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01:30 PM

Ash’s clothes were a wreck after the explosion. One of his sleeves tore open and there were holes everywhere. Even his hat had nearly ripped in two. Ash himself was bleeding from cuts he had all over his back. Bleeding, in a children’s show? Luckily, due to the combined powers of mothers being the best and the plot convenience of children’s television, Ash’s mum, Delia, had sent a package forward to Professor Rowan with a new change of clothes, new hat included, and Ash was able to make a full recovery in an hour after applying some bandages.

The whole lot of us, Ash, Misty, Brock, Dawn, Lucas, and I, we were all having lunch at the Lab, and all of our Pokémon had various types of food designed for the dietary needs of each one of them. Along with Elaine, the long list of Pokémon included Dawn’s Piplup, Lucas’s Turtwig and Starly, Ash’s Pikachu and Starly, and a purple monkey-like Pokémon with a large hand at the end of its tail called Aipom. Brock owned a small armless Pokémon that looked like a bonsai tree, a Bonsly. Misty had her aforementioned Azurill, but she also had a large starfish Pokémon with a red jewel-encrusted into the centre of it which I recognised as a Staryu, and a yellow bipedal duck Pokémon whose arms seemed to always be grasping its head as if it had a pounding headache. What was most fearsome, however, was Misty’s Gyarados. A six and a half long serpent that was as thick as a large tree. Its squashed in face grimaced with a large gaping jaw that could fit a person whole. It was so large, Misty had to release it outside so as to not damage either the lab’s equipment or the large Pokémon in question.

Throughout all of this, Lucas and Dawn analysed all the new Pokémon with their Pokédexes, under the pleased and watchful eye of Professor Rowan. I took the opportunity to introduce myself to the newly arrived trio of trainers.

“Uh…” suddenly, I broke into a cold sweat. Three of my childhood heroes were looking up at me, I didn’t know what to say other than, “Hello. I-I’m Jack.”

“Well, hi Jack!” Ash said enthusiastically, “I’m Ash, from Pallet Town, and this is Pikachu,” he motioned to his partner which I was already well acquainted with.

“Ah, you don’t need to introduce yourselves,” I explained, “Ash Ketchum, a finalist in the Ever Grande Conference, and Brock and Misty, both the Gym Leaders of Pewter and Cerulean City respectively. Although right now your families are running them, I think.”

“How do you know about that?” Misty asked in a slightly surprised tone.

“I know about all the Kanto-” Wait, crap no. Gary challenged at least 10 gyms, some of them not shown. “Sorry, a lot about the Gyms in Kanto, I uh…” why do I know? Well, I fought them in the games but I haven’t actually done it in this universe, so… “I thought about taking on the Gym challenge in Kanto and I did a lot of research. Never actually did it.”

“Wow, you really know your stuff!” Ash exclaimed.

“Is there really that much information out there about us?” Brock asked, his cheeks reddening slightly.

“The Internet is an amazing resource,” I announced, emulating a teacher by pointing my index finger upwards, “In fact, it’s because I watched some of Ash’s battles in the Ever Grande Conference that I recognised your Pikachu as yours when I found him.”

“You’re the one who brought Pikachu to the lab? Thank you so much for finding him!”

“Glad to help, Ash.”

“I don’t get it though…” Misty said, “Why would you think that Pikachu belonged to Ash, and why would you think that he would be in the Sinnoh region?”

“Hey, that’s a good point,” Brock affirmed, “And, it wouldn’t be pretty hard to recognise a specific Pokémon as the same one you saw on TV.”

“Um…” crap, that is a good point. A really good point. “Lucky guess? It was the first thing that popped into my mind, and when I said your name, Ash, Pikachu responded in a way that suggested he knew you.” Please don’t look further into it. “Maybe I’m secretly psychic?” I joked.

“Wait, really!?” Ash exclaimed.

Misty explained with an exacerbated tone, “He was making a joke, Ash.”

“Well, I think we easily say that you already know a lot about us.” Brock said, “How about you though? Where do you come from?”

“Dochaku,” I answered.

“Dochaku, where’s that?” Ash asked.

Brock explained to him that, “The Dochaku Region is an extremely large region that’s further south than even Hoenn. It’s on the other side of the world in the Southern Hemisphere. Over there, the seasons are reversed. During Christmas it’s summer and when it’s summer here it’s winter there.”

“Really? That sounds crazy.”

“Yeah,” I interrupted, “I’ve never had a White Christmas before, it was the perfect time to visit the beach.”

“So then, how come you’re all the way out here?” Misty asked.

“I’m…” on a mission from God, or whatever the elf is, “on an adventure with Lucas and Dawn. I don’t have a real goal in mind, yet.” I should probably think about that actually, “Maybe I’ll take on the Sinnoh Gym Challenge?”

“You should!” Ash stated.

“Dawn’s aiming to win the Grand Festival like her mother,” I continued, “ and Lucas is tagging along with his sister because he wants to be with her. I promised their mother to take care of them.”

“So where are you guys headed next?” asked Brock.

“Jubilife City. There’s a contest being held there soon and Dawn wants to go.”

Brock turned to Ash, “If I remember correctly, that’s on the way to Oreburgh City.”

“I see,” Ash said, then he turned swiftly towards me with his fist in the air, “Hey, I have an idea, what if we all travelled together?”

“I’m fine with that, but you’d have to ask the twins first.”

“Sure, I’ll go and ask them!” Ash, hastily left his seat and ran off behind me.

“Is it just me, or did Ash not notice that I called them twins?” I asked the remaining pair of Gym Leaders.

“What do you mean?” Misty asked.

“Well, Dawn and Lucas are twins.”

“No, not that, about Ash not noticing what you said?”

“Oh, right, sorry. I was wondering why Ash didn’t go “wait, they’re twins,” about it.”

She and Brock stared at me, with incomprehensible expression.

“What?” I asked indignantly. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No,” Brock assured, “it’s just an… odd observation.”

“I guess you could expect him to say something like that, though?” Misty commented. “You sure you haven’t met him before?”

And that’s my cue to leave the conversation. “I don’t know.” I stood up and went to go play with Elaine. I swore I could hear Misty saying something along the lines of “he’s a weird guy.”

02:00 PM

As the six of us were about to leave the lab, the front door opened and a kid in his early teens stepped through. He had shoulder-length purple hair, narrow eyes, and a permanent scowl on his face.

Ash seemed to recognise him, as the moment he saw the new arrival he ran up to him. “Paul! I’ve got Pikachu back, now we can have our three on three battle!”

“I can see,” he grunted. “Let’s get this over with.” He turned to the rest of us and asked, “where’s Professor Rowan?”

“Yes?” The man called from behind us all.

“May we use your field as a battleground?”

“By all means.”

“Thank you.”

As Ash and Paul left the building, Dawn asked Misty “Wait, so, what’s going on?”

Misty responded, “We met this guy when we were looking for Pikachu. He and Ash got into an argument and was challenged to a three on three battle.”

“And he didn’t have Pikachu, so he would have only had two Pokémon at the time, right?”

“Right, then Paul called Ash “pathetic” for only having two Pokémon and now here we are.”

Brock offered to referee the fight as the other four of us watched the battle from the sidelines.

After the two trainers took their places about twenty-five metres from each other, roughly the same length as a tennis court, Paul explained the terms of the battle. “The battle will be a three on three battle with no substitutions. The first one to win two battles wins overall.”

I decided it would be nice to let Elaine out to watch the fight, thinking that it could be a learning experience. “Hey, Elaine,”

“Vah, Chack!”

“Eh, close.”

“J… Jack.”

“That’s it. We’re about to watch a battle. Maybe we could pick up some tips and tricks?”

Brock raised his arms, “Battle, begin!”

Ash sent out his Starly while Paul also sent out a Starly. Okay, seriously that’s like four Starly so far own by important characters. Wait… Should I think of them as characters? That seems a bit rude. Hold on, the Starly are dodging each other’s attacks! One of the bird Pokémon attempted to ram into the other with little success. The aerial dogfight continued as such, as each Starly bobbed and weaved, sometimes colliding, but most of the time they barely missed each other.

This continued until Paul shouted, “Aerial Ace!” The move was always guaranteed to hit its target despite any disadvantages in your accuracy in the games, but in the show, there was always the possibility of the attack being dodged. Despite the possibility, however, the move connected with Ash’s Starly and sent it hurtling to the ground, billowing dust upon impact.

Once the dirt had fallen back to the ground, Brock announced, “Starly is unable to battle, the winner is Paul!”

Both trainers returned their bird Pokémon to their Pokéballs. Ash said something that sounded consoling while Paul scowled heavily, apparently silent.

The next battle was between Ash’s Aipom and Paul’s Chimchar. Aipom flailed his fist-like tail at Chimchar who retaliated by spewing fire. The two monkey Pokémon displayed equally impressive feats of acrobatics as they dodged each other’s attacks. The two were about to collide, Chimchar with a Flame Wheel and Aipom with a Focus Punch. Focus Punch instantly fails if the user gets hit with an attack, but it is also extremely powerful. It was a game of timing, could Aipom hit the speeding ball of flame before it connected with Ash’s Pokémon. Only it was a game that Aipom wasn’t going to play, as it jumped into the air and brought its fist of a tail downward, instantly knocking out Chimchar.

Paul and Ash returned their Pokémon, Ash celebratory over his victory, and Paul, keeping the same scowl on his face as he previously did, called his Pokémon “pathetic.”

“What did you call ‘em that for?!” Ash shouted.

“That’s none of your business!”

“That doesn’t give you an excuse to be mean to your Pokémon!”

“Excuse me, but aren’t we in the middle of a battle?” Paul threw a third Pokéball, “Elekid, standby for battle!” Out came a yellow bipedal Pokémon with black stripes and two ears that were in the shape of an American or Japanese electrical plug.

“Fine!” Ash turned to his partner Pokémon standing at his feet, “Pikachu, you ready?”

“Pika,” he exclaimed in a determined approval and leaped into the battlefield, its cheeks began to spark with electricity, “Pika pika!”

Overall, Pikachu was clearly the stronger Pokémon, it had the experience of multiple championships and fighting a criminal organisation almost daily. However, its move-set wasn’t prepared for an electric type like itself, and Pikachu had already been through a lot earlier that day, the handicap may have been enough to earn Elekid the victory.

Pikachu began the fight by throwing a Thunderbolt at Elekid, who took the bolt unfazed. In fact, it seemed to make Elekid stronger if anything.

I heard Lucas say to Misty that “Electric-type attacks like Thunderbolt aren’t very effective against other Electric-type Pokémon like Elekid or Pikachu, right?”

“Yeah that’s right, that’s why it didn’t do that much.”

And me being the Smart-Alec that I am, had to chip in and counter that point. “But, since Pikachu is an electric type, he should get a STAB, a.k.a. a Same-Type-Attack-Bonus, meaning that it gets a one-point-five times multiplier. Adding that to the not very effective hit, Pikachu’s attack should have only had a three-quarter multiplier. So unless that Elekid is strong enough to evolve but it or Paul hasn’t decided to, I don’t know why it was able to tank that attack.” Then I realised that I couldn’t remember what ability the species Elekid has. Doesn’t Savant give me a perfect memory? Maybe it’s my memory from the point the Jump started that’s perfect?

I grabbed my complete Pokédex and opened it to the entry on Elekid. It listed its ability as Static, which is the same ability that Pikachu. “Yeah, it’s ability is Static and not anything like Volt Absorb, so that couldn’t be the reason why attack didn’t do much.” I was about to put away the Pokédex before Elaine grabbed it from me and inspected it curiously, turning it over in her hands.

“Uh, Misty?” Lucas asked, “What was he talking about?”

“I have no idea.”

I sighed, “Basically, that Thunderbolt still should have hurt pretty bad, and that Elekid is stronger than it looks.” Though admittedly, I was going to have to double-check the mechanics of Pokémon battles.

Hopefully, this world’s internet will provide the answers once I find a public computer that has internet access. The Sandgem Pokémon Centre’s public PC was only connected to Pokémon Storage and Pokémon Transfer networks. I really should have got that lap-

My thoughts were interrupted when I noticed Elaine had let go of my Pokédex and had let it drop towards the ground. I wasn’t quick enough to grab it, but then as if time had slowed for my mind to do so, I knew how to cushion its fall. The Pokédex fell onto my foot, which managed to prevent any damage.

I turned to the Ralts in my arms, “What did you do that for – oh…” Elaine had fallen asleep again.

“Pikachu! Use Volt Tackle!” Ash shouted, and then his Pikachu began to charge towards Elekid, leaving a white blur behind him as he ran. Suddenly, Pikachu and his trail turned into a bright yellow comet headed straight for Paul’s Pokémon.

“Elekid, Protect!”

Then there was a loud crash as if a bolt of lightning had come from the sky and hit the centre of the battlefield. Burnt dust filled the air, obscuring the field and the results of the attack and filling the nostrils and mouth of everyone nearby.

The dust settled and Elekid was enveloped in a green transparent dome. Underneath, it seemed unharmed. Pikachu however, looked like it had taken a beating.

“Wait, what happened?” Dawn exclaimed.

I explained that “Elekid used Protect to block the attack completely, but Pikachu’s Volt Tackle deals damage to the user as well because the move is so strong.” This was true, but the damage only occurred in the games when the attack actually connected. Maybe in this combat system in costs HP to use?

Elekid and Pikachu continued to battle fiercely, Pikachu dodged and weaved around Elekids punches while Elekid was able to tank a lot of what it was dealt with. It was a fight between the slow but resilient versus the fragile yet quick. Elekid had trouble hitting Pikachu which whittled it down over time. Eventually, it culminated in a collision between Elekid’s ThunderPunch and Pikachu’s Iron Tail.

The two electric types eyed each other, both gasping for breath, standing shakily, and bruised to high heaven. The air around them seemed to have heated after the exchange of blows. They were beyond exhausted. Elekid looked as if it leaned too far in one direction, it would fall instantly. The first to fall would be the loser.

The loser, however, was never decided, as in a blink and you’ll miss it, both Pokémon had fallen face-first into the dirt. Brock the match as a draw.

Ash ran to Pikachu and picked him up in his arms. “You did well, Pikachu,” he said despondently. “We lost.”

“Lost?!” Paul said indignantly as he withdrew his Elekid, “The battle was a tie.”

“But, Pikachu was the one who hit the floor first,” Ash explained, “so it might as well have been a loss.”

“Your friend ruled it as a tie. So it’s a tie!” Paul then grabbed a Pokéball from his belt and let out his Starly from it, only this time, the light that emanated from the Pokéball was blue. This signified the disconnect between a Pokémon and Pokéball. Paul had disowned his Pokémon and released it back into the wild, without a word. The Starly then flew away into the nearby forest.

Ash’s face scrunched up into a harsh scowl, “What did you do that for?!”

“There are other Starly out there that are much stronger than the one I just caught,” Paul explained, coldly. He turned to the rest of us and began to walk towards the right of us where Professor Rowan was standing. When did he get there?

“Thank you for letting us use your grounds, professor,” Paul said with a bow.

“By all means,” he replied curtly.

The boy then left the laboratory, his hands in his pockets.

“That doesn’t mean you can just release your Pokémon like that!” Ash called out.

He didn’t respond.

I decided to talk to Ash. “Hey, Ash?”

The kid let out a deep breath and spun around to face me, Pikachu limp yet solidly breathing in his arms. “Yeah?”

“Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“I don’t think Paul was in the wrong for releasing his Starly like that.”

“What, and you would release your Pokémon if they weren’t doing as well as you wanted?!”

“No, I… could you let me finish first?”

“Yeah?”

“If Paul thinks that he won’t be using that Starly in battle or for anything else, keeping the Starly would just be a waste, right?”

“But it’s a trainer’s responsibility to care for their Pokémon and train them to be the best they can be, not to abandon them!”

“Yes, but what if you feel you can’t do that for them?”

“Then you shouldn’t be a trainer in the first place!”

“And you haven’t let Pokémon go in the past thinking they would be better off somewhere else?”

“I…”

Stumped you there, didn’t I. “From what I saw of Paul, he is driven by his ambition, he wants the best Pokémon he can get. He probably knows how he behaves around Pokémon he believes are underperforming. So he likely releases Pokémon to essentially save them from himself, and giving them another chance with a trainer who will actually want them.”

“Then he should change, so he can-”

“Sure, when Pikachu decides to go in his Pokéball.” I put my hand on his shoulder, he was a bit less than a foot shorter than I was. “When Paul released Starly, he did it not because Starly was weak, but because he knew he wouldn’t use it.”

“I… guess you’re right.”

“Then again, I am just making a guess. I don’t know him personally.” I took my hand off of him. “He could just be a prick.”

“I don’t know about that,” said Ash, emphasising the last word.

06:30 PM

I never did camping outside of school camps, and the only things I learned that I disliked about camping were the long hikes and flies. Both of which I didn’t have to worry about anymore, thanks to my Physical Fitness perk and that all the bugs were Pokémon, at least, I thought so until Misty seemed to distance herself from me when we were walking earlier.

“Something wrong, Misty?” I asked.

Misty tensed up, “T-There’s a fly on your back.”

“A fly?”

“Yes, a fly!”

I replied “Oh, right. You’re afraid of bugs,” as I reached around my bag on my back to swat it away. S***! Why did I say “Oh, right.” Now she’ll know I know too much!”

“Don’t do that, it’ll fly over here!”

Oh thank god, she seemed to ignore that. Wait… normal insects exist, not just Bug-Type Pokémon?

We had set up camp on Route 202 as the sun began to set. Lucas and Dawn both struggled to set up their tents, as the bars that held it up kept coming loose. Both of them didn’t want to ask for help, but for different reasons.

Dawn because she was too proud to admit she needed help, saying “No, I can definitely do this!”

Lucas because he didn’t want to inconvenience anyone. “No it’s okay you don’t have to do anything for my sake.”

Ash, Brock, and Misty all had their tents up and ready in mere minutes, due to their apparent years of experience camping. I wasn’t too far behind thanks to my Survival Skills perk, but a new tent meant I had to learn how it worked.

Dinner was, interesting. Brock offered to cook, but when he served a platter of curry full of vegetables, Dawn refused to eat any of it.

“Just take out what you don’t like and give it to Lucas,” I told her.

“I’m still not eating it.”

“Why?”

“Because the taste of the vegetables will still be there once they’re gone!”

“Okay, seriously. I hate vegetables just as much as you do. But the curry is only able to taste great because the greens are in there when it’s being cooked. At least try what the curry tastes like without the veggies. I’ll get you some bread to dunk it in it.”

“I’ll just have the bread and make myself some sandwiches then.”

“Ugh… Okay, I’ll give you everything to make it if you promise to at least try it.”

“Fine!”

I gave her some bread I had in my back. She then proceeded to slightly scrape the corner of her meal with it and quickly wolfed the piece of bread down.

“It’s bland.” She said as she left the table and went to her tent.

“She didn’t even get enough to taste it,” I muttered under my breath.

“Hey, Dawn!” Ash called out, “can I have yours?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

As Ash piled on his plate, I turned to Brock.

“Hey, sorry about that.”

“It’s okay,” he assured, without even a hint of anger in his voice, “Now I know for next time, to serve vegetables separately.”

“Oh yeah, speaking of which, you want mine? I’m unhealthy, I know.”

I’ve never been able to handle the texture of most vegetables, despite repeated tries. I can do potato just fine at least, and a bit of pumpkin. I’d have to follow my own words and start trying them again, wouldn’t want to travel on an empty stomach.

We went to bed early that night, we had all been through a lot that day. I was sitting down wrapped in my new sleeping bag when I decided to summon Elaine from her Poké Ball.

“Vu? Jach,” she shook her head, “Ch… Ch… Ck, Jack!”

I couldn’t help but exhale in a silent giggle. “Hi, Elaine.” I picked her up and placed her on my lap. “Can I confess something?”

“Vah?”

“I’m 18… 17… I’m in my late teens but I still sleep with a Teddy Bear.”

She tilted her head sideways, I thought she may have raised one of her eyebrows with the way her face was shaped, but I couldn’t see them underneath her green hair.

Wait, do Ralts have eyebrows? Nevermind. “A Teddy Bear is a cute looking bear made out of wool and is really comfortable, they’re designed for little kids to hug while they sleep and to play with like a toy.”

Her head remained tilted.

“Nevermind, what I’m getting at is that, because I’ve slept with a Teddy Bear all my life, it feels uncomfortable to sleep without one. So I was wondering if we could sleep together like we did last night on the couch, and make it a common thing. That okay with you?”

She silently yet fervently nodded.

“Thanks, Elaine.”

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