(Two Weirdos)
<hr>
"What do you think—Levincia by nightfall?"
Poppy pressed her hand flat over her eyes. She stared at the citiy''s tall buildings—already lighting up as dusk sets in. "Um. Maybe?"
Linh snorted and led the way, walking stick tapping the path.
This was Route forty two, ''A winding path from bridge one-oh-four all the way to Levincia. The long way around. Enjoy the ever closing view of the great city itself as you meander down the hill. See playing Marill and Wattrel, exploring between the shrubs. Feel the gravelstone give way under your boots—churned by the migration of endless Tauros!''
Privately, Linh wondered who wrote these travel brochures. He continued walking—a stray step knocking a pebble off the gravel, and sent bouncing down the hill. Crushing grass and tumbling past wilty-looking shrubs. Behind him, Cyclizar plodded along. Bored out of his skull.
A rustle in the shrubs ahead—Cyclizar tenses, before the Pokémon inside leap out. Meio, the Solosis, and Klefki, chasing each other. Gel and metal easily taking the sharp leaves. They rushed from one side of the path to the other.
Poppy spoke up, "Did you like today''s training?"
"What a strange thing to say, so much later," Linh commented, "However—I did find it interesting."
He sniffed. "It got a name? Nothing''s coming to mind. But then, I suppose it''s hard to encapsulate ''training our Pokémon to be able to get hit by super-effective Moves and show no reaction'' in a single name."
Poppy thought, "Ummm. No!" She chirped. "I don''t think it has a name, not many people talk about it!"
"So it''s not a normal thing to do? I don''t think it''s been mentioned anywhere I looked."
"It''s not at all. Like plenty of battles go on with both sides showing how hurt they are." Poppy''s head tilted, "But it''s cool! I saw Cynthia—she''s a Champion you know—have her Garchomp walk out of a Blizzard all unharmed and I wanna do that too!"
"Mmm. The psychological factor."
Poppy grinned, teeth bright. "Exactly!"
"And how do you think our teams are picking up on it?"
"Honestly, everyone''s doing very well!" she chirped. "Everyone was happy to do it. And they made some real progress! Riolu''s perfect at it, as always. But Menace was really good, too!"
"Everyone except Gimmighoul," Linh noted. In fact, Gimmighoul refused to take part from the beginning—it recalled itself back into Poppy''s ball.
"That''s different," she stated. "It''s fine that it didn''t want to take part. That''s good even! The Bond should be a part-ner-ship. We can always do things a different way."
Linh hummed.
Poppy paused, then grinned. Twisting in her seat, "Hey—we can do the Nightshade illusions you use. You''ll be the teacher and I''ll be the student!"
"Really? The student becomes the teacher—a tale as old as time."
"Hee!"
And the conversation died in the way of two people who have already exhausted many conversation paths.
They continued down the route—shrubs rustling in the wind, dull shadows in the night. In the distance, Levincia slowly got bigger and bigger—closer and closer. The slightest scent of saltwater in the air, and the horns of a cruise ship docking, barely heard.
"So, Poppy," Linh began again. "Levincia."
"Levincia?" she asks.
"Levincia," he confirmed. "City with... Iono. Gym challenge. What''s she like?"
Poppy frowned a single moment. "She''s loud. And talks a lot.
"But! She says she has to speak like that. ''Cuz she''s a ''streamer''. She says she films her battles and shows them to ev-ery-one." Poppy spread her arms wide, to encapsulate ''everyone''. "She also says she does ''collabs'' with everyone she can in Levinciat. Idunno what that means."
"A collab is where the streamer—Iono—includes other people in her streams. Usually other streams, or someone interesting to introduce their things to Iono''s viewers," Linh explained.
"Oh." Poppy''s face scrunched up. "But she doesn''t collab with me when I''m over at Levincia. I could do it! I could show off all of Riolu''s toebeans! Iono says it''s because she''s afraid I''ll overshadow her, but that''s dumb! Iono''s great, too."
She pouted. Linh raised a brow, but didn''t respond. Silence as they walked.
"Oh yeah. One last thing!" Poppy paused. "Iono''s a toughie."
"Toughie?"
"Yeah! Third Badges are meane—"
"Heyo down there!" A voice from up above.
Both looked up. There was nothing there it seemed. "Who''s there?" he called out.
"Me, up here! Wait—you can''t—hold on let me get the lights." The same voice came down—distorted like it was from a speaker. A moment later, the click of shutters, and light from the sky. Linh flinched, hand over his eyes. Between his fingers he saw...
A Pikachu floating high above from a set of balloons. Except. Both were metal—metal plates spherical like balloon, and a metal Pikachu robot. With visible squareish plates joined at the seams. The metal Pikachu hung by one stubby rat-hand and waved with the other. The lights in its glassy eyes falling down like soft spotlights, drawing soft circles on the shrubs.
"Cool." Poppy grinned. "Who''re you!" she shouted up.
"There''s no need to shout young miss!" The Pikachu said, "The drone''s on-board microphones are far superior then the human''s ears!"
Poppy''s head tilted.
Linh lied. "Pikachu hears better because its ears are bigger."
Poppy made an ''ah'' noise.
"Wha—that''s not—the ears are purely—" the Pikachu sputtered. "Oh never mind! Watch out from below!"
Pikachu let go of the balloons, and fell exactly like how a bird doesn''t. With all the weight of metal and circuitry. Up above the balloons stayed in place—and a near imperceptible humming quietened. Down below, Pikachu landed between Linh and Poppy. And quickly scuttled up the slope until it was higher up. To better speak to them.
"Now, greetings!" the Pikachu pointed its thumb at itself. "I am Clifford, I am communicating with all of you through the power of technology! Isn''t that amazing?"
"Amazing indeed." Linh knelt down close. "What, is this? Doesn''t look like something you can buy at a shop."
"And you can''t! This is custom made. Presenting—Pika-drone Version two point oh! Boasting fifty times the range of version one. Including updated protocols with Multipath TCP, Adaptive Bitrate Streaming, and Lag Compensation!" The Pika-drone posed proudly, hands on its hips. "Running R.S.L software, incorporated." the voice continued in a hushed tone.
"Hello Pika-drone." Poppy urged Cyclizar closer, and to the side, so she could reach down and offer a hand to the Pika-drone.
"Clifford," he said. The Pika-drone shook Poppy''s hand, and she giggled.
Linh veered to the side, looking the drone over from a different angle. "Lag compensation is for video games. Why would you use that? Are you just throwing keywords at us to wow us?"
"You—I—bluh, do not question me!" Poppy giggled. "You—man! I am not here to dazzle the locals. I am here for—" Clifford paused, and the Pika-drone''s head drooped. Its fingers poked together. "I am here for directions."
"We have directions." Linh stood back up, he reached behind his back and a paw raised up—map in place.
"And I have questions!" Poppy chimed, "What''s the robet for!"
"Robot."
"Robit."
A sigh came through the Pika-drone. "Well. The Pika-drone''s purpose is simple. It does battles for me!" The Pika-drone dropped a paw to its side, and a panel opened up. A Pokéball rolled out. "In particular, it possesses great throwing power, ball storage, and great mobility and recording support!
"So I may capture the greatest moments in battle!" The Pika-drone raised the Pokéball up in the air, proudly displaying it.
Poppy gasped. "What''s in the Pokéball!" she asked.
"Only the most wonderful partner anyone could ask for—Go, Pikachu!" Clifford commanded, and out came a Pikachu. A sleeping Pikachu, lazily snoring.
No one spoke—the shrubs rustled in the wind.
"Wake up, Pikachu." The Pika-drone walked towards Pikachu in waddling, stiff, movements, and poked her in the stomach.
Pikachu rolled over once, then twice. She batted away Pika-drone''s paw until she had enough. And rolled into standing. "There we go—sorry about that. She''s a real sleepyhead—say hi to these two Pikachu."
Poppy waved, "Hello Pikachu!"
"Pik-a-chu~" Pikachu waved back.
Linh dropped his map. "Say that again?"
"Aren''t you the cutest thing~" Poppy cooed, she had pulled Pikachu close and was slow-rocking with her. Swaying hand in hand. "That''s a good thing! That''s what Ryme said to me."
"No no—" Linh interjected, "—What did Pikachu say?"
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
"Pikachu?" Pikachu glanced at Linh, before Poppy tugged, and she pulled herself up into Poppy''s hug.
"Since when did Pokémon say their names?" Linh wheeled on the Pika-drone.
Clifford responded, "They... don''t."
"Then explain that," Linh hissed.
''That'', was Pikachu. Head tilting, ears flopping. As Poppy held one of her paws firmly. Tracing the rat-palm lines carefully. Looking for something. "Dark," she whispered.
"What''s there to explain? Pikachu''s making perfectly normal noises for her species."
Linh spluttered. "What sounds do Pichu make?"
"They squeak!" Clifford''s tone held that ''are you stupid?'' note.
"And Raichu?"
"They also squeak."
"So why don''t Pikachu squeak?"
"Birds fly. Grass is green. Pikachu makes Pikachu noises. That''s just how it works dude."
Incredulous, Linh pointed at the sparse grass shoots growing up between the dirt. They were dirty yellow-brown.
"Man, fuck you." The Pika-drone made a sound like a clicking tongue.
Even more incredulously, Linh pointed at Poppy.
The Pika-drone made an inarticulate sound.
Linh made his own inarticulate sound. "For—" He paused. "I know how to deal with you—fight me."
The Pika-drone''s eyelid raised. Soft glow expanding wider.
"Battle me—I win. You admit Pikachu''s are
weird for making that sound."
"And if I win?" Clifford demanded.
Linh rolled up his map, and tucked it under his arm. "Directions."
<Two Encounters></abbr>
"The challenger is Linh of Mesagoza! The challenged is Clifford in absentsia!" Poppy recited. She was sitting on top of Cyclizar, and had a small piece of paper flattened on top of his back—with the right pronunciation on it. "Kaolin the Polteageist against Pikachu, no switches!"
They chose to battle on the slope. With Kaolin in the air, swaying side to side and steaming a dainty tune. With Pikachu slouching on the pebbles, tail swishing the gravel down.
"Linh—ready?" Poppy cried. "Clifford—are you ready?"
"Yes." "I am." Two answers back.
"Then begin!"
"Up the slope, Magical Leaf—create space," Linh ordered. Kaolin obeyed with signature eagerness. And soon enough clumps of sharp, wet, wilted tea leaves soared around the teapot. Spiralling out.
"Pikachu, rush-down!" The Pika-drone nodded firmly, fiercely. "I know what Polteageist want—we won''t give you that!"
"Pika!" Pikachu agreed, and she sprinted forth on all fours.
Linh glanced down the slope, eye-balling the angle. "Intersperse." A trick with Magical Leaf—by aiming all at one empty spot, all of the leaves would orbit around it. Trying to hit something that wasn''t there. Instead of slicing at the enemy one at a time. Positioned in front of the foe, and Kaolin made a cluster of angry leaves, like a hornets nest. Not really a wall.
But one enough to absorb a charge. Pikachu pushed through the leaves to encounter more leaves. With more behind. Slowing down as the leaves burned themselves in green slicing light. Until Pikachu''s momentum halted entirely, and she was pushed back.
"Pika!" she cried as she hit the ground. And then she felt the ground give way. This was a slope, after all. A slope made of loose debris that fell with Pikachu as she tried to stop herself sliding down. "Chuuu—"
"Pikachu!" Clifford yelled, "Angle yourself into a bush! Catch on it, then get back in!"
Kaolin giggled bubbly as Pikachu tumbled, it waved.
"Cut the chattter," Linh called, "Set up—use your favourites."
What Clifford saw was Nasty Plot, a wicked conniving smirk. Complete with hands rubbed together and foul beads of dark tea condensing around Kaolin''s teapot.
What Clifford didn''t see, was the felt stitch lines running over Kaolin''s back, that formed and faded in the dusk. Substitute chained into Nasty Plot, and set to replace Kaolin.
The Pika-drone turned to Pikachu with the sharp click of motors—two sharp clicks, from the legs, and from the torso. Far down the slope, Pikachu stumbled out of a shrub, stray leaves stuck in her fur. "Pika Pi!" she called back, darting up the slope.
"Stored Power, sweep." Linh nodded in satisfaction as Kaolin flooded the field with pink lights. Down and down they descended, a net of bulbs closing into Pikachu.
"Continue, Pikachu!" Clifford cried, and Linh saw that in between moments the Pika-drone had withdrawn a Tera Orb. Held up high and swirling with energies—energies that rattled the rivets in the Pika-drone''s plates. And it threw as the Stored Power''s converged.
It flew wobbly—the power of Terastalisation knocking it this way and that. Yet it flew with mechanical force. Straight through the Stored Power''s, and into Pikachu. She was engulfed in the crystals just before the lights hit.
The crystals cracked and shook with the impacts, power forcing open fault lines. Before it broke—and Pikachu bore a new crown.
A crystalline hat in a spiky shape—with a nasty grinning face leering out. A mosaic in red, yellow, and purple.
Tera Dark. Immune to Psychic. Resistant to Ghost.
Linh winced.
Clifford crowed. "That''s the way—go, fast! Thief!" And Pikachu was off—towards Kaolin. With a paw turned Dark, pressed behind her back to hide.
Substitutes up but that won''t matter if Pikachu gets close and hits twice and Magical Leaf takes too long to push back so—"Shadow Ball, pin her!" Linh snapped.
Pikachu slammed into Kaolin before it could fire—and swiped her paw across the ceramic. Kaolin gave a pained steaming grunt as the super-effective Move landed.
Except it was a substitute—the clawtip parted felt, and the plush doll ripped at its seams. To the side, Kaolin appeared, Shadow Ball at the tip of its fingers.
It fired, and hit. Knocking Pikachu down the slope again. But half as much—much of the power wasted in the vastness of Dark.
"Recover!" Clifford snapped, and Pikachu was running again—Kaolin floating back, warily.
"Magical Leaf again—no reason to stop what works." Once again, tea leaves swept the battlefield.
Clifford made an inarticulate sound of frustration, "Pikachu! Switch it up—zoning!"
Zoning—that''s a fighting game term for long range com—"Kaolin, dodge the ranged attacks and keep up the pressure!"
Just in time—as between the Magical Leaves thin electric balls shot out—sparky stars that burst through the leaf chaff. Kaolin yelped and spun away—dodging by hairspans. And then the leaves collided with Pikachu—slicing against her sides. "Pika!"
The Pika-drone stomped its metal feet, and Clifford grunted. Sound hotboxing through the mic. "Forget this, Mix-up!"
Pikachu stamped the ground twice—and the dirt turned moist-dark, and water moved up grass shoots. A puddle of water around Pikachu formed. Then a pool, then a great wave.
"Surf? Float up and over, hit Magical Leaf as it fades." Kaolin floated upwards, tea-body dripping out the leaves again.
Lightning struck the wave, bright light that cast everyone—Pika-drone, Linh, Poppy, the metal balloons still in the air—as a shadow. And the wave sparked with surging lightning. It accelerated—towards Kaolin before it could get even halfway up.
Not dodging that, "Stop! Magical Leaf now!" Linh snapped.
As the wave slammed down into Kaolin—lightning on its surface reflecting in it''s glaze—a brace of leaves burrowed into it.
As it faded, it revealed Kaolin, fainted.
And on the other side, Pikachu, teetering, tottering. Clifford shouted, "Hang in there, Pikachu!"
"Pikaaaaa—" Thump. Pikachu fainted.
Poppy, sitting well out of the way, finally spoke again. "Both are knocked out! I announce this as a draw!"
Two annoyed grunts. Two recalled Pokémon. Linh and the Pika-drone approached each other, facing each other. Before Linh spoke.
"What was that last Move?"
The Pika-drone chuffed, "Surprised you, did it? Well. It''s a Pikachu exclusive—Splishy Splash! Had Kaolin survived it, it would have been paralysed. Making my victory assured!"
"But," Linh noted. "It didn''t. So Pikachu went down."
"You lost too!" Clifford barked. "Where''s Kaolin, ha?"
"So—what happens now?"
Clifford didn''t answer. Linh huffed, thinking.
"I give you directions, you admit I''m right." he suggested.
"...""
"Cliffor—?"
"Fine! You." The Pika-drone crossed its arms. "You are right—Pikachu are weird for saying ''Pikachu''." Clifford sounded annoyed.
Linh chuckled.
"Anyway—directions. As you promised. I''m looking for Route Forty Three."
"Ah. I see. This is Route Forty Two." Linh finally unrolled his map, and consulted it. "Three''s far north from here—across the river. That''s about... drone''s top speed?"
"Forty miles per hour." That statement was preceded by the ruffle of paper—probably Clifford consulting his notes.
Linh ruffled his own map. "That''s... twenty minutes North. How''d you get so off course?"
"That''s for me to know, and you to not," Clifford stated. Somewhat snippily.
"Another question. Before you go."
"... Fine." Even the Pika-drone seemed fed up with Linh at this point. Strange, for a drone made entirely of metal.
"Why didn''t you include a geo-locater in your drone? They have these little ones that can be attached to birds to see where they migrate. And there''s definitely maps out there with geo-coordinates."
"..." The Pika-drone jumped up towards the balloons, gripped them tightly, and sped away.
<Two Encounters></abbr>
Poppy poked the fire with a stick. "Levincia in the morning."
"Sounds like it," Linh told her. He sat back to fire, teapot in lap. And fingernails dirty with cemetery loam. With a plastic re-usable snack-box in one hand, he dumped handfuls of it down Kaolin generously.
Kaolin was leaning up and into the dirtfall. Eyes closed, head thrown back. Exactly like those women in shampoo commercials.
Linh looked up, and checked the time. Ten to midnight. He nodded, and turned to Poppy. "Hey, could you go out and find some sticks or something? Fire looks like it needs it."
Poppy blinked at that question. She glanced at the merry fire—thick with wood and flickering. She exchanged a glance with Tinkie, shrugged, and toddled off. Hand in hand with the Pokémon.
"And remember to take Menace with you—he''ll be useful," Linh called to her back. Menace obediently rolled along with Poppy—the three disappearing into the night.
Linh spent a moment more petting Kaolin, before he gently pushed it off, and turned to the fire. He checked the time again. Nine minutes to midnight. And he waited.
The crunch of dirt behind him.
"Back so soon?" he called out to the night.
"I was not aware I was expected," A voice returned.
Linh turned, there, in the dark. A figure approaching. Tall, humanoid. Thick layered coat and scarf, and thick sturdy trousers dirty with grass stains. Rock dust clung to the creases in its jacket, and its gloves were yellowed at the tips.
The figure had a cloth sack, dirty yellow, over its head. Eye and mouth holes poked through. "Will you greet this old hiker?" It mumbled.
The voice—it was neither male nor female. Not rough or smooth. It did not grate, but it did not lilt.
Linh tapped his shadow, and it stretched out. Near imperceptible in the darkness. It reached far around the figure.
A furry snout pulled up. And the shadow shrank back sans one dog.
Linh stood up suddenly—so his motion drew the eye. "Will you greet me?" he asked back. "It''s rude to not introduce yourself—you know."
"I am what I am." The figure made no gesture to itself. "Just an old hiker. And you?"
"Just a traveller."
"Well Just A. Traveller. Well met." The Hiker tilted its head slightly. Cloth shifting in an acknowledgement.
Linh hummed, he held a hand behind him, and flicked it to the side. Kaolin read it, and slunk forwards, just behind his back. Listening so very carefully.
"Now that we are acquainted. Can I share your meal?"
Linh glanced at the fire—no pot was on top. Instead there was Meiosis. He gave her a pointed look, and jerked his head to the side. She floated low and away. Circling around.
"May be hard for that. Considering I already ate."
"We have established rapport. I told you my name. We''re friends," The Hiker spoke. "Can I share your meal?"
Linh hummed.
The Hiker took a step forwards. "Can I share your meal?"
"No." Linh''s eyes flickered around the Hiker—watching his Pokémon tense up. Casket ready to lunge, Solosis ready to blast.
The Hiker took a step—
"I can offer, however."
The Hiker took a step back.
Linh moved slowly, reaching up to his coat. An inside pocket. He withdrew a single incense stick. He snapped it in half and stuck one in his mouth. He offered the other. "Come closer," he ordered.
The Hiker came closer. Close enough that Linh could smell the fraying threads and see the individual rough strands of the sack around its head. An insect, six legged and iridescent shelled, crawled out of an eye hole and down its face.
Linh stuck the stick half into the mouth hole, staring directly into the darkness of the Hiker''s eyeholes. He lit both incense sticks at once, then gently blew so both were extinguished.
A moment of silence, as the smoke curled around them. The hiker took a wheezing breath. Smoky streams sucked into each of the holes inside the cloth. No smoke came out as it exhaled.
"A fine meal. But no food is complete without an accompanying drink." The Hiker took the incense stick out of its mouth hole, and withdrew a canteen from the folds of its coat. It sipped from the canteen, and offered it to Linh.
Linh took the drink.
It tasted like the bottom of a glass of hard water left to sit. Mineral concentrate. Linh gave the canteen back.
The Hiker took the canteen and hid it away in its swathe of clothing. "Thank you for the meal, stranger. I must leave now. Route Sixty Six is long, and I wish to get to the end by sunrise."
"Well, you have a long way to go. At least twenty four routes are in between."
"What are you talking about?" The Hiker walked into the darkness, only its voice a sign of its existence. "The only Route here is Sixty Six."
A moment of silence. As Linh waited to see if the Hiker was truly gone. "... Good."
Meiosis, Kaolin, Casket. They all approached. Linh grinned and knelt down, so he could touch and hug each of them. "You all followed my orders so well! You all did perfect."
And then, with the sound of shattering glass, an illusion broke. On the other side of the campfire. Poppy, hand in hand with Tinkie. Menace, lurking at their feet. "Did you get what you wanted?" Poppy asked, Linh''s phone in hand.
"Yes, yes I did." Linh nodded to Poppy, "So, you got good footage?"
Messengengar:
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<td style="width: 98.1237%">Christie</td>
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> encounter.pr4
> Check what I got
> U were right
Christie
> Yesssss I knew it!
> The Clothsack Hiker had to have been there!
> Think the conditions are
> Near but not midnight
> Alone at campfire
> Close to the route.
Christie
> Makes sense. Every sighting recorded has it seek out travellers to ask for food. If it targets routes it finds more trainers.
> So, what Pokémon do you think it is?
Christie
> Not sure, need more info. It was sated when you gave it incense, which may be a clue.
> What did the canteen taste like? It could have been trying to feed more off of you.
> Did you see anything through the eyeholes?
> Well. The drink it offered tasted foul, but not like Sinisteas. And I didn''t feel any more lethargic afterwards. And yeah the interiors all dark like Mimikyu-couldn''t see inside. But there was a bug that crawled out.
Christie
> What kind?
> Beetle? Or cockroach. I didn''t see it clearly.
Christie
> That rules out a Phantump or Trevenant, termites and ants are what lingers inside them.
> If any
> But urban ghosts sometimes do have these insects.
> Gastly have been known to have insect shells floating inside.
> Could also be from one of the possessers. Pumpkaboo or Palossand line can have insect infestations.
> Not a scarab?
> Hard to say, but Im going to guess no. Didn''t see any horns or those mandible things
Christie
> Not Cofagrigus. But it could be Honedge or Golett, if they were native here...
> One second I need to find a population map.
...
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