Novels2Search

Chapter 2: Day 2 - CHANCE

Some unknown ocean in a small cave - Pokémon World

I wake to the feeling of utter mind consuming hunger.

YOU ARE STARVING - REST has depleted your fat reserves to critical levels.

I check my MP/HP - Thankfully it's 10/10 HP and 10/10 MP, at least I'm not almost dead from health.. just near death from starvation... yay?

I tentatively look outside in search of Mr Asshole Crab.

I can't see anything and the depression where it DUG the night before is no longer there. I breathe a sigh of relief thanking my lucky stars that the beast is apparently gone.

Well that's good news.

The bleeding from my tail has stopped and it has scabbed over. I bend my body (far more flexible than it ever was with my human body) and get to work carefully biting off my makeshift seaweed tourniquet.

BITE - failed to remove tourniquet.

After another 10 minutes of repeated effort I successfully used BITE to remove the tourniquet.

*DING - exp gained BITE level 2.*

I need something to eat urgently. Now I know how it feels when my fiancé gets hangry. I look around the cave to consider my options. I recall that the Japanese love certain types of seaweed.

So with my nerves steeled and hoping I don’t just end up poisoning myself, I try to eat the seaweed... not only is it disgusting in taste, it does nothing to replenish my energy or fat reserves.

Nothing else around this small crevice here looks like it would be edible.

Considering my many options A) stay and starve B) exit and likely be made into fish food.

I choose the one with the least probability of ending in death, I choose B). I slowly and carefully carefully make my way outside, like a butterfly from a cocoon.

Using my new body I sniff the water - nothing.. Check.

I look around in the murky darkness - No big red thing .. Check.

I taste the water - salty - Check.

I plan my route but keep in mind where my lifesaving crevice is located. I better keep my eye out for more holes like this as they could mean the difference between life and death.

As I slowly and hesitantly swim further out from the safety of the hole, I notice evidence that something happened here during my sleep.

There are what look like craters along the ocean floor from something striking the ground heavily.

I'd like to imagine some big arse GYRADOS smashing KINGLER into the ground like the Hulk did to Loki.

Like a wise man (or a wuss), I choose to travel in the opposite direction to what I can assume was some sort of battle between KINGLER and as yet, some unknown creature.

I recall the MAGIKARP that the KINGLER was eating initially -

I feel that finding a small fish weaker than me is my only real option for a meal. However, having said that... I'm LVL 1. I am the “small fish”.

I don't know if anything is weaker than myself at this stage. I'm going to have to either outsmart something stronger than me or ambush something and hope I score some sort of critical hit to a vital part of it.

As I swim along the bottom of the ocean I keep my eye out above me for large predators ready to dive down and end me.

I observe my surroundings. I was never one to scuba dive so this is actually quite enjoyable. When they say the ocean is a desert they really were not joking.

Occasionally large shadows pass above me and I dive down under the sand in a pathetic attempt to hide my body.

Either I'm successful or they have better things to do as they swim onwards without a care.

Confident that they are safe just swimming without a care.. I'm jealous, I hope to reach that stage one day.

The next time I see a large shadow something feels.... wrong.... just instinctual terror.

I dive down under the sand, hyperventilating as I do so and try to figure out what exactly is different.

It doesn't feel like I'm the target, I don't feel a sense of impending doom.

I focus on the large object swimming above me and then realise I can smell the taste of blood and from its mouth another beast hangs.

I watch in fascination as what I can only believe to be a SHARPEDO is swimming along with a Starmie within its jaws.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

*CRUNCH* Blood spurts and I watch as one of the Starmies limbs float down towards the sand.

CHANCE!

I patiently wait for the shark to swim out of view and then carefully edge closer to the sight where the Starmies leg, or was it an arm, fell. Lucky bastard to have some appendages like that … lucky.. Except, it’s dead. I offer a silent prayer for the deceased and continue to look for the appendage.

My excitement builds as I get closer and closer to the location where it dropped.

Almost there!

I look around and THERE IT IS! Food, glorious sustenance. I carefully approach the morsel, however from the other end of the sand from a hole in a rock face, I see a contender for my food.

A stupid looking red KRABBY, oblivious to my presence scuttles over to the leg, turns its back to me, and starts to nibble away at my FOOD! *CLICK CLICK CLICK*

I silently edge closer and closer to the unsuspecting crab and focus on trying my best to IDENTIFY it

IDENTIFY SUCCESSFUL - Krabby level 2 HP

17/20 MP 5/20

Moves unknown - Increase the level of identity to find out more information about a target being selected.

I consider my options.

Yeah I don't have options, it's eat or be eaten.

And I love the taste of crab way more than the unknown of eating a starfish.

"LET'S DO THIS!" I activate PROPEL when i'm only 5 metres away from my target.

I rocket towards the crab and *BOOM* HEADBUT it hard. Hard enough to hear the crack of its shell.

KRABBY - has been dealt 10 HP of damage. You have suffered recoil of 2HP.

The crab, still unable to see who or more importantly what has collided with him, curls up into a defensive stance.

KRABBY uses DEFENCE CURL

YES!

Let's keep him on the defensive before he realises I'm weak sauce.

I continue to keep out of his line of vision and go for another PROPELLED HEADBUT -

This time he's a hell of a lot harder to damage and hurts a hell of a lot more.

You have dealt 5 HP of damage to KRABBY and suffered recoil of 5 HP.

OUCHHHHH!!!

KRABBY - 2/20 HP 5/20 MP VS ???? - 3/10 HP 8/10 MP

Well this isn't good at all, I can't headbutt him again of i'll suicide between a rock and a hard place.

Gotta keep up the pressure though and keep this thing on the defensive.

KRABBY uses DEFENCE CURL

Well even if I use a headbutt this time he will live and I will die. Although he can't see me, I have to assume he can see my health bar since we are in combat.

But I really don't know if that's the case, maybe he's just stupid and only has the one move?

Okay time to use PROPEL & EMPOWERED BITE.

As I come in for the kill at the last moment KRABBY uses ENDURE - you do 1HP damage.

I keep my hold on to the crab with my teeth, OH NO YOU DON'T.

EMPOWERED BITE Krabby loses 1 HP.

My teeth break through the Krabbys tough exoskeleton and into the soft and... YESS TASTY! flesh of the crab.

I don't even care about my status at this moment and eat the tasty crab with gusto.

A couple of gory minutes later with bits of crab shell strewn about myself, I let out a satisfied bubble burp. I feel so much better! My fat reserves built back up. I do however have a smarting head and a headache from smashing my skull repeatedly against such a hard object.

I swim towards the hole the KRABBY must have been using as its home.

Carefully checking for anything dangerous inside, I instead spot a jar of something at the back of the cave. Curious I use INSPECT to notice with great joy that it's a POTION.

I bite into the potion, happy to realise that my stupid call didn't result in shards of glass in my mouth.

The potion (both liquid and container) melt into my body and I HEAL 10 hp.

Which is great as my wounds quickly disappear on both the scabbing on my tail, the headache and I'm sure to be a large bruise on my head and potentially a bleed on my brain.

Time to check my status.

STATUS

DING - You have reached LVL 2

[???? - LVL 2]

[Water/???]

[HP 20/20 MP 8/20]

Lvl

Move

Use

Cost

2

SWIM

... to swim.. idiot

Uses 0 MP, requires some energy to use

2

Bite

Om nom nom

Empowered required 2 mp, unempowered 0

1

Struggle

Fight for your lifeee, wiggle like a epileptic

Uses 0 MP however causes recoil damage

2

Headbutt

Now that's using your head!

Uses 0 MP however causes recoil damage

2

Propel

Use your primary appendage to give yourself forward momentum

1 MP per use

1

Tourniquet

Apply pressure to a site to cut off circulation

No Mp per use however loss of use of the limb bound until tourniquet is removed

1

REST

Recover HP at the expense of giving yourself the condition ASLEEP

Uses fat reserves/energy

3

Identify

Identifies an object or Pokémon, improved detail as level of move increases

Uses 0 MP, will fail if object/Pokémon exceeds users level, overuse will cause a migraine