Chapter 7: V1 C6 – New Bark Rescue

After catching Shinx, Joe spent a good few hours training. When he wasn’t giving Cyndaquil or Shinx orders in battles against wild Pokemon, he was looking up information on his RotoPhone. The list of Pokemon and their attacks was never ending, and Joe wasn’t one for cramming knowledge into his head within a short period of time. He learnt best from actually experiencing something. So while he looked up a lot of Pokemon and what they were capable of, he wouldn’t truly remember until he fought the various Pokemon he’d researched.

There was another very obvious reason for Joe wanting to learn as much as possible, as fast as possible. He wanted to ensure he could create a powerful team to support Absol. The Disaster Pokemon herself was strong, she could learn a move from all eighteen types. Not a feat many Pokemon were able to accomplish. So Absol was a good all-rounder. She could enter any battle against any opponent. But Joe felt like the rest of his team should be more focused. More specialised.

The more he researched, the more it became a struggle for him, although for perhaps a petty reason. He was torn between choosing to capture a Pokemon based on its strength compared to its looks. Whether he liked it or not, a Slaking was superior to a Pidgeot. And yet, he would prefer a Pidgeot because it was cooler. He preferred Flygon over Dragonite, there was something about the green Dragon-type that caught his attention. Joe certainly surprised himself with this line of thinking. Just a few days ago he hadn’t cared much for Pokemon, but now he was debating which Pokemon were cool or cute and why he should pick some over others. 

He was torn. When he initially thought of raising a team to support Absol, Joe believed he would be purely logical about it and only pick the best of the best. But pretty much straight away, when he encountered Cyndaquil, he picked a Pokemon based on other factors. He’d already spent time with Cyndaquil. Even if it was just five minutes, he felt a bond forming and didn’t even consider picking Chikorita or Totodile. For all Joe knew, one of the other two Johto starter Pokemon were better, but it didn’t even cross his mind to research them first. He acted on emotion, not logic.

Rotom pointed out that even a Ninetales could defeat an Arcanine if it were trained well. It wasn’t just about how strong a Pokemon should be, those statistics were just based on averages. The average Arcanine may be stronger than the average Ninetales, but there was more to it than that. Pokemon that were raised with love and care were often able to push themselves further for the sake of their Trainer. As Rotom said this, Cyndaquil ignited the red pads on its back and let out a battle cry. It was more than prepared to take on a tough opponent.

Joe smiled at the fire mouse, in that moment deciding what he would do. He would simply catch whatever Pokemon he wanted. It would then be up to him to make the Pokemon strong regardless of if it should be strong or not. To him, there was no fun in just thinking logically about the situation. Considering how he felt when he wanted to catch Shinx, Joe found it more fun to live in the moment and not worry about whether a Pokemon was a good fit for his team or not. He would just do what he wanted.

Seeing as the sun had been falling to the West for some time, it was clear to Joe that it was currently late afternoon. His Pokemon had done enough for today, now it was time to eat. As they entered New Bark Town to look for a restaurant to eat at, a notification came through on Joe’s phone. Rotom went ahead and read it out, stating that Viola was ready to meet at a building to the North of the port warehouse. They were to meet once the sun had almost set, a little after 9pm.

With more spare time than he expected, Joe put off the meal for just a bit longer. He needed a few pieces of equipment and a way to store them, so he entered the nearest PokeMart. He bought an over-the-shoulder bag that was red and white, mimicking the standard Pokeball design. A potion fit snuggly to one side of the bag, and he imagined food could be stored beside it with ease. He also went ahead and bought a bundle of Pokeballs, twenty-five to be exact, just in case. That number was the perfect amount for his bag, the Pokeballs fit inside a smaller compartment with no space left over. And finally he got a Pokeball holster that clipped onto his belt so there was no stuffing them into his pockets and hoping he grabbed the correct Pokeball in a pinch.

Now he was set for the short-term, although considering the amount of travelling he would be doing soon, Joe would need to get a proper backpack that could hold more gear like a small tent and sleeping bag. But this little bag would do until he reached Kanto and truly began his adventure.

Moving on to the closest relevant restaurant, Joe made sure to pick a place that allowed Pokemon to be out of their Pokeballs. Ignoring the fact that Absol refused to remain tucked away inside a Pokeball so he had to find a specific diner because of her, he also had other Pokemon to think about. They needed to be fed. Absol claimed a spot on Joe’s team earlier, not long after Joe caught Shinx, but it seemed like she disliked being kept inside a ball for one reason or another. It could just be that she wasn’t used to it, or maybe it cut off her sensing the outside world so she didn’t know if there was danger lurking nearby. Either way, Absol would be out of her Pokeball as often as possible.

As per usual, Rotom perked up and started reciting a dictionary entry when Joe appeared to wonder how these small balls worked. It gave a basic explanation of the devices, saying they were made for the purpose of calming and comforting Pokemon. The Pokemon is essentially put into a state where they can enjoy their own dreams. It’s like a paradise. Beyond that, it is not public knowledge as to how these devices work.

Looking at the mouthwatering food on the menu while his phone spoke, Joe was surprised to see how cheap Pokemon food was. That was until the food arrived and he understood why it was priced the way it was. Pokemon food was almost exclusively made up of brown pellets harbouring all the nutrients a Pokemon should ever need. They were a simple product that could be bought at any PokeMart, as well as other shops like small corner shops. The restaurant was serving those same pellets.

Not sure why I expected there to be some extravagant food for them, too. Joe thought. This restaurant was definitely a place for fine dining. It may not be a fancy, ridiculously priced diner, but they most definitely served great food. So he figured Pokemon food would end up looking like and tasting as good as human food. Clearly he was wrong.

After eating his fill and waiting for Shinx to finish its meal, Joe figured he might as well head to the meeting spot. It was a little early, but there wasn’t much else to do.

Following Rotom’s directions, Joe eventually made his way to a small convenience store on the corner of an intersection. “Are you sure this is the right place?”

Halfway through Rotom saying they were most definitely at the right location, Joe spotted someone peek through the blinds on the second floor, above the shop. The person quickly vanished. With the feeling that Viola was the one that looked at him through a small gap in the blinds, Joe walked into the store. He peered over some stands to see a door burst open behind the counter, startling the teenage worker standing by the cash register.

“This way, this way.” Viola said, locking eyes with Joe and making a gesture with her hand to signal that he should follow her.

Joe briefly grinned at the store worker as he passed by and went through the door, making sure it didn’t close on Absol. He was immediately greeted by stairs as two lightbulbs flickered above his head. Viola had already begun walking upstairs so Joe followed with Absol behind him. Considering how narrow the stairway was, and the fact that there were no windows or other objects to catch his attention, Joe had a choice of either looking up or down. One option led to a satisfying view, although it was most certainly immoral. The other choice had him looking down at some bland stairs.

Apologising to Viola in his head, Joe sped up his pace to match the woman’s and they soon entered a room with no natural light. Instead, there was a lanky orange and brown Pokemon standing on a desk. Its lower half was made up of glowing eyes and a large mouth, and it was giving off enough directional light to make anything it looked at easy to see.

“Gourgeist, can you make the place just a little brighter please.” Viola asked, to which the Pokemon on the desk began flushing more light out of its eyes and mouth.

Out of the corner of his eye, Joe saw Rotom register the use of Flash as he moved to stand by the desk on the opposite side that Viola chose to stand at. Gourgeist was using a move outside of battle. That kind of usage hadn’t even crossed Joe’s mind, but it was something to think of for the future when he had more Pokemon. They weren’t just good for battle. Moves could be used in everyday life too.

“Thanks for coming early. I was starting to think I should move our meeting forward a little, but you beat me to it.” Viola acknowledged Joe’s response before jumping right into it. “So, the plan. We’re going to be sneaking into the warehouse.”

Thinking about it for a few seconds, Joe responded. “Isn’t that illegal?”

“We just need evidence. Once we have evidence of any wrongdoing, we can claim probable cause and say we knew beforehand.”

Joe’s eyes widened a little. That was a cheeky plan, to say the least. He couldn’t remember specifics, but the general idea behind probable cause was to allow people to act in the interest of doing the right thing. If a human or Pokemon were in danger on private property, probable cause was justification for entering said private property in order to protect the people or Pokemon. “And what if they ask why you didn’t call law enforcement like the International Police?”

Viola smiled. “I’m doing this for a detective, remember? Looker always helps out with the little details.”

Sounds like Viola gets herself into trouble often. Well, at this point I’m not one to talk. Joe couldn’t help but think that, with Absol by his side, he would be getting himself involved in a lot of trouble in the future. He understood that was the entire point, he wanted to help others solve their conflicts or whatever other problem bothering them, but there was still a part of him trying to make him see he was in over his head. He was about to enter a world of danger. “Okay, so what’s the plan?”

“I’m glad you asked!” Viola excitedly turned to the wall behind Joe. “Light it up, Gourgeist.”

Joe turned with his arms folded as a pin board was lit up by the Pokemon. Viola rushed to stand beside her pin board and began pointing at various pieces of paper and photographs as she explained her plan. 

They were going to sneak in through a back corner of the gated area because that’s where a damaged fence was situated. For some reason. The way Viola explained it, it wasn’t hard for Joe to imagine she got one of her Pokemon to damage the fence so she had an entry point. From there they were going to go straight for the warehouse. Patrols didn’t happen often, a guard would walk around the outside of the warehouse once an hour and the walk took no more than ten minutes. So there was a huge fifty minute gap where Viola, Joe and Absol would be left alone to investigate. Joe assumed this was because it was a low risk, low reward operation. There was no point having a dozen grunts guarding such a small profit.

In regards to what was happening behind closed doors, Viola pointed at some pictures that showed Pokemon in cages being transported into the port warehouse. She believed Team Rocket was stealing or capturing rare Pokemon in Johto and then using the port to ship them into Kanto, home to Team Rocket’s headquarters if rumours were to be believed. If Viola’s assumption was correct, then the port warehouse was storing caged Pokemon right now.

In and of itself, caged Pokemon inside a warehouse wasn’t the problem. In order to move a Pokemon by sea, they had to be restrained inside suitable cages for everyone’s safety. However, the law accounted for this being harmful. If a Pokemon is to be moved via sea transport, they cannot be in the holding area for longer than twenty-four hours. In this instance, the port warehouse was the holding area. Beneath the photographs were notes of yesterday’s date and then a time not long after breakfast.

“I get it. If the Pokemon in these photos are still in the warehouse, that’s a problem. They’ve been in there for longer than twenty-four hours. That’s what you need to prove.” Joe rounded off the plan by stating the point of the evidence they needed, to which Viola nodded vigorously. Joe continued while putting a hand on his chin. “So what’s the probable cause for? Getting caught? No, it’s easy to avoid being caught…” It took a moment, but he soon realised Viola’s true goal. With a smile, Joe removed his eyes from the pin board and smiled at Viola. “We’re breaking the Pokemon out.”

“Bingo.” Viola said, winking at the young man. “And just in case something goes wrong, I’ve contacted Looker. He’ll be on standby until I say we have the evidence.” With the presentation over, Viola and her Gourgeist gave a bow, to which Joe applauded.

Although this conversation did make Joe wonder if the port warehouse should be a larger operation than it currently is. As far as he knew, Team Rocket were based in Kanto. At best he had to assume they only recently began expanding into other regions of the world, and what better place to start than Kanto’s neighbouring region. That meant Johto as a whole didn’t have many Team Rocket members in it.

Taking his mind off the actions of Team Rocket, Joe understood that Viola’s plan was a solid one. Joe appreciated that rescuing the Pokemon was thought of ahead of time. Leaving the Pokemon trapped inside a warehouse, in the hands of an evil organisation, didn’t sit right with Joe. It didn’t matter if law enforcement would intervene, he wanted the Pokemon freed as soon as possible. If Viola hadn’t suggested breaking them out, or formulated a plan that involved saving the Pokemon, Joe likely would’ve acted on his own even if it got him into trouble. He looked down at Absol, who seemed to understand the plan and nodded silently. Everyone was in agreement, so the plan was set in stone.

Since they were to act during the dead of night, there was plenty of time to spare. Absol decided to rest but, given the circumstances, Viola and Joe were a little restless, so they spent their time talking instead. Joe’s first inquiry was about this detective Viola had mentioned, Looker. Viola explained that while he may be a little odd, he had a good heart. He went out of his way to ensure the safety of people and Pokemon alike, even brushing some of Viola’s bad actions under the rug so she can keep working for him. It was clear that Viola was someone who believed that the ends justify the means. Committing a lesser crime to catch bigger fish may be looked down on by some, but she thought it was fine.

Talking the hours away, the pair discussed anything and everything. Viola’s parents disapproving of her lifestyle, Joe’s run in with a Legendary and becoming a Pokemon Trainer this very day. What working for a detective entailed. Even their favourite foods were brought up at one point, which reminded Viola of some snacks she’d prepared beforehand, so the rest of their conversation also involved eating a cookie or two.

Gourgeist eventually became more energetic and started dancing around the desk, indicating that it was late enough to act. It was a Pokemon that favoured nighttime activities after all. It had more energy when the moon was high in the sky.

So the small group executed their plan. It didn’t take long to arrive at the fence surrounding the port warehouse, and as expected some of the chainlinks had been broken, allowing Joe to move it aside so everyone could climb through the gap. As Viola went through the hole in the fence she whispered ‘Thanks, Joltik.’ under her breath. Rotom was going to share information about Joltik since Joe didn’t know the Pokemon, but taking context into account it stopped itself, choosing to save it as a memo for later. Rotom didn’t want to be the one to mess up and give their location away to Team Rocket.

No workers were patrolling the area, all according to plan, so the group moved to the nearby door on the side of the warehouse and peered through a window beside said door. A dim light hung from above, illuminating cages of various shapes and sizes. Inside all these cages were Pokemon displaying a number of emotions. Some were angry and hitting the metal bars of their prison. Some were extremely upset and on the verge of tears. Some seemed to have accepted their fate and were simply sleeping.

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“There.” Viola said in a quiet voice, pointing to a line of Pokemon. “They were in the photo I took.” Without wasting any time, she pulled her phone out and took a picture of what was on the other side of the window, sending it to Looker and then pulling out a handful of small tools. “Now then, let's free some Pokemon.”

This young woman really was a bundle of surprises. Lockpicking was in her skillset, which Joe should’ve seen coming. If she was going to break into private property, she needed to be able to do things like pick locks.

They entered the damp warehouse and immediately got to work. Viola was going to have one row to herself and Joe would take a different row. The young man quickly had to improvise how to remove locks without making much noise, so he settled on having Absol destroy the cage locks with her claws while Joe made sure to catch the falling lock so it didn’t smash into the concrete floor. For the agitated Pokemon he had to go the extra mile and try to calm them down before freeing them, but Pokemon were smart creatures capable of understanding human language. He had no issue getting his point across, that they needed to stay quiet because he was here to help.

Joe soon arrived at a fairly small cage housing an equally small Pokemon. It had an entirely white body, except for the top half of its head that was green with two red horns. To Joe it almost looked like a child wearing clothes that were too big as there was some sort of wispy extension that trailed behind its feet.

“Human, it’s dangerous here.”

Joe instinctively furrowed his brow and looked around, hearing what sounded like the voice of a young girl. He knew a voice that echoed inside his head was not coming from a person nearby, but he didn’t know where else the voice could be coming from. That was until Rotom began explaining that the Pokemon before Joe was a Ralts, and it had a fairly rare Ability. Telepathy.

“So you can talk to people?” Joe asked as he tapped the lock and moved his hands beneath it. This was the small gesture he’d used for every cage so far to ensure he was on the same page as Absol. They couldn’t be acting out of sync on a stealth mission like this.

The Disaster Pokemon cut the lock but then started growling.

“You’re in danger.”

Suddenly feeling a chill go up his spine, Joe threw the door of Ralts’ cage open with his right hand and grabbed the Pokemon in his left hand, then immediately kicked against the ground to force himself back. As Absol moved in front of Joe while he fell backwards, a large silhouette crashed through the wall that was just above Ralts’ cage. It was like Absol, a quadruped, but it had to be at least three times larger. A size and weight difference was demonstrated as it crushed the tiny cage underneath its big paw.

“Use Ice Beam, Absol!” Joe shouted as he scrambled to his feet, gritting his teeth in annoyance. If he hadn’t chosen to grab Ralts before moving back then the little white Pokemon would probably be severely injured right now considering the current state of the cage.

A beam of glimmering blue ice left Absol’s mouth as Rotom informed Joe that was a bad move against a Fire-type. It turned out, while Joe was focusing on something else, the floating phone had mentioned that the Pokemon before them was an Arcanine. Joe had experienced tunnel vision and shut everything out as he thought about what could’ve happened to Ralts had he not acted correctly. That was something he needed to work on, he couldn’t be thinking about unrelated topics during a fight. If he were focused properly, he would’ve been able to use a more effective move.

As Ice Beam raced through the air towards Arcanine, the Fire-type opened its mouth ready to retaliate. But just before it could spew flame and melt Absol’s ice in midair, three pure black shadows wrapped around Arcanine and a split second later Gourgeist appeared out of thin air, smashing into the orange and black beast. This attack put Arcanine in a state of recovery, unable to attack because it needed to steady itself, giving Absol’s attack time to strike the Pokemon. As it was forced out of the warehouse through the hole it’d created, the screen on Joe’s RotoPhone displayed the words Shadow Sneak, informing the new Trainer what move Gourgeist had attacked with.

Absol rushed forward under Joe’s command and wrapped its right paw in dark energy, ready to strike using Sucker Punch. Fire formed around Arcanine’s pearly white teeth as Fire Fang was used, forcing Absol to dodge to the side as the beast aimed to bite her. Both Joe and Absol saw this as the perfect opening so the Disaster Pokemon moved in to attack and successfully struck Arcanine in the side of the head with Sucker Punch.

As the Fire-type was thrown back a few metres, excess flames spewed out from the gaps between its teeth while it skidded to a halt. It unleashed a high power Flamethrower attack in Absol’s direction. The fire was certainly moving faster than expected, but Absol should be able to dodge. Despite thinking that, Viola ordered Gourgeist to get in front of Absol and use Rock Slide to take the hit. Half a dozen rocks of various shapes and sizes formed before Gourgeist as it put the rocks together as a shield, taking the brunt of Flamethrower.

Gourgeist was thrown back alongside its rocks that blocked most of the attack. It was singed in a few places, but for the most part the shield had worked. Arcanine appeared to gloat, a smile forming on its face. It understood better than anyone just how powerful it was. Some rocks weren’t enough to stop it. But since it was so fixated on its apparent victory against Gourgeist, it briefly forgot Absol existed. The Disaster Pokemon appeared right beside the Fire-type and unleashed a point blank Shadow Ball right in Arcanine’s face.

This was more than enough to knock the beast out, its heavy body steaming from the impact of Shadow Ball as it hit the concrete with a thud.

“Hm, useless.” The large man from earlier, still one of few words, made himself apparent. He was near a lamppost by the gate he was standing at earlier today.

As the man reached for another Pokeball on his belt, a large spotlight lit him up. Joe looked to where it was coming from. From far above the warehouse there was a helicopter shining down a bright light on the criminal. It was so high that Joe could only just hear its blades spinning, but since his attention had been drawn to the direction of the warehouse Joe spotted someone standing atop the port building. Whoever this person was, they were wearing a long coat that was waving about roughly due to the sea breeze.

“I told you he was odd. But he likes his cool entrances, let him have it.” Viola, who’d immediately started to relax knowing the International Police were here, had picked up her injured Gourgeist and walked to Joe’s side.

In the next moment Looker leapt from the warehouse roof onto the ground as twenty police officers rushed through the gate at the large man’s back and fanned out around him. “Give up, criminal. You’re surrounded.” 

He had a detective in front of him and an entire unit of police officers covering his back. Seeing no other option, the large man raised his arms, allowing an officer to approach him and secure his hands in some thicker than normal handcuffs. Either they came prepared to arrest just about anyone so had cuffs in a variety of sizes, or they knew roughly who they were dealing with beforehand. Given that Looker was a detective, Joe liked the latter idea, that this was all planned.

“Good work, Viola.” Looker said, turning to the woman who worked for him. “And you, young man. You have my gratitude.”

Viola's hands were free because Gourgeist was feeling better and was standing on its own two feet again, so with one of her spare hands she smacked Joe on the back a few times. “Yeah, you did well.” She then put a hand out for a handshake. “I look forward to working with you again in the future.”

Joe accepted. “Honestly if I ever run into you again it’ll feel like a bad omen.”

“Well you’re not wrong.” The young woman chuckled lightly. “Still, it was nice working with someone else for a change. I’m usually on my own or with Looker.”

As they spoke, Joe briefly noticed Absol stiffly walk over to Gourgeist and strike up a conversation with it. She probably wasn’t used to thanking others for the help but didn’t want to be rude, hence her awkward, robotic walk. And speaking of noticing things, Joe saw that Looker had a hand on his chin and was silently observing the young man. 

“Is something wrong?”

“Hm?” Looker snapped out of his daze. “No, no. I just felt like I knew you. But my mind is probably just failing me as I grow old.” He then looked down to the Ralts still being held tightly by the young man. “It’s rare for a Ralts to be so comfortable. Is it your Pokemon?”

“Yes.”

Joe heard Ralts’ young feminine voice again. It didn’t seem like anyone else heard it, especially because Looker appeared to still be expecting a response from Joe. So now the young man was led to believe Ralts wanted to be part of his team. There was no reason for him to decline, it just caught him off guard. Looking down at the Ralts in his arms as it looked up at him, he made up his mind. If Ralts wanted to be with him, then so be it.

“Ralts is one of my Pokemon, yes.”

“I see, I see.” Looker’s voice trailed off as he seemed to be deep in thought. He spoke up a few seconds later, having made up his mind about something. “Ralts are excellent judges of character due to their ability to sense emotion. The fact that it is fine with you means you’re a good person. And of course helping Viola free stolen Pokemon is indication of good character too. So I have a proposition, young man. May I borrow that floating phone or yours for a second?”

Giving a nod of approval, Rotom flew over to Detective Looker who began tapping away at the screen. When the ageing gentleman let the phone go so it could float back over to Joe, Looker began explaining what he’d done. The detective had installed an app labelled PokeJobs and input himself as a reference. In short, it was an app that allowed people to request help with a task. Whether it was delivering a letter, finding a missing Pokemon, or a bigger job like protecting expensive goods as they’re transported to a new location, anyone could ask for help with anything. Looker using himself as a reference meant Joe was immediately granted access to the app. Usually people had to go through months of evaluations and reviews before being accepted as a worker on PokeJobs, but certain people in high places like Looker were able to refer people to the programme.

“It is something of a double-edged sword for myself, however.” Looker started. “It will damage my reputation if I refer a no-good employee, so I’m going out on a limb to support you here. I expect to hear good news about your exploits moving forward. Considering what you did today and how Ralts is fine with you, I would say you’re the right person for the job, but only time will tell.”

Taken aback slightly by the opportunity given to him, Joe thanked Looker and shook his hand. This wasn’t something Joe would take lightly. He had chosen to spend his time helping others, and now he was given an easy way to do so. He would have a proper look at the app after a good night’s rest, but he had a pretty good idea of how it would work because Looker shared more information about the app. There was something of a ranking system to ensure the right person was picked for the job. Joe couldn’t just start with the dangerous jobs on his first day, those were higher ranking jobs for more capable employees. But if Joe were to prove himself by completing jobs, both easy and hard, he would have a good rating and would be allowed to take on more difficult requests. It could even get to a point where employers would personally ask for Joe because they trust him to get the job done.

With a smile, Joe thanked Looker once again. For now it was getting quite late and his job here was done, so it was time for him to get some sleep. This sentiment was expressed by Ralts yawning and rubbing underneath its green bowl cut hair where its eyes were. 

“I’ll see you around, Viola.”

“You bet you will now we’re in the same line of work. Until next time, Joe.” She said, waving as the young man walked away with a Ralts in his arms and a shiny Absol by his side.

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