I say aimed, but it was really more like I had thrusted it forward button-first. “Aiming” makes it sound like I was winding up a pitch, when in reality, I was just provoking the insect.
The Park Ball. My mysterious yellow and blue starter item. All attempts to release the Pokémon inside ended up in failure, leaving me with only one possible conclusion: the ball currently in my hand was an empty capsule still waiting for a Pokémon to encapture. Meaning that it was up to my discretion on what to use it on.
Ever since I had accidentally employed it as a shield against the initial acid attack, I’d been weighing my options on a scale: use my deluxe Master ball reskin on a low-level Venipede and quickly end this life-or-death encounter or-
-keep holding onto it and save it for a future catch.
On one hand, my survival instincts were screaming at me to use any means to escape from this fight where a single slipup could very well cost my life. On the other hand, my inner RPG player was having a breakdown over the thought of wasting such a precious resource on a “Route 1 bug” this early into my adventure.
Normal people would probably prioritize preventing their death. I knew that- it was only logical. It was an obvious choice; after all, if I died here I wouldn't be able to use the Park Ball for future encounters anyway. Right, it was completely and obviously fine to use it to save my own skin. Mhm, yep, no need to keep running away and trying to find a convenient escape route out…
Okay, fine! I tried to stall as long as possible to try and find an out without using the ball, alright? Happy that I confessed?!
Which leads us to now, with me finally cornered and out of options. The reality of this matchup had finally sunken in and I’d accepted the fact that I wouldn’t be able to evade this tenacious predator.
And so, my first battle in this new world began.
“‘A wild Venipede appeared!’” I exclaimed. Said Venipede, which had been weirdly tense since my earlier provocations, tilted its head in apparent confusion. “Ah, sorry about that, it just doesn’t feel the same without that quote, you know? And it doesn’t look like this is one of those interactive menu screen Isekai either, so…”
Well, not that I expected a centipede to understand what a dialogue box was, no matter how cartoony it looked.
“You sure seem a lot more receptive to what I have to say now. Is it because you finally see me as a threat? Or-”
Tantalizingly waving the Park Ball side to side, I smirked as the Venipede’s eyes cautiously followed it.
“-Is it because you recognize this?”
The Poison-type’s eyes narrowed maliciously in response. A full blown grin began to form on my face. It seemed that luck was finally beginning to shine down on me.
“If you know what a Poké Ball is… then that means you’ve seen one in action before,” I jubilantly reasoned. “Which means that you’ve seen humans before meaning you’ve- you’ve- bleh! It means there’s probably a town around here or something!”
I ended up stumbling over my words in the middle of that, but my point still stood. This Venipede had seen a trainer use a Poké Ball, and since I doubted that it was much of a traveling nomad, it stood within reason that human civilization was closer than expected. Hopefully. Probably. There was a lot of wishful thinking in there.
“Peeeede…” the Bug-type hissed.
“Hm-? Still gonna fight even though you know what this thing does, huh? Well, I guess it’d be uncharacteristic of you to back off anyway.”
Shooting the bristling Pokémon another smirk, I properly readied the Park Ball, arching back my right arm holding it while using my left to steady my aim and balance. In response, the Venipede lowered its body, primed to shoot in seemingly any direction.
I held my breath and glared at the red centipede. It glared right back. Or rather, it glared at my right hand.
Well, if it’s so determined to not take its eyes off my starter item… then that works for me.
Taking a sudden leap forward, I swung my arm as fast as I could at the Venipede, my hand becoming a passing blur. My opponent answered by swiftly dashing to the left while its eyes madly scanned around looking for where I had thrown the ball. The little Poison-type was clearly trying to bait my throw and then restart its assault on me when I was defenseless, most likely with a barrage of acid arrows that I’d be ill equipped to block.
Unfortunately for the Venipede, there was no loose Park Ball in sight. This startling revelation caused it to momentarily panic and freeze up. A singular question could be seen plastered over across its face, one that I myself was all too familiar with.
“Did I screw up?!”
I felt a little guilty over being the cause of such pure terror and anxiety. For some reason or another, this Pokémon clearly despised the thought of being captured in a Poké Ball. Maybe it hated the idea of having to take orders from a human (especially one that had proven itself to be exceptionally pathetic), or perhaps it just didn’t want to be trapped in such a tiny compartment. Either way, it definitely expected to be forced into the Park Ball any second now, cursing that it had lost the battle without even knowing how.
No Park Ball came.
I hadn’t predicted the Venipede’s movements. My throw had been a feint which I had used to take advantage of the Pokémon’s paranoia and make another mad dash for it through the trees. The Bug/Poison-type stared after me in puzzlement before realizing it had been duped, promptly letting out a screech of outrage, and then continuing to chase after me.
“Oh hey, welcome back!” I teased. “We lost you for a bit there! Did you seriously think I’d toss my only weapon right out of the gate?”
“VENI, VENIPEDE!” It answered back with seething eyes. It was clearly getting fed up with my talk-and-run strategies.
But honestly, what do you want from me? Just because I’d decided to grow a spine and fight back didn’t mean my options had actually increased all that much. I could’ve ended this battle by hitting it with the ball, sure, but… well, my throwing accuracy was pretty hot garbage. I’d had plenty of time to test my capabilities back when I was experimenting with the Park Ball. Across my various attempts, I’d found that not only would the stupid thing not open, but I also couldn’t quite make the ball land where I’d had wanted it to. When aiming at a target 5 metres away, I was always about 40-50 centimetres off, and back then my target hadn’t been scuttling around at alarming speeds.
Long story short, I wasn’t about to bet on hitting the Venipede when its guard was up.
The best chance I had was to try and find an opening while both of us navigated the terrain. During our previous chase, there’d been plenty of times where I could’ve pegged it with a thrown object, but hadn’t for fear of it doing nothing but pissing my pursuer off. Now I had the means to take advantage of those opportunities.
As long as I could live long enough to use them.
“Yikes!” I yelped as an acid arrow narrowly zipped under my left ear. “Is it just me or is your aim getting better?”
It turned out I wasn’t the only one with a plan of attack: the Venipede was doing an aggravatingly good job of sticking to me at just the right distance where I couldn’t just bash it with the ball at close quarters. It had positioned itself opposite from my right arm; the one holding the Park Ball. This way, I’d have to turn a full 180 degrees to get a proper shot at the thing, which would be such a painfully choreographed move that the centipede Pokémon would see it coming from ten miles away.
There was also the fact that my constant running had done my stamina reserves no favors. I had been able to get a few breaths in over my numerous stalling attempts, but evidence of my lack of sports training was beginning to show. I needed to finish this fast.
Timing it as my left leg locked onto the forest floor, I slightly bent my knee and used it as a pivot to swivel around toward the Venipede. My plan was to once again use its caution against my Poké Ball against it to allow myself to dive behind the tree on my right and obstruct its line of sight.
However, there was a slight hitch in that ploy. I had anticipated for the Bug-type to jump back and away from the danger of the Park Ball. Instead, the damn thing took this opportunity to suddenly rush me while I was off balance and off guard.
“Did I mess up?!”
Taken by surprise while in an awkward position, I decided not to hesitate and go through with my predetermined action. Even if I couldn’t get out of the Venipede’s line of sight as planned, the giant Redwood trees could once again act as my shield until I got back my bearings. I only just barely managed to avoid the Poison-types likely venomous bite and duck toward the tree. Now all I needed to do was roll around to the back and look for another opportunity to-
“VENI-!”
*STCOOH*
“Gahk-!?”
Before I could properly hide myself, the Venipede fired its toxic sludge attack, piercing through the tree trunk and intercepting my retreat all in one move.
“Tch-!”
I barely had time to process what was going on before my attacker bore down on me and the image of red and black mandibles filled my vision. As my only means of defense, I thrust my Park Ball forward, hoping to manually capture it at close quarters before it could stick me. However to my astonishment, the Venipede predicted this and countered by moving mid-air.
Channeling a ridiculous amount of sludge, which was almost four times the volume of its previous casts, the Poison-type utilized it like a violent hose to ever so slightly shift its leaping body to the right to avoid my Poké Ball. My mind was a mess trying to keep up with all of the sudden chaos, so my hand automatically, intrinsically, naturally, foolishly recoiled from the torrent of toxins that would not have made contact anyway- straight to the Venipede’s open underbelly.
Time slowed as I watched my forearm slowly glide toward the midsection of the murderous centipede. Like an old friend, the black-shelled abdomen and 8 little stubbles that could be called legs started to enclose around my arm as if to give a warm embrace.
“POISON POINT DON’T TOUCH IT” was all my brain could scream at me. But what could I do? My arm had already stupidly jerked around and it was too late to yank it back.
That means no escape and no Park Ball. The Venipede will close around my arm, Poison Point will activate, and it’ll be free to launch attacks while I have no way to dodge. Maybe there's a chance. If I quickly switched the Park Ball to my left hand- no, obviously the Venipede thought of that. It would just use its sludge move again to disable me- whether it aims at my upper arm or face doesn’t matter, I won’t be able to guard on time. Damn it, what the hell happened? The stupid thing suddenly kicked into overdrive! Predicting all my plans while making its own- it didn’t show this level of intelligence earlier in the chase! Wait, no, don’t tell me… did it only fully wake up now!? That would also explain that insane venom spray maneuver it had done- and why it didn’t fall for the tree trick twice- damn it, so unlucky… wait. There’s a chance. A 50/50. If it doesn’t have Poison Point- but even so I have nothing- no wait, what if I-
In the milliseconds before contact was made, my mind raced for a plan, an idea, any concept of a way to win. It was going to be a gamble- actually, it really wasn’t. A gamble would mean that it was a decision that I made myself. A choice to consciously put something at risk in return for a potential reward. But it wasn’t. In truth, there was no other option than to press forward and pray that it would pay off.
Rather than try to fruitlessly reel my arm back, I instead stole a page out of the Venipede’s book and took the opportunity to attack rather than retreat. Putting my entire body weight to use, I shoved my elbow straight into the middle of the airborne bug.
Its eyes bulged, the sudden impact completely knocking the air out of it and temporarily halting its entrapment of my arm. Then quickly, before it could regain enough sense to latch onto me, I swung my entire arm, no, my entire body with as much force as my adrenaline filled state would allow, and flung the stunned centipede as far away as I could. Its body tumbled about on the forest floor, though its hard magenta shell shielded it from any severe injuries.
“Looks like… I won… the coin toss… ahh…” I gasped out.
Sinking down to my knees next to the now holey tree, I inspected my arm and was relieved to see no signs of poisoning. Or at least I thought I didn’t. I realized that I didn’t actually know what being poisoned by a Pokémon would look like. There was a slightly reddened patch on my elbow, but that was probably just a bruise from the impact. As dumb as it sounded, I had expected little purple bubbles floating up from the wound.
Although, I suppose that that idea wasn’t as stupid compared to the one I had just put to use. To be fair, I didn’t have much of a choice, but staking my life on luck wasn’t the greatest feeling in the world.
Venipede has two normal abilities: Poison Point and Swarm. Swarm only gives Venipede a boost to its Bug-type moves once it takes significant damage, while Poison Point would make touching the Pokémon a possibly lethal action. I had no evidence to say which one my attacker possessed, literally making it a coin toss, a 50/50 chance for either possibility. I don’t know about other people, but while I’m crazy enough to risk my life to save up on unique materials, I’m not the type to leave my survival to fate so easily. Mostly because my luck is absolutely abysmal (or when I need it anyway).
Luckily though, it seemed no side effects had taken place from my skin-to-exoskeleton exposure with the Poison-type. Of course, I wasn’t about to think that I could fight this thing bare handed. Not only was it still much stronger and, well, more magical than me, it’s ability may simply not have triggered in that brief instance of contact.
“V-Venipede…!” it groaned. Apart from a few smudges of dirt and dust scattered along its dark magenta ridge, no evidence of serious damage was visible. I thought back to the elbow strike I’d delivered to its stomach.
Maybe I went with a little too much force, I thought guiltily. Putting my entire weight behind that blow might have been overki- wait, no no no! What am I thinking?! This overgrown bug is about to melt me into an acid puddle and I’m feeling bad over a gut check?! Get it together, uh, “Me”!
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
I hadn’t realized it earlier due to the short scuffle, but our chase had brought us to the edge of a meadow… or at least that had been my first impression. It was certainly much more bright and open than the rest of the forest with no leafy canopy overhead to block the majority of the sunlight from coming through. The reason, however, wasn’t because it was a clear open field of grass with no towering trees to obstruct the flat area. There were trees. Or rather, there had been.
“What… What the hell happened here?”
Dead stumps sat uselessly in the earth, surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands, of littered sticks and branches. Entire fallen logs were splayed randomly around the area, some in perfect condition while others looked like they had been run through a faulty woodchipper. Numerous lacerations could be seen in the dirt along with clumps of burnt grass that seemed to follow no pattern in appearance.
It looked like a storm had blown through. The only evidence of it being otherwise was that there was no indication of it coming from any which direction. In fact, it looked as though the affected area followed a strict and perfect circle perimeter, almost never allowing its destruction and desecration to escape the circumference. If it had been a storm, there would have been a path of debris, not a set area. This looked more like something had thrown a tantrum and ripped apart the forest in a fit of rage.
I felt a shiver run down my spine. I did not want to meet whatever was responsible for this.
“Peeede-!”
With a slight jump I turned back to the bristling, and apparently fully recovered Venipede that was shooting me with one of its familiar death stares.
“...You know, I can’t tell if all this obliteration makes me less or more wary of you,” I said bleakly. “On one hand, comparing your tiny little body to this damage almost makes me want to laugh. On the other, it was probably your distant cousin that did all this, which means that with enough nutrients- WHOA! AT LEAST ME FINISH!”
Ducking under the shots of acid, I made a break for it through the busted clearing. I felt certain that the millions of twigs scattered along the floor would be sure to cause more impairment to the Venipede’s movements than mine thanks to it being such a ground-hugger. A quick glance over my shoulder showed that I was right, though not as much as I’d hoped. The 8-legged insect was certainly hindered, but only enough for it to be going at a similar pace to mine. Then again, my breathing hadn’t gotten stabler, so the fallen branches were probably doing a better job than I’d thought.
*Slooch!*
“Gahk-!”
While the Venipede’s legs had slowed, its acid attacks had not. And the uneven ground definitely affected the Pokémon to a higher degree, but it wasn’t as though I was immune to getting tripped up as well. Unable to properly jump away, I was forced to duck and roll to avoid the flying sludge.
“NNNRGH-! Ow, ow, ow, a thousand ow’s for yee’!”
While I’d managed to keep my back from being melted, I couldn’t protect my spine from being assailed by the rough and pointy wooden ends below. Clutching my poor behind, I felt that some of the accursed stakes that managed to drive themselves into my favorite green hoodie, tearing the innocent fabric to shreds. I furiously plucked out a handful of the debris stuck to me with my left hand and was not at all happy to find that there had been some rocks and ashes mixed in with the damage.
“Maaaan, come on, this is like the one thing I had left to remind me of my past life…”
I didn’t have much time to mourn however; the Venipede was gaining ground. Biting my tongue to fight past the pain, I rushed (which probably looked more like hobbling from an outside perspective) toward one of the larger sized fallen Redwood trunks. Even lying down dead on the ground, it had an impressive height and I was further relieved to see that it had managed to retain most of its shorter branches. Its girth was about 1.5 metres in diameter, so even laid out on the ground, it required me to use its wooden appendages to vault over its body. Still, even in my fatigued state, I was confident that I could do it.
Now, the real question is whether my venomous friend will give me enough time to do so, I thought while clasping my hands together.
Even if I could scramble over in time before it sank its tiny teeth into me, there was no chance that I could outspeed another acid arrow. I played with the idea as I uncoupled my hands.
“Tsk… guess I’ll have to use it now-!”
Spinning around to face the Venipede (while ignoring the painful pricks from the sticks), for the third time today I swung my right arm with all the strength I could muster. I hadn’t even bothered to check on my pursuers location before I turned nor had I tried to predict its next movement; it was all one fluid movement of turning and throwing. A last ditch attempt with no aim involved.
Because I knew aiming wasn’t necessary.
The Venipede, which had oh-so-cleverly seen through my earlier bluff would definitely recognize it. The opportunity to corner its struggling prey. And so it lunged forward. After all, why not? If I had truly flung my Park Ball, it would be so off the mark that it wouldn’t matter. If it was a feint, then all it would be met with was harmless open air and my defenseless body ready to be thorn to shreds. In short, this was checkmate-
“PEEEEDEEEE!!!” Venipede screamed.
Or it would’ve been a checkmate if it weren’t for the collection of sticks, clumps of ashes, and groups of pebbles smashing into the front of its face, battering its body and blinding its eyes. I had thrown all the items I’d obtained for the price of my poor hoodie in a wide shotgun-like spread that caught the poor pouncing insect head-on.
“You’re not -ahh- the only one -ahh- who can adapt -ahh- on the fly!” I panted.
“SCRREEEEEE!!!” It replied in agony as it withered around on the floor.
Mounting over the tree log as fast as I could, I landed painfully on the other side, nailing my tailbone in the process. I laid my back against the log in exhaustion, taking special care as to not prick myself with any of the protruding branches.
“Ahh… ahh… almost over… almost done…”
The final parts of my plan were simple. I knew from experience that the Venipede would be unable to properly scale the laying timber thanks to the branches, and with a tree this thick, it wouldn’t be possible to use its acid to melt it down, at least not in one go. So now, all I needed was to wait in silence as the Poison-type inevitable came after me by climbing over like I had, getting tripped up by the branches along the way. And once I saw it poke its little head over, it would be easy pickings even with my poor aim.
“Jeez… what a pain in the ass… tutorial…” I huffed. I clenched my Park Ball so hard my knuckles turned white. “It’s fine… one last… push… and everything’s done… hm-? What’s that… noise?”
*CRICK CRUNCH CLUK CRICK CRUNCH CLUK CRICK CRUNCH CLUK CRICK CRUNCH CLUK CRICK CRUNCH CLUK CRICK CRUNCH CLUK CRICK CRUNCH CLUK CRICK CRUNCH CLUK WHIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*
An odd sound had begun to reverberate throughout the clearing. I couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from due to the echo, but I did know that it was coming from the other side of the log.
“Sounds like… a bunch of twigs snapping violently… and is that… a car-?”
Before I could finish that thought, the space beside me exploded. Just a few metres to my right, the piece of deadfall was brutally shattered, causing hundreds of pieces of shrapnel made up of dirt and wood alike to shoot out in all directions. Just before I was struck, I saw the vague outline of a curled up magenta ball emitting a beige hue fly through the debris.
“Grrgnh-!”
Covering my face to shield from the random bullets, I gritted my teeth in pain as I felt my arms and torso being pummeled. The sawdust from the explosion had also begun to fall down on me and I was assaulted by a coughing fit as I tried to wave it away. Through teary eyes, I saw the ball, which had landed a few metres away, unravel and shake itself clear of the soot before turning its familiar furious eyes toward me.
The Venipede had just busted through 1.5 metres of solid wood with nothing but brute force.
“...Hk! How the hell-?!” I tried to yell out, but I already knew the unfortunate answer. “Rollout, huh? God-freaking-dammit…”
One of the earliest moves Venipede could learn, Rollout was a Rock-type move that- that- that shouldn’t be able to do that!
If this little Bug-type could pack that much power, why didn’t it use it befo- oh! That was what that sound was- it was breaking the twigs on the ground while raring up! Which means it needs to-
But before I could analyze any further, the Venipede’s head reared with its maw agape. My vision was still slightly blurred, but I could make out a faint white glow beginning to build in the centipede’s mouth, gradually growing bigger and bigger with a high-pitch whine.
Another move!? Should I try to dodge? No, wait, this is my chance! While it’s charging up I can hit it with the Park Ball!
Clumsily trying to stagger to my feet, I tried to close the distance between us as quickly as possible. The reason behind Venipede not using that devastating Rollout from the start was likely due to a combination of two elements:
- It had still been waking up.
- It took a while to charge up.
While I couldn’t do anything about the first condition anymore, the charging time was something I could abuse. If I was right and that earlier crunching noise had come from the Pokémon revving up, then that meant it had taken about 10 seconds to power up the move. Dodging was no longer an option in my condition and if the next move had the same crazy force as the Rollout then it would’ve been useless anyway. I just had to get in surefire range before the 10 seconds was up and I’d have won.
8 seconds left… crap, legs shaking… vision still blurry… gotta get at 5 metres in range… just need to stumble… 6 seconds… 2 more metres… 5… 1 metre… 3… now-!
I sluggishly brought up my arm, preparing to throw it straight at the Venipede. I was going to aim for its face, out of efficiency or anger, even I didn't know. I still had over 2 seconds. I was going to make it-
The Venipede abruptly snapped its neck(?) back down and aimed its open glowing mouth right at my midsection. I didn’t even get to process that I was in danger before it hit me. The Bug-type let out a terrible scream, releasing the white hum in a wide cone that engulfed my entire body.
I was almost knocked out just from the impact. The intense vibrations seemed to shake every individual atom in my body causing me to temporarily lose all my senses. Except my sense of touch. That was my entire world in that instance. Nothing but feeling. If I had to compare it to something, it was like sitting in the world's most violent roller coaster.
I couldn’t tell if I was still breathing or if my chest had caved in from the blow. I only vaguely felt the sensation of my feet leaving the ground. I only somewhat noticed the Park Ball leaving my hand. I did feel my back knock against something hard, which I numbly noted was probably the fallen tree.
“...”
Sliding down the piece of deadfall, I painfully sank to the ground with my butt touching the dirt and my legs slightly spread in front of me. I tried to move, but I found myself unable. That made sense. That attack had not only been a nasty shock that had flung me back, it apparently also left residuals. I could feel both my muscles and innards twitch from the remaining shocks that continued to run rampant through my entire body. They were weakening over time, but it would at least be a full two minutes before I could move again.
Silver lining: it only took a second for my vision to come back. Oh great. Now I can see the smug expression on that damn centipede again.
Can’t move. Can’t speak. Brain rattled. But I still had one last move to make in this battle. Or at least that’s what I would’ve said if I hadn’t already used it.
The Park Ball hadn’t parted from my hands in the way I’d originally envisioned, true. While I had wanted to chuck it in a more, uh, accurate way, this would hopefully work too. When the Venipede had unleashed its sonic attack on me, I’d been pushed back pretty bad and the force had caused my shoulder to act as a fulcrum for my limp arm to swing upward like a pendulum, effectively sending the Park Ball straight up into the air.
And its descent was aimed right at the cocky Poison-type. It hadn’t noticed, all of its attention directed at my flaccid body. I held my breath, or at least tried to, as the Park Ball fell in seemingly slow motion.
*Thck*
With a soft metallic click, the yellow orb bounced on the insect's head.
“-Yes…!” I managed to softly let out. I’d won. The inescapable Poké Ball would open up and capture the Bug-type that had made my introduction to this world so much worse than it had needed to be.
Closing my eyes in relief, I simply laid there against the giant log basking in the magnificent warmth of victory. I was admittedly still a little sour about wasting the equivalent of a Master Ball, as well as my first Pokémon not only being a Venipede, but one that had damn near almost killed me. Come to think of it, how is that gonna work between us? Would I have to try and convince the Bug-type to come to like me? Or would the Park Ball force it to? Even if it was an easy fix, I didn’t like the idea of forced subservience very much.
And what the heck was I gonna do now? The numbness coursing through my body prevented me from knowing if I had any severe injuries, but even if I could somewhat walk afterward, I still had no idea where the closest settlement was. I groaned at the thought of needing to scavenge for food and water while camping out the night in unfamiliar territory. Especially with whatever that had made this destruction still lurking about.
“Oh well,” I sighed. “Just gotta do what you gotta do… right, Venipede?”
I opened my eyes to grin and gloat at the motionless half-yellow orb. I saw it laying there, stiff as ever, surrounded by branches and sawdust and leaves and the Venipede.
Huh, I dazedly thought as my eyes slowly turned to stare at the Pokémon. That’s weird. I don’t remember letting him out of the ball. Actually, come to think of it, shouldn’t there have been some sort of big flash of light as it went into the thing? And a clicking noise as it enclosed the thing-?
As my mind started to catch up with what I was seeing, I could feel my heart plummet in my chest.
No. No no no no no. That Park Ball is 100% escape proof. There’s- There’s no chance it managed to- unless the rules are different here? No, wait, there was no flash so that means- but I tested it! I tried everything- tons of different throws-! It doesn’t make sense!
But at the same time, it was the only possibility that did make sense.
The Park Ball hadn’t worked because it was currently occupied.
Why? Why hadn’t whatever was inside revealed itself after all my attempts to coax it out? Why hadn’t it jumped out to aid me during the chase? Why had I received this Park Ball at all if it wasn’t going to come to my side when I needed it the most? Why the hell had I even been brought to this world?
…
Why had I thought things would’ve been different here?
This mystery Pokémon had obviously been meant to be my starter, but it refused. I had been cocky the instant I’d arrived here, assuming everything would go my way. I’d assumed that I’d be able to get a redo here. A chance to start over and try to make something of myself. But just like last time, I blew it by damaging the trust others had in me. It didn’t matter what I did, I was just naturally a no-good person that made others back away.
Try not to feel too grumpy about me beating you as my first battle. What a joke. I’d lost. Before and now. I could make the excuse that I’d been unaware of the Park Ball not working in my favor, but honestly I was too tired to lie. Too tired to make more zappy quips. Too tired to think up a new strategy.
The Venipede took a menacing step forward. The only reason it hadn’t attacked me during my mental tirade was because it had been stunned by the Park Ball landing on its head. Its shock was over now, and it knew the battle was finally won. For real.
“Ahhh…” I groaned. I laid my head back onto the tree log to face the blue sky, resigning myself to the victorious centipede. At least I would get to see a familiar sight before I was torn to shreds... Actually, I quickly dismissed that romantic notion. If I was going to go out, I’m sure my Dad would’ve wanted me to go out fighting. I at least owed him that much after leaving him behind in my world all alone.
“Alright… you little… jerk,” I sputtered out while trying to fix myself into any proper stance. I couldn’t raise my arms much, but I managed to somewhat tuck my legs in and bring up one of my knees to plant my elbow on. From my perspective, I was sitting in a laid-back carefree delinquent manner, but my torn up appearance probably made it look a lot more like I was doing some sort of crippled porcupine imitation. “Let’s get this over with.”
The Venipede’s heavy-lidded eyes slightly contracted, staring intently at my face. I felt a slight wave of nostalgia remembering our first conversation that seemed to be from so long ago. Maaaan, I really didn’t want to go yet.
Still though, I faced my opponent down. It prepared to lunge.
Don’t blink, I furiously tried to tell myself for some reason. Don’t you dare blink.
The Venipede pounced. I blinked. Actually, I completely squeezed my eyes shut. Which is why I was completely startled by the giant thud that occurred right in front me, shortly accompanied by a metallic clang and furious screeching.
“Yikes, talk about cutting it close there, bud. Seriously, what was the plan here? From the sight of you, I’d guess sandbag practice. With you as the sandbag just so we’re clear.”
An unfamiliar voice called at me from… above? Gingerly opening my eyes, I was met with the sight of what looked like the backside of a giant grey pineapple with green tendrils propping it up from the ground. I could somewhat make out the Venipede’s tail draping down on the other side of the metallic durian. It seemed to have somehow gotten itself stuck on the thing. I shivered at the possibility that it had caught on one of the nasty thorns that was sticking out of the behemoth.
“Easy there Prickle, we don’t want to injure either of them. Oh, looks like you’ve still got some life left in you after all! That’s always good.”
The voice continued to happily yap down at me- from atop the log I finally realized. Sluggishly turning my head up and around, I caught sight of my savior. Casually squatting on the deadfall was a young man in his early 20's grinning down at me. A slight breeze whipped through the clearing causing his dirty blond hair to flutter along his face, yet it did nothing to smother the overwhelming confidence and positivity radiating from him.
“Yo, sandbag-in-distress,” he said to me. “You’re about to be saved by the best Ace Trainer in all of Onero. Do your best not to faint in the presence of Viral the magnificent. You won’t want to miss your chance for an autograph.”