Out of the Woods and into the Jungle
Summary: After his defeat at the hands of the silver king, and subsequent death, he thought that it was the end. But it seems like the Dresden slates, even after their destruction, works in mysterious ways after all. If you're going to play, then play to win.
Disclaimer-I do not own Pokemon or K project
Professor Birch was having a bad day. This morning he fell out of bed, and he almost tripped on his way on the bathroom. Then when he reached the kitchen for breakfast, he burnt his toast and his coffeemaker broke. Hours later when he was out doing field work, he accidentally aggravated a Beedrill and the whole colony went after him. It took half an hour in order to get away from his pursuers. But it didn't end there, because as of five minutes ago, he had accidentally stepped on Pokemon dung.
The professor sighed, before deciding to call it a day and heading home. He eventually reached an area where tree growth was dense, but knew that once he crossed this area, Little Root wasn't much farther. But that was when something caught his eye. To be specific, it was an unconscious child who was lying down on tree roots. Alarmed, the professor rushed over. Needless to say, today's surprises weren't over yet.
Hisui Nagare woke to a pristine room that smelled of disinfectant. He then surmised that he was probably at a hospital or some medical facility. But such a thing confused him, what on earth was he doing here? He could remember his last battle with the Silver King vividly, so why was he still alive? With the destruction of the Dresden slate, there is no way for him to survive. Yet, here he was breathing. He then glanced down, wondering about the state of his body, and his eyes widened at the sight.
His body had shrunk. Underneath the white sheets that covered him, he could see that his body had become much smaller. Tentatively, he tried moving his body. He found that he could move his fingers and toes with ease. He then attempted larger movements and found to his shock that he could move it, arms and legs and all. It seemed that this body was fully able. He inwardly wondered what on earth happened to his body.
But try as he might, he is unable to call upon his power. A thought occurs to him, and he slowly reached for the spot where his heart should be. "Impossible." He muttered moments later. Because underneath his hand was a steady heartbeat that should not exist.
A few minutes later, a rather large man accompanied by a young lady with pink haired entered the room. They looked surprised to see him up, but they quickly recovered and asked him how he was feeling. When he answered that he felt fine, the man introduced himself as Professor Thomas Birch, and the woman had introduced herself as Nurse Joy. They ask for his name and he gives it easily. But things turn tricky when they ask him if he remembers what happened to him, and why he was lying unconscious in the woods.
A look of confusion flitters on Nagare's face. He remembered being in JUNGLE's secret underground base, yet he was found unconscious in the woods? Very peculiar. He looks at the faces of the two in front of him, and senses no falsehood. But as they continue to speak, in hopes of enlightening him of his situation, it only confuses him further. He has never heard of any place called Littleroot Town or Route 101 anywhere near Shizume City, or anywhere else really.
He then tries to ask them of Shizume City and Japan, but both of them have never heard of it before. His suspicion increases at that. After all, who hasn't heard of the country that was brought into it prosperity because of the Dresden slate? They then ask him whether or not he was a Pokemon Trainer, and he could only stare at them for a few seconds in silence as he had never encountered that term before. In the end, he decides to just ask.
"What is a Pokemon trainer?" The adults exchange worried looks at that.
He is later taught about what Pokemon and Pokemon trainers are by Professor Birch, and as he listens to the fantastical tale that has no part in his world(or at least the world he knows,) that is when it comes to him that perhaps he is not in his world anymore. The idea of reincarnation comes to mind, and that could certainly explain the body that he currently inhibited had a literal heart and was not paralyzed. But he somehow doubts this.
In the end, it is only when he sees his reflection in a hand mirror that a more plausible explanation comes to him. He previously toyed with the idea that he was in a new body altogether. Yet that theory is out the window when the face of his eleven year self-stares back at him, wearing the same clothes he wore during the Kagutsu incident, and he inwardly laughs. The Dresden slate worked in mysterious ways after all.
Since he was given another chance, an extra life, as Sukuna would put it, he decided to enjoy it as much as he could.
Two months later, he leaves Littleroot Town. Ever since he found out about being transported to another world in his eleven year old self, he had been busy learning. He read up to learn about Pokemon, this world, and its culture. It had been tricky at the start to find a completely new system of lettering, but he soon mastered the written language. It was not strange to find Nagare cooped up in his room, surrounded by towers of books and a tablet lent to him by the professor.
Since his discharge from the place called the Pokemon center, he had been staying with Professor Birch. He had no place to return to after all, and he couldn't stay in the Pokemon Center indefinitely. The Professor had graciously offered the spare room of his house, which solved his housing problems. In exchange, he helped the professor take care of the multitude of Pokemon that lived by his yard. That was not to say that the professor demanded his help.
No, Nagare did it voluntarily. If Iwa-san were there, he would probably call it repaying others kindness with kindness. But once he deemed his knowledge on this new world became sufficient, he begun making preparations to acquire a trainer license. Then for the first time in a long time, he took an exam, his written trainer exam to be exact. The exam was a bit lengthy, but covered only basic subjects. Mere hours later, Nurse Joy informs him that he passed the exam.
Shortly afterwards Nagare was issued his trainer license and was given both a starter Pokemon and Pokedex by the professor. After thanking both the professor and to Nurse Joy for all their help, and bidding farewell, he sets off on his journey.
His first Pokemon is a Treeko, and the one given to him by the Professor is a tough creature. It likes to battle, and absolutely hates to lose. Nagare thinks that they are similar in that aspect. The two of them get along just fine. Treeko doesn't cut corners during training and takes instruction well during battle, and the former JUNGLE leader thinks that he is a very reliable ally. He takes pride with his starter's speed, and knows that the Pokemon will only get stronger as their journey continues.
It is just the two of them for the longest time until he runs into a Pokemon identified by his Pokedex as an Elektrike. It is a shy creature, and Nagare succeeds in getting it to come closer by offering it some Pokechow. They become friends after that, and he is able to catch it without battle. It is an electric type, with good speed, but is also a hopelessly shy pup. But with some time and effort, Nagare is confident that he can realize the potential of the Lightning Pokemon.
The third Pokemon he catches is a Sneasel. He meets it in the woods, injured and alone. Yet when it sees him, it immediately goes to battle stance. Nagare is immediately reminded of Sukuna, who possesses an indomitable will, and always ready to fight or go down trying. He decides to leave berries to quicken the healing process before going to another area to set up camp. But the next day, he sees it trailing after him, the dual ice and dark type apparently wanting to travel with him. The rest was history.
It is when he visits a nearby waterfall that he meets his next Pokemon. It is a Feebas, and he sees it doing its best to reach some blue colored berries that are high up by jumping. But it is a strange sight as there are berry trees that are closer to the water. After brief consultation with his berry guide, he learned that those berries were known to enhance beauty. He is reminded of Yukari, if at least the lengths they would go for beauty. He then catches it by tossing a Pokeball at it.
He is on a trip in the snowy region when he gets lost in a snowstorm, and accidentally falls of a cliff. He survives the fall, and gets nothing more than a few scratches and bruises. But he loses consciousness all the same. When he wakes, he finds himself in an ice cave and he is not alone. He meets an Abomasnow and while it is big and imposing, was nice enough to save him. It lets him stay in its home while the snowstorm rages on, and he learns that the Pokemon is lonely.
Nagare then becomes friends with it. Eventually, once the storm clears, Abomasnow decides that it would like to travel with him. He has no complaint.
He doesn't catch his sixth Pokemon until much later and it is at an abandoned power plant. He only enters so that he would not need to spend the night outdoors. Normally sleeping under the stars was a welcome option, but not when his tent is broken. He later wakes up in the night when he hears electricity cackling, and he is very much surprised to see all the lights and several machines on. After all, he's heard that the plant hasn't been producing any power in decades.
Intrigued, he tries to find the source of the phenomenon. He finds the answer in the far room. It is a Pokemon in simple terms. Yet at the same time, the word Pokemon is not enough, because what he is staring at is larger than any creature he's seen before, more majestic, and all in all looks like the stuff legends are made of. Later on, he will discover his earlier descriptions were incredibly astute. One look at its eyes tells him of incomprehensible wisdom and power.
He knew that he should run- the creature before him did not belong on the same planes as mere mortals. His body began trembling. He was instantly reminded of the time he tried to challenge the Gold King. But a smile quickly grew on his face, and as he looked at the bird like Pokemon in front of him, he couldn't contain his excitement any longer. He then reached for one of his Pokeball. It was unexpected, but facing a last boss like Pokemon wasn't exactly unpleasant for him either.
Almost an hour later and he stared at the Pokeball in his hand. It looked just like any other one. But inside it was the majestic yellow bird(he still didn't know the name, and his Pokedex had no info on it). He looked around the room which was charred in several places due to stray bolts of lightning. He quietly thinks to himself that he dedicates this victory to Iwa-san. The reason for this is that he was only able to narrowly win his battle against the thunderbird due to his adoptive father's strategy.
Or rather he had Abomasnow pull a mist-then attack strategy that was much like Iwa-san's style of fighting, a few times in the course of the battle. A small smile crosses his face at the thought of the man that took him in. Nagare thinks that the Gray King would have liked this world, where power was available to all, and people could take the matter of their survival in their own hands. Though he privately admits to himself that while so many powerful creatures around, this world was much more peaceful than his world.
He will say that challenging gyms wasn't as fulfilling as he though. That was probably his fault though. He had decided to do the unorthodox method of training his Pokemon completely before going around challenging them. He had not done the traditional travel-train-battle gym route like most trainers, and the reason for this was because Nagare was nothing but meticulous and thorough with his planning.
He was aiming for the gold, so to speak, which is why after weighing the pros and cons, he decided that this was the best way to achieve his goals. He hadn't been called the strongest king(second only to the gold king) by the silver king for nothing after all.
Months later, and the news are all about the trainer that suddenly came like a bolt out of the blue, who not only gained eight badges in a record breaking time of two months, but blitzed through the Hoenn's Elite Four and the Champion-now former Champion Steven. But even more incredible was the fact that the said trainer was only thirteen years old, thus becoming the youngest champion in all the regions. Some called the boy a genius while others insist that his victory was mere luck.
But no one dared to voice negative sentiments towards the new Hoenn Champion during the day of his award ceremony, where both the title of champion and trophy of the Hoenn league were to be given to him. But that might have been because of his Pokemon, that stood beside him all throughout the ceremony. All of them looking extremely powerful in their own right, but of course it was the majestic Zapdos that seemed to attract the most attention that day.
In the months that follow, people realize that Hisui Nagare was meant to be Champion. He was definitely one of the strongest trainers of all time, he had sharp eyes, and an even sharper mind. Paperwork, and all sorts of things that the league was in charge of was carried out more efficiently since he took over. Though let it be known that Steven had been known for his efficiency, but Nagare was on another level.
When there was something that needed to be done, it would be taken care of. But at times, before anyone even realized that work needed to be done, it was already taken care of by the new champion. Truly, the way the teen worked was impeccable. At one point, Sidney ended up asking the new champion how he managed to do all this. "It is because I am a king." Nagare answered and the dark type specialist snorted, though a bemused look was in his eyes. "Ain't that the truth."
In this world, there is no Dresden Slate, and he is not the Green King. He does not have his manipulation ability nor can he turn to lightning. He doesn't even have his clansmen or Iwa-san in this world. But he has his Pokemon who fight in with him, and allies that support him in this world, and that is enough for him. Nothing can replace Kotosaka, Iwa-san, Yukari, and Sukuna, and he never once expected nor wanted anything to replace them.
But at the same time his Pokemon and allies in this world can never be replaced by his clansmen or Iwa-san. Nagare thinks that things are fine like this. So he keeps his gaze forward as the floor elevator brings the challenger he's been waiting for all week. It is a slightly tired looking young man in his early twenties with brown hair and eyes. No doubt his battle with Drake had been exhausting. But still a determined look was in the challenger's eyes.
"Welcome." He greets as he outstretches his arms. The young man does not speak but he gives a small nod to acknowledge Hoenn's champion. "You've done well to reach me… As a reward, I shall teach you the laws of the jungle!" No further words are needed as both trainers call out their respective Pokemon. The battle begins.
"Should the champion of Hoenn really be relaxing out here?" A voice asked and Nagare looked up to see Professor Birch walking towards him. With a quick glance, he could see that this part of route 101 was devoid of any person except him and Nagare. "I believe even champions deserve a Holiday." Nagare answered simply. Once he got closer, the professor could easily see the champion's Pokemon lounging nearby. The fully evolved starter the professor originally gave him, Sceptile was napping on a sturdy branch.
A bit north of them, Weavile and Abomasnow were turning a part of the nearby river into a slide of ice. While Manetric was napping next to a slumbering Zapdos, and Milotic was having a grand time exploring the river bed. Birch then offered him a fishing rod once he was next to Nagare. The thirteen year old readily accepted the offered rod before casting the lure. Birch then sat down beside him by the river bank before doing the same with his own rod.
A comfortable silence follows before Birch eventually breaks it. "Who would have thought? The boy I picked up from the woods becomes Champion?" He mused, but a fond smile was on his face. Nagare laughs a bit. "Was there ever a doubt, Professor?" The older man then chuckles. "I guess not."
Thanks for reading!