- Electric Recruitment -
Alexa looked at bit nervously at the other trainers on their way in and out of Violet City as she made her way with William towards Route 32. She was back to a standard Vespikiln form, and the morning's training had her a bit nervous about using any more transformations around William's team until they had worked through the fact that some had the most uncomfortable type change used on them without their knowledge back in William's home region.
"I'm going to be pokemon hunting on this route," William warned her as the crowd started to thin out. Some trainers pulling ahead rapidly, others falling behind, and many going off slight side paths for riskier pokemon encounters. "I've looked up what's available, and there is a local Electric type called Mareep that has been reported wild along here. Also I want to get a Wooper if I can find one, but that is a personal goal instead of a replacement for anyone."
"I think I'm making good enough time to stick with you for that," Alexa easily agreed to that plan. "I need to spend more time than normal on training anyway. Rhydon wants to keep learning to fly properly for one thing." She let out the topiary-bird, only to cringe as Rhydon's fluffy clouds hardened back down into dirt. "Well, after he's able to again," she buzzed regretfully, only for Rhydon to continue to change. His leaves fused together and his body returned to the biological bipedal rhino shape of a typical Rhydon.
"Okay, I will admit I did not entirely believe he was a real Rhydon before," William said a bit uneasily about the larger change. A number of the other trainers around them had also stopped to look at the display.
"Well, that lasted a long time at least," Rhydon sighed thoughtfully. "Can we hold off on Crystal Syrup for now? I want to save those hours while I work out flight."
"So just Stable Cloud then?" Alexa asked and passed her pokemon the small piece of white material. "We're going to need to be careful with it, the new bag doesn't have the same places to hold it in order to be more waterproof."
"I think I want to see if I could make some myself while I'm changed," Rhydon noted. "I've tried quite a few other materials that can change."
"Sounds like something to try," Alexa agreed as they started to move again towards the somewhat mountainous path. "Although it might be the kind of stuff that needs a Legendary to make."
"So it might need to wait for you to have a Flying type then?" Rhydon asked cautiously, and with a hint of disappointment.
"You will still need to try first, it might not," Alexa tried to comfort her pokemon.
"Are Vespikiln minor Legendary pokemon too?" William asked with a growl once the crowd had thinned down to just a couple of trainer pairs. He drew some attention from the sound, but not the larger impact that the words would have given.
"No, they were at least thought to be extinct before it was discovered they were transformed humans, and back when they were common they were more of a rival civilization in their areas," Alexa buzzed back, which made the other trainers stop paying attention to their pokemon speech. "There are a few legends about that time, but the pokemon themselves are fairly well documented compared to most minor Legendary pokemon, let alone the more important ones."
"I'm not sure I want to ask what happened to them, it seems a bit rude to ask a Vespikiln that question," William half questioned, and Alexa did take a moment to consider her feelings about the topic.
"It probably is a question to be careful about with the Vespikiln that want to be Vespikiln, but I'm more of a shapeshifter that can be a Vespikiln," she started to explain. "As for the answer to that, it is hard to tell. The hives that have been found are mostly intact, although they are made out of well made baked clay so it would take a lot to do that. Remains are rarely found in them, only one or two hives that were found damaged had those." She shrugged, only with her upper arms, at that lack of real answer. "Nobody knows for sure. It might have been hunting, a plague, a Legendary getting mad at the species, or even just all the Vespikiln leaving the hives and becoming humans."
"Or they could have moved," Rhydon suggested with a wave of one of his clawed hands, the one without Stable Cloud in it. "There are lots of places that they could have gone, isn't there?"
"There are some places where a hive could still be hidden," Alexa admitted with a bit of unease. She was currently Vespikiln shaped, but she only knew the basics about what their culture was like. "But I don't actually know where those are compared to where hives have been found."
"I've never heard of any at least," William admitted. "And my home town had quite a few classes to educate us on other pokemon villages. I've forgotten of quite a few over the years, but giant fire-bees are something I would remember."
"Which ones do you remember?" Alexa had to ask. It was a rare topic, and one that Alexa now cared about a lot more as she technically was one of the civilized pokemon of the world. Although she was at most like Charizard, a pokemon raised by humans in a human way.
"Well, I remember that there is a mixed species town that is the closest to home, but I have never managed to remember why it was founded or by who. It was the town of fairly open pokemon compared to mine, and that meant a place I went to in order to awkwardly hear about their opinions on humans because we didn't drop the illusions there," William started off, and then proceeded to spend the rest of Rhydon's hour on the topic.
The Lucario Kingdom of Kanto was familiar enough to Alexa, but it was interesting to hear about a place she had been to from an outside perspective. He compared them to Zoroark a bit more heavily than Alexa would, as while many could speak human she didn't know of any that actually did something like becoming a trainer yet. He also knew about a Gardevoir town in Hoenn, or possibly only Kirlia, but he didn't really know about that one other than how some of them did go on Leagues, but he admitted that now he wasn't sure if as a trainer or a battle pokemon. He said there was a larger story there, but he unfortunately didn't pay much attention to the Psychic type towns and barely remembered it as an example of them. The one he remembered most was a Sneasel town in Sinnoh that was so old they still had some rare differently typed members who had only been revealed to still exist when he was a kid.
Actual discussion of the Sneasel town besides that highlight was interrupted by Rhydon's change. Alexa's rhino pokemon's hard plates once more started to flake apart, this time into the yellowish tan feathers of his Ground/Flying form. Then his face became a beak, his arms became wings, his tail thinned as it grew larger feathers, and his feet into grasping talons.
"Okay, that looks like his topiary form when he uses it, only an actual bird," William said a bit nervously.
William realized with Rhydon's latest change that he had not in fact fully understood that all of Alexa's team could change entire categories of creature depending on how they used what they used. He had admittedly seen her own forms and how different they all were, but now it was clear that those sorts of full body changes were not in fact specific to a human's other forms.
"Yeah, Heracross ends up a bat, but Kingler and Bellossom stay about the same," Alexa replied to his prior statement. "I've traveled with someone while working on flight before when Charizard got his wings. Would you be okay with things if I spent the rest of the day in the air?"
"That would give me more time to look for a Mareep," William agreed with a nod at the Vespikiln. "If I need you I can fly up and get you two myself." Which was a bit strange to say in this context, as it had been years since he last traveled with another trainer that could fly on their own.
It wasn't a great idea to try and recruit with a pair of powerful trained pokemon flying overhead, but William hoped that an Electric type would be the least likely to worry about Flying types. At least as long as they weren't able to spot the oddity of a pokemon that looked to be both Ground and Flying at the same time. Those weren't common, and while Rhydon was a particularly large one he did look a lot like more typical bird pokemon. He quickly made his way further down the path to a few patches of long grass near the edge of the hilly woods.
Long grass had been given both sides of the same meaning when he was a kid. From the human side there was the familiar idea that going out in the wild, and more specifically into the uncared for long grass found in many places, meant you were at risk of a wild pokemon trying to fight you. A place to never go without a pokemon by your side to protect you, at least as long as he was in a human illusion. Other pokemon could not tell the difference between his illusions and reality most of the time, and even then it wasn't like tall grass was some place all pokemon were friendly to each other. William was taught how to protect himself if he really needed to, but so were the human kids in town, and the difference was that while he could use moves those other kids could always take hits better.
The pokemon side of things had been scary when William was younger. A pokemon who went in tall grass should always be aware of humans, because pokemon in tall grass along a route are saying they are willing to be caught. If you didn't want to get caught then don't go in the grass. He had been so terrified of the idea that a trainer would find him in the tall grass after a pokemon broke his disguise that he had barely even left the town before he had his trainer card.
It was a silly thing to have thought in retrospect, William reflected with a glance to the sky to see where Alexa was, as he learned how to speak human language before he was even allowed out of the house without someone watching him. A talking pokemon was a big deal, and if he was caught without wanting to be then any Pokemon Center could have gotten him home with the pokeball. The League was fairly firm on that, and now that William was a trainer as well it would be an even bigger deal.
With a glance at a number of small round pink pokemon with leaves on their heads, Hoppip if William recalled correctly, his thoughts drifted back to the original issue. He could not see any of the bright yellow color used by Electric typed pokemon to warn others that bothering them would result in a shock. Mareep were supposed to be covered in bright yellow wool most of the time, although William wasn't sure what color they were under the wool at that evolutionary stage due to how it changed as they evolved.
"Trainer," one Hoppip quickly warned the others, who all then glanced at him. A few started to fly away slowly, and the one that spoke fixed him with a halfway challenging glare. They weren't attacking yet, but if he didn't respond soon they might.
William cringed now that he was reminded of the difference in how he had to deal with catching pokemon compared to most trainers. Being able to understand other pokemon meant you could easily tell which actually wanted to go with you, and which definitely did not, with a large number in between that had always felt awkward to judge. The average trainer could turn down a pokemon by just walking away, but William had to actually explain that he didn't want them directly. They also would just catch a pokemon and only notice if the pokemon really noticeably did not want to be on their team at all.
"Dedenne," William deliberately growled as he let out the pokemon. This made the Hoppip pause and Dedenne glare at him. "Can you sense any other Electric types nearby?"
That earned him a smile from the Electric/Fairy. "Alright, that is a good use of me for the Deal," Dedenne smugly agreed and began to thoughtfully spark. "Looks like either deeper into the forest here, or further down the road."
"Thank you," William replied with a false smile and returned his current Electric type. Deeper into the forest was technically an option, but even human trainers would be more careful about attempting to catch pokemon that far off route. In the grass wild pokemon would generally overlook captures even of friends and family, but in areas that were not maintained by trainers to some degree you would more often need to make sure the other pokemon with your prospective new teammate weren't too upset with the idea of them leaving. Angry parents for one thing were not fun to encounter, as they were often well into the power you would only be able to safely handle with a four or five Badge team of pokemon, or a full League level team for the particularly powerful species.
If William had been in more of a hurry he might have tried that, but the entire route had long established Mareep line presence, and the magnetic train's electrical components would likely attract them further down it where that technological marvel passed by. So with another glance skyward to check on Alexa and Rhydon he set off further down the path.
Alexa woke up the next morning tired from the long day of flight, and a bit grumpy at still being a Vespikiln. The weather was nice enough to stay out of her tent, which meant a brief blast of wind to scatter the small piles of Chitin Powder into dust so dilute it would not work was all the cleanup needed, but it also meant that she had been sleeping on the ground again. She would be back to human later in the day unless something had gone wrong, but a new set of bedding made for her Vespikiln form was now something to consider. She had the new hammock from before she even started the Johto League, but it wasn't fireproof enough for her Bug/Fire form.
Then she froze as she noticed a large yellow and white saber toothed feline pokemon sat at the edge of their camp, with a large mane of light purple cloud-like fur, and a brilliant blue lightning bolt tail.
"Greetings," the Raikou said to her. "I am searching for a human or pokemon named 'Alexa Larch', perhaps in the shape of a large rock lobster pokemon, is she traveling with your group?"
"I'm Alexa," she replied slowly, unsure of how to talk with a real Legendary pokemon. "I'm just in another form this time." She glanced at both her undisturbed bag and William's tent. Alexa could sense a bit of movement from the latter, so maybe the other trainer would be able to help. "What do you need?"
Raikou blinked at her as she sat up. "Father heard about a new Legendary from the local Unown, and wanted someone to check you over given the fact that they reacted to you like that," he cautiously answered. "Their reports are always a bit of a mess to translate. Lots of extra information and unfortunately they are not as consistent as you would expect." William's tent opened, and a tired Zoroark emerged, paused at the sight of Raikou, and then sighed loudly. "Anyway I'm mostly here to find out who and what you actually are, or at least the basics so we have some idea of what is happening."
Alexa turned to William in confusion at that request. "Alexa, if you count then this is the second Legendary pokemon I have ever seen in person," he replied to her in what she now thought of as his 'you just shook my world view again' tone of voice.
"Personally I say any group of Unown larger than six counts as a minor Legendary," Raikou contributed to that topic. "So keep that in mind for that kind of calculation."
"Fifth," William complained at the clarification. "I have met a group of at least seven three times now, and regretted every one of those moments."
"Ah, were you both traveling through the Ruins together? Because they can be a bit forceful about cataloging new Legendary pokemon," Raikou complained as well. "They were terrible for me after, well after I became a Raikou. Visited the Ruins a bunch of times beforehand and they never did anything, but first time by afterwards and they all jumped on me for a deep scan."
"I was under the impression that I was at most a minor Legendary by technicality at the time," Alexa replied, sort of dazed about how they had just touched on that topic. "Uh, the transformed human kind. Admittedly it was a new species, but I didn't expect it to be that notable." However, she now had a concern about that. "When you said 'father' did you mean Ho-Oh? He actually adopted you?"
"Yeah, well before the fire actually," Raikou admitted fondly. "Can't say he didn't go beyond the typical for me and my sisters."
"They didn't want to scan you when you were a minor Legendary," Alexa noted a bit faintly at that detail. "Adoption should count."
Raikou turned to look at her directly, and looked impressed. "Huh, most people don't actually realize that part," he said with a happy smile. Then seemed to realize what exactly that implied about Alexa as his expression drooped. "You didn't think you were a major Legendary, and they didn't notice me when I was a minor one."
"I was born human," Alexa said dully in agreement. "I don't even have a type naturally. I'm as far from having a type as you can get, every scan I've had when in my normal human form has had an even level of every type down to the margin for error."
Both of the other pokemon looked confused by her statement. "Wait, exactly even?" William questioned. "As in the same amount of every type?"
"Yes? Mom and Dad are both close to the same for everything, so it makes sense for me to be similar to them," Alexa noted. "It is a strange coincidence, but just a coincidence."
"Alexa Larch, Legendary pokemon don't have coincidences," Raikou replied grimly. "Maybe you should explain what you can do more clearly."
"But it isn't actually anything special! I just have a bunch of stuff my dad is researching," Alexa argued and spread out all four of her arms. "Sure it is rare stuff, but my dad is a professor, they're supposed to have a bunch of rare stuff!"
"I probably should mention that by my own standards Oak counts as a Legendary human," Raikou nervously admitted. "It isn't quite the same, but maybe I'm not understanding properly. What kinds of 'stuff' do you have?"
Alexa looked at the Legendary pokemon and considered her options to explain it best. "Okay, maybe a demonstration would be easiest. Have you ever considered having another type?" she questioned him.
"Is this question theoretical, or is that actually an option?" Raikou asked with his own nervous glance at William.
"It is actually an option," the Zoroark answered for her slowly. "I'm kind of hoping they aren't so rare that you don't know about them."
"The best options to just try I have are a Clearwater Geode for the Water type," Alexa started to explain. "Toxin Contagion for the Poison type, and two more things my team developed based on that second one for the Steel and Fire types."
"Are most of your options on the mystical level of Clearwater Geodes?" Raikou asked with a bit of concern. "Because making just one new thing comparable to a manifestation of Kyogre's rage is kind of a big deal, let alone two."
"My pokemon came up with them, and my dad got the stuff that started us on the project," Alexa complained about that reaction. "Let me get out my Starter, maybe he can explain that part better."
Charizard emerged from his pokeball, looked at Raikou, and then turned an unimpressed look at her. "Why is a Legendary pokemon here?" he questioned tiredly.
"To see what kind of Legendary your trainer is," Raikou answered and looked over Charizard very carefully. "She thinks that explaining how you made these substances can explain something about that."
"What does stuff we've come up with have to do with Alexa being a Legendary?" her first pokemon questioned, and Alexa tried to smile again at the response she had hoped for. "Alexa, please stop doing whatever that is with your mandibles. It's just creepy." She released them back into a resting position.
"It depends on how powerful the stuff is honestly," the thunder pokemon replied with a nod. "So how exactly did you come up with these alternate materials?"
Alexa mostly followed along with Charizard's technical explanation of how he adapted what Rhydon had learned when they created Mercury Contagion to the fire type. It wasn't that different from how she could make Magma Contagion at the moment, which was harder than as a Lobasalt but still something she was able to demonstrate for Raikou when Charizard asked her to try. Of course then she missed a good bit of the rest of the explanation of the technical details as she tried to get the Magma Contagion out of her fuzz, but Raikou looked much more understanding once it was said and done.
"So, how much did you understand of the whole thing?" Raikou asked William, who looked very perplexed. "Because I got about half that explanation, and I have a feeling that this is an education thing."
"I got lost around the point that Charizard started going on about the specific sensation of changing your energy to be something else, but I think I misunderstood something because it didn't sound like he meant the normal change for when you use a move of another type," the other pokemon-trainer complained, and Alexa realized he meant the bit she only followed because she knew the sensation of changing types very well.
"Yeah, that sounds like what I heard too. Okay, I think I have as much as I can find out about this whole thing," Raikou sighed. "You will probably hear from one of my sisters about an update before the League is over with."
"Wait, they are both your sisters?" Charizard asked quickly before the pokemon could stand.
"Oh, yeah the one film thing showed that male Entei didn't it? Yeah, that happened but it was not really my Fire typed sister that was there," Raikou answered and shook himself out. "You didn't hear this from me but she still has a bit of a crush."
"Wait a moment," William requested. "I'm pretty sure Dedenne will be upset if I don't at least ask you. I'm looking for a new Electric type for my team, and since you are here, can I ask if you would be interested?"
Raikou laughed good naturedly at the request, even as Alexa cringed at the question. "You're definitely bold enough, but I'm not looking for a new trainer at the moment," the Legendary replied. "However, I might be able to find you another Electric type and put in a good word." The feline smirked at Alexa "Or perhaps a warning that you are traveling with a Legendary of some kind, that is important for new teammates to know in my experience."
"So, what exactly is the bee pokemon's Legendary power?" a fluffy Mareep asked William to top off the strangest day of his life so far. Although given context it would only get stranger, so Raikou had a point about being up front on that aspect. It was the pokemon he was really after, so that was great, but a trainer simply couldn't pass up the chance to at least ask a Legendary to join their team.
"She is a shapeshifter actually, and it is changing her own and other pokemon's types," he quickly answered before Alexa could try and argue otherwise. Which in his opinion did not work well when a major Legendary pokemon was giving her a concerned look over the technical information she exchanged with her Starter.
Mareep looked at Alexa, then Raikou, and then William. "Is Fire an option? Because I'd like to try the Fire type," the pokemon said, because William's life was now just going to get stranger. "I've always been disappointed that my mom says we can't learn any moves that set things on fire."
"I like him," Charizard said, because of course a Charizard would say that about lighting things on fire, and then took a drink of the glowing water the Starter used to be part Water type. Both Raikou and Mareep flinched a bit as Charizard went from winged to finned. "Should we let him try Magma Contagion first?"
The question had been directed more at William than Alexa, and with a sigh and quiet grumble about enabling pyromaniacs he agreed to the concept. If only to keep from the rest of his team being asked to try something before the next town. Privately in his own mind he considered that at least this was happening before he properly caught the pokemon. Soon after a vial of the red heated liquid was dripped onto the fluffy pokemon. Mareep's wool immediately melted down into more clearly hot lava, speckled with a few yellow gemstones that formed and melted along the surface with a few sparks occasionally dancing between their pointed extrusions.
"Okay, I'm in," Mareep said with an ominous puff of flames, and William decided that he was going to make Dedenne deal with some initial training for the Electric type side of things.