She jerked back another step as the Pokémon snarled in deep rage, the sound echoing strangely in the forest. "I... I've never seen such blind aggression and hate in a Pokémon before. It's... unnatural."
Anita watched the empty soil that previously had a pinned Marshadow snarling at life.
The two Grunts had recovered first. "So you ALSO have a Pokémon in your shadow?"
Adam released the scary looking cane into the nothingness. "Not really, I just have a set of useful abilities. Now, I think Anita said her campsite was still a while off. Shall we?"
She found herself gently led by the female Grunt, who leaned close. "Say nothing. Nothing happened, it didn't involve you, move on. Trust me, in our work you can easily run into things that are FAR above your pay grade... Learning when to see nothing is a valuable life skill."
The guy was trying to keep the conversation rolling. "Did you want any of Blade Jack's bounty if we find him... or what is left of him?"
Right, guess they weren't going to talk about the shadow tentacles that dragged the murder Pokémon into Adam's darkness. Great.
Adam shook his head. "Don't want to go through the hassle. We'll just pick up the little squirt's stuff from her camp if it isn't damaged and then we can part ways."
The woman supporting Anita chipped in. "Well, what are your plans for later then? Never know when we may bump into each other."
He hummed. "Well, aside from traveling with the younger one and keeping her from excessive danger, I am looking for a small team of Pokémon myself. Based on how many technological things I end up involved with, I think I would like a partner focused on electricity or electronics. I also want to sight see a bit."
Anita took a deep, soothing breath, and gently waved to her sort-of-friend that she was able to walk now. "Well, you may have to travel a little. In the Hoenn region, water and plant based Pokémon are king really. Rustboro City is one of the most industrialized cities around, and even there it is mostly plant Pokémon hanging around."
The female Grunt nodded. "I think there are some near Route 110, though it is just Plusle and Minun or what not. Or if you don't care about rarity, there are a few Electrike."
Her male partner nodded. "Otherwise you have to head all the way over to Route 118, you can occasionally see a Manectric or two there. Honestly, most Pokémon are water and grass type EVERYWHERE in this area."
Anita nodded, deciding to ignore demon-tentacle-shadow issues for now. "Even my Pidgey is fairly uncommon for the local areas, you are far more likely to see Wingulls and Pelippers."
Adam hummed. "Well... I guess we will have to see as we travel then." He reached up to his hair, pulling a bright berry from the mess. "Also, since Abra keeps Teleporting berries to me, I think she may be getting hungry."
He looked towards his short companion. "Any idea which of these are healthiest for the little one?"
Anita sighed, reaching into her backpack. "Stick with the enhanced Pokéblocks until she eats them all first. Nurse Joy gave them for a reason."
As the group wandered down the trail, feeding small cubes to a sleeping Pokémon and looking for a dead body, Adam felt more relaxed than ever before. A vacation was nice.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Finding Anita's camp mostly undamaged was a lucky chance!
Finding the withered corpse of a man in a torn Team Rocket uniform was a downer though.
Adam nodded. "Anita, please gather your things together over there. Miss Rocket, could you help her?" Her Pidgey was offering comfort already, thank goodness.
Seeing the understanding look from the female Grunt, he nodded and turned to the guy checking the corpse. "What do you need to do here?"
The man sighed, pulling out a tube like object. A... what the hell WAS that!?
'Technomancy' flared as Adam scanned the thing that sucked up the corpse. It was like someone took a Pokéball and then added all kinds of crap to it. Instead of storing that Aura like energy, it stored up something like electrical plasma as a fuel.
And it wasn't quite the energy-stasis-transfer field storage unit of a Pokéball, it was closer to a dimensional pocket if anything. The body was inside it, but... yeah, they better transfer it sooner than later.
Unlike a normal Pokéball, which used the energy of the stored creature to help ensure a comfortable experience and put them into something like a deep sleep or meditative state, THIS strange tube could only slow down the effects of time... if at all. That body would start to smell, that was for sure.
The Grunt put it away. "Classified. Some devices we can only borrow from the Boss before returning them to the research and development departments."
So... useful future Pokétech. Grabbing the schematics, Adam did another sweep of the pocket where it came from. A pocket that had hidden several interesting devices from the light scan earlier somehow thorugh dimensional shenanigans.
Yoink, Yoink, Yoink. And while he was at it, let's steal the design for that stealth smuggling pouch everything was stored in. Yoink.
As the clearing was being packed away, Adam internally grinned. How profitable this short trip had become so far. "Well, I think our short journey together went rather well. A threat is under control, a lost soul will be sent home to his people, and Anita gets most of her stuff back."
He ignored the short conversation between the two girls (Aww, a hug goodbye! It's nice they became friends) and had a few parting words with the guy Grunt before they left. Mostly the words were 'Keep your people in line around me, and we will be fine. Probably.', but it was the thought that counted.
That thought being 'Don`t screw with my people', but whatever.
Anita waved at the 'bad guys' as they left, before sighing. "That was weird." Her bird companion chirped agreement.
Adam hummed, holding his back-pack-pot in one arm and carefully feeding Abra another enhanced Pokéblock, her cute little tongue pulling the tofu like cubes into her mouth. For such a small thing, she had the most adorable sharp teeth!
She looked at her packed supplies. "The tent is damaged, but may be fixable. The food stores are a complete loss because they were not stored correctly before I had to flee. My extra equipment otherwise is untouched, so that will save a lot of money."
Adam's extra limb scanned the bag, causing her to jump in startlement, before the beam turned green. "Fixed the tent, got rid of your spoiled food, upgraded your Pokédex with probably legal enhancements... don't share it with anyone, I haven't actually seen the rules or laws locally yet. Also, I am trying to design a better Pokéball for the little cutie pie baby, yes you are! Yes you are."
He blinked, looking away from feeding Abra another cube. "Right, sorry. Point is, keep an eye out for other interesting Pokéballs for me to scan so I can keep designing something neat."
She glanced between the God-Like/Monster-Being and the pampered Mini-Abra. "Right. Well, my original travel plans are shot, So I guess if you want to try and get an Electric Pokémon we should head to Route 110 by passing through Verdanturf Town and take Route 117 to Mauville City."
Anita paused as she pulled out her Pokédex to verify her memory. The new device was a darker color and shaped to better fit in her hand, which was nice, but the BIG deal was the option menu.
It was... longer. Satellite updated connection at a speed far above consumer level, probably near military if she would dare guess. Live map with weather overlay, marks showing reports of crime or danger... stolen from the Police feed? She could see all the various shops and markets, and a cautious tap expanded it to their web based shopping options.
Her bank account was connected now, and had FAR too much in it. Her stunned gaze slowly slid to the overly innocent looking man-child cuddling his Abra.
THESE were 'Probably Legal' enhancements. Right.
With further review, she saw a list of likely Pokémon encounters on her planed path... and winced when she saw 'Current Market Listings' next to each one. Yeah, this was probably somehow taken from the two Team Rocket Grunts.
One of Adam's strange bone limbs pointed at her screen. "Tap that for audible direction assistance so we don't worry about getting lost. Had to put that together myself, with so few vehicles I guess Global Positioning System directions were never really a thing here."
...Whatever that meant. She set aside her (Now mountainous) pile of concerns and questions. The Grunt was right, too much curiosity could get her in trouble here. Better to be innocent and unknowing, at least officially.
As they slowly started down the path she balanced her now heavier loaded backpack, Pidgey riding on top. "If neither of those places have what you are looking for, we can follow Route 110 to Slateport City, as a port town all kinds of interesting stuff can show up at their market. Heck, 'Slateport Market' is famous for having odd things."
Adam ignored the pretty impressive duet humming from Simmy and Sammy, as they headed into the forest. "I'm sure we will find something out there. You want to feed the little one? She kind of grabs it with her mind, and it feels funny."
With a slight smile, she accepted one of the Pokéblocks and then fed one of the gathered berries to Pidgey, as she tried to ignore the many concerning issues with her bizarre friend.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Eventually the day wore on and conversations died down, and the two people enjoyed the sounds of nature.
Pidgey would fly off and return with interesting flowers or berries, while Abra just slept. Random small objects would just pop up, landing in Adam's hair occasionally. Apparently trainers in general had a bad habit of losing odds and ends when out in the wilderness. Probably while running away from dangerous situations.
It did give him some more potions to scan. Health Potions ones were basically a biological slurry of useful components with a weak pulse of energy that encouraged Pokémon to recover faster. The Burn Heal that Abra found could also encourage skin growth and scar recovery, while the Antidote seemed to enhance the Pokémon's immune system. Explained why most of these concoctions were not for humans though.
He would need to pick up the other ones once they got to a city for scanning, unless Abra found some more items to put on his head at some point on this trip. These Potions differed from the chemicals and tools included in the automated healing device used in the Pokécenters, being weaker and more general purpose.
Then again, the 'Automated Recovery Tool Station' was only to be operated by a certified Nurse or Doctor, so it made sense it had the higher potency chemical options as they could prevent issues or wrong prescriptions. Or at least, they could handle any issues that popped up easily enough with the other available clinic tools.
A random Trainer in the forest, on the other hand, may accidentally overdose their partner if they were unaware of the risks. The weaker and modified Trainer Potions took care of that issue, at least until the Trainer could get to a center for professional medical care.
Adam blinked at another Trainer backing slowly away from the pair. Glancing at Anita, he hummed. "Do you know why everyone keeps... avoiding us?"
She glanced at his multiple bone limbs redesigning the path as they strolled. "Some people get easily startled." Pidgey chirped and hopped onto her head. "That said, not everyone is used to seeing this kind of Route Improvement effort being done."
He nodded. Reasonable enough. But he wasn't willing to STOP fixing this terrible path. Some sections had been damaged to the point where tall grass grew over everything! A nice clean walkway wasn't too much to ask for, was it? And the new material would last longer and look nice.
Honestly though, the solar powered street lights he was constructing was a bit of showing off. And of course, he rebuilt some of the rest stops. Most of them, really. Some hadn't been cleaned in... way too long. Others had damage from some Pokémon attack in the past, or needed maintenance. Or were too small to really relax in.
Better to replace them entirely. Thanks to the available sewage and water pipes connections, not to mention the electrical hookup, putting up new 'Rest Stops' was a breeze and allowed the two travelers and two Pokémon to enjoy a break every now and then without having to smell strange things or stare at rusted shacks in the process.
And Anita wasn't complaining. She had access to clean bathrooms and comfortable furniture. It was a luxury out on the trail, and she wasn't willing to convince her friend that 'Roughing it' was needed for character growth or whatever. Her class wouldn't penalize her for it, so why not relax in a bit of style?
He pulsed blue magic flames into his backpack for Abra again, who purred with happiness.
The Trainers passing by wouldn't be an issue. It didn't matter how stealthy they tried, his 'Technomancy' made sure their Pokédex cameras didn't record the pair idly rebuilding Route 116. And without evidence, he was sure no one would believe the random people the pair passed. Not at first, anyway, and by then they would be long gone!
Maybe he should get a Ninja Pokémon to compliment the Stealthy Skills he so clearly mastered?
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
The two Grunts knelt before the series of cameras, the group of bosses ignoring them as they watched the Satellite feed.
Soil vanished, rock formed, and strange metals rose like mutated trees as the two people walked, the man glowing with fire and power and danger as the world shaped like liquid in his path.
At one point, a blocked tunnel just... got out of the way. The new tunnel created was larger, safer, and even had an automated restaurant installed into the damn mountain itself. At least, that was what the local agents claimed after the wandering THING moved along his way. No Pokémon involved, and it didn't seem to need electricity, water, or external sources of food. It just had them. And apparently an AMAZING internet cafe attached.
The highest shadow nodded, gesturing at the corpse of Blade Jack. "Your mission is accepted as completed, and for NOT doing something stupid you will get a bonus. Far too many lower level employees would have tried to steal that locally rare Pidgey or snatch that mutant Abra, and that would have been... unwise."
The group watched a whole herd of snarling, red-eyed Mightyena's just... yelp and run away on the satellite feed. "Yes, it would have been unwise."
One of the female shadows lower on the call list leaned forward. "Not just that, but Grunt 21142, you did VERY good in encouraging peaceful relations with the young girl. She has ties to Target Red, although distant ones, and that good interaction may prove useful in the future."
The female Grunt's discomfort was clear enough that the Bosses chuckled. The highest shadow laughed. "Nothing like that, nothing nefarious. We occasionally need to communicate with Target Red, and he is more likely to accept a warning from your young friend than from us. Even if it IS a global emergency, not many trust Team Rocket leaders when they attempt to spread the word."
The original female shadow nodded. "Young men and women still believe in pure right and wrong, no gray scale morality. While normally fine, sometimes we need to warn large groups of people quickly, as we have in the past when some Team Rocket Cell goes off the deep end. Building a group of trustworthy friends who can spread the warning is a vital part of our organization."
Seeing her relax, the highest shadow sighed. "Now I need to pass this up the chain. The Boss needs to know about this new global player before it shows up on the news feeds. We've also detected your young friend joining several of our data feeds somehow even without the proper hardware."
Glancing at the screen, where a boulder melted away as the two walked idly by, he nodded to the left group. "You three get her approved for high level access. I'm sure the Boss will agree that NOT infuriating a man who can distort reality is for the good."
One of his people hesitated. "Sir... is that wise?"
He snorted. "The man stole our technology without us knowing and gained access to everything we have online as a side thought, best to ensure he approves of our actions when he eventually detects them. Right, back to work everyone! You Grunts, expect a bonus and a months paid leave for this. Stay in contact though, the Boss may have a task related to the new targets."
The call ended as their devices updated, bank accounts already swelling. The two Grunts glanced at the ongoing feed, showing raw destruction and creation.
The guy gulped. "I am SO glad you overruled me when I tried to get us to just attack initially."
She nodded, sending Anita a short message informing her that she had approval to keep in contact and to call if they needed anything. "Honestly, so am I."
They both stared as some sort of massive stone mansion/hotel was formed next to the path... apparently because Adam was too tired to put up a tent to sleep in.
It had a pool.
He looked at her. "Vacation at Lavaridge Town? Hot springs and alcohol sounds good."
They both nodded. Alcohol was the best plan right now.
"Adam ignored the pretty impressive duet humming from Simmy and Sammy, as they headed into the forest. "I'm sure we will find something out there. You want to feed the little one? She kind of grabs it with her mind, and it feels funny.""
I like the somewhat more reasonable rockets... and I just love the human reaction to him. I'm going to put even money on them just classifying him as a legendary with ties to matter/energy/technology, or if he drops enough 'not from around here' hints that he may be an attempt at cloning and splicing together a few legendaries in a different dimension/timeline.
His Stealth is bad and he should feel bad
Lol
Good work tho
Will probably save lots of people lots of trouble
Am sure some old men will (old people) say it's supposed build character
Ignore them Adam
Though make sure not to over do it here
Safety is nice but everything being too easy is not
ya his steath sucks but not many are dumb enough to fuck with someone who can do what he can so casually if they do they did the rest of there race a solid as taking there stupid out of the genepool
if he keeps going at this rate I wonder if he will catch the notice of the legendary. hmm if it was sinnoh I'd imagine Giratina would love to have a way to escape the dimension altogether.
from what i've gathered in the shows and game Giratina is just *done* with the other legendaries to the point of heavy grudges so it'd probably be welcome a way to say F this goodbye.
On Adam being stealthy... he is being taking refuge in absurdity methinks. I mean, after a point people would just nod and go along with whatever the god-monster says, even if yeah, they know what it actually is and they just figure that it/he is bad at dealing with the little people/world. Sort of... 'yeah, I get why its bad at stealth like this, its normal microscale encounters would be for planetary/system-wide civilizations' with the implied 'normal scale' encounters being mind boggling in sheer scale.
I mean, its like expecting someone to build a wall, when they normally do planets.
Sort of how I see people justifying his lack of stealth
You know, I think I missed it, if was asked before; but is Adam purposefully pretending to believe that he's a master of stealth? Or does he actually believe that? I honestly don't know which I'd prefer, as both are bad options.
I'm still waiting for some mentally handicapped local "hero" to try to capture the "evil monster" and rescue the "hostage".
And for a pokemon to have the balls to confront at least one of the pair, if for no other reason than Adam got rid of it's tall grass.
