Percy quickly found himself in a routine he had never known before.
He would wake up in the morning, prepare himself for the day ahead and go straight to the library. He would browse through shelves until he found a book that struck his fancy and will spend the rest of the day reading through it. During the breaks when he ate and relaxed, he would examine his gifts and practice with his power just a little. Then he would go right back to studying. At night he would practice his powers one last time until he was exhausted. Only then would he go to dreamland. Rinse and repeat until he had enough to go on this journey, hopefully.
It was a bit lonely, he admitted. But it was efficient as all hell and that was enough for him. Besides, being lonely was kind of his shtick. Being ADHD and dyslexic had been great for making friends until the age of 6. After that, not so much. but his classmates hadn't been the best of people either so he kind of got a good deal out of it.
Anyways, this routine went on for two weeks. Percy hadn't really known that much had passed until he had talked to Manaphy again. Who was less than thrilled to see him. Apparently not seeing the sun at all and not having a digital phone made one lose their sense of time quickly. Who knew?
Percy supposed time passed was time passed and that there was nothing to do about it now. Still, the idea of spending months in this place and not knowing a peep scared him. How he longed to get out of here.
Fortunately, the day he finally felt he knew enough arrived. He finished the whole two weeks feeling like he had done more reading than he had in his entire life but it was over. He had more than a basic understanding of everything he needed to know. The rest would come from experience.
He was literally vibrating in his place as he packed his things. Manaphy had kindly gifted him a hat, a jacket, and a backpack. All in navy blue, much to his surprise and delight. Apparently, he had a bunch of godly figures stalking him and his preferences. How nice.
He finished backing and checked over everything one last time. His band? Check. His pen sword? Check. His favorite clothes and necessary ones? Check. His sleeping bag? Check. Some food he had made and lots of water? Check. The school books that he was probably not going to open? Check.
Satisfied with his belongings, he put on the backpack and placed his new hat at the top of his black curls. He gazed at himself in the mirror and nodded his head at himself. At last, with one final look at his room, he opened the doors and exited it. Hopefully to never return.
He made his way over to where he had first met Arceus. Once at the front of the big doors, he took in a big breath and determinately marched inside.
The room was exactly the same as when he had left it. It was still glorious to look at and it was still pissing Percy the fuck off. Did Arceus really have to be so pretentious to have literal stars in its room?
Ignoring his thoughts, he continued his march to the front. He wasn't about to waste any more time here arguing. Hopefully, he would also never see this room again.
Arceus was waiting for him.
"I see that you have grown quite a lot in your time here, Perseus." It said. "It is a good look on you." It spoke without opening its mouth.
Percy's smarmy mouth was just itching to say something but he held himself back, barely. The guy may grate on his nerves, but Percy had to admit, it was powerful. Especially after reading about it. He was also quite scared by the possibility of this guy cursing him or something. He didn't want to be chased by goats all his life.
Arceus hummed. "As one final gift from us, we would give you the ability to speak Japanese. All of the regions in our world speak it with minor differences. We believe it would be wasteful to have you learn it over the course of your journey." Arceus looked at him grimly. "This may hurt but it will be gone as quickly as it came."
Just as Percy was going to ask how he was going to be gifted such a thing, he felt a burning sensation on his left shoulder blade. He stifled the scream that wanted to escape his mouth into a hiss and almost fell to his knees. When it passed, he clawed at his shirt to get a better look at it. A symbol flared red on his skin for a second before heading away, leaving his skin unblemished once again.
"A heads up would have been really nice, you know," Percy said, his voice a little hoarse. He cleared his throat.
Arceus ignored him.
"That said and done, you must believe yourself ready enough to start your journey now. We as a whole agree with your assessment and think you are more than ready for your time out in our world." It spoke deeply.
Percy waited impatiently. There had to be one last catch, he just knew it.
He was right.
"Before you go through, know that what we do, or rather where we sent you, is more important than you will realize. We believe it is a fitting start to what will certainly be a tale for legends. Good luck out there Perseus, you are going to need it."
Percy decided to abandon all caution to the wind and started cursing violently. Before he could finish, bright white light flashed before his eyes and he lost consciousness.
When Percy came to be, he found himself lying on a rough surface. His back hurt and he groaned before sitting upright.
Only to realize he was in a wild damn forest and that he had been dumped on a dirt patch. Which he had been lying in a few seconds before.
His mouth opened indignantly but before he could continue cursing, a sharp sound cut through the air. Percy's instincts kicked in and he snapped his mouth shut.
His eyes darted wildly between trees, searching for enemies and potential allies before realizing there was nothing around. He groaned, this was a disastrous way to start out.
He searched around for a settlement the whole day. Whenever he heard a potentially dangerous sound, he went still and prayed to nobody in particular that it didn't notice him. Thankfully, it at least seemed like Arceus was looking after him. If he hadn't dropped Percy here in the first place, Percy might have felt thankful to the godly creature. But, alas.
After searching for what felt like an eternity, he saw smoke in the sky. With his heart in his throat, Percy hoped the forest wasn't burning and made his way over. His legs ached from walking and running all day but he paid it no mind. If this was what he thought it was, then that meant he was going to rest.
He was right. There was a cave-like structure on the side of the forest. At the front, a campfire burning. He grinned and made his way over. Finally, some humans.
Nevertheless, he cautiously approached the settlement. He was extra careful around the tall grasses. He knew exactly what they meant by now even if he never actually got attacked by far.
He approached quietly. Percy didn't know who he was actually dealing with. Maybe it was going to be someone who didn't have the best of intentions. He couldn't risk his everything on a whim.
When he stealthily approached, however, he found himself already discovered.
In front of him was a wealthy-looking man. The guy had short, styled black hair and dark eyes. He was wearing a stark black suit with a gray dress shirt and a red tie. The black clothing extended to his pants and to his shoes too. He was also quite tall and buff. Percy thought the man belonged more in an office rather than in a damp forest. The guy was also looking right at him, meeting his assessing gaze with equally inquiring eyes. Percy felt the man's eyes linger on his new blue clothes. He subconsciously gripped them with a tight hand.
Finally, they both stopped assessing each other. The man smiled charmingly. "I see that you are quite a lost, child. May I ask where you came from?"
Percy looked warily at him. Thinking quickly, he lied. "My uncle and I used to travel from place to place. He dumped me here to 'start my journey or something. The dick never really liked me after my mom's death." It was a mix of half-truths and utter bull. He hoped it was enough. He was also a bit surprised by how well he was speaking Japanese. The words flew out of his mouth like he was a native. "The same goes for you, you know. Why are you in this dinky forest when you look like you eat gold for breakfast?" He narrowed his eyes.
"Well this 'dinky forest' as you called it is the Viridian Forest. It hosts some very interesting materials I was in search of. Since I can seem to find anyone of competence nowadays I had to go get it myself." The man said. He sighed. "I was planning on going to Viridian City. If you want, I can also leave you there so that you can get to Pallet Town, where you can get your first Pokémon." The man raised an eyebrow.
Percy was about to ask how he knew he didn't have any Pokémon when he realized the man's eyes had lingered on his belt. Specifically, the belt on which he was supposed to carry captured Pokémon on. His cheeks burned in embarrassment even though he knew it wasn't his fault. Damn Arceus and its ilk had left him without protection.
He scowled. "What is your name anyway?" Percy asked.
The man raised an eyebrow. "You do know that you have to give your name before asking for one? But to answer your question, you can call me John." John said.
"That is an awfully weird name for someone from Kanto." Percy raised an eyebrow.
"What is your name, child?" John repeated, his eyes twitching just the tiniest bit. The average John wouldn't catch it but Percy was of the observant sort. He knew his way around shady characters. He could tell this guy was a bit pissed off. It was probably for the best not to give him his real name.
"Alright, alright no need to get so pushy. It's Jason." Percy lied.
"Charmed," John said blandly.
A tense silence ensued between them. Percy quickly grew bored of it. "Hey, uh, I don't want to be rude or anything but you got any food? I am starving." Percy said.
John chuckled and looked at the sky. "I was just about to say that. Since it is getting dark, why don't we settle and talk over there." John suggested. Percy agreed.
They quickly settled around the flames. Percy watched as John loaded some meat onto a clean stick. The guy then left it at the top of the fire to cook.
"You know, I noticed you were wearing something strange." John said. "What is that on your wrist?"
Percy blanched. "I-It's a gift from my c-cousins. They, uh, gifted it to me on my birthday." Percy lied once more. Wow, he had a lot of secrets. Also, every single word out of his mouth had been a lie of some sort so far.
"You are a very curious child, Jason," John said. He reached over to ruffle Percy's wild hair. Percy managed to evade him, barely.
"Says the guy in a suit in the middle of nowhere," Percy muttered. He really didn't understand John. The man was giving him some very mixed signals here.
John laughed. He had a very loud laugh. "Can't deny that now can I?" John said almost to himself. Just then he started taking their meals off the fire. He hummed a tune as he unskewed the meat off. He handed some to Percy. Percy gladly took it and started eating.
They ate in silence. Both of them stared at the flickering flames and enjoyed the juicy meal in their mouth. When the night set and the moon appeared in its glory. Percy took a moment to stargaze. Due to light pollution, Percy had almost never seen stars in New York. The best place to see them had been Montauk where even then they had barely shined. In Arceus' room, there had also been a lot of stars. However, those had an artificial feeling that Percy loathed. Plus they were in Arceus' room, no way in hell was he looking at those. In contrast, he could admire them here in their full, natural glory.
Percy felt a nudge from John and looked at him. John offered him a canteen of water and Percy drank greedily. He hadn't noticed he was that thirsty. Walking must have taken more out of him than he had initially thought.
He felt John lookup along with him. "The stars are especially bright tonight," John commented. Percy hummed.
"When I was a boy just like you were, I went on my journey too you know," John said. "Those were the best years of my life. I can still remember flying on my Pokémon at night. It was one of the best feelings in the world." John sounded wistful. Percy noticed him shake his head from the corner of his eye.
"That makes you sound really old, dude," Percy said. "Slow down, grandpa. You look like you're in your thirties, not your damn sixty." Percy said. John gave one of his deep laughs again.
"You are the most interesting thing to happen to me in a while, Jason. You have a way of speaking that would scare away most people. I know I haven't heard it in a long time." John said. "I wasn't expecting this little trip to actually be anything good but I guess I like to be proven wrong sometimes."
"I am glad I am so entertaining then," Percy muttered. What was up with all these people finding him interesting? Did these guys never go out in public since kindergarten? Percy had for sure met a lot of 'interesting' people in his twelve years of life. Maybe it was just the US, though.
"Any tips for my own journey?" Percy asked, curious.
"Don't buy the Slowpoke tails," John said, completely serious. "Quite literally the worst purchase of my life and I had bought the damn Magikarps for 5000," John grumbled. "Also don't forget to stock up on food and water in towns. I once had to almost eat a Caterpie to not starve." John thought some more. "Wash your clothes at clean looking rivers, otherwise the Pokémarts and Pokécenters make you wait outside," John said.
"If you really need some money, go out into the streets with a strong Pokémon and watch the vultures descend. By vultures, I mean the common folk who have more money than they know what to do with. If they lose, they have to pay you. Know that if you lose, you have to pay them." John smiled lightly. "Be aware that everyone around you has big ambitions and no willpower to back them up." John eyed him contemplatively. "Don't be like them." He said wisely.
"Alrighty then. Duly noted." Percy said even if he was a bit confused about the first one. Did people sell dismembered Pokémon limbs? Damn, that was pretty savage. He had thought the guy would say stuff like 'listen to your heart' and 'make some friendships' or something equally cheesy like that. He had only asked it to get the conversation going. He was actually thankful he had asked now.
John stretched. "I don't' know about you but I am going to bed." John got up.
Percy got up too. "I guess I need to go to sleep either." Percy said, yawning. "I searched for this place the whole day." He smoothed his clothes.
John looked at him with a sharp eye. "If you think that is tiring, then I pity you kid. You have seen nothing." He headed inside. "But I was the same way when I started out." John turned his head. "You coming?"
Percy walked after him. John tried to ruffle his hair again and Percy didn't care enough to dodge it.
Afterward, when he was snugly inside his sleeping bag, he reviewed the day. It wasn't as disastrous as he had thought it was. He focused on some waterdrops nearby him and began to mentally play with them. John was on the far, far right side of the cave and he was confident he wouldn't see him practice his powers. He made the droplets form shapes and movements. Finally, he tried to make them freeze again. Every night he could feel little improvements in his powers but it still wasn't enough to completely turn it to ice. Letting go of his powers, he watched it fall down and shatter lightly on the ground. His eyes were begging for him to close them and he complied with their wishes.
Then he was asleep.
When he came to be again, he was staring at a green cocoon. He yelled and pushed it away. It swayed when it landed and looked at Percy warily. Percy didn't blame it.
John, who had come to see the commotion, chuckled. "Rise and shine, Jason. We have a long day ahead." He squinted at the sun. "I would say we will be in Viridian City by afternoon or so," John commented.
Percy groaned and buried his head under his pillow.
Later, when he felt like a person again, he stumbled into the area where the campfire was. The flames were long put out by now. Percy nudged them a little bit to watch the ashes fly up in the air.
Just then, John came from inside the cave. He was once more in his fancy suit and looked ready to topple down a small business. Percy wondered how someone could look so elegant in the mornings.
"We, unfortunately, don't have a straight line of forest road in front of us," John said. "We will have to go left and right, forward and backward quite a lot." Seeing Percy's somewhat miserable look he added. "I know this forest like the back of my hand," John assured him.
Percy supposed that was the best he would get. He opened up his bag and took out a simple sandwich he had backed from before. The backpack may look small, but it sure could contain a lot of things. He wondered if it was magically altered to have a bigger inside and felt a smile spread across his face. That would be awesome, he thought.
Realizing he looked like an idiot staring at his sandwich, he hastily took a bite out of it. It was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that reminded him of his childhood. The peanut butter had blue food dye to make it even better. He looked up when he sensed John staring.
"What are you eating?" John asked in a mildly confused tone. Since Percy couldn't speak now, he raised his sandwich and pointed at it in hopes of getting his message across.
It didn't work.
"I know you are eating a sandwich." John snapped. "I was wondering what the blue stuff was." He scowled.
Percy took a moment to chew and think about his response. He normally would have given a curt response like I like blue or what about it? but he felt he owed it to the guy to share some stories of his own.
"When I was little and Gabe, my step-dad who I loathe, had just moved in; my ma decided to add some blue to the pancakes she was making. You know, for fun and stuff." He inspected his sandwich. "When she finished, she thought they looked good enough to be eaten. So she served them to me and the douchebag." He snarled.
"Gabe said that they were disgusting and that there was no such thing as blue food. Apparently, that response ignited something of a rebellion in my ma because from then on she always tried to make food blue." He smiled at the memories. "She would bake me blue cookies and buy me blue candy, would add blue to my birthday cakes whenever we had enough money to bake them." Percy took another bite. John waited patiently for him to chew.
"When she died, I thought I would never eat blue food again. But they have a way of coming into my life and I guess I can't really live without them anymore. Not to mention they are one of the few things I have left of my mom." He wiped the tear that had almost slipped from his eye. Deep breaths Percy you know she is not dead, he reminded himself. "So yeah. That's my tragic tale for blue food. I would offer you some sandwiches but I had made only one of them. I have some blue cookies though, you want some?" Percy offered.
John shook his head negative. "I would love to, but I have an allergic reaction to most dairy products," John said. "I am sorry about what happened to your mother. She must have been an extraordinary woman for you to speak about her like that." John said, with dark eyes that have seen a lot.
Percy waved it off. It was way too early to speak about his mother. "So, um, when are we leaving? I need to get my stuff prepared again, you know." Percy said.
"I am ready myself. I just need you to be done." John said. "Cool," Percy mumbled as he took his last bite. He ran in the direction of the cave and got his items ready once more.
When he was sure everything was where it was supposed to be, he ran out and nodded at John. John in turn began to walk along the road. Percy was quick to follow him. "So you never really said why you were here." Percy huffed as he caught up.
"Oh, it was mainly nothing. I wasn't lying when I said I have some problems finding competent people but it wasn't really needed too much anyways. I suppose I was getting a bit stir-crazy from a... personal project of mine." John said.
Percy frowned. "How so?" He asked, inquiring.
"...the team that I had deployed was experiencing some unexpected troubles. I normally wouldn't get involved too much in the scientific side of things, but this was important. I had also gotten a bit impatient with the speed of things, which were almost nonexistent." John signed. "Sometimes I wonder if it is worth it," John said.
Percy raised an eyebrow but said nothing. The guy clearly had some personal problems. He had also met John a day ago. He didn't think he knew him well enough to ask more questions.
They walked in a comfy silence. Percy thought it was great. He fiddled with the Pokeballs on his belt unconsciously as he walked. Despite himself, he couldn't deny he felt excited to go wander out in the region. He was going to wander out in a world filled with superpowered animals. Who wouldn't be hyped?
Just then, he heard an odd buzzing in the air. He stopped and listened closely. John stopped too and turned to him, a question clear on his face.
"Is it just me, or is a swarm of insects coming our way?" Percy frowned, half-joking.
John's eyes widened and hardened. "Jason, get behind me, now!" He shouted as his hands went to his suit pockets. From inside them, he took out a shiny red ball. Just like the one Percy had been fiddling with.
Percy had been about to ask what the hell was wrong when he too saw it.
In front of them was a literal army of insects. The group consisted of a mix of huge bee creatures with drills for hands and pretty purple butterflies who had big, jewel-like pink eyes. It was easily the most fearsome and weirdly beautiful sight Percy had ever seen. The way then worked in a chaotic harmony was mesmerizing.
Too bad John had something to say about it.
He saw John turn away from him even further. John's eyes went from being battle-ready to bored in the span of a second. His mouth curled into a tiny wicked smirk as he played with the red ball in his hand.
Just as Percy was getting nervous, John threw the ball.
A blinding white flash lightened Percy's vision for a second before fading, leaving behind a magnificent creature. The enormous creature was purple. It had two big ears at the top of its head and a singular horn from the top of its head. It had a raised-up purple tail and a big silver-gray belly. It roared at the upcoming swarm.
"Nidoking!" John called out. "Use Thunder!"
The newly identified creature, Nidoking, wasted no time obeying. Somehow, it made the clouds darken with its powers. The now black thunderclouds rolled angrily at the skies as Nidoking carefully identified its targets. It gave a growl of outrage and a deafening thunder came from the high heavens.
Percy had to hold onto his hat tightly to not let it get lost in the sudden wind. They had gone from sunny, perfect weather to a one found in fearsome nights in the span of a second. It was nuts, to say the least.
The Nidoking's opponents didn't know what hit them.
The force of the electric move had completely shattered the previous group. Their yells and shouts of pain filled the forest for a second before disappearing, leaving behind a bunch of smoked, knocked-out Pokémon in their wake.
Nidoking huffed in satisfaction. John lifted his head, pleased with his Pokémon. Percy would have thought him mad if he was anything less.
Percy had never seen anything like it in his previous world. He had known the creatures would be powerful and that he would get to witness their might for himself but this felt ungodly. If this was what perfectly available Pokémon could do, then he wondered what the legendaries had the capability to do.
John chuckled. "Close your mouth, Jason. It's unbecoming." He cleared his throat. "You did fine, Nidoking. Return." Nidoking disappeared in a flash of red light. Jon looked at the Pokéball in his hand for a second longer before putting it back where it had come from.
Percy turned to him, completely calm even with his racing heartbeat. "That. Was. AWESOME!" He whooped. He cheered at John and John graciously allowed it. Finally, when he felt like he was coming down from the hype, he grinned at John. "Holy cow, that sure was something. "
"First time seeing a battle is always like that." John dismissed. "You will get used to it in time. All the best trainers do." John said.
Percy felt like he never would. He didn't mention it to John.
"The Pokémon here are also not supposed to be this much grown. New trainers from Pallet Town need to get through here to start out. They will have some serious problems if the Pokémon here are this strong. Fortunately, the bug-types here will leave their nestling forest after fully evolving." John said. "We were simply unlucky enough to see them before they left. Hopefully, this attack from Nidoking will further encourage them to leave their homes for good."
"Let us continue then." He started walking again. "You can ask your questions, I won't bite," John said. Percy unleashed the dam of questions inside of him.
Sometime later after he exhausted his curiosity with questions. "Where did you get it from?" "Him, Jason. I got him fairly recently from the Safari Zone in Fuchsia City." "Was he always like this?" "What? No, definitely not. It was from the results of hours upon hours of training. Also a fairly convenient TM." "What type is it? What are the other moves?" "Nidoking is a Ground and Poison-type Pokémon. A Pokedéx would tell you more about it than I ever could?" "Ooh, what's a Pokedéx?" "A fairly recent piece of technology that you will get acquainted with very soon." "What are the other Pokémon you have on your team?" "I guess you are going to have to find out at a later time. Saying it now would ruin all the surprise." He noticed the silhouette of a simple town from the distance. John looked at the Town with barely concealed relief. Percy supposed he went a bit overboard with his questions.
"We are almost there Jason," John said. "Viridian City." Where I will get closer to obtaining my first ever Pokémon, Percy thought giddily. He found he couldn't wait.
When they arrived, John looked at him. "This is the place where our paths diverge, Jason. It was very nice to have you as a traveling partner. I hope we can meet again in better locations with better knowledge." John smiled knowingly. "When you are ready, I may find you. For the time being though, keep traveling and learning. I know you can be great with the right experience and guidance." John waved. "Until we meet again!"
Just as Percy was about to say something back stupid and cheesy, John disappeared from view. He jumped five-foot in the air. Clutching his heart, he let a wide excited grin creep onto his face. He had no idea how that had happened. Damn, the guy was cool! And an asshole! Why did he not do that at the beginning? He supposed it was for the best that he got to meet him. He wasn't really that angry.
Finally, he took in a deep breath and turned to face the view. Viridian City, huh, Percy thought. Just y'all wait, I am going to sweep the rug from all of you guys' feet.
With confident steps, Percy started walking.
Shedding the disguise of John, Giovanni watched him go with dark eyes. Yes, the kid would be great. He was sure of it.
-o-
So fun fact I didn't actually know what to call Giovanni at first. It was only thanks to Google that I learned Giovanni was John in Italien. Seemed funny at the time so I went with it.
Big thanks to my Beta Theseus-Theo for his help on this chapter. My grammar sucks most of the time. I have chapters 5, 6 and 7 ready to get posted too. Stay tuned for that.
Peace.
