It's a Pokemon world ch 3 - Nicknames and Visitors
"Speech"
'Thought'
The In-Bliss Clinic - Bounty
It was a new day and Growlithe was lying on his straw hospital bed thinking, 'So this town's name is Bounty, apparently, and that wasn't in the games so I have no idea where I am.'
Now, to be fair, he couldn't open his mouth yet to direct the conversation and ask where Treasurer Town, Pokemon Square, or any other in-game places were. But so far, he hasn't been told of any major incidents like the Time Gears going missing or an asteroid exploding. He also wasn't about to risk gaining the Blissey's wrath and screw up his muzzle while it was healing to ask her.
He was stuck with gestures for now.
Still, he was confused, and had time to think now, 'I need a plan on what to do next, maybe join a Rescue Team? That's how these things usually went, isn't it?'
He looked at the nurse, doctor? Healer, she was a healer. A healer who hadn't stopped talking since the other Pokemon had left yesterday. If he had to guess, she was trying to keep him entertained while he healed, and it's not like HE could talk right now.
At least it was a good way to get information.
'Still, some of the things she mentioned were concerning. For one, I've apparently gotten on the bad side of the biggest 'wild' pack in the area, which isn't good, or so I'm told. But honestly, this whole town sounded like a mess,' He flexed his healed paw, looking at it.
On a related note, Bliss's Pokemon moves were amazing, that paw had been crippled, and now it was fine, save for some light scarring, 'Why turn me into a Growlithe anyway? Why not something closer to my original body shape?'
He cracked his neck out of habit, causing the healer to glare at him, he shrugged sheepishly as she huffed.
'Blissey talked at length about my body's typed energy being mostly depleted,' And he'd nodded along, not knowing what was common knowledge and where he should ask questions.
The poor Growlithe's damaged muzzle had helped in this regard, but the information was useful and reminded him of his... fiery entrance into this world.
It did explain why his energy was depleted and why his apparent moves hadn't worked correctly.
Yes, moves, apparently Blissey were able to feel a Pokemon's energy to the extent that she knew his move set.
'Interestingly, she was also able to diagnose this body by feeling that same energy, as I recovered said energy. By her estimation, I'm currently in my late teens to early twenties, or at least this body is. She'd then confirmed that I had Intimidate as an ability and then checked my move pool, which apparently consisted of Fire Fang, Double Kick, Reversal, and Close Combat. If she's right, I was definitely made for CQC, but I've never used those moves before. Maybe a false version during my fight with the Houndour, but not a true move with typed energy, except for maybe Fire Fang,' The human-turned Pokemon pondered.
So, why did he have those moves?
He was still trying to figure himself out, let alone this world he had found himself in. Honestly, he was still half trying to convince himself this was a dream. But now he wasn't stuck in a forest, his slowly diminishing pain held that thought at bay.
"Alrighty darlin, time to take them bandages off," Bliss, as was her nickname apparently, had walked up to him while he had been thinking.
Growlithe nodded his consent.
And off they came, "Alrighty darlin you're all healed up, but you done got a doozy of a scar."
"Ah, thank you, Ma'am," He cracked his jaw, 'It feels better, and she'd already warned me that she wouldn't be able to fully heal it.'
"My, so polite, let me get ya a mirror real quick," She left the wooden partition his 'bed' was in.
Growlithe wasn't eager to wait and stood from the hay nest, shaking himself off like a dog, 'Wait, how'd I do that?'
"Eager to leave me already, darlin?" The Pink Pokemon joked, having returned with a mirror in, erm, hand? Stub, maybe?
"Nothing personal, just been lying down too long," The Growlithe replied politely, thankful for her help.
She chuckled and held up the mirror, showing the Growlithe his new scar, it stretched from under his left eye, down his muzzle to almost his nose, and was wider in the center of his muzzle and toward his face, where the biggest chunk came out from the bite.
All in all, it wasn't too bad, there wasn't much flesh in that area to start with, so it was mostly cosmetic damage, 'Actually, it looks kind of cool on a Growlithe, I'm sure if I was still human I'd be horrified. Though, I'm lucky she missed my eye and nose or I'd be much worse off.'
"Looks good, better than it did at any rate," He praised the healer.
She raised a non-existent eyebrow as he shrugged, not even flinching at the sight of his scar, 'Dang, I guess he IS a fighter.'
As if his strange move pool hadn't already tipped her off, he HAD to have SOME training. She had treated fighters before, back at the Colosseum and this wasn't her first time seeing this reaction, 'Haa, those were the days.'
She isn't wrong per se, but humans 9 out of 10 times take up martial arts as a hobby and for self-defense, not live combat.
Mistakes have been made.
"Ma'am?" He inquired.
"Ah, yes darlin'," She replied, returning from her thoughts.
"Is there anything I can do to pay for this, in case you missed it, I don't have anything on me," Growlithe did his best to stand to attention and convey duty, different species or not.
The Blissey's mouth pulled up into an amused smile, then she closed her eyes and her smile turned soft, "Y'all are fine darlin', I ain't hurtin' for nothin' right now, and you done this town a service saving that boy."
But the Growlithe's sense of duty was strong, "But-"
"Ap-ap, none oh that," She silenced him, "But I tell you what, if something comes up, I'll let you know."
The Firedog sighed but nodded his acceptance.
"Now come on, we'll get ya checked out," She waved the sulking puppy class Pokemon along with her to her desk.
"Here we go," She slammed several forms onto the desk
'Oh,' He quickly looked down at his paws, because while they were more dexterous than any animals on earth, they still weren't hands.
'So how the hell do I do this?' He wondered.
Knocking echoed through the main building, grabbing both Pokemons attention before Growlithe even had the chance to begin.
"Oh, you reckon that's them new friends of yours?" The Pokemon hurried over to the door.
'Friends?' He pondered in surprise.
"Hello," She cheered, opening the door.
"Morning ma'am, down here," A gruff voice called out, revealing an old weathered Pikachu.
Pikachu was the mouse Pokemon, yellow fur with a lightning bolt-shaped tail, and brown stripes on its back, rib to rib, complete with bright red circular checks.
Seriously, if you don't know what a Pikachu is, get help.
This one, however, WAS wearing a tan colored herringbone hat.
"Oh, good morning detective, please come in, I was about to check the patient out," She moved aside.
"Thank you, ma'am," My lord, his voice was deep.
"This him?" The Pikachu walked up to the very confused Growlithe.
"Yup, Growlithe this is Detective Pikachu originally from Central Station, when a crime is reported in my clinic I let the police know," She, at least, thought nothing of the situation.
"Yup, came last night, but your fuzzy butt was asleep and Bliss here said you weren't able to talk. I can see why, it's rare for a Pokemon to take damage like that," He tapped his own muzzle.
Growlithe blinked owlishly for a moment.
Then both Pokemon looked at him weirdly.
He quickly realized he should probably say something, "Ah, sorry officer you reminded me of someone, say you wouldn't happen to have a, umm, son that's a detective too, would you?"
To be fair, detective Pikachu was the first thought to go through his mind, just not this one. The one on his mind was a fictional character, 'Though given recent developments, maybe he's simply multiversal?'
Pikachu looked amused for a moment, "I do, he's a Sandslash now, you know him?"
Oh, right egg groups, "Ah, no then, I was thinking of someone else, another Pikachu I've seen, another Pikachu DETECTIVE, I mean," Thinking fast he added, "You look similar, same high cheekbones, more rounded face than a normal Pikachu."
He didn't know if racism was a thing here but did not want to be accused of it... speciesism?
"Ah, Maybe? I got a nephew in the force, and he looks like my brother," The Pikachu rubbed under his muzzle.
"Yeah, maybe? We never really met, but I saw him once or twice while I was staying in a town, they said he was a detective, and he had the same tan hat as you too," Well you're stuck in it now you idiot.
"Which town?" The detective asked, because detective.
"No clue, go through enough towns and you start to forget them, this was years ago," Growlithe was technically correct, do you remember EVERY village and town you've driven through?
And the movie and game DID come out years ago.
"Ah, well, I'll check anyway," The detective continued.
Growlithe just nodded, 'How did I get myself in this?'
"Detective?" Bliss interrupted.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, let an old man have a little fun once in a while," He waved her off.
"Alright, son, in your own words can you tell me what happened yesterday?" The Pikachu pulled out a pencil and notepad from... somewhere.
Growlithe nodded and began to give a play-by-play of the events yesterday, claiming to have gotten lost, then while sniffing the air to get his bearings he smelled fear and went to investigate.
It wasn't inaccurate, and everything else was just the same as usual, being shocked to see a Mareep running for their life, intervening, the fight, and the walk back, right up until he had been blinded by bandages.
"Alright son, that's similar to the story we got from Mareep, thanks for your cooperation. You got a nickname or somein' to pick you out from other Growlithe?" He asked.
"Ah, no, are Growlithe's common around here?" Growlithe was curious. Maybe that was why he was a Growlithe?
"Not really, it's just an, in case kind of thing, for if another Growlithe similar to you comes around," He informed the canine.
"Detective I have a scar on my face, that's pretty distinctive," The Growlithe was beginning to think confusing one Pokemon for another might be fairly normal.
'There's far more Pokemon species here than if everyone was just human, meaning physical divides and differences in individual Pokemon species are likely less. Then again maybe not, with egg groups genetic diversity goes up, right?' Questions for later Growlithe, focus.
"Alright, Scar, it is," Pikachu noted, writing it down.
Wait, what?
"Detective!" The healer sounded affronted.
'Scar as a nickname? Huh,' Growlithe actually didn't mind it much, his mind now going to Lion King, 'Teeth and ambition are bared, be prepared~.'
"What? Patches didn't mind," The detective argued.
"Patches?" Bliss asked.
"The Mareep boy, ya know coz of the missing wool," Pikachu stated without a hint of remorse.
"Pikachu, how dare you! That sweet boy!" Bliss looked ready to Pound him through a wall.
He put his hands up in the universal sign for surrender and gave the Firedog a look that just screamed, 'Hey, a little help.'
After a moment of mental debate, Growlithe decided it was best NOT to be on a detective's bad side, given his current predicament, "Doesn't bother me, scars aren't something to be ashamed of, they show you survived."
Though how much pain it leaves you in is another story, he resisted the urge to touch his muzzle, 'At least this one isn't too bad.'
"There, you see," The Pikachu latched onto the lifeline given.
She just glared, "Well, SCAR, ya'll get started on that paperwork, I'll be right back."
'Welp, I tried,' The newly nicknamed Scar saluted the fallen Pikachu as Bliss picked him up and out of the clinic.
His resistance was futile.
Main square - Bounty
The dirt paths of Bounty weren't as packed as they once were, but Pokemon still used them, the small shops and stalls on the Main Street and the Central Square were essential for a civilized society.
The combined area known as the Main Square wasn't as lively as it once was, but life goes on.
Case in point.
"Thank you for breakfast, Miss Amp," Snivy politely thanked the older Pokemon as they walked toward the clinic together.
After all, if you're all going, why not all go together?
"Nonsense Snivy you're always welcome," The Ampharos smiled down at the girl.
"Yeah, Snivy you should come more often," The now nicknamed Patches, cheered.
"Mareep, Snivy has he-" Flaaffy was cut off as her brother interrupted.
"No sis, it's Patches now," Mareep whined.
Amp twitched at that, 'If I ever see that Pikachu again, I'm zapping him, hard enough that he'll feel it.'
Flaaffy was in an unknowing agreement with her mother, "Fine, PATCHES, Snivy has her own life as well, she can't be over every day, for every meal."
Snivy hid a wince, she actually could do just that but didn't want to bother them.
After all, she was training to protect them, not the other way around, she could look after herself.
"Indeed, I need to remain in top shape, to be an amazing Rescuer do I not?" She puffed up in pride for the child.
"Yeah! You're really gonna ask Mister Growlithe to join your team?" He asked excitedly.
"Indeed," Snivy replied with a grin.
"Coooool," Mar- sorry, Patches, cheered once more.
"Only, if he agrees" Flaaffy sighed out, rather annoyed she couldn't read her new book.
"He will, he's awesome, he'll hear what you're doing, and be like: Alright let's do it," The little boy was ecstatic and his thoughts clouded with more than a little hero worship for the Mon that saved his life.
'It'll be so cool, my big sister will be working with Mister Growlithe,' Yeah, he was a little biased right now.
Flaaffy eyed her mother who looked on with concern, 'Mum only agreed not to try and interfere if Growlithe joined us, which was nice and all, but she's putting a lot of trust in some Mon she just met. Granted, he isn't a bad Mon and he saved Mareep, but we barely know him. He got hurt because of us, would he really join us?'
Amp's thoughts about all of this were... complicated and more about emotion than actual thoughts, she was just scared and worried. So having a, in her mind, veteran battler, would help keep them alive.
This had been the two girl's dreams when they were young and she loathed herself for getting in the way of that dream for so long, but was more scared of losing them.
Growlithe had just tipped the scales, is all.
"Hey isn't that the Pikachu from last night?" Flaaffy noticed them first, pointing out the Pikachu stood next to Bliss, down the street.
Amp's face tightened, "So it is, shall we go and say hello?"
Her sweet, wonderful, daughter caught on, "We shall."
"Mister Pikachu!" Patches called out before either mother or daughter could act.
Both of the talking Pokemon were startled out of their conversation, and were now looking toward the approaching Pokemon.
"Oh, thank Arceus," The Pikachu sighed in relief, "Morning kid."
Patches the Mareep ran forward with a grin in greeting, "Hee-he, morning Mister Pikachu."
He continued as he arrived next to the electric mouse and Bliss, "Guess what!"
At the little lamb's grin, our dear detective already knew he was in for it, "What?"
The child, unable to detect the older Pokemon's nervous tone, continued, "My official nickname now is, Patches."
...
By now the boys glaring Mother and sister had caught up, with a grinning Snivy in tow, and the poor Pikachu could practically feel the Blissey's glare from beside him.
"Well, that's great kid," His tone was clipped with forced cheer.
"Yeah! Thanks, Mist- oops, I mean Detective Pikachu," The young boy corrected.
"Oh, that's wonderful Mareep," Bliss reluctantly praised, not wanting to upset the little Mon.
"It's Patches now, Miss Bliss," He grinned.
Bliss sighed, "Alright, Patches then, why don't you and the rest o'you kids go and see Mister Growlithe while me and ya ma have a talk with Pikachu here."
Bliss, however, was no longer glaring and instead sending a look at Amp who was rather tense at the suggestion, "They'll be fine."
And like that Amp relaxed, and Bliss knew why.
"Hm, Myself and Flaaffy are hardly children Miss Bliss," Snivy huffed at the term.
"Six or sixteen, it makes no difference when you get to be my age young'un," The Blissey grinned listing the Mareep's age, along with Snivy's and Flaaffy's respectively.
"Come on sis, Snivy, we gotta ask Mister Growlithe if he can join your Rescue Team," Patches cheered, distracting Snivy.
That got the attention of the Pikachu and Blissey, both sharing a look and then shooting one toward Amp.
"Ah, yes, indeed we do young Patches, let us be off to greet our new comrade," Snivy was really laying it on thick now.
Flaaffy remained the voice of reason, "He hasn't joined yet, you two."
"Ah, but he shall," Snivy grinned as they made their way further down the street bantering.
Bliss sighed as they left, "Really Amp?"
"What? I had faith, it's what Goldy would have done, you didn't see that poor boy when he brought Mareep home, he looked so lost and hurt," She huffed, crossing her flipper-like arms.
Bliss winced slightly at the mention of the Ampharos's deceased mate.
"Besides even IF he had been part of the Firebrand that would have just meant no Rescue Team," The yellow Pokemon sighed, she hated how cautious they had to be around new Fire types now.
"Well, good news then, coz there's no way that pups with the Firebrand," Pikachu confirmed.
"I gathered," Amp nodded toward Bliss, confident enough to let Mareep and the girls visit him without her now. Not that she thought he was to begin with, but she'd learned to be cautious.
"Yeah, well, he's too polite to be wild-raised, too familiar with other types of Pokemon," Pikachu stretched his back with a crack.
Then continued, "No looks of disgust either, poor pup looks more confused than anything, I'm guessing he really was just lost when he found your boy."
"Poor thing," Amp shook her head.
"Well he's definitely a fighter, figuratively and literally, he has a right strange move pool for a fire type Mon. Only one fire type move but three fightin' types," Bliss commented.
"A close combat fighter then?" Pikachu asked.
"Yeah, a veteran'd battler given what ah seen o'him," Bliss told the detective.
"Don't mistake training for experience Bliss," Pikachu retorted.
Bliss bristled, "Now listen here, you-".
"Yeah, yeah, insult, insult, I've read your file I know you were a medic at the Colosseum, but treating a battler and understanding 'em are two different things," Pikachu sighed.
"What about his pain tolerance, Pokemon rarely get injured that badly, and he just shrugged it off," Amp cut in.
"Exactly mah point, it takes a lot for Pokemon to bleed, you have to be trying to draw blood, and for a pain tolerance like that, he has to of bled before," She nodded.
'We Pokemon are hardy creatures, something that would snap a tree in half would only hurt us slightly because of the energy that powers us. So how could he have gained such resistance, if not in constant life and death struggles?" Bliss pondered on this.
"He's a wanderer, so that explains the training, it's so he can defend himself. But he isn't on constant alert or sizing Mon's up. Maybe he's been caught in a natural disaster and had to drag himself to a medic, or maybe he's just trained his endurance? Who knows?" The detective shrugged.
"He still took out two Firebrand hunters," Bliss made her point.
"So he isn't a rookie then, doesn't mean he's a veteran. Still, he seems like a good pup, hope those girls get him on board, we need an ACTUAL Rescue Team around here again. Maybe I'll even get to go back home, but for now, it's not my problem anymore, have a good one," Pikachu waved them off as he started down the street.
Amp cleared her throat, "My son."
At that single comment, the old Mon broke into a sprint.
"Get back here, ya varmint," Bliss called out.
And two slightly younger Mon's gave chase.
The In-Bliss Clinic - Bounty
Growlithe had finally cracked the code.
There was an inkpot on the desk, all he had to do was open it, dip his longest claw in it, and voila he could write.
Probably... close enough.
Right after he got the cork out of the inkpot at any rate.
'So, hold it down with your paws, grab the cork with your teeth, and pull,' He yanked back.
Oh, wow that's on there good.
Pull, nope.
He pulled himself onto the desk and held the square inkpot down with all 4 of his new paws, then dug his teeth into the cork stopper.
"Heeeeeee," He pulled.
Pop, splash, "Ahhhh."
And he fell from the desk.
Thud.
"Blak, ah, ink in my mouth, yuck," He spat out the cork stopper, nearly choking on it in the process, and stuck his tongue out to wipe it with the back of his paw.
All this served to do was get ink on his paw as well as his muzzle, or it would have if he didn't already have ink on one of his paws from the inkpot splashing about at the force of his pull.
"Hack, blak, ohhhh, that's nasty," He groaned, this was gonna take some getting used to.
Yeah, it got him good, his dominant paw was now covered in black ink along with the good side of his muzzle and a rear paw on the same side as his dominant paw.
Spluttering he returned to the desk to find the ink had thankfully landed on him, not the paperwork.
'Ok, step one, complete,' He dipped his longest claw into the ink.
'Step two, complete,' He began filing out the form.
'Place of birth, well damn, one question in, and I'm screwed. Umm, maybe I could use Treasure Town or Pokemon Square? No, they might check... I'll just leave it blank,' He moved on to the next question.
"Nickname huh, thank you, detective," He promptly put down Scar.
"Age? Hmm, she said I was in my late teens to early twenties, screw it," He put down 20.
Thankfully the questions weren't that hard, it was like clinics back on earth, a lot of questions on whether you've ever had something or done something, injuries, and so on.
The only other hard question was parents, so he listed them as deceased, 'Hopefully, that will discourage the curious.'
Still after 15 minutes, he'd completed the paperwork, bar one part, 'How am I supposed to sign this?'
He looked at his ink-covered paw again, 'Do I use my paw print? Or just sign it like a human would? If so, do I sign it Growlithe or Scar?'
He groaned at his new predicament, 'I just want to finish this so I can find a job and shelter, is that too much to ask for?'
SLAM
"Greetings Sir Knight!" Snivy had arrived, with Mareep and Flaaffy right behind her.
Apparently so.
It seemed he had visitors, loud visitors at that.
A/N: So yes, some human traits show through with Growlithe's mentally, mostly a human pain tolerance, coz you got to figure that a creature that is difficult to hurt, won't tolerate bad injuries well, humans well we break bones just falling over at times and we adapt to it. In the games (and that little anime episode) it is mostly implied that the main character is a child and does really well as a fighter in this world, there has to be a reason for that.
@BiazarKaiser- glad you liked the humor.
@Gerald of Revera- Yeah, she's a little out there, one of those, it's the quiet ones you have to look out for, types. Still, I did limit the damage of her personality to the audience, there is a LOT implied but nothing out right stated, though only barely.