Lokemon 1 by John Hobbs

Author:John Hobbs [Hobbs, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Hobbs
Published: 2019-09-20T22:00:00+00:00

11 - Cole’s Departure

Flutterbee, the Powdered Plushie Lokemon, is famed for the customizable chemical banks in its wings … This lokemon’s limbs are so ill-suited to grasping things that its name inspired slang terms for clumsy individuals.

—Lokepedia Entry #12

The morning after Verda’s party, in a small room above Richie’s bar, Cole took inventory.

He emptied his backpack on a lumpy bed with a bent bedframe leg propped up with a dented lokedex. Seekachu sat on the corner of the mattress, licking its paws and running them over its ears.

Cole’s supplies were minimal. He hadn’t planned on any extended traveling when he boarded the plane to North Carolina. Some spare clothes, a couple of water bottles, bedroll, and basic toiletries. He’d have to resupply if he wanted to do any serious camping.

His phone and IDs in his wallet might as well be thrown away. The phone still had no bars and his room didn’t have an outlet for the charger.

The IDs linked his face and last name. After the bar’s reaction to Team Socket, he wanted to minimize any personal connection to the company for the time being.

The card’s addresses could raise questions about his background, too. He planned to tell anyone who asked that he was from Mallet Town.

Cole would keep an eye out for effective disposal options.

As he put his wallet away, his finger brushed something cold in the bottom of his pocket. He pulled it out.

It was Xavier’s homemade flash drive. Cole had forgotten about it. As he turned the ugly thing over in his hands, he realized he hadn’t seen a USB port since he’d arrived. He stowed the drive safely in his backpack.

That left Acorn’s belt and vest, which he put on. The vest was thin enough he might as well wear it all the time. It didn’t feel like much protection, but it already proved itself by preventing a couple of cracked ribs courtesy of Verda’s boots. There was a hard plate hidden under the material in the center of the chest. A power supply? He would ask someone about it.

Cole presented Seekachu’s lokeball to the lokemon. “Ready to go?”

Seekachu chirruped, curling the tips of its ears, and Cole sensed it was the equivalent of an indifferent shrug.

He triggered the lokeball’s return beam. Seekachu quantumized in a blaze of light.

Cole quickly stuck the ball onto his belt, but missed the slot he wanted. He’d have to practice, recalling how fast Richie released his molem. That kind of speed and precision took serious muscle memory, usually obtained through obsessed, Takashi-level training.

For the time being, Cole would be satisfied with hitting the right slot. He shouldered his bag and headed downstairs.

***

The bar was empty except for Verda sitting at a table, listening to Richie talk with her head propped on her hand. She nodded unenthusiastically at her uncle.

Richie noticed Cole and stopped talking.

Verda turned and waved. “There he is. I was starting to think you died in your sleep.”

Cole nodded at both of them. “Morning. What’s up?”

Richie pointed at one of the chairs at the table.

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