I don't own anything.
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I had to get out.
Team Galactic had money, power and influence here in Sinnoh. The only advantage I had was that they probably thought me dead. Instinctively, I reached down to my belt, only to wince when my hand met air instead of the familiar Pokéballs that I'd had there for the last couple of years.
I took a deep breath and centered myself. I had to focus. If I stayed here in Sinnoh, Cyrus or one of the commanders would find out about me sooner or later. I couldn't access my bank accounts either. If I touched any of my digital assets, well, I might as well go on a TV broadcast and announce myself for Cyrus to see.
No, I needed to get out of the region, and I needed to do it with what little cash I had on me. Checking my wallet quickly, I counted the bills and found that I had around 1400 Poké on me. It would be enough. It would have to be.
In the distance, I could see the skyscrapers of Jubilife towering over the trees that surrounded me. The clearing was familiar to me, and so was the surrounding forest. I had spent almost a month camping here at the start of my journey, training with Leon and Delphi. My first two Pokémon.
Thinking about it hurt, a gaping void of feeling in my stomach that somehow made me feel empty, and paradoxically caused me pain at the same time. I growled quietly as I shook my head again, more forcefully this time. I had to go. My team had sacrificed themselves to give me this second chance, I would not, could not squander it by standing around and moping until they caught wind of me.
I forced myself to walk down the familiar path, putting one foot in front of the other steadily. I ignored the wild Pokémon around me, this close to the city, most of the ones that lived here would be weak or young. The stronger and more aggressive among them either having been caught or herded away by the rangers. In the absence of strong contenders, the weak flourished here, which was perfect for the nearby human population, since even non-trainers could go out into these woods without having to worry about what lurked in the trees.
It wasn't long before I reached the outskirts of the city. Jubilife was the largest city in all of Sinnoh, one of the largest in the entire world in fact, and it showed. I entered the city from the forest between routes 203 and 204, and thus, I immediately walked into the financial district which bordered it.
Giant skyscrapers of glass and steel towered over me on both sides of the road, but I paid it no mind. I had grown up here, and the sight of the enormous buildings did not distract me one bit. I walked at a brisk pace, matching the various businessmen with suits and briefcases that hurried from meeting to meeting.
I walked the familiar streets, not once looking up from the pavement I walked on as I made my way to my first and final stop in the city. When I turned the corner onto the correct street, I finally looked up, grimacing at the sign that greeted me.
Abraham's International Teleportation Service
The name was dull and uninspired, but that didn't matter. What mattered what that the proprietor could get me out of the region faster than anyone else. The bell above the glass door jingled as I walked in, and I could see that I didn't exactly fit in with the usual clientele that came here.
All around me, businessmen stood around, waiting. They were dressed in crisp, clean suits wearing shiny watches and they didn't have a hair out of place. In stark contrast to them, I was dressed in a basic, if well-made pair of dark jeans, white sneakers that had seen better days and a green hoodie. None of it was clean, and neither was I. My clothing was dirty, cut up and singed, with the occasional bloodstain making it more than clear that I hadn't come out unscathed.
Despite that, despite the injuries and the pain, I pushed on. I ignored the looks I got, and simply walked up to the counter, where a pretty brown-haired woman sat with a little headset on.
"How can I help you today, sir?" She, too, gave me a strange look, but she remained polite. It was clear that she just wanted the crazy-looking trainer out of her hair as soon as possible. I couldn't blame her; I must have looked a mess.
"I would like to know the upcoming teleports." I told her. Normally, I would have opted to take a plane. It was significantly cheaper, but it also took longer. After booking a flight, I would have to wait at least another two hours before I could even board the plane, let alone set off. Plenty of time for news of my continued survival to make it back to Cyrus.
No, the premium I would pay here would be more than worth it. If I was lucky, I would be out of the region within the hour. The chances of Galactic finding me before I was gone were miniscule. By the time they heard, I would be in the wind.
"Do you have a destination in mind?" The woman asked, typing away at her keyboard.
"No, I simply need the first available teleport." I told her, getting another odd look.
"The first teleport with free space is to Castelia City. It leaves in thirty-three minutes."
"Price?"
"749.99 Poké." I couldn't help but wince at the price. That was over half of what I had on me. I forked it over, though, setting the bills on the counter for the lady to count. What use was my money if I wasn't alive to spend it?
"Identification?"
I laid my ID card on the table. George Simmons, it read. I would have to get a new one once I got to Unova itself. Preferably with a different name on it. That was a problem for later, though. Once she entered my name onto the manifest, the clock would start ticking. Thirty-three minutes, though, that should be impossible to react to, even for Cyrus.
"If you are bringing any Pokémon with you, they must be registered both before the teleport and after arriving at your destination. Do you have any Pokémon that you wish to bring?" Her voice was flat and bored, having probably gone through the song and dance a thousand times before.
"That… that won't be necessary." The pit in my stomach only grew, spreading a numb feeling through me. I didn't even feel the cuts and bruises that I'd collected today, the ache of my missing team overwhelming it. If the lady noticed my discomfort, she didn't show it, though, as she simply continued.
"That all seems to be in order, you can take a seat until you are called up. Your teleport number is 2658U, the time and destination of your teleport will appear on the screens as well. Have a good day." The woman forced a smile as she pointed me to a collection of uncomfortable looking plastic chairs. As much as teleportation services like these were used by the rich, they still didn't bother making their waiting rooms comfortable.
To be fair to them, though, the people who paid and the people who took the teleports were rarely the same. It was mostly businesses paying for their employees' travel costs to get to international meetings, but that also meant that they benefitted if the cost of the tickets remained lower, even if that mean their employees had to wait in discomfort.
I simply plopped myself down into one of the seats, sighing in relief as I was off my feet for the first time in hours. My legs thanked me for it, even as my back screamed when the plastic of the chair dug into the small of my back where an errant Air Cutter had come a little too close for comfort and nicked me.
'I need a plan.' I thought.
I'd need a new ID first. There was no way I was just going to run around telling people who I was, even on a different continent. Team Galactic might have little to no power outside of Sinnoh, but money talks, and there are no language barriers where cold hard cash is concerned.
Next, I would need to get myself some kind of Pokémon. After the travel cost and the fake ID, I probably wouldn't have much left, so it would have to be common and local. That might not sound very good, but to be honest, even the more common species of Pokémon could become monstrously strong with the right trainer. Cyrus' Crobat came to mind, and the cut on my back throbbed at the reminder of who'd put it there.
I didn't have much personal experience with Unovan Pokémon, but I had faced more than a couple of species native to the other region in battle. Since the advent of the Pokémon League after the last war, it had become much more common for trainers to go to different regions so they could try their hand at a foreign conference. I had met more than a couple of trainers from outside of Sinnoh on my own conference run, after all.
I would just have to see what was available when I got there, and worst case, I could simply go out into the wild and catch a young Pokémon myself, though I'd rather not take the risk.
Then, I needed to get out of Castelia itself. Tracking me to the big city wouldn't be too hard for Galactic, but good luck finding me in the rest of the region. A local ferry or even a trek through one of the routes there wouldn't need me to register anything, and there were too many ways for me to go. They wouldn't be able to find me once I left the big city.
After that, well, it might not be a bad idea to get some medical attention. I should probably stop by a Pokémon center once I got to a new city.
And finally, I would need to train. I had been a good trainer, one of the strongest in all of team Galactic. Hell, I was confident that I could have beat most of the commanders one on one. But that wasn't enough. Cyrus was an honest to Arceus Master, a trainer on par with the fabled Elite Four and probably one of the most powerful trainers on the whole planet.
If I planned to get my revenge and put a stop to his plans, well, I would just need to match him wouldn't I. That meant training, and lots of it. Not only that, but I would have to pit myself against the best of the best and keep doing so until I could wipe that smug little smirk off that madman's face.
"Teleport 2658U, destination Castelia City, please come up to the plate." A mechanical voice sounded out through the speakers and snapped me out of my thoughts. With a quiet grunt and a grimace on my face, I stood and walked up with the rest of the passengers.
The platform, as they called it, was just a large white disk on a slightly raised bit of the floor. It was made of some kind of metal, but that wasn't really all that important. What was important was the four Pokémon arrayed around it. Four yellow and brown Kadabra were stood there, holding their spoons to the metal while they waited for everyone to get on.
Once we were fully 'boarded' so to speak, blue energy began to shine in their eyes and seep out of their spoons. It might have looked cool and impressive to the uninitiated, but to me it was just wasteful and amateurish. To be fair, though, that was probably why they worked here, teleporting people around all day instead of battling, where every bit of energy you conserved mattered.
And then, we were suddenly in Unova.
The platform we were standing on was still the same, but while the room we'd arrived in looked similar enough, it wasn't the same one as before. It was simply the Abraham's office over in Castelia. I walked off of the platform along with the other passengers, and after a quick pat-down by a grumpy custom's officer, I was on my way.
Castelia City was huge. Similar to Jubilife, it had skyscrapers and massive, towering buildings all around, but somehow it still managed to dwarf my home city. They might say that everything is bigger in Driftveil, but that might just apply to all of Unova. But in the end, it was a city just like any other, and that meant crime. Lots of it.
It didn't take all that long before I found myself sat in front of a forger, doing my best to ignore the way my injuries stung or the way my limbs had begun feeling like someone had tied a Snorlax to them.
"300."
"200." I shot back tiredly, knowing that the price he was giving me was bull. The old man who was apparently the best forger in this borough was sat across from me, behind his desk as we haggled.
"300." He replied stubbornly refusing to lower his price. Well and truly done with my day, I had little patience for the man, and I simply glared at him, putting all of the anger and frustration I'd built up in the past day into it. There was more than enough of that to go around.
"200 and I don't give the CCPD a nice anonymous tip from a concerned citizen on my way out." I told him, and I would fully do it as well. I had limited funds, and as tired as I was, I wasn't willing to spend more than I had to, since that might mean getting a subpar Pokémon to begin with. I was not going to get set back on my mission to stop Cyrus by an Arceus-forsaken forger who worked out of the back office of a mattress store.
The old man might have tried to look unconcerned, but I could see the nervous look in his eyes when I brought up the police.
"Deal." He said, grabbing a Pokéball and opening it. In a beam of red light, a pink and blue duck appeared, floating over the desk. "Porygon, add this gentleman to the city's database, please." The man ordered his Pokémon, giving it a list of background details that he'd had me fill in beforehand.
For a moment, I wondered how the old man had gotten a hold of one of the manmade Pokémon. They were rare beyond belief and carefully controlled by the leagues. Supposedly, Team Galactic had owned one or two of their own, but I had never seen them. Cyrus was obscenely wealthy, though, so it wouldn't surprise me if he had managed to snag a couple of the buggers.
"There, all done. You can go down to city hall and pick up your new identification. Just say that you lost your wallet or something, and they'll provide you with a new ID card and trainer ID." The old forger told me, and I slid a pair of hundred Poké bills over his desk. When they reached the halfway point, they suddenly vanished, the old man having eagerly snatched them from me the moment they were close enough. Weirdo.
I stood, suppressing another groan as I did so and my made my way out. Small black spots began dancing across my vision as I made my way through the streets, occasionally stopping to ask the least angry-looking passerby for directions.
By the time I'd made it out of the town hall, new ID and trainer pass in hand, I could barely keep my eyes open. I needed to move fast.
I walked into the first breeder I found, quite literally on my last legs, and I made my way to the counter. I had 450 Poké left. If I wanted to be able to buy food for whatever partner I chose here, and preferably myself as well, along with the fare for whatever transport I got out of the city, I might be able to spend around 300 Poké here.
That… didn't leave me with a lot of options. Like I'd guessed, the only things I'd be able to buy were local Pokémon which were easy to find, catch and breed. I saw a couple of Sandile which were in my price range, a Darumaka or two, some kind of Grass-type I didn't recognize immediately, and a small group of Trapinch.
I didn't know anything about the Grass-type, so I instantly dismissed it as an option.
The rest were all the real options I had here. None of them were horrible, but none of them were great either. Darumaka would be the most powerful off the bat, and Darmanitan were pretty fierce fighters if trained right. Sandile were more difficult to handle, being of the Dark-type, but Krookodile were physical powerhouses and quite quick to boot. Lastly, Trapinch was the weakest to start with, but having a Flygon would be well worth the wait. Flygon were Dragons, which meant that they already had a solid typing going for them, but Flygon were fast, strong and they could fly as well.
In the end, it was familiarity that solidified my decision. I had only seen a Krookodile once in my time as a trainer, and Darmanitan only twice. I knew they were strong, but it would be hard to figure out what direction to go in with them without getting some help from an expert. A luxury I couldn't exactly pay for at the moment. Flygon, on the other hand, had been far more common in Sinnoh. Not to say that it was actually a common Pokémon, no fully evolved Dragon ever was, but I had seen far more of them than the other two.
And so, I walked up to the counter and purchased myself a new partner. For the low price of 224.99 Poké I walked out of the breeder with a male Trapinch, and back into the streets of Castelia. I hadn't even talked to the little one yet, but I didn't have time. I was dead on my feet, and I still needed to get out of the city.
Mentally and physically drained, I made it to the docks on sheer bullheadedness alone. My entire body was screaming at me so much that I didn't even bother to haggle when the sailor told me the ferry to Virbank would be 50 Poké. I'd probably regret that later, but I was too tired to care.
I stepped onto the boat and stumbled over to my room. I leaned against the door to my little cabin as I fumbled with the keys, almost falling over when the door suddenly fell away from me as it opened. I threw the door shut as I stepped forward, not even bothering to change as I dropped onto the thin mattress, and everything went dark.
BREAK
Hi everyone! Trying something new here, or at least I hope I am. The original plan for this was to make George an SI who pops into the head of a Galactic Grunt, but this somehow felt better.
Most Pokémon stories I've read is either an SI who doesn't know what they're doing and is just winging it off game mechanics which don't translate to a real-world setting 1 to 1. Or kids starting their journey at age 10. Or more recently SIs who have already been in the setting for a while and already have teams. I wanted that teambuilding experience while still having an experienced character to follow around, so I came up with this. It also gives me the chance to write a more morally gray character in a grittier setting, so that's a bonus.
I also tried to make the chapter feel more fast-paced and disjointed towards the end of the chapter. Mostly to make it more obvious how injured and exhausted he is without having to say it every other line.
Anyways, let me know what you think, and have a good one!