《Pokemon Rumors: Xe》 Prologue - Ex With trembling hands dripping in a cold sweat, I attempted to reach for the Pok¨¦balls fastened on my belt. The Pok¨¦balls. The items that housed my precious companions; partners that I had practiced and bonded with over the course of ????????. I grabbed around at my waist blindly, yet despite having repeated this exact same action dozens of times before, those same ??????? managed to elude me. Strange. Strange. Strange. Strange. Str??. ??????. ??????????. Strange. How many did I have again? Have what? Pok??mon? Am I a Pok??mon tra??ner? Strange. I don¡¯t think I ever was one¡­? But then why was I-? The sudden crunch of dirt brought me back to reality- no, not reality. If this was real, I would have to acknowledge it. I would have to believe what my eyes were telling me. Which would be absurd. Yes, absurd. Of course this isn¡¯t real. After all, why would ?????? be here? It has ???????? to do with me. "Haa... haa... haa..." My shuddering breath accentuating my creeping panic, I tried to get one last bit of control over the situation by directing my eyes downward to properly guide my fumbling hands to the Pok¨¦balls.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. It didn''t work. ?????? refused to allow me to look anywhere else. ?????? demanded my attention. Any attempt to ?????? was quickly- or rather instantly- shut down. Strange. Strange. While endeavoring to clench my chattering teeth, I tried for the next course of action: backing away slowl- NOSTOPTHATWHATIFYOUTRIPANDFALLANDLIETHEREHELPLESSLYWHILEITMOVESTOWARDYOUTHAT''SSCARYTHAT''SSCARYTHAT''SSCARY. A sudden darkness approached- no, crawled into my heart. My body froze up so suddenly it hurt. But I couldn''t even wince in pain; ?????? had started to advance. With each ?????????? of ??????''s ??????, the chilly feeling that I had been feeling in my head and core pulsated violently. Strange. Strange. Strange. What looked to be its ?? remained entirely fixated on me. Strange. Strange. Strange. Was I even bre??thing anymore? Was my body still functioning properly? All I could felt was cold. All I tasted was dryness. All I heard was the sounds of my shuddering breath, and the slowly approaching dirt ??steps. And all I saw was ??????. Chapter 0.5 - Greetings From Another World Empty head, rhythmic footsteps, lowered eyes only semi-focused on the ground. I''m sure everyone¡¯s gone through these motions at least twice in their lives. Or maybe this type of brooding was only brought in with the modern inventions of hoodies and crusted sidewalks. Not that I¡¯m brooding or anything. That''s right, that entire segment beforehand is completely unrelated to my current activity. What I''m doing is deliberating. Pondering is also accepted. You see, I''m in the middle of making a very important decision. Or rather, I would¡¯ve been 2 minutes from now. Being the clever gremlin that I am, I decided to start my contemplations before my destination as to completely and efficiently min-max my time spent. Kidding. I just suck at quick thinking and this is the best way for me to compensate. Hm, should I have Red tonight? Or Blue? Or should I go with the out-of-left-field choice and go with Yellow? Gah, idiot, you shouldn''t start creating more options for yourself if you''re already having trouble deciding! Complete amateur hour. Who knew picking out frozen pastas from the grocery store could be such a chore? If I hadn¡¯t started planning ahead, I''d probably cause a clog up in the aisle. Although, at the rate my deliberating was going, it looked like that would be my fate after all. "Maybe I should call Dad and ask if he wants anything..." The idea floated around in my head for a few moments before I waved it away. "Nah, he''s too busy to be worried about something as stupid as this¡­" Ah, crap. I¡¯d zoned out for too long. Before I knew it, I had auto piloted through the store¡¯s entrance and was currently making my way down the frozen section. And now, my destiny awaits before me while I, the ill-prepared 17-year old I am, shake and tremble before this almighty kismet. The horror, the pain, the nightmare of every introvert across the world: holding up a line. My God, they weren¡¯t even real yet and I¡¯m already trembling from the enraged customers shouting as they blame me for holding up their shopping, causing their family member, who desperately needed help with a medical emergency, to pass away just as they came home, their entire life crumbling around them, all because of this stupid, idiotic teenager who couldn¡¯t pick out his- ¡°Eh? They¡¯re out? How are they out?! And of every single type!?¡± Alas, I had escaped my assured destiny at the cost of my beloved. Not the tragedy that I had previously imagined, although a tragedy nonetheless. ¡°The hell¡­ there¡¯s no way. Maybe the clerk made a mistake with shelving or something.¡± Scratching my head, I spoke aloud the only logical conclusion to this dilemma that I could think of. The quest to find the missing pasta. So, yeah, I guess not a tragedy. Yet. I¡¯m feeling pretty pessimistic all of a sudden. Hmm, guess I¡¯ll have to ask the clerk¡­ but isn¡¯t that also an introvert¡¯s nightmare? Seems like I¡¯m getting seriously scammed by the universe over here. Oh well, been there, done that. Talking to the cleric, I mean. We¡¯ve exchanged pleasantries over dozens of times. I¡¯m sure asking a question that might interrupt his potentially peaceful day won¡¯t get me on his bad side. Nope. Not at all. In fact, I¡¯m just gonna walk up and ask him right now. Ohhh, premium dog food with tuna and vegetable seasoning, huh? I wonder if Pistachio would like- Nononono, stop stalling, we¡¯re getting to the bottom of this pasta mystery. Aaaaas soon as that massive line to the counter clears up. Alas we meet anyways, oh inevitable fate. Just in a separately imagined domain, one not of aisles, but of clerk counters. I started to reach for my phone to pass the time before remembering that I had left the stupid thing back at the house. I usually never leave home without it, but this had only been meant to be a quick dinner grab lasting not even 5 minutes total. Not worth taking it off the charger. Oh well, I guess the analog clock on the wall would have to do for entertainment. 5:43... 5:43... 5:43... 5:43... 5:43... 5:43... 5:43¡­ 5:44... 5:44... 5:44... 5:44... 5:44... 5:44... 5:44... 5:4- alright enough of that, I¡¯m gonna end up in a mental ward at this rate. Luckily in the midst of my clock counting (5:45), the line had moved up just enough for me to reach the magazine rack. A slight wave of nostalgia washed over me as I recalled a young me (well, young-er) fascinatedly turning the pages of each weekly superhero issue while my mother went off to go find the groceries. Simpler times. While I didn¡¯t see any Beetle-Man covers in this grouping, another colorful comic caught my eye. On its adorned front page was a charming assortment of fantasy creatures. The title heading plastered across the top in yellow ink with a blue outline read: Pok¨¦mon. I smiled at the familiar faces, mentally going through the names of each character I spotted. Froakie, Cinderace, Grotle, Blaziken, Bayleef, Quaxly, Oshawott, Dartrix, and of course, Charizard. A promotional poster image of starters across all 9 current generations. I admired the art from afar, but didn¡¯t go to pick it up. It¡¯s a bit embarrassing to admit this, but I¡¯m confident that the book wouldn¡¯t hold any information I didn¡¯t already know. Being a prodigy student in your early years of school tended to make you delve pretty far in your hobbies to escape from boredom. My brain¡¯s probably more full of Pok¨¦mon knowledge than actually useful information, much to the dismay of my parents. An annoyed cough from behind caused me to straighten my back in a sudden startled panic, snapping me out of my musings. Bewilderedly turning around, I met the eyes of a grumpy looking man carrying two heavy looking grocery bags. Seeing my surprise, he grimaced and flicked his head to the counter. It was then I realized that the line in front of me had since vanished. I had been holding up the people behind me causing a disturbance to their shopping. Inevitable fate indeed. Thanks to that terrifying encounter, I had lamely asked the clerk about the missing pasta in a wobbling voice. Thankfully, he took kindly to my embarrassing scene. Unthankfully, I was told that shipment was running late and they were out of many frozen goods until further notice. Pasta included. So not my lucky day. Now what should I get? Toast with peanut butter? Try my hand at making some pudding back home? Or maybe I could grill a burger patty- no wait, wouldn¡¯t that also be a frozen good, henceforth not being available? I could check, but I don¡¯t really wanna go through the effort just to be disappointed again¡­ Amidst my thoughts, I found my drifting eyes landing back onto the Pok¨¦mon magazine. ¡­ ¡°Wouldn¡¯t life be simpler if Pok¨¦mon were real? Honestly seems like a massive oversight from the universe.¡± ¡­ Where had that come from?!? I know things aren¡¯t going the greatest for me right now, but seriously? C¡¯mon, let''s focus on reality. But no matter how much I tried to get rid of the idea, like a stubborn burdock, it relentlessly latched onto my brain. If Pok¨¦mon were real¡­ then transportation would be so much easier. Agricultural development would definitely advance. World hunger might come to a stop. Maybe people would learn to not be such jerks. Maybe we would be able to find infinite energy. Limited resources would be a thing of the past. Pollution would get cleaned up faster than anyone could think of it being a problem. I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about what meal to eat on my own. I wouldn¡¯t have to wonder how to waste the day away without bothering anyone. I¡¯d be too distracted. Too amazed. Who knows? Maybe I¡¯d have an actual goal in life¡­ ALRIGHT, enough of this depressing talk, or I guess, thinking? Either way, like I always say, being all sad won¡¯t change nothing for the better. ¡°Just gotta do what you gotta do!¡± Right. Yeah. Only ¡°just¡±. ¡­ *BEEP* ¡°#@%^$&!¡± For the second time today, my back was assaulted by my tendency to straighten up in a panic. A sharp loud beep had broken me out of my own spell, while also causing my heart rate to skyrocket. Perplexedly scanning my surroundings, I found that in front of me was a self checkout kiosk. My right hand was holding a can of chili beans, which had been in the middle of being scanned, causing the sudden beep. Evidently, I had been on autopilot again. ¡°...¡± Offering the machine nothing but a grimace (and the loose change I had in my pocket), I grumply exited the shop with apparently my subconscious food of choice in hand. Letting out a long sigh, I inspected my bounty while walking along. ¡°¡®Classic style¡¯, huh? I was hoping for the mild, but I guess I should just be happy I didn¡¯t grab the vegan option. Beggars can¡¯t be choosers.¡± Tossing the can up and down as I walked, I approached a darkened traffic intersection and waited for my walk signal to turn green. Ordinarily there would be a crossing guard overviewing the area due to the elementary school nearby, but today was a saturday evening, so no one was around to keep me company in the cold. Just me. Humming to the night sky with my can o¡¯ beans. Not a car or person in sight. No animals either. Come to think of it, shouldn¡¯t I at least be hearing crickets? Or maybe they don¡¯t sing during autumn. Well, I should at least be hearing an owl hooting or a dog barking in the distance. Heck, there wasn¡¯t even a gust of wind in the area. What¡¯s with the eerie silence? *Tcsk* With a small click, the walk signal¡¯s small LED red hand instantly switched to a green go symbol. ¡°Finally! I was beginning to think it was broken or somethi-¡± *BLAAAAARE* Stepping onto the road, I was suddenly pelted by the loudest truck horn I had ever heard. My hands instinctively came up to shield my ears, but I only ended up bashing the side of my skull with the chili container. Dazedly turning my head to the left, I could faintly make out the contours of a truck barreling down the road toward me at startling speeds. W-what the hell-?! Why don¡¯t they have their headlights on? And this is a residential school zone, what do they think they¡¯re doing going that fast? In a panic, I watched as the truck drew closer and closer without losing momentum until- *VROOOOOOOOM* It zoomed right by me while running the red light. ¡­ ¡°Are-are they gonna be alright?¡± Thanks to their horn going off when I had only taken a single step onto the road, I had been able to get back onto the sidewalk without getting hurt. Furrowing my brow, I was concerned about what the driver¡¯s situation was. ¡°No lights and no attempt at slowing down¡­ is some sort of event happening? Was that a robber''s car?¡± However, the night returned to its undisturbed silence after the truck¡¯s passing. Not a single police siren or angry mob to be heard. ¡°Hm, well, at least as far as I can tell, nobody was hurt¡­¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Scratching my head, I turned back to the crosswalk only to find that my walk signal had turned back to red. ¡°Oh, come on! Seriously, what is going on today?!¡± Grumbling to myself, I kicked some gravel out onto the road in a huff, listening to the rhythmic bounces echo through the dark. The main road ran perpendicular to my crosswalk, so it would take longer than usual for my turn to come. ¡°Gah, why am I even waiting, there¡¯s no one around! I should just jaywalk and be done with it.¡± Yet despite everything, I remained rooted to the spot. I guess the runaway truck had me a bit paranoid regarding road safety. ¡°Maybe I should¡¯ve bought that Pok¨¦mon magazine after all.¡± Sighing to myself in deep lamentation, I almost missed the sound of whooshing air above me. However, there was no way to not notice the following gust that almost knocked me over. ¡°Waaah-!¡± Having not expected it, it took me a few seconds to retain my balance and not trip over my own feet. Was that a bird? It felt like it barely passed a few inches above my head. And for it to generate this much air pressure¡­ Well, it definitely wasn¡¯t a chickadee. Before I could properly run through possible ¡°breeze and run¡± candidates (or would it be ¡°breeze and fly¡±?), a loud crash reverberated through the street. *SMASH* ¡°What the-!?¡± The lack of lit houses signalled that none of the neighbourhood residents were home, however the ensuing darkness could have caused someone to fall and hurt themselves. Running over to investigate, I found that the source of the commotion was in an almost pitch black alleyway jammed between two of the residential homes. I paused a bit before reluctantly approaching the entrance for a better look. ¡°This is totally horror movie material¡­¡± I muttered. The closest sidewalk lamp was only close enough to let the bare minimum amount of light leak through, basically meaning that without entering the alleyway itself, the best I would be able to do was make out shadow outlines. What am I even doing? That gust of wind from before probably just knocked some trash can over. No need for me to be all scared and uptight¡­ While I was inwardly trying to tell myself that this wasn¡¯t a big deal, my body seemed to disagree with me. My right arm was brandishing my metal bean can like it was a lethal weapon, ready to clonk anyone or anything that dared to jump out at me. As much as I wanted to take my inner voice¡¯s side and lower the chili, there were clear noises of rummaging in the 5 metre wide corridor. There was something alive in there. Is it a person? The reason someone would be out here is if they were a robber though¡­ I nervously side eyed my precious future dinner. I mean¡­ if I swung hard enough, then maybe? However, as my eyes grew more accustomed to the darkness, I could see the vague movements better and better, and ended up doubting the idea. It didn¡¯t look¡­ bipedal. So an animal then. What should I do? I could just ignore it and move along, but what if it ends up causing damage because of that? It¡¯s way too big to be a rat, but it might still be able to chew through wires and plumbing. There¡¯s also the possibility that it surprises someone and they accidentally fall out onto the road¡­ Ok, what if I call 911? Or a pest remover? They should be able to deal with this way better than I can. Ah, but I don¡¯t have my phone on me¡­ I suddenly thought back to the mystery bird from earlier. The crash had come only a few moments after the breeze, and from the same direction that he had been pushed toward too. And judging from the size of the outline and the air pressure it had left behind¡­ it was more than likely that this was the same culprit. So a big bird, huh? Too large to be a hawk or eagle, too wide to be a crane¡­ so a swan or a goose then? ¡­ I mean¡­ say I run all the way back to the house and make the call. By the time they show up, it may have already flown off and all I¡¯d have done is waste everyone¡¯s time¡­ besides, geese are only territory when nests are involved, and that¡¯s during the spring. I can gently shoo it away myself without bothering anyone. Without being a burden. Besides, even if it is dangerous, I have my bean- I mean my metal, er, container to bash it with. Taking a deep breath, I reassured myself. Yeah. Yeah, I got this. No need to bring others into this. I decided that sneaking up on it would be counterintuitive; I wasn¡¯t trying to ambush it, rather push it away to a safer location. The back of the alley was fenced, but as long as I gave it plenty of time and runway, it could fly right over easy. Loudly clearing my throat to establish my presence, I took one casual step into the alley. Not too fast to startle it, and not too slow to make it seem like I had an agenda. If all goes well, it should notice me, honk, stare a little, I take another step, it flies away to safety. Simple. Or at least it was supposed to be. Step 1 when great. It could definitely hear it flick around at me, with the trash crumpling all over the place. Ironically, step 2 was where it all fell to pieces. I was expecting a honk from a bird. Certainly not a growl from a large mammal. Oh schnitzel. So I¡¯ll be the first to admit: I¡¯m an idiot. Any kids listening to my cautionary tale, let this be a lesson to all of you to let professionals deal with wild animals, no matter how confident you may be. Although, in my defense, I was set up. That damn bird from before was too perfectly timed with this black bear-sized creature causing a mess. Were they working together?! Damn it, I¡¯ve never heard of actual bait and switches in nature, but it probably was the case. The bird lures prey over, this thing kills it and then they both feast. Maaaaaan, today is so not my lucky day. ¡­ It hadn¡¯t moved. That entire exposition had lasted about 5 seconds in real life, which should¡¯ve been plenty for it to comprehend my existence and attack. Of course, I had my trusty beans to help me fend it off, but somehow I didn¡¯t think that was the reason for it¡¯s hesitation. It just stayed there, lowered to the ground, facing me while growling. Of course, the only things I could 100% make out were that it was staying rooted to the spot and growling. Still too dark to see any details, but context clues help. ¡°Erm¡­ hey boy?¡± I tried calling out to it to see if it was just a particularly large and paranoid dog, but it didn¡¯t seem to react kindly to my words. In fact, it tried to shift around and presumably jump at me, but it collapsed almost immediately with a whimper. Oh¡­ it¡¯s injured. Maybe it¡¯s because I was too tired to think straight. Maybe it¡¯s because I have my own dog that I take care of. Maybe it¡¯s because I was curious about what the creature was. I didn¡¯t know. The only thing I can say is that before I knew it, I was crouched down not even a metre away from the thing, offering it my chili. ¡°Hey, hey, easy. I don¡¯t know what happened, but let¡¯s calm down, okay? Here, I got some food, see? I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ll like the spice, but it¡¯s gotta be better than some random glass shards and paper shreds, don¡¯t you think?¡± I had no idea what I was doing. I will reiterate for any children in the audience: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. Even if it is wounded, suddenly going towards a wild animal and waving a can of food in front of it is a fast way to get bit. And that¡¯s the best scenario. However, by some miracle, the unknown creature stopped its growling. From its dark silhouette, it seemed to regard me for a few moments while I held my breath. Then it started to expectedly sniff the can in my hand. -Eh? Did it¡­ understand what I said? I mean, there¡¯s no way any animal would be able to read my intentions through what I just did without already trusting humans, and judging from its reaction beforehand- While my inner thoughts were spinning in confusion, the creature lifted a paw and started to claw at the can as if saying ¡°hey, you promised me beans, so come on, open up!¡± ¡°Oh, uh, yeah sorry, here¡­¡± I started to try and peel the top away while observing the paw that had come forward. I wasn¡¯t completely sure, but It seemed that it was entirely sleek black fur. Sort of like a panter¡¯s. In fact, now that my eyes had adjusted ever so slightly to the dark, I started to see the animal in better detail. While it was definitely a large mammal, it wasn¡¯t entirely black bear size. Some parts of it seemed to floof up a bit more than others, giving it a larger appearance. From its proportions, it looked to be an oversized cat. I realized that with all the craziness beforehand, I was strangely overtaken by a sense of calm. Was it because I had called some sort of truce with Mr. Mystery Animal? ¡°Hold on, usually I use a fork to get into the small areas. Maybe there¡¯s something else around here I can use¡­¡± Making sure to slowly get up so as to not startle the pseudo-cat, I started looking around on the ground for something to help open the can with. I tried a thrown out toothpick, but it snapped before getting any good leverage. Then I tried a broken screwdriver, but it wouldn¡¯t fit properly. Then a sheet of paper, but¡­ well, you know. Throughout my rummage, I could feel the animal¡¯s eyes on me the entire time. ¡°Bleh, so gross. I¡¯m definitely washing up first thing when I get home. Dammit, where the hell is a fork? It¡¯s gonna take me forever to find one in this mess- oh nevermind, here¡¯s one!¡± After spotting it, I snatched the fork from out of the air, and turned my attention back to the ca- ¡°...Why was there a floating fork-?¡± ¡°Ment.¡± ¡°Hm-?¡± My brain was going into sudden overheat mode from trying to figure out what it should be startled by first: the flying utensil or the fact that the animal just let out a very weird bark. ¡°Uhhhh-?¡± The feeling of calm I had from before was slowly deteriorating, being replaced by a cold sense of unease. Something about this¡­ was wrong. I didn¡¯t know exactly how to explain it, but it felt like I was in the middle of something never before seen. The creature started to stand up with difficulty. It looked like it was indeed injured. I wanted to try and get it to sit back down. But my voice didn¡¯t work. My mouth felt dry. I just stared as it took one wobbling step after another toward me. I had ventured out to the very entrance of the alley to find a fork, so the light was quite clear here. And as it slowly closed the distance, more and more of its body became clear to me. I was still sitting down, ready to pry open the beans, so we were both at about eye level of each other. So of course, the eyes were the first thing I saw. A shade of deep blue. One as dark as the oce- wait, no, now it was light blue, as clear as the sk-, then it was dark as the oce-, it changed again to match the sk- Blinking at the creature, I attempted to ask it- ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you-?¡± But before I could finish my sentence, everything went black. *Groan* Two things. One, I had a headache. And two, something was licking my face. The familiar feeling told me it was a dog¡¯s tongue. ¡°Pistachio, what did we say about coming into the bedrooms while we¡¯re sleeping?¡± I groggily called out to my stupid pup, but the shower of affection did not show any signs of stopping. Nor did the throbbing in my cerebrum. ¡°Pistachio! Down!¡± I commanded, but to no avail. Why was he being so disobedient all of a sudden? Actually, come to think of it, how did he even get on my bed? Poor dog does NOT have good jumping ability. While trying to push Pistachio away, I felt that my bed¡­ was in fact not my bed. Too solid and too cold. And grassy? And is that sunlight in my eye? ¡°Ah crap, did I fall asleep on the lawn or something? Okay, for real, that¡¯s enough Pistachio!¡± I shouted as a final warning. ¡°Lilli!¡± was the answer I got back ¡°What the-!?¡± Quickly sitting up, I caused Pistachio to jump away in surprise- no, not Pistachio. It was a dog that I had never seen before. ¡°Lili! Pup, pup!¡± It seemed excited at the fact that I had woken up, hopping up and down and wagging its tail. Was it hoping for a treat? ¡°Erm, why¡­ who-? Where?¡± I tried to stutter out an answer while wiping the saliva off my face, but I couldn¡¯t seem to formulate any proper sentences. ¡°Uhhhh¡­¡± Gingerly standing up, paying special heed as to not further disturb my migraine, I scanned my new environment. One thing was for sure, I wasn¡¯t in my neighbourhood anymore. Tall redwood trees surrounded me, with no signs of civilization in sight. The air was filled with foreign scents and noises that I couldn¡¯t even begin to get a grasp on. ¡°Jeez, my autopilot went crazy this time.¡± Joking to myself as I rubbed my head, I suddenly felt something moving along the top of my shoe. Thinking it was the dog from earlier trying to ask for a treat again, I looked down ready to admonish it- It was a giant caterpillar. And it wasn¡¯t just crawling on my foot. It was the size of my foot. Letting out a giant yelp (definitely not a screech), I kicked my foot out reflexively, sending the green insect flying into a tree stump, and myself tumbling back to the ground. The impact hadn¡¯t hurt my butt so much as my brain. ¡°^@$&!¡± I cursed in pain. Trying to get up again, I felt something soft brush up against my arm. Thinking that it was another caterpillar, I jerked back in surprise. ¡°Pup-?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ it¡¯s just you¡­¡± I was audibly panting from all the sudden excitement. Feeling bad for the dog, I reached out with my left hand and began to pat it on the head. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t bite or anything, and seemed to quite enjoy the attention. ¡°Phew, sorry for scaring you twice. I don¡¯t see a collar on you, so I guess you¡¯re a stray.¡± ¡°Lil?¡± ¡°Sorry, but I can¡¯t take in any more dogs. Pistachio¡¯s already a handful by himself. I could bring you to an animal shelter, but I¡¯d have to register¡­ actually, what breed are you anyway? You kinda look like a terrier, but¡­¡± For the first time since waking up, I gave it a proper look up and down. ¡°You remind me a lot of this one Pok¨¦mon. What was it named again-?¡± ¡°Lillipup!¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the one! Lillipup!¡± ¡°Pup, pup, Lilli!¡± ¡°Ahahaha-ha¡­ huh.¡± I rubbed my eyes trying to stave off the growing pain in my head. ¡°Come to think of it, that caterpillar from before¡­¡± Turning back around to the tree stump that I had launched the bug at, I found that it was stuck on its back wriggling around, desperately trying to right itself. ¡°It kind of looks like¡­¡± Picking up a stick with my left hand, I helped the disorientated caterpillar with getting back up on its feet. Taking a closer look at the insect, I said to myself, ¡°It really does look like a Caterpie.¡± ¡°CATERPIE!¡± It screeched back at me. It suddenly shot some sort of white substance at me, perfectly sticking it across my eyes. ¡°GAH, WHAT THE- GROSS, GROSS, GROSS!!!¡± I could feel that it was in fact something akin to spiderweb, but it didn¡¯t make it any less disturbing to be blinded by it. I tried to use both my hands to claw it off, but something made of metal bashed into my skull instead. ¡°Oof! What the-? Oh yeah, my can o¡¯ beans!¡± How had I not noticed that I was holding onto it with my right hand this entire time? Finally managing to get the string off my face, I dazedly felt my head. ¡°Huh-? It doesn¡¯t hurt anymore. Maybe me clonking it reset the pain...? I don¡¯t really get it, but thank you chili caaaaaan-?¡± Rather than holding what I thought was my evening dinner, was in fact a circular orb with two color palettes separated evenly by a blue line across the middle. The line was only interrupted by a single yellow button. The bottom half of the ball was a clear white, while the top half presented a bright yellow. Sitting in my right hand was a Pok¨¦ball. An item used for catching Pok¨¦mon. Wagging its tail waiting for more pets was a Lillipup. A Normal type Pok¨¦mon. The caterpillar that had scampered off after firing a String Shot at me was a Caterpie. A Bug type Pok¨¦mon. Blinking in astonishment, I looked up just in time to see a flock of Pidoves fly over my head. A Flying type Pok¨¦mon. ¡°Wait¡­ So you¡¯re telling me¡­ I¡¯ve been sent to an alternate world full of Pok¨¦mon!?!¡± Chapter 1 - A New Cruel World I am not a lucid dreamer. I would go as far as to say that I¡¯m the furthest from that label; I¡¯m on the complete opposite end of the dreamer spectrum. If I saw a T-rex named Yveon juggling 17 monkeys that seamlessly transformed into a polar bear reading the newspaper, I would assume everything in front of me to be true. The very notion of it being a dream simply never crosses my mind. Which is why I knew that this was all real. I didn¡¯t need to try to feel the remnants of the Caterpie string that clung to my eyes. I didn¡¯t need to try to wipe the dog slobber off my face. I didn¡¯t need to pinch my arm to test for pain. I still did. But I didn¡¯t need to. And with the possibility of this all being a sleepy hallucination shot down before it even took flight, I said aloud to no one in particular: ¡°So, I¡¯ve been Isekai¡¯d to the Pok¨¦mon world, huh?"
I looked to my left. I saw trees and shrubbery. I looked to my right. I saw shrubbery and trees. I looked up. I saw a blue sky with the occasional fluffy cloud. I looked down. I saw my slightly worn down clothes and the mystery Pok¨¦ball in my hand. No signs of human civilization in sight. ¡°... What now?¡± The Lillipup from earlier had run off while I¡¯d been flailing around with the Caterpie string, so I was now stuck in a random woodland clearing with no clue of where to go. I was all alone in a strange new world. Maybe it was because I was in shock and the direness of my situation hadn¡¯t truly set in yet, but I was kind of surprised by my lack of panic. Then again, I had been constantly dreaming about this happening ever since I was 10. Fantasizing about alternate worlds filled with magic and technology beyond the scope of our reality was just something that everyone¡¯s gone through at least twice in their lives. So I guess I had been prepared for this, at least mentally. I would¡¯ve been happy with being Isekai¡¯d to any supernatural world, but I am glad I got sent to one where I was quite familiar with all 1,025 of its unique residents. ¡°Right, what¡¯s already happened, happened. No point in crying over spilt beans- I mean milk, right? So, with the only way to go being forward-¡± I hopped onto a nearby fallen tree log and took a deep breath. Cupping my hands around my open mouth, I- ¡°¡®JUST GOTTA DO WHAT I GOTTA DO!¡¯¡± I yelled out to the forest trees. Even if there was no one else around, a new adventure always begins with a greeting and introduction. ¡°HELLO WORLD OF POK¨¦MON! I¡¯M THE SOON-TO-BE ACE TRAINER WHO CAME FROM ANOTHER WORLD, AND I¡¯M READY TO USE MY CHEAT-LIKE KNOWLEDGE TO GET A HEADSTART AND MAKE A NAME FOR MYSELF! AND THAT NAME IS- uh- that name¡­ my name¡­is¡­ my¡­ eh-? Why can¡¯t I¡­?¡± I can¡¯t remember my name. Everytime I tried to conjure up the mental image of the label given to me at birth, my brain suddenly became unfocused and wobbly. When I tried to grab at the solid ¡°information¡±, it suddenly turned to liquid and melted through my grasp. I couldn¡¯t- I can¡¯t remember my own name. And it wasn¡¯t just the ¡°knowledge¡± of my name that had disappeared. All my recollections concerning the word seemed to be tampered with as well. My name¡­ Whether it was a memory of someone calling out to me, writing it down on paper for a test, or saying it for introductions, whenever I tried to focus on it, everything suddenly became distorted. Both the image and audio of the moment slip out from my mind, and I¡¯m left gripping nothing but an empty void and dazed feeling, instead of the word meant to identify and define me. No name. ¡­ ¡°Oh well, the plan doesn¡¯t change!¡± Come on now, I know I may seem a bit gloomy, but I know how to remain positive when I want to! Looking at things logically, this is probably just some form of temporary amnesia that came with arriving here. Sorta like jet lag or sea sickness. I¡¯m sure that once my body gets more accustomed to this world, I¡¯ll be back in tip-top shape! Yeah. It¡¯ll all go back to normal. Besides, it looks like the only part of my memory that¡¯s missing is my name. I still remember my childhood, my hobbies, my family, my past friends, my¡­ Actually, it''s probably better not to try and dig through my brain right now. Getting caught up in another amnesia landmine would do me no good. I did one last scan of my surroundings. Nothing had seemed to react to my boisterous announcement and the sun hadn¡¯t moved enough to tell me which way was east and west, not that those directions would help me in any way. In short; I had no leads. ¡°Well, there¡¯s also this to consider¡­¡± I muttered, raising up the metal ball nestled in my hand. I eyeballed it. The design was odd, obviously not like that of the iconic red and white Pok¨¦ball. Instead of red, it possessed a yellow top, and the line separating its two halves was not the usual black, but rather a bright blue. I recognized this variant, but only vaguely. It was a Park ball. The reason I say vaguely is because, well- even I didn¡¯t know much about it. As embarrassed as I was to admit it after boasting about being a massive Pok¨¦mon nerd, the only thing that I knew about this item was that it functioned similarly to the famed Master ball. As in, without fail, it would catch any Pok¨¦mon it ensnared. However, I was pretty sure that there was more to it. After all, why bother making a Master ball reskin if the original was iconic enough on its own? There¡¯s no reasoning I can think of that would excuse having two Pok¨¦balls function the exact same way. Also, why did I wake up with one? If this was meant to be some sort of Isekai starter pack, it was certainly an odd choice. One that cost me my can o¡¯ beans. If I was gonna already start with a Pok¨¦ball, why not just give me the classic original? Or, if it needed to be an insta-catch type, why not a Master ball? Hell, even a GS ball would¡¯ve been less confusing. Why an obscure choice like the Park ball of all things? Frowning to myself, I considered the metallic orb. It was bigger than I thought it¡¯d be. It took up my entire palm and then some, requiring me to grip with all five fingers so it wouldn¡¯t roll away. I would be hard pressed to fit six of these around my waist. ¡°Oh yeah, can¡¯t Pok¨¦balls shrink and grow whenever you press the middle button? At least, that¡¯s how it was in the T.V show.¡± Unfortunately, when I pressed the yellow circle, the only thing that happened was a dull click that could be heard from whatever mechanisms were inside. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Inside¡­ ¡°Oh, duh!¡± I exclaimed. ¡°There¡¯s probably a Pok¨¦mon inside this thing!¡± Okay, I might be having more than just memory issues if it took me this long to think of that. Although, why would I just spawn in with a Pok¨¦mon ready to go? I asked that question in my head, but it did make sense in more ways than one. A big cliche with Isekai was starting out with some sort of OP weapon or skill. In this case, my starting partner would function as my cheat in this world. And from the fact that it was in a Park ball, a 100% guaranteed capture device, it was practically sure to be at least on par with pseudo legendaries. ¡°Alright,¡± I breathed. ¡°So all I have to do is pop this open to see my first partner in this new world, is that it?¡± I stared at the ball. It (seemed to) stare back. A small clunking noise could be heard emanating from it, but it wasn¡¯t because of the ball; I was shaking. From excitement or nerves? I didn¡¯t really know myself. Everything felt oddly heavy all of a sudden. ¡°...Ah, what the heck am I getting so jumpy for?¡± I muttered, a small crooked smile breaking out across my face. ¡°Even if it did get a bit botched, I introduced myself to this world. This is just taking the first step through the doorway. The first step to becoming- well, becoming a Pok¨¦mon trainer. Just like I always dreamed¡­¡± Taking deep breaths, hopping up and down, doing some light stretches¡­ some would call this ¡°stalling¡±. I prefer ¡°hyping one¡¯s self up¡±. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough of that,¡± I yelled, smacking my cheek with my free hand. Raising the Park ball up to eye level, I spoke directly to it in as clear a voice I could muster. ¡°I don¡¯t know how much you can see or hear in there, but I should apologize anyway. Sorry. Sorry for, well, all that embarrassing stuff earlier. I probably didn¡¯t leave the greatest impression of my character, huh? As your future- no, your new partner, I should do my best not to let you down. I promise that- that from now on, I¡¯ll do better. I¡¯ll learn. And you won¡¯t have to feel worried about me.¡± Yeah, I still don¡¯t know if these jitters are coming from excitement or nerves. Either way, I really hoped it didn¡¯t make my ¡°confident¡± grin seem awkward. I¡¯m trying to have an epic moment over here! ¡°I can¡¯t tell you my exact name yet, but anyway I think that¡¯s enough about me. It¡¯s time-¡± I arched my arm back. ¡°-for you to take center stage!¡± Shutting my eyes, I put all my power into throwing the Pok¨¦ball as high into the air as possible. Only- I was still on top of the tree trunk. Which evidently wasn¡¯t a very good stable ground. I lost my balance. I fell. I hit the grassy ground. Painfully. Epic moment: ruined. ¡°Welp, my landing sucked,¡± I groaned face first into the dry dirt. ¡°What about yours-?¡± *TCHAK* ¡°!?¡± Upon hearing a violent crack, I sprang upwards in a panic. Crap, did I injure it? Maybe I threw the ball up too high and the Pok¨¦mon ended up falling to the ground? However, upon scanning the area, I didn¡¯t see any Pok¨¦mon around, injured or healthy. The only thing I saw was a particularly smug looking Park ball resting on the ground, surrounded by bits of tree bark. The sound had come from it making a particularly violent impact with a redwood tree, smashing it hard enough to break off chips. ¡°... What¡¯s going on here?¡± Dusting myself off, I walked over and picked up the slightly dirtied Pok¨¦ball. Although, ¡°dirtied¡± may be a bit of an exaggeration, as it was still clean enough to gleam in a mischievous manner. ¡°D-did I not do something correctly? Maybe I need to press the button before I- no, that didn¡¯t do anything. Should I throw it a little slower? Or perhaps-¡± No matter how I threw, pressed, commanded or pulled, whatever resident was in the ball refused to make an appearance. ¡°OH, COME ON!¡± I exploded. ¡°AFTER ALL MY YAPPING, YOU STILL WON¡¯T COME OUT?!¡± In desperation, I had resorted to gnawing at the thing, but all that accomplished was making my teeth hurt and having my tongue assaulted by wood chips. After giving up on that endeavor, I truly no longer had a single clue about my situation. Counting off my fingers, I tried to summarize all the available information. ¡°One, I don¡¯t know where I am. Two, I don¡¯t know my own name. Three, I don¡¯t know why I have a Park ball, especially one that four, refuses to open¡­ maybe I was wrong and it really doesn¡¯t have any occupants inside.¡± I regarded the ball again before- ¡°RAH!¡± -chucking the thing as hard as I could at a nearby rock. ¡°So I¡¯m stranded with an empty Pok¨¦ball that I don¡¯t even know how to work!? How is this an Iseka- MMPH!?¡± The Park ball that I had tossed in my fit of rage ricocheted off the giant slab of stone and rebounded right back into my nose, allowing no room for my complaints. The force caused it to stick to my face for a second before slowly dripping off, revealing my unamused expression. Catching the half-yellow orb before it fell to the floor, I sighed to myself, considering my current options. ¡°I guess I could just try to wander around. I¡¯ve gone camping before, so maybe I could forage for some fruit or something. The real problem is the wild animals. Or rather, wild Pok¨¦mon. I have to be careful not to run into one with an aggression toward humans, or else my goose is cooked-¡± ¡°SCCCREEEEEE!!!¡± A shrill screech shook the forest, causing me to jump in startlement. However, while the sudden noise had been unexpected, the new arrival that appeared with it from under the rock was downright terrifying. It was a Bug type. One that was only slightly longer than the Caterpie from before, but nearly twice as wide. Sporting a dark red carapace with black markings and green spiracles, it eyed with angry orange eyes. It was a- ¡°VENIPEDE!¡± It screeched as it suddenly charged me. ¡°Wah!¡± I cried, barely dodging to the right in panic. I scarcely managed to avoid its lunge, but ended up tripping from the sudden movement and falling onto my back. Not keen on being hit by a follow up, I desperately tried to continue my momentum and roll away from my attacker to gain distance. It was sloppy movement and I didn¡¯t even get 5 meters away before coming to a stop. Venipede. A Poison-Bug type. Its first appearance was in the Unova region and was one of the first bugs obtainable in the Gen 5 games alongside Sewaddle in Pinwheel Forest. Of course, location information didn¡¯t do me squat as I clearly wasn¡¯t in Pinwheel Forest, but knowing my assailant was Poison type did let me know of one thing: don¡¯t get hit. Not even once. I didn¡¯t know how poison would affect me in this world, but I didn¡¯t want to find out, especially without any Antidotes on hand to cure it. ¡°Ghk-?¡± Rapidly flickering my head around to look for where the Venipede was, I assumed a crouching position in preparation to leap away from incoming attacks. Fortunately however, it seemed that my opponent wasn¡¯t currently attacking; in fact it hadn¡¯t moved much from where it had landed after pouncing at me, only groggily following my movements while its two antennae twitched on its head. ¡°Groggy¡­ oh, uh, did I happen to wake you up?¡± I nervously asked it, suddenly piecing everything together. ¡°Sorry, I guess I was a bit loud, and me banging my Park ball against your home probably didn¡¯t help, haha¡­¡± I silently cursed to myself. Goddammit, today is so not my day! Accidently waking up a hidden venomous bug? Are you kidding me?!? ¡°Where I¡¯m from, centipedes are mostly nocturnal animals, so it''s probably the same for you, right? You want to go back to sleep, I don¡¯t want to be poisoned, so how about we let bygones be bygones?¡± The Venipede seemed to consider me for a moment, its antenna continuing to twitch in my direction. I held my breath in anticipation. I didn''t know if it could understand my words or not, but it was most likely considering if I was a threat to it or not. If it continued its assault, I wasn¡¯t sure that I would be able to keep dodging as I just had. Frankly, the earlier interaction had been a fluke on my part; I wasn¡¯t confident in my reaction time at all. I could only hope that it took up my offer and went back to snooze town. It felt like an eternity before Venipede made up its mind. Relaxing from its tense stance, it shook its body, clearing off the leaves that stuck to it, and began to turn back toward its rock. I remained as still as a statue, cautiously observing its movements, but it truly seemed that the Venipede had stopped perceiving me as a threat and valued its sleep more over starting a fight. In fact, since it had turned at a slightly off angle from me, I was able to spot faint tired bags below its insectoid eyes. It was a comical sight. Normally, the only animals that would be able to have bags under their eyes would be certain mammals. For an insect to have them¡­ well frankly, it looked straight out of a cartoon. The absurdity of the sight in this tense situation caught me off guard and I ended up scoffing in amusement. I quickly covered my mouth with my hand to stifle any further snickers, but that ended up being a mistake. Due to me prioritizing that movement, I failed to realize that the Venipede suddenly turned back toward me. Because of that, I was half a second too late to react to its body arching back. It was only when the glowing purple shot of acid was merely 10 centimeters away from my face did I have a clear understanding of what was going on. Oh, I thought. I¡¯m screwed. Chapter 2 - First Route, First Encounter, First Flight! A poison arrow. Not an arrow coated with poison, but an arrow literally made of poison. Despite really being a shot of sludge fired at me by a dangerous animal, it gave off that odd sculpted impression. I obviously couldn''t let it touch me. A poison arrow would deal fatal damage to anything that it hit. Or would it? Logically, it might just give me a bad rash, like poison ivy. Then again, this is about to hit my eye, so it would still be really bad in this scenario. BUT THEN AGAIN, I can¡¯t take that risk in the first place. I wished I could say it was like time suddenly stood still. Or that my body suddenly moved on its own. Or that I quickly analyzed the acid and deduced its trajectory to position accordingly. And I definitely wished for some sort of unknown power to come forth and block the attack. Unfortunately, no such talents manifested themselves. I flailed around in a complete panic. Totally lame, I know. It only ended up being pure dumb luck that the hand I had used to stifle my laughter was the same one that had been holding the Park ball. And it was even bigger dumb luck that the sludge connected with the metal of the ball rather than my organic arm. And that it bounced off the orb rather than eat through. Some might say ¡°plot armor¡±, I say ¡°bite me¡±. Which unfortunately, this Venipede might actually do. *Ting* ¡°Gahk-!¡± The impact from the blow hitting the Park ball wasn¡¯t very heavy, but I had been caught off guard and it was enough to momentarily stun me and knock me over. The red carnivorous insect in front of me wasted no time in pressing its advantage. ¡°Veni!¡± It cried, lunging at me with even more vigor than before. Can¡¯t dodge in time-! Instinctively, I wanted to kick or shove the Venipede away from me, but I did my best to hold back on those impulses. My opponent was a venomous centipede that could defy modern world physics with ease. I wouldn¡¯t last long against any Pok¨¦mon in a bare knuckle brawl, but I also couldn¡¯t risk a Poison Point activation. Poison Point - one of the three possible abilities for a Venipede to possess, Poison Point enables the chance for any Attacker that makes contact with the User to become poisoned. And as I had gravely noted earlier, I wasn¡¯t exactly stocked up on Antidotes. Can¡¯t dodge in time and can¡¯t touch my opponent either!? What¡¯s with this hellish first trial, Pok¨¦mon world?! My free hand scrambled around on the ground searching for something- anything, to use. As soon as I felt my fingers wrap around an object other than dirt or stone, I swung like my life depended on it(...). ¡°PEEED-!¡± With my newly acquired tree branch, I had bonked the Venipede on the top of its head mid-pounce, interrupting its momentum and sending it crashing back down to the ground. Taking advantage of the mild daze my opponent found itself in, I carefully positioned the tip of my branch to pin the centipede pokemon down without pressing on its mushy bits, and used it as a makeshift cane to quickly stand back on my feet. ¡°Haah¡­ haaah¡­. guh¡­!¡± I like to think I¡¯m about average in terms of athletics. I don¡¯t really train much, but it''s not like I¡¯m just sitting around all day either. I don¡¯t mean to brag, but back in the day I was even part of a basketball team and had regular swimming sessions at the local pool. However¡­. My heart was pounding a mile a minute. I was practically gasping from exhaustion. I¡¯ve been in life threatening situations before: tripping down stairs as a toddler, ending up in deep water when I couldn¡¯t swim, almost stepping on a rattlesnake, etc. Each and every time, those moments had drained me down to my last drop of stamina, despite only lasting a few fleeting moments at a time. This encounter with the Venipede had started and continued for well over a minute now. I was spent. Running away was my only option, but I wasn¡¯t sure how far I¡¯d make it before collapsing from lack of oxygen. The Venipede shook itself, probably to shrug off the aftereffects of the earlier blow, and tried to stand up, only to find my wooden stick still firmly pressing down on it. Its arthropodal eyes, which had been encumbered by fatigue only moments ago, were filled with a rancorous rage as the centipede Pok¨¦mon glared at me from below. This murderous insect had no intention of letting me catch my breath. ¡°Look¡­ I¡¯m sorry for¡­ laughing at you back there¡­ I was just¡­ caught off guard,¡± I said between pants, trying to reason with the Bug-Poison type. I didn¡¯t actually know if my snicker had been what caused its sudden behavior switch, but unless it had been trying to get me to lower my guard from the beginning, I didn¡¯t have any other clue what its problem was. ¡°I get that you¡¯re angry and stuff, but it''s not gonna do either of us good if we- WAAH!?¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Negotiations broke down real fast, almost as fast as my poor tree branch. A blue hue had suddenly coated itself over the Venipede¡¯s body, which upon making contact with my stick, caused it to reflect back towards me, snapping it in half. What was that?! A Pok¨¦mon move? But which one-? Actually, that doesn¡¯t matter right now. Right now¡­ right now, I just need to- ¡°RUN LIKE HELL!¡± ¡°VENI!¡± I took off as fast as I could. Direction didn¡¯t matter; as long as I put as much distance between myself and the Venipede. Trees, rocks, grass, everywhere looked the exact same, offering no place to hide. Adrenaline had kicked in by now, so despite my physical self diagnosis earlier, I was hoofing it in near peak condition. I wasn¡¯t about to thank anyone yet though; even if I got away, the feedback would hit like a truck. I¡¯d be too pooped to move or think, in worse circumstances than when I had arrived in this world. If I was gonna survive, I had to ditch my pursuer as fast as humanely possible. That blue glow from before¡­ I¡¯m 99% sure that it was some sort of guarding move. Defense Curl? Harden? Either way, using that probably gave me a head start, so I should at least be about 15-20 metres away from it by now- Without stopping my legs, I turned around to see how much ground I¡¯d gained on the ¡°small¡± Pok¨¦mon. It was practically on top of me. You kinda forget how much size can make a difference in terms of speed. Centipedes are already known as incredibly quick predators that can zoom across kitchen floors at record time. Now imagine enlarging one to be 10 times its usual size. Damn it, I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d be this fast! At this rate, forget running out of breath, it¡¯s gonna catch up in 5 seconds! Maybe it was because it only had 8 legs as opposed to 100. Maybe it was because it was still a first stage evolution. Maybe it was because I still had the image of those tired eyes stuck in my head. Either way- I had grossly underestimated this creature. And I was going to pay for it. ¡°Grng-!¡± Gritting my teeth to suppress the shiver that crawled up my spine, I took a sharp right, hiding myself behind a redwood tree. I wasn¡¯t an idiot, I knew it clearly saw me. However, with my last option officially burnt out, I needed more time. Time to think. Time to breathe. My plan was to stall by playing an intense game of ¡°Ring-Around-The-Rosie¡±. It was a dangerous gamble that put me at more risk than I could gain, but I had no other choice. ¡°Ve-Venipede!¡± I had expected the Bug type to come skittering around the base of the tree with its usual aura of vengeance, but instead I heard an odd pause in its movements and- did it just stumble? My brain went blank for a moment processing this odd new info, but I didn¡¯t get much of a chance to fully digest it. Whatever had caused the Venipede to lose its composure didn¡¯t leave as much of an effect as I¡¯d hoped. Barely a second later, it came into view from around the stump, ready to make mincemeat out of me. Luckily, my crummy plan of kiting worked better than I¡¯d expected. Thanks to the low branches and uneven bark of the tree, the Venipede wasn¡¯t able to just climb on and take the inner line to get at me, so to speak. As such, it was forced to continue pursuing me at ground level, letting me take advantage of momentary blindspots to double back and vault over the Bug Pok¨¦mon when it wasn¡¯t expecting it. Okay, I bought myself a slightly longer time limit. I¡¯ll still run out of stamina quickly though, so I gotta think while I still can! C¡¯mon No-Name, what made the Venipede stagger? There weren¡¯t any special flowers or rocks around as far I can tell. Was it something I did? Maybe it hadn¡¯t expected me to suddenly try and hide? Nah, that wouldn¡¯t cause it to stop all of a sudden¡­ damn it! Time ran up quicker than expected. The Venipede, sick of chasing after me in a circle, decided to simply plow through the problem. A torrent of glowing sludge assaulted the tree, turning the bright red wood into a sickly purple. The putrid smell from the attack filled the air as the poor flora slowly rotted and dissolved away, revealing an open tunnel. The redwood tree had been gutted, my plan along with it. ¡°Tch-!¡± ¡°Pede!¡± The red menace responsible slowly crawled through the hole, eyeing me with sneering eyes, as if to say, ¡°What you gonna do now, human?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Ven-¡± ¡°-Ahhhh, no good, no good, huh?¡± I sighed. ¡°You know, I really hoped we could¡¯ve settled this peacefully, but you just had to be so damn persistent, you know?¡± ¡°-?¡± The Venipede approached, assuming I had given up. ¡°Honestly¡­ I get being cranky over your nap being disturbed, but normal people would go back to sleep right after, no? Who just goes from ¡®I¡¯m so tired¡¯ to ¡®Let¡¯s go on a manhunt!¡¯ in the span of two seconds?¡± Bristling its antennas, Venipede prepared to lunge. ¡°But since it''s come to this, I guess I¡¯ve got no choice.¡± The Venipede paused, eyeing me suspiciously. How strange, it normally didn''t bother humoring my other speeches. ¡°I really didn¡¯t want to waste it on a Route 1 Bug-type so to speak¡­ but after the amount of B.S I¡¯ve already gone through today, I guess I just have to accept that this is fate.¡± The Venipede¡¯s heavy-lidded eyes slightly contracted, staring intently at my face. Oh man, am I making a weird expression again? I can sorta tell that I¡¯m smiling, but other than that, my facial muscles didn¡¯t feel all that different, as per usual. ¡°Jeez,¡± I sighed, speaking mostly to myself now. ¡°Talk about a crappy tutorial. Giving me a Park ball and a surprise Venipede battle right off the bat, no explanation? Well whatever, I¡¯m getting it now.¡± Raising my arm, I aimed the inescapable Pok¨¦ball variant straight at the Poison-type that had given me so much unnecessary hardship upon my entry into this world. ¡°Veni¡­!¡± ¡°You already proved yourself to be pretty scrappy, so I guess I can¡¯t complain too much about making you my first Pok¨¦mon. Try not to feel too grumpy about me beating you as my first battle though, okay?¡± And so, my first encounter in this Pok¨¦mon world officially started with a wild Venipede appearing!