The Journal of Arthur Lindt
March 6th, 20XX
A lot has happened in the last day or so. Like a lot, a lot. My original plans have basically completely fallen through, although I’m not upset about it at all. I think the idea I had, of a monster team with insane power and mega evolution capability, was sort of just a default. Of course my first thought when I arrived in the world of Pokémon was to be the strongest, and that was the easiest path to doing so.
But I think that wish always felt a little off, especially as I learned more and more about this world. Base stats, EV’s, IV’s are all real things that the elite and most competitive trainers pay close attention to. Even the type specialist trainers like gym leaders and the like still build their teams around these ideas of strength and any exceptions to power are meant to be support and are part of specific strategies.
I should explain EV’s and IV’s actually, because even as a fan of Pokémon I never really focused on the ideas. I was never one to get into the competitive scene. EV’s or effort values, are the biggest contributor and probably the one people focus on the most since it’s the only one you can focus on changing as a trainer. The term stands for Effort Values, and they can be earned for each of the major stats a Pokémon can have.
These stats, for the completely uninitiated, are HP, Attack, Defence, Special Attack, Special Defence, and Speed. Now, in the games these are hard set numbers that can be determined at each level. You can literally check them at any time in the summary for your team. Same for EV’s and IV’s although they are tougher to actually check.
In this world it is important to know that these numbers are not as concrete. Base Stats when they are referred to, mean the max potential of all of a Pokémon’s stats combined. So Sunkern for example, is known to have base stats of 180. The max potential of each of its individual stats it’s considered to be 30 points in each category. Which, being completely objective, is terrible. These are pretty much the lowest stats of any recorded Pokémon in the Dex. It’s not great.
Now in the games these numbers are concrete, but can be modified by the aforementioned EV’s and IV’s. Effort Values, which can be earned by direct training, defeating other Pokémon and consuming vitamins and such in a diet, can be collected in each of the stats. Now how much EV’s raise your stats is determined by the strength you already possess in a very confusing and complicated formula. The gist of it is that the more Effort Values you have in a stat, the higher the stat can go above it’s base value. In the games it’s something like 1 stat for every 4 EV’s at max level, but given there isn’t a max level in this world that’s probably not exactly one to one.
IV’s, or inherent values, can not be modified after a Pokémon’s birth. They are predetermined at birth by the Pokémon’s lineage and also affect how high a stat value can get. If a Sunkern’s max value in a stat is supposed to be 30, it can only reach that value with maxed out EV’s and IV’s beforehand. Now in the game that’s it, with max values and the ideal circumstances a Sunkern could never go above 30 in stats. In this world however, that’s not quite true. There is no limit to the number of EV’s a Pokémon can collect, and as such there is technically no limit on their stat values. However there is an exponential increase to the amount of work you need to do to gain more and more stats.
So, gathering EV’s is considered very important, since there's no changing IV’s after a Pokémon is born. The easiest method of gaining EV’s is through integrating vitamins into a Pokémon’s diet, although Vitamins are very expensive to get your hands on. The second easiest method, and most common, is by defeating other Pokémon. Each Pokémon is considered to give a specific kind of EV once defeated. Sunkerns is Special Attack, while Heracross would have been Attack.
Yes, it would have been.
I guess I shouldn’t avoid talking about it. I found a Sunkern, and decided that they were going to be my starter. They’re driven, and want to be strong. They were being disrespected by Martin and his lackey’s and I just couldn’t handle it. So I told them off and stood up for Sunkern. I truly believe any Pokémon could be strong and they were clowning on this Sunkern for being ‘weak’.
It resulted in Martin challenging me to prove it, to battle with Sunkern and Juno. I accepted, and while I didn’t expect to win, Sunkern and I had never fought together and It’s clear Juno and Martin had trained a lot, I was still hoping to put up an okay fight. Maybe take a hit and get off one of our own. Prove Sunkerns potential.
It wasn’t even a challenge for Martin. A single Arm Thrust was all it took to throw Sunkern across the clearing and knock them out. Even the 3 or 4 growths they had gotten off did nothing to limit the damage they took. Martin didn’t bother even talking to me after the fact, he just looked down at us before walking off. He looked disappointed, but unbothered. I was left on my own to run Sunkern back to town. I didn’t want to put them in a ball without their permission, but it was the safest way to transport them. A regular Pokéball was what I used and I just sprinted back to Cherrygrove. After patching up Sunkern I would give them the option to leave or change balls, whatever they wanted, although I hoped they would want to continue being my starter, despite the loss.
In the end waiting was the worst part. Getting Sunkern to the Pokémon Center wasn’t hard, but took the better part of a day running the whole way, thankfully Lemon was there to watch my back for the walk. My first encounter with a Nurse Joy was there, she took Sunkern without much fanfare and brought him over to the machine at the back that scanned a Pokémon for injuries. Afterwards she looked at me much more closely before explaining that this Sunkern wasn’t terribly injured from the battle that it just had, but did need more intensive care as it had a lot of damage from injuries that didn’t heal properly. She said it looked like someone had used the poor thing as a punching bag for months.
I think she may have been suspicious of me, but that worry was passed when she noticed my anger. I explained what Martin and his friends had described to me, and what they had said. She had a look of anger on her face that matched my own after that and told me she would alert the Rangers and Martin’s family. It’s unlikely he’d be punished, but the warning they would give should serve as an appropriate example to keep it from happening again at least. She thanked me for caring enough to bring the Pokémon to safety, and that Sunkern would probably need a full day of treatment to be good to go.
I gave her the number of my new phone and asked her to call or message me whenever Sunkern was ready to go, and made my way out. I called my mom, telling her I was back in the city and had figured stuff out. We met at the hotel she was staying at and explained everything. She didn’t look angry from my story, just sad. She apologized that I had to see that, but said she was proud of me for sticking up for that Sunkern. It felt good to receive that kind of support and encouragement. It was nice to just relax and breathe with my mom after everything.
Tomorrow I would take the time to go collect Sunkern, and from there it would be about making new plans. Everything had changed now, and my dream of my old team needed to be thrown out. I had to build a team and plan around Sunkern and Pokémon like them. Hopefully I could find a way to make them into an ace Pokémon, the likes of which the world has never seen.
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Arthur Lindt
I still felt anxious even after waking up. I think I actually preferred sleeping outside while travelling compared to hotel room beds. I couldn’t tell you why, just something about a hotel room bed felt uncomfortable, they’re always either too soft or too hard. So to add to the list of things causing me anxiety there is the fact that I barely slept. Eventually though mom got up and we walked down to the hotel lobby to get breakfast.
Traditionally trainers would stay in the Pokémon Center during their Journey, since they provided free rooms during the circuit, although hotels were an option for those with the money to spare. Given that it wasn’t the circuit that service would not be available, so the hotel was our best bet. Mom didn’t bother booking another night as we left, as I had hoped Sunkern would be willing to stick around.
We ate breakfast in relative silence, although my mom interrupted that silence to ask one question just as we were finishing eating.
“Arthur, I know you are hoping that this Sunkern will join your team, but do you have a plan for if it chooses not to? I just don’t want you disappointed if your plans fall through again.” She looked worried for me, although the expression on her face was still gentle.
“If they don't want to join me then I’ll take them back to the route and let them go. Then maybe see if I can find a Spearow on the return trip to New Bark. I’m not sure, but I’m pretty confident Sunkern will want to go with me. They’re a fighter, I can tell.” I continued eating my breakfast, just some hotel eggs and toast. I didn’t look up to see my mom’s reaction but she breathed a sigh. I hoped it was relief and not exhaustion, but I didn’t want to risk the look. After a moment she spoke again.
“Wait a Spearow? I thought Pidgey was your backup plan. Why the change?” She asked me, not hiding her surprise.
“Well. Originally I just wanted a strong team because that’s what you’re supposed to want right? Like you had said, I never really had a long term goal other than being a strong trainer. That Sunkern changed things. People look down on some Pokémon for being weak, but I think anyone could be strong. So my new plan is to make a team with Pokémon that people look down on, that are underestimated.” I looked up after explaining this, only to see my mom smiling brightly. She looked happier than I had seen her in a long time.
“I… I think that’s a wonderful goal Arthur. Your father got a lot of judgment for having a Yamper as his starter. It was considered too slow and weak to be any value worth training. And this was in Galar, where people knew they evolved into Boltund, one of the fastest Pokémon around. They told him the effort to evolve a Yamper wasn’t worth it. He always said they were idiots, giving up on a driven Pokémon just because they thought their potential wasn’t high enough.” Lemon barked from the side of the table, looking directly at my mom and walking close to lay his head on her knee.
“Lemon here became your dad’s ace, despite what everyone said. So I think he’d be proud of your goal. I know I am.” I couldn’t help but tear up at her words. She didn’t talk about dad often, but when she did it always hit me right in the emotions. I didn’t say anything, I just stood up and walked around to give her a hug. We just sat like that for a moment, before breaking off the hug to actually try and finish our food.
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I was in a better mood as I finished eating, and we decided to spend our time waiting in the town’s park. Even Lemon was in a better mood, choosing to run laps on a sort of hamster wheel contraption set up near the playground. We unfortunately had to call him back from the toy when he started to go fast enough that the axle it spun on started to smoke. Turns out the wheel was not made to accommodate a Boltunds higher speeds.
It was maybe 30 minutes before noon that my phone rang. I pulled it out quickly to answer to hear a woman’s voice on the other end.
“Hi, is this Arthur?” A quick answer in the affirmative was all she needed as she continued, “Perfect, your Sunkern is healed and ready for pick up. We can give you a more official diagnosis when you get here.” I didn’t even bother to say thanks as I slammed the device shut and turned towards my mom.
“Mom, Sunkern is ready I have to-” She cut me off by raising a hand and speaking softly.
“Go ahead Arthur. I’ll wait here with Lemon, you can introduce us to Sunkern after you pick them up and they have a chance to get their bearings.” I gave a nod in the affirmative.
“Thanks mom, I’ll be back as soon as I can. I love you.” I shouted the last as I took off running once more towards the Pokémon Center. Any nervousness I had was replaced by excitement as I ran as quickly as I could, dodging passersby and their Pokémon as I made my way through the streets of Cherrygrove city.
Eventually though I reached the center. Slowing to a walk as I went through the sliding doors I made my way right up to the desk. Being as late into the league season as it was, the center was relatively empty, a couple individuals and their partner Pokémon, but not really any large or major teams. Certainly no one is crowding a line. I was able to walk right up and speak to the Joy who was there.
“Hi, it’s Arthur, here for Sunkern.” I tried to keep my voice down and stay as polite and professional as possible. I knew things with Sunkern looked bad, and while Joy believed my story it was still better to give them no reason to doubt.
“Ah, perfect. Wait right there and we will collect them for you.” She walked off towards the back of the center and through a set of doors that must have led to the more intensive care rooms. I waited for a moment, just taking the opportunity to glance around the center. There was a Chansey working at the back that gave me a look before turning its head away to focus on its work.
Chansey are interesting Pokémon. Their line is probably the most durable when it comes to raw health, although it is very limited in it’s ability to attack. They have a lot of healing and support moves that make them the favoured Pokémon of Nurse Joys and other healthcare officials. Still they aren’t unpopular, and a few normal type gym leaders have some on their elite teams. I had debated one for a while, but in the end it just wasn’t the tanky normal type I had considered, since I had thought Snorlax was better suited to the role. Though both were off the table now given the new team I wanted to form.
It only took a minute or so longer before Nurse Joy walked out carrying a bundle of bandages. When that bundle of bandages turned around to face me I realized it was the Sunkern from earlier covered in gauze, leaving only the sprout on the top of its head and its face exposed.
“Oh my Arceus, Sunkern, what happened to you. I didn’t think you were that badly injured.” I looked them over from top to bottom. They turned their eyes away from me, not wanting to look at me directly. It tried to shrink itself down and look as small as possible.
“Sunkern is okay, but unfortunately to treat the injuries that had healed incorrectly we had to peel away their outer seed casing. Thankfully grass types recover quickly and it should regrow that shell in no time, but it will need to keep those bandages on for at least another day to avoid risk of infection.” She spoke clearly and simply, making sure I understood everything. Nurse Joy’s had to be good at explaining things in layman's terms as a lot of people who came in with injured Pokémon would be younger kids getting too drawn into their battles.
“You should also keep them out of their ball and in the sun as much as possible, as that will help them recover faster. No battles for at least another day after the shell recovers too. It will be fragile while it’s fresh and we want to make sure everything heals properly before they start getting into it once again.” The Nurse Joy looked at me for confirmation, to which I nodded.
“I understand Nurse Joy. Bandages for one day, no battles until at least the day after. Let them get lots of sunshine.” The Nurse looked pleased at my answer before handing Sunkern over to me.
Even covered in the bandages they were light, less than a foot tall and couldn’t be more than 3 pounds they were small even for Sunkern, since the averages I researched placed most as about 4 pounds and a foot tall. It was okay though, Sunkern would get bigger as they trained and got stronger, before finally evolving into Sunflora once exposed to the energy of a Sunstone. I turned to walk away before stopping myself. I had one more question before I left.
“Oh, Nurse Joy. Before I go can you tell me if Sunkern here is a boy or a girl?” I unfortunately didn’t know enough about the species to tell by a single encounter. Sunkern wriggled in my arms and let out a cry.
“Kern. Sun… Kern.” It was very intentional in how it spoke, but I just couldn’t tell what it was trying to say. Most people said that you got better at understanding your Pokémon as time went on, and I hoped that would be the case for me as well. But as of right now I got nothing.
“That Sunkern is male, do take good care of them okay. We hope to see you again.” She gave a smile as she said the Pokémon Center’s motto. It was sort of an interesting motto, but given it was only a few decades ago that Pokémon dying from battles, and trainers dying on journey’s wasn’t uncommon, it made sense. If the trainer is well enough to get their partners to the center, that’s better than the alternative.
I gave the Nurse Joy a small bow before making my way out of the center, carefully holding the Sunkern in my arms. He perked up the moment we got outside, stretching the plant stalk that came out of the top of his head and giving his whole body a relaxed shiver as it clearly enjoyed the stretch.
“Alright Sunkern, let's find a spot to sit down, we got lots to talk about.” Sunkern tensed in my arms but didn’t object, as I carried him down the street and towards the North exit of town. I figured one of the benches on the outside of town would be perfect.
When I found a nice bench along the trail, in full view of the sun, I set Sunkern down on the bench in front of me. I took a knee down in front, making sure I could look him in the eyes as I spoke. I couldn’t understand his words at all yet, but I hoped with eye contact I could get the general idea of what he meant. I was surprised to see Sunkern turning his head away to not look at me. Small hops on the spot to make sure that he wasn’t facing me. I had thought that we wanted the same thing in being a team, but maybe I was wrong.
“Oh. Um, I’m sorry Sunkern. I thought you would still want to be my partner. I understand we lost that battle against Martin’s Heracross. I tried to give good orders but it was over so quickly. I wasn’t prepared for how strong Juno was. I’m sorry. I understand if you’d rather try and find another partner.” I was disappointed, but tried to hide it. Sunkern is entitled to his own choices, and I certainly wouldn’t force him to stay with me.
“Sun? Sunkern! Sun? Kern. Sunkern…” Sunkern jumped around quickly with its first cry. His face clearly showing the surprise he felt at what I had said. He followed by shaking his head and saying his own name firmly. The last cry’s were shy, almost afraid, and as he trailed off he refused to look at me again. Okay. Talking to Pokémon is hard. Not impossible, and I had an idea but boy would a talking Meowth be way easier.
“Okay, um. I’m not sure I understood that so just tell me if I got this right. You don’t want to leave, but you’re surprised I still want to be Partners?” I started with I was most sure of. Sunkerns first reaction only really makes sense if this is what he meant.
“Sunkern.” He nodded in response, and I took that as a good sign to continue.
“You still want to be my partner, but you were confused because… You thought that I wouldn’t want to be your partner?” That’s what I thought he might have said so I asked, but it didn’t make any sense.
“Sun…” He nodded again, this time looking more shy. I could see tears welling up in his eyes.
“Hey, there’s no need for that, of course I want to be your partner. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Kern. Sunkern.” He gave me wide eyes and looked away, embarrassment clearly visible on his face.
“You… You thought because we lost against Heracross I wouldn’t want you?” I almost couldn’t believe his reaction, but then I thought about all the things Martin and his friends had said about weakness. All the things they said about how a Sunkern wasn’t worth the effort to train. I stood by him for a battle that he immediately lost. Of course he was afraid I wouldn’t want him anymore.
“Oh buddy. Okay Sunkern I’ll be honest. I didn’t expect us to win that battle.” Sunkern looked back up at me in shock. “I know, I know. I was all confident in standing by you and saying you could be strong too. And I still believe that. But the truth is we weren’t going to beat Heracross there. Juno had more training, more experience, was in better condition and had the type advantage. It just wasn’t a battle you could win.” Sunkern looked disappointed and stared down, little sniffles could be heard. I sat down on the bench beside him, lifting him to sit on my lap.
“I know it’s sad. It sucks to know you did your best and it wasn’t enough. But that’s what we are going to be in for. My goal Sunkern, because of you, is to make a team of forgotten and overlooked Pokémon strong. To do that won’t be easy. We will have to work hard, harder than anyone else. We will have to come up with special and unique strategies. And we are going to have to lose. Like a lot.” He squirmed in my hands, turning around and looking up at me with big eyes.
“I know it sounds counterproductive, but losing teaches us more than winning ever will. We are going to be climbing the circuit ladder and facing trainers with tougher and more experienced Pokémon than us everyday. We will lose a lot, but through that process we will become strong. We will win the battles where they matter, and we will prove everyone wrong.” I looked Sunkern in the eyes, surprised to see them glaring with excitement and determination. He looked like a tiny, angry little mummy. It was adorable.
“Oh, you like the sound of that buddy?” I asked my new partner, making sure to hold him up to look me in the eyes.
“SUNKERN!” His cry was loud in response, enough that I might have guessed he used screech if I didn’t know any better.
“Ow ahaha. Okay buddy I get it. Well then I officially welcome you to my team. Once your bandages come off and you're fully healed we will start training. We have a lot of work to do to get ready before the League starts in July. We will be training almost constantly, figuring out strategies that work the best and play to your strengths. Can you handle that?” I ask the question knowing the answer. Sunkern shakes his little body in my hands in a nod.
“Sunkern.” He says it much quieter this time, but with the same intensity and determination.
“Aha, I knew you would be. Well that’s perfect. Now, before we begin, we have to pick you a name. I could just call you Sunkern, but that doesn’t have the same weight as a team ace needs. You need a name that screams power, that lets people know to be afraid when you come out.” Sunkern nods along, looking very excited by the idea of having a mighty name.
I had given it some thought already of course. The most powerful move a Sunkern or Sunflora could learn was solar beam. Add to it that they could learn sunny day, well I knew I wanted a name that invoked the power of the sun. A name that would embody the fear of the sun that his presence would put on the battlefield. I think I had the perfect one picked out too.
“Okay. Well how about Nova. The name of the explosion that occurs when a star dies. You are going to be the force of the sun.” I looked at my partner with excitement. His eyes grew wide, glimmering with wonder.
“Sun… Kern!” He started his answer slowly before shouting at the end of it. I could tell he loved it.
“Perfect. Then here’s to us, Nova and Arthur. We are going to stir up some shit with this partnership. Let me tell you that.” I gave my new partner a wide smile, which he returned in kind. We had a long way to go, but the road ahead was one I knew we could walk. Together we would become the strongest champions the world has ever seen. I knew it in my heart. There was no other option for us. Victory was the only outcome we would accept, no matter how hard we had to work to get there.