Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than the OCs I create.
Route 209 – Team Galactic Hidden Base
- Souta -
I was waiting at the entrance of the base as I held Cyndaquil with my arm as he slept peacefully within the crook of my neck, while Dennis took the other shoulder as he held onto my hair for support. Vulpix and Growlithe also followed along while we waited.
From what I was able to gather from the 3 Pokémon who decided to follow me is that they've been together for a while. I'm not sure what happened to their parents or even if they had any, but they've fought and protected each other, though it's mainly Vulpix doing the protecting as the self-appointed leader of their little group.
Growlithe was quite timid when it came to fighting but will do it when it comes to protecting someone he cares about, and Cyndaquil, being the youngest and most recent addition to their group, is unable to really fight due to his young age.
I'm not sure why the 3 of them decided to follow me everywhere ever since I rescued them, as I expected them to be more wary because it was people that captured and kept them in cages. I had no issue with them following me, and if they still wanted to after the rangers arrived to handle everything, then I was ok with that and had an offer for them if they chose to remain with me.
Before heading to the entrance of the base, I made sure to stun all the Galactic grunts while also removing the petrification some of them had been hit by since I didn't want questions on why most of the grunts were as stiff as a statue. All of them were locked in the room where they kept the captured Pokémon and wouldn't be able to leave without a keycard if they woke up, not that they would attempt to without any Pokémon and the Houndoom packs guarding the door.
All of us apart from the sleeping Cyndaquil looked towards the entrance as the sounds of voices and footsteps echoed through the tunnel, as it seemed the people we were waiting for had arrived.
The first person to appear was the officer Jenny that I spoke to at the station when I first arrived in this world, along with her partner Umbreon and, unsurprisingly, an Arcanine. Growlithe had perked up at seeing the Arcanine as his little tail wagged fast enough that I thought he might start moving forward.
More people followed behind her, but none that I recognised; the only thing I could make out was the different uniforms used by the rangers and the officers.
"Souta, while I have already been informed by Nurse Joy, I am still surprised to find you here at all given the details provided to me." A frown was on her face as she spoke to me.
After hearing her clearly unhappy tone of voice, I replied, "While it might not seem like a smart thing to do, I couldn't just leave these Pokémon to be treated this way after overhearing what was happening. I had no way to contact any sort of authority, and if I left, they had a chance of either knowing someone had been here and clearing up before leaving or shipping off most of the Pokémon they had captured already while I was gone, and while neither of that could have happened, it wasn't a chance I was willing to take.
I might only have 2 Pokémon. Dennis was able to distract them long enough for me to take them down. I might not look it, but I've been trained by my father and a few friends in combat, so I felt confident enough to deal with the people controlling this base."
While she was still unhappy with my decision even after explaining the reason I did it, I could at least understand why. To her, I was a civilian getting involved in a matter that should have been handled by the law; it would be much easier to just say, 'Oh yeah, I can do magic, so none of these people were actually an issue.' It would just cause more problems and questions than I could be bothered with, so in the end getting a slap on the wrist in comparison was easier to deal with.
Hearing a growl, I turned to see Vulpix baring her fangs at the officer Jenny, who had moved closer during my explanation. Probably sensing that Officer Jenny had been unhappy with me, Vulpix decided she would jump to my defence.
"It's okay, she's just doing her job; she's just not happy with the danger I could have put myself in." I say, crouching down while trying to adjust with the 2 Pokémon I was holding, and with my free left arm, I began to scratch between Vulpix's ears as she began to calm down.
Hearing me, Officer Jenny sighed, and her feelings on the matter seemed to deflate out of her from Vulpix's reaction.
"I can't say it was the right thing to do but given the situation and your lack of ability to contact anyone for help, I'm just glad you were able to resolve the situation without any harm coming to you or your Pokémon. What I would like to ask is that you lead the way through the base, as from what I was told, there have been some deaths due to possibly revenge with how the Pokémon were being treated, so seeing the one who freed them first explain that we are not there to harm but instead help would mean much more to them than us just walking in there to take over."
Wincing slightly as I heard her talk about the deaths that happened in the base, I nodded while saying in a grim tone, "I understand; while I wasn't expecting any deaths when I went in there, after seeing the wounds and the cages that the Pokémon were stuffed into, I could somewhat understand why some of the people they attacked had died."
"I just hope nothing will happen to them while they were only trying to defend themselves and escape from somewhere they shouldn't have been in the first place."
"They won't. While I don't condone the death of another and would rather they have been sentenced for the crimes they committed, I have also heard of people dying for less from a Pokémon, such as intruding on their territory, so hearing that they were harming a Pokémon, I am not surprised they wanted revenge when given the opportunity."
With a small smile and shake of her head, she says, "Lead the way."
As we walk towards the entrance, I let her know what I found in the office as well as what I did with all the galactic members while handing her a spare keycard to open any of the doors, getting a nod and thanks in return.
Before we headed inside, I was asked by Officer Jenny to hand over all the Poké balls I had gathered from the grunts to the Rangers. After handing all 53 over to Ranger Cleo, I made sure to remind them that some, if not all, of the Pokémon could have been indoctrinated against their will, like what was happening to the Pokémon in the base.
Ranger Cleo promised that all the Pokémon in the Poké Balls and those in the base would be rehabilitated at a Pokémon sanctuary where they would either stay for the rest of their lives in comfort, or those that wanted to would go with a family or trainer that had been vetted to be their Pokémon or go back into the wild.
As we were walking along the corridor towards the lounge, where all the Pokémon bar the Houndoom packs were guarding the door at the other end, I told Officer Jenny and the other 2 officers, as well as the 3 rangers who followed us into the base, to remain here while I reassured the Pokémon.
After knocking on the door and stepping into the room using the keycard, I noticed a few of the Pokémon had backed away and were snarling or scared until they realised it was me who had helped them.
Crouching down to their level, I began saying, "It's ok. I know some of you are hurt or afraid after what happened, and I understand, but the people who can help you have arrived. It's a lot to ask for after what you've been through, but trust me when I say these are the best people to be able to help you. I'm going to ask them to come in now."
A lot of the Pokémon relaxed after hearing what I said, though some of the ones I suspected had the roughest time here remained wary as if I was trying to trick them but calmed slightly when another Pokémon reassured them. It was a sad sight to see what the darker part of the world could do.
After getting the ok from me, the rangers entered the room slowly while the officers checked through everything in the office room. The rangers performed a quick medical on the Pokémon, though not using any potions after I told them I had already provided that to them earlier, getting a thankful look from them. They explained to the Pokémon what was going to happen, and once they agreed, they would be placed into a temp ball.
The temp ball was a unique Poké Ball used by rangers allowing for temporary capture and relocation; hence the name 'temp ball'. They were all green with a white stripe around where the ball opened, and at the top of the ball was what I assumed was the Sinnoh region symbol for the rangers. It looked like a large wing covering an eye; the symbol was white and black. The ball had been intentionally designed to hold a Pokémon for no more than a week, and once that was over, the Pokémon was automatically released and the link to the Pokémon broke.
Once the rangers were finished, they did the same for the Houndoom packs, who, while reluctant, accepted in the end after a promise that their packs would remain together.
Officer Jenny had also called for reinforcements and vans to arrive after seeing the number of people in the room.
"Souta, was it?" a ranger said as they came up to me.
"Yes, how can I help?"
"I'm Ranger Patrick. With the Houndoom packs now placed into temp balls, the last ones we have to handle are the Pokémon with you, correct?" He said, looking at the Pokémon that were following me, though he gave an odd look at Dennis.
"Ah, right." I say, looking at the Cyndaquil in my arms, who had woken up a while ago, and the 2 that were still following me.
Understanding what the ranger was saying, Vulpix ran in front of me and started growling and baring her fangs as flames licked out of her mouth at the ranger.
"Vullllpix!"
Surprisingly, Growlithe did the same: "Grrrrrowlithe."
The ranger backed away from them.
"Quil, Cyndaquil." Scared from the tense moment, the younger Pokémon began crying out with short bursts of flames from his back, just missing my hand, as I had made sure to keep it away from the patterns on his back.
"Calm down, you're scaring Cyndaquil. Sorry, is it ok if they join me?" I said after getting the Pokémon to calm down.
The ranger looked conflicted for the moment. I told him I would take them to Nurse Joy as soon as I arrived at Hearthome. He eyed the two Pokémon, who, while quiet, were still slightly baring their fangs towards him, as he sighed and nodded towards me before heading over to his fellow rangers to explain.
Looking at the 2 Pokémon who had calmed down now that the ranger was gone, I said, "If you wanted to stay with me, you could've just let me know; you didn't need to scare the poor guy."
Growlithe had the decency to look sheepish; Vulpix, on the other hand, turned her nose up into the air.
"I don't mind you coming along with me, but I do know a family that might enjoy your company if you joined them. They would protect you, and in return you would protect them. Understand that this is not me trying to get rid of you but an option I am giving you. If you don't like the idea after meeting them, then you can stay with me for as long as you want. I have no problems with that, okay?" I say, thinking of Yasaka and Kunou.
The 3 of them would be powerful guardians for them both if they like it there. I'd also need to get my hands on a fire stone for both of them at some point, but only when they are ready to evolve, as it's not a process to rush a Pokémon into since it can cause problems if you force an evolution.
Yasaka would no doubt wonder where they came from, so I'd have some explaining to do, but I've trusted her so far with a lot of things, and she is still someone I can trust not to betray me.
Vulpix tilted her head at the idea and gave me a slow nod, not really agreeing but accepting of the idea; Growlithe seemed to follow whatever Vulpix did.
Crouching down, I ask Dennis to hop off while I grab 3 empty Poké Balls from my bag. "These will allow me to carry you around easier and let others know you're with me. You can still see outside of them if you really wanted to, and I wouldn't keep you inside of them if you don't like it, but it would also stop people trying to capture you if we travelled together. I promise to let you out when we get to the Pokémon centre, but for now we need to make our way back, so what do you say?"
Laying 2 of the Poké Balls on the floor as I decided to let them choose what they wanted, only to be shocked when Growlithe bounded over and slammed his paw on the button, seeing my shock Vulpix let out a chittering laugh before making her way over and bopping the other ball with her nose, also getting sucked into the ball as both made that unique capture sound.
Giving an amused snort at the situation, I scratched Cyndaquil under his chin before tapping him on the side with the Poké Ball as he too was captured. I hooked all 3 to my belt next to my Feebas before picking up Dennis, who decided to stay out of his ball, before making my way to the Pokémon Centre to get them all properly cared for.
After a long talk with Officer Jenny, giving all the details that I could, I was free to leave with an escort back through the woods by some officers.
[Split]
Hearthome City – Pokémon Centre
- Souta -
I was finally back in my room at the Pokémon centre. All the Pokémon were out of their Poké Balls, Feebas was in the bath, and the door was left open so she could be involved and not feel left out. The baths were made deep enough to allow Pokémon in them.
As for the others, they were all sleeping on the bed. I did ask Nurse Joy if the flames Cyndaquil released would be an issue, but I was told not to worry, as the building and pretty much everything in it was designed to be fireproof. Apparently, the materials used in their creation were donated from Pokémon; for example, the shredded fur of a fire-type Pokémon was used in the creation of the quilt.
Nurse Joy said that, other than minor malnourishment, all 3 Pokémon were perfectly healthy and gave me a diet plan to follow for all 3 of them for the next month, which would bring them back to regular healthy levels.
While the Pokémon slept, I decided to go through all the extracts I had managed to gather while in the base. Before the rangers and officers turned up, I went around checking up on the Pokémon as well as using extract on them and the Poké Balls I had taken from the Galactic members.
20x Type Energy: Fire
3x Houndoom Spirits
6x Houndour Spirits
2x Magby spirits
1x Rapidash spirit
2x Ponyta Spirit
2x Slugma Spirits
1x Magcargo Spirit
1x Charmeleon Spirit
1x Torchic Spirit
1x Vulpix Spirit
1x Growlithe Spirit
1x Cyndaquil Spirit
3x Torkoal Spirits
10x Digitalise
12x Digital Biome (Adaptive)
This was everything I gathered with Extract while at the base: 45 from Pokémon and 22 from the Poké Balls. I tried with an empty Poké Ball and was offered the same minor options, like the material, etc. And the unique option to digitalise was there, except Digital Biome wasn't; this only appeared on Poké Balls with a Pokémon inside.
Storing the last extract in the briefcase, I decided while I was in there to create a mystic fruit using the Charmeleon extract to see what it would create.
After completing the process using a pear as the fruit's base, I picked up the fruit. It had changed completely; it now had a curly stem on the top, but the fruit's shape had changed into that of a Pokémon egg, and it had the same markings the egg would have, but the egg's colour had changed to that of a Charmeleon.
[Pokémon-Pokémon Fruit Model: Charmeleon]
As a Special Zoan Fruit using a Pokémon Spirit, the user gains the ability to use the type energy the Pokémon and all its evolutions would use in their base form; the user loses the ability to enter hybrid form but gains the ability of linear evolution. This allows the user to use any evolution that the Pokémon would become at the cost of increased energy consumption for each evolution, with mega evolution applying the most strain on the user. This consumption can be lowered or mitigated through training their body to higher levels. The user can train to gain the abilities a Pokémon would usually gain.
Forms: Base form, Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard/Mega Charizard X/Y
Fruit Type: SpecialZoan
Fruit used: Pear
Weakness: Follows the standard weaknesses of the Pokémon world.
Interesting, so they lose hybrid form and instead can switch to any evolution, but what about Pokémon without any evolutions? Grabbing the Torkoal extract, I go through the process again, instead using a banana this time, which also turns into the egg-shaped fruit in Torkoal colours.
[Pokémon-Pokémon Fruit Model: Torkoal]
As a Special Zoan Fruit using a Pokémon Spirit, the user gains the ability to use the type energy the Pokémon and all its evolutions would use in their base form; the user loses the ability to enter hybrid form but gains the ability of linear evolution. This allows the user to use any evolution that the Pokémon would become at the cost of increased energy consumption for each evolution, with mega evolution applying the most strain on the user. This consumption can be lowered or mitigated through training their body to higher levels. The user can train to gain the abilities a Pokémon would usually gain.
Forms: Base form, Torkoal, Mega Torkoal
Fruit Type: SpecialZoan
Fruit used: Banana
Weakness: Follows the rules of the Pokémon world.
Still the same description but allows them to become Mega Torkoal, which hasn't been discovered yet as far as I'm aware.
When I got home, I was going to spend quite a bit of time creating more mystic fruits out of the extracts and items I've collected so far. I had an idea to give one to the butterbur leaf on my wrist, and if it works, I'd gain easier access to my store. After storing the new mystic fruits, I headed back up the ladder of the briefcase only to stop when I looked up.
Staring down from the entrance of the briefcase were the 4 previously sleeping Pokémon. Since they were all awake, I decided to let them wander the biomes in the case, allowing them to stretch their legs for a bit.
Letting me past as I climbed out of the case, I changed into clothes. I didn't mind getting dirty before heading to the bath Feebas was in.
"Do you want to go for a swim in a river, Feebas?" I say, leaning over the bath, stroking her scales. In the centre of her forehead, just above her eyes, was the Heart Scale that Dennis had found; after checking in with a store dedicated to contests, I was able to find a solution that was waterproof and safe for water-type Pokémon, allowing contestants to apply decorations to their Pokémon without them coming off in battle. If she ever wanted to remove it, which I doubt from the reaction she had to the gift, I just needed to apply the counteragent.
Giving a happy wiggle to the pampering and agreeing to go to the river, I returned her to the ball before making my way back into the briefcase along with the other Pokémon.
Sitting at the edge of the river with my legs in the water, I watch as Feebas swims circles around my legs. As I was holding Cyndaquil in my lap, he hadn't wanted to play but to be near me instead; the others chose to play in the field across from me.
I told them to play lightly but also to use their moves while playing to get better control over them, so Growlithe and Vulpix were using Quick Attack to try and reach Dennis, who was using Dig; it was basically whack-a-mole with Pokémon.
Eventually they got too tired from playing and made their way over to me. I plated up some chopped berries; each Pokémon got their favourite flavours, which they began devouring with gusto. I didn't give them too much, as I didn't want to spoil their food later and they had a diet to follow, but a small treat after playing should be fine.
Feeling tired after today's events, I lay back with my legs still in the water as I started drifting off to sleep with Cyndaquil sleeping on my chest. The others had curled up next to me also sleeping; I could feel Feebas leaning against my leg before falling asleep.
[Split]
Sandgem Town – Professor Rowan's Lab
- Souta -
After dealing with the Galactic base, the rest of the week was normal; I spent most of it just training and spending time with my Pokémon. I did quite a lot of personal training within the briefcase, as it allowed me to go all out, which buffed up my spell repertoire, but today it was finally time to meet Professor Rowan.
With a flash of pink, we appear outside of the professor's lab. Shaking my head and steadying myself after being slightly disorientated from the teleport, I felt the Espeon on my shoulder hop down onto the ground.
"Thank you." I manage to say, still slightly out of it.
"Esp." I heard from Espeon.
"Welcome, and my apologies for the rough travel. While Espeon is capable of teleporting a person large distances, it can feel bad for someone unused to it." he says as I look towards him, beginning to feel slightly better after the teleport.
"No worries, I've been through this previously." I say with a reassuring smile.
"Ah, right," he says, coughing awkwardly.
Oh, ohhh, he thinks I mean turning up outside of Hearthome City; he must've heard about 'what happened' from Nurse Joy. Shrugging internally, I'll just let him think that's what I meant.
Professor Rowan was 6 feet tall; he had blue eyes and white spiky hair with white sideburns and a moustache. He was wearing a white shirt, a blue vest, black pants, brown shoes and a lab coat to finish the outfit. He gave a serious, no-nonsense vibe but felt approachable rather than the type of person who would ignore you for being a waste of time.
Feeling a bit bad for dampening the mood I pulled out Dennis's Poké Ball and released him; he knew what was happening today, and after bribing him with 2 spicy poffins for dealing with Professor Rowan's poking and prodding, he agreed.
"Nif, Flitflit, Nifflit." Excitedly looking around the new area, he started sensing the ground with his tail before digging into the ground. Dragging my hand down my face, I should have expected that.
"Sorry, Professor, I'll get him to fix the hole." I said, looking towards the professor.
"No problem, young man. What an interesting Pokémon. He obviously located something underground by using his 3-tipped tail. He generated vibrational waves as he felt the ground with his paws, waiting for the vibrations to map the area below him," he said, beginning to mutter as his eyes seemed to glint at the area Dennis had left from.
When Dennis returned, he pulled out a ball of dirt from his pouch. As he began cleaning it, once he managed to scrape away the dirt, he was left with a gold nugget that he started to clean using his stomach fur until he could see his reflection before storing it back into his pouch.
"Fascinating, the Pokémon seems to have its own storage pouch for the items it collects." He whispered, writing it down on a notepad he pulled from his lab coat.
The professor had closed his eyes, seemingly thinking of something, and Dennis, seeing his opportunity to cause trouble, climbed up the professor's lab coat before I could get a word in, and much to the professor's and my shock, he began pulling on his moustache.
"Dennis!" I shouted, running to help the professor; Dennis let out a laugh as he scrambled away.
"Sorry about him, professor; I should've warned you, but he likes to cause trouble." I said, glaring towards Dennis, who was doing his best to look innocent, like he didn't just try to pull the professor's moustache off.
"Oh, no trouble at all. I've dealt with my fair share of mischievous Pokémon, I assure you. Now, how about we head inside? I am excited at the opportunity to learn about the evolutions of a brand-new Pokémon," he said, rubbing the spots of his moustache that Dennis had pulled, still smiling at the future evolutionary discovery.
As he walked ahead of me towards the lab, I just shook my head; it was going to be a long few days depending on how long we were here.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. ^^
A short clean-up and end for the galactic base, but it won't be the last he's seen of them.
New mystic fruits made, I'm looking at dedicating a chapter in the future to a mass creation of mystic fruits from the extracts he's collected and finally getting them set up in the store. I was thinking of starting with the Type fruit first, getting them spread in his world, and letting people create their own Pokémon, so let me know what you think.
We had a little calm moment after the base with the Pokémon, and we are finally at Professor Rowan's lab.