"...The black creature lashed violently against the vines, but they were on too tight, and it had no choice but to stay there until Bulbasaur's leech seed finished it off." I translated with a bit of falsetto.
As we walked into Route 9, Chee was enthusiastically miming the adventures we'd been on before reuniting with Blue-Of course Blue couldn't understand what she was trying to say, so I was acting as her voice in order to convey the story.
Although Chee had been rather nervous to hang around with Blue at first, now that he'd calmed down and we were all travelling as a group she'd settled back into a cheery disposition.
"When we finally defeated it, the fur-ball started glowing, and then it just evaporated!" We continued, which prompted Blue to shoot me a dirty look. "That's ridiculous." He snorted.
I raised an eyebrow at him in return, gently stroking the Rattata resting in my arms. "Don't look at me. I'm just translating. Right Yeller?"
The pampered rodent gave me a reassuring thumbs-up.
The arrogant boy glanced back over at Chee, who was still excitedly miming the scene of the raticate disappearing into particles of light. That seemed to appease his mood, and he went back to passively listening as we fought off wild Pokemon and advanced deeper into the route.
Finally, as the sun was beginning to set, Blue came to a stop and glanced around. "It's getting late. Let's rest here for the evening."
"Roger that." I answered, slinging my backpack off my shoulders. Yeller also leapt to the ground stretching lethargically. "Chee, could you go get us a little firewood?"
The black-haired girl mimed a salute before jogging off into the bushes nearby. I was just getting started on raising a tent, when Blue broke the silence.
"So how much of that was true?" He asked. When I met his eyes, they were filled with a sort of dull curiosity.
"I know it sounds impossible for a Pokemon to just evaporate-" I began.
"Not that." Blue cut me off before I could continue. "The Pokemon with Black fur. Did you really encounter a new Pokemon?"
I frowned for a moment before answering. "Yeah. It looked a lot like a Raticate, but it was bigger, rounder, and the fur was black instead of brown. It also had much thicker cheeks..."
To my surprise I realised that Blue met my every word with undivided attention and a thoughtful expression. When I trailed off he began to mumble to himself, and after a moment he spoke up again. "So it was like some sort of mutated Raticate-Perhaps a new undiscovered evolution?"
I shrugged. "I really don't know. Both our encounter with that Raticate and with the Onix we encountered later were very unusual."
For a brief moment I considered telling Blue I might be able to let him encounter a strange Pokemon-I had been thinking about taking advantage of Blue travelling with us to fight another area boss- but in the end I decided not to. The biggest reason for that being...
[Route 9 Completion:
- Defeat Wild Pokemon (38/50)
Reward: Spawn Area Boss
- Defeat Area Boss
Reward: 1 Status Point, Type Proficiency: Flying +50 points]
Based on my previous experiences with the Area bosses, I was pretty sure that the Type Proficiency I received as a reward was based on the typing of the boss itself. If that was the case, this boss would almost certainly be some sort of bird-or some other flying type Pokemon.
I didn't want to subject Chee to that.
"...I see." Blue mumbled in response, and the campsite returned to silence as we diligently got to work on our respective sleeping arrangements. As we worked away, I found my mind drifting back to one of the conversations I had with Professor Oak. When we'd been talking about Team Rocket...
"Hey Blue, there's something that's been bothering me for a while." I began cautiously, keeping an eye on the young teen as I hammered tent pegs into the ground.
"What is it?" He asked gruffly, laying out a sleeping bag on the ground.
"When I was talking to Professor Oak, I mentioned that I thought Team Rocket were stupid for trying to steal Partner Pokemon-Since they never listen to anyone other than their trainers to begin with-And he had an odd reaction to that." I began to explain, but I noticed that Blue froze the moment I said the word 'partner'.
"...I see." Blue mumbled after a few moments of silence. "And he told you to ask me about it, right? Meddling old man..."
I couldn't help but frown at that. Blue had always had a bit of a foul temper, but I'd never seen him speak poorly of Professor Oak regardless of what happened.
"But I don't really get it. You and Squirtle seem to get along just fine?" I concluded. I had been thinking about it for a while, but I just couldn't see why Blue would have any input on the topic.
Blue raised an eyebrow at me incredulously. "I can never decide if you're smart, or a complete moron." He spat. "Could you pick one and stick to it?"
"Isn't that a bit of an overreaction...?" I sighed, turning back to my work. "Whatever, I suppose I shouldn't have expected a straight answer from you anyway."
The only sounds to break the silence for a few moments were the clangs of my rock against the tent pegs.
"...Squirt isn't my partner." Blue finally answered.
This time I was the one who froze in my tracks, the rock held over my shoulder. "...What? But-I saw you catch Squirtle during the coming-of-age ceremony in Pallet!"
Blue shook his head. "Stop and think about it for a minute. If Squirt was my partner, then how would it be possible for this to be my second Gym Challenge?" Blue started digging through the dirt with a stick, almost listlessly. "I'm the grandson of a great Pokemon Professor. I got my hands on a partner... Years ago."
I had to take a few moments to stew on that revelation-Blue was right, it only made sense that Squirt wasn't his partner. Blue had originally taken Chee out on their Gym Challenge, and that had been before I ever met them. "I see. That's why you called me an idiot." I muttered. "But then... Does that mean your Partner was stolen from you?"
"Not exactly, but... " Blue nodded solemnly. "Yeah, something like that."
It was hard to wrap my head around the idea that Blue was carrying a burden like that. While other Pokemon may come and go, your Partner is supposed to stay by your side for your entire life. If I was ever separated from Yeller, I... "I'm sorry. If it's not too hard, do you mind telling me what happened?"
I felt my heart beat in my chest as I waited for Blue's response. I watched as he opened his mouth and seemed to hesitate for a few seconds.
"...Sorry, I promised that I wouldn't tell you anything about Red." He answered finally.
...Huh?
"Wait, what-" I started to ask, but I was cut off as Chee triumphantly returned holding a bundle of sticks and leaves.
I brought firewood! Her eyes gleefully exclaimed.
Ultimately, I decided to ask more questions later and I took the wood from Chee to begin building a campfire.
...
I poked at the embers fuelling the campfire, adjusting the heat that would reach my cooking pot. The stew gave off delicious meaty aromas that were enough to make your mouth water.
Chee watched over the cooking pot with a ravenous look, practically dripping drool from the corners of her mouth. At the same time, Blue chewed away on some hard dried meat he'd brought from Cerulean before we left.
"Is that really worth the effort?" Blue grumbled, eying the pot of slow-cooking meat with a raised eyebrow. "You've been cooking up a storm for almost an hour already. All that energy could be spent on training with your partner-Or just sleeping for tomorrow."
"It's not good to overwork Yeller." I answered, sparing a glance to the tired yellow Rattata who lay on the ground, exhausted. He'd defeated a lot of wild Pokemon today, so it wasn't too surprising that he was spent. "And it's too early to sleep, it would just throw off my sleep cycle. Besides..."
I lifted a ladle full of the stew up to my nose, taking in the delicious fumes. "...It's good for morale to eat a warm meal."
Sometimes the knowledge that a tasty dinner was waiting for you back home was the difference between life and death. I'd seen that first-hand during the war. Or-I think I have.
"It's less efficient." Blue countered my statement. "I'll be fine with my jerky."
"Are you sure~?" I goaded with a smile, locking eyes with the defiant teenager even as he shot me a dirty look. "I noticed you've been eating that thing pretty slowly-I bet you're already sick to death of the taste of dried meat."
I held the ladle of stew out towards him before he had a chance to complain. "Look at this, it's got healthy vegetables and tasty gravy, and the meat is still fresh and juicy! How delicious~!"
Blue looked like he wanted to rebuke me, but I caught hesitation and the faintest hint of hunger in his glare. Before he had a chance to cave in however, a black-haired head whisked past my head and locked on to the ladle.
"Ah-"
Chee tilted her head back, draining the contents of the ladle into her mouth and chewing with a blissful expression. Gravy dribbled across her cheeks and chin messily, but the girl herself seemed to be as content as could be. Once I finally retrieved the ladle, there were slight but notable deformations in the shape of teeth marks on the edge.
Delicious! Chee gleamed at me, her eyes open like a Growlithe puppy wagging it's tail while waiting eagerly for it's evening supper. And just like a wild Growlithe, I was fairly certain she was going to eat me if I didn't properly feed her soon.
There were a few moments of awkward silence before I cleared my throat. "Ahem... Anyway, I made a little extra just in case, so you're welcome to have some too Blue." I went back to the pot, and began ladling out bowls of soup for Chee and myself-After wiping off the edge of the ladle to remove any germs.
"Alright, I'll bite." He sighed, wrapping up his jerky and placing it back into his bag. "But if it doesn't taste good, I'll be giving my complaints to the chef personally."
"Bring it on." I had confidence in my cooking skills, if nothing else. It was the only thing I had from my past life that I could classify as a hobby, albeit for a rather peculiar reason. Sure, it had been helpful when camping out in the wild, but truthfully, I'd taught myself to cook for a much more vindictive reason.
"Here, one bowl of Beef in Red Wine stew." I handed Blue a piping hot bowl of the stew, which he graciously accepted. Despite his airs, it seemed he was genuinely hungry. "Careful, it's hot."
"Red wine?" He cocked an eyebrow at me. "We're not old enough to drink alcohol, you know?"
"Don't worry, any alcohol content is long gone by the time the meat is cooked." I laughed, taking a fourth bowl and filling it, setting it on the ground in front of my partner. "Haven't you seen people use wines in cooking before? It's fairly commonplace." The Rattata began to stir from the good smells, blinking a few times as he came back from his evening snooze.
"No, I've never seen that." Blue admitted, scooping a spoonful of stew up to his mouth. "But I don't really know much about cooking... I can only make a few basic things. Curried Eggs, French toast, fried eggs... Well, that's about it."
I wasn't too surprised. Even in my last life most of the people around me weren't too knowledgable about cooking. I still remembered Red looking at a toaster like it was some sort of alien contraption.
...Even though I had promised not to chase after him, I really did miss Red. I had no doubts that he was doing well for himself at this point, but I still felt anxious trying to figure everything out by myself.
I wish I could see him again.
As I ruminated on this, Chee's messy face popped into view, even more covered in various juices and chunks of food than before. Whatchu thinkin' about?
I sighed slightly, feeling the edges of my lips curve into a smile. "Nothing much. Hold still for a moment."
Chee stiffened up, and I wiped her face off with a handkerchief, making sure to get all the sticky gravy and chunks cleaned off of her cheeks and mouth. "It's good that you're eating, but try not to make such a mess okay? Nobody is going to take the food from you."
Yes dad. Chee beamed a cheeky smile at me, flapping her arms like a waddling Psyduck as she waited for me to withdraw my hands.
"Don't call me that." I chided her, giving her cheeks a firm pinch in response to her provocation.
Owowow! I'm sorry, I'll be good! She flailed about, and I finally released my grip on her cheeks as she reeled backwards. She stuck her tongue out at me with a "Bleh!", then went back to eating her meal.
With my attention freed, I noticed that Blue was hunched over with his fist in front of his mouth. He was shaking slightly.
"Blue, are you alright?"
Blue didn't answer, but I could hear sharp breaths coming from his puffy cheeks. It was almost comical. After a few seconds, he straightened up and began to chew. "Mm fine." He answered breathily through the mouthful of stew.
Ah.
"I did warn you it was hot." I chuckled slightly as I rested my chin on my palm. "You probably want to blow on it a few times to cool it down."
"I know that!" Blue shot me a dirty look. "I'm not a child!"
No, you literally are. I thought, but I kept that thought to myself.
Chee leaned over, joining in the conversation by proxy. Should I blow on it for you?
"Should I blow on it for you? - She says." I echoed in falsetto, and Blue visibly twitched.
"I said I'm fine!"
After we had our fill of teasing Blue, things went back to being quiet, each of us silently enjoying our portions of the stew. I gazed up into the starry sky, admiring the deep blacks and blues.
"It's good." Blue finally mumbled between bites. "A little spicier than I like, but it's still tasty. What's in it?"
"Just some staple foods." I answered plainly, blowing softly on another spoonful. "Carrots, Bacon, Onion, Hunted Tauros Beef. That sort of thing."
"Hunted Tauros beef? That's pretty pricey isn't it?" Blue remarked, and off to one side we both heard a loud spitting noise. I turned over to see Chee had ejected an entire mouthful of stew across the grass in surprise.
T-Tauros beef?! I was eating a Pokemon!? Her eyes exclaimed as she coughed on all fours.
"Well, the meat has to come from somewhere." I cocked an eyebrow at her. "Where did you think it came from?"
I don't know-A tube or something!? I didn't know I'd been eating Pokemon all this time!
"It's not like Pokemon are vegetarians." Blue chimed in, only sparing Chee a brief glance. "If we didn't eat them the Pokemon would just eat each other. That's the circle of life."
Maybe I should only eat plants... The black haired girl hung her head thoughtfully.
"There are plant Pokemon too." I added.
Chee looked at us like she was a puppy who had just been kicked, but after a few moments she conceded and went back to munching away at the stew, now with much more hesitation.
"Still, isn't Hunted Tauros an odd choice?" Blue asked, examining the meat in his bowl. "It's tougher than farmed beef, but it's still expensive."
"Oak gave me some birthday money and said to spend it on whatever I wanted." I shrugged. "I thought I'd have some Tauros meat."
"Sure, but you could have gotten a ton of Miltank steak for the same price, or even some prime Fearow-"
Our discussion was cut short by a flailing girl squeaking incessantly. Please stop talking about eating Pokemon! I don't want to think about it!
"She wants us to-"
"Yeah I got it."
We returned to silence, and I finished up the last of my stew as Yeller climbed over my leg and curled up in my lap. I began to thoughtfully stroke his head.
The truth was, I didn't really like Tauros meat that much. It was just another acceptable meat option, and I'd gotten into the habit of eating Tauros beef during my days in the army. Particularly wild hunted Tauros. I knew it wasn't very realistic but, well...
I always liked to imagine that someday, I would end up eating one of the Tauros that had destroyed Pallet Town, or even the one that killed my mother.
In doing so, I would be getting some sort of belated revenge for them.
As I thought about this, I gently placed my lethargic partner to one side, and stood up. "Hey Chee, can you give me a hand with washing-"
I glanced around, only to discover Chee had already snuck into one of the tents and was sleeping soundly-Or pretending to, at least.
She snuck away while I was thinking!
"I'll lend a hand." Blue sat up before I had a chance to call out Chee on her shenanigans. "There's something I want to talk to you about anyway."
"Oh, uh... Sure?"
Blue was starting to act unusually nice to me, and to be honest, it scared me a little.
...
We sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, with me scrubbing a bowl clean in a portable sink of hot water, before passing the bowl to Blue to rinse in a separate portable sink. I kept shooting glances his way, waiting for him to say something snarky, but he never did. Instead...
"Hey, when you're planning for a battle, how do you think about what you'll do?" Blue asked me an unexpected question. His brow was furrowed in deep concentration, as though he were paying special attention to however I might answer.
"I'm not sure I can answer that." I mused, setting the basins of water to one side. "I just try to think about what my opponent can do, and how I can counter it."
"No, there's more to it than that." Blue protested, crossing his arms in a huff. "I've seen the antics you get up to. Wrestling with Chee, stabbing those Team Rocket members in the back, the way that you use Pokemon Moves-Your strategies are downright devious sometimes. I heard from Oak that was how you passed the Nidorino test, too."
I frowned at Blue, wary of the sudden stream of praise. "Are you trying to say I'm smart?"
"Jury is still out on that." Blue spat back. "But I'm pretty sure you're creative. I'm asking how you come up with your dirty tricks." Despite his apparent curiosity, his tone seemed to be dripping with venom. I didn't feel like he really respected my rule bending, but if that was the case, I wasn't sure why he'd be asking me about it.
"Well, let me give you an example then." I answered after a long pause, crouching down to the ground. "Let's say that the two of us were fighting, right here and now. You've just punched me in the gut, and I'm now on my knees." I placed one hand against the dirt path for support, and the other clutching at my chest.
I turned my gaze up to Blue. "From this position, what are my options?"
The brown-haired boy paused and tilted his head to one side, thoughtfully placing a finger and thumb against his chin. His eyes flickered from Silver to Blue, then back to Silver-At this point I hardly felt like commenting on it.
"...You could try to run away, or you can fight back." He answered finally. "But if you try to fight back, you'd lose, since you're already in a disadvantageous position. So running away, or surrender, those are your only options."
"You don't usually fight with people stronger than you, do you?" I sighed, standing back up.
Now it was Blue's turn to frown at me. "Not usually. I try to avoid it-But I don't see how that's relevant?"
I held my hand up to Blue's nose, then opened it slowly to reveal a handful of loose dirt I'd gripped from the road. "I'd throw this in your face, which would blind you. In the process, you'd instinctively back away from me."
I swiftly swung a leg out and hooked it behind Blue's ankle and locked it in place. "You're backing up blindly, so you won't notice my leg and will trip over. That will leave you either unsteady or on the ground-Either way I have time to get back up and pin you down, winning the battle." I let the dirt fall from my palm onto the ground.
"That's dirty." Blue grumbled, crossing his arms again. "You're undermining the sanctity of the battle!"
"Are you telling me you wouldn't fight dirty, even if your life was at stake?"
There was a long pause where we both glowered at each other before he finally answered.
"...No. I don't think I could." He sighed. To my surprise, he looked more like he was disappointed in himself rather than upset with me. "This was a waste of time, I just can't wrap my head around it."
"Why were you asking about that anyway? It doesn't seem like it's the way you want to battle." I pressed Blue further, trying to get a read on him.
Blue turned away from me in a huff. "The Gym Leader in Vermillion-Lt. Surge-I get the feeling he thinks a lot like you do. I was hoping that by talking to you I might be able to figure out how to beat him."
Lt. Surge? That name felt familiar to me-Was he somebody that I'd known? It sounded like he was a Lieutenant as well, which was a rank in the army.
"Hmmm~" I mused, finishing up with the water basins and putting out the campfire-It was almost time to sleep now. "Having a hard time with him?"
"He's just a bad matchup for me." Blue snapped back, shooting me a dirty look. "He wouldn't stand a chance otherwise!"
"I'm sure." I smiled, walking back to my tent. It was only at this point that I realised, although Chee and I both had tents, Blue had only laid out a sleeping bag.
"Do you not have a tent?"
"Spare me your Pity." He groaned, sliding into the bag. "I will live even without a tent."
"I'm pretty sure I can make enough space in my tent for us to share." I offered, gesturing to my tent with my thumb. "It might be a little tight, but it'll probably be nicer than sleeping out here."
"I'm fine, really."
"Alright." I raised both hands in a faux show of surrender. "Have it your own way, prince."
I let the silence hang for a moment, and I was just about to step into my tent when Blue let out a sigh. "Wait... Hang on for a moment."
A glance back in his direction revealed that his expression softened, and he let out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, I actually wanted to ask for your help."
"...Ah, so that's why you've been treating me nicer." I smirked at the arrogant boy.
He snorted in response. "Was it that obvious?" As he spoke, he sat up from within the sleeping bag, which looked rather comical. It was like a giant talking Caterpie.
"I had my suspicions."
"Whatever man. I helped you with your battle against Misty, so lend me a hand alright?"
"This 'Surge', did he look like a soldier?"
Blue nodded, the sleeping bag following his movements.
"Sure. I'll set up some 'dirty tricks' for you to overcome tomorrow morning~" I hummed, zipping the tent closed behind me.
"Huh? What does that mean?" I heard him call out as I laid down within my tent. "Cyan?"
I could barely suppress a smirk.
This is going to be a fun opportunity.
Author's Note:
Hey, it's been a bit! I was trying to build a buffer before posting chapters again but I accidentally got distracted and I never announced that anywhere, so I felt bad and decided to post this one.
For a while I thought I lost my ability to post chapters here, but turns out I just needed to restart my computer. Made me feel mighty foolish that did.
I hope the stuff about eating Pokemon isn't too off-putting for people, it's one of those things that I normally wouldn't address, but I just thought the interactions and reasoning behind Cyans actions were too funny to pass up.
This chapter was a lot slower and more character focussed, but I swear I'm trying to pick up the pace! I really want to reach the end of my planned first arc before the end of the year! Also, preferably before Chapter 80...? Is that asking too much? It might be.
I never intended for the series to be quite this long, by my original estimate I was going to reach the end of the fourth Gym by chapter 30. I turned out to be very far off in that regard! (I wasn't even accounting for the chapters getting longer, either! There was just more to cover than I expected!)
On another note, I noticed that a lot of people were upset at Cyan in Chapter 28 for refusing to capture the Nidoran and his reasoning. Enough people have brought it up that I re-examined that portion of the chapter and edited it slightly. I think the original reason was actually a bit poorly explained so I'm hoping that the edited version won't bother people as much. (Although he still doesn't catch another Pokemon.)
This ties in to the story pacing being slower than I originally intended. I know exactly where when and what Cyan's next Pokemon is. To the people begging me to expand his party, give me time. It will eventually come. For now, let's just allow Cyan and Yeller's relationship to build more~
Oh and on my final unrelated tangent, I have a discord server. It's mostly for my Minecraft things, but I'm planning to expand it to also cover this story and anything else I write in the future, so feel free to come drop by! /mk4berTA3V
No shame if you don't want to. I appreciate anyone who reads the story at all!
Thank you to everyone who has been reading my story, I hope to see you with more chapters sooner rather than later!