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Gligar knew it was a risk, being out in the icelands. It usually reveled in the danger- being pushed to its limits each day. Most of its colony thought it was idiotic, more than happy to stay in the slightly less frozen mountains. Sure it was exhausting most days, and the chill could bite badly if it was not careful, but there wasn't the challenge in the mountains that it wanted.
That was why it stayed out here year round- and also why it went around looking for fights.
It didn’t ever kill- not like some of the other pokemon around here- it was only ever in it to have fun. To have a challenge . And so, when it saw a strange human in clothes it had never seen before attempting to fight off a zoroark, naturally it would want to battle. It screeched as it drew closer, stabbing at the ghost with its tail and smacking it hard with its pincers.
The zoroark screamed- the human only stumbling away a little before meeting Gligar’s eyes. The human nodded to it as it flew by, and it quickly looped around to smack at the fox again. It roared in rage, claws lighting up in dark energy as it slipped at it, smacking it hard in the side. It hissed as it hit the ground, but quickly sprang to the air again. This zoroark was powerful it had no idea how that strange human managed to hold it off.
“I would suggest a mud bomb!”
Mud bomb? Oh! Yes- that would impede the zoroark’s vision if it aimed right! It followed through, summoning up energy to form mud along its tail, flicking it at the zoroark and hitting it right in the face. It snickered as the pokemon screamed again, rage emitting from its every pour.
“Good job!” Gligar chirped at the human's praiseful tone. It had a very good aim! But not many had praised it for its hard work before. “I would suggest a particularly strong move, but I don’t believe you know anything super effective… Perhaps Poison Sting?” The human mimed stabbing at something with their finger.
Poison Sting? Well it could do one better. It caught a strong current and dived straight towards the other pokemon, tail coating itself in poison as it struck with a strong Poison Jab.
“Oh! Bravo! My apologies, I misread your strength!” It puffed out its chest.
The zoroark yowled as it wiped at its face, legs beginning to weaken as the poison took effect. It backed up a step and glared at the two of them before turning around and running back into the forest. Gligar chittered at it, coward! And stuck out its tongue.
“Now now, don’t be a sore winner,” the human walked up beside it, “I’m sure it was just protecting its pack anyway.”
Gligar blinked, then turned to the human, tilting its head in confusion, understand me? The human in black shifted slightly in yes before nodding as it tilted its hand back and forth- a mixture of both human and pokemon language.
“Sort of. Either way, you did most excellently against an opponent much stronger than you, Bravo! I can only imagine how hard you must train.”
Gligar chuffed a bit, catching another current and gliding loops around the human, thinking. It probably wouldn’t have done half as well hand the human not helped it out with what moves it should use- could they teach it how to do that?
It landed in front of the human, holding out its claws and focusing on them. They glowed a faint light green before pestering out in a failed X-Scissor. Gligar looked over to the human pleadingly.
“Hm? You want me to teach you?” Gligar chirped in affirmative, leaping up in the air and doing a small loopdeloop as the human laughed, “well, I don’t quite remember ever doing this before, but there are quite a few things I've done of such nature. Alright, I will do my best to teach you what I know.”
It never had a mentor before, but it was exciting to see what would become of it. This would be a fun challenge.
Tangela, in its humble opinion, thought the blue human was overreacting. Honestly, how many berries did this human really need? Surely it was fine that it took some from their stores? They weren’t using it or anything.
So yes, the screaming and shouting and pointing was pure drama, just like when its younger siblings used to throw a tantrum. It reached for another berry and stuck it behind a few of its vines, covering its mouth as it ate. Humans could be very silly sometimes.
The blue human attempted to order some other Pokémon to attack it, but the skunky just rolled its eyes and went back to bed. The zubat screeched in confusion and instead joined it in partaking in the food, making the human groan. It was honestly quite hilarious.
It didn’t bother to worry when the human ran off, but did take a break from eating. It didn’t want to stuff itself full, and it also did not wish to take all the human’s food. But it didn’t expect the human to return with another human .
This human wore a black coat- though it was a little torn up around the edges. For a moment it worried that this human would actually attack it, but by the slump of their shoulders and the lightness of their steps, they seemed rather… non aggressive. Actually rather friendly.
Actually actually, was this human using Pokémon movement? It had never been able to read a human so easily- yet here they were. It chirped in greeting and the human nodded one back. Wow they really were speaking Pokémon.
“Warden I demand you throw this vile beast out of my stores!”
“I’m sure it was just hungry Melli-“
“Yes, that is exactly the problem! It is eating all the food saved up for my Lord!”
“Ah, I see,” the human in black walked over to it, crouching down until they were eye level, “would you mind terribly if I guided you away from this area? Melli doesn’t like to share.”
It ignored the angry “Hey!” In response to that, thinking. It did not quite understand the human tongue as well as some other pokemon, but this human was helpfully shifting their posture and gesturing, giving it hints. Apparently they wanted it to move somewhere else. Well… there was a lot of food here and not much competition so it didn’t really-
Fingers gently scratched at the side of its head, wonderfully soft and just hard enough to scratch an itch it didn’t even know it had. It melted in response, making the human chuckle, and closed its eyes.
“Is that a yes, then?”
It trilled in acceptance and soon it was being carried off, the human in black calling out something got the other human, but Tangela didn’t bother to pay attention.
If the human kept this up, it was never going to leave their side.
Nosepass were rocks. Nosepass stood steady when other Pokémon faltered. North was the direction they searched for. The forces of this world directing them. They aligned themselves just so- their own energy merging with the currents around them. Like this, they had little reason to move.
As focused on North as it was, it had not noticed something coming to push it right off the ledge it had settled on. It tumbled down the mountain side, coming to a stop in the middle of a flat line going up the mountain. The area was somewhat narrow, cliff faces tall on either side.
Nosepass pushed itself up, felt the energy around it, and fixed the direction it had for as long as it could remember. It didn’t like this area as much, without the view it was actually quite dull, but when it tried to move in order to get out, it remained stuck.
It’s nose, which was facing one of the cliff faces, did not allow it to move in any direction. It allowed itself a quiet moment to be frustrated, and then went to sleep. It would figure it out in the morning. Probably.
It did not.
It continued to wait there, mostly bored and following the way the currents of the world flowed for a while, until a human appeared. They stopped a few feet from where it was, staring. Fair. It was sort of blocking the path.
“Ah… could you perhaps? Move?”
No.
“…” the human looked around, edging a little closer, “are you stuck?”
It vibrated slightly, not a yes or a no, really.
“Hmm… you could just… turn a little? I know nosepass like facing north but…”
It remained facing the wall. It really couldn’t move actually. It’s nose was stuck and it couldn't jump without knees. The human seemed to understand this after watching it a bit.
“I am terribly sorry but I… really do need to get though. You wouldn’t mind terribly if I moved you? My patrols around the area are rather important and I’m already quite a bit off schedule…”
Oh yes please it wanted out. It hummed out a desperate affirmative. It would owe this human forever if they got it out.
And so, the human grabbed a thick stick and levered the Nosepass out of thinnest point between the cliffs. It rolled over slightly and fell out of the choke point, finally able to move around without restriction. The human began their patrol again and Nosepass followed close behind. When they noticed, they just sighed and allowed it.
It had a feeling it was never going to leave. Traveling around was far more exciting than staring north all day.
Alakazam knew, on some level, it was being a nuisance. It should probably stop and leave the new humans that sprang up alone. But it also knew, on many levels, that setting up invisible walls for them to walk into and levitating food when they weren’t looking was absolutely hilarious .
Yes, it was being hunted down because of this, and no, it never worked. Honestly, how did they think a bidoof was enough to defeat it? Granted the bidoof knew some weird moves but- that was besides the point!
Anyway, it probably should have figured they would send someone actually strong after it. Not that it had seen the human in black’s pokemon yet, but it could tell in the way he carried himself. Not with tense shoulders and furrowed brow- his heartbeat was steady and breath calm when they finally came face to face.
It was surprising, actually, how fast the human found it. The last one had taken hours, Alakazam taking great joy in teleporting circles around them, but this one was not fooled. It could respect that.
“ Hello ,” it said, both out loud and, shockingly, in pokemon movement, “they would appreciate it if you had stopped playing tricks on them.”
They stood there for a moment, silent. Alakazam looked at him expectantly. Was that? It? It wasn't even scolded? Just asked politely to stop? It took a closer look at this strange human, who did not cower at its scrutiny and instead looked at it calmly. This man was actually insane.
Alakazam twirled one of its spoons, then shook it head. It would rather not stop, actually. It was funny and it got free berries. The human sighed, as if expecting this, and nodded in understanding. It was not expecting the human to run up to it, grab one of its spoons, and then dash off.
It floated there for a moment, completely shocked, and then teleported after the man. Somehow, he managed to slip past its grab and continued running surprisingly fast. Alakazam threw its hands up and followed after, the man somehow dodging every single one of its teleports like he could sense them.
Now, Alakazam didn’t want to resort to this, but that was its spoon! Its eyes glowed brightly and it grabbed the man with psychic- lifting him up and making him hover in front of it upside down. It crossed its arms and glared at the human, who only scrunched up his face and laughed. Laughed!
Yes, this human was indeed insane.
“Sorry sorry,” he chuckled, wiping at his eyes, “that was rather fun though, no?”
…fun? Stealing from it was fun? Did this human have any idea how long it took to make that spoon? It had to figure out how to meld metal with its mind, and stealing it was a joke-?
Oh.
The human smiled in every way but the human way, “I see you have figured it out.”
… ugh fine it would stop terrorizing the human settlement. Even if it was fun.
The human laughed as it rolled its eyes, “if you truly are looking for entertainment, might you come with me? I occasionally help out others with pokemon troubles, there is rarely a dull moment.”
It considered this, tilting its head to and fro, and then promptly let go of the human, making him fall to the ground with a yelp. When the human looked up at it it nodded, arms still crossed.
The human stood up and brushed the dirt off of his torn coat, “well, welcome to the team then.”
Machoke spent most of their time training with each other, both to let off energy and for fun. However, after a while things tended to get… boring. The same opponents with the same weaknesses- and sometimes they didn't even want to become stronger! It found the flights dull, and looking for other opponents in the highlands just proved to him how much type advantages mattered in a battle. It was… frustrating, to say the least.
That was, until he met the human. The man himself was kind of sad looking, slumped posture and ratty coat, but when he began to battle… he was like an entirely different man. He skillfully read battles like no one Machoke had seen before- easily giving suggestions and moves to use like second nature. The pokemon by his side knew what move to use and when to use it- all by the humans teachings.
Needless to say, the battles that Machoke had with him were amazing . Over time, the man had even come to expect it coming over for a bout- offering food and medicinal leaks after each battle. He was kind- that was easy to see with the way he treated the other pokemon, and slowly, Machoke began to wonder why he bothered to head back to his gang of other machoke at the end of the day.
They weren't exactly surprised when it told them it was leaving, just patting him on the back and wishing it well. It was appreciated.
When achoke came the next day and did not leave, the man simply offered it a pokeball. It was all too happy to accept.
Magneton had no idea what was happening but it would greatly appreciate it if it was not experiencing it. The flashing lights and disorienting winds threw it around, making it hard to levitate. It thought it was going to slam into something until the winds abruptly stopped, leaving it stuck in a strange place. The walls flikerd with light and static that wasn't quite static. The tile floor beneath it now stone and rugged, but most terrifying about its sudden displacement were the pokemon.
Some had glowing red eyes, screaming in rage and terror at the world around them- others lashed out blindly, headless to anything but fear. It honestly wasn't doing much better. Every sound was a potential danger- in this unfamiliar world it did not know anything.
There was one thing it recognized though- there was a human. They wore a coat almost like the humans back at home did, but this one was black and somewhat torn. Still, it was familiar enough and Magneton was desperate.
Thankfully, while surprised, the human didn’t attack it, only giving it a pained expression of understanding and a gentle pat. It stuck by the humans side as he picked up a few objects around the bubble, avoiding the other pokemon skillfully. When that didn’t work, Magneton did its best to protect him, which the human seemed to greatly appreciate. He offered it berries after a surprise ambush, and apologized about not having any potions on him.
When the wind began to pick up again, the human urged them behind a rock, blocking most of the gusts. Magneton pressed close against him and buzzed with anxiety, which the man tried to gently soothe away.
“It should be over soon. Distortions do not tend to last long.”
When the wind was suddenly dispersed with a loud crack, the man blinked at it. It cracked a small confusion? To which the man rubbed his nose and sighed.
“My apologies, I was simply… usually pokemon coming here from distortions leave with them… but you are still here,” the man slumped further, body curling up with sorrow “I… I’m sorry passenger… I don’t know how to direct you to your home station…”
Oh. Oh…
It buzzed a quiet understand then looked up at the sad man, and nudged into his arm I come with you?
The man nodded, gently stroking the side of one of its bodies and stood up. Slowly leading Magneton up the mountain and into a small clearing with a tent in the middle, pokemon were scattered around it, playfully fighting or eating together. The man whistled at everyone, gaining their attention.
“Magneton here had been slightly displaced, do be kind,” and as the pokemon gathered around it, chittering and chirping out excited hello! ’s and nice to meet you! ’s, the man offered it an oran berry, smiling with his shoulders and eyes, “I am Ingo, welcome home.”
… perhaps this wasn't all bad.