Monster Hunter: The Telepathic Hunter; Ch2: Pokke Village

Time Unknown…

Alex stirred from a restless sleep. There was a pain in his chest area and left arm. "Ow… Oh, man… did anyone get… the number… of the Bulldrome… that hit me? Ow…"

"Hey, you're awake," said an unfamiliar voice.

"WHA!?" Alex's eyes flew open and he sat up, scaring the owner of the voice. He looked around frantically. "Where am I!? OW!" Alex fell back down due to the pain. "Owww…"

"Hey, take it easy!" said a man with reddish hair. "Don't reopen your wounds by panicking. You are safe now."

"I'm sorry about that, sir," replied Alex, looking at the man. "What happened to me…?"

"I was just about to ask you. Well, I found you half frozen in a crater of ice within a dark gorge in the mountains yesterday morning. Do you remember falling?"

Alex held his temple. "Er… Yes. I do. But I didn't merely fall; I was attacked."

"I assumed the same when I saw the peculiar damage on your Mafumofu, and the on the shield of your Bone Kris set. There are some gnarly scratches which match your wounds. Do you remember any details of the monster that attacked you?"

"I… know its name… at least. It was… a Tigrex."

"Tigrex!? You were attacked by a Tigrex in the mountains!? You're lucky to be alive, considering the rather weak defensive ability of the Mafumofu… Oh, I get it! You were saved by the Divine Protection Skill! You really are lucky!"

"Divine Protection Skill?"

"It is a Skill which randomly reduces damage from an attack. It's really handy, but pretty rare in stronger armor sets."

"Okay… Moving on, are we in Pokke Village?"

"Yes, we are. This is my home. You must be our new attached Hunter who is supposed to take over for me. I'm Maxwell Kasai the Great."

"You're Maxwell!? I'm your biggest fan! Oh, and my name is Alex."

"Alex, huh? How familiar… Um, I'm sure you know I'm retired. A Tigrex injured me in the White Night Dunes, plus I'm already over 50 years old. It's time for me to pass the torch. But you are going to have to heal first."

"How much longer?"

"I'll say… to about the start of next year."

"Wow. That bad, huh?"

"That bad… Rookie." Maxwell gave a smile, which Alex returned.

January 1st, 2098.

Alex gave out a yawn as he stretched. He appreciated the warmth of the sunlight. "Ah, it's good to finally be out and about again."

"Well, someone looks well rested," called Maxwell's voice from the left. Alex walked out further from the entrance of the house. "Over here!"

"Huh?" Alex looked down a path and spotted Maxwell standing near a steaming hot spring. He ran down to meet him. "Good morning, Max."

"Good morning, Rookie. You're looking in top form this morning. Are you ready to have a look around the village?"

"You bet! I'm raring to go," replied Alex with gusto.

"Follow me." Maxwell led Alex to a building with a counter front. At the counter was a man dressed in a civilian version of the Mafumofu, and a Felyne, a cat-like creature. Capable of speech, they were often found under human employ. "Good morning, Vance! I brought your new client."

"Yo, yo, and hello!" greeted the jolly Vance. "You must be this Alex I heard so much about. Feeling better?"

"Yeah, thanks! I sure do! It's nice to meet you, Mr. Vance."

"Likewise, and just call me Vance. I am the village blacksmith. I can create weapons and armor for you if you bring me the required materials. Oh, speaking of armor, I repaired the Mafumofu we sent you, and upgraded its parts, too." Vance crouched and reappeared with a large box.

"Thank you, Vance!"

"Hold on, we'll pick it up on the way back," said Max. "I'm showing Alex around."

"Okay, I got'cha." Vance placed the box back down. "I hope you will like our village, Alex."

"I already do, Vance," replied Alex.

With that, he and Max resumed the tour. They went to what looked like a food stall, just to the left of the armory. There was a woman also dressed in Mafumofu, and hers had green on it. There were various fruits and veggies on sale. "Oh, good mornin' Max! Who's the handsome young feller there? Speak son, tell me 'bout yer'self."

Alex looked bashful. "Nice to meet you, ma'am. My name is Alex, and I'm your new hunter."

"Oh my! So, are you feeling better? Is it really ok for you to be out?" The woman looked very concerned.

"I've have had two weeks of rest. I'm better than better. Say, you haven't graced me with your name."

"Sorry 'bout that! I'm Dinah, and I run a grocery. I deal mainly in items of nature, but I sell hunter goods too… when my stock returns."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, with Maxy here retired for the past month or so, old Snowy Zion hasn't been all that safe, so my supply routes have dried up. Alex, without you here, our village would fall to the verge of collapse… We've already had a lot of desertion over the last two weeks…" Dinah looked sad.

Alex was shocked. "Things are that bad, huh?" He then looked thoughtful and clenched his fists. "I guess I'm just going to have to work hard and do my best. I promise to pick things up around here, Miss Dinah."

At that, Dinah and Maxwell smiled. "Well, yer a swell young feller. Here, have this on the house." Dinah handed Alex a pickaxe. "You can mine for ores in the mountains with this. Ore is an indispensible material for hunting life."

"Thank you, Miss Dinah."

After that Alex and Max made their way to the village's most prominent feature, a giant blue rock. Before this rock was a short elder woman warming herself before a small fire. She had a cane that was almost as small as her; or as short, rather.

"Good morning, Granny," greeted Max to the woman. "I brought Alex to see you."

"Good morning, Maxwell. Hello there, Alex. Can you believe that an old woman like me can be chief of a village like this?"

"Good morning, Ma'am," said Alex. "Sure I can. You must be very wise. I'd love to learn about the village from you."

The Chief giggled. "Allow me to formally welcome you to Pokke Village. Our first meeting was a bit, how should I say... quiet."

"Huh? Isn't this the first time we've met?"

"Technically speaking, yes. But you see, I'm the one who mixed up the medicine to treat your wounds when Maxwell brought you in. To say that I was astonished and dismayed that our new hunter would arrive to me in such a state…"

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. I just ran into some trouble on the way here."

"Trouble is joke… You're wounds were basically the same as Maxwell's injury, meaning you were attacked by one critter, a vile beast whose name strikes fear far and wide." Alex's eyes widened. "I'm glad you are okay now; you could have been retired before you even started!"

"Considering I almost ended up on the meat grinder, I suppose that's no exaggeration…" Alex swallowed.

"Let's move on from this topic. I need to pay you your starter fee. Thank you for becoming our attached hunter." The Chief took out a bag and handed it to Alex. "This is 3000 Zenny."

"Whoa! That much!?"

"Normally, I would give half, but with how shaky we started I decided that stinginess is no longer in my dictionary. The village needs you, and I need you. Oh, you can live with Maxwell."

Alex replaced the money into the money compartment of his hunter pack. "Thank you, Ma'am. I promise to not let you down."

"You can call me Granny. Everyone does. Everyone is family, here."

"Alright, Granny," replied Alex with a smile.

"Come back tomorrow, and I'll have your beginner quests ready. I suggest speaking with the new Official sent by the Hunter's Guild next. She'll provide you with some information about quests and other important things. You're dismissed."

Alex and Max turned to head back. Right in front of them was a large building with the Guild's logo on a banner over the entrance. Upon nearing it, a woman with cyan colored hair and armored in a green Leather Blade Master armor-set stepped out of the outpost. She turned to the duo and waved at Maxwell. "Hey, Max!"

"Good morning, Anna; I see you're back," greeted Maxwell. "How did the reconnaissance mission fare out?"

"I'm afraid it's just as bad as we thought, Max. More and more Giaprey packs are crossing over. Different packs even fight over each other and with the Blangos for territory…"

"Yeesh. A lot can change in a month, after all," said Max glumly.

Anna glanced at Alex, whom was watching the exchange carefully. "Max, who is this?"

"Ah. Allow me to introduce you to Alex. He's new, just like you, but he's going to take over for me as Head Hunter here."

"Really?" Anna looked at Alex fully and offered a hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Alex. I'm Anna Frost."

Alex shook her hand with a smile. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance. Oh, I love the color of your hair."

"Um, thanks!" Anna was blushing only slightly. "Oh, your hair is great, too. Can I call you Mr. Water?"

"Uh, I don't like too much formality, but if we're going to be working together then sure. Call me whatever makes you feel comfortable."

Anna laughed. "Great! Well, I got to go. See you tomorrow. Bye, Max."

"Bye, Anna. Make sure you rest up."

"Will do!" she replied as she went away.

"Well, she's pretty friendly," mused Alex.

"Do I smell a crush?" jeered Max.

Alex blushed before giving Max a playful shove, "MAX!"

Maxwell just laughed. "I'm kidding. I'm just jostling you. C'mon, let's head inside and see the Official. Even I don't know who she is."

Inside of the Guild outpost's was quite spacious. There was a large table to the right where at least eight people could have a seat. Directly across from the door was a billboard, and to the left was a counter. There were two women there, one sitting behind a counter and the other standing just next to it talking to the other. Alex and Max approached and the one behind the counter spotted them and waved. The woman who was standing turned to greet them.

"Hello there. You must be Maxwell, and you must be the new hunter sent from Kokoto. My name is September and I am the new Official provided by the Guild. It's a pleasure."

"Nice to meet you, Miss September," replied Alex. Alex noticed her large ears and knew immediately that she was a wyverian, just like Koto. "I'm Alex of Kokoto."

September giggled. "You don't have to be so formal, Alex. Are you here to learn about what happens here?"

"Sure!"

"Alex, I'm going to abandon you now," announced Maxwell. "Come to the house when you're done."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Go have your afternoon nap."

"Hey, are you trying to say I'm old!?"

"I'm just jostling you," Alex echoed. At that Max just smirked before bidding his farewell and taking his leave.

"Now that that's out of the way, can I see your registration form? I'll need it so that I can provide you with your Guild Card. It'll take two days, so in the mean time you can do jobs for the Chief, hopefully get Pokke back up and running."

"Okay." Alex took out a scroll from his pack and handed it to her.

"Thank you." September glanced through it before handing it to a girl behind the counter. "Patricia, take care of this for me, okay?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" replied Patricia. "Uh, nice to meet you, Alex."

"Likewise, Patricia. You have a lovely name." Patricia blushed at the flattery before getting back to work.

Alex and September went to the table and sat across from each other. "Now, where do we start?"

"Tell me about quests."

"Well, quests are job requests that come to the Guild Headquarters in Minegarde City from all over. They range from gathering requested items to slaying monsters threatening an area. The level of the quests is denoted by stars. The level of quest you can sign up for is based on your Hunter Rank, or HR for short, which is a simplified measurement of the Guild's recognition of your skills. You are HR1, since you are new. You are only eligible for up to two-star level quests, and you'll get a rank up if you work remarkably. If you take on quests from the Chief, you mostly do them in the mountains, but quests from here can take you all over the continent. We have a blimp service for transporting you, although Pokke currently does not have access. So, just do your best in your mountain adventures for now until the Guild gives clearance again."

Alex nodded. "Okay. Thanks for your time."

"No problem. With you here now, I'm sure things while get busy in the village soon enough. See you later, Alex."

They got up. "Bye, September." Alex looked at the counter. "Bye, Patricia!"

"Later, Alex!" waved Patricia.

Alex made his leave. Upon exiting the gathering hall, he decided to explore on his own. He went to a few homes and introduced himself to what few villagers remained. On the way back to Maxwell's house, he picked up his repaired Mafumofu armor.

That night…

"So, Alex, what do you think of the village?" asked Maxwell before taking a slurp of his freshly brewed Mountain Herb tea.

Alex took a sip of his own before answering. "Despite the fact that we are sitting on a cold mountain, Pokke has a warm atmosphere about it. It's not quite what I'm used to, I'll say that. But I do love it here."

"You're from Kokoto, right? Did you train under Chief Koto?"

"I lived with him too, ever since I lost my parents at the age of two." Alex looked somber at the memory. "But he took good care of me and molded me into the man I am today. He personally chose me for Pokke, so I won't let him down."

Maxwell smiled. "I see. He must believe in you very much. So I will too. I'll support you as much as I can, for the Village's sake."

"Thanks, Max."

"You're welcome…, Rookie."

"I prefer, Young Novice."

"Young Novice?"

"If I explained where that came from, you would just call me crazy. I'm going to get some sleep."