Insert
[Name]
- I -
Chapter VIII
**********
The sun had just peeked over the horizon. I knew this
because I had also forgotten to close the curtains, thus getting awakened by a
surprise Solar Beam attack on my face. Well, a beam of sunlight anyway. I
glanced at the clock I’d only just realised was there. 5:44 AM. I had wanted to
get more sleep, but apparently that wasn’t meant to be. Before I could complain
about this though, I also realised this was not my room. So was I still
dreaming? A quick check confirmed there were still Pokéballs
in my pocket. Grand.
I gave up stifling a yawn and waited for my jaws to
realign before I rolled out of bed. If I was going to be stuck here, awake at
six in the morning, I might as well go do something. Waking Rose was out of the
question, partly because I’d rather respect her privacy and partly because I
didn’t even want to know how she’d react to it, so I decided I could think of a
way to wake up or otherwise get out of this mess instead. And so, I proceeded
to gather my stuff, which wasn’t hard because I hadn’t actually used any of it,
and made my way downstairs into the lobby.
After being greeted by Nurse Joy, I slouched down at a
table and started thinking. This lasted about two seconds before I made up my
mind and stood back up. On the off chance that this was not just some wacky
dream, it was time for me to start thinking about a way out. There was really
only one person in this world whom I might know well enough – indirectly or not
– to trust with that, and even though it wouldn’t exactly be his field he was pretty clever, so he might at the very
least be able to point me in the right direction. And so, on a whim, I walked
back over to Nurse Joy and politely asked for a glass of water – which I felt
I’d need soon – and the most secluded phone in the building.
As it turned out, the only phones were in the lobby so
I was flat out of luck as far as secrecy went. Well, at least the only other
person in the lobby right now was Nurse Joy, and if I picked the last phone
then maybe she wouldn’t hear. I got there pretty quick and was faced with my
next problem. Where’s number information when you need it most?
“Hello, operator?
I have a strange request…” I started carefully. I had drunk all the water
before the phone even started ringing…
**********
*BEEP BEEP BEEP* PHONECALL, PHONECALL…
the mechanical voice went. A brown haired young man wearing a lab coat walked
over to the ringing videophone and pressed a button.
“Oak research lab, what is it?” he asked, not really
caring to look who was on the other end.
“Hi
to you too.
Erm… could I speak to professor Oak, please?”
a male voice replied.
“Sorry, we don’t have time for fan calls,” he said.
“Some of us have work to do. How’d you get this
number?”
“Begging
the operator.
Please, it’s pretty important. I just need to talk to professor Oak for a few
minutes. I swear it’ll be worth the time!”
“Which professor Oak?”
“Eh,
Samuel Oak?” the guy stammered after blinking once.
“Right answer, or one of them I guess,”
**********
I could hardly believe I’d be speaking to Prof. Oak.
I’d expected Gary – or someone who looked like him – to simply hang up, but I
wouldn’t complain. It didn’t take long until an elderly face appeared on the
small screen in front of me. Oak blinked a few times as he struggled to
recognise me. In the end, expectedly, he couldn’t.
“Who are
you?” he finally asked, sounding more surprised than
impatient.
“Eh, my name’s Rick,” I started hesitantly. “Please
hear me out before you decide to hang up on me. I want to talk to you about
something really interesting.”
“‘Something
interesting’ sounds rather vague, young man. I’m sure my grandson told you
we’re pretty busy right now. Can it wait?”
“No sir, it can’t,” I dared say. “I know it’s not
exactly your field, but for some reason I felt you’re the only one I can trust
with this.”
“Not
getting any clearer here,” Oak said impatiently. I wondered
how I could break it to him without saying something like ‘oh, we have a
cartoon about you in my world, and games too’, since it would probably end the
call right there.
“I crossed dimensional planes,” I said bluntly,
figuring shock value would get me further than elaborate explanations in this
case. “I’m not from this Earth, but from a parallel universe.” I didn’t add
that mine had no Pokémon, since I’d have to explain my broad knowledge on them
too, then.
A silence followed and I wasn’t able to read the old
man’s face. Maybe more explanation was
in order… But just as I opened my mouth to speak again, Prof. Oak raised his
hand to stop me.
“You do
realise this sounds incredibly farfetched, yes?”
I nodded slowly. “And I presume you have
no proof, correct?” Instead of shaking my head, I only managed to look
down. “It’s indeed outside of my regular
field. It would be pretty accurate to assume you’re telling me this because you
want to go home, no? What makes you think I can help?” That
made me look up.
“You believe me?” I asked, probably sounding a bit too
surprised for my own good.
“Let’s not
fret over that just yet, just tell me why you were so adamant about talking to me. If you’re from a different world where I
don’t exist, how do you know me?” He had me with that one.
“I read some of the magazines here and they mention
you a lot,” I lied. “Yes, I want to go home, and no, I have no real proof what
I’m saying is true. But if you want, I can give you a detailed list on what
sets our worlds apart.” I let that sink in for a few moments before going on,
“As for why I chose you to confide in, I have two reasons. You seem to have a
lot of credibility here, for one. And more importantly, even if it isn’t your
field, you are my best bet at going home. You are the most knowledgeable person
on Pokémon I can find, and I believe the only thing that can send me back to my
world is a Pokémon. I figured you’d know where to look.”
Another silence.
“… I see.
You seem pretty convinced, and pretty bright too. Not
the kind who would make up such an elaborate s-” Before
Oak could finish, I heard chatter in the lobby and glanced back. My eyes
widened when I saw… Rose! Damn it!
“Eh, just so you know I’m not doing this for the
publicity or anything stupid like that, I’m asking you to pretty please not
tell anyone about what I just said!” I fumbled quickly, giving my nicest smile
and hoping it was enough of an apology for what I was about to do. “Sorry got to
go, people coming, will be in touch!”
**********
“What was that all about?”
“I honestly have no idea. I guess we’ll see if he
calls again…” Oak felt a smile creep on his face. “Well, I suppose I should say
‘when’.”
“You’re getting way too into this,”
**********
“There you are!” Rose said as she made her way over.
“What got you up this early?”
“Stupidity,” I muttered absently, drawing a strange
look from her. I grabbed the empty glass and walked back to Nurse Joy’s desk.
“Thanks,” I said as I returned the glass to her.
“No problem,” she smiled. “Oh, your Pokémon are almost
ready. It looks like a good night’s rest was all they needed!”
I felt somewhat relieved hearing this news, until I
noticed a snag. “Almost, that’s not quite?”
“Well, the only ones that were fine to begin with were
Butterfree and Gastly. I’m afraid the others will need just a few more hours,”
she said. “You kind of got up at a bit of an early hour… I wasn’t expecting you
this fast.” Hearing that from her seemed strange, since she
was up before I got here. Did she even sleep at all?
“Eh, could I get Caesar and Gastly then, and I’ll
leave the others with you for a bit longer,” I replied. “I’d like to have at
least some of them with me.”
“It’s okay, we’ll go to the Safari Zone first,” Rose offered.
Apparently the Safari Zone was a pretty safe place, and they didn’t really like
it if you took Pokémon with you anyway. That all sounded fine
and dandy, but I managed to get Caesar and Gastly back anyway. For some reason I felt it was needed, the incident with Team Rocket
earlier playing back in my head. Figuring we might as well make use of the
facilities, we ate at the Center and avoided our
pre-cooked junk. After that we set off to the Safari Zone which was a good
thirty minute walk away, on the opposite edge of the city compared to the Gym.
The first gate looked pretty standard, with the only
thing standing out being the sign reading ‘Safari Zoo’. To my surprise,
entrance was free. The zoo part was quite a bit more elaborate than it was in
the games, and I really had no idea where I was going. They had quite a few
rare Pokémon on display – like Kangaskhan, Lapras and a few others – but Rose didn’t seem interested
in this part of the park at all and kept dragging me along.
“Hey, come on! I might want to see those, you know!” I
complained. That’s when I saw the second gate.
A tall wooden fence separated the area ahead from the
zoo we’d just walked through, and a big wooden structure seemed to provide the
only way through. A huge slab bolted to the front read ‘Pokémon Safari’ in
huge, bold print. Various signs were advertising a ‘great opportunity’ to see
Pokémon in their natural habitats for ‘only’ five hundred bucks. So that’s why
the zoo was free…
“Quick, let’s go in!” Rose said happily as she dragged
me through the big doors. It seemed there weren’t many people who shared her
enthusiasm, as the main entry was pretty empty. The only people there looked
like staff, all wearing the same clichéd clothes everyone wears on safaris – and
there weren’t even many of those. One of them, looking quite unhappy, walked up
to us.
“Hi,” he said. “I’m sorry, if you’re here for a safari
I’ll have to let you down. We’re not allowing anyone in right now because we
can’t guarantee your safety.”
“What? Why?” Rose asked, sounding pretty disappointed.
“Recently a herd of Tauros
have been causing problems, attacking anyone who gets near, even Pokémon. At
first we thought it might have something to do with their mating season, but we
soon realised the mating season ended a while ago,” the man explained. “We have
no idea what’s causing them to act like this. They never did it before…” Suddenly
the man fell to his knees and cried, “They’ve been at it for a month now! If
they keep it up we’ll be ruined!”
“If they’re that much of a problem, take them out of
the park or something,” I said.
“You don’t understand,” a voice spoke up from behind.
We turned and saw an old man in the doorway. “Tauros
are an endangered species, so it’s not that simple. You have to remember that
the Safari Zone, above all, is a place where Pokémon can live without the
constant worries of being hunted or caught that they would otherwise have in
the wild. As such, it’s often been used to bring endangered species back from
the brink of extinction.”
“Warden!” the man who spoke to us before veered up and
rushed over to the old man. “Has the situation changed? Did you find
anything?!”
In response, the old man simply sighed and shook his
head as he hung up his coat, and the room went quiet.
“Father,” a woman spoke up. “I have to agree with this
person. The Tauros are a danger to the park and all
the Pokémon that live in it. If we let this go on, we won’t make enough money
to stay open! All the work you’ve put into the Safari Zone will go to waste
that way!”
“There you go again, bringing money into it!” the warden
complained. “It’s not about money. We should let nature handle this herself!”
“I know it’s not about money,” his daughter tried to
reason. “But money is what lets you
keep things going! Without it, how will you sustain the park?”
“I didn’t mean kick them out and let them fend for
themselves,” I interrupted, having heard enough family quarrel.
“You can move them into a separate area until you find the cause, or at least
until they calm down, right?”
“Well, that would be the case, except…” he sighed.
“The problem is, that in their current state it’s
impossible to relocate them without causing them harm. I really dislike
upsetting their natural lives.”
I frowned. Wasn’t pampering them in this protected park
doing exactly that? So, I persisted. “But they’re harming the other Pokémon
now, who aren’t used to it. So, aren’t they affecting the regular pace of
things?” The warden seemed to ponder this, but didn’t look convinced yet. I
glanced over at Rose, who was staying quiet through the whole thing. From what
I could tell, she knew where this conversation was going and didn’t seem to
mind. So, this could only end one way then, eh? Fine… “If it puts you at ease,
both of us have Pokémon with sleep inducing moves. It might be a bit tricky,
but if we get it right we can put the herd down for a few hours. Would that be
long enough to move them?”
I should’ve never offered…
**********
“Rose of Saffron and Rick of Lavender,” Jason said. The
Rocket, along with his boss and Billy, was sitting at a table in a dimly lit
apartment. A phone, some papers and a small laptop computer were the only
things present on the table. They’d left the remainder of the place pretty much
untouched, only really using it as a temporary base of sorts.
“You’re sure?” his boss replied as he scribbled the
names down on a strip of paper and handed it to his other grunt, Billy. “Make
work of it.” Billy turned to his computer and started tapping away, trying to
find out who they were searching.
“I’m not deaf, boss. That’s what they said to Koga,
I’m positive,” Jason insisted. Just then, the phone rang. Both grunts
instinctively reached for it, but Jason got it first. His face paled rather
quickly. “It’s for you boss,” he said as he passed the phone. “It’s the
Executive…”
“Agent
Zack! Where’s
that fresh shipment of Pokémon you promised me? How do you expect us to keep
our trade going without a steady supply, hmm?” an
impatient voice demanded.
“Eh, we’ve hit a little snag, sir…” Zack answered carefully.
“We had a nice variety and good numbers, but we sort of lost them…”
“Police
interference?” the voice inquired.
“Sort of…” Zack replied uneasily, glancing at the
faces of his grunts. Jason’s face showed a hint of fear, but Billy was too busy
with his task to notice what was going on.
“What kind
of answer is that?!” the voice yelled. “We needed those Pokémon, Zack! I thought I was clear on that! But instead you
give me some weak excuse, expecting me to do what exactly? Come over to baby-sit your next op?!”
“S-sir!
There’s no need for that!” Zack defended frantically. He didn’t know whether
the man on the other end was serious, but the last thing he needed was some
Executive prancing about and ordering him around. “It was pure bad luck that we
lost our stock! We’ll get replacements right away, without fail this time!”
“See to it
that you do. Plans are moving forward, and we need the finances for the next
few steps!”
“Understood sir.
We’ll just have to speed up our own little scheme here,” Zack said, a lot more
serious than he was before. The voice on the other end grunted a goodbye right
before the connection was dropped. Zack was left staring at the horn. So we’re on the move now…
**********
- II -
Author’s Note
I was lied
to! There were TWO shots! Another thing I realised after I published the last
chapter is – there are no lions in Pokéworld. D’oh. Anyway, fast plot development is fast! Don’t worry
though; the speed and depth of the plot revelations go up and down like a
yo-yo. The next chapter will be as slow and shallow as the previous six! (come on, you can’t have thought the Pokémon journey thing
was the only plot in there…)
Chapter nine:
I’m not quite sure how far I’ll get, actually. In any case, Rick and Rose head
into the Safari Zone for REAL this time, after postponing it for two goddamn
chapters! I need to stop trying to move things along so quickly (not that they
are quick – the updates that is).
**********
- III -
Legal Gibberish
I do not
in any way own Pokémon or any of its copyrights and rights of other merchandise
related to it. All characters and places in this story are entirely fictional
and taken from or based on various aspects of the Pokémon universe. Any form of
copying and/or misuse of this story by others will be reported. Please respect
the imagination and effort made by others. Stealing is bad, don’t do it.
WeirdDutchGuy