AN: So I finally recovered from the surgery and am now able to write again. Tough just to be transparent, with the release of Scarlet and Violet I'm not sure how much I will be able to focus on the story for obvious reasons :P. But it's good to be back in this dark but hopeful world I'm writting once again.
Ash hadn't missed the frigide cold air surrounding Ringabell City. The city was currently going throught a raging blizzard and because of it the vision of the group had been severly diminished. Thankfully Xofamai knew these streets like the back of his hand and was still able to navigate around.
But as they came closer to the entrance of the metro Ash tripped on something and fell into the snow. Ash groaned as the cold snow stabbed him in the face. He peeked behind himself to see what he had trip on but he only saw more snow. That was until a mound of snow started to move on it's own and began to take a new shape before his very eyes.
The creature that appeared had black beady eyes and it's body was made of a snow-like texture. The most noticable feature however was the huge trail of snot coming out of it's nose. Which made Ash slightly recoil in disgust. It advanced toward Ash slowly as it awkwardly tried to move on it's two unsteady legs
''A bear made of snow?'' Lillie asked in confusion. ''And eww, is that ice or frozen snot? I can't really tell.''
''Careful Ash. It might not look threatening, but it's still a Pokémon.'' Xofamai said in a warning tone.
Ash nodded and called Sandy to assist him. ''Alright Sandy grab that Pokémon with your vines and throw it far away from us!'' The Deerling tried to do just that but as soon as the vines made contact with the Ice Pokémon they began to freeze and slowly withered away.
''Huh?'' Ash said in confusion.
Xofamai shook his head at this. ''Grass types are weak against Ice. Sending Sandy in battle was really not the optimal solution.'' He said before walking in front of Ash and blasting the Pokémon with his dark energy. The snow bear was sent barreling a few meters aways from them and looked dazed and ready to black out.
Ash was still relunctant to call upon his second Pokémon, he had yet to gain the courage to talk to it properly about what he did that night in Fluoti Town. But now was not the time to doubt his actions.
''Alright then! Bolt finish it!'' Ash yelled the Electric/Steel type chittered loudly before sending a bolt of electricity toward the Ice Pokémon. The creature yelped in pain before melting away before their very eyes. Lillie looked away when she saw the pained expression of the Pokémon. Once it was completely gone she glared at Ash.
''Did you really have to kill it? It was arleady dazed, we could have just walked away!'' She yelled at him angrily. In response Ash shrugged at her nonchalantly.
''It's a wild Pokémon why would I spare it? We're here to get rid of them aren't we?''
Lillie gaped at him and scoffed at him with disdain. ''I thought you were getting over your hatred of Pokémon! If you hate Pokémon so much you sure don't show it when you're with Sandy and Bolt!'' She protested with indignation in her eyes.
''Look I came to realise that Pokémon that are trained by humans can become good. But that doesn't mean that wild Pokémon aren't a threat to be dealt with. I know you like these creatures and you learned a lot about them by reading books on the subject. But you weren't there when they were destroying towns left and right. Entire settlements I used to visit are gone now because of these wild monsters. I can't just let them live and let them kill people just because I like a few of them.'' Ash said with a serious expression.
With that Ash walked ahead of them. Leaving Lillie fuming at him. ''I can't believe him! I thought he was finally getting better, but it look like I don't know him as well as I thought.'' She said with a huff.
Xofamai put himself in front of her and crossed his arms. ''He's not exactly wrong, you know.''
Lillie gaped at him. ''So you're taking his side?'' She asked with a betrayed expression.
Xofamai shook his head. ''No I didn't say that, you're not entirely wrong either Lillie. We should spare Pokémon if we deem them harmless enough. But at the same time there are Pokémon out there that we must kill before they become a threat to humans. It's not as black and white as either of you seem to believe. Telling what Pokémon should or should not live is not always easy and it's something you will need to learn to do if you don't want to have innocents blood on your hands.'' After that Lillie was left following Xofamai and Ash in silence, deep in thoughts.
It didn't take them long after that to reach the entrance of the metro. Ash eagerly opened up the door and ran down the stairs. ''Careful Ash! Someday you'll fall down the stairs and hurt yourself!'' Lillie yelled at him.
Ash rolled his eyes at her. ''Yes mom.'' He said before continuing to walk down the stairs in a slower pace. Once they were down Xofamai walked in front of the two teens and cleared his throat.
''I'm going to report to the General. In the meantime you can unpack everything you have in your backpack. Once I return we will meet someone that will teach you a lot of what you need to know about Pokémon.'' Xofamai left the two alone. Ash and Lillie were left in an awkward silence after the fight they just had.
''I'll... Just go empty my stuff in the tent, see you there I guess.'' Ash said before leaving her alone. Lillie sighed and looked at him with a sad expression in her eyes.
''I thought you had changed Ash...I guess it was too much for me to expect he would be okay with Pokémon so soon after he got his own. How can I convince him that they're not evil?'' She asked to herself, but no answer came to her mind.
Once they had unpacked their stuff Xofamai came to their tent and told them to follow him and he also told them to bring their Pokémon with them. They had to walk on the rails for about fifteen minutes to reach their destination.
The metro station they came into had been transformed into a large scientific lab. All the men and women were wearing white coats and were either completely absorbed in their work or walked around the lab with great purpose in their steps.
About a third of the station had been turned into an enclosure filled with grass and a pond in the middle and dozens of Pokémon could be seen roaming inside of it. The group walked until they reached the furthest corner of the lab. There an ancient looking man was looking thoughtfully at a large range of Draconid Gems.
Ash instantly felt like he knew this man from somewhere but he couldn't put a finger on it. Xofamai cleared his throat loudly catching the attention of the old scientist. ''Oh hello there! Sorry I have been absorbed into looking into these gems it's fascinating what power they hide inside of them. Oh I forgot to introduce myself! I am Professor Samuel Oak. Happy to make your aquaintance, young ones.''
Both Ash and Lillie stared at him jaw agaped. ''Professor Oak?! So you're really still alive?'' Ash exclaimed in shock.
At that the old scientist chuckle. ''Yes despite my old age I am not a fossil just yet. Say there's something familiar about both of you. Have I met you before?'' He asked with a curious frown on his face.
''I'm Ash, Ask Ketchum, my mother worked for you before the Invasion.'' Ash replied in a sad voice. Lillie on the other hand looked angry but her anger wasn't directed at the Professor.
''I'm Lillie Aether, my mother was the co-owner of your lab before she became a complete lunatic and started experimenting on her own people.'' Samuel looked at the two teens in shock before he finally regained his voice.
''W-well I did not expected to see the children of two of my most trustworthy colleagues today.'' He said with a smile.
But Lillie frowned and grumbled at his words. ''Trustworthy? My mother is working for an insane cult, how is that trustworthy?''
The old professor winced at that. ''Yes maybe that was a poor choice of words. I'm sorry about what happened to both of your mothers. They were both some of the greatest scientists I have ever met...When I knew them that is.'' He said the last part while looking at Lillie.
Xofamai cleared his throat once again to catch the Professor attention. ''Sorry to interupt this touching reunion but I was hoping to use your vast knowledge on Pokémon to teach these two Rookies how to handle their Pokémon on missions.''
Samuel Oak looked at the two teens in surprise and then sighed. ''I thought Magnolia had stopped recruiting minors in the Resistance.'' He said in a disapproving tone.
Xofamai shook his head. ''She did, but these two were really obstinated about joining us. And they passed my test, you know I never go easy on recruits, they are ready to do this.''
Samuel sighed once again but nodded in understanding. ''Very well then, where should I begin?''
''How about you begin with explaining types and how to exploit their strenghts and weaknesses?'' Xofamai suggested.
Professor Oak nodded. ''Yes that is a good start I suppose. As you probably know Pokémon are divided into eighteen types. Fire, Water, Grass, Ground, Ice, Electric, Flying, Psychic, Ghost Fighting, Dark, Steel, Bug, Normal, Rock, Poison, Fairy and Dragon. Each one of them can do vastly different things and they each have their own strengths and weaknesses. You are with me this far?'' Both Lillie and Ash nodded.
''Very well let's begin with Fire. Probably the most straightfoward nature of them all, what it lack in versatility it more than make up for in raw power. It is strong against Ice, Grass and Bug but will have difficulty in winning if it is faced by Water, Rock or Ground. Next is Water type which is rather interesting because it is so closely connected to Ice and yet the two types are clearly separated which bring the question of...''
After what felt like an hour of the old professor prattling on about all the intricacies of each type Xofamai finally spoke up. ''Professor Oak? No offense sir, but if we cover all the small details about types we could literally be here all day and I wanted to teach them more than just types today. How about we just cover the types of the Pokémon they have?'' Xofamai said once he realised the old professor was truly going to explained all the little details.
Professor Oak seemed to deflate at Xofamai suggestion. ''Oh very well, what kind of Pokémon do they have?'' Ash and Lillie called out their Pokémon and the three creatures appeared in front of the Professor who examined them carefully.
''Ah, a Deerling, a Pachirisu and...I don't believe I have ever seen this particular Pokémon.'' Professor Oak looked aghasted as he caught sight of Nebby.
''Technically, I'm not sure another Pokémon like this exist.'' Lillie stated. ''You see Nebby was once human, but he was turned like this by my mother.'' Lillie spat angrily.
Professor Oak frowned and looked down in regret before looking up. ''I see... Do you have any idea what type your friend could be?''
''I could be wrong, but since Nebby has the power to teleport, I think he's a Psychic type.'' She almost said 'like me' but refrained at the last moment. She knew everyone would probably learn soon enough what she really was but she wanted to pretend a little longer.
Professor Oak cleared his throat and tried to regain some of his composure. ''Very well, we arleady covered Flying, Water and Ice. So now let's start with Grass. It is a fairly balanced type with a good amount of strenght and also a lot of weaknesses. It is probably one of the best type for rookie trainers as most grass Pokémon are pretty docile by nature and do not require to spend a lot of money to feed them as they can simply synthesize in a pinch.''
Then he turned toward Bolt and smiled after squirrel hid behind Ash after the man got too close to him for his taste. ''Electric type as you can probably guess can create electricity to attack their foes. They also have the ability to amplify the electric current in their own body and boost their own speed and reaction time by a large margin. For that reason they are very hard to hit in battle. Your Pachirisu is also part Steel type which is probably one of the most baffling type to exist outside of Ghost types as a lot of them do not even look remotely close to living beings and yet from the tests we managed to do on a few of them, they are well and truly alive.''
''And finally we have Psychic. Outside of Dragons the Psychic type is agreed to be the most powerful type among most soldiers of the resistance. They can levitate things with their mind, blast things apart with beams of energy they can produce out of thin air. And can even look into your mind and retreive any information they want. Fortunately for us the act of actual mind control seem rather rare, as far as we know.'' Ash felt a bit of relief at that, at least he wouldn't have to worry too much about some Pokemon turning him in a new person against his will.
''Another thing that make Psychic special is that a lot of them share similarity to humans. We have a young girl living here who's mother married a Grumpig. Normaly a child with a Pokémon father would show no sign of being part Pokémon and would only show similarities to her own mom. But the girl in question has recently developed the ability to lift things with her mind. Which might indicate that Psychic type dna is somehow more compatible to our own than other Pokémon types.''
''W-wait Pokémon can actually impregnate humans?!'' Lillie asked in shock and Ash couldn't help but share her sentiment. ''I read in your book that Pokémon had separated egg groups. I tought they could only mate with species within their egg group? And humans certainly does not fall into any of these groups!''
At that Professor Oak rubbed his head sheepishly. ''That is rather awkward, but that book was written very early on after the Invasion. As such it has a few...inaccuracies hidden within. We conducted research by trying to make Pokémon breed with each other by making males and females Pokémon of different species live with each other during mating season. With no other contact other than researchers regularly giving them food and water. When that arrangement produced an egg we put those two species in the same egg group and when it didn't we tried to find another type of Pokémon that would be compatible with them.''
Lillie nodded in understanding. ''So why is it inaccurate?''
''Well we found later that while Pokémon do prefer to mate with Pokémon within the circle we defined as 'egg groups' some Pokémon are willing to mate with Pokémon outside that group and produce eggs. So the egg groups are not actually a biological limitation, but rather only a mating preference for most Pokémon. A preference that a lot but not all within the same species will adhere to.''
''So Pokémon who mate outside of the egg group are kind of like the equivalent queers people who have a sexual orientation outside of the norm?'' Surprisingly it was Ash and not Lillie that asked that question.
Professor Oak smiled. ''It is a rather apt description, except Pokémon does not really discriminate against Pokémon who mate outside the egg group, neither do they discriminate against homosexuality for that matter. Pokémon for all their faults seem open to the idea that love is love and they won't judge their friends and family based on the type of mates they prefer...For some reason humans seem to attract any Pokémon no matter what their Pokémon egg group preference is. And there are a few Pokémon species out there that also has that effect and can mate with any species of Pokémon they desire. We decided to call that group the human-like egg group.''
Lillie seemed to want to ask another question but Xofamai cleared his throat. ''I think that's everything you should know about types and egg groups for now. I know that if we overwhelm you by teaching you everything now you won't remember any of this later on. So for now Professor can you talk about the mission?''
''The mission? What are you talking about?'' Lillie asked her gaze shifting between the two men.
Professor Oak seemed excited about talking about this particular subject. ''Ah yes, there's a lot of thing we must learn here in the scientific division of the Ding Dong Community but the most important goal by far is completing the encyclopedia. You see, as you know I have written a book on Pokémon but that was only a rushed patch up job to help as many people as quickly as possible during these dangerous times. But I plan to expand this knowledge greatly and compile it before sharing it with the whole world. But it is very far from finished, in fact it's a task so monumental I'm not sure I will live long enough to complete it, but complete it we must. I am aiming to create a massive encyclopedia detailling every single Pokémon in the world. This encyclopedia would be contained within a device that would scan any Pokémon in the vicinity and give it's user all the information they need. This project could save millions of lives not just in the Resistance but in the entire world! ''
''So what is that device going to be called?'' Ash decided to ask.
''I decided to call it the Pokédex, a rather apt name if I do say so myself. For now we're only focusing on the Pokémon found within Orchestralia, but I hope to one day expand it to include every Pokémon in the entire world. But as I said my old body will most likely not survive to see that day. Which is why I must enthrust this task to the next generation.''
As Samuel stared blankly ahead with a wistful expression Xofamai cutted in. ''As Professor Oak said this project is really important for the Resistance. So from now on you will help him in completing his encyclopedia by reporting sighting of species of Pokémon that haven't been discovered yet.''
Ash raised an eyebrow at this. ''So wait you're asking two Rookies to take on a mission as important as this? No offense but this will probably take years to do.''
Xofamai crossed his arm and shook his head. ''Of course not! I'm not asking just the two of you. Every members of the Resistance is expected to pitch in on this mission in some way or another. Like the Professor said this will probably take more than a lifetime to complete. But this must be done if humanity want to stand a chance in this new world.'' He let that sink in before contuining on. ''Now for the last thing on the list, I wanted you to learn about Draconid Gems.''
Lillie hand immediatly went up. ''We arleady know about that! They're powerful gems that allow us to tame Pokémon without putting ourselves in danger. It also allow us to heal Pokémon and while inside it allow them to live freely in a simulated environment.'' Lillie said in her lecturing tone.
Xofamai nodded his emotionless expression still in place. ''Yes all of that is correct but there two things you might not know, firstly where the gems come from.''
Ash cocked his head at that. ''They were created weren't they? Now that I think about it, it's the scientists of the Ding Dong Community that are credited for creating them aren't they? So that must mean they were created by you Professor Oak.''
The old scientist chuckled and shook his head. ''I wish I could be credited with the invention of such miraculous precious stones. But I only found the Draconid Gems, I did not create them.''
Lillie looked at him her eyes twinkling in curiosity. ''Where did you find such things Professor? As far as I knew there was no such gems on Earth before the Invasion.'' Professor Oak motioned them to follow him and the three of them obediently followed the Professor until they arrived in front of something big that had been covered by a large tarp. The professor pulled on it and revealed a machine that made both of the teens eyes widened in shock.
Ash was the first to find his voice. ''Is that... The Starleap? The machine that was supposed to help us colonizing the stars?''
Professor Oak nodded and looked at the machine with a forlorn expression. ''Yes... And instead it almost led to humanity extinction.''
Both Lillie and Ash looked at him in confusion. ''What do you mean? The Starleap didn't do anything it was the Dragons that destroyed everything.'' Ash said with anger hidden behind his words.
The old professor sighed sadly and in that instant he looked a lot older than he ever did before. ''How do you think the Dragons found this planet my boy?'' At that Ash had no answers so Professor Oak continued. ''When we used the Starleap on that day, the Dragons sensed our presence. For the Dragons our presence had solved a lot of their problems and they jumped on the ocassion.''
''Problems? What problems?'' Lillie asked with a confused frown.
''The Dragons are ageless being that never grow old. Most people know that, what they don't know is what it cost to stay young forever. Pokémon each get a portion of their powers from the Dragons themselves. However the Dragons gave their power to Pokémon not to help them, but to nurture their life force. Pokémon become stronger by fighting and their life force increase exponentially when they go throught the process of Evolution.''
''Evolution? Like animals who change to adapt to their surrounding throught centuries of mating?'' Ash asked confused.
''Yes and no.'' The professor responded. ''Pokémon do have the regular evolution you talk of. That's why regional forms exist after all. But there is metamorphosis process Pokémon can go throught to change their form when they gain enough strenght. I, myself was against calling it evolution. But at this point it has arleady become a colloquial term by the vast majority of Trainers within the community.'' He said with a frown that clearly showed he wasn't happy with that fact.
''That's all interesting Professor. But can we return to the subject of the Dragons?'' Lillie asked with a surprisingly impatient expression plastered on her face.
Samuel nodded in understanding. ''Very well as I said the Dragons are ageless. But the longer they stay alive the more power they need to keep their body functioning. So the reason why the Dragons gave power to Pokémon is so they could expand their own life force. Once a Pokémon die, it's life force is consumed by the Dragon they swore allegiance to. That system worked for them for at least a millenia from what we learned. But I assume eventually it wasn't enough anymore. The Dragons had forced the Pokémon to reproduce at an alarming rate and even that wasn't cutting it anymore. With so many Pokémon stuck on one planet it was only a matter of time before the Pokémon ran out of ressources and living space. A plight humanity was also all too familiar with.'' The Professor sighed sadly for the next part.
''So when we opened a portal close to their planet and they sensed a source of energy unlike anything they ever felt before, the Dragons quickly came to a decision to kill two birds with one stone. They bought half of the entire Pokémon population to our planet and killed billions of humans to eat their fill of life force and make themselves almost immortal. But they knew that if they killed all of us immediatly they would lose a very valuable ressource. Which is why the Dragons have left the smaller settlements alone for so long.''
At this point Ash was boiling with rage. ''You mean to tell me that the only reason the Dragons haven't wipe us out. Is because they're using us as livestocks?!'' He screamed in a raging fit.
The Professor nodded sadly. ''I know it is frustrating to think about, but it is the truth. The Dragons have never seen us as a potential threat to them, we're simply a ressource and nothing else. The same could apply to the Pokémon too when you think about it. According to a very intelligent species of Pokémon call the Ninetales. Pokémon used to have their own civilisation. But when that civilisation started to destroy the balance of nature these Dragons ruled over, they destroyed Pokémon's towns and cities and forced them to live in the wild, leaving only a few remote villages safe from their rampage. So in a way Pokémon and humans share more similarity than we might want to believe.''
Professor Oak sighed. ''I have been banned from almost every settlements in Orchestralia because of my involvement in leading the Dragons to our world. And honestly I can't say I blame them. There was times where I considered taking my own life to atone for what I have done...'' The two teens looked at him in a shock silence at the revelation. ''But the Ding Dong Community accepted me and I used the Starleap to give humanity a fighting chance. Draconid Gems were not invented on Earth we found them on the home planet of the Pokémon.''
If they had been drinking at that moment both Ash and Lillie would have spit out their drink on the floor right then. ''W-what?! You went to the Pokémon's world?!'' Lillie asked in shock and excitement.
''Yes we did and we found out a lot of things there. But obviously the most important for us was the discovery of the Draconid Gems. Pokémon have never given a name to their own planet. So we decided to name it Mysteria, we named if after some spacial and time anomalies that regularly occur on their planet that Pokémon call Mystery Dungeons.''
Lillie looked intrigued. ''Mystery Dungeons, what are those?''
''Maybe I'll talk about them another time, it would take way too long to explain what they are exactly. And it's not really important to what we're talking about.'' Profesor Oak replied leaving a disapointed Lillie who wouldn't be able to absorb new kowledge.
''So will we be able to visit this planet eventually?'' Ash ask, maybe they could do more damage to those damn Dragons on their home turf.
At that the old Professor immediatly shook his head. ''No! Absolutely not! This is a completely different world we're talking about! The two of you are not even ready to leave this region much less visit another planet entirely!'' Lillie sighed in dissapointment, clearly she had wanted to see it too, maybe not for the same reason as Ash tough. But both of begrudgingly nodded in understanding.
''Now there one last thing I want to talk about.'' Xofamai said catching the attention of the two teens. ''In the wild it's very possible that you will meet Pokémon stronger than your own. In those cases it is very important that you plan ahead and communicate a strategy with your Pokémon. But sometime you don't have that kind of time to explain everything on the fly. And this is one of the most overlooked use of the Draconid Gems.''
''And that is?'' Ash asked wondering what hidden feature he could have overlooked after all this time.
''The simulated world inside a Draconid Gem is six hundred times faster than the real world while a human mind is inside of it. When a Pokémon is alone in the gem, time pass normally for them. It's only when a human mind join them inside the gem that time accelerate. We do not know why it does, but it benefit us greatly.''
''What does it mean that time is six hundred times faster? And how does it benefit us?'' Ash said while scratching his head.
Xofamai looked at Ash directly in the eyes to make sure he was listening. ''What it means is that if you spent ten minutes with your Pokémon inside the Draconid Gem. Only one second will have passed in the real world. Which mean that if you get ambushed by wild Pokémon you can project your mind inside the gem, come up with a strategy and then enact that strategy with your Pokémon before the wild Pokémon even have a chance to attack you.''
''Wow that seem pretty useful.'' Lillie said with an awed expression. ''Too bad I don't have any Pokémon I can actually use in battle and I refuse to put my best friend in a gem for Pokémon, it kind of feel wrong.''
''That something we should address soon. As useful as your own power are, you can't always rely on them for everything. A one trick pony won't survive long as a Resistance soldier. The last mission made me realised that while I trained the both of you so you could survive better. You still need to learn how to use Pokémon properly. So tomorrow you should get ready.''
''Ready for what?'' Lillie asked she arleady felt shiver down in her spines as she asked the question.
Xofamai smirked while looking both of them. ''Tomorrow we will go on a trip so that Lillie can catch a Pokémon of her own that she can actually use in battle and then after that...You both will face me, in a Pokémon battle.''
AN: This is probably one of if not my least favorite chapter for this story both now and in the original World of Elestia. I don't like chapters that are purely lore dump. But sometime you just have to bite the bullet and write a lore dump for the sake of the story.