"You lost me at the part when you said you got yourself a wild rhyperior."
"It is a wild rhyperior."
I insisted to dad once more over the video call we are having, using a heavily encrypted line that is being monitored by Jarvis. I am currently at Olivine City's pokemon center in order to use the PC Transfer system over there to transfer the rhyperior I recently received from Akamu over to dad.
Akamu had felt a little bad for receiving a dusknoir from me while giving me nothing in return, so he decided that a gift of equal value was needed. I just didn't expect that said gift would be to capture a wild rhyperior while he was at Victory Road in his mission to investigate Moltres' nest.
Do you know just how rare it is to encounter rhyperiors that naturally reached the last stage of their evolution in the wild? Much less spot it, successfully defeat it, and then capture it in a pokeball? You would have better chances winning the lottery. Rhyperiors are so rare because it is so notoriously difficult to evolve a rhydon into one even in the hands of experienced trainers and Akamu just so casually gave one to me he caught from the wild, all just because he felt a little bad for receiving a dusknoir from me for free.
However, I have too many pokemon on hand at the moment and the interpol is running on a tight schedule. I also don't have time to break the rhyperior into the team and get it to listen to me, no matter how strong it may be. Thus, the logical solution which I arrived at would be to send it over to dad. He's been trying to rebuild his team anyway, and a rhyperior would fit nicely in there.
"You sure you aren't trying to pull a prank on me?"
"Dad. Please."
Dad finally got the memo and dropped the issue.
"Alright, just pulling your leg. You sure you don't want it?"
"Fairly certain."
"Then I will consider adding it into my team. Or if Vance is interested, the rhyperior can be his." Dad nodded in thought before continuing. "I know your mum and I had said this many times before, but be careful out there, okay?"
"I cannot promise for certain that nothing bad will happen, but I can promise I will try my best to be as careful as I can be." I admitted, knowing that promises can be easily broken given the current circumstances, circumstances that I am not allowed to tell them yet due to confidentiality issues.
"And that's all we ask for." Dad said with a faint smile. "Is there anything you need us to send over to you? What about your medicine?"
"I brought enough medicine to last me for the next few months before coming here. As for the rest... Nothing that I can think of for the moment. The interpol has everything we might need." I answered after pondering for a few seconds. Come to think about it, what does the interpol not have?
Nothing comes to mind.
"Then how about the PWL meeting you attended? Met all the big shots already?"
"I saw them in person but I haven't interacted with all of them." I informed dad as I placed rhyperior's pokeball on the pokeball slot of the PC and keyed in our family's farm number.
"I'm going to press the send button now."
"Okay."
A second later, rhyperior's pokeball disappeared in a flash of bright light. It didn't take long for dad to confirm that he had indeed received rhyperior. Bill's invention of the PC Transfer System really is revolutionary. Sometimes it still boggles my mind about how such a thing is possible. Pokemon are living beings made of flesh and blood, and somehow Bill made sending them over from one place to another possible through a PC as though you are sending a simple email.
"So who have you interacted with?"
"Professor Oak, Blaine, Fuji, Bill. Ring any bells?"
"Even Professor Oak?"
"I don't have many opportunities to really interact with the members of the other foreign delegations. I did talk to Lucian and Flint, they are nice people. And oh, do you know that Volkner is currently living his retirement life at Olivine? Married to Olivine's Gym Leader no less?"
Dad's reply was a baffled "Huh."
"My reaction exactly." I agreed as I moved myself to a private corner of the pokemon center where I cannot be overheard when more passerbys start to fill into the area where I am at. Rena and Dolly are helping me keep a lookout for any potential evesdroppers.
"Volkner is extremely annoying, like the irritating kind, but he's not too bad otherwise. He even taught and trained me for a short while on his own volition. Grimsley isn't very pleasant to talk to and I didn't have the chance to talk to Elesa. Siebold did promise to cook for us one day after our work here in Indigo is done… not sure how soon that will happen but at least there is something to look forward to. Valerie… didn't see her all that much. Not sure what she is busy with. Alola sent in Professor Samson Oak, who is an expert on Totem Pokemon."
"Oh, those. Heard of them but never had a chance to see them in person before." Dad scratched his chin with a hand. "They fetch a very high price too, simply because they are a lot stronger than their relatively normal counterparts."
"I can help you find one when I got posted to Alola."
"That will be nice." Dad agreed. "How about your new colleagues? Have they been nice to you?"
"They are nice people." I replied. "As of now we have an ex Gym Leader, a Pokemon Researcher, a Historian, an Inventor, and an ex PWL Agent in our team. I already told you about Volkner. Our researcher is Shannon Juniper and let me tell you, she's insanely smart but an airheaded klutz in everything else not related to her research. Our historian is Nova Labelle, also a very capable historian that can tell apart lies from truths in a matter of moments. The remaining two are actually a married couple, Akamu and Mary."
"So which one is the inventor?"
"Mary. She's really nice to everyone she meets unless your name is Looker." I shrugged. "Not sure what kind of history she and Akamu had with him but it sure looks like they hold a grudge against the PWL."
"I looked into this Looker guy in my own free time." Dad spoke up, catching my attention. "There's too many unexplained factors about the few things that I did manage to find out about him."
"I'm surprised that you can actually find out something about him at all. Nobody even knows what his real name is." I commented. "But you now have my full attention. What did you find out?"
"For one, no one really knows exactly how long he has been working for the PWL."
"Couldn't be too long, he doesn't look all that old to me." I frowned a little. "Maybe somewhere in his late twenties to early thirties… I think?"
"That's the thing. I found out that the agent known as 'Agent Looker' had been active from even way back."
"Then maybe the codename Looker is something that is passed down from one generation to the next? And the current Looker we know is simply the Nth generation of Agent Looker?"
"Maybe." Dad shrugged. "I also did find out something else about him through a contact that happens to work in PWL HQ itself. Apparently, Looker is supposedly a very capable trainer, but nobody could say for sure just what pokemon he uses. He doesn't battle very often but it was said that he never lost a single battle in his entire career."
"Huh?"
"Don't ask me. Those were the exact words I heard. I have no idea what they meant too."
"So, he's actually an extremely skilled pokemon trainer?" I clarified, to which dad simply nodded. "Doesn't seem like it. I mean, he never once released a pokemon out with him for company or the sorts, even when we were at the West Forest for the first time and he got teleported away by Volkner's hypno…"
If Looker is indeed a skilled pokemon trainer he would have released a pokemon to protect himself from Volkner's Hippie out of sheer instinct when it attacked us out of the blue. So why didn't he? Or was he very confident that he wouldn't get hurt? If so, how could he have known?
"And there are rumours that initially, nobody in the upper echelons of the PWL accepted your idea of creating an interpol until Looker interfered. Meaning to say, the interpol would have never existed if Looker didn't step in."
"He's such an important figure even within the PWL? Isn't he working for them, not the other way round?"
"Which brings me to my next point. The weirdest rumour I have heard is that on paper, it seems as if Looker defers to the higher ups of the PWL and is working for them, but in practice, there are times that Looker could practically get away with anything he wanted and even order the PWL around. The PWL leaders do not hold any actual power over him. By that, I meant that they couldn't hold any power over him."
"Wait, what?"
"You heard me right."
"Doesn't that make him a very dangerous individual? Someone that even the PWL cannot control? Not only that, he can actually order them around?" I shivered a little at the thought. Getting away with anything he wanted. Dad is not someone who uses words like that lightly. If he said that to me, then he genuinely has reasons to believe that it is indeed the case.
"Yes. So do be careful when working alongside him, no matter how nice he may appear to be. Looker's origins are also a mystery on my end. No matter how I searched using our family's connections I could not find the region which he was from, his trainer records, or anything similar that might tell us a hint or two about who he was before he became Looker. If he indeed had never lost a single battle in his entire career, he must be a Pillar level trainer."
"You are making me paranoid, dad."
"For trainers, paranoia is what saves our skin. You get what I'm saying?"
"I do, but… Alright, I get it. Be more wary about Looker."
"You said that Akari and-"
"Akamu and Mary."
"Akamu and Mary knew Looker from way back, right? Maybe you could get a better glimpse of him through them and arrive at your own conclusion. What I do know is severely limited and may not be entirely accurate anyway."
"I will keep that in mind."
"Good." Dad replied. "Alright, I have to go now. Stay safe and take care of yourself, you hear me?"
"I will, dad."
With that, we both said our goodbyes and hung up, although the frown had never quite left my face even when the call had ended. Dad did raise a valid point. Over the days that I had been here in Indigo I got to know quite a bit of my fellow colleagues but there's one person that I never did truly get to know about.
Who exactly is Looker?
I exited the pokemon center soon after with Rena and Fuzzy by my side. Dolly had slinked back into my shadows the moment we exited because of the scorching afternoon sun. The sunrays here at Olivine are really a lot more harsh than what I experience in Hoenn. Even the sun at Lilycove isn't that merciless.
Don't get me wrong, I love being in the sun, but the sunrays here really are a little too harsh for my liking. I should have brought an umbrella out with me before coming over to the pokemon center.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
I jumped up in alarm the moment I heard a voice from right behind me, one that I am familiar with.
"L-Looker?"
It's him alright, looking down at me with a knowing smirk on his face. How did he get behind us without Rena, Fuzzy, and my fellow ghosts sensing his presence?!
"Let me guess…" Looker dramatically stroked his chin in thought before I could get another word out. "You were wondering why and how I managed to get behind your back even with Rena beside you?"
Rena bristled at his words, offended that he sneaked up on us like that. It's not just Rena, even Fuzzy wasn't pleased at the surprise he sprung on us because this clearly meant that a mere human had somehow evaded their enhanced senses. This also meant that they had failed as my self-appointed bodyguards.
As for me, I could only give a silent nod, still a little wary about this man in front of me. My conversation with dad that had just ended less than five minutes ago is still fresh in my mind.
Be wary of Looker. He is someone that even the PWL cannot control.
Looker blinked his eyes at me in puzzlement.
"Hmm? Did something happen? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You should know better than to spring a surprise on me, especially during such times." I replied as I tried to gently brush the issue off, attributing my behaviour to the Rocket problem that will be blowing out of proportion really soon. Hopefully, he will buy my explanation.
"Ah, that's indeed true. My bad."
The two of us fell into easy silence after that as we strolled along the streets of Olivine, heading back into the West Forest. Throughout the journey, Looker had very thoughtfully produced an umbrella from… somewhere and held it up to shield me from the sun. I gave him a smile as thanks, albeit a little strained. My mind is still a little jumbled, partly because of the accumulating stress that comes from helping to deal with the Rocket problem, what dad told me about Looker, and how Looker got to my back like that undetected.
"You are very quiet today."
"Guess the stress is catching up to me."
Looker's eyebrows rose a little, clearly not believing what I just said. I gave a mental click of the tongue because this is Looker I am dealing with. Petty lies won't work on someone like him.
"Are you a pokemon trainer?"
I cannot help but ask the moment we entered the West Forest. If we are to work together as a team, then it's best that we get to know each other better. I can accept the fact that he will always be hiding a secret or two from us. Everyone has their own secrets hidden in their little closet, I can understand that, but I cannot accept not knowing a single thing about the person who I am to work with for the foreseeable future.
My sudden question had clearly caught Looker off guard. The signs are little and subtle, but I like to think that I know him enough to tell that he was surprised.
"What brought this up?"
"The fact that I just realised that I really know nothing about you. Shannon, Nova, Mary, Akamu, and even that annoying Volkner, I at least know a thing or two about them."
"Does it really bother you that much?"
"If we are to work together as a team for the next half a decade at the very least, then yes." I stood my ground firmly as I looked him in the eye, even if my height really isn't helping my case. "You cannot expect me to trust you when I know nothing about you. Trust goes both ways, Looker."
The both of us stared at each other in silence. Throughout it all, there is a complicated look in Looker's eyes, as though he is going through an emotional rollercoaster. I may be wrong. After all, I really do not know him well enough.
Suddenly, I'm glad that dad pointed this issue out for me. If it wasn't for our conversation I wouldn't have realised that I actually knew nothing about the man in front of me, the man who I am supposed to work with and place my trust in while embarking on this crazy save-the-world plan together.
Looker was the first to break the silence.
"I am." He replied with a slight sigh. "I am a pokemon trainer."
"... You definitely don't act like one."
"My pokemon usually have no need to come out of their pokeballs, and those that do not need to stay in their pokeballs are more than capable of hiding their presence, even if it is hiding themselves right in front of someone like you, Traveller."
And it was at that moment that my world shattered.
Impossible. Nobody else other than the six of us would know. Traveller, that is my title as one of the foretold sages if the ancient prophecy Nova had unearthed is to be believed. It's impossible that Looker would know about it. He of all people shouldn't have known about-
'Mistress! Mistress! You need to calm down and take your medicine!'
Rena's distressed call brought me back to reality, and it was then that I realised that I am bent over and kneeling on the ground, desperately trying to breathe. I think the ghosts within my shadows had emerged from it at one point, concerned about my wellbeing and standing in between me and Looker, viewing him as a threat. However, I could not focus because my whole body was in pain. I do not know if my reaction is due to a panic attack, my sickness suddenly coming back at full force from the shock, a combination of both or something else entirely.
All that I know is that I couldn't breathe properly.
And then I felt it, I felt Looker using his hand to lift my head up and forced my mouth open. In the next second, Looker had taken out the inhaler which I always bring around with me and aided me in taking my medication. By the time I finally caught my breath, Looker had sat me down at the base of a large tree in the forest, gently rubbing soothing circles on my back in his attempt to help me breathe. My ghosts had somehow disappeared. Rena and Fuzzy are looking at me in concern. My reaction had scared them.
'I'm fine.' I spoke to Rena telepathically as I used a hand to scratch her behind her ear, my other hand still holding onto my inhaler.
"Sorry, maybe that wasn't the best way to do a self-introduction."
Looker's admission got me to look up at him once more. Fear, distrust, confusion, curiosity, and many more. Right now, this man scares me more than anything but yet for some reason I cannot explain, it doesn't feel like he meant any harm.
"... How?"
"How what?" He asked. "You need to be more specific."
"Traveller."
"Oh, that? You mean like how I know that Nova, Shannon, Volkner, and Akamu are like you? Born with a powerful gift so unique and yet so unexplainable?"
My breath hitched. This time, I could not hide my inner thoughts no matter how much I tried.
He knows. Someone that is not one of us knows and I know that there's no way he could be Shadow. There would be obvious signs if Looker is indeed one of us but he's not it. I just know.
"Give me some credit, Vel. I am the PWL's most prized agent." Looker said with a snort, ignoring the looks I am sending his way. "Why else do you think I painstakingly brought you guys into the interpol? Putting up with Volkner's distaste towards the PWL and even going so far as to getting Lance to personally ask for his assistance, enduring Akamu's and Mary's scorn even if they are rightfully entitled to do so. It's because you guys indeed have something that nobody else has, a power that might possibly be able to help the world avert the coming crisis. Like you, I love this world too. I don't want to see it get destroyed. More than anyone, I too, wish for peace."
I tried to speak, only to find that I don't know where to start. Looker, as if sensing my thoughts, took the initiative to resolve the tension between us.
"You are right, trust goes both ways. Ask away. Anything that I can answer, I will answer."
"Just who are you?"
"Right now, I am just Looker. The Director of the interpol and the PWL's most prized agent."
"Then who were you before you became Looker?"
"Classified."
"Where are you from?"
"Indigo."
I blinked. Looker's from Indigo?
"Which region?"
"Not telling."
I frowned. So where he's from isn't classified, but rather he doesn't want to let anyone else know about it?
"You said that you are a pokemon trainer."
"Yes."
"Am I allowed to know what pokemon you use and what your skill level is?"
Looker sported a faint smile on his face upon my words.
"Thought you wouldn't ask. It's supposed to be classified but… I guess I can make an exception if this remains a secret between us. Sparkles, Missy, come out and say hello."
Looker's shadow twisted in a way so familiar to me and my eyes widened in realisation. Ghosts. Looker has ghosts as well.
A sableye and a mismagius materialised in front of us. One look at them and I know that they are extremely powerful, so powerful that a part of me cannot help but compare them to the ghosts in Agatha's team. Looker's sableye is a lot larger than the average size of its species and given what I know about the sableye species, the larger they are, the older they are and hence the more powerful they will be.
Sableyes are rare and I only ever saw a few sableyes with my own two eyes, but Looker's ones made the wild sableyes residing in my shadows seem tiny in comparison. Just how long has it lived? Is it Looker's starter? Looker couldn't be over thirty years old and even if sableye has been with Looker since he was a baby, can a sableye really grow to be this big in thirty years? Sableyes age extremely slowly so just how many years have it lived to get this big? With a ghost that is obviously so much more powerful than mine, maybe it is not that far of a stretch for Looker to be able to sneak past even Rena's and Dolly's senses like how he did earlier.
My train of thoughts was broken when Looker's mismagius affectionately nuzzled itself against me, catching even me by surprise at the amount of affection it is showing me.
"That's Missy." Looker introduced before gesturing to his sableye. "This is Sparkles. They are all I can tell you about for now."
"Your naming sense isn't very good." I cannot help but comment upon hearing his pokemon's nicknames, and I took satisfaction in seeing how Looker's lips had twitched a little after hearing that. Sableye let out a hollow chuckle as it sat down beside me and slowly enveloped me in a hug, a gesture which I returned after hesitating a little.
"See? Your Ghost Mistress moniker isn't for show after all."
I gave Looker a scowl, and from the look of his face I know for a fact that he somehow knows that I really do not like that moniker. He's doing it on purpose.
"I'm not done with the questioning yet."
"Oh? Then ask away." Looker shrugged nonchalantly as he leaned back against the tree we are sitting under the shade of.
"How do you know about my title? How much do you know?"
"If you are talking about that prophecy, then no. Not much. All I know is that there are seven people with seven different titles and that I have found five of them. No, six. We just met her recently at the Indigo Plateau, haven't we?"
I don't know what the expression on my face is, but I do know that it is hilarious enough for Looker to laugh at me out loud.
Okay, so he does know about that prophecy. The only good thing that came out from all of that is that I am fairly certain that he doesn't know that the seven of us all possess memories of a life long past.
My gaze returned back to the inhaler in my hand. The frown on my face deepened as I thought further about the issue.
"How do you know where I kept my inhaler? No, how do you know that I needed this specifically?"
When I was a child, experiencing respiratory problems was almost a daily occurrence. The medicine in the inhaler that is needed to keep me alive whenever I have such an attack is very potent and is specifically prepared for my sole use. Even when my health has gotten much better, I always bring it around with me out of habit, putting it in a very specific and accessible pocket of my bag.
However, only my family knows where I put it. Nobody else should know because I never told them about it and neither have I experienced an attack as violent as the one I did earlier. Those are rare after I turned nine.
I had never used this inhaler or even took it out in front of an outsider before, simply because I never had a need for it until now. So how did Looker know where I had put it? Not only that, his reactions were so swift that it looks as though he knew it at the back of his hand.
"How did you know where to find this?"
I held up the inhaler for Looker to see. To his credit, his poker face gave nothing away.
"Would you believe me if I said that you had told me where you had placed it before?"
I narrowed my eyes while searching through my memories. No, I'm certain that I had never told him about this particular piece of information before.
Looker merely let out an amused huff and shook his head after seeing my reaction.
"I can understand what you are feeling right now, Vel. Really, I do. If I could I really wouldn't mind being honest with you and telling you everything about me, but this isn't the right time. I know you have questions and I cannot possibly answer them all, so I just need you to know this."
He turned to face me, Sparkles and Missy had returned to his side by now.
"I will always be your ally, Vel. Always."
With that, he stood up and dusted himself. Sparkles and Missy vanished from view and returned to Looker's shadow. With a turn of his heels, Looker walked off without another word, leaving me to my own thoughts.
"Just who are you?" I asked once again, shouting in the direction of his departing back. Looker stilled for a moment before turning his head partially, allowing our eyes to meet. This time, he didn't brush me off with the answer known as "classified".
"That really depends on who is asking the question and when this question is asked."
"... Have we met before?"
It is the only explanation I can think of. Wordlessly shielding me from the sun earlier using an umbrella during our journey back even if I never told him about my discomfort with Olivine's harsh sunlight. Knowing where exactly I had kept my inhaler, or even knowing about its existence at all and that it was what I needed right at that moment. Only people very close to me would know that.
Looker didn't answer. Maybe he wanted to, I can see the slight movement of his throat, as though he wanted to speak but decided against it at the very last moment. Instead, he said something else.
"Like I said earlier, I will always be your ally, Vel. Always."
In the end, he simply turned away and walked off, disappearing from view and leaving me alone with more questions than answers.
Character and pokemon list:
Velda Vera, Age: 13, Female, Pokemon Trainer, Runner-up in the 528th Ever Grande Conference
Pokemon on hand:
1) Rapidash (Flamel), male
2) Swampert (Bigblue), male
3) Banette (Dolly), female
4) Flygon (Snap), male
5) Absol (Kelsa), female
6) Charizard (Toothless), male
7) Cradily (Lily), female
8) Espeon (Rena), female
9) Pachirisu (Fuzzy), male
10) Tyranitar (Kratos), male
11) Cleffa (Joy), female
12) Nidoqueen (Ness), female
13) Pangoro (Hulk), male
14) Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless
15) Scizor (Archer), male
16) Lapras (Chill), female
17) Gengar (Wacky), male
Griff Vera, Age: 42, Male, Owner of Vera Pokemon Breeding Farm, Husband to Hanna Vera (formerly Springfield), Father to Vance and Velda Vera
Pokemon on hand:
1) Mightyena (Fang), male
2) Tropius, male
3) Hydreigon (Chewy), male
4) Glalie (Frosty), male
5) Blaziken (Torch), male
6) Rhyperior, male
7) Ninjask (deceased)
8) Ludicolo (deceased)
9) Zangoose (deceased)
10) Ursaring (deceased)
Name: ?
Age:?
Codename: Looker
Pokemon team:
1) Sableye
2) Mismagius
54
First aid kit, check. Potions, check. Escape Ropes, check. Signal flares, check. Radio, check. Utility belt, check. And… what are the rest of these things? I don't recognise most of the equipment here.
"Do you know how to use these?" Mary asked in concern and upon seeing the shake of my head, she guided me through on how to use the standard gear used by PWL agents.
According to Akamu, Mary was the person who designed and invented many of the standard issued gadgets PWL agents are using even till today. After they left the PWL, the design of the various equipment she had left behind was improved on by other engineers over the years, but the basic design and usage largely remains the same.
Mary held up some sort of upper body suit that is undoubtedly made for me given the size. She helped me into it, and I was proven right when it fits me just right. It had looked heavy, but when I wore it I barely felt anything. It's like wearing an extra shirt over what I'm wearing underneath.
Huh, now I do look like a professional agent of the interpol. Guess clothes really do make the man.
"Looker told me that your body is naturally frail and you sometimes have difficulty trying to breathe, so I designed this respirator suit for you if you ever have any troubles breathing. See the button located near your right collarbone? Press it."
Inwardly, I flinched a little when Mary mentioned Looker. It's only been less than an hour since I had that conversation with Looker. I'm still not exactly comfortable with anything related to him at the moment.
"Mary?"
"Hmm?"
"How much do you know about Looker? Like, for example, how old is he?"
"How old does he look like to you?" Mary asked me instead.
"Somewhere in his mid twenties to thirties?"
"He's definitely older than that." Mary replied as she helped me out with some minor adjustments in regards to the suit.
"By how much?"
"I have no clue. Not sure if he uses some really good quality skincare products or what, but he doesn't look any much different from when Akamu and I first saw him. He ages well, that is all I can say. As for whatever questions you have next..."
Mary's words trailed off for a moment before she spoke up again.
"It's not really my place to reveal. Either they are classified even from you, or they are probably things that Looker prefers to keep private. Akamu and I may not like him much after… that incident, but certain boundaries have to be respected."
I took the cue and stopped asking her questions about Looker.
Mary quickly walked me through on how to use the respirator suit after she helped me into it. I pressed the yellow button as instructed and out from nowhere, a mask sprang up from underneath the collar of my suit and firmly wrapped around the lower half of my face, but not to the extent that it will feel uncomfortable. I can actually breathe easier now.
"W-Wow." I cannot help but look at Mary in awe upon seeing what this respirator suit can do. Mary let out a laugh when she spotted my starstruck look and pressed the button a second time, making the mask fold back and tuck itself below the collar. No matter how I looked I could not see any hints of an oxygen mask being folded under the collar of the suit.
Just what kind of technological advancement was necessary to make such inventions possible?
"If you think this is amazing, wait till you use the pokeball gauntlet I designed many years back. It's still standard issue gear for many PWL agents even till today." Mary said with a slightly smug tone, dragging my attention back to reality.
"Pokeball gauntlet?" I asked. Mary had successfully piqued my curiosity about what other kinds of inventions she has on hand. Mary let out a soft hum as she dug around the workshop that was set up in Volkner's garage before taking out a pair of metallic wrist gauntlets.
"Try them out first and tell me if it feels uncomfortable. I adjusted these to fit your size, but I don't have your exact measurements so I might need to readjust them later."
"They feel fine." I told Mary after I put on the wrist gauntlets. Like the respirator suit, I could barely feel the weight. On each gauntlet are four metallic indentations near the wrist area which I suspect is where the user should place their pokeballs in.
"See the slots around your wrist? Up, down, left, right. Put four pokeballs of your choosing into those four slots."
I did as Mary told. She put on a gauntlet herself as she demonstrated to me how to properly use the tool.
"Point your hand towards where you want to release your pokemon." Mary said as she pointed her left hand towards the far side of her lab, which I followed suit. "See how I folded my thumb inwards towards the center of my palm? Yes, do just that. Now, you still have four remaining fingers, right? The index finger releases the pokeball on the right of your wrist, the middle finger releases the one one top, the ring finger releases the one below, the pinky releases the one on your left."
I nodded my head to signal to Mary that I am following thus far.
"Now, let's say I want to release the pokemon in the pokeball I slotted into the gauntlet on the right side of my left wrist. I will fold my index finger inwards after I fold my thumb inwards. That is the release command."
With her left thumb still folded inwards towards her palm, Mary folded her left index finger as well and pressed it over her thumb. In the next instant, the pokeball slotted in the right side of her gauntlet she is wearing on her left wrist opened and released an oricorio, who let out a happy chirp when it made its appearance.
"The same gesture applies when recalling your pokemon back. You can easily release and recall all your pokemon at the same time too as long as you take some time to get used to the hand gestures. Just remember, thumb first, then the other fingers later. Since there will only be eight slots in total and you have seventeen on hand, I would suggest slotting in the pokeballs that you use most often into the gauntlets. And oh, the gestures for the right hand is the mirror image of your left when it comes to its usage. The general feedback I got from the other agents is that using the gauntlets is rather instinctive, so I wouldn't worry too much about you not being able to use it properly."
"Thumb first, fingers later." I recited that phrase as I held my right hand out and pointed it in the direction where Mary's oricorio is at. "So, if I want to release the pokemon whose pokeballs are slotted at the left and top of my right wrist, I fold in my thumb first followed by my index and middle finger."
I did those motions just as I finished saying it, accurately releasing Archer and Lily out of their pokeballs. Mary's oricorio hovered in front of Lily in curiosity and began to chirp at her.
"You did great." Mary said in encouragement. "Now try recalling them. It's the same thing."
I repeated the hand gestures I did earlier and successfully recalled Archer and Lily back into their pokeballs, leaving Mary's oricorio to stare at us in dismay.
"It is really easy to use. Releasing and recalling pokemon never felt so easy and fast." I said while looking back at Mary and a sudden thought suddenly hit my mind.
"But what if I have to… Let's say, punch somebody? Won't it accidentally release or recall my pokemon by mistake?"
Mary stared at me in confusion for about two seconds before breaking out into a laugh.
"My dear, you clearly haven't socked someone in the face before." Mary told me with amusement dancing in her eyes as she held my right hand with hers before closing my fingers inwards. "To punch someone, your thumb needs to be tucked outside your fist. If you do otherwise you will only injure your thumb at the moment of impact. Very likely, through dislocation."
"Oh." I replied lamely and suddenly felt a little embarrassed for asking such a stupid question.
"If you want to learn how to properly punch someone I'm sure my husband will be more than willing to teach you. He was the one who taught me the basics of self-defense." Mary patted my head before unstrapping the gauntlet she was wearing on her left wrist.
"How did the both of you meet anyway?" I asked in curiosity. Maybe I can catch a glimpse of how Akamu was like before he became the person he is today.
"Hmm? Well, I guess you can say he quite literally fell from the sky. I was very young back then but I could still remember that particular moment. The entire tribe spotted his fall and we all thought he was dead when we rushed over, only to find that he didn't even break a single bone. That was how we first met." Mary said with a faraway look in her eyes, a small smile gracing her face.
"I'm surprised he didn't break a few bones."
"Me too, but Akamu is the toughest man I had ever seen, be it mentally or physically. It's been that way ever since we were young so I'm not really surprised." Mary said with another laugh. "Do you need any further adjustments for your equipment? The suit? Gauntlets? Everything fine? If it's not, don't be afraid to speak up, fixing and calibrating them is my job."
"They are really fine." I reassured Mary. "Just need some time to get used to using them properly."
"Just be safe, okay? You are assigned to Goldenrod, right? That is one major place of interest and Proton will most likely be there. I know Whitney will be the one to face him but anything can happen tomorrow, so just be careful. Proton used to be a serial killer, he is not one to show mercy, so don't show him any too if you ever face him in battle."
"I will be fine." I try to reassure Mary with a smile, who only sighed.
"It's times like this that I wish that I am a pokemon trainer. Sending out children to fight our battles, we adults really should be ashamed of ourselves."
"No offense, but weren't you and Akamu technically children too when you two joined the PWL?"
"It's precisely because of our experiences that I said that. Akamu didn't have much of a choice back then because of his status as a Faller. If he wants to live that was the only way out for him." Mary told me before taking a brief pause.
"As for me, I was simply too young and naive, thinking that the PWL is where I can use my talent to help the greatest number of people. It was only when I was pregnant that I started to realise how utterly wrong it is to have children within our ranks. That thought never hit me until then. Having a child really puts things into perspective, you just start to view the world very differently."
"Sorry if I… reminded you of unpleasant times." I said awkwardly, not really knowing how to proceed with the conversation. Mary simply patted my head once more.
"Please don't say that. Akamu and I are past that now, and I just underwent surgery before you came to find us on Looker's orders. There is a chance that I can conceive again since the surgery was a great success. To be honest, I cannot wait for this to be over, so that Akamu and I can go back to try and start a family of our own."
"Your home is at the Lush Jungle, right? How do you two live in a jungle?"
"I'm an inventor, I have my ways. Akamu and I have also made many connections in high places during our time as PWL agents, which helped too when we were rebuilding our home." Mary easily brushed my concerns aside. "You should come over for a visit if you ever have the chance. Akamu and I will be more than happy to have you around."
"I will take you up on your offer then." I replied, and Mary sent a smile my way.
"Are you hungry? I can cook something for you if you want. Akamu's cooking really isn't that great. Those saimin noodles he cooked that day? I will only give him a six out of ten at the most. Why don't I cook a true Alolan dish for you to try out? How about some manapua buns? If anyone else is hungry they can join us too."
I perked up when I heard that. Mary can be very picky when it comes to food because her culinary skills are just that good. I had the luck to try some of Mary's cooking while working alongside her, and it makes me wonder why she is an inventor instead of being a chef.
"That sounds great. You don't mind if I help out, right?"
"Of course I don't. In fact, this will be fun!"
"Smells nice."
"I'm calling dibs."
"I was here first. Go queue up behind."
"Fighting me for food? Seriously, you guys are grown men. Have you no shame trying to fight with a little girl for food?" I rolled my eyes at the people waiting right outside the kitchen. Bill and Professor Elm at least have the decency to look sheepish.
"Hey, in our defense, it's Mary's cooking."
"True." I conceded. "But I helped her with it so I called dibs."
"Vel and I made enough for everyone." Mary helpfully reminded us all as she took out the finished products from the steamer. "There, done. Just in time too. Help me put it on the table in the dining room, okay?"
Bill and Elm were more than eager to offer their assistance, so we let them be. The crowd gathered quickly when word spread around that Mary is done with the buns.
"It smells reeeeally nice." Shannon stared at it dreamily as she said that.
"The taste has to be even better." Nova added.
"Not everyone is here, right? Who else is missing?"
"Samuel and Blaine, I believe. I think Mr Fuji isn't around too. Looker, Volkner-"
"Let's just start without them." Bill said impatiently. "Can we dig in before the food gets cold?"
"Someone's hasty."
"Can you blame me?" Bill retorted.
Soon, all of us are eating the steaming hot manapua buns that Mary and I prepared. It's more of Mary than me, since I only helped out in preparing the ingredients. Most of the time I simply stood aside and tried to learn how she does it.
"Ah, Akamu sure is one lucky fellow, to be able to eat the food of the gods every single day. Where can I find myself a wife like that?" Bill lamented dramatically, making us laugh.
"First, you need to find yourself a girlfriend." Akamu blatantly pointed out.
"You make it sound so easy! It's harder than it sounds!"
"You probably didn't try hard enough." Akamu shrugged rather unapologetically, eliciting laughs from everyone present.
"Well, then can you at least give me some tips then? How did you even manage to woo Mary anyway?" Bill asked while taking another bite from his own bun.
"Good question." Nova said with a smirk as the topic of the discussion now shifted to the husband and wife pair from Alola. Bill had successfully roused the gossipy nature within all of us and we are now curious about their love story.
Akamu and Mary shared a look. The look Mary is giving Akamu is obvious. It's the go on, tell them look.
"Mary and I knew each other since we were children. I was Mary's convenient lab rat for her to test out all her inventions ever since we were young. Naturally, we spent a lot of time together. But if we really have to pick a point where we started to confirm our feelings for each other, it will be the hoverbike incident."
"A hoverbike? You guys have a hoverbike?" Bill exclaimed, tongue-tied. Mary and Akamu merely nodded, as if possessing a hoverbike is the most normal thing in the world.
I have to ride it someday. It's a hoverbike.
"It started from a silly bet, really." Mary explained. "Back then I wasn't anything like I am now. I was a lot more rash, hot-headed, and competitive. I was boasting to Akamu about how there's nothing I could not invent and I might have annoyed him a little too much with my boasting, so he bet that there will be something that I could not invent. So I challenged him to name one such thing, and he randomly threw out the idea of a hoverbike."
"That's it?"
"Oh, no. I invented it within… Was it a week? Or two? Honey, do you remember?"
"About a week or two, give or take." Akamu agreed. "The thing is, Mary could never properly ride the hoverbike which she invented herself, leaving me alone to try and figure out how to use it. We kept arguing whether the fact that none of us could properly ride the hoverbike is more of a machine fault or user error."
"The conclusion?" Shannon asked.
"I initially believed that it was a machine fault, but after I got the hang of how to ride the hoverbike it became obvious that it was a user error. Mary wanted to prove to me that it wasn't a user error on her part so she tried practicing how to ride the hoverbike. She never succeeded, but she also really wanted to ride the bike she invented herself."
"Let me guess, you rode the bike and she became your pillion rider?"
"That was the start of it." Akamu nodded. "So, we rode the hoverbike together for the first time and Mary being Mary, wanted me to test the maximum speed of the hoverbike so that she could get some performance data. I reminded her that we were not wearing helmets, but my advice fell on deaf ears."
"And I clicked on the overdrive button against his advice. Akamu wasn't expecting for the hoverbike to be able to go at such a speed and he lost control of it. Naturally, we crashed. Really badly." Mary admitted before adding. "We really should have worn helmets before going on a ride."
"So you two fell in love with each other after you crashed the bike?"
"Oh, it wasn't really the crash that made me realise that I view Akamu as more than a friend, but what he did right before the crash." Mary continues with the story from where she is sitting beside Akamu on a couch, her hand in his. "I emerged relatively unscathed because Akamu used his body to shield me from harm at the very last second. I was feeling very guilty because Akamu did warn me that he wasn't confident in being able to handle the bike's maximum speed and that we were not wearing helmets, so I took care of him after the crash while he was bedridden. We got a lot closer during that period of time and… Well, you know. We got together."
"Do the both of you ever ride the hoverbike ever again?"
"We do, especially when we go out for our dates. It's just that we made sure to wear helmets every single time thereafter."
"The hoverbike can now go over 350 km/h and float over twenty metres off the ground ever since its last upgrade, if you guys were wondering. I personally don't really recommend going that fast at that altitude." Akamu added as an afterthought.
"Now that you say it, I still haven't got around to address the air drag issue." Mary said with a slight frown at that reminder. "It can go even faster-"
"Dear, the bike is already plenty fast. At the rate you are upgrading the bike it will be faster than a mini jet by the end of the month."
"Wouldn't it be cool? To race our hoverbike against a plane?"
"Dear."
"I can help." Bill volunteered right away. "I never really dealt with that side of technology before but I am sure that I can help somehow. Think about it! Personalised jets for everybody! What if we commercialise it and reduce the cost enough such that the ordinary household can afford it?! We can revolutionise the way people travel from places to places and maybe even region to region! And what if-"
"Woah woah, calm down, Bill. Aren't you thinking a little too far ahead?"
"Thinking far ahead is the job of an inventor!"
"Well said." Mary nodded seriously before turning back to face Bill. "We should find a time to discuss our ideas after we are done with the Rocket affair."
Just then, the front door opened, and the owners of this place walked through the doors.
"Yo, sup? Looks like we were missing out on something."
"Hi Volkner! Hi Jasmine! Mary made some really nice steamed buns for us and we were grilling her and Akamu about how they fell in love!" Shannon returned the greeting as she hurriedly gestured for Volkner and Jasmine to come over and try the steamed buns Mary had made.
"Guess we really were missing out." Jasmine said with a slight laugh. I haven't seen Jasmine all that much even after staying here for so long, because Jasmine left for work rather early and returned late every single day. That is not including the days where I was out helping the interpol with missions. I didn't really have many opportunities to interact with her even when most of my time here was spent in the West Forest.
And then Shannon, being the gossip queen that she is, decided to ask Volkner and Jasmine the same question we asked Mary and Akamu.
"Hey hey, how did you and Volkner meet?"
Shannon's question got Jasmine's face to redden with immediate effect. Alright, now we are really curious.
"Oh, it was straightforward. I was on my world tour and my ship had only just touched down at Johto, right at Olivine. I had only just disembarked from the ship and then even before I could look around, she walked up and challenged me to a battle."
"So you guys first met each other through a pokemon battle?"
"Yeah."
"What happened next? Who won?"
"I scored an overwhelming victory, crushed her dreams, and took her money. That was it." Volkner replied with a lazy yawn.
Cue the awkward silence.
"You suck." I stated plain and simple.
"Yeah, I know. Jas even told me later on that she cried herself to sleep that night. But do I regret it? Nope."
"Volk isn't wrong, that was how we first met and he did make me cry." Jasmine said with a laugh. "We happened to meet again by chance two days later. He asked me for tips on how to raise steel types since he already has a magnezone and a probopass. We started to talk and train together more and more often and we got to know each other a lot more from there."
"And then about half a year later, she phoned me and asked if I would mind her tagging along on my journey. Obviously I said yes. We decided to tour Kanto together and the entire duration lasted about a year or so before I headed back to Sinnoh."
"So you guys were already a couple from back then?" Shannon gasped. "That's like… a very long time ago!"
"No, we weren't a couple back then." Volkner clarified immediately. "We were stuck at the friends-but-actually-more-than-just-friends stage for years because not long after we ended our Kanto journey, we both became Gym Leaders of our respective cities. With our new workload and the fact that we were separated across the ocean, you can guess just how often we could actually see each other. In fact, we never saw each other in person in the first three years in our tenure as Gym Leaders. We were just that busy."
"So when did you guys start to get together?"
"For me to know and for you to find out."
"Volkner!"
"Not telling."
"Jasmine?" Shannon asked hopefully, to which she gave us a sheepish smile.
"Uhm… about four years ago? It was the same day when Team Galactic made their first real appearance and launched a siege on Sunyshore. I happened to be there at the time. One thing led to another and…"
Jasmine trailed off awkwardly and her face reddened even further, obviously a little embarrassed at telling us about the love story between them.
"So how did that insensitive prick ask you to be his girlfriend?" I asked curiously. The rest of the audiences backed me up with eager nods of their heads, ignoring the offended "OI" from Volkner.
"I remembered that day very clearly." Jasmine nodded in thought. "Volk just… He just asked directly. It was so embarrassing because he has no tact at all."
"It saved us a lot of time rather than beating around the bush like we had been doing for years prior to that." Volkner argued, which Jasmine ignored.
"Do you guys know how the confession went? He simply asked me, You like me, right? Like, like me? Those were his exact words when he was asking me to be his girlfriend."
"And he said it straight to your face?" Nova asked in disbelief.
"Yes."
"He really has no tact at all. Which girl would like having their innermost thoughts revealed like that?" Shannon commented with a frown, sending Volkner a disapproving stare.
"And here I am, happily married and living the blissful retired life until you guys come into the picture. Whatever works, works."
"To be fair, he more than made up for it when asking for my hand in marriage." Jasmine said with a laugh. "Do you guys know about Sunyshore's Vista Lighthouse? He made it shine Will you marry me into the night sky. It was very romantic."
"Wait, I know he was Sunyshore's Gym Leader, but can he really do something like that to a city's lighthouse?" Akamu asked in surprise.
"Pretty sure he couldn't, legally. He abused his authority as Gym Leader, that must be it." Mary deduced.
"Hey, if you have power, then don't be afraid to use it. What's the point in having power if you don't use it?"
"You really are the worst example, Volkner." Nova stated. Jasmine only laughed at the response.
"Yes, he really is. During his proposal half the time I was amazed at the amount of work he put into it, the other half was me freaking out at the fact that he actually modified the city's lighthouse behind everyone's backs and whether we would be arrested for doing so. I would never think about doing such a thing to Olivine's Glitter Lighthouse."
"Jas! You are supposed to be on my side here!"
"So is that why the both of you modified your home to be similar to a lighthouse?"
"Mostly." Jasmine nodded in affirmation. "We just fell in love with the idea of living in a lighthouse so we decided to make our home look like one. Volkner did most of the planning and design, actually. The entire West Forest that you see here, he built it up from scratch. He's multi-talented. I don't know what else is there that he cannot do."
"Trying to be a nice decent human being to anyone that does not go by the name of Jasmine…?" I whispered cheekily and immediately went to hide behind Akamu when Volkner tried to swat at my head again.
"Annoying short stack."
"I'm not short." I defended myself. "Unlike you, I can still grow!"
"Yeah, and the sun will rise from the west."
"The sun already rose from the west." Jasmine took my side as she stuffed a bun into her husband's mouth, hinting for him to shut up. "You are actually helping us in this Rocket mess right now, which is a miracle in itself."
For once, Volkner actually could not find any words to retort.
AN: This chapter is supposed to be posted before I posted RE, RFTS, and TSOS. I can't believe I forgot all about this chapter until almost 12 hours later. Oh well, mistakes are made, nothing I can do about that now.
As always, hope you guys enjoy the story.
Character and pokemon list:
Velda Vera, Age: 13, Female, Pokemon Trainer, Runner-up in the 528th Ever Grande Conference
Pokemon on hand:
1) Rapidash (Flamel), male
2) Swampert (Bigblue), male
3) Banette (Dolly), female
4) Flygon (Snap), male
5) Absol (Kelsa), female
6) Charizard (Toothless), male
7) Cradily (Lily), female
8) Espeon (Rena), female
9) Pachirisu (Fuzzy), male
10) Tyranitar (Kratos), male
11) Cleffa (Joy), female
12) Nidoqueen (Ness), female
13) Pangoro (Hulk), male
14) Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless
15) Scizor (Archer), male
16) Lapras (Chill), female
17) Gengar (Wacky), male