Thank you to Carrington for the review! I'm really happy that you enjoyed reading it. As for which professor I'll be using, that will likely be answered in the next couple of chapters so I do suggest you stay tuned. And do not worry, my friend, lots of hugs shall be given in due time.
Anyways, without further ado, let us get into the next chapter.
Chapter 3: Old Beasts
"So Akari," Nemona said as they left the champion's house. "What was Hisui like? I've never heard about it."
"It was…" Akari frowned. Thinking about Hisui caused a bittersweet feeling to swell up in Akari's chest. "Hisui was very dangerous. The Pokemon the professor showed us were quite calm. The wild Pokemon in Hisui were very hostile. I've been attacked for just being in their general vicinity."
"Yikes," Nemona inhaled through her teeth. "Doesn't sound like a fun place to live. Were the Pokemon strong?"
"Yeah," Akari thought about the different alphas that had terrorized her throughout her journey. "Despite the danger, I was happy there. Jubilife was a very tight knit community."
"Man, I wonder how my team would face off against those Pokemon…" Nemona's smile started to grow. "Maybe I should visit one day."
"Yeah," Akari muttered to herself. "I'd like to go back too."
"Did you say something?" Akari flinched at Nemona's question.
"N-no. I was just thinking out loud," Akari replied briskly.
"Oh, that reminds me!" Nemona grabbed a pokeball from her bag. "Do you know how to catch a pokemon?"
"Yeah," Akari nodded. She looked at her satchel. There were only a few items in it. She had the weird elemental plates that she had been given throughout her journey, her pokeflute, and her arc phone. A few things to remember Hisui by.
"Well that's good," Nemona then dug in her bag a bit more and took out a few pokeballs and handed them to Akari. "You should take a few just in case."
"Thank you," Akari gratefully accepted the balls and placed them in her satchel.
"What are you doing?" Nemona tilted her head when she noticed Akari fiddling with her bag.
"Some techniques I learned back home," Akari explained as she closed her satchel. "It lets me place stuff in my bag while taking up as little space as possible."
"Man, you need to teach me that sometimes. My textbooks usually take up most of my space," Nemona shared a chuckle with Akari at that. "Anyways, we're heading up on Poco Path."
As they climbed the small incline, Akari's eyes widened as she saw the path. Unfamiliar Pokemon roamed the area and the vibrant colors was a big change of pace from the plains of Hisui. They were both beautiful in their own way, but the novelty of Poco Path kept Akari's eyes glued.
"Oh! Look here!" Nemona pointed at a pokemon that looked like a quadruped Spoink. "There's a Lechonk here for you. Why don't you try catching it?"
"Sounds good," Akari said as she grabbed Sprigatito's pokeball. She pressed the button and the small cat appeared on her shoulder. "You ready, buddy?"
Sprigatito mewled in response and jumped off of Akari's shoulder and landed on the pig, leaving a nasty scratch on it. The Lechonk yelped and threw Sprigatito off and charged.
"Jump!" Akari shouted. Sprigatito did as he was told and jumped in the air, briskly doing a flip. As he flipped, leaves flew from his tail and landed on the Lechonk, exploding on contact.
There! Akari threw the pokeball, almost doing a double take on how light it was. It seems that the material being used was a lot more efficient than wood. The pokeball flew, spiking through the air until it landed on the Lechonk. The Pokemon vanished into the ball and shook three times.
Huh, I guess these Pokeballs are weaker, Akari thought as the ball clicked shut and the button glowed green.
"Thanks buddy," Akari walked over and picked up the pokeball before giving her new partner a few pats on the head, which he definitely appreciated.
"Wow! You're amazing at this," Nemona ran up to Akari with a wide smile. "I've never been all too good at catching pokemon. Maybe you should give me tips."
"Thanks," Akari blushed and rubbed the back of her head. Despite her status back in Jubilife, she wasn't all too good with flattery.
"Anyways, you should take some more pokeballs. Not every catch works out," Nemona said as she handed Akari another armful of pokeballs.
"Are you sure? This must be quite expensive for you," Akari eyed the pokeballs apprehensively.
"Oh, a pokeball only costs 100 yen. It's not all too much," Nemona explained as she nudged Akari with the pokeballs. "If you want to pay me back, catch some more Pokemon so we can have a really fun battle."
She really likes to battle, huh? Akari thought. "Well, I'll be sure to pay you back."
"Alright," Nemona nodded as Akari took the pokeballs and stuffed them in her bag. "Go catch some Pokemon. We'll meet up at the lighthouse over there. Then I can show you what the school looks like!"
Nemona pointed at a tall building in the distance. The building wasn't like anything Akari had seen before. It was tall and thin. Akari could only imagine how tall it was in person.
"Alright, I'll see you there!" Nemona said before running off.
Wow, she's really energetic, huh? Akari thought to herself. Now, let's see what the Arc Phone has to say about Lechonk.
She moved to grab the phone, but before she could, it flew out of her satchel and hovered in front of her. Akari jumped back in shock before looking at the phone. An animation of a book going into a bookcase showed on the phone. Akari plucked the phone from the air and looked at it.
The phone looked nothing like the Arc Phone she once had. The exterior was the same, but the screen was nothing like what it once was. Akari pressed the home button and looked at the apps. There were some she recognized like the Pokedex and the Map, but there were some new apps. Boxes and Attire were the first ones that she saw and her Notes app had a notification.
Maybe the notes have some answers, Akari tapped the notes and there was a single note with her name as the title. She clicked it and instantly gipped her phone harder.
Akari,
If you are reading this, then you have arrived in Paleda safely. I have configured your Arc Phone so it is congruent with the current time. You will see that there are a few new features in your phone. You will also notice that certain features are locked. I cannot make this journey too easy for you. I wish you luck Akari. We shall meet again.
Akari wanted to throw the phone at the nearest tree. The damn god didn't even have the decency to sign the message. It seemed so… nonchalant, as if tearing her away from her family was nothing but a chore that needed to be done.
Akari took a couple other deep breaths and closed the app and selected the Attire app. It showed the wardrobe that Akari had in her wardrobe along with a "change" button.
I don't think I need this right now, Akari thought before closing the app. The last new app was Boxes. Akari almost cried when she saw what was in it. Every single Pokemon she had in her pastures were showing up as icons. The first one in her first box was her Typhlosion. Her hopes were dashed as soon as she tapped it, though.
Unable to access Pokemon until you have collected 7 gym badges.
This time, Akari did throw the phone. Instead of colliding with the tree, it slowed down until it stopped completely next to the tree before floating back to Akari.
"Damn you Arceus…" Akari's voice shook. After all this, Arceus was still keeping her from the ones she loved.
Sprigatito, who was still on her shoulder, licked Akari's face twice, which caused her to blink a couple times.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," Akari held a shaky smile and ran her head across Sprigatito's fur. "Now, let's go. I have something I want to teach you."
/
"Hey Akari!" As Akari made her way up the hill to the lighthouse, she turned when she heard Nemona call her name.
"Hey Nemona," Akari smiled at the excitable girl. It reminded her of Rei.
I wonder how he's doing, Akari thought. She was curious about what was going on with him. He was one of the few people she was excited to battle.
"Have you gotten the hang of catching Pokemon?" Nemona asked.
"I haven't really caught anything actually," Akari admitted with a shake of her head. "I was too busy training Sprigatito."
"Really? We need to get battling then," Nemona smiled as she took out a pokeball. "Let's get this show on the—"
The two were interrupted by a loud roar. Akari instinctively dug her hand in her satchel and grabbed her pokeflute.
"Woah! What was that?!" Nemona looked around wildly.
"Gohhh…" The two heard another cry, albeit this one was much weaker.
"I'm going to go find out what that was," Akari turned and ran to the sound of the cry. She didn't have to be an expert to know that the second one was a cry for help.
"Hey! Wait up! There's a dangerous cave nearby!" Nemona called, but Akari didn't hear her. She made her way to the edge of a hill and looked down to see a beach. Right by the water, there were two Houndors growling at an unfamiliar Pokemon.
Without thinking, Akari slid down the cliff and landed safely in the sand. As she did, the Pokemon let out a ferocious roar. The Houndors looked at each other and ran off and the Pokemon collapsed once more.
"Hey, are you alright?!" The Houndors were instantly shoved to the back of her mind as she ran to the Pokemon. As Akari got a closer look, the pokemon seemed… oddly familiar.
Did I see it in a painting or something? Akari remembered some of the ancient texts she read. Dr. Cottonwood had quite a collection of old texts that she let Akari read. Akari found the doctor's texts fascinating and they spent a lot of time studying together.
"Gur…" The Pokemon looked extremely weak.
Is… is there anything I can do? Akari dug through her bag. No food, no potions, no revives.
"It may not be much but…" Akari took out her flute and looked at the Pokemon with soft eyes. She sat down and forced a smile. "I hope I can comfort you a bit with this."
Akari closed her eyes and brought the flute to her mouth. She blew into it softly and started to play. She didn't play the piece she was taught to summon the Nobles, however. She started to play a lullaby that Mai had taught her. Wyrdeer always had trouble sleeping, so Mai would play the lullaby for it every night. The warden had taught it to Akari when she started going on overnight treks.
As she continued to play, the pokemon started to glow. Akari had her eyes closed, so she didn't notice the change. When she finished the song and opened her eyes, she scrambled back and stood up when she saw the Pokemon floating in the air.
"AGIAS!" The Pokemon shrieked. As it did, it transformed. The feathers on its back sprouted upwards and the webbing on its paws became more defined. It then landed on its hind legs and turned to look at Akari, whose muscles tensed in response.
"Agias…" The Pokemon gestured towards the cave and started walking. Akari looked up at the cliff where she came from and sighed.
"Guess this is the only way out," she muttered before following the mysterious Pokemon in the cave. "Damn you, Arceus."
Thank you all for reading! It's been really fun writing this fic and I very much look forward to continuing it! Please do consider leaving a review! I would love to read and reply to your thoughts. Also please join my Discord! I would love to talk to you all and answer all your questions! I talk a lot about my thought process while writing, so if you're interested in that, do consider joining. The url is discord . gg (forego the spaces) followed by a slash and CpVs7R8KXz. Unfortunately you'll have to type the rest of the url in manually because I'm not allowed to post links. Thank you for reading and I'll catch you on the flipside.