Chương 50: 4.14 Fish

Aaron's Pokemon - Artoria (Kirlia) - Jeanne (Flaaffy) - Durvasa (Mankey) - Poached (Egg) Fish 4. 14 Aaron Fulan Petalburg Woods"Cacturne bait, how's it going?" Ranger Wheldon called. He and Ranger Acosta arrived on Acosta's pidgeot with the howl of a whirlwind.

"You've been busy."

"Hey, Ranger Wheldon," I greeted back.

"We really need to stop meeting like this."

"You're bad luck; I told you so."

"Knock it off, Wheldon," Acosta groused.

"Kid, report, tell us what the hell happened." I waved to the group of chikorita. Artoria had smashed the Rock Tomb imprisoning them so they could amble about. Though by the way they refused to meet the big one's eyes, there was some bad blood there.

"We found the poachers and decided to act before they could get their hands on more pokemon from the forest," I said.

"I know the smart move would have been to wait for you and let them take the chikorita, but I couldn't sit still."

'My lord, we were the ones who acted without your command,' Artoria protested.

'Maybe, but you're my pokemon. It's not like I disapprove of your actions here.' Acosta spat on the ground in frustration.

"Yeah, you're one of them heroic types, eh?"

"Ahaha, I guess so? I never really thought of myself that way."

"Kid, what would you have done if they had more pokemon?"

"I would have fought until we could withdraw safely," I said.

"And if you couldn't?"

"Then I would have tried to grab the duffel bags and freed the wild pokemon to fight with me."

"Risky. They'd all be terrified. Panicked. They could lash out at you just as easily as against the poachers."

"It was a last resort." Wheldon's eyes went to the poachers. Each sported broken bones and weeping cuts.

"Did you get your mankey to do this? Aaron, there are laws against pokemon attacking humans."

"I am aware of the laws." I walked over and drew my sword before placing it side by side against one of the poachers' hands. He'd been the one who threw his backpack at me at the start. My retaliatory stab had pierced the hand, leaving a wound that could never have come from a mankey's short claws.

"I'd never have my pokemon attack a human unless it's a matter of life or death. I was the one who did this to them."

"You… With that?"

"Yes. Ranger Acosta saw me parry strikes from a scyther, remember? Why does this surprise you?"

"Because you're a kid! You're what? Thirteen?"

"I am very well-trained." Ranger Wheldon looked like he wanted a beer. Or maybe something stronger. I felt bad for him a little. Counting the ursaring incident, this was the second time he'd had to deal with my bullshit. And, truthfully, his concerns were fully legitimate. If any normal child casually beat two men unconscious, it would be a serious cause for worry.

'I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm a sociopath now,' I said dryly.

'How rude. We did their jobs,' Artoria sniffed.

'He thinks I'm a normal kid, not a man who's been swinging a sword longer than he's been alive.'

'Age is but a number.'

'And what an unfavorable number it is.' Ranger Acosta spoke next.

"Look, kid, it's good that you're alright, but we're still going to have to write this up."

"I understand, sir. Will the report be public?"

"You want to keep your name out of this? You'll receive a sizable bounty for helping us of course, but if you let your name get out, you might gain a following for yourself."

"I do," I nodded.

"If you don't mind, I'd appreciate it if the full report was sent to my mother and your superiors but went no further than that."

"Most trainers try to make a name for themselves as early on in their journeys as they can."

"Most trainers are looking for sponsors. I have one in the Mossdeep Gym already."

"Alright, kid. Look," he put a hand on my shoulder. He was probably trying to do the grizzled old father figure passing on his life lessons look, but he just couldn't cut it.

"You did good. Whatever else can be said here, you acted to protect others. You saved everyone and no one important got too hurt. You're alright in my book."

"But…?"

"But you were lucky. You have two badges. You went into a crisis situation which would have merited your third at the bare minimum. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, sir. I need to get stronger."

"Then that's all I'll say. Next time, and I have no delusion to the contrary, you make sure you don't need luck. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir." I decided then that Ranger Acosta was a good man. Things progressed quickly after that. Ranger Acosta released a few more pokemon to stand guard while he freed the ones the poachers had hoarded. His team consisted of that pidgeot, a tangrowth, vileplume, sceptile, and a volbeat of all things. From what I heard, he used to be a grass type specialist before deciding to branch out, and a damn good one at that.

There were two scyther in the bag that caused some trouble but Acosta's tangrowth was able to hold them down with ease. The chikorita, usually seen as mediators in the forest, came in to help explain what had happened. Ranger Wheldon's roselia acted as a field medic with Life Dew for any who needed it. The biggest chikorita needed dedicated medical attention from a pokemon center but slapped aside Ranger Wheldon's pokeball with a Vine Whip.

"Hey, now, we don't have a way to treat you here," Ranger Wheldon chided softly. He had that gentle, firm tone that I'd seen some people take with spooked horses, for all the good that did. I motioned Artoria over.

"Maybe we can translate. If you don't mind, Artoria?"

"Kir," she nodded. Her eyes glowed a gentle blue as she connected their minds. At first, we were worried that the chikorita had some trauma associated with pokeballs; a fear of capture would be a perfectly understandable thing to develop. Instead, he refused because he'd already decided to leave the forest, and had picked out a trainer who was worthy in his eyes. To my surprise, he pointed at me. According to Artoria, he loathed his former herd-mates. He loathed their cowardice and meekness.

He loathed the way they hid and refused to do anything as the poachers' battles with wild pokemon destroyed their matriarch's gravesite. And most of all, he loathed himself for being unable to take revenge on his own. I wasn't sure what to feel about all this. I'd wanted my team to each have a dream worth pursuing and that was still true. And yet, for the moment, I had no choice but to ball him or he wouldn't come with us to the pokemon center. I let out a tired sigh.

More than anything, at this point, I just wanted to get back to the city.

"Fine, we'll have a long chat later. For now, welcome to the team." X With the crisis largely over, Ranger Acosta was kind enough to fly me to Rustboro on his pidgeot, saving me several days of walking. From above, the city didn't look like much. Rustboro's original builders, back from the Fragmentation Era, favored sandstone as their building material of choice as it was an easily obtainable material given their partnership with rock types.

Even in the modern age, though there were far better materials available than mere sandstone, tan and tawny brown hues were favored for most buildings. Ranger Acosta dropped me off at the southernmost pokemon center. It was one of the largest I'd seen so far, rivaled only by the one in Mauville City. Really, it could pass for a hotel crossed with a hospital. It had four floors and was formed in a large U-shape that wrapped around a spacious courtyard with two, regulation-sized battlefields.

It didn't take long for the staff to give my team a clean bill of health. We were tired but more or less well. My new capture on the other hand, wouldn't be battling anytime soon.

"This chikorita is in terrible shape," the nurse told us with heavy frown. I had a feeling that had I not come in with a ranger captain, I'd be facing some pointed questions.

"You said he hit a tree with his back?" I nodded.

"Yes, that's what my kirlia told me. There was a nuzleaf who held a Bide, took a ton of punishment, and dropped all that power on him."

"No wonder. The poor boy's spine is fractured. There is a broken piece of his vertebrae that is pressing into his spine and pinching the nerve. That's what's causing the partial paralysis."

"That can be fixed, right?" Pokemon science could be amazing. It was well beyond the limitations of modern medicine from my old world. And yet…

"I knew an ursaring that was injured. I think the rangers released her back to the forest but couldn't do anything about her missing eye or arm."

"Poor thing, but that's different. Missing organs can't really be replaced barring extremely rare and expensive treatments that are largely in the experimental phase. A fractured spine is a problem, but all the pieces are still present so your chikorita will recover just fine." If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"I see. That's a relief, nurse. Umm… When can I expect him to recover?"

"A week, and even that's mostly to be on the safe side. I wouldn't battle with him for at least two, but pokemon are remarkably resilient, grass types especially."

"Two weeks to completely recover from a broken spine?" She shrugged.

"I told you. Pokemon are incredibly resilient. I know chikorita isn't really a species we think of as being especially durable, but a pokemon is still a pokemon. Besides, grass types tend to be some of the best when it comes to recovery, both in battle and in general. A part of that has to do with their ability to draw nourishment constantly from the sun and soil. Have you heard of the moves Ingrain or Synthesis?"

"I have. I see, thank you so much."

"Not a problem, young man. The rangers told us you got caught up in a scizor's rampage. You be careful, you hear?" I thanked her and snagged some food from the cafeteria before heading to our room with my new chikorita's ball. It was impressive how much pokemon could eat. Given they ate as much as a child my size, I needed a dolly to pull everything up to our room. I'd decided to splurge a bit and bought some of the paid options available for better-tasting food.

After the nonsense with the scyther and poachers, I thought we deserved it: garlic confit mashed potatoes, seared veluza filet caught during their migration season in Dewford, and an herb salad that supposedly included some of the local herbs that were once Rustboro's specialty. I'd even secured four different types of berries and fresh alfalfa hay for Jeanne and the chikorita. I gently grabbed Jeanne by the horn and nudged her away from the feast. Artoria sat at attention, doing her best not to drool.

Funnily enough, Duravasa was the member of my team who was the least swayed by good food. Ironic, considering I found the little bastard when he and his troupe tried to mug me for food. I held out the chikorita's ball.

"Before we dig in, we need to say hello to that chikorita. The doctor says he won't be walking for up to a week and might not be in any position to battle for even longer."

"Man? Mankey?"

"WIll he be joining our team?"

"Key."

"That depends," I said, tossing the ball into the middle of the room. The chikorita appeared in a shimmer of light.

"Hey, there. You're in the pokemon center. How do you feel?"

"Chi… Chiko…?" He looked around with eyes full of wonder. This was probably the first time he'd ever left the forest before. It was a little like watching Durvasa discover the sea for the first time.

"Let's go ahead and eat dinner while we talk, alright?"

"Chiko." Though he couldn't do much more than crawl, his vines easily carried all the food he wanted to him. I noticed that he favored herbs more than fruits, particularly those that had a fragrant note like rosemary. I leaned back and ate my seared veluza while my pokemon got to know one another. The flesh was flaky, with a bit more chew than I'd have expected of salmon or tuna. Perhaps pokemon were naturally more muscled than their animal counterparts.

There was a fair amount of awkwardness, as expected of all first meetings, but they got on well enough. From the snippets of conversation I could overhear via Artoria, the chikorita was reenacting the battle with great enthusiasm. Contrary to my expectations, he was not downtrodden nor depressed from his injury. Rather, he merely accepted it as a natural consequence of combat. In fact, he seemed to take a measure of pride in his injury; it was tangible proof that he'd fought as hard as he could.

So long as he'd recover in time, even being partially paralyzed wasn't something to fuss over for him.

'He seems to have derived a great deal of satisfaction from combat,' Artoria pointed out.

'I can tell,' I replied. There was a palpable aura of vindictive glee around him as he explained why he fought so hard.

'Does this bother you? I think he might be even more of a battle-junkie than Durvasa.'

'Perhaps if he simply enjoyed bloodshed for the sake of it, I would feel repulsed by his bloodlust, my lord. And yet, in this matter, I can only wonder how I might react should some knaves point their blades at Mossdeep. Would I not be just as wroth with them?'

'Yes, context is very important. A scattered family. A destroyed grave. It's no wonder he'd want payback,' Then, out loud, I addressed the chikorita.

"Chikorita, we will be in Rustboro for at least two weeks. There is a gym badge to win and some friends to meet up with. When you've fully recovered, I can return you back to the forest. Would you like that?"

"Chi! Chikorita!" He shook his head emphatically.

"Why not? You can meet your family again."

'He is of the opinion that they are traitors to his matriarch's memories. They are cowards and he does not wish to associate with them any longer.' I hummed in thought.

"Is that right… So why me? You could join the rangers, you know. They can make you strong; they're all more experienced trainers than me. Ranger Acosta, that man with the pidgeot? He's a former grass type specialist. He would know all the best ways to train you. And, you could even stay in Petalburg Woods. Your familiarity with the land and locals would make you a valuable ally here. If you join me, you'll be leaving your home behind, maybe forever."

He chewed over a slice of persim berry leaf before telling Artoria something. I didn't know that persim leaves could be eaten. I was momentarily tempted to try one for myself before deciding against it.

'He admires you, my lord, as he should,' she translated, her own faith in me washing over my mind like a gentle wave.

'A human who dares to take up arms is his ideal trainer.' I nodded slowly. That kind of mentality was more commonly found among fighting types, but there was nothing normal about my team anyway. I should have expected something like this.

"That's understandable. I don't mind you joining the team, but I demand only one thing from my pokemon: Each and every one of you must have a dream, something more than power to strive for."

"Chiko… ri… ta…? Chiko?"

'Is it not enough that he wishes to fight alongside a band of brothers?'

"No, it isn't," I confirmed.

"Though it is an understandable thing to want, and you'll certainly find that fraternity with us, I want you to find a reason to live for yourself, something to look forward to beyond the next battle." He looked completely lost at that. It was as though he'd never considered something between the two extremes of his battlelust and his herd's role as pacifistic nurturers. As countercultural as it was for him, I was looking at a chikorita who genuinely enjoyed fighting.

What a group of oddballs my team was turning out to be…

"Is there anything you've ever wanted? Anything you feel would give your life meaning?"

"Rii…" He looked at my other pokemon in open question.

"Korita?"

"Artoria wants to become a knight, as powerful as her father. Jeanne wants to outshine the sun, which she has taken to mean she wants to become a contest star who is renowned all throughout Hoenn."

"Flaaf," Jeanne said, giving me a light nudge with her horns. A tingle of static ran up my arm.

"The world," I corrected myself.

"How can the sun shine on only one land?"

"Flaaffy flaaf," she nodded smugly.

"And Durvasa? He wants to master his rage and achieve enlightenment. He is doing everything from meditation to learning to read human writing to broaden his perspective. He believes that knowledge and wisdom will help offset his own nature. What about you? What do you seek?" That got him thinking. After several minutes, he said, "Kori-Chiko. Chikorita."

"Translation please?"

'The matriarch spoke of her own travels on occasion,' Artoria said dutifully.

'She and her trainer came here from a land to the east. In that land is a forest, as expansive as this one. In that forest is a shrine dedicated to the Great Forest Guardian. He wishes to visit his matriarch's homeland one day.'

'A land to the east…? Does he mean Johto?'

'Perhaps, my lord. He does not remember the names humans assigned to the place.'

'Ilex Forest is in Johto and is the home of Celebi, a legendary grass pokemon.'

'Is that a worthy goal, my lord?' I nodded.

"Johto, chikorita, us humans call that land Johto. There, where your species comes from, is a forest called Ilex. In that forest is a shrine to Celebi, a grass pokemon of immense power. I think that is the 'Great Forest Guardian' your matriarch was talking about."

"Chico-ri. Ta."

'The matriarch met the Great Forest Guardian. She, alongside her trainer, was acknowledged by her.'

'That… makes a strange sort of sense. Celebi is a pacifist. Despite the ridiculous power she possesses, she'd much prefer to avoid conflict at all. And, given she has some limited ability to travel through time, she succeeds more often than not,' I said as I recalled what I'd seen of the Legend.

'If there is any species of pokemon that specific Legend would favor over others, it would be the chikorita line.'

'Truly? Then would such a benign entity appreciate a more warlike individual like him?'

'Who knows? I'd be interested in finding out though.'

'Then let us journey past the horizon together, my lord.'

"Chuuni," I said with a smile. I pulled Artoria to my side and offered her the cleaning cloth so she could go about polishing her spoon.

"You need a name, chikorita. Let's see… a battle-junkie like you… and I did draw inspiration from mythical figures… How about Khorne?"

"Chiko?"

'Corn, my lord?'

"Khorne, not Corn. It's spelled a little differently, though I admit you being a grass type makes this funnier. In a fictional story, Khorne is one of the four chaos gods. He is called the Lord of Skulls and the Blood God. His domains include battle in all its aspects. He is the god of bloodshed and wanton slaughter, but also the god of glory, honorable combat, and righteous wrath. How about it? Think you can do that name justice?" My newest companion mulled it over.

It appealed to him, I could see that, but he ultimately shook his head.

"Chiko-ri. Rita."

'He says that the name runs counter to what you asked of him. His dream is to see the land of his ancestors, to pay his respects at the shrine of the Great Forest Guardian. If that is to be his dream, he must be more than a warrior,' Arotria translated with an approving nod.

'I agree, my lord. Please do not name my new brother just so you can make a pun on his type.'

"Fine, fine, sorry. You're right, you deserve more than a silly pun. Someone who seeks what lies beyond the horizon, hmm? Well, how about Magellan? He was a legendary explorer and navigator, best known for being the first to circle the world."

"Chiko!" he replied with an eager nod. With that, I made sure my team was comfortable and left them to get to know each other on their own. The reward money for our little misadventure would come through in a few days, but as far as I was concerned, my real prize was Magellan. Meganium were some of the least popular starters, but this wasn't a game. I refused to believe one of Johto's starters was so far inferior to the others. No, if no one had found a way to make one shine, then I'd simply be the first.

I looked forward to seeing how Magellan grew. I typed up a quick report for mom. She'd want a more in-depth call later, but this was good enough for now. My pokenav buzzed as I was about to put it down. XO-CloudDancer-OX: Hey, Aaron, what's up? Sir_Aaron: Lisia? Not much. We just got into Rustboro. Got a new pokemon. It'll be a while before he fully recovers, but I'm already thinking of a good training regimen for him. What's up with you? XO-CloudDancer-OX: (ᵒ̤̑ ₀̑ ᵒ̤̑)wow! *✰ No fair!

How'd you get to Rustboro so fast? And who's your new pokemon? Pic! Now! Sir_Aaron: You're coming down from Fallarbor, right? A ranger and his pidgeot gave me a lift. As for my new teammate, you'll have to wait 'til you get here. XO-CloudDancer-OX: Fine, meanie. We want to take care of a few things here first. There's a small glass-blowing festival that should be awesome to visit. Chaz and I will be there in a few days for the contest. Let's meet up then. SIr_Aaron: Sure, why not.

If we see each other in the battle round, Jeanne's going to roast Ali alive. XO-CloudDancer-OX: Noo! I have my ways, you jerk. Winona taught me how to deal with electric attacks! Sir_Aaron: I'll just have to get creative then. I'm a little beat from Petalburg Woods so I'm going to get some sleep. Good night, Lisia. XO-CloudDancer-OX: Night, Aaron. Author's Note Celebi technically doesn't have a gender. In its appearance in PMD: Explorers of Time/Darkness, it is referred to as female.

In PMD: Super Mystery Dungeon, it is referred to as male. Though the Time/Darkness one is a shiny, it predates the SMD appearance so for our purposes, Celebi is female. Yes, I know what some of you pedantic nerds will say.

"Celebi is a Mythical, not a Legend." Fuck you; it's a Legend and the distinction is completely irrelevant for lore purposes. The Pokemon Company has always made this distinction in Japanese media but only recently (relatively) started in global translations, which is where the confusion comes from. The sole distinction between a Legend and a Mythical is that a Legend is a pokemon you can capture in the game through normal means while a Mythical is an event-exclusive pokemon.

The Mythical categorization is pointless as its roster shares no commonalities beyond "available via Mystery Gift." Some examples are Mew, Deoxys, Darkrai, Arceus, DIancie, Zarude, and Pecharunt. Which means that, until Legends Arceus, Arceus used to be a Mythical, but is now a Legend. See why that distinction is stupid? Yes, I'm aware that Magellan in fact died on his expedition. His expedition was the first to circle the globe, so he gets credit anyway. Thank you for reading.

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