"How is it, Suzie?" Hisoka asked as he went over to her.
Suzie was slowly cleaning the wounds on Lapras with some water to prevent infection.
"She's weak and badly hurt. We need to send her to the Pokemon Center," she sighed, taking out some Pokeblocks from her bag.
"Here. You need to eat something," she handed her the Pokeblocks.
Lapras looked at Suzie cautiously. Obviously, what the three men did to her had deeply affected her. It took some coaxing from Suzie before she was finally willing to eat.
Even so, there was still a hint of distrust in her eyes as she ate her food.
"Let me help," Hisoka said, grabbing a Pokeball from his belt. He then tossed it on the ground.
The Pokeball opened wide in a flash of red light. After that, Chansey appeared in front of them with her signature cry.
"Chansey!"
"Chansey, can you use Heal Pulse on this Lapras?" Hisoka asked.
"Chansey!" She let out a cry as she released pink waves at Lapras. Under Chansey's Heal Pulse, the wounds on her body started to heal.
Lapras moved her limbs a little, trying to get to the sea. Unfortunately, she could barely move due to her severe injury.
"Lapras! You're still injured. We need to take you to the Pokemon Center!" Suzie went to help her up.
"La!"
However, to Suzie's surprise, Lapras pushed her away.
"Be careful!" Hisoka quickly caught her before she fell.
"La!" Lapras roared at them in a warning tone. It was as if she was telling them not to get close to her.
"Why?" Suzie uttered.
Hisoka sighed, "I think she must have been hurt by humans before. That's why she doesn't trust us."
"But she's hurt. There's no way she will be able to swim with her bad condition right now," she said in concern.
"Gadevoir," he called Gardevoir to come over.
"Hisoka?" Gardevoir's voice rang in his mind.
He pointed at Lapras and said, "Can you use Hypnosis on her?"
She nodded and put her hands together, forming a purple energy ball. With a push of her hand, the ball flew and struck the unaware Lapras.
A few seconds later, Lapras slowly fell to the side with her eyes closed.
"Good job, Gardevoir," Hisoka praised her. "Now we can take it to the Pokemon Center."
As soon as he said that, he tossed a spare Pokeball at Lapras. Because she was fast asleep, she didn't resist after the Pokeball sucked her inside.
'Hm? Come to think of it. This is my first time catching a Pokemon like that,' he mused.
Clearing the thoughts out of his mind, he picked up the Pokeball and turned to Suzie, "Let's go."
***
Tangelo Island, Pokemon Center.
Hisoka stood in front of a large window with Nurse Joy. They were observing Lapras, who was resting in a pool.
"She is on her way to full recovery," Nurse Joy explained to him. "What I'm worried about is her mental condition," she sighed.
Hisoka agreed with her. Mental scars took time to heal.
Earlier, Nurse Joy had told him that this young Lapras had suffered multiple attacks from some kind of weapons. Most likely, she had been hunted by a group of poachers.
While he stayed at the Pokemon Center, Suzie went to the Pokemon theme park to register for the competition that would be held tomorrow.
"Can I go in?" Hisoka asked.
Nurse Joy smiled and said, "Sure. Go ahead. But try to stay patient. It will take some time for it to get used to you."
"I see. Thanks for your help, Nurse Joy."
After saying that, he slowly opened the door and entered the room.
As soon as she heard the door open, Lapras immediately raised her head. Her deep blue eyes stared at him warily.
"Come out, Milotic!" He threw out Milotic's Pokeball.
The Pokeball popped open, and Milotic flew out toward him.
"Mee!" She rubbed her cheek against him, crying joyfully.
He petted her head and said, "Hello, Milotic. I need a favor from you."
"Mee?" She looked at him with a questioning look.
"Can you accompany her tonight? She's been hurt by humans," he whispered, pointing at Lapras.
"Mee!" She nodded in understanding and went toward the Lapras in the pool.
Seeing Milotic approaching her, Lapras was a little scared at first. She was still a young Lapras, after all. Then, Milotic gently touched her flipper with her tail.
"La!"
Lapras let out a cry similar to that of a whale. To his relief, she didn't reject Milotic's action.
Classified as a Tender Pokemon, research had shown that Milotic exuded a special pulsing wave of energy that brought soothing calm to restless spirits.
Under Milotic's calming aura, Lapras lowered her guard. Seeing them talking animatedly with each other, he said goodbye to Milotic and went to the hotel that Suzie had found for them.
The next day.
He got up early and went toward the Pokemon Center to check up on Lapras's condition. With Milotic's company, Lapras looked much better than yesterday. Although she was still wary of him, she at least was willing to let him pet her head, even though it was only for a moment.
This was a good sign, he believed. It wouldn't take long for her mental scars to heal.
After that, he returned to the hotel to meet up with Suzie. They both had breakfast together and headed toward the theme park.
"How many people participated in this competition?" Hisoka asked, looking at the bustling crowd.
Suzie thought for a moment before saying, "I heard from the organizer that only fifty people joined this competition."
"Fifty? That's not a lot," he commented.
"That's probably because not many people know about this competition. This is the first breeder competition in the whole world," she pointed out.
"How will you compete in this competition?"
He was curious about this. A trainer was different from a breeder. Breeders mainly dealt with Pokemon cultivation. To put it simply, a breeder's job was similar to a nutritionist's.
Suzie shook her head, "I don't know. They are keeping it a secret and will only be announced during the competition. I think they are going to test our understanding with Pokemon..."
They talked among themselves as they walked toward the theme park. As they got closer to the park, the crowd became more lively. It appeared many people were still interested in the first breeder competition, even though only a few people joined.
Walking past the main entrance, they were met with many people dressed in aloha clothing. Several people stood on the side with musical instruments, singing a folk song as people danced along.
The contestants would have to gather in the main building first before the competition. Under the staff's lead, they entered the building together.
Many people had gathered in the main lobby. He looked around and found that most of the participants were women. Men only accounted for a small number.
"Suzie!"
Suddenly, a slim girl with fair skin and brown hair appeared in front of them.
'Daisy Oak?' he thought in recognition.
He only knew little about Daisy Oak. If he wasn't mistaken, Daisy Oak was a Pokemon Professor just like her grandfather. She was also an accomplished breeder as well as a coordinator.
"Daisy!" Suzie screamed excitedly as she hugged her.
"Why are you here?" she asked happily.
"I receive an invitation. I thought it was interesting so I came. Didn't expect to meet you here," Daisy replied.
"Is this your friend Suzie?" she asked, looking at Hisoka. "Hello, my name is Daisy Oak. It's nice to meet you."
"Hello, I'm Hisoka," Hisoka nodded politely. "Are you related to Professor Oak?"
"Yep. He's my grandfather. By the way, do you know my brother Gary?" she inquired.
"Yeah," he nodded.
"Ah! You must be that Hisoka, then. Gary always talks about you at home," she said.
"Good things, I hope?" he joked.
Daisy giggled, "Nah. He just rants about how he is going to beat you someday."
"Anyway. It's nice to meet you, Hisoka," she said, shaking his hand.
After that, she pulled Suzie to a sofa and sat down.
Seeing the two women talking in hushed tones, he decided to leave them alone. Leaving the building, he began to stroll around the park.
As he went deeper into the park, many differently colored Pokemon unique to the Orange Islands climate could be seen roaming about.
Buzz!
Suddenly, he heard a loud buzzing coming from above. He quickly put his hand on his belt while trying to find the source of the sound just now.
Much to his surprise, he saw a group of Butterfree flying in the sky.
"Strange. Why are they so many Butterfree? It's not their mating season yet," he murmured.
Curious, he decided to follow them. He also released his Weavile and Gardevoir in case something came up.
They closely followed the Butterfree as they headed deeper into the park. By now, he was already out of the boundary of the theme park. He slowed down his pace and told his Pokemon to stay alert.
Through his observation, these Butterfree were heading in the same direction as more and more Butterfree joined the swarm.
About an hour later, they finally arrived at a large lake.
'What's that?' He stood behind a tree, peeking at the lake. Hundreds of Butterfree had gathered above the lake.
Rays of sunshine filtered through the thin mist permeating the lake. A looming, white figure could be seen within the mist.
***