Chapter Seven

Clubbin’

There’s no time to question my moves,

I’ll stick to the path that I choose.

Me’n my friends are gonna do it right,

You’ll never see us run away from a fight.

To be a Master is my dream,

All I’ve got to do is believe.

I’ve got a chance to win,

I’m on my way to victory.

I can be a Champion,

If I just believe.

I’m on a Master Quest,

I want the whole world to see that I believe.

I’m gonna be the family best,

‘Cause all I’ve got to do is believe in me!

Pokemon!

<Kat’s Point of View>

<12:01 am, 27^th of Echotrance>

<The Skittycat Club>

Sam had gone off, mingling throughout the crowd. Well, as much of a mingle as you can when you’re wearing a big blue bubble. As for me, I was wandering around, hoping to find Brendan and Nick. I personally knew what Nick had probably done: When you became a trainer, you got all the rights and privileges of adults. I’m guessing he and Brendan entered the club with their Cards. And after that, they ordered drinks, drunk them, and got completely smashed. Either that, or they had their drinks spiked.

As I made my way through the crowd, I felt several pairs of eyes on my back, people wondering why I was here, or thinking that they’d be able to take advantage of my size. I wouldn’t mind seeing them try, my Martial Arts Master, Koga, had been very specific. I wasn’t allowed to learn anything new until I perfected everything I already knew.

The first problem came when some guy thought he could come close and try and grope me. He went again, with a lesson: gripping someone on the veins in their wrist hurt.

The second was, that I’d lost sight of Sam. Not exactly a good thing to do, when the guy didn’t know anything about defending himself physically. What if he met someone with stronger powers than him? Or worse: Someone with stronger powers than him that wants to do him harm.

I looked around anxiously. I’d have expected to have stumbled over an arm or leg of one of the two, but I hadn’t. I hadn’t even heard the sound of Nick’s drunken singing. Not a pretty sound, I can tell you that much.

“Did ja’ see that them kids that were her’ e’rl’er, aye m’te?” A drunken slur hit my ears, and I quickly saw who was speaking. A man that looked like he’d been here for around a year or so, and that was simply judging from his looks. I’d hate to smell his breath. “You’s now, th’m k’ds that drankin more’n me?” He was talking to a friend of his, that looked almost the same as himself. They must’ve seen Brendan and Nick, because I didn’t know about many other people our age that were here. Not to mention, that most of the people that had been chosen were more trusting than Nick and Brendan. It was then that I remembered Nick’s Trainer Card and I swore. He had a fortune on there, anybody getting it would be filthy rich. And I didn’t even want to think about how much alcohol they could have gotten.

“Yer, that’n kept on buying more’n’more drinks? They’s got leds aways by that Filencia, didn’ they’s?” The second man asked, swinging his arms around in a sort of drunken dance.

The first man nodded, and I instantly rushed off in search of Sam. I found him, surrounded by a large crowd of people, throwing things at his bubble, and laughing as they bounced off. Sam just stood there, his arms crossed, and looking like angry Gyarados. They must have been throwing things for a while, owing testament to the piles of stuff around Sam. I pushed to the front of the crowd, deflecting angry swipes and drunken kicking. When Sam saw me, he nodded to me and pointed to the door. I nodded, and made my way back through the crowd towards it.

Almost as soon as I got to it, Sam teleported there. A loud groan of disappointment sounded behind me, and I grinned slightly.

“Spoil all their fun next time Sam.” I said, a reprimanding look on my face that disappeared as I let out a small chuckle. Sam just threw me a dirty look, and crossed his arms again.

“Believe me, it all but breaks my heart to have done that, but we did have something to do here.” He retorted, shedding the bubble and looking down his nose at me. “Now, did you learn anything? I know I didn’t. Even that bartender is drunk. Probably the most sober person here is that guy.” He pointed to a man, passed out under the table next us. I raise and eyebrow, and then shrugged. It was true.

“Yeah, I heard some drunks talking about some young people that had come here earlier, A.K.A Nick and Brendan.” I said, pointing out the men to Sam. They were visible from here, because they’d started dancing on top of a table. “They were lead away by some woman called Filencia.” And I bet I know why they were lead. I thought to myself privately.

“Ok, now we need to know where they were lead to.” Sam said, sucking on his bottom lip in thought. “If we asked some of the more sober people we might-“ He stopped suddenly, turning a green I’d only seen in rotting meat. He swallowed suddenly, obviously fighting the urge to vomit. “Ok, they are that way.” He said, pointing towards the wall directly away from us, and to a small door I hadn’t seen. I probably wouldn’t have seen it if Sam hadn’t pointed it out to me.

“So, you wanna teleport, or shall we walk?” I asked, in a cheerful voice, which earned another dirty look from Sam.

“How about, I’ll teleport, and you make your way there?” He said, and without waiting for an answer, he disappeared. I looked towards the door in time to see him reappear in a sapphire flash. I gritted my teeth and swore vengeance against him. I slowly picked my way through the crowd again, dodging fists, feet, groping hands, and sometimes snapping a thumb or two.

By the time I got to the door, I was hot and tired. I vowed to get Sam back for this at some point. I DID NOT DESERVE THIS!

You do, because you stole his TWT earlier and took him shopping. A small voice said in my head, one that was almost overpower by a louder voice, which said. I don’t, and I’m gonna snap a few bones and tear a few muscles when I see him.

“Oh, wonderful.” I muttered to myself. “I’m hearing voices in my head.”

I slipped silently through the door, stepping in a way so that I wouldn’t make a sound: place the heel down slowly, followed by the top part of the foot and then the toes. This way, I was more like to startle someone, than they were to startle me.

The room was dark, but I could clearly see Sam, kneeling over the two unconscious figures of Nick and Brendan. I walked to Sam’s side and examined Nick. His pulse was ok, so I opened his mouth to see if anything was blocking his breathing. Big mistake. The stench of alcohol rolled from his mouth like a person rolled from an ‘All you can eat dessert buffet.’ I shut his mouth quickly, and turned to Sam.

“You know, after that, I think I prefer the smell of their deodorant.”

He gave me a small smile. “You sure about that? Just remember, you and I will never let the out of our sight in a city again. Their deodorant is all the time.” He thrust his hand into the pocket of Brendan’s jacket, and then into the pockets of his jeans. “His Trainer Card isn’t here, check for Nick’s.”

I did so, and turned back to Sam with a grim look on my face. Looked like our woman Filencia had gotten away with them. “Sam, didn’t they have their Pokemon with them?”

His eyes widened, and he thought for a second, before nodding, his face pale. I swallowed and made a quick decision. “Sam, teleport them back to the Pokemon Centre. MAKE SURE they get helped. I’ll stay here, don’t wait for me.” I said, standing up and searching all of the flat shelves that were within my reach. There weren’t many, I can tell you that.

“No, you’re coming with me.” Sam said, standing up as well. I could tell that he was trying intimidate me into doing as he said, but I ignored him.

“Sam, you’re the only one that can make sure they get somewhere safely. I’ll stay here and see if I can find Filencia, and possibly get their Cards and Pokemon back. Sam, don’t make me hurt you, I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again.”

I stared him down until he nodded. He knelt again, grabbed Nick’s and Brendan’s arms and disappeared. I quickly hid all traces of me and Sam being here. After that, I hid.

I didn’t have to wait long, a woman and a man stumbled through the door.

“Richard, I’m quite sure you’ll be more than happy with these two-. Where are they?” The woman – Filencia – demanded. I was hidden in my hiding spot, a very dark corner, when I saw Filencia’s clothes flatten against rectangular things in her pockets. I bit my lip, and saw that she also had a key around her wrist. There was a locked cabinet in the corner, could the Pokemon be hidden there?

They could be, but right now I wanted to try my hand at pick-pocketing, another skill Koga had taught me. I shuffled silently until I was behind Filencia, who was just standing there, her arms crossed. I waited for the perfect opportunity, and it came. She turned to the side, making the cloth of her jeans wrinkle and the pocket bulged open slightly. I went as quickly as an Arbok, my hand darted in and out, and in it, two Trainer Cards. I sank into the shadows of my corner again, thanking Mew that I loved wearing black, I was practically invisible in this room.

It was now that Filencia moved, she looked under the bed in this room, and then under the cabinets. I moved quickly into a narrow beam of light from the door and looked at the Cards. One was Brendan’s, I noted with relief. The other belong to a ‘Patricia Bennet’.

I frowned and looked carefully at Filencia again. She’d turned, so I could see her other pocket in her jeans. It too had a rectangular shape in it, but this pocket must have had about five Cards in it, the pocket was that pronounced.

I glared at her pocket and looked up. There was a shelf above me, it was suspended by some small jutting screws. And they didn’t look secure. I grinned, all I needed was a distraction! The Richard guy had left when Filencia hadn’t fulfilled her promise, so I could get away with it most likely. I felt in my pockets, but came up with nothing. So, I felt around my body, my hands coming to rest on my neck. I had a string necklace, one made from braided strings. I sent a quick apology to the friend that had made it, but I untied it, and took it apart. In the end, I had three strings. I tied them together, and then to one of the nails near the end of the shelf. I then snuck along the wall, and pulled on the strong, fleeing quickly into the nearest corner as the shelf fell with a crash, getting Filencia’s attention. She marched over to it, and bent down. Now was the moment, I dashed to her and put my hand in her pocket, grabbing everything in it and shoved them into mine.

The feel of the Cards leaving her pocket made Filencia turn, where she was greeted with the sight of me with my hand in my pocket. I grinned a hello, and punched her in the nose, my vengeance for making me stay here. She staggered back, and fell, her nose covered by her hands. And then she let out a growl, she scooted forward on her knees, just for me to kick her in the forehead. She went back again, her eyes wide. This was a woman that didn’t like pain, I could tell that. She let out a screech that would have done a Sneasel shame. I rushed forward, taking my beanie from my head and shoved it in her mouth, silencing her. I then grabbed the key from her wrist, the chain snapping, and went to the corner with the locked cabinet. I opened it, inside were a few bottles of alcohol, and there, on the bottom shelf, was about twelve Pokeballs. I opened my pack and shoved them in, running out the door while doing my bag up. Filencia was outside, with the bartender, pointing to her door. I quickly fled for the door, not wanting anymore trouble than I’d had for one night.

<1:13 am, Pokemon Centre>

I pounded on the door to the Pokemon Centre, eager to get back into the heat of a building and wanting a shower. I’d slipped on the way in something, and gone down face first into a large pile of mud and sludge. It opened suddenly, and I saw Sam standing there. He sighed with relief and let me into the Centre. Nurse Joy was there, looking at Nick and Brendan, who were lying on some long, padded seats in the lobby. And, to my surprise, there was an Officer Jenny, looking stern.

“Finally. Did you get them?” Sam asked, walking beside me after he’d shut the doors to the Centre. I nodded, not wanting to talk with this all over my face, just in case a lose bit decided to obey gravity at this point. “You know, you smell like a sewer.”

I feel like one too. I thought silently. I put down my pack, and pulled out the five Trainer Cards that Filencia had, and gave them to Officer Jenny.

I then took off for our room, the urge for a shower overcoming the urge to talk to Officer Jenny about Filencia and that club.

<Sam’s Point of View>

I watch Kat take off for our room, and then turned to Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny, who both had looks of question on their face. “She’s kinda shy, not to mention she probably wants a shower. So, how’re our drunks?” I pointed to the two. Brendan was now on his side, drooling onto the seat and snoring. Nick was just snoring, a snore that would do a Snorlax shame, and plenty of it.

“They’ll be fine. But they had something other than alcohol, which is why they’re like this right now.” Nurse Joy said, rolling Brendan back onto his back. “We suspect they had their drinks spiked, and then they were dragged away by this Filencia.”

“So, I can stop worrying about them then?” I asked, thinking about what I’d have to do with their Pokemon later today. I was gonna go to the Gym, but I’d need to see if I could get away from my Poke-Sitting duties.

“Yes, but, I wouldn’t let them have any alcohol for a while. They’ll just sleep this off; they should be ok in a day or two.” Nurse Joy explained. Officer Jenny was just sitting there, writing notes. I nodded.

“Don’t worry, when I’m through with them, they won’t even want to here the word ‘bar’.” I said. I was fairly inventive when it came to revenge. And I meant it, should they even think of an alcoholic drink, they’d soon be under a table, crying.

“Fine. We’ll move them to their beds, but, if I were you, I’d spray something in their mouths, unless you want to be gassed out.” Joy said, and she clapped her hands. Instantly, three Chanseys appeared, carrying stretchers. Nick and Brendan were loaded onto them, and then I helped one of the Chanseys carry a stretcher into our room.

Katrina was in the shower, so I dug throw my pack for some breath-freshening gum. I opened Brendan and Nick’s mouths and put in a stick, and then made them chew it by using telekinesis, making sure they didn’t choke. I knew I’d thank myself in the morning. That done, I quickly changed into more comfortable clothes and got up on my bed, sleep came quickly.

<10:45 am, Pokemon Centre>

I was surrounded by several Pokemon, mostly Fire types. I knew that I’d regret looking after all of them! Katrina had gone to challenge the Gym, while I looked after everyone. We had a schedule, I’ll look after them in the morning and she’ll challenge the leader, in the afternoon, we’d swap.

I breathed in, feeling stressed, and switched to my baby-sitting mood, the one I put on whenever I was looking after my siblings. That mood had a voice that guaranteed obedience.

“QUIET!” I roared, there was instant silence as all the Pokemon turned to look at me. “Ok, guys, we need to be a bit quieter. How’s this sound, if you’re all good, we’ll go to the Pokemon Park, ok?”

The Pokemon Park was a Park designed to host Pokemon and children. Everything was fire-proof, ice proof, almost everything proof. It was safe for kids, because only Trainer’s Pokemon were allowed there. And sometimes a few wild, but they were rare.

My idea was met with instant uproar. Several Pokemon wanted to go, but a few didn’t. I ended up pulling a vote, and we ended up going to the park.

I was NOT going to trek across a city surrounded by several Pokemon, so I put them all back in their Pokeballs, apart from Artemis, who decided he wanted to go on my shoulder, a favourite place of his.

I eventually got to the park, after nearly being hit by at least five cars, mugged, and all other sorts of pleasant things. The gate to the park, the Trainer’s entrance, needed my Card, so I swiped it through. The door opened, and inside, was a room with a coffee machine, magazines, some food, sink, basic things to keep me amused while my Pokemon played with kids. I went through a second door, back out in the open, and was met with instant approval by the kids in the park. There had only been on Zigzagoon in here before, I could see it on the slide. I shrugged and reached into my pack, grabbing Nick’s and Brendan’s Pokeballs, throwing them all out. The Pokemon appeared, ready to play. I surrender my Pokemon to the kids as well, and went to sit on an unoccupied bench near the park. I was followed by Sparx and Artemis. Sparx was upset when his master wouldn’t wake up, no matter how he was shocked, so he felt like being comforted a lot. Artemis just came because he didn’t like having his fins and feet pulled.

“You know, it might get you some exercise if you went and played.” I told Artemis.

“Well, I could also go and have my teeth pulled out. I bet it would be just as much fun.” Artemis retorted, grinning up at me.

I sighed again. “Well, you’re right.” I said, watching as a young kid poked Zeus, and jumped away screaming when his finger went right through the cloud Pokemon. Ze us only grinned and went to float above the small pond in the park.

Chicken was being chased around by about four young boys, who were shrieking in delight. Chicken just cackled in fear and kept running.

Flare the Slugma was oozing its way up the underside of the slide, oblivious to the fact that he was losing small pieces of himself.

Vixen the Vulpix had started a game of tag with the Zigzagoon, she ran around the pond, yelling. “Nah nah, can’t catch me!”

Burn the Numel, he was being taken down the slide by a small girl, and he was giggling. All the Pokemon here were in their baby forms after all.

Blaze the Torchic was chasing after the group of kids that were chasing Chicken, he tripped over occasionally on small pebbles, and was clearly enjoying himself.

Woody the Treecko was up a tree, looking for some small insects to eat. I saw him muttering to himself as he sorted through the leaves of the tree.

Storm, the Mudkip, she was in the pond, swimming in circles. She was playing with Zeus, trying to shoot him down as he dodged. A lage group of kids kept running to where the spray would land, giggling as they were showered. I noticed Artemis watching Storm, following her every move. I smiled and looked down at Sparx.

He was the picture of misery, black ears down, his small, short tail drooping and his head hanging. I bit my lip, wondering how I’d be able to cheer him up. I then grinned. My siblings loved it when I did this.

I grabbed Sparx suddenly and threw him up in the air, catching him with my powers and started to make him zoom around the park, making the kids chasing Chicken stop and chase him instead. Sparx giggled with delight and started sparking small shocks of electricity. I zoomed him around Zeus three times, and then made him dive low so he could reach out a paw and skim the surface of the pond. I then put him slowly on top of the slide, and let him go. He squealed with delight as he rushed down. He shot off the end and into the air, where I caught him and continued our game. By now, Sparx had gotten the interest of most of the kids in the park. Our new game was to help him dodge them as they tried catching him. I made him duck, weave, spin, go high or low to dodge the hands grasping for him. The only safe spot for him was in the centre of the pond, where I made him float sometimes to tease the kids, who stood at the shore and made faces at him.

“Having fun?” A voice asked me. Someone sat down next to me, I turned, keeping my powers on Sparx and looked. It was Crystal, smiling at the picture of Sparx floating on the lake. I nodded and sent him towards the playground equipment, making him perch on the tip of a small house. Keeping him there, I answered.

“His owner has a hangover right now, so I’m looking after him. He was upset before, so, I made him take his mind off of it.” As if to prove my point, Sparx started sticking his tongue out at the kids that crowded around the house. Some of the more daring ones tried climbing up on the roof, when I decided to move him. I sent him towards the tree Woody was in, and watch as the kids chased after him, the ones on the roof having to get down first.

“You can tell he’s having fun.” Crystal said, indicating Sparx. She then felt at her belt and pulled out four Pokeballs. She released Diva, her Igglybuff, a Cleffa, a Togepi and a Pichu, sending them out to play. The kids stopped when they saw Crystal’s Pichu, obviously confused. They split into two groups, chasing the two Pichus. Crystal used her powers to make her Pichu do what I was doing to Sparx. Together, we made the kids go up, down, from side to side, in circles, so that they stopped running after the Pichus and started walking after them.

“In the middle of the Pond.” I told Crystal out of the side of my mouth. She nodded, and the Pichus zoomed to the centre of the pond, both giggling their heads off. They clapped theirs hands, happy. I made Sparx come back to me, and sat him on my lap. The kids came to me, screeching with delight.

“You know kids, there are other Pokemon to play with.” I reminded them, pointing to the other neglected Pokemon. When the kids had gone, I turned to Crystal. “So, why are you here?”

“Me? Oh, I come here every Wednesday, to play with the kids here. The fact that you were here is entirely coincident.” She said, flicking her hair over her head. I shrugged and watched my Pokemon carefully. Artemis had gone to the pond, and now he and Storm were putting on a water show. Zeus helped them, using his water talents, so they made some recognisable pictures. A Pokeball, a Pikachu’s head, a large lightning bolt, a picture of a water drop, things like that. Soon the kids in the park were calling out things for them to make, and they tried to do their best to make them. A call for a Ratatta ended up looking like a Stantler with a horn on its back.

I looked at my watch, it was nearing to 11:30. I sent Katrina a message, saying where I was. She’d get it when she left the Gym. I sank back into the chair, occasionally making a Pokemon float somewhere else in the park if it looked bored. Artemis and Storm stopped their show and started swimming in circles. I don’t know what they were trying to do, so I turned my attention to other Pokemon.

I was starting to get uncomfortable with Crystal’s silence, so I was about to ask her a question when Katrina stumbled into the park, looking pleased with herself.

“How’d it go?” I asked her. She smiled, showing me a small badge in the shape of the symbol of fire. It attached to the Gold Badge from Scine Town, so Kat had half of the Smith Badge already.

I smiled and got up. “Artemis, Zeus, you two ready?”

Artemis had managed to create a small whirlpool in pond, with Storm’s help. It hadn’t been anything to worry about, because of the size of the pond. I’d had to look at them every few minutes. Anyway, the problem with creating the whirlpool was that Artemis couldn’t get out. I waited a few minutes, watching Artemis’s futile struggle to get to shore, before I picked him up telekinetically and dumped him at my feet. To get revenge for the dumping, he shook himself like a wet Growlithe, spraying me with water. I resisted the urge to kick him and walked out of the Park and onto the street. Zeus had been hovering above me, so I looked up, worried. Nymbis had the habit of raining on people in bad moods. I didn’t think I was in a bad mood, but with Nymbis, well, they always knew.

I had to find a City Map in order to find the Gym. Arw was almost counted as a Mega-City, but it was a few hundred thousand people short. There were plenty of places for someone to get lost.

I soon had to return Zeus, for fear he’d get blown away by Monorails, trains, cars and other such things. I knew he had a hard time not being swept away.

Artemis on the other hand, was enjoying himself. He definitely liked sitting on my shoulder. I hoped he didn’t expect me to carry him like that when he was a Marshtomp, because there was no way that I’d be able to lift him.

For a city, Arw was fairly quiet. There weren’t many screeching of wheels, or screaming of people being mugged. I pondered as to why as I walked along.

The only interesting building I saw on the way was the Pokemon Contest House. I looked at it, wondering what it’d be like to go in a contest. My Mum had been a Pokemon Contestant before she had married. Cestrer had won several Ribbons for Smartness, and Hotspot had won medals for Beauty.

Apart from that, I didn’t know if she’d had any other Pokemon that had been contestants. I think she only had Cestrer and Hotspot. I made a mental note to ask her when I saw her again. That reminded me, I was in a city, and I could call her this evening. On that note, I smiled. She’d probably be surprised to hear that I’d won a Badge already. And I fully intended to win it. I started plotting out some strategies, using some of my experience from my Gameboy and Nintendo 64. They didn’t have anything on the actual thing, but they helped.

I was so absorbed in plotting, that I almost walked past the Gym, but Artemis asked me where we were going when I was about to. I stopped, and looked up at the Gym.

It was in the shape of a gigantic volcano, and had an Entei and a Moltres battling each other on top. There was a dark bird behind them as well, looking at them in a way that seemed critical. The Gym here in Arw was Fire because there was a legend that had said that Entei and Moltres had met in the centre of the city, and they argued over who had more mastery over fire.

To prove this, they asked Celestrial, the Darkness Bird on the Wings of Council, to judge their contest.

First, Entei set the moon on fire, but Moltres asked Articuno to put it out.

And then Moltres dried up the seas. Entei asked Suicune to fill them up again. In the third contest, both of them breathed down at the Earth, creating two volcanoes which erupted right away. Moltres’s volcano had been bigger, but Celestrial had declared Entei the winner, which was why Moltres hated Celestrial now.

You could still see the two ‘volcanoes’ outside of Arw. But they had been dead for over a thousand years, so people had started to build here and farm in the mineral rich earth, thus creating the start of Arw City.

I looked up at the Gym, and then looked straight ahead at the doors. I sucked in a large breath, and walked forward, pushing open the doors to the first Gym of Dictioy…