'You mean you devour anything that comes your way?'
'No, the other rumor.'
'You eat books?'
'Exactly.'
'Are authors with bigger vocabularies more satisfying than others?'
'Definitely'
'What about non-fiction?'
'It makes a change occasionally.'
'And cookbooks?'
'Now you're just pulling our legs!'
-A conversation between Aleisha Wimpersleake and Optimus Yarnspinner
I was in the library at around three or four in the morning. I had woken up an hour or so ago to use the bathroom, and while I was on the pot, the guy we briefly talked to on the way into Petalburg had me thinking. Why was he so hateful of Pokemon? I couldn't get the though out of my head, so I looked around the Pokemon Center before finding the library. Lemme tell you, it's a nice sized library. And since it's so early in the morning, I had it all to myself.
'Nothing but fucking Heathens.'
Heathens? Strange thing to say. I was looking through some of the books in the historical non-fiction section, and I came across what I was looking for. People and Pokemon. Allies or Abominations? By R.J. Howard. Shaking my head at the title, but not seeing anything else, I took it down from the bookshelf and brought it over to the nearest chair. I looked through the table of contents, found what I wanted, and flipped to page 629. I was appalled by what I found. And to be honest, Pokemon Slavery from my time is paradise compared to what went on here.
Since Pokemon were discovered in the more rural areas of the world, there was always a few people who despised them more than anything. To them, Pokemon are nothing but vermin, not unlike cockroaches, and should go back to where they were found. So, once the hatred of Pokemon had grown to disturbing heights, the people who hate hate for them banded together and formed an anti-pokemon cult. Many mobs were formed, and for many decades they stormed cities and towns, killing person and Pokemon alike for not thinking the way that the cult did. Children were slaughtered like cattle, and not even the World Government could stop the tide. Once the mobs had spread to the doors of the head government, the Minister commanded that thousands of guards be stationed outside the doors, to stop the incoming mob. In the many years before this had worked, but the restlessness of people hating Pokemon had grown to much for a show of force to stop. Once the mob was in sight, the tens of thousands of people fought the thousands of guards, and it was a quick fight. Not a guard was left standing, and the Pokemon guards that had volunteered were killed first and slowest. Once news of this had spread to the strongest in the world, the Legendary Pokemon, they had no other choice but to do what they had sworn not to do. Arceus, appalled that humans called for his head, and along with Mew, struck a deal with Giratina and Darkrai. They would finish off the cult, and in return have free reign to leave their respective homes. They succeeded, but ideas are something that cannot be killed. The anti-pokemon cult's ideas were passed down from generation to generation, until now. The cult still exists today, but not in the masses that were there before. Now, to kill a Pokemon is a capital offence, so many barely refrain from it. They can still be found everywhere that Pokemon are, and they can be called a singular name. The PAE cult, or the Pokemon Are Extinct cult. Their name states their goal.
I sat down the book in disbelief. Why does humanity hate Pokemon so much. At this point, I had only been in this world for around half a week, but I knew how much stronger Pokemon were than Humans. Shaking my head, I closed the book and set it back on the shelf I had found it before leaving the library.
"My worlds history is nothing compared to this world's history when it comes to Pokemon." I muttered to myself, walking down the short hallway to my room. "Damn." I pulled out my trainer card sans wallet, since I had left that on the nightstand in the room, swiped it and opened the door.
Inside the room, Xavier had fallen asleep on the couch since I had left, the television still playing some movie at a low volume. I reached down, picking the remote off the ground and hitting the power button so the television turned off. I reached down again, pulling a spare blanket over Xavier so he wouldn't get cold in the night. I know he has thick fur, but it's a sentiment thing alright? Yawning, I shambled over to my bed and passed out shortly after hitting the cool sheets.
The next morning I woke up the the television going on full blast. Groggily, I threw off the sheets and wiped what tiredness I could from my eyes before getting up. Did my daily routine of popping my back and neck, and went into the main room. Brandon wasn't in his bed, and when I turned the corner to check out the main room, I saw both Xavier and Brandon jumping up and down on the couch watching a kids cartoon. "Could you turn that down please?" I yawned out, stretching my arms out. Xavier stopped jumping for a second to grab the remote, and after hitting a bunch of random buttons due to the size of his paw, he managed to turn down the television enough so my head wasn't pounding. "Thanks. You two try and keep it down, I'm going to take a shower." I yawned again. Man, I needed more sleep than I got. I went into the bathroom through the bedroom, turned it on, stripped down, and got in.
"Oooh, that felt good." I moaned out once I had changed into some fresh clothes after getting out of the shower. "Haven't had one in ages." I muttered out. I went into the main room again, seeing that both of them had calmed down a bit, and were watching a movie. Time to do something instead of sitting around on our asses. Granted, sitting around on our asses is nice and relaxing, but if I want to get home we'll need to train. I clapped my hands together to get their attention. "Okay. Today, we're going to do something! We're going out to train!" I told the two of them. To be entirely honest, I didn't expect them to jump in joy once I told them the news.
"Let's go!" Brandon shouted at me, already almost out of the door once the words had left my mouth. Xavier wasn't too far behind, running out after him. It took me by surprise so much that I barely had time to grab my wallet and trainer card before the door closed on me.
"Okay, I don't know what on earth to do." I spoke aloud while we were running out the hallway. Well, it was more them running and being excited to go do stuff and I was just trying to stay caught up to them. Now remember, at this point I'm basically anorexic. I was skinny as all hell, so running at all was like death to me. I was already out of breath by the time we had ran outside to the back of the PokeCenter, and I needed to take a minute to catch my breath before continuing over to where the center had all the workout stuff for the Pokemon trainers. I say equipment, its basically just weights and a chalked out track to run. A few basketball-sized courts were painted on the ground, and some people were battling in them. What attracted all of our attention though, was a big crowd of forty or so surrounding one of the battle courts. "Come on." I told them, walking over to the crowd.
"Crotus, Night Slash!" One of the trainers battling shouted out. A weird, ghoul-like pokemon with what looked like gems for eyes darted forward, it's left set of claws dipped in dark essence, and it rushed forward to attack the other trainers Pokemon.
"Nest, dodge it!" The other trainer shouted, some nervousness really apparent in his voice. I couldn't even see the guy, but I could tell that he was scared. His Pokemon, which looked like a green, spike covered ball with arms, jumped to the side but still got hit from the attack. It got sent back with a lot of force, and was out for the count once the proverbial dust settled. Before he could recall his Pokemon, I pulled my pokedex out and scanned both of them. The ghoul-like Pokemon was a Sableye, and the green spike ball was a Cacnea. The Sableye looked the Cacnea's trainer in the eye before smiling and walking calmly and slowly back over to it's trainer.
"Alright, who else wants to fight?!" The trainer shouted at the crowd. I saw a few people with pokeballs out put them away and a good chunk of people left the crowd. I guess the loss of the other guy scared them off. "Who else wants to take on me, Dan the Man!" The guy shouted out, looking around. He pointed at a girl and motioned for her to come over, but the chick just bolted in the opposite direction. I felt a light tug on my shirt, so I looked down and saw Xavier pulling my shirt, but staring right at the Sableye. I looked over at Brandon, seeing the same thing. They were staring directly at the Sableye. I sighed, having a feeling of what was going to happen.
"Lemme guess. You two want to fight him, right?" I kneeled down, asking the two. Xavier didn't stop looking at the Sableye, but nodded. Brandon turned to me and nodded. I sighed again. "But...I don't want you two getting hurt." I voiced my biggest concern, hoping to deter them. Just like the others in the crowd, I was a little intimidated by the show of strength.
"We won't." Is the only thing that Xavier said before slowly walking forward into the small battle arena. Brandon walked out after him, and not seeing much else to do, I stood back up and followed them out to the court. The Sableye noticed us before the trainer did, and brought his attention to us.
"Looks like someone in this crowd's got balls." I heard Dan mutter. From this distance, I couldn't tell too much about him, other than he sounds absurdly cocky and looked to be a few inches taller than me. "What's your name kid?" He shouted over to me.
"Um, one. I'm 18, not a kid. Two, my names Jack." I called back over to him.
"Doesn't matter to me!" He smirked, looking over to his Sableye. "Let's see if you can win against Crotus." He motioned 'Crotus' over to the battlefield, and while smiling, the Sableye calmly and slowly went to it's side of the field, eyeing down Xavier as he went out to face him. Brandon climbed back up to the top of my head before sitting down and watching the battle.
"You think this is a good idea?" I asked Brandon quietly.
"I just think he wants to fight, so…" Brandon trailed off. "I don't think it matters."
"I hope this wasn't a mistake." I muttered out. I looked over to Dan and Crotus, who were watching us. "You ready?"
"You make the first move, it doesn't matter. Either way we're going to be adding another mark to our win streak!" He shouted back, grinning like an asshole. I frowned, starting to get a little fed up with this guy.
"Alright. Xavier, use…" I trailed off realizing something. I didn't know a single attack that Xavier knew. The only time I had scanned him was before he joined up, and I hadn't seen a single attack that he knew. And I didn't have my pokedex to check him. "Shit." I muttered under my breath, not knowing what to do. "Xavier, attack!" I shouted out.
"Crotus, Fake Out and Night Slash."
Xavier started running forward, fast enough that he started to become a blur, with white lines surrounding him as he dashed forward. Crotus stood there, still grinning like nothing before vanishing into thin air, surprising all three of us. Xavier stopped and skidded to a stop before Crotus appeared in front in him and slammed the palm of it's hand into Xavier's chest. Xavier stood there unmoving, while Crotus took a few short steps back, and gave an uppercut to Xavier, it's claws shrouded in the same dark energy that knocked out the Cacnea a while ago. It connected under his jaw, and sent him a few steps back.
"Dark's not good against Fighting, that's right." I heard Dan mutter to himself. That got me thinking.
If Dark isn't good against Fighting...maybe Fighting's good against Dark? Maybe? I thought to myself, not understanding anything Dan said or I thought. "Xavier, punch it! Or something." I shouted. I really had no idea what the hell I was doing. Mainly because A, I hadn't ever been in a Pokemon battle before, B, I didn't know anything Xavier could do, and C, I didn't know what a 'type' was. I knew Brandon was 'grass' type, but that was about it. Oh, I did know Brandon's moves. Maybe I should have led with Brandon, but Xavier wanted to fight.
I'm getting off topic again.
Xavier cocked his arm back, and literally punched a hole into the Sableye, which resulted in me dropping my jaw. Until Crotus smiled and walked backwards off Xavier's fist, and there was nothing to suggest Crotus had even been touched. "Fighting can't do shit against Ghosts, jackass!" Dan shouted over at me.
"How the hell am I supposed to know?! This is our first battle!" I shouted back over. Crotus and Dan looked at each other before bursting out in laughter. I huffed, crossing my arms. "Alright smartass, are you gonna keep going or what?"
Dan managed to compose himself long enough to wave his hand and shake his head no. "Nah, man. I…" He cut himself off with a bit of more laughter, and Crotus was barreled over with laughter. I could hear the light weezing from here. "I feel bad. Oh man...that's good. Anyway. I feel bad. We'll stop, but next time we'll fight." He told me as he started walking up to me and Brandon. Xavier was busy looking at Crotus confused. "You can count on that, so be ready. Next time I see you, you won't catch a break." He told me, putting his hand on my shoulder. I nodded, internally grateful for the break but not showing it externally. "See ya around, Jack." Dan 'farewelled' over his shoulder as he started walking away. Crotus jumped up, just doing it's little wheeze laugh as he chased after Dan.
"Okay. Let's go back up to the room, I have studying to do." I shouted over to Xavier. He nodded, running over to me as I started heading back over to the room, Brandon still hanging out on my head. "And here I thought getting sent here meant I was done with school." I muttered to myself.
"What'd you say?" Brandon asked.
"Nothing. Just saying I need to learn how to battle. So I don't get you guys hurt, manage to not be laughed at, and...make sure you guys don't get hurt." I replied. It wasn't a lie, I don't want them getting hurt. But it wasn't the truth, since if I told them that it would probably blow their little minds and I'd be scraping brain goop off the walls for a while. I looked behind me to make sure Xavier was keeping up, and he was a few steps behind me.
"Xavier, you okay?" I asked. "You took that hit pretty head on."
He nodded. "Yeah. I'm okay. It didn't hurt that much." He replied, stretching the 'a' in the same way a little kid would. Just another thing I would have to learn about Pokemon. And another hour or two browsing the internet to find out the answer. I gave him a concerned look, but he shook his head 'no' in the sense that he's not hurt.
"Alright Xavier. But if you start feeling dizzy or something, tell me immediately." I voiced my concern as best I could, and he nodded his assent. I just hoped he would, instead of being the type that doesn't need help, even though they say if they need it they'll ask for it. I opened the backdoor to the center, holding it open as Xavier ran ahead of me, probably eager to get back to the room. And to be honest, I did two, and judging by how Brandon was wiggling around on my head he wanted to as well. Wish I was smart enough to look it up while I was in the library last night. Aw well, live and learn. I thought to myself. Didn't take us long to get back to the room, it is on the first floor. I pulled my trainer card out, swiped it on the keycard lock, and opened it up.
"They have cleaning people here?" I asked aloud, seeing the room was spotless. I know we hadn't left it that way, since the front room alone looked like the living room of a frat house. It looked as clean as when we first entered the room yesterday. Xavier ignored the cleanliness of the room, and proceeded to jumping on the couch, with Brandon joining him after nearly sending me to the ground from jumping off my head.
That little gecko has some powerful legs! I straightened up, popping my back as I did. "Okay, you two try and keep it down. I need to do some reading, so try and keep it down so I can focus, okay?" I told the two. They stopped long enough to nod, and resuming jumping on the couch, but without the exclamations of joy and getting airtime. Satisfied with the volume for now, I grabbed my Pokedex off the desk, and went into the bedroom to do some reading.
Each and every Pokemon has a corresponding 'type'. Some Pokemon have multiple types, which is both a hindrance and an asset. The typing system was created by Archivald Oak, a few years before his untimely and gruesome death at the hands of the PAE cult. Each Pokemon was given a type, based on physical abilities, mental abilities, and both defensive and offensive capabilities. For example, a Zigzagoon is considered to be a 'normal' type, since it's 'moves' are mainly of the normal type. Each type has it's own ability, and they differ in many ways. A fire type can harness the power of heat, a psychic type can attack and defend with the mind as it's main weapon, and a ghost type can attack with spiritual powers. Decades of research was put into categorizing Pokemon by types, and with the newest addition of the 'Fairy' type discovered in the region of Kalos, more Pokemon have been placed into this type.
As for moves, each move was placed into a category alongside the Pokemon that used them. Moves like Brick Break, Force Palm, and Arm Thrust are in the 'fighting' type. Moves such as Fury Cutter, Bug Buzz, and Silver Wind are in the 'bug' type.
With the newest addition of Fairy type, there are a total of 17 Pokemon types in existence. Normal types, which have the broadest range for using different moves. Fire types, which can use and bend flames and heat to their will. Water types, who can use water from lakes, streams, and the very air around us to use in attacks. Grass types, who can use fauna and hinder foes…
Wow. I might need to take some notes.
I awoke a few hours later, lying down on my bed with a few pencils, and some notes on paper. Notes about types, which is strong against which, type tables, attacks and defences, etc. I yawned, pushing a few things off me and checking the clock. Just past three am. Brandon and Xavier had stopped making noise in the main room, so I assumed they had fallen asleep. I sat up, seeing a paper on the floor. I reached down to pick it up, so I wouldn't step on it and mess up the paper later. I grabbed it, and turned it over to see my notes.
Notes on the two type triangles. Fire, Water, and Grass. Psychic, Dark, and Fighting. I yawned again, setting the paper with the others on the small table next to my bed, shoved everything else off, and lied down to catch some sleep. I didn't get much, since I, in all my damn wisdom, set the alarm on my phone to six am. I cursed loudly, turning the alarm off and lied down in my bed, eyes open and staring at the ceiling. I could see some of my hair was starting to creep down into my eyes.
I need a haircut. I sat up, kicking the sheets off me, and stretched before standing up and getting out of my bed. I went into the front room, seeing both Xavier and Brandon passed out on the couch together, in the blankets that I put out there before I started studying last night. I smiled, and went in the bathroom to take a quick shower before we left today for the next city.
