It was an hour later before Felis found himself walking to the cafeteria, Aken in tow beside him looking equally as bored as he felt. The damned Admin had made him write a report, and Felis wasn’t exactly keeping up with his handwriting during his time in the Before.
“Infants can do better, Grunt.” The Admin had said in a somewhat…amused way, “Do it again.”
Felis huffed in irritation at the memory, shovelling it away in order to focus on the coming battle. That he was excited for, as infuriating as it was his life belonged to Galactic, getting to participate in a Pokémon battle like an actual trainer was exciting.
“So, what’s our game plan buddy?”
“We win, that much is simple.” Aken scoffed
“Oh absolutely, but how? What’s our strategy, what’s your fighting style?”
“I…hm.” The Pokémon paused. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I have only two glorious battles under my name.”
“What the hell? I thought you were a great spirit?”
“I am!” Aken hissed.
“Uh huh, great spirit with two battles.”
“I was undefeated for a time!”
“You know that doesn’t hold as much weight as you think it does,” Felis paused, thinking, “Technically, babies are undefeated too.”
Aken scowled, and Felis couldn’t help but laugh, it was too easy teasing the little guy. He grabbed the sides of Aken’s face, carrying the Pokémon as they continued their walk down the futuristic halls. Aken protested but didn’t make a move to leave his grasp.
“Hmm, you know Screech, Night Shade, Astonish, and Confuse Ray. Those are the 4 we have to work with.”
“I know more.” Aken huffed, “You just don’t know what to call them.”
“Well I would know if you told me their names.”
“It’s not so simple. The names are different.”
Felis glanced down at his partner, still idly mushing his cheeks “Thought we were speaking the same language here.”
“No, it’s…it’s different. I don’t understand it completely either. I can understand you, but certain things evade me. Like when you say ‘Hell’, what is that?”
“Oh. Huh. Maybe we can ask Leland about it I suppose, or you can just use them on your own if you think they’ll be useful.”
Aken seemed pleased with that, puffing up with pride at the extra responsibility. Seriously, what the hell was up with this Pokémon? Ghosts were cute as hell.
They continued the rest of their walk in silence, Felis eventually releasing Aken from his confinement, letting the Pokémon settle by his shoulder once more. He made small talk where he could, approaching the ones who regarded him without hostility. Simple things, like directions or lightly complaining about how garbage his handwriting had been. Useless small talk, just to build an impression.
The Cafeteria was a place of surprising bustling activity. Where the halls and other facilities were usually empty, this looked like a place where most of the Grunts usually hung out. Groups of people talking and joking with each other. It was oddly…human, it was strange to think they were all part of a death cult. He cut his train of thought short, if he couldn’t recognize them as an enemy, he would suffer. Felis briefly remembered how casually Cyrus said to get rid of them, and a cold resolve settled onto his mind.
Yea, fuck these guys.
Felis adopted a smile as Leland waved at him, grabbing a plate before plopping himself down beside the man, giving what he thought was an Oscar-worthy act of a man who was done with his job already.
“What took you so long?”
“My fucking chicken-scratch handwriting that’s what.”
“Hah! Saturn made him write!”
The table exploded into bouts of laughter, alongside some sympathetic nods. Oddly enough, nobody seemed phased at his wording, “Chicken-scratch”, like it was a common saying here too.
Hell, might as well ask now. “I’m a little curious, you guys know what chickens are right?”
“The fuck? How would we not know?”
“I mean it’s just-” Hm, how to phrase it? “We had chickens because there weren’t a lot of Pokémon in the area. How the hell do they survive here?”
Leland regarded him for a while, his face not giving away anything, “Farms.” Was all he said after a minute.
“Ok you gotta give me more to work with. Fuck does that mean?”
“We’re talking huge.” Another Grunt said, her name was June, at least he thought so. “I’d say the smaller ones could probably cover the size of a small town, the biggest is almost as big as Jubilife.”
“Holy shit, all that for chickens?”
“Chickens, cows, goats, you name it. Anything that can’t survive outside is raised in the farms.”
“Huh.” Felis said, staring down at his plate with more ease. “Ok, so this is all animal meat then.”
“Obviously.” Leland scoffed, before narrowing his eyes. “Hold on, what did you think this was?”
Felis said nothing, instead deciding to dig into his meal which was above average. 6/10.
“Did you think this was Pokémon meat?” Leland demanded, his eyes widening.
“This chicken is really good, guys.”
“Arceus you did! That’s sick dude.”
“Anyways!” Felis said as protests and laughs rippled across the table. “We’re battling after this right? You promised.”
“Yea, yea, my little guy needs training too.”
He wasn’t giving away the Pokémon's name, interesting. That was an advantage for Leland, but it also meant he was taking it seriously.
“Hey, how do you know what moves your Pokémon knows? I’ve figured out a few on my own but there’s some things I just can’t make heads or tails of.”
“We got machines for that. Call them PC’s, usually for Pokémon storage but it’ll give you a rundown of what your Pokémon knows. There’s one by the training arena so don’t worry about it.”
“Huh, ok. Is there anything more portable though? Like a Pokedex?”
“Pfft. That shit’s for lab trainers man, special privileges only. Or if you’re extremely rich.”
Made sense. Man this world felt strange. It was like he’d stepped into a giant roleplay thing, like those LARPers. Except this time everybody was in on it. Like the Truman show, but cooler. A sickness settled into him as he found himself recalling the fact it could all be a lie. That he’d just wake back up into the Before, sick and useless. He shook his head, no, best forget about it.
“Alright!” Felis declared, standing up, “Let’s get this battle going.”
“Finally.” Leland said, “Don’t cry too much when you lose.”
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Knockoff, Screech, Night Shade, Curse, Spite, Confuse Ray, Astonish, and Shadow Sneak. That was Aken’s full repertoire. It was good to know, he was a mid to long range fighter at the moment, they would build their strategy around that. Aken being Aken however, had some issues.
“I will not run away from my opponent.”
“It’s not running, it’s keeping your distance.”
“It still feels cowardly.”
“Won’t when you win.”
Aken huffed, and Felis chuckled, consoling his partner. He gazed about the arena they were in, it was large, 3 distinct ‘fields’ for 3 different battles. The floor was polished steel that was tinted purple, and so shiny Felis could admire his own reflection as it stared back at him. The lighting was spectacular as well, not a corner of the room was dark, but the light wasn’t harsh, simply present, his father would approve. The stands could use some work though, boring metal rails that outlined the ceiling of the room, with large steps leading up to them.
At the moment the other two fields were empty, With Leland standing on the opposite corner from him, casually tossing up one of his Pokeballs and catching it in one smooth motion. A few of the other Grunts sat around, with one standing in as the judge.
“All right, as agreed, this will be a one on one match, agreed?” The Judge called.
“Yep.” Leland said.
“Mhm.” Felis nodded.
“Both contestants may bring forward their Pokémon.”
Leland went first, tossing the ball out onto the field. It bounced once, before exploding open as white light formed the image of the Pokémon within. Felis couldn’t help but hold his breath, what could it be?
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A yellow duck with abnormally large eyes stared at him.
It looked hungover.
“Rise and shine Psyduck!” Leland said cheerily, “We got a fight where you won’t be absolutely trashed!”
Psyduck groaned, bringing one hand back and waving away at Leland as if shooing him away.
“Alright Aken,” Felis said, a grin growing on his face, “Let’s show these guys what we got, yea?”
Aken floated in, his face splitting open in a malicious grin, Felis controlled features better, but he felt it too. The excitement. The thrill. Even if it wasn’t him battling.
“Shuppet vs Psyduck! Begin!”
“[Confuse Ray!]” Felis shouted, not wanting to give up going first.
The mote flew from Aken’s forehead, zipping straight to the poor Psyduck, knocking the duck Pokémon backwards.
If it looked hungover before, it was absolutely wasted now.
“[Night Shade!]” He wouldn’t let up the pressure, not if he could help it.
Leland didn’t look fazed, instead, he seemed amused at Psyduck’s current condition, “Dodge.” He called, as if Psyduck wasn’t going through the worst headache. “Follow through, [Calm Mind]”
Aken’s shadow sailed toward Psyduck, fangs opening in a silent scream. Psyduck wasted no time, shutting its eyes tight and rolling sideways at the last second, the shadow biting down on nothing but cold steel.
An aura bubbled through Psyduck, pink light rippling down its body, when its eyes opened there was a focus to them, as if its headache never existed.
“What the fuck?” Felis reeled, “He can do that?”
“[Shadow Sneak!]”
Psyduck’s shadow wriggled, and claws reached out, sinking into Psyducks back. It cried out as the claws pierced the Pokémon, but no blood was drawn.
“[Water Pulse]”
Gritting through the pain, Psyduck opened its beak, a torrent of water shot out of its beak, 3 rings surrounded the blast, amplifying the power.
“Out of the way, Aken!” He shouted, though probably unnecessary. As the sentence left his mouth the blast clipped the side of Aken’s face, the impact sending the little ghost spiralling off to the side as it struggled to regain control.
“Think I haven’t seen your moves, Felis?” Leland called out, “Really appreciate that you got Shuppet standing in one spot, nice and still. Makes a great target.”
“Not like Psyduck is moving much either.” He growled back, annoyed.
“Got a point. But then again, might be my Psyduck isn’t meant to move around. Can probably take more hits than yours, too.”
He got the message.
“Fly, Aken, the air is yours.”
“That’s what I’m talking about! [Water Gun!]”
Aken rose, weaving in and out as jets of water shot towards the ghost. He circled through the air, looking to prepare a Night Shade, but unable to fully form the move as he was forced to dodge Psyduck’s suppressing shots.
“[Shadow Sneak!]”
Aken abandoned the Night Shades, grimacing as another water gun clipped his side. The ghost narrowed its eyes, and before Pysduck could send another shot at him, gasped as a black blade pierced through its body, again the attack left no visible mark, but Psyduck sagged, its chest heaving.
“[Night Shade]” Felis commanded, and the shadows flew forward once more, mouths agape in vicious glee as they bit and tore into Psyduck. The duck Pokemon screamed, and even Leland seemed to take the fight more seriously now, narrowing his eyes.
“[Disable]”
Psyduck’s eyes flashed, and at once, the shadows dissipated, evaporating in an almost mournful wail.
“[Confusion: Sporadic Burst!]”
Sorry, Sporadic WHAT?
A crackling filled the air, Felis’s eyes shot up, realising that the very air was distorting, similar to when hot air made the air wobble.
“Get out of there!” He shouted, Aken didn’t need to be told twice. He flew as the air burst, twisting and collapsing in on itself, the close proximity sending Aken reeling as he tried to weave through them. The air itself turned into a minefield, Felis’s partner unable to completely avoid them all, some he even blundered into head first, screaming in pain only to be knocked around by another.
“Shit, fuck, balls, what the fuck is this?” Felis thought, reeling, “Calm the fuck down! It’s a Psychic move. Night Shade is disabled, Can Shadow Sneak work?”
“[Shadow Sneak!]”
Aken growled, focusing, Psyduck’s shadow wobbled, but a burst of psychic energy sent the Ghost reeling, and the shadow settled once more.
He cursed “Ok what else do we have, he’s getting abused up there.”
He went through the move list once more, he needed something close range, cancel out the Psychic move the way Calm Mind cancelled his confusion.
“[Knockoff!] Slap that shit away from you!”
Aken grit his teeth, and black energy coalesced around him, forming into a small, bony claw. It looked pathetic. Aken’s skeletal hand swung, clawing into a psychic bubble, the bubble trembled, as if about to burst, but fizzled out. It worked!
“Get in close, keep using Knockoff to defend yourself!”
Aken grinned, thirsty for revenge, and flew down to meet his foe. Leland said nothing, as Psyduck concentrated, more and more bubbles formed in the air. Aken swatted the ones he could away, a few he was caught up in however, The ghost’s one skeletal hand unable to fully handle the sheer amount of attacks sent his way.
Just as he was close, however, Leland shouted out his order.
“[Hypnosis!]”
A wave of dream-like energy surged past Psyduck, and washed over Aken. Aken, reeling at first, seemed unaffected.
“Was that supposed to…” Felis trailed off as the energy continued, slamming into him. He instantly felt his motor functions falter, and he collapsed to one knee.
The Abyss rose to meet him.
He began to panic.
“No. Not again! NOT AGAIN!” He screamed internally, but it was no use. He collapsed onto his side, his vision fading to black.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was a familiar pain he awoke to.
It terrified him.
Felis…no, Pranav’s eyes opened slowly, silently groaning as every part of his body ached in soreness. It was…he wasn’t in the arena. Where was he?
It was a house, empty and quiet. He was in the living room, facing a window, grey skies and light slow outside, gently drifting onto the unkempt roads. The interior of the room was familiar, not the house itself, but the way it was set up. Arun always set up his camps a certain way, with his bedroll laid out beside him, the gas stove he carried by Pranav’s feet, alongside a couple comics and books. Not that Arun read, it was more for him. To his right was their portable battery, strangely, only his phone was charging.
His breath quickened unintentionally, and he instantly regretted it, what felt like a thousand cuts lit up his lungs, and he couldn’t stop the weak cry from escaping him.
This…this was Earth. The Before.
He could feel it, the void, that expanse that threatened to drown him in comatose if he didn’t fight every second to keep it at bay. He tried to rise, but the immediate pain, like fire rocketing across his muscles caused him to collapse again.
“No.” He thought, horrified, “No please.”
This couldn’t be true, he was walking, he could talk, think, breathe, he was normal. He was with Arun, they laughed like they used to, talked like they used to. As equals, as brothers.
But…but what made more sense? The fact that he died and was transported off to a Pokémon world to live a fantasy with his brother? Or that he fell asleep, and had just now woken up.
The sensible part of his mind knew which was true.
“Was it all a wonderful dream?” He wondered, as tears began to well up in his eyes, “I dreamed of a world where I was normal again.”
No more. He was now useless once more, damned to his fucking chair. Why? What sick God would do this to him? Why would they let him taste freedom, only to take it away? Not for the first time, Pranav wondered why he was still alive. Why the world just wouldn’t let him die.
A sound by the doorway caused him to turn, the movement causing him to wince in discomfort. Arun stepped out into the front entrance, strange, he was tying his boots. He had his usual coat on him, but why was he wearing his backpack? Arun opened the door, taking a step outside.
Arun never left without him.
“A..a..run.” Pranav wheezed, his throat felt like it was coated in glass shards, but he kept going, “Wh..where..?”
Arun paused, and Pranav waited for his older brother to turn back and give him his usual reassuring smile, telling him that he would return.
Instead, Arun simply shook his head, and continued walking.
No. No No No, not Arun. It couldn’t be, Arun would never leave him.
But those were his steps in the snow, walking away from him. That was Arun’s figure, becoming smaller and smaller as he walked away from him.
“A…Arun..” He wheezed, trying to raise his voice. “Pl…ple…please. Do…don’t…le…leave.” Every word was agony, and he could already feel the blood dribble from his mouth.
If his brother heard him he didn’t show it, instead he continued walking, smaller and smaller his figure became, as Pranav begged more and more for him to return. Until he was gone, and Pranav was alone, with only the cold to keep him company.
“Why?” He thought, though he knew the answer. “Why would you leave me?”
Because he was useless. He was a burden.
There were nights, when Arun thought he was asleep, or in comatose that he overheard his brother beg whoever was up there for help, for guidance. There were nights where he heard Arun cry himself to sleep because of him. Pranav knew, deep down, that everything would’ve been easier if he had just died, instead of just feebly clinging to life as he did.
He thought he could fix it in the Pokémon world, that he could make it up to him, be useful again. What a wonderful, terrible dream.
“To hell with this body.” He raged, “To hell with life, and all the misfortunes that come with it!”
He screamed then, though it was more of a rasping wail, like sandpaper and screeching tires, but he screamed all the same. A vent for his rage, a vent for his sorrows and regrets.
The abyss ebbed its way into his mind as he did so, and he fought back with whatever he could. If he was going to die, fine. But he wouldn’t die in comatose, he would see his last moments, he had to, needed to.
The abyss didn’t care.
It swallowed him whole, like it always had, dragging him into the darkness kicking and screaming all the way.
—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
His eyes snapped open.
The sounds of battle caused him to lift himself from his position, and onto one knee. Ahead, Shuppet battled with Psyduck at close quarters, the Knockoff attack still active as it furiously drove into Psyduck, who attempted point blank shots at the Ghost.
Hypnosis.
He was hit with Hypnosis.
He looked up, Leland didn’t look too phased, in fact smiling when he saw Felis rise.
“Rise and shine Felis!” He mocked, “Can’t be sleeping on the job.”
Laughter from the grunts around him.
Felis let out a shuddering breath, taking his time inhaling and exhaling, savoring the sensation of clean, painless air flowing through his lungs. He flexed his hands, they moved as he commanded, though he could not stop them from shaking. That was fine, that was fear, rage, adrenaline. All directed at Leland.
Felis would break him.
“Back, Aken.” He barked, his partner glanced back and nodded, sailing backwards.
“[Curse]. Break them.”
If Aken was opposed to sacrificing his life force for the move, he didn’t show it. Instead he cackled wildly, and manifested the energy. A spectral nail hammered through Aken’s left eye as it let out a gasp, oddly enough, a spectral nail slammed through Felis’s left hand as well, sending a searing cold pain shooting up his arm, not that he noticed much.
“I have given you control,” Aken sneered, “Punish as you wish.”
Leland’s eyes widened as he saw the move take effect, a shadowed nail hammering through the poor Duck Pokémon. It screamed in pain, and in the back of his mind Felis knew the Pokémon didn’t deserve the coming attacks, but at the moment he was too angry to care.
“[Confusion!]” Leland commanded, all the casualness draining from his face, “[Sporadic Burst!] Finish him before it gets to you!”
To Psyduck’s credit, it tried, it really did. Its face scrunched up in concentration, trying to recreate its earlier minefield. Felis didn’t let him. Control was strange, wherever he imagined the Psyduck to be hurt, it would be hurt, but in turn so would he.
Nails slammed down across his arms, his chest, his legs, and he staggered back down to his knees, though glaring all the same. Psyduck didn’t hold up much better, crying out as every spectral nail slammed into the Pokémon, unable to completely focus as the curse took its toll.
“[Water Gun!]” Leland cried, when that didn’t work he tried others, “[Water Pulse!] [Disable!] Fuck! Psyduck do something!”
Nothing happened, whenever Psyduck tried an attack, Felis slammed another nail into them both, and the move fizzled out before it could appear. Through it all Aken looked down from above, like an angel of death ready to claim a dying soul. To Psyduck’s credit, it lasted much longer than Felis expected, it was a hardy Pokémon for sure, but eventually it couldn’t take anymore, falling headfirst to the floor, unconscious.
“Ah…” The Judge trailed, “Um. Psyduck is unable to battle! The winners are Shuppet and Felis!”
A hesitant applause bubbled up around them as Felis rose, Aken floating to his side. Leland returned his Psyduck to its ball, whispering something to the fallen Pokémon.
“Are you alright?” Aken asked, “You taste of sublime fear and rage.”
He ignored the strange wording, instead giving him a nod, and a flat smile, “You did better than I could ask, thank you.”
“Wow.” Leland said, sauntering over, “You know I doubted you actually beat Tyler before, but this? Damn, not bad man, not bad.”
Anger bubbled within Felis, at Leland's stupid smile, and his words. He would break him, but he couldn’t make the first move, no, that would hurt their reputation.
“Not bad yourself, Sporadic Burst was something crazy.”
“Signature Galactic technique, you get access to them based on your rank. Hey, sorry about the Hypnosis by the way, didn’t think your Shuppet was unaffected.”
There it was. His chance.
“No, it’s fine. It makes sense someone like you would resort to that.”
Leland’s incessant smile faltered, “Someone like me?”
“I get it.” Felis said, his own smile beginning to grow. Oh he was so glad they were out of earshot. “I broke your arm, made you my bitch.”
Leland scowled, “What the fuck did you say?”
“And now I’ve trashed you in a Pokémon battle too.” Felis continued, ignoring Leland’s growing anger, “This is what goes for Galactic’s agents? Hah! No wonder Cyrus was so quick to hire us. You guys are fucking garbage.”
“Say that again.” Leland hissed, stepping close, his one good arm balled in a fist. “Say it and see what happens.”
Oh, it was all so easy. “Fucking. Garbage.”
Leland swung, and Felis ducked the blow, stepping to his side and kicking him in the back of his knees, causing him to grunt as he collapsed. Another kick to his back sent the man sprawling on the ground.
He should have ended it there. It was enough.
But then he remembered the dream. How useless this grunt made him feel again. A snarl escaped his lips, and he pounced on the downed man, rolling him onto his back, his fists flew into Leland's face, who desperately tried to block with his one good arm. He heard shouts above and a commotion as the others rushed to break the fight. Felis swung, again and again, using one arm to prevent Leland from blocking, the other smashing into his face. He got maybe 6 good hits in before arms roughly grabbed him, pulling him and Leland apart.
“Let go of me!” Leland howled, “I’ll kick this arrogant piece of shit’s ass!”
“Try it.” He hissed back, “I’ll snap your other fucking arm.”
“CALM!” the Judge roared, “Or I’ll report this to Admin Saturn and get you both disciplined!”
That got them to calm down, Felis sneered, patting the arms of ones holding him, signalling he wouldn’t attack the man again. Reluctantly they let go, and the two groups split. Some Grunt wrapping their arm around his shoulders, leading him away.
So much for good relations.