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pokemonthenovel2016-10-30 11:18 am
2bamaster) wrote in pokemonthenovel2016-10-30 11:18 am
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Chapter 4: Nyarth Attack (Japanese terminology)
By the time Satoshi reached Tokiwa City, the sun had set behind the mountains and it was getting dark.
With Highway Route 2 passing through it, Tokiwa City was a reasonably large city.
Satoshi's Masara Town had gone over 100 years without any notable crimes. As such, they had no police officers or police station, instead of police, all they had were a private organisation of fire fighters calling themselves the “Flame Guard” patrolling every night.
However, Tokiwa City naturally had police stations, it even had a police box on the town's outskirts.
Tonight the police box's night shift was being handled by the female officer Assistant Inspector Junsa. Despite being an Assistant Inspector, she was still young enough to be Satoshi's older sister. Considering that ten year old Satoshi's mother was only in her twenties, a woman in her twenties could probably be Satoshi's aunt.
As such, this big sister-like female police officer could only be about 19 at the oldest.
On that topic, while I specified that she's a female officer, there's probably no need to specify her gender.
In this country, most important fields of work like the police are dominated by women, any men who had jobs with any connection to the police were usually either thieves or private eyes.
Most men tended to try and become Pokémon trainers.
However, the harsh truth is that not everyone can be a Pokémon trainer, more people fail than succeed. Some men realise this early enough and are able to make a change of career, but others chase their dreams until the bitter end and become unable to integrate into society. Having become an adult with no skills other than the ability to throw a Monster Ball makes them effectively useless. Having failed to chase their dreams, they lose their confidence. They were nothing but talk. Unreliable. They always dreamed of getting rich quick. If people like this were allowed to be police, bankers or doctors, cities would be filled with thieves and hospitals would create casualties rather than cure them.
As such, most important, serious jobs in this country were handled by women.
In general, if you were to refer to Assistant Inspector Junsa, the woman on duty tonight wouldn't be the first person to come to mind. Ever since the times of their ancestor Heiji Junsa and his daughter Zenigata Junsa as thief takers (the old equivalent of police officers), the Junsa family have worked as police within this country, as of now, one out of every three police officers in the country had the name Junsa.
The remaining two thirds were either women who had changed their surname after marriage, or their daughters or other relatives.
... Of course, not everyone changes their name after marriage, either way, the Junsa family were well known as police officers.
To sum up, in this country... the name Junsa and the police... are practically synonymous.
The name of the officer here in Tokiwa City was also Junsa... Specifically, Momoko Junsa... In kanji, Momoko's name was written as Hundredth Child. Incidentally, in neighbouring towns there was Ichiko, Niko, Senko, etc., number themed names were common, in fact in Nibi City just down Highway Route 2 lived Momoko's cousin, Yaoko, whose name is written as Eight Hundredth Child. As all sharing the name Junsa could be confusing, it had become tradition among the Junsa clan to be named by number, but many of those who had been stuck with those names didn't appreciate it.
After all a little girl named Misokko, written as Thirtieth Child, wouldn't appreciate her name much.
In respect of the feelings of these girls, this novel will, whenever possible, refer to them only as Junsa.
As such, while it may seem confusing having the police named Junsa in each new city we visit, we don't want to piss off a police officer, it could potentially be quite scary.
***
Junsa clocked in for the night shift on the time recorder and started her first job of the night.
The announcement chime rang as she picked up the mic.
“Citizens of Tokiwa City, it's almost dinner time... Thank you for your hard work today. As of late, there have been a noticeable number of pickpockets, purse snatchers and Pokémon kidnappers. Please be on the lookout.”
A speaker on the roof of the police box allowed Junsa's voice to be heard through the town.
“Hm? Well speak of the devil...”
She could see Satoshi running outside the police box's window.
Junsa grabbed Satoshi by the scruff of the neck as he passed by the front of the police box.
“Hold it... I'm not letting any suspicious characters past here.”
“I'm not suspicious. I need to get my Pokémon to the hospital...”
Satoshi looked down at the Pikachu held against his chest.
Junsa's face changed to a sad expression as if it was her own Pokémon that was injured.
“What horrible injuries... The poor thing... Quickly, your identification... I don't need a passport, I guess it's kinda like a passtown though... Just show me some ID.”
“Identification? Well, I...”
He didn't recall getting any from anybody.
In other towns, to do stuff like borrow rental videos you needed some kind of identification. However, in Masara Town where Satoshi had lived, everyone in town knew each other so there was no need for ID.
It was possible to get identification documentation from the mayor of Masara Town, but with the commotion caused by Pikachu's electrical shocks at the Ookido Laboratory it had totally slipped his mind, besides, the mayor was busy anyway giving Shigeru his big send off.
Without any ID, he'd just have to try and explain.
“I'm Satoshi, I came from Masara Town.”
“A little boy from Masara Town, you're the fourth one today.”
“Fourth... So Shigeru and the others have already...”
They were ahead of him. Although it'd be obvious if you think about it. Normally... Without the Onisuzume he wouldn't have taken such a roundabout way. ... Junsa spoke to Satoshi, who was biting his lip.
“You're carrying a Pokémon you would keep normally keep in a Monster Ball, a heavily injured Pokémon, I might add. You have no ID either, making it really easy to suspect you as a Pokémon thief.”
On a notice board was a wanted poster of two Pokémon thieves.
The poster had little detail as they had hats pulled down to cover their faces.
“I don't have any ID... Pikachu and I were attacked by a bunch of Onisuzume...”
Junsa shook her head in pity.
“Aw man... This may sound naïve, but my experience tells me you're not a bad kid. But without proof... I have to take responsibility. I'd like to let you through, but I can't.”
“Come on, me and Pikachu, we're injured.”
That same Pikachu pointed one of his trembling forelegs at one of Satoshi's bulging pockets.
He softly cried out.
“Pikachu... Pika.”
Junsa picked up on Pikachu's signal.
“Hm? That bulge in your pocket there...”
“Eh? ... Ah... This...”
Satoshi put his hand into the pocket and pulled out the Pokémon Field Guide.
“Hm, hm. And this is?”
Junsa asked Satoshi with a huge smile on her face.
“Eh... Professor Ookido gave me...” Satoshi answered.
“Masara Town, right?” Junsa confirmed.
“Yeah.”
Junsa pointed with her finger.
“A Pokémon Field Guide. This is decisive proof.”
Junsa took Satoshi's Pokémon Field Guide and flipped to the end.
“Take a look at the last page... This is your identification.”
She showed Satoshi.
The Pokémon Field Guide displayed a photo of Satoshi's face, below was a message written in pen by Professor Ookido along with his signature. Satoshi read it.
“This Pokémon Field Guide belongs to Satoshi-kun of Masara Town. Aiming to be a future Pokémon trainer... If this Pokémon Field Guide is stolen or lost, it will not be replaced... Masara Town. Professor Ookido”
“Wow. I had no idea I had identification on the last page. Anyway, I'm kinda in a hurry...”
“Well, we better hurry up then.”
Along with Junsa's voice outside the police box,
Brbrbrbrm... The sound of a 750cc motorbike engine rang out.
In mere moments, Junsa was now revving the engine of a police motorbike with a sidecar.
“Your Pokémon's wounds need treatment at the Pokémon Center. Hurry and get in! I'll take you.”
“Yeah!”
Satoshi leapt into the sidecar.
Junsa placed the sirens and lights on just above Satoshi.
“Time to blast off. Turbo mode...”
Whoosh! The white bike's muffler spewed flames and black smoke as it sped off to the inner part of Tokiwa City.
***
“What the hell... was that...”
A girl stood in front of the police box, choking on the black smoke left behind by the muffler.
It was the girl who had been fishing at the lake. Dragging her battered bike with her.
While following after Satoshi, she found her beloved bike in it's broken twisted state.
She had come to the police box to make a report, and just as she was about to call out for Junsa, she found herself breathing the bike's exhaust fumes.
And to add insult to injury, the one getting a ride on the bike was none other than that thieving boy.
“Uuuugh, you'll pay!”
The girl hoisted her bike onto her shoulders. She was really strong while fishing, but apparently even stronger when angry...
“Wait uuup!”
She ran chasing the police motorbike, carrying her bike on her shoulders.
***
Bobobobobobo...
The sun had completely set, the only illumination left was that of the street lights and the police box... A strange noise approached the police box left unattended by Junsa.
It was a hot air balloon... A giant balloon that flies through the air using the hot air pumped by an engine.
Two figures were visible on the hot air balloon as it stopped right above the police box.
One of them lowered a fishing line and fished the wanted poster off the notice board.
“So, this is our wanted poster...” whispered a woman looking at the poster.
“You can't even see our faces. These are terrible photos.”
The one complaining about the photos was a man.
These two are members of the infamous Pokémon stealing organisation, Team Rocket, they were the ones in charge of rural areas.
“You can't expect police out in the boonies to recognise our beauty.”
The woman's name was Musashi... A piece of trivia. Prior to becoming a Pokémon thief, she had experience as an art thief. The artworks she stole, if featured on any treasure appraisal program on TV anywhere in the world, would be valued ridiculously low, but she only ever cared about their beauty.
“Truly unforgivable.”
The man's name was Kojirou. Despite his name meaning small second son, he was actually quite tall and an only child. As a child he was a quiet boy who allowed himself to fade into the background, but for a thief he was overly concerned by the quality of his photo.
“It's unacceptable. This is a crime against beauty.” Musashi clenched her fist.
“We'll show the people of Tokiwa City exactly what we're capable of.”
Kojirou smiled, looking at his own face in a hand mirror.
Shining in the darkness behind them... looking up, down and spinning around was a Pokémon... a golden coin on his forehead. ... He was a Pokémon called Nyarth.
“I don't mind a show of force, but our goal is to obtain rare Pokémon... don't you forget that, nyaa.”
This Nyarth could speak the human language. Not all Nyarth can speak like humans. Just as Satoshi's Pikachu is unique among Pikachu in his dislike of Monster Balls, Nyarth was unique among Nyarth in his ability to talk like a human.
No, in fact going by Portable Beast studies, Pikachu's case may be unlikely, but Nyarth's one was practically unheard of.
Nyarth had experienced hardship he had spoken of to no other person, to no other Pokémon even, perhaps I'll talk more about this on some other occasion...
On top of Nyarth's linguistic prowess... He would like to change the saying “coins for a cat” to “coins for a Nyarth”. He also wanted to change its meaning.
“Coins for a cat” has essentially the same meaning as “pearls before swine”, as giving coins to a cat would be pointless. Pearls wouldn't please a swine. Cats and swine would be happier with just some leftover fish. The only ones who would appreciate the value of coins, pearls and diamonds are humans. ... There are times when giving these things to a human woman may also ultimately be pointless, but at least she'll enjoy them. Basically, “coins for a cat” means to give something to someone who doesn't appreciate its value. As such, it's a saying that looks down on other life forms.
Nyarth would like to change the meaning of “coins for a cat”, “coins for a Nyarth”, to exactly what it says, a descriptor for becoming rich. As such, it's a saying he'll often repeat holding up one paw like a beckoning cat.
And tonight also, Nyarth quoted his signature phrase with a devilish grin.
“Coins for a cat! Coins for a Nyarth!”
“Yeah, whatever.”
Musashi and Kojirou responded to Nyarth's quotation, as they took the torn and scrunched up wanted poster and tossed it off into the night sky.
***
As the police bike sped through the city, the Pokémon Center came into view up ahead.
“I see it!” Junsa gave a thumbs up.
“The Pokémon Center... So that's a Pokémon hospital...”
Satoshi whispered with his mouth agape, it was an incredible building.
“This is an emergency... No complaining... Here we go!”
Junsa shouted this as they climbed the Pokémon Center's front stairs, still riding the motorbike.
They shot right in the entrance and suddenly braked right at the reception desk in the hall.
The woman at reception leapt over the counter and went to stand in front of the bike.
She was a young woman older than Satoshi wearing a white robe. She appeared to be a doctor.
She spoke to Junsa in a calm voice.
“Welcome to the ER... I'm Joy from the emergency ward... Explain the situation.”
Junsa saluted as she relayed the information.
“We've brought a heavily injured Pokémon.”
The woman named Joy took a glance at the Pikachu in Satoshi's arms,
“I see the Pokémon's species is a Pikachu.”
With that said, without even giving Satoshi a moment to reply, she grabbed a mic from the counter.
“This is Joy at reception... It's urgent... Bring me a stretcher for electric type Pokémon!”
“Lucky”
That was the cry heard as a reply.
In the blink of an eye, Pokémon wearing nurse caps shot out with a stretcher for the patient.
The Pokémon had something resembling an egg carried on their belly, and their body was pink all over. The Pokémon are called Lucky, they have a kind disposition, making them well suited for nursing.
Joy spoke softly to the Pikachu in Satoshi's arms.
“No need to worry...This won't hurt... 1, 2, 3... Now.”
In the blink of an eye, Pikachu was moved from Satoshi's arms onto the stretcher.
“To the emergency ward! Quickly!”
“Lucky”
The Lucky took Pikachu's stretcher past reception and into the emergency ward.
They got all this done while Satoshi was still left flustered.
“Time to begin treatment!”
Snap! Joy put on some rubber gloves before heading to the emergency ward.
In a panic Satoshi followed her and asked.
“Um... I...”
“You, what?”
Junsa replied in Satoshi's stead.
“He's the Pokémon's owner, a prospective Pokémon trainer.”
“What should I...”
“Reflect on your actions.”
Joy replied bluntly.
“If you want to become a fully fledged Pokémon trainer... Don't let your Pokémon fight until it's in that state...”
Satoshi was unable to respond.
Joy continued harshly.
“The only thing you can do right now, is stay in the waiting room and pray your Pokémon survives...”
“That's... the only thing I can do...?”
“I'll take care of the treatment.”
Junsa spoke up, saluting Joy once more.
“I'll leave it in your capable hands. I'll take my leave now and get back to protecting the city.”
“Keep up the good work.”
Joy thanked Junsa lightly.
“Just doing my job... Ah, crap. Speaking of work, I left the door open at the police box before I left.”
“Always remember to close up.”
“This ain't good!”
Junsa hopped on her police motorbike and shot off.
“I'll be closing the door for the treatment room too.” Joy said as she entered the treatment room.
“Ah... Pikachu...”
Kshn.
The emergency ward's automatic door closed in Satoshi's face.
The lamp indicating treatment was in progress lit up.
***
Poppo, Poppo, Poppo...
I had been over two hours... The Poppo clock on the wall rang for 10:00 PM.
Satoshi sat patiently in the waiting room.
The treatment in progress lamp was still lit.
“Ah, phones...”
Satoshi noticed there were TV phones next to the reception.
“Phone call, huh...”
Satoshi picked up the receiver and pushed the buttons.
Hanako's number, his mother in Masara Town.
“Hi, hi.”
On the TV phone's screen a face painted completely white appeared.
It was like a jiangshi zombie from a Chinese horror film.
In shock, Satoshi pointed at the face on the screen and shouted.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Take a look.”
The face on the phone peeled off the mask.
Beneath the white layer, Hanako's face appeared.
“Ah... Mom. Cut the dumb jokes.”
“It's not a joke. It's a face mask. Girls use them once a week to take care of their skin. Girls with an oily complexion should use them once every three days. Yeah.”
Hanako nodded to agree with herself as she spoke.
“You can do whatever you like, but maybe you shouldn't answer the phone with it on.”
“A once in a lifetime mistake... I'm glad you're the only one who saw it... Hm, oh yeah, you're my son Satoshi, aren't you?”
It seems like she only just realised that the one on the other end of the phone was Satoshi.
“Yes, I am your son Satoshi.”
Satoshi nodded with a sigh.
“Ah... No way. Satoshi! If it isn't my son. Where are you?”
She seemed to have regained the demeanour of a parent concerned for their child.
“Tokiwa City's Pokémon Center.”
Satoshi mumbled his answer.
“Oh wow, you're already in Tokiwa City? Amazing. It took your dad four days to reach Tokiwa City. And you did it in only a single day. Gathering every bit of useful travelling equipment seems to have paid off.”
“Every bit of useful travelling equipment...”
Every bit was perhaps an overstatement, but it's true that Hanako prepared everything she possibly could for Satoshi's journey.
But that backpack with all those feelings stuffed inside had been torn apart. The Biriridama alarm clock he got for his birthday didn't work any more either.
Unaware of any of this, Hanako was quite cheerful.
“At this rate, you'll become a much greater Pokémon trainer than either dad or grandpa. Do your best.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Satoshi didn't want to cause Hanako any concern right now.
“One yeah will do fine.” Hanako advised him.
“Yeah.” He simply replied obediently.
“Brush your teeth twice a day.” She followed up.
“Yeah.”
“And wear your pajamas when you go to bed.” Hanako's eyes teared up as she spoke.
“Yeah.”
“Good, now we don't want to rack up the phone bill... So let's end this. Satoshi... Goodnight... 'kay.”
To avoid letting her son see her tears, Hanako hung up the phone.
Beep... The sound of the hung up phone line echoed in Satoshi's ear.
“Ah... Goodnight...”
Satoshi hung up the receiver and walked slowly back to the waiting room seats where he sat.
Satoshi got the toothbrush from his battered bag and whispered.
“Brush my teeth... My mouth isn't a chimney.”
The toothbrush was in such a state that it looked more like a chimney sweeper's brush.
Satoshi sighed once more, adding to the dozens of other sighs he'd made today, and went back to staring at the wall of the waiting room.
There were several framed reliefs (embossed carvings) hanging there.
Their designs looked like something done by a caveman or Picasso.
“Legendary Pokémon” was written underneath the frames.
“Ah... That's” Satoshi spoke up without thinking.
Among the images, was one that he thought resembled the unidentified Pokémon he saw flying into the sunset.
Then something happened.
The phone he used earlier started ringing.
Nobody was at reception.
“No one's gonna answer?”
Satoshi picked up the receiver.
The TV phone's vision displayed the back of a man in a white lab coat.
Instant ramen in a beaker was being boiled on the flame of an alcohol lamp.
The man stirred the ramen with a spork like those you got with school lunches long ago, before turning around.
“Buh...”
It was Professor Ookido.
“Satoshi-kun. It's me, who do you think? Professor Ookido.”
“I can see you.”
“I just got a call from your mother, Hanako-san, a few minutes ago. Beautiful woman. A real stunner.”
It seems that right after she finished her call with Satoshi, Hanako called Professor Ookido.
It's safe to assume she made the call without her face mask on.
“I can't comment on that. Tell her that yourself.” Satoshi replied huffily.
“Well then, if I tell her...” Ookido keenly murmured to himself.
“Why are you calling me?” Satoshi asked.
“Oh, that's right. Satoshi-kun, I hear you've made it to Tokiwa City. Is that true?”
“Professor. Where did you just call?” Satoshi asked once more.
“Tokiwa City. Oh, right. If you answered the phone there, it means you're in Tokiwa City...”
“I'm at Tokiwa City's Pokémon Center... My Pikachu was badly injured...”
“I see.” Professor Ookido let out a deep sigh.
“It's rough... But it's a trial everyone must face...”
“So, the Pokémon of the other three who left Masara Town are also...”
“Nope.” Professor Ookido shook his head easily.
“The other three had very little damage caused to their Pokémon and have already left town. After all, those kids have Hitokage, Zenigame and Fushigidane. They were my personal recommendations. They won't go down easy.”
“I like Pikachu!” Satoshi shouted angrily.
“Hm. Pikachu may shine when polished. Things may pikap... Anyway, for all four of you from Masara Town to have made it as far as the Tokiwa City Pokémon Center in one day...”
Professor Ookido gripped his spork, truly impressed.
“One small step for a Pokémon Master, one giant leap for Satoshi-kun. I'll help you out. I'll cheer you on, even a poor marksman will hit a target with enough shots.”
“A poor marksman?” Satoshi didn't understand what he was saying.
But Professor Ookido wasn't a man who cared much for others.
“Every Pokémon trainer leaving Masara Town should be celebrated. Hooray! Hooray! Satoshi... Now then,”
Ending his cheer there, Professor Ookido suddenly became serious.
“How many have you caught with your Monster Balls?”
“Not even one.” Satoshi could only answer truthfully.
“Not one...” Professor Ookido's expression darkened as he looked down.
“... I regret cheering for you now.”
“But, I saw some thing resembling that thing.” Satoshi pointed at the relief on the wall.
“Hm? Something resembling that?”
From the other end of the TV phone, Professor Ookido shrugged as he looked at the relief.
“Nobody has ever seen that legendary Pokémon. You're a hundred years, a thousand years away from seeing that.”
“Sure looked like it.”
“Sure it did. Ah, it's boiling over... The ramen will spoil...”
Professor Ookido's attention drifted to his ramen.
He slurped on the ramen noodles.
“Hot hot hot... Satoshi-kun, I await hearing your progress. Or not. Goodbye. If the phone doesn't ring, I won't answer.”
“Ah...” before Satoshi could get in another word, the call was cut off.
“Aah! There you are!”
It wasn't the phone, but the girl shouting behind him.
“Eh?”
He turned to find a girl holding the remnants of a bike above her head standing there, wheezing completely out of breath.
“I knew you'd be here.”
“What's with that bike?”
“I found it while chasing after you. Bike, you say? You dare to still call this thing a bike?”
The girl continued speaking holding the bike above her.
“You seriously just called this a bike. It looks more like a half eaten overcooked fish... Nothing left but a charred skeleton. In fact, if you left a fish in this state, its ghost would come back to haunt you. ... Woah... Kyah!”
The girl, trembling with rage, fell over backwards under the weight of the bike.
“You okay?”
Satoshi rushed over without even thinking, but she brushed off his hand.
“Don't touch me. Anyway. My bike. You're not getting off the hook with me...”
“I'll do anything. Reimburse you, whatever. But now isn't the time for that.”
“You destroyed my bike, I don't care whether it's the right time or not!”
“My Pikachu... My Pikachu is...”
“Eh...?”
The girl noticed the emergency ward's red lamp Satoshi was looking at.
“... Is it that bad?”
“Probably, I think so... I, what should I do now...?”
“I see...”
Then it happened. The red lamp went out and the door to the treatment room opened.
Lucky came out with the stretcher carrying Pikachu.
“Pikachu! Are you okay?”
Pikachu was coiled up in a ball and unconscious.
However there was something resembling an ECG attached to his tail and head with a flashing lamp.
He appeared to be breathing.
Joy spoke as she removed her mask and rubber gloves.
“He's out of the woods. It's not often that the medical staff at a Pokémon Center are unable to save a patient Pokémon... Right?”
“Lucky.”
Lucky the nurse Pokémon chirped cheerfully.
“Pokémon Centers are amazing.” The girl smiled.
“Thank you, doctor.” Satoshi was deeply moved, unable to say anything else.
Joy smiled at Satoshi for the first time.
“Now we just have to wait for him to recover fully in the ICU. Please, follow me.”
Satoshi spoke to the girl.
“Sorry. Things are kinda... I will make amends for your bike one day.”
“You're still worrying about that now?”
“Eh?” Satoshi was surprised by the girl's response. She'd spoken of nothing but her bike so far and suddenly she was ignoring it.
“Go with your Pokémon. Hurry up already.”
“Ah, right.”
Satoshi nodded.
“Bike, what bike? What the heck is he thinking? Kids these days... I swear.”
The girl spoke to Joy.
... Aren't you just a kid too?... Joy smiled.
Just as Satoshi was accompanying Pikachu's stretcher out, it happened. Despite all the other... just as... that happened since Satoshi arrived at the Pokémon Center, this is the real deal. This time, an alarm bell rang throughout the waiting room.
Junsa's voice was heard through the speakers.
“Warning. Warning. Tokiwa City is under the threat of an unknown incursion. It is feared to be a gang of Pokémon kidnappers. If you own Pokémon or are friends with any Pokémon, please remain cautious.”
***
Bobobobo... The sound of a hot air balloon was audible.
Team Rocket's hot air balloon was already positioned directly about the Center.
“Fufufu, their alarm is already too late.” Musashi snickered cooly.
“We'll never be caught, even with all arms the law can't touch us.” Kojirou said. This wasn't intended to be a lame pun about alarms and all arms. He was a serious man.
“They've got to be kidding about just calling us mere kidnappers... We're part of the one and only Team Rocket.”
Musashi noticed the similarity of the words kidding and kidnappers.
“We'll show them... just how terrifying we are.” Kojirou hadn't picked up on it at all.
“Nyattack! (Attack!)” Nyarth shouted. Nyarth considered himself as the leader.
“We don't need a kitty cat to tell us that! ... Whoosh.”
Musashi and Kojirou leapt from the hot air balloon with shoulder jets.
“Nice comeback... If this goes well, our boss will be really pleased, and I'll curl up with him under the kotatsu, surrounded with coins, nya.” Nyarth grinned widely as he dreamt of being curled up on the kotatsu.
“Charge!”
Musashi and Kojirou threw a pair of Monster Balls mid air.
The Monster Balls shattered the Center's skylight and fell down into the hall.
The very next moment, a snake-like Pokémon emerged from Musashi's Monster Ball.
It was an Arbo.
And from Kojirou's Monster Ball came Dogas. A Pokémon somewhat like a round rock, with smoke spurting out from pimple-like craters on its surface.
Suddenly the Pokémon Center's waiting room was completely filled with Dogas's smoke.
“What the!? What is this!?”
Satoshi shouted.
“No matter whatever questions you ask, the answer you'll receive is the world's pity.” The pair responded with this line.
“To protect the world from devastation.” Musashi said.
“To maintain the world's peace.” was Kojirou's line.
“To denounce the evils of truth and love.” Musashi boasted slightly.
“We are the lovely charming villains.” Kojirou spoke gently.
“Musashi.” She introduced herself.
“Kojirou.” Kojirou followed up...
“The pair from Team Rocket, crossing the galaxy...” Musashi struck a pose. It's difficult to describe the pose. And since the pose is ad-libbed, meaning that it's different each time, there's no point in explaining anyway.
“White hole. A white tomorrow awaits.” Kojirou took his own pose. It also seems to be ad-libbed.
And... Just as you thought it was over... Nyarth finally appears.
“That's right.”
And having finished up with his catchphrase, he took the pose of a beckoning cat.
... Uh, so what was that? You may want to ask, but that would be quite rude. The lines and poses upon their arrival, after so much practice, they wanted to bravely show off in front of viewers like us.
But Satoshi didn't care about humouring them.
He went ahead and said what didn't need to be said.
“So, uh, what the hell was that about?”
“Seems this twerp boy doesn't get it.” Musashi brushed off Satoshi's comment, shrugging her shoulders.
“Nobody would understand that without an explanation.” Satoshi stated the obvious.
As such, Kojirou opted to give a serious reply.
“We're after the Pokémon...”
“You're not getting my Pikachu.”
Satoshi stood protectively in front of Pikachu's stretcher.
“Hm... Pikachu? ...” Musashi ridiculed him with a laugh.
“We're not interested in some run of the mill electric rat like a Pikachu.”
“What we're after, are rare Pokémon, far superior to that thing.” Kojirou clarified, adding to Musashi's response.
“Hold it, we don't have any Pokémon like that at this Center.” Joy said.
Musashi, knowing that Joy was roughly the same age as her, spoke as if chatting with a friend.
“Non non non. Are you sure? This place is filled with injured Pokémon. If we take all of them, there may be some wheat among the chaff.”
“Even a poor marksman will hit a target with enough shots.” Kojirou said with a serious expression.
That was their motto... The words they lived by. Simply put, a phrase that briefly summarises their approach to life.
“I've heard that somewhere before...” Satoshi recalled Professor Ookido saying the same thing on the phone earlier.
“A poor marksman... What does that mean?” Satoshi asked Team Rocket.
“You know they'll miss, but with enough bullets, one may hit eventually. There's the occasional fluke in the world. You can't win the lottery unless you buy a ticket. If there's nothing to lose, you might as well give it a shot.” Kojirou politely explained, reading from a dictionary.
“It's really the best approach for anything. Whether you're stealing Pokémon, or searching for a boyfriend or getting married.” Musashi said earnestly, while nodding to herself for some reason.
“So, I'm a poor marksman... I've got nothing to lose.” Satoshi's shoulders slumped.
It had been thirty minutes since his phone call with Professor Ookido, and its meaning finally stabbed him.
“That kinda pisses me off.” He clenched his fist.
“What trifling matters.” Musashi said.
“Doesn't bother me.” Kojirou nodded.
Musashi and Kojirou pulled out gas masks.
“Me-ow too!”
Nyarth said, also pulling out a mask.
“It's time for Dogas to shine, gas 'em!”Kojirou pointed at Dogas.
“Dogas!” Dogas cried in its somewhat dopey voice as it spurted poison gasses.
However the gas filled the area, leaving no gaps.
“Not good! Run!” Joy shouted.
“You won't escape, after them Arbo, extra turbo throttle!” Musashi commanded Arbo.
“Sharbo!” it cried neither Arbo or turbo, but Arbo wriggled around the waiting room and reception.
Both medical equipment and PCs began to spark and be destroyed.
***
Being pursued by Dogas's poison gasses, Satoshi and the others fled into the hospital wards. I say wards, but the wards are for Pokémon. Pokémon that are sick are left inside their Monster Balls to sleep. As such, the patient rooms looked more like the ball storage at a bowling alley, with shelves lined up with Monster Balls.
Joy closed the ward's door and locked it.
“This door is airtight to prevent any airborne pathogens getting through. We'll be safe from the poison gas here.”
Although it was too soon to truly say they were safe.
Bash! There was a sound like the light bulbs exploding and they were left in pitch black darkness.
“Wah, a blackout. I hate the dark.”
The girl, who until now had seemed fearless, let out a helpless cry for the first time.
“They've cut the power. But no need to worry. We've got our own backup generator...”
The patient room's lights immediately returned.
“Hey...”
The girl let out a joyful cheer.
“Wow... So many Pikachu.”
Within the patient room there were a number of Pikachu wearing electricians helmets spinning, spinning and spinning on a rotating disc.
The sparks flying from the disc went into the electrical lines sending power back to the lights.
At the same time the lights returned, the computer screen on the wall lit up, and the computer's voice spoke “Emergency evacuation procedure commencing.”
“We're going to transfer the sick Pokémon's Monster Balls while we can...”
“Transfer them where?” Satoshi asked.
“They're being transmitted to the Nibi City Pokémon Center.”
As she spoke, Joy started tossing Monster Balls from the shelves into an escape hatch resembling a garbage chute.
“Everybody, help!”
“Lucky!” Lucky carried the Monster Balls. Satoshi and the girl tossed them into the escape hatch.
Joy shouted into the computer's mic.
“This is the Tokiwa City Pokémon Center, we're in a state of emergency... We're transferring our Pokémon's Monster Balls to the Nibi City Pokémon Center.”
The line connected to Nibi City and a voice came from the Pokémon Center. It was a woman's voice on the other end.
“This is the Nibi City Pokémon Center... Roger that. Ready to receive Monster Balls.”
The screen on the wall displayed a map. It displayed a line from Tokiwa City to Nibi City indicating the progress of the Monster Ball transfer.
“A little more... Just a little more...”
“Lo... Look!” The girl pointed at the door.
Gas was starting to leak through.
The next moment the wall broke.
Arbo had smashed through the wall.
The Pikachu on the generator were sent flying.
The Monster Balls still on the shelves fell to the ground.
A few of them rolled out of the room and into the hallway.
“Save them!” Joy couldn't take her hands from the computer.
“I'll do it!”
Satoshi leapt after the Monster Balls.
“Hand 'em over, twerp boy.” Musashi stood in his way.
“Let a brat have a ball and it becomes an all out brawl.” Kojirou spouted nonsense with a straight face.
Behind the pair of them were Arbo and Dogas. And behind them Nyarth was laughing nyahaha.
The girl shouted.
“Hurry, throw them! Throw the Monster Balls and fight.”
“Eh... Ah... Go! Monster Ball.”
Satoshi threw the Monster Ball he was holding.
It's the Pokémon Center's Monster Ball. There's no way of knowing what's in there.
Besides, he had no options other than throwing it.
The Monster Ball was engulfed in light. That's the sign of the Pokémon coming out.
But the one who came out was the tiny bird Pokémon, Poppo.
If it had to be a tiny bird Pokémon, it could have at least been an Onisuzume... Satoshi thought, not even recalling the way they tore him apart during the day.
But the solid fact is, it was a Poppo that appeared.
“It's a bit early for the Poppo clock to be chiming midnight. We're not ready to leave the ball yet.” Musashi said.
“Eh? What's that?” Kojirou turned his neck to ask Musashi.
“What did you mean by that line?”
“You don't know? The strike of midnight, Cinderella.”
“Ah, I'm a man, so I didn't get the reference.” Kojirou scratched his head.
“If we keep wasting time like this Kojirou, it really will become midnight.”
Musashi commanded Arbo.
“Go! Arbo.”
In the face of the snake-like Arbo, Poppo opted to flee.
“Tch! Next one! Go! Monster Ball!”
Satoshi threw another Monster Ball that had rolled off.
Nothing but light came from the Monster Ball.
“Huh?” Satoshi craned his neck.
“There's some empty ones mixed in there too...” Joy was at her wits end.
“Don't go throwing empty ones! Moron!” The girl reprimanded Satoshi.
“Oh come on... Right. Next, go! Monster Ball!”
This Monster Ball contained the mouse Pokémon that had torn through his backpack in the field, Koratta.
“Fufufu... That Pokémon is Small Fry with a capital S.” said Kojirou.
Against the snake-like Arbo's glare, Koratta did as Poppo did... and fled.
The girl shouted at Satoshi in irritation.
“Ugh, geez! Moron! I'll buy some time. You get Pikachu out of here.”
The girl puffed out her chest as she spoke.
“I'm the world's greatest beauty. The name's Kasumi.”
Musashi and Kojirou were momentarily stunned as they stared at the girl named Kasumi.
“World's greatest beauty?” Musashi pulled out a magnifying glass and looked intently.
“Her name's Kasumi...” Kojirou pulled out a notebook and wrote into his diary. He wasn't going to ask for her number. He was just acting seriously.
“Nahahaha” Musashi burst out laughing.
“So her name's Kasumi, it means mist. Who's a beauty? Where's a beauty? Why a beauty? Misty or cloudy, I can't tell the difference.”
The girl named Kasumi had her face turn red with rage.
“I'll show you. With the power of my steady.”
Kasumi pulled out her own Monster Ball.
“My steady?” Satoshi murmured.
“It's a lover during your school years that you can officially tell your parents and friends about.” Kojirou confirmed the definition in the dictionary.
“Steady? The little twerp girl is ten years away from being ready for that.” Musashi said.
“Today's the day you throw away your steady, you better go away or be ready.”
“Ugh, I'm not throwing away my Monster Balls. I'm just throwing them. Go! My steady.”
Kasumi threw her own Monster Ball.
Out of the light emerged...
“What!?” Musashi and Kojirou stared at the Pokémon their mouths agape.
The one that emerged from the Monster Ball was the goldfish Pokémon, Tosakinto.
Despite being called a goldfish, it had a rather colourful body which was flopping on the floor.
“Tosakinto, tosakinto, tosakinto.”
It cried in a voluptuous voice and winked at Musashi and Kojirou, before immediately being returned to its Monster Ball.
“What just happened?” Musashi asked Kojirou.
“That was most truly, the smallest fry among small fry.” Kojirou whispered.
Kasumi spoke proudly.
“That was just an example. After all, a goldfish Pokémon can't fight in a place like this with no water.”
“I see.” Satoshi nodded with admiration.
“You're still here? Stop hanging around and escape!” Kasumi shouted at Satoshi.
“Oh yeah!”
Satoshi pushed the stretcher carrying Pikachu out into the hallway and ran. And ran. And ran while running.
The instinct to pursue something that's fleeing is the same for both humans and Pokémon.
“I've gotta escape.”
“You won't get away!”
Arbo swooped upon the stretcher.
Both Satoshi and the stretcher were knocked over.
They were back in the waiting room from earlier.
Right next to where Satoshi had fallen was the broken bike.
Arbo and Dogas were in hot pursuit.
And the Pikachu upon the stretcher opened his eyes slightly.
“Pika... Pika... Pika.”
Pikachu cried out as if calling for someone.
Then the Pikachu from the backup generator in the patient room appeared the waiting room one by one.
“Pikachu!”
The Pikachu on the stretcher called out sharply.
The backup generator Pikachu all let out a simultaneous discharge.
“No way.”
“Preposterous!”
Musashi and Kojirou were frazzled and burnt black.
Dogas was leaking gas.
Arbo was burnt black and erect.
Exhausted by their discharge, all the Pikachu were also collapsed.
“Geez, they're all useless... Seems it's my turn, nya... Mice are my favourite, nya.”
Nyarth's fangs shone as he exposed his claws, gradually closing in on Satoshi and Pikachu.
“Pika... Pika... Pika...”
The Pikachu on the stretcher was trying to bring something to attention.
“Pika... Pika?” Satoshi asked.
Of course, he had no way of understanding Pikachu's words.
But for the time being, Satoshi seemed to have the right idea.
“Pika... Pika?” Satoshi asked one more time.
Pikachu nodded.
“More Pika...? More Pika?” Satoshi confirmed a second time.
Pikachu nodded a second time.
... Of course, he wants more electicity.
“Lots of Pikapikapika?” Satoshi asked.
Pikachu nodded a third time.
The collapsed bike entered Satoshi's field of view.
“Right... Here goes nyathing!”
He stood the bike up to get on it and began turning the pedals.
“Wha'cha doing nya? That bike ain't going anywhere nya. Nyahaha.”
Nyarth laughed.
“Don't underestimate Pikachu just because he's a mouse. Pikachu and I are about to show our true power.”
The bike's pedals turned.
The wheel span.
It created friction with the lamp's generator.
The bike's lamp lit up.
“Ahnyaa?...” Nyarth squinted as the lamp shone in his eyes.
Pikachu leapt from the stretcher to on top of the bike and placed his tail on the friction generator.
“Nyat the heck!?”
Nyarth was attacked with a massive electrical shock discharge.
The other Pikachu let out electric shocks like a chain reaction.
The Pokémon Center was engulfed in sparks, it shone in the night sky like a building shaped firework.
Musashi and Kojirou were still numb. Their jaws were quivering to the point they couldn't even speak.
Arbo was stiff like a pole. And finally, the gas leaking from Dogas ignited.
“Dogaaans”
A huge explosion... The roof was blown clean off the Pokémon Center.
Along with the roof, Nyarth, Musashi and Kojirou were launched like fireworks and tenaciously clung to their hot air balloon in the skies above.
Arbo and Dogas also avoided separation.
“Whew! I prefer being an explosive firework to that numbing electricity.”
Musashi spoke as a sore loser.
“It's like fwee kaboom! Kagiya! Tamaya!” Kojirou shouted desperately. “Kagiya” and “Tamaya” are cheers that were often heard at firework displays in the old days.
Nyarth shouted.
“I'm nyot Tama. Nyam Nyarth nya... (I'm Nyarth.)”
Tama was a common name for cats in the old days.
“Escape nyaa” He called to escape.
However Junsa had already arrived at the Pokémon Center on her police motorbike.
“You won't escape.”
She put her foot on the accelerator.
“Don't underestimate Tokiwa City's motorcycle cops!”
The motorcycle ran up one of the crumbled walls of the Pokémon Center and with its momentum slammed right into the hot air balloon.
“Nailed it!”
Junsa gave a V sign from the safely landed police bike.
The hot air balloon popped like a balloon and shot to the other end of the night sky.
“This suuuuuucks!” Musashi and Kojirou's screams faded like a rocket blasting off.
***
The next morning... In the ruins of the Pokémon Center, Joy called the Nibi City Pokémon Center over the TV phone.
The doctor from Nibi City spoke from the other end of the line.
“We've safely obtained all the Pokémon from Tokiwa City.”
“Thank you, until our center is restored, I'd appreciate you taking care of Tokiwa City's transferred Pokémon.”
“Oh wow...”
Junsa on her motorcycle whispered, poking her head in to peek at the TV screen.
“So she's the doctor in Nibi City?”
The doctor seen on the screen at Nibi City's Pokémon Center had both the same name and face as Joy.
“She's my older sister. Which means her name is also Joy. Most of the doctors in this country are from the Joy family.”
Joy smiled.
“Although I'd have to say I'm the prettiest.”
“I never knew that. ... So it's the same with doctors.”
Junsa smiled brightly.
“Most of the cops in this country are from the Junsa family. But I'm the cutest.”
“So we're the same.” Joy said.
“We're the same.” Junsa replied.
“I can hear you.” Nibi City's Joy glared at them.
Tokiwa City's Joy hastily changed the subject.
“Oh, sis. A hard working boy, girl and Pikachu... set out early this morning towards Nibi City. But they're going to have to pass through Tokiwa Forest first.”
Tokiwa Forest is a forest often considered a perilous path for beginners aiming to become Pokémon Trainers.
“No need to worry... I'm sure those kids can handle Tokiwa Forest...”
“Yeah. Of course.”
Joy spoke to the Joy on the other end of the phone.
“Sis, give those kids my regards when they arrive in Nibi City.”
***
Satoshi's mother Hanako knew nothing of the huge incident in Tokiwa City.
However, she was still awake when morning came.
Ever since she received Satoshi's phone call from Tokiwa City, she found herself unable to sleep.
Hanako took a photo album from the bookcase and looked through the pages.
There were photos of Satoshi as a newborn.
And ones of when Satoshi first began crawling.
Each photo brought back at least thirty memories of Hanako and Satoshi's time together.
Which meant once she started going through all twenty albums of their memories together she couldn't stop herself.
By the time she'd even realised it was already morning.
... Oh no... I need to prepare for today's lunchtime special...
But, no matter what, Hanako was unable to avert her eyes until she reached the final page, leading to her opening the shop half an hour late.
Hanako had a reputation for being a highly dependable woman.
Yesterday's lunch and today's late opening were the first slips she had ever made in running the shop.
... Work is work... I can't let myself slip just because my son left on a journey!
Despite her reprimanding herself, nobody in Masara Town would say a word against Hanako.
She was a single mother under thirty who had just had her only child she spent years raising leave home.
The day after and the following days, Hanako never lost a single customer, she only gained more.
***
Now let's get back to the story of Satoshi's group.
Tokiwa Forest... is dark at night and also dark during the day.
Within the deep darkness...
“Kyaaah!”
A girl's scream echoed out.
It was Kasumi's voice.
It was the first scream the strong willed Kasumi had let out.
Chapter 4 appendix
(... If you're in a hurry, feel free to skip ahead to chapter 5. ... However, there may be some important information written here that nobody has ever seen before.)
... Regarding Monster Ball Pokémon Transfer Systems...
An excerpt from unpublished documents from the International Communication Bureau to the Japanese Communication Branch
It goes without saying that modern communication systems have their roots in the postal service. However, we have no intention of discussing the origins of post offices in Parie, Franse in the year 1653 or the origin of postage stamps in Engliss in the year 1839. Or how an English man named Cooke patented the telegram in 1843. Or even how the famous Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876 (despite not actually inventing it himself), or how Italia's Marconi made wireless transmission feasible in 1894, we have no intention of mentioning any of these things.
What we am trying to impress is that to communicate with people far away, we continue to use old methods such as post, phones and radio as we did in days gone by.
With the development of communication technologies such as fax, mobile phones, PC messengers, TV phones, what is transferred through them are not actual physical objects. With the power of the internet, you can see the face of someone on the other side of the world while you talk to them, but you're not actually talking face to face. You are merely seeing an image transmitted by electrical signals and hearing an electronic synthesis of a voice.
To truly speak face to face, you must either go to them or have them come to you.
However, that takes time. No matter what method of transportation you use, you cannot travel the distance instantaneously.
The physical mass of a human cannot be transmitted. This has long been the dream of scientists to achieve. The ability to teleport humans via transmissions. Converting humans into electrical impulses and transferring them to another location, in other words a transmittable human.
However, scientists continued to devote their lives to such research, but were unable to transmit even small physical objects like a pencil, let alone living beings.
Eventually, the feeling that the conversion of physical matter into electrical transmissions was impossible began spreading among researchers. This was called the Untransmittable Matter Theory.
However, an incredible discovery was made during the current century.
It was the result of a three year old's childish mischief.
As you are aware, it is illegal for children to possess Monster Balls without special permission.
However, this child wanted a Monster Ball more than anything.
The child secretly took one of their father's Monster Balls and placed it in of the copy machine in their house. The child thought they could copy it and create a duplicate Monster Ball.
It's the kind of logic a child would have. But the important detail here is that the Monster Ball wasn't empty, it had a Pokémon inside. Additionally, the copy machine had a fax function. Or rather, it was a fax machine with a copy function.
The child got confused between the copy button and the auto-fax button.
The auto-fax button was set to the father's office.
Meanwhile... The fax machine at the father's office experienced a paper jam. When they opened the machine up to determine the cause, they found a Monster Ball that no-one had put in there.
Basically, the Monster Ball had been transmitted from home to the office.
Why did the Monster Ball end up inside the fax machine?
However, the Pokémon who should have been inside the Monster Ball was nowhere to be found. When the father got home, he enquired with his sobbing child about the Monster Ball that had vanished from the copy machine.
The scientific community went into an uproar when it learned of the incident.
The Monster Ball was just an ordinary Monster Ball used for catching and transporting Pokémon.
The Monster Ball itself had no special features to allow it to be transferred by fax.
Which meant it had to be the power of the Pokémon inside.
The thought was that it had some kind of ability to convert its own body along with the Monster Ball into electrical transmissions.
The result of the investigation concluded that it was a feature common to all Pokémon.
In a complicated phrase this is the Portable Beast Transmission Ability. (Abbreviated at Portran Ability... Also known as Pokécom.)
When Pokémon are dormant inside a small item like a Monster Ball, they can demonstrate the ability to convert themselves and their container into electrical signals.
However, it is unknown whether this ability is used consciously or not by the Pokémon.
And so, scientists piled up their research.
In the early experiments, even when the Monster Ball was successfully transferred, the Pokémon inside would repeatedly go missing.
Due to the knowledge that fax transmissions over phone lines or ordinary PC transmissions are not of a high enough quality to avoid accidents, it is now illegal to transfer Pokémon via those connections.
As of now, improvements to the materials used to develop Monster Balls have led to Monster Balls that allow easier transmission of Pokémon.
However, without a Pokémon inside, transmitting a Monster Ball is impossible.
In fact, if a Pokémon were inside you could transmit even a wallet or a pencil case. (This is illegal due to a high chance of accidents. When transmitting Pokémon, please use only official standard transmittable Monster Balls.)
However, and while we may be repeating ourselves, even with the latest Monster Ball technology, without a Pokémon inside, it cannot be transmitted.
Which means that in this world, out of all physical objects both animate and inanimate, only Pokémon can be electronically transmitted. Why is it limited to only Pokémon? This is one of the great mysteries that hold the hearts of both scientists and amateur researchers alike.
Additionally, when it comes to current transmission lines, the most suitable for transmitting Pokémon are the Pokémon Center's exclusive computer network and the Pokémon Satellite Transmitter, but for everyday usage, we recommend the International Communication Bureau's own high capacity Pokénet. There are some fanatics who use unofficial transmission networks as well as a few people who will use a cheap internet connection, but this is not recommended as the safety of the Pokémon is not guaranteed.
To boil down to the main point behind this long story so far, we believe that the pricing of Pokémon transmission should be revised.
Since the worldwide Pokémon boom, the number of users who transmit Pokémon has increased dramatically.
The Pokémon that are transmitted are living creatures. To develop the necessary defences to ensure the safety of the Pokémon and prevent hackers from committing theft... Or rather, kidnapping, as they are living creatures... we would like to propose a 30% price increase to the cost of transmitting Pokémon.
〇〇〇〇/〇... (For confidentiality, the date and name of the sender are removed.)
Japanese Communication Branch... Review Committee
Note #1) Proposals are often made before meetings or briefings to get an idea of your partner's opinions. It's considered as preparation or preliminary ground work.
In this instance... If along with the yearly increase on sales tax, the price was jacked up even further, citizens and Pokémon would be angry? It seems this proposal was rejected on those grounds.
... “Classified Document from Pokémon Crime Division Transmission Sector”
An excerpt from former Police Superintendent General Zenigata Junsa the 893rd
Translation Notes:
• Highway Route 2 is likely a reference to Route 2 from the video games, but it uses a different word (国道二番線) than the games (２番道路).
• Japanese police boxes are like miniature police stations, not the TARDIS.
• The names Heiji Junsa and Zenigata Junsa are references to Heiji Zenigata, a fictional detective from the Edo period created by novelist Kodou Nomura in 1937. The name Zenigata is perhaps known better from Lupin III, where Heiji's apparent descendant Koichi Zenigata works to catch eponymous thief Lupin.
• As specified in the text itself, Momoko and Yaoko mean Hundredth Child and Eight Hundredth Child respectively. The numbers alluded to by the other names are one for Ichiko, two for Niko and one thousand for Senko.
• What can I say about the words "thieving boy"? Surprisingly, something more than nothing! When Kasumi was left behind at the police box, Satoshi was referred to as "doroboy", a portmanteau of "dorobou", meaning thief, and "boy". I couldn't come up with a suitable English portmanteau to match it. (Boyglar? Robboy?)
• The coin on Nyarth's head is specifically a koban. Koban were gold coins used during the Edo period.
• Nyarth makes a lot of cat noises. The dub of the anime seemed to make a token effort of having Meowth say "meow" a lot early on, before simply dropping it.
• The beckoning cat, or maneki neko, is a common Japanese lucky charm. A figure of a cat, often made with porcelain, beckoning with one paw. They are often put at the entrance of a business.
• Jiangshi are a type of Chinese reanimated corpse. I used the term "jiangshi zombie" earlier to make it clearer what it was, however a jiangshi is not quite the same as a typical western zombie. Good examples include Hsien-Ko from Darkstalkers and Lee Pyron from Shaman King.
• Things may pikap. "Pika" is a Japanese onomatopoeia for "shining", so Ookido was making a pun about Pikachu "pika"-ing when polished. To maintain the pun, I made a comment about how things will "pick up" when Pikachu is polished.
• Alarms and all arms, in Japanese this pun was about the word "keihou", which with different kanji can mean either "warning" or "criminal law".
• Kidding and kidnappers, in Japanese Kojirou said that being called a gang of kidnappers wasn't pleasant, kidnap in Japanese is "yuukai", pleasant is "yukai".
• Atraditional American kotatsu is a heated table with a blanket. Here's a screenshot from the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney anime depicting one.
• “Let a brat have a ball and it becomes an all out brawl.” In Japanese, this line was a pun involving "jari" (twerp/brat) and "tama" (ball) becoming "tamajari" (gravel). There was no way to make that work in English, so by combining the words "brat" and "ball" together I got "brawl".
• throw away your steady/go away or be ready, in Japanese Musashi said Kasumi would "throw away" (sute) her "steady" and that it was "throw away day" (sute day).
With Highway Route 2 passing through it, Tokiwa City was a reasonably large city.
Satoshi's Masara Town had gone over 100 years without any notable crimes. As such, they had no police officers or police station, instead of police, all they had were a private organisation of fire fighters calling themselves the “Flame Guard” patrolling every night.
However, Tokiwa City naturally had police stations, it even had a police box on the town's outskirts.
Tonight the police box's night shift was being handled by the female officer Assistant Inspector Junsa. Despite being an Assistant Inspector, she was still young enough to be Satoshi's older sister. Considering that ten year old Satoshi's mother was only in her twenties, a woman in her twenties could probably be Satoshi's aunt.
As such, this big sister-like female police officer could only be about 19 at the oldest.
On that topic, while I specified that she's a female officer, there's probably no need to specify her gender.
In this country, most important fields of work like the police are dominated by women, any men who had jobs with any connection to the police were usually either thieves or private eyes.
Most men tended to try and become Pokémon trainers.
However, the harsh truth is that not everyone can be a Pokémon trainer, more people fail than succeed. Some men realise this early enough and are able to make a change of career, but others chase their dreams until the bitter end and become unable to integrate into society. Having become an adult with no skills other than the ability to throw a Monster Ball makes them effectively useless. Having failed to chase their dreams, they lose their confidence. They were nothing but talk. Unreliable. They always dreamed of getting rich quick. If people like this were allowed to be police, bankers or doctors, cities would be filled with thieves and hospitals would create casualties rather than cure them.
As such, most important, serious jobs in this country were handled by women.
In general, if you were to refer to Assistant Inspector Junsa, the woman on duty tonight wouldn't be the first person to come to mind. Ever since the times of their ancestor Heiji Junsa and his daughter Zenigata Junsa as thief takers (the old equivalent of police officers), the Junsa family have worked as police within this country, as of now, one out of every three police officers in the country had the name Junsa.
The remaining two thirds were either women who had changed their surname after marriage, or their daughters or other relatives.
... Of course, not everyone changes their name after marriage, either way, the Junsa family were well known as police officers.
To sum up, in this country... the name Junsa and the police... are practically synonymous.
The name of the officer here in Tokiwa City was also Junsa... Specifically, Momoko Junsa... In kanji, Momoko's name was written as Hundredth Child. Incidentally, in neighbouring towns there was Ichiko, Niko, Senko, etc., number themed names were common, in fact in Nibi City just down Highway Route 2 lived Momoko's cousin, Yaoko, whose name is written as Eight Hundredth Child. As all sharing the name Junsa could be confusing, it had become tradition among the Junsa clan to be named by number, but many of those who had been stuck with those names didn't appreciate it.
After all a little girl named Misokko, written as Thirtieth Child, wouldn't appreciate her name much.
In respect of the feelings of these girls, this novel will, whenever possible, refer to them only as Junsa.
As such, while it may seem confusing having the police named Junsa in each new city we visit, we don't want to piss off a police officer, it could potentially be quite scary.
***
Junsa clocked in for the night shift on the time recorder and started her first job of the night.
The announcement chime rang as she picked up the mic.
“Citizens of Tokiwa City, it's almost dinner time... Thank you for your hard work today. As of late, there have been a noticeable number of pickpockets, purse snatchers and Pokémon kidnappers. Please be on the lookout.”
A speaker on the roof of the police box allowed Junsa's voice to be heard through the town.
“Hm? Well speak of the devil...”
She could see Satoshi running outside the police box's window.
Junsa grabbed Satoshi by the scruff of the neck as he passed by the front of the police box.
“Hold it... I'm not letting any suspicious characters past here.”
“I'm not suspicious. I need to get my Pokémon to the hospital...”
Satoshi looked down at the Pikachu held against his chest.
Junsa's face changed to a sad expression as if it was her own Pokémon that was injured.
“What horrible injuries... The poor thing... Quickly, your identification... I don't need a passport, I guess it's kinda like a passtown though... Just show me some ID.”
“Identification? Well, I...”
He didn't recall getting any from anybody.
In other towns, to do stuff like borrow rental videos you needed some kind of identification. However, in Masara Town where Satoshi had lived, everyone in town knew each other so there was no need for ID.
It was possible to get identification documentation from the mayor of Masara Town, but with the commotion caused by Pikachu's electrical shocks at the Ookido Laboratory it had totally slipped his mind, besides, the mayor was busy anyway giving Shigeru his big send off.
Without any ID, he'd just have to try and explain.
“I'm Satoshi, I came from Masara Town.”
“A little boy from Masara Town, you're the fourth one today.”
“Fourth... So Shigeru and the others have already...”
They were ahead of him. Although it'd be obvious if you think about it. Normally... Without the Onisuzume he wouldn't have taken such a roundabout way. ... Junsa spoke to Satoshi, who was biting his lip.
“You're carrying a Pokémon you would keep normally keep in a Monster Ball, a heavily injured Pokémon, I might add. You have no ID either, making it really easy to suspect you as a Pokémon thief.”
On a notice board was a wanted poster of two Pokémon thieves.
The poster had little detail as they had hats pulled down to cover their faces.
“I don't have any ID... Pikachu and I were attacked by a bunch of Onisuzume...”
Junsa shook her head in pity.
“Aw man... This may sound naïve, but my experience tells me you're not a bad kid. But without proof... I have to take responsibility. I'd like to let you through, but I can't.”
“Come on, me and Pikachu, we're injured.”
That same Pikachu pointed one of his trembling forelegs at one of Satoshi's bulging pockets.
He softly cried out.
“Pikachu... Pika.”
Junsa picked up on Pikachu's signal.
“Hm? That bulge in your pocket there...”
“Eh? ... Ah... This...”
Satoshi put his hand into the pocket and pulled out the Pokémon Field Guide.
“Hm, hm. And this is?”
Junsa asked Satoshi with a huge smile on her face.
“Eh... Professor Ookido gave me...” Satoshi answered.
“Masara Town, right?” Junsa confirmed.
“Yeah.”
Junsa pointed with her finger.
“A Pokémon Field Guide. This is decisive proof.”
Junsa took Satoshi's Pokémon Field Guide and flipped to the end.
“Take a look at the last page... This is your identification.”
She showed Satoshi.
The Pokémon Field Guide displayed a photo of Satoshi's face, below was a message written in pen by Professor Ookido along with his signature. Satoshi read it.
“This Pokémon Field Guide belongs to Satoshi-kun of Masara Town. Aiming to be a future Pokémon trainer... If this Pokémon Field Guide is stolen or lost, it will not be replaced... Masara Town. Professor Ookido”
“Wow. I had no idea I had identification on the last page. Anyway, I'm kinda in a hurry...”
“Well, we better hurry up then.”
Along with Junsa's voice outside the police box,
Brbrbrbrm... The sound of a 750cc motorbike engine rang out.
In mere moments, Junsa was now revving the engine of a police motorbike with a sidecar.
“Your Pokémon's wounds need treatment at the Pokémon Center. Hurry and get in! I'll take you.”
“Yeah!”
Satoshi leapt into the sidecar.
Junsa placed the sirens and lights on just above Satoshi.
“Time to blast off. Turbo mode...”
Whoosh! The white bike's muffler spewed flames and black smoke as it sped off to the inner part of Tokiwa City.
***
“What the hell... was that...”
A girl stood in front of the police box, choking on the black smoke left behind by the muffler.
It was the girl who had been fishing at the lake. Dragging her battered bike with her.
While following after Satoshi, she found her beloved bike in it's broken twisted state.
She had come to the police box to make a report, and just as she was about to call out for Junsa, she found herself breathing the bike's exhaust fumes.
And to add insult to injury, the one getting a ride on the bike was none other than that thieving boy.
“Uuuugh, you'll pay!”
The girl hoisted her bike onto her shoulders. She was really strong while fishing, but apparently even stronger when angry...
“Wait uuup!”
She ran chasing the police motorbike, carrying her bike on her shoulders.
***
Bobobobobobo...
The sun had completely set, the only illumination left was that of the street lights and the police box... A strange noise approached the police box left unattended by Junsa.
It was a hot air balloon... A giant balloon that flies through the air using the hot air pumped by an engine.
Two figures were visible on the hot air balloon as it stopped right above the police box.
One of them lowered a fishing line and fished the wanted poster off the notice board.
“So, this is our wanted poster...” whispered a woman looking at the poster.
“You can't even see our faces. These are terrible photos.”
The one complaining about the photos was a man.
These two are members of the infamous Pokémon stealing organisation, Team Rocket, they were the ones in charge of rural areas.
“You can't expect police out in the boonies to recognise our beauty.”
The woman's name was Musashi... A piece of trivia. Prior to becoming a Pokémon thief, she had experience as an art thief. The artworks she stole, if featured on any treasure appraisal program on TV anywhere in the world, would be valued ridiculously low, but she only ever cared about their beauty.
“Truly unforgivable.”
The man's name was Kojirou. Despite his name meaning small second son, he was actually quite tall and an only child. As a child he was a quiet boy who allowed himself to fade into the background, but for a thief he was overly concerned by the quality of his photo.
“It's unacceptable. This is a crime against beauty.” Musashi clenched her fist.
“We'll show the people of Tokiwa City exactly what we're capable of.”
Kojirou smiled, looking at his own face in a hand mirror.
Shining in the darkness behind them... looking up, down and spinning around was a Pokémon... a golden coin on his forehead. ... He was a Pokémon called Nyarth.
“I don't mind a show of force, but our goal is to obtain rare Pokémon... don't you forget that, nyaa.”
This Nyarth could speak the human language. Not all Nyarth can speak like humans. Just as Satoshi's Pikachu is unique among Pikachu in his dislike of Monster Balls, Nyarth was unique among Nyarth in his ability to talk like a human.
No, in fact going by Portable Beast studies, Pikachu's case may be unlikely, but Nyarth's one was practically unheard of.
Nyarth had experienced hardship he had spoken of to no other person, to no other Pokémon even, perhaps I'll talk more about this on some other occasion...
On top of Nyarth's linguistic prowess... He would like to change the saying “coins for a cat” to “coins for a Nyarth”. He also wanted to change its meaning.
“Coins for a cat” has essentially the same meaning as “pearls before swine”, as giving coins to a cat would be pointless. Pearls wouldn't please a swine. Cats and swine would be happier with just some leftover fish. The only ones who would appreciate the value of coins, pearls and diamonds are humans. ... There are times when giving these things to a human woman may also ultimately be pointless, but at least she'll enjoy them. Basically, “coins for a cat” means to give something to someone who doesn't appreciate its value. As such, it's a saying that looks down on other life forms.
Nyarth would like to change the meaning of “coins for a cat”, “coins for a Nyarth”, to exactly what it says, a descriptor for becoming rich. As such, it's a saying he'll often repeat holding up one paw like a beckoning cat.
And tonight also, Nyarth quoted his signature phrase with a devilish grin.
“Coins for a cat! Coins for a Nyarth!”
“Yeah, whatever.”
Musashi and Kojirou responded to Nyarth's quotation, as they took the torn and scrunched up wanted poster and tossed it off into the night sky.
***
As the police bike sped through the city, the Pokémon Center came into view up ahead.
“I see it!” Junsa gave a thumbs up.
“The Pokémon Center... So that's a Pokémon hospital...”
Satoshi whispered with his mouth agape, it was an incredible building.
“This is an emergency... No complaining... Here we go!”
Junsa shouted this as they climbed the Pokémon Center's front stairs, still riding the motorbike.
They shot right in the entrance and suddenly braked right at the reception desk in the hall.
The woman at reception leapt over the counter and went to stand in front of the bike.
She was a young woman older than Satoshi wearing a white robe. She appeared to be a doctor.
She spoke to Junsa in a calm voice.
“Welcome to the ER... I'm Joy from the emergency ward... Explain the situation.”
Junsa saluted as she relayed the information.
“We've brought a heavily injured Pokémon.”
The woman named Joy took a glance at the Pikachu in Satoshi's arms,
“I see the Pokémon's species is a Pikachu.”
With that said, without even giving Satoshi a moment to reply, she grabbed a mic from the counter.
“This is Joy at reception... It's urgent... Bring me a stretcher for electric type Pokémon!”
“Lucky”
That was the cry heard as a reply.
In the blink of an eye, Pokémon wearing nurse caps shot out with a stretcher for the patient.
The Pokémon had something resembling an egg carried on their belly, and their body was pink all over. The Pokémon are called Lucky, they have a kind disposition, making them well suited for nursing.
Joy spoke softly to the Pikachu in Satoshi's arms.
“No need to worry...This won't hurt... 1, 2, 3... Now.”
In the blink of an eye, Pikachu was moved from Satoshi's arms onto the stretcher.
“To the emergency ward! Quickly!”
“Lucky”
The Lucky took Pikachu's stretcher past reception and into the emergency ward.
They got all this done while Satoshi was still left flustered.
“Time to begin treatment!”
Snap! Joy put on some rubber gloves before heading to the emergency ward.
In a panic Satoshi followed her and asked.
“Um... I...”
“You, what?”
Junsa replied in Satoshi's stead.
“He's the Pokémon's owner, a prospective Pokémon trainer.”
“What should I...”
“Reflect on your actions.”
Joy replied bluntly.
“If you want to become a fully fledged Pokémon trainer... Don't let your Pokémon fight until it's in that state...”
Satoshi was unable to respond.
Joy continued harshly.
“The only thing you can do right now, is stay in the waiting room and pray your Pokémon survives...”
“That's... the only thing I can do...?”
“I'll take care of the treatment.”
Junsa spoke up, saluting Joy once more.
“I'll leave it in your capable hands. I'll take my leave now and get back to protecting the city.”
“Keep up the good work.”
Joy thanked Junsa lightly.
“Just doing my job... Ah, crap. Speaking of work, I left the door open at the police box before I left.”
“Always remember to close up.”
“This ain't good!”
Junsa hopped on her police motorbike and shot off.
“I'll be closing the door for the treatment room too.” Joy said as she entered the treatment room.
“Ah... Pikachu...”
Kshn.
The emergency ward's automatic door closed in Satoshi's face.
The lamp indicating treatment was in progress lit up.
***
Poppo, Poppo, Poppo...
I had been over two hours... The Poppo clock on the wall rang for 10:00 PM.
Satoshi sat patiently in the waiting room.
The treatment in progress lamp was still lit.
“Ah, phones...”
Satoshi noticed there were TV phones next to the reception.
“Phone call, huh...”
Satoshi picked up the receiver and pushed the buttons.
Hanako's number, his mother in Masara Town.
“Hi, hi.”
On the TV phone's screen a face painted completely white appeared.
It was like a jiangshi zombie from a Chinese horror film.
In shock, Satoshi pointed at the face on the screen and shouted.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Take a look.”
The face on the phone peeled off the mask.
Beneath the white layer, Hanako's face appeared.
“Ah... Mom. Cut the dumb jokes.”
“It's not a joke. It's a face mask. Girls use them once a week to take care of their skin. Girls with an oily complexion should use them once every three days. Yeah.”
Hanako nodded to agree with herself as she spoke.
“You can do whatever you like, but maybe you shouldn't answer the phone with it on.”
“A once in a lifetime mistake... I'm glad you're the only one who saw it... Hm, oh yeah, you're my son Satoshi, aren't you?”
It seems like she only just realised that the one on the other end of the phone was Satoshi.
“Yes, I am your son Satoshi.”
Satoshi nodded with a sigh.
“Ah... No way. Satoshi! If it isn't my son. Where are you?”
She seemed to have regained the demeanour of a parent concerned for their child.
“Tokiwa City's Pokémon Center.”
Satoshi mumbled his answer.
“Oh wow, you're already in Tokiwa City? Amazing. It took your dad four days to reach Tokiwa City. And you did it in only a single day. Gathering every bit of useful travelling equipment seems to have paid off.”
“Every bit of useful travelling equipment...”
Every bit was perhaps an overstatement, but it's true that Hanako prepared everything she possibly could for Satoshi's journey.
But that backpack with all those feelings stuffed inside had been torn apart. The Biriridama alarm clock he got for his birthday didn't work any more either.
Unaware of any of this, Hanako was quite cheerful.
“At this rate, you'll become a much greater Pokémon trainer than either dad or grandpa. Do your best.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Satoshi didn't want to cause Hanako any concern right now.
“One yeah will do fine.” Hanako advised him.
“Yeah.” He simply replied obediently.
“Brush your teeth twice a day.” She followed up.
“Yeah.”
“And wear your pajamas when you go to bed.” Hanako's eyes teared up as she spoke.
“Yeah.”
“Good, now we don't want to rack up the phone bill... So let's end this. Satoshi... Goodnight... 'kay.”
To avoid letting her son see her tears, Hanako hung up the phone.
Beep... The sound of the hung up phone line echoed in Satoshi's ear.
“Ah... Goodnight...”
Satoshi hung up the receiver and walked slowly back to the waiting room seats where he sat.
Satoshi got the toothbrush from his battered bag and whispered.
“Brush my teeth... My mouth isn't a chimney.”
The toothbrush was in such a state that it looked more like a chimney sweeper's brush.
Satoshi sighed once more, adding to the dozens of other sighs he'd made today, and went back to staring at the wall of the waiting room.
There were several framed reliefs (embossed carvings) hanging there.
Their designs looked like something done by a caveman or Picasso.
“Legendary Pokémon” was written underneath the frames.
“Ah... That's” Satoshi spoke up without thinking.
Among the images, was one that he thought resembled the unidentified Pokémon he saw flying into the sunset.
Then something happened.
The phone he used earlier started ringing.
Nobody was at reception.
“No one's gonna answer?”
Satoshi picked up the receiver.
The TV phone's vision displayed the back of a man in a white lab coat.
Instant ramen in a beaker was being boiled on the flame of an alcohol lamp.
The man stirred the ramen with a spork like those you got with school lunches long ago, before turning around.
“Buh...”
It was Professor Ookido.
“Satoshi-kun. It's me, who do you think? Professor Ookido.”
“I can see you.”
“I just got a call from your mother, Hanako-san, a few minutes ago. Beautiful woman. A real stunner.”
It seems that right after she finished her call with Satoshi, Hanako called Professor Ookido.
It's safe to assume she made the call without her face mask on.
“I can't comment on that. Tell her that yourself.” Satoshi replied huffily.
“Well then, if I tell her...” Ookido keenly murmured to himself.
“Why are you calling me?” Satoshi asked.
“Oh, that's right. Satoshi-kun, I hear you've made it to Tokiwa City. Is that true?”
“Professor. Where did you just call?” Satoshi asked once more.
“Tokiwa City. Oh, right. If you answered the phone there, it means you're in Tokiwa City...”
“I'm at Tokiwa City's Pokémon Center... My Pikachu was badly injured...”
“I see.” Professor Ookido let out a deep sigh.
“It's rough... But it's a trial everyone must face...”
“So, the Pokémon of the other three who left Masara Town are also...”
“Nope.” Professor Ookido shook his head easily.
“The other three had very little damage caused to their Pokémon and have already left town. After all, those kids have Hitokage, Zenigame and Fushigidane. They were my personal recommendations. They won't go down easy.”
“I like Pikachu!” Satoshi shouted angrily.
“Hm. Pikachu may shine when polished. Things may pikap... Anyway, for all four of you from Masara Town to have made it as far as the Tokiwa City Pokémon Center in one day...”
Professor Ookido gripped his spork, truly impressed.
“One small step for a Pokémon Master, one giant leap for Satoshi-kun. I'll help you out. I'll cheer you on, even a poor marksman will hit a target with enough shots.”
“A poor marksman?” Satoshi didn't understand what he was saying.
But Professor Ookido wasn't a man who cared much for others.
“Every Pokémon trainer leaving Masara Town should be celebrated. Hooray! Hooray! Satoshi... Now then,”
Ending his cheer there, Professor Ookido suddenly became serious.
“How many have you caught with your Monster Balls?”
“Not even one.” Satoshi could only answer truthfully.
“Not one...” Professor Ookido's expression darkened as he looked down.
“... I regret cheering for you now.”
“But, I saw some thing resembling that thing.” Satoshi pointed at the relief on the wall.
“Hm? Something resembling that?”
From the other end of the TV phone, Professor Ookido shrugged as he looked at the relief.
“Nobody has ever seen that legendary Pokémon. You're a hundred years, a thousand years away from seeing that.”
“Sure looked like it.”
“Sure it did. Ah, it's boiling over... The ramen will spoil...”
Professor Ookido's attention drifted to his ramen.
He slurped on the ramen noodles.
“Hot hot hot... Satoshi-kun, I await hearing your progress. Or not. Goodbye. If the phone doesn't ring, I won't answer.”
“Ah...” before Satoshi could get in another word, the call was cut off.
“Aah! There you are!”
It wasn't the phone, but the girl shouting behind him.
“Eh?”
He turned to find a girl holding the remnants of a bike above her head standing there, wheezing completely out of breath.
“I knew you'd be here.”
“What's with that bike?”
“I found it while chasing after you. Bike, you say? You dare to still call this thing a bike?”
The girl continued speaking holding the bike above her.
“You seriously just called this a bike. It looks more like a half eaten overcooked fish... Nothing left but a charred skeleton. In fact, if you left a fish in this state, its ghost would come back to haunt you. ... Woah... Kyah!”
The girl, trembling with rage, fell over backwards under the weight of the bike.
“You okay?”
Satoshi rushed over without even thinking, but she brushed off his hand.
“Don't touch me. Anyway. My bike. You're not getting off the hook with me...”
“I'll do anything. Reimburse you, whatever. But now isn't the time for that.”
“You destroyed my bike, I don't care whether it's the right time or not!”
“My Pikachu... My Pikachu is...”
“Eh...?”
The girl noticed the emergency ward's red lamp Satoshi was looking at.
“... Is it that bad?”
“Probably, I think so... I, what should I do now...?”
“I see...”
Then it happened. The red lamp went out and the door to the treatment room opened.
Lucky came out with the stretcher carrying Pikachu.
“Pikachu! Are you okay?”
Pikachu was coiled up in a ball and unconscious.
However there was something resembling an ECG attached to his tail and head with a flashing lamp.
He appeared to be breathing.
Joy spoke as she removed her mask and rubber gloves.
“He's out of the woods. It's not often that the medical staff at a Pokémon Center are unable to save a patient Pokémon... Right?”
“Lucky.”
Lucky the nurse Pokémon chirped cheerfully.
“Pokémon Centers are amazing.” The girl smiled.
“Thank you, doctor.” Satoshi was deeply moved, unable to say anything else.
Joy smiled at Satoshi for the first time.
“Now we just have to wait for him to recover fully in the ICU. Please, follow me.”
Satoshi spoke to the girl.
“Sorry. Things are kinda... I will make amends for your bike one day.”
“You're still worrying about that now?”
“Eh?” Satoshi was surprised by the girl's response. She'd spoken of nothing but her bike so far and suddenly she was ignoring it.
“Go with your Pokémon. Hurry up already.”
“Ah, right.”
Satoshi nodded.
“Bike, what bike? What the heck is he thinking? Kids these days... I swear.”
The girl spoke to Joy.
... Aren't you just a kid too?... Joy smiled.
Just as Satoshi was accompanying Pikachu's stretcher out, it happened. Despite all the other... just as... that happened since Satoshi arrived at the Pokémon Center, this is the real deal. This time, an alarm bell rang throughout the waiting room.
Junsa's voice was heard through the speakers.
“Warning. Warning. Tokiwa City is under the threat of an unknown incursion. It is feared to be a gang of Pokémon kidnappers. If you own Pokémon or are friends with any Pokémon, please remain cautious.”
***
Bobobobo... The sound of a hot air balloon was audible.
Team Rocket's hot air balloon was already positioned directly about the Center.
“Fufufu, their alarm is already too late.” Musashi snickered cooly.
“We'll never be caught, even with all arms the law can't touch us.” Kojirou said. This wasn't intended to be a lame pun about alarms and all arms. He was a serious man.
“They've got to be kidding about just calling us mere kidnappers... We're part of the one and only Team Rocket.”
Musashi noticed the similarity of the words kidding and kidnappers.
“We'll show them... just how terrifying we are.” Kojirou hadn't picked up on it at all.
“Nyattack! (Attack!)” Nyarth shouted. Nyarth considered himself as the leader.
“We don't need a kitty cat to tell us that! ... Whoosh.”
Musashi and Kojirou leapt from the hot air balloon with shoulder jets.
“Nice comeback... If this goes well, our boss will be really pleased, and I'll curl up with him under the kotatsu, surrounded with coins, nya.” Nyarth grinned widely as he dreamt of being curled up on the kotatsu.
“Charge!”
Musashi and Kojirou threw a pair of Monster Balls mid air.
The Monster Balls shattered the Center's skylight and fell down into the hall.
The very next moment, a snake-like Pokémon emerged from Musashi's Monster Ball.
It was an Arbo.
And from Kojirou's Monster Ball came Dogas. A Pokémon somewhat like a round rock, with smoke spurting out from pimple-like craters on its surface.
Suddenly the Pokémon Center's waiting room was completely filled with Dogas's smoke.
“What the!? What is this!?”
Satoshi shouted.
“No matter whatever questions you ask, the answer you'll receive is the world's pity.” The pair responded with this line.
“To protect the world from devastation.” Musashi said.
“To maintain the world's peace.” was Kojirou's line.
“To denounce the evils of truth and love.” Musashi boasted slightly.
“We are the lovely charming villains.” Kojirou spoke gently.
“Musashi.” She introduced herself.
“Kojirou.” Kojirou followed up...
“The pair from Team Rocket, crossing the galaxy...” Musashi struck a pose. It's difficult to describe the pose. And since the pose is ad-libbed, meaning that it's different each time, there's no point in explaining anyway.
“White hole. A white tomorrow awaits.” Kojirou took his own pose. It also seems to be ad-libbed.
And... Just as you thought it was over... Nyarth finally appears.
“That's right.”
And having finished up with his catchphrase, he took the pose of a beckoning cat.
... Uh, so what was that? You may want to ask, but that would be quite rude. The lines and poses upon their arrival, after so much practice, they wanted to bravely show off in front of viewers like us.
But Satoshi didn't care about humouring them.
He went ahead and said what didn't need to be said.
“So, uh, what the hell was that about?”
“Seems this twerp boy doesn't get it.” Musashi brushed off Satoshi's comment, shrugging her shoulders.
“Nobody would understand that without an explanation.” Satoshi stated the obvious.
As such, Kojirou opted to give a serious reply.
“We're after the Pokémon...”
“You're not getting my Pikachu.”
Satoshi stood protectively in front of Pikachu's stretcher.
“Hm... Pikachu? ...” Musashi ridiculed him with a laugh.
“We're not interested in some run of the mill electric rat like a Pikachu.”
“What we're after, are rare Pokémon, far superior to that thing.” Kojirou clarified, adding to Musashi's response.
“Hold it, we don't have any Pokémon like that at this Center.” Joy said.
Musashi, knowing that Joy was roughly the same age as her, spoke as if chatting with a friend.
“Non non non. Are you sure? This place is filled with injured Pokémon. If we take all of them, there may be some wheat among the chaff.”
“Even a poor marksman will hit a target with enough shots.” Kojirou said with a serious expression.
That was their motto... The words they lived by. Simply put, a phrase that briefly summarises their approach to life.
“I've heard that somewhere before...” Satoshi recalled Professor Ookido saying the same thing on the phone earlier.
“A poor marksman... What does that mean?” Satoshi asked Team Rocket.
“You know they'll miss, but with enough bullets, one may hit eventually. There's the occasional fluke in the world. You can't win the lottery unless you buy a ticket. If there's nothing to lose, you might as well give it a shot.” Kojirou politely explained, reading from a dictionary.
“It's really the best approach for anything. Whether you're stealing Pokémon, or searching for a boyfriend or getting married.” Musashi said earnestly, while nodding to herself for some reason.
“So, I'm a poor marksman... I've got nothing to lose.” Satoshi's shoulders slumped.
It had been thirty minutes since his phone call with Professor Ookido, and its meaning finally stabbed him.
“That kinda pisses me off.” He clenched his fist.
“What trifling matters.” Musashi said.
“Doesn't bother me.” Kojirou nodded.
Musashi and Kojirou pulled out gas masks.
“Me-ow too!”
Nyarth said, also pulling out a mask.
“It's time for Dogas to shine, gas 'em!”Kojirou pointed at Dogas.
“Dogas!” Dogas cried in its somewhat dopey voice as it spurted poison gasses.
However the gas filled the area, leaving no gaps.
“Not good! Run!” Joy shouted.
“You won't escape, after them Arbo, extra turbo throttle!” Musashi commanded Arbo.
“Sharbo!” it cried neither Arbo or turbo, but Arbo wriggled around the waiting room and reception.
Both medical equipment and PCs began to spark and be destroyed.
***
Being pursued by Dogas's poison gasses, Satoshi and the others fled into the hospital wards. I say wards, but the wards are for Pokémon. Pokémon that are sick are left inside their Monster Balls to sleep. As such, the patient rooms looked more like the ball storage at a bowling alley, with shelves lined up with Monster Balls.
Joy closed the ward's door and locked it.
“This door is airtight to prevent any airborne pathogens getting through. We'll be safe from the poison gas here.”
Although it was too soon to truly say they were safe.
Bash! There was a sound like the light bulbs exploding and they were left in pitch black darkness.
“Wah, a blackout. I hate the dark.”
The girl, who until now had seemed fearless, let out a helpless cry for the first time.
“They've cut the power. But no need to worry. We've got our own backup generator...”
The patient room's lights immediately returned.
“Hey...”
The girl let out a joyful cheer.
“Wow... So many Pikachu.”
Within the patient room there were a number of Pikachu wearing electricians helmets spinning, spinning and spinning on a rotating disc.
The sparks flying from the disc went into the electrical lines sending power back to the lights.
At the same time the lights returned, the computer screen on the wall lit up, and the computer's voice spoke “Emergency evacuation procedure commencing.”
“We're going to transfer the sick Pokémon's Monster Balls while we can...”
“Transfer them where?” Satoshi asked.
“They're being transmitted to the Nibi City Pokémon Center.”
As she spoke, Joy started tossing Monster Balls from the shelves into an escape hatch resembling a garbage chute.
“Everybody, help!”
“Lucky!” Lucky carried the Monster Balls. Satoshi and the girl tossed them into the escape hatch.
Joy shouted into the computer's mic.
“This is the Tokiwa City Pokémon Center, we're in a state of emergency... We're transferring our Pokémon's Monster Balls to the Nibi City Pokémon Center.”
The line connected to Nibi City and a voice came from the Pokémon Center. It was a woman's voice on the other end.
“This is the Nibi City Pokémon Center... Roger that. Ready to receive Monster Balls.”
The screen on the wall displayed a map. It displayed a line from Tokiwa City to Nibi City indicating the progress of the Monster Ball transfer.
“A little more... Just a little more...”
“Lo... Look!” The girl pointed at the door.
Gas was starting to leak through.
The next moment the wall broke.
Arbo had smashed through the wall.
The Pikachu on the generator were sent flying.
The Monster Balls still on the shelves fell to the ground.
A few of them rolled out of the room and into the hallway.
“Save them!” Joy couldn't take her hands from the computer.
“I'll do it!”
Satoshi leapt after the Monster Balls.
“Hand 'em over, twerp boy.” Musashi stood in his way.
“Let a brat have a ball and it becomes an all out brawl.” Kojirou spouted nonsense with a straight face.
Behind the pair of them were Arbo and Dogas. And behind them Nyarth was laughing nyahaha.
The girl shouted.
“Hurry, throw them! Throw the Monster Balls and fight.”
“Eh... Ah... Go! Monster Ball.”
Satoshi threw the Monster Ball he was holding.
It's the Pokémon Center's Monster Ball. There's no way of knowing what's in there.
Besides, he had no options other than throwing it.
The Monster Ball was engulfed in light. That's the sign of the Pokémon coming out.
But the one who came out was the tiny bird Pokémon, Poppo.
If it had to be a tiny bird Pokémon, it could have at least been an Onisuzume... Satoshi thought, not even recalling the way they tore him apart during the day.
But the solid fact is, it was a Poppo that appeared.
“It's a bit early for the Poppo clock to be chiming midnight. We're not ready to leave the ball yet.” Musashi said.
“Eh? What's that?” Kojirou turned his neck to ask Musashi.
“What did you mean by that line?”
“You don't know? The strike of midnight, Cinderella.”
“Ah, I'm a man, so I didn't get the reference.” Kojirou scratched his head.
“If we keep wasting time like this Kojirou, it really will become midnight.”
Musashi commanded Arbo.
“Go! Arbo.”
In the face of the snake-like Arbo, Poppo opted to flee.
“Tch! Next one! Go! Monster Ball!”
Satoshi threw another Monster Ball that had rolled off.
Nothing but light came from the Monster Ball.
“Huh?” Satoshi craned his neck.
“There's some empty ones mixed in there too...” Joy was at her wits end.
“Don't go throwing empty ones! Moron!” The girl reprimanded Satoshi.
“Oh come on... Right. Next, go! Monster Ball!”
This Monster Ball contained the mouse Pokémon that had torn through his backpack in the field, Koratta.
“Fufufu... That Pokémon is Small Fry with a capital S.” said Kojirou.
Against the snake-like Arbo's glare, Koratta did as Poppo did... and fled.
The girl shouted at Satoshi in irritation.
“Ugh, geez! Moron! I'll buy some time. You get Pikachu out of here.”
The girl puffed out her chest as she spoke.
“I'm the world's greatest beauty. The name's Kasumi.”
Musashi and Kojirou were momentarily stunned as they stared at the girl named Kasumi.
“World's greatest beauty?” Musashi pulled out a magnifying glass and looked intently.
“Her name's Kasumi...” Kojirou pulled out a notebook and wrote into his diary. He wasn't going to ask for her number. He was just acting seriously.
“Nahahaha” Musashi burst out laughing.
“So her name's Kasumi, it means mist. Who's a beauty? Where's a beauty? Why a beauty? Misty or cloudy, I can't tell the difference.”
The girl named Kasumi had her face turn red with rage.
“I'll show you. With the power of my steady.”
Kasumi pulled out her own Monster Ball.
“My steady?” Satoshi murmured.
“It's a lover during your school years that you can officially tell your parents and friends about.” Kojirou confirmed the definition in the dictionary.
“Steady? The little twerp girl is ten years away from being ready for that.” Musashi said.
“Today's the day you throw away your steady, you better go away or be ready.”
“Ugh, I'm not throwing away my Monster Balls. I'm just throwing them. Go! My steady.”
Kasumi threw her own Monster Ball.
Out of the light emerged...
“What!?” Musashi and Kojirou stared at the Pokémon their mouths agape.
The one that emerged from the Monster Ball was the goldfish Pokémon, Tosakinto.
Despite being called a goldfish, it had a rather colourful body which was flopping on the floor.
“Tosakinto, tosakinto, tosakinto.”
It cried in a voluptuous voice and winked at Musashi and Kojirou, before immediately being returned to its Monster Ball.
“What just happened?” Musashi asked Kojirou.
“That was most truly, the smallest fry among small fry.” Kojirou whispered.
Kasumi spoke proudly.
“That was just an example. After all, a goldfish Pokémon can't fight in a place like this with no water.”
“I see.” Satoshi nodded with admiration.
“You're still here? Stop hanging around and escape!” Kasumi shouted at Satoshi.
“Oh yeah!”
Satoshi pushed the stretcher carrying Pikachu out into the hallway and ran. And ran. And ran while running.
The instinct to pursue something that's fleeing is the same for both humans and Pokémon.
“I've gotta escape.”
“You won't get away!”
Arbo swooped upon the stretcher.
Both Satoshi and the stretcher were knocked over.
They were back in the waiting room from earlier.
Right next to where Satoshi had fallen was the broken bike.
Arbo and Dogas were in hot pursuit.
And the Pikachu upon the stretcher opened his eyes slightly.
“Pika... Pika... Pika.”
Pikachu cried out as if calling for someone.
Then the Pikachu from the backup generator in the patient room appeared the waiting room one by one.
“Pikachu!”
The Pikachu on the stretcher called out sharply.
The backup generator Pikachu all let out a simultaneous discharge.
“No way.”
“Preposterous!”
Musashi and Kojirou were frazzled and burnt black.
Dogas was leaking gas.
Arbo was burnt black and erect.
Exhausted by their discharge, all the Pikachu were also collapsed.
“Geez, they're all useless... Seems it's my turn, nya... Mice are my favourite, nya.”
Nyarth's fangs shone as he exposed his claws, gradually closing in on Satoshi and Pikachu.
“Pika... Pika... Pika...”
The Pikachu on the stretcher was trying to bring something to attention.
“Pika... Pika?” Satoshi asked.
Of course, he had no way of understanding Pikachu's words.
But for the time being, Satoshi seemed to have the right idea.
“Pika... Pika?” Satoshi asked one more time.
Pikachu nodded.
“More Pika...? More Pika?” Satoshi confirmed a second time.
Pikachu nodded a second time.
... Of course, he wants more electicity.
“Lots of Pikapikapika?” Satoshi asked.
Pikachu nodded a third time.
The collapsed bike entered Satoshi's field of view.
“Right... Here goes nyathing!”
He stood the bike up to get on it and began turning the pedals.
“Wha'cha doing nya? That bike ain't going anywhere nya. Nyahaha.”
Nyarth laughed.
“Don't underestimate Pikachu just because he's a mouse. Pikachu and I are about to show our true power.”
The bike's pedals turned.
The wheel span.
It created friction with the lamp's generator.
The bike's lamp lit up.
“Ahnyaa?...” Nyarth squinted as the lamp shone in his eyes.
Pikachu leapt from the stretcher to on top of the bike and placed his tail on the friction generator.
“Nyat the heck!?”
Nyarth was attacked with a massive electrical shock discharge.
The other Pikachu let out electric shocks like a chain reaction.
The Pokémon Center was engulfed in sparks, it shone in the night sky like a building shaped firework.
Musashi and Kojirou were still numb. Their jaws were quivering to the point they couldn't even speak.
Arbo was stiff like a pole. And finally, the gas leaking from Dogas ignited.
“Dogaaans”
A huge explosion... The roof was blown clean off the Pokémon Center.
Along with the roof, Nyarth, Musashi and Kojirou were launched like fireworks and tenaciously clung to their hot air balloon in the skies above.
Arbo and Dogas also avoided separation.
“Whew! I prefer being an explosive firework to that numbing electricity.”
Musashi spoke as a sore loser.
“It's like fwee kaboom! Kagiya! Tamaya!” Kojirou shouted desperately. “Kagiya” and “Tamaya” are cheers that were often heard at firework displays in the old days.
Nyarth shouted.
“I'm nyot Tama. Nyam Nyarth nya... (I'm Nyarth.)”
Tama was a common name for cats in the old days.
“Escape nyaa” He called to escape.
However Junsa had already arrived at the Pokémon Center on her police motorbike.
“You won't escape.”
She put her foot on the accelerator.
“Don't underestimate Tokiwa City's motorcycle cops!”
The motorcycle ran up one of the crumbled walls of the Pokémon Center and with its momentum slammed right into the hot air balloon.
“Nailed it!”
Junsa gave a V sign from the safely landed police bike.
The hot air balloon popped like a balloon and shot to the other end of the night sky.
“This suuuuuucks!” Musashi and Kojirou's screams faded like a rocket blasting off.
***
The next morning... In the ruins of the Pokémon Center, Joy called the Nibi City Pokémon Center over the TV phone.
The doctor from Nibi City spoke from the other end of the line.
“We've safely obtained all the Pokémon from Tokiwa City.”
“Thank you, until our center is restored, I'd appreciate you taking care of Tokiwa City's transferred Pokémon.”
“Oh wow...”
Junsa on her motorcycle whispered, poking her head in to peek at the TV screen.
“So she's the doctor in Nibi City?”
The doctor seen on the screen at Nibi City's Pokémon Center had both the same name and face as Joy.
“She's my older sister. Which means her name is also Joy. Most of the doctors in this country are from the Joy family.”
Joy smiled.
“Although I'd have to say I'm the prettiest.”
“I never knew that. ... So it's the same with doctors.”
Junsa smiled brightly.
“Most of the cops in this country are from the Junsa family. But I'm the cutest.”
“So we're the same.” Joy said.
“We're the same.” Junsa replied.
“I can hear you.” Nibi City's Joy glared at them.
Tokiwa City's Joy hastily changed the subject.
“Oh, sis. A hard working boy, girl and Pikachu... set out early this morning towards Nibi City. But they're going to have to pass through Tokiwa Forest first.”
Tokiwa Forest is a forest often considered a perilous path for beginners aiming to become Pokémon Trainers.
“No need to worry... I'm sure those kids can handle Tokiwa Forest...”
“Yeah. Of course.”
Joy spoke to the Joy on the other end of the phone.
“Sis, give those kids my regards when they arrive in Nibi City.”
***
Satoshi's mother Hanako knew nothing of the huge incident in Tokiwa City.
However, she was still awake when morning came.
Ever since she received Satoshi's phone call from Tokiwa City, she found herself unable to sleep.
Hanako took a photo album from the bookcase and looked through the pages.
There were photos of Satoshi as a newborn.
And ones of when Satoshi first began crawling.
Each photo brought back at least thirty memories of Hanako and Satoshi's time together.
Which meant once she started going through all twenty albums of their memories together she couldn't stop herself.
By the time she'd even realised it was already morning.
... Oh no... I need to prepare for today's lunchtime special...
But, no matter what, Hanako was unable to avert her eyes until she reached the final page, leading to her opening the shop half an hour late.
Hanako had a reputation for being a highly dependable woman.
Yesterday's lunch and today's late opening were the first slips she had ever made in running the shop.
... Work is work... I can't let myself slip just because my son left on a journey!
Despite her reprimanding herself, nobody in Masara Town would say a word against Hanako.
She was a single mother under thirty who had just had her only child she spent years raising leave home.
The day after and the following days, Hanako never lost a single customer, she only gained more.
***
Now let's get back to the story of Satoshi's group.
Tokiwa Forest... is dark at night and also dark during the day.
Within the deep darkness...
“Kyaaah!”
A girl's scream echoed out.
It was Kasumi's voice.
It was the first scream the strong willed Kasumi had let out.
(To be continued in chapter 5)
Chapter 4 appendix
(... If you're in a hurry, feel free to skip ahead to chapter 5. ... However, there may be some important information written here that nobody has ever seen before.)
... Regarding Monster Ball Pokémon Transfer Systems...
An excerpt from unpublished documents from the International Communication Bureau to the Japanese Communication Branch
It goes without saying that modern communication systems have their roots in the postal service. However, we have no intention of discussing the origins of post offices in Parie, Franse in the year 1653 or the origin of postage stamps in Engliss in the year 1839. Or how an English man named Cooke patented the telegram in 1843. Or even how the famous Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876 (despite not actually inventing it himself), or how Italia's Marconi made wireless transmission feasible in 1894, we have no intention of mentioning any of these things.
What we am trying to impress is that to communicate with people far away, we continue to use old methods such as post, phones and radio as we did in days gone by.
With the development of communication technologies such as fax, mobile phones, PC messengers, TV phones, what is transferred through them are not actual physical objects. With the power of the internet, you can see the face of someone on the other side of the world while you talk to them, but you're not actually talking face to face. You are merely seeing an image transmitted by electrical signals and hearing an electronic synthesis of a voice.
To truly speak face to face, you must either go to them or have them come to you.
However, that takes time. No matter what method of transportation you use, you cannot travel the distance instantaneously.
The physical mass of a human cannot be transmitted. This has long been the dream of scientists to achieve. The ability to teleport humans via transmissions. Converting humans into electrical impulses and transferring them to another location, in other words a transmittable human.
However, scientists continued to devote their lives to such research, but were unable to transmit even small physical objects like a pencil, let alone living beings.
Eventually, the feeling that the conversion of physical matter into electrical transmissions was impossible began spreading among researchers. This was called the Untransmittable Matter Theory.
However, an incredible discovery was made during the current century.
It was the result of a three year old's childish mischief.
As you are aware, it is illegal for children to possess Monster Balls without special permission.
However, this child wanted a Monster Ball more than anything.
The child secretly took one of their father's Monster Balls and placed it in of the copy machine in their house. The child thought they could copy it and create a duplicate Monster Ball.
It's the kind of logic a child would have. But the important detail here is that the Monster Ball wasn't empty, it had a Pokémon inside. Additionally, the copy machine had a fax function. Or rather, it was a fax machine with a copy function.
The child got confused between the copy button and the auto-fax button.
The auto-fax button was set to the father's office.
Meanwhile... The fax machine at the father's office experienced a paper jam. When they opened the machine up to determine the cause, they found a Monster Ball that no-one had put in there.
Basically, the Monster Ball had been transmitted from home to the office.
Why did the Monster Ball end up inside the fax machine?
However, the Pokémon who should have been inside the Monster Ball was nowhere to be found. When the father got home, he enquired with his sobbing child about the Monster Ball that had vanished from the copy machine.
The scientific community went into an uproar when it learned of the incident.
The Monster Ball was just an ordinary Monster Ball used for catching and transporting Pokémon.
The Monster Ball itself had no special features to allow it to be transferred by fax.
Which meant it had to be the power of the Pokémon inside.
The thought was that it had some kind of ability to convert its own body along with the Monster Ball into electrical transmissions.
The result of the investigation concluded that it was a feature common to all Pokémon.
In a complicated phrase this is the Portable Beast Transmission Ability. (Abbreviated at Portran Ability... Also known as Pokécom.)
When Pokémon are dormant inside a small item like a Monster Ball, they can demonstrate the ability to convert themselves and their container into electrical signals.
However, it is unknown whether this ability is used consciously or not by the Pokémon.
And so, scientists piled up their research.
In the early experiments, even when the Monster Ball was successfully transferred, the Pokémon inside would repeatedly go missing.
Due to the knowledge that fax transmissions over phone lines or ordinary PC transmissions are not of a high enough quality to avoid accidents, it is now illegal to transfer Pokémon via those connections.
As of now, improvements to the materials used to develop Monster Balls have led to Monster Balls that allow easier transmission of Pokémon.
However, without a Pokémon inside, transmitting a Monster Ball is impossible.
In fact, if a Pokémon were inside you could transmit even a wallet or a pencil case. (This is illegal due to a high chance of accidents. When transmitting Pokémon, please use only official standard transmittable Monster Balls.)
However, and while we may be repeating ourselves, even with the latest Monster Ball technology, without a Pokémon inside, it cannot be transmitted.
Which means that in this world, out of all physical objects both animate and inanimate, only Pokémon can be electronically transmitted. Why is it limited to only Pokémon? This is one of the great mysteries that hold the hearts of both scientists and amateur researchers alike.
Additionally, when it comes to current transmission lines, the most suitable for transmitting Pokémon are the Pokémon Center's exclusive computer network and the Pokémon Satellite Transmitter, but for everyday usage, we recommend the International Communication Bureau's own high capacity Pokénet. There are some fanatics who use unofficial transmission networks as well as a few people who will use a cheap internet connection, but this is not recommended as the safety of the Pokémon is not guaranteed.
To boil down to the main point behind this long story so far, we believe that the pricing of Pokémon transmission should be revised.
Since the worldwide Pokémon boom, the number of users who transmit Pokémon has increased dramatically.
The Pokémon that are transmitted are living creatures. To develop the necessary defences to ensure the safety of the Pokémon and prevent hackers from committing theft... Or rather, kidnapping, as they are living creatures... we would like to propose a 30% price increase to the cost of transmitting Pokémon.
〇〇〇〇/〇... (For confidentiality, the date and name of the sender are removed.)
Japanese Communication Branch... Review Committee
Note #1) Proposals are often made before meetings or briefings to get an idea of your partner's opinions. It's considered as preparation or preliminary ground work.
In this instance... If along with the yearly increase on sales tax, the price was jacked up even further, citizens and Pokémon would be angry? It seems this proposal was rejected on those grounds.
... “Classified Document from Pokémon Crime Division Transmission Sector”
An excerpt from former Police Superintendent General Zenigata Junsa the 893rd
Translation Notes:
• Highway Route 2 is likely a reference to Route 2 from the video games, but it uses a different word (国道二番線) than the games (２番道路).
• Japanese police boxes are like miniature police stations, not the TARDIS.
• The names Heiji Junsa and Zenigata Junsa are references to Heiji Zenigata, a fictional detective from the Edo period created by novelist Kodou Nomura in 1937. The name Zenigata is perhaps known better from Lupin III, where Heiji's apparent descendant Koichi Zenigata works to catch eponymous thief Lupin.
• As specified in the text itself, Momoko and Yaoko mean Hundredth Child and Eight Hundredth Child respectively. The numbers alluded to by the other names are one for Ichiko, two for Niko and one thousand for Senko.
• What can I say about the words "thieving boy"? Surprisingly, something more than nothing! When Kasumi was left behind at the police box, Satoshi was referred to as "doroboy", a portmanteau of "dorobou", meaning thief, and "boy". I couldn't come up with a suitable English portmanteau to match it. (Boyglar? Robboy?)
• The coin on Nyarth's head is specifically a koban. Koban were gold coins used during the Edo period.
• Nyarth makes a lot of cat noises. The dub of the anime seemed to make a token effort of having Meowth say "meow" a lot early on, before simply dropping it.
• The beckoning cat, or maneki neko, is a common Japanese lucky charm. A figure of a cat, often made with porcelain, beckoning with one paw. They are often put at the entrance of a business.
• Jiangshi are a type of Chinese reanimated corpse. I used the term "jiangshi zombie" earlier to make it clearer what it was, however a jiangshi is not quite the same as a typical western zombie. Good examples include Hsien-Ko from Darkstalkers and Lee Pyron from Shaman King.
• Things may pikap. "Pika" is a Japanese onomatopoeia for "shining", so Ookido was making a pun about Pikachu "pika"-ing when polished. To maintain the pun, I made a comment about how things will "pick up" when Pikachu is polished.
• Alarms and all arms, in Japanese this pun was about the word "keihou", which with different kanji can mean either "warning" or "criminal law".
• Kidding and kidnappers, in Japanese Kojirou said that being called a gang of kidnappers wasn't pleasant, kidnap in Japanese is "yuukai", pleasant is "yukai".
• A
• “Let a brat have a ball and it becomes an all out brawl.” In Japanese, this line was a pun involving "jari" (twerp/brat) and "tama" (ball) becoming "tamajari" (gravel). There was no way to make that work in English, so by combining the words "brat" and "ball" together I got "brawl".
• throw away your steady/go away or be ready, in Japanese Musashi said Kasumi would "throw away" (sute) her "steady" and that it was "throw away day" (sute day).