Disclaimer: Pokemon is owned by the Nintendo, Hakunon/Fate is owned by the all-powerful Mushroom(Nasu), and all that stuff.
Hakuno took another step, her physical endurance had always been decent, she and Nero had fought and traveled for hours to find those ciphers in the Arena, and even counting her own several-day excursion in Ilex Woods counted for something, but her actual physical strength on the other hand…
"Come on, you got this!" Ren's encouragement wasn't all that helpful.
"Tinkatink!" Nor was Nomia's. It just made her more exhausted. However, seeing the little gremlin glare as Ren spoke was enough to let her have an exhausted chuckle.
Hakuno struggled to carry Ren on her back. While the martial artist was lean, she was still a human and weighed probably more than Hakuno herself, given her muscle mass. Hakuno struggled to carry the girl over the muddy terrain.
She couldn't ask for Nomia to assist her, as the pink gremlin carrying Weaver, Ren's Shroomish and it took both of her hands to hold that large mushroom and her hammer. Honestly, with the rain and the mud, it was a miracle they hadn't lost sight of each other.
She was lucky that Ren only started this on Route 48, honestly, Hakuno wasn't too sure why Route 48 and Route 47 counted as two separate routes but she was grateful as Route 47 took them a grand three hours of climbing that she could barely lift her body the rocky walls.
Hakuno was about ninety percent sure that seeing Hakuno struggle to climb was what spurred Ren to make Hakuno carry the martial artist.
Hakuno huffed as she took her time sliding down a small mud-covered hill. She was so looking forward to a shower at the end of this week, but the rain was coming down harder and harder, and she could barely make out a few feet in front of her. It did look like a building was in the distance, though, and from what she knew Route 48 was only twenty or thirty minutes. Probably longer in this rain and muck but she wasn't sure how much.
The reason behind being able to carry a person made sense. Hakuno knew that she would at least try to help if she found someone injured. But to be honest, she might want to rely on her Pokemon's strength. Maybe she should look into getting a physically strong Pokemon, or perhaps one that could use Psychic powers like Celebi could.
"Hold," That was music to her ears, and Ren unclipping herself from Hakuno almost made her fall into the mud from the sudden weight loss. "That's the reception, once we make it there we gotta go into the office and clear it with them."
Hakuno took a moment to get a drink of water before nodding, "Following you."
"While this is… highly unusual you still have to abide by a few of the Safari Zone's policies, no attacking wild Pokemon, unless it is for self-defense stay out of the clearly labeled red zones, and you have to reveal all your Pokemon before you are allowed to leave."
Finding out that the Safari Zone usually didn't allow any violence on their reserve made sense to Hakuno, but they wouldn't be having a guide with them and the fact that they were spending multiple nights in the wild made them relent slightly on the rule.
However, she could easily tell that the receptionist was looking at them with disdain, "Just… make sure you treat these Pokemon right, some of the ones who stay here are still recovering from those… Rockets." The receptionist spat out.
"Rockets?" Hakuno had heard the team mentioned before, a terrorist group led by one of the Gym Leaders of Kanto who was currently on the run. A small part of Hakuno wondered if Parcae would be able to locate him and tip off the league but… She wasn't sure if she should do that at the moment, if he hadn't been heard from this long he might not be alive anymore.
"Team Rocket captured and experimented on a lot of Pokemon, and the best place for some of them to be rehabilitated was here, how calm things are and the fact that it's one of the few places where Chansey feels safe enough to be 'wild'." Ren added, "Although I haven't heard of anyone catching a Chansey here in years." Hakuno did want a Chansey… However that was more due to their ability, their calming Aura felt nice, but Hakuno had a feeling that relying on it wouldn't be good for her in the long run.
"Officially, Two packs of Houndour, a herd of Stantler, twelve families of Kangaskhan, a herd of Slowpoke, and dozens of colonies of Nidoran. And those are the ones that are more local to this region, the Kanto Safari Zone received their own packs," The Receptionist sighed, "And there are more that were flown in as pairs and trios that made their own homes, and while those are the ones that were brought here... many others have found their own way whether that be flight, teleportation or Surfing. Please make sure you treat these Pokemon with the respect they deserve.
Hakuno nodded, "I will," She wasn't too worried about herself going after a species… but worried about the supposed tendencies that some Tinkatink have with Steel Types.
According to Parcae some of them get extremely agitated when they sense other Steel Types and it only gets worse when they don't have adequate Steel…Nomia was unhappy about the lackluster iron and steel they found/purchased… but she did seem to be more in control of herself than others of her species seemed to be, however, Hakuno wasn't sure that the Pink Gremlin had ever actually seen another Steel-Type so she wasn't to sure how the Metalsmith Pokemon would act…
Area Three wasn't too hard to find. According to the overview map that Parcae was able to generate, it was a grassland with a pond in the middle and a smattering of trees leading up to Area Four, which seemed to include the nearby mountains. They weren't going to stay near the pond; that would be reckless in the rain, and with the number of Pokemon that would rely on it for water…
"Alright, this looks like a good spot to camp," Ren said as she rocked on her heels. It was where the grassland slightly was shaded by trees, "So I've been thinking, let me see you and Nomia's training session, I wanna get a feel for what ya can do before I give you advice."
"Come on out," Hakuno lightly released Nomia, the red light forming into a familiar shape, "I know it's raining, but we got to train."
Nomia grumbled but raised her hammer in the air, "Tinka. Tink."
"Continue practicing to condense Fairy Wind." The rain wasn't that bad right now, so Nomia only grumbled a bit before the tufts of pink glitter formed around her body again before slowly pushing its way out.
While Nomia began her practice Hakuno decided to set up their tent, she was lucky it included a small rain cover.
"You really only got Tinkatink, right? And you've been traveling alone?" Ren had released her Shroomish and a strange humanoid Pokemon with a head resembling a brown-colored top.
"Yes… Nomia's my only Pokemon, Elpis is… a friend that appears when they want to." How else could she say that a fragment of her lived in what is practically her cell phone, or that her Terminal was a sentient AI that keeps track of things around her? She should probably work with Parcae to find out how large its search radius was.
"You might want to think about either going with people or having a second Pokemon. It's why Tops is also here with us, having only one Pokemon can be… dangerous, especially for us girls. Have you thought about who you're going to capture next? Although I guess if a Celebi is watching you then…" Hakuno frowned at that last sentence, Ren might have muttered it but she was able to hear it over the slight drum of rain. "But anyway, most Pokemon figure things out in the heat of the moment, training alone can only bring you so far."
Hakuno begrudgingly believed Ren, the girl had a fair point even Nero grew stronger and more refined from their time in the arena, so it should work with Pokemon as well. The only downside is that most Pokemon they have encountered were weaker than Nomia. It might be due to luck, but their journey through Ilex was more annoying than hard, and, other than the Dhelmise, they didn't have much trouble dealing with the trainers in Palmpona. Although that might have been the fact that Nomia's typing made her stronger than most of the Normal or Bug-type Pokemon they faced.
"I already plan to," Hakuno used Nomia's spare rattle to hammer in the tent poles, "I'm not sure who but it would be nice for them to understand Fairy-Type or Steel-Type energy as well."
"Tinka." Nomia panted out, the pink glitter had faded from around her, and tufts of the grass were shredded by the gales, "Tink." Another burst of wind began to grow around her.
"Shroo." Weaver, Ren's Shroomish, waddled towards Nomia.
"Hm, going to try and be a Specialist?" Ren's tent and rain cover were practically instantly put up. Hakuno figured that the other girl was just more used to it.
Hakuno lightly shrugged, "Not really planning on it? Whoever we encounter that Nomia agrees with would be fine in my book." Hakuno breathed out a sigh of relief as the tent was finally fully up.
"Fair fair, but I would recommend making a list of sorts, just some general Pokemon to look out for, there are over a thousand known ones and countless ones that aren't. It is better to have some general ideas and plan them out if you plan to go big. Which…" Ren pointed at Nomia who was trying her best with the Fairy Wind, "Might be what your little one wants, she's a little scrapper not the most impressive performance against Weaver but I think she could go toe to toe with him in a few months. And I would say it's one of the requirements to being a Trainer, the Second lesson I'll tell ya is your job to figure out how to bring out the best in your team."
Hakuno tilted her head, "What's the first?"
Ren's smile reminded Hakuno of a shark, "Gotta be smart enough to become a leader."
The night passed with minimal difficulties, Hakuno didn't do too well in removing all the stones and her sleeping bag and tent didn't do much in the way of protection against them.
"Alright, I figured a good rest was deserved after all that physical stuff. But, that will be your last full night got it? Let's talk about things we going to do for the rest of the week." Ren said over breakfast.
Hakuno and Nomia nodded.
"First off, tonight we will be taking watches, Tops here took all last night, so he will get the rest he needs ain't that right Tops?"
"Hit." The Hitmontop frowned, "Top."
"Yeah I know Dad told you to watch over us, but it is daytime, most of the vicious Pokemon aren't out right now, and you need your rest right?" Ah, so Tops the Hitmontop was her dad's Pokemon most likely, it made sense and he did make sure that she had him before they left.
"We should be fine," Hakuno added and the Hitmontop threw his hands in the air before giving in.
"Hitmontop, Tops."
"Alright, Five hours and we stay close? You're embarrassing me…" Honestly, seeing Ren blush was strange, the tomboy was scratching her cheek as the Pokemon rolled its eyes.
The Pokemon finally seemingly relented. "Hitmon," and pointed at the tent, "Tops." They said before slipping into rest.
"Alright so... secondly, we gotta work on your guy's muscles, and no I'm not making a joke like I was when you carried me… I really didn't think you could even do that." Ren scratched her cheek, "Something to think about is to add a Movement move for your Tinkatink, Weaver here has Pounce, due to his current body shape Pounce and Headbut sort of flowed together and it has been easy for him to do."
Movement move? Hm, Hakuno was more used to Nomia… and Nero, knowing when to move, she honestly had been focusing solely on shoring up Nomia's range weakness that she had been slightly neglecting her physical.
"Your Pokedex can probably find something compatible with Tinkatink, Next up, you gotta figure out some battle techniques before you fight. Maybe not map the entire battle or something, but explaining things in the fight lets your opponent know what you're going to do."
That made sense, Hakuno had to remember that Nomia couldn't react as fast as Nero could with commands… funnily enough did a bit better in the beginning from her recollection, against Yoko and her Houndour she didn't talk much, but they did plan the fight loosely even making sure they got the court they wanted.
"So, while we have this week we'll do some basic Trainer and Pokemon training. Working out, foraging, practicing against wild Pokemon to some extent, and Weaver will be your sparring partner for trainer fights, Tops here might give a few words of wisdom if he wants to?" Ren glanced towards the tent where the Handstand Pokemon rested.
All sounded reasonable, from what she had read online most of the training camp was dependent on the specific Gym, Hakuno had a feeling Cianwood's would involve more combat and physical training than theoretical, it was one of the reasons she was happy that Nomia picked this location. If they had to travel the world by mostly foot, she wasn't going to take boat trips unless she had to, then she wanted to be strong enough to make the most of daylight.
"Also…" She scratched her cheek, "Keep an eye out for any Riolu, I've always wanted one."
"Are we allowed to capture?" Hakuno doubted that they would be, this place seemed more like a sanctuary for recovering Pokemon than an actual place to capture Pokemon, more so without a guide to give permission...
But they were so far away from one of those main roads she would be surprised if they allowed it.
"Should be? We don't have any Park Balls, but as long as the Pokemon is willing to, it should be fine. Probably." Ren seemed to not fully believe it herself and had a small blush, "Probably won't find one anyway. We got to focus on your survival training and basic Pokemon training stuff first and foremost."
"Shroomish." Seeing a walking Mushroom roll its eyes, Hakuno had barely known the Pokemon for a day, and she could already somewhat relate to the Pokemon.
Eh, maybe she should have Parcae do some analysis tonight and try to find a Pokemon that would fit their limited requirements. Having some idea would be best, and Parcae would be the easier option than herself looking over every Pokemon that could be located in this Safari Zone.
But, Hakuno didn't know why but she felt things were going to go their way. It was a strange feeling, but she only had to camp in this Zone for a few days, how much trouble could their little group get into in that short of time?
Author's Note: Well, sorry about last week, works has been long and tiring lol. Sadly, I might not post again this year, I want to build up a bit of a backlog on this and Lunar Thief again. If I get enough chapters I might post one before January but not 100% sure.
Also, I know it is a bit unrealistic for Hakuno to carry Ren for as long as she did, but this is the Pokemon World, if Ash can carry around a Larvatar or Lillie carry Nebby around like nothing, then it should be fine for Hakuno to carry a person around for a while and be completely exhausted afterward. She won't be throwing cars or fist-fighting Pokemon, but being able to carry someone for a while should be within the realm of possibility.
And with that, I hope everyone has a good Holiday Season and all that fun stuff!
Cya Next year!