Chapter 2

I had a strange dream last night. If you're wondering what it was that made it so strange, then you and I are in the same boat. I can't remember a thing about it, only that it was strange. I guess that's just par for the course with me. I woke up to the sound of Rocky mumbling something to himself in his sleep. His body was withdrawn into this rock. I certainly wasn't complaining. After last night, the professor gave me a spare key to the lab so I could use its loft to sleep in. It was a gesture I appreciated since, naturally, my second option was to sleep in a dumpster. It was surprisingly comfortable for just a few blankets stacked on each other as a mattress, and a single blanket that barely covered my whole body. But once again, you won't find me complaining. I didn't see what time exactly I fell asleep, but I woke up at 12:34 PM. The day then started with a series of confusing events that I was, honestly, half asleep for. I remember getting down from the loft, greeting the professor, getting some more tea because that stuff is good, and then Stella was there for some reason. She seemed annoyed to see me, that part wasn't surprising. The surprising part was the Pokedex she was bugging the professor for. As far as I'm aware, only trainers are allowed to have those. Well, that made last night's interaction make a lot more sense.

I thought the professor was asking her to drop whatever she had going on in Postwick to come chaperone me around the region, which did seem like a pretty big ask. But as it turns out, she was already planning on entering the gym challenge herself. So why was she against the idea? Maybe she just preferred being a loner, that I can somewhat understand, even if it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. What's the fun in seeing the world if you had no one to share your stories with? Curious, I asked her about it. She described herself as a 'One woman operation' and refused to elaborate. I guess it was pretty self-explanatory, if a little unsatisfying as well. In an attempt to build rapport, Magnolia lent me some money and told Stella to help me shop around for what she called 'necessities'. I guess we'll see what 'necessities' I end up buying.

While I maybe have previously been enamored by Wedgehurst due to its absolutely normal-looking sidewalks and only slightly cracked asphalt roads, I have now come to realize that it's just your average small town. I suppose 'Big city' is a subjective term. That isn't a bad thing though, it had a certain charm to it. Most of which, was lost on Stella. I had unwilling become her outlet to vent about just about anything; Her parents, Postwick, Galar as a whole, I was even catching a few strays for doing absolutely nothing except listen. I had said one word this whole time, and I think it was 'Butter'. I was going to say 'Well butter my biscuit' after she made her first positive remark about some curry she had the other day, when I was then cut off and ignored. The only thing I could do was sigh and accept my position as her trauma dumpster.

Anyway, after thirty minutes of word vomit, we made it to the Pokemart, where I am standing now, with a Dusk ball in my hands.

"I'm buying this." I said.

She looked my way just long enough to see what I was talking about. "Why? Plan on kidnapping some poor Zubat?"

"Uh no, I'm not a terrible person." She rolled her eyes. "It just looks cool."

"it's gonna cost you at least 500 Poké." She said.

"500?" I asked. "No way, the normal ones are only like 50."

"Read the price tag genius, they're there for a reason."

"Where-

There it is, hidden at the very bottom of Pokéball. The other ones just have a price tag hanging off. It's probably a ploy to get you to buy it without thinking, which admittedly, I almost fell victim to. Stella was right, why was it so expensive? I put the ball back in it's place and decided that I'd buy it if I had any funds left over after buying 'necessities'. These 'necessities' included a backpack, clothes, a tactical axe (Stella insisted that I would need it), another sweater because apparently jackets are a luxury only the rich can afford, potions, Pokéballs (just in case), a Rotom keychain because my backpack needed some flair, and that Duskball because my financial decisions won't affect me later in life. Rocky was champing at the bit for it; I'd need to put him down lightly.

"It's not for you, you googly eyed asshole." And then I shoved him into a normal Pokéball and clipped it on my belt. Man that felt good.

After we were done shopping for me, I had to sit through an hour of Stella spending an ungodly amount of money on clothes because I didn't know how to get back to the professor's place on my own. Yet another reason I need her help. I told her she should buy one of those belts that let you keep your Pokéballs on them, so she didn't have to keep them in her pockets, but she said those were dumb. I didn't try to sway her, mostly because it would be like trying to foster peace between Zangoose and Seviper, that is to say, it wasn't going to happen. What she did buy, however, were some flowers. My curiosity was insatiable.

"What are those for?"

"None of your business." She spat.

Oof, that one was more vicious than usual. I should leave it alone. And this time, I actually did. It would a poor decision on my part to keep on angering the girl I'm trying to get to help me. My silence seemed to confuse her.

"Not gonna pry?" She asked.

"Nope." I said. "I've learned that lesson."

"Mh." She replied.

Is that progress? I sure hope it is. She can read maps, and I can't, which for whatever reason, is an essential skill for navigating the wild area, which I know about now! During the time between Stella's departure and my falling asleep, the professor explained to me some of the intricacies of the Galar region. Two of which, were the wild area and Dynamaxing. The wild area was pretty simple to understand, all I had to do was look at a map of Galar and look at the huge swaths of untamed land underneath Motostoke and Hammerlocke. Those were the wild areas. I guess 'untamed' is a bit of an exaggeration. They were tamed just enough for inexperienced trainers like myself to not get themselves killed by pissing off some wild Pokémon. Dynamaxing was a tad bit more complicated, but not really. It was fairly simple to understand, but my brain was in complete stupid mode after everything it took to make it to Wedgehurst so it took a bit of explaining. Galar has certain power spots, mostly in gyms, where Pokémon can be supercharged with Dynamax energy and turned gigantic. This was the whole gimmick that battles in Galar were known for, and was the main reason that trainers from other regions came to Galar. And that wishing star that I had in my pocket? Well, she can turn that into a Dynamax band that will let me Dynamax Rocky and any other Pokémon I catch. The thought of a giant Rocky was giving me a headache just thinking about it. Dynamax was also the primary source of energy on which Galar was powered. This is when I started falling asleep. The only things I remember are someone named Chairman Rose, and something about a bunch of Ice Type-wielding terrorists. I'm sure that won't ever come up again though.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Stella left me in front of the professors lab and went to go do whatever it is she's planning to do with those flowers. Professor Magnolia wasn't in right now, she was out teaching her granddaughter how to drive. She had said her name, but I was zoning out and didn't quite catch it. Sandra or Sunny or something like that. I'm not sure if someone at the professors age giving driving lessons is a great idea, or a terrible one. That was probably the nicest way I could've put that. I'm sure it's fine though, anyone who even knows the basics of driving already knows more than me.

She had left a Pokedex on the table for me with a note that read 'Don't tell Stella'. Sneaky, I like that. It was a little surprising that she didn't already have one, but then again, I also don't know when the average trainer is supposed to get one of these. The gym challenge starts in a week, or so Stella says, so I'd imagine most trainers already have one. But I digress, a win is a win. I released Rocky from his Pokeball. I was anticipating a huge tantrum so I made sure to walk to a secluded area first. Southern Wedgehurst was separated from the grasslands by a river which was only crossable by a singular rickety bridge, and Arceus was that bridge hard to find. And beyond the grasslands, were the mountains. Luckily I wouldn't need to climb the mountains to find an area Rocky wouldn't complain about. The terrain faded from grass to stone and dirt at the foot of the mountain, this is where I would release him. When I released him, I was happy to see that I had anticipated correctly.

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He was upset I hadn't put him in the Dusk Ball, and the ground was paying the price. I assumed it was just because he had a big head.

"Calm down you big baby." I said, that seemed to upset him even more.

He was like a baby with godlike powers, unaware of the damage he was causing by just being upset. And it was sizeable damage, he had even surprised himself with how easily he'd dislodged a nearby bolder from the nearby mountain. Luckily the most damage it did was scare a nearby Pidove further up the mountain.

"You done yet?" I asked. "The rangers are gonna be on us like Houndour if you don't stop."

He nodded meekly. "Good." I said, "And don't worry, I'll get you a cooler looking Pokéball when I have more money."

That seemed to be good enough for him. He attempted fixing up the small area around him that he had damaged, but it wasn't working very well.

"Just leave it." I said. "It'll fix itself."

Probably. I think that's how nature works.

"Anyway, I brought you here because I got this thing." I held the Pokedex in front of it. He eyed it curiously.

"It's a Pokedex." I said.

I turned it on and scanned him. I was jump scared by the robotic voice that came on and started reading Dwebble's entry.

Dwebble, the Rock Inn Pokémon

Dwebble make their homes in rocks found in their environment. They do this by secreting a highly corrosive substance from it's mouth into a rock that it finds suitable to live in. Once inside of a rock, Dwebble bond themselves to it , and strengthen it. the longer a Dwebble has a rock, the more powerful it becomes. Trained Dwebble even have the ability to repair their homes after each battle given enough time, the new parts come in stronger than the old. More powerful Dwebble that live in deep caves have been known to make homes inside of metals and gemstones like copper and diamonds. Dwebble without a home will become extremely agitated until they can find a new one. Some Dwebble who cannot find a home, choose to reside in the ports of a Hippowdon. In exchange for this, the Dwebble clean the ports and make sure nothing dangerous enters through them. Dwebble have been known to confuse Rolycoly and Roggenrola for non-living creatures and sometimes attempt to make homes out of them, sparking an intense hatred between the creatures.

I should turn that off, I would much rather read the entry than have it jump scare me every time I see a new Pokémon. That aside, that entry is pretty comical. The thought of Rocky confusing a Roggenrola for a suitable rock and then trying to hollow it out was enough to make me chuckle. The Pokedex went on to list details more specific to Rocky. I'm not sure how it got all this from just a scan, but I'll take it. He had the ability 'Sturdy', which I think just means his shell is stronger than usual. Although, if I took the Pokedex entry into account, maybe it means that he can strengthen his shell faster than other Dwebble. I should ask the Professor about that later.

"Wonder how long you've had that thing." I said.

He shrugged and began to poke and prod at his rock. The way the Pokedex described it almost made it seem like a whole other body part, I mean, it practically is. Also, this asshole weighs twenty three pounds, or ten kilograms as Galarians would say, Twenty Three! No wonder my shoulder hurt when I woke up today. I didn't bring it up though, since there was no need for him to sit on my shoulder now that he had a Pokeball.

The Pokedex also listed his moves. Of course, moves are only a rough outline of his capabilities, but it's a start. I'm curious to see what his battle prowess might be, if any.

"Try smack down." I said.

With much more ease than I thought, he raised a rock from the earth and sent it flying towards a mountain in the distance. It flew for about five seconds, during which I stared at the rock with an open mouth. It smashed into the side of the mountain with a crash and exploded into a million pieces. That was... awesome.

"Wow." I said, "You are better than I thought you'd be."

I guess his little tantrum earlier should have been evidence that he was powerful, but I thought that was just his anger talking. He wasn't looking at me, but from the way he was just staring, I could tell he had surprised himself as well. After some more testing, we realized that he was much more equipped for battling than either of us thought. Part of me also wants to test the durability of that rock, but I'm not really sure how to do that. I would probably have to get into an actual battle to make that assessment, and that's sounds like a lot of work. He was also getting tired pretty quickly, so we decided to call it quits for now. He was now begging me for food, I was under the impression that rock types just ate rocks, and I'm pretty sure they do. I guess they can eat other stuff to.

"You forget I'm broke?" I asked, "The only food I can afford you is a bag of soil. From that gardening place."

It was meant to be a joke, but clearly he didn't understand my sarcasm. I begrudgingly agreed, that place isn't to far from the lab anyway. I only know it because we walked past there on our way to the Pokemart, and Stella had mentioned that the owner used to be an elite level grass type trainer. I don't know if I'll get to see that guy, but it'd be pretty cool if I did.

Once again, the sun was going down. At least this time it was only seven, but still. It's summer for Arceus sake. I entered the empty gardening store. It was a lot bigger on the inside. The only people that I could see working was a scrawny guy at the counter, and a woman on the ground restocking something. There were flowers and exotic looking plants everywhere you looked, but I wasn't here for that. I was here for soil to feed my crab. I thought it would be weird, asking the employee what kind of soil was best for feeding, but apparently this was completely normal. He pointed me towards an isle filled with bags of soil made specifically for Pokémon consumption. Those were way out of my budget though, so I just settled on normal gardening soil. Rocky wasn't very happy about that, but he enjoyed it nonetheless, If you're curious about how one eats soil, I'll just tell you that it's very messy.

---

Circhester

"So what is it?" The man shivered

Circhester was always cold, but especially so during the winter. Only it wasn't winter. Even with the hot spring in the middle, the town square was not spared from the cold. Every breath he took materialized in front of him as a quickly dissipating cloud of mist.

"Dunno." The other man responded, "One of our guys in the isle found it."

In his hands he held a large glass container with a swirling mass of black mist inside of it. it raged inside the container, smashing against the glass and threatening to throw the man off balance if he didn't hold it steady.

"Is it gonna-"

"It not getting out." He said, "This thing's made for holding Maryam's experiments, if those things can't escape, than nothing can."

"Is that what it is?" He asked. "One of her experiments?"

The other man shook his head. "No way, she'd go crazy if one of 'em went missing, and I'm sure we'd a heard about it by now."

The man bent down to examine the creature. It stopped for a moment, like it was examining the man, and then slammed into the glass at full force in the mans direction. The other man lost his grip on the container as it slammed into the mans face.

"Gah!" He pulled back immediately and placed a hand on his nose.

The other man regained control of the container.

"Shit, Sorry man." He said.

"it's cool." He pinched his nostrils together to contain the bleeding, "What is that thing. You said they found it on the isle?"

"Mhm." The man nodded.

"Should we show the boss?"

The other man thought for a moment. He looked at the container and made his decision.

"No, not yet." He said. "We'll show it to Prancer first, figure out what it is. Maybe we can get something out of it."

"Prancer? You mean Maryam's lapdog?" He loudly whispered, "No. No way. She'll snitch us out the first chance she gets, and then we're both dead. We both know how Maryam likes her... anomalies."

The other man shook his head. "She might, but not if we have something she wants."

He pulled out a small bag filled with-

"Rare candies?" He asked, "How is that gonna help?"

"You kidding? The girl's a total junkie." The other man said, "You telling me you haven't noticed her tweakin' out all week?"

The man thought for a moment. Rare candies are usually used as performance enhancing drugs for Pokémon. Normally, a single one would be enough to kill a human if they were to ingest it. However, he knew that Maryam had special, weaker versions of the drug to use on her experiments. He had never considered the possibility of them being used by a person, but It made sense. The poor girl could never catch a break with Maryam breathing down her back, treating her like garbage.

"I did think that was strange."

"See?" He said. "I've been seeing her leave the lab to go to the bathroom like all day. She comes out looking paler than a Cursola, talking to herself and sweating like a Tepig. Y'know what that means?"

"She's withdrawing." He said.

"Exactly!" He said. "She's out. Trust me when I tell you that she'll do anything for her next fix."

He saw one problem with his story. "Okay but, how is she out?" He asked. "They keep hundreds of those candies in storage, she couldn't just take them from there?"

The other man shook his head, "No, they're movin' all her experiments to the other bases, only a few of 'em are staying here, and those few aren't gonna be needing the candies. I think they might have already moved 'em all."

It's a good plan.

"I'm in." He said. "But if Maryam gets wind of this, than I had no part in it."

"Whatever ya say man." The other man said.

Whatever that thing in the container is, it must be valuable to someone, somewhere.