Into the Dark - A Pokemon Isekai

To: Alina Knighton,

The Pokémon League of Sinnoh is pleased to accept you into our ranks as an official Pokémon Trainer. It is a badge of honor that many share, and we hope you shall wear it with pride. As of this date (9 June 2004) you are hereby entitled to participate in all Pokémon League sponsored events, providing you meet the relevant prerequisites.

The enclosed Trainer Identification Card (ID Card) is the only valid form of identification accepted at official Pokémon League events, and also functions as an official government ID Card for the region of Sinnoh. If you wish to travel to other regions, you will still have to apply for a government issued passport (excepting the Four Badge Rule, see Pokémon League Guidelines Volume 2, Chapter 8, Section 2 for more relevant details.)

As a Trainer you have various responsibilities, including but not limited to: Assisting local Pokémon Rangers if requested, assisting local Police Officers if requested, assisting local Emergency Services if requested, assisting Ace Trainers if requested, and assisting Gym Leaders if requested. Further details can be found in the Pokémon League Guidelines Volume 1, Chapter 9, Section 7, Subsection A.

If this ID Card is lost, stolen, or otherwise damaged, please visit your nearest Pokémon Center for an explanation and replacement. If you suspect this ID Card has been stolen, please contact the authorities immediately and report the theft.

Congratulations on becoming a Trainer. This is an exciting period in any Trainer’s life, and we here at the Pokémon League wish you all the best in your travels. With trust in yourself and your Pokémon, I’m sure that you can overcome any challenge.

Best of luck,

Cynthia (Sinnoh Pokémon Champion)

I re-read the letter for the third time, before putting it down and examining the ID card that had been included in the envelope. It was probably the worst photo I’d ever had taken of me, considering that it had been taken shortly after I had gotten to Rowan’s lab, so the bruise on my face was still an ugly shade of green-yellow, and my scars stood out as angry red lines. It honestly looked more like a prison photo instead of an official ID.

Thankfully Rowan said that I could have the photo changed for a small fee, but I also wanted to be very careful with my money. The rest of my reward money had come in, minus the twenty-thousand that I had been given by Professor Rowan, and I had made a quick trip down to the Bank of Sinnoh to establish an account and get a debit card. I now had eighty-thousand dollars in a bank account, but no actual income so as soon as I spent that money it was gone. At least, until I managed to find a job or something to pay me.

“Say professor?” I asked as I idly stroked Venus’ fur as she lay on my lap. “What’s the Four Badge Rule?”

“Ah, an excellent question. Most people who go on their journey usually get three badges to their name before they return home. That’s mostly due to the fact that Gym Leaders go easy on newer Trainers until their third badge, when things start getting more difficult. Where the rule comes in is that for the most part the Pokémon League tries to ensure that Pokémon don’t spread too far outside of their natural habitat, lest they become an invasive species.”

“Oh, so if a Trainer has four badges, then it’s assumed that they’re at least capable enough to control their Pokémon to stop it from, uh, laying some more eggs?”

“That’s exactly right. With proof of four badges, then a Trainer’s ID Card can double as a passport, allowing them access to other regions.”

“Huh.” I said, looking at my card again. “That’s good to know.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, I remember you stating that you might want to try some gym challenges. I would recommend it personally, since many places of work tend to look at badges as an indicator of worth. To actually ask the question, do you think you’ll attempt the gym challenges when they reopen in September?”

“I’m not sure, but I think I will. I don’t know if I want to go for the full eight badges though.”

The Hoenn region hadn’t had their own conference yet, that was held in November. After that Ash Ketchum should be going to the Battle Frontier for a while, then if everything went according to plan, he should be arriving in Sinnoh sometime next year. The timing should work out to where I hopefully wouldn’t be in the same region as him.

“How does the season opening work anyways?”

“They have a big ceremony. A day of festivities, fireworks, it’s an event. After the ceremony I’ll hand out Starter Pokémon to the new crop of challengers, and there will be eight months for people to get the eight badges necessary to take place in the Lily of the Valley Conference.”

“Say, about those Starter Pokémon,” I said, trying to sound casual.

“Unfortunately you already have a Pokémon.” He said. “They’re reserved for those who don’t have their own, and need the extra help if they so choose. Or those who have scored high enough on the exams that were offered last year.”

“That’s fine! I don’t need one!” I said hastily, although Venus was already giving me a bit of a stink-eye. “I was just wondering.”

“But I think I do have an idea of what I want to do.” I continued, thinking about some of the plans that had been percolating in my head over the past couple of weeks.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Say, do you have a map?”

/^\

Professor Rowan, as it turned out, had several maps, and he was gracious enough to let me have one and a marker so I could plan my trip.

I had played Pokémon Platinum almost religiously as a kid, having saved up enough money from doing odd jobs around town to buy a DS Lite and the game from a used game store. I knew almost all of the tips and tricks, and was hoping that the bit of information I was currently remembering remained true.

“What’s so special about Oreburgh City?” Lucas asked as he leaned over my map.

The kid had been spending more time in the lab over the past couple of days, which made sense considering he was technically a research assistant for Professor Rowan. Unfortunately for me, it mostly meant that he followed me around, asking a bunch of questions.

“It’s going to be my base of operations for a little while, at least until I find what I’m looking for.”

“And what are you looking for?”

I tapped the side of my nose. “That’s for me to know, and you to find out.”

He pouted at me, which wasn’t nearly so cute as when Venus did it.

“Oh come on Alina, you can tell me!”

“I don’t actually think I can. At least, I don’t want to get in trouble if the word gets out about it.”

“Gets out about what?”

“Nice try kid.”

“You suck!” He stuck his tongue out at me, and I had to remind myself again that he was only a kid.

“Yeah I do.”

The truth of the matter was that Oreburgh City was only the first step in my plans. It was a couple day journey from Sandgem to Oreburgh, but my real goal was the route just above the city, Route 206. Or rather, what was underneath it.

I had looked on PokéBattles, the major forum on the nascent internet that could be found here, and a lot of Trainers knew about the Wayward Cave, and the rare Pokémon like Bronzor that could be found there. But from my extensive research into the matter over the past couple of days, I hadn’t seen one single reference to the lower levels of the cave accessible by a hidden entrance under the Cycling Road. It made sense that the information would be kept quiet by those who knew about it, since it was the only place in Sinnoh that you could find Gible in the wild.

I loved Venus, I really did, and the Eeveelutions were some of my favorite Pokémon in the game. But at the same time, who didn’t want a dragon on their team? Garchomp were beasts, no matter how you looked at it, and if I could add one to my team… Well I wasn’t looking to beat Cynthia or anything, but it would certainly be a good start if I was.

Besides, Gible were cute. They were basically a big mouth and some stumpy legs, and who didn’t want that?

“Will you battle me now Alina?” Lucas whined. “You’ve been saying that you would for days now.”

I frowned, but the kid was telling the truth. I had mostly told him that I would battle him to keep him off my back, but it had backfired and now he was endlessly pleading with me to fight his Pokémon.

The truth of the matter was that I didn’t want to battle, not really. Sure I had done it before with the Riolu against Hawg, and with Havoc against Terror, Kane’s Mightyena, but those weren’t good memories. And I didn’t want to see Venus get hurt, but a conversation I had had with Professor Rowan a week ago came back to me.

“Pokémon want to battle.” He had said when I had brought up the topic. “Not just for their Trainers, but for themselves, especially wild-caught Pokémon. In the wild, they battle for play, for food, for position, or just for exercise. You might not have to battle all the time, but training for them is important to keep them happy and healthy.”

I sighed, and folded up the map before eying the pleading teenager. “If Venus wants to, we’ll battle.”

Looking down at the napping Eevee, ignoring the fist-pumping Lucas besides me, I reached down and gently woke her.

She mewled as she looked up at me curiously, and my heart ached a little bit at the thought of seeing her hurt.

“Hey girl, Lucas here wants to battle against you. I know we’ve talked about this a little bit, but do you want to battle?”

Venus barely thought about it, and I could practically see the fire ignite in her eyes as she jumped to her feet. The feeling that this was going to be a terrible idea just grew in my heart. There was a difference between the games and real life as I had come to find out.

“Okay.” I sighed, and tried to hide how much my stomach fluttered. “I accept your challenge.”

/^\

“This will be a non-official match.” George called to the field behind the Pokémon lab. “The rules will be held in accordance with Pokémon League regulations. It is a one-on-one match, with no substitutions or items. Do both of you understand?”

I gulped, and nodded. The small battle that I had reluctantly promised Lucas had quickly ballooned into a much bigger affair than I had anticipated, with all of the lab assistants gathering out back to watch. George had appointed himself as a referee, and I was beginning to regret ever saying yes to Lucas.

“Let’s do it!” The kid in question shouted eagerly. “Go, Hardy!”

A flash of light briefly illuminated the field as Lucas threw his Poké Ball, and a blue and grey skinned dinosaur emerged, roaring it’s defiance to the world.

“How do you have a Cranidos?” I called to Lucas, my eyes trying not to bug completely out of their sockets.

“Haha! I found a Skull Fossil while exploring the Underground, and had him resurrected! Don’t worry though, he’s still very young!”

This… wasn’t good. Cranidos was a Rock-type, while Venus was only a Normal-Type, so her attacks wouldn’t do nearly as much damage as his would. Venus herself was looking suddenly much more worried than she had been before, but she still came forward from my side, facing down Hardy.

I took a deep breath. I had done this before. In fact, I had done this a lot, probably more than any other Trainer. Sure all of my experience was in a videogame, but I still knew what I was doing.

“Ready?” George asked, and both Lucas and I nodded. “Begin!”

“Headbutt!”

“Venus, evade and Sand Attack!”

One thing that I did appreciate about being in this world instead of the actual games was that the orders weren’t limited to one move at a time, or even limited to moves at all. Watching how the professionals did it on TV while watching the Lily of the Valley Conference had been an eye opener for me.

Hardy sped forwards like a bullet, his head lowered in a charge towards Venus, but despite his speed she was just that much faster than he was. Venus twirled out of the way of his charge in the nick of time, and with her hind legs she dug at the ground, kicking up a spray of dirt that flew into Hardy’s eyes.

The Cranidos roared in frustration, and frantically scratched at his eyes with his tiny arms to try and clear them.

“Hardy! Use Leer!”

Red rimmed eyes glared at Venus, and she took a step back, clearly intimidated by the furious Pokémon.

“Don’t let him rattle you!” I called, dragging her attention back to me. “Covet!”

Venus shook her head and jumped forwards, slamming into Hardy and swiping at him with her paws. The Cranidos didn’t have any items on him, it wasn’t that serious of a battle, but Covet could still do damage if there were no items to steal.

“Headbutt again!”

There was no chance for Venus to escape this time, she wasn’t nearly far enough away when the order was called and the stone-like skull of Hardy crashed into her, sending her flying through the air until she crashed onto the ground.

“Venus!” I called, taking several steps forwards as my heart stopped in my chest.

Remarkably, she hopped up after only a second on the ground, looking hurt but still determined to keep on fighting. I ached to call off the battle, but the look in Venus’ eyes held me back.

Pokémon like to battle. They’re hardier than humans are. You can do this. She can do this.

“Tail Whip!”

Venus’ tail started wagging, and Hardy slowed, sniffing victoriously. She was the very image of a submissive animal, and the dinosaur part of Hardy’s brain must have recognized that, and he started to relax.

Now! “Tackle!”

Hardy was just starting to realize that something wasn’t right and Venus wasn’t submitting when she crashed into him, forcing him to take a couple steps back.

“Headbutt!”

“Evade and Sand Attack!”

Once again Venus was able to dodge out of the way and spray more earth into Hardy’s eyes. I frowned as the Cranidos once again tried to wipe away the dirt.

Why wasn’t Lucas using any other moves besides Headbutt and Leer? Unless…

“Stay to his side Venus!”

She looked curiously at me but nodded, and kept dodging to the side every time Lucas called for Hardy to Headbutt.

Whenever Hardy used his Headbutt, it was only ever in a straight line. He put his head down and charged forwards, but due to his very thick head and prominent brow he couldn’t actually see where he was going. It was a small thing, but Venus was just a little bit faster than he was, and was able to squeak out of the way just in time.

Of course whenever Venus did get a hit in it didn’t do nearly enough damage to end the fight. Hardy was getting increasingly angry over not being able to hit Venus, and his attacks were getting more and more reckless. If any of them were to hit…

“That’s enough!” George called after five minutes of continual dodging. “This match is a draw! Trainers, recall your Pokémon!”

“What?” Lucas shouted. “We can keep going dad!”

“Don’t argue with the ref! Both your Pokémon are exhausted!”

It was true, both Venus and Hardy were swaying on their feet, and Lucas sighed.

“Okay, come on back Hardy!”

“You too Venus, come on girl.”

Venus exhaustedly trudged back to me, practically collapsing at my feet and I hurriedly scooped her up.

“Are you okay?” I asked, and she gave me a wide grin.

“You… you enjoyed that?” Venus nodded. “But you got hurt?”

She nodded again, and I sighed. “Just… be careful okay?”

“That was a good match!” Lucas said, coming across the field to shake my hand. “I didn’t expect your Eevee to be so fast!”

“Yeah, she’s full of surprises isn’t she? Still, Hardy lives up to his name.”

The kid laughed, scratching the back of his head. “It was a bad matchup, and I’m sorry about that. Unfortunately he’s my weakest Pokémon, and I knew that you and Venus didn’t have a lot of experience. It wouldn’t have been fair to send out Sunny or Maggy?”

“Maggy? Sunny?”

“Yeah, my Magby and Monferno! Wanna see?”

I blinked, looking down at Venus in my arms. “Thanks, but I think I’ll pass for now. I want to get her to the Pokémon Center and checked out.”

“Oh it’s no problem, I’m heading that way too! Come on out guys, let’s go for a walk!”

Before I really had a chance to object Lucas was throwing two Poké Balls, and with twin flashes of light an Monferno and Magby stood before me, a wave of heat washing over the field. I could immediately feel the air start to grow drier and I had to work some saliva into my mouth just to be able to talk.

“They’re, uh, very impressive.”

It was no lie, they looked like magnificent specimens of their respective species, with the Monferno being impressively muscled despite its size and the Magby breathing out small amounts of smoke and embers every time it exhaled. The Monferno, Sunny, seemed to revel in my praise, and started flexing and showing off as we began to walk towards the Pokémon center.

They were also both quite a bit shorter than I had been expecting.

Sunny was the larger of the two, but couldn’t have been more than three feet tall, and Maggy must only have been about two feet. It didn’t do anything to lessen how completely frightening they were, since Monferno’s tail was literally on fire, but it certainly re-contextualized the games a little bit for me.

Lucas chattered away as we made our way down to the Pokémon Center, and continued talking when Nurse Joy took our Pokémon for us, but I wasn’t really listening. Despite what Venus had tried to tell me, I still wasn’t sure if I was comfortable with battling or not.

It just seemed a little too much like the animal fights back home, even though I knew that they were completely different. Those weren’t – couldn’t – be done with consent of the animals, and I was sure that if a Pokémon didn’t want to fight there wasn’t much you could do to force it. I, for one, wouldn’t want to try telling that Monferno to stop trying to show off if I wanted my skin to remain uncharred.

“Alina, Lucas?” Nurse Joy called, and both of us looked up. “Your Pokémon are ready.”

I eagerly hurried over to get Venus’ Poké Ball, while Lucas was a little more casual.

“Was she okay?”

“She was fine Ms. Knighton. A little banged up to be sure, but overall she’s fine. Honestly she would have been fine with just some sleep and food, but I’m glad you stopped by regardless.”

“Really? She caught a Headbutt right to her side.”

Nurse Joy had a small smile on her face that I couldn’t quite place. “You are a new Trainer, aren’t you?”

I flushed. “Is it that obvious?”

“Well, yes. But it’s not a bad thing! More often than not newer Trainers tend to be more cautious with their Pokémon, they don’t know their limits yet. Pokémon are tough creatures, even some of the weakest Pokémon are tougher than most humans. As you and your companions grow you’ll start to learn to recognize their limits better, it just takes time.”

I was silent, mulling over the information.

“Do Pokémon really like to battle?” I asked. “Professor Rowan told me they did, and even Venus seemed to enjoy the fight, but do they really like it? Or do they just do it because they think we want them to?”

Nurse Joy shrugged. “I imagine it’s like people, for the most part. Some don’t enjoy fighting at all. Others enjoy it perhaps too much. But on the whole… yes. From everything that I’ve seen, and I’ve seen quite a lot mind you, Pokémon do enjoy battling. Or rather, they enjoy the feeling of growth that comes with a good fight. Being able to meet your limits and overcome them is a heady rush, for Pokémon and Trainers both. May I offer you some advice?”

“Of course, please.”

“It speaks highly of you that you’re worried about your Pokémon. But try and think about their wants and desires too. They are your companions, your partners, and in many ways can be more intimately connected with you than another human.”

She laughed at the expression on my face, I had been on the internet too long to not know that some people were more… appreciative of Pokémon than I was. Or was healthy.

“Not in that way! But in the way that there are certain bonds formed by shared struggle that can’t be easily described or replicated. They have their own opinions and wishes, and it can hurt them if you’re not being receptive to their desires. Like all relationships, communication is key. Please think on that when you decide what you want to do with Venus or any other Pokémon.”

I nodded again, thankful at her words. Was I being too cautious, treating them as nothing more than animals? Venus was far above any animal I had ever seen back home, and while she had agreed to be with me, that didn’t mean she didn’t have her own wishes for her life.

Sighing, I let Venus out of her Poké Ball, and scooped her up in my arms. She wriggled happily against me, settling into a comfortable position. I pet her for a few seconds while Lucas got his Pokémon back and talked to Nurse Joy, before deciding to get to the conversation I knew we needed to have.

“Do you like battling?” I asked her, and she nodded.

“Okay. I’m not sure if I’m still completely comfortable with it, but if it’s what you want… I’ll do my best okay? You let me know if you need anything more.”

She wriggled happily again.

“I love you girl.”

She reached up and licked my face, and I couldn’t stop the smile that formed. The message wasn’t in any spoken language, but I understood it just the same.

I love you too.