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

When Ethan was stranded in the forest, he had assumed that he’d already seen all the pokemon that called Eterna Forest home. Many different types of pokemon had visited his little patch of land; either for the berries or for curiously spying on the weird human, so he’d seen his fair share of pokemon. He’d seen Murkrow, Geodude, Teddiursa, Ursaring, Pachirisu, Oddish, Hoppip, Starly, Wurmple, and Hoothoots, along with some others which he wasn’t familiar with.

But he was wrong for assuming. 

As he made his way along the well-beaten path of Route 205, Ethan came across many pokemon that he’d never seen around his clearing. The first of which he got a good look at was a sloth—A Slakoth.

The slow, unaware, sleepy-looking brown sloth steadily climbed a nearby tree with its long gangly arms. Its half-lidded eyes and consistent content smile gave off the impression that it didn’t have a worry in the world. 

“Slakoth — The Slacker Pokemon: Slakoth spends nearly its entire day lying motionless in trees, conserving energy for survival. Doing so enables it to go several days without the need for food. When it does move, it does so sluggishly, typically only to find fresh leaves or berries to eat. Despite its lethargic appearance, Slakoth is surprisingly strong and can cling to trees with little effort.”

When Ethan lowered his phone after taking a picture, he noticed that Slakoth’s eyes were closed. When he looked up, he discovered that it had dozed off while climbing the tree, releasing gentle, nearly inaudible snores in the process. 

Chatot fluttered up to the branch above Slakoth, tilting her head confusedly at the slumbering slacker pokemon. 

“Let them be Chatot. Let’s get going,” Ethan whispered as he continued down the path. Chatot spent a few more seconds hopping side to side, inspecting the Slakoth. Once finished with her curiosity, she took off from the branch, soaring ahead of him to scout the way. She released a very quiet chirp as she passed him by. “♫ Chaa-tooot! ♫”

The next pokemon he spotted was a shy little thing. A small brown bi-pedal bunny, with one long ear and one rolled up ear, bashfully peered around a thick tree trunk while holding up one stubby hand to cover its mouth. Its black beady eyes scanned him in his entirety before it scampered off back into the forest. This was a pokemon he was familiar with. It was a Buneary. He quickly snapped a photo of its retreating form.

“Buneary — The Rabit Pokemon: Buneary’s sensitive ears can detect even the faintest of sounds. It keeps one ear rolled up to protect itself from loud noises, and to always have a method for attacking or escaping. Buneary’s coiled ears are powerful enough to launch themselves into the air for a quick escape when they aim their heads at the ground. They are careful and cautious, hiding away from those who draw near.”

Ethan watched the pokemon flee with a slight smile before continuing on his way. 

Near the end of the second day, he’d finally stumbled upon the narrow branching path that would take him closer toward his clearing, and stopped running into friendly trainers. Chatot hadn’t been separating from his as much, but she still occasionally went off to find a snack when the mood hit her. 

She was a fiend for berries, always coming back with juices trailing down her beak and upturned, happy eyes sparking at her success. He couldn’t wait to see her reaction to his berry farm. 

As he was now alone with Chatot, he decided that he’d try to teach her some songs to sing. She liked music, that much was readily apparent given her species, but he’d never heard her sing anything longer than a few seconds. Her singing was more akin to a complex birdsong, and he thought that if he taught her how to sing a complex song, then maybe it would help her with her more difficult moves. Most of her moves were sound based, so it sounded like a good idea.

Ethan waved down his feathered friend from the tree tops, causing her to fly over and settle herself down onto his shoulder. “Do you want to learn some music?” 

 “♫ Chaa-tooot! ♫” 

Chatot bobbed up and down in excitement, her tail beginning to wag back and forth, ready to hear the tempo of the incoming song. 

Ethan laughed as he thought about an easy song to start with. After a few seconds, he decided that The Entertainer by Scott Joplin was a solid choice. Puckering his lips, he gently whistled out the tune, watching Chatot’s reactions the whole time. 

Ethan was pretty good at whistling, and his skill was wearing fruit. Chatot’s tail slowed down, and began wagging to the tempo, helping him keep the pace. 

 “♫ Chaa-toot-toot-toooot-toooooot-toooot-toooooot-toooot-toooooot  ♫”

She joined in, chirping along with rhythmic and melodic toots as Ethan continued to whistle. She swung her head from side to side as they both created music with one another. 

As Chatot didn’t seem to have any trouble with that song, he moved onto something more complicated—A song with words. 

He waited for Chatot to curb her enthusiasm before speaking. “Okay! Let’s try another one. This one is going to have words, so listen carefully.” 

There weren’t many songs he felt comfortable singing, but being from the USA, the national anthem was one he had sung many times before. 

“♫ Ooooh, say, can you see, ♫
♫ By the dawn’s early light… ♫”

Ethan sang the whole song, butchering the high notes and causing Chatot to cringe, which only hurt his heart a little bit. Once finished, he watched Chatot tilt her head and wag her tail into different tempos. She was considering what to do. 

Just as Ethan was about to comfort her on not being capable of following along, she started. 

“♫ Say. Can. You. Seeeeee-tot! ♫”

Ethan flashed her a big smile as he ducked beneath a branch blocking their path. “Great job! Can you do any more?”

“♫ Dawn’s… Light! ♫” Chatot was beginning to struggle, but Ethan reminded her of how it went. 

“♫ By the dawn’s early light… ♫” 

They sang until the sun had set, and Ethan did the same as he did before. He sorted through his duffle bag for a late dinner and got himself and Chatot sorted. She didn’t like it when Ethan ate and she did not, even if she had feasted on every berry she could find along the way. 

As Ethan ate, he sat cross legged on the ground with his back against a tree. Chatot, instead of flying up to a nearby branch or onto his shoulder, waddled over and sat down in his lap. She did that weird avian purr as she pecked at the rice Onigiri held within her wings, using them as hands. 

Ethan rested his head against the trunk of the tree and stared up, finding a rare break in the canopy that let him see the stars up above. He’d gazed at them over the last year more than he could count, but he could never find any of the constellations he knew and loved. 

He didn’t know how long he and Chatot sat like that, but after a long while, Ethan’s eyelids felt heavy, and threatened to close. He carefully returned the sleeping Chatot into her ball and fell into a deep slumber. 

—-----------------------

The following morning, Ethan and Chatot veered off the road at the spot where his phone-map showed the trail was nearest to his clearing. From here on out, it was all thick forest. It would still take a few hours to reach his clearing, but he was weirdly excited to return. While he had many terrible, lonely memories about the place. He was more than ready to turn it into somewhere he could properly call home. A place where all his future friends could roam about to their leisure, and where they could live their lives at ease. 

Chatot didn’t like veering off the path, as the thick branches and grouped trees hindered her flight, but she didn’t ask to be returned to her ball. She did ruffle her feathers in displeasure, and let Ethan know that she was uncomfortable, though. Actually, now that he thought about it, she hadn’t asked since the first time in the Pokemon Center. 

While it wasn’t a great idea to return his only pokemon in the depths of Eterna Forest, he’d survived a year out here alone. If she wanted to go into her ball, then he was more than willing to take the risk. “Do you want to go back into your ball?” 

Chatot thought for merely a second, before shaking her head no. 

“Okay, we're nearly there, and I think you’ll like what you see.” 

After another hour, Ethan started to make out a bright patch of light off in the distance. The shining sun blanketing the light down on a flat grassy plain, with no tree canopy in the way to block its advance. 

He tapped Chatot on the side and pointed forward. “Here we are…. Behold!”

Ethan swept his arm out in a grandiose showcase as he left the treeline and stood in the short grassy meadow of his clearing. Chatot’s eyes gazed about the grassy field with intrigue… and then her gaze fell upon the hundreds of berry trees, ripe with plump berries of many different colors, sizes, and flavors. 

Before Ethan could blink, Chatot was zooming across the field. She was quick when she put some effort into it. Ethan watched as she nearly crashed into the closest berry tree. As he jogged across the grassy meadow, he saw leaves, sticks, and branches fall down in a jumbled mess. Then, at last, a berry coated Chatot flew from one tree into the next, causing the same mess. 

Ethan laughed loudly as Chatot found herself in heaven, catching the attention of some other pokemon. 

“Odddddddd.”
“Oddddishhhh.”
“Oddd-oddd-odd.” 

Giant puffs of pink particles launched into the air, creating a repeated swooshing to echo across the clearing. The group of seven Oddish who lived with him for many, many months…moved. 

He had seen them move twice in his long stay. Once, when they first arrived and settled down, and another when the first of their kind learned Sunny Day. At that time, they got up and did a circular, celebratory dance around their companion, but this time, they were walking toward him.  

All seven Oddish waddled hurriedly and with happiness in his direction. Ethan carelessly dropped his duffle bag and knelt down, embracing the first Oddish who launched itself into him. 

“Oddd-Odddishhh.”

Then, the other six Oddish surged forward, knocking him over as they clambered on top of him. More and more puffs of Sweet Scent erupted into the air, signaling their happiness at his return, and Ethan started to tear up.

“I missed you, too,” He eventually managed to stammer out.

“♫ Chaa-tooot ♫ tot-tot-tot! ♫” Chatot landed next to him, absolutely coated in berry juice, causing her to look even more colorful than she was before, as Ethan managed to escape the dog-pile of Oddish. 

He scanned the clearing, searching for the Hoppip and lone Skiploom, but they were nowhere to be seen. At first, he was saddened by the thought of them moving on. But after a second of thought, he smiled. 

They had finally left the clearing, just like he had. They were floating about somewhere, off toward their next destination, going where the winds took them. He wished them the best. 

After the Oddish had calmed down, and Chatot realized that being covered in sticky berry juice wasn’t as good as it sounded, Ethan grabbed his bag and walked off toward his small, roughly made wooden cabin. 

The inside was mostly unchanged, but a few of the berries he had sorted and stockpiled were missing. It wasn’t that big of a deal, and frankly, he was surprised they were still there. 

“♫ Chaa-tooot? ♫” 

Hearing the questioning song from Chatot from outside, Ethan threw his duffle bag on the ground and went to go see what she found. 

“♫ Chaa-tooot? ♫” 

He followed the sound of her song and found her midway through one of the many rows of berry trees, pecking at something on the ground. She had her back toward him, so he couldn’t see what she found, but as he got within a few feet, he immediately took a few steps back. 

“Chatot…! Get the hell away from it…!” He tried to urge in a hushed tone. 

Chatot heeded his words with confusion, hopping backwards a few steps to stand by his side. Thankfully, Ethan had recognised the pokemon she was disturbing. 

On the ground surrounded by a bunch of fallen berries, a foot-wide red rock with five yellow ridged holes lay flat on the ground. He had no idea how this pokemon found its way into his clearing, but he knew what had attracted it—his berries. 

Ethan might have been bad at the games, but even he knew not to look down upon this particular pokemon.

“Chatot, listen to me carefully… Never fu—mess with a Shuckle.”