《My Homestead in This Pokémon World》 Chapter 1: The Beginning Bang. Bang. Bang. ¡° Alright, all right! I''m up!¡± Matty looked at the ceiling above him, looked at the mold spots and the cobwebs before finally rolling out of bed. looking around his room it was pretty normal, if a bit shabby. he walked over to the dresser, dodged his chair piled with architecture books, grabbed his clothes out of his laundry pile, smelled them, and then got dressed for the day and went down for breakfast. he was an average height around 5¡¯6¡± to 6¡¯, but rather slender and still looking boyish. ¡°Thanks, Mom, for waking me up,¡± he said. his mother was a pleasant-looking woman who while still rather young, had very harsh wrinkles and gray hair. ¡°you''re welcome dear¡± she said looking him up and down proudly as he scarfed his breakfast. ¡°now hurry up to school.¡± At school Matty, looked around his classes, wondering if everyone was as bored as he was. He did okay in school, mostly B¡¯s with the occasional A or C, but he struggled to care about his lessons or pay attention because of the boring they were always prepared. After school, He went back to his apartment and began to play his video games. Because he didn''t have much homework to do, and it was easily finished, he figured he would do it during the long weekend. As he was staring into his copy of Pokemon Emerald late at night, searching for the location of rare Pokemon in his pocket guide, he wished that he could have a Pokemon in real life, because everything would be so much more interesting. As he muttered his wish aloud, everything went black. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Matty''s head was throbbing as he felt himself slowly awaken. he rolled over, thinking his mother was just making some Saturday breakfast, but hit his head on something. ¡°Ouch!¡± it was cold, hard, and abrasive. He felt for his blanket to pull it up, but he wasn''t covered in one! the thing that had hurt him was a rock? he slowly opened his eyes, realizing he was not in his room at all! he found himself in a forest glade with nothing but his Pokemon Field Guide, and his shattered Game Boy! It turns out sleeping on top of it with a rock underneath wasn''t very healthy for it. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. The noise came again. looking around Matty searched for its location looking over he saw a massive green caterpillar with pinkish-red antennae. it looked to be about a foot long! ¡°what the heck is that thi-¡± Chirp. Chirp. Holding his ears and looking for the bird making such a loud noise, he saw a massive grey and tan bird! looking at it he thought; ¡°Wait a minute, it kind of looks like a pidgey!?!¡± Looking back at what he now fervently hoped was not a caterpie, he saw that he was unfortunately correct. Click Click. Click Click Click. Eyes snapping to where the noise had come from, Matty searched the dark forest for movement. Click Click Click Click Click. As the clicking and crashing noise became louder, Matty began to run away. Suddenly, crashing through the underbrush, came a girl! ¡°Run Away!¡± she yelled. crashing right behind her came a massive scarred pinsir it roared rattling his teeth If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. running right behind the girl he asked ¡°What do we do?!¡± ¡°Pray!¡± she hollered back. they kept on running stumbling through the undergrowth till eventually they reached the edge of the forest. The picer stopped at the edge, and let them leave, roaring behind them. They didn''t stop running until the forest was nearly out of sight. looking around it Matty noticed they were on a massive plain, with a small town in the distance ¡°What the heck was that¡± ¡°I might have walked directly into a pinsir¡¯s nest,¡± The girl, who had introduced herself as Sarah explained. ¡°WHAT¡± Matty was livid. ¡°Did you take any eggs?¡± ¡°No, I only got some caterpie and ariados eggs.¡± Hearing this, it finally began to sink in that Matty was not in Utah anymore. Thinking about how he needed some way to protect himself, and how she had almost gotten him killed, he decided he needed a Pokemon of his own. ¡°Amazing. Can I have an egg?¡± ¡°No!¡± Looking at her, he realized that stealing Pokemon eggs probably was her job. She wore grey sturdy pants and a tan long-sleeve overcoat, despite the harsh sun. ¡°you almost killed me with an angry Pokemon!¡± Rolling her eyes, but definitely looking guilty, she said ¡°Fine you can have a Butterfree egg but all you''ll get is a dumb caterpie that you''ll have to raise yourself.¡± looking at him angrily, she asked: ¡°do you even have a Trainers license?¡± Squinting at him she looked him up and down, taking in his blue pajama pants and red t-shirt. ¡°In fact, I''ve never seen you before in town, what''s your name?¡± Looking at her, Matty knew that he was going to be labeled crazy if he told her the truth. ¡°Sorry, I''m new around here, I''m Matty¡± Looking even more suspicious she asked: ¡°where you from Matty¡± ¡°Far away¡± ¡°Cryptic but acceptable, as long as you''re not a criminal?¡± she asked glaring at him before turning around and laughing at what she clearly thought was a joke. walking into town she took him to dinner and brought him to a hostel he could stay at until he found permanent lodging. The town was rather small and had no more than 100 buildings, which though most were residences, there was a Main Street where there was a General Goods store, a Pokemon feed store, a clothes store, and a worrying mix of dentistry and a barbershop in one. (Matty decided he definitely would not be going there for a haircut) Apart from the rest of the buildings, with a training field nearby and a small hospital/apothecary, there was the Pokemon Office. After giving him the tour and handing over the egg as she parted ways, she explained to him how tomorrow she would take care of where to get his license so he wouldn''t be arrested for violating the law. Picking up his things early in the morning the next day he saw that it wasn''t some dream, and he really was trapped in an alternate historical Pokemon dimension looking through his stuff he checked on his Caterpie egg which was a greenish gray with red spots, and when he held it, it shook a little bit shocking him out of his thoughts. Sarah met him at the entrance to the hostel at the agreed-upon time and took him out for breakfast to finish apologizing for almost killing him. After breakfast, they walked down the street where Matty explained his cover story that he had come up with the previous night about how he was a Wanderer who had all of his stuff stolen by Pokemon and robbers, and how he got lost in the woods where he was then found by Sarah. Hearing this, and feeling bad for him, Sarah took him shopping and got him a backpack, a change of clothes, a small hatchet, and some field rations which were just some sausages and hardtack. walking into the Pokemon field office she explained how in this part of the country there wasn''t much organized government, and most of the land was undeveloped, so they were pretty much giving it away to anyone who would improve it. Thinking about this, Matty decided that he could use a home base to settle down until he could get home, so he asked her if she would help him register for that as well as his Trainer license Looking inside the office, he saw that it was a one-room complex with three desks, some lockers, a safe, and a counter for customers to wait at, where a mousy woman sat and helped them with the necessary paperwork. it turns out that applying for a Trainer license was rather easy compared to the modern-day DMV, they just took down his name and told him that he would have to report any Pokemon captured, as well as paying a monthly renewal fee. After hearing about his other request, she told him that if he wanted to own some land, he could have it for five years, during which he would have to create a farm or ranch to fully own it. Well they were doing the paperwork, they also explained how certain Pokemon communities were creating dangerous dungeon ecosystems nearby, where they would hoard treasure and resources while attacking anything that came near them. explaining that to get a Pok¨¦mon Adventurers license you had to have at least two Pokemon capable of attacking or defending you, matty decided he would wait to do that till later. After finishing signing up, they also gave him five Apricorn balls and explained that to get more, he would have to purchase them from the general goods store in town, or make his own. Finishing the day with a contract for as much land as he could fence, and a full stomach from the food Sarah had given him, he rested easy despite knowing that he would have an even more busy day choosing where to live tomorrow. The story continues, in the next chapter of: My Homestead in This Pokemon World Chapter 2: Please Stop Trying to Kill Me While running for his life, dodging bug buzzes and poison stings, Matty wondered why he had decided to live like this. He had set out earlier that day to go survey some land, leaving his egg and borrowing some supplies to camp with from Sarah, as well as loaning a bigger axe to gather some lumber. Because the town sat between a mountain range and a forest, with a small river flowing away from the mountains towards the forest, he had decided to go get some lumber. He had been told by Sarah to avoid both the mountaintops and the deep forest, because of the dangerous Pokemon that lived in both, but decided he wanted some old-growth timber for his future house, wherever that might be. He wished he had listened because after a few swings on a tree, which irritated a weedle, and after failing to capture it, a horde of beedrill had followed its cries. the beedrill noticed him backing slowly away. Down an apricorn ball, and down on his luck, he had to flee for his life, as an army of beedrills began attacking and chasing him. After running for what felt like forever, he ran past a farmhouse,e and saw that only a few were chasing him now, but he still wouldn¡¯t stop for all the world. After all but one had given up and he was almost to town, right by the river, he heard a strange low whistling. Looking back, he saw the last beedrill fleeing as a shadow shot across the ground. As the whistling grew louder, he saw a massive red bird trailing red hot sparks and flame, flying in almost faster than the eye could track. It crashed into the beedrill, killing it instantly. Crouching in the grass, he watched the monstrous bird tear into the large bug, start a small fire, and carry it away leaving nothing but a stinger, some ash, and a puddle of viscera. Trying to remember the later gens, he watched as it flew towards a small hill a few miles away from town. Matty noticed that there were only a few farmhouses out that way, probably because it was rather close to the mountains, and the highly dangerous firebird would most likely deter any residents. Returning to town, after returning the axe and retrieving his egg, Matty walked back to the Pokemon Office and described what had happened to him to the secretary, whose name turned out to be Martha, after reading her name off the counter. ¡°Oh yeah, that bird sure is one of the strongest Pokemon for miles, it moved in five years ago ish, and even our top trainers couldn¡¯t manage to do nothin bout it¡± Matty thought about how the beedrill had been killed before it had the chance to let off a single attack and was glad that Pokemon tended not to attack humans unless provoked, whether that be bothering them, trying to catch them, or encroaching on their territory. ¡°What type of Pokemon is it?¡± asked Matty, hoping to get some clue as to how to deal with or even tame it. Martha squinted at him ¡°That''s the funny part, it ain¡¯t native, and it seems to love that little hill and guard whatever''s up there with its life¡± Matty guessed that it was guarding some eggs, but knowing it could quite easily kill him, he decided to let that go. Looking at the surveyor''s map of the area on the wall and noticing that the entire valley was mostly settled near the town, he decided that the entire area must be sparsely settled. He also found that the area surrounding the hillock, forest, and mountain was quite barren, even though some of it was rather close to the river. The area by the hill was about equidistant between the forest and the foothills of the mountains, was close to the river, upstream to the town, and even had a small stand of trees nearby. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°What sections of land are available?¡± Matty asked. Martha looked at the map and laughed. ¡°There ain¡¯t much that''s taken, ''cause there ain¡¯t many people that''s moved out here yet.¡± Pointing at the plot by the hill, Matty asked: ¡°What about this plot that''s over here?¡± Looking back at him and seeing where he was pointing, Martha laughed ¡°There¡¯s no way you¡¯re goin¡¯ to be able to live there, honey. That bird kills anything that gets within half a mile.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take it¡± Looking back at it, while lying on the cold hard ground on the edge of his new property, Matty wished he had listened to Martha. The bird had attacked him the second he got close to the hill, and had chased him almost as far as the bugs had. Because Matty was too busy exploring his land, he hadn¡¯t set up a good shelter before dark, and he had barely had time to set up a tent before it started raining. Sitting in his small loaner tent from Sarah, on the cold grass, which was essentially just an old tarp, watching how it leaked, he sat there shivering, and crying a little, all while thinking about how much he missed his mom. Thinking about her made him sad, remembering her smile as he would come home from school, the way she tussled his hair, and how she always made him breakfast, no matter how tired she was from her night shifts. Remembering her laughter, and her cooking, how though they didn¡¯t have much, but they still had each other, Matty began to wish that he had at least been given the chance to say goodbye. Waking up in the morning after crying himself to sleep, putting his terrible night behind him, Matty remembered that he needed to check on his egg. Rolling over and looking for it, he began frantically searching. He looked through the whole tent, picking up His blankets and bag, until he saw it. The shattered pieces looked so broken and sad, and the goop that was left had stained his backpack. Matty was destroyed. He had worked so hard caring for it, carrying it, keeping it warm, and protecting it, he fell flat on his back holding in tears. His vision blurring, tears coming he started to cry once more, until he noticed a green line on the tent ceiling that had not been there before. The caterpie looked down on its mother, wondering why it looked so sad. It had watched as it frantically dug through the strange things on the ground, but had kept quiet. Now, looking down on its mother, it seemed that she had noticed them and was slowly reaching up. Feeling hungry, the caterpie decided to taste the strange tree it was sitting on¡­ Looking up at his new caterpie, Matty¡¯s vision slowly cleared, and he reached up to greet his new friend, right before it took a massive bite of the tent. The tent he was borrowing. The tent he had promised to keep safe. That tent. Panicking, he grabbed at the little bug before it could eat more of the material, but it still left a huge hole in the tent''s wall. Horrified now, he watched as it slid down his arm to bite his sleeve. Realizing that it must be that caterpie hunger Sarah had said something about, he searched his bag until he found his guidebook. It looked different now, having changed since falling into the Pokemon world, leather instead of paperback, and it was handwritten and drawn instead of printed, but he was able to find Caterpie¡¯s entry easily enough. ¡°Caterpie has a voracious appetite. It can devour leaves bigger than its body right before your eyes. When frightened, this Pok¨¦mon releases a horrifically strong odor from its antenna.¡± Grabbing at it, he ran outside to find something for it to eat. They were on the banks of the river, and there were some small bushes near it, so Matty ran towards them. Pulling the caterpie off of his shirt before it could eat it, he set it on the bush and watched it carefully. Hearing its squeals in displeasure, he watched as it noticed the leaves on the bush, and started chomping down. Looking at the guide again, he saw some information written down he had overlooked. It was a full list of the life cycle and growth of a caterpie from hatching until stopping at its final evolution, and a list of moves and the stages of its life. Looking at the moves listed on day two, Matty knew he was in for a fun time Chapter 3: Whats in A Name Chapter 3: What¡¯s in a Name Matty woke up with a bug on his face. Walking out of the tent, Matty walked over to the river and splashed his face with water. He had decided to name the caterpie Grub, and almost overnight, he had nearly doubled in size. After washing the sleep from his eyes, he decided to take a quick look around his campsite. Cleaning up some detritus that had accumulated, he noticed that around the tent where he had left Grub leaves to eat were covered in a slick thread. He grabbed the white silk and found it was slippery to the touch but quite strong. It was about as thick as sowing thread, but easily five times as strong. After he had gathered the thread and cleaned up his campsite, he looked in the guide. Opening the leather cover, and turning to the page labeled caterpie, he noticed some new notes about Grub¡¯s eating habits and favorite foods. It turned out that he liked the leaves from Sitrus berry trees, but disliked the taste of the berries. Looking for the section on moves, he found that tackle was listed as taught, whereas string shot was listed as inherent. Turning to the beginning of the book where the index and the description of terms were, he read: ¡°Some Pokemon can learn powerful attack moves on their own, whereas others need some help with technique and ability use (Take note that this is only in general and on a case-by-case basis)¡± Matty figured that meant that in the wild, all Pokemon would naturally be able to learn some moves, but a rare few would gain more powerful techniques. He made a note to read more about the ones he had seen in the area, and whether they were powerful or not. Feeling curious, he decided to see if the bird from a few days ago was anywhere in his book, but he couldn¡¯t find anything. Deciding to do some more research on common Pokemon in his area, he looked through the list and was relieved to see that the strongest thing was a Poochyeana, a dark-type Pokemon that resembled a small dog. Looking through the types of attack it knew, and seeing its abilities, Matty realized that it probably was more dangerous than it appeared. He knew it was time to train. Matty sat down hard. It turned out that teaching a bug was harder than he thought. He had spent the beginning of the day, from morning till noon researching in his book on training techniques and trying to teach Grub to use anything but string shot. He had mastered the art of tying down opponents, and could easily trip up a moving target, but refused to fight with his tackle attack. Stopping for a quick break, he walked towards his stand of trees to gather some berries for lunch and feed Grub some leaves. Sitting by the river, he watched Grub devour the small pile as he sat and ate the Citrus and Oran berries. As he reached for the last one, he felt a sharp pain in his hand. Clutching it to his chest, he found, to his horror, a massive rat clamped down onto his palm. Screaming and flailing, he fell into the river, and the rat let go. Both of them crawled out of the river, coughing up water, and sat breathing heavily for a moment.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. After he had caught his breath and calmed down a bit, Matty saw to his horror that he was looking at a rattata. He jumped back out of surprise and checked his pockets for a ball to throw at it. Realizing he had left his belt next to the tent, Matty ran backward, from it until he tripped over a log next to his campfire. The rattata began to run directly towards him, baring its fangs in anger and leaping into the air on a direct path to his face. Right before it struck his arm, it was yanked out of the air by a small green blur. ¡°Grub, do it again¡± Matty cheered, Hearing the command, Grub sized up his opponent. The rattata outweighed him, but he had gotten a good first hit. Noticing his hesitation, the rattata jumped at him, preparing to strike. Dodging to the left, Grub let off a string shot directly into the rattata¡¯s back and prepared to strike again. Hearing the vague shouting noises in the background as Matty cheered him on, he leaped directly at the tangled rattata and sent it rolling. Watching Grub battle, Matty called out move after move, but could only watch as Grub dodged the rattata¡¯s ever more frantic attacks, and snuck in some cheap shots of their own. Mesmerized by the rapid back and forth, Matty only realized he should try to catch it after it took a tough tackle from behind and began to flee. Sprinting to his belt, he jumped up ready to throw, but the rattata was already gone. Looking around the campsite frantically to see if any more rats were inbound, he didn¡¯t notice Grub crawling up to him triumphantly. Still looking around, he was startled as Grub climbed up his leg, onto his injured hand and began to patch it up. Looking at the bandage, Matty was surprised to see that the seemingly slick threads were tightly stuck to each other. Seeing the potential uses for it, he began to be very excited Matty gathered together some of the firewood that he had cut earlier and began to create a simple frame from some long and thin but sturdy sticks, using grub as some kind of glue gun to solidify the joints, he made the triangles and soon had a sturdy base for a simple shelter. After using a tarp he had bought earlier to cover the triangle frame, he hung some branches from the top leaves and needles down so that they would be a good defense against rain. entering his now roomier shelter he moved his pot and bag into it. Starting his nightly fire having built it facing away from the tent so it would not be smoked out, he sat up against it feeding grub leaves. grabbing his canteen he went to take a drink of water, and found that it was already empty. because filling it up with water from the river was unsafe, he had to boil a pot whenever he ran out. He filled the pot from a swiftly moving point in the river and put it next to the fire to boil. Matty wished he had a water barrel or a larger container to fill, but there wasn¡¯t much he could do until he found a job or earned some money. Taking the night air in, he began to plan for what tomorrow would bring. Chapter 4: Hard Work Chapter 4: Hard Work As Matty walked into town with Grub on his shoulder and a tent under his arm, he walked towards the Pokemon office hoping to find Sarah. Because he had set up his temporary lean-to and didn¡¯t need the tent anymore, he had patched the bite holes using Grub¡¯s silk. It was a scorcher out today, and Matty definitely regretted his choice to live so far from town. Walking up to the office, he saw Martha sitting in her chair resting while clutching a brown striped pillow. ¡°How¡¯s today treating you?¡± Matty asked politely. He looked around to see if Sarah was in but didn¡¯t see her. While waiting for Martha to look up, he clocked that the office was significantly colder than the outside, but still warm ¡°Oh, it''s treating me quite nicely dear,¡± Martha said, sitting up and setting the pillow down on her desk. To Matty¡¯s shock, it turned around to reveal a pink nose! Matty sat staring at it for a second before it snorted some snow at him and walked into the back of the office. ¡°What Was That?¡± Matty asked, still trying to get a glimpse of the strange creature. ¡°That''s just my pet Paulie, he¡¯s a Piloswine, I just like to keep him around because he has been such a dear using his ice-type moves to help cool down the office, without him I might have caught heatstroke and died,¡± Martha said while smiling knowingly. ¡°That is so cool, Literally,¡± said Matty. ¡°Have you seen Sarah at all today, I need to return this tent and thank her for lending me some food¡± ¡°Well, yesterday, a wagon train came in, and they set up a small market outside town on the side facing the woods.¡± After thanking Martha for the cold air and the nice visit, Matty walked through town toward the forest. Remembering how he had needed some way to create a permanent water source or augment his temporary one, he looked around to find a solution. After seeing that most of the hoses had a water barrel to collect rain, he saw it was mostly used to water plants. Remembering that the town had 2 wells, he stopped by the one that was closest to his route. It was an old-style pump well, but it looked well used and taken care of. Matty made a mental note that something similar would work well with his plans for his farm. Walking up the wagon circle, and walking around the people hawking their wares, he found a surprising number of people both buying and selling. There were even people selling Pokemon in cages, with a surprising amount of variety. He saw foodstuffs being exchanged, basic weapons, Apricorn balls, and almost everything necessary for frontier life He also saw a berry trader selling seed packets, and a basic gardening kit. Walking around the wagons, he accidentally bumped into a girl carrying a basket of supplies. ¡°Oh my bad, here let me help you,¡± said Matty, setting down the tent. To his shock, it was Sarah who he had bumped into! After helping her pack up her supplies, he gave her her tent back and helped her carry her stuff back to the office. Martha was asleep, using Paulie as a pillow, so they talked quietly so as to not wake her. After helping her stow the tent and other supplies, they both went over to the job request board. Sarah had explained that there were only a few ways of making money in this town, but Matty struggled to remember what they were. Sighing, Sarah explained again.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Farming- Growing foodstuffs, like wheat or potatoes which took the same time he remembered them to grow, or growing berries, which took days or weeks instead of months (they also were a necessary component to Pokemon food). This was a rather steady form of income, that was safe from issues such as surplus and devaluing because everyone needs food, and it is easy to export. He could also raise Pokemon and sell them or their eggs, to be eaten, or sold to a trainer, depending on the type Jobs- Most jobs were rather trivial, but all were found on the job request board. They could be as simple as package delivery, bounties, materials orders, and more. Though slightly less steady than farming, this was a good way to make a quick buck. Foraging and Crafting- mostly similar to what Matty had been doing so far, this consisted of gathering wood and other items from the forest, plains, and mountains to either sell or make into useful tools like apricorn balls There were other professions too, but none were as friendly to beginners and required training or were very safe. As Matty looked at the job board, he saw one that looked rather simple, a basic Package delivery job with a decently high reward. He needed the money, and Sarah wanted to help, so they both woke Martha up and accepted it. The delivery was for an out-of-town house near the forest and was for basic building supplies. Feeding Grub the last leaves he had on him, he was surprised to see he had shrunk slightly. Worrying he had not fed him enough, he made a note to grab more leaves on the way to the job. Walking through the wooded path with Sarah, Matty decided that he and Grub needed a food break. Stopping under an especially tall tree, he opened his prepared lunch, and set grub loose in the green leaf litter. They sat there, talking for a while, while Grub crawled off into the underbrush on his own. Crawling up to a berry bush, grub began devouring the leaves like there was no tomorrow. He knew that there was something in store for him, his instincts were going off like crazy. He had eaten the whole berry bush and was crawling to the next one when he suddenly was stuck in a web! Looking around he could see that there were lots of webs hidden in the berry patch, but he knew better than to struggle. Ending their lunch laughing, Matty and Sarah packed up their food and began looking for Grub. following the trail of devoured plants, they soon came to a berry patch. Seeing the bushes, Sarah''s whole face lit up. ¡°Jackpot!¡±. She exclaimed. As it turned out, these berries were highly sought after by all types of Pokemon because of their delicious taste, nutritional value, and rarity. Gleefully picking them, she only noticed grub sitting tangled in a web until it was too late. Right as she noticed, she began to panic. Her struggles to free herself soon alerted what had made the webs that it had caught something. Up in the tree, hearing screams and feeling struggles, it descended. Looking up, Matty was horrified to see three massive green and yellow spiders slowly descending on their threads. The spike glistened on their head, and Matty swore he could see venom dripping from their mandibles. Sarah began to scream even louder, as the terrifying creature began to come closer and closer. Throwing the first thing she had on hand at one, she nailed it with an apricorn ball. As it struggled to escape, the other two sank closer. Seeing her idea, Matty threw another ball at the snarling spiders and barely nicked it. It too went into the ball, struggling to escape. Right before the third one could land on Sarah, Grub made his play. Leaping for it, he nailed the spider right in the thorax and knocked it to the ground, where Sarah punted it into the forest. Catching their breath, they heard two dings go off. Looking at the balls on the ground, they both picked theirs up and found that they had captured the spiders. ¡°What were those?¡± asked Matty, still breathing hard from adrenaline. Sarah looked at the balls the spiders were in like they could explode at any second. ¡°Those were Spinaraks, you got really lucky your Caterpie didn¡¯t get eaten by them. Now hurry up, we have to finish this mission.¡± They gathered what berries they could, delivered their packages, collected the reward money, and began to walk back to town. Matty contemplated the ball in his hand and tried to think of a name for his new accidental acquisition. Walking up to the wagon circle, he found himself at the farming supply cart. Grabbing a berry he had gathered, he asked how much they would trade for it. He was offered a basic growing kit which he gladly took. He knew that he was about to start his new life in full swing Chapter 5: Planting Time Chapter 5: Planting time. Matty sat in the back of a wagon, reading his guide and watching the dirt road pass beneath him. After trading one of the rare berries he had gathered for the gardening kit, which consisted of two types of berry seed packets, a small shovel, a watering can, and some stakes to hold up the plants. After purchasing them, he noticed that his guide had grown a little. Upon opening it, he found that there was now a section labeled ¡°Farming Berry Plants And Trees¡±. It detailed things from optimal plot sizes to watering schedules and recommended purchasing larger tools to care for more plants. After returning to the gardening stall, Matty spent about half his money on a shovel, hoe, and some berry plant seedlings. The guide also suggested watering with a water barrel nearby for ease of use, so while carrying his packages out of town, he stopped by the Coopers (barrel/cask maker and repairman) to purchase something to hold water. Hitching a ride with someone heading out of town, he had paged through the guide''s notes on gardening and found he had missed a page on foraging for wild berries and Apricorns and how to extract the seeds. Looking up from his book and checking on his Pokemon, he saw Grub sitting next to the Spinarak and chittering calmly to it. Looking back to his book, he turned to its page and read: ¡°This Pokemon spins a web out of thin but durable thread and will lie in wait for days to catch its prey. Its thread is strong enough to even be used for highly strenuous purposes like fishing.¡± Looking at the characteristics chart, Matty determined it to be under a year old, and female. Watching Grub and it talk and get along, he realized he needed to name it something. Looking at it, he saw a hunger and restraint. Reaching out towards it, he gently picked her up and looked her in all eight eyes. ¡°What do I name you¡­¡± He wondered. Looking at how her dappled carapace gleamed in the sunlight, he thought of the northern lights he had seen once as a child. ¡°I know, I¡¯ll call you Aurora, or Aura for short¡±. Looking back at him, he was happy to see her wiggle her legs in excitement, before crawling down his arm to go chitter excitedly to Grub, probably about her new name. Soon the wagon slowed, and they arrived near the camp. After gathering all of the items he had purchased together, and hauling them to his camp, he set them aside and began marking a plot about 30 ft from the edge of his camp. Clearing the small scrub that was already there proved not to be too much of a problem, and he soon had a cleared field. Filling his watering can from the river, he began to place the seedlings about 15 ft apart in a square grid. He dug the holes, planted the trees and bushes, filled the holes, and watered it thoroughly, hoping his new orchard would grow quickly. After taking a break while watching Aura and Grub play together, he began the second phase of his garden. Marking out a plot, he dug up the topsoil and exposed the rich earth beneath. Mixing in some ash from the campfire for nutrients, and putting the sod aside to improve his shelter, he pulled out the rare berries. The berries were red, lumpy, and had a particularly spicy smell. Cutting open one and pulling the seeds out, he began to plant them. After he had planted almost finished half a row, he heard a rustling behind him. Looking, he saw that Aura and Grub were looking at him curiously. Showing them what he was doing, he watched as they took some seeds from him, and began to do their best to help. Aura dug the holes, making sure that they would be deep enough, and after seeds had been put in, covered them over. Grub followed closely behind, carrying the watering can, carefully pouring just enough over the new plants. Turning around to grab another berry, Matty was shocked to see a Munchlax about to scarf one of them down. Aura was digging a hole, enjoying helping her new leader do whatever he was doing. Her old colony was rather small, and the leader was an angry and violent male. He and Sister had stayed in the same area due to the high prey numbers due to the berry plants, though the male had hoarded most of them. The small prey that she now lived with was strange, but when she had tried to eat it, the leader had made her stop. Hearing leaders shout she turned to see an enemy stealing from her and the colony. Hissing with rage she scuttled directly for it, calling a move to the surface. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Matty watched with abject horror as Aura jumped in the air and began to vibrate. As if responding to her call, hundreds of small bugs swarmed the Munchlax and began to attack it. The swarm stung, bit, and harassed it until it was trying to flee. As it began to run for the tree line, Grub pulled a tripwire tight. The Munchlax fell on its face, dropping most of the berries it had gathered, and squished most of them. Scuttling after it, Aura made a horrible screeching sound and its eyes glowed red. Terrified now, Munchlax crawled away as fast as it could, while shoving as much berry goo in its mouth as possible, even though it was thoroughly mixed with dirt, all while still being harassed by the bugs. Sitting down hard, Matty looked from the disheveled garden to the pile of squished and scattered berries. He knew that the seeds were still usable, but it made him sad to see his work scattered and destroyed like this. Looking over, he saw his Pokemon celebrating. Grub especially was having fun. Rolling around, spraying string, it looked like it was having fun! Looking closer, he saw the string beginning to accumulate on Grub, and it seemed it was starting to struggle to move. Right as Matty was about to get up, a bright light glowed from within the small caterpie. Watching carefully, Matty was astounded to see the small bug¡¯s form slowly stretch and shift, growing in size until it was about double what it had been before. The light slowly faded, and something new was standing where Grub had been. The new creature that was Grub slowly opened its eyes. He didn¡¯t exactly know what was happening, but he knew that it was good and supposed to happen. Looking up at its mother, who was slowly approaching, Grub crawled towards them. He wobbled slightly and then fell over. Struggling to get up, he could only wobble back and forth. Panicking as he wobbled, Grub did anything possible to move. Carefully watching, Matty watched as the transformation finished. Grub was now twice his size, a solid dappled green that closely matched the grass and surrounding foliage, and was a completely different shape. He now resembled a crescent shape, like a chrysalis with eyes. Grub opened its eyes and looked up at him. Wobbling gently, he soon fell over and began to shake violently. Picking him up, Matty noticed that his shell seemed to be quite soft, but after a moment it hardened until it was like stone. Watching Grub¡¯s eyes dart wildly, Matty talked to him calmly like he would any other spooked animal, gently patting and reassuring him. After some time, Grub began to calm down, slowly relaxing until his cocoon was soft once more. When he was sure that Grub was calm, he went and found his guide to look his new form and the Munchlax up. ¡°Metapod is a middle-stage evolution. It is vulnerable to attack when its shell is soft, but when threatened it turns as hard as a slab of steel to protect its soft innards. It doesn''t move much because it is conserving energy to evolve.¡± ¡°Munchlax wolfs down its weight in food every day, nearly swallowing without chewing at all. It cares not for texture or flavor, and will eat anything it deems food.¡± While searching the guide, Matty found a new section on Pokemon pests. In it were descriptions of types of pests, and the varying ways to deter them. The most basic of which seemed to be to either make a fence, or have a Pokemon guard the area, or bolth. It seemed it wouldn¡¯t be too much of a problem until the sprouts grew in, but it was good to think about Matty finished planting what seeds he could salvage and used about half of each seed packet. After making sure they were all covered in dirt, and the field was in neat spaced rows, he went over them one more time with the watering can. Looking from his new garden to his future orchard he felt a sense of pride. Looking over to the pile of sod he had gathered, he decided it would be best to cover his shelter in it when he acquired some boards to make it sturdier. There was a place in town that had sold lumber, but Matty knew he could split wood into rough boards if he did it right He decided to put it on the edges to anchor the tarp better for now, but he was always looking to improve his shelter. Placing grub in a cool, safe spot in the tent, he instructed Aura to guard the area near the garden and orchard until morning. Watching her slowly spin a web between two trees, Matty hoped she would keep his plants safe. After eating his dinner while watching Aura lay down threads through and around the compound, he went to bed. Though the night had often been interrupted by visitors before, none came tonight and Matty slept soundly feeling safe for the first time in a while. Chapter 6: Making Progress Chapter 6: Making Progress Matty looked over his small clearing. Almost all of the saplings have taken root, and the berry farm is sprouting. He had spent two days cutting logs into boards and beams, preparing to put up a more permanent shelter. Although the saw and nails he had purchased from the blacksmith were rather expensive, he was able to make good use of them. One thing he noted, is that the blacksmith had a rather rare Pokemon for this area. It was a fiery red magma slug that could melt almost anything it tried to, but was put to use heating the forge. Apparently, it did not even eat regular Pokemon food, but required special types of rock. After he had started gathering and preparing all of the materials, he began setting up the plot for his future home. He had marked it out carefully and even started to do his best to level it. While he was doing this, he made sure that Grub was well cared for, but in this stage, it seemed he was living off of stored energy. He mostly just sat there and watched, basking in the sunshine and ever so often rocking back and forth gently. Aura was doing well too, but in a much different way. She seemed to take great pleasure in capturing invading pests in her webs and wrapping them to eat later. The large web on the edge of his property gave Matty the willies because of the many bulges, but he did his best to ignore it. After finishing cutting it into boards and beams, Matty left the timber to sit in the sun while he moved on to another project. Collecting sticks from a brushpile left over from the trees he had cut, he started burying the longer and thicker ones around his garden and orchard, and weaving smaller ones inside and out on the bottom. Fastening it all together with some silk from Aura, he soon had the start of a rudimentary fence. After another day, the fence was done, and he was able to rest easy knowing that the smaller pests would not be able to get in the garden and orchard. Checking on the wood he had left to dry in the sun, Matty remembered something he had heard during a trip to a lumberyard, that the wood would dry fully by one year for an inch of thickness, but building with wet it should be alright if he was careful. Setting aside the house project for now, Matty decided to double-check the farming part of his guidebook after carefully watering all the plants. According to the notes, it would take a total of three weeks for the rare berry plants (Tamato berries) to begin producing fruit. The other berries would only take two weeks, but they were not quite as valuable or nutritious. The orchard would take much longer, around six months to be mature, but Matty hoped the time would fly by. Re-reading some of the previous pages on common nuances, Matty noticed a new page on crafting techniques and materials. it detailed ways of treating wood, such as drying it by having a water Pokemon pull the water out, or having a fire type dry it out. It also detailed ways of crafting and preparing apricorn balls. One of the things Matty noticed most was that you could strengthen Pokemon thread by braiding or twining it into a stronger rope. The most basic way was to braid it by securing it to something heavy and winding as you go. Matty looked at Aura. The large spider was currently biting into a large Rattata-sized squirming bundle of silk. Shivering remembering the bite he had received from one earlier, he still wouldn¡¯t wish that fate on anyone. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Looking over to his small tent shelter at Grub, who was sitting leaning against the wall, Matty walked over. Looking up at its mother, all Grub could do was blink. Looking back and forth from his hand to face, Grub listened as they made strange and weird noises. Hearing one they recognized, they did their best to use the move. Talking gently to Grub, Matty was consoling him for not being able to move and use attacks, when its string shot move went off right in his face! Sputtering, Matty pulled the slick threads off his face and began securing them to a nearby log. He started tightly braiding, creating a sturdy-looking rope. When he was near the end of the string he had prepared, he went and got more from grub. Tightly securing the ends together, he soon had almost 5 feet of braided cord. Looking at the book, Matty was surprised to see that he could make a simple net if he made enough rope, and so production began. After hours of braiding, Matty¡¯s wrists were sorer than he had ever felt them, but he was finally ready to begin knotting the net. Tying the lengths of rope together, and making a lattice pattern took a while, but after many hours of work, Matty finally finished. Excited to try it out, he walked over to the river. Seeing movement under the surface, Matty tossed the net and scooped up the small creature, tossing it on land. Struggling to flip over, was a small blue creature. It had a green lily pad leaf covering its body, and what looked like a yellow bill. Finally managing to flop over, it gave Matty a dirty look before trying to crawl for the river. Jumping in front of it to stop it from escaping, Matty grabbed an apricorn ball from his belt and prepared to throw it. What he wasn¡¯t prepared for was the thing to spray him in the face with water and continue fleeing. Hearing the commotion, Aura scuttled over to the small creature and gave it a once-over. Seeing Leader fall to the ground, and watching the coward flee, she lept right for it and began savaging the Lilly pad with all her strength. As Matty wiped his eyes and saw the poor creature struggling to survive the vicious barrage of attacks, he threw the ball in his hand right toward it. Nailing it right in the face, he watched as it was sucked into the ball and disappeared out from under Aura. Aura jumped back, desperately trying to find the enemy that had somehow escaped her. The ball came to rest with a soft click, and setting it aside, Matty decided that it was probably best to teach Aura to listen to his commands- or at least try to before bringing out his new acquisition. Putting his house building and rope braiding aside, he did his best to teach her. The training was easier than he thought, though Matty couldn¡¯t tell why. Aura perked up whenever her name was said, and she always did her best to learn attack names and basic commands. After an hour of training, he could get her to, with relative accuracy use moves and follow basic commands such as No, or Stop Biting That. Grub sat having seen the whole thing, wishing that he could practice as well, but he knew that he still had some time to go before he could evolve once more.