Start Game 1.2
June 29th, 2022.
I read the book, enthralled by the information held within the pages. It was a very detailed book called A Zoological Guide to Pokémon, which was about the biosphere and food chain of this planet. One thing I had learned was that Pokémon intelligence was… not controversial so much as very complicated and very intermixed with the human question. Why do they exist at all?
Intelligence tends to vary wildly between species, though they were certainly brighter than most animals outside of whales, apes, corvids, and parrots. It was the baseline for most league-certified pokémon, though agricultural pokémon were a lot duller and far weaker.
The closest comparison for macroscale predator and prey dynamics was the relationship between orcas and blue whales. Both were intelligent and likely sapient animals, but transient orcas had to eat, and they were some vicious bastards.
The question then was how pokémon could make up most of the biosphere, and the truth was… they kind of didn’t? Most of the basic niches were taken up by what were called lesser beasts, or micromon, or animals domestics of sorts. The main difference was usually size and intelligence… microbugs for example made up about eighty percent of the world’s species.
Relatives of pinsir, heracross, orbeetle alone account for three hundred thousand species. They were small and weak, and their moves had very little power behind them, and they were stupid. But they made up for it in breeding capacity and reduced food requirements. From what I had read they had taken a similar path to the ancient ancestors of humans, exchanging primessentiality for accidentality. Pokémon were beings of spiritual nature, roughly analogous to spirits, kami, and so on. Lesser beasts were barely pokémon, and either so small or so… solid that they couldn’t be caught.
Some of the very largest tended to be bred that way, such as relatives of torchic being bred to be ninety pounds. There was a very confusing divide between food and friends here, and I had seen quite a lot in the vast few days. Finding a rat-sized rattata being picked apart by a street meowth had been a big wake up call on how different this world was from my own.
A living, breathing world with its own history and behaviors. But one factor that was always accounted for was the connection between pokémon and humans. There was a bond, pokémon in contact with humans took on more human traits while people did the same if to a more limited extent. Wild pokemon were more deeply run by their instincts, and their blue and orange morality was more savage than trained pokemon.
And apparently they didn’t really care much if people ate pokémon? Though in the modern day they typically used the less intelligent pokémon as food along with immense varieties of food crops, and synthetic sources.
It was honestly really confusing, but that was what made it so interesting. It was an alien word with alien histories and philosophies, and alien sciences ready to be explored.
For example, I had recently read an article on the largest recorded caught magikarp, a ten foot specimen that weighed three hundred kilograms and evolved into a seventy foot gyarados that massed in at seven thousand kilograms.
Though in the wild, there were Magikarps recorded at eighteen feet long and gyarados larger than wailords. Which was utterly terrifying but fascinating, and made me wonder what else was out there. The sheer diversity of pokémon was a wonder just to read.
There were other thick books laid around the library table, the Expanded Pokédex by Professor Dracaena, another text known as the Unrestricted Pokédex made by multiple contributors from the PokéTropes website, and included do’s and don’ts when it comes to pokémon. Then there was Coriolanus Rowland’s Guide to Pokémon Husbandry and the World of Pokémon website gathered some basic entries together.
I had also been watching a series of wildlife documentaries with a voice shockingly like Sir David Attenborough. Pokémon were majestic but dangerous creatures, the most dominant macroscale life outside of humans with no others being their equal.
The main theories of pokémon consider them to be pure embodiments of the platonic forms, carrying within them the kinetic energy which broke the Egg apart further and further while humanity in turn is an embodiment of the first piece to break apart, elevating both man and pokémon from common creature and life.
There was an almost reverent feeling towards pokémon and their battles, an awe of the natural world I sort of understand. It was a sort of replication of the natural clashes of nature, in the form of martial combat and ceremonial battle.
I was reading up on a few pokémon, all the ones that qualify as starters from beginning trainers. Of which there were dozens based on temperament, speed of growth, and ease of caretaking while giving a modest challenge.
Oryctolagus orectoaurus, the stretchy-eared digging hare and better known as the buneary line, the most platonic of the true hares. Skittish, powerful and distrustful of humans, they serve as good therapy animals for traumatized children, sharing a certain comradeship between each other.
Small bipedal mammalian pokémon organized into husks, able to smash boulders as Buneary and powder bone with their legs as Lopunny. Starter pokémon with interesting disposition, and fascinating biological traits.
There was a kid nearby, a pichu riding on his shoulder without a care in the world. The little guy looked different from what I expected, clearly this world hadn’t quite gone for Detective Pikachu style designs, more of an in-between compromise between magical monster and real life animal.
The pichu had a round head with a very short snout, and triangular ears that flicked in my direction as it balanced on two feet. He was a very round boy though, cute and fluffy and squeaky.
I nodded. Mus pikalis was the scientific name of their species by the standards of the west, the electric mouse pokémon. They weren’t good at controlling their electricity but they still made good starters even if their temperament left a lot to be desired.
Though there are worse pokémon who are much more of a threat like the popplio line and their fey nature or the totodile line and their reputation as man eaters. Mostly in Kalos mind you, but it was a thing.
Pokémon size scales were a bit more realistic, kind of? They’re still magic so whatever.
I stood up from the table with a sigh.
It was time to go back.
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“What can you tell me about Type advantages and disadvantages?” Tedesco asked with a serious expression, leaning against the wall of the living room of Laven’s secondary property.
“Type Energies are flavors of aura, which each have different weaknesses and strengths. Grass is strong against Rock, Water, and Ground and weak to Fire, Flying, Bug, Poison and Ice. Grass moves are weak against Fire, Flying, Bug, Poison, Ice, Steel and Dragon. It’s defensively strong towards Water, Ground, and Electric.”
Tedesco smiled. “Excellent, what can you tell me about pokémon and their physical makeup?”
“Pokémon are beings of spiritual and metaphysical nature, with different pokémon having different mixes of physical and metaphysical composition.” It was why pokéballs worked on them but didn’t work on humans and lesser creatures. Humans are too solid while lesser monsters are either too small, too solid, or both.
It had been just over a week since I had been torn from my world, a week I had spent in relative isolation while I was checked up by medical professionals, the professor and studied until my head was at the point of cracking like an egg. Tedesco(why is that familiar?) had been in and out, on missions of probably great importance as well as keeping an eye on my registration as a legal entity.
I was now a citizen of the region of Tohoku and the Unified Regions of Nihoh. And a second meeting with the notary had sent off an application for a Trainer’s License with Professor Laven as a sponsor. I had also been forced to get into shape by necessity, I had never learned how to drive, couldn’t afford to buy a car here and being in poor condition as a Trainer is a good way to get hurt.
Plus the food here is a lot healthier, and has very odd methods of preparation you wouldn’t expect from across the screen. Many of their dishes used special tools that stored or generated specific pokémon energies as a sort of seasoning and a way to induce unique chemical reactions. All kitchen tools could conduct those energies, so I didn’t need to learn anything new there.
Aura tainted food I had tried included orange juice flavored with electric and flying Aura, which added an extra pep to the drink, or psychic energy was used along with heat to create dough from a sort-of-radish.
There was always an odd pulse of something whenever I ate their food or was around pokémon using their powers. I couldn’t describe it… it was just a feeling of weight on reality. So eating healthier food, more exercise and possibly anime physics had let me lose three pounds in a week.
Of course it was going to take closer to eight weeks to go down to a healthier weight since I had packed on the pounds during the pandemic. I had also been prescribed an alternative to my antidepressant medication since mine was now in another world.
I didn’t want or need to spiral again.
Apparently it was a medication using a special blend of conventional medicines and infused with more exotic psychic energies. It was safer and more effective, so I would probably take it for another month or two and then taper off.
Tedesco knocked on my forehead, and all my focus was turned back to him. He smiled and leaned back a bit, pressing his right hand to his cheek.
“Better. Your trainer license should be here any day now, but you haven’t gotten a chance to really interact with any pokémon.” He pulls out three pokéballs with a cheeky grin, and tosses them into the air.
A flash of white light follows, energy solidifying into three different beings in the blink of an eye. A lilligant, standing proudly at three foot seven with a messily elegant scarlet flower with white spotted petals on its head, with a slightly different shade than standard. A slowking, which was a strange cross of a bear and a hippo with a wise and intelligent expression. The last pokémon was far larger than either, so tall it almost scraped the ceiling. A luxurious white mane materialized and I swallowed a scream at the intimidating terror emitted by a Hisuian zoroark.
The pokémon was gigantic, nearly twice my own height and had to weigh in at hundreds of kilograms. There was a bitter rage that saturated the air, pressing down on me like the wrath of an angry god.
Tedesco simply smiled and the terror aura faded into nothing, the zoroark grinning and clasping her paws together with the gentle scritch scratch of her claws.
“Let me introduce you to some friends of mine,” Tedesco chimes in with a bouncy pep in his voice as he bowed dramatically, first pointing to lilligant. “That’s Lilly.”
Lilly bowed politely, “Chirr…gaant.” She didn’t say her own name, and I could hear the same cry they made in-game but without sounding like it was going through a garbage radio.
Tedesco followed up with his slowking. “This is Philip.” His pokémon smiled mysteriously, a brief pulse of something brushing against my brain.
It took him a second to blink, and I smiled and waved.
“And finally.” He spread her hands out. “Meet Caleb.”
Caleb chuffed and barked with a smug expression. “Zo…raaa.” His jaw snapped, and I waved again, nodding in agreement.
He was amazing.
“Huh, neat. It’s nice to meet you all.” I was being quiet, but I was bouncing on my toes, vibrating at the accomplishment of an impossible dream. My stomach was twisting and my anxiety was spiking at the appearance of the three impossible beings.
I hadn’t processed anything beyond what was needed in the past week. I was standing in front of real life pokémon, pocket monsters, magical creatures, Maiju, and hidden monsters. Manifestations of nature, and it was just a tad overwhelming now that I was in a place to appreciate it.
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Caleb sounded amused, staring at me with a rather discernible lack of killing intent.
“So they’re part of your team then?” I asked the obvious, but it was more to keep the conversation going
Tedesco nodded. “They’ve been with me ever since the…” He flinched, and his pokemon gave her a concerned look. “For a long time now, and they’ve been my closest allies.”
I was a bit worried about that but decided it was none of my business, turning to the three pocket monsters. Amazing…
“Well I think they’re all pretty neat.” I complimented them, unable to help myself. Lilly preened herself, Philip blinked at me like a weird ass hyper-intelligent cat and Caleb and gave me a look that said ‘Suck-up’ despite having the face of a weird fox.
“I have literally only known pokémon existed for a week give me a break, I think you’re genuinely amazing.”
“Interesting…” Tedesco stared at me, and I blinked.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
That wasn’t helpful at all.
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July 2nd, 2022.
I looked at the envelope for the Trainer ID, pulling out a short letter that came with the shiny card.
To: Brandon Red
The Pokémon League is proud to induct you into our ranks as an official Pokémon Trainer. You now have the privilege of entering all Pokémon League sanctioned events in all IAPL recognized regions.
The enclosed identification card will be your primary ID for Pokémon League sanctioned events and functions as a valid form of government identification. If lost, damaged, or stolen contact your nearest Pokémon Center for a replacement. The replacement fee will depend on the Pokémon Center in question.
As a trainer sponsored by Prof Laven - Tohoku you are entitled to several special benefits. You will receive:
One (1) Biweekly stipend totaling ¥204,170 (post tax) per payment
One (1) Stipend advance ¥186,360 (post tax)
Discounted use of non-medical Pokemon Center services—
I swallowed my spit as I read the rest of the letter which was mostly congratulations and other random BS. I made fifty three thousand dollars a year just existing here as a trainer, which was maybe double what I made working for my parents… and based on the tax rate I was making closer to a hundred thousand dollars.
And didn’t include what I earned from pokémon battles since there were gym tournaments where you could get part of the winnings from people putting their money in.
It was like professional boxing but with magical blood knight monsters in the mix. In my case I was frankly more interested in conducting research, which with a Professor pulling me in as one of her lab trainers can get me the needed experience.
“I see you’ve got your trainer ID, good. I’ve had a shipment of Starters lined up for some of my own sponsored trainers and anyone with their own funding or sponsors.” Sponsors could be your parents or yourself if you’re an adult after all, it was actually very easy to become a Trainer.
Professor Laven leaned way too close, practically rubbing against me like it was no big deal. She was… let’s say a bumbling, if nice lady in general who was gravely interested in learning about the energies of pokémon. “So you’ve got others joining in with you?” I asked, as I adjusted my shirt which was thicker in lining and reinforced with Barrier, and other layers of defense.
“Two others, and while Tedesco uses my lab he’s more of a government contact and has his own resources as an Agent of Interpol under the command of Agent Looker. She explained while setting something up in her lab. “Most of the Starters have already been given away, including all the available Elemental Trios.”
I nodded. That had been a shock to learn, there was a standard rotation of Starters of which multiple dozens of pokemon qualified for one reason or another. The Elemental Trio were the zenith of such pokémon but there were others including pokémon like axew due to having nicer temperaments.
“I’ve got a few tasks if you’re up for them, one of which involves getting you a Starter of which I have three at the moment.”
“A task?”
Professor Laven adjusted her glasses, and brushed back messy dark hair with a placid smile. “Yes. If you’re willing, I want you to go out and explore all you can, and make your own findings as an outsider to our world. Especially anything relating to Type Energies. Your perspective is valuable, and as your sponsor I can grant you resources to study up on so you’re not out of your depth.”
“What? Like access to Trainer Schools?” That did sound tempting, especially depending on what kind of classes they were offering.
Professor Laven nodded. “Yep. Trainers can also continue their education through online courses and workbooks, and any Pokémon Center or official League buildings have rooms to take exams.”
That was actually really convenient wasn’t it? That gave trainers the opportunity to advance their education, and develop skills to better do their jobs.
“And what will Tedesco do?”
Professor Laven adjusted her glasses with a smile. “His job is mainly to help monitor you when needed, so expect biweekly check-ins.” She rolled her shoulders, stretching just so slowly. “His main business in Tohoku is the investigation of criminal activity like his previous work in Unova.” My mind flashed a realization that made me feel stupid.
Oh. That’s why Tedesco felt so familiar. Then again that’s only because I looked up a bulbapedia article on him once.
“So he’s like an immigration agent slash parole officer so I can adjust to this planet?” That explained a lot, and it made me wonder if any Fallers had done such messed up things in the past to need that much firepower.
Laven nodded. “Yes, you’ve got the gist of it. My other minions … I mean research assistants have already picked out their Starter from an earlier batch. An Elemental Trio if you would believe it.” I twitched at her comment.
So whatever pokemon I’m getting probably aren’t the well known Starters, not bad since even one pokemon was going to be… interesting.
“What pokémon are they?” I asked curiously, and Laven grinned and with a flourish pulled out three pokéballs from her lab coat. In a flash, three pokémon emerged in bursts of bright white light.
First to cry out was a small, blue bat with no eyes and purple-velvet wing membranes and tiny barely functional legs. A zubat, and one of the standard features of caves. The second pokémon was a lump of thick brown fur, with darker stripes along the back, and a notable pink stubby nose and eyes obscured by fur.
Swinub looked at me with a slow blink, feet scuffing against the lab floor as she made loud curious snorting sounds. Zubat screamed while swinub snorted and squealed quietly, which left the last pokemon to present themselves.
A small bunny biped that stood at thigh height, covered in shorter brown fur with fluffy white fur on the ear tips, legs and lower body. Ears curled up for a moment before curling back out, muscle tensing like steel. A buneary who stared at me with an imperious look, hopping slightly on her toes and seemed to find me wanting.
All three of the pokémon in front of my eyes were miracles, of biology and science and just… merely existing as they did was a wonder. But which one of them was best fit for the kind of person I was, which one would want to go with me as my Starter?
Each one of them had a spark of intelligence, some in their eyes, others in their calls and how they responded to things around them. Out of the three pokémon, I was the most familiar with zubat, from a game perspective rather than a real one. Swinub was neat with her evolution into mamoswine, but the trouble in that case would be food requirements.
An average mamoswine was eight feet tall, and weighed about two thousand pounds or more. So… not exactly an easy to feed animal, though a piloswine is a different story entirely, eating on a scale more comparable to a pig than… well actual megafauna. Zubat was… well a bat that fed on blood and bugs, and kind of creepy but a pokémon I really liked.
Buneary though, they had an interesting personality, and evolved into a strong and loyal pokémon in the right circumstances.
“So, I should pick one of the three?” I asked Laven, uncertain since being given a pokémon still felt very strange. These were living beings we were talking about here. I wonder if it was the equivalent of a right of passage to them, some kind of cultural tradition.
“Pick the one that resonates with you the most,” the professor explained with a warm smile and I took a moment to decide. “Whichever one you pick will be your partner for life.”
Wow, that doesn’t make me anxious at all.
Zubat like the guy in front of were common, and I did find bats interesting. Swinub was a bit out of my comfort zone if she ended up evolving into a pokémon that large. Buneary was harder to bond with, but I had a feeling our personalities could mesh.
My eyes darted between the buneary and zubat, and with some resignation I knew that one pokemon was the best choice as a Star— why are Buneary’s ears rolled up?
Something I couldn’t quite explain happened right as I opened my mouth, something unexpected and concerning.
Buneary jumped and with a cry of indignation sent me flying, and my stomach lurched as I was thrown across the room.
“Brandon!”
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I yelped as a sudden weight was on my chest, as I was being berated by an irate bunny monster.
“Ow.” I intoned with a self deprecating half-smile, while Buneary had her hands on her… hips? Hard to tell with all the fluff in the way, and I had no idea how I knew she was a girl.
I just… did, just as I knew the zubat was male and the swinub female.
“Oh fuck.” I blinked at the sudden curse from a pokémon professor. “Are you alright, can you count how many fingers I have?” She gestured with her hand and I rolled my eyes.
“Three, and I’m fine. Just surprised.” I replied honestly, carefully picking myself up and feeling surprisingly good for being flung six feet back. I must have inherited the natural toughness of the locals. “I just wasn’t prepared for being attacked by a bunny.”
Buneary pushed off of my chest, landing elegantly on the ground. She didn’t stop smiling, and the two other Starters seemed horrified as she glared at them without changing her expression.
Laven pushed back her glasses, looking concerned. “Ahh. I believe Buneary here decided to show off her strength when she saw you picking Zubat.” I flinched at her words, and very carefully lowered myself to better look at the Pokémon in her dark expressive eyes.
“Is that true, you got angry?” Was there a reason for it, my choice of Zubat… it was a familiar and easy pick, a path I might be a little more familiar with.
Buneary pointed at me with a stiff smile. “Buuwaa!” She made other softer cries, before folding her arms over her chest.
“Huh… you’re got a bit of a personality don’t you?” I asked, and she blinked at me oddly. “You’re certainly stronger than I am, and I have a feeling you held back your strength too, so you’re careful on top of it.”
She seemed to perk up at my compliment, and I wanted to be more specific.
“Though attacking your Trainer likely isn’t the best way to show your strength.” She wilted at my comment, and I almost laughed. I’m not sure why she thought it was a good idea but there wasn’t much I could do on that front. “But in my case… you’re an interesting pokémon in at least.”
Laven was staring at me like I had grown a second head. “You can’t seriously be considering her as a Starter?”
“I am… as long as she doesn’t do that again, though I wouldn’t mind if she crushed some boulders instead.” The latter was safer for my well being at least. “And the Buneary line isn’t half bad at all.”
Laven sighed. “Well, alright then. You’re more eccentric than I expected but you can make your own choices.” She gestured to her lab, which was full of esoteric technology.
I raised an eyebrow. “What exactly did you expect from a Faller?” I was a literal dimensional traveler, what could be considered typical for one?”
The professor flushed. “My specialty is in pokemon energies, I’m a bit out of my depth here.”
“Fair enough. Though more seriously, I am more interested in Buneary as a Starter if that’s what she wants.” She was a crazy pokémon and maybe I was a little bit charmed by it. She shifted from foot to foot, not so much aloof… as nervous but expressing it differently from other people.
I related, that was all.
“If you’re sure.” She obviously didn’t approve, but I was honestly touched that Buneary wanted to go with me. “And if that’s so… well we’ll have to see if that’s what she truly wants.”
Buneary stared at us like we were idiots, sassing up without speaking a single word. “Bun… bun!” She spoke a quick and rapid click of clucking, purring, hissing and muttering. Like well a rabbit but an order of magnitude more complex.
“So I’m guessing that’s a ‘Yes I want to go with you, idiot’ then?” the pokémon’s smile became more smug, and I sighed. Was this a good idea, or was I being impulsive and stupid?
Buneary pointed to her ball, and with a pained expression Laven tightly tossed it at me. I caught it haphazardly, and wondered how badly my lack of athletic skills would bite me in the ass.
“Strange kid,” I heard under Laven’s breath, but she smiled warmly nonetheless. “Well if you’re certain about your choice, the next step then is to receive your pokedex.”
I frowned. “Does this have something to do with my phone being taken?” Interpol had taken it, and I had been stuck to using library computers and a desktop computer.
“They were interested in the technology of another world, and have taken their time deciphering it. And since it was your property… They decided to replace it with a model based on what they learned.”
“They took it eleven days ago, how the hell is that possible?” I said aloud, and she laughed.
“Interpol works closely with certain companies like the Devon Corporation and Silph Co, and they have R&D labs of their own for equipment. One of their subsidiary company teams has a few pokémon more than capable of deciphering your phone.”
“Which ones?” I know some pokémon were as intelligent as humans if not smarter, though their alien mental processing made most of them less conducive to civilization building.
“A malamar, a reiniculus, a gothitelle, and a beheeyem if you could imagine with a zoroark as a project leader.” The professor was beaming, almost squealing in excitement.
“I… haven’t read up enough on those pokémon to know why that’s surprising,” she deflated and I shrugged helplessly. “I’ll read up on it when I have a chance.” I soothed and she seemed to relax more visibly.
“Good.” She said, “Then without further ado, let me introduce you to your new Dex-Phone!” She pulled out what looked like my phone, but like it was crossed between a rotom phone and a holo-caster. “This is a multifunctional device administered by a porygon, optimizing software and acting as a mix of a search and inference engine, along with a physics analysis and sensory analysis program.”
“I have some privacy concerns about that.” I brought it up and Laven tilted her head.
“They only optimize code, and operate specific applications like the pokédex, and they’re not inclined to voyeurism.” She pointed out something I didn’t know before and dropped my tense shoulders. “Your new phone and pokédex are cutting edge, and will be very useful in analyzing pokémon in the wild. Among other things.”
I yawned, and so did Buneary to my surprise. What time is it?
The female professor gave me a sympathetic look. “I did call you quite late, you have your pokémon, your license and your pokédex. We can talk more seriously in the morning.”
Buneary batted at my leg, and I nodded and tapped the center button, and in a flash of white light she vanished into the hall.
“Guess I’ll see you in the morning then?“
Laven smiled. “Of course.”