Failure to Communicate: Chapter 5

“Beldum.” As I leave the lab, Twiggy back in his ball and Wes following closely, I go over the letter repeatedly. I don’t know why. It was pretty straightforward. Someone claiming to be from Hoenn apparently needs my help with something; I’m guessing whatever it is has to do with all this Team Smog stuff, and has sent me a Pokémon as proof as well as assistance. “Beldum.” When I left, I wasn’t prepared to have a steel type this soon. I’m going to need to pick up some polish and… Do Beldum eat? “Beldum.” Well, better safe than sorry.

“Come on, Wes. Let’s head to the store.”

“Beldum.” He replies, smiling… I think. How do you tell if something with one eye and no mouth is smiling? How is he even saying his name? Maybe the vibrations emanating from his body happen to hit our eardrums in a way that sounds like “Beldum.” I put my hand on Wes. “Beldum.” Nope. I’ve read that some psychic-types have telepathy. Maybe it’ll happen once he becomes a Metang or a Metagross. I guess for now I’ll just chalk it up to “the mysteries of Pokémon.”

After entering the store and looking around for a second, I notice a large section of products missing. “Where’s all the Pokémon food?!” I practically scream.
The shopkeeper walks up. “Gone. Lately, whenever I get a shipment in and get it stocked up, someone breaks in spilling it all over the floor.”

“Have you talked to Officer Jenny about this?” I ask.

“I have but she says she’s too busy and that she’ll get back to this as soon as she can.”

“Well shoot.”

“You’re a Trainer, right?”

“Yes.”

“If you can help me catch whoever is doing this, I’ll give you some extra supplies for free.”

I wonder… “Can you throw in some polish for my Beldum?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then you’ve got a deal.”

“Thank you very much, Miss…”

“Call me Faye. Do you have any clues that could help?” I ask.

He walks behind the counter and pulls out a bag of food sliced in half and a broken lock. “These for starters.” Upon closer inspection, it seems as though the lock had also been cut apart. It was a clean cut too. The cut on the bag was a neat one too. Obviously something strong and sharp. Only one thing could be that strong and sharp, but just to be sure…“Well?”

“Were all the bags cut in half like this?”

“Yes. Every single one. Even the ones in the back.”

“I see…” I go over and look around at the empty shelves. There are no marks on the tops of the shelves. However, on the walls there are some thin nicks. “Which way do they usually come in, the front or the back?”

“The back.”

“Let’s go take a look at the back entrance.” As we head back, my thoughts keep turning back to one culprit. However, for it to be true is odd. I look around on the ground but I don’t see anything resembling footprints. However, I notice the back door is somewhat damaged and make a closer examination. “Okay, I think I’ve got it.”

“So who’s doing it?”

“Bear with me because this is going to sound odd… Due to the unusual quality and amount of cuts, I believe the culprit is a wild Scyther.”

“I had a feeling.”

“When’s your next shipment?”

“I’m expecting it any minute.”

“Alright.” So what I need to do is either catch it or drive it off. Scythers are unusual to this area so chances are it’s stronger than anything I have. Scythers are Bug/Flying types. At my disposal, I have a Steel/Psychic type, a Grass Type, and a Psychic/Rock type. If I want to take it down quickly, it sounds like my best bet is to use Nova. I don’t think he has any rock moves though... I check my Pokétch. It’s about noon. I have five to six hours to teach him a rock move or I’m going to have to use Wes. “Okay, here’s the plan. While you’re closing up tonight, I’m going to leave my Solrock in the back room to ambush it the moment it opens the door. I hope that I can catch it. Otherwise, I’ll have to settle for driving it off.”

“Thank you very much.”

Setting an alarm on my Pokétch, I head out to Route 201 and start training Nova. He didn’t know a Rock type move but he quickly learned Rock Throw. We spent the rest of the time mastering the move as much as we could, having him strike specific points, and throwing multiple rocks in formation. Stuff like that. After my alarm goes off, I take Nova to the Pokémon Center just to make sure he’s in the best possible shape for the upcoming fight and run over to the store.

“Are you ready?” asks the shopkeeper.

“Yes. My Solrock is all set to go.” He leads me to the back room where I let Nova out of his ball.

“Solrock.”

“Okay Nova, listen closely. Soon, another Pokémon is going to break that door open. The instant the door opens I want you to use Rock Throw in order to force it back to the outside. Once outside, I’ll join up with you and direct you from there. If you can, aim for the legs, feet, or wings. Okay?” Nova nods. I give him a friendly pat. “Excellent. You’re a very smart Pokémon.”

“Solrock!” he says proudly.

I sit beside the corner and wait. Scythers are very speedy creatures. If Nova can injure its legs or foot, that’ll give us an advant- CRAP! Oh my Arceus, I am such an idiot! What if it’s an Ijō?! Maybe it’s a Water-type Scyther or something! How could I not consider this?!

“Scy…” Too late now. It’s here. I turn my head around the corner to look. The light shining down from the lamp above the door shows that it’s a green Scyther. Doesn’t mean it’s not Grass type. I pull out my Pokédex and turn the volume down.

“Scyther. The Mantis Pokémon. Status: Pure. Scythers are known to move quicker than the human eye and possess razor sharp scythes than they strengthen by cutting hard objects.” And this one can cut through metal… This is going to end poorly.

The Scyther raises a scythe, “ScyyyyyyyTHER!” and brings it down, apparently opening the door because the next instant rocks shoot out and it jumps back.

“SOLROCK!” Out comes Nova. I scramble to my feet and run over to him.

“Nova, watch out for those scythes. If they hit you, there’s no telling what will happen.” I look over at the Scyther. It’s hard to tell but I think Nova managed to injure its knee. “Use Rock Throw again. Small rocks. Fan formation. Head height.”

“Rock. Sooooooool.” Nova tosses out rocks again. The Scyther tries to dodge but it sounds like Nova scores a direct hit in the head.

“SCY!” It’s quiet for a minute. Then two. I think the Scyther ran away.

“Patrol the shop. If you sense him, come get me immediately.” Nova nods and floats away. I sit by the doorway keeping a vigil as best as I could. Next thing I know, the shopkeeper wakes me up, Nova at his side. It’s morning. I assume nothing happened.

“Did you catch it?”

“No. Apparently, it ran away. So, besides the door, is everything okay?”

“Yes. Everything is in perfect condition. But is there any chance you could stay another day to make sure it’s not going to happen again?”

It would be a good idea to make sure the job’s done. “Alright, but one more day is all I can spare.”

“Thank you.”