章 16: Ch 16. Catching contest (2 in 1)
(A/N: Was so into writing this chapter that the word count is around above 3000 words. Didn't really feel like dividing it in two chapters, so here you have it, a double sized chapter just for you.)
The next day, Ares went towards route 24, on the way towards the coastline. Apparently a famous pokemon researcher named Bill was living around there. He had heard about the man from professor Oak. Supposedly Bill had created the pokeball transfer system, which could transport caught pokemon all over the region through pokemon centers. You did need an ID for it though, as well as be registered as the pokemon's trainer. This time, the catching contest was close to Bill's home, as his home functioned as a lighthouse as well, making sure the contestants knew where to go to in case they got lost.
When he arrived at the contest area, there were many other participants, along with the gym leader of Cerulean City. Noah, nurse Joy and professor Oak, the latter giving a casual wave, were apparently the judges for this event. Standing at the edge of the crowd, just so he could feel a bit more at ease, Ares watched as everything was being set up.
After an hour, the whole area was filled with trainers, each wearing a swimsuit or carrying fishing rods. Not really planning to get wet at all, Ares opted to stay on land, maybe rent a fishing rod, as he did hear something about there being fishing rods available.
Noah eventually stepped forward as the other judges took their place. The crowd quickly became silent when Noah took the mic in his hands.
"Ahem, can everyone hear me? Good. Welcome everyone, to the water pokemon catching contest. I am Noah, the Cerulean City gym leader and one of the judges for this competition. Allow me to introduce the other judges. With us we have our very own Nurse Joy from our Cerulean City Pokemon Center."
Nurse joy waved at the crowd, saying some nice words, adding that if any pokemon got hurt, they could bring them to the medical bay. She gestured to a camp at the side of the stage, where now a flag with a red cross with a pokeball in the center was waving through the air. It was hard to miss should anyone need to go there.
"And as the last judge, we have a well known pokemon professor that most of you will know. Professor Samuel Oak. He will be explaining any peculiarities about the pokemon you have caught and their general information."
Professor Oak stood up, cleared his throat and began to speak.
"Be sure to do your best, but keep yourself and your pokemon safe.
Now finally, a small poem about a water type:
Poliwrath, faster when it's swimming than when running."
Everyone kept quiet and it became a bit uncomfortable. Professor Oak was famous for his brilliant mind, as well as for his uncanny but also strange poems.
'Really professor, you always know how to get it a bit awkward.'
Ares thought as he currently buried his face in his palm. He had gotten used to Professor Oak's little quirks, but the other contestants had some problems with how they should react. Should they clap or just keep quiet?
Ares coughed, drawing the attention of Noah who quickly got on with it.
"Thank you professor Oak, for this.. *cough*... wonderful poem. Now then, let's explain how this event will go. Each contestant can catch one or multiple water-type pokemon from the surroundings here on route 24 and route 25. The goal of this event is to see how well a trainer can bond with their just caught water type pokemon. Some may act aggresive when just caught, while others might be gentle. It is up to the trainer to find a way to get a long with their new pokemon.
Besides that, the criteria on which the jury will judge are how rare a pokemon is, their pecularities, nature and of course how it behaves around its trainer. As the pokemon is just caught, we don't expect it to trust you completely yet, but they should be behaving around the minimal standards, such as not attacking the trainer or other people and pokemon. Now, you all have three days to catch a pokemon and increase its trust in you. Supplies and camping equipment will be handed out by our staff, while for those who didn't have one, a fishing rod is prepared as well, which can be rented out for those who need one."
With that, Noah stepped back to his seat, a pistol shooting in the air to indicate the event had started.
The participants hurried towards the coast, some jumping into the water as they released their own water types, while others began to cast out their fishing lines in the hope to catch themselves some pokemon.
Ares waited until all the clamoring was over and the calm had returned and took some supplies from the nearest staff officer and went towards the lighthouse. If he was right, there should be pokemon nesting near the bottom of the cliff. Those pokemon would mostly be Staryu and Krabby, with the occasional evolved form of the former. They liked to stay near the rocks, instead of swimming further into the depths where the currents were too strong for them.
Lucario went up front, showing Ares which rocks could be stepped on, avoiding those that were slippery.
'I wonder what type I should add to my team... I suppose Staryu would be fine, as its evolved form is part psychic type. But Magikarp would be useful as well. While it is useless in it's first stage, its evolution is very strong, though it has an extremely aggresive nature making it hard to truly train them effectively when there is no prior experience. So many choices.'
Ares silently followed Lucario, who had reached the bottom of the cliff. Above them they could see the light of the lighthouse flickering, as it turned in circles.
Lucario yelled at Ares to hurry, as it began to rush forward, just out of view from him. Lucario hopped back to Ares and began to drag him around, desperate to show him something.
Letting himself be dragged along, Ares ended up in front of a well hidden natural cave, just beneath the lighthouse.
"Good job finding that. Why don't we explore it after we've looked around in front of the cliff?"
They had enough time anyway, so why not look around a bit for any pokemon nearby?
Lucario nodded as he began to look around, quickly finding a few Krabby sunbathing on the rocks while being sprayed by the occasional wave that passed by.
He dashed forward, defeating most of the Krabby immediately, while taking his time with his fight against the biggest one. It appeared to be on the edge of evolving, making it a bit more aggressive than it usually should be.
Lucario jumped all around it, attacking whenever a weakspot was revealed. Before long, Lucario had the Krabby barely concious on the ground, waiting for Ares to throw his pokeball. As Krabby was already weak, it didn't take long before the capture was complete.
"I'm not so fond of Krabby, so maybe professor Oak would like to study it."
Ares tucked away the pokeball and started the whole thing again with a group of Staryu. This time he let Pichu battle against them, just to give her a bit more experience. Having caught the strongest ones that had been wandering around here, Ares finally went to explore the cave with Lucario, while Pichu was tiredly dozing off in his arms. He called out Eevee, so he could help spot anything interesting. There wasn't enough room for a lot of pokemon and it would be better for the more trusting and experienced pokemon to help with this.
The cave was dark and they had to be extra careful, as a relatively wide and deep stream of water was flowing just beside the edge. If they slipped in, they would be dragged into open sea by the strong current. Not something he was dying to try out, that's for sure. The path forward began to shrink slowly but surely the further they went in. It did not help either that the lighting was less than comfortable, lighting a lot but not enought to truly show where it was slippery.
Luckily for them, the end was visible, which was a wider opening deep at the end of the tunnel. There was no need for Ares to use his aura after all. The opening revealed itself to be a large underground lake, with on the ceiling illuminating blue crystals. The crystals seemed to grow from the ceiling, going from the middle towards the sides. On the walls were small crystals as well, though these didn't give off as much light as the bigger ones. Beause of those crystals, the cave was surprisingly bright.
In the lake, Ares could see a lot of pokemon swimming around. Most being Magikarp, while there were also pokemon like Psyduck and Poliwag playing at the edges. Fortunately for him, there weren't any Gyarados here, as that would be a real disaster. The area available wasn't much, which would end up as a nightmare should a Gyarados live here.
Sitting at the side, Ares set up his camp and let his pokemon run around as they liked. He still got two days to find a water type he thought fitted well in his team, though it wasn't necessary for him to catch one today.
The pokemon he had already caught, he would sent to professor Oak or gift to Noah so they could be trained for gym battles. Well, if he thought about it, being aquintances with a gym leader might be helpfull in the future.
Humming at the thought, Ares changed into his swimming trunks and took a dip into the cold water to freshen up a bit. Diving deep under, he could see even more pokemon now. At the waterway he even saw a small group of Horsea swimming around. A few weren't scared at all, as they followed after him for fun.
Coming back up, his pokemon were already waiting at the shore, Eevee dragging a towel with him to give to him. Only three Horsea were lingering behind, which were quickly caught, one maybe to train, while the others would be sent to professor Oak.
Seeing the impatient Eevee, Ares received the towel from him, earning an impatient look from Eevee. Eevee had waited for a long time for Ares to get out, the towel slightly dirty from the damp cave ground.
"Thanks."
Ares quickly dried himself of and began to start lunch preparations. He took out his other pokemon as well, Staryu, the Horsea and Krabby weren't an exception, as they shared a meal together. The new pokemon were looking around in caution, not fully trusting his pokemon yet.
"Lighten up a bit. Here, have some food."
Staryu and Krabby looked at the appetizingly smelling food and set all other thoughts out of their mind.
The Horsea didn't seem to mind the group of new pokemon at all, as they happily ate the food that was given.
While all his pokemon were eating their meals, Ares opened his Rotom phone and began to look at Noah's battle history. He used two pokemon in his battle, a Seaking and a Seel. The gymbattles were mostly with a battlefield that favored water types. His gym was also one of the gym leaders that were difficult to beat. Ares nodded to himself as he began to think up a battle strategy. It would also be nice if he could catch himself a water type he liked to train.
Krabby and Staryu were nice pokemon, but he didn't want them in his team. He liked a pokemon that could take a few hits, as well as had two typings. That was also the case for the Horsea. Staryu and Krabby would just need to relax when they were sent to professor Oak. The Horsea would be a good choice for Gary and Ash as pokemon for their future team. Their birthdays were coming up, the Horsea serving as an early birthday present for the two of them. This would be the first and last time he would give them a pokemon though. They had to catch them themselves eventually. He would just send the rest of his caught pokemon to professor Oak to look after them. He could only take so many pokemon with him.
Ares put away his phone, noticing his pokemon had already finished eating. He began to clean up after them, but suddenly noticed there was one more pokemon than he usually had. Really, the pokemon was hard to miss, as it was huge in comparison with his other pokemon.
Drifting on the water was a large blue pokemon with a grey shell on its back. This pokemon wasn't seen that often in Kanto, as it had almost been hunted to extinction. Ares was very lucky to be able to see one. This pokemon was called Lapras, one of the pokemon that was relatively popular amongst sailors and the populace. The pokemon was known for transporting humans and pokemons alike across the sea.
Lapras stared at Ares and called out to him, intently watching whatever he was doing.
"Hey there, is something wrong?"
Lapras shook her head and stared intently at the empty food bowls that were in his hands. A low rumbling sound was then heard as Lapras once again called out to him.
"I see. Here, it isn't much, but my pokemon like it a lot as a snack."
Ares held out a small bag of poffins towards Lapras, putting a few in his hands. His pokemon watched intently as they wanted some too.
"Not this time guys, you just had your food. Why don't you go and play a bit. I will make some for you later today."
This cheered his pokemon up as they all started to play with each other or went for a swim. Luckily the water pokemon here were rather docile, so he didn't have to worry about their safety.
"Here."
Ares fed Lapras the poffins one by one until the bag was empty. Lapras called out again in satisfaction as she rubbed her head against Ares's chest.
"Glad you liked it."
Cleaning up the rest of his stuff, Ares put up his camp, as he planned to spend his night in this cave. Lapras looked at Ares' pokemon in curiosity. She had seen trainers before, but she always kept her distance, as she had once been attacked by one after being spotted.
At first she had wanted to stay far away from Ares and his pokemon, staying far under water. Curiosity got the better of her when she saw the pokemon with him, causing her to swim up to the surface. When she went to see what they were doing, she had smelled the food and couldn't help but feel attracted to it.
Now, Lapras was watching in peace, as she wasn't attacked. The pokemon of the trainer were playing around, some sparring against each other in their free time. There weren't any hard feelings to be felt, only the urge to get stronger.
Lapras also observed the trainer, who was sitting with crossed legs against the wall, his eyes closed. Even when it looked like the trainer was relaxing, Lapras could see a blue energy coming from his hands, emerging and disappearing. The trainer was working as hard as his pokemon.
The day soon became night. The light in the cave opening had completely disappeared.
Ares and his pokemon had set up camp, as each of them took a spot inside the tent. Eevee and Lucario took their usual spot inside Ares's sleepingbag, with Mew perched on his chest. Pidgeotto was sleeping on the side, along with Clefairy. Pichu had claimed a spot for herself as well, tucking closely to his head. The newly caught water pokemon were tucked safely in their poke ball. Lapras looked on from the side, peeking inside the tent every now and then.
She was bored. There weren't any Lapras near here and she had looked around a lot. The Lapras colony she had come along with had been attacked, all of them being caught by bad people. She had spent her time in the safety of the cave with the other water pokemon, hidden away from the bad humans. Unfortunately the other pokemon living here were nowhere to be seen right now. The other water types had probably also gone to sleep, but Lapras just couldn't. What if another trainer who wasn't nice came inside while she slept?
Because of that, Lapras stuck close to Ares and his pokemon, in case another trainer came in and started to attack her. Ares would be a good deterrent for the other trainer to refrain from attacking her, as they might think she was Ares's pokemon. A good strategy coming from her.
Ares had noticed the Lapras sticking around, but didn't say anything of it, deciding it would be for the best if Lapras calmed down on her own.
The night soon passed in an uneventfull manner. No other trainers had come and everything was peaceful. Lapras had dozed of somewhere around midnight, her head still leaning on her shell. Ares chuckled at the sight as he started to make breakfast.
When all his pokemon had woken up and had their meal, Ares prepared to leave, as the contest was almost over, he had only today left to catch and tomorrow the contestants needed to have returned. He wanted to get back early, as he was already done.
Lapras looked at Ares with a sullen look. Of course the trainer had to leave. Lapras felt a bit despondent at the future. She hadn't met any of her kind for years now and she didn't want to spend the rest of her life in this cave, hoping her remaining friends came by. The chance she would meet others of her kind were higher if she was traveling about in this world. Her only safe option right now was the trainer in front of her.
This was also the reason why Lapras suddenly started to act up. Lapras nudged Ares who had already packed up his stuff.
A determined glimmer could be seen in her eyes.
Ares looked at Lapras, who seemed ready to have a bout and smiled at her.
"It seems you have made up your mind about something. So you want to travel with me? I don't have a problem with that. I really wanted to have a pokemon like you on my team."
Ares called Lucario to battle, who seemed equally motivated as Lapras. He liked to battle strong opponents and from what he could feel, Lapras was definitely strong. Not as strong as him, but strong enough for him to get pumped up for this fight.
"You have the first move."
Lapras didn't wait for a signal, as she blasted an ice beam towards Lucario. It was powerful and the cold radiating from it was strong. Lucario smiled at the prospect of a good battle, even if he had an advantage against Lapras.
Lucario dodged to the side, the ice beam passing by him but freezing a large portion of the ground. Ares knew Lucario would have trouble with his footing like this, but didn't comment on it, as it seemed like Lucario already knew.
"Lucario, use Agillity and Focus energy."
Lucario nodded, boosting its stats while still dodging attacks that were coming towards him.
Lapras seemed satisfied as soon as the ground around Lucario was completely covered with ice. Instead of firing another Ice beam, Lapras used Confuse Ray. Glowing orbs of energy flew towards Lucario.
"Use Protect."
Lucario formed a forcefield around himself, protecting him from the Confuse Ray. This gave Lapras enough time to use Rain dance. Rain clouds formed above them as rain began to fall.
Lapras sang in joy, knowing that she could best Lucario if this went on.
Becoming more confident in itself, Lapras jumped on the ice, gliding around at a quick pace. She moved towards Lucario, firing a Water Pulse towards him.
Lucario had in the meantime once again used Agillity and Focus energy, increasing his stats to the max in the time that Lapras was using its moves. At the same time that both of them were finished with their preparations, they were only a short distance away from the other.
"Finish it with Aura Sphere."
Ares said, knowing Lucario would succeed as Lapras was already too close to dodge it.
Lucario blasted multiple Aura Spheres towards Lapras, deflecting the Water pulse while also hitting Lapras in close range. Lapras grunted in pain, but she was determined to at least let Lucario take one hit from her. Lapras increased her speed and managed to hit Lucario with a Body slam, blasting Lucario backwards from the weight behind the attack. The move didn't give a lot of damage, but Lapras seemed satisfied she could get a hit in.
Lapras sagged down a bit from the damage. Even with Rain dance, the damage received was nothing to scoff at. Ares didn't wait as a he threw his pokeball, hitting Lapras on the shell.
The pokeball rolled slowly, until the awaited sound was heard. Lapras was succesfully captured.
Ares took out Lapras, who was still a bit worse for wear, but as soon as the rain hit her, the damage lessened until she was completely healed.
'Seemed like Lapras has the Water Absorb abillity. I wonder if it has the Hydration ability as well.'
Ares thought, looking over Lapras once the rain let up. When all the wounds were gone, Ares returned Lapras to her pokeball and walked out with Lucario. They still had a competition to go back to.
.
.
.
A day passed and the end fase of the competition was beginning.
All the contestants were slowly but surely gathering. Some had wide smirks on their faces, while others were downcast, clearly not having caught any pokemon or they didn't get any progress with their newly caught pokemon.
At the competition stage, most of the contestants had already shown the pokemon they had caught. There were a lot of Krabby, Staryu and Poliwag, but there were also a few who had caught a Poliwhirl or a Horsea.
Ares showed the Krabby and Staryu, keeping Lapras inside as she still needed a good rest. Though she was completely healed, the mental fatigue of the battle still remained, even if a bit of time had passed. She didn't seem to be accustomed to people either, as she had been very wary the first time she came out. It might not be the best time for him to expose her to such a big crowd of people. Who knows how she might react.
Though he would have been one of the top rankers in the competition if he showed Lapras, he didn't really care for the monetary prize. Don't even mention the Dragon scale offered as prize. He didn't have a use for it at all.
At the end of it, a blue haired woman in a blue tight fitting body suit with a red cape was the winner. At her side was a Dragonair. She had shown a Shiny Horsea to the jury, who were ecstatic with the find.
From what he heard later from Professor Oak, the woman was called Clair and she was the gym leader of Blackthorn city in the Johto region.
'No wonder she seemed happy with the find of a shiny Horsea.'
Ares thought. She must really like dragon types a lot.
Ares was given the participation prize, a small bag of berries, and went back to the pokemon center to let Nurse joy take a look at his pokemon.
He had already passed Krabby, the Horea's and Staryu to Professor Oak, who was happy to take care of them.
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