EXPEDITION 2.2
September 2nd, 2022
I collapsed against the bench of a minor rest stop just outside of Noto, letting my aching legs rest after hours of extra walking, and after reporting the incident. A pride of extremely aggressive luxio was considered at best a D-class threat, though from what I read it likely would have been E-class if it wasn’t for the attempted mauling and or murder.
The Threat Level System was fascinating, reminding me of Worm in a lot of ways. E-class were small local threats in highly isolated areas, easily taken care of by the many thousands of wandering trainers. There were a lot of trainers, and most of these problems were minor.
D-class put towns in danger but we’re talking minor things, like a drifloon accidentally stealing kids or pest pokémon being annoying little shits. C-class threats were again small towns but this time it included deaths or villainous gangs, as well as natural disasters. Barring things like tidal waves, mega earthquakes or hurricanes.
B-class are mass casualty events in cities, of which there were several cases in the past, gigantic Type Royals attacking cities, minor legendaries like the Regis causing trouble. A-class threats are sub-regional threats like the disaster in Tohoku from eleven years ago that killed over five hundred thousand people. A tectonic event of unprecedented scale and destruction, events involving certain gods, mass pokémon attacks, or terrorist rganizations like Team Rocket or Plasma.
The highest threat level was S-class, multiregional and potentially world ending events, of which I was privy to a few and told to keep my mouth shut. Things like Mewtwo, the various involvement of humans with Legendaries, the Ultimate Weapon.
It was best that I didn’t mention that stuff for my own safety, I very much liked the idea of not being a target for people who might like to know how to imprison the Divines of Space and Time.
I was tired, and not just because I had been walking for hours on end. The nine kilogram pest hitching a ride has been a strain on my back for quite literally hours. The wild nidoran had refused to leave, and had been clinging to my back for several hours.
The little bastard had jumped off when I had collapsed, a smug look on his rabbit-lizard face as he sat down on my left. Akari was currently foraging for food, after using the outhouse, which used some weird advanced method of rapidly breaking down waste matter based on poison and grass types.
A portable version was a common tool for traveling trainers and I thanked the inventors for it every day. In my head of course, it’d be weird if some random girl walked up to them and bowed at their feet.
I rubbed at my bare cheeks, chewing on my lip as I watched the nidoran eat a pile of nuts, plants and berries he had gathered.
Along with a small anole or something, a lesser pokémon of irrelevant species?
Whatever.
“So is there any particular reason for sticking around? Did you want to hitch a ride?” Nidoran stared at me like I was stupid, and I flushed. “Do you want me to catch you?”
He nodded. “Nir, raan!” He stood up on his hindlimbs, clenching his paws into fists. Not quite his species name, but very few pokémon did so directly besides a handful of species. Pikachu were an obvious example of course, butterfree made a lot of sounds similar to their name.
“Do you want a battle too?” He shook his head, and I suspected our battle against Scar and his pride had proven my worth as a trainer?
I pulled out a pokéball from my bag, and shuddered as I fit my entire arm into the pocket of altered space. The ‘internals’ of a Bag had a natural organization system, so I could easily grab a ball.
I offered the pokéball to the nidoran, and she sniffed at it for a second before hitting his head against it, and it snapped open, absorbing him in a flash of light.
It dropped onto the bench, shaking once, twice, and then a final time.
Capture made.
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September 3rd, 2022
Noto was a gorgeous town, surrounded by a wing of mountains and residing within the floodplain of the Idaitou, a river home to scores upon scores of white-striped basculin and dozens of basculegion. Powerful pokémon with few competitors aside from the very strongest water types.
Gyarados and feraligator were the only real options, one a sea serpent, the other a primal ambush predator of the waters. However, very few inland magikarp had the accumulated might and experience and will to become gyarados, and feraligator didn’t always coexist within the same habitats as rivers able to sustain the growth and power of basclulegion.
The Noto Pokémon Center in front of me was huge, the red-roofed building was three stories tall and could probably house a good hundred people or more. A large park area covered in trees and bushes sat in front of the building, along with battlefields set up alongside the center. Lots of people were battling, from rookies to old veterans.
I could see a pink butterfree, with beautiful white fur lining her neck and legs, and huge delicate wings of violet, blue and black. Tohokun butterfree was a variant local to this region, a bug-psychic type with wide access to a variety of moves and useful abilities.
The butterfree moved quickly against a physically tanky graveler, and it lashed out with Psyshock. The special move acted like a strength attack, a wavelength power, a sort of kinetic transmission. In the wild it was a potent and lethal attack, a flexible power designed to pierce through physical defenses. Some would shape it into cutting blades to cut through plant matter or skin, or into hammers to batter right into the flesh beneath layers of armor and scales.
The graveler let out a craggy groan, like rocks scraping against each other with stubborn force. The butterfly pokémon flew on psychic might, and I paled as I recognized Focus Blast, as pure fighting spirit was gathered into a tight sphere of life energy.
The explosion that followed made me wince in sympathy for the poor rock monster. It was a satisfying battle, so I headed into the Center to book a room for the night for Akari and I. The sliding door opened with a woosh, offering a flush of cool air.
The inside was bustling, dozens of trainers from age fourteen to age forty milling about in the waiting room, watching the many high definition 8K television or talking with their pokémon. A good old drowzee was dancing with his trainer, a pretty girl with blonde hair dancing with her. There were three nurses, with one of them being a Nurse Joy.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Now that was an interesting story, the Joy family is one of the largest documented families in the world, essentially a clan of healers. Descended from Pesselle Joy who had pioneered the use of pokémon in medicine, partnering with the chansey line, and having built the first pokémon center in 1723, months after the Space-Time Crisis. The family includes all of her descendants both male and female and anything in-between including adopted and fostered children.
After three hundred years, she had over three hundred thousand direct living descendants and a four hundred eighty thousand including adopted family and those who married into the family. The Joy family had all gone into the medical field across a thousand different disciplines, they weren’t born heroes, but they were widely respected across the world, from the Occident to the Orient, across countless regions. They were responsible for saving countless lives, of man and monster alike.
I shook my head, no need to get distracted and flighty girl!
“Excuse me?” I politely walked up to an available nurse, a Joy with pink curly hair and crystal blue eyes. “I’m here to book a room for two,” I could see Akari was walking up with her tepig riding on her shoulder. Twenty two pounds is a lot of weight… “If that isn’t a problem?”
Her expression was warm. “Of course not, we have several rooms available. Do your pokémon need looking after?”
I smiled back. “Yes, please.”
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I was scrolling through channels in my room, a good old divider splitting it between Akari and me. I was hoping to find something good at nine at night but…
There was nothing good on.
My new nidoran and Mirko were chatting away in their weird shared universal language out of a Disney movie. I hadn’t figured out a name for him, but he was a tough little guy. He was a lagomorph just like Mirko, but their line had split millions of years ago and their development of toxins and partially mineral biology set them apart.
Differentiating rock and ground types was a combination of their energies being distinct, and their… structure. Rock is crystalline matter, sturdiness and solidity, the process of crystallization and mineral formation. Ground is the manifestation of the tectonic forces, the pulse of the earth. They had a different if similar nature, which was why rock-ground types were so common.
I cracked my neck, rotating my torso as I prepared for bed. I had dressed down to a plain black shirt and red shorts that showed off my thighs. My hands brushed along my bare skin, and I marveled quietly at the softness. HRT was a hell of a drug.
“Hey,” I called out to my new buddy, and he hopped over and right into my lap, taking care to not brush his spines against my skin. He was about the size of a beagle, though his height was increased by his large ears. I looked up his data on my phone, curious to see what it would say. I had been distracted.
Shared Characteristics
Species: Nidoran, Poison Pin Pokémon
Type: Poison
Egg Group: Field, Monster
Classification: Animalia - Chordata - Mammalia - Lagomorpha - Leporidae - Arma
Wild Threat Level: Mostly Harmless. They are distrustful pokémon, and will almost always flee given the chance. (Note: Toxins are extremely potent regardless of breed, and are noted for Territoriality during breeding season.)
Growth Rate: Medium-Slow
Suggested Diet: Herbs, Berries, Nuts, Poison Omnivore Pellets, Meat (preferably mammalian and reptilian). Wood for wearing down teeth.
Personal Characteristics
Name: Nidoran
Holder: Brandon “Brandy” Red (Journeyman Trainer)
Age: 9 years
Ability: Hustle (Trades accuracy for power)
Physicality Analysis:
- Stunted venom glands in line with the standard characteristics of the Hustle breed.
- Recently sustained healed electric burns and paralysis, treatment with cheri and rawst berries evident.
- Shoulder height is measured at 28 centimeters and body mass at ten kilograms.
- Minor psychic-type affinity.
- Eye color aberration, darker shade of red.
Potential: Deep Green
Known Moves: Leer, Poison Sting, Peck, Focus Energy, Confusion
I blinked, that was new.
I found a voicemail and checked in, and Nidoran(my buddy) was startled by the voice that came from it.
“If you’re confused right now, I recently updated your dex-phone with some new programs and features based on some of your observations. It’s not new, but I was curious to see how the scanner would analyze pokémon bio-energy with your hypothesis in mind versus aura patterns being random electromagnetic white noise. Some studies with Natsuo’s perception of aura and Akari’s intuition of nature completed some of my old projects.”
“Huh, neat.”
“You’ve scanned dozens of wild pokémon, and you’ve given me a lot of data on your team. I’ve got a few research tasks for you once you’re rested, pokémon that need to be caught for my research. Ask around for volunteers in the wilds once I’ve got my list in order.”
“Of course.” I muttered as I twiddled my thumbs, the repetitive action calming my nerves.
“The main new feature aside from the Metaphysical Biology Analysis Engine or MBAE is a potential scanner, based on some aura techniques some expert breeders and trainers know. An old man calling himself the Legendary Top Pokémon Breeder, strange chap honestly. It’s a pretty easy system, it goes by color, and usually trainers would need to find people willing to check or guess. It starts from Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple and ends at Iridescent, and colors go from light, normal to deep. It’s good enough for measuring potential and gives you clues where you need to put in more work and strengthen your bond.”
I remembered the system, raising your pokémon’s potential wasn't difficult but it did require a lot of training, a lot of gathering of the right items, and a lot of battles to focus their potential.
Red was generally where most domestic mon fell under, having little potential for growth. Orange and Yellow was generally where weak wild and newborn pokémon fell into though some were born with far greater potential at birth. Green and beyond was where most battle-ready pokémon had enough power to continue onward, and breaking past limits was a very important aspect of battling.
“Interesting.”
“This new feature offers advice on increasing your pokémon’s potential, it should be a standard feature of the pokédex in a few months. So get as much data as you can, ya hear? It’s your job after all!”
The voicemail ended on that note, and I chewed on my lip. “So you’ve got a minor affinity for psychic energy huh?” Nidoran stared at me with a confused look, and I smiled. I giggled, and carefully placed my hand on his head. He leaned into my touch with a cute smile. “Well before we can lean into that, how about I figure out a good personal name for you?”
His eyes shined, and I wondered what was so important about names that had pokémon fall over themselves like this? Was it something fundamentally important to their culture?
“I know your species enjoy looking at the stars and the moon right?” My pokémon nodded while Mirko watched with a curious gaze. “How about Jericho? The city of the moon?” It was also a city in my old world, and the name itself was lovely and nice to say.
“Nirr! Nirr! Raaan!” He jumped up and down, before pausing and taking a more serious stance, giving me a half-lidded ‘cool’ face I didn’t take seriously.
“Jericho it is.”
His smug look boded well.