The soft steps of a quadruped creature resound through the forest. They’re quiet, quieter than a whisper even, the only reason for them even being audible is the eerie stillness of the surroundings. There are no insects to buzz around and annoy you, no birds to chirp their mating calls, no wind to rustle the vibrant green leaves of the trees. Only the footsteps of the blue, puppy-sized quadruped creature.

That creature… is a Mudkip, the mudfish pokemon!

The mudkip’s eyes dart to the left and right, trying to catch anyone that might be snooping around.

“Hello? Is anybody there” he calls out to the void, not really expecting a response. The Mudkip nods to himself after not hearing a reply, satisfied that he is alone.

‘I’m fairly certain that my seemingly all-knowing caretakers know of this place but meh, what can you do about it? I made this den all the way out here to stay hidden from my siblings, not from old man Rohan.’ he inwardly monologues with himself as he uses his mouth to move away all the different twigs and shrubs covering up the entrance to his secret hideout. With a little bit of work he’s shifted enough of them away to be able to enter.

It is a hole that he had spent a lot of time digging out. A cozy home for himself, but it also has a secondary function…

…acting as a hidden treasure chest for colorful rocks!

He drops the vibrant green rock that he’d been carrying inside. It is covered in slobber, but such is the curse of having no arms. The rock itself should be malachite, if his memory isn’t failing him, some sort of mineral that has copper inside it. The waters of the pond had washed away at its edges, making it round and shiny.

‘Let’s see… it has been a hot minute since I last counted how many I have collected.’ The Mudkip’s eyes dart over his hoard. There are many types of rocks here. Red rocks, brown rocks, white rocks. Some pieces of metal and even something that isn’t a rock but some kind of bone?

It does not matter. What matters is that he’s been collecting these rocks, one a day, every day, ever since he was first weaned off the syringe and let to freely roam the outside. And by counting the number of rocks that he has…

‘... I should have at least some sort of an idea how long it has been since I got isekai’d into the pokemon world. Those first few weeks when I hatched were an absolute and utter blur of me going into and out of consciousness, only woken up to be fed by old man Rohan… I can’t even begin to guess how long that period lasted. A month? Two months, two weeks? No clue.’

If his siblings are anything to go by, he hadn’t been alone in that blur. It seems that it is just how young Mudkips develop, to be helpless just like newly born cats and dogs are.

‘Hmm, sixty days? Damn... It’s really hard to believe two months have already passed, it feels more like two weeks, time really does fly when you’re having fun.’

Sighing, he leaves the den and proceeds to carefully cover it up.

‘I miss having hands man, the sheer amount of finesse and dedication you require for this task nearly made me cry in frustration the first time around. I’ve gotten more proficient at it with time though.’

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Giving the place a once over he turns around and makes his way back to the pond, prancing there with happy little hops.

One would think that moving through a creepy old forest would be dangerous for such a young pokemon, and they would be right. Under normal circumstances that is.

The reality of the situation is that all the local pokemon know better than to approach the residence of Rohan. As one of the few trainers approved by the Hoenn state to hatch and take care of Mudkip, he is fiercely protective of them. Not a single human or pokemon unapproved by Rohan is allowed within the property and that property spans for more than twenty kilometers. It is fiercely protected by his pokemon team back from his trainer days…

..and the Mudkip knows that. He's aware of his status as a hatchery pokemon and he's aware of the protectors that surround him.

His stomach growls out during his prance.

'Urgh, again? But I just had food an hour ago.' The man-turned-mudkip grumbles. Pokemon seem to be exceptionally good at metabolizing nutrients. Or maybe it's just that the food that he eats is easily digestible. That, combined with his young age and growing body means that he needs to eat food as much as seven or eight times a day.

Fortunately, the pond and all of the surrounding berry bushes that come with it are almost within sight.

Sneakily he skips over to a bush filled with pecha berries.

'The one thing becoming a mudkip has given me is a mighty strong sweet tooth and pecha berries do real good to fill that craving for sweetness. It would have really helped if they weren't as hollow as the bones of a bird though. Seriously, pecha are about ninety percent air and ten percent of the actual good stuff.. If you were to compress them they’d probably be as small as grapes. Not the size they advertise themselves as being, which is roughly the same as that of a tennis ball.'

Using his mouth he breaks out one of the berries from the bush and consumes it.

Perhaps it wouldn't be right to call them bushes… a scuffed bonsai, perhaps? Pecha berries grow on pecha trees. But any time one of the trees around the pond dares to grow above the height where the old man's kneecap is, he pulls out the big ol' metal shears and comes to prune. It has resulted in some very odd looking trees that are essentially indistinguishable from a bush. With them having no choice but to grow close to the ground and all that.

“Cool Bro!”

“Wha!?” Seemingly out of nowhere another Mudkip descends. A female one. She tackles her brother almost without warning, ramming into his body. The force of the blow forces all of the air out of his lungs as he is sent rolling like a ball. The pecha that he’d been consuming is also accidentally dropped.

‘Bloody hell.’

“What is it, Rocky?” More annoyed than hurt, he stretches his neck out. Grabbing the pecha that had fallen out of his mouth.

“My name isn’t Rocky, Cool bro!” She squeaks out like a little chihuahua while he’s chewing the berry. “I’m Sturdy! Sturdy sis, that’s who I am! Study. Sister!”

‘Not only does she have rock hard head but she also has an adamant nature’ Inwardly he snides.

“Okay, Sturdy sis.” He says her ‘name’ in a sarcastic manner. Full well knowing that she is too young to comprehend the concept of sarcasm.

“Yep! That’s me.” Happily, she bounces in place. “Oh yeah.” A light bulb flashes above her head, suddenly remembering why she is even here ”It’s your turn to be a judge!” She says, eyes narrowing.

“Is it?” He asks. “I forgot”

“Yep yep!” Rocky further confirms. “Come on. I have to win the prize today. It’s been so long since I last won.” Her mouth waters as she speaks “I will win the mago berry today. Since you aren’t participating no other Mudkip will be able to challenge me”

Rocky is referring to the daily tournament that their group holds. There is one special berry bush on Rohan’s property that produces a very special ‘Mago Berry’. A berry that is without a doubt the best thing that he, Cool Bro, has ever had the pleasure of tasting. And that is saying something considering that he’s living his second life right now.

There is one problem though. That berry bush? It produces only a single berry a day.

Hence the necessity of a tournament. Nothing big and scary, there are no fights to the death here. Mostly it’s just them playing water dodgeball. In other words shooting water guns at the opponent while you yourself try not to get shot. There is also a simple contest of physical strength and the winner bags the mago berry for the day.

There’s eight other mudkips, nine in total. It is important for one of them to drop out of the tournament and act as the judge. That way their numbers are nice and even, making a simple and understandable bracket. On the first round there’s eight of them, then four on the second, and two on the finals.

Rocky eagerly wags her tail fin. “Come on! What are we waiting for?”

“I’m right behind you sis.”

The two of them hop on to where the mago berry tree is.