"Stantler! Hypnosis! The crowd!" Kom called. Stantler walked in
from the entrance and waves came out of his antlers. I ducked behind Kom
and a high-heeled shoe was thrown at his face, the heel towards him.
Ouch.Chapter 3
Mmm. That smells good. Something was sizzling. Bacon?
I opened an eye. I opened the other. I sniffed. It smelled good! The sun's edge had met the edge of the ground, showering the sky with pink clouds. I had never waken up this early before, except for school. I usually wake up around noon. I felt strangely refreshed.
"Abe! Wake Up! It's time to milk the Miltanks!" I heard some steps and te rustling of a blanket.
"Koko. Time to wake up. I hate to bother you, but I need you to milk the Miltanks while I get breakfast started."
"Sure, Grand Mama. Oh, it smells wonderful! I can't wait! It's so good to be back home." I heard some steps towards my room and the door flung open. I couldn't get up because Smeargle was still on me so I picked him and placed him back onto the hammock as I got up.
"Oh, you're awake! Guys can be so lazy. Did my screaming wake you up? It's the only was I can wake Abe. He's such a dear. Would you like to come help me cook some breakfast?"
"Oh, sure, Sarah. I'd love to." I patted Smeargle and followed Sarah. I checked the watch on my wrist. It was nearly seven o'clock.
"That Tracer of yours is a solid rock. I bet he can sleep through a fire alarm, not that there are many out here."
I chuckled. "Yeah, but he's all charm." I followed Sarah to the kitchen.
"You can do the eggs. I'll pour the milk. I've already done the bacon and sausage."
"Umm, Sarah?"
"Yes, dear?"
"Is the milk by any chance straight from the Miltank?"
"Goodness, no! Why do you ask?"
"Because I learned from school that the milk that comes out of cows, they're kind of like Miltanks, are infested with bugs or bacteria or something."
"Well, Miltanks, too, have them. That's why we have to send it down somewhere else to get rid of it. Heavens knows what they do to it. Perhaps they just freeze it or boil it."
"Oh, ok. So how do you want the eggs?" I placed the pan onto the stove and heated it up.
"Over easy." I heard her pour some milk into a glass.
"How many?"
"Eight."
"Ok. Oh, did you do the toast?"
"Oh, I nearly forgot! Thanks, hon."
I poured some oil onto the pan and cracked an egg onto it. I did this eight times and set it aside on a large plate Sarah had already set. She had already finised pouring the milk and was now scraping butter onto toast. The eggs looked golden and the sunlight hit the bacon and sausage just right so that it seemed like the sky was singing alleluia. The smell of all this made my mouth water!
Abe and Kom came back milking and we all sat down to eat.
"Munch, munch."
"Munch, munch."
"Munch, munch."
"Munch, munch."
"I better go wake Tracer up. I can't seem to finish this. It's too much so I'll share some with him." They all continued munching and acted as if my statement made no difference. I walked over to our hammock and woke him up. He rubbed his eyes and immediately dashed to the kitchen before I got a chance to tell him anything.
"Look at the little animal! He acts as if he's half-starved!" I heard Sarah exclaim. I heard loud chewing and gulping and by the time I went back to the kitchen, I saw him redrawing and eating the food over and over.
"He must really like the taste because each time he draws it, he uses more energy than what the food gives him." replied Kom with startled eyes.
"What did you say, Kom? I didn't know that!"
"Smeargles aren't gods, you know. They're very weak-" Smeargle slapped Kom, "-and if he was at higher level, he wouldn't be gaining any energy from it, he just wouldn't lose any energy." Kom rubbed his cheek.
"Tracer! You stop that this instant!"
Tracer looked at me and lowered his head. I gave him an apple I had kept as I called him back to his ball.
After breakfast, Kom fed Stantler some sort of formula and we rode to the Warehouse next to the Pokemon Center. It took a while since it was about a mile away. When we got ther, we were already late by half an hour.
There were plastics chairs all over the place filled with people. The place was packed.
A lady raised her hand and stood up. "I think we should let folks adopt these outer children!"
Another lady rose as the other sat back down. "But what about my child? He's only ten and he's at the Outer World! We have the mind to take care of their children, but what about ours?"
A lady, who wore too many rings on her finer, stood up. "Oh, you're lucky compared to me! I have a five year-old daughter stuck there!!"
A man stood up. "It is on account of both of your carelessness. I would like to adopt the red haired boy. His hair amuses me." I looked at the stage. There weren't that many people as I expected. There were two kids(a boy and a girl) and a male teen. They all shuffled uncomfortly except for the teen who kept asking for the phone numbers of some of the front row girls. Kom pushed me onto the stage.
"What's this?" It was the man in charge of the meeting.
"Another Outer Child, sir." I twitched at this remark. I didn't like being called an 'Outer Child.'
He faced me "Please go stand on top of the stage. We are out of chairs" I shuffled past him and onto the stage. Then I looked back at the crowd. It felt like one of those nightmares where you are naked and getting ready to play the tuba in front of the school auditorium.
"That new one is cute! I'll adopt her if no one does!" I shuffled uncomfortably.
"But what about our children?" It was that lady who had a lot of rings on her fingers. Now I noticed she looked really fat, too.
A man stood up. "Mr. Codsby, we have been giving you problems and solutions. What have you to say?"
The man in charge of the meeting twitched his mustache. "I have reason to believe that Bill is working on this problem. He is developing a machine that will somehow take us back to that planet as long as we have something that is from there. For example, this boy's pen." He grabbed the pen of the teen. He yelped because he had gotten lucky and a girl was about to give him her number. "For now, we must give these Outer People homes."
"Wait just a picking minute!" I stomped my foot towards the crowd. "You're acting as if we're just some savage beasts! You act as if we can't take care of ourselves! We're just like you! We can fend for ourselves. And if you ask me, all you're doing is worrying about everything and waiting for Bill to come up with a solution to your problems. This meeting is completely useless! It's-" Kom caught my eye. He covered his eyes. I must have done something wrong.
There were whisperings. There was rustling. Some of them stood up. But one thing was sure, they were NOT happy.
"Burn that child! She gives us no respect! We try to help her kind and this is her gratification! I say BURN HER! She is nothing, but a problem to us! Why should we even bother helping her kind?"
"Uh, oh." The crowd went wild. They were throwing shoes at me! The people on the stage scattered and I ran towards Kom.
"Stantler! Hypnosis! The crowd!" Kom called. Stantler walked in
from the entrance and waves came out of his antlers. I ducked behind Kom
and a high-heeled shoe was thrown at his face, the heel towards him.
Ouch.
I have no idea how, but this suddenly gave me an idea. I called out Tracer and commanded him to Sketch the Hypnosis attack. Giddy about finally knowing a real attack, he Sketched it rapidly. Then I ordered him to reduce Stantler's pressure by using Hypnosis on the crowd, too.
Stantler looked strained. It WAS a big crowd. Waves were emitted from his antlers and the crowd calmed down. Slowly, but surely, they all drifted to sleep. One by one. And then Stantler fell.
"Stantler! Are you alright?" Kom kneeled and picked up Stantler's head. Stantler moaned. Kom returned Stantler to his pokeball and ran out the entrance towards to next building, the Pokemon Center.
"Good job, Tracer." I whispered as I returned him to his ball.
Stantler's Hypnosis must have been pretty strong because all the nurses and sick Pokemon were yawning. Then I noticed I was, too. The only reason we weren't asleep was because Stantler didn't direct his waves towards us.
"Nurse Joy, I need you to revive my Stantler. He's a bit tired." Kom placed his pokeball on the counter.
"Sure thing!" She smiled and yawned. She picked up Kom's ball and put it on something that had pits which the balls fit perfectly on. And while she was at it, I gave her the ball Tracer was in to heal. Then the balls glowed. Nurse Joy left us and went to tend some sick Pokemon while we waited. The machine else looked like a stove in restaurants where you grilled burgers. The body of it was of a solid, metallic forest green color.
While waiting, I glanced around The Pokemon Center. As a matter of fact, it was the very same Pokemon Center that had mixed with the Pizza Hut. But now I got a chance to see hoe it really looked like. It looked sort of like a barn. There were people chatting on haystacks (with an occasion yawn) and there were Pokemon chatting with each other, too. It was really relaxing.
There was also a Smeargle that had a pink bow tied aroud her neck. She must have been a really attractive Smeargle because she was surrounded by male Smeargles, most of them wild. You can tell by their appearance. The wild Smeargles had mats of fur sticking out since it was not likely they had been brushed or combed lately. The female Smeargle just kept fluttering her eyelashes and flirting with all of them.
The owner was no different. She had short black hair with a pink bow around it so that the bow was sticking out on top of her head. She was wearing a really tight white T-shirt and a blue mini-skirt so that her boobs really tuck out. She wore a scarf around her neck and a pair of white high-heels that were probably two inches high. She had her legs crossed a bit to the side so that it gave her the impression of being laid back with a 'Come and get me, if you want me' style. She fluttered her eyelashes like an expert and giggled madly as all the guys crowded around, offering her flowers and things a guy gives to a gal. Stupid stuff like that.
"Alwright, boys. If you really want to make me happy, which I'm sure you do, I suggest you battle my Smeargle. I need a good battler. She's won so many battles and is starting to feel a little too confident. But too bad I've already battled all of you. Have any of you gotten any better so that I might lose?" You could tell that it was actually her herself who was overconfident of her training abilities. And that she didn't want to lose, she just wanted someone who was worth battling and still win. She had this cute Southern accent that nearly threw me off of what she was saying. She was looking for a battler! But all Tracer knew was Hypnosis! What should I do? I couldn't resist.
I walked up to her and pointed my finger at her, "I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!"
Her eyes widened and a smirk came upon her face. "Haven't seen you yet, you must be new. Alwright, I accept your challenge. What Pokemon do you have?" Every word she said sounded crisp and clear.
"The same Pokemon you have."
Her eyes widened again and there was a huge grin on her face. "A Smeargle! This should be an interesting battle! You never know what to expect around them! Where is he? Or she?"
"Umm..,"I blushed. "If you could just wait awhile, he's still, umm, recuperating. But he should be done soon!" Please don't turn down my challenge, please don't turn down my challenge.
"Alwright I'll wait for you outside." She flaunted off with her Smeargle. The crowd of males followed her, both man and Pokemon.
"Smeargle and Stantler are fully healed!" called Nurse Joy from the counter.
"Oh, yay!" I rushed over to the counter to get Tracer.
Kom stared at me and I felt uncomfortable. "Are you sure you want to go on with this?"
"Yes! Why wouldn't I?"
"I've seen her battle many times and she isn't easy. Especially for you since this is your first battle. I wouldn't recommend it."
"Oh, but I really want to try!"
"Will you promise not to lose all hope if you lose? You can be a little annoyed, but don't quit Pokemon training if you lose."
"Of course, I wouldn't! I'd be a little down, but I would never quit Pokemon training!"
He looked at me straight in the eye. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but here's a hint. Beware her Smeargle's Attraction."
Attraction? Oh, jeez, what should I do? "Thanks, but how long does it last?"
"Not long, probably less than a minute. But she uses it constantly."
"Thanks, again." I looked at me. "Could you come cheer me on? She has the group of guys to cheer her on."
He looked up at the ceiling and back at me. "Yes, I would like to see how you would fare on your first battle."
I gripped my Pokeball and went outside. From the position that girl chose, the sun flared at my eyes. It was still early in the day and it annoyed me. So I walked a ninety degree angle so that the sun hit her directly at her left eye and directly at my right eye.
"Are you ready yet!?!" She was really impatient.
I gulped. "Yes."
"Go, Aphrodite." She pointed straight at me and her Smeargle walked out from behind her.
===End of Chapter 3===