Obviously, I don't own Pokemon.
[=-CHAPTER 3-=]
"Hm, hmm, hmmm!" The girl studied him from his right.
"Hmmm, hm, Hmm!" And then she examined his face from the left.
She hopped in front of him again, posing dramatically as she pointed at him. "Yes, I've decided! I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!"
Sandshrew slid in front of Izan, raising her tiny claws at the girl threateningly. "Sandshrew!" She was almost snarling.
Izan, wondering if he was dreaming or something, stared. Shaking out of his stupor quickly, he patted Sandshrew on the head, melting her anger immediately.
"Calm down, Sandshrew. Now, you, what was your name again?"
The girl nodded enthusiastically. "I have never told you my name before, but I will tell you now! I am the great guardian of the forest, Serebyi!"
"…Right." Izan drawled, looking back at his Pokegear.
Typing in her name into the search bar, it took a few tries to get the spelling down. But when he did, his eyes widened.
"Yeah, no. We're not battling you." He stated firmly, ignoring Sandshrew's shock.
Serebyi almost deflated but kept her pose up anyway. "But… why not?" She whined.
In response, he squinted his eyes at her like she was stupid. "Because you're the 777th best trainer in the world… and I haven't even had Sandshrew for a week."
Seriously, what was she thinking? Her Pokemon team's average level was 43!
Bouncing on one foot, she put up a peace sign and stuck her tongue out while pouting. "Aw, man! I didn't think you would catch me so quickly!~"
Izan visibly cringed on instinct. Normal people didn't act like that and he wanted no part of whatever that just was.
Getting up, he dusted himself off calmly and schooled his expression.
"Well, it was nice meeting you Serebyi. Goodbye," He nodded to her, turning away.
Picking up Sandshrew, he started speed walking away quickly, letting his disgust be shown. "Let's get the fuck outta here, Sandshrew, she's weird," He whisper yelled.
Sandshrew didn't respond, content to just blissfully rest in his arms.
They didn't make it far before they had to stop.
Serebyi slid in front of him, holding up her hands. "W-wait! Don't run away, I just, uh…" She looked distinctively anxious about something.
"Oh! Yeah, I've got it! How about I take you on a task with me? You know, to apologize and stuff for being so weird." She muttered that last part, looking downward.
Izan sighed, feeling bad now that she felt the need to say sorry. "I'm not so important that you'd have to apologize for your personality. It's fine."
She held her tongue for a moment, before sighing as well. "No, I'm not normally like that. I just… tend to overdo it when I'm nervous."
There was an awkward silence only filled with the hums coming from a very pleased Sandshrew.
"So… you said something about a task? Why would doing a 'task' help me? That just sounds like free labor." He broke the silence reluctantly.
She answered without missing a beat, eager to get away from the awkwardness. "Have you never been on one? Huh. I thought all the Youngsters did a ton of tasks a day."
Izan's eye twitched in slight annoyance at his own ignorance. "Well, what is it? I'm pretty new to the whole Pokemon training thing if you haven't gotten the memo."
They fell into conversation as they leisurely walked back to the Pokemon Center.
Her personality was still just as bubbly and excitable as before, but she spoke in a more relaxed way despite her high energy.
Izan decided to stay quiet most of the time, soaking in her explanation.
Tasks were a pretty simple deal if he ignored the way she superfluously explained them. Jobs, tasks, missions. The name didn't matter since it was all the same thing.
Essentially, anyone could issue a task for something that required a Pokemon trainer. Such as needing a fighting type to help carry things or an ice type to freeze perishables.
Each job would then be categorized on its threat level and only certain trainers could take the more dangerous ones.
Youngsters like himself were stuck doing local chore-work, for example. Berry harvesting seemed popular for Youngsters.
One of the more popular types of tasks overall though was a request for a certain Pokemon. A lot of people needed Pokemon for various things, after all. From work needs, aspiring trainers, to even just wanting a Skitty or something because it was cute.
Especially since anyone could fulfill those tasks, trainer or not.
Looking on the League website, it was filled with requests from all over the world.
"-And Sandshrew here can get her cute little anger out!" Serebyi finished off her rant, poking Sandshrew on the nose. Sandshrew bit at the air, missing Serebyi's finger.
Izan considered Sandshrew's expression before speaking. "Anger? I think she just didn't like you popping up and talking to me without her permission."
Serebyi tilted her head. "Really? That was it?"
Sandshrew emphatically nodded her head again and again.
"Huh. You know, it's kinda weird you guys are so close when you say you haven't known each other for that long."
Izan and Sandshrew looked at each other in the eyes for a moment. Eventually, they both shrugged in sync. "I guess so. Does it matter, though?"
Serebyi smiled brightly. "Nope! Anyway, what do you think? Wanna go on a task date with me?"
Izan considered it, scrunching up his nose. Sandshrew offered no opinion, looking on impassively. "I don't know…"
She pouted, looking annoyed. "Oh, come on! I'll even let you have the full payou-"
Snapping his fingers, he answered immediately. "You son of a bitch, I'm in."
For once, Sandshrew and Serebyi were on the same page as they deadpanned at Izan's shameless greed.
"So why exactly did you pick this job again?" Izan asked as they approached the designated area.
It was an abandoned house on the outskirts of town. Not many even came to the area anymore, but someone was buying the property and wanted the Pokemon that took over it to get out.
"Because I get to show off how super cool and awesome of a trainer I am, and you get to have a battle!" Serebyi replied, pumping her fist in the air.
"You want me to battle a couple of Spearow? Didn't I say I haven't trained Sandshrew for a week yet?"
She waved him off. "Pssh. It'll be fine. I'm here, aren't I? If you need help, just ask me!" She pointed at her smiling face.
Izan rolled his eyes, fluttering his lips. 'I'm gonna regret this, aren't I?'
Noting his expression, she pouted. "Fine. Don't believe me? Just watch and learn."
When they finally walked up, the abandoned house was covered in a huge flock of Spearow with a giant Fearow sitting in the middle. They all eerily and silently observed the two as they approached.
"Alright, listen here you meanies! I'm gonna give you one chance and one chance only; Get outta here before I have to kick your butts and put you out!" Serebyi began shrieking.
Izan facepalmed but stayed in his place, believing she could probably deal with it. Sandshrew watched on curiously.
The Spearow all looked at her impassively until the main Fearow gave her a piercing look. Just with that look, the entire flock was incensed and began flying in the air.
Serebyi's demeanor suddenly changed to complete seriousness, her voice becoming noticeably deeper. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
"Come out, Bramble."
Out of her Pokeball materialized a massive, brass Ferrothorn with red vines that didn't seem concerned at all with the flock in front of it.
'A shiny Pokemon? Damn, I forgot about those.' Izan briefly thought.
Fearow cawed loudly in warning, obviously much more intelligent than the Spearow flock it commanded.
"Use [Stealth Rock]." She intoned.
Glowing rocks appeared around Ferrothorn before spinning around him and flicking off in random directions, planting themselves in the ground.
Fearow, incensed at being ignored, cawed again. The entire flock began soaring to Serebyi directly, ignoring her Ferrothorn completely.
"Finish them off, Bramble. [Gravity]." She commanded.
A thrum of power exploded from Ferrothorn, targeting every single Spearow, increasing the gravity and sending them rocketing toward the ground.
On impact, the embedded rocks exploded in orange light, causing every Spearow to faint or be heavily injured. Sandshrew looked on in awe.
Izan snapped out of his stunned state when he heard Serebyi dusting off her hands.
"And that's that. Told you I was super cool, didn't I?" She smirked.
"…Bramble?"
Serebyi put her hands on her hips, affronted. "What's wrong with Bramble? It's a cute name."
"I wanted to name him Cuddly because he's so cute but he didn't like that one. Isn't that right, Bramble?" She recovered quickly, expertly avoiding Ferrothorn's pointy bits while hugging it.
Ferrothorn huffed, used to its trainer's shenanigans.
Izan snorted at her affections. "Yeah, never mind. Bramble is 100% a better name than Cuddly. Maybe-"
His sentence was interrupted by Sandshrew hopping off his shoulder gracefully, calmly walking up to the behemoth of a grass-type Pokemon.
Despite being so much smaller, she somehow managed to look like she was looking down on the Ferrothorn as she spoke.
"Sand. Shrew sandshrew sand. Sand, sand."
Whatever she said, Ferrothorn was having none of it. "Erro." was all it said before sitting down and closing its eyes, completely ignoring Sandshrew.
One didn't have to know Sandshrew for long to know that she wouldn't take kindly to that type of reaction.
And judging by how her lips curled in anger, Izan was sure she was about to fly off the handle.
Stepping in before that happened, he went on one knee before speaking. "What's up Sandshrew, what's the problem?"
Unlike her interaction with Bramble, her demeanor towards Izan was like a child speaking to their parent. She animatedly gestured to the few remaining rocks the Ferrothorn had set up.
'Her ego is gonna get us in trouble one day.' Izan couldn't help but think, ignoring the thought right after. Her pride was her main motivation for training and battling at the moment. Until that slowly or abruptly changed, chastising her would only be detrimental.
Or at least, he hoped that was the right decision.
It took a minute but he spoke when the message she was trying to convey finally clicked. "Ah, you wanna learn [Stealth Rock], don't you?"
Nodding emphatically, Sandshrew pointed at Serebyi this time.
Izan looked over to Serebyi with a helpless look on his face. What he saw almost made him facepalm.
Standing upright stroking her invisible beard, Serebyi was nodding to herself as if she was a sage. "Hm… What to do, what to do… I can't exactly stay in this mortal plane for too long…"
Seemingly playing up the act, she reached into her kimono and pulled out a dark yellow scroll. "Yes, a solution. I can't exactly stay in town to have Bramble teach her, but I can give you this scroll if you win."
Thoroughly confused, and more than a little exasperated, Izan raised his eyebrow. "And what exactly is that scroll? And win what?"
Seeing an opportunity, her constant smile grew bigger. "Let this young mistress educate you, then. This is a TM scroll. It is what people used to teach Pokemon moves before technology made things more compact.
Simply put, it is filled with the essence of a ground-type move. When a Pokemon reads it, they are imparted with the knowledge of that move."
'Interesting. Not useful information, but learning about history is always interesting. Why does she even have one of those?' Izan wondered before shaking the thought away.
"And win… what?" Izan repeated, not that impressed with the TM. While TMs were useful and quite expensive, she presented the scroll as if it was much more.
Her smile turned mischievous for a moment before it shifted back to innocently happy. "Win a Pokemon battle, of course."
Annoyed with her not getting to the point, Izan rolled his eyes heavily. "Against who? You?"
"RRROW!"
As if on cue, the forgotten Fearow cawed mightily, blowing away the dust that hadn't yet settled from the earlier blast.
Even with all the cuts and bruises it had from being violently slammed into the ground, it stood straight up with a fierce scowl, lightly panting. It was on its last legs.
"No, against him. Or, her? …Against that. You'll need to beat that." Serebyi's cheer whittled off as she confused herself over the Pokemon's gender.
In contrast to her nonchalance, Izan stepped back in alarm.
Fearow was a Pokemon that evolved at level 20. Or it should if the games were anything to go by. But even if it evolved levels earlier, it was a Fearow.
It was miles stronger than his Sandshrew. Especially considering Sandshrew was between levels 3 and 7.
"Are you insane? Sandshrew is not fighting that, she'd get destroyed!" he blurted out.
Serebyi rubbed her chin in thought. "Hm… yeah, you're right. It might be a bit too much for her right now."
Sandshrew looked hurt for a moment at their conclusions, but her expression changed to wariness as Fearow started to move forward slowly.
Izan sighed in relief that she had dropped it. 'She's a B-Class trainer, of course, she has to have some common sens-'
"So let's even the playing field a bit! Bramble, use [Leech Seed] please~!" Serebyi sing-songed.
Ferrothorn slowly opened its eyes and jumped into the air, pointing its vines toward Fearow and shooting multiple small seeds into its feathers.
The seeds, implanted in the Fearow's long feathers, exploded into vines that connected and slowly drained the bird of its energy.
Looking over and seeing innocently smiling Serebyi's face, this time he did facepalm.
"Slowly draining its health won't make this any easi-" He began, fully intending to refuse to fight.
But he stopped himself, realizing that this might be a good lesson and growth opportunity for Sandshrew.
'It's not like it's impossible. Fearow should already have taken much more damage than it seems from that Stealth Rock alone. Plus with the [Leech Seed] constantly draining it, all Sandshrew would have to do is dodge.' He reconsidered.
Taking a look at Sandshrew's expression, she looked thoroughly frightened. Yet he watched as she looked at her hands, clenched them, and stood her ground.
'Dammit. This is probably a really bad idea, but an opportunity like this probably won't happen again. A B-Class trainer as a safety net? Not commonplace at all.'
'On top of all of that, Sandshrew can get a free ground-type TM. Even something as simple as Magnitude or Dig could be a huge advantage in the future.' He surmised.
He could feel that strange energy bubble up inside him as he made his decision. Either that, or he was hungry.
"Good luck~!" Serebyi said in the back, seeing his resolve.
But what he didn't see was the impassive face that Serebyi wore as she said it, her voice completely different from her expression.
"Fuck it, let's do this. Alright, Sandshrew, rush straight at it and get ready to jump back!" Izan said, focusing on Fearow completely.
"Shrew!" Sandshrew didn't miss a beat, already ready to battle.
On all fours, she dashed as quickly as possible even with her small legs. It wasn't fast by any means, readying itself to move at any moment.
"Now!" Izan shouted.
Sandshrew stopped all of its momenta with its hands, pushing itself backward with its stubby arms. Fearow's beak struck the spot where Sandshrew's body had been, piercing the ground.
In any other scenario, Sandshrew would've been too slow, but Izan made sure to yell the moment he saw Fearow readying itself to use [Peck].
"Good, now use [Sand Attack] quickly," Izan commanded, smiling as he did so.
Sandshrew's jump back flowed into the next move, rushing slightly forward to kick up dust right into the bird Pokemon's eyes.
Stubborn and unrelenting, Fearow opened its bloodshot eyes despite all of the dust in them, staring straight at Sandshrew.
Its rage building, it reared its head back while its beak shined with gray energy.
"Don't let it hit you, no matter what! Run away if you have to," Izan warned, wary of whatever move it was using.
'A single move could probably take Sandshrew out. All Sandshrew has to do was dodge and wait it out.'
Sandshrew heeded the advice, intently watching each one of Fearow's moves. It was too far to hit from that range, but there was no point in underestimating it.
"Row!" With a short caw, Fearow went into a flurry of pecks, each one piercing the ground and making rocks fly up. Yet as it did so, it began to move toward Sandshrew slowly.
'Most likely [Fury Attack]. No need to take chances though. Just have to let it tire itself out.'
"Go for a [Mud Shot] to slow him down. Then come back over here. This battle should be pretty easy." Izan deduced calmly.
Sandshrew, reaching the same conclusion about Fearow's stamina, puffed up before shooting balls of mud into Fearow's wings.
After eyeing that it would stick, Sandshrew nodded to herself before turning around to run closer to Izan.
"Rrow."
In an instant, Fearow changed its tune, blurring forwards as Dark energy seemingly pulled it forward and closed the distance.
With a feat of speed that was unmatched, it clasped its talons onto Sandshrew's back, pinning it to the ground.
Izan blinked. And then panic spiked through his body, his worry for Sandshrew reaching its peak.
"Use [Defense Curl], right fucking now!" He screamed, running toward the two as fast as his legs could take him.
Unlike in the games, Pokemon weren't virtually invincible. There was no HP bar. In battles, Pokemon became hurt. Maimed, injured.
Killed.
Fearow, noticing that its beak would take too long to pierce through Sandshrew's hide, began to mercilessly beat down on her with its wings.
Again, and again.
Over and over.
That mysterious energy that bubbled inside him from time to time surged outwards. It filled every part of his body, coursing through him like blood in veins.
The distance between himself and Fearow felt like it closed without a moment to spare. Like the planet spun to accommodate his mad dash.
"Get the fuck off her!" He screamed, his voice cracking as he slammed into Fearow with all of his body weight.
It wasn't powerful by any means, his body weight was relatively light and his jump into the air caused him to lose some potential force.
But the impact was just enough to push Fearow off of Sandshrew, who took the chance immediately and rolled away.
'Yes!' Izan celebrated. His only thought was to get Sandshrew away from certain death.
He didn't exactly think about what to do afterward.
The Fearow had had enough. Its bloodshot eyes took on a new definition of rage. The scowl that it had would probably haunt him in his dreams.
It reared its head back, the action making him realize he was about to die. He wasn't a Pokemon with super abilities, he couldn't dodge even if he jumped right at that moment.
'Ah, welp. At least Sandshrew is okay. Maybe this time I'll reincarnate into Naruto.' He joked to himself.
Fearow eyes hardened as it readied itself to pierce through him.
…And then its eyes rolled back into its head. It fell onto the ground with a loud thump, completely unconscious.
The vines that wrapped around its body radiated with a sinister green glow.
Holding his head in his hands while he sat in the Pokemon Center, Izan waited and subconsciously bounced his leg.
He was thoroughly rattled.
Ever since Sandshrew had come along, his previous anxiety had been washed away. Like he wasn't in another world with a shaky foundation for life.
He was calm. Tranquil, even, when Sandshrew was around.
But now? That connection was gone. After rushing back to the Pokemon Center, she was put straight into intensive care.
Her hide's natural armor wasn't enough to stop the damage. Even if it absorbed and distributed the blows, the force had to go somewhere.
Something about internal damage. That was about as far as he heard before almost passing out.
Life once again felt uncertain. Sandshrew could actually die. And in his mind, it was all because of-
"Izan, calm down. She'll be fine, trust me," Serebyi's voice drifted in from the sideline.
His leg bouncing stopped. His eye twitched.
For a split second, there was an urge of primal anger that surged under the surface.
But instead of letting it out, he simply huffed through his nose.
"You want me to trust you? After… that?" He asked, his voice laden with malice yet sounding eerily calm.
For a moment she looked surprised at his tone, before she took a step back, bowing at a ninety-degree angle.
"I'm sorry! Truly, I am." She continued to look down as she spoke. "I thought that she could handle it. Plus there was the Leech Seed and I read once that Sandshrew's hide could repel any-"
As she continued to ramble, Izan's rage began to feed the energy within his body. Just her presence was pissing him off, knowing she didn't even try to help.
Even after the fight was over, she just watched him as he ran, not even offering a lift. A B-Class trainer without a single mount Pokemon? Bullshit.
"No." He cut her off.
"N-no?" She looked up at him in surprise, noticing he still hadn't looked at her.
Izan sighed.
"I get it. You're sorry. That doesn't change the fact that Sandshrew is hurt. You probably have a million rational reasons why I should forgive you, and you'd most likely be right. But…"
He looked up at her finally, the iris in his eyes pulsing with a foreign orange glow. The veins connected to his eyes protruded outwards, making his visage even more severe.
"I'm not exactly rational at the moment." He droned with a tone of finality.
With a concerned look, she studied his face for a solid minute before apparently finding what she was looking for as she stood up from her bow.
Her entire posture changed, along with her lack of a facial expression, like she dropped a mask she'd been wearing for hours.
She smirked. "I give up. No matter how many times I try and no matter who I emulate, you somehow always see through me. I'll admit I messed up this time around but you're more perceptive than you think."
She seemed amused for some reason if that smirk was anything to go by.
Izan scrunched up his nose in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Nothing." She shook her head, placing the TM scroll on the table. "The TM inside is Sandstorm. I've also already turned in the Fearow job and donated all the money to your profile. Goodbye for now, Izan."
Turning around, she swiftly made her way to the door. Izan blinked in confusion, processing her words slowly.
"Ah, and one more thing." She paused at the door, ignoring the looks she got for blocking the entrance. "It might seem impossible, but avoid Team Rocket please."
And then she was gone.
A few seconds passed before Izan slumped in his seat as his eyes flickered from their glowing orange back to simple dark brown.
He clenched his fist as he stared at his hands.
'What… is this?'
That feeling. That… energy. Time and time again it appeared without notice, whenever he needed it.
And each time it did, it became more evident to him. Like obtaining a new sense. Or the feeling of developing muscles needed for something arbitrary like wiggling the ears.
Still, as he focused on it and attempted to push it forward, it didn't even slightly budge. Though, that was progress in and of itself. He couldn't even feel it before unless it showed itself.
'Well if it's not a golden finger like in those stories, then it's probably psychic power or aura.' He figured.
The dark yellow of the scroll caught his eye and the table, distracting him from that.
'No point in thinking about that. Right now, I need to worry about Sandshrew.'
He wanted to believe she wouldn't die. A few heal pulses should make her mostly healed internally but the issue was that there were things heal pulse didn't fix.
According to Nurse Joy, who humored him because he was stressing out too much, Heal Pulse simply sped up the natural regeneration of its target.
Luckily the long-term problems that came with speeding up one's regeneration were absent because of the way the move functioned.
Izan sighed. He was glad health care was free because he didn't trust himself to not just throw all his money at Nurse Joy until Sandshrew was better.
'Speaking of money…' Izan took out his Pokegear and went to his account to see how much money he made from that job. It better have been-
His eyebrows raised to his hairline.
[Name: Izan Ritcher]
[Missions Completed: 0 F-Rank, 0 D-Rank, 1 C-Rank, 0 B-Rank, 0 A-Rank, 0 S-Rank]
[Age: 14]
[Birthplace: Vermillion City, Kanto]
[Trainer License: F+]
[Badges: 0] - [Ribbons: 0]
[Carry Limit: 3]
[Owned Pokemon: 1] - [Average Team Level: 5]
[(Private) Money: 5,730 ]
There were multiple other things scattered on his profile, like an icon that indicated his 1 Pokemon was a Sandshrew, but pretty much all of it could be private if he wanted.
But focusing on the last thing on his profile, he acquiesced that it was a good sum of money.
Not enough to warrant the amount of danger that Sandshrew got into, but then again the task most likely wasn't for him. It was a job that someone like Serebyi was supposed to take on.
With the amount of money that he made from that one mission, he could boost Sandshrew's training and quality of life quite a bit.
And if he did more of those missions or even just small ones on his level, he could probably fund things he normally wouldn't be able to.
It made sense that Youngsters did a 'ton of tasks a day'.
To that end, he made his way to the board in the back of the Pokemon Center. It was one of the things he initially ignored when he walked in his first time in the center.
Something he hadn't expected to see in this world: A quest board.
As he stared at all the tasks put up ripe for the taking, an idea passed through his head. Something that appealed to him greatly.
It was a slightly risky move, but one that would benefit them after this devastating loss.
Taking a piece of paper from the stack on a table, he began writing down his request.
