OC/SI into a boy in a graveyard in Kanto, his painful life exchanged for a new one, a deathly aura attracting both Ghost and Dark Pokemon to him, his abilities perfect for doing... Whatever the hell he wants - and trolling whoever he wants along the way.
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Pokemon Dark Tidings
- Thread starter JollyHippopotamus
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Chapter 1: Only Mostly Dead.
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JollyHippopotamus
Not too sore, are you?
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Here's chapter 1: Only mostly Dead.
So this was in my snippet thread, but decided to go with it, make it a full story, had some patrons who voted for it as well. Yes, a ninth story, yes, I know.
So the synopsis for the story is that an SI/OC finds himself in Kanto, with a dark/ghost aura due to his death and rebirth and his darker nature.
Although on the side of the angels, mostly… Sometimes the devil just works quicker. This won't be Ash and friendship is magic - more of a trainer shooting for his goals above all else. To create his own gym in Kanto and show everyone that looked down on him that he's the strongest.
And to mess with them.
I'll play a bit fast and loose on Pokemon availability, the first four regions (Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh and Hoenn) being open and some trade and migration having happened, despite Ash not beginning his journey yet.
As usual, I do not own Pokemon or the associated companies that deliver material from it. I'm just playing in the kiddy pool, don't hurt me.
Enjoy!
"Wh-Where a-am I?" Ezra groaned weakly, his head pounding, both of his hands automatically raising up to massage his aching skull. He felt the chill against his back and could feel the cold coarse material he was leaning against through his thin shirt. He could feel his breath misting in the air in front of him, almost tasted the smell of damp grass and muddy soil around him. How? He'd gone to bed early, ready for the new school year to start, how was he outside? And why was it so chilly? It was still warm out when he went to bed.
He squinted, daring to open his eyes just a slight bit, protecting himself from any further shooting pains in his head. He ended up cursing lowly under his breath, both of his hands clamped around his head, as his eyes shot open fully in shock the minute he attempted a squinting look around. What on earth?
Slowly he moved his neck around, gaining a panoramic view of his surroundings. The dark smoky and hazy sky lending an almost depressive atmosphere to his surroundings. The gray and colorless surroundings were eerie and silent, apparently devoid of life, filled with rows and rows of gravestones. He scrambled to his feet, the noise of gravel under his feet echoing in the silence around him. He did his best at ignoring the throbbing pain from his still thundering skull. The chill on his back had been from him resting up against one of said gravestones, he'd been sitting on a grave.
A quick look at least confirmed it wasn't his name on it. That would have been… Yeah…
Not entirely unexpected, all things considered, he'd always expected he'd end up in one soon enough, just not, you know... Alive. Three times in his life he'd been at death's door just for the doctors to manage to bring him back to his half life - his constant struggle. Only the incoming school year and the hope for anything better had kept him alive over the summer and his convalescence from yet another attempt by death to collect him. He wasn't ready yet… Not without a fight.
If there was anything he knew in life, it was to struggle, to refuse to back down, to refuse to give in - to look death in the face and tell it to fuck right off.
"This isn't funny!?" He called out, one hand to his temple as he looked around, nervous and suspicious. Who'd play such a prank anyway… No one he knew would kidnap him from his bed and… Dump him in a graveyard. He didn't even know where the nearest graveyard was from his house! With his ill health he couldn't imagine his few friends doing it either.
"Show yourself!" Ezra demanded, anger overcoming any fear in the moment, his usual habit of bull rushing any problem head on rearing its head. Something that did not usually end well for him - a guy barely able to manage going to school on most days. "If this is some sort of joke…" He swore, wincing as his words echoed across the graveyard, his head was still pounding. Did he hit his head? Usually the pain was more… Everywhere. Constantly.
Nothing but silence answered him. Although he almost felt like the shadows were moving around him, that was probably just his head hurting making his vision blurry… It's not like he had perfect vision anyway, like everything else about his body, it was failing.
Except… Right now he could see clearer then he had for years…
In the distance he could see structures and a tower? "Where the hell is this?" His anger was growing rapidly, barely outpacing his fear. This is not New York! He thought, his breaths coming fast, misting the air around him. Where am I? Why can I see so far… Wait? Why is only my head hurting? Why doesn't breathing hurt!?
"Show yourself!" He demanded again, a hint of desperation now to his demand. If someone would just jump out and go, haha, just a prank. Then it could all make sense again.
His body working again, was freaking him out, had someone kidnapped him and experimented on him? Was he left for dead in a graveyard?
He thought he heard a giggle, he turned around quickly and found nothing, almost falling over, not used to his body twisting that quickly or easily - and more importantly, painlessly. He cursed and turned back around only to shriek and fall on his ass. A shadow getting right in his face, a menacing grin on its visage.
"Geeeengar!" It said smugly, an almost ethereal quality to the voice. The ghost floating in the air ahead of him.
"Ghosts aren't real!" Ezra shouted, as he scrambled backwards, his escape blocked by yet another gravestone as he slammed his back into it, the breath being pushed out of his lungs at the impact.
The universe apparently disagreed visavi the viability of ghosts, as the shadows around the graveyard all seemed to come alive in different shapes and forms, all circling around him. The feeling surrounding him almost felt… Welcome… Like home… Very weird and an uncomfortable realization to have when surrounded by what also felt like death - he could say he and death were almost old friends, always circling each other, but he was winning, and using ghosts was cheating.
The pain in Ezra's head was actually lessening as they got closer. The clarity afforded to him without the stabbing pain right behind his eyes making him realize what he was actually seeing. He'd been used to an aching dull pain, always - it never went away, except now it had. This sharp pain was entirely new, he was glad it was lessening yet not so glad with his understanding of what he was seeing.
"This… T-this is impossible!" Ezra spluttered out, his hands raised before him as a feeble means of protection. There was just no way this was real.
The beings surrounding him were Pokemon, ghost pokemon to be precise. Considering the tower he could see in the distance and the dreary atmosphere and multitude of graveyards… He knew where he was. He just couldn't accept it.
"Lavender town isn't real! Pokemon aren't real!" Ezra shouted angrily at the Haunter that suddenly popped up ahead of him, grinning wildly, bobbing in the air. Ezra choked on air as his statement was punctuated by the absolute eruption of ghost pokemon out of the shadows.
Gastly, Haunter and Gengar amongst them, but even a Marowak popping up, several Misdreavus, Shuppets and Dusknoir scattered amongst the mass of mostly Gastly and Haunter. They all seemed drawn to him, circling ever closer as he panicked. He jumped behind the gravestone, marveling for a second at being capable of jumping, before he freaked out even more, seeing a bunch of dark pokemon standing and watching him from that side. Lavender shouldn't even have those!
"This can't be real, this is a dream! It ISN'T REAL!" He shouted, which only had the effect of an eerie giggle diffusing through the silent graveyard as the majority of pokemon in sight seemed to find this all very amusing. Many of them slowly drawing closer, their eyes shining in the dark, like a mass of glinting lanterns moving through the darkness.
All of a sudden the pain in his head eased, and he felt like something settled over him. Like he was draped in a chilly yet supremely comfortable blanket. Yet he couldn't truly feel comfortable - as he heard a giggle right in his ear. He turned his head, dreading what he would find.
A Shuppet stared at him from within his own shadow - its multicolored eyes meeting his with apparent fascination. Fear finally beat out Ezra's anger. (Perhaps the Shuppet was feeding on the anger?) He had time to think, either way however it happened, his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed to the ground in a dead faint.
The ghost pokemon of Lavender Town circled the downed body, feeling a kinship with the boy who'd died and yet was still here, just different. Filled with anger and spite at the world. Not so unlike a ghost pokemon.
The dark pokemon, fewer but no less fascinated, circled at the end of the graveyard, in a tentative truce with the ghost pokemon as they all smelled the amalgamation of death and darkness on the boy. Ghost and Dark together.
They stood watch for the rest of the night, until the people of Lavender Town woke and noticed the gathering, freaking out, amusing the ghosts in particular. Eventually trainers cautiously approached and the ghosts finally dispersed, the dark pokemon slinking into the nearby woods, both sides leaving just the unconscious body of the young man laying there.
The one that felt like them.
For the second time, Ezra woke up without having any real idea where he was or how he was where he was. At least this time without the accompanying opera of pain going off inside his skull. And amazingly without any pain at all, for the first time he could remember since… Huh, he couldn't even remember any time without it anymore. So this was how that felt like… He struggled to keep his emotions at bay, it felt…
…He couldn't even quantify it. How do you describe a world without pain when it's all you've ever known?
"Chan, Chansey!" Came a piercing excitable shriek from right by his ear.
Ezra flinched, eyes flying open as his hands went to his head yet again. "My fucking head!" He hissed out between clenched teeth. Okay, so apparently he wasn't completely okay yet… What the fuck had he gotten into? And was a fully functioning body worth it?
Yes, fuck yes, anything is worth this! He immediately railed at himself inside his head, almost afraid that questioning it would lead to it being taken away.
"Language, young man!" A woman snapped, rushing through the door, no doubt drawn in by that shrieking.
Ezra spluttered, "I'm 21, I can curse if I want….to…." He trailed off, mouth agape as he took in the room and its occupants. By his bedside was a Chansey. An honest to god fucking Chansey. A pokemon. Oh god it wasn't a dream! And coming towards him was Nurse Joy. She was unmistakable, she looked exactly as he remembered from the cartoon. What the fuck is this!? I don't even…
He looked around, trying to avoid the sight of Joy and her Chansey and the existential crisis they were sparking in him. He was in a small room with cream coloured walls with posters of cheery pokemon with cutesy slogans, the wall and door that Joy had entered through were glass and he could see out into what was obviously a pokemon center. The rest of the room was fairly spartan, holding his bed, a chair and a counter with a pair of cupboards with an attached sink.
His malfunctioning body and it's insistence to constantly give dying an attempt, meant he'd spent countless hours playing a game that featured said pokemon centers. They were impossible to mistake for something else. Nurse Joy and the Chansey were enough evidence anyway. What… Why was he here?
And he was cynical enough to ponder, what is the cost I'll have to pay… Someone or something doesn't just break all laws of time and space and drop a cripple into another world for free. Perhaps my working body was just an investment. Which made me wonder how I'd pay the bill for it…
Nurse Joy stopped in front of his bed, an amused look on her youthful pretty face, her pink hair somewhat disheveled like she'd recently had an electric shock. "21?" She asked melodiously, her lips twitching. "Are you sure, young man?"
Ezra frowned, not understanding what was so amusing. Nurse Joy handed him a mirror that she grabbed from the nearby counter and he suddenly understood. Well, understood was an ill fitting word. Because he didn't understand at all! Not only did he look like 15-16 at the most. But he was also just… Creepy looking. He was albino, with almost translucently light skin, short spiky pure white hair, and striking and very creepy red eyes. He pursed his lips, feeling his heart rate shoot up, he didn't look like himself at all! Not to mention having deaged. It truly felt like an out of body experience, he didn't feel totally here. Not really. Because this just couldn't… It wasn't true… It just couldn't be.
He'd never hallucinated something so realistic before though, not that he hallucinated often, but he'd certainly tried some stuff this past summer, anything to dull the pain more, really, but the effects couldn't be this delayed.
Of course… He'd end his time as a wasting cripple and end up as someone that would have people cross the street to avoid. Of course that's how it would be. There's always a catch, nothing good could just happen.
Pain free though… Isn't anything and everything worth it?
Nurse Joy gently removed the mirror from his hands when he started shaking it back and forth, trying to get another view, like the mirror was a magic eight ball and if he shook it enough his real face would show. "You were found in the graveyard, we were all very concerned about you." She coughed delicately, "In fact early tests showed that you had died, but was somehow not dead…" Joy trailed off, crossing her arms under her chest, a wrinkle on her brow, pondering that for a moment, before she smiled cheerfully, disregarding it, "But you're all better now! And definitely alive!" The Chansey bounced up and down adding its own two cents. "Chansey cha!"
Ezra stared at her unsure how on earth she could possibly think that any of that was in any way comforting. He'd died? Well… If he was here somehow… Then yes he understood he'd likely died and somehow appeared in this world…If it was real… For some reason as a teenager… Which alright, it beats being reborn, because just, no, nope. Wait? Did she mean the body he was in now had died!? What kind of creepy teen goes and lays down in a graveyard to die?
Not even he had given up yet… Although he'd been close over the last year or so. Navigating adult life and trying to do the college thing, while basically a cripple that didn't look like a cripple - had been harder than anything he'd done before, and he'd gone through some low times…
He winced as he realized what exactly he looked like now, inherently creepy and off putting. There could be many reasons for a kid like that to want to die… Was he… An orphan to boot then?
God damnit, if he was going to be randomly inserted somewhere where was the damn memory packet for his new life!? Also… Was he possessing a dead body? He stopped brooding as the jolt from that thought ran through his body, his eyes raised to meet those of Nurse Joy, "Wait? Am I dead or alive? Am I possessing myself?" Ezra asked, feeling sick. Starting to face the inevitability that this was real, he could feel too many things for this to be a dream or hallucination.
Nurse Joy hurried to reassure him, sitting down at the side of his bed, grabbing his hands in hers, a compassionate smile on her face, "You're completely alive, young man. For whatever reason your body shut down, I'm not really sure why or how?" She tilted her head, looking slightly chagrined and confused, before patting his hands, "But here you are, living breathing with all the bits and pieces, so definitely alive!"
It was beginning to discomfit him how much Nurse Joy kept putting emphasis on the definitely alive part. Way to sound sure there, thanks a bunch, he thought sarcastically.
"So I died…" Ezra said quietly, trying to come to terms with the fact he'd basically taken over the body of some poor kid who'd either been killed in the graveyard or more likely… Had such a shitty life he'd ended it. Cheery thought. All those ghost pokemon he'd seen… Maybe the kid hadn't ended it? Maybe ghost energy had done him in? But then why was he there in the first place? And why had he seen dark pokemon too? Wasn't Dark super effective to Ghosts or something? Shouldn't they have run away?
Jesus Christ, he was already debating Pokemon logic, just great, give it a week and he'd be deep in the woods jacking off alone in a tent as he hunted for some rare pokemon or something stupid instead of staying sane and keeping indoors.
When moving too much in a day was different levels of excruciating, Ezra had definitely gotten used to the convenience of a mini fridge, a lazy boy recliner, and most of all. Plumbing.
He wasn't a bear. Shitting in the woods wasn't for him.
"Don't think too hard about it, the important thing is you're okay!" Joy said seriously, Chansey patting him on the leg consolingly, thrilling out its name in quick quips which Joy apparently understood - if the quick smile she flashed its way held any meaning.
"The local police couldn't find any records about you, and you're not in the league records as far as we could tell, do you… Remember your name, or any details of why you're here? No one in town recognized you, and, well…" Joy asked delicately, eyes assessing as she observed his response and actions.
Ezra wondered. Could he use his name? If there was no record… The league must have pretty strong records, right? Maybe he could at least keep his name, he sure couldn't remember anything about his body's previous life - so that was out anyway. He snorted quietly to himself - with how he looked, if he was native to Lavender or Kanto for that manner - surely someone would have remembered him. "Ezra Kassian… I don't… Remember anything else…" He said softly, looking down at their interlocked hands, feeling the turmoil inside him seethe at his shitty situation.
At the same time, with the easy breaths he was taking, the steady thrumming of his heartbeat resonating strongly inside him, the feeling of being alive and not just living - he would have taken worse than being an albino orphan and still ended up ahead.
"It will come to you in time, or it won't, either way you're safe now and that's what's important!" Joy said consolingly, patting his arm, she peered at the wall clock, squirming slightly, looking uncomfortable, "Unfortunately, now that you're awake and healed… You can't remain here…" She said, looking conflicted.
Ezra frowned, "Didn't I literally just die? Where would I go?" Does the pokemon world have social services? They must? Right? I'd go out on my own, I'm an adult at least mentally… But… That's probably a bad idea, right? I don't know this world, except from a damn game.
Joy winced, patting Chansey as it crooned quietly. "The pokemon center caters primarily to pokemon trainers and pokemon. We were just closer in your case."
Ezra nodded, hiding his conflicted feelings on the matter. Because he was fairly certain Nurse Joy had just lied to him. The hospital would surely make a lot more sense for treatment. Why would he be brought to a pokemon healing center instead? Surely they at least had a clinic or something? This was a town wasn't it? Even if it had been Pokemon's that killed him, the hospital/clinic must be used to dealing with people hurt by a pokemon. So why here? "How do I become a pokemon trainer then?" Ezra winced immediately after he asked, he had other priorities actually, "Hang on, where am I going if not here? I don't know anything!"
He didn't have memories from his body, how was he supposed to just… Leave here and go on with things? Hopefully she'd have an answer for him, because he didn't know what his next move would be.
Joy's smile was a little brittle as she stood up, straightening her dress, "Ah, there's many careers other than being a pokemon trainer, Ezra." She deflected, she winked at him, "Maybe become a nurse, eh?"
Ezra put on a fake smile, mumbling out some vague agreement. Joy was lying about something in regards to his condition. And she'd completely sidestepped him becoming a trainer. Why? If he was in this world, what else would he do? He had certain advantages over others after all. He knew all the hidden places and pokemon, how to evolve some pokemon in ways that the rest of the world might not even know yet - depending on where in the timeline he was. Him becoming a trainer was in no doubt.
It was the whole… Traveling around thing that he wasn't happy about…
He'd rather get rich through one of the methods he remembered and then set up somewhere, with modern conveniences, and play around with pokemon at home, not in bug infested woods… Get a flying pokemon and he could just fly off, catch some other pokemon, fly home in time for a beer and a shower.
No matter what secret was being kept from him it wouldn't really matter for now. He doubted Nurse Joy was some member of Team Rocket or some such. Or doing it out of any maliciousness. Didn't really seem like her style. So probably one of those for your own good things. He was going to find that very annoying, having finally achieved adulthood only to be back to an age with no say over his life - or at least always talked down to by the adults who of course knows better…
He brooded in his bed for the next hour as Joy and Chansey puttered around looking guilty and attempting stilted small talk. Then Officer Jenny arrived and soon after he found himself dropped off at the local orphanage. A blocky gray building that looked even more depressing than the surroundings.
Lavender Town was certainly bigger than what could fit in a small gameboy game. Thousands of people lived here. And if he wanted to believe it was all a Nintendo style friendship is magic world that he'd entered…. The fact the orphanage was overflowing with kids was a good sign things were not so accommodating.
"Look at that freak!" A large stocky teenager shouted in glee the second Ezra had been left alone by the adults.
As other teens and younger kids gathered around, Ezra sighed forlornly.
It was going to be like that, huh?
Fuck you and your world, Arceus!
Things were definitely… Rough for a while. Ezra literally did not have any knowledge of the world other than what he knew from pokemon games or the show, which in many cases didn't really match.
Oh, sure, Pokemon types and the like were the same, except fairy types were not yet classified as such. That had been the first sign of where in the timeline he'd been, but also not quite matching either. After all, if this was a game world, the only ghosts he should have been able to see in the graveyard were Gastly, Haunter and Gengar, as the first generation had no others.
The Shuppet that had scared him shouldn't have been there. Not to mention the others he'd seen. As he rose through the classes in school, even though he was taking them with children years younger than him - he learned that the region spanning wars had been so calamitous that entire regions had been permanently cut off from each other in the past.
Only in recent years had some opened up again, the forces and violent nature events separating regions lessening enough to allow travel (Maybe Legendaries separating the humans to stop the war?) Although this was a departure from the games as well. Likely because this world didn't work on the concept of game sequels. Because at this point of time only Kanto and maybe Johto, since it was connected more clearly - should be available.
Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh and Hoenn. They were all in communication years earlier than what the 'games' would suggest. Perhaps how some pokemon that shouldn't exist in Lavender town had still managed to be here. Or maybe his dead ass not being dead had drawn them in? Who knows. Kanto and Johto shared a league, although Lance was not yet the champion, putting me in definitely pre-Ash time.
Ezra had been given citizenship in Kanto with his 'birth city' becoming Lavender town. As much as he disliked almost everything about what had happened - mostly because he still had no clue how or why - he grudgingly appreciated what had been done for him. Even as most citizens of Lavender treated him like a pariah at best, he had a roof over his head, free education and he'd been given citizenship - despite having no clue where he was from or how he'd gotten there.
It did smart something fierce though… Watching kids leave on Pokemon journeys, while he stewed in his frustration and anger in the orphanage, already much older than the kids leaving. Not that many from the orphanage were, no, we were all destined for manual labor or retail jobs. The rare few got sponsored, got a scholarship for a pokemon technical school or were adopted (incredibly rare) by someone who could fund their journey.
He didn't want to go on a journey per say… But he wanted the trainers license, because in this world, Pokemon was power. And without them - you had none.
With his meta knowledge he'd literally blown through school in regards to anything to do with pokemon, having to dumb himself down at times, because things he knew - weren't known yet. Although the subjects like history had taken slightly longer as he'd had to start from the beginning. Yet… Any request to even apply for becoming a trainer was denied him. There's no way he could afford a trainers license on his own, they didn't come that cheaply for random orphans. Let alone the most disliked orphan in Lavender town. Curse Arceus for making him an albino freak!
For every day he spent working his ass off on his studies, on studying every scrap of knowledge on pokemon that was available (Ghost and Dark mostly, it's what Lavender had a lot of material on - and it called to him.) - there was a day where he found himself having to fight. He could have backed down from all the bullies and naysayers, but what would that have achieved? He refused to be destined as nothing - to then add spineless and pathetic to it as well, was anathema. For once he had a working body, he wouldn't accept being pushed around anymore.
There was something satisfying about the crunch of crushed cartilage, as he dealt out damage to his bullies - he always lost in the end - for they were many, and he was but one.
But he always made them pay heavily for it…
If they had pokemon maybe it wouldn't have been so bad, he'd definitely go for a pokemon battle anytime… But none of them had any, so it was just regular fists he faced. At least he couldn't say he got no exercise... Of course all the witnesses always said he started it. So he got intimately acquainted with Officer Jenny and the Lavender town police department. (Not that kind of intimate, unfortunately) He usually got accused of everything from vandalism to theft anyway, just for being in the vicinity of good upstanding citizens. Luckily for him, the police refused to actually prosecute him without actual evidence other than kids getting into fights.
They all knew he was other, foreign. His looks hadn't helped him in that aspect. So even with the police not prosecuting him, they also weren't helping.
It wasn't shown in the games, but people were still people. Racism was still a thing, fear of anything other, was definitely still a thing, and of course there had been wars between the regions… So a lot of hatred was stewing behind the scenes.
So yeah… He was grateful to Lavender for taking him in since he had nothing and no one… And he wanted to punch every fucking face in town in - for treating him like garbage. Except Nurse Joy. Joy was cool. Even if still tight-lipped whenever he tried to question her. There was definitely something going on that he was unaware of. He was so far at the top of the class it wasn't funny, even if he was older then all the other kids he should be receiving offers to sponsor or at least go study for a breeder or at a scientific research center if nothing else. But he got nothing…
And maybe he was being spiteful and a bit resentful, not all of Lavender was treating him like the dirt under their shoes. But it sure felt like it…
With no Pokemon, no realistic way to get one yet without getting accused of poaching or something, and no real future to look forward to after he finished school… He was constantly burning with anger and darker feelings. The spite he was carrying around everyday as he faced mutters and dirty looks everywhere he went, became the new normal.
Those feelings would have probably been how he finally figured out that he wasn't alone…
If things hadn't escalated due to pure suicidal stupidity.
It had been over six months since he'd arrived in this world, nothing had really stood out in the morning to tell him everything would change.
It had been a regular shitty day. His breakfast had accidentally been knocked out of his hands by Rocky, Dean and their group of neanderthals ( Both as old as him and more pathetic for it as they had nothing going for them.) Of course he couldn't get seconds after that. It was an orphanage - and everyone would swear up and down he tossed it to the ground on his own if he bothered to complain. So… Off he went to school, hungry. Fine.
It's fine. He was cool about it. No big deal…
His walk to the school was practically a practice in mediation and zen like control of his emotions at this point. He barely even saw the people around him anymore as he sunk into almost a meditative state - achieved after much practice - eyes half lidded as he walked automatically down the road, the darkness building inside him being tightly controlled and soothed. He almost felt like he heard a cackling laugh from somewhere, but he'd arrived at the school so he put it out of his mind.
As he entered the yard outdid the school, he could feel the weight of the stares from his classmates. They knew he was different, they knew the adults didn't like him, and they didn't hesitate to make him feel it. Ezra took a deep steadying breath, trying to keep his emotions in check.
It wouldn't do to break noses at school, he'd probably actually get in shit for that.
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?" It was Mia, one of the few students who had been kind to him since he had arrived in town.
Only one really.
Mia's voice cut through the haze of his dark thoughts, and Ezra turned to look at her. She had a concerned expression on her face, her bright green eyes filled with worry. Mia was two years younger than him, but she had a maturity beyond her years. She had always been kind to him, despite the harsh treatment he'd received from the other students.
She was the kind of person that would find an injured squirrel and nurse it back to health, that would give the shirt off her back to help another - a total softy in other words.
And completely nuts to risk associating with him.
Ezra managed to fake a small smile, appreciative of her concern, but really not needing her to become the next target. "I'm fine, Mia. Just the usual bullshit." He shrugged, trying to downplay the situation. He didn't want to burden her with his problems.
Mia looked at him sympathetically, her face an open book, he disliked the whole situation really, but he could also see it was ultimately temporary, he wasn't a teenager anymore, not really - so he could see the light at the end of the tunnel (heh, death joke!)
"I understand, Ezra." Mia said companionably, her expression entirely honest and warm, "It's not easy, I know. But you're not alone, not really." She glanced around the hallway surreptitiously, making sure no one was listening in on their conversation. "I've noticed something... Strange. Whenever you're around, ghost-type Pokemon seem to appear more often…"
Ezra scoffed, glancing at her out of the corner of his eyes as he continued towards the school entrance, hands in the pockets of his worn jeans. "You're shittin' me, I have never even laid an eye on a single one…" Not since the graveyard anyway…
"It's true." Mia insisted, skipping alongside him, her freckled face gaining a stubborn look that he knew meant she wouldn't drop this. "Like out of the corner of my eye sometimes, I see stuff in your shadow."
"Stuff… Right?" He mocked her lightly, "Sure sounds like a pokemon to me."
He didn't entirely discount her, because who knew? And perhaps he'd have to see if he could catch a glimpse himself, but agreeing with her in any way would just have her stick by him even closer - and that wasn't good for her continued health.
Speaking of the devil… He thought, mood immediately souring as he noticed Rocky's best friend Dean, rushing their way surrounded by a small gaggle of other orphans.
Their conversation was interrupted as Dean gleefully shoved a poke ball under his nose, from the scuffs and dirt on it, he'd likely stolen or come upon one. He sure as hell couldn't afford buying one.
They were the unwanted, all of them - the ones who'd never gotten a journey, a break, a shot at being something special. The ones destined for sewer work, cleaning, and all other undesirable jobs - company pokemon lent to them for tasks, for the ones they wouldn't have to do with their own hands anyway.
Dean sneered at Ezra, holding up the Pokeball and giving it a shake. "Hey look, it's the loser without a Pokemon. What's the matter, can't you even get one of your own?" He chuckled nasally, looking to his friends for approval immediately.
What a moronic taunt, since none of us are allowed one of our own… He thought, staring at the idiot bully with a dull look.
He noticed Dean's attention wavering, switching towards Mia, so he stepped forward, hands still in his pockets. "Who'd you suck off for that then? Never knew you were that into balls, Dean."
It worked like a charm, no one was paying attention to Mia now, every single one of the guys staring at him. Some holding back snickers, as Dean's pimply face turned a puce color as he snarled back at Ezra, "You can't talk like that now, freak, I got a Pokemon!"
Ezra held back the urge to roll his eyes at the childish taunt, yes, he was a freak, come up with something new. He idly noted Mia out of the corner of his eyes, a few steps back, watching the gathering while worryingly gnawing on her lower lip.
He couldn't really pick a fight, couldn't afford to. Not at school, not only for him, but for Mia. She was a sweetheart really, and she didn't deserve to worry about him, or to get caught in the crossfire.
So he turned his back on Dean, dismissively, "Whatever, we got class."
He only realized his mistake when Dean snarled in anger behind him and he heard the sound of a pokeball hitting the dusty ground, what hurts more than anger? Dismissal.
He turned around quickly, giving Mia a shove away from him, "Get out of here, Mia!" He said urgently.
As he'd guessed, Dean had stolen, or found a lost pokeball. Which meant he'd just released what was basically a monster in the school yard, while having no control of it.
The pokemon emerged with a feral snarl, its eyes glowing with a menacing red light. The other students gasped and scattered, even Dean's friends not having expected him to go that far. Which left Ezra and Mia to face the creature alone, only Dean remaining, cheering on 'his' pokemon like the absolute moron he was.
From the looks of it, with the obvious signs of abuse across the Nidorans skin - the idiot had managed to somehow get his hand on a pokemon reclaimed from an abusive trainer. Ezra raised his hands, trying to appear non-threatening, "Hey, it's okay, we're not going to hurt you, you're not with your trainer anymore." He tried, lacking any better options.
In his mind, he dully noted that Mia continued to prove that she had no survival instincts. First trying to befriend the abnormal freak everyone hated - and now not running facing a feral pokemon.
Nidoran snarled, its horn glistening purple as its eyes flickered across the yard, searching for threats.
To Ezra's relief, it didn't seem to see them as such at the moment, so he slowly began to back up, laying an arm across Mia, pushing her back behind him. "Slowly now…" He muttered.
"Do something, you useless thing!" Dean shouted, aiming a kick at the abused Nidoran, making Ezra's hope for humanity sink to new lows. The idiot was dead last in pokemon studies, but surely he couldn't be that dumb?
The Nidoran yelped in pain and anger, as Dean's kick connected, its eyes flickering towards the source of the pain. Ezra could see the anger and confusion in its gaze, and he knew it was only a matter of time before it attacked. Where the fuck are the teachers!?
He quickly scanned the area, looking for something, anything, he could use as a weapon, coming up short.
Their classes had a very simple lesson on what to do about fighting a Pokemon on your own.
Don't.
End of lesson.
"Stay behind me." Ezra whispered to Mia, his eyes never leaving the Nidoran, he refused to be cowed by something the size of a plushie. He knew it had powers that could kill him, but death wasn't a fear of his, failing to live was.
The Nidoran finally decided on a course of action, Ezra pushing Mia to run, not feeling even an ounce of empathy for Dean as the Nidoran gored him with its horn, the teen absolutely howling in agony.
He wasn't a saint, do stupid shit - win stupid prizes. Dean won death all of his own, and Ezra didn't give a shit about it - except for the fact they were now possible targets.
Chancing a quick look behind him, still pushing Mia ahead of him, he blanched as he saw the Nidoran - its horn dripping blood - turn its head their way, beginning to run on tiny legs, but eating up the distance far faster then it should be able to.
If it was a normal animal, but pokemon were not, their bodies didn't have the same limits as physical or common sense would dictate.
Ezra was forced to improvise, sliding to a halt, kicking a garbage can towards the Nidoran, his hand grasping the lid. "Tch." He acknowledged as the Nidoran jumped on top of the garbage can, using it to fly in the air, heading directly at him.
Ezra tried to smack it with his makeshift shield, only to find the Nidoran was heavier than it looked, smashing into his shield, his arms not able to push it away and off as he'd planned. The horn pierced right through it, stopping just an inch in front of his face.
"Fuck off Barney!" He said, scowling, glaring at the purple pokemon as it wiggled its horn trying to push through.
With its momentum slowed, Ezra managed to at least let go of his makeshift shield, taking a few steps back as the Nidoran shook it head, screeching, trying to get the trash can lid off its horn, quickly managing to rip through the cheap metal.
Ezra stared down at the snarling pokemon, its red eyes mad and unfocused. Shit, this might be it… He thought, putting his hands up in a loose boxers pose.
If he was going down, he was going to at least punch this fucking thing in the face before he got gored.
Pain was not new, hell death wasn't new. He'd be damned if he was going to face it like a chump, he'd go out punching death in the face or not at all.
"Leave him alone" A shriek came from the side, an apple hitting the Nidoran in the head.
Both Pokemon and person turned and stared at Mia, one in madness, the other just mad.
It was a good ass throw, no doubt, but it was also just the last thing she should have done, why wouldn't the bitch just run!?
Everyone was shooting for stupid prizes today.
"Mia, no!" Ezra shouted, lunging for the Nidoran, but only hitting dirt, as the pokemon shot forward, rushing towards the girl.
Finally teachers were coming out of the entrance, pokeballs aloft, too late. Far too late. Ezra thought, despairing.
You stupid girl! I don't even really know you, and you're going to make me watch you die!
His anger flared, at the situation, at that idiot Dean, at the incapable teachers, and most of all at the stupid girl who tried to befriend him, and got herself killed for it.
The Nidoran jumped at Mia's throat, the girl screaming in fear, before a shadow ball struck it in the side, sending the Nidoran off course, screeching in pain.
Ezra rose up, feeling a chill in the air, the rush of the teachers had pulled to a stop, their pokemon out, but standing guard, wary.
Ezra could see why…
Shadows played around him, his own shadow draped like a mantle around his shoulders, Dozens of ghost pokemon fluttering in and out of sight, giggling phantasms doing a fly by, over the crowd of teachers and students.
Out of his shadow, a shuppet floated up to hover over his shoulder. Ezra didn't know how he knew, but it was the same one as the one he saw at the graveyard.
The Nidoran stood no chance, a multitude of ghost attacks hitting it at once, making Ezra wince. "Stop!" He yelled, not interested in killing it, especially not in front of witnesses.
The entire group of ghosts all pulled back at his order, and Ezra had no idea what was going on… But he liked it.
Where the fuck was this these last six months? He thought, marveling over what was going on.
As the shadows practically broiled across the ground around him, dark shadowy smoke wafting off his shoulders and limbs, a Shuppet on his shoulder, a cloud of ghost pokemon circling above him, Ezra grinned widely,
Lavender Town wouldn't be able to ignore him now.
Several hours later,
Officer Jenny sat across from him in the interrogation room at the police station, having politely asked him to visit. "We're willing to offer a trainers license if you agree to leave Lavender Town." She said reluctantly, it was obvious it wasn't her call, it came from above her.
With how superstitious people in Lavender could be, and add in his appearance, Ezra wasn't surprised they wanted to get rid of him. Offering the one thing he'd stubbornly kept asking for and continuously was denied was smart.
But, a little too late, and a little too… Well, little.
He wasn't just a no-name orphan now.
Officer Jenny watched Ezra carefully, her expression a mix of concern and determination. The dull hum of the fluorescent lights overhead cast an eerie glow over the room, highlighting the beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
She was uncomfortable being stuck in an enclosed space with him.
Made him wonder why exactly they chose this room to begin with, it's not like he'd have protested if they did it in a field, or the schoolyard or literally anywhere.
Ezra could practically feel the weight of the town's fear and mistrust pressing down on him, even Mia had looked at him with fear in the end - the miasma of ghostly energies and pokemon proving too much for even her charity. He'd gotten what he wanted in a way, but not how he'd wanted it.
Hopefully she'd gain some much needed survival instincts.
Because without a pokemon on her own, she was going to get herself killed with some brave pointless stunt.
He had nothing against being brave, it sure beat being a coward - but like with everything, it needed moderation. He vastly preferred being brave in a situation where he actually stood more than a snowball's chance in hell to win.
He supposed he should be thankful they were willing to just kick him out with a parting gift, and not put him away in some lab somewhere and study his strange affinity to ghosts.
He'd definitely need to keep an eye out. If team Rocket heard about him being some kind of Ghost Pokemon beacon…
He did not want to spend the rest of his life as some sort of battery for fucking Giovanni.
He disliked the man not because he was the enemy in a game he'd played once, but because the coward was a duplicitous fraud without the will to truly go for what he wanted.
If he wanted to be a criminal lord, he should have just done it full stop, not the half measure he did playing gym leader on the side.
"A trainer's license, huh?" Ezra muttered lowly, his Shuppet still hovering over his shoulder, no longer hiding in his shadow.
He could almost feel It now, when it slipped in or around his shadow, connected somehow.
Some ghosts in pokemon had some shitty descriptions, he didn't remember if shuppets were the ones where a kid died and became a pokemon - but he sure as hell hoped not.
If he was lugging around his body's previous soul as a pokemon - that would just be sick.
As for the offer, he could just take it, but he was an orphan, and traveling the wilderness with nary a pokeball, tent or rations on him - sounded self defeating. He also really wasn't one for roughing it. He was a New Yorker, not a wilderness enthusiast.
He never went anywhere where there wasn't a hot dog cart within a block radius.
Besides all that, he really wasn't happy about the whole treatment he'd received in Lavender for something as retarded as his looks - now they have a reason, but before they sure as hell didn't. They might succeed in getting rid of him for the moment - and he was going to make it cost them a bundle… But he'd be back…
Oh, he had plans now…
If he really had this connection with Ghost pokemon? Well, he wanted to train and fight with them, but without schlepping through woods - so why not build his own gym. Get the pokemon experience but not the weeks without showers and bugs in his everything, experience.
A Ghost gym! Even if it didn't get to be on the circuit, he'd still have challengers, someone would always come when there was a challenge available. And he'd get his creature comforts and his pokemon and power at the same time. And who knew, if he got strong enough, maybe he could even get the gym on the circuit, it wasn't like the Cerulean gym was worth shit anyway.
And of course, since Lavender town had fucked with him, and also happened to be ghost capital of the world - what better place to set up? The town was literally built for it, he'd never lack pokemon for the gym, or for handing out starters to annoying tykes.
And he'd make sure each god damn orphan got a chance to own a pokemon too - license or no license.
He'd be back, they could count on it.
But first, he needed to extort the crap out of them. For justice. But mostly because he needed to eat.
"Seems kind of low… Kickin' an orphan to the wilderness and all that, dontcha think?" He said casually, leaning forward on his elbows, a Haunter briefly flickering into being next to him, grinning, before it faded away, mocking laughter echoing around the interrogation room.
Okay, he hadn't asked for that, or planned it - but wicked!
Officer Jenny watched him with a bit more wariness, although she still had an underlying aura of concern around her, "A basic starter kit could be provided." She said agreeably. "A tent, some antidotes and food, cooking supplies."
Wow, I thought you were cool, Jenny - what's with the lowball offer?
Ezra scoffed, not even interested in such a pathetic offer, talk about starting low, "You're gonna give me that crap after I saved a girl's life?" He said with an unimpressed mien, his brow knitted together.
Officer Jenny gave him a stern look, lips pursed, "You're also endangering lives for every moment you remain. There's already been trainers inquiring about how much of a threat you are and if there's a bounty on your head yet."
"Bounty?" Ezra asked, a bit thrown, it was not something he'd run into in his studies, or in the games.
Definitely not something that would fit in a kids game he supposed. Bounty hunters usually weren't easygoing fellas.
Officer Jenny grimaced, "It's not something that we generally advertise, but sometimes people, or pokemon, become a threat to society, and bounties get placed for taking them in."
"Threat to society, huh?" Ezra said thoughtfully, not something he'd have pictured for himself.
He could see it of course, if he could really direct all these pokemon, and they weren't just humoring him or something - he was definitely a threat.
Just not to regular people - he was a bit of an a-hole sure, but he wasn't 100 percent a dick.
"You can see why we don't want any misunderstandings to happen." Officer Jenny said shortly, giving him a measured look.
At least she didn't look ready to attack him, even if she did have her pokemon out for this little meeting. Probably the fact he saved Mia was his one saving grace in this - and why he didn't have some Ace trainers or Rangers throwing Charizards and shit at him.
Ezra nodded, understanding her point, just not… Giving a fuck. "Unless you're telling me you're putting a bounty on me for saving a life, trouble from bounty hunters sounds more like a you problem. Again, you want me gone, then set me up in a way where I can actually leave." He didn't bother with pleasantries just going full on blunt ass - there was no need to be diplomatic now, they both know what they wanted, so it was time to deal.
Like hell he was going to be made to feel guilty for saving Mia, no matter how freaky or spooky he was about it.
Officer Jenny let out a huff, looking towards the one way mirror, before sighing, "Alright, what do you want exactly…?"
Ezra smiled winningly. "Let me take as much as I can carry from the pokemart in town, at the town's expense." He suggested, the Shuppet on his shoulder shaking in laughter.
She tried to haggle him down of course, but he was insistent. Eventually, after some pow-wows with whoever was behind the mirror, she agreed to his request and escorted him to the Pokemart.
Sucked to suck, the Pokemart had recently gotten those new hammerspace bags or whatever they were. The ones you saw in the anime where Ash and co could pull full on cooking sets, tents and shit out of them.
What he could carry with two or three of those bags… Well… He wasn't going to be any more liked in town shortly, but he'd be well set up for his journey.
Perhaps sensing his mischievousness, the ghosts following in his wake went off into a chorus of creepy laughter, freaking out Officer Jenny.
"No worries, Officer. They just like a good joke." Ezra said, trying to hold back a shit eating grin.
Boy were they going to be pissed when he showed back up to put down roots.
This was where he'd been born so to speak.
Like hell he was going to let these losers run him out permanently.
Later that night,
Ezra had set up his tent just a two hours walk from Lavender Town.
He was technically following the 'banishment' As he wasn't in Lavender after all, he was in the wild wilderness - two hours of a slow walk away type of wilderness.
He'd definitely furthered the resentment when he'd robbed the pokemart blind on the taxpayers dollar - but to be fair, he did lay out the terms clearly, and they signed on the dotted line.
He'd walked out carrying four bags with space enlargement mojo in them, absolutely stuffed to the brim with everything he could possibly need.
He now faced the question of what exactly he should do.
He didn't want to travel around the regions, not on foot anyway. Once he had flight, he could just travel from town to town - you know - civilization. Therefore a flying pokemon would be absolutely necessary, one he could evolve quickly for the purpose of flying.
It might not make him the best type of trainer, he wasn't exactly a 'purist' when it came to all the make friends, be happy bullshit Ash portrayed in a kids show.
Dean dying to a Nidoran, the bounties on dangerous pokemon or trainers - told him he wasn't in a kid friendly world. So befriend a pidgey and spend maybe months training it, battling with it against other rookies… He didn't have the sentiment to bother with it.
He'd rather catch one and make it clear from the beginning, we're training for you to be a flier, not a battler. The pidgey would get a nice life of being well fed and taken care of, with just having to fly around a bit now and then - all it had to do was live through the gauntlet of ghosts battling it over and over while they traveled, until it evolved.
He wasn't going to be Ash, the kid, if he existed here, could try his own bs and see how it worked. Ezra was followed by ghosts and dark type pokemon for a reason - and it wasn't his pleasant personality.
He too, just like them, had a good bit of spite in him. A need to tell the world to suck it, to go his own way.
It was probably going to end in tragedy, what quest for power didn't? But he was okay with that, it was about the journey, not the end. As long as he was happy with what he was doing, it wouldn't matter what happened at the end.
So, he'd have to focus on a flying pokemon for a bit, surely there would be some around in any forest.
After that, he had a choice to make.
He needed to find something that would make him a lot of money.
So he could get his snazzy freaky ghost gym, preferably styled like a haunted mansion, with a moat around it, covered in fog - one rickety wooden bridge leading into the unknown. Yeah… That sounded about right.
No point in going the gym leader route if he wasn't going to be a scary as hell one, the kind the filthy casuals don't dare approach because of his rep.
So… Money.
This time in the timeline no one should know about how to evolve Feebas into Milotic, which would be some good cash, but also time consuming. It wasn't like he could rip every prism scale off them as they evolved - he wasn't cruel, just indifferent to the pokemon he didn't care about.
He also knew about the island full of dragonites, selling that information would net him a good sum, but would also attract attention. He also figured that the two who would pay the most for the information would be Lance, the dragon master - and Giovanni because of Team Rocket.
Neither were people he wanted to deal with at this early stage. He'd have to actually train up a team first. Become at least a gym leader level of strength.
His mind was flush with ideas for training, so he didn't think it would be impossible, but not soon enough for his taste to tangle with the likes of Lance or Giovanni.
The crystal Onix was an option, but not an immediate one.
He'd have to put a pin in it, either way, until he could fly, his money making schemes were a non-starter.
He rummaged around in one of his bags, bringing out a set of poke balls.
"Okay, I don't know how much you guys all understand what's going on, but I can't fight with you guys while you're not 'my' Pokemon." Ezra held up several pokeballs, seeing ghosts and dark pokemon skimming by the edge of his campsite, well hidden in the dark.
"Once I have my own gym, you'll all be there, belonging to me and my gym, playing whatever pranks you want and having fun with idiots." Ezra promised, with a smirk on his face, "Until then, who wants to grow strong with me?"
The Shuppet on his shoulder tapped itself on one of his pokeballs, not surprising Ezra overly much considering it had been following him around. The pokeball let out a ding as it officially became his starter.
Out of the shadows, a Cubone, and a Haunter came into the campsite.
He was a little disappointed that more pokemon didn't want to come, but with his current limit of six, it was probably for the best.
He rolled the pokeballs over, and the two volunteers touched them, sucked into the pokeballs without further ado - and officially joined team Ezra.
He held up the three pokeballs, more ghosts swirling around him, the dark type pokemon keeping their distance but still watching him.
"We're going to mess with people so fucking much." He promised them, his face not so dissimilar from a grinning Gengar in the darkness.
Well… If the Gengar was an albino.
Author's note:
So this is basically the premise - a guy who's not the typical in love with all Pokemon's insert who smells all the flowers and adores all pokemon.
A guy with his own flaws, and a bit of a ruthless laziness to him.
Yet intelligent enough to utilize all the cheats and training tools and tips he'd know about through metaknowledge.
Cheers
So this was in my snippet thread, but decided to go with it, make it a full story, had some patrons who voted for it as well. Yes, a ninth story, yes, I know.
So the synopsis for the story is that an SI/OC finds himself in Kanto, with a dark/ghost aura due to his death and rebirth and his darker nature.
Although on the side of the angels, mostly… Sometimes the devil just works quicker. This won't be Ash and friendship is magic - more of a trainer shooting for his goals above all else. To create his own gym in Kanto and show everyone that looked down on him that he's the strongest.
And to mess with them.
I'll play a bit fast and loose on Pokemon availability, the first four regions (Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh and Hoenn) being open and some trade and migration having happened, despite Ash not beginning his journey yet.
As usual, I do not own Pokemon or the associated companies that deliver material from it. I'm just playing in the kiddy pool, don't hurt me.
Enjoy!
"Wh-Where a-am I?" Ezra groaned weakly, his head pounding, both of his hands automatically raising up to massage his aching skull. He felt the chill against his back and could feel the cold coarse material he was leaning against through his thin shirt. He could feel his breath misting in the air in front of him, almost tasted the smell of damp grass and muddy soil around him. How? He'd gone to bed early, ready for the new school year to start, how was he outside? And why was it so chilly? It was still warm out when he went to bed.
He squinted, daring to open his eyes just a slight bit, protecting himself from any further shooting pains in his head. He ended up cursing lowly under his breath, both of his hands clamped around his head, as his eyes shot open fully in shock the minute he attempted a squinting look around. What on earth?
Slowly he moved his neck around, gaining a panoramic view of his surroundings. The dark smoky and hazy sky lending an almost depressive atmosphere to his surroundings. The gray and colorless surroundings were eerie and silent, apparently devoid of life, filled with rows and rows of gravestones. He scrambled to his feet, the noise of gravel under his feet echoing in the silence around him. He did his best at ignoring the throbbing pain from his still thundering skull. The chill on his back had been from him resting up against one of said gravestones, he'd been sitting on a grave.
A quick look at least confirmed it wasn't his name on it. That would have been… Yeah…
Not entirely unexpected, all things considered, he'd always expected he'd end up in one soon enough, just not, you know... Alive. Three times in his life he'd been at death's door just for the doctors to manage to bring him back to his half life - his constant struggle. Only the incoming school year and the hope for anything better had kept him alive over the summer and his convalescence from yet another attempt by death to collect him. He wasn't ready yet… Not without a fight.
If there was anything he knew in life, it was to struggle, to refuse to back down, to refuse to give in - to look death in the face and tell it to fuck right off.
"This isn't funny!?" He called out, one hand to his temple as he looked around, nervous and suspicious. Who'd play such a prank anyway… No one he knew would kidnap him from his bed and… Dump him in a graveyard. He didn't even know where the nearest graveyard was from his house! With his ill health he couldn't imagine his few friends doing it either.
"Show yourself!" Ezra demanded, anger overcoming any fear in the moment, his usual habit of bull rushing any problem head on rearing its head. Something that did not usually end well for him - a guy barely able to manage going to school on most days. "If this is some sort of joke…" He swore, wincing as his words echoed across the graveyard, his head was still pounding. Did he hit his head? Usually the pain was more… Everywhere. Constantly.
Nothing but silence answered him. Although he almost felt like the shadows were moving around him, that was probably just his head hurting making his vision blurry… It's not like he had perfect vision anyway, like everything else about his body, it was failing.
Except… Right now he could see clearer then he had for years…
In the distance he could see structures and a tower? "Where the hell is this?" His anger was growing rapidly, barely outpacing his fear. This is not New York! He thought, his breaths coming fast, misting the air around him. Where am I? Why can I see so far… Wait? Why is only my head hurting? Why doesn't breathing hurt!?
"Show yourself!" He demanded again, a hint of desperation now to his demand. If someone would just jump out and go, haha, just a prank. Then it could all make sense again.
His body working again, was freaking him out, had someone kidnapped him and experimented on him? Was he left for dead in a graveyard?
He thought he heard a giggle, he turned around quickly and found nothing, almost falling over, not used to his body twisting that quickly or easily - and more importantly, painlessly. He cursed and turned back around only to shriek and fall on his ass. A shadow getting right in his face, a menacing grin on its visage.
"Geeeengar!" It said smugly, an almost ethereal quality to the voice. The ghost floating in the air ahead of him.
"Ghosts aren't real!" Ezra shouted, as he scrambled backwards, his escape blocked by yet another gravestone as he slammed his back into it, the breath being pushed out of his lungs at the impact.
The universe apparently disagreed visavi the viability of ghosts, as the shadows around the graveyard all seemed to come alive in different shapes and forms, all circling around him. The feeling surrounding him almost felt… Welcome… Like home… Very weird and an uncomfortable realization to have when surrounded by what also felt like death - he could say he and death were almost old friends, always circling each other, but he was winning, and using ghosts was cheating.
The pain in Ezra's head was actually lessening as they got closer. The clarity afforded to him without the stabbing pain right behind his eyes making him realize what he was actually seeing. He'd been used to an aching dull pain, always - it never went away, except now it had. This sharp pain was entirely new, he was glad it was lessening yet not so glad with his understanding of what he was seeing.
"This… T-this is impossible!" Ezra spluttered out, his hands raised before him as a feeble means of protection. There was just no way this was real.
The beings surrounding him were Pokemon, ghost pokemon to be precise. Considering the tower he could see in the distance and the dreary atmosphere and multitude of graveyards… He knew where he was. He just couldn't accept it.
"Lavender town isn't real! Pokemon aren't real!" Ezra shouted angrily at the Haunter that suddenly popped up ahead of him, grinning wildly, bobbing in the air. Ezra choked on air as his statement was punctuated by the absolute eruption of ghost pokemon out of the shadows.
Gastly, Haunter and Gengar amongst them, but even a Marowak popping up, several Misdreavus, Shuppets and Dusknoir scattered amongst the mass of mostly Gastly and Haunter. They all seemed drawn to him, circling ever closer as he panicked. He jumped behind the gravestone, marveling for a second at being capable of jumping, before he freaked out even more, seeing a bunch of dark pokemon standing and watching him from that side. Lavender shouldn't even have those!
"This can't be real, this is a dream! It ISN'T REAL!" He shouted, which only had the effect of an eerie giggle diffusing through the silent graveyard as the majority of pokemon in sight seemed to find this all very amusing. Many of them slowly drawing closer, their eyes shining in the dark, like a mass of glinting lanterns moving through the darkness.
All of a sudden the pain in his head eased, and he felt like something settled over him. Like he was draped in a chilly yet supremely comfortable blanket. Yet he couldn't truly feel comfortable - as he heard a giggle right in his ear. He turned his head, dreading what he would find.
A Shuppet stared at him from within his own shadow - its multicolored eyes meeting his with apparent fascination. Fear finally beat out Ezra's anger. (Perhaps the Shuppet was feeding on the anger?) He had time to think, either way however it happened, his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed to the ground in a dead faint.
The ghost pokemon of Lavender Town circled the downed body, feeling a kinship with the boy who'd died and yet was still here, just different. Filled with anger and spite at the world. Not so unlike a ghost pokemon.
The dark pokemon, fewer but no less fascinated, circled at the end of the graveyard, in a tentative truce with the ghost pokemon as they all smelled the amalgamation of death and darkness on the boy. Ghost and Dark together.
They stood watch for the rest of the night, until the people of Lavender Town woke and noticed the gathering, freaking out, amusing the ghosts in particular. Eventually trainers cautiously approached and the ghosts finally dispersed, the dark pokemon slinking into the nearby woods, both sides leaving just the unconscious body of the young man laying there.
The one that felt like them.
For the second time, Ezra woke up without having any real idea where he was or how he was where he was. At least this time without the accompanying opera of pain going off inside his skull. And amazingly without any pain at all, for the first time he could remember since… Huh, he couldn't even remember any time without it anymore. So this was how that felt like… He struggled to keep his emotions at bay, it felt…
…He couldn't even quantify it. How do you describe a world without pain when it's all you've ever known?
"Chan, Chansey!" Came a piercing excitable shriek from right by his ear.
Ezra flinched, eyes flying open as his hands went to his head yet again. "My fucking head!" He hissed out between clenched teeth. Okay, so apparently he wasn't completely okay yet… What the fuck had he gotten into? And was a fully functioning body worth it?
Yes, fuck yes, anything is worth this! He immediately railed at himself inside his head, almost afraid that questioning it would lead to it being taken away.
"Language, young man!" A woman snapped, rushing through the door, no doubt drawn in by that shrieking.
Ezra spluttered, "I'm 21, I can curse if I want….to…." He trailed off, mouth agape as he took in the room and its occupants. By his bedside was a Chansey. An honest to god fucking Chansey. A pokemon. Oh god it wasn't a dream! And coming towards him was Nurse Joy. She was unmistakable, she looked exactly as he remembered from the cartoon. What the fuck is this!? I don't even…
He looked around, trying to avoid the sight of Joy and her Chansey and the existential crisis they were sparking in him. He was in a small room with cream coloured walls with posters of cheery pokemon with cutesy slogans, the wall and door that Joy had entered through were glass and he could see out into what was obviously a pokemon center. The rest of the room was fairly spartan, holding his bed, a chair and a counter with a pair of cupboards with an attached sink.
His malfunctioning body and it's insistence to constantly give dying an attempt, meant he'd spent countless hours playing a game that featured said pokemon centers. They were impossible to mistake for something else. Nurse Joy and the Chansey were enough evidence anyway. What… Why was he here?
And he was cynical enough to ponder, what is the cost I'll have to pay… Someone or something doesn't just break all laws of time and space and drop a cripple into another world for free. Perhaps my working body was just an investment. Which made me wonder how I'd pay the bill for it…
Nurse Joy stopped in front of his bed, an amused look on her youthful pretty face, her pink hair somewhat disheveled like she'd recently had an electric shock. "21?" She asked melodiously, her lips twitching. "Are you sure, young man?"
Ezra frowned, not understanding what was so amusing. Nurse Joy handed him a mirror that she grabbed from the nearby counter and he suddenly understood. Well, understood was an ill fitting word. Because he didn't understand at all! Not only did he look like 15-16 at the most. But he was also just… Creepy looking. He was albino, with almost translucently light skin, short spiky pure white hair, and striking and very creepy red eyes. He pursed his lips, feeling his heart rate shoot up, he didn't look like himself at all! Not to mention having deaged. It truly felt like an out of body experience, he didn't feel totally here. Not really. Because this just couldn't… It wasn't true… It just couldn't be.
He'd never hallucinated something so realistic before though, not that he hallucinated often, but he'd certainly tried some stuff this past summer, anything to dull the pain more, really, but the effects couldn't be this delayed.
Of course… He'd end his time as a wasting cripple and end up as someone that would have people cross the street to avoid. Of course that's how it would be. There's always a catch, nothing good could just happen.
Pain free though… Isn't anything and everything worth it?
Nurse Joy gently removed the mirror from his hands when he started shaking it back and forth, trying to get another view, like the mirror was a magic eight ball and if he shook it enough his real face would show. "You were found in the graveyard, we were all very concerned about you." She coughed delicately, "In fact early tests showed that you had died, but was somehow not dead…" Joy trailed off, crossing her arms under her chest, a wrinkle on her brow, pondering that for a moment, before she smiled cheerfully, disregarding it, "But you're all better now! And definitely alive!" The Chansey bounced up and down adding its own two cents. "Chansey cha!"
Ezra stared at her unsure how on earth she could possibly think that any of that was in any way comforting. He'd died? Well… If he was here somehow… Then yes he understood he'd likely died and somehow appeared in this world…If it was real… For some reason as a teenager… Which alright, it beats being reborn, because just, no, nope. Wait? Did she mean the body he was in now had died!? What kind of creepy teen goes and lays down in a graveyard to die?
Not even he had given up yet… Although he'd been close over the last year or so. Navigating adult life and trying to do the college thing, while basically a cripple that didn't look like a cripple - had been harder than anything he'd done before, and he'd gone through some low times…
He winced as he realized what exactly he looked like now, inherently creepy and off putting. There could be many reasons for a kid like that to want to die… Was he… An orphan to boot then?
God damnit, if he was going to be randomly inserted somewhere where was the damn memory packet for his new life!? Also… Was he possessing a dead body? He stopped brooding as the jolt from that thought ran through his body, his eyes raised to meet those of Nurse Joy, "Wait? Am I dead or alive? Am I possessing myself?" Ezra asked, feeling sick. Starting to face the inevitability that this was real, he could feel too many things for this to be a dream or hallucination.
Nurse Joy hurried to reassure him, sitting down at the side of his bed, grabbing his hands in hers, a compassionate smile on her face, "You're completely alive, young man. For whatever reason your body shut down, I'm not really sure why or how?" She tilted her head, looking slightly chagrined and confused, before patting his hands, "But here you are, living breathing with all the bits and pieces, so definitely alive!"
It was beginning to discomfit him how much Nurse Joy kept putting emphasis on the definitely alive part. Way to sound sure there, thanks a bunch, he thought sarcastically.
"So I died…" Ezra said quietly, trying to come to terms with the fact he'd basically taken over the body of some poor kid who'd either been killed in the graveyard or more likely… Had such a shitty life he'd ended it. Cheery thought. All those ghost pokemon he'd seen… Maybe the kid hadn't ended it? Maybe ghost energy had done him in? But then why was he there in the first place? And why had he seen dark pokemon too? Wasn't Dark super effective to Ghosts or something? Shouldn't they have run away?
Jesus Christ, he was already debating Pokemon logic, just great, give it a week and he'd be deep in the woods jacking off alone in a tent as he hunted for some rare pokemon or something stupid instead of staying sane and keeping indoors.
When moving too much in a day was different levels of excruciating, Ezra had definitely gotten used to the convenience of a mini fridge, a lazy boy recliner, and most of all. Plumbing.
He wasn't a bear. Shitting in the woods wasn't for him.
"Don't think too hard about it, the important thing is you're okay!" Joy said seriously, Chansey patting him on the leg consolingly, thrilling out its name in quick quips which Joy apparently understood - if the quick smile she flashed its way held any meaning.
"The local police couldn't find any records about you, and you're not in the league records as far as we could tell, do you… Remember your name, or any details of why you're here? No one in town recognized you, and, well…" Joy asked delicately, eyes assessing as she observed his response and actions.
Ezra wondered. Could he use his name? If there was no record… The league must have pretty strong records, right? Maybe he could at least keep his name, he sure couldn't remember anything about his body's previous life - so that was out anyway. He snorted quietly to himself - with how he looked, if he was native to Lavender or Kanto for that manner - surely someone would have remembered him. "Ezra Kassian… I don't… Remember anything else…" He said softly, looking down at their interlocked hands, feeling the turmoil inside him seethe at his shitty situation.
At the same time, with the easy breaths he was taking, the steady thrumming of his heartbeat resonating strongly inside him, the feeling of being alive and not just living - he would have taken worse than being an albino orphan and still ended up ahead.
"It will come to you in time, or it won't, either way you're safe now and that's what's important!" Joy said consolingly, patting his arm, she peered at the wall clock, squirming slightly, looking uncomfortable, "Unfortunately, now that you're awake and healed… You can't remain here…" She said, looking conflicted.
Ezra frowned, "Didn't I literally just die? Where would I go?" Does the pokemon world have social services? They must? Right? I'd go out on my own, I'm an adult at least mentally… But… That's probably a bad idea, right? I don't know this world, except from a damn game.
Joy winced, patting Chansey as it crooned quietly. "The pokemon center caters primarily to pokemon trainers and pokemon. We were just closer in your case."
Ezra nodded, hiding his conflicted feelings on the matter. Because he was fairly certain Nurse Joy had just lied to him. The hospital would surely make a lot more sense for treatment. Why would he be brought to a pokemon healing center instead? Surely they at least had a clinic or something? This was a town wasn't it? Even if it had been Pokemon's that killed him, the hospital/clinic must be used to dealing with people hurt by a pokemon. So why here? "How do I become a pokemon trainer then?" Ezra winced immediately after he asked, he had other priorities actually, "Hang on, where am I going if not here? I don't know anything!"
He didn't have memories from his body, how was he supposed to just… Leave here and go on with things? Hopefully she'd have an answer for him, because he didn't know what his next move would be.
Joy's smile was a little brittle as she stood up, straightening her dress, "Ah, there's many careers other than being a pokemon trainer, Ezra." She deflected, she winked at him, "Maybe become a nurse, eh?"
Ezra put on a fake smile, mumbling out some vague agreement. Joy was lying about something in regards to his condition. And she'd completely sidestepped him becoming a trainer. Why? If he was in this world, what else would he do? He had certain advantages over others after all. He knew all the hidden places and pokemon, how to evolve some pokemon in ways that the rest of the world might not even know yet - depending on where in the timeline he was. Him becoming a trainer was in no doubt.
It was the whole… Traveling around thing that he wasn't happy about…
He'd rather get rich through one of the methods he remembered and then set up somewhere, with modern conveniences, and play around with pokemon at home, not in bug infested woods… Get a flying pokemon and he could just fly off, catch some other pokemon, fly home in time for a beer and a shower.
No matter what secret was being kept from him it wouldn't really matter for now. He doubted Nurse Joy was some member of Team Rocket or some such. Or doing it out of any maliciousness. Didn't really seem like her style. So probably one of those for your own good things. He was going to find that very annoying, having finally achieved adulthood only to be back to an age with no say over his life - or at least always talked down to by the adults who of course knows better…
He brooded in his bed for the next hour as Joy and Chansey puttered around looking guilty and attempting stilted small talk. Then Officer Jenny arrived and soon after he found himself dropped off at the local orphanage. A blocky gray building that looked even more depressing than the surroundings.
Lavender Town was certainly bigger than what could fit in a small gameboy game. Thousands of people lived here. And if he wanted to believe it was all a Nintendo style friendship is magic world that he'd entered…. The fact the orphanage was overflowing with kids was a good sign things were not so accommodating.
"Look at that freak!" A large stocky teenager shouted in glee the second Ezra had been left alone by the adults.
As other teens and younger kids gathered around, Ezra sighed forlornly.
It was going to be like that, huh?
Fuck you and your world, Arceus!
Things were definitely… Rough for a while. Ezra literally did not have any knowledge of the world other than what he knew from pokemon games or the show, which in many cases didn't really match.
Oh, sure, Pokemon types and the like were the same, except fairy types were not yet classified as such. That had been the first sign of where in the timeline he'd been, but also not quite matching either. After all, if this was a game world, the only ghosts he should have been able to see in the graveyard were Gastly, Haunter and Gengar, as the first generation had no others.
The Shuppet that had scared him shouldn't have been there. Not to mention the others he'd seen. As he rose through the classes in school, even though he was taking them with children years younger than him - he learned that the region spanning wars had been so calamitous that entire regions had been permanently cut off from each other in the past.
Only in recent years had some opened up again, the forces and violent nature events separating regions lessening enough to allow travel (Maybe Legendaries separating the humans to stop the war?) Although this was a departure from the games as well. Likely because this world didn't work on the concept of game sequels. Because at this point of time only Kanto and maybe Johto, since it was connected more clearly - should be available.
Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh and Hoenn. They were all in communication years earlier than what the 'games' would suggest. Perhaps how some pokemon that shouldn't exist in Lavender town had still managed to be here. Or maybe his dead ass not being dead had drawn them in? Who knows. Kanto and Johto shared a league, although Lance was not yet the champion, putting me in definitely pre-Ash time.
Ezra had been given citizenship in Kanto with his 'birth city' becoming Lavender town. As much as he disliked almost everything about what had happened - mostly because he still had no clue how or why - he grudgingly appreciated what had been done for him. Even as most citizens of Lavender treated him like a pariah at best, he had a roof over his head, free education and he'd been given citizenship - despite having no clue where he was from or how he'd gotten there.
It did smart something fierce though… Watching kids leave on Pokemon journeys, while he stewed in his frustration and anger in the orphanage, already much older than the kids leaving. Not that many from the orphanage were, no, we were all destined for manual labor or retail jobs. The rare few got sponsored, got a scholarship for a pokemon technical school or were adopted (incredibly rare) by someone who could fund their journey.
He didn't want to go on a journey per say… But he wanted the trainers license, because in this world, Pokemon was power. And without them - you had none.
With his meta knowledge he'd literally blown through school in regards to anything to do with pokemon, having to dumb himself down at times, because things he knew - weren't known yet. Although the subjects like history had taken slightly longer as he'd had to start from the beginning. Yet… Any request to even apply for becoming a trainer was denied him. There's no way he could afford a trainers license on his own, they didn't come that cheaply for random orphans. Let alone the most disliked orphan in Lavender town. Curse Arceus for making him an albino freak!
For every day he spent working his ass off on his studies, on studying every scrap of knowledge on pokemon that was available (Ghost and Dark mostly, it's what Lavender had a lot of material on - and it called to him.) - there was a day where he found himself having to fight. He could have backed down from all the bullies and naysayers, but what would that have achieved? He refused to be destined as nothing - to then add spineless and pathetic to it as well, was anathema. For once he had a working body, he wouldn't accept being pushed around anymore.
There was something satisfying about the crunch of crushed cartilage, as he dealt out damage to his bullies - he always lost in the end - for they were many, and he was but one.
But he always made them pay heavily for it…
If they had pokemon maybe it wouldn't have been so bad, he'd definitely go for a pokemon battle anytime… But none of them had any, so it was just regular fists he faced. At least he couldn't say he got no exercise... Of course all the witnesses always said he started it. So he got intimately acquainted with Officer Jenny and the Lavender town police department. (Not that kind of intimate, unfortunately) He usually got accused of everything from vandalism to theft anyway, just for being in the vicinity of good upstanding citizens. Luckily for him, the police refused to actually prosecute him without actual evidence other than kids getting into fights.
They all knew he was other, foreign. His looks hadn't helped him in that aspect. So even with the police not prosecuting him, they also weren't helping.
It wasn't shown in the games, but people were still people. Racism was still a thing, fear of anything other, was definitely still a thing, and of course there had been wars between the regions… So a lot of hatred was stewing behind the scenes.
So yeah… He was grateful to Lavender for taking him in since he had nothing and no one… And he wanted to punch every fucking face in town in - for treating him like garbage. Except Nurse Joy. Joy was cool. Even if still tight-lipped whenever he tried to question her. There was definitely something going on that he was unaware of. He was so far at the top of the class it wasn't funny, even if he was older then all the other kids he should be receiving offers to sponsor or at least go study for a breeder or at a scientific research center if nothing else. But he got nothing…
And maybe he was being spiteful and a bit resentful, not all of Lavender was treating him like the dirt under their shoes. But it sure felt like it…
With no Pokemon, no realistic way to get one yet without getting accused of poaching or something, and no real future to look forward to after he finished school… He was constantly burning with anger and darker feelings. The spite he was carrying around everyday as he faced mutters and dirty looks everywhere he went, became the new normal.
Those feelings would have probably been how he finally figured out that he wasn't alone…
If things hadn't escalated due to pure suicidal stupidity.
It had been over six months since he'd arrived in this world, nothing had really stood out in the morning to tell him everything would change.
It had been a regular shitty day. His breakfast had accidentally been knocked out of his hands by Rocky, Dean and their group of neanderthals ( Both as old as him and more pathetic for it as they had nothing going for them.) Of course he couldn't get seconds after that. It was an orphanage - and everyone would swear up and down he tossed it to the ground on his own if he bothered to complain. So… Off he went to school, hungry. Fine.
It's fine. He was cool about it. No big deal…
His walk to the school was practically a practice in mediation and zen like control of his emotions at this point. He barely even saw the people around him anymore as he sunk into almost a meditative state - achieved after much practice - eyes half lidded as he walked automatically down the road, the darkness building inside him being tightly controlled and soothed. He almost felt like he heard a cackling laugh from somewhere, but he'd arrived at the school so he put it out of his mind.
As he entered the yard outdid the school, he could feel the weight of the stares from his classmates. They knew he was different, they knew the adults didn't like him, and they didn't hesitate to make him feel it. Ezra took a deep steadying breath, trying to keep his emotions in check.
It wouldn't do to break noses at school, he'd probably actually get in shit for that.
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?" It was Mia, one of the few students who had been kind to him since he had arrived in town.
Only one really.
Mia's voice cut through the haze of his dark thoughts, and Ezra turned to look at her. She had a concerned expression on her face, her bright green eyes filled with worry. Mia was two years younger than him, but she had a maturity beyond her years. She had always been kind to him, despite the harsh treatment he'd received from the other students.
She was the kind of person that would find an injured squirrel and nurse it back to health, that would give the shirt off her back to help another - a total softy in other words.
And completely nuts to risk associating with him.
Ezra managed to fake a small smile, appreciative of her concern, but really not needing her to become the next target. "I'm fine, Mia. Just the usual bullshit." He shrugged, trying to downplay the situation. He didn't want to burden her with his problems.
Mia looked at him sympathetically, her face an open book, he disliked the whole situation really, but he could also see it was ultimately temporary, he wasn't a teenager anymore, not really - so he could see the light at the end of the tunnel (heh, death joke!)
"I understand, Ezra." Mia said companionably, her expression entirely honest and warm, "It's not easy, I know. But you're not alone, not really." She glanced around the hallway surreptitiously, making sure no one was listening in on their conversation. "I've noticed something... Strange. Whenever you're around, ghost-type Pokemon seem to appear more often…"
Ezra scoffed, glancing at her out of the corner of his eyes as he continued towards the school entrance, hands in the pockets of his worn jeans. "You're shittin' me, I have never even laid an eye on a single one…" Not since the graveyard anyway…
"It's true." Mia insisted, skipping alongside him, her freckled face gaining a stubborn look that he knew meant she wouldn't drop this. "Like out of the corner of my eye sometimes, I see stuff in your shadow."
"Stuff… Right?" He mocked her lightly, "Sure sounds like a pokemon to me."
He didn't entirely discount her, because who knew? And perhaps he'd have to see if he could catch a glimpse himself, but agreeing with her in any way would just have her stick by him even closer - and that wasn't good for her continued health.
Speaking of the devil… He thought, mood immediately souring as he noticed Rocky's best friend Dean, rushing their way surrounded by a small gaggle of other orphans.
Their conversation was interrupted as Dean gleefully shoved a poke ball under his nose, from the scuffs and dirt on it, he'd likely stolen or come upon one. He sure as hell couldn't afford buying one.
They were the unwanted, all of them - the ones who'd never gotten a journey, a break, a shot at being something special. The ones destined for sewer work, cleaning, and all other undesirable jobs - company pokemon lent to them for tasks, for the ones they wouldn't have to do with their own hands anyway.
Dean sneered at Ezra, holding up the Pokeball and giving it a shake. "Hey look, it's the loser without a Pokemon. What's the matter, can't you even get one of your own?" He chuckled nasally, looking to his friends for approval immediately.
What a moronic taunt, since none of us are allowed one of our own… He thought, staring at the idiot bully with a dull look.
He noticed Dean's attention wavering, switching towards Mia, so he stepped forward, hands still in his pockets. "Who'd you suck off for that then? Never knew you were that into balls, Dean."
It worked like a charm, no one was paying attention to Mia now, every single one of the guys staring at him. Some holding back snickers, as Dean's pimply face turned a puce color as he snarled back at Ezra, "You can't talk like that now, freak, I got a Pokemon!"
Ezra held back the urge to roll his eyes at the childish taunt, yes, he was a freak, come up with something new. He idly noted Mia out of the corner of his eyes, a few steps back, watching the gathering while worryingly gnawing on her lower lip.
He couldn't really pick a fight, couldn't afford to. Not at school, not only for him, but for Mia. She was a sweetheart really, and she didn't deserve to worry about him, or to get caught in the crossfire.
So he turned his back on Dean, dismissively, "Whatever, we got class."
He only realized his mistake when Dean snarled in anger behind him and he heard the sound of a pokeball hitting the dusty ground, what hurts more than anger? Dismissal.
He turned around quickly, giving Mia a shove away from him, "Get out of here, Mia!" He said urgently.
As he'd guessed, Dean had stolen, or found a lost pokeball. Which meant he'd just released what was basically a monster in the school yard, while having no control of it.
The pokemon emerged with a feral snarl, its eyes glowing with a menacing red light. The other students gasped and scattered, even Dean's friends not having expected him to go that far. Which left Ezra and Mia to face the creature alone, only Dean remaining, cheering on 'his' pokemon like the absolute moron he was.
From the looks of it, with the obvious signs of abuse across the Nidorans skin - the idiot had managed to somehow get his hand on a pokemon reclaimed from an abusive trainer. Ezra raised his hands, trying to appear non-threatening, "Hey, it's okay, we're not going to hurt you, you're not with your trainer anymore." He tried, lacking any better options.
In his mind, he dully noted that Mia continued to prove that she had no survival instincts. First trying to befriend the abnormal freak everyone hated - and now not running facing a feral pokemon.
Nidoran snarled, its horn glistening purple as its eyes flickered across the yard, searching for threats.
To Ezra's relief, it didn't seem to see them as such at the moment, so he slowly began to back up, laying an arm across Mia, pushing her back behind him. "Slowly now…" He muttered.
"Do something, you useless thing!" Dean shouted, aiming a kick at the abused Nidoran, making Ezra's hope for humanity sink to new lows. The idiot was dead last in pokemon studies, but surely he couldn't be that dumb?
The Nidoran yelped in pain and anger, as Dean's kick connected, its eyes flickering towards the source of the pain. Ezra could see the anger and confusion in its gaze, and he knew it was only a matter of time before it attacked. Where the fuck are the teachers!?
He quickly scanned the area, looking for something, anything, he could use as a weapon, coming up short.
Their classes had a very simple lesson on what to do about fighting a Pokemon on your own.
Don't.
End of lesson.
"Stay behind me." Ezra whispered to Mia, his eyes never leaving the Nidoran, he refused to be cowed by something the size of a plushie. He knew it had powers that could kill him, but death wasn't a fear of his, failing to live was.
The Nidoran finally decided on a course of action, Ezra pushing Mia to run, not feeling even an ounce of empathy for Dean as the Nidoran gored him with its horn, the teen absolutely howling in agony.
He wasn't a saint, do stupid shit - win stupid prizes. Dean won death all of his own, and Ezra didn't give a shit about it - except for the fact they were now possible targets.
Chancing a quick look behind him, still pushing Mia ahead of him, he blanched as he saw the Nidoran - its horn dripping blood - turn its head their way, beginning to run on tiny legs, but eating up the distance far faster then it should be able to.
If it was a normal animal, but pokemon were not, their bodies didn't have the same limits as physical or common sense would dictate.
Ezra was forced to improvise, sliding to a halt, kicking a garbage can towards the Nidoran, his hand grasping the lid. "Tch." He acknowledged as the Nidoran jumped on top of the garbage can, using it to fly in the air, heading directly at him.
Ezra tried to smack it with his makeshift shield, only to find the Nidoran was heavier than it looked, smashing into his shield, his arms not able to push it away and off as he'd planned. The horn pierced right through it, stopping just an inch in front of his face.
"Fuck off Barney!" He said, scowling, glaring at the purple pokemon as it wiggled its horn trying to push through.
With its momentum slowed, Ezra managed to at least let go of his makeshift shield, taking a few steps back as the Nidoran shook it head, screeching, trying to get the trash can lid off its horn, quickly managing to rip through the cheap metal.
Ezra stared down at the snarling pokemon, its red eyes mad and unfocused. Shit, this might be it… He thought, putting his hands up in a loose boxers pose.
If he was going down, he was going to at least punch this fucking thing in the face before he got gored.
Pain was not new, hell death wasn't new. He'd be damned if he was going to face it like a chump, he'd go out punching death in the face or not at all.
"Leave him alone" A shriek came from the side, an apple hitting the Nidoran in the head.
Both Pokemon and person turned and stared at Mia, one in madness, the other just mad.
It was a good ass throw, no doubt, but it was also just the last thing she should have done, why wouldn't the bitch just run!?
Everyone was shooting for stupid prizes today.
"Mia, no!" Ezra shouted, lunging for the Nidoran, but only hitting dirt, as the pokemon shot forward, rushing towards the girl.
Finally teachers were coming out of the entrance, pokeballs aloft, too late. Far too late. Ezra thought, despairing.
You stupid girl! I don't even really know you, and you're going to make me watch you die!
His anger flared, at the situation, at that idiot Dean, at the incapable teachers, and most of all at the stupid girl who tried to befriend him, and got herself killed for it.
The Nidoran jumped at Mia's throat, the girl screaming in fear, before a shadow ball struck it in the side, sending the Nidoran off course, screeching in pain.
Ezra rose up, feeling a chill in the air, the rush of the teachers had pulled to a stop, their pokemon out, but standing guard, wary.
Ezra could see why…
Shadows played around him, his own shadow draped like a mantle around his shoulders, Dozens of ghost pokemon fluttering in and out of sight, giggling phantasms doing a fly by, over the crowd of teachers and students.
Out of his shadow, a shuppet floated up to hover over his shoulder. Ezra didn't know how he knew, but it was the same one as the one he saw at the graveyard.
The Nidoran stood no chance, a multitude of ghost attacks hitting it at once, making Ezra wince. "Stop!" He yelled, not interested in killing it, especially not in front of witnesses.
The entire group of ghosts all pulled back at his order, and Ezra had no idea what was going on… But he liked it.
Where the fuck was this these last six months? He thought, marveling over what was going on.
As the shadows practically broiled across the ground around him, dark shadowy smoke wafting off his shoulders and limbs, a Shuppet on his shoulder, a cloud of ghost pokemon circling above him, Ezra grinned widely,
Lavender Town wouldn't be able to ignore him now.
Several hours later,
Officer Jenny sat across from him in the interrogation room at the police station, having politely asked him to visit. "We're willing to offer a trainers license if you agree to leave Lavender Town." She said reluctantly, it was obvious it wasn't her call, it came from above her.
With how superstitious people in Lavender could be, and add in his appearance, Ezra wasn't surprised they wanted to get rid of him. Offering the one thing he'd stubbornly kept asking for and continuously was denied was smart.
But, a little too late, and a little too… Well, little.
He wasn't just a no-name orphan now.
Officer Jenny watched Ezra carefully, her expression a mix of concern and determination. The dull hum of the fluorescent lights overhead cast an eerie glow over the room, highlighting the beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
She was uncomfortable being stuck in an enclosed space with him.
Made him wonder why exactly they chose this room to begin with, it's not like he'd have protested if they did it in a field, or the schoolyard or literally anywhere.
Ezra could practically feel the weight of the town's fear and mistrust pressing down on him, even Mia had looked at him with fear in the end - the miasma of ghostly energies and pokemon proving too much for even her charity. He'd gotten what he wanted in a way, but not how he'd wanted it.
Hopefully she'd gain some much needed survival instincts.
Because without a pokemon on her own, she was going to get herself killed with some brave pointless stunt.
He had nothing against being brave, it sure beat being a coward - but like with everything, it needed moderation. He vastly preferred being brave in a situation where he actually stood more than a snowball's chance in hell to win.
He supposed he should be thankful they were willing to just kick him out with a parting gift, and not put him away in some lab somewhere and study his strange affinity to ghosts.
He'd definitely need to keep an eye out. If team Rocket heard about him being some kind of Ghost Pokemon beacon…
He did not want to spend the rest of his life as some sort of battery for fucking Giovanni.
He disliked the man not because he was the enemy in a game he'd played once, but because the coward was a duplicitous fraud without the will to truly go for what he wanted.
If he wanted to be a criminal lord, he should have just done it full stop, not the half measure he did playing gym leader on the side.
"A trainer's license, huh?" Ezra muttered lowly, his Shuppet still hovering over his shoulder, no longer hiding in his shadow.
He could almost feel It now, when it slipped in or around his shadow, connected somehow.
Some ghosts in pokemon had some shitty descriptions, he didn't remember if shuppets were the ones where a kid died and became a pokemon - but he sure as hell hoped not.
If he was lugging around his body's previous soul as a pokemon - that would just be sick.
As for the offer, he could just take it, but he was an orphan, and traveling the wilderness with nary a pokeball, tent or rations on him - sounded self defeating. He also really wasn't one for roughing it. He was a New Yorker, not a wilderness enthusiast.
He never went anywhere where there wasn't a hot dog cart within a block radius.
Besides all that, he really wasn't happy about the whole treatment he'd received in Lavender for something as retarded as his looks - now they have a reason, but before they sure as hell didn't. They might succeed in getting rid of him for the moment - and he was going to make it cost them a bundle… But he'd be back…
Oh, he had plans now…
If he really had this connection with Ghost pokemon? Well, he wanted to train and fight with them, but without schlepping through woods - so why not build his own gym. Get the pokemon experience but not the weeks without showers and bugs in his everything, experience.
A Ghost gym! Even if it didn't get to be on the circuit, he'd still have challengers, someone would always come when there was a challenge available. And he'd get his creature comforts and his pokemon and power at the same time. And who knew, if he got strong enough, maybe he could even get the gym on the circuit, it wasn't like the Cerulean gym was worth shit anyway.
And of course, since Lavender town had fucked with him, and also happened to be ghost capital of the world - what better place to set up? The town was literally built for it, he'd never lack pokemon for the gym, or for handing out starters to annoying tykes.
And he'd make sure each god damn orphan got a chance to own a pokemon too - license or no license.
He'd be back, they could count on it.
But first, he needed to extort the crap out of them. For justice. But mostly because he needed to eat.
"Seems kind of low… Kickin' an orphan to the wilderness and all that, dontcha think?" He said casually, leaning forward on his elbows, a Haunter briefly flickering into being next to him, grinning, before it faded away, mocking laughter echoing around the interrogation room.
Okay, he hadn't asked for that, or planned it - but wicked!
Officer Jenny watched him with a bit more wariness, although she still had an underlying aura of concern around her, "A basic starter kit could be provided." She said agreeably. "A tent, some antidotes and food, cooking supplies."
Wow, I thought you were cool, Jenny - what's with the lowball offer?
Ezra scoffed, not even interested in such a pathetic offer, talk about starting low, "You're gonna give me that crap after I saved a girl's life?" He said with an unimpressed mien, his brow knitted together.
Officer Jenny gave him a stern look, lips pursed, "You're also endangering lives for every moment you remain. There's already been trainers inquiring about how much of a threat you are and if there's a bounty on your head yet."
"Bounty?" Ezra asked, a bit thrown, it was not something he'd run into in his studies, or in the games.
Definitely not something that would fit in a kids game he supposed. Bounty hunters usually weren't easygoing fellas.
Officer Jenny grimaced, "It's not something that we generally advertise, but sometimes people, or pokemon, become a threat to society, and bounties get placed for taking them in."
"Threat to society, huh?" Ezra said thoughtfully, not something he'd have pictured for himself.
He could see it of course, if he could really direct all these pokemon, and they weren't just humoring him or something - he was definitely a threat.
Just not to regular people - he was a bit of an a-hole sure, but he wasn't 100 percent a dick.
"You can see why we don't want any misunderstandings to happen." Officer Jenny said shortly, giving him a measured look.
At least she didn't look ready to attack him, even if she did have her pokemon out for this little meeting. Probably the fact he saved Mia was his one saving grace in this - and why he didn't have some Ace trainers or Rangers throwing Charizards and shit at him.
Ezra nodded, understanding her point, just not… Giving a fuck. "Unless you're telling me you're putting a bounty on me for saving a life, trouble from bounty hunters sounds more like a you problem. Again, you want me gone, then set me up in a way where I can actually leave." He didn't bother with pleasantries just going full on blunt ass - there was no need to be diplomatic now, they both know what they wanted, so it was time to deal.
Like hell he was going to be made to feel guilty for saving Mia, no matter how freaky or spooky he was about it.
Officer Jenny let out a huff, looking towards the one way mirror, before sighing, "Alright, what do you want exactly…?"
Ezra smiled winningly. "Let me take as much as I can carry from the pokemart in town, at the town's expense." He suggested, the Shuppet on his shoulder shaking in laughter.
She tried to haggle him down of course, but he was insistent. Eventually, after some pow-wows with whoever was behind the mirror, she agreed to his request and escorted him to the Pokemart.
Sucked to suck, the Pokemart had recently gotten those new hammerspace bags or whatever they were. The ones you saw in the anime where Ash and co could pull full on cooking sets, tents and shit out of them.
What he could carry with two or three of those bags… Well… He wasn't going to be any more liked in town shortly, but he'd be well set up for his journey.
Perhaps sensing his mischievousness, the ghosts following in his wake went off into a chorus of creepy laughter, freaking out Officer Jenny.
"No worries, Officer. They just like a good joke." Ezra said, trying to hold back a shit eating grin.
Boy were they going to be pissed when he showed back up to put down roots.
This was where he'd been born so to speak.
Like hell he was going to let these losers run him out permanently.
Later that night,
Ezra had set up his tent just a two hours walk from Lavender Town.
He was technically following the 'banishment' As he wasn't in Lavender after all, he was in the wild wilderness - two hours of a slow walk away type of wilderness.
He'd definitely furthered the resentment when he'd robbed the pokemart blind on the taxpayers dollar - but to be fair, he did lay out the terms clearly, and they signed on the dotted line.
He'd walked out carrying four bags with space enlargement mojo in them, absolutely stuffed to the brim with everything he could possibly need.
He now faced the question of what exactly he should do.
He didn't want to travel around the regions, not on foot anyway. Once he had flight, he could just travel from town to town - you know - civilization. Therefore a flying pokemon would be absolutely necessary, one he could evolve quickly for the purpose of flying.
It might not make him the best type of trainer, he wasn't exactly a 'purist' when it came to all the make friends, be happy bullshit Ash portrayed in a kids show.
Dean dying to a Nidoran, the bounties on dangerous pokemon or trainers - told him he wasn't in a kid friendly world. So befriend a pidgey and spend maybe months training it, battling with it against other rookies… He didn't have the sentiment to bother with it.
He'd rather catch one and make it clear from the beginning, we're training for you to be a flier, not a battler. The pidgey would get a nice life of being well fed and taken care of, with just having to fly around a bit now and then - all it had to do was live through the gauntlet of ghosts battling it over and over while they traveled, until it evolved.
He wasn't going to be Ash, the kid, if he existed here, could try his own bs and see how it worked. Ezra was followed by ghosts and dark type pokemon for a reason - and it wasn't his pleasant personality.
He too, just like them, had a good bit of spite in him. A need to tell the world to suck it, to go his own way.
It was probably going to end in tragedy, what quest for power didn't? But he was okay with that, it was about the journey, not the end. As long as he was happy with what he was doing, it wouldn't matter what happened at the end.
So, he'd have to focus on a flying pokemon for a bit, surely there would be some around in any forest.
After that, he had a choice to make.
He needed to find something that would make him a lot of money.
So he could get his snazzy freaky ghost gym, preferably styled like a haunted mansion, with a moat around it, covered in fog - one rickety wooden bridge leading into the unknown. Yeah… That sounded about right.
No point in going the gym leader route if he wasn't going to be a scary as hell one, the kind the filthy casuals don't dare approach because of his rep.
So… Money.
This time in the timeline no one should know about how to evolve Feebas into Milotic, which would be some good cash, but also time consuming. It wasn't like he could rip every prism scale off them as they evolved - he wasn't cruel, just indifferent to the pokemon he didn't care about.
He also knew about the island full of dragonites, selling that information would net him a good sum, but would also attract attention. He also figured that the two who would pay the most for the information would be Lance, the dragon master - and Giovanni because of Team Rocket.
Neither were people he wanted to deal with at this early stage. He'd have to actually train up a team first. Become at least a gym leader level of strength.
His mind was flush with ideas for training, so he didn't think it would be impossible, but not soon enough for his taste to tangle with the likes of Lance or Giovanni.
The crystal Onix was an option, but not an immediate one.
He'd have to put a pin in it, either way, until he could fly, his money making schemes were a non-starter.
He rummaged around in one of his bags, bringing out a set of poke balls.
"Okay, I don't know how much you guys all understand what's going on, but I can't fight with you guys while you're not 'my' Pokemon." Ezra held up several pokeballs, seeing ghosts and dark pokemon skimming by the edge of his campsite, well hidden in the dark.
"Once I have my own gym, you'll all be there, belonging to me and my gym, playing whatever pranks you want and having fun with idiots." Ezra promised, with a smirk on his face, "Until then, who wants to grow strong with me?"
The Shuppet on his shoulder tapped itself on one of his pokeballs, not surprising Ezra overly much considering it had been following him around. The pokeball let out a ding as it officially became his starter.
Out of the shadows, a Cubone, and a Haunter came into the campsite.
He was a little disappointed that more pokemon didn't want to come, but with his current limit of six, it was probably for the best.
He rolled the pokeballs over, and the two volunteers touched them, sucked into the pokeballs without further ado - and officially joined team Ezra.
He held up the three pokeballs, more ghosts swirling around him, the dark type pokemon keeping their distance but still watching him.
"We're going to mess with people so fucking much." He promised them, his face not so dissimilar from a grinning Gengar in the darkness.
Well… If the Gengar was an albino.
Author's note:
So this is basically the premise - a guy who's not the typical in love with all Pokemon's insert who smells all the flowers and adores all pokemon.
A guy with his own flaws, and a bit of a ruthless laziness to him.
Yet intelligent enough to utilize all the cheats and training tools and tips he'd know about through metaknowledge.
Cheers
Chapter 2: Beginnings.
New
JollyHippopotamus
Not too sore, are you?
- Joined
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Here's chapter 2: Beginnings.
Just a heads up, I don't need pokemon purists saying - that's not how it's done - those moves don't work like that - that pokemon can't learn that!
Basically my readers, I'm doing this for funzies, and rule of cool, and whatever sounds good. I'll take a gander at a wiki, but I'm not going to spend hours researching to make sure every attack is kosher.
This way, this is all laid out now, and those wanting a faithful canon representation can go to the much better stories out there - and those who just want an edgy shit disturber fucking around in Kanto can stick around.
As usual, I do not own Pokemon or the associated companies that deliver material from it. I'm just playing in the kiddy pool, don't hurt me.
Enjoy!
Officer Jenny felt very uncomfortable as she made her way to the reported encampment, her trusty Growlithe already out and prepared for trouble.
She hadn't been onboard with tossing the kid out on his own to begin with, even if she acknowledged he was… Different, in a way that just felt unsettling.
Working in Lavender Town, she was used to - as used as one can be anyway - Ghost Pokemon and their antics. The way they flocked around Ezra however… She could understand why Lavender Town's elders and town council wanted him gone. She hadn't agreed, but her job wasn't to make laws or regulations, it was to enforce them.
And while they hadn't quite gone so far as to make it illegal for Ezra to stay in town, they hadn't made it easy for him to stay either. Officer Jenny had done what she could, even signing that, in hindsight, lopsided pokemart deal, that had so infuriated the council.
She didn't regret it, thought it was clever of the boy in fact, and regretted not thinking of it herself, low balling the boy with her own first offer in her own thoughtlessness.
He'd left, and she'd thought that was it. She'd quietly wished him luck even then. He'd do better outside the reach of the superstitious townspeople of Lavender Town, she was sure.
Except when he'd left, he'd just barely followed the instructions laid out for him in his banishment.
He'd made camp about two hours away from Lavender Town, and stayed there. Seemingly content to stay and train his Pokemon without going anywhere.
Once that information began circulating in town, brought in by trainers who'd run in to the boy - the council naturally tasked her with the job of impressing on him that the banishment although technically only from Lavender Town, who's city limits he was not within - it naturally also meant he was supposed to leave the surrounding area.
Jenny wasn't sure what she was even going to say to the boy when she got there. He hadn't broken any laws that she knew of, so no matter what flak might come her way from the town, she couldn't actually force him to go anywhere.
That said, as an experienced woman, she could give the young man some advice, and see him off before he got in real trouble.
The council probably wouldn't put a bounty on a kid, they'd have to get that past the league, and she really didn't think the excuse of - he's creepy - would fly past them. His seeming control over Ghost Pokemon was not enough on its own, not unless he actually did something illegal with it.
That said, if the council made enough of a fuss, Jenny knew there were always unscrupulous people around who'd salivate at the thought of a young lonely man with that kind of potential.
Hence why she hadn't protested too hard when she'd been pressured to go deal with him.
He'd seemed an intelligent young man, for all that she'd been forced to continuously bring him in due to overwhelming witness statements against him in the past. She'd never charged him, how could she? When it was always him with more bruises than skin.
No matter how the others would have a broken nose or split lip, only one of them ever came in as if stomped by a crowd. So she'd given him shelter under the guise of holding him. Giving him medical care, food. A respite.
Even if she'd been forced to act like he was some sort of delinquent, or risk losing the ability to do anything as the town pulled their support.
She let out a huff of air, her tired mien watching the sky as her feet led her forward on the well trodden path, who'd have thought policing was so dependent on the townspeople around you… She snarked mentally.
Eventually she stepped off the path, heading to where he'd been reported to have set up camp, not too far off the road.
As Officer Jenny approached Ezra's encampment, an unnatural chill settled over her. The sun, still high in the sky, seemed to struggle against a sudden, oppressive gloom. A purplish mist swirled around the trees, creeping along the ground and giving the air a spectral quality.
She tightened her grip on Growlithe's fur as she pet him, her loyal companion bristling but ready. "Stay alert, Growlithe," She whispered, her breath visible in the cold, thick air.
The path ahead was obscured, each step into the mist feeling heavier than the last. Jenny's instincts screamed at her to turn back, but duty propelled her forward. The first signs of Ezra's camp came into view shortly thereafter.
As Officer Jenny stepped into Ezra's encampment, the eerie atmosphere intensified. The purplish mist thickened, curling around her ankles like spectral tendrils. The temperature dropped noticeably, her breath puffing out in small, frosty clouds. Growlithe, usually brave, pressed closer to her leg, growling softly at the shadows.
Ezra's camp was nestled in a small clearing, surrounded by gnarled trees whose twisted branches reached out like skeletal hands. The ground was uneven, dotted with old tombstones half-sunken into the earth, remnants of an abandoned graveyard. These stones, weathered and cracked, added to the macabre ambiance, each one bearing inscriptions long faded by time.
Did he purposely pick the creepiest place he could? She wondered, an expression of distaste crossing her face.
The campfire at the center of the clearing cast a weak, flickering light, barely piercing the gloom. At least she could tell it was properly built, so she wouldn't have to give him a citation for that. You'd think with fire Pokemon a thing, humans wouldn't still be the major proponent of forest fires…
Not that she was in the mood for citations or any of that anyway, not with how much she just wanted to walk away right now…
She was suddenly glad the Mayor and the council were all too old to be taking jaunts through the woods, because if they saw this, things would definitely escalate.
League of no league, they'd put a bounty on the kid. Which would cause a headache and a half, because only the worst of the worst got bounties - or the most dangerous Pokemon.
Hovering in the mist were various Ghost Pokemon, their forms ethereal and ever-shifting. Gastly's floated silently, their gaseous bodies pulsing with an eerie light. Haunter's hands detached from its body, clawing at the air playfully yet menacingly. A Misdreavus drifted near a tombstone, its red eyes glowing ominously as it let out a low, mournful wail that sent chills down Jenny's spine.
Ezra himself stood near the fire, his silhouette blending seamlessly with the spectral surroundings. His clothes were dark and slightly worn, and he'd found some sort of leather jacket somewhere, he seemed almost a part of the mist, a ghostly figure among ghosts. His presence, though calm and collected, only added to the macabre scene, as if he were a warden of this haunting domain.
She shook her head, no time to get maudlin, I've lived in Lavender for years, it's just Pokemon.
The oppressive silence was broken only by the occasional whisper of the wind and the distant, eerie cries of the wild Ghost Pokemon. Jenny felt the weight of countless unseen eyes watching her every move, the air thick with an ancient energy that pressed down on her like a physical force.
He is doing this on purpose, she realized, all the danger she felt melting away as she realized he was just being edgy.
"Ezra," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper in the ghostly stillness, "You really need to think about what it is you're doing here, think about what I said before." She wet her lips, trying to find the right words, "You were banished, you can't stay just two hours outside the city… You will attract a lot of attention, they won't leave you alone."
Ezra's eyes met hers, and for a moment, the mist seemed to clear just a bit. "I will think about it, Officer Jenny," he replied with a half smile, sounding amused, his voice carrying an otherworldly echo that sent shivers through her.
Yes, definitely playing it up… Arceus save me from teenagers…
With a final, reluctant nod, Jenny turned and began her journey back, the ghostly encampment fading behind her into the mist. She'd done her duty to the letter. She'd informed him that he needed to move. He'd said he'd think about it.
She wasn't sticking around further than that. He'd move on soon enough or he wouldn't, she'd done her duty.
The town called him creepy. Officer Jenny didn't think anyone could argue with that anymore.
It was just a phase anyway surely, when she'd been a teenager she'd had her own, just not…
That.
Ezra couldn't help but chuckle as Officer Jenny left, glancing at the multitude of Ghost Pokemon that kept hanging around, "She's one of the nice ones, you could have been a little less creepy with her." He admonished, without any heat.
He had found it funny after all. From the haunting laughter that echoed through the mists of his little camp, the Ghost Pokemon agreed.
He hadn't exactly meant to have his camp come across as some sort of forest of the damned. His Pokemon just felt more comfortable around graveyards, so when he found a couple of old gravestones in a clearing, he'd figured why the hell not?
The mist and purplish haze came after, as both the wild Ghost Pokemon, and the ones that enjoyed hanging out in his shadow, spread a sort of miasma from all of them gathering together.
With his already creepy looks, it really didn't make him any more approachable. Not that it upset him. He knew he couldn't stay here forever, and a tent wasn't his idea of the height of luxury either.
Perhaps it was the orphan in him, but he craved the finer things. Which meant money. Which meant he needed flight before anything else.
The good news was that he was an absolute cheat. He'd found that as long as it was an order they didn't mind too much, the ghosts following in his wake, were happy enough to obey.
Not something he could use in actual pokemon battles with other trainers. For trawling through a forest and finding a good pidgey or pidgeotto for him to train? It worked like a charm.
Unlike in a game where each area was based on a level, this was reality. So higher level pokemon could be found the further away from civilization you came. Holding territory, building their own primitive little societies. Two hours away from Lavender like he was?
Chock full of the smaller weaker pokemon like Pidgey, Rattata, Caterpie etc.
The weaker pokemon sought shelter close to humanity where they were less likely to be eaten, while the stronger avoided humans preferring their freedom and territory.
So he'd caught himself a Pidgeotto, one of the more powerful pokemon in the area, hunted down by a bushel of gleeful ghosts.
The problem was that he wasn't exactly a Pokemon whisperer, or at least he thought so. He didn't have any intention of using this Pokemon for anything but a convenient way to fly. So how do you convince a Pokemon to work for you when you can't do the friendship is magic thing?
That's what he had been pondering when Officer Jenny interrupted him, a pokeball laying at his side, holding the aforementioned Pidgeotto.
His Cubone, Haunter and Shuppet were all free from their balls, honing their skills just outside his clearing, where he'd set them each their task.
Did he try to teach them new techniques? Did he try to have them master complex maneuvers? No, of course not.
He had them honing what they had. Accuracy, technique energy expenditure, physical stamina - for as much as that mattered with their types, mostly just Cubone on that one. Once they honed their current skills to a knife point, he'd have them work on compressing them even further, on expanding them, on twisting and crafting something extra out of their respective techniques to surprise their enemies.
Ghost Pokemon were more malleable than most - he was sure he could help them harness their energy in inventive ways. It helped that the idea of messing with people by doing the unexpected, really intrigued his pokemon.
He wasn't one to sit and ponder for too long, so with a sigh, he released the Pokemon held in the pokeball.
Ezra sat down cross-legged on the forest floor, his small campfire casting long shadows around the clearing. The oppressive mist of earlier had lightened now that they didn't have an intruder, giving way to the soft, silvery glow of moonlight filtering through the canopy of the trees. In front of him, released from its pokeball and perched on a low branch, was his newly captured Pidgeotto. Its sharp eyes watched him warily, feathers ruffled in a mix of curiosity and suspicion. It still showed the signs of its not so gentle capture.
It hadn't come quietly. Not at all thrilled by the chase of a dozen ghosts taunting and delighting in the chase, until in the end, they'd grown bored, and the Pidgeotto was finally felled.
"Listen, Pidgeotto," Ezra began, his tone calm and steady, "I know this isn't likely what you expected, and if you ever thought about getting caught it's even further from it. I need you to understand that I'm not like other trainers." He leaned forward gaze intent.
He wouldn't be the type who made best friends with every Pokemon he came across. His team, he had no doubt he'd come to cherish them. This Pidgeotto? It was a tool.
That was simply reality, and he would not hide it, these creatures were intelligent enough that negotiation was preferable before subterfuge.
It was too exhausting to even think about acting anything but himself for that long. Who had time for that? In a second life to boot?
Pidgeotto tilted its head, a skeptical gleam in its eyes. It fluttered its wings slightly, ready to take off at the first sign of trouble. Not that it would do shit all, since he still had the pokeball.
Ezra held up a hand, showing the Pokemon a small bag of berries, their enticing aroma wafting through the air. Stomping through the forest did have some advantages, finding berry bushes was one. "I don't want to make you into a battle pokemon, other than what is needed to evolve you... I captured you because I need a strong flying Pokemon, a partner to help me travel. You see, I have big plans. I want to create a gym, a place where Ghost and Dark Pokemon can thrive, and I need your help to get there."
Not exactly anything in it for the Pidgeotto in that plan, but he was being honest. And of course there would be the carrot…
Pidgeotto eyed the berries, its suspicion giving way to interest. It hopped down from the branch, landing gracefully in front of Ezra.
"These are for you," Ezra said, holding out the bag. "And there's more where that came from. I promise you, if you help me, I'll make sure you get a territory of your own to rule over once my gym is established. A whole forest, filled with as many berries as you can eat and as many nests as you can build. You'll be the master of your domain, free from human interference except my own." He met its eyes, his own serious and intent, "I will make it so."
The Pidgeottos eyes sparkled at the thought. It cawed softly, still unsure but clearly tempted by the offer.
Worst case and it said no, Ezra would actually release it and find another. While he didn't intend to use his flying mount for anything else, he also didn't intend to have a reluctant mount. He needed to be able to rely on them.
Using up one of his slots for a purely flying mount instead of a battler might seem like madness. But no matter what world you were in - money talked.
He was sure once he got enough cash in hand, there were ways to expand the limit.
Ezra leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "You won't have to fight unless you choose to after you've evolved. Just help me, help me travel. Be my eyes in the sky. In return, I'll ensure your safety and your future. You'll have freedom and power, more than any other Pidgeotto could dream of, your own forest protected by my gym."
He placed the bag of berries on the ground between them and leaned back, giving the Pokemon space to make its decision. Pidgeotto stared at Ezra for a moment longer, then cautiously pecked at the berries, savoring the sweet taste.
"Is it a deal?" Ezra asked, his tone hopeful. It would be a pain in the ass to move camp and find another alpha of the weaklings, so to speak.
Pidgeotto looked up, its gaze meeting Ezra's. After a long, tense moment, it gave a sharp nod, a sign of its tentative agreement.
Ezra smiled, relief washing over him. "Thank you. I promise, you won't regret this."
The first hurdle had been passed. One, he could negotiate with Pokemon that weren't Ghost or Dark, that was good to know. Two, he had a way to avoid the whole trawling through woods for the next year bullshit.
Ezra clenched his hands into fists, his red eyes gleaming. "Let's see about getting you that evolution, hmm?" He said, his shadow expanding like a cloak, wafting out behind him, dozens of eyes and smiles lighting up, laughter beginning to echo out into the encampment.
"This forest won't know what hit 'em!"
Ezra stood at the edge of the forest, the moon casting an eerie glow over the landscape. The air was thick with anticipation as he prepared for the night's training. His shadow, cast long by the moonlight, seemed to move with a life of its own. From within that darkness, Ghost Pokemon emerged, their spectral forms tethered to Ezra like a living, ethereal menagerie.
He didn't give a shit how creepy it must look - it was so goddamn cool, he felt like an anime character about to do tragic backstory bullshit.
It was a shame this was one anime world which didn't run on tits as its source code. But one couldn't have it all.
"Alright, everyone," Ezra whispered, his voice carrying an edge of command. "Let's give Pidgeotto the training he needs."
He hoped this worked. Obviously leveling up according to a game couldn't be the exact same thing in reality. But Pidgeotto beating up Pokemon, while intent on growing stronger and evolving, surely would work?
From his shadow, a Gastly floated up, its gaseous form pulsing with a malevolent energy. A Haunter's disembodied hands emerged next, followed by the rest of its sinister figure, its grin wide and menacing. A Misdreavus materialized, its eyes glowing with a spectral light, then another Gastly, two, then another Haunter. The Ghost Pokemon, attached to him by some unseen force, awaited his instructions with a silent, almost eerie eagerness.
His own pokemon came to his side as well, having not spent any time in their pokeballs since being captured. His Cubone sat at his feet as the Shuppet and Haunter hovered around him.
He frowned, eyeing his Pokemon, with so many other Haunters floating around, he really couldn't just keep calling his own that, could he? Food for thought for later, he'd have to name it, or something, give it a designation.
Ezra turned his attention to Pidgeotto, perched on a low branch nearby. "Are you ready?" he asked, because this all hinged on him being able to follow the plan.
Pidgeotto gave a sharp nod, its eyes gleaming with determination. It stretched its wings, preparing for the task ahead. It was going to be carried on a speed run. Hopefully it wouldn't take too much of the experience away.
"Good," Ezra said, a hint of satisfaction in his voice. "Gastly's, Haunters, Misdreavus - let's start." He ordered, before looking down to his own Pokemon, "You guys, take the perimeter, keep them from escaping."
At his command, the Ghost Pokemon dispersed into the forest, their spectral forms blending seamlessly with the shadows. They moved swiftly, their presence unsettling the
Pokemon of the forest. Small Pokemon like Caterpie and Pidgey felt the chill of the Ghosts' approach and began to panic, their instincts driving them into a frenzied flight.
Especially as his ghosts specifically made sure to hunt down and bother them in their nests. Not a very nice thing, but hardly monstrous either, just efficient.
Ezra watched as the first wave of frightened Pokemon bolted from the underbrush, their eyes wide with terror as they were harassed by Ghost pokemon, some of the Dark pokemon that followed him on the fringes, apparently having seen his plot and decided to join in the hunt. An unexpected benefit. "Now, Pidgeotto!" he shouted.
Pidgeotto launched into the air, its powerful wings beating with a swift rhythm. It swooped down upon the fleeing Pokémon, its talons outstretched. The forest became a chaotic scene of panic and pursuit, with Pidgeotto diving and striking at the weakened and exhausted creatures driven into its path by the relentless Ghost Pokemon.
If they tried to flee away from the relentless assault they couldn't fight back against, his own Pokemon pushed them back into the killbox. If they tried to send off a technique, the Ghost or Dark Pokemon cut them off at the knees.
A Rattata, its eyes wide with fear, darted out from a bush, only to be caught by Pidgeotto's swift claws. The bird Pokémon carried it high into the air before releasing it, sending it plummeting back to the ground. The cycle continued, with Pidgeotto methodically targeting and overpowering the frantic forest dwellers, its strength and skill growing with each encounter, or so he pictured it, at least.
There was no difference to be seen, except perhaps in the growing exhaustion of his Pidgeotto. He'd likely have to continue this for more than tonight, but it should work. Hopefully within a few days. This wouldn't be a tactic he could use to create elite level Pokemon, the targets too weak. But to simply evolve a Pidgeotto, a few days of it should be enough.
Ezra watched the scene with a mix of satisfaction and determination. He knew this method was harsh, but it was likely to be effective. Pidgeotto needed to grow stronger, and the best way to do that was through rigorous, relentless training. Or in the defeat of Pokemon, which he hoped was a possibility here.
After all the others didn't really harm any of them, they just terrorized them, leaving the Pidgeotto to do all the damage to knock them out. And if he ate a Caterpie or two… Well Ezra wasn't too fond of bugs anyway.
He really didn't want to spend possibly weeks training his Pidgeotto, he wanted to be gone before Lavender Town did more than grumble. So he could come back later to show them all how wrong they'd been.
And really rub their faces in it.
As the night wore on, the forest became quieter, the Pokemon too frightened to move from their hiding places. Pidgeotto landed back near Ezra, its chest heaving with exertion but its eyes shining with a newfound fierceness.
Ezra approached, offering a handful of berries as a reward. "You did well, Pidgeotto," he said, his voice filled with genuine praise. He might not ever see him as more than a tool, but he wouldn't shy away from rewarding effort. "This is just the beginning. Keep this up, and you'll soon get everything you were promised. Your own domain, protected by my people."
Once he had people… No need to say it could be years yet…
Pidgeotto accepted the berries, eating them gratefully. It was tired but invigorated, its confidence boosted by the successful training session.
Ezra looked at his Ghost Pokemon, still lurking in the shadows, their presence a constant, unnerving reminder of this power of his. "Good work, everyone. Let's give Pidgeotto some rest and prepare for tomorrow. There's still much to do."
He'd have to experiment with his own power. Whatever death aura or whatever that he had, that drew these Pokemon in. Even if never useful in ranked battles. Up against something like Team Rocket? They'd be a trump card that would serve him very well.
The Ghost Pokemon receded back into his shadow, their forms merging seamlessly with the darkness. As Ezra sat by the campfire minutes later, Pidgeotto resting beside him, his other Pokemon back to work training, he felt a sense of grim satisfaction. His plan was working. He was sure of it.
Once Pidgeotto evolved, he'd have all of Kanto at his fingertips.
Next day.
Ezra stood in a secluded part of the forest, the early morning light casting a soft, golden glow through the trees. The air was still and cool, perfect for the precision training he had planned. In front of him floated Shuppet and Haunter, both eager and ready to refine their ghostly abilities.
He couldn't spend all his time on Pidgeotto, he didn't want to accidentally injure him nor risk overworking him - that would defeat the point entirely of what he was doing. And besides, he'd need his team to actually be competent if he wanted to succeed in even gaining his start-up capital.
"Alright, Shuppet, Haunter," Ezra began, his voice calm but firm, "Today's training is all about control and accuracy. It's not enough to have powerful moves; you need to be able to direct them precisely. Let's start with the compression exercises I had you guys practice these last few days."
And boy had it been a fun game of charades to figure out some of their move pools, he needed a frigging pokedex pronto. Although they were around, and in use pre-Ash apparently here - they were also expensive, and only the richest or well sponsored trainers could afford one.
Shuppet hovered closer, its cloth-like body undulating slightly. Haunter, with its disembodied hands and mischievous grin, followed suit. Ezra could see the anticipation in their ghostly eyes.
He had no idea if it was because of their connection or if he was actually bonding with them, but none of his pokemon had so far backed down from any of the training.
"Shuppet, I want you to compress your Dark Pulse attack into a tight beam. Imagine it as a needle, sharp and focused. Haunter, you'll do the same with your Shadow Ball. Smaller, more controlled. Ready?"
All three of his pokemon had a decently large and versatile move pool already, making him suspect he hadn't been approached by any rookie pokemon here. Dark Pulse he imagined must have been a technical machine technique for Shuppet, as he didn't remember it being part of its move pool.
Both Pokemon nodded, their forms shimmering with latent energy. They'd been training for twelve hours minimum a day, just getting used to manipulating their energy further and in new ways, Shuppet having the harder time of it as it's chosen technique to play with was a dark type move.
What he'd learned of Pokemon battles in school since arriving here… The vast majority of trainers had absolutely no innovation, only treading already worn ground.
Same with breeders and everyone really. It was the reason why no one had discovered how to evolve Milotic from Feebas, people just did what their forefathers always did.
The ones that didn't?
Well that was your top 1 percenters right there.
Although perhaps it was more like five percenters, the Ace trainers weren't your average idiots.
Ezra took a step back, giving his Pokemon some space. "On my count. One... Two... Three!"
Shuppet's eyes glowed with a dark light as it concentrated, a thin beam of shadowy dark energy forming in front of it with a vicious aura to it. Haunter's grin widened as it summoned a small, dense Shadow Ball, its size reduced but its power more concentrated.
"Hold it... Hold it..." Ezra instructed, watching as both Pokemon strained to maintain their focus. "Now, release!"
The compressed attacks shot forward, Shuppet's Dark Pulse beam slicing through the air with laser-like precision, while Haunter's compact Shadow Ball rocketed forward, both dissipating harmlessly into the sky. Ezra smiled, pleased with their progress.
Sure, at five seconds to form, it was almost useless in most fights, but when they'd started getting the hang of it, the time had been 15 seconds. He was confident they'd be able to get it further down. Which would mean their hits would pack a much heavier punch, necessitating less of them needing to hit the target to incapacitate their opponents.
"Excellent! Now, let's work on your accuracy with it." He reached down and picked up a handful of pinecones, holding them in his hand. "I'm going to toss one of these each in the air. I want you to hit each target as quickly and accurately as possible. Shuppet, you'll use your Dark Pulse. Haunter, stick with Shadow Ball."
Ezra took a deep breath and tossed a pinecone high into the air in front of Shuppet. "Now!" He shouted, even as he used his other hand to throw another one for Haunter.
Shuppet's eyes flashed as it fired a precise beam of its Dark Pulse, the malevolent aura resonating with Ezra, feeling almost homely, the attack managed to strike the pinecone and reduce it to splinters before it hit the ground - on his first try. Ezra noticed that Haunter's Shadow Ball obliterated its own target mid-air, the fragments scattering in all directions as well, also on the first try.
"Great job! Again!" Ezra encouraged, his voice filled with cheer. Inwardly he clocked it as another sign these pokemon had belonged to someone and had been trained.
Just don't let it be my body's former owner, I'm already playing into the creep factor enough as is…
He continued to toss the targets, each time faster and in more unpredictable patterns. Shuppet and Haunter responded with supreme confidence, their attacks becoming more accurate and controlled with each attempt. Shuppet's Dark Pulse beams became razor-thin and deadly precise, while Haunter's Shadow Balls, though smaller, packed a powerful punch and hit their marks unerringly.
They'd managed to shave a quarter of a second or so off compressing their techniques too. Just by being pushed to go faster, each of his throws slowly being tossed out faster to pressure them.
"Keep it up!" Ezra called out, throwing multiple targets at once. Shuppet and Haunter didn't miss a beat, their ghostly forms moving with fluid grace as they dispatched two pinecones each with pinpoint accuracy, although to be fair they were grouped together - two more falling to the ground. They both glared at the offending pinecones.
After several more rounds, Ezra finally called for a halt. "Alright, that's enough for now. You both did amazing."
Shuppet and Haunter hovered closer, their ghostly energies still shimmering from the exertion. Ezra reached out and patted them gently, a proud smile on his face. It felt cold but not unpleasantly so, to touch them.
"You're getting stronger and more precise every day," He said, his voice filled with genuine praise. "With control like this, you'll be able to take on any challenge that comes our way."
Shuppet let out a soft, ethereal cry of delight, while Haunter's grin somehow managed to widen even further.
"Take a fifteen minute break, then try and get that compression down to three seconds, alright?" He told them, walking off, smiling softly as one of the Haunters haunting his shadow, lightly pulled on his hair just to get attention.
Ezra wandered into the nearby clearing, where Cubone stood, its distinctive skull helmet catching the early morning light. Despite not being a Ghost Pokemon, Cubone had always been a special case in his mind, and he'd once had it on his team playing the games. It had connotations of death and loss, and if Ezra didn't misremember, evolving a Cubone at night could result in it becoming a Fire/Ghost Marowak - a perfect fit for his ghostly team.
And if he failed. Well, he'd always wanted an Arceusdamned Cubone, so he'd be fine either way.
Cubone had followed Ezra just as the Ghost and Dark Pokémon had, volunteering to be part of his team even. Its affinity for ghostly phenomena, or perhaps just death itself, made it a promising candidate for Ezra's evolving plans. He saw this as a good omen for its eventual transformation.
Obviously Cubone was already attuned to ghostly energies, or it wouldn't have so easily sought him out.
Ezra approached Cubone with a thoughtful smile. "Alright, Cubone, it's time for your training."
Cubone looked up at him with determined eyes, gripping its bone club tightly. Ezra had decided to go a bit unconventional with Cubone's training - or if he had to be honest - he'd gone entirely left field. It had a tail even if it wasn't much of one, and he was determined to teach it Iron Tail. If it could channel the energy into its tail, perhaps it could eventually do the same with its club, making it a formidable weapon.
It would also surprise the shit out of people for a while, which was just a bonus.
"Let's start with speed and hitting power," Ezra said, picking up a few sturdy logs he'd gathered earlier. "Cubone, I want you to use your club to hit these logs as hard and as fast as you can. Imagine your tail and club becoming as hard as steel."
Cubone was pretty fast, something he was eager to take advantage of, continuing to focus on speed, and of course hitting power was important, as Cubone was a more physical fighter than the others.
Cubone nodded, its resolve clear. It took a deep breath, then swung its club at the first log with a mighty crack, splintering it into pieces. Without missing a beat, Cubone moved to the next log, its swings becoming more forceful and rapid. It's cry heard through the forest as it cried out its victory over the dastardly logs.
"Good, Cubone! Keep it up!" Ezra encouraged, watching the Pokemon's determination with a calculating gaze, he'd lucked out it seemed, his pokemon all having a burning determination. Each swing was stronger than the last as the Cubone just kept speeding up, the sound of wood cracking echoing through the clearing.
After several rounds, Ezra decided it was time to focus on the essence of steel. He knelt down beside Cubone, placing a hand on its tiny shoulder, the little guy almost jumping in shock, letting out a quiet, "Cu?"
"You're doing great, Cubone. Now, let's work on feeling that steely energy. Imagine your tail and your club becoming as hard as metal, unyielding and powerful."
They'd been working on it for days, but seen no progress, probably because it wasn't a natural evolution of technique for Cubone, with a dash of him having had a hard time explaining how the technique worked based on memory.
Cubone closed its eyes, concentrating deeply. Ezra could see the effort etched on its face as it tried to visualize the transformation. He knew this part of the training was challenging, but he had faith in Cubone's perseverance.
It had tons of guts and determination, so everything else would come. Everything else could be taught. You couldn't teach this kind of guts, so starting out with that was already a win in his books.
To help, Ezra began to explain, trying to be more specific than his perhaps too lax explanation previously, "Think about what it means to be steel, Cubone. Strong, resilient, and enduring. Steel doesn't bend easily. It doesn't break. Picture that in your mind."
Cubone's eyes snapped open, a newfound intensity in its gaze. It swung its tail experimentally, and though there was no visible change, Ezra sensed the shift in Cubone's mindset. The grip it had around its club strained as its muscles tensed as it tried to picture steel.
"Alright," Ezra said, standing back up. "Let's try Iron Tail again. Imagine your tail becoming hard as steel and strike." He said, gaze intent on his Pokemon, "You are hard, unbending, everything breaks against your enduring strength. Focus on your tail, focus on steel."
Cubone focused, its tail actually glowing faintly for just a second - with an energy that Ezra hoped would soon become a full Iron Tail. With a fierce cry, Cubone swung its tail at a log by swinging its entire body. The impact was stronger this time, leaving a deeper mark on the wood. It wasn't Iron Tail, by any metric, but he liked to imagine that glow meant it was on its way. The goal was possible.
"That's it, Cubone! You're getting there!" Ezra cheered, his excitement palpable. His cheer also cheered up Cubone, who went back to training with newfound belief.
As the sun climbed higher, nearing the noon mark, marking the end of their training session for now, Ezra knelt beside Cubone once more. "You've made incredible progress today. Keep this up, and we'll unlock your full potential." He smirked wickedly, "People aren't going to expect you at all. It will be glorious."
Cubone looked up at him, its eyes gleaming with a fierce determination. Ezra patted its head gently. "Rest for now. We'll continue this tomorrow."
He could have forced more training today, but with Pidgeotto's gauntlet later, he didn't want his Pokemon too exhausted.
Although he still felt suspicious of his circumstances, because either he was the best trainer ever - or his pokemon were scarily intuitive - or they had previous training.
He didn't want to kid himself on the best trainer thing. He had faith in himself, but not… Iron Tail for a Cubone in just a few days faith.
That was…
Well…
It would all work out in the end.
An hour later,
Ezra was sitting by his campfire, meticulously cleaning his belongings, and contemplating the progress his team had made. The early afternoon sun filtered through the trees, casting shadows across his camp. His Ghost Pokemon floated nearby, occasionally disappearing into the shadows, their presence a constant reminder of his unique bond with them.
He couldn't wait to start experimenting with that when he had his team situated better. Couldn't Agatha like… Do weird ghost shit? He wanted to do weird ghost shit.
He'd do all the weird ghost shit. It would be glorious.
Suddenly, a rustling in the underbrush caught his attention. He looked up to see a young almost adult trainer, maybe a year or two older than him, emerging from the forest. The trainer was tall and muscular, wearing a tank top and shorts, exuding a carefree and confident demeanor. He had a friendly smile on his face, seemingly unfazed by the eerie atmosphere of Ezra's camp.
Which was a first. The first person that had first run into his camp - and likely the one that whined to Officer Jenny - pissed themselves when they ran into his little camp. Apparently not appreciative of the ambiance.
"Hey there!" The trainer called out, waving excitedly. "I saw your camp from a distance, what with all the darkness and smoke and such, and thought I'd come over. Are you up for a Pokemon battle?" He asked, looking utterly cheerful.
Evolution must have gone differently for humanity in a world of pokemon, Ezra would not have run towards smoke and darkness back in his old life. Probably wouldn't do it now either, for that matter.
Ezra looked at the other trainer in some surprise at the offer. He hadn't expected anyone to approach him out here, let alone challenge him to a battle. His heart raced with a mix of excitement and nervousness. This would be his first real Pokemon battle against another trainer. He was older too, so probably experienced.
No, don't be nervous! Just kick ass! He psyched himself up mentally.
"Uh, sure! I'm Ezra," he said, standing up and introducing himself, trying to sound casual.
"Nice to meet you, Ezra. I'm Barney," the trainer replied, flashing a laid-back grin. "I've been traveling around, looking for strong trainers to battle. Your camp caught my eye. Pretty cool setup you've got here." He looked with interest at the surroundings, not batting an eye at the pokemon making malevolent little noises at him from the shadows.
Ezra couldn't help but smile at Barney's nonchalant attitude. Most people would be unnerved by his ghostly companions and the overall creepiness of his camp, but Barney seemed completely unfazed. After having so much of Lavender Town freak out just from his appearance, let alone his newfound ability. It was refreshing to run into someone who just didn't care about any of it.
He would still kick his ass of course, he had a reputation to build. But it was still nice to know not everyone was going to be an ass to him from the start.
Now if they were an ass to him after he was going to totally be an ass to most of them, then that was fair.
He just heavily disliked people who judged someone ahead of time, based on nonsense like skin or some shit.
"Thanks. My Pokemon and I have been training hard. Let's do this," Ezra said, feeling a surge of confidence. With what they'd been doing, surely they'd do alright, he could only see two pokeballs on the other trainer's belt.
He was probably just out for a stroll then, or left the rest at the pokecenter. Almost an adult, he must have more than two Pokemon.
Barney pulled out a pokeball and tossed it into the air. "Alright, let's get this party started! Go, Machop!"
In a flash of light, a muscular Machop appeared, flexing its arms and ready for battle. Barney began flexing, making grunting noises for some reason - the Machop matching his flexing expertly. Leaving Ezra slightly nonplussed for a moment.
A Haunter slipped out of his shadow trying to flex its hands, letting out a mournful little wail when it didn't get the same effect. Ezra patted it on the head, sweat dropping as Barney and Machop clasped hands, stomping the ground in some weird pre game ritual, all the while continuing to grunt.
Ezra quickly considered his options while they… Did whatever that was. He decided to start with Shuppet, who hovered eagerly by his side anyway, ready for battle.
"Shuppet, you're up!" Ezra called, letting Barney know he was ready.
His Shuppet floated forward, letting loose a menacing aura as it faced Machop. Barney raised an eyebrow, but maintained his easy going demeanor.
"Cool, a Shuppet! This is gonna be fun. Machop, let's kick things off with Karate Chop!" Barney commanded.
Ezra had wondered if the cheerful facade hid an idiot, when he'd revealed a Machop to fight what was obviously a Ghost trainer, he'd figured he had learned some more effective moves or something.
Not… This.
Machop charged forward, its hand glowing with fighting energy - totally useless against Ghost types. Ezra reacted swiftly enough anyway. Even if it was ineffective, his pokemon needed to get used to dodging attacks anyway, "Shuppet, dodge with Shadow Sneak and use Confuse Ray!"
Might as well get practice in, if this guy was seriously just going to throw fighting moves against him. He'd expected at least a thunder punch or something.
Maybe he was just getting started?
Shuppet phased out of Machop's path, reappearing behind it in its shadow, and releasing a beam of dark energy. Machop stumbled, clearly affected by the ghostly attack but quickly regained its footing.
Damn, Confuse Ray didn't take, oh well…
"Nice move! Machop, use Low Sweep!" Barney shouted, punching the air excitedly.
Low sweep? Against a floating ghost? What is this guy, who's the rookie here? Am I… Beating up a special needs dude?
Machop aimed a swift low kick at Shuppet, but it just floated just out of reach even without any orders. Ezra took the opportunity to press the advantage, the Machop in a bad position right beneath Shuppet.
"Shuppet, hit it with Dark Pulse!" he ordered, a wicked smile on his face, his pulse quickening. Despite the ease of the battle, this was fun!
Shuppet naturally went with the compressed version, and against a faster pokemon it would have taken too long at 3 seconds now - but the Machop hadn't moved quickly, and Barney hadn't given it another order yet, so Shuppet managed to launch it at Machop without the Pokemon dodging out of the way, the Machop standing in place seemingly bulking up.
The attack struck Machop directly, knocking it back with significant force, slamming it into the ground. Barney's smile never wavered even then.
Normally Dark Pulse and it's debilitating aura was widespread and could even hit several pokemon at once - but compressed, it visibly brought the Machop to the edge of fainting when it brought it low.
Whatever the Machop had been trying to do, dissipated with the strong strike. bulk up? Ezra thought, Most likely, but without any orders…
This trainer was confusing him. Had he trained his pokemon to work independently, or was he just so bad the pokemon chose on its own?
"Wow, your Shuppet is strong! But we're not done yet. Machop, get up and use Seismic Toss!" Barney said encouragingly.
Machop got to its feet, determined despite the damage it had taken. Seismic Toss was finally an attack that could actually hit Ezra's pokemon - so obviously he wasn't going to just sit around and let him do it.
"Shuppet, Night Shade!" he commanded.
Shuppet's eyes glowed with an eerie light, and Machop's movements slowed as it succumbed to the nightmarish mirage, taking damage before it could begin its own attack. Within moments, Machop was unconscious on the ground.
Barney laughed good-naturedly. "Looks like I'm outmatched this time. Great job, Ezra! Your Shuppet is amazing."
Ezra couldn't help but feel like it had all been too easy. Still, he could be polite at least. "Thanks, Barney. Your Machop put up… An adequate fight for what he was facing, but are you sure we are done? You still have another pokemon, right?"
He couldn't help but be perturbed by this entire encounter, his Shuppet bumping into his head for pets, which he absentmindedly delivered.
Barney recalled Machop and walked over to shake Ezra's hand, and to give him his winnings, something Ezra had forgotten about. 200 pokedollars wasn't a fortune, but every little bit helped. "Thanks for the battle, man. Keep training hard. You've got something special here, you totally wasted me, man." He said happily.
Well… You did walk into a ghostly encampment with only a fighting Pokemon…
Ezra shook Barney's hand mentally shaking his head, feeling a newfound sense of relief. Because now he knew that no matter what, he wouldn't embarrass himself totally on the circuit, not if people like this were around. "I will, thanks for the battle, Barney. Safe travels."
With a final wave, Barney turned and headed back out of the forest, leaving Ezra to reflect on his first successful Pokemon battle.
Maybe this all won't be as hard as I'd thought… He mused.
That night, as the moon hung high and the forest was shrouded in darkness, Ezra prepared for another training session with Pidgeotto. The air was cool and still, perfect for honing the bird pokemon's skills. His Ghost Pokemon flitted about in the shadows, ready to assist in driving the local Pokemon into Pidgeotto's path.
Ezra stepped carefully through the forest, his eyes adjusting to the dim light. Pidgeotto perched on his shoulder, its feathers ruffled slightly in anticipation. He reached the edge of a clearing and was about to set his Pokemon in motion, when something caught his eye.
Lying in the clearing was a figure, motionless and pale in the moonlight. Ezra's heart skipped a beat as he approached, the scene becoming clearer with each step. The figure was a person, unmistakably dead, with a Pokedex lying beside them. No pokeballs were visible, and the area around the body looked like someone had definitely gotten up close and personal.
Odd to leave the pokedex behind though. It wouldn't be that hard to wipe it and re-register it.
Ezra knelt beside the corpse, his eyes narrowing in thought. This could be the work of poachers or even Team Rocket, he reasoned. Whoever it was, they had left no trace of their Pokemon, only this lifeless body and the abandoned Pokedex.
Considering the pokeballs were gone, and since this kid had a pokedex she was definitely a trainer - she'd been jumped for her Pokemon - with the state the body was in, it wasn't that long ago either. She might not even be declared MIA yet.
Honestly he'd suspect poachers after a particular Pokemon personally - unlucky girl probably had something rare. Team Rocket, even if they were as obsessed about capturing other people's Pokemon as in the source material - were a criminal organization and therefore surely knew how to wipe a pokedex. They were worth enough money they wouldn't have left it behind.
Unashamedly, he picked up the Pokedex and examined it. It was a standard model, nothing particularly special about it, but it could contain valuable information. With a quick swipe, he powered it on and scanned through the entries. It might help identify the victim or even give clues about what had happened.
From… Celadon, Ah, there it is, how on earth does a rookie have a ninetales? Or had, I guess. Legacy Pokemon? Either way, got you killed girl, he thought, scrolling through the pokedex, finding nothing else substantial.
Without compunction, he did a complete reset, wiping everything off the pokedex, and then sat down on a nearby rock, going through the set up stages, registering himself as the owner through his training license ID. He wasn't going to turn down a free pokedex, and besides, it wouldn't do the girl any good now.
Finishing, Ezra sighed, and took a deep breath, scrolling through until he hit the pokenet page for the Lavender Town police department. It was time to report this to Officer Jenny. He dialed the number and waited, the dial tone echoing in the stillness of the night. After a few dozen rings, a familiar voice answered, sounding sleepy.
You know… I know they have other members on the force, but why is it only her dealing with things with the public? He wondered.
"Officer Jenny here," came the professional yet tired and concerned voice from the other end.
"Officer Jenny, it's Ezra," He said, trying to not sound too apathetic, it probably wouldn't be a good look, "I'm in the forest, about two hours out from Lavender Town, fifteen minutes west of my camp. I've found a dead body. There's no sign of any pokeballs or pokedex, so not sure if it's a trainer, but she's definitely dead." He eyed the deep rend through her torso, obviously the product of a Pokemon attack, "Very dead." He added.
There was a pause, then a note of urgency in her voice. "Ezra, can you give me your exact location? I'll come out there right away. Don't touch anything else until I arrive." She said rapidly, the sounds of ruffling clothes, and quiet cursing, coming through the phone call.
Had he known she'd be in bed already, he'd have placed a video call instead… Would he get arrested if he asked what she was wearing?
Probably, right?
Ezra quickly described his location as best as he could, giving landmarks and directions, even if his original explanation was enough, in his opinion, "I'll wait here for you," He added, glancing around the eerie clearing with annoyance, because this did slow down his training. "Be careful on your way." He added as an afterthought.
"I will. Stay put and keep an eye out for anything unusual. I'll be there as soon as I can," Jenny replied, her tone brisk and efficient. The barking of her Growlithe echoing through the line.
The call ended, leaving Ezra alone with the body and his thoughts. He looked at Pidgeotto, who seemed uneasy, and gave it a reassuring pat. "Looks like training will have to wait," he murmured.
His Shuppet and Haunter hovered next to him, almost seeming to hang protectively around him, which he appreciated. His Cubone was in its pokeball, having overworked itself behind his back when he was fighting Barney.
With a thought, the pokemon living in his shadow spread out, like a wave, checking the surroundings. Never hurt to be too careful - next time he should probably do that first. Before kneeling down next to the obviously murdered person.
He stood up, scanning the area himself for any signs of movement as his posse? Yeah, his Ghostly posse, had a look around the forest. The forest was eerily silent, the usual night sounds conspicuously absent. Ezra felt a chill run down his spine, but he pushed it aside.
It made sense, he'd been running the wild Pokemon ragged, they were probably all hiding, or had left the area to avoid him. That's why it was so silent.
The forest remained shrouded in an oppressive silence as Ezra waited for Officer Jenny to arrive. His Ghost Pokemon floated around him, their spectral forms flickering in and out of the shadows, providing some company in the stillness of the night. Pidgeotto perched uneasily on a low branch, its eyes darting around, reflecting the tension in the air.
Whether the Pokemon knew something was dangerous due to his own feelings, or because they recognized it on their own - he couldn't tell, but either way they were all prepared for action if anything happened.
Finally, the distant sound of rustling and the soft glow of a flashlight pierced the darkness. Officer Jenny emerged, her Growlithe by her side, the canine's nose twitching as it sniffed the air for any clues. Jenny's expression was grim, her eyes reflecting the urgency and sorrow of the situation.
"Ezra," She called, her voice breaking the silence. "I'm here."
Ezra raised a hand in acknowledgment, stepping away from the body to give her space. "Took you long enough," He muttered under his breath, though not loud enough for her to hear. He just wanted this over with.
Now more than ever he needed Pidgeotto to evolve, this area was obviously not as safe as he'd thought.
Jenny approached the body, her flashlight illuminating the scene. She knelt down beside the lifeless form, her face tightening with a mix of sadness and professionalism. Growlithe stood guard, its senses on high alert.
"This is terrible," Jenny murmured, more to herself than to Ezra. She carefully examined the corpse, noting the deep rend in the torso. "Looks like a Pokemon attack, but this was no wild encounter. She was definitely ambushed." She mused out loud, looking around the clearing, spotting things he hadn't apparently.
But then he wasn't a cop, nor did he have any kind of forensic training.
He wondered if she usually spoke about these things with random kids nearby. Then again, when they were trainers… Probably. The league was kind of weird with that, a training license suddenly making you ready for anything.
Ezra watched her continued work with mild disinterest, his thoughts already drifting back to his interrupted training session. "Yeah, I figured as much, just as I reported. No pokeballs or pokedex around either, so someone probably took them. Poachers or Team Rocket, maybe."
Jenny watched him carefully in the dark clearing, "I notice you have a pokedex suddenly, it's what you used to call me, right?' she asked, carefully.
Ezra cocked his head, "Was there a question in there somewhere?" He asked, purposefully being obtrusive. If he suddenly became all helpful and friendly, she'd notice and think he was lying.
Although she probably wouldn't believe him no matter what. Which was fine - as long as she didn't have anything to actually go on.
"Did you steal the girl's pokedex and use it to call me?" Jenny asked point blank, eyes hard.
Ezra scoffed, crossing his arms, ominous noises, cackling and hissing - coming from around him as the Pokemon under his aegis made their own opinion known. "That's the thanks I get for calling this in, huh? Shoulda just left her, figures, tch."
Seeing her continued staredown, he rolled his eyes, "Had a couple trainers come through, they sold me one of their old ones, I let them capture one of the Haunters that hang around me in exchange."
Jenny nodded slowly, and he wasn't sure if she believed him, but she'd probably be asking all newcomers to Lavender Town about it soon enough, "I see… My apologies." She offered, apologizing for her suspicions.
"So Team Rocket or poachers, huh? That's gotta suck." Ezra said, wanting to move things along. Not having any intention to stand around a body all night.
Jenny nodded, her expression hardening. "It's likely. This area isn't known for high crime, but poachers and criminals like Team Rocket are always a possibility." She glanced up at Ezra, her eyes piercing. "You did the right thing by calling me." She added, a note of apology in her tone, for her previous line of questioning.
Ezra shrugged, not particularly moved by her praise - especially suspecting she didn't believe him, "Just wanted to get it over with."
Jenny sighed, standing up and dusting off her hands. "I know you're not one for rules, Ezra, but this is serious. You can't stay in this area anymore. It's too dangerous, and now there's been a murder. If word gets out, it'll draw more attention, and not the good kind."
Ezra frowned, crossing his arms. "I haven't broken any laws. I'm not in Lavender Town's limits." He reiterated, not willing to tell her he'd already planned to leave since the second he found the body.
He didn't want to come across as too cooperative here, not with all the shit the police department put him through.
"I understand that," Jenny replied, her tone softening. "But it's not just about the laws. It's about safety. For you and for others. This place isn't safe right now, and I don't want to see you get hurt."
Ezra rolled his eyes. "I'm not afraid of a few poachers or Team Rocket grunts. I can handle myself." I hope…
Now that he had a pokedex he could start doing some research. He had no idea how bad they actually were in this world.
Jenny stepped closer, her expression earnest. "This isn't just about you handling yourself, Ezra. This is about preventing more harm. If they come back and find you here, alone... it won't end well. Please, listen to me."
Ezra glanced at the body again, faking a look of discomfort, dialing down on his bravado, letting her believe she'd slowly convinced him. Reluctantly, he nodded. "Fine. I'll move camp tomorrow." He allowed.
If I can get Pidgeotto evolved tonight, I'll just leave…
"Thank you," Jenny said, genuine relief in her voice. "I'll make sure this area is thoroughly investigated. In the meantime, please stay safe and keep a low profile."
Ezra sighed, turning away. "Yeah, sure. Whatever."
He'd hit his limit on being told what to do. Heh, he was a teenager again, so it was only proper for him to act this way.
He could really go for a damn drink though… Could a Ghost pokemon steal alcohol?
Or would a trainer's license even extend that far? Proooobably not, he thought. For police work? Or fighting gods or terrorists, sure. But no drinking, that's the limit.
As Officer Jenny and her Growlithe began to secure the scene, Ezra walked back towards his camp, his pokemon trailing behind him.
Early morning,
"Fuck you world!" A holler called out across the sky, a Pidgeot taking to the sky, a trainer whooping in joy aboard it.
Lavender Town got its wish.
Ezra Kassian was out.
But he'd be back, oh would he ever be back…
Author's note:
So the set up is done, he'll basically starts his own journey now, the ultimate goal money, with a tad of respect and reputation there as well.
He'll do the circuit whenever he feels like hitting a gym, but his main goal is to train his Pokemon and get money at the moment.
This story probably won't be updated more then like a chapter every two months or so, unless patrons want it and vote for it, but I'll keep working away at it either way, whenever I actually finish a story I'll get more time.
With how I do pacing… That might be 2065.
Cheers
Just a heads up, I don't need pokemon purists saying - that's not how it's done - those moves don't work like that - that pokemon can't learn that!
Basically my readers, I'm doing this for funzies, and rule of cool, and whatever sounds good. I'll take a gander at a wiki, but I'm not going to spend hours researching to make sure every attack is kosher.
This way, this is all laid out now, and those wanting a faithful canon representation can go to the much better stories out there - and those who just want an edgy shit disturber fucking around in Kanto can stick around.
As usual, I do not own Pokemon or the associated companies that deliver material from it. I'm just playing in the kiddy pool, don't hurt me.
Enjoy!
Officer Jenny felt very uncomfortable as she made her way to the reported encampment, her trusty Growlithe already out and prepared for trouble.
She hadn't been onboard with tossing the kid out on his own to begin with, even if she acknowledged he was… Different, in a way that just felt unsettling.
Working in Lavender Town, she was used to - as used as one can be anyway - Ghost Pokemon and their antics. The way they flocked around Ezra however… She could understand why Lavender Town's elders and town council wanted him gone. She hadn't agreed, but her job wasn't to make laws or regulations, it was to enforce them.
And while they hadn't quite gone so far as to make it illegal for Ezra to stay in town, they hadn't made it easy for him to stay either. Officer Jenny had done what she could, even signing that, in hindsight, lopsided pokemart deal, that had so infuriated the council.
She didn't regret it, thought it was clever of the boy in fact, and regretted not thinking of it herself, low balling the boy with her own first offer in her own thoughtlessness.
He'd left, and she'd thought that was it. She'd quietly wished him luck even then. He'd do better outside the reach of the superstitious townspeople of Lavender Town, she was sure.
Except when he'd left, he'd just barely followed the instructions laid out for him in his banishment.
He'd made camp about two hours away from Lavender Town, and stayed there. Seemingly content to stay and train his Pokemon without going anywhere.
Once that information began circulating in town, brought in by trainers who'd run in to the boy - the council naturally tasked her with the job of impressing on him that the banishment although technically only from Lavender Town, who's city limits he was not within - it naturally also meant he was supposed to leave the surrounding area.
Jenny wasn't sure what she was even going to say to the boy when she got there. He hadn't broken any laws that she knew of, so no matter what flak might come her way from the town, she couldn't actually force him to go anywhere.
That said, as an experienced woman, she could give the young man some advice, and see him off before he got in real trouble.
The council probably wouldn't put a bounty on a kid, they'd have to get that past the league, and she really didn't think the excuse of - he's creepy - would fly past them. His seeming control over Ghost Pokemon was not enough on its own, not unless he actually did something illegal with it.
That said, if the council made enough of a fuss, Jenny knew there were always unscrupulous people around who'd salivate at the thought of a young lonely man with that kind of potential.
Hence why she hadn't protested too hard when she'd been pressured to go deal with him.
He'd seemed an intelligent young man, for all that she'd been forced to continuously bring him in due to overwhelming witness statements against him in the past. She'd never charged him, how could she? When it was always him with more bruises than skin.
No matter how the others would have a broken nose or split lip, only one of them ever came in as if stomped by a crowd. So she'd given him shelter under the guise of holding him. Giving him medical care, food. A respite.
Even if she'd been forced to act like he was some sort of delinquent, or risk losing the ability to do anything as the town pulled their support.
She let out a huff of air, her tired mien watching the sky as her feet led her forward on the well trodden path, who'd have thought policing was so dependent on the townspeople around you… She snarked mentally.
Eventually she stepped off the path, heading to where he'd been reported to have set up camp, not too far off the road.
As Officer Jenny approached Ezra's encampment, an unnatural chill settled over her. The sun, still high in the sky, seemed to struggle against a sudden, oppressive gloom. A purplish mist swirled around the trees, creeping along the ground and giving the air a spectral quality.
She tightened her grip on Growlithe's fur as she pet him, her loyal companion bristling but ready. "Stay alert, Growlithe," She whispered, her breath visible in the cold, thick air.
The path ahead was obscured, each step into the mist feeling heavier than the last. Jenny's instincts screamed at her to turn back, but duty propelled her forward. The first signs of Ezra's camp came into view shortly thereafter.
As Officer Jenny stepped into Ezra's encampment, the eerie atmosphere intensified. The purplish mist thickened, curling around her ankles like spectral tendrils. The temperature dropped noticeably, her breath puffing out in small, frosty clouds. Growlithe, usually brave, pressed closer to her leg, growling softly at the shadows.
Ezra's camp was nestled in a small clearing, surrounded by gnarled trees whose twisted branches reached out like skeletal hands. The ground was uneven, dotted with old tombstones half-sunken into the earth, remnants of an abandoned graveyard. These stones, weathered and cracked, added to the macabre ambiance, each one bearing inscriptions long faded by time.
Did he purposely pick the creepiest place he could? She wondered, an expression of distaste crossing her face.
The campfire at the center of the clearing cast a weak, flickering light, barely piercing the gloom. At least she could tell it was properly built, so she wouldn't have to give him a citation for that. You'd think with fire Pokemon a thing, humans wouldn't still be the major proponent of forest fires…
Not that she was in the mood for citations or any of that anyway, not with how much she just wanted to walk away right now…
She was suddenly glad the Mayor and the council were all too old to be taking jaunts through the woods, because if they saw this, things would definitely escalate.
League of no league, they'd put a bounty on the kid. Which would cause a headache and a half, because only the worst of the worst got bounties - or the most dangerous Pokemon.
Hovering in the mist were various Ghost Pokemon, their forms ethereal and ever-shifting. Gastly's floated silently, their gaseous bodies pulsing with an eerie light. Haunter's hands detached from its body, clawing at the air playfully yet menacingly. A Misdreavus drifted near a tombstone, its red eyes glowing ominously as it let out a low, mournful wail that sent chills down Jenny's spine.
Ezra himself stood near the fire, his silhouette blending seamlessly with the spectral surroundings. His clothes were dark and slightly worn, and he'd found some sort of leather jacket somewhere, he seemed almost a part of the mist, a ghostly figure among ghosts. His presence, though calm and collected, only added to the macabre scene, as if he were a warden of this haunting domain.
She shook her head, no time to get maudlin, I've lived in Lavender for years, it's just Pokemon.
The oppressive silence was broken only by the occasional whisper of the wind and the distant, eerie cries of the wild Ghost Pokemon. Jenny felt the weight of countless unseen eyes watching her every move, the air thick with an ancient energy that pressed down on her like a physical force.
He is doing this on purpose, she realized, all the danger she felt melting away as she realized he was just being edgy.
"Ezra," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper in the ghostly stillness, "You really need to think about what it is you're doing here, think about what I said before." She wet her lips, trying to find the right words, "You were banished, you can't stay just two hours outside the city… You will attract a lot of attention, they won't leave you alone."
Ezra's eyes met hers, and for a moment, the mist seemed to clear just a bit. "I will think about it, Officer Jenny," he replied with a half smile, sounding amused, his voice carrying an otherworldly echo that sent shivers through her.
Yes, definitely playing it up… Arceus save me from teenagers…
With a final, reluctant nod, Jenny turned and began her journey back, the ghostly encampment fading behind her into the mist. She'd done her duty to the letter. She'd informed him that he needed to move. He'd said he'd think about it.
She wasn't sticking around further than that. He'd move on soon enough or he wouldn't, she'd done her duty.
The town called him creepy. Officer Jenny didn't think anyone could argue with that anymore.
It was just a phase anyway surely, when she'd been a teenager she'd had her own, just not…
That.
Ezra couldn't help but chuckle as Officer Jenny left, glancing at the multitude of Ghost Pokemon that kept hanging around, "She's one of the nice ones, you could have been a little less creepy with her." He admonished, without any heat.
He had found it funny after all. From the haunting laughter that echoed through the mists of his little camp, the Ghost Pokemon agreed.
He hadn't exactly meant to have his camp come across as some sort of forest of the damned. His Pokemon just felt more comfortable around graveyards, so when he found a couple of old gravestones in a clearing, he'd figured why the hell not?
The mist and purplish haze came after, as both the wild Ghost Pokemon, and the ones that enjoyed hanging out in his shadow, spread a sort of miasma from all of them gathering together.
With his already creepy looks, it really didn't make him any more approachable. Not that it upset him. He knew he couldn't stay here forever, and a tent wasn't his idea of the height of luxury either.
Perhaps it was the orphan in him, but he craved the finer things. Which meant money. Which meant he needed flight before anything else.
The good news was that he was an absolute cheat. He'd found that as long as it was an order they didn't mind too much, the ghosts following in his wake, were happy enough to obey.
Not something he could use in actual pokemon battles with other trainers. For trawling through a forest and finding a good pidgey or pidgeotto for him to train? It worked like a charm.
Unlike in a game where each area was based on a level, this was reality. So higher level pokemon could be found the further away from civilization you came. Holding territory, building their own primitive little societies. Two hours away from Lavender like he was?
Chock full of the smaller weaker pokemon like Pidgey, Rattata, Caterpie etc.
The weaker pokemon sought shelter close to humanity where they were less likely to be eaten, while the stronger avoided humans preferring their freedom and territory.
So he'd caught himself a Pidgeotto, one of the more powerful pokemon in the area, hunted down by a bushel of gleeful ghosts.
The problem was that he wasn't exactly a Pokemon whisperer, or at least he thought so. He didn't have any intention of using this Pokemon for anything but a convenient way to fly. So how do you convince a Pokemon to work for you when you can't do the friendship is magic thing?
That's what he had been pondering when Officer Jenny interrupted him, a pokeball laying at his side, holding the aforementioned Pidgeotto.
His Cubone, Haunter and Shuppet were all free from their balls, honing their skills just outside his clearing, where he'd set them each their task.
Did he try to teach them new techniques? Did he try to have them master complex maneuvers? No, of course not.
He had them honing what they had. Accuracy, technique energy expenditure, physical stamina - for as much as that mattered with their types, mostly just Cubone on that one. Once they honed their current skills to a knife point, he'd have them work on compressing them even further, on expanding them, on twisting and crafting something extra out of their respective techniques to surprise their enemies.
Ghost Pokemon were more malleable than most - he was sure he could help them harness their energy in inventive ways. It helped that the idea of messing with people by doing the unexpected, really intrigued his pokemon.
He wasn't one to sit and ponder for too long, so with a sigh, he released the Pokemon held in the pokeball.
Ezra sat down cross-legged on the forest floor, his small campfire casting long shadows around the clearing. The oppressive mist of earlier had lightened now that they didn't have an intruder, giving way to the soft, silvery glow of moonlight filtering through the canopy of the trees. In front of him, released from its pokeball and perched on a low branch, was his newly captured Pidgeotto. Its sharp eyes watched him warily, feathers ruffled in a mix of curiosity and suspicion. It still showed the signs of its not so gentle capture.
It hadn't come quietly. Not at all thrilled by the chase of a dozen ghosts taunting and delighting in the chase, until in the end, they'd grown bored, and the Pidgeotto was finally felled.
"Listen, Pidgeotto," Ezra began, his tone calm and steady, "I know this isn't likely what you expected, and if you ever thought about getting caught it's even further from it. I need you to understand that I'm not like other trainers." He leaned forward gaze intent.
He wouldn't be the type who made best friends with every Pokemon he came across. His team, he had no doubt he'd come to cherish them. This Pidgeotto? It was a tool.
That was simply reality, and he would not hide it, these creatures were intelligent enough that negotiation was preferable before subterfuge.
It was too exhausting to even think about acting anything but himself for that long. Who had time for that? In a second life to boot?
Pidgeotto tilted its head, a skeptical gleam in its eyes. It fluttered its wings slightly, ready to take off at the first sign of trouble. Not that it would do shit all, since he still had the pokeball.
Ezra held up a hand, showing the Pokemon a small bag of berries, their enticing aroma wafting through the air. Stomping through the forest did have some advantages, finding berry bushes was one. "I don't want to make you into a battle pokemon, other than what is needed to evolve you... I captured you because I need a strong flying Pokemon, a partner to help me travel. You see, I have big plans. I want to create a gym, a place where Ghost and Dark Pokemon can thrive, and I need your help to get there."
Not exactly anything in it for the Pidgeotto in that plan, but he was being honest. And of course there would be the carrot…
Pidgeotto eyed the berries, its suspicion giving way to interest. It hopped down from the branch, landing gracefully in front of Ezra.
"These are for you," Ezra said, holding out the bag. "And there's more where that came from. I promise you, if you help me, I'll make sure you get a territory of your own to rule over once my gym is established. A whole forest, filled with as many berries as you can eat and as many nests as you can build. You'll be the master of your domain, free from human interference except my own." He met its eyes, his own serious and intent, "I will make it so."
The Pidgeottos eyes sparkled at the thought. It cawed softly, still unsure but clearly tempted by the offer.
Worst case and it said no, Ezra would actually release it and find another. While he didn't intend to use his flying mount for anything else, he also didn't intend to have a reluctant mount. He needed to be able to rely on them.
Using up one of his slots for a purely flying mount instead of a battler might seem like madness. But no matter what world you were in - money talked.
He was sure once he got enough cash in hand, there were ways to expand the limit.
Ezra leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "You won't have to fight unless you choose to after you've evolved. Just help me, help me travel. Be my eyes in the sky. In return, I'll ensure your safety and your future. You'll have freedom and power, more than any other Pidgeotto could dream of, your own forest protected by my gym."
He placed the bag of berries on the ground between them and leaned back, giving the Pokemon space to make its decision. Pidgeotto stared at Ezra for a moment longer, then cautiously pecked at the berries, savoring the sweet taste.
"Is it a deal?" Ezra asked, his tone hopeful. It would be a pain in the ass to move camp and find another alpha of the weaklings, so to speak.
Pidgeotto looked up, its gaze meeting Ezra's. After a long, tense moment, it gave a sharp nod, a sign of its tentative agreement.
Ezra smiled, relief washing over him. "Thank you. I promise, you won't regret this."
The first hurdle had been passed. One, he could negotiate with Pokemon that weren't Ghost or Dark, that was good to know. Two, he had a way to avoid the whole trawling through woods for the next year bullshit.
Ezra clenched his hands into fists, his red eyes gleaming. "Let's see about getting you that evolution, hmm?" He said, his shadow expanding like a cloak, wafting out behind him, dozens of eyes and smiles lighting up, laughter beginning to echo out into the encampment.
"This forest won't know what hit 'em!"
Ezra stood at the edge of the forest, the moon casting an eerie glow over the landscape. The air was thick with anticipation as he prepared for the night's training. His shadow, cast long by the moonlight, seemed to move with a life of its own. From within that darkness, Ghost Pokemon emerged, their spectral forms tethered to Ezra like a living, ethereal menagerie.
He didn't give a shit how creepy it must look - it was so goddamn cool, he felt like an anime character about to do tragic backstory bullshit.
It was a shame this was one anime world which didn't run on tits as its source code. But one couldn't have it all.
"Alright, everyone," Ezra whispered, his voice carrying an edge of command. "Let's give Pidgeotto the training he needs."
He hoped this worked. Obviously leveling up according to a game couldn't be the exact same thing in reality. But Pidgeotto beating up Pokemon, while intent on growing stronger and evolving, surely would work?
From his shadow, a Gastly floated up, its gaseous form pulsing with a malevolent energy. A Haunter's disembodied hands emerged next, followed by the rest of its sinister figure, its grin wide and menacing. A Misdreavus materialized, its eyes glowing with a spectral light, then another Gastly, two, then another Haunter. The Ghost Pokemon, attached to him by some unseen force, awaited his instructions with a silent, almost eerie eagerness.
His own pokemon came to his side as well, having not spent any time in their pokeballs since being captured. His Cubone sat at his feet as the Shuppet and Haunter hovered around him.
He frowned, eyeing his Pokemon, with so many other Haunters floating around, he really couldn't just keep calling his own that, could he? Food for thought for later, he'd have to name it, or something, give it a designation.
Ezra turned his attention to Pidgeotto, perched on a low branch nearby. "Are you ready?" he asked, because this all hinged on him being able to follow the plan.
Pidgeotto gave a sharp nod, its eyes gleaming with determination. It stretched its wings, preparing for the task ahead. It was going to be carried on a speed run. Hopefully it wouldn't take too much of the experience away.
"Good," Ezra said, a hint of satisfaction in his voice. "Gastly's, Haunters, Misdreavus - let's start." He ordered, before looking down to his own Pokemon, "You guys, take the perimeter, keep them from escaping."
At his command, the Ghost Pokemon dispersed into the forest, their spectral forms blending seamlessly with the shadows. They moved swiftly, their presence unsettling the
Pokemon of the forest. Small Pokemon like Caterpie and Pidgey felt the chill of the Ghosts' approach and began to panic, their instincts driving them into a frenzied flight.
Especially as his ghosts specifically made sure to hunt down and bother them in their nests. Not a very nice thing, but hardly monstrous either, just efficient.
Ezra watched as the first wave of frightened Pokemon bolted from the underbrush, their eyes wide with terror as they were harassed by Ghost pokemon, some of the Dark pokemon that followed him on the fringes, apparently having seen his plot and decided to join in the hunt. An unexpected benefit. "Now, Pidgeotto!" he shouted.
Pidgeotto launched into the air, its powerful wings beating with a swift rhythm. It swooped down upon the fleeing Pokémon, its talons outstretched. The forest became a chaotic scene of panic and pursuit, with Pidgeotto diving and striking at the weakened and exhausted creatures driven into its path by the relentless Ghost Pokemon.
If they tried to flee away from the relentless assault they couldn't fight back against, his own Pokemon pushed them back into the killbox. If they tried to send off a technique, the Ghost or Dark Pokemon cut them off at the knees.
A Rattata, its eyes wide with fear, darted out from a bush, only to be caught by Pidgeotto's swift claws. The bird Pokémon carried it high into the air before releasing it, sending it plummeting back to the ground. The cycle continued, with Pidgeotto methodically targeting and overpowering the frantic forest dwellers, its strength and skill growing with each encounter, or so he pictured it, at least.
There was no difference to be seen, except perhaps in the growing exhaustion of his Pidgeotto. He'd likely have to continue this for more than tonight, but it should work. Hopefully within a few days. This wouldn't be a tactic he could use to create elite level Pokemon, the targets too weak. But to simply evolve a Pidgeotto, a few days of it should be enough.
Ezra watched the scene with a mix of satisfaction and determination. He knew this method was harsh, but it was likely to be effective. Pidgeotto needed to grow stronger, and the best way to do that was through rigorous, relentless training. Or in the defeat of Pokemon, which he hoped was a possibility here.
After all the others didn't really harm any of them, they just terrorized them, leaving the Pidgeotto to do all the damage to knock them out. And if he ate a Caterpie or two… Well Ezra wasn't too fond of bugs anyway.
He really didn't want to spend possibly weeks training his Pidgeotto, he wanted to be gone before Lavender Town did more than grumble. So he could come back later to show them all how wrong they'd been.
And really rub their faces in it.
As the night wore on, the forest became quieter, the Pokemon too frightened to move from their hiding places. Pidgeotto landed back near Ezra, its chest heaving with exertion but its eyes shining with a newfound fierceness.
Ezra approached, offering a handful of berries as a reward. "You did well, Pidgeotto," he said, his voice filled with genuine praise. He might not ever see him as more than a tool, but he wouldn't shy away from rewarding effort. "This is just the beginning. Keep this up, and you'll soon get everything you were promised. Your own domain, protected by my people."
Once he had people… No need to say it could be years yet…
Pidgeotto accepted the berries, eating them gratefully. It was tired but invigorated, its confidence boosted by the successful training session.
Ezra looked at his Ghost Pokemon, still lurking in the shadows, their presence a constant, unnerving reminder of this power of his. "Good work, everyone. Let's give Pidgeotto some rest and prepare for tomorrow. There's still much to do."
He'd have to experiment with his own power. Whatever death aura or whatever that he had, that drew these Pokemon in. Even if never useful in ranked battles. Up against something like Team Rocket? They'd be a trump card that would serve him very well.
The Ghost Pokemon receded back into his shadow, their forms merging seamlessly with the darkness. As Ezra sat by the campfire minutes later, Pidgeotto resting beside him, his other Pokemon back to work training, he felt a sense of grim satisfaction. His plan was working. He was sure of it.
Once Pidgeotto evolved, he'd have all of Kanto at his fingertips.
Next day.
Ezra stood in a secluded part of the forest, the early morning light casting a soft, golden glow through the trees. The air was still and cool, perfect for the precision training he had planned. In front of him floated Shuppet and Haunter, both eager and ready to refine their ghostly abilities.
He couldn't spend all his time on Pidgeotto, he didn't want to accidentally injure him nor risk overworking him - that would defeat the point entirely of what he was doing. And besides, he'd need his team to actually be competent if he wanted to succeed in even gaining his start-up capital.
"Alright, Shuppet, Haunter," Ezra began, his voice calm but firm, "Today's training is all about control and accuracy. It's not enough to have powerful moves; you need to be able to direct them precisely. Let's start with the compression exercises I had you guys practice these last few days."
And boy had it been a fun game of charades to figure out some of their move pools, he needed a frigging pokedex pronto. Although they were around, and in use pre-Ash apparently here - they were also expensive, and only the richest or well sponsored trainers could afford one.
Shuppet hovered closer, its cloth-like body undulating slightly. Haunter, with its disembodied hands and mischievous grin, followed suit. Ezra could see the anticipation in their ghostly eyes.
He had no idea if it was because of their connection or if he was actually bonding with them, but none of his pokemon had so far backed down from any of the training.
"Shuppet, I want you to compress your Dark Pulse attack into a tight beam. Imagine it as a needle, sharp and focused. Haunter, you'll do the same with your Shadow Ball. Smaller, more controlled. Ready?"
All three of his pokemon had a decently large and versatile move pool already, making him suspect he hadn't been approached by any rookie pokemon here. Dark Pulse he imagined must have been a technical machine technique for Shuppet, as he didn't remember it being part of its move pool.
Both Pokemon nodded, their forms shimmering with latent energy. They'd been training for twelve hours minimum a day, just getting used to manipulating their energy further and in new ways, Shuppet having the harder time of it as it's chosen technique to play with was a dark type move.
What he'd learned of Pokemon battles in school since arriving here… The vast majority of trainers had absolutely no innovation, only treading already worn ground.
Same with breeders and everyone really. It was the reason why no one had discovered how to evolve Milotic from Feebas, people just did what their forefathers always did.
The ones that didn't?
Well that was your top 1 percenters right there.
Although perhaps it was more like five percenters, the Ace trainers weren't your average idiots.
Ezra took a step back, giving his Pokemon some space. "On my count. One... Two... Three!"
Shuppet's eyes glowed with a dark light as it concentrated, a thin beam of shadowy dark energy forming in front of it with a vicious aura to it. Haunter's grin widened as it summoned a small, dense Shadow Ball, its size reduced but its power more concentrated.
"Hold it... Hold it..." Ezra instructed, watching as both Pokemon strained to maintain their focus. "Now, release!"
The compressed attacks shot forward, Shuppet's Dark Pulse beam slicing through the air with laser-like precision, while Haunter's compact Shadow Ball rocketed forward, both dissipating harmlessly into the sky. Ezra smiled, pleased with their progress.
Sure, at five seconds to form, it was almost useless in most fights, but when they'd started getting the hang of it, the time had been 15 seconds. He was confident they'd be able to get it further down. Which would mean their hits would pack a much heavier punch, necessitating less of them needing to hit the target to incapacitate their opponents.
"Excellent! Now, let's work on your accuracy with it." He reached down and picked up a handful of pinecones, holding them in his hand. "I'm going to toss one of these each in the air. I want you to hit each target as quickly and accurately as possible. Shuppet, you'll use your Dark Pulse. Haunter, stick with Shadow Ball."
Ezra took a deep breath and tossed a pinecone high into the air in front of Shuppet. "Now!" He shouted, even as he used his other hand to throw another one for Haunter.
Shuppet's eyes flashed as it fired a precise beam of its Dark Pulse, the malevolent aura resonating with Ezra, feeling almost homely, the attack managed to strike the pinecone and reduce it to splinters before it hit the ground - on his first try. Ezra noticed that Haunter's Shadow Ball obliterated its own target mid-air, the fragments scattering in all directions as well, also on the first try.
"Great job! Again!" Ezra encouraged, his voice filled with cheer. Inwardly he clocked it as another sign these pokemon had belonged to someone and had been trained.
Just don't let it be my body's former owner, I'm already playing into the creep factor enough as is…
He continued to toss the targets, each time faster and in more unpredictable patterns. Shuppet and Haunter responded with supreme confidence, their attacks becoming more accurate and controlled with each attempt. Shuppet's Dark Pulse beams became razor-thin and deadly precise, while Haunter's Shadow Balls, though smaller, packed a powerful punch and hit their marks unerringly.
They'd managed to shave a quarter of a second or so off compressing their techniques too. Just by being pushed to go faster, each of his throws slowly being tossed out faster to pressure them.
"Keep it up!" Ezra called out, throwing multiple targets at once. Shuppet and Haunter didn't miss a beat, their ghostly forms moving with fluid grace as they dispatched two pinecones each with pinpoint accuracy, although to be fair they were grouped together - two more falling to the ground. They both glared at the offending pinecones.
After several more rounds, Ezra finally called for a halt. "Alright, that's enough for now. You both did amazing."
Shuppet and Haunter hovered closer, their ghostly energies still shimmering from the exertion. Ezra reached out and patted them gently, a proud smile on his face. It felt cold but not unpleasantly so, to touch them.
"You're getting stronger and more precise every day," He said, his voice filled with genuine praise. "With control like this, you'll be able to take on any challenge that comes our way."
Shuppet let out a soft, ethereal cry of delight, while Haunter's grin somehow managed to widen even further.
"Take a fifteen minute break, then try and get that compression down to three seconds, alright?" He told them, walking off, smiling softly as one of the Haunters haunting his shadow, lightly pulled on his hair just to get attention.
Ezra wandered into the nearby clearing, where Cubone stood, its distinctive skull helmet catching the early morning light. Despite not being a Ghost Pokemon, Cubone had always been a special case in his mind, and he'd once had it on his team playing the games. It had connotations of death and loss, and if Ezra didn't misremember, evolving a Cubone at night could result in it becoming a Fire/Ghost Marowak - a perfect fit for his ghostly team.
And if he failed. Well, he'd always wanted an Arceusdamned Cubone, so he'd be fine either way.
Cubone had followed Ezra just as the Ghost and Dark Pokémon had, volunteering to be part of his team even. Its affinity for ghostly phenomena, or perhaps just death itself, made it a promising candidate for Ezra's evolving plans. He saw this as a good omen for its eventual transformation.
Obviously Cubone was already attuned to ghostly energies, or it wouldn't have so easily sought him out.
Ezra approached Cubone with a thoughtful smile. "Alright, Cubone, it's time for your training."
Cubone looked up at him with determined eyes, gripping its bone club tightly. Ezra had decided to go a bit unconventional with Cubone's training - or if he had to be honest - he'd gone entirely left field. It had a tail even if it wasn't much of one, and he was determined to teach it Iron Tail. If it could channel the energy into its tail, perhaps it could eventually do the same with its club, making it a formidable weapon.
It would also surprise the shit out of people for a while, which was just a bonus.
"Let's start with speed and hitting power," Ezra said, picking up a few sturdy logs he'd gathered earlier. "Cubone, I want you to use your club to hit these logs as hard and as fast as you can. Imagine your tail and club becoming as hard as steel."
Cubone was pretty fast, something he was eager to take advantage of, continuing to focus on speed, and of course hitting power was important, as Cubone was a more physical fighter than the others.
Cubone nodded, its resolve clear. It took a deep breath, then swung its club at the first log with a mighty crack, splintering it into pieces. Without missing a beat, Cubone moved to the next log, its swings becoming more forceful and rapid. It's cry heard through the forest as it cried out its victory over the dastardly logs.
"Good, Cubone! Keep it up!" Ezra encouraged, watching the Pokemon's determination with a calculating gaze, he'd lucked out it seemed, his pokemon all having a burning determination. Each swing was stronger than the last as the Cubone just kept speeding up, the sound of wood cracking echoing through the clearing.
After several rounds, Ezra decided it was time to focus on the essence of steel. He knelt down beside Cubone, placing a hand on its tiny shoulder, the little guy almost jumping in shock, letting out a quiet, "Cu?"
"You're doing great, Cubone. Now, let's work on feeling that steely energy. Imagine your tail and your club becoming as hard as metal, unyielding and powerful."
They'd been working on it for days, but seen no progress, probably because it wasn't a natural evolution of technique for Cubone, with a dash of him having had a hard time explaining how the technique worked based on memory.
Cubone closed its eyes, concentrating deeply. Ezra could see the effort etched on its face as it tried to visualize the transformation. He knew this part of the training was challenging, but he had faith in Cubone's perseverance.
It had tons of guts and determination, so everything else would come. Everything else could be taught. You couldn't teach this kind of guts, so starting out with that was already a win in his books.
To help, Ezra began to explain, trying to be more specific than his perhaps too lax explanation previously, "Think about what it means to be steel, Cubone. Strong, resilient, and enduring. Steel doesn't bend easily. It doesn't break. Picture that in your mind."
Cubone's eyes snapped open, a newfound intensity in its gaze. It swung its tail experimentally, and though there was no visible change, Ezra sensed the shift in Cubone's mindset. The grip it had around its club strained as its muscles tensed as it tried to picture steel.
"Alright," Ezra said, standing back up. "Let's try Iron Tail again. Imagine your tail becoming hard as steel and strike." He said, gaze intent on his Pokemon, "You are hard, unbending, everything breaks against your enduring strength. Focus on your tail, focus on steel."
Cubone focused, its tail actually glowing faintly for just a second - with an energy that Ezra hoped would soon become a full Iron Tail. With a fierce cry, Cubone swung its tail at a log by swinging its entire body. The impact was stronger this time, leaving a deeper mark on the wood. It wasn't Iron Tail, by any metric, but he liked to imagine that glow meant it was on its way. The goal was possible.
"That's it, Cubone! You're getting there!" Ezra cheered, his excitement palpable. His cheer also cheered up Cubone, who went back to training with newfound belief.
As the sun climbed higher, nearing the noon mark, marking the end of their training session for now, Ezra knelt beside Cubone once more. "You've made incredible progress today. Keep this up, and we'll unlock your full potential." He smirked wickedly, "People aren't going to expect you at all. It will be glorious."
Cubone looked up at him, its eyes gleaming with a fierce determination. Ezra patted its head gently. "Rest for now. We'll continue this tomorrow."
He could have forced more training today, but with Pidgeotto's gauntlet later, he didn't want his Pokemon too exhausted.
Although he still felt suspicious of his circumstances, because either he was the best trainer ever - or his pokemon were scarily intuitive - or they had previous training.
He didn't want to kid himself on the best trainer thing. He had faith in himself, but not… Iron Tail for a Cubone in just a few days faith.
That was…
Well…
It would all work out in the end.
An hour later,
Ezra was sitting by his campfire, meticulously cleaning his belongings, and contemplating the progress his team had made. The early afternoon sun filtered through the trees, casting shadows across his camp. His Ghost Pokemon floated nearby, occasionally disappearing into the shadows, their presence a constant reminder of his unique bond with them.
He couldn't wait to start experimenting with that when he had his team situated better. Couldn't Agatha like… Do weird ghost shit? He wanted to do weird ghost shit.
He'd do all the weird ghost shit. It would be glorious.
Suddenly, a rustling in the underbrush caught his attention. He looked up to see a young almost adult trainer, maybe a year or two older than him, emerging from the forest. The trainer was tall and muscular, wearing a tank top and shorts, exuding a carefree and confident demeanor. He had a friendly smile on his face, seemingly unfazed by the eerie atmosphere of Ezra's camp.
Which was a first. The first person that had first run into his camp - and likely the one that whined to Officer Jenny - pissed themselves when they ran into his little camp. Apparently not appreciative of the ambiance.
"Hey there!" The trainer called out, waving excitedly. "I saw your camp from a distance, what with all the darkness and smoke and such, and thought I'd come over. Are you up for a Pokemon battle?" He asked, looking utterly cheerful.
Evolution must have gone differently for humanity in a world of pokemon, Ezra would not have run towards smoke and darkness back in his old life. Probably wouldn't do it now either, for that matter.
Ezra looked at the other trainer in some surprise at the offer. He hadn't expected anyone to approach him out here, let alone challenge him to a battle. His heart raced with a mix of excitement and nervousness. This would be his first real Pokemon battle against another trainer. He was older too, so probably experienced.
No, don't be nervous! Just kick ass! He psyched himself up mentally.
"Uh, sure! I'm Ezra," he said, standing up and introducing himself, trying to sound casual.
"Nice to meet you, Ezra. I'm Barney," the trainer replied, flashing a laid-back grin. "I've been traveling around, looking for strong trainers to battle. Your camp caught my eye. Pretty cool setup you've got here." He looked with interest at the surroundings, not batting an eye at the pokemon making malevolent little noises at him from the shadows.
Ezra couldn't help but smile at Barney's nonchalant attitude. Most people would be unnerved by his ghostly companions and the overall creepiness of his camp, but Barney seemed completely unfazed. After having so much of Lavender Town freak out just from his appearance, let alone his newfound ability. It was refreshing to run into someone who just didn't care about any of it.
He would still kick his ass of course, he had a reputation to build. But it was still nice to know not everyone was going to be an ass to him from the start.
Now if they were an ass to him after he was going to totally be an ass to most of them, then that was fair.
He just heavily disliked people who judged someone ahead of time, based on nonsense like skin or some shit.
"Thanks. My Pokemon and I have been training hard. Let's do this," Ezra said, feeling a surge of confidence. With what they'd been doing, surely they'd do alright, he could only see two pokeballs on the other trainer's belt.
He was probably just out for a stroll then, or left the rest at the pokecenter. Almost an adult, he must have more than two Pokemon.
Barney pulled out a pokeball and tossed it into the air. "Alright, let's get this party started! Go, Machop!"
In a flash of light, a muscular Machop appeared, flexing its arms and ready for battle. Barney began flexing, making grunting noises for some reason - the Machop matching his flexing expertly. Leaving Ezra slightly nonplussed for a moment.
A Haunter slipped out of his shadow trying to flex its hands, letting out a mournful little wail when it didn't get the same effect. Ezra patted it on the head, sweat dropping as Barney and Machop clasped hands, stomping the ground in some weird pre game ritual, all the while continuing to grunt.
Ezra quickly considered his options while they… Did whatever that was. He decided to start with Shuppet, who hovered eagerly by his side anyway, ready for battle.
"Shuppet, you're up!" Ezra called, letting Barney know he was ready.
His Shuppet floated forward, letting loose a menacing aura as it faced Machop. Barney raised an eyebrow, but maintained his easy going demeanor.
"Cool, a Shuppet! This is gonna be fun. Machop, let's kick things off with Karate Chop!" Barney commanded.
Ezra had wondered if the cheerful facade hid an idiot, when he'd revealed a Machop to fight what was obviously a Ghost trainer, he'd figured he had learned some more effective moves or something.
Not… This.
Machop charged forward, its hand glowing with fighting energy - totally useless against Ghost types. Ezra reacted swiftly enough anyway. Even if it was ineffective, his pokemon needed to get used to dodging attacks anyway, "Shuppet, dodge with Shadow Sneak and use Confuse Ray!"
Might as well get practice in, if this guy was seriously just going to throw fighting moves against him. He'd expected at least a thunder punch or something.
Maybe he was just getting started?
Shuppet phased out of Machop's path, reappearing behind it in its shadow, and releasing a beam of dark energy. Machop stumbled, clearly affected by the ghostly attack but quickly regained its footing.
Damn, Confuse Ray didn't take, oh well…
"Nice move! Machop, use Low Sweep!" Barney shouted, punching the air excitedly.
Low sweep? Against a floating ghost? What is this guy, who's the rookie here? Am I… Beating up a special needs dude?
Machop aimed a swift low kick at Shuppet, but it just floated just out of reach even without any orders. Ezra took the opportunity to press the advantage, the Machop in a bad position right beneath Shuppet.
"Shuppet, hit it with Dark Pulse!" he ordered, a wicked smile on his face, his pulse quickening. Despite the ease of the battle, this was fun!
Shuppet naturally went with the compressed version, and against a faster pokemon it would have taken too long at 3 seconds now - but the Machop hadn't moved quickly, and Barney hadn't given it another order yet, so Shuppet managed to launch it at Machop without the Pokemon dodging out of the way, the Machop standing in place seemingly bulking up.
The attack struck Machop directly, knocking it back with significant force, slamming it into the ground. Barney's smile never wavered even then.
Normally Dark Pulse and it's debilitating aura was widespread and could even hit several pokemon at once - but compressed, it visibly brought the Machop to the edge of fainting when it brought it low.
Whatever the Machop had been trying to do, dissipated with the strong strike. bulk up? Ezra thought, Most likely, but without any orders…
This trainer was confusing him. Had he trained his pokemon to work independently, or was he just so bad the pokemon chose on its own?
"Wow, your Shuppet is strong! But we're not done yet. Machop, get up and use Seismic Toss!" Barney said encouragingly.
Machop got to its feet, determined despite the damage it had taken. Seismic Toss was finally an attack that could actually hit Ezra's pokemon - so obviously he wasn't going to just sit around and let him do it.
"Shuppet, Night Shade!" he commanded.
Shuppet's eyes glowed with an eerie light, and Machop's movements slowed as it succumbed to the nightmarish mirage, taking damage before it could begin its own attack. Within moments, Machop was unconscious on the ground.
Barney laughed good-naturedly. "Looks like I'm outmatched this time. Great job, Ezra! Your Shuppet is amazing."
Ezra couldn't help but feel like it had all been too easy. Still, he could be polite at least. "Thanks, Barney. Your Machop put up… An adequate fight for what he was facing, but are you sure we are done? You still have another pokemon, right?"
He couldn't help but be perturbed by this entire encounter, his Shuppet bumping into his head for pets, which he absentmindedly delivered.
Barney recalled Machop and walked over to shake Ezra's hand, and to give him his winnings, something Ezra had forgotten about. 200 pokedollars wasn't a fortune, but every little bit helped. "Thanks for the battle, man. Keep training hard. You've got something special here, you totally wasted me, man." He said happily.
Well… You did walk into a ghostly encampment with only a fighting Pokemon…
Ezra shook Barney's hand mentally shaking his head, feeling a newfound sense of relief. Because now he knew that no matter what, he wouldn't embarrass himself totally on the circuit, not if people like this were around. "I will, thanks for the battle, Barney. Safe travels."
With a final wave, Barney turned and headed back out of the forest, leaving Ezra to reflect on his first successful Pokemon battle.
Maybe this all won't be as hard as I'd thought… He mused.
That night, as the moon hung high and the forest was shrouded in darkness, Ezra prepared for another training session with Pidgeotto. The air was cool and still, perfect for honing the bird pokemon's skills. His Ghost Pokemon flitted about in the shadows, ready to assist in driving the local Pokemon into Pidgeotto's path.
Ezra stepped carefully through the forest, his eyes adjusting to the dim light. Pidgeotto perched on his shoulder, its feathers ruffled slightly in anticipation. He reached the edge of a clearing and was about to set his Pokemon in motion, when something caught his eye.
Lying in the clearing was a figure, motionless and pale in the moonlight. Ezra's heart skipped a beat as he approached, the scene becoming clearer with each step. The figure was a person, unmistakably dead, with a Pokedex lying beside them. No pokeballs were visible, and the area around the body looked like someone had definitely gotten up close and personal.
Odd to leave the pokedex behind though. It wouldn't be that hard to wipe it and re-register it.
Ezra knelt beside the corpse, his eyes narrowing in thought. This could be the work of poachers or even Team Rocket, he reasoned. Whoever it was, they had left no trace of their Pokemon, only this lifeless body and the abandoned Pokedex.
Considering the pokeballs were gone, and since this kid had a pokedex she was definitely a trainer - she'd been jumped for her Pokemon - with the state the body was in, it wasn't that long ago either. She might not even be declared MIA yet.
Honestly he'd suspect poachers after a particular Pokemon personally - unlucky girl probably had something rare. Team Rocket, even if they were as obsessed about capturing other people's Pokemon as in the source material - were a criminal organization and therefore surely knew how to wipe a pokedex. They were worth enough money they wouldn't have left it behind.
Unashamedly, he picked up the Pokedex and examined it. It was a standard model, nothing particularly special about it, but it could contain valuable information. With a quick swipe, he powered it on and scanned through the entries. It might help identify the victim or even give clues about what had happened.
From… Celadon, Ah, there it is, how on earth does a rookie have a ninetales? Or had, I guess. Legacy Pokemon? Either way, got you killed girl, he thought, scrolling through the pokedex, finding nothing else substantial.
Without compunction, he did a complete reset, wiping everything off the pokedex, and then sat down on a nearby rock, going through the set up stages, registering himself as the owner through his training license ID. He wasn't going to turn down a free pokedex, and besides, it wouldn't do the girl any good now.
Finishing, Ezra sighed, and took a deep breath, scrolling through until he hit the pokenet page for the Lavender Town police department. It was time to report this to Officer Jenny. He dialed the number and waited, the dial tone echoing in the stillness of the night. After a few dozen rings, a familiar voice answered, sounding sleepy.
You know… I know they have other members on the force, but why is it only her dealing with things with the public? He wondered.
"Officer Jenny here," came the professional yet tired and concerned voice from the other end.
"Officer Jenny, it's Ezra," He said, trying to not sound too apathetic, it probably wouldn't be a good look, "I'm in the forest, about two hours out from Lavender Town, fifteen minutes west of my camp. I've found a dead body. There's no sign of any pokeballs or pokedex, so not sure if it's a trainer, but she's definitely dead." He eyed the deep rend through her torso, obviously the product of a Pokemon attack, "Very dead." He added.
There was a pause, then a note of urgency in her voice. "Ezra, can you give me your exact location? I'll come out there right away. Don't touch anything else until I arrive." She said rapidly, the sounds of ruffling clothes, and quiet cursing, coming through the phone call.
Had he known she'd be in bed already, he'd have placed a video call instead… Would he get arrested if he asked what she was wearing?
Probably, right?
Ezra quickly described his location as best as he could, giving landmarks and directions, even if his original explanation was enough, in his opinion, "I'll wait here for you," He added, glancing around the eerie clearing with annoyance, because this did slow down his training. "Be careful on your way." He added as an afterthought.
"I will. Stay put and keep an eye out for anything unusual. I'll be there as soon as I can," Jenny replied, her tone brisk and efficient. The barking of her Growlithe echoing through the line.
The call ended, leaving Ezra alone with the body and his thoughts. He looked at Pidgeotto, who seemed uneasy, and gave it a reassuring pat. "Looks like training will have to wait," he murmured.
His Shuppet and Haunter hovered next to him, almost seeming to hang protectively around him, which he appreciated. His Cubone was in its pokeball, having overworked itself behind his back when he was fighting Barney.
With a thought, the pokemon living in his shadow spread out, like a wave, checking the surroundings. Never hurt to be too careful - next time he should probably do that first. Before kneeling down next to the obviously murdered person.
He stood up, scanning the area himself for any signs of movement as his posse? Yeah, his Ghostly posse, had a look around the forest. The forest was eerily silent, the usual night sounds conspicuously absent. Ezra felt a chill run down his spine, but he pushed it aside.
It made sense, he'd been running the wild Pokemon ragged, they were probably all hiding, or had left the area to avoid him. That's why it was so silent.
The forest remained shrouded in an oppressive silence as Ezra waited for Officer Jenny to arrive. His Ghost Pokemon floated around him, their spectral forms flickering in and out of the shadows, providing some company in the stillness of the night. Pidgeotto perched uneasily on a low branch, its eyes darting around, reflecting the tension in the air.
Whether the Pokemon knew something was dangerous due to his own feelings, or because they recognized it on their own - he couldn't tell, but either way they were all prepared for action if anything happened.
Finally, the distant sound of rustling and the soft glow of a flashlight pierced the darkness. Officer Jenny emerged, her Growlithe by her side, the canine's nose twitching as it sniffed the air for any clues. Jenny's expression was grim, her eyes reflecting the urgency and sorrow of the situation.
"Ezra," She called, her voice breaking the silence. "I'm here."
Ezra raised a hand in acknowledgment, stepping away from the body to give her space. "Took you long enough," He muttered under his breath, though not loud enough for her to hear. He just wanted this over with.
Now more than ever he needed Pidgeotto to evolve, this area was obviously not as safe as he'd thought.
Jenny approached the body, her flashlight illuminating the scene. She knelt down beside the lifeless form, her face tightening with a mix of sadness and professionalism. Growlithe stood guard, its senses on high alert.
"This is terrible," Jenny murmured, more to herself than to Ezra. She carefully examined the corpse, noting the deep rend in the torso. "Looks like a Pokemon attack, but this was no wild encounter. She was definitely ambushed." She mused out loud, looking around the clearing, spotting things he hadn't apparently.
But then he wasn't a cop, nor did he have any kind of forensic training.
He wondered if she usually spoke about these things with random kids nearby. Then again, when they were trainers… Probably. The league was kind of weird with that, a training license suddenly making you ready for anything.
Ezra watched her continued work with mild disinterest, his thoughts already drifting back to his interrupted training session. "Yeah, I figured as much, just as I reported. No pokeballs or pokedex around either, so someone probably took them. Poachers or Team Rocket, maybe."
Jenny watched him carefully in the dark clearing, "I notice you have a pokedex suddenly, it's what you used to call me, right?' she asked, carefully.
Ezra cocked his head, "Was there a question in there somewhere?" He asked, purposefully being obtrusive. If he suddenly became all helpful and friendly, she'd notice and think he was lying.
Although she probably wouldn't believe him no matter what. Which was fine - as long as she didn't have anything to actually go on.
"Did you steal the girl's pokedex and use it to call me?" Jenny asked point blank, eyes hard.
Ezra scoffed, crossing his arms, ominous noises, cackling and hissing - coming from around him as the Pokemon under his aegis made their own opinion known. "That's the thanks I get for calling this in, huh? Shoulda just left her, figures, tch."
Seeing her continued staredown, he rolled his eyes, "Had a couple trainers come through, they sold me one of their old ones, I let them capture one of the Haunters that hang around me in exchange."
Jenny nodded slowly, and he wasn't sure if she believed him, but she'd probably be asking all newcomers to Lavender Town about it soon enough, "I see… My apologies." She offered, apologizing for her suspicions.
"So Team Rocket or poachers, huh? That's gotta suck." Ezra said, wanting to move things along. Not having any intention to stand around a body all night.
Jenny nodded, her expression hardening. "It's likely. This area isn't known for high crime, but poachers and criminals like Team Rocket are always a possibility." She glanced up at Ezra, her eyes piercing. "You did the right thing by calling me." She added, a note of apology in her tone, for her previous line of questioning.
Ezra shrugged, not particularly moved by her praise - especially suspecting she didn't believe him, "Just wanted to get it over with."
Jenny sighed, standing up and dusting off her hands. "I know you're not one for rules, Ezra, but this is serious. You can't stay in this area anymore. It's too dangerous, and now there's been a murder. If word gets out, it'll draw more attention, and not the good kind."
Ezra frowned, crossing his arms. "I haven't broken any laws. I'm not in Lavender Town's limits." He reiterated, not willing to tell her he'd already planned to leave since the second he found the body.
He didn't want to come across as too cooperative here, not with all the shit the police department put him through.
"I understand that," Jenny replied, her tone softening. "But it's not just about the laws. It's about safety. For you and for others. This place isn't safe right now, and I don't want to see you get hurt."
Ezra rolled his eyes. "I'm not afraid of a few poachers or Team Rocket grunts. I can handle myself." I hope…
Now that he had a pokedex he could start doing some research. He had no idea how bad they actually were in this world.
Jenny stepped closer, her expression earnest. "This isn't just about you handling yourself, Ezra. This is about preventing more harm. If they come back and find you here, alone... it won't end well. Please, listen to me."
Ezra glanced at the body again, faking a look of discomfort, dialing down on his bravado, letting her believe she'd slowly convinced him. Reluctantly, he nodded. "Fine. I'll move camp tomorrow." He allowed.
If I can get Pidgeotto evolved tonight, I'll just leave…
"Thank you," Jenny said, genuine relief in her voice. "I'll make sure this area is thoroughly investigated. In the meantime, please stay safe and keep a low profile."
Ezra sighed, turning away. "Yeah, sure. Whatever."
He'd hit his limit on being told what to do. Heh, he was a teenager again, so it was only proper for him to act this way.
He could really go for a damn drink though… Could a Ghost pokemon steal alcohol?
Or would a trainer's license even extend that far? Proooobably not, he thought. For police work? Or fighting gods or terrorists, sure. But no drinking, that's the limit.
As Officer Jenny and her Growlithe began to secure the scene, Ezra walked back towards his camp, his pokemon trailing behind him.
Early morning,
"Fuck you world!" A holler called out across the sky, a Pidgeot taking to the sky, a trainer whooping in joy aboard it.
Lavender Town got its wish.
Ezra Kassian was out.
But he'd be back, oh would he ever be back…
Author's note:
So the set up is done, he'll basically starts his own journey now, the ultimate goal money, with a tad of respect and reputation there as well.
He'll do the circuit whenever he feels like hitting a gym, but his main goal is to train his Pokemon and get money at the moment.
This story probably won't be updated more then like a chapter every two months or so, unless patrons want it and vote for it, but I'll keep working away at it either way, whenever I actually finish a story I'll get more time.
With how I do pacing… That might be 2065.
Cheers
Moran
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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The Radiance's Follower
The Radiance is best.
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TFTC. Sounds like a fun concept looking forward to more. ( I need more Pokémon fics in my life )
There isn't much resemblance at all apart from that. This is more crack-y and idea-guy's one is a more serious take.
ThunderBasilisk
Well Worn Bastion
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Oh yeah this has definitely caught my interest. And a Dark/Ghost specialist huh? Any chance he can get his hands on a Moxie Sandile? Maybe while looting a smugglers camp? Also I have a couple of ideas on how he can get a Sandygast and a Phantump. The shiny forms to. For the Sandygast he just needs to camp on a volcanic beach(Cinabar likely has one) his presence will likely draw one out. And as for the shiny phantump he'll need to camp next to a birch stump in the Fall. Also thoughts on acquiring the BM Ursaluna? Its not a Dark or Ghost but its associated with the moon and such.
trudny1
Know what you're doing yet?
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Only today have I found that this pokemon snippet became its own story, though I'm surprised it isn't on NSFW. Even if you're not planning on writing some steamy content it still might limit what you can write.
Either way, I look forward to future chapters
Either way, I look forward to future chapters
JollyHippopotamus
Not too sore, are you?
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I did read a few chapters of that story, aye. Although Dark Tidings had already been sitting in my docs for awhile before then, and tossed into my snippet thread.
Yeah, Idea-guy is going in a different direction from what I saw, haven't read the full story, but it seems it's not going to be as ridiculous as my MC is going to be at times.
He'll be getting more then a six pokemon team so there will be some variety, as he's shooting for gym leader, only six is too few to play around with - so he'll need to find a way to get to expand a little or find a way to stable them properly.
Only today have I found that this pokemon snippet became its own story, though I'm surprised it isn't on NSFW. Even if you're not planning on writing some steamy content it still might limit what you can write.
Either way, I look forward to future chapters
Not planned to be NSFW but I can probably move the thread by asking mods if it should ever be a problem.
Kanto really needs a gym that's scary like that, Lavender Town is literally perfect for it.
ThunderBasilisk
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Honestly I think its just the Dark types since the onces with the Ghost typing can just reside in his shadow. Also I dont think theres actually a limit of the amount of Pokemon he can have on hand only that he can only use six in official competitions. His only real hurdles gonna be the food one if he gets to many mon. Then again he can supplement it with wild mon. Maybe find a wild Tauros herd and snipe a straggler.
trudny1
Know what you're doing yet?
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So our MC got kicked out because he was creepy in a town known for its ghost pokemon by the elders. I honestly doubt Agatha knew about the case, and once she does, she will be livid that they kicked out a potential 'heir' to her mantle.
Also those Pokemons might have been chilling with Agatha, that's why they know more moves.
That's the idea I have of what is going on in background
Also those Pokemons might have been chilling with Agatha, that's why they know more moves.
That's the idea I have of what is going on in background
JollyHippopotamus
Not too sore, are you?
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So our MC got kicked out because he was creepy in a town known for its ghost pokemon by the elders. I honestly doubt Agatha knew about the case, and once she does, she will be livid that they kicked out a potential 'heir' to her mantle.
Also those Pokemons might have been chilling with Agatha, that's why they know more moves.
That's the idea I have of what is going on in background
Agatha is going to be absolutely livid when she finds out they let someone like that go without just calling her first to come kidna- ehm offer him employment.
ThunderBasilisk
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Yeah someone like the mc who has such a powerful and visible effect/affinities on/for Ghost and Dark types would absolutely be something to get Agathas attention. Hell probably Lances to. I mean someone like him isnt exactly a common occurrence and would honestly be a very valuable asset to any region. From dealing with an upset Tyranitar to Ghosts causing problems theres no end to his usefulness(honestly this is likely something he can just get paid to do anyway once the League get awareness of just what he can do. Get some capital rolling for his Gym and mon to stock it) Especially since Agathas near retirement age.
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ThunderBasilisk
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He hasnt camped long enough next to a tree stump yet.