Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than the OCs I create.
Sandgem Town – Professor Rowan's Lab
- Souta -
Entering the lab, we were met with a large, bright white room. The room was organised; the right side of the room had bookshelves as well as rows of desks and computers set up in that area. I could see people typing away as they concentrated on what they were doing.
The left side of the room was a large open area that had 2 large whiteboards that were partially filled, but you could still see the smudges of where the previous ink had been cleared; underneath the whiteboards, they had a computer as well as some examination tables, one of the tables was currently in use.
A female lab assistant was doing a quick check-up on an Eevee; the Eevee's tail was wagging excitedly, clearly unbothered by the check-up.
The centre of the room had 4 massive servers that were being looked over by more lab assistants; the back wall of the building basically didn't exist; instead, it was one large glass panel that looked out into a stunning view of the ranch. I could see a variety of Pokémon playing and lazing about in the fields.
The professor led us towards the left side of the room with the examination tables; Dennis had decided to climb up to my shoulder on the way into the building and was similarly looking around in wonder.
As we stepped towards the tables, the professor said to the female assistant with the Eevee, "Melinda, this young man is Souta, the one who captured an undiscovered Pokémon. Souta, meet Melinda; she is the head of the health and fitness team for our Pokémon here."
"A pleasure. I am looking forward to doing a full check-up on your friend here. I'm sure the nurse Joy, who has looked over him already, has data we could look at, but we like to make our own documentation." She said, shaking my hand after patting the Eevee on the head and handing it a berry.
Dennis hopped onto the table and started pleading with Melinda.
Shaking my head with a sigh, I reach into my pocket and pull out the wrapped-up poffins I promised him and hand him 1 as he bites into it with delight.
"Remember, you can have the last one when we're done here, if you listen to the professor and his assistants."
I know he'll listen to me, but he will attempt to bend the rules far enough to get away with it.
"As the professor can tell you, he can be quite mischievous." I said to Melinda.
"Indeed, he can," the professor said, rubbing at his moustache.
While we were talking, more assistants had ended up in the area, excitedly talking and pointing towards Dennis, who was doing his best to get free stuff from them.
After letting them know what I knew so far about Dennis, I was offered a trip to the ranch. As they studied Dennis, it was a way for my other Pokémon to stretch their legs and fins as well as check out the Pokémon they had here.
As I was leaving, I saw Dennis excitedly showing the treasures he had collected so far; he was reluctant at first, but with the promise that no one would take them off him and that they just wanted to see, he agreed, though I think the offered berries were the deciding factor. I'll have to watch him closely with food in the future; who knows what snacks he's been secretly eating? Before I know it, he'll end up too chubby to dig.
The assistant who was going to be my guide at the ranch was called Reggie; he was one of the assistants that handled the day-to-day at the ranch. He and a few others dealt with making sure the Pokémon that Professor Rowan's sponsored trainers left here got along and fit in nicely with each other and the Pokémon that were here for research purposes.
I released Vulpix, Growlithe, and Cyndaquil from their pokeballs; they started chasing each other as we made our way to a river that cut through the ranch and into the woodland area of the ranch. Reggie said the river led all the way to the mountain at the back of the ranch where you could find a massive waterfall.
As we made our way to the river so I could release my last Pokémon, Reggie explained to me that the ranch had a variety of biomes to suit each type of Pokémon. After hearing that, I was quite excited to get a chance of getting extracts for the Pokémon types I didn't have yet.
After releasing Feebas, I heard a gasp come from Reggie at seeing her unique colouring.
"A variant Feebas", His excitement dimmed slightly when he said Feebas.
"Yes, isn't she beautiful?" I said while reaching into the water to stroke Feebas on the bridge between her eyes, where she loved it, earning an excited wiggle at the compliment.
"Yes, of course." He said, coughing awkwardly.
Rude, this is why people like him will never have their own Milotic. Feebas is a sweet little thing; who cares what she looks like?
While complaining internally, Vulpix, Growlithe, and Cyndaquil had run back over to me with 3 tagalongs; with them were the 3 starters of this region.
"Hello there." I greeted the new arrivals as Cyndaquil ran straight to my leg, wanting to be picked up, so I did.
"Turtwig" "Chimchar" "Piplup" they greeted me back.
Piplup ran up to Reggie and started rapidly talking while patting his stomach.
"Pip, piplup, luplup, pip."
"I'll grab some food for you all now; I was about to make the rounds after letting Souta know where to stay away from." Reggie said, trying to appease the Piplup.
"Is it ok if I came with you and helped you out?" I asked.
"Sure, just let me go get everything set up, and I'll make my way back here. Could you look after these 3 while I'm gone?"
"Yeah, no problem."
While looking after the 3 starters and waiting for Reggie, I was able to gain the spirit extract from all 3 of them.
After 10 minutes of playing along with the Pokémon, Reggie returned on a large rectangular food trolley; it was powered by electricity and had wheels meant for all terrains. On both sides of the trolley were 4 large sacks containing a variety of berries.
When he stopped close to us, all 3 starter Pokémon charged towards him, making him laugh.
As I got close, I watched him open the panels to the trolley, and inside there were 5 compartments, all full of stew; each compartment was a different flavour of stew.
"I wasn't sure if your Pokémon had eaten anything yet, so I filled up a bit extra for them just in case." He said while grabbing some bowls and scooping a portion for each of the starters and adding a couple of the berries that they preferred.
"They haven't yet, thank you." I said, he told me just to grab the extra ladle he brought with him and to hand out their favourites and a couple of berries.
After laying out food for my Pokémon, I asked them if they were all ok waiting for me here while I helped Reggie out and that I would be back soon, to which they all agreed, though Feebas seemed reluctant at first until Piplup promised to take care of her.
Waving goodbye to them, Reggie and I set off across the ranch, feeding any Pokémon we came across. Anytime I got the chance, I would extract from them when Reggie wasn't looking and slip it into my bag.
2 of the most interesting Pokémon I extracted from were ones I was not expecting to see here at all; they were Shieldon and Cranidos.
According to Reggie, they were a gift from the champion Cynthia; she found them on one of her many adventures while looking for archaeological finds. The professor was studying the behavioural differences the 2 displayed compared to the Pokémon that have now evolved to work together with humans.
The 2 of them were quite temperamental towards me and less so to Reggie, who had most likely been feeding them for a while now.
I only managed to extract from them when I was trying to stop them from charging at me; if not for my inhuman strength, I most likely would have felt the aches from their unpowered headbutts that they were trying to give me.
"Follow my lead in the next area. We are entering a dragon's territory. The Altaria that lives here is a sponsored trainer's Pokémon, and while calm for a dragon type, can get aggressive with a stranger in her area, especially since she has her own flock of Swablu. After I introduce you, we will be fine as long as she accepts you; if not, you will have to stay back." Reggie says this is the most serious I've seen him so far.
"I understand."
We were closer to the mountain now, and I could see and hear the crashing of the waterfall to our right. Reggie held his hand up, indicating for us to stop as he looked up; floating down from a ledge of the mountain where I could see what looked to be a cave was the Altaria. It was gracefully gliding towards us with no effort at all.
"Altaria," it called out as it got closer, eyeing me up.
"This is Souta, he's a friend of the professor and has been helping me with feeding the Pokémon on the ranch. If it's ok with you, he'll help me plate up some food for you and your flock." Reggie explained to the Altaria.
Altaria just stared at me as it floated there. I gave a short bow in respect to acknowledge the Pokémon, which seemed to work as she turned away and looked towards her den and screeched, "ALTARIA".
Hearing the call, 4 Swablu swooped down from the same ledge Altaria came from, excitedly bobbing around her, the braver ones coming closer to inspect me.
Holding out my hand under the watch of the Altaria, a curious Swablu lands on my palm, excitedly flapping its fluffy cloudlike wings. As the wings brushed against my hand, the wings were extremely soft that I had nothing to compare them to.
"Swabluuu," it chirped as I tickled its beak.
"Let's get you some food." I say as I lift it up to my shoulder, where it hops on as I dish out some food along with Reggie for the whole group.
When we finished dishing out the food and the Pokémon were happily eating, we made our way around to the rest of the areas before we were finally done, I spent the rest of the afternoon grooming my own Pokémon, with Vulpix and Feebas loving it the most – Vulpix because she loved being clean and having lovely fur and Feebas because she loved the attention the most.
We had a room prepared for us at the lab for our stay here, so we all headed there at the end of the day, but Dennis had agreed to spend the night in the ground-type biome so the professor and his assistants could get a feel for how he would act in the wild.
[Split]
Ukiyoe Town – Eastern Yokai Headquarters
Situated in the heart of a traditional Japanese building was the leader of the eastern yokai faction; the air was tense and filled with smoke as hushed words were spoken between each of the members.
At the head of the meeting was the supreme commander Nurarihyon; he had his arms folded into his yukata sleeves and would only remove 1 every so often to adjust the long pipe he was smoking from. He was relatively short due to his older age and had a long gourd-shaped head with no hair other than his eyebrows.
He took one long drag of his pipe before putting it down with a tap that reverberated across the room, causing the room to fall silent.
"As you all have noticed a few of our members are missing here today; it is with a heavy heart that I have to say that they were murdered." As he finished speaking, the room erupted in gasps and outrage.
A cough from him had the room quieting down again.
"The one who attacked our own is Inugamigyōbu Tamazuki, the youngest child of Danuki. We believe he is attempting to form his own Night Parade of 88 Demons of Shikoku away from his father. We are not entirely sure of his overall goal so I will be heading out to speak with Danuki myself, he is not one who wishes for combat anymore, so I will go and learn what I can from him."
"In the meantime, I wish you all to keep an eye on the faction but not get involved in this new group forming." His words cause an uproar of yokai wanting to get revenge on their lost members.
"Quiet!" He shouted, unleashing his fear into the room.
"I've made this decision as a test for Rikuo; where I am heading shall not leave this room other than that I have gone missing and that members of our board have been murdered or, in some of your cases, 'gone missing' as well, as a decision will need to be made by my grandson sooner or later; this will test how he handles a newly forming night parade along with the yokai he has following him."
"You may watch but should only interfere if he fails in this test. Is that understood?" he says, cracking an eye open.
"YES, SUPREME COMMANDER." They all responded in unison.
"Good. Dismissed. Magari, stay behind," he said, taking a puff from his pipe as the rest of the members started to funnel out.
- Nurarihyon -
I relaxed into my chair as the room began to clear while Magari sat in front of me, waiting until the door to the room finally closed behind the last member to leave.
Magari is a high-ranking member of the faction. She has a youthful appearance but also has a lot of scars from her years of combat and training. She is a seven-tailed Nekomata that has white fur with black spots.
"What information have you managed to gather?" I ask her as she lazily lays on her side.
"Nothing but whispers so far; it is hard to say if Hagaromo Gitsune is back, but if she is, they are keeping tight-lipped about it, probably to gather more power for a proper attack."
"Troubling, if she is back, then there is no doubt she will eventually head to Kyoto. On my way to see Danuki, I will set up a meeting with Yasaka to let her know about Hagaromo."
"Speaking of Yasaka, I've picked up some rumours coming from their faction as well." Magari said, smirking.
"Really, what would that be?"
"Well, only that she's been seen meeting with a rather handsome young man quite a bit, even taking little Kunou out together."
Cough, Cough shooting a glare at Magari, who was grinning, clearly, she waited for me to take a drag from my pipe before telling me what she had to say.
"Good for her, but what does it matter to me what her love life is?"
"Hmm, well, if you must know, from what I've managed to gather, there are rumours that he is a Koropokkuru, and there have been a few strange things happening ever since he arrived."
"The yokai of myth, which apparently can hide just as well as I can, also—what do you mean by 'strange'?" I say, cracking my eyes open, slightly more interested now.
"This information I picked up is being sold on the black market about strange abilities being used by Yasaka's personal guards; someone in her faction is clearly trying to undermine her. The only abilities that have been shared so far are of a Nekomata able to wield strings as if they were her own limbs and a Kappa that's able to swim through land like he does water. Other than those 2, there is nothing else to note so far."
"Interesting, these old bones are due a workout; I'll see what I can glimpse when I head over there for the meeting."
"Anything else?"
"One last thing, Kuoh Town has had an upsurge of supernatural action lately; there is information that the church is sending 2 of its members to speak with the devils in the area, but the best bit is that they are both holy sword wielders."
"Of course, the biblical factions are at it again, though someone is playing the board; the church would not let anyone know where they would be sending their members, let alone let it slip about 2 holy sword users." 'I say,' taking a long drag.
"The supernatural is beginning to feel more turbulent lately; I believe some people seem to think peace has been going on too long and wish to churn the waters. I want you and those under you to increase surveillance and intelligence gathering; let me know anything important, even if it's a smidge of a rumour that could affect us. You know how to reach me."
"You got it."
"As always, thank you, Magari." With a final puff of smoke from my pipe, it slowly drifts behind Magari as she leaves the room.
[Split]
Sandgem Town – Professor Rowan's Lab
- Souta -
It's been 3 days since our arrival at Professor Rowan's lab, and it was finally time for us to leave.
The past 3 days have been quite fun; I spent a lot of time with the Pokémon at the ranch and my own Pokémon. I also helped each day with feeding the Pokémon and managed to gather extract when I could for those that I missed.
I think the most disappointed one to be leaving was Dennis.
His stay here made it seem like he could have been royalty; he was adored mostly by the female assistants who were offering him treats and pampering him. I think he thought he might be in heaven if he even knew what that was.
But now he was on my shoulder, throwing looks at the lab's entrance.
Rolling my eyes at his dramatic act, I fished out the puffin I had left for him as his face did a complete 180, already forgetting his sadness.
Little does he know he's now on a diet; the professor had apologised for the assistants that kept slipping him treats, but I told him not to worry about it because that's what Dennis does. As a niffler, they got what they wanted when they wanted by being sneaky; the trait clearly stayed after becoming a Nifflit.
The professor seemed to accept that it was due to a trait of his species, so the assistants were let off with just a small warning.
Yesterday I managed to get a hold of something I was hoping to pick up during my time in this world.
-Flashback-
On the table in front of us lined up in a neat order were all the currently known evolutionary items.
There was a nice selection here, but there were clearly quite a lot missing, either due to rarity or simply not being known yet.
I wanted nothing more than to extract from each one to see what I could get out of them, but it wasn't really something I could do in front of a professor and his assistants.
The ones I would have loved to extract from the most are the Electirizer and the Magmarizer; they were both containers that sealed a highly concentrated amount of their respective energies, enough so that I believe they could create Logia fruits from them.
It was just not meant to be.
What really caught my eye, though, was an item I had been meaning to search for in hopes it existed, and it was right here in front of me.
A Linking Cord.
When I asked the professor what it was, he explained that it was an old-fashioned way to evolve specific Pokémon, those being Haunter, Kadabra, Machoke, and Graveler. Apparently before being able to seamlessly transfer Pokémon from one ball to another, they used a linking cord during the process. These specific Pokémon evolved for an unknown reason.
Now, though, it is believed it comes from the energy used during the transfer that triggers the evolution, so with seamless transfer being a thing now, the Linking Cord fell out of use, though the professor uses it for teaching material these days.
When I asked where I could purchase one, he said I could just have that one since they had plenty more stored away, seeing as no one uses them anymore, making it cheap to purchase.
After thanking him, I put it away with a smile on my face.
-Present-
"Thank you again, Professor, for hosting us."
"No, I should be thanking you; it has been an exciting 3 days getting to know a new species of Pokémon. The amount of data we were able to pick up was incredible; his energy readings increased each time he placed something he deemed a treasure in his pouch. The purity and value of the treasure also increased the amount of energy he gained, so with enough time and treasures collected, he will eventually evolve."
"It was fascinating to see that his state of mind as to what he regarded as a treasure had a noticeable effect on his energy increase; this gave us a completely new avenue to explore when it comes to Pokémon evolution."
"While I would like for him to stay to witness his evolution in person, I know his place is at your side. With that being said, I would like it if you could please document the process as much as you can during your trip, and to do that, I have a gift for you."
An assistant stepped forward with a black box, which they handed to me. Opening it, I saw a brand new Sinnoh Pokédex inside.
"Wha— I thought only those that you sponsored got one of these." I said, pulling out the Pokédex, being careful not to drop it.
"While that is usually the case, I also have the authority to give them out as I see fit, with you not having a way to contact anyone due to your situation, and since I'm asking you to document something for me, I thought it only right you have the correct tool for the job; you'll find the device quite capable of recording and documenting his progress and that of your other Pokémon as well."
"Thank you truly." I was quite giddy; getting my own Pokédex was a childhood dream.
Opening it, I aimed it at Dennis and pressed the green button; I heard a chime before the Pokédex started giving me a description.
"Nifflit, the treasure-seeking Pokémon, uses its tail to search the earth via vibrations. When Nifflit has found a treasure, it will dig deep into the earth using its large spade-like claws. Once the treasure has been collected, it will then proceed to clean it and store it in its pouch. Nifflits will become aggressive if something attempts to take its treasures or touch its pouch."
"This is what we've updated the system with so far; any details that you feel need changing or adding to it, just document it, and we'll have it updated in the future," the professor said, smiling towards me.
"No, it's amazing, isn't that right, Dennis?"
Dennis nodded, lifting his beak into the air, proud about what he heard.
"Before you head off, we have 1 more gift for you as well as something we'd like for you to take with you."
"You already gave me the Pokédex; I have nothing to give you in return." I said, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"While the Pokédex is a gift, it is also me giving you work to do. It didn't feel right to call it a proper gift, and you do not have to worry about giving a gift in return; it is merely something I and those at the lab wished to do."
Melinda stepped forward with another box and opened it, revealing 2 fire stones.
"We know that you have a Vulpix and Growlithe, so when the day comes that they are ready to evolve, we would like for you to use these. Being the leading expert on evolution comes with the benefit of having a large collection of evolutionary items, so it seemed fitting to gift you with these 2."
I gently take the box from Melinda as I stare at the 2 crystals that give off a slight glow as the fire trapped inside seems to twist and turn.
Before I could say anything, Melinda pulled out a Poké Ball, holding it in front of her.
"The final item is actually a Pokémon; during your time at the ranch, the Pokémon there seemed to enjoy your company so much that I was and still am tempted to offer you a position here. One Pokémon in particular wished to go with you, with it not having a trainer, I was quite surprised when Altaria came down to my office window carrying a young Swablu with her."
"If you wish to accept, you just need to tap your ID to the unregistered Poké Ball to register the Swablu to yourself; it's not usually how it's done, but for the surprise, we thought it best to do it this way."
Nodding and shocked at getting a new Pokémon out of nowhere, I grabbed my ID, allowing Melinda to use the Poké Ball to scan it before it dinged, indicating it was done.
Releasing the Swablu, I noted it was the one that was the most curious of the bunch and the one that liked to hang around me; it gave a quick look around before spotting me and making a quick beeline to my face, hugging me with its fluffy wings, making me laugh.
Picking him off my face, I say, "Welcome to the team."
"Swabluuu."
"I don't really have any words to describe what I want to say, so thank you." I say, bowing to the people in front of me.
"No problem, stay safe, and if you ever need to talk or require help, just give us a call. A few of us have put our numbers in for you." Professor Rowan said, smiling towards me.
"I promise I'll come back in the future." I said I'm already planning to bring them a gift in the future.
After saying my goodbyes, I set off. Instead of heading back to Hearthome City, I decided to make my way through Route 202.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. ^^
I know Professor Rowan doesn't have a ranch at his lab, but you know it's a fanfic the worlds would get boring fast if I followed them to the dot.
Souta picked up an item he's been wanting for a specific fruit idea he's had; we'll get to that in the future.
The Swablu was an unexpected team member even for me; I was just typing away and then ended up getting flashbanged by the idea.
The next chapter will probably be the last for the Pokémon world. I will be coming back to it in the future since there is still so much to explore and gain from it, but in his main world tensions are picking up, not that he knows, so it's time to buckle up and prepare for trouble.