Start Game 1.8

August 30th, 2022

I typed out the categorization system I had stolen and altered for my own use as a pokémon trainer. Letting Mirko look at the system through my very convenient dex-phone.

Bruiser

Traverser

Archer

Shaker

Specter

Primer

“Bwa?” Mirko looked curious, her long ears folding back on themselves.

“This is a basic threat response system for moves outside of typing alone, something I've been putting together over the past week after I took time to analyze multiple pokémon battles.” By analyzing, I meant watching multiple battles between trainers from the lowest tiers to the highest and making sense of commentary and analysis by experts in the field along with getting a refresher on moves.

So many…

Mirko nodded with an analytical gaze, her triangular nose twitching in apparent thought.

“The first classification is Bruiser. Which is every move that's dependent on physical strength and power and melee range combat. Moves like Brick Break, Scratch, and Dragon Claw all fall under this category. The best bet is dodging, deflecting, outranging them, or opening up an unusual angle of attack.”

I pointed to the short presentation I had designed using a drawing program, depicting a Bruiser as a machamp using Focus Punch. I scrolled to the next slide, which was a ralts using Teleport.

“The second class is what I'm calling Traverser. These are all moves that enhance a pokémon’s movability. Moves like Bounce, Flame Charge, Rollout, and Teleport are within this power classification. Moves that enhance battlefield mobility are pretty simple, right?”

Mirko shook her head, and mimed an odd electrical charge sound while marching in place.

I smiled. “Good thinking Mirko, there are quite a few of these attacks which are chained into Bruiser attacks like Volt Tackle and Extreme Speed. Now what's a good way to beat a Traverser class attack?”

Mirko’s face shifted into a dark grin, and gestured with her paws to her knees, feet, and upper thigh.

“Breaking their bones would work, you're not wrong. Other ways are being too unpredictable to target, altering their movement path, or placing them under containment or using their own momentum against them.”

Next slide, this one depicted a gyarados using a Hyper Beam, unleashing a pure blast of lethal energy.

“Category 3, Archer. Ranged attacks, which can be thrown, shot, or emitted. Moves like Flamethrower, Bubble Beam, Solar Beam, and Confusion both fall under Archer.”

Mirko demonstrated her understanding by side jumping, bouncing, and flipping in midair and then jumping a dozen feet off the ground using her ears before landing on her feet as she twisted through the air.

“Dodging is a good option, that or firing first before their attack can be set off. That or pulling a beam standoff for your Saiyan pride.”

She blinked, dark eyes looking utterly confused.

“Just a joke, sorry.” I scratch my neck with a nervous grin. “We can continue on to Shaker, area of effect moves, affecting your local surroundings. Moves like Earthquake, Stealth Rock and Protect. They can be quite dangerous because of the zone of control a pokémon can make use of, and last longer than short-lived blasts of energy or matter. It lets them take control of the battlefield away from their opponents. Which is bad for us.”

“Mir.” She saluted me, and I continued, revealing a slide with an image of a ghastly using Confuse Ray to cast hallucinations.

“Specter is the fifth power classification, it's all about illusions, distractions, and covers. This means Flash falls under it along with Double Team, Smoke Screen, or certain illusion abilities like from a zoroark, or ghosts. Which means working on your senses, hearing, smell, or working on learning useful moves that can let us predict their actions. Shaker moves to hit everything at once is another strategy.”

“The final class is what are called Primer moves, moves that manipulate other moves, either directly or indirectly. Metronome which lets one randomly choose from any move, Counter which sends the force of a move right back on the user, or buffing and debuffing moves like Swords Dance and Baby-Doll Eyes.”

Mirko seemed to have absorbed the concept well enough, and I ended the presentation and moved on to a simple game I had made up on the electronic device.

“So, this kind of classification works as an excellent fallback when it comes to moves neither of us know, and Move Mastery is crazy. Combining, layering, splitting, or even type changing. If I call out Bruiser you'll know in an instant to avoid, deflect, outrange or even trick an opponent regardless of what the move is.”

“Bawaa!” She posed in a way that told me she had been watching Kamen Rider, or this world’s version of it which wasn't any higher budget but had access to pokémon for their practical effects. I had seen clips of someone using a Gardevoir to generate a singularity.

“I want to practice getting this idea down, because it'll make us both much more flexible during battle. And we have an ‘official’ match with Natsuo tomorrow, and want to implement that in battle.”

Mirko cried out a reply, eyes sparkling with energy.

----------------------------------------

August 31st, 2022

I crossed my arm as I watched Natsuo throw out his Starter, light unfolding into what looked like a chikorita based on shape. But I could tell it was a regional variant, with a striking and unique appearance. I pulled out my phone and let the dex speak for itself.

“Tohokun Chikorita, the Dragonfruit Pokémon. Chikorita is the pre-evolved form of Bayleef. Chikorita’s thick abrasive skin protects it from predators. Its spikes are coated in a sticky substance that smells sweet to humans but is repulsive to most Pokémon. Legends say the cultivation of pitahaya imported from the Mezo region over generations is responsible for the chikorita line learning how to generate dragon energy.”

Natsuo’s chikorita was a lovely spiky boy, hard fruit skin reflecting crimson covered in spines of green.

Apatosaurus aromus was their scientific species name, a species of sauropod and some of the last of their kind. Most dinosaurs had gone extinct millions of years ago, with some surviving into the modern era.

The chikorita retained the usual head leaf, though it was sharper and a distinct shade of green. Sharp green eyes stared at us, and I could feel a pressure coming from the pokémon.

A similar pressure spread out from Mirko, and I could feel excitement painting my thoughts. Most of my battles had been between wild pokémon and Akari, with several practice battles with lab pokémon who were interested.

Natsuo’s eyes were gleaming with an odd light, and he swiped at his nose, gently tracing the white line across his face.

“I've been wanting to battle you for some time, Akari has spoken well of you. But I want to know for myself what you're like in the heat of battle.” Natsuo spoke out, a foot tapping the ground as his little dragon plant pokémon followed that same best, head leaf swaying to the beat.

“That's fair, I've been staying under the radar, kinda keeping to myself,” I shrugged, not apologetic in the slightest. I needed that space to maintain my sanity in an insane world. “And I'm curious to see what you're like too.”

Natsuo agreed. “We should probably start then? On three?” He offered, and I nodded.

One.

Mirko jumped straight up, contorting and twisting her body and kicking her feet out. She added a growl to her binkying display, one that was low and strangely made me shiver.

Two.

The chikorita offered his own threat display, winding his head and neck back in a smacking motion along with his leaf.

Three.

“Debuff and buff routine,” I ordered, and a flash of fairy energy made her eyes glow, eyes becoming extra large and cute. Her target flinched as his strength waned, while Mirko’s strength grew with a flare of red energy “Follow it up with Quick Attack.”

“Bloom, Ancient Power.” Natsuo snapped his fingers, and primeval power rippled the fabric of reality, golden light forming into large boulders.

“Primer Protocol 1, Quick-Drain Strike.” Primer Protocol 1 was a rather basic counter, moves that alter other moves or augment a pokémon can be disrupted with a fast enough response.

Mirko’s grin was malicious as she vanished into a white streak of light, moving at a quarter the speed of sound. Bloom the chikorita let out a cry as he was sent flying by a brief strike of Drain Punch, and Ancient Power crumbled to dust as its maker couldn't finish setting it up.

Natsuo blinked, and smiled widely, gazing at something I couldn't see. “Bullet Seed!” Mirko flipped on a dime, letting go of Quick Attack and letting her momentum carry her. The widespread barrage missed her partially, but she was slowed by the powerful bullet-like strikes.

“Double Kick, full power,” I ordered, and Natsuo smirked.

“Growth.” Energy suffused his pokémon, and I didn't boggle as he expanded, muscle and plant matter straining to contain newfound power.

Growth works by absorbing ambient aura, their bodies growing through a strange space-matter warping effect to contain their greater reserves of strength and power.

Mirko slammed into Bloom, two strikes launched one after the other. The chikorita was thrown back, and retaliated with a Bullet Seed attack. Drain Punch flared to life around her right fist, and she crossed it over her chest, deflecting and destroying bullets with her own power.

“Drain Punch, full force.” Mirko stepped into Bloom’s space, and a one inch punch broke through the dinosaur’s defenses.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Mirko was faster than both the chikorita and his trainer, but the little grass dragon was resilient and stubborn, if the deep hiss I could feel wasn’t an indicator. The issue was he couldn't keep up, and I wasn't going to give his trainer or him the opportunity.

Bloom charged in a Tackle, white light flaring off his skin and Mirko twisted out of the way, contorting into a spinning motion. Her feet glowed with the orange light of Double Kick, and the fierce chikorita staggered.

“Work Up, then finish him,” I ordered Mirko, the bunny flaring red sparks of power, gathering more energy into herself. “Give it all you've got.”

With Quick Attack, she exploded into action, shutting it off and letting the momentum carry her into a strong style Pound. The chikorita finally collapsed, eyes wide with shock, unable to withstand the onslaught of attacks.

The dust settled, and Mirko hopped back from the fallen pocket monster, smugly brushing away dust and stray seeds from her fur. Natsuo had already walked into the field, a delicate frown on his youthful face as he bent down to pick up his young dragon.

“You did very well Bloom, have a good rest,” he gently tapped the monster with a pokéball and Bloom vanished into the capture device. “Well… you're definitely a good trainer, and your pokémon seems happy with you.”

I flushed at the compliment. “I’m not… that good, I’m still learning and so are you. Who knows how I’d deal with more professional trainers on the road.”

Natsuo offered a soft smile. “Don’t sell yourself short, Akari is one of your sparring partners and you've been keeping up with her regularly. She's been learning from her clan for years now, and they produce powerful trainers. The previous Champion of Tohoku was a member of the Shirogane clan.”

Platinum?

I brushed back a bang, smiling slightly. “Well, if that's the case I’ll be looking forward to our next battle.” I offered a hand, and he took it.

We shook hands, and I knew this wasn't going to be our last battle.

----------------------------------------

I vibrated as I walked through the lab for what would be the final time in a long while, lightly tapping my fingers on my thighs.

Natsuo had gone on ahead, having already said his goodbyes and made the final preparations for the journey ahead. For myself, I had everything I needed for survival.

Medical supplies, potions, status condition healing items, bandages with potion coatings for myself, a first aid kit of course. My bag was the greatest treasure with the same shrinking technology as the pokéball. An Escape Rope coated in a high-quality Repel-based resin, duck(let) tape, multi-tools, and a generator. Field guides for edible flora and instructions on butchering domestic mon’ which were considered the bottom of the barrel when it came to the food chain.

Domestics never evolved, and didn't show the same intelligence as the pokémon used in battle. This differentiation of course didn't apply to every pokémon, especially ones renowned for intelligence and complex thought. Dragons were another example, the closest comparison in my world would be the niches of intelligent animals like elephants and orcas.

Most of the pokémon that had domestic variants and relatives were the ones you'd expect to be fairly unintelligent, like magikarp, feebas or tauros, and miltank. It was a staggered and complex form of niche partitioning between species and within species.

For every third-stage pokémon, there were ten second-stage pokémon, one hundred first-stage pokémon, and over one thousand domestics. Battle pokémon accounted for about ten to twenty percent of niches, a form of niche partitioning between evolutionary stages and close subspecies.

It was… an unprecedented example of that type of evolutionary behavior, nothing in my world came close. Tyrannosaurs had different growth stages specializing in eating different prey from hatchlings eating small animals, juveniles being the long-legged pursuit predators, and adults heavy and massive apex predators.

But pokémon could change diets far more drastically, and it was far more dramatic than any mundane animal.

“Miss Red?” I flinched when I heard Professor Laven calling out to me, and I turned a corner to see her bent over her desk, tongue sticking out as she wrote out some type of algorithm… program?

Huh… that was a very nice butt, wasn't it?

I blinked and moved on, shaking my head at my drifting attention. The professor leaned back, smiling happily at me.

“So you're all packed then, done your research, gotten into good enough shape, and prepared accordingly for route 301? Routes are rather long in Tohoku.”

“I've gotten used to walking long distances, the coast is good for hiking and surveying pokémon.” Honestly, I probably should have considered catching a second pokémon but I had been way too hyper-focused on other tasks. “And I’ll likely be quite focused on research, it should take up a lot of my attention.”

Professor Laven snorted. “I would hope so, out of the three sponsored trainers I have, you're the most inclined to taking real notes, and I’ll be very interested in your perspective of our world.”

I nodded. “Of course, I’ll bring back as much data as I can, the dex-phone is a rather convenient scientific tool.” Being able to scan both fauna and flora and everything in between was a brilliant upgrade, along with access to multiple downloaded guides, and a continuous connection to the Cross Continental Transmit System.

The CCT is a communication technology which allows instantaneous multimedia communication wirelessly over large distances. The science behind the lossless transmission of modulated WIFI signals across thousands of kilometers had been derived from pokémon like magnemite and others who did strange things to electromagnetic waves.

“Just remember to check in with Tedesco once a week, if only to keep Interpol off your back. My influence was barely enough to keep you out of their custody, and he knows that's a good thing.”

Being that I knew explicitly one Faller had gotten devoured by an Ultra Beast, I was incredibly grateful.

There was a cough, and I felt my heart leap into my throat. I blink when I take a good look at the person who had interrupted us. New outfit?

It was Akari, wearing a different outfit, the same feathery white blouse and red tattered skirt, but she had a nice dark green coat that was rather thickly layered and strongly reminded me of a Galaxy Team survey uniform, though it was… not covered in the symbols of the old organization.

She… looked good, and her expression told me she was rather worked up. “I've finished all my preparations, I suspect you've done the same?” she nodded in my direction, eyebrows furrowed.

“I have. I guess this is it huh? I don't think I want to know what Akari is like when she's mad.” A slight redness was on the aforementioned young women’s cheeks, and I smirked.

Laven had a sad and almost lonely smile. “Things will be a lot quieter without the two of you, especially Akari,” her pointed gaze turned Akari crimson. “I won't have my fighting-types picking fights with the girl crazy enough to wrestle with them. Just promise you’ll keep level heads out there, can’t have my trainers turning into ignorant pigheaded little shits.”

Akari scoffed. “I can only promise to try.”

I laughed, and ignored the ominous growl from the blue-haired trainer.

“I'll try my best to not be too absentminded, I can promise a lot of notes at least.”

Sophia nodded. “Then you two should be off.”

Some would name this the call to adventure…

I would instead label it as a call to SCIENCE!

----------------------------------------

We had set off rather promptly, out onto a trip of some two hundred odd kilometers on Route 301. It was an enormous and vast area, interconnecting Ishigama, Noto, and Irori through numerous splits off the route. The first area was the Ishigama Evergreen, a rather standard temperate broadleaf forest ecoregion.

I could identify a bunch of tree species, cheesewoods, red machilus, neolitsea, aromatic evergreens, oaks and chinquapin and even a few cycads. Lots of shrubs, lots of evergreens and of course Berry Trees.

There were a lot of slopes and inclines with large ten-meter trees producing yellow flowers and red berries.

This slope-filled region would give way to the Noto Grasslands, vast fields of flat Miscanthus-like grasses providing homes for pokémon along with trees breaking up the monotony, until you hit the city it was named after, followed by the Rural Zone west of Noto, which hits the Eastern Irori Plains, rolling hills transitioning into the flat landscape around the city of Irori.

The Ishigama Evergreen was home to plenty of pokémon, murkrow and starly and their line made up the bulk of bird pokémon, while burmy, mothim, and wurmple took up the niche of the macro-bugs. Stantler called this place home along with buneary and lopunny.

Mirko’s ball was shaking, and I could tell she knew this was home, where her colony had lived on the land for centuries on end. A flat road of smooth stone, packed dirt and other materials extended for miles, marking the central line of the Route.

I hadn't fully understood the implication of routes like this until I had remembered articles I had read up on ancient Japan. The routes were essentially modernized versions of Kaidō, the roads of Edo period Japan, which do and did play important roles in transportation and logistics.

In Japan, their highways and railways follow the same route, in Nihoh, they have been expanded into sprawling trails for pokémon trainers of all stripes and colors, along with building rails and roads where they could. The various regions of Nihoh had established many post stations or shukaba, serving as resting spots for weary travelers.

That hadn't changed in the last fifteen hundred years, with 31 main routes in total, along with multiple sub-routes that were all branches of those routes. They were differentiated in modern times by letters, going from A to Z, though most routes didn't have that many sub-routes, and most towns tended to build themselves around the routes rather than have routes built out to reach them. There were of course many exceptions.

“Eyes on me.” My head snapped to attention when Akari called me out and I glared at her, remembering it was what she used to get her pokémon’s attention.

“I remember the plan Akari, five hours of walking a day should let us reach Noto in around four days, and we’ll rest in-town for a few more days before continuing on to some of the post-towns between it and Irori.”

“Don’t forget that part of our job description includes regular surveys of the native pokémon to Tohoku. There are quite a few tasks tacked on to our journey.”

“I'm fine with that, it might be pretty mundane to people of this world but it's all quite new to me,” I shrugged as I gazed at the vast beauty of the landscape, something I could only appreciate with my better endurance and whatever that wormhole did to me to kill my allergies to pollen. “And catching pokémon for science isn't a bad thing.”

The whole feral pokémon catching phenomena was a bit of a confusing dilemma though there was a standard code of ethics that came part and parcel with the tests and exams I had to take to obtain my license. A number of basic rules baked into the very idea of battle over centuries of iteration and updates.

Pokémon had the right to disobey their trainer if their orders conflicted with their own basic rights, so forcing them to commit unforgivable acts like murder, theft, or acts of rapine. So poaching unwilling pokémon, murdering a human or a feral pokémon, or committing horrific acts involving certain esoteric abilities. So mind control or worse… of course some pokémon didn’t give a shit about morals so.

In a battle, both a trainer and a pokémon have to restrain their intent to harm, maim or kill their opponent. Neither pokémon or trainer should attack the other with the exception of self-defense. A pokémon has a right to fight any trainer who wishes to capture it, or if it does not want to be caught, to escape from the battle.

A trainer had obligations to their pokémon in ensuring his, or her or their pokémon’s health and safety at all times. Whether by making sure they’ll go to a good home through the Global Trade System, having sufficient room and board for their comfort or actively performing the duties of a trainer.

Feral variants of course played by different rules, being closer to animals in nature and intelligence. Though of course, they had the usual animal… sentient cruelty rights enacted quite firmly. No torturing sentient beings for fun.

Which should be self-evident but… humans will be humans.

The landscape seemed wild and pristine, and yet the signs of human intervention and cultivation were obvious. It reminded me strongly of the low-density urban societies of the pre-Hispanic Amazon… or more accurately the satoyama woodlands of Japan. The Pokémon world wasn't untouched by humans… it was more than the way they had shaped their environment did far less to disturb the equilibrium of nature.

I could see the hints of human and pokémon design, multiple tamed species of edible plants favored by both human and monsters alike, the forest was itself a highly diverse regional system crafted by plant and landscape domestication, canals, terraces, and more hidden in plain sight.

The soil itself was analogous to terra preta, made from crushed clay, blood and bone meal, manure, and biochar, and created by humans and pokémon working together. Grass, rock, and ground types were optimal for creating fertile soil and that kind of cultivatation likely encompassed around ten percent of total landmass available to Tohoku.

I brought out Mirko, her ball snapping open in the usual wave of light, solidifying into my fluffy friend. She posed dramatically, an imperious twitch of her nose the most obvious sign of her excitement.

I gazed at the vast lands before us, an evergreen forest spanning for dozens of miles. Akari was already walking ahead at a steady rate, though it was clear she was pacing herself for my sake.

Why had I decided to go on this journey?

Was it to accomplish a childish dream of mine, did I need to take my mind off the destruction of my life, or was it just a whim I had recklessly thrown myself into? Enthralled by this world, tied to the ground by a love for monsters?

Mirko tugged on my pants, and I offered her a quick grin.

Well… regardless of my reasons, I had to see it through, I had to understand.

So I would go on this journey and uncover the secrets of this new world.