AJ2000
Well-Known Member
“…with that said, officials are not yet sure of the whereabouts of the missing Absol, however they warn everyone to remain vigilant and contact the authorities if they find anything.”
There was a brief pause from the news reporter, until he looked down at his papers before speaking once more. “And for the final report of the morning, police are still following up with the missing Pokémon from Brighton City Research Lab. Head researcher, Mr. Pom states that he is certain it was the criminal organization referring to themselves as Team Lotus. Although the exact individuals involved could not be identified, the police are hard at work tracking down the Pokéballs associated with the Pokémon. Mr. Pom and his team have installed a tracking serial to each Pokéball and - ”
Cedric pressed the button on his remote, and with a flick, his old and rustic, yet reliable television set turned off. He threw the remote on his bed, before walking towards his desk, flinging two Pokéballs, a snack and a water bottle into his bag that slung around the chair of his desk. “Oh, are you headed out so soon?” A voice spoke as the door to his room creaked. Cedric finished getting his bag ready and slung his arms through the straps to put it on.
“Earlier start means I get to go home early too.” Cedric responded, staring at his older brother who stood by the door. “I’m taking the Pokémon with me too, so I guess you’ll be home by yourself today.” Cedric smiled as he walked past his brother, giving him a little pat on the shoulder. Not waiting for a response, He hurried down the stairs and shot out the door, opening up to the pleasant warmth of the sun’s rays. It was the perfect season in Losmia at the moment, and Cedric intended to take full advantage of it when he was off work, before the rainy season kicked in.
“Hey! Cedric!” A little boy suddenly came running towards him, who he immediately recognized as Benny. Everyone knew Benny as the boy who knows all the latest gossip and rumours around town, and was generally a good source of knowledge whenever you needed to know something. If he didn’t know something, he could most likely find it for you - for a price that is, depending on how well he knew the person. Luckily, Cedric was on good terms with Benny, and that was evident in the way they interacted with one another.
“Hey Benny, what’s up?” Cedric asked, as he began to walk away from his house and proceeded to go towards the town.
“Cedric, can I see your Pokémon?” Benny excitedly asked. “I am trying to do a research project for school, and I need to do something for Water types!” Benny walked alongside Cedric, pulling at his shirt, trying to nudge him into opening his bag.
“For school? I would love to Benny, but I am sort of on my way to work.” Cedric chuckled half-heartedly and scratched his head.
“Oh c’mon Cedric! It’ll only take a minute! I promise!” Benny pleaded, clasping his hands together almost as if he were begging.
“Okay, okay. Only a minute though. You’re lucky It’s still a bit early before work.” Cedric stopped in his tracks, taking off his bag, rummaging around in his backpack. He unzipped a compartment inside and pulled out a small Pokéball. He pressed the button to enlarge it, and gave it a toss in the air, shooting out a beam of light. Benny whipped out his mini notebook and pen form his pocket, and looked in awe as the beam of light took to the form of Cedric’s Marshtomp. The Pokémon stood there, making an odd sound, as it curiously looked around at Cedric and then at Benny.
“Wow! Your Marshtomp is huge!” Benny stared at Marshtomp, scribbling down notes while periodically looking at the Marshtomp. “I imagine it’s because generally Pokémon get larger while in captivity of a trainer, due to their food. And possibly the amount of training they go through if they are going to be battling.” Benny stuck out his tongue, continuing to write down notes.
“Well, I imagine it’s because of the food. Marshtomp doesn’t battle much, to be honest.” Cedric chuckled again, petting his Marshtomp on the head. “How much longer is this going to take?” He asked.
“Pretty much done. I am going to make my water-type project about Marshtomp, so I have almost everything I need. But now I need to see it in action!” Benny exclaimed.
“In action…?” Cedric looked confusingly.
“Yes. Action. As in, a battle! I’m going to record the battle, so I can watch it over and over again and present it in my class!” Benny went to pat Marshtomp on the head, who just growled playfully in return.
“Whoa, hold on Benny, you never mentioned anything about a battle.” Cedric jolted his head in response to hearing Benny’s idea, not amused at the thought of it. “Besides, I don’t have much experience with battling, let alone Marshtomp. I don’t think I’m too comfortable with that idea.” He pressed the button on his Pokéball, and returned Marshtomp before putting it back into his bag.
“What? Seriously? Cedric, why not? I’ll even find an opponent for you, it won’t take long I promise! We can do it right after your work!” Benny pleaded. Cedric nodded, continuing to walk away, and back towards the town to his work. “Cedric! Please! Nobody else in this town has a Marshtomp, I need this to get a good mark for my assignment!” Benny stopped walking, as he began to shout at Cedric who kept walking further and further away, until he was completely out of sight from Benny.
~
“Here you go, ma’am.” The smell of freshly picked fruit and berries filled the marketplace air, luring in both old and new customers of the like. Cedric tied the top of the bag, and handed it to the elderly lady across the fruit display, who smiled in return before walking away. Despite having worked at the fruit stand for quite a while, the smell of berries was something that never got dull with him, for whatever reason. If it wasn’t for the fact that he had to sell them, he’d probably munch away at them while he worked.
“Cedric! I need you to do something for me.” A voice shouted. Cedric turned to his right and saw his boss, Gordo. The short, older man approached Cedric with a small, brown sack filled with Berries. Although he was bald, something that made him stand out was his gray, almost silver-like scruffy beard. That was usually his distinguishable feature that people recognized him by. “These are for Carol. You know her right? The elderly lady that lives in the small white house, just on the outside of town.” He said, handing Cedric the bag. “She’s sick, so I told her you’d deliver her berries to her. today” Gordo said, pointing at the bag. Cedric nodded, untying his white work apron. “Keep that on, you’re still on the clock. Plus, it’ll look good for me with people seeing how good our customer service is.” The boss laughed, although somewhat sinisterly. He had always been the penny pinching type, so this came no surprise to Cedric that he’d be eventually delivering berries at this point in his job.
He grabbed the bag, and began to walk through the bustling marketplace. Kids playing, people mingling, bartering and other day to day activities filled the market air, which gave Cedric a lot of satisfaction. The sense of community was one of the reasons why he couldn’t think of living anywhere else, and that in itself was an underrated treasure in his opinion.
“The Whispin Post! Get your weekly copy of The Whispin Post!” A man shouted, standing on a wooden crate by the corner of the street. He was waving around the local newspaper, distributing it to people who were walking by. Cedric looked at him, until he locked eyes with him. “You there! Boy!” The man shouted excitedly, and jumped down from the crate to approach Cedric. “Would you like your copy of The Whispin Post? With everything that’s going on, it’s good to arm yourself with knowledge.” Cedric looked at the man and nodded. The man smiled, handing Cedric the paper. He held the bag of berries in one hand, while holding the paper out in front of him with the other.
“I can already guess what’s going to be on the front page.” Cedric laughed half-heartedly, looking at the front page of the newspaper. It showed a blurry picture of the suspects involved in the laboratory incident in Brighton City, who were supposedly Team Lotus according to everyone and the media outlets. "You know, you'd think the laboratory would have better security measures." Cedric said, skimming through the front page.
"Well, I'm sure they did. Maybe these criminals are just smart?" The man responded, as he handed out a few papers to passing townsfolk. " I mean I am sure these aren't regular burglars we are talking about." The man then turned to face Cedric. "But like I said, it doesn't hurt to learn a bit more about what's going on". He smiled, as he began to shout once more, advertising the paper.