Chapter 2
Voyage from Sea to Sea ~ Sweet Escape
Zachy and I were caught red-handed. But there’s no going back. What already started must continue. That’s why I must attempt to persuade Lillie into releasing me scot free.
“You may be my older brother, and a very loving one too, but…” Lillie pauses. “...rules exist for a reason and I exist to enforce them. Make this easier for both of us.” She takes out an Aether Ball and sends out her most beloved Pokémon, Ninetails. The Alolan variant one, of course.
“You want to settle this through a Pokémon battle? That’s different from the Lillie I know. Being a trial captain has changed you quite a bit, hasn’t it?” I say, although I hardly know her enough to begin with despite being her brother.
“Firstly, not only did you enter a restricted area, you also were about to steal a Primarina. Secondly, you can indeed say I changed a bit as I can now tolerate Pokémon battles, but I’m still the Lillie you know. And thirdly, what is Dr. Zachy doing here?” Lillie’s growth is definitely manifesting through her speech. I guess running away from your family makes you mature faster.
Before I could utter a word to Lillie, Zachy steals my reply. “Lillie, there’s no need to be rough about this. I come here regularly to regulate the well-being of the rental Pokémon. If there’s nobody here to treat them like friends and family, they would lose motivation to fight. We must not make rental Pokémon feel like slaves for battling, so I voluntarily come here to interact with them in their digital ecosystem.”
“Oh, I see. It seems that I’m sorely mistaken, and I humbly apologize.” Lillie curtsies awkwardly, then returns to her calm posture. “But what is Nye doing here?”
“As you know, Nye has never owned a Pokémon and has so far only used rental Pokémon. Naturally, some of the Pokémon have grown fond of him so I brought him over to interact with them. This Primarina prefers to play outside the digital realm, so we sent it outside of its Pokéball.” explained Zachy professionally. He is definitely the man for me. How convenient it was for me to bump into him and how grateful I am for him! I would have never made out of this situation by myself. “Additionally, this Primarina’s original home is in Poni Island. It has a family there and wants to visit it. For this Primarina’s sake, we are taking it to Poni Island during the only time it can go there, which is nighttime. During daytime, it has to stay here. Let us do this, please!”
“Is that so? Well, since you’re from the Pokémon Rehabilitation Department of Aether Foundation, I guess I can trust you. Your love for Pokémon is so great and I shouldn’t hold you back, so go ahead. And Nye...” Lillie hastily takes out five Aether Balls from her bag and hands them to me. “Go catch your first Pokémon. It’s about time.” I’m shocked, in gratitude of this forgiving gift. I’m finally about to own a Pokémon that I can train and love? Well, this was inevitable since I’m about to begin my island challenge soon. I guess it’s just happening sooner. But it’s not like I was never allowed to catch a Pokémon at all. It was my conscious choice.
“Thank you, Lillie! I’ll make you very proud when I challenge your trial.”
“Oh, Nye, you won’t just be challenging my trial. You’ll also be battling me. Keep this between you and me, but the Alola League is changing things a bit this time. In the near future, island go-ers are now required to win a battle against a trial captain before challenging their respective trial! This change will most likely be in effect when you begin, so prepare intensively! Although, it might end up being a bit different from what I said, so keep that in mind.” With that, Lillie releases Zachy and I outside of the building. It was a success. The exclusive news about the renewed island challenge is also got me excited. My patience almost diminished upon hearing the secret.
“Thank you so much, Zachy! You literally saved us! How did you come up with that lie?”
“It wasn’t totally a lie. I can feel the homesickness from this Pokémon. Can’t you?” Zachy is right. Sometimes, there’s something about Primarina that feels off, but I ignored it because I could never figure out what it was.
“I’m so sorry, Primarina. Aether Foundation rescued you and it does offer a very luxurious life for you as well. Your health is always maintained and you get special training everyday, but such things can’t ever fully replace your loved ones.” Oddly enough, my own words hit me. I somehow relate to what I said, despite never leaving my family. Maybe I’m confusing this feeling for something else. “So let’s visit your family!”
My priorities have changed. Zachy and I mutually agree that Primarina is more important than our date. Enthusiastically, Primarina dives into the ocean. I mount on the now-refreshed sea lion as it recollects memories of swimming freely in the open ocean. I inhale the ocean scent, embracing the ocean winds with open arms under the moon. Beside me is Zachy, surfing on his Starmie.
As we travel the ocean towards Poni Island, I examine the Aether Balls that Lillie gave to me. The crystal in the middle can change colour depending on the condition of the Pokémon inside it, as an indicator of its health. When the Pokémon is in good condition, the crystal is green. When the Pokémon is at low health, the crystal is red. When the Pokémon is recovering, the crystal is yellow. If the Pokémon is not in the Pokéball, the crystal is simply colorless.
The colours of the crystal can be customized in an app exclusive to the Aether Phone. The colours are all named after metals and valuable stones, to further glamorize the Aether Ball. Earlier, Zachy mentioned a digital realm where he could interact with the rental Pokémon. The Aether Phone allows the user to access a virtual ecosystem that can connect to an unlimited amount of Aether Balls. The Pokémon inside the connected Aether Balls live in a simulated environment as if it’s reality. Nonetheless, this technology is still in its early stages but the code is apparently bug-free and therefore safe. No serious problems have been reported yet, but many are quite hesitant to trust it. I don’t blame them at all.
In a Pokémon battle, the healing feature of Aether Balls would give the trainer an advantage. All Pokémon that are currently not out in battle would be healed continuously, so the healing feature is turned off during battles. This is indicated by a ninety degree rotation of the crystal in the center. Those who are overseeing the match can confirm this so that both trainers can have a fair battle.
“What could you be pondering about?” Zachy interrupts my thoughts. Looks like I’ve been daydreaming for a long while. We’ve been surfing for around thirty minutes. “There’s a huge wave approaching, let’s ride it! Or at least, watch out if you don’t want to.” He’s surprisingly playful, to say the least. Zachy and his Starmie head towards the formidable wave, gracefully avoiding obstacles along the way. The duo seem to have perfect synergy. Zachy is now standing in the wave, doing cool poses, looking at me. Is this his way of impressing me? They reach the crest and launch themselves off of it. Zachy performs a backflip above the wave, landing on Starmie recoil-free. “I LOVE ALOLA!” he shouts and I echo it back. I clap and cheer wildly. Primarina majestically sings a song in applause as the wave declines. Zachy returns to surf beside me. The sea is calm, yet Zachy and I are brimming with energy. “It’s still a long way to get there. How do you plan to kill time?”
I start brainstorming. What could we do here exactly? We’re in the middle of the ocean. Only Zachy can surf properly and even then, there aren’t any surfable waves within proximity anymore. There’s nothing to do. Besides an impromptu chat date in the middle of the ocean, miles above the sea floor. It’s dark out and cold here too. I’m not afraid. Not when Zachy is here with me.
Zachy holds my hand. His hands are warm. “Nye, are you feeling it?” All I’m feeling is romantic excitement! Ahh! This is just making me blush so much.
“Pardon?”
“The ocean. It might get a bit dangerous.” Abruptly, the waters become violent. The sea is angry and it has nothing to smash but us. Cue the consecutive brutal waves. It feels like we’ll be wiped out any moment. How delicate we are in this situation. What I thought would be my best night ever is about to become the worst, or possibly even the last. Nature is now showing its wrath upon me. I wonder if I ever romanticize or idealize nature. This is what nature can do anyone. And at this very moment I may experience the most painful part and the cruelest side of nature. Death.
The next thing that happens is that… I’m lifted in air? Primarina, Zachy, and his Starmie as well. The ocean turns into a different shade of blue. This is freaky. Like what is happening to the ocean? We continue to elevate and the whole situation becomes clear to all of us. We’re on a Wailord. And it certainly caused quite a raucous on the surface. Still, how anticlimactic. Although, it’s not everyday that anyone can just ride on a Wailord. I’m just glad the blowhole is far away from us as I expect the Wailord to release it soon. Not too untimely.
The biological geyser erupts, causing the area around me to drizzle for a bit. This is truly a new experience for me. I enjoyed it. I’m not gonna lie, but being thrown around like that was kind of fun, even if I was expecting death. It’s a good thing I don’t get seasick. A few moments later, the Wailord returns underwater. Just before it submerges us along with it, Zachy sends out an Alakazam. Very intelligent Psychic-type Pokémon. That reminds me, Starmie is also a Psychic-type. Does he only use Psychic-type Pokémon? Come to think of it, his Gallade, another Psychic-type, is always beside him during his massages. It’s not weird for a Pokémon psychologist to be fond of Psychic-types, though. It’s actually fitting for him.
“Alakazam, teleport us to Seafolk Village immediately!” Zachy commands Alakazam, expressing such great tenacity. There’s also a little hint of fear in his eyes. The Alakazam floats in a meditating position, begins glowing radiantly, then promptly teleports all of us.
We arrive at Seafolk Village, one of the few areas in Poni Island populated by humans. When I look at Zachy, his eyes are watering as he makes a short, tearful dash towards me. He hugs me. Though I’m uncomfortable around each other’s freezing wetness, I’m comfortable in his locking embrace. He cries even more on my right shoulder. “Nye… I feel embarrassed for crying, but I really thought I was about to lose you again there. I’m glad Alakazam was able to teleport us here safely. It normally wouldn’t be able to teleport let alone one person over such a long distance. Yet it successfully teleported four bodies here.”
“Crying feels good. Don’t be embarrassed. I thought I was going to lose you too, although this was rather unnecessary. What if Alakazam failed to teleport us? And what do you mean by losing me ‘again’? Nevermind, I’m sorry for saying that. Thank you so much for saving me, once again. If I hadn’t bumped into you at the elevator at all…”
“You don’t understand! Wailord travel in large groups! That was just the first one. There was already a pod of them below us!!!” Zach exclaims, frustration replacing his distressful shock. His sobbing subsides. “I’m not really blaming the Wailord, they need to breathe air too, and we’re too small for them to notice.” Wailord really are such large creatures. The one we rode on was even larger than an airplane.
“I’m so sorry, Zachy.” I’ve never seen him like this before. He looks like he totally lost it. He’s usually calm and collected, never showing himself much. Tonight he really let it all out to me. I start comforting him with physical sensations and verbal affirmations.
