Chapter 166
Ethan strode out of the PokeMart, a hand running through his brown hair and with slumped shoulders. Most importantly, no technical machine in hand. He’d known that journeys were expensive—he had a Snorlax, afterall—but he was only truly beginning to realize how expensive they were. If he’d had gone on one, then he’d be destitute. There was no way he was spending so much money on a machine that did his job for him.
Normal trainers did not have the bountiful berry orchard he himself had. Trainers opted for the cheaper and mass produced—with ingredients Ethan couldn’t name—PokeChow sold in Pokemarts. Although the bags were cheaper, the cost of feeding your team, no matter their size, was a drain on resources. Then, they had to be able to buy pokeballs, grooming sets, a Silph Co bag, a Technical machine, their own food and traveling supplies… all while not actively making money.
He knew he wasn’t wealthy, but he had a home, land which provided for his needs, and family… he just didn’t have much money. A technical machine was in his price range, but was still roughly two-thousand USD. It wasn’t worth the cost.
Idly, he flipped the disk Gardenia had given him in his hand, inspecting it in the midday sun. It would be nice to see how these things worked, being as how it did have relevancy to his job, but he could just look up videos about it instead of dropping two grand on an experiment.
Still, a trip to the PokeMart was needed. At first, roughing it in the wilderness was all good fun. That quickly changed when he started to rain or the temperature dropped. He bought himself a small cozy tent and some other odds and ends needed for camping in the wilds, even though the next leg of his little miniature journey was two days of walking back home through the forest he lived in.
Like the first time he walked back home, Ethan walked down the slight incline leading away from the city, down towards the river and large pools of water where fishermen and even some trainers tried their luck. On Earth, Ethan was no stranger to fishing. While he wasn’t an expert, he wasn’t a complete amateur either. Fishing up sapient pokemon did put a sour taste in his mouth, so he never tried it here in the world of Pokemon.
As he walked down towards the start of Eterna Forest, his eyes wandered over to a few of the fishers, spotting a young boy with one of those plastic kiddy poles, jumping in joy as what Ethan assumed to be an older brother came over in excitement at a successful hook. The young boy fought with the rod, eventually plopping a very small Magikarp onto the bank.
While a charming sight, Ethan couldn’t help but think this was how Gyarados were made.
He shook his head as he approached the entryway to the forest, ready to step into familiar territory. Some trainers were stationed outside the entrance, unlike time, but he paid them little mind. He marched right up the path and was just about to enter when a voice called out.
“Uhh, excuse me? Sir?”
Pausing and turning to look for the voice, he found two teens clearly on their journey approaching from the side. They were amongst the other trainers waiting and talking. One was a young woman with brown hair, green eyes, with some pimples dotting her ovalish face. Puberty was rough. The other was a boy with the same green eyes, buzzed brown hair, and about the same age. Siblings, if Ethan were to guess.
“Yes?” Ethan asked, maybe a little too briskly. He really wanted to go home.
The two teens shared a look, before the girl spoke once more. “Have you been through the forest before?”
Ethan had to hold in a laugh. He wouldn’t be surprised if he was the person who had been in the forest the most in the last few years. Maybe some old Pokemon Ranger had him beat when it came to a longer span of time. “Yes. I’m quite familiar.”
“Good… good.” The young woman nodded to herself, then took a deep breath, preparing herself. “Do you think we could join you? This is our first time through.”
Ethan spared a glance to the other groups set off to the side, counting roughly a dozen other trainers. This hadn’t been the case last time… “Did something happen in the forest? I don’t remember people waiting to enter.”
“No?” The girl looked to her brother, who shrugged at the question. “We all just started our journeys. We’re all a little nervous.”
“Just started?” Ethan once again roved his eyes over everyone waiting. They all did look sixteenish. “Isn’t the current season still ongoing?”
“Well, yeah?” Now the girl looked at him strangely. “We’re in the next group. Journeys are year round…?”
Now that he thought about it, it didn’t really make sense for there to be an ‘off-season’ for a few months when you could have two separate groups going at the same time, filling in the gaps through the year. This was something he would have learned if he was a native or looked more into it, surely.
“I see.” Ethan nodded his understanding. “You can tag along, but I’m not going all the way to Floaroma town. I actually live in the forest. Did you get your first badge from Gardenia?”
“Wait, you live in the forest? Are you the move tutor?” The boy spoke up, curiosity grabbing him fully.
With a nod, Ethan smiled. “I am. I’m surprised you heard of me. I’m Ethan Reed.” He held out a hand, which the teen shook with fervor. “Gidean Roth! And no, he didn’t go to Gardenia. We’re going to challenge her for our eighth badge when we come back home!”
“If we make it that far!” Gidean’s sister elbowed him in the ribs, causing the poor kid to fold over. She then turned to Ethan. “Rachel Roth, this idiot’s sister.”
Ethan opened his mouth to ask if they were ready and willing to go only half way, not all the way to Floaroma, when Gidean spoke over him. “Is it true you know Champion Cynthia?”
Ethan sighed and started to walk into the forest, Gideon and Rachel both trailing after him with packs on her shoulders and a pep in their step. “Yes. We’re friends. I’m actually on my way back home after helping her in some ruins.”
That was the wrong thing to say, as the barrage of questions for the next few hours were unrelenting.
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Ethan was beginning to regret letting the Roth’s join him as they… didn’t stop talking and asking questions. “So, you have like, a hundred pokemon?” Gideon barreled onwards.
“No.” Ethan stated. “I have… over a dozen. The others just live with me on my ranch and are wild pokemon.”
“But you have two Teddiursa? Can I see them?” Racheal asked next, and Ethan was almost at his breaking point.
Suddenly, Racheal squealed with glee. Turning his head, he found her pointing slightly off the trail while jumping up and down in joy. Beside a distant tree, a Buneary was spying on them, one ear curled in as it peaked around the trunk.
“A Buneary! I gotta catch it! It’s perfect!” Racheal was being… loud. To be honest, Ethan was pretty surprised the Buneary stayed around.
Most pokemon, in his experience, didn’t like loud noises. Although, it was kinda common knowledge the pokemon that stayed around the routes knew that humans often traversed them. Perhaps this Buneary was looking for a trainer?
Ethan was about to ask her to calm down so they could speak to it when she hastily lobbed a pokeball forward, screaming at the same time. “Jigglypuff!!! Gooooo!!!”
Lo and behold, a round pink Jigglypuff appeared and looked around, not sure where it should be going. “Jiggly-puff?” It’s voice was high, very high pitched, just as he imagined it would be.
Ethan didn’t even have a chance to speak to the Buneary before it saw a foe appear. It came from beyond the tree, ready for battle. Jigglypuff, who hadn’t even seen the Buneary, as it was thrown out of its ball with the order of ‘Go!!!’ and not much else, got blindsided from a tackle, sending it bouncing across the forest floor.
That Buneary could have been a linebacker.
Ethan facepalmed, never having expected that they’d fight first to capture a pokemon. He should have seen it coming. He’d grown up doing it on his GameBoy and other devices, but he hadn’t actually needed to in this life. He stayed quiet and watched it all unfold.
Jigglypuff pushed itself up with some effort, its overly round body not helping as it rocked back and forth. When it situated itself, it turned with angry eyes towards the Buneary, who looked… down on it, unimpressed.
“Jig!” The Jigglypuff wasn’t having it. It strolled forward with obvious violent intentions, then smacked the look right off Buneary’s face. The smack was so strong that it had an echo in the forest itself.
“Damn.” Ethan murmured, surprised at the blow. His eyes traveled around the forest, then spotted something very concerning. A Lopunny was off in the far distance, blending in with the brown trees, watching the battle unfold. It noticed him spotting her instantly, as it’s eyes locked with his.
Ethan stayed quiet and turned towards the battle again, just as the Buneary righted itself and got into Jigglypuffs face. This was less a battle, and more a posturing. Buneary’s folded ear uncoiled, smacking Jigglypuff in the forehead, sending the round pink pokemon rolling back like a bowling ball down a lane, aiming for a strike.
Gideon was cheering on his sister’s Jigglypuff next to him, as Racheal simply watched on with nerves and excitement. She didn’t even give any orders.
After another minute of trading blows, Jigglypuff was pretty tuckered out. In his opinion, the very shape of Jigglypuff and the struggles it had to literally stand again due to being an orb was the cause. It seemed to take the blows from Buneary and dish out enough to stand on even ground, but it was at the point where Ethan felt continuing would require a pokemon center.
“I think it’s over. You don’t want your only pokemon to faint in the middle of Eterna Forest.” Ethan semi-suggested, semi-ordered. Thankfully, Rachel sullenly agreed, recalling her Jigglypuff pack into its pokeball.
The Buneary was beaten up a bit, but still raring to go. It turned around once Jigglypuff got recalled and shouted its name towards the Lopunny, which hadn’t moved from its spot further away. It spared Racheal a glance, before scurrying off towards its mother.
“Good try.” Ethan offered, seeing how dejected the poor teen was.
“Yeah, you’ll get’em next time!” Gideon also said, patting his sister's shoulder.
“I really wanted that Buneary…” Racheal lamented, then straightened up, focused and not down on her loss. “Next time! For sure!”
“Next time,” Ethan started off down the path again. “Maybe talk to it first.”