//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 – Seize the Day // Story: Pokémon Eclipse // by moviemaster8510 //------------------------------// The tall grass sounded like Pokémon rustling around them. That was the effect Alice was going for, hoping that she could get one to appear without scaring it away. Her hand hovered over Noibat’s Poké Ball on her waist, waiting for the opportune moment. Though it seemed improbable that wild Pokémon would inhabit the grounds of such a large city like Hau’oli, the locals promised there were many to be found. Come on, Alice imagined herself cooing. Something has to be around here. Alice took two more steps before the grass in front of her started shaking like crazy. Her eyes followed the parting grass as the creature looked to run off. When it turned around and faced Alice with a clear intent to fight, Alice could not be more pleased. A sizable yellow rodent with a pointed lightning-bolt shaped tail, brown fur at the base and two small stripes on the back. “No way,” Alice whispered, “a Pikachu!” Its red cheeks sparked with electricity as a means of giving Alice a last chance to turn back. “Oh no,” she whispered with purpose. “You’re mine. Go, Noibat!” Alice clasped the Poke Ball and flicked it out, releasing Noibat from inside of it. Noibat threw its wings up and shouted out, happy to be let out for a real battle. The rodent looked up at Alice’s companion with a sense of mystification and disbelief. “Let’s show him what we’re made of. Now, use Supersonic!” Tightening its focus, rings of sonic energy shot out of Noibat’s ear’s, but the Pikachu, almost deeming it child’s play, grinned and sped off at its adversary. It leapt up and collided its head into Noibat’s stomach, forcing it back with a painful warble. “Noibat, you alright?” Noibat growled at the Pikachu and returned to its intensive demeanor. “Maybe we gotta’ rough it up a bit. Use Aerial Ace!” With a lift up from a single wingbeat, Noibat swooped down onto the Pikachu. It tried to run away, but Noibat was able to take a slash at it with the bar of its wing, tripping its prey up. With a scowl, Pikachu charged its cheeks and shot a stream of electricity at Noibat, hitting it dead on. When the attack ended, Noibat flapped its wings faster, shaking the tingle still left there. “Now that you know what you’re dealing with, use Bite!” Noibat hovered over Pikachu, and after sensing its next move, Noibat dove down. Pikachu tried to run and dodge, but Noibat had predicted its moves, and landing on it, Noibat clamped down on the Pikachu’s side. The Pikachu let out a loud shriek of pain, and Noibat would have continued had it not been for the sudden sensation of immobility it was feeling. The rodent then freed itself from Noibat’s maw and smacked it in the face with its tail. “A Static ability?” Noibat struggled to get up, and its mouth was paralyzed open, which appeared to have a comical and moralizing effect on the Pikachu. Rearing its body back, Pikachu charged straight at Noibat, confident it wouldn’t dodge. “Wait for it,” commanded Alice. “Now, use Supersonic again!” There was no time for the Pikachu to react. With Pikachu about to be point blank in Noibat’s face, another wave of pulsing rings from Noibat’s ears hit Pikachu, throwing its balance off. With the world around it spinning, Pikachu veered out of Noibat’s way and crashed into a red gate surrounding the grassy area. Alice picked up her Noibat and walked over to where Pikachu ended up. Alice seemed please to see that it wasn’t quite fainted yet, but given its lazy, on-its-back position, it didn’t look to want to fight anymore. “Okay,” Alice said, fishing a Poké Ball out of her bag, “I think you passed the audition.” Lobbing the Poké Ball out, it hit the Pikachu’s exposed belly, opening up the ball and sucking up the red energy it had been converted into. Once the ball closed and landed on the floor, Alice kept her eye on it, watching as the red light on the center button stayed lit while it made the occasional jiggle. The fifth jiggle looked weak, and once it had settled down, the light faded down and the Poké Ball clicked, a few starry sparks popping from the button. Alice let the moment sink in for a second before she picked up her ball and looked at it. “Welcome to the family,” she said to the Pikachu inside before she hooked its Poké Ball onto her belt. “Come on, Noibat, let’s get you to a Center.” The Noibat gurgled in response, still unable to close its mouth. The sliding doors opened to the large red building of the Pokémon Center and Mart in the city’s shopping district, allowing Alice and Noibat to enter. They made their way to a nurse with pink hair and a lighter-pink coat at the center. The nurse saw the Noibat and straightened herself to attention. “Oh my,” she said with sympathy, “the poor thing looks paralyzed.” “Well,” Alice said, “she helped me catch wild Pikachu.” Noibat nodded and lazily sounded out to affirm this. The nurse seemed charmed that the Noibat was clearly quite chipper despite its situation. “Well, if I could just have it in its Poké Ball,” she instructed, “I can also heal it and the Pikachu you caught.” “Certainly.” Alice detached both Poké Balls from her belt and placed the slightly heavier one on the table, taking the other and returning her Noibat inside of it. She then placed the Poké Ball on the counter beside Pikachu’s ball. “Thank you,” the nurse said. “Your Pokémon should be all ready in a few minutes. Feel free to visit the Poké Mart or café while you wait.” “Thank you.” Alice took a left towards the café, seeing the elderly male barista already seeing his next customer coming in. “Hello, young lady,” he said before she finally reached the counter, “What can I get started for you today?” “I think I’ll just have a glass of Moomoo Milk, please.” “That will be ¥198. Is that all right?” “Sure thing.” Alice fished a couple of folded ¥100 notes from her pocket and handed them to the barista. The man smiled as he put the bills inside his register. “Got it. If you could just give me a moment…” The man pulled out a 12oz glass from beneath the counter and then went behind him to the small fridge on the floor, pulling out a half-gallon glass jug of pure white milk. With a pop of a lid and a steady pour, Alice’s drink was ready. “Here you are. One Moomoo Milk, just for you.” “Thank you so much,” Alice responded, taking the glass and turning to take a seat. “When you get my age, it really makes you think about things. They say time is money, but time itself is actually really important. I mean, you can never buy more time for yourself with money, right?” “I heard that…” Alice took a small sip and savored the flavor as she humored the man’s musings. “The present is the present. Once it’s gone there’s no getting it back.” “I know what you mean, sir. Carpe diem all the way.” “Yes, indeed. Here, have a tea biscuit on us. These are popular in Lumiose City in the Kalos region.” Alice’s eyes widened as the man handed her a round cookie-like sweet. “I take it you’re a fan of Lumiose Galettes?” “Yes, I love these things. I always hated waiting in line for them and then once I ate one, I realized it was worth the wait.” “So you’re from Lumiose City then?” “Well, was. Our family actually just moved here from Kalos this morning.” “Well, then. Even if I’m not the first to, let me welcome you with a nice hearty ‘Alola.’ Don’t get too homesick now. There’s no real cure for that but time, and as you know–” “Time is money, yes, and I intend to make every second here count.” “That’s wonderful to hear. Now, before I make your milk get any warmer, please take these, on the house.” The man reached down and scooped something from under the counter, and putting a coffee cup on the counter, Alice looked in to see about a dozen blue, heart-shaped beans with hard, glossy shells. “Pokébeans are a specialty here. Pokémon go nuts over them. Be sure to feed them to your Pokémon to get them to like you more.” “Thank you so much, sir.” Alice took the coffee cup in her free hand and began to turn to find a table. “Feel free to visit again!” Her eyes went to the window seats, and she was half-surprised to see Sam there with a cup of still-steaming tea, sitting across from his Honedge, with an extra cup with his own Pokébeans on the table next to his tea. Alice grinned and walked over to their table, headed for the seat Honedge hovered above. “Excuse me, sir!” Alice exclaimed to the Pokémon. “Might I borrow your chair?” Honedge expressionlessly hovered to the other corner of the table to allow its trainer’s sister to sit. “Oh, why thank you.” Alice plopped herself down, looking at Sam, who looked as cool as he could have with the people inside the building now staring at them. “So,” Sam said, “your catching going well?” “Well, you’re sitting here having some tea, and I just caught myself a Pikachu. But I’m guessing that you managed to catch every Pokémon on Alola early and decided to treat yourself to celebrate, am I right, or am I right?” “Actually,” he groaned, “I also came across a Pikachu, but I completely forgot that I hadn’t brought or bought any Poké Balls before we set out, so I had to scamper off with my tail between my legs, came in here, got some Poké Balls, some potions, and a couple other things as well, and decided to have a tea. Hey, were are your Pokémon?” “They’re at the center getting healed up. The Pikachu’s Static paralyzed my poor Noibat, and Noibat really roughed up my poor Pikachu, and I’m having a milk while I wait.” “Fascinating. Call it sour grapes, but I’m not finding a lot that I want to catch over here. Maybe I’ll have a bit of better luck on the north side of the island.” “Yeah, maybe. Well, we have a few more hours until dinner. Give it some more time.” “Yeah. Yeah sure.” “Ma’am?” the nurse at the center counter called. Alice turned her head and saw the nurse waving her down, a tray with six spherical slots on the counter with two Poké Balls in it. “Your Pokémon are all good to go.” “Oh, hold on.” Alice pulled back her chair and jogged over to the counter, picking up the two balls in her hand. “Thanks a bunch.” The nurse bowed to her in a show of appreciation. Alice attached Noibat’s ball to her belt and tossed Pikachu’s out, releasing it from inside. The Pikachu inside looked a bit bewildered by its suddenly strange surroundings, but once Alice knelt as far down to its level as she could, the Pikachu’s eyes locked on to her. “Hey there, little guy,” she cooed. “My name’s Alice.” Alice reached over and scratched gently behind the Pikachu’s ears. The sensation of being handled was at first a bit unnerving, as told by the slight spark in its cheeks, but it eventually mellowed out and rested its head in her hand. “Hey,” she quickly said to Sam, “pardon my reach, I just need to borrow some…” She blindly searched the table with her free hand until she found Sam’s cup of Pokébeans and grabbed a handful. “Hey, that’s my–!” Sam spat out before stopping himself. As Alice took the hand petting the Pikachu off of it, she placed one Pokébean onto her palm. Sam took a handful of beans from Alice’s cup and spilled his onto the table, counting to make sure his dozen was replaced. Alice’s Pikachu sniffed the bean tentatively, and then took a nibble. After a second of registering the taste, the rodent’s expression perked up even further, taking the rest of the bean in its mouth. “Oh, you like that,” encouraged Alice, putting two more beans in her hand. “Here, have a couple more.” Pikachu took two more beans from Alice’s other hand and munched them both. Once it had swallowed, it squealed with unbridled joy and hopped in her arms. Alice stood up with the Pikachu that she was now cradling, grabbing her milk and taking a few gulps. “You can have the rest.” Pikachu took the glass and tilted it up, getting the last few chugs before emptying it. Alice took the glass and placed it back on the table before she scooped the Pokébeans from her cup and put them in her vest pocket. “Heading back out?” Sam asked. “Yeah. I suggest you do to. If nothing else, sharpen up your Honedge a bit.” The golden lid of Honedge’s eye lowered, showing its dissatisfaction with her pun. “I’ll be taking Pikachu out for a bit. See you at home.” Alice walked outside with Pikachu in tow, and it let out a joyous cry, happy to venture out into the world with its new trainer. Sam looked down into his half-drunken mug, and there were still a few wisps of steam coming off the surface. With a determined frown, he downed the rest of his tea in a single gulp, coughing from the heat. Honedge approached him, but Sam put his hand up. “I’m alright,” he said. “Come on. Alice did have a point there.” Putting his beans into a side pocket in his shorts, he wiped down the table with his napkin and took off. Sun put his lab coat back on, cracking his neck with a couple of twists for good measure. Now that he was refreshed from his workout, he made his way outside his room and back to the research facility. There wasn’t going to be much to do but prepare for the next day’s excursion, but it was work that was better done now than later. As he made his way to the lift, he felt a vibration in his breast pocket and the screen glowing brightly blue. Stopping, he pulled a small screened device from it and saw the caller ID was coming from Lillie. Pressing the “Answer” button, the top edge of the device went bright before a holographic screen projected above it, revealing Lillie inside of a large room with several climbing structures, balls, and other oversized toys. “Lillie,” he addressed. “What is it?” “Sun!” she said excitedly. “Look!” Lillie stepped out of the camera’s way and revealed Solgaleo hopping around, full of energy as if it had finished sleeping for days on end, and in the air, just below an atrium high above, Lunala twirled around. Sun himself could hardly believe it. “Wait,” he asked. “What’s going on with them?” “Solgaleo and Lunala seem to be really rejuvenated from their nap. I wasn’t too sure about it, but I asked them if they really wanted to do another excursion today, and they actually looked really eager to.” “Wha… really? I mean, that sounds great, but I was thinking of our conversation just then, and I’m just wondering if another excursion really is such a good idea.” Lillie, returning to the camera, met Sun again with a pout. “Come on, Sun. You said I could call the shots on this one, and I don’t just think they’re able to do another excursion today, but they want to. In fact, I know this. So, if they want to do another excursion, than so do I.” Sun was torn between his heart and his mind, but with an almost subconscious effort, he blurted out, “Then we shall. I’ll go let Lusamine know and get everything set up.” “Thank you, Sun! I’m sure it will be a great one! You don’t think Lusamine will let me join in on this one, do you?” “I’m sure she’d be more than happy to, especially since we might be able to find something in that system we found. I’ll let you know when we can bring them up. Just be sure to wind them down so they don’t crash on us before then.” “Sure thing!” She gave a kiss into the camera before she shut the feed off. Even though she wouldn’t see, Sun felt compelled to softly blow a kiss to the holographic screen as it faded out. Any and all fears of upcoming failure were behind him, especially with Lillie’s blessing. Sun put the device back in his pocket, and without a second left to lose, he jogged up to the lift with a new purpose set for the day.