I am back here at Geosenge Town, trying to see if there is anything that I had missed out from my previous visits. Something's telling me that Geosenge Town is the key to discovering the truth behind the story of the Kalos King. I don't even know why I am so interested in this bedtime story that may or may not be fictional, but something in my gut, call it my gut instinct if you have to, is telling me that getting to the truth of the history behind this tale is necessary.
"When I gave you that bone, I wasn't expecting you to keep it along with that old one."
Tinen huffed at me in mock anger as if offended by my words, holding both her bones close to her chest protectively. I don't think a Rare Bone is supposed to be used as a weapon for the marowak species, but Tinen used it as such anyway.
Because Tinen kept her old bone and the new one, I now have a dual-wielding marowak walking by my side. Tinen's choice of weaponry made an odd sight and we drew the curious looks from the passers-by around us because of what Tinen did.
My claydol, Vision, floated idly beside me as we closely inspected the menhirs in the centre of the city. My gut feeling as a historian tells me that these weird stone structures arranged in a circle must be the key to unravelling the truth behind the story of the Kalos King. My instinct had never been wrong before.
However, even with Vision's psychic powers, not even he can find anything out of the ordinary with it. Either there's really nothing unusual about the menhirs, or there's something here that can evade even Vision's psychic senses.
We decided to take a break after we finished inspecting every nook and cranny of the menhirs only to find nothing. We ended up taking a walk near Route 11, the route that connects Geosenge Town and Reflecting Cave. This route is also known as the Miroir Way because the numerous crystals sprouting from the ground acts very much like a mirror with how clearly it shows your reflection. The same crystals lined every wall of the Reflection Cave and this sight was how the Reflection Cave was named as such.
I don't recommend those who get dizzy easily to visit Reflection Cave simply because of the number of reflections you can see there.
Route 11 is built into the mountainside centuries ago when a path needs to be cleared to connect Geosenge Town and Shalour City through the Reflection Cave. The many crystals lining the Route attracts many mining companies to come here and mine the beautiful crystal ores. To protect the natural habitat and prevent practices of overmining, regulations have been put in place on how frequent and how much crystal ores can be mined from Route 11 and the Reflection Cave. Furthermore, the natural habitat of pokemon cannot be disturbed.
If there's one thing in this world that is done right that my previous world didn't, it is how proactive people of this world is when it comes to protecting the environment. If I have to think deeper about this issue, it is probably a course of action born out of necessity. What happens if humans drive all the wild pokemon out from their homes due to their activities in gathering more resources? Pokemon will eventually set their sights on human settlements and attack it, be it out of desperation for food and shelter or something else.
Pokemon are not animals. They are not only a lot smarter, they also possess the ability to easily cause widespread destruction. Keeping wild pokemon happy and content is a necessity so that pokemon-human conflicts can be kept at a minimum and thereby, protecting the peace between us. This peace is protected by carefully maintaining the balance between human and pokemon.
I can already see excavators silently mining the crystal ores littering Route 11. I can see pokemon like the graveler and machoke species helping the workers out. I can see machineries and workers belonging to two different companies working on this route. Maybe they have a shared license they got from the Government to mine the crystals here together?
I know that the crystals on Route 11 can naturally replenish itself due to how special the earth in the area is. They literally 'grew' from the ground when water comes into contact with the earth here. Natural crystals are formed from molten liquid rock and cooled, but the composition of the earth here is so unique that simply watering it will help it grow crystals over time. The entire crystal growing process here takes time, maybe about a year or two to have any visible results, but it is a miracle in itself that crystals can be grown so easily. The soil here is just that unique.
Despite Route 11 being carved into a mountainous area that goes all the way up to the entrance of Reflection Cave, plant life flourish at the lower part of the route. Grass and colourful flowers dotted the lower half of Route 11 while the upper half is a barren and rocky slope, purposely created for hikers and trainers alike to get into Reflection Cave and travel through it to reach Shalour City. If civilians want to travel between Shalour and Geosenge, they can either use the boat services that brings them around the coastal areas of western Kalos or fly overhead with hot air balloons. Roads are not created for civilians to travel on at this part of Kalos because of the hassle that comes with maintaining them and ensuring that wild pokemon does not destroy it, be it on purpose or accident. Too much manpower from the Rangers will be needed to protect the road if that were the case. It's just not cost efficient.
Hence, travel through sea and air it is. Water and flying type pokemon are often employed by the service providers to help protect the boats and balloons during the entire journey. There are many inconveniences that living with pokemon brought about in this world, but humans and pokemon still managed to work with each other relatively well.
I see small little snouts poking out from the ground and I cannot help but give an amused smile. Young sandiles from the wild are watching us curiously, or to be more precise, watching me curiously. I know my presence attract ground types to me for some reason, but I still cannot help but be amused whenever I see such behaviour from wild ground types.
If sandiles are here, wild krokorok and maybe the rare krookodile are definitely nearby. They don't let their young wander too far away from them.
My suspicion was proven right when the ground to my front right crumbled open to reveal a large krookodile burrowing its way out from the earth. It looked and stared in my direction for a short moment while I simply waved a wordless hello. The krookodile merely snorted back a greeting before lying flat on its belly on the ground before opening its large jaws to sunbathe. Since the krookodile species are cold-blooded reptiles, it cannot control its body temperature very well. Absorbing the heat of the sunrays through its opened jaws is its best way to help regulate its body temperature.
The young sandiles soon made their way to the krookodile and followed its example, getting out of the ground to bask in the sun's rays. From how unaffected the mining workers and their pokemon are at this sight, it must be a common occurrence for them.
After all, the normal reaction a person should have when they see a wild krookodile emerging from the ground is to run. They are not exactly the most friendliest of pokemon.
I am more interested in why the krookodile and its young are here. From what I know, their homes are at Route 9. While it is not impossible for them to travel here to Route 11 from Route 9, the distance between the two routes is still considerably huge. They basically travelled from southern Kalos all the way to the northwestern part of the region. Surely they didn't come all the way here just to sunbathe?
A lone sandile waddled its way to me with big curious eyes instead of joining its family. From how the krookodile parent only opened a lazy eye to watch it before closing it again to continue basking in the sun, either it doesn't really care about what the sandile plans to do with me, or simply trust me enough with its young.
"Hey there, little one." I squatted down to greet the sandile, scratching the bottom of its jaw with a hand when I'm sure it won't bite my hand off. The sandile should be a very young one given how small it is in size as compared to the rest of its family. Must be a newborn. It would explain its curiosity.
The sandile gave a happy rumble from its throat and closed its eyes to enjoy the sensation of me scratching its jaws. I can see some of the workers sending me curious looks. Some had a look of disbelief plastered on their face and I can understand why. Sandiles don't just let anyone touch them without trying to first bite their hands off. They have a notorious reputation for a reason. People give them a wide berth when they spot them in the wild because their species and its evolutionary line are ferocious in nature. They are the type to attack first, then talk later.
Thankfully, this species of pokemon don't usually attack others unless provoked. I guess this is why the miners are not mining the area where the krookodile and its young are now sunbathing at. That spot is probably their favourite spot to sunbathe and they probably appear there very frequently.
"Why are you and your family doing all the way out here instead of staying at Route 9 with the rest of your kind?" I started a one-sided conversation with the young sandile as it cocked its head to a side. It probably doesn't know what Route 9 is, but it should already be intelligent enough to know what I'm asking about.
There was another rumble from its throat.
"More food here?" I hummed in thought when I somehow understood what the sandile is rumbling about. This is a part of me that I never understood even until now. I don't even know how I came to have this ability to understand ground types, even if just partially.
"Look out!"
There was a loud crash that immediately got everyone to look upwards from where the sound originated from. Not far ahead, a rocky ledge above us had gave way and broke. The excavator and all the workers on that ledge are now falling.
"Vision! Tinen!"
My claydol and marowak had immediately dashed forward upon my orders as I simultaneously released my entire team around me.
"Help Vision and Tinen! Soften the ground! Catch the falling people! Shield those at the bottom!"
Tinen is already using her two bones to expertly bat away or break the falling rocks to prevent it from hurting the people and pokemon right below the rocky ledge. Vision is using its psychic powers to catch who it can while blasting beams of energy to destroy any falling debris. The rest of my pokemon got into action as well. The not so mobile ones like Seis and Terra stayed behind to soften the ground at the affected area ahead with a modified version of Earth Power while the faster ones moved to help rescue who they can.
"Jaws! Sail! Stone Edge!"
My two prehistoric pokemon raised walls of stones that shielded the people below from harm, creating a bunker of solid rock for them to huddle in. Anyone that my pokemon cannot shield or get away in time, my gigalith, Mantle, shot the debris about to hit them with Power Gem so that they can land on the softened ground without any injuries.
The entire ordeal probably took about a few seconds before it settled down, but the scare factor made me feel like it had lasted a few minutes. From the relieved faces of the workers who had also witnessed the same thing, they probably felt the same feeling too.
The supervisor of the miners that we saved thanked me profusely for my help, even giving me a sizable crystal ore as thanks. That doesn't stop the supervisor from the other mining company from chewing out the one whose workers and pokemon were nearly fatally injured from the accident.
"You cannot mine that area! The license we got from the Government said so! It will result in overmining and look what happened when you dig too much! We agreed to split the approved mining ground fifty-fifty within the demarcated area! That ledge was beyond that area!"
"But I need to meet the mining quota set by my higher-ups! There's not enough crystals!"
"I'm having problems trying to meet my own quota too but you don't see my breaking the law!" The other supervisor huffed angrily. "The next time, I won't hesitate to report you to the authorities! Seriously, if it wasn't for the lady there, you would be in hot soup!"
"Tell me, what is the biggest problem Kalos is facing?"
"Overpopulation, which leads to a strain of our natural resources."
The conversation that I had with my uncle rang in my mind. Kalos is known for the production of its luxury goods since there is a huge demand for it. Just look at how much we value our precious crystals here. Our culture is a little more flamboyant and extravagant, which might explain Kalosians' love for pretty things. The crystals mined here are often turned into luxury goods because of that. When there's demand for a certain thing, there will be people who will find ways to supply it in order to make a profit.
But when there's not enough of the supply and demand is still going strong, people will find ways to get more of it somehow, like what one of the supervisors did by placing some of his workers on a dangerous rocky ledge to mine for more resources, even if it is supposedly illegal to do so, even when doing so will hurt our environment and everyone living in it.
"Let's go." I whispered to my pokemon, not wanting to get caught up in this mess.
This is a small example of what my uncle had told me about. He had always been a farsighted man when it comes to his passion to help the world, although I think that he is always a little too shortsighted with the methods he tend to employ. Even then, his worry is not an unfounded one.
I heard Tinen giving a frustrated grunt from behind me. Everyone turned around to see what's going on.
I nearly burst out laughing at the sight. The young sandile from earlier is using its jaws to clamp onto one of Tinen's bones and is determined to not let go. Tinen, on the other hand, is trying very hard to shake the sandile off with little success.
My entire team is also rumbling with laughter at the sight. Tinen got even more frustrated and ticked off after hearing that, as can be seen from how much harder she tried to shake the sandile off. I looked back up to find the sandile's family, only to see that they had long since disappeared.
Where had they gone to?
"You should let go." I tapped gently on sandile's snout to get its attention on me. The sandile is still not letting go of Tinen's bone, although its gaze is now on me.
"Or Tinen, maybe you should just give this bone to sandile. You have two of those anyway."
Tinen gave a very loud and audible huff of refusal, adamant on keeping both bones with her. Tinen is oddly stubborn when it comes to her bones, as do every marowak. I guess the only way to resolve this is to try and persuade sandile to let go.
"Come on, little one, stop making things difficult for Tinen. I'm sure that there are many other bones out there for you to chew on."
Sandile let out another rumble and what I understood from it caught me by surprise.
"You want to come with us?"
Sandile blinked a few times in affirmation while I just squat beside it, a little bewildered.
I used a few seconds to give this matter a little more thought. On one hand, I'm not an active trainer anymore, even if I do take part in battles every now and then just for the fun of it if I ever got into the mood. On the other hand, a krookodile's strength is nothing to scoff at. When sandile reaches its final form after I trained it enough, it may be a great help in my excavation work. I may be a historian, but I also actively take part in the excavation process because my pokemon are good at it.
"We are no longer very active in taking part in battles though, is that alright with you?"
Sandile blinked its eyes rapidly. Yes, then.
"Alright, you can let go of Tinen's bone now." I stroked the sandile on the top of its head to get it to let go. Now that I am observing it properly, I realise that sandile is a he.
"Do you want a nickname? All of my friends here have one." I used my left arm to gesture to my team of ground and rock types, who are now looking curiously at our newest addition.
Sandile gave another rumble of its throat which I interpret as a yes.
"I try to name each of my ground types with an 'earth' theme, but for you, how about Rumble? Since you always produce this rumbling sound from your throat anyway."
Sandile rumbled back at me as it relaxed at my touch, enjoying how I scratched his lower jaw.
"Rumble it is then. Welcome to the family, you little chewy baby."
Character and pokemon list:
Nova Labelle, Age: 26, Female, Ground Specialist, Historian, Niece of Lysandre
Pokemon on hand:
1. Mamoswine (Berg), Male
2. Golem (Crust), Female
3. Excadrill (Solid), Male
4. Golurk (Drift), Genderless
5. Garchomp (Core), Male
6. Claydol (Vision), Genderless
7. Whiscash (Seis), Male
8. Marowak (Tinen), Female
9. Torterra (Terra), Female
10. Gigalith (Mantle), Male
11. Tyrantrum (Jaws), Male
12. Aurorus (Sail), Female
13. Sandile (Rumble), Male
