Tia Cade, an up-and-coming Poke Ball researcher, travels through Johto and Kanto on her Pokemon journey. Her goal: to become a full-fledged Pokemon Professor, and to complete the Pokedex. And maybe find herself in the process.
A day in the life of Tia Cade: university student, up-and-coming Poke Ball researcher, and Apricorn Ball wage slave.
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Tap. Tap.
Tia Cade stared hard at the hollowed-out yellow Apricorn sitting on the table, a small wooden mallet in one hand and a chisel in the other. She tapped the chisel a few more times, then put the tools down. She picked up both halves of the Apricorn, tested their smoothness, and carefully fitted them into their outer casings. She deftly attached both halves together, tightened the hinge, and snapped it closed.
“Finished!” she said, wiping the newly-crafted Moon Ball clean with a cloth. “That’s one down, and…” She glanced over at the piles of different colored Apricorns on the workbench, “...349 more to go.” She sighed and closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. “How did I get roped into doing all this?”
Tia was a university student, working with the renowned Poke Ball artisan Kurt and learning how to craft his specialty Poke Balls, while at the same time gaining experience and data for her dissertation on Poke Ball functionality.
But she didn’t think she’d end up crafting Kurt’s entire stock of Poke Balls! This is crazy, she thought, I’m a student, not an assembly line worker!
“Tut-tuut!”
Tia looked over at a bright sea green and violet Natu hopping along the workbench, staring curiously at her work.
“Be careful, Naito. You don’t want to trap yourself in a Poke Ball again like last time-”
Naito’s beak tapped against the Moon Ball sitting on the workbench, and he promptly disappeared inside in a flash of red light.
Tia slammed a palm over her face. “Not again!” She picked the Moon Ball up, pressed the button, and let Naito out. “Now I have to deregister you from this ball so someone can actually use it!”
Naito stared back at her sheepishly. “Tuuut!”
“All right, you can watch, but don’t touch anything else!” She slid open a small slot in the back of the Moon Ball, plugged in a cable, and typed a few commands on her laptop. The program wiped the ball’s registration clean and initialized it for future use.
“All right!” Tia unplugged the ball and set it aside. “Next!” She reached for another Apricorn, carefully peeled it, and sliced it in half.
Naito hopped over to the Apricorn peelings and pecked at them. “Tuut-tuu!”
“No, I don’t think they’re edible,” Tia answered, focused on hollowing out an Apricorn half.
Naito approached the towering piles of Apricorns and pecked at a large black Apricorn that had rolled away from the piles. He pecked hard enough to bore a hole in the Apricorn, and the moment his beak penetrated inside, he glowed a bright red and disappeared inside.
Tia looked up, startled, as the black Apricorn bounced all over the workroom, with Naito inside, trying to escape. It ricocheted off the tabletop, pinged against the light fixtures, then slammed against a giant glass flask with a narrow neck. The impact caused the Apricorn to regurgitate its captive, trapping Naito inside the flask.
Tia and Naito stared at each other for a moment. Then a ridiculous smile appeared on Tia’s face and she laughed.
Naito scowled, squashed inside the flask, and tried to peck his way out.
Tia picked up the Moon Ball again and tapped it against the flask’s opening. Naito was sucked inside the Ball like a liquid, then set free. He sprawled against the workbench, relieved.
“Makes you think twice, doesn’t it?” Tia answered, resetting the Ball’s registration a second time, “...before you put your beak where it isn’t wanted!” Tia then returned to the Poke Ball she was working on, as if nothing had happened.
This time, Naito decided only to watch.
An introduction to my character in the Pokemon Crystal Clear open world rom hack. You can customize everything so you can start anywhere and be anyone, so this is what I came up with. The hack also allows custom color palettes for Pokemon, which explains Naito the Natu's unusual coloring. Tia was also my character in an aborted Pokemon Tabletop RPG campaign I played with some friends, and I gave her a new life in the Crystal Clear hack!