CAPTURE 001: Scorching Sun

While the pair were walking along the sandy path of the city, Arthur caught the sight of a familiar face. It appeared that there was a small ragtag group of Pokemon rummaging through the large trash containers in one of the alleyways and one of them happened to be an Abra. He remembered when his Alakazam used to be that small and frail, not knowing any other move besides Teleport. He saw potential in him and he became one of the first Pokemon he personally trained. While Metagross did hold the position as his most powerful Pokemon due to his access to Mega Evolution, Alakazam also boasted immense power and speed; two traits that Arthur particularly enjoyed.

The Abra was clumsy in receiving the salvageable food thrown at it from its fellow Pokemon. While training a familiar Pokemon would be nice, he felt like he wanted to try something else. Besides, he wasn't sure how his Alakazam would react if he brought in another Abra. I'm really lucky I don't have to do anything like that, huh, Master? Woobat commented, following his gaze to the shaded corridor.

The world is split between the haves and have nots, so yes, you are lucky. he replied telepathically. "Let's keep moving. We're still a ways from the center plaza."

Not long after Arthur saw the ragtag group of Pokemon and the Abra, he passed by a small, rather sketchy looking shop that seemed to be offering the tied up Pokemon for free. It looked like they were not well taken care of and there wasn't even anyone taking care of the stall. To put it frankly, it was like these Pokemon were left to die, but he figured that someone would be bound to pick them up sooner or later. He supposed that they were so weak that whoever previously owned them did not want to care for them anymore. He let out a soft sigh as he squatted in front of them, unsure why he felt drawn to this poor, dim-witted looking Pokemon. Maybe because it looked so pathetic that it was almost laughable? Surely such a Pokemon would not survive his training regiments. Arthur almost wanted him for sheer laughs.

Almost.

But at the last moment, he decided against it, feeling that he could really do better with...any other Pokemon, honestly. Still, he wasn't going to leave them here, so he contacted one of his guards to pick up these poor, malnourished Pokemon and find them a better home. Maybe even let them live in the indoor zoo his mother fawned over, or perhaps that the Pokemon Safari, if they were comfortable with it. Anything sounded better than the heat of the desert, though this Numel seemed to mind it lesser than the others.

"Just sit tight, okay? Someone will find you a home soon." he told the Pokemon and went on his way. Woobat could do nothing but glance at her trainer and at the Pokemon before letting out a sad whine.

...what is that?

One of the stalls that Arthur passed by contained a number of notable statues, carvings, and relics. Some of them were outright obscene, showing body parts that were normally not permitted to be shown to children, while others accentuated body parts strangely. He wasn't sure why people would be interested in these, though he supposed it had something to do with their exoticness and whatnot. Not all of the statues were of people, of course. A number of them were Pokemon too, but they weren't always sculpted accurately as if it was a show of artistic expression. He could never really understand what made it special if they made the body bigger compared to the rest of the body or if the head was too small. His eyes glanced over all of the products until it settled on this weird triangular, blue thing. It had a strange, red nose that protruded out from the rest of its bulky frame.

"What kind of statue is this?" he inquired to the clerk. Said man looked a little caught off guard before deciding to take the risk that this customer probably didn't know what a Nosepass was. "Easter Head statue, sir! Quite rare and very exotic. Very few in circulation!" he proclaimed. Oh boy, he wasn't usually a liar, but business has been slow the past few days and he would take any chance he could get for a sale.

Arthur, on the other hand, continued to hold mild interest over the interesting statue, even if it was too big for him to carry. He figured that if he wanted it, he could just contact one of his caretakers to bring it back home while he finished up his business with Leon (if he ever got to meet him, that was). Money was not a problem, though he wasn't stupid with it either, so depending on the price he could buy it. "How much?"

Oh Arceus, a bite! Wait, he should not get too excited. Customers tend to flinch at his prices, but he couldn't undersell this Nosepass either or else it would look suspicious. Honestly, this Nosepass wasn't even his. He just kind of saw it there earlier this morning standing with his things and he decided not to question it. It hadn't moved since. "10,000 Poke Dollars."

He lightly shrugged; his parents had bought much more expensive decor. "Alright. I'll send someone to get it. He will also have the money." Arthur said nonchalantly. It was an understatement that the clerk was dumbfounded. No haggling? No questions? Clearly he was working with someone of high class! "Y-yes of course, sir! Thank you!" Well, high class but had no clue what a Nosepass was. Today was his lucky day!

---

After the young man left the stall, the clerk noticed that the Nosepass still didn't move. For a moment, he wondered if this Pokemon was dead or something. "Hey, you know that you've been bought, right?" he told the rock type, but it did not make any sort of response. Not long after, a man in a suit came by and told him that he was sent by his charge. He took one look at the Nosepass, but his expression didn't change. Wow, even he didn't know what a Nosepass was, how incredibly lucky! Money in hand, the clerk felt incredibly happy the rest of the day and felt like treating his family to some good dinner. The Nosepass, on the other hand, wondered if this plan was a good idea. He had to resolve not to move until maybe when they got to wherever they were going. He definitely wasn't going to stay a statue forever--he needed to eat! But at the same time, he wasn't sure how his new owner would react if he found out that he was actually a Pokemon. Would he be taken in and trained, or would he be brought elsewhere? Honestly, he kind of wished that he did something while the young man was still appraising him. What if it took more than a day before he came back wherever he was being brought to?

This was, admittedly, a bad idea from the beginning. Oh man, he just wanted to travel and not just be stuck in a cave all day long, but it took days before he managed to get into a town, and Nosepass didn't feel like doing that again. With all of his wobbling, he quickly got frustrated by how slow his progress was. After seeing a trainer just casually carrying around his Pokemon in a Poke Ball, he figured that the best way to move around was to get involved with humans. He wasn't quite sure what moved him to become a statue instead of just trying to challenge a trainer, but it was probably because he didn't know how to battle in the first place.

Now the Nosepass was sitting at the back of a truck. It was rather dark here, but well-ventilated since there was a Growlithe here that was watching over him. The rock type felt that it was better to ask some help from a fellow Pokemon rather than just continue his charade as a statue. "(Psst. Hey, you.)"

The Growlithe perked his ears up, looking around before noticing that the sound came from the "statue". "(Yeah, hey, it's me, the statue.)"

The dog Pokemon barked, "(Woah, you talk!)"

"(Uh huh, yeah. I kind of faked being a statue? Now I need help.)"

"(That's wild, dude. Looks like you're in a bind.)"

"(Totally. How am I going to explain this to the person who bought me?)"

"(Mr. Wright, you mean?)" he asked with his tail wagging. "(I dunno, you could just tell him. He has a bunch of Psychic mons so they can translate for you.)"

"(Woah, really? Awesome. Now I just need to wait for him to come back.)"

"(Yeahhh that's gonna take a while.)" the Growlithe said with a sigh, "(In the mean time, we could do some chit-chat? How's life?)"

"(Oh boy, don't get me started...)"

---

Nosepass is a lonely Pokemon that got fed up with life in the caves, so he decided that he would take a bold risk and travel the world. Unfortunately, traveling is terribly slow as a Nosepass, so he resolved to get involved with humans in order to achieve his dream. Despite living in the caves, Nosepass' company is surprisingly well-versed with the outside world and so tends to use a contemporary style of speaking. While not knowledgeable about most things like human customs and whatnot, he is very eager to learn and will take anything and everything openly. Since his living space was not home to any predators, Nosepass doesn't know how to battle, even having trouble using Tackle because he can easily trip. Nevertheless, he tries his best and happens to be very loyal and friendly. He also is a great listener, though his expressions appear stoic most of the time. That might put other Pokemon off, though he means well.