Liberty Chap 2: Miscommunication

I groaned as a felt a small weight bouncing around on my chest. Couldn’t it tell I was trying to sleep? I swatted whatever it was off of my chest and tried to snuggle down further into my bag. I think the leafy creature, for it had seemed leafy when I swatted it, noticed this to and decided to awkwardly try to slip into the bag. I let out a little yelp, surprised at how cold and wet my tormentor was. I shot out of my bag ready to hurt whatever woke me when I noticed it was a Budew. I must have looked confused as I remembered the events of yesterday as Grace tried to pull me under a hole in the roof. I wasn’t a plant, sunlight wasn’t going to sudden,y give me energy, but the cold gust of wind that blew flew the hole certainly woke me up.

It was dawn, as evident by the holes above our makeshift sleeping arrangements. Apparently whispers were going around that our little section of Plasma would be moving to a better base of operations. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to join them, I had my own task. I had to leave the base today. I glanced around and saw I was the only one awake. Apparently Grace liked to soak up all the sunlight it could get and do nothing else. Grace was indeed enjoying the dawn’s early light and gave off the occasional chirp which I interpreted as Grace being content. As I settled back into my bag, I had to wonder how I got stuck with such a lazy Pokémon.

It felt like mere moments after I fell asleep I was being shook awake. I opened my eyes to see Grace’s eerily smiling face, which soon burst out into laughter. I heard a familiar chuckle come from above Grace and I saw Dustin towering over me.
“Whadda you want? Leave me alone.” I refused to crawl out of my sleeping bag, instead shuffling deeper inside of it.

“You overslept. Everyone’s been up for hours. Some of them are starting to get jealous that you were allowed to sleep in. I was about to get my Tyranitar to burry you in sand had you slept in any longer. Anyway, just be lucky that I wanted to put time between everyone’s arrival to Littleroot. One large group walking in would be suspicious. Oh, by the way, there are four others who we sent out as trainers. But, seriously, get up. The other trainers and members are all up. I will burry you in sand... again.”

That threat made me drag myself out of my sleeping bag. Dustin had buried me in sand when I refused t9 get on the boat to Hoenn.. It wasn’t my fault I got seasick easily. I grabbed Grace and started shuffling after Dustin. A quick check at my watches showed it was around 7:00. Dustin was rambling on about important people and deadlines as I walked behind him. He abruptly stopped in front of a door to the storage room.

 “Got all that?” He must have noticed my blank expression, because he sighed. “Look, I don’t really want to explain that again, so here. Get 8 badges in just under six months, get to Littleroot so you can officially register, if anyone asks, claim you’re a ranger in training or something. Try to convert people to our way, show them the truth. Now, here’s some basic survival gear. Now get out. I’m dropping you in Mauville.”

Dustin pulled out a bag and pushed it into my arms. Grace squirmed out of my arms and climbed atop my bag. Dustin pulled out a Pokeball and released what would be my transport to Mauville. A black top shaped creature with somewhat cracked skin stood before me. It had a multitude of red eyes and little triangular shaped arms. White markings adorned its body. The Claydol grabbed me and the world swirled in a mixture of colors and places blurring together. All my spit rapidly dried up and it felt like someone had pulled my insides and twisted them around. A lump found itself in my throat and refused to disappear. I was curled up on the ground coughing and dry heaving. This was worse than seasickness. I clutched my head and groaned. The lump seemed to be gone. I was buried under the backpack I was given. I managed to stand despite the protests of my aching head. A little chirp from behind me almost made me fall back over. I glanced over my shoulder to see Grace lounging on the grass, near invisible. I’ve tried over to pick her up and soon found myself laying on the grass again. Grace had moved a few feet away. I rolled over and tried to grab her, only to find that she moved away again. My blurred vision started to clear and the throbbing in my head started to vanish. I slowly started to climb to my feet, trying to fight the sense of dizziness overtaking me. I stumbled forward and managed to grab Grace by the bud and lift her into my arms. I looked around and noticed the Claydol was gone. I started walking down the road which lead into the west entrance to Mauville. I would have slapped myself had I remembered I could put Grace in a Pokeball and never had to go through the seasick stumbling that teleportation brought on. It really was a weird feeling.

My jaw dropped as I admired the beauty of Mauville City. I could only wonder how many Pokémon were displaced while it was being built. Apparently the city had gone through massive remodeling a few years ago and transformed from a small city to a massive indoor city.  All of this came to mind as I pushed open the glass doors to Mauville.  The first thing I noticed was how surprisingly clean it all was. I had expected the occasional piece of trash, but instead the tiles looked recently polished and were completely clean. The other thing I noticed were the security cameras hanging from the ceiling. The Mauville police had access to footage of everything that went on in these halls. Normally I wouldn’t have been bothered by this, but Plasma wasn’t exactly the most... legal organization. We weren’t afraid to do what needed to be done to ensure Pokémon had safe homes, but oftentimes it was against the law. A few people were bustling around the halls, but they were mostly empty. I had to assume most were at work or that some massive event was happening somewhere else in the city. It seemed the latter was true, as I later discovered. Apparently a contest was happening on the top layer of the city. The prize was a Dratini, according to the poster I found taped to the wall. I felt disgust rise up in my stomach for whoever the organizer of the competition was. How could someone casually give away a Pokémon as a prize? The Pokemon has no say in the matter what-so-ever, it was simply an unwilling trophy. I tore the poster off the wall and crumpled it up into a ball. I walked up to the rooftop of the indoor city, which was surprisingly large. Grace rejoiced as she felt the sunlight hit her. I noticed her bud opening and covered my face with my shirt just as pollen exploded out of it. I scowled at Grace and sheepishly apologized to the people around me, who were now sneezing uncontrollably. I bit back a smile. It served these people right for not doing anything to help the poor Dratini. Doing nothing was as good as pulling the trigger and these people were getting off easy. I decided to wade through the crowd and watch the competition. I hadn’t actually read what it was based around on the poster before I tore it up. Apparently it was a 1v1 battle tournament. The crowd started to cheer and I saw a Rhyperior trying to strike a Gliscor down with rocks. The Gliscor was doing flips and dives as it scratched the Rhyperior and dodged the Rhyperior. Eventually the Rhyperior’s trainer screamed something and the Gliscor trainer’s face morphed into one of panic. He rapidly started calling his Gliscor back. The Rhyperior opened its mouth and a glow of orange light could be seen forming. It swung its head as the beam of orange energy exploded from its mouth, making the Hyper Beam arc. The crowd screamed in panic and the people standing behind the Gliscor trainer ran. The Gliscor was laying scorched on the ground. The Rhyperior stomped its foot triumphantly. The Gliscor’s trainer rushed towards it and recalled it to its Pokeball. I turned away and sighed. It baffled me why Pokemon would let themselves be trained and abused like this. The only thing at stake in the end was really just pride. The world would be better off without whoever the Rhyperior’s trainer was. I pushed my way out of the crowd and was about to head back to the main level of Mauville when I noticed Grace had vanished from my arms. I went back into the crowd, searching to see where she went. The mass of bodies made it impossible to move quickly and eventually I tripped near the outskirts of the crowd. I face-planted ungracefully into the dirt and glanced up to see Grace absorbing sunlight. I heard an outraged shriek and saw a pair of heels step into my view. I grabbed Grace and picked myself off the ground. A fairly young blond woman was scowling at me. She proceeded to scold me for tripping over her Pokémon, whatever it was. I recognized the pink feline Pokémon with the plush beige tail, but I couldn’t remember its name. The harpy in front of me continued to lecture me.
“I believe you owe Skit an apology. Or better yet, let her sweep the floor with you. You could have bruised her delicate fur pretty badly with the way you stepped on her like the monster you are.”

I sighed, apparently this lady was convinced I had hurt her ‘oh so precious’ cat. “You do realize I tripped while looking for my own Pokémon, right? I am not the type of monster who goes around stomping on Pokémon. If your truly feel victimized I guess I could battle you.”

The lady looked a little less aggressive, “I don’t feel victimized in the slightest! How dare you accuse me of such a thing! You ruined my precious Skitty’s fur and will pay for that. Front and center Skit.” Apparently she didn’t understand the meaning of the word victimized.

“Fine, Grace, let’s do this. Get in there. Grace!” I shook my Pokemon out to attention. “Try to stay awake, ok.” I sent her out to stand in front of the Skitty. The lady called for her Skitty to attack. The Skitty scraped its foreleg along the ground like a Tauros before charging at Grace. Grace simply stood there, noticing the charging Skitty to late and wasn’t able to shuffle out of the way. Grace was stuck on her back and the Skitty was towering over her. Grace let out an explosion of pollen and climbed out from under the Skitty. It stood in the sunlight, seemingly forgetting about the Skitty. I ordered her to attack, but she simply let out a small chirp and ignored me. She could do what she wanted, is what I interpreted it as. I simply decided to let her stand there. Hopefully her loss would tell her that she needed to listen to me.

The cat lady seemed to grow angrier at the fact that Grace hadn’t attacked. Her Skitty stopped sneezing and stood back up. It charged at Grace, who slowly started to shuffle to the side. The Skitty hit again, but it seemed Grace was ready for it, as she didn’t fall. Grace’s bulb opened a bit and instead of the expected pollen, a small red light shone out and hit the Skitty. The Skitty slumped slightly, while Grace seemed to stand a little taller, almost as if she was recovering energy. The Skitty charged again, this time managing to pin down the Budew. Rather than release pollen, Grace released the red ray again and it struck the Skitty. The Skitty started to pant and Grace started to try to wiggle out from under it. The Skitty let it, only to tackle her as soon as she escaped. It was a lot like a Meowth playing with its food. Grace shot out the red beam for the third time. The Skitty started to wobble on its legs and Grace managed to push herself up and started pushing against the cat. Grace released another pollen burst and the cat went down. Tears were running from its eyes and it was sneezing uncontrollably. Grace backed up and started to relax under the sunlight again.

The Skitty lady huffed in indignation and recalled her Pokémon. “You have the gall to defeat a lady, one whose Pokémon was abused before the fight. You only won because you stepped on Skit’s tail.”

“I’m the one who abused your Pokémon?! Do you not realize that your Skitty was out of shape before the fight? Most Skitty chase their tail and treat it as fun exercise. Yours looks like it hasn’t chased its tail in weeks. You really should stop pampering it. It might be happier if you didn’t.” I couldn’t understand how this woman believed she was right. Her Skitty seemed overweight and looked like it was pampered by how she claimed I had ruined its fur. That and the fact that Grace had managed to beat it proved it wasn’t getting enough exercise. It really would be better if she released her Skitty. It might die in the wild, but that was simply the natural order of things. It was certainly more normal then being pampered by this obviously insane lady.

Suddenly I felt someone push us apart. I hadn’t realized how close the two of us were standing together. The interrupter was a man who looked about 19, which made him about two years older than me. His dyed forest green hair matched his lighter green hoodie. How anyone could wear a hoodie in Hoenn was beyond me. A loud buzzing filled my ears as a golden winged beetle hovered in place next to him. The newcomer’s voice rose above the sound of the Ninjask’s humming. “Could you two please stop arguing? You’re really bringing down the mood of the tournament.”

“He started it! He stepped on Skit.” The lady complained to the Ninjask’s trainer.

“I really don’t care who started it, alright. Your arguing is pretty pointless. You’re getting upset about losing, yet you’re watching a tournament where everyone but one person loses. You’re really bringing the mood down of everyone around you. I’m sure he didn’t mean to step on your Skitty’s tail. It’ll all be fine. Pokémon take bigger injuries all the time.” He grabbed my arm and I decidedly to willingly follow where he was taking me. Anywhere was better than near the crazy cat lady. Eventually we stopped and the Ninjask’s trainer leaned on one of the many trees in the park. “So, what was that all about?” He asked.

I shrugged, “Grace disappeared in the crowd and I tripped over her Skitty while looking for her. Apparently she got offended.” Grace perked up in the sun as I mentioned her name.

“I see. She’s a bit of a local nuisance apparently, but she’s harmless. At least, that’s what I’ve been told. She’s hosting the tournament because apparently her boyfriend’s ranch was overflowing with too many eggs. Oh, and... are you Unovan by chance?” My eyes flitted around rapidly as I contained panic within myself. He only guessed I’m Unovan, he has no proof. Why would he assume such a thing in the first place?

“That’s a pretty odd question to ask a stranger, you know?”

“I knew it! I had suspicions, but your accent completely gives you away. Oh, I’m Jayden by the way. What are you doing so far from Unova anyway?”

I quelled the panic rising in me again and spun off some story about how my parents had recently moved to Hoenn due to the fairer weather and that I had decided to start my training career over in Hoenn. He seemed to accept it at face value and we chatted idly for a few minutes. Eventually a horn sounded and signaled that the current tournament match was over. Jayden pushed himself off the tree and recalled his Ninjask. “Sorry man, but I gotta go. I have a date with a certain Rhyperior and I don’t want to miss it.” With that Jayden walked back towards the tournament. I sighed in relief when he left. I hadn’t realized our Unovan accents would be that noticeable, but he didn’t suspect anything. And he shouldn’t have. I gave him no reason to suspect I was a criminal. Just because I was Unovan didn’t mean people would instantly assume I was with Plasma. I grabbed Grace and headed for the stairs to a lower level. Grace squirmed in my arms to try to position herself better. I again began to wonder how I would train such a lazy Budew.

I know Mauville had a gym but I chose not to challenge it while I was in town. The laws stated that only officially registered trainers could get badges. So in short, not me. Watson was considered an uphill slope in regards to gym leaders. Apparently it was advised that people challenge gyms in a certain order, starting in Rustboro. Watson represented the point where the gym leaders started to get more serious and stronger during battles. Besides, I had yet to manage to train Grace.