Chapter 15
EXPOSITION
(-¤-)
Jubilife was fun, got some pokemon, had an adventure and officially popped my bounty hunting cherry. And in return I got a sweet 2500¥, hells yeah!
Turns out those guys had been a problem for a good while, around a month actually. They would pick pocket people for their mons and constantly move hideouts. One of them knew a trick to cover up their scent trail so by the time the cops found their hideout they would be long gone and impossible to track. Said police force was in the middle of trying to acquire a slurpuff from Kalos to tackle that problem but were having no luck.
That also means I was right about the cops being useless here.
They had a total of 135 pokemon in that crate when we busted them. Quite the haul for a bunch of stooges. It would take awhile for the police to get them back to their rightful trainers, but they seemed confident they could do it.
After that me and the contrasting colors went our seperate ways. We had different goals and they weren't willing to hang out at a mountain for a weeks on end doing nothing but training. At least, I assumed they weren't. Imma be honest, I didn't ask because I didn't want to travel in a group.
I made this board and by fuck I was gonna use it.
I have also come to an important discovery thanks to the ridiculous amount of data in the pokedex. Physics are different here. Most of the rules are the same as they were back home. Equal and opposite reactions, energy conversions, magnets, that kind of stuff. But this place had a new rule that changed how the universe interacts with itself.
Pseudo states.
Basically psuedo states are the reason this place has such crazy tech and pokemon all have super powers. While its not fully known how this stuff works, even middle schoolers know the basics.
Energy can be converted into temporary matter and matter to temporary energy. This is called a pseudo state. The temporary matter and energy want to change back to its original form, and depending on how well the energies have been woven together they can last just an instant or even decades.
Of course its not all that simple, what with certain moves having bizarre effects, and pokemon with abilities that seem to break the laws of physics even by this places standards. The move Metronome has been driving scientists mad since the day they started studying it.
The world is full of mysterious creatures called pokemon, and they all have haxx.
We had traveled to a relatively nearby place called Mount Shady, a small mountain famous for being rich in dusk stones. An evolutionary stone is a form of pseudo matter thats super stable, certain minerals draw certain type energies out of their surroundings and condense it until its a gem. Thats how most evolution stones are formed. When a pokemon that can use one comes into contact with it it rapidly destabilizes and the pokemon makes use of the energy to evolve.
I don't have any pokemon that can evolve from dusk stones at the moment, but there are two other uses for them. Money and training.
Evolutionary stones are rare and coveted by many different people, either for evolving their pokemon, collecting them or turning the brilliant little rocks into jewelery. They are a hot commodity that are guaranteed to sell.
Training is a different matter, my little notebook told me a few interesting facts about them. Evo stones are constantly shedding small amounts of energy, kinda like uranium. This energy effects all pokemon it comes into contact with, most just can't use it to evolve. But if a pokemon had prolonged contact with a stone they learn how to manipulate that type of energy much faster than they normally would, due to their body being forced to constantly process it.
This was one of the tips that was found near the back of the journal, indicating that it was a secret that was found late in the journey. And since I couldn't find anything online about this I assumed it was one of those closely guarded trainer secrets.
So we've been training and digging around Mt Shady for the past two weeks. And low and behold after cracking open lots of boulders with some well placed attacks we found a total of two dusk stones. Not the biggest haul to ever get carted out of here but I'll take it.
As for training, we've been working hard on skill sharing, refining our techniques, basic power boosting, and defense. As well as a few surprise techniques that you wouldn't find in the games.
Since my team has a much deeper move pool now some potential overlap was occuring, as such everyone was teaching each other how to use new moves. Mark was doing most of the teaching actually but Jack and Luke got to teach the newbies a couple moves as well.
Lets see, in the time we've been here Mark taught Jack Low Kick and Swagger. Jack taught him Endure in return. Luke taught Karen Swift. And then Mark learned Protect all on his own and then everyone else figured it out from him pretty quick after that.
I had also purchased a new item with my recently acquired bounty money, a martial arts book. It was a decent one, I think, it had lots of illustrations and explanations as to what techniques do what and where the styles had originated from. It seemed pretty indepth, which it had better be considering this thing costed me 50 fuckin dollars.
It wasn't for me mind you, I had my fighting style of chaos and confusion down pat and I was just a bit too lazy to practice this everyday. It was for Mark and Jack. Mark was a fighting type so he would instinctually know some very basic martial arts but this book would help refine and expand on those instincts. Jack was a bit different, when he evolved he would end up with a very humanoid body. As such I figured that it would translate over well enough at that point for him to learn a good bit. Also having a kung fu rabbit would be nothing but helpful. Especially when I'm finally able to mega evolve him, normal and fighting type was going to make for an interesting combo.
Mark was of course picking up on my, kinda shitty, lessons remarkably fast and improving on them just as rapidly. Jack on the other hand was having alot of difficulty translating the human style fighting techniques into his tiny bunny body. Punching with his fists didn't come as naturally as punching with his ears
And finally we were training up everyones defense. And I'm gonna be honest here, its kinda brutal. There are only two ways to train defense at this stage and one requires a everstone, which I don't have.
The other is turning the pokemon into a punching bag.
One pokemon defends as best it can while the other pummels it with low powered moves. The defending can't fight back at all or run away, they just gotta sit there and take their lumps while doing their best to defend. This trains both pokemon, one learns how to spot and exploit gaps in defense, the other one toughens up due to constant beatings. They can stop whenever they want however, its important to set up boundaries like that so the training doesn't just turn into abuse. If the defending taps out they get to rest for awhile regardless of how many hits they took.
The only one I couldn't convince to do this was Karen because, well, shes a Karen.
Thats what we were doing right now. Jack was defending and Mark was attacking. Usually I could just hang back and relax while the others did this, they would stop before it got bad. Jack however was a glutton for punishment and would let himself be knocked unconscious before tapping out. He had done that twice before I put my foot down and had to watch over him.
Mark was bashing at the angry little bastard with a flurry of low kicks and feint attacks. Jack for the most part was doing a decent job of blocking and deflecting, something I had gave extra attention to with the kung fu book. Mark knocked his arms away for just a moment and used the opportunity to use a Headbutt. The blow smacked Jack in the face with a nasty crack and sent him sprawling.
"Enough." I said with a firm tone. Mark backed off immediately, letting another glowing headbutt fade away.
Jack sat up, unsteady from the prolonged beating. His eye was swelling shut from the hit and the other one was glarring daggers at the lizard.
"Hey Jack" he turned to me, "looks like thats-hehehe" I giggled.
His good eye narrowed even further as I struggled to get the words out.
"Thats gonna-*snrt*" my scraggy was sidling up to me now, a smug look on his face as he saw where the joke was going.
"THATS GONNA LEAVE A MARK!" Me and Mark started cackling as my rabbit hissed in indignation at my cheap pun.
"BUN BUNEARY!" He scooped a pawful of dirt and gravel and slung it at us in fury. I curled my arms around my head to protect my face, still giggling myself stupid.
"A FUCKING MARK, HAHAHAHA!" God there's nothing like a shitty pun at your friends expense to piss them off. And Marks willingness to go along with my ideas did nothing but encourage the stupid jokes.
Turns out Mark loved trouble just as much as I did, and subsequently could not keep himself from fucking with the anger rabbit. I wonder if thats a trait of his species or if I just got lucky. Whatever it was it driving Jack up the damned wall. I took to pairing them up fairly often because of this, let Mark fuck with Jack some and then let Jack get a little revenge, it had been doing wonders for both of them.
After turning in the crooks I made good on my promise of food by buying him and Karen both double bacon cheese burgers. I added fries to Marks order considering he actually listened during that fight. I figured Karen would appreciate the gesture even if she only fought out of self interest, she didn't.
And just like that I had Marks complete and utter devotion. Sometimes to gain a pokemons loyalty you need to break your arm in an effort to save their life, other times you just give them junk food. It's kind of a toss up.
Karen on the other hand was the complete opposite of Mark in the worst way. She was snooty and picky and disobedient. However she could be bribed.
See, she was very particular about her fur, she needed to keep it immaculate. But that was hard to do when she didn't have any arms or legs. Cottonee were communal pokemon and tended to groom each other. It wasn't until she got dirty from an rogue attack in a mock battle that she even gave me the time of day. After a good shampooing she was much more receptive to my training, though not completely loyal yet. I think she will be in time though.
Still wasn't willing to let herself get curb stomped for awhile though.
Training was fun, but it was time to start traveling again soon, with some spending cash in my bank account and a decent movepool we would be able to start our journey proper. League season was still a ways away and I needed to fill out my team.
Luckily thanks to my knowledge of future events and willingness to dick around with the timeline a bit I knew a few pokemon that fit my bill. Unfortunately they were on the other side of Sinnoh, and one might not be there at all.
But I'll burn that bridge when I cross it. For now it was time to start dinner, I should make sure Jack gets an extra helping of oran berries in his stew for that eye.
(-¤-)
Cynthia was alot of things, The 83rd True Champion of Sinnoh, a generalists master, The daughter of Carolina Shirona, an amateur archaeologist. But above all of that, Champion Cynthia was dreadfully, horridly, and undeniably.
Bored.
She had come to Eterna City Just yesterday in hopes of chasing away the terrible feeling gnawing at her brain, old towns like this did always put a skip in her step. But even looking through buildings older than her family name wasn't doing her much good today. Gardena had been too busy remodeling the gym for league season with her gym trainers to catch up with her, so that was a bust as well.
The next morning she had deemed to have a pleasant walk through the route just outside the city. The brisk morning air filled her lungs as she took in her surroundings. Hills gently rose up all around her like waves frozen in time, their size only exaggerated by the pines that swarmed the peaks. Wild flowers and berry bushes in full bloom covered large swaths of the land around her waging a calm war with each other for the most space. The winding path of trodden dirt twisted around the slopes and in the valleys in between.
And still there was more beauty to seen by the trained eye. A ancient cut stone brick poked out of the flora just down the path, a silent reminder that the city behind her was one of the oldest in sinnoh.
She passed a boulder that had been spilt with a mighty blow some decades before. The crack, once sharp and ragged, had been smoothed by the rain and filled with debris carried with the wind.
Trees bore scars from pokemon battles all around her. A slash that had healed up years prior. Cracked wood from some reckless and failed attack that had twisted the pine and forced it to grow in odd ways. The occasional mark of charred bark or piece of long cold cinder.
All of these details were reminders. Things can change, a quiet path for her was a battle ground for someone else, or a home for another. Each moment leaving traces of what once was for the ones who would pass through. One only needed to look, and listen.
The festering feeling of dullness slowly gave way to content calm. The breeze tugged at her white sundress and the light of the morning sun filtered through her woven wide brimmed hat. Her dark shaded glasses catching and diluting any of the harsher streams of light before they caught her eye.
She was dressed to be plain today, didn't need a bunch of people bothering her on her stroll after all. From a distance she would look like a random citizen enjoying a walk and the fiery sunrise.
Whats that noise?
It was faint at first, a rolling and scraping sound that grew louder by the moment. But there was something else to it, a panicked sound of sharp vocals and fear.
It sounded almost like
Cursing?
She did her best to track it but the rolling hills all around her bounced and warped the sound in odd ways. A particularly sharp crack echoed throughout the route, which was followed by a nasty string of acidic vulgarities.
Finally she caught sight of the source of the noise, her well trained eyes locked onto the hill to her left. A cloud of ripped feral grasses and bright flowers was streaking down the hillside like a tendril eager to reach the bottom. At the front of the cloud of green a trainer rode a ground surfer, and was twisting and contorting their body wildly in an effort to just stay on the out of control board.
"fuckshitfuCKFUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK"
They almost made to the bottom but some unseen rock hidden in the underbrush must have caught one of the tires and yanked the board right out from under them. Cynthia winced as the unnamed trainer took a nasty tumble down the unforgiving terrain, kicking up dirt, weeds, and petals until they finally slid to a stop on their face.
She rushed over, worry thrumming in her chest. She hoped they were alright, a fall like that could seriously hurt someone. When she arrived she allowed herself a sigh of relief when they sat up on their own, facing away from her.
"Are you alright?"
The trainer, a girl she noted, snapped her head around to make eye contact. Eyes like breathing embers and broken glass stared back at her, holding intensity and intelligence far beyond her years. Cynthia could feel herself being assessed and judged on whether or not she was a dangerous. It chilled her a bit, seeing a child trying to puzzle out if she was a threat or not before she had even spoken.
The effect was ruined by her opening her mouth and letting an entire wild tulip blossom tinged with streaks of red fall out and onto the ground. She fumbled around with her bag for a moment before taking out a canteen and taking a swig of water. She swished it around a bit before spitting a glob of muddy plant life and blood out of her mouth. She repeated this process a few more times until the water ran clear.
"I definitely swallowed a rock, or a tooth." Her hand probed the inside of her mouth for a moment. "Nope. It was rock, fan tucking fastic, thats gonna be a blast to shit out."
Cynthia mentally recoiled at the cursory curse as the trainer unsteadily stood. Her knees shook (whether from adrenaline or pain she couldn't tell) and her clothes had been soiled with ground and stained green with torn grass, but regardless she stood with an air of casual confidence that only those that had earned it could truly exude.
She dusted herself off as best she could and took a look around, pointedly ignoring Cynthia herself.
"Wheres my bat?" She asked no one in particular.
Suddenly a frenzied mess of gaping mouth and blue velvet fur slammed into the ground between them. The tell tale signs of odd noises and manic movements told her that the golbat was in a terribly confused state.
"Theres my bat." She raised an oddly marked pokeball and returned the struggling creature. "Rest up dude."
The champion of the Sinnoh region finally found her voice again and asked, "What happened?" She noted that her arms looked oddly bare, as if something was missing from the sun tanned skin in spite of her age. Perhaps it was the way she carried herself, or the style of her clothes, but she imagined this girl would cover herself in tattoos once she came of age.
"Uh, I pissed off a few wingull." She looked back up the hill from which she crashed. "twenty or thirty counts as a few, right?"
Thats, alot of wingull. She must have done something rather reckless to catch the ire of an entire flock.
How interesting.
"AAW MOTHERFUCKER!" she jumped a bit at the sudden venomous shout, the girls eyes were locked onto the spot her ground surfer had come to a rest "My board!"
Sure enough, the thing that had carried her here was in terrible shape, maybe. The haphazard construction made it hard to tell where the damage actually was. Though she would guess that the wheels were not supposed to be bent like that.
"Fuck me! Now I gotta walk to places like a chump." She kicked at the broken thing before letting her shoulders sag. She gave a huff of frustration and turned to address her again "You wouldn't happen to know which way Eterna city is, would ya? I got a little lost with the whole wingull bullshit."
Cynthia stared for a moment processing the strange girl before answering.
"Yes I do, in fact its not too far from here." An idea struck her, "I know alot of the restaurants in town, if you'd like I could treat you to lunch. What are you in the mood for?"
"I guess I could go for a sandwhich." She shrugged.
Cynthia smiled, bright and warm. This trainer clearly had no idea who she actually was, (no one had dared curse so openly in front of the Champion in ages) and was intriguing to boot.
"I know just the place."
Maybe today won't be so boring after all.
(-¤-)
Alice Thorn
May 2
Team
Jack
Buneary
Moves: Pound, Foresight, Frustration, Sweetkiss, Defense Curl, Baby Doll Eyes, Quick Attack, Jumpkick, Shadow Ball, Low Kick, Swagger, Protect
Ability Limber
Luke
Golbat
Moves: Absorb, Super sonic, Astonish, Bite, Whirlwind, Wing attack, Confuse ray, Air Cutter, Swift, Protect
Ability Inner focus
Karen
Cottonee
Moves: Abosrb, Fairy Wind, Growth, Leech Seed, Stun Spore, Mega Drain, Poison Powder, Protect, Swift, Razor Leaf, Cotton Spore
Ability Infiltrator
Mark
Scraggy
Moves: Leer, Headbutt, Sand Attack, Feint Attack, Swagger, Low Kick, Dragon Dance, Protect, Endure, Facade, Pay Back
Ability Moxie
3340¥
In Box
N/A
