RE: Winds of Time - PokéBeach CYOA - Chapter 6
Chapter 7
You purse your lips and pick up the Pokédex, feeling the weight of it in your hands. It’s heavy for such a small thing, but it feels nice in the palm of your hand. You flip open the cover and hold it in the direction of the fire where Rowan’s assistant is feeding some kind of medicine to Piplup. He’s blocking Piplup from view, but the small fiery creature is plainly in view and the device lights up and shows you footage of the same creature. You startle backwards as the miniature fox-thing breathes a small flame, but it’s just a picture, and no fire touches you.
“Flareon, the Flame Pokémon,” a digital voice says cheerfully from the small speakers set around the screen. “It is the evolved form of Eevee. Inhaled air is heated in the flame sac in its body to an intense fire over 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.”
“Sounds like a useful Pokémon to have.” You smile wistfully. “What does it mean by ‘evolved’ though?”
“Many Pokémon gain additional abilities and change appearance as they grow in power,” Rowan explains, steepling his fingers. “We Pokémon Professors had dubbed this phenomenon ‘evolution.’”
“Will Piplup evolve, too?”
“If you train him well, he certainly could. It will make him stronger and faster.”
“Will he learn to breathe fire like that one?”
Rowan chuckles. “No, I’m afraid not. Fire-breathing capabilities are confined to Fire-type Pokémon, whereas Piplup is a Water-type. The more you use this Pokédex, the more you will learn about the different kinds of Pokémon in this world.” Left unsaid are his demands about her lifestyle in order to accept it.
“If you lived where I grew up, you’d know what a death sentence it would be to not hunt and kill Pokémon for food and shelter,” you grumble, though you’ve already made the choice in your heart. “Still, life seems much easier in the south.”
“Well, whether it’s easier or not depends on your point of view.”
You shrug. “Down here it’s people trying to hurt and kill you. You can fight against people, but you can’t really fight against cold and ice. And if I’m going to fight effectively, I guess I’m going to need this.” You tap the cover of the Pokédex with a finger. “So, I’ll accept your offer.”
Rowan smiles at you, showcasing his gleaming teeth. “I’m glad we’ve reached an agreement.”
“So, what I should do with the thing?”
“Use it in your training, you and Piplup. Learn about the world and the Pokémon within. The information in the ‘dex is sadly somewhat old-fashioned in some respects, but the basics should still prove useful to you. Record your observations whenever you can, especially regarding any changes or other differences. If you tap here, you can add notes of your own, and the data will be sent to us here at the lab.”
You stare at Rowan, dumbfounded. “You mean I can just put something in here and you’ll know what I wrote?”
“Yes, indeed, including information about where you were when you wrote it and other factors. Any information you see out in the wild will be useful, of course, but in particular I--”
“Is it magic?” You blurt out, interrupting him.
“No, of course not my dear, the Pokédex functions via a wireless transmitter that…” he breaks off his explanation as he sees the look of confusion on your face. “Well, the details don’t matter, but it’s not magic, I assure you, just technology. Try it out for yourself and see!”
You pull out the little pen tool from the side of the device and tap where Rowan points. A list of letters pops up and you take your time, squinting with one eye at the tiny screen as you slowly managed to type out the words “has orang fir” and then hit the Send button. Almost immediately, a small chime sounds from a machine against the wall on the side of the lab and Rowan waddles off to inspect it.
“Your spelling could use a bit of work,” he admits with a sigh, “but not bad for a test run.”
“Well, it wasn’t as if I had a lot of time to practice my letters up north,” you pout back at him.
Rowan pointedly ignores your jab as he makes his way back to the table. “In addition to the displayed data, it’ll keep track of all of the Pokémon you’ve seen or caught, and where you encountered them. And once you have a particular Pokémon, you can learn more information about it, including its diet, potential moves, etcetera.”
“Wait, I thought you said I wasn’t allowed to hunt them anymore!”
“Pokémon trainers do not hunt Pokémon for food, no, but you can, of course, battle a Pokémon with your own to weaken and capture it.”
You scoff. “Isn’t that the same thing?”
“What matters, dear, is intent. Pokémon are friends and partners, just like Piplup is to you now.” He nods in the direction of Piplup and the assistant by the fire. “You can capture more Pokémon like him and train them, just as he is trained. They will help you, but they are also your responsibility.”
“I found Piplup as a little egg and raised him. How am I supposed to get a grown Pokémon to like me?”
“Well, it is a bit harder, this is true, but we have tools to help with that.” Rowan stands again, abruptly. “Here, let me grab another small present for you.”
He shuffles off to the other side of the room and digs around in some drawers, eventually finding what he was looking for. He returns back to the table with a smile on his face and puts some small objects into your hand. You look down and see five small balls, red on one side and white on the other, each with a single white button in the middle.”
“These are Poké Balls,” Rowan explains to you. He picks up one of balls from your hand and presses the button. Immediately, the ball increases in size to fit snugly in the palm of his hand. “When a Pokémon you want to capture has been weakened, you can throw the Poké Ball at it and, hopefully, it will be captured.”
“You mean the Pokémon fits inside that tiny ball?” You raise an eyebrow skeptically. “Is this more, whatchacallit, technology?”
Rowan nods. “Pokémon can live inside these balls in safety and comfort, despite the small size. “They don’t need to eat much while they’re stored this way, and it helps you to travel with multiple Pokémon.”
You bite your lip, looking from the balls in your hand over to Piplup by the fire. “I don’t know if Piplup would want to live in one of these balls after how long he’s been free.”
“Oh, yes, I wouldn’t suggest using one for Piplup. After all, he’s already attached to you, but if you use a Poké Ball with a new Pokémon, it will become more friendly towards you and ease your training. You release the Pokémon the same way you captured it, by throwing the ball.” In demonstration, Rowan pulls his hand back over his shoulder and lobs the Poké Ball deeper into the cave, accidentally hitting his assistant in the head.
“Hey, look out with that!” The young man yells, rubbing his head where the ball hit him.
Rowan chuckles as he goes to retrieve the ball. “Of course, it works better if there’s an actual Pokémon inside but, well, you’ll get to test that out for yourself eventually.” He pressed the button to shrink the ball and puts it back in your hand with the others. “Six Pokémon is about the most you’d ever want to have on hand at once, though I’m not sure if you’d even be able to catch and train that many. Still, it’s a good place to start.”
“Well, thank you.” You put the Poké Balls into one of your many pockets. “Anything else I need to do?”
“Oh, I suppose that ought to do for now, but feel free to come back to visit Caleb and myself if you run into any problems.”
“And speaking of problems,” the assistant, Caleb, speaks up from the fireplace, looking at you with a huge grin, “I think we’ve fixed up Piplup’s. I’ve given him some potions and his fever is starting to break. You both should probably spend the night to be safe, but he should be ready to go first thing in the morning.”
“Thank you kindly.” You smile and he blushes, turning back towards the fire.
In short order, the three of you are sharing a meal together next to the fireplace. You insist on sitting there by Piplup so that he’s not alone, and the other two are happy to oblige. The meal itself is a stew made with mashed potatoes and berries, not too bad considering the lack of meat, and the warmth of the potatoes sticks to your ribs. The diet is going to take some getting used to, but it won’t be the hardest thing you’ve ever gone through. While you eat, the three of you make small talk, and you find yourself regaling them with tales about your flight from the north and your battle against the gang. Neither of them really says much about themselves, instead preferring to listen to you talk. After the meal is done, Rowan and Caleb head off to their own beds while you huddle near the fire with Piplup and Flareon nearby.
The next morning, both you and Piplup awaken well-rested and ready to hit the road. Caleb’s potions did the trick, and you mention so to him thankfully as you prepare to leave. “Oh, it’s no trouble at all, really,” he insists, giving you a few of the small bottles to take with you in case the ailment returned.
“And since we’re giving you all this stuff to take with you, we figured we ought to give you a way to carry it all, too,” Rowan chuckles as he hands you a leather knapsack that you fit over your shoulder like a sling. It has enough room for the Pokédex, potions, balls, and also the spare food from Molly as well as some berry rations from the professor, and room for more. It certainly saves you from having to waddle around with stuffed pockets, you reflect, although...
No, you shake your head. It doesn’t matter that you can’t carry your bow over your shoulder while wearing the knapsack because you won’t be using it anymore, anyway. In fact, you don’t even grab it as you head to the front door to take your leave. The clouds in the sky were grey, but not the heavy, dark overcast that preceded snowfall, just enough cover to keep the warmth in. A pleasant day for a journey.
“Remember to come back here if you have need, child. Safe journeys.” Rowan and his assistant wave goodbye to you from the door of the lab as you head out on your way.
Piplup has healed and Mia has a Pokédex and Poké Balls, starting on her journey to become a true Pokémon Trainer. Where and towards what purpose should Mia focus her energies next?
This is a
two part question so make sure you vote for both direction (letter) and goal (number) for best results!
A) South towards warmer climes
B) West further into the mountains
C) East towards the shore
D) Stay close by the laboratory
1) Focus on training Piplup
2) Focus on observing Pokémon
3) Focus on catching another Pokémon
4) Focus on gathering to try and learn about Mia’s new vegetarian lifestyle
As usual, you’ve got 3 days to get your votes in, so make sure you’ve submitted both choices by
Friday, October 17th!
Wouldn't your heart break if she ate an Umbreon. ;-;
