Mal and I continued on our way to Happy Town. It was still a little over a day of walking away. We'd have to camp out and might be able to make it into town before nightfall the next day. Violet City was another two days past it. I was already thankful I had gotten the right kind of shoes, even still I'd be getting some blisters. It wasn't just pokemon that needed training.
We fought a few more locals like Joey along the way. If we weren't so far out in the countryside we'd have likely faced more. Schools often let out for the first week or two of the season. If they hadn't closed then the classrooms would be half empty as kids ditched.
Being a professional trainer was the number one dream for most of them. How kids in my old world might dream of being stars or athletes, these kids dreamed of being trainers. Trainers were respected, had power, went on adventures, and some even became rich and famous. The kids we faced usually ranged from around ten to fifteen years of age, too young for a license and not veteran enough to attempt the local Gym.
It was common practice for the kids to stake out sections of their local route to try and fight older trainers during the start of season rush. Most of the ones I ran into tried to pull the eye trick on me like Joey had. Kids might often seem to hate rules and traditions but whenever those same rules or traditions benefited them then they would take it for all it was worth. When the kids were able to pick a fight they would often face a variety of pokemon that they wouldn't encounter in their battles with their peers. If the kid won then they could brag to their friends they beat a 'proper' trainer. Even if they lost they still got experience that might help them later on.
The route took on more of an incline as we went deeper into the foothills. The trees were still thick and wouldn't thin out until we got high into the mountains proper. I had no intention of going very deep into them. I just needed to get to the Dark Cave and have some luck. There were two pokemon I might find there that would work for my team, Teddiursa and Dunsparce. I didn't want to move onward to Violet City without at least one of them. I was more than willing to camp out for a week or two if that's what it took.
A little before sunset Mal and I came across a little clearing with a well used fire pit alongside the route. An hour later darkness had fallen, I had my small single person tent set up and was struggling to start up a fire by the light of a lantern. Just finding enough fuel had been a struggle; the area had been pretty well picked clean by other travelers even this early in the season. What fuel I had found was mostly wet.
"I really wished you knew a fire move."
"Gon." Mal agreed before he slipped back into the nice warm and cozy electronics I carried with me.
I carefully considered the pros and cons of throttling my pokenet connection as I struggled to light the wet fuel.
That night I may or may not have had a nice fire going while I looked up at the stars and contemplated the future.
I like to think I did.
The next day we made it to Happy Town and its pokemon center a little before sunset.
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Anime hair is freaky.
It's one thing to see it online. It just becomes another odd thing about the world, it fades into the background. To see it in front of you is something entirely different. The great hoops of pink seemed to defy gravity. It wasn't that unnatural artificial color from dye, but natural with a nice healthy sheen. A natural Pinkette? Was that the right word? What was it in the genetics of humans in the pokeworld that lets these seeming magical hairdos exist?
The Nurse Joy in front of me looks like every other Joy. There might be some minute differences between her and the others but I just couldn't tell. Lonnie had an entire theory that they were actually pokemon as a way to explain it.
With a small polite cough she draws me out of my contemplation.
"Oh. I'm sorry Nurse Joy." I sheepishly scratched the back of my head. I had been staring at her. If there had been a line I would have been holding it up. I had just gotten into the center and when met with the sight of a Nurse Joy I kind of blanked. "Could I get a check up for my pokemon? I'd also like a room for the night"
She smiles, "Of course. I'll just need to see your trainer ID."
She had a smile and a voice that just seemed to radiate warmth and kindness, no wonder Brock liked them so much. Hell half the reason he became a doctor in the anime might be to spend more time next to these seemingly angelic nurses. Or maybe it was just the uniform he did like those Jennies... I should really stop. I was being unkind to Brock. That man took care of all his many siblings on his own. He had a wide variety of impressive skills. He raised a Happiny all the way into a Blissey. Happiness was the key requirement to evolve it into a Chansey and friendship was needed to evolve into a Blissey. The man clearly had a very good heart. If game Brock was anything like the anime Brock, Pewter was lucky to have him.
I took out my ID and absentmindedly handed it over. Tapping the case of my phone I called out, "Mal buddy you need to come out. Gotta get you checked over."
He made the transition from cyberspace and after a little grumbling he accepted being balled again and was handed over.
"It should take about forty-five minutes. There don't seem to be any medical records for..." She paused, unsure of the name registered to the ball, "Mallardware here. It'll take a little while to draw them up. I've never actually had the chance to examine a Porygon before. Here's the key for room five and we have a cafeteria if you're hungry."
Nurse Joy gave a little bow as she handed back my ID. The way she did it reminded me of the way the Japanese treated business cards back in my old world.
I shook my head. I had been staring again and I had been taught how to handle this. I gave a little bow as I accepted my card back with both hands, "Thank you."
The cafeteria was mostly empty and it resembled the inside of a diner having a few long rows of booths set up. There was a little kiosk where you could order food. A few TVs scattered about were playing some special about hunting for a Red Gyarados. I chuckled, shiny hunters were real and might even be more dedicated than in my old world. There were a couple similar pieces of media I had come across. Dive had been one of the films I had to watch with Mr.P. It was kind of a Moby Dick and Jaws ripoff with them hunting a great pink Wailord. Unova made some really weird films.
Shiny hunting could be good business. They fetched a high price whenever they went on the market. If I caught a shiny of any kind it would be enough to fund me for a year easily. Shinies that were of lines that were considered 'strong' or popular breeds like Eevee, could fetch some crazy prices. Shinies that came from breeders had completely absurd prices attached to them, really only people like Steven Stone or other big names could afford them.
A group of three trainers were off in a corner booth chatting. They looked like they were from Kanto or they might be natives of Johto. It was really hard for me to tell. Johto was kind of the crossroads between the regions based on Japan. The peoples and cultures had mixed a lot over the centuries. It had strong ties to Sinnoh to the north and Hoenn to the south. Then there was Kanto... Since Unification nearly two decades ago the two had become even closer. A couple that looked vaguely Spanish were idly watching the TV as they ate sandwiches. Probably Paldeans. Was it some sort of stereotype that Paldeans loved sandwiches? It's not like I could blame them for their love of sandwiches. I had played Scarlet and Violet. Some of those sandwiches looked good no matter how questionable it was to put some of those things into a sandwich.
After ordering some food and taking a seat a question kept gnawing at me as I waited.
Why do Nurse Joys all look the same?
Human genetics, at least the ones I was familiar with, shouldn't allow it. There was a Joy in the anime with a husband and children. The kids were all perfect copies of their mother. This was the pokeworld so some weirdness was to be expected. Pokemon seemingly bent conventional physics over the table and had their way with it all the time. Some really weird human genetics shouldn't be that surprising right? Yet why did they all look the same?
I began to consider what Lonnie had said about them.
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"Nurse Joy is a pokemon and would be great to have on a team. I bet their abilities are Healer or some shit." Lonnie's random statement rang out, cutting through the soft classic rock music filling our dorm room.
I didn't even bother to look up from my laptop. "Lonnie. The very clearly human and very kind nurse lady isn't a pokemon. You can't catch her."
"Dude it's fucking obvious. An all female species that always breeds true, has the same kind caring nature, and looks the same. There's how many pokemon like that? Twenty or more? She's one hundred percent a pokemon." he pauses, "I bet they infiltrated human society to make sure pokemon weren't abused. They've been in super ultra deep cover for so long they probably don't even know they're pokemon anymore. If you did catch one the others would probably wreck your shit though. They talk..."
"She's human, we talk Lonnie."
"Duh, of course they talk Gray. They wouldn't have been able to infiltrate otherwise." he sighed, "I meant they talk and gossip all the time. They have one giant ass information network."
At least part of his rant was reasonable this time. Families did tend to gossip and talk all the time.
"You can't catch a human Lonnie." I paused, considering just what kind of shit show would come about from trying to 'catch' a Joy, "If you did try for some godforsaken reason... Yes people would wreck your shit. Assaulting the nurse whose family seems to run the entire medical system and pelting her with pokeballs, seems... ill advised."
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Why was I still entertaining Lonnie's latest lunacy?
"Also they don't all look the same. Nurse Joys in other regions are a bit different. Just what makes you so sure they're pokemon?"
There were really small differences between Joys for the most part. They nearly all had the same blue eyes and pink hair. The hair was the biggest difference most of the time.
"Nah man. Those nurse Joys are just regional variants. I bet you there's even a kickass shiny Nurse Joy out there somewhere." Lonnie goes silent for several long moments. A hint of shame can be heard in his voice as he continues, "The Book. That's what makes me so sure."
"The Book?" I questioned. He's not talking about...
"The Book Gray." he replies in a grave serious tone.
"Lonnie, we don't speak of the Forbidden text…
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The Forbidden text was a book of folktales in the Canalave Library. It talked about how great friends humans and pokemon were. They shared meals and ate at the same table. Oh, isn't that nice? The Japanese translation went farther, a lot farther. Humans and pokemon were once one and the same and they married each other. I think it’s obvious why we called it the forbidden text. Most people made sure to keep far away from this little piece of lore. The important takeaway from it though was that humans and pokemon had once been one and the same at some point in the distant past.
Humans had been pokemon until at some point in their evolution and development they just weren't anymore. It all kind of nicely explained how ancient humans had been able to survive in a world like this. If humans had been pokemon then it was fairly safe to assume they had access to the same bullshit that pokemon could do. My money was on Aura being the particular brand of bullshit ancient humans had once had at their disposal. If aura had been the specialty, the user's ability to read emotions and telepathy would help to explain why humans found themselves in a trainer role. A human with aura could and would allow wildly different pokemon to work together effectively. They would become the natural leaders and core of any such group. If this talent for team work, communication, and leadership had been selected for over countless generations it might explain why humans to this day were trainers even without active aura use. That was all just speculation based off of folklore though.
However, if those folktales were true it could also help explain why humans had an odd tendency to turn into pokemon. Most of the time it was people turning into ghost pokemon when they died. There were ones like Yamask that were said to remember their lives as humans. The mask they carried was of themselves from when they still lived. Sometimes they would look at it and weep. How the hell did ghost trainers handle dealing with pokemon that were once people? Besides ghosts sometimes there were really weird ones like a boy with great psychic powers turning into a Kadabra. Why not an Abra?
"Bliss, Blissey!"
My thoughts on the possibly very strange history of human evolution and development in this world was interrupted by a Blissey. She was carrying a little tray with the food I had ordered. She had a cute little nurse hat sitting between her puffy hair curls and wore a little necklace.
I couldn't help but smile. "Aw aren't you a cutie?"
"Blissey!" she smiled widely, her stubby little arms starting to move around excitedly.
I quickly grabbed the tray before the food could go flying. "Thank you, Blissey."
After a few more repetitions of her name she was off running as fast as her little legs could carry her. She seemed a bit clumsy, nearly falling over once or twice in her rush.
I couldn't help but like the entire evolutionary line. Blissey was one hell of a pokemon that had found a role on many of my teams. In my mind there was no better special tank and cleric in the Normal type. She had once been part of a well known nearly unstoppable defensive core. A core was two or more pokemon that covered each other's weaknesses. Cores were often used to form the backbone of teams. The core that Blissey was most known for, even many years later, was Skarmbliss. Blissey and Skarmory together could handle just about anything thrown at them as they covered each other's weaknesses so well. Blissey could wall the special attackers while Skarmory could handle the physical. You usually needed some very good wall breakers or a way to wear them down to get through them.
Part of the reason I wanted a Teddiursa and eventually a Ursaluna was because of the concept of cores. I was taking some inspiration from my previous world when trying to plan out a team. Ursaluna could serve as a physical tank in a pinch but as part of an offensive core it could really shine. Its Ground typing would also help cover the Electric weakness of whatever bird I ended up with. A bird would help cover my team's weakness to Fighting types. With the two of them a lot of things would start to be covered pretty well on the offensive front. Maybe throw in a Ditto with a tasteful scarf to fill in some gaps. If I could get another special attacker and maybe another wall or a cleric I'd have a well rounded team.
I couldn't help but sigh.
I had looked into how to get a Chansey and it really wasn't easy. The egg in their pouch was highly valued as a cooking ingredient. Add in just how damn useful a Chansey was and they were extremely rare in the wild. One of the reasons they could run so fast with their little legs was because of all the overcatching they had been subject to. In some places the Joys had been able to get the wild populations declared a protected species.
There were breeders that specialized in Chansey. However, the Joys proved to be an obstacle there. They were most of those breeders and they didn't sell. For the Chansey breeders that weren't Joys, the Joys had the right of first refusal. Any Chansey that came to market or came up for trade, they could buy and often did before anyone even had a chance to make an offer. The best I might realistically get and possibly afford at some point was an egg.
A Happiny could be nice, they were little balls of cuteness. They were kind of based off of the whole little girls playing with dolls thing. They didn't make eggs themselves, instead they would search around for a stone that reminded them of an egg. They would keep it in their little pouch and pretend to be a Chansey or Blissey. If I did get a Happiny it would take a good while for them to be ready for evolution and battle. Still, they might be able to do some light healing even as a baby which would be nice to have. Regardless of their usefulness, having a little bundle of cuteness on the team would be nice. I'd have to get an Oval Stone otherwise she would be running all over the place trying to find one. Who knows what she might try to use in place of it...
No... Lonnie wasn't right. Humans weren't pokemon... at least not anymore. It was all just folklore, case closed.
But stones and 'same kind caring nature'.
God damn it.
If humans had once been pokemon then items that affected pokemon might once have had similar effects on humans. If the folklore was to be believed then over many generations humans had split into their own thing separate from pokemon. But the humans of pokeworld could still turn into pokemon sometimes. There might still be a small connection. If items could still affect humans... Well, the Pokeworld had tons of stones and items in it that affected different types of pokemon. I had gone through most of them in Mr.P's collection when he had been testing me. Nearly all of them only interacted with a few types of pokemon. However, there was one thing that had an effect on all pokemon that could evolve or breed. An Everstone and it looked a hell of a lot like an Oval stone.
A Happiny in its desperate search for an Oval stone might just grab one. The Joys had been working with and raising Chansey for generations. There must have been at least a few Happiny that just wouldn't evolve when they should have. The Happiny might have taken an Everstone by mistake which stopped them from ever evolving. When the Joys investigated they would have found that the stone was different. It might even be a common problem when it came to breeding Chansey. The Joys might have even been the first to discover the effects of Everstones.
Everstones had an effect on nearly every pokemon. If there was something that still had an effect on humans well then an Everstone might be it. In the games an Everstone when held by a pokemon would cause their nature to be passed down to any of their offspring. In the games it was used to pass on beneficial natures from one generation to the next as you got closer and closer to a perfect pokemon. Nurse Joy all seemed to have that same kind caring nature. If Everstones did somehow work, could the Joys be using the stones as some sort of secret clan art to ensure they always had kids that would make good nurses? Did the Jennies do the same thing?
An Everstone might even explain why they all looked the same. When a regional variant of a pokemon held an Everstone all their offspring would also be that variant no matter where they were or how many generations had passed. The Joy looks and sex might just be passed along with the nature. Each individual person might be a regional variant in this situation. Did the alpha Joy and Jenny realize what they were doing? Was this some sort of giant secret eugenics program that stretched back generations?
I let out a deep long breath and calmed myself. I had spent way too much time around Lonnie. Not everything was some great secret or had a cult behind it. This was the pokeworld strange shit just happened. I really needed a social life before I came up with even crazier shit or worse yet told people about it. Get my team set up first, then get some friends or a rival. Either of those would be kind of nice right about now.