Into the Unown SS: Charlie Part 5

Recap:

Last we left off, Charlie had just earned his Boulder Badge at the Pewter Gym. Even managing to evolve his Poliwhirl into a Poliwrath.

When questioned by Brock afterwards, Charlie expressed an interest in visiting Fuchsia City and the Safari Zone. He was then recommended to hitch a ride on one of the fishing boats in Pallet Town, since the boy was reluctant to go through Diglett's Cave and by extension, Vermilion City.

As he was about to embark in the next stretch of his journey, Charlie stumbled upon Cole, who decided to tag along with him in search of his own purpose in life.

Charlie's Pokemon

• Typhoon the Poliwrath

• Growlithe (unnamed)

• Murphy Jr the Donphan

• Lance the Goldeen

***

Into the Unown SS: Charlie Part 5

Charlie stumbled as a violent wave crashed against the hull of the boat. For a moment there, the boy felt like the world was nearly turned upside down as the vessel he was on briefly lifted into the air.

“Heave, boy! Heave! Don’t let up just yet!” One of the burly fisherman urged, as he too began pulling at his section of the net.

Charlie sputtered, a spray of saltwater spewing from his mouth. The boy did his part with a strained groan, his palms in searing pain from rope burn aggravated by seawater.

“Keep at it lads! Almost there now. One last heave!” called Larry, the lead fisherman of this fishing vessel as he yelled out a traditional fisherman’s chant. 

“Dokoisho, doikoisho!”

“Soran! Soran!” The other fisherman responded, with renewed vigor.

And with one last pull, Charlie fell onto his butt as the net was finally lifted, pouring a deluge of colour marinelife onto the deck of the ship, almost burying the boy alive in the midst.

“We snared some Tentacool! Machoke, get in there and deal with them!” Larry yelled, prompting his Pokemon to burst into action as a battle ensued on deck. “Everyone else on Tentacruel watch! I want every Water Pokemon on deck right now!” He added, before turning to look down at the struggling Charlie.

“You have a Poliwrath with you right, boy?” Charlie nodded with an anxious look. “Get ‘em out right now!” Larry ordered as he tossed out another Pokeball to unveil his own Poliwrath.

But before Charlie could ask why, the turbulent waters surrounding the fishing boat churned and bulged, unveiling two bright red orbs casting a menacing light on the ship’s occupants. Charlie gawked as a Tentacruel the size of their mid-sized boat emerged from the waters and stared him down with sharp eyes full of hate and loathing.

“Defensive positions!” Larry yelled, prompting every member of the crew to burst into action, and Charlie to scramble for his Pokeball. The boy felt immense regret at his decision to hitch a ride with these fishermen.

The battle was fierce, Typhoon could hardly do much to the Tentacruel as Charlie watched her get bat away helplessly by a stray tentacle. A Cloyster and an Octillery each shot Ice Beams at the oversized jellyfish Pokemon, but to no avail. The damage barely even tickled its thick gelatinous exterior.

The sailors started to panic when the Tentacruel shifted and raised its imposing mandible. “Poison incoming!” One of them yelled. “Poison!” The rest echoed and commanded their Pokemon to raise Protect barriers around key parts of the ship.

The purple Poisonous liquid produced by the Tentacruel was enough to flood an entire ship. If Charlie didn’t know any better, he would have thought that the wave looming over them was just a funny colored Surf.

In the end, it was a Wobbuffet who saved their hides, after it completely expended itself with a large scale Safeguard, buying them some time and reprieve from being melted alive in the acid shower.

“Get us the fuck out of here!” Larry yelled to the helmsman as everyone else scrambled to kick the rest of the Tentacools off the ship. The Tentacruel would never leave them be so long as they still held its kin. And after another desperate round of defenses, the fishing boat finally gathered enough speed and pulled far away enough to escape.

***

A soaking wet Charlie stumbled downstairs into the hull of the fishing boat, sliding against the cold metallic walls and crumpled into a heap on the floor. Raising his head to look around, the boy caught sight of Cole trudging out of the kitchen, looking like he had just gotten out of a very intense food fight with bits of food and sauce covering him from head to toe. The other boy looked very unhappy, but then again, so was Charlie.

Cole joined Charlie on the floor with a grunt and a groan. “Next time, I get to choose how we travel…” He growled, eliciting a helpless nod from his companion as they slumped against each other and passed out from exhaustion.

***

“You two boys stay out of trouble now, you hear?”

Charlie laughed and shook the iron grip of Larry’s hand. “Thanks for the ride, Mr Larry. Hope to see you again someday.” 

Even though the trip over had been strenuous to say the least, the fishing crew were kind enough to take a little detour and drop them off on the docks of Fuchsia City, So both the boys were still grateful in the end. Even the grumpy Cole, not that he would admit to it.

The City was located inland and some distance away from the docks so there was quite a walk, but Charlie did not mind. Rather, he made sure to really savour the feeling of solid ground beneath his feet.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling super hungry.” Charlie muttered as the two boys continued to trudge along, trying to find their way to the train station that will bring them to the city center.

“Didn’t you just eat?” asked the flabbergasted Cole.

“Yeah, but I threw up on the way here.” Charlie responded, earning him a deadpan look and a deep sigh from the other boy as the pair then proceeded to find some grub before making their way to the Safari Zone.

***

“You look like you shrunk, boy.”

Charlie smiled sheepishly and rubbed at the back of his head. “How’s that possible, Mr Masa? I’m older than when we last met.”

The old Safari Ranger grabbed hold of the boy’s arm and gave it a few squeezes. “Yup, definitely shrivelled up a bit.” He then turned towards Cole with a sharp gaze. 

“Forrest called in,” Masayuki continued, eliciting a groan from the youngest Harrison. But instead of sassing him like most people do, the old man just gave him a pat on the shoulder and a curt nod. “Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of you.”

Cole jolted and turned to look at Masayuki with a confused frown, but instead of elaborating further, the old Ranger just returned to addressing Charlie.

“So, you wanna see how we train our Growlithes around here, aye?”

Charlie nodded fervently. He had already called ahead to ask if his dad’s friend was willing to take him in for some time and help with training his Pokemon.

Masayuki chuckled. “Sure, ain’t a problem. But it ain’t gonna be free either.” The Ranger gestured towards the little electric kart he rode to get here and told them to hop on. “I expect you boys to put in the work in exchange for room and board. We’ll even feed ya, just don’t expect anything fancy — not that our cafeteria here is half bad. Zeff, our new cook, is Arceus’s blessing on this rock, I tell ya.”

“Wait, Zeff is here?!” Cole exclaimed. The boy knew the old retired sailor turned cook of course. There was not a single soul in Pewter City who didn’t, but he had no idea that the old coot moved to Fuchsia. 

“What happened to his restaurant?” He continued to ask, with a great deal of disbelief in his tone. Cole had not heard anything about the Baratie closing down.

Masayuki laughed. “You didn’t hear? Handed it over to his apprentice or sumthin’. Just showed up on our doorstep one day, challenged the old cook to a cook off and kicked him out. Good riddance too, old Snorlax’s been getting lazy. Sometimes I wonder if we’re being fed Pokechow or human food.”

The Ranger went on to explain that their quality of life had improved drastically with Zeff handling their diets, even swearing to them that the Pokemon looked happier too. “Anyways, here we are.” He said as they pulled up to a neat row of wooden lodges, each one of them looking like it was just big enough to hold a single studio inside. 

“These are the dorms that us grunts stay in here at the Safari Zone.” Masayuki said as he got off the cart and proceeded to show the boys around. “If you ain’t happy with it, you’re more than welcome to find your own place in the city. But I don’t recommend it unless you got a Flyer. Not if you want to get to work in time anyway.”

As Charlie expected, the lodge opened up to a quaint little room inside, furnished simply with a bed, desk, kitchenette and bathroom. It actually wasn’t too bad, much better than his aunt’s place in Vermilion City that’s for sure.

“Hmmm…” Cole hummed as he strutted into the space, casually pulling out a couple of drawers in the kitchenette to examine their contents. The boy scoffed. “Hey at least you won’t have any problems making your usual slop.” He said, as he pulled out a small pot, similar to the one that Charlie used for his cooking usually.

Charlie tilted his head in confusion. “You sound like you don’t plan on staying here. Don’t you wanna stick around and see how the Rangers work?” 

“Huuuh?” Cole snorted, with no small deal of incredulity. “Why would I waste my time doing grunt work? I’ve got better things to do with my life.”

“Like?”

Cole sputtered. “Well, like umm…” But before the haughty boy managed to come up with some sort of flimsy excuse, Masayuki chimed in.

“Oh, he’s staying alright.” The man said.

“Says who?!”

Masayuki laughed. “When ol’ Zeff heard you were coming, he reserved an apron just for you. Don’t think you’re getting out of it either, pretty sure that old Walrein can chase you down even with that peg leg of his.”

Cole gaped, his mouth opening and closing like a Magikarp in disbelief. The boy wanted to argue and say that there was no way he was going to put himself under the thumb of that nosy old coot. But he knew that Masayuki was right, there was no escaping Zeff if he got his eyes on somebody. After all, it was usually Zeff who showed up to put Cole in his place whenever he got up to no good in the past.

“Dammit…” The boy murmured, having already resigned himself to his fate.

***

Charlie winced as he watched a Mightyena bite into the arm of a Ranger role-playing as a poacher with a nasty Crunch, and dragged the guy into the shadows of the forest.

The Safari Rangers were currently engaged in a training drill on how to track and apprehend poachers in the nature reserve, and Charlie was invited to spectate.

“The most important factor in an engagement like this is always the humans.” Charlotte explained as a Pidgeot swooped down to swipe at a poacher only to be hindered by a Fearow that got in the way. “So we need to prioritize taking them down. Very different from a League sanctioned battle huh?” 

Charlie nodded in response. Charlotte was the Ranger that Masayuki entrusted Charlie to since the senior Ranger was usually too occupied to look after him.

In the meantime, a pair of Growlithes were busy staving off about half a dozen other Pokemon all by their lonesome. But despite being outnumbered, the Growlithes were deftly handling their assailants, using their flames to corral them like they were Mareeps in a farm.

“Most poachers will only really have about 2-3 Pokemon on them.” Charlotte continued. “Which doesn’t sound like much until you consider the fact that those lowlives tend to work in teams, and that we usually only have one Ranger available on the scene.”

Charlie gasped in awe. “Wow… The Growlithes here must be real strong huh? To be able to take on so many Pokemon at once.”

Charlotte laughed. “Not really, it’s all just a matter of tactics and training. We mostly train them to stall for time until either the poachers themselves are neutralized or backup arrives. I’m sure with a bit of work, your sweetheart here can achieve something similar.” The woman bent down to affectionately scratch Charlie’s Growlithe by the scruff of the neck. “Who’s the good girl? You are! Yes you are~”

“Arf!” Growlithe barked, eyes wide and sparkly as she licked at Charlotte. On the surface, it might seem like the little puppy was responding to Charlotte’s kind words, but Charlie knew that look — the little glutton was just begging for treats.

Charlie laughed, bending down to pet his Growlithe with some low-calorie Pokechow in the other hand to appease her. “Gotta pay attention Growlithe, this is all super important stuff.” The boy said as he lifted his Pokemon in a hug and faced her towards the drill happening before them. 

“What happens if the poachers’ Pokemon are too strong for a single Ranger to handle?” Charlie asked.

“Then we call in ol’ Lassie over there.” Charlotte replied with a chuckle as she gestured towards a majestic looking Arcanine overlooking the scene on a hill in the distance, her golden fur billowing gently in the wind.

Both Charlie and his Growlithe beamed at the sight; the boy secretly hoping that his Growlithe might attain Evolution one day, while the puppy Pokemon simply could not resist the natural instincts that compelled her to obey a matriarch of their species.

“There’s a reason why despite Houndooms and Mightyenas being easier to attain Evolutions, Growlithes have not been driven to extinction yet. Do you know why?”

“Err… Because Arcanines are just that powerful?” Charlie blurted.

Charlotte laughed. “Yup. Arcanines are incredible force multipliers. While most other canine Evolutions will lead a pack of around a dozen Pokemon, a single Arcanine will lead an entire territory.”

The Safari Ranger explained that Arcanines in the wild were equivalent to an Alpha Pokemon in terms of influence, presiding over vast pieces of land and serving as a guardian for the weak and vulnerable within their domain. So while a Houndoom might lead a pack of its own, a single Arcanine was capable of protecting several similarly sized packs.

“How is a single Arcanine even able to make it in time when they’re needed? Matter of fact, how do they know that someone needs help, if they have to look after such a large area?”

“Easy, they have incredible hearing and uncanny instincts. And distance isn’t an issue with their Extreme Speed,” said Charlotte with a grin. Arcanine’s were probably some of the fastest Pokemon on land. Not as fast as a Rapidash in a sprint, but their greater stamina enabled them to travel incredible distances in one go.

“Wow… Hear that, Growlithe. Let’s work hard and Evolve, okay?” But the puppy just looked up at her trainer with an innocent tilt and a wet lick.

The boy sighed, not liking the chances of him ever owning an Arcanine. “How do you even get them to evolve anyway?” Charlie asked. He recalled learning about Evolution Anxiety back in school, but it wasn’t exactly a subject he was too familiar with. “I should ask Nina about this…” Charlie made a mental note to send a message to his friend tonight.

Charlotte laughed at the carefree Growlithe in Charlie’s embrace. “Why with a Fire Stone of course!”

“No duh…” Charlie doubled down on his sigh. Everyone knew that Growlithes Evolved from the use of a Fire Stone, but not all Growlithes were willing to Evolve, that’s why Arcanines were so rare.

Of course, they weren’t super rare like his friend’s Dragonair, but they weren’t exactly as common as your average Growlithe either. In fact, most Arcanines in the region were owned by League organisations like the Rangers, the military, or Ace-tier and above trainers. 

Their demanding diet aside, Arcanines were very powerful and proud Pokemon, revered as Legendary in ancient times for a reason. These weren’t Pokemon who would willingly submit to a trainer they deemed unworthy, regardless of if said trainer was responsible for their upbringing. And given their unyielding force of will, there wasn’t a single commercial Pokeball capable of binding a Psychic imprint on them.

Charlotte smiled warmly at the frowning boy by her side, before reaching out to give Charlie a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it too much. You’d be surprised to find how much a Growlithe is able to achieve even without Evolution. These things can’t be forced and I wish I can tell you there’s some sort of big secret that the League is hiding from the world, but it really just comes down to their temperament. 

“Not all Growlithes are disciplined or fierce enough to do the work that we require of them. So out of the hundreds of pups that get sent our way each year, more than half need to be released to foster homes midway through their training. While only a small handful are deemed to have Evolution potential, and even then, it’s not a guarantee.” Charlotte explained that they’ve only had maybe five new Arcanines over the past decade or so, further smothering Charlie’s hopes.

“Cheer up!” said the peppy Safari Ranger. “There’s always hope. The important thing is that we try our best. So how about we hand your little sweetie here to our Growlithe trainers while you and I go on patrol in the Safari? It’s almost time for me to go check up on the Woopers — they’re mostly asleep during this time of day, but that’s when they’re most vulnerable. So gotta make sure a stray Pelipper doesn’t swoop in and gobble them up.”

Charlie nodded in affirmation and returned his Growlithe into her Pokeball, before handing it over to Charlotte. The two then headed off to give Charlie a taste of the Safari Ranger life.

**

Author's note:

Sorry guys, no sneak peak today since I barely got this chapter done in time.

Also, just as a heads up, I will be releasing parts 1-4 of the Charlie Side Story to the general public tomorrow. But part 5 onwards will remain exclusive to Patreon.

Also, I know I said this was just going to be a conventional badge collector, but I ended up pivoting again. There's just too many discarded ideas I couldn't fit into the main story. So I always end up using Charlie as an outlet to recycle some of those idea.