Birds (Or bird-Esque Pokémon) chirp. As the sun rises and so do I. After a quick yawn and stretch, I check in on my team. Min is currently sweeping the floors with his tails, he is very much an early bird. Meanwhile, Roselia is just walking back and forth in front of the TV. I think she’s trying to get used to her new body. ‘Must be weird to go your whole life without arms, and then you suddenly get them. On the bright side, at least her bandana can go around her neck now.’
I start my daily chores, I prepare my team’s breakfast then make myself a cup of coffee. The food I made for my team is the best I can make, Cora taught me a lot about Pokémon diets during my short time at the pokecenter. Breakfast has a mix of kibble and berries, the berries vary between the two but I also add some thin slivers of Chesto Berries to get them energized.
My meal is just some oatmeal, as I eat spoonfuls of my breakfast I decide to chart out my course, in my head. ‘Right, so we’re for sure going to Dizzyfield. After that, I could go through a mountain pass to Waterstill or just go to Bonescrap, and then Waterstill.’ I tap my spoon on my bowl as I think of my choices. On one hand, going to Bonescrap and then Waterstill is safer, but on the other, the mountains house a lot of strong Pokémon. I turn my gaze over to Roselia ‘Ah, right.’ I mutter under my breath “Status.”
Roselia
- Attack: E+/A
- Defense: C-/C+
- Special Attack: B/S+
- Special Defense: C+/A+
- Speed: B-/A
- Luck: B+/B+
- Reactions: B-/A
- Intelligence: A/S
[Overall Omitted]
- Moves: Mega Drain, Growth, Stun Spore, Worry Seed, and Poison Sting
‘So absorb changed into Mega Drain, and she learned Poison Sting. Her max and current stats have jumped up, but she still has an evolution after this one so it may become even higher.’ I decided that when we’re on the road, we should train up these moves and see if she can learn any more. Turning back my attention to the map, I tap my finger on my chin and take another bite of oatmeal. ‘Right, I think the move to go after Dizzyfield would be through the mountains. After all, the sooner I have a full team the sooner I don’t have to worry about catching anymore. Oh, right. I don’t have a sponsor so even if I did catch more than six Pokémon, they’d end up in the PC. Heard it’s kinda like a long sleep, sounds kinda unpleasant…’ I shake my head and decide to just focus on the next gym in Dizzyfield.
The Dizzyfield gym is a grass gym, and that kinda counters me. Min is neutral to it, and while Roselia does have Poison Sting now, that’s still a very weak move. It would be nice if I could find a bug or fire type with some good stats to add to the team. I’ve been avoiding types for a while because I figured that it wouldn’t matter too much in an actual world like this…But that may have been a bad thought to have. Roselia, as Budew, was only able to KO Sandygast after taking that hit because Absorb was super effective. ‘Just something to keep in mind when I choose my next partner, I guess.’
I begin to pack anything I left lying around the room, after throwing the edited alarm clock and after organizing the bag, everything I owned was neatly packed into the bag. I return my team to their pokeballs, and after checking out with the receptionist I start my trek to route 104. I took one last look at Shaleshallows, ‘I should come back here one day, the beach was nice, and so was that museum. Mt. Brimstone, I doubt I’ll ever visit it, but if I do I’m checking out those ringing rocks.’ I take a deep breath and step onto the trail.
=====
Alira returns her Sandshrew to its ball, ‘And, another challenger defeated.’ She prattles out some half-hearted speech about growing from mistakes and loss. While she agreed with the concept of it, she just got tired of repeating the same thing to everyone who loses here. Normally any new challengers would pass fairly painlessly, but after her battle with Elliot, she’s been a bit harder on the new trainers. Maybe it’s just her personal biases talking, but she feels like the challengers have been getting weaker and more entitled recently.
A few days before she fought Elliot there was that Atlas kid, who just sent out a veteran Venomoth. Then there was that Evan, fellow. Just seeing the way he talked to his pokemon makes her want to sick Palossand on him. She lets out a sigh as she walks back through the locker room and into the hallway. Waiting for her in the hallway is a fairly unfamiliar figure in these parts, wearing a black trenchcoat and wearing a smug expression is Kieran.
“Why hello there, Alira!” Kieran approaches her. Out of the shadows, steps his partner Liepard, who promptly walks side by side with the dark gym leader. Alira doesn’t know much about Kieran, she knows his last name is Pardus, and that he always fights at full strength. But, other than those surface-level things? She knows nothing of him, like most she only knows the stuff he wants her to know.
“Howdy to you too, so what can I do for you?” Alira’s tone turns chipper once more, though maybe a bit strained. After all, she knows that he can’t just be here for some fun in the sun. The man stops his approach just two feet away from Alira, resting his hand on Liepard’s head.
“I’m sure we both know why I’m here.” He pauses for a bit to scratch Liepard behind the ear. “I’m here to check out the recent death of one, Sir Almas.” Alira’s face unknowingly raises one eyebrow. “Sir?” She asks. The sharp eyes of the man seem to darken just one hue, almost like he’s looking past the scenery around him. And after one second they gain just a hint of light, “Oh, it’s nothing to worry your pretty little head over, kid.” His tone is now much more casual.
Alira simply nods, and Kieran continues. “I’m here to check out some files, catch up, maybe talk some gym talk?” He places his free hand into his pocket, while he scratches Liepard under the chin. Alira’s shoulders relax, she was a bit worried he was here due to the ‘Elliot Incident.’ After all, that could be seen as an abuse of power…even though the audience came of their own volition. But then again, the law is a very tricky thing that Alira still has trouble comprehending even after two years of being a gym leader.
“Well, I’m always up for a talk! I can get us some drinks if you want.” She reaches into the pockets of her overalls for her phone but stops when Kieran responds, “Hm, I’ll pass on the drinks. Let’s just walk and talk, after all. You’ve done something Pretty interesting lately.” He over-enunciates the ‘Pr’ in pretty, making it much more mocking. Alira sighs, ‘Of course, I can’t get off that easy…’
Alira chuckles uneasily, “Right…” She sighs. Kieran continues, “So, why did you go through all that trouble for that kid? I talked to some of the audience members and they said that you wanted to help him ‘Get used to this.’ but is that really, the sole reason you did it?” he scratches his chin in thought. “I mean, if you wanted to get him used to an audience then why did you bother with the three-badge team? Vice versa as well. Put them together, and sure I can see how this will help him, but I’m sure any number of newbies have the same worries as him.” He continues, making sure to over-punctuate the next question, “So. Why. Him?”
“Geez, all the detective work has really, made you paranoid…” She pauses for a bit, lost in thought. Kieran patiently waits for Alira to continue speaking, taking this pause to scratch Liepard on the forehead.
After she finally organized her thoughts she began to speak, “Well, in all honesty, it was a bit of a whim. But, I think I helped out Elliot due to how much he reminded me of Kendrick.” Kieran raises one eyebrow, “In what way?”
“I first met Kendrick near the start of my journey, you might remember that. During the opening ceremony, he went against Drayden, that guy with a weird beard.” Kieran nods and Alira continues “Kendrick was even more of a wreck that day, especially since his opponent was so…” She circles her hand around before finding the right word. “Intimidating…Anyway, he botched his speech. Dropped all of his notecards on the ground.” Kieran recalls his own, memory of that day.
He recalls it quite clearly as he was acting as the referee since the original one decided to cancel last minute, with some family emergency, something about a birth or something. He didn’t really, care. Anyway, he saw how red Kendrick’s face got when he dropped the cards…He honestly thought he was going to cry.
“I definitely, remember…” He motions for Alira to continue and she does just that, “After all of that, I…and probably everyone else, didn’t think much of him. Especially next to Drayden. But as soon as the match started his whole vibe changed.” She puts her hand on her chin, “He went from this…” She made a bunch of anxious-looking motions with her hands, twiddling her thumbs and waving her hands around in faux nervousness “To this!” She strikes a heroic pose, then mocks pushing a pair of glasses on her face, the make-believe lens catching the sun’s light. Kieran just nods.
“It was like he just…switched a flip or something. He went from being so self-conscious of the crowd to not even noticing them.” When she said that, Kieran could’ve sworn stars formed in her eyes. “So…how does this relate to Mr. Walker…?” Kieran starts to tap his foot impatiently. “Right! So basically, I got the same feeling from Elliot!” Alira said it so sure, but Kieran was just absolutely lost…He sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose.
“So, basically you want to help him because…He gives off similar vibes to the champ?” Kieran asks for confirmation and receives it with a very excited nod. He rubs his chin, clearly thinking of something. What Alira said is the truth, well most of the truth. She didn’t mention the Sandygast Reserve thing, or that weird feeling Palossand tried to describe to her. It’s pretty hard trying to decipher what a living sand castle says, but she believes that he was trying to say that Elliot was…Blessed? No, not that…Right? Was it, trustworthy…But Palossand is notoriously distrustful…In the end, it’s something she can’t figure out.
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“Well, I guess I won’t pry then.” He turns around and starts to walk away, “I’ll see you around, Alira.” He waves goodbye with the back of his hand. “Ah, Kieran that’s not where the exit is.” But, her words go on deaf ears as he and Liepard walk into the shadows, which seem to disappear with him. The lights flicker on. She didn’t even notice they were off in the first place, she looks to where Kieran was and sees nothing but a dead end. “Wow, that was a really, cool exit.” Alira gives that two thumbs up and decides to make her own, considerably less cool, exit.
=====
The past few hours on the road have been pretty uneventful, after I started walking I decided to let my team out. I got really, bored being by myself. The route is very similar to the one I walked to get to Shaleshallows, just with a view of the ocean popping up every so often. But even that was soon gone as we went further inland.
As we walked Min helped out Roselia get used to her new limbs, walking next to her at a slow pace and stopping her from falling when she loses her balance. Roselia has got better at walking in her new body thanks to the trek. I walk past several trainers, some in battle or some setting up camps, those in camps seem to all be making sandwiches. ‘Is it some new fad, or something?’
As we walk I look over my current funds, I got 15,000 dollars for winning the gym fight. Bringing me up to 47,850. Quite a bit…I have a decent amount of supplies left, so maybe I should buy some TMs? Or buy those evolution stones…No, I should get TMs. We still have quite a ways to go before my team hits their limit, plus I don’t want them to accidentally evolve or something.
The sun starts to set on the trail, and I find a small man-made clearing with a stone fire pit in the middle. A few other tents are set up around it, but still plenty of space for my tent. I throw down the self-expanding tent and set up my Hostile Seeking Alarm Clock™ and settle in for the night. I decide to leave my team out of their pokeballs and hope that a childless Kangaskhan doesn’t kidnap me… ‘Is it concerning that, that’s totally possible?’ I yawn my worries away and drift off.
=====
“Roselia, Mega Drain!” I wave my hand as I yell out the order. Roselia dramatically points her red flower at the Skitty, a cruel and almost evil expression across the grass type’s face. A swarm of small green orbs flies into her flower hand, and the cat-like pokemon tries to retaliate with a tackle, which went against her trainer’s command to “Zigzag!” and soon due to that overconfidence the Skitty faints. ‘Should’ve listened to your trainer.’
The trainer, which was a boy wearing a blue cap, hands me fifty bucks and returns his ‘mon. He walks towards, what I can only assume to be his camp, for rest. “Alright, good job Roselia!” I offer her a high five, which she very carefully returns. Roselia seems to be pretty careful with her flower hands, not sure if they’re just sensitive or if she just doesn’t want to ruffle their petals. I find it a bit amusing, especially her dramatic poses. As soon as she got the hang of her arms she started to strike a whole bunch of overdramatic poses that would make any Jojo character proud.
Not sure if she just poses for dramatic flair or some unknown tactic, but I find it very enjoyable as I also kinda strike a pose when I give out commands. Granted mine is just a swipe or point of the hand, but I can’t deny that it’s a pretty unnecessary action. Roselia hops into my hood, poking her head just out of it, with a light chuckle I continue the walk.
Route 104 is fairly short, but I’ve been fighting a bunch of trainers to get Roselia adjusted to her new form. Apparently, evolution makes you get used to your form quickly, but not automatically. As I walk, I hum a small tune that makes Min fall asleep on my shoulder. he kept watch, last night even though I didn’t ask him to. I guess after the Kangaskhan Fiasco he’s become a bit paranoid about camping, which is fair, he was forced to wear a bonnet after all.
The tune I hum is just some random song I made up on the spot, it sounds a bit like a lullaby but with the tempo of a boss fight theme. I’ll admit that I’m not really musically talented, as I pause to make up the next note in the song.
As I walk I finally spot a sign that reads “Now Entering Dizzyfield” I let out a silent ‘Hurray!’ and continue my walk. The trail leads down a hill that gives me a decent vantage point to look at the town. The town is made up of a few dozen houses, just a bit bigger than Maple’s Burrow, the houses are made of brick and look a bit similar to Shaleshallows houses, only apart further and with roofs. ‘Maybe Shaleshallows helped make the town? After all, they’re just a day and a half trek away from each other.”
One building stands out as the standard stadium, the signature of the gyms. Surrounding the small town is a much more impressive field. Small ranch houses are scattered across the fields, one field is growing a golden sea of wheat, another a field of corn, and the next are some root or some leafy vegetables. The fields themselves are almost triple the size of the town, Dizzyfield is truly deserving of the title of ‘Largest Food Producer of Olamin.”
I look past the fields, which seem to be almost endless, and to an orchard that almost rivals the fields. I can only guess they farm apples, and grapes, all that good stuff. ‘Wow, wonder if they sell tours?’ Something to check up on later. For now let’s find a place to stay, then sign up for a gym battle sometime in the future. ‘Maybe I should check out the YourTube channel here, scope out the leader’s pokemon.’ I nod in satisfaction with that plan.
As I walk through the town, I take in the smell of various cuisines, most of the houses in this town were just restaurants or cafes. Finally, I managed to find a hotel, but also ended up grabbing three cones of cotton candy, one for my team and one for me. ‘Welp, from 47,850 to 47,841’ I enter the hotel, which was called “The Hotel Local” I sign into the room, deciding to pay on a day-to-day basis. The room is quaint, not as nice as the one in Shaleshallows, but overall pretty nice.
‘Alright, goal one, done.’ I walk towards the bed, my team sense what I’m about to do and hop off from their respective perches on my body. I flop onto the bed. The bed is nice, not too firm but not too soft. The blanket’s a bit canvas-y for my taste, but overall 8/10 bed. I sit up and take out my phone, ‘Time for some preparation, and by that, I mean binging YourTube videos.’
=====
Kieran approaches the burnt husk of a jewelry store, while the brick it was made of stands fairly intact the inferno encompassed the entire store making it look like a huge piece of charcoal. Next to Kieran is Officer Jenny, to be exact it’s one of the Jennys of Shaleshallows, not his partner on the case Officer Jenny. He always found the whole Jenny and Joy thing a bit confusing, which is why he had decided to dub his partner Penny Jenny.
He walks through the burnt store very carefully, his steps as light as snow, after all, who knows what the fire did to the interior of this place and if it has a basement…Well, he’d rather not fall into another basement on a case. Melted globs that, he can only assume used to be jewelry or display cases, litter the floor. He closes his eyes, focusing his psychic powers as he kneels to the floor placing his hand on the soot-covered ground.
Near the doorway there’s confusion, but then submission. A tell-tale sign of Hypnosis. It enters the store and a fight occurs, the brainwashed person loses. Kieran assumes the brainwashed guy is Lester Middle, a small-time thug who died in the fire.
The store owner, Sir Almas, was secretly knighted forty-five years ago when he was twenty-eight years old. Kieran knew, vaguely, why he was knighted in such a manner. They wanted him to guard something, he doesn’t know what, but he knows that it was important enough to warrant this secrecy.
Kieran keeps his focus. Almas is not at all intimidated, easily disposing of two pokemon with his one. Then something kills Lester, something…Empty. The one from the Distorted Pokemon incidents, it would seem. After all, Kieran doubts that two husks of humans exist in Olamin. A fight breaks out, and Almas mega evolves, the tendril-like bonds connect so clearly this pokemon must have been his starter. Soon, another pokemon forms near Almas, something grabs Almas and some words are spoken. Kieran assumes at least. The culprit looks for something but doesn’t find it, fear spikes in Almas, soon determination forms, and soon Almas’s emotions fade, dead. In the culprit’s hands is a strong source of aura, like an amped-up mega stone.
Soon Almas’s pokemon dies and the culprit sends out a third pokemon, presumably a fire type, and the store burns down. Kieran lets out a sigh. He reaches into his trench coat and starts to write down the important bits, particularly the source of a strong aura. Kieran recalls a recording from a space station that depicted the legendary pokemon Rayquaza changing forms close to mega evolution. He’ll have to dig up the footage and see if he can find whatever caused that mega-evolution and anything related to it.
Kieran lets out a sigh if his theory is correct, and he really hopes it isn’t, then Aura is what powers these tears in the earth, which leaks out distorted pokemon. So if this has more Aura than any normal mega stone…It could lead to disaster.
“Hey, Officer Jenny, I’m done here.” I wave for her to come here, and she does so. “I’ll put the transcript of the Emotion Recollection into the case’s file, but right now I want you to find someone good at digging up old videos.” Jenny lets out a hesitant nod. “When you find them, tell them to give me a call.” Kieran pulls out a business card from his inner coat pocket, “That’s my personal cell, so try not to leak it.” He says sarcastically, reforming his smug expression.
The officer says nothing, but her expression tells him that she’ll figure something out. If not he’ll just do it himself, in the meantime though he’s got to figure out some other clues. Then an idea hits him, “Ah, one more thing! Give me a list of anyone who’s sold, bought, even entered the shop for about as far back as you’ve got.” The officer gives one more nod and soon Kieran leaves the scene, his mind already trying to think of what the culprit’s next move will be.
=====
After my video scrolling, which went on for the rest of that day, I figured out…well, not much that would give me an advantage. The gym leader, Melora, is pretty straightforward in fights. She seems to just blast through any pokemon, valuing strength over much of anything else. She’s still pretty smart though, often shouting down any plans to edit the terrain or to get an advantage. The best goal would be to just try to fight them head-on, well at least in my opinion anyways.
‘This just confirms the fact that I need a fire type, a bug type, or at least a flying type. Actually, a bug type would be preferred, Melora’s ace pokemon always seems to be from the Exeggutor line.’ I resolve my will for the search for a new team member, now normally I would ask the Ask App, but that’s been pretty much shut down… ‘But, maybe I can work around that?’ I whip out my phone and start to brainstorm some ideas.
“Where do strong pokemon live in Route 104.”
[Blocked, Reason: Violates Code One.]
‘Yeah, that would be too easy…’ I try to think of something else, something I knew about animals. ‘Ah, maybe this?’
“Watering holes near me.”
[A watering hole is located, 28.2 miles away, please follow the arrow.]
A small arrow pops up on the screen, pointing me in the general direction I want to go. ‘Yes! It worked, so if my theory is correct…which I hope it is, then there should be a lot of pokemon at a watering hole. After all, a watering hole is basically a communal food and fresh water source for animals, and probably even more so for pokemon. Well, at least I’m pretty sure that’s what it is…Hopefully, I didn’t get confused with something else…’ I shake the bad thoughts out of my head.
I look to where the arrow is pointing, which seems to be back to Route 104. I’m actually a bit intrigued to see what this might look like in the pokemon world, from my vague knowledge of this stuff from some lion documentary, I know that it’s common to hunt there, but in the pokemon world that may not be the case. After all, pokemon are as smart and even sometimes smarter than humans…well, guess I won’t know till I check it out.