After walking for around ten minutes, they arrived at a small site with three tents and a large flag with writing on it, a small campfire pit and one of the guards stationed was standing near the gap in the rockface and next to a small standing pire.
Akari turns to Izuku, "This is our base camp- the last safe haven before you reach the wilds. Remember, for your trial, you must catch three species of Pokemon: Bidoof, Starly, and Shinx!"
She smiles at him and gives a gentle pat on his shoulder, "are you ready to get started?"
Izuku thinks for a moment and looks down at Cyndaquil, he hums and looks back up at Akari and just as he was about to respond, she gasps and turns away from him.
"Oh, Professor? Is something wrong?"
Izuku startles a bit and turns to face the Professor.
"Ah, well, you see… Captain Cyllene got hold of me after you left…" he huffs and crosses his arms, "She impressed upon me that I bear full responsibility for whatever happens to 'our sudden guest'."
'Well you were the one who wanted me to join the Galaxy Team…' Izuku thought.
"That's our unsparing captain. But what help exactly can you offer here, Professor?" She questioned.
"To be honest, my dear girl, I don't intend to lift a finger! Izuku's talents are the real deal." He replies, causing Izuku to blush a little in embarrassment. He mumbles under his breath, too quiet for them to hear.
"He'll pass with flying colours- you'll see!" he cheers.
Akari looks exasperated, "Ah. So the responsibility for you, Izuku, still lies, in fact, with me then."
She sighs. Izuku feels really bad for putting this much responsibility on her, but he's also a little nervous.
Akari huffs, "Well, I'm sure you'll be fine, Izuku. Let's begin the trial!"
"Ah…" Izuku smartly responded.
Cyndaquil squeaked by his leg.
The two of them walk to the beginning of the wilds.
Once they get to the small hill that leads to the wilds, Izuku gasps quietly at the sight of the Opsidian Fieldlands.
Beautiful. Would be the word he would use to describe it if asked, the Fieldlands are nothing like he's ever seen. He's so used to cities and cement and stone, but this place has none of that. The closest it has is Jubilife Village which, while a really pretty village, doesn't take his breath away from the sight of it.
Speaking of which…
The Obsidian Fieldlands, large prairies full of Pokemon and luscious grass and flowers, tall healthy trees spread out around the rocky cliffs and slanted landscape. Mountains and cliffs climb the sky in the distance, a path leads down a little ways to cross a river. The sun shines brightly over the lands. Early morning dews wet the grass making the sunlight twinkles upon the blades.
Akari smiles and breathes deeply, "This is Aspiration Hill. The species of Pokemon you're meant to catch all live here."
The grass crinkles as a small beaver like Pokemon walks along the hill, it chitters before continuing down the hill.
"The key is to aim carefully. Not that you seem to need my advice- I'm just sharing what I know."
Izuku nods in understanding, "I-is there anything else?"
Akari hums, "yup, Bidoof has a mellow disposition. That means it tends not to run from people, so this'll be easy!"
Izuku nods as they both start to walk down the hill together to where the Bidoof ran off to. He looked around more, small clumps of white and yellow flowers spread all around, there were trees filled with berries in the distance that he could see now that he was closer to the prairies.
Akari stops a little bit away from the bottom, " You just need to catch the Pokemon and report back to me. Then we'll go back to town!" she gives him a thumbs up.
Izuku looks at Akari and nods, walking down a bit more he pulls out a Poke-ball and unlatches it. Slowly creeping up to where a Bidoof is he aims and… throws.
The ball bounces off the Pokemon, before the Poke-ball opens and the Pokemon with a shower of blue and white sparkles, the ball drops to the ground and shakes.
Once.
Twice.
Three.
Before a small firework shot out of the top, Izuku, being more prepared this time, doesn't flinch. Izuku smiles and looks down at Cyndaquil, who yips up at him and trots over to the Poke-ball and picks it up in its mouth before scurrying back to him.
He kneels down to take the Poke-ball from the Pokemon, and gives the Cyndaquil a nice head scratch. Izuku gets up and sets the Poke-ball in an easy to reach position in his satchel, before walking back to Akari to inform her of the capture.
"Akari… I got the B-Bidoof." he tells her.
Akari smiles, "Good job, Izuku, now all you have to do is catch Starly and Shinx!" She starts walking farther into the wild area, Izuku and Cyndaquil following closely behind.
"Now remember, Starly's are little skittish things, so it's best to hide, because they run if startled. Got it?" She turns to him.
Izuku nods, "S-so… should I hide in the tall grass?" He questions.
"Hmm yeah that would work." she gives him a pat on the back and walks a little bit away from where he can see the Starly's.
Izuku huffed as he turned to look around the area once more. There were patches of tall grass lining the pathway, with a few Starly pecking at a few fallen berries from a tree that's a little off the path.
He turned to face Cyndaquil, "I'm gonna need you to go back into your Poke-ball, as an extra precaution."
Cyndaquil adopted a thoughtful look on its face before nodding hesitantly, "Thank you, Cyndaquil… I'll bring you out as soon as I'm done with Starly." he took Cyndaquils ball out and lightly tapped it on their head, which opened and took the Pokemon in.
Getting up and slowly moving into the tall grass, and making his way towards the Starly nervously, he struggles to get an empty Poke-ball out of his satchel.
Gritting his teeth he tried again only for the Poke-ball to fall and hit the ground with a-
CRACK
-The Starly closest to him jumped and flew away, Izuku swore, he really needed to get something to make getting the Poke-balls out easier on him.
Sighing, Izuku brought out another Poke-ball but slower this time and made his way across the patch of tall grass to the other Starly that was too far to hit from his original spot, winding up his arm he steadied himself before throwing the ball forth.
The Poke-ball hit true, landing squarely on the back of the Starly, which seemed to give the ball more strength?... huh, looking back to the ball he saw it shake.
Once.
Twice.
Three.
The firework shoots out, sighing gratefully, Izuku stands up and walks over to the ball, picking it up and putting it with the Bidoof. He turns and walks back over to Akari.
Akari was sitting on a rather large rock kicking at the ground, she looks up at the sound of him walking close.
"Did you catch the starly?" she questioned.
Izuku nodded, "y-yeah."
"Great! Only one more to go." she runs off, Izuku is quick to follow her.
They stop behind a large rock formation with Akari looking out past it at a Pokemon, Izuku stops next to her panting a bit. Once he gets his breathing under control he looks to her for what to do next.
She turns to him, "Alright so there's a few things I want to tell you first before you go after this next Pokemon, alright?"
Izuku nods, "okay…"
She nods back, "See this tree?" she points to the large tree next to them that's full of berries, "you can use your Pokemon to knock the berries out, You can also do the same with tumblestones, which are large red ore formations around Hisui, tumblestones are what we use to make the Poke-balls, oh and apricorns. Go ahead and try it out to get the hang of it."
"Alright.." He pulls out Cyndaquils Poke-ball, and lets them out, "Cyndaquil can you use quick attack on the tree?" he points to said tree.
Cyndaquil turns and looks at the tree for a moment, before nodding to itself and half-stepping back, before rushing forward and ramming into the tree knocking most of the ripe berries loose, Izuku hurried to help Cyndaquil gather all the berries and put them away in his satchel, scratching Cyndaquil on top of their head before standing and walking back over to Akari.
"Now," Akari smiles, " We've reached your final hurdle: catching a Shinx."
She walks a little beyond the rock mound they are behind, "There, a Shinx." she points to a feline-like creature, with large yellow searching eyes, big ears with starlike ear tufts in the centre, the same with the end of its tail, its coat is a colouring of blue and black with gold accents on its front ankles.
"Shinx has an aggressive disposition. Could you already tell that?"
"I-... No, it looks rather peaceful right now…" he murmured.
She huffed, "I suppose you are right, but they are quite dangerous, I got put on bedrest because of an electric shock, anyways," she shakes her head,"Once aggressive Pokemon get irate, they'll knock aside and ball you throw at them."
She turns to him, "Don't worry from what I've seen you'll get this right, all you have to do is battle them, then maybe when they are distracted you can throw a Poke-ball."
He hums, "alright, I-I'll take your word on it."
She gives him a smile as she moves back to let him do his task, Izuku and Cyndaquil move a little bit closer but before the Shinx has a change to notice them-
"Cyndaquil, use quick attack!"
A blur of blue shoots out and rams it in the side, the Shinx stumbled back and tried to get up, but before it can Izuku throws a Poke-ball at it and captures it, the ball shakes.
Once.
Twice.
Three.
The small firework shoots out signifying the finished capture, Izuku sighed in relief, he's not sure if he could handle an angry Shinx at the moment. Cyndaquil quickly picked up the Poke-ball and brought it to him, Izuku crouched down, taking and putting the Poke-ball away and picking Cyndaquil up, before huffing and standing up himself.
"You know," he murmurs to Cyndaquil, "I should choose a name for you soon, can't keep just calling you 'Cyndaquil' if we're gonna' be partners and keep each other company."
Cyndaquil looks up at him and chirps.
"Yeah I probably should wait until we are done with this trial…"
He walks over to where Akari stands, "I'm done, Akari."
"Done already?! Wow you're like a gift dropped from the sky for us!"
He smiles nervously.
"Why, with you at our side, I think the Survey Corps has a real chance of compiling a complete Pokedex as we've been ordered!"
Her eyes light up as she crouches a bit and swings her curled arms excitedly, "Oh, this is wonderful!" she stood up fully, "I'm still curious why on earth you came falling from the sky like you did… but for now, let's tell the professor we're ready to head back!"
"Alright…"
Cyndaquils chirped their agreement, as they make their way to the main camp where the Professor is waiting for them.
...
Laventon smiled brightly upon spotting them walking back to the camp, "Oho! I said you'd pass the trial with flying colours, and it seems you went and did just that!"
"Congratulations, Izuku." he gives a gentler smile, "You've taken your first step toward seeking out every Pokemon," he suddenly takes out an old looking camera, "this calls for a commemorative photograph."
Izuku nervously smiles, as Akari jumps into the photo behind him smiling wide, Cyndaquil chirped nervously in his arms, the photo was taken quickly. Laventon puts the camera away.
Akari bounces beside him, "With skills like yours, I suppose this was a foregone conclusion!"
"Now then, we'd best report to Captain Cyllene. Time to head back to Jubilife Village, eh?"
"R-right.", Izuku nodded.
They got ready and headed back to Jubilife, after saying goodbye to the guard at the camp.
...
Eventually they make it back to Jubilife, Izuku having to put Cydndaquil into their Poke-ball due to them tiring out, the three walk to the Galaxy Headquarters, when Akari turns to look at him.
"In time, you'll be able to send Pokemon you've caught to live in the pastures, supposedly-"
"Come now, you two- let's not dillydally! Captain Cyllene awaits our report at headquarters."
"R-right, I bet Captain Cyllene will be pleased." Akari nods before hurrying after the Professor, Izuku stumbles after them.
Akari and Laventon stop outside her office leaving Izuku to walk in on his own, stopping a few feet away from her desk. It was a nice dark-oak with an ocean blue covering, it had piles of paper cheque-books and scrolls. In front of her was a black mat that was slightly elevated with an open book on it, she was holding a note-pad in her off hand and a pen resting in her main hand.
Without looking up she says, "It seems we won't have to leave you to die, after all."
'Oh… great… I feel so welcomed.'
She looks at him, "Congratulations. You've passed your trial. You can hold onto that satchel."
She puts down her note-pad and folds her arms, "I must admit you've impressed me… I set a high hurdle to judge whether a stranger like yourself could be worthy, but you cleared it."
She stands up and picks something that he didn't notice, and walks around her desk to stand in front of him, "This is yours," she holds out a pile of clothing, "The official uniform of the Survey Corps." He takes the pile from her and takes a step back.
"Get changed in the room you used last night. Then you're to report at once to the third floor." She folded her arms behind her back, "Present yourself in uniform to our commander. This is your first official order from your captain!" she didn't raise her voice but her tone took on that more of a captain and not of a tired mom.
He quickly stood straight, "Y-yes ma'am!" he scampered out of her office, and out of the building to his house, room thing.
After changing into the uniform and looking at it in the mirror, he takes out Cyndaquils Poke-ball and lets them out, "So do you think this looks good?"
The outfit itself was a navy blue that faded into a pale blue at the shins, tucked into dark blue bracers, the bracers are tucked into weird looking sandals, a nice hefty jacket that folds left over right, with light blue fluff on the collar. The Galaxy logo on the left side sleeve, the sleeves fold up and clip to the wrists, with more fluff like the neck, his satchel resting on his lower middle back and wrapped around his waist, underneath his jacket is a dark purple long sleeved turtleneck.
Cyndaquil makes a curious noise and turns to where there was a little bit of clothing left, "The scarf?" Cyndaquil picks the scarf up and brings it to him.
The scarf was a nice dark red that bled into a nice royal purple, it was a bit torn at the end, but he thought that it gave it personality.
"You think I should wear it?" He questioned.
Floo-irp
He nods, "alright I'll try it." He picks up the scarf and turns to the mirror, he gets it on and manages to make it all look presentable, "I should probably try to gain some muscle… right?" He turns to Cyndaquil who huffs at him.
"Oh and we need to come up with a name for you soon." Cyndaquil nods.
"How about… Apple?"
Shake. No.
"Mary…?"
Shake. No.
"Simon."
Shake. No.
"Pepper?"
"Cinnamon?"
Pause… a nod and a chirp. Yes.
He smiles, "Alright, welcome to the team Cinnamon." He holds out his hand to Cyndaquil, who in turn puts their front paws on his hand and yips.
"Alright, Cinnamon, you gotta' go into your Poke-ball and I'll take you out as soon as I can." Cyndaquil nods and goes into the Poke-ball.
"Alright… time to face the world again, heh… oh kami."
...
Upon entering the headquarters he was met with Akari pacing around the main room she turns to look at him as he enters.
"Wow, look how well our Survey Corps uniform suits you! It's almost as if the captain had it tailored just for you."
'Well that's not creepy.'
"I see you've changed," Cyllene comments as she walks down a flight of stairs, "Regarding your accommodation, you may continue to use the room you slept in last night"
She stops in front of them, "you may wear this as well…" she walks up to him and places a cap on his head moving his fluffy hair around until it is presentable.
She nods to herself, "Now present yourself to the commander!"
"Y-yes ma'am!"
He hurried up the stairs tripping on one and blushing when he heard Akari snicker. He reached the second floor and was greeted with many more doors and one more flight of stairs, so huffing to himself he went up the last flight of stairs.
Walking up the stairs he is greeted with a singular room, a large one at that, with large glass casings all around it, and a tall man standing in front of a clean desk.
The man wears a black fancy yukata with orange and white detailing, he had a large jacket resting on his shoulders with mustard yellow lining. His hair is a nice coal black with a very striking moustache. He looked very stern.
"I have been waiting for you!"
They stare at each other for a few seconds.
"I am Kamado, commander of the Galaxy Expedition Team!"
He rests his hand on his satchel belt, "hrrrm… So, you are Izuku."
"Yes, sir!"
"Hrrrm! I've been briefed on your situation- including how you fell from the rift in the sky." he nods a bit before flinging his arms out.
"Now then… let's see what you're made of!"
Izuku gulps.
"Face me in combat!"
"Oh… uh…"
Izuku shifts his wait before charging at the Commander, he gets within' a foot away before his world is flipped upside down and he's halfway across the office laying on his back.
"Hyah!"
"...owwwiee…" he rubs his back.
"Hrrrm! You've got vigour- I'll give you that! You need to work on your sumo technique, but I do see some potential…"
Izuku eventually gets up and limps to stand in front of Kamado.
"Don't expect a warm welcome from everyone! Naturally, some will be slow to trust an outsider who literally fell right out of the blue." he grunts out.
"The superstitious among us might see your arrival as a portent of danger!" He pauses, "but you passed the trial that was put to you, no matter how odd you may seem, you're part of Jubilife Village now. Dedicate yourself to the work of the Galaxy Expedition Team, and complete the Pokedex!"
He calms down a bit, "But I warn you, Izuku… Pokemon are terrifying creatures. Keep your wits about you as you work!"
Izuku nods in understanding, after being dismissed he heads down to Captain Cyllenes office, he is met with Cyllene, Akari, and Professor Laventon.
Cyllene turns to him, "so the commander has also accepted you." she walks forward, folding her arms behind her back, "but understand this… you begin as a No Star recruit among our ranks. In other words, you have no rank at all."
Izuku whimpers quietly.
"Perform well as a member of the Survey Corps, and you will move up through the ranks."
"Indeed!" they turn to Laventon, "You see, the more you add to the Pokedex, the higher your rank will become, and working on the Pokedex will also, of course, bring you closer towards that goal of yours…to seek out every last Pokemon!"
Cyllene turns to him, "Here you will need this, the Pokeball recipe" It's a sheet of paper, and a bag with some weight to it, " and 3,000 pokedollars as well. You will have to buy the necessary materials."
He puts the money and paper into his satchel, as Cyllene turns to Akari, "Akari. You are an expert at crafting, yourself. Teach our new recruit what he needs to know."
"Of course, Captain Cyllene." she turns to Izuku, "now, as the experienced craftsperson here, let me explain a bit to start with."
She takes a deep breath, "Crafting means making items with your own two hands. You can buy some items at the general store, but self-sufficiency is worth striving for! You can even make our most valuable tooms: Poke-balls. Think where we'd be if we couldn't do that! Now, let's head to the craftworks."
The two of them leave the headquarters and out onto the streets, where they are stopped by a nice looking woman dressed in purple, "well done earning a place in our team."
Her hair had a large blonde stripe in the middle that led into her nice bun and a pair of round, red glasses.
"My name is Anthe. I'm the local clothier. The professor asked that I ready you a change of clothes, so here you go! I do hope they fit." She handed him a small bag that had some clothes in it.
"I hope you'll avail yourself of the village's humble shops!"
"Thank you…"
Anthe walks back to her shop, as Akari tugs on his sleeve gently, "This way to the craftworks, Izuku."
"Right."
He follows Akari to a wooden building with a man in blue standing outfront.
"You can use the workbench here at the craftworks anytime you need to make an item in the village." she points to a small getup that has a lot of tools in it.
"And I'll supply what you need to make your first Poke-balls once you're ready to begin. Call it my way of saying congratulations on joining us! Just spend the money you got from the captain on clothes- or whatever you think is best."
"Now, go up to the workbench, and choose an item to craft- in this case, a Poke-ball!"
Izuku pulls out the recipe and goes over to the workbench.
He kneels down and looks closer, the bench seems to be already prepared, he looks at the recipe and tries to follow it to the best of his ability. And after what he assumes to be half an hour, he manages to make a Poke-ball with minimal help from Akari.
She gives him a proud pat on his shoulder that he tries not to flinch at.
The professor who joined the group about halfway through spoke up.
"Oho! Now that's some fine craftsmanship! Hard to believe this was your first time stepping up to the workbench, my boy!"
"Uh… thanks." Izuku replied anxiously.
"You'll recall, of course, that Pokemon possess the odd power to shrink themselves down. With the Poke-balls we craft, we can make use of that power to catch them! All so that more Pokemon species can be duly recorded in a Pokedex." he pauses to hand something to Izuku. "And on that note, here you are!"
Laventon handed Izuku a rather large but light hardback journal with a dark blue cover hand together with sturdy but thin rope, on the front were the words.
+Pokedex +
"I prepared this volume just for you!" he smiles brightly, "I hope it aids you well in your aim to seek out all the Pokemon there are in this grand region!"
Akari pipes in, "You'll have to complete lots of research tasks to help the professor fill out the Pokedex." she rests a hand on her hip, "Same goes for me, of course. I've also got Pokemon to research, as a Survey Corps member."
"Right, m-maybe we can help e-eachother out?"
Akari smiled and nodded.
"And I'd be all too happy to explain more about the research tasks I could use your assistance with. Come join me at the Fieldlands Camp whenever you are ready, my good lad!"
As they all head off across town a guard near the entrance of the town hall brightens up.
"Hey, excuse me- I couldn't help but overhear…"
Izuku stops to listen to the lone guard as the others continue.
"If you're going to the Fieldlands Camp, would you mind taking care of a request for me?"
"S-sure." Izuku nods gently.
"I'm standing guard so I can't leave my post. But I'll be at headquarters if you want to talk about it."
Izuku nods and walks closer to him.
"Hey. So, there's this Pokemon called Wurmple. Have you heard of it?"
Izuku thinks before nodding, "y-yeah I have." 'it's a bug right… bug types are cool.'
"Well, you see, I was having a chat with Professor Laventon, and he told me that after a Pokemon gains a certain amount of experience through battling and the like, it will sometimes change its appearance and become stronger" he paused to take a breath, "He said it was a phenomenon called Evolution."
"Yeah…"
"And so I decided I want to raise a Wurmple myself and have it evolve. You're a part of the Survey Corps, aren't you? If you catch a Wumple, could you let me have it? There'll be a reward in it for you, I promise. Just get me a Wurmple if you can!"
"Alright I'll try."
"That's all I can ask for!"
Izuku nods and goes on his way, as Izuku makes it towards the gate he gets stopped by another guard.
"Heading outside the village, are we? Stay safe out there, kid."
"I will sir."
Izuku continues on his way to the Fieldlands.
...
As he finally gets to camp he sees Akari and Laventon waiting for him.
"Righto. Let's get to it, then, shall we? In order to complete this Pokedex of ours, there are a great many research tasks I'll need your help to carry out, my boy."
"Alright."
"The details of these tasks can be found in the Pokedex for you to reference anytime. You must catch and battle diverse Pokemon species and carry out plenty of research tasks." he pauses, "do so, and you'll gain research points and other rewards for your work!"
Akari turns to Izuku with a determined look, "one last piece of advice, Izuku. If you see a wild Pokemon's attack coming your way.. Dodge like your life depends on it!"
"D-dodge?" he muttered.
Akari huffed fondly, "Here- watch closely, and remember what I do so you can do it later."
Akari moved a little ways away from the two of them, and got into position.
Hup!
She pushes forward and does a roll, quickly standing up through it.
"That beautiful, flowing bit of gymnastics in what we call a dodge!" Akari puffs her chest out proudly, "If you're light on your feet, you can dodge out of the way of wild Pokemon's attacks. That way, hopefully you can avoid taking a beating and blacking out in the wilderness."
Izuku walks a bit closer to her as she gets a downcast look.
"The Security Corps had to collect me when I… got the business end of some Shinx's Thunder Shock." She took a deep breath, "but don't you worry! I've got lots of experience to draw on, and I'll teach you plenty!"
Izuku smiled a little thing, "Thank you, Akari."
"Right!" she nods, "this way!"
She turns and runs the same way that they went to do his trial, he quickly follows after. She stops on Aspiration Hill and turns to him.
"Now, let me share some Survey Corps wisdom!" she chips her arms, "remember to check your tasks after catching Pokemon."
A Bidoof hops around in the background, Akari turns to it.
"You might've noticed that you have a research task to do with how many Bidoof you've caught. That's right- catching just one isn't enough. You need two, then four… then more and more!" she sounds a little tired at the end of that, the Bidoof runs off, "why not try to complete a few tasks, I'll be up ahead!" she perks up and runs down the hill.
Izuku sighs and looks around.
There's a tree that could be gathered up the hill a bit, there's some Bidoof that he could catch. He needs to get Wurmple for that one guard. He looks down at the Pokedex he's still carrying… he needs something better to carry stuff, or maybe he can try to move stuff around in the satchel, yeah… maybe a belt with pouches too.
Anyway, he pulls out Cinnamons Poke-ball and releases them.
Fooom!
Cinnamon landed on the ground and looked at Izuku, "Can you help me gather the apricorns from the tree?" he points to said tree.
Cinnamon looked at the tree and used a quick attack to knock the apricorns free, the both set out to gather them and put them in his satchel. The two of them walked down Aspiration Hill together, and as they got down they spotted a group of Bidoof.
Deciding it best to test his hiding skills Izuku moved to hide in the tall grass and pull enough Poke-balls to catch two of the Bidoof, Cinnamon joined him in his hiding.
Getting ready and aiming he threw one of the Poke-balls when the Bidoof was looking away.
One.
Two.
Three.
Before the Firework shoots up he throws the second Poke-ball at the other Bidoof and stands up, "Cinnamon use quick attack!"
Cinnamon shoots out of the grass and hits the last Bidoof in the side, staggering it, "Keep at it!"
Cinnamon nods and keeps up with the Bidoof as it fights back as he gathers the captured Pokemon. He looks back to see Cinnamon over a knocked out Bidoof looking Proud of themself, Izuku smiles.
Walking up to Cinnamon and the Bidoof, he grabs one last Poke-ball before he gently taps it on the Bidoofs head, and puts all the Poke-balls away.
"Was that fun? A good leg stretcher?" he asked Cinnamon.
Cinnamon chirps happily in response, nudging his hand for scratches, Izuku quietly laughs but indulges in their request and scratches under their chin, "Alright, let's go catch-up with Akari."
Standing up fully he starts walking towards where Akari ran off but stops… There was a large leek like a plant sticking out of the ground, walking over to it, he crouches slightly and pulls it out of the ground. Looking it over, he thinks he remembers hearing someone talk about it before, but he's not quite sure.
"You think Akari will know what this is?" He gestures to the plant.
Cinnamon sniffs at the plant, and nods.
"Right, just one more thing to ask about." he stands and they continue on their way.
When they make it to Akari she's just looking out at the expansive land.
"H-hey Akari?"
She startles a bit, "Yeah, Izuku?"
"What's this?" He shows her the plant.
"Oh! That's a Medicine Leek, we use it for potions and herbs to help the sick."
"Oh… so I should keep gathering it?"
"Yeah, that would be a good Idea." She hums before brightening up, "I think you've got it with the whole catching and fighting thing, but as a reminder: don't forget to open your Pokedex when you're out in the wild, don't want to miss any tasks!"
"Right!"
Cinnamon nods along beside him.
She turns to look out again before pausing, "hey, check your tasks for Stary, I think one of them is for catching them without being spotted, right?"
Izuku quickly opens the Pokedex to the second page, "Uh, yeah that's one of them."
She nods, "Why don't you go ahead and do that one too." She points to the Starly that's milling about in the short distance.
"Oh… alright, I should p-probably hide in the tall grass right?"
Akari nods, "I'll go wait for you up ahead. Come catch up once you've finished some tasks."
"Ah.. alright." he nods.
She waves before jogging off.
He made his way to the tall grass and crouched down slowly shuffling towards the Starly's, Cinnamon following slowly after him. Carefully removing two Poke-balls from his satchel, and shuffling his Pokedex under his arm he stops moving.
A Starly hops closer to the tall grass not paying attention to its surroundings, he aims and throws.
One.
Two.
Three.
The firework shoots out startling the other Starly causing it to fly away. He huffs and stands up walking up to the Poke-ball and picks it up.
"How was that throw?" he asked Cinnamon who just stared at him.
"... Yeah it could have been better." he puts the Pokeball away and starts walking towards Akari once again.
He looks through the Pokedex between Starly and Shinx, 'should I add a Shinx or a Starly… I'll ask Cinnamon later.'
"Hey, Cinnamon?" He stops walking.
Cinnamon looks up at him.
"Have you tried using ember?"
Cinnamon pauses for a moment before shaking their head, Izuku looks around and spots a Shinx, "Well there's a Shinx there, wanna fight it and try out?"
Cinnamon looks over to the Shinx before looking back at him and nodding.
"Alright… use a quick attack to get close before trying ember."
Cinnamon nods before shifting and shooting off quickly, they stop near the Shinx startling the feline who quickly gathers its bearing and hisses at Cinnamon. Cinnamon pauses as the spots on it's back flair and a small ball of fire shot out of their mouth at the Shinx who hissed as it hit their chest, the Shinx tried to shake off the flames but fails.
Izuku runs up behind Cinnamon, "great, use another quick attack!" He pulls out a Poke-ball, as Cinnamon kicks out for another quick attack, landing a direct hit.
Izuku throws the Poke-ball, which lands its mark.
One.
Two.
CRACK.
The Poke-ball breaks open and the Shinx launches itself and tackles Cinnamon. Cinnamon is quick to get up and shoot another ember to get the Shinx to back up, which it does. Izuku, seeing his chance as the Shinx is not paying attention to him, throws another Poke-ball.
One.
Two.
Three.
The firework shoots out the top signifying the capture, quickly grabbing the Poke-ball, Izuku checks on Cinnamon.
"Are you okay?" He drops the Pokedex and hovers his hands worriedly around Cinnamon, who huffs and bumps their head into Izuku's hands and nods.
Izuku sighs in relief, "Good… good. We should probably get to Akari."
Picking up his Pokedex and standing up they start walking towards where Izuku saw her run off too.
They get to Akari in a few minutes after collecting a few more berries from some trees, Akari smiles at them before turning and gesturing to an orange and yellow Pokemon in the distance.
"Around here, you can find a Pokemon called Buizel. It's got an aggressive disposition. Remember that means it'll try to hit you with its moves, just like Shinx, and you'll have to battle to catch it." Akari turns to him, "And speaking of which, your research tasks for Buizel include seeing it use a certain move. To be precise, you have to see it use the move in battle. That's right- some tasks require battling!"
"Right… that's fine."
"Now, I'll go on ahead. You take care of some of Buizel's research tasks, then come talk to me." and she jogs off again.
"Why does she keep doing that?" he whispers.
Sighing he looks down at Cinnamon, "You ready to get more Pokemon?"
Cinnamon nods, and they start forward.
"Quick attack, keep it distracted!"
Fooom!
Cinnamon charged forward smashing into the sea otter Pokemon, startling it enough and getting its attention, Buizel uses a quick attack in turn and the two of them dance around each other. Buizel tries to hit with a water gun but misses getting a quick attack to the stomach in turn.
Izuku walks up, pulling a Poke-ball out and aiming. Just as the Buizel pauses to fire another water gun he throws.
One.
Two.
Three.
Boom. fireworks.
"Nice job, Cinnamon!" he praises, picking up Buizel's Poke-ball.
"Let's take a look around, maybe collect some more Medicine leeks or berries."
Cinnamon nods and they start walking around, they find a few more Leaks and berries, and-
"Hey what's that?"
A weird red-ish orange chunk of stone stands alone outside the ground.
"Is this that tumblestone that Akari spoke of?"
Cinnamon looks between Izuku and the stone, before preparing and using a quick attack to break the stone apart.
"Woah! Careful, Cinnamon!"
Cinnamon chirps at him and nudges the broken stone, Izuku kneels down and grabs a few chunks, looking at them they seem good enough so he takes as many as he can with squishing the things he already has and gets up after giving Cinnamon a head pat.
"Alright let's get going, I'm almost out of Poke-balls." They start on their walks again.
As they walk, they eventually get to an area with more trees, looking around he spots a small red caterpillar like Pokemon, stopping and standing still Izuku pulls out a Poke-ball and throws it at the Pokemon.
One.
Two.
Three.
The firework shoots out confirming the capture of the Wurmple.
"Well… I can finish that guard's task now." he hums as he picks up the Poke-ball and continues on their way.
Finally they find their way to Akari, to find her leaning against a tree waiting for them, she perks up upon spotting them.
"You're really doing quite well for yourself!" she smiled and held out something, "Here! A little reward for keeping up with me: your own Crafting Kit!"
"Can you h-help me put that in my satchel?"
Akari blinks then smiles and nods and helps put the Crafting Kit in his satchel without squishing anything.
"T-thank you."
"Oh, and I put the recipe for Potion with your other recipe, too."
"Oh, thanks."
"Now with a Crafting Kit, you can craft items anywhere using any materials you have in your satchel! So as long as you've got an apricorn and a tumblestone, you can make a Poke-ball anytime, or with an Oran Berry and a Medicine Leek, you can make a Potion. So do heal your Pokemon."
Izuku nods in understanding.
"So how is your research going?"
"It's going alright."
"Right," she nods, "Don't forget to report to the Professor with your data, say speaking of the professor, if you are done for now why don't we go now."
"Yeah I-I think we're done, let's go."
Akari nods, and the three of them make their way to the main camp.
Eventually they make it back to camp.
"Oho! Did you give him the Crafting Kit?"
"Sure did!"
"Great! You must have listened attentively to Akari's teaching. Excellent work, dear boy!"
Izuku smiles at the Praise and Cinnamon chirps in happiness.
"This seems a good time to explain to you about survey reports and the rewards they offer. When you finish or submit your reports you'll earn money from the number of Pokemon you've caught, you'll receive more money if you've fulfilled certain requirements such as catching a species for the first time." he takes a deep breath, "On that note, let me check the research tasks you've completed thus far."
They get out the Poke-balls that are filled and count out the Pokemon that are in them, checking research tasks off of the Pokedex as they go. Eventually the Professor finishes and has the final tally.
"So this survey will end with you getting $2,226, pretty good for your first survey. Oh and as you carry out research tasks and complete Pokedex entries for different species, you'll gain research points, once you gain enough you'll be able to move up through the ranks of the Galaxy Expedition Team."
"Makes sense." Izuku replied.
"And with that, you've made good progress on the research task, Izuku. I do believe that means you're ready to move up in the ranks! Lets head back to the village and report the good news to Captain Cyllene. It's time you earned yourself a star!"
"Good job, Izuku!" Akari cheers.
Cinnamon chirps their praise as Izuku picks them up for the walk to town.