"And how many stands are there again?" David asked.
He was still goggling at the size of the building ten minutes later as they queued to get in.
"Six. Saffron has six stands, two stadiums and one coliseum." Fred said. He had his arms crossed and looked uncomfortable.
"Sorry." David focused back on him. "I don't understand how I haven't come across them yet."
"They're all focused around the gym or dojo." Fred replied with a shrug before tilting his head. "How small was the settlement you're from?"
David froze. Fred knew something was off with him. How had he given himself away? What was a settlement? Was it a city vs countryside thing?
"What makes you think I'm from a settlement?"
Fred raised his eyebrows at him and smiled. He held up a hand and started counting his fingers.
"One. You're camping on Route 7 instead of living in the city. Two. You have one set of clothes and they're odd. Three. You don't know where the gym and dojo are. Four. You're shocked by the sight of a stand. Five." Fred paused. "Okay I don't have a fifth but it's clear you're from one of those small clan settlements and out on your journey. Probably Flying type because of your Pidgey."
David looked down at his clothes. With hindsight it would be one of the things people noticed first. He wore the same set everyday. It was lucky that his clothes didn't have noticeable branding. The brands wouldn't exist in this world after all.
Local clothing was another item to add to his shopping list.
"Well?" Fred asked. "How close am I? I just can't figure out where your settlement would be and why you came to Saffron. It can't be nearby, Saffron is too central for there to be any settlements around and distance wouldn't be an obstacle for Flying types. Your accent is hard to place. Not Johtoan anyway."
Fred trailed off then his eyes widened. "You aren't from Pallet town are you?"
"Eh. No." David responded absently but he was deep in thinking. This could be a perfect background if he got it right. Not Pallet town though. It was probably still related to Professor Oak and was too distinct a location. More importantly, it existed and if someone checked they could catch him out.
"I'm from a far away settlement. And we have stadiums." David had never been to any beyond a smaller local one but they existed. He imagined the major sports ones would dwarf the largest coliseum in Saffron.
"I knew it. And yeah I'm sure you do." Fred said with a grin. He smacked his hand with a fist. "Do you have some secret training methods? Was that what the tackle thing was yesterday?"
"I'd rather not talk about it?" David tried. Fred's shoulders sank but he seemed to accept the answer.
"As secretive as they say." Fred said around a groan.
They stepped forward with the queue. David looked at the stub in his hands.
"Do you know the trainers in the match? Crush Sharon or Sailor Huey?" David asked, eager to change the subject.
"Sharons a local. She trains in the dojo. I'm not sure who Huey is but his class should make this interesting."
"Ah so Crush is Fighting then?" David asked. Trainer names were something this world had in common with the game. He'd thought it had just been the developers being too lazy to come up with surnames.
Fred groaned at the question. "Blame that meathead Bruno. I don't know how he's allowed to come up with anything at the League. What did you choose as your trainer name?"
"My trainer name?"
"Have your licence on you?"
David pulled his bag off and rummaged through it to find the metallic card Beth had given him.
"What about it?" He asked, looking at the blank card.
"Give it here." Fred said and grabbed it out of David's hands. He pushed on it and with a click the metal top slid off to one side. David blinked. He hadn't seen the man in the Pokecenter do that.
"Trainer David." Fred read out. "Well you're going to need to qualify for a trainer class if you want to be recognizable anyway."
David took the card back and examined the writing inside. It was less of a licence and more dog tags. Stamped on the metal was 'Trainer David', 'I38AVS' and 'SAF'. It had none of the other information in the game like time, money or pokedex count which made sense. It was metal.
The queue moved on and David shoved the licence back in his bag.
-.-
Past the ticket booths and inside the stadium proper was a line of food stalls. The smell made his stomach grumble.
"Oh burgers!" Fred said with a grin and moved over to the queue in a stall. David joined him with a wince at his soon to be depleted cash stack.
"It's on me." David said and held up a hand to stop any complaints. "You got the tickets."
Fred nodded and David turned his attention to the menu. Fried Caterpie on sticks. Magikarp burger. Slowpoke tail. Fried Pidg-
David's stomach turned and he held back a heave. He knew this. He read about it in his foraging manual on his first day here. But now he'd met Pidgey. There was intelligence in those eyes.
"I think I'm going to get the Pidgey burger." Fred said absently as he read it too.
David's guts churned again.
"Cou-" David started but stopped to pacify his rolling empty stomach. "Could you not."
Fred frowned at him before he realised and winced.
"Slowpoke tail sounds better actually."
When it was their turn David handed over the 120 Poke and received his Magikarp burger. It looked like a giant fish finger between two buns.
He followed Fred in a daze as he stared at the burger in his hands. He warred with indecision. The smell. His stomach grumbled then turned. Fred chomped down on a roll and looked at him oddly. People laughed and cheered around them, ordering and eating themselves.
David took a bite.
He finished the burger as the two trainers arrived on the field.
The field itself was a sight. It was a large football pitch sized rectangle of packed dirt with large channels of water cut through it. David wasn't sure if the water was just there for this match or if it was a standard thing.
He shoved the burger wrapper into his bag. Like most of the packaging in this world, the wrapper was biodegradable and flammable. He always needed more kindling.
The commentator began to introduce the trainers. Sailor Huey received polite applause but the crowd and Fred went wild for Crush Sharon. As the commentator went through the rules of the three-a-side battle, David concentrated on the sidelines.
There was a Wartortle in front of one of the stands.
All stands had a Pokemon in front of them, most being a strange clown like Pokemon but one stand had a Wartortle. The region starter.
David couldn't make out much from this distance and he was tempted to ask Fred to move but he couldn't think of a good reason. So he stared at the Pokemon with a white fur tail that was as tall as it was.
Fred cheered beside him and David looked back to the field to see that he'd missed the battle starting.
A Machoke and Tentacruel had taken the field.
Tentacruel was otherworldly and that was saying a lot especially with where David was. The Pokemon was in one of the water channels around the arena but its tendrils were waving through the air as well as in the water. Its blue head shell looked metallic in nature while its red jelly-like orbs glowed slightly.
The Pokemon burst into action. Machoke thundered across the field towards where Tentacruel floated.
The water around Tentacruel began to darken.
David looked at the trainers in confusion. Both had their mouths open and were shouting but David couldn't hear their words.
Their pokemon could though. Machoke's limbs began to glow maroon while Tentacruel took on a purple hue that extended into the water around it.
Machoke reached Tentacruel and jumped, feet first at Tentacruel's head. They collided in an explosion of colour and wind. Dirt and dust was kicked up around the field and people roared.
"Holy shit." David stammered.
Machoke was perched on the top of Tentacruel, hammering punches into one of its jelly-like orbs. Tentacruel was not idle either and grey tendrils slipped through the air and towards the Fighting Pokemon.
Machoke twitched its head back toward their trainer and raised both arms high as the tentacles approached. Both arms glowed beige and Machoke smashed them down onto Tentacruel.
A crunch echoed out over the roaring crowds.
Machoke flipped forward off Tentacruel with the force of the blow.
Tentacruel's jelly orbs pulsed as Machoke blew through its tentacles and a shimmering wave of beige struck the flipping Pokemon.
Machoke landed at an angle and fell down to the ground. Tentacles sped after it and Tentacruel slid half onto the land to get enough reach. A deep crack stood out on its head as it began to tie up its foe.
Machoke pushed back to its feet, unsteady and not fast enough to escape its foe. Tendrils wrapped around it and Tentacruel reeled its prey in. Machoke strained against the tendrils but couldn't get a grip.
A pulse of blue gathered around Tentacruel and water shot out to soak Machoke.
Machoke shuddered but stopped sliding along the ground. It grabbed onto the tentacles around it and began to strain. Flashes of Maroon appeared and now it was the Tentacruel that began to slide.
Machoke started to spin and the Tentacruel slid faster until it left the ground. Around and around then spun until with a loud bark, Machoke let go.
Tentacruel flew away across the field but it didn't let go of its prey. As it grew further from Machoke, its tentacles tensioned until Machoke flew too.
The two Pokemon bounced across the ground until they collided and came to a halt.
The crowd hushed as the lump of tangled Pokemon didn't move.
There was a twitch from the mass.
Then another.
Machoke burst out from the grey tentacles and raised its arms high.
"MAAAAA-CHOOOOOOO-KE"
Tentacruel disappeared in a small blip of colour and the crowd began to chant.
"10."
"9."
"8."
"7."
"6."
The middle Poli evolution took the field in another small blip of light. He wasn't sure if it was called Poliwag or Poliwrath.
The Pokemon's blue and white shape was unmistakable and while he couldn't make out if the patterns on its belly were a spiral, it looked close.
Machoke and Poli wasted no time in charging at each other. Poli jumped over the darkened purple water and the pokemon greeted each other with punches.
Poli flinched back from the exchange before rallying itself and leaping forward again. Once again the smaller Pokemon lost out and was driven back. But Machoke was flagging. It shuddered and its arms swayed as it breathed.
The Pokemon ran at each other once more but Poli jumped back and up at the last minute. Its belly spun and the air around Machoke glowed pink.
Machoke stepped forward and crashed to the ground. Poli pounced. Blow after blow was thrown into the back of Machoke's head.
Poli abruptly stopped and stepped back.
Machoke lay still for a moment before disappearing in a blip of light.
The chant began again.
Crush Sharon acted quickly and Mankey's evolution appeared.
The pokemon stood hunched with long arms and legs bent. Heavy black bands hung around its limbs, a stark contrast to the spiky cream ball of fluff.
Both Pokemon on the field now stood at the same height but it was Poli that retreated as the monkey pokemon advanced. The Mankey evolution puffed up and stood taller as Poli retreated.
Poli glowed blue and bubbles of water flew from its mouth into the ground around it, darkening the dirt. When the Mankey evolution was five metres away, Poli glowed a sandy yellow and the muddy ground around it flew up and at Mankey.
Mankey squealed as its cream fur was splattered brown and it jumped the remaining distance and began to tear into Poli. Swipe after swipe bashed Poli back until it staggered away with a small burst of water.
Mankey wasted no time before jumping after it again. Poli shook from the first blow then glowed beige. As the next blow struck it, it wrapped its arms around Mankey and with a jump tugged the creature up and into the air. It flipped around moving on top of Mankey and slammed it down and into the purple water it had been backing up to.
David rose out of his seat as the Pokemon disappeared from view.
There was a flash from the water but the crowd didn't start counting.
The Mankey evolution burst from the water and back onto land with a squeal. It stood triumphant but shuddered as a flash of purple racked across its body.
"10"
"9"
"8"
There was a flash of light and a blue and white egg shaped pokemon with large ears appeared. It had a jagged tail with a bright blue orb on the end.
The crowd grew silent and boos began to ring out.
David frowned. What was wrong? Was it the purple? He looked at Sailor Huey and the man was stoutly ignoring the crowd but he looked more rigid.
"Why are they booing?" David whispered to Fred. Fred flicked to him wide eyed before turning back to the match.
"It's an Azumarill! I didn't think we'd see any Johtoan pokemon today."
David frowned but the boos were drowned out by more roars as the Pokemon moved.
The Mankey evolution jumped right at Azumarill and after one punch seemed to lose all direction. Flashes of beige rang out as the Pokemon slammed hands, legs and its body into Azumarill and the ground. It seemed to have no target as blows cracked the earth as often as they hit Azumarill.
Azumarill glowed a beigey-pink and began to strike back and dance around the blows. The Pokemon stepped back and forth across the field until Azumarill let out a burst of beigey pink. Its tail orb slammed into Mankey and sent it flying.
Mankey disappeared in a bright flash of light.
"10."
"9."
Boos were intermixed among the countdown now.
"7."
"6."
"5."
A Persian appeared in a tiny twinkle of light. The cat Pokemon was huge. It was as tall as Azumarill but much longer. A long cream tail flicked idly as the Pokemon opened its jaws for an indulgent yawn that showed far too many teeth. There was a flash of colour from the bright red gem on its forehead.
Azumarill glowed blue and flew forward on a wave of water.
Persian stretched and waited for it to come.
Water splashed forward as Azumarill arrived and Persian darted back. Azumarill burst out of the water and spun. Its tail glowed a deep blue as it flew towards Persian.
Persian narrowed its eyes which glowed beige. It slid back smoothly and Azumarill smashed its tail into the ground.
A splashing thump echoed out but few paid it attention as Persian struck. Like a flash a paw swiped up and down and drove Azumarill into the ground. Lines of beige were left in the air for a second as Persian ground Azumarill into the muddy dirt.
Azumarill disappeared in a flash of light and Persian elegantly stepped away from the muddy pool and started to lick its coat.
'One move.' David felt he would crush the handrests with how tight he was gripping them. That Persian was a monster.
The commentator announced Crush Sharon's victory over Sailor Huey and Persian disappeared in the barest of twinkles.
A score of Geodude and Machops evolutions entered the field with trainers and began to smooth out the damaged surface.
"I guess it's time to leave then." Fred said with a sigh as he got up. "Will you be around over the next few days? Machop would love some more practice battles."
David nodded his head. The match had given him several ideas.
"Yeah. I think Pidgey and I would like that."
Endnote:
A long chapter and some major culture shock.
The food stall part was hard to write. Lots of tricky moral questions there. Currently I'm making it a biological necessity in the world. The ecosystem and food chains will play a part in how I make this world of Pokemon work. There is more for David to discover and understand too.
Can anyone guess all the Moves that were used in the battle?
frankieu - Glad you enjoyed it. I thought about how I could work all the Jennys/ Joys in but it just wouldn't make sense. But while they won't be an army of clones they still exist.
Kiri TheFrenchReader - :D Where to start? Thanks for reading and your comments!
(Ch 3)Unlikely for a long time in the story.
(Ch 4/5)Thankfully there are no vicious Poochyenas or Starlys around.
(Ch 6) Pidgey is always very iconic for what is such a simple design (Bird Pokemon is the description?)
(Ch 9) I'm glad to hear it. I find a lot of Pokemon fics go from 'here's your pokemon' to world changing events so quickly. I'm trying not to make this a speedrun.
(Ch 10) Ah but is this Professor Oak trustworthy?
(Ch 11) Memory is a tricky thing :)
Bookmarkjda - I'm glad you're enjoying it! It's a tricky balance. Pokemon are not humans in this fiction and there will be a marked difference. There will be Pokemon with intelligence on all levels but that will mean different things.