Hideo shrugged. “Guess I can.” He usually didn’t listen to the blurbs from his Pokedex; most of them were useless to the situation at hand, and a lot of them sounded made-up.

Still, there was the chance it could tell him something. He pointed it back up to where he pointed it before, letting it fully read out the entry.

Gyarados, the water-type and flying-type Pokemon. Once Gyarados goes on a rampage, its ferociously violent blood doesn't calm until it has burned everything down. There are records of this Pokémon's rampages lasting a whole month.

“Great,” he muttered, “So if we do try to force her out and fail, it’s gonna start destroying everything.” And they were right in the residential district; a rampage here would be disastrous. “Here, lemme see if I can talk her down. I got good luck with keeping angry Pokemon calm.”

Carefully, he walked over to the tree, looking up to where he assumed the Pokemon was. “Hey! What’re you doing all the way up there? A tree isn’t a place for a big Pokeblargghgh-”

Interrupted by a stream of water shot from the Gyarados’ mouth, enough force to push him back - and onto his back.

It took a couple seconds after the stream ended for Hideo to sit back up, spitting out his own little stream of water.  Apart from the inconvenience, he was unharmed; the attack was purely to push him away.

“Well that was a bust,” he sputtered. “We can try to beat it if we want, but there’s still gotta be a reason it’s in a tree. Instead of the water where she should be.”

zenji jabami

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” He was completely drenched in water, from his hair to his socks. At least it was warm today; he could wait until he got home to dry off and change.

Hideo could hear the distinct *clink* of a lighter being lit, and started to smell cigarette smoke. Seemed like his partner would be less than eager to approach as well; considering how well it went for him, that wasn’t surprising.

Though the way the man talked, it seemed like it was up to the boy to deal with this; with guidance, of course. “Wouldn’t really call her that relentless; if she’s as strong as the Pokedex says she is, she coulda done a whole lot more than just push me away.”

He brushed off some of the water that covered his face. “I’m a trainer, yeah. And I got a couple electric-types.” He produced the two Pokeballs from his pocket, leaving his hand open for the man to see. “But, uh, they might be a little...underpowered for this situation. Here, I’ll let them out.”

The two Pokemon were released, a Minun and a Blitzle. The two of them took one look at the nesting Gyarados, who returned with a Scary Face; the two small electric-types were taken aback, hiding behind their small trainer. “Yeah, ‘bout what I expected,” he said

“I also got a Lycanroc with me, ‘cause he’d be pretty good against birds, but uh, he doesn’t handle water very well.” Or “nonviolent solutions” well. “I also got an Aron, an Aipom, and an Elgyem, but I dunno how good they’d be for this situation.”

Honestly, the temptation to just call the authorities was there - they’d know how to deal with this better than him. But that would mean accepting that he couldn’t deal with this. Not an acceptable route to go for Hideo.

“So how do you wanna play this? They might be able to distract her for a while, but I’m not sure if they have the power to take her down. We could try to draw her to a body of water...but I’m not sure where one is from here.”

Not that far, actually. Not quite in seeing distance, but anyone familiar with the area would know about the river that ran nearby. In fact, they’d both passed by it on the way here, though Hideo didn’t know that; not like anyone went out of their way to point it out to him. Yet.

zenji jabami

“Makes sense,” Hideo added, “What’s a nest without any eggs? She’s definitely gotta be guarding something up there...which means she’s gonna try real hard to keep it safe.”

“Just hope your Lucario is ready for her, ‘cause she’s gonna gun for whoever has her egg. Even with paralysis.” They were a notoriously-hardy Pokemon, but could they handle the attacks of something as strong as a Gyarados?

Well, this guy seemed pretty knowledgeable. He’d just have to trust him on it.

And as Hideo would learn, he wouldn’t just be sitting on the sidelines.

Steering the Gyarados. Hideo flashed a frown for a moment. That was going to be a little difficult for him alone - he didn’t even know where everything was. But he had the right mon for the job.

“Alright,” he said, producing one more Pokeball, releasing the Elgyem within, letting him sit on his shoulder. “Elga here’ll help me keep track of everything, and can help me direct all my Pokemon once we start this. You got all he said, Elga?”

A small set of flashes from the Elgyem’s hand - a telepathic message to Hideo, confirming it.

“Then we’re all set!” A thumbs-up for the man to see. The two electric Pokemon behind him exchanged worried looks, but with a quick nod (and some more flashing lights from Elga), the two emerged from their hiding spot. “Ready when you are!”

zenji jabami

Hideo jumped a little when his Pokedex was taken out of his hand. At least the man had given some warning beforehand. He couldn’t tell what the man was doing with it, but he seemed to have a good idea of what he was doing, so Hideo didn’t protest.

“Guess another Pokemon found the egg and took it,” he mused, “Brought it to the tree for whatever reason, and she followed it here. Then got too scared to leave her egg alone again...but it’s probably gonna be a fish Pokemon, so if we don’t get it to water before it hatches, she’s not gonna be happy.”

Probably best not to think of what happened to that thieving Pokemon; it didn’t sound like anyone could see it around here.

His musing finished, it was time to get to business. Hideo and his team could only wait until their cue - and it was a very obvious one. “Alright, you heard him guys! Keep her following along, ok?”

Though he couldn’t see it, the two electric-types nodded, the pair following closely behind her as she ran off.

When the Gyarados tried to go too far to the left, the Blitzle was there, Discharg(e)ing electricity from his body. The water-type was able to avoid being shocked, but there was no way around the attack, other than forward.

And when she would try to go too far right, the Minun was waiting for her, tossing an Electro Ball in her direction. It didn’t take much effort for the Gyarados to avoid them, and even if she hadn’t, they wouldn’t cause much damage; it merely kept her focus on the target in front of her, the one who truly had her egg.

The one guiding her to the water.

Both their attacks would be enough to scare off any people that were nearby. There would be some damage to the nearby buildings just from the Gyarados’s body, but it was far less than if she’d gone loose. And helping to keep the two coordinated was Elga, his Telepathy able to reach out into their minds from his comfortable child-shaped seat to constantly monitor and direct them; the only sign he was doing anything being the flashing lights on his hands.

Combined with the Lucario’s orders, their plan would go off without a hitch: all that was left was for the Lucario to get her into the water.

zenji jabami

“They are pretty good, aren’t they?” he responded, blushing a little following the headpat. He always did have a knack for getting his Pokemon to listen to him, even without orders (most of them, anyways). “I make sure to train them so they know how to act without my orders. It’s not always easy for me to know what’s going on, and they usually know more than I do, so I gotta trust them.”

How would he be aware his Elgyem was the one that really directed them? When the only signs were visual, it just wasn’t possible.

It took him a moment to take his Pokedex back; he only knew it was being returned when Elga notified him, and it would take a moment for him to find where it was being held. It’d look a little like he was flailing around until he got it.

It was enough to get Hideo thinking: this guy probably didn’t know. Not with that wording. Not like he could assume everyone would catch on immediately, especially when he wasn’t doing that much to show it.

“Seeing her off would be a little...hard for me. Not just ‘cause it’d be risky to follow an angry Gyarados around.”

Not really much reason to dance around it any longer. “I’m blind. I can’t see anything. Elga here’s the closest I can get to seeing, and even then, he’s just helping me know where stuff is around me, or giving me an idea how people and Pokemon are doing.  Helps with reading too!”

zenji jabami

Hideo only smiled as he awaited a response from the man, who was conspicuously silent for a moment. The boy didn’t have any reaction to the man waving in front of his face, other than wondering if he should say something.

But his suspicions were confirmed: this man hadn’t known he was blind. In fact, he seemed quite perturbed by it.

The boy frowned.  “I’m not trying to become a trainer; I am a trainer!” It took him a moment to fish the license out of his pocket, and he was more than eager to show it off to the man. “See? Got my license and everything.”

As he was showing it off, his Blitzle and Minun found their way back to the group (once again guided by Elga). They both looked pleased with their success, wide grins on their faces, taking their spots by their trainer once more, tapping him on the (soaked) leg to let him know.

“These two right here? Caught them myself! And I’ve caught a lot of other Pokemon too!”

No, he hadn't been asked to prove he knew how to be a trainer, but he'd jumped to the conclusion that that question would come up next.

zenji jabami