Chill


With a flash of brilliant scarlet light, a robotic figure with a long cobalt body and silvery claws sticking from its rear materialized on the ground, its singular, crimson eye wandered the area.

Charlie instantly recognized it as a Beldum.

"How–what–where…HUH!?" Charlie sputtered, completely dazed.

Beldum levitated in the air curiously, venturing around The Ruins.

Charlie watched Beldum, one of the most sought-after Pokemon in the world, float around harmlessly.

"Veritas is the direct offspring of my master's Metagross, Aeosis. I will grant you Veritas's Pokeball."

"Wait–Where did you find a Pokeball?"

"...Your grandfather gave me one."

Charlie nodded, "So, this Beldum is mine?"

"Yes, you are to be their charge, their ward."

"Just like that?"

"...Yes."

"Are you stupid!?" Charlie boomed, "Beldum is classified as a Tier IV potential threat. There is absolutely no way I can get away with having a Beldum registered on my trainer card and not be in a load of trouble."

"Hm. Quite peculiar. I didn't think the government had such restrictions on Pokemon."

"It would be fine if I was already a well-defined trainer, but I'm not. If the government really does know about my connections to The Cognitor's clan, then me magically obtaining a Beldum from nowhere is definitely a cause for suspicion." Charlie explained.

"And? Do you have a solution to this problem?"

"Uh, let me think it through for a moment," Charlie said, waving Claydol by.

A flimsy excuse would easily fall in front of The League. My entire existence is…well, a big problem to The League so I need a good excuse…

He mused the possibilities to himself. He needed to come up with something that could work well as a cover-up, give him the flexibility to proceed with things in his way, and is something obtainable with his current status.

Maybe if someone high-ranking were to help me, wait, how would I have access to someone-

"Oh fuck." Charlie swore to himself, "I think I have an idea…"

"Thought of an idea?"

Charlie smirked, "Yes. If I were to be recommended by someone in a high position in the government, then I might be able to get away with having a Beldum if they were the ones who gifted it to me."

"Do you have such connections?"

"Yes, yes I do." Charlie stated, "His name is Carmello. Despite being a total dunce, he's actually very high-ranking in the Ranger Association. He has placed in the semi-finals and finals of several League Conferences worldwide, and has years of work experience under the government and Ranger Association."

"...And what are you going to utilize this connection for?"

"It's a lot more plausible as a cover-up story if someone in a prestigious position were to say, 'gift' Veritas to me," Charlie stated, kneeling down to pat Veritas's smooth body.

Interesting. Veritas seems to be letting me touch them without much issue. Beldum is naturally wary…

Veritas spun around mid-air and did flips using its levitating body. It was awfully playful.

Charlie narrowed his eyes, Veritas has been silent so far. They're also not being disruptive at all, which is weird for an untrained Pokemon…

I can utilize this to my advantage.

Charlie turned to Claydol, "Veritas and their obedient behavior can quite easily pass off as a trained Pokemon. The League in general is more lax on Beldum compared to, say, a Larvitar or Gible. However, I think it'll be best if I hold off registering Beldum until League season rolls around."

"League Season?"

"Ah. The League season for this year is coming to a close in two weeks. League Season is a nine-month time period where trainers can register for the circuit and participate in gym battles. There's a three-month break between each League season."

"Hm. I suppose that will serve well enough in future endeavors."

"Anyways–I think it'll be best if I register another psychic Pokemon as my starter Pokemon, and when league season rolls around, I'll register Veritas," Charlie explained.

"Another psychic Pokemon? So, you intend on specializing in psychic types."

"Of course! I mean, it just all fits together. I am a 'psychic specialist' technically." Charlie said, laughing to himself sheepishly. "I'm sort of an…expert at psychic types, biologically at least. I'm a psychic behavioral specialist and caretaker, so my job is to study and take care of Pokemon, especially psychic types."

"As expected of the heir to the mighty Cognitor clan."

"So, what's my first move? I would prefer not to start by wandering in the dark." Charlie asked.

"The first step, you must collect as much information as possible surrounding the Draconids and glean as much knowledge as possible relating to the true history of Hoenn. Also, try to gather as much information on Team Magma and Team Aqua as possible. Then, acquire a battling position that grants you a lot of political power, be it gym leader, elite four, or something in between. You would know better than me in terms of the current structure of administration concerning modern Hoenn."

Charlie nodded along, listening to Claydol's directions, how he wished he brought a notebook of which to pen the 'to-do' list

"Another critical matter is feigning ignorance. Pretend as if you are loyal to the government and that you are blissfully unaware of the truth. Be discreet."

"Hmmm, well, speaking of remaining inconspicuous." Charlie said, "I'm currently twenty-three. Most trainers tend to start their journeys at eighteen. That means I'll stick out like a sore thumb, and that could cause problems, so I need a good excuse as to why I am starting a journey at my age."

"That is a predicament. I will think of possible cover-up ideas."

While Claydol brainstormed, Charlie quickly got to work socializing with Veritas.

Beldums were naturally social and intelligent creatures. Their intelligence was superb even by Pokemon standards.

Veritas was…quite the excited Beldum. They seemed to be packed to the absolute brim with an endless supply of energy as they flipped and zoomed in the air.

Veritas dragged Charlie around, showing him several "tricks" they had at their disposal.

The Beldum's rear claw glowed a bright white. Veritas flipped its body over mid-air and reared its body back, before using its reinforced claw to completely shatter a small rock.

"Not bad, Veritas." Charlie praised, "What was that? Metal Claw?"

Veritas wiggled in the air happily, causing Charlie to smile softly.

"What other 'tricks' can you do?"

He watched in amusement as Veritas turned around, allowing its claws to be directly in front of another rock.

Veritas, to Charlie's surprise, began to spin rapidly in its place. Veritas slowly inched backward, swirling white energy engulfing half of Veritas's body. Then, in one swift motion, Veritas shattered the boulder into pieces.

"Impressive!" Charlie applauded, That definitely wasn't a normal metal claw, but it doesn't seem to be very useful in combat…

"Anything else you have to show me?" Charlie asked, and Veritas shook its body.

"Hmmm, well then, let's work on a new move later," Charlie said, grinning as Veritas wiggled and danced excitedly in the air.

He turned around and found Claydol again.

Charlie walked over to the levitating doll, "Yo, you got any ideas?"

"You said earlier that you were a psychic behavioral specialist, correct?"

Charlie nodded, "Yes."

"I am not knowledgeable of how the social climate is structured in the modern world, but, you should logically be able to use your status as a psychic behavioral specialist to great use."

It seemed that not even a psychic like Claydol could make up a plan for a topic they had no knowledge of.

He thought of potential stories, but most of them were either incredibly incompetent or would force him into uncomfortable situations.

Charlie mused to himself the possibilities, before coming to a simple conclusion.

"I think I've figured something out." Charlie said firmly, "Someone of my status should be able to get sponsored by a research agency quite easily. Then, I can use that research agency as an excuse to start my journey. They're notorious for giving those sponsored a lot of free will, and I can very easily mask my journey as a simple expedition to pursue my studying and researching of psychic types."

"Once more, I lack knowledge regarding the subject in question, so I will have faith that you have adequately weighed the risks and benefits..."

"Alright then! I'll make the arrangements." Charlie said, "I'll be back here next week. I still need to finish moving out of my apartment and need to hash some things out. In the meantime, I'll take Veritas with me."

Claydol simply nodded, "Our minds are interlinked, so I am able to teleport to your current location at my leisure, as long as you are within a certain radius."

"Cool, cool." Charlie stated in confirmation, "I think it's around evening out there, so I'm going to leave this place."

Charlie exited the cavern, head held high, only to see a massive flight of stairs leading to the top.

He turned around to face Claydol, who stared back intensely.

"Your first trial as the heir to the Cognitor Clan. Exit The Ruins."

"I fucking hate you."


Charlie finally replaced the bookshelf in its original location, blocking the entrance to The Ruins. He was sweating all over and his legs felt completely destroyed.

Claydol and his dumbass trials…

He checked the time on his phone. To his surprise, it was only three in the afternoon.

Charlie exited the cabin, letting his thoughts wander to Veritas.

Beldum weren't very verbal at this stage of their life. Despite them being psychic Pokemon, the Beldum line as a species struggle to communicate telepathically. They may be one of the smartest Pokemon even among Psychics, but they aren't perfect.

Veritas was in a weird spot, they were hyper-energetic and expressive, but they also weren't very verbal at the same time.

He would have to get to know more about Veritas later.

Meanwhile, he had to make sure that all was safe around him. Petalburg Forest was a pretty tame forest and was very heavily regulated by rangers. He couldn't release Veritas under these so heavily regulated conditions.

He didn't face any threats and exited Petalburg forest just as the sun began to set. He decided to spend some money on a quick boat ride instead of walking the bridge which connected Rustboro and Petalburg Forest.

When he reached Rustboro he took a taxi. Just as night set in, he had finally reached his apartment.

He thought of everything that had just happened.

Charlie was…scarily calm. He felt that he should be acting irrationally or panicking.

But, as he stared blankly into space, he could only think about how numb he was to everything he just experienced.

His foundational knowledge of history had just been crushed, he had nearly died, and he had just uncovered something about himself that he never even knew about…

Was it his resolve?

His intelligence?

He attempted to evaluate every trait of himself in an attempt to figure something out.

Just…what was causing such a stale reaction from him? It was the same when he found out about his grandfather's disappearance. He had been emotional, yes. But all of it was mostly suppressed into small bursts of emotion which didn't even affect him too greatly. Well, a lot of his decisions were influenced by his grandfather's vanishment, but he wasn't really emotional about it.

Eventually, Charlie got tired of questioning things, and instead just shifted in his bedsheets and went to sleep.

It was a long day.

"Yo, Carm…uhm, do you want to…get something to eat later?" Charlie asked through the phone, only to have his ears pierced with an over-dramatic gasp.

"No way. THE Legendary Charlie D. Samson asking me for lunch!?"

Charlie once again groaned at Carmello's obnoxious voice, "Yes, yes…Wait, 'Charlie D. Samson', how the fuck do you know my middle name!?"

"Oh, silly, don't you remember? You told me once." Carmello exclaimed, his voice annoyingly cheerful.

"When!?"

"5:35 PM, September 21st—"

"I'll have to cut you off right there." Charlie said firmly, "How the hell did you remember the exact time? That's…creepy."

He heard a deafening silence come from the phone. "Oh–It's nothing. I was just messing with you."

"Alright, but–anyways, what time are we going to meet up and where?" Charlie asked, idly grabbing a pen and pocket-sized notebook.

"How about…Chipotl–"

"No," Charlie said, anger evident in his tone.

"Fine. Where do you want to go?"

"I don't know, you choose." Charlie replied, "And no, we are not going to Chipot–"

"Then where are we eating!?" Carmello exclaimed, and Charlie blandly rolled his eyes.

"...Let's go eat at Pancham Express or something." Charlie said dryly, "Or maybe we can go to The Krusty Krabby…"

"We are not eating at Pancham Express. The Krusty Krabby it is." Carmello stated, and Charlie nodded idly.

"Sure, meet up at twelve?"

"You betcha." Carmello said enthusiastically, "See you there, nerd."

This time it was Charlie who made the over-dramatic gasp.

"Such an impudent fool! To think that I could ever associate myself with such a crude person–"

"I'm hanging up before you go on another smartass tangent," Carmello said nonchalantly and hung up.

"Why the fuck are you wearing a whole-ass suit," Carmello asked incredulously. The dark-skinned male was a direct contrast to Charlie in terms of appearance. Whilst Charlie came to the restaurant in a suit-and-tie, Carmello wore more casual clothes.

"A public image matters a lot," Charlie replied smugly, which caused an indignant scoff from Carmello.

"Tch, you're in a seafood restaurant full of dweebs. You're the only one wearing a suit, literally, no one here cares." Carmello snickered, "Isn't it hot wearing that suit? It's almost summer here, so it's hot as shit."

"...The heat of the radiant sun will not allow me to falter, I must–"

"Quit your smartass nonsense," Carmello said, cutting him off completely.

Charlie simply rolled his eyes before calling for the waitress.

The both of them ordered a burger, coke, and some fries.

As the waitress left, Carmello made an offhand comment. "Your lack of interest in women sometimes makes me wonder if you're gay, you know…Not that there's anything wrong with that!"

"...What?" Charlie asked, shock riddled across his face.

"You know, you're still a vir–"

"We don't speak of such vile acts in a public site young man." Charlie snapped and stopped Carmello from making a retort.

"I have no interest in romance, not women specifically," Charlie explained, noting the eye-roll Carmello gave him.

"Anyways, what did you call me out here for?" Carmello asked blatantly, causing Charlie to blink in sudden surprise.

"You've never called me for lunch unless you need to talk about something important." Carmello stated, "In all of our sixty-five times out of going out to eat, I was the one who invited you out more than eighty percent of the time. Every time you invited me out to eat, you wanted to talk about something important."

Charlie stared at Carmello blankly. "Wha—You…calculated all of that?"

"...Okay, ignore the calculations–what did you call me out here for?"

"Well, I plan on moving from becoming a Pokemon Caretaker to a proper Psychic Researcher." Charlie explained, "I also intend to apply for a sponsorship from a research agency, preferably focused on psychic studying, which will allow me to go on a 'Pokemon Journey' to continue my research and study of psychic types."

Carmello nodded, staring intently at Charlie as he spoke.

"Additionally, I also want to study trainer culture and The League as a whole." Charlie said, "So I will also be going through the traditional standard circuit alongside my research of psychic types."

"Now, I think my resume is enough for any research agency to accept me for sponsorship, but I think being recommended by someone of such a high status like you would work wonderfully for a resume," Charlie said firmly.

"Ah. I see, so you want me to file a recommendations tab on your license." Carmello said, a surprising air of professionalism evident in his tone.

"Yes. That's the first thing,, there's one more," Charlie continued, "I recently moved out from my apartment, and I need somewhere to stay until League season starts. Would I be able to crash at your house for the summer? I can pay a share of rent and I will buy my own food."

Carmello smirked, his entire face of professionalism dissipating in an instant.

"So, if I do these two favors of yours, you would be indebted to me twice?" Carmello asked. Charlie narrowed his eyes and nodded slowly.

"Deal," Carmello concluded, and Charlie grinned.

"Now, why don't we just…sit down and talk for a while, like normal friends," Carmello suggested, and Charlie nodded.

Eventually, their food arrived. They idly spoke about random topics of their lives.

"How's your team doing?" Charlie asked, drinking the coke in his hand and throwing some fries into his mouth.

"Nothing much, really." Carmello stated, "Ranger work has been tame this week. There was a lousy herd of Whismurs led by a Loudred, but Exploud commanded them to safety quite easily."

Carmello then took a huge bite of the burger in his hands. Charlie suspected that he would choke on the bread, but Carmello completely swallowed it whole.

"Lord Arceus…" Charlie cursed to himself, "Jeez, what are you, the gluckinator 3000?"

Carmello choked on his drink at Charlie's joke.

Charlie watched as Carmello quickly regained his composure, barely holding a chuckle.

"Wow…t-that caught me off guard." Carmello said shakily, "I'm not gay, okay–I swear."

"Oh? So now you're homophobic?"

"WHAT–Huh!? How are you even drawing these conclusions!?" Carmello shouted indignantly, causing Charlie to break into heckles of laughter.

"Oh, this is too funny." Charlie managed in between fits of laughter.


Throughout the next week, nothing much happened.

Charlie spent most of his time browsing the internet and doing research on available agencies.

He applied for some in hopes of being accepted. He had thought his resume was impressive enough, but it seemed his demands were too high for him to get accepted willy-nilly. He got one response from a research agency called "Harvingor's Lab" and attempted to have a discussion about the sponsorship. However, Harvingor's Lab rejected him due to them being unable to accept his demands of having free roam.

Research agencies didn't give their sponsored clientele nearly as much freedom as he thought.

After that was a response from another research agency called "BaringPsychics", a psychic research agency focused on the progressive development of psychics and their fundamental values as a whole. This one was also a rejection.

The third recipient of his application also rejected him. This streak of rejection continued until the seventh agency he contacted. Charlie ended up getting into a call with some officials regarding his status in the agency, as they wanted him to elaborate more on his terms. He explained his wants to have free roam to travel and study battle culture and psychic Pokemon. Sadly, the agency ended up finalizing a decision to dismiss his application.

At this point, Charlie had grown frustrated. But he continued.

After more applications, he finally found an agency willing to accept his application for a sponsorship.

The agency was called "PsychicJurids". The name was a bit weird, but they seemed more content than to accept his idea. Apparently, the PsychicJurids needed a more public figure to represent their company, and Charlie worked perfectly with his entire 'adventure around to do research and grow famous' shtick.

They then made him sign a contract which he very thoroughly analyzed to see any potential pitfalls that he was being baited into, but he saw no problems. The only note-worthy term in the contract was that he had to report all of his findings, large or not, about psychic types to his assigned official every week. Everything else was the usual, unimportant stuff.

It took him about a week to hash things out with Carmello regarding his moving in, finishing everything up with his moving out from his apartment, and also everything surrounding his sponsorship.

Charlie also did research on how to properly raise a Beldum. He never bothered to educate himself on how to raise and feed a Beldum…because well, it's a Beldum, what's the point in researching it when there was a high chance he would never even touch one in his life?

Veritas mostly stayed in the apartment, frolicking around the many wonders in the cramped place Charlie called his home. The steely Pokemon was very easily satisfied. Charlie couldn't hope to train them in his apartment, so he settled for just getting to know Veritas. Despite Beldum's lack of natural verbal communicative abilities, Veritas made up for it by being very expressive.

They would wiggle around in joy and butt heads when anxious. Their way of conveying emotions may be straightforward and sometimes silly, but he found it oddly endearing.

He always had a soft spot for Pokémon.

They were just…much more genuine than humans. They were intelligent, yes, but Pokemon had this charm that was different from humans. Charlie couldn't really articulate his fondness for the creatures, just understand that it was there and would likely never leave.

After he wrapped everything up neatly, he had prepared to trek all the way to The Ruins once more.

"I see you've finally finished. I will teleport you to the cabin."

Charlie felt chills run down his spine, he hadn't heard that cold, telepathic voice in over a week.

"Are you really able to do that?" Charlie asked, "Where I am at is a good distance from The Ruins–"

Claydol appeared beside him, and before he could even process the information, his entire body shone a faint blue and—

He stumbled on his footsteps and his vision blurred. Within just an instant, his entire body arched and repulsed in nausea as he went from being outside of his apartment to standing in front of a bookshelf.

Claydol was right beside him, monitoring him.

"Don't doubt my capabilities, young one."

Charlie felt his head throb in dizziness, "Fuck you…"

Well, at least the bookshelf is moved to expose the entrance already.

Charlie entered The Ruins, he heard creaking sounds behind him. He narrowed his eyes when he saw the trapdoor automatically shut and the bookshelf slowly hovering above it. With a loud Thud! The entrance was completely sealed.

He walked down the stairs. Taking the stairs down was way easier than taking them up.

Claydol followed closely behind Charlie.

"Ah, I forgot to forewarn you, I have prepared a little surprise for you every time you walk down these stairs to enter the center of The Ruins."

"What is it–"

The entire ground beneath him morphed into a softer texture. The stairs shifted to a more flat surface, and after a couple of seconds, it was a straight path.

Claydol teleported into the middle of the straight road.

"I've changed the material to a softer and less dangerous texture so you wouldn't severely injure yourself. I pray to the legendaries you get used to this, you'll be going through this every day after all…enjoy!"

Claydol once again teleported away, leaving Charlie all alone.

Charlie's eyes widened in shock when a pillar shot from the walls. The pillar seemed to be made of soft clay, so it likely wouldn't hurt…

But, as he stood staring down the straight tunnels, he saw the soft pillars shoot from the walls in a disorganized and repeated pattern.

It was an obstacle course.


End Of Chapter