Start Game 1.3
July 3rd, 2022.
I chewed on my lip as I examined it as I looked up a Wikipedia article on wailord. The average length and mass of a wailord was fourteen and a half meters and three thousand nine hundred eighty kilograms, and the largest on record was a seventy meter specimen that weighed over four hundred tons.
Which was insane, and terrifying and awe inspiring at the same time, though made sense for a monster known as the Float Whale pokemon. I heard a loud and insistent thump, and turned to find Buneary hopping with a feverish energy. She had slept overnight in her pokéball, not wanting to be disturbed.
I allowed it since I liked my privacy too, and boundaries were important. I had a textbook open on lagomorph biology, of which there were more than I expected. Lauda volumna, the whismur line, Arma toxa, the nidoran line, Rosalia gracia and stetha, the indeedee and audino line respectively. Followed up by the igglybuff line, the azurill line, scorbunny line and the bunnelby line. Eleven pokemon species, and who knows how many variants across the world.
Buneary, scorbunny and bunnelby are close relatives, all of them being semi-social to social lagomorphs, though scorbunny is closer to actual rabbits when it comes to social structure. I was also reading up on illnesses and maladies common to certain types, normal and fighting types for example are vulnerable to bluemote which is like athlete’s foot, lockbone which causes stiff, slow movement and is spread through saliva, and blood-drip which prevents scab formation and is transmitted by infected blood.
“Buwaa! Bun. Bun!” She seemed dissatisfied, and I wondered if I had forgotten something… oh right.
“I never decided on a nickname did I?” I said aloud, and she looked pissed off. “Actually, do you have a name already? I'm never sure how pokemon can tell each other apart.”
Buneary looked at me like I was crazy and shook her head. “Bun?” She made muttering sounds, a high pitched conversation in another language. She was annoyed but not insulted. Good.
What kind of name could I give her, it had to be something she would like. Something rabbit or hare themed… March?
No reminds me too much of a certain Ward villain. Bugs Bunny certainly not, Bunnicula sounds like I’m mocking her…
El-ahraihah is an option, but… maybe Ruby? No… that reminded me too much of my aunt, wait, wait!
“How about Mirko?” Buneary tilted her head, as if asking ‘why that name?’. “It’s the superhero name of a fictional character from my home, she’s a hero with the power of a rabbit and kicks ass and takes names. She can shatter the ground with her own kicks, and is one of the strongest heroes in her country.”
Her own eyes began to twinkle at my statement, and she hopped on her feet, holding her hands up in a boxing stance. She punched the air and I held back a chuckle.
Cute.
“Mirko it is.” She nodded.
Mirko jumped up onto a chair close to the dinner table I was reading on, placing her little arms on the table with a frozen smile. She looked at a picture of a buneary, and gently smoothed out the page with a curious gaze.
“Waa?”
“It’s a textbook on the basic biology of lagomorph pokémon, it’s helping me learn more about you as a species and as an individual. You know, like certain illnesses and maladies, anatomy and physiology. Just stuff that’s good to know to keep you healthy.”
For example the buneary line had anatomy that was convergent with hares and humans. A similar hip and joint orientation to humans, though lighter and more delicate and built for leaping and kicking. Though that was only proportionally to other pokémon, with ten percent of their body mass dedicated to skeleton and over forty percent to muscle.
She nodded, and gestured to my phone next to one of the apps. “Oh. That’s the scan feature, it uses a poké-scope to scan a pokémon. It can figure out age, sex, previous and current injuries and other personal characteristics. Do you want to see yours?”
Mirko jumped onto my lap, and I shuffled uncomfortably at the sudden weight. But her excitement was cute so I didn’t care too much. I read the scan aloud for her benefit.
Shared Characteristics
Species: Buneary, Rabbit Pokémon.
Type: Normal
Egg Group: Field, Human-like
Classification: Animalia - Chordata - Mammalia - Lagomorpha - Leporidae - Oryctolagus
Wild Threat Level: More likely to run than fight.
Growth Rate: Medium-fast
Suggested Diet: Leaves, berries, seeds, tree bark, flowers, oats, weeds. Normal herbivore pellets, micro-bugs.
Personal Characteristics
Name: Mirko
Holder: Brandon Red (Journeyman Trainer)
Age: 6 years, seven months
Ability: Limber (Can not be paralyzed)
Physicality Analysis:
- Shows superficial scarring on the abdominal region due to minor fall-related abrasions.
- Height is measured at 54 centimeters and body mass at six kilograms.
- Mature female, slightly larger than average and skeletal reinforcement indicates a history of physical training.
- Signs of minor ear infection in the past.
Known Moves: Quick Attack, Baby-Doll Eyes, Drain Punch.
Reading it aloud, it was quite detailed and I knew it was simplified, and the pokédex also had basic instructions and how-tos on diagnosing and measuring your pokémon as needed for their own health. Enough to take care of them and keep them in good shape during treks where pokemon centers aren’t a thing.
“So you know Quick Attack, Baby-Doll Eyes and Drain Punch?” Why did it feel like those moves were capitalized? “Interesting moves, Drain Punch seems useful.”
Mirko puffed up, looking proud and elegant. “Nrrrr…” She purred loudly, and I nodded to myself.
“How about we test out your moves? The backyard of this place is well suited to it.”
“Waaa!”
I’m going to take that as a yes.
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I groaned quietly as I mourned the loss of some of my free time. A good hour had been spent having Mirko burn away her energy on moves and practicing how to punch more efficiently using both her paws and her ears.
The crazy bunny had gone ham on designated targets, moving swiftly and decisively through various quick movements and strikes. It was better than what I could pull off, but it wasn’t a model of martial arts prowess.
The main issue of course was that I wasn’t an expert and I had procrastinated on a few vital things. Which was why I was currently buying supplies at a trainer marketed Poké Mart, like a cross between a military surplus store, a pet shop and a sporting goods store.
I was currently picking out supplies, which fortunately didn’t include a proper Backpack with a capital B. Trainer backpacks were special, using the same technology as modern pokéballs in a process called schematic object minimization. It was a synthesization of the study of various different properties of objects and pokemon alike.
The original pokéball was created at least seven hundred years ago in the region of Johto and shortly after was spread to regions like Hisui or convergently invented across the world in a three century long period of technological innovation. It exploited an inherent ability of pokemon, they could hide within hollowed out natural spheres with apricorns being the most suitable, to hide from predators or dangerous elements.
Able to… self-elementalize or effectively shrink themselves down for short periods of time. Which was terrifying, knocking over a hollowed out apricorn could have a twenty foot long Onix pop out at any time. The first pokéballs used apricorns, and combined them with certain kinds of stones with elemental properties to make the shrinking process long lasting and safe.
Modern pokéballs were invented about a century ago, with the development of the Poke-scope by Silph Co. The ability to sense the different wavelengths emitted by pokemon and humans alike, and better exploitation of the apricorn. Turns out they’re native to the Distortion Realm, and their slight dimensional twisting made them optimal hidden spheres for pokémon.
Using mirrored electronics and tumblestone micro-arrays, a pokémon can be shrunk and fit into a micro-dimension that can provide food and shelter. They’re bathed in the aura of their trainer, acting as a tagging system of sorts.
A modified form of the technology was used in bags, providing a large space for non-living objects, spatially compressing them on a molecular level. Magic basically, though most of their tech uses abilities derived from pokémon to make them possible.
A paw batted at my face, and I sighed as Mirko smugly used me as her beast of burden. She pointed at a refresh kit, the multi-modal model was more expensive at twenty thousand pokédollars or two hundred dollars. Which was scarily cheap for something meant to clean up and groom almost any pokémon.
I was holding a small basket, which contained a first aid kit, a cooking kit, a survival fishing rod, a field guide to edible flora, forager bags, trainer clothing, an Escape Rope, a travel generator, some rations, two potions and now the refresh kit.
I stepped up to the bored looking cashier, a girl with blonde hair and prominent dark eyes. I offered up the items, smiling carefully as she gingerly began to inspect the items, and she nodded to herself.
“Your total is ¥50,027.” A quarter of my new income had gone down the drain and I had a sneaking suspicion this wasn’t going to be the last time I spent a lot of money.
I reluctantly swiped my dex-phone.
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I was back at the lab, having been called in by Professor Laven so I could officially meet the two other trainers she had sponsored.
Hopefully they didn’t end up resenting me for not putting in any of the years of work they might have done.
I was in the reserve that was used to house any extra pokémon I caught over my journey. Which was likely since while I was interested in the gym challenge, Laven wanted me to scan and analyze pokémon using the advanced poke-scope, to better understand the wavelengths emitted by pokémon.
A lot of trainers did end up catching pokémon they’d never use in a gym challenge, but in all cases it was always a matter of choice for the pokémon. While many pokémon liked competition others preferred doing other tasks, whenever they were up to it. Actually quite a few trainers got income from having their reserve pokémon doing jobs and helping out the community.
Which sounded kind of exploitative now that I think about it, but most pokémon don’t tend to use or need money, and the few that do tend to act as accountants so their fellow pokémon can get their fair share.
The best comparison I had was between the relationship of pokémon and humanity, was the connection between a witch and their familiar or the interaction between a spirit and a shaman. Which was an actual thing, the first Maijin Tamers were witches, psychics, aura adepts, wizards or sorcerers, along with sages and priests who made pacts with hidden monsters to protect their homes and families or learn how to use their powers.
Mirko was out of her ball, ears flicking back and forth and her nose twitching as she turned her head. It reminded me of a meerkat or prairie dog scout, looking for any trouble coming our way.
There was a table where Professor Laven and one other person were sitting down, a woman from the looks of it.
“Hey! Hey! Listen!” I snapped my head up at the whiny voice of a Chatot, one that laughed mockingly at my expression.
That little scene caught Laven’s attention and she waved me over. I walked over, Mirko keeping pace with me with little difficulty
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Laven apologized. “Sorry about that, Crackers can be a handful from time to time.” The parrot laughed again, sounding like a kookaburra on crack. “I thought it would be a good idea to introduce you to my second newest lab trainer, a short time student of Ishigama’s Trainer School.”
The woman turned and I blinked, she looked… well a lot like a wild child, with dark blue hair, and dark steel blue eyes that burned into my skull. She had an athletic figure, and wore a stark white top and a torn red skirt, her blank expression rather intimidating when she was six inches taller than me.
“Umm… hi? It’s nice to meet you?” I greeted her, and after a brief moment she smiled, and I stiffened at the surprisingly sharp fangs she displayed.
“Hello,” She had an accent I couldn’t identify at a glance. “You’re Brandon right? My name is Akari… Akari Berlitz.” I blinked, finding the name familiar. Like… Dawn/Hikari/Platinum’s last name? “You’re the other stray Master Laven adopted?”
“Master?” I asked.
Laven responded promptly. “Akari is from an old clan that hails from Sinnoh that lives up on the mountains, the Stern Wing Mountains that split the Tohoku region and reach down to Kanto.”
“That doesn't really narrow it down by much, those mountains are over a thousand kilometers long.” Nihoh was over six times larger than Japan, scaled upwards to something comparable to Greenland. Going from Sinnoh to Hoenn was a journey of almost four thousand kilometers.
Which did explain things like travel time and having the room to fit so many pokémon species. There were other regions outside of the ‘Canon’ ones but I couldn’t find out as much. From what I could tell, the world was recovering from an informational dark age, regions reconnecting over time and adding on to their knowledge. For example, undersea cables were impossible on this planet, they'd be destroyed by pokémon and would have to go through Forbidden Environments where unknown pokémon and… unknown life forms called the deep home.
Some forests were just too thick and mysterious, the deep and unknown ocean blue too dark and pressurized, the tectonic layers too hot and dense to explore, and the depths of space full of lethal hazards and mysterious events.
In the world of Pokémon, the Bloop was a real cryptid rather than just cracking icebergs or undersea volcanoes.
Don’t get distracted.
I breathed out with a smile, and greeted my fellow… colleague(?). “It’s nice to meet you Akari.” I didn’t add any platitudes since I was bad at that kind of thing.
Akari smiled kindly, and I noticed she had two rows of small red and blue triangles along her cheek, and that her top was made of a soft feathery down that reminded me of a bird. “I’ve heard you’re a foreigner of sorts, and we’ll be partners in our work with Master Laven.”
“I am, and I do hope we’ll work well together.” There was just something about her that felt off but not bad, just a tiny twinge I couldn’t quite identify.
“What kind of pokémon did you get, if you don't mind me asking?” I was too curious and had to ask.
Akari whistled and a pokémon whizzed by without a care in the world. It… was a small pig colored a darker shade of orange and a light ashy sort of black, a curly tail ending in a semi-molten mass of what was either lava or very liquid fire. Short tusks protruded from his lower lip, along with two small spikes on a cute oval head, long rounded ears swiveling cutely.
I lifted my dex-phone without hesitation. “Tohokun Tepig, the Fire Pig Pokemon. It is a determined and impetuous pokémon, and often sold as plush toys within the Tohoku region. The tail magma of a Tepig is made of carbonatite, sustained at a temperature between five hundred and six hundred degrees C.”
“Fire and Ground type… interesting, so they’re what the locals call Yama Kujira then?” I had read some stories referencing fully evolved Emboar, which seemed to treat them as fearsome and reckless kings of their domain, kind of like orcs but with more admiration towards them.
One particular Emboar was named Lord Geld, and was an A-class threat that was three times taller than a common Emboar, four and a half tons of porcine menace, who at one point had torn a mile long fissure in the earth to divert the course of a tsunami using Earthquake.
Akari responded with a smirk. “You’re a bit of a fan of Lord Geld, my clan prefers Lord Azazel.” I blinked, like the angel Azazel?
“I think most pokémon are neat,” I said honestly because it was true. “But aren’t we missing a third?”
The professor rubbed the back of her neck. “Natsuo should be here shortly, but in the meantime… why not have a pokémon battle?”
All my focus was shifted to the professor, and there was a bright gleam of competitive spirit in Akari’s eyes. “Happy will certainly want to test his skills,” her Tepig was fired up, and so was Mirko if those food stomps meant anything.
A grin formed on my face.
Why not?
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“What are the rules for a match like this?” I asked Akari aloud since the professor was taking a few steps away to observe the battle along with some equipment for some reason. Her tepig was scratching the ground, tearing through dirt with ease as he snorted and grunted.
Akari walked with all the exaggerated swagger of a pokémon trainer. Her Starter mimicked her, and it looked ridiculous but kind of cute at the same time.
“Until knockout or forfeit, the rules don’t change outside of battles against the more dangerous wild pokémon.” Fair, some pokémon can be… predatory and will kill and or eat you and your entire team if you aren’t careful, the list was big.
Gyarados, hydreigon, salamence, archeops, metagross, scolipede, many Restricted pokémon are often lethal, hard to train and control or incredibly powerful or have uniquely insidious or dangerous natural abilities.
Akari was smirking, her teeth revealed with a shark-like look that was a bit concerning. Mirko was throwing out her paws, shifting from foot to foot in an intimidation tactic. Her tepig was just as fired up, tail wagging back and forth.
“Are you sure about this?” I asked Mirko, and she rolled her eyes and nodded.
Well I just wanted to ask.
“Then let’s get started, shall we?” I gestured to Professor Laven, and she cleared her throat.
“This match will start in three, two… one!” I blinked and started as fast as I could.
“Baby-Doll Eyes!” I ordered Mirko, and her eyes lit with Fairy energy as she infused them into the move. Dark adorable orbs shined, and Happy hesitated, stepping back as the energy from the move lowered his Strength.
“Ember!” Akari didn’t hesitate, and her Tepig let out a scream of Ember right towards Mirko. She jumped a dozen feet straight up, and I called out another move.
“Quick Attack into Tepig!” Normal energy twisted around Mirko, and she was sent rocketing downwards. She hit the fire pig like a bullet, a satisfied purr leaving her throat. “And follow it up with Drain Punch!”
“Ember the ground!” Akari smiled and dirt and soil exploded where the attack detonated, forcing Mirko to miss. “Tackle!“ Happy slammed his thick skull into Mirko and I flinched as she was ragdolled into the ground.
Mirko let out a piercing cry, rubbing her chest with an indignant and concerning look of unyielding rage.
“Tackle. Full force.” Akari commanded with an almost lyrical sound, and I breathed out as I did my best to focus on this moment.
Happy charged, and I spoke.
“Dodge with Quick Attack into Drain Punch!” Mirko turned on a dime, and swung into the white streak of Quick Attack. She understood the command, having practiced it with me earlier in the day.
Her aura infused fist smashed into Happy like a hammer, battering the little pig with a violent force. Particles fell off, and Mirko shuddered in delight, a dark gleam in her eyes.
Concerning.
“Tail Whip.” Akari ordered, and her Tepig’s tail shook back and forth in a cute fashion, releasing a… feeling in the air that slacked my muscles. “Shoot Ember at the ground, and follow it up with Tackle.” I blinked, what the hell did that mean—
Ember exploded in front of Mirko, sending flaming hot dust into her face. She yowled, and a fully body Tackle sent her into the ground.
“Mirko. Focus, and Drain Punch that pig!” I was slightly panicking, and I had no idea what to do about it.
Mirko scowled and punched wildly, sending another energy infused fist into Happy’s poor gut. With a high pitched war cry, she uncurled her ears to throw off her opponent.
“Quick attack!” I managed to call out an attack.
“Ember!“ Akari committed to her own plan, and there was a burst of fire and pokémon energy that sent dust and smoke into the air. The dust hung in the air for a few seconds before being swept aside by an incoming breeze.
Both pokémon were standing, hanging on by a thread by the looks of it. The battle had been a quick and rapid affair, and I had barely been able to keep up. Mirko brushed off dust from her fur, and staggered on her feet.
Happy the Tepig puffed out volcanic ash from his snout, and tried to charge and… collapsed, rolling into a heap on the ground. Mirko went down with him, and the two ‘fainted’ at the same time.
“This match has ended with a tie.” That had been a surprisingly better outcome than I had expected. Real pokémon battles were rather different from the turn based system of the games.
I swiftly walked over to Mirko, while Akari took a slower pace with approaching her own pokémon. I crouched down, and she snapped back to wakefulness in a matter of seconds. She looked a bit angry, but her face became more satisfied when Happy woke up groggily.
Did pokémon get concussions? I wasn’t entirely sure how being knocked out worked for them. Waking up fast made enough sense, if you were knocked out for more than a couple minutes there was a good chance you were suffering complications. But apparently they didn’t suffer from brain damage at all unless an attack was being aimed to cripple and kill.
So more likely to happen from a criminal trainer or a wild pokémon seeking out a meal.
I gently picked up Mirko, and sprayed a potion which was in truth a complex slurry of berry ingredients, medicinal leek extract, and infused with various healing energies from moves like Aqua Ring, Healing Pulse, Floral Healing, Pollen Puff, and Life Dew. Potions were basically magical medigel, with the ability to regenerate tissue, accelerate healing, act as a general antiseptic, a mild pain reliever and so on.
It worked on people too, though for the stronger potions you had to dilute it to keep it from… killing you.
“You did great, and fought hard.” I complimented Mirko, and she perked up at the light praise. “We’ll win next time, promise.”
I was tapped on the shoulder, and stood back up to face Akari as she held her Starter in her arms.
“It was a good match, especially for someone so new to the world of pokémon battling.” There was no insult in her words, just a blunt truth from the smiling woman.
“Well… I’m sure we’ll do even better next time—” there was someone running towards us.
“Wait… I just need a… a…” I blinked in disbelief at the disheveled new arrival. He looked to be a few years younger than us, maybe seventeen or eighteen.
He had spiky orange-red hair and amber eyes, and an armored dark blue and segmented jacket, with a purple undershirt beneath it and gray robust working jeans, and oversized boots. The white line across his soft featured face was distinctive, and he looked bouncy and energetic, amber eyes gleaming with excitement.
“Hello there!”
“Hi.” I said, having nothing else to say.
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Professor Laven sat the three of us down with a small smile, acting as our sponsor to enter the field of pokémon science and battle. Celattersurgy and celatterasology or hidden monster work and science.
Though Kanto coined the term Pokémon when the Wataru conquered Johto about five hundred years ago, that became Pokémonurgy and Pokémonology. It was literally hundreds of years of accumulated information, an impressive achievement.
Natsuo and Akari were both on their own seats, their respective pokémon sitting on their lap. She had her Tohokun tepig while Natsuo had his Tohokun mudkip, which had a dark gray upper body, and a light gray belly and flat and elongated fin-like feet and retained bright orange gills.
A water-dark pokémon, which was an interesting type combination. Dark imbued a different character to their being and personally, being one of the types of the trifecta of madness made up of dark, fairy and ghost. But a question was rising up, one I couldn’t leave unanswered.
“Why did you choose the three of us as people to sponsor?” I blurted out before I could think it through, and my two colleagues seemed to agree with me. Even if they didn’t say it.
Professor Laven smiled nervously, crossing her arms over her ample bust. “Well… as you know I’m a professor that specializes in Type Energy, the energy fields projected by the creatures known as pokémon, and the fields emitted by living things. So I sought out students who could bring unique perspectives and viewpoints to expand my research.”
Natsuo blinked. “Oh. It’s because of what I can do right?” He seemed happy to be included in the conversation and I blinked in confusion
“What?“ I asked, confused.
The younger man smiled. “I can see the auras of pokémon, seeing into their hearts for who they are at their core. I… inherited it from my mom, and she used her gift a lot in Orre.” I know the region but don’t know what he’s referencing.
“My clan has a close connection with nature and with the pokémon of Tohoku, as a clan born of ancient blood we pride ourselves on passing down the old ways.” Akari added her own take, acting quite pleasant.
“And I come from a world without pokémon, I have a perspective that’s unique from most standpoints.” Fortunately the two remaining sponsorees had been informed I was a Faller even if some of the specifics had been left out.
Laven was giving us a warm look. “I saw potential I wanted to help nurture, and a way to further my research through new eyes. Each one of you brings a different piece of the puzzle and I want to see how far the three of you can go.”
“So you’re planning to send us out on a journey then?” Akari questioned the professor.
Laven nodded. “As sponsored lab trainers, I give you pokédexes and the League fronts you a bi-weekly stipend and you are legally considered active trainers who operate on my behalf, and represent me in official tournament battles while you conduct your own independent studies. You’re paid to battle and bring prestige to a lab, with larger grants and a larger stipend in turn.”
“I’m more interested in the research than battling, but both are good.” At the least learning to train pokémon is a good way to learn more about them as life forms. “To understand this world and the beings that inhabit it better.”
“I want to see a pokémon’s heart as they soar in battle.” Natsuo admitted with a smile. I raised an eyebrow and he blushed.
Akari spoke. “I wanted to make my clan and myself proud by going out into the world as my namesake did when Sinnoh was still called Hisui.”
Namesake?
Akari sighed. “The House of Berlitz is an old name, dating back to before the Age of Warlords. I want to make my mark on the world.”
Fair enough.
Professor Laven looked happy. “Then I suppose you all have your reasons to go on your journeys. But there’s another reason I've brought you together like this, it's for protection.”
“Protection?” Akari asked the professor.
Laven looked tired, rubbing at the dark marks around her eyes. “There’s a good chance there's going to be a sudden increase in unusual pokémon due to the wormhole energy given off by Brandon’s arrival. And there's been… signs of criminal organizations developing an interest in Tohoku.”
Oh no.
“While Natsuo has some protection because of his family, you and Brandon do not,” she grimaced at our expressions. “So I’m requesting that the two of you journey together, or at the least maintain regular contact between yourselves and Natsuo.”
“I don't mind,” Akari said with a straight face. “Though that will require heavier preparation.”
“I suppose so?” I muttered, knowing my journey was going to be more complicated than I once thought.