ETERNA CITY

An old city that shows fading and almost-forgotten vestiges of ancient history.

"So, uh, we'll stay here for a little bit... then we'll go up to Snowpoint City, okay?"

Gohan nods along absently as they stare at their new map. That Ken thing from yesterday still leaves a bad taste in his mouth... he really was a kind of bully... But did he really have to take out his frustration on wild pokémon, with his fists? Is he really that kind of person?

He thinks about this important matter, be quiet Lucy a bit more. Gohan didn't really have a normal childhood. Never went to public school... lived in the wilderness with his martial artist dad up until he was four, and then it was... on and off super-powered battles for the fate of the universe. Not a lot of opportunities to learn healthy anger management skills. ... Damn, that's exactly what blew up during the Cell Games, isn't it? Is he going to lose a bad match to a jackass and reunlock that level of terrible power? Er, Super Saiyan Grade Five?

Despite his intellect, he really only ever learned how to apply it to his fists. Huh. His math homework never really got used during the fights for the fate of—

"GOHAN! HEY! EYES!"

"Gah!"

Oh, Lucy, sorry. He nods as she continues pointing at the map in her lap: "Eterna City and Snowpoint have gyms, so you can challenge those... you wanted to take on the Pokémon League Challenge, right?"

"Mhm."

"Okay, and then Snowpoint has a harbor... we can probably hitch a ride to another region... Maybe Johto, I think Ethan lives there~..."

"Mhm."

"Is something the matter?" she snaps, hopping off the tree root she's sitting on and putting her hands on her hips. "You've been moping about ever since that Ken guy beat us. Can't you move on?! It was your first battle, of course you lost! He might have been a bit of a jerk, but he was just better than you! He! Won! That! Batt-"

"SHUT! UP!"

It's her turn to cower. Good. Geez, she reminds him too much of his mother. ... "Lucy, uh, I..."

"N-no, it's fine. I should have... shouldn't have yelled at you when you weren't feeling well." She bows her head in shame. "I'm sorry."

"... I'm sorry, too."

The two kids look at each other, and glance away. What now? His concerns about always solving his problems with violence... well, isn't that why he's on this journey in the first place? For him, that is: to strategize about something other than his own punches (and maybe punish evildoers pokémon-style). That shouldn't be pushed on her, though... uh...

"Hey, Gohan. You, er, want to get something to eat?"

"I have berries in my pack."

"Oh."

As the two make-up after their two-sentence fight, the pokémon look on. Just a few meters away they relax, because well, you can't heal during a Long Rest if you're trapped in a Poké Ball (right?). Plus, they get to know each other as their trainers plan for the future.

"YampyampyampyampyampyAMPYAMPYAMP! Heya! Hey! Heya! I'm Yamper! Well, my momma called me Ciaraed but I don't think humans can say that. Can they? They can't hear me say it. What's your name? Oh, and this is Chimecho! Say hi Chimecho!"

"Chim. Mph."

Corphish bows before the excitable Puppy Pokémon, awing it with its shiny carapace and 'mustache'. "Corrro corrphish. It is about time we meet, my amigo. I am Corphish, and this is my petulant partner the Sighing Duck~."

"He spelt his name wrong," the duck muses to himself. He'll find out eventually. Though, knowing Core-fish, he might not even realize what has changed even when it's pointed out to him. He might say it's the foreigner's way of spelling his name.

"Corrorophish, co. Corrrophish corerocorororororororororo? Yamper, allow me to ask a question. I know my own motivations for signing up for this training business. But why is it, that you go along? I am a humble monster who has nary left his pond before. Or, for that matter, how Pokémon Training has become such an institution under the humans?"

"Yamper! Yampyamp! I dunno! I listen to Lucy because she's Lucy! She gives me food and pets me and–" the electric corgi prattles on, praising it's master for positive traits she may or may definitely not have. It seems that despite being technically sapient, Yamper is not that much more analytical, or critical, than an ordinary dog.

"Cor. Fascinating. And what of you, sir Chimecho?"

The Wind Chime Pokémon glances around, before looking at the corphish. "Chimecho. Chime ECHO.First of all, please call me Kirea. Just because the humans have an excuse to call me by my... 'label', doesn't mean you do. Second of all, I'M A LADY."

"Cor. Corphish. Oh! Well, you're certainly not a very pretty one."

"PSY. DUDE." the duck looks up at her: "Psyduck psy psyduck- I am so sorry for my acquaintance's INCONSIDERATE WORDS, please do not hold-"

She waves a dismissive... tail-flap thing to his profuse apologies. "Chime. Ch-chimecho, echo echo. It's fine. N-no, really, I can tell he's kind if not all there and didn't mean anything by it."

"Corrrrrro! Of course I am all here!" he shouts, puffing up his chitinous chest and showing off his glorious shininess (literal, not coloration-based). "Corphish corrororo! There's more than enough Corphish to go around~."

While Yamper cowers in awe at the magnificent display, the two psychic pokémon exchange knowing glances.

"Chimecho. Chimecho chocho echo echo chime chimecho. Getting back to the topic, well, we 'pokémon'... I'm sorry, I'm still not really used to that term. I mean, we knew that something set creatures with abilities like ours (and speech) apart from the 'ordinary', but I didn't know it was such a fundamental gap. We just knew ourselves as us, and everthing else as either Respectable Other Beings or Food. We fall into that same trapping as most other pokémon that I've seen – many of us love to fight, to test our abilities against each other. I guess that's one thing that unites pokémon."

"Psyduck, psyduck psy. That's okay: the battlelust, and feeling weird about the word. That term is relatively recent, even as a human buzzword. Though I do think just saying 'monsters' would be cooler, I guess, it leaves out the possibility of using that term for anything truly supernatural."

"Chimecho. Chime chimecho chime chimecho? Chime echo. Chimecho chime echo echo. I see. I think. Anyways, the reason we let humans train us is... well, they're different. The role of being a trainer seems to suit them, you know? Most animals are wily, but stupid in ways that matter in a straight fight. They're more geared for generally scraping out a living than combat. And pokémon... well," giving Core-fish and Yamper meaningful glances, " tend to be not that smart either, at least not on a truly strategic level. Even psychics like us are able to admit that we're more made for raw computation than flexible thinking... the kind that, you know, you need to do when someone is coming at you with intent to KO."

"Psy duck. Psyduck psy... duck duck psy duck. Huh, that's fairly thought-out. I'm sorry to say my experiences aren't much more deep than Yamper's... I just know things are the way they are, because they're the way they are."

She nods. "Chimecho. Chime-chimecho chime, chimecho chime chime chimecho.. Plus, any animal that managed to get as far as they did without having anything resembling our abilities is kind of impressive, isn't it? The world didn't work in their favor, so they broke its rules over their knees and made it work. With that 'technology' stuff."

"Psy. Psyduck psy, psypsy duckpsy. Ah. While we studied the art of combat, they studied the workings of reality itself. We pokémon... partially we respect them, and partially understand that they're just more suited to a sort of analytical role in battle."

"Chime. Chimecho. Yes. It's nice of them to reduce competition to relatively harmless sport, too."

"CORROPHISH COR COR CORPHISH?! What are you two nerds blabbering on about?!" Core-fish shouts, startling the two out of their discussion. They turn to look at him, petting a seemingly sleeping Yamper with one claw as he waves at them indignantly with the other. "Corrophish core co! Corphish corphish corphish! Cor? Corphish cor?! I follow Gohan because he can fly and breaks rocks with his bare hands! Other trainers can probably do that too, but less well because of course I would only have the best trainer in the world! Right? What are all these big words you keep using?!"

Chimecho and Sighduck exchange another set of glances. Holy crap.

"How long have you...?"

"A year. An entire year."

"And is there any chance...?"

"He will never get better."

...

"OH-KAY!" she shouts, standing before the brown building. "This is the Eterna City gym!" She points at the sign just in front of it.

"Whoah. And people train here, all the time?"

"Mhm! You sure you don't want to just... join a gym, Gohan?"

"I don't know... training with other people would probably help us get better faster, but then it wouldn't really be an adventure, would it?" She nods, totally understanding. Seeing the world... that's where the good stuff is. This is too close to home to be exciting. "Besides, can you even challenge the gym if you're one of the leader's, uh, underlings?"

"I think so. Those badges are more marks of a trainer's merit than whether or not you 'beat the gym'. There are, er, other ways to get permission to use Field Moves and challenge the League. Like, I heard that the Battle Frontier's symbols just got verified for the Ever Grande League."

"Battle Frontier?"

"I, uh, not really sure how to explain that one." She nods, as thought understanding something. What? What did you understand? "I'll tell you later. Okay?"

"Okay. So, do we just walk in...?"

"Mhm."

He shoves open the gym's door, and gazes into is that a god damn forest. Inside a gym. Okay, this place probably uses plant-type pokémon? That was one of them, wasn't it? Gohan takes a step inside, holding the door for Lucy as she follows him in. He lets her take the lead – and she does, stomping off into the forest. Her path reveals a guy, just sort of learning against a tree. A rather portly dude, tacky round sunglasses and a funky goatee.

"Hey, you! Gym Guide?"

The Gym Guide flashes a peace sign; "Yo, that's me," he says as he hoists himself into a standing position. "You here to join the gym? I'm no trainer, but I can tell you how to play well here."

"Actually, no, and no," she says, pointing to the Gohan following her. Once he arrives he waves sheepishly, causing a quizzical head tilt from the Guide. "He's the one we're here for, and, we're actually here to get a badge. Pokémon League stuff!"

He just looks over the kid. Nice tee, but no hat. No hat... not much potential. His grin seems awkwardly enthusiastic enough, something like that Ethan kid he saw on TV. Similar to Dawn, too, but isn't that the exception...? Weird raggedy purple pants and orange elf-shoes. Backpack? Yeah, he might be good enough to get pretty far. But he's no 'dex holder, that's for sure.

"Heh, all right, Champ-to-be," he says, turning on the charm. Gym Guide's gotta do what a Guide's gotta do. "The Gym Leader, Gardenia, is a user of Grass-type Pokémon. It sounds a bit obvious, but Grass-type Pokémon don't do too well against fire. They're also at a huge disadvantage against the Flying and Ice type, too."

Gohan nods. Makes sense, and lines up with what Cherri told him during his lesson.

"Anyways, while this gym is pretty easygoing as an actual gym, if you want to challenge the Gym Leader you going to have to go through every trainer in that day. It's a bit challenging, but just think of it as good training and go for it! And pack some Revives."

"Wait, the leader won't accept any challenges unless you go through the grinder first?!"

"Yep! That's just the way it is, she's a busy woman." The Gym Guide nods firmly. "What pokémon do you have, anyways?"

"I, uh, I got a core-fish and a sighduck?"

"... Champ-to-be, you know what type those are, right?"

"Water-type?"

Oh boy.

"And how many badges do you have so far on you're journey, kid?"

"... Uh... this'll be my first one!" Lucy gives two thumbs-up, flashing signs of encouragement for him! He can do it! The Gym Guide just blinks. Oh. Oh no. This is going to be a massacre. He sighs.

"Well, I hope your pokémon are dang tough, kid. Gym Leaders ain't just you're average Trainer – they're basically your friendly neighborhood candidate for the Elite Four."

"I-I know."

"Well, good luck, kid."

Gohan shrugs. Well, this guy thinks he's at a clear disadvantage. ... He's probably right, they took no time to train before coming here. He glances at Lucy, who snorts. She seems confident. Hope she doesn't take their inevitable loss too hard... Ah, says the pot to the kettle. It'll be different this time, though...? At least he hopes that an official Gym Leader wouldn't be a smug JERK. He walks past the Gym Guide, waving farewell as Lucy follows him into the forest. They barely make it past a couple trees before–

"Hey! What's the rush? Stop and smell the flowers before you battle Gardenia!"

"Uh..."

"Oh, and battle me first!"

Aroma Lady Natalie would like to battle!

The woman jumps out, and with a flourish holds out a Poké Ball! She seems friendly... but he can tell it's a bit of an act. A way to delay him, or possibly beat him off so as to not waste their leader's time. ... Well, turning down a challenge would be rude. Lucy? Yeah, she agrees. Them's the shakes. You gotta battle.

"Uh... go, Core-fish!"

"CORRRRRR!"

The lady raises an eyebrow as she lobs the Poké Ball. "Come on out, Puffy!" With a flash of white light a small... puffy-thing appears in front of Core-fish, raising its fists. Lucy gasps – it's adorable! Awwwww! She stands back, leaning against a tree as she whips out her Pokétch to take a picture. And record Gohan's first Gym Battle, obviously, maybe.

"So, how many pokémon do you have, challenger?"

He points back to Lucy. "Do hers count? We sometimes battle together." Natalie shakes her head.

"Oh, then, er, two."

"Pffft! You should have come a few weeks ago, then – Galactic Rocket would've made things easier for you~."

"Eh?"

"Puffy, use Pound!"

"Brace yourself, Core-fish!"

Gohan watches in bemusement as the puffball cries, jumps, and smacks itself into the ground before launching at his pokémon! Core-fish barely has time to blink before a glowing white hand smacks him across the face, causing him to stumble and lose parts of his HP...

"Use Knock-off!"

Core-fish rears up and shouts gloriously, only for Puffy to twirl out of the way. He twitches an eye as he throws another lowercase crabhammer – but Puffy counters him up the head with Pound!

"You know, challenger, you're lucky. Most people would say that bringing a Water-type into a Grass gym was not the best move, but my Puffy actually knows Flamethrower. If you were using a Bug or Flying type pokémon, you'd be down already."

That little thing can shoot fire? "Bubble Beam!" Worth a shot.

The igglybuff proceeds to be splattered with bubbles. Core-fish cackles under its breath as he stabilizes his footing, using the cover his own attack provides as a means to catch his breath. Despite her boasting, it's seems Puffy's level is actually about the same as Core-fish's – Bubble Beam is doing damage.

"Sing!"

Core-fish avoided the attack!

She curses under her breath as the manifested notes spew past Core-fish and slam into a tree, thereby not affecting him. Lucy grins, not seeing the utter confusion on Gohan's face. How can singing miss someone? And what would it have even done?

"Core-fish, uh..." he looks around. Moves are definitely important, but can the environment be used to his advantage...? "Co–"

"Again!"

Core-fish is fast asleep!

Wait, aren't these turn based...? He must've taken to long! Damn! Now Core-fish is sleeping. And Puffy is pounding the crap out of him.

Pound!

Pound!

Flamethrower! Okay, ow, that's just being a jerk.

Core-fish fainted!

Gohan "Tch!"s as he returns Core-fish. He did pretty well, but not well enough to win... training after this, yep. "Go, Sighduck!"

The duck materializes in a flash of light, apathetically glaring at the opponent. "Psy?" It points a finger-analogue at Puffy, and says something which causes it to blanch.

"Puffy, use Sing!"

"C-confusion, Sighduck!"

Confusion hits first! Puffy was rearing up to let out another barrage of notes when the duck's eyes glowed pink, and Puffy found itself yeeted against a tree. Its eyes spin in its head as it wobbles back to its feet, spinning about.

The foe's Puffy is confused!

"W-what?! Your psyduck is that fast...?"

"PSYYYYYYY!"

The foe's Puffy hurt itself in its confusion! The foe's Puffy fainted!

Well, uh, well... huh. Must've been a critical hit. There's no way this kid's psyduck is that strong, right...? Not even perfect IVs would do that – the thing would have to be, like, level forty or something to oneshot her Puffy! Without a crit, that is.

Didn't he tell the Guide this was his first Gym...? He grins and congratulates the duck as she returns her pokémon. ... She should test what it can do.

"Go, Gloomy!"

"GLOOM."

"Gloomy!" she shouts, pointing a dramatic finger at the foe. "Use–"

"CONFUSION!"

Sighduck used Confusion! It's Super Effective! The foe's Gloomy fainted!

"Uh."

"Woo!"

This isn't good. Her two other pokémon are a jigglypuff whose stats are actually slightly lower than Puffy's were, and a vileplume. Another Grass-Poison type.

"Gohan, you can do it!" Lucy shouts form the side: her hands cupped around her mouth for extra projection. Come on girl, save the encouragement for the actual gym battle.

"I should have bought Super Potions instead of Poké Dolls."

Sighduck used Confusion! The foe's JiggyWithIt fainted!

Sighduck used Confusion! It's Super Effective! The foe's Wile fainted!

Natalie stares in disbelief. Her team swept by... a Water-type? "H-hey, kid, what level did you say your psyduck was?" she asks the celebrating duo.

"Huh?" Gohan looks around, before reaching for his Trainer Card. He fiddles around with it – it doesn't have a ton of stuff, but it shows him basic information on his party pokémon. Nickname, moves, gender, level, that sort of thing. "He's, uh, level... 53."

Her jaw drops – the girl with him seems surprised too, did she not know? Well, who would have guessed, he has no badges! ... Why is it listening to him in the first place? Has he proven himself in some other way...? Natalie gulps. Something isn't right about this kid. He isn't a 'dex holder, probably, but there's something else about him...

"W-well, er, congrats!" she says, returning the fainted vileplume. "Here's your... winnings." A few swipes on her Trainer Card, and Gohan looks at his. Oh. Oh! He is now the proud owner of 238 Poké. She then scurries away, presumbly to the local Pokémon Center.

"Wow, you, uh, you did it," Lucy congratulates him. "How the hell did you get a level 53 psyduck?!"

Said Sighduck crosses his arms and huffs as Gohan returns him; he's right there.

"I... er, threw a Poké Ball at it. It was beating up Core-fish and it must've been caught by surprise?"

"Mph. If you can keep it a secret this gym would be no problem for you at all. You could probably walk right over Gardenia's 'going easy on you' team."

"You think so?"

"... Yes."

"Well, er, wanna go back to the Pokémon Center? Core-fish fainted."

"No, no, just keep going! I wanna see how far you get. Also," she grins as she reaches into her pocket, "you aren't the only one who remembered to pack."

"Whoah! ... What is that?"

"A Revive, you dummy. Gimme his Poké Ball." He gingerly hands over the Poké Ball containing his starter. She releases him onto the ground by just letting it drop – it opens on its own and flies back into her hand. "Uh," Lucy asks as she hands it back, "you mind giving it to him yourself?"

Gohan nods. He takes the Revive (is it like two candy corn stuck together? It feels weird in his fingers) and, after prying open his pokémon's mouth with two fingers, sticks it in.

Core-fish's eyes snap open as the sweet succulent medicine dissolves in his mouth. He hops to his feet! A cry of triumph, ready for action!

"Corrrrrrro~!"

"There," Lucy says with a subdued smile. "He's up and about. ... Don't use him in the next fight, though."

"Why not?" he asks as he returns him again. "You think he'll just get knocked out again?"

"Well... yeah. Plus, Revives only let a pokémon gain back half their HP."

"What's HP, again?"

"It's, uh," she stumbles on her words. Huh. What is HP? It's not quite like a person's vitality – you can beat a pokémon until your hands are bloody and it has a single point left but it won't show any actual signs of damage. Pokémon never take permanent damage until after their HP has run out, either... "I think it's like a sort of protection? Like, a sort of... energy-skin that keeps them from getting really hurt until they run out of it. ... It's why they can battle without, like, losing their legs and stuff."

"Huh! So sort of like what me and dad do when we fly through the stratosphere, but all the time!"

"... What?"

"Uh, nothing."

"I... forgot that he could do things like that," she thinks to herself as he turns around. He starts to walk forwards and push through the trees once again – she follows him. "I remembered he was super strong and stuff, but I don't think I remembered he could fly. What other stuff can he do?!"

MissingNo: the Aberration Pokémon

Class: Demon

National Pokédex Number: 0

Ability: Duplicate

Evolves from: Z-u

Egg Group: Unique

Transformations: Type-999 Mode

Age: Unknown

Captured by: Red

Type: Bird/Normal, Normal/999 (during its Type-999 transformation)

Height: 3.04 m

Weight: 10.02 kg

Known Fusions: Gijinka-000

While many entries in this tome rely on data from professors or, in the worst of cases, hearsay, I'm proud to say that I actually had the opportunity for first-hand interaction with a MissingNo due to the goodwill of the battle legend Red. It was apparently found on Cinnabar Island in Kanto – Red suspects its origins may be connected to Mewtwo and the ditto. Despite its... unnerving, glitched-out visage, it's surprisingly easygoing. Due to this, and Red's cooperation, we've actually managed to determine a surprising amount of information about it. Terrifyingly, it appears to have unlimited reserves of HP, making the only way to defeat it in battle the usage of OHKO moves. True weaknesses of the unique Bird and 999 types are yet to be determined.

In related news, Red almost broke the economy when MissingNo's Duplicate ability generated several dozen copies of a Master Ball. These have mostly been donated for research purposes.