Chapter 121: Kaiser
With it still being early in the morning, Serena, Lillie and I woke up with one thing on our minds today. We departed north of Fuschia City, taking one of the local buses. Unlike Celadon, Fuschia was one giant hub, so it wasn't hard to get around. We even saw the newly renovated gym along the way. It was in a very similar style to the gyms shown in Pokemon Journeys, so seeing such a large building got us excited along the way. In three days' When we got off at the last stop, the scenery completely changed, and we soon found ourselves in a giant ranch of sorts, sporting different biomes for different kinds of Pokemon to live and thrive in.
"So this is the Safari Zone, huh? I think we prepped pretty well with that booklet you showed us, but is it true we can't take our own Pokemon inside?", Serena asked with interest.
"That's right. We'll have to store away our Pokemon before we can enter. But you can already see several different kinds of Pokemon just from standing here.", I answered, nodding my head. Pidgey and Pidgeotto could be seen pecking grass. Nidoran lines were frolicking about. In the nearest pond, a Slowpoke could be seen dripping its tail into the pond, hoping to fish something up. A Slowbro could be seen lazing around nearby the pond as well. It seemed this version of the Safari Zone wasn't unique only to the first generation of Pokemon. We could also see some Lotad acting as lilies, enjoying sunbathing over the water. while Poliwags and the likes jumped in and out of it. If one looked closely, one could even see a Politoed enjoying some grass further inside.
Seeing such a wide variety of Pokemon brought a surprise to us, but a welcomed one. Similar situation to Lavender Town, it seems that regions aren't unique to just the Pokemon they were discovered with. Kind of like how regional variants migrated over time, Pokemon from other regions slowly took root here. After we finish our journey in Kanto, we'll likely come across a similar sentiment in the next region we decided to go to.
I know we are halfway through our journey in Kanto. Four badges remain, and the League Cup will be held at the end of the year. Our current projection is to earn our last four badges in these two to three months, arrive back in Pallet Town to celebrate Ash's coming of age birthday, and bid farewell to him, Gary and Green. They'll have half a year to get their badges, while we have half a year to train and develop strategies use against other trainers in the League. I know that tournament is quite big, since over a couple hundred people partake in it in a single elimination format. It is quite gruesome.
That's why we have to make the most of each city that we come across.
"We should probably head inside, right?", Lillie's voice said, ending that current thought as we saw her point toward the shack like building to the west. Before we could do anything though, we heard an aged voice reach our ears, causing us to blink at a figure who we could now seen outside.
"Hmph, took you guys long enough with all that starin'. You comin' in or what? I don't got all day.", An aged man said, which drew our attention, sporting a rather heavy accent. Once we got closer, we could actually see that this fellow was armed, which was quite a shock. In regards to weapons and such, I did find out concealed licenses do exist in this world, but it took quite an extensive process to get one. Organizations like Team Rocket do carry one around a lot from what I've seen as well, but they're illegal unlike the proper channel to use. But seeing this aged man up front, he was brazen enough to bare it out in public.
"Hello.", Serena said, giving a polite greeting to the old man.
"It seems you were expecting us. Sorry about that.", Lillie said, also feeling a bit apologetic.
"You three fit the description at least. Thank ya for actually requestin' the appointment to head inside, unlike those rotten bastards. It's easy to tell that you all ain't poachers.", The aged man said, welcoming us as we proceeded inside the Safari Zone entrance.
"Poachers huh? I'd figure that'd make sense, seeing how wide the Safari Zone is. A bunch of rare Pokemon reside in it too. It must be quite hard dealing with them.", I said. Aside from Teach Rocket who poaches Pokemon in their attempts, actual poachers do exist. Thankfully Kanto's rate for poaching isn't as high as other regions may take.
"All comes with the experience, lad. I can handle 'em when those bastards do ever decide to take action. Got the cops on my side too. Still, welcome to the Safari Zone. You three are the first to come today. Best make most use of it.", The aged man said, welcoming us. The room was quite simple, and we saw the exit further into the back which led right into the giant ranch itself.
"We don't have time limit, do we?", Lillie questioned.
"Nah. But once you're out of balls, time's up. You all will get thirty each, no more, no less. No catching the same Pokemon twice either. Gotta make it fair for everyone. It ain't just you young'ins doing the Safari Zone. Lots of trainers enter it on a daily basis. Oh, and the name's Kaiser by the way.", The aged man said, introducing himself to us. He then pointed off to the side, only to reveal a PC. It wasn't a PC to where we could make calls, but a PC to where we could store our Pokemon.
"When you guys are ready, go store your Pokemon in the PC. Or if you don't like doing it that way, we have bins to where you can store your Pokeballs too. Don't matter for me, as long as you don't take 'em inside.", Kaiser continued to say, causing us to nod our heads.
"I see. We'll proceed to use the pc. It's nice to meet you by the way, Kaiser. I can't help but notice you look familiar too. Mind if I ask a question?", I decided to ask.
"Shoot away.", Kaiser responded, allowing me.
"You wouldn't happened to know Professor Oak, would you?", I asked. Yet the moment I uttered Professor Oak's name, we saw Kaiser let out a long sigh.
"Do I know him?", Kaiser began to say, only to walk toward a dresser off to the side as he let out a sigh. We saw him pick up a picture frame. On it the three of us became surprised. It showed a rather young Professor Oak and Kaiser doing field studies in this same location, but the picture itself seemed quite old. "He and I used to go on excursions together. I couldn't keep up with his shenanigans no more, and he ended up becoming a Professor, while I laid back and became a rancher.", Kaiser explained, which drew our interest.
"So that's what it was. I too worked with Professor Oak for a period. But if you do want to know, he's my Grandpa.", I said, revealing a smile.
"You kiddin' me? Someone like him managed to go and form a family of his own eh? Too much time has passed and yet he still doesn't contact me, so I've not bothered. You can tell that old fool that old Kaiser is still alive and kicking should you get a chance though.", Kaiser said sporting a surprised look of his own.
"Haha, that we can do.", I said, revealing a smile.
"But even if you are related to that fool, don't expect any discounts, ya hear? Gotta keep this business going smoothly. You all familiar with the rest of the rules?", Kaiser said, only to have us nod our heads.
"We do. There should be certain locations to set up bait to attract the Pokemon in the Safari Zone, right?", Lillie asked with interest.
"There is, but it'll be up to you all to find 'em. I don't provide bait for free either. You can buy 'em for an extra fee if you didn't bring any.", Kaiser answered.
"Oh you needn't worry about that.", Serena replied happily. "We prepared in coming here, we shouldn't have a problem once we're inside. Itsuki, why don't we go deposit our Pokemon?", Serena asked, looking my way.
"Yes. Let's go do that." I said, nodding my head.
With that said, we went to the pc off to the side, and stored away our Pokemon. Kaiser ensured that we no longer had any of our Pokemon on our bodies, and he welcomed us. Closing the door behind, he gave us a rather large belt each, sporting those famous Safari Balls on each belt. Once we used these up it was time's up.
Either way, it was time to see what the Safari Zone had to offer. After getting acquainted with Kaiser, I did see that he had a picture of a Dratini as well, but I'd figure it was a sensitive topic since he didn't bring it up, so I decided not to bring it up either.
*
Power stones please?