NOVEL WEB Chapter 28 - Technical Mayhem
Chapter 28 – Technical Mayhem
Getting the opportunity to browse through the school’s technical machines was an amazing opportunity. I would try to keep an open mind on what kind of technical machine I was shooting for.
‘Teleport!’
The pantry housing the technical machines looked to be more stocked than the one inside the Striaton gym. Even with a distinct lack of non-psychic type technical machines. All in all, there seemed to be around a dozen different varieties. Luckily for me they were alphabetically organized.
“Calm mind, Dream eater, Imprison, Light screen, Power Swap. No… Teleport begins with a T so it should be all the way in the back.”
There at the very edge of the pantry just after telekinesis lay the technical machine, I was looking for TM30 part of Silph Co’s very first line of technical machines for the open market. Having only been produced in the Kanto region for a limited amount of time before the company discontinued production a couple of years ago. Being able to see even a single copy up here in Unova is a rare event. Dust had accumulated on its packaging affirming my suspicion that it was the real deal. Glimpsing back at all the other great technical machines I would miss out on by picking this I hardened my heart and pulled it off the shelf.
“Headmistress Jasmine, I've made my choice. I’ll choose this one.”
“Let’s see here… Teleport? I have to say young man there are far better technical machines than this one on that shelf. Most psychic type species that can perform teleport do so right out of the egg. We believe it's ingrained into them on a genetic level to avoid predation while their parents are stuck in deep meditation. There is a good chance that Darmanitan of yours won’t be able to learn this move even with extensive tutoring. Are you sure you want to choose this one?”
“Yes, it just seems like a great time saver.”
“This technical machine comes with a pamphlet, I’ll have to give it to you to avoid any legal issues.”
“Really? What’s written in the pamphlet?”
“In order to prevent humans and Pokémon from abusing this power. The league association in each region has strict guidelines on where you are allowed to teleport to and from. It also has a bunch of common-sense laws like only teleporting on private property if you have the owner’s permission to do so. It is actually fairly dangerous trying to teleport into crowded areas; you might crash into people or vehicles.”
As the headmistress was talking, she pulled out the pamphlet from a dossier box.
“Make sure to read this before attempting any form of teleportation.”
“What you don’t know about teleportation, a cautionary tale… I’ll make sure to read this ma’am.”
“If you are still having trouble getting teleportation to work you can call me. My contact information is available on the academy’s pokésite.”
‘This is it, Tini! Once we get back, we’ll check to see if this technical machine is compatible with you.’
“I want one whole custap berry each time that we have to teleport!”
‘The old bait and switch huh… well played my fuzzy friend. We can work out the exact details after this ends up working, but for now let’s get back to Kira’s place. Those grave keepers must’ve had their fill of Litwick by now.’
“Thank you for your generosity, ma’am and if I ever come across human psychics, I’ll recommend they look up your academy.”
With that we left the school’s premises. Still not believing how lucky I was that I received their last copy of the teleport technical machine. With a spring in my step, I walked all the way back to our hostess’ home.
10 minutes later*
There I was back at the gated entrance of Kira’s opulent home. Through the bars I noticed the previous crowd had already dispersed. Even though I would soon be leaving Unova it would not do to get recognized so early. My choice to avoid crowds where I would garner a large amount of attention was in my view a wise choice. Being Litwick’s new trainer I would doubtlessly be bombarded with trade requests or even those shameless enough who wanted to buy my newly minted partner outright. Even though such practices were not illegal a lot of trainers me included scoffed at such practices. Catching Pokémon just to sell or trade them away afterwards was just treating the same as treating these living beings as a commodity. Not mentioning the emotional trauma, the Pokémon in question would suffer being swapped away like that. I could still see the value in trading if both partners had different ambitions in life. A Pokémon who is an avid battle maniac would fare poorly under a dedicated coordinator after all.
I unlocked the gates with the spare key given to me on loan from Kira and walked myself inside. This time I was extra cautious since my Phoebe’s ceasefire has expired, I could expect to be pranked every hour or so just by being in her proximity. Seeing as every house in this town is probably warded with ghost repel talismans, I would probably be the only target for their particular branch of amusement.
“Numsy come on out!”
I released Numsy from his ball, the little camel appearing in a flash of light.
“Num?”
“Hey there buddy. How’s about you walk in front of me? Scout ahead for a little bit.”
“Num…? Num num!”
The little camel stomped his feet on the ground in protest.
“Please… I just finished up that guest lesson. You can hide out in your ball when she’s around, but I can’t.”
“…Num.”
“Really, you’ll do this for me?! You are the best Numsy, a true friend!”
Numsy reluctantly agreed to be my sacrificial pawn in this endeavor, forever claiming the best bud spot in my heart. Only a true brother would take one for the team like this. My little camel cautiously moved forward, with me following behind from a distance. We kept going on like that making sure to keep sight of our surroundings until we got blocked by the front door. Naturally I avoided trying to open the door by hand in case Phoebe’s ghosts were messing with the door handle home alone style.
“We should be almost in the clear. I am fairly certain those ghosts won’t pull anything with Kira in the same room. Let’s try knocking fist.”
Numsy used his front leg to punt the front door making a hardy knocking sound. We stood there waiting for someone to answer the door. Half a minute passed but eventually someone did deign to open the front door. It was a woman we have never met before but looked awfully familiar. I figured she must be a public figure of some kind for her face to have stayed in my memory. The young woman had deep purple hair just like Kira and a pair of glasses with a ridiculously large frame, which oddly complimented her face quite well.
“Hey, umm I am searching for Miss Kira? She’s been looking after my Litwick for the day.”
Before she had a chance to respond I heard a loud insufferable voice from further inside the villa.
“Egon! Come inside quickly, we're having brunch!”
“Numsy, it seems the coast is clear, let us go and fill our stomachs.”
“Num!”
“Will you be joining us, miss…?”
“Shauntal, and yes I’d be delighted to share a meal with such an interesting young man such as yourself.”
‘Kira’s baby sister is a member of the elite four?!’
Instinctively I knew hiding my background was going to be a near impossible task. Unlike the strength obsessed Marshal, Shauntal was best known for using clever strategy to win most of her battles. As we were walking towards the dinner table, I already saw the gears in her head turning trying to solve the mystery that was me. Phoebe and Kira were enjoying what looked to be a selection of takeaway meals. My Litwick was still with them seated on top of a simple candelabrum half asleep, probably tuckered out from all the attention. I took a seat at the table Numsy hopping onto my lap while Shauntal did the same and for some reason decided to take the seat opposite to mine.
“So, did anything interesting happen with Litwick? Have those colleagues you invited over discovered something groundbreaking?”
“We actually did come upon something peculiar about our little Litwick here. The candle that was used to form his body was part of a birthday cake to celebrate a toddler’s third name day. All my colleagues are now raving about the possibility of children’s birthday wishes having the power to produce off color ghost types. Naturally I am of the opinion that it would be crazy to buy used birthday candles from the surrounding towns. Phenomena like this should happen naturally not to be used in some sort of get rich quick scheme to profit off of heartfelt wishes.”
“Yeah… maybe. Where did Rena go? I promised her a good brushing for having to practice without me.”
“Your Vulpix is sleeping in one of the guest rooms. Chandelure tells me she got the gist of using will-o-wisp down, now it’s just repetition.”
Everyone at the table noticed me being awkward; it didn't help that Shauntal’s glare never seemed to move off my facial features. The other ladies in the room started to notice this peculiar byplay because at some point Phoebe started raving to me about Shauntal most likely to pull some of that pressure off me.
“Hey, Egon, did you know Shauntal here was just recently inaugurated as part of Unova’s elite four? She’s been giving me all sorts of helpful tips about training ghost types that even I didn’t know of. I am sure she could give your Litwick some pointers as well.”
“Yeah… What’s being part of the elite four like? Does it involve a lot of paperwork? I am thinking you are not just sitting around until trainers who have earned the right to challenge you come along.”
“Hmmm Technically speaking we are subordinate to the reigning champion. He can send us to do all sorts of odd jobs for the league. However, Champion Alder is determined to only call on us for regionwide emergencies, so we have enough time to pursue careers or hobbies and the like. I spent most of my free time searching for new inspiration. You see, I write books professionally.”
“All your experiences as a trainer must be enough to fill up a dozen books.”
“A writer is always in need of new material. Oh, Egon! Would you mind being my subject today? I've got some new novel ideas that need brainstorming! A trainer from Hoenn sets out, searching for lost familial relations. What do you think?”
‘This woman… Is she toying with me?’
Phoebe snapped out of her starstruck state and gave me a worried glance. Apparently, she picked up the innuendo as well.
“Ehh… not really, I’ll be leaving for Hoenn today. I can’t compete in the Vertress conference this year, even with a trainer’s license and I still have some stuff to sort out back home. A friend of mine is competing this year though, he specializes in water type Pokémon. We shared some training tips, and I am sure he’s going to turn some heads around this year.”
The news that I would be leaving the region didn’t seem to sit well with Shauntal based on what she had to say next.
“Egon, would you mind if I send a picture of your face to my colleagues? Even though you come from Hoenn I feel like your features closely resemble a person I hold in high regard. He would be delighted to know someone so similar to him is friends with my sister.”
‘I am pretty sure he doesn’t care who your sister is friends with, lady!’
“I would mind actually it’d feel weird to know people are sharing pictures of me amongst themselves.”
“Photos are no good huh…? How about I just invite him over so he can get to know you? That would indeed be better.”
“I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE! Egon is your champion’s secret grandchild, okay now leave us alone!”
I was not the first to crack under the pressure of Shauntal’s coy interrogation method, that honor fell to my childhood friend. Phoebe even though she wasn’t the one facing the pressure head on felt implicated enough that she felt the urge to come clean in front of one of her idols.
“Keeping each other’s secrets is an important part of friendship Phoebes!”
“It was an accident, Egon! She kept putting the screws on you. I couldn't handle the pressure anymore!”
“Complete prank immunity for a month…!”
Meanwhile Shauntal had this smug look on her face as if all her devious plots and schemes had come to fruition. Kira on the other hand seemed genuinely surprised by the news.
“Phoebe must have misheard me saying something in our private conversations miss elite four. I am just a random nobody from Hoenn and am in no way related to your current reigning Champion.”
My only way out is a completely lack of scruples. If it didn’t come out of my own mouth, she has no way to prove the validity of Phoebe’s words.
“Oh really?” She pulled out her Xtransceiver.
“Please don’t… you win.”
“What prize did I win? I don’t remember entering any competition.”
Kira took this moment to come to my rescue. She unceremoniously stood up and started tugging Shauntal’s ear.
“Ow ow ow!”
“What kind of grown woman bullies a ten-year-old? I raised you better than that Shauntal! Now apologize!”
Properly chastised the elite four gave me a flimsy apology in order to be let off by her older sibling. Naturally she went right back on topic and started grilling me over my background.
“So… do Alder and his son know you exist?”
“Probably… I visited the Unovan embassy to get my green card. The ambassador there was really excited about the whole affair. Professor Juniper told me he would keep my whereabouts a secret so they shouldn’t know where I am or that I even entered Unova to begin with... Are you going to tell them?”
“Hmmm Alder’s son Ranga has been off on another one of his adventures since the end of last year. So that makes informing him a moot point. However, Alder is my superior and I am really not that comfortable about keeping secrets from him. Why are you so adamant on not meeting family? Alder doesn’t have many family members left and he cherishes each and every one of them very much.”
“I want to make it as a trainer on my own. If people know that I am related to a champion they’ll just assume that all my future achievements are due to my parentage and not my own efforts.”
“Num!”
“That’s right Numsy we’ll make it into the big leagues all on our own.”
“That’s… You can just ask Alder to not mention the fact that he has another grandson. Don’t you want to meet your little half-brother? He should be around five years old now.”
“I am sure he is well taken care of, but I have a little sister of my own to look after”
“Alder has a granddaughter?!”
“Calm down, me and my sister have different fathers.”
“That’s true! Egon’s little sister is waaay better looking than him. She’s a real cutie pie!”
“How would you know that? You haven’t even met my little sister!”
“Your grandpa showed off some family photos during his last visit. You should really bring her along one of these days.”
“Like hell I will! No way am I going to subject my little sister to the ghost Pokémon of Mt Pyre. An eight-year-old needs a full nine hours of sleep. I don’t want her sleeping the day away because of that incessant Misdreavus. Not that it even matters, you won’t be able to see her for the next couple of years…”
“Egon…”
“Later, okay?”
Shauntal and Kira helpfully didn’t comment on our terse exchange being insightful enough to not pry into my personal business. Just like that the atmosphere at the dinner table turned awkward with no one sitting at the table willing to break the silence. After we finished eating the takeaway Phoebe grabbed my hand and made me follow her to her guest room.
“Spill.”
“You know my stepdad?”
“The man who made off with your mother nearly a decade ago?”
“Yeah, while I was on my journey, he decided it was best that Zinnia come live with him and mother. He’s keeping her isolated inside the Draconid village. They have some weird rules about not allowing villagers to use modern technology, furthermore according to him she won’t be allowed outside until she’s of age to start her own journey. Since I am not a member of the tribe I won’t get to see or talk to her for at least two years.”
“What sort of stupid rule is that?! Hmm but the Draconid village… even my grandparents don’t know where it’s located or if they do, they won’t tell me because it’s dangerous.”
“I know where it is roughly, but it’s located inside the most dangerous place in all of Hoenn.”
“Meteor falls?! Only really strong ace trainers can make it through that place in one piece. Please don’t tell me you plan on going. Your team is not at the level of strength required to safely make the journey. If you go there you’ll end up salamence chow.”
“I know I’ve been working on a solution.”
“And…?”
“I’ll have to ask Mr. Moore for his aid. He’s the only one I know who might be willing to lend a helping hand. Zinnia comes by the gym often enough so Flannery might put in a good word for me as well.”
“At least you are not stupid. If Mr. Moore is with you, I won’t end up having to worry. However, if he doesn’t agree to go, don't set off on your own.”
I was pretty sure I’d end up going at it alone, but to avoid upsetting Phoebe needlessly I just smiled and nodded my head. It did feel kind of good having someone to confide with like this. My grandparents back in Lavaridge are amazing people but there’s still that age barrier that was hard to overcome. Likely they ended up worrying about Zinnia just as much as I do. Too bad they didn’t know how to work a phone or else I’d probably be airing my thoughts to them at this moment.
“I’ll stay at this place for a couple more days. Shauntal is the best and she has my dream job, a member of the elite four. I’ll get her to spill those juicy training secrets and by the time I get back I’ll show Glacia who’s who!”
Now that Phoebe wasn’t on my back anymore and my stomach was filled with food. It was time for me to get some extra bonding time in with Litwick. I was expecting the teleportation service to pop by later in the evening so there was still a couple of hours left until we had to leave for Mistralton City. Litwick was still standing on the dinner table illuminating his surroundings in a bright blue light.
“Hey Litwick, you want to hang out with us in the guestroom?”
“Lit!”
30 minutes later*
“And that’s why you always make sure a flareon’s coat is clean. Their fluffy tail releases any excess heat into the atmosphere, so being dirty is actually a life-threatening condition for a flareon.”
“Lit Lit!”
I was sharing some stories about working in the Lavaridge gym to break the ice. The rest of my team was in the room with us. Even Tranquill picked out a cozy little nook to listen in on my stories. Numsy and Rena who experienced it all firsthand just started lazing off on the bed having heard this story multiple times already.
“Litwick I was thinking. ”
“Lit?”
“How about we pick out a nickname for you? The rest of my team all have one that way I don’t confuse you for any other litwick.”
That wasn’t the actual reason I nicknamed all my Pokémon. I just liked giving my team that extra personal flair and nicknaming was a part of that. Most trainers didn’t bother giving their Pokémon new names; only mavericks that went against the grain did so, but those rebel trainers usually ended up being the strongest. I was pretty sure that most elite level trainer’s had pet names for their Pokémon even if they didn’t use those in public.
“Wick!”
I didn’t need Victini translating his response for me. For being a ghost type my Litwick was super emotive making communication that much easier.
“Well let’s see… How about Orin? it means light in an older language.”
“Lit Lit!”
“You like that don’t you? Good, from now on your name is Orin. I’ve gotta tell you Orin coming up with a name for you was a lot easier than thinking one up for Glove. In the end he had to pick his own name.”
Glove who has already shifted back to his regular form nodded his assent. Before going back to cradling the incubator. The egg hasn’t shown any signs of being close to hatching so far. Dianne’s egg hatched in about a month using the exact same incubator therefore the egg should start showing traces of activity by the end of this week. If a Pokémon egg starts wobbling it should be around two weeks away from hatching naturally this varies from species to species.
Suddenly the familiar sound of knocking came from our guest room door. Not seeing any point in delaying the inevitable I opened the door to see Shauntal waiting for me outside. We still didn’t get a chance to hash out this champion’s grandson business so by all accounts she is probably here for that. Victini as a measure of precaution already hid herself under a stack of pillows.
“Can I come in?”
“Yeah sure.”
Shauntal sat down on the loose chair standing in the corner while I sat back down on the bed using Numsy’s body as a substitute for an extra warm pillow.
“I have come up with a compromise after talking it out with my sister. I will hold off on reporting your location to our leader if you give me your home address in Hoenn and your Xtransceiver number. With the understanding that Alder will probably want to speak with you as soon as I share that number with him.”
For a short moment I was tempted to give her a false address and number before banishing those dark thoughts. I had to be true to myself and reneging on deals was a quick way to lose my self-respect and that of my Pokémon.
’If I give her my contact details now, I could possibly avoid having to meet with my lauded grandfather long enough that I’ll be able to dodge a face-to-face meeting with him. I am fairly sure Champions can’t just visit other regions willy nilly since they represent a good chunk of their region’s military might.’ On the other hand, international relations between Hoenn and Unova might be better than I thought, and he could just show up at my grandparent’s doorstep at any point in time.’
Victini was able to relate to my anti-social way of thinking fairly easily since the rabbit was a closeted introvert for most of her life.
“Do it. If he knocks on the front door, we’ll be able to hide under your bed!”
Sadly, her solution was a tad juvenile for my taste. If the guy did travel all the way to Hoenn the least I could do was speak with him.
I was trying to brainstorm Shauntal’s proposal in my mind but my feelings were telling me to take this reasonable offer for a compromise. Phoebe liked Shauntal and her sister a lot and I didn’t want to strain her relationship with them.
“Okay… but could you do me a favor? Phoebe is planning to stay here for a few extra days can you let her shadow you for a bit and give her some training advice? She is gunning for a spot on the elite four in our own region and I believe she has the talent to make it.”
“You… are a good friend, aren’t you?”
With the deal finalized Kira called her liaison living in this area who is responsible for taking care of the psychic type Pokémon capable of long distance teleportation. That person turned out to be Jasmine since the two are very familiar with each other the headmistress just sent her pokemon out to Kira’s place to come get me. What I didn’t expect was to see a familiar face. A beheeyem was floating in front of the main gate. The same Beheeyem who I saw taking care of a group of elygem inside the celestial tower. A quick exchange of glances was all it took for him to recognize me as well.
“Heya Beheeyem, I thought you told me you worked for the psychic academy. You didn’t mention your human partner was the headmistress.”
All of my Pokémon were inside their poké balls, and the egg was clasped tightly between my arms. Just because Victini was inside her own ball didn’t mean she couldn’t keep up our mental connection. She was awake and primed to make Beheeyem uncomfortable if he attempted to establish mental communications with me. Luckily our previous encounter with him made him aware that I had a psychic type Pokémon on my team who resented having to share my brain space. So, he stuck to rudimentary messaging using his palm lights. Green for yes, red for no and I didn’t know what his yellow light was supposed to mean.
“I think I have everything on me. We need to go to Mistralton airport so the closer you can teleport us to that place the better.”
Beheeyem extended his arm motioning for me to hold on. Which was kind of hard to do with both of my arms occupied holding the egg, but I managed to in the end. At one point I was standing in front of Kira’s home awkwardly holding onto Beheeyem’s palm with the tip of my fingers and suddenly I found myself next to an airport conveyor belt. The both of us were standing inside a square lined out on the floor with red markings. The sign nearest to us warning passerby’s that this zone was meant to receive incoming travelers that visited the airport using teleportation and that moving inside the square was at your own risk.
“Thanks a bunch, Beheeyem. The next time I am in the area I will be sure to pay you a visit.”
The psychic type flashed his green light. Which I took to mean that he looked forward to seeing me the next time I visited the celestial tower. A quick flash and he was gone, probably back to the psychic academy and his trainer. Since I was still standing inside the somewhat dangerous teleportation zone I quickly moved out of the way to avoid crashing into the next pair of travelers.
‘Now since I am conveniently already at the airport it would be best If I went ahead and booked my flight ticket back to Slateport city.’
The airport had rules about walking around with Pokémon. Each trainer could only walk around with one of their Pokémon outside their ball to limit crowding. Of course some species of Pokémon were just too large or heavy to have out of their balls in confined spaces like this airport building. I went over the balls on my belt with my finger before finally deciding to release Rena. She was always useful to have out in public settings since her very appearance instantly endeared me to the fairer half of a region’s population.
“Vuuul!”
“Hey, will you walk with me? I need to go buy our plane ticket.”
“Pix!”
Just like that we navigated through the crowds of people gathered at the airport. A vulpix being such a rare sight in Unova meant that we got delayed by multiple groups of children who wanted to pet the cute little fox. In the end Rena helpfully managed to get a baggage handler to direct us towards the nearest reception desk.
“Excuse me miss? I’d like to buy a ticket to Slateport City please.”
“Hoenn right? Return or Single?”
“Single please”
“We have two flights that go to Hoenn Slateport every week. One is scheduled to go within the hour and the other after four days.”
‘An hour?! I was planning to go looking for a compatible person willing to be Tranquills trainer.’
Waiting another four days basically guaranteed that Alder would find me. On the other hand taking this last minute flight would exclude Tranquill from finding a trainer here.
“Why can’t you find a nice trainer back in Hoenn?”
‘It’s a legal conundrum, Tranquill is considered a nonnative Pokémon in Hoenn. So, if she finds a suitable mate over there and the eggs produced from such a relationship somehow make their way into the wild, I would be in very deep trouble. The trainer I am handing her over to could be the irresponsible sort.’
“Then just find a responsible trainer! ”
The lady behind the desk started tapping her desk with her fashionably done acrylic nails. Subtly letting me know I was wasting other people’s time by holding up the line.
“One last minute ticket for today's departure please!”