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

After some more research and cooperation with Agent Looker, Ethan had solidified his plan. He would go back to his clearing. 

As it turns out, it was located just in between Mt Coronet and the dead center of Eterna Forest. While it was nowhere near Route 205 which winded through the forest itself, it was an hour or so away from one of the deeper side paths more advanced trainers occasionally traveled through. 

While his small plot of land wouldn’t be a popular destination, it could be one—with a little effort and advertisement. Looker had said that the League would pay for a branching path toward his clearing, build a proper pen, build him a real house, and add in a small pool of water in the nearby meadow. Looker recommended that he try to find a water type Pokemon to help him out, which he absolutely agreed with.

According to Looker, some of the information gleaned from his memories ended up being actionable, and him sharing his memories solved a lot of issues. It also prepared them for what was to come. Ethan never asked for specifics, as he was in no way shape or form ready to combat any of the monstrosities from the games or anime, but he had some solid guesses on what they could be. Nevertheless, Ethan wasn’t in a position to stop events if they were to transpire, and he’d done his part in alerting those who could. 

In return, they were more than willing to help him get started on his new life. Things were beginning to turn around for him, and if he was honest, he was waiting for the other shoe to fall.

He was sure this plan wasn’t going to go perfectly. Something would go wrong somewhere down the line, and he would be in trouble. But, for now, he was more than willing to give it a go.

Before they could get started, he needed to get permission from the local territory leader—Ursaring. Ethan didn’t think his plans would fall apart right at the beginning, but maybe he didn’t know Ursaring as well as he thought he did. If she said no, he would have to start somewhere else… but that clearing was where he had survived. He’d grown attached to it. 

Getting back to the forest to have that conversation with Ursaring, was a problem in and of itself. Ethan didn’t have a Pokemon, and without one, he wouldn’t be allowed entry into Eterna Forest to begin with. 

While the buying and selling of Pokemon wasn’t illegal. It had very specific stipulations. Firstly, the Pokemon in question needed to be either bred for sale, or sold as an egg. Sure, there were black markets for Pokemon, but that was obviously not the route Ethan was going to go for. The only problem Ethan had with buying a Pokemon was that… he didn’t think it was for him. 

If he was going to buy a pokemon, he would make sure that it knew what it was getting into. Yeah, he’d train it and do his best to make it happy, but if the Pokemon wanted to go to the top, then it could find a much better trainer than him. He didn’t think he was capable of becoming an elite trainer.

Also, Ethan just didn’t have the money to buy a pokemon. He didn’t want to beg the Pokemon League for even more support. He wanted to do this himself, as it's a living thing that was going to be with him for, hopefully, the rest of its life. 

So, in all his completely sane and logical wisdom. Ethan decided that the proper course of action would be to use his only Pokeball, travel around the city, and find a Pokemon that wanted to join him willingly.

Oh, he was picky. He wanted a Pokemon that he actually liked…

But that quickly faded away after a few hundred ‘No.’

---

“Pspspspspspsps.” Ethan acted a fool, trying to get the attention of a very uninterested Glameow. 

Right now, said Glameow was up atop a wall, lined with a hedge. It gingerly licked its paw as it gave Ethan the side eye. In his desperation, he continued to make pathetic kitten call sounds. 

“Pspspspspspsp. I have a berry farm. Pspspspspsp. It’ll be a nice home and we can be friends…” 

The Glameow visibly sighed with exasperation and flicked its glowing brown paw in his direction, causing a spray of sand to get shot directly into his eyes… again.

“Motherfu—” 

*Hissss*

The Glameow literally hissed at him, flashing its sharp fangs in the process. Knowing when a battle was lost, Ethan left the Glameow alone as he rubbed his red eyes to clear the remaining bits of sand out of them. 

“Jesus… Sand Attack is no joke… It knows a damn Egg move…”

After he cleared his eyes, he looked to the sky and saw that the sun was beginning to set. He’d spent most of the day trying to convince the wild city Pokemon to join him, but he’d failed every step of the way. There weren’t very many options to be had to begin with, but at this point, he’d take what he could get. 

Ethan slinked back to the Pokemon center he’d been staying at right as the sun retreated over the horizon. All around him, people walked in and out of the center with their respective partners walking alongside them, or riding on their shoulders. He saw a Beautifly, Staravia, Bidoof, Murkrow, Wingull, Sneasel, and even a treacherous Glameow all around him. The most impressive Pokemon out and about, was a Lopunny. The human rabbit Pokemon kept tapping their trainer on the shoulder with one of its large arm-like ears.

He felt like the world was gloating over him. They had a partner, and he did not. 

As he watched those with Pokemon riding on their shoulders, the only thing he could think of was Pachirisu. They’d played and worked together almost every day since it first came around, and it would ride on his shoulders as he picked berries for it to eat. Yeah, it’d run away right after, but it did ride on his shoulder, if only for a minute.

Ethan clenched the Pokeball in his pocket. If he couldn’t find a Pokemon to join him tomorrow, then he’d find someone to escort him to his plot of land. Surely, that’d be allowed… right?

---

Turns out, after a few more hours of research on the free computer in the lobby, that getting escorted into the forest by a Trainer wasn’t allowed at all. Ethan slumped in the chair and ran a hand through his overly long hair. 

He could get escorted by the Rangers, but Ethan didn’t think he wanted to bother them for something so simple. Sadly, as his options seemed to dwindle by the day, that’s probably what he’s going to have to do.

“Are you doing okay, Ethan?” The voice of Nurse Joy pulled him out of his misery. It was another late night, but Nurse Joy never appeared to be asleep. As always, she checked on him every once in a while, much to his thanks.

Ethan gave the pink-haired nurse a tired smile. “Just… frustrated. I spent all day trying to find a Pokemon to join me, but didn’t have any luck. I can’t go back to the forest to set up my future without a Pokemon, and the one Pokemon I know who would probably join me, is near my plot of land. So, I'm stuck.”

While the Pokemon Center was open 24/7, it definitely ebbed and flowed. Currently, it was just him and Nurse Joy in the lobby. 

Nurse Joy pulled up a chair and sat next to him, overlooking the little notebook he had been filling out with information. Ethan slid his notebook over for her to read and watched as a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she did so. 

He’d been researching proper care for each type of Pokemon and their dietary habits. His meticulous notes filled the pages quickly, so Nurse Joy had to flip a few pages to view his work. 

“It’s good that you’re taking all of this seriously, but you don’t need to rush. As a Trainer, you have a full month of free room and board at a Pokemon center each season. You have time, Ethan.”

Ethan sighed and sunk into his chair. “I know… but I’ve waited enough since I've been here. I’m out of patience.” 

Nurse Joy understood, he could see that she did, but stuck to her advice. “It’s not like you’re doing nothing here, Ethan. You’re getting the knowledge you need to prepare yourself for the future. Have you looked into battling?” 

He’d seen a few clips here and there when searching up Pokemon, but he hadn’t really spent any time researching and reviewing any actual serious battles. Most of the battles he’d seen so far were simple demonstrations, or some teens having their first battles. If he was being honest, he was avoiding looking into the upper echelon of trainers, as he was sure that if he was someone with an Ursaring Hyper Beam half a stadium out of existence, he’d be rethinking his current plans. 

Nurse Joy seemed to read his thoughts and scooted her chair over and typed away on the computer. She went to an old school looking forum filled with articles and blogs about recent battles and tips for training. Quickly, she found the video she was looking for. 

As the video popped up into existence. Ethan knew who was on the screen. He had to hold in a snort at seeing the nearly permanently closed eyes of Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader. In the video, Brock was doing a walkthrough and warm up training exercise with a Geodude. He talked about the Geodude species as he helped the Pokemon train. 

When they were done, he released a small, tan, armadillo-like Pokemon—A Sandshew. He had them battle one another, and like the snippets he’d seen in the past, it didn’t look very high stakes. 

“Is there a reason you’re making me watch this?” Ethan asked, curious about Nurse Joy's machinations. 

He gestured toward the screen and flashed him a smile. “What do you think of their battle?” 

Unlike in the games where four moves and taking turns was the name of the game, real life was very much fluid. He watched as the Geodude transitioned from a Rollout, directly into a tackle. The Sandshew clawed its way into the earth within the blink of an eye, avoiding the attacks and countering with the move Dig. The Geodude was sent flying, and was quickly surrounded by a flurry of white stars that hit it with unerring accuracy, slamming it into the side. 

It was pretty impressive, and the two Pokemon looked to be rivals, going by their smirks. 

“I think it’s impressive.” Ethan said honestly. 

Nurse Joy nodded along. “What if I told you that’s about as good as most people get?” 

As he continued watching the video, the Geodude curled into a ball, obviously using Defense Curl, and began rapidly spinning in circles in the air, destroying the incoming Swift with its Rapid Spin. 

“I’d say that’s believable. I’m sure their Pokemon are much stronger than these two, though.” 

“Most likely,” A familiar voice said from behind them. Ethan and Nurse Joy turned around, finding the blonde-haired woman from last night approaching with a confident smile. “But the strategy would be about the same. The power of the Pokemon matters, but the Trainer is what brings out the true strength of their Pokemon. Any Pokemon can become strong with enough drive and effort. Battles may quicken with stronger Pokemon, as their speed increases, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of Trainers can’t keep up with their partners past a certain point. Trainers have to train themselves along the way. In my opinion, that’s why most can’t get past their fourth badge.” 

Ethan raised a brow, suitably impressed with the apparent talking font of knowledge. “Well, you sure seem knowledgeable. I don’t think I ever caught your name..?” 

The woman smirked and flicked her hair over her shoulder. “I sure hope so. I got all eight badges back in my first year. You can call me… Cici.” 

Nurse Joy snorted and quickly tried to act serious, failing miserably. “Cici is a rather prominent trainer. You can take her word for it. The reason I wanted you to watch, is so that you can understand that you have a chance. You don’t need to be an expert to enjoy battling, Ethan. Maybe, you can try bonding with a local Pokemon by battling with them here in the battle courts?”

Cici flashed a smile and crossed her arms. “That sounds like a great idea. I assume you’re looking for your first Pokemon?”

Ethan nodded, and then explained how the day went to the two women. They both listened attentively and silently as he spoke about his troubles. Feeling some relief, he started to trauma dump. How he needed a Pokemon to return to his clearing and enter the forest, and how he wasn’t sure about finding a Pokemon just to return. He explained his goals, about how he wanted to be a move tutor and breeder, how he felt like he actually stood a chance at being successful. About how he wanted a partner, but he felt like he was using his current circumstances as an excuse to coerce a Pokemon to join him. In the end, about how it felt like he was stuck.

When he was finished he realized that he might have been a little too forthcoming. Especially to Cici. They’d just met and he just dropped all of his troubles onto her. She didn’t seem to mind it much, but it was still very improper for him to do that. 

Cici’s went to a separate computer station and dragged a chair over to join them. “A move tutor and a breeder… That’s an interesting choice of work. Do you have any experience?”  

“Well—” Ethan started, but was cut off from Nurse Joy.

“He’s taught some wild Pokemon some moves already. He’s taught a group of wild Oddish Sunny Day and Rain Dance, and a Pachirisu, an assortment of varied moves. If I recall, you taught it Seed Bomb, Isn’t that right?” 

Taken a little off guard by Nurse Joy’s sudden gushing over his skills, Ethan was conscientious. Cici looked mightily impressed as she listened to the praise, causing Ethan to preen just a tad. He had worked hard teaching those Pokemon… he deserved a little bit of credit where it was due!

Cici looked Ethan up and down with judging eyes, then asked a surprising question. “Do you think you could teach one of my Pokemon?” 

Nurse Joy audibly gasped, but gave him an excited smile and rapidly nodded her head. Ethan was hesitant, but he had to start somewhere. “I can try. Do you have a Pokemon in mind?” 

Cici reached down to her waistband, where… eleven Pokeballs rested?

Is six not the carrying capacity? I have to check that later. I assumed that was the case. Ethan thought, as Cici released on of her many Pokemon. 

Out of the red light of release, a small blop of tan fur, which had darkened brown stripes running down its back appeared. The Pokemon looked to Cici and snorted from it’s small pink pig-like nose and puffed out a little plume of ice and snow. 

“Swiii–Swinub.” 

The Swinub gazed around the empty Pokemon center, seemingly looking for something to battle.

Cici bent and picked up the Swinub and cradled it in her arms. “Can you teach Swinub a move?” 

Cici was holding Swinub in a cradle, ticking its belly. Its little feet kicked rapidly in the air and it snorted ice and snow with pleasure. 

“Did you have a specific move in mind?” Ethan asked. 

She thought for a moment, but gave him a sly smile. “What do you think is best?” 

“What moves does…” Ethan inspected the Swinub a little closer. “…he know already?

“He knows Mud-Slap, Tackle, and Powder Snow. I just got him not too long ago.” She responded. 

Ethan tried to remember all of the details about Swinub and its evolutions. He’d played with them before in the games, but he was most definitely not an expert. They were big, powerful physical attackers, and masters of earth and ice. Since this little guy looked to be young, given his move pool, something lower power was probably best. Given that it’d be using ground and ice as its main styles, Mud Shot sounded like a safe pick. It’d help it reduce the speed of its enemies, as they weren’t typically the fastest of Pokemon. 

With his decision made, he made the offer. “What about Mud Shot?” 

Cici thought it over for a minute, before conferring with her Pokemon. “What do you think? Do you want to learn Mud Shot?”

The Swinub nodded with what looked to be a third of its body in excitement. “Swi!”

Everyone laughed at its enthusiasm, which made it squint its eyes in displeasure. 

Cici tossed Ethan Swinub’s Pokeball as she placed Swinub back onto the floor. Ethan fumbled with the thrown ball as She spoke. “I’ll check in every night. Show me what you can do.” 

With that declaration. Cici sauntered out of the Pokemon Center, leaving Swinub behind on the floor. 

Ethan looked from the exit, to Swinub, to the Pokeball in his hand… eventually ending up looking at Nurse Joy. 

He awkwardly coughed and leaned in to whisper. “How do I use this…?” He held out the Pokeball. 

Nurse Joy looked at the ball, then cackled like a witch.