Disclaimer: Pokemon is owned by the Nintendo, Hakunon/Fate is owned by the all-powerful Mushroom(Nasu), and all that stuff.
She was falling, falling, falling, falling, falling, falling, f̵̢͑a̴̭̿l̷͓̿l̷̽͜i̸͘ͅǹ̵̖g̵͇͛. Deeper and deeper into a crystal clear lake, she couldn't see the bottom it was deep far deeper than she fell in the endless Lunar Sea. Her mind was barely able to register she wasn't drowning.
And then the world flipped and her head breached the waves, she gulped for air her lungs didn't need. And she struggled to swim, an act she had never performed before until she arrived at the water's edge.
She idly noted while slowly removing herself from the strange water onto the grass floor that her clothing and hair didn't even hold a water droplet, she was dry. Was this even water? If so, how was she dry?
A boundless series of trees surrounded her, the scent of flowers was overwhelming as her eyes quickly adjusted to the minimal light that barely filtered through the trees, faintly she noticed barely out the corner of her eyes a tuft of color she could not even begin to describe shift deeper into the woods.
However, her eyes were drawn to a simple-looking Hokora, a Shrine she had never known but instantly could recognize. She could hear the chittering laughter of something telling her to get closer.
What little there was left of her mind told her to escape, however she had seen this structure before.
She did not know when. Or how as she had only been in this world for…
How long has she been here?
She stood up with shaky legs and slowly walked closer, the light getting more and more noticeable until she was right in front of it, a small gap in the trees allowing the Full Moon to be in its full splendor, shining its c̶̨̎ȕ̸̥r̷̠̈s̶̰̒e̷͇͛d̴̟͝ light upon the Shrine giving it an ethereal presence.
Although, she might be the only one to think of it as cursed.
She felt the brushing of a soft hand in her hair as her eyes trailed upwards and she saw a little Green Fae sitting upon the Shrine, the biggest smile on their face as she spoke words she couldn't understand.
She tried to form words of her own, but her mind was too foggy to make anything close to coherent, or even understand the little Green Fairy. The Green Fairy pouted noticing that, poking and prodding her long wavy hair before sighing and wrapping her head in a hug.
And then she woke up.
"Nomia…"Hakuno swatted Nomia as the little Gnome kept poking her with her hammer. "I get it, I'm up." The sleeping bag was slightly smaller than she thought and wasn't nearly as comfortable as hoped. But at least the weather was nice.
She did have a strange feeling she had a weird dream she couldn't remember, which by itself was new, as this was the first time she had truly forgotten something. Her not having an actual past before the Moon Cell didn't count as truly forgetting it.
Crawling out of her sleeping bag, Nomia already held onto her plate with an expected look. Maizie was already humming along as her Teddiursa slashed upon a nearby tree and Slowpoke… seemed to be in a daze.
"Oh, Good morning!" Maizie flashed her a smile, "Our breakfast is still cooking, I've only been up for about… twenty minutes? Wanted to get these two right to work." Hakuno gave her a nod as she began to prepare Nomia's food, a few added oran berries, and what the Pokemart Clerk recommended, a mixture of steel and fairy food.
She was still trying to figure out the best level of each but Nomia preferred a more steel-type heavy diet. To her, the food looked the same except for the slightest coating over the Steel-type food while the Fairy-type food vaguely looked more gummy-like. That and a single general supplement to help her recover from her previous malnutrition. It was recommended to speak to a Nurse Joy afterward to determine what she should get for her once the bottle ran empty.
Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, apparently most Pokemon laid eggs. Still, the most commonly accepted ones to eat were Bird Pokemon or Chansey's 'special' eggs… which to her didn't make sense but this world was far too strange for her to worry about those types of minor things now.
"So… Jenny's a bitch ain't she?"
Hakuno idly nodded, at least Jenny was just being well mean it could be worse, she could have set up a trap to capture them for whatever reason. Hakuno herself could understand how… sketchy she appeared. The info she gave Jenny and Bugsy had holes in it, and she had a right to be concerned if most 'Drifters' and 'Fallers' brought with them some trouble.
But, that didn't give her a right to what she said about Yoko at the end of their match. Hopefully, the younger girl will break away once she goes on her own journey… just well away from her. She didn't want to get dragged into any more drama and just…
She just wanted to be able to tell Nero some stories. Not be involved in a strange family's 'honor' story.
"She should… be looked into, but I'm not sure we could do anything about it." She still didn't fully grasp the judicial structure of this world, and she had no real intention of searching for it either.
"Hrm… Maybe Grandpa Kurt and Nurse Joy can do something… as long as they don't get swept under the rug."
"Perhaps talking to a different Officer in another town would be best?"
"They might not take it seriously without proof…" That makes sense, perhaps in the past, they had tried to catch her before…
Wait.
"My… Pokedex should have recorded the battle," It had recordings of all her fights in the Moon Cell… so maybe it also recorded this one? Pulling it out, and for once not being bombarded with the popup, and quickly flicking through to check and was reassured when the time matched the Battle. Although the date part was acting up, that was probably due to not linking to the Moon Cell Servers, although the name of 'Child's First Battle' was strange.
Probably. She doesn't want to worry about it.
"Sweet! Oh! Maybe when you beat Chuck you can show him! He works directly with their Police as an instructor. He's cool." Huh, Maizie's reaction was different than she thought it would be.
But it was a welcome one, so he should probably be trusted.
"That's interesting, what does he teach?"
"Oh, a ton of Martial Arts and weightlifting. I think one of his kids is starting their journey this year, I wonder if one of us will fight her."
That's interesting…
Hopefully, things work out in Cianwood with her camping trip and Gym battle…
Setting up camp was a lot easier than taking it down, both she and Nomia struggled to remove the stakes buried in from the previous night, and folding the tent took more work than unraveling it.
Next time she will make sure Nomia doesn't use Type energy to slam them into the dirt.
At least breakfast cleanup was nice and easy with Slowpoke, she should look into getting a Pokemon with Water-Typing or one with that type of move. But that would be for later.
"You're on point," Hakuno nodded, "Follow the path we took and if need be I'll point us home." Hakuno gave her a thumbs up, Nomia bravely decided to kick up a light Fairy Wind to warn off a pair of Caterpie.
She probably could use her Terminal to find out where exactly they were, she doubted anything could stop its ability to locate them, but that wouldn't be part of learning how to, on the minuscule chance that her PT gets damaged, lost, or unable to be used for whatever convoluted reason. There might even be a Pokemon out there that could mess up the signal, she doubts it would be able to damage it permanently but just enough for her to get hopelessly lost would be a possibility.
Pokemon are strange in ways Code Casts weren't, to compare the two would be truly impossible but she would still at least try in her mind.
But… her eyes drifted to the little Tinkatink at her feet marching along with her current Hammer, at least some of them are cute.
"Uh, Hakuno we came from the East…"
The next few days passed by in a flash.
Spending time with Maizie to learn common knowledge, such as a few unmarked danger zones and edible wild plants she had decided to buy a book on Johotonian plans. It had a few interesting recipes that included some Pokemon, she wasn't too sure if she would actively eat them, but the knowledge was nice in case a carnivorous Pokemon joined her.
She also was taught, when far away from Nurse Joy and Kurt, about some interesting insults people use, kids had such a strange way of using language. Should she see them as kids if she was supposed to be only three years older than her?
Probably not, but… 'Slowpoke-Head' being used as an insult did sound childish.
Nomia was slaving away with Kurt most of the time Hakuno was at home, the little Gnome worked hard on something she didn't want to show her just yet. During the time with Maizie, she worked hard with her single Hammer, but even Hakuno could tell she didn't care much for that particular one. Either that or she couldn't figure out how to reinforce it fully.
Kurt mainly lectured her about the local legends in this region Ho-Oh and Lugia were considered 'the main' Deities, with the three legendary Beasts and legendary Birds as divine messengers for their respective Deities and how to pray to each of the Eight beings.
And that a lot of towns had 'Gimmicks' at least that's how she thought of it mainly to attract passing trainers and try to get a Gym built in their town or to bring more prestige to the Gym. Tourism seemed to be the main way money flowed in this region, although most towns according to him were able to survive without it for some time. The main worries were random Pokemon attacks and the possibility of Teams building a base in more isolated towns.
As for the time she spent with Ms. Naoko… Hakuno was still finding strands of webbing in her clothing from being taught how to sew… and to notice Ariados webs, the spider was fairly common in this region. The Seamstress's home was absolutely covered in the webbings if you managed to get past the small living room. She enjoyed the day they spent together but she was confused about what she hoped were insane ramblings about her time hunting down members of Team 'Snagem' in other Regions for fun.
At least, she had claimed they were a Team, but from what she could look online they were already destroyed years ago by a boy named Ryūto. But maybe small sects of the Team survived? Or maybe random Poachers just thought they were part of a team. It was nice to get information on what not to do to be marked as a target by Poachers… Although with Nomia being a rare Pokemon in this Region she might have to work on making something to defend herself… Maybe that's why she was given a large needle alongside a basic sewing kit?
Nurse Joy taught her how to care for Nomia and her 'Fairy' aspects, Nomia was progressing smoothly according to what the Center's machines could scan. The fae can be somewhat mystical even in this world. She was also insistent that she stocked up on both herbal and regular medicine, the two types served slightly different purposes the store-bought Potions can be used for a quick patch while the Herbal Medicine can be used for a slower but less draining heal. She did have to worry about how most Pokemon disliked the Herbal Medicine due to its bitterness.
She was also informed that if any Nurse Joy is not doing their job, or acting like Officer Jenny, to give her a call and their Clan will move in to 'fix the problem'. Which, with the grin a nearby Chansey gave her, made her pause before nodding. She might even be willing to deal with the Moon Cell again if it meant not being subject to that glare. She frowned, then again she would have her Rose again if she was in the Moon Cell…
And then…
It came to the day when she would leave.
Hakuno patted Maizie on the back, the younger girl was covered in snot, and hugging her. Tears cascaded down from her eyes as little Nomia was struggling between her grip on her.
"You gotta be careful out there kiddo, the world's a dangerous place." Ms. Naoko grumbled, "Here, take this ya brat." Teddy pulled on Maizie as she gave a stuttering step back, and the old seamstress handed her a ridiculously long red scarf. "It'll keep ya warm even in Mahogany Town."
It had… an embroidered Flame on it. It was practically Nero's symbol…
She clenched her teeth, doing her best to keep the tears from falling.
"How did…"
"Bah, you might think you're sly but I've got little ones throughout town." Hakuno gave her a small smile. "I heard ya talkin' about your girl."
"Thank you…"
Kurt cleared her throat, an old suitcase in his hands, "Well, as we are giving gifts…" Opening it revealed five more Pokeballs one of each; a Heavy Ball, a Lure Ball, a Love Ball, a Level Ball, and a Fast Ball. "Couldn't decide which one to focus on, if you ever need more give me a call and I'll send you more."
"I guess I'm next," Nurse Joy gave her a small smile and passed her a small yellow box "An Apricorn Box with its included Apriblender. I don't want you two to rely solely on berry harvesting or fishing. A bad diet can lead you to not getting the vitamins you need. And Pokemon love them." Hakuno opened the box slightly, a small chill came from the box and she could spot a small blender inside.
"And…" Maizie sniffled, "I'm last. We said we would have a Pokemon Battle… but beating up Nomia before you leave would be mean."
"Tinkatink!" Nomia's growl caused everyone to laugh.
"But. Next time we meet, I'll come at you and make sure you're keeping up with you're training." Maizie's smile was radiant, "I didn't get ya anything special but…" She scrounged in her purse, "Here are my notes, they should help you out for a while, I've been working on them since Ethan came through here all those years ago."
The journal was old, with pages falling out and barely holding itself together. The history of learning how Maizie lived and breathed alongside Pokemon. All her ideas and plans were something that not even her Terminal could ever think of.
"Thank you… everyone." Hakuno felt a small tear fall, "I will treasure them." Naoko clicked her tongue before wrapping the scarf around her.
"Bleh, you enjoy your journey kiddo. Swing back and keep in contact. If we don't hear from ya I might just let the Jennies remember the old ones are the scariest."
She… didn't know if she was joking or not.
But she wouldn't just disappear. Not if she could help it.
Nurse Joy dragged everyone into a group hug, strong-arming Naoko and Kurt to join them.
"Now, you go have fun alright? Enjoy your childhood." Hakuno gave her a nod, she turned around, the old dirt path looked daunting as it led to the Ilex Woods. Her little Nomia gave her a bright smile.
She turned around facing everyone before giving them a small wave, "I will… see you later."
"Goodbye!"
"Kick some ass!"
"Stir up some trouble!"
"Don't listen to her! Come back soon!"
She smiled as she began walking down the path, she could faintly hear Maizie being scolded by both Nurse Joy and Kurt…
However,
Ilex Forest and her Journey awaits.
Downloading….
Downloading….
Request received, acknowledged, reviewed…
Pseudo-Divine Being categorized as possible Guardian Canadite…
Identity Determined
The request is made with Hope and Curiosity
Request Accepted.
Pseudo-Inheritance Personality Determined
Establishing Basis for Existence
Pseudo-Spiritron link established and converted from Extrasensory Energy by Pseudo-Divine Entity
Connection Stable
Awaiting Input by Designated Victor.
Author's Note: So her journey begins… she has finally left Azalea town and well, she won't return for a while. I have a route planned and set up, using an anime map so you will see more towns than in normal HG/SS but not all of em.
The scarf is from Nero's traveling outfit, a huge scarf that could double up as a slightly thin blanket. According to minimal googling, they are called Blanket Scarfs but I'm not 100% sure if that fits.
Anyway sorry about being late! Was with Family for a few days, and missed the window.
Hope it was worth the wait!