Disclaimer: Pokemon is owned by the Nintendo, Hakunon/Fate is owned by the all-powerful Mushroom(Nasu), and all that stuff.
"We can head to either Violet City here." Hakuno pointed at the Holographic Map, "Or we can see about taking a ferry down to Cianwood City." Nomia shrugged in response before pointing at her right hand and making a grabbing motion.
"Where ever you can get some metal I'm guessing?" Nomia frowned then shrugged, Hakuno frowned slightly at that. "Higher Quality?" That made her nod rapidly.
The Johto region didn't have a lot of Iron mines, and she doubted they would let the two of them just walk in and take whatever they wanted, at least she could check the Pokemart, there was a battle item called 'Metal Coat' but she didn't have an idea on the cost as it was dependent on the town. Looking over the map there was a name that stood out though.
"Silver Rock Island? It says that it has the strongest and most pure substance in the world…" Maybe it was a type of metal? Silver was known for its appearance and conductivity, perhaps it wasn't pure Silver but an alloy instead? Silver is known to be a soft metal, but not a particularly strong one. Nero's Rome used a mixture of Silver and Copper for their coinage, she confessed that her senate hated it but she went through it anyway. It could even be a whole new type of metal unknown to the Moon Cell.
"If not, then the Steel-Type gym is nearby…" Nomia nodded. They had to have some high-quality metals.
"Tink, Tink tink, tin." Hakuno rubbed the small Gnome on her head, "TINK!" huh, the hair on her head felt almost metallic but it was still light enough to be hair and just slightly coarse to the touch…
"So, Silver Rock Island sounds good?" She will have to make sure she has enough for both ferries seeing the small Pokemon nod, "You will have to beat a Gym, although he specializes in Fighting type… Your Fairy Wind attack should be effective…" And if they can't buy some random pieces of metal to ensure she has a Hammer…
Plus, she had three more moves Hakuno could help her figure out, it was a new experience for her to be the one going to help teach the Pokemon fight. In the Moon Cell Nero knew how to fight, she practically danced with every opponent…
Hakuno jolted at the soft touch of Nomia's hand, the small Pokemon's stomach was rumbling, and her own stomach was rumbling. Hakuno gave her a small smile, "Alright, let's go get some food… and don't steal anything. Kurt and Maizie have been nice to me, I promise we will go shopping afterward."
Nomia at least pretended like she was offended, after quickly shedding her Jinbei she put on her turtleneck and shorts. If she was going to the Pokemart she might as well see if she can't get anything to go with the outfit.
Hakuno and Nomia joined the Bonguris for breakfast, Nomia dug into her food with both hands with a ravenous expression, hers was mostly berries and some strange kibble that belonged to Teddy. And after their quick meal, she explained how they met, the whole story.
"Damn."
"Maizie!" Maizie pretended to look sheepish, causing Kurt to sigh, "Hakuno, while that was brave it was stupid. It's one thing to go to the Slowpoke cave, the Slowbro down there would have saved you if you had gotten in trouble, it's another thing to pick a fight with wild Pokemon. More so without one of your own. I do hope you aren't planning to get into a fight with every gang of Wild Pokemon. Even with … Tinkatink you are too weak right now."
Hakuno grimaced. She knew she was weak, she had always been weak, although Nomia's growl at the older man was adorable. Kurt's Shuckle glared at the young Metalsmith.
"I'll have to speak with Gym Leader Bugsy though. He has only been in his position for five years but the patrols have been lacking since Team Rocket was disbanded… His Gym Pokemon are supposed to ensure the town people's safety." Hakuno gave a nod, it made sense.
From what she had gathered, Officer Jenny and the Police handled more human-based crime while Gym Leaders handled more Pokemon-based crime. They worked together for Trainer-based crimes or 'Teams' as large gangs of Pokemon Trainers were often called.
She doubts that every small gang of Pokemon was acknowledged as a threat to the everyday person, most people had a Pokemon or two with them at all times… even children had them, usually their Guardian's Pokemon or a family pet, but they still could be used as a deterrence.
But she doesn't have to worry about that… at least she has someone to help her who wasn't a PokeCenter Chansey. Something to help fill her aching heart. She can pretend to forget as long as she remains focused on her tasks.
"Tink?" Nomia glanced up at her, "Tink."
"You should probably have Nurse Joy look over her, I scanned her with my phone but an app isn't as good as an actual Pokedex at figuring out health problems." Hakuno nodded, although…
She brought out her Portable Terminal "My… device is a Pokedex as well…" Maizie's eyes grew wide while Kurt crossed his arms.
"Wait, that thing is a Pokedex?" Hakuno gave a slight shrug, it was certainly based on a Pokedex…
"Not really? It's a Phone…What's special about a Pokedex?"
Kurt sighed, "Pokedex are typically given out by Gym Leaders, Professors, or high-ranking Rangers, they cost a lot of money and can only be given out to trusted individuals." Hakuno guessed that the 'Rotom' variation that her Portable Terminal emulated might cost more because they typically have a Pokemon as an assistant.
"Is that why you can't tell me where you're from? You're on a secret mission? Ooo is it from Professor Silktree? How about Professor Elm? Or maybe even from Champion Lance?" Hakuno tilted her head slightly. "No wait… you were confused about his Rocket Raids…"
"No, it's…a gift," She couldn't say friend, as the Moon Cell was most definitely not a friend of hers, but… "From my parent?" That would be the closest thing she could think of. While she didn't have any particularly good feelings about Lunar Seraph, it was technically the thing that created her so calling it a 'parent' would be the closest thing.
Even if it intended to destroy the very data that made up her existence.
Would that make Celebi a parent as well? It had to have been the one to create her current body… maybe… she shouldn't put any more thought into that line of thinking, it was getting a bit weird even for her.
"Oh…" Hakuno didn't understand Maizie's expression, but she did feel like she understood. Was it something she had said? Hakuno did notice that Maizie never talked about her parents either…
The awkward silence felt deafening.
Kurt coughed into his hand, "Perhaps you and Maizie should head on to the Pokecenter, I will clean up here." The tension in the room was cut, Nomia cried her name while Hakuno nodded.
"Your Tinkatink was a real handful." The receptionist Alina said, "She tried to swipe a chair leg, twice…" Hakuno released Nomia as soon as she was returned to her. "I know you're a new trainer but Tinkatink is known to need a steady supply of metal for crafting." It appeared it was Nurse Joy's day off, as the girl with a pink streak was the head nurse today.
Hakuno tilted her head, do all those who work at a Pokemon Center know about every Pokemon? Perhaps seeing the look of confusion the receptionist scratched her cheek and gave a nervous chuckle, "We have an in-house Pokemon Scanner, when we scanned her Pokeball it brought up all common information about her species, I'm still not near the level of a Nurse Joy yet."
A grateful nod afterward as Hakuno picked up the diminutive smith while the two left the Pokemon Center, slowly making their way toward the PokeMart. Maizie jumped in front of Hakuno, her arm raised and a single finger pointing at her.
"Hakuno, Nomia now that you're fully healed, let's have a Pokemon Battle!" Hakuno sighed, and glancing down at Nomia in her arms she had the expression of fight fight!
She would have to be the 'adult' in this situation...
"Nomia needs some to get some metal for crafting and I would like to figure out what she can do… I would like to pick some clothing out as well." Maizie and Nomia froze, then got sheepish the little Nomia muttering her name and folding her arms.
She wasn't sure how long her money could last, not having to purchase anything since she had been in this World, but this was the closest she had to an 'adventuring' outfit, other than her uniform which could work for some time. Although she definitely had to get better footwear…
"Ah fine, later then. The best way to truly get to know each other is a battle after all. So not too long." Hakuno wasn't sure that was true, but Leo and Nero had a similar opinion… maybe it was something she just didn't get.
"Nomia," Nomia looked up at her, "Make sure you don't steal anything. Swiping something and putting it in my backpack counts." She felt the small gnome deflate slightly, "I'll buy you some metal that you pick out, but you will have to work with me." Nomia shrugged, before nodding.
Maybe she shouldn't carry Nomia around so much, but it was perhaps the safest thing unless she wanted to confine her to a Pokeball. She had known this Pokemon for less than a day but had quickly noticed her sticky fingers.
They also had to figure out an actual way of communication, Nomia seemed to understand her for the most part but other than various variations of her name she couldn't speak in a way she could understand. Maybe Morse Code? Or just more variations of hand signals? Perhaps even Sign Language? She was sure that they no longer spoke Japanese, as if she focused hard she could hear a few linguistic differences…
Perhaps asking the Gremlin what she would like would be better later.
Entering the Pokemart was an experience she had never had before, although there were some notable similarities to the Pokecenter. Sterile white tiles, dozens of shelves packed to the brim with items, a small ferret slinking back behind the counter beside a bored-looking employee.
Ferret? Her eyes lingered on the extremely long tail of the Pokemon, slowly she shifted Nomia and brought out her PT as soon as the camera part faced the Pokemon, it was scanned and pulled up an entry.
Furret
Normal Type
Known Moves:
Tidy-Up
Capture or Observe Pokemon Longer for more information
The Longbody Pokemon: It is nimble and has a very flexible body. Even if you get ahold of it, it'll slip right out of your arms. It corners foes with speed.
Possible Abilities: Run Away, Keen Eye, Frisk
Huh, it was basically a regular ferret, just an almost Six foot long one… Cute though, incredibly cute.
"Come on, over here is the Trainer Gear." Hakuno nodded, the employee's eyes never leaving his computer.
Turns out, that Metal Coat was not a giant chunk of metal like she thought, instead, it was a type of liquid metal to be used as a type of coating, She could feel Nomia's disappointment as she looked annoyed at the hiking gear and cooking sets the only actual large enough sources of metal to be useful.
"I know it's not the quality you like but think of it as practice for when we get to Silver Rock Isle, or from Olivine City." One of the two places should have something for the little Gnome to make a strong hammer with. Placidated she analyzed a few hammers and pitons, before grabbing a large handful and putting them into the shopping cart.
Hakuno sighed, Maizie looked bored as she lazily looked over the Minimized and Sliph Corp bags, checking the price… huh she guessed that Officer Jenny's skepticism made sense if the bag she got was twenty-thousand and it was the second cheapest model here…
"You're done?" Maizie yawned, "Let's see about getting you an overcoat," Hakuno gave a small nod as they moved to the 'Trainer-Grade clothing' section. It was frankly small for a store, most likely due to being a smaller town.
Maizie and Nomia hummed and hawed over several of the jackets, she just stood in place while the two went back and forth.
"Think this one fits?" Hakuno blinked as Maizie held up a forest green hoodie.
"Tink." Shaking her head, Nomia pointed at a crimson trenchcoat. "Tink!"
"Trenchcoats would play into her mysterious vibes…" Hakuno frowned, what about falling from the Moon Cell, and being saved by a Quasi-Diety that travels through time counts as Mysterious? "But Trenchcoats don't have much space, and they aren't really something you think of when exploring…"
Hakuno had, admittedly had no idea what she was doing, her entire time in the Moon Cell she was a digital construct, her outfit was able to be reset and she had little time nor drive to get a new outfit, not that she could the Moon Cell required you to program the outfits in… Hakuno shuttered as she glanced towards Maizie and Nomia, they had a neon-green jacket with so many strange patches on it…
Shaking her head she refocused, perhaps something would call to her, taking a moment her eyes were drawn towards a simple brown cargo jacket. Simple was reliable, simple was her bread and butter. It was something Nero praised her on, the jacket was slightly long, reaching about halfway to her knees, It was similar to the trench coat but it had something both her shorts and the trenchcoat lacked.
Pockets.
It had six extremely spacious pockets, and… Hakuno liked how it had a patch of dark blue and a patch of light blue on each shoulder, she wasn't too sure why but she felt that it reminded her of something. But she had no idea what it could be, she had kept all of her memories, so she pushed it out of her mind for now.
Taking it off the rack Hakuno nodded to herself, "Tink…" She noticed the large apron in Nomia's hand, she wasn't too sure why the store had a pink and blue polka-dotted apron but…
"Sorry Nomia, you're the craftsman, not me…" Maybe Kurt would be amicable to have Nomia help around the forge? But Nomia did steal from Kurt… She should probably find a way to sneak the cost of his tongs to him… Nomia looked up at her with tears in her eyes. "Maybe we can get you a smaller one?" Nomia bolted, grabbing a toddler-sized one off the shelf still too big for her but… then noticed that she had no actual tears.
Was.. that Baby-Doll Eyes?
Hakuno sighed, at least she didn't have to figure out how to teach her how to do that, and the apron wasn't too expensive… Maizie gave the jacket in her hands a quizzical look. Seeing her approach Hakuno put the jacket on, it hung just how she expected, halfway to her knees, and it felt comfy with nice overly large sleeves.
"Hmm, a Cargo jacket isn't bad… Won't play into the image you got going on though…"
"Image?"
Maizie looked at her in confusion then blushed slightly, "Um, lots of trainers have a Persona to draw in Sponsorships Pokemon Training can get pretty expensive, most large businesses or Gym Leaders have a few Sponsored Trainers" Hakuno shrugged.
"Then I don't think I have to worry about it for now…" Hakuno did wonder what Maizie's Persona was… but then again she does have her own funds from her family, Kurt had to be well known to be called a 'Pokeball Smith' at the very least he had connections to Gym Leaders so Maizie should be fine for now.
She will need money but she has some time to figure it out. According to her PT Pokemon Centers often have job postings, she could set her Terminal to filter out ones she should be able to do with Nomia's help.
Maizie's shoulders slumped, "All right, but if you ever do give me a heads up!" Hakuno gave her a nod before tossing a few extra pairs of tights in the basket, she had no full confidence that they would last forever going into the woods and while the ones crafted by the Moon Cell could probably survive just fine, she could hardly wear the same ones for days on end. She made a note to wait until she got to Cianwood before buying anything else she would need for full exploration.
It would let the travel from here to Palmpona serve as a sort of trial to see what she is missing.
Arriving at the counter, and paying with her Portable Terminal, apparently Pokedexes had that as a function. Doing the Math, accounting for Nomia's need to collect and horde metal, along with the nutrient-rich food she will require for the next month… and the cost of the clothing and the price of the tickets to Cianwood…
She will have to find a source of income in Cianwood, probably after her training course with the Gym Leader there. She wouldn't be in dire straights if she didn't find one immediately, but getting tickets out of Cianwood would be difficult.
Kurt had refused to charge her for any of her food, giving her a bit of leeway until she left. She was truly grateful that this world's population was kinder than her own… Then again, from what little she knew of Wizards and Magi that isn't too hard.
"If you are going to practice, we should head to the Center then, they got the best courts open to the public." She idly nodded, her eyes not really leaving the small Gnome.
She still didn't know how to feel about Pokemon Fighting, but Nomia seemed really into it, and this was a world governed by Strength at the very least they needed to be strong enough to ensure they could live a life that she would be proud of.
"Oy, Trenton, didn't you claim these Porygon came from your old man… what's his name Samba or something?" The bored Scientist leaned his chair back after silencing the small flashing light on his computer.
The other scientist sneered, "That was Professor Sebastian! Doctor Namba was a senile ole coot that barely hung onto the coattails of that old team. The ones designed by my late father are the truly unique ones. They are generations above the swill that the League creates! If they weren't they wouldn't be able to hide in the same system!" The disdain in his voice was clear to the only other scientist in the room causing him to smirk.
"Well, something had gone and deleted a chunk of your daddy's precious Porygon."
"Impossible." The disbelief barely hid the fear in his voice, "If that was the case, we would have a League's Porygon Z destroying our systems."
"Nope~ Looks like whatever took them out also took care of the leagues in Azalea Town, had ole P2 do a quick check. Something was spooking it though, came back cryin'."
He clicked his tongue, "You spoil a defective program and you expect it to actually do a decent job?"
"Ha, well P2 has been with me for a decade, anyway, what he said was true, the League's Porygon are flooding in to cover the vulnerability so he had to pull back. But think the big boss would want to hear 'bout this?"
The other scientist scowled, "His should swing by in two weeks, might be something he would be interested in… we don't have any agent down there do we?"
"That doofus is close, he typically is over in Greenfield, it should only take a week and a day for him to reach Azalea Town."
The one sighed, "His Exeggutor is just barely decent enough…. Fine, tell him to start snooping and see if he can't find out anything."
Author's Notes: Huh, Fate/Extra Record next year
Looking forward to it, will have to see more. Maybe they could include the mystical Fate/Extella Zero route, which would be rad as a 'secret' route.
Anyways~
Money is weird in the Pokemon World, not 100% sure how I'll handle it, the funds she has won't last forever+Pokemon training has to be expensive. Maybe not for like, smaller Pokemon but the more esoteric they get the prices get wonky.
And more importantly, Hakuno got her jacket!
Basically, her jacket is the same as Extella Link, and instead of a t-shirt underneath it will be a crimson turtleneck. I really like that outfit for Hakuno, though I do think black tights fit better than the strange sock thing she had going on, and I know I didn't mention it but she did buy some boots.
Cya next time~