Once the round is over, the announcer calls out that it’s almost time for the award ceremony and final scores to be tallied, the lead winner getting a cash prize as well as their pokémon getting a Ribbon. Runner-ups will get what amounts to booby prizes and participation rewards, but the announcer still makes those sound pretty good. This guy is pretty good even if I can see through it. That said, the absolute losers go home with nothing, but that’s standard. At least it’s not like a pokémon battle where losing costs you money. I mean, the audience pays to see it, but sign-ups are free at least.
“Alright, ladies and gentlemen, over the course of the contest, each of the remaining contestant’s scores were tallied, and here are their final scores! Their overall score to this point will decide who takes home the First Prize Trophy and the associated Ribbon! Over the five rounds, she’s racked up...” a drumroll starts, building tension, “Forty-six-point-two points!” he shouts, with much of the crowd going nuts.
Then, it’s Xavius’ turn, and he awaits patiently as the announcer begins his call as well. “And over the last five rounds, in a stunning display of care and precision, with an amazing performance in total, Lya has earned a total of...” again, the drumroll, “Forty-eight-point-five points!” he yells, accompanied by fanfare. “An almost perfect score! Come up, and receive your prizes, Mr. Night!” he calls, and the guy steps up, giving a bow and shaking Alexis’ hand. He nods and accepts the trophy gratefully, and carefully pins the Ribbon to Lya’s bandage.
Man, I’ve got to go talk to him. This is so cool!
While the rest of the crowd is standing and cheering, I decide to make my way down to the lobby once most of the booby prizes are dished out. Hopefully I’ll be fast enough to catch Xavius before he runs off and disappears again.
He seems really good at that... maybe he’s part ninja but shows his face anyway? Woah... what’s that? I see some strange pokémon I’ve never seen before in the group of the ‘absolute losers’ circle, the ones who messed up in the preliminaries. Maybe I’ll stay to find out what they are. I scan the group of people faking happy smiles and their pokémon waiting for their two seconds in the spotlight as ‘honorable mentions’ and I wonder... what the heck are all these pokémon. Only one or two are familiar.
One guy, looking like a bird-trainer sort, has a huge, white halloween-style ghost on his arm, or that’s what it looks like for a few moments, until a pair of huge black eyes swivel around to look at me, and I realize it’s a huge, white owl... and that he’s not holding it up, but rather has his hand above its feet to hold it down. Its cry sounds like it’s saying ‘dieeee’ and trailing off to a hiss, until I can process that it’s starting with a ‘g’ sound, not a ‘d’ sound.
Flying and ghost type? Haven’t seen one of those since the Drif-line. Seems interesting.
In one pool, a pokémon sits, sticking out of the ground and looking like a long piece of kelp, except that it keeps turning to watch anyone who walks by the tank. It’s a bit like an aquatic Diglett, I think, until its pops out of its burrow to swim to another hole, then pokes back up out of the ground. Wait... oh yeah, I saw one of them at the aquarium... but it looked like just tank decor at the time. Cool, must have tried some camouflage trick or something.
The next I see looks like an armless raptor, but only bulldog-sized. It has massive jaws, but doesn’t appear to have any eyes. It does, however, have a pair of eye-spots, large orange patches rimmed in dark brown. Definitely not getting any info on this just from looking, but the announcer is vague on what it actually did, other than mentioning transformation. I snap a picture and plan to have it cross-referenced later.
The other I don’t recognize looks like a cross between a Boldore, a Golurk, a Sableye, and a Super Saiyan. It’s like a walking set of rocks, with large golden-yellow spurs of semi-clear crystal. In fact, they look almost like clearer versions of thunderstones, strangely. Whatever it is, the announcer mentioned it using Thunderstones in its display, but had messed up, needing more practice, not a new routine.
Oh well, I’ve seen some cool moves and some new pokémon, I’m ready to catch Xavius again, hopefully getting a longer audience with him this time. I get up and make my way to the lobby the girls just follow after me, though Rarity asks if it’s really over already, shortly after we reach the lobby exit..
“Not quite, but I wanna see Xavius, I mean... he’s a coordinator too? What the heck hasn’t he done?”
“I’m not a breeder, nor have I ever tried to participate in those little micro-game tournaments. Y’know, where you coach pokémon through little challenges, like having Scyther cut logs at the right time and stuff? Never really got into it.”
“Ah, the Pokéathalon stuff? Yeah, not sure if I wanna try that myself either.” I respond before realising I was talking to Xavius. “Oh, uh, hi! Er yeah... but uh... you’re probably wondering why I’m kinda... following you around, chasing you down and all, huh? Not trying to be a weirdo or anything but uh...”
“I saw you in the crowd, and figured you come seek me out. So I beat you to it. Don’t worry about it, even if you’re stalking me, you’re more polite about it than the last one. Took me six weeks and two separate restraining orders to get rid of her.” he says, giving a shudder.
“Oh, wow. Well you won’t have that problem with me sir, I just , well... You win at pretty much everything I’ve seen you do, you’ve saved my life, you’re really great with pokémon but can do fine even without pokémon so they don’t do all the work... I guess what I mean is... you’re the kind of trainer I’ve dreamed of being since my pokémon fascinating took root and uh... got any tips beyond ‘love your pokémon’? I mean, I know that’s important but it’s a little generic and I think I already have that covered.”
He laughs. “Well, here’s one: never discount a pokémon for its oddness. And I don’t mean species that seem weird, I mean individuals. You know Peanuts, my Metagross? He’s been... odd since he was a Beldum,” he says, “but I’d never trade ‘im for another. Heh, you should meet the rest of the team, some time.” he thinks for a moment. “Actually, barring anything emergency-wise, I have an hour or so open for lunch. My treat, we can chat, and you can bring those ladies who’re with you.” he says, giving a nod to Rarity and Twilight. “Assuming they want to come along, of course.”
I turn to the girls, knowing that they’ll probably follow me wherever I go anyways as long as we stay within city limits. Don’t want anyone getting lost or anything. “What do you think? Know anywhere good around here? I haven’t really studied the local map of this place.”
Twilight and Rarity both nod, and they begin to babble back and forth, each suggesting their own preference, until Xavius interrupts them. “Woah, woah, woah... here, I know a place. It’s called the Indigo Buffet, and it’s got authentic Kanto cuisine, and some stuff from elsewhere, like Unova and northern Otaria. C’mon, I’ll show you.” he says, waving and starting off.
I follow along, willing to take any advice we might be able to get from this guy. And I’m interested in what was odd about Peanuts. Sure it was real big for a Metagross but that didn’t seem to be what he meant by odd. Plus he’s buying. Free food is always a bonus, especially for a trio without any cooking utensils at all.
The place Xavius leads us to is, perhaps unsurprisingly, rather nice-looking. At the door is a long line, but he steps right up to the front and says something to the guy at the door, who’s standing alongside a Hitmonchan leaning against the wall. The guy nods, and opens the door, and Xavius waves us in, smiling. “Ah, it’s good to have friends, eh? I know the Maitre’d and the cook, and they owe me a free meal or twelve. C’mon, sit, have a menu!” he says, gesturing at a fine-quality table he plonks down at. Frankly, I feel a touch underdressed here. I wouldn’t normally care, but literally everyone seems to be having a pleasant time, and the waiter who comes up has a smile that doesn’t seem forced.
“What can get for your entree, sir?” he asks Xavius, who asks for... something. I have no idea what he said, but he said it fluently, and it sounded like... Japanese, maybe? Either way, the waiter nods and turns to Rarity next, asking what she’d like. Somehow, she’s already figured it out.
I feel so lost... everything here is so fancy!
Well, since Twi’s the other girl she’s asked next and she doesn’t seem to be faring any better than me. Okay, maybe a bit better. A big bit...
After a few stumbles, she figures it out, and makes her order, something with bread. Then, the waiter turns to me.
“Uh... I’ll have some... uh...” Think man, what’s fancy food in the Pokémon world? And Kanto... think man, he’s looking at you! “Uh, Farfetch’d soup?”
I pray to Arceus that’s acceptable and watch as the waiter looks at me with surprise. Xavius looks at me and appears confused. “Ah... that’s a joke, right?” the waiter asks, his smile turning a bit confused.
“Uh, yeah, just a joke. Sorry, uh...” I take a quick look at the menu and do my best to pronounce the first thing I see as well as a side, also picked from the top.
“The Zucc an’ fries? Alright.” he says, nodding. “And what would everyone like to drink?” he asks, and Xavius orders a pitcher of Pecha juice for everyone.
I decide to break the silence before it has a chance to get awkward. "So why'd you name your Metag- er Beldum 'Peanuts' anyway?" Not the best conversation starter but... it works.
Xavius chuckles. “Because I originally had a really great, awesome-sounding name, but it turns out he has a peanut allergy. No, don’t ask why a giant carnivorous pokémon was eating peanuts. He’s a little... crazy. So, Peanuts it was. But I have to be careful, because he’s way more powerful than average; he’s not allowed in league battles as a result. However, he’s a really good companion. Funny enough, he’s actually why I’ve got a prosthetic.” Xavius says. Immediately, thoughts of a metagross chewing his arm off flash into my head.
“He... bit your arm off? Like, just... chomp?”
Xavius bursts into laughter. “No, no, not at all! He gave me a hug, and accidentally crimped my arm really badly. It had to be amputated.” he explains, and I realize that both of the girls look to be torn between frightened and disgusted by the thought. Still, that should help show Rarity pokémon shouldn’t be given to the CMC.
“And ah, I recall your Blaziken... she was...” I pause fully. “I’m trying to think of what she might have been doing without implying she was feeling me up but...”
He shakes his head. “No, no, that’s exactly what she was doing.” he sighs. “She’s got... problems. I adopted her well into her fortieth level or so. I still don’t know who her original trainer was; his ID code wasn’t attached to her.” he says.
“So, she uh... huh, okay. Well, that’s interesting.” A cause for hyperarousal is early childhood trauma. Either that or she’s really horny all the time. “Well, enough about that. Say is there a place in here where we could have everybody meet everybody?”
Xavius nods. “Yeah, but it’s a separate part of the restaurant. We can move over there if you’d like.” he says. Rarity and Twilight mention wanting to, and that seems to make up the guy’s mind. He flags down the waiter, asks about the room, and we all start getting up.
“It’s a big room, but even so, Peanuts is staying in his ball. He’s too big even for here.” Xavius explains. Rarity and Twilight have surprised looks, but I recall seeing Peanuts back during the second Chainer raid and yeah, that Metagross would blow a hole in the ceiling just by shrugging. Still, there seems to be room for everyone else.
I toss my team out two at a time and introduce them. “And the last two are Oddish and Magomental. Don’t have names for them but I think they’ll get me far, Bug and Grass types are kinda my thing. Anyways, I don’t have any others right now, just the six. Looking for a good candidate for seventh.”
“Well, themes certainly help you choose your focus. And getting a Magomental is pretty good; they turn into really impressive creatures at their second stages. You decided which route you’re taking it?”
“Is there something I don’t know about Magomental? I know Gloom has a split evo, but I uh... well the info I got my hands on didn’t cover Otaria. So this region will be an... adventure.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, Magomental has a split evo as well. It’s based on what you trade or use a Link stone on it with. Did you want to go defensive or offensive with it?” he asks as they settle into their tables, pokémon greeting each other, Xavius’ coming out of their pokéballs on their own. It looks like he’s got a Feraligatr, some variant of Eeveelution, a Castform... so many rare pokémon.
I look at the wriggling mass. Bug and Psychic type... “But one Confuse Ray from Litwick, and the hardest part of the catch was waiting for the ball to finish...” Said candle pokémon taking its usual spot on my shoulder. “Defensive.”
He snickers. “Yeah, it loses that epic vulnerability once it evolves the first time, and then you either use a Link Stone or trade it while it’s holding a Alloy Shield or a Dragon Fang. Since you want to go defensive...” he says, and fishes around in his coat, then pulls out a little red-and-white storage capsule. “Here, one Alloy Shield. Lekgolem is a really powerful pokémon, so be sure to hang onto that.” he says.
I put the Alloy Shield into my bag and look at Magomental again. “Yeah, maybe I’ll have a good name for you once you evolve. At the moment everything I can come up with is stupid. Unless you like the name ‘Swarmy’ that is.” The mass continues to squirm and move. It doesn’t seem to care, or even recognize my comment.
“Yeah, I’ll think of something later on. Oh yeah, I know what I want for my seventh! You know where I could find a Machop?”
“Eh, probably in the mountains, but only if they’re runaways or released pokémon. They aren’t naturally found in Otaria.” he says, sampling his dish, which is some sort of noodle and soup.
“Well, that complicates things, but no problem I suppose. Not gonna be heading for the mountains any time soon. Probably won’t leave this city until I finally get my second badge. Unless you two have any better ideas?” I aim the second part at Twi and Rarity.
Twilight looks up from her salad with bread strips. “Oh, uhm... I was thinking the same, though I planned to stop by the library and see if there’s anything in it that catches my attention.” she says.
“You mean like an entire shelf. Guess I’ll be taking the challenge first again. Either way, I suppose that’s fine. So I'm probably gonna take my pokémon to the gym to get some swimming practice. Wouldn't want any of them to risk drowning just because they lose balance."
Xavius looks up at me. “Don’t worry about that. Zoli has a platform up at the top with him for land-based pokémon.” he says, and tries a bit of Rarity’s dish, as she samples some of his.
“Yeah, but I’d rather have my pokémon be prepared for a random environment change. Who knows, I just might run into Kyogre. It flooding the place would put me at a serious disadvantage otherwise.” I eat some of my fries, the zucchini really not being my choice of dish.
Xavius shrugs. “Not around here, you won’t. The closest we have is a few Regi in the mountains, desert, and in one of the bigger cave systems.” he eats a bit more.
I pause my munching on the fries. “How ...touchy are the Regi? Enough to make said caves dangerous or are they fine with people and other ah, non-pokémon?”
Xavius shrugs. “They have their own territories around, but most are hibernating. They tend to go comatose for about a hundred years at a time, and the last time they were up and about, Ash had woken Regigas in another region. So, y’know... forty years ago? Thereabouts?”
I nearly choke on my fries. Ash? Forty years? Wow... so if that was James back there, which I’m absolutely sure of, then... dang. Wonder what the gang is doing now...
Either way, that’s really interesting to think about. Oh well, probably not gonna meet him or anything so I’ll just worry about my own adventure. Speaking of... “So where would you suggest we go once we’re done here in the city? We’re gonna be sightseeing too and I was wondering if you knew any neat places to go that aren’t tourist traps or anything.”
“Hmmm...” he says, then takes a few moments to eat, chewing over the thought and the noodles. “Well, Crevasse Village is pretty cool. And there’s some really impressive caves in the depths underneath, and you can go deeper there than just about anywhere else in the whole Otari region. There’s rocks down there identical to those ones found a while back in Unova.” he takes a long slurp of noodles, sending a bit of juice everywhere. “Oops, sorry.”
I take another bite of my zucchini but decide to just let my Pokémon have it. “No problem. Anyways, you mean Chargestone cave? So the rocks are naturally magnetized and electrified? Yeah, that’d be cool to see in real life. Oh, I just remembered to ask: I know there’s a private reserve, but does Otari have a Safari Zone open to trainers to catch from as well?”
“Yeah, it’s up north. Near the volcano, you can’t miss it.” he takes another bite. “Mmm... I love good ramen.”
Magomental is the only one that took to the baked veggie, none of my teammates seeming interested in zucchini. And a Safari Zone near a volcano? Neat! “So I don’t wanna be killing the mood here but... What’s the news on the Chainers? Found the ones that ran off with that laser yet?”
Xavius shakes his head. “We’re investigating, but we still have no idea where their main base is. It’s frustrating; we’ve even gotten international agents coming in, but there’s been no luck so far.”
“Right... figures. These guys are serious business. Anyway since it’s a down moment I should probably explain Twilight...” He doesn’t look up from his food, but motions for me to continue. “Well, I take it you’ve never heard of Equestria before... either way, uh... You know, I think it’d be better if they explained. I’m not exactly a genius on ponies really.”
Twilight looks up from her salad and clears her throat, getting into ‘lecture’ mode. “We are, as Anthony sort of implied, ponies.” Twilight undoes her spell and takes her place at the table as a pony. “We were originally planning to send Anthony home but he had... other ideas and it messed up our magic, sending us here to Otaria. I admit it’s been a little frustrating and scary at times, but I’m beginning to like my new friends, even if I’m still getting used to the life of ah... do you have a more appropriate word for ‘horribly underprepared traveller’?” At Xavius’ shake of the head Twilight continues. “Yes, we aren’t that accustomed to this world, but it’s certainly interesting. I’ve recorded our adventures in a log and sent copies to Princess Celestia, would you like to see them?”
I roll my eyes. “No Twilight, you don’t have to turn in your homework... Besides, reading someone’s exploits isn’t as fun as doing them.”
“Actually, if you’re willing to send those on an email, I’d love to look them over when I have some free time. This all sounds pretty interesting, but I’ll admit that I’m a bit too time-stressed to look into them. I know that there’s a few of the extremely powerful Legends that can move through space and time, and there’s rumors that there’s a partner universe stuck to this one.” he says, finishing off the last of his food.
“I’m of the personal opinion that the connected universe is mine, not the one of Equestria’s, but I suppose if Terra is an alternate of my Earth the way this Earth is, it may be more of a venn-diagram than a linear connection, likely with one of our worlds being the crossover point.” I say, but Twilight looks confused about something.
She rummages through her bag and takes out a small paper journal. “Uh... how do I ‘e-mail’ something like this?”
I roll my eyes again. “You scan it first, then you send it to him using the internet.” Twilight looks even more lost now. “Yeah, ponies aren’t exactly technologically inclined.”
“We’re fast learners, Anthony.” Rarity says. “These éTech devices may be hard to use with hooves, but I’m fairly sure we can figure out how to make a... uh...”
“Digital copy of the journal.” I offer.
“Yes, that.”
Xavius chuckles. “Eh, it’s not quite as weird as seeing a Muk clean a drainage pond.” he says, shrugging.
I eye him incredulously. “Pics or it didn’t happen.” Xavius looks through his éTech and, after a while, holds it up to me, showing that exact scene. “Well... damn... Anyway, yeah, I know plenty about pokémon, but everything related to Otaria is pretty new to me. Twi’s the magic user, and Rares is the... uh... she’s the...” I look at Rarity.
“Lady of the group? Graceful one?” Xavius finishes for me, flashing a smirk and look at Rarity, who giggles and titters, waving a hoof in front of her face in a classy ‘do go on’ way.
“Sure... well, she’s a breeder and coordinator, so we aren’t all trainers, but I suppose that’s true too. Anyways, there’s not a lot to talk about I can think of... oh! Geodude here was my first, but also the hardest to catch. Which of your team was the ‘difficult’ capture?”
Xavius looks at me for a moment, thinking, then nods. “Not one from my current team, but my own Larvydra was a difficult catch, as I got it as a Swarva. Oh, and I caught a Pyresprout by grabbing it and running as fast as I could and using a ball later. Heh, I had second-degree burns that were visible for months after that.”
I’m not familiar with the first pokémon, but I recall the name ‘Pyredhendron’ belonging to those gigantic ent-like grass/fire types, and this sounds like a pre-evolution. And recalling what they looked like... “Running from the parents I assume?”
He chuckles. “And a hungry Victreebel that was wa~ay more active than I ever gave those things credit for.”
“Said it before, gonna say it again: Never underestimate a Grass type.” Oddish looks over at me and smiles. “Sure it was cheap, but this little guy can win a battle without a single offensive move. Right Rarity?”
“I was unprepared and you abused Ledian’s love of flowers, you cheated!”
“Did not!”
“Did so!”
“Meh, fine I cheated. Still a win though. Oddish are boss.”
Xavius laughs into his arm, his entire body heaving with laughter. “You two are like a married couple!” he wheezes between gasps.
I look at Rarity and back at Xavius before responding with a rather flat “Eww.”
Rarity grins. “Agreed, I could do much better I’m sure.”
“You could.” I admit. “But you could do a whole lot worse too.”
Xavius laughs again, then stops as his éTech begins to beep. He pulls it out, looking worried, until he sees what’s on it. A look of wonder shows on his face. “Ooh, I have a way better destination than Crevasse Village, and it’s right nearby! You know those plains? Go out tomorrow morning and carefully keep an eye out for big, black-and-green shapes. You’ll understand when you get there!” he says, smiling broadly.
“An alert system for pokémon migrations and outbreaks?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “Nope, just a calendar. This is a once-a-year thing, so you’ll want to hurry. Or get a tent set up out there and be up early; I’m sure there’ll be others doing the same.”
“Wow, I guess we should go now then. Wouldn’t want to miss a chance like this. Should probably stock up on balls though, not sure of how easy this’ll be.”
Xavius wishes us luck as we recall our pokémon and, after getting the rest of my fries in a doggy bag, we head for the Pokémart. Upon entering I scan the shelves for Ultra Balls but I only see the basic beginning merchandise. Not giving up I head to the cashier. “Hey, do you have any special pokéballs? I’m looking at a complex catch tomorrow.”
The man inspects my jacket and, seeing my lone badge, smiles. “Yup, I got some stuff for ya! Take a look!” He holds up a list of items under ‘one badge’. Oh yeah, the Pokémart has badge limitations, right. I scan the list. No Ultra Balls yet unfortunately, but I do see Great Balls, Super potion, basic Repel spray, and the usual status healers, but a Full Heal isn’t available until I have three badges. Damnit, guess I’ll have to make the best of it. Grabbing a Burn Heal like I wanted on my first shopping trip, a can of Repel, a pair of Super Potions and two Great Balls I check my money and see I just spent almost half my cash on this and I’m left with 3500. Ouch, I’m gonna have to win some battles soon. Oh well, I might be able to get a battle in with a trainer tomorrow. Xavius said the event would draw a lot of trainers.
I suggest the girls buy whatever they think they’ll need, Rarity being forced to choose from the basic stock as she hadn’t gotten any badges or ribbons in her case. Twilight is very interested in some of the new healing items available to her. “A freeze heal? Like, it’ll warm up a pokémon if it gets too cold?”
“Nah.” I reply as I stick my purchased items into my bag and sync the inventory with my éTech. “It’ll fully thaw out a pokémon if it’s frozen solid, using it on just a strong chill or a bad cold would be overkill.”
“O- overkill?”
Right, death implications and ponies don’t mix. “Figure of speech, it won’t hurt a pokémon but it will be pretty much wasted on anything lighter than frostbite or something.”
“Ah, alright. Wow. I’ll take one of those.”