AStoryForOne
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[Snippet] The Ghost King (Pokemon): Chapter 5
🕑 Added 2025-05-03 23:17:07 +0000 UTCThe boat glided steadily through the water, engine humming low and smooth. Sapphire swam just ahead, barely disturbing the waves, her gentle presence soothing even the wind around them.
Edmund leaned against the railing, letting the salty breeze tug at his hair as the shoreline slowly receded. He actually didn’t realize that people hung out on the beaches, granted, he could only barely see them at this point, but the people moving across them was still a bit obvious even from this distance.
Maybe he was just a bit cynical and had an outsider perspective, but some aquatic pokemon were utterly terrifying and it made him somewhat hesitant to be so blase about it himself.
“Hey Benjamin, I was wondering about something. Why do you still live with mom and dad? Same with Barty.” Edmund quietly asked, both making small talk in an effort, and likewise satiated his curiosity.
Benjamin stood at the helm, one hand casually on the wheel. “What makes you think I don’t have an apartment over here in the city?” He laughed. “Not that I don’t like it back at home, but I do need my own space. I could have sworn you’d seen my Apartment, maybe I forgot.” He scratched his head.
“I didn’t mean anything by it.” Edmund muttered. “Was just curious about things like housing costs or if it’s hard to live by yourself.” He quickly changed the subject, realizing he may have made a small mistake with what he should have known.
His ‘memory’ as it were, wasn’t perfect. He knew almost everything about ‘himself’ from this world, but almost everything didn’t account for every small detail. It had only popped up a handful of times where they questioned him on some small miniscule thing he ‘should’ have known, but it had easily been brushed off.
Benjamin chuckled again. “Well, I can’t say it’s cheap. Don’t tell mom or dad, but I had been looking at houses over here in Vermillion. I’ve been saving up for a couple years and I’m just about at the point where I’m comfortable making the move.”
Edmund nodded; it was good information. He actually didn’t know what living conditions were like around the place. Were Apartments expensive, was a house expensive? The thought of being forced into another rundown piece of shit apartment again made his skin crawl.
It sounded…..affordable, the way he talked about it a bit casually.
At the very least, Edmund was now under the belief that he could find some place for himself if things inevitably blew up.
“You won’t see a lot of Trainers getting a place for themselves right off the bat, y’know. A lot of stuff they don’t tell you about is how much it costs to take care of your team. I don’t got my full roster anymore, but you should see just how much Arrow eats through my budget.”
That was something Edmund hadn’t given too much consideration for. Feeding Pokémon was going to be expensive. And there were further costs if you needed to find a place to stable them.
It was like owning a pet, by ramped up by ten and you often had at least six, maybe more of them.
“See that?” he asked, changing the subject, pointing off to the distance.
Edmund squinted. Far off, arcing across a broad inlet, stood a massive steel bridge. Its arching supports gleamed faintly in the morning light.
“That’s the bridge connecting Route 17 and Route 18,” Benjamin said. “Spans the whole cove. A lot of people don’t see it from this view.”
He leaned back, his voice thoughtful. “Technically, everything on this side of the bridge—the inner bay—is considered human territory. The League patrols it somewhat, keeps things safe for commerce and day traffic. But…” He gestured with a small shrug, “That’s technically. Pokémon don’t really care about our borders. Never have. Especially the old ones.”
Edmund raised an eyebrow. “Old ones?”
“Yeah. Tentacool colonies, Gyarados pods – though they’re called Rages, but it’s considered bad luck to call them that in the open water – even a few Sharpedo gangs depending on the season. They tend to stay out there—” Benjamin pointed beyond the bridge, where the water deepened and turned a darker blue. “Past the boundary. They don’t normally come in unless something pisses them off. The old groups that had been here long before us, they have their own territories.”
“What would make them come in closer?” Edmund asked curiously, leaning on the railing as he looked out into the water.
Benjamin’s lips twisted in a grim smile. “Pollution. Territory disputes. Idiots poking around where they shouldn’t. A trainer trying to catch something they can’t handle. It doesn’t take much.”
Edmund watched the bridge shrink slightly as they moved.
“To get to Seafoam Islands, or Cinnabar for the Gym, you have to cross out that way,” Benjamin continued. “Right past the boundary. Into Pokémon waters.”
His voice grew distant, a little more thoughtful. “That’s where I found Sapphire.”
Edmund turned to look at him.
“She’s from the Lapras Reserve,” Benjamin said. “It’s protected territory, way out past the Seafoam cluster. I wasn’t even supposed to be near it—just skirting along the edge when I saw a group of poachers surrounding her. Big net. Wailord-class boat. One of those operations that doesn’t blink twice about League fines.”
He paused, running a hand through his hair.
“Things got... messy. Let’s just say I wasn’t exactly subtle in stopping them.”
Edmund snorted. “You? Not subtle?” It mostly came from the old memories he had of his brother before. His brother that wanted to be a rocker and made it a point of being the center of the room.
It surprised Edmund that he made a comment on it, dredging up those memories in this moment and as he got engrossed in his brother’s story.
Benjamin laughed. “Yeah, yeah. I know. But afterward, when the Rangers finally caught up, they let me keep her. Said she’d bonded with me during the fight. Clung to me like a damn baby.”
He smiled down at the Lapras, who gave a quiet trill in response.
“Took weeks of paperwork, though. You have no idea how many forms it takes to authorize a civilian trainer keeping an endangered species from a reserve. League, Reserve Board, Maritime Oversight Committee—hell, even the Cerulean Aquarium wanted to weigh in.”
“So she’s... rare?” He only knew some vague things about Lapras being endangered.
“More than that,” Benjamin said. “Lapras are like the Chansey of the sea. Even pissed Gyarados tend to leave them alone. Their songs calm waters, settle aggression. Don’t get me wrong—she can fight when she needs to—but she doesn’t really like fighting, and it seems that everyone else in the water knows it and doesn’t bother with her either.”
Sapphire let out another gentle hum in acknowledge.
Edmund was quiet for a beat, watching the sunlight flicker off the waves.
“It’s been a bit colder than usual,” Benjamin said, adjusting a setting on the console. “Weather shift started a couple weeks back. League says it’s tied to an incident further south—near the Orange Islands.”
Edmund perked up. “What’s that about? The Orange Islands. Are they really part of the League?”
“Technically?” Benjamin scratched the back of his neck. “They’re a separate entity. The Orange League runs their own affairs, has their own gyms, structure, Champion….sorta. They have a ‘Supreme Gym Leader’ or something like that. Supposedly he’s about as good as one of our Elite Four, but nothing like a real Champion. But they rely heavily on Indigo for support—shipping routes, supply chains, emergency relief. So, the Indigo League oversees a lot of the logistics. Funding, too.”
“So... kind of like a satellite region?” Edmund was listening aptly, considering that he planned on visiting the Orange Islands in the near future.
“Pretty much,” Benjamin said. “It’s too far to manage directly, and the culture’s different. But they’re still tied into the system. If things go south there, Indigo has to step in.”
“Huh,” Edmund said, watching a Wingull dart past overhead. “I always thought they were just... extra.” That’s how the media made them out in his past life. Like they were an afterthought, and no one really cared about them.
Benjamin chuckled. “Yeah, most people do. But they’ve got their own thing going. Just not the resources to stand entirely alone.”
They sailed on in companionable silence for a few moments, the boat cutting smoothly across the water, Sapphire keeping easy pace like a living figurehead.
Out here, past the busy shipping lanes and urban noise, it felt quieter. Colder, yes, but also cleaner. The horizon stretched open like a promise.
And Edmund, wrapped in the hum of the engine, the wind at his back, and the gentle lullaby of Lapras’s call, allowed himself—just briefly—to feel like this journey, this new life...
Might not be as doomed as it seemed.
They drifted farther from shore, the docks and cranes of Vermilion fading into the haze behind them. The boat bobbed gently in Sapphire’s wake, the Lapras humming softly now and then, as if checking in.
Benjamin leaned back in his seat at the helm, eyes half-lidded behind a pair of old, scratched sunglasses he’d pulled from the dashboard.
“You know,” he said, tone almost casual, “I never really told you much about my journey.”
Edmund looked over. “You didn’t really talk about it much.” From the memories he had of this place, he couldn’t really recall much about Benjamin’s own Journey, not like how Barty told stories all the time.
“Yeah. Didn’t want to give Dad ammo,” Benjamin said with a smirk. “He already liked to brag about me too much.”
Edmund snorted faintly.
Benjamin shifted, kicking a foot up onto the edge of the console. “It was wild, though. I started in Viridian. A lot of people like to start right at Route one, but I didn’t have anything I cared about down there, so I just hopped onto the road and made sure to come back around to finish at Viridian for my last badge. Got my ass kicked on Route 3 by a guy with a Sandshrew who really didn’t like city kids.”
He chuckled. “Slept in tents, ate more jerky than I’ll ever admit, almost drowned in a few caves, and once got into a yelling match with a Snorlax that was blocking a bridge.”
Edmund blinked. “A Snorlax?”
Benjamin held up a finger. “To this day, I swear he was doing it on purpose.”
Edmund found himself smiling, something that was starting to become more normal. “Did you atleast win the argument?
Benjamin smiled at that. “I may or may not have spent the night in jail after Officer Jenny caught me about to dump a bucket of water on its face. Something about, Snorlax have certain sleeping rights, and you’re not supposed to forcibly wake them up unless it's for a serious reason.”
That was something Edmund never heard about before.
“There’s a lot of stuff people don’t talk about when it comes to being a Trainer,” he said. “Unspoken stuff. Cultural rules.”
Edmund tilted his head. “Like what?”
“Well—like why parents don’t just hand their kids a bunch of money or rare Pokémon when they start.”
“Because it’s expensive?” Edmund guessed, though he had a few more guesses, but he was letting his brother carry on considering he had mentioned something similar the other day.
“Partly,” Benjamin said. “But mostly? Because it’s frowned on.”
He adjusted the throttle slightly, letting the boat drift farther on open water.
“You’ll get people who look down on you if they find out your starter was a foreign-bred Scyther. Or if your parents wired you ten thousand dollars for your first week on the road. Especially if you’re aiming for the League. To the older Trainers—the serious ones—if you can’t survive out there on your own, if you didn’t earn your way up, then you don’t belong on the higher stages.”
He didn’t say it with bitterness. Just calm, matter-of-fact clarity.
“It’s not written anywhere. The League won’t penalize you or anything like that. But respect? That’s earned.”
Edmund didn’t respond right away, his gaze trailing toward the waves.
“I’m not saying you have to be one of those Trainers,” Benjamin said after a moment, glancing over. “That’s not what this is about. You don’t need to be a Champion. Or a Gym Leader, or what have you. Hell, you don’t even have to go past your first badge if you don’t want to.”
He paused. “I just want you to know how the world sees people like us. What it expects. So that when you make your choices, you’re doing it with your eyes open.”
Edmund nodded slowly.
“A lot of kids use their journey for other things,” Benjamin continued. “Like Barty. He placed top thirty-six in his circuit, then went into advertising for PokéTech over at Dad’s company. Didn’t even keep up with training or anything afterwards. But that stint on the road? It gave him credibility, he had a tiny bit of fame, some good Pokémon and a little bit of bragging rights. Places look at that and say, ‘Hey, this kid survived Mt. Moon! And they’ll judge you on stuff like that. I gave Barty a bit of a hard time, but getting into the top thirty-six isn’t a small thing. Yeah, his name isn’t region known, but he did have a lot of places looking to snatch him up early on.”
Edmund was quiet.
It’s not that he was being his normal quiet self, but it was odd – in a good way – to have his brother talk about stuff like this. He couldn’t recall the last time he held this feeling in his chest and it was nice.
Sapphire let out a low, melodious note, and the boat swayed gently in response.
“Thanks,” Edmund said at last, voice low but sincere. “For the advice and stuff. It helps a lot.”
Benjamin didn’t say anything immediately, but he smiled as the boat continued onwards. “It’s nice to see you looking like your old self.” He reached over and playfully – albeit intentionally – smacking his shoulder. “But you’re still an idiot for going into the woods alone.”
“Yeah,” Edmund muttered. “I figured that part out.”
The boat slowed as Benjamin cut the engine to a soft idle. They drifted peacefully on the open water, the waves gentler here, rolling slow and wide under the morning sun.
Benjamin leaned forward suddenly, pointing off to the right.
“See that?”
Edmund squinted. “The weird bump in the water?”
“Yeah. Watch.”
The surface trembled.
And then—fwoosh—a sleek, dark shape broke through the water with a splash. A Mantine crested the surface, flipping once in midair with a lazy elegance before gliding back into the waves, leaving a smooth, widening ripple behind it.
Edmund blinked. “Wait—was that a Mantine?” He didn’t realize they had them over in Kanto, but he mentally chided himself that this wasn’t a game where they hadn’t introduced certain Pokémon yet.
He shouldn’t be surprised that basic Pokémon introduced a few generations from the starting point would pop up in their normal habitats. Heck, he had seen Feebas jumping out of the water and they most certainly weren’t in the first round of Pokémon either.
“Yep,” Benjamin said with a grin. “You can tell by the way the water rolls. They ride the waves like they’re skating on them—barely any splash until they jump. Wailmer? Choppier. Tentacruel? You’ll see the stingers poking through if they’re near the top. Lapras? They rise slow, like icebergs.”
Edmund gave him a skeptical glance. “Really, you can tell just by how the waves look?”
“Dead serious. Water reads like a book if you know what you’re looking at. Even I learned a bunch from the old grumpy guys that run my boats.”
He moved to a side compartment, popped it open, and pulled out two collapsible fishing rods. He tossed one to Edmund, who caught it.
“Time to do the most important part of boating,” Benjamin said.
“Fishing?”
“Sitting down and pretending to be productive.”
They baited their lines, cast them out, and settled in along the side of the boat, the gentle rocking of the vessel calming in a way Edmund hadn’t expected.
After a few minutes of quiet, Benjamin spoke again.
“There are a few more things you’ll learn later, but since we’re here, I’ll spoil them a bit. It’s some of the heavier things that people don’t really want to burden the starting Trainers out with right away.”
Edmund looked over.
Benjamin adjusted his cap. “You already know the basics—Gyms, Badges, the League and all that. But once you’re actually on the road, there’s this whole... informal, not so informal, hierarchy. Stuff you pick up fast.”
He reeled in a bit, then cast again.
“Anyone with fewer than three badges is considered a New Trainer. Doesn’t matter how good they are, or how strong their Pokémon might be—if you’re on the road and haven’t cleared three Gyms, you’re still in that rookie bracket.”
“Okay...” Edmund said slowly. “So what happens after that?” This wasn’t something he knew about even with his previous knowledge. There seemed to be a lot of that, things that simply are normal or obvious from the standpoint of someone living here.
“Once you get past three? You’re just a Trainer. People start treating you like you belong. Shopkeepers won’t look at you sideways. Rangers might take you a little more seriously.”
“Not an official thing, right?”
“Not at all. But everyone knows it.”
He shifted slightly, checking his line again.
“From there, the next big jump is Elite Trainer. There’s no badge number that makes you one. It’s more... reputation. Recognition. If you’re placing high in tournaments, clearing tough routes, taking down Gym Leaders with clean sweeps—people start calling you Elite.”
Benjamin was quiet for a beat, then added, “There’s a big difference between being just a ‘Trainer’ and being an ‘Elite Trainer.’ But it’s hard to explain unless you’ve been around both.”
Edmund tilted his head. “Power level?”
“Not exactly,” Benjamin said. “A really good regular Trainer can beat an Elite on the right day. But Elites? They’ve proven themselves. Consistently. In pressure. With expectations. You see it in how they carry themselves. How they handle losses. They don’t just fight, Eddie. They lead their teams in a way that just makes them stand out.”
Sapphire let out a small trill in the distance, as if echoing the point.
Benjamin leaned back on the railing.
“You start seeing them near the top of every tournament bracket. Usually, by the time someone’s reached that point, they’ve either placed in a regional competition or been scouted by an organization.”
“Like Rangers?”
“Exactly. Though Rangers are technically something different—it’s like a lateral move. Not up or down. Different focus. But yeah, every Ranger worth their salt? They’re all Elite-level Trainers. They have to be.”
Edmund was quiet, letting the information settle.
Benjamin continued, more thoughtfully this time.
“Once people start calling you Elite, you’re not just another face in the crowd. You walk into a town, and people might know your name. Trainers might challenge you just to test themselves. You carry more weight—expectation, prestige, responsibility. When you check in to a PokéCenter, they may ask you for your help, that kind of deal.”
He reeled in his line slowly, then cast again.
“But that’s not the end of it.”
Edmund looked over.
“Above the Elites, you’ve got the Elite Four. And obviously you know about them. But those are the monsters. Trainers who can challenge a Champion—not because the League says they’re next in line, but because they’re that strong.”
Benjamin’s voice dropped a bit, not reverent exactly, but... respectful.
“If someone calls a Trainer ‘Elite Four level,’ they mean it. That’s not just a compliment. That’s saying: this person could take on the best. They may not win, but they can at least put up a damn good fight.”
“And the Champion?” Edmund asked, wondering if there was more to it than the basics he assumed he knew.
Benjamin huffed a soft laugh. “The Champion’s a whole different beast. They’re the undisputed strongest in the region. Not just in theory—in practice. They’re the one who’s climbed the ladder, beat the League, and kept their title. No tricks. No excuses. They’re the Region’s mascot, they’re the big stick each region waves around and boasts about.”
He let his words settle in the air, the vast ocean stretching around them like a kingdom of endless challenges.
“Not many people reach that point,” Benjamin said finally. “Even fewer stay there. People don’t talk about it much these days, but a Champion isn’t just a position, it’s a weapon that the Region flaunts too. Look over here, our Champion is the Dragon Master Lance, look at his unbeatable Dragonite. If a Legendary causes trouble, it’s Lance at the front lines of the problem. If another Region or criminal group gets ideas, it’s Lance with his famous Dragonite standing at the borders, daring them to make a move. It’s why plenty of Elite Four level Trainers don’t ever make it to Champion level, they don’t have the last little oomph that being the best really needs.”
“Is that normal then? Regions poking each other?” Edmund was hesitant to ask, he most certainly didn’t want any kind of ‘Pokémon war’ to erupt while he was alive.
Benjamin let out a small laugh. “Not like you would think. Regions kind of, toss a few stones at each other from their own houses, but actually fighting in a war like what happened years ago, that’s unlikely these days. It’s kinda like what dad talks about when Silph Co is butting heads with another company. They’re friendly on the surface, they cooperate when needed, but they also try to get an advantage over the others, they’ll sometimes steal important stuff from each other, or spy on them. But it never comes to the point of falling out completely.”
Edmund nodded, understanding the point he was getting across.
He understood the concept well enough; it was basically how countries operated back on earth. Like having a Nuclear Deterrent and making sure everyone knew, but absolutely not wanting to actually start something that would lead to a war.
He turned his head slightly. “But like I said before, that doesn’t have to be your goal. You don’t have to climb that high. Statistically, most Trainers stop after their Third badge. Plenty use their journey to figure out who they are, then move on.”
Edmund nodded slowly, gripping the fishing pole a little tighter.
“But if you do want to climb it,” Benjamin said, flicking his wrist to cast again, “You better know what it means.”
The waves lapped gently against the hull.
And somewhere, deep in Edmund’s chest, something stirred. “I don’t know, honestly. Even the whole Trainer idea feels kind of…halfhearted. I want to be a Trainer, but I don’t know why.” Edmund said softly. “Is that bad?”
Truthfully, Edmund didn’t really know what to do with his new lease on life. In the immediate, he was going to do what he could to eke out his own corner, to make sure he was never going to be some gutter rat again.
Money, that was the important thing, he kept reminding himself.
But after that…..he was still at a loss.
Power.
Money and Power, with both those things, he could go anywhere he wanted, do anything he wanted.
Benjamin shook his head. “It’s called a Journey for a reason. If you don’t want to be a Champion, that’s fine. If you don’t want to follow is Barty’s footsteps, that’s fine too. Or mine for that matter. Do you think I knew I wanted to make my own boating company when I hadn’t even won my first badge?” He snorted.
“Who knows, maybe you realized your calling in life was transporting idiots who didn’t have a flying or swimming Pokémon.” Edmund felt his lips twitching.
“Prat.” Benjamin snorted again.
They dropped anchor about a kilometer past the outer marker buoys, the boat easing into a gentle drift. Sapphire slowed beside them, letting out a low, melodic hum that rippled softly through the air like the sea itself was exhaling.
Benjamin cast his line first, with practiced ease. Edmund followed a beat later, slightly clumsy with the mechanics but getting the hang of it. They sat shoulder to shoulder near the back deck, the water stretching endlessly around them, horizon uninterrupted save for the thin silhouette of the distant bridge.
Sapphire lingered close to the boat, her long neck occasionally rising over the railing to inspect her trainer. Once, she reached forward and gave Benjamin’s shoulder a soft nudge, earning a gentle pat and a whispered, “Yeah, I’m here, girl.”
Benjamin stood, hands on his hips, looking out over the gentle waves. “This is the good stuff,”
Edmund cast his line, a little awkwardly still. He never actually had been fishing before arriving here. When, or whom would have taken him or taught him? He seemed to have some experience with it after arriving, but he found himself enjoying it.
It plunked down a few feet off-target, but Benjamin said nothing, just gave him a nod of approval.
Sapphire circled the boat, her presence a calm, rhythmic force just beneath the waves. Once or twice, she lifted her head and nudged Benjamin’s arm affectionately. He scratched behind her ear orhorn and murmured something low and fond.
She turned then—slowly—to Edmund.
He tensed a little, expecting the same silent disdain Arrow had given him. But the Lapras only stared. Quiet and Calm as it gave him a once over.
She didn’t come closer, but she didn’t pull away either.
And when her head dipped beneath the surface again, Edmund realized—she didn’t hate him. More like….a polite aversion. Like someone who rejects apple juice simply because they don’t particularly enjoy it.
That, in itself, felt like a win.
Benjamin leaned on the railing beside him. “You’re getting it,” he said softly. “It’s all about that patience.”
They fished like that for a while, the occasional flick of a fin or the ripple of water the only sounds besides Sapphire’s low, melodic song.
Benjamin cast again and said, “Another thing: pack light.”
Edmund glanced at him. “What?”
“When you leave for your journey,” Benjamin said, “don’t load up like you’re hiking to the end of the world. Kids either bring way too much or way too little. Both’ll screw you.”
He reeled in, checked his hook, recast. “Carry only what you’ll actually use. Don’t plan for every scenario. You’ll adapt more when you’re not carrying half a PokéMart on your back.”
“Sounds like you speak from experience.”
Benjamin snorted. “Let’s just say I learned the hard way what twenty pounds of canned food and zero antidotes feels like.”
Edmund smiled.
A quiet moment passed.
Then his rod jerked.
He flinched, grabbed it, started reeling in. The tension wasn’t heavy—but there was definitely something there.
A splash. A wriggle.
And then—
A Magikarp landed with a wet slap onto the deck, flopping once before going still. Its big, dumb eyes blinked slowly.
Edmund stared down at it, then up at Benjamin. “So… do we eat it or—?”
The shift was immediate. Edmund realized something was wrong, maybe it was instinct or not, but his head snapped to Benjamin, and he saw the serious look on his brother’s face.
Benjamin stood like a snapped whip. “Sapphire—Sing!”
The Lapras responded instantly. A haunting, graceful tune filled the air. Within seconds, the Magikarp’s frantic blinking slowed… and it gently rolled over, fast asleep.
Benjamin stepped forward carefully and knelt beside it, scooping the fish up in his arms with surprising care. He lowered it into the water. The current took it gently from his hands, and it twitched awake, startled, then swam off in lazy, clueless circles.
Edmund blinked. “Okay. What the hell just happened?”
Benjamin turned, wiping his hands dry on a towel from his belt. His face was serious now. “You never talk about eating a Magikarp in front of a live one.”
“…Seriously?”
“Dead serious.”
He leaned against the railing again, arms crossed.
“Magikarp are one of the easiest Pokémon to catch. Barely fight. You can net them in bulk and they’ll sit in a bucket for hours. But if one of them genuinely believes it’s going to be eaten? That kind of fear—pure, deep, survival-level panic—that’s a huge evolutionary trigger. It’s rare but it does happen.”
Edmund’s eyes widened. “Sorry….I didn’t know.” It made sense, in hindsight, but he didn’t even think about something like that.
Benjamin reached over and ruffled his hair. “It’s fine, it’s a learning experience. Everyone learns eventually, you’re not in a trouble. Sapphire here could handle a freshly evolved Gyarados if it came to it. I probably reacted more aggressively than needed, but we don’t take chance with that out here.”
The Lapras in question let out seemingly a noise of approval.
“But…then shouldn’t there be a lot more Gyarados in the waters if every time they get chased or about to get eaten by something, they evolve?”
Benjamin nodded toward the sea where the Magikarp had disappeared. “They don’t always evolve. But the risk is real. Especially when you’ve got an adult or an unusually large one. Big operations follow League safety protocols for a reason—separate tanks, noise reduction, even stress-monitoring sensors. Magikarp aren’t the smartest, if they’re caught in the water by something bigger and chomped, that’s usually the end of it. But if you catch one, talk about eating it, then let it sort of sit there and understand what’s happening, then that’s when things go bad.”
“That… would’ve been bad,” Edmund muttered understanding a bit better.
“Very bad,” Benjamin agreed. “You think one Gyarados in open water is a problem? Try one thrashing on the deck of a thirty-foot boat with no plan and no counters.”
Edmund reeled in his line without saying anything more.
Benjamin gave him a sidelong look, then cracked a grin. “Still, not a bad catch for your first time.”
“You could’ve led with the part where it might turn into a sea monster.” There’s a difference between knowing that Magikarp can evolve into a Gyarados, and finding out that it might do it after being fished up because you said the wrong thing.
“But then you wouldn’t have gotten the full experience,” Benjamin said, stretching with a bit of a shit-eating-grin on his face.
Sapphire gave another low trill and gently bumped the side of the boat.
It was nice, Edmund eventually settled on.
After the near panic attack at the idea of a rampaging and angry Gyarados on the ship wore off.
He wondered if this is what it would have been like if things were different before he died.
@****@
A/N
Next chapter, going to Professor Oak’s place.
Wanted to do a little bit of family bonding with a bit of exposition before jumping into the more Pokémon Journey centric stuff plotwise.
Comments
TOS SOT
Well aren't there schools for Rangers? Like u need to got to a special school for becoming one? There where Pokemon Ranger games after all where it was like it
Risketos15
Name?👀
Leif Pipersky
This is my favorite chapter so far. Feels comfortable and humanizes the characters. Makes me actually care about the MC and want him to succeed.
Belly
Oof that backhanded insult to Gary lol. Yeah didn't respect Gary before and after he quit being a trainer lol Also really enjoyed thr brother explaining all of this beforehand without it feeling boring. But I do have a paranoid idea that this MC won't be remotely close or want to be even an elite, it'd be exciting for a OC ghost master but it either might take too long, or he won't adjust enough to the world with his jaded views to consider going that far, ironically he might even make his own classification like a "specialist, wanderer, etc" like not rooted to one region elite four or champions but a wandering champion. I think the closest I saw and enjoyed was one of FF about a Female OC who is also a ghost mistress but her main team is a mix mash of random pokemon, she doesn't actually implement her ghost powers til later chapters and at most she just keeps a couple hundred ghosts in her shadows
