Journeying north with Palmer and Cyrus was illuminating. While I understood, logically, that the Fuego Ironworks (or Flint'n Steelworks, in this world? What the fuck kind of name was that?) would not logically be a 3 tile river away from Floaroma, I had not imagined just how far it was.
Still, despite heavily regretting my decisions as we passed through the Floaroma Meadow as my headache returned with a vengeance, though thankfully much milder than before, I managed to entertain myself in another way; doing my best Linoone impression by zooming around, looking for hidden items.
Sadly I wasn't able to locate much, as this wasn't a game and there weren't items lying around all over the place... or at least, I wasn't able to find them while on the move, there were still other interesting things. Discarded Pokèballs, with some of them being working and some of them not, and perhaps more importantly, berries and honey. The Pokèballs were important too, as they represented little pockets of hammerspace I could put my findings into, as they could hold both Pokèmon and items. It was still wild to me how casual this world was with ignoring spatial laws.
A lot of honey, most of it being in jars that were probably dropped on the way by the honey merchant. Why was this important, one may ask?
While I might not care much for the Combee vomit, I knew for a fact that the wild Pokèmon would care for a tasty treat.
And so, long story short, after some haggling with the local Pokèmon by exchanging berries and honey for interesting junk they may have happened upon left me with four functioning Pokèballs, one lucky find of a slightly scuffed-up Ultra Ball, and various cans of medicine that, by the sound of the sloshing inside and relative weight, could still be used.
Most importantly, however, I was able to find on my own very nice things; a blue candy that nearly gave me a heart attack when I first saw it, because I couldn't believe my luck, and a seed.
I can't describe to you what Aura feels like, the same way you couldn't describe seeing color to a blind man- I guess it was radiation too, but not in the same way. However, much in the same way a flashlight could produce a high-intensity light and a loudspeaker could produce a particularly loud noise, this seed was positively glowing with aura. So was the candy, but to a much lesser extent.
This was what I'd been looking for. A Miracle Seed. Now, granted, I can't do much of anything with this, since its properties were for grass types... but I also understood that punching God in his ugly llama-stuck-in-a-fence muzzle was going to take more than living on a dream.
So, yeah, this is for Budew. Never let it be said I'm not a good teammate.
Still... the seed, I could somewhat understand. Big, radioactive seed of grass-type energy. The Rare Candy, I was left a bit more confused by. In theory, its application was even simpler; eat candy, level up. Simple.
In the real world, however? Where levels probably weren't a thing, since Lucas had to make his own system on how to categorize strength?
That, I was less sure of. So for now, I made a great big pile of my findings and "caught" it in a Pokèball. I then returned to the two humans' sides, glaring at the muttering "Done bouncing around like a demented pinball, are you?" from Cyrus. I had a good few hours roaming the wilderness, don't ruin it, you bastard.
As we kept trekking, I thought about my companions. Cyrus and Palmer. Just like Cynthia, in another world- Calem's world, to be precise, they would be legendary trainers worthy of commanding legendary, godlike beings. Here, they were bickering teenagers.
Quietly, I wondered how this whole mess came to be at all. But of course, everything came back to punching Arceus for his lunch money in his stupid face. And for that, I needed allies. Also willing to help me punch Arceus in the face.
Could I train Pokèmon?
I mean, legally speaking, the answer was no, and it wasn't really clear to me what my rights were as a Pokèmon.
But even if I chose to stay with Cynthia, then my... unfortunately vast experience as a battler, and perhaps more importantly, my vast knowledge of all things Pokèmon could prove useful.
...and I could probably beat up and subsequently catch Pokèmon. I wonder how that would go.
"Man, Cyrus, how long is this going to take?! We've been walking for hours!" Palmer bemoaned.
"I did say the trip would take us half a day." The other replied, nonplussed. "Still, we should be coming up on the halfway point soon... I suppose we could stop to rest and eat there."
I blinked. Had it already been that long? I guess I'm not as used to tracking time anymore, what with...
"Magneton, use Flash Cannon!" A voice called, from the other side of the cage. At that call, the tri-joined Pokèmon floated up slightly lower, aiming its magnets at me.
"Initiating attack sequence." Three voices chorused, and with a snarl, I began charging, clenching my muscles as hard as I could in preparation to endure the attack.
Light and noise came first before energy slammed into me, threatening to sweep me off my feet. I dug my claws into the ground.
"Reversal." Honey and malice spoke out a command, as I leaped to grab the 'mon, sticking my hands to it with aura and ripping-
"Me-me-meeeeeeeeercyyyy..." the Magneton protested as I ripped it in two pieces, with the middle one split in half. After a moment, I could no longer feel the electrical energy coursing through it.
"Good boy, Riolu." Praise, as I stared at the corpse of the metallic creature.
"Good boy."
"GoOd BoY"
good BOY
I was snapped out of my thoughts by a sudden wetness all over my body as I was bodily picked up for a moment by a tongue larger than myself licking me. After a moment, I stared gobsmacked at the offending Rhyhorn.
"You alright there, partner? You'se look as though a Stantler done pulled a trick on ya."
why is he speaking like that
Glaring back at the rock rhyno, I wiped my face of the saliva. "Could've done without the tongue bath," I growled, ignoring the way Gabite was laughing at me.
"Hey, if it works, it works. Besides, you'se all covered 'n honey, so waste not, want not. By the way, you still have some on yer paw." I quickly retracted my hand from where the massive thing was opening his mouth.
"I'll go clean up at the river, thanks." I huffed.
"Aww..."
Ignoring everyone and everything, I stomped over to the mildly flowing body of water, noting that I'd apparently managed to walk even while completely out of it all the way to where Palmer and Cyrus had set up camp, carefully dipping a toe in.
"Gah- fucking cold." I huffed.
"I know! Isn't it lovely?" A beautiful voice made me jump a foot in the air as a head suddenly poked out of the water, previously unseen. Then, the head rose, accompanied by a long serpentine body, until the figure was towering over me.
Holy shit.
No creature whose torso was as thick as I was tall and stood at about ten times that length, maybe more, had the right to be this derpy. The cream-colored figure looming over me had wide eyes and a derpy look on her face, serpentine tongue sticking out slightly. It didn't help that the two pink... things at the sides of her face gave off the impression of hair, thus giving the face that mild edge of anthropomorphization and expressiveness.
All this to say that the Milotic in front of me, looming above like a predator ready to strike, was somehow failing to be threatening despite being a water serpent several times my size. "Oh, hi! We haven't met before! You wanna come for a swim?"
I paused at that. Did I? I hadn't gone since, well, since before. And I was planning to wash up anyway since I couldn't use the center's water… and the river was moving at a snail's pace, just lazily trailing along.
"Sure," I replied, gingerly placing a foot in the water. After a moment, I decided to just go for it, plunging myself into the river's waters and holding my breath.
For a moment, all my muscles clenched as they tried to lock up as a result of the cold, cold water. Fighting that sensation, I thrust my hands and legs outward, just trying to maintain myself above water. After a moment of getting my bearings, I managed to open my eyes and realize that I'd sunk to the bottom of the river in but a moment, thankfully not letting air escape for it.
The results were… interesting. A distant memory of once being a human came to me, standing in the rain and the rain making the wet clothes cling like a film to my body. The sensation I was feeling right now was the same, only with my fur instead. There was also something else… maybe it was my impossible musculature or the fact that I was going to evolve into a steel type, but man did I feel heavy in the water. I think I was just heavy in general, actually, for my height. I'd assumed that it'd be easier for me to swim... but if anything, it felt like a titanic effort with me sinking this fast.
All this to say that if I wasn't able to shatter boulders with my bare hands, I would probably have drowned. As it was, it was taking considerably more effort than I had pictured not to. The liberating, weightless sensation I normally felt in the water was all but a distant memory. I sunk like a fucking stone. My lungs were beginning to burn as I realized that another thing I hadn't retained from being a human was the lung capacity.
Milotic was staring back at me in confusion. Gritting my teeth, I simply tightened my muscles for a moment before rocketing out of the river with Quick Attack, gasping for air.
"Riolu!" Palmer's voice called, and I held up a paw while coughing to show that I was fine. Between coughs and heavy lungfuls of air, I was able to get myself back together.
"Well- that was unpleasant." I gasped.
"Did you fall into the river? Are you okay?" Palmer asked, and I shook my head, before realizing that the water's weight was still clinging to my fur and resorting to shaking myself dry.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Suddenly a draconic roar pierced the air, and I opened one eye to see the figure of Gabite behind Palmer, laughing. "Yeah, you fall into the water, squirt?"
"I went in on my own, asshole. Wanted to see what it was like."
"What, you never see a pool of water before? Your mom never take you swimming? Or did she toss you out?" She sneered. And for some reason, between the frustration of likely not being able to swim anymore, the memories of my past life, and having to deal with Gabite's stupidity, the mention of my mom was what truly got me.
I didn't know my parents in this world, obviously. Probably a nameless Lucario and a Ditto, with all likelihood, since I'd heard tossed once or twice around that I was bred for battling.
But my real parents were good, honest people who didn't deserve me and most certainly did not deserve to bury their son. And to see Gabite so openly disparage her…
Something broke.
The next thing I knew, I had an ice fist buried in her gut, feeling each and every scale bend under the pressure of my fist, and I heaved to just launch her as far as I could from myself. Frost moved through from my paw to her body and it entombed everything in a fine layer of ice, before shattering and leaving an insensate Gabite on the floor with frostbite covering her every scale. As I was sopping wet myself and I hadn't mastered Ice Punch properly, the very same thing was happening to my arm, encased in a layer of ice.
Unconsciously, I found myself wanting more. One good blow didn't feel like enough, despite the fact that I'd one-shot the bitch. Flexing my hand wasn't enough to shatter the ice, but my claws did carve their way out.
"RIOLU!" A voice shouted, and suddenly I felt myself being picked up by a pair of arms. I tried to twist myself out of the grip, but for some reason, Palmer was clutching me to him with a vice grip. "Stop, just stop! It's fine, you're alright!" He shouted.
Amidst the noise of the disturbed campsite, I saw Milotic spring out of the water and place herself as sort of a wall between the blonde trainer holding me and the rest of camp, as I felt my claws pop out of my still functional arm as well. "STOP!" Suddenly, the serpentine Pokémon stared deep into my eyes.
Amidst all this jarring movement, another noise close to me cut through the haze- the ringing of a bell around my neck. I paused. And breathed.
...
What the fuck am I doing, attempting to kill Cynthia's Pokémon because I got touchy over some 10-year-old kid-level bullying?
I went limp in Palmer's hold, trying to wrest control over my own emotions. Trying to understand the aggression that I felt, and why it felt so good to give in to it. After a moment, I felt myself being sucked in by the red beam of a Pokéball, but I kept my consciousness peeled even through the muted feeling.
"Are you okay, Palmer?" Cyrus asked, but the boy just shook his head. "I'm fine, Cy. Milotic, you felt it too, didn't you?"
What?
"I did." Milotic's melodic voice replied. "He seemed fine earlier, and then he just…"
"What are you talking about?" Cyrus asked.
"He went Dark there, for a moment," Palmer said before he shook his head again. "No, not even that… Dark types are malicious, but not like that. Riolu was just so angry and full of hatred and violence like a sickness had spread through its body. Even now, I can still feel it, though Milotic put that aggression to sleep."
"You can feel it?" Cyrus asked.
"Yeah? Couldn't you? There was like, a whole burst of energy from it, and his eyes went red…" Palmer replied. "You guys felt it too, right?" Palmer turned to ask the present Pokémon.
A mixed chorus between ayes and nays from the present Pokémon. Cyrus' Sneasel and Murkrow, as well as Palmer's Milotic, could feel it. A Pokémon of Cyrus whose presence I hadn't felt and Rhyhorn said no.
Gabite said nothing. I think she was still knocked out. I was seriously starting to freak out here. What were they talking about? I could feel no such thing within myself… but then again, what if I was so used to it that I couldn't tell the difference?
First by having been reborn into this world, then by having been drugged up to the gills and made to fight. I'd spent my whole life in this world as a glorified attack dog for a group of terrorists. I knew I'd become a violent person, but it had also been due to the drugs in my system and the fact that not fighting meant getting beat up, possibly dying. But now? What was the excuse now? That I'd been mildly pissed off? That was all it took nowadays for me to go for the kill?
How long can I keep calling myself a victim of circumstance?
Fingers trailing over the walls of my Pokéball. I could still escape. Just… run away forever, live forever away from humans. I wonder if I deserve such a fate.
…
…
…
*click*
Not anymore. The ball's lock function returned, and my ability to perceive the outside world vanished with it. I was now floating in the data void. I wondered how easy it was to just format a Pokémon out of existence since you could just digitalize one. But could you really just annihilate a soul out of existence with a few presses of a button? I'd come to realize that those, apparently, were pretty sturdy. Man turns to Pokémon turns to Ghost type turns to… what?
I didn't know what happened past that. At least, I knew that it was my likely route though. Was reincarnation just a thing now, that would happen in perpetuity, even across worlds?
...then again, Calem seems to think otherwise. That we're here for a reason. I wonder how many people have been dropped into this world that way.
I should also start considering the idea that I may just be here for a really long time now. Can I really afford to cling to my humanity? I barely had twenty-five years of that. Lucario, on the other hand, tended to be distressingly enough the stuff of legend, especially given their ability to manipulate aura- life energy itself. Surely not every Lucario lived a particularly long life, but I needed to start considering that I may be here for the long haul. Getting upset every time someone pokes at my past is just going to make me miserable.
Time passed. I can never really tell the amount- it never feels like much. But then again, the Pokéball does keep simulating regular life functions, and I knew that, if I were to be made to starve, it would automatically unlock.
I did not try to come back out for lunch, nor dinner later that night. I'd had my fill already, and I didn't want to come out anyway. I'd done my looking, and searched what I needed to. I just wasn't made to be around other Pokémon- around others in general. I needed peace and quiet, a lot of it, to try and understand what was wrong with me.
I'd come out when it was training time, but only that. It was best for everyone involved if I remained alone.
...even if it hurt to realize just how dangerous I was to others.
Nasir hit his breaking point :( Floaroma really hasn't been good to his odd allergies, and between the trauma, the withdrawal, getting used to his new circumstances and finally having time to mourn his old life...
Gabite really should stop talking shit to the mentally unstable, overleveled guy who can pop her 4x weakness with ease.
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