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56.89% Pokemon: A life worth living / Chapter 62: C062 - Trip to Hoenn starts

Chapter 62: C062 - Trip to Hoenn starts

It was finally time for Valentino and Pete to make their way to Hoenn. They would both sail on the backs of the two Lapras Valentino had rescued the day he arrived on the farm.

During breakfast that day, Clair had sent him a strongly worded message to his league ID about how they would 'fight out' who has the better fashion sense the next time they would meet. Pete hoped that didn't mean a pokemon fight, he'd much rather have a fist fight with the woman who was very likely to beat him up squarely, but that would still leave him with better odds. Her Charizard was clearly out of this world.

The pokemon who would accompany Pete were the Azumarill family, the three Farfetch'd, Duosion, one of the two Minccino, Nidoking, Arcanine, Espeon and the male Milotic.

A few pokemon, especially the shiny Miltank, Servine, and Vibrava were rather mad they weren't allowed to follow and only relented when he gave them and Golurk the solemn task to defend their home while he was away and promised them priority on his next outing. He also placated them by saying how terrible it was for the pokemon that followed since they would have to stay in a pokeball for a few days instead of running around in freedom.

"You sure you have everything? I still think it's a terrible idea to make this trip on the back of a Lapras," Isabelle asked with a concerned expression from where she stood next to Sophie on the beach.

"Yeah, I'm sure. And I have both Milotic and Duosion with me, so we're extra save and can teleport away from imminent danger," Pete reassured with his trademark warm smile.

"Stay safe," Jasmine wished with a long but chaste kiss for Pete.

"Finally a vote of confidence," Pete retorted with a wink toward Isabelle, who smiled wrily in return.

"Remember to call me if there's something wrong. I can always visit again if the trip is cut short," Pete repeated for the tenth time today as he stepped on Lapras' back with only Duosion, Milotic, and Minccino out of the pokeball.

He would ball Milotic later when they were on the open ocean to preserve his stamina, while Duosion and Minccino weighed almost nothing, especially if Duosion helped by training her psychic energy.

"You look stupid with 3 three bags hanging over your shoulder!!" Sophie's shout was the last thing he heard from the Feelgood ladies that accompanied him to the beach.

He had spent last night cooking meals for the next four days, one of them as backup since Valentino calculated they would only take three. He obviously also brought his bag with the berry module, which he had filled as much as his farm allowed and became his designated food bag.

One bag was completely empty, while his pokegear bag had his potions, pokeballs, and survival gear like the tent and sleeping bag he hadn't used in a long time. He also brought a few items to barter that he didn't really need. Like those two giant Moon and Leaf Stones and the few golden nuggets he and his pokemon found during his journey.

Since he was now a proud trainer of water pokemon, it was no longer necessary to bring copius amounts of water. One bottle was all he brought.

"Are you sad that your sister didn't want to come along?" Pete asked Minccino once they reached 'Bay Island' after leaving the lake and steering toward the ocean.

"Mincciii~"

"Mhm, you'll be able to tell her of your adventure, and maybe she wants to come next time. Can't really blame her, though, for this particular trip. I'm a bit scared of the open water myself," Pete admitted with a chuckle.

Bay Island was home to a few trees and bushes, but the most obvious defining feature of it was the Butterfree tribe living on the island. Hundreds of Butterfree could be seen peacefully flying about everywhere in its range. The trees and bushes were filled with Caterpie and Metapods.

'Huh, crazy how they can sustain their numbers without razing the island to the ground almost daily.. how do they do that?' Pete idly thought as he stopped counting the Butterfree.

"Wondering how so many of them can live here without starving?"

"Huh, yeah, I really was," Pete answered, a little surprised that Valentino had slowed down his Lapras to ask him what he was currently thinking.

"Yeah, I was wondering that too when I came through on my way in. And the answer is, I don't know! I would like to find out, but I'm not stepping on that island. Have you seen how many of them there are?"

Pete's face immediately settled into a stony expression. Valentino only laughed and urged his Lapras on to swim ahead once more.

The open ocean turned out to be a lot less open than Pete thought. Sure, they were more or less hugging Johto instead of hitting open water, but the Lapras had to navigate through lots of rocky protrusions and past several small islands with the occasional small caves on it.

They were nonetheless very far away from routes 40 and 41, so it was a bit peculiar that much of what he saw reminded him of the infamous Whirl Islands from the Gen 2 game. There were, however, two very clearly 'man made', straight open passages as they crossed the sea. Pete judged that the first one would allow ship traffic to both Goldenrod and Olivine City while the second one probably allowed passage to Cianwood City and the Safari Zone.

It was an hour after sunset that they finally jumped to an island near the cliffs of route 47, the only road leading to the Safari Zone. It apparently wasn't Valentino's first cross-ocean travel, which Pete found a bit weird. He had only found the two Lapras a few weeks ago, after all.

The island they decided to rest on was home to almost fifty Wingull and Pelipper. It had no trees and only an overhead cliff that would allow them to get shelter from rain. Pete calmly released all his pokemon, which made the Wingull anxiously squak and scatter, though they swiftly came back when all of Pete's pokemon simply nestled around him for food.

"The ocean belongs to Tentacruels, eh?" Pete mumbled after Valentino sat down next to him to enjoy some of Pete's food.

"Well, they are the most numerous on the surface, but the depths belong to no one. Cloysters, Gastrodons, Lumineons, Lanturns, Octilerrys, Crawdaunts, and Kinglers. You can find a huge variety in these waters. And let's never forget the biggest killers in this particular sea. The Sharpedos," Valentino explained as if he had been a deep sea diver in his past life.

"Hmm, they have the ability Speed Boost, so nobody can really hinder them from getting away. Is that why they can act like they do?"

"Yeah. And think about what it means when the Sharpedo is forced to tap into its speed boost to run away from attackers. It uses up stamina and is forced to eat more. It's a lose-lose most of the time, which is why nobody bothers chasing them. They get really cocky thanks to that," Valentino explained patiently.

"What about Wailmers and Wailords? We haven't seen a single one, honestly surprised me a little," Pete asked since Valentino seemed to have all the answers.

"Ah, it's their mating season, I reckon. So most of them moved near a particular island in Hoenn from around these waters," Valetino diligently answered between bites.

"I see. Where's all the pokemon with additional ice typing? Like your Lapras or Dewgongs, Delibirds, and Walreins?"

"Hmm? Oh, they mostly hang out on certain islands with an Articuno's, Suicune's, or Manaphy's blessing, making the environment cold enough. The same is true for Empoleon tribes and the super rare Omastar and Kaputops groups. Jynx and the Swinub line are also quite partial to those. They are, after all, an amazing source of Water Stones and Nevermelt Ice," Valentino added off-handedly.

Pete was looking at his colleague suspiciously since two questions ago.

"Are you Mew in disguise or something?"

"Nope, Benny is. I'm actually Victini," Valentino answered immediately while still concentrating on his food.

"Huh. Okay," Pete said with a shrug and went back to brushing Arcanine's fur. It was so warm and soft. Brushing it quickly became one of his favorite pastimes. The same was true for Arcanine.

Valentino started to snicker, which Pete quickly joined. They laughed it off for a minute or two before Valentino finally caught his breath.

"The professor made me read a few books to prepare us, and my younger brother is a first mate on a cruise liner. The one I was on before I rescued those Lapras actually," Valentino answered with a wink.

"Got it, 'Victini'," Pete quipped back a wink of his own.

"Okay, everyone. Lights out in 10. Marill, please help with the plates. Nidoking, please even out the ground a little, I'm a picky sleeper. And the rest can start relaxing. Milotic, would you be okay with keeping an eye out on the open waters over the night? I'm sure the three Farfetch'd would take the second shift if you need the rest."

All his pokemon agreed, and Pete was lying in his tent exactly 10 minutes later. He gave Jasmine a quick call to tell her about his day and hear about hers before he quickly fell asleep.


Chapter 63: C063 - Mossdeep City

Two days later, an hour before sunset, Pete and Valentino were sitting on their respective Lapras, and they looked worse for wear. This entire third day, it had been raining. And it was raining hard.

Even the small Gyarados swarm they saw in the morning went underwater instead of swimming toward them. It was the only reason Pete wasn't cursing the weather non-stop.

Two and a half hours ago, they finally reached a giant island, their first destination, but sadly, the city they were aiming for was on the other end of the oblong island.

On the southern half of this particular island was Evergrande City, Hoenn's Victory Road, and the Elite 4 HQ, where the dreams of many aspiring trainers are laid to rest. On the nothern half, Pete and Valentino would reach Purika City soon. It was a quaint settlement that didn't have a gym, but it did have a pokemon contest center, a mall, and a poke center where the two of them would be crashing today.

As much as he loved his luxurious tent and the premium sleeping bag, Pete longed for a hot shower and a soft bed. Staying at a pokecenter wasn't very high on his bucket list, but as assistant professors, it was free of charge. So Pete couldn't really complain. He'd likely make use of this fact many times during this journey unless he finds a reason to do something else.

Purika City turned out to be a huge letdown. Maybe he was just cranky, but a dude with a Cacturne outfit and a Cacturne suddenly stopped, and Pete ran into him. Then, a Wingull swooped down to steal the food he had bought at a stall. Even Duosion wasn't fast enough to stop it from happening. His impression of the city was, therefore, terrible.

The only light at the end of the tunnel was Nurse Joy, who was over the moon when she learned during smalltalk that his Duosion knew Heal Pulse thanks to a Blissey from clan Joy. The kind woman asked for Duosion's services, and Pete received a bag of 'Mental Herb' for the troubles the next morning.

In the games, this item was a held item curing a pokemon of move-induced infatuation, taunts, disables, and a few other things.

In this world, it was not an instant-cure of these things, but something a prepared trainer would give their pokemon at the end of a fight to help them calm down and relax by either smelling it or - if you were rich enough - have them chew the herb for bigger effects.

Pete would see if he could either plant bushes from these leaves with grass type energy or maybe acquire some seeds for them. He had plans to dry these leaves to try and make a tea out of them. Trying out if that would increase its effects couldn't hurt, he mused.

Refreshed after a night with proper shelter, Pete and Valentino made their way to Mossdeep City the next morning. Pete kept a Mental Herb leaf in his mouth, channeling his grass affinity through it as best he could during the journey that took until the late afternoon.

Once more, they would stay at the poke center, and once more, Nurse Joy turned out to be an absolute delight. This time around, Valentino and Pete would stay for two days because Pete had a meeting scheduled with Steven Stone, Hoenn's current champion, the next day in the afternoon. They would likely continue their journey the morning after that.

It was earlier than their arrival in Purika City, so Valentino excused himself and started to roam the city. Pete instead stayed behind in the pokecenter and helped Nurse Joy tend to the pokemon. They exchanged treatment methods and discussed diets for pokemon and many other little things. It seemed that his impression with Nurse Joys was so good that they held little secrets with him.

Pete even learned of yet another bug that mostly flying pokemon would feast on that weren't the ones living in Scarlet Moss. They were a mix of short caterpillars and winged ants with really short mandibles for a fusion of them both that looked like a really long ant with a big meaty head. Earthen brown in color, they actually evolved to be somewhat immune to weaker poison pokemon, allowing them to live in swamps.

There was also another fruit he would buy or search saplings for because, for some reason, Herbert's company hadn't listed them in their catalog; olives. Only very few pokemon apparently ate those and no meals Pete found so far included them.

'Maybe you couldn't press them for oil in this world, or they were super bitter? I'll have to call later. They didn't have Mental Herb plants either...'

Before going to bed, Nurse Joy gave him yet another plant he hadn't grown on his farm yet, Energy Root. The bitter remedy looked like a fist with a flexing arm hanging from it and functioned much like Oran Berries. Though it did... pack more of a punch.

When Pete woke up to get ready for his day, he received a message from Steven that their meeting would still happen and they were to meet at the Devon Corp office building near the space center. After breakfast with his pokemon, Pete once more helped out a little, much to Nurse Joy's delight.

At around lunchtime, Pete went out to the city with all his pokemon except for Nidoking and the three Farfetch'd, who went to the beach to spar after eating some prepacked treats.

"Hey, mister! Is that a Duosion?"

As Pete just came out of the restaurant he and his pokemon ate lunch at, a young girl's voice came from the side.

"Hmm?" Pete had to take a second look because clearly the future psychic duo gym leaders Tate & Liza were standing in front of them in their blue martial art outfit. Liza had a very round Natu in her hands while Tate pulled a cart with a lazy Slowpoke loafing around on it.

"And look at that Espeon, so cool~" the young boy mumbled with stars in his eyes.

"Oh, yeah. Duosion was my first ever pokemon. I hatched her and got very lucky. Not because she's a color variant but because she's such a delight," Pete praised as he patted the pokemon floating next to him with a warm smile.

"That's really super duper cool, mister! I want to train a Solosis too one day! My brother and I are going to be the gym leaders of the gym here in Mossdeep City soon when our aunt retires, and we'll be super strong psychic pokemon trainers like our aunt!"

"Mhm, psychic pokemon are special, so you two are sure to do a great job," Pete offered with a warm smile.

Both twins gave them a pleased grin until Tate paled and pointed up.

"Oh no, Liza! We gotta hurry! Look, dad is about to land!"

"Sorry, mister. We promised Daddy to be there when he landed. If we don't run, he won't give us the space pokemon he finds," Liza excused, and the two ran off as quickly as their little legs allowed.

'Uh, is that how they got their Lunatone and Solrock? I faintly remember their dad being an astronaut, but... really? He got them from actual outer space?' Pete pondered as he looked up to the sky. But then he shook his head.

'There's so much to do on land. Let others worry what's out there. Like those... what were their names again? Ugh, they were so forgettable... Elgyem and Beheeyem? And I got no need to fret over ultra beasts when not in Alola either.'

Pete continued to a poke mart and finally bought his pokeblock kit that, for some reason, wasn't sold in Johto. He bought three of them, just in case one breaks and he wanted to gift another to Jasmine for a total of only P$9.000 thanks to a discount he got when he revealed he was an assistant professor.

Apparently, they wanted to sell these kits in other regions, but there was no real demand because of a lack of advertisement, in combination with their inability to sell them in stores run by Silph Co. The salesperson didn't say much, but Pete got the implied message that he was to tell others about his positive experience with the pokeblocks. He did save a whooping P$6.000 after all.

After that, Pete had half a mind to go to the space station, but he heard from passersby that it was closed to the public because of the landing that was today. So he went to the beach instead to spend some time with Nidoking and his three Farfetch'd.

Unexpectedly, Pete met Valentino and an unknown woman there with his pokemon. She was wearing a bright red martial arts outfit in the same style as Liza and Tate earlier, but hers had a golden stylized Omega symbol like the symbol for the game Omega Ruby on her stomach.

'Well, if she isn't the current gym leader and next guardian at Mt Pyre, I don't know who would be,' Pete thought with an amused smile as he looked toward her Starmie, shiny Claydol, the one with golden instead of red eyes, and Gardevoir.

"Pete! I was about to call you. I met an old acquaintance, Leona. Leona, meet Pete - my newest colleague," Valentino said in introduction.

Leona looked like a woman in her late twenties by Pete's old world standard and had bright golden eyes, same as her shiny Claydol, with dark brown hair and a slim build. Both her Gardevoir and the floating Claydol were a little taller than she was.

"My my, what a strong psychic bond," Leona said with a smile instead of introducing herself.

'You haven't yet figured out how to do this, right? I mean with other people, not your own bonded pokemon,' Leona's voice said in Pete's mind the next moment.

"Uh, no. How could you tell I have psychic affinity so quickly and even judge my current abilities?"

Leona only gave him a mysterious smile, but before she could once more speak in his mind, Valentino interjected.

"Hey, hey. Don't scare my junior away with your mindgames. That's why you're still single after all this time."

Mossdeep City's gym leader regarded Valentino with a glare until the man clutched his head and screamed.

"Making me relive that moment over and over is so unfair! You... you witch!"

"Heh, want me to show it to your 'junior'?" Leona asked with an evil grin.

"No! He still thinks I'm cool! You can't do this to me!"

"You see Pete, this one time I was at the beach and saw your little friend here-" "Please, you can't do this!" "-getting chased by some Beedrills while completely nak-"

"Please, no! I'll do anything you say!"

"Hmph~ I'm a little thirsty for a milkshake. How about you go to Mama Miltank's Milkshake stall near the poke center and get me one. You know my favorite flavor," Leona requested as if placing her order with a waiter at a restaurant she was a regular at.

With heavy steps, Valentino and his Aggron stomped their way toward the city. The walk wasn't really all too long since the poke center was close to this beach.

"So Pete. You know about us guardians? Your eyes clearly flashed in recognition of this symbol," Leona asked with a serious expression as she placed her hand on her stomach where the omega sign was at.

"Uh, I'm very well read?"

____________________

AN: I finished writing the end of Volume 1 (C071) that will release July 18th at 6PM CEST.

I'm planning the new volume 2 in my head right now, but I'm not sure I'm going to write it this week because I popped out chapters non-stop during my vacation last week. So there might be a break before more chapters release.

The name of volume 2 is Professor Lang. You get what it is about, right?

Starts off with a 700~ day time skip to around the time of Jasmine's Olivine Gym Leader audition. (I mean, we all know how that's going to go)

In any case, I already have a long AN written on C071 with my plans and stuff going forward, but if you have ideas already, let me know here.


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