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Pokémon: The RPG Chapter 2 - Man's Best Friend
🕑 Added 2024-12-09 00:20:52 +0000 UTCIf there was any silver lining to this whole mess I'd found myself in, it was that Arceus at least had the decency to drop me off in a place I was actually familiar with.
I'd washed up somewhere along the coastline of Cabo Poco, in the Paldea region. The Lighthouse that also doubled as the lab Arven grew up in was visible to me the moment I hiked up to the main road that connected the town to the neighboring areas, being a little bigger than I imagined.
'Maybe it's intentional that I got dropped off in the area where the game actually begins.' I wondered as I slowly walked down the road.
Either way, this was only a good thing in my book. The only areas of the Pokémon world I had intimate knowledge of was Paldea, Blueberry Academy and Kitakami, which was a mere fraction of the globe. There were at least 8 other regions as far as I knew, to say nothing of the various spin-off games I knew the franchise had. I'd have been cooked if Arceus had dropped me off in one of those places. While I knew better than to take the knowledge I'd gained from playing the games as ironclad fact, there were at least some things that had to remain the same, such as the Paldea region being home to a famous Academy or the existence of Terastallization. However, even amongst the three regions I knew, Paldea was the best place I could've ended up. Kitakami would've been anywhere from mildly unpleasant to an unmitigated disaster depending on how xenophobic the residents were in 'reality', and I wasn't sure I'd have a great time in Blueberry Academy as a random kid who somehow snuck into the school.
It wasn't all sunshine and roses, mind you. Unlike the games, I didn't wake up in a house where I lived alongside my mother, waiting to meet Director Clavell to receive my Starter. Instead, I woke up on the beach, as if I'd washed ashore from the Paldean Sea, with nothing but the Arc Phone and the clothes on my back. Perhaps it was better this way, because it was too soon for me to acknowledge someone else as my mother, but that left me with a number of problems as well.
I was homeless, lacked an identity, and had no access to any kind of support except for the System that Arceus had given me. That meant following the path of the games 1:1 wasn't in the cards, since I obviously wasn't a student of the Academy.
Now, one might wonder why I needed to follow the path of the games in the first place. By my own admission, what I knew was far from infallible and Arceus hadn't told me that I needed to follow the canon storyline- it had only told me to become a strong Trainer, which I could accomplish in a variety of different ways. Hell, the most efficient route for me right now was probably to join up with one of the Team Star Squads or something, since they were probably the only group of people out here that wouldn't question me about my past or lack of official identity while providing a place where I could grow stronger.
The answer to that question lay in front of me. It was a house, one that looked like it hadn't been inhabited in years, with a large 'FOR LEASE' sign posted a couple feet away from the door.
A house that wasn't supposed to be empty, because this is where the Player was supposed to live in the games. I was absolutely certain the location was right, mainly because I could see Nemona's mansion in the distance and the design of the building was identical to what I remembered. Plus, it just made sense- I'd chosen to use the character model of the Florian from the games when I had designed my new body at the almighty llama's request, and I emerged from that strange realm in Cabo Poco. That is, where the original Florian or Juliana was supposed to begin their journey in earnest.
Either the canon 'protagonist' didn't exist in the first place, or they had never moved to Paldea; that was the only conclusion I could draw from the sight that lay before me. Both options meant that depending on the timeline, no one was likely left to stop Professor Sada or Turo from pulling a Jurassic Park and dooming the region.
It might have seemed rather pessimistic of me to think this way. I could have been dropped in a couple years before the games' events, or the Pokemon League could've actually done their jobs and dealt with the Professor's madness themselves instead of leaving the job to a group of teenagers. Even if the person who represented the Player didn't exist, that didn't mean the region would still be in danger. Since this was reality, and as such didn't necessarily have to possess any iron-clad plotline like the games, it was entirely possible that some other Trainer would fill those shoes and stop the Professor's plan.
However, I would be an idiot to think I was that lucky, not after everything that had just happened. No, it was better just to assume the worst and internalize that this responsibility would be mine as well, rather than ignoring it and suffering the consequences later.
So yeah, I couldn't just goof off and just focus on grinding. Even if the System hadn't given me any Quests ('Missions', in this case) for it, I needed to sit down and plan on how to deal with the likely imminent crisis threatening the region.
But there was a problem- before I could cook up some kind of scheme, I needed to catch a Pokémon. There were no two ways around it. All the plans in the world would be meaningless if I couldn't even take the first step required to be a Trainer. Everything hinged on my ability to accomplish this task.
Under ordinary circumstances, this would be an easy conundrum to solve. According to the games, the Academy gives all of its students a Pokémon, either as a Starter like with the canon Player Character or later on when they wish for it, like with Nemona immediately afterward. Of course, for obvious reasons, that option was off the table. Perhaps I could've tried to join the Academy the normal way, but I lacked both an ID or money, so I doubted that course of action would be very successful.
Meaning, I had to approach and then catch a Pokémon myself, presumably without getting blasted by some elemental attack.
And on that topic, I had to admit; despite my misgivings, the world of Pokémon was beautiful. I'd seen many of Earth's natural wonders, but just this random road leading away from what could barely be called a town somehow outstripped them all. The air was clean and crisp, without the miasmic influence of industrial pollution. The sun was high in the sky, yet the light emanated was gentle enough to be offset by the mild breeze that shook the verdant leaves of the trees all around me.
What made things even better was the fact that it was all animated. It was kind of hard to explain, but ever since I'd woken up on the beach, my vision had changed. Instead of the specific… filter I had seen things through for the last 15 years, I was now essentially living an anime. Think of it as kind of like wearing a really advanced VR headset. It had taken me a while to notice it, but that was probably because my eyes and brain were processing it like nothing was wrong; perhaps some kind of mental adjustment Arceus had made in order to prevent me from going insane just from the impossibility of the visual feedback I was getting.
But hey, I was honestly digging it. Everything looked so much better when animated, from the landscape to the Pokémon that inhabited them- which I was grateful for, because that picture on Reddit of the Gengar from the Detective Pikachu movie had traumatized me to the mere thought of 'live-action' Pokémon. I hadn't seen any actual humans yet, probably because Cabo Poco was virtually abandoned beyond the inhabitants of the mansion down the road, but I was sure they would look much better than what I was used to as well.
'…Maybe I should leave that train of thought right there.' I thought, letting out a nervous laugh.
Getting back on track, the reality was that I needed to find a wild Pokémon and convince it to join me. Of course, that was easier said than done.
The problem wasn't a lack of availability- in fact, there was a ton of them all around me. Squawkabilly were practically everywhere, almost as numerous as your average bird (which I supposed it technically was) in the countryside. Little groups of Tarountula and Lechonk, likely from the nearby Poco Path, were also foraging for food in different locations with the rare Pawmi mixed in while giving me a wide enough berth to walk by them without issue.
Rather, it was that I was a bit too nervous to approach them on my own.
I knew, intellectually, that it was probably easier than I was making it out to be. I had chosen to invest in Charisma specifically for this kind of thing, and I think a Charisma Stat of 7 was likely enough to open negotiations without violence unless the Pokémon in question was actively rampaging or from one of the more violent species. Yet, even with that knowledge, I couldn't bring myself to actually approach one of them.
Perhaps if I were more rash or headstrong then it would've been easier for me to just bite the bullet and make my approach, but I wasn't, and I was too afraid of getting into a Harambe situation to interact with these creatures even if they didn't come up to my knees in height. I guess it was because I didn't have any backup, human or Pokémon, and the only thing I could do if they got violent was book it.
It was silly, I know. But even though I liked these guys a lot when they were just images behind a screen, it was an entirely different thing to approach one for real. However, duty called, and I could only console myself with the thought that at least none of the Pokémon here in Paldea's "Starter Area" could seriously hurt me.
I looked around for a bit, observing my surroundings, before I found what I was looking for; a tree with Sitrus Berries hanging from its branches, one that didn't have any hungry beasts in its vicinity.
Moving quickly, I reached the trunk and began climbing up, having a bit of trouble at first with my new body before I was able to adjust and let muscle memory do the rest. It was a bit of a struggle thanks to being like a foot shorter than I used to, but I managed to grab hold of one of the fruits and settle onto a nearby branch without hurting myself.
Rotating the yellow berry in my hands curiously, I noticed that it had the consistency and texture of a pear (just like its shape indicated) despite being a play on the word 'citrus'. For a moment, I considered tasting it just to see what it was like, but I held off on it. After all, the idea here was to use this fruit to attract a Pokémon over to my team. Maybe using Minecraft logic here wasn't the best idea, but even if I was attacked over the Berry, I could easily just throw it in another direction and run; therefore it was less risky than making my approach empty-handed.
From my vantage point, I took a cursory glance down at the critters minding their own business, seeing if there were any obvious marks I could aim for. The perfect target would be a Pokémon that was unable to get any food or was being bullied by its companions. I honestly didn't care about the species of Pokémon right now, so long as it was one I actually had a high chance of taming. At the moment, what I needed wasn't some pseudo-legendary powerhouse, but rather someone I could easily establish rapport with. I could focus on team-building more once I actually had a means of self-defense.
'Hmm. Lechonk, Green Squawkabilly, Pawmi, Tarountula, Rockruff staring at me, White Squawkabilly, Lechonk Group 2…'
As I was recording my observations mentally, I realized something weird.
'Isn't it supposed to be on sight for the green and blue Squawkabillies? They seem pretty peaceful to me, even if they're noisy.'
Wait, no, that wasn't it.
'Rockruff?'
I took another look, and realized that there was in fact a Rockruff looking at me from halfway down the road I'd walked.
This was odd on multiple levels.
For one, Rockruff weren't supposed to be here in the first place. If my memory was correct, the first place you could encounter them in the game was past Poco Path and in the South Province proper in either rocky areas or open fields. Of course, some might have migrated over to this area since there was no longer a reason for them to have a fixed habitat determined by lines of code. Yet I still couldn't help but think of it as strange, especially because the other Pokémon I'd seen so far all corresponded to the ones that could naturally be found in these parts in-game.
Then there was the fact that the little puppy was looking right at me. The other 'Mons I'd passed on my trek up from the beach had been content to ignore me so long as I didn't invade their personal space, merely glancing at me before going back to whatever they were doing beforehand; something I appreciated because even going too close to them had me getting hit with an anxiety debuff. However, this Rockruff was outright staring, and hadn't stopped doing so even in the time I had been looking directly at it.
I hesitated for a moment, before shaking my head and deciding to take the plunge before I lost my nerve again. I climbed down from the tree after putting the Sitrus Berry in my pocket, still looking at the Pokémon out of the corner of my eye. Its gaze remained fixed on me the entire time, even as I shimmied down the trunk and landed on my feet.
Hesitantly, I began to walk towards it, carefully watching the Rockruff to gauge its reaction. To my surprise, it slowly began to pad towards me as well, until we were standing there only a few feet apart.
For a couple of moments, neither of us said or did anything. Call me crazy, but it seemed to be just as scared of me as I was of it. Maybe it was young, and hadn't interacted all too much with humans. It didn't seem too far-fetched to think that it had fixated on me out of curiosity, and now had no idea what to do when I was in its face.
After another few seconds of awkward silence between us, I decided to psych myself up and make the first move.
'Just think of it as a normal dog, like Muffin.'
Funnily enough, that actually helped. Comparing the Rockruff to my old dog made some of the tension drain out of my body, especially because it really didn't look too different from a normal dog, the whole 'animated' thing notwithstanding.
Breathing out through my nose, I fell into a crouch, making direct eye contact and doing my best to seem as non-threatening as I possibly could.
"Hey there." I called out.
"Ruff!" The little critter barked back, its tail beginning to wag slowly.
Positive response.
"Where's your family, boy? You all alone out here?"
I really didn't want to run afoul of a Lycanroc or anything because I got too close to its baby. Maybe if the thought had crossed my mind earlier I'd have lost my nerve, but it didn't really hit me until I had approached it that Rockruff were social creatures that travelled in packs, just like the Squawkabilly. I'd been able to ignore the latter, but considering that the former weren't even supposed to hang around these parts, I was suddenly struck with the suspicion that perhaps it had moved to Cabo Poco alongside a pack.
To my surprise though, the question I'd aired caused the Rockruff to let out a low whine, ears flattening on its head.
"Roo…"
That let me know something important; just like what I'd seen in the sparse bits of the anime that I'd watched, Pokémon could understand humans to a high degree despite not sharing a language. This confirmed that they were in fact significantly smarter than their animal equivalents back on Earth, which I'd suspected for myself considering that all Pokémon could understand the human terms for the moves they used in battle.
And… that this Rockruff was probably on its own. I couldn't say what had happened to its fellows, because in this world there were a variety of reasons that could explain why it had come to be alone.
However, that didn't stop me from feeling a strange sense of kinship with the little puppy.
After all…
"I'm… alone too." I confessed, reaching out to rub its head. To my relief, it didn't reject the gesture, moving closer to me and allowing me to make contact. "My family is in a place far away, and we'll never see each other again."
My vision suddenly blurred, and I realized that I was tearing up again. Somehow, even though I'd been trying to conjure up a more confident and reliable facade in the hopes of seeming like a better potential partner candidate to the Rockruff, I couldn't quite keep my true feelings locked up. I'd been able to hold it back earlier because I was in full-on crisis mode and wanted to show as little weakness as possible before Arceus, but it was hard to stop the emotions that welled up when I was on my own again and being reminded of the tragedy I'd experienced.
My home was gone. My family was gone. I was stranded in a world I knew only little about, through a videogame of all things, and was contracted to an all-powerful being whose first order for me was to gain an unprecedented level of success in a profession I had zero practical knowledge about- while actively making it harder for me without reason. And all of this had happened within the span of what felt like half an hour at most. The only smidgeon of consolation I had was the fact that my parents wouldn't have to deal with the grief of losing me, although I unfortunately didn't have such a luxury. I suppose I could have asked Big A to give me the same treatment but in reverse, but the reason I didn't is because unlike in the prior case, my personality would probably have undergone a drastic change had I lost the memories of my parents. They taught me a lot of things, and the time we spent together shaped who I am today; even if I am just a teenager with tons of room to grow further still.
But just because it was the right decision didn't mean it made the pain of loss easier to deal with. In all honesty, the fact that I'd chosen this made it even worse than it would've been had I lacked any autonomy in the matter. This sadness I was feeling… was something I had brought on myself, something I couldn't ignore no matter how much I planned and plotted to keep the grief away, just so someone else didn't have to.
I wonder, how big of an idiot did that make me?
Suddenly, something small crashed into my stomach, interrupting my train of thought and causing me to fall on my back in the grass. For a second, I thought I was under attack, but instead of claws what I felt was the rubbing of something rough against my cheek.
Blinking away the wetness in my eyes, I saw that the equally teary Rockruff had jumped on me and was rubbing its stone collar against me- which I remembered was a sign of affection for its kind, even if it hurt a little.
'Is it… trying to comfort me?'
I couldn't help but be amazed at the show of empathy, and a little grateful. It was like with each passing second, I was being reminded that Pokémon were a lot more than just superpowered fauna.
"Thanks, little guy." I murmured, patting its head. Sitting up slowly and wiping my eyes with my free hand, I looked down into its baby blue eyes- and finally asked the question.
"I'm going to become the strongest Trainer in the world." I said seriously, with as much confidence as I could muster. This was something non-negotiable, because it was quite literally a God-given task. If I didn't give my all and accomplish it, then it was entirely possible that Arceus would in turn go back on its word and start grabbing people from my world again, once more putting my brother in the line of fire. "But I can't do it alone. Do you want to come with me?"
"Ruff!" it barked, tail wagging happily once more, and licked my face.
Smiling widely, I reached into my pocket and presented to it a piece of loot I'd found while rummaging around near the abandoned house- an aged, but still functional Premier Ball.
Without needing any cue, Rockruff slapped the button, and the Premier Ball opened and sucked the puppy in with a flash of red light.
I watched, my breath caught in my throat, as the ball began to shake back and forth.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
click.
A small flash indicated the capture of my very first Pokémon.
…It was a memory that would stay with me till the day I died.
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A few seconds later, I was about to release Rockruff from its Pokéball when I was halted by the feeling of the Arc Phone vibrating in my pocket.
After taking it out, I saw a notification on the screen from the System Interface App. Opening it, I saw that I had some messages waiting for me, though unlike the ones from Arceus before, these felt more automated.
[Congratulations! By performing the requisite actions, the Scan Skill and Empathy Skills have been unlocked!]
And below that.
[Congratulations, Rockruff has been caught! Please open 'Pokémon Status' for further information!]
I'd almost forgotten that I was a Gamer now, probably because I didn't have a HUD and could only access it through the Arc Phone.
Almost greedily, I opened the Skills section of the Menu, only to nearly fall flat on my face when I saw what awaited me.
[Owned Skills: None.]
[Unlocked Skills: Scan (20 BP), Empathy (30 BP).]
[Perks: None.]
It turned out that I didn't actually gain Skills outright when I unlocked them; I actually needed to purchase them afterwards, something that was only possible with Battle Points (BP) earned by winning battles.
My disappointment was immeasurable.
Fortunately, the Pokémon Status page was more helpful.
[1. (Name Pending)
Species: Rockruff
Gender: Male
Level: 6 (0/2540)
Friendship Level: Rank 2
Ability: Own Tempo
Stats:
HP - E (10%)
Attack - D (20%)
Defense - E (10%)
Sp. Atk - E (0%)
Sp. Def - E (10%)
Speed - D (30%)
Moves: Tackle, Leer, Sand Attack, Fire Fang (Locked)
Traits: Pending]
There was a lot to unpack here.
First, my new buddy was a future Dusk Lycanroc. Awesome. No hate to the other two but Dusk Form kind of combined the best parts of them both design-wise, and got both of their special moves.
Besides that however, there were the Stats, which took me a good couple of minutes to fully wrap my head around, because there wasn't any Help Menu- meaning I had to figure this stuff out on my own.
At first glance, it looked like there weren't any EVs or IVs by the rules of this System. Instead, the Stats were granted letter-based Grades of their own, which by my estimate corresponded to their Base Stats in some way. I didn't remember Rockruff's, but I was pretty sure its highest Base Stats were Attack and Speed- which were its only Stats in the D-Rank. I'm not sure what the percentages stood for though. Maybe it was something similar to EVs? Couldn't really say without more info.
Moveset-wise, he pretty much had what you'd expect for a low-Level Rockruff. Fire Fang was the only outlier here, and my guess was that it was an Egg Move gained via a Houndoom parent or something. I'd gotten pretty involved in Pokémon breeding back when I was playing the game, and I think Rockruff used to get the Elemental Fang Moves via breeding back in the old days. No idea why they removed it though, since the Rockruff line could still learn them via TM.
Still, I guess this meant having an Egg Move didn't necessarily mean it was usable right off the bat, because it was listed as 'Locked'. Maybe he needed specialized training or something? A matter to look into later, that was for sure.
'Definitely workable at this level, all things considered. Sand Attack as a defensive tool to lower Accuracy, Leer to lower Defense and then Tackle to take advantage of it.'
I'd need to postpone my final judgement until I saw it in action, however.
Then there was the Traits section. It was the only thing I didn't really have any idea about, because nothing equivalent to it existed in the games to my knowledge. I'd have thought it was another word for Ability, but that was already listed separately. I tapped on it once, as it was glowing, and two options popped up.
[Trait: Ace Pokémon (Unique)
Effect: Enhances the Status of a Pokémon when sent either first or last into battle. Effect increases further if the Trainer has no other usable Pokémon in fighting condition. This Trait is only available to the first Captured Pokémon.]
[Trait: Normal Mastery
Effect: Slightly enhances the power of Normal-Type Moves. Upgradable.]
'So Traits are like Perks, but for Pokémon.' I realized.
Since I could only pick one, I selected 'Ace Pokémon' and watched as the information on the Status page changed accordingly. It was the overwhelmingly better choice, and I had no idea if or when I was going to get the option again. The fact that 'Normal Mastery' was upgradable gave me hope that there would be more Traits to choose from in the future, but I didn't want to take any risks.
Satisfied for the time being, I put away my phone before releasing Rockruff from his Pokéball.
I'd seen the stat page, but now it was time to get a more practical idea of how it all came together. Unlike back in my world, I highly doubted that one could be a great Trainer with theoretical knowledge alone.
"Hey, you want to try challenging some of the Pokémon around here?" I asked, crouching to get closer to eye level with my new friend, who had trotted closer to me while I was contemplating its combat power.
"Ruff!" he cried happily, a gleam entering his eyes. The puppy ran in a circle around me, before locking on to something in the distance and running towards it.
I ran after him, of course, doing my best to keep pace. To my surprise, I found that he had singled out a Lechonk that was on its own, digging at a shrub in a bid to find some grub.
Rockruff skidded to a halt a couple feet away, drawing its attention, and let out a significantly more aggressive bark than before. Catching up, I decided to speak up, even if I felt a bit silly for doing so.
"Hey, you mind if we battle with you?"
The miniature pig looked up at me with its little beady eyes, before letting out a low snort. Then it charged right at Rockruff without wasting a second, hiding a surprising amount of ferocity in its pint-sized frame.
"Rockruff, Tackle it back!" I called instinctively, and to my surprise the canine didn't even hesitate for a second before charging right at the approaching Lechonk at my call with equal intensity.
Friendship Level 2 indeed.
Both Pokémon ran right into each other with a low thud before bouncing backwards a little. Rockruff clearly came out of the exchange on top however, as he was virtually undamaged by the attack while the wild Lechonk had a noticeable scuff mark at the point of impact. Made sense, since Rockruff resisted Tackle.
Still, this was no time to let up.
"Rockruff, Sand Attack!"
In response to my command, a cloud of sand was kicked up right into the Lechonk's face, causing it to let out a pained squeal and recoil as the grit stung its eyes. The little piggy tried to retaliate with another Tackle, but with its eyesight hampered, it shot off in another direction entirely and rammed into a tree.
I winced, easily able to tell how much the blow had rattled the poor thing, but didn't show any mercy.
"Tackle!"
The Lechonk had just shaken off the stars it was most likely seeing from its failed attack, only to get rammed from behind by Rockruff, the impact sending it face-first into the tree once more.
This time, it didn't get back up, falling to the ground and groaning. For a second, I was worried that it had gotten seriously injured, but to my surprise the Pokémon wasn't even bleeding. It was, however, coated entirely in the same scratches and scuff marks from before. Pretty crazy biology, but it was much easier to stomach the concept of making two animals fight when they didn't take any serious damage from it or bleed like Jojo characters.
"Rooo!" Rockruff howled, before turning back to face me with his tail wagging.
"Great job!" I praised, bending down to scratch the puppy behind the ear. To my own surprise, a wide smile had crossed my face, and my heart was pounding with excitement. Even for something that was so minute it could hardly be called a real battle, I felt a rush unlike anything I'd ever experienced before.
It was… odd. But it wasn't a bad feeling, I supposed. Better that I enjoyed the things I had to do. To my relief though, Rockruff seemed to be feeling the same way as me, meaning he was a fighter at heart.
I picked the little guy up and carefully inspected him as his tongue lolled happily, making sure that the Pokémon hadn't taken any injuries anywhere on his body. Fortunately, he didn't even have a scratch on him, having taken virtually no damage from the Lechonk's Tackle. The Rock Typing really came in handy this time, though I knew it would begin to be a bit more of a liability once we fought tougher opponents. Still, it was best to milk it for all it was worth while I could.
But first, there was something I needed to confirm.
"Hey, Rockruff?" I asked, looking straight into its blue eyes. "You mind if I asked you a serious question?"
"Roo?"
I sighed, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "A-are you a boy or a girl?"
Feeling like I had to explain myself, I quickly spoke up again.
"I want to give you an actual name instead of just calling you 'Rockruff'." I said, smiling. "After all, you're my partner; it just doesn't feel right to call you by the name of your kind."
Truth is, I was going to name every Pokémon I caught, not just this little one. Naming might not have any kind of special power like in Tensura, but that didn't matter to me. It just felt wrong to me, having Rockruff and his future teammates fight for me without even being afforded the dignity of a name, and that 'Name Pending' on the Status Screen only drove it in further.
Now, the System had told me Rockruff was Male. However, when I picked up Rockruff just now to check him for injuries, I noticed that he lacked both genitals of any kind or even an anus; something that seemed even more incredible than the fact that 'he' had superpowers. In hindsight, the former sort of understandable- with the way Breeding worked in the games and the apparent tidbit from the anime that no one had ever actually observed an Egg being laid, it just wouldn't make sense for Pokémon to reproduce like their Earth counterparts or even have the same definition of what it meant to be a boy or a girl. The latter was just a mystery I had no intention of trying to solve.
Oblivious to my extremely important internal dialogue, Rockruff let out a happy bark in response to my words and placed both of its little paws on my chest in lieu of an answer.
Well, I guess the System was right after all, not that it really surprised me. I just had to make sure after seeing that weird-ass biological quirk. I was just glad that Arceus had kept humans the same as I remembered them being, because losing my manhood might've actually tipped me over the edge.
"So you're a boy, like me huh?" I muttered, smiling when Rockruff responded positively and dropped out of my hands, tail wagging.
Hmm, let me see…
"Okay, I'll name you… Koromaru." I said after a couple seconds of contemplation. "It's the name of a loyal companion willing to fight against a God for his friends."
I didn't mention that his namesake was a completely fictional character from a videogame, unsure of whether he would even understand what that meant, though that didn't really detract from the spirit of it. Rockruff really had that kind of vibe to him, and the name popped into my head almost as soon as I'd began to think about it. It was kind of a no-brainer, since the only difference I could see between the two was the colors of their respective coats.
"Ruff!" the newly dubbed Koromaru cried, before rubbing his neck against my exposed shins.
'Guess he likes the name. Now then…'
I took a quick glance at my phone, and saw that I had a notification.
[+1 BP].
'Nice.'
It was far from what I needed, but it was a start. And it proved that I didn't need to fight exclusively against Trainers to earn BP.
What was much less nice however was Koro's EXP bar.
[Level: 6 (153/2540)]
The weight of Legendary Mode hit me like a slap to the face. Needing 2 and a half thousand EXP to go to Level SEVEN was just pure insanity.
Complaining wouldn't do anything for me though, so I had no choice but to just accept it.
"Hey, want to find some more Pokémon to battle?" I asked, and Koromaru actually jumped into the air with excitement, riding off the high of his first victory.
"Ruff!"
If that EXP requirement was any indicator, I would need to get used to grinding pretty quickly- so why not be a little proactive and start right now? I wanted to get some BP ASAP so I could finally unlock some Skills and feel like a true Gamer, and my Rockruff companion seemed to be more than down for it.
The fact that it would help me better understand the reality of Pokémon battles was just a bonus.
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"Koromaru, use Sand Attack!" I called, wiping the sweat from my brow.
"Rock-RUFF!" he cried in response, slamming his paws forward with a snarl and sending a cloud of sand towards his opponent, a lime green arachnid larger than my head.
The Tarountula quickly spun around and hurled the ball of thread that normally wrapped around its body, blocking the spray from reaching its face- while leaving its much more vulnerable main body wide open.
"Now, Tackle!" I called, and Koromaru charged the Bug-Type and struck it before it could retreat back to the safety of its ball.
The Pokémon let out a weak chittering noise before falling on its side, causing my partner to let out a victory howl and bound over to me seeking praise.
"Excellent work, buddy!" I said, happy to oblige.
It had been a few hours since I had given Koro his name, and the afternoon light was starting to filter in through the trees in earnest.
In light of my earlier resolution, the two of us had gone over to Poco Path to get some training in, though I didn't stray too far from the entrance. There, Koromaru and I proceeded to pick fights with the local Pokémon, with a few intermissions in between to rest up and recharge. Until now, we'd managed to win with little difficulty- mainly because I specifically chose to challenge Pokémon that I knew couldn't really hurt Rockruff at all such as Lechonk like before, avoiding Pokémon like Buizel or Hoppip that had a high chance of knowing a super effective move. Because of this, my partner barely took any damage that actually fazed him, needing rest more to recover his own stamina than because he needed healing.
We also made some progress in Leveling him up, but not nearly as much as I'd have liked.
[Level: 6 (408/2540)]
It still rankled that after fighting 12 Pokémon, we hadn't earned even a quarter of the EXP required to go to the next Level, but I just had to accept reality. I could only hope that Trainers gave more EXP like in the games, because the way things were looking we'd have to fight every wild Pokémon in the area to eke out a single Level. What's even worse was that I was still short of the BP needed to buy Scan, since each of them had yielded only a single point.
"Let's take a break, boy." I suggested, more for my sake than his. Even though he'd been the one doing the actual fighting, Koromaru was filled with energy even with only the small breaks he was taking in order to rest up. Of course, part of that was because of my machinations letting him win almost completely unscathed, but it still felt a little lame on my part.
"Ruff!"
As we walked over to a little clearing I'd mentally marked out earlier, I couldn't help but reflect on an observation I'd made watching the Rockruff battle- he was a true believer in the power of Pocket Sand.
Sure, I was the one that made the call to use Sand Attack more often than not, but Koromaru worked out within the first two battles the pure utility of the move after watching two Lechonk in a row freak out from the blindness and completely lose any semblance of combat readiness. After that, he began to use the move with more gusto, and I could've sworn the speed at which he could use it was starting to improve; though I had no real way of telling because the Status Page didn't show the mastery level of individual moves.
Well and good. I didn't know how long Sand Attack would continue to be viable, especially since I'd seen firsthand how the effectiveness of a move depended on more than just Typing and accuracy, but for now it was good enough as a cornerstone for his kit. Forget coverage moves, Koro didn't have a single usable move yet that could deal Super Effective damage, so disorientation was key.
I sat down against the trunk of the tree, the Rockruff bounding into my lap. I took out one of the Berries I'd picked from my pocket, which was bigger than it had any right to be, and held it out to him. Without any prompting on my part, Koromaru began to dig in, and I couldn't help but smile at his gusto even as I carefully angled my body to avoid any flying bits of food.
It was kind of surprising actually, how quickly the little Pokémon had gotten used to me. I mean, we'd only met a few hours ago yet he was literally eating out of the palm of my hand. Was this my Charisma at work? Hard to tell, because none of the other Pokémon I'd come across seemed to give a damn about me, merely keeping their distance and minding their own business as long as I didn't challenge them. Though they had been good sports about losing.
Well, I could figure it out later. I was just happy to have a friend.
I fed Koromaru another Sitrus Berry, and watched as he devoured it without pause. It really brought back memories of my time with Muffin, though the pain of those memories was easier to bear since I'd already accepted her loss before Arceus had even nabbed me.
With a silent sigh, I leaned back- only to jerk forward again when a rumbling sound reached my ears, and I recognized it as the distinct beat of hooves striking the ground. Getting to my feet as Rockruff jumped up off of my lap with a bark, I turned in the direction of the sound.
The source of the continuous noise was a strange figure in the distance, coming my way from the direction I knew the Professor's Lighthouse was supposed to be.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the local inhabitants of the area making a beeline for the edges, doing whatever they could to get out of the open. Of course, that left Koromaru and I looking like lemmings, standing right at the edge of the main road.
Thankfully, my poor reaction speed didn't cost me here, because as the figure grew nearer I realized that it was actually just a person. A person riding what looked like a Tauros, and a Paldean one at that considering the dark color of its body.
Two more details immediately stuck out to me as the newcomer drew even nearer; firstly, the Tauros seemed to be using Aqua Jet or some other Water-Type move to boost its running speed based on the veil of rushing water that clung to its lower legs, and the second was that this person was someone I recognized- the streak of green in her hair that I could barely perceive was more than enough to make my neurons activate and my eyes open wide in shock.
After all, this was someone I hadn't been expecting to see just yet because Director Clavell hadn't introduced me to her like in 'canon'.
It was at this exact moment that she caught sight of me as well, giving me a wave and saying something to her mount.
The Tauros skidded to a stop a couple feet away, slowing down with the kind of grace and efficiency you wouldn't expect from a literal bull. Of course, that didn't stop the final spray of water that its hooves released as it let go of the Water-Type Move it had been using, barely missing us before sinking into the earth below.
But such little details barely registered in my mind, because I was too busy breaking out into a cold sweat, my hands shaking.
I hadn't noticed it from a distance, but now that the Pokémon was in front of me, I felt an insane pressure emanating from it. In all my time watching anime or reading Manga, I'd never fully understood the whole 'strong characters have an aura' concept, but now I was getting a firsthand experience because holy shit was this Tauros setting off every alarm bell in my body. I don't even think it was trying to intimidate me in the first place, which only served to make it scarier.
'Is this… what a Champion's Pokémon is like?'
I'd have killed for the Scan Skill right about now.
Koro, bless his tiny heart, was clearly as shaken as I was by the sudden appearance of a Superboss-level opponent from out of the blue but still nervously trotted forward to put himself between us, even if it wasn't really necessary.
"Buenas!" Its rider called, snapping me out of my daze as she climbed down from the bull-like Pokémon, landing on her feet easily and placing her hands on her hips. "It's pretty rare for anyone to hang around Poco Path, and that goes double for a kid my age. Are you new around these parts?"
"Something like that." I responded, managing a small smile as my eyes locked onto the Champion-Rank Trainer in front of me. "I only arrived in Paldea today."
"Ooh, really!" she said, her orange eyes almost sparkling. "That's great! Paldea's an awesome region, there's so much to see and so many people to battle! Oh, my name's Nemona Milizia. I'm a student at Uva Academy over in Mesagoza."
Well, that confirmed which timeline I was in at least.
"My name's Florian Belrose." I replied, doing my best to ignore how pretty my sudden case of anime-vision made her look. "And this is Koromaru."
"Ruff!" he barked, breaking away from his staring contest with Nemona's Tauros at the sound of his name.
"Nice to meet you both!" Nemona said, before her already visible grin widened. "Say, we should battle right now- you and me! Think of it as a Paldean welcome!"
'And there it is.'
"I wouldn't mind a battle." I lied, internally screeching in terror. "But I don't think I'd be a very good Trainer if I asked my partner here to fight an opponent as strong as your Tauros."
Right now, I was just starting to get the hang of fighting nigh-helpless Pokémon in the wild that could barely even scratch the rocks on Koromaru's 'collar'. My ass was not ready to fight an actual Pokémon Trainer, much less one of the strongest Trainers in this country.
Call me a coward if you must, but I wasn't foolish enough to get into a battle with a Champion-Rank opponent whose years of battling experience wouldn't be crippled by the confines of a videogame AI.
Unfortunately, as I was coming to understand lately, Lady Luck really wanted me six feet under because Nemona just laughed and returned her Tauros to her Pokéball.
"That's no problem. I'll take this chance to try out my new buddy instead!"
The taller girl unclipped a tiny Pokéball from the bottom of the brace she wore on her arm, before it enlarged into a normal-sized one in her palm and she released the Pokémon inside with a flash of pale light.
"Pawmi!" cried the little rodent-like creature, smiling cheerfully.
"Ruff!" barked Koromaru, taking his place across from it like the battle was a done deal before I could try and formulate an excuse to avoid it.
Realizing the futility of escaping this predicament without being a douche, I barely held back a sigh and moved backwards a bit to give some space to the two battlers.
'I suppose there's a bright side to this.'
Even if we lost, there was still valuable experience to be gained (the normal kind, not EXP) by fighting against such an accomplished Trainer. On top of that however, Nemona's personality was just like what I'd expected, meaning my knowledge held more ground than I initially thought. Hell, by some twist of fate my first Trainer battle was against the same person as in the games even though my situation bore zero resemblance to the Game Florian's.
"Ready?!"
"Yeah. Let's do this, Koromaru!"
"Ruff!"
As I prepared for my first foray into the true realm of Pokémon Battling, I couldn't help but hope that this trend continued, even if it threw me in the fire sometimes.
Better the devil you know, after all.
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{Some time earlier}
A tall man in a lab coat stumbled, eyes wide and uncomprehending as a blazing fist buried itself into his chest, tearing apart the skin and torching his innards.
The fist withdrew itself seconds later, and the man fell to his knees. Mysteriously, no blood flowed from the grievous wound on his body. Instead, it was circuitry that peeked out of his torso, partially coated with strange crystals and sparking erratically.
"H-how is this possible?" the android managed to say, dumbstruck by the sheer impossibility of what he was seeing.
His question wasn't directed at the bipedal, bulldog-like Pokémon that had eviscerated him, but rather the person who walked in behind it; a human who was the exact mirror image of the critically damaged android.
"I'm not quite sure." he admitted, putting his hands into the pockets of his lab coat nonchalantly. "Perhaps, its a 'miracle'."
The man's expression twitched with distaste at that last term, before he smiled.
"But that doesn't really matter. My brush with death has taught me something important, made me realize just how short the scope of my vision was."
He walked by the Pokémon and knelt in front of his ruined doppelganger.
"The Project has changed- and I no longer need you for what lies ahead, my friend. I just can't allow even the slightest chance of error, even if the source of it is someone made in my own image. For what it's worth though, I am grateful. You've helped me immensely all these years, and your hardware will continue to do so even after this."
The android tried to say something back, but his vocal module began to fail, causing his words to sound like garbled nonsense.
"Granbull, Brick Break."
"Bull!"
With a glowing white fist, the purple Pokémon struck the fallen machine at the base of its neck, separating the head from the rest of the body and causing it to roll away.
The light in its eyes began to fade as its systems slowly lost the ability to remain active.
"A-aaaarvvveeeen…." it groaned finally, before the glow blinked out completely.
The man sneered.
"You may have had my memories, but don't you dare think you have the right to say his name like that." he said, stepping over the body and moving over to the computer systems that controlled his installations in Area Zero.
He was the only person who had ever cared for Arven, now and forevermore.
Everything he'd done was for his sake, for his happiness, for his future.
"This Paradise… no, this World is all for you, my son. Just wait, as I sculpt a reality where we can live together forever in peace and happiness."
Comments
Eric
Foreboding
