Waking Up To Pokemon Chapter 11, a pokémon fanfic

Waking Up To Pokemon Chapter 11: The Final Stretch Towards The Journey

Last Time

"He nods as he opens the notebook to take a look and says, "I would be more than fine with that even without the notebook but just from a glance this is more than enough for me to begin reviewing for tomorrow as you even have initial measurement of when you met Jor as a magikarp. On a side note just remember that you can't tell anyone about anything related to Jor and the 'kings' and it is best to stay away from the topic even with Brody until he is read-in though with him just use your best judgment. Also, I don't really cook much so if you are staying here you may cook or we will get takeout for meals." he finished bashfully.

After agreeing and having him tell me that he will tell Merri to be ready to take me to and from Cerulean City as needed I say goodnight as it has been a long day and I still feel as though my hand is cramping from all the paperwork."

A Week Later

Sitting by 'Lake Jor' as I called it watching Jor himself basking in the shallows getting some sun while a horsea about twice the size of the average leisurely bobbs just a little deeper past Jor I can't help but think of all that happened since I got my license. The first week of me having my license flew bye faster than I could have thought. It started off with my return to Cerulean City.

Flashback

Merri had just dropped me off at the Cerulean City Pokemon Center closest to the gym. Letting me know by telepathy that she would pick me up tomorrow morning at the same spot unless I called Professor Oak's Lab to ask for an earlier pickup.

Figuring I should start my goodbyes with Nurse Mary-Jane Joy. As luck would have it she was free this early in the morning and our goodbyes went relatively quickly with me once again giving my thanks for all the free lost and found gear over the last couple years saving me so much money and her saying good luck.

With that done, I made my way to the orphanage to say my goodbyes to Mr. Simms, Ms. Kwon, Jimmy, and all the other orphans. This took much longer as I had many more people to say goodbye to and while I was not as close to them as before I was reborn to this world and began working at the gym all the time, they are still the people I lived with for a number of years. So, after some heartfelt goodbyes and good lucks Mr. Simms was able to excuse himself to go to the bank to sign more papers to acknowledge that as a trainer now the restrictions on the first sixth of my trust would be made available to me and start the process for the rest to be available at sixteen. After the bank business was completed Mr. Simms tells me how proud he is of what I did planning for my journey, studying, and getting a sponsorship as I did and reminding me that I am always welcome to stop by the orphanage and that if I become big and famous as he believes that I will that I will to come back and inspire others like me. I agree as we part ways thinking, 'there is unlikely to be another reincarnated soul like me, but I will inspire other orphans as it would be nice anyway.'

As I reach the Gym I feel a deeper sense of emotional turmoil knowing I would be saying goodbye to the coworkers that have more or less become my family over the last few years. As I walk through the door I am hit by a wave of nostalgia as Samantha is sitting behind the receptionist's desk just as when I first came here looking for a job. Sam just waves to me saying, "Brody didn't think you'd be in today. You should head up and let him know you're here."

I nod and head up after saying good morning and deciding to hold off on explaining I was leaving until I talk to Brody. In no time at all I make my way up to Brody's office and enter after knocking and getting permission to enter. As soon as Brody sees me his eyes widen in shock and says, "You're here? Is everything okay?"

I nod and physically wave off his concern before taking out the black pokedex that Professor Oak gave me this morning as well as the physical license that he had printed and waiting with the pokedex and show them to Brody. He smiles and stands up before hugging me and saying congratulations. As we sit down I explain what happened while skipping over all the information about 'kings' just saying that the details about Jor would be classified and that the league would be getting in touch with him to sign the non-disclosure agreement(NDA), to which he says that the league already sent him a email saying they would have a representative be in touch by tomorrow and not to discuss what happened, not that he needed to be told.

With that covered I explained about the restrictions on me as well as the benefits before explaining about what Professor Oak wanted me to do. Brody was very understanding and believed that the situation worked out the best way possible. He suddenly gets this look on his face that tells me he just thought of a great idea before he tells me to hold on and calls Sam on the office phone telling her to get one of the others to replace her for that day and that she will be manning the gym today as he is going fishing with me before hanging up.

Turning to me with a smile he tells me, "Let's go!" and walks out of the room before I can say anything. We stop by and grab his wife before going back to the training pools while explaining to her about getting my license early and the sponsorship form Professor Oak, though with none of the details, before telling her we are going to have a family dinner for my going away after Brody and I come back from fishing. Brody walks away for a minute giving Selene time to congratulate me while I try to apologize for Brody's antics which she just waves off knowing how Brody gets.

By this time Brody gets back with a huge smile and a pokeball in hand and says, "Alex, as I hope you know, I am very proud of you and everything you accomplished. As I told you before, if you did not get Professor Oak's sponsorship I, on the part of the Cerulean City Gym would have sponsored you even though you do not want to be a water type specialist. That said, I have picked up on your planning skills and sought to do some of the same to have a backup if you did not get in the top three and even if you did to have a gift from the Cerulean City Gym so that you can remember everything you have done for and with us and that you are part of the Cerulean family. As such, and because of the restrictions placed on your early license and the chance you may not get one of the 'Kanto Titans' I want to give you one of your first pokemon to start you on your journey and so that you can keep a little part of the Cerulean City Gym with you."

With this he hands over a pokeball and indicates to me to release the pokemon within. So I do the only logical thing and release the pokemon in the pool to see my first pokemon after Jor as the red beam of data particles form the pokemon I can't help but feel my anticipation rising and though it only takes a second I am nearly bouncing on my toes when the pokemon fully forms and I am thrilled by what I see. Before me in the pool is a young horsea that is about twice the size of a newborn. In a trance I go down to my knees at the pool's edge and extend my hand to the horsea who cautiously but confidently swims up to my hand as I say, "Hey, buddy I guess we are going to be partners. What do you think of that?" To which I get a little trumpet in reply as he begins to rub his head on my hand and I smile in joy.

I turn to look at Brody over my shoulder and give a thankful smile but with a little tilt of my head. Brody, picking up on my question explains, "This horsea is the son of Oceanus my father's kingdra and Tethys my seadra. While I was surprise that Oceanus decided to mate her after all these years I knew their son would have a great future ahead so after getting their permission I decided that he should be your first pokemon because I believe that you will be able to train him to great heights and with your dedication and research into dragon types may be able to help him evolve into a kingdra like his father. So what do you think?"

I am still smiling while shocked as Tethys is nearly an elite level pokemon and Oceanus was Brody's father's second strongest pokemon that is ranked low champion level pokemon (Tier 10). Their offspring would be worth tens of thousands of dollars if sold. Finally, getting over most of my shock I nod and say, "I…I don't have the words to express how thankful I am, but if you're sure…?" He nods. "I would be honored and do my best to make sure he becomes not just a kingdra but one of the most powerful in history." I finish, nodding at Brody and the horsea still rubbing against my hand. Turning fully to my new horsea I say, "If you are going to become the most powerful kingdra in history then we will have to work hard everyday to do so. Do you understand?"

The horsea gives a full body bob while giving a trumpet. With his agreement I continue and say, "Then you need a powerful name to fit the legend you will become. How about, Poseidon?" At his agreeing trumpet I nod and say, "Then Poseidon, return for now and we will start training tomorrow." I finished calling him back.

Turning and giving my thanks again we got on with the rest of the day going fishing before having the nice family dinner with the Waterflower family before sleeping and returning to the lab the next day with a promise to return for a congratulations and goodbye party for me after the season ended.

Flashback End

Coming out of the reverie of getting Poseidon which was clearly the highlight of the week. I realize that as packed as the week was with helping Professor Oak study Jor, I will have to step it up and get ready for the grind of true training to prepare and be where I want to be when I truly start my journey.

Over the last week Professor Oak took blood and tissue samples from Jor as well as had him run through a battery of physicals tests to get more scientific data beyond the notes and measurements I wrote in my journal he then tested Jor on all the pokemon moves he knew, both those the pokedex registered and any we may have 'created'. As Professor Oak explained, these tests were not just for his scientific data on the research of 'kings' but also to put a rank on Jor for the league. As to the pokemon moves, the only ones that are registered by the scanner are ones with a completely different energy signature and that is registered in the pokedex as a known move, meaning that combo moves don't register nor do moves such as Aqua Tail, Brine, Scald, Iron Head, and Dragon Pulse which have not been 'created' or recognized in this region although Professor Oak did have Muddy Water registered which tells me that either the information has not traveled full yet, we are knowledge based around generation 4 move wise, or that the generational knowledge will not apply as I suspect.

On the other hand as Professor Oak told me, if I can prove these moves to be teachable and consistent then I could sell the knowledge to a company to make TMs out of, so that is a thought for the future. In the end our finding of Jors move pool are the following:

JORMUNGANDR(Gyarados)(Shiny King(5x))(152'9")(M)

Ability: Intimidate Moves: Splash, Tackle, Bounce, Quick Attack, Water Gun, Bite, Flail, Leer, Twister, Ice Fang, Crunch, Dragon Rage, Dragon Breath, Brine, Rain Dance, Aqua Tail, Surf, Muddy Water, Hydro Pump, Flamethrower, Scald, Ice Beam, Aerial Ace, Thrash, Body Slam, Iron Tail, Iron Head, Thunder Wave, Thunderbolt, Dragon Pulse, Hyper Beam

After testing Jor and seeing that we actually had all his listed moves combat ready Professor Oak had Jor face Ignis, his charizard and Draco, his dragonite on two separate occasions to test his battle efficiency under my command. At the end of this where we lost after they let us show off a little, Professor Oak decided that Jor would be ranked as a mid-high elite level pokemon (Tier 8-9). This came down to our lack of experience against trained pokemon, lack of speed/true mastery of moves, and lack of pinnacle moves like Fire Blast, Blizzard, Hurricane, Giga Impact, etcetera. Professor Oak however, said that if we kept up training, got experience, and learned and mastered moves that he would not be surprised if Jor could be classified as a high elite to maybe even mid level champion pokemon (Tier 10) by the end of next season, though he said that it would be hard as any new pokemon would have such a power gap to fill to be able to train with Jor like how most elite trainers train their pokemon to higher levels.

Taking Professor Oak's advice seriously only inspired me more to continue my plans in catching more pokemon and training them up before the season even started. This led to where I am today. During any free time I had when not helping Professor Oak study Jor, we were in this valley training, often camping overnight to get ready for the journey.

This valley surrounded by the mountains was at the very edges to Professor Oak's property and Mt. Hideaway mountain chain but further from Ignis and Draco's territories and toward the border of Kanto and Johto that meets with the Bay of Gyarados on the West coast of the Pallet peninsula. I have grown to love this not so little valley that we have somewhat claimed as our own after the changes made to it. The so-called 'Lake Jor' was the result of Jor's test against Ignis and Draco. It started as a large field with a small stream fed from the mountains that we decided to hold our battles and by the end of them we had a nice crater that would fill at a trickle where the stream passed through the field as a result of moves like hyper beam, giga impact, dragon pulse, seismic toss and so forth. While Professor Oak lamented the destruction of the nice and almost picturesque field I saw potential in this far off property that he even admitted was never used. As such, I asked if it was okay to use it as my own training ground and if I may make changes to it. He allowed me to do so as long as I did not hurt the local wildlife. So with my answer I used the last few days training Jor and Poseidon while using said training for another purpose as well. I worked on both of their moves, speed, accuracy, and endurance to carve away and move the landmass to make said crater into a decent sized lake and the stream into a small river before filling the lake.

We did this largely by blasting the dirt away with hyper beams and pushing it with a combination of iron tail and controlled thrash. Once the lake was empty enough there were a lot of flamethrowers to bake the dirt before using many rain dances, water guns, surfs, and hydro pumps in addition to the spring that we hit at the bottom to fill said lake. As I said before and will continue to say these 'little' powerhouses can be dangerous and even terrifying especially at the higher tiers where they can literally change the landscape if they wish to. I now stare out over the pokemon made lake on the valley that has become even more picturesque with the beautiful lake as the rest of the surroundings have begun to flourish from the added water and the local grass and bug types that lived or have migrated in and I can't help but think 'this could be home.' Unfortunately, my journey has yet to even truly start though I intend to make the first steps tomorrow. With those thoughts lingering in my mental checklist of dreams I stand up and call out to my pokemon friends and partners, "Jor! Poseidon! Come back in. We are going to get a move on."

Once they make their way to shore I recall them and begin my trek back to the lab. As I hop over the three barred wooden fence that marks the proper end to Professor Oak's Corral after over an hour of jogging later I slow to a walk for the last ten or so minute walk to gaze upon the pokemon that live under Professor Oak's care and study. There are the common ones such as the rattata, pidgey, nidoran, oddish, and bellsprout evolutionary lines as well as a scattering of all matter of other pokemon that have been captured by trainers under his sponsorship as well as some of the progeny of their or even his own pokemon such as the pack of growlithe pups following after Oak's own 'legendary pokemon' Blaze the arcanine. As Blaze stops to look at me walking towards the lab before huffing and turning back towards his litter no doubt both seeing and smelling me even from across the field and passing me off as no worry. Now, while in my old world people would pass that off as a guard dog acknowledging a friend of associate of his owner and continuing their day, as it is in this case, the difference is that the growlithe line and Blaze in particular, which has such great senses that they can probably even smell intent, would, should I have been a threat, been over at my side ripping off my head before I could have blinked. This is the nature of this world and more precisely why a place like Oak's Lab and Corral is safe with just the wooden fence when he has Tier 10 champion class pokemon at the guard and his call.

As I finish my walk I can't help but think that Professor Oak's pokemon are also somewhat an inspiration for some of the pokemon I intend to capture if I can. Blaze and my research in to his line has all but ensured I will seek a growlithe out as not was I a dog person and liked the iconic pokemon in my past life but when seeing an arcanine run at full sprint you can't help but be blown away, possibly literally, as it is said that an arcanine is capable of running over 6,200 miles in a single day and night which if you do the math would put its speed at at least 258 mph. On top of that is its amazing sense of smell that my research found postings claiming that with just a scent of a pokemon or unique item they could find it even through rock. Next, are his charizard, dragonite, and alakazam that I always had when I played the games. Their abilities speak for themselves but one of the things they all have in common even if they are the least of their abilities is something that my walk back and my research into the journey in this real pokemon world has stressed.

I need a transport pokemon quickly!

This world is far greater in land mass with rough terrain and while it is possible to walk and get eight badges in a session it is very hard and unlikely especially if you are trying to get the main eight. While I remember the show showing Gary getting ten badges that was with taking a car and only three were of the main gyms (Cascade, Rainbow and Boulder) and the less said about how Ash got his badges the better as only three were true wins. My research has shown that most trainers need a few tries at a gym leader unless they actually over-prepare by training intensely before their matches and have researched the gym leaders as much as possible. My research has also shown that the leaders can give badges for other services done for them and their cities but those are usually for things like taking down high level poachers, distinguished service in the defense of the city from a swarm or other such intense and risky actions for them, the city or the league in their area. Not 'kindness for pokemon', outside interference, the return of emotions or rule violations(on both sides). As such, part of my plan for the next few weeks is to search out some pokemon for my team that can be battlers as well as transport.

So, as I reach the lab and the end of my thought tangent brought on by seeing Blaze after my walk back I head inside to check in and make a final check that I am good to set out in the morning from Professor Oak.

I walk in the back door to the lab looking around to see if I can spot Professor Oak greeting the different aids and workers I have gotten to know over the last week. After a few rooms and many hellos I catch sight of Professor Oak finishing up typing something in at a lab terminal. As I reach him he turns and greets me, "Oh, hello Alex. Did you just get back?"

"Ya, just a few moments ago. When you're free I want to run some things by you, if it's okay.?"

"Sure, I was just finishing up here. I was actually going to call it an early night as I need to make a few stops tomorrow before I head out to the Indigo Plateau. Let me finish up and I will meet you in the house in about an hour, oaky?" He finishes looking around at what he probably has left to do.

I nod my confirmation back and let him know, "Sure. I'm going to grab a quick shower and then I'll be in the living room."

An Hour and Thirty Minutes Later

I'm relaxing on the couch in the living room waiting on Professor Oak while going back and forth from my pokedex and the notebook I have for planning my pre-journey adventure. I am currently finishing up some notes on the sections of the Viridian Forest I want to check out after finding some posts while searching the pokenet. The pokenet like the internet in my old world is unbelievably vast and you can find anything if you know where to look. With that in mind I have made it my mission to scour the 'net' whenever I have downtime.

As I am planning to set off tomorrow I have been looking more intensely for posts about possible routes, trails, and sightings that may lead me to the future members of my team. I have been working on expanding my search parameters and thinking outside of the box for different sites that people may post about the pokemon I desire. While the more widely known sites like PokeSpot, TrainerSight, and WildSearch help in addition to sites like TrainerUpDate and DangerRoute the fact that they are widely known lowers their value. The first three will help you find general areas for different species of pokemon but for anything rare or special nearby trainers will have the jump on you if it is not a swarm or migration and while helpful oftentimes the posts are just saying where they already caught the pokemon they were looking for. On the other hand TrainerUpDate will have useful general knowledge such as storm updates, alerts on things such as pokemon thiefs, closed routes, erratic pokemon behavior and many other things that would be useful for journeying trainers to know. DangerRoute on the other hand tells you exactly what it's about in the title, letting you know which routes pose a danger and why. This is part of the reason why getting a pokedex was so important for me because while there are the very expensive mobile alternatives to the pokedex, they do not have the same reliability as a pokedex that's service is maintained by the league in connection to the regional professors. This is also why it is unfortunately impossible for any but the uber-rich to buy their own pokedex as they are not mass produced at this time.

Back to my researched wish/hunt list. I have a list of pokemon I dream of searching out and a more rational list of known pokemon in the areas that may just be very hard to find and take time in the very dangerous wild. It is the latter list that I am working on right now. Currently it contains the following:

Pidgey: Widely spread out from Pallet to Viridian Forest. Battler/Transport.

Scyther: Rare. Deep in Viridian Forest. Spotted West off Route 2, mile marker 16. Battle

?Caterpie/Butterfree: Viridian Forest. Capture Aid.

Ponyta: Plains of Cinnabar. Battle/Transport

Growlithe: Plains of Cinnabar. Battle/Transport/Support

As it happens Professor Oak walks through the door and I hear him mumble something like "it's never easy" before he looks up and sees me lounging on the couch. Shaking his head he comes over and drops himself on the couch across from mine saying, "Sorry if I made you wait. What did you want to talk about?"

I shake my head and say, "No worries. I kept busy, but I wanted to confirm that it was still fine that I set off tomorrow as we talked about?"

He nods back and says, "Yes, you're good to go though I ask that you send me a message every few days to start just so I know you are fine. Besides, I will be out of the lab for the next two weeks for a few visits and even when I get back I will be quite busy for the week before I have to be back to the Indigo Plateau for the tournament which will be another two weeks. So go, be safe and have fun, but can you give me a heads-up on what you have planned for my own piece of mind?"

I nod, handing over the notebook to the page I was working on. "As it should be obvious, my plan after leaving the lab and for the next six or so weeks is to travel first to Viridian and then the Viridian Forest along the way looking for the first two on the list with the third as well as any others that catch my interest though the second will take the most time and be the most dangerous. Though, as most scyther avoid humans and I will be deep in the woods should anything happen that Poseidon and I can't handle I should be at no risk to use Jor. If I have no sightings after two weeks in the forest I will give up on a scyther for now and start heading back to stay a night in Pallet before taking a ferry to Cinnabar to look for a ponyta and a growlithe. After that I will return to train whatever pokemon more intensely than would be possible on the road or hunt. This should leave me with plenty of time to train and then get up to Pewter City before the first day of the season." I finish and wait to see what Oak has to say.

Professor Oak looks up from the notebook with a stern smile and says, "While your plan is good and the timeline should have you avoiding much traffic if you can keep to it and I am sure that you know the danger with looking for a scyther, I want to warn you all the same. Scyther are aggressive and vicious species who have to be treated with caution and respect. Should you approach their young or try to attack a hive to get a lucky shot on one you will be butchered like many arrogant young trainers have been looking for a rare and powerful pokemon. On the other hand, if you approach calmly and respectfully in full view and offer a challenge to one you will have a chance, but should you fail it very well could cost you and your pokemon their lives. So, do not offer a challenge if you are not sure and prepared as well as making the terms clear. If it is a single one on one challenge then there is no second chance and if they allow it walk away quickly. Do you understand?"

I nod very seriously and say, "I understand and have a plan, but thanks for looking out for me."

He hands me the notebook back before asking, "Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

I look up toward the ceiling trying to think and it is then that the stray thought I had earlier pops back into my head and I figure there is no harm in asking. "I had a random thought earlier that I wanted to run by you in case it could ever be possible. I was where my team and I have been training and wondered if it could ever be possible that you would be willing to part with that valley as it seemed as a great place to potentially set up a home base and if you would, how much would I have to work towards?"

Oak looks at me and shakes his head in a way that makes me think he is wondering at how my brain works. "Alex, you are without a doubt one of the most unique young trainers I have ever met and when you ask some of the things you do I can't help but think where you may go in the future as few if any young trainers would be realistically thinking of working towards setting up a future home in addition to their other goals at such an age. As to your question, I would not have too much problem parting with that valley as it is at the very edge of my property and not in use and meets up to open land but even if I ignore the additions like 'Lake Jor' that surely would make the land price rise I could not in good conscious part with the land for a price under a million dollars."

While he has an almost indulgent smile I can't help but think I have a goal so I respond, "Well, I guess I will have to win the championship by the end of the season to make that a reality."

As we both laugh and stand up looking at each other before he says, "You just might but until then good luck and be safe. I assume that you are setting off at the crack of dawn as you seem to prefer, so I will talk to you when you check in, good night."

With that we head our separate ways for the coming weeks.

Alexander Polaris:

Rank: Tier 0

Badges: 0

Money: $77,185

Pokemon(2):

JORMUNGANDR(Gyarados)(Shiny King(5x))(152'9")(M)

POSEIDON(Horsea)(2x)(M)

Ability: Sniper Moves: Bubble, Water Gun, Leer, Smokescreen, Twister, Rain Dance, Bubble Beam, Focus Energy, Dragon Breath, Bounce, Surf

Chapter Word Count: 5437