//------------------------------// // Chapter 43 // Story: Starlight: Redshift // by the-pieman //------------------------------// The rest of the ride to Great Barrier is uneventful thankfully, as it gives me a chance to cool my head. “That guy back there was seriously bad news. And if he’s as low on the ladder as we think, I’m not so sure about our chances with anyone higher up if we’re on our own. I suppose we should just let the authorities handle it, but if we’re just randomly attacked like that again...” “Well, I feel we did fine, darling.” Rarity says, “We can’t be held accountable for being tricked like that, this time.” “Rarity’s right. We didn’t know, but we do now. We just need to be more careful next time, Anthony.” I suppose they’re right, but... “Still, we just have to treat them very seriously. This time they just wanted our stuff. The last two times I almost got shot. I’m not sure about anyone else, but that’s not the way I want to die.” “Completely understandable, Anthony.” Twilight says, “I’d rather none of us die, really, for any reason. I shrug. “It’s gonna happen someday, I just don’t want it to be slow. Or messy.” Neither of the ponies say anything in response. Although, on the subject of death and thereby ghosts, I have to wonder about that possession earlier. “Say, Rarity, what was that thing earlier with Glorious. You just grabbed it and kinda... zoned out.” “Oh, that. Well, you see, Glorious felt it’d be better to take a non-formal match with a degree of skill not available to League matches. She said she knew how best to fight, but that it’s easier on her to have a wielder, as little as she likes the feeling.” “So she kinda took over your mind. Makes sense. I wouldn’t peg you as the sort to stab a Pidgeotto in the chest halfway down the sword.” “Er, that poor bird wasn’t that badly injured, was it? I don’t think we meant to hurt it like that...” Rarity says, looking worried. “Still, you got one thing right: in any match unless circumstances are different... full stabbing, cutting or gouging is illegal. Pokémon may have amazing pain capacity, but they can still die and get scars.” “Of course, darling, I wouldn’t dream of purposely causing them injury like that, normally. But I can’t bear the thought of any of my precious darlings coming to harm.” “Just remember that what one pokémon considers ‘harm’ could result in a light tickle to another. When species range from Happiny or Magikarp to Shuckle... there’s a lot of difference.” Twilight looks confused and flips open her éTech, probably to compare. After a few moments her eyes go wide. “Woah...” I nod. “And you can get a pokémon that’s really big and can breathe blasts of cold so freezing your skin will change consistency... but in physical combat is weak as a newborn baby. If you want something that practically embodies diversity, pokémon are up there with chimeras.” “Wow... that’s really amazing Anthony.” Twilight looks to be thinking, her gaze not really focused on anything. “Yeah, lots of crazy stuff happens. One thing is for sure though, if a wild pokémon is upset in some way, it is not a situation to treat lightly. Even the smallest ones have a way of doing some pretty impressive things.” With a slight jolt, the truck comes to a stop, perfectly punctuating my statement. We look around, and see we’re actually in a small loading dock. One of the League officials tells us, “We’re in the back of the Gym, for reference. As long as you three are alright, you should get moving.” I nod and get up, exiting the van, the girls following closely. “It’ll be nice to go swimming for once. I can’t tell you how long it’s been since the last time. I actually forgot. But I’m pretty sure I still know how at least.” After we get a room at the PokéCenter to stash our stuff, we head to the pool. In the changing room, I end up checking out a nifty set of Feraligatr swim trunks and a set of fins and goggles that match. As well, the pool is pokémon-friendly, so I bring Carvanha, hoping she can restrain herself to just ‘exercise’. She looks a bit antsy though. “Be a good girl and I’ll order a pair of uncooked steaks for you, deal?” She snaps her jaws twice with an unnerving grin. “Deal.” I step into the main area with the pool after a quick-clean shower, and look around for Twilight and Rarity. I feel myself stumble as I see the two of them in the shallow end of the swimming pool, getting used to the water. Rarity is in a scintillating Milotic-print swimsuit that hugs her in ways I always thought had to be artificial in art. Twilight, in contrast, has a Kabuto-print bikini on, and seems mostly interested in figuring out how to swim in human form. I can see a couple guys eying them, and I feel a bit... protective. Idunno why, they’re fully capable of handling themselves. But still... I look at the floating, shaped water formations over by the gym area, entranced at how they can keep a more complex shape than ‘cube’ or something without any kind of physical supports. I’ve never really done that much upward swimming either, surface was always ten feet away at most swimming pools I visited. I might need some practice. Luckily, there are two ladders on either end of the pool. One leads to a diving board, the other lets you ‘walk’ into a smaller, simpler cube of water, which is suspended in mid-air completely disconnected from the main pool by about five feet. This is gonna be awesome! I start up one of the ladders, passing a few signs about strong swimming and being a good, safe swimmer and all that. I jump in and start swimming around. No matter where I am in the cube, the ‘bottom’ seems to be its center, so if I keep my eyes closed, swimming up feels exactly like swimming forward. This is incredible! They gave the cube its own center of gravity. That said, since the ‘middle’ is an attainable position and I’m drawn to it... it feels exceptionally weird. That said, fighting it is just as easy as swimming up from the bottom of any normal pool, as there’s no current in this. I decide to leave the middle as the feeling of being inside the center of gravity is not one I’d like to experience much longer. It’s like you’re floating in space, but with pressure all around you. I swim up, needing some air. I feel my hands break through the ‘wall’ of the cube and I kick myself forward. Suddenly falling! It takes me a few moments to realize that after my center of gravity was disturbed, I confused ‘down’ for ‘up’ and I’m falling out of the cube. I don’t have much ability to reorient myself and -smack!- Land. In. The. Pool. On. My. Back. Ooowwwwww... After a few moments of just floating there in pain, I’m a little surprised to hear genuine clapping. Cool, maybe I can convince people I did it on purpose... I do my best to ignore my stinging back, the water helping to soothe it a bit. Not sure how far I fell, but for about two seconds, I swear it felt as if the pool I’m currently in was filled with concrete. Note to self, next time, try to aim yourself so you are vertical to the water, not horizontal... I swim to the edge of the pool and climb up the little ladder and sit with my legs in the pool, taking the chance to catch my breath. When I hear a wolf-whistle from the edge of the pool, I finally stop wallowing in my pain, and see a girl in a Goldeen swimsuit at the edge of the pool, who winks at me when I catch her eye. I grin and wave. Okay, maybe making it look ‘on purpose’ is easier than I thought. Cool, I didn’t make myself look stupid yet. Keyword being: Yet. Suddenly, I feel something nose me in the small of my back, and I feel myself get launched upwards back to the Cube, where I land face-first. This time, I hear laughter, and see Carvanha jump into the Cube with me. She seems all too pleased with herself, too. I roll my eyes behind my goggles and swim to the actual top surface of the water cube. A guy in bright red swim trunks and carrying a floatation device walks inside the cube and swims up to met me. “Hey. I uh, didn’t break a rule or anything, did I?” “Nah, just impressed. Most experienced swimmers avoid the Cube, and let’s be honest, you’re not an experienced swimmer.” He sits on the edge of the walkway, legs dangling into the cube. “You seem pretty resistant to motion sickness, that’s for sure.” “Always kinda been that way. Especially rollercoasters. Love it when they go upside-down, but can’t stand opening my eyes when I’m that high. Acrophobia. Kinda a weird combo, huh?” “Yeah, I can understand. Many people around here get sick near the middle, though, ‘cuz of the gravwell distortion. That trick was developed here in Gee-Bee. I guess you could say our city pride goes into bein’ smart.” “And you succeed, though the outdoors are a bit too wet for my tastes. First time here got drenched on the way. Walked in the gate and I swear it was worse.” I chuckle at my previous misfortune. “Yeah, the eggheads in the labs say it’s something about the wall and stuff, makes the rainclouds come in and stick around forever. Sunny days are actually pretty rare. That said, you can find some real tough pokémon and their trainers in the actual port itself, mostly sailors and divers killin’ time.” The guard is mostly just sitting there as he talks, until a couple of the young women from the lower section decide to come up and try out the cube. Now that I get to see it personally, the way the normally dangling frills act underwater makes the girls look like they’re actually pokémon, with human bits sticking out. One of them is the Goldeen girl, the other is in a pitch-black suit with long fins and glowing parts. “Goldeen and Lumineon. Can I help you, ladies?” I ask, before recalling they are submerged and I probably sound a million miles away. The Goldeen girl slowly swims up, gracefully leaving the water behind as she mostly leaves the surface. Hot damn, I wish I could swim half as well as she can. After a moment, she enters the water again, gracefully diving and swimming about lazily. I look around for Carvanha and see she’s enjoying herself in her own special way, some other trainer’s Marill is pointedly staying two meters away from Carvanha at all times, and my fish seems to like swimming out and then back in, making the Marill go back and forth deciding whether it’s safe or not. Oh well, as long as nothing gets eaten I’ll be fine. I turn back to the lifeguard. “So since you guys are obviously a port town, you got any special fishing spots around the border?” “I’m not much of a fisherman, but there’s a dude in the port who’ll hand out fishing rods to trainers if they answer a quiz.” The lifeguard says. “That said, the fact that you have a Carvanha means you probably already got a good rod.” “Ah, nah. Got her by waiting until the school was done ‘eating’ and threw a ball out there. Too full to bother trying to escape I guess. But she seems to like me. Figure she’s still a ways from evolving, but she’s pretty good. I hope she does well when I make my challenge here.” “Yeah, I can see that working out. Those learn a bunch of non-water moves, right? Buncha biting moves? Those’re good on everything I hear.” “Yeah, needs to level up more, but she’s a pretty good fighter. Bit of a hassle making sure she remembers you aren’t allowed to eat other trainers’ pokémon. Great for battles aside from that.” “Huh. I don’t train, myself, but my little bro is off challenging the League. Last I heard, he’s got, like, four badges already.” “Well good for him. I think I’ll take it slow though. Lot more to do in this world if you stick around to see the sights, y’know? I gotta say though, this place sure isn’t Kanto. I’d get lost if I wasn’t carrying a map around with me all the time.” I chuckle. Really, this region is huge. “Heh, yeah. A few other regions are pretty big, too. Kroel is massive and mostly unmapped I hear. It was all over the news when it showed up again. Skarance exports so much stuff these days, I mean you’ve heard of ‘em, of course. An entire Region owned by a super corporation... weird place I bet.” I nod. “Probably better than Orre though. I hear they got this evil crime organization or something running the place. Last I heard, they’re wusses compared to the Chainers, but they gotta be good if they get enough rumors about owning an entire region.” “Orre, huh? Never heard of the place. I heard of this one Region, Hoenn? There was a big thing about ten years back. Apparently, there was almost a big cataclysm with tidal waves and heat waves and stuff. Some kid stopped it. Some random trainer stopped the whole thing, apparently.” I recall the events of Emerald. “Not what I heard. I heard the kid managed to do something where he tamed this weather dragon Rayquaza and the dragon made the two pokémon who were doing the world-wrecking calm down and go to sleep or something. Sounds crazy, but every rumor has a grain of truth behind it, y’know?” “Yeah, I guess. Still, taming a ‘weather dragon’? Seems pretty far-fetched if you ask me.” The lifeguard looks up and shouts across the Cube. “Hey! No running in the pool building!” He starts moving around the catwalk towards the other side, and I’m left on my own. For a moment, anyways. Then, the Goldeen girl pops up, and set herself down on the edge of the pool. “Hey.” “Hi. Can I help you with something?” “So, what’re you in town for?” “Well, mainly challenging the gym, but I figure that can wait for tomorrow. Lots to see and do, who wants to just rush around everywhere all the time?” “Oooh, nice. That your Carvanha?” I look down at the fish, no longer pestering the Marill and just amusing herself in a tame way for once. “Yeah, she can be a handful, but I can handle her.” “Really? I hear they’re super-tough to train. Takes a real strong hand to keep ‘em under control.” the girl says, turning this way and that as she talks. I shrug. “We’ve come to an understanding. She behaves, I feed her better than she would in the wild and she can do whatever she wants aside from that.” “Oh, you’re the empathetic type. I like that. Hey, what’s the rest of your team look like?” The Goldeen girl leans forward, and I notice the top of her swimsuit doesn’t fully cover her cleavage. Still, that’s a common problem with swimwear. “They aren’t swimmers... well, not aquatic at least. Geodude, Litwick, Magomental, GLaDoS my Voltato, and an Oddish. Only got six at the moment but that’s all I need at the moment.” “Well, I got my three beauties. My precious Goldeen, my Finneon, and my darling Marilurk. They’re all such dears. Y’wanna meet ‘em? I’m sure they’ll like you.” “Sure. Hey, if you’re the battling type, we could try that. I haven’t had much practice with truly aquatic opponents except for a Barboach.” “Oh, sure. But I meant meet them socially, y’know? So they can get a good feel for you.” “Sure, I’m just offering a battle if you want. Not gonna force you into anything after all. I’m not that type.” “Heh, that’s cool. Here, let’s show him your stuff, my pretties!” She says, before pulling three pokéballs -where from I have no idea- and throws out her three pokémon. Looking at them, I recognize the two straight off the bat, being common to other swimmer-girl-type trainers in the games, but the third I only remember from the Aquarium, and only from an info-plaque. Marilurk... looks terrifying. It’s like an angler fish, but with crab-shell, little tentacles, and giant-ass teeth. A glowing lure protrudes from the front of its head, and the zillion triangular teeth seem perfectly pointed at me. “And don’t worry about Marilurk over there. He’s a perfect gentle-fish.” “Eh, seems nice enough. They’re only dangerous if they’re after you, y’know?” “Or you dangle something in front of them. Still, these’re my pokémon. I love all three of them, and I caught them myself.” “Same here. I could have chosen a starter, but I figured my first pokémon should be earned, y’know? I’m not a fan of taking stuff for free if I could achieve it myself. Day later, I got Geodude, Carvanha was the second, and the rest came along soon enough. Only been a licensed trainer for, Idunno... two weeks? three?” “Oh, that’s cool, I guess. Geodude’s such a... simple pokémon, though. You should get some more elegant pokémon, like Goldeen.” “I’d get any pokémon I get a good chance at adding to my little group of friends, but I don’t spend enough time around water to find any Water types. Carvanha I got because I knew I’d need one and she seemed the best option available. But if you know where I can find a Goldeen that’d be great!” I need more ‘fish’ Pokémon, and a Seaking would be great to have. “Well y’know, bigger fish are better in the long run, y’know.” She winks at me again. I’m not sure how to interpret that. “Yeah. Anyway, I’ve been treading water for, like, twenty minutes now, wanna get onto solid ground? Maybe meet up sometime later? Not that I’m leaving now, but, y’know.” “Ooh, I think I’m up for that. There’s a food court in the mall across the street from here. Wanna meet in, say, an hour?” “Sure, sounds great. I’ll probably bring my friends too, they might be hungry by then as well.” I give a quick ‘bye’ and swim down out of the cube, making sure I fall into the main pool headfirst and straight. After a much more smooth entrance to the grounded pool, I swim over to the edge and sit down to catch my breath. I don’t know how I managed to tread water that long, that’s a new record for me for sure.