Save State

By: Aviantei

File Ten: Progress Save

It felt like I was being torn apart, piece by piece, then reformed, also piece by piece, except it didn't hurt as much as you'd expect. It was like puzzle pieces being gently lifted up one at a time, then slipped back together. Sparks of electricity rolled through my body as I regained my footing—a newborn Pichu's Thunder Wave would have hurt more. Vast, dark, and empty space spread out before me, but I focused more on what was inside me.

Pixel had performed a hack to send me towards the title screen, but he had done more than that. He had also added knowledge to my database, which made a lot of things make much more sense. I understood the data surrounding me, the data that made me and my world. If I focused on my outstretched arm, I could see the codes running right underneath it in ones and zeros. The same numbers rolled beneath my surroundings, though their formations were less complex.

I had been dropped off just short of the title screen, and it would only take one short hack to complete my journey. Pixel had also granted me the ability to make that leap myself. It was knowledge he could have granted Nochi, but never did.

Whatever he was so excited to have me around for, he must've thought I needed to be equipped for it.

I adjusted my arm perpendicular to me, palm facing forward. Whatever Pixel was planning was secondary to my dream. A data error had prevented the Shrine Guardian from appearing, and now I was committing a data error to fight it. I had already chosen to go forward; now I had to act on it.

Manipulating the data was surprisingly easy. I simply willed the path to open, and I could feel my puzzle pieces disassembling again. Within moments, I registered at the title screen, orange filling my vision with no sense of depth perception. I wondered if I had shot myself in the wrong direction, but caught sight of a data trail off to my right. I had landed on the correct game tier, but not in the center. That was where I needed to be.

My body intact, it was surprisingly easy to walk without any foothold. The orange shifted into paler tones, until I found a circular white patch in the distance. I approached closer, catching sight of a small shadow in the center. Remembering my first dream, I expected it to hulk over me once I stood in front of it, but the Shrine Guardian barely reached halfway to my knees.

Looking about as intimidating as the plush dolls Fri owned as a kid and just as artificial, the Shrine Guardian's plastic skin reflected the orange surrounding us. Their arms were long enough for its hands to touch the ground beneath their stubby legs, and they looked up at me with yellow button eyes. Remembering whose presence I was in, I clapped my hands together and bowed.

"Thank you for your protection," I stated, only for the Shrine Guardian to let out a sad cry a pitch lower than Wicker's. "I'm sorry that you were sent here. I would have liked to challenge you at the Ceremony, but it's too late for that. Instead, I'd like to fight for the right to capture you and bring you back to our town, if that's acceptable."

It was hard to read the Shrine Guardian's expression with their unmoving face. But they nodded, and I gave my thanks before stepping back. Before I could reach into my pack, the Shrine Guardian inhaled, their newest cry echoing throughout nothingness. Their arms and legs disconnected at the joints, expanding section by section until what stood before me was a massive, hulking Pokémon made of discarded toys that dated back through several decades.

Even in the broken state of my game, the battle setup activated, music and all. The Shrine Guardian's HP gauge hovered in the corner of my vision, but I brushed it away. From my point of view, I had completed my journey without that layout and could capture the Shrine Guardian just the same way. The only thing I took time to notice was its name.

Omocherub.

They stood in wait, the same intimidating structure from my first dream. How I hadn't put the pieces together was beyond pathetic. The only thing missing from that scenario was Wicker. Regaining my composure, I finally pulled out the Master Ball, calling my own legendary to the field.

"Naaaaa!" she called triumphantly, not even balking at Omocherub's size in front of her. While they would have been the same size before the Shrine Guardian had transformed, she might as well have been a Joltik standing next to a Wailord. Wicker looked over her shoulder to me, waiting on orders. "Leef!"

"R-right!" I said, taking in another deep breath. I couldn't chicken out now. I had become the Champion for Arceus's sake! Fighting a legendary wasn't something to be afraid of. "I guess we'll start off, then. Wicker use—um, well…"

This was actually our first fight together. Having let me catch her without a battle, I had never even seen one of Wicker's moves. There was a possibility the Professors had coaxed some data out of her, but I hadn't caught wind of it. No wonder Professor Spruce looked at me like a complete moron when I suggested soloing the Shrine Ceremony with only Wicker.

My hacking ability would have made it easy to bring up her move set, or even summon one of my Champion team members to the battlefront. Beyond the fact that I didn't feel comfortable using a brand new ability on one of my friends without knowing the effects, I had also decided to take on this challenge with Wicker. We were gonna have to do this the old fashioned way.

Omocherub was apparently done with the grace period it had given us, lashing out its arm with a roar. Not even needing an order, Wicker jumped over the strike, landing on her feet. Hunching her shoulders, she opened her mouth to the sky, a blaze of pink light forming overhead. "Naaaaaaaaa…leeeeef!"

At Wicker's command, the light focused on one point, striking Omocherub in the chest. The Shrine Guardian hardly moved in place, letting out a low groan. Even if its bulk made toppling it difficult, we had still landed some damage. Wicker hopped back and forth, staying limber.

"Remember," I called. "We want to catch them, not knock them out! Hit hard, but make sure we don't go overboard."

"Na!" Wicker cried in affirmation, jumping over Omocherub's swinging arm. Their claws dug into even the orange space surrounding us, separating chunks of data without damaging the overall code. Their transformed state gave them power, but Wicker had the advantage in speed.

"Go for another strike!"

Omocherub seemed to be thinking the same thing as its claw struck out towards Wicker, colliding with her in midair. She skidded across the ground, but used the momentum to roll back onto her feet. She ran back at Omocherub, scaling their dormant arm. Omocherub shook their arm in an attempt to dislodge her, but Wicker jumped into the air, green light forming at her mouth.

"Leef!"

Tree branches grew from the light, pounding into Omocherub's shoulder. I didn't know the attack name, but it was definitely a grass move. It also carried much more power, Omocherub slouching from the attack. Wicker landed on the ground, wary of the next attack. I stepped back, wondering what sort of range a Pokémon that big could have.

Omocherub snapped straight up, bearing its chest with a roar. I covered my ears, and Wicker's ears dropped from the noise. That hadn't been a random display of power—intuition told me that much.

"Stay on guard!" I warned. "We don't know what the Shrine Guardian is capable of!"

Wicker didn't give a verbal response, only spreading out her stance with her grass attack forming in her maw again. There were an infinite number of options of what to expect from an opposing Pokémon in battle. But none of that mattered if you could hit them harder and faster.

What a Pokémon after my own heart.

Wicker raised her head to aim, but Omocherub's arm lashed out much faster than before, sending my Naleef flying once again. Faint traces of shadow lingered on Omocherub's claw before fading—a ghost or dark type move? I couldn't say for sure. All I knew was that whatever buff Omocherub had given themselves, it definitely involved an increase of speed, stripping our main advantage.

"Leef naleef na!" Wicker scolded as she stood up. My doubt must have reached her. She shook herself out, the same pink light as before forming above her. Unlike the blast it had produced before, this time it rained down on Wicker in a pale beam of light. There wasn't any dirt to get on her, but the faint damage chips in her coat of bark healed over.

Moonlight. In retrospect, I was grateful I hadn't had to fight Wicker to capture her. That healing ability would have been more frustrating than chasing her around the whole damn region. "It's good you have that move, but try to save it, okay? I have potions if you need them!"

Wicker's affirmative was lost in Omocherub's next roar. If they had boosted their speed again, this could be trouble. Concentrating on my job, I was about to order another round of the grass attack when Wicker launched it herself. She even took the follow up run I was planning on ordering, circling to Omocherub's back. I couldn't see Wicker from the angle, but the Shrine Guardian couldn't turn as fast as they could lash out, their claws dragging across the orange mass of ground.

Another blast of pink light struck from Wicker, which was good because I was still scrambling to think of something to call the move. Omocherub reeled for a second, before charging a few steps forward, knocking Wicker back and forth between their palms. Assault done, they held Wicker on level with their face, letting out a soft rumble.

Wicker slumped in their grip. "You gotta get out of there!" Despite the order, Wicker didn't budge. Looking closer, she had gone completely limp as Omocherub tossed her to the ground. She rolled across the ground, but didn't budge. She should have had enough HP left after healing herself, so why wasn't she moving?

Ignoring Omocherub's height above me, I dropped to my knees, sliding the remaining distance to Wicker. Her air still flowed in even, peaceful breaths. Omocherub had put her to sleep. Unable to switch her out without forfeiting the battle, I dug into my pack and administered a Full Restore, Wicker perking up within moments.

"Let's not do that again," I said, brushing a few stray twigs off Wicker's back. Even if Full Restore took care of the damage, it seemed she grew new bark instead of reattaching the old pieces. "You have any status condition moves? It might make this easier."

"Na!" Wicker cheered, bouncing onto my lap. The ground shook as Omocherub stepped closer, and Wicker stood between us. I took the hint and stood, understanding her intention. Whatever move she had in store required her to get close, so we had to time things right.

The data Pixel had left me with made it possible to understand her. Not necessarily her words, but her feelings. She had been reading my attack ideas the same way. Despite not knowing each other for long, we could fight like a well-oiled Klinklang,

Nodding at my partner's enthusiasm, I threw my arm outward for added effect. "Then let's not play around! I'm gonna leave this to you!"

"Naleef!"

Omocherub raised their claws together again, forming their own orb of pink light. This time I could see the shapes of various toys forming off of it, almost dancing with each other. Wicker waited for Omocherub to aim, then sprinted out of the way of the line of phantom toys rushing at her. I was left with pink skeletons of toys overflowing the ground at my feet, vanishing into pink dust.

Wicker had much better luck, scaling up Omocherub's side. The Shrine Guardian swatted at her, but my Naleef jumped to land on the extended arm, heading straight for their shoulder. Once there, Wicker leapt from the joint, her nose pressing into Omocherub's face before she fell to the ground.

I almost wondered if her attack missed—until Omocherub started to sway. Sweet Kiss. The Shrine Guardian was now confused, the toys in their limbs shaking to stay together. When Omocherub moved, the trinkets began to scatter, reducing the Pokémon's body size.

This was the moment to strike, and Wicker knew it just as well as I did. Charging up her grass attack again, Wicker shot of the tree branches straight into Omocherub's chest. The Shrine Guardian tumbled over in an explosion of toys, their form shrinking back down to their smaller size. Running forward so I was in range, I pulled an empty Ultra Ball from my pack and threw for the capture.

My aim was dead on, the ball hitting against Omocherub's shoulder. Instead of opening, it bounced back harmlessly, rolling across the ground.

I didn't have any words until You can't capture a Pokémon that already has a trainer! flashed across my vision in black text.

The Shrine Guardian already had a trainer. I couldn't believe such a thing. Surely that would have been part of its legend, then. No, the Shrine Guardian was only spotted once a year, and it had never acted used to humans. The only person I knew to have encountered it outside of the Shrine Ceremony had been me, and that was just a dream.

Unless it was part of my error instead.

Omocherub sat up, their yellow eyes looking right at me. "Che…" they cried, sounding just as sad as before. Wicker stood a few feet away, frozen by my own hesitation.

If I had actually encountered Omocherub before.

If that encounter had been true.

Even if I hadn't battled them before.

The vacuum cleaner was sitting beside me. I grabbed the nozzle and placed it over my opponent, my should-be prize. I flicked on the switch. Lifting up the nozzle, there was nothing left. Wicker nudged an empty Ultra Ball over to me from where it had fallen out of my pack earlier. Without even thinking, I sucked it up, too.

Opening my palm, I concentrated on the data surrounding me. Finding generic items in the code was easy, but a specific one took a bit more digging. I was able to find the Ultra Ball in question, materializing it in my palm. Omocherub perked up, chirping happily. Wicker let out a confused sound, watching me.

I pointed the Ultra Ball towards Omocherub and said, "Return."

The familiar beam of red light reached out to the Shrine Guardian, who glowed a similar color before entering the Pokéball that was theirs.

I breathed out a laugh, not sure what else to think of the situation. Wicker trotted up to my side, equally jumbled, but still happy for me. I kneeled down to the ground, patting her head in thanks for the good job. A few seconds into my ministrations, a new string of text appeared before my eyes.

[Would you like to save your game?]

The answer I willed into place was [Yes].

"Jiiiijriiii!" Fuji cheered with extra trill than normal, detaching from her sister and clinging to me instead. Not having much choice in the matter, I stood my ground. "You were so cooooool catching the Shrine Guardian! Nee-chan was suuuper impressed."

"Don't go talking about stuff you don't know," Fri said with both a smile and blush across her cheeks. "I really am proud of you, Jijri. You did great catching Polymer and completing the Ceremony for us. I couldn't have asked for a better Festival."

Two days had passed since the final day of the Festival, and our town was already back to normal. The stalls had been cleaned up in record time, only the few remnants of stall running stragglers remaining to settle any outstanding deals. Fri was already hard at work sorting out things for next year's Shrine Ceremony, given that our Guardian now rested with me. That girl seriously didn't know how to stop working. As a good boyfriend, I had stopped by the Shrine to check in with her.

"I'm just glad it worked out," I said. "Things were really close for a minute, there. I almost thought I wouldn't make it."

Fuji nodded as she bounced, sending her long hair all over the place. "That's 'cause you're the Champiooon!" she cheered. "Of course you did it. Jiiijriii can do aaanything!"

"Fuji-chan, quiet down. People are still visiting the Shrine."

"Eep." Fuji covered her mouth with her hands. "Sorry, Nee-chan."

I patted Fuji's head in reassurance, and she giggled in response. This kid liked a good petting just as much as Wicker. "If I were you, Fri, I'd be more worried about what Errat's going to do for your punishment game. We did both beat you to our dreams, after all."

Fri crossed her arms, eyeing me sideways. "I'm sure you won't allow anything awful, will you."

"Of course not."

"Good." Fuji giggled to herself, but did keep the volume down. Fri pulled out her phone to check the time, then sighed. "I shouldn't be slacking off for too long, unfortunately." As if this girl knew the definition of slacking off. "What's on your plans for the rest of the day?"

I shrugged, pointing my thumb towards the trees. "Visiting the lab," I reported. "The Professors are still curious about Polymer and Wicker, so they want me to be around. Plus N's still hanging around, so I wanna see what he has to say."

Fri nodded. "Sounds like you're busy." She smiled, nudging my side. "Walk me home if you can?"

"Sure thing." I gave her hand a squeeze and looked around the Shrine before adding a kiss to her cheek. "See you later."

"See you."

Fuji jumped to flail her arm in the air as I walked away. I gave a tamer wave in response. "Laaateeer, Jijri! Bring Polymer to plaaay sometime!"

I chuckled, stretching my arms before heading down the path to the lab. Things had gone peaceful with the Festival, and my challenge at the Shrine Ceremony had been a success. I had completed my dream of capturing Omocherub, and my future with Fri had a clean slate in front of me.

The resolution to the glitch had reset things in a completely different manner.

Having recovered Omocherub from the title screen, the game had acknowledged my capture of Polymer. However, the only thread of data that could lead to that scenario was the challenge at the Shrine Ceremony. Following the stream of already accessible data instead of generating a new outcome to the scenario, the world acted as if Fri's summons to the Shrine Guardian had been successful, and my battle had taken place there.

My argument with her afterwards didn't exist. Neither did my meeting with N, Wicker's declaration that I had been left behind, nor Errat's carefully administered care to me after Pixel had knocked me out. To everyone else, those things didn't exist.

Pixel had visited my house the following night to warn me of the changes, not that I couldn't read the data myself. From there, the glitched boy disappeared. Though I had taken both Polymer and Wicker to visit N's booth as a customer, he didn't recognize me, and Nochi hadn't been present, either.

The whole process left a rather bitter taste in my mouth. I still remembered, but I had to be cautious of letting that through. Fri and Errat were my closest friends, but I didn't want to stress out their already busy final day of the Summer Festival by telling them.

Partway to the lab, the trees rustled in movement. Leaving Wicker and Polymer to the Professors, I had taken to keeping a few members of my Championship team on person just in case any other data corruptions happened. There was no need for hostility as Nochi stepped onto the path in front of me, back in her casual white dress.

We hadn't been formally introduced before the Shrine Ceremony, so I wasn't sure what to say. Someone like Pixel was immune from resets, but Nochi's data patterns were a lot more normal. There was a chance we had never met, and tipping my hand would just make a fool of myself. I could have erased the memory from her and started fresh if I needed to, but I would have preferred not to go to such lengths.

"Jijri," she said, which only half eased my concerns. I was still the Champion—and both she and N had known of me through the Professors before. "Natural's at the lab right now. You don't have to worry about letting him know."

Tension drained from both my chest in shoulders like an frozen Pokémon up against a fire attack. At least there was someone I didn't have to put a front up with, and she was easier to contact than Pixel. That guy had left a glitch trail for me to follow, but I wasn't quite ready to head out of town yet.

"I'm glad you remember," I said. "This whole 'act like you caught Polymer at the Shrine Ceremony and it wasn't a colossal failure' thing is getting exhausting."

Nochi smiled, short any mirth in her eyes. "Yes, it can be." She waved me up to her side and started walking, boots sending up small clouds of dust on the path. A breeze blew by, and I enjoyed the fresh smells of summer trees. Nochi's smile dropped as I approached her side, not quite flickering back to her stern expression two nights ago. "You do realize you've become an irregularity, right?" she whispered. "You can't undo the save you created without repercussions."

I frowned myself, keeping my eyes forward. We still had a bit until we reached the Lab, so this conversation wouldn't get cut off at an inopportune time. "I don't intend to undo the save," I said. "Even if it wasn't the way I was 'supposed' to, I accomplished my dream. You can't take that away from me."

I wouldn't let anyone take that away from me.

Nochi watched me in her peripheral, but looked away once I tried to make eye contact. Her expression went stoic, her words clipped: "I don't intend to. I'm just worried about what will happen."

"But you have more than one outlet to return to," I said. Nochi's eyes widened. Having access to the data log made it easier to recall exact conversations, even if they didn't happen in the main script. "What exactly does that mean? This is my game, but you and Pixel…"

Nochi checked our surroundings, even going so far as to glance over her shoulder. There wasn't a point since this path was free of any others besides Pokémon, so long as the program was followed. Satisfied with her assessment, she said, "Pixel's a corruption in the Core Data. There are as many iterations of him as there are game cartridges."

"And you?"

"I'm…" Nochi bit her lip, fear creasing her brow and sending worry into her eyes. "I'm an error that's fooled everyone it's supposed to exist."

In other words, her data seemed real because they had programmed her as an actual part of the game. Where her origin file came from, I couldn't read it. It must have existed outside of this iteration.

In a game before mine.

I shook my head out. I couldn't dwell on things like games and cartridges. All of us—Nochi, Pixel, myself—acted outside of mere programming. And even the others like Fri had enough awareness to act on their own when they no longer had data to follow.

We were more than that.

"What about N?" I asked to confirm. His data seemed normal to me, but then again I hadn't seen anything wrong with Nochi, either.

"He's fine," Nochi answered with certainty. "Natural's meant to be here." Nochi brushed a thin lock of dark hair from her face, stowing it behind her ear. "We're working on a time sensitive event, so we should be gone in a few days. Although I don't know if the data is still going to follow that path."

"Because I saved over it."

"Because you saved over it," she confirmed. She didn't look angry, though. Just resigned. Sighing, Nochi clasped her hands behind her back before returning to her smile. "What about you, Jijri? What do you plan to do from here? With your ability to manipulate data now, you can do whatever you like."

I no longer had to follow the game and its predisposed rules. I didn't have to follow its events, either. My Player had gone through nearly all of the post-Game except the Shrine Festival. In that closed world, there wasn't anything else for me to do.

"I'll act as Champion," I declared. I had decided already, but this was my first time saying it out loud. Even Fri and Errat didn't know this was the path I had chosen for myself. "I'm sure something or another will come up. If not, all the paperwork will keep me occupied."

Nochi examined my face, as if trying to detect a lie. Whether it was belief or disbelief as the cause, she let out a breathy chuckle. "Such a mundane ambition…I can admire that."

I supposed you could take the joy out of anything if you added paperwork to the equation. Still: "It's what I want." The Professor's Lab coming into sight, I stopped on the path, reaching out for Nochi's shoulder. She paused at the contact, frozen. "Thanks for trying to help you. I'm sorry if I didn't chose the outcome you wanted."

And before she could give me a response, I jogged inside.

Another day of research with the Professors complete, I hiked up the hill to rest on my swing. The sunset covered the sky, and Wicker and Polymer struggled to take their places in my lap, more shoving each other out of the way in the process. Once they had settled, I rested my hands on their heads, each crooning from the petting.

"Naa," Wicker whined, nudging her nose into my palm when I stopped. Even Polymer pawed at my other hand in concern with a soft "Omo?"

"Sorry."

I resumed my ministrations, but my thoughts didn't sharpen. Even without focusing, it was hard to forget this world was just numbers, a program built to execute for someone's amusement. But when that person, the Player, stepped away, we still existed. We lived beyond that, and I was the proof.

"I want to bring life to this world," I said.

"Leef!"

"Che!"

I hadn't expected the immediate response, but there it was: my Pokémon wanted the same thing. Even if it was an impossibility, I wanted to try. Anything was better than sitting around, waiting for my former Player to come back and see the mess I had made. Even without that instinct, I could move forward.

"Alright, let's do it!" I stood up, Wicker and Polymer jumping to flank my sides. "Starting right now, we'll make a new life for ourselves and everyone else!"

I threw my arms out, embracing the world in front of me.

[Avi's Final Author's Notes]

Considering I originally started this story three and a half years ago (yikes), I'd say it's about time. In any event, I'm glad to get this story off my plate and into a complete state. It feels good.

Thanks to Keleri for your follow and reviews! Considering how niche this story is, I'm glad that you found interest in it. I hope that you enjoy the conclusion as well when you reach it.

Likewise, to anyone that will read, follow, favorite, or review this story in the future, thank you. Most authors find joy in people reading their work, and I am no different. Every single person who looks at my words, I appreciate.

That being said, this was one of many of my fics that started out from a weird dream and made it's way into reality. Jijri's opening dream sequence was one I had myself. I also wanted to explore just what your game characters can get up to when you leave the game be. It's funny how some of the elements I tossed in during the early years kind of showed up in the main series games. Wicker and Polymer's mysterious typing fit well into Fairy, plus the Shrine system funnily enough goes well with the atmosphere in Alola. Things just work out sometimes.

The inclusion of Nochi and Pixel was self-indulgence, through and through. One day, I'd like to write their story, Ideally. There are also a few other stories in this Save State universe I'd like to write as well, looking at trainers other than Jijri. Since I'm still working to clean up the updating mess I left myself, these tales will have to wait, but maybe someday.

Until then, I'll be working on a number of updates over the next few months to keep my other stories in check. There's a lot, so maybe you'll find something that catches your eye.

For other updates of what I'm working on, my Twitter account ( Plot_K_Bunny) is a great space for fanfiction, original writing, and other news. If it's about my creative endeavors, you'll find it there.

Until then, I have a thesis to write and a Camp NaNoWriMo challenge to work on.

Thanks for reading!

-Aviantei

[COMPLETE] 04.08.2017