Hello DEARIES
Welcome to another chapter
Enjoy
______________________________________
The beach was a graveyard of rusty metal and garbages.To most, it was trash but for Alex, it was a hardware store where items are bought, he sat cross legged behind a large dune, which was shielded from the wind and the prying eyes of the jungle.
In front of him was his creation: a primitive, very ugly, but functional distillery.
It looked like a science experiment gone wrong in all the ways, the boiler was a large, empty aluminum can that had once held peaches but he had scrubbed it clean with sand.
The condenser was a hollow reed he had cut from the swamp edge, running from the top of the can, through a pile of wet, cool sand, and dripping into a small glass jar buried in the earth.
"Temperature control is everything," Alex muttered to himself, his face slick with sweat, he fed a small twig into the fire beneath the can, It had to be a smokeless fire, dry wood only, kept small because if he made a smoke signal, he invited death.
Inside the can, the raw Gloom nectar was simmering, the smell was truly horrendous that even with the lid sealed by clay and sap, wisps of vapor escaped, smelling like it's a mixture of burning rubber and rotten fruit.
"Guard the perimeter," Alex told Nidoran, the purple rabbit was patrolling the ridge and it looked atrociously bored, It just wanted to fight, not watch its trainer cook smelly soup but he is a good mon ,so he obeyed.
Drip
A single drop of clear liquid fell from the reed into the glass jar.
"concentrated alkaloids," Alex whispered, watching the drop fall."The impurities stay in the can and the knockout juice comes out here." It was slow work, agonizingly slow.
He had to watch the fire constantly, If it got too hot, the nectar would burn and If it got too cool, the vapor wouldn't rise.
He spent the entire day tending the machine, he felt like a castaway, a mad scientist stranded at the edge of the world and by the sunset, he had processed the entire 200ml of raw nectar.
The result was a small amount, maybe 30ml of clear, slightly viscous liquid.
[ Item Created: Concentrated Gloom Extract]
[ Quality: C- (Primitive Distillation) ]
[ Effect: Potent Sedative.
Inhalation causes unconsciousness within 30 seconds.
Direct contact causes numbness and paralysis ]
"Thirty seconds," Alex critiqued. "It's not instant but it's better than nothing."
He carefully poured the extract into three small glass vials which were the repurposed perfume samplers he found in a washed-up cosmetic bag dropped by some poor lady who should have died. He corked them with carved wood and sealed them with wax from a wild hive.
"Three shots," Alex said, holding up the vials. "Three get out of jail free cards."
Day 6
The routine had set in.
Survival was no longer a panic; it was a job without a salary.
Morning: Wake up before dawn.
Check the perimeter
Eat a ration block (half for him, half for Nidoran and feebas)
Midday: Grind
Evening: Maintenance
Alex stood knee-deep in a tide pool, the cold water soothing his healing leg.
"Feebas, move!" he commanded.
In the pool, the Feebas was swimming slowly against the current Alex had created by kicking the water.
She was still weak, still looked half dead, but she was moving.
"You need protein," Alex said.
He picked up a chunk of raw Krabby meat...white, firm flesh he had harvested an hour ago, he tossed it into the water.
The Feebas didn't wait for it to sink, She surged upward, a clumsy, splashing motion and snatched the meat from the surface.
Snap
"Better," Alex nodded. "Aggression is good."
He checked her status.
[ Feebas ]
[ Level: 5 to 6 ]
[ Status: Recovering
Muscle mass increasing slightly]
[ Trust: 5/100 (Dependence) ]
She didn't trust him yet completely but She just knew he was the source of food, that was fine.
On the shore, Nidoran was fighting a Corphish.That Corphish was Level 9, a feisty Water type with pincers that could snap a broomstick, it snapped its claws, bubbling a Bubblebeam attack.
"Dodge!" Alex called out without looking, his eyes on the Feebas, Nidoran rolled to the left, It didn't need commands anymore for simple weak pokemons as It knew the rhythm, dodge the bubbles and Close the gap.
"Double Kick!"
Crack, Thud
The Nidoran's legs smashed through the Corphish's shell defense and the crab was flipped onto its back.
"Sucker Punch to finish."
A blur of dark energy and the Crab stopped moving.
[ XP Gained ]
Alex waded out of the pool and then picked up the Corphish.
"Dinner," he said.
He was done eating ration blocks as he had started cooking, Grilled crab legs over a smokeless fire. It wasn't gourmet,he had no spices, but it was fresh meat and protein, he really missed chicken eggs 🥚.
He sat by the fire, peeling a Corphish claw and fed the soft meat to Nidoran , chopped the rest for Feebas.
"We need to move soon," Alex told Nidoran. "This beach is tapped out and the Krabbys are getting wary and they're hiding deep."
Nidoran crunched on the shell, It looked stronger and Its horn was longer, sharper.
The Hustle aura was becoming more and more controlled; it wasted less energy on idle movement.
[ Nidoran ]
[ Level: 11 ]
It had gained a level in two days and the curve was getting steeper, to hit Level 12 it would take twice as many kills.
"We need a challenge," Alex muttered.
Day 8
The isolation was starting to get to him.
Alex sat in the crevice hideout, cleaning his knife. He hadn't spoken to a human being in many days. He hadn't heard a voice other than his own but only his music player was keeping him sane.
He found himself talking to the Pokémon more and more.
"You know," Alex said to the Nidoran, who was sleeping curled up against his leg.
"In my world, a pharmacist is a clean job, You wear a white coat and You count pills or
You argue with insurance companies." Nidoran twitched an ear but didn't open its eyes. "I hated it," Alex admitted. "It was fucking boring, Safe, but boring."
He looked at the knife in his hand, It was stained dark, no matter how much he scrubbed it.
"This isn't boring, It's terrifying, but...." He clenched his fist, feeling the strength in his forearm, Strength that hadn't been there a week ago. "I feel alive now".
He put on his music player , searched up his favorite song.
" And when I am back in Chicago ......"
DJO
He checked his inventory.
He had stockpiled resources.
* Concentrated Gloom Extract (3 Vials)
* Krabby Shells (Hard material)
* Pearl (Small) - Found inside a Shellder. Valuable.
* Oran Salve (2 Jars left)
He opened the Status Screen.
[ STATUS WINDOW ]
Trainer: Ares (Alex Hales)
Points: 47
Days Survived: 8
[ POKÉMON TEAM ]
1. Nidoran
* Level: 11 (Tier: Adept Beginner)
* Aptitude: Red (Dark)
* Moves: Peck, Leer, Poison Sting, Focus Energy, Sucker Punch, Double Kick
* Status: Peak Condition
* Note: Approaching evolution threshold (Level 16). Needs higher quality opponents
2. Feebas
* Level: 6
* Aptitude: Blue (Solid)
* Moves: Splash
* Status: Stable. Swimming speed increased by 10%
Alex stood up and then recalled his Feebas into the Inventory, "Vacation is over," Alex announced, Nidoran woke up instantly, standing at attention.
Alex adjusted the strap of his watch.
"The Monthly Evaluation is coming in three weeks, so we have to start grinding hard.
As Ash and John cena used to say never give up , We will thrive here, may....."
Authors Note:-
Hope you guys enjoyed it.
Support with power stones and collections.
Well guys , i have rewritten the full chapters, a reader told that small sentences were annoying,so i reduced most small sentences to make it readable, i use Gemini to edit and proofread so my drafts sometimes becomes like that.
So if you guys want to read ahead or simply tip you guys can always try my patreon ....
P a t r e o n . c o m / Aegis007
(Remove the spaces!)
Love you guys, Next chapter Friday.
Also welcome Robbieray , MewtwoThepokemon and Tyler to be patrons, your support is very much appreciated.