Ch. 6 A New Starter

A/N: Wow, 6 chapters and Marco FINALLY gets a Pokémon. Unlike the last version, this story is much slower, for those that haven't noticed. Any who, poll at the end. Also, everyone talks about what Pokémon they love and which ones they hate. Here's my question, what Pokémon do you like but would never actually use?

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Just as I walked past the gates to look for a Pokémon, I thought I once again saw those flashing lights. This time, I actually saw where they came from before they disappeared. Once they did, the pressure in my head came back. A bush began to shake from the same direction as the lights. My body tensed, preparing to run because I knew that I could not survive in a fight against any Pokémon.

As the rustling intensified, so did my anxiety. It quickly deflated, however, when a tiny Fletchling popped out. The gray bird, with its black tail and bright red head, hopped around, staring at me curiously.

"Oh, hi," I said, dropping my shoulders in relief. It got closer before merrily chirping and flying up to a nearby bush. It pecked at an Oran berry, the citrusy fragrance slowing towards me. "Well, that seems like it would be a tasty snack. Do you mind if I have one?"

The Fletchling looked over at me… shrugged its wings? I wasn't too sure about that, but it did hop onto another branch and exposed another Oran berry. I reached in and grabbed it, its skin feeling a bit leathery like an orange. I bit into the tennis ball sized fruit, the skin easily breaking like a grape. The flesh was delicious, a sweet and citrusy flavor that wasn't too overpowering. It was like eating a nectarine. The juice was refreshing, quenching the little bit of thirst I didn't even know I was feeling.

"Wow, that is great," I said, earning a happy chirp in reply. I heard another rustle in the distance, causing Fletchling to snap its head in that direction. After a few tense seconds, as the rustling grew louder and more frantic, it hastily zoomed away.

'Crap.'

A fat, blue bat with sky blue fur covering its chest and a heart-shaped pig nose crashed through the trees, hovering in the air for a few moments. Once it got a good look at me, the Swoobat narrowed its eyes and launched a wave of fuchsia pink energy towards me. I jumped out of the way, but my right shin was still hit. I grunted in pain, the wave of energy feeling like thousands of needles were being shoved all the way through.

"Swoooo!" it screeched before dive bombing towards me. Seeing the blue creature diving in made me panic and scramble out of the way, the pain in my leg preventing me from outright running. Before it could slam into me, the Swoobat spread its wings and stopped its flight. It then sent out another wave of what I know recognized as Psychic-energy.

Before the attack could land, another blue creature, this one a floating squid with a pink head, rushed in front of me and took the hit. It seemed to do nothing, though the little guy couldn't do anything to capitalize because it soon received a slash of compressed air to the face. 

"Iiiink!" it cried out before fainting on the spot. The Swoobat grunted in annoyance before turning to me again. However, it was struck by a lightning bolt before it could do anything. The Swoobat screamed in pain and turned to its attacker. It was facing a Trainer with shoulder-length brown hair and her Jolteon. The Jolteon sent a barrage of Thunderbolts, not giving Swoobat any room to breathe, and eventually struck it down.

"Oh, shit man," I said, sighing in relief that I once again did not die. The Trainer, who was wearing a black tank top, short red skirt, black thigh-high socks, black dress shoes, and a red hat, turned to look at me.

"Have you seen that Swoobat's Trainer?" she asked, going forward and placing it into an opaque cage with a screen. After tapping the screen a few times, the cage glowed blue and turned clear, allowing Swoobat to be seen.

"No, I was just out here to catch a Pokémon," I answered. I was currently talking to Serena, the female protagonist from the Kalos games. If the game's plot and this world's regional events were anything to go by, she was definitely one of the top Trainers in Kalos.

"Tch, guess I'll have to continue looking for Kasa. My name is Serena, by the way," she said as she offered a hand to help me up.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Marco," I said, grabbing her hand and attempting to stand up. I grunted in pain as my leg gave out. That Psychic attack looked like it didn't do much damage, but it felt broken. "Shit, my leg. Swoobat hit it with a Psychic attack."

Serena whistled as she took out her phone and sent a message. "The fact that you still have your leg intact means you've got a sturdy body there. I've already called Nurse Joy and let her know to get ready to treat you. I'll see if Mimi can do anything for you before then."

With that remark, she let out a mostly white cat-like Pokémon. It had blue fur for its legs and arms, as well as around the base of the tail, the neck, and the top of its head. It was a Meowstic, a female one if my messed up memory was to be trusted. Mimi the Meowstic looked at me, her eyes glowing blue and scanning my leg before shaking her head.

"That's too bad," I sighed, hoping that it could be healed quickly.

"Yeah, but she can definitely heal your Inkay," she said, pointing at the knocked out squid that was still on the ground. Meowstic immediately did so and soon Inkay looked much better than before.

"That's actually not my Pokémon," I said, receiving a confused look from Serena. "But, it did take an attack for me."

I grabbed the Pokéball Nurse Joy gave me. I looked at it for several seconds before gripping the ball tightly. I looked at the Inkay and threw the ball. It sailed forward, correcting itself so that the button faced the downed creature and made contact. It bounced off and opened, a red light consuming the creature and pulling it inside. I watched in amazement as the Inkay dematerialized, merging into the red beam and flowing back into the ball.

It didn't shake a single time, immediately clicking in success with a ding. "You could've at least waited until Mimi healed it, ya know," Serena said, shaking her head in exasperation. "Boys are all the same."

"Umm, I'm twenty-four," I said.

"And? You didn't even think about getting the poor squid healed. You caught it while it was injured because you decided you wanted it," she pointed out. "It's like all guys just rush ahead once they've set their sights on something.

"Anyway, it should be fine until we get to the Center since it's in the ball now. Is it alright if Mimi uses Psychic to carry you there?"

"Sure," I nodded. That would make for a fun experience. As the Meowstic enveloped me with its Psychic powers, I could feel a slight vibration wherever it made contact with my skin. We weren't all that far from the PokéCenter. It was just over a 15 minute walk. But Mimi furrowed her eyebrows at some point, clearly noticing something. I didn't see any indication that they communicated, but Serena eventually turned to me and said, "Mimi says she felt a slight increase in her energy usage while carrying you."

"Isn't that supposed to happen?" I asked, unsure of what she meant. Was this similar to what Nurse Joy mentioned?

"Yes, but not in this way. Normally, sustaining a move like Psychic needs a constant supply of energy," she explained. "The heavier or more resistant the target, the more energy that is needed. However, Mimi said that while carrying you, she noticed a slight increase in the amount of energy needed to do the same thing. You were resisting the move or thrashing about, nothing has been interrupting the move, and I'm pretty sure you didn't get any heavier. But, for some reason, Mimi needed to increase the amount of energy needed to carry you."

Her explanation was similar to what Nurse Joy said. Except, her Pokémon was able to notice the change. I wonder if I'd be able to unlock Psychic power. That would make for an extremely useful ability to protect myself. It could also be useful for unlocking my memories.

"I'll have to ask Nurse Joy to run a scan on you," Serena said, bringing me out of my thoughts. She was one of the game's protagonists, so I'm sure it wouldn't be all that harmful if I told her what Nurse Joy said. Not to mention, Nurse Joy will probably disclose this to the League if she hasn't already. 

From what I read online, the League doesn't really allow for things like this to become a secret to them. If it warranted concern or attention from a League official like Trainers, Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny, or Professors, it needed to be reported to the League for 'safety concerns.' Many were not happy with it, but the League never acted out against the public as long a League official dealt with it. In my case, I had Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny helping me out. Hopefully that meant I was in the clear. It wasn't like I could really do anything to go against it, seeing as I currently only have a knocked out Inkay.

"Well, she's already run some scans on me," I said. "I've got a bad case of amnesia and Nurse Joy found some remnants of Psychic energy around my brain. She said my body reacted to Chansey's Psychic energy and made it slightly more difficult for Chansey to do her scans."

Serena made a thoughtful expression, taking a minute before speaking. "Huh, that's interesting. I wonder if you'll develop Psychic powers!" she said, an amused smile gracing her face.

"I hope. At least then I'll have a better chance of defending myself from danger," I said, fully relaxing in Mimi's Psychic ride. That caused Serena to laugh a bit, agreeing that Psychic powers would be nice. We continued in silence for the rest of the walk, though it only ended up being another two minutes before we got there. Once at the Center, Serena left me in Nurse Joy's care, speaking with her for a minute before starting to head out. She did not forget to tell me to be careful in the wild and treat my first Pokémon with love and respect. 

Nurse Joy, on the other hand, popped off about putting myself in dangerous situations without even having a Pokémon to defend me. She mentioned something about knuckleheads and being too excited about catching a Pokémon. However, her tune changed when I explained that I was initially thinking about catching a Fletchling when the Swoobat appeared out of nowhere and attacked. I did not forget to give her Inkay's ball so that it could get healed. 

With the attack on my leg, Nurse Joy said I had to rest for several days. She explained that Psychic energy, along with other similar energies like Fairy, Dark, Ghost, and Dragon, often didn't leave any physical signs of injury in humans. Most often, they left damage that could only be observed via medical scans. In the case of Psychic energy, there was nerve damage in my leg muscles that needed to be treated.

Luckily for me, treatment meant a session of Chansey's Heal Pulse, some pills for four days, and rest for an extra two. After that, I should be good to go. Chansey brought up Inkay's Pokéball the evening after my initial treatment. I wasn't sure how to go about telling the little squid he was my partner. I wasn't even sure it would want to stick around with me, though that would only make me question why it tried to help me out.

I guess it would be something for the me of tomorrow morning to deal with. I set Inkay's ball on the nightstand next to the bed and quickly fell asleep.

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A/N pt. 2: Oof, he broke a leg. Polling time: What should Marco's fire type be?

Fuecoco

or

Torchic