Pokemon Void and Veil - Understanding
"Speech"
'Thinking'
"English"
The next day I rubbed my now bare neck, for some reason Fiona had seemed rather... Grave when she'd removed the collar yesterday, which had given me pause after I had eaten.
Now, normally I would have just walked away, or even simply ignored her. I think hunger had played a large part in my decision, and I admit I felt far better than I had yesterday. Though I was still hungry, it wasn't nearly as bad, I was always hungry nowadays I'd grown used to it. Finding energized food with out suspicion wasn't easy after all.
"You OK?" Sonia asked as we walked down the hallway.
"Fine," I responded, now aware of what I'd been doing, I pulled my free hand from my neck.
"Must you?" I added, looking at our joined hands.
"Yes," She responded flatly, then huffed, "You aren't allowed to be by yourself at the moment Jerry, you're sitting in on the class whether you like it or not."
She really wasn't pleased that I'd ditched her yesterday, which, understandable. But I really didn't have time for this.
"Yeah I know, you've already said, and I've apologized. I really don't like being kept on lockdown, is all," I responded amicably, I love my sister, but I didn't have time to play schoolboy right now.
'Come on, Jericho, let's run for it,' Henrietta encouraged, feeling my irritation.
"I'm just making sure," Sonia replied, continuing to drag me toward the classroom Gran had set up for the league-sanctioned classes.
'No, as much as I'd love to be training and learning about our foe right now. We can't technically move forward until Joy brings us those plants,' I informed her, I luckily still had some crushed quartz in my spell pouch. Unfortunately, I'd spent most of last night separating larger shards from the mixture, enough for a couple of pinches, it would do for a test run.
Hatty huffed, 'Then why are you complaining?'
I didn't have an answer because she was right, I was getting worked up.
Frankly, I was lucky that the ritual of apathy was holding so well, my inner calm had been shaken quite a bit the past few days. This was a good time to regain that inner focus and see my family, I didn't want to end up as a damn recluse after all.
However, it also reminded me a lot of the days spent aimlessly looking through the family library not knowing if I was right, or simply trying to figure out the world around me, it had been... Frustrating. Now I had a partner, we were being proactive, I didn't want to lose that. If I couldn't handle a single Grimm, how could I handle the corpse train, or figure out my parent's deaths, or why I'm here?
I sighed rather morosely. 'I just want to stay occupied,' I responded to my partner.
"It isn't that bad Jerry, come on you'll get to see your big sis in action," Sonia grinned at me, obviously getting the wrong idea.
"Sonia me and Hatty are the ones that sparred with you, Yamper, and Chewtle," I deadpanned, coursing the girl to pout.
Minutes later, we would enter the classroom, with plastered-over walls covered in baby blue wallpaper and a wooded floor covering the original stone. It was the arranged desks and whiteboard that stood out, however, showing that it was indeed a classroom. Though it was currently empty save for Gran.
"Welcome you two, did he give you any trouble today, dear?" Gran greeted us and was already eyeing me.
"Nar, he's just complaining is all," Sonia dismissed, waving her hand back and forth in the air.
"Hmm, very well, Sonia go and wait outside the room for the other students, I will call you in soon. Jericho, come here," Gran ordered.
"Yes, Gran," I held back a sigh, as Sonia gave me a quick hug and went back out the door.
"Now take a seat," She indicated a chair next to her desk.
I did so silently, still annoyed at the situation.
'We could still leave~,' Hatenna sang in my head. For now, I ignored her in favor of my irritated grandmother.
"Right then, I'm not going to lecture you again, I'm sure you've figured out why I was so upset with your behavior yesterday. However, you have shown that I can't leave you alone while Sonia and I are busy today, so you will be staying in the classroom with us as my teaching aid. Do you understand?" She informed me. Oh, for fuck's sake, are you telling me if I just played nice yesterday I'd have been golden.
"Yeah Gran, I got it," I accepted after taking a few seconds to calm myself.
Calm, I needed to calm myself, I'd been getting worked up since the anomaly in the mirror and meeting Rose, they'd off-balanced me, then the girls kept me off balance. Add on to that, that the girls saw the Grimm and the fight to the death against Plasma where I got my first kill, and it was getting to me. Not enough to unfocus me, but I was feeling the strain.
The worst part though were times like this where I had to act like nothing was wrong. Granted, I had some leeway thanks to the Plasma sighting, but still.
I took a calming breath, "What exactly does a teaching aid do?"
Gran nodded, pleased I was taking this seriously, "Simply put, you will be assisting me. If I need something across the room, papers handing out, or collected, then you will be doing it."
"Right," I confirmed, it made sense. Gran was getting on in years now, and while she was no slouch, constant actions could become painful.
Hatty pouted, she wasn't happy she'd have to be in a room full of people. Gran took notice and stared at the Pokemon for a moment, but handed me a stack of papers regardless.
"Take these, one per desk," She commanded.
With a weary sigh I complied, placing what looked like test papers down on each desk. Seriously though, some of these questions were so stupid, like what is an electric type's weakness or what is a status move, and so on and so forth. I was expecting survival questions like which Pokemon you should avoid until you have so many badges. But this was Gran's test, not mine.
After returning to the front, I was told to open the door seconds after the bell rang, I complied.
"Alright, everyone in, find yourselves a seat," Gran called from where she was sitting.
A flood of students entered the room rather excitedly, as I began to project my refound calmness to my friend in an attempt to help with the surrounding chatter. Hatty of course latched onto my offering gladly, not that she needed it, but the comfort of the link was nice.
As students began taking their seats, their attention drifted around the classroom and me, to my quickly suppressed annoyance.
Of interest though was the fact that Nessa was apparently taking the league course and was currently talking happily with Sonia. Nessa was dark-skinned with deep blue eyes and long straight black hair, wearing a cream-colored T-shirt with black skin-tight knee-length shorts. I'll assume the latter is part of a swimsuit until proven otherwise. Raihan was also present, which was unexpected as I had expected him to go with Leon, but nope, he was on Sonia's other flank.
And I wasn't expecting to see Piers period, I was under the impression he was older. The boy looked as tired and downtrodden as his future self, with dark circles under his cyan eyes, only he had shorter black and white hair. He was wearing a black T-shirt with a black leather jacket and grey skinny jeans, none of which were in good condition.
Though outside of those outliers, no one else stood out to me.
"Good morning class," Gran spoke loudly, getting their attention and quieting them at the same time. Well, at least they were taking this seriously.
"I am Professor Magnolia. I will be your primary teacher for the next two weeks, beside me is my Grandson Jericho, who will be acting as my teaching aid," She introduced us, and gestured at me to say something.
"Yo," Was my half-hearted if not outright lazy greeting, making my position clear, Sonia looked rather deadpan at my display, attempting not to say anything.
"Quite. Now in front of you all is a paper I want you all to fill in, I need a baseline of where you all are and where to begin, the test starts, now," She slammed her cane into the floor as the moaning started then quieted them with a glare.
And now I was bored...
I fed the little witch her psychic name, I sent the image of a starry sky, a feeling of clamminess, and the taste of citrus.
She purred, "Yes~."
'Well, first off, you need to stop copying Fiona,' I stated.
'Hmm, nope, she's like the rest of my clan, I like her,' She mentally chirped.
Well, that was highly concerning, the least of which was Joy being Hatty's new role model.
'Right well, anyway, once we have the ingredients I'm thinking we use the see-all curse first, in reverse it might make for a good defense as well. Blinding the enemy and seeing invisible targets sounds like a good idea to me. What do you think?' I asked with curiosity.
'Sure, sounds fun,' She responded.
'Not the word I would use, but sure,' I counted, she sniggered quietly.
I sighed and pulled out my ancestor's old book, 'For now, how about we mentally go through the strong and agile styles of combat?' I admit I was curious about how well the techniques would perform in the present day.
'Yeah, I can't wait to try this for real,' Hatty felt excited at the prospect. I began reading mentally to my partner as she read from atop my head. She was learning well but was still having trouble with some words.
All in all though, it was rather relaxing, I know Hatty was doing it for the combat boost, but I have always loved history. Looking between the lines and wording at how my ancestor had described and written these styles gave a lot of context to his thoughts. But for the first time in days, I wasn't contemplating getting the job done or trying to survive or protect people.
We were interrupted almost a half hour later when Gran announced that time was up, and I was sent to collect the papers and return them to the front.
The worse part? I got a look at the papers as I collected them, and was frankly horrified. Someone put that the electric type was weak to the grass type, which granted was resistant to the electric type, but not strong against it. Likewise, someone put down the rock type which didn't even resist electric types, but could be confused with the ground type, I suppose. And who was the moron that put ice? Well, at least it wasn't water.
Seriously, how is this hard? I did it when I was a kid, hundreds of thousands back on Earth still did.
After returning to my seat, I continued reading with the little psychic, while Gran went through the paperwork. The students began chatting with each other, mostly regarding the answers they got.
About twenty minutes later, Gran got my attention, "Jericho."
"Yeah?" I answered.
"Tell me what type of GYM is first in the circuit?" She asked.
I frowned in confusion but answered, "Grass." It wasn't a hard question. When I first arrived, I had honestly expected there to be differences in the circuit depending on the championship from the year before, but nope. Here in Galar, you followed the circuit, and some GYMs doubled as dual-type challenges. Unlike say Kanto where every GYM was ready for different levels of challengers and they had more than eight active GYMs.
"Correct," She turned back to the class, "A six-year-old answered the question correctly, so why exactly did half of you get that wrong?"... Are you for fucking real right now?
I gave my attention to the class and noticed several students fidgeting in their seats or outright avoiding eye contact. Seriously? That's just sad, it's been this way for at least fifteen years, hell the matches are televised.
"I can see we have some work to do, get out your notebooks and pencils. Jericho, go to the board and follow this sheet," She sighed annoyed, and to be frank I understood, if these kids had been let loose without any training like they were going to be, well you can imagine it wouldn't be pretty.
"Gran, not to be a downer, but I doubt I can reach all that high on the board," I commented, looking at the type chart in my hand.
"Just do what you can," She rubbed her temples.
I shrugged but complied. 'You think you can do it telekinetically?' I questioned the witch on my head.
'Yep,' Was all she said.
'So, can you help me out here or what?' I asked after a few seconds of silence.
'Aww, but Jerry, this is your punishment~' She teased.
... 'Help me with this, and we'll hunt before testing the see-all curse on the Grimm,' I bargained, I had a lot of experience with this courtesy of Fiona... You don't want to know what I had to do to get her to relinquish those Wooloo she had been vivisecting, never mind that I had to put them down.
'Hmm, OK,' She chirped, I felt the marker leave my hand, I held up the type chart Gran had given me, so she could see it.
"Yes well, that works, I suppose," Gran coughed into her hand. Though the muttering of the students that caused was a constant source of annoyance. This was how the class continued, with Gran talking and myself and Hatty putting things on the board.
Then the bell rang and lunch began, which means I was escorted to the mess hall by Sonia and her new friend.
"This really isn't necessary," I told my ginger-haired family member. She had my hand in a vice-like grip.
"Ha, fool me once shame on me, not this time little brother," She puffed up proudly as I grumbled my displeasure.
"What did he do, exactly?" Nessa, Sonia's new friend, asked in curiosity.
"Weren't ya there in the cafe? He got into a fight with one of the champs Pokemon," Raihan was the one to answer, and credit where it's due, Nessa didn't seem to care that he was an adept.
"Wha? Seriously? I thought that was just a rumor," Nessa looked shocked at the prospect.
"Hatenna and Mienfoo wanted a spar," I admittedly lied, Hatty snorted.
Sonia sighed, she knew as well as I did that, that wasn't the issue, Plasma was. Though it certainly hadn't helped.
Thank everything she didn't know I was the one fighting, or I would have been screwed.
"Yeah well, he's in very big trouble for it," My sister said, going with the flow.
'Oh please, if I wanted to fight, you couldn't stop me, Jerry~' Hatty sang in my head. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
"So who won?" The Dragon adept questioned.
"She did," I responded vaguely, both the Pokemon had been female after all, and Mienfoo had won.
The older boy glanced at my stomach, which I realized I was rubbing in phantom pain. Quick think fast, "Hungry."
The boy raised a brow but shrugged. Great, now I have to eat something that won't even help me.
Sigh*
The Cafeteria was in much the same state as it had been yesterday, though Sonia absolutely refused to release me this time, and the Jenny's and Joy's were a mix of in and out of uniform.
I shrugged when I met Zoey and Fiona's gazes from across the room and raised my hand, showing Sonia was still latched on to it.
Then I was dragged toward an emptyish table with a bowl of pasta in tow along with a bowl of pokemix.
It would seem, now that school was in session, that they would provide food for the Pokemon as well.
In Raihan's case, that meant leaving us to go outside and feed his Duraludon. Oddly enough though, his own food wasn't specialized, that I could tell anyway. He'd gotten it from the same area and even had some of the same beef as Sonia. Perhaps he'd already eaten some berries prior?
Regardless, I was now sitting at the table with my sister and Nessa as I ate my own food, at least it tasted better than the pokemix.
I was, however, now stuck listening to Sonia and Nessa bond over their shared love of fashion, honestly, it's nice to see them becoming friends like they would have in canon, especially because I hadn't even had to do anything. Their monologues on coats were something I could do without though. Thankfully I wasn't stuck listening for long.
"Sonia!" Leon had come in running up to the table, with Hop and Raihan following ecstatically. Along with a pale larger heavy-set kid with platinum blond hair and blue eyes, Gordie I realized, future GYM leader and rock-type specialist. He was wearing a gray hoodie with tan-colored shorts.
As the loud ones drew near, I reminded myself to keep calm.
"Lee!" Sonia responded with a grin, waving him over.
"Man you guys missed out in the Macro Cosmos class, we got to analyze a Pokemon fight between the chairman and the champ!" Leon bragged as he and the others sat at the table. Considering the lack of explosions, I'm guessing it was a recording that they reviewed.
"Aww, man, we had a stupid quiz," Raihan groaned.
"Only six out of thirty-three people passed," I added flatly, absent-mindedly coming to my Grandmother's defense.
I heard a groan to my open side, "Your Grandma's a monster an' all, a test on the first day." I blinked once, twice, thrice. When did Piers sit down next to me?
He slouched down, revealing his own younger sister was present as well. Marnie had a pink dress over her pale skin and medium-length black hair with twin ponyta tails, almost like twin tails, and loose bangs on the right side of her face. Realizing I had seen her, her green eyes shrunk to pinpricks as she hid behind her brother once more... OK, then.
I shrugged, "It's not like the questions were hard, she wasn't asking you the airspeed of an unladen Swellow or something." Ah, Monty Python that's something I would never see again, good times.
Piers choked at that question.
"Ignore him," Sonia rolled her eyes.
"Not hard questions? This is stuff professional trainers need to know, we aren't hobbyists anymore," Piers responded, sounding annoyed.
"Nar, it was easy," Raihan counted casually.
"Maybe for you league-raised kids, but it ain't for me," Piers frowned.
That gained some negative reactions, though I had no idea what people were saying over each other, it would appear offense had been had.
"Fweeeet," I whistled. Hatty paused from her meal to growl, and Hop was immediately behind Leon. I think I may have traumatized the poor boy.
"By the blood, kid," Raihan yelled, finger in his ear. Sonia swatted his arm in response, was that a swear?
I shook my head. "What? He has a point, outside of Leon, who is Chairman Rose's own student, we're all league-raised kids, yes Gordie I know who you are," I tried, attempting to calm the situation. I don't know what a Hobbyist is, but I think I have an idea from the name alone.
"I was just sayin' is all," The young punk rocker shrugged, but gave me a nod of thanks.
I sighed in relief when no one made to argue again, I felt like a babysitter. Though if Piers felt that way about the league why wasn't he in the Macro Cosmos classes? Hmm.
"AH, Help!" That's right behind me, it was Fiona. I grabbed Raihans steak knife in lieu of my own, much to his dismay if his flaring aura was any indication. Before he could object though, I spun.
Assess, react, analyze, and respond.
Zoey, Fiona, unknown, I lashed out with the blade, causing the outstretched hand to retreat. Oh, shit, that was a Jenny out of uniform.
"JERRY!" I heard Sonia from behind me. Great, something else for her to freak out about.
"Ah, whoops, sorry," I lowered the blade, in the now quiet cafe. That's twice in two days, starting to think I should just avoid crowds altogether.
"Really?" I questioned flatly, turning to Fiona, who was in her own civilian clothing.
"Reallllly~" She teased, I sighed and rolled my eyes, I really need to talk to her.
"You trying to take my fingers, kid?" The Jenny I was unfamiliar with spoke sternly.
I shrugged and sat back down, facing the three relatives now. "Well, I was, but now I know you're not a threat, so no," I answered, uncaring how brutal that probably sounded to the surrounding children. To which several squeaks of surprise erupted from behind me, I made a point not to care.
Jenny's are well-trained, physically she was a lot faster than I was, well, unless I reinforced myself with a barrier. Meaning she wasn't in any danger, but I really should have realized that it was a Jenny BEFORE lashing out... Maybe I'm tired? I was up half the night and was seriously lacking in calories.
"Oh, Jerry, you need to be more careful~," The Joy prodigy teased.
"I'm sure, perhaps if someone didn't go around yelling it wouldn't be an issue," I responded, my nerves were still on edge from the past few days, unfortunately.
"Compared to others, I'm quiet as a Cottonee," Joy scoffed.
'Tell her I said hi,' Came Hatty's mental voice, as she cooed aloud.
"I'm sure Hatenna's saying hi," I relayed, as I returned Raihan's knife, much to his joy as his dragon-type aura dissipated, though I doubt anyone else had noticed unless they too were adepts. It was however strange that he flared his aura at me for interrupting his meal, but not the chairman or Mustard when he felt challenged. Should I be concerned?
"Aww, hi cutie," She waved at the eating Pokemon.
I rolled my eyes but ignored the fawning girl, "You doing alright, Jenny?" Even out of uniform, I knew these two well enough not to say their names in public.
"Oh, yeah, better," She replied smiling, it didn't reach her eyes though. I'll have to deal with that later, when we have the time anyway.
Speaking of things to deal with. "You get some actual sleep last night?" I questioned the pinkette.
"Yup," She chirped happily.
"Riiiight," I drawled, hoping she was in a better mood, she certainly seemed less irritated today. Then again, I doubt I'm the only one of us that's been stressed or thrown for a loop. In fact, it's likely hit them harder than myself, Team Plasma was personal for them, and they had zero experience and very little knowledge of the supernatural. I at least had some knowledge and very limited experience.
I'm impressed they were keeping it together as well as they were, minus Fiona's little... outburst yesterday.
"Hmm~," She began. Then unexpectedly turned serious, "And how are YOU doing today?"
I cocked a brow at that and rubbed my neck, the indication clear, "Better than yesterday."
"Not what I meant," She sighed, what the hell is with her? I get she's likely stressed but apart from her little episode, she seemed fine, in fact it's like she was acting out on purpose.
"Hmm, well regardless, don't do it again, yeah," Was my response.
"I promise I won't, if I don't HAVE to. Speaking of promises, here," Fiona held out some flowers to me, Lily and daffodil, in the middle of the cafeteria, she knows what she's doing.
I heard Sonia and at least one other person, "Aww." Behind me. I ignored them.
"Thanks, I'll put them to good use," I responded, not letting myself get dragged in. Still, what did she mean by, HAVE to?
"I told you two to say with your security detail," Mama Jenny unfortunately interrupted. And to be frank, she looked horrible, her uniform was a mess, she had bags under her eyes and those same eyes were bloodshot.
"Sorry mum," Zoey replied.
"Just return to your table," She pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Ah, sorry Miss Jen, we're just trying not to let it affect us too much," I apologized to the poor overworked woman.
"I get it kid, I do, and I'm glad they have a friend like... Jericho, what's that earring you're wearing?" She questioned mid-sentence.
I fingered my focus a moment, why was she suddenly interested? She already knew I had an earring. Still, I answered, "A pentacle, specifically a pentagram, why?"
"What does that mean, what is it exactly?" She focused in on me, and while she was obviously still tired, she had straightened.
"Why?" I asked again, hesitant when she didn't answer prior.
"JUS-, Kid, please just answer the question," She almost yelled there, which was definitely unusual for her. Something that hadn't been lost on my friends, who both gave their attention to the woman.
Easy, don't push. She's either curious or more likely had found something with a pentacle, which is concerning.
Hmm, telling her the story lore might at least make her more cautious, and nothing happened last night. Well, that I know of... except the bodies in the morgue. Shit, new priority.
"It depends, like this, it's benevolent, meant to act as a focus representing order and spirit over matter. In myths, it represents Air, water, earth, fire, and spirit, the building blocks of life, at least what was once believed to be. In some stories, it's meant to act as a medium to heal, cast magic and summon spirits and the like through the use of herbs and stones," I paused and unhooked the piece of jewelry.
Flipping it upside down, I continued more seriously, "Inverted, however, it becomes more... Sinister, representing chaos and attraction of evil. Rather than acting as building blocks, it acts as a means to tear apart what exists, matter over spirit, a destroyer, a means to subvert and control, and summon horrific monstrosities. Of course, such things would require more than herbs and stones, usually including live sacrifices, animals, Pokemon, or humans, sometimes multiple. According to ancient myths, they would either sacrifice pure souls or ones so horrifically damaged that it showed their resolve to do unspeakable things."
What was worrying was how pale the mother in front of me had gotten. "Still it's all just hearsay, stories, and the like, I simply like the concept of the natural order. The old stories can all be explained away with people having tamed feral Pokemon," What I said was true, people did believe that. I just know better now.
"Mum?" Zoey questioned.
Mama Jenny shook her head, "It's nothing, come on girls." With that, she took the two back over to their table, the other Jenny following. Oh, yeah, something's happening. 'Hope you're ready for tonight, things are going to get... Weird,' I told my partner, who simply giggled and teleported to my head as I turned around.
"What?" I asked at the multiple gazes heading my way. Gazes ranged from concerned to outright scared, I'm not sure why though, as far as they're concerned, it was just a story.
"You're a weird kid," Piers commented bluntly.
"Is that really what it means?" came a small voice, Marnie.
I nodded in the positive, and the girl suddenly seemed genuinely interested.
Before I could continue our little chat though, Sonia groaned, "Come on, it's time to head back."
The rest of the day was much of the same, Gran teaching and me and Hatty handing things out and writing on the board until school was over.
Joy P.O.V
At least they left us alone in our rooms, the guards had taken up positions at the door and even outside the window. But in our room, we had some privacy.
"Fie!" Zoey put her hands on her hips.
"Yes, Zoe," I responded.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on now?" My dear sister had been rather patient, but until I'd confirmed my suspicions, I'd rather not worry her unnecessarily.
"Not yet Zoe, I don't even know if I'm right," I strongly suspected, but I needed it confirming.
"Sis, please," She was basically begging at this point, but still.
"Zoey it'll be fine," I tried to reassure her. Jericho was strong, and didn't appear to be in immediate danger.
"Fine! You put a collar on him, you hit him, and you told me to go along with it," She was upset, and the accusation was true, but it still hurt.
"You slapped him as well~" I sang and, much to my amusement, Zoey began to sputter, a distraction I greatly required.
"I only did it because he was trying to do stuff alone again, he said I, not we. You saw how dangerous that thing was, I didn't mean to hurt him," She defended, somewhat panicked that she had hurt him.
"I know, for what it's worth, he's always had a high pain tolerance, but now he's likely a lot tougher thanks to... Recent developments, I doubt either of us could hurt him, you saw what he could take," I soothed my sister.
I was admittedly concerned when I had found out he was an adept, more so when I learned he was keeping it a secret.
A grown man had punched him in the temple with hysterical strength and only dazed him. He didn't even have a bruise, granted he had a barrier up, but that punch would have killed a normal 6-year-old. I admit I was somewhat concerned that he hadn't been able to tell me he had been struck in the head, but he WAS fine, thankfully, from that at least.
Then he sparred with a Pokemon, worse a fighting type, which is a horrible idea. And, as predicted, had gotten his butt handed to him, but it was the condition he was in at the end of the fight that got my attention. Luckily, he has someone like me to help him out.
"And I only hit him because he was starting to break down, I used the fastest and most efficient method of distracting him to get his attention." I continued reassuring her, it was true he was beginning to go on a tangent he had no answer to.
My sister pouted then huffed a bit, "I guess."
It was quiet for a few moments until she spoke up again, "Then what about the collar?"
"I was... Testing something," I really didn't want her to worry, and I didnt want to think about it until I knew for sure and could deal with it.
"Test? Test what?" Zoe was naturally curious, I should have known that she wouldn't let it go.
I sighed, "I had to check something. Don't you think it was strange, he didn't put up more resistance?"
"He said, no," She argued.
"If only that had worked~" I teased back, Zoe was a gentle girl at heart, and naive even after everything that had happened, that WE'D been through.
Its why she hadn't taken killing a man well, even with her training. Thankfully my medical training included psychology and gave me a way to comfort her. But ultimately, we had, had... Worse, she was getting over it well.
The magic and reincarnation thing was admittedly new, though.
I shook my head.
"Fiona, please," She had tears forming now.
I froze, I never, ever wanted to see her cry, and I wasn't going to be the cause of it.
"OK, OK, look it involves his... New condition, I can't say anything here," I pointed at the door and window where the guards were.
Thankfully, her deductive mind put the pieces together, her eyes widened as a look of understanding dawned.
I nodded, "I couldn't be sure because there's a lot of other factors at work that I don't really have any understanding of, so I needed to check, I WILL explain, but for now, help me get my bag together, and I'll have him meet us in the same room as before, OK?"
"Right!" Zoey thankfully accepted.
This was either going to be very difficult or very easy, there's literally no in-between with him.
Halfway through packing my medical bag, My phone vibrated;
How you doing kid? I know you're in the castle, want to come see something cool and learn something?
I couldn't stop my smile.
"Fie, what is it?" Zoey questioned.
"Auntie Saline," This was perfect. If she was here, odds are she'd be working at the morgue, which means we had a way in. Auntie Saline wouldn't mind, she was a weird Joy too.
"I'll tell Jerry to meet us in the room, then we'll figure out a time to go, it shouldn't raise concern if we're just visiting family," I began planning, once we figured out if we were in the clear, we could react appropriately, and take care of Team Plasma.
Then? Then we'd be free, free to do whatever we wanted without the threat HE'D try to take us back. Then we'd help Jericho with his little, keeping-the-balance thing, saving the world was as good a project as any, Zoey liked it and I admit it seemed very interesting.
But first things first, Jericho needed a check-up.
Jericho P.O.V
Their late, the text said 1700 hours same room. Do they have any idea how hard it was to sneak away from Gran? Especially when she still insists on family dinners, which I was missing.
I suppose they would, they do have it worse after all. I wonder how they'll get away this time?
Bang
Something struck the door hard.
'Hatty?' I questioned, reaching for my knife.
'Their herrre~' She responded.
I rolled my eyes but relaxed slightly as the door opened, showing the two sisters.
"Sup," I greeted, "What's with the bags?"
Sure enough, both girls were carrying some rather large bags with them, I have no idea why they would think they need all that for a ritual or spell.
"I need it," Fiona answered panting, as Zoey closed the door.
"For what? I already have everything for the spell," I explained.
"Oh, right," Fiona shook her head. Then continued, "It's not for that."
I raised a brow, "Then why exactly?"
Fiona huffed, strangely Zoey had been silent the entire time, literally keeping her head down.
"You said being an adept was a secret, right?" She asked.
"Right," I confirmed with some confusion.
"Which means you never got a medical check-up after becoming one," She folded her arms.
Oh, fuck no, I am not having a check-up, "I don't need one, I'm fine."
"Really?" She narrowed her eyes, and I admittedly tensed at the nurse.
"Yes, I had a few teething problems, but I'm past it," I figured admitting that I had already overcome the initial problems would put her at ease, it didn't.
"Really, because if I recall correctly, this happened accidentally, and usually has a high mortality rate when not prepared for correctly," She glared.
I winced at the reminder, "Apparently, but I'm fine."
"See that's what I thought you'd say," The Joy prodigy took out something I recognized from yesterday.
"Joy," I warned, she paused for a second at the use of family name while we were alone.
She held up the collar from yesterday, and removed a light blue crystal fixing from inside of it?
"Do you know what this is?" She held it up.
I frowned and examined the item she was holding, it looked like an aura crystal, but I couldn't be certain, "No."
"Figures, they're mostly used by police and medical personnel to restrict violent Pokemon... And adepts," She looked me square in the eyes.
"What the hell!" I rubbed my neck, and honestly felt rather betrayed at that.
She huffed and crossed her arms, "Well I had to do something, do you have any idea how bad of a condition you're likely in!"
I'm sorry what? "What the heck are you babbling about."
The little girl put her hand on her hips, "An energy suppressor cuts off typed energy, well, it regulates it anyway. Adepts and Pokemon won't be able to use their energy while it's in use. It's uncomfortable, makes you tired and groggy, more importantly, it glows from the energy it's absorbed. So, want to take a guess at why this one had no effect?"
"I DID just finish a fight, you know. Why the fuck are you using that on ME," I demanded.
Zoey gasped at my language.
"Because it would react to ANY latent energy in your system, you might have used your energy. But your body should have adapted to it by now, it's been nearly two months. Your body should have a base amount at all times, like if you pass out you still technically have energy in your body," She explained hotly. Ok, that still doesn't explain why she did it.
"Ok, meaning!?" I was admittedly getting agitated.
"Meaning there's no background energy, your body's fueling itself with your energy reserves! How much have you been eating, what have you been eating?" She looked legitimately concerned now.
... "I- maybe a handful of berries and an Arrokuda or Skwovet daily, along with a few pellets of pokemix, and dinner every night with the family? My body started cannibalizing itself, I can eat regular food, but it's not enough, so we started hunting and foraging," Hunts weren't always successful admittedly, and a single mundane meal was useless outside of appearances. I was often hungry, not getting as much food as I thought I should have been for some one my age. But it was still enough to keep me going, evidently.
"You IDIOT, you are human, not mixed blood. Yes, your body has started adapting to the energy, but you still need regular food, why weren't you eating more? You need more, both energized and mundane, you're a forced adept your neutral energy has been overwritten, you NEED both, and you've barely been getting any!" She yelled and walked right up to me.
"W-What," I stuttered out in disbelief, I would say that wasn't right but at the same time she IS the one with medical training.
"Pokemon CAN technically sustain themselves off of mundane food and material, so long as they don't use their abilities or typed energy, it's just not worth it though, so they usually don't. Natural adepts are the same, some don't even know they are adepts, and they get by just fine. Likewise, humans can dissipate energized food, and absorb the little bit they need without cell damage, you can't, not anymore. Energized food is too much for your body and mundane food is too little for your energy output," She was right in my face now.
"From what I've read online, if you have no energized food it means your body will cannibalize itself, you would have been dead in days, you were thankfully smart enough to figure that one out. But without mundane food, your body's drawing from your typed energy to keep going, more and more every day until you just shut down, another couple of fights like that, and you'd be comatose, the only reason you're not dead yet is because you've been eating both, even if it's not enough it's slowed down the effects" She poked my chest, and I felt the blood leave my face, the thought of Sonia or Gran just finding me dead was a horrid one. I heard Zoey whimper in the background as I attempted to wrap my head around the new information.
"Jerry, every creature in our world CAN take in both types of energy, you NEED both now. A single meal a day for both sides isn't enough, especially because you've been training, worse you're actively fighting now. An active adult adept needs around 5000 calories a day, that can be limited though lack of energy use, but yesterday you barely ate even when you had the option, that tells me you're starving yourself and can't eat much," There was desperation in her voice now.
It did explain what happened to my body when I first became an adept, and I likely needed far less food at the time, which is why I came back around so fast. But as I became stronger, the draw for my body did as well. The link between the body and typed energy was strong in adepts, after all, it was part of the reason we were so tough physically.
I took a deep breath, "Is that why you brought the pokemix?"
She nodded, "It has some mundane food mixed in... I didn't know exactly what was wrong with you, but you're skinnier than normal, and after, well, everything it was obvious you needed a check-up, the Sitrus berry was a stop-gap, don't think I didn't notice those scars on your arms when you turned your jacket around." I winced again, I didn't think about that. I guess this explains why they put mundane carbs in pokemix as filler though, shit I should have checked that.
"And you used the collar, why?" I don't understand why she didn't just ask.
"I was guessing, so I wanted to check your energy levels, especially because you're a new adept," She explained.
"And you couldn't have asked because?" I crossed my arms in irritation.
"Well for one, I wanted to test how much resistance you'd put up, which was telling in itself. And second, I remember how difficult it is getting you to the hospital after your fight with those kids," She went from somewhat shy to completely deadpan.
"T-That's different, knuckles and ribs have to heal by themselves, and I know they'd try to give me shots for the pain," I winced at the reminder. In her panic Sonia had dragged me to the Pokemon center, guess who was there?
Joy gasped then grinned, "Jerry~ are you scared of a little old needle?" I've made a horrible mistake.
"No! No, of course not, it would have just been a huge waste of time is all, better to just rest and heal naturally, yeah?," I attempted to evade.
"Ho, I guess it's different from where you remember, coz we can have broken bones fixed within days. Of course, you'll need an injection," She stated, I paled at the reminder. They HAD eventually gotten me to the hospital, eventually. They'd had to use a form of medicalized sleep powder to stick me, mind you. I did wonder why I was good to go after only 3 days, I was still in pain at the time.
"Well regardless, you NEED a check-up, and don't you dare say you're fine, I already found one thing wrong with you," She demanded.
"I- Fine," I consented, reluctantly.
Hatenna cooed from atop my head, though not through our link.
"We're good now," Fiona patted the Pokemon acting as my hat.
'Aww, looks like I don't need to hold you down then,' The little witch broadcast.
"Yeah- wait, what, hold me down!?" I exclaimed in a panic.
Fiona slapped my arm playfully, "Oh, enough, I have to keep you alive somehow, and if you won't let me, I WILL make you, along with my lovely assistant, of course. I asked for her help while you were sparring, it wasn't hard, guess I'm not the only one that's been worrying." Oh great, she'd had my partner's support before she'd even confirmed it.
I received feelings of worry and sadness.
I grumbled but relented, in the end, she was only trying to help, they both were, "In the future, just ask."
"Only if you stop being stupid, consider it payment for getting into an unnecessary fight. Honestly, for an adept you don't know much about them, you have a phone now, check," She retorted. I hate that she was right, I thought it was under control, so I never bothered to check.
I stripped my coat and shirt while the pinkette pulled out a stethoscope.
"Here!" Zoey yelled, pushing a container in front of me.
"Err, what?" I questioned.
"Food, all the food, I mean. Please," Zoey pleaded as she opened the lid of a large container... Is she specking Galarian right now or what?
"She means mundane and energized, Eat," Fiona demanded.
I sighed, "Fine, but after this, I am casting the spell, you got your mum's card?"
"Better, my aunt texted me, turns out she's the mortician, AND we aren't going anywhere until you're cleared, I'm worried you might have organ failure, though your reflexes today and yesterday SEEMED fine. Zoey and I can check the morgue if we have to, while you rest," She glared, but I wouldn't be quelled.
"Now hang on a sec-" I began. I did feel Ok after all, though now that I think about it that might not be a good thing.
"No, you said it yourself, everything's contained right now, and you NEED to rest and recover. If this eclipse is as strong as you think, then who knows what might happen, we need you at full strength," She put her stethoscope on my chest. I flinched at the coldness.
"Dammit," I cursed the cold instrument.
Then I continued, "Look the bodies might have been tampered with, don't you think it's strange your mum asked about my earring right after the bodies came in?" I inquired.
It was Zoey that responded, grinning as I began to eat, "Then we'll call you, we still have a few hours until we can visit anyway."
"Fine, but only if I AM critical. Make sure you have your salt and sage, I won't be able to rest otherwise, and Hatty can still go with you, right?" I informed them, and waited for my partners' response.
'Sure!' She chirped and moved to Fiona's head.
I sighed, I really needed to look up more on adepts now, after all I had internet access with my new phone, I'd just been busy with everything going on.
"Why, is your heart rate so high?!" Fiona yelled, then huffed and glared at me.
Sigh*
It's going to be a long night.
Unknown P.O.V
She paced side to side in her tower, there was something wrong with that city.
She could not see.
She took a breath.
Looking ahead, she had seen they were meant to find the girl and help her pass on, so why did she feel her fur bristle and her instincts flare?
Simple, the future had changed, to what, she couldn't say, but something had happened while they were there.
Something was wrong, the moment they entered the city her sight was darkened so she attempted to glimpse the future, she had succeeded and then it went into flux.
This was intentional, someone or something was preventing her from watching over the new kits, the eclipse was coming ever closer, but there SHOULD have been little for it to affect.
Gale never entered the war, he was there to maintain the balance for far longer than the rest. Had he taught his children? Perhaps they thought her a threat?
But then, the anomaly in the mirror, it had come from the city, before she had lost the link.
Damnation, how she loathed being stuck behind these walls.
For now, all she could do is wait and hope.
A/N: This actually ended up being a good segway for the actual adept diet, something I've been planning for awhile. Because while Jericho is smart he doesn't know everything especially regarding this world, and before now he's only had books to help him, few of which were on adepts, none of which were on forced adepts, so he's been figuring it out as he goes, he can only work with the information given, and came to a bad conclusion, believing he had it under control.
Where as Fiona is a trained nurse thats looked into this from a medical stand point, with good information. It also explains why Ash in the show ate mostly normal food, without issue, again something Jericho should have thought of. Or Why pokemo like Aggron still eat a lot of metal, which is a muntane element. Plus it shows that becoming an adept isn't without consequences for those without the bloodline. I think it all lines up with the explanation in chapter 9, mostly, I did check, to make it seem Jericho was just missing one or two things.
@MidasStories, Blackwinged Demon97 and Terastrasza:
Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate anyone letting me know any problems they have, so I can be aware of them. This is my first story so I'm kind of experimenting a little with it. I did have several plans in place, I know I could delete or alter that part, but that seems to easy, I'd rather try and write around it. Failure is the mother of invention, and all that. Hope it worked out.
