Hark took a quick look at the house, and chuckled at the fact that she blushed. Yep, definitely the Rebecca he knew and loved when it came down to it. Certainly with the deadpan tone that had him laughing.
“Yes, run for your lives.”
Before he winked.
“And don’t worry about it. I got a castle back home that I got as a gift for becoming a god. People don’t really pass up on the occasion, don’t they? And Legendary? I’m guessing there’s more of these guys? Well, more Legendary Pokemon.”
Rebecca blinked in astonishment before putting it at the back of her mind. Different world, different customs.
“Y-Yeah, they’re all unique too. They’re essentially our gods, from what I can tell from other worlds.”
“It was Arceus who created the first Pokemon, Mew, according to lore, then the Pokemon of Time and Space, Dialga and Palkia respectively. Last I heard of those two, there was an incident in the Sinnoh region regarding them.”
Master Ball. Held its name well, of that, Hark was sure. But it was nice to know that, in the end, to most people, it didn’t matter what the catch rate was or even if the Pokemon was rare. What mattered was if the Pokemon wanted to go along or not. And that meant a lot to the hedgehog.
But, of course, no world was perfect. Some people were greedy, wanted the world for themselves, no matter where. And that was why Hark put a hand on her arm, communicator turning off.
“But that’s why there’s people like you. People who know right from wrong and aren’t afraid to set it right, which I’m sure you did. And I’m sure this world thanks you. Hell, I’m definitely sure. How else would this one be so attached to you?” he said, pointing to Zeke.
Rebecca’s face went bright pink all the way under her headphones and she looked down at her Pecha in embarrassment.
“Mhm, the region thanked me. My home was their ‘thank you’ gift.”
She motioned her head towards the large mansion-like house in front of the orchard, her face still bright pink.
Speaking of Zeke, he grumbled in his sleep and plopped his head right back on the champion’s lap, causing her to squeak and sigh, her voice deadpan as she spoke.
“I have been captured by the vicious Legendary Pokemon, run for your lives. Aah.”
Interesting. Very interesting. Did explain how some things worked in this world, and why these Pokemon seemed so intelligent. Most grew with human contact, at least once or twice.
But they were smart, most definitely smart as the Wrumple cleared the handkerchief only to curl to nap onto Hark’s lap, letting the hedgehog pick it up. They were definitely something that were in between Mobians and ferals, understanding concepts and possibly human language to a certain extent, something only feral animals could do once they were close enough to humans for a very long period of time.
Incredible, really.
But not nearly as incredible as the pokeball Rebecca was holding out to him, making him blink.
Zeke’s ball? It looked so different from the one used for Goop. Yes, the bottom was as white as the other one, but the top… The top was purple with red bumps.
A hesitant, careful hand reached for it and brought it for the system to analyze, quickly detecting the differences along with something that couldn’t be seen. And Hark couldn’t help but analyze it further.
“… This is interesting, if both balls are compared side to side, this one is clearly the better choice. The components of Zeke’s ball make any pokemon an easy catch. Doesn’t say anything about the willingness of the pokemon though.”
The last comment was accompanied with a smile and a general glance in Zeke’s direction before he gently gave the ball back.
“It’s very interesting. Thank you.”
Rebecca nodded at Hark’s conclusion, taking the ball back and putting it back on her belt with a grin.
“It’s one of the best balls out there, a Master Ball it’s called.”
She softly chuckled a bit, gently petting Zeke’s head.
“Before I catch a Pokemon, I ask if they want to come with me first. A lot of trainers do the same.”
“But then there’s trainers who don’t care about their partners. Those people are no better than Plasma themselves.”
There was a little intensity in her voice but she didn’t raise it, not wanting to wake up Zeke as she took a bite of her Pecha.
The ball was snatched without a word, and was put under the curious eye of Hark as he inspected the red and white ball, head tilting. What the…? Sure, he’d seen weird things already, but this…
A few clicks on the holographic keyboard and the ball was surrounded by the same system the Wrumple had been in, data appearing next to the ball in question.
And Hark could only blink once more as the information cropped up.
“… Huh. Enclosed virtual system, the shrinkage is only for transportation and doesn’t affect the creature within it save for size… Practical. Although… Don’t the Pokemon get bored in there after a while? I mean, I’d honestly prefer freedom over a virtual environment, certainly if I know that I’m in one. And these creatures seem more intelligent than the average feral.”
Before sheepishly returning the Pokeball.
“… Forgive me. New things tend to excite me. I’ll… ask for permission next time.”
“Some sleep in their Pokeballs, others are too excited to. It’s generally just used for transportation and healing if you have more than one Pokemon on you at the time. Because seriously, would you want to have a Pokemon as big as Zeke walking around with you and scaring the crap outta other trainers? But in Zeke’s case, he can go wherever he wishes. I caught him so no one else could hurt him like Plasma did to Kyurem or worse.”
“There’s definitely feral Pokemon, they just stay far away from humans is all.”
Rebecca accepted the ball back with a warm smile.
“Don’t ya worry about it. Learning new things is always exciting. I actually have Zeke’s ball on me at the moment.”
She put Goop’s ball back on her belt and removed Zeke’s Master Ball, expanding it and offering it to Hark to look at.
“Here, you can look at this one as long as you’d like.”
“Alright,” was gently said before he watched. Watched as Rebecca gently moved Zeke away, and moved to get some of the berries. That was when Hark let his gaze drift, trying to see the whole orchard.
Cheri, Chesto had already been established, and the mobian was quick to pull out his communicator to put in the data, sliding it into a folder he named Pokemon world, subfolder berries. The other, blue berry that the Champion had thrown currently had no basis to go on, but he still filed it in, along with the Lum berries that she’d pointed it out, not exactly sure what the flavor was, but he’d figure it out eventually. The one he had no information on other than the name was the Pecha berries, but judging by the peach looking berries she was coming back with, those were the ones.
The hologram system was still on by the time Rebecca came back, the young Wrumple happily munching away as it looked at what Hark was doing, seemingly mesmerized as it took its size and weight.
He hoped the Pokedex that had been mentioned had a way to connect with something else. He’d love to keep the data.
Speaking of which…
He took the Chesto berry with an appreciative nod and smile, gently crushing it this one so that he could share with the little Wrumple who was done with his berry before going to nibble on his half. Dry. Like a chestnut. Tasted good, too.
Shouldn’t let it distract him from his question, though.
“By the way, did you leave Goop at the Pokemon Center? And if he is, shouldn’t you go get him?” he asked, the half Chesto berry held at the corner of his mouth.
Rebecca had taken a bite into her Pecha berry, chewing and swallowing before answering the question.
“I didn’t leave him there, I just returned him to his Pokeball. See?”
She went to her belt, taking off a Pokeball with a round, green sticker on it and held it up after expanding it. It opened and out popped the floating green Goop.
“There ya go. Heya, Goop.”
The floating Psychic type let out a happy noise before Rebecca tossed up a Pecha berry for him, it was devoured in moments.
“Kinda hard to miss when the little guy grappled at the berry and wouldn’t let go of the thing. I’m guessing he already knew what kind of flavor he likes,” Hark chuckled as he joined her, checking on Zeke to make sure the big lug was alright.
Asleep, nice.
… Chesto berry? That did explain the fact that it felt like a chestnut. So berries were just this world’s fruits and nuts. Nice.
But, as much as he wanted to take a sliver for himself, the young Wrumple was already in his hand, nibbling away a sliver before passing onto another that was a lot bigger, squealing when it couldn’t hold it. And, after a few attempts, the Wrumple simply turned to Hark and looked at him pleadingly.
… Yep. Definitely starting to understand the way Hark worked as it didn’t even squeal this time as he moved the tiny creature and proceeded to pull a handkerchief from his pockets before putting the slivers onto the cloth and grabbing the bigger pieces to snap them in half.
Ecstatic? That wasn’t half of it, he was sure as the Wrumple crawled to reach the kerchief and resumed its feast.
He only chuckled as he shook his head before turning to Rebecca.
“I don’t think I’m getting a piece.”
Rebecca was laughing under her breath, her torso trembling from held in giggles. She was trying so hard not to wake up Zeke but this scene was far too cute.
“Lemme get this lazy bum off my lap and I’ll get some berries for both of us.”
The champion gently scratched under Zeke’s chin, very carefully nudging him little by little off her lap and onto the ground before getting up and going to her Pecha berry trees, picking a couple of those and moving to the Chesto trees.
She picked a couple of those and came back over, plopping her rear back on the ground and offering Hark a Chesto berry.
So that… was where the wound came from? From a Cheri Berry? He could only imagine how painful it must have been, and part of him only wished that he could make the scar go away. But this was not home. This was not a place where Chaos Energy flowed easy. To heal it… Would probably mean that he’d never wake again.
There are some things you learned to live with, and this was one of them.
Hark gave a nod, a smile and headed towards the orchard, blinking at the trees.
The berries looked so much like the fruits he had back home. Even if these were all on trees…
Hesitant steps gently took him to the first row, to the cheri berries, where he was half tempted to take one, but at the sight of the Wurmple seemingly disagreeing, he decided against it. Not the favorite berry of this little guy, it seemed.
The second row, then?
… Yep. Definitely the second row, certainly by the amount of wriggling the little pokemon was doing.
And the fact that it was now leaving his shoulder to grapple onto one of the blue and orange berries, trying to gnaw on it while chirping happily.
Seemed like the little guy found his treat.
“Hang on a second,” was the only thing Hark could say, though, as he gently picked the berry the Wurmple had practically attached itself to, ears flattening at the sound of a desperate little squeal once he got the young bug to let go.
Its despair wouldn’t last long, though, as Hark took the tough berry and proceeded to feel it, making sure that it didn’t contain a soft center beneath the thick hide. And, when it didn’t, he crushed it before handing a sliver to the once despairing, getting intrigued, now overexcited Wurmple who took it and proceed to nimble on it while holding it with its tiny feet. Happy? From the chitters, Hark definitely thought more along the lines of overjoyed.
Certainly as he made his way back to Rebecca, the Wurmple finishing its first piece and demanding a second that he handed over without a second thought, holding the rest of the blue and orange berry in hand.
“Whatever this berry is, he sure is enthusiastic about it,” Hark could only chuckle.
“That’d be a record, not maybe people figure out a Pokemon’s tastes on the first try.”
Rebecca softly laughed, a bright smile on her face as she patted the ground next to her, a place for Hark to sit.
“It’s a Chesto berry, they’re pretty dry tasting but they go great with Lum berries, the green ones right in front of the last row.”
“At least that’s what Goop tells me when I make ‘em into smoothies. Go ahead and take a taste of it if you’d like. Just leave enough for the little one.”
Zeke had nodded off, his head still on her lap as he practically rumbled in his sleep, a wing twitching every once in a while.
Rebecca sighed, at least he fell asleep on her where she could switch her lap with a soft pillow. She gently pet his head before carefully attempting to pull her lap out from under Zeke’s head and quickly replace herself with a pillow.
Back in the Game 
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