Outsiders (Pokémon/ZnT Reverse Summon)
Season 1, Episode 7, Chapter 1
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"I'm not getting in that thing," Derflinger declared at Saito's outstretched Pokéball.
"Look," he awkwardly began, "I know that it looks weird, but—"
"Don't care. You are not making me get into that little ball." Derflinger's tone was final, and Saito sighed. They had been at this song and dance for the past half hour. At first, Saito and Derflinger were excited to officially join each other's teams, at the possibility of working together in battle. Then Saito pulled out a Pokéball, and that excitement evaporated instantly.
"Really, it's not that bad! All the other Pokémon do it!" Saito gestured towards his team.
"It's really not that bad," Tanuki smiled and nodded. "Kinda cozy, actually."
"I find it to be a perfect respite, myself," Ronin added.
"It's cold, dark, and cramped. Every moment inside is a living hell," Maindo dryly stated, earning sharp glares from the others. Maindo merely smirked at the attention, and Saito rolled his eyes. He might not be able to understand the Ralts, but he could read his Pokémon's body language.
"It's not that I think it will be uncomfortable, it's the principle of the damn thing!" Derflinger suddenly shouted, silencing everyone. "You spend the past six thousand years asleep, unable to move, and see how willing you'd be to sit in that tiny thing!"
Saito sighed and put the Pokéball away. If he was being honest with himself, he could understand where Derflinger was coming from. Ever since the first Pokéball was made after the Great War, considerable debate had been waged over the ethicality of their use. Most said they were perfectly harmless, while others felt they were inhumane and cruel. In the end, after decades of study, research, and a number of discussions with telepathic Pokémon, Pokéballs were found to be totally harmless to their occupants, just so long as they weren't left inside for an excessively long time. Granted, that was after several innovations were added to make it more humane and comfortable for the occupant. In the end, the innovations worked and the use of Pokéballs became accepted. Now, only fanatics like Team Plasma and PETP really spoke up about it.
Still, he knew that not all Pokémon liked their Pokéball. Whether it be a sense of constricted movement or desire for the open air, it wasn't for everyone. One of the first things he did after catching his Pokémon was ask whether or not they wanted to stay inside it or not. While Maindo just scoffed in indifference, Ronin and Tanuki both expressed no displeasure. But if Derflinger didn't want to go into the ball, he wasn't going to push the issue.
"Okay, okay," Saito said. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I won't force you to do something you don't want."
"Damn right you won't." Derflinger huffed. "Not like you could force me into one, anyway. I'm still willing to travel with you guys, just…not in one of those things. Not yet, at least. Want to enjoy my freedom for a bit, 'ya know?"
"I understand completely." Saito smiled. He and Derflinger nodded at each other then walked over to Louse, currently sitting on a log and brushing her Pokémon.
"So, did you two figure it out?" she asked, continuing to brush Brennaraki's fur.
"We did," Saito replied. "Derflinger is going to stick around with us but he's not officially joining my team yet."
"Joy…" Louise groaned.
"Hey, chin up, lass! Now, whenever I remember 'em, I can tell you even more about our home!"
"Yay…"
"In fact, one is coming to me right now involving a noble lady's huge tracts of land and the knight who saved her with his great, long sword." Saito could hear the smile Derflinger would be having and shook his head, a slight smirk on his face as Louise started to turn a bright shade of red.
"Derf, stop teasing her," he lightly chastised the Honedge, who rolled his eye. "Now then, let's figure out the more important things. Louise, can you pull up the map?"
"On it." Louise stopped brushing Brennaraki, earning a whine of displeasure from the Fennekin, and pulled out her Pokédex. After a short boot up, the screen filled with a map of Kalos, their position marked by a red dot on Palais Lane.
"Wow, so that thing is an encyclopedia and a map! That is cool!" Derflinger gazed upon the device in awe.
"And useful." Louise let out a smirk. "According to the map, the next gym is in Cyllage City. It's a coastal mountain town right…here." Louise pointed to the city and everyone's eyes followed her finger.
"Hmm, according to this," Saito hummed, "the fastest route is through Connecting Cave, which we can get to by taking Riviere Line."
"Ugggh, do we have to go through a cave?" Louise whined, and Saito patted her shoulder.
"Well, we could take Route 8U and stop off in Ambrette Town. We can then take 8L to Cyllage. It will take us around the cave, so we won't have to buy repels or travel through the night to avoid the Zubats. But, doing this would add a few more weeks to the trip."
"Oh, Zubats were the worst!" Derflinger called out. "Always with the biting and swooping and chirping! And there are so many of them!" The Honedge shivered and Saito patted his guard.
"There, there. It'll be fine." Saito stood up alongside Louise, who deactivated her Pokédex and pocketed it. "Let's see how expensive repels are in town before we decide." They returned their Pokémon to their Pokéballs and, together with Derflinger, began to hike down to Camphrier once more.
The trio had been walking for quite some time when they heard some commotion come from up the road. They continued walking towards it, curiosity on their faces as they wondered who was making the ruckus. Finally, they came across a man wearing sunglasses and wearing a lab coat, a Pidove on his shoulder. Something about him seemed familiar, yet his name escaped the trainers. He, however, seemed to recognize the two as and he turned, smiled, and waved.
"Well, fancy meeting you two here!" The group paused as a vaguely familiar figure called out to them. Saito narrowed his eyes in concentration, trying to place where he had seen the man before.
"Nathan, right?" he said after a few moments.
"The one and only!" Nathan responded with a grin before his expression turned thoughtful. "What are you two doing up here, anyway? Did you get lost and accidentally take Route 6 instead of 7?
"That's... A long story." Louise sighed in exasperation. "What about you? We're quite a ways from Lumiose City."
"Sycamore heard the Pokémon in the area were acting weird and he asked me to investigate since I was nearby." He answered with a shrug and turned to Saito, "Did you happen to run into anything weird that might explain what's going on?"
The pair shared a quick glance and silently decided to share a condensed version of events while Derflinger remained silent. "Well, we did see a few Unown around here. They might have done something."
"Unown?" He narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Are you sure? They're not native to Kalos and there aren't any ruins nearby." Derflinger could feel the man's gaze briefly wash over him but it disappeared as soon as it was felt.
"Absolutely, unless there are any other Pokémon that are black, shaped like letters, and have a single large eye." Louise clarified then shivered. Nathan looked at her, cupping his chin as he hummed in thought.
"Well, that certainly sounds like Unown. I wonder what they are doing here," Nathan trailed off in thought before shrugging and moved to continue on the path. "In any case, I'll see if I can spot a few before I head back. You two be careful."
"We will. Thank you, Nathan." Saito smiled.
"Please say hi to Professor Sycamore for me the next time you see him," Louise politely asked. "I still haven't gotten the phone function to work properly."
"You know I can help you with that, right?" Saito chuckled as he and his companion began to walk away.
"And I told you, I can figure it out myself!" She barked back, making Saito chuckle. Nathan watched them leave then continued up the road. He continued until he was well out of earshot before he spoke up again.
"So, you buying that story?" A soft chirp sounded from the small bird on his shoulder. "Yeah, me neither. What cell do you think she's with? We would know if she was from Dendemille, so that's out." The Pidove replied with a series of chirps as he moved to his arm. "Hmm, didn't even think about her being a leftover of Santalune. Would certainly explain the Beedrill."
The pair continued walking in silence for a while before the Pidove squeaked a question out, to which Nathan sighed. "You know the boss would have our heads if we directly confront her, we can't afford any more mistakes at this point. We're on thin ice as it is." He reached over and started kneading the small Pokémon as it gave him a questioning squeak. "Well, at the very least he would have my head, not quite sure what he would do with you."
Stopping on the path Nathan held his arm out as the bird stood at attention, "Follow them and see if they meet up with any of our friends, I'll make sure Maxwell's not trying to screw us with a fast one out here." The bird squawked out a concerned reply, "Don't worry about me, you know I can take care of myself. Now go, we'll meet up at the Pokémon Center in four hours." With one more squawk in confirmation, the bird took off with a gust of wind leaving Nathan alone in the slowly dimming forest.
It wasn't long after leaving Nathan behind that Saito and Louise reentered Camphrier Town's city limits. They received a few odd looks from people as they walked towards the PokéMart with a open Honedge floating besides them, but most simply shrugged and moved on. To Louise's relief, Derflinger seemed to be quiet with others around them, giving her a sense of peace.
"Hey, Derf?" Saito asked, breaking Louise's peace with reckless abandon. "You know you can talk around more than just us, right?"
"I know, but I found it to be easier not to talk when so many people are around," Derflinger responded, causing Louise to groan in irritation. "They tend to stare, just like those people are doing right now." He pointed his sash to a group of gawking restaurateurs, their meals left unattended. "That's right, I see what you're doing."
"Uhh," one of the restauranteurs began, "don't mind us. Just…taking it in…" he remained silent and rubbed his eyes.
"Holy crap, a talking Pokémon…" another softly murmured. The others had taken out their cell phones and were beginning to record videos when the trio awkwardly began walking away, leaving the restaurateurs behind.
"Okay, point taken. You don't have to speak if you don't want to," Saito finally said.
"Actually, their reaction was a lot better than what I was expecting. Back then, they would have cried out "Witch!" and tried to burn me."
"That's sounds messed up."
"It was. Luckily, King Kalos put a stop to that. He was a good man."
They continued to walk through the Camphrier streets until they finally arrived in front of the PokéMart. Derflinger elected to stay outside and wait for them while the two trainers shopped around. Once inside, the two separated, each looking for the different supplies they would need. Louise had already grabbed a few items before stopping in the equipment isle, specifically in front of the cave diving selection.
"Hmm," Louise hummed to herself as she browsed the various repels, ropes, and other cave diving equipment. Her eyes immediately gravitated towards the more expensive selections, but she tore her gaze away from them. She would not fall for this place's tricks again. She grabbed a hardhat with a flashlight attached to the top and tuned it over, appraising it through every angle.
"This could be useful," she murmured and tried it on. It fit, although it was a tad uncomfortable and it rolled around on the top of her head.
"I would recommend the headlamp rather than the hardhat," a man's voice suddenly spoke from behind her, causing Louise to jump in surprise. She turned around to see a man clad in an Alolan shirt chuckling to himself. He had green hair and a pair of dark sunglasses covering his eyes, a set of blue jeans and a white shirt completing the outfit. A camera was wrapped around his chest on a band, telling Louise that he must have been a tourist.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said, and Louise shook her head.
"No, it is quite alright. You startled me, is all." She turned back to the items in front of her, cupping her chin. "You say the headlamps are better? How?"
"I know from experience. Unless you are mining or in construction, a hardhat will only encumber you. For simply going into a cave or climbing a mountain, most of the time a headlamp will be more than sufficient." He answered and directed her to a particular red headlamp. "This brand in particular is high quality and low price, perfect for a budget minded trainer."
"Really?" Louise took the headlamp and looked over. She liked to think that she had an eye for quality, and from what she could see it was of a good caliber. The body was made of a shiny, durable metal, aluminum if Louise had to guess, with a bright, rounded-rectangular bulb in the center. Two straps, one going up the top, allowed her to snugly fit it upon her head. She tested it, moved her head around in swivels and side to side, noticing how it didn't sway. Satisfied, she removed the headlamp and turned back to the tourist, a faint smile on her face.
"Thank you, this is perfect," she said as she grabbed a blue model of the same brand.
"No problem, miss. Happy to help," he nodded then turned and walked away.
"Wait, I didn't get your name!" Louise called after him, but he continued to walk away and outside the sliding glass doors. She frowned and debated going after him, but shook her head and decided against it. She quickly gathered a few more items then walked through the store to find Saito placing a few more repels into his shopping cart. He noticed Louise and nodded towards her as she walked towards him, her items tucked away in a small, handheld basket.
"So, find anything useful?" he asked, helping to place her items into his cart.
"Some more food, water, Pokémon food, something called an Escape Rope, and some headlamps." She held out the items in question and handed Saito the blue one. He looked it over and hummed to himself before nodding.
"Good find," he said. "These will definitely be useful. Where'd you find them?"
"Over in the equipment isle. At first, I was going to get a hardhat with lamps on them, but an Alolan tourist convinced me to get these, instead."
"Smart choice, and that was nice of him. What was his name?"
"I don't know, he left before I could ask," Louise admitted with a regretful tone then sighed. "What's done is done. Let's go ahead and pay for all this then get on the road."
"Hold on," Saito said just as Louise began to push the cart away. With narrow eyes, he pulled out a large and colorful plastic bag, a wide assortment of candies and sweets emblazing the bag. "Really? Sweets?"
Louise stared at him, her face turning red from embarrassment before she turned away with a huff. "I'm allowed to indulge myself. Today has been hard."
"Ten pounds worth of indulgence?" he asked pointedly as he continued to dig through more of her bags, each one he opened causing Louise to grow redder and redder.
"Sh-shut up!" Louise stammered, and Saito continued to stare at her. After a while, she looked down in embarrassment and tapped her fingers together. "Okay, so maybe I went a little overboard, but come on! I love Kalosian sweets! There's so much variety here, and I couldn't decide on which one!"
"I understand that, but there is such a thing as going overboard," Saito said as he began taking a few of the bags away. "We're only getting one. There's no reason to get any more."
"But—" Louise began to protest, but Saito's glare stopped her in her tracks. "Fine," she grumbled and turned around. Saito smiled, patted her shoulder, and after putting away most of the bags, they both walked towards the counter. They paid, with them splitting the cost, then headed back outside where Derflinger waited for them.
"We got what we need, Derf," Saito said and the Honedge nodded. Together, the trio began walking towards the eastern edge of the city, hoping to get some decent headway before nightfall, neither of them noticing a green haired woman enter the PokéMart behind them.
"Geez, you have gone to town on those things," Saito said as he and Derflinger stared at Louise with a mixture of awe and disgust.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Louise replied as she ate another handful of chocolate. The bag was already a quarter empty after only two hours of walking, and she showed no signs of abating anytime soon. She reached her hand into the bag yet again for a snack, only for Saito to shake his head and grab her hand.
"I think you've had enough," he declared as he tried to take the bag away. In response, Louise gripped the bag tightly and turned away from him, ripping the bag away from Saito's hands.
"No! This is mine!" she shouted and ran off, kicking up small clouds of dust with her footsteps and throwing handfuls of candy into her mouth with each step.
"For Arceus' sake…" Saito shook his head, a ghost of a smile on his lips and ran after her, leaving Derflinger behind. He silently stared and watched the trainers dance around each other, Louise continuing to inhale sweets while Saito swiped at the bag, trying to take it from her.
"…I sleep for six thousand years, and this is what flirting turns into." Derflinger sighed and shook his body. He continued to watch as Saito finally caught up to the rosecrown, who let out a victorious yell as he hefted the bag above his head and out of Louise's reach.
"Give it back!" She jumped and reached for the bag of sweets, only for Saito to laugh and keep it away. "Saito!"
Derflinger chuckled. "Kids." Deciding that enough was enough, he floated over to the squabbling trainers and took the bag from Saito's hands.
"What the-?" Saito looked at Derflinger while Louise puffed her cheeks in cute anger.
"Alright, kids, Papa Derf says that's enough. We can play later." Louise moved to protest but decided against it. She sighed then nodded her head.
"Fine, okay," she grumbled and rubbed her forearm. "…Sorry for getting…carried away."
Saito rubbed the back of his head and sheepishly grinned. "Yeah, I'm sorry, too."
The two trainers looked at each other then at Derflinger, faint smiles on both of their faces. If Derflinger had a mouth, he'd be smirking at that moment. Since he didn't, he settled on chuckling.
"Come on, you two. Let's get going. If we're lucky, we'll manage to get a few more miles before sundown." The trio began to walk again while Louise pulled out her Pokédex.
"Let me check the map real quick…" she hummed to herself as she pulled out the map. Zooming in on Rivière Lane, she pulled out a more detailed map of the route. The route itself seemed to be a straight shot through the countryside, with no towns between them and Connecting Cave. There were three distinct landmarks that caught her attention. On the far end of the route was someplace called the Battle Chateau, a battle arena in a mansion, if she had to guess. Closer to Camphrier was a berry plantation called Berry Fields, but she didn't focus on either of those. Instead, she focused on something much closer."
"Saito, look at this," she called out to Saito and handed him her Pokédex. He looked the map over and quickly saw what she was referring to.
"Huh, there's a Daycare not that far from here." He tapped his chin. "You do know what a Daycare is, right?"
"Yes, actually. Professor Sycamore explained them to me." Louise smiled proudly.
"Well I don't," Derflinger interjected. "Mind explaining the concept to this old 'mon?"
"A Daycare is a place where trainers can keep their Pokémon that aren't in use," Louise explained with her finger pointed upward. "While most trainers simply have their extra Pokémon go to where they started, whether it be with the regional professor or their families, at a Daycare, a Pokémon can actually undergo more specialized training than they may be able to do elsewhere. In addition to keeping the Pokémon happy and healthy, the breeders at these Daycares serve as both trainers and healthcare specialists, helping to ensure that the Pokémon keep up with their training for when they are called back onto the field.
"At the same time, Daycares can also obtain a League certification for Pokémon Breeding. Due to the large amount of Pokémon that they have on hand, breeding inevitably occurs. Daycares can then either give or sell these eggs to different trainers, professors, or a variety of different organizations. It's how they get their money, actually. A combination of trainer fees and the legal egg trade."
"Huh, that's interesting," Derflinger closed his eyes and nodded. "I take it you want to check it out?"
"Yes, actually." Louise nodded and Saito hummed in thought.
"Well, it is on the way," he pointed out. "Plus, we might be able to spend the night there. I, for one, would much rather sleep on a bed or couch than in a sleeping bag." Louise nodded in agreement then looked at Derflinger.
"I see no problem with it," he said, moving his body in a way that looked like shrugging. "And, like you, I'm curious as well."
"Then its decided." Louise smiled. "We'll go to the Rivière Daycare, check it out, and spend the night. It'll be fun!"
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Hello, everyone! Here is the latest episode of Outsiders!
Not a lot happened in this chapter, after all it is a breather but important stuff did happen. Namely, Derflinger not joining Saito's team due to a desire for a bit more freedom at the moment. Had a bit of worldbuilding as well, and some character reveals.
Now, onto the Q&A:
MBenz4268: Religion is kind of addressed in the story, but more subtly. As a whole, the people of Earth are not very religious. They used to worship Legendaries, especially Arceus and the Creation Trio, but as time passed, that fell out of favor. Nowadays, the exclamation of using Arceus' name and other Legendaries are more cultural holdovers. It's not going to get any real focus, however, as it is not the crux of the story.
Metal Vile: Elizabeth's team, as of now, is Eevee, Zorua, and Machamp. She didn't bring anyone else with her.
Pacer287: Yes, yes he did. That was Brimir's favorite dirty joke, after all. Louise, of course, was mortified. It was a way for us to deliver a recognizable punchline for an infamous dirty joke that everyone can immediately get, yet still leaves enough to the imagination to where you can imagine anything you want while keeping things PG-13. I'm not apologizing.
Celestia's Paladin: We wanted to show the nuance of Brimir. He was a human being, not a complete monster. By the end, he had turned quite monstrous, but he wasn't always that. It's something we wanted to show and for Louise to realize that he was not this perfect saint but a fallible man. As for Louise changing Allie, that remains to be seen.
Anyway, that's it for this chapter. We hope you all enjoy!