So, Next chapter done. I was originally gonna have this one be much longer, but I decided to stop it where I did and continue the rest next chapter. Felt like the pacing would drag on a bit much.
Also, I decided to add a small element of interaction to these chapters. If you feel so inclined, you can leave a comment or review to participate. With a few exceptions here and there, I would like you to help chose the titles for the chapters. Please, keep the suggestions to only the review section. If there's a title that I like, I will the winner a shoutout in the forward of the next chapter. Any blank titles are up for suggestion, but I will not retroactively change a chapter title if a new one is suggested at a later date. Please respect the winners.
Anyway, on with the show.
(Copyright): I don't own shit.
'I cannot believe that worked...', I thought in utter disbelief. 'I pulled the amnesia act...and he bought it. Holy shit.'
A cool, brisk wind rushed in from the open stairway, hitting me and causing me to shudder. Grabbing a towel from nearby the pile that I was previously wrapped in, now mostly strewn about the floor from my rolling, I wrap myself back up and recline on the couch. During a quiet moment, I started to feel a bit restless, not really able to sit quite still. My eyes began peering all over the room, observing and taking in my surroundings with curiosity, munching on the rest of my sandwich here and there.
There was the kitchen area, which had all the usual fixtures you'd see, just condensed down to fit on the smaller ship. A small clothesline hung over the sink between two of the cabinets mounted to the wall, just in front of the glass porthole. On the line hung my clothes, still mostly damp from what I could see from the couch, but they didn't look damaged. To the right of the kitchen was a short hallway with three doors, one on each side, but none of them were open and I didn't want to go snooping, so I left them alone. In the opposite corner of the room, I spy a small bookcase situated next to an umbrella stand that is just filled with fishing rods, most looking pretty beat up from years of abuse.
Somewhat intrigued, I get up and waddle over, taking a peek at the selection of reading material. Most were what I would consider "Classical Literature" in design and naming, but as it was a different universe, I didn't recognize any of it. There were also quite a few navigational journals, but I only breezed through the first couple of pages of one of them before I got bored and put it back. As soon as I picked up the next book in line, which was a fishing manual and basics guide, a panel appeared in front of me.
[You have found a Skill Book]
I was taken aback at it's sudden appearance and intrigued by its contents. I had noticed the skills option menu but since my status said I didn't have any skills, I didn't bother with it. Now, with the discovery with whatever a "skill book" was, you can bet I was paying more attention now. With a quick gesture, I open the main menu and select "skills". To my shock, there was now a skill that I didn't have before.
[Freefall/ LV 3 (5) Passive]
You can take tucking and rolling to the extreme.
Reduce Falling Damage by {45%}.
"...the hell?", I unknowingly muttered. "When did I get that?"
My mind was awash with questions, trying to figure out how I'd gotten the skill but was sadly coming up short. Aside from the notification about the first quest and the newly discovered skill book, I hadn't received any other pop ups. Then, a better question came to mind: how had I gotten the skill in the first place?
I open the quest log, thinking maybe that I'd gotten it from the first quest as a possible reward that I hadn't noticed at first. Well, aside from the title of the quest now being greyed-out, which I took to mean that I'd completed it, there was nothing in the description that was different. With a somewhat defeated sigh, I close the quest log and turn my attention back to the skill. I stood there glaring, trying to analyze it, as if it would simply tell me what I wanted to know.
"How did I get you?", I asked, idly spinning the book between my fingers. When no secondary panel popped up, it was pretty obvious that I wasn't going to get any answers for the time being. With an annoyed huff, I take my seat back on the couch and begin reading the fishing guide. I'm not gonna bore you with all the details, just know that the first few chapters talked about the basics of bait and lure selection, proper rod technique, and a small rundown on the kind of environments to look out for to find fish. And sure enough, when I finished the fourth or so chapter...
[Fishing/ LV 1 (20)]
You are practicing the art of the catch and lure.
{5%} Chance to catch fish.
{1%} Chance to catch other things.
(Other Rarity odds modified by Luck stat.)
...I got the skill.
"Heh. Didn't have you pegged for the fishing type.", I heard someone comment to my left.
I look away from the notification to see Riley standing at the bottom of the stairs, leaning on the railing with a cocked eyebrow and a smirk. Standing just to him was a blue, bipedal, dog-like pokemon that I hadn't seen before. It had tan fur that covered most of its torso, black sections covering most of its legs, paws, waist, shoulders, and face, with large tufts of hair hanging off the back of it's head similar to dreadlocks. Actually, with the design of the fur on the face, which consisted of a horizontal stripe that covered the eyes and most of the nose, and a singular stripe that goes down the center of the forehead between its pointy ears, presumably meeting with the dreadlocks in the back, it gave a sort of mask/bandanna feel. It also had rounded spikes protruding out from the back of its paws, with one slightly larger centered into the middle of it's chest. The last thing I noticed about it were its eyes. Not crimson, but definitely a deep shade of red that paired impeccably well with their slanted shape, creating a near-permanent look of menace and intimidation.
"Well...", I started, closing the book and the notification with the same motion, creating a small thud as the book snapped shut. "...there wasn't anything to do and...it looked interesting."
Riley gave a small nod in understanding before coming over and taking a seat next to me. The pokemon merely followed its master, but instead taking a meditative pose on the floor and closed its eyes. His gaze became concerned once again as he looked me up and down, no doubt eyeing the numerous bruises that now littered my body.
"So, uh...you feeling okay?", he asked somewhat awkwardly, rubbing the side of his neck.
I let out a small chuckle, quickly followed by a small whimper, as it hurt to laugh.
"Ow...a little.", I replied while rubbing my forehead. "Still feels like I lost a fistfight with a refrigerator though. Any idea when we'll hit land?"
"Well, the mainland, not for a while. As to where we're headed...maybe 20 minutes?"
"Where're we going?"
"Iron Island. It's a nature reserve/training ground that a friend of mine owns. It's built out of an old mining operation that dried up a few years back. I got word that someone's been starting trouble there, so I'm going see what's up."
"Any idea who it is?"
"Not entirely sure, but I think it's team Galactic."
"Team who?"
"Not surprised you haven't heard of them, they've only been active for a few months now. Basically, they're a cult of nutcases that go around stealing pokemon and preaching about 'Remaking the world'."
"Why would they go around stealing pokemon?"
"Again, no one knows for sure, but there's been speculation among the league. With their talk of 'Remaking' the world, some have thought they're possibly building an army. World conquest isn't out of the purview of groups like this."
"Wow...what a bunch of assholes."
"My thoughts exactly."
"But, wait...If the league knows that these guys could become a threat, why haven't they done anything already?"
"Sadly, Galactic hasn't done anything yet to warrant them being classified as an official 'league' problem. There've been a few times where the league accidentally jumped the gun, so to speak, and it devolved into a giant PR nightmare. Since then, the only time they're able to jump in is if the threat ticks of enough of a very specific set of check boxes."
"...Bureaucracy. It sucks wherever you go."
"Yeah, pretty much. It's one of the reasons why I never became a gym leader."
"You were gonna be a gym leader?"
"At one point, I was asked to. But I said no. Felt like there was somebody better suited for the job. Plus, gyms kinda require you stay in one location for most of the year, and I wasn't a fan of that. I like to wander."
"Hmm...Well, since you did kind of save my life, I do owe you. What do you say to me helping out with your Team Galactic issue?"
"You'd do that?"
"Yeah. Why not?"
"...You are covered in bruises. And actively suffering from memory loss."
"...Why would that stop me from helping someone out?"
Riley looked like he was a bit taken aback by my offer. His gaze fell to the floor, seemingly in thought, before drifting up towards his Lucario. They shared a look for a moment, as if having a wordless conversation, letting out a small chuckle before turning to me.
"I'm not exactly sure what you can do to help, but if you want to tag along, I'm not gonna say no. I'd love the company.", he replied, his tone turning very serious as he continued. "But...if a battle starts, or things get dicey, I want you to hang back and get out of the way. It won't be an official or legal battle, so they'll most likely fight dirty, and they may target you as well. Since you don't have any pokemon to defend you at the moment, it's best for you to run if you get the chance. Got me?"
Just as I was about to answer, another notification popped up in the corner of my vision. I turn to read it, but I'm careful with my movements to make sure he doesn't think something's up. I was actually surprised to see that it was a quest notification.
[A Galactic Encounter!]
Description: Members of Team Galactic are causing trouble on Iron Island, no doubt for some nefarious purpose.
Objective: Find Team Galactic and put a stop to their plans.
Bonus objective(s): Defeat at least [1] member(s) on your own.
?
Reward(s): 5000 Pokèdollars, 300 Exp, ?
Failure: Team Galactic gets away.
[Accept: (Y/N)]
Yeah, surprise is one word to describe what I felt. I now had a real quest, one with actual rewards instead of sarcastic quips. And this one had multiple objectives, not to mention the mystery reward. That immediately caught my attention. The fact that there's the possibility of rewards that it can't, or won't, tell me about. I had to think: what else could it be hiding from me already? I'd only had the power for a very, very short time and even in that time, it showed that I'd hadn't even scratched the surface of the potential this power held. It left me dumbfounded for a moment.
I felt a hand grab onto my shoulder and give a gentle shake, waking me from my daze. I turn and see Riley, once again with a worried look. "You okay?", he asked.
I turn back to the screen, looking it up and down before focusing on the choice selector at the bottom. With a sigh, I respond "Yeah", and the text changed to the familiar 'quest accepted' message before vanishing. I turned back to Riley and continued, "Yeah, sorry, I-I'm fine. I just...blanked for a moment. I get what you're saying. I won't get involved unless I absolutely have to, and even then, it'll probably be just running away."
His worried look shifted into a knowing smile, giving a nod of acceptance before standing up from the couch. The second he stood up, his Lucario opened its eyes and also stood up from it's meditative position. They both took a few steps towards the staircase before he turned back around and said, "We're heading up top. Why don't you get dressed and come up yourself? The captain's eager to meet you." He started climbing up the stairs, but quickly turned back around, "Oh, by the way, if your clothes aren't completely dry yet, I think Eldritch keeps a hair dryer in one of those cabinets.", he said, gesturing to the kitchen area. Specifically, the lower half of the cabinets. "Sicilia's a bit of preen-er."
It didn't take long for me to find the hair dryer, as it was pretty much directly where Riley pointed to. After a good few minutes of hand drying my outfit, I slipped it back on and moved around for a moment. It felt rather stiff in odd places, no doubt from the ramshackle method I'd used and the salt content from the water that stained it. Still, at least It was better than running around in my underwear. Just as I was heading to the stairs, I realized that I should check my status to see where my hunger and thirst were at.
[HP: 100/100]
[MP: 100/100]
[Stamina: 100%]
[Nutrition: 49%]
[Hydration: 72%]
[Stats]
[Strength: 1]
[Vitality: 1]
[Intelligence: 1]
[Wisdom: 1]
[Dexterity: 1]
[Charisma: 1]
[Luck: 1]
[Points to spend: 0]
[Skills: 2]
[Perks: none]
'Well, there's the new skills.', I thought. 'Food and water are good, and Hypothermia's gone. Nice. Hmm...It seems that Hydration is easier to fill than hunger. Even with the inevitable drain while I was unconscious, one water bottle went a long way. But the sandwich didn't do much, it seems...At least I'm out of the red, for now. Gotta buy some food when we get back to land.'
With a worn sigh, I close the menu and grab the fishing manual I was reading before heading up to the deck. The smell of the salty air hit me as soon as I stepped into the open, gusts of wind carrying the scent as they whipped past me. My gaze fell upon the wide, vast ocean before me, the evening sun shining down and making the water sparkle like crystal. I stood there for a moment, just basking in the picturesque view.
"Beautiful, Ain't she!", I heard called out from my right in a husky voice. I turn and see the same portly man from before, who I immediately recognize as the captain of the ship. Eldritch, Riley said his name was. He was wearing the same outfit as before, but he had a smirking grin on his face, though the shadow of his hat did obscure his eyes a bit.
"Yeah. Even though I almost died in it, I can still appreciate its beauty.", I reply, giving my own smile, though with a twinge of sadness.
He gave a hearty chuckle, "Aye, the sea can be a tricky mistress. But any good sailor worth their salt knows how to tame her when it comes to it." He put out a beefy hand towards me for a handshake, "Eldritch, Captain of the S. . Pleased to meet ya."
"Likewise." I respond, reaching and taking his hand. As soon as I grasped his hand, his hand clamped down around mine with tremendous strength. It wasn't like he was trying to hurt me or anything, no, his grip was that strong. The pain in my hand forced me down to one knee, only letting a few high-pitched squeaks escape from my lungs. As soon as he realized what he was doing, he let go and started apologizing profusely.
"I'm sorry lad, seems I squeezed a bit too hard.", he grimaced with a genuine apologetic expression. He reached over and offered a hand to help me up, but I put up a hand to stop him in his tracks.
"No...no, it's alright. It seems that I'm not one for weight lifting." I say, clutching my hand and trying to rub the pain away. "Name's Felix, or at least, I think it is."
His face morphed into an expression of both concern, and oddly, understanding. "Riley mentioned that you seem to be suffering from a touch of memory loss. You feeling alright, son?"
"Yeah. Pretty much anything from before an hour or two ago is just blank, or a fleeting scrap at best." I reply, trying to keep it vague enough that asking questions didn't raise too much suspicion. "You wouldn't happen to know how I ended up in the water, would you?"
"Sadly, we were hoping you could fill in the blanks there, boyo. Sorry.", He answered, his gravelly voice somewhat betraying the apologetic look he was trying to give. "It's a shame about the whole situation, I know what it's like to take a bonk on the head and forget how ta' tie yer shoes."
"Really? You don't say?"
"Aye", he replied, before his saddened expression evaporated into a toothy grin, "Ya see, every year, Me and the Wife's anniversary comes around, and I always end up forgetting it. And every year, I come up with a new way of trying to hide it, but she always finds out somehow. When she does, she ends up giving me a good thwack across the head with her frying pan for good measure.", he explained in an animated fashion, even miming the swing. "To this day, I don't think it's ever dawned on her that the reason I keep forgetting...is because she keeps whacking me on the head! Ackackackacka", he belted out, the punchline of the joke sending him into a fit of laughter. I couldn't help but make the mental comparison to with his manner of laughing. It was uncanny.
Letting out a little chuckle at the irony, I motioned to catch his attention, asking about our ETA for Iron Island. He's said pretty much the same thing that Riley did, though he was vaguer with the wording, just saying that it was "soon".
He then spied the fishing manual in my other hand, his smile growing just that much wider. "Say lad, didn't take you for the fishing type."
"Yeah, I've heard that before. I started reading it when I was below deck. It's actually pretty interesting, so I wanted to finish it before we reached the island, If I could.", I explained, only half lying.
"Well, let me know if you ever want to try the real thing, won't ya? Reading about it is one thing, but there's no substitute for the true experience...even if the fishies can be right bastards sometimes.", he said, never losing his jolly demeanor.
To be honest, while I didn't look at the skill for very long, I was intrigued by the prospect of catching things other than fish. Theoretically speaking I could get something really valuable, something that could be sold for a bunch of cash. Cash I would desperately need very soon. Since I would be stuck in this world for the foreseeable future, or at least until the key attuned itself, I needed a source of income to sustain myself. I could get a job somewhere, but until I get some kind of official paperwork, that wasn't an option. Then again, unless I found some way to get papers forged, It'd be best to keep attention off of me as long as possible. I imagine whatever equivalent to 'immigration' that existed in this world would have lost their minds if they ever found out about me, since I technically didn't exist.
Anyway, shaking myself out of my train of thought, I turn to The Captain and say, "I'll hold you to that. Seems like fun.", taking my leave towards a nice spot to continue reading, while Eldritch returned to the helm.
I took a seat against the railing on the port side of the ship, propping the book open on my lap to the chapter that I'd left off at. Just before I continue reading, I took a mental note of Riley. He was laying back, reclined at the bow of the ship against a pile of rope, seemingly acting as an improvised bean-bag chair. He had his arms draped over his chest, head hanging low and his hat shadowing his face. To his left sat Lucario, though instead of the meditative pose from before, it sat cross-legged, staring straight at me. While it didn't feel like a suspicious or malicious look, it felt no less intense with how it's slanted eyes seem to bore into me.
I did my best to ignore it, though it was rather difficult, and started reading. It was a decent read, the tips and info seemingly being absorbed straight into my brain the more I read. It didn't take long for me to finish the book and as soon as I did, two notifications popped up in front of me.
[Due to Finishing "The Fisherman's Pal: A Guide to the basics", The {Fishing} Skill has leveled up. (Lv1 - Lv2)]
[Congratulations, You have finished reading your first book. Your intelligence has been increased by 1]
'Hmm...So skill books serve multiple purposes. They can give you skills and level them up if you finish the book entirely. Interesting. And...my intelligence went up when I finished it. I wonder; does that work with other books too? Or only just skill books?', I pondered, taking in the information before me.
'But wait, If I remember correctly, you're supposed to spend points only when you level up to increase your stats. Does this mean I can increase my other stats by doing stuff too? Like, would lifting weights increase my strength? If the precedent set by this holds up, pretty much, yeah. But what exactly counts towards the increase? ...I'm gonna have to find a quiet spot to experiment with this.', I concluded, closing the panels with a flick of the wrist.
I let out a deep sigh, the mounting questions starting to weigh heavy on my mind. To me, there was nothing anyone could have said to prepare me for this. Being stuck in another world, alone, with a power I didn't even know to use, and being forced to stay here until some arbitrary deadline. The uncertainty and loneliness was crushing. Sure, Riley and The Captain seemed like good people, they did save me and all. But that feeling of not belonging, of being a stranger, deeply pained me.
Casting my gaze out towards the ocean, the seemingly endless predictability of the jostling waves provided a weird kind of comfort, as I rested my head on the railing. For a moment, I let my heart speak. It was only a whisper, but they were still the words that escaped my lips.
"Do I deserve to be here, Frederick? Do I deserve this second chance more than you?"
The words left my lips, seemingly being carried on the wind that flowed past my head. I sat there for a moment, as if waiting for an answer from someone who wasn't there. When no answer came, I let out a small chuckle, wondering what else I should have expected.
As I was sitting there on the edge of the boat, looking out over the open sea, I couldn't help but get the sense that someone was watching me, and my mind immediately fell on a certain someone. I took a quick look around the deck of the boat, but only saw Eldritch manning the helm, and Riley was taking a nap at the front of the boat. Confused, I turned back towards the ocean, only to jump at the sudden appearance of Riley's Lucario standing right next to me.
"Gah! Oh, uh, hello. You, uh... you scared me there.", I said, through a few shaky breaths.
It continued to stare at me, just lowly growling as the awkward moment continued on. It got even more awkward when, for the life of me, I couldn't think of anything to say. It's like my brain just shut off.
Then, it did something very unexpected. It reached out, grabbed my hand, brought it up past its face and just placed it on top of its head. It then looked at me expectedly, its eyes seemingly inflating just to make it look more cute.
"...I take it you want me to pet you?", I sigh with a raised eyebrow.
The vigorous nodding it did, combined with those enormous begging eyes plucked at my heartstrings, perfectly playing on my deep love of all things cute. At that point, I couldn't have said no even if I wanted to. God damn those eyes. I think they actually sparkled.
With a bit of hesitation, I start scritching and scratching all over its head. Both hands were always rubbing a different part of its face, but were in perfect rhythm. While one was gently rubbing the top of it's head with the back of my nails, the other was rubbing against the grain of its fur at the point where the neck met the chin. It's eyes were stuck half open with a euphoric twitch, it's eyes partially glazed over and letting out a low, content growl. With every scratch and pet, it steadily inched closer, pretty much becoming putty in my hands.
It was at this moment that I went for the kill, so to speak. Shifting my hand from the top it's head to behind it's right ear, I start rubbing the spot just as the ear meets the skull; The spot that all dogs have. You know the one.
The second I scratched that spot, it's eyes rolled to the back of it's head and it's leg started shaking violently against the deck of the ship. Each thud was heavier and louder than the last, actually rocking the ship at one point. It was adorable...and kinda scary. I could feel the vibrations of each hit through the deck, and with how much force I could feel from that alone, I definitely did not want to pass this thing off.
"Oi! Whatever you're doing over there, cut it out! If ya make a single dent in the deck of me ship, I'm taking it out of your arse when we get to port!", shouted the captain of the ship from the helm.
"S-sorry!", I called back to the captain, trying not to piss him off. "Let me calm him down."
I continued petting but steadily slowed my movements down, eventually lulling it into a moment where I could safely stop. Now, I'm not exaggerating what I'm about to say next.
Apparently, this thing was now so comfortable with me that, completely unprompted, it laid down in my lap and went to sleep. I'm not kidding, It was even snoring. I was a little shocked by the sudden development that I froze, too scared to move. My brief time as a pillow was interrupted by, of all things, laughing. Slow, stifled laughing.
I look up, and the laughing immediately stopped. My suspicious gaze peered over at Riley, still pretending to be asleep underneath the brim of his hat, but the subtle shaking showed how hard he was holding back.
"What's so funny?", I whisper yelled, trying not to wake the sleeping Lucario.
A high-pitched wheeze slipped out from under the hat, before turning into the same laughter from before, though not as slow or subdued. He sit up into a cross-legged position and lifted the brim of his hat, revealing a goofy smile and a knowing look.
"Heh heh heh, your face! You look like a freaking statue, you're so stiff! Ha ha ha ha!", he belted out, pointing the whole time. After a minute or so, his laughter finally died down. He wiped a few tears from his eyes and said, "I'm sorry, but that was the funniest reaction yet."
"Does he do this a lot?", I ask, trying be as still as I could. The Lucario stirred in my lap and cooed a bit, but otherwise remained asleep.
"She.", He corrected, "and not really. I can count the number of people she does this with on one hand,", he said, holding up five fingers, "and two of them are on this boat.", dropping two fingers. "You've found yourself in a very exclusive club, my friend."
A look of confusion washed over my face, "What, why? What did I do?"
He let out a small chuckle, "It's nothing you did, it's the way you are.", he stated as he stood up. Taking a few steps closer to the both of us as he continued, "Her specific line of pokemon can perceive something called an 'aura'. Every living thing has one. She must really like yours."
He knelt down right in front of the both of us, looking over the sleeping Lucario in my lap. He then looked up at me, awkward smile on his face and sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry about this.", he said, taking a pokeball and pressing the button in the center. A red beam of light shot out and quickly enveloped the sleeping form of Lucario. In an instant, the weight in my lap was gone as the beam was sucked back into the pokeball, taking the pokemon with it. With another click of the button, the ball shrunk down to its smaller size and was placed back on his belt with the others. "The last time she did this was with Cynthia, and it took an hour to pry her of her leg."
I let out a breath that I didn't know that I was holding and relaxed a bit. I opened my mouth to thank him, but I was interrupted by the voice of The Captain from the helm. "Land Ho!", he shouted, forcing both of us to look out over the front of the boat. Sure enough, just on the edge of the horizon, a large island came into view, with an even larger mountainous rock formation standing defiant against the harsh waves that crashed into it.
I stood there in awe of its size, only able to gawk as we sailed ever closer. Within a few minutes, we reached the docking area on the west side of the island, and were met with the sight of another boat. A speed-boat, specifically, one that was painted black with yellow-striped accents and a large elaborate "G" emblazoned on the side of the hull.
"Welp,", I started, turning to catch Riley's attention. "Looks like you hunch was right."
He didn't turn to face me, still continuing to stare at the boat. Though, he did give a quick nod in response.
My gaze shifted from the boat to the long staircase that led up the rocky structure of the island, still somewhat intimidated by its size.
"Team Galactic is here."
You know what to do. Thanks again to AsuraJZero for being my beta reader.