Last time on Pokemon: Johto Quest! Finally! Emily won against Falkner, adding a new badge and a new TM to her collection. The Skarmory has also been happily christened as “Ace”.
Emily and Eddy exited the Violet City gym, smiles plastered on their faces. They leaned against the sides of the double doors so as to not block anyone from using them.
“You know what, Eddy?” Emily asked. “I think we’ve earned a break.”
Eddy grinned and bleated.
“But, where to go though?”
Eddy shrugged.
Emily gasped. “Hey! I know! Maybe we should walk until we find something cool! What about that?”
Eddy nodded with great swiftness.
The two made a left, almost passing a diminutive, blue building with a sign out front, the words “Poke Mart” embedded in it. Emily caught herself before the building was out of her sight and dashed in, Eddy following mere inches behind.
Emily trotted to the counter in the far left corner and soon made eye contact with the lady behind it. “Hey!” Emily exclaimed. “Can I ge—” Two posters to the lady’s right caught Emily’s eye. The first had a blue and white ball with two, red streaks running down its top half surrounded by the words, “Great Ball! A greater catching experience without breaking the bank!” The second depicted a spray bottle much like the ones Emily had been using all along. However, the poster’s spray bottle possessed a dark-red base and beige neck. Around it were the words, “Super Potion: The Good Wound Medicine.” “Great Balls and Super Potions?”
“Sure kid. How many you want?” The lady asked.
Emily opened her bag and slammed it right onto the counter. “As many as you can fit!”
The lady laughed and ducked under the counter. She emerged a moment later, piles of Great Balls and Super Potions in her hands. She tossed them into Emily’s bag and Emily herself whipped out a thick stack of Poken before handing it to the lady.
Emily reached for her bag, but paused. She repeatedly shoved her hands in the air. “Oh! Oh! Can I have some stuff that wakes Pokemon up?”
The lady turned and opened a glass case right behind her, pulling out a stubby, golden spray bottle and placing it on the counter. “I personally recommend this Full Heal here. Heals sleep and so much more. Do you—”
“Yeah! Yeah!”
The lady threw the Full Heal into the bag, snagging more from the glass case and adding onto the item pile in the bag soon after. “Uh. Consider them a gift. I’m feeling a little generous today.”
“Thanks!” Emily replied.
Moments later, Emily and Eddy emerged from the Poke Mart. Emily performed a salute and held it, turning her head from left to right. Something dawned on Emily at that moment. “Ooh! We should probably go to the Pokemon Center first. That was a big battle after all.”
Eddy nodded.
After an exquisite heal up at the Pokemon Center, the duo walked over to its double doors. But Emily stopped when something grabbed her attention and forced her to turn around. It was a map on the wall next to a thick, dusty outline of a desktop computer. Emily tugged on Eddy’s arm, pointing to the map.
The duo jogged toward it. Upon closer examination, it was a map of the entire Johto region, a circle under the words, “You Are Here” surrounding Violet City.
Emily’s finger instantly poked a place to the west of Violet City. “Hey! I know that one!” Eddy leaned into the section in question. The words, “Olivine City” hovered above Emily’s finger. “They got a big amusement park, they got a huge lighthouse, that’s where all the sailors are. Let’s go there!”
Eddy placed the tip of his flipper-like arm on his chin for a single moment. With two nods and a smile, Eddy dropped his arm to his side and headed for the double doors, Emily not too far behind.
Some time later, the duo stopped under a thick clothesline adorned with approximately eleven flags. The first was a yellow and red flag with a single, diagonal line separating the two colors and the last a flag with red and yellow diagonal stripes.
Emily gasped and hopped, pointing to the flags shortly after. “I know what those say! Daddy taught me how to read these. They say, ‘Olivine City.’” Emily dashed under the flags. “Let’s Go, Eddy!”
The two slid to a stop, almost hitting a fence sharing Emily’s height across from the flags and to the left of an orange and brown gym building, chrome statues of snake-like creatures possessing spikes at the ends of their bodies flanking the entrance, looking down upon all who enter with grins. Emily and Eddy took a deep breath, wiping themselves of the sand that splashed them during their slide.
Emily slapped her hands atop the fence and craned her neck towards the city before her. To her left was a freshly painted, blue and white lighthouse. To her right a pristine beach with a massive peer carrying rides and food stalls of all sorts on its back. Nestled between the lighthouse and beach was a port whose waters were filled with ships as long as sleeping skyscrapers and ships that would hold two people and a Mareep on a good day.
Emily gasped and repeatedly stabbed her finger at the pier below. “The pier! The pier! That’s where all the fun is! Let’s go!” Emily and Eddy bolted down the hill, its sloped nature bringing their speed to such an extent where they could soar with a single leap. Laughter escaped from Emily and Eddy just couldn’t help but bleat happily. “Hope I win something this time.”
Under the blue, cloudless sky were sounds of happy people and their happy companions strolling along the pier. Waves crashed against the shore of the beach below it and the thick scent of seaweed and fried food filled the air. Emily’s mouth was locked open as she walked with a spin, as if she had discovered a new world unknown to mankind and trying to make her mind drink in every detail.
At the far end of the pier was a dark-blue and grey roller coaster tall enough to nearly kiss the sun. In front of it, a sign containing a red-eyed, blue and white metallic-looking shark with a yellow star near its top dorsal fin attempting to chomp the words, “Steel Sharpedo.”
Emily turned to Eddy. “Do you like roller coasters?”
Eddy shrugged.
Emily pointed to the Steel Sharpedo, saying with a smirk, “Well, that one used to be scary. But we went on a mountain and lived so—” Emily charged towards the roller coaster, proudly screaming, “Yeah!” with her fists high in the air.
Moments later, our heroes were in their seats, strapped in, ready for action. The coaster crawled up a steep, metal hill. Emily and Eddy’s grip on the bar of their car tightened as they gazed at the peak of the hill.
A small, blue and white bird-like creature with forked wingtips smacked into Emily’s face, its beak almost impaling her uvula. Emily screamed and stood and clawed its back, trying to remove it. Eddy scrambled to his feet, scrambled to raise his arm and aim it at the bird-like creature. But the roller coaster flew down the hill at mach speed and rounded a bend hard enough to almost make the coaster flip over, forcing everyone’s stomach to drop, forcing Eddy to be dragged back to his seat.
Eddy folded his arms and his eyes darted from side to side. He lunged at the bird-like creature and gripped its wings after only a few seconds, pulling it towards himself again and again, all the while releasing agitated bleats after each pull. But it was as if it was superglued to Emily’s face. Finally, on the thirtieth pull, the bird-like creature went free, soaring slightly over everyone’s heads towards the back of the coaster.
Emily raised her arms and shouted, “Alright, let’s get ready for the ride!”
“Thank you for riding the Steel Sharpedo,” a nearby loudspeaker said. “We hope to see you again soon.”
Emily’s jaw fell agape, morphing into a frown in an instant. “What?”
It wasn’t long before Emily and Eddy approached the exit platform of the roller coaster and the moment they did, Emily hopped off and stomped up to the ride operator.
She looked up at him, hands curled into fists. “I want my money back.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Please.”
The ride operator shrugged, holding on the action as if posing for a portrait. “Sorry kid. No refunds.”
Emily sighed. “Okay.”
She turned and trudged away, Eddy at her side. She spun her head back to the ride operator, maintaining her pace. There was a fat stack of Poken in his back pocket. She grinned, but it quickly fizzled away. She shook her head. No. Stealing is wrong, she thought. She returned her attention to the ride operator. She pinched her chin. But-- She slunk toward the ride operator, ready to pickpocket the stack of Poken, ready to retake what was rightfully hers. She stopped when she got within inches.
She jogged back to Eddy. “Eddy, is it bad to steal from someone who stole from you?”
Eddy pressed the tip of his arm to his chin and let his mouth slacken, as if he were asked to define the meaning of life.
Emily sighed and lumbered down the pier with a frown, Eddy in tow. A few moments later, Emily stopped and spun to her right as she pointed and shouted, “Ooh!” There was a booth with a banner hanging over it that read, “Decipher the nautical flag code, win a prize!”
Emily and Eddy ran to it. Emily grinned at the woman in the booth before taking a deep breath and saying, “What’s the code? I’m ready!”
The woman’s belly shook when she laughed. She ducked behind the counter of the booth and in a second, placed a string with small flags like the ones above the entrance of the city in front of her. She put her hand out and Emily placed some Poken into her palm.
Emily leaned into the string, squinting at it, pinching her chin. The first flag was a small, blue square over a larger white one and the last a blue and white checkerboard.
“Stars align!” Emily proclaimed.
The woman exploded into a cold sweat and shook. Her eyes bounced from side to side. She raised her hands and slammed down a steel security shutter, blocking the woman from view. Eddy outstretched his arms and squinted.
Emily banged her fist on the shutter as if she were hammering a nail. “Hey! What’s your deal? I got it right!” She soon backed off and huffed. “That’s it. Eddy! Use Brick Break!”
Eddy’s arm began to glow as he backed up one, two, three steps. He barrelled towards the shutter. His arm connected, folding the shutter in two as it flew towards the back of the booth. A hole in the back wall formed in an instant as the shutter crashed through it.
Emily punched her fist high in the air. “Yeah! It’s prize ti—”
A wild mob shouting, “Yeah! Free stuff time!” charged towards the booth. Eddy scooped up Emily and leaped into the gap between the flag booth and a neighboring booth, hopping from wall to wall, ascending higher and higher toward their roofs. Eddy hurled himself off the flag booth’s roof and plunged into the icy waters below.
The duo burst out of the water moments later and onto Olivine City’s sandy beach. Eddy placed Emily down and together, they shook off the excess water.
Emily sighed. “I didn’t get my prize.” She folded her arms. “Oh who am I kidding? Nothing’s probably left anyway.” She allowed her arms to fall at her sides and turned to Eddy. “I’m sorry Eddy.”
Eddy bent down to Emily’s level, looking her in the eye, giving her two, gentle pats on the back. A smile sprouted across Emily’s face.
Emily slowly spun around, mumbling, “What now? What now?” She stopped on a dime, focusing all her attention on a cafe sitting along the side of a street leading toward the beach, comfortably perched to the left of a Pokemon Center.
Emily gasped and pointed to the cafe. “Ooh. Let’s go there!”
Emily and Eddy dashed along the beach, climbed up and up the hilly street, and almost crashed into the double doors of the cafe. A sign hung above the right door’s side reading, “The Merry Machamp.” To the left door’s side was a stone statue slightly shorter than the average man. It much resembled Emily’s father in its muscular design and its golden blades atop its head that very much mimicked a crew cut. This statue, however, possessed four arms and no clothing aside from a large speedo and a wrestler’s belt with a large gold coin in the center stamped with the letter “P.”
Emily turned to the statue. It was covered head to toe in marker-made tattoos. Emily honed in on one of these. It was a series of ten flags strung together, the first a pure red flag with a triangular, open mouth for a right side and the last a flag with one yellow side and one blue side. Underneath the flags was a message. “Decode this, win a free meal.” Emily rubbed her hands together and darted inside.
Ten fully occupied tables called The Merry Machamp home, each one having a plank with names carved into them such as “S.S Miltank,” “The Graceful Gardevoir of Galar,” and “Bob.” Tiles of varying grays was the flooring of choice, bits of sand dotted all over. Wisps of brine, beer, vomit, and meat filled the air. Along the walls were flags of almost every region in the world and the spoils of seafarers that have come and gone.
Emily placed her hand on her forehead as if she were a soldier giving a salute, scanning the vicinity. Two seats at the end of the bar on the right hand side of the room near a staircase were the only unoccupied spots. Eddy and Emily walked over to the two empty seats.
When they arrived however, Emily slanted her head up towards the padded portion of the seat. It was nearly twice her height. She jumped, attempting to grab onto the padded portion. But her fingers only pinched it before sliding off. Eddy caught her before her butt could hit the floor and placed her in the seat. He took his place in the other seat just a moment later.
The duo came face to face with the barkeep himself, who handed them each a menu. “What’ll it be?”
Emily beamed at the barkeep. “Brick Break!”
The barkeep raised an eyebrow. “I’m... sorry?”
“The flags on the Machamp outside! That’s what they say! I’m supposed to get a free meal for figuring it out.”
The barkeep turned to the bottle collection behind him, slapping his hands against the sides of his head. That was a joke, that was a joke. Oh geez. Wh-- He spun back to Emily, a hard line of a smile firmly holding its place on his face. “A-And you’d be correct!” A shaky chuckle escaped him. “Uh, did... did you have anything specific in mind?”
Emily picked up the menu and examined each section. “Ooh!” She flipped the menu around towards the barkeep and pointed to an item on it.
The barkeep pursed his lips and nodded. “Steak as big as you with a side of fries?” He turned to Eddy. “And what’ll it be for you, my boy?”
Eddy pointed to an item in the lower right corner of the menu.
“Ah!” The barkeep replied. “Excellent choice! I’ll go put your orders in right now.”
The barkeep jogged to the window at the far end of the bar, yelling out the duo’s orders over the sizzling grills behind the window and the ceaseless talking in the main dining area. The barkeep returned minutes later with Emily and Eddy’s meals. He placed Eddy’s meal in front of him. A meal consisting of a small pyramid of RageCandyBar buns and a salad.
The barkeep did the same with Emily’s meal, this time clearing his throat and staring directly at her. “Hey wait a minute. I think I’ve seen you before.”
“Well, I've been on TV a few times,” Emily replied, unrolling the napkin beside her plate and picking up her fork.
The barkeep held up a finger. “No no. Hold on.”
The barkeep ran toward a door in the center of the wall with the bottle collection and slammed it open. Moments later, he showcased a framed photo.
The photo depicted the barkeep, standing on the right, grinning and making peace signs with his fingers. In the center was a hulking man with a hairstyle very similar to the blades on the statue outside The Merry Machamp. He was grinning and holding aloft a belt whose buckle read, “Merry Machamp Meat Eating Champion.” In front of the man holding the belt was Emily, who was somehow even smaller than she was currently, doing her best imitation of the man behind her.
Emily swallowed and dropped her fork, her finger nearly crashing into the photo as her eyes bugged out. “Ooh!” She turned to Eddy. “Look Eddy! That’s my daddy in the middle!”
Eddy leaned over the bar, about to squint at the photo. But the barkeep simply handed it to him. Sitting beside Eddy was a muscular man in a sailor suit covered in at least a dozen tattoos, craning his neck toward the photo.
He tapped the portion of it with the hulking man. The man in the sailor suit laughed. “Oh my gosh! Beefy J! Man, I remember when he first joined the crew and we all called him, ‘Scrawny J’. Oh what a sailor’s life will do for ya.” He turned away from the photo and raised his glass of beer. “Am I right, boys?”
“Yeah!” Every other sailor in The Merry Machamp shouted, toasting their own beer in the direction of the ceiling.
The sailor next to Eddy returned his attention to our heroes. He pointed to Emily. “And you... must be Beefy J’s little daughter. Emily, was it?”
Emily pointed back at the sailor. “And you... must be—”
“Jerry.” Jerry held out his hand. Eddy picked up Emily and twisted her around towards Jerry. Emily and Jerry shook hands, their gleeful eyes face to face with one with one another. Once the handshake concluded, Eddy placed Emily back in her seat. Right then and there, he decided to perform his own handshake with Jerry once Emily resumed eating.
“Speaking of your father Emily,” Jerry said moments later, “how’s he doin’ these days?”
Emily frowned. “Well...” She recounted the separation of her parents, her quest to get the badges to visit her father in the Nidoran region up until now, Eddy assisting with gestures.
Jerry’s eyes remained fixed on the duo and his hand gripped his empty beer glass, even after Emily and Eddy finished their recounting. His jaw was slack. “Wow.” He laughed, placing his beer glass on the bar. “The oran berry don’t fall too far from the tree, huh?”
“I guess not,” Emily replied.
“Sucks about what happened to your parents and everything. But I’m happy to hear you’re doing alright.” Jerry rested his chin on his fist. “You know... you two would make great sailors.”
“Yeah! I can be a sailor just like my daddy!”
Jerry laughed and shook his head. “Yes, you sure can. You know what? I’ll make a little wager with you.” Jerry turned and pointed to a muscular man sitting at a table adjacent to him, Eddy, and Emily. The man at the table seemed as though the scales would measure him at a quarter ton, though his sailor suit was neither straining nor baggy. “I want you to lift him up over your head for at least twenty seconds. If you do, one hundred thousand poken will be yours.”
Emily’s eyes lit up with a gasp. She stared straight into Eddy’s eyes, her fists squishing her cheeks. “Eddy! Money! I want it.”
Eddy mentally recounted their time at the pier and all the money Emily would not be getting back from her experiences there. Eddy held out his arm towards the quarter ton sailor, as if to say, “Go right ahead.”
Emily bounced off of the seat and walked over to Jerry. She shook his hand, declaring, “You got a deal!”
Jerry laughed. He turned his attention to the other denizens of The Merry Machamp. “Hey everyone!” He pointed to Emily. “This little girl is Beefy J’s daughter. She’s gonna lift Rico!”
Everyone cheered their sea-worn heads off as Rico stood, grinning, cracking his knuckles. “Ah. Another liftin’ bet. It has been... ages.”
Rico strolled over to the bar. Halfway there, he laid down on the tiled floor. Emily ran towards Rico’s right. Everyone turned and directed their attention towards Emily and Rico.
“Alright!” Jerry shouted. “On three, start lifting. One, two, three!”
Emily squatted swiftly and shoved her hands under Rico’s side.
“Lift! Lift! Lift!” the crowd chanted.
Eddy bleated and waved his arms in the air. Emily’s muscles tensed as the frothing groans emanating from her clenched teeth joined the cacophony filling The Merry Machamp. Rico was only lifted two inches off the floor, despite Emily’s efforts. Emily took in a deep breath. Three inches off the floor, four inches, five. Soon, her breath out was complete and Rico now rested above her head. The crowd cheered as Eddy bleated.
“One! Two! Three! Four! Five!” Jerry and the crowd shouted.
Emily’s muscles quivered, her teeth gritted, Rico becoming heavier, then lighter, then heavier again. Just as the crowd’s collective counting had gotten closer to the number twenty, Emily had gotten closer to collapsing under Rico. Eddy waved his arms and jumped up and down, up and down, bleating in the hopes of blasting good luck onto Emily.
“I want that money!” Emily screamed. She took in one of the largest breaths she ever took in her life. A sustained scream surged out of her, delivering strength to her muscles, making Rico seem more and more like a feather as Emily rose to her full height.
The cheering of the crowd exploded into a feverish roar, fists and beer glasses providing the rhythm to the fervor. “Sixteen! Seventeen! Eighteen! Nineteen! Twenty!” The patrons of The Merry Machamp leaped from their seats, bumping chests with one another, high fiving, singing songs.
Rico rolled off of Emily’s hands and high fived her too. Emily’s grin shined brightly under the lights, even as her body shivered with great force, even as her head swam. Emily lost her balance. Eddy dashed over to her and scooped her up before her face collided with the tiled floor.
Emily tapped Eddy’s arm, mumbling, “I get my money.”
A good number of patrons crowded around the duo, their phones out and ready. Flash! Flash! Flash! The crowd parted for Jerry, who approached Emily and Eddy with a laugh.
From his pocket came a portly stack of Poken. He held it out in front of Emily. “I believe this is yours.”
Emily grabbed it, placing it in her own pocket. “Yay!”
“Yay indeed.” Jerry picked up a napkin off the floor and picked a pen from his pocket. A moment later, his number was inked onto the napkin. He handed the napkin to Emily. “Whenever you’re ready to set sail.”
She gazed at the number on the napkin as if it were a relic from a lost civilization. Life on the high seas. The sailors would surely appreciate their presence and skills. Emily with her great strength and ability to turn flags into messages, Eddy with his ability to pierce the darkness and fog with his tail. The opportunity to explore the vast world and its vast array of regions. Maybe the opportunity to visit her father without needing to acquire the rest of the supposedly necessary badges. Do sailors gotta follow the rules like everyone else? Emily wondered. She blinked slowly. Hold up. Who only gets half the badges and gives up? But-- She closed her eyes with a sigh.
They sprung open moments later as a nearly bald sailor ran up to our heroes. “So kid. What are ya gonna do now?”
Emily placed her fingertips on her chin. Sail the high seas! No! Get badges! No-- “Take a nap!”
Will our heroes take to the high seas or will they continue earning badges? How will Emily spend her newly earned Poken? Find out next time on Pokemon: Johto Quest!
Emily and Eddy exited the Violet City gym, smiles plastered on their faces. They leaned against the sides of the double doors so as to not block anyone from using them.
“You know what, Eddy?” Emily asked. “I think we’ve earned a break.”
Eddy grinned and bleated.
“But, where to go though?”
Eddy shrugged.
Emily gasped. “Hey! I know! Maybe we should walk until we find something cool! What about that?”
Eddy nodded with great swiftness.
The two made a left, almost passing a diminutive, blue building with a sign out front, the words “Poke Mart” embedded in it. Emily caught herself before the building was out of her sight and dashed in, Eddy following mere inches behind.
Emily trotted to the counter in the far left corner and soon made eye contact with the lady behind it. “Hey!” Emily exclaimed. “Can I ge—” Two posters to the lady’s right caught Emily’s eye. The first had a blue and white ball with two, red streaks running down its top half surrounded by the words, “Great Ball! A greater catching experience without breaking the bank!” The second depicted a spray bottle much like the ones Emily had been using all along. However, the poster’s spray bottle possessed a dark-red base and beige neck. Around it were the words, “Super Potion: The Good Wound Medicine.” “Great Balls and Super Potions?”
“Sure kid. How many you want?” The lady asked.
Emily opened her bag and slammed it right onto the counter. “As many as you can fit!”
The lady laughed and ducked under the counter. She emerged a moment later, piles of Great Balls and Super Potions in her hands. She tossed them into Emily’s bag and Emily herself whipped out a thick stack of Poken before handing it to the lady.
Emily reached for her bag, but paused. She repeatedly shoved her hands in the air. “Oh! Oh! Can I have some stuff that wakes Pokemon up?”
The lady turned and opened a glass case right behind her, pulling out a stubby, golden spray bottle and placing it on the counter. “I personally recommend this Full Heal here. Heals sleep and so much more. Do you—”
“Yeah! Yeah!”
The lady threw the Full Heal into the bag, snagging more from the glass case and adding onto the item pile in the bag soon after. “Uh. Consider them a gift. I’m feeling a little generous today.”
“Thanks!” Emily replied.
Moments later, Emily and Eddy emerged from the Poke Mart. Emily performed a salute and held it, turning her head from left to right. Something dawned on Emily at that moment. “Ooh! We should probably go to the Pokemon Center first. That was a big battle after all.”
Eddy nodded.
After an exquisite heal up at the Pokemon Center, the duo walked over to its double doors. But Emily stopped when something grabbed her attention and forced her to turn around. It was a map on the wall next to a thick, dusty outline of a desktop computer. Emily tugged on Eddy’s arm, pointing to the map.
The duo jogged toward it. Upon closer examination, it was a map of the entire Johto region, a circle under the words, “You Are Here” surrounding Violet City.
Emily’s finger instantly poked a place to the west of Violet City. “Hey! I know that one!” Eddy leaned into the section in question. The words, “Olivine City” hovered above Emily’s finger. “They got a big amusement park, they got a huge lighthouse, that’s where all the sailors are. Let’s go there!”
Eddy placed the tip of his flipper-like arm on his chin for a single moment. With two nods and a smile, Eddy dropped his arm to his side and headed for the double doors, Emily not too far behind.
Some time later, the duo stopped under a thick clothesline adorned with approximately eleven flags. The first was a yellow and red flag with a single, diagonal line separating the two colors and the last a flag with red and yellow diagonal stripes.
Emily gasped and hopped, pointing to the flags shortly after. “I know what those say! Daddy taught me how to read these. They say, ‘Olivine City.’” Emily dashed under the flags. “Let’s Go, Eddy!”
The two slid to a stop, almost hitting a fence sharing Emily’s height across from the flags and to the left of an orange and brown gym building, chrome statues of snake-like creatures possessing spikes at the ends of their bodies flanking the entrance, looking down upon all who enter with grins. Emily and Eddy took a deep breath, wiping themselves of the sand that splashed them during their slide.
Emily slapped her hands atop the fence and craned her neck towards the city before her. To her left was a freshly painted, blue and white lighthouse. To her right a pristine beach with a massive peer carrying rides and food stalls of all sorts on its back. Nestled between the lighthouse and beach was a port whose waters were filled with ships as long as sleeping skyscrapers and ships that would hold two people and a Mareep on a good day.
Emily gasped and repeatedly stabbed her finger at the pier below. “The pier! The pier! That’s where all the fun is! Let’s go!” Emily and Eddy bolted down the hill, its sloped nature bringing their speed to such an extent where they could soar with a single leap. Laughter escaped from Emily and Eddy just couldn’t help but bleat happily. “Hope I win something this time.”
Under the blue, cloudless sky were sounds of happy people and their happy companions strolling along the pier. Waves crashed against the shore of the beach below it and the thick scent of seaweed and fried food filled the air. Emily’s mouth was locked open as she walked with a spin, as if she had discovered a new world unknown to mankind and trying to make her mind drink in every detail.
At the far end of the pier was a dark-blue and grey roller coaster tall enough to nearly kiss the sun. In front of it, a sign containing a red-eyed, blue and white metallic-looking shark with a yellow star near its top dorsal fin attempting to chomp the words, “Steel Sharpedo.”
Emily turned to Eddy. “Do you like roller coasters?”
Eddy shrugged.
Emily pointed to the Steel Sharpedo, saying with a smirk, “Well, that one used to be scary. But we went on a mountain and lived so—” Emily charged towards the roller coaster, proudly screaming, “Yeah!” with her fists high in the air.
Moments later, our heroes were in their seats, strapped in, ready for action. The coaster crawled up a steep, metal hill. Emily and Eddy’s grip on the bar of their car tightened as they gazed at the peak of the hill.
A small, blue and white bird-like creature with forked wingtips smacked into Emily’s face, its beak almost impaling her uvula. Emily screamed and stood and clawed its back, trying to remove it. Eddy scrambled to his feet, scrambled to raise his arm and aim it at the bird-like creature. But the roller coaster flew down the hill at mach speed and rounded a bend hard enough to almost make the coaster flip over, forcing everyone’s stomach to drop, forcing Eddy to be dragged back to his seat.
Eddy folded his arms and his eyes darted from side to side. He lunged at the bird-like creature and gripped its wings after only a few seconds, pulling it towards himself again and again, all the while releasing agitated bleats after each pull. But it was as if it was superglued to Emily’s face. Finally, on the thirtieth pull, the bird-like creature went free, soaring slightly over everyone’s heads towards the back of the coaster.
Emily raised her arms and shouted, “Alright, let’s get ready for the ride!”
“Thank you for riding the Steel Sharpedo,” a nearby loudspeaker said. “We hope to see you again soon.”
Emily’s jaw fell agape, morphing into a frown in an instant. “What?”
It wasn’t long before Emily and Eddy approached the exit platform of the roller coaster and the moment they did, Emily hopped off and stomped up to the ride operator.
She looked up at him, hands curled into fists. “I want my money back.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Please.”
The ride operator shrugged, holding on the action as if posing for a portrait. “Sorry kid. No refunds.”
Emily sighed. “Okay.”
She turned and trudged away, Eddy at her side. She spun her head back to the ride operator, maintaining her pace. There was a fat stack of Poken in his back pocket. She grinned, but it quickly fizzled away. She shook her head. No. Stealing is wrong, she thought. She returned her attention to the ride operator. She pinched her chin. But-- She slunk toward the ride operator, ready to pickpocket the stack of Poken, ready to retake what was rightfully hers. She stopped when she got within inches.
She jogged back to Eddy. “Eddy, is it bad to steal from someone who stole from you?”
Eddy pressed the tip of his arm to his chin and let his mouth slacken, as if he were asked to define the meaning of life.
Emily sighed and lumbered down the pier with a frown, Eddy in tow. A few moments later, Emily stopped and spun to her right as she pointed and shouted, “Ooh!” There was a booth with a banner hanging over it that read, “Decipher the nautical flag code, win a prize!”
Emily and Eddy ran to it. Emily grinned at the woman in the booth before taking a deep breath and saying, “What’s the code? I’m ready!”
The woman’s belly shook when she laughed. She ducked behind the counter of the booth and in a second, placed a string with small flags like the ones above the entrance of the city in front of her. She put her hand out and Emily placed some Poken into her palm.
Emily leaned into the string, squinting at it, pinching her chin. The first flag was a small, blue square over a larger white one and the last a blue and white checkerboard.
“Stars align!” Emily proclaimed.
The woman exploded into a cold sweat and shook. Her eyes bounced from side to side. She raised her hands and slammed down a steel security shutter, blocking the woman from view. Eddy outstretched his arms and squinted.
Emily banged her fist on the shutter as if she were hammering a nail. “Hey! What’s your deal? I got it right!” She soon backed off and huffed. “That’s it. Eddy! Use Brick Break!”
Eddy’s arm began to glow as he backed up one, two, three steps. He barrelled towards the shutter. His arm connected, folding the shutter in two as it flew towards the back of the booth. A hole in the back wall formed in an instant as the shutter crashed through it.
Emily punched her fist high in the air. “Yeah! It’s prize ti—”
A wild mob shouting, “Yeah! Free stuff time!” charged towards the booth. Eddy scooped up Emily and leaped into the gap between the flag booth and a neighboring booth, hopping from wall to wall, ascending higher and higher toward their roofs. Eddy hurled himself off the flag booth’s roof and plunged into the icy waters below.
The duo burst out of the water moments later and onto Olivine City’s sandy beach. Eddy placed Emily down and together, they shook off the excess water.
Emily sighed. “I didn’t get my prize.” She folded her arms. “Oh who am I kidding? Nothing’s probably left anyway.” She allowed her arms to fall at her sides and turned to Eddy. “I’m sorry Eddy.”
Eddy bent down to Emily’s level, looking her in the eye, giving her two, gentle pats on the back. A smile sprouted across Emily’s face.
Emily slowly spun around, mumbling, “What now? What now?” She stopped on a dime, focusing all her attention on a cafe sitting along the side of a street leading toward the beach, comfortably perched to the left of a Pokemon Center.
Emily gasped and pointed to the cafe. “Ooh. Let’s go there!”
Emily and Eddy dashed along the beach, climbed up and up the hilly street, and almost crashed into the double doors of the cafe. A sign hung above the right door’s side reading, “The Merry Machamp.” To the left door’s side was a stone statue slightly shorter than the average man. It much resembled Emily’s father in its muscular design and its golden blades atop its head that very much mimicked a crew cut. This statue, however, possessed four arms and no clothing aside from a large speedo and a wrestler’s belt with a large gold coin in the center stamped with the letter “P.”
Emily turned to the statue. It was covered head to toe in marker-made tattoos. Emily honed in on one of these. It was a series of ten flags strung together, the first a pure red flag with a triangular, open mouth for a right side and the last a flag with one yellow side and one blue side. Underneath the flags was a message. “Decode this, win a free meal.” Emily rubbed her hands together and darted inside.
Ten fully occupied tables called The Merry Machamp home, each one having a plank with names carved into them such as “S.S Miltank,” “The Graceful Gardevoir of Galar,” and “Bob.” Tiles of varying grays was the flooring of choice, bits of sand dotted all over. Wisps of brine, beer, vomit, and meat filled the air. Along the walls were flags of almost every region in the world and the spoils of seafarers that have come and gone.
Emily placed her hand on her forehead as if she were a soldier giving a salute, scanning the vicinity. Two seats at the end of the bar on the right hand side of the room near a staircase were the only unoccupied spots. Eddy and Emily walked over to the two empty seats.
When they arrived however, Emily slanted her head up towards the padded portion of the seat. It was nearly twice her height. She jumped, attempting to grab onto the padded portion. But her fingers only pinched it before sliding off. Eddy caught her before her butt could hit the floor and placed her in the seat. He took his place in the other seat just a moment later.
The duo came face to face with the barkeep himself, who handed them each a menu. “What’ll it be?”
Emily beamed at the barkeep. “Brick Break!”
The barkeep raised an eyebrow. “I’m... sorry?”
“The flags on the Machamp outside! That’s what they say! I’m supposed to get a free meal for figuring it out.”
The barkeep turned to the bottle collection behind him, slapping his hands against the sides of his head. That was a joke, that was a joke. Oh geez. Wh-- He spun back to Emily, a hard line of a smile firmly holding its place on his face. “A-And you’d be correct!” A shaky chuckle escaped him. “Uh, did... did you have anything specific in mind?”
Emily picked up the menu and examined each section. “Ooh!” She flipped the menu around towards the barkeep and pointed to an item on it.
The barkeep pursed his lips and nodded. “Steak as big as you with a side of fries?” He turned to Eddy. “And what’ll it be for you, my boy?”
Eddy pointed to an item in the lower right corner of the menu.
“Ah!” The barkeep replied. “Excellent choice! I’ll go put your orders in right now.”
The barkeep jogged to the window at the far end of the bar, yelling out the duo’s orders over the sizzling grills behind the window and the ceaseless talking in the main dining area. The barkeep returned minutes later with Emily and Eddy’s meals. He placed Eddy’s meal in front of him. A meal consisting of a small pyramid of RageCandyBar buns and a salad.
The barkeep did the same with Emily’s meal, this time clearing his throat and staring directly at her. “Hey wait a minute. I think I’ve seen you before.”
“Well, I've been on TV a few times,” Emily replied, unrolling the napkin beside her plate and picking up her fork.
The barkeep held up a finger. “No no. Hold on.”
The barkeep ran toward a door in the center of the wall with the bottle collection and slammed it open. Moments later, he showcased a framed photo.
The photo depicted the barkeep, standing on the right, grinning and making peace signs with his fingers. In the center was a hulking man with a hairstyle very similar to the blades on the statue outside The Merry Machamp. He was grinning and holding aloft a belt whose buckle read, “Merry Machamp Meat Eating Champion.” In front of the man holding the belt was Emily, who was somehow even smaller than she was currently, doing her best imitation of the man behind her.
Emily swallowed and dropped her fork, her finger nearly crashing into the photo as her eyes bugged out. “Ooh!” She turned to Eddy. “Look Eddy! That’s my daddy in the middle!”
Eddy leaned over the bar, about to squint at the photo. But the barkeep simply handed it to him. Sitting beside Eddy was a muscular man in a sailor suit covered in at least a dozen tattoos, craning his neck toward the photo.
He tapped the portion of it with the hulking man. The man in the sailor suit laughed. “Oh my gosh! Beefy J! Man, I remember when he first joined the crew and we all called him, ‘Scrawny J’. Oh what a sailor’s life will do for ya.” He turned away from the photo and raised his glass of beer. “Am I right, boys?”
“Yeah!” Every other sailor in The Merry Machamp shouted, toasting their own beer in the direction of the ceiling.
The sailor next to Eddy returned his attention to our heroes. He pointed to Emily. “And you... must be Beefy J’s little daughter. Emily, was it?”
Emily pointed back at the sailor. “And you... must be—”
“Jerry.” Jerry held out his hand. Eddy picked up Emily and twisted her around towards Jerry. Emily and Jerry shook hands, their gleeful eyes face to face with one with one another. Once the handshake concluded, Eddy placed Emily back in her seat. Right then and there, he decided to perform his own handshake with Jerry once Emily resumed eating.
“Speaking of your father Emily,” Jerry said moments later, “how’s he doin’ these days?”
Emily frowned. “Well...” She recounted the separation of her parents, her quest to get the badges to visit her father in the Nidoran region up until now, Eddy assisting with gestures.
Jerry’s eyes remained fixed on the duo and his hand gripped his empty beer glass, even after Emily and Eddy finished their recounting. His jaw was slack. “Wow.” He laughed, placing his beer glass on the bar. “The oran berry don’t fall too far from the tree, huh?”
“I guess not,” Emily replied.
“Sucks about what happened to your parents and everything. But I’m happy to hear you’re doing alright.” Jerry rested his chin on his fist. “You know... you two would make great sailors.”
“Yeah! I can be a sailor just like my daddy!”
Jerry laughed and shook his head. “Yes, you sure can. You know what? I’ll make a little wager with you.” Jerry turned and pointed to a muscular man sitting at a table adjacent to him, Eddy, and Emily. The man at the table seemed as though the scales would measure him at a quarter ton, though his sailor suit was neither straining nor baggy. “I want you to lift him up over your head for at least twenty seconds. If you do, one hundred thousand poken will be yours.”
Emily’s eyes lit up with a gasp. She stared straight into Eddy’s eyes, her fists squishing her cheeks. “Eddy! Money! I want it.”
Eddy mentally recounted their time at the pier and all the money Emily would not be getting back from her experiences there. Eddy held out his arm towards the quarter ton sailor, as if to say, “Go right ahead.”
Emily bounced off of the seat and walked over to Jerry. She shook his hand, declaring, “You got a deal!”
Jerry laughed. He turned his attention to the other denizens of The Merry Machamp. “Hey everyone!” He pointed to Emily. “This little girl is Beefy J’s daughter. She’s gonna lift Rico!”
Everyone cheered their sea-worn heads off as Rico stood, grinning, cracking his knuckles. “Ah. Another liftin’ bet. It has been... ages.”
Rico strolled over to the bar. Halfway there, he laid down on the tiled floor. Emily ran towards Rico’s right. Everyone turned and directed their attention towards Emily and Rico.
“Alright!” Jerry shouted. “On three, start lifting. One, two, three!”
Emily squatted swiftly and shoved her hands under Rico’s side.
“Lift! Lift! Lift!” the crowd chanted.
Eddy bleated and waved his arms in the air. Emily’s muscles tensed as the frothing groans emanating from her clenched teeth joined the cacophony filling The Merry Machamp. Rico was only lifted two inches off the floor, despite Emily’s efforts. Emily took in a deep breath. Three inches off the floor, four inches, five. Soon, her breath out was complete and Rico now rested above her head. The crowd cheered as Eddy bleated.
“One! Two! Three! Four! Five!” Jerry and the crowd shouted.
Emily’s muscles quivered, her teeth gritted, Rico becoming heavier, then lighter, then heavier again. Just as the crowd’s collective counting had gotten closer to the number twenty, Emily had gotten closer to collapsing under Rico. Eddy waved his arms and jumped up and down, up and down, bleating in the hopes of blasting good luck onto Emily.
“I want that money!” Emily screamed. She took in one of the largest breaths she ever took in her life. A sustained scream surged out of her, delivering strength to her muscles, making Rico seem more and more like a feather as Emily rose to her full height.
The cheering of the crowd exploded into a feverish roar, fists and beer glasses providing the rhythm to the fervor. “Sixteen! Seventeen! Eighteen! Nineteen! Twenty!” The patrons of The Merry Machamp leaped from their seats, bumping chests with one another, high fiving, singing songs.
Rico rolled off of Emily’s hands and high fived her too. Emily’s grin shined brightly under the lights, even as her body shivered with great force, even as her head swam. Emily lost her balance. Eddy dashed over to her and scooped her up before her face collided with the tiled floor.
Emily tapped Eddy’s arm, mumbling, “I get my money.”
A good number of patrons crowded around the duo, their phones out and ready. Flash! Flash! Flash! The crowd parted for Jerry, who approached Emily and Eddy with a laugh.
From his pocket came a portly stack of Poken. He held it out in front of Emily. “I believe this is yours.”
Emily grabbed it, placing it in her own pocket. “Yay!”
“Yay indeed.” Jerry picked up a napkin off the floor and picked a pen from his pocket. A moment later, his number was inked onto the napkin. He handed the napkin to Emily. “Whenever you’re ready to set sail.”
She gazed at the number on the napkin as if it were a relic from a lost civilization. Life on the high seas. The sailors would surely appreciate their presence and skills. Emily with her great strength and ability to turn flags into messages, Eddy with his ability to pierce the darkness and fog with his tail. The opportunity to explore the vast world and its vast array of regions. Maybe the opportunity to visit her father without needing to acquire the rest of the supposedly necessary badges. Do sailors gotta follow the rules like everyone else? Emily wondered. She blinked slowly. Hold up. Who only gets half the badges and gives up? But-- She closed her eyes with a sigh.
They sprung open moments later as a nearly bald sailor ran up to our heroes. “So kid. What are ya gonna do now?”
Emily placed her fingertips on her chin. Sail the high seas! No! Get badges! No-- “Take a nap!”
Will our heroes take to the high seas or will they continue earning badges? How will Emily spend her newly earned Poken? Find out next time on Pokemon: Johto Quest!