New Beginnings – A Pokemon Slice of Life. [OC/Isekai/Move Tutor/Breeder]

Ethan was somewhat disappointed when Cici said she couldn’t stay any longer to chat. He’d wanted to fill her in and explain how Swinub worked hard to achieve his results, but Cici was adamant that she had prior engagements. 

They exchanged phone numbers, and she had electronically sent his payment to his trainer ID from her fancy looking pokegear-watch. Comparing it to his free phone he’d received from the league, he felt like he might have been getting the shaft. What was a pleasant surprise was that trainer ID’s apparently acted as a two-in-one ID/Debit card. That would make life just a little bit easier, as he’d never seen a proper bank to make an account.

As it was too late in the night to go out shopping for a new set of clothes and some other necessities he’d been missing, Ethan decided that he’d continue doing some research about the world in general while bonding with Chatot. 

“♫ Chaa-tooot! ♫” Chatot chattered as she was released. Ethan had swiped some of the free pokechow from the cafeteria and brought it into the lobby so that Chatot could have a meal and be by his side and he continued browsing the ancient-looking web-pages. 

The first thing he’d researched was what pokechow was. He’d had suspicions, but he wasn’t naive enough to think it was all berries and heartfelt love. But to his pleasant surprise, it was a mix of proper fruits, vegetables, and many dietary supplements. Most of which he couldn’t even pronounce. It was like looking at the ingredient list of a soda. 

He wasn’t sure if he was comfortable having his pokemon eat that…

While he was on the topic of eating, Ethan did his research on carnivorous pokemon, humans eating pokemon, and the general culture surrounding the phenomena.

While he logically understood that out in the wild, pokemon ate each other for survival, similar to the animals on Earth. It was hard to differentiate between the two. On one hand, he didn’t want to say that the animals from Earth weren’t sapient, they were, and we still ate them. But on the other hand… They’re pokemon. They aren’t just animals. 

He’d seen many Magikarp lazily swimming through the waters, and they didn’t appear much smarter than the average fish… but they probably were. If someone came up to him right now, offering him some Oddish leaves for a salad, he’d probably have a mental breakdown. 

From what he could find through the dated web, the raising and eating of pokemon went back to the past. Where tribes of hunters and gatherers worked with pokemon to hunt down meals together. That wasn’t so far removed from Earth’s past, but surely they were past those times. 

And they were. There were some tales about having to eat wild pokemon in a survival situation, which even Ethan could grant a pass, but it appeared that the majority of people ate what was considered the ‘lesser intelligent’ pokemon. That phrase alone was already causing him to frown, but he read on.

Magikarp, Slowpoke Tails (Which apparently regrew on their own?), some beaver pokemon called a Bidoof, and farm raised Tauros, which looked nothing like the Tauros he’d imagined from the games, were the main sources of eaten pokemon in the Sinnoh Region.

These Tauros weren’t the raging bulls he’d remembered from the anime. These were docile and fat creatures who roamed around in vast green pastures. Some of them weren’t even brown, and caused a pit to form in his stomach. 

While Ethan wasn’t someone who considered himself morally correct all the time. He felt that what he’d been reading was just… barbaric. Maybe because the people of this world had lived with pokemon for all of their lives caused this shift in cultural viewpoints, but Ethan was pretty sure he’d never hop aboard this ideology. He’d barely eaten half of his fried Magikarp the day before, and only ate the eggs given with his breakfast when he was told Chansey had offered the ones that appeared in her pouch. 

He… he might become a vegan. That wasn’t a thought he’d ever imagined himself having, but he wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to continue eating the pals he’d seen frolicking around the world. The ones he’d played with as pixels throughout his childhood. The ones that he’d been told were your friends and companions. 

They had standard vegetables and fruits in this world, so he would make it work. He just needed to learn how to… properly cook. For both himself and his pokemon. 

It was just another thing added to the enormous list of things he needed to learn. 

Looking at the time, he noticed it was almost midnight. Chatot was perched up above the monitor, snoozing away. Ethan recalled her into her ball, hoping that didn’t wake her up, then left for his room. 

Tomorrow he’d shop for supplies, contact Looker about the details of his clearing, and make his preparations to return. Well, perhaps he’d practice with Chatot a bit before leaving. Just to make sure his new friend could duke it out if need be. 

—--------------------------------------

In Celestic Town, a blonde woman diligently sorted through endless stacks of paperwork, creating a sense of organized chaos. The desk, made of dark mahogany, was nearly obscured by the countless folders and scattered papers strewn about.

The last few days have been a whirlwind of activity, to say the least. When Agent Looker had personally contacted her about a serious and urgent development, her archeologist persona vanished, and the champion emerged. 

While she’d been aware of minor criminal activities sprouting up throughout the region, but she had never expected for them to be full-blown terrorists. Well, terrorists in the making. With the knowledge granted by Ethan reed, they’ve already begun rooting out these smaller pockets of criminals, and shored up their targeted locations.

She wished she’d been a part of the memory link with Ethan Reed. Although she wouldn’t have ever taken the time to go and participate with the knowledge they had beforehand, she was beating herself up over it now. Taking the time to ask about every minor detail from a secondhand source was irritating and frustrating beyond belief. Flying over to Eterna everynight to have conversations with the Nurse Joy who was in charge wasn’t very emotionally draining, and oftentimes that was the only chance she’d gotten to get away from the paperwork involved. 

While the main concerns were about the terrorist, Team Galactic, that wasn’t to say that there wasn’t a mountain of other problems as well. First and foremost, being the threat of a faller falling outside of Alola. Thankfully, Looker had overseen the medical examination of Ethan Reed alongside Nurse Joy, and had cleared him of having any residual wormhole energy. Said energy would attract ultra beasts toward him, causing havoc and chaos in Sinnoh. 

The man was completely out of his depth, and had been through a very stressful and sudden arrival. He’d also been extremely lucky. Surviving out in Eterna Forest for a year without a pokemon was unbelievable, but the fact that he’d come from a world without pokemon? That was even more surreal. 

He knows things that others have only begun to theorize. He has knowledge of future events, which may or may not happen… but going by what had already happened, he looked to be on the mark. 

He did the right thing. Asking for a mind reading was about the smartest thing he could have done. He was in no position to confront any of the upcoming threats, and he knew it. Thankfully, him being ‘bad’ at the games he’d played caused him not to have a hero complex. He wasn’t the chosen one—he was a man, and he knew that to be true. 

She hadn’t seen him in a battle, but from how well he adapted to being a tutor, having managed to teach a move in a single day, he was fairly good with pokemon. She’d wait to see how he set up his little breeding operation, but that wouldn’t be for a while yet. Getting along with various pokemon was a good first step into becoming a solid trainer. He obviously cared about them, which wasn’t surprising given his origins, but he lacked the confidence needed to be a contender for the elite. 

His decision to become a move tutor and breeder was surprising, but given how much he’d already helped Sinnoh, and maybe even the world, they’d get him sorted out.

She’d make sure of it. 

This situation could have been an unprecedented disaster, should he have kept all of his knowledge to himself—That alone needed to be awarded. While there wasn’t much she could do politically to help him, as he was a very important figure they needed to keep under-wraps. There were things she could do personally, and she’d already planted the seeds. 

Earning herself a little break, Cynthia tossed out a pokeball, releasing one of her newest captures. 

“Swiiiii!” Swinub ran forward, nearly bonking into the chair, and then tried to climb up onto her lap. She smiled warmly at her newest companion and spoke idly as she ran a hand through his thick coarse fur, which was rewarded with oinks of pleasure. “I’ll find you your first battle here soon. Against a real trainer…”

Cynthia leaned back and looked at the ceiling, deep in thought. “During training, keep practicing your Mud Shot. When the time comes, here’s what you’re going to do…”

—-------------------

“Alright Chatot, let’s see what you can do!” Ethan smiled as they stood in the very same battle court where he’d taught Swinub. 

“♫ Chaa-tooot! ♫” Chatot fluttered her wings and hopped back and forth. 

“Let me see you Growl!” 

With just a slight parting of her beak, Chatot unleashed a growl that sounded like it belonged to a completely different pokemon. As he hadn’t had the chance to listen to the sounds of many pokemon, he wasn’t sure which one she emulated. It sounded like it came from a canine, but that was about as close as he could guess. 

“Next, use Round!” 

Chatot gave a loud, pleasing but short squawk. “♫ Cha! ♫” 

Ethan watched in fascination as an audible wave of colorful energy bursted forward, before rebounding off of all nearby solid surfaces, creating a colorful sea of bouncing sound waves. 

“That was great! Now, let’s try Hyper Voice! 

Chatot lowered her posture and held out her wings to the side in preparation for the move. She heaved in a tremendous breath, and her filled lungs caused a visible expansion of her chest. Her feathers ruffled, and then she screamed. “CHAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

A torrent of sound blasted forward at the speed… of well, sound. The branches of the faraway trees shook violently, and vibrant green leaves fell in droves. The dirt in front of her vibrated and caused a film of smokey dirt to rise off the earth. 

Ethan had to cover his ears to block out the nearly deafening noise, and he wasn’t even in the path of the sound waves. He never wanted to be in the path of the sound waves. 

Chatot stopped screaming, and took in a few heaving breaths. She looked to be winded, and Ethan couldn’t blame her. That was much more powerful than he was expecting. 

Yeah… Boomburst wasn’t going to happen. He was scared of not only the power, but of what the detriments would be to his pokemon. Hyper Voice was a powerful move. He didn’t remember exactly how strong it was, but it was one of the better ones. As Chatot was a duel typed Flying and Normal pokemon, normal and flying moves had boosted power, thanks to the same type attack bonus.

So what kind of damage would Boomburst do? He’d save that for when times were desperate, or until he was sure that Chatot wouldn’t hurt herself with the attempt. 

Ethan let Chatot recover, which surprisingly only took a few seconds, before asking a question. “Go ahead and show me your favorite move!” 

Chatot hopped to turn towards him, and Ethan nearly fell over laughing from the move he was subject to. 

She started to babble in a rhythmic tune, looking like she was excitedly chatting someone's ear off. “♫ Cha-Chaaaaat! “♫ Chaa-tooot! ♫—♫ Cha-Chaaaaat! “♫ Chaa-tooot! ♫ Cha-Cha-Cha ♫ Cha-Cha-Cha ♫”

This was obviously Chatter, Chatot’s signature move. It was no surprise that it was her favorite, given that their species were the only ones able to use it. Ethan gazed about and gave a warm smile as there weren't any weird colors of special effects. He’d assume she hadn’t actually used the move, as that would hurt him, but she was doing it as a demonstration. 

“Of course you’d like the move only you can do.” Ethan laughed as Chatot fluttered through the air to land on his shoulder. She nuzzled into his head, as Ethan walked off to go shopping. 

“As a reward for showing me what you can do, I’ll let you pick out something nice… If I can afford it.”