Another day of trudgery continues on, very little to distinguish the morning. We left a pair of bug catchers lamenting their decision to challenge Twilight and I to a double battle, and even leveled our pokémon up a bit. Still, the day is nice, if a bit overcast. I hope it doesn’t rain or anything, since it says there’s something like another half-day after this one of travel until we reach the city, and I didn’t exactly pack a drying pan.
It really does seem to take forever, though that’s probably due to a lack of any form of landmark. This twenty-mile expanse looks exactly like the last twenty-mile expanse. And turning around to see the exact same thing as when you’re going forward is really flippin’ trippy. God, how big is this region!? Well, I guess it took Ash a year to get across Kanto, and that’s one of the smaller regions, and was traveled by someone with little actual experience. Looking at the size comparison according to satellites, Otaria could fit two Kantos in it and still have room for half of Hoenn. Man, I’d kill for a motorbike. Or a drivers’ license.
The day continues to grow more and more gray, until, at last, it finally decides to start drizzling, but it’s definitely leading up to something bigger. In a hurry, we decide to set up camp early, as getting sick would not be a fun experience this far from any cities.
I turn to Twilight. “Let me guess, Miss Causality. Hypothermia and being stuck in the rain is not related in the slightest and is just a coincidence?”
“Well, it depends on how long you’re in the rain. Too long, and you cool off enough for bacteria to overwhelm your immune system. It doesn’t cause it, per se, but it certainly does you no favors.” She finishes setting up the tents inside a temporary shelter in the form of a rain-shield bubble she’s cast as well. Best thing about telekinesis, that is has over fingers? The ability to do eight or nine things all at once. Still can’t scratch an itch too well, though.
“Well at least you agree that not all weather is safe. And when we find the right Pok mon, I’m going to cure you of your belief that loud noises are perfectly fine and can’t cause your eardrums to shatter.” Thinking on that, and I look through the Otaria’s locator to tell me the nearest place we could find a Whismur. Apparently it can be found in some place in the mountains called ‘Mushroot City’. If I can get a pokémon who can scream with the volume of a jet engine, I wonder if getting one to let out a mild shout would be enough to prove to Twilight.
Or I can try right now. I call up the data entry on Whismur and hold it up for Twi to see. Unfortunately, I get a less-than-satisfactory reply. “What’s a jet engine?”
I sigh. “Shut up and go to sleep.”
I plan on taking my own advice, but I soon find myself being dragged back to the pokédex. I can’t help it, but I have to find out more about this region. There’s nothing else to do while waiting out the rain, anyways, so there’s no reason not to. That, and my scholarly curiosity compels me to study any new information on this world I can possibly glean. Nobody got to be a master by being an uneducated moron, and I will be a master!
Always been partial to Grass types, I’ve already seen Pyredendron... but what of Grass’ sister type? I look up any Otarian Bug types I don’t recognize. I see a typical Bug/Poison type. Of course, as if there aren’t a ton already... Oh well let’s get a look at- woah.
- These pokémon are surprisingly hardy, living virtually anywhere in Rustoil they aren't exterminated from. They can ingest materials even other poison-types find too toxic. -
Dude... this thing could give a Swalot a run for it’s money... and this thing is teensy! Only about a foot tall! Impressive. I might have a new addition to my catch list. How close are we to Rustoil... fuck that’s far... Oh well, Masters can’t be lazybones either I guess.
Let’s see what else there is... ooh, it evolves. Seems to become much more bipedal and.. the first entry makes my eyes widen.
- These pokémon carry organic 'tanks' on their backs, that allow them to create and mix dangerous chemicals to spray at their foes. -
Bio-alchemists? Good god that is... awesome! Man, maybe the trip to Rustoil will be well worth it. They certainly have a dubious moveset too... Clearly used for destabilizing a team with status afflictions and seems to favor swarm tactics in the case of it’s pre-evolved form... very nice.
What else is on here in good ol’ Otaria? Actually, now that I wonder, why is Rustoil the only mentioned place you can find Smokroach and Kemikroach?
I look up travelogue data on it, and blanch at the information that comes across. It’s apparently highly polluted, so much so that everyone wears some form of mask or face-covering there, if they want to go outside. It’s built onto the side of a mountain, and just lets its waste pour down the barren mountainside to collect in a large pool under the city. Gross, and unsanitary. They also apparently have a working nuclear reactor, though they’ve, it seems, come up with some uses for the waste in enhancing the abilities of certain poison-type pokémon, like Muk and Garbodor.
Well, that is the kind of culture shock I think I’ll spare the mares from. Not everything in the world is something to be proud of... and dumping waste? Nuclear reactor? That’s just begging for a Hedorah attack!
But it seems to also have it’s own individual Pokémon league... how does that work? Oh well, enough geography. Onto more Pokémon... How about the Fighting types again.
After scrolling through the ones I’ve already seen, I get to an interesting one.
- Wakurai, the Trainee Pokémon. A Wakurai is almost all muscle and dense, tough bone. They can withstand the harshest training, and often find themselves fighting overwhelming odds, just to improve themselves. The last thing these pokémon do before evolving is forge a weapon they will carry for the rest of their lives. This weapon represents their path in life. -
Huh, neat, and it seems to have branching evolution, like Tyrogue... but pretty different. Rather than evolving through experience with a certain fighting style, this one works on a sort of... honor scale.
If a Wakurai beats enough pokémon all on its own, without any intervention, it becomes one thing...
- Bushidan, the Honorable Pokémon.These formidable pokémon have grown ornate, organic armor to protect themselves from all attackers. They dispatch their foes with inhuman speed. -
But if it loses a bunch, instead it turns into another, one that refuses honorable combat.
- Lonin, the Treacherous Pokémon. These pokémon have turned themselves from honorable combat, and seek only to win, regardless of the cost. They will jealously stab any pokémon in the back if the Lonin feels its place has been usurped as the strongest pokémon in the group. -
And if it swaps in to deal the finishing blow several times, it can turn into something completely different.
- Sensinja, the Rebellion Pokémon. These calm, peaceful pokémon use ancient arts to render themselves hard to see, and use the utmost stealth to avoid enemies. If they must fight, they always try to end the battle in a single blow, or to use a variety of powders, poisons, and other methods to debilitate the foe, before escaping. -
And each one apparently comes with an item and a unique ability they can’t use without that item. Coooooool...
What else is there? Hmm... how about an Ice type? Well that’s an interesting looking one. Like a reptile.
It’s the middle of a line, though, which starts with just a water-type with Snow Veil. Starts out timid, but this middle evo, called Velocial, looks really cool. Pun intended.
Let’s look at it’s ‘baby’ form first though.
- Aquana, the Marine Iguana Pokémon. These small pokémon hide on the cold rocks near Windchill. They are adept swimmers, and are remarkably resistant to cold. -
Okay, enough introduction, moving onto the cool-looking one.
- Velocial, the Ice Raptor Pokémon. Stalking Windchill Island's shores, Velocial hunt in packs. They can also swim amazingly well, hunting large fish, or even Wailord. -
Wailord!? How big are these- 4'3"!?
Holy shit, that’s what I call big power in a little package! I think I’m done for the time being though. Looking at this small screen for hours can’t be good for my eyesight.
Bed time... it takes a bit, but eventually the rain just becomes white noise and I drift off.
When we go to stop for lunch the next day, I sit down and pull out my éTech. Flipping the cover off the front, it opens where I left it last night, and I get ready to change to another page. However, something from the bottom catches my eye: an evolution to Velocial, named... Zubzilla? Ooooh, now I have to read up on it.
- Zubzilla, the Calamity Pokemon. This Pokemon, on average, weighs eight-thousand, seven hundred and ninety-four pounds, and are roughly fourteen feet and nine inches tall. Taller and heavier varieties have been reported, but there’s been no proof of this -
No proof? What would keep a trainer from getting conclusive data...
- These near-mythical pokemon are so rarely acquired, that it wasn't until a particularly dedicated trainer captured an Aquana, and evolved the resulting Velocial, that anyone realized they were even related. A slate-gray Zubzilla lives on Windchill Island that has been known to swim after and sink ships, and once even attack a shoreline village that made use of a nuclear reactor. Now, the only reactor in Otaria is in Rustoil Metropolis, where the sludge is used to enrich and empower several local poison-type species -
- There have been no known cases of a trainer successfully catching a fully grown Zubzilla. Of the few who have tried, only one came back alive, and was too traumatized to speak on the subject -
- Once, a Zubzilla brought a veritable ice age upon the southern half of Otaria, breathing a powerful stream of radiation that stole the life and warmth from the land. It is said that a giant moth-pokemon from another land saved the land by posing as the sun, banishing the chilling winter and warming the land -
- There's been twenty-four Zubzilla attacks on major shipping lines and cruise vessels in the last ten years. In each case, the pokemon killed or critically injured more than half the crew and passengers, and it has taken dedicated combat vessels to drive off other attacks -
...I want to go home now, mommy!