OREBURGH GATE, 2:07
"Hey there, little guy," said Claus.
The Pokemon that he was talking to remained entirely unresponsive, staring blankly at him. Pello walked up to the Nosepass, sniffing at it, but he chirped in surprise when it waddled away from him, still staring straight ahead at Claus.
Claus stepped slightly to the side. The Nosepass didn't respond, still facing exactly the same spot that Claus had been standing in before.
Huh. Claus knew it wasn't unresponsive, from its reaction to Pello's invasion of its personal space, but maybe what he assumed was its "face" wasn't the same thing that it used for sensory input. His Steel affinity could detect the Nosepass, as easily as it could detect the trace amounts of metal in the earth and the Pokedex in his pocket.
Wait, duh. He had a Pokedex. He pulled towards his hands using a quick tug from his affinity and scanned the Nosepass with it, watching as the results popped up on the screen.
Claus's eyebrows rose at the results. The Nosepass, just under three feet in height, was estimated to be well over 500 pounds. Additionally, its typing was not steel as he'd expected, instead displaying pure rock type, but when he tapped on it with his finger, it showed a more detailed breakdown. The Nosepass was sixty percent rock type, but it was also twenty-three percent steel, fifteen percent electric, and two percent other types. None of those were enough to merit a listed secondary typing, but they were important parts of its genetic makeup nonetheless. He knew better than to assume that this was true for all Nosepass, though. A scan of Pello, earlier that day, revealed that the little Turtwig had a greater percentage of ground typing than most other Turtwig, even considering that his final evolution was a true ground type.
Interested, Claus scrolled a little further down to some of the listed text entries, which usually contained information entered by other volunteer participants in the Pokedex project (though the submissions were no doubt reviewed by Rowan or someone else before being uploaded).
Nosepass has no true olfactory organs, and correspondingly, no sense of smell. The red nose-like feature, however, always faces north, giving the species its name. Despite being neither electric nor steel type, they gain sensory input from the world around them using a combination of electroreception and steelsight.
"Earth to Claus!"
Claus flinched at Barry's voice, almost right behind him. He hadn't even noticed the guy approach, which was unbelievable, because Barry was loud.
"Sorry," said Barry, slightly surprised. "Didn't mean to scare you."
"It's okay," said Claus, still a little shaken. He was lucky it was just Barry, and not a malicious wild Pokemon. Granted, he had Pello and his friends as extra pairs of eyes, and he'd be more on his guard in a more dangerous location, but…
"Whatcha looking at?" asked Barry, turning his attention to the rock type. "Oh, a Nosepass! Cool!" He glanced at Claus. "You thinking of catching him?"
"It," corrected Claus. The Pokedex scan had shown that Nosepass had no gender, which made him wonder how it reproduced. "But… um, maybe? I don't know."
Barry grinned. "Probopass is a rock type, right? It'll help you beat both of my Pokemon so far."
Claus opened his mouth to make a remark about how he wouldn't need type advantages to beat Barry, but he stopped as he thought about it.
A Probopass would cover plenty of Pello's weaknesses, including bug, fire, air, and ice. In return, Pello could deal with water and ground types that would give the Probopass trouble. Claus belatedly remembered that Barry was much smarter than he let people think he was.
"You know what, why not," conceded Claus. He directed his next words at the Nosepass. "What do you think, buddy? Care to join a gym challenger's team?"
It was an unspoken rule that well-trained Pokemon were stronger than wild ones, and that common knowledge had trickled down to not all, but many wild Pokemon. Claus wasn't surprised when the Nosepass waved its arms in challenge.
"Ah, you wanna spar?" Pokemon generally wanted to test the strength of their prospective trainers first. The Nosepass made a low grunting noise that Claus hoped meant assent, and he smiled.
"Pello, are you ready for our first battle?" asked Claus, excited. It wasn't really, if you counted the few times that Pello and Roy had needed to scare away some overly curious bird Pokemon on Route 203, but it was close enough. Pello hissed at the Nosepass, settling into a battle stance. The Nosepass didn't turn to face Pello, but it charged at him with a Tackle. The attack was slow, but the Nosepass was close enough that it would be hard to dodge.
Pello wasn't extremely quick on his feet, but he wasn't completely immobile, either, so Claus figured he could get away with his order. "Pello, out of the way!"
The Turtwig stepped out of the way of the charging Nosepass, not able to completely avoid the Tackle, but the attack glanced off the back of Pello's shell. Pello hissed in slight pain.
"Counter with, uh…" Claus scrambled to remember what moves Pello knew. "Absorb!"
His guess was correct. Pello concentrated, his skin glowing a faint green. Other than that, the attack was invisible, and the Nosepass flinched backwards, making a pained gurgling sound.
"Keep it up!" urged Claus. Pello closed his eyes, the green glow growing slightly brighter, and the Nosepass waved its arms frantically.
"Okay, okay, that's enough," Claus said, and Pello stopped instantly. The Nosepass seemed weary, but didn't object when Claus retrieved a Pokeball from his bag. The Pokeball absorbed the Nosepass in less than a second, and Barry, who had been watching the fight curiously, frowned.
"Okay, maybe I should've held out for a better Pokeball," he admitted.
Claus smirked. "Told you," he said, pushing the button and letting the Nosepass back out. "Now, what do you want me to call you?"
"Baby."
"What-" Claus blinked. "You- I was talking about the Nosepass! What…" He felt heat rising to his face, and tried to force it back down.
Barry grinned his stupid shit-eating grin. "What? Baby would be a spectacular name for a Nosepass! Ow! That hurt!"
OREBURGH CENTER, 3:00
"So I named him Franklin," concluded Claus, ignoring Barry snickering at him. Screw Barry, honestly.
"Franklin is a nice name," agreed Dawn, obviously trying not to laugh.
"Thank you," said Claus. "Anyways, what do you two think of Roark?"
"No," said Barry, immediately. "I would get destroyed. I haven't done much actual training yet, and both of my team members are weak to rock. First gym or not, I wouldn't stand a chance."
"You're right," agreed Claus, "But I didn't mean challenging him. I haven't trained much either, and I don't think that just a type advantage can win me the battle. I was thinking maybe we could watch some of his battles, to get an idea of how he fights and what we should be prepared for."
Dawn nodded. "That sounds like a good idea, but I'm a little tired today," she admitted. "I think our Pokemon are probably a bit worn out from traveling, too. Maybe tomorrow?"
A glance at Barry showed that he agreed with Dawn, so Claus shrugged. "Yeah, that's fine. Tomorrow it is. But then what do you want to do today?"
Before any of them could reply, they were interrupted by a robotic beeping sound, startling Roy out of Barry's lap and onto the floor. Claus turned in his seat to see that the Center's TV had been interrupted, the news anchor who had been talking previously replaced by a black screen with blocky white text that read "Emergency broadcast." The Center's other occupants fell silent.
A man's voice read the words on the screen out loud. "Emergency broadcast. All of those in the following areas are requested to head indoors and remain there until directed otherwise, unless they have five or more gym badges or equal qualifications, due to unconfirmed reports of an unidentified but powerful Pokemon. Route 206. Route 207. Route 208. Oreburgh City.
"The Pokemon is reported to be sturdily built and about eight feet tall, with reddish skin and features typical of bug Pokemon. If you spot a Pokemon matching this description, call the League's number, 223, immediately. Exercise caution, for this Pokemon's species and capabilities are unknown.
"Thank you for your cooperation."
The screen went black before returning to the news channel, but the silence in the Center lingered for a moment before the voices returned, excited and confused.
Barry turned back to the two of them. "What on earth? An unidentified Pokemon species?" He grinned. "That doesn't happen every day!"
"I can't say I'm very hopeful," Claus confessed. "They were unconfirmed reports. It could just be a prank, or something of the sort." He shrugged. "The description was extremely vague, and it could be exaggerated. For all we know, it was just a loose Scizor."
Dawn looked uneasy. "A Scizor that's eight feet tall?"
Claus hesitated. "Okay, well… maybe a Scolipede. I don't know. Again, it might just be exaggerated." The excuse sounded feeble even to him. Scolipede were eight feet long. If they were eight feet tall, they would be a truly terrifying Pokemon indeed.
Barry waved him off. "Don't be a buzzkill, Claus!" Some people who had the appropriate qualifications, mostly older trainers, were beginning to leave the center, their hands on their Pokeballs. "Who knows? There's always the possibility. Maybe it'll be something super powerful that we can catch on our own gym challenges!"
"Always the optimist," scoffed Claus. Pello, nearby, chirped and headbutted Claus's foot. He seemed worried by the shift in the atmosphere.
"No problem, buddy," he muttered, reaching down to pet the Turtwig's head. With any luck, whatever this was would blow over quickly, and they could continue on their gym challenges.
Speaking of which, Barry had already recovered from the strange event, raising his Pokedex. "Well, since that means we're stuck here for a while, we might as well brainstorm for the gym battle, right?"
The three of them spent some time reviewing strategies for the upcoming gym battle. Claus was fairly confident that with some training, Pello would be able to take on Roark's team and win. A study of the Pokedex scan revealed that Pello had a greater concentration of ground type than most other Turtwig, which suggested a ground type parent or grandparent. Claus would have to check for any ground type moves when he was training. Franklin would be more of a last resort, if Pello wasn't able to take down two Pokemon by himself; Rock type Pokemon were sturdy, long-lived opponents, type advantage or not.
Dawn would have a similar strategy to Claus, relying on her Piplup (who neither Claus nor Barry had seen before, causing curiosity from the former and fawning from the latter) and using her Helioptile only as a last-ditch effort. Rock types were evenly matched against electric types in theory, but many of them shared a secondary ground type, or at least a higher percentage of ground type composition, allowing them to use moves like Earthquake and Bulldoze. It was a risk that Dawn was unwilling to take unless she had to.
Barry, on the other hand, had a much more difficult task than either of them. Rock types had a natural advantage against both of his teammates, unless he was willing to wait for Roy to evolve into Monferno before challenging Roark, hardly an appealing prospect for someone so impatient. Lyn would have even more difficulty. Starly were quick and evasive in battle, but they were frail, and even one true strike from a rock type attack could knock them out.
"Maybe I'll check for TMs in the Poke mart," Barry mused. "I'm sure Roy can learn a fighting move, or something like that."
"That's a good idea," agreed Claus. TMs were often limited by the amount of badges that a trainer had, to keep under-trained Pokemon from learning techniques that were too advanced, but there would likely be at least a decent selection available to beginning trainers as well. "Maybe Steel Wing-"
The television interrupted their discussion again, beeping loudly. A hush fell over the Center once more as the man's voice- no, a different man's voice- spoke up once more. Though the format of the broadcast was the same, this man sounded disgruntled, a far cry from the emotionless, robotic voice that had announced the first time.
"Emergency broadcast. The previous communication was a false alarm, caused by miscommunication. Please disregard it and return to business as usual if you are in the following locations. Route 206. Route 207. Route 208. Oreburgh City.
"Thank you for your cooperation."
The television switched back to its regularly scheduled programming. Claus, Barry, and Dawn exchanged glances.
"How does someone just… accidentally report a massive unidentified Pokemon?" asked Barry, his eyebrows furrowing together.
Claus shrugged, forcing a laugh. "I don't know. People are dumb sometimes."
But he wasn't convinced. This didn't sound like something that someone would just… accidentally do. There were all sorts of weird things about the situation, as well. Why were the announcers two different people? Why didn't they give a better explanation than "miscommunication?" Why did the league partially shut down all of Oreburgh City, not to mention three nearby routes, when they could have been more specific about the location?
And, of course, how would such a huge Pokemon, assuming it even existed, suddenly vanish?
"Maybe it was a prank call," suggested Dawn. "There's too much about this that doesn't make sense."
"Probably," Claus agreed. It was far from a perfect explanation, but it was the best one they had for now…
NOTES
Claus meets his first non-Pello team member! I love Probopass, and if you don't, I really hope I can change your mind throughout the course of this fic. The mini-noses are such a cool concept, and I just think the iron filings being attracted to the nose and looking like a mustache is so silly and endearing.
Nosepass always faces north, and I made that canon here as well, because Nosepass doesn't really use its eyes to see. As I mentioned, it uses electroreception (the sense that a platypus uses to detect electric currents, but much stronger in a Nosepass than any IRL animals because it needs to function well outside of the water, where electricity can't conduct as well) and steelsight (the thing that Claus can do, with his affinity, where he kind of is a metal detector). This is, of course, because Probopass is both a steel type and learns a lot of electric moves as it levels up, like Discharge (hence the liberties I took with describing Nosepass's type composition.)
Also, Nosepass has no gender here, despite it having a gender in the game. Because unlike things such as Geodude, I feel like Nosepass isn't really organic at all, and would reproduce asexually. It has no "organs" that are really comparable to irl animals, which is how I'd judge something like this. I don't want to rant for too long about Pokemon biology though, so if you have any other questions feel free to ask in the comments! lol
Claus getting into "oooh fun info" mode when he actually starts using the Pokedex is me. I get lost in interesting stuff all the time. [looks up at my rant on Nosepass's use of sensory inputs] yeah
S-shipping?
"Screw Barry, honestly." -you would [shot]
What's the deal with this weird broadcast hmmmm? We shall see
and what's with the following one HMMMMM?
also lmao barry going "damn can we catch one?"
See y'all in the next chapter!