《Training the wall.》 Where the hell am I? Who am I? Cold and shivering, Carlos opened his eyes. His whole body was sore but none of it compared to the absolute agony pounding in his head. The countless voices, weirdly displaced all around him didn¡¯t help either. The constant chattering, weirdly displaced screams and this constant undercurrent of aggression, made him anxious. He didn¡¯t really move at first didn¡¯t bother opening his eyes either. ¡°What is¡­?¡± He didn¡¯t catch the rest the voice was high pitched . ¡°Is¡­ dead?¡± Something with a much deeper voice responded. Carlos opened his eyes and groaned moving himself in a sitting position. ¡°It ¡­¡­! We ¡­. warn ¡­..!¡± Carlos rubbed his eyes and wondered what got these voices so spooked. Carlos looked around still struggling to get his bearings, the headache made it difficult for him to think straight. He noted how he was in some mountain range from what he could tell he was somewhere halfway on a mountain and there were a few other mountains in his field of vision. Further down the mountain he saw the edge of a forrest. ¡°Alright, where the fuck am I? And why is my god damn name the only thing i can remember?¡± It felt good to get a coherent thought in between the spikes of pain. The wind decided to pick up and blow straight through his clothes. He took stock and saw he was welll equipped for hiking apparently. Hiking boots insulated pants from the look of it. Shirt sweater and a thick coat but none of it did anything about the cold ruthless wind sucking any heat he might have away. he felt the straps of a backpack on his shoulders and took it off and took stock. Some crackers and incredibly tough meat but only enough for a day or so. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found something akin to a mettle water bottle with seemingly fresh water. Enough water for a day enough food for 2. A knife ¡°ouch! Fuck that¡¯s sharp!¡± He sheathed it back and tied it to his belt. He also found a small axe, some rope with what he assumed was a climbing hook and something that looked like matches but he wanted to save and test that for later. Lastly a flimsy sleeping bag and a sleeping bag/tent? It had a bunch of stuff to tie and fasten it down. ¡°So i got everything i need to hike/climb mountains but no fucking reason as to why.¡± Carlos felt strong frustrations and panic set in. A deep rumbling and something that sounded like footsteps something big was coming. And along with it the voices from before oddly displaces Carlos couldn¡¯t place what was wrong but it felt like he heard one thing and then his monkey brain told him something else. He didn¡¯t like the sound of it though, that undercurrent of aggression was palpable now. Groaning he got up slung his backpack over his shoulder and gripped the knife and looked for somewhere to hide. He spotted a small crevice in the distance between the rocks of the mountain he was on and walked towards. He hurried along and hid in it. No sooner did he wedge himself into the crevice out of sight and monstrosity of a lizard? Godzilla? came into view. His heart exploded at the sight. The massive bidepedal creature had a light brown, sandy like, carapace that wrapped around his massive bulk of a body. The belly had a more light purple hue with holes in the carapace that shaped it like a creepy face. It¡¯s actual head had 3 bladelike horns pointing back and the carapace had spikes jutting at its back. It was massive, Carlos wagered it was 15 feet on his hind legs. Its eyes scanning every nook and cranny of the mountain. Carlos held its breath lest the sound gave him away. Everything about this creature screamed power, apex, paragon, ruler and a whole slew of other terms. with it was 1 smaller version less spikey and no creepy face but still a solid 12 feet high it¡¯s carapace a light green. Both had holes in the carapace around the neck and front of their thighs. Finally 2 tiny godzilla versions scuttled along pointing with their stubby arms at the spot where Carlor had been mere minutes ago. Carlos, rugged rough and tough outlaw, would definitely have dubbed them cute, if it wasn¡¯t for the terrifying parents with a perpetual scowl on their faces. the smaller bit still scary as fuck Godzilla looking lizard got down on all fours and started sniffing like a hound. Carlos broke out in a sweat he knew he was fucked this was like walking into a grizzly bear cub but dialed up to godzilla levels of royally fucked. What had Carlos worried was even from this distance, roughly 150 yards he could tell these creatures were intelligent. The voices he heard before belonged to the 2 little ones he could hear them chatter away excitedly. The biggest one chatted with them sternly, even gave them that ¡°you are both in trouble look¡±. Not that the two little ones cared one of them eveb shrugged to the aggravation of the terrifying parent. Carlos saw the smallest sign of a chance of survival melt away as the big one got increasingly more frustrated with the lid¡¯l uns.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. He let his breath escape unable to hold it any longer and he felt his soul leave his body as the sigh that escaped him was just a tad bit too loud and the smaller but still terrifying Godzilla honed in on his position. Squinting its eyes and began to prowl towards him. The other three had gotten into an argument and ignored it. Carlos wiggled as far as he could into the crevice but knew it was for naught. There was no way he was gonna get out of this alive. Resigned he stopped and simply sat down and awaited his fate. No way was he going to outrun the apex predator on this godforsaken mountain. Frustration mounted inside his chest. What bothered him the most was that he had no goddamn clue as to why he was here or how he had gotten here. The heavy thumps closed in and the head of the godzilla lizard came into clear few and they locked eyes for what seemed to be an eternity. Carlos looked and looked. And so did the Lizard. ¡°Howdy mighty fine meeting you here, could you perhaps tell me the closest place where i can place a call? I seem, honest too God, to have lost my way.¡± Carlos blurted it out, he was impressed with his own brevity, staring down at certain death. He even dared to quip a faint smile. Carlos couldn¡¯t read the Godzilla¡¯s face but it stared at him for a bit longer till it rumbled in a deep gravelly voice. ¡°Ty I don¡¯t know about hewmons ran but around here, i we don¡¯t take the lords name in vain, tar Arceus be praised tar. So you better be telling the truth ran to me boy. tar¡± it was weird to hear random parts of a word with his ears but understand the emotions conveyed almost perfectly. ¡°Arceus, wait isn¡¯t that a pokemon!? So you are a Tyranitar?¡±. Carlos was stunned to hear the word Arceus and it triggered some sort of memory cascade of his youth. He had been 12 at the time when he first saw pokemon and the adventures of ashe, but as life would have it he only really saw the first 2 seasons and never played the games. His knowledge of Pokemon was spotty at best. ¡±You hit your head pretty hard didn¡¯t you? Psh forgetting about arceus well shouldn¡¯t be surprised with all that blood on your head.¡± The Tyranitar seemed to scoff. ¡°You seem to be an ok sort though, something about you reminds me of my dear trainer¡± The tyranitar sighed. ¡°Look stay here till we are gone and go down south. It¡¯s about 1000 miles in a straight line. If you can¡¯t tell which way is which wait for dawn sun rises in the east and that means when you face the sun you take a right.¡± She waves her right paw. Carlos caught the glitter of the razor sharp claws. ¡°This is right. Remember that.¡± She looked over her shoulder. ¡°She should stay hidden, my husband hates hewmons. He was caught by one of the bad ones as a youngling and was forced to do unspeakable things. He will kill you if he finds you.¡± She got up and walked back to her family and shook her head pointing in a few directions and coaxed her family to go back where they came from. Carlos was absolutely stunned. His fear had kept him quiet. And he waited for what felt like an eternity till he moved. He grabbed some of the crackers and meat and chewed while he sipped his water in ¡®totally calm¡¯ manner. He was the picture of zen, on the outside. After a while he got up and started walking, he was surprised how nothing was hurting anymore and his headache was gone, he chalked it up to his adrenaline until he heard a ping in his head and a screen. popped in his periphery of his vision.
Arceus assistance system, fully operational! Say anything to continue.
¡°Ehm, ok¡­ anything?¡±
Sassy are we? Well that¡¯s ok.
Trainer name Carlos.
Level 2
HP 15/20
Normal type 29/110
Fighting type 0/110
Dark Type 21/100
Before he could process what it all meant a second screen popped up.
Known moves
Survive(universal): as long as you have type energy, a deadly blow will be prevented, when type energy is completely drained you will faint.
Trainer(universal): as a ¡°human¡± you can train Pokemon , through this you grant them
detect: greatly increase your perception and reflexes for as long as detect is active.
Taunt: anyone can say crass and foul things. You can make those words supernaturally offensive.
Carlos was stunned. ¡°Im a pokemon¡­. Trainer?¡± Finding my way While Carlos hiked down the mountain he saw his ¡°normal¡± TE energy trickle down. ¡°Huh it¡¯s either my stamina or tied to it.¡± Carlos mused. Some of his memory had started to come back while he was walking. Still completely disoriented but he pushed through, he had no choice. Although he was quite far from the Aerial battle. It was utterly brutal. Nothing like the anime he remembered. They were chomping into eachother, spitting blue and white flames, dodging and weaving, slicing arc¡¯s of their claws wreathed in wide varieties of elements he couldn¡¯t recognize from this distance. ¡°They must be both made of steel.¡± He muttered. He couldn¡¯t see everything clearly but quite a few viscous attacks that his mind registered as: ¡®should have dismembered something¡¯, didn¡¯t do as such. O sure there was a painful screech or roar whenever a big hit or bite, crunch? Landed but they just kept going at it. Eventually the two separated and growled and roared at each-other ¡°CHA Go ¡­.RI yourself! Zard! This is zard! My mountain!¡± The massive fire lizard roared. ¡±Sala pfff a weak pathetic Sala wanabe dragon sala can make mence! No claim here! MEN begone!¡± ¡°Ah so it¡¯s called a salamence, good to know.¡± Carlos veered away from the ongoing verbal debate, and used the numerous rocks littering the mountains as cover. He took no chances. Two pissed of dragons, wanabe or not, was worse in his mind then a happy go lucky family of Tyranitars. after a while he began to pant and noted that half of the normal type energy he originally had, was draining fast, ever since it first popped up on that screen. He felt something dripping down his face and wiped it away, blood. ¡°Fuck can¡¯t stop now, not unless i want to test some fuckers sense of smell,¡± even with his piss poor human senses he could smell the blood in the air. He kept stumbling. Idly wondering why there were barely any Pokemon. Besides the two dragons, he saw none. He had to pace himself. The pounding in his head came back. It wasn¡¯t painful yet but he could tell if he kept straining himself he would start feeling it. As time went on, making little progress, the pounding got worse and he found a big rock to sit on, to catch his breath. ¡°Geo! Hey! Dude! Im sleeping here! Geo who sits down Dude!on someone¡¯s face?¡± Carlos yelped, stumbled away and fell down. Luckily his thick clothing protected him from the jutting rocks. ¡°Sorry man I¡¯m new around here, I''m having trouble telling you apart from the actual rocks.¡± Carlos took a moment to observe the Geodude, it blended well into it¡¯s environment, although he could see slight variations in contrast of the rocks and the rocky skin of the geodude he made a mental note of it to prevent himself from making the same mistake. He took a quick looksie to see if there were more geodudes around but he was too tired to really pay attention. The geodude was way bigger then what the anime portrayed them as. He got up using his hands as legs and looked him over curiously and did a head tilt. ¡°Geo Are you a-a hewmon? Dude I don¡¯t think i¡¯ve ever seen one. Geo not that i would here in the boonies, dude are you supposed Geo to leak? Is the red stuff.. blood?¡± Carlos was distracted for a moment by the huge amber eyes that seemed crystallized. It bordered a bit on the edge of uncanny valley. To him seeing a rock come alive was very alien, much more alien then the Tyranitars. ¡°Yes I¡¯m a hu-man and no I''m not supposed to leak. I was yeeted by arceus and fell down a hundred yards or so.¡± Carlos couldn¡¯t be bothered to think of the possible consequences of him blabbing about possible multiverse theories with a stone with two arms. Now that he sat down and his adrenaline waned, he felt dizzy and didn¡¯t know if he could get back up. His head started swaying. ¡°Geo what could you possibly have done Dude. To piss off, praised be his name, Geo, Arceus?¡± Carlos heard the religious overtures in the Geodude¡¯s voice and emotions, just like with the female? Tyranitar. Carlos had been to plenty of catholic masses to know what that sounded like. it triggered a wave of nostalgia, something to latch onto if ever so slight. ¡°When in Rome¡­¡± he thought. ¡±I didn¡¯t, praise be his name, piss off Arceus. My universe and your universe apparently collided and I fell through one of the cracks that formed because of it. The last thing Arceus, praised be his name, told me, was to go to the final resting place of a legendary trainer on that mountain over there¡±. Carlos put his head in his hands the dizziness due to blood loss was beginning to overwhelm him. ¡°Geo oh well that explains why you are here. Geodude Wait here i will get someone to help you. If Arceus, Geo praised be his name, geo told you to go to that mountain, duuude then I and my kin are obligated to help you.¡± At that he nodded. ¡°Geodude. This is the way.¡± With that he hopped off, Carlos wasn¡¯t going to argue with the Geodude who so readily accepted his explanation. It felt like every time he brought up the name Arceus, it invoked a deus ex machina.
Analyzation complete, this pokemon is indeed a Geodude of the rock/ground variant.
¡°Yea no shit sherlock¡± Carlos muttered but a second later something else popped up
Geodude Lvl23 Rock 460/460
HP 264 Ground 460/460
Atk 16 A/U/S 5/2/5
Defense 40 A/U/S 3/4/3
Reflex 20 Normal 357/460
Speed 20 Sturdy
Docile (Hidden)
Unable to detect moves, trainer level too low and Geodude isn¡¯t part of your group.
¡°Huh, so now i know for sure, even first evo-Pokemon will turn me into a shitstain no problem¡±. Carlos had expected this, it was the absurd hp and energy difference that gave him pause. It meant even a ¡®simple¡¯ geodude was multiple times stronger than him and to top it all off, outlast him a hundred times over by the looks of it. He watched the geodude get distracted by a particularly big rock, casually picking it up, crushed a part of it off and horked down the rubble, he imagined what those hands would do if they gripped Carlos¡¯s head a bit too roughly. Squelch. ¡°Ugh i hate having a vivid imagination.¡± With the Geodude disappearing around a big monolith of a stone that seemed artificially carved, Carlos sat in silence surrounded by a vast mountain range. His descend of the mountain had gotten him somewhat closer to the forrest line. Close enough that some trees grew here and there. He saw a big bird he recognized as a pidgey flying onto a tree branch, skittishly looking around. with a caterpie in it¡¯s beak. The pidgey looked incredibly mundane, save for the fact that it¡¯s talons and beak looked razor sharp. The caterpie¡¯s dead visage was deep into uncanny valley. Carlos suddenly felt a lot of sympathy for Misty freaking out about bug pokemon. If a simple caterpie was this creepy he didn¡¯t want to know what the grizzly bear sized spiders would look like. He tried to listen in on what the Pidgey was saying but it only emoted, food creature and danger, it seemed that as far as intelligence, they were on the lower end. Speaking of grizzly bears he actually saw a lone bear tumble out of the forest bleeding from multiple nasty looking gashes. A black blur and what looked like an anime slicing special effect, disconnected the head of the bear from its torso. A Yipping sound that reminded him of Hyenas came closer. ¡°FOOD! FOOD! im STARVING! FOOD!¡± He couldn¡¯t hear the typical pokemon name but he saw a whole pack of hyena looking creatures with their pups tear the bear to pieces. Their yellow and red eyes drew a stark contrast to their light grey/black fur. Carlos began to doze off, desperately he tried to stay awake, but the soft embrace of darkness overtook him. Even in his sleep he was tormented. In his nightmare he found himself in a courtroom. His ¡°loving¡± wife telling a horrible story. A complete lie with facts taken out of context. The judge was eating it up. With terror in his heart, Carlos looked around for support, he saw his kids sitting in the public bench. Looking at him like he was a monster. Silently he pleaded with them not to believe it but he could tell it was too late. From a distance he saw himself screaming, screaming that he had never done anything his wife was accusing him of. The nightmare brought back the tearing he felt in his chest that day. The next thing he knew he woke up laying on a pile of massive red feathers. They felt warm to the touch. He sat up groggily and noted how incredibly toasty it was. It made him woozy but it felt nice. Especially after the icy cold winds out in the open. Halfway on a big mountain. He took some time to think, it frustrated him to no end, that his mind was so fragmented. only bits and random pieces. Like how he hated pineapple on pizza but not on cheeseburgers. God he was craving a cheeseburger now. He sighed after a while shaking his head. His self doubt ate at him. ¡°Had he really been such a piece of shit?¡° he shook his head. ¡°No, the memory/dream seemed to revolve around one thing and one thing only, the intense sorrow and betrayal he felt in that moment. ¡°No fuck that bitch, in a way this is good won¡¯t need to bother trying to get back with her¡±. The moment he thought about his wife in that fashion another small memory cascade flooded his mind. Months, no years of struggling to maintain a marriage, making concessions after concessions only for her to complain he wasn¡¯t the same guy after he had changed for her. ¡°Change back¡± He clapped his face. Remembering that particular comment his wife had made, caused an intense spike of rage. He looked around for a distraction and noted that he was in a cave. The size of a decent bedroom. Very dimly lit. His eyes traced the source of light and it fell on a sleeping fiery molten rock, slug looking thing. It was about 3 feet in length. Each time it breathed it rumbled and let out smokey hot air. It was adorable, in an ugly sort of way. The way it slept peacefully next to a red hot glowing rock. He focused on the rock and it looked like it was made of crystal with flames slowly dancing inside. The peaceful scene put Carlos at ease for the first time since coming here. His stomach growled, his eyes teared up now that he was able to let it out, his lips trembled and he was glad no one was there to see it. Open and bare he felt, he had loved her so, so much. ¡°13 years¡­ fuck.¡± He looked around and found his bag and took some of the hardened jerky. While chewing and nothing else to do, He pulled up his stat screen, desperately trying to find something else to distract him.
Trainer name Carlos. combat stats A/U/S 4/4/2
Level 2 atk 6
HP 20/20 def 6
Normal type 51/110 speed 9
Fighting type 56/110 reflexes 9
Dark Type 110/110 defense 6
Even though he never played the Pokemon games he had read quite a bit of the fanfic which he enjoyed a lot more than the actual cannon, which he described as: one dimensional friendship protagonist slop. He was weird like that, just thinking that, he could feel thousands of souls screaming out in rage. Sure cannon had great episodes here and there but those were sparse. Reading those fanfics had exposed him to the stats such as atk and sp-atk, type systems and he was curious as to what A/U/S stood for. He had a suspicion he wanted to confirm. after a bit of fiddling a pop up screen came into his field of vision.
A/U/S
A/U/S Stands for attack, utility and special. Each Pokemon has varying degrees of affinities and preferences. These preferences lead to a ¡°same type attack bonus¡±. Pokemon moves have 3 categories attack moves, utility moves and special moves. Your A/U/S gives you a 40% increase with attack and utility moves of the types that align with you (fighting and dark) and 20% with special moves.
Carlos took in the information and started fiddling again, eager to find out more. Everything was pretty self explanatory. Simple in theory but all of it combined, the picture became more complex. Attack made his punches and kicks hurt more, his defense absorbed, damage done with a 1 to 1 ratio, which told him that him punching the geodude he met, would result in a tickle session Not to mention he had no attack moves. His Taunt would lower the base defense stat by 1 in his case but taunting creatures 5 times stronger than him seemed a bad, bad idea. moves, it seemed could take up to 10% of your TE. That was then converted into an effect, base attack modified by A/U/S determined how strong the move would be. 100TE stood for 100%. Him using taunt, a utility move, would take 6 *(.11*1.4) = resulting in a lowering of defense 0.9 rounded up to 1. And forced to only use offensive moves that dealt damage. Detect, a 6 second ¡°utility buff¡±, would in his case increase his reflex and speed by 1.3 or 1. It wasn¡¯t much but the text aluded that these moves could be trained to become cardinal moves, whatever that meant, no amount of prodding would tell him the meaning of ¡°cardinal¡±. Reflex determined how much he could roll with the punches, react, to lessen or downright avoid taking damage. And speed determined his overall walking speed and how fast he could move and act in general. He also figured out that without his fighting and normal type energy, he would have died from the fall. No one on earth survived a 100 yard fall on his head. ¡°Ash did though¡­ couple of times in fact..¡±. Carlos vaguely recollected some scenes he had written of as comic relief. What had kept him alive from bleeding to death, was the fact that his pool of normal and fighting type energy, both tied to lifeforce, had fed him ¡°lifeforce¡± or aura, to keep his physical body from going into shock and inevitably cardiac arrest. He didn¡¯t know how close he had been but it had been close. He felt so much better it was freaky, albeit starving. He got up and did a bit of flexing, some pushups which were laughably easy. Only after a hundred did he get winded. Carlos remembered he had always worked on staying jacked even after real good home cooked food but this was definitely more than he was used to. He saw a reasonably large rock and went and picked it up. It was relatively easy, he estimated the rock to be about 300 pounds. ¡°Definitely stronger than back on earth¡± he thought. He heard some scuttling behind him and turned around making eye contact with the fiery slug. Looking into it¡¯s yellow hot eyes. After staring for a bit, his ¡°system¡± pinged and let him know he was looking at a slugma a rock/fire type.
Slugma Lvl1 fire 200/200
HP 60 Rock 200/200
Atk 10 A/U/S 2/2/6
Defense 14 A/U/S 3/4/3
Reflex 6 Normal 200/200
Speed 3 Magma body
Timid (Hidden)
¡°Sssssslu whoooo gmmmmmaaa, you? Mmmmaaa you awake?¡± Carlos sat down next to the slug and almost gave him a pat but held back. ¡°My name is Carlos, and did you stay with me to keep me warm while I was asleep?¡± The slugma nodded. Carlos idly wondered if speed also included ability to speak and process. The slugma seemed to be friendly but definitely on the slower end. The slugma started slithering out of the room into the hall/tunnel connected to the room and started taking a left, he stopped and he looked back. ¡°slug with me ma come¡±. Carlos answered with a chuckle, ¡°Yes master yoda¡± The slugma tilted its head and smiled with its eyes closed in that typical anime fashion, ¡°slug silly ma hewmon¡± and went back to slithering. Leading Carlos through a winding tunnel. Carlos kept chewing on the meat and crackers while following the slugma. It didn¡¯t seem to matter how much he ate he was incredibly hungry. after a little while, and after repeatedly stopping himself from picking up the cute little slug, so he could move faster. The tunnel finally opened up in a large area. Not picking up the adorable ugly slug actually became agonizing at some point. ¡°These pokemon are determined to get me killed one way or another¡± he muttered. Carlos was greeted by a truly fascinating sight. Multiple geodudes, gravelers, golems slugma and molten rock snails, which he assumed was slugma¡¯s evolutionary form. All of varying sizes were eating rocks or molten stuff, placed on a sleekly carved out slate of heightened rock which served as a massive dining table. He even spotted a small onix that chattered away with child like energy. the table was wide enough to have 2 massive Pokemon. a huge Golem and a massive lava snail sitting together, each enjoying their meal of different types of rock. He estimated that the golem rivaled the female? Tyranitar in mass, albeit a bit stockier. it became more clear, the more pokemon he saw, that in this world, pokemon weren¡¯t as much ¡°pocket¡± as they were ¡°monstrous¡±. ¡°Is it dinner time?¡± Carlos asked curiously as he looked down at the tiny slug. Yes he realized that a 3 feet slug in this world was tiny. The ¡®tiny¡¯ slug nodded and slithered to a spot at the massive dining table that conveniently had space for Carlos. he looked back at Carlos with that look of. ¡°Come with me¡±. ¡°GOOOLEM!! AH! BEHOLD! THE HERALD of ARCEUS GOO!! HAS AWOKEN! LEM!!¡± The massive Golem at the head of the table was now standing and speaking with a thunderous voice that shook the cave. He was joined by the other pokemon in cheers or hisses all roaring their excitement. Carlos simply trusted rock Pokemon to know their tunnels, the sound, causing the shaking of the room, was stupendous. Carlos held up his hands to which the room became quiet way to fast for his liking. ¡°Wow, wow, wow! not to rain on your parade but last time i checked. I¡¯¡¯m just an unlucky shmuck that got yeeted into a different verse!¡± To which the room just laughed. The giant snail hissed something into the Golem¡¯s ear to which the Golem nodded and spoke again in that thunderous voice, although not as loud this time. ¡±GOOO did you not fall from the sky like a star?¡± Carlos nodded hesitantly. ¡°Yes?¡± the room of rock and lava cheered excitedly at this. ¡°LEM and do you not have the power of fighting, in defiance of the rulers of the sky, the oppressive Dragons?¡± ¡±you mean my fighting type?¡± Carlos asked. The golem nodded gravely. Carlos noted the Geodude that he met on the mountain was handwalking towards him , he didn¡¯t know what it was, that made it possible for him to tell. The Golem continued. ¡°GOO and do you not have the power to defy death itself? Even it¡¯s guardians and shepherds!!!?? LEM!!!??¡± Carlos drew a blank and stared at the Golem. ¡°He means your dark typing dude¡± The Geodude now standing next to him offered. To which Carlos hesitantly nodded. The crowd cheered. ¡°GOOO and didn¡¯t Arceus himself, HIS NAME BE PRAISED, not tell you to go to the holy sanctuary? LEM!!¡± ¡±The resting place of that trainer¡±, the Geodude said, ¡°that place holds important religious significance to us Pokemon of this region.¡± Carlos resigned himself to the madness and nodded again. To which the golem cheered and thundered, whipping the room of rock and lava into a frenzy. Carlos checked out mentally, he wasn¡¯t an atheist but this was way too much zealotry for his liking. ¡°Geo Just go with it Dude, the boss likes geo his theatrical drama. Geo He only means about half of it. dude¡± The Geodude offered him a seat ¡°GOO Now eat honored GUEST!! LEM!!¡± ¡±now this is more like that pokemon world i keep heard about¡± he thought to himself. a plate with a random assortment of massive berries and fruit was placed in front of him. He didn¡¯t question it. Some of it was disgustingly sweet, some disgustingly sour, bitter spicy. All sorts of extreme flavors. He didn¡¯t care, his stomach was a gaping maw, a black hole that consumed all. The room of pokemon was amused and started chatting amongst themselves. After he was done ravaging his plate he sat back idly wondering where the comfy chair he was sitting on, had come from. Still completely checked out mentally he made idle conversation with the various pokemon that came over and spoke to him with religious reverence and it wasn¡¯t as creepy as he first thought it would be. It was uncomfortable but he fell into a rocky groove after a while. Carlos wasn¡¯t too sure how long dinner lasted but after a while he was left alone with the little slugma, the Geodude and the Massive Golem that rumbled into his direction. He walked closer. His body was encased in a spherical shaped rock slates smooth to the touch, his arms and legs were stubby, but definitely not like the cartoons. Thick stumps of muscles under a dark sandy skin, ¡°very dangerous over short distances¡±, Carlos mused.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. no matter how long he looked at the Golem the system didn¡¯t let him know what level it was. ¡±Go so you got tossed into our little verse, lem by arceus himself you claim¡±. Carlos was a bit taken aback by the sudden suspicion in his voice. ¡°So i take it you are not convinced?¡± ¡±Go O i believe you got tossed out of the sky. Lem Some of us have some affinity to psychic typing and they felt the ripple as keenly as you would feel my grip go.¡± He clenched his left fist to further make his point. He rumbled a sigh and plopped down. ¡±go I want to believe you, but many of this world are not as devout, many would take advantage of our generosity lem¡± . The golem searched Carlos¡¯s face for signs of deceit or honesty. ¡±whatever i said to¡­ geodude here¡±. Carlos waved at geodude. ¡°Was the truth.¡± ¡±if you could indulge me and tell me everything from the beginning¡±. Carlos sighed but obliged. While he was telling his admittedly short story the slugma slithered and crawled/climbed onto the golem¡¯s shoulder. The golem didn¡¯t seem to mind, chuckled and scratched it even. To which slugma responded with that anime smile with squinted eyes. When Carlos got to the part of sitting on Geodude¡¯s face the Golem looked at the Geodude with obvious scorn. Carlos didn¡¯t know what to make of this golem. One second he was a fanatical zealot, the next he was a protective, cautious pragmatic leader. The serious undertones in their belief system, their faith jarred with his view of pokemon. It wasn¡¯t something that really came up in the games, anime, or hell even fanfics. After Carlos was done, the golem slowly rocked back and forth, rumbling in thought. ¡±Well even if I didn¡¯t believe you, which i do, and it excites me, Geodude here.¡± another scornful look. ¡°made sure that the persian is out of the cave¡±. He sighed. ¡°Which is all sorts of rocky irony if you knew this lad longer then a day or two¡± The Geodude raised his hands in a shrug with his eyes closed in that typical anime ¡®what can you do¡¯ pose, seeing a geodude doing it was kinda funny. ¡±Hey I''m just as surprised as you boss, i always thought the prophecy was a load of salamence shite. Imagine my surprise when a bloody hewmon straight out of your sacred stone slates, sits on my face, while i take a beauty nap?¡±he rumbled a laugh. ¡°it was a sandy revelation from Arceus himself I tell you.¡± Carlos shuffled uncomfortably, he didn¡¯t know how to respond or act being the center of pokemon religion, least of all as a significant figure. geodude rumbled a laugh and gave Carlos a slight shove. ¡°Im just messing with you dude. It¡¯s a guilty pleasure of mine making other mons and now hew-mons, uncomfortable with my faith, must be pretty overwhelming to know you fulfilled a thousand year prophecy.¡± At which he playfully wiggled his eyebrows and rumbled more laughter. The golem rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation. ¡±Well Carlos this only leaves us with guiding you to the sacred resting place and then you can be on your way.¡± Carlos looked at the golem. ¡°Then what?¡± Golem shrugged, ¡°then you will continue your survival. You will go on a journey you hewmons are so fond of. Arceus was pretty clear in your revelation about your continued survival, meaning that journey is not something I or my flock of rocks can help with. I say it¡¯s pretty clear. Pay your respects to the old honored one and be on your way, back to your kin!¡± Carlos was a bit confused. ¡°Isn¡¯t my continued survival in your best interest? Between here and the next hewmon there must be at least a thousand hungry Pokemon. I¡¯d wager my survival chances are¡­ low.¡± Both geodude and Golem looked at him with blank stares, until a light went up in Golem¡¯s mind. Slugma had dozed off and was sleeping soundly on top of Golem¡¯s round carapace. ¡°Ah it must be quite different in your universe. No except for weak animals, which even hewmons can beat, no mon in their right mind would eat a hewmon. Your blood gives off the worst stench to a pokemon you can imagine. Even to legendary mon¡¯s with the strongest stomachs, too much ingestion of a human¡¯s blood, is lethal. And no one has dared to exhume a hewmon¡¯s body of blood and try a taste of its meat.¡± Geodude added. ¡°Yea it was that stench that woke me up in the first place otherwise i might have slept straight through you sitting on my head.¡± Carlos felt oddly self aware at that. ¡°You guys keep it well hidden, the fact we hu-mans smell so bad I mean.¡± Golem waved his hands/claws. ¡°No no, not your body odor or sweat. Just your blood. Some of us older mon¡¯s like to joke that mon¡¯s in the old days let themselves get caught to safeguard humans from bleeding. Long term exposure, with the exception of dark and poison mon¡¯s, will cause a deep depression and a sense of failure that we mon¡¯s loathe amongst our number. The fairy and grass type are especially sensitive and vulnerable to it. It is theorized that this stress caused them to develop the healing moves.¡± Carlos felt his mouth twitch into a smirk. This was good ammo to have if he ever met a vain confrontational person. Suddenly something in the anime series made pragmatic sense, most evil-aligned people in this world would likely resort to poison and dark types for nefarious tasks. This wouldn¡¯t just be an edgy trope. It made pragmatic sense. ¡°you know it makes sense now why other Pokemon didn¡¯t approach me.¡± Carlos mused out loud. Carlos pondered for a moment what it was that the lady tyranitar had told her hubby. If he had smelled as bad as golem made it out to be. That mega tyranitar must have smelled him a mile away, the dark ish aura he had observed on them like the dark aura he saw on those hyena pokemon. made it pretty clear, that was dark typing. That mega tyranitar from the sound of it, had belonged to such a nefarious criminal group. he didn¡¯t get to think on it long. Golem clapped his hands. ¡°Alright no time like the present! You have prodigious path to walk on! And you¡± he pointed at Geodude, ¡°will guide him to it as punishment for sleeping out in the open, again. I told you a thousand times, the tyranitar fancy geodudes from time to time!¡± Geodude waved him off, Carlos started to get the impression this was some sort of hippie teenager chill and cool but still rebellious Geodude. ¡±I would have done so anyway! Im the one that found him. C¡¯mon Carlos! Time to hop to it. I wager a full day of sleep is plenty for you to heal up!¡± Before Carlos could even get his bearings he was ushered out of the cave, idly he touched the part of his head that had bled. Wondering if he bled a little and that caused his expedient departure. Now that he was ¡°healed up¡± as it were, walking down the mountain felt good, great even. Geodude made large jumping hops. Carlos started jogging to keep up. Whatever was going on he didn¡¯t get winded not even after a half hour of jogging downwards. The trek up the sacred mountain was slightly different. Although still a lot easier then what it would have been back on earth. ¡±No wonder i was so hungry. having gone without food for a day. Back on earth wounds and the exhaustion i felt before sleeping it all off, would have taken months. This TE is something else.¡± ¡±Yea you were knocked out for a full 7 sun cycles. You gobbled down 3 days worth of super berries, usually reserved for our guardians. You don¡¯t have TE back in your universe? Not even a drop?¡± Geodude asked curiously¡±. ¡±no nothing, not that anyone knew of. Wait do you mean 7 sun cycles? I was knocked out for a week?¡± Geodude clapped himself mid hop on the head. ¡°Ow yea a week! I always mix that up with days. So how do pokemon¡¯s use moves then?¡± ¡±There aren¡¯t any Pokemon. I don¡¯t think my world had an Arceus. Probably had a God. Yknow seems to be a thing for each universe. As to why no mons.. we humans lived without it but were far weaker. I assume Pokemon wouldn¡¯t be able to live or exist without TE? From what i can tell, you seem to use a bit of it to shape your rock¡­ skin. Without TE. It would crack right?¡± Carlos shared his observation of watching Geodude hopping around. Geodude plopped down, looked at his hand flexing it. Then he picked up a rock with each hand. One he molded the other cracked once he put pressure on it. ¡°Sacred dragonite balls! You are right, this never even occurred to me!¡± Carlos watched the Geodude have a small change of perspective on how his own universe worked. Many rocks paid the price. ¡±So what is the deal with you guys and the slugma and magcargo? How did that come to be?¡± That question had burned in Carlos mind but he wanted a leveled response and he felt geodude was his best choice. ¡±Ow there was some deal between ol¡¯ timer bosses in the past long before Golem and Maggy took over. No one even remembers but we work together in our duties and it¡¯s worked so far. Besides, molten rock is some serious gourmet that i cannot begin to describe, that burning sensation akin to spicy is something else completely.¡± He dropped his rocks and began hopping again and it didn¡¯t take long for them to arrive. The mountain was cracked in the middle and they came to a stop at the entrance of a ravine. The passage was wide enough to comfortably walk through and on each side two statues were carved out. On one side a non descript man towering high, on the other side a pikachu of the same size as the man each holding out their left hand/paw forward in a stopping motion. The pikachu statue had some very recognizable features like the bolt tail and it¡¯s halmark ears but also some marked differences. It was sleek, in a predatory way. Looking up Carlos estimated each statue carved out of the rockside was at least a 200 feet high. It was giving him vertigo to look up. ¡±Done paying your respects?¡± Geodude asked. Carlos nodded. His arrival in this world had constantly hit him with the reality of a completely different and alien world to the one he was used to and this was just another such an event. The sheer magnitude of it all was overwhelming. Geodude led him into the ravine, a serene silence, with the exception of some humming. Carlos spotted a couple of hovering swords, double swords and a sword and shield, creating a constant hum that reminded him of monks chanting. Geodude gave them a respectful berth. Carlos followed, gave a small bow and hurried after Geodude. ¡°What were those?¡± He asked. ¡±honedge, doublade and aegislash. But these are quite different from their manipulative kin. They stand sigil to the old honored one, lamenting the loss of the previous age and guardians of the dead, you would do well not to accidentally desecrate the site, lest you suffer their wrath. I saw it once, a terrible sight.¡± There was respect but also a tone of caution, awe and for the first time a hint of fear in Geodude¡¯s demeanor. Carlos nodded silently and they traveled the rest of the trek in reverent silence. Carlos had a small cascade of memories trigger. It reminded Carlos of the walk he had made from the parking lot, to stonehenge many, many years ago. Everything about that walk had stood out to him. Thousands of years of rich history is what he had felt, but more then that, there was a stirring, something still alive after all the millennia. And here walking on complete foreign soil he felt that same stirring. the Ravine winded on. Never giving more then a hundred paces of vision. Geodude came to a stop to a massive tombstone but Carlos had his mind elsewhere. The entire place was scarred with deep gashes. Broken boulders, cracks in either side of the ravine, webbing in all directions. Whatever happened here many decades ago, it must have been a battle of epic proportions. His eyes inevitably landed on the tombstone, surprised he could actually read it. ¡°Here lies Reid, dear friend and legendary trainer with his buddy for life, Clancy the Pikachu, strongest of his kin. I dedicate this place to all my fallen brothers and sisters in arms.¡± ¡±Golem (dad)¡±, Carlos finally understood the emotion, ¡°told me he saw the final battle Reid fought, when he himself was but a tiny rock of a geodude.¡± Geodude¡¯s voice became reverent, a glint sparkled in his eyes. In the short time Carlos spend time with this Geodude, he always heard a touch of humor in Geodude¡¯s voice. Giving the impression he didn¡¯t take his life all that serious. Not with this. ¡°This trainer Reid had tracked an aspect of the ghost dragon. An aspect powerful enough to suppress the 3 big birds of the sky and Reid fought it, till it was gone. Him and his team paid for it with their lives, with the exception of his charizard who with the help of our leaders of that time, erected this tombstone. Had Reid failed. The ghost dragon would have been able to fully manifest and the battle of the end times, the usurping of our world would have occurred.¡± Geodude shrugs. ¡°That¡¯s how the old man describes it at least, how much of it is true I don¡¯t know but he made me vow to tell the story as such, word for word.¡± Carlos wasn¡¯t sure what to do with this information. From what he remembered. This reminded him of Red the trainer, He was that a retelling of the story of ash? he wasn¡¯t sure he never read the manga, or at least he didn¡¯t think he did. Now he was faced with the grave of someone real. Someone who fought a battle so great it could have meant the end of the world. And from the looks of it. No human had ever been aware of that fact. Save for a bunch of crazed religious geodude line pokemon and their buddies from the slugma line. He didn¡¯t voice that thought though, in respect for them undoubtedly saving his live and honoring him with food, genuine altruism and what he began to understand as respect for all things living. He simply stood there. Absorbing a small piece of forgotten history of this world. Geodude tapped him and motioned for him to follow him. Carlos was lead back out. Passed the chanting honedge and past the statues. A bit further down there was a small non-descript shrine. geodude casually knocked it over. Revealing a rotten but still functional chest. He pulled it apart and pulled out some wrappings of thick cloth moldy on the outside but surprisingly preserved what was on the inside. He laid it open and Carlos couldn¡¯t surpress his gasp. There lay an old ugly and stiff, from the decades laying in rotten wood, belt. Designed to hold 6 pokeballs. 3 on each side. He knew instantly who this had belonged to. Everything so far had led up to this. For a moment he understood why these geodudes and their crazed golem daddy. And maggy the magcargo. Acted like they did. He couldn¡¯t describe what he felt holding the old belt. Quietly he replaced his current belt. Geodude carefully lifted another flap revealing 3 basic pokeballs. Red and white. They were still in decent shape some scratches but otherwise fully functional. and lastly what could only be a badly banged up pokedex. It was a lot bigger then a smart phone. Especially when you folded it out. He noted a strip of solar panels at the top of the dex that he placed in the sun. After a minute or so, He clicked it on and it whirred into life. Geodude remained quiet giving him time to gather his bearing with the device.
Pokedex type: proto
Running diagnostic: Replace transceiver
Running diagnostic: Scanner functional
scanning: Pokeballs found
register pokeballs? Y/N
Training files: Corrupted
Journal: Partially corrupted
Misc files Intact.
Carlos had to admit. Something about the barebones design, it¡¯s functionality, it¡¯s fallout-esque interface. had him geeking out. Everything about this piece of hardware screamed dependable, durable and he couldn¡¯t quite place why that felt awesome and refreshing. The thing was damaged beyond belief and still it worked in defiance of all that was unholy. ¡°Thank you, this means a lot to me.¡± His voice cracked with emotion. Geodude waved him off. ¡°Don¡¯t be dramatic. im glad all of this is finally over. Do you know what I was doing when you sat on my face?¡± Carlos shook his head. ¡±my official job is¡­ well was ¡®guardian sentinel. Watcher of the prophecy. Basically i was told to keep watch and witness your arrival. That was my job for the last 13 summers.¡± Geodude gave him an expression like that was supposed to explain it all. He rolled his eyes as Carlos apparently drew a blank. ¡±Im a lazy bum but do you have any idea how boring that was? No one to talk to except the occasional pidgey or caterpie.¡± Geodude Sighed, ¡°I may have embellished your story when i first told my rockflock. Partially because i was so done with standing guard.¡± Carlos burst out laughing, all the stress and tension that had built up came loose. ¡±So you decided to give fate a little hand?¡± Geodude did that cheeky ¡®what can you do?¡¯ Pose again. They looked at eachother for a few seconds , before Geodude broke the silence. ¡°isn¡¯t this the part where you ask me to be your pokemon?¡± Carlos chuckled, ¡°no, for 3 reasons, first you are lazy, second you strike me as a pacifist, third you seem adamant about your laziness, which means, me getting you to train, is always going to be an uphill battle and we will both end up resenting each other.¡± Geodude rumbled a chuckle, ¡°good I would have smacked you upside down if you had bothered. Pacifist or not im still a mon, ive got standards yknow?¡± He replied cheekily while winking. Geodude took a moment to think. ¡°You are a pipsqueak when it comes to strength. I advise you to catch mon¡¯s of your own level or lower. Most mon¡¯s listen to wisdom backed by strength and experience. Since you have fighting and dark typing, you would be better off catching a mon with that sort of typing as a first partner.¡± Carlos nodded, ¡°any advice on what sort of mon¡¯s I can keep a lookout for?¡± Geodude thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. ¡°These forests have packs of Mightyena and troupes of Primeape. There is a constant feud between the two, Mightyena are not native to these mountains but they are tricky, tenacious bastards that know how to stay alive.¡± ¡±They often clash, this means that after their many skirmishes you have a straggler here or there as a lone survivor. These stragglers usually end up dead. Both these mon¡¯s depend on a pack or troupe and finding such stragglers should lead to you finding mon¡¯s willing to join you if only for a decent meal and basic companionship.¡± ¡±You might be able to find a lone tyrogue or machop but those are rather solitary and prefer the hermit life. Furthermore there are most likely some skunky¡¯s or honchcrows but those tend to be tricky little shits and maaaybe Nuzleaf but don¡¯t know how they handle the cold of these mountains or you for that matter.¡± Carlos nodded along recognized mankey and by process of elimination assumed the hyena looking creatures he saw ripping a bear apart, were poochyena/mightyena¡¯s, the rest, he¡¯d never heard of before. ¡°Gotta see if that pokedex has some more info¡± he thought while thinking things over. Ruminating on what to do. Geodude tapped him to draw his attention. ¡°One last thing, id advise to stay to the forests and valleys making your way back to your kin. It¡¯s an unwritten rule, the higher you go on any mountain, the more powerful mon¡¯s you will encounter. Most prefer their privacy. Also the forests have the TE fruits which you are gonna need if you wish to survive.¡± Carlos listened attentively, making sure to commit it all to memory. This was valuable information. ¡°alright Carlos thats all Ive got. Good luck Dude¡± he held out one of his hands and Carlos shook it. Geodude squeezed a tad bit to hard and Carlos had to muster a bit of resolve not to flinch. Geodude looked a bit smug. ¡°Just makin sure you¡¯re made o¡¯the sterner stuff¡± he winked. He got up saluted Carlos and turned around and hopped back to his mountain. ¡°Cya Dude! If you ever have a good story to tell, be sure to visit!¡± Carlos watched him hop off, till he was back to being alone. He sighed. One the one hand he was nervous but on the other now that he had his bearings, a bit better prepared, he felt like he could do it. He started walking and it didn¡¯t take him long to stumble on a tree that had those TE fruits on them. Well just one and it was too damn high for him to get. The branches didn¡¯t look like they would support his weight. He took a while to think and grabbed his rope with the grappling hook and after a frustrating 15 minutes of whipping the rope to unhook the hook on the multitude of branches, he finally managed to snag the fruit. It fell into his hands and Carlos looked around but he was alone. ¡°Huh so some things do come easy¡±, he knocked on wood just to be sure. While he was munching on the sickly sweet fruit he saw his normal/fighting TE, go from one third to two third. After he munched about half of the colossal fruit, he wrapped it in some cloth and put it in his pack for later, he took some of the hard jerky and water to wash the nauseating flavor away. He was keenly aware that he would need to eat this stuff if he wanted to survive. However it did little to stave off the feeling of an empty stomach. While he was taking a break he saw a collection of random small bug Pokemon, pidgey¡¯s, rattata¡¯s, ferret and squirel like pokemon, who for the most part ignored him. Their conversations weren¡¯t very riveting either. ¡°Food¡±. ¡°smell?¡± Or ¡°Bad smell¡±. It seemed that not all pokemon had humanlike intelligence. A huge black bird with a wing span of at least 20 feet and with a feathery wide rimmed top hat of all things, flew over the TE tree and glided past it. He spotted the birds agitation at the empty tree but didn¡¯t spot Carlos, as Carlos make himself scarce below the canopy. and the bird kept flying, screeching it¡¯s name ¡°Honchcrow!¡± ¡±honch-crow¡­oooooow as in honcho and crow¡± Carlos groaned at the bad pun and wondered if it was considered a pun in this world as well. He was just wondering if he should perhaps make camp, till he heard some loud sounds of a tree crashing down and now that he was paying attention, screeches and howls. some of it he recognized as the sounds those hyena pokemon made and he decided to get closer. He quickly checked the wind direction and chose to circle around so he had the wind in his face. by the time he managed to get closer he was met with a brutal sight. A large troupe of mankey led by a few primeape¡¯s, he counted 15+, where battling a much smaller group of mightyena¡¯s and poochyena. The fight seemed heavily favored towards the primeape line, who primarily used pokemon moves with a reddish tint to it that seemed to hurt the mightyena¡¯s badly when they got hit or sometimes straight up kill the smaller poochyena¡¯s. The hyena pokemon retaliated mostly with attacks that had a white glow to them. The few cases where a younger poochyena used a dark glowing attack the angry monkeys barely seem to feel it. The only thing that kept the hyena mon¡¯s in the fight, was their superior speed. The biggest ones seemed to create small shockwaves as they moved so fast, it looked like teleporting to Carlos. Just as the primeape troupe closed in for a final rush to kill them all off, they got ambushed by 2 other Mightyena packs. Carlos shivered, he hadn¡¯t heard or seen their approach and their sneak attack landed with brutal efficiency. The fight lasted for a good ten minutes longer but by the end, although the primeape¡¯s were outnumbered 2 to 1 their type advantage and their tenacity, resulted in a draw. Which meant each Pokemon involved, was dead or bleeding out from multiple injuries. Carlos had witnessed the mutual slaughter, the absolute hatred these Mon¡¯s had for one another, for whatever reason. Carlos didn¡¯t take any chances, he made no illusions for himself. Even the runt of these litters could take him down before breakfast. After a few minutes when he was sure of his relative safety, he got up and approached. His system was quick to point out if a pokemon was dying or dead. He kept looking until his eyes fell on a small Mankey that, although unconscious and bleeding. Didn¡¯t have the ¡°dying¡± tag. He grabbed a pokeball and tapped the mankey and a red light dematerialized the Pokemon. his heart pounded and both his innate arceus system and pokedex pinged him with the info.
Mankey Lvl1 Fighting 19/300
HP 1/60 Normal 12/300
Atk 11 A/U/S 4/4/2
Defense 6 A/U/S 4/3/3
Reflex 9 Pugilist
Speed 5 Defiant
Brave Male (Hidden)
Known moves Mankey
Survive Prevents lethal blows
Rage(signature) (U), normal, cardinal
Rage fist (Egg, A) ghost,
Fury strikes (A) normal
Revenge (A) fighting
The arceus system asked if he wanted to supply the mankey in pokeball-stasis. With his normal and fighting TE and he clicked yes. Instantly regretting it, as it sucked almost half of his max of both out of his body straight into the pokeball. The hunger in his stomach became unbearable. ¡±fuck! warm me next time¡±. He grumbled. But the silver lining was that his pokemon was now recovering. he kept looking around until he checked the last body of a poochyena. It showed him ¡°unconscious¡± no bleeding or any other nasty stuff. ¡°Beggars can¡¯t be chosers¡± he muttered and grabbed his second pokeball and the poochyena de-materialized.
Poochyena Lvl1 Dark 3/300
HP 3/40 Normal 45/300
Atk 7 A/U/S 4/3/3
Defense 4 A/U/S 4/3/3
Reflex 9 Fangs
Speed 11 Nimble
Quiet Female (Hidden
Known moves poochyena
survive prevents lethal blows
Howl (U) normal
Bite (A) dark
Tackle (A,U) normal
Shadow sneak (U, egg) ghost/dark
The arceus system didn¡¯t ask him to supply TE. Both his Pokemon showed up on his pokedex that he now had in front of him. It¡¯s system noted them down as recovering. Carlos wasn¡¯t sure what to think but the hunger, went from unbearable to absolute agony. He looked around. Fresh corpses all around. He sighed. ¡°Beggars can¡¯t be choosers¡± he grabbed a big Mightyena and tried, to the best of his abilities, to skin it down from its meat. The quiet was unsettling. He wondered constantly if there would be another mightyena pack show up and sneak him to death but no such thing happened. He started gathering wood and after a while, with his matches, he got a nice fire going. He made a spit and cut a sleek piece of the mightyena¡¯s meat, roasting it. He took a bite, it was flavorless, stringy and dry. The only thing that it had going for it was that it wasn¡¯t chewy or hard, It was tender. Carlos kept roasting slices of meat and horking it down while it slowly got dark. ¡°Wellsssss Sssshaa! issee the foooolllz gotsss themselvesss killlld l¡¯ndit!¡± Carlos looked up and didn¡¯t see anything until a sleek black salamander 5 feet in length, with light purple eyes came into the light of the fire. It was the gleeful sadistic smug look it had, that put Carlos on edge, its maw snapped into a nearby dead poochyena taking a bite. Chomping down, a thin tongue licked its maw as it slithered around with break neck speed. ¡±Whaddds sssaaa yous tsink bosss? Landit. Disss beessssa da ssstarsss hewmonss? The mon that Carlos was now able to identify as a salandit, whatever that meant. spoke to the darkness. Carlos looked intently. The hairs on his neck stood up straight as he heard a heavy slithering and a huge Arbok came into the light. It had a dead mightyena in it¡¯s maw and did what snakes did, swallowed it whole. It smacked its chops. It¡¯s fangs dripping with poison or venom, gleaned in the campfire. It took all of Carlos resolve not to scream like a little girl. He was experienced enough to know the look Arbok gave him, was of a creature not shy to commit atrocities. ¡±AR we Don¡¯t often get hew-mon AR visitorsss BOK, greetingss sstar-child¡± Carlos put all his effort into giving the Arbok a casual smirk. ¡°Greetings to you, mighty serpent, news travels fast around these parts it seems.¡± He wasn¡¯t going to show weakness. He casually brushed his jacket to the side to reveal his beat up pokeballs. Trying to bluff. The Arbok hackled and slithered way to fast for Carlos liking, closer until his massive head was behind him and the arbok¡¯s maw was close to his ear for Carlos to smell its rank breath and it whispered. ¡°Ar i donts tsink a mankey and barking PPUP, BOK will do yyou any good. But worry not!! cautiousss one.AR Ifff I were here to eatss you I woulds usssse a fffoooolish Grimersss BOK lifffe, to purify yourrrrr body of itssss bllloodd. Shi hi hi~~¡± it did its serpent chuckle, casually scooping up a bigger poochyena and swallowing it whole. Carlos sighed in resignation. ¡°Llucky forr yyou i happenss to know, even an exxxhumed humans corsppse givesss me upssset sssstomach¡±. ¡°Eating your trainer didn¡¯t sit well with you huh?¡± Carlos asked casually following it with a dark chuckle. Arbok¡¯s head flicked a 180 degrees in a blip. It looked genuinely surprised for a hot second till it hackled what Carlos assumed was how it laughed. The Salandit joined in. ¡°My, my thatsss a Ffunny things to ssay. Are you offering??¡± ¡°No thanks, besides an upset stomach for you, i don¡¯t think we would get much out of such a partnership.¡± The fact the Arceus system still didn¡¯t even confirm this was an Arbok told him this Mon was somewhere at the same level as the fanatic Golem. Not a good sign. and that Salandit was lvl 15 so no good there either. ¡±Hghrm¡­ a pragmatic one. Well¡¯s can¡¯t ssay I don¡¯t approve ofs yours thinking. Goodsbye sstar child me anddddnmy minions will ttake our leave nnnow.¡± Carlos snapped out of a haze and looked around Dark-black cat-like pokemon with sneaky grins and sharp claws. Grimers and muks were just about done cleaning up or dragging all the dead bodies away. They left Carlos alone, the silence did nothing to calm his nerves. ¡°Weakness fucking sucks¡± Carlos grumbled to himself. He was just about done being at the mercy of whatever he met here in the wild. Meeting the team Carlos huddled next to the fire, even here in the forest it was still cold, working on cutting strips of meat. The adrenaline and coming face to face with a lethal Arbok and his minions, kept him awake. Frustrated, angry and tired. He chopped into the carcass he was working on, all semblance of fine technique gone. ¡°yea stick to the forest Duuuude, you¡¯ll be ok Duuude. Totally won¡¯t meet megalomaniac, sadistic sacks of shit duude.¡± Carlos sighed. Besides the freak meeting with the arbok and his posse, he had in fact not seen a single Pokemon above lvl 7, which was high, all things considered. It didn¡¯t matter, the adrenaline and anger, raged through his system, making him skittish, shaky unable to sleep. He muttered angrily at the fire, the trees and himself, not having anyone else to talk to. The Arbok posse had actually left him with a primeape and one smaller mightyena corpse. Not knowing what else to do, he began a ragtag operation of cutting strips of meat for drying and smoking in the middle of the night. angrily muttering at the primeape corpse, which, surprise surprise, turned out to be tough as dried cow leather. ¡±and why in god¡¯s name do I remember the toughness of dry cow leather!? And not the recipe for gunpowder!! FUCK!!¡± ¡±MUR hey ashole! I¡¯m sleepin here! KROW!¡± ¡±sorry!¡± Carlos yelled. ¡°Totally not sorry, you stupid new Yorker bird¡± he mumbled. ¡±Mur! I heard that! Shit for brain hewmon! Everyone CROW around here MUR knows the poison MUR king has first dibs on mightyena prey! KROW!!¡± The Murkrow flew down from it¡¯s branch. it was lvl 8 and way too strong for Carlos to fight but something told him this was a nice Pokemon. For one, it was only agitated and drowsy by the looks of it, Not murderous. Still a powerhouse compared to him. ¡±and what the HELL is a new yorker bird!? murkrow!¡± It yelled, while perching next to the fire, bristling his feathers. Carlos couldn¡¯t help but notice how his wings had an almost metallic sheen to it, ¡°definitely capable of cutting by the looks of it¡± he thought darkly. Everything here was a potential threat, whether they decided to eat him or not. Carlos sighed and put the knife down. The shaggy rack and rock he was using to make jerky with, was full anyway. ¡°It¡¯s your accent. It sounds like the people living in a famous city where I¡¯m from, called New York. back on earth.¡± The murkrow puffed its feathery chest at the word ¡®famous¡¯. Carlos didn¡¯t catch that though and plopped down exhausted of all the back to back life-or-death situations, thoroughly drained mentally. ¡±I didn¡¯t even know the Poison king existed less then a couple of hours ago, him just sneaking up on me like that with his whole, ¡®you are more amusing alive then dead¡¯, stick, really pisses me off.¡± Carlos did the: ¡®what can you do¡¯ pose, geodude did. It felt oddly fitting for his situation. murkrow coughed in his hand¡­ feathers, wings? ¡±I see you met sleepy rock. Yea don¡¯t beat yourself up, just bad luck for you to meet the snake on his monthly descend of getting tasty snacks, rumor has it he¡¯s secretly riling up the primeape and mightyena¡¯s on purpose, but neither group is listening to reason at this point, too much bad blood.¡± Murkrow hopped closer to the fire, inspecting the meat getting smoked and dried. ¡±whadaya Mur doing aniway?¡± ¡±now he¡¯s doing the accent just on purpose¡±. Carlos thought. ¡±smoking and drying the meat to preserve it so I can eat it later. It¡¯l taste like shit but it will allow me to stay alive if I can¡¯t catch something or find that TE fruit.¡± He sliced a meat of the Mightyena corpse the Murkrow was eying and he threw it, the Murkrow¡¯s beak snapped it up faster than Carlos could blink. ¡±thanks, always wondered what it tasted like, and huh, that¡¯s actually smart. For a kid your age.¡± Carlos chuckled, ¡±I know I look good for my age but I¡¯m like 35 years old. Im far past a kid¡± ¡°Murkrow? What? No you look right around the age i saw dem mur hewmon kids all go on that journey you mur hewmons mur do as a crow coming of age rite. Wait right here I got something that ow can show you. Krooow,¡± The Murkrow flew off and within no time came back with a decently sized mirror. ¡°Huh he likes shiny stuff¡±. Carlos thought. He grabbed the mirror and looked at his own visage. Or at least a face that was staring back at him. It took him a while to place but it reminded him how he looked in the past but at the same time there was something alien about him. He looked way more, savage, not something that could have happened in the few days he had been here. he didn¡¯t have a beard but the onset of it was showing. But the thing that was really weird, is how his hair was so long and all sort off styled back like it was in anime, while still looking normal, if you could call it that. Back on earth this would have required half a bottle of mousse. Another thing that bothered him a lot was that there were subtle changes in his face, more angular with how he had looked at 18. as if he had in fact lived his whole 18¡­? Years in this world. He was also definitely built like a brick as if he¡¯d been juicing on expensive products. The ones that gave that ¡°natural look¡±. He had noticed it before ofcourse but looking himself over in a mirror was, something else. It was weird, he wasn¡¯t vain but it felt very grounding to know he was physically doing ok. But the bags under his eyes were showing. ¡±Well Arceus, praised be his name. Decided I needed to be younger, rejuvinized when falling through the celestial cracks.¡± He gave the Mirror back to the Murkrow who tucked it in the folds of his feathers where it simply stuck. ¡±Mur, oow you the star child everyone is on about, no wonder snaky didn¡¯t eat you. Krow.¡± ¡°What do you mean? I thought it was bad to eat hewmon for pokemon.¡± ¡°Mur, ow sure if you are a star child. The legends of their toxic makeup is well¡­ legendary. The native hewmons who belong to the scum of the earth, are fair game though. Krow¡±. Carlos couldn¡¯t hold his morbid fascination on pokemon food preferences out of his head. ¡°So do you eat the scum humans because they treated you bad?¡± The murkrow got an almost manic glint, a frightening glint that had Carlos flinch. And what the Murkrow said next made him shiver. ¡°Mur Nah star child, krow, their feat tastes good¡­ like muuuuurkrow. reaaalll good, like you wouldn¡¯t believe. Kro The more evil.. mu the better. Murkrow Especially to the dark, ghost and poison types.¡± Carlos shivered, the sick creepy smile on the Murkrow was not something he wanted to have in his mind when he would fall asleep. His questions about how evil a human had to be, to be tasty, was suppressed in favor of a change in topic. ¡±So there must be quite a few star children running around for there to be such knowledge of them being bad to eat?¡± murkrow snapped out of, what carlos feared to be similar to a shark feeding frenzy, and he shook his head a sad glint in his eyes. ¡°There used to be, that collision you speak of it¡¯s well documented by you hewmons and celestial shenanigans take years if not decades apparently. My old Honchkrow used to be on a team with one those star children. They were initially embraced by the other hewmons, He often speaks fondly of her and her upbeat personality. But they were all front and center during the worst of the war. Most of em died as casualties or had accidents afterwards . At least thats how honcho told it¡± Carlos interrupted him by throwing another piece of meat. ¡±What war? I don¡¯t know much of the Pokemon world prior to coming here but I thought this world runs on friendship and Camaraderie.¡± Murkrow looked for the right words. ¡±it¡¯s supposed to yea. Well the war is called the kanto- johto war. but many of the hewmon nations were involved. My honcho and the snake king were part of a team of whom the trainer died, quite a few mon¡¯s here are in fact. Many of the star children had knowledge of this world, they practically wrote the book on war. They understood how to implement violence and a destruction that was unheard of for this world¡¯s hewmons.¡± Carlos didn¡¯t like where this was going. Murkrow kept going ¡±This mountain range is north of kanto and the silvery and chimney mountain. It is designated a reserve, a refuge if you will, for all the Pokemon who fought in that war to find some measure of peace. The young ones such as myself were born after, but most of our parents make sure we know the history.¡± Murkrow spread his wings and flew up. ¡±It¡¯s the biggest reason you most likely won¡¯t meet any of the smarter mon¡¯s who remember, or were taugh. Nothing personal kid, but we don¡¯t want anything to do with you.¡± With one last call of his name. He was gone. ¡°Yea well fuck you too. ¡®Sins of the father¡¯ bullshit mentality is what yall got here, fuck.¡± Carlos felt lonely, not for the first time. He sucked in air and steeled himself. He needed to survive, if nothing else than to spite these unbelievers. ¡±Gods I¡¯m turning into a fanatic already.¡± Even though the Murkrow had cut him with its words, strangely he felt more at peace and finally let himself get taken by sleep. Carlos didn¡¯t know how long he had slept but it was past midday when a screech and an eery howl woke him up. He jumped up and saw a mankey and Poochyena square off and about to pounce one another in rage. Mankey.
Mankey Lvl1 Fighting 270/300
HP 60/60 Normal 300/300
Atk 11 A/U/S 4/4/2
Defense 6+1 A/U/S 4/3/3
Reflex 9+1 Pugilist
Speed 5+1 Defiant
Brave Male (Hidden)
This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Known moves Mankey
Survive Prevents lethal blows
Rage(signature) (U), normal, cardinal
Rage fist (Egg, A) ghost,
Fury strikes (A) normal
Revenge (A) fighting
Brave(nature): increases atk, slightly lowers speed. Cardinal: doubles the power of a move, each living creature has a limit of 4 cardinal moves this mon has 1/7 cardinal moves. pugilist: To fight with fists and feet is natural for this creature 3 fighting moves that directly tie into landing blows can be treated as cardinal moves. All fist or leg moves will benefit from A/U/S as if the move belongs to inherent typing of user. Defiant: instead of lowering stats through status effects, the stats are increased by the same power instead. In combination with pugilist, this mankey will never flinch. ¡±Taunting mankey¡¯s seems like a bad idea¡± Carlos thought. rage fist/revenge: increases in power the more hurt the user is. power of these moves: (11*1.3)*1.4 = 20 further increased by 2% for each 1% missing HP. Rage: Lasts 12 seconds before it needs to be refreshed. the more this mon is hit, the higher the base attack of this mon becomes. Each hit increases rage stacks by 1 and adds 3 seconds to a stacks. Currently has an upper limit of 6 stacks. Each stack adds: (11*0.6)*1.4 = 9.24. All of it gave Carlos pause. ¡°The potential of this little fucker is insane. Fury strikes: hits an opponent with 3 to 5 hits, each hit consumes 10% TE, as long as the chain of strikes is not interrupted, more then 1 second between each hit, each follow up strike will provide +1 to speed. This bonus stacks for 3 seconds until it dissipates, at which point one needs to start from scratch Poochyena
Poochyena Lvl1 Dark 300/300
HP 40/40 Normal 270/300
Atk 7 A/U/S 4/3/3
Defense 4+1 A/U/S 4/3/3
Reflex 9+1 Fangs
Speed 11+1 Nimble
Quiet Female (Hidden)
Known moves poochyena
survive prevents lethal blows
Howl (U) normal
Bite (A) dark
Tackle (A,U) normal
Shadow sneak (U, egg) ghost/dark
Cardinal: This pokemon has 0/10 cardinal moves Quiet: this pokemon knows when to stay quiet, it¡¯s caution increases it¡¯s speed and lowers its attack slightly. Fangs: Any move that involves the fangs of this creature, regardless of it typing, can become a cardinal move and will benefit from A/U/S. Anyone with the fangs ability, has fangs and a maw, strong enough to carry ten times their own weight. The user can have 3 additional biting or fang moves as cardinal. Nimble: all moves that boost speed and reflex, regardless of typing, can be learned, may become cardinal and benefit from A/U/S. 3 additional aforementioned moves, can become cardinal. Howl: lasts 30 seconds, adds +1 to speed, reflex and defense. Affects the whole pack and can stack up to 6 times Bite: dark energy is used to hurt the opponent. Damage is 150% of base atk (10.5*1.3)*1.4 =19 damage. The user of this move can latch on and continuously inject its prey with dark energy. Which deals 3 damage for each point of Dark TE the user injects. Injection of TE ignores half the prey¡¯s defense. Tackle: increases speed of user by 150% for 1 second to deliver a base normal attack. (7*1.3)*1.4 = 12 damage. During the one second tackle is active, the user may use speed, instead of reflex to deflect or dodge blows. May evolve into quick attack and eventually extreme speed. This portion comes in two parts. The tackle requiring 10 normal TE. And the attack requiring 20 normal TE. shadow sneak: disappear into a shadow and reappear into another one of your own choice. An attack made from the shadows ignores half the defense, reflex and speed of the prey targeted. This move requires 60 dark TE. Carlos idly wondered, while looking over their moves, where these two lone Pokemon had come from, it hit him that he was reading their moves. These were his mon¡¯s. ¡±STOP!¡± Carlos had gotten up and yelled loudly. ¡°THERE WILL BE PLENTY OF FIGHTING LATER, STAND DOWN!!!¡± both mankey and poochyena looked startled at Carlos. Carlos didn¡¯t know how he would hold up, in a fight, against either of these mon¡¯s but it wouldn¡¯t be a one sided beatdown on his end so this gave him some measure of confidence, combined with thoroughly being done with his whole situation, he used his anger to stand tall and attempt a commanding presence. The mankey bristled in rage and his super ugly but adorable face, scrunched into a face of anger and rage. Not so cute anymore. He squared off with Carlos this time. Carlos didn¡¯t show any fear. Even if the mankey had almost double his strength Carlos was slightly faster, according to the system at least. He had somewhat of a strategy on fighting the mankey if it came down to it. ¡°How did you two get out of your pokeballs anyway?¡± He reached for his belt and didn¡¯t feel the pokeballs in their holster. He frantically looked around and saw all 3 pokeballs next to a very dead looking fox pokemon, fang bites and a crushed jugular let Carlos know who killed it, his system let him know it was called a nickit. Putting the terrible pun out of his mind, it didn¡¯t take him long to figure out what had happened. Dead dumbass over here, tripped the release of the pokeballs while stealing. Carlos rushed over to the pokeballs and hit the button which forced the mankey leaping at him, to be returned to his pokeball. He minimized the ball and the empty one and held the pokeball for Poochyena in his hand. Poochyena snarled and growled at him, eyeing the pokeball. She cautiously sized him up. ¡±In case you didn¡¯t recognize your new pack leader here is some dried primeape meat. It tastes like shit but it will fill you up.¡± Carlos tried to inject authority into his voice and approached the poochyena slowly. Not flinching when she barked at him or even when she snapped her maw at his ankle. He instead made a lunging motion with a growl, at the poochyena and she used a tackle to create distance between him and her. Realizing she lost the battle of dominance she sat down looking dejected. Carlos sat down and held out a piece of primeape meat. She slowly approached him and snatched it out his hands, took a few paces away and watched him warily. ¡±who you? Poo and where my pack chyena?¡± Her voice tore a bit at Carlos¡¯s guilt it was markedly child like, indicating her young age. Her emotional expression was raw and blunt. What he was about to do in the near future, warred with his conscience. This was a child he was going to train in the ways of hunting, perhaps even battle and war. ¡±I am your new alpha, your old pack including 3 other packs, all died, trying to kill the Primeape troupe.¡± ¡±evil monkeys! Poo¡±she barked angrily, hatred radiated from her eyes.¡± ¡±no, not evil, stupid monkeys.¡± ¡±yes stoopid too chyena!¡± The way it emoted stupid, in such a young and naive way, stabbed at Carlos¡¯s conscience even more, he didn¡¯t have any evidence for what he was about to do but steeled himself, he needed his pokemon to at least be willing to work together.¡± ¡±no only stupid, the poison king spread nasty lies about the mightyena to the primeape¡¯s. Told them that the mightyena said many nasty things about the primeape, said mightyena might even have stolen primeape food¡± ¡±Noo dats a lie! Yena¡¯s don¡¯t steal! We hunt! Proud hunters we are!¡± Poochyena bristled and raised her hackles and growled at the insult. ¡°Let¡¯s ask the mankey to confirm ok? What I just told you, are rumors so they might not be true¡±. Poochyena Growled for a bit more but Carlos could tell she was thinking it over. Eventually she gave a curt nod. Carlos conscience eased a bit. He got up, held out mankey¡¯s pokeball and released him. Mankey was still mid leap and as fate would have it, Carlos had aimed the release in such a way that Mankey slammed into a tree. Poochyena Hackled and yipped obviously amused at the stoopid mankey. Mankey angrily looked around confused but still pissed off ready to dish out some violence. ¡±HOLD YOUR ANGER! What did the poison king tell your troupe, that made your troupe attack the mightyena packs?¡± Carlos spoke quickly, he remembered from the anime that mankey¡¯s had a short fuse at best and patience wasn¡¯t part of their vocabulary. This mankey seemed to follow that trend. ¡±triksy king MAN never said anything! triksy salandit! tolds us of filthy mightyena. Key! He hates triksy king! Man Said so mankey! himself! Me heard so!¡± Carlos almost smirked, ¡°gotcha, this is gonna be easier than I thought.¡± He spoke with a clear voice. ¡°No triksy salandit works for the nasty king. Last night when the fighting had ended and only you 2 still alive, the Serpent king came with his pack, salandit was part of that pack.¡± ¡±YOU LIE!¡± Mankey fumed. ¡±I AM the new alpha! What i tell you is the truth, i swear this upon Arceus himself!¡± This shook both mon¡¯s, they looked up at the sky terrified, when nothing happened. They looked at Carlos with newfound respect. Carlos didn¡¯t understand it but went along with it. ¡±You not lying?¡± The mankey had lowered its fist clenched paws. He looked at Carlos with suspicion but no longer outright rage. ¡±Why would i lie? I am an alpha, i need my troupe, my pack to trust me. How will you trust me if I lie? However I need to know more. What did triksy Salandit tell you. Can you remember the offense the mightyena gave your troupe according the triksy salamander?¡± Carlos inquired. Poochyena had come closer to Carlos and began to growl again but Carlos sat down and scratched her on the top of her hear between the ears. ¡°Calm down girl. Gotta know all sides to know the real truth lie or not¡±. Mankey responded well to the diffusion of aggression by Carlos and his willingness to listen. The strip of mightyena meat helped as well. ¡°il explain later¡±, he whispered to poochyena. She began a soft growl when she picked up the scent and recognized the smell. She gave him a look off: ¡°you beter¡± but let it rest for now. Mankey began regaling all the things, the salandit had told the troupe alpha. Carlos raised his brow quite a few times, and quietly asked Poochyena her side of the story. his earlier made up assessment of the situation, was eerily accurate. Salandit had in riled up the angry monkeys in a very cliche fashion and had pulled all the stops. Sneasel¡¯s had at the same time in a much more subtle way, convinced the Mightyena of the opposite. Some of the things salandit had claimed, sounded so bad, now that mankey was calmly retelling it all, you could see his own brow furrow, a hesitation creep into his simple mind. when he was done he almost looked guilty but one look at poochyena flared his defiance and he started to relapse into anger. The mightyena packs had required a more subtle approach but had similarly been tricked. ¡±alright! Thank you for telling me mankey! This is very revealing, but let me ask you a question¡±. Mankey focused on Carlos intently. If nothing else its single minded focus was commendable. ¡±Do you think laazy triksy snakes and salamanders like to get tired¡±? Mankey shook his head. ¡±Do you think they are honorable like the venerable primeape¡±? Carlos picked up poochyena and put her in his lap, she had started growling in protest at the blatant flattery of mankey, He stroked her fur and scratched her belly that had her grin with her tongue out within no time. ¡°You are a smart girl, you will understand what the alpha is saying once we reach the conclusion. Mankey was shaking his head vigorously over and over to drive home how dishonorable he believed the triksy ones to be. Carlos continued with mankey. ¡°So how do you think triksy mon¡¯s hunt and get their food when they are lazy and dishonest?¡± Mankey furrowed his brow and struck an adorable thinking pose with one elbow resting on an arm, while it stroked its chin deep in thought. Carlos saw a simple minded creature suddenly go above and beyond in deep thought. A thrill went through him. This mankey wasn¡¯t just a meathead he had the potential to be so much more. ¡°Dey¡­ hunts wid triks?¡± He nodded his head at that. Carlos shook his head. ¡°No they are even triksier, they trik honorable, venerable primeape¡¯s strong and mighty to hunt for them.¡± Poochyena had gruffed skeptically at everything mankey had said to mankey¡¯s aggravation but when the explanation resonated to its conclusion, Carlos saw them both reach the same conclusion simultaneously. He saw their hatred reshape before his eyes. It had a new target. The evil poison king. ¡±My god it¡¯s straight out of an edgy shounen manga¡± Carlos mused silently. He continued and put the final nails in the future coffin of the poison king. ¡±after both primeape and mightyena killed or weakened the other enough, the poison king struck and ate himself fat on your both your fallen kin.¡± Mankey got up and roared and started slamming into a tree. Furious about the dishonor. The tree splintered left and right. Poochyena let out a bone chilling howl to the sky that haunted through the forest and the canopy¡¯s of the trees. Carlos felt weird about it. He wasn¡¯t a vengeful person, not by a long shot. However the sadistic smirk the arbok had was something burned in his mind. He didn¡¯t feel guilty about raising the temperature against that monstrosity of a snake. Once they ran out of fumes. Tree down and the forest around them, silent in respect of the loss poochyena lamented. Carlos spotted the murkrow from last night in the distance, a stony expression. Carlos wondered for a hot second if the murkrow would join him, he highly doubted it though, quite frankly he didn¡¯t want to. That was a mon who had straight up sadistically admitted he loved inflicting pain. Living in alaska Kodiak had cured him quickly of his earlier liberal notions that animals were deep down, friendly loving creatures. Once an animal had tasted human meat it changed something about them and you had no choice but to put them down. The horror stories people had experienced and regaled him with, of having to fend off a pack of bold wolves sneaking up to the stroller with their baby in it, he shivered. Carlos hadn¡¯t forgotten about the fact that poison, dark and ghost pokemon had a capacity for evil and were apparently more easily corrupted. Thinking on it a bit, he suspected the Honchkrow it flew with had also been part of a criminal team in the past. He shook his head. He doubted this particular murkrow had any inclination to join him. No he had everything he needed right here. Two young pokemon who had not been taunted by the darkness of this world. He intended to keep his eventual team that way. Free of the taint and stink of evil. He understood that defending his life was going to be a part of it but he had to draw the line not just for himself but for the two mon¡¯s who looked at him with a slight sparkle in their eyes. He felt their trust in him was building too fast but he had no choice but to go along with it. Connundrums of the way. Everyone was glum, grumpy and angry. The group of 3 rag tag ruffians were marching. Moving away from serpent mountain. This was their 3rd day. Carlos thanked his lucky stars that his body had changed to the hew-mons of this world. Carlos doubted he would have been able to keep up the 6 hour march through untamed mountains in his old body. There was no easy path. Often him and his team had to climb small parts of the mountain they were on. Carlos didn¡¯t want to start going around the; bumps in the road lest he lose his way. It was challenging enough to constantly use the sun as a compass. Easy in theory, hard in practice. It took him by the second day to find out that he was on the southern part of the hemisphere. He may or may not have accidentally gone west for a full day, instead of south. ¡°Fuck, I hate being a leader already.¡± Carlos grumbled, everyone was pissed mostly because they couldn¡¯t get revenge, including himself. He really wanted to wipe that smug grin of that arbok. It was something that he couldn¡¯t stop thinking off even 3 days later. ¡±No way, does that litd¡¯l shit get to live rent free in my head.¡± Carlos muttered. No matter the potential of his team, thats what it was, potential. If he could detect the level of a lvl 23 geodude but not arbok, then there was no way they could beat him, not even in arbok¡¯s sleep. Not to mention his posse of psycho cats, kamikaze poison slimes and salandits. at the end of each day, after marching. He had Poochyena run her normal TE dry with tackle and her dark TE doing swipes with her paws at random logs, with instructions to try and make it sharp. He had seen the way a mightyena had casually sliced a bear¡¯s head off with a sharp dark crescent wave. Tackle, simply because he wanted her to know quick attack. She didn¡¯t like to run herself ragged but after the offer of riding on Carlos shoulders in the morning trek of the oncoming march, she threw herself into the training at the end of the day. For Carlos it was training during the morning instead of during dinner. Unlike his mon¡¯s, his TE was thoroughly drained after every march so far. Mankey was told to try and learn detect. Mankey hated it. His species simply couldn¡¯t fight without rage active, messing with the focus required and detect was diametrically opposed to how he thought. When Carlos suggested to use his rage to make sure he didn¡¯t get hit by a tackle, a light seemed to go off in his head. He stopped screeching and seemingly focused. Other then that, he told Mankey to use fury swipes but not full force. He wanted mankey to hit as softly as possible to inflict the least amount of damage. When mankey had protested at the silly alpha, Carlos had smiled so wickedly, mankey hid behind a tree. ¡°If what I suspect works mankey, you will be grateful for the rest of your life. So stick to the training¡±. Mankey hadn¡¯t complained again and started training in controlling the damage output of fury swipes and detect. Failing miserably but at least he tried. Carlos had thought long and hard about Mankey and had come to the conclusion that rage, was a pitfall if not managed properly. It required to get hit six times to fully stack. Reaping the benefits of that was awesome in theory but in practice, easily countered. So far he hadn¡¯t seen many Pokemon last more then 5 moves that landed even with type advantages, like with the now deceased alpha primeape. If mankey could simply hit himself with minimal force with fury swipes to whip himself in a literal frenzy, ala mike tyson. he wouldn¡¯t just stack atk through rage but also speed with fury swipes. Right now fury swipes used a whopping 10% each time Mankey swung. Mankey¡¯s current fighting style drained normal TE fast, which jarred with his actual talent, outlast and outgun. Poochyena had Quite a few moves that only used a flat amount of TE. He theorized Poochyena had better control over her moves but he had no point of reference. The fact that they listened so intently was a blessing in his mind. Carlos was bored with the constant marching, he wanted to really train and figure out the limits of his Pokemon besides the basic training he had them do before dinner. However he knew they needed distance from that sadistic Arbok before it got it into his head to play a game. While walking Carlos distracted himself with reading the partial journal of Reid. Meanwhile Poochyena sniffed and looked for tracks of potential prey, nickits, bidoof, pidgey, rattata¡¯s where on the menu. Meanwhile Mankey was on the lookout for TE berries, he moved from branch to branch from one tree to the next. Carlos was positively surprised that the partially available journal of Reid contained a treasure trove of information. A treasure trove he could use for his pokemon. It wasn¡¯t so much training tips, but Reid¡¯s way of thinking that gave him dozens of ideas for his 2 comrades in arms. The guy had lived and breathed pokemon. A total training nut from beginning to end. Reading about the effort he had put into the training of his Mon¡¯s, the theories, the endless discussions he had with them, the thought of what those training files would have looked like¡­ chills. Carlos felt inadequate towards his team comparing himself to Reid. He didn¡¯t show it to them. They needed him to be strong. Carlos was happy with their progress in regards towards each other over the last few days. O they definitely had a competitive rivalry going on, always trying to beat or one up the other. Hunting hadn¡¯t happened yet, Pokemon and animal gave them a very large birth, Poochyena with her keen sense of smell, found water no problem. Carlos had explained his reasons to both mankey and poochyena, for preserving the meat of their deceased Kin. He had been surprised they wanted to eat the jerky of their own kin instead of the other. Something to do with inheriting the spirit and strength of their pack or troupe. This was a ritual for both. They had eaten the meat only in solitude. Carlos had heard the soft sniffles of poochyena on a few occasions. She was definitely a hound with fangs so to speak, she had to be but she quickly began to show a softer side Carlos hadn¡¯t been ready for. It caught him off guard how much she needed physical contact. How much she still needed a parental figure. even his stern comments about some of her more mean spirited pranks on mankey were uncalled for, she absorbed without complaint. To Carlos who was/had been a parent, it was quite obvious, the pranks were only half hearted, and subconsciously a way for Poochyena to get more attention and guidance from him. He knew from his own experience in raising dogs, that canines, like poochyena needed this. They needed to know exactly where the boundaries were, otherwise they grew restless and eventually aggressive. He suspected something very dark about one of the mightyena he had stripped for meat. He really didn¡¯t want to think about it, he definitely didn¡¯t ask. He silently gave her the treatment she came for. Mankey was less emotionally dependent, he said something about his parents being absolute douchebags, He liked scratches though. And both refused to sleep in their pokeballs. All 3 huddled together in his sleeping bag tent, it smelled bad, but it was warm and toasty. Both pokemon reacted overwhelmingly positive when he did simple things such as saying: ¡°good job¡± or ¡°your best is all I want¡±. He hadn¡¯t heard mankey sniffling while eating the jerky, mankey usually found a branch in a tree for himself during dinner and ate it quietly, it would be a mistake though, to think this didn¡¯t affect him. Mankey was simple but with depth. A small river that ran deep. All three had spoken sporadically but had taken the 3 days so far to reflect and digest everything in shared silence. It cut into Carlos raw, the depth of emotion both pokemon tried to hide from him, they put up a front of dependability, which he understood quite well. As a man and husband, he had been quite traditional. Sure he was a powderkeg of emotion, but he had been forced early on in life into stiff-upper-lip mentality by necessity. He imagined it was the same in a pack or troupe. The pack/troupe needed all members to perform, no matter how young. He remembered how humans in the early days, before sticks and stones, had to run and outlast prey. The whole group had to run along, the young and elderly included. The anime skipped over the harsh reality of wild pokemon. He vaguely remembered a war being mentioned due to osmosis of that electric gym leader he couldn¡¯t remember the name of, being a lieutenant. The whole show had been during peace times with this happy go lucky mentality of elders sending their 10 year olds on, what should be, a life threatening journey. Everyone the protagonist met, seemed to be brimming with altruism and kindness, with the exception of evil teams. Carlos had jotted down a few things. Team rocket the lava and water dudes that either wanted to evaporate the ocean or the opposite. Something about a king with his tiny flower pokemon, and team plasma but who and what they were he had no clue. He sighed. He hoped that as far as timeline, he was either at the very beginning to prepare or at the end of it all, not slap dab in the middle. He put his ruminations in his pokedex and continued reading the journal of Reid the trainer. He was surprised to find out that all Pokemon. Either had normal or ghost typing. Living or dead. In a way, that made sense. and from all the snippets mentioned in Reids journal, he made himself a graph with all the peculiarities of each typing.
Normal: 25% increase to TE, Defense, HP, reflex 1 to 1 ratio conversion for all types except psychic and ghost Normal moves against ghost types have their speed cut in half. Rock: 50% increase to HP and defense A/U/S boosted attacks cause flinching and crits are trippled. 1 to 1 ratio with ground and steel typing, imune to poison & burn
Fire: 100% increase to attack A/U/S boosted attacks cause burning Immune to burning and resistant to freezing Flying 50% increase to reflex and speed A/U/S boosted attacks cause gusts of wind that will fling lightweight Pokemon away In TE boosted flight, a Flying pokemon will increase its speed up to double in a descent.
Water: 50% increase to defense and HP A/U/S boosted attacks cause Knock back and drenched 1 to 1 conversion with ice type Psychic A/U/S boosted attacks gain 100% speed Immune to sleep & confusion
GrassTaken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. 25% increase to HP and TE. A/U/S boosted attacks cause spore effects based on move. Quickly regenerates TE and HP in forest or sunlight.1 to 1 conversion with fairy type. Bug 100% increase to TE. A/U/S boosted attacks cause 1 to 1 ratio with poison and ground. All bug types have 1 shed skin use per day.
Electric 50% increase to speed. A/U/S boosted attacks cause paralyze Speed is used for reflex. Electric types don¡¯t have a reflex stat. Electric typed special moves, double their speed. Except vs rock, ground or against a mon with the grounding ability. Ghost All Ghost moves ignore half the defense of their target. A pure normal type doubles its defense against ghost types. All ghost pokemon can fade. Fade doubles speed and reflex for a ghost Pokemon. Fade does not work against Dark type.
Ice: 100% increase to defense A/U/S boosted attacks cause freezing and frostbite Ice typed moves ignore dragon type defenses. Dragon 100% increase to HP A/U/S boosted attacks cause burning, or bleeding
Fighting 50% increase to Hp, atk & reflex A/U/S boosted attacks can be normalized. Fighting types are hard to kill, only 25% instead of 50% of maximum TE is consumed when fainting. Dark: 50 % increase to speed and reflex A/U/S boosted attacks cause defense and reflex to be lowered, doesn¡¯t work on fighting or bug typed Immune to any status effects inflicted by fairy, ghost or psychic typed moves
Poison 50% increase to speed and reflex. A/U/S boosted attacks cause poisoned status Immune to poisoned status Steel 150% increase to defense Immune to poisoned status.
Ground 50% increase to HP and Defense A/U/S boosted attacks cause blind and reduce speed. 1 to 1 ratio with rock and steel type. Immune to poisoned & burn Fairy. 100% increase to reflex A/U/S boosted attacks cause drowsiness, enough drowsiness causes sleep. All fairy typed moves with a status effect ignores half of a mon¡¯s defense.
It was a lot to unpack. Broadly, people in this world had 3 categories for typing. multi types : a mon with 3 or 4 typings one of which was normal or ghost a double type: a mon with 2 typings, of which one was normal or ghost. and Pure typing: obviously there were pure normal types and ghost types but there was a third variant. this variation still had normal as a typing but had been evolved using a evolution stone. These pure type mons still had their respective normal typing TE. but no longer increased their reservoir with level up or training. Their physical makeup had changed drastically so much so that normal type no longer affected their physical makeup. This process didn¡¯t work with ghosts. As an example. Pikachu and Raichu. Raichu, the kanto variant, was considered pure electric. After it had evolved using an evolution stone, it stopped increasing normal TE, when it increased its strength and level. This had pro¡¯s and cons. The biggest, was that Raichu lost it¡¯s vulnerability to dragon moves. The biggest downside of this was a fundamental shift in their character when done too early. Many trainers ended up abstaining from using an evolution stone. Since the bonding with said pokemon usually had to start over. Dragons typing was effective against normal which meant dragon types had a massive advantage and were usually apex predators that everyone had to take into account, when forming a team. Because humans were disproportionately pure normal types, dragons, in the back of their mind, always registered humans as prey. Which made training and bonding very difficult, unless you had been born with fighter or dragon typing. ¡±Huh nice to know I have the option¡± but Carlos kept reading. Pure non normal-typings were one of the answers trainers far and wide had begrudgingly accepted for partially dealing with dragons. Reid wrote quite in depth about Raichu¡¯s reputation in the kanto region for their ease of access. It sounded complicated but it was simple to remember. Each TE a pokemon had access to, was a typing it had in its physical makeup. It¡¯s body as such, had resistance or weakness against the various typing¡¯s based on that. Both Carlos¡¯s mons belonged in the double type camps. What the anime/games did get right is that mankey got its attack STAB bonus, only with fighting or what his system referred to as A/U/S multiplier. The exception to this was normal type. Only pure normal types or mon¡¯s with the normalize ability gained the normal type provided stat boosts and the normal TE specialty of efficient energy conversion into other types. Reid considered the fact that Pure normal types had such a ludicrously large pool of moves to pick from, it¡¯s best ability, often calling it 3 abilities in one. He mentioned wanting a powerful ursaring but never found one that wanted to join. To prove his point about the power of pure normal types, he had a video linked of ratatta/raticate trainer/breeder. The video was of a trainer who exclusively trained kanto based rattata and raticate as part of his team and had his own reserve/breeding farm for them. Everyone thought he was a moron, a joke of a trainer. When a wild mega-Salamence and his murder flock, had decided to come down from the mt Chimney for a snack, their eyes had fallen on the rattata reserve. Lance and the other elite four. had been called in to deal with it, everyone expected raticate whisperer to die. Lance and the elites rushed in. Only to be met by the entire Salamence murder flock, brutally murdered by 6 simultaneous gigantimaxed alpha Raticates. The video showed their arrival right as a giant raticate, whisperer¡¯s ace, used extreme speed or its dynamax version and barrel straight through a fleeing salamence. Blood and gore everywhere. No one called the raticate whisperer a joke after. The best part of the video was that the Raticate whisperer shoed the elite four off his property straight after, stating ¡°you are scaring the little ones.¡± Carlos couldn¡¯t help but laugh out loud at the video. He showed the video to mankey and Poochyena, who immediately adopted a tag and chase game of ¡°kill the salamence¡±. As a side note. Quite a few Pikachu¡¯s , including Reid¡¯s pikachu, had the normalize as a hidden ability. But it was very difficult for them to master. Other than that, normalize could be triggered for anyone with normal typing but this was exceedingly difficult. ¡±So that¡¯s why ash¡¯s Pokemon could just spam thunder and lightning bolt. Huh, the anime must have been some sort of celestial inspiration when our universe¡¯s started to collide¡±. Carlos digressed his own thoughts and kept reading fully engrossed. Reid had a lot to say about his mon¡¯s, his secondary ace Charizard especially. A charizard gained A/U/S with fire and flying. now here came the part that made most, go gaga over multi types. Especially quad types like charizard. Each typing provided a bonus to the mon¡¯s base stats or as reid called them, aspects. These bonuses did not get averaged out. At all. In mankey¡¯s case he received a 50% increase to his HP, atk and reflex stat due to fighting. And no benefits from his normal typing except that ghosts did a bit less damage and dragons a lot more. A fighting pokemon could normalize fighting moves without the normalize ability, this was mostly handy to get a advantage against poison types and nullify its disadvantage against fairy, psychic and flying. It really felt like Fighting was kinda busted. With more advantage than disadvantage. A charizard as far as base stat increases, which it would get, starting as a charmander including the dragon & flying type bonus, even though a charmander didn¡¯t actually have the actual TE yet. Received a whopping 100% due to fire typing to atk. 100% to HP due to dragon typing. And 50% to speed and reflexes due to flying. and if you managed to unlock normalize as a hidden ability, all the bonuses from normal as well. advantages and disadvantages of type damage, unlike the anime, didn¡¯t stack like in the games for 2x or 4x but averaged out. If a dragon move was used against a charizard, who had 4 typings influencing its physical makeup. The damage averaged out from 2x due to normal + 2x due to dragon + 0.5x due to flying + 1x due to fire = 5.5/4 = 1.37. Aka leading to a 37% damage advantage. That was significant, but to a high level Pokemon, nothing more than something to counter. A charizard could get hit for reasonable damage by pretty much all types. Very few typings, had below 80% damage against a charizard. But only dragon did 37% extra damage. Rock did 75% extra damage but Reid couldn¡¯t remember the last time his Charizard got hit by a rock move. The battles Reid described, definitely noted this typing advantage, but he focused heavily on strategy and tactics vs types and their usual moves. actually having to rely on type advantage was rare for him. He couldn¡¯t repeat it enough. If a move didn¡¯t hit, it didn¡¯t matter. There was another thing. Reid referred to levels as 4 stages and how far along a Pokemon was in each stage. Delta, (lvl1-25). Beta, (lvl26-50). Gamma (lvl 51-75) and alpha. (Lvl 76-100). this had a massive effect on Pokemon size. It explained why the zealot golem, sadistic arbok and mega tyranitar, had been so much bigger than the anime portrayed them as. Reid¡¯s pikachu deep into alpha, had been the size of a black bear from back on earth. It was definitely a better explanation than magical plot armor. Considering his pikachu loved picking fights with the local salamence. Sometimes to challenge itself an alpha onix. these 4 stages, also coinsided with the natural evolution with most Pokemon. Into its final, mega evolution, which was permanent in this world. and then there was omega for legendary. Roughly 8 times more powerful then a lvl 100. mythical 8 times more powerful then legendary, and whatever Arceus and his crew was. dynamaxing was a thing in this world. Apparently it applied to all mon¡¯s. Extremely difficult to do but it allowed an alpha mon to reach omega level for about a minute. Back to ¡°normal¡± pokemon. The way the 4 base stats, HP, and TE increased. was a minimum of 10% increase per level. Stats had 24 points, spread evenly that set atk, def, reflex, speed. All at 6. Not all mon¡¯s had them spread equally. every mon started with base HP of 40 and 600TE in total, at level one. All these aspects, could be trained further for a total of 20% per level. No matter how hard Reid had tried, 20% was the upper limit for each aspect. And he had only managed an average of 3 maxed out aspects of 20% per level, which he had lamented. Reid felt that something was missing. He blamed it in part, that he only gained poke-speak years after he had aquired his team. According to Reid many considered multitypes or dragons to be superior. Multi-types could train their TE and compensate for their lack of cardinal moves with massive reservoirs of TE. Dragons came with massive typing advantages simply because such a large number of pokemon, were vulnerable to dragon moves. Reid talked about the pros and cons of the 3 types of mon¡¯s, Pure, double or multi. Multi mon¡¯s usually had no complicated strategy, because they had overwhelming aspects. His opinion on the matter was that it was all balanced. Many abilities double types or pure types got abilities, which he considered, broken. Especially defiant kept getting mentioned but none of the available journal alluded to why. As a matter of fact he was of the opinion that defiant in combination with rage on the mankey line, was completely slept on. He had theorized a primeape, well trained, and its almost natural tendency to learn revenge, counter and rage fist. Could potentially take out a legendary in a double take down without having to dynamax from the alpha level. ¡°How the hell is a primeape, supposed to do a double take down on a legendary. Considering the power levels he¡¯s talking about¡±? Carlos scratched his head. He understood with what mankey had as a base, how he hit harder and harder the more he was hurt but taking down something 8 times more powerful? He was missing a lot of context. But it didn¡¯t frustrate him. Knowing that a ¡°simple¡± mankey had such potential in the eyes of a legendary trainer, gave him the assurance that it really didn¡¯t matter who decided to tag along with him or who he felt would be a good fit on the team. As long as they wanted to grow stronger there would be a way, as a trainer he would have to find that way. For Poochyena he was thinking an evasive slippery hunter with utility buffs outlasting opponents without ever getting hit. It hadn¡¯t gone unnoticed that whenever she howled, him and mankey gained the bonus of howl as well. She was less defined then Mankey but Carlos believed she needed to find her groove. Her naturally high speed due to her dark typing and her quiet nature, fit well in Carlos¡¯s opinion on what path to take for her. it seemed straightforward that she would quite naturally turn into a prowling unseen huntress. He kept reminding himself that he had to be careful in his approach. The girl mon was far too eager to please her alpha. He wanted her to follow a path she herself wanted to follow. Carlos closed his pokedex and tucked it away. He looked at the setting sun and called for his Pokemon to halt. ¡±Alright time to set up camp you both know the drill! Chop to it!¡± ¡°Yes boss!¡± They both chimed. Carlos smiled and for the first time as their boss it felt natural. He knocked on wood. ¡±We might just make it.¡± Not every danger is the violent sort Not much happened during the next two days. As far as life or death. The training went well, as far as Carlos could tell. Mankey had a decent grasp on detect compared to a couple of days ago but his efficiency and mastery was still piss poor. Even with Mankey¡¯s superior talent he burned through 20% of his TE, by over focusing and only had about a 10% efficiency, compared to the efficiency Carlos had with the move. Poochyena kept up a front of strength and dependability but it was clear that a mon wasn¡¯t meant to run itself dry each day. Her constant training with using tackle had actually upgraded it to a cardinal move and also granted her quick attack, which wasn¡¯t a cardinal move yet but belonged to the cardinal domain of tackle. Both the moves had a huge overlap. quick attack and tackle would both count as 1 cardinal move if poochyena could master it. Both mons had also gained their first level. To Carlos¡¯s surprise, this also leveled him. Although his stat increases were way less than the mon¡¯s. He was mostly shocked that both had 3 aspects that had gained a whopping 20% Updated in pre chapter notes
Quick attack: (U/A)eligible for nimble ability
A utility move. Buff your speed and reflex by doubling both for 1 second. May follow up with unmodified normal attack. Or another attack move known by user. utility mastery: novice utility cost: 10% +50 flat normal TE.
Poochyena was terrible at quick attack, much like Mankey was bad at detect. She couldn¡¯t keep up with the speed and often overshot her target or tumbled onto her snout. Which she hated. All her focus was now on mastering quick attack. Mankey on leveling up. gained 20% in HP, Defense and his TE. Mankey hitting himself in secret to test Carlos¡¯s theory of a berserker build, paid off. His smug smile was absolute. He had won, the boss mon had lost. All the aggravation Carlos had felt when he caught Mankey pummeling his own face behind a tree, had been for naught. ¡±Yea keep smirking you smug bastard. Wait till I figure out how to make you suffer.¡± Carlos muttered darkly but in jest. If anything, it only encouraged Mankey. He feigned a jab to his own jaw teasing his boss mon and pretending to faint. Carlos chuckled at his antics but let Mankey have his victory. Poochyena gained her 20% in TE, reflex and speed. Somehow his basic training routine and the constant marching had caused this but how, was a complete mystery. If the partial journals of Reid were anything to go by, getting 20% in 3 aspects had been exceedingly difficult for him. Carlos chalked it up to his own mon¡¯s being low level delta and Reid mostly talking about alpha mon¡¯s. Regardless of Poochyena¡¯s struggles with quick attack. She seemed to have won a ongoing competition between her and Mankey, who¡¯s victory of leveling was quickly getting soured by some underhanded comments from Poochyena. ¡°Hey poochyena, it¡¯s not entirely fair to make a contest, when you trained something you are already good at and meant to be good at, while Mankey is learning 2 things at once that are diametrically opposed to how he thinks.¡± Poochyena took it like the big girl she was and stopped making teasing underhanded comments to Mankey. Carlos continued: ¡±That¡¯s right. We are a pack now. The pack has eachothers back. You both might need to trust eachother with your life. In such a moment you should not feel doubt but comfort from one another you hear?¡± She nodded. ¡±besides I told you, it¡¯s a BAD idea to train taunt, on Mankey.¡± ¡±Yes alpha. Pooch I won¡¯t tease mankey as much from now on¡± she walked over to the pouting monkey and gave him a playful headbutt. Mankey grumbled but playfully shoved her while looking the other way. Carlos sighed, feeling melancholic but satisfied. ¡°The two of you will be just fine¡± he thought. As they settled down for the night on the 5th day. Carlos called Mankey over. ¡°Hey sit down and let me show you something¡±, Carlos waited for mankey to sit. He got up and showcased a simple block and counter motion Carlos had learned from observing kickboxing in his many sparring sessions. His own style back on earth was an extreme version of karate, that still taught lethal moves. However Carlos felt that kickboxing or hell, if he could find it in, tai boxing would be a beautiful style for Mankey. He showed the motions a dozen times and sat down. ¡°Tell me mankey, what was the most important part?¡± Mankey didn¡¯t think long. ¡°Punch the punch so you can punch the face.¡± Carlos had to suppress a chuckle. In a way Mankey was right, blocking or deflecting an incoming attack, was basically: ¡°punching the punch¡±. ¡±Correct I¡¯m punching the punch but no. The most important part are the feet. Look again but only at the feet this time.¡± Carlos showed him again. Mankey looked at Carlos feet and didn¡¯t get it. So Carlos showed him again. By the 7th time Carlos got bored of showing it slowly and sped up. By the 12th time he was going full speed forgetting he was trying to teach Mankey footwork. It felt nostalgic to go through the exercise again. ¡±OO!! Me gets it! You kicks ground without lifting feet. to make punch, go punchy punch!¡± Carlos was elated that mankey got it. Even though the words he emoted were simple. The fact he understood that footwork needed your feet to never leave the ground so quickly, was evidence of the depth of his latent talent. If Carlos had to he honest he was a bit jealous. It had taken a while for him to truly comprehend the importance in theory. ¡±Yes kicking the ground like I did without feet leaving ground is called footwork.¡± ¡±Me calls it kicksdirt. Easier to keep in head. Footswork too long a word¡± Carlos was about to correct him but he stopped. He had no idea how mankey¡¯s brain worked. And as long as Mankey understood the concept, the term didn¡¯t matter.¡± ¡±Ok kicksdirt easier for the mind. Now mankey I will now show you a series of punching the punch to punch the face. follow my lead ok?¡± Carlos looked at Poochyena who was observing. ¡±Hey girl come over here and observe. You might get something out of it. If nothing else, it will teach you how bipedal pokemon fight.¡± She nodded and trodded over and made herself comfortable. ¡°Ok im going to show you the first kata of karate ok?¡± and so Carlos worked through a series of flurries of blocks, counters and punches. He told Mankey to adjust for his body type and the jealousy Carlos felt for mankey¡¯s latent talent flared. The little furball was a Mike Tyson in the making. It didn¡¯t take long for Carlos to be drained of all the kata¡¯s he knew from the few years of karate. He improvised more complicated and complex blocks and counters, telling mankey to practice it. Seeing Mankey¡¯s eyes glitter as he absorbed it all was a reward in of itself. ¡±Dis makes me tingly on the inside boss.¡± ¡°Im glad it does Mankey. Im glad it does¡± Carlos responded while absentmindedly giving poochyena belly rubs. The next day they got up bright and early and began their march. In some ways the routine was comforting. Carlos checked his bag and noted that their supply of jerky was dwindling fast. Running your mon¡¯s ragged makes them hungry. They had found a TE fruit but none of them had liked the idea of eating it. It was the ultra sweet one. Everyone hated the flavor. Carlos was a bit of a sweet tooth but this atrocious thing pretending to be a fruit was an insult to the sophistication of sweetness. It felt like he was biting into sugar. Both his mon¡¯s had aggressively refused to eat it at first. Eventually they had bargained him down to a shoulder ride for an entire morning. So Carlos was stuck on a hot day. With two of the smuggest furballs this side of the mountain, sitting on his shoulders. Carlos had a very stern face, a face that promised some very tough training tonight but secretly he was happy that these two had been so assertive. In hindsight the fruit might have been more torturous than he gave it credit. Poochyena had struggled keeping her breakfast down. And after 2 quick dismounts and barfing, Carlos decides that the sweet TE fruit wasn¡¯t worth the time. When reaching the top of a large hill side, they were greeted by a huge valley with 3 rivers converging into a big lake. Even from this distance he saw many water pokemon, grass pokemon and normal pokemon. A verdant paradise. Carlos felt the relief settle in. They could rest here. Recuperate from their mental fatigue. His eyes roamed the huge valley. Slowpoke¡¯s, psyducks, oddish and their evolutionary forms including some pokemon thar were unmistakably fairy types. The ethereal aura they had was palpable. Although he had no clue what their names were. The long hillside that stretched a few miles in each direction. Was the home of a Diggersby and Lopunny colony. many holes had been dug out, hobbit style. Each hole sported flower decorations and small little gardens with vegetables and fruit bushes he didn¡¯t recognize. It looked cozy, friendly and lovely. It felt surreal looking at this peaceful life. At first glance the lopunny were a furry, hot, sexy rabbit woman. However any and all deviant notion that might have popped up in his head as an intrusive thought, got thoroughly crushed within the span of time it took one Lopunny, to leap from the bottom of the hill, to the top and shake his hand before his mon¡¯s could react. She flashed a smile with razor sharp Piranha teeth, that she retracted and immediately replaced with human looking teeth. ¡°Two sets of teeth¡± Carlos thought, slightly freaking out. She bend forward and whispered into his ear. ¡±Lo~ hey there¡­ sexy¡± she teased with obvious over the top sultry tones. Her eyes told Carlos she enjoyed teasing him. It felt like he was staring at a lethal viper.¡°Puuuny~ We don¡¯t often get visits of such a ¡­ tasty male morsel of the hewmon¡¯s~. whats a juicy bite like you doing all alone?¡± Both Mankey and Poochyena growled and bared their teeth in anger. ¡°Away you creepsy female! You cant eats him!¡± mankey yelled. Poochyena growled. ¡°GET your FILTHY paws of him you F****** SL**!¡± Carlos hand snapped Poochyena¡¯s maw closed before she could say that last word. ¡°Are you nuts!? You can¡¯t talk like that to someone!! Where did you learn that anyway? Poochyena stubbornly kept her mouth shut, and scoffed. Carlos was really touched though by his pokemon so readily protective of him. The lopunny didn¡¯t seem to be bothered, laughed even. ¡°Ow don¡¯t you worry tasty hewmon. We carry that title with¡­. Pride. I think it¡¯s cute, how possessive she is of you~¡±. Poochyena stammered and Carlos swore he saw a pink tint to her cheeks. Lopunny shrugged. ¡°This is in our nature. Much like howling at the moon is for you little girl~¡± her tone of voice unironically reminded Carlos of Jessica Rabbit. She turned to him again striking a sultry pose. ¡°You haven¡¯t answered my question ~ are you one to keep a dame waiting~Looopuny~?¡± Her voice went low and soothing. So smooth. So sweet. Carlos smacked himself in the face and snapped out of it. ¡±what the fuck did she just do?¡± He wondered. He answered her question with a bit of a tease himself. ¡±ow you know, me and my mons are just taking in the sights. decided we should go on a leisurely hiking trip in the mountains. Can¡¯t say I¡¯m disappointed so far.¡± ¡°My, my, quite the resistance you got there. Definitely not like the other few hewmons I met in my life. But come along now, I would be remiss in not inviting you to my old man¡¯s place.¡± She began strutting down the mountain. Carlos, with his guard up. Decided to follow along. Carlos&co walked into bunny town. The bunny pokemon were very cute but incredibly touchy. The Buneary were all over Mankey pulling on his fur, shyly offering him flowers, which he ate but spat out. The goofy Diggersby, were all trying to show Poochyena their attempts at digging holes. However Carlos had not been prepared for the dangers of the Pokemon world. The young Lopunny were all over him. The Lopunny, were the very definition of sultry and seduction. From the looks of it, the Diggersby were the homesteaders, digging the holes out, turning them into living spaces and sometimes beautiful hovels. It was not a pleasant experience. It terrified him and he began to stammer his way through each conversation. unable to focus on simple thoughts. Poochyena and Mankey tried, without success, to pull him out of the mess. This went on for a bit until a larger, older? Lopunny walked up to the scene, fuming at the young Lopunnies. She ruthlessly whacked them all. Apparently they had been using a born ability on him. Most Lopunny were born with a ability called cute charm. His dark typing gave him some form of immunity but not to the extend of a full fledged pokemon and getting bombarded by multiple sources of cute charm was too much for his innate resistance. Each lopunny guilty of using it, including the one that had initially greeted him, was forced on their knees and made to apologize. Carlos had no idea how to respond but he was glad it was over. The older Lopunny explained it was a huge faux pas in Lopunny / diggersby society, to use it on someone, without their consent. Most Lopunny had cute charm and from what Carlos could tell. They were all female. The diggersby pokemon, were all male from what he saw. This seemed to be a safe place for them because judging by the numbers of bunnelby and buneary. They multiplied like rabbits on earth. There was a LOT. The female bunnies were definitely higher on the scale of intelligence and if Carlos didn¡¯t know any better he would say the Lopunny, had on average a higher IQ than him. The initial Lopunny, a lot more humble and reserved in her demeanor. Finally brought him to a gorgeous hovel of a hole and lead him inside. She kept apologizing and begged Carlos not to tell her mom. Carlos shrugged and agreed. Carlos was greeted by a huge, friendly and overly fat looking Diggersby. His home was littered with simple furniture and it created an incredibly cozy atmosphere. His mate for life, the mother, was all over the goofy looking diggerby, constantly complementing his girth. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°well whatever floats your boat¡± Carlos thought. The freakishly powerful bunny couple, warmly welcomed him and invited him for dinner. The food was amazing but for some reason his memory was hazy of that night. Sleeping in a soft bed had him knocked out completely. When he woke up it was midday. One particular Lopunny that day, who was born without cute charm, was appointed to him as a liaison to prevent any unfortunate accidents. ¡°Lo Don¡¯t worry Carlos, I¡¯l protect you~ from those slutty sisters of mine~. Punny~ You are lucky the gardevoires Lopunny left not that long ago. Those whores were really freaky¡± ¡±Note to self, never catch a lopunny or whatever a Gardevoir is¡± Carlos made a mental note. Mankey POV ¡°By the 7th day, the alpha saw that the work was good and blessed the patch of bunny fur he had slept upon stating, and I quote: We are resting today.¡± Mankey was telling his dead-dad, quietly in his head-mind. Dead-dad wasn¡¯t as bad as he told the boss-mon. But dead-dad had told him clearly, never show your softies to the boss of the troupe. ¡°The new soft-boss is mysterious in his ways. Today the creepy bunnies brought us to their food. Grass pokemon. The weak grass mon¡¯s we were surrounded by, tasted like grass and will never grace the insides of my mouth ever again.¡± Mankey shivered, remembering the anger of boss-mon. ¡°Boss-mon sure wasn¡¯t happy I bit someone¡¯s butt. He became scary again just like when he told me he wanted me to hit myself. Stupid meganium, her fat ass wouldn¡¯t miss a bite. I tried hitting myself when Boss-mon wasn¡¯t looking even though he told me not to. He thinks I need to hit softer first. But you know me dead-dad, I had to try and it works! I don¡¯t need to hit others for the mind-fog to go away! But then boss-mon found out and he got super scary again. I don¡¯t know how he does it. he isn¡¯t super-strong or nasty-triksy but he¡¯s still scary-strong.¡± Mankey grumbled and mumbled deep in thought. he struggled putting his tingle deep thoughts and conversations he had with his dead-dad into actual words. When boss-Mon-Carlos called him deep. it tingled far in his mind, his himself. All that fire he had inside, all that desire. All the knowing, all the words, he didn¡¯t know how to express or use. It frustrated him to no end. He felt the soft hand of boss-mon plop down on his head, scratching behind the ear. Felt good. ¡±I think I know what you can improve mankey, you have lots of anger and rage. A fire inside right?¡± Big-boss-mon was big but soft. But his voice was deep and hard like stone. Boss-mon¡¯s eyes looked at him and saw his inside fire, his inside himself. Boss-mon eyes always made his fire warm and calm. Mankey nods. Mankey knew that fire ever since he could think. ¡°the fire guides you. But you don¡¯t guide the fire and then the fire begins to consume you. Eat you on the inside. If you don¡¯t guide the fire, the fire burns you and you get mad. No longer angry but failing and weak. When fire wants to guide, you must guide just as hard. Not less, not more. Just as much. When you can do that. Your fire will listen.¡± Mankey looked at boss mon. He didn¡¯t understand a word boss-mon was saying but it made him tingle inside. He liked those tingles. So mankey nodded. ¡±Punching myself also punches my fire so it listens to mankey, me gets it Man.¡± ¡±yea something like that, now it might take a while for it to start listening ok? So take your time and take it easy. Don¡¯t knock yourself out you hear?¡± Boss-mon had that soft worry in his voice again, it felt like his words punched his fire. Boss-mon wasn¡¯t super strong like mankey, or huge-boss-primeape or dead-dad. Boss-mon was soft-strong a different strong that made funny and good tingles on the inside. Felt good, like winning. He nodded resolutely. ¡±Yes boss!¡± Mankey snuggled into the sleeping bag and fell asleep. A little earlier that day Carlos sighed. Today was meant to be a rest day and somehow it was more exhausting than marching for a full day. First, it had been the constant badgering of the Lopunny, that luckily simmered down. But he was the ¡°talk of the town¡±. So obviously they had lot of curiosity. Then his Liaison had lead him away from bunny town and lead into the fields and meadow that contained the grazing chikorita and a big chubby looking Meganium. This is when Mankey decided to be a cheeky little shit and needed to taste Meganium, by chomping into her rump. The absolute chaos that ensued had been a whirlwind of him trying to prevent them from getting stomped in a stampede. Poochyena usually a good girl had drooled when Mankey had described the taste of Meganium¡¯s dry-ass butt. The exit he made after that, had been very, very speedy. Currently both his mon¡¯s had made themselves scarce, but not before the Lopunny, his Liaison, made clear which mon¡¯s could be hunted around here. She was quietly staring at the fire. He noted that even though she didn¡¯t have the cute charm ability, she was still a femme fatale type of character, constantly putting on the charms. she giggled. Carlos chuckled awkwardly. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± He asked. ¡±ooow nothing~~~ just, I¡¯ve never seen Meganium look so perturbed, she¡¯s usually so regal and stuck up¡± she did her cute uncanny giggle again. ¡°I think Your mankey is really cute. Especially when you scolded him. That was super sex..¡± she coughed and scooted away. ¡°Sorry I know you think we are unattractive, it¡¯s in our nature to seduce. Diggersby can be so slow on the uptake.¡± ¡°You are beautiful creatures but I¡¯m not compatible with you¡± Carlos didn¡¯t know how else to say it. Lopunny nodded her head sagely. ¡°I understand, many of the Lopunny are like that, many of the pokemon are like that. But don¡¯t you think there can be room for something more ¡­. Unconventional?¡± Although the question was controversial, and scandalous to Carlos¡¯s ears. He picked up on the Lopunny¡¯s genuine innocently tinged curiosity and decided to bite. ¡±Absolutely. Love knows no bounds. Look at my rag tag group of ruffians for example. A Poochyena taught to hate Mankey and a Mankey taught to hate Poochyena. Now only a week later traveling together, I caught mankey grooming poochyena¡¯s fur.¡± Lopunny tilted her head and stared at him blank. ¡±In a Mankey troupe, grooming eachother¡¯s fur, is part of how they bond as a culture and group.¡± Lopunny nodded and looked at the fire. ¡°That makes sense. It¡¯s a different love then what im talking about though.¡± Carlos sighed. ¡°How many summers have you lived?¡± ¡°16¡± ¡±A conjugal relationship needs both parties to be roughly on equal grounds, equal strength, same species, shared values. And a commitment that needs to grow overtime. If any of these is out of balance, resentment will inevitably be seeded, fester and destroy the relationship. There is a reason why the elders of a society, place sometimes ludicrous restrictions on such relationships. It¡¯s far too easy to walk into something so profound when you are young and inexperienced. Becoming damaged beyond recognition. Conjugal relationships are complicated enough on the best of terms. The more complicated you make them, the more you risk getting hurt.¡± Carlos was quiet for a bit, realizing he was talking to himself just as much as the Lopunny. Idly he wondered when his mon¡¯s would be back. ¡°How old are you? You sound just like my dad.¡± The Lopunny said jokingly. ¡°I hear you though. It¡¯s tough enough as it is, trying with someone who is like you, whom you feel like, is your soulmate and they don¡¯t respond to you for the longest of time.¡± There was as sadness to her voice that Carlos knew too well. He had dreamt about that sadness not that long ago. ¡°This a Diggersby slow on the uptake?¡± Carlos asked. Lopunny nodded. ¡°You have no idea! Been seducing this dude up a storm for months, close to half a year and he¡¯s just playing hard to get, no responses at all. I had given up a month ago. Then yesterday out of the blue he invited me to his hole. I ask him what this was all about, turns out, he started digging that hole in the rockside of the hill half a year ago. Because he wanted to make his house solid. For me.¡± Lopunny looked conflicted. ¡°Id already given up. Already had my heart broken.¡± Carlos didn¡¯t know what to say. He walked over and patted her on the shoulder. ¡°Sounds like an absolute moron.¡± She laughed hard. Nodding at that. ¡±But¡­ it sounds like, he¡¯s your moron.¡± She snapped a bit ¡±Yea I fucking know that. It was an incredible sweet gesture but he should have told me from the get go.¡± ¡°Men often feel inadequate, and get paralyzed with fear especially when young and awkward, which seems to be universal.¡± Carlos shrugged, ¡°I wasn¡¯t that different to be honest.¡± She gave him an indescribable look. Carlos couldn¡¯t place that one, she was about to say something but turned her head back to the fire. They remained quiet, the Lopunny deep in thought. Until Both Mankey and Poochyena came back all exited. Mankey was lugging 3 small nickits in his paws and poochyena had a pidgey in her beak. ¡°Ah it seems they brought a peace offer.¡± Carlos quipped. Lopunny laughed sweetly at that. ¡±well I should get going¡± she brushed herself off and waved at his mon¡¯s. ¡°It was good to talk to you Carlos, you gave me something to think about.¡± Carlos nodded and with that she hopped off. The experience with the Arbok could have resulted in the loss of his life. Bunny town felt like he could potentially lose something of himself. The fact that cute charm had worked on him at all, meant there was some deep hidden latent attraction inside of him. He was utterly disgusted with himself on that front but he also knew that this instinctive urge was only a small partial reason why he reacted so strongly. The biggest reason this was such a big deal at all, was his own emotional vulnerability. This whole ordeal had shoved his face into his own emotional turmoil. A turmoil of which he only had fragmented memories. He was an emotional mess. He could be a trainer. A surrogate dad to his mons but a man? He didn¡¯t even know what a man was supposed to be like anymore. His memory was still fragmented and after the initial memory cascades he had the first few days, the cascades had stopped completely. But the sore and raw feeling in his chest didn¡¯t lie. Carlos was utterly exhausted emotionally and looked at mankey using his knife quite deftly, to strip the nickits of their meat. Poochyena, who was missing opposing thumbs carried her bounty to him and he began plucking the pidgey. He got the fire roaring and after about an hour all of them ate their fill. The Nickits had a spicy flavor that mankey adored. And Carlos liked the strong gamy flavor it had. Poochyena was savoring the dry bird meat. It tasted like dry chicken. Just how she loved it. ¡±Hey you guys. I think I want to give you names.¡± Both pokemon looked at him with starry eyes. Poochyena POV ¡°Alpha told me I was a good girl today and I should go play today, Alpha gave me lots of belly rubs and sadly scratches to the not-that-stupid monkey. He should only give me belly rubs. Not-that-stupid monkey, monkey is smelly, loud, stoopid but I can¡¯t let Alpha hear that, he makes stern face when he does. Alpha says monkey is simple but deep. Just like me say! stoopid monkey happy when alpha calls him simple-deep! Me say he¡¯s simple, he¡¯s mad! Says me mock him. Pff off course me mock him. Monkey says that he¡¯s super-strong and alpha soft-strong and that we needs to be soft strong too. Pff Super strong can¡¯t even hit me once today. Stoopid monkey can¡¯t see that alpha is strong in the head. so strong it makes both our head¡¯s hurt. Me proud it hurts me less then monkey.¡± Poochyena looked up at the starry night through the slit of the tent, at the end of that 7th day. A day full of wonderful playing, hunting and eating pidgey. Her belly was full. It had felt good not to have her uncles spirit in her belly. But both mommy and uncle had been super strict in making sure their little girl would be strong enough to take their spirit when the time came. Poochyena was glad it was almost over, she didn¡¯t know how much longer she could have kept going. ¡°Ok time for me go sleep mommy. I hopes awkeus is nice-strong like new alpha.¡± Poochyena yawned and dozed off snuggling a bit closer to alpha, his smell almost masked the smell of not-so-bad-mankey. Before she fell asleep. She said one last thing to mommy, making sure she wouldn¡¯t wake alpha. ¡±oow mommy before you go! Alpha says he will give me name! Just like you! Ok bye, love you mommy.¡± Poochyena was asleep half a minute later. Carlos had been awake for the whole thing, tears were falling from his face silently and it took him all he had not to start shaking. Carlos ended up spending a week in the Valley. As uncomfortable he was at first with the bunnies. Once they understood where the boundaries lay, they were very careful not to cross it. At the end of the day they turned out to be nothing more than sweet lovable bunnies. He talked to the various pokemon he encountered. He tried talking to a slowpoke. It took the pokemon a full minute to say hello, to then respond to Carlos next question all perfectly in order just with an intense delay. Carlos decided to be polite and wait for the mon to finish each of his perfect immaculate series of responses. longest 10 minutes of his life. Both his mon¡¯s hunted together and had figured out how to hunt nickits and the occasional pidgey. Their training went well. Both would be able to use detect and quick attack in combat soon. after the week was done. Traversing the last hill of the valley, fully stocked up on food. Both his Mon¡¯s with a raggedy backpack made of nickit furs. He took one last look and turned back to the road. He was happy with his time here and relieved to continue. Overall it had been a great experience. Grass pokemon were basically hippies and super chill and didn¡¯t have a competitive bone in their body. The water pokemon had been a surreal experience as well. Many of the fish pokemon had Swim as their ability. Sounded super mundane until a goldeen gracefully swam through the air. A golduck had explained that most water Pokemon had latent psychic abilities. The fairy types stayed very far away from him. He didn¡¯t mind, he had enough to mull over. For the first time since coming here, he felt that pokemon experience that people resonated with while watching the show and playing the games. The next day they made good progress, both Mankey and Poochyena were perched on one of Carlos¡¯s shoulder. He thanked arceus again for his brick of a body. He estimated both were around the 60 pound mark and he would never been able to do this back on earth. The 3 rufffians were walking up a small hill. Just as Carlos was trying to think on how to tackle the connundrum of possibly scaling 1 of the two mountains that came after this hill. Both looking like mount Everest. A bone chilling roar ripped through the forest followed by a howl of two other Pokemon. Carlos hadn¡¯t heard either before. Carlos instantly tapped the return button for both his pokemon and hid in the bushes, frightened and looking for better cover. A battle somewhat close ensued and the intense roars of fire and rage heated up the near vicinity. The chill of the late morning was dispelled over a few seconds. As the battle between what sounded like huge pokemon continued, Carlos crawled over the crest of the hill. What he saw was two massive badger like Pokemon, wreathed in flames standing in front of 3 smaller badgers, fight a flock of three headed dragons. The Badgers were hopelessly outnumbered 3 to 1. Badgers if you didn¡¯t know, are fearless, gutsy, don¡¯t take no for an answer and have zero chill. these two massive badgers dialed this concept up to eleven. Didn¡¯t take Carlos long to figure out these were 2 parents protecting their young. Carlos was quietly rooting for the Badgers. But he had seen this scenario a few times already with other Pokemon. One of the parent Badgers barreled forward in a spin and curled up. He rolled towards a Dragon swooping in and the Badgers fur gained a stony sheen. Instead of slowing down, it flared the fire on his back to increase the spinning. His fur gained a molten rock texture to it and the Dragon overextended too far and the Badger slammed into the dragons center head. The other two heads didn¡¯t hesitate and chomped down into the badger who casually grabbed one of the side heads, planted its feet and did a whole body flex, ripping the head off. The dragon roared and 2 of the other 5 dragon-mons flew in to assist. Meanwhile 1 dragon was constantly harassing the 3 smaller ones. Credit due, were credits due. The 3 worked together in tandem. When one got snatched up by the maw of one of the heads the other 2 jumped into him gripping, ripping off scales blasting the bare skin to scorch it and rip and tear further. the other parent badger was on the defensive blasting each dragon with a constant barrage of flame, infernal balls of White hot fire exploding, reddening the skin on Carlos¡¯s face a 1000 feet away. ¡°Fuck me! what I wouldn¡¯t give, getting one of those badgers on our team.¡± Carlos mused. He recognized them as quilava¡¯s and typhlosions. The Typhlosion that was fighting 3 dragons on his own was moving slower and slower. The multitude of bleeding wounds and underhanded cheap shots it suffered took their toll. He had ripped a few more heads off 2 of them had 2, the other only 1 left. They encircled him. The other typhlosion let out a desperate haunting roar. But couldn¡¯t get close enough. It had it¡¯s hands full protecting itself and the quilava. The 3 quilava¡¯s put up a good fight but they were hopelessly outmatched. The dying Typhlosion in a moment it could catch it¡¯s breath grumbled something to the other Typhlosion. All the big mon¡¯s frooze. Including the dragons. The defending Typhlosion, hung its head in resignation but the way it snapped its head back in resolution and both mon¡¯s began to glow, made the hairs on Carlos neck stand up. Simultaneously the heat began to build to sweltering degrees. ¡°What the actual fuck?¡± Carlos felt like he was watching the eruption of a volcano. The Lead Dragon roared and began whipping the other frightened dragons with it¡¯s tail and managed to get them to attack but it was too late. Both Typhlosions emitted intense heat their bodies white hot, wrapped up in fire like infernal avatars of flame. The dragons charged but it was too late. The Typhlosion that was dying barked out a gout of white hot flame so hot it ionized the air around it, creating cracks of static electric around it. It hit the now one headed dragon mid charge. thrashing from the heat that consumed it. It¡¯s howls of agony were terrifying. The dying Typhlosion charged the closest dragon, giving it a bear hug burning that dragon to ashes. The Typhlosion slumped down after and died on the spot. the last remaining Typhlosion tried but the Lead dragon took distance and directed the other 3 dragons and they taunted with jeers and roared hideous laughter. Although it didn¡¯t land any kills it landed nasty burns on all 4 Dragons. But eventually It¡¯s fire burned out. It slumped down exhausted. Its flame extinguished. Panting it couldn¡¯t get up. It gave up whimpering. That whimper would haunt Carlos for quite a while. The quilava were dead already. No matter their fearless composure, they simply didn¡¯t have what it took to fight dragons 4 times their own size. They got gobbled up quickly and the 4 remaining dragons didn¡¯t take any chances with the puckered out Typhlosion. They picked up the dead Typhlosion and flew off. They flew up in a spiral screeching at eachother, bringing them close to where Carlos was hiding under a bush. He heard their deep guttural voices when they flew over. ¡°Hy that is the last time you convince me to hunt Typhlosion¡¯s drei that was terrifying. Did you know they could do that? Gon!!They almost got all of us!!¡± one of the smaller Hydreigon. Complained. The big one growled and almost let go of the body. ¡±Shut up Hydreigon! It worked Hy perfectly . I was gonna kill drei those two dumbasses drei anyway for their constant stupidity! Hydreigon! And what are you gluttonous punk Hydreigon complaining about! Now there is more for all of us!!¡± At this the other two hackled, laughing darkly. Carlos sighed. Still hidden. Waiting a good amount of time before he considered it safe. He let out his two mon¡¯s and made sure they were silent. Not that he needed to. They both looked at the dying Typhlosion, half listening to the short summary Carlos gave on the events. Both were quiet. Although neither was shaken about the Typhlosion family dying like Carlos was. He had to remind himself that this was normal for them. He started walking down the hill. They had to go that way. He pulled out his pokedex and wrote down everything while it was still fresh in his mind. He felt he could never forget this. As they walked in silence poochyena barked. ¡±Alpha! Alpha! Look a little one!¡± Carlos had just finished writing it down and looked where poohyena was pointing with her nose. He hadn¡¯t seen the small cave from the crest of the hill. From it, a cyndaquil peeked out and zoned in on the Typhlosion that had passed out. It screamed a horrible gut wrenching screech. ¡°mommy!l Carlos mind went blank. ¡°Ow fuck me.¡± Catching a starter Pokemon Carlos knew he was about to adopt another Pokemon, whom¡¯s family had been brutally killed and was most likely traumatized. That being said, he wasn¡¯t particularly angry at the Hydreigon. He despised how they had gone about their hunt, but he was in no place to point fingers. In order to increase his teams survival, Carlos had been observing the power dynamics between Pokemon in half the dozen or so valleys he passed through, he was keenly aware, him and his team were at the bottom of the food chain. In his observations he had seen quite a few Pokemon fight like they did in the anime but this was mostly amongst their own number. Most first evolution¡¯s were definitely just as cute if not cuter, than what the anime showed. But it began diverging by the second and third evolution quite a bit. Tyranitar had always looked cool in Pokemon anime and games, here they were downright terrifying. Any rocky mountain, you ran the risk of running into them and sentience notwithstanding, they were just like a Texas farmer when it came to protecting their property. Not even the most ornery Salamence dared bother them. The fanatical Geodudes and bunny valley, had been the only exceptions he encountered so far, that had something very upbeat Pokemon about them, he suspected that the biggest reason is that none of the mon¡¯s had experienced the war all the other mon¡¯s often referred to whenever talking about trainers. He felt none of that upbeat feeling, walking down the hill towards the dying Typhlosion and crying Cyndaquil. The sight didn¡¯t provoke some grand resolve to make those Hydreigon¡¯s pay. He was mostly just sad. The Hydreigon¡¯s may be absolute trash as sentient beings. But he couldn¡¯t fault them for hunting. He and his group did the same. If Carlos and his mon¡¯s hadn¡¯t, they would starve. Or die due to TE starvation. TE trees or bushes were rare and were carefully guarded and usually harvested the moment it had a fruit. Walking through the various valleys in this godforsaken mountain range had made it clear, that Pokemon with a more vegetarian orientation or who didn¡¯t have the stomach to digest meat, Safeguarded those trees religiously, usually with superior numbers. Even with the abundance of TE trees in bunny valley, he had received one TE fruit and no more from the Lopunny. The way it had been reverently handled and given, had surprised him. He had picked up the cultural cues quickly and thanked them as appropriately and respectfully as he could. What vegetarian Pokemon couldn¡¯t get naturally from eating the meat of TE infused Pokemon, they had to get from TE fruits. Random berries or some of the wild potatoes Poochyena had found, did nothing for your TE. TE on its own would regenerate but very slow. If Carlos had to guess it would take a full week for it to recover. Months if you were injured. Roughly 10 TE was used to heal 1 point of health while sleeping. Caught without available TE, was a death sentence. The lacking access of TE fruit, lead the carnivorous Pokemon to hunt. The checks and balances in these mountains wasn¡¯t some enlightened harmony and balance followed by all. It was centered around conflict and an extreme version of survival of the fittest. ¡°Not that different from nature back home.¡± He thought. According to the Pokemon, there were in fact animals but besides annoying bugs and critters, the grizzly bear on the first day had been the only one he had seen. Carlos got close enough for him to hear the little cyndaquil sniffing and whimpering. ¡±Cynda. mommy, please get up! You can do it! Quil!¡± It had it¡¯s paws on the Typhlosion trying to help it get up in vain. The Typhlosion¡¯s breath rasped with each intake. Small splatters and goblets of blood came out of her maw with each exhale. Up close he could see her entire body covered in thin but deep wounds, gashes and indentations where he guessed, her bones cracked. The Typhlosion saw them coming. She got up growling, splattering blood on the ground. The little Cyndaquill begged his mother to lay down. Carlos was keenly aware that even in her dying breath she would still easily turn him and his pokemon in a bloodstain if they weren¡¯t careful. ¡°Like snapping a toothpick¡± he thought. ¡°Please, for the sake of your son, lay down. We aren¡¯t here to eat or hurt him if that¡¯s what you¡¯re worried about.¡± He motioned for his Pokemon to stay back and he sat down on a nearby knocked over tree. Trying to be as non threatening as possible. she scoffed but got down. ¡°Fucking trainers¡­.This little one won¡¯t serve you well as a fire type! He struggles with a basic ember. He won¡¯t be a good addition on your team. Begone!¡± Carlos sighed. ¡°And what in the name of Arceus, praised be his name, are you going to do for him?¡± the Typhlosion groaned when Carlos praised the lord of all. ¡°OW Arceus save me. That lunatic golem and his fanatic¡¯s got to you hewmons too?¡± Carlos ignored it and continued. ¡°You are dying, no matter how magnificent you fought, no matter how tenacious you are, your wounds are many and there is nothing I can do about it.¡± The little cyndaquil began to wail but the mother snuggled him under her massive paw and shushed him, she glared at Carlos but eased when she saw the sadness and pain in Carlos¡¯s eyes. She was very protective of her cub and as a parent he understood her quite well. ¡±Answer my question hewmon¡± she growled. Carlos grinned weakly. ¡°They got to me. Just a bit, they wear you down you know? I figured they were lunatics but every time I used that little phrase, the Mon¡¯s around these parts, seemed to treat me with a lot more respect. I take it, not all mon¡¯s in these mountains follow his tenets?¡± ¡°Ow Arceus no, that golem is insufferable and completely obsessed, he¡¯s notorious around these parts.¡± She hackled a cough that sounded like laughter. ¡°Mind telling me who you are to him?¡± So Carlos told her the summary of what happened. ¡±You have any idea what you have set in motion?¡± She asked. Carlos shrugged. ¡±Something along the lines of rock Pokemon traveling these mountains asking each mon: ¡°do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior Arceus?¡± This made the Typhlosion grunt again. ¡°They already have a annoying catch phrase?¡± Carlos laughed ¡°No I was just paraphrasing, and I won¡¯t apologize for what I did. It was the least I could do, I owe them a life debt.¡± ¡°You just had to be an honorable shit to em didn¡¯t you?¡± She mocked, Carlos shrugged at that. He saw her eyelids slither slower and slower the eternal sleep was near for her. Her raspy breath became easier her eyes got a Euphoric glint to em that Carlos knew, it was part of the dying process, to ease the passing. Carlos had taken the opportunity while talking, to observe the cyndaquil. He pretended to scan him with his pokedex. He wanted to be discreet with his Arceus system. The way each pokemon who knew something of the war had talked about star-children. Gave him the distinct impression that he would not be welcome among humans if they knew.
Cyndaquil Lvl1 Fire Developing
HP 60 Normal 300
Atk 10 A/U/S 5/5/5
Defense 7 A/U/S 5/5/5
Reflex 7 Badger
Speed 8 Unyielding
Timid Male (Hidden)
Timid: You don¡¯t like being the center of attention and are soft spoken. Badger: Known to punch above their weight class , you have superior A/U/S, both for offense and defense. Amazing health and slightly better reflexes and defense. Additionally you gain 3 egg moves that each becomes a cardinal move. defense curl as Cyndaquil, Dig when evolving into Quilava and Rollout when evolving to Typhlosion. Unyielding: for each 2% of missing health, gain 2% increase to defense and reflex. Can gain 3 protective moves of any type as Cardinal moves.
Known moves Cyndaquil intense
Survive Prevents lethal blows 0
Ember (S) Fire(developing) 1
Defense curl (Egg, U, cardinal) normal, 1
Tackle (U, A) Normal 1, 2
Smoke (U) normal 1-3
Endure (U) normal 1
Cardinal moves: 1/10 Ember: split flames at your enemy has, 10% additional chance of causing burn. (Burn deals 100% of initial ember damage over 4 seconds.) range: 78 feet (40*1.3*1.5 = 78) damage: 19 (10*1.3*1.5=19 Smoke screen: spit out smoke. While within your own smoke, reflex goes up. While others, lose reflex. Tackle: increases speed of user by 150% for 1 second to deliver a base normal attack. (7*1.3)*1.4 = 12 damage. During the one second tackle is active, the user may use speed, instead of reflex to deflect or dodge blows. May evolve into quick attack and eventually extreme speed. This portion comes in two parts. The tackle requiring 10 normal TE. And the attack requiring 20 normal TE. Defense curl: (cardinal) Signature move of the Geodude line due to how the Geodude¡¯s by and large make a curling motion to activate this move, it ended up with the Name Defense curl. Most species adopt a similar movement, in order to direct the movement inward and fortify their body. can stack 3 times. (6 times as cardinal.) each time you use Defense curl you gain 1 (2 if cardinal) stack of defense of 3. (Def*0.3*1.5= 3.15) duration of a defense stack lasts 6 seconds. Endure: reduce damage received by half for specified duration. Endure is the evolved version of Defense curl and thus belongs to the cardinal domain of defense curl. endure prevents the outright death of the user but a potential lethal blow will instantly faint the user. duration: 0.9 seconds (base 1*0.6*1.5=0.9) cost: 30% of max TE. (60 fire & normal TE) ¡°There are a few things we need to talk about, before your flame truly extinguishes.¡± Carlos spoke softly. ¡±I will take your son with me and he can stay with me for as long as he likes, I give you my word on that. As far as your worries¡­ it seems to me, after scanning him and analyzing the data. Cyndaquil is a late bloomer when it comes to his fire TE.¡± ¡± CYNDA NO I WONT LEAVE MOMMY!¡±The little Cyndaquil howled in agony. It had paid rapt attention to the conversation. It didn¡¯t go unnoticed how his intelligence and pronunciation had much more clarity to it then either of his first two mon¡¯s. ¡±shush little one, i¡ª¡ªwon¡ªt w¡ªalk the p¡ªaath m-u-ch lo-nger¡± The typhlosion¡¯s strong front had waned completely, struggling with speaking. Carlos waited for the two to finish and continued. ¡°From what I can guess, this might be connected to his timid nature. He has immense potential. If he fights even half as ferocious as you and your mate. I would be ecstatic to have such a dependable partner but as a trainer and my promise to you, is that I wouldn¡¯t be satisfied if I couldn¡¯t get him to be just as, if not stronger than you.¡± Carlos had gotten more and more passionate as he was speaking and took a moment to settle down.¡°However if he decides he wants something else, I will try and provide him a safe place to do so.¡± Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Cyndaquil was outright sobbing. Carlos felt a pang in his chest, seeing the little one have the intelligence and depth of mind to fully understand what was happening at such an obvious young age. The sheer weight that came crushing down on the poor little guy. Typhlosion looked at Carlos observing Cyndaquil. Carlos turned to her and saw almost the exact same expression the Lopunny liaison had given him a week before. Carlos couldn¡¯t place it but it was very distinct. It seemed to be an emotion he wasn¡¯t familiar with. ¡°Go with this one, little one.¡± She said to Cyndaquil. She had a moment of crystal clear lucidity. Pouring out her motherly warmth. She nodded to Carlos. Her breathing was slowing. She was about to speak but Carlos motioned for her to save her strength. ¡±One last thing, does your species have the same tradition of passing on the spirit of their family members like the Mankey and Poochyena?¡± Typhlosion shook her head slightly, Carlos sighed in relief. The Typhlosion wanted to move but Carlos rested his hand on her head. ¡±Just tell me.¡± He said. Typhlosion whispered softly. ¡°F¡ªfeed h¡ªim the he-a¡ª-rt of thhssat b¡ª-ast¡ª¡± she exhaled for the last time and Carlos watched the light go out in her eyes. ¡±I can do that.¡± He said reverently. ¡°Mommy! Please don¡¯t leave, I can¡¯t do this without you.¡± Cyndaquil whimpered bawling out his eyes. But his strength was gone, his voice raw and hopeless. Huddled into his dead mother. Carlos got up. ¡°Poochyena. Watch Cyndaquil, Mankey with me. We need to cut a bastard¡¯s heart out.¡± Cyndaquil kept sobbing and calling for his mommy. Everyone hopped to it. Carlos glanced at Poochyena, as she quietly did what was asked but the usual spring in her step was missing. He knew she was waiting for a name. He had promised and then drew a blank, paralyzed by indecision. She didn¡¯t say anything but he could tell she was getting hurt by it, it gnawed at his conscience. He walked towards the dragon that had burned to death first. The other Hydreigon that suffered the bear hug from the now dead dad. Was a smoldering pile of ashes. As he came closer he realized it wasn¡¯t dead yet, although it soon would be. Watching it. His Dark TE began to swirl on the inside around the vengeful fire that sparked. It wasn¡¯t rage but a singular focus, an almost overwhelming intent. Mankey took a step back and observed his boss curiously watching a black purple auric edge wrap around the knife Carlos was holding. The iris¡¯s of his eyes normally a deep brown were purple. Without even realizing it, he gazed at the the dragon¡¯s chest half burned and scales incinerated to ashes and his eyes landed on an inconspicuous spot and slammed the knife, hilt deep, releasing all of the energy held.
New move unlocked!
Assurance: (A) this moves ensures finishing an opponent already injured. Deals more damage the closer an opponent is to feinting or dying. deals base Dark TE damage + 2% to your atk and speed for each 1% missing health of the target. Whenever used, as a follow up and landing as a decisive hit, the move will do full damage, regardless of the missing health of the opponent. due to its use in finishing of a vastly superior opponent you gain a slight amount of experience from the kill and full mastery of the move.
Not just that, he leveled up. He went from lvl3 to lvl 7. updated stats are in pre chapter notes Carlos was confused about the whopping increase to his stats. Especially his atk stat, some reverse math in his head he realized he had gained 10% on his lvl 3 stats to the power of 4, instead of the 10-20% increase of his base. His attack stat gained a whopping 20% to the power of 4. He looked himself over. He didn¡¯t seem different but his pools of TE, previously a tingle, were very noticeable to him now. Strength and vigor previously an ember, roared in his body and mind. Mankey didn¡¯t say anything. Carlos and him got to work. Carving out slabs of meat. Would be a waste not to take some of the meat although there wasn¡¯t much left that was usable. ¡±I never got to give either of you a name. With all that has happened¡±. Carlos said. His voice tinged in guilt. Mankey shrugged. ¡°Boss worry about Boss stuff. name is super-nice but hewmon custom, we can live without for bit longer. Man.¡± ¡°you? Sure but your sister seems to be impatient for one¡± he quipped. He smiled but it was an empty smile. Mankey simply shrugged. ¡°Sharp-sister isn¡¯t as soft and tender as she pretends to be. She is sharp, cunning, patient to catch her prey, including you.¡±He looked at Carlos. Carlos didn¡¯t want to dismiss it out of hand but did retort. ¡°Do you pretend to be stupid? Or are you simple-deep? Sharp sister has fangs but doesn¡¯t bare her fangs with the alpha because she doesn¡¯t need to.¡± Mankey shrugged. ¡°Maybe. Me no like these talks. Goes too deep, makes hurt-head. It¡¯s boss-mon-deep not mankey-deep.¡± The two men did the rest of their bloody work in silence till they got to the heart. It was huge. After catching Cyndaquil in his ball they continued their march in silence. For the time being, he was kept in his pokeball. His body required a certain level of heat he wasn¡¯t able to provide for himself. The coolness of the mountains was nice for the other three but frigid freezing, to the little guy, while walking the shaking of the stout little Pokemon didn¡¯t stop. shaking, not just from his grief but from the relative freezing cold. His body felt cool to the touch when Carlos couldn¡¯t take it anymore and had picked him up a few hours later, which worried Carlos immensely. He fed him some of the dragon strips, which Cyndaquil initially refused but after he told the little one his mother would want him to be strong and healthy, he began nibbling on it. Afterwards he fell asleep from exhaustion. They kept walking in silence for a bit longer till a light went up in Carlos. ¡°Poochyena! Come here for a sec.¡± She hopped over quietly and looked up at him, her mind distant. ¡°We need to find a place or a cave with fire types. Or preferably a volcano. Cyndaquil is still young and growing and needs something to keep his body warm. Preferably a fire stone or something of the sort that keeps him warm but not strong enough to trigger an evolution.¡± Poochyena nodded. ¡°We close to a fire mountain, you can smell the ash.¡± She pointed to the mountain with smoke billowing out of its tip, to their right. It was off course but also partially in the direction of the Hydreigon¡¯s flight. ¡°You happen to smell another place we could go to?¡± Poochyena noted his concern but shook her head. ¡°No nothing at all, even with the winds.¡± ¡±It¡¯s the winds that worry me, they carry our smell to the dragons.¡± ¡±The cold will hurt new-brother, badly. Won¡¯t last long, ball won¡¯t fix.¡± She countered. ¡±I know, thank you Diane, let¡¯s stick to the shadows ok?¡± Poochyena halted at that and looked up. ¡°Poochyena¡­ Diane. What a pretty name. Is that all I am? Pretty?¡± her words had a nasty bite to it that Carlos didn¡¯t appreciate. ¡°Sheathe your fangs girl. It is after Dianna, the roman goddess of the hunt. Of course it¡¯s pretty, it¡¯s female but it is a name that carries power.¡± Carlos was a tad bit hurt by her reaction. He spoke stern and stoic. This was the first time she had spoken to him with underhanded guile. He understood why, but his position as a trainer, required of him that he always held their respect lest they ignore him in a crucial moment. Realizing her mistake she stammered. ¡°Im sorry! I ¡­ ¡° she deflated while walking in front. Leading them through safe paths away from potential threats. ¡°I want to be pretty but I need to be strong. My name needs strength. I judged too quickly.¡± Carlos caught up and scratched her behind the ear. ¡±I took this look long because I don¡¯t take such things lightly Diane. And whether you like it or not.¡± He smirked. ¡°You are now stuck with that pretty name. After two days, for the life of me I can¡¯t think of a better name for you ¡± He grinned. ¡°I can be petty too you know¡± he said in jest but softly, as to not hurt the sensitive girl. ¡°I love it fath¡­alpha.¡± Her eyes glimmered. ¡°It has softness to it, much like my father¡¯s soft-love, but softness got him killed.¡± Carlos took a deep breath. ¡°Ow you foolish little girl. Love hurts, it¡¯s supposed to hurt just a little. Not a lot like it did to you or us. However you can¡¯t run away from that when you get too close, your life will wither if you do.¡± Again Carlos realized, he was talking more to himself than Diane at this point. However they both needed to hear it. ¡±Hey! Whats my name!?¡± Mankey growled. He had been quiet but couldn¡¯t hold back anymore. ¡°I was thinking Tyson, after a legendary fighter. Wukong after the monkey king or Kong after a massive ape that fought till the end.¡± ¡°Me like Kong. Short, simple strong. Like me¡± Carlos smirked. ¡°Kong it is.¡± With their spirits lifted and sticking to the shadow. They slowly got closer to the mountain. The smell of ash and sulfur was palpable now, so was the increase in the temperature. Carlos saw the vegetation shift before his eyes. The heat of this volcano, with all the tracks of what were obviously fire pokemon, was intense enough to change the eco system around it in close proximity. Carlos didn¡¯t think the volcano was active, judging by the smoke coming from the top. but with pokemon borne of lava, you could never be sure. He gathered 2 branches dipping them in some treesap he knew would burn slowly and gave one to Mankey. He had to prevent Mankey from licking it who thought he got a lollipop. Both mon¡¯s were pouting now for their denied lollipop. ¡°All three of you will get one after,¡± he said smirking and chuckling. Eventually they came to a smooth molten entrance. Carlos took a deep breath and let Cyndaquil out of his ball. He seemed to do a lot better in the sweltering heat but his timid nature had him curl up. Carlos picked him up and placed him on his shoulder. He was still cool to the touch but not as badly as before. ¡°Hey little one. I know you struggle with ember but could you light these branches? We need some light.¡± Cyndaquil nodded slowly. Still shaky and let out a puff of fire. Carlos noted how painfully pathetic it was but it did the job. Both him and Kong had a makeshift torch. ¡±How is the temperature little one? A bit better?¡± Cyndaquil nodded again. And spoke for the first time in a soft shaky voice. ¡°C-can you c-call m-e something else? I only want to remember mommy calling me that.¡± ¡±For someone timid, he sure is brave enough to speak his mind.¡± Carlos thought. ¡°What should I call you then?¡± He asked. ¡°Can I have a name like Diane and Kong?¡± They moved deeper into the caves, the heat became oppressive. But Cyndaquil remained cool to the touch. The many tracks of Pokemon overlapped and it was impossible to tell what lived here. The only distinctive print was a molten duckfoot print. Carlos sighed ¡°Sure why don¡¯t you tell me something about yourself? What do you wish to aspire?¡± ¡±S-slay. Dragons. So mommy can rest easy.¡± ¡°Well that makes naming you straightforward and simple. There are 2 names that come to mind when you say dragon slayer. Beowolf and Gawain. Both were hewmon like me but became powerful warriors and eventually strong enough to slay a dragon in combat.¡± ¡±I like Gawain.¡± Cyndaquil said for the first time without shivering. ¡°Good, Gawain it is.¡± The 4 of them went deeper into the cave and the heat rose fast and quickly, making it hard to breathe. Around the bend, in front of them a fiery bipedal creature, radiating intense heat came into view. It reminded Carlos of magmar. But there were quite a few differences. For one it looked to have hands or claws that could shape itself into cannons. It was big, easily ten feet and it rumbled out with a deep, hot, fierce but not an unfriendly voice. ¡±MAG I see you carrying the pup of someone I know. MOR And from the smell of it, you killed their assailants.TAR.¡± ¡°Just landed the killing blow on one that was already dying and out for the count. We promised Gawain¡¯s mother to take care of him. On that note I was wondering if you perhaps have a flame rock. You know, the ones that have a flame burning inside them. It doesn¡¯t have to be a strong one. Just one good enough to keep Gawain from dying of the cold.¡± Gawain shivered at that. And spoke to the Magmortar. ¡°Please uncle, I¡¯m still struggling with my fire. The nights are cold outside of the mountains.¡± The magmortar looked them over and started walking deeper into the mountain. ¡±COME MOR¡±. He rumbled. ¡°You are looking for a stone to keep him warm, not to trigger an evolution are you not?¡± He looked over his shoulder. There was a judgmental tone to his voice. Carlos was starting to get a little annoyed at this constant distrust of humans. ¡°Of course not! What I know of those, Exposing Gawain to an evolution stone would be the worst idea, not just for his growth but his mental state as well. Just a stone that helps him understand and regulate his fire TE.¡± The magmortar rumbled in agreement. ¡°Sorry for the distrust, I needed to be sure. I would hate to see Typhlosion¡¯s progeny be wasted due to an unfortunate mistake. Wait here I know just the thing. I doubt you and your group can handle any more heat than this. Besides the ¡­ air.. vitality? Is too low for non-fire types.¡± Carlos sat down on a nearby rock and immediately got up again. Everything around him was scalding hot. It didn¡¯t take long for the Magmortar to return with a thick chain ebony steel linked choker with a fire stone wedged in between. ¡°Come here little one.¡± He called for Gawain. ¡°Yes uncle!¡± Gawain hopped off Carlos and skipped over to the magmortar, who with surprising deftness attached it around Gawain¡¯s neck. Carlos could see tension ease away from Gawain¡¯s body and he let out an exhale of relief. Carlos walked closer. ¡°How does that feel?¡± Gawain looked up to him and for the first time he seemed somewhat relaxed considering what he just went through. ¡°better¡±. Carlos picked him up and for the first time he felt hot to the touch. ¡°That¡¯s good, here.¡± Carlos gave him another strip of meat. ¡°MAG, Make sure he eats a variety of foods, the Cyndaquill line are omnivores MOR, only meat will lead to stunted growth on his part. TAR¡± the Magmortar rumbled. His observations of Carlos seemed to put him at ease but he was still quite reserved. ¡°Thank you so much mr? magmortar, this stone will help Gawain grow properly, I will take my leave now.¡± Carlos was about to turn away but Magmortar stopped him. ¡°What did you tell its mother for her to not kill you outright?¡± Carlos was surprised by this, he gathered this Magmortar knew both the Typhlosion¡¯s from before. Gawain calling him uncle was proof enough of that. ¡°I promised to her I would make sure Gawain would be just as strong, if not stronger then her.¡± Magmortar glanced at Gawain, who nodded resolute. ¡°Yes uncle! mr Carlos here promised mommy, he would treat me well.¡± Magmortar seemed satisfied, ¡°May Arceus light your Path young ones, and Celebi bless you with peace, you seem the sort who needs it.¡± Carlos nodded, ¡°farewell.¡± while he used his pokeball to return Gawain, who hadn¡¯t objected yet to sitting inside one. He walked out the cave wondering why the Typhlosion¡¯s had left the presumed safety of numbers and those you considered Kin. He wiped A smudge from Gawain¡¯s ball. He could feel Gawain¡¯s mind fully asleep. Restfull now in his pokeball. all of this was a testament to what depth Carlos mentally had been in and how far he had crawled out of that pit of despair. All three had confirmed the same. Sitting in a pokeball was a sort of stasis, half asleep half awake. You didn¡¯t experience the passage of time but did have some form of idea what was going on, especially the emotional state of their trainer. Him Carlos. Coincidentally, that was the biggest reason both his first mon¡¯s disliked sitting in the ball. Carlos was a worrywart at heart and went through all the worst case scenarios on the daily, the first few weeks, often spiraling into a continuous depressive state, that while he could hold it back from his young mon¡¯s in normal social interactions, he was laid bare to them inside their pokeball. As ruthless as the wild Pokemon had been, at heart every single one of them was upbeat in some way. Carlos¡¯s depressing thoughts in the first few weeks had been anathema and almost soul crushing to their thinking. Carlos after close to a month of survival, had by necessity moved on and stabilized mentally. He still had bouts and got triggered from time to time but it had improved by leagues. Even Diane that sensitive girl; didn¡¯t mind it anymore, sleeping in her ball when the situation called for it. He knocked on wood. ¡°We are gonna be ok guys. We are gonna be ok.¡± Both Kong and Dianne fell in step. Both emboldened by their wise and kind Alpha. Light at the end of the mountain. It was two or so months after first coming to this place, this mountain range, this world. That Carlos reached the height of a small mountain belonging to a nest of Onix who didn¡¯t mind his intrusion. That he first saw it. In the far distance, a massive glimmering mountain that shone in the light of the morning sun. The tip sharpened itself like a dagger trying to pierce the sky. ¡°Mount Silver¡± he whispered, there was no question in Carlos Mind. In the distance, further beyond. Two smaller but still impressive sized mountains, one with a thin Column of smoke trailing into the sky, mt Chimney. The last one massive yet so inconspicuous, daring you to overlook it completely, it felt like it was teasing you, moments after looking away, did you really see it? ¡°Mount Moon it has to be¡± he whispered. He felt quite emotional. He had managed on his own strength and the help with his loyal friends, to get this far. Not just survive but thrive in their own humble way. The bonds he had with each three, had grown exponentially. They didn¡¯t just rely on each-other for pragmatic reasons. They all had something to contribute to the social dynamic. It was uncomfortably fast for Carlos, who was used to a much more reserved way of approach when it came to relationships, always this testing and prodding for red flags back on earth, not Pokemon, they threw themselves at the relationship, the bond wholeheartedly, it induced a very subtle but significant drive to always have their backs and protect them with Carlos. He was sure psychologists and psychiatrists would deem it very unhealthy and dangerous, but Carlos didn¡¯t want it any other way. It felt so good to just pour his heart out with his dear friends and them, wholeheartedly receiving it in turn and vice versa. It made everything vibrant and bearable. He looked at his partners, each of them had been forged into the finest examples of their species. Carlos lamented that they grew up so fast. Their cuteness was gone. They had grown in size. Gawain¡¯s snout had already shortened a bit and his body lengthened. Growing into his next stage as a Quilava. Carlos, Kong and Dianne had all taken it upon themselves to make sure Gawain was doing ok emotionally, Relatively speaking he was, but his timid nature made it difficult to sometimes gauge his emotional state. Kong¡¯s shoulders had widened giving him the more humanoid look of a Primeape and his fur began to lengthen. Under it all curling muscles of steel grew and grew. It made Carlos a tiny bit jealous. Dianne had mostly just grown in size. The difference between mightyena and Poochyena less distinct. ¡±One of these days I can ride you into battle Dianne.¡± Carlos quipped, smiling at her. Both their eyes glinted at that thought. ¡±I-if we have fireproof clothing.. y-you could ride me too sir.¡± Gawain stuttered out. ¡±or me!¡± Kong chimed in. Carlos laughed heartily at that. Carlos himself at first glance hadn¡¯t changed much. The intense heat endured from the dying breath of Gawain¡¯s parents had seared his beard off and his chin, to this day, was still smooth. His eyebrows saved due to his own sweat. He carried a makeshift bow with arrows and 2 makeshift kukri/glaives from the scythes of a dead scyther. The scythes had organically merged with the 2 sticks he had prepped with his knife. After a while he had figured out how to infuse his hands with normal TE and by extension the scythes which absorbed the TE and stayed sharp. It was some sort of organic bone that was still alive in some way. The merging between wood and pokemon parts was morbidly fascinating to Carlos. He had done the same thing with a mighty stick and some webbing from a friendly? Arriados, after he bribed it with 3 dead caterpie¡¯s that is. Somehow the TE reacted to intent and the wood had slowly and subtly changed it¡¯s form to be used as bow. The web strings served as a bow string. Carlos had no idea what the pull weight was but an arrow fired from the bow shattered smaller branches and pierced thicker ones. It was his preferred method of fighting. He could spar with Kong for about 10 seconds in melee before he got bodied. Kong loved it, not because he was winning but because of the deep way Carlos fought. Aka Carlos improvised a lot. Seemingly a bit of a foreign concept to Pokemon. Although still a ways away, the evolution of Pokemon it seemed, was a more gradual process. He had seen an evolution happen from a distance. It wasn¡¯t as impactful as in the show. But it wasn¡¯t that far off either. It seemed most mon¡¯s would first grow into the size of their next stage. After Carlos had figured out you could gain better stat growth from hunting stronger prey, he had begun their hunts of stronger Pokemon. Although the results were notable it wasn¡¯t as big as he first hoped. Yes his mon¡¯s gained some increases to their maximum possible gains. It also required an opponent that had a higher level than all of them combined. At first this was doable but as things went on, it became practically impossible. Higher level mon¡¯s all had human or higher intelligence and had sometimes exotic tactics. He didn¡¯t complain though. all 3 of his Mon¡¯s had made a lot of additional progress. But it started to flatten out. How could one hunt a more powerful Pokemon who by all accounts should be able to take them on all 4? Turns out, that even pokemon are subject to breathing, muscle spasms and whatever it was that allowed their metabolism to function. Each pokemon, no matter its strength was subject to the rule of 3. As in 3 moves could be used in quick succession. Before a 1/3 second flinch occurred. This 1/3 second flinch reduced a pokemon¡¯s reflex and speed by half and was detrimental in a world where Pokemon could reach supersonic levels of speed. Although basic dodging was sort of an exception, once that flinch happened, it happened. Carlos had noted the intensity of the moves down, detailing which moves lead to this flinch first. At first he thought there might be a connection to how much TE was expelled with a move but that had no bearing. As long as this self induced flinch didn¡¯t occur, a Pokemon could dodge using its natural speed. The rule of 3 seemed to always reset after a second or so, which largely depended on how much the Pokemon was moving. This could be lessened with training of course but so far he only saw high level alpha mon¡¯s do such things The highest he counted was with a fast sleek but massive looking Pidgeot. 3 young Arbok¡¯s tried to ambush the big bird, that put the Roc from earth¡¯s mythology to shame. The massive pidgeot had shredded the big snakes with quick precision air cutters 2 for each and didn¡¯t even flinch. If this had to do with its mastery or some break through with the rule he didn¡¯t know. Although Kong couldn¡¯t technically flinch, he was still limited to 3 moves like the other mon¡¯s, he could still dodge and weave, just not retaliate. Dodging full force would increase this delay but the raging furball was never caught flat footed. Which added immensely to his survival and staying power. Unlike the other two, who had to rely heavily on double team, Kong bobbed and weaved on the field off battle like a drunken boxer. Although he didn¡¯t have the move taunt, it was still effective. A mankey outsmarting you with a smug grin on his face was usually enough to trigger the more arrogant Pokemon they encountered. Most Mon¡¯s in the wild, especially the predator types, had only 1 or two stats that they managed to train beyond 10%, predominantly that was speed and/or atk. Specifically, the poison types didn¡¯t like to scrap, since they had weakness against normal type moves. Moves practically every mon had access to. So in order to hunt, they would strike quick, fast, often in numbers and let the poison do its work. Dark types. As was evident with Dianne were also on the more fragile end of things. Additional levels exacerbated the issue. These wild poison and often Dark mon¡¯s, like the nickits who got more cunning in their evolution thievul but not a whole lot more intelligent, Predominantly focused on quick attacks and speed but they were rather lacking in a one on one. They had decent reflexes of course but they simply couldn¡¯t deal with the incredible speed that was Diane and the skull crushing power that was Kong when they flinched. Carlos had a stomach of steel at this point. You had to, when grey goop got rained on you. Each of his mon¡¯s were becoming powerhouses of their own right. Kong the Mankey, lacked ranged moves or special moves of any kind. And his solution to this glaring problem, came in the form of the move lock-on. Which he miraculously gained on level up at lvl 7. Carlos checked his banged up pokedex and was absolutely sure Mankey¡¯s shouldn¡¯t be able to. Reid had theorized about Primeape and written quite a bit, including an extensive list of moves the Primeape line learned and could learn. Lock on was supposedly a move that allowed you to automatically hit an opponent with ranged moves. According to his dex, Lock on was a move learned by intelligent and technical Pokemon who had the ability and brain to calculate exactly where an opponent would be. Mankey learning it made no sense and Carlos had given up on trying to figure it out. His pride told him it was because he was an awesome trainer, a notion he crushed. He knew there was more to it. Besides Kong¡¯s version was different. It had a few caveats. First of all, instead of making sure his hits would land, it instead made sure Kong was in the right place for the strike to land. And it worked without fail. If Carlos didn¡¯t know any better Kong simply teleported to its opponent. But after using detect to observe, he realized Kong, simply turned his capacity to hyper focus, into an explosive burst, as if he used extreme speed. Locking on, as it were, with his hyper focus on one enemy and one enemy only. It only worked on living things that pissed him off. Turning himself into a mad-gleeful raging bullet for a split second. It required intense focus but combining it with counter, bide and revenge, it usually resulted in a one hit KO. Counter added reflex to speed for the next move. It was a completely broken move in Carlos opinion, especially because it synergized with detect. Counter was the biggest cause for this insane speed whenever he used lock on. The move was only supposed to work with melee, Kongs lock on somehow circumvented that. Bide added more damage and if Kong was already injured revenge did even MORE damage. at some point a shellgon had hit Kong with a critical hit rock slide, knocking 2/3rd of Kong¡¯s health. The counter/bide/lock-on-revenge had hit for a whopping 400+ damage after taking his fighter advantage into account. It would have been a crit and instant KO, if it wasn¡¯t for the shellgon¡¯s thick armor and his naturally high HP that kept that shellgon alive. It made a run for it after. With Kong heavily injured, they didn¡¯t bother to chase. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The combination of moves Kong could combine allowed him to out-punch way above his weight class. And it¡¯s what made their hunts of stronger Pokemon possible. Furthermore Kong had mastered Fury strikes and managed to combine it with the move Defense curl. Reforging it into curling fury, as a separate move from Fury strikes or Defense curl. After learning Curling fury, Defense Curl disappeared from Kong¡¯s known list of moves. Technically he no longer needed to hit himself, but it severely freaked other mon¡¯s out when they saw him do it, while he laughed maniacally. Stupid names not-withstanding, he always began combat with punching his face, psyching and literally jacking himself up on endorphins. Carlos resolved to get Kong¡¯s head checked first thing when he got back to civilization. All of this would not have been possible if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that bide, counter and Detect only required a TE investment and didn¡¯t tax this rule of 3. Carlos also wondered if that was normal or if something else was going on with Kong. Carlos was following the blueprint that Reid had laid out for the most part. Dianne, in their sparring, ironically had to use taunt on Kong to prevent him from using his tripple-buff, one hit setup. Whenever Kong managed to get off a Lock-on Carlos had ruled it an automatic loss for Dianne. She moped about if for a while but after a dumbass Thievul had fought Kong in a similar fashion using taunt. Kong with his last bit of TE got a Lock-on within a small window between taunts and the Thievul got it¡¯s head splattered over the forest soil and shrubbery. ¡±Unless every pokemon has endure, Im not even sure if I can use this combo in a trainer duel, definitely gotta unlearn him to automatically use bide.¡± Carlos muttered Darkly. It wasn¡¯t lost on him that his Team was quickly becoming a lethal force to other Pokemon. Survive required 50% of your total TE. Doing tripple someone¡¯s max HP killed you outright. He did notice the prevalence of Endure with the higher level Pokemon they encountered and hunted. The interesting part of this move, is that it triggered automatically if a move was lethal, fainting the Pokemon in question. Whenever it triggered, it worked without question, preventing a lethal blow. Gawain, if he would catch up in levels, could potentially rival or even beat Kong. His combination of explosive smoke, Fire quills and a few well placed Embers, would be too much for Kong once Gawain could catch up. Gawain with his naturally higher defenses, HP and defensive moves, especially Endure, could already tank 2 high powered revenge or axe kicks. He was surprisingly adept at using double team, tricking Kong into hitting phantoms before peppering Kong with ranged attacks. Kong still won but not by much. Mostly to do with higher levels and superior stats. During their training before their dinner each night, Carlos was focused on letting Kong hit Dianne with controlled punches while she took it and attempted to use endure the way Gawain and Carlos explained it. It was a very difficult process for her but he was adamant. ¡±I know you hate getting hit girl but you are gonna learn endure is that clear? I don¡¯t care how fast you are. You need to be rivaling Kong and endure will give you that.¡± Carlos said to Dianne after a particular nasty uppercut knocked her over. ¡°I thought you were going to make me untouchable?¡± Dianne quipped cheekily, but before Carlos could respond ¡°I know alpha I will do my utmost¡± she saw the pained look Carlos had, seeing her get hurt. Any snappy comments melted away. Carlos nodded at that. Dianne in her bouts with Gawain, made short work of Gawain. When Her moves worked, well, it was painful to see the stout badger lose so badly to Dianne. Both Dianne and Gawain compensated their lack of punch, with prodigious creativity, which had Carlos scratching his head. Although Lock on and curling fury was prodigious on Kong¡¯s part the rest of his moves, had come purely from the training routine Carlos had set up for him, that is to say Kong¡¯s development had been heavily influenced by Carlos. At level 7 Gawain had learned swift and Dianne Double team. Both taught eachother those moves all on their own and Dianne picked up smoke screen as well. Hers didn¡¯t explode, she didn¡¯t want it to. Dianne had created 3 whopping moves, which Carlos was pretty sure, were unique to her. partially due to her frustration in dealing with Kong. Carlos tried to explain the rock paper scissor nature of their dynamics but she didn¡¯t want to hear it. Carlos didn¡¯t try to stop it too hard either, seeing how it fueled her competitiveness. First was shadow clones. A ghost/dark variant of double team. They looked exactly like double team illusions. Except they could use all her moves. Which was insane if you thought about how that helped her circumvent the rule of 3. it required 30% of all her TE to use shadow clones but the potential was insane. On top of that, she created 2 variants of swift. Stilleto, combining assurance with swift and poison dagger combining the corrosive aspect of poison fang with swift, which was another move she picked up after observing the various poisonous snakes. Accurate ranged delivery of the poisoned status. In combination with shadow sneak, as an opener was deadly, as long as she wasn¡¯t hunting fighter Pokemon with the defiant ability. Her poison, once applied multiple times, could reduce a Mon¡¯s base atk by half but in Kong¡¯s case, who gleefully threw himself into her poison darts, it got doubled. Needless to say Carlos had to stop the sparring, he returned Kong to his ball and he unleashed Kong on a poor ekans. That ekans was reduced to a pile of goo. They were currently hunting a young weavile. Munching on a ratatta. At first glance you would think this mon could take them.
Weavile Lvl26 Ice 700
HP 140 Normal 700
Atk 21 A/U/S 6/2/6
Defense 28 A/U/S 6/2/0
Reflex 35 Dark 700
Speed 60 Thief
Rash Male (Hidden)
However As much as Dianne loved to complain about Kong¡¯s bide and lock on bullshit. Kong always shivered when she literally disappeared into the shadows. That was the crunch of that move. it was expensive but Ludicrous. While Dianne was in the shadows she used shadow clones dropping her to 60% of her Dark TE. The Weavile knew something was up. Its instinct screamed at him, evident in how it kept looking around, softly growling. Both of her clones emerged from the shadows and blasted the weavile with poison darts honing in on the weavile. The weavile had constantly been using detect and thus saved its own life when it exploded into motion with a readied quick attack and fury swipes taking out both clones. Lastly right on the moment it struck with fury swipes flinching from the quick usage of moves it took all three darts from Dianne, due to its poisonous typing it didn¡¯t get poisoned. Both Kong and Gawain, right next to Carlos, exploded into action. Gawain launched itself forward with quick attack and pelted weavile with fire quills of which the weavile still managed to avoid one but 2 landed straight into its throat. Causing it to flinch and screech without sound. Kong came down upon the weavile with a crushing axe kick that landed straight onto its skull. The snap of the skull cracking caused the weavile to swerve in a daze Dianne and Carlos finished it off both with the move assurance. Carlos infused his handmade arrow with his handmade bow all infused with TE on a daily basis, the bow radiated with a vitality as if it was a tree. The string, made from pokemon webbing, it¡¯s tensile strength equal to steel wire. Dianne¡¯s version of assurance created a small sphere of inky blackness between her fangs with her maw open. Launching it caused it to spike in a thin beam that had tremendous piercing capacity going straight through the skull of the weavile. She launched two in quick succession. One to trigger it¡¯s last ditched endure, the second to finish it off. The whole fight didn¡¯t last longer than 6 seconds from start to finish. One on one this Weavile could have played with its food, while sadistically shredding them apart, which so happened to be the favorite way for solitary Weaviles to hunt. ¡±Came to the wrong neighborhood ya lidl shit.¡± This particular Weavile had taken a little too much pleasure in killing its prey. The fact it wasn¡¯t with its pride meant even it¡¯s fellow kin had rejected its vices. The cries heard from its victims had vexed Carlos and his team. Carlos wondered what type of Pokemon, what type of character, could lead a pack of dark types and keep them on the straight and narrow. It had to be happening otherwise they would be constantly beset by vicious, vindictive Pokemon that were out to hurt him. But by far and large he was left alone. ¡±Seems like that Golem told me the truth, my blood is dangerous for Pokemon.¡± Carlos muttered to himself ¡°What¡¯s that alpha?¡± Dianne had walked over to him, Kong had taken it upon himself to skin the weavile. Not much meat on its slim body but waste not want not. None of them particularly liked the meat. ¡±O nothing, I was just wondering what type of character a Dark type pack leader has to be in order to be successful in keeping the tendencies of dark pokemon in check.¡± He looked at Dianne. ¡°It hasn¡¯t gone unnoticed on me what kind of impact dark typing has on me when I use it. The thrill of the hunt is sometimes overwhelming.¡± Dianne thought on that for a moment and nodded. ¡°It¡¯s true, dead-uncle always seemed greater than life, untouched by the lure of the hunt. Always knew what to say to breathe out the need to kill, out of the pack.¡± A few months ago, Carlos would have shivered and felt fear at that admission. Now he was perfectly ok with it. That urge was necessary here in the wild. It made him lament he hadn''t tried harder with the murkrow he met when he had caught his first two mon¡¯s and meeting that Alpha Arbok. On the other hand he didn¡¯t know if he wanted another speedster on his team like Dianne. Both Gawain and Kong were quickly turning into different versions of All-rounders but he wanted a tank. Someone that didn¡¯t necessarily hit hard but could take it and keep taking it. While Kong and Gawain were setting up a fire to cook and eat the Weavile, Carlos and Dianne kept a vigilant watch to make sure no one would ambush them. ¡±You know I think Detect, although a fighter move, would suit your fighting style well. Once we get you proficient with endure we will work on that.¡± ¡±I¡¯m already working on it, but I¡¯m struggling with the TE conversion.¡± Dianne responded. Carlos raised an eyebrow at that. ¡°Even if Fighting TE so closely resembles normal TE?¡± Dianne nodded while perking up at a sound. ¡°It¡¯s opposite of how I think. Did you hear that?¡± Carlos activated his detect to match Dianne¡¯¡¯s keen senses. ¡°Someone is stalking us¡± he whispered. ¡°At the ready¡± he spoke softly but both Gawain and Kong immediately dropped whatever they were doing and they hopped over to Carlos and Dianne forming a closed circle. ¡±Sunny day¡± Carlos commanded, Gawain immediately used the move and lit up the twilight shadows with a mini version of the sun. An ever so slight flinch in the bush to Carlos left had him launch an arrow. Both Gawain and Dianne launched a swift. A muffled hissing grunt had Kong¡¯s ears perk up and his hyper focused anger zoned in on the thing stalking them. ¡°Found him! Triksy snake!¡±
Arbok Lvl40 Poison 1470
HP 196 Normal 1470
Atk 24.5 A/U/S 6/2/6
Defense 14.7 A/U/S 4/4/2
Reflex 66.5 Intimidate
Speed 118.5 Shed Skin
Naughty Female Unnerve
Carlos saw his life flash before his eyes as the Arbok launched itself, a crack of air told him how fast it was going, at its natural speed. Lightning sparkling on its razor sharp teeth. He was saved by a shadow clone from Dianne barreling into the Arbok¡¯s maw with extreme speed that caught the Arbok by surprise as it chomped down using a move on empty air. Kong launched himself at the Arbok with an axe kick. The Arbok went along with the blow and disappeared into the ground almost instantly but not before it launched a nasty blob of sludge that was poorly aimed and luckily for Carlos he managed to dodge most of it. But some got on his skin biting into his flesh with a nasty corrosive strength. Gawain for the first time sparked his back into flames and inhaled deeply and let off a flamethrower into the hole left behind from the move dig. It was poorly managed and although it was boosted by Sunny day it took a big chunk of Gawain¡¯s fire TE. He let go and billowed out massive amounts of incendiary smoke, both Kong and Dianne stood at the ready. The arbok came bursting out of the ground burning and squealing a pained hiss. It wriggled in a uncanny unnatural way and shed its burning skin. Gawain who had predicted where the snake would be, let of an ember and the smoke around the Arbok ignited in an explosion. Somehow the Arbok with its insane speed managed to fling himself to the ground escaping the worst of the explosion but Dianne began peppering him with stilleto¡¯s from herself and the remaining shadow clone. Screeching from pain from the multiple wounds it flung out it¡¯s tail and threw a barrage or sharp TE rocks and peppered them Carlos couldn¡¯t dodge and endured the barrage covering his face. Kong who had taken the brunt of the barrage locked in and exploded forward and a normalized revenge, landed on the Arbok¡¯s jaw finally flinching it. Both Dianne and her Clone burst forward and bit into the Arbok after which it flinched a final time, slumping down. Dianne used a double assurance to kill off the Arbok. except Gawain who had avoided getting hit, they were all down on their last legs. Everyone had less than a third of their TE which they would desperately need for their recovery. Although Carlos knew how to use Pokemon moves, Endure was inevitably what saved his ass considering he was made of paper compared to Pokemon. His clothes had been schredded and he was bleeding from all over the place. Dianne was just as bad for wear. She had been forced to use extreme speed multiple times and she was limping. One or her front paws had broken from too much use. Kong was doing a bit better. The Barrage of rocks hadn¡¯t hurt him as bad but his TE was dangerously low. ¡±Alright, I hate to leave meat like this lying but we gotta find a safe place to recover.¡± Everyone nodded, Carlos returned Dianne and let Kong take the lead to a cave they had been using the last couple of days. First contact After recovering over the next few days, hidden from sight and some light training, mostly to stave off boredom, Carlos and his team set out again. The mountain they were currently climbing, belonged to a collection of ground Pokemon. Sandshrew, Rhyhorn and Nidoran line Pokemon, together they ruled this mountain. They were reserved but didn¡¯t really care that Carlos and his team crossed their mountain. He saw a Pinsir for the first time and almost had a heart attack, talk about lovecraftian horror. The pinsir, seemed to get a thrill of freaking him and his team out as it stalked them for quite a while. Luckily Pinsir were a smaller Pokemon but holy hell was it horrifying. He saw Fearow flying in groups, doing some sort of aerial dance on the mountain to the side. The closer he came to the 3 Famous mountains, although they were still far away, the more numerous Pokemon became. He noted there were significantly less dragon type, and considering their ravenous appetites, it made sense there were less Pokemon in the dragon owned mountains. The Pokemon around them were milder and less savage and ruthless as well. The encounter with the Arbok, had lit a fire under his butt. The markings had been eerily Similar to the Markings belonging to the Poison King he met months ago. Something in its demeanor had reminded Carlos of that evil snake. The fact that Arbok in general, never stopped hunting you once they marked you for prey, was enough for Carlos to be nervous all over again. Had the Arbok that attacked them, been slightly better trained, well Carlos made no illusions, they would have been dead. That initial attack on him, was premeditated, the Poison King would have informed that now dead Arbok, that killing the Trainer first, would throw his Pokemon in disarray. Carlos was very much the achilles heel of his team. If it¡¯s reflexes had been a tad bit better. If it¡¯s defense stat had been slightly better trained¡­. Yes the teamwork between him and his team was impeccable. But it didn¡¯t make them invulnerable. A notion that had crept into Carlos¡¯s mind. Pride was such an insidious emotion. Even now all he could do was have his chest swell with pride when he thought of his three friends and how they had fought under such pressure. The abilities Intimidate and Unnerve on the Arbok had luckily boosted Kong tremendously and his axe kicks had hit HARD. No hesitation and Impeccable timing from all three. Gawain had been the only one to gain a level. Apparently he had done a lot more damage to the Arbok than Carlos had initially assumed. Not just that but his battle instincts were something else. He addressed all three.¡±You all did amazing in that fight against the Arbok. Dianne you saved my life no doubt about it. Kong you crushed it¡¯s skull, as you usually do, the both of you are already so dependable, I don¡¯t even know when it was, that I started putting my life in your skilled paws.¡± He smirked, both his mons preened under the praise. Carlos turned to His third member. ¡°Gawain you did well improvising a flamethrower and combining it with incendiary, it was incredible and it was inevitably one of the reasons we won that fight. How did you know where it would surface?¡± ¡±T-the vibrations in the ground told me.¡± Gawain responded, he didn¡¯t seem to know how to absorb praise as well as the other two. Carlos nodded quietly at that. Gawain would naturally learn dig, a ground move. It made sense that Gawain had some form of ground affinity. He Scratched Gawain on his head, ¡°The path is long but You will get there Gawain.¡± ¡±Which path uncle?¡± Gawain asked. Carlos felt some delight in being called uncle and no longer sir. ¡°Both Gawain, both and if you need help with either, don¡¯t hesitate to ask any of us ok?¡± Kong hopped over and playfully jabbed Gawain in his ribs. ¡°Don¡¯t worry gawa-bro, Boss mon knows how to take care of us, already made me way stronger I could ever be in my old troupe.¡± Dainne didn¡¯t say anything but walked closer to Gawain and gently butted her head against his, her eyes glimmered with understanding, her own personal loss not that different from Gawain. It all still felt muted to Gawain, considering he was still emotionally processing the death of his parents. But he smiled timidly to all of them. ¡°T-Thanks, even though m-my fire is w-weak and not worthy of praise. Im very grateful you accepted me.¡± ¡°You may not believe it Gawain, but you have your Mother¡¯s flame in that soul of yours, and your father¡¯s potential for fighting. Just because you are a late bloomer doesn¡¯t mean you won¡¯t be worthy of their pride. Don¡¯t believe your own self doubts, you hear? Your mother would not approve.¡± ¡±Uncle Carlos, you never knew mommy but say the same things as her. How can you know what she said?.¡± He asked Carlos with a crack in his voice. ¡°The truth is simple, your potential is not that difficult to see for me Gawain and i doubt it was difficult for your mother. You may not have the typical natural inherent potential with Fire TE through the abilities blaze and flash Fire your species is known for.¡± Carlos silently thanked the extensive journals from Reid, as once again they came to the rescue of his lacking knowledge, he continued: ¡°However, you have shown a remarkable technical aptitude with it. Your use of fire is more in line with what would be identified as pyrokinesis, intellectual, psychic in nature, take your own uniquely crafted move fire quills for example, I¡¯ve seen you exert some mental control over them, directing them. That¡¯s a sign of kinesis, it¡¯s unique for your species.¡± Gawain nodded. ¡°Daddy said something similar, we were actually going to find a fire Pokemon who could train me.¡± Carlos winced, ¡±Ow fuck the guilt must be eating him up so bad.¡± He thought. ¡°Hey don¡¯t you dare think it¡¯s your fault they died ok?¡± Gawain nodded. A steel glint in his eyes and for a moment all his timidity was gone, responding. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I know whose fault it is.¡± Carlos was a taken aback by the sudden shift but simultaneously he was glad the guilt Gawain felt wasn¡¯t as bad as he feared.¡± They made good Progress. They still had plenty of food, so they didn¡¯t need to hunt for a while. When they got to the next valley Gawain pointed. ¡°Look uncle, something in the sky.¡± It started as 4 specks that Gawain pointed out, that quickly became larger. 4 unlikely Pokemon together. A massive Pidgeot, that had to be its final and mega evolution stage. A Dragonite, a ¡­ flying saucer? and a Crobat. Carlos returned his 3 companions quickly and retreated under a bush, holding his makeshift bow at the ready. His Mon¡¯s inside their balls ready to jump if needed but this was way above their weight class. Carlos fully accustomed now, seeing creatures capable of ripping an earth tank apart calmed his breathing. ¡°Out of sight out of mind¡±. His mantra. So focused he was on having no presence, he almost overlooked that the Crobat swooping in at a much lower altitude, was carrying a human male. The possibility for human presence, hadn¡¯t even occurred to him. The saucer was flying at the same altitude but further away. He jumped into action and released Gawain. ¡°Explosive arrow!¡± He commanded. It was a trick they had come up with for Carlos arrows. Although Fire quills were more accurate and slightly faster, they lacked range. Gawain modified a firequill to latch onto an arrow. Carlos fired it instantly high into the sky away from the Crobat but close enough to draw the man¡¯s attention. ¡±Hey! Over here!¡± He yelled. right after the arrow exploded. His heart jumped out of his chest. He had made it! 4 months without human contact and he finally made it! So many times watching death casually pass him by in the shape of Dangerous Pokemon and finally after all of that, he made contact with human society! To Carlos Surprise, the Crobat and the man, had no delay and jumped into action. He saw it instantly, the man was incredibly well trained. Not a split second after the arrow exploded and the man had jumped off the Crobat, launching himself into a tree using the various branches to simply run down towards solid ground, ala ninja style with his arms slung back. He jumped and flipped in a twirl launching projectiles that Carlos in his surprise, barely deflected and parried with his scyther glaives. ¡°Hey fuck you! I don¡¯t wana fight! I didn¡¯t wana risk losing going unnoticed!¡± ¡±GO GET THAT UNOVIAN YANKER!¡± A deafening voice roared, Carlos had just enough time to spot a mountain of a man, dressed in military garb, built like a tank crouching on the flying saucer. Him and his alien looking Pokemon came in hot and fast. The Crobat had simultaneously dived at neck break speed and launched an aerial cutter at Gawain. Gawain after infusing The arrow, had the presence of mind to use double team and started spreading his flammable smoke that the Crobat initially didn¡¯t care about, until Gawain set it on fire causing a chain explosion, the crobat with unreasonable speed, escaped without a scratch. ¡°CRO, not BAT bad¡±, it mused with smug superiority. ¡±CUTE trick kid! But no fucking way a yanker is gonna catch us off guard with that!¡± The massive man jumped 20 feet down and came crushing down in a hero pose rising slowly, shit eating grin on his face slamming his fist in his palm. A massive Raichu materialized, the fucker was almost as tall as the man, The man, by Carlos estimate, was more than 7 feet tall. Trainer and Mon had a flair for dramatic entry and it was working. Carlos keenly felt their psychological oppression. ¡±FUCK! Gawain! We don¡¯t wana fight these guys!¡± Carlos yelled. Gawain nodded but kept his double team active and stacked his defense curls as much as possible while hiding behind trees, which didn¡¯t work too much since the Crobat seemed to have omnidirectional senses. His smoke trick didn¡¯t work anymore now that the Crobat knew what was up, and with a simple flap of its multiple wings dispersed it, smugly telling Gawain he was a hundred years too early to pose him a threat. The ninja man charged and a glint almost escaped Carlos. He raised his glaives just in time to deflect and block a very sharp looking dagger. ¡°FUCK! DUDE! LISTEN! I don¡¯t wana FIGHT!¡± While blocking, Carlos simultaneously did a leg sweep. And followed up with a kick that was way faster than humanly possible. There was a small crack of air from the insane speed.
Mach Kick&punch unlocked!
Kick or punch hard and fast!
The stoic ninja managed to dodge the leg sweep by doing a quick feet-lift jump but didn¡¯t anticipate the follow up kick. He managed to block with his hands, dispersing the absurd kinetic force and got launched backwards. From his belt a Pokemon materialized behind him. A massive bipedal frog looking pokemon with a weird grin on its face. It caught the ninja before he slammed into a tree. The military dude clapped his hands. ¡°Damn! Never seen Koga caught off guard you got some spunk kid!¡± Carlos had immediately pressed the return on Gawain¡¯s pokeball. Not a moment too soon. A crescent wave of air sliced where Gawain had been hiding, a moment later. ¡±You will go far young one, CRO with a trainer capable of such discretion BAT.¡± The massive bat seemed pleased and crouched down at the ready next to its master. Carlos noticed that Dianne was no longer in her ball but didn¡¯t see her anywhere, Kong released himself from his ball and stood in between Carlos and the massive Raichu, who sported the same shit eating grin as it¡¯s trainer. Kong had grown in these last few months but he looked tiny in comparison to the raichu. Carlos knew for sure, that no matter how tough Kong was. This Raichu could potentially one shot kill Kong. Kong hadn¡¯t gotten endure down yet. The frog looking Pokemon, deposited the obviously hurt ninja onto the ground. Meanwhile the other pokemon in the air had turned around. The mega Pidgeot flew in at break neck speed and practically crash landed between Carlos, military man and the ninja. A tall slender but well built, angry looking man with dark Blue anime hair jumped off the massive Pidgeot, Fuming. Carlos spotted a kid barely ten years old on the massive pidgeot. The pidgeot instantly saw Carlos notice the kid and moved so Carlos couldn¡¯t see and glared Carlos down. Carlos made a motion of ¡°hey I¡¯m not here for trouble¡±. At which the pidgeot scoffed. ¡±Koga! Surge! Get those trigger happy reflexes of yours under control! What are you doing! going all out on a youngling like that!? The war is FUCKING OVER!¡± ¡±you said fuck dad¡± the boy squeaked. ¡°Not now Falkner! Daddy is working!¡± The ninja nodded, patted the frog on the shoulder and returned it. The huge man Surge didn¡¯t lose a beat. His alien Saucer with a single eye was hovering menacingly behind him static sparking between its magnets. ¡±Ow calm down walker! We just like to tussle a bit with the random, totally not suspicious, auric battle capable Unovian~ Right Koga?¡± Surge elbowed Koga who flinched but nodded. A faint smile on his face. ¡±Yes, I was pleasantly surprised the young man here has quite the discipline in aura combat. Rough around the edges but rather remarkable for a boy his age.¡± The dark blue haired man moaned a grunt at his upstart underlings.¡±Wasn¡¯t Unovia supporting you? Fucking kantonians and their battle lust.¡± He grumbled quietly enough so his presumed son didn¡¯t hear and he turned around, facing Carlos, still fuming. ¡°And you! What the hell are you doing so far into the hollow mountain range!? This area isn¡¯t restricted to ace trainers, gym leaders and higher up! For shits and giggles! The Pokemon here, are dangerous! And what the hell are you smiling about!?¡± ¡±You said shit Dad.¡± The boy squeaked again. Walker almost threw his hands in the air begging for release. Carlos who began to emotionally release all the built up stress from constantly being in survival mode had begun to chuckle, turning into a laugh, sporting a shit eating grin himself. Kong was confused but decided to follow along. ¡±Yea no shit sherlock! Im not here for the scenery. Im Just really glad to see people after 4 months trying to survive here.¡± Carlos answered, after placing his hand on Kong to calm him down. Meanwhile the Dragonite landed and a young red haired man tall and thin jumped off. He kept his distance observing. ¡±Is that a fucking cape?¡± Carlos thought. ¡°Answer the question! What are you doing here?¡± Walker, clearly the leader pressed he most obviously had lost his patience about a minute ago. The Crobat whispered into Koga¡¯s ear who nodded knowingly and interjected. ¡°Before you continue, Walker, young man what is your name?¡± Walker had a vein pop in his forehead but waited for Carlos to answer. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡±Carlos sir.¡± He gave a short bow and nod, while sheathing his weapons. ¡±Good, Carlos, can you please tell your ghost Pokemon hiding in the shadows, to stop pointing its moves at our throats? It makes pleasant conversation rather difficult.¡± ¡±Ow shit! Dianne! Come here and stand down!¡± Carlos called. Diane and her two shadow clones slipped out of the shadows a second later. 3 poison darts for each of the 3 men, now visible and hovering close to their necks dissipated. Including the clones. She casually licked and groomed her paws. Walker lost some his steam but his frown seemed to grow tenser, Surge just smirked harder. The Red haired young man¡¯s mood was still indiscernible. ¡±Fascinating¡± Koga mumbled. The Crobat nodded along agreeing, they both gained a glint to their eyes as they observed Dianne closely. ¡°Sorry about that, my Dianne is rather protective of us. She must have slipped out while I was busy not getting impaled by whatever you threw at me.¡± Carlos scratched his head. ¡°Can we start over?¡± Walker sighed. ¡°That sounds like a good idea, first question why are you here?¡± ¡°You got time? Because I¡¯m not really sure either.¡± So Carlos gave them a summary of how he had woken up on the mountain side many miles to the north, giving a few details but kept it short and brief. Carefully avoiding any suspicion that might lead to them thinking he was a star child. Walker was pinching the bridge of his nose. ¡°You expect us to believe any of that? You are telling me you survived one of the most dangerous regions of this world with nothing more than 3 empty pokeballs you had on hand, with only fragments of your memory intact?¡± ¡±Could you? That would be nice¡± Carlos cheekily responded. And Walker¡¯s face was completely serene, for a moment Carlos feared he pushed the man too far. Koga came to his rescue. ¡°He knows and can expertly use fighting typed moves, the only one I know who can do that is Bruno. With someone like that, it¡¯s not a big stretch of the imagination he could survive.¡± Koga¡¯s eyes landed on the sheathed Scyther glaives. ¡±Did you kill the Schyther those blades belonged to?¡± Carlos shook his head. ¡°No he got killed by a big Ursaring. Waited an entire day to get my hands on em after it was done eating it. ¡±You survived an Ursaring encounter?¡± Surge asked with a disbelieving tone. ¡±pfff hell no. Those Mon¡¯s are scary as hell and make a fully enraged Mankey seem calm, collected and perfectly reasonable. ¡±What is bos-mon talking about? I am always perfectly reasonable.¡± Which triggered snickering from all the big Pokemon. The red haired man grinned. ¡°I am sure you are, brave Mankey.¡± Carlos noted that down for future him. Red haired man could speak to Pokemon. ¡±I simply stayed downwind and at least half a mile away whenever I became aware of an Ursaring. No way I could have survived if one of those decided to look at me funny.¡± ¡±Simply huh?¡± Walker said and nodded seemingly resigning himself to The explanation. and walked closer to Carlos. ¡°May I?¡± He asked. Now that he was calm he looked stern but still had a grumpy frown on his face. He looked tired. Carlos not sure what was going on. ¡°Sure?¡± Walker gripped his chin and moved his head, moving the hair on Carlos scalp checking him out. He flinched. ¡°You have been walking around with that?¡± Surge and Koga had come closer and saw what Walker was looking at. Both flinched as well. ¡±That bad huh?¡± Carlos quipped. ¡°Yea you know how sometimes scars look cool and shit?¡± Surge asked while showing a small scar on his shoulder. Carlos nodded. ¡°Yea well yours is downright terrifying. It wasn¡¯t handled well either. Rock and fire types tried to heal you huh?¡° Carlos nodded again. ¡°Yea I can see how a wound like that would turn out this way with their blunt approach.¡± Koga nodded along. ¡°My guess is you would have died without your auric abilities.¡± ¡°Perhaps it would be good to bring master Carlos back to my place, it is the closest. It seems he is in need of medical attention. And the hour is getting late. The Hydreigon like to hunt at this hour.¡± The red head spoke. ¡°Dang, he sounds like Aragorn,¡± Carlos thought. Surge groaned, ¡°Shove it Lance! He is coming back to neutral grounds, the league village. If he truly is Unovian, he should be with someone who his nation is allied with. ¡±I thought we are all allies here Surge.¡± Lance voice was calm but Lance¡¯s eyes contained a spark of rage. ¡±That right there, that look, is why I don¡¯t trust you, Johto SC..¡± Koga jabbed Surge into his ribs with the hilt of one of his hidden blades. ¡°Surge, brother. The war is over, we need to rebuild the trust our proud nations once had.¡± Walker chimed in, his response, was one of exhaustion,¡±You should know better than to burden the young with old grievances Surge, you know the mandates, the desire of the people to put it all behind us.¡± Walker looked at Surge Darkly while motioning with his head to the young boy, who had climbed off the mega Pidgeot. Carlos watched it all happen and chimed in. ¡°What if im not Uno-vian?¡± ¡±We will cross that bridge when we get there.¡± Lance chimed in. ¡°Now what good would we elite be if we did not show the right example to our future. To the indigo plateau it is!¡± Carlos wondered why Lance was trying so hard. The other three didn¡¯t seem to care for him much either. ¡±Mister can I pet your Poochyena? His fur is so shiny and soft.¡± The little boy Falkner, was standing next to his father holding on to his pants. ¡°I¡¯m sure Dianne wouldn¡¯t mind, right girl?¡± Dianne nodded and trodded over rubbing her fur onto the boys legs like a cat. ¡°PIDG Im watching you both, SKrEE you better behave EOT.¡± The mega pidgeot threatened with a lowl growling vibrations that Carlos couldn¡¯t place. It reverberated through his whole body. https://youtu.be/r6HZu2RlAqg?si=1ey0csBp2-z5-FZQ recent studies into how dinosaurs have produced these sounds. birds and dinosaurs are genetically quite close so it so i feel its fitting a massive Pidgeot would have a very intimidating sound if it chooses to. The Many dragons in my head cannon have similar sounds. ¡°Well you have nothing to worry about mister Pidgeot. It would never occur to me to hurt a child.¡± Carlos was offended by the insinuation. A silence dropped and Carlos looked up. The kid Falkner completely oblivious petted and cuddled with Dianne who was a bit reserved but calm under the attention. ¡±What is it?¡± Carlos didn¡¯t like the quiet. ¡±Aw man, kid, why did you go ahead and do that? You had us almost convinced you weren¡¯t a star-child.¡± Surge said, his grin gone, a hardened look in his eyes. He sighed. ¡°What¡¯s your call Walker?¡± ¡°There is no call, there is no difference. We do not let innocents pay for the sins of others. I say look at the evidence in front of you. When have you ever seen a Dark type be this gentle? Poochyena are known to be dangerous to children yet this one is like a yamper puppy with your own child Falkner! Lance had moved closer and got more heated. His face hardened and to Carlos¡¯s surprise he stood next to Carlos facing his comrades. ¡±I didn¡¯t think I would be the one to remind you of that mandate you are so fond off, Walker.¡± The last bit came out accusatory. The young boy looked up, from giving a giddy Dianne, scratches on hard to reach places, still oblivious to what was going on. ¡°Daddy is something wrong?¡± Walker sighed. ¡°No son, nothing¡¯s wrong. The stranger just surprised us is all.¡± Carlos let go of the breath he was holding, as he saw the deadly look in both Surge and Koga dissipate and replaced with relief.¡± ¡°You gotta be more Careful kid, pokespeech is an incredibly rare gift. People your age with that gift can be counted on one hand. Lance here is one of 3 in the johto-kanto region. Most nations have one or 2 per generation. If Unova or any other nation had lost one of their whisperers, the world would have known. ¡±Which leaves only 1 plausible explanation.¡± Carlos sighed. I figured it wouldn¡¯t be smart to advertise my background, the way the Pokemon in these mountains talk about star children.¡± ¡±You can tell us the whole story of what happened but I do believe your claim of having lost your memory. A head wound like that, it¡¯s a miracle you are alive, aura user or not.¡± Koga spoke up. ¡°I submit we fly to Blackthorne and contact Oak? He might have a better idea of what to do with this situation. Im, hesitant to inform the Elite of either of the regions. Or seek the council of Professor Elm, not really his area of expertise nor does he have the required¡­ discretion, but I trust the dragon tribe for theirs.¡± Koga¡¯s proposal seemed rather Diplomatic but from what Carlos could see none seemed to disagree. ¡°Well that¡¯s why you usually end up with me Koga, you know when to be diplomatic. I have no problems with that suggestion. Surge said and Walker nodded. ¡°Recall your Pokemon young man, you are riding on one of mine. We will go to the dragon village and provide you food and shelter for the time being till we can figure out what to do.¡± Walker released 3 massive birds 1 with a saddle and safety straps. The bird was covered in grey feathers that turned into a fiery red on its wings with black feathers at the tips. Creating a fire motif. But his attention was drawn to the two black steel birds with their imposing red eyes that towered over him, their feathers made of steel, shaped like armor. ¡±What are they called?¡± Carlos had moved closer almost entranced by them, stroking their metal coat. He was amazed how the black feathers seemed to bend at will whenever they bristled or moved but it definitely had the touch and feel of steel. they stoically stood vigilant. Ignoring him. ¡°These two are Corviknights, steel/flying types. They serve as my vanguard in the sky and this is my talon Flame he serves as an aerial bomber in my squad. Now get on Talon Flame. You act like you never seen either of these birds.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t, or at least I don¡¯t remember.¡± Carlos said as fastened himself in the saddle, strapping himself in snuggly. He stroked the feathers. Of the Talonflame. ¡°Thanks for the ride.¡± He patted Talonflame on the flank of its neck, ¡°no problem star child¡±. Talonflame spread its wings. ¡°Before I forget, catch.¡± Koga threw carlos something. Carlos snagged it from the air. It was an earpiece. ¡°So we can talk, it¡¯s at least an hour flight to Blackthorne. I¡¯m sure you have questions. ¡°Thanks. So my whacky memory aside ive got loads of questions. I will start with two. One, what is the deal with star children and their story? and two, are these bird Pokemon native to this region? I have never seen them before.¡± They took off and deployed in a v formation. The mega Pidgeot created a huge gale the other 4 Pokemon rode, increasing their speed. ¡±Corviknights.¡± Walker pointed at the Black steel knight birds flying in front, ¡°used to be native to Galar and Talonflame, the one you are riding, native to The Kalos region. Both nations are a few ten thousands miles west-west north from here.¡± Walker answered. ¡°You better listen carefully boy what I¡¯m gonna tell you about the legacy you inherited, being a star-child. It Is important for you to know, don¡¯t go showing others willy nilly that you can speak to Pokemon.¡± ¡°Many of the star-children came to this world before the war happened. That war lasted 5 years and ended about 15 years ago.The tragic irony was that the Star children actively worked to stop that war from happening but that¡¯s not something a lot of people remember nowadays.¡± ¡±when they first appeared, almost a century ago they came with a lot of futuristic knowledge of our world and were believed to be from the future at first, although a lot of their knowledge was flawed or downright wrong. The stuff they got right, was revolutionary to say the least. At first they were considered a novelty. A side effect from the ever constant threat of the ultra wormholes that had started popping up a century ago. But they assisted in utilizing Pokemon in our technology, started the industrialization of our world and technological advancements They were pivotal in the creation of pokeballs and their many variations, TM¡¯s and the beginning of most of the corporations behind those technologies. Once they sparked the beginning of our technological engineering, there was no stopping it. We went from a dark age into an enlightened era within the span of 50 years. It helped getting some semblance of control and response on the ultra wormholes as well. For the first time there was hope for the future.¡± ¡°you can Imagine, their support was practically unanimous.¡± ¡±Where they truly shined was their collective capacity to dominate in Pokemon battle, they helped revolutionize our understanding of typings, especially when it came to psychic, fairy, dark and even dragon, which is incredibly ironic considering what happened eventually. Even though they were wrong in many of their assumptions on Pokemon and their typings. Their perceptions and training methods accelerated our scientific understanding of pokemon by at least half a decade. They quickly ingrained themselves in our many nations, both culturally and politically. We welcomed them with open arms, they pulled humanity away from the threat of extinction and we marveled at their many insights for trade and cooperation.¡± ¡±Borders were laid wide open. Pokemon exchange programs were held, bringing many different breeds of Pokemon to different regions. Barren wastelands, often left unattended became a veritable paradise, or got turned into Pokemon reserves or breeding grounds. The way they integrated different Pokemon from around the world into different biospheres for a more resilient ecosystem, was celebrated far and wide.¡± They laid the beginning groundwork for the leagues, something the many leading professors of each region, helped finish after the war, especially Professor Oak was pivotal in the finishing touches of the league system, the Gym networks, the global integration of the Jenny and Joy tribes and the training programs that strengthened the trainers in each nation. The programs needed to get people involved from every walk of life. Each nation saw its strength prosperity and wealth increase year by year. Our nations began to exemplify the meritocracy we all believed in.¡± Walker paused and Carlos waited for him to continue. But it seemed Walker was done talking. At the end, Walker¡¯s voice had begun cracking, indicating how difficult it was for him to talk about this but Carlos couldn¡¯t contain his curiosity. ¡°So what went wrong? How did all of that, which sounds fantastical, turn into a war?¡± ¡±It began when they tried to legislate stringent Pokemon rights.¡± Koga spoke up. Carlos head was spinning. ¡°Wait what? the hell are you saying? Why would that cause a war? How?¡± ¡°Well you have to understand something about our world. Everything is based on thrust and merit. Sure we have money but without trust, that money won¡¯t mean anything. When we train and create working relationships with Pokemon, mutual trust is innately ingrained within us. We are culturally expected to understand the needs of our pokemon and vice versa. If a trainer and pokemon don¡¯t fit together they make their grievances known and although potentially painful for either side it¡¯s for the best and they will go their separate ways. There is such a thing as compatibility. The underlying science of it is highly complex and only understood in the most basic terms. Elm and Oak tried to explain it too me once and it went completely over my head. They themselves said and I quote: ¡°we basically have no fucking clue why it works.¡± These laws were highly disturbing to a growing group of opposition. In our society we are trusted and respected to know what¡¯s best for our Pokemon. These laws, for many was a breach of that trust. They argued that there could be no law that could oversee something we didn¡¯t understand. Couldn¡¯t possibly oversee all the needs for a mutual relationship between Pokemon and trainer. Inevitably only creating hurdles for an already complex process. Where the star children always had the intellectual backing of the scientific world, something they helped create, in this instance it turned against them with a critical eye. Their knowledge was celebrated but their lack of upbringing and disconnect to the existing cultures of people and Pokemon became front and center of the argument. There were too many variables involved, according to the scientists as well they urged caution, causing the opposing groups to gain steam in the public eye. too many divergent ways for the many Pokemon and their needs to be legislated. They argued those laws would cause more harm than they did good. Many silently agreed. Ironically enough they were right, inevitably, just the proposals of these laws and the increasing stubbornness of the star children, who were already strongly divided on the subject, to top it all off, did far too much harm and did far too little good.¡± Koga ended it there. ¡±So what sort of laws proposed were so horrible, that it received such opposition?¡± Lance chimed in. ¡°For dragon, rock, steel, fighting, ground and lesser extend the fire type tribes, Specifically, the physical abuse laws that the star children who specialized in fairy and grass types, proposed. Were utter nonsense us. It showed a complete lack of understanding of our culture, the culture of our Pokemon and how we could coexist in the first place. We of the Blackthorne, were amiable to some of their proposals but the physical abuse laws were utter nonsense.¡± ¡±Can you explain?¡± Carlos asked. Lance asked him a question instead: ¡°what does your Mankey need?¡± ¡°Guidance, discipline, trust in his trainer and team and friendship a bond.¡± Lance shook his head. ¡°You make the same mistake many of the star children made. Tell me how do you feel about how violent Pokemon are to eachother?¡± ¡±They can be pretty violent. Sometimes too much for my liking.¡± Lance chuckled. ¡°To a Pokemon, that violence is something they need. What your Mankey needs most of all from you, is the ability to gain strength and be in control of that strength. All the things you mentioned previously are nothing more than tools for them to achieve that strength.¡± ¡°Many of the fairy typed trainers express their dislike for violence and that is their right. For the most part It¡¯s not how that particular typing gains its strength, however violence is most definitely the only way for dragons and fighters and the previously mentioned typings, to gain strength. Those laws would be an insidious poisonous fairy mindset planted into a Pokemon that would war with its nature eventually it would wither such a Pokemon, till it looses all the will to live. Quite a few Dragon trainers saw their own Dragon die a slow death like that. Violence isn¡¯t only to gain strength either it¡¯s often crucial for the bonding of such Pokemon, it¡¯s often how they express physical intimacy as well. Many dragon types in their mating rituals have some form of bloodletting during the act.¡± Lance stopped after that. And a silence fell over the group. The night began to settle. Carlos began to see tiny lights in the distance. ¡°So what happened to the star children after the war?¡± He asked already resigned to the hear the answer. The groups that opposed them hunted after them specifically, during the war. They believed that the star childrwn were responsible for the war in the first place and hunted them down. In the chaos of that war many atrocities were committed. Eventually some of these star children snapped and unleashed their wrath upon the opponents but this made them easily identifiable. These opposition members often resorted to poison, dark and ghost pokemon to hit them after they had exhausted their pokemon. After the war, there was very little oversight on these groups and they formed teams and went underground. A thorn in our societies to this day. Most of them exist in the shadows. We try to hunt them down and make them answer for their crimes but many of their older members survived a war and staying hidden is child¡¯s play for such battle hardened individuals.¡± Koga finished explaining. ¡±Should I be worried?¡± Carlos asked. ¡±That depends solely on your actions kid, remember we judge based on merit, again as long as you don¡¯t out yourself as a star child, you should be fine.¡± Surge said. The rest of the trip to Blackthorne was spent in silence. The breathtaking view from up high on talonflame was incredible, passing mountains, seeing exotic Pokemon but Carlos barely saw it. Meeting a Legend. It didn¡¯t take them long to arrive. On the last stretch Carlos gave the full story of what had happened to him, all 4 men listened quietly. The last couple of miles they were escorted by dragon riders. There was a wide variety. Salamence, Hydreigon and Dragonite he recognized but there was also a green and red bug looking dragon with diamond shaped wings, it looked benign from a distance but when it flew close, the aggression in its eyes was palpable. Carlos remained calm. Another Dragon appeared, see through and ethereal, it had a triangular shaped head and it seemed to glide through the air instead of flying. Once they landed Carlos got a good look at the village. It seemed more like a small city but what surprised Carlos the most, was that most of the houses were made of simple materials. Wood, wrapped with straw and straw roofs. The property of each house was quite large often with simple barns which housed sleeping pokemon. ¡°When it comes to rambunctious dragons, brick or wood makes no difference. The simplistic housing was borne from pragmatic needs. Not everyone can afford TE reinforcements to their house.¡± Lance guessed at the surprise look on Carlos face. ¡±makes sense.¡± ¡±Im going back to Violet. Lance! treat your guest well. I will want to hear Oak¡¯s thoughts once he arrives.¡± With that, Walker¡¯s mega Pidgeot took off with a crack of air creating an intense gust. By the time Carlos could open his eyes, the Pidgeot was already a mile away. ¡±pfff show off,¡± Surge scoffed. ¡°Make that 3 honored guests Lance, me and Koga gonna keep our eye on the young¡¯in.¡± He smirked, ¡°no offense.¡± Lance took a deep breath, other than that he didn¡¯t show anything. ¡°I would advise you to behave Surge, both of your deeds in war are well known around these parts, neither of you match well against even the most basic trainer in this village.¡± For the first time he let a dangerous bone chilling glint, shimmer in his eyes. Surge rolled his eyes. ¡±Ooo scary.¡± Before Surge could antagonize any further, Koga stomped on his foot and made a short bow to Lance. ¡°We would be honored to stay the night here, young dragon master.¡± Lance nodded and motioned for them to follow him. They entered the Pokemon center and Carlos saw 2 nurse joys chatting away, one looked old with greying hair but other than that they were the splitting image of one another. Like a time capsule. ¡°Good evening Lance~,¡± the younger Nurse Joy spotted them when they entered and daintily hopped over. She smiled seductively at Lance. And looked everyone else over. Lance didn¡¯t show any evidence the sugarly seduction was working. ¡°Surge, Koga.¡± She nodded at the Kantoninans coldly. ¡°Who is the wild one?¡± She hopped like a little girl towards Carlos and got real close to him. She sniffed him. Carlos felt her eyes were unnatural. They had a pink hue to them. ¡±Caught him poaching didn¡¯t you? I can smell the blood of numerous Pokemon on him.¡± Carlos had taken a step back uncomfortable with the breach to his personal space. ¡°I have hunted to eat and survive.¡± He looked at his 3 liaison¡¯s. ¡°Is that considered poaching?¡± He asked. Koga responded. ¡±Only if you hunted them in the reserves, dedicated to keep the numbers of native species intact. The Hollow mountain range is technically a Reserve for War survival Pokemon.¡± ¡°Great so I did poach, in my defense I had no choice and didn¡¯t know it was considered a reserve. Without TE, neither me or my mon¡¯s would have survived, the TE tree¡¯s and bushes were viciously protected by vegetarian Pokemon.¡± ¡±Tsch, they all say something like that.¡± The Young Nurse joy tsked and gave Carlos a look of contempt. Carlos snapped, he was tired and had zero patience left. ¡±How about you keep your judgemental bullshit to yourself and shut the fuck up? I was gonna ask if you could give my Mon¡¯s a check up but now I wouldn¡¯t put it past you, to come up with some excuse to confiscate them.¡± ¡±WHAT!?¡± The young Nurse yelled loudly. Her face red with rage. Carlos stood defiant her distrustful comment had him fuming, he didn¡¯t know if he could trust this situation. His hand hovered over his scythered handle. Surge whistled. ¡°Hot damn you got a mouth boy.¡± Lance had gripped the young Nurse preventing her from jumping Carlos. ¡°Let her go Lance.¡± He leered at her, taunting her, Carlos didn¡¯t even notice he was subconsciously lacing his words with dark TE. ¡°I¡¯ll show her what true equality looks like in the wild.¡± Carlos was internationally fuming, a dark rage settled into him. Already he began to look for a way out. The three men took on an aggressive stance. Darkness settled into the corner of eyes. Singularly focusing on the young nurse. In the back of his mind he idly wondered why he reacted so strongly. ¡°ENOUGH! Sit down you!¡± The Older nurse Joy had walked past the counter and gave the younger Nurse a withering glare. ¡°How many times have I told you not to jump to conclusions and to keep your judgment to yourself, like this savage from the wild so eloquently pointed out!¡± The young nurse anger withered and looked down, face completely red and embarrassed. She gave Carlos an ugly look. ¡°And you.¡± The old nurse turned to Carlos and stared at him. For a moment her eyes seemed to glow and Carlos¡¯s quickly eroding reasoning, pointed out to him she was more Pokemon than human. Her eyes had that similar alien glint to them. She walked closer, no anger or judgement evident, still silent and put her hand on his chest ever so gently, right where the dark rage was beating and pumping fury. She sighed. ¡°I apologize for the offense. What my foolish student said, was thoughtless and inconsiderate of the struggles you recently faced.¡± It was odd, her words soothed him but it didn¡¯t feel natural. Regardless it calmed him down. Part of him panicked, whatever she did, felt like a pokemon move however unlike with pokemon moves, his arceus system didn¡¯t give him anything, not even a message that the move was too advanced for identification. All three of Carlos¡¯s Pokemon materialized, Kong tried shoving the old nurse roughly away. She didn¡¯t stumble but gracefully stepped back avoiding the shove, staying perfectly calm. Gawain waddled quickly to Carlos and pulled at his pants all worried. ¡±Uncle why are you acting all weird? Are you ok?¡± Carlos let out some gibberish, trying to speak. His head lolled from one side to the other. He tried to stand but he swaggered all over. All of a sudden his body felt 5 times heavier. He felt an intense bout of nausea, fever and his head began to pound like mad. Kong began to fume. ¡°You tricksy aren¡¯t you!?¡± Dianne took one glance at Carlos and a cold determination settled in. She formed her shadow clones each of which formed stilettos, hovering, dangerously pointing at the humans present. The young Nurse began to sweat. The old nurse motioned for Lance, Koga and Surge to stop all three had a Pokeball in hand and were tense. ¡°Don¡¯t bring out your Pokemon. I¡¯ve got this handled.¡± She said. ¡±You better.¡± Surge said, gripping a ball in his hand but him, Lance and Koga listened for now. The old nurse smiled warmly at Carlos¡¯s Pokemon. ¡°My my, you three really care for your trainer don¡¯t you?¡± None of The 3 responded, Dianne started stalking with her clones. Her gaze was stone cold. She looked at the old nurse. ¡±Poo, explain¡±. She demanded coldly. Although the nurse didn¡¯t know pokespeech with pokemon she wasn¡¯t familiar with. She was experienced enough to infer the meaning. ¡°Come sit with me for a moment Carlos.¡± The old nurse asked. In a weird daze he sat down on a nearby chair. His nausea, headache and fever abated once his TE reinserted itself. He was completely out of it. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± He mumbled all slurred. ¡±Student, come here and look at this. The young nurse came closer reluctantly. And the old nurse gently moved Carlos¡¯s head and his mated hair to the side and the young nurse gasped, softly whispering: ¡°How is he still alive!?¡±, Gawain flinched and was back to pulling on Carlos¡¯s pants, squealing his own name. The old nurse whacked the young nurse on the back of her head. ¡°What have I told you about blurting crap like that? This is perfectly treatable now that he is here!¡± She turned back to Carlos Pokemon while the young nurse was pouting but stayed quiet. ¡°Your master is terribly injured. I momentarily disabled his TE regeneration. He suffered A complete skull fracture, I estimate, that 4 months ago, it was healed in a very unorthodox way. He most likely needs quite a bit of medical attention. Prolonged recovery through TE can be devastating for the human body and to the natural growth of young trainers such as himself.¡± "His TE must have kept the pain at bay. Tell me, did your master eat just as much, if not more pokemon meat than you three?¡± Dianne looked at her two comrades. Gawain nodded frantically ¡°Is he going to be ok!?¡± He squealed. Dianne gave him a look of betrayal. Kong observed quietly, deep in thought. Dianne turned her attention back to the old nurse. Old nurse Joy nodded and smiled reassuringly at the 3 Pokemon. ¡°Of course, I don¡¯t need to tell you how strong your trainer is.¡± Kong puffed his chest in pride and nodded. ¡°But he needs to be scanned by the proper machines so we can help him get better.¡± She added. ¡°What happened to you?¡± The old nurse asked Carlos but Koga jumped in seeing as Carlos was dozing off. He gave them the summary of what Carlos had told them. ¡°Get a stretcher and you will sit in on the potential surgery and assist me understand?¡± She pointed at the young nurse. The young nurse nodded. and rushed off. She came back with a stretcher and 2 chansey. ¡°We will now make a scan of your trainer to check what is going on. You can come and watch from the observation lounge but you cannot interfere understood?¡± She addressed the Pokemon. ¡°Chan You can trust the old nurse. She might be an old bat but she is the best hew-mon healer this side of the mountain range sii!¡¯ both Chansey chimed simultaneously. ¡±im not an old bat~¡± she responded melodically, both the chansey chuckled. the three musketeers looked at eachother and seemed hesitant. Gawain was the first who responded, ¡°cynda M-mommy always told me I could trust a chansey¡¯s word. Quill¡± Kong shrugged, ¡°works for me. Lead on then.¡± Dianne remained silent but disabled her moves and hopped onto Carlos, who was laid down on the stretcher, she perched on his chest, nestling in and gave the old nurse a look, daring her, to get her off her trainer. ¡°Ow my old heart, you silly girl, your trainer is in good hands.¡± The old nurse cooed like a young girl, fawning over Dianne¡¯s protectiveness. The young nurse tried to ignore the scene but was blushing up a storm. ¡°C-cute¡± she mumbled. It was obvious her opinion of Carlos was changing quickly. ¡°If the three of you can wait here for a moment. Check yourselves in and I will be back in ten minutes with an update.¡± With that Carlos was rushed off on a stretcher, snoring fast asleep. ¡±It looked bad, but not that bad.¡± Surge mumbled and went to a vending machine, punched it and took a drink out. Lance grumbled at that. Surge¡¯s raichu Materialized and did the same thing, but he used a bit of electricity and 3 more drinks came out. The raichu tossed 2 of the drinks to Lance and Koga respectively and plopped down next to his trainer who kicked back in the lounge. Plopping his muddy boots on a nearby coffee table. Lance grumbled again, something about manners and stood still watching the swinging doors stoically. Surge rolled his eyes and watched Koga use a phone booth. It rang for a bit till the person on the other end answered. ¡°Ah good evening Professor Oak, we have a bit of a situation here in Blackthorne.¡± Surge and his Mon zoned out for the rest of the conversation. Surge whispered something into his Raichu¡¯s ear and his Raichu gained a devilish smirk. With his electricity he created a magnetic field holding the empty cans still and used the edge of his tail to create thin strips of aluminum out of the cans, that they both rolled into makeshift pins. They took turns, taking potshots at Lance. Lance stoically ignored the snickering of both. One of Lance¡¯s Mon¡¯s materialized. A powerful well trained charmeleon who took on the same stoic air of superiority. But in the meantime he flared his tail flame and shot razor thin jets of flame from his tail, each time Surge and his Raichu flung a pin, while watching the door with his master. A smirk played on Lance¡¯s face whenever his charmeleon was successfull. It quickly became a game of tag, where the unwritten rule was that dragon and trainer, werent allowed to move and had to intercept the projectiles launched at them in increasing complex arc¡¯s, eventually the Raichu used his electric abilities as a makeshift magnet. Ten minutes later the old nurse came back. Her face was indescribable. Something about her demeanor set all three men on edge. ¡°Master Koga, can you please explain to me again how this poor young man, with his Pokemon¡¯s barely at a fighting age, ended up with that injury in the hollow mountains?¡± Koga for the first time in a long time shifted uncomfortably. ¡°We told you already?¡± ¡°Not the story you are going to tell the public, a story you obviously already called Oak for. The truth.¡± ¡°May I ask what it is you found out about his injury that has vexed you so miss Joy?¡± Lance asked. Concern laced in his tone. She looked at the young man for a few icy cold moments. ¡°I underestimated the severity of his injury in my assessment. His condition is so utterly ludicrous and baffling I can write a scientific paper on the subject and retire thrice over.¡± She paused for dramatic effect. This got everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Come on woman! Spill it, don¡¯t leave us hanging.¡± Surge urged impatiently. ¡°Rai! Raichu!¡± His Raichu nodded. The nurse sighed.¡°He is currently on a blood dialysis to cleanse his body, I estimate he will be out for 2 days.¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°Initially I assumed someone had used rock TE, to set the bones so his body could restore the bone naturally, this is sometimes done by rock trainers, The boy had all the signs of mineral poisoning.¡± She took a deep breath and continued. ¡°Whoever took care of him, had the madly insane idea to turn his entire skull and other parts of his skeletal structure into solid TE rock, probably because his skull was so severely fragmented. We found many skull fragments, luckily all on the outer side of his skull. Those will be naturally expelled over time but were rather indicative of how bad it must have been.¡± Surge burst out laughing ¡°holy shit! I never thought saying ¡°thick skull or hard-head was literal!¡± He thundered a boisterous rumbling laughter from the chest.¡± Koga looked at the Nurse with increasing concern and poked Surge, hoping he would shut up. Lance inadvertently moved a bit further away from the old nurse. ¡±I never heard of such a method to heal, Is that actually feasible?¡± Lance asked, trying to distract the old nurse Joy while Surge calmed down from his laughter. ¡°Well im glad, you find it amusing that he has ten times the lethal amount, of a dozen minerals and irons in his bloodstream, Surge.¡± She fumed. ¡°To answer your question Lance, no it¡¯s not a feasible method of healing, it should never be considered.¡± She turned to Koga. ¡°You are the perceptive one, he really didn¡¯t look to be in pain at any point? Even with his TE regeneration He should have had debilitating migraine¡¯s, bouts of intense nausea and fevers.¡± Koga shook his head. ¡°You saw him nurse, we noticed the scar on his head after our initial clash calmed down.¡± The nurse popped a vein in her head. ¡°You fought him? Her tone was dangerous. ¡±He almost overwhelmed me nurse Joy.¡± Koga defended himself. ¡°He launched an explosive at me and our old instincts kicked in, no one got seriously injured, he rattled my bones a bit but nothing serious.¡± ¡±Yea you should have seen it! His kick as fast as a hitmonlee kick! And I¡¯m sure you noticed the TE weapons he carries?¡± Surge jumped to the defense of his buddy. ¡±I did. Crudely done but effective.¡± The nurse responded. ¡°Well you will be happy to know I doubt that he is a runaway agent from any of the teams you rangers keep failing to catch. His Pokemon although young, are incredibly well trained and of sound mind and nature. Although they all seem to suffer from an obsessive attachment issue, even the Mankey which is rare for its species. Ive only ever seen this sort of bonding with star children. ¡°Funny you should mention that¡±, Lance started. The nurse nodded knowingly ¡°Ah! I knew it, I must say though, even amongst their number I never saw someone which such ludicrous levels of natural TE and a triple typing to boot.¡± ¡°triple?¡± The 3 men asked simultaneously. ¡°Ah he must have dark typing, no wonder his Poochyena is so protective of him.¡± Koga mused. ¡±That explains his ability for pokespeech. But by arceus, a triple type? Isn¡¯t that like one in a million?¡± Lance asked. ¡±1 in 7373 to be exact and amongst the numerous star children of the past, he would be the first.¡± Nurse Joy chimed in. ¡°To confirm, we can depend on your discretion Miss Joy?¡± Koga asked. ¡±Of course, the boy from the looks of it, has come face to face with danger on multiple occasions in the last four months. He needs rest not just from physical strain but mental strain as well.¡± she continued. ¡°His body is fighting the rock to transform it back into bone. The rock was heavily infused with Rock TE which is incompatible with his body. His exceptional TE for his age is the only reason I believe he will make a full recovery.¡± She sighed. ¡°Well good night gentleman. Me and my student will have to monitor him during the night to make sure he stays stable.¡± With that she was off. Leaving the 3 men. ¡±So he has a thicker, harder head than the average smuck?¡± Surge asked tentatively. ¡°I see your courage returned.¡± Lance asked smirking. Surge shrugged. ¡±Hey it¡¯s never a good idea to antagonize the medic. Affects their bedside manner.¡± The outside door of the Pokemon center opened. All three men turned. A middle aged man with an absolute air of authority flanked by a massive Arcanine, Dragonite and an Alakazam entered. His face stoic and tense. ¡°So am I in the right place?¡± POV of Oak. Earlier that day: An alarm blared 7 O¡¯clock. Tossing and turning all night unable to get a wink of sleep. The middle aged man threw his blanket to the side, and ripped the curtains open. The autumn sun greeted his weathered face. Some Pokemon activity in his ranch. His Dragonite just came back from it¡¯s morning hunt on mt Hideaway. His Alakazam meditated on the big Monolith rock, positioned in such a way, that it functioned as a sun dial. Oak¡¯s psychic partner had insisted to bring it back from Mt Moon. Claiming it functioned as a perfect psychic pole to his own. Oak had to admit, his Alakazam seemed capable of refining his impeccable, psychic abilities more quickly, whenever he meditated on that Rock. The constant sharpening of skills at the alpha stage was important for any Pokemon. The tranquility of the scene almost made him forget what day it was. Memorial day. Oak sighed. By the time he was done sighing he was fully dressed in formal wear and sitting on the big monolith next to his Alakazam. ¡±Thank you old friend, I don¡¯t know what I would do without you. It¡¯s a heavy day today.¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t forgive yourself if you missed it.¡± His Alakazam communicated. His bonds with his Pokemon was the only thing that gave Oak the strength to get out of his house today. He pulled a picture of his late son and wife. The parents of his own grandchildren. He sighed again. He had been so proud of them that day. Gary and his sister were running around on the property, May was chasing him, dragging a newly pressed suit, yelling at Gary that he was getting the suit dirty. Gary barely 15 years old was yelling he didn¡¯t want to wear the dusty old suit. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Samuel was pinching the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. ¡°Their hearts are heavy, they both secretly hope their antics will lead to their punishment and subsequent banishment of the event.¡± Hearing that, was too much for Samuel, a tear fell down his face. A shadow covered his eyes. ¡°Sometimes I curse my intelligence and how I passed that on to them you know?¡± He said staring at the pink sky. ¡°This burden isn¡¯t theirs to carry. I wish they didn¡¯t have the intelligence to understand this weight.¡± His Dragonite perched behind him, gently patting Samuel on his back. His Arcanine was close by curled up at the base. It let out a soft whimper. Oak closed his eyes for a moment and by the time he opened them. Both May and Gary Oak were staring at each other dumbfounded for a second. They were both immaculately clean and dressed. Not a single fray or fold out of place. ¡°Gramps! I thought it¡¯s not ok for a Pokemon to use a move on us without our consent!?¡± They both yelled in unison. By the time they were finished yelling. their grandfather Professor Samuel Oak was standing in front of them, radiating authority and a stiff upper lip. ¡°They are not allowed to use moves without the consent of their trainers. In order to keep you two numbskulls in line, I have allowed him a lot more than simple acts of getting you dressed and cleaned.¡± He spoke calm and with a reasonable tone of voice, to an outsider that is. Both brother and sister heard the subtle tone, a hint of inflection there, a baritone note carried half a second longer. They knew they were in trouble. ¡°Approach.¡± His voice brooked no complaints and they both did as they were told, heads downcast. Oak and pulled them in for a hug. They both stammered. ¡°W-what¡¯s going on?¡± Oak grinned. ¡°It¡¯s our annual hug, I don¡¯t feel like going either, looking at all those glum faces all depressed. But you have to show your respect. I understand that our family name comes with¡­ expectations but I want you to focus on greeting and paying respects to your parents. Let grandpa worry about all the Ekan¡¯s and Sevipers ok?¡± ¡±Is that stupid guy Ashe, going to be there?¡± Gary asked. ¡±Of course Gary, but why worry about him? when it¡¯s his Mom we should be worried about?¡± May gave her grandfather a side long glance. Samuel felt a headache coming on again. ¡°Ow Arceus save me of these children! May! I have been over this. Delia is the daughter-in-law of my childhood friend. I see her as a daughter. Nothing is ever going to happen between the two of us.¡± May scoffed. ¡°Yea right! It¡¯s not you I don¡¯t trust, it¡¯s Delia I don¡¯t trust, you¡¯re a man, you can¡¯t see how she¡¯s playing and manipulating you with her sad looks and, Ouch!¡± She rubbed her forehead. ¡°What was that for!?¡± Samuel had flicked her. ¡°Do not speak ill of Delia, quite frankly you could learn a thing or two about decorum and perseverance from her. No one in this village has lost as much as her. She lost her entire family, her husband and his family in the war. I told you this many times, Delia is the last person on this planet that would, manipulate someone with her tears. Do you have any idea how often Alakazam tells me, she¡¯s in a secluded spot watching her family photos crying?¡± May looked down dejectedly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry grandpa.¡± Samuel nodded, ¡°you should be. Think well on your words and better yourself. You are only half a year out from your journey. You are an Oak. A daughter of a proud and strong family and tribe, you hear? ¡°Yeah you should be sorry! And sorry for chasing me.¡± Gary chimed in. Before May could explode Samuel jumped in. ¡°Silence Gary!¡± He raised his voice ever so slightly. ¡°You are no better than your sister. Do not bully Ash today, you understand? You may think he will be a terrible trainer and his grades might be worse than yours but he is right behind you. The Ketchum¡¯s are also a strong family.¡± Gary rolled his eyes and looked away defiantly. Unwilling to concede. Samuel sighed and stepped back. ¡°Time to go.¡± He had barely finished and they were at the memorial hall. Alakazam waved them goodbye and disappeared. ¡°How will we get back?¡± Gary asked. ¡°Alakazam will know when, don¡¯t worry, nothing in this town happens without him knowing.¡± Samuel responded and straightened his back. Walking into the building his grandchildren in tow. He mentally prepared himself to give cordial smiles and handshakes. Quite a few trainers from far and wide attended the memorial. Nine memorials were held in Kanto. One in each Mayor city with a Gym and here in Pallet town. Technically a tenth memorial was held on the indigo plateau but that was considered neutral grounds by both Kantonians and Jothonians. Pallet town was a small town, unremarkable on its own on the surface. But in the Pokemon circles, the town had an air of mystique. Multiple powerful family lines, siring Pokemon trainers, professors and researchers, all from Pallet town. Each generation had contributed something revolutionary to the sciences or understanding and discovery of new Pokemon. The Ketchum¡¯s and the Oak¡¯s the most prominent. Or as someone once had jokingly called them; red and blue. Referencing the family crests of each family. The war had hit Pallet town harder than most, due to the scope of how many men and women had been involved. The population of pallet town was an odd mix of many children, most of them orphaned and elderly people scrambling to take care of them. The only silver lining was that most of these children got closer and closer to their 18th birthday and go on their journey, their rite of passage into adulthood. As they entered, Samuel was caught of guard. Delia was standing right there in the hallway. Next to her was Ashe. 15 years old still not hitting his growth spurt. Both stood awkwardly, not really knowing what to do. Her Mimey was standing next to her, holding her purse. All smiles to other people streaming in. May started scoffing and Samuel caught her eyes and gave her a smile and stared her down. It didn¡¯t take long for May to figure out what that smile meant and she shook her head. Samuel nodded ever so slightly. She sighed and knew she was defeated. She Approached Delia from behind. ¡°Good morning Miss Ketchum, how are you today?¡± Samual noted, to May¡¯s credit, that she really did try her best. Delia turned around and was all big smiles to May and gave her a big hug, making everything super awkward for May. Ash with his typical obliviousness said hi too. Creating a moment for Oak and Gary. Oak gave May the, ¡®I told you so¡¯ look. ¡±What¡¯s all this about gramps?¡± ¡°Remember my talk: boys are like Houndooms and girls are like Persians,?¡± ¡°Both need different types of training?¡± Gary asked. ¡±In a Greedent¡¯s nuttshell.¡± Oak responded. Gary nodded. ¡°May does have quite the Persian claws. A lot of her friends have them too.¡± Oak sighed. ¡°You are too perceptive and smart for your own good. You should be blind to the flaws of women a bit longer.¡± ¡°Pff like Ash? That moron is gonna get himself tied up in one scam after the next, I refuse to fall for that. I can¡¯t afford it as a trainer.¡± Oak was about to respond but Delia and a blushing May walked over. Gary and Ash gave each other a curt greeting. Both had obviously been told to behave. Samuel put his best smile on for Delia. She looked so vulnerable and he would be lying to himself that it didn¡¯t trigger his need to protect her. She was a drop dead gorgeous and kind woman, any man would be lucky to have her. But he was Samuel Oak. He would never tarnish the relationship between the two families, he would never forgive himself if he did. He channeled all of his emotional outbursts of seeing Delia, into his fatherly instincts. He felt satisfaction at his own discipline. The way it should be. ¡°shall we get seated?¡± He asked the group. ¡°It¡¯s going to be a long day and I was hoping to find a discreet spot, making it difficult for all the bootlickers attending.¡± Everyone followed him in tow. ¡°Why would anyone lick your boots? Today of all things?¡± Ash asked dumbfounded. ¡±Do you really not know what a bootlicker is Ashe?¡± Gary groaned and shook his head in disbelief. ¡°I know what a bootlicker is! That¡¯s not what I was asking!¡± Ashe yelled. May groaned and sighed. ¡°Boys.¡± Samuel wanted to intervene but a creaky voice spoke up from behind him. ¡±Disrespectful conduct on the eve of remembrance of the dead, is a sure way of becoming a Yamask.¡± The old hag cackled. ¡°Greetings Agatha. I was wondering why the temperature dropped.¡± He eyed her shadow and he subtly perked his eyebrow. ¡°Really? Three?¡± Agatha gruffled another banshee hackle. ¡°Well you know me old fart, I can¡¯t say no to my 3 cutie patooties.¡± Two Gengar¡¯s raised from her shadows and one shaped itself into a ghostly chair, eyeing the group with his toothy smile in its own shadow. The other shaped itself as a cane with his head bobbed into her hand, she cooed like a witch while scratching both. ¡°Ah thank you dears.¡± Agatha cooed. ¡°These old bones don¡¯t do well with walking. Tata dear Oak. I hope you choke~ ho ho ho~¡± she laughed at her own poetry joke and floated off on her chair into the reception hall. Pallet towns new Mayor scrambled to the side, making way. Delia gave a nervous bow to the passing elite, completely out of her element. Oak felt a pang of rage. He held Agatha in contempt. He had strong suspicions she was part of the underground organization that had caused so much grief. However he had no evidence. He almost considered hanging up his science coat and investigate, almost. ¡°You got to forgive the old dame, she¡¯s losing a few screws in her old age.¡± A charming voice rang out followed by the soft purring of a Persian. Oak gave the man following in Agatha¡¯s wake, a respectful nod. ¡°Giovanni, what a pleasant surprise, we are honored by your presence, hero. ¡±O none of that professor, team effort and all, besides we all know it was your actions that led to the catalyst of a cease fire and peace.¡± There was an interesting cadence to the last word Giovanni spoke, Oak wondered what he tried to imply. Oak smiled, ¡°like you said yourself, team effort.¡± Giovanni smiled amiably and bowed to the group. ¡°Good day, I will see you all at the ceremony.¡± Gary watched Giovanni walk away. ¡°Was that a Houndoom or a Persian?¡± He muttered, he glanced at his grandpa. Oak and the group walked towards their seats. Oak noted half the town was gathering in the memorial hall. The rest was outside on the square. ¡±That was a Persian Gary. How can you not see that?¡± Ashe huffed arrogantly. pulling up his nose. ¡°Careful voicing your observations Gary, careful.¡± Oak whispered quietly only for Gary to hear. He gave Gary a look and Gary saw and understood. Oak spoke up. ¡°Yes Ashe, I do believe that is indeed a Persian,¡± he gave Gary another look and Gary nodded in understanding. can you name all the abilities recorded for the Persian line?¡± Ashe didn¡¯t realize what just happened and happily began to list off all the abilities from the top of his head. ¡°great you can recite abilities that a 5 year old should know.¡± Gary said agitated hearing Ashe¡¯s voice. ¡±Ow yeah? I doubt you could have named them all!¡± Ashe grumbled. Gary grinned. ¡°I will do you one better, can you name Giovanni¡¯s Persian abilities by observation? I will concede that you are the better trainer if you can accurately guess its 3 abilities and its hidden ability. You have till the end of the ceremony and 3 total guesses.¡± ¡±You¡¯re on!¡± The group sat down on their chairs. ¡±It is considered bad decorum and improper, trying to analyze another trainer¡¯s Pokemon abilities during public events¡± Giovanni had sat down, close enough to eavesdrop. His Persian lounged on the chair next to him and gave the group a soft growl and smug look before turning its head. It¡¯s fur meticulously groomed. It¡¯s muscles rippling under its skin. Not an ounce of fat in sight. Both the boys turned to Samuel Oak, Samuel nodded in confirmation. Giovanni smiled amiably. ¡°If Professor Oak agrees to a small 5 minute talk, I might be ok with it, who am I to stand in the way of the growth of the future generation?¡± He gave Oak a sidelong glance. Both boys looked at Oak and Giovanni, I can¡¯t make any garantuees but 5 minutes is something I can definitely do.¡± Oak looked at the boys and smiled. ¡°Seems you boys have a contest, but you are both banished from talking or making any sounds during the ceremony you hear? If you break those rules you automatically forfeit and the other will be called the best trainer of Pallet town henceforth.¡± They both nodded vigorously their competitive nature flared.¡± Delia gave Oak a look, obviously this wasn¡¯t why they were here, Oak simply shrugged, what can you do? Delia giggled at that. Oak was relieved all the other out of town guests waited till after the ceremony. However he made no delusions that they would approach during the reception. He perked his eyebrow seeing Pryce sit with his prized Grand daughter, Lorelai, the second whisperer of Johto. The first, Lance wasn¡¯t present but Oak knew Lance was patrolling the Hollow mountain range, he felt bad for the boy but his training among the ranger corps was a necessary step for him. Pryce was seated at the other end of the ceremony hall. Pryce the old icy man gave him a curt nod that Oak returned. Oak sighed. More negotiations about the league, no one wanted to agree beyond the network of the gyms and their purpose. Although the groundwork for the leagues had all been laid and pre-existed the war, the extensive involvement of the star children gave it too much baggage, too many star children had touched it. Oak sighed, marveling at the irony and hypocrisy. The Joy and Jenny clan were known to be the descendants of star children. How exactly, was a closely guarded secret of both clans but all the daughters of a Jenny or Joy, where the splitting image of their mothers. He himself had star child blood running through his veins. Him and his professor¡¯s from across the globe had traced back and linked at least 20% of the current population to have some lineage of a star child mixed in. His work was respected, revered even. Yet anything a first generation star-child had proposed and put forth, shunned and rejected, even if the science behind was sound. Before Oak even realized the ceremony was over. Shaking hand with people who were only here to network, at least they had a modicum of respect, lest Oak would reject them all. His mind was distant and he felt some amusement when he saw his grandson sweat bullets. Ashe correctly guessed the Persian¡¯s abilities, but fumbled it¡¯s hidden ability, an ability, Gary guessed right on his third try. Both the boys got into an argument going back and forth. May shook her head and guided them away, they weren¡¯t required to attend the reception. ¡±Ashe is quite the talent Delia,¡± he smiled warmly to the gorgeous woman. She reminded him of that variant of a rose without thorns. Delia nodded. She sighed a bit. ¡°He is the splitting image of his grandfather.¡± Oak lamented how young Delia must have been when Reid disappeared without a trace on Mt Silver. Only to lose her husband and practically her whole family during the war. ¡±Rather promising youth, but one could almost expect that from the Oak and Ketchum line, a real tragedy that both lines must start all over. Oak looked at Giovanni. A look that was perfectly normal, a sad smile on his face, which was perfectly normal. A tear on Delia¡¯s face, perfectly normal. Giovanni with his damned amiable behavior handing Delia a handkerchief, perfectly normal. Until Giovanni caught Oak¡¯s gaze. Giovanni was frozen in place, his Persian flinched and took a tentative step back and growled at its master to do the same. Giovanni however, put on an air as if he was unperturbed and smiled. Oak snapped out of it, not wanting to worry Delia and took a deep breath and exhaled. ¡°Giovanni I am a man of my word I will give you 5 minutes of my time but not today, today I wish, no I need to reflect, pay my respects and spend some time with my grandchildren and the villagers of this town. The next time I see you, I will give you ten. Deal?¡± Oak extended his hand and Giovanni smirked and shook his hands. ¡°Deal, remember Professor, I am a man who collects his debts with interest.¡± Oak¡¯s glare, got a dangerous glint, so did his smile. ¡°So I¡¯ve heard.¡± Something dawned with Giovanni, his smile fell. ¡°Well, I will leave you to it professor,¡± he turned to Delia. And gave a small bow, ¡°miss Delia.¡± Delia bowed back, wiping her tears away. With that he turned around and walked off. Oak felt he had done enough socializing. ¡°Come my dear, let¡¯s find those boys before they embark on their journey prematurely, again.¡± Delia giggled as Oak extended his arm to her. ¡±what did I ever do to deserve all you do, for me and Ashe?¡± She asked with a bit of mirth. It did Oak a lot of good to see that. ¡±When you married Reid¡¯s Son, well I don¡¯t think I ever saw the man so proud, so happy. That foolish son of his included.¡± Delia blushed a bit. ¡°All I did was love and marry him.¡± ¡°Heh, I think you were the only one who could see past all the flaws of that man.¡± They were quiet as they walked back to town, Alakazam notified him of the boys antic¡¯s breaking into his lab and trying to find a starter Pokemon. ¡°I think I have to get the boys started on their bonding with their first a bit early.¡± Delia looked with a bit of confusion, her Mr mime chimed in and a light in her head turned on and she groaned. ¡°Are they breaking into your lab again?¡± Oak smiled, ¡°Yes but to be honest I already prepared the lab for their break-in last night.¡± ¡°I might as well give their journey a bit of a push in the right direction. Both of them have incredible aptitude.¡± Delia smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that you know? For Ashe?¡± She said softly, ¡°Nonsense it¡¯s the least I can do. There are two other boys I got my eyes on that I will recommend for the starter Pokemon program.¡± Delia was confused. ¡°But there are only 3 Kanto starters?¡± Oak pulled out his custom pokedex and pulled up a live video of the lab. Ashe was trying to get closer to a Pikachu who kept zapping him, while Gary stood by with a Squirtle laughing each time Ashe failed. ¡°Is that safe!?¡± Delia exclaimed. ¡°Very safe Delia. It¡¯s also ironically necessary when training an Electric pokemon. The human Body needs to acclimate, to the moves of the Pokemon they train. Besides don¡¯t you recognize that Pikachu from somewhere?¡± Delia grabbed the pokedex and furrowed her brow observing the pikachu. Zooming in on the yellow rodent. ¡°It¡¯s quite small for a pikachu. A forced Evolution?¡± Delia didn¡¯t wait for an answer and kept talking out loud and Oak stayed silent wanting her to reach her own realization. ¡°It must have happened in the wild, now why does he look so familiar. Those stripes, were did I¡­?¡± Delia stopped in her tracks and looked at Oak stunned, ¡°It can¡¯t be!¡± Oak gently took his pokedex back fearful Delia¡¯s grip would warp the delicate hardware. He answered playfully. ¡±Well that Pikachu proves your Thesis wrong. He wandered in a month ago and decided to stay all on his own.¡± ¡°I thought you said that Clancy would have struggle finding a mate that would be compatible with his size?¡± Small reminder, Clancy was Reid¡¯s Pikachu Oak Shrugged. ¡°It could have happened with a younger newly evolved Ampharos. They share an egg group. What matters is that fate walked through my door a month ago. And by the looks of it, although your son¡¯s approach to the Pikachu is horribly wrong, he somehow managed to peak the interest of the Pikachu. Observe how the Pikachu only does the very minimal output holding Ashe off? He isn¡¯t rejecting him or it would have knocked the boy unconscious. He¡¯s teasing him.¡± Delia looked again as Oak rewound the footage. She flinched each time and gave Oak a reproachful look, ¡°my poor boy is smoking from all the static discharge.¡± Oak shrugged helplessly feeling like he got put in his place. ¡°Yet he doesn¡¯t quit.¡± Delia scoffed, ¡°of course he doesn¡¯t, he¡¯s the splitting image of his grandfather.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry Delia all my Pokemon are on standby to jump in if it goes too far.¡± She sighed and relaxed her shoulders, letting Oak know she might have her reservations but trusted him enough. ¡±Dinner.¡± ¡°What?¡± His mind drew a blank. ¡°Dinner at my place each Wednesday and you will bring both your grandchildren.¡± ¡±B-but, Delia that isn¡¯t necessary I¡¯m perfectly fine doing this for your son.¡± ¡±Nonsense¡±, she moved in closer pressing herself into him, causing him to struggle with his breath, ¡°it¡¯s the least I can do.¡± She gripped his arm and began to walk, dragging him along. ¡°Delia, May is already.. my age.. I mean¡­¡± She pressed a finger on his lips. Her eyes glimmered. Her breathing was rapid for a hot few seconds. ¡°We both mourned for a decade and a half. It¡¯s time we both moved on.¡± Oak began to stammer, she added. ¡°Slowly of course.¡± He relaxed and they continued to Delia¡¯s house. ¡°I always enjoyed your cooking.¡± Delia chuckled. ¡°I know.¡± Later that evening, close to midnight Oak stared blankly at the ceiling of Delia¡¯s bedroom. Lying in her bed. A sleeping Delia next to him. the food had been amazing, of course. A glass of wine or two, or three. The kids, before he knew it, sleeping at his place discreetly taken away by Mimey. More wine, the image of a smug looking Alakazam, Dragonite and mimey, passed through his mind. ¡°Did everyone know and me last?¡± He whispered to himself. ¡°You knew professor, but you were the last to admit it. After 5 years my patience ran out.¡± Oak turned to see Delia half asleep, slowly dozing back. Oak tried to go to sleep. He groaned inwardly, May would know instantly in the morning. ¡°Persians indeed¡± he thought to himself. ¡°He looked at Delia sleeping face. ¡°A Persian who doesn¡¯t use her claws I guess.¡± He told himself before falling asleep. right around an hour later he was woken up by an incoming call on his Pok¨¦dex. Blearily he woke up. Delia groaned. ¡°Make it stop. I had too much wine.¡± Oak stumbled out of bed irritated, he looked at his dex to see who it was Koga. ¡°Ow Arceus be damned. of course this just has to be important.¡± He knew Koga wouldn¡¯t call unless something was going on. Oak answered the call. ¡±Koga, a rather auspicious time to be making a phone call, this isn¡¯t a friendly chat I presume? ¡°Ah good evening Professor Oak, we have a bit of a situation here in Blackthorne.¡± Koga answered. ¡°We found a young boy barely 18 years old in the hollow mountains all on his own, with 3 first stage evolution pokemon, a Mankey, a Poochyena and a Cyndaquil.¡± ¡±Sounds like someone who started their journey in Johto and got in way over his head, why are you calling me for this?¡± Oak asked annoyed. He wanted to go back to bed. ¡±The boy is a whisperer.¡± A moment of complete silence. ¡°I see.¡± Oak intoned. ¡°That is intriguing.¡± ¡°There is more professor, he claims to have found the gravesite of Reid Ketchum.¡± Oak was fully awake, his heart pounding. He muted his Pok¨¦dex and stepped back to the bed and shook Delia awake. And pressed a finger to his lips. She looked at him dazed and Oak put his dex on speaker phone and unmuted. ¡°Sorry Koga I was half asleep. Im awake now, can you repeat what you just said? ¡±The boy claims he found the gravesite of Reid Ketchum, about a thousand miles north of Mt Silver into the hollow mountain range. He doesn¡¯t seem to understand or know the significance of that find.¡± Delia went pale and covered her mouth. ¡±I understand Koga, you said you are in Blackthorne now? Who else have you informed?¡± ¡±So far Only the team, Lance, me, Walker, Surge, and the old Nurse Joy knows. We figured we needed your counsel to see how to proceed. It does need discretion. According to Nurse Joy the boy must remain under medical supervision for the next two days and won¡¯t wake. It seems he had quite the Journey.¡± ¡°Thank you Koga, good work as always. I will be there as soon as I can.¡± Oak hung up. ¡±Do you think there is any truth to what that kid said?¡± Delia asked. ¡±Koga is not the kind of man who would call me if he thought it was a lie.¡± Oak grabbed Delia¡¯s hand. ¡°I am loathe to leave you like this.¡± Delia shook her head. ¡°No I want to know as well, besides.¡± She smiled playfully. ¡°Ive always had a thing for men on a mission.¡± She squeezed his hands. ¡°This doesn¡¯t change anything right?¡± She asked, her voice slightly quivering. ¡°Not if you don¡¯t want it too, but I do believe we should be discreet for the time being.¡± He answered. He got up and got dressed. The lights went on and there hovered his Alakazam. Alakazam handed Oak his pokebelt and a backpack with presumed necessities. Alakazam nodded at Delia and grabbed Oak by the shoulder and they were gone. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, il watch the kids.¡± Delia said to empty space. She felt a mental nod from Alakazam. Before Oak knew it he stood in front of the Pokemon center in Blackthorne. His 3 oldest Pokemon companions in tow. he entered. ¡°So am I in the right place?¡± The old Nurse Joy, which he recognized from his younger days approached, she had a sultry smile and grabbed his hands and dragged him along. ¡°Ah how good of you to come handsome, right this way.¡± ¡±Koga, Surge, Lance.¡± He greeted the 3 men as he was dragged into the medical ward of the building. He shrugged at the three men. ¡°I will talk to you in the morning it seems.¡± And waved them goodbye. ¡±So! You and Delia huh? I must say professor ive never seen a man make a noble lady such as Delia wait for 5 years. What gives? Oak got the slightest tint of pink to his face as they walked to the human patient wing. ¡°Nurse Joy this is highly inappropriate, how do you know already?¡± It dawned on Oak. ¡°Ow god I should have known, you Joy¡¯s are obsessed with gossip. And for your information, Delia is like a daughter to me.¡± he added. ¡°Well till recently that is.¡± ¡±Oh my professor ~ you jumped straight into role play already? I must say you have a much dirtier mind then I gave you credit for~¡± she teased him. getting a rise out of how uncomfortable it made him feel. ¡±I refuse to continue this conversation.¡± Oak said sternly. The old Nurse Joy pouted slightly but nodded. ¡°You always were a private man. She patted his shoulder. ¡°In all seriousness though. Im glad you and Delia found the strength to move forward.¡± Oak swallowed but nodded. They entered the Room of Carlos. His three mons were sleeping on top and next to their trainer. Oak was amazed at how muscled the boy was. he looked more like a grizzled veteran than a boy who just embarked on his Journey. Oak sat down and gingerly picked up the beat up Pokedex. He felt proud to see it whirring to life. This had been the first iteration of the pokedex. He hooked it up with his own and downloaded all the files including the corrupted and fragmented files. He opened the journal and the first few lines confirmed this was indeed Reid¡¯s pokedex, almost 30 years he had wondered what had happened to his friend and now he would finally know. Nurse Joy left him to it. The next day he briefed the 4 men that had found the boy. It was easy for him to backtrack the route the boy had taken. Each pokedex was equipped with a travel step recorder allowing you to backtrack from a place in case you got lost and lost connection to the Pokenet. The next day he called for Delia and Ashe to join him and they spend half a day traveling and teleporting to the location, the final resting place of Reid. Old nurse Joy joined them. She had known Reid. Seeing the monument and the gravestone. The final resting place of his old friend. It felt cathartic to him to finally find closure. He briefly talked to the Gollum that had sent Carlos on his way. Everyone got a good laugh as the Gollum got scolded for an hour by old nurse Joy, once she found out it was the old Gollum. with his stone shape ability, that had healed Carlos. Ashe had to be restrained and tied to Walker¡¯s pidgeot. The boy incessantly claimed he should start his journey here. Afterwards they all returned to Pallet town. The gravesite undisturbed. It felt wrong, moving Reid¡¯s remains. It was the next day late afternoon when Oak was comfortably reading his old friend¡¯s journal. Drinking a hot cup of coffee that Carlos stirred awake. ¡±Hello. How long did I sleep?¡± his Pokemon came rushing, jumping up and down. Exhilarated he woke up. Oak smiled at the scene. ¡±Good afternoon young man. You slept about 2 days in the tender care of Nurse Joy. I am Professor Oak.¡± A little heart to heart Professor Oak watched with a warm smile the scene unfolding. All three Pokemon were happy and commented how much darker The boy/man¡¯s complexion was now that his body was cleansed of all the residual minerals deposited into his bloodstream. Although Oak was not a whisperer by birth, like others his age, he had eventually grown into it. Obviously not as clear a whisperer could distinguish the meaning but enough to know the general conversation. It was a nice Dichotomy to see a rough cut looking man, so tender and passionate with his Pokemon. His conscience gnawed at him though, recalling his hour long debate with the ornery and downright obstinate Champion. The champion was grumpy at the best of times but it seemed to get worse year by year. First Pryce lost his starter when he was a veteran and now his second Pokemon, half a year ago, had decided to leave. Broke its Pokeball and left without a trace. It made any sort of dealings with the man downright impossible. Regardless, Oak wasn¡¯t looking forward to the impending conversation with Carlos, it grated him, in all the wrong ways. The young nurse Joy came in and gave Oak a short bow and checked the blood cleansing device. In a lull of the three Mon¡¯s chattering away, She removed some of the various tubing stuck in his arm and took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. For jumping to conclusions so quickly when you came in here.¡± She said quietly. ¡±Thank you for that, I¡¯m sorry for responding so violently, I was a lot more tired and mentally exhausted than I realized but it was no excuse.¡± Carlos responded, he smiled at her, still somewhat drowsy. ¡°So the professor and my Mon¡¯s told me I was out of it for 2 days?¡± The nurse nodded and smiled, Oak noted how much more relaxed she was now that the air had been cleared, seemingly very eager to please. She scratched Dianne behind the ears, the Sensitive girl had warmed up to the nurse over the last few days. So had the other two. A few pounds had been gained. ¡°Yes we needed to cleanse your blood so our Chanseys could guide your TE through the process of transforming your bone structure. The Gollum you met and who took care of your head injury, had transformed your entire skull into TE rock.¡± Carlos deadpanned. ¡°That sounds like something that crazy bastard would do. What sort of complications does that saddle me with? I must admit I never even noticed anything wrong.¡± He asked. She laughed a bit too easily at his words and shrugged. ¡°We have no clue, you should have been dead with 10 times the lethal amount of minerals and metal oxides ruining your bloodstream. Your body should have gone into shock, heart failure, the works.¡± she flirtatiously bend forward, further than necessary, to take his temperature. Carlos didn¡¯t miss that her blouse was one button down giving him the full view. ¡°Seems you are just that awesome.¡± She said in a low tone while smiling. after making sure everything was fine, she left to do her rounds. Carlos wasn¡¯t sure what to think. Oak smirked. ¡°Women are odd at the best of times.¡± Oak said chuckling, ¡°and The Joy clan can be quite upfront and they are not known for subtlety when it comes to their, desires.¡± He let the last word hang. ¡°I¡¯m just overwhelmed at the complete one eighty she made.¡± ¡±She interacted with your Pokemon. Their health says a lot about the trainer. Their behavior and mental state considering the trauma¡¯s they are dealing with, moreso.¡± Oak said. ¡°We all talked with them,¡± he added. Carlos turned to Oak and observed Oak for a bit. ¡°So what do you make of me?¡± ¡±Rough around the edges, bit of a foul mouth but soft on the inside. You took good care of them,¡± he motioned to his 3 pokemon who jumped off the bed and started tussling amongst the three. ¡°In the wild they wouldn¡¯t have made it, that much is clear. You didn¡¯t have to help them but you did.¡± Carlos was quiet for a bit. ¡°Not sure if I was purely altruistic Doc. Their absurd potential definitely helped.¡± He plucked Gawain out of the air as Gawain leapt across the bed and ruffled him. Gawain was a bit withdrawn, as usual but seeing him rough housing with the other two, filled Carlos with warmth. ¡°Take this fella for example, tough as nails and a keen combat sense, but looking at him, you could never guess. All three, have immense potential for that matter.¡± Oak smiled ruefully. ¡°Not many would agree with you, double types that can¡¯t evolve into pure types like yours, have a bit of a bad rep. Even the Typhlosion line, famous for it¡¯s tenacity, is considered one of the weaker starters amongst the ace trainers. Needing a lot more training to reach their potential. That fire stone, around his neck he needs it to regulate his temperature no?¡± Gawain flinched at the harsh words. Carlos smiled at Gawain. ¡°Most people in my experience are fools. Did you read the part in my journal when I stumbled onto Gawain¡¯s parents?¡± Oak shook his head. ¡°No I don¡¯t make a habit of prying into People¡¯s personal thoughts.¡± Carlos smiled. ¡°Well you are in for a treat.¡± He looked at Gawain. ¡°You ok if I retell the last moments of your family?¡± Gawain nodded. ¡±I feel closer to my parents when you talk about them uncle. Like they aren¡¯t really gone. Also Uncle makes them sound so, awesome.¡± And so Carlos regaled the epic last stand of Gawain¡¯s parents and his brothers and sisters. Carlos became more animated, his eyes shone as he described the tenacity and fearlessness of Gawain¡¯s late family. How they didn¡¯t give up till the end. The old Nurse halfway through the story stopped by and stood in the doorway listening in. Oak listened to the story and could tell it had left a deep impression on the boy. He felt remorse, he gave the old nurse an inquiring look and she nodded a bit morosely. They both had a good idea to which late trainers, those two Typhlosions had belonged to. Especially considering their prowess. The nurse quietly continued her rounds. Catalla City, down south close to the coastline of Johto, had a minor Fire gym for rookie trainers to receive a badge for participation in the rookie league. All the Gyms required to sent many of their trainers during the war. The Typhlosion, was native to that region and the hallmark of the Gym. The gym leader Feline and her husband Erving had perished in the war, both their aces released into the hollow mountain range, they never had any children so it was still unclear how the gym would survive. The reorganization of the combined league. And the rebuilding of the Gym¡¯s was taking a lot longer than many hoped. The simple fact was that Feline and Erving left very large shoes to fill. Shoes the locals were hesitant to try and fit, even a decade and a half later. The Gym had always been a side note for Feline. The breeding Ranch owned and run by her Husband Erving, breeding, nurturing and taking care of the new fire Pokemon had both been their true passion. Although considered a minor gym, both Feline and Erving had been absolute powerhouses as far as fire specialists. He never knew them personally but heard many great things about them. Pacifist to the last second. ¡±Hey professor Oak?¡± Carlos snapped him out of his thoughts. ¡°Im getting old, I get lost in thoughts so easily these days.¡± Oak thought to himself. ¡°Is it normal for Pokemon to develop new moves on their own? All I know about Pokemon, is from Reid¡¯s journal and I assume any mention of unique moves was contained in the corrupted files,¡± Carlos asked, oblivious to Oak¡¯s inner turmoil. Oak didn¡¯t respond for a while, and instead put the banged up Pokedex of Reid/Carlos down and grabbed his own from his pocket. He scanned Carlos and his 3 pokemon for a few minutes and nodded to himself. ¡±It¡¯s normal for Pokemon to develop new moves that are unique to them and trainer. It¡¯s why Pokemon are so willing to follow a human around, the lure of power ever present with trainers for Pokemon. Non-unique moves are already part of their DNA structure, something they awaken naturally in the wild.¡± He began his explanation. ¡°Most Pokemon that are well trained, will usually gain up to 3 signature moves that are unique to them. Most of the Champions of each region and their respective starter or first Pokemon, have 4 or 5 signature moves. Cynthia and Steven stone the undisputed champions of Sinnoh and Hoen respectively, have been undefeated for a long time. In part due to their monstrous starter Pokemon. Both have a whopping 7 signature moves unique to them. Both will remain to be the champion for the next decade of their Region. Talent like them is rare. Many trainers never develop signature moves. Take our current indigo Champion Pryce, Ice type trainer and specialist, never developed signature moves for his Pokemon.¡± These signature moves usually, manifest after some years of training, definitely not after 3 or 4 months. I suggest you don¡¯t use those moves in public duels or gym duels until you have a year under your belt and then only 1 of them.¡± Carlos nodded. deep in thought. There was a lot of subtleties he needed to be aware of. ¡±Hey you three, why don¡¯t you go out into the field and get some of that pent up energy out? Each three of you think of a game that all three of you try, ok?¡± Carlos said to his Mon¡¯s. His 3 mon¡¯s nodded and jumped through the open window and sat together in the field so each could cook up a game to play. ¡±Can I ask you what the story will be?¡± Carlos looked at Oak. ¡±Can I assume you are talking about the cover story for you?¡± Oak asked, Carlos nodded. ¡°Smart kid,¡± Oak thought. Oak tapped on his Pokedex and a few minutes later Lieutenant Surge walked in, his signature smirk on his face. ¡°Sup kid, recovered from your beauty nap?¡± He pulled a chair, plopped down and rested his boots on the end of the bed. Taking a relaxed pose. Surge began to explain. ¡±Me, the Professor and the current champion, mister prickpryce, have come up with a brilliant story, totally foolproof.¡± His smirk grew. ¡±You will work for the Kanto based league for the next two years and a nine months. This is non negotiable btw.¡± Surge paused, gauging Carlos response. ¡±Yea I¡¯m ok with that¡± Carlos said with a heavy sigh, ¡°I guess it¡¯s necessary to craft a believable cover story?¡± Oak nodded, ¡°I wish the circumstances were different. It is a big commitment on your part. I hope you don¡¯t take this the wrong way. The reason is, that there are people hiding in the shadows that would be tempted to do something¡­ disreputable if they knew your true identity. Quite a few star children have similar cover stories and were relocated to different regions to protect them and their families after the war.¡± Carlos nodded, he didn¡¯t feel offended. War, suffering and loss did strange things to people. Surge cleared his throat and continued his explanation. ¡°So a bit o¡¯ background. There used to be a small village relatively deep into the mountains northwest of Pewter City, that part of the mountain range, got hit hard during the war. It¡¯s called rock village and it got burned to the ground and the people there left for dead. That early into the war everything was in chaos and we had no available trainers to get there. As fate would have it, a pretty dame from Unovia married a lucky guy in Kanto some years before the war and lived there. Their Names were Ivonne Gatsby and Steven Sicada. We already registered you with the league as Carlos Sicada, orphaned son of that couple. I myself am of Unovian Descent as you can tell but was born and raised to the beautiful lands of Kanto. As you might have noticed, We Unovians are on the taller side, predominantly pale skinned and blond.¡± Although Carlos had no frame of reference whatsoever, he didn¡¯t bother correcting Surge on some technicalities, although he could see Oak holding himself back. Surge kept talking without Pause. ¡°So it¡¯s simple, you are an orphan of that couple, like many young adolescents these days and have lived on your lonesome deep in the mountains away from Rock village with your Pokemon. That unovian babe is distantly related to me, so no one is gonna bat an eye when you work for me sitting out the current league season. That pretty much sums it up, right Samuel?¡± Surge looked at Professor Oak, who nodded. ¡±Now due to all the complications concerning your background, Pryce made us promise we keep,¡± Oak searched for the right words. ¡°You within the Kanto region for now.¡± ¡±Just say it like it is Samuel,¡± Surge interrupted. ¡°Our Illustrious Champion wants us to keep Carlos on a leash. I don¡¯t like it, you won¡¯t like it but that¡¯s how it¡¯s going to be.¡± The distrust Carlos felt from someone he hadn¡¯t even met yet, cast a dark shadow covering his thoughts. ¡±Basically the Kanto gym league has officially enlisted you as an official league liaison, for a 2 years, and 9 month service.¡± ¡±You want to keep tabs on me and see if I¡¯m problematic?¡± ¡°You must understand Carlos, The level of trust we once had as a people and nations is gone. Restoring that trust will take time.¡± Oak responded and continued. ¡°Including people¡¯s trust in the legacy of the star children.¡± ¡°Surge will take over of the Vermilion City Gym. Its a minor Gym at the moment but Surge is tasked with elevating it to a major Gym.¡± ¡±How many Gyms does Kanto have?¡± Carlos asked. Surge responded, ¡±one for each type. At the moment, six major gyms, The loss of so many major gym leaders across the world, is why all regions have had their borders closed for the trainer circuit exchange program and thus for Civilians.¡± ¡°So who is responsible for the 8th gym?¡± Carlos asked. ¡±Koga, the guy you nearly killed with that killer kick of yours.¡± Surge grinned. ¡±So I¡¯m gonna help you with setting up your Gym then?¡± Carlos asked. ¡°Yup but there¡¯s more. See Pryce, the current champion, figured the entire rookie gym circuit in Kanto needs a proper test run. They don¡¯t want to say it out loud, but many of the gyms have fallen from their once mighty pedestal. The gyms always were varied in quality but in the last decade that has gotten a lot worse. In case you haven¡¯t caught on yet, we don¡¯t call it the Kanto nation or kingdom or whatever, but regions. Each region is a collection of city states that are allied together, with their respective gyms at the center. In order to get back to a reasonable level of strength as regions, we need to make sure none of the gyms lag behind. That¡¯s where the league comes in.¡± A lightbulb went up in Carlos¡¯s head. ¡°It¡¯s a league of gyms. As in governmental.¡± He thought out loud. ¡°Yes and no.¡± Oak responded. ¡°Government is done by elected officials. Government only does legislative work, it doesn¡¯t have any authority. The Gyms and the civilians do.¡± Oak corrected. ¡°Government is tasked with legislation, if a gym leader decides that legislation is bad for his city, they will veto it.¡± ¡°So how do you respond to threats that aren¡¯t within the bounds of cities or threaten the whole region?¡± Carlos asked. ¡±The rangers and the Jennies are usually available on a first response basis, both are neutral groups separated from the leagues. Each City is tasked with providing the rangers and the Jennies with a certain number of veteran trainers. If the rangers or Jennies can¡¯t handle the situation they can call on, or veto the help of local ace trainers tied to a gym. If the threat is really regional wide, the champion, the elite four and their personal ace trainers acting as aides. Will assist.¡± quite a few small towns in the various regions have opted for neutrality. Pledging their allegiance to the rangers.¡± ¡±elites and rangers must be busy.¡± Carlos responded. Surge shrugged. ¡°Depends if legendaries are ornery, or the local dragon gang from the hollow mountain range decide to hunt for an easy snack. For the most part they are tasked to keep rookie trainers safe on their first journey.¡± That reminded Carlos of something. ¡±Hey totally off subject. Did that raticate breeder Reid mentioned, really have 6 raticates that could gigantimax?¡± Carlos asked. Both Oak and Surge groaned and rubbed their temples. ¡°Please don¡¯t talk about the kanto shame so openly yea? That absolute dumbass passed away a little before the war but not before he had the brilliant idea, that each region, needed to be blessed with a healthy ratatta presence. To this day, Ratatta are primarily caught as a food source across the globe, for carnivorous Pokemon to keep the Ratatta numbers in check, it¡¯s the only Pokemon for which you don¡¯t need a subsistence hunting license, anywhere. The Kanto league, still received petty letters and complaints about that subject, whe have a government branch dedicated with response because of it.¡± Surge moaned. ¡°Wana know what name we gave it?¡± He didn¡¯t wait for Carlos response.¡°The Ratticate Relief department. Or T.R.R.D for short.¡± Carlos had to laugh at that. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he smirked, ¡°sounds like that man provided an easy solution for all the Pok¨¦mon trainers that don¡¯t have the means to get TE fruits. Or are those more common in the civilized parts of this world?¡± Oak was about to refute, but pondered. ¡°That¡¯s actually not a bad point, they are easy to catch too. One second boys, i¡¯m shooting the T.R.R.D office that idea, maybe then the Alola league will stop complaining.¡± ¡±Ow come on Doc! No one likes eating that stuff, the ratatta infestation is the sole reason why we export Tauros meat and sell it close to at cost to the most affected regions, kid, Ratatta, are a huge nuisance! They have more then once ruined harvests!¡± Oak waved Surge off finishing his email. Surge gave Carlos a dirty look. Carlos simply shrugged. ¡±Sorry for that side tangent but can I ask what it is you expect of me? In regards to this issue you have with your Gym¡¯s?¡± Oak chimed in. ¡°when people come of age they go on a one year journey and are encouraged to participate in the rookie circuit and eventually participate in the rookie tournament.¡± ¡±Send a bunch of hormone driven 18 year olds into the wild, to catch nuclear level threats with a tiny ball. What could possibly go wrong?¡± Carlos thought to himself but he didn¡¯t voice his thoughts. ¡±Usually after people participated in the Rookie tournament, they can opt to stay on the trainer track if they had enough wins and register as a veteran, those that don¡¯t make it, usually return home or find a place to live and find an apprenticeship for a job with a big corp or someone who offers it.¡± Surge continued. ¡±Your Pokemon are of exceptional strength, once you get a full team I would place bets on you reaching third place in the rookie tournament. You will enter the rookie league with a year of training under your belt on the same level as a bonafide veteran trainer. However that¡¯s where you will be different. Normally a rookie trainer goes out with a single pokemon, catches Pokemon, challenges 8 gyms and participates in the tournament. We are asking you to challenge all 18 gyms as a rookie.¡± ¡°You want me to test 18 gym¡¯s in a single year? Carlos asked surprised. Surge nodded. ¡°Yea basically, while you work for me, you get days off so you can assemble your team. The carry limit for rookie trainers is six. Veterans nine. Ace trainers 12. Gym Leaders and the champion 15. Keep in mind most trainers, champion elite or veteran usually carries up to 12.¡± What the league really needs is an experienced trainer with a fresh perspective who hasn¡¯t run the rookie circuit and can give us criticism on what needs to be changed.¡± ¡°Once the 9 months are up and you have 6 personal Pokemon. The league will provide you with a Pidgeot for travel. So you can fly to each gym. If you had to walk it would take too long.¡± Just so you know, veteran trainers when they run the veteran circuit, need to do all 18 gyms and receive the respective veteran badge before they can participate in the veteran tournament which is the only way a trainer can become an Ace trainer the top 8 on the veteran tournament becomes Ace initiates and may opt to challenge the real teams of each major gym in the region to become a region Ace trainer. ¡°Whats the purpose of each circuit?¡± Carlos asked. The rookie circuit should give trainers a feel for type advantages. The veteran circuit should provide a field for testing team strategies. It also includes double battles. and ace trainers only answer to those they are attached to, be it an elite, gym leader or champion. ¡±huh, this whole system is sort off reminiscent of the draft, back on earth.¡± Carlos said. ¡°What¡¯s the draft?¡± Surge asked.¡± Carlos briefly summarized it and Surge nodded. ¡°Yea that¡¯s pretty much how it works for us.¡± Surge answered and continued: ¡°We registered you as the second Pokemon Whisperer of Kanto. We are going to keep tabs on you. So is everyone else for that matter but this way we can keep your true identity hidden in plain sight. So I hope you can keep that story straight.¡± ¡±wunderkind ala MOI is so awesome the backward region of Kanto had no other choice but to offer me a job. Nepotism at its finest.¡± Carlos said sarcastically. ¡±You got that Unovian classy mouth already however im still gonna kick your gonads for that kid.¡± Surge smirked. ¡°Ow before I forget, here.¡± Surge handed Carlos a bag, Carlos opened and whistled. A dozen Pokeballs.¡±what do I need so many for?¡± ¡°You need 3 teams trained at specific levels at my gym. I won¡¯t bother with the rookie stuff, that will be you.¡± Carlos sighed but had a smirk on his face. ¡°Will anyone else help out with that?¡± Surge¡¯s devilish smile told him no. ¡°Told you I was gonna hit you in the Gonads. I was gonna hire more but now that you have shown me your spunk,¡± Surge smiled wide, ¡°Now I will leave it in your expert hands kid.¡± Carlos sighed. ¡°Just so you know i know I look 18 years old but im actually 35 years old. Have¡­.Had a wife, kids and all.¡± ¡±Older than me mentally huh?¡± Surge mused. ¡°Sensei Carlos that will be your nickname.¡± Carlos groaned at that. ¡±What do you mean had a wife? Did she die?¡± Oak asked. ¡±No, the only thing I have to go on is a random dream I had. We got divorced.¡± ¡±That common?¡± Surge asked. ¡°You don¡¯t seem surprised or broken about it.¡± Carlos nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t remember exactly but the feeling I get is, yes.¡± ¡°Sounds rough.¡± Surge¡¯s said, smile gone. Here it happens sometimes but it¡¯s quite rare, something like 7% of marriages don¡¯t work out? Some of us sleep around but when we meet the one, well couples tend to bond strongly. there ain¡¯t even laws or protocols for splitting a couple up.¡± ¡±Why do you think that is?¡± Carlos asked. ¡°Something to do with TE. Every living thing has some of it. When you converse, spend time with one another the TE of each person interacts. Prolonged time like this molds the mind of both parties involved. This counts double for Pokemon and their trainer.¡± Oak responded, ¡°it¡¯s the field of science I specialize in. ¡±Yea I noticed, my mon¡¯s connect fast and im sure you have a lot to add to that but I gotta make sure I understand my role, sorry Professor.¡± Oak smiled congenially and held his hands up and motioned for him to go on. Carlos turned to Surge. ¡°So how will that work with any Pokemon I catch for the gym?¡± ¡°Take another look at those balls. 3 are normal, those are a gift and they are yours. The other nine are slightly different. You see the VGDB engraved? that stands for Vermilion Gym Digit Ball. Unlike other pokeballs, these pokeballs put the Pokemon in complete digital stasis. It numbs their emotions until they are released. This prevents them from bonding to the gym trainers who use them. Usually we cycle through Gym Pokemon every 3-5 years. The Pok¨¦mon we catch like this are told what to expect but most end up agreeing. They usually get a massive amount of combat experience that they can put to good use in the wild. Or if they so choose, can be gifted to promising youth. Once we get to vermillion city I will expect you to catch about 9 of the local electric Pokemon . 3 teams, 1 for 1 to 3 badges, 1 for 4 to six badges and 1 for 7 to 8 badges. You will be tasked to train them up yourself. Your weakest team should consist of 3 mons that primarily use 2 basic electric and 1 normal type, moves. The second team can have up to 4 and you may develop a basic team tactic. The last one may consist of second evolution types. And you go nuts with tactics. Now I was joking that you would run the gauntlet on your own. But I will expect your weakest team to be ready within the month, the second within 2 months and the third in 3. That should line up with the projections that Giovanni came up with for this year¡¯s circuit.¡± Surge stopped talking and grabbed a canteen buckled on his belt and took a few long gulps. ¡°Isn¡¯t used to talking for such length.¡± Carlos noted. He took a while to think things over, gazing out the window, he smiled as he saw Dianne win a game of poker tag. ¡°Ya lost your mind kid?¡± Surge asked when Carlos hadn¡¯t responded for a few minutes. Carlos smiled darkly. ¡°I don¡¯t believe you need any opinion of this serf, now do you? I¡¯m simply thinking things over and how to do my duty to the best of my abilities.¡± Oak almost flinched at the sharpness of Carlos¡¯s words but kept his face stern. ¡°I guess that was deserved, no matter how well intended, we aren¡¯t giving you a real choice.¡± Carlos waved him off, ¡°Truth be told Professor, I¡¯m not dumb enough to not recognize that there was no choice to begin with. I could say that my dark TE makes me more snappy but I just felt like saying it.¡± Carlos stepped out of bed and gave both Surge and Oak a small bow in respect and straightened himself out. ¡°I want to thank you for providing me with the opportunity to prove myself.¡± He thought darkly to himself. ¡°Even though I shouldn¡¯t have.* ¡±You sure you a starchild kid? How do you know about that particular custom?¡± Surge asked. Carlos almost responded with the fact that Kanto was based on Japanese culture but he held himself back. ¡°The eastern countries on earth and people of similar complexion as Kantonians, had a similar custom, I merely mimicked it. That¡¯s not considered cultural appropriation is it? He asked. Oak laughed. ¡°Try appreciation.¡± Surge nodded, ¡°You might even teach me a thing or two.¡± He got up. ¡°Well that¡¯s all for me, once you are released from the Joy¡¯s care they will give me a ring and il pick you up.¡± With that he left. ¡±Quite a bit to unpack to be honest.¡± Carlos said with a blank face. He wasn¡¯t sure what to think. He had sort of expected some relaxation. Not workaholic job security. ¡°Are you sure you are alright?¡± Oak asked. Carlos shrugged, ¡°I will be. Better than getting crucified and burned at the stake.¡± Carlos for the first time, saw what a shocked Oak looked like. Oak pinched his nose. ¡°Im sure I will regret asking but what is crucifixion?¡± Carlos explained how it worked. He smirked at the aghast look on Oak¡¯s face ¡°Come now professor. You telling me with pokemon capable of wiping a person¡¯s mind, you didn¡¯t have an absolutely fucked up society at some point?¡± Oak begrudgingly nodded, ¡°sure but every single one of those societies collapsed in on themselves without fail. Now I don¡¯t want to feign innocence considering the recent war but that¡¯s still quite the perverse way to torture someone.¡± Carlos nodded at that. ¡°Sure but it was a long time ago. However I mainly mentioned it because of the way you talked about these underground organizations.¡± Oak took a deep breath. ¡°What im about to tell you should not be repeated, but the little the rangers and the jennies managed to uncover,¡± he paused for a moment. ¡°Well let¡¯s just say our society hasn¡¯t seen such atrocities committed on our soil for a long time. Not since the dark times.¡± Carlos Turned to face Oak. ¡°What do you mean the dark times?¡± Oak however waved him off. ¡°The less you know the better. It was a time when Pokemon were unaware of the synergies between human and Pokemon. Let¡¯s just say humans didn¡¯t have it well. Many turned to dark cults for salvation.¡± Carlos shook his head. ¡°Quite different from what I remember the Pokemon world to be about.¡± ¡±The star children I knew, had that same response. Many expected a fairy tail, most tried to create that fairy tail.¡± Oak said. ¡°Did you know many?¡± ¡±A few, some of them are safe, last time l heard. But most are exhausted of life and under constant psychological supervision. As talented as they were, they didn¡¯t have the same¡­. Resilience as us regular mundanes had.¡± ¡°Ow please don¡¯t tell me there was a class distinction because of it?,¡± Oak simply smiled and shook his head. ¡°Ow no, don¡¯t worry, Just a rue-full old man, expressing his frustrations my boy.¡± Carlos didn¡¯t push further but felt relief settle in. He wasn¡¯t sure why but for some reason the notion of elitism, really disturbed him, as if something about that in his old life was a constant drag. The old nurse came in, half pretending she never heard a thing, with a warm smile for both. ¡°That¡¯s quite enough of politics and bleary history. I for one think we came a long way. Well Carlos you are a medical marvel, I will release you soon just gotta finish some paperwork. Il ask you to do a few check ups with the vermilion hospital.¡± She removed the last of the tubings in his arms. She had a knowing smile on her face that Carlos couldn¡¯t place. ¡°Hey professor? Shouldn¡¯t you head back to the missus?¡± She playfully teased. Oak coughed awkwardly. Carlos smiled. ¡°Ah, I should have known those fan theories of professor Oak and Ash Ketchum¡¯s mom were real.¡± Carlos had a conspiratorial smile together with the old nurse, who covered her mouth while holding down her laughter. ¡±Of all the pieces of information you have, that one just had to be correct?¡± Oak asked with an annoyed voice. ¡±Even a broken clock strikes right twice each day Professor.¡± Carlos said while chuckling. Making The old Nurse laugh. ¡°Huh what a fascinating idiom.¡± Oak said obviously trying in vain to change the subject. the nurse cleared her throat. ¡°Well that¡¯s enough teasing for today. I do mean that professor, you made that woman wait long enough.¡± She gave him a somewhat stern but compassionate look. ¡°Good luck to you Carlos Sicada. I hope the league treats you well.¡± She gave a short bow and made to leave. ¡°Thanks for taking care of me Nurse Joy.¡± Carlos said.¡± she smiled looking back over her shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. The paper I wrote on you will secure my early retirement, tata now~.¡± ¡°Well. Before I forget here.¡± Oak handed him a shiny new pokedex. Similar to what he remembered from the anime. But more technical. It was compact but had a lot of bells and whistles. Oak explained over the next 10 minutes. The technological marvel was astounding. The thing was basically a tricorder like the one from star trek it could read telemetry of Pokemon moves and their general health, a massive database, a smart phone and from what he could tell, a super computer considering what it was all capable of. ¡±I took the liberty to download your personal journal and notes you wrote on Reid¡¯s old pokedex, onto the new one. Something told me you would appreciate the old interface so left that as well. Including my number, Koga, Surge, and the young nurse¡¯s personal number.¡± Carlos raised his eyebrow at the last one. Oak shrugged, ¡°she said something about wanting to properly make it up to you.¡± Carlos was dumbfounded. ¡°Professor I¡¯m just asking¡­ according to the standards of this world¡­. Am I good looking?¡± Oak stared at him dumbfounded, began chuckling, full out bursting into laughter, tears running down his face. He got up, kept laughing and left. Carlos felt pretty awkward at that. ¡°I was just asking.¡± He mumbled. The young nurse knocked, almost a second later, came in and handed him some keys. ¡°Here this is for your room tonight. The old bat officially released you. It¡¯s on the second floor, 3rd room to the right. She smiled at him in a way that told Carlos she was coming on to him but he was hesitant to acknowledge that. He simply didn¡¯t trust people could change their opinion on someone so quickly. ¡°I guess I should get out of your hair.¡± He smiled awkwardly. ¡°Thanks for taking care of my Pokemon btw, with all that was going on, I completely forgot to ask if they were ok?¡± He asked calmly but couldn¡¯t hold back some of the raw emotions bubbling out. The young nurse looked up at him, reached and held his arm, rather intimately he noted. ¡°Your Pokemon are paragons of health. If you look at their age vs their strength, they are some of the strongest specimens, if you excuse the language, of their species I¡¯ve had the pleasure of taking care off.¡± ¡±Is that because im the dumb one, training dual types?¡± Carlos remarked sarcastically. ¡°Sorry, just a bit of sourness from my conversation with Oak.¡± He apologized a second later. ¡±The young nurse giggled. ¡°Oak¡¯s team is quite famous you know? a mix of double, pure some triple, you hear a lot of those elitists pricks rag on about the advantages of triple or god forbid their holy grail, the quad types. But Tell me.¡± She bend forward, her chest almost grazing his and for the first time Carlos saw a competitive spark in her eyes. But not before noticing that she was really trying to give him the view. ¡°Do you see yourself losing against that sort of trainer? With those three marvelous Pokemon you got?¡± He could feel her breath. He could feel his body responding strongly He had just survived 4 tense months of life of death and that tension threatened to come undone hard and fast. but he schooled himself. Carlos looked at her eyes, feeling a warmth spread in his chest and felt the biggest shit eating grin spread on his face. ¡°Not a chance in hell, id pummel them into the dirt before they knew what hit them.¡± She clapped him on the shoulder her hand lingering as she almost reluctantly broke the touch. ¡°That¡¯s what it¡¯s about, your trust in them¡±. She bend forward, this time her body grazed his and whispered into his ear. ¡°If you want, I can come over later tonight and help you settle in your room?¡± She bit her lower lip. Carlos felt like he got hit by a truck. ¡°Yes I would like that.¡± She smiled and gave him a peck on the cheeks, stepped back and made to leave the room. Carlos snapped out of it. ¡°Why are you so nice, suddenly?¡± He almost stammered, he couldn¡¯t figure this nurse out. She turned around. Looked at him for half a minute weighing her words. ¡°I¡¯m sure the professor told you all about star children bonding quicker, than regulars from this world with Pokemon?¡± Carlos nodded, Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°The Joy clan¡¯s know the truth. The only difference between star children and regulars from this world, is that star children never took Pokemon for granted or felt they truly owned them. just that alone allowed most of them to rise above the rest of us. They taught us much. As a nurse I¡¯ve seen the records during my training as a medical practitioner. The Joy clan, secretly uses these records to gauge trainers and discreetly make the Jennies aware of any problematic outliers. Not that it matters. Often Pokemon turn on their trainer if they push it too far.¡± Carlos nodded at that. ¡°Makes sense.¡± ¡°Do you have any idea how sexy it is to see a trainer like you, take such good care of his Pokemon? She quite heavily punctuated her words with a sultry undertone. She turned around and left a dazed Carlos. So dazed in fact it went completely over his head that Gawain had set off a massive chain explosion with his incendiary clouds, actually shaking the foundations of the building a bit. Carlos looked out of the window and saw the old nurse looking at him shaking her head and sending Carlos a reprimanding look, As Pokemon hopped through the window, Carlos realized he needed to have a talk with his Pokemon about human society. ¡°Alright you three going around causing havoc, that¡¯s shame on me. However this cannot happen again understand? From now on you are only allowed to use utility moves for playing tag. ¡±AW but boss mon/uncle! That gives unfair advantage to Big sis!¡± Both Gawain and Kong called out. Dianne smirked. ¡±What are you talking about Kong? Last I checked your Lock on, is a utility move.¡± The result was a shocked Dianne, a gleeful Kong hopping about, and a pouting Gawain. Carlos looked at gawain. ¡°Just because you have few utility moves less than her, simply means you will have to outsmart her.¡± Gawain scoffed. ¡°No way, big sis is way too smart.¡± Dianne preened at that. None of that Gawain. The truth of the matter is that you are behind your two comrades, there is nothing wrong with that, but that means you have to work extra hard to catch up.¡± Gawain sighed but gave in. ¡°Yes Uncle, I knew that before you said it.¡± ¡±See that¡¯s the sort of thinking that will help you outsmart her. Now you three are gonna help me check out our new room.¡± All three nodded at that and Carlos got dressed in the clothing laid out for him. His old clothes must have been thrown out, which was fine it had been torn to shreds in the end. He did kinda miss the savage look it gave him. It had a certain cool factor to it. The clothes he put on were some sort of league official outfit, it had the league logo and everything. He smiled. They had left him Reid¡¯s old belt. He clicked the three Pokeball¡¯s of his Pokemon back in place and the 3 new empty ones on the other side. He walked out of the room down the hallway and after getting turned a couple of times. He found the main entrance. It was still early morning and she was sipping her coffee. The young nurse sat at the reception smirking at him. ¡°Finally found your way?¡± It took Carlos a few seconds until he saw she had observed him on the security cameras. ¡°Ha ha,¡± he droned. ¡°having a laugh at your poor patient, nurse Joy? What will people think?¡± He teased. He had to admit he was warming up to her quickly.¡± ¡°auh!¡± She feigned hurt. ¡°You wound me sir.¡± They both smiled and Carlos checked out his room, he was looking forward to tonight, he had to keep telling himself not to have a shit eating grin. He dropped his backpack on the bed, a small miracle that it had survived, and closed the door. ¡°We found a really nice spot to sleep outside Alpha, that room looks too soft for us.¡± Dianne gave Carlos a conspiratorial femme fatale smile. It was weird to see such a, human expression on her face. ¡±we did?¡± Gawain and Kong asked. ¡±Yes you better listen to your big sister Uncle needs a few more nights in a human bed before he¡¯s recovered his real strength.¡± Kong shrugged at that. ¡°Boss-mon gets stronger with sleeping. He should teach me that.¡± ¡±You might want to ask a Ursaluna or snorlax that. They excell at that.¡± Carlos laughed. he silently mouthed thank you to Dianne. He picked her up and she yelped. But didn¡¯t protest much when he snuggled her in a doggy carry and stroked her fur, like the god father stroked his cat. She even did something halfway purring. ¡±I totally missed out on grooming my Girl¡¯s fur.¡± She nodded eagerly at that. With his Pokemon in tow and Dianne carried like a queen, he went back to the lobby and was surprised to see a quite a few trainers. The Center had opened. He got a few odd looks from trainers sitting in the waiting area. Carlos smiled somewhat awkwardly at them saying ¡°Hi¡±here and there. Receiving a few ¡°Hi¡¯s¡± back. Four months in the wild certainly didn¡¯t fix his social awkwardness in packed public areas. A group of 3 were asking at the reception the details of the nearby gym. Carlos Overheard their desires of challenging the dragon gym at less than four badges, get crushed, by the young nurse. Carlos having seen how the young nurse could be, thought she would mock those trainers but instead she was dead serious warning the trainers that the dragon gym could only be challenged at 7 badges and no less, constantly repeating how dangerous and unpredictable dragons could be. At some point they got the message. Carlos was surprised to see a look of contempt on the Nurses face but didn¡¯t think on it. The 3 turned away from Nurse Joy and their eyes fell on Carlos and his three Pokemon. Carlos arched an eyebrow as they whispered conspiratorially with each other and just as Carlos was wondering what they were up to, they approached and surrounded him crossing their arms. A few sighs of other trainers around him expressing their disdain but other than that, no one interfered. ¡°Hey big guy, We 3 challenge you to a 1 on 1, winner takes all what do you say?¡± The goth girl with a confident smirk said. She looked at Kong with a look of derision, Carlos did not appreciate that. ¡°Yea unless you a chicken.¡± The smallest of the three squeaked, a ginger guy, freckles still not hitting his growth spurt, in a totally ridiculous gangster outfit. The third guy, slightly taller then goth girl. with a severe emo case was quiet but had a nasty look in his eyes. Carlos felt awkward, He noticed again, that people in the Pokemon world looked good. Gorgeous even. It definitely hadn¡¯t helped when Oak walked out laughing when he asked if he was good looking. Good looking people always set him on edge. ¡±Or at least I think they do?¡± Carlos thought idly. He didn¡¯t feel that hesitation dealing with these three. Their scowls were incredibly unflattering to their faces. ¡±So three 1v1¡¯s?¡± Carlos asked calmly. The goth girl groaned. ¡°Yes duh! God I told you guys he only looks scary, what a numbskull.¡± The ginger tried to shush her. ¡°hey don¡¯t say that out loud!¡± Carlos wondered if he should be the better man until he saw the looks on his Pokemon faces and he went: ¡°nah fuck that, these three need an asskicking.¡± ¡±Only if you show me your Pokemon¡¯s first, I¡¯m not about to let my Mon¡¯s fight a fully evolved Pokemon. ¡±pff we know the rules dumbass.¡± The goth girl sneered. Carlos rolled his eyes at that. They complied and pulled out their Pokemon. Out came a big blue ball with a tail that ended in a smaller ball, that Carlos didn¡¯t remember the name of but remembered to be a water type. A ball shaped green bird that had a weird presence that Carlos, since coming here, hadn¡¯t experienced. And a big green spider with a horn on its head. Carlos flinched, to the pleasure of the goth girl. ¡±aw look guys, big tough guy is scared of a little spider~¡± Causing quite a few trainers around to snicker, emboldening the goth girl. ¡°Fucking hell, one more word from miss teen angst and I might just forget she¡¯s a girl.¡± Carlos felt his thoughts going to a dark place. It seemed to have an effect on his facial expression because the three took a step back and a tense silence set in. All the idle chatter died. ¡°Their Pokemon names are Marrill, natu and spinarak uncle¡±. Gawain chimed in. The goth girl looked at Gawain and spotted the fire stone around his neck,¡°wait a minute! are you telling me your Cyndaquil doesn¡¯t even have blaze!? How useless can your Pokemon be?¡± Her scathing laughter bounced of the wall and hit Carlos¡¯s ears like nails on a chalkboard. The girl looked around and was taken aback why no one was laughing with her till her eyes landed back on Carlos face. That was it. That was what broke the camels back. The girl paled when she saw the devilish smile on Carlos face. Both Gawain and Kong stood next to Gawain. Their expressions schooled and cold. Gawain had curled up meekly. ¡°Don¡¯t curl up, stand proud, Gawain. They just insulted the kindness of Uncle magmortar¡± Carlos growled out. His anger directed at the 3 that didn¡¯t know their place. Hearing this gave Gawain some courage to unfurl and he began breathing out smoke. ¡±He got that stone from of a magmortar?¡± Someone whispered. That tidbit set off some murmurs among the crowd. ¡±I will do you three a solid. My Mankey against your bird ball¡±. ¡°Hey!¡± The ginger yelled. ¡±My Poochyena against your disgusting bug,¡± Carlos stared at the girl, her stupid smirk turning to a nasty scowl. ¡°Whatever you say tough guy.¡± She said defiantly but Carlos could tell she was shaking. ¡°And my poor, poor Cyndaquil¡± He pointed at the Marril with a dark smile. ¡°against your blue beach ball.¡± ¡°you mean Marrill, how are you a league official?¡± The emo kid interjected with that typical, annoying know it all attitude. ¡°Whatever, still gonna kick it like a ball so that¡¯s what it will be, same difference.¡± Carlos snarled. ¡°outside you three and I will show you the importance of training your Pokemon and picking your fights. ¡°As he stormed, out he caught the young Nurse looking worried, he couldn¡¯t tell who she was worried for. Carlos heard the three hurrying after him. whispering not so quietly behind his back. Moving towards the training field. ¡°Yo I¡¯m not so sure anymore, he just picked 3 fights, 2 with a double type disadvantage?¡± ¡±pff that makes him a dumbass, besides its not just type advantage we have strats.¡± The girl hissed. The emo kid spoke softest, Carlos already pegged him for the smartest of the three and truth be told he wasn¡¯t sure if he should have let his pride get to him like that but he had limits. Gawain¡¯s fight worried him the most. The Marill had some nasty stats and was closest in level as far as fights were concerned. he committed the pop up screens to memory. And then shoved them out of his field of vision.
Natu Lvl11 Psychic 420
HP 80 Normal 420
Atk 21 A/U/S 2/3/5
Defense 12 A/U/S 2/3/5
Reflex 12 Flying 420
Speed 14 Empath
Bold Female (Hidden)
Marill Lvl11 Water 400
HP 120 Normal 400
Atk 32 A/U/S 4/3/3
Defense 14 A/U/S 4/3/3
Reflex 24 Fairy 400
Speed 12 Huge power.
Reckless Male (Hidden)
Spinarak Lvl12 Bug 880
HP 92 Normal 880
Atk 13.2 A/U/S 4/2/4
Defense 15.4 A/U/S 4/2/4
Reflex 19.8 Poison 880
Speed 19.8 Fangs
Docile female (Hidden)
Type advantages aside, his 3 outclassed them in level and stats. It boggled Carlos mind. None of their Pokemon seemed to be trained, from what he could tell. Either these three were lazy or these were freshly caught Pokemon. They got to the, wrecked but usable, training ground. The old nurse and a bunch of gravelers were still shoveling some debris and all 3 gave Carlos a dark look. ¡°Can you referee Nurse? These three simply won¡¯t leave without an ass kicking.¡± He asked the nurse as calmly as possible. That got all them all riled up. ¡±You¡¯re the one that will get his ass kicked asshole!¡± The Ginger yelled. ¡°Yea you tell him Steve! The Girl smirked deviously. But it missed the bite she had at first.¡± The old nurse sighed. ¡°You all know the rules. Have all your Pokemon learned the Endure move?¡± She asked, the three nodded. The Nurse looked at Carlos. He nodded. ¡°Kong doesn¡¯t but he¡¯s got his typing trait so he doesn¡¯t even need it.¡± He thought to himself. ¡°Ok let¡¯s start off with the most straightforward fight.¡± Carlos spoke . ¡°Kong you are up! Just like we usually practice but you will fight green bird ball.¡± ¡°pfff what kind of name is that?¡± The goth girl mocked. ¡°keep your asinine shit to yourself,¡± Carlos yelled across the field, absolutely done with the teen angst. She sneered and stuck her tongue out. He motioned Kong closer and whispered into Kong¡¯s ear. ¡°Look we can¡¯t kill these fools for food ok? Big trouble if we do, so you can¡¯t use bide, don¡¯t even think about it. Even if that bird brain had endure. If you go full force with all moves you are going to punch straight through it.¡± ¡°You got it boss mon. I won¡¯t kill weak bird. Just break bones.¡± Kong nodded. Kong hopped to it and got into his boxing stance, did some sharp and crisp punches and kicks Carlos taught him and took a deep breath and exhaled dancing on the ball of his feet. Carlos noted the tall emo kid lose a bit more of his confidence. Emo kid was watching the movements of Kong quite closely. He held his Marill close and whispered into its ears and the Marrill got more serious the longer they whispered. The goth girl just kept hyping up Steve. Carlos nodded ¡°alright I¡¯m ready.¡± The ginger kid stepped forward. ¡°Alright skutly! To the skies and stack Calm mind!¡± a blue glowing sheen covered the ball shaped bird and it began to hover before shooting up out of Kong¡¯s supposed reach.¡± ¡±and they mock my Naming sense,¡± Carlos thought. ¡°Go do your warm up Kong and keep Detect ready! Kong began fake punching his face. his defense, attack and speed all rose dramatically as he pushed his inner rage and used his curling fury. The girl leered, sneered and mocked the act, not realizing what was up. The emo kid eyes widened. ¡±Steve watch out! That mankey is building his own rage and is doing something else as well. Type advantage or not, he¡¯s gonna hit hard!¡± ¡±The ginger kid emboldened by his female companion, ordered his Natu, got his serious face on and nodding at emo kid. ¡°Stay up and Spam psychic! Skutly!¡± WHAM! An invisible force tried to slam Kong into the ground. With detect, Kong reacted practically instantly. to Carlos it was a thing of beauty. It almost looked like a Micheal Jackson dance slide, as smooth it was. Carlos¡¯s own detect was up as well. Both him and Kong had observed a slight distortion in the air, originating from the bird that came down incredibly fast. Kong narrowly dodged the next one and got grazed again even with detect he couldn¡¯t fully avoid it. His body got janked again by the shoulder but he kept to his feet and kept his guard tight. Kong roared out. ¡±It tickles tricksy in my head boss mon!¡± He informed Carlos. ¡±Get used to it! ignore it! And focus on your inner fire!¡± Carlos yelled back. ¡±MANKEY!¡± Kong roared in agreement. Even though Kong was vulnerable to the Psychic TE. His defense and reflex were stacked through the roof compared to the Natu. Type energy had to get past a Pokemon¡¯s natural defense, before it could wreak havoc on a Pokemon¡¯s health. So Kong, after taking a slight graze from the move Psychic, took a whopping 5 damage per hit, slightly less on the second because defiance kicked in when the move inflicted a hex to lower Mankey¡¯s natural defense. From the slight grazes. Carlos head math already told him that if Kong got hit full force it would only take the weak bird about 4 psychic blasts to knock Kong out. ¡±Big world.¡± Carlos thought. The bird kept slamming full powered Psychic¡¯s down. ¡°Naaaaa! ooooh im tuuuuu!so fucked! he¡¯s got defiant!!¡± The bird yelled out. Frustrated at the writing on the wall, he was running out of steam way faster than Kong. Steve misunderstood the frustration for determination. ¡°Keep it up Skutly! He will slip up soon!¡± ¡±Naaaa Oh ffs! What did I ever see in this stupid trainer! tuuu!¡± The bird responded Carlos savored the faces on his three opponents, The smirk on Steve¡¯s face crumbled like a crouton when he realized, no Kong wasn¡¯t going to slip up. Kong took each psychic with nary a scratch, while he mockingly kept punching himself pretending his own punches hurt him more. ¡°Missed opportunity to call him Muhammad Ali¡± Carlos thought jokingly. The girl yelled. ¡°Stop jerking off Steve! do your thing! make Skutly speed up!¡± Steve gone frozen watching his Pokemon getting mocked by Kong recovered. ¡±Skutly this isn¡¯t working! bombing run!¡± ¡°T-this b-better work. NAaa. Never has a god damn naa monkey embarrassed me tuu like this!¡± Carlos didn¡¯t wait for what a bombing run looked like and said coldly while locking eyes with a frightful Steve. ¡°Kick him into the dirt Kong.¡± One moment Kong was getting janked by a half assed psychic, the next a crackling clap and dust blown away from his location, Kong gone. The next split moment, a sickening crack of bones breaking, ringing through the air and an unconscious ball shaped bird slammed into the packed dirt. A moment later a Somewhat exerted Kong landing lightly on the ball of its feet. Hopping like a boxer waiting for the count. ¡°Natu is out! Chansey check up!¡± The old nurse yelled. The Chansey rushed in and immediately did emergency bone restructuring. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing you took the time of day to teach that bird endure according to league rules, or your skutly would not have survived that kick.¡± Carlos said coldly. Steve had sunk to his knees, his spirit had left his body. ¡°Well done Kong, you did well.¡± Carlos said matter of factly Neither him or Kong were particularly happy with the result. It was utterly anticlimactic. Carlos himself was flabbergasted at the pathetic display. Even knowing he would win he had expected more. He walked up to the old nurse. ¡°The Natu will be ok? His endure went off properly?¡± He inquired. The old Nurse nodded. ¡°Yea, just stay out of the way for a minute we are setting his skull back in place, it¡¯s tricky, it¡¯s a good thing Natu have a natural bounce to them or that might have been enough. Psychic Pokemon have natural fast healing properties when it comes to their brain so they tend to recover quickly from these sort of injuries.¡± The Nurse explained while she assisted her Chansey using a healing move while scanning the Natu with a medical pokedex. The ginger kid walked up trembling towards his Natu the fight was knocked out of the boy. The natu was still unconscious painfully heaving for air. ¡°We are done, you can put him back in the pokeball¡± the nurse informed him. He returned the injured Pokemon quietly. The nurse continued. ¡°He needs a check up tomorrow, let him sleep in his ball till then and no fights for him whatsoever for the next three days you hear?¡± The nurse spoke to the boy and gently grabbed the boy by the shoulder to make him focus. He snapped out his daze looked at the nurse and nodded. The goth girl, if it was even possible, had gone paler and completely silent. ¡±Just so you now goth girl, my Poochyena has a nasty temper, she won¡¯t play nice like my Mankey does.¡± Carlos wasn¡¯t about to go easy on few punks now that they lost their steam. ¡°She doesn¡¯t make the habit of holding back like my Mankey, my Kong.¡± Kong puffed his chest arrogantly at that. To prove a point Dianne used shadow sneak to enter the arena. And let out her name hauntingly. ¡±H-he was holding back?¡± The ginger asked in shock. Carlos nodded. ¡°If I had him use Bide, in combination with rage fist and go full force? Your Natu¡¯s proficiency with endure wouldn¡¯t have been enough. It would have been the end of your skutly.¡± this made the boy tear up. ¡±he can chain moves¡± The Emo kid said breathlessly. Carlos arched his eyebrow. ¡°All Pokemon can chain moves kid, just train them.¡± ¡°It can use ghost moves?¡± The goth girl wasn¡¯t even paying attention, her eyes were stuck on Dianne, gleefully making the girl know how she was planning on fighting her Spinarak by doing one of her practice routines. Showing near perfect control of double team, swift and shadow sneak. She disappeared from sight subtly using quick attack. By using her own illusions as cover. She finished of her routine, with an assurance that she carved through the crushed soil creating a shiiing sound, like a blade cutting through the air. As the dust settled she was sitting relaxed on her haunches, licking her paws. ¡±Nah, no way am I letting spinky fight against that.¡± She shivered. Your Pokemon are absolute monsters mister.¡± She said while shaking. Carlos had to hold himself down snickering hearing the assinine girl call her creepy ass spider, spinky as if it was a cat. ¡°Yea il forfeit too. No way am I¡¯m gonna put my Marrill through that wringer.¡± ¡±You sure? Your Marill against my Cyndaquil is actually a pretty even match by my estimation.¡± Carlos said. ¡°Perhaps to eachother but I¡¯m not evenly matched to you.¡± The Emo kid said. He pulled out 300 pokedollars. I must ask, how do you get your Pokemon that strong?¡± The Emo kid asked as he handed over the Cash and Carlos took it. Carlos hesitated for a moment but realized his cover story allowed him to be perfectly honest. ¡°I train deep into the hollow mountain range, sometimes I go there to get my hands on TE meat, I just came back from a 4 month excursion. I caught these two before that.¡± Pointing at Kong and Dianne. ¡°Gawain my Cyndaquil, I caught deep into the mountain range.¡± The kids paled. Both the boys gave the girl a dirty look. They all bowed. ¡°Thank you for the lesson!¡± And they bolted. ¡°Sara you are no longer our leader!¡± The emo kid whispering way too loud, thinking Carlos wouldn¡¯t hear. ¡°How was I supposed to know he was a prodigy ace trainer?¡± She whined. ¡°What kind of ace trainer trains those types of Pokemon?¡± She continued. ¡°The terrifying ones Sara! Those kinds!¡± Steve whisper-yelled. ¡°It¡¯s Mankey didn¡¯t even feel type effective moves! How does that even work?¡± They kept bickering till they were out of earshot. The old nurse Approached, ¡°You are lucky the league has you on an official duty roster or I would insist on you clearing this training arena up. She planted her fists in her waist seeing the smile on Carlos face. ¡°Did it feel good to bully a few sprouts?¡± She asked while giving him a bit of a judgmental look. ¡°Weeds you mean. Yea it did feel good to set them straight a little,¡± he corrected her assumption on why he was smiling. ¡°Although I feel sorry for the Natu, having such a lousy trainer.¡± He shook his head. ¡°The girl reeked of daddy issues. The ginger kid felt like he wanted to prove way too hard he was the cool kid and then there was that massive case of emo with an actual brain.¡± Carlos concluded sarcastically. ¡±That girl lost her father, the ginger is an orphan and that massive case of emo kid had to take care of them both.¡± Carlos scoffed. ¡°None of that excused their bully behavior. All I did was show em that any time they pick a target to bully that target might just take em by surprise. Next time it won¡¯t be a trainer who restricts his Pokemon with a single kick nurse,¡± ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right,¡± she gave him a look. ¡°That¡¯s something a dad might say, not an 18 year old.¡± She casually remarked. ¡°I was a 35 year old dude before coming here. Well that¡¯s the feeling I get from the few fragments of memory I still have.¡± She looked him over. ¡°Yes you don¡¯t often see eighteen year old boys holding back like that, while acting he like could have killed someone¡¯s Pokemon willy nilly.¡± She shook her head and tsked, her tone was playful but Carlos felt a sting behind her words. ¡±You can¡¯t coddle those types of kids Nurse. Any Kindness enables their bullshit behavior.¡± ¡°And pray to Arceus how would you know?¡± She responded, dropping her playful tone. ¡±They pick on weak trainers, don¡¯t bother training their Pokemon.¡± Carlos said. Feeling his blood beginning to boil. ¡°They picked me out of a crowd of twenty trainers because they saw my Pokemon and thought I was easy pickings. That¡¯s what Bullies do. And these Bullies have Living breathing Pokemon they can and will weaponize whenever they feel like.¡± Carlos looked at her and stopped. He was confused for a second, she was smiling at him. His face fell into a stern expression. ¡°You were testing me.¡± ¡°Sorry for that slight cruelty, but you casually put a Pokemon an inch from his life,¡± ¡°That birdball, was doing the same.¡± ¡±O please, like those three and their Pokemon will ever amount to anything, as if kindness or strictness will change something.¡± Carlos was surprised to hear such cynicism come from the kind nurse. ¡°They are 2nd year rookie returners, they have been hustling new trainers for 2 years now. They fail so bad, not even the underground movements wants them. ¡±You cannot possibly tell me those mons have been with them for 2 years!¡± Carlos exclaimed. ¡°No maybe a year, but Pokemon need proper stimulation, training, fights and trust in their trainer. If they fail in 2 of those fields, the Pokemon will stagnate in their growth.¡± the old nurse Joy continued with some exhaustion in her voice.¡± ¡±Ah you already had that conversation with those three.¡± Carlos said. ¡±So many times!¡± She barked. ¡°They get into so much trouble locally but they keep skirting the line, so by law, none of us can do anything. They are technically following the rules.¡± Frustration mounting in her voice. ¡±But it¡¯s only a matter of time before they fall into the wrong crowd. The type of crowd that preys on them.¡± Carlos spoke darkly. The old nurse Joy nodded. They were quiet for a second. ¡±What are you waiting for?¡± The nurse asked. ¡±what are you talking about?¡± He asked drawing a blank. The nurse smiled. ¡°As a gym trainer, you are obligated to point out the flaws of their strategy, choices etc.¡± ¡°You¡¯re serious?¡± Carlos asked. ¡°Dead serious.¡± The nurse said smiling. ¡°How else are they going to improve?¡± Carlos didn¡¯t really feel like arguing the point, he did remember each gym fight the gym leaders dispensing some wisdom. ¡°Yea, yea just show me on my map where those three might hang. You sneaky old hag, getting me all worked up like that. Hey don¡¯t whack your patients!¡± He said loudly with a smirk, after she whacked him on the back of the head. ¡°Ow shush, that hurt my poor old hag bones more than yours, you rock for brains.¡± ¡±That¡¯s high quality rock for brains to you miss Joy.¡± Carlos smirked. Nurse Joy gave him a look, she tried to hide the playful glint in her eyes but Carlos caught it. The nurse put a few pins on the map app, of Carlos shiny new Pok¨¦dex. Carlos returned his Pokemon to their Pokeballs and started walking down the hill. ¡°Alright il see if I can spank some sense into them.¡± He called back over his shoulder. he smiled darkly but didn¡¯t look back or wait for the Old Nurse response. Young Nurse Joy POV. Young Nurse Cory Joy, woke up 5 am sharp. She sighed. sometimes she hated having an internal alarm. She hated 7 day work weeks even more. She got up from her bed. And grumpily got ready, these last two days had been emotionally draining. As she was about done with putting her hair into the classic Nurse Joy hairdo, her eyes fell on the picture she had of Lance at the beach, pain flared through her chest. It had been two days since last she saw him but that had definitely sealed the chapter of her chasing him. Body language was basic 101 for Nurse Joys, and that night she read annoyance and mild disgust, carefully schooled away behind a stern expression. Disgust, at her! It was enough to finally break the spell she had been under for the last two years. She grabbed the incredibly flattering picture of Lance and threw it in the garbage. ¡°Such a waste of fucking time,¡± she grumbled, ¡°asshole¡±. A tear fell down her face. She wiped it away and did her internal mantras. She sighed, she knew she only had herself to blame, everyone had warned her repeatedly, Lance was a mighty man and excellent trainer but a complete bonehead not showing any interest in romance. The old nurse had tried to hammer that notion into her head. Constantly telling her to let go and party find another willing guy during this period of her life to let loose. During her early years at the Joy academy she was warned repeatedly, that starting at the age of 21 her Libido and estrogen levels would rise exponentially and balancing out around the age of 26. Her peers had jokingly called it the breeding years. Age 21 had hit her harder than a rockslide. She had done some tests in private and the data showed she was a bit of an outlier when it came to other Joys. She like other Joys wasn¡¯t fully human she knew that. But her estrogen levels were shocking to say the least. The insane food cravings no one had warned about weren¡¯t that bad she just ate a lot and it filled out her curves faster than a cosmetic operation could. That should have been disturbing but it wasn¡¯t, she thanked Arceus when that leveled out. She noted how any and all unique quirks she might have had, were wiped away and she became another Joy clone, or twin. Same difference. No what really disturbed her was the onslaught of deviant and kinky desires running rampant through her mind getting darker and darker if she didn¡¯t relieve herself. She felt herself slipping and it disgusted her, particularly the loss of self control and identity was concerning for her as a Joy. She once almost colored her hair brown, brown! Unheard off and totally unacceptable for a Joy. A paragon of virtue and kindness or other such bullshit. Their psycho manipulative powers and secret training regimes on keeping their particular brand alive certainly was effective. They maintained it for a millennia now. Resulting in worming their way into a complete medical monopoly. None of which helped her, with her predicament. So she had the brilliant idea to channel all her needs into a one sided crush on the local prodigy. Fantasize about him and the family they would have riding on a Salamanca into the sunset. What bullshit. Two years later, she had nothing to show for her efforts, none of her needs met and a job that got more difficult to deal with by the day. Pushing it all down, discipline and training notwithstanding, got more difficult each day. There were discreet service companies that offered specific services for young Nurse Joys with her needs but her trained medical eye had dissected their clinical approach by the third visit over the last year. It didn¡¯t do it for her. Her heart needed some genuine reciprocating. One could say A little heart to heart. It certainly didn¡¯t help she had such a particular taste in men. She left her room and went up to the lobby, to clock herself in and entered the nurses breakroom. ¡±perhaps I shouldn¡¯t sleep in the basement, might improve my mood.¡± She thought to herself. ¡°Morning dear, you are 1 minute and 32 seconds late. Coffee?¡± She sighed. She looked at the old nurse sitting prim and proper for no one but herself, looking immaculate. Not a speck out of place. ¡°You mean I¡¯m 3 hours 59 minutes and 28 seconds early and yes id love some coffee.¡± She couldn¡¯t prevent letting some of her emotional exhaustion slip. Her usual exchange of barbs with the old nurse didn¡¯t really fire her up as it usually did. She understood why the old nurse did it, hell she was trained and capable of doing the psychological manipulation herself, she still hated it. Especially when someone did it to her. ¡±Oh something happened, do tell.¡± The old nurse droned sipped her coffee. Giving her an inquiring look. The young nurse sighed. ¡±You warned me of Lance, you were right about him,¡± she felt her shoulders slump a bit. Another motion slipping past her guard today. ¡°Im losing my grip¡± she thought while feeling distant to herself. It took a practiced eye to know what was truly going on under the polite and caring emotional mask, all Nurse Joy¡¯s were trained from birth to wear on their faces. But the old nurse saw a glimpse of rawness in her young protege, heard the exhaustion, both of which she had failed to recognize over the past few years. Realization dawned on her, as her highly developed mental faculties pieced all the events from all angles, with the young nurse and Lance together over the last two years with seconds, based on this new information. ¡±Oh dear you are too good at the mask girl. You even fooled me. Was it that bad?¡± She reprimanded herself internally for not catching this sooner. ¡°It was.¡± The young nurse voice croaked. The old nurse spoke softly feeling an overwhelming maternal affection come over her, she gently placing her hand on the young Nurse hand.¡°Oh foolish girl why didn¡¯t you speak more honestly about this?¡± ¡°I believed sincerely, I would get through that foolish skull of his.¡± She said. Her face schooled but the mask was cracked. Now she might as well be full out crying in front of the old nurse.¡±oh dearie it¡¯s ok let it out.¡± And so the two nurses sat in silence, deep eddies and emotional currents raging under a perfectly calm surface. The old nurse gently massaged the young Nurse hand till she calmed down. ¡±You certainly were persistent.¡± The old nurse smiled softly. ¡°You ok? You sure you don¡¯t need some time before you throw yourself at a young dashing man? you switched gears rather quickly these last two days, that¡¯s partly why I assumed your crush on Lance wasn¡¯t as serious.¡± The young Nurse tried to feign ignorance, ¡°I don¡¯t know what you mean.¡± ¡±O far too late for that girl. That Persian has loudly proclaimed itself. Or are you telling me you failed to realize you take every excuse to check up on our new patient over the last two days? He certainly seems to be your type and you have been buttering up his Pokemon something fierce, sneaking them premium pokeblocks with their favorite flavors.¡± Realization dawned on the young nurse. ¡°I did do that.¡± ¡°Do you think it¡¯s a mistake?¡± She asked. Feeling vulnerable and exposed asking. The old nurse shrugged. ¡°You were trained to move on, taught how to protect yourself emotionally from standing on the sidelines of humanity. See them get married happily ever after, while you might never get that. Not many Human men, can bond with either Jennies or Joys, even if their personalities match, Even if the jenny or Joy, bonded with the illusion, the idea of it.¡± The young nurse had a painful smile. ¡°I can¡¯t help myself. I¡¯ve got my eyes set on him now.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t really start off with the best of impressions, you know.¡± She scoffed ¡±Im a Joy, I can fix that.¡± ¡±Even if you do remember, keep your heart safe.¡± She paused shortly and continued. ¡°Well you better get to it then, he just woke up.¡± The old nurse motioned with her coffee cup to one of the camera feeds. The young nurse chugged her coffee, got up schooled herself into her professional expression and made to leave the breakroom. ¡°From now on dear, please talk to me. Im not just your mentor for the medical field but for the journey of your life, don¡¯t bottle it up, you won¡¯t last if you do.¡± The young nurse paused in the doorway and looked back. ¡°Thank you, teacher. I do feel better after sharing.¡± ¡±You better leave quickly, you calling me teacher, that¡¯s a bad omen, shoo girl, shoo!¡± The old Nurse said smiling mischievously. The young Nurse returned the smile and snagged a random clipboard and hurried down the hallway. Now that she paced a few times past the room she felt anxious. She foolishly put all her emotional eggs in another basket. She knew it was stupid but the heart cries for its wants. ¡±Ok just start with the apology¡± she told herself and entered the room. She was done after a few minutes, leaving Carlos behind with Oak in the room , As a Joy she was born with the ability to mold TE. The irony of this, was that ability, prevented their bonding ability with most men. They could observe that bonding between other humans but for the most part, it didn¡¯t happen for Joy¡¯s. Her heart was pounding.¡±What kind of freak fortune is this?¡± She thought to herself. All it took, was a bit of genuine flirting and the young Nurse Joy, saw the man¡¯s TE respond. He was one of the rare few compatible. why? How? She really didn¡¯t care, she found a gem in a haystack. she felt warmth spreading through her chest. ¡°Is it supposed to be this easy?¡± She thought to herself. All her interactions with humans had felt flat to an extent, her interactions with Lance too. The moment Carlos TE reacted, the interaction became vibrant, resonant as if some tiny thing had sparked to life. She felt herself puff up. Seeing Carlos body language, his body respond so honestly to her affectations, felt exhilarating.To finally get that reciprocation she so desperately desired even if it was so little. But now that she had a taste. She craved more. It was like someone handed her some clay to mold. He had something so naive about him. It gave her such a surge of power. She was warned that Compatible men had to be approached with caution, they were far more susceptible to psycho manipulation than regular people. She knew she had to report it to her mentor but she wasn¡¯t too worried, he had Dark typing after all. ¡°Im sure that balances things out¡± she told herself. ¡±Just butter him up, just play it out and see where it ends. Pretend like you didn¡¯t notice and no harm done.¡± she told herself. She was all smiles visiting her other patients. She didn¡¯t even need the mask. She made her way to the lobby to prepare for opening and get her paperwork done. She watched the time. Only an hour had passed. ¡°Ah there you are, done with the morning rounds?¡± The old nurse approached. Handing her a set of keys for one of the rooms available for rent for trainers. ¡°What¡¯s this for?¡± Young Nurse Joy asked. ¡±Oh nothing too important, just that Carlos was just released from our service, he was officially enrolled as a league official and will operate out of Surge¡¯s gym for the next 9 months. He leaves tomorrow. The young nurse felt her heart sink. The old Nurse pressed the keys in her hands. ¡°Make your move girl have a fun night and get him out of your system. If one night isn¡¯t enough, well that¡¯s a tomorrow problem.¡± ¡°Is this another part of your duties as a mentor?¡± The young nurse joked. But she steeled herself. ¡±It¡¯s part of my duty to make sure you don¡¯t botch your daily reports, now go¡± The young nurse did. She got him to say yes to her advances as she expected and as she was about to leave the room all giddy. She got stumped by the question as to why she was nice. How could she even answer that question? I love how innocent and moldable you are? she was emotionally hurt but with a base primordial needs hardwired into her dna, that she couldn¡¯t ignore. She was an emotional mess and couldn¡¯t get any semblance of clarity in her mind, if she didn¡¯t at least alleviate her base needs. If she didn¡¯t, the toxic buildup would be too much, that meant the services. Anything but the services. So she spun some story, using her personal reasons as to why she liked him and presented that as her sole motivation. Not the real truth but good enough. They both know this was a one night fling. She couldn¡¯t get enough of that naive wondrous look in his eyes. It was such a peculiar sight to see someone with Dark typing, have such honest body language that lined up with what they said. He had all the signs he could play the games of intrigue. It was written all over him that he recognized the intrigue. He simply didn¡¯t bother with it. It was refreshing. She felt light in her chest and rushed out. Heart pounding. ¡°Careful now Cory, don¡¯t go falling again like a hopeless teenage girl.¡± She reprimanded herself. She took over for the old nurse who rushed outside, some stupid trainer set off an explosive move on the training grounds, and the old nurse had to go and fix it. She didn¡¯t pay it any mind. Her eyes drifted almost instantly to the camera feed, taking mischievous pleasure from Carlos getting lost in the hallways. When he finally made it to the lobby they exchanged flirty banter, before he went upstairs to check out his room. ¡±huh, so that¡¯s what it feels like when someone reciprocates, she thought happy to herself. ¡°Flirting like this is fun!¡± She clapped herself on the cheeks. It was show time. Opening time. Trainers. In came the flood and she was on a roll, getting through the masses of angst, social awkwardness and loud abrasive voices. ¡°Ugh not these three again,¡± 3 local troublemakers approached. She groaned. What followed was an aggravating back and forth of sneering pretense from that goth bitch and her two simping cronies and a facade on her end of pretending she cared. Both women knowing goth bitch was only clocking her for the exact time, so she had to put this conversation word for word in her daily report. She hated every second of it. And she hated it even more that the goth girl knew exactly what she was doing. As they were done and turned around, the young nurse sneered a glare of contempt at the three. She caught Carlos looking and quickly schooled her expression. She scolded herself for that but before she could do something about it, she felt a chill run over her spine. ¡±Hey boys I think we have some official fresh Kanto meat. I wouldn¡¯t mind having a taste of that. What do you think? Easy pickings easy 300 bucks?¡± Ravanna whispered to her 2 partners in crime Young nurse Joy felt her mind go cold. ¡°This bitch better not be serious.¡± She thought. Ravanna and her companion talked their strategy, even though everyone present except Carlos already knew what that strategy was.¡± The young nurse, as every other trainer observed the verbal abuse the 3 hooligans threw Carlos way. ¡°Huh, bug phobia, didn¡¯t see that coming,¡± The young nurse thought to herself. ¡°Well everyone has their flaws I guess.¡± She mused Bugs were soo ugly it made them adorable, how could you not love them? Their blind loyalty to trainers was legendary.¡± A quiet tension fell over the lobby when Ravanna overstepped, by insulting Carlos¡¯s Pokemon. Seeing that dark anger fill out his eyes his shadow seemingly larger, everyone felt that pressure, as if they were stalked by a predator. Some more experienced trainers involuntarily reached for their pokeballs. Seeing it again. The young nurse had to admit it was a frightening look to see Carlos pissed. She started to worry this was gonna get out of hand quickly. The match started and everyone gathered to looking through the glass windows, some even pulled their Pok¨¦dex out to record. ¡±I don¡¯t know what that guy is thinking.¡± A trainer remarked. Scanning both combatants with his dex. ¡°His mankey is 5 levels higher and has the defiant trait but that doesn¡¯t matter against a natu.¡± ¡±Idk man, look at the crisp moves that Mankey has. You usually only see that with hitmonchan¡¯s¡± another trainer remarked. ¡°I thought Mankey¡¯s were always angry? This one looks kinda calm doesn¡¯t he?¡± ¡±I guess he ain¡¯t training it for the infernape evolution.¡± Another responded. ¡°Shut up it¡¯s starting.¡± The fight started. ¡°Why is that Mankey punching itself?¡± Everyone laughed, it looked ridiculous. The typical rage was now plastered all over its face. ¡°Yup it¡¯s over, that Natu fully stacked its calm mind. Stupid ass is gonna get a crushed Mankey in a sec.¡± WHAM. Mankey still standing. Nurse Joy let off a sigh of relief. This was actually more than she had anticipated. That Mankey would become a monster. That sort of smooth simple yet elegant movement was impressive. ¡±How did Natu miss?¡± Someone asked. The young nurse smiled. None of them had seen. ¡°His Mankey dodged. Don¡¯t look away or blink or you will miss it¡± As she said that, she stole a glance at Ravanna. She loved that stunned face. Ravanna had caught it as well. ¡°There is always a bigger Sharpedo, bitch. Time you learned that.¡± She thought to herself. She knew she wasn¡¯t supposed to enjoy schadenfreude but she didn¡¯t care. ¡±Holy Arceus! Nurse Joy is right! He just did it again! How do you even dodge a Psychic!?¡± An excited young girl pointed out. ¡°Why is that Mankey still hitting himself? Wait a minute is this how it taunts?¡± Another asked. ¡±Idk it sure looks like it, but im not reading the proper telemetry one if the trainers responded, who was scanning the fight. ¡±He is using detect, has rage up and using a move that the pokedex keeps registering as defense curl or fury strikes. ¡±No fucking way, that Mankey can chain moves!?¡± ¡°fuck chaining moves, it already has a signature move!¡± Another exlaimed. someone squeaked. ¡°Language!¡± Which got him a collective. ¡°S.T.F.U¡± ¡°Keep watching boys~ or you will miss it¡±. The young nurse said playfully. She saw the Mankey hyper focus. Something was about to happed. Everyone turned just in time to see Kong explode into action. A collective ¡°Holy shit.¡± Echoed through the room. She covered her mouth observing the explosive power the Mankey exhibited. Everyone looked at the trainer who was reading telemetry of the fight. He had a blank face. First move, unknown, second move counter with modifications from the first move. Third move spinning axe kick also modified by the first.¡± ¡±Just so you fellows know, that trainer owning the Mankey?¡± He was recently discovered surviving in the hollow mountain range on his own. He is also registered as the second Kanto whisperer.¡± Nurse Joy dispensed that bit of information, as she was told to do. This felt like a per Moment to give credit to that story. ¡±The overkill number just finished, the overkill was triple, accounting for type differences.¡± The trainer reading Telemetry dropped his pokedex and sat down. Shaking a bit smiling. Nurse Joy zoned out the rest of the debates that flared. A crescendo of multiple people talking all at once through the room. What had shocked her, observing the fight, wasn¡¯t the power but the ludicrous self control the Mankey exhibited. Mankey were ornery at best, completely disrespectful and disobedient to their trainers at worst. Telling a Mankey to play defensive, was like telling a charmander to stick his tail in the sea. Not many trainers kept a Mankey for long and she knew of not a single trainer on record, who had managed this sort of discipline with a Mankey in such a short timeframe. She had known Carlos Pokemon were disciplined and exceptional, seeing that in a battle was quite something else. some other trainers that gauged Carlos earlier for a possible match chuckled nervously, joking they were glad they hadn¡¯t challenged the scary trainer. ¡±what a terrifying man you are Carlos, what terrifying talent.¡± She thought. She was so looking forward to tonight. She always had a thing for trainers with potential, but this was really edging her on. It¡¯s what had attracted her to Lance but Lance¡¯s heart belonged to the dragons. She turned away from the scene, the old nurse was getting into an argument with Carlos after the group of bullies fled with their legs between their legs. She shook her head, complete losers as far as she was concerned. After a minute or so, The old Nurse got back inside and started helping her man the reception. She looked up.¡± Where did Carlos go?¡± She asked between trainers. I reminded him of his duty dear. ¡°The old nurse responded curtly. ¡°Do I need to remind you of yours?¡± ¡°No¡± young Nurse shook her head and continued. ¡°Besides if I hadn¡¯t, you wouldn¡¯t finish your shift. I saw you ogling him as if you were a girl first discovering she had the capacity for love. That match certainly set the tone for the day I see.¡± She observed the trainers talking excitedly showing each other footage of the fight in slow motion.¡± ¡°To the first part, don¡¯t know what you mean,¡± she smiled innocently, ¡°and to the second, it sure has.¡± After a few minutes she paused. ¡°Wait what do you mean you reminded him of his duties?¡± ¡±He is officially a gym trainer dear, that means he is obligated to assist any trainers who lose an official match against him, with counsel and potentially some tips.¡± ¡±You can¡¯t be serious, he¡¯s a vermillion gym trainer, not a Blackthorne trainer, besides they use electric types in Vermillion. How does that even work? The old nurse Joy wagged her finger while smiling knowingly. ¡±Technically he can be challenged anywhere and he must comply, also nowhere in the league rules does it state that a gym must be of a certain type.¡± ¡±What are you up to?¡± The young nurse asked. ¡°Those three have the hopeless label for a reason. Why are you getting Carlos mixed up with them?¡± ¡±Ho Ho Ho, on a first name basis are we?¡± The young Nurse had a wolfish predatory smile spread on her face that she hid behind her mask quickly. ¡°Who am I to say no, when that someone is so willing?¡± Still hiding that hungry smile. ¡°Besides I need it and I get the sense he needs it too.¡± ¡±He does seem rather tense doesn¡¯t he? Definitely needs some relaxation.¡± The old nurse chuckled. The young nurse chuckled along. She did another mantra and focused on her day. The day couldn¡¯t pass soon enough for the young nurse. She felt lighter and it felt good to finally let go of her unrequited love. After her shift was done she got herself into some comfortable clothing and let herself into the room. She let her hair down loose. Curiously looked through what was in his backpack and set his creepy weapons to the side. Half an hour later, a somewhat tired and a thoroughly done with the world Carlos opened the door. The nurse laying on the bed bit her lower lip. He made an impressive sight in the doorway. ¡°Hey I hope you don¡¯t mind that I let myself in. Can I get you anything?¡± He smiled. ¡°No I got what I need. He marched forward taking his top clothing off. There it was it again, that honest unrestrained body language, she loved it. Additional members. Still early the morning, before Carlos was gonna get lucky? with a young nurse Joy, he walked further down the mountain path. According to the map he was currently closer to the dragon clan caves than Blackthorne city itself. At the bottom of the rock formation the Pokemon center was built on, the dragon caves farther up the mountains at his back. He stood still on a T-split in the road. On the left The IP, the Ice path, going south west-west. From his vantage point he had a massive outlook on the icy blue area. The path went through a vast stretch of valleys, large flat tundra¡¯s with little to no vegetation, snaking around the base of the mountains of the hollow mountain range, passing along several and finally, leading towards Mt Silver. The majestic Mountain greeting him in the Distance. To his right on the T split. The path led further down into the valley of Blackthorne city. But the city didn¡¯t hold his attention. Although he couldn¡¯t see the IP in its fullest, it was pretty clear on the pokedex map, that the IP would lead him to Mt Silver, then to the ice cave network under the mountain, leading to the other side of the mountain with a road to Silver town. From there on, Someone could try to make it across a few mountains and hit the Indigo Plateau. That particular area in between Silver town and the Indigo plateau, was indicated on the map as a red zone, the whole Hollow Mountain range up north was a red zone for that matter, many places he had traveled he recognized, had skulls littered all over it on the map. Clearly he had been reckless. It was clear the map maker urged any Trainer or traveler, to go down south instead of east from Silver Town, all the way to Johto falls. Carlos estimated that was at least 200-250 miles with a whole lot of nothing in between. Looking at the map he didn¡¯t think many trainers followed this particular route. From Johto falls, the trip to New bark town to the west or the southern victory road to the east was by his estimation doable in a day or two for him. Many stops were littered around that route on that map. He looked up again at Mt Silver. That massive dagger peak that served as his compass for close to 3 months, beckoned to him, whispered to him to get closer. Now that he was this close he estimated he could make the trip in about 2 weeks leisurely on foot. He was intrigued by the colors of the mountains along the ice path, an icy blue cold, snow and chunks of ice. Some mountains further in the distance up north looked to be made of Pure ice. The sight from his vantage point was vast, breathtaking. A glimmering landscape frozen in time, yet almost alive. To the right of the IP, the mountains were more like soft smooth rolling hills, melding into the valley between the rocky hollow mountain range to the north. Acording to his dex, this had been done by the Pokemon who inhabited the entire region. Making it their home, lair or nest. His Pokedex informed him of 3 native ice types that were carefully monitored since they now shared their home with many other ice types. According to the quotes of presumably famous rangers, the ice types lived in reasonable harmony. The injections of Ice types that had grass, rock and other typings, allowed the ice types to naturally replace local Pokemon types, usually artificially added to the area to keep the vegetation alive. According to the dex, which kept referring to quotations of some famous rangers, the Delibird, The jynx line and the mamoswine line, seemed to prosper with the new inhabitants. With a few notes of worry here or there, the rangers considered the Nature¡¯s Reserve a massive success. this project had been undertaken long before and had been finished, before the war started. The dex stated that Ice types were always low in numbers across the globe, due to unfavorable temperatures. Alola for example, had some icy regions but for the most part was hot, humid and summer all year long. Their regional Ice types were under constant supervision or their they would all be caught by trainer or predator. Even without Trainers and natural predators, Many ice types tended to border on extinction in human regions. The only exception, the icy lands of the continent that Fiore called its home. many thousands of miles north. On the other side of the equator. North of the region Fiore inhabited, laid a massive icy expanse, called the northern expanse. No human scientific expedition into this expanse ever succeeded. It was too cold. So no definitive numbers of ice Pokemon living there, could be measured. The Pokedex map could be zoomed out to see the whole globe. From the little he knew of the games and some of the non sensical game maps he had seen browsing the internet. He had a vague memory of what the Kanto and Johto league regions looked like. It looked similar but obviously this world was much larger than a game where one could potentially zip from one end to the next end of a region, within the span of an hour. The 8 major cities of both regions were clearly marked and huddled close together along the coastline. Almost as if they were wary of the hollow mountains. The further north you went, the sparser human population became. The hollow mountain range extended thousands of miles to the west reaching the region of Orre with the massive island of Hoen southwest of Orre. Both the Kanto and Jotho had vast regions with orange and red indicators, the further north you went. Carlos assumed these were dangerous areas with territorial Pokemon. Each city with a gym had a bunch of small towns and villages surrounding them, including pins that pointed out breeding ranches or large farming areas. Going back to the Indigo region. The Massive Reserve that the IP snaked through, was the Territory of Articuno, who as a legendary, brought the temperature of this part of the region down, enough for Ice Pokemon to make a Living. Articuno resided on top of Mt Silver. According to the legend and pseudo legends, cited in the pokedex, Pryce the champion, had at the beginning of the project, successfully bargained with Articuno for this place to be a safe haven for all Ice types. One source, the dex quoted that the Champion had proudly proclaimed, that Articuno had settled here thousands of years ago, to keep the Dragons of the hollow mountains in check. ¡±Oh boy Pokemon politics¡± Carlos thought. Obviously as an Ice trainer the champion stood to gain a great deal to have every single ice type at his fingertips and the Champion, among others, had championed these wildlife exchange programs all while maintaining the narrative of sustaining Pokemon but obviously power plays were involved. As a Gym trainer he was in the unique position of having a 10 Pokemon catch allowance across all reserves that the indigo league was responsible for, as long as he registered the Pokemon and didn¡¯t take a parental Pokemon away from its eggs or baby Pokemon. Not that he needed it. He only wanted one Pokemon, now that a certain idea settled in his head. He found himself smiling. Carlos was happy at least that the Kanto region seemed more condensed. He had had some apprehensions, about having to test 18 gyms as a rookie. The Johto region spanned 700 miles from east to west, 500 north to south. Kanto was the same height but had 200 miles less in its width. Still he was going to be busy and travel a lot. Kong and Gawain were in their Pokeball. The frigid air was a bit too much for the Cyndaquil and Kong still had a bit of a migraine from the Psychic TE still running through him and ruining his mood. ¡°Just you and me Dianne. What do you say? Shall we go deal with those three losers again? Lots of miserable words flung around? Or shall we go look for a 4th member?¡± Diane shook a nasty shiver running through her spine thinking of the 3 losers. Her mind was made up the moment the second option was mentioned. ¡°What are you thinking off as far as a 4th member? Aren¡¯t we three enough? Aren¡¯t I enough?¡± She asked, stroking her fur on his legs like a cat, obviously trying to guilt trip him. ¡±Well I was thinking 2 things. 1 we could really use someone that¡¯s big. Like really big. Something to hide behind. Kong is tough but if anything, that fight just now showed me is that he will be much more of a balanced fighter then I thought. Somewhere between technical, power and brawn, relying on his reflexes, defense in combination with his moves. No im looking for someone who doesn¡¯t need to dodge, someone who can take it and keep standing. Ice types have naturally high defenses and their special moves tend to hit larger areas so their speed is less of a concern, just reading the basic ice moves they tend slow you down till your frozen, not Even Kong can ignore being an icicle.¡± Without realizing, both had started jogging/running down IP while talking and when I say jogging, it was more like a full sprint for an average human. The few trainers they did come across quickly made way. One tends to do that when a very tall built like a brick man ,with a dark stern face, comes thundering down the road with a dark type in tow. The path clear, allowed them to make great speed. Diane thought it over. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about ice Pokemon. Do you want one that has either dark or fighting affinity? Those aren¡¯t hard to track, im familiar with their smells.¡± Nah the only dark/ice type that lives here are sneasels, all 4 of us hate those little fuckers. And a fighting/ice would be a crabominable. They fit bill but live in the ice caves, that¡¯s too far for today. I was thinking a Swinub, snover, cubchoo, burmite or perhaps even a Cetoddle. Any of those become huge compared to any of us. The definition of a wall type Pokemon. I would love a steel/ice type but from what I can see on the pokedex list of pokemon living in this reserve, only the alolan sandslash fits, no tougher Pokemon then that but are rather small so that one is off the list.¡± They kept jogging quietly to a spot on the map that indicated a large flat surface, flattened some years ago by a horde of Avalugg¡¯s. This flat tundra area was used by many ice pokemon to let their baby pokemon run around. A pokemon Creche so to speak. The dex warned him to approach with respect and definitely not to make a great showing of wanting to catch Pokemon. Carlos might had the itch to catch but he wasn¡¯t stupid. Last thing he wanted to be was a family breaker. The made their way to the area and were greeted by a large flat field with all sorts of flora and fauna. Various Abomasnow were tending to whatever greenery did survive including to his surprise some TE bushes and trees. He spotted a few Rangers recognizable by their garb, dealing with a wailing Avalugg stomping around. One of them saw him and thundered over, angry look on her face. ¡°Why is she angry at us?¡± Dianne asked, she was raising her hackles but Carlos kneeled and scratched her behind the ears indicating to her, there was no danger. ¡±Probably some eager trainers have ruined her day and will soon ruin ours.¡± He got up and smiled at Dianne. ¡°Nothing I can¡¯t handle.¡± She was trailed by a big Kingler and a massive floating ice cream cone. A toon like face was morphed in the ice cream with googly eyes combined with the goofy smile it did not have the look of danger but the intense icy aura made Carlos think twice about underestimating it. He remembered Kingler so he didn¡¯t need to think long how this ranger dealt with her problems. Becoming drenched in water just to become a frozen Icicle was not on his bucket list for today. ¡°Hey this area is completely off limits for rookie trainers! We are still dealing with calming the local Pokemon down after the fiasco of yesterday.¡± Carlos realized he had no way of identifying himself. ¡°Alright if there¡¯s issues here I won¡¯t bother. A shame though, I was hoping to see if any big beefy Pokemon wanted to join.¡± The woman got closer and it was obvious she hadn¡¯t realized how tall Carlos was, with the way she took in his size. She looked at Dianne for a second. ¡°Alright make sure you remember that. The Mamoswines almost went on a stampede, after the Avalugs decided they needed to trample the other side of the mountain. I swear if I get my hands on those 2 fools that went and caught a bunch of Bergmite, il wring their fucking necks myself! I swear ever since they figured out that hisuian variant it¡¯s nothing but trainers looking to strike it rich.¡± She rambled and fumed. Carlos simply waited for her to run out of steam. She sighed when she saw the subtle smile on his face. ¡°I got a few people i know that are like that.¡± She sighed. ¡°Show me your Pokedex so I can hook you up to the local ranger newsfeed while you are here. So you know which areas to avoid.¡± Carlos quietly let her ramble all the tidbits of information. He knew by osmosis from reading up on this reserve what an avalug and its variant looked like but a couple hours ago he didn¡¯t even know they existed. ¡°Did someone figure out how to reliably evolve it to its Hisuian form? It¡¯s not a naturally occurring Pokemon right?¡± He asked. The ranger shook, then nodded only paying half attention. ¡°No not yet, which makes our job way worse, some fucking douchebags are doing a catch and release, trying to vainly figure out what it is that triggers it. Don¡¯t believe the propaganda, the Hisuian form died out millennia ago, just because some moron tried to bring them back with time travel, doesn¡¯t make them naturally occurring for our time line.¡± She looked at his personal information. ¡°Vermilion gym trainer? You with Surge?¡± She looked at Carlos, sizing up again. Carlos nodded, ¡°As of this morning actually.¡± She nodded slowly and a light went up, ¡°Oh shit! you are that whisperer they found surviving on his own!¡± She exclaimed. ¡±News travels fast.¡± Carlos drawled. ¡°Come with me! There is a pod of Cetitan that are causing a ruckus and none of us can figure them out, we don¡¯t have psychic Pokemon on hand to translate, They were brought in about half a year ago from Paldea by Pryce so we don¡¯t know their body language yet.¡± She pulled him along, and pulled out a Pokemon ball and a massive Fearow materialized. Carlos returned Dianne and hopped onto the second saddle and strapped himself in. Not a second later he got yanked by kinetic force of the Fearrow taking flight, she radiod her team, and Carlos saw them wave and give her a thumbs up. ¡°So I gotta warn ya! Cetitan are some of the largest naturally occurring Pokemon you will ever see! The Pokedex really doesn¡¯t do them justice!¡± Carlos nodded and held on for dear life. He wasn¡¯t scared, just uncomfortable with the speed they were flying and the twists and turns as they flew low to the ground, north into the rocky mountains. Once they flew passed a few, they came face to face with a Mountain that was artificially made of solid Ice. Up close it looked like more of a complex intricate pyramid with multiple entryways. Carved out pathways of ice. Various ice Pokemon littered the surface. Avalugg¡¯s, Beartic¡¯s, Mamoswine¡¯s, Abomasnows, a creepy type of flying orb with horns he forgot the name off and others he wasn¡¯t really interested in. ¡±Aren¡¯t Beartic¡¯s omnivores?¡± He yelled to the Ranger. ¡°Yes but they prefer Frosmoth, Darmanitan¡¯s or Walreins if they are hunkering for meat. Most Pokemon that don¡¯t have one another as natural prey ally up for mutual safety. From the north Dragons, from the south sometimes a lone fire type but they usually don¡¯t enter Articuno¡¯s Realm!¡± She yelled over the wind. The Fearow steered with another sharp yank towards a Flat surface with several Cetitan¡¯s lumbering around with two Rangers standing about 40 yards to the side not really knowing what to do. ¡°Hey fellas! Good news I got us a Bonafide whisperer! He might be able to figure out what is going on.¡± The female hopped off her Fearow and helped Carlos get out of the saddle. The two rangers, both looked to be in a foul mood, gave a short nod and turned back to the Cetitan. ¡°What are they doing?¡± The young Ranger asked, obvious from his tone he asked that particular question over and over, with the way the older one groaned. ¡°This isn¡¯t their mating dance right? they look way too sad.¡± He asked right after, rubbing his temple flinching. ¡°No I highly doubt it kid, it doesn¡¯t look like anything that Pryce debriefed us about. Fuck I told him this region would not be enough to sustain a family of Cetitan and he brings a whole fucking pod of em.¡± The older Ranger grumbled. His brow furrowed. His posture tense. With his feet back on the ground, Carlos observed the pod of massive terra whales. seemingly calling out but without sounds. He looked around. All the other Ice types were giving them a wide berth. ¡°Without sounding like an ass, what¡¯s the problem here?¡± Now that he stepped down he looked at the absolute massive Cetitan creatures twice his height, clocking in at 12 feet, roughly 30 feet in length. They had the size of African elephants and feeling the thuds of their feet told him they were just as heavy. The Pokedex informed him the heaviest clocked in at 5000 pounds which made the male he scanned relatively light compared to elephants that size. It was definitely something to behold. ¡°Their behavior is highly unusual. They have a nest higher up this mountain they roam the mountain range for days for feeding. returning once every 3 days to feed their young. They are gentle docile creatures that had no problems with us getting close enough for us to check on their cubs but their strongest is standing guard now with some concerning signs of aggression. None of us have the need to test the Alpha Cetitan and these Cetitan are completely ignoring us doing this silent wailing for hours now. This whole thing is headache inducing.¡± The older ranger answered. He flinched as he rubbed his temples. ¡°Fuck now I do have a headache.¡± ¡°They have been circling like this for almost half a day now.¡± The young looking trainer said. Carlos noted that he looked to be in pain. Carlos flinched and felt a slight bit of pain in his head. Wondering idly why he was getting a headache. He looked at the whimpering Lycanrock belonging to one of the rangers. It was pawing his ears, lying on the ground. ¡±Lycan Make it stop! Lycan! Make it stop!¡± Carlos eyes widened in realization. ¡±Ooow fuck! take distance!! All of you! They are calling out in a high frequency tone! Anything this size with this many, those sound waves might pop a vein inside your brain causing an aneurysm!¡± The three Rangers looked at him dumbfounded, then all looked at the mournful Cetitan closest, as it inhaled deep and Bellowed out an utterly silent wail. Whatever frequency whatever sound it was every human present, flinched and stumbled, their knees shaking. On que they all turned and ran away. Until everyone was at least 500 yards away. The lycanroc still looked uncomfortable but it stopped pawing its ears. ¡°Good thing you noticed kid, holy shit I can think again.¡± The older ranger slapped himself on the forehead a few seconds later. ¡°That¡¯s what¡¯s wrong of course! they must be missing some of their Cetoddle!¡± They are calling for their missing young!¡± ¡±Ooow shit, there is a dragon pack a few mountains north you don¡¯t think..?¡± The female trainer asked nervously. ¡±Nah as proud as dragons are, they avoid ice types. Lance told me each Dragon has it hardwired to avoid Cetitan like the plague. They are gentle but hurt their young and they are worse then a mother ursaring. Im thinking some of them wandered off which is just as bad, Cetoddle don¡¯t do well hungry. They become Sluggish and slower, until they fall asleep and don¡¯t wake up.¡± The older Ranger looked at the Cetitan with a pained expression. ¡°Pryce, told me cetoddle¡¯s worst enemy is hunger and lack of food.¡± ¡°So what do we do now?¡± Carlos asked. ¡±Now we see if we can track those Cetoddle down. Right now they are worried, but the moment they think the cubs are gone for good¡­¡± the lady ranger let her words hang. ¡±Ok I have a poochyena, she¡¯s a keen tracker. She should be able to find them in no time if she can catch their scent.¡± ¡±Nah kid that¡¯s not gonna work, that¡¯s why we have flying Pokemon we will have to search with our eyes.¡± The older Ranger said, shaking his head. Carlos however wasn¡¯t convinced. ¡°Hey do you have another Canine or a Pokemon with a strong sense of smell or is that Lycanroc the only one?¡± He asked the Rangers. The older ranger nodded, ¡°yea I got a stoutland but im telling ya, that¡¯s still won¡¯t help us, without knowing what a Cetoddle smells like, none of our Pokemon will know what to smell for. we need to take to the sky.¡± Carlos turned to the female Ranger. ¡°Can you fly me close to their nest? Perhaps if I explain it to the Alpha he will allow our Pokemon to take a sniff so they can catch a scent.¡± ¡°You want to walk up to an aggravated alpha? Are you nuts? You have any idea how terrifying a pissed off Cetitan is?¡± The young Ranger asked. He scoffed obviously thinking Carlos was insane. ¡°I doubt as scary as a psychopath Alpha Arbok, musing about eating me.¡± Carlos Dead panned, his face completely serious. All three Rangers dropped their chins on the floor at the matter of factly tone Carlos had. ¡°What the hell kind of Pokemon live up north?¡± The young ranger murmured while grabbing a Pokeball. ¡°Alright, your funeral kid¡± the old Ranger said but Carlos caught the glint of curiosity in his eyes. Quietly the female ranger called out her Fearow and the other two trainers called out their personal pidgeot. They flew to the massive entrance guarded by a Cettitan close to 20 feet high. The Rangers landed a good 300 yards away, their Pokemon refusing to get closer. Carlos spotted icicles flash into existence around the massive creature. ¡°Goddamn that is a big Pokemon. How much do they eat?¡± Carlos asked idly. ¡°A full sized Cetitan eats about half what a full sized Snorlax eats. Which is still enough to ruin the average rookie trainer.¡± The female ranger said. ¡°Yea I bet. They look really tough though.¡± ¡°They are, they are often compared to the Snorlax or Slaking. But their size makes them impractical for rookie or veteran trainers.¡± The old ranger tried to impress, seeing the glint in Carlos eyes. ¡°Kid I know that look. A Cetoddle cub on their own will eat three times what your Poochyena eats, that will double if you start training them. Not to mention that it will speed up their physical growth, increasing their need for more food.¡± ¡°Uh huh,¡± Carlos said distracted, he began walking forward. He called forth all his Pokemon and picked Up Gawain and huddled him into his jacket. ¡°Focus an ember in your Palms Gawain. Keep your mind busy I won¡¯t keep you out long.¡± ¡±What are you doing? You can¡¯t show that sort of aggression to a wild Pokemon!¡± The young Ranger exclaimed. I don¡¯t want any surprises, if that Cetitan gets aggravated because I said something wrong I don¡¯t want one of my Pokemon to pop out, cause him to flinch and send an icicle spike my direction, triple my size. Besides, one look at my Pokemon and that Cetitan knows im not a threat.¡± Kong bristled at that but Carlos wasn¡¯t having it. ¡°Go fight that, big guy.¡± He pointed at the Cetitan observing them with massive ice javelins hovering around him. Kong grumbled but lowered his aggressiveness. ¡°Alright wish me luck, if things are ok I will wave for you to approach.¡± ¡°Look as a gym trainer, you are technically my rank so I can¡¯t order you to stop but I want you to think this over one more time.¡± The female trainer. ¡°Ok¡± Carlos smirked and waited a second, ¡°There thought it over.¡± She scoffed. ¡°Ashole.¡± She said it with a playful dose of mirth. ¡°Alright good luck, ya crazy bastard.¡± She followed up. Carlos turned around and marched toward the alpha Cetitan. All ice Javelins pointed at him. From what he understood. He wouldn¡¯t stand a chance trying to dodge, so he walked towards certain death focusing on Gawain, guiding his attempt to hold the flickering flame of ember Alive, the frigid cold didn¡¯t bother Carlos but he knew the ordeal he put Gawain through was less then desirable. He noted Gawain¡¯s fire TE dropping fast. ¡°CE HOLD TI IT TAN! RIGHT THERE!¡± The Alpha Cetitan¡¯s voice thundered across the area, a hundred yards, Carlos came to a stop. he yelled back at the top of his lungs after the Echo of Cetitan thundering voice died down. ¡°GREETINGS¡­ O MIGHTY ONE!¡± ¡°BEGONE TAN!¡± The Cetitan¡¯s anger flared. One of the icicles shot out, burying within the icy soil not 6 feet to the left of him. ¡°THAT WAS A WARNING SHOT!¡± ¡±WE WISH TO HELP FINDING YOUR YOUNG!¡± Another ice log slammed deep into the icy soil. 5 feet in front of him this time. ¡±I SAID BEGONE! I WILL NOT BE DISOBEYED!¡± last attempt Carlos thought, I might be badd ass but I¡¯m not THAT stupid. He stepped to the side of the tree like Ice javelin. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡±GRACE US WITH YOUR ALLOWANCE TO RIGHT THIS WRONG.¡± He dropped to his knees. ¡°PLEASE.¡± This actually gave the Massive Cetitan pause. The world came to a standstill. Carlos couldn¡¯t see but the Pod of Cetitan wailing Silently had stopped wailing. The Mamoswine standing in vigil to the decision of the king of Ice. Unbeknownst to Carlos this Particular Cetitan had put himself on the throne of undisputed King of this mountain and all the mountains surrounding his home. A slight detail the rangers had failed to mention. ¡°APPROACH, CETI THOSE THREE RANGERS AS WELL! TAN¡± Carlos frantically waved the three Rangers over. He quickly returned a shivering Gawain. And with Kong and Dianne in tow he approached the behemoth. ¡°Big scary alpha, top of the pack, butter em up, works every, dang, time.¡± Carlos thought to himself. He kept his face schooled in a neutral expression by biting the inside of his cheeks. This was thin ice he was walking on. The three Rangers dragged their feet but after more frantic waving and urging from Carlos they now stood about 30 feet away from the Alpha, roughly 300 feet within his instant, bloodstain, kill zone, no big deal. ¡°We would like for our tracker pokemon to pick up the scent of your missing sire. May these three enter?¡± Carlos motioned to the Lycanroc, the stoutland and Dianne. ¡°TAN, Fine¡± he grumbled taking a small lumbering step to the side. ¡±Alright you three in you go try and get that scent.¡± ¡°Yes alpha¡± Dianne yipped. ¡±Stout Of course good sir! We must find those younglings land post haste!¡± Ah a stiff upper lip englishman Carlos thought. The stoutland trodded regally towards the alpha Cetitan and did a little curtsy. ¡°My sincere good wishes to you Sir King, I assure you we will not rest until your children are safe the Alpha Cetitan grumbled. ¡°Tan, Proceed.¡± The stoutland bowed again and trodded after Dianne. ¡°Ah, Jolly good time there lass, I¡¯ve always been fascinated with the. Notion of working together professionally of one of your breeding.¡± ¡±Breeding?¡± Dianne muttered flustered. Carlos had to suppress a smirk. The stoutland went on unfazed and continued his ramblings¡°lets get cracking shall we? come along now my dear student, can¡¯t let the visitor outdo us!¡± The lycanroc let out a sigh and looked meekly at his young trainer pleading with him to return him to his ball. The young ranger shrugged and nodded for him to get along. The three Pokemon entered the Cetitan nest and after 10 awkward minutes, standing at attention to the massive Cetitan. The stoutland popped out regally trodded out with the other two in tow sniffing the ground already fanning out. ¡°I am pleased to inform you that we have the scent of the 3 missing Cetoddle sir King, with your leave we shall find them at once!¡± At which he promptly started sniffing the soil. None of the three left anything to chance and made sure they followed the tracks they had left wandering on the mountain side. After about half an hour all 3 trackers converged onto a path and started rushing down the mountain. Carlos bowed and excused himself, the Rangers, mimicked and followed suit. What followed next was a rush down the mountain side towards the next mountain. The group was quiet not wanting to disturb the three Pokemon who swerved all over the path. After 3 hours they came across a cave and the 3 trackers zoned in. Rushing inside. Carlos and the rangers walked in. Trepidation set in. Until they came across 3 sleeping Cetoddle. Everyone sighed in relief, when they began to stir and woke up, they were fine. The 3 the two smaller ones, were very shy until the regal stoutland had calmed their nerves with his noble and calming voice, rattling on about their safety. The biggest of the three had no fear in her whatsoever. Waddling around bumping into Carlos. Almost knocking him over. She reached his waist. ¡±You Ce smell like snack, toddle you got snacks?¡± She looked up at Carlos. He shook his head until he stuck his hand in his pocket. It was a piece of sweetened jerky and he shrugged. ¡°Hey can they have meat?¡± The older trainer nodded. Carlos held out the piece of meat and the Cetoddle promptly chomped onto his arm. Carlos reflexively ripped his arm out. She swallowed instantly smacking her lips. ¡°Toddle! Yum!¡± Carlos sighed and smiled ruefully. The Rangers did some check ups on the Cetoddle. Besides being famished they were fine. They had walked around all day, which heightened their metabolism. Carlos scanned all three. Once he scanned the largest one, he knew that was the leader of the pack, the one who got the other two in trouble. ¡°Hey those are three empty balls right? We will cover their cost. Use them on these three so we can bring them back.¡± The female ranger said. Carlos complied, all 3 showed up on his active roster and his Arceus system, he had his eye on the big one. She fit like a glove for what he had been looking for. He lamented his situation. Half the day was gone and from the way things seemed to progress, he would need to go back and still make a token visit to Blackthorne looking for those three losers. He doubted the Cetitan would allow him to take one of their kids.
Cetoddle Lvl6 Ice 1200
HP 160 Normal 1200
Atk 7.5 A/U/S 2/2/2
Defense 16.5 A/U/S 7/4/7
Reflex 6 Terra whale
Speed 6 Oblivious
Jolly Female Thick Fat
Jolly: You love exploring, tasting new things and meeting new friends. Although you don¡¯t shirk away from some fun roughhousing it¡¯s meant to be fun, not to inflict pain. You have vastly increased defensive A/U/S but lackluster offensive A/U/S. Terra Whale:You will grow up to be massive in Size, you have Vastly increased HP and TE however you tend to lumber along, And you need lots of food. Your Health and TE naturally grows fast, but your speed and reflexes will always be lower than other Pokemon. oblivious: you don¡¯t understand social cues. Although things such as taunt may lower your stats, the moves of opponents cannot prevent you from using your own moves. Thick Fat: Reduce incoming Fire and Ice damage by 50% this includes fairy, psychic or ghostly fire or ice
Cetoddle moves Intensity
Survive Normal
Endure Normal(u) 1
Yawn(egg) Normal(u) 1
Aurora Veil Ice (U) 1
Snowscape Ice(U) 3
Powder Snow Ice(S) 1
Freeze Dry Ice(S) 1
Yawn: utility move, you exude sleepiness in an area around you for about a second. You can increase the yawn¡¯s intensity for greater effect. speed 100% increase, no damage 50% chance to become drowsy. Drowsy ignores defiant. And reduces speed and reflexes by 10% stacks up to 6 times. At 6 stacks Pokemon falls promptly asleep. All Damage except Ice damage will awaken Pokemon. Aurora Veil: Snow and ice stick to your body. The ethereal energies of aurora veil powder the snow into a thick icy veil that shatters the light in many colors, reducing all incoming damage. Aurora¡¯s veil Lasts 6 seconds. add your Defense to your Reflex Score. Ice TE. 10% Snowscape: summon a mini icy tornado around you freezing the environment. Thick icicle snow flakes cake the area. The crystaline flakes connect and attach to your body in a complex matrix of crystals, covering your whole body in an icy armor. Greatly increasing your Defense for 30 seconds doubling your Defense. Ice TE: 10% Powder Snow: Exhale a large amount of snow that covers a 10 by 10 foot area. 50% atk. 100% increase in speed. 10 to 10% ice TE. Freeze dry: Freezes water, mud, snow, and bodies into solid ice. Receive 200% increase to speed if target is covered in snow, mud or is drenched. 100% atk high chance of freezing. 10% iceTE Carlos sighed. ¡°Not today I guess.¡± He murmured while giving Dianne a ruffle over the head and returning both his Pokemon. It didn¡¯t take them long to get back to the Cetitan pod 2 mountains further flying on the backs of Pokemon. He released the 3 rotund mini whales, the smaller two immediately waddled towards their parents. ¡±Ce got more toddle snacks?¡± the jolly one asked. Carlos shook his head, ¡°aaaaawww¡± she pouted. ¡°Ce I liked your snack, toddle well better go back to toddle daddy, he looks toddle angry bye!¡± Completely unperturbed, by the trouble she caused. She walked back to her pod where she was met by what He assumed were her parents. From what he could tell a mixture of frustration, relief, back to frustration again. The Alpha stood sternly and regal somewhat to the side observing the situation. Although he was no longer fuming with rage, he definitely didn¡¯t seem happy. He looked at Carlos and gave him a small nod. Carlos respectfully bowed back. The old Ranger clapped Carlos on the shoulder. ¡°Thanks lad, wouldn¡¯t have found them without those balls of steel of yours.¡± That drew laughter from the other two He laughed at his own joke. Carlos smiled along. ¡°Alright I don¡¯t think we are required anymore, time to break those Pokeballs. We got your info so we will refund them and put in a recommendation for a bonus for going way beyond the call of duty¡± the old ranger said. ¡±CE wait for just a moment, hewmon. Let me address my pod. titan There are a few things that I need to discuss. Tan Be patient. Don¡¯t break those balls just yet.¡± The three cetoddle¡¯s each reacted to that, it seemed they knew what was going to happen. The Jolly one jump up and down happily and waddled towards Carlos, ¡°Hello again snack man, I¡¯m going with you now!¡± What¡¯s going on? ¡°The female Ranger asked. Carlos was quiet for a moment. Processing this new information. ¡±The alpha just told me not to break the Pokeballs. This little one just told me she¡¯s going with me.¡± He said, still processing the surreal nature of the situation. ¡±No fucking way. Here I am running around as a ranger for 2 years collecting funds! Squaring investments away, all so I can fund the training of a Cetoddle for my run at the ace track, buttering up with this pod for months and it just falls into your lap.¡± The female Ranger raged and fumed with an angry whisper. Her face was morphed into an ugly scowl. ¡°Even got myself a heavy ball for the occasion.¡± Carlos only paid half attention to her. The Cetitan had all broken into an Argument. The mothers of each three angrily accusing the Alpha of heartlessness but he was adamant. From how the 3 Cetoddle reacted. The tone of the 3 female Cetitan it didn¡¯t seem like they would succeed. The alpha was the ¡®tough but fair and no compromise type¡¯. ¡°You might get your wish, the other two cetoddle, are young and frightened to leave but from what I can tell it¡¯s a done deal, the Alpha isn¡¯t really discussing the matter with the Cetitan mothers, he¡¯s informing the pod.¡± ¡°That seems very harsh for just getting lost.¡± The woman ranger muttered. The young Ranger nodded along. The older ranger looked pensive. ¡±Not really, it seems these three Cetoddle have been causing mischief, borderline insubordination. Humans have garnered the luxury of disobedience, that luxury doesn¡¯t exist for Wild Pokemon. The alpha doesn¡¯t strike me as the type to heartlessly kick out the young members of his Pod but is forced to set an example lest he loses the respect, subservience and awe he needs from his pod in order to lead. He is tasked with the survival of his pod, indirectly his species. He¡¯s making cunning use of the fact that we have proven trustworthy to take care of the Cetoddle.¡± ¡±Still it seems harsh.¡± The woman insisted, but her tone didn¡¯t hold its previous edge. Carlos could tell she had her eyes on the most frightened Cetoddle. Carlos didn¡¯t bother responding. He saw that the old ranger quietly agreed the young trainer didn¡¯t seem to know what to think. ¡°So I¡¯m dead set on taking this one along for my team.¡± He motioned at the Jolly rotund Cetoddle waddling around him. ¡°That leaves 2 more. Are you serious about taking one for yourself?¡± He looked at the woman who stammered some gibberish faced with the offer. ¡±T-they are o-officially y-y-yours.¡± She said seemingly overwhelmed. Carlos decided to throw her a bone. ¡°Since you are stationed here you could potentially take the one that seems the most unwilling. Since you will stick around, you could make it a point to visit, so it could see his mother from time to time.¡± The old trainer stepped in. ¡°I think that is a tremendous idea. I also happen to know Pryce was hoping to gift his grand daughter a Cetoddle as her starter. but his negotiations with the alpha over there ran into the ground.¡± ¡°Y-yea ok.¡± The woman was overwhelmed. ¡°I think if that¡¯s how it goes I will, it just feels so surreal, now that it¡¯s actually happening.¡± Carlos turned to the older ranger. ¡°What can you tell me about Pryce¡¯s granddaughter?¡± The older trainer chuckled. ¡°She couldn¡¯t be more different than the old prick, loves everything about Pokemon.¡± Carlos nodded at that. ¡°You think his granddaughter could be swayed to make visits for her potential Cetoddle?¡± ¡±I met the young lass, she will be a fine trainer, Ace level no doubt. no convincing necessary. A total social butterfly.¡± ¡°Good. Come with me.¡± He motioned for the female ranger to follow him. She hurried after him. Carlos approached. the arguing Pod of behemoths. ¡°I wish to say something.¡± All the Cetitan turned to him. ¡°It seems this overly happy Cetoddle over here has taken a liking to me.¡± ¡±Yes! Ce He has yummy snacks, toddle!his hands taste really good too!¡± The Cetoddle chimed in. Carlos called out Kong and Dianne. ¡°If you have any questions, ask my two starters. I would bring out Gawain, my Cyndaquil but he struggles with maintaining his temperature in this frigid cold, so for his sake he stays in his ball.¡± The mother of Carlos¡¯s soon to be Cetoddle heavily interrogated his two Pokemon. To their credit they answered all her questions. She looked at Carlos concerned when his training methods came up. The Alpha Cetoddle seemed to be pleased with his training methods. The Alpha grew impatient after a while. ¡°ENOUGH, CETITAN! he faced ME! For your daughter Tan!. Without ever having met the insufferable girl. If a trainer of that caliber is willing, you cannot ask for more!¡± With that the interrogation was done. The young Cetoddle hopped happily. ¡±Don¡¯t worry mommy! I can tell hes good trainer! How else can he make such tasty snacks!¡± The mother Cetitan let out a pained grumble but steeled herself and nodded. She stepped closer and touched Carlos head gently, with her massive flipper hand. He saw many stars swimming on front of his eyes. ¡°I will trust you with my daughter, treat her well, please?¡± She rumbled out. ¡±I have no doubt , I can mold her into something to be proud of.¡± he said reverently. The huge behemoth got real close. Carlos had some difficulty on which massive gleaming eye he should focus on. ¡±You have suffered loss, I can see it in your posture.¡± the Cetitan rumbled. Carlos nodded slowly at that. He wasn¡¯t sure what she meant with that. She turned to the Alpha Cetitan. ¡°I abide by your decision, it is the proper course for our survival.¡± She sunk through her knees to make a bowing motion. ¡±You have spoken for 1 of our number, who will speak for the other 2?¡± The alpha spoke to Carlos. Carlos motioned for the female ranger. ¡°Step forward, try and exude confidence and respect. I will translate for you.¡± He said to her. The female ranger stepped forward and began explaining to the pod her reasons for wanting a Cetoddle. She sat down next to the most frightened Cetoddle and began to go through some stiff pre-practiced motion to calm it down. Explaining how she would finish her year with the rangers. The moment the Cetoddle realized it would get to visit it¡¯s mother on a near weekly basis it perked up and got an adventurous glint to its eye. Like Carlos she let out her Pokemon who talked to the mother of the cetoddle she would gain for her teamZ The older ranger afterwards, explained what would happen to the third. the Alpha pressed onto the ranger some additional conditions once it discovered it would provide the Champion with its personal sire. After that they left the pod and did the transfer of the two Cetoddle from Carlos to the two rangers. This is how Carlos was introduced to the transfer credit system. Basically a global Pokemon trading network that allowed trainers to attain desired members for their team, with the borders closed, most trainers were blocked from catching those Pokemon themselves, as such with the global pokenet, trading became a hot business. Carlos quickly skimmed it after he received 20 credit points for the two Cetoddle. The female ranger was so happy with her new addition she happily agreed to drop him off at the edge of Blackthorne city. Close to where the 3 troublemakers hung out. Carlos figured he needed to at least make a token attempt to knock some sense into them, he hoped he wouldn¡¯t find them. While flying he skimmed through the list of what was available, half listening to the ramblings of the female ranger. His eyes fell on something that really got him smiling. The Kinggambit line. The kinggambit line, without fail, in its final evolution stage, came with an ability called supreme overlord. There was a lot of debate on the pokenet in regards to this ability. Carlos had noticed that his pokedex gave a pretty accurate description of what abilities and moves did. His Arceus system however gave a 100% accurate description. What he knew of abilities so far is that they weren¡¯t equal. Take for example the Terra whale, the badger, or the defiant ability. On the surface they outclassed everything Dianne had. Her strong jaws and nimble ability didn¡¯t provide much, except better access to specific moves. Moves that allowed her to overcome broken abilities with careful use of abilities. In theory a lvl 50 Mightyena was equally balanced to a lvl 50 Cetitan. But in practice no one would put their money on the Mightyena. Their abilities simply allowed them a larger effective access to moves. A cetitan had however double the TE. So a Mightyena couldn¡¯t outlast, couldn¡¯t outgun. And couldn¡¯t outsmart the Cetitan, at least not to a point that it mattered. This made so many of the double types unpopular. Looking at the public list of ace trainers in the Kanto and Johto regions, that specialized in Dark trainers. None of them ran with a Mightyena on their team. Some used them for tracking but not for the competitive scene. Carlos was looking through the steel type section of available Pokemon. Figuring if he wanted a second defensive Pokemon he might as well see if anything struck his fancy. The only steel types native to the indigo region were steelix, scissors and forretress. 2 of which where bugs which he realized more and more, he had a big aversion to. And steelix was another big eater. He wanted to be careful. He had no idea if his finances could handle 2 big mon¡¯s. both the johto and kanto steel gyms, were minor gyms who existed primarily for the purpose of training trainers in how to deal with steel types and they didn¡¯t maintain a reserve with Pokemon for him to catch. Going back to the Kinggambit line. Their supreme overlord ability was hated or loved depending on who you asked. Many felt it was wrong to rely on the failure of your team, while the other half loved the fact that it provided a one last fuck you to your opponent. It was a very popular Pick among dark type trainers. It would cost him 20 trade credits to receive a newly evolved kinggambit but he had his eyes on a particular nasty looking Pawniard with a haughty smile. It was described as impish and was a bit cheaper at 8 credits. The reason for that was attributed to it¡¯s lower level due to the trainer running into difficulty training it and second, it¡¯s nature lowered its attack stat, making it a bit less effective with the eventual Supreme overlord ability but Carlos didn¡¯t care. He didn¡¯t want a one dimensional gimmick member anyway. He made the purchase immediately and received a notification he would be able to pick up his newly aquired Pokemon from the Pokemon center tomorrow morning. This would he his first triple type member. After getting dropped of at the edge of town. He exhanged contact information with the female Ranger who quickly introduced herself as Carolyn, Rory was the young trainer and Gregor was the older trainer. After a bit of small talk and discreetly letting Carolyn know he had plans with a lady tonight, she had been fishing for a date by the end. they said their goodbyes, with the promise they would stay in touch. It was roughly 16:00 now that all was said and done. So he decided to walk with his whole team out. Not that big a deal with a city used with trainers walking around with literal dragons. There was a local tavern where they had some bonfires and he promptly deposited Gawain into the fire who oooh¡¯d and Aaaaah¡¯d, gratefully absorbing the heat. There girl waitresses all coo¡¯d over Cetoddle and after they realized Dianne was a girl, coo¡¯d over her as well. Kong sat down on a chair and demanded food. So with his newly acquired 300 pokedollars he bought whatever everyone¡¯s fancied. Cetoddle true to form ate thrice as much and still demanded more. After denying her, she put up the most adorable puppy eyes he had ever seen. To keep it fair, he ordered everyone a dessert. 200 pokedollars later. A satisfied Cetoddle promptly fell asleep and Carlos returned Everyone, except Kong. Who still had plenty enough steam to walk around looking for troublemakers. After bidding his goodbyes to the local waitresses who all ¡°fawned over his pokemon, he realized 3 blocks later they were flirting with him. ¡±I guess that answers the question of how I look to people. Or I just come over as very trustworthy.¡± Whatever it was, he took a leisurely stroll around Blackthorne which was a sight in of itself. Many dragon trainers lived here and seeing domesticated Dragons used for daily tasks while looking all posh and proper, pretending whatever menial task they performed was crucial to the continued survival of Blackthorne, was quite something. Kong had his eyes bulge out at the many various Dragon types. They walked around like this for a few hours and as the sun was setting he had completely forgotten about why he was here until he came across the proverbial dark alley between two business buildings and he froze in his tracks. He immediately returned Kong and called out Dianne, he pointed at the scene unfolding. The three losers he was send to find, had surrounded a young girl holding onto a turtle like Pokemon. He didn¡¯t recognize it, it looked to be a foreign pokemon. So did the young girl, she had a sun-kissed complexion. ¡±Go hide in the shadows, Dianne. Keep me safe ok?¡± Dianne got a determined glint in her eyes and sunk into the shadows. ¡±SO! What are you 3 losers up to?¡± Carlos strode into the alleyway with all the confidence of the world. Speaking loudly. ¡±Carlos spotted a low level Ekans behind some trash cans, ¡°A look out?¡± He wondered, he pretended not to notice it. The three flinched. Turning around the goth girl sneered at him. ¡°Fuck off ashole! we got nothing to do with you, piss off before you regret it!¡± ¡±Where is she getting this confidence from?¡± Carlos thought. He smiled darkly, ear to ear. A smile that promised someone was going to get devoured. That girl¡¯s shitty teen angst attitude did wonders in triggering and stirring his dark TE. He spread his arms threateningly basking in their obvious fear. The goth girl managed to hide it best but Carlos had his detect up and the shaking she was trying to hide was obvious. She suddenly smirked. ¡°Ekans attack him!¡± The two boys, faces turned a ghostly white at the audacity of goth girl ordering a Pokemon to attack a human. Carlos moved ever so slightly out of the way, glancing at the confused and surprised Ekans expression. He infused his hands with normal TE. The Ekans had lunged textbook style to Carlos. Something had seen and reacted to a thousand times. His defensive footwork already active. As it flew past, he grabbed it and slammed it into the ground over and over. Infusing his Attacks with normal TE. Something Poison types were vulnerable to. Dianne in the meantime had one of her shadow clones pepper it with swift, quickly fainting the thoroughly confused snake. Carlos threw the snake at its owner, it and its owner got thrown to the ground. ¡±W-what the FFFUCK!?¡± She yelled obviously scared out of her wits. ¡°Hey you with the turtle! Run along now and get me a Jenny!¡± Carlos yelled. The young girl scared out of her wits, nodded all teary eyed and rushed out of the Alleyway. ¡°God damn you three fucked up. I doubt you can bullshit your way out of this one. What were you thinking?¡± Carlos asked, while shaking his head. The goth girl yelled loudly at her partners in crime. ¡°What are you waiting for! pull out your Pokemon!¡± She herself pulled out her spinarach and a pinecone looking thing. while her two companions pulled out a koffing, zubat, Marill, Drowsee and a pink goblin looking thing. This triggered Kong and Gawain to come out as well. ¡±Shit!¡± Carlos cursed and instantly jumped into action, he really didn¡¯t like the idea of Psychic type moves. ¡°Dianne! Assassinate the trouble!¡± ¡°Gawain smoke em up!¡± ¡°Kong! hunting time!¡± All of it code words for what their jobs were. ¡°A-Assassinate?¡± The ginger kid squeaked. but it was too late. 2 shadow clones emerging from the shadows snapped their jaws into the drowsee, they janked and thrashed, the Drowsee screeched in agony letting out a psychic, blasting everything around it dispelling the shadow clones but got taken out by an assurance from Dianne as it recovered from going full tilt on his move. After belching out a smokescreen covering the Koffing, impedimp and Marrill, Gawain fired firequils at the zubat putting it on the defensive, Covering Dianne¡¯s retreat. Dianne¡¯s burst was commendable but it drained her fast. The Ginger kid began to cry. ¡°Don¡¯t be such a bitch!¡± The emo kid yelled. ¡°Impy! scary face. Marill! Play rough! Koffing sludgebomb!¡± He barked out orders pointing at Kong. All three rushed out at Kong. Who was getting circled by the pinecone and Spinarak, Carlos smirked. They still hadn¡¯t realized Kong¡¯s defiant ability. The Marill lurched forward. Play rough locked Kong into a one on one and he was getting a bit roughed up. Scary face was supposed to lower someone¡¯s attack, sludgebomb poisoned, all was supposed to cut Kong¡¯s attack down to a quarter, instead it just got his attack stat tripled. ¡°Kong knock out the bugs. LOCK ON!¡± Carlos yelled. The split moment, Play rough ended an absolutely livid Kong exploded into the Pinecone hovering. Revenge the move, very effective, landed into the Buglike Pinecone, the loud crack of its shell, a Million cracks forming was sickening. Kong however didn¡¯t stop. He flung himself into the spider. He threw a series of punches The spider didn¡¯t like it. Spewing out its own sludgebomb, Carlos put it out of his mind. That spider was a goner. Gawain had kept up creating incendiary smoke filling the whole alley constantly blocking sight. The only 3 pokemon left were Koffing, impedimp and the Marrill, they kept trying to leave the smoke. Carlos threw a scary face their way. Very effective considering the situation they were in and none had defiant. Kong completely done with the bug came in roaring. slamming into the freaked out Koffing pummeling him into something not so spherical. Gawain peppered the impedimp with Firequils and embers while Dianne slugged out a ranged match with the Marril. With the 3 losers having lost the will to fight as their 9 vs 3 got completely owned. Carlos almost felt guilty at the Goth girl crying over her Spinarak. It was leaking goo all over. It¡¯s TE and HP bottomed out. Kong hadn¡¯t killed it, thank Arceus, but had put it within a hairs breath of it. ¡°He¡¯s getting a reward for that later.¡± Carlos thought idly. He wanted to make sure Kong would continue to maintain control in this sort of situation. She had ordered an Ekans to attack him. Out in the wild he probably would have told Kong to kill their Pokemon. Here that would cause him way too much trouble. ¡±Return your Pokemon, and we will wait for Officer Jenny to come get you.¡± Carlos ordered. The fight halted. The three complied quietly. The remaining Pokemon an inch away from fainting, sighed in relief. Carlos looked around, a crowd of several people, some had dragons behind them had observed the fight, he hadn¡¯t even noticed. As focused as he was. ¡±None of you felt the need to help?¡± He asked, more to breathe out the adrenaline then to accuse. ¡±You mean help those poor excuses that call themselves trainers?¡± A tall fierce female trainer spoke. with a dragonite standing behind her. ¡°Not after that little bitch ordered her Ekans to attack you. The way you handled that snake settled whether or not you needed the help.¡± A gruff older grizzled man with a charizard looked at the smoke. ¡°Thanks for not setting that smoke on fire. Human charred smell never really fades once it gets baked into the walls.¡± The emo kid flinched and looked up tears and disbelief on his face. The man had a dark smirk on his face. ¡°No one alive in that alley right?¡± He asked Carlos. Who shook his head. The old man motioned to his charizard who lazily flung a massive ember into the smoke still lingering in the alleyway. A big FFWOOM! Charred the alleyway. ¡±Didn¡¯t feel like cleaning up the mess.¡± The old man said while shrugging. Which drew chuckles from the crowd. Carlos saw the last shreds of defiance leave the goth girl. The emo kid had a 1000 yard stare. ¡°We never even stood a chance.¡± He said quietly. ¡±Ya damn straight you cur! The old man growled. ¡°Let me tell you something. Here in this town. With noble dragon blood running through our veins we live by only a few creeds and one of them is this: ¡°Mercy for the wicked is cruelty to the innocent. Ya got real lucky that boy was the one dealing with ya. I would never have told my Pokemon to hold back from killing like he did.¡± A quiet settled. Carlos wasn¡¯t sure what to think. The people around him seemed brash. Proud and pompous. But with his own experiences with dragons. The constant pariah¡¯s they were in the hollow mountains he felt the man wasn¡¯t being truthful. There was an indifference these people had to the situation. Like the whole ordeal had been beneath them. Not 30 seconds later a furious Jenny came in hot. All three were lead into the police car and Carlos was asked to give a statement. Two grueling hours later. The three in jail for aggravated assault, Pokemon kidnapping and attempted murder. Carlos at first thought it was harsh, which he voiced to officer Jenny. Jenny showed him their rapsheet. Assuring Carlos the three got off easy. Carlos had returned his Pokemon. All were fast asleep. As brutal as his victory had been. Dianne had run herself ragged, bursting all her TE in rapid tempo. Kong had suffered quite a bit of injury both his TE and health were about half. Gawain was down to a third of his TE, also on his last legs. Had those three losers actually known how to fight. Not waste precious moves on accidentally buffing Kong. Pulled off a few nasty psychic moves, well Carlos wouldn¡¯t have won. He was walking back quietly to the Pokemon center. He was tired and grumpy his day ended on such a sour note. Somewhere in the back of his mind he had held the notion he could have planted some seeds of hope in those 3 kids, alas it wasn¡¯t meant to be. He climbed the steps to the Pokemon center, entered and saw the old Nurse at the reception. She saw his tired sour look. ¡±Uh oh, that looks like bad news. What have you been doing all day.¡± She asked, obvious concern etched in her voice. Carlos smiled weakly. Placed 4 Pokeballs on the tray. ¡°Caught myself a Cetoddle.¡± He paused. ¡°Well, I was told to take care of her by her pod more like. My other three need a check up, My Mankey has quite a bit of poison running through his system. Ran into your prodigal misfits. They attacked on sight while I caught them, trying to steal someone¡¯s Pokemon. Long story short, they will be in jail for a long time.¡± The old nurse sighed. ¡°I appreciate you helping out,¡± She took the tray and got up. ¡°I knew it was a long shot with those three but can I ask what they are charged with?¡± ¡±Aggravated assault, attempted kidnapping and attempted murder. Several witnesses have come forward and confirmed it. According to the Jenny they will be found guilty and go to jail for a long time. ¡±Murder!?¡± The old nurse flinched. She looked at Carlos utterly distraught. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it, how!?¡± ¡°The goth Girl, God I don¡¯t even know her name.¡± Carlos shook his head and focused. ¡°She ordered an Ekans, she somehow procured today, to attack me. Luckily for me I have quite a bit of experience hunting Ekans in the hollow mountains. It¡¯s lunge was textbook for me, easily avoidable and afterwards, Dianne, my Poochyena made short work of it.¡± The nurse came close and checked his pulse and temperature. ¡°It¡¯s common among veteran, ace and up to have picked up enough knowhow, strength and skill to handle Pokemon. Its rare to see it with someone your age. Are you Ok emotionally?¡± She asked. There was a very palpable maternal inflection in her voice that made him feel safe, feel it was ok to say what was on his mind. ¡±I will be, it was harsh to come face to face with death like that but having spend 4 months with death breathing down my shoulder, I got used to it. I get that I probably should have gone after them first thing in the morning , instead of gallivanting on the ice path doing the heroic work of saving a few Pokemon.¡± ¡±Ow shush none of that,¡± she interrupted, ¡°you did good. Already had some excited rangers calling in on that.¡± She spoke softly ¡°Those three crossing a hard line is on them. They were warned so many times.¡± She gave him a short hug. You go get a good night rest you hear? I¡¯ll take care of your Pokemon.¡± Carlos nodded at that. Before he walked up the nurse called out after him. ¡±Third door to the right dear!¡± He smiled and waved. He was mentally tired. He opened the door to his room and was faced with the young nurse Joy. She had her long pink hair down, draped over her shoulders. The dim light accentuated her generous curves. She smiled, bit her lower lip just right and had an intensity to her gaze Hey I hope you don¡¯t mind that I let myself in. Can I get you anything?¡± Her tone was seductive, pleasing and soft and it unraveled the whole day. All the stress, all the adrenaline came to a boiling point. A hunger woke in him and he smiled. ¡°No I got what I need.¡± He marched forward taking his clothes off. To be Casual. Or not to be Casual. Carlos was staring at the ceiling. It was early in the morning and he was still in bed. Nurse Joy had excused herself early on, duty called. She was still in training which meant 7 day work weeks for a year and she still had half a year to go. It had been a long night. It had been a Wild night. Everything building up to it had felt casual, but laying here, after hours of intimacy. He wasn¡¯t so sure. There had been a palpable need from both of them, at least that¡¯s how he interpreted it. Mentally he had been prepared for a casual night. Not intense hours of fiery passion, he had been quite surprised at both their stamina. There was a story untold with Nurse Joy, something to do with Lance . She had played it all off rather playfully and mischievous but the moment they hit the sheets¡­. He was beating himself up. Although mentally he barely remembered anything about his past life. He came face to face with the fact, that emotionally his body, his mind, his spirit remembered the emotional experiences but his brain no longer had the memories, they no longer physically existed in his brain. It was like trying to look at a written page in a book, with a big fat wall between. There was a frustrating amount of emotional baggage surfacing without the memories. He thanked Arceus, the passage of time and the grounded reality of survival, had done wonders for his mental sanity and he was quite sure there were some shenanigans with TE, that affected his psychological recovery as well. However, regardless of miraculous recoveries, he wasn¡¯t home scot free just yet. Going to a psychiatrist would lead to nothing since he couldn¡¯t actually talk about stuff he didn¡¯t remember. He would have to trust that living in this world would allow the baggage to fall to the wayside. Carlos felt himself smiling ruefully. He wanted more from nurse Joy than just a one night stand, emotional baggage or not. Today he would travel about 300-350 miles to the west to vermilion city. ¡°Perhaps long distance will work?¡± He chuckled. ¡±Perhaps I can visit.¡± He wondered. He mentally froze. Anxiety and fear settled in realization, that somewhere along the lines last night, young nurse Joy had touched him somewhere tender. A particular moment were she crooned and smiled in a particular wonderful way, came to the forefront of his mind but it warped into the nightmare of that courtroom he dreamed about months ago, a recurring dream that had stopped around month two. His brain at the time, had frantically tried to piece it all together and fill in the missing pieces. Fragmented as the recurring dream had been, those fragments were enough to bring back that searing sensation of betrayal, the one that made you feel like your life got sucked out of you, leaving you empty. Looking back on last night, she definitely didn¡¯t strike him as a shy girl that wouldn¡¯t dream of sleeping around. She very much struck him as the type that did. He sighed and calmed himself down. ¡±Did I just have a panic attack?¡± He thought. He detached himself mentally from his emotions and allowed all the chaos in his mind to settle. A technique he had been forced to learn in the rugged wilderness. He sat up, scratching the back of his head, thinking back on that dream again. ¡°I gotta let go. I can¡¯t go back. Those cracks are getting fixed and closing up. That¡¯s what Arceus said.¡± Carlos reminded himself. Now that his mind settled back into a reasonable calm. His thoughts inevitably went back to last night. Vivid and vibrant. He sighed. ¡°Guess I suck at casual.¡± His mind wandered to the fact that, that this was his new life now with no way to return, now that he had a day or so to reflect, it was finally beginning to settle in. He had a gift for reaching out to Pokemon that wasn¡¯t quantified by his Arceus system or the Pokedex that much was clear observing people yesterday. He would be fine, put in some effort he would thrive, he knew that. Thinking back on yesterday, not just the losers but also the rangers and the people in Blackthorne. It was somewhat Jarring and somewhat painful to see the awkwardness other people seemed to have, compared to him with their Pokemon, the older more experienced trainers less so. Unlike the anime he watched as a kid. Pokemon didn¡¯t fully understand human language. They understood emotions better, but humans had a lot of hidden subtleties to their own words that wasn¡¯t getting translated with their intent. A lot was getting lost in translation on both ends. The Language barrier was a real problem for both sides. He took a deep breath and got up. He had a new member to pick up. He wanted to properly introduce the two new members to his first three. He paused his actions for a second. ¡°God damn, those three practically feel like family now,¡± he thought. Smiling wide at that. He went and took a quick cold shower that did nothing to calm his bubbling anxiety down while mentally told himself he had to be ok saying goodbye potentially never seeing this young Nurse Joy again. ¡°Fuck I really suck at this.¡± He thought. He got dressed in his official league garb, which consisted of basic, but sturdy jogging pants, good walking shoes and a non-descript beige sweater with the indigo logo on his back. The jacket was an indigo blue with big yellow orange letters ¡°Indigo gym trainer¡± on the back. Looking himself over he resolved to get some personal clothing. He couldn¡¯t believe the indigo brass would actually be ok with their officials walking around like cheap dumbass eastern europian street gang members, unless that¡¯s what they were going for. Someone in their fashion department needed to get fired. He made the look work, only because he was built like a brick house. Which wasn¡¯t as special as he first thought. Most of the experienced trainers he saw, were very strong compared to people on earth. Which made sense. Lethal violence and thrudging in the wild for a shiny new Pokemon, was a regular Tuesday here. Most of the female trainers that looked experienced, were built like amazonian Warriors, a few he almost spontaneously challenged to a wrestling match, he didn¡¯t think Nurse Joy would have appreciated that. Thinking back on yesterday he didn¡¯t think he saw a single person who was actually out of shape. He grabbed all his stuff and slung it over his shoulder. Leaving the room and locked the door. He walked down the stairs into the hallway that connected the lobby with the medical ward. He passed by the breakroom and spotted both Nurse Joys. His and young Nurse Joy¡¯s eyes met. Carlos in that moment got a pretty clear confirmation that struggled with whether it had been casual or not. The young nurse didn¡¯t have her playful flirty guard up. She had a soft look in her eyes, shy almost. Carlos had no idea what his expression was, he just looked. ¡±Well.¡± The old nurse broke the spell. ¡°It seems to me, you two have a lot to talk about.¡± She left the breakroom and walked into the hallway. ¡°Sit down next to her boy.¡± She said playfully. ¡°She doesn¡¯t seem to be in a biting mood.¡± She chuckled at her own joke and headed to the lobby. Carlos took a deep breath and entered the break room. He sat down next to young Nurse Joy, in awkward silence. ¡°We could go back upstairs?¡± Carlos said jokingly. Young nurse Joy gave him a coy smile. ¡°Don¡¯t tempt me.¡± She said. A silence again but not as awkward. ¡±What¡¯s your name?¡± Carlos asked breaking the silence again. Young nurse Joy flinched. She spoke after a few seconds. ¡°We are not supposed to share our personal names with other humans.¡± Carlos felt a pang of sadness. ¡°Not even after last night?¡± He meant to say it in a neutral tone but it came out emotionally charged. Silence. The young nurse didn¡¯t say anything. Carlos wondered if he accidentally stepped into a faux pass and he was about to apologize. ¡±Cory¡±. A simple name but with her indescribable gaze, she somehow conveyed something profound. Carlos felt some rudimentary understanding form in his mind. The Nurse Joy clan was even less human, than the humans from this world were, compared to humans back on earth. Something he was subconsciously aware of but this moment brought it into his conscious mind. Carlos glimpsed the forlorn loneliness carefully hidden behind multiple layers of mental conditioning. Layers peeled away in this moment, it definitely didn¡¯t give him the feeling she was just wild and chasing guys, there was a shyness, a real fear of getting hurt. It was gone as quickly as it appeared. Carlos had subconsciously reached out with his hand, grabbing hers. They sat in silence again. The faint smile on her lips made it a peaceful, comfortable silence. Something in the past had set the Joy¡¯s on the sidelines of human culture. Observers, caretakers but never truly participants. At least that¡¯s how he interpreted what he observed. How much of that interpretation was true, he had no clue. He doubted nurse Joy, Cory, would be forthcoming. Carlos broke the silence, again. ¡±I have 2 new members on my team and was planning on doing an official meet and greet with the whole team. Would you like to join?¡± He felt her flinch. He looked at her worried. She had a startled look on her face. It looked like her brain had reset to its factory settings and for the second time today he wondered if he had stepped on a social land mine but her face quickly morphed into her usual sultry smile. A faint pink blush on her face. ¡±That¡¯s something children do, she teased.¡± ¡°Oh, well, if you don¡¯t want to, then...¡± He said. she shushed him by leaning forward. She startled him now with a french kiss, she kept it up for a good ten seconds. She pulled away slowly and spoke in a low voice. ¡°But I think it¡¯s cute. What about lunch? Noon is when transfer Pokemon come in and I will also introduce you to mine ok?¡± Carlos smiled at that, he felt hot.¡±sounds good.¡± She sat back lounging leisurely. Her moment of vulnerability was gone. Her practiced walls of sultry behavior and seductive smiles were back, as if they never left. ¡±Btw, don¡¯t go offering a meet&greet like that with other women, the way you talk sometimes feels like you are lacing it with innuendo, they might misunderstand.¡± ¡±Ah so a bit more complex than something only children do.¡± He thought, he heard a possessive tone that he liked very much however he didn¡¯t voice that he smiled and nodded. ¡°Ok I won¡¯t, just you.¡± He playfully added. She smiled coyly while still blushing, ¡°thanks.¡± Carlos felt awkward bringing it up but she gave him no indication she would, playfully guarding herself so he braced himself and spoke. ¡°Did you ever believe this was going to be casual?¡± His heart beat a bit faster, laying it out so openly made him nervous. ¡°My, my, it seems you are upfront and bold all the time, not just last night.¡± She playfully teased. He nodded but kept a stern expression and stared at her, putting on a bit of pressure. His mind almost wandered after it seemed like she wouldn¡¯t bite, still deflecting with sultry commentary but after a minute, Cory¡¯s showed a genuinely expression. ¡°Ok i will answer. Yes I kept telling myself it would be casual.¡± Her face morphed back into her sultry self, and she leaned forward, smirking when his eyes flitted down. He couldn¡¯t help it She did that on purpose. ¡°That¡¯s until you walked in last night and any thoughts of casual, left instantly,¡± she laughed flirtatiously while biting her lower lip, the subtle exaggeration in the motion, made it very seductive, it made his heart pound. His noticed how his body reacted heavily, if he wasn¡¯t so on guard, he would never have caught the subtleties of how it was part of this social front she seemed to have. He also noticed that almost everything she did had very a potent effect on him, more than he felt it should, something Carlos was curious and suspicious about and he latched onto that curiosity. He felt it was important to understand this, before be became a simping spineless mess. ¡°Do all nurse Joy¡¯s do that? You are well practiced in portraying this, character, for lack of a better term. I would call it acting but that doesn¡¯t feel like it would do it any justice, it feels so real, don¡¯t get me wrong I enjoy the flirty banter, but it¡¯s something you seem to be doing purposely.¡± Cory sighed deeply and dropped her facade, shaking her head. ¡°I must say it¡¯s frightening to see a man with your disposition so keenly aware of our mask with only a few days of interaction.¡± She said cooly. ¡±What do you mean?¡± He asked, suspiciously noticing that he calmed down rather fast due to her tone, he didn¡¯t like the tone, it felt weirdly distant and out of place. ¡±Are you calm now?¡± She asked, now in a neutral tone. Carlos realized she was aware of the effect she was having on him, he nodded, his expression turned stern, his thoughts dark, it felt like he got played and it made him angry but he kept it locked away for now. She sighed. ¡°Let me preface this, that this character you observe, this mask, is part of who we are as Nurse Joy¡¯s, it is genuine for the most part, albeit exaggerated because we use facets or ourselves that we don¡¯t always fall to naturally. We are trained to come up with a pattern of behaviors that create a sense of familiarity and trust, it¡¯s left to each of us to create our own personality, our mask. We do this because as professionals we need to create emotional distance between patients and us. More often than not, a nurse Joy must operate on someone they are familiar with, sometimes having knowing them for years.¡± Carlos nodded, it made sense the way she put it, it did calm his anger down hearing the logical reasoning behind it all. ¡°In order to maintain excellence, we create this emotional distance that allows us to do our work. Over the centuries, our mask has become somewhat of an art form. Something we take pride in.¡± Carlos kept nodding while in thought but before he could ask his second question, the one he really wanted, needed an answer to, Cory spoke again. ¡±I need to explain a bit of context for the second question that is obviously burning in your mind.¡± ¡±Ok take your time.¡± He did a bit of emotional detachment himself. she took a deep breath. ¡°All humans have some form of Pokemon genome. Its what allows for the symbiotic relationship between pokemon and human. Or Hewmon as Pokemon call us, this Genome is a bit different for everyone, which leads to different people bonding more easily with different Pokemon, then say the Pokemon you and me naturally bond with.¡± ¡°Since you are new to this world you probably don¡¯t know this, but women of the Joy and Jenny clan are all practically twins respectively on the genetic level. This is due to some additional DNA with Pokemon origin, that merged the entire human DNA sequence and that keeps the same sequence to appear in our offspring, there are minute differences in among the different Joy¡¯s that account for different personalities but other then that we are completely identical.¡± Carlos had his suspicions confirmed but he didn¡¯t interrupt, letting Cory continue. ¡°As nurse Joy¡¯s we are always born with an innate need to study medicine and we bond particularly well with normal, fairy, psychic, grass and water type Pokemon.¡± ¡°All typings that have some sort of healing move?¡± Carlos asked, this was beginning to sound like someone or something, had done some serious genetic modifications. She kept going. ¡°We are also born with what we refer to as: psycho manipulative communication and observation. We can¡¯t perform full blown Pokemon moves like auric users such as yourself but we can encourage the process of rising and fading of emotions, combined with an overdeveloped capacity in reading body language.¡± She paused to let that sink in. ¡±Oh, is that what you been doing to me?¡± Carlos asked with a blank mind. He felt something flare deeply in his chest. Cory flinched, he saw panic on her face. ¡°No! Not at all! At least not actively, ive never met a man with your disposition before and you reacted so wonderfully and.¡± She said panicking but broke off her rambling. ¡°Please let me explain further?¡± she asked hopefully. Carlos nodded. His guard however was up, his dark TE flared and circulated through his mind. His expression must have changed because Cory was a lot more tense. ¡±We can use these psycho manipulation techniques to supplement our medical skills. When it comes to the healing process, you want to use, encourage and optimize the natural progresses of the body as much as possible, often what needs to be done, is guide the body away from producing hormones such as stress and a few others, that create complications during any sort of surgery or stunt the natural healing process, which is where our body language recognition comes in, so we can recognize how to manipulate the emotional state of our patients. Using drugs and medicinal is an alternative we sometimes use for long term healing but we tend to steer away from that, side effects tend to pop up randomly and there is always someone allergic or resistant.¡± As she explained more and more about how her manipulation techniques were employed he calmed down and relaxed, although to say he wasn¡¯t freaking out, would be a lie. ¡°So how does that relate to me?¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°So because we are slightly different from humans, we don¡¯t really bond like normal humans when it comes to romance. That internal part of us is more akin to a Pokemon. So I might flirt or go on romantic dates with some guy but his mind would subconsciously register me as something that¡¯s not really human. Many would lack the natural attraction necessary for most people, for romantic bonds. we keep this part our genetic makeup a secret, so please do not go and talk about this please?¡± ¡±However I can connect with you romantically.¡± He said, She nodded again. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡±So what does all of that, mean for us?¡± Carlos blurted out. For a moment he didn¡¯t understand why she smiled so warmly. Then he realized he had referred to them as an item. ¡°Nothing much¡± she shrugged, ¡°we take it slow, if you can please visit, call me at the end of the day, that sort of thing.¡± ¡±Do long distance relationships work in this world?¡± ¡±Careful with the way you talk Carlos. Already too many people know what your real background is.¡± She warned. ¡±To answer your question, yes, but I always thought people that did it were stupid¡± she let out a pained sigh, giving him a look, obviously aware of the irony. ¡°But in our case it¡¯s also necessary, someone like you who is responsive to romantic bonding with a Joy also needs to acclimate, the process is basically the same as a long distance relationship.¡± ¡±Why is there such a process?¡± ¡±Men and women in social interactions have an airborne exchange of testosterone and estrogen, coupled with TE this creates a process where people acclimate quite fast to each other¡¯s presence compared to what star children have explained in the past compared to earth. The same happens to a lesser degree for men on men, female to female. Pokemon to human, friends, family members, etc.¡± ¡°Nurse Joy¡¯s without fail will mentally be registered as caretaker or nurse.¡± ¡±Ok so why do I need to acclimate to you?¡± ¡±Because a Nurse Joy produces about 10 times the estrogen of an average human woman, it¡¯s part of how we can Psycho manipulate. Most people in this world have a natural resistance to it because they acclimate to us growing up, you didn¡¯t but you are also compatible. If you don¡¯t build a resistance it can lead to estrogen poisoning, the bonding between us would gain a rampant speed, your dark typing should give you some form of resistance to it already though .¡± She answered. ¡°Will it turn me gay?¡± She looked at him dumbfounded and then burst out laughing and didn¡¯t stop for a few minutes. She calmed down tears running down her eyes ¡±No Carlos it won¡¯t turn you.¡± She burst out laughing again. And finally managed to calm down. ¡°Gay.¡± She finally managed to finish her sentence. Still shaking from laughing wiping away some tears. ¡°That was funny Carlos.¡± ¡±Why was that funny? it was a genuine concern, isn¡¯t higher estrogen linked to dudes being gay?¡± ¡±You would suck at medical school Carlos, it¡¯s a good thing you weren¡¯t born as a nurse Joy.¡± she said playfully. ¡°Ha ha, make fun of poor me.¡± Carlos said while pouting, which he didn¡¯t really do well. ¡±So what would it look like, if a guy is compatible but he doesn¡¯t have dark typing like me?¡± Nurse joy smiled weakly at that. ¡°They showed us videos and documentation of that, if we don¡¯t catch it early, it usually leads to obsession and a severe lack of self control when it comes to women, usually it turns them into excessive skirt chasers, as an attempt to clear the tension and stress their bodies go through, it¡¯s sad those poor guys can¡¯t help it. Their bodily functions overload constantly.¡± ¡±Sounds rough for guys like that,¡± he said, his thoughts went to the comedic relief he remembered of Brock chasing skirt. It was weird how so many things played off as a joke in the show, were somehow accurate depictions of how this world worked, yet the more serious themes of the show were more often than not, wrong. He realized it would be probably be a bad idea to hang out with that guy. Carlos wouldn¡¯t want to poke his eyes out. Cory was checking her Pokedex. She got up and grabbed his hand. ¡°Your Pokemon got in early. Come I want us to introduce both our teams.¡± Carlos and Cory went to the Lobby and The old nurse Joy¡¯s already had all 5 Pokeballs on a tray, ready to go and gave them to Carlos. ¡°Here you go!¡± She smiled. ¡°Your Poochyena hasn¡¯t recovered all her TE yet but other than that, she¡¯s the picture of health. Your Cetoddle is hungry so make sure she eats a lot.¡± Carlos nodded, thank you nurse Joy.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± The old nurse said watching Cory excuse herself to get her own personal team. ¡°The two of you had a good talk?¡± Carlos looked at Cory running to her room. ¡°Yea I think so, we decided that since we have to do the long distance thing we will take it slow.¡± ¡±Slow huh? yea I guess that makes sense.¡± The old nurse watched Cory come back, the both of them shared a knowing look, but before Carlos could ask Cory grabbed his hand. ¡°Come Carlos, I¡¯m eager to meet your Pokemon team. She winked at the old nurse who still looked knowingly at both. ¡°Ok have fun you two.¡± She said. They went outside and Carlos went first, letting everyone out of their balls. ¡°Ok everyone some new faces today but we are going to get along right?¡± He looked at his 5 team members who either nodded or shrugged. Cory let out her team next. An Azumaril who looked incredibly fluffy and seemed to be an utter goofball. From the looks of it heavily trained in TE and healing moves but Carlos doubted the Azumaril was a slouch, Next was a wigglytuff acting all posh and proper. And a blue crustacean called Clawitzer according his Pokedex. It apparently learned Healing pulse but one look and it was clear. This was a Pokemon trained to be Cory¡¯s personal gun. He smirked at her, he thought the clawitzer was cool as hell. How can you not? It was an adorable howitzer with an even more adorably serious Pokemon attached. Carlos then let everybody get to know each other. From what Carlos could tell from his preliminary observations, there wouldn¡¯t be too much of an issue with his personal team. Kong as usual would build a frenemy relationship with the newest additions, throw his weight around, but the Rough looking Pawniard seemed to be capable enough of, to handle whatever Kong threw his way. Cetoddle was so heavy Kong bounced off when he bumped into her, after which Cetoddle promptly body slammed him, chomping down on his arm. Everyone had a good laugh at his expense. After initial introductions were done. Pairs quickly formed. Dianne and Pawniard started exchanging pointers on how they handled dark TE, Pawniard, at first wasn¡¯t impressed until Dianne allowed him to sense how deep her pool was compared to his. It quickly settled a hierarchy between the two. Cetoddle and Kong started roughhousing, or more accurately, Kong dodged getting bodyslammed. and Gawain curled up in Cory¡¯s lap receiving scratches gentle strokes from Cory. Cory¡¯s team laughed or scolded the antics of Carlos team. All in all, it was a cozy atmosphere. Carlos caught Cory softly gazing at him in the corner of his eyes. Whenever he would look at her directly she would put on her sultry mask. Carlos scanned all the Pokemon he now owned with his Pokedex so he could safely use his Arceus system. He hadn¡¯t told anyone and felt that the less people knew, the better. Cetoddle.
Cetoddle Lvl6 Ice 1200
HP 160 Normal 1200
Atk 7.5 A/U/S 2/2/2
Defense 16.5 A/U/S 7/4/7
Reflex 6 Terra whale
Speed 6 Oblivious
Jolly Female Thick Fat
Jolly: You love exploring, tasting new things and meeting new friends. Although you don¡¯t shirk away from some fun roughhousing it¡¯s meant to be fun, not to inflict pain. You have vastly increased defensive A/U/S but lackluster offensive A/U/S. Terra Whale:You will grow up to be massive in Size, you have Vastly increased HP and TE however you tend to lumber along, And you need lots of food. Your Health and TE naturally grows fast, but your speed and reflexes will always be lower than other Pokemon. oblivious: you don¡¯t understand social cues. Although things such as taunt may lower your stats, the moves of opponents cannot prevent you from using your own moves. Thick Fat: Reduce incoming Fire and Ice damage by 50% this includes fairy, psychic or ghostly fire or ice
Cetoddle moves Intensity
Survive Normal
Endure Normal(u) 1
Yawn(egg) Normal(u) 1
Aurora Veil Ice (U) 1
Snowscape Ice(U) 3
Powder Snow Ice(S) 2
Freeze Dry Ice(S) 1
Cardinal moves: 0/4 Yawn: utility move, you exude sleepiness in an area around you for about a second. You can increase the yawn¡¯s intensity for greater effect. no damage, 50% chance to become Drowsy. Drowsy ignores defiant, reduces speed and reflexes by 10%. stacks up to 6 times. At 6 stacks Pokemon falls promptly asleep. All Damage, except Ice damage, will awaken Pokemon. Aurora Veil: Snow and ice stick to your body. The ethereal energies of aurora veil powders the snow into a thick icy veil that shatters the light in many colors, reducing all incoming damage. Aurora¡¯s veil Lasts 6 seconds. add your Defense to your Reflex Score. Ice TE. 10% Snowscape: summon a mini icy tornado around you freezing the environment. Thick icicle snow flakes cake the area. The crystaline flakes connect and attach to your body in a complex matrix of crystals, covering your whole body in an icy armor. Greatly increasing your Defense for 30 seconds double your Defense. Ice TE: 10% Powder Snow: Exhale a large amount of snow that covers a 10 by 10 foot area. 50% atk. 100% increase in speed. 10 to 10% ice TE. Freeze dry: Freezes water, mud, snow, and bodies into solid ice. Receive 200% increase to speed if target is covered in snow, mud or is drenched. 100% atk high chance of freezing. 10% iceTE Pawniard
Pawniard LvL7 Dark 320
HP 76 Steel 320
Atk 8 A/U/S 3/6/3
Defense 24 A/U/S 3/6/3
Reflex 17.1 Normal 320
Speed 17.1 Inner Focus
Impish Male (Hidden)
Impish. You like playing tricks and pranks on people. Your atk is lower but you have a natural affinity for utility moves. Inner Focus: you won¡¯t flinch from attacks or Paralysis, all effects that prohibit your movement or clarity of mind such as confusion, sleepiness, taunt, etc, only last half as long.
Move type Intensity
Survival Normal 0
Endure Normal(U) 1
Hone claws Dark(U) 1
Harden Normal(U) 1
Mean look Normal(U) 1
Leer Normal(U) 1
Metal Claw Steel(A, U) 1
Iron Head Steel(A) 2
Foul Play Dark(A) 1
Cardinal moves 0/4 Hone Claws: increase atk and speed by 3 for 12 seconds. Stacks up to 6 times. 5% Dark TE, or 50 Dark TE whichever is lower. Harden: increase defense by 15% for 12 seconds. Stacks 6 times 5% normal TE. prelude to steel defense. Mean look: Blocks Pokeball return function, switch moves, Causes flinch Leer: Reduce Speed and atk by 10% for 12 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times 5% normal TE. Metal Claw: Slice with your metal claws. Building up momentum. 120% atk increases speed by 2 for 12 seconds. Regardless of hit. 10 to 10% steel TE. Iron Head. Launch yourself forward with great force and speed, has high chance of flinching. 150% atk, 30% base chance to flinch, 150% speed. Foul Play. You trick your opponent into hitting itself. By guiding its movements with subtle encouragement. 80% base atk of opponent. Add both your and your opponents bonuses to speed and attack to Foul play. You must be within close proximity, to use this move. 50 to 10% Dark TE. Looking over his pawniard stats he was pleased to see that, whatever trainer used to own Pawniard, had at least made an attempt to train him. He already made up his mind on how to train his newest additions. He had also come to the conclusion he needed to change the way he trained Kong. However he put those thoughts to the side and simply enjoyed the early morning with his new girlfriend meeting his Pokemon. He saw Surge in the Lobby and waved and sighed, knowing this warm cozy feeling was soon coming to an and. He turned to Cory and added her work schedule and her contact information to his pokedex promising he would send his work schedule as soon as possible. Cory then suggested to do some move demonstrations, clearly she wanted to show off. Carlos happily agreed. After a few rounds he was severely tempted to get his own Clawitser who wouldn¡¯t want a mon that aggressively shot healing pulses at his team or precise, accurate water bullets, that shattered some poor trees. Surge POV. Surge was forced to get up early that morning, after receiving a call from the local Jenny at 5am, blasting his ear because Carlos had roughed up some hoodlums the night before. grumbling all the way, walking to the police station in a foul mood, to give a statement. He knew she didn¡¯t call him that early for a statement she called him that early to spite him and to have an excuse to rant. At 7am he walked out of the police office. His mood even fouler. His hangover didn¡¯t help. He really hated how thoroughly petty, Jennies were. Dating one, a decade ago had been the worst mistake ever. He should never have fallen for that sexy look. He couldn¡¯t help it back then that he was insanely attracted to girls in uniform, it was partially why he had joined the standing army. He cringed at some of the teen angst from back then. Dating a Jenny had been a disaster, oh sure she was wild, hell they had an amazing year, she had made him blush like a little boy. Who knew they loved to be dominant and man, those nights with the whip. As awesome as it all had been, the memory of it now, was sour and bitter. The constant hounding also never really let him recover and move on, coloring all his interactions with the fairer sex. always on guard with women, That second cousin, of his girlfriend Jenny had obviously set him up. He still couldn¡¯t quite figure out why or how that had happened, he hadn¡¯t been that drunk, had he? He should have been suspicious right then and there. His Girlfriend Jenny hated him getting drunk, that one hadn¡¯t, he stupidly believed his girlfriend was loosening up. Then this second cousin disappeared from the face of the earth the next day, still not found a decade later and that had settled it. Didn¡¯t matter that he helped them search every nook and cranny of the city and surrounding area. He was forever suspect. That was their dark side, their obsession and paranoia over the years he learned their darkest secret. Deep down, very deep down, they never trusted you. Not even their own loving husbands. Yet somehow they garnered blind trust widely among the population, nobody questioned the police force. For him that trust was utterly shattered, and he had nobody to talk to about. The shrink during some of his mandatory sessions had laughed in his face when he brought it up. The worst part, was they all talked. So no matter where he went, all the Jennies had read his psycho analysis profile, recently he discovered it was now officially part of Jenny academy curriculum. That made him downright hate them. always ready to jump at anything that wasn¡¯t completely in line with the law, always right on the line of abuse of power on their end. The only silver lining today, was that he had an excuse to yell back at this particular Jenny. Oh how up in arms she was about Carlos using excessive force. ¡°Pfff excessive force, the Jennies are the ones to talk about that.¡± He muttered darkly. He had been somewhat apologetic right until she slipped that some stupid loser trainer on the hopeless list, had ordered an ekans to attack Carlos directly. Surge had snapped, exploded and his starter and second had to hold him down not to cause a scene of him crushing the station to the ground, all the frustration and resentment of the last decade with the Jennies had exploded out of him, the electrical breakers of the station blown due to his outburst, another addition to his Psycho analysis file. Had he been any other Gym leader, the Jennies would never have dared bother him with this, hell they would have commended the initiative Carlos had shown. He smirked, he had the whole thing on tape. he wondered if this would finally be enough for his lawyer this time. He really needed the Jennies to back off with that ridiculous vendetta. How many perfectly normal dates had they ruined for him by showing up unannounced for some bogus charge? His conscience began to remind him. ¡°Well actually, it wasn¡¯t complete bogus that one time.¡± ¡±Shut up.¡± He growled at his own conscience. He didn¡¯t care about fair anymore. Not with the Jennies. Surge calmed himself down by looking up Carlos fight on the pokenet. Carlos was already making waves in the rookie circuit with his onesided, nearly murdered, Mankey vs Natu fight and now the alley fight was going viral. He quickly send his PR manager the link for both, pointing out, that Carlos was officially under their wing. Surge smiled, Jenny might have wanted to get under his skin but this allowed him to get ahead of all the hype. This was great advertisement for his soon to be Gym. ¡°Perhaps I should use this to set the tone for the gym, tough, ruthless, no weakness. Be good for the image.¡± He thought. In the past Gym¡¯s received taxes straight from the civilian population they presided over. Nowadays those taxes went straight to the central government body of the league. As a Gym, one of the primary sources of income was money received for the number of challenges you managed to squeeze out. It was all a balance of providing rookies, veterans and Ace trainers with enough challenge to make them try again and not overwhelm them and crush their spirits. the higher the badge, the trainer aimed for with his gym, the more money was involved. If your gym was seen as a rookie starter gym major gym or not. all you would get was pennies. If he could elevate his gym to the level of Giovanni, widely regarded as the last gym. He could rake in some serious profits. The last thing he wanted, was to be like flint, or god forbid Erika who cared more about her Perfumes selling, then Pokemon battles. The fact Erika of all people had a major Gym was a clear indicator how pathetic the average gym had become. Surge replayed the part, where Carlos grabbed the ekans and slammed it into the ground repeatedly while his Poochyena bombarded it with swift. He wondered how he got his Poochyena to effectively triple the number of swift projectiles smirking wide. ¡°Bloody giratina in a soup bowl, that kid already has his Pokemon chain and use unique moves. What sort of freak talent is that?¡± The link on the official vermillion Gym site, Letting everyone know Carlos was with the Vermilion gym, proved to be effective. His PR manager already send him an email that reservations came trickling in. ¡°Gotta help get that kid some good electric Pokemon so we don¡¯t fumble this momentum.¡± Surge mused. Surge entered the Poke center reasonably calm and approached the old nurse. ¡±HEY THERE sweetheart! Is that dumbass ready or still sleeping?¡± He grinned wide, leaning on the counter. The old nurse smiled coyly. ¡°Careful Lieutenant, you might give this old woman the wrong idea.¡± She dramatically fanned her face with her hand. Surge just got a bigger shit eating grin on his face, he might despise the Jennies but he loved fooling around with the Joy¡¯s and they always played along, clearly enjoying the banter which he enjoyed. He never felt judged by them, which he appreciated. ¡°To answer your question, look outside.¡± She motioned with her head and Surge saw Carlos sitting among his Pokemon 5 instead of 3 and the young Nurse with her own Personal team. He whistled. ¡°Care to explain? How did he turn that ice cold fish, into a blushing girl batting her eyelashes?¡± ¡±Well there is the fact that he had 3 adorable Pokemon, who are very attached to him. There is a paternal affection and bond forming between him and his 3 Pokemon. It¡¯s clear as day, that he was a father in his old world and by the looks of it a stern but secretly doting type.¡± Surge scoffed. ¡°You can tell all of that from a dude unconscious for 2 days awake for 1?¡± ¡±We can, regardless it gave young nurse over there, enough time to realize she utterly misjudged him when you three barged in that night.¡± ¡±Yes but she¡¯s known around town as Lance¡¯s fangirl. She¡¯s been relentlessly pursuing him.¡± Surge countered. The old nurse gave him a look. ¡°Yes Lance made it a little too clear he wasn¡¯t interested 3 days ago,¡± the old nurse let a little venom in her tone for Surge to know what she thought of the matter. ¡°that was partially why she lashed out so viciously at our prodigal new addition to the leagues.¡± She motioned at Carlos. ¡±Yea but seeing this 180 is still whack.¡± ¡±He¡¯s compatible, something you know a thing or two about?¡± ¡±No shit. And don¡¯t remind me I just spend 2 grueling hours of holding back my frustrations.¡± He grumbled. His mood souring again. He motioned to the happy couple. ¡±Still, they are going pretty fast and all.¡± ¡±Nope they are not¡± the nurse stood straight a happy stiff smile on her face obviously trying to contain herself. Surge raised an eyebrow. The nurse relented, ¡°They talked this morning so I naturally give them space, and he walks up afterwards and casually informs me they are taking it slow.¡± She drawled out the last word to punctuate it. Surge took a second but his eyes widened. A startled expression, looking at the couple, a look that the old nurse savored. ¡±He has no fucking clue does he?¡± He gasped. ¡°Nope.¡± The old nurse beamed happily. ¡±She knows, he has no clue right?¡± ¡±YUP!¡± ¡±What the actual Arcues? And she¡¯s going along with it? Why?¡± ¡±Because! It¡¯s so adorably oblivious and innocent, it¡¯s what makes it so endearing, how could she not go along with it?¡± ¡±Dayum! perhaps I gotta use that move, that¡¯s slick.¡± He mused. The old nurse tsked. ¡°It only works because he had no clue. If you do it, it will just come off as cheap.¡± She placed her hand on his arm. ¡°You can do better than that Surge.¡± Surge scoffed. Bitterness dripped from his tone. ¡°Better then that?¡± Motioning to Carlos. ¡°I doubt it.¡± The old Nurse sighed. There was a discreet encouragement among the Joy¡¯s to be lenient with Surge. The crusade against Surge worried the elders, especially with Surge becoming a Gym leader. Surge had proven a challenge for the numerous Joy¡¯s that dealt with him. His brash straightforward behavior was somewhat similar to their mask, albeit crude loud and obnoxious. She felt her pride bubbling. Her poke at Surge had been perfectly performed. This was something she would put in her daily report, it was part of their Job, to keep prominent figures emotionally stable. ¡±For what it¡¯s worth, Surge I NEVER believed the accusations.¡± She said softly. Of course she had, but her and many other Joy¡¯s would take that to the grave. the evidence presented by the Jennies had been overwhelming at first. But carefully disecting it piece by piece had unraveled the facts, revealing to her and many of the older joys, small gaps in logic that the Jennies overlooked in their zealous crusade. In her medical psychological opinion, an opinion her peers shared, Surge needed to believe that there were people that had his back, no matter what, lest he would alienate himself. She continued, ¡°I¡¯ve pointed out numerous times that their whole case relies far too much on circumstantial evidence but they are stubborn as you well know.¡± Surge had his shit eating grin on his face. Still guarded, she noted. ¡±Thanks nurse I never doubted you.¡± He spoke somewhat softer, a few moments later, still obnoxiously loud. ¡°Seriously though, after this morning that¡¯s something I needed to hear.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be a stranger you hear? The Joy stationed in Vermillion is a good fluffy egg, she knows how to listen and keep her mouth shut if you need to talk about something private.¡± He nodded at that, ¡°I will, in a strange way talking to Joy¡¯s seems to help more then those stupid shrinks they make me talk to.¡± He pushed himself of the counter with that and stretched a little. ¡°Well I was planning on going back early in the morning with the teleportation pads but we don¡¯t need to be back until t so I¡¯m going to push it till late afternoon, give those two lovebirds some more time, cya!¡± ¡±What would the indigo league do without you Surge.¡± She playfully called out after him. He waved her goodbye. Leaving the center. Working a 9 to 5. Starting his illustrious career as a gym trainer, a month in. Carlos had fallen into a routine of working 5 days and spending the weekends with Cory. The first week had been him and Surge, who seemed very eager for Carlos to get started, going out together into the wild or areas, with electric Pokemon, with Surge selecting the mons for Carlos to catch and giving him guidelines on what he could train them in and how long per day. Surge was a rather forceful man when it came to pokemon. But the laws of the strongest, weighed heaviest with Pokemon. The 9 gym Pokemon, all identical to the point he couldn¡¯t keep them apart, for 1-3 badges he was working with currently, hadn¡¯t complained once. He asked them a few times if they were ok with the arrangement but all he got was a nod, blank stare or a shrug. Surge had moped about not getting many 4 badge and up, matches. Practicality, had forced Surge to alter his plans for Carlos and make him the defacto 1 to 3 badge gym trainer. The gym was lacking gym trainers for that level. Gym trainer workload for those badges was high, low paying and not very desired. Taking all those things into consideration. Carlos was apparently very effective as a gym trainer. 9 out of 10 trainers got trounced so hard including with typing advantages, that it quickly earned him the name of Drill sergeant, something that seemed to spark the competitive nature of trainers. Surge was already making plans for Carlos to get a 4th and 5th badge. The need for a second trainer, kept increasing. The Gym was getting a steady influx of trainers dead set on beating Carlos. A few trainers managed to beat Carlos on the second or third try due to typing advantages but most took about 4 tries. Surge told him to keep it up. The sheer quantity of trainers losing, brought in the dough. He was already getting respectful nods and from time to time discounts when he purchased stuff for his Pokemon. He had been flabbergasted at how BAD people were at this level. Stupid, didn¡¯t even begin to explain it. And the arrogance a lot of them showed was downright infuriating. Apparently humans needed to get used to the sense of power they got from owning their own piece of living military equipment, as was apparent in their complete misjudged many situations, getting their Pokemon injured. He ruthlessly crushed almost all of them. Electric types were very good at crushing idiot delusions of power and it was a necessary process, as far as he was concerned. half of these kids had the talent but purely because of their arrogance and stupidity, Carlos simply didn¡¯t trust these fools to survive on their own. He got a lot of angry calls from overprotective moms or dads. Surge told him to hang up the phone if he got such calls. He would deal with them if they showed up. Surge was very happy with Carlos noob stomping. Heck any overprotective mother showing up at the gym, ended up leaving quickly because if Surge took a liking to em he began relentlessly flirting with them. Which usually made them leave. People were definitely a lot more hands on in this society, both men and women had no issues with appropriate touching. The limitations placed on him as a gym trainer, with matches for 1 to 3 badges, were ridiculous in his opinion. Only electric moves. Only one buffing move per Pokemon and to top it all off, he was only allowed to use endure plus 4 moves, that were preregistered on the website with every gym fight he had done on video. so everyone got to look it up and saw his straight cut strategies. Surge was working on streaming services too. The man was a hustler if nothing else. He understood perfectly why he had these limitations. Although the Pokedex could measure vitals, moves, somehow levels and the newest models, abilities. There was no accurate statistical representation for stats, hp and TE like the Arceus system he had the privilege of using. However people must have realized millennia ago that if a Pokemon beat another Pokemon of higher level, the gains they had as far as power, were substantially more. This discovery, is what the entire Gym circuit was based on. This is why the Gyms were respected. Why a gym leader¡¯s word weighed heavier than the local government. They provided protection and gave you the opportunity to attain power for yourself. Government was effectively an organization to deal with all the paperwork. The gyms were a way to ¡®game the system¡¯ so to speak. For young trainers to receive the proper growth spurt for their Pokemon. So far Working 8 hours for 5 days wasn¡¯t that bad, he still needed to train his Pokemon early in the morning or evening so it was more like 50-60 hour work weeks. But with it was very doable, with his enhanced endurance. He taught Kong the move, mach strike in the first week. Carlos used it a bit differently than Kong but that was to be expected. They had switched up Kong¡¯s focus on defense, to improve his reflexes from now on. Carlos felt that due to the nature of Detect and counter being staples, Reflex was a better stat to train then Defense. Carlos thought it to be a shame. But alas Kong would never be a tank as successful as Gwen or Loki. Kong was a beefy all round offensive fighter, singularly focused on crushing his opponents into the ground, repeatedly if needed. All his defenses existed for the sole purpose of supplementing his berserker offense. Existed so he could get close no matter what. Surge and Carlos had visited Bruno a minor gym leader located in Saffron City. Bruno was not known for his gym but because he was one of the Elite four, like Carlos, he was an auric fighter. Surge definitely had the electric TE to become one as well but according to Bruno it required a specific mindset for each typing. A mindset that Surge didn¡¯t really have. Didn¡¯t help that electric typed auric fighters were close to zero, so Surge never had the opportunity to apprentice as one. Seeing the potential of high level trainers really brought home how large this world was. Apart from his secret Arceus systemic , he simply was an above average sprout among many. Both gym leaders apparently got together for a drinking match from time to time. After Bruno got Inebriated, he was kind enough to Teach Kong the move Quick Guard.
Quick guard: quickly guard against an attack. Prevents critical strikes received and disperses incoming damage. 10% fighter TE. 6 second buff. Add reflex to your defense against the next incoming attack.
Further cementing reflex as a prime stat for fighter Pokemon. Carlos learned that Kong, and by extension all fighter Pokemon, understood things through motion. Motion was something instinctual, Mankey¡¯s were as instinctual as they came. Carlos felt he would never feel the essence of fighting, what it meant to be strong, as strongly as he did with Kong. The bond with your starter Pokemon was no joke, at least not for Carlos. It was almost frightening in a way, how intense he experienced it from time to time. For all intents and purposes, he had 3 starters. His life, his chest felt like bursting with what he had gained in such a short amount of time and he got an awesome girlfriend to boot. He found himself tapping wood, although he didn¡¯t know why, he couldn¡¯t remember why tapping wood was important. He shook his head, bringing himself back to watching Kong practice Mach strike, the move consisted of a quick one two, strike. The first strike made the fighter relax by focusing on throwing the punch with deep exhalation of their tension with their breath, loosening their muscles and mind. Then it followed up with a second strike still loosened up and relaxed, hit less hard but doubled in speed as a result. The thing was, Kong could perform mach Strike in various ways. He even did a double head butt at some point but the part that excited both Carlos and Kong, was how he could switch out the second strike with another move, albeit with reduced damage. Again showing his monstrous talent. Mach strike wasn¡¯t supposed to be able to do this. Part of why Bruno had taught him Quick guard was, so he could get telemetry on Kong using Mach strike. Apparently Kong had already changed the move into something of a signature move. The first part of the move was so natural to Kong it no longer had any intensity. Kong¡¯s explosive speed and combo potential with moves, shot through the roof. The added bonus to reflexes was just adding insult to injury to Kong¡¯s opponents. Kong absolutely loved the move. He was enamored by learning and mastering the technical aspects of using the centrifugal force of his own body. Carlos was told by quite a few obnoxious know it all trainers, the move wasn¡¯t optimal for Mankey. He read about some ace trainers ragging on forums, on the early quick power of it and then never using it again. He ignored it for the most part but it got him to do a bit of thinking on the path of Kong. He sure as hell wasn¡¯t going to rip Kong¡¯s enthusiasm down. he saw Kong numerous times practicing the move at night alone. Kong had his temper, but Carlos saw that practicing Mach Strike, gave something to Kong, something Kong wanted to fully grasp something other than strength. Why or how this was happening, neither knew, neither cared. Carlos saw the sliver of peace each time the crazy, lovable, angry furball went through the motions for the thousandth time, finally learning what it meant to relax, by exercising like an absolute maniac. Bruno had also quickly dispelled any doubts he might have had. Reminding him how important different types of fighting motions were to Fighter Pokemon, and mixing different types of TE shaping and intent, was integral to their growth. Carlos took Bruno¡¯s advice a lot more seriously than what he read online. The fact that Bruno was one of the few on the globe that could consistently evolve Machoke¡¯s into Machamp, definitely weighed in as well. A subject Bruno refused to talk about. Only saying that: ¡°It¡¯s all about trust and resolve first. Without those two as an absolute quantity for both trainer and Machoke it shouldn¡¯t even be tempted.¡± After a bit of thinking and pondering, he also realized all the advice, in regards to Mankey¡¯s online, was always colored subconsciously because almost everyone believed it a foregone conclusion that you trained your Mankey for the Annihilape evolution. Carlos began to see, he had a very different look on life and how you should train someone. Most trainers used pure/double fighting types as a jackhammer, not a refined tool, Kong was a finely tuned jackhammer. Kong and him were on barely trodden ground by slowly but steadily veering away from the tried and true method of how you trained a Mankey or by extension a pure or a fighter/normal type. Carlos wanted power but he couldn¡¯t and wouldn¡¯t sacrifice his bonds, his relationships for that. By making that decision internally, fully resolved with no regret. He found himself sitting next to Kong on a night with a full moon. Catching Kong¡¯s eyes, out of the corner of his own. Glimmer with gratitude, while sharing a bottle of fermented rice. Something he had never seen in Kong before. Carlos then knew Kong had known the intent and direction of Carlos recent thoughts, discussions and research on the Pokenet and had comprehended what going down the road of Annihilape meant, not for the first time Carlos saw the comprehension Kong had of him and the world around him. What struck him, was the complete natural expectation that he would pick the best path for Kong. He felt the weight of responsibility as a Trainer then but was at peace with it. Carlos for the first time since coming here, had to fight his tears at this emotional moment, silently sitting together as brothers, they had been together in a very intimate way for almost half a year now, he had one tear drop on the side facing away from Kong, couldn¡¯t have Kong think and mock him for thinking he was a whimp. They didn¡¯t say a word, neither had a single regret about the choice of their path. A path he began to realize, they would share for a long time. Dianne spend a lot of time with Gwen. Quickly becoming inseparable as sisters. Dianne often acting as the older sister keeping Gwen out of trouble. Gwen wasn¡¯t naughty, not exactly although Loki certainly attempted to put her up to it. She just didn¡¯t understand social dynamics at all, the concept of possession or property went completely over her head. which would have gotten her into a lot of trouble if it wasn¡¯t for Dianne, it still got her in a lot of trouble whenever Dianne wasn¡¯t around. Dianne naturally learned the Moves hone claws and foul play. Seeing Dianne learn moves so easily, definitely gave a lot of credence to everyone¡¯s claim that his first three mon¡¯s were abnormally gifted. The routine with Dianne lately, was him grooming her fur at night to perfection, while she rambled on about her insufferable big/little sister raiding the pantry, again. Surge and his Pokemon team, definitely didn¡¯t help in the discipline Carlos tried to enforce. Dianne was constantly hounding them, not to feed Gwen snacks but it became a game of cat and mouse. Or Dianne and Surge, Surge had a very playful petulant side to him that his true team shared. Carlos saw Surge have a paternal weakness against little girls attacking him with puppy eyes and Gwen registered as such. She always made sure his beers and appropriate liquors, were ice cold, so they had an understanding. To Carlos surprise, one of the first things Surge set up, when he was officially made a gym Leader. Was a program together with the local orphanage and schools, setting up kids with potential as a trainer with a good electric starter from the Gym Pokemon out of rotation. and get the rest of the kids a good start for their coming of age journey, often assisting them in catching their starter in the local wilds. Surge quickly became known in the orphanage and local schools as ¡°uncle Surge.¡± All the little girls, and teenage girls, ruthlessly hustled him for whatever they wanted with puppy or teary eyes or blatant guilt tripping. More often than not, he caved. The last two weeks Carlos decided he needed to come along, play a little bad cop to Surge¡¯s coddling cop. It won him a great deal of favor with their bookkeeper. Funds were still a bit tight. It was an odd dichotomy to see such a roughntough brash man so ruthless and violent in his matches, cave so quickly, Carlos didn¡¯t know what to make of it. Especially since Surge was such a player with women. This month alone Carlos had counted 3 nice kind ladies, that if he didn¡¯t know they were sleeping with Surge, he would never have pegged them for the promiscuous type, the women Surge courted were always a little older than him, yet he never gave any signs he would settle down. Whoever he was with, seemed to understand or didn¡¯t care. One lady he asked gently about a wedding ring she was wearing. She got a pained look off loss he had come to recognize. Carlos immediately apologized for asking. She was a war widow. He wondered if Surge had something similar happen but he didn¡¯t ask. Dianne¡¯s training currently consisted of her turning Shadow clones into a cardinal move, it was an utter bullshit broken move and they were going to abuse it. which meant her training sessions were short. Blasting through her TE. Further supplemented by training to keep her speed and reflexes sharp. The fact she could use Shadow clones, while she hid in the shadows made it utterly bonkers broken. Rookie trainers were scared of Kong. Veteran trainers had worried looks when they saw Dianne train. Carlos wasn¡¯t sure why barely anyone hounded him about the unique moves, His dark sinister smile whenever they attempted to approach was definitely not to blame. With Gawain, he had the cyndaquil focus on his Sunny day and Ember. Focusing on TE control, either as powerful as possible or as weak as possible, Gawain had a long arduous road when it came to his Fire TE. The Typhlosion line instinctually depended on either blaze or the flash fire ability to use their fire moves. Gawain was a talented, intelligent and driven Pokemon, with a keen sense for combat that bordered on fighter Pokemon instincts. But Fire TE was difficult for him, Carlos distinctly saw Gawain struggling way more with chaining ember then his other moves. He was quite literally missing part of his instincts in order to use it, with focusing on 2 moves with opposing fundamentals, he hoped Gawain would find a way to master his fire and gain control over his fire TE. Ember was a biological move, it was naturally learned and produced by his body, like breathing in and out. The organ that allowed a Cyndaquil to channel fire TE was smaller than his peers. According to any Nurse joy he talked to, this would persist and hopefully fade when he evolved. Sunny day however was a Pyrotechnical move, it relied more on mental and intellectual prowess. Sunny Day was a weird move in a way. It wasn¡¯t so much a fire move as it was classified on the Pokenet as a solar move. Solar typed moves were considered dual typed fire/grass moves, both fire types and grass types could learn them, trail blaze, solar blade, solar flare and solar beam all were solar moves. The overwhelming majority of trainers and researchers stood by this explanation, it was the only way it made sense. Fire and grass otherwise, were completely incompatible. Solar moves definitely followed the fire typing as far as who was vulnerable or resistant to it. There were a few moves that fell into pyrokenetic¡¯s dual typing. Will-o-whisp which could be learned by ghosts, Mystic fire, which could be learned by psychics. And flame dance which could be learned by Fairy types. Carlos had misunderstood months ago that Gawain combined ember with swift during his survival period in the mountains. Gawain had in fact combined, sunny day, solar energy, with swift. Gawain seemed to have a knack for the pyrotechnical or as it was commonly called pyrokinetic¡¯s. One day he hoped someone with a friendly Delphox or ninetales could help him out. Alas very few trainers in the indigo league had one of those or were willing to divulge their training methods. They valued their privacy, is what they said but it was blatant purist fire type elitism on the net, when he told them of his struggles with Gawain he could hear the collective scoff over the Pokenet. His dark TE flared and he was halfway in finding the address of the multiple POS¡¯s, before he took a deep breath and turned off the computer. So Carlos and Gawain focused on the basics for now. Gawain clearly enjoyed practicing Sunny day more than ember. He started putting money to the side so he could get Gawain more pyrokinetic moves in the forms of TM¡¯s Which were expensive. The Long distance relationship with Cory, once practical reality settled in, wasn¡¯t as bad they both first thought. They called every night, talked a lot and to his surprise he received a weekly stipend as a league official for personal use, for the teleportation pads. So he spend all his weekends with Cory. Cetoddle had been baptized with the name Gwen, meaning divine or white, and Pawniard with the name Loki, due to his relentless pranks, which were mostly harmless, like buckets with water balanced on doors slightly ajar and such. Loki was utterly serious about his training but the monotony drove him mad. Gwen remembered everything and was actually quite obedient when Carlos told her to do something. She would do it then wander around for food. Her species naturally developed into to its full potential as long as she had enough food and all Carlos needed to do with Gwen was train her defense stat and her moves. Loki was more difficult. Carlos had him on a routine to become the worlds most obnoxious Pokemon but that required Loki to run himself ragged so he could begin expanding his TE reserves. The basic idea was outlast and tire them out with bullshit. Carlos had to invest quite a bit of extra time in keeping an eye on Loki, often Carlos would find him slacking off planning another prank. by taking a lot of beatings from both Kong and Dianne, while rotating defense utility buffing moves, both Gwen and Loki made great strides in sharpening their defense. Loki also improved his TE control and his reserves began to expand but it was still his Achilles heel. He ran out of fumes faster than everyone else. Carlos resolved to fix that. In his mind TE was synonymous to survival. It didn¡¯t matter how high your stats were. Most Pokemon could easily quadruple one or two of their stats for short bursts of time. Moves were essential in your Survival and thus whoever ran out of TE first, would generally lose. Especially Gwen and Loki, who Carlos trained as defenders. Carlos for the first time since coming here, came face to face with an actual challenge in training Pokemon. It was a subtle thing actually. Both Gwen and Loki made strides in sharpening their stats, which was a big relief for Carlos. Who had initially thought stat increases on level up were final. Progress notwithstanding, what bothered Carlos was how slow their progress was when it came chaining moves, the Gym Pokemon he was responsible for, were so bad he didn¡¯t even think he would ever get them to do it, in the month of training there was no visible progress whatsoever, with any of the gym Pokemon. Carlos had gotten so used to Pokemon chaining moves together back in the hollow mountains, that the experience was jarring. Unlike Dianne, Kong and Gawain who could reliably chain 3 moves of low intensity. In fact when he made them pace the 3 moves over a second Dianne and Gawain no longer flinched from move overuse. A 4th move flinched either of them hard for almost a full second. Gawain had been given the most opportunities to battle any trainer who wanted to fight his personal team on his days off and had thus caught up a bit with Dianne and Kong. Gwen, Loki and by extension, all rookie trainer Pokemon he had fought so far, never chained at all. Each move, like clockwork had a .2 second gap in between moves and a 0.3 flinch if they used 3 moves within a second. Surge and Cory explained to him that this was normal and that chaining moves was a skill usually mastered by veterans during their second year of training their Pokemon. Quite a few ace teams still struggled by the beginning of their ace circuit. It was the determining factor that made or broke you as an ace trainer. The only exception were moves such as quick attack and volt tackle which had the chaining structure of moves, built in. There was progress with his two new members but agonizingly slow. Gwen and Loki and Loki had managed to shorten their gap to 1.9 but only with the moves they were working on. There was another subtlety Carlos noticed. His 2 new Pokemon didn¡¯t seem to bond very fast. At least not as fast as his first three. Oh sure he had them disciplined and following orders to a T but it bothered him that they both remained relatively distant, especially Loki didn¡¯t seem to care about spending time together at all. Cory had sighed and giving him a look when he shared his concerns, telling him that he shouldn¡¯t discount the exceptional events which led to Carlos acquiring his first three vs how he acquired Loki. It set the tone of the relationship and it would take time. There were bound to be different paces to how quickly different Pokemon bonded, with different levels of compatibility. Carlos didn¡¯t bring it back up, but it never stopped nagging him. Perhaps his first three had spoiled him but he couldn¡¯t shake it was something else. Regardless. He really didn¡¯t spend all that much time talking with Cory during weekends for that matter, 5 days talking over the phone or video call took care of that. As far as love language went. Both were disproportionally responsive to physical intimacy and quality time. And physical counted as the best quality time. Cory was getting in a lot of trouble skipping her weekend shifts that she had to pay for during the week. but she didn¡¯t care. Today Monday, still groggy from drinking a little too much with Surge, trying to numb the frustration of being away from Cory, Carlos found himself fighting another rookie trainer for the 3rd badge and for the first time. He was excited. Elekid
Elekid Lvl 11 Electric 600
HP 80 Normal 600
Atk 12 A/U/S 2/3/5
Defense 12 A/U/S 3/3/4
Reflex N/A Dynamo
Speed 27 Lightning Rod
Docile Male (Hidden)
Dynamo: circular movements or running will create an electric charge. You can hold 3 charges. Each electric charge adds 20% damage to all electric moves. Without a charge all electric moves are reduced by 20%. Lightning Rod: You can absorb ambient Electricity from your environment, lighting bolts and electric attacks. You can hold 3 lightning charges, separate from charges created from Dynamo. You can use your own Electric attacks to charge Lightning rod. Each Lightning charge adds 20% additional damage.
Move type Intensity
Charge Beam Lighting(S) 2
Volt Tackle Lightning(U. A) 1/2
Charge Lighting(S) 1
Thunderbolt Lighting(S) 2
Charge Beam: requires 2 charges, emit a blinding beam of electricity. 20% TE. 200% attack. Applies 2 static charges. Charge: You briefly turn your body into an electric Generator. You vibrate so fast it¡¯s not even visible to the naked eye. This creates a charge for your abilities and increases your attack and speed by 10% 5% TE. Volt tackle: Increase your Speed by 100% for 1 second. Dash a 100 feet in the blink of an eye. Deal 150% damage. Apply 1 static charge 5% TE for either part. The attack may be substituted for something else. Thunderbolt: Shoot lightning from your body instantly. 100% atk 200% speed. Apply 1 static. 10% TE. Voltorb
Voltorb Lvl 15 Electric 1140
HP 96 Normal 1140
Atk 14.6 A/U/S 2/3/5
Defense 14.6 A/U/S 3/3/4
Reflex N/A Dynamo
Speed 21.6 Lightning Rod
Docile Male (Hidden)
Move type Intensity
Self destruct Lighting(S) 3
Spark Lightning(S) 2
Elektro ball Lighting(U) 1
Discharge Lighting(S) 1
Self destruct: lose All remaining HP except 1. Deal increased damage based on personal missing health. Uses 50% of all TE. 200%atk, 200% base speed. Deal an additional 20% damage for each charge obtained through abilities. Spark: Electric currents instantly ionize the air and soil around you allowing you to travel at superior speeds while remaining in the ionized field. This move leaves an ionized trail behind you for one second after leaving the field. Opponent¡¯s stepping on ionized ground accumulate static charges. You will charge both your abilities 30 by 30 foot Field remains for 12 seconds increase speed by 100% while on the field increase speed by 100% for one second after using move. 20% electric TE. Electro ball:. Elektric types are petty when it comes to anything that¡¯s faster than them. This collective pettiness has lead to the recent birth of the electro ball move 50% attack. Uses the base speed of your opponent if it is higher and will apply 2 static charges if so. 10% electric TE. Discharge: You discharge a loud electrical surge from your body, observers have compared the sound to crackling sound of a electric wire whipping around. Requires a an electric charge 100% atk, an additional 50% if you use any number of charges. If opponent has a static charge they will suffer 25% reduced reflex. If they are paralyzed or flinching this move ignores their reflex or speed stat. Magnemite
Magnemite Lvl 9 Electric 360
HP 72 Normal 360
Atk 10.2 A/U/S 2/3/5
Defense 39 A/U/S 3/3/4
Reflex N/A Steel 360
Speed 15.4 Dynamo
Docile Male Lightning Rod
Dynamo: circular movements or running will create an electric charge. You can hold 3 charges. Each electric charge adds 20% damage to all electric moves. Without a charge all electric moves are reduced by 20%. Lightning Rod: You can absorb ambient Electricity from your environment, lighting bolts and electric attacks. You can hold 3 lightning charges, separate from charges created from Dynamo. You can use your own Electric attacks to charge Lightning rod. Each Lightning charge adds 20% additional damage. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Move type Intensity
Charge Beam Lighting(S) 2
Volt Tackle Lightning(U. A) 1/2
Charge Lighting(S) 1
Thunderbolt Lighting(S) 2
static charge: each static charge adds a 10% chance to paralyze a second after it is applied. He looked at his rookie badge team. An elekid, A magnemite and a Voltorb. All of them had that numbed emotional docile look. Something the Digit balls were responsible for. He really wasn¡¯t sure why this was ok from a Moral perspective, but apparently Pokemon and humans in this world all thought it was a great idea. The only price of living the next couple of years in a mental fugue state was something his gym Pokemon all readily agreed to. Surge told him multiple times that most Elektric pokemon were very intelligent and were more than capable of making their own choices. How the digit ball functioned, boggled his mind. It was some serious existential crisis type of science, that allowed a Pokemon to store experience. ¡°How?¡± Was a question that plagued him many nights staring at the ceiling waiting for sleep to come. The Digit Ball locked the level of a Pokemon. Apparently the Giovanni¡¯s, yea there were multiple. The man running the gym also a war hero, his mother his uncle, A powerful deeply respected family, based out of Viridian City. had worked closely together with the Silph company, decades ago, pivotal to create this digit ball that revolutionized how starter pokemon could be given a massive boost to their growth prior to giving them to a trainer. Competition for these starters among youngsters was fierce. The science behind these balls was absolutely ludicrous. One day of rest inside their ball, plopped into a digit TE device, issued by the league to all gyms. And these Pokemon were good to go. They barely needed TE food, or medical care. Once a Pokemon had done his time as a gym Pokemon. They continued their life in the wild or as a starter. They would naturally max out their stats easily like Carlos had done. with little to no training, due to all the combat experience and training accumulated as a gym pokemon. Regional Starter pokemon given by The lead Professor of the region had gone through a similar process. Rookie trainers were given their starter at 15 and if compatible, over a course of 3 years, worked to gather funds and build a relationship with their starter. For their rookie journey and running the rookie circuit. He shook his head, the referee had done his speech, rambling and listing all the rules and after hearing it too many times, Carlos zoned out, his mind always wandered over the little tidbits he was learning now that he lived in this world. After the referee was done, he focused on the rookie trainer in front of him. Someone who loudly proclaimed he was going to be a flying specialist. Which is why he waited till the third badge to challenge the Electric Gym. Carlos respected the strategy. Although he was confused at the low ish, level of his Pokemon. This kid most definitely wasn¡¯t someone who had received a starter. 3v3 Carlos was not allowed to switch. Liam had 2 switches and 2 full heal instead of a 3v4. Liam didn¡¯t have a 4th member. This was a rookie match addendum due to his entire team, consisting of flying types in order to balance his weakness out. Badges were only handed out to trainers who won. Zubat
Zubat Lvl 8 Poison 340
HP 96 Flying 340
Atk 10.2 A/U/S 3/3/4
Defense 8.5 A/U/S 3/3/4
Reflex 22.8 Normal 340
speed 40.64 Fangs
Reckless Female (Hidden)
Ledyba
Ledyba Lvl 7 Bug 1020
HP 64 Flying 1020
Atk 21.8 A/U/S 3/3/4
Defense 9.6 A/U/S 3/3/4
Reflex 9.6 Normal 1020
speed 14.4 Swarm
Bold Female (Hidden)
Farfetch¡¯d
Farfetcd LvL7 Flying 626
HP 100 Normal 626
Atk 19 A/U/S 4/3/3
Defense 12 A/U/S 4/3/3
Reflex 15 Leek master
speed 15 Normalize
Brave Male (Hidden)
All in all Carlos was impressed. All three had 2 stats above 20% of the max Carlos had struggled with increasing, this Kid had fought stronger Pokemon with his team and won. ¡°Alright¡­. Liam. Send out your first Pokemon.¡± ¡±GO ZUNY! To the SKIES!¡± Out came his zubat. Carlos flinched, still suffering from a hangover, loud, head hurts. He immediately grabbed his standard issue ear mufflers. His head couldn¡¯t handle sound moves. ¡±Alright Magnemite! You¡¯re up!¡± Liam tsked, ¡°ZUNY! Return! Buster! beat that metal eye!¡± Liam instantly returned his zubat and out came his Farfetch¡¯d, using one of his returns. ¡°Good choice man! That¡¯s a bonus in my book!¡± He yelled. ¡°Magnemite! Start charging Steady!¡±
2 charges added for both abilities added. +20% speed and attack.
Magnemite starting gathering ambient electricity and amplified that with his internal TE, the buzzing indicated how fast he was vibrating and the hum steadily increased. Liam yelled his orders. ¡°use LEER and Sword Dance!¡± Carlos whistled at that sword dance was a powerful buff he hadn¡¯t seen that with a low level Pokemon yet.
magnemite reduces atk/damage by 10% Farfetch increases attack by 40%
¡°Hot damn his sword dance is a cardinal move?¡± Carlos was getting excited. He vaguely remembered Leek master gave farfetch¡¯d an edge in gaining self buff moves as cardinal. ¡±You got him well trained! But that won¡¯t be enough! I hope you taught him double team and quick attack or something!¡± Carlos made good use of the litle pauses, to throw around some banter. The pauses, turned it almost into a real life, turn based game for him. ¡±Magnemite thunderbolt!¡± Magnemite crackled shortly and shot out the lightning fast bolt. Liam was ready. ¡°Ha! Buster! Aerial ACE Into slash!¡± Aerial ace was a carbon copy of quick attack except that it synergized perfectly with the flying type inherent trait resulting in quadrupling speed and reflex. the Farfetch¡¯d shot forward, creating a crack in the air. It didn¡¯t matter, electric moves were complete BS. The burst of speed allowed theFarfetch¡¯d to avert getting hit full force but Magnemite had aimed well
20 damage dealt to Farfetch¡¯d. 80 remaining. 2 static charges added. To Farfetch¡¯d All charges on magemite drained.
¡±Kinda crazy how fast that little fucker can go.¡± Carlos mused. He had to wait a split second, ordering magnemite otherwise he would flinch Farfetch after shaking off the attack like a pro came in hot. With a slash. It was a simple move, didn¡¯t do much special except that it had an easier time critting as it sought out weaknesses.
21 critical damage! dealt to magnemite 51 HP remaining. 3 static charges on Farfetch¡¯d
¡±Sheesh I Underestimated the kid¡±, Carlos thought. The kid pound for pound would win this fight if he would manage to deal with the static. He smirked, ¡°not bad for a rookie¡±, he yelled. ¡±Magnemite volt away and charge steady! Stay away from that leek!¡±
Magnemite: +20% atk & speed 2 dynamo & rod charges
¡°Double tap him with Leer!¡±
Magnemite: 2 dynamo & rod charges
Carlos noted some of the static on Farfetch¡¯d fizzled out harmlessly. He didn¡¯t mind. ¡°Magnemite Volt into Thunderbolt!¡± This would flinch Magnemite but it would deliver the blow faster then Farfetch¡¯d could dodge Magnemite shot forward. Not as fast as Farfetch¡¯d but too fast for farfetch¡¯d to dodge fully. ¡°Aerial into Endure!¡± Liam called out ¡°This kid is good! And another cardinal move! Nice!¡± Farfetch¡¯d flew as fast as he could and braced for impact. The thunderbolt super charged was practically instant and cracked with intense power, a crackling arc flashing white, it hit Farfetch¡¯d dead on, he barely managed to avoid getting slammed by a critical. endure dispersed a lot of the electric force.
Farfetch¡¯d takes 27 damage. 53 HP remaining. 2 static on farfetch¡¯d.
Although his Magnemite flinched from overuse, The decisive impact of the bolt had knocked the bird of course and by the time it regained its balance his Magnemite had recovered. ¡°Nice one Liam that was good quick thinking! Keep it up, cuz im not pulling my punches mate!¡± ¡±Thanks, I guess.¡± Liam clearly wasn¡¯t used to praise talk, he was used to trash talk. Carlos got a kick out of throwing Trainers for a loop. ¡°Volt and charge!¡± Magnemite shot away again charging his abilities.
Magnemite: +10% atk & speed 2 dynamo & rod charges
Liam tsked and Carlos saw the change in tactic. ¡°Double tap!¡± He called out.
Farfetch¡¯d + 120% atk
¡°Ah he realizes he needs to go all in. well let¡¯s see if he can keep his cool.¡± ¡±volt and charge BEAM!¡± ¡±Aerial into slash!¡± their Command came simultaneously, both Pokemon Burst into action. Crackling ionized air from the white beam of intense electrical energy. Gales of winds from all the ambient flying TE exploding. Farfetch¡¯d took a glancing hit gracefully avoiding the brunt of the beam with sharp crisp moves but painfully seared through the sky staying conscious by the skin of his teeth. Slamming his Leek with all of his Resolve and Power into Magnemite. Smoking, charred leek, it¡¯s smell spreading over the field, shaking, barely on his legs. He was still standing albeit Barely.
Farfetch¡¯d takes 47 damage 5 HP remaining
Magnemite takes 67 critical damage Magnemite faints!
Magnemite laid on the floor, fainted. ¡±You did it BUSTER! FUCK YEAH!¡± The referee called the match and the Chansey on call performed the full heal restoring the tenacious bird who stood with a smug, deserved smile on his face. Puffing his chest. He pointed his Leek at Carlos. ¡±FAR never underestimate the Mighty FETCHED, BUSTER!¡± ¡±Oh you can bet, that I never underestimated you mighty bird.¡± Carlos said smiling. ¡°Well fought Buster. You and your trainer earned that.¡± ¡°Ya know I don¡¯t think we wouldn¡¯t have won if you had used a good old thunderbolt.¡± Liam said chuckling while they waited for Chansey to finish. ¡±I know, I was testing your cool as a trainer.¡± ¡°Oh, I was so caught up I didn¡¯t even hear it.¡± Liam said sheepishly. Carlos laughed heartily. ¡°Well luck favors the bold it seems, Ready for your next match?¡± Both trainer and Pokemon nodded with excitement, Carlos saw buster was exactly at half on both his TE reserves so he was still raring to go. ¡±Alright! Elekid Show them some REAL Speed!¡± Carlos was having fun with the dramatic entrances Surge had him do. Elekid materialized and did a pre practiced Roar which sounded more cute than terrifying. The field was reset and Farfetch¡¯d had his sword dance run out. It seemed sword dance had a hidden effect on its mentality, as it noticeably calmed down. Good thing to know. He wouldn¡¯t mind having that move on one of his Mon¡¯s. ¡°double charge!¡± Carlos called out.
Elekid +20% atk& speed. 2 charges on both abilities.
¡°double tap¡± Liam called out.
Farfetch¡¯d +80% atk.
¡±Ah he thinks Leer is a waste for Electric mons, ah well¡±. Carlos thought. ¡°Volt Tackle!¡± He called. ¡°Aerial into slash!¡± Liam countered however his Face morphed into one of shock as Elekid crossed the distance near instantly before Farfetch¡¯d could respond. And Farfetch¡¯d Completely misjudged the attack and missed. Elekid slammed into Farfetch¡¯d head, the powerful electric currents knocking him out, Carlos was grateful there was no cracking sounds of bone.
Farfetch¡¯d takes 112 Damage and loses consciousness.
Liam quietly returned his Buster. Carlos could see the guy was shaking. Thinking on how to deal with this. ¡°Double tap with leer would have kept Elekid from striking with a critical hit. Elekid is a speedster not a tank like magnemite.¡± Carlos said loud enough for Liam to hear. Liam nodded, grinding his teeth. ¡±ZUNY! Your UP!¡± His Zubat materialized, flitting through the air at break neck speed. ¡±Here it is, his speed monster, Carlos Changed his strategy. ¡±Elekid take it out with a volt tackle!¡± ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t! Zuny, Aerial fang and inject!!¡± Zuny flew out, almost twice as fast as Elekid and before Elekid could charge Zubat chomped into Elekid to inject him with venom. He clamped down hard with his small but powerful fangs and Carlos saw the poison take effect.
Elekid takes 15 damage. Elekid is poisoned for 34 damage Elekid atk reduced by half 65 remaining
Elekid meanwhile began his volt tackle and took Zubat with him, jumped up and slam dunked himself and Zubat into the ground carried by the momentum. He was partially effective in delivering the electric charge built by movement but the Poison messed with how much he could deliver. Carlos smirked, Elekid had instinctively used parts of the move body slam, Carlos had trained Elekid in, it hadn¡¯t been performed full force so the Zubat didn¡¯t get flinched. Still it hurt.
Zubat takes 18 damage 4 Static charges. 77 HP remaining
¡°Volt into Thunderbolt!¡± Carlos suspected a venom shock coming and he didn¡¯t feel like obliging. ¡°Tripple team!¡± Liam yelled right on time as Zubat created four clones of himself. Carlos was kinda happy Elekid missed, he realized he was cheering the kid on. Not that he would pull his punches but he saw what was coming. A mile away. Perfectly timed Liam waiting while biting his lip called out his order. ¡°Double Shock!¡± The zubat send out two poisonous bursts of air covering a large area, that came into contact with Elekid. Quadrupled the effectiveness the Poison ravaging Elekid. Although the fight wasn¡¯t done yet Carlos withdrew Elekid. This much Poison needed to be taken care of quickly and the match was called, Elekid lost. Liam sighed in relief. ¡°I¡¯l be honest, I hate fighting Elektric types. That volt into thunderbolt is such bullshit.¡± Carlos laughed heartily. ¡°You are doing exactly the same with abusing the flying type trait in combination with aerial ace. Nice thinking on double team btw. That almost ended the match. But are you ready for the strongest member of my team? I suggest you use your heal now. You can¡¯t use it on downed Pokemon. Liam nodded and Carlos called Voltorb onto the field and called for a timeout. ¡°Liam try and damage voltorb as much as you can and watch out for the self destruct. Im required to say this due to the low level of your remaining mon¡¯s¡± Liam gulped and nodded. ¡°Do you wish to use your switch?¡± Carlos wanted to plant the idea in his head. He didn¡¯t say it out loud but Voltorb equipped with Electro ball. was a hard counter to his Zubat. For Liam¡¯s sake he hoped his Ledyba had enough ranged moves to deal with Voltorb. Liam was thinking. ¡°Take your time, you have 40 seconds left, in what order do you need to land moves from both of your Pokemon to defeat my Voltorb? It will require both, I can tell you that for free.¡± Carlos said. Liam thought it over for a few more seconds and nodded. ¡°Great job Zuny! Take a breather! Ruby you are up!¡± He returned his zubat and out came his Ledyba. Her red Carapace was polished to a Perfect sheen that broke the light, just like shining light on a Ruby Crystal. ¡°Oh boy now he makes me feel bad for hurting his precious Pokemon.¡± The big giant Ladybug took to the sky and skittered and flew through the sky down into an adorable hero landing and struck a fighting pose. ¡±Huh, so their intelligence is affected by human contact it seems.¡± Carlos saw the sentient glint in the Lediba eyes missing in the eyes of wild bug Pokemon. ¡±Spark!¡± Volttorb let out a crackling blast creating a 30x30x30 dome, momentarily supercharged by the ambient and static electricity created by the move. He hovered, zipping around gathering charges for his ability . ¡±Aerial ace into string shot! Stay out of his charge range like we practiced!¡± Ruby shot into the air. Spewing an ungodly amount of sticky string, due to her large TE reserves. covering the entire area Voltorb ionized with spark, while staying out of Range.
Voltorb -4 speed & -20% speed reduction. 4 charges for both abilities.
¡°Huh another cardinal move¡±, Carlos noted. Cardinal moves were rare at this level and all 3 of Liam¡¯s Pokemon had at least one. ¡°Ball discharge!¡± Voltorb started crackling with an intense amount of electricity creating random crackles of electricity arcing out around him due to the highly ionized air. Some of the webbing started smoking but it was too thick and dense to make a difference. the electroball shot out, half of it passed into the Ledyba who creating a sharp crack in the air by spreading her red carapace. Dispersing most of the damage but still got the static charges on her, the Discharge homed in on the Ledyba. The webbing, responsible for dispersing most of the damage.
Ledyba takes 7 + 32 damage. 25 remaining. 3 static charges
¡°Aerial needle then U-turn!¡± Ledyba came in like a screeching stuka plancr dive bombing Voltorb firing off twin needles, again a cardinal move with the ease the ladybug performed the move. 2 razor sharp needles thunked into Voltorb who was instantly poisoned.
Voltorb takes 10 + 10 damage and is poisoned for 29 damage.
U-turn caused her to ¡°flee¡± back into her pokeball and brought back Zubat back with the benefits of aerial ace. Carlos however beat him to the punch and yelled his order first.¡±Volt Destruct!¡± ¡°Aerial into endure!¡± Liam was too late to call out an order as Voltorb hyper charged a portion of his TE and came barreling into Zuny, but the bat had the presence of mind to take initiative and did exactly what his trainer wanted prematurely. Screeching through the air to ride the currents of the explosion that soon followed.
Zuny takes 97 damage! None remaining. Voltorb is knocked unconscious.
Liam looked flabbergasted at his smoking Zubat. knocked out. Deformities and a cracked bone protruding from one of its wings. He quietly walked onto the field and gingerly stroked his painfully panting Zuny and spoke some soft words of encouragement and comfort while the Chansey on call performed a heal, before he returned him to his Pokeball. Carlos started clapping and made sure he didn¡¯t smile too much. ¡°I did warn you about self destruct and Isaw that needle into u turn coming a mile away, still it was your only option and you succeeded. Good job man! You got yourself a thunderbadge on your first try!¡± Carlos had walked closer and put the badge in Liam¡¯s hands. Liam was quiet, and had a thousand yard stare. Knockout backlash from having your Pokemon fainted was like a gut punch that you never quite got used to. Carlos carefully guided Liam to a bench and gave him a water bottle. Liam still shaking a bit, drank some to calm down his nerves. ¡°You know mister, you made me fight way too hard for that badge.¡± Liam joked smiling weakly getting some of his earlier bravado back now that his victory set in.¡± ¡±No I didn¡¯t.¡± Carlos shot it down immediately. You came with a strategy expecting a mediocre fight due to the limitations placed on me as a trainer, even though you should know my current reputation. Gym battles are specifically designed to challenge your pokemon so it triggers proper growth with your Pokemon. If I pull my punches that growth you need so desperately in your Pokemon, will not happen. This is especially important because non of your Mon¡¯s are league starter Pokemon.¡± Liam flinched. His story was a common one. A young kid, had the posture of an Orphan. Was driven but didn¡¯t have the resources or the talent to be the top contender for any of the starter programs. It was obvious he had caught a wild Farfetch¡¯d as his starter, prepped for his journey and managed to scrape by with wit and some cunning strategy. ¡±Your Farfetch¡¯d who is awesome on all accounts, is an all round offensive Pokemon best used to outsmart outmaneuver his opponents capabilities yet you use him as a fighter pokemon who can take a hit and hit back harder if that is your goal he needs moves like bide and revenge for that. He¡¯s your starter correct?¡± Liam nodded and was about to say something but Carlos continued his tirade. ¡°He needs self buffs that can boost his survival. Things like harden. Detect, counter, agility double team, get him bide and revenge while you are at it. ¡°He can¡¯t learn half of those moves!¡± Liam finally managed to get in. ¡°Leek master and Normalize say otherwise mid, both are one of those bullshit abilities that lets him learn 4self utility moves of any typing. On top of that, he¡¯s got Normalize. He attempted it right before Elekid knocked him out, Check the footage for yourself.¡± ¡±How do you know his abilities? I don¡¯t even know them.¡± Liam asked confused. ¡°I lived in the wild for a long time kid I know these things because I had to know.¡± Carlos flawlessly bullshitted his way through that. Carlos continued to berate him about how Liam¡¯s Pokemon level was too low for a 4 badge gym battle, how he needed an actual defensive flyer and better control over the field. And for the hundredth time he reminded Liam, like he reminded everyone else, that trainers were allowed to use more than 4 moves and endure. Which for some reason was something not clearly defined in the league rules. Many Rookie trainers assumed because the gyms had a 4 moves limit, they did so as well. Liam left with a note from Carlos ¡°educated guesses¡± on what his Pokemon¡¯s abilities were, a few wrong that wouldn¡¯t matter just in case people got weird ideas about him , and with a strong recommendation for him to get his Pokemon telemetry checked. It was the end of the day and went to the TE device to deposit his gym Pokemon for their recovery. He sighed he really didn¡¯t like his gym Pokemon. He wished he could but they were so cold and detached. He went to his desk to fill out today¡¯s paperwork. Which was boring evaluations of trainers. Their personalities. Habits, everything. He really didn¡¯t like it and usually gave vague answers that didn¡¯t alude to much. Surge called it trust but verify. Carlos called it a hidden police state. He didn¡¯t like the idea that someone gathered psycho analysis, intel on such a large scale. Done driving a wedge into someone¡¯s shady plans of control through mass information by having nothing but praise for Liam. He started browsing the Pokenet. Surge knocked on the door, ¡°Yo wana go for a few drinks in town? I got a lady that arranged a double date and none of my other buddies can go.¡± Carlos sighed. ¡°Is this some convoluted way for you to snag a threesome date for yourself?¡± Surge grinned big time. ¡°You wound me man! I just figured, you could do with some relaxation. You work harder than I do for crying out loud. Besides you know one of em. A very cute ranger, she¡¯s very hurt you haven¡¯t given her a call. ¡°Carolyn?¡± Carlos asked after a moment of thinking. ¡°Fuck, yea that totally slipped my mind. Oh I should bring Gwen and Loki. Perhaps I can exchange some pointers with her, she seemed to focus on ice and water types.¡± ¡°Yea see? Im totally not trying to mess with your love life!¡± Surge laughed. Carlos gave him a look before he got up and went to the place where his team usually was. He noticed they did better outside of the Pokeball than in. Especially with Gwen and Loki he began to notice a difference he only put them in the Pokeball if he was forced to. They were a bit more present. He saw his team practicing outside on the courtyard behind the massive gym building. Some of the management personnel, had given him a lot of flack for allowing his Pokemon to do whatever but after showing how well behaved they were they couldn¡¯t fault him for anything so they begrudgingly watched his Pokemon to see if they would screw up. Loki and Kong had turned it into a game of pretending they would do something bad, like exaggerating moves and pretending they were going to break things and then whiff the attack and get a kick out of their reaction. Carlos wondered if Kong had some latent dark typing in him. Or if Dianne Loki and him started rubbing off on him. Whatever it was, he definitely liked to fool and joke around with people. ¡°Hello guys! How is the training?¡± ¡±Good, boss mon. I¡¯m close to fully mastering Lock on and Mach strike, I can feel it. Kong responded first. ¡°My shadow sneak and Shadow clones is going well. It actually allowed me to master double team fully. The move is rather basic in comparison with Shadow clones.¡± Dianne responded next. ¡±I mastered Sunny day today and im trying to figure out how to combine solar energy with quick attack, i feel that will help me develop trail blaze.¡± Gawain said. ¡±I froze all of Surges bottles all day today!¡± Gwen said happily. ¡°Surge got a new shipment in today, it really did take her all day.¡± Dianne added. Carlos wondered how much Liquor Surge kept in his cellar but filed that for later. ¡°I worked on trying to chain Harden the first third of the day, hone claws the second third of the day and practiced assurance with Big sis. unsuccessful on all three. I keep flinching when I try and flow or chain the moves, I hate flinching.¡± Loki spoke matter of factly except the last part had a harsh tone, not for the first time he heard frustration in the pawniard¡¯s voice. Everyone heard the frustration for that matter. Gwen waddled over and started patting his head, which was more of a slapping motion. ¡°You will be ok, untasty bro.¡± Gwen didn¡¯t like the flavor of his metal. Carlos sighed. ¡°I understand your frustration, You understand why I ask this of you correct?¡± ¡±Off course, I want to be just as good as your first three, Sir.¡± Still that frustration. This time directed squarely at Carlos, who nodded but felt anger boil and hurt. Kong & Dianne became tense, Gawain observed. ¡°I know you will make a breakthrough, Loki, I¡¯m still brainstorming as to what it is, that¡¯s blocking you and Gwen from mastering chaining. Tell me, Kong, Dianne and Gawain have explained to me that chaining moves is like changing the flow or bring the TE back full circle if you repeat the same move. What is it that you experience when attempting to circle the flow?¡± Carlos asked this question almost every night and every time he asked he got a somewhat different answer. Understanding came different for everyone. Kong experienced it as different flavors of rage. Normal rage. His rage fighting rage etc, culminating in a fire that he constantly balanced and danced with. Dianne was a hunter, for her it was a simple matter of entering the mind set of hunting with the pack. Gawain seemed to be the must mentally adept at controlling his flow at this point. This was due to his conditioning and training with moves that were by their nature very technical. Gwen had no clue she just did her moves and had little to no understanding of the questions for that matter. She was naturally gifted at TE control. Loki had never found a groove when it came to TE. Carlos tried to mimick what he had done with his first three with Loki but unsuccessful so far. Loki sat down thinking seriously. Which he did a lot these days. It was fascinating to see all these different sides to his Mon¡¯s. Loki loved pranks but he took his training dead serious. About as serious as Kong did. Loki was smart, cunning and calculating. It frustrated him to no end that someone like Kong. Simple, straightforward and impulsive, outclassed him on a technical level. ¡±To be honest sir, I don¡¯t think I even have a flow. It almost feels im getting worse.¡± He gave Carlos an accusatory look. Carlos on the other hand smiled and said. ¡°Good. It means you are unlearning the bad shit that previous idiot of a trainer taught you.¡± Carlos attempted a bit of brevity. ¡°He wasn¡¯t a bad trainer, I grew pretty quickly with him.¡± Pawniard got angry. He seemed oddly defensive of his previous trainer ¡°Sure, i didn¡¯t mean anything by it, if you compare him to the average trainer he was decent. If I may ask, if he was as good as you make him sound, why did he get rid of you?¡± Carlos shot back. ¡±He told me from the get go, he was training me for the purposes of trading. I was ok with that.¡± Loki snapped. ¡°It was an arrangement agreed on before he caught me. Even brought a Pokemon along to translate, if you think I¡¯m not good enough you should trade me in for another.¡± Loki snarled out the last part. Venomously added. ¡°You like the other four a hell of a lot better than me anyway.¡± He looked away at that. Kong and Dianne were about to explode but Carlos gave them a look. ¡°Remember when I first gave you your name Dianne? This is something similar.¡± With that, she sat back down and calmed down, but not before giving Loki a dirty look. As pissed off and annoyed Carlos was, he cursed at himself for not seeing this sooner, he hadn¡¯t realized how his frustration was obvious to Loki. Who took that frustration as judgement, judgement that made Loki believe he wasn¡¯t good enough. Dark Pokemon were a lot more vulnerable to intent and emotion. Carlos was quiet for a moment. ¡°Sorry Loki, I am also frustrated that I haven¡¯t found the right way for you or Gwen. My failing as a trainer is what I¡¯m frustrated with, not with you, I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t make that clear to you. I want to give you my best. I just haven¡¯t figured out how.¡± ¡±You mean extra tasty snacks?¡±Gwen chimed in. Carlos smiled. ¡°Something like that. He turned back to Loki. ¡°Again my apologies. I know I can¡¯t really judge your previous trainer. Truth be told I felt guilty buying you like that.¡± ¡°Do you mean all of that?¡± Loki asked somewhat cautiously. ¡°Of course, ask big sis how often I lie.¡± ¡±All the time, but only for the betterment of the pack, us.¡± Dianne gave her honest assessment. ¡±Pff, boss mon doesn¡¯t lie, he just doesn¡¯t bother telling unworthies the truth that they suck.¡± Kong chimed in. Loki as a dark type could respect that. He nodded at that. ¡°I also might have judged you too soon.¡± He said after a while. Carlos took a deep breath and let the quiet settle in, till he remembered why he had come here. ¡±Oh yes I almost forgot. Guys, uncle Surge is dragging me along for a human ritual and I want to take both Gwen and Loki for some r&r. Will you three be ok for a few hours? We can talk more as well Loki, if you want.¡± The three nodded, basically shooed him, Gwen and Loki out the door. He found Surge in the Lobby with the two ladies both dressed in some very skimpy clothing. ¡°Oh shit, that fucking bastard.¡± Carlos whispered. He felt utterly underdressed. He showed up in regular jeans and a basic buttoned shirt. Carolyn saw him and strutted his way. ¡±Hey long time no see handsome stranger, you never called.¡± Carolyn smiled amicably. ¡°Yea sorry about that, got dragged into the busy life of beating sense into upstart youngsters and trainer my team, I¡¯ve been busy.¡± He smiled Politely, really wishing he had said no to Surge. ¡±I¡¯ll say he¡¯s been busy! Ya know what they call him on the forums? Drill sergeant!¡± Surge laughed and slapped Carlos roughly on the shoulders. Carlos hit him in the ribs with an Elbow, chuckling. The other woman, somewhere around her 30¡¯s had a seductive smile going way overboard, making Carlos really wonder if Surge had been truthful about the situation. ¡°Shall we go?¡± He asked the group and they walked to the restaurant area. ¡°So what was the story Surge told you about me? The way he brought this to me was that you wanted to catch up and such, and were pissed I didn¡¯t call.¡± Carolyn sighed. ¡°He told me you were looking to have some fun. And hey none of us called you either, we got swamped. The champion gave us a promotion, before I knew it he suckered us all into another year with the rangers that absolute prick. Don¡¯t worry about it I¡¯m a big girl.¡± She continued. ¡°So this is the Pawniard you got for those credits? Tough looking guy I must say. And your Cetoddle looks happier than ever.¡± She noted, saying hi to both. ¡°Yea he is tough, I realized today I was too tough on them both with training, so I took this opportunity to have some relaxation.¡± Carlos saw the ever so slight glint of approval in Loki¡¯s eyes. ¡°How is your Cetoddle Carolyn?¡± Carlos asked. ¡°Oh he¡¯s great!¡± She beamed. ¡°I brought him along too!¡± She grabbed a Pokeball, from Arceus knows where and out came a dapper looking Cetoddle, slightly smaller than Gwen and the two got reacquainted waddling together in the wrong direction almost instantly. ¡±Huh, my Gwen hasn¡¯t done that since I got her, I was so sure she was the perpetrator of all that trouble.¡± Carlos joked. He felt some tension ease away. ¡±Seems like the two of em bring out the worst in each other.¡± Carolyn laughed. They started talking about their training regiment for their respective Cetoddle¡¯s, they quickly left Surge to his date, who was practically tugging his clothes off, that date would quickly end in a motel. both Carlos and Carolyn went to a public arena to have a mock Battle between the two Cetoddles. Carlos felt a pang of envy, he immediately saw how much smoother Carolyn¡¯s Cetoddle was in performing his Moves. He couldn¡¯t punch through Gwen¡¯s defense after she used snowscape, which made her immune to freezing, and started stacking harden. But it was obvious that Carolyns Cetoddle had made much greater strides in mastering Chaining moves. Carolyn¡¯s Cetoddle had a 1 second gap between moves vs Gwen¡¯s 1.9. It had been a month for both of them. The fight was a mixed outcome. On the one hand, Gwen had made significant strides in sharpening her Defense which made her untouchable for the most part. But she had no real offensive moves that worked against the other Cetoddle. Both Loki and Gwen had good defense so they didn¡¯t really get hurt at all even if this would be a real battle. Loki was eager to have a mock battle as well, but struggled with getting slowed down over a period of time, the drop in temperature as ambient ice energy started slowing down his body functions and icicles forming till he really was an icicle stopped the match, after another trainer with a charmeleon helped thaw Loki out. Carlos and Carolyn sat down on a bench. ¡±You know I don¡¯t know which one of those two, people will be more annoyed with.¡± Carolyn commented after Loki stopped shivering. Carlos smirked. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡±oh come on Carlos, it¡¯s obvious you are training them both to be obnoxious stalls for your opponent, making them drain their TE trying to take these two down.¡± ¡±That¡¯s the general idea, although if what I read about Supreme overlord is correct then Loki will have pretty nasty offensive capabilities as well, once he gets to his Kinggambit form. ¡±You think I have what it takes to be King?¡± Loki asked. Carlos was surprised at that. ¡°Obviously.¡± Loki was stunned. ¡°Huh maybe i should have lead with that when we did introductions when we first met.¡± Carlos thought. ¡±It¡¯s good to see even you struggle with your Pokemon you know? The way you just came running to the rescue a month ago and fixed the situation the way you did was surreal. It¡¯s nice to know mundane people like us stand a chance.¡± Carolyn smirked. ¡±I don¡¯t know, I would never describe you as mundane.¡± Carlos glanced at her skimpy top. ¡°Like what you see?¡± She asked with a sultry glint in her eyes. Carlos smirked playfully, ¡°from an aesthetic point of view? Absolutely.¡± She sighed and shook her head. ¡±Thanks i guess?¡± She smiled questioningly. ¡°I take you are still with that woman from a month ago? You never told me who she was.¡± She inquired. ¡±She¡¯s the young nurse Joy stationed at the Blackthorne Pokemon center.¡± Carlos answered. He felt an unsettling feeling settle in the moment he said that. Her whole posture, and expression changed. ¡±Really? You are one of those guys?¡± Her tone was one of curiosity but cold, so was her gaze. Carlos stayed calm. ¡°You have to understand, I¡¯ve only lived in this human society for about a month. Lots of social dynamics will go over my head.¡± ¡±Ah I guess it makes sense you wouldn¡¯t know.¡± She repositioned, making her curves bounce. ¡°See men that feel attraction to Joy¡¯s and Jennies that have a relationship or had a relationship with one; are almost always perverts that are shunned.¡± There was a tone of disgust in her voice. ¡±What!?¡± Carlos was shocked. ¡±Obviously not all, you are nothing like those guys. I¡¯ve been here for a few days. Did know you are the talk of this town? known as the drill sergeant but you are so standoffish to women so much more ruthless to them, that all the ladies think you are gay. Which let me tell you, surprised me.¡± Carolyn finished. Carlos looked at Carolyn with a blank stare. Then a light went up in his head. ¡±Im going to have a talk with the principal of some of the schools, seems like some angsty teenage girls are pissed at me cutting of their hustle with Surge.¡± Carlos sighed. He really hoped Goth girl was an outlier, she wasn¡¯t. ¡±That¡¯s a rather, big accusation don¡¯t you think?¡± She said smiling. ¡°It¡¯s the only thing that makes sense, I don¡¯t meet enough women for such a rumor to spread. You really think im gay? I can barely look you in the eye with how distracting that outfit is.¡± Carlos said. A smirk on his face. She really did look good in this light. ¡°So you do think I¡¯m pretty?¡± She wiggled her shoulders. Carlos smiled. ¡°It might be because i was stuck in the mountains since forever but i haven¡¯t seen a single ugly woman.¡± ¡°pff so the bar was low to begin with?¡± She teased. ¡±Yup, you and all the ladies are in luck besides you know you are gorgeous, you don¡¯t need me to tell you that¡± Carlos teased back. Carolyn laughed at that.¡±Still it¡¯s nice you can admit it in such a roundabout way, still, I honestly can¡¯t picture you dating a Joy. What¡¯s that like?¡± She leaned in curious. ¡±Idk I don¡¯t really have a point of reference. It feels good. It sucks we only see each other 2 days of the week. But other then that it feels good. She¡¯s playful, incredibly perceptive, sultry and has this shyness that she lets slip past her guard from time to time that I find mesmerizing.¡± Carolyn leaned back and sighed. ¡±Well it¡¯s good to know I never had a chance with you I guess.¡± Carolyn sighed. ¡°Got dressed up for nothing. Carlos sighed and raised his eyebrow. ¡°Do you honestly believe I wouldn¡¯t have gone for it if the situation had been different? I¡¯m not the type of guy that takes this for granted.¡± She gave him a look of gratitude, but obviously this situation sucked a bit for her.. They talked a bit more before they said their goodbye¡¯s Carolyn trying her luck in the bachelor¡¯s part of town. ¡°Wana have some fights Loki?¡± Loki had an intense fire burning in his eyes and nodded. ¡±God I¡¯m stupid,¡± Carlos thought. ¡°I deprived a battle maniac of battles.¡± Stuck in the dark. Kai Vesper brooded like he always did, he got put to some serious, grueling work as a prisoner. Ten hour shifts, six days a week, the most monotonous, menial soul crushing work he had ever had to put up with. Something those otherworldlers had come up with and put in place before the war. He was actually earning his keep in prison. He would have funds to start his life over once he got out. This was a way for the prison system, managed by the Jennies to be economically solvent, without having to rely on taxes. It was an ingenious system really, it bloated or shrunk organically depending on how many prisoners were present at any time. The sight of a Jenny was rare, most guards were in fact prisoners, earning their rights back as citizens. As a prisoner he was told the only right he had, was his life. Everything else, was forfeit. It had shocked him to his core. Law enforcement had always been something he scoffed at for the most part. Jennies, global or not, dealt with petty crime, handing out fines or putting someone in jail for a few days to cool off and community service was all you were ever threatened with. Nothing and no one, had prepared him for the heavy crime penitentiary. These last 2 months he questioned everything that had lead up to him getting imprisoned for 7 years. A harsh sentence but the global jenny police force had come to collect their due, they had gathered a long list of the crimes him and his partners had committed over the last 3 years. Their Illegal catch, breed and release gig, tax evasion, a laundry list of petty theft, breaking and entering, disturbing the peace, harassment, etc. The league of Orre, the rangers, the Jennies and even that front company of the Cipher crime ring, had pressed charges. Which confirmed a few things for Kai. Him and his 2 partners had stepped on the toes of Cipher ring with their illegal breeding back in Orre. Stupid Sara just had to be greedy and wanted to expand their business and got the Cipher gang involved without realizing, ignoring all his warnings of caution. The only silver lining, was that he still had most of his trading credits stored away on an anonymous account, it had been his personal exit strategy. None of it mattered now. He was stuck in prison for 7 years. His Pokemon were released after a psych evaluation. He lost them all which hurt him the most. These weren¡¯t his starters but it still left him empty and drained enough, that he had suicidal thoughts, again. The only thing that currently kept him alive was his intense loathing for Sara or Ravanna, her current official name. The way she threw him and Jasper under the buss the moment she could. That moment still had him seething. He despised her ever since they left Orre, slowly growing to hatred but had sort of depended on her to not sit down somewhere and die after he lost his first team back in Orre. In that Courtroom his hatred for her fulminated, he had to remain alive to see her dead. Thinking back on it, every wrong turn the three of them took, could be attributed to her bullshit. He had kept them out of trouble with cunning wit and his personal blood sweat and tears, coming up with ways to get them out of tight situations every single time. ¡°And every single time I followed her into the bullshit like an absolute idiot, fuck.¡± He whispered to himself while working the factory line. He was a latent fae. A trainer with potential to train Fairy types. Most fairy types were whimsical, changed their minds based on the direction of the wind. It meant that any trainer with that latent ability needed to travel a lot. Become that wind the fairy Pokemon wanted to glide on. He didn¡¯t have the drive for that, Sara did. So he followed around his high school crush Sara, Fairy types responded to strong feelings. He had a full team in no time, hell he was respected back then. His starter raltz who simply showed up one day, evolved early into a Kirlia and had dazzled his opponents. She had been an odd one, even among fairies. Fairies usually responded strongly to positive emotions. Not his Kirlia. She consumed all of it, the stronger the better. It fed her strength. She was ruthless. All fairy were odd in his opinion, they frightened him more then any other type, they had no limits to their emotions. His Kirlia was a devilish, cruel and capricious character. Perfectly fine with his illegal activities. She encouraged it in fact. She was his true partner in crime. Her psychic abilities were incredibly handy in communicating with pokemon. Oh his poor Kirlia. She had uncharacteristically thrown herself into the maws of that houndoom. He still had nightmares, seeing her frail body get cooked then ripped to pieces by that frightening monster. What fucked him up full circle, in her last moments she had conveyed her true feelings for him. Her own unrequited twisted love for him. It was utterly overpowering and overwhelming, burned into his psyche. Her plans to take him deep into the wilds when evolving into Gardevoir, away from prying eyes, so she could have him all to herself. It also conveyed to him in that instant. How much his Kirlia loathed Sara. All these feelings and thoughts were psychologically imprinted on him. In her own way, his Kirlia wanted to truly be one with him. That Trauma never left. His own hatred for Sara began to fester in that moment, guided by the psychological echo of his Kirlia. Looking back with his head clear and having some clarity he saw how blind he was to her blatant manipulation in the early days. How she was perfectly aware of his feelings for her, how she didn¡¯t appreciate it once and used it selfishly for whatever she wanted. Like a Mawile she pretended to be cute luring him in. How stark the difference was with who she used to be and what she turned into. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! It was him and Jasper or Steve as was his official name, that helped her get out of some serious trouble, 3 years ago. That¡¯s where everything went wrong. It wasn¡¯t just the Jennies that were after them. That¡¯s what caught the three off them, off guard. The fallout of that encounter, which he now knew was the cipher gang, cost them their Pokemon. All dead as they got crushed by superior numbers and moves none of them even knew existed. Running for the hills and managed to illegally cross the border as stowaways on an official cargo ship. Changed their names and started their new life. Homeless depressed and suicidal from the death of their teams. They stole enough funds together to get a few pokeballs. Ran around in the indigo league never really knowing who they could trust. The only thing that they had left over was an egg of Sara¡¯s dead starter. She loved that little spinarach but completely coddled it. Never wanted it to fight strong dangerous opponents. Their competitive strength, passion and desire, gone. Mirrored in the mediocre Pokemon they gathered. They simply lacked the drive as trainers. She cried and screamed in the courtroom for them to not separate her and her spinky but the psych evaluation showed the court that her personality was not in a state where it could handle Pokemon. He sighed, the worst part had been seeing his Pokemon choose to leave. All of them. Thinking of that he began to cry, losing Pokemon seemed to get worse the more it happened, remembering his Kirlia again, pushed him over the edge. A nearby guard scoffed. ¡°What are you crying about? Sad you lost your Pokemon? Should have thought of that before you conspired to kill somebody, you coward.¡± Kai felt tears running down his face, he didn¡¯t have the energy to try and correct them, that he had no idea Sara was going to do that. He should have known but he didn¡¯t. ¡±Hey kid I know it sucks but it¡¯s what it is, your fairy tale of going out meeting likeminded souls is over, gone, best you accept it.¡± A gruff older man who was working next to him grumbled. Kai tried to nod but kept crying, hicking trying to breathe but his midriff spasmed erratically. while continuing his monotonous work in this godforsaken factory. ¡±Is it true what that ahole said? You a stone cold killer?¡± The gruff man asked. ¡±Shut up brad and work! You know the rules!¡± The guard yelled. Kai shook his head, wiping his tears away, ¡°No, I just got dragged along for the ride because of a manipulative evil bitch.¡± He whispered so the guard didn¡¯t hear. Another prisoner who had remained quiet, across the factory line Kai stood at, scoffed and shook his head. ¡±You would think they would teach kids how to handle basic manipulation tactics with what pokemon can do. So, you here cuz you dumbass was desperate for some pussy? Did you at least get some?¡± He was a foul looking man in his thirties. A nasty smirk on his face when Kai didn¡¯t respond fast enough.¡± ¡±Fuck that¡¯s rough, sorry to hear that kid.¡± He made his tone emphatic but his face said he was enjoying the pain written on Kai¡¯s face. Some other Criminals close enough, started to chuckle. ¡°Yea women suck, always manipulating, honest to Arceus, some of em don¡¯t even realize they do. Best to stick to the men.¡± Brad said in a semi comforting tone. ¡±Maybe.¡± kai said distracted. ¡°So what are you in for?¡± Kai asked, trying to make conversation. ¡°Oh you know, nothing too bad.¡± He said licking his lips looking at Kai. Kai felt a shiver run down his spine. ¡°Perhaps you and I should sit next to each other during dinner, I can tell you all about it.¡± Brad continued. Kai¡¯s mind went blank. ¡±Fucking hell Brad! You disgusting piece of shit. You give crooks a bad name! Guard! Brad¡¯s at it again!¡± The foul man yelled. The guard reading his book got up angry and grabbed his baton. ¡°Alright Brad you earned yourself another month in solitary you disgusting piece of garbage.¡± ¡°Hey if the kid is willing, who are you to stop me from having some game!?¡± Brad yelled. Twack! ¡±OWW! FUCK! Fuck you!¡± Whack! whack! Brad was getting hit repeatedly by the guard, ¡°you gonna walk to the Jenny!? Or do I need to beat you and drag you to her!?¡± He yelled fuming. Brad held his nose and nursed his arm swelling already from getting hit while protecting his face, but he began to walk, while getting whipped by the guard. Kai was shaking. Pale as a ghost. This was the first time coming face to face with such blatant violence against people. ¡±w-wh-a j-j-j-just h-happ?¡± He couldn¡¯t finish his sentence, his body began to shake, something he couldn¡¯t stop. The nasty looking man sighed and yelled at another guard. ¡°Yo! This dumbass is going into shock! Ima sit him down for a bit!¡± The guard grunted and waved him off. The man deftly crawled under the factory line and guided Kai to a nearby bench. Some of the other criminals mimicked Kai¡¯s shaking, earning ugly looks from the other guards, and laughs from the other prisoners. Kai kept stammering gibberish, till he finally managed to say something. ¡±w-w-what dddid he mean with sit next to me? W-Why did he have such a creepy face?¡± He stammered. The man smiled darkly. But didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Why did that guard beat up Brad?¡± Kai asked still shaking. Now the nasty looking man sighed. ¡°Brad is here for life. He took a liking to male pokemon. The underage kind. Any way he can relieve himself of his vices he takes. Here he developed a liking for young guys with a boyish look like you. He likes it when they struggle.¡± The smack down of this harsh reality, while he was emotionally vulnerable made him go sick. ¡±He¡¯s already extended his sentence by 3 lifetimes. The one thing that is not allowed not even for the Jennies, is an execution. They simply hope one of the guards loses their cool on him and solve the problem that way.¡± He smiled darkly. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t count on it. No one wants to extend their stay here by another 20 years.¡± He looked at Kai, seeing Kai unable to process, he continued. ¡±This is your life now kid, get used to it. Make sure you don¡¯t show that sort of weakness with Brad, it gives that sick fuck a boner. Do it again and it will be on you.¡± He left and went back to his work. Kai looked around, all the prisoners smiled dark, cruelly or blew him kisses, one or two had the same creepy smile as Brad. ¡°I need to go to the bathroom!¡± He ran as quickly as he could. All prisoners working at the line, hollered. Riling up the guards who starter whacking people to get back to work. ¡±Look at that! told ya Brad would get the kid to puke today! That pot is mine!¡± A burly man yelled, laughing and hollering, while getting whacked by the guards. Kai got to the toiled bowl and retched out his breakfast. He locked the door and let himself go, wailing away. Some prisoner came in and left shortly after he heard Kai sobbing. ¡±whoo! I win the second pot! Sweety is crying his eyes out!¡± He yelled loud enough for Kai to hear past the door. He cried more, he no longer cared. He wasn¡¯t keeping track of how long he sat there, hugging a toilet bowl. He began to shiver, there was a drop in temperature. He gathered up his mind and looked around. Leaving the toilet stall looking around the rest room. A black hole opened up on the wall. He knew what that was, a pokemon move, he grabbed the exit door but it was locked, or more precisely. It was frozen and he couldn¡¯t move. Two pokemon walked into the room. He felt his soul leave his body. The Mimikyu he recognized immediately, something every ranger warned you about, unless you were a veteran with a solid veteran team to deal with wild Mimikyu, an encounter with one would usually be lethal. He looked at the second Pokemon that walked into the room. It was a Morgrem, it looked very familiar for some reason. A light went up in his mind. ¡±Impy?¡± He whispered. The Morgrem smiled wickedly and grabbed the sack, Mimikyu used to hide his true body and yanked it up. Kai felt his mind and soul fall into an endless abyss. Some real quality time ¡°How could I have been so stupid and not have seen it? Loki is loving this.¡± Carlos wondered for the tenth time tonight. This was Loki¡¯s 3rd and last fight. Loki was running low on TE but Loki smiled darkly, while stalking the Charmander. The match would start in 3¡­2¡­1.
Charmander LvL13 Fire 1020
HP 314 Flying 1020
Atk 48 A/U/S 4/2/4
Defense 15 A/U/S 4/2/4
Reflex 15 Normal 390
Speed 20 Dragon 390
Relaxed Male Blaze
¡°Double Leer! Stay on the defensive, dodge but stay close!¡± Carlos had to hand it to Loki, his expression of contempt tinged with subtle TE, almost made you feel sorry for the Charmander.
Charmander¡¯s speed&atk is reduced by 20% for 8 seconds!
¡±Scary face into Flamethrower!¡± ¡±Endure!¡± Carlos Countered Immediately.
Loki¡¯s atk reduced by 50% takes 44(88 cut in half) damage! only utility moves for .24 seconds 32HP remaining.
Carlos face was tense he knew this Charmander had a massive upper hand in levels and effective typing. The Massive Gout of fire looked impossible to dodge, Loki dodged perfectly. Jumping up, spinning in the air mitigating a massive amount of the effective type damage through his reflexes, high defense and endure. Still, all of that, removed more than half of his health. Inner focus and Loki¡¯s high utility defense, lowered the 1.2 second duration of Scary face, down to a measly .24 seconds. It meant by the time both Pokemon had recovered scary face¡¯s effect ran out. Knowing now how strong Flamethrower was, the next double leer In Carlos mind, should be enough. The Charmanders trainer smirked, thinking he had Loki on the ropes, Carlos simply confirmed his assumption with the command: ¡°Double Leer! again!¡±
Charmander¡¯s speed&atk is reduced by 40% for 8 seconds!
¡°I will outlast you dude! Scary face and Flamethrower, full blast!¡± Again Loki dodged perfectly, combined with the lack of speed on the Charmander, inflicting a poor aim, this flame thrower was far less effective and noticeably smaller.
Loki¡¯s atk reduced by 50% takes 17 damage, only utility moves for .24 seconds 14 HP remaining.
¡±Fuck that must hurt.¡± Carlos thought, while waiting for Scary face timer to run out, timing it perfectly, with the flinch of the Charmander move overuse. ¡°Foul play!¡± The Charmander¡¯s trainer was shocked when he registered Loki Survived the second flamethrower. ¡±Oh fuck, inner focus!¡± The Trainer exclaimed, hearing the command. Loki red hot from the Fire TE running havoc, ignored his agony and reacted instantly. Loki¡¯s footwork was subtle and fast, enhanced by dark TE. A one, two, three! step pirouette, closed to the distance and Loki delivered a sharp uppercut into the Charmander jaw, his blade hand drew a bit of blood slamming the jawshut while the big gout of fire still came out. The fire TE mixing with the dark TE, began burning the poor lizard on the inside. It was a critical strike, as some of the mixed TE, shot into its brain.
Charmander takes 104 critical damage! Charmander flinches badly!
The charmander began squirming and howled in agony as the pain wracked its brain. ¡°Good to know his impish Nature increases flinch durations¡± Carlos thought while waiting for Loki¡¯s flinch to run its course. ¡°Double foul play!¡± Carlos called, once Loki shook off his own flinch from overuse. He wasn¡¯t going to underestimate Pokemon, definitely not a higher level Charmander. ¡°I withdraw!¡± The trainer returned his Charmander quickly. Carlos nodded in approval. This would Allow the TE to disperse naturally and stem the pain the Charmander was in. ¡±The crowd that had gathered was disappointed the fight was over so quickly. Some of the more innocent looking trainers got a bit squeamish when Carlos command made it clear he was planning to ruthlessly stomp the Charmander into the ground. ¡±That¡¯s a tough Charmander.¡± Carlos commented. Foul play was an interesting move, it almost never did the same thing and it was a very nasty move when used against opponents with super high atk stats. ¡±Holy shit dude! I didn¡¯t think that Pawniard¡¯s could hit that hard!¡± The trainer exclaimed still recovering from his loss. ¡±Foul play sets the TE of your own Pokemon against it, that¡¯s why it hurt your Charmander so badly, his TE must be strong.¡± Not completely true but Carlos couldn¡¯t blab about stats and give away his Arceus system. ¡±Next time you might want to use taunt or Aerial ace instead, steel types seem to struggle a lot with mitigating damage when they are under it¡¯s effects and Aerial ace into flame thrower on the other hand would have given your Charmander a massive speed boost, enough for that flamethrower to 2 hit or most likely one hit my Pawniard.¡± Carlos shrugged at Loki¡¯s look of betrayal, ¡°sorry buddy, you kicked absolute butt, but we need to teach you swagger as soon as possible with how you fight.¡± The fact that both harden and swagger were known in the steel type community as prerequisites for iron defense made that move a no brainer for Loki. Hell Carlos wanted everyone to know iron defense if he could. After recovering mentally from his loss the trainer straightened himself up. ¡±Thanks, yea Charmander doesn¡¯t have taunt or Aerial ace yet but it should be no trouble for him. he¡¯s my starter.¡± He smiled, Carlos smiled likewise and shook his hand. The young man gave him his winnings. ¡°Thanks for the tip, or should I say confirmation I¡¯m training Crimson right.¡± He smirked at that.
Ability Blaze Fully analyzed: deal 50% more damage with Fire moves, you may superheat normal, ground, rock and steel moves. Additionally your mastery of fire TE allows you to add 3 additional fire moves or eligible moves for superheating as cardinal.
Carlos pushed the notification away, it explained how the Charmander had done as much damage. Also he didn¡¯t want to reminisce on ¡°what if?¡± in regards to Gawain. He couldn¡¯t do that to the stout badger. ¡°What brings you to Vermillion city? You don¡¯t strike me as a local.¡± Carlos asked, making conversation. The small crowd making bets dispersed. ¡°I came from Pallet town, I¡¯m here for my 3rd badge.¡± ¡±Ah so you are doing the victory road challenge? How do you feel about your chances tomorrow?¡± ¡±Pretty good actually! Near Pewter City I got myself a Geodude, while hiking from pewter to Cerulean an exeggcute and a swablu just flew up to me before the caves under mt Moon!¡± ¡°So will you use your starter? For Tomorrows match?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, dark types are fast but electric type specials are even worse. My charmander is currently a wallbreaker not a speed catcher I¡¯m afraid that it will become a slug match with the electric type winning that because they are so damn fast.¡± Carlos nodded, already giving him bonus points for tomorrow¡¯s match. The guy knew the limitations and strength of his team quite a bit better than Liam prior. ¡±So you going for a generalist team?¡± ¡±Yes and no?¡± He had a bit of a pained expression. ¡°I wanted to be a fire type specialist but with the exception of Charmander who I grew close with, I failed in securing a cubone, growlithe or a Ponyta. It seems I¡¯m missing something as a trainer in regards to fire types, which is weird yknow? Ever since I started living together with my Crimson, I feel this, this fire, a small flame growing slowly , so it¡¯s rather frustrating.¡± Carlos analyzed the kid while he rambled on, something a lot of people around the age of 18 did. Either an overload of angst or an overload of philosophical thought. After a few seconds, his Arceus system notified him about 32 points in dragon TE. This was an indication that this kid had an affinity for dragon typing, that had begun to slowly bloom. 32 TE over a period of more than 3 years wasn¡¯t much but it showed some potential. His Normal TE. Had grown from 100 to 170. This was above average for most beginner trainers. It drove home a big issue for Carlos, his growth, since finding human society had practically stunted. He found himself missing the simple reality of facing life or death. He had come to accept it and now it was gone. ¡±What about dragons? Have you considered that perhaps your inner fire is perhaps more aligned with your Charmanders latent dragon typing?¡± Carlos offered. The young man was flabbergasted, ¡°I didn¡¯t even consider that, dragon affinity with humans is so low.¡± Carlos saw the glint, that greed for power, he raised his hands. ¡°Look obviously im just theorizing here ok? So please don¡¯t go and catch yourself a Deino and next thing you know, I read about you getting eaten in the news because you got overexcited and got it to evolve prematurely. If you do have some latent dragon compatiblity you gotta start with the lets say easier dragons, like goomy and dratini. Hell you could potentially catch yourself a Mareep. Only Arceus knows why such fluffy cuddly Pokemon, have latent dragon typing, considering they are so easy going. Also Swablu is definitely dragon typed and if your Exeggcute has the Alolan gene, he will turn into a dragon as well.¡± ¡±oh my ARCEUS!!! that¡¯s it! thanks Sarge!¡± He was about to run off but Carlos caught him in an iron grip. ¡±First of what do you mean Sarge? And second of all. The only thing you will catch is a quick case of yamask, going out in the dark you absolute fool. Come with me to the Pokecenter now.¡± The young man struggled vainly against Carlos superior strength. ¡°You think I don¡¯t know who you are? Im scheduled to fight you. Seeing you walking around I figured I get a sense of the man I need to beat.¡± ¡±Ah so that¡¯s why you were so eager.¡± Carlos said smirking. Carlos looked at Pawniard still high on his victories, he noted how he kept a strong front but he was shaking. ¡°And you buddy, will need a quick check up. ¡°I don¡¯t wana go into the ball, I don¡¯t want to lose this vivid sensation sir, Ive never been so, so close to my limit.¡± ¡°If the nurses are fine with it, you don¡¯t have to ok?¡± Loki nodded at that. ¡±whats that all about?¡± The young man asked. ¡°Oh it¡¯s nothing, both my Cetoddle and Pawniard don¡¯t like sitting in their pokeball.¡± Saying that, Carlos let out gwen who shook off the tension from sitting in the pokeball. She always complained that it felt cramped, stuffy and dark in there. ¡°Let me guess, basic balls right?¡± ¡±what do you mean?¡± Carlos asked. While walking towards the center. He let go of the trainer. ¡±Come on man? Don¡¯t you ever look on the pokeball forums? Not a single trainer worth their salt keeps his Pokemon in a regular Pokeball. Why else do you think there are so many variations? Pokeballs are like a tiny house you sit in and if you hate that house and your trainer makes you, then how do you think your Pokemon are going to feel? Besides ever since the introduction of the v3 ball I¡¯ve heard nothing but complaints about it on the net. Every bit or research done, shows barely any difference in learning moves and growing stronger but conveniently, all research is done by shareholders of Silph and Co, so that¡¯s already a conflict of interest.¡± The trainer, who introduced himself as Finnley Grayson, had put his tinfoil hat on and kept rambling about everything wrong with the v3 Pokeball, Carlos was amused but also quite curious and kept asking questions, he wanted to know more. Apparently the OG Pokemon ball. The v1 was a revolutionary discovery and ingenious engineering decades ago, at least according to the traditionalist trainers like Finnley. The v1 was a technological marvel that tied human and Pokemon TE together, while they were in the Pokeball, allowing the relationship between trainer and Pokemon to grow even while in the Pokeball. Carlos couldn¡¯t help but think on how his first three descrbed the experience, vs how Gwen and Loki described it. All pokeballs designs since, were built of the of miracle scientific engineering of the v1. This was all public information. Finnley lead Carlos down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories. Most of it was circumstantial, based on experiences tinged with emotions. Apparently the community was somewhat divided on the subject. Some like Finnley raved and lamented, how production of the v1 ball had been faded out in favor of specialist balls and the v3. Which besides all of its flaws, was shown time and time again, to be not that different from the v1. The v1 however was about as difficult to produce as an ultra ball but not as profitable, since it¡¯s prices were regulated. The ultra ball, or the v4 was better in every shape or form but also would cost a years salary for Carlos to Purchase. As such the v1 lost favor in the management and sales department of silph & Co. ¡°So is there a v2?¡± ¡±yea that¡¯s the digit balls the gyms and proffesors use to not bond with the Pokemon they use and raise.¡° ¡±So what¡¯s the big deal between the v1 and v3 then? I mean from what I¡¯m reading here, it was a pragmatic decision with the ever rising need for mass quantities of Pokeballs. Say what you will, not everyone has the money to buy specialist balls or ultra balls. Besides you are using v3 balls yourself right?¡± The trainer scoffed. He looked around and dragged a somewhat amused at the conspiratorial behavior Carlos, into a small alley. ¡°No I got my hands on some second hand v1 balls. Don¡¯t let the paintjob fool you, I only make them look like v3, because shady people love to steal them. They can go for quite the price on some of the dark trade. Here let me show you.¡± He let out his Geodude of his ball. The Geodude intoned his name rather aloof. He didn¡¯t seem to be all there, he waved, while balancing on one hand. It looked well taken care of with his rocky skin well polished. Before he could properly analyze the mon with his Arceus system, Finnley tapped him on the shoulder. ¡°Here on the inside you can see the model number and when it was produced.¡± The trainer pointed out some tiny letters. ¡°How long have you been on the road and how long have you had that Geodude?¡± ¡°About 2 months now? Ive had Rocky for about 3 weeks. He¡¯s a bit off it seems, haven¡¯t checked his nature yet but he¡¯s pretty chill, barely took me any effort to get him to like me.¡± ¡±Can my Cetoddle do a mock battle with your Geodude? Say 5 moves? She¡¯s defensively trained so it will be a sponge fight but I don¡¯t want her to feel neglected.¡± This wasn¡¯t the truth, the moment the Geodude materialized he saw something. Something he observed in his first three. A bond and relationship that seemed natural. Unlike like the strain he experienced subtly with Gwen and more obviously with Loki. He looked at Loki and gave him a small smile and nod. Loki nodded back. It was always difficult to gauge his expression with his facial shape. Finnley called his Geodude. And they walked to another battlefield. They were littered all over the place in the city. Carlos had to really strain not to have his eyes bug out at the Geodude. It had a nature that was more rare than the ¡°shiny¡± gene and had an extremely warped stat sheet. Both Pokemon squared off. After the 4th move, it reminded Carlos of that double metapod battle and both trainers spamming Harden. With the exception of a bit of TE drain, both Pokemon walked away without a scratch. Two defenders against each other was a boring match and the crowd from earlier was all but gone. But it confirmed something for Carlos. He looked at the insides of Gwen and Loki¡¯s ball. Both v3 models. He had a dark brown suspicion that his first three Pokeballs were in fact v1 balls.
Geodude LvL9 Rock 434
HP 954 Ground 424
Atk 9 A/U/S 5/1/4
Defense 13.5 A/U/S 5/1/4
Reflex 9 Normal 434
Speed 9 Sturdy
Savant Male (Hidden)
Sturdy:gain 50% to HP and Defense. Critical hits do not bother you, neither do moves that hurt you to use. Additionally your body is very efficient in using TE to recover from injury. Stolen novel; please report. ¡°You know how utterly insane your Geodude is right?¡± Finnley laughed. ¡°Yea I know, I could never give up this guy, haven¡¯t gotten a good name for him, he can take so much pain it¡¯s not even funny.¡± ¡±Geo pain, abstract, concept. Ignore, it goes away. dude¡±. ¡°That¡¯s just you dude.¡± Carlos smiled at the whacky Geodude. He bent down and fed Gwen some snacks. ¡°Good job girl, you did well.¡± ¡°Of course snack man!¡± Gwen as usual almost chomped Carlos arm along. She liked how he tastes. ¡°I wonder if that¡¯s part of how she bonds. Tasting the members of her pod, ugh should have asked Carolyn.¡± He thought, half paying attention to Finnley rambling on about his strategy on training his geodude.¡± ¡°Once I teach him Recover he will simply be unstoppable!¡± Carlos caught the end of Finnley¡¯s rant. ¡°Yea I¡¯m already dreading having to fight your ¡­. Thing when you¡¯re done training him.¡± Carlos fed both Loki and Gwen some more as they arrived at the center. The Joy on call looked up. ¡±The thing..¡± Finnley muttered. While walking along. ¡±Hey Carlos! Ah I see your Loki needs some medical attention.¡± A Chansey already walked up and started using some healing moves. ¡°So what happened to your date?¡± She asked. ¡±How do you know about that?¡± Carlos asked surprised. ¡°Surge came by to pick something up. I swear I don¡¯t know what it is about that man, that gets him this much game.¡± She shook his head. ¡°He does look like he would be wel¡­¡± she muttered, but Carlos zoned that out. He was not into sausages. She ran some checks with her medical dex. ¡°Your Loki is now officially not allowed to fight for 2 days, doctor¡¯s orders. Make sure he eats well and recovers his TE.¡± She said after she was done with her scans, Loki Pouted but Carlos noted how the soreness was affecting his otherwise crisp moves. Nurse Joy turned to Finnley. ¡°What about you? Here again to check out your freak of nature?¡± She smiled warmly at Geodude. ¡°No offense meant with that, ya cutie,¡± she rubbed its head. ¡±Geo None taken.¡± ¡°Oh yes! My Charmander got hit bad with a nasty foul play from his Pawniard. He kept craddling his head afterwards.¡± He gave her the Pokeball and she walked towards A TE device and did some scans. ¡±Hmmm, yea I will keep him here overnight and disperse the foreign TE. Some of it got into his brain. It¡¯s something that would disperse naturally but would cause a lot of pain over the next week. After I¡¯m done with him he will be good as rain. But definitely no more battles for the next 12 hours or so. Was that all for you two?¡± She looked at them both, a small line of people was building behind them, as people came in to get their Pokemon a check up after the evening birds got their battles done. ¡±Yes, me and Finnley began to talk about what Pokemon would potentially be compatible with him and he got a bad case of¡­¡± ¡±Catch fever, say no more.¡± She finished Carlos sentence. ¡±Id like to place a call to Blackthorne.¡± ¡±Ooh you¡¯re such a diligent boyfriend¡± the nurse cooed. ¡°Sure thing suga bun. Private booth 4 is available. If she ever dumps you give me a call~¡± she flirted, and began helping whoever was behind Carlos. Carlos smiled and waved a struggling Finnley, carried by a Chansey into a room, goodbye. Carlos couldn¡¯t help but notice how he got a whole bunch of odd looks from female trainers. ¡°Seems there really is a social faux pass to dating a Joy.¡± He thought quietly to himself. ¡°Their loss.¡± He grinned. He got into the booth and dialed up Blackthorne Center and Corey¡¯s Personal number. It only rang for a second before she picked up. Her face was completely neutral but he saw a glint of surprise and relief? ¡°You are back quick.¡± She said. Her tone definitely held some surprise. Carlos raised an eyebrow amused. ¡°So how do you know about me going out on a half assed date, that Surge threw onto me about an hour ago.¡± He looked at his shadow. ¡°You got a shuppet on your team I¡¯m not aware off?¡± ¡±HEY I WOULD¡­¡± she snapped but held herself back and composed herself. ¡±I would never invade your privacy like that.¡± She had the slightest blush to her face. ¡°Babe answer the question please, how do you know about this?¡± Carlos decided to push it a bit. He didn¡¯t mind a bit of Possessiveness, he thought it was hot, a nice spice of life, too much was Yandere. He really didn¡¯t want one of those. ¡°Carolyn is stationed here, sweety. She talks and it was obvious she took a shine to you, helping her out with her life long dream of owning a Cetoddle.¡± Corey sighed. ¡°God how are you so perceptive yet so, oblivious?¡± I¡¯m certainly not oblivious to any of it and you make perceiving easy darling, now hold up. She told me she¡¯d been working on it for over a year or two. Not her whole life.¡± Carlos asked. Cory pinched the bridge of her nose but once she lowered her hand, she revealed her smile. ¡°You are such a smart, cunning and ruthless man. I sometimes forget you don¡¯t know our culture and it makes you look like such a lovable cute, innocent idiot instead.¡± ¡±Ok, so what did I do now?¡± Carlos smirked, shit eating grin on his face. ¡±Sweety, you vouched for her, to one of the most Powerful Pokemon in this region. Stood with her, fearlessly presenting her case. Cetoddle are incredibly rare, practically unique in the indigo league dear. Unless you dedicate your life, you will never get to have one.¡± ¡±yea. I can see how that might have looked from her perspective. But why didn¡¯t you let her know you were my girl?¡± Carlos raised his eyebrow. This made the slight blush on Cory¡¯s face get more pronounced. ¡±Regular women can be possessive of men that aren¡¯t even their boyfriend in the rare case they are dating a Jenny or Joy.¡± Carlos was a bit surprised. ¡°So you never let her know directly?¡± Cory shook her head. ¡°No I told her you were pretty serious about another woman. Carolyn however got a bit of a catch fever when it came to you, decided she would dazzle you. She even send me a picture of her dress. Asking for good luck.¡± ¡±Oh boy, she certainly tried to dazzle me, poor Carolyn.¡± Carlos smirked. ¡°I might have straight up told her I was dating you.¡± ¡±you didn¡¯t!¡± She beamed a smile. ¡°Here I am making sure to keep our little secret discreet, and you go ahead and set a whole litter of Meowth out.¡± ¡±You don¡¯t seem to be too upset about it.¡± Carlos was trying to get a read on Corey, she was all over the place. Corey flashed him a proud smile. ¡°Let me have this sweetie, I¡¯m enjoying my brave boyfriend. Many Joy¡¯s have come to accept that their relationship is always on the down low.¡± Carlos talked a bit more with Corey but he was tired, she was tired. And they said goodbye. Yearning for the weekend. He decided to use the pokenet to look around and was kind of flabbergasted at what he found. The subject on dating Joy¡¯s and Jenny¡¯s was a hotly debated subject. It was a brutal factional warfare of the traditionalist, vs the joy clan, vs the jenny clan, vs the interspecies clan vs the traditionalist, coming full circle. Carlos was really, REALLY surprised and weirded out about some people, basically admitting, through lack of response, or vague answers, that they had a relationship with one of their Pokemon. He did some search and it was estimated that least than 3% of people dated a jenny, Joy or Pokemon. The traditionalist lobbed all 3 of them together. Hence the social stigma attached. They definitely didn¡¯t proclaim it to the world or talk about it in public. Considering the weird looks Carlos got, just from some flirtatious banter with a Joy. He could see why people didn¡¯t openly admit this sort of thing in Public. Carolyn¡¯s earlier response had quite frankly pissed him off. However he felt the traditionalists, joy and Jenny clan. Made good points about the dangers of interspecies relationships. He vividly remembered bunny town. In this moment, without the cute charm affecting him, the memory of it, made him sick. He turned the terminal off. ¡°That¡¯s enough internet for today.¡± He murmured. He looked back and cracked a smile. Gwen and Loki had fallen asleep. The booth had a small couch and Gwen had splayed her whole body across while Loki used her like a Pillow. He snapped a picture and sent it to Carolyn, Cory and the other two rangers. > Wildsarge.
¡°Nothing like a long day of work to get a little brother and sister bonding.¡±
>NurseDory.
¡±awwww! I just can¡¯t get over how cute your Cetoddle is! And your Pawniard cuddled into it. OMA(oh my Arceus)!¡±
>CareRanger
¡°You said it sis! I was pissed at dumbass trainer a second ago. This makes it all ok.¡±
>WildSarge.
¡±@CareRanger. Yea sorry about that :), your evening ok?¡±
>Gregorian.
¡±ah looks like someone is still alive. Good to see your Cetoddle is doing ok. Is that Pawniard doing ok? He looks hurt.¡±
>WildSarge.
¡°@Gregorian Tired, proud and Satisfied. He beat a Higher lvl starter Charmander by the skin¡­ steel? of his teeth. He tanked 2 flamethrowers spammed leer then punched the Charmanders lights out.¡±
>CareRanger.
¡°Yea it was ok until Surge and his date tried to convince me of a threesome, so i went back to the hotel I¡¯m staying at.
>WildSarge
¡±Yea I don¡¯t know how he gets away with it. He somehow taps into something with slightly older women, which rules you out ;)¡±
>NurseDory/CareRanger.
¡°smooth save there bro ;)¡±
>WildSarge
¡°@NurseDory/CareRanger. Guess you could say im a Smooth criminal.¡±
>NurseDory/CareRanger.
-_- -_-
>RangerRoar.
¡±Wow, Thats a scary Pawniard. How did he beat a Charmander? Does he have the Bold nature?¡±
>WildSarge
¡°Impish actually, in combination with his inner focus he was able to break through the scary face effect and catch the Charmander and his trainer off guard, during an overuse flinch.¡±
>Gregorian.
Sounds like a short but decisive match.
>RoryRocks.
¡°Yo you got one of those fancy new Pokedex, those automatically record or tap into the local video feed whenever you battle, there should be link. upload it for us I wanna see!¡± >WildSarge. ¡°Really? One sec¡­. Oh! Here it is, link¡±
>CareRanger.
¡±Noooo! This the Cetoddle chat! not the creepy Pawniard chat! How can you discuss and review a brutal battle when you have such a gorgeous girl sleeping next to you Sarge?
>NurseDory.
¡±@CareRanger. You see what I¡¯m working with? Scraps, scraps I tell you!¡±
>CareRanger.
¡°I had no idea he was such a battle freak, no wonder he challenged my Cetoddle to battle his.
>NurseDory.
¡± -_- Why was I ever worried?
>WildSarge.
¡±@NurseDory. You were never worried because you trust me, right? ?? @RoryRock. Btw did the link work?
>NurseDory.
¡±Sure babe ;), love and miss you!¡±
>WildSarge.
¡±Ugh, the cruel blade to the heart! ;)¡±
>CareRanger.
¡±God damn sis, you should have just told me, now I look even more silly for getting dressed up.¡±
>RoryRocks
¡°DUDE! That fight was over so fast, that foul play was BRUTAL. That sick cruel smile on your Pawniard when he hits¡­ beautiful, you are an ace in the making!¡±
>Gregorian.
¡±That¡¯s a little premature, but you definitely earned that moniker, Sarge ;).¡±
>WildSarge.
¡±@CareRanger. Give us a Selfie of your dress and let the judges decide, I will guarantee you, Silly is the last thing on anyone¡¯s mind. @RoryRocks, yes, His charmander is trained as a wallbreaker, which became clear with how strong it¡¯s Flamethrower is. Foul Play and its upgrades, are the Counter Dark types have come up with. @Gregorian. It¡¯s not that hard, to curbstomb noobs with a good set of electric types ;)¡±
>NurseDory.
¡±@WildSarge. You keep taking like that, I¡¯m realizing I¡¯m more into bad boys than good boys. I hate to leave but I gotta go gotta do my rounds. Cya this weekend sweety!¡±
>WildSarge.
¡°Cya babe!
>NurseDory left the chat. >RoryRocks.
¡±So you and nurseDory, are a genuine item huh? Can¡¯t say I blame ya. She¡¯s a total babe.¡±
>WildSarge.
¡±She stalked and prowled, my poor poor self down like the ruthless Persian she is. Yes we are a very tight item, I had no chance of Survival. Dude. :)¡±
>Gregorian.
¡±Well you are certainly an honest upfront man. Truthfully, the older I get the less I understand this drama around dating Joy¡¯s or Jennies a few of my peers after years of keeping it secret and discreet came out. And it just gets ya thinkin yaknow? What¡¯s the big deal?¡±
>CareRanger.
¡±Not this again! There is a reason for the social stigmas! How many links do i need to send you! link, link, link, link, link, link, link, Look at those fools!¡±
>WildSarge.
¡°There is actually a reason for that. Men exude testosterone through their sweat, women estrogen. It¡¯s how our bodies know if we are compatible. Turns out that when a dude like me is compatible with a Joy, they tend to be extremely sensitive to the estrogen a Joy or potentially Jenny exude. If the Joy¡¯s don¡¯t catch it can lead to an overdose or overload. Those guys in those links are suffering from delirium due to hormone poisoning or whatever the medical term is. On the flip side if you¡¯re not compatible a guy¡¯s body would not react with the estrogen at all.¡±
>Gregorian.
¡±Well that definitely rules me out, never found them attractive at all, pleasing to look at but i find grass Pokemon pleasing to look at too.¡±
>RoryRocks.
¡±Me too i guess? Don¡¯t get me wrong I find them attractive, but im definitely not going gaga for them. *shiver*, like one of those guys.¡±
>CareRanger. ¡±You are shitting me right? How is that not common knowledge? If it is im so sorry for how I acted I didn¡¯t know ??¡± >WildSarge.
¡±Dead serious, in fact me only seeing her on the weekends is actually necessary for about 2 more months so my body can acclimate. The reason it¡¯s not common knowledge is because only 3% of men at best are compatible and only 3% of those will have that reaction. And I don¡¯t belong to that last 3%.
>RoryRocks.
¡±wait that might mean i am compatible?¡±
>WildSarge.
¡±Could be but I gtg. Been away from my other three pokemon for a bit too long for my liking. Feels weird. Cya guys.
After all three said their goodbye he put his Dex away. He was about to pick up Loki but he stirred awake a bit groggily then shocked himself into full ready mode ¡±Wait where am i!?¡± ¡±In the phone booth in the Pokemon center. Let¡¯s go back home. Been away too long and I need to get some shut eye.¡± Loki nodded, Carlos saw him eyeing his pokeball, and relief settled in, when Carlos didn¡¯t return him. Carlos got up and picked up Gwen. She had almost doubled in size since he got her. But his with his strength it was nothing. ¡±Seems to me, it stands to reason we should find a better Pokeball for you and Gwen. Tell me, how do you experience it?¡± ¡±Like I Told you before. Stuffy, cramped, kinda hard to breathe, even though I know I don¡¯t need to breathe. If you think that¡¯s necessary, it might be uncomfortable but I can handle it.¡± They walked out of the booth and waved the Nurse Joy away who cooed seeing him carry his Gwen, onto the streets. The night was bright with lights. Couples walking around and some wild Rattata or trubbish scuttling around. They seemed to prefer the city over the forest. ¡±Hmm, your sister Gwen describes it the same. I wonder how that works though. Kong, Dianne and Gawain describe it quite differently. I know you can handle it Loki, but if you can¡¯t relax your body can¡¯t absorb the experience properly. For the time being we will keep you and Gwen out of the ball. I used to sleep with the other three for warmth, but you might not want that.¡± Loki gave him a look. ¡°Seriously? Even tough-brother?¡± ¡°Yup but like i said it wasn¡¯t anything coochy smoochie what you are imagining. It was for warmth. The mountains are cold.¡± ¡±Huh, how do you propose we deal with my serrated body parts?¡± Loki smirked and made a hugging motion and wriggled. Driving the point across. Carlos Shrugged, ¡°I was thinking back to back. How do Pawniard sleep together then?¡± ¡°Alone, if we get too close to each other our blades sometimes chip.¡± ¡±A chipped blade is considered a bad thing for pawniard¡¯s and Bisharps right?¡± Loki nodded looking around and the dwindling amount of people as the city slowly went to sleep. Pondering. ¡±Losing your edge. Is considered an unforgivable weakness. Only the strongest of us are able to sharpen their blades to perfection and reach the position of King. My tribe never thought I would be one. I¡¯ve had to resharpen my blades too many times already to become my own king. I began to wander away hoping perhaps a trainer would catch me. A steel trainer caught me I did ok for a while but he. Relied mostly on me using iron head. I lost a couple of fights that should have been easy wins.¡± Loki paused. Carlos had begun to see a somewhat clearer picture of what was going on. Loki suffered from abandonment issues. He sighed. ¡±I didn¡¯t buy you specifically to be the best. I bought you because I thought we would be compatible. If we come face to face with roadblocks I want to solve them.¡± Loki stopped mid track. ¡°We will see. I¡¯m used to resharpening myself at this point.¡± Carlos got an idea in his head. ¡°You know what I just thought?¡± Loki shook his head. ¡°Obviously I don¡¯t. I don¡¯t get to read your thoughts or feelings.¡± ¡±Another thing I never bothered asking.¡± Carlos palmed the Pokeball of Loki. From the corner of his eyes he could see Loki flinch ever so slightly. ¡°My my, you really do have trust issues huh? I meant what i said Loki I¡¯m not going to put you back into the ball for the time being.¡± He smirked but was serious with the latter part. ¡±For the time being? How long is that? 5 minutes?¡± Carlos heard him scoff. He raised his eyebrow at that. ¡°Is that your dark typing talking? It¡¯s ok to be honest me and Dianne have it too.¡± Carlos asked. Loki shrugged. ¡°Seems like it. Ever since doubt entered my mind. It eats away at me. Ironically it makes me stronger.¡± Carlos stepped in front of him. ¡°How so?¡± ¡±It¡¯s weakness to rely on others I must rely on myself.¡± Carlos sighed and looked around and saw a bench. ¡±Come let me show you something.¡± He gently put a thoroughly knocked out Gwen who he was still carrying down on the bench and put a snack in her mouth, Cetoddle¡¯s apparently loved to snack in their sleep. Carlos grabbed his dex and looked up the fight he had against the 3 losers back in Blackthorne. It was on the vermillion gym site and already had 12 million views. He was getting popular and also some money from those videos but since they weren¡¯t on a public site, most of the money went to the Gym instead. Not that he cared. Surge paid him well, as far as gym trainer salaries went. He pulled it up and hit play, letting Loki watch the fight from beginning to end. ¡°What l¡¯m trying to show off here, isn¡¯t how awesome we are but how our awesome teamwork defeated superior numbers.¡± Carlos said. Loki scoffed. ¡±Those three trainers were stupid. The fairy guy thought like a fighter, the psychic guy like a fire guy and the poison one was too scared. They should have won.¡± ¡°Exactly they should have won but didn¡¯t. They weren¡¯t just stupid. They didn¡¯t help each other, only relied on themselves. me and my mon¡¯s hunted them down like prey. On your own you won¡¯t make it Loki. You are still prey. Question is. Do you want to be the hunter? The apex predator? Seeing you fight that Charmander I think it¡¯s the latter.¡± Loki gave Carlos that indescribable look. The same one the Lopunny gave him, the same one the Gawain¡¯s dying mother gave him. Hell he caught Kong, Dianne and Gawain looking at him like that in their own. ¡±It¡¯s weird, I know I should feel something, but I¡¯m not.¡± Loki said after a while. Carlos sighed. ¡°That¡¯s ok Loki, take your time. Like everyone in your past, I¡¯ve made mistakes with you as well, I didn¡¯t recognize your drive to improve.¡± ¡±You aren¡¯t angry I lied?¡± Carlos shook his head. ¡°No to be honest I didn¡¯t believe anything you said about that trainer who sold you. It didn¡¯t add up to his profile, the way he described you. There is such a thing as compatibility you know? You gotta find your groove, your edge. Surround yourself with people that sharpen your edge. So far me and my team are the only one who have done that for you from what I can tell. I do apologize if we demand the sharpest edge. You think you are up for the task?¡± Loki got that fire in his eyes again and nodded. ¡°Good let¡¯s head back I¡¯ve done more talking today than in a week. Any more and my reputation of stern stoic drill sergeant is gonna take a hit.¡± Loki chuckled at that. ¡°Can¡¯t have that.¡± Back at the gym Carlos headed to his Pokemon room and gently put Gwen down on what constituted her bed. The other 3 were fast asleep and Loki bade him goodnight. He closed the door and went to his own room as he opened the door he heard a voice in the Darkness. ¡±Well you certainly know how to make a lady wait.¡± Carlos got a massive grin. ¡°Hey Corey, I thought you had your rounds to do.¡± ¡±She whispered. ¡°Absolutely, You are my forever patient.¡± Loki POV As Carlos locked the door, his three officers were wide awake and rushed him. He had to admit it was weird to see a fighting and dark Pokemon so, caring. What was wrong with them? ¡±You fought.¡± Kong grumbled, ¡°I knew I should have come along, no fair.¡± Of course the fighting mon knew he fought. Loki scoffed.¡±pfff, the ones I fought were strong but hardly a challenge for you blindfolded, you would have been bored to death.¡± ¡°But you won, and you won well.¡± Dianne purred. ¡°Good you needed a victory.¡± Loki agreed but disliked her calculated tone. How she managed to appear like a Yamper to Carlos was beyond him. She really had him wrapped up in her fur. ¡°Wow you fought one of my kin. A-a p-powerful one at that. I can still smell the fire on you.¡± Gawain said meekly. Loki cringed at that. How was a powerful Cyndaquil whom he struggled to even hit or hurt and ran circles around him in a match so¡­. Insecure? It made no sense. ¡°How is your progress going with trail blaze?¡± Loki asked, he disliked Gawain the least. The other two were far too smug for him. ¡±D-decent.¡± Gawain said. Loki scoffed. ¡°aka you practically mastered the move, once again proving you are the superior intellect of this group.¡± ¡±My my, anything to take a dig at me huh?¡± Dianne purred but it had a slight sharpness to it. ¡°Like you need any reminder of your monstrous talent.¡± Loki scoffed again. ¡°Now if you don¡¯t mind, boss-man ran me ragged all because I showed the slightest bit of interest in fighting.¡± ¡±Oooooh you positively enjoyed it, I can tell~¡± Dianne purred again. Kong chuckled and yipped at that. ¡°Hue, hue, hue, edgy-bro called boss-mon by his real title.¡± He slapped Loki on his shoulder pad and went back to his own sleeping spot. Right along the ceiling there was a ridge with some rope. Dianne smirked and didn¡¯t say anything. She gave him a look. She didn¡¯t need to say anything. ¡±Uncle really is kind when you get to know him, even with asholes sometimes, so you have nothing to worry about.¡± Gawain said with a completely straight face and went back to his sleeping spot. Loki was so dumbfounded at the insult he didn¡¯t even take any offense, as a dark type he respected the burn, Kong yipped again in glee repeating the word. he looked at Dianne, who shrugged with a smug grin. ¡°He has his moments.¡± She quipped. ¡°That¡¯s because you taught me well big-siss¡± Gawain said sleepily. ¡°My my what have you done big sis what are you teaching the Valiant hearted?¡± Loki quipped before he could hold himself back. ¡±Shush you will wake ice-sis, we don¡¯t want to have to feed you to her just because she woke up hungry. She doesn¡¯t like your metal taste.¡± Dianne teased. ¡±Oh I¡¯m sure we can feed her deep-bro. She doesn¡¯t mind his flavor.¡± He teased back. ¡±Pffff.¡± Was Kong¡¯s response. Dianne chuckled at that. Loki wondered when it was exactly, that he began to tolerate this crazy group of misfits. He really didn¡¯t like it. He hated this sort of vulnerability but since his latest trainer seemed a bit more determined than the last 4 he might as well enjoy it while it lasts. The Next morning he woke up. He felt different. He felt better. Better than he had felt in a long time. The others were stirring awake he rushed outside through the window and began to run through some of the routine training Carlos had laid out for him. ¡±How is this possible?¡± He muttered shocked to himself. He had leveled and not just that. He had gained something, he had stopped dreaming off a long time ago. He had Gained an improvement to his base, his core. He was more fortified. An acknowledgment and blessing of Arceus himself, that he saw him defeat stronger opponents. ¡±Ah I see those 3 fights back to back paid off and your base defense went up Nice! Congrats Loki!¡± He twirled around and there stood a grinning Carlos genuinely happy, Loki smiled while inwardly hating himself how little that smile meant to him it wasn¡¯t right, he should feel more for this guy but he didn¡¯t. Where in Arcues name, am I? Oh look a Shiny! Falling through an endless abyss. How does one even describe it? How does one describe it to themselves? Kai saw the centuries past and the many lengthy ¡°what if¡¯s¡±, all the different ways history could unfold, strung in a dizzying array of strings. Kai reached out and tried to pluck one, he couldn¡¯t budge it. It burned him in a hellish fire when he touched it. It almost consumed him in an instant but his mind let go fast enough for him to survive the flames of purgatory. He fell backwards in time, to the side down up and along the infinite possibilities forward. Falling backwards, back to when he first met Sara. He looked at his own goofy face and cringed. No wonder Sara never considered him a potential love interest. Gosh was he really that ugly? Looking at Sara he saw her smile. That smile, that hooked him all those years ago. Now with everything that happened, that smile looked insidious. So fake, so infuriating. ¡±From the fucking start.¡± He muttered silently to himself. Kai fell backwards further. And he freaked out, he saw his mother giving birth, to him. He saw everything, like an X-ray. He saw the blood, he saw himself getting squeezed out. How it bent his bones into unbelievable angles. The aggravation of his Grandfather sitting in the hallway simmering. The worry of his grand mother. A string from his mother attached to him and another. He followed that other string. Finding his deadbeat father fucking another woman while his mother was giving birth. Both looked so ugly to him in this moment. He saw both events at the same time. He hated everything about it. The pain and anger his mother felt. He saw how those emotions ran through the string to him. How the lust his father experienced in that moment, also ran through the string, connected to him as well. ¡±Fuck, good to know I got shit running through my veins.¡± He thought. Kai felt sick. Sick at his good for nothing dad, sick from the resentment festering in his mother¡¯s heart ruined any and all chance for a good childhood. He didn¡¯t remember much of her. She left him to his grandparents when he was three. Kai fell backwards further. His mother begging his father to stay. Not to leave him but he pulled himself loose and left. Kai saw, knew that his mother was pregnant with him in that moment. Kai fell backwards further, same scenery half an hour earlier. his father walking into his mother half naked with another man. something became clear. ¡±She wasn¡¯t angry with him. She was angry with herself.¡± He thought. Just to agonize him further. He saw a strand. A side branch. A what if. Him growing up with both his mom and father. Both proud of his achievements as a trainer. Him getting married to a submissive elegantly dressed Sara. Her smile was utterly mesmerizing. ¡°Is she for real or did she just get better at smiling? Kai thought to himself. Venom boiled in his heart. A big part of him still longed and craved for the ignorance of love. Kai fell backwards further. To when his father fought in the war. How he looked at a battlefield. The remains of a small town. The gruesome aftermath of a multiple skill linked electrodes, set up as a carpet bomb. The eviscerated bodies of the villagers strewn across the field. All the buildings leveled, blood and gore everywhere, scorched black from the electricity. His field of vision zoned in on his father¡¯s eyes. How big they seemed. How he could still see the bodyparts strewn all over the place in the reflection of those eyes. An electrode covered in blood and gore hopped towards his father. His father¡¯s eyes completely dead. He could see the dead look of the Electrode in the reflection. Something massive for an instant in that reflection. A visage of death in his fathers eyes. Kai shivered. That dead look got burned on into his soul. Kai fell backwards further. To before the war. His father on one knee in front of his Mother. Proposing. His father¡¯s heart plain for him to see beating with an innocent passion. His mother completely smitten with his father. Both utterly deeply in love. ¡±How did that go wrong?¡± He felt sadness overwhelming him. In this moment, both his parents burned so utterly bright. He fell backwards further to when his father was on his own Journey. It was weird to see. Three years going back His father following around another girl, hopelessly in love. He recognized her. It was the same woman he was sleeping with when Kai was born. He couldn¡¯t help but be reminded of Sara when he saw that woman. Kai fell backwards further to when his father was born. and further. Somewhere along the line he fell along his mother¡¯s life, forward this time. How she fell in love with a vibrant passionate goofball. Who came back after his year of service at the start of the war, as a dead husk. him drinking himself into oblivion for months. Him leaving for almost a year. Unable to be the husband he wanted to be. Unable to be the husband she needed. How the marriage was in effect over, how he returned after that year but she was already seeing someone else. The old flame and love burning brightly for one last time. Down the centuries he went backwards again. Following countless strings that all tied into eachother. All of it leading to the moment of his birth. So many strings. So many infinite strings. How little his life had meant, yet the nexus of his fate was ever bright. He witnessed the birth of the first Jenny and Joy. How their clans fought a silent war of principle, without blood and violence in the backgrounds of society over the centuries. Constantly pulling on either side. One, holding to the ideals of care and nurture. The other in law and order. Kai didn¡¯t notice but seeing so much, too much, changed him. Many events were horrifying. So many people in his line had miserable lives, he hated the legacy he perpetuated but it gave him clarity as to where that lack of motivation had originated from. It was surreal to see how much impact his ancestors actions had on how he behaved. Down the centuries, centuries before he was born. To a moment where a poor man and woman were killed by a vicious looking Malamar. They hugged together and died. The starving Malamar feasted on their brains. The Malamar suffered for it but lived due to his dark typing. Their spirits burned and melded together and Kai and the burning spirit, got dragged into Purgatory. They were his great great great great parents. They left behind an orphaned boy that would continue the line, until Kai came along. Inside Purgatory. A grand grey wyrm with a deadly golden visage, crescents gold, burning red fire. Sharp rending clawed wings. Shepherding an uncountable amount of burning souls, some nothing more than little candles, others brighter that the sun. It mattered not. All were driven into the furnace. The furnace of the universe, its center. Where all light coalesced into an endless light. Kai and the burning molding of spirit, that had dragged him into this sea of light, fell to the wayside into an endless darkness. Inky blackness that let no light in. The great Wyrm¡¯s gaze fell upon him and the burning molding soul. Kai was thrust back into the future. To the very moment a tiny ghost, unable to remember who and what it was, coalesced into existence. So terrible to look upon, it brought with it a sliver of that absolute abyss, so terrified of itself, it covered itself with a sack. Crafting it into a facsimile of a living thing. It wandered and wandered all over. It hid whenever hewmons approached. It hated hewmons. It reminded it of¡­ something. What was that something? Paaaaaaiiiin so much paaaaaaiiiin. it wandered for so many years, feasting on the negative emotions of hewmons, ever so slowly growing. The pain slightly less obnoxious. Singularly focused on never getting caught, always avoiding the hewmons. It became good at never getting caught. Yet he could never go away. Something about the hewmons pulled it in. It spotted a small pink hewmon? No it was too bright and dark for that. Maybe someone to finally play with. The brightness of the pinky felt familiar. It removed its sack, maybe this one would be kind to tell it, tell it what again? The pink looking thing turned around shocked. A bright light enveloped the pinky as it howled in agony. Pinky hewmon grew larger. Not much but it had black hair now. Clawed hands and a big big smile. It covered it with the sack and whispered. Oh how they whispered for many days, so many fun whispers. The whispers made sense. The pinky told it of another friend. They walked softly and quickly through the shadows and found a hewmon!? No it hated hewmons. But wait, this hewmon had the pull, it had that colorful light, it was dreary but colorful like it and Pinky. Kai felt himself slam into his own body. Darkness took him again. Kai opened his eyes. He tried to look around. His body however wouldn¡¯t move. ¡°Hey nurse? He¡¯s awake.¡± He heard vaguely. Again he tried to move but he howled in protest, agony wracked his muscles and began to spasm. However Kai felt distant from the pain, the misery. It was so¡­ banal. So beneath him now. It hurt his pride. That pride of having lived through the abyss, lived and remained through the ages. He had not defeated life. He had not defeated death. He had defied the cycle, by somehow making his own cycle, A cycle great death and great life had no control over. He could cut the strings now. He knew this. He knew how to cut and how to weave fate. It was rather silly how simple it was. too bad you needed to be of a strength that rivaled the legends and myths of this world. But Kai believed it was high time, a hewmon got involved in that process. ¡±Such a monumental task of universal proportions.¡± He whispered. Finally his body had responded to his basic commands. ¡±Kai? I don¡¯t know if you can hear me but I will give you a sedative that should bring your spasms under control.¡± Kai moved his head. His body screaming in protest at the audacity of him moving. he registered a Joy and a Jenny. He smiled weakly. ¡°Thhhhnk yyyu nnnnurse.¡± He could barely speak. Traveling through the ages was arduous work after all. After a while the spasms disappeared but his consciousness went straight along with it. His dreams were of many colors. He woke again. This time it was pitch black, two sets of red eyes staring at him from the shadows. ¡°Come closer.¡± His voice cracked, his vocal cords protested, their raw sensation told Kai his body had instinctually screamed. Why he had no clue. He had slept so well. Both Morgrem and Mimikyu, which he now knew was in fact the spiritual soul remains of his wandering ancestors, approached. ¡±I don¡¯t deserve you Impy.¡± Impy smirked viciously. ¡°You realize I was trying to end your pitiful existence right?¡± ¡±Of course!¡± Kai¡¯s face morphed into a huge sadistic smile. ¡°And I must say you succeeded most splendidly! I do not believe I can ever thank you enough for this. What is your price? Name it!¡± Kai smiled darkly, deliriously? Impy didn¡¯t know. But he liked this new Kai a lot better. The old Kai was weak and a coward, this one was frightening, in a good way. Impy: ¡°I wish to see the end of your story.¡± Kai: ¡±Thats it?¡± Impy nodded, ¡°Yes, the grand story you wish to embark on succeed or fail I do not care, if you stray, I will kill you myself.¡± Impy made sure to lay on the lethal threat thick. Kai didn¡¯t mind, embraced it even. ¡°Impy, hmm gotta get you a new name,¡± he murmured. ¡°I beg of you now, if I do stray, please kill me. I cannot go back to that. I wish to live and die by my new cycle!¡± Impy grinned. ¡°Good, whatever this new cycle is. My name, once I evolve will be Grimnsnarl. I will he THE Grimnsnarl!¡± He smiled. ¡°For now Morgrem will suffice.¡± Kai didn¡¯t fully understand the implications of that declaration but he didn¡¯t care. ¡°Are you going to introduce me to your new friend?¡± Morgrem was about to but looked up, ¡°later, you have company.¡± Morgrem smiled darkly while him and Mimikyu, both sunk into the shadow. Kai almost followed them, he knew he could for some reason but he was curious about this company that was about to walk in, he could hear the tapping of expensive shoes now in the hallway. The door was opened and the person walking in turning on the light on a dim setting. ¡±I appreciate the consideration, even this dim light stabs my eyes. Perhaps take those sunglasses off and give them to me? I look much better with them than you.¡± His voice rasped. It hurt to speak but Kai didn¡¯t care, too much to say, too much to plot. The man in a tight suit and non descriptive appearance, looked at Kai and gave him a thin unamused smile. He walked towards Kai¡¯s bed and sat down next to it. Mr Sunglasses: ¡±How are you feeling Kai?¡± Kai: ¡±Like I fell down a cliff with lots of sharp rocks to break my fall.¡± Mr Sunglasses: ¡±What do you remember?¡± Kai: ¡°All of it.¡± Mr Sunglasses: ¡°Is that so? For the record can you tell me what happened?¡± Kai: ¡±Well Bob, can I call you Bob? You look like a Bob, or do you prefer Vincent?¡± Mr Sunglasses(Vincent): ¡°Bob is fine.¡± His face didn¡¯t betray anything, that didn¡¯t matter. Kai looked straight at his soul. Kai: ¡°Well Bob, it all began with a cute girl. She likes to be called Ravanna.¡± Thus Kai described in detail what happened to him, his life, all of it. Only his life. Nothing else, he didn¡¯t mention his Morgrem showing up with the Mimikyu. Right upon the moment he gazed into the abyss. ¡°Next thing you know, I wake up here in this musty sterile bed. It¡¯s so¡­. Clean but dead. Sterile.¡± Bob(Vincent), nodded. ¡°Me and my associates suspected some sort of ghost Pokemon interference. Do you know of someone who would have the resources of having such a well trained Mimikyu?¡± ¡±A few come to mind, mind giving me some water?¡± The rasping of his voice had gotten worse. Kai tasted his own blood. Bob got up and gave him a half full glass of water. He even helped Kai drink it down slowly. Kai: ¡±Thank you so much for that Vincent, sorry sorry, I mean Bob. You keep calling me Kai but officially I¡¯m Cole.¡± Bob: ¡°The official records were amended by the Jennies.¡± ¡±Ah Kai it is then¡­ Bob.¡± He smirked. ¡°I must say you are well trained, I know it¡¯s riling you up that I know but one would never be able to tell looking at your face.¡± Bob: ¡±How do you know what? is riling me up?¡± Kai: ¡°That I know your name Vincent, Your emotions. They color a certain way.¡± Bob: ¡°You can see TE?¡± Kai: ¡±Is that what that is? Huh.¡± Bob sat back down and crossed his legs wrapping his hand around his knee. A thin smile playing in his face. ¡°So Kai, my associates and I feel it is a waste to let someone of your potential, rot away for 7 of his quickly dwindling prime years. We have a proposal for you.¡± Bob smiled like the devil who knew someone was about to sign his soul away, ¡°Oh Bob, how little you know.¡± Kai thought quietly. Kai: ¡±I refuse but will give you my counter proposal.¡± Bob crooked an amused eyebrow above the rim of his sunglasses. ¡°You sure? You don¡¯t even know what our proposal is.¡± ¡±It doesn¡¯t matter, I know who it comes from. From one grunt to the next, I can tell you Bob, that the cutting of strings from the underground in my own region was far too costly, I have no desire to pay such a price again.¡± Bob smiled, ¡°You piqued their interest, they wish to hear your proposal.¡± Kai¡¯s face became crazed again. His eyes Psychotic. ¡±I have a question for you. Aren¡¯t you tired of constantly recloning and recloning day in and day out, wrapping your crowning achievement in crude metal in order to keep it alive? Don¡¯t you crave, perfection?¡± Kai began to chuckle, turning into a cackle. He began to cough and hack as his throat protested its prolonged use. Bob went and grabbed, Kai another glass. And helped him drink again. ¡±I must say Kai I have no clue what you are talking about.¡± Bob drawled. Kai smirked. They both knew that was a lie. Kai looked at the sunglasses smiling wickedly. ¡°Oh gosh darnit, I forgot to clarify Bob. I was speaking to your puppeteer, not you. What do you say Mr G..¡± He got no further as Bob¡¯s hand shot out and covered Kai¡¯s mouth. ¡°Now now, Kai. That is quite enough. I don¡¯t know the puppeteers name either,¡± also a lie, Kai noted. Bob: ¡°I like to keep it that way. If you wish to have a long lasting relationship with my associates, which you now set in stone, by carelessly showing your hand, I¡¯d advise you to never utter what you were about to say.¡± Kai nodded. Bob let him go and sat back down. ¡°My¡­¡±Bob smirked, tapping an earpiece. ¡°puppeteer just informed me that they wish to hear your proposal on 2 conditions. One, we will agree to any terms you lay out for us if they are within reason and two. That we can rely on your discretion.¡± Kai nodded. ¡°Term one, the most important one. This is a partnership, I will operate as a freelancer, besides if I fail it will be easier for you to clean up.¡± It took about thirty seconds, before Bob nodded. ¡°What will you provide as a freelancer?¡± ¡±If the people, the puppeteer trusts with his pet project, continue to do their excellent job. I will provide them with one of the many keys you need to the road of that perfection you crave. Don¡¯t bother asking how I know or how I know what you need. It came to me by fate.¡± ¡±Fate huh?¡± Bob said with an amused chuckle. ¡°The Puppeteer is intrigued by your proposal and agrees to your first term. What are your other terms? ¡±you will provide me with 3 Pokemon in v1 bals and 3 bonafide v1 balls empty. I will know if it¡¯s those silly side projects. The three Pokemon you provide, must be from excellent breeding, similar to what you would give people as a starter. Bob sat quietly for a moment. ¡°You want us to give you 3 starter Pokemon?¡± Kai: ¡°Ah the puppet speaks! Sorry Bob but in order for me to succeed I need you to provide me with 3 of the 6 Pokemon I need to fulfill my little errand for your boss. The other 3 I can arrange for myself. Now listen closely, the three Pokemon you will Provide, are a newly evolved Gourgeist with the container ability. A Mawile with the sheer force ability. And a Shiinotic with the spore and soothing ability. Now listen closely or write it down the training that these 3 have undertaken, including the moves they need to have, are very specific.¡± Kai began to list all the moves, the type of training regime and a slew of other things indicating what he specifically needed. He also described some devices he didn¡¯t know the names of but knew this underground group had. After Kai was done, he waited for Bob¡¯s associates to finish. Kai got a kick out of Bob¡¯s reaction. His face was stern but the confusion in his soul flared hard. ¡°We agree to your terms.¡± He spoke curtly. ¡±There are two more terms, don¡¯t worry nothing as difficult or strenuous as the first.¡± ¡±First I want access to Jasper and Sara. Second, whatever happens to those two when I¡¯m done with them. No questions asked.¡± ¡±Is that all?¡± Bob asked sarcastically. ¡°One last thing.¡± Kai said with a shit eating grin. ¡°How much longer will I be stuck here?¡± Bob shrugged. ¡°Depends on if you can convince the Joys and Jennies you are mentally broken. That will determine if they send you to the Asylum. Our organization runs it, so from there, it¡¯s simple paperwork for us. We will do something similar for your friends so you can meet them there. ¡°yea, my friends.¡± Kai intoned Darkly. ¡°I doubt it will be hard to convince the local authorities of my greatness. They will confuse it with insanity.¡± Kai couldn¡¯t stop smiling wickedly. Bob: ¡°You do you, my time is up. See you around, I will most likely be your contact person from here on out if you manage to deliver.¡± Bob got up and left the room without a word. Morgrem revealed himself. ¡°God you love the sound of your own voice, are you sure you can trust those guys? Why did you show your hand? That man has the blood of many on his hands and it doesn¡¯t seem to bother him in the slightest.¡± ¡±Because we are using them to kickstart our story. Now I need you and your Buddy to use two of your moves on me right now. Nightmare and Flatter.¡± ¡±Are you crazy?¡± Morgrem looked at Kai with surprise, which turned into intrigue. ¡°Forget I asked, of course you are.¡± ¡°ta ta now, otherwise the Joy¡¯s will detect the residual TE, oh and Morgrem, i need one lock of your hair and you need to harden and stab it right under my skin in my forearm, about 7 inches long.¡± Mimikyu came out off the shadow as well. Both Mon¡¯s did as he asked. Kai felt his breathing go up rapidly, he couldn¡¯t control it, he didn¡¯t bother. His heart rate went up and he happily tumbled into a horrible nightmare that left his body spasm and convulse. Kai didn¡¯t know how long he was stuck in the nightmare, he had fun getting chased by psychopathic houndooms, but when he woke he was delirious, hurting but had secured some clarity within all the chaos in his mind. Both a Nurse Joy and a Police officer Jenny were present. ¡°Someone definitely messed with their strings. I wonder what they tried to achieve.¡± Kai thought to himself. ¡°Hello, what have I done to deserve the attention of two gorgeous women?¡± Kai said while cracking a creepy smile. ¡±You are finally awake.¡± The Jenny noted coldly. You were in and out for almost a week. Do you remember what happened? In that bathroom stall I mean.¡± Kai nodded. ¡±Ah yes I do, bad stuff that, this Brad fellow really riled me up. Ended up puking. Next thing I know I see a Mimikyu and it revealed itself to me. I¡¯ve been falling ever since.¡± ¡±Come now Kai you are a bad liar, who gave you the poison?¡± The Jenny had an annoyed expression. ¡±Poison? Oooooooooh you think that I tried to commit suicide. A rather astute observation. I must say that thought did cross my mind after you took my Pokemon away.¡± Kai scoffed, remembering the vague memory of the courtroom. ¡°Taking Pokemon away of people always leaves them suicidal but then again that¡¯s exactly what you want. Isn¡¯t it? If you clean it up, you will neat it up, am I right?¡± The Jenny didn¡¯t give an outward response. ¡±who gave you the poison?¡± She asked again. Joy stepped in. ¡°We are not here to accuse you Kai, but you must remember that you broke the law numerous times. Many Pokemon committed suicide because of your actions.¡± Kai was utterly amused at that. ¡°That¡¯s the definition of an accusation Nurse. Pokemon might consider us their friends but it¡¯s the addiction of Power they lust after, not friendship we need them a hell of a lot more than they need us. They have proven to be far more resilient to break ups in my experience than us. So I highly doubt your statement.¡± ¡±Yes, yes spare us your conspiracy, for the last time who gave you the poison!?¡± Jenny raised her voice. Still all a piss poor act to rile him up. Kai saw that. Both ladies in their own way were manipulating him. Too bad for them he knew what that looked like. Sara was an expert compared to these two. He wondered how that came to be. He now knew how good Jennies and Joy¡¯s were at manipulation, how did Sara become better at it than them? His face morphed into a wicked smile, his eyes a crazed gleam. ¡°I can see it so clearly now, Time, Space, Life, Death. None of it can rule the cycle, All are in eternal servitude! None of it can rule eternity! None of you can rule eternity!¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Kai¡¯s eyes gleamed with insanity. He looked at the Jenny with crazed eyes. ¡°Have you seen it? Of course you haven¡¯t, you have no clarity to your eyes, you haven¡¯t seen the void or the everlight. Your line is straight it will be till the end! It ends! Oh you poor, poor thing how it ends!¡± It felt good to let go of some steam his mind and soul had built up. He idly wondered how his mind hadn¡¯t shattered from it all. The Jenny shivered ever so slightly. Giving the Nurse Joy a look she motioned with her head and they left a delirious Kai behind, closing the door. ¡±What kind of poison could potentially cause such delirium, Nurse?¡± She asked after a moment. ¡±Nothing him or any of the criminals have the ability to produce, least of all, could have had access to. I¡¯m inclined to believe he was bombarded by something Pokemon, however there were none of the usual residual TE remnants of psychic, ghost or Fairy.¡± Jenny: ¡±which leaves something like the Poltergeist ability.¡± Joy: ¡±It is a distinct possibility. He would be the first to have lived for this long, my guess is, his fae potential had something to do with that, although I doubt he will live much longer. His body is producing toxic amounts of numerous hormones which has already entered a chronic state.¡± The nurse sighed. She nodded to Kai who looked at the ceiling lights muttering gibberish to himself. ¡°His TE reserves were and still are, at zero. A medical Impossibility.¡± Jenny: ¡±I guess I have to rule out a suicide attempt. For the record. What is your medical prognosis?¡± Nurse Joy pondered for a moment. ¡°He should spend the reminder of his short life in the mental asylum, the struggles of his miserable life proved to be too much for him. I doubt he will last the week with that erratic blood pressure and heart rate, not to mention the fact that his body is quite literally poisoning itself.¡± ¡±Can you subdue that, with medicine or medical Pokemon?¡± She shook her head, ¡°we tried everything already, anything stronger and we risk killing him outright.¡± ¡°Alright, prep him for the asylum then.¡± The Jenny walked off. ¡°He¡¯s the second one this week. How am I going to explain this?¡± She muttered to herself. Nurse Joy sighed. Kai had proven to be a diligent worker. This meant revenue loss for the Jennies. Kai was allowed to roam after a few days. His body didn¡¯t recover, he was holding crutches. Part of his muscles had spasmed so hard that they ripped. He watched the prisoners go through their monotony of the day. He shivered, how horrible that one month had been the mundanity frightened him more than anything else. The continued use over the last three days, of nightmare and flatter, had done a serious number on his body, but it paid off, he received genuine looks of pity and empathy of the nurse Joy¡¯s on call, which was a novel experience for Kai. He knew they were genuine because he looked at their souls, the novelty of genuine empathy fascinated him. He was ushered towards the van that would drive him and Brad. The second victim of the poltergeist this week, to the asylum. Kai had already stabbed Brad with the thin, nearly indiscernible strand of hair. He stood wobbly on his crutches ten feet away, when Brad fell to the ground, and began to spasm, foaming at the mouth. An aggravated Jenny tried to get nurse Joy close enough to apply emergency medical help. A crowd of guards and prisoners inconveniently blocked the nurse, she wasn¡¯t trying very hard either. The foul looking prisoner crossed eyes with Kai who couldn¡¯t help but smirk and shrug. A sadistic smile played on the foul looking man. Kai saw some level of respect at how he had outplayed everything. The strand of hair would not be found. Who would look for a piece of hair tossed to the wayside? From the corner of his eyes he saw the Jenny look at him. ¡°Dang gotta remember that, they are forever paranoid.¡± It didn¡¯t matter. The evidence of his insanity and shortened lifespan was overwhelming, nothing she could do now. They both knew that. A young looking prisoner wormed his way through the crowd, A victim of Brad, Kai knew. As the Nurse Joy shook her head after she was done with her prognosis. He stabbed him in the temple with a screwdriver, smiling wickedly at the last moment of clarity and fading light of Brad¡¯s life. ¡°Figured I put him out of his misery for ya miss.¡± The Jenny uncharacteristically sighed. ¡°Works for me, considering the circumstances the extension of your sentence will be 7 more years,¡± For the first time and the last time in his life, did Kai see pity in a Jenny, when she looked at the young prisoner. The young prisoner shrugged, a look off acceptance crossed his face. The guards who lead him to solitary clapped him on the shoulders. Somewhere in the far recesses of Kai¡¯s mind, a white hot rage manifested, this was all part of how the Jenny clan operated. How they got around the iron clad no-execution rule. How they quietly and secretly did everything in their power to make sure criminals that got stuck in this penitentiary never removed their shackles unless dead. This was part of how they tried to guide humans, by removing problematic ones from the gene pool. It was all so disgustingly ineffici?nt to Kai. There was a lot of collateral through the generations. She directed a few prisoners, to drag the body away, afterwards she walked over to Kai. ¡°She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him the last few feet and practically threw him into the van. Jenny: ¡°Well played, you played everyone the fool, even I fell for the helpless crying boy routine and never saw you for the sick fuck you are.¡± ¡±My love! I don¡¯t know what you mean.¡± The Jenny scoffed. ¡°Don¡¯t play coy with me, no one might be able to prove it but everyone now knows it was you.¡± Kai measured his Response. ¡°If it makes you feel any better, I was in fact a crying weak pathetic mess, heartbroken because his lifelong love interest couldn¡¯t throw me under the dropping Snorlax quick enough. The old pathetic me did die when it gazed into the sliver of the Abyss that is part of a Mimikyu¡¯s true body.¡± ¡±God you love the sound of your own voice. Couldn¡¯t you have stayed dead?¡± ¡°Sorry, too busy.¡± He smirked. ¡±Pfff people like you are why we Jennies never stop lobbying for a proper enforcement state.¡± She slammed his door shut and got into the driver seat. And started driving. It was a bumpy trip, roads were rare in this world. ¡±The first to wither and die in your police utopia would be the fairy types like me, so if you don¡¯t mind, I wholeheartedly disagree with your political views.¡± The Jenny was done talking and kept driving. The trip was about an hour of the Jenny driving and checking on him in the rear view mirror and Kai giving sadistic creepy smiles, looking at her gorgeous neckline. He lamented not having that strand of hair anymore. He saw Morgrem and Mimikyu riding along while hidden in the shadow realm. Very handy that. Once you stepped in the shadow realm with shadow sneak barely anything could track you down. Why Kai could see them was beyond him. Nothing he had seen during his mental road trip down the centuries and purgatory left any clue, as to how many of the more esoteric moves worked. He preferred it that way. A mystery was so much more fun then clean sterile scientific discovery. They kept driving past large swathes of forest, on foot it would take about a week until you would get back to normal society, not something he was supposed to know. The van drove onto a cobbled path through a large gate coming to a standstill on the courtyard of a large walled off building complex in the middle of the forest. The Jenny parked the car and dragged Kai unceremoniously, out of the van. They were met by a group of three Nurse Joy¡¯s, male psychiatrist and a medicham. The medicham looked at Kai strangely and shook its head. The male Psychiatrists nodded and glanced in Kai¡¯s direction, obviously in communication. Kai smirked and chuckled. as both Mimikyu and Morgrem pulled funny faces and danced around the medicham. Who seemed to be aware something was going on but couldn¡¯t put his finger on it. The Jenny handed some paperwork and had some hushed words with the group. the nurses grabbed the paperwork and the Man with the medicham walked towards Kai. Good afternoon Kai Vesper. ¡°My name is Dr Harvey Heleston, but you can call me Dr Harvey for short.¡± ¡±Oooh should I play with him?¡± He wondered gleefully. ¡°Good morning Dr Harvey.¡± Kai didn¡¯t need to add much flair to the rasping of his voice Dr Harvey¡¯s soul flared with a modicum of professional concern, he motioned to the Medicham who used psychic to lift kai up. It felt like he was sitting in a fluffy pillow floating along with Dr Harvey. ¡±So Kai forgive my curiosity but you would be the first person I ever talked to that survived gazing at the real body of a Mimikyu. Quite frankly I¡¯m dying of curiosity, both professionally and personally.¡± Kai was shocked, it was a bold faced lie, the doctor had seen people like him, he felt his heartbeat quicken. ¡°Oh it was horrific doctor,¡± Kai rasped, playing the oblivious fool, ¡°gazing at the eternal abyss isn¡¯t something meant for mortal eyes. There is no light there.¡± ¡°From the reports We received earlier you mentioned a great wyrm. Tell me more.¡± The doctor got a bit of a manic glint to his eyes. Kai wasn¡¯t sure who this man was. In his endless falling he had never seen him and he had scouted out almost everything on his potential path¡¯s, this man had never shown up in any of it. Kai was incredible excited and talked about his experiences. He felt he could talk to this man. He felt he would understand. The doctor¡¯s eyes definitely seemed to indicate so. So Kai talked. Right until Morgrem, still hidden, got into his face and shook his head, he pointed at the good doctor and wrote a word in the swirling smoke that surrounded Morgrem. Encore. All it did was make Kai smirk and smile to the good doctor. So he talked and talked. Mostly about potential futures that barely had any relevance. POV of the associates Sakaki was swirling the expensive liquor in his glass half paying attention to his newest secretary. Siam A young overly ambitious woman raised by his late father. Sakaki noted she had unbuttoned her shirt. He respectfully didn¡¯t watch but they both knew where this night was going to lead. She had ambitions, he had something to give, a perfectly clean transaction. ¡±Sir I still don¡¯t understand why we are going so far for, well to be frank a complete nobody.¡± ¡±Is that you, my mother or uncle¡¯s concern?¡± He asked sipping his overly expensive drink. It was definitely not worth the exorbitant price he paid, he could taste the hints of sulfides. ¡±On a side note. Aquire the company that produces this swill and fire their staff, and restructure it to produce some actual quality.¡± ¡±Yes sir, it will be done by the week.¡± She jotted a few things down on her Pokedex. ¡±When did she open another button? Sakaki thought. ¡°My, my, she is ambitious.¡± He smiled congenially, ¡°I do apologize for the heat in this room. Once you have suffered an ice attack from an alpha Pokemon, the chill never truly leaves.¡± A complete Lie but it got the required effect. She opened another button. ¡±It is not a problem sir, I would be very willing to help with that chill,¡± she smiled enigmatically, ¡°Sorry if that was too bold.¡± ¡±Hmmm, no offense taken. To be frank your competence and loyalty, piqued my interest a while ago, but business before pleasure, answer the question. Who¡¯s concern is it how I spend our resources?¡± She didn¡¯t speak but few lasted under Sakaki¡¯s piercing gaze and she relented. ¡°Ariani and Matori, sir.¡± Did they put you up to this? ¡°He motioned to her unbuttoned dress. All pretense gone.¡± Not in so many words sir, ¡°Ugh those two are far too vindictive and insecure.¡± It was plain to see both tried to get rid of the pretty competition by having Siam trip up and Siam here boldy doubled down, he had to admit, he admired that sort of guts. Sakaki sighed, he lamented the slow loss of discipline in his own organization. Nothing like a good war couldn¡¯t fix. He smiled darkly, ¡±Would you mind indulging them then? I assume they wish to know more?¡± The secretary got a sultry look and nodded. ¡°It would be my pleasure sir. They do hound everything and everyone for knowledge, constantly complaining about the ¡®need to know¡¯ policy.¡± He smiled. This was something he could work with, kill 3 pidgeys with one caterpie. He would play these 3 ambitious ladies out against eachother. He wanted ambitious people working for him but his job was to curtail it for the good of the company, him. ¡±The screen on his desk pinged, a text popped up, his other secretary let him know Agatha had arrived. ¡±Alright that will be all for now, I still need to speak with you after work hours, after Agatha is done. I will see you then.¡± Siam smirked and made sure he got a good view of her cleavage while getting up. He never broke eye contact with her. As she left Agatha walked in ornery as ever. ¡±Ugh why do you have to make me come here at this ungodly hour? Couldn¡¯t you just come and see me instead?¡± ¡±Come now Agatha, you know our guidelines. I set them up for a reason.¡± They went through the same charade each time. ¡±So what did the good doctor have to report.¡± Sakaki asked. Agatha threw the report grumpily on his desk and grabbed Vincent¡¯s report. she also deposited three pokeballs. ¡±those three are costly Sakaki.¡± She growled with her hag voice. ¡°Mind telling me why you need a TE extraction team?¡± ¡°Come now, aren¡¯t we in this together? Something tells me this boy will be¡­ lucrative for the both of us.¡± He didn¡¯t respond to the second question, both new it was rhetorical. ¡°He could have been, if your agent had tied him down proper.¡± She grumbled as she sat down. ¡°He used exact words Agatha, what those words meant, to me, knew about the glasses, knew about things, less than 5 people alive know about.¡± ¡±Which is why you should have taken him by force!¡± She got up fuming. Obviously she wanted her hands on someone who had survived a mimikyu unguided spirit dive. She herself had gone through one. But those spirit walks came with months of preparation. Sakaki, wasn¡¯t having it. ¡±Come now, with both Jennies and Joy¡¯s watching? The rest of us do not have your death wish, Agatha.¡± Agatha looked like she was about to bite back but she sunk back into her chair. ¡°I know kid, A shame about your father, if it wasn¡¯t for your¡­¡± she clamped her mouth shut, this was old history. One of her Gengar came out of her shadow and gave her a massage. ¡±He always was fond of you, to the aggravation of mother.¡± He smiled. He often wondered why his father had chosen mother over Agatha. Sure his mother was pretty but Agatha had been a real looker in her heyday. Still was from an aesthetic point of view. ¡±Agatha, sighed. ¡°That man was unfathomable, I still have no clue what it was that he tried to accomplish.¡± ¡±You never will.¡± He thought quietly. He changed what he thought of quickly, the Gengar seemed to perk up and look at him. He could never quite figure out if Ghost Pokemon could read minds. ¡°Want to see what our investment is up to?¡± ¡°Sure I got plenty of time.¡± She said somewhat sarcastically. Sakaki turned his screen and pulled up the live feed of the Asylum. Kai had actually gotten bored over the last couple of days, the monotonous days where he had to wait for both Jasper and Sara. Filled with ridiculous counseling sessions and wandering around crazies. From his window he saw Sara ushered to the female wing and Jasper ushered to his wing. He got up from his chair and left his crutches. He could barely move but showing up in crutches would make him appear too weak to Jasper and Sara. As he walked into the hallway him and Jasper¡¯s eyes met. ¡°K-kai? Omg i didn¡¯t think I would ever see you again! What¡¯s going on with you? You look different, have they been starving you? You were always thin but now you look downright unhealthy. Aw man no wonder they brought you here.¡± Jasper rambled non stop. Kai let him, he never liked Jasper, he reminded him too much of himself, a coward, a failure. But the familiarity was incredibly grounding. For the first time it felt like he actually breathed. He fell into a routine, catching up, complaining, asinine comments about their guards and caretakers. Jasper was unaware of how the hallway and rooms slowly emptied out. Kai guided a rambling Jasper. Into a empty room. ¡°So did Sara manage to do this? Or did you? I mean I played the part but that nurse did NOT believe that insanity plea, that lawyer came up with.¡± ¡±I got in contact with a local¡­. Group they had a proposition.¡± The pause, the tone, all of it told Jasper exactly what had transpired. Jasper began to sweat, tremble and his fear was obvious, the trauma of his dead team brought up. ¡°Yo not that im complaining, but you sure we want to tie ourselves down like that?¡± Jasper tried to be calm but the shaking was obvious. ¡°I flat out rejected their deal. Did they offer you anything?¡± Kai asked calmly, he was everything but calm. Jasper nodded, ¡°they didn¡¯t push me though, said to take my time and think. Lay in a decent bed for a few days.¡± Kai sighed. He had expected the double dealing and blackmail, it also confirmed which strings of the future had gotten cut, and which were still possible. ¡±Hmm, yea that¡¯s a nasty threat isn¡¯t it?¡± He remarked. Jasper looked confused. Kai sighed. This was the big part that made him despise Jasper from time to time. His complete lack of social intelligence. ¡°Remember the phrase One makes their own bed, then one must lay in it? Lay in bed for a few days then make up your mind? They gave you a time limit to accept it or go back to penitentiary.¡± Kai explained. ¡±Oh fuck.¡± Jasper deflated. He looked at Kai. ¡°So how come you are here if you refused them?¡± ¡±Because I gave them a counter offer. I do some freelance work for them and I walk away scott free.¡± ¡±How the fuck did you do that?¡± Jasper scoffed cynically. Kai did not like his tone. ¡±By looking at a mimikyu¡¯s real body and figure all this shit out. I¡¯m sure if you were to assist me, you could negotiate different terms with them.¡± Kai offered what he believed to be an olive branch, as much as he disliked Jasper, he was the only person he knew and could trust somewhat. Jasper scoffed almost leered. ¡±Yea right, Kai, you are good, the smartest of us three but you are not that good.¡± The way he sneered when commenting on Kai¡¯s intelligence had a dark fury wake in Kai. ¡°It will just be the two of us.¡± He said darkly, now that he knew Jasper had received a deal, it all but confirmed they gave Sara a deal, a much better deal than Jasper. She would most likely accept, a sliver of his old self that tied him to reality, still hoped, still wanted to cave to the idea of Sara. ¡°They are testing me. I knew they would but why does it feel so vile?¡± He thought to himself, some of his old ever present sadness surfaced, he crushed it down quickly. Never again, he seethed. ¡±You don¡¯t think they gave the same offer to Sara?¡± Jasper arched his eyebrows, oblivious to Kai¡¯s inner turmoil. ¡±Oh I know they have, but have you already forgotten what she did?¡± Jasper tilted his head. ¡±How do you know they gave her an offer? Did they tell you? And no I have not forgotten, but she was upset, she was losing all her Pokemon, her last connection to her starter.¡± Jasper got defensive. ¡±Holy fuck after all that, he still holds a massive torch for her. She must have worked him so much harder than me.¡± He thought, It pissed Kai off, somehow he felt taken for granted even more because of it. ¡±I know they offered her because I asked them to.¡± He said with a sinister tone. Jasper let it sink in. A look of betrayal crossed his face. ¡°Holy fuck Kai, the only way you could know anything of the local gang and broker a deal like that, is if you have been doing stuff on the side and gathered intel, without involving me and Sara, why did you hold out on us like that?¡± His tone was accusatory. Kai felt his rage boiling, He seethed. ¡°Now he gets smart and paranoid? Just with me?¡± He thought fuming. His thin patience run out. ¡°Mimikyu my love, come forth please.¡± Mimikyu materialized on top of Kai¡¯s lap. before Jasper could scream, Morgrem appeared, gripping him in the throat. Squeezing hard, his face turning red due to lack of oxygen. Kai let himself go. Let his anger and frustration out. ¡±You know, here I am, saving us three out of the deepest SHIT, as ALWAYS. Come up with a solution to an impossible problem, as ALWAYS. Yet do you have any fucking gratitude? Of course not! FUCK! all I hear coming out of your fucking mouth! is that whore! She played you! She played me! For all of these years she played us both for the fools and miserable shits we are!¡± He lowered his voice and growled out the toxic venom that had built up over the years. Kai didn¡¯t think he still had that venom but nothing like the aggravation of a disbelieving fool to bring it all back. He continued, his voice low and threatening. ¡°Now I wasn¡¯t going to show you Mimikyu but perhaps I should, perhaps the only way to save you from your own stupidity, is by giving you some Arceus damned clarity. Perhaps I will show you, just. out. of. spite.¡± Kai accentuated the last words, making sure that Jasper knew he was dead serious. Jasper had tears running down his face, he shook, a nasty acid and foul stench spread in the small room as he peed his pants. Kai spat a glob of blood on the floor as his growling, had aggravated the sore insides of his throat. Blood dripping down his nose as his body was unable to handle the stress of anger and rage. He calmed himself down but not before giving Jasper a look of contempt and disgust. Kai brought himself back to the chaotic fire in his chest that he had latched onto the last couple of days. That psychotic glee, that seemed to sustain him. Kai took a deep breath, impassively looking at Jaspers face turning blue, as he was slowly losing consciousness. ¡°Are you going to scream if I tell Impy here, sorry Morgrem. To let you go? Because if you do, I will yank Mimikyu¡¯s sack off, right here and now and you can see how much bullshit I¡¯m really spouting.¡± Jasper nodded frantically. Or at least he tried, stuck in a deadly grip. Kai nodded at Morgrem, who tortuously, slowly, eased his grip. Enjoying the struggling Jasper who couldn¡¯t do anything against his superior strength. Both fairy types were drinking in the strong emotions, so was Kai. This particular emotion had a nasty bitter taste to it, but he needed the sustenance. Jasper coughed and spat out some blood. He frantically looked around and finally noticed how no one was around. Noticed the utter silence. His face pale white from despair and terror, turning slowly to Kai. ¡°Oh fuck Kai, y-you survived a mimikyu encounter and tamed it? On your own? Without a p-p-p-pokeball?¡± Jasper stammered he got on his knees, he practically kowtowed before Kai. ¡°It is a wandering merging of souls that is connected to me by fate. This is why it could never truly harm me.¡± Kai said casually. Kai had no clue if that was true or not but it sounded right to say, his everything had become chaos. He needed to make his own truth. ¡±I just realized showing you this particular Mimikyu would lead to nothing, there are no strings between the two of you. All it would do is cause a miserable death.¡± Kai let out some of his aggravated exhaustion of fools. ¡°I wonder what that would taste like¡± he thought idly. ¡°S-so y-you w-w-wernt j-j-joking? H-hu-h, y-you outdid-d your-yourself Kai.¡± Jasper gained bit of color back. Relief on his face when he realized Kai wouldn¡¯t kill him in the most horrific way he could imagine. Kai felt nothing but ice looking at his friend. ¡±You have three options. One, go with me, and unravel the world, do something with your worthless, pathetic miserable existence. Two, become a grunt for the local group I¡¯m sure they pay well. Three, go back to penitentiary and get fucked in the ass repeatedly while the Jennies hope you commit suicide or you kill the sick fuck, raping you.¡± ¡±T-t-they wouldn¡¯t!!!¡± Jasper was shaking his tears and running nose turning him in a disgusting mess to Kai. Kai leaned in. He whispered. ¡°Twas a real possibility for me, some men like guys with boyish looks, between the two of us Jasper,¡± He smiled dark and sinister. ¡°You would be a celebrity. You could have them lined up for you~ ask them favors~.¡± ¡±Kai¡­ please stop, I¡¯m sorry.¡± Jasper whimpered his face turning green from nausea and terror. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡± he began to bawl and cry like a baby. Kai magnanimously let him, he had him. He really wanted to make Jasper watch Mimikyu¡¯s real body but there were sparse few potential futures he had seen, where that was actually successful. He needed a pawn. Someone to catch the heat if things went wrong. Besides he could use someone who he could mold. ¡±No wonder you had him tag along, you must have gotten such a sense of power molding this cowardly excuse for a human.¡± He thought darkly. ¡°To think you had two fools like this following you around.¡± Both Mimikyu and Morgrem slid back into the shadow. Kai caught the gleam on Morgrem¡¯s face. He had loved every second of this. Kai got up. And walked away. ¡°We will talk about this later. No scrap that, come with me. You will watch and listen, do not interfere under any circumstance or else.¡± He turned around and started walking. The pain was less. Jasper stumbled after him. The sustenance of emotions had strengthened him. A part of that, was his dead Kirlia some of her remnants still burned into his soul. She had somehow gotten more pronounced. The fea really were unfathomable, their connection to both life and death was a mesmerizing thing to behold in both Mimikyu and Morgrem. ¡°One last string to tie up.¡± He muttered. As he walked outside to the female wing. He walked in without a care in the world. A disguised grunt bade him to follow her. From the corner of his eyes, through a window, he saw all the patients sitting in the field having a picknick. ¡°Second door to the right. You have 10 minutes at best. We will need time to clean up after you. Here.¡± She handed him 3 pokeballs. With that she walked away. Jasper watched her walk away, he looked at Kai with trepidation and awe. ¡°I barely recognize you Kai. What happened when you saw the body of a Mimikyu?¡± Jasper had relaxed a bit and was able to speak without stammering, although the shaking was still there Kai spoke with low baritone adding a sinister dark touch to his voice¡°I am still the same, only 3 tiny things have changed.¡± He paused, savoring the meek whimper of Jasper who shrunk when Kai looked at him. ¡±One, I no longer let fear guide me. Two, I stopped inhibiting myself with reasonability and the logicality of this ridiculous society we have. And three!¡± He got real close, causing Jasper to flinch. ¡°I¡¯m having FUN. I¡¯m having so much fun! Try the third Jasper, it will do you a world of good. Now turn around and keep your eyes closed.¡± He grabbed a thin tablecloth, from a nearby table set up in the hall with two chairs.¡°Come Mimikyu. It¡¯s time to meet a new friend. Mimikyu materialized, it floated into his hand and removed it¡¯s sack. Jasper squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears. Turning around in agonizing fear. It was an incredibly intoxicating flavor for both Kai and Morgrem, it was such a pure taste, untainted. Not so much for his Mimikyu. Kai was surprised how mundane Mimikyu¡¯s body looked. Oh sure the sliver of the abyss was there but it no longer affected him. ¡°Huh only one chance.¡± He idly thought. Right before he put the tablecloth over the swirling smoke within darkness and 2 piercings eyes, he noted a silent whimper. A need to be accepted. ¡°You are perfect the way you are my love,¡± he cooed as he stroked the inky blackness. It huddled into his caress, ¡°you have nothing to worry about.¡± Kai meant it, down to the core of his soul did he mean it. It felt good to express something so soulful. His emotions flared strongly and Mimikyu responded to that emotion of acceptance. Both his Ghost and Fairy nature, seemed to swell and get nurtured by it. He put the cloth over mimikyu and held it in its hand behind his back and walked to Sara¡¯s room. Jasper sat on a chair whimpering, eyes still squeezed shut. ¡±Heeeeey Sara~ how have you been~?¡± He barged in with the biggest flirtatious smile he could muster. This had been an interesting point in time. A sparse few strings among the countless strings that raveled into this nexus of time, had lead to a romantic interest between him and Sara. In this fleeting moment, he was allowed to be his old self again. Sara was startled. She didn¡¯t look too good, lost weight, had a bit of a gangly look now. Kai spotted bruises everywhere. ¡°Huh the women are more viscous than the men, who would have thought.¡± He gave her a concerned look. The crazed psychotic flame made room for the small candle still burning in his soul for Sara. It was a fickle flame. ¡±H-hey Kai, what are you doing here? How did you get here?¡± Kai was almost taken in by her submissive demeanor, the fickle flame roared, but then she cracked her usual cocky self assured smile, snuffing it out for good. His chaotic flame of madness returned, swallowing the wax and his gleeful smile returned. She misunderstood his smile, and smirked, sultrily. ¡°Did you arrange all this? you really are a genius.¡± She purred. ¡°Always making sure you have a card in your pocket, always making us depend on you.¡± There it was, her utterly misguided accusation, her utter lack of vision, her utter lack as a person, like Jasper she lacked in emotional intelligence. She didn¡¯t even see the bed for what it was. Kai knew then, she had taken the deal Giovanni had given her. He knew then, she really was the bitch he thought and knew she was. ¡°Oh Sara, you really are the weak string in our trio aren¡¯t you? Why on earth would you accept such a deal when even Jasper of all people, had the good sense to play for time?¡± He asked, dropping his facade of concern. He looked her with anger. Sara was shocked and startled, Kai savored the genuine response. She recovered quickly and began to sneer. ¡°I am not the weak link Kai, if I remember correctly I¡¯m the one who pulled us together after the two of you were a suicidal mess, besides, that deal was way too good to pass up.¡± ¡±Too good to be true dear, you of all people should know that by now.¡± He said dark but calmly. She scoffed in denial. Kai noted the sleeve of her shirt wasn¡¯t right, ¡°and there is the shiv¡±, he shook his head. She didn¡¯t even see him notice. She was thinking herself to be a mighty cunning Tentacruel, queen of the sea, while in reality she was a tiny newborn tentacool, swimming among the viscous sharpedo¡¯s. He had always tried to shield her from that. No longer. He sighed. ¡°How you refuse to learn your lesson is beyond me.¡± His tone was threatening. She growled and sneered at him. She took an aggressive stance. It was almost surprising how quickly she turned on him. Morgrem revealed himself and used the move scary face. It slammed into Sara but her eyes were drawn to the endless sadistic smile on Kai¡¯s face. He barely looked human. Sara had been given a drug earlier to dissipate foreign TE but it didn¡¯t matter. Although the move barely worked. The drug did nothing to prepare her for the genuine fear she felt looking at Kai¡¯s face. Sara fell back into the wall, clutching it, trying to vainly find anything, anything that could help her get away from that delirious smile that promised nothing short of horrific death. ¡±P-Please kai~, I promise I will listen to anything you say I will never let my greed get the better of me! I¡¯m sorry I got your Kirlia killed!¡± She grasped at straws here. Kai cackled darkly, a cackle that promised nightmare, a cackle that reverberated unnaturally through the room. ¡±All this time you were sorry? My my, only took the mighty Ravanna 3 years to admit she was wrong.¡± Kai sneered. I never forgot! All I did ever since, was try and make it better!¡± ¡±Make it¡­?¡± Kai burst out laughing. A chill that would make a haunter shiver, ran over Sara¡¯s back. This was it, she realized. The moment Kai had entered her room, no she had overplayed her hand with him in the courtroom. She tisked, dropping her facade for the first time, her mind gathered a shaky resolve. She quipped a genuine venomous smirk. If she was going down she was going to take him with her. She dropped the shiv inside her sleeve, in her hand and strutted forward, poised to strike. Kai watched her, while chuckling completely fearless. ¡°I gazed at the endless strings of the cycle, Sara, ive seen the countless outcomes of this event.¡± She scoffed, she told herself that Kai had lost his mind. ¡°Whatever you say Kai.¡± She lunged forward. ¡±And now I will pluck at yours!¡± Kai roared. Kai flung the rag on his hand away and revealed an endless pit of darkness to her, the abyss. Her gaze was pulled into it. Two red dots stared at her and she flopped to the ground. The last thing Sara¡¯s mind could grasp onto was the soul ripping fear tearing her apart. She howled and screamed but she had already been detached from her body. Her body she saw laying below her on the floor. Burning to ashes in ghostly flames. She cried tears of agony. Tears that burned away everything that was her. Her mind and soul warped and warped and warped. Until nothing of her old self was left. Kai watched Sara morph and shape. Drinking in the emotions that flared, he felt himself get stronger. Her spirit burned until only the flame of her soul remained. The fire burned her sprit remains. Half of the flames dropped into the ashes below and sucked it in, forming into a silvery mask. A facsimile of that beautiful smile, she had given him when they first met all those years ago. Now however her face was forever locked in one of a hurt smile and tears of regret running down her face forever. The remainder of her soul still hovering above the mask connected with the mask and a dark elongated purple body formed inside the flames before they dissipated. Two arms stretching out to the side forever clenching. Two eyelids popped open, revealing two yellow eyes looking around curiously. Its eyes fell onto its own mask and it began to cry, the agonizing, innocent cry of a newborn, it touched Kai deeply. He walked closer and cradled the yamask and shushed it. The Yamask unable to discern why it wanted to see that look of compassion, huddled into Kai. ¡±All the corruption guiding your actions have been cleansed, come my love, we have much work ahead of us.¡± The yamask nodded frantically. Kai grabbed a Pokeball and tapped the Yamask lovingly on its mask. The Yamask did not struggle once. He let her out and she huddled close to him. He walked out with a big grin. ¡°Say hello to Jasper dear.¡± Jasper¡¯s eyes had run dry of tears, he looked at the Yamask in Horror, he recognized the mask of this Pokemon. ¡±It is ironic, that Sara got a complete clean slate handed to her on a silver platter. By me of all people.¡± He sighed and cooed. ¡°Look at all that innocence hidden behind that poisonous wall she erected herself. So gentle so soft.¡± He walked out cradling both Mimikyu and Yamask while Morgrem followed him out in the plain open. ¡±I am so fucked,¡± Jasper whimpered, his fear overwhelmed him. He followed Kai regardless, a sick twisted curiosity got the better of him. POV of the Associates. ¡±For the love of Giratina, this is the kid you gonna give these three Pokemon to?¡± Agatha scoffed but nothing could hide the gleam she had in her eyes when she saw a shiny Yamask.¡± ¡±I must say, your discretion as always, saved us a lot of headache, you know that silly cult is going to have a field day with this kid right?¡± Sakaki smiled thinly. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t put it past them to consider this kid their chosen one.¡± ¡±With you having first dibs on a professional work relationship with the kid.¡± She shook her head. ¡°No wonder you so readily agreed. If you set up a meet and greet I will give you these three Pokemon for half their asking price.¡± ¡±Deal.¡± ¡°Giovanni a patient and grounded man to a fault, felt impatient for the first time in his life.¡± Birth of the Dohva ¡°Well how about we have a mock battle Loki? I finally got counter down as a move. I want to see if I can improve my mach strikes. Still can¡¯t use it properly like Kong.¡± Carlos smirked darkly, enjoying the complete look of shock on Loki¡¯s face. Carlos walked onto the field squaring off. Loki shook his head. ¡°No way boss mon, I could accidentally kill you, if I fought you.¡± ¡°3.¡± ¡±Boss mon is serious, sharpy-bro better start your harden.¡± Kong whooped happily, he loved watching fights almost as much as participating in one. ¡±No! I can¡¯t attack hewmons!! It¡¯s against the sacred rules!¡± ¡°2.¡± ¡±aww sweety thats only if they don¡¯t want you to~¡± Dianne purred. ¡±what!? There is a loophole like that?¡± ¡°1.¡± ¡°You gotta last 15 of his moves asshole.¡± ¡°My name is Loki Gawain!¡± ¡°Gotta earn the name.¡± Gawain retorted. Gwen simultaneously called out. ¡°Just give snack man a good hug, untasty bro!¡± Completely misunderstanding what was going on. ¡±What kind of sadistic¡­¡± Loki didn¡¯t get more time to banter. Carlos sprung into action. During the counting, Loki had in fact stacked his harden up to the max. Carlos punched him on a critical spot, Loki got flung backwards. Like Kong, the combination of detect, counter and mach strikes launched Carlos forward like an angry bullet. As a human he had to close his eyes and aim blind. The wind cutting into his eyeballs was too strong. However detect gave him near omnidirectional, bat like visualization.
Loki takes zero damage. Critical hit causes minor flinch. (Carlos takes 2 damage to his fist)
¡±Alright fine! You wana get cut!? Ima cut you!¡± Loki snapped as he hopped deftly to his feet. Loki¡¯s defenses were too high with harden for Carlos to hurt him. Carlos smirked and sneered darkly but waited for a moment. As he observed Loki use Hone claws twice without realizing. Grinding his blade hands together on his horn blade creating a trifecta of sparks, as he began to prowl Carlos.
Loki gains + 8 to speed and atk
Loki¡¯s Dark TE flared as he gave Carlos the most intense look of contempt. Two unnatural flicks of Loki¡¯s head, double slamming Leer into Carlos, dropping his Attack and speed. Carlos smirked. It felt horrible but he tried to power through it, which was difficult. Loki was very good at utility moves. What happened next was something Carlos was very happy about. Loki used his hone claws again without thinking as he was too focused on Carlos.
Carlos atk&speed drops by 20% Loki speed&atk now +12.
Loki didn¡¯t flinch. Carlos was over the moon and channeled all that giddiness into his taunt. ¡°My my that look of contempt comes rather easy to you doesn¡¯t it?¡±
Loki taunted for .56 seconds Defense dropped from 109 total to 54, for .56 seconds.
¡°Raaagh!¡± Loki didn¡¯t bother using his inner focus and launched at Carlos with a steel claw. Carlos slammed a secondary Mach strike right before his taunt wore off, into Loki exoskeletal skull. but didn¡¯t manage to knock him back, due to Loki¡¯s forward Momentum.
Loki increases speed by 20% defense + 4 & increased by 120% taunt reduces defense from 121 to 60 speed&atk now +16 Loki takes 4 damage, 78 remaining.
¡°Damn, taunt and I still only do 4 damage.¡± Carlos thought smirking. ¡°I need better moves.¡± He was pushed hard to dodge. The blades of Loki sliced dangerously close, cutting into his skin ever so slightly. Although his defense, due to quick guard. Which basically made his skin very hard, technically protected him completely and of all things, his fighting TE. Carlos was still getting nicked with superficial cuts, small trivial droplets of blood formed wherever Loki¡¯s blades sliced. Loki frustrated with his inability to land a proper hit, did another hone claws straight after the steel claw. He flinched but not as much as he normally would. Carlos smirked again, observing. ¡°So the key with this little fucker is hone claws and somehow his inner focus is somewhat of an Achilles heel.¡± He threw another taunt into Loki¡¯s face. ¡°Please~, do take your time buffing up my good man~¡± Loki again didn¡¯t bother using his inner Focus and launched another steel claw at Carlos. He was fuming. ¡°well there goes my chance of actually hurting him¡± Carlos thought. Leer was still on him and it was hard to focus on channeling his strength.
Loki increases speed by 40% defense + 8 & increased by 120% taunt reduces defense from 132 to 66 speed&atk now +16 Loki 78 hp remaining.
If nothing else if it wasn¡¯t for quick guard Carlos would have been cut very badly. 3 crisp strikes sliced through the air as Loki build up an incredible momentum. ¡°YO ASHOLE!¡± Kong hollered. ¡°Pointy attacks are ineffective!¡± ¡±I fucking know! I need the speed!¡± Loki snapped back. ¡°Ya need me to stand still~, guys should I?¡± Carlos taunted again. He was getting close to his 15 move limit. Detect he could pace out, but he needed 3 quick guards for each steel claw. This time it was Carlos time to be surprised, before the taunt could settle, Loki somehow. Deflected the taunt and flung it straight back at Carlos with a simple sentence. ¡±well why dont ya!?
Loki mimiced, taunt, Carlos&Loki taunted for 1 second Loki increased speed by + 16 and 40%(48) atk + 16 (24) defense + 12 & increased by 120% taunt reduces defense from 144 to 72. speed&atk +16 Loki 78 HP remaining. Carlos defense drops from 95 to 10 Foul play crits! Carlos takes 32 damage 26 remaining.
Getting taunted, dropped Carlos ability to use quick guard. Which caused his guard to falter completely. Loki foul play slipped past his defenses, Loki¡¯s hand blade impaled to the hilt into his chest, an inch away from his heart. There momentum carried Loki forward and Carlos fell backwards, slamming down hard into the soil. Loki¡¯s look of concentration and blood intent, morphed into one of mortification. He jumped off, utterly shocked and looked in horror at the blood dripping from his hand blade. ¡°I¡¯M ALRIGHT! FUCK that hurts! Ffffffffuuuuuuck what was I thinking? Well that¡¯s what I get for pushing you to the edge but great progress Loki.¡± Carlos flinched as the pain was deep and seemed to reach everywhere, his inner TE went to work instantly and the bleeding was a lot less than what he expected. Luckily he was somewhat resistant to both steel and dark. Loki dropped to the ground and kowtowed in front of Carlos. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I lost control! I will accept my banishment, if not death!¡± ¡±Sheesh what a drama queen.¡± Carlos smirked, still flinching from the pain. ¡°Loki look at me.¡± Loki looked up shivering. He was taken aback by the big smirk on Carlos face. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you mad? Why aren¡¯t you furious? Another hit like that would faint you! I almost, I almost used iron head,! Arceus what have I done?¡± Carlos chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m not mad because I literally asked for it, Loki all you really did was humble me. I kinda needed that. Gawain sear the wound for me please, I will get it looked at after. Gotta clean up before Corey sees this. Meanwhile, you three, tell him what the worst was you did to me.¡± However, before they could, an overly sweet voice rang out behind him. ¡±Before I see what Carlos?¡± Carlos head spun around like a deer caught in the headlights, he looked at Corey in a simple but very flattering outfit. ¡±Oh nothing too serious. I misjudged a stab from Loki and stepped into his strike like a complete noob, I may have gotten myself stabbed just a tiny bit.¡± He said without pause, trying to bullshit himself out. The pain on his face however¡­ ¡°That¡¯s not what happened!¡± Loki wailed. ¡°I deserve punishment! Discipline!¡± Although Corey didn¡¯t understand a word Loki said she understood his emotions and body language perfectly fine. ¡°You are not to blame for this dear.¡± She said softly and caring to a panicking Loki. Carlos swallowed, she had her Joy mask plastered on. He hadn¡¯t seen that for a while. ¡°Oh fuck she¡¯s pissed.¡± He thought. She had walked up to Loki and eased Loki¡¯s TE, to calm him down. Cory¡¯s Wigglytuff materialized, and waddled over to Carlos and slapped her flipper on Carlos wound, who proudly didn¡¯t flinch and let her heal him with healing pulse, he saw the hit it took on both their TE, unlike other moves, healing moves always took a percentage of your TE. after she was done, she healed up Loki who was looking at the horizon with a thousand yard stare. ¡±I owe you one Wigglytuff.¡± Carlos said. Corey¡¯s Wigglytuff scoffed. ¡°You damn straight, a week supply of my favorite snack for you and another for Loki.¡± ¡°Deal.¡± Corey turned her head and gave him a scolding stern Joy look. Not a Corey look. ¡°Ouch, that bad¡± he thought. Meanwhile Kong shuffled uncomfortably, and walked towards Loki who was still getting calmed down by Corey. ¡°I broke boss-mon¡¯s bones.¡± ¡±Three of his bones,¡± Dianne added. ¡°I let my darkness get the better of me during a period we had little food. During a sparring match I chomped down on his arm, I,¡± Dianne struggled to say it out loud, ¡°I wasn¡¯t opposed to how Alpha blood tasted.¡± That gave Corey¡¯s Wigglytuff pause. Carlos walked over and gave Dianne scratches. ¡°It¡¯s ok dear.¡± He said. ¡±Getting stabbed that deep is not ok Carlos, not even for someone as strong as you.¡± She said calmly, but the scorn was still obvious for him. ¡±I know babe, I meant what Dianne just admitted to Loki, I¡¯m sorry I scared you.¡± Carlos said and sat down next to Corey pulling her in closer. She didn¡¯t object. ¡±Well I¡¯m glad you have at least some sense.¡± Corey shook her head. ¡°Already as crazy as that Bruno guy.¡± ¡±Don¡¯t you mean sexy?¡± Carlos smirked and pulled her in for a kiss. All his Mons, except Gwen rolled their eyes and began practicing. Gwen approached. ¡°Is it tasty?¡± Carlos and Corey turned to her and smiled, Corey cooed and she rubbed the cuddly landwhale. ¡±Only if we do it for the two of us, Gwen.¡± Carlos smirked as Corey got distracted by Gwen¡¯s child like cuteness. ¡°Hey babe, Loki just made a huge breakthrough, been working on it for a month with him, give me 5 minutes?¡± ¡°Take an hour, that¡¯s how much time I¡¯m gonna spend with this gorgeous ball of cuteness.¡± She said rubbing Gwen¡¯s chubby cheeks. Carlos laughed, and looked at Gwen, she looked at him. ¡°Pink-sis doesn¡¯t understand me but gives me tasty insides.¡± She began bouncing on her feet as Corey began a game with her. Corey¡¯s Azumarill and Clawitzer came out as well. Azumarill played along with Gwen. And Clawitzer started a shooting match with Gawain. After a while, Carlos finished talking with Loki about his observations and theories on Hone claws, which got Loki all fired up trying to replicate his earlier success. Carlos left him to it and went back to Cory pulling her in. She cocked her head with a mischievous glint in her eyes. ¡°Thanks for being awesome¡±, he said, ¡°and you better know it,¡± she quipped, he kissed her. He had to admit, her showing up last night like she did touched him, especially knowing how busy she was lately. ¡°It¡¯s kind of sad how this won¡¯t turn into a cool looking scar.¡± ¡°Girls are not into that Carlos, besides i still see them all.¡± Corey said huffing. ¡°Seeing so many on one guy is worrisome.¡± ¡±what are you talking about? All traces of injuries disappear after a month or so.¡± Carlos cocked his head in confusion looking at Corey. She sighed. ¡°Sit down babe, I¡¯ll show you.¡± Carlos did as ordered and Corey gently, gracefully touched his body in various places. Each time she pressed her fingers into his skin in a rather tantalizing way she described an injury that he had suffered when he was still in the hollow mountains. Especially his short stint of hunting stronger Pokemon had left a plethora of scars, invisible to him but plain to see for Corey. Carlos didn¡¯t hear half of what she was saying. He just looked at her, it felt rather intimate to him. Surge came out smirking ¡°hey ya lovebirds stop making us regular plebeians feel so lacking!¡± Corey turned her head and smiled sultrily at Surge. ¡°Perhaps if you kept your dignity intact, you would find a pretty dame to love you up proper.¡± The lady that Surge had slept with, snaked her hands around Surge¡¯s massive frame and ducked under his arm snidely remarking, ¡°what are you saying? I loved him up right and proper. nothing wrong with a little indulgence now and then, something you should be intimately familiar with.¡± Her tone was rather scathing. ¡±Oh boy catfight.¡± Carlos thought. He deftly picked up Corey who was about to stalk forward, into a princess carry. ¡±No fair Carlos, she pouted.¡± Sultry lady: ¡°my my what a gentleman.¡± She leaned into Surge¡¯s ear. Carlos caught something about roleplay. ¡±Hey babe don¡¯t you need to go back to work? Don¡¯t get me wrong I¡¯m totally down to elope but em that might bite us both in the ass.¡± Carlos said. Corey flicked her head, looking at Carlos with a sidelong glance, ¡°Fine but you are dropping me off. My trip is in an hour.¡± ¡±Deal.¡± Carlos gave her a quick smooch and put Corey down. ¡°What do you need Surge?¡± ¡°Ya know anything about this?¡± Surge pinged Carlos Pokedex with a thread on the vermilion gym forum that was going viral. Vermilion GYM Challenge Board. ProdigyTrainer
¡±I challenge the drill sergeant to a duel Next month! Thursday on the 25th¡±
Aceinthemaking
¡±You that guy, the Rangers had to save after you dumbass was running for his life, getting chased by multiple Salamence?¡±
ProdigyTrainer
¡±teehee, yea that¡¯s why the challenge is next month I have to work for the damage I partially caused to the rangers. But hey, check this out! #link to a bagon picture with Finnley smiling like a goofball. The bagon thoroughly tired of his new trainer.
Aceinthemaking/solidveteran
¡±Dayum! You got a genuine dragon!
ProdigyTrainer
¡±Bro¡¯s and hoes don¡¯t even know the best of it. I got a savant Geodude, take 1 wild guess what hidden ability he revealed after he nearly died protecting me from the Salamence!?¡±
Aceinthemaking/solidveteran
¡±There¡¯s no fucking way you are that lucky! Dude we curse you with eternal virginity!¡±
ProdigyTrainer
¡±Too late for this Chad and yup! He awoke the god damn Dragon born ability! It¡¯s fate I tell you, there is a connection! Ive got dragon blood as a trainer like the mighty dragon tribes themselves!¡±
Carlos looked at Surge. ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with the dragon born ability, what does that do? The sultry lady answered instead. ¡°Oooh that¡¯s a very rare ability that turns a Pokemon¡¯s normal TE into Dragon TE, yet still allowing the use of normal moves.¡± ¡±Sheesh on a Geodude with sturdy and the pain tolerance savant nature that is going to be one tough cookie.¡± The sultry lady gasped, she looked downright turned on for a moment, Corey caught it too. ¡°That¡¯s a one in a millIon! People have killed for less.¡± That got her odd looks from everyone. She shrugged playfully. ¡°Hey I won¡¯t, just sayin others have.¡± Carlos filed that for later and continued reading. Pidgeysmasher.
¡±Yo, @Prodigaldragontrainer, those Salamence called about that connection! They want you to say hi to their fangs!¡±
ProdigyTrainer
¡±Pfff someone is jealous.¡±
Pussyslayer69.
¡±Not to rain on your lucky parade but you do know that a challenge like that. Removes like half the limitations holding back the sergeants ruthless ass? The way he manhandled my team over and over with that stupid smirk hidden behind his stern facade, with a bunch of garbage moves was humiliating.¡±
Rocksteady.
¡±@Pussyslayer69 dude, as a fellow brother. Please I beg of you, change your username.¡±
Pussyslayer69
¡°Bitch im a lesbian and that¡¯s my count.¡±
Rocksteady
¡±Apologies for the assumption but that frankly makes it worse. Who hurt you?¡±
ProdigyTrainer
¡±Yo! This isn¡¯t a relationship thread piss off!¡±
Pussyslayer69
@Rocksteady Who says it was different ladies? piss off!
Rocksteady
¡°@Pussyslayer69 How can I with so many questions!?¡±
Flightmaster101.
¡±Bad naming sense notwithstanding, i agree with Pussyslayer69 Having faced him recently, the guy is ruthless. He didn¡¯t hesitate to use self destruct. That being said. THANK YOU SARGE! All the advice paid off big time, my team is doing AWESOME!¡±
Rocksteady
¡°@Flightmaster101 dude we all saw your match getting streamed. You were LUCKY, you only had 2 of your mons knocked out and you won on the first try. That makes you like the first this season since the drill sergeant started. You got nothing to complain about.
The rest of the thread had turned into a shouting match of angry keyboard warriors. Carlos looked up the rules of challenges quickly and skimmed them. A smirk played on his face. ¡±Want me to hype it up a bit more for sales?¡± He looked at Surge, both men had their hustle face on. The women rolled their eyes. ¡°Men are boys and boys are boys,¡± the sultry lady said. Corey nodded in agreement. ¡°They sure are, you said it sis!¡± The purple haired woman introduced herself as Miya. Their previous spat already forgotten. Surge looked amused as the women walked off and started chatting about the most mundane trivial stuff, like shoes and shook his head, he grinned at Carlos. Surge: ¡°By all means go for it. You get part of the revenue your videos make.¡± Carlos: ¡±10%¡± Surge: ¡±You already get 15?¡± Carlos; ¡±Not the videos, the bootleg operating you got going on.¡± Surge: ¡±not so loud and I don¡¯t what do you mean?¡± He grinned shamelessly. Carlos quipped his eyebrow. ¡±Come now Surge, you have my Gwen run herself ragged cooling booze, 3 times a week whenever you get a shipment in. A bit of head math thats enough to supply half the bars in town.¡± Surge: ¡°Hey I only supply like three.¡± Carlos: ¡°Three what?¡± Carlos quipped a smirk and raised his eyebrow further. Surge: ¡±Three¡­. Avenues.¡± Carlos smiled like the devil ¡±So you only deal with the good stuff? No wonder you need a pokemon with near perfect cooling control. Surge: ¡±I can give you five percent.¡± Carlos: ¡±Seven percent and I will throw in a scoop, trust me, you need the scoop.¡± Surge: ¡±Fucking bastard, Deal, now whats the scoop?¡± Carlos lowered his voice. ¡±Jennies have been snooping around and they are expertly avoiding your security measures the last couple of weeks, might have been longer I only noticed two weeks ago.¡± ¡±Shit, I did need to know that.¡± Surge scratched his head. ¡°Fuck I promised Miya we would spend the day, but I gotta update security if what you said is true.¡± He said somewhat louder. Miya perked up at that. ¡°I used to run security for the Psychic Gym, back in Saffron City.¡± Surge perked up at that. He turned to Miya and smiled. ¡°That must have been a good gig, why¡¯d you give that up?¡± Miya sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong I love a good bit of Voyeurism.¡± Carlos sighed when she lowered her already lowcut dress, revealing way too much, while Surge whistled. ¡°My kinda woman.¡± Miya continued: ¡°but a bit of privacy now and then is appreciated and there is no privacy with a gym leader who can teleport like Pokemon. With a wife equally talented and a daughter with the most monstrous talent as an auric psychic, not seen in the indigo league in the last 300 years.¡± Corey stepped in. ¡°Miya! What would your daughter think?¡± Not paying any attention to what Miya was saying and pulled Miya¡¯s dress back up. ¡°pfff, my daughter is such a shy prude at the moment, I doubt she will ever get a boyfriend.¡± Carlos zoned the rest of the conversation out as Corey scolded both a smirking Surge and Miya, about trying to drag poor, innocent Carolyn into a threesome. Wildsarge. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
¡°@Flightmaster101. Yo I¡¯m glad the training is working out. Glad to hear you¡¯re doing good. It¡¯s good to know some people have the good sense to listen to a professional. Speaking of dumbasses who don¡¯t listen to the pro¡¯s. @ProdigyTrainer. Yo Finnley you absolute butthole! I told you to go for a Mareep or something, not a true dragon type! Now I¡¯m legally bound to tell you that I¡¯m glad you are alive, but I am going to personally crush and humble you with a 3 man team that I will train personally, over the next month, to beat your sorry ass.¡±
ProdigyTrainer
¡°I did catch a Mareep. Was easy too. Didn¡¯t even put up a fight and hey! I¡¯m just that good! Don¡¯t be jealous ??. And you must mean 4 not three.
Wildsarge
¡±There is a difference between proper confidence, knowing your team and yourself. Allowing you to take calculated risks and then there is dumbass!!! who got SAVED by rangers after he pissed off a dragon horde!!! #superangryfaceofCarlos picture. To answer your question. It¡¯s simple really. OBVIOUSLY you will use that one in a million geodude, but that means your second fighter has to be your Charmander. So you can superheat sandstorm. That rules out your exeggcute due to grass typing, Your Bagon won¡¯t listen to orders within the next month, leaving you with that Swablu you mentioned. So only 1 Pokemon with a real typing advantage. Still thats a locked team for sure
ProdigyTrainer
¡±Pfff that¡¯s why you are the Sarge, since you already know what I¡¯m going to show up with, it only seems fair you tell me what you are going to show up with?¡±
(instant response) Wildsarge
¡±A Magnemite. A Mareep and a watrell. I will let you figure out the setup.¡±
PussySlayer69
¡±Jesus that was a fast response. @Prodigytrainer No offense to you kid, but I¡¯m betting against you. Check it out btw. Someone already started a betting pool.¡±
Carlos looked up from his pokedex. Surge smirked knowingly. ¡°Dang you are fast Lieutenant.¡± He said. ¡±You know me Man, good job riling up the crowd.¡± Carlos decided to toss in one last bloody bone for the houndooms. Wildsarge.
¡°Btw I Will toss in 5k as a bet on myself. Care to follow that wager?¡±
ProdigyTrainer.
¡±You are on! Prepare to lose! Im gonna crush you!¡±
TheONEtheONLYrealSURGE.
¡±ticket sales are going rather fast, we will most likely stage this fight in the old arena hall. Tickets are going fast, if you miss out, there are streaming services and we will set up drive in locations, if needed. Check the official site for updates¡±
the responses came in hot people riling up ProdigyTrainer, people scrambling to get tickets. Corey shook her head and closed her dex. ¡°You are so bad baby¡± she said playfully. She scooted in closer laying her hand on Carlos lap. ¡°Should I hype him up a bit more? Or is that laying it on too thick?¡± Carlos asked the group. He gave his dex to his mons who had fun listening to Loki, explaining what was going on, Loki loved to add some dramatic flair. Surge shook his head. ¡±Nah any more hype and it will seem forced, this looks perfectly natural.¡± ¡±Especially with you cussing him out. You bad, bad boy.¡± Miya said sultrily, her tone was rather seductive. Carlos felt Corey¡¯s grip tighten on his thigh. He placed his hands on hers and squeezed. Surge laughed. ¡°Seems you wil be busy my man, once you come back from dropping off your girl, we will go out and catch some of those mon¡¯s, smart of you to pick some common ones from the local area.¡± Corey got up and smooched Carlos on the cheeks. ¡°Meet me up front?¡± She had a sparkle in her eyes. Carlos nodded and watched her go and disappear in the building. ¡°Why did I go and saddle myself with overtime again?¡± He idly wondered. Surge laughed out loud. ¡°Cuz you a battle freak at heart brother.¡± He clapped him on the shoulders while his other hand was on Miya, who happily leaned into Surge. ¡±Hey sweetie why don¡¯t I freshen up and afterwards, I give you some pointers for your security system? She clamped her lips onto Surge for an over the top kiss, giving Carlos a side eye and got up. Carlos arched his eyebrow at her wondering what she was playing at. Living up to her previous claim of enjoying voyeurism. It was a bit over the top for Carlos but Surge seemed to enjoy it.¡± ¡°Sure as rain babe.¡± Surge watched her strut away, Carlos shook his head at the femme fatale, he observed Surge¡¯s body language, something he picked up by osmosis from sleeping with a Joy. Carlos: ¡°This Miya, you seem to be into her a bit more, than your usual quarry.¡± Surge: ¡±Tellin ya kid. Older women tend to be feisty but this one was positively wild and in heat. I kept wondering if she faked it but nah she just kept..¡± ¡±ok ok, she¡¯s awesome I get it.¡± Carlos waved him off. ¡°She seems to be your type for sure.¡± Surge¡¯s starter popped out of his ball and folded its arms, watching Carlos with a smug shit eating grin. It¡¯s powerful aura was palpable. Surge mirrored his Raichu¡¯s expression. ¡°You are one to be bashful, you and that gall of yours went on longer than me!¡± Carlos felt uncomfortable. ¡°I thought we were quiet.¡± He Murmured. Dianne yipped a scoff and rolled her eyes dramatically. Kong had the same grin on his face. Gawain looked the other way, so did Loki who snickered. Gwen to his relief didn¡¯t seem to get it. ¡°Allright I¡¯m going to drop off Nurse Joy behave alright?¡± ¡°What are you looking at me for?¡± Surge grinned harder. Carlos laughed and dramatically rolled his eyes and got up. He went to the front and froze. He was completely dumbstruck. He almost didn¡¯t recognize Corey. She was wearing a small, really tight, lowcut dress colored light salmon pink. It hugged her voluptuous form way too tight, creating a dazzling view. The skirt hugged her hips and barely got halfway her thighs, it did that thing where it accentuated the sexy thickness of her legs. She had somehow colored her hair and eyebrows completely blond which offset her sparkling green eyes. She smiled shyly at him. ¡±I think it wasn¡¯t fair that you didn¡¯t get to see me show off in a sexy dress last night.¡± ¡°You sure this isn¡¯t some convoluted reverse psychology way to torture me? How am I gonna focus for the rest of the week remembering this?¡± He got closer. His heartbeat quickened and he grabbed her a bit roughly, kissing her passionately. ¡±I¡¯m not torturing you, just reminding you of what you have to lose.¡± She said, it almost sounded like a warning but her eyes were soft, telling him something else. ¡°I have a long quiet scenic route planned to the transport platform.¡± She leaned in and whispered. ¡°Lots of quiet private places,¡± He didn¡¯t see it but he could feel her biting her own lip and she spoke the last sentence a bit louder, ¡°we can be loud.¡± Carlos felt his heart trying to hammer its way out of his chest as Corey dragged him along he took a deep breath to settle himself. ¡°I don¡¯t think I deserve such an amazing person such as you.¡± He said softly. She turned and looked up at him through eyelashes that seemed to go on forever, laughing beautifully. ¡°What are you saying you silly psyduck! Of course you deserve me, want to know why?¡± She said playfully. ¡°Why?¡± Carlos asked smiling. She leaned in, and whispered. ¡°Because I deserve you.¡± They left the gym, an hour later, Corey almost missed her timeframe. Running onto the platform on the last second. ¡°Huh, I never got to ask her how she colored her hair blond.¡± He sighed. He already missed her. That dress had woken something fierce in him. She pinged him 5 minutes later as he was walking back all alone. NurseDory.
¡±Already miss you??¡±.
Wildsarge.
¡±Ugh don¡¯t remind me, ?? btw how did you color your hair and eyebrows blond so quickly?
NurseDory
¡±Have you ever seen any nurse Joy outside of a poke center wearing anything but their nurse outfit?¡±
Wildsarge.
¡±Now that you mention it no, never.¡±
NurseDory
¡±That¡¯s because we are experts at disguising ourselves, we have to, otherwise we could never find a moment to relax or take a walk. The coloring is a simple mouse that washes out with basic water. But babe id love to do some sexting with you but i gtg, I¡¯m already late.¡±
Carlos felt his chest fill up with joy. ¡°I lucked out with that woman big time.¡± He whistled as he began walking back smiling, a spring to his step that he curtailed. He had a reputation to uphold. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered if he should buy her a ring. A restaurant¡­ no a picnic all alone and who knows? perhaps kill two birds with one stone? He chuckled. ¡°Sheesh is this a Pokemon story or a chick flick?¡± He began to grin wide getting a few odd looks but he ignored it. It was about half an hour later when he was almost back at the gym that his Pokedex did its custom Corey ping. NurseDory
¡°I¡¯m sorry babe, I will have to catch up on my missed shifts this weekend.¡±
Carlos grumbled, she had warned him this might happen. Wildsarge.
¡±Aw babe that sucks, really? I can¡¯t come? What if i come on Saturday night instead? after your shift?¡±
She didn¡¯t respond for a while and Carlos felt his heart sink. ¡°Ugh you totally are, torturing me Corey,¡± he muttered, ¡°did I do something wrong? Pfff do you need to check the file she has?¡± He scolded himself. Suddenly he didn¡¯t feel so sure of himself. It took a good 3 minutes before she responded. NurseDory
¡±I¡¯m sorry babe, My mentor is adamant.¡±
Carlos sighed, ¡°fuck¡± he thought for a moment. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± Wildsarge.
¡±Nothing you can do, you did warn me that this might happen. So not this weekend. What about next weekend?¡±
Again over 3 minutes before she responded. NurseDory.
¡°You have to understand Babe, I missed a lot of shifts, looking at all the penalties I racked up, I don¡¯t know when the next time is that I can get off.¡±
Carlos felt something leaving his body. He couldn¡¯t put his finger on it. It was so Jarring. Something was wrong and it pissed him off. Her text¡¯s felt so¡­ robotic and what was up with these delays. nothing like the bubbly Teenager girl style of writing he had come to expect from Corey. Doing some head math on what she had explained as far as penalties, he knew she wasn¡¯t truthful, that was what really stung. She had omitted facts or avoided things, never flat out lied to him. Wildsarge
¡±How about, next Sunday, just a day?¡±
¡°That¡¯s not too clingy right?¡± Again the delay. NurseDory.
¡±I don¡¯t know babe, i will have to check my schedule.
¡°When has she ever needed to check her schedule?¡± he sat down for 15 minutes and calmed himself down. He looked at his Pokedex after he was calm again. He felt a bit guilty, Corey was on her 5th text asking him to respond. Which was weird he had expected more texts, she usually straight up bombarded him with text, if he didn¡¯t respond immediately. She would pester him, not politely remind him to respond. He checked the time frames of each text, ¡°3,45 minutes delay on the dot, now why does that number sound familiar?¡± His emotional state hindered his ability to remember and reason and it pissed him off. It felt like she was manipulating him and he had no clue why. He measured his response. Wildsarge.
¡±Sorry babe, had to take some time taking it in. You caught me completely off guard with this through text. You had me REALLY fired up with that dress for the weekend, then you hit me with this, it¡¯s a lot to take in.¡±
Carlos kept writing and rewriting before hitting send. He wanted to snap at her, accuse her of lying, but he schooled himself. His doubtful self told him this behavior was a red flag, he ran through all the inconsistencies, he looked back to weeks prior had she lied then? He felt himself tumble down a spiral. ¡°Fuck! You survived life or death you are having a simple argument with your Girl, stop being a wimp!¡± He silently fumed to himself. He wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. It took a while before she responded. He began to panic again. Did he overstep? How? This was a normal response right?¡± NurseDory.
¡±I think I¡¯m in love with you Carlos.¡±
That send him reeling. He didn¡¯t know what to say. He wrote her back he loved her too, over and over and over again. Yet he couldn¡¯t hit send. Wildsarge
¡±I will tell you the next time we see each other.¡±
NurseDory.
¡°Why not? I don¡¯t know when I get some time off. Also Carlos it¡¯s really not a big deal to say it over text. However I will respect your decision.
Carlos sat on a bench unaware of the people passing him. ¡°What the fuck is happening? Why is Corey acting so¡­. Polite?¡± He thought to himself. He knew he should be over the moon hearing her say she loved him. But the lie stung, the inconsistencies stung. Again he had to calm himself down. He reread all the texts. Looking at the texts Corey send, he felt that all of this was way too uncharacteristic for Corey. Corey loved texting but she would have told him this in person, right? A Nasty, nasty thought creeped in. ¡°Or she played you for a complete fool all this time and is now having a laugh right before she knew you were going to confess, she can read you like an open book after all.¡± He crushed that train of thought quickly, the white hot rage of a thousand suns descended upon him. Especially after that walk. Was that break up sex? No why did she say she loved him then? he needed to get to the bottom of this before his mind conjured up one conspiracy after the next. Wildsarge.
¡±Corey I feel something is getting lost in translation, we need to talk. I don¡¯t care about how long your shift is, we are going to have a video call tonight at midnight if needed, you hear?¡±
NurseDory.
¡±what¡¯s wrong babe? Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re not a bit too forceful?¡±
Again that detached and delayed response, it drove him nuts. Wildsarge.
¡±you know, you call me an idiot all the time you stupid woman. Don¡¯t you understand that what you did yesterday and today, got me planning a day for it? Wondering if I should get you a ring? Do I take you to a restaurant? Do I say it after we are completely alone during a picnic in the local hillsides? You know me well enough to know that you can¡¯t expect me to just casually drop such a bomb over a text. Either we are having that call or I will get on that transport pad, right now.
Corey didn¡¯t respond for a while. ¡°If she waits for another 3.45 minutes im gonna cuss her out.¡± The doubts began to rage again. He vaguely remembered her talking about some waiting technique when it came to testing a persons responses. None of it helped with his paranoia. People in this world for the most part were very trustworthy from what he could observe, especially when it mattered. He calmed himself down again and kept telling himself he was just paranoid, just another bit of baggage to get rid off. After a while 2.32 minutes, she dialed a video call instead. Carlos felt a sigh of relief escape him, he accepted and walked into an alley for some privacy. ¡°Y-you were planning on getting me an engagement ring?¡± The shy genuine stammer, the glint in her eyes. The fading blush, but most of all, the ever faintly red eyes from holding back her tears, made his anger and doubts melt. He smiled warmly and sighed, feeling stupid, obviously there had been some misunderstanding. ¡°I am now, any type of stones that you like?¡± He said warmly, he was beginning to feel very emotional. she responded instantly, making it clear she had already given it a lot of thought.¡°Anything green that matches my eye color; emerald or tourmaline. Oh Carlos are you serious about this?¡± She had set her pokedex on a park table and was sitting down so she was framed all the way. She was still in her overly sexual dress. Her chest going up and down from rapid breathing, was utterly distracting Carlos. He had a hard time keeping an eye on her tells, her indicators. She was using her manipulation techniques, but he recognized them, she was telling him, ¡°please don¡¯t be mad,¡± or ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± He couldn¡¯t tell exactly. ¡±Corey, what is going on? Why on earth are you testing me like this?¡± Carlos asked with a pained smile, his doubts returned. He felt wronged. ¡±Same reason you keep looking if I¡¯m using my training to manipulate you. Even now.¡± her eyes flickered. He couldn¡¯t tell if that was a genuine response. ¡±I guess so.¡± He said. He went silent. Drawing a blank. Had it all been in his stupid head? she spoke, her eyes flickering again. ¡±I won¡¯t deny I don¡¯t catch myself doing it but I try my best to be completely honest and genuine with you Carlos I mean that.¡± her eyes flickered. A light went up and his face grew dark, he pieced it all together, her current behavior her eyes with signs of tears. He silently mouthed: ¡°are you alone?¡± And quickly followed up with: ¡°For a hot second I thought you were breaking up.¡± She shook her head and chuckled, of course not silly! It¡¯s just work. Once my year is over I can pick my station and it will settle to a normal pace. he nodded. His face Grimm. He mouthed silently: ¡°are you safe?¡± So you are ok then? We are too? She nodded. ¡°Yes I¡¯m ok,¡± she chuckled but it was shaky ¡°and how can you question if we are ok after what we just did? I¡¯m sorry for putting you through this, you deserve better, but that¡¯s what we will have to deal with if you wish to continue dating me.¡° Carlos began to suspect, this had something to do with the elders Corey had always complained about, the way she was fidgeting so uncomfortably her obvious tells that she was embarrassed. Her curves kept bouncing, he shook his head. ¡±I like your pink hair, it makes me wish you didn¡¯t make such a hot blonde.¡± Carlos blurted out. She got a pained expression, He smiled sheepishly. ¡°Sorry I didn¡¯t mean to think that out loud.¡± Which, confusingly only made the pained expression get worse. ¡±So it¡¯s ok for you to constantly filter and measure your responses and be on guard when you are with me? I want you to be completely honest with me too.¡± She said softly. Carlos pondered for a moment. ¡°Ok complete honesty,¡± he said. ¡°you should have told me straight up you would be too busy. You totally led me to believe I was going to see you this weekend, I was really looking forward to seeing you and then you just drop in: ow yea sorry, can¡¯t see you for the next two weeks, probably the entire month. That was, it was, it was painful, idk am I crazy to think it felt cruel?¡± He flicked his head backwards, and he saw Corey understand, she nodded firmly. ¡°I know Carlos I should have led with that. I keep forgetting that under all that roughness you can be quite sensitive.¡± ¡±Hey, can¡¯t blame you there, it catches me constantly by surprise too.¡± He said smiling. She laughed and he saw some tension ease out of her.¡± Carlos sighed in relief as well. ¡±What time does your shift end tonight?¡± ¡°23:30.¡± ¡°For crying out loud, I thought Surge was a Slave driver, I will see you then, save some energy ok?¡± ¡±B-But babe I can¡¯t I¡¯m¡­¡± she stammered but Carlos cut her off. ¡±Not another word. It¡¯s your own fault for looking so damn sexy in that dress. I¡¯m coming and that¡¯s that. I¡¯m hanging up now and will not look at any of your texts you hear?¡± Corey was about to protest but nothing came out. She slumped in defeat and looked at Carlos. ¡°See you tonight Carlos.¡± ¡±I L¡­¡± Carlos bit his tongue. ¡°Tonight.¡± With that he shut down the video call. And let his head rest against the wall. The emotional turmoil calming down. ¡°She did warn me them elders were stiff and prickly.¡± He muttered. ¡°Alpha?¡± Carlos looked to the side and saw Dianne standing in the alleyway. ¡°Is everything okay between you and pink-sis?¡± Carlos sat down on the ground and crossed his legs. Dianne hopped into his lap. ¡°You are in heat, badly.¡± ¡°Pink-sis does have that effect on me.¡± ¡±Then why are you so sad? Why are your eyes leaking?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not leaking.¡± ¡±Just a little.¡± ¡±I¡¯m not sure Dianne. I think for some reason I could have lost Pink-sis there, it seems like her elders, her Alpha¡¯s don¡¯t approve of us.¡± ¡°She¡¯s not mating with others btw if thats something you are worried about. Lots of doubts inside you right now.¡± She said trying to comfort him. ¡±You can smell that?¡± Dianne scoffed. ¡°Off course! we have best noses. Strict rules in the pack on that. Once 2 mate, smell of both changes, body smell changes. Doesn¡¯t matter how much you wash. Never leaves you. Poochyena and Mightyena can always smell it.¡± ¡±Huh, that does make me feel better, I did for a hot second, think she was cheating.¡± He smiled at Dianne. ¡°I don¡¯t deserve such a loyal girl like you. Definitely not after I neglected you for so long.¡± He pulled Dianne in for a hug. ¡±I¡¯m not too comfortable with this squishy stuff alpha, soft strong ok. Squishy makes me feel icky, if pink-sis betrays us, I will kill her.¡± Her ruthless Dark TE flared, the way she said it so casually reminded Carlos of the feral nature of Pokemon. ¡°I¡¯m glad you are so protective of me Dianne, but please don¡¯t kill her, ok? If she does, the alpha reserves the right of her fate.¡± Dianne grumbled but nodded her head. Carlos smirked, and let her go. ¡°Thank you Dianne, and thanks for letting me hug you, alpha needed that.¡± ¡±Gawain and Gwen are better suited for squishy stuff. Better not show Kong or Loki though. Also you don¡¯t neglect me, you busy alpha. Don¡¯t know how you do it all.¡± She huddled and curled up next to him. ¡°Pats and scratches please, clone told others where we are.¡± Carlos complied smiling, sitting together with Dianne. Reflecting. Half hour earlier. POV Corey. Corey was over the moon. As she arrived in Blackthorne she instantly texted Carlos. She bit her lip again, that intense reaction he had, seeing her in this dress, was worth the horrible embarrassment she felt wearing it. It had only been for an hour but somehow this ludicrous dress felt worse than the idea of walking around naked. The way it made her look and how Carlos eyes had popped out of their sockets had made it worth it, it had been a perfect moment. Pure unadulterated burning passion. She sighed, it was only a matter of time till he said those 3 words. Heck he almost said it numerous times in the last hour, obviously that hopeless romantic wanted to do it in a proper intimate setting, she smiled joyfully that just meant she got to savor it more. She was happy she had listened to Miya about the dress. She walked towards a local motel that had changing rooms for her to use. She didn¡¯t feel comfortable in the least, walking on high heels like this at all. Together with Carlos? Sure, who with one withering stern look, made any judgmental person smile like they just saw a saint. Alone like this, she felt horribly exposed. She didn¡¯t get very far. 2 very inconspicuous women approached. Her face went pale. The oldest of the two gave her the most agonizing, withering judgemental look that shattered her joyous spell. The other looked apologetically at her. The oldest one a Joy elder, she knew her very well from her early days. The other her mentor. ¡°I see I came just in time. Follow.¡± The elder spoke with venomous judgment. Corey shrunk, ¡°I would like to get changed first, I feel exposed.¡± ¡°You may not change.¡± The elder scoffed and started walking. The simple attempt at putting her in a socially compromising position was plain for Corey to see. She hated how she couldn¡¯t help but admit that it was working. She meekly followed the older nurses. They walked towards a nearby park. Corey was getting a lot of looks. Usually she would be able to hide behind her training and make it relatively enjoyable but she felt miserable. She couldn¡¯t believe how much she wanted Carlos here, he would set those old crones straight, she froze mid step. ¡°Ow fuck, I¡¯m in love, when did that happen?¡± She thought to herself. This was a horrible time to realize this, she didn¡¯t have time to work that into her mask. The elder was going to see, she felt a cold sweat coming on. ¡±Sit, link up, show me what you have been talking about.¡± The elder ordered her. ¡°Those are private conversations.¡± Corey protested. She felt her heartbeat quicken, simultaneously with her heart dropping down her chest a few inches. Fear was not an emotion she was all too familiar with, but right now, it threatened to choke her. ¡±It isn¡¯t, when it concerns a man of his disposition.¡± The elder barked. ¡±Remember your training,¡± her mentor said softly. Corey felt her soul leave her body. She put up her mask, she had to. She was screaming on the inside. The invasion of her privacy ripped at her soul. She hated how embarrassed she was, she shouldn¡¯t be. It was obvious when the elder, read through all the illicit texting her and Carlos had engaged in. ¡±Why didn¡¯t you report this?¡± The elder asked curtly. ¡±Since when do I need to report my personal relationships?¡± She bit back. ¡±do not play coy with me. You didn¡¯t report the fact that this man, this Carlos, belongs to the 3%.¡± The elder said calmly but she was obviously fuming. ¡°We had to piece it together ourselves.¡± Now it was Corey¡¯s time to be genuinely surprised. ¡°What are you talking about? I reported all of it, the fact that his TE responded, his typing, hell his whole psychological and mental map. I did more than was...¡± ¡±Silence.¡± The elder, cut her off. ¡°You know damn well that his numbers are way off.¡± ¡±He¡¯s got dark typing and shows none, I repeat none of the symptoms! By Arceus, half the women in Vermillion thought he was gay with how little he reacted to them!¡± Corey almost yelled. ¡±Girl for a man with this sort of hormonal deviancy, it is only a matter of time, they all cave. It¡¯s not their fault, he needs help before it¡¯s too late.¡± She said in a caring tone, but it sounded hollow to Corey. ¡±You will effectively neuter him. You know this. When he hasn¡¯t done anything wrong.¡± Corey said feeling angry, sad and a growing sense of hopelessness. ¡±The last man with a 45% deviancy took a rather sickening shine now didn¡¯t he? Something will trigger your precious Carlos and he will go off the rails.¡± The elder huffed. Corey rolled her eyes. ¡°If he can survive, thrive and completely ignore his skull and half his bone structure turned to solid rock, which should have killed him 10 times over btw.¡± She let that hang for a bit. ¡°Don¡¯t you think he can handle a 57% above maximum hormonal deviation?¡± Corey said, pride for Carlos seeped into her voice. The elder smirked, ¡°See my dear?¡± She spoke to Corey¡¯s mentor. ¡°At this age, they all lose their perspective, always fall blindly whenever a compatible guy comes along, all of them bitter by the end.¡± ¡°what are you talking about? Plenty of Joy¡¯s have families.¡± Now it was Corey who huffed. ¡±only 23% of them dear, most in secret. Need I remind you, the remainder 77% really, really tried to find a mate, many of them did, but it ultimately failed?¡± ¡±So why then, are you such an obstinate hag? Don¡¯t you need me to be a good Joy and breed for the future?¡± Corey¡¯s voice dripped with venom. ¡°He¡¯s got the libido for it.¡± Her earlier fear. Replaced with scorn for an obsolete view of life. The elder let the insult glide off her. ¡°He needs to be tested, have you tested him to see if he holds his cool?¡± ¡±I don¡¯t need to, by Arceus how can I? the man stares down alpha Pokemon. Getting blasted by icicles the size of trees isn¡¯t exactly something I can replicate, he spars with his own Pokemon. Matching them in speed.¡± She didn¡¯t realize she was puffing her chest in pride, her mentor shook her head trying to warn Corey but it was too late. The elder smirked, ¡°Point taken, how is he¡­ in private?¡± Her voice was smooth and completely caught Corey off guard. Corey couldn¡¯t hide the blush in her face, the tender response of her body, it had happened so recently too and was still fresh in her memory. The elder looked triumphantly. ¡°You are in love you foolish girl.¡± Corey lost all her bravado, she felt like she couldn¡¯t breathe. She looked at her mentor who looked at her with pity. ¡±You should have brought this to the council, before you foolishly let yourself get swept up by a pound of flesh. You know what our protocol demands don¡¯t you?¡± The elder didn¡¯t bother waiting for a response. Corey¡¯s mind went dark. As a Joy, she had most of her violent tendencies removed. This was something all Joy¡¯s shared. But she felt like strangling the old hag. The stringent protocols for relationships were widely disagreed with and flat out ignored by most of the elder council, more often then not it had needlessly complicated things. Some of those protocols, were set down 500 years ago, those were different times. People changed. But this particular elder was one of the rare ones, adamant about the protocols, she considered them sacrosanct. From day 1 she had disagreed loudly with this elder and it caused her a lot of trouble during her educational years. To make matters worse, for some reason this particular Elder, held special dispensation when it came to Corey. Why, Corey didn¡¯t know but she knew, nothing she said or did could stop the elder. She had to watch, how the elder grabbed her pokedex and began pretending she was Corey. She had to watch how the elder began her stupid psycho manipulation. How she worded the texts in such a way, delayed them that it would plant doubt in Carlos mind. She smirked behind a perfect mask as she saw the indicators in Carlos texts. He caught on quick something was up. She felt her heart quickening when the elder dialed it up and began planting hints at betrayal. Corey knew Carlos was perceptive enough to see those seeds. She began to cry behind her mask when the elder exposed her feelings to Carlos. Feelings she had wanted to share in intimate privacy. She was panicking, she mapped him, she knew that rough on the outside soft on the inside Carlos, was probably fuming, hurt and confused, conjuring up one crazy theory after another. ¡°Now he¡¯s calling you stupid! How dare he call a Joy stupid. what do you see in this man?¡± The elder huffed offended at the banter Carlos tried to engage in. ¡°A fucking heart.¡± Corey thought quietly. Her mentor caught the silent insinuation and gave her a glare to be careful. ¡°He is more persistent than expected. He wants to talk to you tonight and insists on it. Call him now I wish to measure him further.¡± She got up. ¡°Give me a moment.¡± She turned away. she needed to go all the way on Carlos, she had to let him see in one glance that this was a misunderstanding. If she showed a sliver of the rage she felt right now for the elder, he would take that as annoyance at him. She would do to Carlos what Lance had done to her. She¡¯d rather die than sink that low. ¡°Hurry up.¡± She was ready and set up the camera in a way she could hide some of her more subtle facial expression from the elder. She had caught the slight deterioration in the eyes of her elder. She hit dial and was relieved when Carlos immediately responded. She felt so bad seeing him. His distress was apparent. As she talked, she felt pride at how quickly he picked up on her silent communication, she was touched when he channeled his inner dark knight. She noted how her mentor didn¡¯t miss anything. She sighed in relief behind her mask, when she noted how the elder had not picked up on the finer subtleties of the conversation. How her mentor wasn¡¯t part of the elder Council she didn¡¯t know. She could replace them all on her lonesome with her skills and intellect. Corey shakily closed her Pokedex and looked at the two much older Nurse Joy¡¯s sitting across from her. ¡°Well, that settles that.¡± Her mentor said smiling ever so slightly at her protege. ¡°As far as I¡¯m concerned, Carlos is a young man ignorant of the intricacies of our society. His emotional responses were bare and open, genuine and he was perfectly in control of his faculties. The much older nurse with not a single pink speck of pink hair huffed. ¡°Still, That man must be given the antidote as soon as possible.¡± Corey¡¯s mind went dark. ¡°No and that¡¯s final. You heard him, he intents to commit. It¡¯s no longer any of your fucking concern.¡± Corey finally snapped. Her mentor rubbed her temples to ease the migraine that assaulted her. ¡°You two will be the death of me.¡± She muttered. The elder looked like she was going to actually drop her mask and explode but Corey pressed on. ¡°My medical prognosis has always been that Carlos is perfectly fine handling the hormonal imbalances so far, you can trust that, you old hag. Obviously as someone who cares for him if i see anything out of the ordinary I will immediately make sure the right steps are taken. the grey nurse scoffed and leered at Corey. ¡±You have no control over that man, within a month these simple texts i send should have him obedient, not force himself onto you like he did just now.¡± Corey flipped out at the ridiculous gaslighting and threw up her hands. ¡°You! Told him not to come. My body language, quite beautifully I may add, added the notion for him to come tonight quite splendidly. Something you missed entirely and why on earth would I use psycho manipulation on someone Whom I care this deeply about? How would that be a relationship? Not that it matters, his Dark typing would screw it all up and then we would have a real problem on our hands.¡± She continued and verbally atttacked the elder. ¡°It is my observation you didn¡¯t bother reading past the hormonal deviancy of the report, you missed some of his most basic tells, you missed that he became aware of you and he will be asking me about you. What should I tell him? you exposed more then I would have in a year.¡± Her mentor Sighed. ¡°Use your discretion in the matter. You are dismissed Corey. For what it¡¯s worth I¡¯m thrilled you found someone but be careful ok? Love has many thorns.¡± Corey was about to say one final thing, one final nail in the coffin. The elder nurse caught it, her eyes darkened at the silent insinuation. Corey, stayed silent however and schooled her expression to one of neutrality. Corey got up and Curtly bowed. ¡°I am in your care.¡± And with that she turned around and walked off, towards the motel to finally get out of her dress. She only wanted Carlos to see her this way. After she was out of earshot. The elder scoffed. ¡°She has no respect for her elders, she¡¯s undisciplined, She hasn¡¯t taken her hormone blockers, she let herself grow into a fat cow! She has none of the petite elegance the Joy¡¯s are known for! And what possesses you to let her dress like such a slut?¡± The elder huffed indignantly. ¡±Are you done?¡± The old nurse looked at the elder. Her eyes were practically breathing fire. ¡°Or are you dead set on turning her old and bitter like you?¡± The old mentor continued. ¡±She found herself a sweet lovable idiot, let her have this, or at the very least let it run its course.¡± The elder arched her eyebrows and sneered cynically. ¡°Is this the same sweet lovable idiot, who sends over 50 Pokemon to the emergency wing per week, on average? He is worse than the projections we have on Surge!¡± ¡°You mistake his empathy, with him lacking empathy, a common mistake when it comes to men who look rough, but not one a Joy should make.¡± The elder, dropped her mask completely. ¡°His empathy!? He crushes the dreams and aspirations of about 30% of the trainers that face him! That is the highest of any gym trainer in the indigo league!¡± the mentor sighed. ¡±By Arceus himself, you really haven¡¯t read any of our reports have you? The man survived on his lonesome in one of the most dangerous places on this planet. He did it with wit, cunning and a healthy dose of decisiveness which you are confusing with ruthlessness. Hopes, dreams and aspirations need to stand up to the test of reality.¡± The elder scoffed in denial. The mentor pressed on. ¡°It¡¯s a lesson he is well equipped to teach. A lesson, the new generation begrudgingly respects him for, many are preparing to face him specifically and are better for it when they do.¡± The elder sneered again. ¡°He had his entire life in the mountains with 3 Pokemon who are only halfway towards their second evolution. How good can he be?¡± ¡±He had those Pokemon for about half a year, with the exception of his Pawniard. None of his Pokemon are older than four.¡± ¡°What?¡± The elder face became impassive. ¡±Really Elder, you need to retire. When diligence is forgotten, you have reached that point. I highly recommend you read the numerous reports we send to the council. It¡¯s a heartbreaking story what that young man had to endure, it¡¯s obvious he must have lost quite a bit considering the team he was found with.¡± The mentor knew that wasn¡¯t true but that wasn¡¯t something the elder needed to know. ¡±That may be, as your elder I order you to give her double the workload, lets see if her little affair can handle that.¡± The mentor smirked. ¡°That may be hard, she¡¯s already doing triple what we expect of a nurse in training.¡± ¡±What do you mean she does triple the work?¡± The elder arched her eyebrow. In plain common language she¡¯s already doing my work and I am doing hers.¡± The elder was about to protest but the old nurse silenced her with a glare. ¡±Of course I check and confirm her work in triplicate, are you forgetting who you are talking to? She was right in calling you out on your failures in diligence. Due diligence is the pillar of our clan, you taught me that. It is determining who the best nurse is for any given task, again you taught me that. That may hurt my pride something fierce, considering I have triple the years in medical experience as she has been alive but that is the duty of all nurses.¡± The old elder sighed ruefully, ¡°Which is what I taught you.¡± The mentor sighed. ¡°You ought to trust and allow yourself, to love your granddaughter more.¡± With that she got up and left a pondering elder, of a bygone era. Showdown! Carlos got off the platform. Feeling incredibly tired. Yesterday had been busy. Catching the proper Pokemon for the match, getting them set up. Discussing with Surge how he wanted to train those 3 new Pokemon himself, without the use of digit balls. Talking to Loki about how he wanted to do his own testing in regard¡¯s to pokeballs. Getting his hands on v1 balls. Surge had indulged him the money, money was rolling in. Then Arriving in Blackthorne on the transportation Pad. Corey pounced him the moment she could, she had come to greet him. She was wearing a coat, over her sexy dress and had her hair colored blond again. She took him to a nearby motel, obviously they couldn¡¯t keep their hands to themselves but it surprised him how much they talked, they talked a lot. Random things, the words just came out. It wasn¡¯t even about anything in particular. Corey confirmed parts of Carlos suspicions but didn¡¯t talk more about than she felt she could. Carlos didn¡¯t care, as long as they stayed out of his and Corey¡¯s way, which Corey assured him off repeatedly, the Joy clan could have their secrets. He took a deep breath. Life was way too good for him. He slammed his fist into a tree. Scaring a few kids close by. He smirked. ¡±Gotta knock on wood.¡± The next month, the days seemed to blur as he tested the differences of Pokeballs. Trained his own team. And spend every second he could with Corey. The clash with the elder he never met, had brought them a lot closer. She had begun teaching him how to look past her mask. Something no Joy did lightly. It spoke of a trust that Carlos felt he didn¡¯t deserve. His natural response was to do his best to live up to it. He felt he was the kind of guy that would scoff whenever people said sappy things like: a couple was made for each other but his experience with Corey was turning him into a believer. His own team was Doing great. Kong was close to his evolution and had grown exponentially. He was already larger than other Mankey of his level. Also learning Bulk up through learning sword dance and swagger and combining it. Which didn¡¯t take him long. He was already working on combining it with Curling Fury. Carlos had also taught Kong Safeguard. A move that blocked moves such as taunt or baby doll eyes. He planned on teaching it to everyone on his team. Dianne and Gawain were close behind. Gawain had made a bit of a breakthrough with his Fire TE. His growth had definitely helped and he no longer needed the Fire stone. Carlos wore it now as a reminder of how far they had come. They had a great party when Gawain did great in a fight against Gwen, using one ice move after the next. Gwen and Loki had made both tremendous progress. Gwen grew like it was nobody¡¯s business weighing close to 200 pounds. She was as happy and jolly as ever, the bright white light, insufferably bubbly and positive member of the team. Everyone on the team jumped in to safeguard her adorable innocence, all of this reflected in her fighting style. If you could call it that. Gwen had turned out to be a bit of a prodigy when it came to coming up with her own moves. Dianne the official big sister, secretly the doting maternal one. Had helped her Gwen with her fighting style. Dance off: (Cardinal) Both you and your Opponent are locked in a dance for 1 second. Both gain, 20% defense and reflex. For 2/4 seconds. Removes status effects and stat debuffs Cost: 30% TE. Intensity 3. Adv Hug! as long as Dance off still lingers A hug can be initiated. Both combatants will charge into each other dealing base defense stat as damage. Reflex is ignored for both and this move cannot crit. The hug lasts for 1 second. You can initiate a hug without Dance off. cost:10% TE. Intense 1. Adv. Cuddle(normal): Variation on Body slam. As long as hug is in effect. you slam down to properly hug the opponent. Deal base Defense as damage again. This move does not crit but has double chance to flinch cost: 10% TE. Intense 1. Adv Carlos was faced with one of the greatest challenges yet, Keeping a straight face and not buckle from laughter, when his opponents had to watch dumbfounded as theirPokemon gleefully hugged Gwen, who then promptly got squashed by a heavy Cetoddle, she was huge for her Level. The funniest thing was that Defiance didn¡¯t work against it at all. In fact, it seemed to be weak against it. The super serious Kong simply couldn¡¯t resist cuddling . Which he wasn¡¯t living down very well. The only one who didn¡¯t fall for the Dance off, was Loki. Inner focus seemed to protect the regal Pawniard. Corey had made him promise he would attempt contests with Gwen. Carlos wasn¡¯t sure his reputation could handle the hit. He knew he would cave at some point. Gwen loved sparkly stuff or making it sparkly with Ice. Contests, still in their infancy, were a foregone conclusion for Gwen. Loki had made the biggest change as far as behavior, oh he still loved to prank but he felt at ease, not just with the team and Carlos but with himself. To his own aggravation he had only Created 1 move on his own but it was an amazing move. Kings defense, it was an expert move. He really wanted to lean into his steel typing but sadly his meagre atk stat forced him to rely mostly on foul play. Carlos was determined to make it work. Loki had worked mostly on his basics and to his own surprise was chaining his moves like nobody¡¯s business. Gawain and him had a bit of a friendly shit talking rivalry going on as well. Which was funny. He expected it from Kong and Loki. But those two together brought out the prankster in Kong. Everyone had made immense strides. Carlos himself, his defensive footwork and dash were replaced by bulk up and Nasty plot. Bulk up was freaky. It actually made him gain an inch in height and his veins popped in a way that made Corey scream when she saw it for the first time, she screamed in the worst way possible, she had never screamed in her life. Nasty plot wasn¡¯t any better, he looked monstrous. He was slowly turning into a very weird type of pokemon. Although he did feel like he was hitting a certain limit in regards to how many moves he had. He grumbled as he looked around, no wood to smash. Perhaps he needed a sudowoodo as his 6th member, ¡°nah that poor sudowudoo would get traumatized.¡± He thought, thinking on the poor imaginary 6th member. He was standing in a sold out arena. Surge had gone all out, he had to hold back laughter at the disclaimer on the screens with adds about the length of the match, Carlos had build up some notoriety on finishing matches without much flair. Ultra high speed Cameras were set up, so people could watch the action up close on big screens from all sorts of angles so you wouldn¡¯t miss a thing. Carlos was amazed at how much importance was placed on this match. The way it had been advertised was hilarious as well: The whisperer, discovering the talent of a Prodigal new dragon trainer, said dragon trainer wanting nothing more than to test his metal. Quite a few prominent figures had shown up. Oak, Koga, who Carlos really wanted to say hi to. Lance, who he couldn¡¯t figure out if he should punch or thank. But above all, the one and only, Sakaki Giovanni. The hidden Donn of this region. Carlos had done quite a bit of digging in regards to Pokeballs and his paranoia got dialed up to eleven when he found out the Giovanni family, was the dominant shareholder of Silph and Co. The company that evolved and grew around the v1 Pokeball. Any and all designs from Pokeballs accross the globe, came from Silph and Co. Carlos had rightfully so, put a solid tin foil hat on and dived into the rabbit hole of conspiracies and tried to piece it all together. He had to hand it to the Giovanni¡¯s, there was no evidence of them ever involved in something shady. What was even weirder, was that the conspiracy theorists, who happily theorized on anyone, even Samuel Oak, who was beyond reproach, never took a shot at the Giovanni Family. No one seemed interested in theorizing about the war hero. To A doubtful Carlos, the circumstantial evidence was pretty obvious. The Giovanni¡¯s had a major financial investment in anything that was important. They had immense control over everything that was going on. He was unofficially considered the regional champion. But he had no interest in that title, which only added to his magnanimity. Carlos kept his mouth wisely shut and smiled. Corey had listened but brushed it off, which was odd, Surge however had gotten downright hostile. Carlos spent quite a bit of time that week to get back in Surge¡¯s good graces. In hindsight, Surge was the wrong person to bring this to. By his own admission, Surge, although effective, had been downright reckless in the war. Giovanni had saved his life on numerous occasions. Surge looked up to the man who always had his back when it mattered, something about a scandal in Surge¡¯s past with a missing person came up in conversation. Giovanni had been one of the few who believed Surge from the get go. The respect and awe Giovanni enjoyed was fully earned and not something he could cut through with a few random accusations. He put it out of his mind, the team rocket he knew from the anime, was practically in its infancy. So it could wait for now. Although he was worried. He vaguely remembered that the team rocket from the manga was an actual threat. He looked at Corey who was sitting together with Surge and Miya, Miya who somehow managed to wrap Surge around her dainty little finger with ease. It seemed Surge had finally found his match and easily surrendered. Carlos was happy for the man whom he had come to respect, even if he had become twice as insufferable because of it. He looked at his new gym team. They were ready. He didn¡¯t know if they would win but they would put up a hell of a fight. He gave Surge in the stance a shit eating grin.
Wattrel LvL18 Electric/normal 1760
HP 108 Flying 880
Atk 53 A/U/S 6/2/6
Defense 8 A/U/S 3/2/3
Reflex N/A Normal n/a
Speed 63 Galvanize
Rash Male (hidden)
Galvanize: combines electric and normal TE. May turn normal moves into electric moves. All electric moves gain 20% extra speed.
Move type C.I.L
Aerial Ace(C) flying 2.1.A
Taunt(C) normal 1.1.B
Drill Peck Flying 2.1.E
Wild Charge Electric 1.1.A
Bolt Beak(C) Electric 2.1.A
Double Shock Electric 3.2.E
Slacken normal 1.0.A
Slacken(Normal) removes flinch from overuse or taking damage. Take 25% max HP recoil damage. Cost: 10%TE. intense 0. advanced Aerial Ace(Cardinal) Attack with blinding speed by conjuring winds of fury. Instantly gain full effect of Flying trait. Gain 100% speed. For 1 second Taunt.(Cardinal) Drop defense by 50% and force physical attacks for 1 second. Drill Peck create centrifugal force around your beak. Causing the force to bypass some of your opponent¡¯s Defense. atk 200% ignore 25% of defense. cost: TE1, intense 2, advanced. Wild Charge Charge and attack recklessly. Take 25% recoil damage 200% atk, ignore 25% of defense, double chance to flinch and add 2 static charges. Bolt Beak Deal double damage whenever you attack a paralyzed, frozen or flinched opponent. 100% atk. cost 10% TE, intense 1, basic. Double Shock(electric) Deliver 2 shocking blows. 2x 100% atk, each hit applies 3 static.
Magnemite LvL20 Electric 960
HP 194 Steel 960
Atk 15 A/U/S 2/4/4
Defense 96 A/U/S 4/3/3
Reflex N/A Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Normal 960
Speed 43 Lightning Rod
Bold Male Dynamo
Dynamo: circular movements or running will create an electric charge. You can hold 3 charges. Each electric charge adds 20% damage to all electric moves. Without a charge all electric moves are reduced by 20%. Lightning Rod: You can absorb ambient Electricity from your environment, lighting bolts and electric attacks. You can hold 3 lightning charges, separate from charges created from Dynamo. You can use your own Electric attacks to charge Lightning rod. Each Lightning charge adds 20% additional damage.
Moves type C.I.L
Baton normal 1.1.B
Iron Defense Steel 2.1.A
Flash Cannon Steel 2.2.A
Charge Electric 1.1.B
Thunder Bolt Electric 1.2.B
Discharge Electric 1.2.B
Double Shock electric 3.2.E
Baton pass: 10% TE, intense 1. Basic switch with an ally remove all debuffs and switch your buffs to ally. Iron Defense(Cardinal): 50 TE. Intense 1. Adv. increases defense and reflex by 20% for 6 seconds. The next attack or spAtk deals 25% less damage. Flash Cannon: TE 20%, intense 2, advanced. Channel steel TE through the glimmer and refraction of your metallic body. Launching a blinding, razor thin beam of light to cut through your enemies. Base Atk 200%, base speed 150%, reduce Opponents speed by 20% regardless of hit. Can use charges from ability, converting it into a electric move Charge: You briefly turn your body into an electric Generator. You vibrate so fast it¡¯s not even visible to the naked eye. This creates a charge for your abilities and additionally, increases your attack and speed by 10% for 6 seconds. Thunder bolt: cost = 10%, intense 2, basic. Shoot a lightning bolt at your enemies. 100% atk, 200% speed, applies static. Discharge: You discharge a loud electrical surge from your body, observers have compared the sound to crackling sound of a electric wire whipping around. Requires a an electric charge 100% atk, an additional 50% if you use any number of charges. If opponent has a static charge they will suffer 25% reduced reflex. If they are paralyzed or flinching this move ignores their reflex or speed stat.
Mareep LvL18 1760
HP 352 1760
Atk 13 2/4/4
Defense 23 4/5/4
Reflex N/A 1760
Speed 40 Static Wool
Mild Female Lightning Rod
Static wool: vulnerable to fire damage and burn. Take 25% increased damage from fire type attacks. May gain up to 3 charges. Charges may by consumed to increase speed by 20% for the next move. Inflict 1 static, for each electric charge when hit in close combat.
Move type C.I.L
Lightning Terrain Electric 2.2.A
Electrify(C) Electric 2.1.A
Spark Electric 2.2.a
Magnetize Electric 1.1.a
Dragon Pulse Dragon 1.2.E
Thunderbolt Electric 1.2.B
Baton Pass Normal 1.1.B
Lightning Terrain. Stomps a static charges into the soil, causing all electric moves to gain 50% more damage. Does not work on airborne Spark: Electric currents instantly ionize the air and soil around you allowing you to travel at superior speeds while remaining in the ionized field. This move leaves an ionized trail behind you for one second after leaving the field. Opponent¡¯s stepping on ionized ground accumulate static charges. You will charge both your abilities. 30 by 30 foot Field remains for 5 rounds increase speed by 100% while on the field 20% electric TE. Magnetize Begin to levitate. Increase speed by 50%. requires ambient static to function. Dragon Pulse Most Basic Dragon move, this is the stuff we teach babies.(quote from Lance) atk 150% ignore 25% defense&Reflex. Carlos had fun training these three, especially the Mareep had gotten along quite well with everyone on his personal team, the issue with Carlos¡¯s current team was that it was a generalist team as far as typing and already had conflicting typings with Gwen and Gawain. So any sort of field control tended to work against his own Pokemon. His habit of training Pokemon defensively had kicked in full with the magnemite. Surge jumped in when it came to training the Watrell. Carlos felt naked putting a Pokemon with such a low defense stat on the field. The only saving grace in Carlos mind was that the Wattrel was a lightning bolt and dodged like it was nobody¡¯s business. Finnley was opposite to him, his face tense, tanned as well. Even from here Carlos could see that Finnley had burned the midnight Oil. Both trainers stood silently waiting for the Referee, who had to run through all the rules to finally finish. ¡±THIS IS A 3v3 BATTLE! BOTH TRAINERS HAVE 2 SWITCHES AND BOTH TRAINERS HAVE 2 USES PER POKEMON FOR SWITCH MOVES such as Baton pass! ARE YOU READY!!??¡± Both trainers nodded to the deafening cheers of the crowd. Carlos, a usually reserved man, took a page from Surge¡¯s book, raised his hands to whipp the crowd that put their bets on him into a frenzy when they started the military chant. ¡±AH HOE! AH HOE!¡± Surge had insisted he wore Camo cargo pants with Military boots and a tank top, showing off his muscular build. Corey had a lot of fun styling his hair in spikey style . Miya wanted him to wear spiked bracers, he decided on just one Bracer that also served as a Pokeball holder, so at least it was somewhat practical. Finnley hadn¡¯t spend much time on his appearance, to his credit he didn¡¯t let it get to him. Standing calmly with his team on display, letting the crowd have their moment, before returning them to their balls. They all looked well trained. Carlos gave him a nod of respect. ¡°To the challenger goes the first move!¡± He yelled. The thing
The thing LvL16 Rock 1280
HP 1680 Ground 1280
Atk 15 A/U/S 5/1/4
Defense 64 A/U/S 5/1/4
Reflex 10 Dragon /normal 1280
Speed 10 Sturdy
Savant Male Dragon Born
Sturdy: 50% increase to Health and Defense, immune to critical strikes. Dragon Born: Normal TE is converted to Dragon TE and you gain the Dragon trait. Can Learn any normal and Dragon move. All moves you learn gain your A.U.S bonus. ¡°Say hello to my little friend! The THING!¡± His geodude took to the field. ¡°GEO DUDE!!¡± The Thing roared its name. It¡¯s disposition had definitely changed. Carlos eyes were glued to the screen in his field of vision. His eyes popped out of their sockets. 1680 HP. ¡°Holy fucking hell. That¡¯s such an insane amount.¡± He was getting excited. Carlos nodded. ¡°Mareep! You are UP!¡± ¡±MAREeeeeeEP! Hello dears and dearest!¡± Finnley: ¡±SANDSTORM¡¯¡± Carlos: ¡±ELECTRIFY!¡± Mareep was a lot faster and zapped the Thing with an odd green purple bolt of electric TE that settled itself into the sandstorm. adding an additional effect.
Sandstorm takes effect for 5 rounds. All affected take 25% of atk in ground/electric damage. This damage ignores reflex (doesn¡¯t crit) Reduce speed and reflex for all by 25% and add 1 static/electric charge per second.
Neither Pokemon with their high amounts of defense would get hurt by the move. Both both suffered 25 % reduction in speed. Due to duel typing. ¡±SandRage!¡± Finnley called out.
The thing increases all stats by 20% next attack ignores 50% of defense. adds his defense to reflex(88) defense (80.4)
¡°Spark and Electric Terrain!¡± This caused a massive flinch but even so, the Thing didn¡¯t bother attacking, he was way too slow for that. ¡°Double dance!¡±
Sandstorm in effect for 4 rounds. All affected take 25% of atk in ground/electric damage. This damage ignores reflex (doesn¡¯t crit) Reduce speed and reflex for all by 25% and add 3 static/electric charge per second. Unable to sleep electric moves increased by 50%.
area effects were funny this way, moves of the same type would stack, while moves of opposing types would cancel eachother out. Sandstorm was now electric type, both moves from Mareep supercharged the sandstorm.
The thing increases all stats by 60% next attack ignores 50% of defense. adds his defense to reflex(118) defense (103)
It took a bit longer for his Mareep to respond. He had taught his Mareep to launch lightning bolts and dragon pulses like a certain great fighter with a tail from another universe with dragon balls. ¡°Dragon Pulse!¡± Mareep stood on her back haunches as she collected Dragon TE between her front hooves and launched it forward. ¡°MaREEEP!
Dragon pulse does 26 damage Geodude has 1654 HP remaining.
¡°Baton Pass! Watrell you are up! Aerial Peck!¡± 42 damage, this caused a momentary flinch but Geodude as slow as he was, didn¡¯t even bother trying to use the fleeting moment.
The thing increases all stats by 60% next attack ignores 50% of defense. adds his defense to reflex(118) defense (103) takes 35 damage 1699 HP remaining.
¡°Motherfucker, holy shit.¡± He cussed at himself. Carlos was getting annoyed at this Geodude. Drill peck was supposed to be a wall breaker move. That Dragon Dance was getting problematic. Double Dance!
Sandstorm in effect for 3 rounds. All affected take 25% of atk in ground/electric damage. This damage ignores reflex (doesn¡¯t crit) Reduce speed and reflex for all by 25% and add 2 static/electric charge per second. Unable to sleep electric moves increased by 50%.
¡°Taunt! Keep it on him! Stay on the defensive!¡± Carlos Yelled. He had to Force Finnley to give up on a baton switch. ¡°Dance!¡± But the Thing decided he needed to throw a few rocks instead, easily avoided by Watrell.
The thing increases all stats by 100% next attack ignores 50% of defense. adds his defense to reflex(148) defense (128->64)
Carlos ground his teeth, Watrell was not a stall Pokemon, so this was a bit of an ad hock fix for that stupid piece of Rock that was in the way. It took a lot of Geodude¡¯s precious TE, to use rockthrow. He was glad he had trained at least one of the three Pokemon in taunt. It was paying out massive dividends. Finnley realized this wasn¡¯t working, he Needed his Geodude¡¯s TE to last and this was draining it. Carlos was happy that at the very least he had stopped the sweep setup. Last thing he needed was for Finnley to get it going, that would end in a big sweep. His Charmander with a fully stacked dragon dance would spell doom for him. Finnley used one of his returns. ¡°Good job Thing! Matey! You are up!¡± On came his Swablu! With an eyepatch. ¡°Baby doll eyes!¡±
Swablu LvL18 Fairy 405
HP 200 Flying 405
Atk 36 A/U/S 4/2/4
Defense 7.5 A/U/S 4/2/4
Reflex 52 Normal 405
Speed 60 Dragon 405
Reckless Male (hidden)
¡±Taunt, shock, slack. Bolt Beak galvanized!¡± Watrell was a lot faster and already in full flight and got his taunt of way before Swablu. Who instead used Aerial Ace. The two birds came in hot. Clashing into each other.
Watrell takes 51 damage from aerial Ace. Swablu takes 2x 1 damage and is paralyzed. Wattrell Slackens. Swablu takes 300+ critical damage! From Bolt beak. and is knocked out. Watrell takes backfire 11 damage from slacken 44 HP remaining.
Watrell due to the effects of slacken didnt flinch from the aerial Ace and grazed Swablu with his two wings coated in potent static electricity. They barely hurt but that wasn¡¯t the point. The massive Static charge immediately paralyzed Swablu mid flight, causing him to lose all the benefits from his flying trait and began to glide towards the surface. Watrell made a sharp turn carried by its earlier momentum, drove its beak hardened into a razor sharp point straight into Swablu¡¯s back. Watrell mercifully didn¡¯t aim at the spine but at its shoulder blade. Still a sickening crack could be heard throughout the Arena. As Swablu crashed into the surface. Kicking up a cloud of dust. ¡°And a Brutal Take Down of SWABLU! LaDIES and GENTLEman! When is the last time you have seen anything so RuThless!¡± The commentator was having a field day calling out the details as the screens showed a slowmotion reel of the exchange. The crowd was going wild. A small intermission was added, so the medical team could Rush Swablu to the emergency room. Watrell was huffing, hurt and Carlos needed him for that godforsaken Geodude. Carlos had underestimated how ridiculous that thing was. ¡°The thing indeed.¡± He muttered. ¡±Watrell return. Magnemite take the stage!¡± He decided to Give Finnley this at least, while they waited. The nurse on call came out and gave the all clear on Swablu¡¯s condition. ¡°Double defense!¡± Carlos called out immediately as soon as the match continued.
Magnemite increases defense&speed by 20% (151&69) damage taken reduced by 50% during next second.
Another one of those tempting Pokemon for him. He really liked steel types and their ludicrous defense stat. ¡±crimson you are Up! show them what you¡¯re made off. Dragon dance! Into Incinerate!
Charmander increases all stats by 20%(90atk, 22def, 29rflx, 32spd.) Incinerate deals no damage.
The collum of fire washed over the electric ball of steel and didn¡¯t even cause him to take notice. If anything his shine was more pronounced. ¡°What!?¡± Finnley yelled. Carlos called out. ¡°Tripple Charge!¡± Here it was, the move Magnemite had managed to master for chaining. Finnley¡¯s morale fell after that double psychological blow it was obvious, even from this distance.
Magnemite increases atk and speed attack +30%(21)/ defense +40%(151) speed+70%(83) 3 charges gained for both abilities.
Carlos didn¡¯t get to savor the praise from the Commentator as Finnley called out its next command. ¡±Aerial dance to dodge!¡± Finnley called.
Charmander increases all stats by 40%(105atk, 25def, 34/136 rflx, 38/151spd.)
His crimson most certainly had a strong sense of flair, each Pokemon usually had minute differences when it came to moves but not crimson. 2 blue flame wings of pure TE manifested on his back. He growled as he dropped to all fours like the apex predator he was destined to be. Wind and dragon TE crackled around him as he Shot forward instantly breaking the sound barrier, one mighty flap with his wings and he danced through the Air. Roaring his name. Full Thunderbolt! Carlos called out. Magnemite Jammed as much TE and electric charges into the Bolt as possible.
Charmander takes 106 critical damage 1 static charge 293 HP remaining.
¡±aerial dance again, then dodge!¡±
Charmander increases all stats by 60%(120atk, 29def, 38/153 rflx, 43/172.)
Carlos sighed this was the end for Finnley¡¯s Crimson. ¡±triple charge!¡± He called, he wondered what Finnley was planning.
Magnemite increases atk and speed attack +60%(26)/ defense +40%(151) speed+100%(98)
¡°Crimson! Aerial ace into Fire Spin!¡± Finnley called out. ¡°OH FUCK!¡± Carlos roared. An absurd amount of Fire TE came pouring out of Crimson, as the flame on its tail burst into an intense height and heat. His TE wings white hot and smoldering. Crimson shot forward. Spinning through the air igniting the Oxygen around him, creating a massive fireball that launched at Magnemite. Although he was technically doing it wrong it didn¡¯t matter, Magnemite was doomed. Carlos had not seen that coming. Fire Spin was a move Charmeleon¡¯s learned. ¡°Switch!¡± But it was too late, the heat was too intense. flames got fanned tremendously quick and although the flinching was so bad it hurt the charmander, the columnn of fire created by his impact and subsequent explosion, was so intense that within the split second for Carlos to return Magnemite, it had already fainted from the heat saturated with fire TE.
Fire Spin would have critted for 704.(3.6x overkill) Magnemite took 233 Damage due to your Timely intervention.
¡±Watrell Aerial beak!¡± He yelled as he tossed Magnemite¡¯s Pokeball to a trainer on call for medical assistance. Carlos had switched gears instantly, technically his magnemite would not have died from that fire spin but he wasn¡¯t taking any chances, Magnemite had already been low on TE. Charmander already painfully flinching from move overuse and the back fire from using a move not recommended for a first evolution Pokemon, had no chance. Watrell took to the stage and shot forward like a lightning bolt to finish off Crimson but Finnley recalled and withdrew His Crimson from the fight. Not wanting him to get injured. The Thing took the stage and Finnley was down to his last Pokemon. what happpened next was a slow drain of Tiring the Thing out of TE. Lasting several rounds of Watrell dodging rocks easily and keeping up taunt. It was a bit of an anticlimactic end and the bet was already called. Whether it was Watrell or his Mareep, it was a question of who ran out of TE first which was the thing. After throwing numerous rocks and Watrell almost falling asleep trying to dodge them. An exhausted Geodude slumped down and Carlos was hailed the winner, due to a technical knockout. Finnley slumped and walked accross the ripped up and glassed field, many places still smoldering and he had to sidestep gooey rock, A testament to the insane power his team had. Carlos shook his hand and the referee raised both their hands to the thunderous applause of the Crowd. Both sides of the field cheered them on. It had been a tense fight. Although Carlos won, he felt a bit sad for the Mareep. Obviously she had done well but all things considered, if he was going to use this team for the 4th badge and up, he would need to do some fine tuning. Initially he had planned on using mareep as a setup for Magnemite as a sort of wallbreaker with static charges on the field, to whittle down Geodude. But he had underestimated Dragon dance and with all the preparation, still managed to underestimate the Geodude and Charmander. Both were ushered off the field towards the press conference. and entertainment that nobody cared about was brought on the field. ¡±Holy hell Finnley that team of yours was scary as hell.¡± Carlos said as they walked through the hallway leading them to where a bunch of eager journalists were dying to rip them apart publicly. ¡±Yea right, I didn¡¯t think I would lose this hard. I only managed to down one of your Pokemon. Pokemon you only had for a month.¡± ¡±I had lots of help from people.¡± He pointed out ¡±So did I.¡± Finnley muttered. ¡°Wana know how you could have swept my entire team?¡± Carlos offered, he still a gym trainer. ¡±How?¡± Finnley asked. ¡±Safeguard.¡± Carlos responded. Finnley thought about it for a moment. ¡°Yea i see what you mean.¡± That would have allowed me to set up my sweep properly. Carlos kept going, losing was hard for trainers, especially when your Pokemon got hurt so badly. ¡°Besides don¡¯t beat yourself up, you effectively disabled my Mareep, I had planned on whittling down your Geodude with it but she doesn¡¯t know any disable moves. So she would have lost that slug match. To top it all off. Your Charmander might be one of the scariest Pokemon I¡¯ve seen at this level. My Magnemite wasn¡¯t even hit yet and the heat and Fire TE had knocked him out. High chance that was above a triple overkill.¡± That perked Finnley up a bit. ¡°You think so?¡± They walked into the conference room with a bunch of cameras already making nice shots. ¡±I basically know so kid.¡± He smirked, ¡°seen it often enough now, that I can guess pretty accurately.¡± They both sat down. To their side was a Panel. Oak, Giovanni, Lance and Surge. ¡°Oh boy this is going to be interesting.¡± Carlos thought.