Chapter-4
I don't know what I was expecting out of preschool but it was quite boring, I already knew way more than any other students here. The only good thing about it was that I got to make more friends (Aside from Heart and her gang), there was also time designated to interact with Pokémon-the teachers would bring some Normal type Pokémon like Rattata, Sentret, Clefariy and Meowoth for us to play with every now and then, it goes without saying that everyone was immensely excited about the Pokémon and many wanted to be Pokémon masters when they grew up. Since I had more experience dealing with Pokémon before and the vast knowledge learnt from the library I didn't face even the slightest bit of difficulty in interacting with the Pokémon much to the envious gazes of the other kids. All said and done I wasn't learning as much as I hoped to so Mom even started to home school me herself a little when she was free and also arranged for me to have a few books to read when she had to return to her lab.
So the days passed, I had school till about noon and I would later head to the forest in the afternoon with packed lunch for Dad and me. Training in the forest brought its own benefits, I was extremely fit for my age not overtly bulky but still strong and I could easily keep up with some Pokémon in the forest dashing about like a ninja, I would often race with some Flying type Pokémon and though I couldn't win just yet I didn't lose by too wide a gap. The most exciting development was when one day after lunch Dad said "Ahaaa... I can't take the waiting anymore, my son is grown up now and I want to have my first Pokémon battle with my boy already. Sonny lets go out, Dad will show you how you battle, show me what you're made of." That was music to my ears, so we found a wide clearing for our battle and Dad lent Charlotte to me, she seemed quite excited and so was Charlie. Like I said before this world has game elements to it so Dad soon sent a Battle request notification to me and I accepted, it was to be a one on one battle with both trainers using one Pokémon each. Seeing the atmosphere some of my wild Pokémon friends gathered around to watch us battle. For anyone else being asked to battle with someone else's Pokémon so suddenly would have stumped them but I didn't feel so and neither did Charlotte, given the time I had spent with my parent's Pokémon our bonds were considerable and I could issue orders to them without them rejecting them and I knew all their move sets and their preferences so I had no problems with this battle.
Dad and Charlie came at us with their signature move Cut.
"Charlotte, dodge and use Aerial Ace."- Me. Thanks to the boost from my skill we were able to easily evade and counter attack.
"Hoho not bad, but it'll take more than that if you want to beat us. Charlie use Aerial Ace as well."-Dad decides to pursue.
I remember in the game that certain moves were sure hit moves but that was there, here in this world there were some methods to avoid them, even if all else fails one could directly go head to head with another move of their own as it was not a turn based battle like in the game and moves could clash. Regardless of that, going head on against Dad with brute force was definitely not wise even if you were battling him with the same Pokémon with nearly identical stats, his Innate skill would ensure he came out on top it would be better if I play to my strengths. Thinking till here I choose to evade the attack and ordered-
"Quick Charlotte use Double Team." –I call out, suddenly there were multiple after images of Charlotte and Charlie just passed through one of them without dealing any damage to her.
"Cut them all down with Air Cutter Charlie."-Dad. I could tell that he was panicking from his voice. As Charlie unleashed his attack in all directions one of them hit true and Charlotte dropped towards the ground.
"Don't let up use Slash, its time to end this."-Dad decided to go for the win, with his skill boosting strength and the critical hit chance it just might be over if this attack hits. I remain calm and as Charlotte reaches the ground, I wait for Charlie to approach with a faint smile on my face-
"Steady Charlotte, wait for it... now dodge and use Sand Attack."-me, Charlotte evaded the attack just in time and Charlie got a good amount of sand in his eyes.
"Oh no Charlie on your left quick use Cut."-Dad, he was really starting to panic now. With all my preparation it would be very difficult for Charlie to attack us as I used moves that perfectly compliment my skill's effect.
"Charlotte use Knock Off aim for the base of the stick *Pa*."-me, although Charlie swung wildly with considerable force he was quite a ways off target and it was very easy for Charlotte's attack to land resulting in the Stick held by the opponent to be sent flying.
"Charlotte use Slash."-I call out calmly. Charlie was disarmed and completely disoriented; Dad was pulling at his hair in frustration.
...
"You little brat, feeling all smug now are you."-Dad was more upset at the loss than I thought. He was now giving me a noogie; he was still not very fierce though, in a way he seemed to be happy about the battle and my strength. I guess this is what they mean when they say 'being happy and upset about the strength/progress of their child'.
"Don't think this is over we'll battle again tomorrow *ahem* I was holding back as it was your first Pokémon battle but next time I'll show you what I'm really made of."-Dad said.
"..."-I gave him a sceptical look.
"What's with that look? Huh.. Think your Dad's a weak pushover huh."-Dad started to act funny.
"No no, I know that Dad is very strong, even when facing an opponent who has a type advantage Dad doesn't lose. Your team work with Charlie and Charlotte is amazing."- I praise him, Charlotte and Charlie are nodding their heads off to the side in agreement to what I said, they seem to have recovered quite well thanks to my medicinal blends and a couple of Potions.
"*Humpf* Flattery will get you nowhere, you still have to battle me tomorrow."-he said gruffly but he seemed to have calmed down thanks to my words.
"OK we can battle again tomorrow but its getting late now and we still need to collect more wood so let's go."- I remind him. There was no getting out of battling with my Dad again it seemed but I was not upset at all in fact I was looking forward to it, battling with Pokémon was so much fun.
So we set off again to cut more wood, this time Charlotte accompanied Dad and Charlie and I teamed up. Though it took some experience to know which tree to cut I seemed to be able to do just fine thanks to [Insight], not too long back I discovered other applications for my skills, it seemed as though that a person's Innate skills had other passive effects as well. It was nothing concrete and couldn't be explained precisely, most people even go their entire lives without really noticing it apparently but these passive aspects of a Skill surly existed, it could even influence a person's character. Take mine for example- I have a high comprehension ability allowing me to learn fast, I have a calm and even temperament that enables me to figure out solutions to sticky situations quickly and make good judgements, also my senses were keener than most people. Although my skill is somewhat similar to Mom's her passive abilities seemed to be focused more towards helping in her research as well as giving her a very rational and cunning personality and Dad's skill gave him a firm and open personality, he believed in his ideals and would firmly protect that which was important to him with all his strength. So following this conjecture I started to make plans so as to best use my skill, firstly I started learning more advanced material then started postulating the best ways to apply the knowledge, from all that I had learnt and the memories I had from my previous life I began to wonder if any developments can be made to existing systems.
Anyway we finished gathering today's quota of wood and headed back. Pokémon battles became a regular thing for us as we had one battle everyday from then on, regardless of everything Dad was really strong even though I won most of the time it was only just barely (Dad had a grasp of my tactics now and he was improving as well). One day he said to me "Son you might think that Farfetche'd are weak Pokémon but know this- there are no such things as weak or trash Pokémon only trash Trainers, you don't become a strong trainer just by catching strong Pokémon you need to raise them yourself, taking shortcuts give no benefits in the long run." I definitely agreed with what he said as he really followed this principle and the results were glaringly obvious. While training Pokémon, it is best to go step by step with minimal use of external aid in the form of new technology, I mean sure when you want to quickly raise their stats you could use Proteins, Iron, Carbos, etc. or even Rare Candies if you could get them but all their effects were superficial, even instantly teaching your Pokémon new moves with the use of HM's & TM's was not recommended, it was best to slowly tutor them yourself so that your Pokémon would be more familiar with their attacks and can even perform variations of them easily and truly make the moves their own.
I took all this information to heart, absorbing every bit of advice like a sponge. I had seen quite a few trainers come to Dad to borrow the Cut HM but the attacks were not even half as good as Dad's Pokémon who practised countless times in the woods by this I was reminded of a saying from Bruce Lee in my old world- "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." So I swore to myself that when I got my own Pokémon I would train them properly and treat them well. And so we polished our battling skills in the forest every day, sometimes one of my wild Pokémon friends would not be able to keep their blood from boiling after watching us battle and would challenge us as well so I even got experience battling various different Pokémon.
One day a couple months after my first battle I heard a very panicked and fearful scream from close by as I was collecting some water from a stream in the forest for lunch. The voice sounded familiar so Charlotte and I rushed to go see what was happening and boy was it a good thing that I did. What came to my line of sight was a young girl of about 5 (my age) being chased by a swarm of angry Beedrill while tightly holding on to a basket of some large colourful nut like objects. It was my classmate Heart Campbell, it seemed as though she had run afoul with a hive of Beedrill, I quickly rush over to help.
"What are you doing here you you... I don't want your help, go away or the Beedrill will attack you as well."-she said in flustered voice as she changed direction slightly to lead the Beedrill away from me. Seeing this my impression of her grew, she could have taken my help and reduce her risks or even downright made me her scapegoat but she didn't seem to want to hurt others for her own gains. I had to help her, so I rushed to her and got between her and the Beedrill swarm and asked Charlotte to attack-"Charlotte use Sand Attack." As the a large dust cloud was kicked up the Beedrill all halted in their tracks and upon later spotting me when the dust settled stopped pursuing entirely and flew back into the depths of the forest.
"H..how..wh..what how did you do that?"-Heart questions me as she catches her breath in great big gasps.
"I come to the forest often with Dad so I sort of know the Pokémon here and they won't hurt me, we're friends."-I explain.
"*Humpf* figures they're your friends after all."- She retorts back.
"..."-my good impression of her is fading away real fast.
"An..anyway thanks for saving me."- She mutters while pouting and facing off to the side.
...*pft* I laugh, I couldn't help it she looked so cute as she did that.
"You...you what are you laughing at huh?"- She starts off and approaches me with her face completely red and arms flailing as if she wants to throttle me.
Suddenly *gur gur gur*... I hear a strange sound; I look around for the source of the sound as I've become familiar with the forest but never heard such a strange sound in here before. Heart has stopped as well and seems more embarrassed all of a sudden, then it hits me the sound came from her, her stomach to be exact, it seems as though she is starving, well I'd be hungry too if I was chased around in the woods.
"H..hey are you hungry?"- I question her nervously.
"Of course I'm hungry you idiot."-was her reply as she turned even redder in the face following another series of grumbles from her stomach.
"Well, would you like to join us for lunch, my Dad and I have a spot set up just beyond the stream over there."- I invite her over as I point towards our lunch spot.
"No thanks, I just dropped my lunch box back there when those Beedrill chased me, I'll go get it and I'll eat by myself."- She said, though she looked a little nervous.
"Okay then, just be careful Beedrill swarms aren't the only dangers around here."- I warn her before turning around to head back.
"Wa..wa..wait, you're just going to leave me here, f..ff..fine I'll go with you just wait up."- She panics at the mention of the Beedrill swarm and decides to follow.
As we are having lunch I decide to question her on what she was doing in the forest all by herself-
"Y wuff wikin aficons foo gamfa."(I was picking Apricorns for Grandpa)- She said with her little mouth stuffed with food, guess she was really hungry.
"I see, but you should have been more careful Heart dear its very dangerous in the forest when you're all by yourself, it was a good thing Sage found you when he did, otherwise I don't know what would have happened. How would I explain to your parents *sigh*. Well you're safe now and that's all that matters."-Dad tries to comfort her but I think that the food's done all the comforting needed.
Hearing that, Heart swallowed hard and glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes hoping not to be noticed but then turning a bright red when she saw she'd been caught. I smile and laugh a little looking at her reaction.
"Why were you picking Apricorns in the forest by yourself? Couldn't you ask your parents or your Grandpa to accompany you? That way it would have been a lot safer."- I ask.
She becomes silent for a while, is it just me or does it feel like she looks really sad right now, then she replies-"Dad had to go back to Silph co. in Saffron City because of work and Mom went to accompany him, its just me and Grandpa here now but Grandpa is always busy as well so I wanted to help him. I was going to surprise him with all the Apricorns I picked, then he will praise me and play with me more."
"..."-Hearing this neither my dad nor I knew what to say and an awkward silence started to build up as we ate lunch, even Heart was eating very quietly now. When we were done-
"I should head back; Grandpa is probably worried sick by now so I better hurry."- Heart decides to break the ice.
"Hang on I'll come with you in case you run into more wild Pokémon."- I offer to accompany her out of the forest; she surprisingly doesn't argue back and agrees to my offer. Dad also seems to think that it would be safer so Charlie and I head out to escort Heart back home.
I couldn't take the silence after a while on our journey out of the forest so I finally speak up-
"I think it was really nice of you to help your Grandpa, but I can't deny that what you did was dangerous."- I say, just then a bunch of Paras come scuttling across our path and Heart quickly jumps behind me in fright while screaming "kyaa...".
"Its okay calm down, see they're really friendly as long as you don't startle or annoy them."- I say as I slowly bend down and rub a few of the Paras on the head. Heart stares at me wide eyed and I ask her-"Do you want to be friends with them too, come closer slowly and I'll introduce them to you."- I motion for her to come closer while pulling out some cut slices of Pecha berries. "Here, give these to them they like sweets."- I give a few to her; she gently takes them and gives them to the Paras. The Paras soon crowd around her and start nibbling at the berry slices, she suddenly freezes after being surrounded (*pft* she looks so funny right now). I tell her that its okay to gently pet them and she nervously reaches out her hand towards one of the Paras and slowly rubs them on the head mimicking what I did before. The Paras seems to like it as it scuttles closer to her and she seems to enjoy it as well. Soon as we make our way out of the forest we come across various wild Pokémon and I give a brief introduction to all of them and some even approach us to say hello, she really seems to be enjoying herself now with not a trace of the earlier fear towards the forest Pokémon.
"How did you make the wild Pokémon become so friendly to you? We came across so many of them and we haven't been attacked even once and Charlie doesn't need to attack at all."- Heart asks as she looks at Charlie who is walking by our side as if without a care in the world.
"You must be calm and sincere when dealing with them, when I first came to the forest it was not so easy to approach them but slowly after many days my intentions got through to them and we all became friends."- I answer back.
"You must spend a lot of time in the forest then huh, no wonder you got along so well with the Pokémon at the school so fast."-Heart.
"By the way why did you join school so early, I mean you are a bit younger than me and I myself started school early soo..."- I trail off.
"Well its so that I don't disturb Grandpa too much, with my parents away its hard for Grandpa to look after me by himself so I decided to join school and lighten his burden a little."- She answers.
"..."- I'm amazed at how considerate she is. She sees me staring at her and asks -"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Nothing I was just surprised that's all. That was very nice of you to think of your Grandpa and help him."- I reply honestly.
"Well I really wanted to help and I don't want to be left alone, I get scared some times that no one will be my friend any more or even play with me."- She replies in a sad and quiet tone.
"I'll be your friend, we can play together anytime you want and you can make more friends here in the forest as well.."- I don't know why but before I knew it the words were already out of my mouth, maybe it was because I couldn't take that sad and hurt expression of hers any longer.
"Hahaha... let's hurry back home for now."- She said while laughing and giving me a strange look.
When we finally near Heart's home we spot her Grandpa Kurt looking worried and speaking to Officer Jenny, we soon rush over and Heart calls out –"Grandpa!". Kurt starts at the sound and turns in our direction, upon seeing that his Granddaughter is safe and sound he rushes over with tears in his eyes calling-"Oh my darling Heart where have you been? Grandpa was worried sick when you didn't return home from school right away."
"Young lady, where have you been? Do you have any idea how much worry you caused to your Grandpa?"-Officer Jenny rebukes her.
"She wanted to help Grandpa Kurt by gathering Apricorns so I accompanied her."- I hurry to defend her.
"Ho so it was you that kidnapped my Granddaughter was it."- Kurt glares at me but Heart hurriedly defends me by saying-"No it wasn't Sage's fault, it was me who wanted to gather Apricorns by myself in the forest but then I came across a swarm of wild Beedrill and if it wasn't for Sage who happened to find me on time and chase away the Beedrill I don't know what might have happened."
"Is that so?"- Officer Jenny questions and she soon spills the beans and describes all the events that transpired in the forest right up to the point where I escorted her back home.
Both Officer Jenny and Kurt remain quiet for some time afterwards and then finally with a nudge from Heart Kurt says –"Well in that case you have my thanks young man for helping little Heart and bringing her back home safely. I will be sure to remember this favour." Officer Jenny thanks me and praises me as well. Eventually I head back saying farewell to the three when Heart says-"Bye Sage see you tomorrow at school."
"Yeah see you tomorrow."- I wave back as I make my way back to the forest.