Obliva Adventures - Ch 2

Enter Ukulele Pichu! Off to Renbow Island!


"Current Location: X Coordinate 055665, Y Coordinate 355671. Seawater has penetrated the Styler's VoiceNav circuit. Current Location x zzzzz seawater zzzz penetra zzzzz…."


Tess was awoken by the pleasant sound of her Styler malfunctioning. Slowly sitting up, she shook her head and looked around. She appeared to be on a beach somewhere, but…


"How did I get here?" Tess murmured aloud. Standing up, she winced and put her hand on her knee. The bruise there would probably leave a permanent mark.


Suddenly Tess remembered her Partner Pokemon. Feeling panicked, she quickly released her Absol from the Styler where she had hidden him as she was flying through the skies. The dark Pokemon shook his fur and gave her an annoyed look.


"I'm so sorry, Flint," Tess exclaimed, crouching down to hug the Absol. "I'm glad you're okay. I had almost forgotten you were in there!" Flint sat down by her side and looked around, as if he, too was wondering where they were.


Suddenly the VoiceNav spoke up. "This is Dolce Island in the Oblivia region…bzzz…" It seemed to still be malfunctioning from the seawater. "The Styler's communication functions cannot be recovered. Communication with any other Rangers is currently impossible."


"That means I won't be able to contact Ben, I guess," Tess muttered. "Crap." The VoiceNav continued.


"According to the data of this area, Dolce is uninhabited. The nearest inhabited area is Renbow Island, which is north of Dolce Island."


Tess turned to Flint. "Let's go to Renbow Island. We can get help there." With difficulty she started walking, heading away from the beach and into the forest. Flint followed anxiously behind, occasionally sniffing around at the surrounding smells.


As they walked, Tess couldn't help but notice that there were no Pokemon around. Sure, the VoiceNav had said that Dolce Island was uninhabited – but there should still be some Pokemon around, right?


Tess soon found her answer as a small Pichu jumped out of the bushes in front of them. For some reason or another it looked angry and agitated. It took Tess a moment to notice that it had a blue ukulele on its back.


The VoiceNav spoke. "The Pichu looks like it's about to attack." Immediately Tess's hand flew to her Styler, preparing to make a capture.


The capture itself wasn't particularly difficult or challenging, except that Pichu kept trying to fire electric jolts at the Capture Line. However, Tess managed to successfully capture the Pichu without trouble, and soon it seemed calm again.  


"Pichu is no longer agitated," VoiceNav droned. "It is no longer a threat." As Tess watched, the Pichu cheerfully took out its ukulele and began to strum a few notes.


"Pichuu!" It exclaimed happily, almost as if it were trying to sing along with the notes.


Tess smiled, satisfied that the Pichu was now okay, and began to walk on again. She was stopped, however, when a new voice broke into the scene.


"Pichu! You're okay!"


Startled, Tess looked up as an elderly man running towards them. He had a tuft of white hair on his head and a beard. The Pichu with the ukulele appeared to recognize him, for it quickly ran over to the man.


The man looked around. "Oh? Where are all your other Pichu friends?" He frowned. "And what of the other Pokemon? This area of the island seems to have no Pokemon at all. I saw some on the way over, though. What's goin' on?"


"Pi…pichu," the Pichu said sadly. The man continued, obviously still oblivious to Tess and Flint standing there.


"Don't know, huh? Say, Ukulele Pichu, who were those folks who came in on UFO-lookin' things anyhow? I was far away, and couldn't see 'em very well, but…what were they doing chasin' Pokemon 'round anyways?"


"Excuse me," Tess said finally, startling the old man.


"Oh!" he exclaimed. "Well, what do we have here? A Pokemon Ranger! I've never seen ya 'round these parts. What's your name?"


"Tess," she said. "I'm Tess, and this is my Partner Pokemon, Flint."

"Tess, huh?" the man said. "Not a bad name. Not a bad name 't'all." The man didn't seem to observe the fact that her clothes and hair were soaked in seawater. "Flint's mighty fine too. I'm Booker, the master shipbuilder from Renbow Island across the way."


"Nice to meet you," Tess said politely, although she personally was thinking what an idiot he was not to notice her before. Absol snorted and began to lick his paw, apparently uninterested in the conversation.


"This island doesn't have many places higher than this," Booker continued, "so if a big tidal wave or somethin' came, then the Pokemon would have nowhere to go. That's why I make boats, little wooden ones, for Pokemon. If somethin' happens I can easily row them to shore."

Tess was about to ask Booker if he could possibly give her directions to Renbow Island when Pichu started strumming its ukulele again.


"Well, would ya look at that!" Booker exclaimed. "Looks like Ukulele Pichu's taken a shine to you." After a moment he added, "that's what I call that Pichu, on account of the little ukulele he carries. I made that ukulele. Kinda plays a little tune when he sends electricity through it."


"Um…I see…" Tess said. She was doing her best to put up with this man but her patience was starting to reach its limits.


"Anyway! Have you ever seen a UFO?" When Tess gave him a puzzled look he explained. "I saw these guys coming in on UFO-scooter things. I couldn't see 'em very well from Renbow Island, but they were chasing Pokemon around! Before I could come, they were gone and so were Ukulele Pichu's little Pichu pals. I wonder what's goin' on…"


It must be the Pinchers! Tess thought in realization. Maybe this guy actually has some useful information after all.


"You run along and go find your friends," Booker said to Ukulele Pichu. "They're probably just hidin' somewheres. Run along now!" Obediently Ukulele Pichu ran off.  


"Look," said Tess finally straining to keep her voice polite, "I just got here to Dolce Island – to the Oblivia Region itself, actually – and I need a place to stay. Can you take me to Renbow Island?"


"Why, sure thing!" Booker said cheerfully. "Just follow me. I know where ta go. We can take one of my boats there – the same one I came on." Tess let him lead the way through the island, occasionally checking to see if her Styler had recovered from the seawater yet.


As they walked, Tess gradually noticed a few more Pokemon appearing – but far less than the normal amount that should be on a grassy, flourishing island. Not wanting to voice her concerns in front of Booker, she thought her own conclusion to herself: The Pinchers must have come here and stolen some Pokemon.


The two stopped when they reached a grassy cliff-like area that looked out over the sea. In the distance Tess could see an island, with what looked to be a tower on the top.


"That there is where we're a-headin' – Renbow Island," Booker explained. "I live in Cocona Village there. It's a bounty of Pokemon and kind, honest people. Oh yes, and don't forget the Wireless Tower atop there." He pointed. "We can keep contact with other Regions from it."


"Huh," Tess mused. As they continued walking she thought, Maybe I can contact Hastings somehow when we get to Renbow Island and fill him in on the situation.


Booker and Tess finally reached the shore. Booker ran down to the pier. Tess and Flint broke into a run after him, wondering why he suddenly looked so panicked.


When Tess finally caught up Booker explained breathlessly, "My boat! It's gone! I was in such a hurry that I must've plumb forgotten to tie it to the pier. We can't get back."


Tess paled.  "You've got to be kidding me," she muttered.


Great, she moaned silently, now I'm stuck on an uninhabited island with no shelter and an old man who let his boat drift away! This can't get any worse!


"Now, hold on a second," Booker said. "I have this unfinished boat we can use! No need for worryin'. It's still safer than other folks' finished boats. If we can just push it into the ocean, we'll be all set!"


"But…we won't be able to push it on our own, would we?" Tess asked, eyeing the boat critically. "It looks heavy."


"'Course not!" Booker scoffed. "Usually I need a good five strong backs to move it, but today all I got is you. Figure something out, whydoncha?"


"I guess that's what I'll do," Tess sighed. She trotted back, her knee still aching, to see if she could find an Ursaring to capture.


***


When Tess returned, she had the Ursaring push the boat down to the shore. Booker smiled in satisfaction as she did so, running to the shore to keep the boat until Tess and Flint boarded.


"Off we go!" Booker exclaimed, shoving off. At the last moment Ukulele Pichu ran and hopped on.


"What's the matter, Pichu?" Booker asked with a frown. "Does that mean your friends weren't there?" Ukulele Pichu nodded sadly.


"Well then," Tess said, cutting into the conversation between the two, "you can just come with us and we'll see if we can find your little Pichu buddies." Pichu nodded happily as Flint growled in dislike.


"Oh, come off it, Flint," Tess said. "Pichu won't hurt anything. And besides, we're almost at Renbow Island already."



As soon as they reached Renbow Island, a group of small children eagerly ran up to them. One of them, a green haired boy who appeared to be the leader, spoke first.


"Booker! You're back! …uh, but who is this person?" He looked directly at Tess.


"Oh, hello there, Ralph," Booker said pleasantly. "This here's Tess and her Partner, Flint. She's an honest-to-goodness Pokemon Ranger!" The children looked up in awe.


"That's so cool!" Ralph exclaimed. "Except the uniform looks kinda different. I've never seen a uniform with red goggles and a scarf before. Rand doesn't wear one like that!"


"Yeah," Tess said, "just before I came here they re-designed the uniforms…wait, who's Rand?"


Ralph seemed excited – so excited that he ignored her question. "I'm going to tell everyone in the village that a Pokemon Ranger is here – 'cause I think everyone is worried about the UFO stuff." He ran off with his friends before Tess could say anything more.


Booker chuckled. "Ralph is such a reliable boy." Turning to Tess, he added, "I can tell you're all tuckered out from your arrival here in Oblivia. You can rest awhile at my place, if you want – we have a spare room in the attic that we never use for nothin'."


"Thank you," Tess said gratefully. "That'd be awesome." Together they walked towards a house that was presumably Booker's, with Flint and Ukulele Pichu close behind.


***


Unnoticed by Tess, two Pinchers on their Z.Z. Flyers zoomed by overhead. Pichu stopped to look at them; it recognized them for their raid on Dolce Island. When three more flew by, it angrily gave chase, wanting to find its friends again.


***

"Boss! You're back!"


Another green-haired boy was in the house, with a red-and-white striped shirt and a bandanna over his head. He looked to be about Tess's age.


"Yep, I'm back," Booker said. "Tess, this is Nick, my apprentice in woodworking. Nick, this is Tess."


"Tess, huh?" Nick said. "Oh no…could it be…disillusioned with being a Ranger, this person has come to ask to be your new apprentice? And because I've goofed up in the past, you're thinking of replacing me? Oh, Boss, how could you!"


"Shut it, Nick," Booker said. "Tess is doing no such thing. She's a Pokemon Ranger. If you don't have anything better to do than dream up lame stories, why don't you run off and get our guest some tea!"


"Oh." Nick looked relieved. "Y-yes, I'll do that right away!" he scurried to the small kitchen that was in the room and started to boil some water.


Booker looked after Nick with fondness in his eyes, despite his stern lecture a few moments before. "Nick is a hard worker, but he can get carried away and starts worryin' about foolish things. He ends up makin' up all sorts of crazy stories." He paused.


"So let me ask you, Tess," he said. "What brings you to Oblivia? And when I encountered you on Dolce Island, your clothes were soaked." Apparently he had been rather observant after all. "Mind explainin' ta me what happened?"


***


Tess explained how the UFOs belonged to the Pokemon Pinchers, and how she had been sent to Oblivia to stop them. She also explained how she had been knocked into the ocean and how Ben was left behind with the Pinchers.


"What an unbelievable group of good-fer-nothings"! Booker fumed. "They musta taken Dolce Island's Pokemon – and  Ukulele Pichu's friends, besides!"


"What about your partner?" Nick asked worriedly. "Maybe he's been captured by the Pinchers, and is now blindfolded and bound with a rope a smidgeon on the tight side? And – "


"First of all," Tess said, "he's not my partner. I hadn't even known he was coming when he showed up in the sky. That's Hastings for you – doing things rashly and without planning." She sighed. "But you may actually be right on one point – he could very well be captured by the Pinchers, or he's somewhere in Oblivia."


"Tess," said Booker. Tess turned to him expectantly. "Tess," he said, "I know all of this has maybe made you a little unsure, but don't you worry none. You got friends here – me, an' Nick, and Ukulele Pichu, too!"


Quite honestly Tess wasn't feeling unsure at all – it was her duty to explore new places and go on Missions like this, after all – but she didn't want to hurt Booker's feelings. She smiled and thanked when Nick spoke up.


"Speaking of which…where's Ukulele Pichu?"


Before anyone could guess, Ralph burst into the house, panting with exhaustion.


"It's the UFOs!" he exclaimed. "They're…they're back! They were going to Teakwood forest, and Arley went after them, but he hasn't come back yet." His voice was trembling as he continued, "Arley is really strong, but…he's actually really old, too. I'm worried about him."


Tess stepped forward. "I can go," she offered.


"Tess," Booker said, "are you sure? I know you're all tuckered out and all from everythin'…"


"I'll be fine," Tess assured him. "I'm a Pokemon Ranger – I handle this kind of stuff all the time!" She motioned to Flint. "Come on. Let's go!" Together they raced outside as Ralph led the way to Teakwood forest.


To be continued…