Pokemon Way of Life Chapter 41

Hi all,

Here's the next chapter. A little bit of excitement at the beginning before he meets Alfred and makes some changes with his skills.

Lucas and Max ran in the direction of the scream. He utilised his dash skill to increase his speed until he was flying past the trees, although Max could keep up with him easily enough. He was heading into the situation blind as despite his enhanced sight, he could not see that far ahead due to trees blocking his view.

The pair slowed down a couple of minutes later when they reached the edge of a precipice that overlooked a small valley. When Lucas saw what was happening down below, he gasped in horror. The entire valley was covered in a tide of Rattatas. Due to the sheer density, it appeared to be a single entity instead of thousands of Rattatas grouped together.

'One baddie, two baddies, three baddies...there are too many to count.' Max huffed.

Lucas swallowed hard. This situation was the perfect example of how dangerous this world can be. Yes, he had already been in some dangerous situations before, but this was on an entirely different scale from the ones he had experienced before. Forget about saving the family; if they spot him, his life may be in danger. It may be possible for him to keep ahead of them if he used Dash, but it would consume all of his aura. He wasn't sure if it would last until he reached Viridian City.

Lucas searched the area and spotted the family on the far side. They were cramped inside a narrow passage surrounded on three sides by sheer vertical walls. A group of Pokemon fought desperately in front of them, fighting off dozens of Rattatas. Behind them, there were thousands of rodents waiting to replace them once they were taken out of action. As a result, the Pokemon protecting the family would soon be overwhelmed or exhausted to the point of death. It would be even sooner if the rodents wised up and climbed the precipice to ambush them from above.

The father was standing in front of the family, protecting the mother and their two children, a teenage boy and a little girl about Abigail's age. A look of despair could be seen on the faces of both parents and the teenage boy, as the little girl cried in her mother's arms. They seemed to realise that they were going to die.

Lucas needed to act quickly, as time was almost up. He conjured up about six different strategies before he came up with something that might work.

"I'm about to rescue the family," Lucas said to Max. "Get ready to run back to the city."

'Okay.'

About a hundred metres away, on the same precipice he was standing on, there was a huge boulder. Lucas activated Telekinesis and raised his arms as he attempted to lift the boulder into the air. His aura was draining at an alarming rate as he attempted to pick up the boulder, but it was too heavy. Despite being able to lift a ton of weight with the skill, he was unable to move the boulder. Perhaps he should have levelled up the skill a bit more, but there was no time for regrets at this point.

'Transform your arms into those of Mewtwo.'

Lucas paused as he heard a voice in his mind. Who was that? That wasn't the Narrator. He hesitated slightly in following the suggestion, but he really didn't have time to dither. Focusing he watched in horrified fascination as his arms transformed into that of Mewtwo's spindly arms, ending in two hands with three large digits.

Lucas ignored the startling appearance and tried to lift the boulder once more. He was successful this time, and the boulder soared into the sky with consummate ease. Now to cause some chaos.

He threw the boulder into the centre of the valley, and it landed with an earth-shattering thud, followed by the cries of the Pokemon as they were crushed under its weight. Next, while the tide was in disarray, Lucas cancelled the transformation and focused his attention on the family. As he lifted them into the air, the family yelled out in surprise and fear as they flew towards him. Lucas placed them gently on the cliffside beside him.

"How did you do that?" The father demanded. His family looked on, not saying a word, still reeling in shock from their abrupt escape.

Lucas replied, "There is no time for that. We need to get out of here. They will discover us soon."

"My Bulbasaur, I'm not leaving without him," the teenage boy argued.

The parents looked torn. Their companions that they had had for so many years, were now going to die after holding off the Rattatas and saving their lives.

As Lucas was about to shout at them for their skewed priorities, he took a deep breath and calmed down. According to his aura reserves, there should still be enough to retrieve them. The group of Pokemon standing on the ground looked up at their partners anxiously as he tried to lift them off the ground. However, they were not humans, and subconsciously resisted his efforts to help them.

"Tell them to stop resisting," Lucas snapped. "I don't have enough aura left to overcome their resistance."

The parents nodded and sent a message to their Pokemon. The resistance faded, and they ascended into the air and followed the same flight path as their partners. It was at this time that the tide of Rattatas got over their confusion and noticed the people standing on the cliff.

As the Pokemon landed, Lucas watched as the tide of Ratattas began to swarm up the precipice towards them.

"Run," he shouted, turning and beginning to sprint in the opposite direction. One of their Pokemon, a Machamp, lifted all four family members into its arms and followed.

Lucas was running low on aura, so the Machamp soon outpaced him. He was in danger of being swallowed up by the pursuing tide of Rattatas. Fortunately, one of the Pokemon, Sudowoodo, grabbed Lucas and lifted him into its arms and carried him with Max running beside him. Lucas didn't protest and reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone. In spite of the bumpy, uncontrollable movements caused by being carried at high speed, he managed to dial an emergency number.

"Hello, you have reached the emergency hotline. What is the nature of your emergency?"

Lucas shouted into the phone, "There is a Rattata tide located inside of Viridian Forest, and it's heading for the city. There must be thousands of them. You must sound the emergency sirens and have everyone evacuate the forest."

"Understood. I will get in touch with the authorities. Are you in need of assistance?" There was no question about the authenticity of the report, as that was not the time to determine it. He would be in serious trouble if he ever faked an emergency of this magnitude.

Lucas looked back at the group of Rattatas following behind them. Fortunately, they could not close the gap. "I should be fine," Lucas said.

Once they got back behind the safety of the city walls, they would have nothing to worry about. The tide wasn't a threat to the city, as it had ample protection to handle the emergency. The only danger would be those left in the forest who were caught unawares.

The siren was set off about a minute later, the loud sound echoing through the forest. He could imagine that people were in a state of panic and rushing back to the city.

Lucas watched as the tide receded behind him. They reached the edge of the forest and Lucas breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the city walls. They were met by soldiers, who escorted them back to the city. Once they were at the gate, Sudowoodo put him down, and Lucas patted the Pokemon in thanks.

The tide arrived just as the gates closed, and they were met by hundreds of Rangers and Army Pokemon who were preparing to eradicate them. They were too dangerous to keep around, as they may target a smaller town that didn't have the same protections as the city.

The family approached him and thanked him enthusiastically for saving their lives. The little girl looked up at him with awe. "Can you make me fly again?"

Lucas managed to free himself from their clutches after a few minutes and made his way back to the Pokemon Centre. A soldier had offered him to watch the carnage from atop the wall, considering he was the one that alerted them to the emergency. However, he passed on the idea. Although he understood that the Rattatas needed to be destroyed, he took no pleasure in watching them being slaughtered.

The phone rang, and Lucas answered, "Hello?"

"Lucas, are you okay?" Faith asked with concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I made it back into the city," Lucas replied.

"Thank goodness. When I heard the sirens go off, I imagined that something bad had happened to you."

"It was nothing major," Lucas said blithely. "Just a tide of thousands of Rattatas chasing me."

There was a moment of silence before Faith exploded and began asking him questions rapidly. Lucas held the phone away from his ear for a moment. "Wait till I get back. Boy, do I have a story to tell you. There's no way you'll be able to stop yourself from jumping my bones once I have finished telling you the tale of my heroic deeds."

"Yes, it's either that or I strangle you."

"I'm sorry. I'm not masochistic," Lucas grinned and hurriedly said goodbye.

He opened the notification to see what he got for completing the quest, and lo and behold, he got a psychic stone. It was a grade three evolution stone, with a capacity for ten thousand psychic energy. In addition, it was almost filled to the brim. Something of this quality would be difficult to find for sale, and the price would be astronomical.

"Thanks Arceus. You may not hesitate to put me into dangerous situations, but at least the rewards are worth it."

{0(((..)))0}

28th October

Lucas looked up at the street sign and determined that he was in the right area. He followed the street until he came across the bakery where he was meeting Alfred. It was a quaint looking place, with a glass storefront beneath a red and white striped awning. There was a sign above the awning that said Sugar Blissey, with an image of the large pink Pokemon beside it. Maybe it was their mascot.

Lucas entered the bakery and looked around at the tables for Alfred. There was an older gentleman sitting nearby who was dressed impeccably in a black suit and a red tie, who raised his hand from where he was sitting.

He approached the table and the man stood. "Hello, Mr Walker. I recognise your face from the news last night."

Lucas grimaced. His face was plastered on the news last night after the family he saved was interviewed by a reporter. It came on the back of winning the tournament and appearing on the news in Terracotta Town. Safe to say, his name was known far and wide in Kanto by now. He wasn't surprised to receive a call from his parents, but they didn't scold him this time, and congratulated him for saving the family. It seemed that they had resigned themselves to the fact that he would perform heroic deeds and put himself at risk. They didn't have to like it, but their son was a force of nature and he did what he wanted regardless of their wishes.

"Call me Lucas," he said as he sat down.

"Then you may call me Alfred," the older man replied as he sat down and took a sip of tea. "Forgive me for eating without you, but I was feeling rather peckish."

"It's fine. I have already eaten breakfast."

"Now," Alfred placed his cup down and wiped his hands on a napkin. "After you contacted me, I have been doing some more research on you and it has been amazing to see how fast your prestige is rising in Kanto in such a short amount of time."

"I have a lot of time to make up for," Lucas shrugged. "I didn't think that I would come so far in a short amount of time, which is why I'm searching for a manager urgently now."

"Very well. May I ask what my duties would be if I decide to take on the role?"

He noticed the nuanced words immediately. It seemed like Alfred was interviewing him and he wasn't desperate to take on the job.

Lucas ordered his thoughts and then spoke, determined not to let the old man lead the interview. "First of all, if I decide that you are suitable, then I need your discretion that you will not tell anyone about my plans. It's not super secret, but I would rather be discreet."

"That goes without saying," Alfred said mildly.

"I have just registered my company, which is called Uncharted Ventures. This is primarily to support my plans for Cinnabar Island, which I acquired a few months ago. Once I have the resources, I plan to build a resort on the island."

"That is very ambitious," Alfred said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, but it is a long-term goal, so it is not something that has to happen overnight. I'm building the infrastructure slowly, and I already have two workers on site who are building a habitat for my Pokemon. Once they are finished with that, they will move onto the main project. I'm thinking of rebuilding the town first as I bring in more workers, they will need a place to stay."

"A sensible plan," Alfred approved.

"You'll manage the project, such as overseeing construction and employees. You may hire someone to manage it onsite if you do not want to stay on the island, as long as you get my approval first."

Albert took a sip of his tea and said, "It doesn't seem complicated. However in the early stages, there would be little for me to do."

"That's where the other aspects of my life come into play," Lucas said. "I know you have experience managing an actress and singer, and dealing with the media. I will need that expertise as my music career takes off. I am focused on the trainer circuit at the moment, but I will be writing new songs as I travel. I need you to act as my music agent."

"That is more my area of expertise. What else?"

"I had a request from my fan club to build a website that is dedicated to my career. I will ask my parents to run a background check on them, but they seem to be fine. You will oversee the website and make sure that it doesn't do anything to hurt my image."

Alfred folded his hand in front of him. "It may be in your best interest to hire someone who could do the background checks. I know a private detective with a stellar track record."

"Actually, I was thinking about that as well," Lucas agreed. "In addition to that, you will manage the charities that benefit from the money I earn from livestreaming. I need you to keep an eye out for the charities I'm supporting and make sure that it's all legitimate."

"The amount of Pokedollars you earn from your influencer career would put a huge dent in the resources needed for the project," Alfred observed.

"I know, but I made the decision to donate the Pokedollars to charity, and I'm determined to stick by it. I'm not in a rush, and I have several revenue streams coming in soon. One is from the song that was released recently, and there are the incense products that will debut next month. I won't be short of Pokedollars soon."

"Very well. Would it be necessary for me to be at your side to do my job?" Alfred asked.

"No, as long as we stay in communication, you can base yourself here if you wish."

They continued to discuss details for the next half hour before the conversation took a more personal turn as they got to know each other better. Lucas liked the man a lot, as he seemed very competent. He was a very proper gentleman, but lurking underneath was a wicked sense of humour. By the end, he had already decided to hire the man.

"I would like to hire you," Lucas leaned forward. "I think we will get on well. So what do you say?"

"I concur. Here is to an amicable relationship, sir."

"Sir?"

"You are now my employer. It is only proper. Now, let's get down to discussing my compensation."

Lucas winced. Judging by the predatory gleam in the man's eyes, he was about to be skinned alive.

{0(((..)))0}

Later that day, Lucas was watching over his Pokemon as they worked on refining their affinity. He decided to take Duke out to the forest with Imara and Max tomorrow. Dante would continue his daily routine of training with Poliwrath and perfecting his evolution.

After haggling with Alfred, Lucas brought out a contract and they signed it. Officially, he would start tomorrow, and spend the day acquainting himself with the different aspects of his duties.

They rented a room at a nearby hotel as the Pokemon Centre didn't have connecting rooms for his Pokemon. Now that he was sleeping with Faith, they needed their own privacy although he was sure some of the Pokemon would sneak into their room at night. Honestly, it was no different from having children. He then rented a room at the nearby training facility to train his partners as he didn't want to stink up the hotel room with incense.

Lucas watched Duke, and he was amused to see that the Pokemon was struggling to stay awake as he meditated. He was having a hard time with Poliwrath, as he was relentless in working Duke to the bone. Poliwrath was a better physical trainer than Lucas could ever be, primarily because he would be too soft, and less disciplined with his partners. He had to give Duke credit though, as the Pokemon was giving it all. Although that might have been because Lucas had told him that he wouldn't evolve into a Kingdra without working hard. It was more than enough motivation for the simple reason that his final evolution had 'King' in its name.

Since Poliwrath was working with Duke to solve his physical conditioning, he turned his attention to increasing his dragon-type affinity. He wanted to increase it as much as possible so Duke could learn powerful dragon-type moves in the future. Furthermore, he didn't know if having a low affinity would affect his potential when he finally evolved into Kingdra, and changed his typing. For now, he could start teaching Duke Twister, which had a low requirement in terms of dragon-type affinity.

Duke still had his AP in reserve, but Lucas decided he would hold off until he had finished maxing out his stats naturally for stage one. His special defence was an obvious weakness, so he would probably spend some points on that eventually.

Now that his Pokemon were all focused on their training, Lucas turned his attention to his own status and something that had been bothering him for some time. He realized that his skills were in a state of disarray. There were plenty of skills that he should combine, as keeping them separate made no sense and just cluttered up his skill page. He was surprised that he had a lot more combinations than the last time he checked. Was it responding to his intent?

The first two skills he looked at were aura manipulation and energy shroud. He had used the latter to conceal his aura for so long that he no longer had to think about it. However, it was still inefficient. So he was hoping combining the two would fix that issue.

=====

[Aura Mastery] (Active) [Lv:23] (Next: 56%) [Cost: Variable]

Description: An ability that allows the player to generate, manipulate, and conceal the player's unique aura. It is a very useful foundational skill that will provide you with the tools you need to further expand the use of aura in a variety of ways. As the skill level increases, the player will have even greater control over his aura.

⦁ Aura + 42%

⦁ Aura Shaping + 42%

⦁ Aura Manifestation speed + 23%

⦁ Aura Density + 23%

=====

It simplified things a great deal as he didn't have to repeatedly use energy shroud anymore to conceal his purple energy. Lucas looked at the next combination to see what it would do next. This time, he was able to combine three skills into one: Observation Plus, Transparent Vision and Aura Sense.

=====

[Omniscient Eyes] (Active/Passive) [Lv: 23] (Next: 98%) [Cost: Variable]

Description: As long as the player possesses the necessary aura, he will be able to use three different ocular abilities that allow him to see and know everything around him. As the skill level increases, the player will be able to use the three abilities at a greater distance.

⦁ Observation - Reveals information about entities and objects around him.

⦁ Aura Sense - The player can see entities' auras from a distance.

⦁ Transparent Vision - Allows the player to see through almost anything.

⦁ *Sight factors into determining the effectiveness of all three abilities.

=====

It changed how the three skills worked slightly, but it mostly remained the same, except it was more streamlined. Next, he combined his singing with his guitar skills and turned it into virtuoso, which was more comprehensive in scope and covered musical ability as a whole. Finally, he combined the dash and jogger skills into one skill called acceleration. It was more flexible in how he managed his aura when running.

Lucas was happy that he had managed to trim his skills a bit. There was still more he could condense, but he was satisfied with where he was at for the moment.

Another improvement he was looking at was his Krav Maga skill, which he had maxed out a long time ago. Lucas had not been practising the skill lately and instead of learning the next stage, he had a much better idea.

He wanted to learn more traditional martial arts and had an idea to combine them all into one skill. Although combining different disciplines sounded challenging and not at all practical, he had faith in the system to come up with something.

In the midst of his musings, his phone rang, and he picked it up and answered.

"Hello, Lucas! It's Valorie Holloway, from the fan club."

"Hello, Valerie. How are you?"

"I'm fine. I'm calling to say I will be in Viridian City tomorrow sometime in the afternoon. Will you be available?"

"Let's meet for dinner so we can hash out the details of our cooperation. I'd like to introduce you to my new manager who will serve as my go-between when I'm not available. He will work with you to get the website up and running and be on hand to give any advice."

"That sounds great. Where should I meet you?"

"Let's meet at the Pokemon Centre."

"Okay, I will see you then."

Lucas hung up and checked on his Pokemon. Duke had fallen asleep while meditating, falling on his side and snoring softly. Shaking his head ruefully, he let him be and returned his thoughts to his own self improvement.

Lucas wanted to use another prayer, as he wished to change something within the system. He was slightly apprehensive as he didn't want to be struck by another God's decree. However, he realised that if he only used two prayers and left the last one unused, he wouldn't have to worry about it. He could delay it indefinitely if he wished. Lucas wrote his request down and performed the same ritual as last time, and the note disappeared. The change he was requesting was not something small, so he expected it to take a few days at least.

Lucas took out his guitar from his inventory and tuned it up. Now that he had Alfred as his manager, he wanted to produce a new song. The question was, did he rip off a song from his previous world or did he try and produce something of his own? Who was he kidding? Why would he suffer through the process of writing a new song when he had such rich material to rely on? He may create his own songs in the future, but for now he will happily rip off some classics, as it would guarantee their success.

What song should he choose? In truth, he hadn't liked a lot of modern music in his old world. Although, there was one artist that he liked above the rest, and that was Bruno Mars. There was a plethora of hits that he could choose from, but he decided to go with 'Just the Way You Are.' Lucas had the entire song memorised, as he had it on his playlist ever since it was first released. He would create a guitar cover first but if he wanted to emulate the song, he would need someone to play the piano and the drums.

He wondered if one of his companions could play either instrument?

He spent the next few hours getting the sound right on the guitar before he started adding his voice. Lucas was so absorbed in the song that he didn't realize that Faith had entered the room and stood there listening to him. He opened his eyes and spotted her looking at him with an entranced expression.

"What is that song?" Faith whispered.

"I call it 'just the way you are'," Lucas said.

Faith came and sat down next to him. "It's beautiful."

"Thank you. I already have an idea for a better version featuring piano and drums. You don't happen to know how to play either of those instruments do you?"

"My parents made me take piano lessons, but it's been a few years since I last played. Are you thinking of me playing the piano? Are you crazy?"

"Totally," Lucas grinned. "Jason can't play the drums as far as I can recall. Do you think Misty can play?"

"No idea. Why don't you hire someone to play the instruments?"

"Eh, I would rather do it with people I know. I need to ask Alfred what percentage of profit the instrumental players would receive from the song. Or if it is a flat rate."

In this world, there was a music service similar to Spotify, called Off the Record, where artists could make money off their singles, which is what the Pokemon League did with his first song. It was the number one hit only a few days after its release. Lucas was already expecting a substantial paycheck when he got his first bit of royalties. However, the revenue was not expected to be very high since his royalties on the song were low, and the platform received a share of the proceeds as well. There was also a physical version that would be released in another month's time, which is where the real Pokedollars will be earned.

"Let's go see if we can find a piano to use," Lucas grabbed her hand. "Dante and Imara, look after our Pokemon. I will use the keycard and lock the door behind me, but contact me if there is anything wrong."

'Sure, I will look after the little brats.' Imara smirked.

'We will continue to work hard for our glorious leader.' Dante snarked.

"Don't give me lip, you rascal," Lucas called as he and Faith left the room and locked the door behind them. Now, where could he find a spare piano to use?

{0(((..)))0}

29th October

Lucas, Imara, Maximus and Duke continued to explore the Viridian Forest. He decided to enter from a different point in the forest, so he could continue to uncover more secrets of the forest.

Lucas and Faith spent many hours in a recording studio, where they rented out musical instruments as a service on the side. When Faith had overcome her rustiness, he proceeded to teach her the notes for the piano portion of the song. He didn't know the notes specifically, but with his ability to enhance his hearing, he was able to find the correct keys by experimenting and recalling the sound from memory. As she got better, Faith started to get into the flow of playing the piano and became enthusiastic about the whole thing. Lucas didn't tell her that there might come a time when they would perform the song on stage.

Unfortunately, Misty did not know how to play the drums, so Lucas asked Alfred to find someone who could play the instrument. Alfred did not appear to be surprised that he was already working on another song. The man was so unflappable. He promised to find someone as soon as possible, so Lucas had to be patient for now.

He returned his attention to his surroundings and spotted his next prey. It was time for Duke to step up and have his first battle.

‘Are you ready Duke?’

‘Please. My opponent will be bowing at my feet in no time at all.’

{Imara} Oh, yes. Your opponent is a fearsome foe. I will watch on and cheer on your heroic fight.’

‘Thank you, minion.’ Duke gave a gracious nod and Imara rolled her eyes.

Did he not understand the concept of sarcasm?

Ahead of them was a clearing where a Caterpie had his head poked into a bush, scavenging for food. He would start his partner off with a straightforward and easy fight. He estimated that Duke had access to about eighty-five per cent of his speed with his current mastery of water manipulation. It was more than enough to outmanoeuvre the level five Caterpie.

Nothing could go wrong, right?

So, what do you think? Lucas will be more organised with Alfred on board, so his plans will pick up momentum soon enough.

Thanks for reading.