Ron the True Fan: Nothing like grind to restore the ability to write.
Takeshi Yamato: True enough.
Ron the True Fan: Take needed to do other things, I needed to make vids and STO-related things. You know how it is. Have FUN.
Empire of Ransei - Violight Province - 1502 hours local time - Day 251 of Ash Ketchum's Pokemon Journey
There was one thing everyone noticed when they entered Violight Province. Tatsuki tried to get through it quickly, but Kyoji refused.
They soon discovered WHY.
Vun-vun.
Iris' eyebrows shot up. "Wait… is that-"
"Yup!" Kyoji said cheerfully, his own Gible making a cheer as they saw the first fin.
Then two. Then three. Then MANY more, all sharking their way towards the group. A school of Ranseian Gibles!
"Gibles!" Becca declared happily.
"Violight's the home of most of the Ranseian Gible population." Kyoji said happily as the Gible school began to poke their heads out of the ground, some surfacing outright before Kyoji's went for a chomp, latching onto one wild Gible.
This turned into something of a chain chomp reaction, with every Gible joining in on the chomping frenzy, resulting in a massive pile of happy land sharks.
"AW…" Iris cooed, as she had a weakness for cute dragons. And there were few dragons more cute then Gible.
"GIBLE!" cried the land sharks.
"It's always good to have Gibles say hi." Kyoji said, petting as many of them as possible. "So social and easy to please."
"Speaking of…" Ash said, opening a Pokeball, releasing his own evolite clipped land shark.
"Gible!" 'Hi!' cried the foreign Gible, which prompted the chain of Gibles to break up, surrounding the strange land shark, sniffing and looking him over.
"That Gible looks weird." Tatsuki said, looking at the purple and red land shark. "Is that… normal?"
Kyoji chuckled. "Yeah, apparently Gibles outside of Ransei are all dragon/ground-type instead of electric/ground." he explained. "But-"
CHOMP! Went Ash's shark, latching onto another Ranseian Gible. This land shark then did as all Gibles do: eyesmile and make a happy 'Gib!', which resulted in a chain chomp.
Iris released hers, who just went straight for the chomp, joining the chain of Gibles.
"Must. Resist. Petting." Becca said slowly. "They're… ADORABLE."
"And the cute sharks have claimed yet another victim." Kyoji dryly noted as Tatsuki watched the chain. And looked… mildly uncomfortable. "Your highness?"
Tatsuki looked away, blushing. "N-nothing." she said, denying anything.
Ash removed his Gible from the chain, which made him and the other sharks pout, but he held him in his arms and scratched the base of his fin before the shark chain broke up, crowding around Tatsuki. "Are you embarrassed by Gibles?" he asked. "Because if that's a problem-"
"No, it's… not that." she cut off.
"…Do you have a Glaceon or something as your starter?" Kyoji asked. "I mean, you all have Eevees-"
Tatsuki reached for a bag containing a single pokeball. She looked… ashamed before opening it, releasing the Pokemon within…
A familiar and popular form around these parts: a yellow land shark Pokemon with a notchless fin, who opened her maw and yawned with a 'Giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiibbbbbbbbbbbbbb'.
Tatsuki's starter Pokemon was a Gible? That explained the land sharks' behavior.
"…Your starter's a Gible?" Kyoji asked, his own making a little dance.
"None of the Eevees… clicked." Tatsuki finally said. "They didn't take it personally, they just… didn't fit. Gible did."
"Gible." 'It's because those Eevees saw you were different. Nothing personal, they're just not your type.' said her land shark, eyesmiling. "Gib~" 'But I am~'
"It's nothing to be ashamed about." Ash said. "Kanto's starters are Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle, but I got Pikachu instead. No regrets."
"Maybe for you, but the royal family's starters are all supposed to be Eevee, like my ancestor, the first Emperor!" Tatsuki snapped, her eyes turning red. "We're not supposed to have any other Pokemon!"
"Gible!" 'But we're all happy to see you have a Gible! It means you're nice!' one of the land sharks cried, before he made a sad "Gib…" 'You can't understand me."
"He's right, Tatsuki: Gibles don't hang around nasty people if they can avoid it." Ash said, making the sharks perk up. "It means you're kind at heart, but… generally… reckless…" Ash facepalmed as he realized his mistake. "Oh, HELL."
At this point, the sharks all turned to look at him. "Gib… Gible?" 'You can… you can understand us?' asked one of the Gibles, sounding hopeful.
He sighed. He might as well bite the bullet, as it were. "…Yeah, I can. You were complaining about not being understood when you said she was nice and you were all happy about her starter being one of you." he explained, resigning himself to his fate.
"GIBLE!" cried the land sharks as they rushed him, latching onto every limb and knocking him to the ground, like piranhas, but insanely friendly and affectionate ones.
Ash let out a breath, then tried to pet the Gibles, but the ones latched to his arms were too heavy, but they didn't mind not getting pet.
Tatsuki watched, attempting to look unmoved about this blatant act of Gible love. That said… this was Gible.
As the sharks all eyesmiled, lightly chewing on Ash's limbs and head gently and affectionately, she learned one simple lesson.
When it came to Gible, resistance was futile. She cooed at the sight, her own Gible leaping onto her head and giving her a brief, happy chomp.
"Ok, you land piranhas, let him go." Misty demanded. "He's not your chew toy."
"Gib!" 'But he understands us!' cried one of the Gibles. "Gib~" 'This is a good thing!'
Ash let out a breath. "Ok, sharks, could you let me go? I'm just a visitor." he asked, the Gibles all pouting before letting him go, releasing him from their maws, but he gave them one last pet as they let him go and got up to make up for it.
"To the city!" Kyoji declared, a little TOO happy.
The trail of Gibles, all acting like their sea-based counterparts, probably explained everything. Especially as they started trying to force Ash and Tatsuki closer together.
'Oh, I APPROVE,' said Jade within Serena's mind. 'Sexy exotic black haired princess! Go, Gibles!'
Anabel and Sabrina both looked at Serena, one in confusion, the other in amused exasperation.
Ash just didn't want to know what she was thinking.
They were EVERYWHERE. A traffic sign had a red Gible silhouette for stop and a green fin for go. A Gible wearing a hardhat with a fin held a pickaxe on a 'coming soon' poster.
A Gible with that silly collage hat you tossed into the air on their fin advertised schooling. A Gible with a police hat… you get the idea.
"Holy Gibles." said Misty, getting a chuckle out of Kyoji.
"You're not that far off." he said, the Gibles made rings around Ash and Tatsuki, the princess looking annoyed, Ash just exasperated and tired. "In Violight, Gibles are loved. Mostly because they're so helpful! They help dig, they can charge up batteries and of course…" Kyoji gestured to a young boy hugging a Gible, who eyesmiled and warbled. "Because they're friendly."
"Too friendly." Ash deadpanned, the Gibles making a happy "Gib!" as they rotated tighter, forcing Ash to step back and Tatsuki to step forward, his arm getting wedged somewhere… soft.
To Tatsuki's credit, while she was CERTAINLY furious, she didn't slap Ash for something the Gibles were causing. After all, it was back up and sandwich his arm between her assets or get tripped and hurt himself among the sharks and their fins and he certainly didn't look happy.
WHY wasn't he smirking like those perverted characters in those manga or those overly touchy noblemens' sons her mother tried to set her up with?! Weren't all men perverts?
Ash, meanwhile, was just annoyed. Why did Pokemon in every region want him to get shacked up with a girl he met there?! He was perfectly happy being an acquaintance or a friend.
Serena made a perverted giggle at the sight, joined by a more subdued one from… Iris? …Well, he wasn't going to judge their tastes, but he WAS going to be annoyed at them for the presumption. The cycle ENDED HERE.
Then a redheaded woman in a police uniform ran around a corner, panicking. "Thank fucking Arceus I found them-" she exclaimed breathlessly before rushing towards the group.
"Tell me we don't have another tour guide." Misty deadpanned.
"As a police officer?" Mei asked as the officer came to a stop and… counted the Gibles, who stopped their sharking and surfaced as she started counting them.
"26, 27, 28-"
"Is there a problem, officer?" Ash asked, concerned before the redhead sighed.
"All 37 Gibles." she said before noticing Kyoji's and Tatsuki's, as well as the foreign sharks. "41?! And what happened to those two?!"
The Sinnohan Gibles looked at one another. "Gible." 'Rude.' said Iris' land shark.
"It's not their fault they're not Ranseian Gibles." Ash said, getting a look. "They were born that way. But they're still Gibles."
The redhead looked at them… then when they leaned to one side, she picked them up and gave them a hug.
"WHY must you all be cute?!" she demanded.
"Because they're Gibles." Kyoji said, picking up his Gible. "What's with the Gible count?"
She got to her feet, confused. "You haven't heard?" she demanded, then saw his uniform. "…Oh. You probably weren't informed because the military doesn't tell anyone about 'unimportant matters'."
"Gib." 'I recent that.' said the land shark.
"Gibles have been…disappearing over the last two years." she explained. "It's been one at a time, every few months. But now it's ramped up over the last three months: three, four at a time, per week!"
Kyoji just pet the land shark in his hands, comforting both. "Are you sure they're not just setting up new colonies in the rest of Ransei?" he asked. "They do that."
"And Violight would be flooded with complaints about Gibles setting up shop near some vineyard or something before they discovered Gibles were great at aerating the soil." the officer snapped. "Or they did what they always do and make people love them. No, they're just VANISHING. And I lost this school of sharks three hours ago."
Ash's eye began twitching. Not even a FUCKING DAY. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. No. This was a local police problem. The closest there was to a Team Rocket clone here was the Akamura crime family and Kyoji assured him they were all locked away or dead.
This was not their problem.
Then two of the Gibles sharked away, one bearing a clip.
Ash took in a deep breath. Gible could handle himself. This was not a problem.
The two land sharks 'hunted', one chasing the other as their fins cut through the dirt. One would mistake this for play and they would have good reason to think so: Gibles were friendly, social Pokemon in spite of their scary jaws.
But this was not play.
This was courtship.
The two Gibles chased, the female leading the way as the male chased. Gible courtship was deceptively simple to human eyes. Chase the female, chomp.
But as with all things Pokemon, it's never that simple. Infrasound, movement, subvocalized warbling, all subtle things a human could never notice. But the humans could be forgiven for thinking it was that simple.
They knew how to push a Pokemon beyond their limits and evolve, but they could never truly understand every single thing about Pokemon cultures. But they didn't hold it against them.
For the most part: some Pokemon were just dicks. The less said about the Beheeyem line, the better.
Finally, Ash's shark lept from the dirt and latched onto Tatsuki's with a mighty chomp.
"Gible~" 'Caught you~' said the land shark with an eyesmile. Tatsuki's yellow shark warbled, eyesmiling as she flipped him onto his feet, launching into the air.
If she chomped back, she would accept his overtures. If not… well, the chase would continue. Gibles were nice about this sort of thing: rejection merely meant they had to work harder at it.
CHOMP!
Fortunately, Gibles were honest little land sharks.
The yellow land shark warbled before eyesmiling, dropping to the ground and rubbing against Ash's shark, both Gibles quite happy.
But before they could enjoy the aftermath of their chase, something bolted out of the bushes, netting the sharks.
"Two more." came a human male's voice as the Gibles panicked, getting lifted up before they could dig into the ground. "The fuck's wrong with this one? It's PURPLE."
Both sharks bit at the net, but it was coated in plastic, something no Gible would be able to tolerate for long in their mouths. As they tried to get the taste out of their mouths, they were carried off.
Tatsuki kept looking into the distance. Her Gible never strayed far from her side for long.
In a family that almost universally had Eevees as their starters, she had good reason to worry.
"Those two should've been back by now." Kyoji noted as Robin stared at a construction sign with a Gible holding a sledgehammer in his maw in confusion. "I mean, Gibles are sociable. They don't like being alone."
"You know what happens when a pair of Gibles find their mate, Kyoji." Ryo said, smirking, making Ash visibly grimace. Apparently, he didn't want to think about it.
Stop being confusing, damn it! Boys were supposed to have that constantly on their minds!
After that, Ash just sighed. "Let's go looking for them." he said. "If what's been happening to the other Gibles happened here…"
"Say no more. We can't waste time." Ryo cut off. "Teams of two. Kyoji, with me, Ash, can you take care of the princess?"
"Major!" Tatsuki shouted.
"We don't have time to argue. The longer we take to get going, the less chances we have of finding our Pokemon." Ash said. "Pair off, search the woods. If they took the Gibles into the city, someone would notice struggling land sharks."
Serena saluted, grabbing Anabel's hand and all but ran off, dragging Anabel with her.
"I'll take Robin." Misty said. "Give us a chance to talk."
"Grab a partner and MOVE. We don't have time to doddle." Ryo said, Kyoji getting to his feet. "And if you want to do something in regards-"
"Get your head out of the gutter." Ash snapped, shocking Tatsuki. She thought that was something only a woman would say! "Come on, let's go find the Gibles."
With that, Tatsuki followed Ash, in a moment of EXTREME confusion.
Ryo just stood as the others scattered. "Did he just-"
"He's an idiot." Kyoji said, glaring at Ash's back. "Oath of celibacy for failing to save a Pokemon from certain death."
Ryo shook his head to clear it. "That…" he trailed off as they started their search for the Gibles, walking in another direction. "That's insane."
"That's what I said." Kyoji said. "After dealing with that super Mew, Yveltal AND Shamouti, you think he might go back and rethink on it."
"You know as well as I do the power of guilt." Ryo said. "I know you still have access to your family's bank accounts from their cleaner businesses. The Emperor didn't have them repossessed because you turned them in. After all, a child needs the power to take care of himself and you are STILL the scion of a powerful family. Yet you haven't touched a single yen. No offense, Kyoji, but you're just as bad as Ash when it comes to guilt."
Kyoji stopped. "I never knew that." he said quietly.
Ryo sighed as he turned back to face him. "But you know exactly how you'd react." he stated. "You'd consider it dirty and wouldn't touch it. You and him are more alike then you want to admit. And while I don't want to trivialize your pain… I don't think you're telling me everything about what happened to make Ash take his vow."
Kyoji winced. Ryo was effectively a surrogate father or older brother that knew too much about him. "…I can't tell you." he said.
"Can't… or won't?" Ryo asked.
"Can't. I promised I wouldn't tell anyone more then they needed to know." Kyoji half-lied. No one would believe Ash's time travel story unless Celebi popped up.
Fortunately, Ryo got the hint. "Alright then." he said. "I won't pry. Trauma's a bitch. He's getting help?"
Kyoji nodded.
"Then we need to stop wasting time. We need to find those Gibles." the older soldier said, rushing into the woods. Kyoji charged after him.
No one screwed with Gibles.
The princess' mind was awash with confusion.
Every single man she had met, with the exception of her father and maybe the Major, was an overzealous pervert, always too eager to get into her panties.
Nobleman's sons? Always trying to cop a feel. Military officials? They looked lower then her chin.
So why would the ultimate example of this, someone who was effectively a harem manga protagonist, NOT act like a total pervert?!
"Is something wrong?" ash asked. "Other then Gible. You're glaring at the back of my head."
She pursed her lips. She was usually impulsive, but Ash was making zero sense, so she actually had to pause and think about it.
That said… "You make no sense." she finally admitted. "Every man I know is a pervert. They never look me in the eye, always getting grabby, but you… you don't. You never look lower then my chin, you don't want to touch me, you even had your arm shoved between my breasts and you didn't have any reaction other then being annoyed at the Gibles! What are you, gay?!"
Ash let out a breath. "I failed to save the life of a Latios." he said. "I could have saved his life, but I didn't. I failed. Because I wasn't paying attention. Because I had the idea of confessing to… a girl I knew."
Tatsuki blinked. A Latios? A Legendary dragon?
"So because I wasn't focused, I might as well have killed him myself, so I decided to NEVER pursue a romantic relationship, not even THINK about a girl that way. And I take my promises VERY seriously."
And with that, Ash just shattered every expectation she ever had towards men. Sure, he admitted to wanting to confess to a girl, but… that was the end of it. And she could hear it.
He was telling the truth.
"I have no interest in being your boyfriend. I'm even trying to find better matches for the girls I'm being forced to marry." he said, further upendding her expectations of reality. "If you want a friend, period… I don't take having a sword swung at me personally."
"Pika." 'I will ELECTROCUTE YOU for this.' Pikachu deadpanned.
"You always electrocute me, Pikachu." Ash said, a light smile on his face. "What else would be new?"
Tatsuki just stared at the two in confusion as Ash continued to look for the Gibles.
Meanwhile, unknown location
Gible slammed into the base of the cage, which, just like the net, was coated in petrochemicals in the form of plastic, something Gibles HATED.
"Gib!" 'Are you ok?' asked Tatsuki's Gible, as the foreign land shark got to his feet.
"Gible." 'I'm ok. Where are we?' he asked, looking around, seeing dozens of Gibles, all yellow and terrified, in other cages just like this one, which was filled with land sharks.
"Gible." 'I don't know.' she admitted before looking to her new mate. "Gible." 'Look, I'm not a fool. I know your trainer's the Chosen One of Arceus. He's coming for us.'
"Gible." 'He'd be coming for us even if he wasn't.' Ash's retorted. Then he noticed the evolite clip still latched to his fin and grinned…well, like a shark. "Gible?" 'Can you get that clip off my fin?'
"Gi?" 'Why?' she asked, surrounded by the other captive Gibles. "Gible?" 'What'll that do?'
Gible never answered as the door opened, revealing about twenty humans coming in. "Gotta love the Akamuras. Government jails them all, doesn't go looking for their shit." said one before looking at Ash's Gible. "What's with the purple one?"
"Foreigner, apparently." said a woman. "Ash Ketchum, Prince of Rota's probably his trainer."
"Explains that gaudy piece of jewelry on its' fin." said the one in charge. "Remove it. Might sell for a pretty red yen or two."
Another woman unlatched the cage, men with what looked like metal and wood rifles pointed at the land sharks before she opened it, picking up the foreign land shark.
"Your trainer's a vein little fuck, isn't he, little guy?" she said, removing the clip and dropping him back in.
Then he was caught in the light of evolution.
"The fuck?! Does that thing have an everstone or something?!" one of the men demanded.
"It's evolite! What the fuck-"
The cage exploded as Gible…became Garchomp.
The Mach Pokemon opened his eyes. "Chomp." 'You are all in for a VERY bad day.' declared the air shark.
Entry 108: Ryo Kanetstugu
Little is known about Major Kanetsugu, other then his rank and place of birth in Illusio Province, making him a member of a not-so-minor ninja clan.
His loyalty to the Emperor is almost without question, but he has a soft spot for someone that would be very unlikely at first glance: Kyoji Akamura. After all, the Akamuras were a crime family.
Regardless, the Major did what he could to take the boy in and gave him something of a home in the military, but like General Hiruzen, could not do anything to stop the accusations and abuse.
From what little we know of his record, the man is a killing machine, always seeking a worthy challenge. Horusian Guard Ulysses Taggard may just be it.
Entry 109: Violight Province, Ransei
The electric capital of the Empire, Violight is home to many electric types, all of whom happily join the efforts in powering the nation.
What is most unique is the population of Gibles. Due to Ransei's colder climate, the local population changed type to electric/ground, but their behavior did not change one bit. As such, Gibles are commonly found throughout the province, doing what they do on the mainland and supplying, collectively, more power then any other Pokemon.
Due to this, Gibles are the mascot of the province, beating out the more obvious electric mascot that is Pikachu due to their friendly nature, with images of the land sharks everywhere from traffic signs to bus stops. Gible is also an uncommon starter Pokemon, as there is an expression in Violight: 'Share the Shark', as during the early days of industrialization, Gibles were often passed along from business to business in exchange for food and, of course, attention, meaning that Gibles are rarely caught. Only when they choose to go with a specific trainer are they captured.
Violight is ruled by the Ginchiyo family, whose current head is Raiden Ginchiyo, dating back to the Ranseian Unification War.
Ron the True Fan: There is a word for what is about to happen to those idiots. Just going to say this: ZERO sympathy.
Takeshi Yamato: Agreed. And as is always appropriate in these situations… Anderson?
HA Anderson: Well, you know what time it is!
Ron the True Fan: You'll find out WHY I have zero sympathy next time. Just know this: they might have AKs, but this is a dragon. They're fucked.
Ja Ne!