Chapter 88 – Netting Sponsors

Chapter 88 – Netting Sponsors

“This is too time consuming. I need someone with experience to go through all these sponsorship deals for me.”

“Ninee?”

“Do I know anyone? Well…”

The list of lawyer or business types on my contact list was exactly zero. That didn’t mean I didn’t know people who regularly interacted with those kinds of people.

“Let me try something. If that doesn’t lead to anything we’ll have to give up some of our earnings for a consultation.”

Turning on my Xtransceiver I scrolled through my contact list before tapping on a certain ghost type specialists’ name. The time was late evening but I knew for a fact that was exactly when this girl turned most active. The ringing sound went off and it didn’t take long for the person on the other side to pick up our communication request. Because this was Hoenn where everyone and their mother walked around with pokégears we were limited to audio only.

“Egon?”

“Hi, Phoebes.”

“Why is a squirt like you calling at this time? Shouldn’t you be in bed right now?”

“For your information I am a completely independent licensed trainer! With a well-paying job to boot!”

“Being a trainer isn’t a job! There are tons of people living together with Pokémon.”

“I will have you know that I’ve recently been hired to give guest lectures at the Rustburo trainer’s school.”

“That’s great Egon! The perfect job for a nerdy boy like you.”

“…Thanks, I guess. Now as for the reason why I called you. Recently certain companies have shown interest in sponsoring me. They did so by sending me a bunch of paperwork. Do you know any paralegals or solicitors who’d be able to assist me in selecting one of them to sign with?”

“Not at all, I don’t do sponsorships.”

“Not even your own family’s businesses?”

“Advertising our exorcising or undertaker services on daytime national television while children could be watching? Whenever we need any extra money grandma buys haunted property for a dime relocates the wild Pokémon living inside and sells it back for ten times the original price.”

“Damn rich kid… Still, do you know anyone who has experience with stuff like this?”

“Yes, but what was that first part you just said?”

“Nothing! Just something that got stuck in my throat. Anyway, what’s this about you knowing someone who is experienced with sponsorship contracts?”

“You know her too. My bestie slash rival Glacia! That girl is always harping on about money issues. You’ll have to ask her yourself though, owing her any favors might hamper my ability to properly face her in battle.”

While Phoebe got busy texting me Glacia’s personal number. One of my partner Pokémon sprang up from behind me to see what has kept me away for so long. 

“Laaaamp!”

“Orin!? Keep it down, okay? I am quite sure we can’t carry open flames in the media room. While discriminatory, this includes you.”

Naturally the appearance of my only ghost type Pokémon caught the attention of Phoebe who was still on the other end of the line.

“Is that your Lampent Egon? Send me a picture! Give me a closer look!”

“Fine, today was his special evolution day so be sure to compliment him, okay?”

Click*

Turning over my wrist phone I gave Phoebe a clear view shot of Orin who was currently hovering over my shoulder. Despite not being able to give her any live feed of my Pokémon due to her pokégear’s innate limitations sending pictures on our communications application was still doable.

“Blue eyes… and even its flame has become a pretty pink. My Chandelure is still the cutest though!”

“Laamp!?”

“You already evolved your Lampent? It’s only been less than half a year.”

“Chandelure has already been a Lampent way before she decided to follow me! She wanted to become just as strong as the rest of my team.”

“Isn’t that a little…? I mean your other partners have been with you for years. Evolving won’t drastically change the gap between them and Chandelure.”

“It is true that she won’t be ready to battle alongside us when I try for the Elite Four position this year. However! Remember that Ghost types are not hindered by reality as regular Pokémon are. Evolving too fast won’t cause any adverse effects on their bodies.”

“Lamp! Lamp!”

“No! You will be staying as a Lampent for at least another six months. That Dusk Stone tucked away in my backpack is only to be used when you’ve matured.”

“Pent…”

‘I’ll have to hide the Dusk Stone someplace else. Orin can only be a Lampent once. Him giving up on his new form so quickly is a waste.’

It was at this moment that Phoebe unhelpfully decided to butt into our serious conversation.

“You knew how to evolve Chandelure? As expected from a smarty pants like you Egon.”

“Knowing how to evolve Lampent isn’t some major secret Phoebes. I am betting a whole bunch of Unovans know how to. The actual strange thing is you knowing about it without me having to tell you.”

“I’ve been shadowing Ms. Shauntal for a week after you left back for Hoenn. I know all there is to know about Unovan ghost types! Also, my family keeps a bunch of dusty scrolls cataloguing all the different ghost type Pokémon our ancestors have trained or encountered so I would have figured it out on my own anyways.”

“Really? Could I look through those scrolls sometime in the future?”

“Negative! Family eyes only! Unless you convince gramps or granny to adopt you.”

“…That figures. Well anyways thanks for giving me Glacia’s number.”

“No problem! Make sure to come and watch me earn a position within the Elite Four after the conference is over, okay?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.” Clink*

After ending the call with Phoebe there was just one person left to get in contact with. My relationship with Phoebe was familiar enough that I felt perfectly alright with calling her out of the blue but that was not the case with Glacia whom I’ve only met the one time. That was why I opted for texting her instead so as to not run the risk of interrupting something important.

“Glacia? This is Egon. We met that one time at Phoebe’s place. I’ve recently started receiving sponsorship offers from third parties and I need someone that’s experienced in these matters to filter out the bad faith actors from the good ones.”

‘That should do it. I best get back to our dorm room to see how Tini’s doing.’

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The following morning*

Having gone back to our private dorm room last night I quickly passed out after finding that Victini had already fallen asleep together with the rest of my team members who had made themselves comfortable around the little rabbit. Not wanting to wake them I pulled out a spare mattress from the nearest cupboard and plopped down on my back falling asleep while being watched over by my hovering nightlight. The very first thing I noticed when opening my eyes was the buzzing of my Xtransceiver which I had forgotten to set aside before going to bed. Not wanting to waste another person’s time, I quickly checked to see who was messaging me.

“I remember you. You need my help sorting through boring paperwork? That’s fine. My usual hourly rate is fifteen hundred poké dollars but for a friend of Phoebe’s I’ll lower it to seven hundred and fifty.”

‘This level of shamelessness!’

“Has that brand new Glaceon of yours been adapting well to the Shoal Cave? We watched that late night talk show featuring you together with Gabriella (┳ _ ┳).”

“Egon, are you implying that I owe you some kind of debt?”

“Those are your words not mine.”

“Fine, I’ll see what I can do. Forward all of your sponsorships emails to this address: ********@***.poke.”

“Thanks a bunch Glacia.”

Looking back up from my wrist phone I could tell the sound of me texting had woken up the rest of the team Victini in particular. Who had somehow managed to crawl up inside Rena’s nine tails in the middle of the night without waking any of us had begun leering at me from behind her furry camouflage.

‘How are you feeling today?’

“…Still a bit sore, can I have more Sitrus berries please?”

‘We’ll be having breakfast soon. I’ll slip an extra one into your bowl. If you still don’t feel one hundred percent after that we will bite the bullet and go see a nurse Joy.’

Injuries on Pokémon healed a lot quicker than they would on a human. The only thing that could halt or slow their high-speed regeneration was if they had not eaten in a while. When a Pokémon suffered from chronic pain it was a sure sign that something went terribly wrong.

“Wouldn’t that put your plans in jeopardy?!”

‘We’d go to someone in the Joy clan whom I would trust absolutely. Nurse Mary has been our family practitioner for over ten years. I am confident that if it came down to it, she’d avoid sharing your information if asked.’

It was at this moment of our conversation that the rest of the team started acting up. Most of them didn’t appreciate me keeping them out of the loop when mentally communicating with Victini.

“You guys are full of energy today! Let’s get some morning grub and start making our way towards Petalburg City.”

This being a Pokémon center I was allowed to walk the hallways with my entire team outside of their poké balls. However, that would be viewed as an inconsiderate move on my part. Having my entire team lined up side to side blocking everyone else from passing us would be a sure-fire way to earn the ire of other visiting trainers. This was why we collectively agreed to traverse hallways like this in a manner that would not hinder any third parties.

The sight of a trainer being closely followed by a gaggle of Pokémon wasn’t odd in the least. The only reason my partners draw attention would be because of the novelty of seeing Unovan Pokémon inside Hoenn. We exited the dorm room hallway into the breakfast area, since it was still early and traveling trainers didn’t keep tight schedules there were currently only two other trainers and their team having their morning meals. One of them I recognized immediately, the blonde trainer from yesterday was having a simple breakfast joined by her Pikachu, a chipper looking Doduo and a Pokémon that I could only surmise to be newly captured.

“Please have some of this Chesto Abby. You look very sleepy.”

“Aaabrraa…”

The girl seemed to be busy trying to spoon-feed the Abra that was sitting on her lap with Chesto berry slices. The Pokémon seemed too drowsy to make much of an attempt at chewing the offered treat.

“That won’t work Camie.”

“Ehh!? Egon? Good morning.”

“Good morning to you too and to you Chuchu and Doduo.”

“Pikaa!” “Rawk!” “Waark!”

“These are my partners. You’ve already met Orin of course.”

“Came!” “Nine!” “Arf!” “Pent!” “Laaar!” “Nitan!”

“Waaah! So many interesting Pokémon. I’ve only seen Houndoom and Ninetales before!”

My Pokémon seemed to have gained a good impression of her team’s Pokémon as they joined Camie’s Doduo in a semi-circle eagerly awaiting the food I’d soon bring to satiate their morning appetites.

While I was occupied pulling out bowls and precut slices of berries and formulated food pellets I continued my conversation with Camie which got interrupted by the exchange of greetings.

“Abra needs at minimum eighteen hours of sleep. Feeding Abby Chesto berries will force Pokémon to stay awake but that’s sleep she will need to shore up from her active hours.”

“That much? What do I do?!”

“Adjusting to its trainer’s schedule must be similar to experiencing jet lag. It would be best to write down a mutually agreed timetable. Preferably when Abby is done sleeping.”

“Is that alright with you Abby?”

“Braaaa…”

“Return!”

Camie having returned Abra to its poké ball to let it rest I couldn’t help but take this opportunity to satisfy my curiosity. 

“So, everything worked out catching an Abra on route 116?”

“Yes! After school time ended, we went to explore the route and within minutes encountered an Abra willing to come along with us. We sure got lucky right Dody?”

“Waark!”

“Fascinating, Abra must have sensed your latent psychic abilities from afar and decided to present itself to you.”

“…Umm I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Why does she keep denying it?”

‘I don’t know. Let’s find out.’

“Is there some kind of stigma in Kanto towards humans with psychic abilities? Let me assure you here in Hoenn we don’t discriminate against differently abled people. In fact, in some parts of the region having special abilities is a requirement for certain positions.”

“…You won’t tell on me?”

“Sure, not like there is anyone out there with authority on these matters.”

“I was born inside the Viridian Forest. According to legend those born within are granted special abilities like mine. Back home in Kanto psychics have become feared because of the hostile actions of Saffron City’s current gym leader. Those who lose a match against her are mentally tortured before being let go. Even the gym’s staff are all meanies who are only concerned with pleasing their leader, Sabrina.”

“Geez… and no one does anything about it?”

“They say Saffron’s city council are too afraid of her to do anything about the situation. Officially outsiders have no right to interfere. The city’s current hope is that the former gym leader Karate Master Koichi who has gone in seclusion to hone his skills returns and challenges Sabrina in an effort to regain his lost gym charter.”

“A fighting type specialist? That’s going to be an uphill battle.” 

“…Yes.”

“Well, the two of us can’t do anything about it. It is not like any of us have a pranking Haunter on hand whose antics can fix a severe case of dissociative identity disorder.”

“That is oddly specific?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

‘Although… Phoebe’s family does have a few of those floating around. Remind me later to ask if one of them wants to start a pranking war against a troubled gym leader who needs to come out of her shell.’

“It is on the list!”

“Have you ever considered further developing your psychic powers?”

“No, but with Abby on the team supporting me. We could maybe learn together.”

“Let me guess; At this stage you can somewhat sense the emotions of nearby Pokémon?”

“You are really perceptive, Egon!”

“Not really. There’s this school for psychically gifted children that I visited way back in Unova. Their headmistress had a large collection of introductory pamphlets for prospective students. That reminds me... just hold on for one second.”

I finished filling in the Numsy’s bowl which the large goof immediately went to town on before turning around to excavate the nooks and crannies of my weathered backpack. Victini anticipating what I was looking for helpfully handed over crinkled up pieces of paper I was looking for. Which I presented to the blonde farm girl.

“What you don’t know about teleportation, a cautionary tale and Help! Our child’s excessive interest in playing with silverware. These two should prove to be handy little introductories. Especially the first one, since there’s all sorts of rules regarding the usage of the move Teleportation. Which will be your Abra’s only useable move until it evolves.” 

“That’s misleading Egon, we don't stick to the rules at all!”

‘We break those rules knowing the consequences. There is a difference!’

“Ehm, I hope you don’t mind all the crinkles these two pamphlets have been sitting on the bottom of my backpack for months.”

“Not at all! Thank you for being so nice to me, Egon!”

“Uhm… sure. It is not that big a deal. The second pamphlet was written to help parents identify if their child has the potential to develop psychic powers. There’s a very broad spectrum of abilities one can learn to master but nearly all naturally gifted practitioners know how to sense emotions and do simple parlor tricks with limited telekinesis. Written on the back there’s a Unovan hotline number you can call. The answering lady Headmistress Jasmine can answer any of your questions regarding the topic.”

Just like that our conversation came to a stall as Camie was too absorbed reading the pamphlets I just gave her. Letting out the occasional Ooh’s and Aha’s this pause gave me the perfect opportunity to observe her Doduo Dody. One of the few multi headed Pokémon in existence. I’d always wondered if both heads are two separate individuals with their own personality or if the Pokémon was subject to one overarching intelligence and that both heads merely represented different facets of a singular personality. As I was busy observing the Pokémon interacting with mine, I couldn’t help but notice that the left head seemed to be quite taken with Glove while the right one was chattering with Numsy about trying out the food in each other’s bowls.

‘The two heads act completely independent of each other. More observation is required if I want to get to the bottom of this, but so far it seems like the separate personality theory is taking the lead.’

“Stop being a creep!”

Victini’s sudden admonishment jolted me out of my inner ravings enough to realize I was wasting daylight hours which could’ve been used to prepare for our journey to Petalburg City. Not even mentioning the fact that I had to send those sponsorship contracts to Glacia right away. Me being the responsible guest lecturer that I was the scenery of Camie goofing off made me aware of another factor.

“Camie, shouldn't you be going to school right now? And why are you even in the center dorms to begin with? The school’s dorms for international students are much nicer and less hectic.”

“Abby and I had such a good time yesterday that we forgot to return before curfew. And umm… I don’t want to go to PE.”

‘This girl…’

“Physical fitness is important missy! How else do you expect traveling trainers to get by? Lots of Pokémon, especially fighting types will disregard any trainer who doesn't properly take care of their body. Training your Pokémon but not yourself is selfish. Isn’t that right Chuchu?”

“Pikaaa!”

‘Good, it seems like her partner agrees with me. That makes things easier.’ 

I was of a mind to personally escort the recalcitrant Camie to school but that would cut into my journey time even further. Having Chuchu pay attention to her bad habits was the best possible solution. 

“We have got to go. Chuchu make sure that this one goes to PE from now on alright?”

“Chaaa!”

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The outskirts of Petalburg Woods*

“It has been a while since the eight of us traveled together like this. This will be our last stretch traveling on foot before the conference starts.”

“Laaar!”

“Come on now. Just imagine meeting all the fellow bug types living in these woods and you’ll get to switch with Numsy after we stop for our midday picnic.”

Having checked the maps I came to find out that Petalburg City was only around a day’s walk removed from Rustboro City. Given the overwhelming evidence that I was now on Joseph Stone’s radar, I had Victini scout ahead just in case of an unexpected ambush. At the same time letting her keep a solid amount of distance from our group. Both Halo and Glove were out of their balls as part of my security detail and also because Halo needed the exercise. If we were to get ambushed by someone on the Devon corporation payroll, the thugs would have to expend a bit more effort to catch us unawares.

The distinct smells of the forest surrounded us as we kept going forward. Going by the amount of foot traffic we observed as we entered, I could confidently say that we wouldn’t encounter any trainers aside from the occasional bug catching truants skipping school. Which made sense this late in the season. 

“Let’s explore!”

“You can go ahead and do that. There should be a Moss Rock hidden in the northeastern part of the forest. Just make sure not to get too close to any of the shroomish colonies one whiff of that Effect Spore and you’ll be down for the count.”

“Effect Spore?”

“It is the name of their most naturally occurring Ability. The spores they release can produce all sorts of detrimental effects.”

As I kept busy mentally talking to Victini despite the distance separating us. Both Glove and Halo were the first to notice a lone wild Pokémon. The Wurmple was strewn across different branches of the same tree and seemed too preoccupied eating to pay any heed to the three of us.

“Vess!”

“Wurr…?”

“Why don’t you go up there and say hello? Just make sure not to startle them. Wurmple poison is quite mild, but you wouldn’t want to be stung by accident.”

“Laar!”

Feeling confident Halo proceeded to attempt climbing the tree but failing horribly as she couldn’t grip the mossy bark tightly enough with her digitigrades.

“Not like that. Wurmple can do it because they have small suction pads on the tip of their appendages that allow them to cling onto any surface. Why don’t you try rappelling upwards with String Shot?” 

“Vess.”

“Following my advice, Halo fired off a lasso of silk which expertly wrapped itself around one of the branches Wurmple was currently clinging onto. After that it proved to be quite simple for her to climb said aforementioned tree bit by bit whilst clinging onto the sticky thread.”

“Nitan…”

“It will be alright Glove. We are here to catch her if she falls.”

 Halo eventually managed to climb up high enough to come face to face with the Wurmple who was still obliviously munching the tree’s foliage. This behavior surprised me somewhat since Wurmple was on the list of predation species. At any time, a hungry swellow could decide to swoop down and have itself a juicy bug Pokémon treat.

‘We are on a heavily patrolled beginner route. Perhaps this carefreeness is the rangers’ doing. Swellow being the evolved form of tailow could be considered too strong to allow inside this part of the Petalburg Woods and the tailow themselves are too small to consider predating on wurmple.’

“Vess?”

“Wurm?”

Wurmple turned around and finally noticed Halo’s presence behind him. After an awkward initial exchange of greetings the other bug type turned around and continued eating leaves giving half hearted replies to Halo’s attempt at making small talk. I could visibly see Wurmple’s laissez-faire attitude having a detrimental effect on Halo’s willingness to make new friends.

“Laar!”

“Hmm… The only thing Wurmple seems interested in is eating. That does make sense. Leaves are very low in calories, so Wurmple has to keep eating if it wishes to evolve to make it in time for next year’s spawning season.”

Not wanting Halo to miss out on getting to know her fellow bug types, I knew what I had to do.

“Wurmple!”

“…?”

“I have some nice juicy berries in my backpack. You can have some if you come down and show us around the forest.”

“Wurm!!”

The speed at which wurmple rushed down to get those promised berries was astonishing. Instead of carefully climbing down Wurmple ignored any sense of self-preservation using its specialized appendage to flaunt the rules of gravity. Within a blink of an eye the bug type was down clinging to my pant leg making cute mewling noises.

“Glove can you help Halo get down while I deal with this little one?”

“Dar!”

While Glove went off to save Halo who was getting more agitated by the minute, I took this opportunity to explain to Wurmple what was expected of it.

“Listen closely, Wurmple. I need you to explain basic forest living to the Larvesta who tried making friends with you just now. Just treat her as any other newborn wurmple who needs a mentor on the dos and don’ts of forest living, okay?”

“Pell!”

“Nice! Here is your down payment. If you do a good job, you can expect two more of where that came from.”

Since I still had a considerable supply of Sitrus berries I opted to give up one of them to Wurmple who upon seeing the offered treat went to town, getting the seeds and bits of peel all over its face. By the time the horned loaf of a Pokémon was done savoring its sourly tribute Halo was back on the ground again ready to give her fellow bug type a piece of her mind.

“Vess!”

“Wurr!”

However, this time Wurmple was ready to give Halo its complete attention. Crawling on over to instruct Halo in all its worldly wisdom. The novel sight of Wurmple touching horns with Halo came as a surprise but not an unpleasant one.

‘Touching horns? Is this how fellow Wurmple greet each other? Fascinating, every day you learn something new.’

“Bumping heads isn’t special! We do that all the time.”

‘…only you, Tini.’