery's competitive spirit.
"Bring it on! I'll show her how we do things back at the Lavaridge gym."
Our little exchange caught the attention of the Houndour in charge. Flannery's fiery declaration seemed to have caught his interest. With a few barks he commanded his entourage to clear the way and communicated his interest in participating in Phoebe and Flanerry's standoff.
"You'll battle with me, Houndour?"
Somehow, I felt like Flannery was upstaging me in front of my own prospective team member. So, without further ado I issued my own challenge in front of the most senior trainer in our group.
"Phoebes you want to make that a double battle? I'll field my own competitor against your Lampent."
"Are you that confident Egon? I'll have you know that Lampent was already strong the moment she decided to join my team."
"Not as strong as one of mine. You haven't seen my Pokémon in action."
The Houndour who was lounging next to me seemed to enjoy the show that's been put on in front of her. She didn't bother to stand up, but the wagging of her tail was an unmistakable sign of excitement. It didn't matter what kind, but most Pokémon tended to enjoy heated battles. I figured that letting the pack witness a friendly match would be enough to convince them to join up with the Lavaridge gym.
"Still, we would need to capture these houndour to get them off safari grounds and there is a legal limit set on how many Pokémon a trainer is allowed to carry on them at all times… The moment we exit the safari zone with more than six occupied poké balls we'll get in trouble with the Jenny's."
"That's easy, the safari zone has a machine set up for transporting any excess Pokémon. The houndour can immediately be sent to your sponsor's corral."
"Hmm so that means any extra houndour would have to be sent to Mr. Moore's place. The gym has enough space to house many more fire type Pokémon, but it would probably be best if we call in to let them know so they aren't caught unawares."
Before I even finished talking Flannery already pulled out her pokégear and selected her grandfather's number for a personal call. She even put her pokégear on speaker so all the houndour could listen in.
"Sweetheart? What's the matter? Your daily call is usually a tad later than this."
"Geez! Grandpa, you're on speaker. Stop saying embarrassing things!"
"Speaker? Sorry this old man didn't know pokégears could do that. For any who might still be listening in on this conversation let it be known that I am the only one allowed to call my granddaughter a sweetheart!"
"Anyhow! Egon has taken us on a tour of the safari zone, and we came across this pack of cute houndour who all want to stay together. So, I was wondering if I could capture seven of them to and have the aunties and uncles at the gym take care of them for me?"
"Seven?! Sweetie… you do know taking care of that many extra Pokémon is a big responsibility and with you and that boy Egon gone I would have to hire an extra hand to make up for the additional work."
"Pleaaase! You'd be the bestest grandpa ever! Doomy can teach them all about being a gym Pokémon and I'll come right back after I catch a second Pokémon to help out at the gym!"
A weary and deep sigh could be heard from the other side of the line.
"Okay, I guess I can move some stuff around to keep things running for a bit. When will you be sending them over?"
"Thank you, grandpa, you're the best! We are still deep in the safari zone so maybe at the end of the afternoon. See you later bye!"
Flannery wasted no time and poured out the contents of her own backpack. Revealing her stash of safari balls to the small crowd of Pokémon.
"I've never done this before so… who wants to be caught first?"
"Just hold on a second Flannery. I still have to do some catching of my own."
I addressed the now excitable canine Pokémon who was trying to stay perfectly still at my side. The only indicator of her emotional state was her treacherous tail.
"Houndour, would you grant me the honor of becoming my partner Pokémon?"
The entire pack of houndour was now situated on Flannery's waistline. She couldn't help but squeal in excitement every time another individual of the pack got sucked into the capturing devices. I tried encouraging her to strike a pose seeing as she was in the proper emotional state but the girl wasn't having it. Since Hoothoot's job was done and we were all out of treats the flying type flew off but not before nuzzling the two girls and giving me the evil eye. I suspected the Hoothoot was eager to be caught by a female trainer and was hoping that his usefulness would land him a spot on the girls' team. I wasn't all that concerned about the owlet. Hoothoot were well known for being superb at dealing with ghosts and seeing which route we were on the little fellow should have no problem finding a partner eventually. And as for my own chosen partner…
"I can't wait for you to meet the rest of the team. We have a few younger ones and one little one that's only been out of her egg for two weeks. Having another role model to look up to will surely be a boon to her upbringing."
'My own Houndour! Having a dark type on the team will give me an edge when going up against ghost or psychic types.'
I couldn't help myself and started poking the white bands enveloping the back of her spine. They actually felt warm to the touch like the marrow inside them had fire running through instead of regular blood.
"Are your exterior bones sensitive? I've always been curious about houndour physiology. I don't think that there are any nerve endings in bone."
"Light touches are fine, but they are sensitive to strong blows?"
While I was getting to know my new partner. Flannery had decided to emulate me by walking with her own newest acquisition. Her Houndour was still a bit standoffish as if the girl hadn't yet earned the right to act overly familiar with him. Seeing as it was probably the strongest in the pack and considered their leader for a long time, I wisely avoided trying to get that one to partner up with me. Catching strong Pokémon was a fine strategy for most trainers but I was quite certain adding him would have messed up my team's friendly dynamic. The Houndour I picked was patient and the big sister type and would certainly get along fine with the rest of the team. I didn't envy Flannery for the hassle that the addition of the pack leader would surely bring to her rookie team.
We were getting closer to the main entrance having already passed the previous areas. Now that we were no longer looking for any additional Pokémon to capture, the trek back was fairly straightforward although I was still tempted to go play with the mareep some more. Before the sun turned orange the three of us plus all the newly captured Pokémon got back to the main hall.
"Old man Jack we're back!"
"Why hello there youngsters. Did you have a good time inside the reserve?"
We found old man Jack lounging in his usual corner spot on the rocking chair. Most of my team was resting in the lounging area with him. Old man Jack glanced at the two Pokémon traveling with us before standing up and walking over to his work desk probably looking to get the paperwork done to officiate our captures.
"Old man I also caught a Shuckle and Flannery captured the rest of the pack. She's planning on sending them to the Lavaridge gym."
"Hmmm, are you two Tim's sponsored trainers?"
"I am, but Flannery's his granddaughter."
"Now that you mention it, she does sort of resemble that old coot's wife. The girl's lucky she didn't inherit his facial features."
While we were having small talk with the old man the rest of my team walked up to me curious about the new Pokémon tagging along with me. Rena especially seemed to be interested in her fellow canine Pokémon. Since the old man was still busy with paperwork I took this opportunity to introduce houndour to the rest of the gang. Flannery did much the same, taking her Houndour and the rest of the team into a sideroom to make the proper introductions.
"Guys this is Houndour she'll be tagging along with us from now on. Since she's now our newest teammate Halo will be the one responsible for showing her the ropes."
"Don't you worry. You can ask the others for help. Since I will be preparing dinner soon you can ask Houndour about her favorite berries and the like. Learning how to conduct small talk with regular Pokémon is an important step towards becoming proper royalty."
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone