663Chapter 18
~A Tale of Two Trainers~
-A Children's Story, Part 7
He's at a Pokémon Center.
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Has he been sick?
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That doesn't sound right. He thinks he'd know if he'd been ill.
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...
'I'm sorry.' the Nurse Joy said. 'I just don't know what to make of it. Physically, he's perfectly fine.'
'Maybe he just needs a good battle!' the girl with the Victreebel spoke, pumping her fist. 'That'll get him out of his funk! Gah! I'm so hyped for the next rematch!'
Quagsire stared at the woman with a confused expression.
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...what was her name?
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'Actually', Quagsire looked around the room. 'Who were any of these people?'
Route 45, Blackthorn Mountains
'Okay. No biggie.' I scale the cliffside one step at a time, Vlad right behind me as he scans around for anything of note. 'So there's at least one Pokémon evolution out there you didn't know about. Not the end of the world...'
Vlad briefly sticks his face in a crevice, seems to dart his eyes around, but then shakes his head in the negative and moves on. 'Maybe they revisited the Ancient Power gimmick in a later generation?' I consider as an errant thought. 'Gens 10, 11, or 12 or some shit like that?'
I pause as the implications of that idea fully register. 'Well that's certainly not a comforting notion.' I already feel half prepared with my spotty knowledge of Generations 8 and 9. And there's no reason the developers would stop just because I'm not there to see it. If there's a whole slew of new Pokémon -or god forbid entire regions- out there that I've never heard of, then we really might be flying blind down the line.
My hands grasp a rough stone and I haul myself up over a ledge. 'Though then again,' A counter-argument begins to form. 'How do I even 'know' that this new evolution is actually legitimate in the first place? It's Jessie, James, and Meowth for god's sake. It could just be Jessie's Arbok in a fucking costume. Or maybe one of their Poké robots. I could picture the three of them running a scheme like that.' One would hope that Prof. Oak's accreditation process is stringent enough to catch things such as those -otherwise there might be frauds everywhere- but do I really know that it is? If Jessie and James can consistently fool law enforcement by just putting on some glasses and a couple of wigs then maybe they'd be able to pull a fast one over Samuel Oak too. Stranger things have certainly happened.
An ear piercing shriek stabs through the air from right above us. An ungodly screeching of metal on metal that has me wincing as a Wild Skarmory circles overhead and makes its displeasure known. It lands on a nearby outcropping and throws its red vane wings out in a threat display. A dual visual/audible warning to exit its 'territory' immediately.
Skarmory: Lv. 26
Nature: Brave
Potential: C
'Pfeh,' I scoff under my breath at the small threat trying to act all big and cast my eyes aside in annoyance. This isn't the first Wild 'mon that's chosen to impede us today. "Vlad," I call out and Gligar is at my side in an instant. "We're not wasting time going around. Remove him."
"Gligar!"
Something tells me this Skarmory won't last nearly as long as the one in the tournament did.
Hey there guys! Welcome to Bradley's Pro Trainer Tips and Pokémon Survival Guide for when you're out there trekking in the wilderness.
Today's Pro Tip is #6. 'If you're expecting to get into a big fight, just use boosting moves 'before' the encounter! There's no referees out in the wild, so cheating is perfectly a-ok!'
Wild Gligar often travel in troops of four or more, usually centered around a dominant male or female. They won't be fighting fair, so why should you?
"Strafing attacks! Hit them with Crabhammer!"
"Gli! Gli!" Vlad blitzes into the squad of rival Ground-types, not a one of them able to react in time in face of his Agility buffs. A shining blue claw slams center into the face of the biggest one -a Lv. 24 I idly note- and after that all cohesion from the enemy falls apart.
Scorpion-bats scatter as Vlad zips through their ranks sowing chaos. With a 30+ level difference all it takes is a single hammer blow and each of the opponents drop like a light. 'It is also I think cathartic for him. While Vlad didn't know these Gligar personally, they're probably similar in strength to the ones that he 'did'. There's nothing quite like going back to your roots to see just how far you've progressed.'
A pair of purple horns peeks over a nearby ridge and I barely have time to turn my head at the threat before it pounces. Quick Attack leaves a trail of white light in its wake as the Gligar neither Vlad or I saw streaks right towards me. Its pincers flare out, its mouth opens with fangs bared, "Gli-!"
And then crashes head first into Simon's Ice Punch as the little Ghost juts halfway out my shadow.
"Gol! Golett Gol!"
Ah. You're right Simon. That is a good segue back down into Pro Tip #4.
'If you can. Don't ever leave yourself unprotected.'
'Whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck!'
I dive roll into an opening in the mountainside right before the Hyper Beam is unleashed, reducing the boulder I was hiding behind into atoms. I can feel Grundy's demand to be let out, to let him handle this, but I stamp it down with a 'No!'.
We're trying to climb this mountain, not bring the whole damn thing crumbling down on top of us! And a landslide is exactly what we'll get if I let two Pokémon of that power duke it out at this altitude!
The tiny cave rumbles as I feel the beast touch down somewhere outside. Dust and gravel are shaken loose from the ceiling and I catch sight of the monster's golden scales through the opening of our little hideyhole.
Dragonite: Lv. 79
Nature: Rash
Potential: A
The first thing that needs to be said is that this Dragon is old. Both eyes essentially blind from cataracts. Ancient wounds littering its torso with zig zag lines of scar tissue. Even one of those little antenna things the species has on its forehead is basically gone. Snipped two or three inches above the nub. 'How long has this thing been living up here?!'
Blackthorn City is home of the Dragon Den. Its name comes from the clan of Dragon Tamers who first settled the valley long ago. It wouldn't be a shock to me that a fully evolved 'mon would eventually leave that nest of Dratinis but I'm barely a day's hike from civilization. I only officially left the 'safety' of Route 45 a few hours ago. How has this thing been allowed to just roam free out here?!
There's a snort from outside, an exhale of air through massive nostrils, and then the sounds of takeoff. A weighty body pushing off into the air followed by a low 'crooning' emanating from the beast's throat.
Simon's head slowly rises from my shadow. "Gol?"
"Yeah buddy," I answer in a whisper, placing my hand on his head to help calm my breathing. "We'll stop here for the night. No more exploring today."
Heavy breaths assail me as I force myself to stop. "Alright guys…just…just gimme a second."
I'm not sure how high we are, but the air's definitely thinned a bit. Even while at rest I've noticed an uptick in number of breaths per minute. I'd say we're 'off the beaten path' by this point, but I'm pretty sure we passed that threshold two days ago.
Vlad patiently waits for me to get moving again, but I can see how much he's wishing to just push me along himself. He's jittery. He's picked up on something, some scent trail or other, that's got him all excited and abuzz.
At our rear Ma Ma continually scans the skies while K. Rool keeps lookout over the nearby ridges. As though any half buried boulder could secretly be an enemy Rock-type lying in wait.
"Ok..." I stretch up, my hands on my hips as I take a few large gulps with my head tilted back. "Onward."
"Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me."
Primeape: Lv. 36
Nature: Impish
Potential: D
Primeape: Lv. 39
Nature: Serious
Potential: C-
Primeape: Lv. 37
Nature: Hardy
Potential: D+
Ma Ma meets the rowdy hollering with a roar of her own and I nearly groan into my hands. 'Goddamnit! No! Don't escalate back!' The war pigs stamp their feet angrily at our gall for not immediately backing down. Small rocks begin to roll down the mountainside and I can feel both K. Rool and Vlad preparing boosting moves.
'Alright, I guess we're doing 'this' now!' "The Mankey-line isn't even supposed to live in these mountains!" I assert angrily, pointing at the leader of the band with an outstretched finger. "What the hell are you all even doing here?"
The one with the Impish nature hops off his perch with a howl! His arms coat themselves with the orange-white energy of Cross Chop and I begin barking orders to the team.
'This stupid shit better not count as my first Triple Battle.'
"Whoa...what is this place?"
Veins of bioluminescent blue stretch across the cavern walls, weaving a soft glowing tapestry that has me turning my lantern down to low. Are these plants? At this altitude? No…peering a little closer it looks a bit more like fungi of some kind. Well that makes even less sense. I'm certainly no mycologist but I thought fungus liked low to the ground, damp locations...and while yes, this cave is a bit less dry than the terrain outside, that doesn't really explain-
"Gli! Gligar, Gli!" Vlad calls to try and hurry me along. He's pulled ahead of the group and is waving his claw in a 'let's go!' motion.
'Evidently not everyone has an appreciation for the bizarre locales one can stumble upon in this world.' The brief distraction with the Primeapes notwithstanding, he's been growing more and more impatient as we draw closer to...whatever it is that he's picked up on.
A family of Dunsparce peer over a ledge to watch us go by and I keep my eyes peeled for signs of anything hostile. A place like this is exactly where one might have a close encounter of the big, mean, and ugly variety. We certainly don't need another incident like the one with the Dragonite. My eyes dart to a skittering shadow in the corner but it's gone before I can make it out. Something bug-like and low to the ground. I'd say a Kabuto...but really what are the odds of that being true? Maybe a Venipede? Though that's the wrong region entirely so that seems like an even farther stretch. Could a Nincada have made it up here? It definitely wasn't a Spinarak.
A pulse of aura through my feet provides a rough map of the nearby surroundings and I'll say this…at least this place doesn't have any real branching pathways. It's so far been a straight shot all the way through. Which now that I say that out loud seems a little suspect. Naturally formed environments are rarely so uniform.
There's a speck in the distance. A circle of white daylight that grows exceedingly larger as we draw closer to it. 'So it 'was' a tunnel, not just a cave.' Vlad already stands at the threshold, gazing past the exit and peering around at the- 'Holy crap...'
It's an oasis.
No, not a lush green secret shangri-la or anything so unbelievable.
But there's water pools. Some light vegetation. Even some scraggly Berry bushes belonging to a species I don't quite recognize. A pack of Phanpy run about as a mother Donphan watches over and there are dozens of Gligar swooping about the place. There's a Shuckle chilling atop a half-submerged stone in one of the pools and-holy jeezus! I nearly leap out of my skin at the massive Dragonair that's sleeping just around the corner that could have easily pounced us had it been awake. Her serpentine body is coiled around a small clutch of Pokémon Eggs and...yeah I think I'm just gonna give that one a wide berth.
A great smooth-faced slab rests in the center of the clearing and is adorned with drawings of stick figures and crude renditions of Pokémon etched into it. There's even some writings in large Unknown lettering scribbled at the base that seem to dictate some sort of story. Not that I can read any of it mind you. The individual Unknown shapes may correspond to the English Alphabet back on earth, but if you've got any idea what the engraver meant by the words 'NYHLDAR KOZI EMR ULA' then by all means, do let me know. Maybe an academic could translate it, but to me it's all ancient tribal gibberish.
The countless Gligar swarm over our position, though by some llama-god miracle they don't seem to actually be aggressive, merely curious. A rather sharp departure from the gang of them we encountered a few days back. Vlad chitters back and forth with a pair of males and I do my best to try and follow the conversation. The aura bond gives me a general idea of what Vlad is saying, but except for reading body language and tone I'm basically limited to guesswork on what he's actually being asked.
It's kind of like watching two humans conversing in a foreign film...but one of them has subtitles and the other doesn't.
There's a parting of the crowds from up ahead as a withered gray bat with large yellow eyes waddles worth. A younger member of her same species floats behind her,seemingly as a guard or escort of some kind and for a moment all I can think is…
'Damn...have Gliscor always been this large?'
I never watched the Gen IV anime. Heck, I never really watched any of Ash's adventures beyond the first few seasons. By the time he was traveling around Hoenn, I was older and had pretty much moved on from the show, only catching a glimpse of it here or there. I suppose the Pokédex entries with height and weight from the games could have clued me in, but that's stuff I only started paying attention to once I got here. It didn't really matter much before.
From ear tip to tail tip, an average Gligar is about three and a half feet. Vlad's maybe a tiny bit above the middle of that curve at 3' 8''. It's something we can probably chalk up to good nutrition. Each of the two Gliscor in front of me, both the elderly female and the brutish Lv. 48 behind her, each easily pass the two meter mark. I mean fuck, they're bigger than I am.
'If this works out, maybe we won't have to wait for Simon to evolve before we have a real flier to help us get around.'
"Gli…Gliscor," The matron rasps softly, cupping at Vlad's chin as if to say 'let me have a look at you.' Something which Vlad allows with a minimal amount of protest. After a moment though he shakes away from her grip and then points a claw out at the matriarch and the larger male behind her. "Gligar! Gligar Gli!"
A chorus of snickers all break out amongst the surrounding Gligar at Vlad's words and the younger male Gliscor even seems to scoff dismissively. "Gliscor! Glis Gli Glis!" An act which gets the older female to look at him chidingly, much in the way a mother might for an unruly son.
Vlad bristles slightly and narrows his eyes at the words. "Gligar! 'Gar Gar Gligar!" He confidently asserts, thumping his own chest twice before pointing a challenge the male's way.
The male Gliscor's brow twitches angrily and I feel that's my spot to step in. "Alright, alright," I get between the two before a real issue can ensue. "Enough of that now. We didn't stumble in here just to make trouble." I turn my attention to the elder. "My companion and I are seeking a Razor Fang and you two are the best lead we've gotten so far. Can you help us? I'll happily trade for it. I've got plenty of Berries I'd bet you've never tried before."
The female shakes her head in the negative at my offer. "Gliscor...Gli," she then gestures to Vlad and pantomimes...something about a test? A challenge of some kind?
'Ohhh! It's one of those classic 'only for the worthy' type schticks.' An unworried grin takes over me at that. 'Well that's fine! Whatever it is, we'll take it down easy!'
"What do you say buddy?" I turn towards my most reliable team member. "You ready to chew up and spit down whatever they throw at us?"
"Gligar!"
Later that Week, Blackthorn City
The sliding doors open with an electronic hum. "Welcome to the Blackthorn City Gym." a teenage monotone greets from behind the counter. "How can I help-" The voice sputters indignantly. "You?!"
"Oh snap!" a shit-eating grin overtakes me. "How's it going Vince? They got you workin' the front desk huh? How'd you get stuck with that gig?"
The miniature-Lance glowers at me. "It's my punishment for not reaching Top 8 at the Mid-Season Summit. A certain level of expectation is attached to the Blackthorn name I'll have you know. It reflects badly when one of us doesn't make it past the preliminaries."
I try not to laugh at that. "Ah. Well my bad then. I can offer your starter a rematch against Vlad if you like," I spin the Pokéball in question atop my finger. "But I can promise you, it won't go nearly as well for you this time around."
Vince's scowl manages to deepen at what he thinks is an unkind joke. "We lost last time."
This time there's nothing I can do to keep the smile down.
"I know what I said."
A/N: Relax. Despite Bradley's musings at the beginning of this chapter, I am not going to employ OC Regions or start filling this fic with Fakemon. It's important that the character have these thoughts when encountering something new/unfamiliar, but it should not be taken as a foreshadowing of my plans.