NOVEL NEXT Chapter 43 - Fortree Skyline
Chapter 43 – Fortree Skyline
‘Another megastone… Well at least I know I wasn’t wasting my money.’
Having paid the store owner extra for the setting the man had his assistant manage the counter for him, while he went in the back to resize the fitting and set the megastone inside the anklet. The man assured us it would only take around twenty minutes to do so. Here I was sitting with Flannery, Rena and Halo on the sidewalk outside the store waiting for my number to be called. Halo was kind of excited to be let out, so I didn’t mind her tagging along on top of my left shoulder taking in the sights of the busy street life of Mauville City.
“After this we’ll head on over to the Pokémon center and have them call in a teleporter who will bring us along to Fortree City.”
“Egon, that's lazy! A journey is supposed to be done traveling the routes!”
“You are right Flanny, but I am kind of on a time crunch here. The journey from Mauville to Fortree usually takes five days and on foot it’s the longest land route in all of Hoenn. In order to qualify in time for the Ever Grande Conference I’ll have to take shortcuts like this on occasion. Don’t you worry though after this there will be no more teleporting for at least a while.”
‘Purchasing the anklet for Rena has set me back monetarily. I just hope buying the extra teleportation voucher for Flannery isn’t going to be too expensive.’
“Excuse me sir? Your anklet is ready for pickup.”
Our conversation was interrupted by the assistant coming to get me. The resizing and setting of Rena’s anklet not taking as long as expected was a small and pleasant surprise. Rena yipped happily at the chance of getting to wear the anklet for the first time and I followed the excitable little fox Pokémon back inside the store. The owner was waiting for us behind the register with Rena’s new accessory, so I picked up my Vulpix and placed her on top of the counter.
“This anklet is a great piece. If you ever need to have it resized be sure to visit us again!”
The anklet did indeed look quite fetching with the megastone sparkling in the store’s natural lighting. Rena held still as the store owner wrapped the silver anklet around her paw and clasped it shut.
“Pix Pix!”
The anklet snugly fit around one of Rena’s front paws and unlike the tiara she could walk around without it falling off at the slightest touch or tremor. Looking more fashionable than ever Rena strutted around with her head held high much to Halo’s chagrin.
“Ves!”
“It’s okay she won’t be getting anything else for a long while.”
Flannery decided that this was the perfect moment to put an extra helping of oil on the fire.
“That anklet looks very cute on you Rena. Unlike some other Pokémon who can’t afford to have nice things.”
“Veeees!”
Halo retaliated with a swift string shot to the face wrapping Flannery’s head in a cocoon of silk. While the comedic effect of such a thing was not lost on me, the fact that we were in a crowded area meant that having Flannery walk around blind was not conducive for her safety. Flannery’s following outburst was expected but not helpful to deescalate the situation.
“Why you…!”
“Halo return!”
I made the decisive decision to recall Halo back inside her ball before Flannery had the chance to retaliate. Before walking over to Flannery to help her scratch off the impromptu face mask.
“Just stay still, I'll get it off. Haaa… why did you feel the need to start bickering with my one-week-old Pokémon? You know she is going to remember this right? I am pretty sure Mr. Moore instructed you to get along with her.”
Having calmed down somewhat due to the absence of Halo she finally relayed to me some of her worries.
“It’s not fair... Everyone likes me and when that little girl got the go ahead to pet her straight away…”
“All Pokémon have their own quirks and idiosyncrasies. Maybe that girl did something you didn’t think of. Why not try complimenting Halo once in a while just like she did? Whatever the case, both of you need a cool down period.”
We finished up the conversation at the same time that I scratched off the last wad of silk off Flannery’s face. With our business finished it was time to head back to the center and cash in that teleportation voucher.
Back at the center*
“Your Pokémon are now healed. We hope to see you again.”
I picked up the two poké balls stuck on nurse Joy’s tray. Having left my two Pokémon here to recover from this morning’s gym battle. This was the same Nurse Joy who I had check up Halo’s egg the first time I visited Mauville city.
“Excuse me nurse Joy I’d also like to schedule for a teleportation timeslot. A two people one way to Fortree city. This voucher should cover half the cost.”
I gave her the teleportation voucher I received from the Fortree gym. She scanned it and ripped it in half before handing one of the halves back to me.
“The cost of having one extra person come with you amounts to 2000 pokédollars. Please choose your preferred choice of payment.”
“Card. Isn’t the going rate for a one-way teleport usually around 6000?”
“For one of our more experienced psychic type Pokémon the added mass of one extra person is very doable. That’s why the league only charges a third of the price. Young man before you go… would you allow me to examine that Larvesta on your shoulder?”
“Ves!?”
“Didn’t we have this discussion a couple of weeks ago?”
“Yes… you see I specialized in Pokémon entomology back in nursing school. It would really help my independent research if I could take a closer look at Larvesta.”
“You should ask the nurse Joy back in my hometown of Lavaridge. She helped me out during Halo’s hatching, and she’s had multiple opportunities to observe and study her. Doesn’t everyone from the Joy clan share the same medical records?”
“Please? it will only take an hour tops.”
“Ugh…What do you think?”
Not wanting to give in that easily I asked Halo who was lounging on top of my shoulder what she wanted to do. She had previous experience being Mary’s guinea pig so if she didn’t mind going through that whole ordeal again, I could let her do so. Also, it was never a bad idea to have a nurse Joy be indebted to you.
“Ves…”
“No needles, only measuring tape.”
“Wait, you got needles inserted into you at Mary’s!?”
The nurse Joy in front of us elaborated further.
“That is common practice for newborn Pokémon. During the first stages of their life, they are quite vulnerable to pathogens.”
My first reaction was to reassure Halo by giving her an extra tight hug. Followed by not a minimal amount of cooing and praise. Victini’s bond with me let me know that she was embarrassed by me baby talking to Halo. I myself was not ashamed at all, speaking in parentese to a week old Pokémon seemed more normal to me than not doing so.
“That must have hurt right? You really are the bravest bug type of them all aren’t you?”
“Ves!”
“Hmmm Okay, but we refuse the taking of any samples and what have you. She’s had enough of all the poking and prodding.”
“Thank you for this opportunity! We’ll have her ready to go back with you before the teleportation Pokémon arrives.”
Halo crawled over from my arm to the empty tray ready to face this nurse Joy’s scrutiny. I took off quickly hoping that Glove wouldn’t wake up and realize that Halo was no longer inside her ball. The day’s journey had left me weathered, and I looked forward to getting in a quick shower to get all the river sediment out of my hair. Flannery similarly went off to do the same as soon as we entered the center dorms.
While I was occupied back in the bathroom taking a shower Victini popped out of her ball and released the rest of my smaller team members to goof around with. She had recently taken a shine to a card game the people from Indigo named Go Magikarp. Back in Lavaridge Town the younger Pokémon in my team led by Victini also liked to involve Torchic in their games since they were all age mates. So, it wasn’t a surprise to me that when I stepped out of the bathroom that Torchic was participating in their activities as well. The little chick Pokémon was using Numsy’s old cardholder due to her lack of forelimbs.
“Hi Torchic, does Flannery know you are here?”
“Chic Tor!”
“Vi Vi!” “We told her!”
“That’s fine but try to finish up your game the teleportation Pokémon will arrive any minute now.”
I proceeded to put on my clothes and gather the rest of my stuff. Most of the things I owned are water resistant up to and including my backpack so our little trip across route 110’s river only required me to hang them up to dry for a short while. After I was done collecting all my stuff I sat on the bed and watched Victini handily beat every participant. Orin proved a tough opponent for her to beat but eventually he too succumbed to her psychic shenanigans.
“Okay gang let’s head off!”
“Vi!”
“Lit!”
“Pix!”
“Flannery’s really bad at keeping track of time, Torchic can you go get her?”
“Tor!”
With that I recalled all of my team members inside their poké balls. Even Victini had to since she needed to be small and portable for the teleportation. I went back to the center’s guest hall to pick up Halo being slightly worried that this nurse Joy might be too excitable for the bug type to handle. As a trained nurse she must have had some experience dealing with uniquely tempered Pokémon but that could all be forgotten in her pursuit of new discoveries. Nurse Joy couldn’t be found at her usual spot behind the computer and her Chansey seems to be filling in for her.
“Excuse me Chansey?”
“Sey?”
“I left my Larvesta for the nurse Joy to look after, can we get her back?”
With a knowing sigh the egg Pokémon walked away from her post and into one of the backrooms presumably to let her trainer know that it was time to give Halo back to her owner. As I was waiting around Flannery finally showed up with Torchic in tow, fresh faced and ready to be seen in public again.
“Heya Egon! When are we going?”
“Soon I am just waiting for nurse Joy to return Halo back to me. She was quite adamant about getting a closer look at her.”
A quick glance around the room was sufficient enough for me to spot our teleportation service Pokémon. A dopey looking Slowbro unattended by any trainer was standing right outside the designated teleportation arrival area which was previously vacant.
“It seems like our ride is already here. I wonder why nurse Joy is taking so long…?”
“Sey Sey!”
“Please just a minute more!”
“Chanseeey!”
There seemed to be some type of commotion in the backroom facilities. Eventually Chansey walked out with Halo in her arms. The bug type looking positively miffed while directly behind them a battered looking nurse Joy was following the duo into the main hall. Upon seeing me Halo jumped into my arms clinging onto my shirt as she did so. I didn’t need an explanation to guess what happened back there.
“Ves! Ves!”
“It’s okay this happens sometimes not all nurse Joy are the same. You won’t have to come back here anymore.”
Afraid of the implications that my words had, Nurse Joy took this moment to profusely apologize to Halo.
“I am sorry! I didn’t think she would mind the treadmill test!”
“Lar!”
“She is upset because there were no candied berry peels or honeyed lollipops as reward for her brilliant physical performance.”
“Nurse Joy, does this Pokémon center give out some kind of reward after a stressful procedure? I think a sugary snack would help alleviate some of Halo’s discontentment.”
“No, the only thing we have in stock right now that comes even close to what you are describing is the berry juice we keep in the vending machine.”
“Sey!”
Without having to be asked, Chansey withdrew the egg from her pouch and offered it Halo.
“Really?! Are you sure?”
“Sey!”
Chansey eggs are special in that they were regarded as some kind of superfood. The kindhearted Pokémon species only shared their eggs with individuals who are sick or injured. Chansey doing so to make up for nurse Joy’s unprofessional attitude seemed to be a bit of an overreaction.
“Ves!”
Perhaps disregarding the significance of Chansey’s offer my Larvesta was eager to try this new type of food. Taking a small hesitant nibble at first but then voraciously without care starting to take large bites out of the egg. Now that it had come to this, I had to profusely articulate our gratitude towards nurse Joy’s Pokémon.
“Thank you very much Chansey! I’ll be sure to visit this Pokémon center whenever we are in the area! Halo, stop eating and let Chansey know how grateful you are to her.”
“Vessta!”
She got one single word out before going back to munching on the egg. She was like a hellion and in a matter of seconds the rest of the egg was completely devoured. Halo wasn’t what I would describe as Pokémon motivated by food so that egg must be truly delicious for drawing this kind of reaction from her. I returned Larvesta to her ball and gave the egg Pokémon some last words before departing.
“Well… we’re off. We appreciate the hospitality Chansey.”
“Chaaan Sey!”
With that I turned around and walked into the direction of the teleporter area with Flannery in tow. The Slowbro hardly reacted to our presence but I knew that just like master Quagsire its wisdom must be deeply hidden, shown only to its trainer and those that had earned its trust.
“Excuse me, are you the Pokémon on staff that facilitates teleportation to and from Fortree city? We are the ones that made the reservation. My name is Egon and this is Flannery.”
It took around half a minute before Slowbro responded to my enquiry.
“Sloooooow.”
“Yes, nice to meet you too. Do you need us two to hold on to you?”
The shelder stuck on its tail finally couldn’t take it anymore and started to take charge of the conversation.
“Sheeelldeer!”
“Yes, now hurry up!”
‘Thanks Tini Flannery was already at her limits.’
I signaled Flannery to hold onto Slowbro’s left paw while I grabbed onto the right one. Just like that we waited for Slowbro to realize that we were both ready for teleportation. Slowbro was about the same height as Flannery which meant that the Pokémon was slightly taller than myself. Since this would take a while I started nerding out about Slowbro to Flannery.
“Flanny, did you know that Slowpoke and Slowbro are one of only three water type Pokémon species that can learn to use fire type moves? That makes them great to use against any unsuspecting grass type Pokémon.”
“That only makes them slightly better compared to other water types hmpff!”
“When in a dangerous situation the shellder on his tail bites down extra hard giving Slowbro the clarity of mind to speed up its reaction time. Naturally that isn’t the case right now.”
“For real!? Shellder can you help us please?”
“Sheeeell!”
It seemed Flannery’s plea moved Shellder since the mollusc Pokémon started clamping down harder on Slowbro’s tail.
“Slooow?!”
Before we had a chance to say another word our surroundings blipped out of existence and simultaneously got replaced by the insides of another Pokémon center. The interior of this building was completely made out of tropical hardwood. A giant tree trunk took up most of the space inside the room, a circular reception desk was manned by multiple chansey and a singular nurse Joy.
“Welcome to Fortree city’s Pokémon center. Your time of arrival is 14:56. We thank you for making use of our teleportation services. Slowbro Return!”
A guy wearing the distinctive red ranger jacket recalled his partner Pokémon before continuing his conversation with the nurse Joy sitting behind the counter not paying us any further attention.
“Flannery before we head out, I need to remind you that we are not allowed to have any fire type Pokémon out of their balls while inside league owned buildings.”
“What!?”
“You see, Fortree city is made up out of mostly tree houses. The giant trees that grow here are large enough that the city’s first settlers decided that it would be a waste of time and energy to cut them down and make room for brick-and-mortar houses. Their solution was to build tree houses. Their innovative idea quickly became the norm and now most of the town’s people live atop the trees. In fact, the majority of foot traffic doesn’t happen on the ground but in the city’s complex maze of rope bridges.”
“Nerd…! What are we supposed to do now?”
“I am headed for the Fortree city gym. You can tag along if you want.”
“Fine but no more lectures!”
We exited the center building and stared in wonder at our surroundings everywhere we looked we saw tree houses attached to giant conifers. Based on first impressions I’d say that Fortree city should have a medium population size of around five thousand people, which was huge for a region as small as Hoenn. All the residential buildings were built onto the large trees while the city’s larger buildings, which couldn’t fit on a tree, were built on ground level. This would make it easier for us to locate the city gym since there were only so many facilities that needed to be built on solid ground. I had the perfect Pokémon with me to scout ahead.
“Go! Tranquill!”
The singular flying type who traveled with me materialized into the air already flapping her wings to maintain a steady altitude.
“Tranquill guess where we are?”
“Quill? Quill!”
“That’s right, Fortree city! Can you scout ahead for us? We need to walk on the correct rope bridge that eventually leads to the gym. Just give us a squawk if we are walking the wrong way. You’ve seen plenty of the gym’s battle video’s so try to look for a building with sky battle facilities.”
I didn’t need to say anything else Tranquill excitedly flew off in search of a building matching my descriptors. I wasn’t worried that she would take a long time, there were only a dozen or so ground level buildings that needed to be checked and from the air that wouldn’t take longer than a minute or two.
“Egon, let's just pick a rope bridge and go!”
“Fine but you asked for this.”
And off we went, I figured that Tranquill would be able to find us no matter where we ended up. Tranquill were famed for always finding their way back to their trainers no matter how far the distance. After taking the first step on the rope bridge nearest to us, I suddenly remembered my irrational fear of heights. It wasn’t at the level where I would be paralyzed in fear, but I tended to get lightheaded when looking down from higher altitudes.
‘Just keep looking forward. Nothing to see down below.’
I felt the sensation of one of my poké balls opening from the belt strapped to my waist and the distinct sound of my backpack’s zipper opening and closing.
“I’ll catch you if you fall!”
‘Thanks, let’s just keep talking like this to distract myself.’
Mental communication with Victini got me through most of the journey without having to let my mind wander. Thinking logically these rope bridges should be extremely safe but the animal part of my brain still railed against the fact that we were three to four stories up. It got better as we got further along though. Foot traffic was scarce since most residents that lived in Fortree used flying types to get around. We saw multiple Skarmory and Tropius flying around carrying people from place to place. Altaria weren’t big enough to support the weight of adult humans but we did see them carrying around small children. Eventually Tranquill returned, the bird Pokémon taking way too long to get back. In hindsight she was probably distracted by the novel sights and all the new flying types she hadn’t seen before flying around.
“Quill!”
“You spotted the gym?”
“Tranq!”
“Then lead the way, oh fearsome leader.”
‘You know I’ve always wondered if there were really wild kecleon living on top of these bridges. Do you think that if you concentrated hard enough you could sense any?’
“…? There are. One of them is right behind us.”
“Really?!”
“Egon what are you getting all excited for?”
‘I’ve always wanted to play hide and seek with a real kecleon. The ability to track one down is one of the qualifying tests that trainers, wishing to join the corps, must complete before being accepted as ranger trainees.’
“Don’t we have to follow Tranquill?”
“Yea… I guess we can do so later.”
“Egon stop being rude and let me join in on the conversation!”
“Ah yea sorry Flanny. You see there’s a Kecleon following us around and I wanted to play hide and seek with it.”
“Kec?!”
A startled sound came from the empty space behind Flannery. Confirming Victini’s observation of there being an invisible Pokémon following behind the two of us. Flannery was as excited as I was, being able to spot a Kecleon was the hallmark sign of having superb eyesight. Hoenn newspapers always put in a: Where is Kecleon? print in every puzzle section.
Flannery was quick to turn around eager to meet one of the all time favorite Pokémon residing in Hoenn. Kecleon’s camouflage all shared the same weakness, the zig zag pattern on its belly could never be completely hidden. The most skilled of kecleon could only have the red pattern fade for a bit, dulling out its distinctive color, the only glaring weakness of what would otherwise be perfect invisibility. Now that I had a better look I could vaguely see the distinctive zig zag pattern. Flannery was the first to attempt communication.
“Hi there, I’ve always admired kecleon. Do you want to come play with us? We can even share some of our berries with you.”
This Kecleon by virtue of living in the city must know that humans are not a threat. So after hearing Flannery’s generous offer of to play and eat berries it undid its camouflage.
“Leon!”
“Oh! We are going to have so much fun, let's go play hide and seek first!”
‘Hey that was my idea! She stole it!’
“I can turn invisible and even better than that Kecleon can! You can play hide and seek with me!”
‘Bending light is not the same as being able to adjust the cells of your skin to perfectly adapt to the background in real time. Turning invisible completely goes against the spirit of the game.’
It was at this time that my feathery friend came back to check up on us. Confused as to why we were wasting time.
“Quill!”
“Oh yeah the gym… but you see this Kecleon just showed up and we were going to play hide and seek with it.”
“Tranq!”
Tranquill landed on top of my head and gave me pecking noogie. The blasted bird wasn’t willing to wait one more day to meet her new prospective trainer.
“Ow! Ow! Okay! I am going! Flanny, do you still want to come with us to the gym?”
“Did you say anything Egon? Me and Kecleon are going back to the Pokémon center to play.”
“Leon!”
“Ugh… already abandoned. Fine! Let’s go!”
At the Fortree gym*
The Fortree gym was about as big as the Lavaridge gym but instead of being built into a volcano this gym had no visible roofing. The building was completely made out of the same type of giant tree that commonly grows inside the city. Wind turbines were strategically placed all around to generate as much electricity as possible. In Fortree city they took every precaution to avoid despoiling nature. Walking inside I immediately noticed that the entire gym’s interior was designed with flying types in mind. There were no doors or glass windowpanes, and the entire place had that distinct bird Pokémon smell which I have grown familiar with while traveling around with Tranquill.
Walking inside I had Tranquill perched on top of my arm. She was skilled enough not to leave marks with her talons. Her appearance caught the attention of one of the gym trainers lounging around in the guest hall.
“Welcome to the Fortree city gym, are you here to make an appointment?”
“Yes, that too but leader Winona extended me an open invitation to further talk about this girls gym adoption.”
“Yes, she told me all about the Tranquill who couldn’t find a trainer. That email you sent to her has been making rounds inside the gym. It was a beautiful thing you did bringing her along with you. You can call me Jared. I keep this place running when Winona is out of town or otherwise occupied. It’s nice to meet you and this special little lady.”
“Quill Quill!”
“So, is she available?”
“Not at the moment, no. She took the day off to spend time with her boyfriend.”
“Tranq?!”
“Don’t you worry though I am sure she won’t mind you two giving her a personal visit at her home here in Fortree. In fact, I can call in one of her personal Pokémon to give you two a ride over right now.”
“That’d be great! This is our first time visiting Fortree city and this city’s layout is very confusing.”
With that the gentleman pulled out a whistle and blew it rapidly in succession. The whistle’s sound echoed through the hall before its call was heard and responded to by a particular flying type who was now flying to our location.
“Skaaar!”
A massive Skarmory, the biggest one I’ve ever seen. Typically, skarmory would average out at about the height of a grown man but this one exceeded that by being at least twice their usual size. The armored bird Pokémon landed in front of Jared ready to listen to his request.
“Skarmory these two are the ones Winona has been talking about. Could you go ahead and fly them over to her place?”
“Skarrr!”
Skarmory were not well known for having well-adjusted personalities, but this one seemed pleasantly mild mannered.
‘A skarmory of that size must have nothing to prove to anyone.’
Tranquill was completely awe stricken. If it were possible I wouldn’t be surprised to spot stars in her eyes. The Skarmory stretched out its wing motioning me to get on top. Sadly, I wasn’t tall enough to make the leap and embarrassingly had to signal Jared for help with getting on Skarmory’s back. Which the gym trainer helpfully provided without making a mention of my … in the height department. I clung onto Skarmory’s neck hoping that I could avoid cutting myself on its swordlike feather during the flight over.
“This is actually the first time I’ve flown on top of a flying type Pokémon. Is there anything I should keep in mind?”
“Yes, try to avoid plucking out any feathers they hate that. Don’t worry about falling off, Skarmory here is an expert at giving first timers like you an accommodating ride.”
“Tranquill, do you want to follow Skarmory in the air or would prefer returning to your poké ball?”
“Quill!”
“Okay then let’s set off for Winona’s house!”