Story Notes:
This story is part of my series for a good reason. If you can't guess the reason by the end of the first chapter, read it again until you do! I'm trying out a first person perspective, a perspective I haven't written in for a while. I hope I can still do it well. The rating will go up as the story progresses and warnings will appear when necessary.General Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners; Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures inc, and Pokemon inc. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
NTG Chapter 1 revisited
"Hey Bob!" Mech called to his friend.
"Mech!" Bob returned. "Are you coming over after school?"
"Naw. I'm going into Eterna forest and see if I can catch anything." Mech replied.
"Be careful, I've been hearing a lot of howls from there recently." Bob warned. Mech shrugged.
You may be wondering what is going on. So allow me to enlighten you. Mech, or Mechsrule and Bob Shmit were two students in Eterna city's trainer school. The two were best friends. Mech as 11 years old, and fairly average. Like most of his peers he hoped one day to become a pokémon trainer and take on the Pokémon League. His friend Bob, a year younger, had the same goal. Neither had a pokémon of their own yet but they still have 5 years before they could become official trainers. Every so often, they would explore the nearby forest looking for pokémon to catch. On this occasion, Mech was alone, walking through the dense foliage.
Having spent so much time there, he knew the forest fairly well. He had seen a few pokémon in the forest before, but none had been very good; usually insects or those too fast to catch without having a pokémon already. He was about to give up when the sound of something, or somethings crashing through the forest hit him. He turned to the source to see a Larvitar burst out of the brush and run past.
"Tar!" it shouted wide eyed. Mech couldn't paraphrase but a Larvitar was certainly a good catch, but something stopped him. The crashing sound was still coming. He wasn't sure what to expect so he looked around for something, anything he could use to defend himself from whatever it was. A large branch on the ground caught his eye and he picked it up just as three Mightyena leaped out, snarling. The Larvitar, while this was going on, had turned, tugging at Mech's pant leg, trying to get him to run but something stopped him. The Mightyena snarled to each other and began circling Mech and the Larvitar which cowered while Mech tightened his grip.
Without warning one leaped straight at him and Mech brought the branch up, jamming it sideways between the Mightyena's teeth. They began a fierce wrestling match, Mech terrified did all he could to keep the sharp teeth away from him, but the Mightyena was much stronger. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the other two. Waiting for the right moment, he gave in to the Mightyena, letting it continue on its way but he feinted to the side and it crashed into its ally. It almost worked, but its claws slashed at his side giving him a bad cut on his shoulder. Without stopping, Mech caught the third with a swing to the head.
"Run!" he shouted to the Larvitar, nudging it with his foot. It stood shocked. The Mightyena got up and any hope of escape was forfeit. He made a snap decision. It more sort of happened. He knew the Mightyena wanted the Larvitar, but it seemed helpless. He couldn't fight them off with one arm, heck he probably couldn't with both. He wasn't about to let it get hurt so he did what he could. He pulled out his only pokéball and used it on the Larvitar. In a flash of light it disappeared inside and he hugged the ball to his chest. "Now leave." He said to the Mightyena, clutching his arm. They glared, knowing what he had done.
One jumped him from behind while a second tackled him full on, bringing to the ground, hunching over the ball. They clawed and bit at him, but he cradled the ball, doing all he could to protect it. Suddenly it all stopped. He looked up slowly, partially out of fear of a new attack, and mostly because it hurt to move. His vision was very foggy but what he did see told him he must have been dreaming. His three attackers were now a few yards away, crumpled to the ground like they had been thrown. That's what it looked like, three black and grey blobs, flat on a green blob. A pink blob took up his field of vision then everything went black.
"Will he be okay?" a female voice asked.
"His injuries were quite severe but I'm sure he'll live, barring any complications like infection. We've stitched and bandaged him up, and it's up to his body to recover now." A deeper voice answered. Mech could hear them talking, but it meant little to him. He couldn't focus on anything and thoughts fell through the sieve. Slowly he became more aware and wished he hadn't. Everything hurt. He wished he could fall asleep again but couldn't. Nor could he muster the strength to open his eyes, but the voiced returned.
"Is that all you can tell me Doctor?" the woman asked again. Weird. It sounded like his mom.
"Well, he was found with this pokéball. I haven't seen what's inside. It may even be his attacker. We'll have to wait for him to wake up and tell us." The apparent Doctor answered.
"He didn't have a pokémon before." His mom said.
"I don't have a pokémon." Mech thought slowly. Then he remembered the Larvitar. "How did I catch it again?" He wondered. He replayed the events. He saw the Larvitar running, and grabbed a branch. He tried fighting them off but couldn't so he caught the Larvitar. He got taken down...then...he couldn't remember. For a second he remembered seeing them thrown away from him, but the thought vanished. He groaned out loud.
"Oh my god!" his mother cried. "Doctor! I think he's waking up!"
"He shouldn't wake up for days with those kind of injuries." The Doctor said surprised. Mech finally forced his eyes open. The light blinded him, but after blinking a bit, he looked around at his surroundings. He was defiantly in a hospital, that much he had guessed. He could see his mother and a Doctor looking at him at the end of his bed. On a stand nearby was a pokéball. His pokéball.
"Honey! I was so worried!" his mother said hugging him.
"Mom." He said. It hurt, and his throat was dry, but he had to say something. "Please. Stop crushing me. It hurts."
"I'm sorry." His mother said backing away sheepishly.
"Can I have some water?" he asked. The Doctor nodded and handed him a small cup. He drank slowly, removing the sandpaper feel of his mouth. "What happened?" he asked after he finished.
"We were helping you could tell us." The Doctor said,
"I remember most of it, but how did I get here?" Mech asked.
"Your friend found you and brought you here. You'll have to ask him the specifics." The Doctor answered. "Now, what attacked you?"
"It was some Mightyena. I tried to fight them off but guess I didn't."
"Mightyena!" His mother cried. "You're lucky to be alive!"
"Indeed. Why didn't you use this pokémon?" the Doctor asked, holding up the ball.
"It was running away from them. I caught it so they couldn't hurt it."
"That was a very foolish thing!" his mother said.
"Could you let it out please?" Mech asked. His mother pressed the button letting the Larvitar appear in a flash of light on the side of the bed. It looked around confused. "Hey. You okay? I'm sorry I caught you like that." Mech said. The Larvitar looked at him understandingly.
"It would be best if you slept some more." The Doctor said.
"Alright. See you later little Larvitar." Mech said. His mom moved to return it.
"Thank you." The Larvitar said before it vanished. Mech blinked.
"Must be the medication." He thought. Pokémon don't talk. Despite what had happened, he fell asleep right away.
"Well, everything checks out fine. You can go home." The Doctor said.
"Great." Mech said. It had only been a couple days, but he had healed well and only a few scratches were left. Finally he could go home. Getting up, he stretched, feeling very stiff after spending so much time lying down. He was still pretty beat up, but it was just a few scratches. He couldn't wait to get home and make sure he wasn't crazy. He still remembered when the Larvitar spoke to him earlier.
He left the hospital and started walking towards home. The two were in the same town so it wasn't far. It was late but he could easily get home before dark. On the way Bob spotted him and walked over.
"Hey! I didn't expect you to be out so soon, the way you were when I found you."
"If it weren't for you I wouldn't have been back at all." Mech answered.
"I didn't do much. I just called the hospital after you staggered out of the woods near my house."
"I passed out in the forest. There's no way I walked back to town." Mech said.
"Well I was there. I saw you walk out and collapse."
"Well I need to get home. I want to say hi to that Larvitar again." Mech said walking off. His mother was overjoyed to see him home. Finally he went upstairs to find the pokéball lying on his bed. He picked it up. "Did you really speak?" he asked it rhetorically. Deciding asking an inanimate object wouldn't result in answers, he let the Larvitar out. "Hello little guy." He said calmly. The Larvitar frowned at him. "What?"
"I'm little but I'm no guy!" the Larvitar said crossing its arms.
"So I'm not crazy! You can talk!" Mech exclaimed.
"Of course I can talk! All pokémon can talk!" It said like it was obvious.
"I mean you can speak English!" Mech said rolling his eyes.
"No I can't" the Larvitar said. "And my name is Sanagirasu."
"I'm Mechsrule. And if you're not speaking English how come it sounds like it?"
"Maybe you're just one of those humans that can understand us?" Sanagirasu suggested.
"I never could before. This is weird." Mech said. "Any ideas Sanagirasu?"
"Call me San, and no."
"Oh well."
"So. Why did you do that?" San asked.
"Catch you? Well I didn't want you to get hurt by those Mightyena."
"My skin is made of rock! I'd probably been fine. Mostly."
"Why were they chasing you in the first place?" Mech asked.
"That's something I'd rather keep to myself." San said.
"Fine. Hey, maybe it's because I caught you that I can understand you." Mech suggested.
"That would make sense but it doesn't because it's never worked before. I've never met a trainer before or a trainer pokémon but my parents did and very few trainers could understand their pokémon." San frowned.
"So basically, we have a huge advantage against anyone we fight."
"Not really. It's not like you can talk to me and no one can hear, just you can hear me."
"Well, two minds are still better then one." Mech said.
"Or three."
"True but that was my last pokéball." Mech replied. "We're not going to have any help for a while.
"I didn't say anything, but if you intend to do any fighting, it might be a good idea to get someone other then me. I'm not the strongest pokémon around."
"Huh. I could have sworn you said something. Well, I still don't have the money to afford one and I'm not a trainer so I can't compete in battles and earn money that way. Besides I'm still in school so we won't be battling too much anyway." Mech explained. "It's not like I'm traveling so if you want to hang out in the forest with friends I don't mind."
"I...there's no one there for me. Not for a long time." San said looking away.
"No one?"
"...No." San said after a while.
"Well not anymore."
"Yeah. So you going to put me away?" San asked.
"Why would I do that?"
"It's late. I figure you're going to sleep soon."
"So?"
"Don't trainers usually do that?"
"Most trainers can't talk to pokémon. I can't justify doing that. I won't use a pokéball unless I have to. I promise."
"Thanks. It was bad enough being in there for the last week."
"Sorry about that. I guess my mom just doesn't understand. Come on. I've got a lot of work to catch up on tomorrow." And so the pair slept, not sure what the future would hold.
"Mech!" Bob returned. "Are you coming over after school?"
"Naw. I'm going into Eterna forest and see if I can catch anything." Mech replied.
"Be careful, I've been hearing a lot of howls from there recently." Bob warned. Mech shrugged.
You may be wondering what is going on. So allow me to enlighten you. Mech, or Mechsrule and Bob Shmit were two students in Eterna city's trainer school. The two were best friends. Mech as 11 years old, and fairly average. Like most of his peers he hoped one day to become a pokémon trainer and take on the Pokémon League. His friend Bob, a year younger, had the same goal. Neither had a pokémon of their own yet but they still have 5 years before they could become official trainers. Every so often, they would explore the nearby forest looking for pokémon to catch. On this occasion, Mech was alone, walking through the dense foliage.
Having spent so much time there, he knew the forest fairly well. He had seen a few pokémon in the forest before, but none had been very good; usually insects or those too fast to catch without having a pokémon already. He was about to give up when the sound of something, or somethings crashing through the forest hit him. He turned to the source to see a Larvitar burst out of the brush and run past.
"Tar!" it shouted wide eyed. Mech couldn't paraphrase but a Larvitar was certainly a good catch, but something stopped him. The crashing sound was still coming. He wasn't sure what to expect so he looked around for something, anything he could use to defend himself from whatever it was. A large branch on the ground caught his eye and he picked it up just as three Mightyena leaped out, snarling. The Larvitar, while this was going on, had turned, tugging at Mech's pant leg, trying to get him to run but something stopped him. The Mightyena snarled to each other and began circling Mech and the Larvitar which cowered while Mech tightened his grip.
Without warning one leaped straight at him and Mech brought the branch up, jamming it sideways between the Mightyena's teeth. They began a fierce wrestling match, Mech terrified did all he could to keep the sharp teeth away from him, but the Mightyena was much stronger. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the other two. Waiting for the right moment, he gave in to the Mightyena, letting it continue on its way but he feinted to the side and it crashed into its ally. It almost worked, but its claws slashed at his side giving him a bad cut on his shoulder. Without stopping, Mech caught the third with a swing to the head.
"Run!" he shouted to the Larvitar, nudging it with his foot. It stood shocked. The Mightyena got up and any hope of escape was forfeit. He made a snap decision. It more sort of happened. He knew the Mightyena wanted the Larvitar, but it seemed helpless. He couldn't fight them off with one arm, heck he probably couldn't with both. He wasn't about to let it get hurt so he did what he could. He pulled out his only pokéball and used it on the Larvitar. In a flash of light it disappeared inside and he hugged the ball to his chest. "Now leave." He said to the Mightyena, clutching his arm. They glared, knowing what he had done.
One jumped him from behind while a second tackled him full on, bringing to the ground, hunching over the ball. They clawed and bit at him, but he cradled the ball, doing all he could to protect it. Suddenly it all stopped. He looked up slowly, partially out of fear of a new attack, and mostly because it hurt to move. His vision was very foggy but what he did see told him he must have been dreaming. His three attackers were now a few yards away, crumpled to the ground like they had been thrown. That's what it looked like, three black and grey blobs, flat on a green blob. A pink blob took up his field of vision then everything went black.
"Will he be okay?" a female voice asked.
"His injuries were quite severe but I'm sure he'll live, barring any complications like infection. We've stitched and bandaged him up, and it's up to his body to recover now." A deeper voice answered. Mech could hear them talking, but it meant little to him. He couldn't focus on anything and thoughts fell through the sieve. Slowly he became more aware and wished he hadn't. Everything hurt. He wished he could fall asleep again but couldn't. Nor could he muster the strength to open his eyes, but the voiced returned.
"Is that all you can tell me Doctor?" the woman asked again. Weird. It sounded like his mom.
"Well, he was found with this pokéball. I haven't seen what's inside. It may even be his attacker. We'll have to wait for him to wake up and tell us." The apparent Doctor answered.
"He didn't have a pokémon before." His mom said.
"I don't have a pokémon." Mech thought slowly. Then he remembered the Larvitar. "How did I catch it again?" He wondered. He replayed the events. He saw the Larvitar running, and grabbed a branch. He tried fighting them off but couldn't so he caught the Larvitar. He got taken down...then...he couldn't remember. For a second he remembered seeing them thrown away from him, but the thought vanished. He groaned out loud.
"Oh my god!" his mother cried. "Doctor! I think he's waking up!"
"He shouldn't wake up for days with those kind of injuries." The Doctor said surprised. Mech finally forced his eyes open. The light blinded him, but after blinking a bit, he looked around at his surroundings. He was defiantly in a hospital, that much he had guessed. He could see his mother and a Doctor looking at him at the end of his bed. On a stand nearby was a pokéball. His pokéball.
"Honey! I was so worried!" his mother said hugging him.
"Mom." He said. It hurt, and his throat was dry, but he had to say something. "Please. Stop crushing me. It hurts."
"I'm sorry." His mother said backing away sheepishly.
"Can I have some water?" he asked. The Doctor nodded and handed him a small cup. He drank slowly, removing the sandpaper feel of his mouth. "What happened?" he asked after he finished.
"We were helping you could tell us." The Doctor said,
"I remember most of it, but how did I get here?" Mech asked.
"Your friend found you and brought you here. You'll have to ask him the specifics." The Doctor answered. "Now, what attacked you?"
"It was some Mightyena. I tried to fight them off but guess I didn't."
"Mightyena!" His mother cried. "You're lucky to be alive!"
"Indeed. Why didn't you use this pokémon?" the Doctor asked, holding up the ball.
"It was running away from them. I caught it so they couldn't hurt it."
"That was a very foolish thing!" his mother said.
"Could you let it out please?" Mech asked. His mother pressed the button letting the Larvitar appear in a flash of light on the side of the bed. It looked around confused. "Hey. You okay? I'm sorry I caught you like that." Mech said. The Larvitar looked at him understandingly.
"It would be best if you slept some more." The Doctor said.
"Alright. See you later little Larvitar." Mech said. His mom moved to return it.
"Thank you." The Larvitar said before it vanished. Mech blinked.
"Must be the medication." He thought. Pokémon don't talk. Despite what had happened, he fell asleep right away.
"Well, everything checks out fine. You can go home." The Doctor said.
"Great." Mech said. It had only been a couple days, but he had healed well and only a few scratches were left. Finally he could go home. Getting up, he stretched, feeling very stiff after spending so much time lying down. He was still pretty beat up, but it was just a few scratches. He couldn't wait to get home and make sure he wasn't crazy. He still remembered when the Larvitar spoke to him earlier.
He left the hospital and started walking towards home. The two were in the same town so it wasn't far. It was late but he could easily get home before dark. On the way Bob spotted him and walked over.
"Hey! I didn't expect you to be out so soon, the way you were when I found you."
"If it weren't for you I wouldn't have been back at all." Mech answered.
"I didn't do much. I just called the hospital after you staggered out of the woods near my house."
"I passed out in the forest. There's no way I walked back to town." Mech said.
"Well I was there. I saw you walk out and collapse."
"Well I need to get home. I want to say hi to that Larvitar again." Mech said walking off. His mother was overjoyed to see him home. Finally he went upstairs to find the pokéball lying on his bed. He picked it up. "Did you really speak?" he asked it rhetorically. Deciding asking an inanimate object wouldn't result in answers, he let the Larvitar out. "Hello little guy." He said calmly. The Larvitar frowned at him. "What?"
"I'm little but I'm no guy!" the Larvitar said crossing its arms.
"So I'm not crazy! You can talk!" Mech exclaimed.
"Of course I can talk! All pokémon can talk!" It said like it was obvious.
"I mean you can speak English!" Mech said rolling his eyes.
"No I can't" the Larvitar said. "And my name is Sanagirasu."
"I'm Mechsrule. And if you're not speaking English how come it sounds like it?"
"Maybe you're just one of those humans that can understand us?" Sanagirasu suggested.
"I never could before. This is weird." Mech said. "Any ideas Sanagirasu?"
"Call me San, and no."
"Oh well."
"So. Why did you do that?" San asked.
"Catch you? Well I didn't want you to get hurt by those Mightyena."
"My skin is made of rock! I'd probably been fine. Mostly."
"Why were they chasing you in the first place?" Mech asked.
"That's something I'd rather keep to myself." San said.
"Fine. Hey, maybe it's because I caught you that I can understand you." Mech suggested.
"That would make sense but it doesn't because it's never worked before. I've never met a trainer before or a trainer pokémon but my parents did and very few trainers could understand their pokémon." San frowned.
"So basically, we have a huge advantage against anyone we fight."
"Not really. It's not like you can talk to me and no one can hear, just you can hear me."
"Well, two minds are still better then one." Mech said.
"Or three."
"True but that was my last pokéball." Mech replied. "We're not going to have any help for a while.
"I didn't say anything, but if you intend to do any fighting, it might be a good idea to get someone other then me. I'm not the strongest pokémon around."
"Huh. I could have sworn you said something. Well, I still don't have the money to afford one and I'm not a trainer so I can't compete in battles and earn money that way. Besides I'm still in school so we won't be battling too much anyway." Mech explained. "It's not like I'm traveling so if you want to hang out in the forest with friends I don't mind."
"I...there's no one there for me. Not for a long time." San said looking away.
"No one?"
"...No." San said after a while.
"Well not anymore."
"Yeah. So you going to put me away?" San asked.
"Why would I do that?"
"It's late. I figure you're going to sleep soon."
"So?"
"Don't trainers usually do that?"
"Most trainers can't talk to pokémon. I can't justify doing that. I won't use a pokéball unless I have to. I promise."
"Thanks. It was bad enough being in there for the last week."
"Sorry about that. I guess my mom just doesn't understand. Come on. I've got a lot of work to catch up on tomorrow." And so the pair slept, not sure what the future would hold.