Pokémon Slate Gray

Season 1 - Episode 02: Cut to the Chase

Slate retrieved Eevee's unopened Poké Ball from the grass in front of the house. He still didn't understand why Eevee hadn't appeared. He continuously performed the double-click release command with the capsule's button, but all it would do is shrink and expand repeatedly as if pressed only once. It didn't make sense. For whatever reason, Eevee was stuck inside the ball.

Slate didn't know what to do. He considered calling the police but didn't have a phone. He thought of asking a neighbor for help, but the lights in the houses around him were out, and he could have sworn that more than one went out while he was standing there. Suddenly, it occurred to him—the ferry!

He wasn't sure how far the village his mother had mentioned was from Almony Island's residential district, but there was a chance the kidnappers were still waiting for the next ferry to the mainland. Slate fixated on the idea, returned Eevee's defective Poké Ball to his pocket, pulled the ajar front door closed, and started running in the direction the cars had headed.

After a minute or two, Slate cleared the rows of identical houses and came upon a slope. Looking down from the top, he could see signs of the village at the bottom of a winding road. It wasn't too steep, so Slate took a risk by abandoning the road and haphazardly sliding down the hillside. He happily realized that it was much faster than following the road would have been—assuming he didn't lose his footing. Halfway down, though, something unexpected blocked his path.

Slate skidded to a halt behind a bush, just before stumbling upon a pack of wild Pokémon, which were making quite a ruckus. Luckily, there was a clear path around them. However, as he moved quietly around the disturbance, he caught sight of the pack. There were five small, four-legged, gray-colored Pokémon with bright eyes, growling and snapping at another of their kind, which was cowering on the floor. Oddly, this one's fur was white.

A pang of guilt coursed through Slate as he covertly crept around the pack. He felt bad for the pup, but there was no time, he had to get to his mom. Even so, just as he reminded himself of this, Slate knew he couldn't walk away from such a scene without doing anything to help. He tutted angrily at himself before turning back and searching the brush for a tool.

Just as the Pokémon aggressors began biting at their alternatively colored brother, Slate emerged from the bushes, yelling loudly, and waving a stick around wildly. The pups were startled by his abrupt appearance and quickly departed in fright. Slate was glad his intervention had been effective. If the pack had turned on him, he could have been in real trouble.

He knelt nearby the still-cowering white pup, whose eyes were closed, and said gently, "They're gone. You're okay now."

The shaking pup slowly opened its eyes, looked around, and met Slate's gaze. All of a sudden, it sprung to its feet, took an offensive stance, and started growling at him. Slate dropped the stick, held his hands up, and backed away slowly.

"Easy now. It's alright, you're okay, I'm leaving," he said.

The Pokémon stopped growling but still looked wary. After a quick wave goodbye, Slate headed on down the slope twice as fast to try and make up the time he had lost. He soon reached the bottom and followed the road, which turned into a developed area. A signpost ahead read:

Welcome to Marcona Village

Slate followed the road through the small, tree-lined village, taking little notice of the buildings or people he was passing. Eventually, he spotted the outline of the distant Mt. Legume on the mainland and headed toward it until he reached the edge of the island. Panting, he took a moment to catch his breath while scouring up and down the coast. There it was—the ferry was docked on Almony Island—and it was close.