Chapter 26
"Oh thank Lugia, it's land!" Gold cried as he leaned against the railing of the ship from where he stood waiting to get off. "I'm so ready to get off this ship," he whined to himself. The cruise liner itself wasn't the problem. It was the people that made him want to leave, which was unusual since Gold knew for certain that he was a people person.
"I didn't think you would be so eager to leave with the fortune you made over such a short period of time." Gold looked over his shoulder and shot Mr. G a scowl.
"Easy for you to say, old man. You weren't the one surrounded by angry sore losers!" He had ended up keeping the rude nickname for the middle aged man, but by no means did he mean to be disrespectful when he called him that. His curiousity had led him to keep an eye on him which further led to how he became rich in just a week. Gold was unrivaled when it came to playing pool. He almost felt bad for his opponents who just couldn't understand how he never lost a game. In truth, Gold was bored and just wanted to have fun doing something he was familiar with. It was the crowd that started placing bets when he got to his ninth consecutive win. "As long as they don't find out that I'm only seventeen, then we'll be okay. No take backs though. I played fair and square."
"That's true. I am pretty bad at pool. Your skill is truly remarkable young man." Mr. G had taken a liking to Gold, much to the boy's dismay. Gold just wanted the watch the guy to make sure he hadn't been lying about being a spy, but now he was pretty sure Mr. G was starting to treat him as if he were the son he had lost. It wasn't like Gold could really blame him, but it made him slightly uncomfortable for some reason.
"You aren't too bad at pool yourself," Gold muttered. "You're just bad at choosing the right decision in the middle of the game's pressure."
"Oh? Are you trying to give me helpful advice?"
"No way, old man! I'm just saying that I'm much better!" Gold turned away from the laughing man with a pout.
They finally neared the port at Ula'ula Island and were finally allowed to leave. Though it took some time, those who were stopping in Alola were finally loaded off of the ship and were free to explore as they pleased. Gold silently searched the small crowd waiting on shore for anyone that might have been Looker's superior but couldn't find her. He didn't have much information to go by even if he did see her in the crowd.
"How long are you staying in Alola?" Gold asked Mr. G who had accompanied him all the while.
"Two weeks. I want to visit every island before I leave. It has been quite some time since I've visited another region like this. And you?"
"A month. I'm...visiting a good friend of mine. She heard about me winning the vacation and offered to let me stay longer," he spoke. At the very least, Gold was sure that Mr. G was not a member of Team Remnant Rocket, but he couldn't just go telling people his true reason for being in Alola.
"Oh, so you aren't leaving when the cruise ship returns then," Mr. G realized.
"Nope. I'm going to do my best to uh...relax my month away," Gold quickly corrected his near slip up. "You seem sad about it. Don't tell me you're going to miss me when you leave, old man."
"It is nice having your company, but don't go getting to full of yourself. I'll probably remember you a few months later after having forgotten about the trip." Mr. G was joking as Gold had learned the man was a pretty bad liar. He was direct about everything when he was not joking and hid nothing except the details of his identity. Gold had tried asking Mr. G what his true name was, but the man elaborately avoided the subject every time.
"Sure, sure. I'll run into you some time later. You take care of yourself until then, old man," Gold waved at him as they began to part ways.
Mr. G returned the gesture with a nod. "I'll beat you in pool next we meet."
"In your dreams old man!" Gold called back to him. He found himself laughing to himself at that one. No one could beat him in pool. At least, no one had done so as of yet.
The first place Gold went was the Pokémon Center to make sure his pokémon were up to par and ready for any sort of situation. Although Gold only had the authority of a detective, he had been told that it was okay to use force when defending himself or Silver against anyone related to Team Remnant Rocket. Based on the past cases and victims, he was grimly reminded of the fact that these people did not just use their pokémon to carry out their business.
He thought of places he should start checking once he met up with Looker's superior as he sipped on a much needed cup of juice while waiting to be contacted. There weren't any shops like this in the pokémon centers of Johto. It was kind of nice to be able to have a drink right in the Pokémon Center, a general safe zone for most people.
"What do you think Aibo? What should we do first?" Gold asked his pokémon which he had let sit on the table in front of him. Aipom was enjoying his very own berry juice as were the rest of Gold's pokémon though they were in various places around him. The pokémon just happened to be directly in front of him signaling the series of questions. When Aipom gave him a head tilt, he turned his attention to Sudowoodo. "Got any ideas, Sudobo?" He recieved a quick head shake which served as a no. "How about you Exbo?" His pokémon all suddenly grew stuff with apprehension.
"Gold? What in Ho-oh's name are you doing here?" Gold flinched at the familiar voice.
"Dear Lugia why..." he mumbled to himself before turning around.9⁸⁸⁸ "Dear Lugia WHY?" he repeated in thought as he confirmed this girl's identity. "A hello would be nice. I could ask you the same. Unlike you, I actually have a reason for being here," he said to Crystal as calmly as he could muster. "Not that you'll actually know the real reason."
"What do you mean I don't have a reason?? You know what, I don't have time for this. I checked by the office before I left. You were still stationed in Kanto."
Crystal was dressed in her police given attire, definitely looking the part with the badge hanging from her neck and a nice fitting black skirt stopping just past- "Stay focused Gold!" If he was a temporary junior detective, she was a temporary junior cop.
"You know where he is, don't you," Crystal accused.
"Where who is? You clearly didn't hear, but I'm on vacation. Can't you tell? Well, maybe not. You're to busy worrying about working while I get to have some time off. I bet you've been stressed. I heard your department hasn't gotten any leads. How's that turning out for you?" He took a sip of his juice while donning a smug smile.
"You're not fooling anyone Gold. Thanks to a generous anonymous tip, we know he is here in Alola. We'll hand him over to your guys when we've finished questioning him. Got that? Please don't do anything stupid. I'm not trying to cause any problems here." She turned on her heels and stormed out of the building. The few people in the area were pretending not to have witnessed a thing. As soon as she was gone, Gold start panicking. "You've got to be kidding me! Was she on the cruise?? How did she not see me? No, how did I not see her?! This is bad. This is really bad."
If Crystal made an arrest, which she probably didn't have the authority to even do, Silver was liable to be taken back to Johto. Even if Crystal couldn't do it, that didn't leave out the Alolan police. All she had to do was present her case. Sending Silver back was the last thing they needed to do. Gold almost slammed his fist to the table in frustration but remembered that he was out in the public. People had already been staring at him for having all of his pokémon out and about inside the building as if that weren't normal. He didn't need to draw anymore attention to himself.
"Hello there, Champion! Would you like me to rest your pokémon?" Gold immediately looked to the counter where the nurse was speaking to a girl around his age. She was really pretty too. Her hair hung perfectly just past her face and her- "Focus Gold, this is not the time!" He had heard some information that he thought could be useful.
The girl took her pokémon back from the nurse and turned to leave, but stopped and looked in his direction. His eyes widened in surprise thinking that she had caught him staring at her, but she was looking past him at his pokémon.
"Hey, is that...a Typlosion? From Johto right?" The girl asked. She seemed more eager to touch the fire type pokémon than anything.
"How does she know that?!" Gold cleared his throat before speaking. "Yes, he's my very own Typhlosipn. You sure do know your pokémon."
"Yes, I'm doing my best to complete a pokédex." As if on que, a floating red object floated into view and greeted him. Wait, did that pokédex just talk? "Can I take a few pictures please? For the pokédex?" The girl was practically already ready for the photos. Plus she was absolutely adorable. How could he say no?
"Sure, I don't see why not," he gave a shrug. "Can't believe the champion of this region is so young here too. Maybe that's common. I really thought Blue was going to be the youngest one..."
"Okay, I'll be right back. Rotom, can you handle the pictures for me? Make sure you get a good shot please!" The girl ran out of the building in a hurry confusing Gold, but he was more curious about the talking pokédex that she had called Rotom. He watched the floating device hover around his pokémon taking pictures.
"Don't be like that Exbo," Gold scolded when he saw his Typlosion glaring at the flying pokédex. "Give a good smile for the camera. I'll give you the first taste of whatever new treats they have in this region if you be nice." His Aipom and Sudowoodo looked at him in objection.
"See, it's one of Johto's rarest pokémon," the girl had returned while dragging a blonde boy with her.
"Of course she's taken. You can never be too careful with the popular girls." Gold waved at the new individual wondering if he could ask him questions too just as he intended to do with the champion. "Hey there. Here to check out out my cool pokémon too?"
"No," the boy said rather sternly. His answer sort of startled the champion. "I just have one question. What's your name?"
Approximately one week after the Tapu Festival, Silver's world was about to be shaken once again.
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Quick note, the names that Gold uses for his pokémon are the nicknames from the Pokémon Adventures manga. Thought I'd include that. Until next time you epic readers!
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