A/N
Coming at you again with another chapter. Sorry about the delay, had to hold off on this due to some family concerns. May happen once or twice again until this is resolved.
Enjoy it if you want.
I lounge underneath one of the few nearby trees to the designated training area, slightly salty at still being banned from training myself by Brock. So what if I break something again? It'll be fine, I'm a Pokemon. Er, probably be fine. I've only had my chest caved in twice now, but I've recovered fine from both. My chest barely hurts at all anymore.
I should probably try to avoid being complacent over injury, but it's honestly rather nice to not have to fear such a petty concept like 'months-long recovery periods'. Especially when the entire point is to get into constant fights in the future.
In any case, instead of finally getting Dark Pulse to where I can use it when on the move I've been locked into just helping my team perfect existing moves and learn new ones. In all honesty, that's still a great thing and something I'd have been doing anyway, but there's something about not being able to train myself that just irks me.
Everyone has mostly given up on keeping Sneasel and Heracross away from each other, mainly because their respective Trainers refuse to do anything about it. Trying to get Ash to not battle something works about as well as you expect.
And then there's me, who is happily letting my teammate learn how to fight fast-paced battles for an extended period for free. Turns out she's not much of a glass cannon anyways, she's more of a berserker. I'm just happy she took my instruction about the Quick Attack thing well, otherwise, she'd get turned to paste in half the gyms in Johto.
And Alonso is just menacing the local Natu population. Apparently, it is a well-loved and time-honored tradition amongst his old flock to absolutely terrorize and beat the shit out of any Psychic Typed birds they come across. Which in Johto, results in a very short list of Natu and Xatu. I'm not planning on having him change it so long as it doesn't cause problems in the future, it's some free fighting experience after all.
I can certainly see why I don't need to worry about his air-to-air combat capabilities though. The damn bird is absolutely brutal in that. I could probably send him in against Falkner and all that'd be left is a bruised Murkrow and a pile of bloody feathers. Eh, maybe not that extreme, but you get the picture. Well, against the Standard Circuit team that is. He could bring out the upper tiers and Alonso would probably be pasted after a good fight if it was the lower side of Advanced. Elite would result in me just laughing at him for being in that situation.
I shrug and pop another Razz Berry into my mouth as I lean against my chosen tree. There aren't many of them around without walking a fair distance, both bushes and trees, but there's enough to get shelter and find food. I just wish that Larvitar would get better soon so we could get a move on either way. I think everyone is getting antsy at this point, and it hasn't even been a week.
Am I even going to have enough time to complete the Circuit when I get back? I mean, it's not like I can ignore travel time unless I have a super loose wallet. I'm not nearly rich enough for that though. Man, if it didn't sound like so much fun to try and be a Specialist I'd be rocking and rolling already. Generalists really have it easier on the 'pick up and go' side of things. But then they also have to learn how to care for all the random Pokemon they pick up with varied typings. Not everyone gets a Pokemon Breeder to travel with them after all.
Oh hey, Alonso's flying over now. I guess he got his fill of terrorizing the Natu. That or he'd decided I've been left to my own devices for far too long for his tastes. It could honestly be both, his protective streak has only gotten stronger since I got laid out by Larvitar.
On a side note, I'm actually proud of Alonso. He's avoided getting zapped today completely. Well, he had one thunderbolt shot at him but he actually managed to dodge it this time and Pikachu didn't care to keep shooting at him. So, at least there's progress on that front.
"Hey there Alonso. Done with beating up those poor psychics for today?" I ask idly, switching the way my legs were crossed. The Murkrow grins sharply, nodding his head contently.
"So, want to work to polish one of your existing moves or learn a new one? We've gotten the ones you know to a pretty nice standard, but obviously some polishing never hurts," I question, flicking open my Pokedex to look at its notes function. During one of my sleepless nights, I went ahead and took some notes on the general movesets of each of my Pokemon. The few I could remember anyway. I still really wish I knew the complete move pool of each of my Pokemon before showing up here.
"What new move did you have in mind?" Alonso inquires, perking up at the thought of learning something new. I grin maliciously, already knowing what move I'm going to see if I can get him to learn without a TM. The bane of many's existence and the most painful move to see hit.
"Toxic. Badly poisons the enemy. If you learn this you can win against a lot of stronger opponents. Should be right up your alley too, with your ability being Prankster and all that," I comment, bringing up what information Omnissiah has on the move for Alonso. It's not much besides the effects of it and to look at the warnings for learning Poison Type moves, but he certainly looks interested in it.
Good, that way he'll hate what comes next less hopefully. From what I can tell, learning a Poison Type move for Pokemon without the typing is a nasty affair. It also comes with the risk of self-poisoning for the inexperienced, in addition to the normal poisoning for learning it, so I'll have to go and grab some Pecha berries if I can find some.
"Alrighty then. First thing's first, we get to hunt down an Arbok! I saw a fair few when we first came here so I know there's some locally," I say excitedly, clapping my hands together as I stand up. I reach down and grab my satchel, shouldering it immediately as I begin to march towards the light forest surrounding Nick's house. Alonso follows close behind me, catching up to me quickly after my sudden departure.
"Uh, Don, why are we hunting an Arbok?" he asks me nervously. Probably due to my suddenly peppy tone. I'm generally only cheery when something good is happening or when someone is about to experience acute regret.
"Well, you need to be poisoned before you're able to learn Toxic. Quite thoroughly I might add, so we are going to have you fight something that will happily and thoroughly poison you as much as it can. Something about forcing your body to adapt and produce toxins of its own or whatever, I didn't look into the specifics," I explain to my suddenly nervous Murkrow.
"C-Can I learn a different move then?! I don't want to be poisoned Don, I've heard how horrible that feels!" Alonso squawks out, complaining loudly as he lands on my shoulder while flapping his wings a few more times. His plumage is raised too, so I know he's actually spooked by this idea.
"Too late, you already agreed Alonso. You get to experience the lovely feeling of poisons coursing through you until you learn how to make your own and expel it safely. Aren't you a lucky one?" I say with a cheery voice, feeling a real pep in my step. I grind myself to a halt after a few moments though, stopping with a thoughtful expression.
"Wait… can I learn Toxic too? Only one way to find out I guess, I'm sure being poisoned isn't that bad," I say thoughtfully, rubbing my chin as I glance into the trees. I feel a sudden sharp pain shoot through me and hiss as I grab the side of my head. Alonso just Pecked me!
"Hey, what the fuck was that for you damn bird?!" I exclaim, turning my head to meet his glare with a sharp return of my own.
"You aren't going to poison yourself on the off chance you can learn a move!" he complains, flying a few circles around me in agitation. I give him a deadpan glare and flip him off like the mature person I am.
"I'm the Trainer here and if I can learn a strong move by being horrifically poisoned then I'll deal with being poisoned. Besides, I was only given a medical ban on exerting myself physically. I don't have to do much to be poisoned," I logically argue, ignoring that being poisoned puts a strain on my system to remove said poison.
"I will grab the humans and get them to stop you if you refuse to be reasoned with," the Murkrow threatens, hovering between me and the house now.
"Alonso… do you really think that they could tell me not to do something before I've gone and done it? The only one that can is Brock and that's because he's essentially my stand-in doctor and agreed to sponsor me," I ask, raising an eyebrow at the stubborn bird. "Omnissiah doesn't even function as a phone, so you can't get them to call me. Now, hop on my shoulder and get poisoned with me."
Alonso stays silent for a moment, before finally relenting and reluctantly getting back onto my shoulder mumbling under his breath about how he doesn't even know what a 'phone' is.
With that slight amount of minor mutiny out of the way, time to find something to poison us! If I sound way too excited it's because Toxic is such a bitch move and I love it. I don't care if I have to feel like absolute shit and be poisoned if it means I get to be an annoying prick and cheat my way through some fights.
Assuming I can learn it that is, but I remember Toxic being one of those near-universal moves that 99% of Pokemon can learn. Shit, even Pikachu can learn that damn move.
LINE BREAK
Hmm, I may have underestimated just how much of a pain this would be. We successfully managed to track down an Arbok with the help of a rather nice Ponyta. I think she assumed we were going to fight one, maybe capture it, but that's not my problem.
Though the Arbok was fairly concerned about us asking to be poisoned. Apparently, he hadn't ever had someone just walk up and ask nicely to be poisoned before. Unimaginative people, I tell you.
After an awkward conversation around the topic, we were both bitten by the wary Arbok and went on our way. Well, bitten is a strong word. More like we were lightly scraped by his fangs just enough to poison us and the process was repeated for a little bit. I found some Pecha berries and stuffed them in my satchel, but carefully, since these things really love to bruise. If it gets too bad we can nibble on these.
I was a bit nervous about the whole poisoning thing, but honestly, it wasn't that bad. Sure my limbs felt a little bit sluggish and cold but I wasn't feeling any pain. But maybe that's because I'm in Zorua form right now because like hell I'm going to get poisoned in my squishy human form.
The only downside is the now much slower travel speed. Thankfully my satchel seems to have the anti-damage magical property from the anime since I can drag it across the hard stony ground and forest floor with no problems.
Moving with small numb limbs is a bitch by the way, and the slight coolness was quickly replaced with a deep burning. Very unpleasant, I will admit. Alonso looks deeply unhappy with me over this, but the damn bird is grouchy over everything so I didn't expect him to be thankful for being poisoned. Sucks for him though, this is our lives for the next couple of days.
I mean, I probably should have prepared this more but it was going to suck no matter what. Toxic is just too good of a move to know, especially considering what I selected as my boon from Arceus. I have amazing plans for that, and I doubt that the world is ready for it.
But first thing's first, learning Toxic so I can stop being poisoned. I hear Alonso groan out loud beside me, as he lands on the ground for a moment. He coughs into his wing and grimaces, sparing me a glare between coughs.
"What? You read the same thing I did, this is how we learn to use the damn move. Omnissiah has yet to be wrong, want to argue with the computer filled with Pokemon-related knowledge?" I cough out, feeling like complete shit at this point. God, this is fucking awful, is this what'll happen to people I'm fighting?
Alonso opens his beak to respond to me, but our oncoming argument is halted by the sudden sound of the thin canopy above us cracking. Burgeoning with a sinking feeling deep in my roiling stomach, I grimace as a massive balloon filled with the more… serious members of Team Rocket crash through and scatter branches and leaves all around the two of us. Thankfully they get caught by the thicker branches and are suspended for a bit longer in the air. What is it with these people and balloons?
Suddenly I am faced with the idea that going off into the woods to get both of us poisoned to learn a move without any help from the rest of my team, aka Sneasel, or telling anyone we were going out was a bad idea and I should not have done that.
Oops?
Glancing at Alonso worriedly, I motioned for us to get off the path we were on as the balloon surrendered to gravity once more, causing the occupants of it to freak out a bit more again. We quickly move into some of the bushes as I drag my satchel underneath the shrubbery with me, making sure it wasn't visible. I am suddenly very thankful I was given a black bag instead of white or purple. My color theme is amazing, but black is definitely better for hiding.
What I am not thankful for is the garish colors covering my body. Cyan is such an easy color to see, especially when surrounded by browns and greens. I close my eyes and try to focus on going invisible, but I keep feeling my energy slip away from my grasp. It feels… sluggish and unresponsive right now. Is this what happens when a Pokemon gets poisoned?
Well shit, no illusions for me I guess… what about my moves then? I pull myself together and use a Leer on my surrounding brush, and feel it go off seamlessly if a bit weakened.
Ok-ay then…? I feel like there was a better time to learn the revelation that my ability doesn't work when I'm poisoned than when trying to hide my bright coloration from violent criminals. Eh, life and lemons. Wonder if Poison is some sort of natural ability inhibitor? Wait, not the time.
I slowly start to move backward, keeping a sharp eye on the various grunts scrambling around the crash site of the balloon to make sure none of them are paying much attention in our direction. Seeing the coast was clear, I turn around and grip my bag's strap in my mouth tightly hoping it won't make too much noise when dragging across the ground.
I'm suddenly glad that my mouth was full of leather bag strap since it muffled my frightened shout when I turned around and saw Absol patiently standing behind me. Nearly tripping over my own four feet like I did when I was first reincarnated, I scramble to right myself and drop the strap.
"What the fuck are you doing here?!" I hiss out lowly, demanding an explanation.
"I have been following you this entire time. There was no attempt to remain silent, did you not notice me?" they ask, baffling me. What the fuck? Absol was absolutely not around the entire time unless they stole my ability to go invisible exactly whenever either I or Alonso looked around.
And Alonso looks just as baffled as me, but that may just be the poison talking because he was starting to sway slightly even when standing still.
"What, are you a poison lightweight Alonso? Just eat one of the damn berries," I order and tease at the same time, pointing a claw at my bag before glancing back at Absol.
"Okay so I had a possibly horrible idea and I'm pretty sure you've heard me talk about it. Think you can handle it if anyone decides to attack us?" I quietly ask, wincing as the pain filling my body intensifies. There's a rash of shouting and orders going out around the balloon, as whoever is in charge is apparently retaking control of the undisciplined grunts.
"Maybe. It depends if they will interrupt my vigil. I only accepted the previous arrangement while you healed since if you improperly healed it may affect you arriving at your disaster," they reply in their usual dispassionate monotone.
"Very helpful, thank you very much Absol," I mutter under my breath, feeling like they heard anyway despite their lack of a reaction. Like trying to squeeze water out of a stone while talking with a brick wall.
"Fuck it, I'm just going to try to listen in and spy on them. I don't think Alonso or I can move fast enough to evade them, we are just going to have to hold out until they decide to leave," I eventually murmur, sliding forward on my belly until I could see better from beneath the gap in the bush.
It seems like whoever the commander is was currently pointing at various duos and ordering them around, I could only faintly make out was the orders were through. Basic things like unloading the supplies in the balloon or securing the immediate area. A single pair was sent out as messengers to "The Base", where they quickly ran off in the general direction of Mt. Silver.
Did these fuckwads plan on blowing up another mountain?! Union cave I could at least understand if they were trying to separate and isolate certain parts of Johto, but what the hell could they get out of blowing up a cultural landmark that has no actual purpose nowadays?
Squinting my eyes at the supplies they were hauling out of the bona fide zeppelin that crashed, none of them seemed to be explosives. Wait, did they just have an actual Rocket Base out here? Why? Fuck, this is turning into a situation where I feel like I have to investigate it. While Poisoned and my only backup being another heavily poisoned Pokemon and a minimally helpful Absol.
Wait, wait, there's no reason to be hasty now. Technically speaking I have to do something here but acting as a super-spy when I'm no longer able to turn invisible is a bit much. I can't even do many disguises anyway, since for some ungodly reason I can't alter my human form at all. What's the point in being a visual shapeshifter if I can't commit rampant identity theft?
The Team Rocket Leader eventually stops rattling off orders and instead pulls out a device that is passably similar to a phone. Flipping it open and putting it up to her head, it confirms my assumption when she begins talking animatedly into it. Why she sent off runners when she had a phone is beyond me, but there's probably a reason for it
I briefly consider trying to go invisible again so I can listen in, but the poison running through my system makes itself known again by flaring up the moment I try.
This… was a bad idea. I mean, I should have guessed that since it's a Pokemon world that it would work off of the logic shown. And someone in a bad position to do something is a prime target for having to do it. Spilled milk though, I'll just learn from this and avoid doing this shit later. I need to focus on this, not beating myself up over this fuck up.
Why am I a lot better off than Alonso right now anyways? He ate a handful of Pecha berries and still looks absolutely dead on his feet. I have his ball still attached to my belt, which is in my pack, so I could easily return him…
No, the damn stubborn bird would just kill me later over doing that to him when he feels I'm in imminent danger. I may be able to get him to leave of his own volition though…
"Alonso, go back to the group and grab some help. I can't make it out, but you can probably fly now that those Pecha are taking effect," I whisper to him, motioning my head towards where the house is. We weren't exactly close per se, but a small enough distance to make it reasonable.
Even so, he still looks like he was about to have a conniption over my suggestion. He opens his beak, but I cut him off immediately before he can complain.
"Alonso, we obviously can't fight. We need to at least get Sneasel here, and as much as I hate to admit it, we should also get the others involved. I'm not moving from this spot," I state forcefully, feeling a sour taste in my mouth. I try all that I can to avoid getting caught up with these guys, yet they ignore the timeline completely and show up when they aren't supposed to. And now my shitty decision-making and fate laughing at me means I need their help. Again.
Alonso grumbles and drags his feet, nervously looking between me, the bag, and the way to the house. I can see that he really doesn't want to leave, but he also sees my point. Shame I'm lying out of my ass to my friend here though, I have absolutely no intention of staying here or avoiding a fight if I see an opportunity.
There's Team Rocket to fuck over after all, and while I'm not some edgy revenge obsessed jackass like a certain someone that starts with an 'S' and ends with an 'asuke' I still have my pound of flesh I'm taking out of them. I'm still going to fuck over Gio and if this is how I can start doing it, you better believe I will.
I just really hope my acting skills are up to snuff.
Alonso grumbles to himself, shooting me another glance before wincing and flapping his wings and taking off. A couple of the Team Rocket members looked over but quickly dismissed the singular Murkrow leaving the area. I guess it's a good thing I'm more attention-drawing, otherwise my excuse wouldn't have worked.
God this is such a fucking bad idea, but I'm going to do it anyway. If Alonso actually stabs me after this I wouldn't even complain. Okay, that's a lie, but I wouldn't try to stab him back. Once Alonso is a fair distance away, I breathe a small sigh of relief. At least he won't get caught up in my stubborn dumbassery.
I'm supposed to be smart, I'm supposed to be (fairly) reasonable, I'm supposed to be manipulative of a situation. I'm not supposed to go galavanting off on some dumbass self-imposed mission for no perceivable gain.
None of that matters apparently, as I quietly follow behind the group of criminals as they gather up some of the supplies and hide the rest. Not all of them leave though, and 3 of them stay behind to guard it. Which kinda defeats the purpose of hiding it, but I'm not going to complain about them kinda fucking up on that.
The big question now… Alonso is going to come back with everyone as fast as he can. Only about 3 of them are guarding the stache, and a large number of their supplies are there. Can I, a poisoned and inexperienced Pokemon, take out 3 criminals by myself? I already know that Absol won't help, so I'm not counting them in.
Eh, fuck it. I'll just settle for knocking these couple of grunts around… without killing them? Fuck, don't think I can mortally wound or kill these guys otherwise my reputation will be ruined. What options do I have for taking someone out non-lethally when at a disadvantage?
Hmm, Counter would be decently non-lethal. Scratch would just make them bleed, so that would be fine so long as I don't do something dumb like go for the throat or the stomach. Dark Pulse is out of the question for direct usage, I've seen that one crush stone into shards. Detect is probably all that will save me from getting my block knocked off, what with the debilitating poison and all.
I settle in for a fair few minutes, waiting for the guards to relax as I stayed under a closer bush. Every time they got distracted talking or doing something, I would creep closer through the sparse vegetation. Thankfully, they were looking out for people and not for a tiny Pokemon to creep up on them.
Absol was as creepily silent as they always were, so I had no doubts that they would be the one to alert the Team Rocket grunts. And grunts they were, they bitched about the "higher-ups" enough that they would fit right in at a worker's union meeting.
I try to focus myself to push away the burning pain of the poison but was only moderately successful. Maybe once the fight starts and I get some of that sweet sweet adrenalin…
All of them were turned away from me now. I mentally named each one in my head by their most important traits, also known as their wild hair colors. There was a lady with mint green hair, a guy with deep blue hair, and a bald guy. So we had Baldie, Mint, and Fire Emblem. Mint had the most Pokeballs on her hip, so purely out of a numbers perspective, I'm attacking her first as the highest threat.
Crouching down low, I slowly prepare my opening move thoroughly. Since I'm outnumbered and weak, my biggest advantage will be confusion. That can only last as long as I take down one of them though, so I'm going to extend it.
Aiming a high-power Dark Pulse at the ground between the group, I finally manage to push the poison aside and get a large powerful blast going in between my jaws. With a quick bit of recoil forcing me to hunker down slightly, I fire off the mass of black and purple rings in the center of their relaxed formation. It got me my desired outcome as they all cry out and shield their eyes from the blast as a large plume of smoke and dust suddenly fills the air.
Sprinting forward at full tilt towards the disoriented group, I aim for Mint's shoulder with a scratch. I wince slightly at the unfamiliar feeling of my claws slicing and embedding into flesh but quickly move onto more pressing matters.
Mostly that Fire Emblem had some great instincts and immediately popped his Pokeball and an absolutely livid Zubat was screaming towards me.
I quickly complete my incapacitation of Mint by raking her other shoulder with my claws, before throwing myself from her under the guidance of Detect. Things were complicated a bit due to her screaming and thrashing to try and get me off of her back, but overall it was an acceptable result.
What wasn't acceptable was the fact that Baldie got his act together too and released a nasty looking Shinx for me to fight. I don't exactly want to be in a one versus two situation, but at least I took out one threat.
I mean, she could still probably release her Pokemon if she really wanted to. But it turns out having agonizing pain shoot through you every time you move your arms because you had the upper parts of both shoulders stabbed with a Pokemon's razor-sharp claws is a rather good motivator to keep still. She still stumbles over to the supplies, moving part of the camouflage out of the way as she carefully grabs out some medical supplies while glaring at me balefully.
Well tough shit for her I guess. Hard to be intimidating when you're bleeding profusely from your shoulders and can barely move your arms.
The Shinx and Zubat form up against me, and now it's an actual fight rather than an ambush I feel like things are about to get a lot more painful for me. Shame about Fire Emblem there having his shit together, I could have probably stabbed another one of them if that Zubat came out later.
Hey, just realized, I finally got to stab a Team Rocket member. Goal completed!
I quickly sidestep as Zubat makes a pass at me with a failed Bite, but am unable to take advantage of this opportunity since Shinx sends a bolt of electricity my way. Detect activates on it, but the poison makes itself known by slowing down the automatic reaction and still getting me clipped by the attack.
Gritting my teeth as the volts pass through my body and lock up my muscles, I'm aware of the lack of communication by the trainers and between their Pokemon. Shit, are they trained to work together already? It would make sense considering-
A flash of movement in Shinx's eyes gives away he's looking at something behind me, and I'm reminded of Zubat making a pass earlier. I force my body to turn around, only to be blasted with a Supersonic that rattles my bones and makes my ears ring. This is followed quickly by another shock of electricity that leaves my body frozen.
Fuck, this is definitely as horrible of an idea as I thought it was.
A/N
Nice, this chapter finally got finished. I've had it 99% done for about a week, then a bunch of drama hit. Including some asshat hacking one of my accounts and trying to steal it and $700 from me. Called the bank and got that fixed, but having that much money taken from you as a college student even temporarily… oooh boy.
Peace,
-Taldor