After Aquaman and Kaldur left, trading phone numbers with us, I sat back and got ready for the next big thing. For life to throw me another curveball. Except… that didn't happen. Instead, the next night, we went out to Honolulu. Fought some criminals. Arrested them. Went home and worked out, ate together around a table, then went to the Restaurant Royale and trained with Amos and Giovanni. Which was also nice and boring. Intense, yes, but no strange revelations, nobody dropped out of the sky or came from the ocean. We had what I would have considered a normal day.
That was how the next day went as well. I hung out with Tyrunt, worked out with Gurdurr, drew with Mimikyu, played with Mudkip, then ran through some plans with Alakazam.
Grace was still doing her research into a cure or counter for the Silicon Dragons mutations, but she also began looking at my Pokemon. She wasn't doing too much there, since the priority was the Silicon Dragons, but she was immensely curious about them and the world they came from.
We spent some time chatting about that.
The Kitchen Of Kahu's Base
"Keep in mind, that the world as a whole has been raised alongside Pokemon their entire lives," I told her as I took a sip of a can of energy drink, Grace sat across the table from me. "They don't know any other way to live. So culturally, Pokemon are a part of everything. All fiction involves Pokemon in some ways. Apocalypse stories still involve Pokemon, for example, even if it's that Pokemon were taken out in a disaster. Comic book heroes are involved with Pokemon. And then of course, every business involves Pokemon in some way."
"Even say, a waiter?" Grace asked me.
"Plenty of people work alongside their Pokemon, so yes. Hell, I once went to a cafe where a shop owner had nothing but Pokemon working there. There's some places that have extra room for Pokemon battles as well."
"Now, that is the biggest thing I want to ask about," Grace sipped at her tea before continuing. She was wearing a sundress over a swimsuit, having just come in from the water around… an hour ago? Had we been talking for that long? "Pokemon battles. You mention it constantly. At first, I thought it might be something like dog fighting rings or cock fighting rings in our world, but the more you mention it, the more it sounds like a fundamental aspect of the culture of your world."
"It is," I acknowledged. "I have some theories about it. One is that Pokemon are fighters at the genetic level. While there are peaceful ones, a huge number of them love fighting, love challenging each other. And I can tell you, any trainer that forces their Pokemon to battle, abuses them, tends to end up with a Pokemon ready to leave them, and they're ostracized by most of society," I thought of Paul or Damien. "In the end, battling is closer to if MMA or UFC was a fact of everyday life for almost everyone. Plus, everyone in that world has access to Potions like the ones that Giovanni sells."
"So the consequences wouldn't be as dire," Grace said slowly.
"Keep in mind, there is still a lot of debate about this kind of thing. While groups like Team Plasma ended up being more like hypocritical ecoterrorists, a few people do argue against it," I chugged my drink back before continuing. "And I wouldn't let my Pokemon fight if they didn't want to."
"I know," she gave me a soft smile, then got more serious. "That world sounds fascinating though. I can't even imagine what the scientific community must be like."
I shuffled a bit. "I uh… wasn't exactly the most scientific kind of guy. But I do remember a few things scientists were trying to study. Like the phenomenon of Mega Evolution."
"Mega…" she blinked. "What is that? You explained Evolution to me, but nothing about Mega."
"Because it's not really relevant. But basically, there are a series of stones that have the power to let specific Pokemon awaken higher levels of power. Temporarily, and it does exhaust trainer and Pokemon afterward, but they can boost them massively. Gives them a new form, sometimes new abilities. But only a few Pokemon can do it. And they need a stone specific to them. Like Alakazam would need Alakazite."
"...Alakazite?"
"Hey, I don't name them."
"Is it some sort of radiation they emit?" Grace placed her tea down, leaning her head on her hand. "Can it be replicated?"
I hadn't thought about that. "I don't know. I haven't heard of it, but maybe? Could be worth an experiment down the line."
Grace let out a small cute huff noise, then perked up. "Oh! Why does Mega Evolution tire out the trainer?"
"Because you need more than just a Mega Stone for the Pokemon. You also need a Key Stone for the trainer. There's a sort of… connection, I guess, that takes place. Then the Key Stone and Mega Stone resonate. But there's a lot of research that goes into the process. Pokemon may have been around for forever, but the mysteries around them are still pretty hefty."
I put down my drink. "Like, why do Pokemon get stronger with a trainer than they ever would in the wild, even if a wild Pokemon and a trained Pokemon undergo the same diet, lifestyle, and basic battles? Why do some Pokemon evolve, why do some only evolve once?"
I grinned at her a little. "Sorry. I'm not as helpful as I want to be."
"No, that's okay! This is great actually!" she waved a hand as she spoke. "I'm actually kind of glad to know I'm not treading over old ground. And hey, who knows! Maybe I'll discover something about Pokemon even you don't know."
"Grace, you're a super-genius. You could write libraries about the things I don't know," I said with some sarcasm.
She blushed, but seemed pleased.
After that, Grace did approach Alakazam to ask him more. The supercomputer Psychic apparently gave her a lot to work with, because she started coming to me with a lot of questions. I didn't mind. It was fun to have someone to chat to about the Pokemon world.
Of course, there was a dark spot in my life. Namely, the Silicon Dragons were still upgunning to fight us. And that was starting to show in the streets.
Pearl City, Hawaii
One day, Gurdurr and I were running after a group of Silicon Dragons who had been trying to get protection money from some of the stores in the area. Alakazam had managed to find out about it by tracking their phones. It was part of an overall hack he did.
First, by 'phishing' using the phones we'd stolen from the Dragons in the warehouse after Giovanni's own tech experts managed to get into them. Basically, he acted as a lot of the Dragons' friends sending them links to things Alakzam guessed they'd be interested in. Then, when they clicked the links he sent something… happened… that let him access the phones.
Look, I don't understand hacking. It sounded somewhat reasonable when Alakazam explained it to me, so that was enough. Even he admitted that most of what he did was based on rote memorization rather than any real skill at hacking. But it worked.
Anyways, he turned on 'Find My Phone' after finding out what they'd be up to, and thus Gurdurr and I were on their asses.
There were four of them, one woman and three men, who had been trying to intimidate people. We sprinted into a building after them, Gurdurr smashing the door down with his I-Beam to see a flight of stairs heading upwards.
"It's the fucking Roid monster!" one Dragon shouted, a woman with greenish hair. She spun around to fire an UZI at Gurdurr as she ran up the stairs.
"Grah!" he spun his I-Beam around to deflect the bullets, rushing up the stairs. I followed.
"You can't run you fucks!" I shouted. I admit. I was pissed. I fucking hate running. "If I cramp a leg up I'm going to shove it up your ass!"
"Run!" one guy shouted.
The girl who had shot at Gurdurr aimed at him as he approached. "Take this you piece of-!"
A single swipe. The sound of metal cracking. The girl pulled her UZI up to see that all that was left was the handle. Gurdurr ran past her, and she had half a moment to show relief on her face.
Then I grabbed her by the face and smashed her head into the wall, the plaster cracking apart. As she passed out, I continued following Gurdurr, panting heavily.
We reached the top of the stairs and Gurdurr busted the doors down, revealing we'd gotten to the roof. Across from us, two guys aimed their pistols at us. I ducked behind Gurdurr and ran behind him, bullets spanging off his I-Beam.
"Gurdurr, hit 'em both!"
"Gur, Gurdurr!" he sped forward, his I-Beam twisting around so that he held it horizontally. The pair of gunmen stared at the charging Pokemon, shooting at him. A bullet scraped past my chest before Gurdurr's I-Beam hit the two in the stomach at the same time, folding them in half as one of them dropped his gun. They flew back twelve feet, landing and rolling until they came to a complete stop.
"Daaaaayum," I whistled, feeling a bit of pity for the pair. They were lying on the floor, groaning in pain as they clutched at their stomachs. I walked up to Gurdurr, looking around. Two guys. But… where was the third one?
A whirring sound, like gears spinning and grinding, came from behind a crate on the roof. Gurdurr and I faced the crate.
The wooden crate exploded apart, sending chunks of shrapnel everywhere. And a man ran at me, rearing back a metal fist. I raised my arm to block, but Gurdurr was faster. He swung his I-Beam to intercept the fist. A loud 'clang' sound filled the air. And Gurdurr staggered back, eyes wide. The guy staggered back as well, shaking his fist in pain. I eyed him quickly.
The guy's fists were covered in a sort of grey gauntlet that glowed with red energy along the linings of the gauntlet. A long metal section ran along his arms, with joints at key point, up until it got the shoulders. I could see a glowing red piece of metal on his back. I mentally reached out to Alakazam.
"Interesting. Some sort of power armor?" Alakazam mumbled as he looked through my eyes. "A prototype perhaps? I remember seeing something more primitive being used by gangs in Metropolis. I'll begin research. Be careful."
"Always am," I said aloud.
The guy, a pale-skinned white man with scraggly blonde hair, swung his fist up, then down, glaring at us. "You freaks are about to meet your match!"
"Man, dude gets some shitty armor and suddenly he thinks he's god," I said to Gurdurr, raising my fists. Still… That armor might be a problem. "Mind testing him out?"
"Gur," he said seriously in response. Gurddur twirled his I-Beam and raised it. Then he slammed it into the roof, letting it stand there. Gurdurr lifted his fists into a classic boxing stance, waving one forward. He smirked, just a bit. An obvious and simple challenge.
Gurdurr used Taunt. Not literally, but you know what I mean.
"I'm gonna push your shit in!" the big dude came forward and punched down at Gurdurr.
Gurdurr took the blow to his raised arms, grunting as he was sent back a step. He ducked around the next punch, then blocked a right cross on his left forearm. The smirk left his face, replaced by concentration. I stayed back, watching carefully.
When the guy punched at him, again, Gurdurr stepped aside, letting his punch hit the roof instead. A quaking blow shook the roof, the guy pulling back his fist to show that his fist had dug in three inches.
"Yes!" The guy rushed in, swinging wildly. "Hahaha!" his fists landed on Gurdurr's forearms again and again, a loud laugh leaving his lips. "This is power! Real power!"
Gurdurr stilled. A punch landed on his chin. He snarled. "Gurrrrrrr…"
The guy's next punch was caught in a fist. Grey skin tightened, and the pink veins on Gurdurr's arms pulsed. He squeezed down the fist, then pulled. Steel squealed. The guy staggered to his knees.
"What the fu-!"
Gurdurr pulled, the joints on the arm of the gauntlet pulling apart as the nuts and bolts that held it together were unable to withstand that much force. He pushed the guy back as he pulled the gauntlet off his opponents fist, looking at me as he tossed it aside. "Gurdurr."
"I see," I mumbled seriously, thinking. Gurdurr was usually pretty good about assessing two things. Fighting strength and basic construction. If he said the armor was pretty tough, I'd take his word for it.
"Gaaaaah!" the guy clenched his fist, his armor letting out a loud beeping sound. "You fuck!" he lashed out with another punch. Gurdurr ducked around it, hopping over to his I-Beam. Wielding it with all the skill of a dock worker about to beat some heads, he moved in.
The guy swung at him. Gurdurr swung his I-Beam, the red frame meeting the green glowing metal. The guy screamed as Gurdurr's full power crumbled up the fist underneath the metal. Gurdurr grabbed the 'elbow' of his power suit and pulled, ripping the joints again, then swung his I-Beam at the guys back, shattering the power pack there, before coming around to gently bonk the dude on the head with a closed fist, knocking him out.
I walked forward as Gurdurr stood over the guy. He looked up at me with a proud smirk. "Durr!"
I grinned back at him, trading a fistbump. "Nice job bud!"
Still… I'd make a note about this. Power suit used by some random guy. Not a good sign, if a small one.
Author's Note: As I mentioned before, the next chapters will focus on the day-to-day of the characters for a bit. Everyone from Kahu, to Kaldur, to Sam Mokoa. Not to say that some good old fights and crazy updates won't happen, but the story needs a small break before some other crazy incident shows up.
Please consider supporting me on pat re on com / desertchocolate, where chapters will always show up ahead of time for the good folks that help me write this :D