Chapter 82 - Bilging & Co.

Chapter 82 – Bilging & Co.

It has been nearly two weeks since the first time I entered the Rustburo City trainer’s school. Most of our days were spent training, while making use of the school’s many facilities and our efforts have paid off. All of my partner Pokémon were now capable of firing off a proper Solar Beam. The technical machines I had special ordered did the trick and helped all of them gain insight into manipulating grass typed energy. Furthermore, due to my insistence on battling against water type Pokémon after battle class Numsy finally managed to train up Solid Rock to completion making water moves used against him not any more effective than regular super effective attacks.

All of my partner Pokémon were in the best shape they’ve ever been in, and at the same time we’ve become notorious among the licensed students as mean lean battling machines. It turned out that the battle class students were mostly comprised of circuit dropouts or those whose parents demanded a perfect initial run to maintain their image in high society. Steven Stone and some others were prime examples of the latter.  The circuit dropouts weren’t bad battlers by any stretch, once Banya got done with them, but the rich kids were even tougher with teams filled with specially bred Pokémon and access to twenty-four seven private tutoring.

Fulfilling my commitment to the school had been fairly easy. Since I didn’t have a set schedule, the school also did not expect me to make my own lesson plans. I was mostly called on when the topic of Pokémon abilities or Unovan Pokémon were to be discussed. It had been fun wowing the teachers and students over my theory about Hidden Abilities. Some of the older staff were skeptical about my claims but they couldn’t refute them when both Orin and Rena demonstrated theirs in front of the class. 

During the times where I was kept busy working, my Pokémon were required to languish inside the school’s daycare facility. For most of my partners this wasn’t an issue, but our more energetic and younger team members often went on these self-appointed expeditions to go find me. The figures of Orin and Halo shadowed by an apprehensive Glove became a common sight to the students. Who oftenhelpfully directed them to the classroom where I resided in. Much to the chagrin of the teachers whose carefully crafted lesson plan got interrupted. Taking those moments as an opportunity I usually turned my visiting Pokémon into living examples depending on the topic I was lecturing about. Just as I was doing now.

“You see Litwick’s shadow which is currently connecting to my own? Now, no matter how hard I exert myself I wouldn’t be able to leave this classroom.”

Opening up the classroom I made a showing(show) of trying to leave but much to the amusement of the class my body was pulled back in every time.

“Does anyone know the name of this ability? And or what its uses could be in a Pokémon battle?”

The class was stumped by my question which wasn’t a surprise because not a single Hoenn native Pokémon had access to this ability. I was about to give in and answer the question for them when a studious looking girl raised her hand. Lynn was a picture-perfect example of an overachiever, always first to answer questions and never once getting a single answer wrong on tests. Although I always had a sneaking suspicion that her partner Pokémon Exeggcute was skimming answers from the teachers’ surface thoughts and feeding the information back to its trainer. On the other hand, I was quite sure she hadn’t tried this on me or else Victini would have noticed right away.

“Yes? Lynn.”

“This ability is called Shadow Tag; it prevents an opponent’s Pokémon from being switched out or wild Pokémon from escaping even by teleportation. Ghost types, Pokémon wearing a Shed Shell or Pokémon with the Run Away ability are immune to this effect.”

“A perfect answer Lynn. Good job. Now pay attention class, A litwick like Orin here usually either has the Flash Fire ability or the Flame Body ability. Orin managed to train up this third alternative ability by working together with a very helpful Wynaut that we encountered while traveling through Mt. Pyre. This is another example of something I have dubbed as a Hidden Ability. Don’t be afraid to experiment with your own partners. You never know what sort of obscure abilities they might have an aptitude for, okay?”

“Yes!!!” “Lit!!”

Orin helpfully gave out his own choice words of encouragement to the invigorated children. Despite being a ghost type this little guy had garnered much positive attention with his upbeat attitude quickly becoming a school mascot. Unlike my other young Pokémon who kept up with her haughty demeanor.

Professor Juniper had already approved and updated the unreleased Unovan Pokédex entries based on my research regarding Hidden Abilities. The report I sent him detailing my experiences developing Litwick’s Shadow Tag ability were already being combed over and tested by the gravekeepers working at the Celestial Tower. When proven right I was sure to receive a nice lab approved paycheck. Things were looking up for me even the teacher I was currently assisting looked impressed by my on-the-fly lesson adjustment.

The class ended on a positive note with self-study being filled with students speculating on the potential hidden ability of their own partner Pokémon. Although I made sure to impress upon them that hidden didn’t necessarily mean better. While I was busy praising Orin for helping out during my demonstration a few of the students came up to me to ask for advice on how to discover said hidden abilities including Lynn. Feeling extra magnanimous I couldn’t help but give them hints on possible leads. As I recalled, Exeggcute and its evolution all have the potential to develop the Harvest ability. Something that would be next to useless in the regular circuit which has banned the use of items.

“Chlorophyll is a fine ability to have for any grass type Pokémon. Why do you suddenly feel the need to switch Lynn? We still don’t know if Exeggcute’s hidden ability is a detrimental one.”

“Detrimental?”

“During my visit to the Celestial Tower I came across a trainer owned Golett. One of their known abilities is Iron Fist which increases the power of punching moves. The other one is called Klutz once this ability is trained up the Pokémon who has it is unable to use items during battle. Becoming supernaturally clumsy when attempting to do so.”

My explanation baffled both the honor’s student and her egg like companion.

“Who would want to catch a Pokémon with detrimental abilities?!”

“Here in Hoenn all the slakoth and slaking suffer from the ability Truant. Being forced to rest in between moves and becoming sitting psyducks, pardon the expression. Trainers still own and raise them in spite of that. Mainly because of how strong they are despite this weakness. There are of course ways to weaponize or negate detrimental abilities in double battles, but I recommend you first join the advanced battle theory lessons after earning your trainer’s licenses to learn more about those techniques.”

With some reluctance Lynn and the others dispersed which left me free to leave class as well. I had Glove follow me while the two others returned to their balls. It was a strict school policy that one could only have a single Pokémon out at a time, a sensible effort from the school board to avoid overcrowding the hallways. 

‘That was my last lesson. After collecting the others at the school daycare it’s off to Sootopolis. It’ll be good to see how Roxanne and Marlon are doing.’

“Can we stop by the Kecleon Shop on the way over? We have this super special project coming along and…”

‘Say no more. I’d be glad to pinch in to help those enterprising little tricksters.’

“You are going to be amazed! Just like when I brought back that Mega Stone.”

Victini spent most of her free time zipping all over Hoenn to oversee her little projects as she calls them. This usually involved helping out a group of wild Pokémon with their current problems or settling territorial disputes. One of her first ventures after I settled down at the trainer school was to exchange the Moon Stone I bought with a purple and grey colored Mega Stone adding another one to our growing collection. However, I was quite sure that we hadn’t managed to find a Cameruptite or Houndoominite yet after witnessing Raven and Numsy’s clear lack of interest in the ones we had presented to them.

The daycare was situated just outside the school building in the closed off garden section behind the school. This was where the teachers’ Pokémon were kept while they were busy working. The Pokémon here were treated marginally better than the school’s rental Pokémon. Having privileges such as being able to choose to stay outside their balls and play around as they wished. The person running it was an erudite young lady who was saving up to go to medical school. 

“Egon! Thank goodness you are back. Larvesta, Litwick and Darmanitan have run off again!”

“It's fine Paige. Some students escorted them to the classroom where I was lecturing. Orin even became the subject of a helpful demonstration.”

I felt bad for the woman, having to put up with more unruly Pokémon like mine. Generally speaking, the school’s teaching staff only brought with them the more mild mannered of their partners and had the rest stay at home to be watched over by family members. 

“Thank you for your hard work looking after my team. We know our two little ones are too energetic sometimes.”

“Dar!”

Both me and Glove bowed our heads in a show of appreciation. Causing the woman to blush up a storm in embarrassment. 

“It’s okay! They’re both very sweet and loving Pokémon.”

Turning around to avoid further awkwardness Paige motioned us to follow her deeper inside the daycare where the other members of our team awaited my arrival. There were a multitude of different species of Pokémon having their planned break hour either lounging or playfighting each other to get some exercise in. Paige not only took care of the teacher’s Pokémon full time but was also responsible for watching over the school’s rental Pokémon during their scheduled playtimes. Which added up to hundreds of different individuals that she had responsibility over. Which was also the reason why she couldn’t just take off after my rascals every time they went on one of their expeditions.

My own Pokémon had their own little spot which they shared with the other Fire types. Right next a fire extinguisher and on top of a large electrical heating pad. Camerupt was sleeping crouching down, but Rena and Raven had themselves snuggly wrapped in comfortable blankets. Not wanting to startle them I gently poked them until their eyes opened. 

“Psssst, wake up. This is our last day in Rustburo.”

“Ninee…” “Arf…” “Came…”

“You lovable lazy bums. Once we arrive in Sootopolis City the three of you can sunbathe for as long as you like. Return!”

The three musketeers got sucked inside the poké balls I was holding up. I didn’t blame them for using their early afternoons to laze off as I pushed them hard in battle class and my spare time. Seeing as we had a battle tomorrow, I figured any extra training today would just make it harder on them to perform when it actually mattered. Giving Paige a heartfelt goodbye I soon found myself in a locked-up bathroom stall with Victini clinging onto my form ready to teleport the both of us.

“Let’s go!”

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Somewhere along route 120*

When opening my eyes I expected to be met by the sight of the rundown Kecleon Shop instead I was back on the bridge overlooking the Scorched Slab in the middle of route 120. However, this time something was different, It seemed like efforts had been made to create a second smaller lake right next to the stagnant water filled volcanic basin. Additionally, the cave entrance to the Scorched Slab was blocked off by a makeshift dam like structure, disconnecting the flooded tunnel from the outside basin 

“Tini… What in the name of the reverse side have you been up to?!!”

“Isn’t this great? Soon my friends and I will have removed enough of the water inside the lower tunnel system. Then we can go save Heatran!”

“Wait no, What?!”

As Victini was filling me in on her amazing plan, I could see a small grouping of Kecleon going in and out of the cave system carrying cheap looking plastic buckets filled with water and pouring those out into the basin. After spotting us they waved hello before going back into the tunnel system with their empty buckets.

“The excess water flows into the smaller lake we dug out, so the tunnel doesn’t get flooded and while it rains, we cover the cave entrance with a tarp. That way water doesn’t flow back in. It’s perfect! Even the sleeping Zubat don’t mind as long as we keep quiet while working.”

I was so caught up in her explanation that I momentarily forgot about the consequences of Victini’s outrageous actions.

“Interesting… How do you prevent seepage?”

“We paid this large Barboach who call himself Big Boss with berries and had him fill in all the outside cracks with grout we bought from a hardware store.”

“The Rangers don’t mind this? No wait, That’s not the issue! How are you compensating these poor Kecleon? You can’t just have them do all the work for free. That comes close to indentured servitude.”

“Everything we uncover from the lower tunnel system after it’s been cleared is theirs to keep! No human has ever made it that deep. We figured there must be all sorts of treasures waiting inside.”

“How long has this been going on?”

“Me and the kecleon came up with the plans to do this during our stay on Mt. Pyre. The actual hands-on work only started about a week ago. At this rate we’ll be done right as the league conference finishes!”

“You know this could spell trouble, right? Heatran has enough fire power to burn down this whole forest. The other one I know of living inside Stark Mountain would have done just that if given the opportunity.”

“Vi, Vi!” “Heatran’s a fire type, I am a fire type. Becoming fast friends is an inevitability!”

“Hmm… How about telling the kecleon to not remove the water filling the deepest chamber for now? Just in case we aren’t there to talk down an agitated Heatran set on reactivating this long dead volcano.”

“…Vi.” “…All right.”

“Good, we also need to go talk with the local rangers.”

“Vi?” “Why?”

“It’s kind of their job to know what’s going on. I have no doubt this little operation has already grabbed some attention. The best thing to do now is get things squared away before they go investigating. We can probably spin this off as creating more living space for cave dwelling Pokémon. You know that ranger outpost we visited with Flannery? It’s only a four hour’s walk away from here.”

“Vi! Vi!” “That’s too long! GRAB!”

Without any warning the little rabbit grabbed me by the arm and yeeted us off towards a place unknown. When I finally overcame my disorientation the building in my field of view informed me as to exactly where we ended up. The Kecleon Shop had changed dramatically since the last time I visited the place. Gone was the abandoned run-down building and in its place stood a clean looking refurbished building complete with a green and purple paint job. The large Kecleon themed sign hanging outside informed visitors that bartering in goods was the preferred method but that the store was now willing to accept pokédollars.

“They now accept pokédollars?” 

“We had to. Now that Kecleon Brothers & Co. are a legitimate business the skinflint landlord is making us pay rent, water, heating and electricity bills.”  

“At least he had to fix this place up in exchange, right?”

“We did that! He’s just coasting off our success!”

“Well… just view it as compensating the guy for freeloading all this time. The place seems kind of empty though, are you sure the business is thriving?”

“The shop’s closed on weekends. The acquisitions department also needs to lend an extra paw for our special project. Now that we are more well known our Pokémon friends living on routes 119 and 120 know how to contact us whenever they find something interesting. Just last week a neighborhood Linoone found us a Shiny Stone! That’s two months’ worth of rent right there.”

On one hand I was happy that the business was doing well, on the other I hoped that the wild Pokémon were compensated appropriately for their efforts. Victini being the psychic type that she is, quickly figured out what I was worrying about.

“That Linoone received a week’s worth of berries! We don’t cheat our business partners.”

“I guess that’s fine. Otherwise, that Shiny Stone would’ve just been turned into a useless nest decoration. Do make sure to find the right buyer. Here in Hoenn it’s only used to evolve Roselia making it a rare but limited use commodity. Its worth should be around the same as that Dusk Stone we bought a couple of weeks ago.”

“I do all the market research and set our prices. The others don’t know how to work a computer.”

Feeling amused by Victini’s business acumen. I ruffled the mythical Pokémon’s ears as a sign of endearment with her leaning into my palm in turn. After we had our moment, I turned around and headed for the nearby Rangers Outpost.

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Half an hour later*

“Are you sure Max? Letting those Kecleon have first dibs on whatever is buried in that cave?”

“Do you know how many tourists those Kecleon have pickpocketed over the years? Every other day we’d get a call from the association complaining about this hurting their bottom line. We should be glad that the Kecleon are focusing their efforts elsewhere. Besides, I am quite sure this is the kid we have to thank for their change in attitude.”

We were standing in a safari themed office watching on as two rangers went back and forth arguing about which course of action to take. I just counted my lucky Jirachi that the one in charge was the more lackadaisical of the duo. 

“No, that wasn’t me. It’s just… one of my Pokémon has been working alongside them for a while now. She’s been instrumental in showing them that there’s another way to earn a living without resorting to thievery.”

“See Dave? Technically speaking those Kecleon are wild Pokémon native to the adjacent routes. As far as the council is concerned these Pokémon are free to do whatever they like. Kecleon Brothers & Co. is a success story, and it makes Fortree City look good in the public’s eye. Tourism is up seventeen percent since the story broke front page news. Which also means our end of the year bonuses are secure.”

‘That’s their reasoning for not interfering? Remind me not to become a ranger in this city.’

“Kid, you can tell those Kecleon to do as they like.”

“Yes, Ranger Max Sir.”

With that our conversation came to a close. Seeing no reason to extend our stay at the ranger outpost I exited the premises post haste. Once outside I let out a sigh of relief, assured at the fact that the rangers would have no official reason to start digging around for clues. I didn’t know what kind of fire hazard an active Heatran would pose to the swamplands of route 120 but I would feel terrible if any Pokémon or people got hurt due to our actions.

‘Are you ready to go? Teleporting back-to-back like this must be exhausting. I know you’ve become an expert at teleportation over these past few months but still…’

“I’ve become way stronger since then. That’s why you don’t need any other psychic types!”

Without much preamble I was once again grabbed out of the blue. My surroundings shifted until we found ourselves in a familiar setting. That same fishing spot where we spent most of our time sun basking during our stay in Sootopolis City. At the very edge of the large saltwater lake with a clear view of the Sootopolis city gym which was situated right in the middle of said lake on a separate island. Victini was nowhere to be seen having already invisibly retreated to the insides of my backpack.

‘Let’s just call Roxanne to see if she wants to meet up. I am kind of curious how things have developed between her and Regirock.’

“Me too! Rocky must have become frustrated without a good translator around.”

Disregarding Tini’s new pet name for the Rock Titan I flicked through the contact list on my Xtransceiver before tapping on the green icon next to Roxanne’s name. It didn’t take long before the person on the other end of the line picked up.

“…Hello, who is this?”

“Hey, Roxanne, it’s me, Egon. We’ve come back to Sootopolis City and I was wondering if you wanted to catch up. Perhaps over dinner maybe?”

“Yes! There are lots of things I want to share with you as well. I am currently poolside at the eastern Pokémon center. Relicanth has a lot of catching up to do before he is strong enough to match up against Juan’s star team.”

“That’s perfect we’ll see you there.”

“Till then!”

Not wasting any time, I walked straight to the nearby Pokémon center. Roxanne being there instead of the other major center on the other side of the city had just saved me a good deal of time walking. In only a couple of minutes I had already made it there but before I could gain access to the center’s swimming pool, we had to stand in line to book a room and get ourselves validated. In stark contrast to the battlefields which were open for any and all trainers to use, the center’s swimming pool could only be used by registered guests or by those who had purchased a day pass. 

“Excuse me, could I book a single’s room for tonight please?”

“Of course, trainer’s license and ID please.”

After handing over the required documentation the nurse Joy manning the front desk made short work registering us in her computer. Before long she handed back our documentation confirming the fact that we had a room all to ourselves. Fortuitous news for a trainer needing a good night’s uninterrupted rest before his big match tomorrow.

Having finished taking care of our sleeping arrangements I went looking for the center’s swimming pool. After asking around I came to find out that said pool was situated in the building across the street. While I was crossing said street I pondered on the fact that the Joy clan not being able to buy out the buildings adjacent to the center most likely had something to do with the city’s housing laws.

Just like any other swimming pool the chamber past the front entrance was littered with changing rooms and lockers. Whiffs of chlorine assaulted my senses which was also when I realized that I didn’t have any swimwear on me. With crossed fingers and hoping that no one would bar me from entering I skipped past the threshold separating the changing area from the pool section while wearing my outdoor clothes. 

Looking around I could see three separate swimming pools. One shallow kiddy bath where toddlers could splash around in without running the risk of drowning. Oftentimes accompanied by a family Pokémon and or their parents. The second swimming pool was mostly used for recreational purposes. Both Pokémon and people seemed to enjoy going off the commercial water slides or tubing it up in the lazy river. 

The third swimming pool had no water slides or lazy river, just lanes of free open swimming space. This was where one could find professional athletes and Pokémon trainers. It didn’t take long for me to find Roxanne and her new Relicanth. The twin tailed girl was wearing a standardized school swimsuit and holding onto Relicanth’s dorsal fin for dear life while the water type dragged her along to and fro with a surprising amount of speed.

“Poor Roxy being forced to endure all that cold water.” 

‘It’s what she signed up for. Any responsible trainer has to let their water types out for a daily swim. Although I’ve never known a bottom feeder like Relicanth to be that excitable. It must have trained up the ability Swift Swim.’

Roxanne seemed to have spotted us because shortly after we entered the rock type specialist tapped Relicanth’s back three times and the fish Pokémon promptly stopped what it was doing. Relicanth followed that up with bringing its trainer to the edge of the swimming pool where Roxanne scrambled back onto solid ground, clearly exhausted.

“You, okay?”

“Erm yeah? Relicanth is trying to teach me how to swim.”

“By dragging you across the swimming lanes?”

“…It’s a work in progress. What have you been up to?”

“You know the usual. Training, exploring getting a job as a guest lecturer at the Rustburo trainer’s school.”

“You have become a guest lecturer too!? Welcome to the team, colleague!”

“Thanks, it’s just a side gig though. They’ve been calling me up for my expertise on Pokémon abilities and my experiences traveling across Unova. So… How have things been with Regirock? Is it adjusting well?”

“It was slow going for a while, but Regirock has really come out of his shell these last couple of days. My other partners have been teaching it all about the ins and outs of living in modern times and we’ve even started doing practice battles with each other. As far as Nurse Joy can tell being stuck in those ruins hasn’t affected his health one bit.”

“You’ve told Nurse Joy about Regirock!?”

“Don’t worry Egon. Don’t you know that the Joys adhere to nurse patient confidentiality? They are not allowed to share information on trainer owned Pokémon without permission.”

“Victini hasn’t been seen by a medical professional since we’ve met. We had been told that they kept an internal medical database of all their patients.”

“They do…?” 

“Oh boy.”