Sableye Part 2

The very next day, Akoni made a trip to see the one person who he could rely on for help.

“Open up ‘fore I knock this door down!” Akoni violently knocked on the Pokémon Lab door. Evidently, last night’s excursion had taken a toll on the farmhand as his knocking became lighter and lighter with each passing second, his eye’s only barely open. In his drowsy state, he did not notice that the wooden door he had been knocking on had been replaced by a bouncy and sizeable amount of flesh.

“Akoni?” A chubby young man called out his name. He wore cargo shorts, had a bit of a tan, and wore his lab coat in a style similar to Professor Kukui’s. That is to say completely shirtless and with his chest bare for all to see. He was lightly tanned and wore a white baseball cap that covered his short, dark hair. “Lil buddy? You in there?”

“Alleeeeen.” Akoni moaned in response, eyes still nearly shut. “I need your help again.”

“What is it this time? Hold on, let me take a guess. Girls? Trouble with your pa? The Miltank are mad at you for—”

Akoni put a finger on Allen’s lips and shushed him. He walked past Kukui’s lab assistant, lightly tapping the side of his belly with his hand to indicate that the larger boy should be making space. Allen rolled his eyes, but obliged.

Akoni let the Sableye out of the pokéball right in front of Allen. Shortly thereafter, he collapsed on a nearby couch that Kukui had bought years and years ago. With his eyes closed, he started mumbling incomprehensibly, speaking not with his tongue, but a series of strange groans and moans coming from his throat.

“What? This thing is really weak?” Allen crouched down to inspect the Sableye. He grabbed its arms and scanned the area to find all the scars and injuries that had been left on it. While it was evidently more well off than it was when Akoni first found it, some of its injuries were too severe for the machine to heal. “Ugh, of course the professor’s in Kanto at a time like this.”

Akoni gave back more incoherent grumbling in response.

“Yeah, I got it. I could tell it looked much skinnier than the average Sableye. I’ve got some stuff for it.” Allen hurried over to get a nearby cabinet after picking up a feeding bowl he had left on the table. “You’re lucky we’ve got some spheres from Sinnoh. They’re no Carbink, but they’ll do for now.”

Allen filled the bowl up with numerous size 3 spheres that the professor had been keeping in a container and placed it right in front of the Sableye. It was a sad sight, really, as it barely enough energy to be excited about its first proper meal in days. But after its first few bites, it slowly started to pick up the pace until it had finished its male entirely. Soon after, it let out a cry of content towards Allen.

“No problem, little buddy. I’d give you more, but your body might experience some shock if we go too fast. Just relax for a bit while I sort some things out with your trainer, okay?” The sableye did not need to be told twice. It instantly collapsed onto the floor with a fully stomach for the first time in ages, eliciting a hearty chuckle from the lab assistant.

“So Akoni…” He turned to the boy, who had himself shut down silently a few minutes prior. Allen rolled his eyes and picked the Akoni up by his torso, violently shaking him until he woke up.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, lemme down, tubby! This ain’t right!” On command, Allen let Akoni down onto the floor. Struggling to find balance, Akoni swerved around the lab with little control. “Whoa…”

“Akoni? Where did you find this Sableye?”

“The cave...over yonder.” Akoni slapped the sides of his head with both of his arms to regain full control of his faculties. “I was tryin’ get some malasadas by giving one of these things to a hiker. But when I found it, it had all of these weird lookin’ bites and stuff. Plus the lousy hiker bolted before giving me my reward…”

“Yes, I noticed—the bites, I mean. They definitely look like they were done by a Gabite. It’d make some sense, I think.” Allen turned his glance to the Sableye. “Sableye and Gabite are born rivals, competing for Carbink as their main source of food.”

“Trust me, I know all about how much Sableye love their Carbinks. But this seems kinda fishy, don’t it? Gabite ain’t even born around these parts.”

“True, it’s really strange, but that’s not what’s important right now. We need someone to drive them off.” Allen explained, only to get a vacant stare from Akoni. “That means you, Akoni.”

“What? What’ve I got to do with this?” He furrowed his eyebrows in shock and bent his neck ever so slightly.

“Listen little buddy, like it or not, you’re the best trainer we’ve got right now. Kukui’s off to Kanto, most of the other trainers are busy with their trials or training for the league, and Sun is too busy with his champion duties to be bothered.”

“You sayin’ I don’t got nothing to better to do? I’ve got enough work back on the farm, thank you very much.” He folded his arms indignantly. “‘Sides, what’s even the problem here? This is just nature, ain’t it? Survival of the fittest and all that.”

Allen shook his head slowly.
“That’s not how it works. Two competitors in an area meant to just have one? All the Carbink’ll be gone before we know it. And can you guess what happens if the Carbink are gone?”

“...The Sableye’ll be gone?”

“Right.” Allen nodded.

“But wouldn’t that mean that we’d just have to get rid of one of them? Why’s it gotta be the Gabite?”

“Well, would you really wanna backstab that little guy over there?” He nudged his head towards the still sleeping Sableye.

“Guess not.” Akoni admitted, head facing downwards as he spoke. “Fine, I’ll do it. But you’re giving me some maladas afterwards, got it?”

“Pff, such a one track mind!” Allen gave another energetic laugh, only to have it slowly die down as he noticed the deathly serious look in Akoni’s eyes. “Uh...yeah, of course. Anything you want.”

“It’s a deal then—you better not back out like the other guy or I swear—”

“I won’t! You’ve got my word.”

“Hmm. Hey, Violet, get over here! We’re leaving.” The Sableye slowly rose from its sleep and made its way back to its trainer. “Let’s drive those guys out right quick, I’m starvin’!”

A smile slowly reemerged on Allen’s face.

“Still such a funny guy…”