Before following the arrow to my destination, I figured I should probably buy some stuff. And by stuff I mean one pokedoll and some repels. Making my new balance 45,941. I’ve decided that keeping a close eye on my money is a good thing, luckily I haven’t bought anything big so I’m still in the green. I decide to do some research before going to the watering hole, my research is mostly about the pokemon and events that have transpired in route 104.
The pokemon search was a bit much, Olamin is a region right in the center of everything else so a lot of pokemon tend to make stops here when migrating. This makes the wildlife here very diverse, while that does worry me a bit about how that affects the ecosystem, it seems like they have it all under control. Ignoring the large list of sighted pokemon in the forest of route 104 and moving on to big events that happened around there reveals that, almost half a century ago there was a forest fire. The first on the scene of that fire was an unnamed trainer who, with his partner Ivysaur, manage to contain it to one area saving the rest of the forest.
It seems that one area has grown back wonderfully, the ash acting as a natural fertilizer, and has since been called Ashen Pond. Luckily, any ashes in the pond have been purified, making it a great source of freshwater. ‘I have a sneaking suspicion that that’s where I’ll have to go.’ This makes sense, the ash made a whole bunch of berry bushes and other food plants grow, and since it’s right next to a water source of course it would make for a great watering hole. A lot of pokemon would probably get their food and water there.
I exit out of Pory-Goon and back into the Ask App, which is still pointing my way to the watering hole. I look over to Min, who’s on my shoulder, “Well, ready to get a new team member?” I ask and receive a cheerful “Min!” in response, I chuckle slightly and start my hike.
The hike is a very, very, long one. I try to keep on trails leading to Ashen Pond, only to find out there are none. So this means that I have to go stumbling through bramble and other nasty plants. I had to take a break after the trek reached 7 hours long, my feet are sore, I have a bunch of small scratches, and if it wasn’t for the Ask App’s arrow I would’ve thought I was completely lost. I sigh, I think I’m about halfway there, but I might have to camp for the night, ‘Aw, crap did I cancel my hotel room?’ I did, in fact, not do that, so if I do end up staying the night here I’ll have to pay for a room I didn’t even use. My sigh deepens. ‘Whatever, as long as I get a new teammate, some wasted money is fine.’
Looking up to the sky the sun starts to set, “Yeah, definitely going to set up camp.” I say to myself. Since my team got tired of being pricked by thorns and went into their pokeballs. Allowing me to suffer alone. I managed to find a small clearing that’ll fit my expandable tent, it unfurls and I consider setting up a fire, ‘I have some matches, but then again it’s not that cold out here…I think I’ll be fine, hopefully.’
As I set up my hostile-seeking alarm clock, I begin to realize how dangerous this is. I just walked into the woods, didn’t tell anyone, and am now camping in those woods, probably surrounded by dangerous creatures…I will admit, I’m a bit of a dumbass. I let out Min and Roselia inside the tent, zip it up, and soon slip into my sleeping bag. Min curls up on my stomach and Roselia sits down in a corner to presumably keep watch. Sleep was hard to find that night and when I did it was for only a few hours at a time, I kept waking up in the middle of the night at the sounds that went bump in the night.
=====
Finally, the day breaks, and I make quick work of putting away my camp, Min and Roselia take the liberty of going inside their pokeballs as soon as I start putting stuff away. I stifle a yawn and open back up the ask app, luckily the arrow is still pointing, and my trek starts once more.
The closer I get closer to the Ashen Pond, the more noises I hear with no sign of whatever made it. Off in the distance a stick snaps, and with it, my anxiety snaps up to an all-time high, at least with Palkia and Dialga I knew where they were. But this? The strange sensation of being seen without seeing the viewer is almost bone-chilling. I sigh, ‘Let’s just keep going, I don’t think they’ll mess with me…But let’s just keep an eye out anyway.’
Along with the sounds with no sources, the closer I get to the pond the more smoke I smell… Which, is a bit weird considering I don’t see any smokestacks or anything indicating a fire in the distance. I decided to brush it off as something that happened due to the forest fire, but the back of my mind nagged me that, that wasn’t how that worked. I look at the arrow, then look at I map I queued up on Pory-Goon. ‘Looks like it’s just a mile away.’ Which, thank god for that because I had already been walking for around six or so hours starting as soon as I woke up.
I reach into my bag and snack on a granola bar, ‘Not a real breakfast, but better than nothing.’ The bar is soon annihilated and I stuff the wrapper into my pocket. Just a bit further… ‘Man, I’m really, not going to like the trip back…’
Finally, I spot the pond. A small body of water with various plants surrounding it, I walk up to it, looking at my reflection in the water. I see my own exhaustion, but I focus more on the small scrapes on my face. ‘Ugh, how long will those take to heal…’ I think as I pluck a stick out of my hair, that was harder than I thought it would because the stick got tied up in a sailor's knot in my hair. Impressive? Sure. Annoying? Definitely.
As I pluck out a thorn that was stuck in my jacket, I feel a fiery gaze pierce the back of my head. I turn my head back and spot a small humanoid pokemon… ‘The hell is that?’ This weird pokemon is around two feet tall, and a plume of fire flares from its head like a ponytail. On its forehead is some sort of black helmet, only the forehead bit, engraved in it are three small triangles that point toward the center of its forehead. I look at it, and it looks at me, its eyes have a constant small stream of fire rising from them. ‘I thought I might remember what it was if I looked a bit closer, but…I really have no idea what this thing is.’
“Uh, hello there.” I take one step closer to it. Under my breath, I mumble “Status”
Charcadet
- Attack: C/B-
- Defense: C+/S+
- Special Attack: B-/S-
- Special Defense: D+/A+
- Speed: E/B-
- Luck: B/B
- Reactions: D-/B+
- Intelligence: B/A+
[Omitting Overall]
‘Wow, those are some nice stats. Charcadet…I’ve never heard of it before.’ I take another step closer, Charcadet seems to be pretty calm, but why? A lot of wild pokemon tend to avoid humans, like how wild animals would, but not this guy…No, he seems way too calm. In fact, he looks almost… Listless? Like I’m some boring chore or something. A few seconds pass and not much happens I just stare at this pokemon and he stares back. The more that I look at him the more I feel like he looks familiar, but I can’t quite place the memory.
The Charcadet, who was quiet this whole time, finally says a quick “Ca.” and soon two blades made of ghostly flames are pointed towards my neck. I almost stumble back but am stopped by something that feels like a suit of armor standing behind me. The pokemon with its blades pointed at my neck, I assume. I stifle my urge to scream, instead opting to try some negotiations, “Um, hello there. Can I help you with something?” This was the first thing I could come up with. My voice cracked from my poorly contained fear.
The two chat amongst themselves and I, not being a pokemon, am left in the dark about whatever they were scheming. As they chat a third pokemon walks up, this one I recognize but only barely. Before I left my world Pokemon Scarlet and Violet were revealed, and among those reveals were two pokemon. The new pokemon was Armarouge, two huge yellow pauldrons resting on its shoulders, which means the pokemon behind me must be Ceruledge since it’s the only pokemon I know of with ghostly fire blades.
I realize that Charcadet must be the pre-evolution of these two, ‘If I remember correctly these two are game exclusives…did they ever announce how they evolved?’ I shelf those thoughts and make a small promise to try and sift through my memories later. Armarouge says something in a very calm voice. But, Ceruledge seems to dislike whatever that was because the two flame swords are now closer to my throat.
The flames streaming out of Armarouge’s eyes flare up, and with a reluctant “Cerule.” Ceruledge’s swords lower to its side. I take a step forwards, away from the bladed pokemon, and look at the two fully evolved pokemon. “Well, thanks for not dicing me up…” I kinda forgot what I was planning to do here for a moment. I am reminded when I take another look at the Charcadet, ‘Let’s see, fire type, good stats, good potential…He’s like a prime candidate to join my team.’ I take my gaze over to the two fully evolved pokemon, ‘Though I doubt they’d let me take him with me…’
The two fully evolved pokemon seem to be arguing in a hushed tone, Ceruledge is a bit taller than the Armarouge, but the Armarouge seems to be winning the argument as the other clicks its tongue and Armarouge lets out, what I assume to be, a small chuckle. When he does so, something just seems to randomly click into place ‘Ah, they must be the Charcadet’s parents…How did I not realize that sooner?’
Armarouge motions for me to follow him, he takes Charcadet’s hand and starts to walk. Ceruledge, meanwhile, is staying behind me watching me a little bit too closely. ‘I mean, I get it, but…’ I turn around, my eyes focusing on the pair of blades that were near my throat just a few minutes prior, ‘It does make me a bit…Uncomfortable.’ I considered bringing out my team but decided against it. After all, they may see that as a threat, and even if we did fight them I have a sneaking suspicion we would lose.
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The trio brings me towards a clearing, small huts of varying sizes and materials are scattered across the clearing. ‘This looks like some type of tribe? Like with Kangaskhan. But with huts instead of caves.’ As we pass by a Breloom bows its head towards Armarouge, and by bow I mean a perfect 90-degree bow. ‘This place seems a bit more hierarchical than Kangaskhan’s. Which acted a bit more...Relaxed.’ In the center of the tribe huts is a well-made tower, made of cobblestone and some type of dark wood as supports, with the roof made of thatch.
Armarouge leads his son into the tower, saying something in the pokemon’s language then closing the door once Charcadet was fully inside. Armarouge’s fiery gaze focuses intensely on me, ‘Ah, that’s a bit intimidating…How should I explain my goal? I know they’ll understand me…But I won’t understand them.’ On an unrelated note, I just noticed that Ceruledge just disappeared without a sound during my walk into the village.
Luckily it seems like the…Chief? Lord? Boss, had the same idea. With a blip of psychic energy a pokemon with one spoon strapped in a holster on its hip, like a gun, teleports next to the Boss. The Kadabra’s eyes flash with the pink energy of psychic typing, the light envelopes the Boss’s eyes first. From my interactions with Fen, I know that they are currently having a telepathic conversation. Though Kadabra’s eyes glow brighter than Fen's eyes did, maybe due to having more psychic power from being a psychic type?
Suddenly a strained voice entered my mind ‘Hello?’ I jump a bit, the voice sounds scratchy like it had a sore throat…Thinking back, it sounds a bit like when I yelled my heart out in the car crash. The raw voice continues, obviously not used to speaking the human language, ‘State your name and your business.’ I breathe deeply, calming my nerves. I’m unsure if I should bow or not. I decided against it. “Hello, I’m Elliot Walker.” My lips move before my mind “I’m in search of a new team member.”
I point toward my belt, where Min and Roselia’s pokeballs are resting. “I’m a trainer.” I figure that should be enough exposition for them. Kadabra’s eyes flash once more, and I feel an alien presence inside my mind. The sudden intrusion threats to tip me over, and I’m unsure of what to do ‘Is this a test? Is this an attack? Should I be doing something?’ I decided to just try to focus on my thoughts of getting a third member. Though I doubt it did anything, soon the presence leaves and Kadabra speaks once more, ‘You speak the truth.’
I keep a neutral expression on my face, which hopefully wasn’t faltering from my nervous thoughts, ‘Did he just read my mind? Oh shit, did he find out about the system? Or the whole other world thing?’ I also realize that thinking about these things probably isn’t helping, so I quickly shove the thoughts away. Kadabra turns towards Armarouge, they appear to have another psychic talk. Which seems to end poorly as Armarouge’s eyes flare up with rage. I begin to scream internally.
Kadabra speaks…rather thinks, once more ‘Your intent tells me you wish to take the young lord as your team member, is this true?’ My eyes widen a bit in shock. Sure I thought about it, but I already figured that would be impossible. Once more my lips move before my mind has processed any new information, “Yes.” I’m shocked at my own response. Silence blankets the air and I soon realize what I just said, moments pass and the two pokemon have decided to stop using telepathy opting to use the language of pokemon as they argue. They yell out their names, and an obvious disagreement seems to be forming between them. Meanwhile, I’m just standing there, like a child in the middle of their parents arguing.
As the two argue I try to take reign on my emotions, this whole time I’ve just been responding with no thought put into it. I take a few deep breaths, exhaling after holding them for a few seconds. My heart rate slows down a bit, and my mind feels a bit less cluttered. ‘Interesting.’ I flinch at the sudden return of Kadabra’s voice. I look over and see him still arguing with Armarouge, he continues ‘I can’t help but notice your weird way of aura usage.’
Kadabra seems to be multitasking this conversation and his debate with Boss, living up to his intelligence as a soon-to-be Alakazam. I’m unsure how to reply, or if I should. I don’t know how to speak back to him using my thoughts and I can’t talk to him right now since he's in the middle of an argument. ‘No need to respond, I shall merely talk to you.’ I gulp and wait for him to speak…think? ‘Your aura seems to be contained inside of an orb, meaning you can only use the aura inside of your body. Aura users usually use the aura around them since it’s so scarce inside of their bodies but even that may be able to grow with training, not yours though as it’s trapped inside of an orb.’
‘This means that your aura has a fixed amount, it can not grow or expand. Now, something even weirder is how the aura around you interacts with your body. An unconcentrated amount of aura would usually just pass through objects like they were air, but for you, it seems to be unable to go through your body…AH! This doting idiot just doesn’t-’ The argument flairs up for a bit. ‘Sorry about that, allow me to continue. Aura seems to be actively avoiding entering your body like it can’t. This should be impossible as it is a law of this world, Aura can only be blocked by Aura of super-effective typing. It’s fascinating, I wonder if healing moves would even work on you…’ The thoughts seem to become muddled as he thinks about the implications of this. I try to figure out what he means, it’s all a bit confusing, but I can grasp the basics, which are that the aura in the environment ignores me and my Aura can’t grow due to an...orb?
I think about this for a bit, since I came from another world, I guess it makes sense that I would be incompatible with aura…but, why is my own Aura contained in an orb- Wait. What if it’s not my Aura, since I came from a world with no Aura naturally I would have none. Then how would I use the boons given to me, since the Arc-Phone requires aura and presumably the system as well? ‘Well, I’m not sure if the system requires aura yet…’ Adding this all together can only mean one thing, my aura isn’t my own. Rather it’s something Arceus gave me, the orb must be there to contain it and use it, hell it might even work like a generator for it. Since I can regain aura and I can’t absorb the surrounding Aura, it’s basically like the heart of my Aura. Making it then storing it…
The argument dies down, and the Kadabra has a smug look identifying his victory. Armarouge looks a bit exasperated but also not surprised at his loss, ‘Must not be the first time he’s lost a debate to Kadabra.’ The two turn back towards me, I impress myself by not flinching as Kadabra once again begins to talk in my mind. ‘Mr. Walker, we have decided to consider your plea to have the young lord join you on your journey. But, he may only join you if you prove yourself.’ He holds out his three-fingered hand towards me, ‘Tomorrow you shall face three trials, if you manage to pass them all then we shall allow you and your team to journey with the young lord. However, if you fail these trials you will leave not only empty-handed, but you must abstain from capturing any pokemon residing in this forest. Do you accept?’
I freeze up a bit at the loss penalty. Not being able to capture any pokemon in this forest would certainly be a problem, but it’s also a lighter sentence than I thought it would be. This isn’t the only forest, after all, so I give my response “I accept this challenge.”
=====
A cloaked figure stands inside a decrepit laboratory, file cabinets are knocked over and dozens of papers are scattered across the floor. Cracks cover the floor and walls, and the smell of mold and mildew gives credit to the unkempt condition of the building. The figure bends down, picking one of the dozens of papers on the floor.
Stamped right in the middle of the paper is a red R, and the figure scans the paper methodically. Most of the words have faded, but one diagram stayed somewhat intact. Some sort of energy reading, a frequency. The figure looks up from the paper and looks at a wall, and as though he can see past it he begins to speak, “Location spotted. Frequency, matched. Confirming, confirmed. Mewtwonite X, located.” The figure clicks a pokeball on his belt and out pops a Beheeyem.
“Teleport, location is Route 104.” The figure’s voice is monotone and devoid of emotions. The pokemon beeps out something and quickly begins to use the move and in a flash of pink light they vanish.
=====
A few minutes have passed since I accepted the trials, and Kadabra led me towards a spot where I can set up my tent I do so and he intently watches me. When I’m done he begins to walk away but before he goes too far away I ask him a quick question, “So, um how far into my mind did you go when you spoke with me?” He eyes me up and lets out something close to a snort or a sigh, ‘Don’t worry, I didn’t look at your thoughts. Just your emotions, other than that I just allowed my thoughts to enter your mind. My master always told me to not invade a person’s mind unless absolutely necessary. Now if you had posed a threat I would have had no problem invading your mind. But anyone can tell that you're harmless.’
I feel so relieved that I ignored that subtle jab toward me at the end. His voice enters my mind once more, ‘Wow, trusting my word right away, are you? Did it even cross your mind that I could be lying?’ Any relief quickly dissipates. I was about to say something, but he spoke first, ‘Of course, I’m not lying, but you should be less trusting of other’s words. Anyways, I’ll make my leave. You should rest you have a big day tomorrow.’ The psychic type blips out in a flash of psychic energy as he uses teleport.
I stand there for a few moments, deciding whether or not I should trust his word…I ultimately decide that there is no point in worrying. Even if he did figure it out then there’s nothing I can do, but I doubt he’d speak much about it. At the very least, humans wouldn’t know since there’s none around here…unless he goes out of his way to tell them, but why would he do that…I decide to shove these thoughts away as I am prone to do instead, I try to focus on what to do about the trials.
‘What will the trials be…Well, one will probably be a fight of some sort. So probably a pokemon battle, what will the other ones be though…Hm-’ my musings are interrupted by a feeling of dread. Like an eldritch chill crawling across my back, but as soon as it appeared it soon dissipates. ‘The hell was that…I’ve felt that before, that time in the stadium.’ I look towards my Hostile-Detecting-Alarm clock, luckily it seems to not be going off. I walk into my tent, where I’ve placed my clock, and examine it. As soon as I begin to think it was in my head it starts to beep…no it’s more like a shrill scream. The red numbers flash rapidly and change rapidly, and fear fills my stomach. I quickly let Budew and Min out of their pokeballs and race out of my tent.
I quickly take out my Arc-Phone and open the Ask App. “Who’s watching me?” With no delay or beep it responds.
[@#(@(#_!)#!!?]
Before I have time to comprehend what that meant, the alarm shuts off and the nonsense quickly changes into something comprehensible.
[Cerculedge is currently watching you.]
“...What.” I look up towards a tree and see Ceruledge watching me, clearly confused about what I’m doing. ‘No, no, that doesn’t make sense.’ I slowly enter back into my tent and ask another question. “Why did you start to glitch?” it waits longer to answer, but the answer was not what I was expecting.
[Update starting, please wait.]
I almost begin to scream some choice words, but Min snaps me out of it as he climbs into my lap. I take a deep breath and look back at my phone, the screen has gone black and when I try to turn it on all that pops up is a bar that shows how far along the update is. Which is about roughly 0.1%... I let out a deep sigh, even though this situation is bad at least whatever was showing hostile intent had disappeared. Hopefully, my being in this tribe will stop whatever has it out for me from attacking.
I’m still not comfortable at all, and my anxiety and worry are still at panic attack levels. But, once again there is nothing I can do about this…The anxiety turns into faint anger at my unableness to do anything. I sigh and decide to spend the rest of the day talking to my team. I catch them up to speed with our situation since they couldn’t hear Kadabra since he was speaking directly into my brain. ‘Actually, I wonder if they can hear inside of their pokeballs…what even is it like in there?’ I know that these musings are me just ignoring my problems, but I allow them to hold my attention anyways.