Alright, been a long long while with this one huh? To be honest, I'm stupidly surprised by how popular it is. Just one chapter, a single prologue with a bit over two thousand words and over 1k follows and favourites? Though, I'm sure it's partly because a bit of the premise, is something many of us can relate to each other on huh?
To be quite honest, it took me a while to come back to this for a simple reason. When I wrote the first chapter, my dog was a few months from dying. And it took me a long while to get over his death. Honestly, it's been nearly two full years now, and I'm still not fully over it, especially since how he actually died was quite traumatizing, but I won't go over the crazy drama that happened at that time, most of you already know anyway. As it is, getting my new dog, Atlas who is a massive pain in my fucking arse, has been helpful in that regard. Even if I again, have to once again state, he's a fucking pain in the arse. He's a cross between an Alaskan Shepherd(a breed of German Sheperd + Husky) and a Rottweiler.
The little shit escaped his crate while I was sleeping the other day and ripped apart my raycons, the little cunt.
Honestly, it's a little annoying to say and admit, but I've begun to forget my old dog Rocco's quirks and such. I loved him to death, but my memory is horrible, so Growlithe won't be a hundred percent accurate to him. Not that Yarden is accurate to me mind you, but still.
As it is, since I already have a journey story in Jordinio Version, I'm going to go a little bit of a different route with this one. Specifically, we're going to going the gym leader route. And another route you'll see in this chapter. Though, do keep in mind, going by Volkner and ugh...Iris, gym leaders are still allowed to take the league challenge, most of them just don't.
Standard opening here to let you guys know, If you want to read ahead in advance, with the Big P fucking me over, you'll need to head over to my subscribestar. You can find it under 0jordinio0, no spaces in their search bar, simple enough. There's a bunch of advanced chapters up there already. A few for this, The Scaped(which isn't up here yet), Systematic Shinobi, Beyond Critical, Systematic Shinobi: Multiverse Mayhem, Dragon Tale, A failed Future(another one not up here yet), Stacking The Deck, Power, A Scottish Dragon In This Wonderful World, ...and a bunch more shit. Like Jordinio Version I just updated on there a little bit ago.
Yarden woke up to a dead, numb feeling in his legs.
He groaned, rubbing sleep from his eyes and tried to sit up, to no avail. There was a dead weight on his dead, numb legs.
"…Really?" he groaned, reaching down for the sheet covering his body and pulled it up to reveal the form of a slumbering orange and cream furred pooch nestled over his legs, from the knees down.
Some things never changed.
With a huff, Yarden eased himself backwards and pulled his feet out from underneath the canine, grimacing when he felt how sweaty and clammy they were, "No point having a shower until later anyway." the teenager mused to himself as he hobbled around and stood up, stretching out his arms.
He hit the switch on the light atop a table besides the bed and yawned as he stretched-
And was mirrored just a split moment later by the Growlithe on the bed as the canine smacked his lips sleepily and stood up on all fours, only to lean down forward immediately, backside raising into the air as he stretched out.
And with that done, Growlithe lay back down on his front and looked at him expectantly.
"Yeah, yeah you'll get your breakfast in a little bit." Yarden rolled his eyes. It was still almost surreal to him. His dog looked completely different, hell they were together again in a completely different world.
But he was exactly the same-
"Grow!" Growlithe barked happily, a wide happy look on his maw.
Well, mostly the exact same.
Growlithe was vastly more intelligent now, not that it was a bad thing. Two months had passed since that fateful day where he'd had to get him put down, only to get into a tussle in the rain and get run over by a bus and end up here.
In the world of pokemon.
It still felt like a blissful dream. Yet, it was not.
It was real.
Amazingly so.
"Right gimme a minute to get ready." Yarden waved the now canine pokemon off and made his way to the other side of the room where a small closet lay. The Pokemon Centre he was staying at, provided rooms free of charge for pokemon trainers and had been where he was staying since he arrived in this world.
…Even if technically he wasn't actually a pokemon trainer as of yet.
Opening up the closet, he pulled out a pair of sturdy black work boots, charcoal grey work pants, a dark tank top and a sturdy jacket of the same colour as the pants.
His work attire.
With his clothing in hand, he headed into the narrow en-suite bathroom all of the rooms in the pokemon centre had, Yarden quickly washed up, freshening up his face with a wash and brushed his teeth before getting changed into his gear for the day.
And once that was taken care of, he dumped the shorts and t-shirt he had wore to bed into a basket at the foot of his bed, before making his way over to the table beside the bed.
Or rather in between them.
There were four beds in the room, bunk beds on either side of the room. Pokemon Centres were apparently usually very busy, but Yarden had been lucky to get the room to himself since his stay here began.
Apparently it was in between league seasons.
There was a three month break at the end of each league season before the next started from what he'd learned. 'Only another one left before it starts up again though.' Yarden hummed to himself thoughtfully as he looked down at two specific items atop the desk.
The pokedex that had somehow replaced his phone when he ended up in this world.
And a gleaming red and white sphere.
A pokeball.
Picking it up, he closed his fingers around the metallic sphere, feeling its coolness in the palm of his hand and couldn't help the grin that spread across his face.
He'd had the pokeball for over a month now, it was Growlithe's after all. Yet, even now just holding the pokeball in his hand made him feel so damn excited.
He was holding a real pokeball in his hand!
It was a dream come true.
Every day he woke up here, he was living not only his dream, but the dream of many, many other people who grew up on the series like him.
It was incredible.
…And expensive.
After all as it turned out, the currency of this world, the Pokedollar was not equivalent to the yen, but rather its name sake.
The dollar.
And also the reason why he wasn't a real trainer yet.
"Alright buddy, ready to go?" Yarden shook his head and put those thoughts out of mind for the moment, turning to the pokemon on his bed.
"Grow!" Growlithe gave him a big dopey smile and barked with a nod.
"Alright then, in you go." Yarden held the pokeball up, and pressed the white button on the front with his thumb.
As he did, a ream beam of light erupted from it and washed over Growlithe, lighting his form up with a red glow, before sucking him inside.
'Still so cool!' Yarden had to resist the urge to pump his fist into the air.
He stared at the pokeball for a moment, before stuffing it in his jacket pocket, and then grabbing up the pokedex to do the same with.
'Apparently you don't need to be a trainer to own a pokedex.' he mused as he zipped the pocket up. They could be bought even if you weren't a trainer, and didn't just function as trainer identification like he'd been led to believe through watching Ash Ketchum's journey.
But rather trainer identification could be inserted into the pokedex to use as a digital device for it instead of needing to carry around an ID card.
But, to gain a trainer identification one had to pass a very specific test, simply known world wide as the trainers test.
From what he'd seen about it, Yarden was pretty sure he could pass it pretty easily. The problem though, was that there was a fee to take it.
Quite a substantial fee all things considered.
Three thousand pokedollars to be exact.
Though if one passed the test, they would not only be given a pokedex for free, but also six starting pokeballs.
And a starter pokemon provided by the pokemon league association.
He left his room not long later, locking the door behind him and made his way downstairs into the main lobby of the Pokemon Centre.
It was early, so the place was pretty deserted. Not even one of the usual bustling Chansey in sight, only pretty pink haired Nurse Joy was in the wide main room, sitting behind the lobby desk, bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to meet the-
Nurse Joy yawned loudly, covering her mouth with the palm of her hand and giving him a sleepy look, "Oh, good morning Yarden," she greeted him with a small wave as she finished yawning, "Up early as usual I see."
It was just shy of six in the morning.
"Well Roark likes to get started as early as possible." Yarden shrugged. As it turned out, when he'd appeared in this world after the incident with the bus, he'd been just on the outskirts of Oreburgh City.
Home to the rock type gym of the Sinnoh Region.
And a city that had a lot of mining jobs that paid quite well, and Roark wasn't too picky about who he hired as long as they could handle themselves and didn't cause trouble. Working in a mine definitely wasn't Yarden's first choice, it was exhausting and not to mention highly dangerous.
But the pay was amazing.
Thirty poke dollars an hour, and he worked ten hours a day.
It was backbreaking work, and he trudged home with his muscles howling every night, but it was worth it.
He had a bit over nine thousand pokedollars saved up from all his efforts over the past two months since he arrived in this world, and that was even with buying some clothing and other necessities.
And of course Growlithe's pokeball.
…Which cost a whopping three hundred pokedollars. Half again as expensive as the games had led him to believe.
"Mmm, so he does. That man, I swear his obsession with fossils is beyond compare," Nurse Joy shook her head, "Be careful." she wagged her finger at him.
Now that wasn't really fair to Roark. Sure, he definitely was fossil mad just like his apparent father Byron, but Oreburgh was a very lucrative city thanks to Roarks efforts. Oreburgh was the main trading hub in Sinnoh when it came to evolutionary stones and jewels.
A port had even been established at the edge of the city to export all the goods mined up by Roark and his company.
"I always am." Yarden inclined his head, before bidding her goodbye and heading towards the cafeteria.
Just like the lobby, the place was empty besides him due to how early it was, and probably because the league season hadn't started up yet and as such, there wasn't really many trainers active on their journey at the moment.
The only occupant of the room besides him, was a Chansey. One of the Chansey's who worked the kitchen and was filling up trays of food for breakfast to be chosen from.
Honestly, Chanseys were amazing. They pretty much did everything around the Pokemon Centre. They cooked, they cleaned, they cared for other pokemon.
"Chansey chanse!" the Chansey greeted him with a happy chirp as he approached, giving him a joyful little wave.
And they were so nice and happy all the time too. He loved the vibe.
"Morning Chansey." he waved back as he picked up a tray and an empty plate and bowl for both him and his pokemon.
'Honestly, they're such useful pokemon in every way. I wonder if any of them knows gravity?' Yarden wondered idly as he began filling his plate with food. He'd seen a lot of them use Heal Pulse.
But imagine if they could use Gravity as well. If he got ones help, he could super charge his training as a trainer, both for himself and his pokemon and get really good and strong, really fast.
It would just be like Goku training in intense gravity with senzu beans. First Chansey would increase gravity over them, and then they'd train really hard. Then Chansey would heal them with Heal Pulse, giving them instant physical gains and allowing them to do so over and over and grow rapidly in physical ability and become monstrous physical power houses!
"Nah, that's just silly." Yarden snorted, shaking his head. That was an absurd idea and would never work.
Only an absolute maniac would think up something like that and actually go through with it.
It sure was a funny image though.
Yarden idly imagined himself doing something ludicrous like tossing a Gyarados or beating up a Dragonite after training in such a crazy way as he filled up his plate with a large, filling breakfast. Before making his way over to the provided fire type pokemon food and filling up his Growlithe's bowl.
Then he made his way over to an empty table, placed his plate on the table and the bowl on the ground beside his chair, and then let his pokemon out to start digging in to his breakfast.
As he began eating, his mind wandered, thinking of what he'd do going forward.
'I can afford to take the trainer exam right now.'
That was a persistent thought.
Even if he took it right now, he'd have six thousand pokedollars left over to use as a starting point for his journey. On top of that, he'd confirmed that even though he had a Growlithe already, he was still eligible for a starter pokemon that would be provided by Roark the gym leader and overseer of Oreburgh City.
And he'd have an entire month with two pokemon to prepare for the coming league season. Honesty, it hadn't even really been a thought on what path he chose.
Without hesitation, he had to be a trainer.
Like Ash Ketchum.
Like he'd always dreamed of growing up. Having epic gym battles, travelling the world, seeing incredible sights straight out of fantasy and concluding with legendary league battles that left crowds of people stunned and in awe.
But being a trainer was expensive. And if you didn't have the skill, you wouldn't make much from it either.
Most, he'd learned gave up very quickly. Less than one in fifty new trainers every year managed to even attain one gym badge, never mind make it to the league in their first year.
Yarden had come up with a wild idea though.
Something he'd noticed this world had a distinct lack of when prowling through the internet, despite their amazingly advanced technology.
Something that made random people on the internet, famous sensations with millions of fans and earned a ton of money.
His plan was simple.
Become the very first Pokemon Streamer.
And stream his journey as a trainer.
But to do so, he needed something very specific he'd come to learn the existence of since his arrival here in this world. Something that wasn't in any of the anime, games or even manga up to the sixth generation the series had reached before he ended up here.
A Rotom Phone.
A top of the line cell phone with high definition video streaming capability, possessed by a Rotom.
They cost a crazy twenty thousand pokedollars.
More than double what Yarden currently had to his name.
After breakfast, Yarden headed outside with Growlithe into the open fields around the Pokémon Centre. The early morning chill lingered in the air, but the sky was already lightening, promising another clear day. He had time before work, and he wasn't about to waste it. Training Growlithe had become part of his daily routine, something he looked forward to, and the fields around the Centre were the perfect spot.
The large boulder, with a sturdy rope tied around it, was still sitting where they'd left it the day before. Yarden had rigged it up some time ago, inspired by the way Ash Ketchum had trained his Pikachu to master Iron Tail, tying rocks to its tail to build strength. He figured if it worked for a Pikachu, why not for his Growlithe?
"Alright, same drill as usual." Yarden said, nodding toward the boulder, which was noticeably covered in dents and small craters from previous training sessions.
Growlithe trotted over, slipping under the rope with ease as Yarden secured it over his furry back, giving him a fond rub on the head as he did. With a determined bark, the fire-type dug his paws into the dirt and began pulling, muscles rippling under his orange and cream fur as he dragged the boulder across the grass.
Yarden watched closely, arms folded. It was simple conditioning, but it was working. Growlithe had gotten stronger, more resilient. Endurance was key, especially if they were going to take on tougher opponents in the future. And honestly, he was mostly just taking things he'd seen from the anime, manga, games and such, alongside throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what stuck.
After a few circuits of him running back and forth, ten each way, for three sets, Yarden called him back, giving him a moment to catch his breath.
"Good job, buddy. Now let's run through your moves." Yarden said, picking up a few small rocks and tossing them into a loose pile for target practice.
Growlithe perked up, the usual happy look in his eyes replaced with focus.
"Start with Bite!"
With a fierce bark, Growlithe unleashed ethereal jaws of energy that snapped down on one of the rocks, the force shattering it into pieces. Yarden smirked in approval.
"Now Ember!"
Yarden threw a second stone into the air just as Growlithe fired bullets of flame from his mouth. The bursts of fire smashed into the rock mid-flight, sending shards raining down around them.
"Nice work! Let's see that Double Kick!" Yarden called next, pointing to the boulder Growlithe had been toting around previously.
Funnily enough, he hadn't even known Growlithe could learn Double Kick. Not until he saw a guy with an Eevee use it against a Geodude and learn that funnily enough, a lot of pokemon could learn the attack. Not just Eevee, but Growlithe and even Pikachu according to the internet!
Growlithe tensed, eyes locking on the large boulder nearby. With a swift leap, the canine lashed out, both hind legs striking the boulder in quick succession. The impact created a satisfying crack as the sturdy surface yielded slightly under his attack, leaving a couple of fresh dents.
"Look at that!" Yarden pointed at the boulder, now sporting even more craters in its frame. "You're really getting strong!"
Growlithe barked happily, tongue lolling out in a goofy grin, his earlier intensity forgotten. Yarden couldn't help but grin back. Moments like this made it all worth it—balancing the exhausting hours in the mines with training his best friend. The progress was fucking real. And it was going a long ways to preparing for when he became an actual trainer and was able to set out.
Granted, as amazing as Growlithe was, there was no way his buddy was going to be capable of taking on guys like Roark's pokemon solo.
'Soon.' he told himself. There were a few specific pokemon out there he knew the location of, that he'd love to capture once he was a trainer.
Or well, maybe not so soon at the rate he was going it was going to be a good two months or so before he'd saved enough money to get started as he wanted to as a trainer, unless he wanted to start early and hope he could actually beat Roark.
The prize money for beating a gym leader and getting a badge, wasn't anything to sneeze at.
A good half an hour or so later, Yarden made his way to work. the bustling streets of Oreburgh City were already chipper with life. The early morning sun bathed the town. casting long shadows from the towering mountain that loomed over the city like a vigilant guardian. The mountain was a giant behemoth of a thing, riddled with cavernous openings that led to the expansive and expensive mines below. Its steep slopes were dotted with mining equipment, workers and pokemon alike.
Yarden hummed and sang to himself to himself as he walked the streets, wishing he had his pickaxe with him, a playful mix of tunes bouncing around in his head as he walked.
"Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work I go,
With a bucket and spade and a hand grenade,
Hi-ho, hi-ho, hi-hoh!
I wanna be the very best, that no one ever was,
Mining gems and ore, working hard because,
With my Growlithe by my side, we'll conquer every test,
Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's time to earn the rest!"
He chuckled to himself, imagining he looked like a right bloody twat. A tone deaf twat at that. He wouldn't exactly say he was good at writing lyrics and making them catchy. But it amused him so who bloody cared? Not him that was for sure. Plus, he was a pretty good signer by his reckoning, that had to count for something right?
"Digging deep in Oreburgh, with rocks as my friends,
Counting all my Pokédollars, this labor never ends!
With sweat upon my brow, and dirt beneath my nails,
Hi-ho, hi-ho, I'm setting all the trails!"
Yarden's footsteps matched the rhythm of his song as he strolled past fellow workers and townsfolk, many of whom waved and smiled in recognition as he got closer to where he worked, perhaps unsurprisingly those who worked in the mining business were pretty tight knit.. The camaraderie was palpable and he enjoyed it, even if he was often exhausted from the grueling hours in the mine.
Yarden felt a surge of determination. He was ready for another day of hard work, 'And getting my hands on that sweet sweet moola baby!'
Just eleven thousand to go!
….Well fourteen thousand when taking into account the three thousand needed to pay for the trainer exam.
And well, he'd also need a few more extra thousand, for supplies, food and that kind of thing when he started his journey.
"Ugh, why the hell does money have to be a thing." Yarden groaned, shoulders slumping in defeat and his good mood all but evaporating. It wasn't like he was mad or anything at having to put in all this hard work to make money, he was used to that.
And not to brag, but he had a great work effort!
It was just…he couldn't help being impatient, especially when at the rate he was going, he might not be able to get everything ready in time for the next league season starting.
"...Well, with my knowledge it might not be too bad starting a little later." he shook his head, smiling ruefully. After all, he did know where to find a wild Swampert. And a pretty fast wild Gible.
...He even knew where to find two separate wild fully evolved Metagross. One of them was even shiny! Getting his hands on that Swampert and one of those two Metagross, would definitely let him speed up his gym challenges even if he started late.
'Not that I'll have much chance winning the Lily Of The Valley this year anyway.' he grimaced. After all, one of the first things he'd checked out, was the name Ash Ketchum, and it wasn't that long ago he was noted for having competed in the Ever Grande Conference and reached the Top Eight.
A few months ago.
Meaning, when this new league season started in Sinnoh, it would welcome Ash Ketchum to compete. But not just him. There was also his future rival, the cunty Paul.
…And the complete mysterious hax bullshit weirdo that was Tobias.
Yarden groaned at the thought of that guy, before looking up to the sky, mind wandering. But as he did, his eyes landed on something.
A billboard.
It depicted a tall, graceful willowy man dressed in trendy white, blue and purple clothes, a beret on his head. And beside him, the form of a massive and lustrously beautiful Milotic.
'Milotic...huh?' he blinked.
You know, it was amusing but as hard as Milotic were to get in the games because of how hard Feebas was to find, in the actual pokemon world, it was another thing entirely. You couldn't walk past any stream or pond without finding one of them.
Even here though, it seemed they were supremely rare.
Yet for an entirely different reason. How hard they were to evolve.
Why they didn't just use prism scales was beyond them. He'd seen a bunch of them being sold as trinkets at the port stalls in the city when he was exploring for real cheap.
'Wait!' Yarden's eyes widened. Did they not know about Prism Scales yet? Quickly, he whipped out his phone checked out the internet, searching up any mentions of prism scales.
Yet nothing, not even a name for them. Which was weird, because most other items used for evolution like fire stones, metal coat, kings rocks, dragon scales and such had all been there when he was checking them out, looking at prices before.
….As a side note Fire Stones cost on average ten fucking grand. Absolutely absurd!
But, putting that asinine price aside…
'This could work.' Yarden grinned suddenly. After all, he knew it was quite common to sell pokemon.
Alright then, that sold it! Once he got to work, he was going to talk to Roark and ask him about where he could sell pokemon. And then he was going to go grab some pokeballs, buy a few prism scales and go catch a few Feebas!
Yarden practically power-walked through the bustling streets, excitement bubbling inside him as he neared the mine. The sooner he got in and had a chat with Roark, the better. Bursting into the familiar surroundings, he made a beeline toward the storage and equipment shed, heading straight for his locker, the chatter of people, hum of machinery and grunts and cries of various pokemon washing over him.
As he approached his locker, he spotted the familiar form of his work partner, a gung go little Machop already hard at work doing one-handed push-ups beside the locker. With a grin, Yarden called out, "How's your pump today so far, mate?"
Machop looked up at his voice, and grinned widely. With a powerful push with his one hand, the fighting type launched himself up to his feet and pumped his fist in greeting, "Chop!" he beamed, holding his fist out.
Laughing, Yarden curled his hand into a fist and bumped it against the fighting types one, "Been having any luck with Fire Punch?" he asked.
It was actually thanks to Machop's help one day after work that he managed to teach Growlithe Double Kick, so in return, he'd tried to help Machop learn Fire Punch, by having Growlithe use Ember at low power on Machop's hands to try and help him get a feel for what fire type attacks felt like.
...It was a bit of a wild idea, but it worked, slightly.
Machop at least had been showing steady progress with it.
Machop grinned and held his fist up, red eyes narrowing slightly and with a grunt, a spark of embers burst into existence around his fist, before blossoming into a burning flame.
"Damn, look at you!" Yarden laughed, "You little try hard you!" he praised, rubbing the fighting types ridged head, making Machop wave his hand and dismiss the flame, before planting his hands on his fists and puffing his chest out proudly.
He laughed a bit more, before letting go and pulling open his locker. He pulled out his sturdy mining coat and his hard hat, tossing them on, before pulling out his pickaxe and belt full of other tools and strapping it on.
Once he was done, he turned to Machop, twirling the pickaxe in his hand, "You seen Roark around today mate?" he asked.
Machop cocked his head to the side, before shrugging and nodding in confirmation, "Chop."
Grolwithe - Male - Keen Eye
Ember, Roar, Double Kick, Bite, Iron Tail
Yarden Trainer Card
Name: Yarden Odhar
Age: 15
Occupation: Miner
Town: Oreburgh City
₱: 9,440
Pokemon Owned: 1
Badges: 0
Ribbons: 0
Carry Limit: 6
Pokemon On Hand: Growlithe,