I only managed to hit Elekid with Fairy Wind twice in retaliation. Once was through a quick use of Astonish, which startled him just long enough for me to get my next move off, and the other was when he suddenly ran out of electricity, giving me a prime opportunity to strike while he was busy whirling his arms around again (which is apparently how he recharges).
Battle strategy is clearly very important here, enough to make up for some of your disadvantages. Yeah, Elekid is powerful, but that doesn't matter when he's flinching. Play to your strengths as much as you can.
So fine, maybe this is something I need to work on... but if this isn't one of the most painful, miserable, and maddening possible ways of doing so, I don't know what is.
Problem: Elekid is built for speed, and Mawile is not. I suggest you invest in high-priority moves.
Despite the relative kindness of his words, I can't quite find it in myself to greet him back, and instead just narrow my eyes at him and wordlessly scoot away.
I take a brief moment to inspect the can's contents: Poke-kibble. Yeah, that figures... not that it would have made much of a difference if Paul had slapped an entire raw steak down in front of me instead, since I wouldn't actually be tasting anything one way or the other, but it still rather rankles to be served something that literally looks like dog food.
What kind of kibble did Paul use? Is it really meant to be eaten by Mawile? Food for thought.
I stare at him for a moment, wondering how electricity alone could possibly provide the nutrients he presumably needs to live, before quickly deciding not to think about it.
Sticking his head up his ass has gifted him the power of infinite energy.
Bringing my jaws around over my shoulder, I use them to bite down gently on the sides of the can, just enough to get a decent grip on it. Then, with a flick of my neck, I swing them directly upwards, causing gravity to dump the entirety of the receptacle's contents straight into my maw. Letting the empty container fall back to the grass, I immediately snap my jaws shut again and chew, rapidly reducing the kibble to little more than pulp before swallowing it all down at once.
Okay, but why did you go out of your way to avoid eating the can? If you can't digest it, there's nothing stopping you from belching it out later.
In fact, Chimchar seems to have stopped eating entirely in favor of staring at me, or more specifically, at my horns. Elekid is actually looking at them as well, albeit with a much more bemused-seeming expression.
Before attempting to gather up the rest of my spoils, I decide to sample the other two berries I've yet to try, reaching for one of the Nanabs first. Regrettably, the taste turns out to not really agree with me, though I can't honestly say I'm surprised — I've never been much of a fan of bananas, and while their Poke-world equivalents are significantly less stringy, they're very similar in flavor otherwise. These ones just aren't for me, I don't think.
Is he trying to gauge how much his team has grown?
"Look, just take the berry already." I say, thrusting the Pecha into Chimchar's hands before he can protest again. "Unless you wanted a different one?"
I disagree. Paul deserves credit for coming up with the idea, and Mawile deserves credit for being competent and cooperative. Elekid was just following orders, and he spent zero effort trying to be helpful.
and maybe drop the weakling, before he drags you down along with him."
Alternative: Train Chimchar in ways that Paul can't. Boost his confidence. Help him become so strong that he can't drag you down.
"Hmmph. Learn all the new moves you like." Murkrow says haughtily, speaking up for the first time since I returned to the camp. "They still won't help you against me."
Despite her proud words, I can't help but notice that her feathers seem awfully ruffled for having just been tidied up, and she look away from me again fairly quickly. I'm guessing the idea of being caught between electrified fangs large enough to go straight through her neck is perhaps more unnerving than she'd like to let on.
...Better learn Ice Fang and Ancient Power for good measure.
Meanwhile, it took me all of thirty minutes to learn Thunder Fang, and I didn't even know it was happening. Can all moves actually be learned this easily?!
Again, the XY anime also characterizes mega evolution as some great bond between the Pokemon and trainer... but only in theory. In practice however, if mega evolution really is an expression of the bonds between human and Pokemon, those bonds sure as hell seem to hurt an awful lot, and that was before Sun and Moon was even a thing.
The way I see it, the Power of Friendship was not meant to be transformed directly into raw combat power in this manner. Which doesn't necessarily make it a bad thing, but you should truly want to unlock that power if you're going to use it, because it may have downsides. It's going Super Saiyan, with a dark twist.
Torchic: "What you're seeing now is my base form."
Combusken: "This is an evolution. And this..."
Blaziken: "This is what is known as an evolution that has evolved past an evolution. Or, you could just call this a second evolution. And this..."
Mega Blaziken: "IS TO GO EVEN FURTHER BEYOND! ouch"
...gotta say though, if its goal is and always has been to monitor the ecosystem, it's doing a pretty crap job of it. I can't say exactly how eco-conscious most people in the Pokemon world are, but it doesn't seem like humans are the ones that cause the worst problems with it - you'd think that at least the whole thing with Groudon and Kyogre (who screw with the ecosystem just by being in it) duking it out with each other in primal form, in a way that should have caused natural disasters the world over even after the fact, would perhaps have attracted Zygarde's attention before someone else had to step in. I suppose that Zygarde only really has enough cells to spread itself over one region though, so maybe expecting it to be omnipresent isn't all that fair, but still.
As far as I can remember, we never see any catastrophe spread beyond its respective region before everything is fixed. That doesn't mean you're wrong, though...
Bananas start out tasting dry and starchy, but sweeten as they ripen (though plantains don't sweeten nearly as much). Nanabs are actually bitter instead of dry, which I imagine wouldn't taste any better to you.
Evidently Zygarde got angry at me for talking smack about him.
Ever since they tried to drop Trainer Customization immediately after X and Y as a "Kalos Exclusive", like having a sense of fashion is exclusive to the French, I've lost faith in Gamefreak not trying to take the laziest possible option they think they can get away with.
To be fair, the games exist to promote merch. That's why drawing attention to classic Pokemon (Pikachu, Charizard, etc.) for nostalgia and hopping from one fad to another is considered more important than content quality (which, though never completely crappy, varies widely from game to game).
Flairina said:
I recall it as being level 70 or so in Diamond, so yeah, something went weird there in Platinum.
I think it's on purpose, for the sake of difficulty. Unless you have False Swipe, it's tricky to whittle down HP the normal way without fainting it, especially since your Pokemon should be at least level 50 by that point. It's hard because it's easy.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who noticed! In the Hall of Origin, we hear the Azure Flute, followed by the Hall of Origin music after the stairway appears. At the title screen, the first thing we hear is the Hall of Origin's low drone, followed shortly by the Azure Flute.
Probably because unlike electricity, fire tends to stop at the skin. You don't get to experience the Power of the Fire Type flowing through you the same way as when you get shocked. Plus the whole being weak to it thing making it more difficult.
I mentally blink, confused as to how it is I'm still conscious and aware right now. I don't remember it being like this the first time... was that just because I ended up passing out from the pain? Hang on-
Everything suddenly shifts, my entire tiny world at the moment beginning to swiftly move downwards. Despite the abruptness of the motion, I'm not hit by any accompanying sense of vertigo, and can even hear what sounds vaguely like the rustling of clothes. I can still sense what's going on outside!
My brief flash of excitement upon realizing this dims as the motion stops, and I hear something softly click. Realizing that Paul must have just clipped my Pokeball to his belt, I curse internally, lamenting that I didn't see this coming.
Damn it, I can't let myself be stuck in here all night... can I get out of this thing on my own?
Unsure whether or not I can even move right now given my present state and location, I start by simply attempting to wriggle around a bit. To my relief, I feel myself shift slightly in response to my efforts — granted, I'm not sure how that's even possible when I no longer possess a physical body, but I'm not complaining!
Encouraged, I shift around more, trying to test the limits of my confinement.
The results are... odd. Despite the fact that I'm little more than a mass of energy at the moment, I almost feel like I'm curled up right now, as though I've assumed some sort of ethereal fetal position. It's remarkably comfy in here too, now that I notice. I feel a little like I'm swaddled in a soft blanket, safe and warm and cozy... to be honest, I almost don't even want to move. Maybe this wouldn't be a bad place to stay for the night after all-
I mentally force that thought back down, smacking it with a few equally mental oversized hammers as I do so. No, I am NOT staying in this thing! Come on, me!
I redouble my struggles, turning them into outright thrashing. Once again, I feel myself shift, but nothing seems to actually happen as a result. Argh, this isn't working! I can't even tell exactly what I'm doing-
Oh, wait a second. What if I tried this?
Ceasing my largely ineffectual flailing, I switch to simply trying to straighten myself out, attempting to "uncurl" from the odd position it feels like I'm in right now. It takes some effort, the sheer comfiness of the Pokeball making doing so a real challenge, but after a few seconds I feel something give-
And with a sudden release of pressure, I find myself outside again, standing in the grass beneath the star-studded night sky.
Unable to help myself, I laugh loudly in relief and do a happy, spontaneous little twirl. I did it! I got out of the-
"Get in the ball and stay in it."
Before I can even think to move, I find myself returned to my previous position, with naught but blackness surrounding me once more. What the- hey!
Channeling my annoyance, I force myself to uncurl again, reappearing in the outside world for a second time. This time, I come out facing Paul, allowing me to see the mixture of surprise and growing irritation in his expression.
"What is your problem?" he growls, raising the Pokeball in his hand towards me again. "Stay put this time, or I'll have Elekid knock you out and make you stay put."
Once again I attempt to dodge the Pokeball's recall beam, and once again I fail to do so, the thin red ray simply too quick for me to get out of the way in time. Fuming as I'm returned to the void for a third time over, I almost spring out again immediately, but ultimately stop myself from actually doing so. I hardly want Paul to make good on his threat, and even if he doesn't, we'll still be doing this all night at this rate.
...alright, fine, a slight adjustment to the plan: if Paul won't let me stay outside, I'll just wait around in here until he falls asleep instead. I know that I can get out now, so there's no real reason to try and do things the hard way. Next time, he won't be awake to catch me at it anyways.
Annoyed, but still committed, I settle down to wait things out.
All I need to do bide my time until Paul inevitably slips into dreamland... shouldn't be too hard.
- ??? minutes later -
I wonder if I've ever been this utterly wrong before?
I scream internally, wishing that it was external, if just so I could have something to listen to other than dead silence. Paul isn't moving anymore, but I don't know if that means he's asleep, if he's still trying to get to sleep, or if he just took my Pokeball off his person at some point, and I don't want to risk jumping out again if he isn't actually unconscious yet.
I don't know how much longer I can make myself wait however, or how much longer I'm even physically capable of waiting, because it is taking everything I have not to fall asleep right now.
How long have I been in here for? An hour? Two hours? Thirty minutes? I have no real frame of reference to judge by other than the vague notions of my internal clock, and I don't think I can really trust that, because it feels like I've been in here for ages. Mostly because I've been desperately fighting off slumber ever since the first few minutes passed.
I rock myself from side to side, moving around as much as I can without actually exiting the Pokeball. These things are perhaps a little too comfortable, if you ask me. Though, it doesn't exactly help that I'm bored out of my currently-nonexistent skull — I'm usually pretty content to just sit back and daydream when I have nothing else to do, but I can't let my mind wander like that right now, or I'm definitely going to fall asleep.
Doing my best to fight the bleary cloud threatening to descend over my brain, I try to think of a better way to keep myself awake and alert. Maybe I just need to think of this like meditation? Clearing the mind of all distractions to achieve a state of perfect tranquility, without actually being asleep... huh, I wonder if that's how Calm Mind works in this world? Given how most moves seem to function, I'd assume some sort of Psychic assistance is required though. Maybe they literally push the thoughts out of mind? Or maybe that's just over-complicating it... oh, and there are human psychics in the Pokemon world too, come to think of it. Can they use Calm Mind, or other Psychic-type moves and attacks? Could a powerful enough one potentially fight a Pokemon one-on-one? That could be-
Recognizing the complete tangent my train of thought is starting to wander off in, I halt it there and do the best imitation I can of shaking my head. Ugh, I'm getting loopy, which means I'm also getting sleepy, or at least more sleepy- er, sleepier, I mean. Gah, grammar is frustrating. I guess that's at least sort of a perk about not speaking English anymore, in that nobody can really tell if I'm saying something wrong now. Or at least, no humans can... wait, no, there were at least a few people in the anime that could understand Pokemon language, weren't there? In which case I guess I can't actually say-
I mentally groan, forcing the stray thoughts out of mind for the second time this minute.
Alright, that does it; I am seriously going to pass out if I have to stay in here any longer. Whether or not Paul is actually asleep yet, I need to get out of this Pokeball now.
Even merely attempting to uncurl myself proves to be a major hardship this time, my intense lethargy making the task even more difficult than it was before. After what feels like a full minute of struggling with my own unwilling body however, something finally releases, and my vision goes from black to white to slightly-less black as I'm abruptly returned to physical existence, some of my alertness blessedly returning to me along with my limbs. Oh thank god, I-
"Nn..."
I freeze at the sound of Paul's voice, my blood abruptly turning to ice. Shit, he was still awake!
Unable to see just yet due to the barely-existent lighting, I can't even tell where to go to get away from him, and so simply resign myself to getting returned to the Pokeball again. However, when nothing actually happens within the next few seconds, my certainty in that panicked thought begins to subside. Maybe that wasn't him after all...?
As my vision gradually adjusts, my current surroundings begin to become more apparent. As I'd largely expected, I appear to now be inside of Paul's tent, the floor of which has been covered by the same blanket he was sitting on outside earlier. Paul himself is currently laying on top of it, not a foot away from me, having evidently eschewed a sleeping bag entirely. He also seems to have decided against bothering with sleeping clothes, or to even take off any of his normal clothes — despite how uncomfortable it surely must be, he even still has his belt on, with all four of his Pokeballs still clipped to it.
I let out a small, silent sigh of relief. Whether or not Paul is sleeping in his traveling outfit out of laziness or pragmatism, I can't really say, but the important part is that contrary to my fears, he is indeed asleep. That noise he made just now must have just been an unconscious mumble or something.
...possibly one caused by the bright white flash of my reemergence momentarily disturbing his slumber, actually. Er, whoops. Not that I could really control that, but good thing Paul is apparently a fairly heavy sleeper; I didn't even consider that might be an issue up until just now.
My fears temporarily assuaged, I force myself to focus. I've gotten out of my Pokeball, Paul is asleep, and at least so far as I'm aware, so are the rest of his Pokemon, meaning there's no one else out here to stop me from leaving. This is the best chance at getting away from Paul that I'm likely to get any time soon, so I need to not screw it up.
This in mind, I anxiously start looking Paul over for any sign of his Pokedex. I don't see its telltale shape in any of his pant's pockets, but his backpack is sitting in the other corner of the tent, so it's an easy enough assumption to make that he placed it in there before going to sleep.
I start to move towards the pack, then almost immediately stop, cursing under my breath. In theory, the Pokedex no longer being on Paul's person should be a good thing, since it means I don't need to go ferreting through his clothes while he's still dressed in them to get at it. In practice however, this isn't much better, as I can't actually get any closer to said backpack without literally stepping on top of Paul. Because, of course, my legs are too short to simply step over him instead.
I bite down on my bottom lip. I can technically still reach the bag, I think, but this could be tricky...
Doing a cautious about face, I carefully extend my horns over top of Paul's sleeping body. Luckily, they turn out to indeed be long enough to reach the bag, though only just barely, little more than the very tips of them even able to brush up against it. Please let that be all I need...
Crossing my fingers and opening my jaws, I attempt to slip one of my lower teeth under the backpack's nearest strap. It takes me a few tries to get it sufficiently hooked, but eventually I manage it, allowing me to gradually lift the bag off the ground until it's dangling in the air.
Got it... now for the hard part.
Holding my breath, I slowly, slowly begin to draw the bag back towards myself, my nerves climbing higher with every passing second. There's barely enough clearance in this tent for the backpack to not be dragging itself over Paul's chest right now, and that's entirely dependent on my tenuous hold on it not slipping at all. If I drop this pack even an inch, it's going to fall directly on top of him, at which point I imagine I'm going to have a very groggy, very angry trainer staring me directly in the face.
Thankfully, my hold on the bag manages to remain firm despite its considerable weight, and I succeed in lifting it over to myself without too much issue. At least beyond my legs threatening to give out beneath me from my increasingly shot nerves, that is.
Then, however, comes the problem of getting out of the tent. Paul's body is taking up most of the available space, forcing me to try and edge my way around him by pressing myself flush against the only slightly malleable canvas walls. The fact that I'm still carrying the increasingly pendulous backpack doesn't make this task any easier, nor does the fact that every slight movement I make causes the entire structure to move with me. My adrenaline spikes with each tiny rustle and sway, worried that every step I take is going to be the one to end up awakening the sleeping giant.
Fortunately, for all my caution, staying in a near constant state of barely-restrained anger must make one very tired — Paul doesn't even stir as I make my way around him, peel open the tent flap, and tiptoe out into the night. Quickly walking a good fifty feet away from the tent, I carefully lower the bag to the grass beside me, then immediately follow after it in rather less dignified fashion, all but collapsing to the ground in relief.
...I did it. I'm out.
Now I just have to make good on the rest of my escape.
Some of my tension fading away in favor of excitement, I turn to the backpack and hurriedly begin rifling through its pockets. I find Paul's Pokedex buried within the front-most one, though it takes me a minute to find the tiny power button hiding on its bottom edge. Once I do though, the device boots up almost instantaneously, and I find myself staring at a highly polished-looking main menu. Ooh, fancy!
Finding the device somewhat difficult to hold like a person would, it being about the relative size of a small laptop to me now, I cross my legs and prop it on top of them before continuing. Then, using the device's D-pad, I start scrolling through the available options.
Let's see here, Pokemon Index, Camera, Status Analyzer, ID Card... jeez, I hope this thing even has a map. The ones in the later games all do, and there's clearly more functions to the Pokedex than the anime really showed, but come to think of it, Ash and co sure got lost an awful lot for a map to be one of them. Please don't tell me I wasted my time hanging around in that ball for nothing...
Thankfully, I do in fact find a map after a minute, the function having been hiding in a minuscule icon at the top right of the screen. While it only seems to show the Sinnoh region, and nothing else of the world, the detail is better than I'd honestly expected, being more along the lines of what I'd expect on a physical map than the tinier, more stylized version the games use. Even better, it also includes a small blinking blip representing my current position in the region — according to that, I'm currently somewhere in between Sandgem Town and Jubilife City.
I look up for a moment in thought. Jubilife, Jubilife... ah, that was was the city I forgot about that comes before Oreburgh! Can't say I remember anything else about it, but according to the map, I'm significantly closer to it than I am to Sandgem, so I guess I know where I'm heading now.
Using the nearby mountains as a reference point, I manage to determine that I'll need to head in roughly the opposite direction of the lake to get to the city. That means passing through more forested area, but thankfully not Bewilder Forest, which is already fairly far behind me. I have no intention of heading back there ever again if I can help it, so that works just fine for me.
I shut the Pokedex off, momentarily considering putting it back in the backpack now that I've got a basic heading to go off of. Not that I'm particularly concerned about whether or not Paul will be able to get along alright without it, but I don't exactly have a convenient way of carrying the device around with me, which might make it more trouble than it's worth.
That said, I'm fairly certain that a single, solitary look at this thing is not going to be enough to keep me from getting lost again, and while I wouldn't usually consider myself a thief, I can't say I feel that bad about the prospect right now given who I would be stealing from. So... yeah, I think I'll be keeping this. Sorry Paul, my Pokedex now.
That decided, I start closing up the bag's various zippers... only to notice the plastic container with my leftover berries in it sitting near the top of the main pocket as I do.
Hmm, I wonder if I should steal this too? Technically all I'd be stealing is the box, as the berries aren't actually Paul's to begin with. Unfortunately, the Pokedex is going to be a hassle to tote around on its own, and the backpack is too awkwardly large for someone my size to really carry, even if I emptied everything else out of it, so I don't see any way I could take this container with me... unless?
Curious if the idea I just had will work, I pop the lip open and remove a couple of Oran berries from the top, which promptly go straight down my gullet. With a little space now freed up inside of it, I replace the berries with my newly-gained Pokedex, then shut the lid again and bring my jaws around in front of me, slipping the plastic box inside of them before shutting them as well. Hope this thing is relatively airtight.
I shift my jaws from side to side, testing how uncomfortable it is to keep the container held inside of them. It's... barely noticeable, actually. I'm not going to be able to really use my jaws without taking the container out first, but I think this'll work. I'm not particularly keen on the idea of keeping my belongings where I keep my saliva, but it's good enough until I can find some better method of carrying things around, at least.
Leaving Paul's bag lying where it is, I quickly run down a brief mental checklist. Pokedex, check. Heading, check. Extra supplies for the road, check. Ball...
I sigh. I probably shouldn't leave my Pokeball with Paul, come to think of it. I highly doubt the recall beam will work on something he can't actually aim at, but it's possible the balls have some sort of long-distance retrieval function as well. I don't really expect they do, or else Team Rocket's attempts to steal Pikachu and other trainers' Pokemon wouldn't be nearly as much of an issue, but I already know I can't count on this world to be exactly the same as the anime, so better safe than sorry.
Trying to make as little noise as possible, I make my way back over to the tent and gently creep inside. Paul doesn't appear to have moved even an inch, completely lost to the realm of Darkrai and Cresselia, but I still can't help but feel as though I'm really rather pushing my luck right now.
Standing over my soon to be ex-trainer's unconscious form, I have a brief moment of hesitation regarding which of the Pokeballs on his belt is mine. All of them look virtually identical after all, and whichever one it was that released me seems to have automatically shut itself.
Thankfully, I manage to logic out which ball is mine in fairly short order: since I forced Paul to put me away last, my Pokeball must be one of the ones on the end. That eliminates the middle two, and while the remaining pair mostly still looks identical, the far left one has a few notable scuff marks on it, presumably from simple wear and tear, while the far right one looks brand new. Since I was just caught today, the right one therefore must be mine.
Feeling rather proud of myself for my impromptu detective skills, I carefully pluck the ball in question off of Paul's belt. It comes off with only minor resistance, and without anything needing to be unfastened — I think the belt might just be slightly magnetic, actually. That's kind of clever.
Not wanting to linger here, I move to exit the tent... then hesitate, turning back around to stare at Paul's remaining three Pokeballs.
My initial anger with him aside, Chimchar doesn't deserve to be stuck with Paul for however long he's going to be. Between what I remember of how he was treated in the anime before Paul got rid of him, and what I saw of his behavior tonight, I can't imagine he's going to be anything but miserable left where he is. I could easily take him away from that, right here and now, and undoubtedly improve his life immensely just by releasing him back into the wild... but I'm not sure if that's actually a good idea in the long term. I mean, if I just leave things alone, Chimchar will eventually end up with Ash, while if I take him with me, he probably never will. But does the fact that I know he'll eventually find happiness justify leaving him to suffer at Paul's hands until that actually happens...?
I shake my head. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, but either way, I still probably shouldn't mess with this. Taking Chimchar means not just that he won't have Ash later, but that Ash won't have him, and I don't want to run the risk of screwing with canon and getting the world destroyed because the main character didn't have one of his most reliable Sinnoh team members when he most needed him.
...besides, I can't actually tell which of the remaining Pokeballs is Chimchar's anyways, and grabbing Elekid or Murkrow by mistake would be a disaster. Best for me to just leave well enough alone.
I step back out of the tent, turning the Pokeball over in my hands as I do. In its shrunken form, the metal sphere is actually small enough to fit in even my palm. Hard to believe I was inside of this thing a few minutes ago...
I briefly entertain the notion of destroying the ball here and now, then leaving the broken bits in front of Paul's tent for him to discover in the morning — it would certainly be an entertaining way of announcing my departure, even if I'd never actually see the result. I reconsider fairly quickly however upon recalling a rather pertinent detail from the anime: any Pokemon who already has a Pokeball can't be caught by a different one. I don't know if the ball being intact is actually necessary for that, but there's no sense in giving up that sort of perk simply out of spite, so I think I'll be keeping this with me as well.
Smirking cheekily, I push the ball into the side of my faux-pants, the fur that comprises them being both stiff and long enough to hold the ball firmly in place. It's not quite a substitute for a pocket, but for something this small? It'll do.
Having accomplished everything I intended to with my miniature heist, I use a claw to carve a brief parting message for Paul in the dirt nearby, then set off in the direction I determined earlier.
Jubilife, here I come!
This is still a little rough around the edges to be perfectly honest, but I really wanted to get this chapter out today, so here it is. Hopefully this doesn't feel like a sudden reversal in this fic's direction - this was genuinely planned to occur from the very start, but due to what was originally intended to be two chapters ultimately turning into four, I imagine that it felt very much like I was building up to the exact inverse. With any luck, it will feel somewhat less like that when they're all read consecutively.
A big thanks to Pheonix14 and my one other patron not named here, plus an extra special thanks to a certain anonymous patron, who wishes to remain unnamed. You guys are awesome! 🥳
Eh if nothing else there'd be enough to start the next chapter off with Pauls reaction then transition into more stuff with the SI in the same chapter.
not a lot to say i think, kinda how we all expected. glad it went off without a hitch though. i'm looking forward to her looking up Mawile's with the pokedex and training method and other interesting biology things that might not readily be apparent. also curious what the plan in a city is
Make sure to ditch the Pokédex when you get to Jubilife city! They are gonna start tracking ya. Don't know if they can track the ball too.
Get a paper map, and a phanny pack.
Judging from the comments I had been seeing, leaving Paul wasn't abrupt enough. I would have been fine either way, but you definitely don't need to apologize for leaving him.
Aaand here we go! Flairwile off into the world! I'm thinking maybe Ash will find Paul lost in the forest if Paul hasn't already estimated which direction to go. Then it's simply a question er...demand for a look at Ash's map.
Still kind of hoping that Shinx from earlier somehow shows up if only for an additional buddy. Also good call on keeping the ball rather than chomping it.
My brief flash of excitement upon realizing this dims as the motion stops, and I hear something softly click. Paul must have just clipped my Pokeball to his belt.
nobody can really tell if I'm saying something wrong now. Or at least, no humans can... wait, no, there were at least a few people in the anime that could understand Pokemon language I think, so I guess I can't actually say-
According to the dirt outside my tent, I should be thankful I wasn't mauled. Thank god for small mercies, I suppose. I pinch my nose. I woke up to a missing pokemon and a bag that wasn't were I had left it. At a glance I can see the berries are gone, but I'll have to see if anything else was taken before breaking camp.
Damn that Mawile. I should have known that the Deciever Pokemon would betray me the moment I let my guard down!
The insubordinate brat wouldnt have made the cut anyways. It's strong, sure, but its a pampered thing. Probably someone's pet before it ate them into bankruptcy. It doesn't know how to take a hit, it scarcely even used moves beyond the most basic. Stupid thing will probably be dead in a week because it pissed off another Ursaring.
Whatever. I snatch my bag from were the deserter left it and fish out three cans of food, noting that my pokedex isn't at the top like usual. It probably was shuffled around when Mawile took the berries it thinks it was owed.
I open the cans after digging for the can opener (really, were is my pokedex?) release my team and give them the grub while I empty out my stuff and take inventory.
4 pokeballs, a heavyball, gold nugget, disk case, potions, medicines, almost a dozen cans of pokefood, bag of rice, water jug, water filter, knife, cooking pot, spare clothes... everything but the pokedex and berries.
Why? Why would it take my pokedex? Of all the stupid spiteful things mawile could have done, why? It's not like it would know how to use it! ...Then again, it knew how to apply medicine to itself, and can apparently write. So it can probably read. It can use stuff made for people and is literate.
Whoever lost that thing is gonna want it back, teaching a pokemon to read and write is hard. Also mostly a waste of effort, but anyone who would bother wouldn't want to see that effort run away. I need my pokedex back anyways, so when I find the little runaway I'll see if I can get a finder's bounty to make my trouble worth it.
Pampered thing it is I bet it will either make for the nearest city or at least return to the road once it thinks it lost me. Either way Murkrow should have no problem spotting the Hoenn native from above, and just because Mawile has thunder fang now doesn't mean it's any less outranged.
I've got a plan, and plenty of time to work out the details on the go. I return my things to the bag, roll up my tent, return my pokemon and get moving.
I wonder if pokedexes have camping recipes, and foraging guides. Some of the less palatable berries might work as marinades? and it'll likely have advice on pokemon habitat and behaviours that could assist in hunting...
Still, I can't help but feel that getting your pokedex stolen is somewhat similar to getting your passport stolen...
Had the same thought, but now only had some logic for how this might be. For instance, in the anime, what happens to the pokeball after you release a pokemon? Is there a function on the ball that more or less "desyncs" for the released pokemon? Do you turn it in somewhere for it to be repurposed or "wiped"? Can you, in general, be able to reuse that pokeball for another pokemon after the ball has been reprogrammed?
If so, then the worn pokeball may have been continually reused by Paul. He doesn't have sleepwear or a sleeping bag, so why would he spring for more pokeballs? (IOn that note, keeping the berries in a container only makes sense if he's trying to be frugal or simply hasn't the money to spend on anything not 100% necessary.) Now. take into account that Jubilife is the third town of the game if you count Twinleaf. Paul is a recent trainer, and so, Chimchar's pokeball would be in reasonably new condition on their way to their second gym.
...Also it wouldn't be as exciting if Flairwile was alone for her journey and had guessed correctly. >.>
Edit: Or maybe Chimchar wasn't his first pokemon? Idk don't really watch the series.
Most people aren't going to think that your average pokemon can actually write. Especially not a fairly young walking stomach.
Paul is going to misinterpret the crap out of whatever she says, assuming that it was written by a human. No matter how obvious it is, he is going to come to alternate conclusions. Some fucker did this to him, not just to profit but to ruin (or at least fuck with) him, and he wants names and wants them to burn.
Doesn't the pokeball have a recall function like how when Ash reached his 6 pokemon limit and it was instantly recalled. Is it possible to do the same to Flairina's ball?
Most people aren't going to think that your average pokemon can actually write. Especially not a fairly young walking stomach.
Paul is going to misinterpret the crap out of whatever she says, assuming that it was written by a human. No matter how obvious it is, he is going to come to alternate conclusions. Some fucker did this to him, not just to profit but to ruin him, and he wants names and wants them to burn.
I don't think Paul will blame a human for this theft, it doesn't fit. Three things are missing: a single pokeball from his belt (Mawile's) along with the matching pokemon, the berries from yesterday, and his pokedex. Also note that his backpack is not where it was originally, but was still nearby.
For a human to do so they would need to enter his tent, take a ball off his belt, grab his backpack and pick through it to find the berries and pokedex, and then leave all without making too much noise.
But that makes very little sense, such a thief would much more easily take the entire backpack to search at his leisure (and why would the thief only take the pokedex and berries? There are plenty of things in that bag a thief would want more than berries) and would have no reason to stop at just one of Paul's four pokeballs. No, it makes far more sense that the insubordinate mawile who has demonstrated a tenancy to use human tools (potions and paralyze heals), that would both have a prior claim to and desire for the berries, and that kept popping out of its pokeball would steal said pokeball, the pokedex, and the berries while leaving behind the rest for lack of carrying capacity.
The writing is strange, but this is already a Mawile that has shown a familiarity with human artifice. As such, familiarity with the written word would be surprising but not unbelievable.
Most people aren't going to think that your average pokemon can actually write. Especially not a fairly young walking stomach.
Paul is going to misinterpret the crap out of whatever she says, assuming that it was written by a human. No matter how obvious it is, he is going to come to alternate conclusions. Some fucker did this to him, not just to profit but to ruin him, and he wants names and wants them to burn.
Paul scratched his head in confusion, glancing over to his other pokemon who were making all kinds of agitating sounds as they 'read' the message. Inwardly, a part of him was surprised that his pack of animals even had the capacity to read messages let alone make half the sounds they were making. They sounded like a band of drunken patrons exiting a bar after close time.
The monkey was crying. He wondered if that counted as a water-type move. Might be useful to test sometime.
His Murkrow's feathers looked decidedly ruffled. Were he to hazard a guess, it would seem almost worried. No. That wasn't the right phrase. He wasn't stupid, after all. The rookie didn't get along with any of his pokemon and neither did they all seem to give a damn about her, excluding the Chimchar that was almost hilariously failing in its attempts to initiate breeding.
Surprised. Yes. There we go. That's the word. The Murkrow was surprised at the message. Probably at whatever it meant. He didn't even know that Pokemon even had a written language.
...Eh. It didn't matter. Damn glutton probably went to go get more food or something. It'd be back, probably.
Hopefully this doesn't feel like a sudden reversal in this fic's direction - this was genuinely planned to occur from the very start, but due to what was originally intended to be two chapters ultimately turning into four, I imagine that it felt very much like I was building up to the exact inverse. With any luck, it will feel somewhat less like that when they're all read consecutively.
