Tsaimath

WO, Ch 25 - First Gym-Battle

The suggested talk with Cliff didn’t happen, as he wasn’t around when we returned to the Centre after dinner. There was a note waiting for us, scheduling our test at the Gym for the next morning, prompting us to get an early night. To battle against another trainer, not just wild Pokémon, for the first time, just the idea was making me nervous. Luckily, the battle would merely be to check that both of us were competent, nobody expected us to actually beat a Gym-Leader. Given that they we...

WO, Ch 24- Back to Sandgem Town

There was little more talk with Cliff, either during the night or in the morning. He seemed to glare at me from time to time, but frankly, the moment Prince Charming recovered enough to leave his Pokéball, my partner took priority. For a good while during my night-watch, I had been cuddling with him, after making sure that the bruised area left by the water gun was nicely massaged with Potion. The affection he showed made it quite obvious that he didn’t hold a grudge, which only increased ...

WO, Ch. 23 - A wild Rival appears

“Ho, the camp.” A voice called out, as Claire and I were just about done setting our camp for the night. We had pushed hard, getting back to higher, solid ground, using the same camp-site we had used the day before and during our journey towards Sandgem-Town and by now, there was a certain familiarity with the rocks on the ground. I had even named one of them, a pointy bastard that somehow had managed to get under my sleeping-mat on both occasions, despite me throwing it away both times. ...

Chapter 547

For a moment, I froze, possible ways to proceed flickering through my mind. The sheer power emanating from the being in the cleft made it relatively easy to track it’s movement along the cleft, away from me and towards the exit on its other side. From there, it would be able to attack either of the other groups, though my guess was that it would take on the main-group, simply to deal the most damage before we could scatter. Not that I planned on scattering just yet.

A glance to Ulchia...

WO, Ch 22 - Bibaflight

After running for what felt like hours, trying to get away, Claire finally couldn’t continue. Stumbling to a halt, she leaned against a tree, trying to catch her breath. With quickly flapping wings, Myna landed nearby, chirping in greeting. Her feathers looked a little ruffled, reminding me of our initial meeting just a day ago, but otherwise, she was fine.

“Claire, call her back.” I told Claire, stepping up to straighten her out. That way, she could actually get air into her body...

WO, Ch 21 - Eager Bidoof

Somehow, making our way down the swamp for a second time, was even more miserable than it had been the first time. It might have been because this time, we didn’t just follow the path but instead, we had to move through the swamp, keeping our ears open for the noises made by Bidoof.

We had already noticed and defeated three on our morning-path through the swamp, in addition to a pair of Starly who decided that we were a good target. One of those encounters had been handled by Myna, as...

WO, Ch 20 - Startling Starly

By the time we had left Sandgem-Town, Claire had sworn repeatedly to never drink again. Getting her going had taken more time than I would have liked, but ultimately, we managed to replenish our supplies and get out of town before noon, so I counted that as a win.

“Did you really have to wake me up that loudly?” as we were walking across the fields. A hot shower, a lot of tea and a late breakfast had turned her into something approaching normal.

“Have to?” I paused for a m...

WO, Ch 19 - WAKE UP!

A heavy, suffocating weight on my chest caused me to wake up and for a moment, I was wondering where I was. There was only darkness around me and it took a moment to put the memories of the last night together.

Claire and I had been having dinner and happily toasting with the local wine, until we were… tipsy. Or maybe even a little drunk. Or, maybe even a little more than a little drunk, at least in Clarie’s case. Getting back to the Centre, despite it only being a couple hundred me...

WO, Ch 18 - Professor Rowan

It didn’t take long for the Professor to join us. The moment he entered, Lucas moved to the door, excusing himself. After preparing himself a cup of his own, he sat down across from me, his eyes studying me.

“Cynthia’s letter only told me that you’ve got an interesting story and I should listen to it, regardless how outlandish it might be. Colour me intrigued.” he opened, skipping any sort of small-talk. But then, I wasn’t here for polite conversation, I was here because he ...

WO, Ch 17 - Sandgem Town II

“Good afternoon, welcome to SandgemGym.” a friendly voice greeted us, as we stepped up to the counter in the Gym. The room was quite wide and open, the ceiling high and painted in a soft, sky-blue, giving the place an airy feeling. Despite knowing that we were in a massive concrete-structure, I couldn’t shake the feeling of a soft breeze flowing around us.

“Good afternoon.” I returned the attendant's greeting, stepping up to the empty counter. There were a few people of variou...

WO, Ch 16 - Sandgem Town

“I see the edge of the forest!” Claire happily announced, a sudden bounce in her step.

After almost three days of wandering through the forest, with a bit of marshy bog in between, I shared her enthusiasm. According to the map I had studied, we should be almost in Sandgem-Town, the fields around town just before us.

Seeing Claire start to skip ahead, I decided to accelerate my steps as well, catching up with her, which only motivated her to start running. I had to laugh at her...

WO, Ch 15 - A Night in the Forest

By the time we decided to make camp, neither of us looked all that fresh. Throughout the day, we had been faced with aggressive Pokémon again and again, all but one of them either Starly or Bidoof. That single outlier had been a Kicketot, the Bug-typing making it easy prey for my Prince Charming. Other than that, we had taken turns fighting them, trying to spread the load equally between our three Pokémon. Claire had considered trying to catch a second Pokémon, taking the time to evaluate ...

Chapter 546

Standing atop the Wall of Ice I had conjured, I looked down at the three people with me. Ulchia, the Cleric, was getting ready to perform the ritual, while Mibo and Gilo stood at the opening in the wall, looking nervous. They fingered their weapons and I could see them look up from time to time. Gilo had taken some time earlier to prepare the area before the opening, setting some simple traps and tripwires, hopefully disrupting attacking forces.

Finally, I could feel the moon rise in th...

WO Ch 14 - First Battle

It was interesting to observe Claire, as she went from exuberant and chatty to quiet, with the sudden realisation that we were now in the wilderness. Not that the wilderness was really wild that close to town, but I noticed her flinching and fingering the Pokéball at her hip with each rustle in the trees, even if it was only the wind.

Trying to get her to calm down, I gave her a poke to the side, causing a squeak as she jumped away from me, only to drop the Pokéball she had tried to o...

WO, Ch 13 - Setting Out

The next morning came bright and early. I was used to the early mornings, thanks to a certain Champion who liked to have one of her partners kick me out of bed for training, but judging by the grumbling noises Claire was making she was not. The bleary eyes that seemed to fall shut whenever she stopped moving added to the evidence that she was not, in fact, a morning person.

After breakfast with Joyce and Cynthia, we returned the room-key and set out, meeting parts of Claire’s family a...

WO - Ch 12 - Family

Shopping was a weird experience. In some ways, it was perfectly mundane but there were those brief moments during which things got strange, mostly when Claire and Cynthia interacted. During the three hours we spent shopping, Claire never managed to look at Cynthia without either blushing or stammering, repeatedly shooting weird glances at Joyce during the process.

Maybe things were made worse, when Cynthia methodically prodded Claire about her pack-list, teaming up with Joyce to make su...

WO, Ch 11 - Leaving the League

For four weeks, Joyce and Cynthia did their best to teach me. Each day, I had lectures or  practical lessons. Either with Joyce, teaching me Pokémon care and tending or with Cynthia, who focused on the aspects of battling and travelling. It was a stark reminder that a real Pokémon Trainer was travelling from town to town, sleeping wherever they could find shelter, eating what they could forage for or carry along. A life of luxury, it was not.

For a few days, Cynthia even insisted...

WO, Ch 10 - Consequences

After the world blinked once again, I found myself back in the teleportation-chamber of the League. My first impulse was to check on the small Ralts, still hiding behind my leg, just to make sure it was alright.

“We should visit Joyce.” I told Cynthia, getting a raised eyebrow and an approving nod in response. Not wanting to put more stress on the Ralts, I called it back into the Pokéball, before following Cynthia out of the chamber.

“How often do Pokémon actually attack h...

WO, Chapter 9 - First steps

“Where are we?” I asked, looking around stunned. There was a footpath nearby, leading down-hill and when I turned around, we had a wonderful view across a valley, with some houses visible in the distance. Far closer than any signs of humanity I had seen, other than the League itself, but still a day’s march or so away from our location.

“Just a nice spot I stumbled across, a nice view and all that. That down there is Jubilife City, one of the oldest towns in the Region and we ar...

WO, Ch 8 - Settling in

• AN: I'm bad with titles and the Bohemian Rhapsody doesn't work any longer

After my walk and talk with Joyce, we returned to the Infirmary to get my backpack, before she handed me a book regarding the care of Pokémon and introduced me to a staffer. Josh, the staffer, guided me to the residence-part of the League, where I was given a room to rest. Nothing fancy, just a room, with a small bathroom, a bed, desk and a single chair. There wasn’t even much of a view, th...

Chapter 545

With the destruction we had caused, and the suggested spike in difficulty of our quest, we decided to remain near the cleft as we made camp. It was time to make camp anyway. It would also give us a bit of an idea how many Undead were in the area and how much trouble we would have to expect, while preparing fortifications on the next day.

The evening’s discussion itself was surprisingly short. The natives could see the desire radiating from Kirl, the passionate wish to cleanse the land...

WO, Ch 7 - Look to the skies

“Before we continue, I need to apologise to you.” Joyce began, her words causing a frown on my face. That didn’t sound promising. Instead of answering, I simply waited, letting her move at her pace, both in the conversation and on the path she was taking, away from the large, grey-stone building the League occupied. Somehow, even without Prince Charming putting out the heat, I wasn’t as cold as before, despite the snow we were walking on.

“What I did would normally be unthinka...

WO, Ch 6 - Open your eyes

Walking through the building during the day was vastly different from earlier, in the middle of the night. The somewhat creepy, foreboding atmosphere was gone, replaced by the quiet din of a busy office and there were people walking around, dressed in something I wanted to call business-casual. A few gave me curious glances, but none of them engaged me, while I was walking next to Joyce, Lady Bee following behind us.

The mess, located on the ground-floor, was mostly empty, though given ...

WO, Ch 5 - No escape from reality

The pink marshmallow must have given some signal, or maybe it was a simple coincidence, but within a minute after I had managed to pull myself together, Nurse Joyce and Cynthia returned, a trace of concern in their eyes.

“Now, Dani, first of all, here is your tea.” Cynthia greeted me, handing me a large mug, filled with steaming liquid and with a stylised letter D on the side. Taking it, the heat was unmistakingly and the scent of herbs filled my nose, helping me to keep fully calm....

WO, Ch 4- Caught in a Worldslide

I heard the door wing closed behind Nurse Joyce, leaving me alone with the pink marshmallow called Lady Bee. Or Blissey, as the Nurse had said. Half-remembered images bubbled up in my mind, coalescing into memories, only the memories made no sense, not in light of the world around me. How could I remember playing a game on a small hand-held device, a game that seemed to mirror the world around me?

Focusing on keeping my breath slow and steady, I tried to keep from panicking. This could ...

WO, Ch 3 - Is this just fantasy?

It was akin to blinking, only that it wasn't your vision that vanished for the literal blink of an eye, but the world that blinked, before changing in that same time-frame. At least that was what it felt like and the sudden, instantaneous change attested to that feeling.

Instead of standing in a cold, windy forest on some mountain-slope, we were in a room with all the aesthetics of an old public building, or maybe of a bunker. There was no window that I could look out of, only grey conc...

WO - Ch 2, Is this the real life?

“Hey, are you alright?” the voice asked, pushing past the disconnect that seemed to be what my senses told me about my surroundings and what I knew to be real. Or what I thought to know what was real. Forcibly pushing down those thoughts, the fear, the confusion and my desire to start screaming at the world, until it went away, I opened my eyes back up. The small Lizard, or rather Pokemon, in my arms was still there, it’s signature flame still merrily burning at the tip of its tail, its...

WO, Ch1: Wakey, Wakey

For a moment, I was simply confused, not sure who, where or when I was. My surroundings were completely dark and my brain felt sluggish, not quite firing on all cylinders. A loud sound, far too close for comfort, caused adrenaline to flood my system, my heart instantly starting to race, making me shoot upright, starting to scramble around in a panic. I had no idea what the sound had been, it had sounded like cracking wood, followed by crashing and more splintering sounds, just outside my tent...

Wandered Off - Prologue III

After three weeks on the road, I hadn’t managed to make any progress on the question I had set out to answer, but I had learned something. Not so much about me, in particular, although there were quite a few realisations, but about life and the world in general. The most important thing might have been a duality, the realisation of how vast, yet, at the same time, how small the world was.

During those three weeks, I had been walking most of the time, heading from one planned rest-spot...

Wandered Off - Prologue II

Convincing our parents to let me go on my journey had been surprisingly easy. When I explained to them about my insecurity and fears, they had simply given me a hug and told me to take as much time as I needed, to find out what I wanted to do with my life, reminding me that it was my life and I was the one who had to live with it. If I needed a year to figure out what I wanted to do, then I should take that year, even if I did nothing but gaze at my navel, chant buddhist sutras and meditate t...